FROM THE KING HIS MAJESTY

Having judged appropriate to send to the Island of La Désirade, the Young men of his Kingdom, whose irregular conduct would have obliged their parents to request their exportation to the Colonies, without removing from them the hope of an amendment and of a better conduct for the future; His Majesty has resolved to explain his intentions on this subject by the present ordinance.

Article I
When young family members fall into cases of misbehavior, capable of exposing the honor and tranquility of their families, or for which they have been caught by the Police, without however having been guilty of crimes for which the laws have pronounced punishment, their parents will be permitted to request from the Secretary of State having the Department of War & Navy, their exportation to the island of La Désirade, by sending him proof of the reasons which oblige them to make this request; and if these proofs are found to be legitimate, they will be allowed, by virtue of an order from His Majesty, which will be given to them for this purpose, to have the said Young people taken, at their own expense, to the port of Rochefort, where they will be placed and held in prison, at the disposal of the Commandant of the Navy at the said port, until the time of their embarkation, to be taken to the island of La Désirade; and, from the day of their arrival at Rochefort, they will be held and fed at the expense of His Majesty.

Article II
At the departure of each liner for the Windward Islands, the number of said Young people who have been brought to Rochefort since the departure of the previous liner will be taken on board; they will be consigned, by the Commandant of the Navy at Rochefort, to the Officer in command of the liner, who will answer to His Majesty for the custody of said passengers, taking for this purpose all the precautions he deems appropriate : he will have them fed on board on the Sailors' ration, on arrival at Martinique, he will consign them to the Governor General of that island, so as not to be diverted from his navigation, and he will obtain a receipt for them, which, on his return to France, he will send to the Secretary of State in charge of the Department of War and the Navy, to confirm that he has handed over the said passengers to the said Governor General.

Article III
As soon as they arrive in Martinique, the said Governor General will give his orders for them to be placed and kept in prison, until such time as a safe opportunity arises for them to be transferred to the island of La Désirade, where he will have them handed over to the Commander of the said island; and during their stay in Martinique, he will have them fed on the Soldier's ration.

Article IV 
On their arrival at La Désirade, the Commandant will assign them a canton of the island, with good terrain and fine air. He will have them housed in simple huts, which he will have built for this purpose; he will forbid them to use or carry any strong weapons; he will take all possible measures to prevent their escape from the island, expressly forbidding them to change their name and dress, lest, by this disguise, they pass themselves off as inhabitants or sailors, and as such find the means to embark on local boats and canoes, in order to pass to the neighboring islands.

Article V 
The said young men will be fed, at La Désirade, the simple rations of a Soldier; but the Commandant will assign them a common plot of land, where they will be able to work the land; and the benefit they may derive therefrom, either in subsistence or in other local commodities, will be for their benefit. To this end, they will be issued free of charge, from one to the next, five tools suitable for cultivating the land, and a quantity of seeds proportionate to the land they will be able to sow. With regard to their clothing, they will be issued every year with a vest, a jacket and two pairs of breeches made of lattice cloth, three soldier's shirts, two collars, two pairs of thread stockings, three pairs of shoes and a hat. When they are ill, they will be received in hospital as Soldiers. It is His Majesty's wish that the said treatment be invariably observed with regard to these Young Men.

Article VI 
The Commandant of La Désirade will pay close attention to the conduct and work of these young people, and will even distinguish them by class, as he recognizes in them a greater or lesser degree of amendment, and when it appears to him that some of them deserve to return to the order of society, he will report to the Governor General, resident in Guadeloupe, asking him to grant them a plot of land on the island of Marie-Galante, where they can put to good use the kind of work to which they have become accustomed; and at the same time report to the Secretary of State in charge of the Department of War and the Navy, so that their parents can be informed of the change in these young people's behavior, and urged to send them help to enable them to work on their new homes, or to call them back to their families; and in the event that the families of the aforementioned young people wish, despite their change of conduct, to keep them away, in order to benefit from their property, in whole or in part, they will be granted full protection by the Governors & Intendants of Guadeloupe, in order to put them in a position to pursue recovery through the ordinary channels of justice, should they wish to remain in the Colonies, or by leaving them free to return to France, after having ascertained the change in their conduct.

Article VII 
It is His Majesty's will that the Commandant of La Désirade render monthly to the Governor General of Guadeloupe a detailed account of the conduct of these Young men. It is also His Majesty's wish that the said Commandant send every six months, to the Secretary of State in charge of the Department of War and the Navy, a list of these Young men, apostilled with the state of their health, their conduct, and their other good or bad qualities, with a separate statement of the expenses incurred by their maintenance during this time.

Article VIII 
To put the aforementioned Commandant of La Désirade in a position to contain these Young people, His Majesty will give orders to send one more company of Infantry to the aforementioned island, to provide him with support in case of need, and to attach to him a few trusted Officers & Sergeants, who can closely inspect the conduct of these young people; allowing His Majesty to put them in prison, or even in a dungeon, in irons, if there were any among them who gave him reason to apprehend any mutiny or revolt on their part.

Command & Order
His Majesty to the Governors, Lieutenants General & Intendants of the islands of Martinique, Guadeloupe & dependencies, as well as to the Commandant of La Désirade, and to all other Officers as may be required, to ensure the execution of the present ordinance, each in accordance with the law.

Fait à Compiègne, on July 15, 1763. Signed LOUIS. 
And below DUC DE CHOISEUL. 

A PARIS, DE L'IMPRIMERIE ROYALE