238 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1794. 



Convention for the common defence of 

 the liberty and safety of the Danish 

 andStueedish coirnierce a/id naviga- 

 tion, between the king of Uenma-'k 

 and the king of Stueden, concluded 

 at Copenhagen, March ^"i, 1797- 



HIS majesty the king of Den- 

 mark ;ind Norway, and his 

 majesty the kin^of Sweden, having- 

 considered how much it imports the 

 subjects of these realms to enjov, 

 in safety and tranquillity, the ad- 

 vantages attached to a perfect neu- 

 trality, and founded on acknow- 

 lodged treaties, imprf^sed with a 

 deep sense of their duties to their 

 subjects, and unable to dissi'mble 

 t! e inevitable embarrassments of 

 their situatioi, in a war whicii rages 

 in the greater part of Europe, have 

 agreed and do :igree to unite their 

 measures and their interests in this 

 respect, and to give to tluir na- 

 tions, ati' r th.e example o/ ^heir 

 predeces3o:s,nlltheprotection which 

 they have a right to expect from 

 their patema! care ; desiring, n-i)re- 

 over, to draw closer tlie bonds of 

 the amity which so happily subsists 

 between them, have noir.ii'ated to 

 this effsct — his Danish majeslv, hjs 

 minister ol state and fcrf ign ffalrs, 

 the sieur Andre Pierre court de 

 Bernstorf, knight o:theorderf fihe 

 Elephant, &c — and his mi",'sty 

 the king of Sweden, the sicrr Eric 

 Magnus, baron Stael de Holstcin, 

 chamberlain to her majesty the 

 queen dowager of Sweden,' and 

 knight of the order of the sword, 

 yifho, after having exchanged ti.eir 

 full powers, have agreed on the fol- 

 lowingjarticles : 



1- Their majeit'es declare so- 

 lerrjily, that they will maintain the ' 

 most perfect neutrality in the course 



oftlie present war; avoid as much 

 as on them depends, whatever may 

 embroil them with the powers, their 

 friends and allies ; and continue 

 to mark, as they have constantly 

 done, in circumstances sometimes 

 difficult, all the attention, and even 

 all the amicable deference consist- 

 ent witli their own dignity. 



2. They declare, moreover, ♦hat 

 they claim no advantage which is 

 not clearly and unacceptionably, 

 founded on their respective treaties 

 with the powers at war. 



3. They engage also reciprocal- 

 ly, and before all Europe, that they 

 will not claim, in cases not speci- 

 fied in thrir treaties, any advan- 

 tage whici; is not founded on the 

 universal law of nations, hitherto 

 acknowledged and respected by all 

 the jTOWevs, and by all the sove- 

 reigns (if Europe, and from which 

 they can as Htt'e suppose that any 

 of them will depart, as they are in- 

 capable of departing from it them- 

 selves. 



■I'. Founding on a basis so just 

 the c':rim and the maintenance of 

 their indisputalile n'ghts, they will 

 g.ve to the innocent navigation of 

 their vulijccts, which is entirely 

 within the ride of, and conforma- 

 ble to the subsisting treaties, with- 

 out ext-nding it to such as may 

 depart from the rule, r^X the pro- 

 tection which it deservc-6 against all 

 those w!ic>; coiitra'ry to their expec- 

 tation and their hopes, would disturb 

 the le'^r.l exercise of sanctioned 

 rights, the enjoyn-eiit of which 

 ciiiinot be denied to neutral and in- 

 dependent nations. 



5. Fo'- attaining the proposed ob- 

 ject, thcir majefties engage reci- 

 procally to equi:), as soon as the 

 season will permit, each a squadron 



of 



/' 



