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And his Majesty the King of Prussia, in his own name, as well as in the name of the other Powers, Members of the Association of Customs and Commerce, the Sieur Henry William, Baron de Bülow, Knight of the Order of the Red Eagle of the First Class of Prussia, Grand Cross of the Orders of Leopold of Austria, of St. Anne of Russia, and of the Guelphs of Hanover; Knight of the Order of St. Stanislaus of the Second Class, and Knight of St. Wladimir of the Fourth Class of Russia, Commander of the Order of the White Falcon of SaxeWeimar, his Chamberlain, Actual Privy Councillor, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to her Britannic Majesty ;

Who, after having communicated to each other their respective full powers, found to be in good and due form, have agreed upon and concluded the following Articles :

ARTICLE I.-In consideration of the circumstance that British vessels are admitted, together with their cargoes, to entry in the ports of Prussia, and of the other States of the afore-named Union of Customs, when coming from the ports of all countries, and in consideration of the concessions stipulated in this present Convention for British Trade with all the States of this Union of Customs; in consideration also of the facility which the application of steam power to inland navigation affords for the conveyance of produce and merchandize of all kinds up and down rivers; and in consideration of the new opening which may by these means be given to the trade and navigation between the United Kingdom and the British Possessions abroad, on the one hand,

and the States now composing the Union of Customs, on the other; some of which States use as the natural outlet of their commerce ports not within their own dominions; it is agreed that, from and after the date of the exchange of the Ratifications of this present Convention, Prussian vessels, and the vessels of the other States forming the said Union of Customs, together with their cargoes, consisting of all such goods as can be legally imported into the United Kingdom and the British Possessions abroad, by the said vessels from the ports of the countries to which they respectively belong, shall, when coming from_the mouths of the Meuse, of the Ems, of the Weser, and of the Elbe, or from the mouths of any navigable river lying between the Elbe and the Meuse, and forming the means of communication between the sea and the territory of any of the German States which are parties to this Treaty, be admitted into the ports of the United Kingdom, and of the British Possessions abroad, in as full and ample a manner, as if the ports from which such vessels may have come, as aforesaid, were within the dominions of Prussia, or of any other of the States aforesaid; and such vessels shall be permitted to import the goods above-mentioned upon the same terms on which the said goods might be imported if coming from the national ports of such vessels; and also that, in like manner, such vessels proceeding from Great Britain and her Colonial Possessions abroad to the ports or places thus referred to, shall be treated as if returning to a Prussian Baltic port:-it being understood that these privileges are to extend to the vessels of

Prussia and of the States aforesaid, and to their cargoes, only in respect to each of the said ports in which British vessels and their cargoes shall, upon their arrival thereat, and departure therefrom, continue to be placed on the same footing as the vessels of Prussia and of the other States of the Union.

ARTICLE II.-His Majesty the King of Prussia, in his own name, and in the name of the States aforesaid, agrees to place, always and in every way, the trade and navigation of the subjects of her Britannic Majesty, in respect to the importation of sugar and rice, upon the same footing as that of the most favoured nation.

ARTICLE III.-In the event of other German States joining the Germanic Union of Customs, it is hereby agreed that such other States shall be included in all the stipulations of the present Convention.

ARTICLE IV.-The present Convention shall be in force until the 1st of January, 1842, and further for the term of six years, provided neither of the high contracting parties shall have given to the other six months' previous notice that the same shall cease to be in force on the said 1st of January, 1842; and if neither party shall have given to the other six months

previous notice that the present Convention shall cease on the 1st day of January, 1848, then the present Convention shall further remain in force until the 1st day of January, 1854, and further, until the end of twelve months after either of the high contracting parties shall have given notice to the other of its intention to terminate the same, each of the high contracting parties reserving to itself the right of giving such notice to the other; and it is hereby agreed between them, that at the expiration of twelve months after such notice shall have been received by either party from the other, this Convention, and all the provisions thereof, shall altogether cease and determine.

ARTICLE V. The present Convention shall be ratified, and the ratifications thereof shall be exchanged at London at the expiration of two months, or sooner if possible.

In witness whereof the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed the same, and have affixed thereto the seals of their arms.

Done at London, the second day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-one.

(L.S.) PALMERSTON.
(L.S.) H. LABOuchere.
(L.S.) BULOW.

TREATY OF COMMERCE BETWEEN HER MAJESTY AND THE SHAH OF

PERSIA,

Signed, in the English and Persian Languages, at Tehran, October 28, 1841.

PREAMBLE. Whereas by the benign favour of the One Almighty

God, whose bounties are infinite, from the day on which the Treaty

of Friendship and Attachment was concluded between the glorious States of Great Britain and Persia, the renowned and just Sovereigns of the two everlasting States have, day by day, and at all times, at tended to and observed the whole of its Articles and Stipulations, and have caused the subjects of both Governments to enjoy all its benefits and advantages except the Treaty of Commerce, which in the Preamble of the Treaty of the year one thousand eight hundred and fourteen, the two Governments engaged to conclude, and which, up to this time, for certain reasons has been postponed and left unfinished:-Therefore, in this fortunate year, that all the stipulations of the auspicious Treaty may be fulfilled, her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, &c., &c., &c., has appointed Sir John Mc Neill, Knight Grand Cross of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath, her Majesty's Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Court of Persia, to be her sole Plenipotentiary; and his Majesty the Shah of Persia, &c., &c, &c., has appointed his Excellency Hajee Meerza Abul Hassan Khan, his Majesty's Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, to be his sole Plenipotentiary and the said Plenipotentiaries having concluded a Commercial Treaty in these two Articles, have annexed and united it to the original Treaty, that, by the aid of God, it may henceforth be observed between the two Governments, and be a source of advantage to the subjects of both.

ARTICLE I.-The merchants of the two mighty States are reciprocally permitted and allowed to carry into each other's territories their goods and manufactures of every description, and to sell or

exchange them in any part of their respective countries; and on the goods which they import or export, custom duties shall be levied, that is to say, on entering the country the same amount of custom duties shall be levied, once for all, that is levied on merchandise imported by the merchants of the most favoured European nations; aud at the time of going out of the country, the same amount of custom duties which is levied on the merchandize of merchants of the most favoured European nations shall be levied from the merchants, subjects of the high contracting parties; and except this, no claim shall be made upon the merchants of the two States in each other's dominions on any pretext or under any denomination; and the merchants or persons connected with or dependent upon the high contracting parties in each other's dominions, mutually, shall receive the same aid and support, and the same respect, which are received by the subjects of the most favoured nations.

ARTICLE II.-As it is necessary, for the purpose of attending to the affairs of the merchants of the two parties respectively, that from both Governments commercial agents should be appointed to reside in stated places; it is therefore arranged that two commercial agents on the part of the British Government shall reside, one in the capital, and one in Tabreez, and in those places only, and on this condition, that he who shall reside at Tabreez, and he alone, shall be honoured with the privileges of Consul General; and as for a series of years a resident of the British Government has resided at Bushire, the Persian Government grants permission that the said

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resident shall reside there as heretofore. And, in like manner, two commercial agents shall reside on the part of the Persian Government, one in the capital, London, and one in the port of Bombay, and shall enjoy the same rank and privileges which the commercial agents of the British Government shall enjoy in Persia.

This Commercial Treaty, we, the Plenipotentiaries of the high

contracting parties, have agreed to; and in witness thereof, have set thereunto our hands and seals, at the capital city of Tehran, this twenty-eighth day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-one, corresponding to the twelfth day of the month Ramazan, in the year of the Hejjera 1257.

(L.S.) JOHN MC NEILL. (Sealed) M. A. HASSAN KHAN.

IV. FOREIGN.

PROCLAMATION of the KING OF HANOVER.

Ernest Augustus, by the Grace of
God, King of Hanover:-

On the 30th of last month we saw ourselves under the necessity, though unwillingly, of dissolving the Assembly of the States of the kingdom, because the Second Chamber proved by its mode of acting that it was absolutely incapable of fulfilling the duties imposed on it. Our proclamation of the 15th of February, 1839, pointed out to our faithful subjects the reasons why the Constitution of 1819 was not modified in 1833 in the manner determined upon on the 7th of December, 1819. We explained ourselves formally on this subject before our accession. Thus, at the period of our accession, the Constitution of 1819 was alone placed under the guarantee of article 56 of the final act of the Congress of Vienna. According to the terms of article 13 of the Federal Act, there should be a state constitution in each state of the confederation. The introduction of a written constitution is not a proscription of the federal legislation. Thus we have seve

ral times expressed our opinion that written constitutions were not, under every circumstance, necessary to the States, and even that objections might be raised against their introduction. Nevertheless, taking into consideration the wishes of our subjects, we submitted to the Assembly of the States on the 18th of February, 1838, a project of constitution. On the 27th of June, 1838, the Chambers were adjourned, and we withdrew the project in consequence of the irregularity of the discussion. On the 15th of June, 1839, the Assembly of the States invited us to take again into consideration the question of the constitution; the States added that it was requisite to proceed according to constitutional modes, conformably to the wishes of the country. A committee was, in consequence, appointed, to prepare a project of constitution.

The Assembly of the States had evidently the right to deliberate on this project. The resolution of the Germanic Diet of the 5th of September, 1839, could leave no

doubt on this point. On the 19th of March, 1840, the project was submitted to the States. If some Deputies did not take part in that deliberation, this resistance could not be overcome by us. The project was voted on the 1st of August, 1840, and promulgated on the 6th of the same month. This constitution, having been deliberated on between the King and the States, cannot be attacked by any legal means. This constitution respects the rights of our royal House to the domains, and makes no attack on the rights of the Crown based on the ancient constitution of the country. It serves to strengthen the rights of the general and provincial states of the kingdom; it extends the rights of the first to the protection of the constitution itself; it protects the rights of corporations and individuals, and establishes the equal division of the taxation. It confirms the independent action of the judicial power, and equally guarantees the action of the administration. It attributes to a special authority the right of separating, in certain cases, the judicial and administrative powers; and we have confided this authority to the most estimable men of the kingdom. The duration and the inviolability of the constitution is assured for the future by the basis of the ancient right of the Crown on which it reposes; by the basis of the laws of the German Confederation, with which it is in accordance on all points; by the Federal Resolution of the 5th of September, 1839; by our royal word; by the assent of the Prince Royal; by the approbation of the States; by the rights accorded to the General Assembly of the States, and in its absence to the college

of the treasury, to invoke the protection of the Germanic Confederation. As long as Providence shall preserve our life, we shall not for a moment doubt the legality of that constitution. Our well-beloved son, the Prince Royal, has formally expressed for the future this wish in the First Chamber. In consequence, we have, on the 14th of April in this present year, convoked the Assembly of the States. Having received the thanks of the authorities and the inhabitants for this new constitution, we have not considered it necessary to exercise a special surveillance over the elections, which should remain free. It is for this reason we confined ourself to ordering a surveillance of police. These measures have affected some individuals who are now the objects of a criminal prosecution. These individuals were formally opposed to the regulations of the constitutional question, and compromised public order. We could even have caused their arrest according to a law of the 27th of June, 1838, and we shall carry that law into execution whenever plots shall be entered into against the safety of the state.

We have just heard that some enemies of our Government have spread a report that the taxes are about to be raised. Notwithstanding this and other equally mischievous rumours, only taking counsel of our justice and of our solicitude for the welfare of our subjects, we have reckoned on the unalterable devotion and gratitude of our subjects. On the 2nd of June last the Chambers assembled; thirty-six Deputies manifested their attachment to the laws of the country; twelve other Deputies have placed themselves at the head

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