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And it is agreed, that all persons who have any interest in confiscated lands, either by debts, marriage settlements, or otherwise, shall meet with no lawful impediment in the prosecution of their just rights.

Article 6. That there shall be no future confiscations made, nor any prosecutions commenced against any persons, for or by reason of the part which he or they may have taken in the present war; and that no person shall, on that account, suffer any future loss or damage, either in his person, liberty, or property; and that those who may be now in confinement on such charges, at the time of the ratification of the treaty in America, shall be immediately set at liberty, and the prosecutions so commenced be discontinued.

Article 7. There shall be a firm and perpetual peace between his Britannic majesty and the said states, and between the subjects of the one and the citizens of the other; wherefore all hostilities, both by sea and by land, shall then immediately cease; all prisoners, on both sides, shall be set at liberty; and his Britannic majesty shall, with all convenient speed, and without causing any destruction of carrying away ne groes, or other property of the American inhabitants, withdraw all his armies, garrisons, and fleets, from the said United States, and from every port, place, and harbor, within the same, leaving in all fortifications the American artillery that may be therein; and shall also order and cause all archieves, records, deeds, and papers, belonging to any of the said states, or their citizens, which in the course of the war may have fallen into the hands of his officers, to be forthwith restored and delivered to the proper states and persons to whom they belong.

Article 8. The navigation of the river Mississippi, from its source to the ocean, shall for ever remain free and open to the subjects of Great Britain and citizens of the United States.

Article 9. In case it should so happen that any place, or territory, belonging to Great Britain, or to the United States, should be conquered by the arms of either, from

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the other, before the arrival of these articles in America. It is agreed, that the same shall be restored without difficulty, and without requiring any compensation.

Done at Paris, November 30, 1782.

RICHARD OSWALD, (LS)

Signed

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IT is hereby understood and agreed, that in case Great Britain, at the conclusion of the present war, shall recover, or be put in possession of West Florida, the line of the north boundary between the said province and the United States, shall be a line drawn from the mouth of the river Yassous, where it unites with the Mississippi, due east to the river Appalachicola.

Done at Paris, November 30, 1782.

RICHARD OSWALD, (LS)

Signed

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(LS)

HENRY LAURENS, (LS)

Signed Attest CALEB WHITEFORD,

Secretary to the British Commission.

Attest W. T. FRANKLIN,

Secretary to the American Commission.

To R. R. Livingston, Esq. Secretary for Foreign Affairs.

SIR,

Passy, December 5, 1782.

I AM honored by your several letters, No. 16, 17, 18, and 19, dated September 5th, 13th, 15th, and 18th. I believe the complaints that you make in them of my not writing, may ere now, have appeared less necessary, as many of my letters, written before those complaints, must have since come to hand, I will nevertheless mention some of the difficulties your ministers meet with, in keeping up a regular and punctual correspondence. We are far from the sea ports, and not well informed, and often misinformed about the sailing of vessels. Frequently we are told, they are to sail in a week or two, and often they lie in the ports for months after, with our letters on board, either waiting for convoy, or for other reasons. The post office here is an unsafe conveyance, many of the letters we received by it have evidently been opened, and doubtless the same happens to those we send; and at this time particularly, there is so violent a curiosity in all kinds of people, to know something relating to the negociations, and whether peace may be expected, or a continuance of the war; that there are few private hands, or travellers, that we can trust with carrying our dispatches to the sea coast; and I imagine that they may sometimes be opened and destroyed, because they cannot be well sealed; again, the observation you make, that the congress ministers in Europe seem to form themselves into a privy council, transacting affairs without the privity or concurence of the sovereign, may be in some respects just; but it should be considered, that if they do not write as frequently as other ministers here, do to their respective courts; or if, when they write, their letters are not regularly received, the greater distance of the seat of war, and the extreme irregularity of conveyances may be the causes, and not a desire of acting without the knowlege or orders of their constituents. There is no European court to which an express cannot be sent from Paris in ten or fifteen days,

and from most of them answers may be obtained in that time. There is, I imagine, no minister who would not think it safer to act by orders, than from his own discretion; and yet, unless you leave more to the discretion of your ministers in Europe than courts usually do, your affairs may sometimes suffer extremely from the distance which, in the time of war especially, may make it five or six months before the answer to a letter shall be received. I suppose the minister from this court will acquaint congress with the king's sentiments, respecting their very handsome present of a ship of the line. People in general here are much pleased with it.

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I communicated together with my memoir demanding a supply of money, copies of every paragraph in your late letters, which express so strongly the necessity of it. have been constant in my solicitations both directly, and through the marquis de la Fayette, who has employed himself diligently and warmly in the business; the negociations for peace are, I imagine, one cause of the great delay and indecision on this occasion beyond what has been usual, as the quantum may be different if those negociations do or do not succeed. We have not yet learnt what we may expect. We have been told that we shall be aided, but it cannot be to the extent demanded; six millions have been mentioned, but not as a sum fixed. The minister tells me still that he is working upon the subject, but cannot yet give a determinative answer, I know his good will to do the best for us that is possible. It is in vain for me to repeat again what I have so often written, and what I find taken so little notice of, that there are bounds to every thing, and that the faculties of this nation are limitted like those of all other nations. Some of you seem to have established as maxims, the suppositions that France has money enough for all her occasions, and all ours besides; and that if she does not supply us, it is owing to her want of will, or to my negligence. As to the first, I am sure it is not true, and to second, I can only say I should rejoice as much as any man in being able to obtain more; and I shall also rejoice in the

greater success of those who may take my place. You desire to be very particularly acquainted with "every step which tends to a negociation." I am therefore encouraged to send you the first part of the journal, which accidents and a long severe illness interrupted; but which from notes I have by me, may be continued if thought proper. In its present state, it is hardly fit for the inspection of congress, certainly not for public view. I confide it therefore to your prudence.

The arrival of Mr. Jay, Mr. Adams, and Mr. Laurens, has relieved me from much anxiety, which must have continued, if I had been left to finish the treaty alone; and it has given me the more satisfaction, as I am sure the business has profited by their assistance.

Much of the summer has been taken up in objecting against the powers given to Great Britain, and in removing those objections, in using any expressions that might imply an acknowlegement of our independence, seemed at first industriously to be avowed. But our refusing otherwise to treat, at length induced them to get over that difficulty, and then we came to the point of making propositions. Those made by Mr. Jay and me before the arrival of the other gentlemen, you will find in the paper No. 1, which was sent by the British plenipotentiary to London for the king's consideration. After some weeks an under secretary, Mr. Strachy, arrived; with whom we had much contestation about the boundaries and other articles which he proposed we settled; some which he carried to London, and returned with the propositions; some adopted, others omitted or altered, and new ones added, which you will see in paper * No. 2. We spent many days in disputing, and at length agreed on and signed the preliminaries, which you will see by this conveyance. The British minister struggled hard for two points, that the favors granted to the royalists should be extended, and all our fishery contracted. We silenced them on the first, by threatening to

x. This paper does not appear.

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