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navigable waters of the bay of Passamaquoddy, which, by the treaty of Ghent, is said to be part of the bay of Fundy, are common to both parties for the purpose of all lawful and direct communication with their own territories and foreign ports. The undersigned have the honour to be, &c. JOHN HOLMES, THOMAS BARCLAY.

The Hon. J. Q. Adams, &c.

Decision of the Commissioners under the Fourth Article of the Treaty of Ghent.

By Thomas Barclay and John Holmes, Esquires, commissioners appointed by virtue of the 4th article of the treaty of peace and amity between his Britannick majesty and the United States of America, concluded at Ghent, on the 24th day of December, 1814, to decide to which of the two contracting parties to the said treaty, the several islands in the bay of Passamaquoddy, which is part of the bay of Fundy, and the island of Grand Menan, in the said bay of Fundy, do respectively belong, in conformity with the true intent of the 2d article of the treaty of peace of 1783, between his said Britannick majesty and the aforesaid United States of America: We, the said Thomas Barclay and John Holmes, commissioners as aforesaid, having been duly sworn, impartially to examine and decide upon the said claims, according to such evidence as should be laid before us, on the part of his Britannick majesty and the United States, respectively, have decided, and do decide, that Moose Island, Dudley Island, and Frederick Island, in the bay of Passamaquoddy, which is

of the bay of Fundy, do, and each of them does belong, to the United States of America; and we have also decided, and do decide, that all the other islands, and each and every of them in the said bay of Passamaquoddy, which is part of the bay of Fundy, and the island of Grand Menan, in the said bay of Fundy, do belong to his said Britannick majesty in conformity with the true intent of the said 2d article of said treaty of 1783.

In faith and testimony whereof, we have set our hands and affixed our seals, at the city of New York, in the state of New York, in the United States of America, this 24th day of November, in the year of our Lord, 1817.

THOMAS BARCLAY,
JOHN HOLMES,

[L. S.] [L. S.]

Witness, JAMES T. AUSTIN, (Agent of the U. States.)

ANTHONY BARCLAY.

MESSAGE

FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES TO THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, RELATIVE TO CLAIM ON NAPLES. FEB. 28, 1818.

I LAY before the House, a report from the Secretary of State, together with the papers relating to claims of merchants of the United States upon the government of Naples, in conformity with a resolution of the House of the 30th of January last. JAMES MONROE.

Department of State, Feb. 27, 1818.

THE Secretary of State, to whom has been referred the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 30th of January last, requesting such information, possessed by the Executive, as may be communicated without injury to the publick interest, relative to the claims of merchants of the United States for their property seized and confiscated under the authority of the king of Naples, has the honour of submitting to the President the papers in the possession of this department, concerning that subject. JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

Extracts of a Letter from Mr. Monroe, Secretary of State, to Mr. Pinkney, Special Minister to Naples, dated Department of State, May 11, 1816.

"BEING appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to the emperor of Russia, and in a similar trust, to the king of Naples, the duties of the latter mission which is special, will engage your attention in the first instance. The Washington, a ship of the line, is ordered into the Chesapeake, to receive on board, and to convey you and your family to Naples. You will be furnished with the usual commission and letter of credence to the king.

"A principal object of your mission to Naples is, to obtain indemnity for the losses which our citizens sustained by the illegal seizure and confiscation of their You will be property by the Neapolitan government. furnished with such evidence in support of the claim, as is in possession of this department, and as notice has been given to the collectors in the principal cities, of your

appointment and its object, that it might be communicated to the parties interested, it is expected that you will receive much further light on the subject directly from them.

"The President does not entertain a doubt of the right of the United States, to a full indemnity for these losses. They were inflicted by the then government of the country without the slightest cause. The commerce of the United States was invited into the Neapolitan ports by special decrees, with the promise of protection and encouragement, on the faith of which, many ships having entered with valuable cargoes, the whole amount was seized by the government itself and converted to publick use. For this very extraordinary and unlawful act, no plea has been urged that we have heard of, except that of necessity, which is no argument against indemnity. The injury being inflicted by a government in full possession of the sovereignty of the country, exercising all its powers, recognized by the nation and by foreign powers, by trea ties and by other formal acts of the highest authority, it is not perceived on what ground an indemnity can be refused. No principle is better established, than that the nation is responsible for the acts of its government, and that a change in the authority does not affect the obligation. In the disordered state of that country for several years past, it has been thought useless to press this claim, but now that affairs appear to be better settled, it would be improper longer to delay it. The President indulges a strong hope, that reparation will now be made. In the discharge of this trust in the manner of the negotiation, and in the provision for the debt, should such be made, you will manifest a spirit of conciliation towards the government of Naples. Any reasonable accommodation as to the time and the mode of payment which may be desired, will be cheerfully allowed.

"As you will be well acquainted with the nature of these claims, and the right of the United States to an indemnity; with the principles on which it is founded, and the arguments and facts which support it, it is unnecessary for me to enter further into the subject. The President has full confidence that nothing will be wanting on your part to secure success to the mission. Satisfied that you will discharge its duties with equal ability and discretion, it is thought improper by too much precision, to impose any restraint on your judgment, either as to the manner or the argument to be used in the negotiation."

"Your mission to Naples being special, its object limited, and being likewise anticipated by the Neapolitan government, it is expected that it may be concluded in a few interviews. It is very important that the United States should be represented at St. Petersburg, by a minister of the highest grade employed by them without any delay which can be avoided. The President desires, therefore, that you will use every effort in your power to terminate the business with Naples as soon as it may be possible, and that you will proceed thence, immediately afterwards, to St. Petersburg."

Extracts of a Letter from Mr. Pinkney, Minister at Naples, to Mr. Monroe, Secretary of State, dated Naples, August 29, 1816.

"ON Saturday the 27th, I prepared an official note to the Marquis di Circello, announcing my quality of envoy extraordinary to the king."

"His answer, (appointing Wednesday the 31st for our interview,) was sent immediately."

"My reception on the 31st was extremely friendly, and in the highest degree respectful to the government of the United States. The regular purpose of my visit was to show my credentials, furnish a copy, and arrange the customary audience. I did not therefore suppose that it presented a suitable opportunity for introducing a very detailed explanation of the objects of my mission; but, in conformity with a desire expressed by the Marquis himself, I stated them to him as fully as was necessary to enable him to communicate them to the king."

"Although the Marquis di Circello was, (as you know,) for several years the minister of this court in London, he does not speak a word of English, and does not understand it when it is spoken by others. Our conversation was, therefore, in French. Amidst a good deal of well managed discourse on his part, which rather related to me than to my mission, he made several observations which had a bearing upon my principal errand. He spoke of the poverty of their publick treasury in terms somewhat more strong than I was prepared to expect; of the unprincipled manner in which Monsieur Murat, (as he styled him,) appropriated to his own use whatever of value he could lay his hands upon, and in particular, the vessels and merchandise belonging to our citizens; of the prodigality with

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which he dried up all the usual resources of the country, and dissipated, moreover, all the means which rapacity afford ed. He drew no very precise conclusion from those and similar remarks, although I took such notice of them as their tendency prescribed, but upon the whole it was evident that the claim which I was charged to make in behalf of our merchants, was not likely to be very readily admit ted, and that I should only waste my time by talking over its merits from day to day, with a minister who could of himself decide nothing, and whose report of my statements and arguments, to those who must make or greatly influence the final decision, would not be the most advan tageous channel by which they might be communicated. In consequence, before the interview was closed, I determined to prefer the claim as soon as possible in an official note, and in the mean time to forbear to urge it in conver sation, with any other view than to obtain from the Marquis di Circello, such intimations as might be useful to me in the preparation of my paper."

"On Sunday the 11th, I had another interview with the Marquis di Circello, to which Mr. King accompanied

me."

"I then adverted to the principal object of my mission, and intimated that I should very soon send him a note upon it. To my surprise, he professed not to understand to what I alluded, as the principal object of my mission; but, when I mentioned the spoliations by Murat, he seem. ed suddenly to remember that I had at least talked to him of them before, and immediately, without giving me time to proceed, remarked that he would relate to me frankly all that the present government had been able to discover respecting them. He said that Murat's conduct in that affair appeared to be so bad that nothing could be worse, and that it amounted to a downright robbery; that it appeared that the proceeds of the sales had been ordered by Murat into the publick treasury, but that a few months afterwards he took them out again, and they knew not what he had done with them. To all this I thought it sufficient to answer, that whatever might have become of these proceeds, I hoped the king would cause our merchants to be indemnified for the loss of them; but that I had no desire at this interview to do more than inform the marquis di Circello that I believed it would be as well to present the whole of that subject to him without delay in a note, to which I

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