§ Lord Castlereagh presented by command of the Prince Regent the following Treaty:
§ Treaty of Commerce and Navigation, between his Britannic Majesty and 240 his Majesty the King of the Two Sicilies, together with a separate and additional article thereunto annexed.
§ Art. 1. His Britannic Majesty consents that all the privileges and exemptions which his subjects, their commerce and shipping have enjoyed, and do enjoy, in the dominions, ports, and domains of his Sicilian Majesty, in virtue of the treaty of peace, and commerce concluded at Madrid the 10th (28th) of May, 1667, between Great Britain and Spain: of the treaties of commerce between the same powers, signed at Utrecht the 9th of December, 1713, and at Madrid the 13th of December, 1715: and of the convention concluded at Utrecht the 25th of February, 1712 (March S.1713), between Great Britain and the kingdom of Sicily, shall be abolished: and it is agreed upon in consequence, between their said Britannic and Sicilian Majesties, their heirs and successors, that the said privileges and exemptions, whether of persons or of flag and shipping, are and shall continue for ever abolished.
§ Art. 2. His Sicilian Majesty engages not to continue, nor hereafter to grant to the subjects of any other power whatever, the privileges and exemptions abolished by the present convention.
§ Art. 3. His Sicilian Majesty promises that the subjects of his Britannic Majesty shall not be subjected within his dominions to a more rigorous system of examination and search by the officers of customs, than that to which the subjects of his said Sicilian Majesty are liable.
§ Art. 4. His Majesty the king of the Two Sicilies promises that British commerce in general, and the British subjects who carry it on, shall be treated throughout his dominions upon the same footing as the most favoured nations, not only with respect to the persons and property of the said British subjects, but also with regard to every species of article in which they may traffic, and the taxes or other charges payable on the said articles, or on the shipping in [which the importations shall be made.
§ Art. 5. With respect to the personal privileges to be enjoyed by the subjects of his Britannic Majesty in the kingdom of the Two Sicilies, his Sicilian Majesty promises that they shall have a free and undoubted right to travel, and to reside in the territories and dominions of his said Majesty, subject to the same precautions of police, which are practised towards the 241 most favoured nations. They shall be entitled to occupy dwellings and ware-houses, and to dispose of their personal property of every kind and description, by sale, gift, exchange, or will, and in any other way whatever, without the smallest loss or hindrance being given them on that head. They shall not be obliged to pay, under any pretence whatever, other taxes or rates than those which are paid or that hereafter may be paid by the most favoured nations in the dominions of his said Sicilian Majesty. They shall be exempt from all military service, whether by land or sea; their dwellings, ware-houses, and every thing belonging or appertaining thereto for objects of commerce shall be respected. They shall not be subjected to any vexatious search or visits. No arbitrary examination or inspection of their books, papers, or accounts, shall be made the pretence of the supreme authority of the state, but these shall alone be executed by the legal sentence of the competent tribunals. His Sicilian Majesty engages on all these occasions to guarantee to the subjects of his Britannic Majesty who shall reside in his states and dominions, the preservation of their property and personal security, in the same manner as those are guaranteed to his subjects, and to all foreigners belonging to the most favoured and most highly privileged nations.
§ Art. 6. According to the tenor of the articles 1 and 2 of this treaty, his Sicilian Majesty engages not to declare null and void the privileges and exemptions which actually exist in favour of British commerce within his dominions, till the same day, and except by the same act, by which the privileges and exemptions, whatsoever they are, of all other nations, shall be declared null and void within the same.
§ Art. 7. His Sicilian Majesty's promises, from the date when the general abolition of the privileges, according to the articles 1, 2, and 6, shall take place, to make a reduction of 10 per cent. upon the amount of the duties payable according to the tariff in force the 1st of January, 1816, upon the total of the merchandise or productions of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, her colonies, possessions, and dependencies, imported into the states of his said Sicilian Majesty, according to the tenor of article 4 of the present convention: it being understood that nothing in this article shall be construed to prevent the king of the Two Sicilies 242 from granting, if he shall think proper, the same reduction of duty to other foreign nations.
§ Art. 8. The subjects of the Ionian islands shall, in consequence of their being actually under the immediate protection of his Britannic majesty, enjoy all the advantages which are granted to the commerce, and to the subjects of Great Britain by the present treaty, it being well understood that, to prevent all abuses, and to prove its identity, every Ionian vessel shall be furnished with a patent, signed by the lord high commissioner or his representative.
§ Art. 9. The present convention shall be ratified, and the ratifications thereof exchanged in London, within the space of six months, or sooner if possible. In. witness whereof the respective plenipotentiaries have signed it, and thereunto affixed the seal of their arms.
§ Done at London, the 26th of September, 1816.
§ (L. S.) CASTLEREAGH.
§ (L. S.) CASTELCICALA.