ject, nor any native of the British territories in India, or within the limits of the charter of the said Company, shall be apprehended, detained, or removed, by virtue of any of the provisions herein contained, nor shall any thing herein contained in anywise alter or affect any law or statute under or by virtue of which any British subject may resort to or is restrained from resorting to the East-Indies: provided also, that it shall not be lawful to apprehend, detain, or remove any person being the subject of any foreign state, under or by virtue of this act, in any way inconsistent with any treaty made or to be made by his Majesty or the East-India Company, and to the benefit of which such person shall be entitled.

LAWS.

AMERICA.

In the same year (1765) that the policy observed by Great Britain towards her North-American colonies, extending at that time from the Greenland Sea to the mouths of the Mississippi, led to the separation of the Thirteen States from the mother country, we have to record the acquisition, under the East-India Company, of the Dewanny, in Bengal, which laid the foundation of that extensive empire in the East, from whence we have derived such important political and commercial advantages.

The original introduction of the Stamp Act into America, and the measures consequent thereon, led to a prediction that the independence of that country was not far distant. An assembly of delegates met at Philadelphia in 1774, at which it was agreed to abstain from importing into the Thirteen States any British goods. That measure gave rise to the Act of the 16th Geo. III, which prohibited all intercourse with the revolted countries either in British or neutral ships.

In 1775, Congress declared the Thirteen United States to be free and independent, and their ports open to vessels of all nations. At that period the incursions of the American privateers were so daring, that it became necessary to appoint convoy for the purpose of protecting the linen trade with Ireland.

Plenipotentiaries were dispatched from America to the several European courts of Germany, France, Spain, and Prussia, to solicit their assistance. A treaty of friendship and alliance between France and America was signed at Paris on the 6th February 1778, by which, in the event of England breaking peace with France, in consequence of the said treaty, the latter power and America were to make it a common cause. A declaration was sent by France to the

British

British Court, giving notice of the treaty, and expressing a hope that the harmony which subsisted between the two kingdoms might not be disturbed; at the same time stating, that the King of France was determined to protect the commerce of his subjects and to maintain the dignity of his flag; and had, in consequence, taken eventual measures in concert with the United States.

Immediately after this declaration, the British ambassador was recalled from France, upon which the French ambassador left London.

Those occurrences were shortly followed by a declaration of war on the part of Spain against Great Britain.

A negociation had been carried on between America and the Dutch, with the intention of framing a treaty, to be termed "the Union of the Twenty States," viz. the seven Dutch and thirteen American. The discovery of the fact, which was not made till 1780, led to a rupture with the Dutch; and thus was Great Britain involved in hostilities with the four great maritime powers-France, Spain, Holland, and America. In the manifesto, dated St. James's the 20th December 1780, is the following passage: "In the East-Indies the subjects of the States-General, in concert with France, have "endeavoured to raise up enemies against us."

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The secret treaty before alluded to between the Dutch and Americans was publicly ratified in 1782. In that year the nation had become earnestly desirous of peace; and the subjugation of America appeared to be a vain attempt. Mr. Grenville was accordingly sent to Paris with full authority to treat with all the powers allied against Great Britain, including an acknowledgment of the independence of the United States. A provisional treaty with America was signed at Paris on the 30th November; in the month of January in the following year (1783), preliminary treaties of peace between France, Spain, and Great Britain, were signed, and that with the Dutch in the month of September.

The French ports of Dunkirk and L'Orient, Bayonne, and Marseilles, were permitted to remain free ports; principally with the view of retaining as much as possible the

American

American trade: the vessels of the United States were likewise permitted to touch at the French islands of Mauritius and Bourbon, for the purpose of disposing of and purchasing Indian produce.

In the year 1784, the first American vessel with East-India goods arrived at New York; in the following year the American flag was first displayed at Canton in a vessel from Baltimore. Teas, china-ware, &c., were imported by her into the United States.

In the year 1789, the American ship Chesapeake was allowed to enter the Ganges on favourable terms, and the intercourse continued without material interruption till the war broke out between Great Britain and France in 1793. The latter power attempted to procure the produce of her West-India possessions on neutral bottoms, and the flag of the United States was made available for that purpose. An Order in Council was issued for securing and detaining all vessels having on board the produce of the French colonies. This measure led to the detention of so many ships belonging to Americans, that Congress laid an embargo, in 1794, upon all British vessels then in their ports, and despatched M. Say to seek at the hands of the British Government redress of the griev ances complained of on the part of the citizens of the United States.

The explanation afforded to that gentleman by the British Government, through Lord Grenville, then secretary of state for foreign affairs, paved the way for the treaty of amity, commerce, and navigation, which was signed by that nobleman and M. Say in November 1794. By the thirteenth article of the treaty, American vessels were to be admitted and hospitably received into all the ports of the British territories in the East-Indies, and to be allowed to trade in all articles, the importation or exportation of which were not prohibited, paying only the same tonnage duties as were paid by British ships on entering the ports in America; likewise the same duties on goods imported or exported by them, as were paid on the like goods imported or exported in British vessels. The Americans were to carry the articles exported by them from the British ports in India to America

only;

only; and when Great-Britain was engaged in war, they were not to export any military or naval stores without the sanction of the British authorities in India. Neither were they to enter into the coasting trade of India, or to settle in the British territories, or to travel into the interior, without the permission of the Government at each place.

To this treaty, which was confirmed by the act of the 37th Geo. III, cap. 97; to the belligerent state of Europe; and to the neutral character possessed by the Americans, which enabled them to navigate more cheaply, more expeditiously, and with greater safety than the British merchant, is to be attributed their advantage and success in the Indian trade.

The provisions of the 37th Geo. III, cap. 97, were continued by subsequent acts to the year 1808. The resistance by the American frigate Chesapeake to a search for British deserters having occasioned the loss of some lives, a prohibition was issued by the American Government against British armed vessels entering the harbours and waters of the United States. In March 1809 the Non-Intercourse Act with Great Britain and France was passed. In 1811 the act prohibiting the importation of British manufactures or merchandize took place; and in June 1812 war was declared against Great-Britain, which continued until December 1814; on the 24th of which month a treaty of peace was signed between the British and American plenipotentiaries at Ghent. A convention of commerce was signed on the 3d July 1815, the provisions of which were to continue for four years from that date; the third article of which provides as follows:

"His Britannic Majesty agrees that the vessels of the United "States of America shall be admitted, and hospitably received "at the principal settlements of the British dominions in the "East-Indies, viz. Calcutta, Madras, Bombay, and Prince of "Wales' Island; and that the citizens of the said United "States may freely carry on trade between the said principal "settlements and the said United States, in all articles of "which the importation and exportation respectively, to and "from the said territories, shall not be entirely prohibited: pro"vided only, that it shall not be lawful for them, in any time of