Paul Methuen (diplomat) gained valuable diplomatic experience and the esteem of King Pedro. During two absences of his father he became chargé d'affaires, rising to Minister on his father's appointment as Lord Chancellor of Ireland in 1697. He was unable to prevent a Portuguese-French alliance in 1701. When his father returned to Portugal a special envoy in 1702, they were successful in breaking the alliance in 1703. The led to the Methuen commercial treaty between England and Portugal, the basis of Britain's monopoly of Portuguese trade for much of the 18th century. His father remained in Portugal as ambassador. In 1705, Methuen served
Anglo-Japanese Treaty of Commerce and Navigation from that date became subject to the jurisdiction of Japanese courts. Other countries soon followed suit and the system of separate laws, which governed all the foreigners who were obliged to reside in the treaty ports, was thus abolished. A copy of the treaty can be found in the Foreign Office treaty database. The treaty was signed in London by John Wodehouse, 1st Earl of Kimberley for Britain and Aoki Shūzō for Japan. It was a necessary pre-condition to the Anglo-Japanese alliance of 1902, as an alliance cannot be formed between unequal contracting parties. One of the important contributors to