FROM THE MEMOIRS OF THE MARQUIS DE TORCY.*

His Majesty gave orders to Mesnager to add to the cession of Newfoundland, that of the Bay and Strait of Hudson; and in order to show the Queen of Great Britain and her Ministers the desire which he had to facilitate their intentions, he permitted Mesnager, by a private clause, separate from the Memoir to remit to the general negotiation of the peace the entire discussion on the article of North America.

On the morrow of the second conference, Saint John, on his return from Windsor to London, notified Mesnager that he was awaiting him at Prior's house. The Queen with her council had resolved not to dwell on (s'arrêter) the observations made on some expressions of the King that appeared ambiguous. The Secretary of State said the desire for peace had obtained the ascendency in the mind of his Royal mistress over every other consideration; she only desired to change the term from North America (d'Amerique Septentrionale), and confined herself to demanding that this part of America should be designated by the expression America on the North Sea (d'Amerique sur la mer du Nord.)

The difficulty of leaving to the French the right of fishing and drying fish on the shores of Newfoundland was raised; the Queen gave her consent. Mesnager was too wise to contest the change of term which this princess desired: thus he and St. John were equally satisfied.

MEMORIAL CONCERTED WITH MARQUIS DE TORCY, 19TH JANUARY, 1713, AND FOR WARDED TO LORD BOLINGBROKE, BY THe Duke of SHREWSBURY.

The inhabitants of Hudson's Bay, subjects of the Queen of Great Britain, who have been disposessed of their lands by France, in time of peace, shall be entirely and immediately after the ratification of the treaty, restored to the possession of their said lands; and such proprietors shall also have a just and reasonable satisfaction for the losses they have suffered, with respect to their goods, moveables, and effects; which losses shall be settled by the judgment of Commissaries, to be named for this purpose, and sworn to do justice to the parties interested.

PRIOR TO BOLINGBROKE, 8TH JANUARY, N. S., 1713.

As to the limits of Hudson's Bay, and what the ministry here seem to apprehend, at least in virtue of the general expression, tout ce que l'Angleterre a jamais possedé de ce coté là (which they assert to be wholly new, and which I think is really so, since our Plenipotentiaries make no mention of it), may give us occasion to encroach at any time upon their dominions in Canada, I have answered, that since, according to the carte which came from our Plenipotentiaries, marked with the extent of what was thought our dominion, and returned by the French with what they judged the extent of theirs, there was no very great difference, and that the parties who determine that difference, must be guided by the same carte, I thought the article would admit no dispute. In case it be either determined immediately by the Plenipotentiaries or referred to commissioners, I take leave to add to your Lordship that these limitations are no otherwise advantageous or prejudicial to Great Britain than as we are better or worse with the native Indians, and that the whole is a matter rather of industry than dominion. If there be any real difference between restitution and cession, queritur? Yet since, in either case, the right of the inhabitant as to transferring his goods and effects, or disposing of his person and family is always provided for in treaty, I leave it to your Lordship's better judgment if a fixed time in either case (suppose eighteen months or two years), does not put the subject, who is to have the benefit which restitution or cession grants him, upon a more equal foot, &c.

* By Messieurs A. Petitot and Monmerique. T. II., pp. 54, 64.

NEGOTIATIONS FOR THE CESSION OF CANADA, 1761.

MEMORIAL OF FRENCH PROPOSITIONS, 15TH OF JULY, 1761.

I. The King cedes and guarantees Canada to the King of England, such as it has been, and in right ought to be possessed by France, without restriction, and without the liberty of returning upon any pretence whatever against this cession or guaranty, and without interrupting the Crown of England in the entire possession of Canada.

II. The King, in making over his full right of Sovereignty over Canada to the King of England, annexes four conditions to the cession:

First. That the free exercise of the Roman Catholic religion shall be maintained there, and that the King of England will give the most precise and effectual orders that his new Roman Catholic subjects may, as heretofore, make public profession of their religion, according to the rites of the Roman Church.

Secondly. That the French inhabitants or others, who have been subjects of the King in Canada, may retire into the French colonies with all possible freedom and security; that they may be allowed to sell their effects and to transport their property as well as their persons, without being restrained in their emigration, on any pretence whatever (except for debt); and the English Government shall engage to procure them the means of transportation at as little expense as possible.

Thirdly-That the limits of Canada, with regard to Louisiana, shall be clearly and firmly established, as well as those of Louisiana and Virginia, in such manner that after the execution of peace there may be no more difficulties between the two nations, on the interpretation of the limits relative to Canada, or the other possessions of England.

[N.B.-M. Bussy has a memorial on the subject of the limits of Louisiana, which gives him power to come to a final treaty on that article with the Ministry of his Britannic Majesty.*]

Fourthly. That the liberty of fishing, and of drying their codfish may, on the banks of Newfoundland, be confirmed to the French as heretofore; and as this confirmation would be illusory if French vessels had not a shelter in those parts appertaining to their nation in these countries, the King of Great Britain, in consideration of the guaranty of his new conquests, shall restore Isle Royal, or Cape Breton, to be enjoyed by France in entire sovereignty. It is agreed to fix a value on this restitution, that France shall not, under any denomination whatever, erect any fortifications on the island, and shall confine herself to maintaining a civil establishment there, and the port for the convenience of the fishing vessels landing there.

PRIVATE MEMORIAL OF FRANCE, OF JULY 15, 1761, RELATING TO SPAIN.

[The Duc de Choiseul proposes that Spain should be invited to guarantee the future Treaty of Peace. And he says:

The King will not disguise from His Majesty, that the differences of Spain with England fill him with apprehensions, and give him room to fear that, if they are not adjusted, they will occasion a fresh war in Europe and America. The King of Spain has communicated to His Majesty the three Articles which remain to be discussed between his Crown and the Crown of Britain, which are:

1. The restitution of some captures which have been made during the present war upon the Spanish Flag.

2. The privilege for the Spanish nation to fish upon the Banks of Newfoundland.

3. The demolition of the English settlements made upon the Spanish territories in the Bay of Honduras.

*Note by the Duc de Choiseul.

FROM M. BUSSY'S NOTE TO MR. PITT.

Since the Memorial of the Propositions from France was formed, and at the instant that the courier was ready to set out for London, the King received the consent of the EmpressQueen to a separate peace with England, but upon two conditions:

1. To keep possession of the countries belonging to the King of Prussia.

2. That it shall be stipulated that the King of Great Britain, neither in his capacity of King or Elector, shall afford any succour, either in troops or of any kind whatever, to the King of Prussia; and that His Britannic Majesty will undertake that the Hanoverian, Hessian, Brunswickian and other auxiliaries in alliance with Hanover, shall not join the forces of the King of Prussia, in like manner as France shall engage on her part not to yield succour of any kind to the Empress Queen nor her allies.

Both these conditions appear so natural and equitable in themselves, that His Majesty could not do otherwise than acquiesce in them, and he hopes that the King of Great Britain will be ready to adopt them.

FROM MR. PITT'S LETTER TO M. Bussy.

July 24, 1761.

It is my duty to declare further to you in plain terms, in the name of His Majesty, that he will not suffer the disputes with Spain to be blended in any manner whatever in the negotiation of peace between the two Crowns; to which I must add, that it will be considered an affront to His Majesty's dignity, and as a thing incompatible with the sincerity of the negotiation, to make further mention of such a circumstance.

Moreover, it is expected that France will not at any time presume a right of intermeddling in such disputes between Great Britain and Spain. These considerations, so just and indispensable, have determined His Majesty to order me to return you the Memorial which occasions this, as wholly inadmissible.

I likewise return you, Sir, as totally inadmissible, the Memorial relative to the King of Prussia, as implying an attempt upon the honour of Great Britain, and the fidelity with which His Majesty will always fulfil his engagements with his allies.

BRITISH ANSWER TO MEMORIAL OF FRENCH PROPOSITIONS.

[On the 27th of July, 1761, the answer of the British Court to the memorial of French propositions was forwarded to Mr. Hans Stanley, the English Envoy at Paris. The first two relate to Canada.]

1. His Britannic Majesty will never recede from the entire and total cession, on the part of France, without any new limits, or any exception whatever, of all Canada with its appurtenances; and His Majesty will never relax, with regard to the full and complete cession on the part of France, of the Isle of Cape Breton, and of the other islands in the Gulf and River of St. Lawrence, with the right of fishing which is inseparably incident to the possession of the aforesaid coasts, and of the canals or straits which lead to them.

2. With respect to fixing the limits of Louisiana with regard to Canada, or the English possessions situate on the Ohio, as also on the coast of Virginia, it never can be allowed that whatever does not belong to Canada shall appertain to Louisiana, nor that the boundaries of the last Province shall extend to Virginia, or to the British possessions on the borders of the Ohio; the nations and countries which lie intermediate, and which form the true barriers between the aforesaid Provinces, not being proper, on any account, to be directly or by necessary consequence ceded to France, even admitting them to be included in the limits of Louisiana. *

*

*

10. The demand of the restitution of the captures at sea before the declaration of war cannot be admitted, such a claim not being founded on any particular convention, and by no

means resulting from the law of nations, as there is no principle more incontestable than this, viz., that the absolute right of all hostile operations does not result from a formal declaration of the war, but from the hostilities which the aggressor had first offered.

FROM THE ULTIMATUM OF FRANCE IN REPLY TO ENGLAND, AUGUST 6, 1761, REMITTED TO THE DUO DE CHOISEUL BY MR. STANLEY.

The King renews the declaration which he made to His Britannic Majesty, to the Memorial of Propositions for Peace, which has been transmitted to Mr. Stanley, and to which the Court of England has given no answer, either by word of mouth or in writing. His Majesty again declares that if the negotiation entered into at London and Paris for the reestablishment of peace between the two Crowns, has not the desired success, all the articles agreed to in that negotiation by France cannot be represented, on any occasion, as settled points, any more than the Memorial of the month of March last, relative to the Uti possidetis.

I. The King consents to cede Canada to England in the most extensive form, as specified in the Memorial of Propositions, but His Majesty will not recede from the conditions which he has annexed to the said Memorial, relative to the Catholic religion, and to the power, facility, and liberty of emigration for the ancient subjects of the King. With regard to the Fishery in the Gulf of St. Lawrence the King means to maintain the immemorial right which his subjects have of fishing in the said Gulf; and of drying their fish on the banks of Newfoundland, as it was agreed by the Treaty of Utrecht. As this privilege would be granted in vain if the French vessels had not some shelter appertaining to France in the Gulf, His Majesty proposed to the King of Great Britain the restitution of the Island of Cape Breton; he again proposes either that Island or St. John [Prince Edward] or such other port without fortifications, in the Gulf, or within reach of the Gulf, which may serve the French as a shelter, and secure to France the liberty of fishing, from whence his Majesty has no intention to recede.

II. The King has, in no part of his Memorial of Propositions, affirmed that all which did not belong to Canada, appertained to Louisiana; it is even difficult to conceive such an assertion could be advanced. France, on the contrary, demands that the intermediate nations between Canada and Louisiana, as also between Virginia and Louisiana, shall be considered as neutral nations, independent of the Sovereignty of the two Crowns, and serve as a barrier between them. If the English Minister would have attended to the instructions of M. Bussy on this subject, he would have seen that France agreed with England as to this proposition.

MR. PITT TO M. BUSSY.

August 15th, 1761.

It belongs, Sir, to Europe to judge whether this is the Court which has shown an aversion to peace, or whether it is not that which, after so many variations and delays on her part, arbitrarily continues to insist on objects in America which we have a right to by the Uti possidetis, and which would make a direct attempt on the essential right of our conquests in Canada and its appurtenances in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, which, in Germany, not only refuses to give up her conquests, gained over His Majesty's allies, as a just compensation for the important restitutions with which His Majesty is willing to accommodate France, but even pretends to impose an obligation on His Majesty not to fulfil the engagements of his Crown towards the King of Prussia; which, moreover, not satisfied with throwing so many obstacles in the way of peace, has not scrupled to interpose new perplexities in opposition to this precious blessing, for which the nation sighs, by intermixing, too late, matters so foreign to the present negotiation between the two Crowns as the discussions between Great Britain and Spain.

FROM THE ANSWER OF THE BRITISH MINISTER TO THE ULTIMATUM OF FRANCE, DELIVERED TO M. BUSSY.

August 16th, 1761.

His most Christian Majesty having repeatedly declared, in the ultimatum of the Court of France, remitted to Mr. Pitt by M. Bussy, as well as in the Memorial of the Propositions of Peace, which was remitted by the Duke de Choiseul to Mr. Stanley, that if the negotiation entered into between the two Crowns has not the desired effect, all the articles conceded in that negotiation by France cannot be considered in any case as points agreed upon, any more than the memorial of the month of March last, in relation to the Uti possidetis. The King declares, in return, that if the concessions His Majesty has made to bring about peace shall not be accepted by his Most Christian Majesty, the important restitutions offered to France, as well as the other circumstances hereinafter expressed, cannot for the future be considered as given up.

ARTICLE I.—The King will not desert his claim to the entire and total cession of all Canada and its dependencies, without any limits or exceptions whatever; and likewise insists on the complete cession of the Island of Cape Breton, and of other islands in the Gulf and River St. Lawrence.

Canada, according to the lines of its limits traced by the Marquis de Vaudreuil himself, when that Governor surrendered the said Province by capitulation to the British General, Sir J. Amherst, comprehends on one side the Lakes Huron, Michigan, and Superior; and the said line drawn to Red Lake takes in, by a serpentine progress, the River Ouabachi [Wabash], as far as its junction with the Ohio, and from thence extends itself along the latter river as far, inclusively, as its influx into the Mississippi.

It is in conformity to this state of the limits made by the French Governor, that the King claims the cession of Canada; a Province which the Court of France, moreover, has offered anew by their ultimatum to cede to His Britannic Majesty, in the most extensive manner, as expressed in the Memorial of Propositions of Peace of 13th July.

As to what concerns the public profession and exercise of the Roman Catholic religion in Canada, the new subjects of His Britannic Majesty shall be maintained in that privilege without interruption or molestation; and the French inhabitants or others, who may have been subjects of the most Christian King in Canada, shall have full power and liberty to sell their effects, provided they dispose of them to the subjects of His Britannic Majesty, and to transport their property, as well as their persons, without being restrained from their emigration, under any pretence whatever (unless in case of debt, or for a breach of criminal laws); it being always understood that the time granted for the said emigration shall be limited to the space of one year, to be computed from the day of the ratification of the Definitive Treaty.

ARTICLE II.-As to what respects the line to be drawn from Rio-Perdido, as contained in the note remitted by M. Bussy, of the 18th of this month, with regard to the limits of Louisiana, His Majesty is obliged to reject so unexpected a proposition, as by no means admissible in two respects.

1. Because the said line, under colour of fixing the limits of Louisiana, annexes vast countries to that Province, which, with the commanding posts and forts, the Marquis de Vaudreuil has, by the most solemn capitulation, incontestably yielded into the possession of His Britannic Majesty, under the description of Canada, and that consequently, however contentious the pretentions of the two crowns may have been before the war, and particularly with respect to the course of the Ohio, and the territories in that part, since the surrender of Canada, and the line of its limits has been traced, as aforesaid, by the Marquis de Vaudreuil, all those opposite titles are united, and become valid without contradiction, to confirm to Great Britain, with all the rest of Canada, the possession. of those countries on that part of Ohio which have hitherto been contested.

2. The line proposed to fix the bounds of Louisiana cannot be admitted, because it would compromise in another part, on the side of the Carolinas, very extensive countries