"1. That it shall be lawful for every vessel to navigate from one port to another, and upon the coasts of the belligerent powers. "2. That the effects belonging to the subjects of the belligerent powers shall be free upon neutral vessels, except merchandises of contraband. "3. That to determine what ought to be held a port blocked, that alone can be considered as such, in which the vessels, which would enter, shall be exposed to an evident danger, by the force, which with this view attacks it, and by its vessels, which shall have taken a station sufficiently near. "4. That neutral vessels may only be stopped for just causes, and upon evident proofs; that, without loss of time, right shall be done them, and the procedures shall be always uniform, prompt, and according to the laws; and that every time, besides reparation to those who shall have suffered without cause, there shall be also given a complete satisfaction for the insult committed against the flags of their Majesties. "ART. IV. To the end to protect the general commerce of their subjects, supported by the fundamental rules above laid down, her Majesty, the Empress of all the Russias, and his Majesty, the King of Denmark and Norway, have thought fit, each one in particular, in order to obtain these ends, to equip a proportional number of vessels of war and frigates. The squadron of each one of these respective powers shall be stationed in a certain latitude, and shall be employed in convoys, according to the exigence of the case, in which the commerce and the navigation of each nation may be. "ART. V. If the merchant ships of one of the contracting powers shall be in a part of the sea where the ships of war of their own nation are not stationed, and, for this reason, cannot enjoy their protection; in that case, the commander of the vessels of war of the other power, being thereto required, shall grant them, with good faith and sincerity, the necessary assistance; and in this case, the vessels of war and frigates of one of the two powers, shall protect and support the merchant vessels of the other; provided, nevertheless, that, under the shelter of the protection demanded, there be not exercised any prohibited commerce, contrary to the laws adopted by the neutrality. "ART. VI. The present convention cannot be retroactive, and, by consequence, we cannot take part in differences, which have arisen before its conclusion; at least, if these affairs do not concern the violences which continue still, and which tend to oppress all the neutral nations of Europe.