MISCELLANEOUS. 1149 



land, nor in the indefinite and exclusive right which belongs to them 

 on that part of the coast of that island which is designated by the 

 treaty of Utrecht, nor in the rights relative to all and each of the isles 

 which belong to his Most Christian Majesty the whole conformable 

 to the true sense of the treaties of Utrecht and Paris." 



Embarked in war with the greatest maritime power in the world, 

 France had need of all her seamen; and to secure for her ships-of-war 

 her fishermen absent at Newfoundland, her treaty of alliance with the 

 United States was kept secret for some weeks to give time for their 

 return. During hostilities, St. Pierre and Miquelon, if not almost 

 abandoned by fishing-vessels, were the scene of no incidents to 

 detain us. 



At the peace in 1783, the whole subject of the French rights of fish- 

 ing was examined and arranged. As will be seen, several important 

 changes were made, and explanations exchanged, by the two contract- 

 ing powers. It may be observed, further, that the new fishing-grounds 

 acquired were thought less valuable than those which she relinquished, 

 though the privileges obtained by France, considered together, were 

 much greater than those provided in the treaty of 1763. The articles 

 which relate to the subject in the treaty^ and in the " declaration" and 

 "counter declaration," or separate articles, are as follows: 



"ART. 2. His Majesty the King of Great Britain shall preserve 

 in full right the island of Newfoundland and the adjacent islands, in 

 the same manner as the whole was ceded to him by the 13th article of 

 the treaty of Utrecht, save the exceptions stipulated by the 5th article 

 of the present treaty. 



"ART. 3. His Most Christian Majesty, [of France,! in order to pre- 

 vent quarrels, which have hitherto arisen between the two nations 

 of England and France, renounces the right of fishing, which belongs 

 to him by virtue of the said article of the treaty of Utrecht, from Cape 

 Bonavista to Cape St. John, [Point Riche,] situated on the eastern 

 coast of Newfoundland, in about fifty degrees of north latitude; 

 whereby the French fishery shaH commence at the said Cape St. John, 

 [Point Riche,] shall go round by the north, and, going down to the 

 western coast of the island of Newfoundland, shall have for boundary 

 the place called Cape Ray, situated in forty-seven degrees fifty 

 minutes latitude. 



"ART. 4. The French fishermen shall enjoy the fishery assigned 

 them by the foregoing article, as they have a right to enjoy it by vir- 

 tue of the treaty of Utrecht. 



"ART. 5. His Britannic Majesty will cede, in full right, to his Most 

 Christian Majesty the islands of St Pierre and Miquelon. 



"ART. 6. With regard to the right of fishing in the Gulf of St. Law- 

 rence, the French shall continue to enjoy it conformably to the 5th 

 article of the treaty of Paris," [1763.] 



In the "declaration" on the part of Great Britain, it is said that 



"In order that the fishermen of the two nations may not give cause 

 for daily quarrels, his Britannic Majesty will take the most positive 

 measures for preventing his subjects from interrupting, in any manner, 

 by their competition, the fishery of the French, during the temporary 

 exercise of it which is granted to them, upon the coasts of the island 

 of Newfoundland; and he will, for this purpose, cause the fixed settle- 

 ments which shall be formed there to be removed. 



