ARTICLE VIII. The navigation of the Mississippi, from its source to the ocean, shall forever remain free and open to the subjects of Great Britain and citizens of the United States. SEPARATE ARTICLE. It is hereby understood and agreed, that in case Great Britain, at the end of the present war, shall be, or be put in possession of West Florida, the line of north boundary between the said province and the United States, shall be a line drawn from the mouth of the river Yazoo, where it unites with the river Mississippi, due east to the river Apalachicola. * * * * * ARTICLE PROPOSED AND READ TO THE COMMISSIONERS, BEFORE SIGNING THE PRELIMINARY ARTICLES.[13] It is agreed, that his Britannic Majesty will earnestly recommend it to his Parliament to provide for and make a compensation to the merchants and shopkeepers of Boston, whose goods and merchandise were seized and taken out of their stores, warehouses and shops, by order of General Gage and others of his commanders and officers there; and also to the inhabitants of Philadelphia, for the goods taken away by his army there; and to make compensation, also, for the tobacco, rice, indigo, and negroes, &c. seized and carried off by his armies under Generals Arnold, Cornwallis, and others, from the States of Virginia, North and South Carolina, and Georgia, and also for all vessels and cargoes, belonging to the inhabitants of the said United States, which were stopped, seized, or taken, either in the ports, or on the seas, by his Governors, or by his ships of war, before the declaration of war against the said States. And it is farther agreed, that his Britannic Majesty will also earnestly recommend it to his Parliament to make compensation for all the towns, villages, and farms, burnt and destroyed by his troops, or adherents, in the said United States. FACTS. There existed a free commerce, upon mutual faith, between Great Britain and America. The merchants of the former credited the merchants and planters of the latter, with great quantities of goods, on the common expectation, that the merchants, having sold the goods, would make the accustomed remittances; that the planters would do the same by the labor of their negroes, and the produce of that labor, tobacco, rice, indigo, &c. England, before the goods were sold in America, sends an armed force, seizes those goods in the stores; some even in the ships that brought them, and carries them off; seizes, also, and carries off the tobacco, rice, and indigo, provided by the planters to make returns, and even the negroes, from whose labor they might hope to raise other produce for that purpose. Britain now demands that the debts shall, nevertheless, be paid. Will she, can she, justly, refuse making compensation for such seizures?