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respectively appointed, as their Plenipotentiaries-His Holiness, the most eminent and right Reverend Cardinal Santiago Antonelli, his Secretary of State; and Her Majesty, his Excellency Don Antonio de los Rios y Rosas, her Ambassador Extraordinary to the Holy See; who, having interchanged their full powers, have agreed as follows:

ART. I. The Government of Her Catholic Majesty having taken into consideration the lamentable vicissitudes through which ecclesiastical property has passed at various periods, and being desirous of assuring to the church in perpetuity the peaceful possession of her property and rights, and of providing against any cause for the violation of the solemn Concordat concluded on the 16th March, 1851,* promises the Holy See, that no sale, commutation, or other kind of alienation of the said property, sell take place without the necessary authority from the said Holy See.

II. Wishing to carry definitively into effect and in a sure, lasting, and independent manner, the plan for the endowment of public worship and the clergy prescribed in the said Concordat, the Holy See and Her Catholic Majesty's Government agree on the following points:

III. Firstly, the Government of Her Majesty again formally recognizes the full and free right of the church to acquire, retain and enjoy the usufruct of every kind of property and valuables in fee and without limitation or reserve; any regulation to the contrary being therefore abrogated by this Convention, and especially, and so far as it is opposed hereto, the law of May the 1st, 1855.

The property which the church may hereafter acquire and possess in virtue of this right, shall not be calculated in the endowment assigned to her by the Concordat.

IV. In virtue of the same right Her Majesty's Government recognizes the church as proprietor of all and every part of the property which was restored to her by the Concordat. But, taking into consideration the state of deterioration of the greater part of such property as has not yet been alienated, the difficulty of administering it, and the various contradictory and inexact compu tations which have been made of the value of its rental; all which circumstances have hitherto rendered the endowment of the clergy uncertain and even incongruous, the Government of Her Majesty has proposed a commutation to the Holy See, power being given to the bishops to determine, in concurrence with their chapters, the value of the church property situated in their respective dioceses, and the Government offering in exchange for the whole of such property, and in consideration of its being ceded to the State, so many intransferable inscriptions in the 3 per cent. stock of the public *Vol. XLI, Page 141.

consolidated debt of Spain, as may be necessary to cover the total value of the said property.

V. The Holy See, being desirous that a fixed, secure, and independent endowment for public worship and for the clergy should be immediately carried into effect; having heard the Bishops of Spain, and recognizing in the present case, and in the combination of all the circumstances, the greater advantage of the church, has had no objection to the said permutation being realized in the following form:

VI. All property specified in Articles XXXI and XXXIII of the Concordat of 1851, shall be exempted from the commutation, and shall remain the property of the church; i.e., the orchards, gardens, palaces, and other edifices, which in any part of the diocese may be destined for the use and recreation of the bishops. The houses destined for the habitation of the clergymen shall also be reserved to them, with the orchards and fields thereto annexed, known under the denominations of glebes, manses, and others. The church shall also retain the ownership of buildings used as municipal schools, with their appurtenances, and of ecclesiastical libraries, houses of correction and prisons, and in general of all edifices which are in actual employment for public worship, and of those which are destined to the use and habitation of the regular clergy of both sexes, as well as those which may hereafter be destined to similar purposes.

None of the property mentioned in this Article can be taken into account in the endowment fixed for public worship, and the clergy, by the Concordat.

Finally, the good of the church being the motive that induces the Holy See to allow the before-mentioned commutation, if in any diocese the bishop should consider that owing to special circumstances it is desirable for the church to retain any possession situated therein; it shall be lawful for such possession to be exempted from the commutation, the value of the rental being included in the endowment of the clergy.

VII. On the valuation of the property subject to the commutation having been made by the bishops, inscriptions or bonds intransferable shall be immediately delivered to them, as well for the whole value of the said property as for the selling price of that which has been alienated since the Concordat. After this delivery has been effected, the bishops competently authorized by the Apostolic See shall make the formal cession to the State of all the property which, in accordance with this Convention, is subject to the commutation.

The inscriptions shall be charged to the clergy, as an integral

part of their endowment, and their respective diocesans shall apply the dividends to cover it in the manner prescribed in the Concordat.

VIII. Having regard to the peremptory nature of the necessities of the clergy, Her Majesty's Government binds itself to pay monthly the consolidated income belonging to each diocese.

IX. In case the income of the 3 per cent. public debt of the State should suffer any diminution or reduction, owing to arrangements by the temporal authorities, Her Majesty's Government binds itself henceforth to give to the church as many intransferable inscriptions in the stock which may be substituted for the 3 per cents., as may be necessary to cover completely the annual amount of that which is about to be issued in favour of the church; so that this income is not to be diminished or reduced under any eventuality or at any time.

X. The property belonging to collative benefices and other similar pious domestic foundations, which, on account of their peculiar nature and aim, and of the different rights which they derive therefrom, cannot be comprised in the commutation and cession here treated of, shall be the object of a special Convention, to be concluded between the Holy See and Her Catholic Majesty.

XI. Her Majesty's Government, in confirmation of the stipulations of Article XXXIX of the Concordat, again binds itself to pay to the church, in the form that shall be mutually agreed to, on account of the charges imposed, whether on the property already sold by the State as unencumbered, or on that which is now ceded to it, a large sum, which shall be as far as possible in proportion with the said charges. It also pledges itself to fulfil, on equitable terms, the obligations contracted by the State in the first and second paragraphs of the said Article.

A Mixed Commission shall be appointed, with power to recommend, which shall within the period of one year ascertain the charges weighing on the property mentioned in the first paragraph of this Article, and shall propose the amount of the large sum which the State will have to pay on account of them.

XII. The bishops, in conformity with the provisions of Article XXXV of the Concordat, shall distribute amongst the convents of nuns, existing in their respective dioceses, intransferable inscriptions corresponding in amount not only to the value of the property which they now cede to the State, but also of that proceeding from the same source, which may have been sold in virtue of the said Concordat or of the Law of May 1, 1855. The dividends on these inscriptions will be reckoned as part of the endowment of the said Convents.

XIII. The provisions of the Concordat respecting the supplementary sum which the State has to give for the payment of the pensions of the monks and nuns remain in full force, as also all that is laid down in Articles XXXV and XXXVI thereof, relative to the maintenance of religious houses and congregations which may be established in the Peninsula, and relative to the repair of the churches and other edifices, destined for public worship. The State undertakes also to build at its own expense the churches that are considered necessary, to grant pensions to the few existing expelled lay monks, and to provide for the endowment of nuns ex officio, chaplains, sacristans, and of the service of the churches of nuns in each diocese.

XIV. The revenue of the "Santa Cruzada," which forms part of the present endowment, shall henceforth be exclusively destined to the expenses of public worship; with the exception of the charges which exist on it by virtue of agreements entered into with the Holy See.

The annual amount of the said revenue shall be calculated on the average of the last 5 years, at a fixed sum, which shall be determined by agreement between the church and the State.

The State will supply, as heretofore, the sum wanting to cover the amount assigned to public worship by Article XXXIV of the Concordat.

XV. The annual tax, that was established by the 4th paragraph of Article XXXVIII of the Concordat, to complete the endowment of the church, is declared to be church property, and the said tax will be distributed and collected in the manner therein prescribed. However, the Government of Her Majesty undertakes to accede to any petition which the bishops, for local reasons or from any other cause, may make, to have the quotas of the tax belonging to their respective dioceses converted into intransferable inscriptions in the above-named consolidated debt, under the conditions and in the manner prescribed in Articles VII, VIII, and IX of this Convention.

XVI. In order to ascertain exactly the sum to which the said tax is to amount, each bishop, in concert with his chapter, shall with the least possible delay, make a definitive estimate of the endowment of his diocese, having regard in drawing it up to the rules laid down by the Concordat. And in order to fix definitively in each case the allotments, with respect to which a maximum and a minimum have been therein established, the bishops shall have the power of choosing a medium in concert with the Government, when the necessities of the church, and all other circumstances which have to be taken into account, so require.

XVII. The fresh delimitation of parishes will be proceeded with

CORRESPONDENCE between The United States and Prussia, relative to the Emigration of Prussian Subjects to The United States; and to the Liability of Naturalized American Citizens, Subjects of Prussia, to Military Service, on return to their native Country.—1840-1860.

SIR,

No. 1.-Mr. Wheaton to Mr. Forsyth.

Berlin, July 29, 1840. I HAVE the honour herewith to inclose copies of correspondence relating to the case of Johann Philipp Knoche, a naturalized citizen of The United States, born in Prussia, and claiming to be exempt from military service on his return to bis native country.

As it did not appear to me that his claim could be maintained, I had no hesitation in declining to interfere in the manner requested. I have, &c.

Hon. John Forsyth.

HENRY WHEATON.

(Inclosure 1.)—The very humble Petition of Johann Philipp Knoche, of Wunderthausen, district of Berleburg. Wunderthausen, July, 19, 1840.

(Translation.)

I EMIGRATED to America from my birth-place in my 21st year, in 1834, to seek my fortune in that country. I was 6 years America, most of it in Baltimore, where I became an American citizen.

I did not notify my going off from here to the local authority, or the district authority, or that of the jurisdiction, nor ask their permission. It is only since about the 20th of last month that my father wrote to me to come and fetch him, for he had also determined to emigrate to America. To my greatest astonishment, I learned that by my being here they will enrol me as a soldier, which throws me into the greatest perplexity; therefore, I make free to turn myself to your high authority, with the humble petition that you will inform me whether I must hold myself subject to the Prussian law as bound to military duty, or whether I am exempt, as an American citizen. I have an American passport and certificate of citizenship, which, if it be necessary, I can send to your Excellency by mail from here, where I must remain till the early part of the coming year, as my father has not yet sold his property, therefore cannot as yet emigrate.

as may be.

On this subject I humbly and dutifully request as early answer
With deepest regret, &c.
JOHANN PHILIPP KNOCHE

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