Part 8 (1/2)

The report of Mr Featherstonhaugh, erroneously believed, in England, to rest upon the results of actual exploration, had been sanctioned by the land would agree to any terms of settleer of collision on the frontier became daily iments had been poured into the British Provinces The arrest of McLeod, as we have already observed, had brought land would not have allowed a minister to blink the question Lord Palmerston is known to have written to Mr Fox, that the arrest of McLeod, under the authority of the State of New York, was universally regarded in England as a direct affront to the British government, and that such was the excitement caused by it, that, if McLeod should be condemned and executed, it would not be in the power either ofmen of both parties, to prevent immediate war

While this was the state of affairs with reference to the immediate relations of the two countries, Lord Pal France into a cooperation with the four other leading powers of Europe in the adoption of a policy, by the negotiation of the quintuple treaty, which would have left the United States in a position of dangerous insulation on the subject of the great e of adland, subsequent but by a few overnave way to that of Sir Robert Peel in the summer of 1841; it remained to be seen hat influence on the relations of the two countries Some circumstances occurred to put at risk the tendency toward an accoe of administration nearly simultaneous on both sides of the water A note of a very unco character, on the subject of the search of American vessels on the coast of Africa, had been addressed to Mr

Stevenson by Lord Palust, 1841, a day only before the expiration of Lord Melbourne's ministry To this note Mr

Stevenson replied in the same strain The answer of Lord Aberdeen, who had succeeded Lord Paln Affairs, bears date the 10th of October, 1841, and an elaborate rejoinder was returned by Mr Stevenson on the very day of his departure from London

Lord Aberdeen's reply to this note was of necessity addressed to Mr

Everett, who had succeeded Mr Stevenson It was dated on the 20th of Decened at London by the representatives of the five powers, and it contained an announcement of that fact

Happily, however, affairs were already taking a turn auspicious of better results From his first entrance on office as Secretary of State, Mr Webster, long faotiation relative to the boundary, had perceived the necessity of taking a ”new departure” The negotiation had broken down under its oeight It was like one of those lawsuits which, to the opprobriue; a disease of the body politic not merely chronic, but hereditary Early in the summer of 1841, Mr Webster had intiton, that the Aovernment was prepared to consider, and, if practicable, adopt, a conventional line, as the onlythe Gordian knot of the controversy This overture was, of course, conveyed to London

Though not leading to any result on the part of theout of office, it was embraced by their successors in the same wise and conciliatory spirit in which it had been made On the 26th of December, 1841, a note was addressed by Lord Aberdeen to Mr Everett, inviting hi day, when he coovernment to send a specialthe person selected as minister, and furnished with full powers to settle every question in controversy

This step on the part of the British government was as bold as it ise It met the difficulty in the face It justly assu spirit of conciliation on the part of the United States, and of a desire to bring matters to a practical result It was bold, because it was the last expedient for an amicable adjustment, and because its failure must necessarily lead to very serious and immediate consequences

In his choice of a minister, Lord Aberdeen was not less fortunate than he had been wise in proposing the measure Lord Ashburton was above the reach of the motives which influence politicians of an ordinary sta to ht of character at hoar resorts of popularity He was ani, and bound by kindly associations to this country There was certainly no public ree the confidence of his own governood-will of the opposite party, which were scarcely less essential to success The relations of personal friendshi+p contracted by Mr Webster with Lord Ashburton in 1839 have already been alluded to, as influencing the selection They decided Lord Ashburton in accepting the appointment The writer was informed by Lord Ashburton hi eous to both countries, but for his reliance on the upright and honorable character of the American Secretary

With the appointment of Lord Ashburton, the discussion of the main questions in controversy between the two countries, as far as it had been carried on in London, was transferred to Washi+ngton But as an earnest of the conciliatory spirit which bore sway in the British counsels, Lord Aberdeen had announced to Mr Everett, in the interval which elapsed between Lord Ashburton's appointment and his arrival at his place of destination, that the Queen's governris” and ”Seamew” in the African waters, and was prepared to indemnify their owners for the losses sustained

Notwithstanding the favorable circumstances under which the reat difficulties to be overcome soon disclosed themselves The points in dispute in reference to the boundary had for years been the subject of discussion, hout the country, but especially in Massachusetts and Maine (the States having an immediate territorial interest in its decision), and, above all, in the last-nareat questions emulated each other in the zeal hich they asserted the A and unani of the Netherlands arrived, the firm purpose of General Jackson to accept it was subdued The writer of these pages was informed by the late Mr Forsyth, while Secretary of State, that, when the award reached this country, General Jackson regarded it as definitive, and was disposed, without consulting the Senate, to issue his procla it as such; and that he was driven from this course by the representations of his friends in Maine, that it would change the politics of the State He was accustomed to add, in reference to the inconveniences caused by the rejection of the award, and the still more serious evils to be anticipated, that ”it was soular that the only occasion of importance in his life in which he had allowed himself to be overruled by his friends, was one of all others in which he ought to have adhered to his own opinions”

From the diplomatic papers contained in the sixth volume of the present edition of Mr Webster's works it appears that the first step taken by Mr Webster, after receiving the directions of the President in reference to the negotiation, was to invite the cooperation of Massachusetts and Maine, the territory in dispute being the property of the two States, and under the jurisdiction of the latter The extent of the treaty- power of the United States, in a matter of such delicacy as the cession of territory clais to the more difficult class of constitutional doctrines We have just seen both the theory and practice of General Jackson on this point The adranted that the full consent of Massachusetts and Maine was necessary to any adjustreat dispute on the principle of mutual cession and equivalents, or any other principle than that of the ascertainreement, mutual coly addressed to the governors of the two States Massachusetts had anticipated the necessity of the measure, and islature of Maine was promptly convened for the same purpose by the late Governor Fairfield Four parties were thus in presence at Washi+ngton for the otiation: the United States and Great Britain, Massachusetts and Maine Recollecting that the question to be settled was one which had defied all the arts of diplomacy for half a century, it seemed to a distant, and especially a European observer, as if the last experi every former step in its necessary conal and ignominious The course pursued by the Aotiation relative to the boundary contingent upon the approval of the State coarded in Europe as decidedly oh degree of political courage thus to put the absolute control of the subject, to a certain extent, out of the hands of the national governe fully warranted by the event It is now evident that this mode of procedure was the only one which could have been adopted with any hope of success Though complicated in appearance, it was in reality the simplest mode in which the cooperation of the States could have been secured The commissions were, upon the whole, happily constituted; they were framed in each State without reference to party views By their presence in Washi+ngton, it was in the power of the Secretary of State to avail himself, at every difficult conjuncture, of their counsel Limited in number, they yet represented the public opinion of the two States, as fully as it could have been done by the entire body of their legislatures; while it is quite evident that any attee deliberative bodies at home the discussion of the separate points which arose in the negotiation, would have been physically impossible and politically absurd The coh, Edward Kent, William P Preble, and John Otis; and on the part of Massachusetts, Messrs Abbott Lawrence, John Mills, and Charles Allen

While we na the commissions, a tribute of respect is also due to the patriotism of the States immediately concerned, and especially of Maine To devolve on any individuals, however high in the public regard, a power of transferring, without ratification or appeal, a portion of the territory of the State, for such consideration as those individuals e to be adequate, was a measure to be expected only in a case of clear necessity and high confidence Mr Webster is known to have regarded this with the ut-point of the whole attempt His letter to Governor Fairfield states the case with equal strength and fairness, and puts the course there recoree to another arbitration, as had been offered by the preceding adland The fate of the negotiation ht be considered as involved in the success of this appeal to the chief h him to his constituents It is said that, when Mr Webster heard that the legislature of Maine had adopted the resolutions for the commission, he went to President Tyler and said, with evident satisfaction and some animation, ”_The crisis is past!_”

A considerable portion, though not the whole, of the official correspondence between the Secretary of State and the other parties to the negotiation is contained in the sixth volume of this collection The documents published exhibit full proof of the ability hich the argument was conducted They probably furnish but an inadequate speciotiation to a successful result National, State, and individual susceptibilities were to be respected and soothed; adverse interests, real or iinary, to be consulted; the ordeal of the Senate to be passed through, after every other difficulty had been overcome; and all this in an atmosphere as little favorable to such an operation as can well be is,”

nor the ability and experience of Messrs Ada popularity, had been able to bring about, was effected under the adh that ad for want of harmony between some of the members and the head, and between that head and the party which had brought hiher tribute can be paid to the ability and teht to the work

It was, however, in truth, an adjusteous to all parties There is not an individual of common sense or common conscience in Maine or Massachusetts, in the United States or Great Britain, ould noish it disturbed It took from Maine a tract of land northwest of the St John, which the people of Maine believed to belong to theh that we think ourselves right; the other party thinks the sae, there must be compromise The tract of land in question, for any purpose of cultivation or settlement, ithout value; and had it been otherwise, it would not have been worth the cost of a naval ar of the abo blood on such an issue But the disputed title to the worthless tract of hout a great part of the year, was not ceded gratuitously We obtained the navigation of the St John, the natural outlet of the whole country, without which the territory watered by it would have been of coood natural boundary as far as the course of the river was followed; and we established the line which we claimed at the head of the Connecticut, on Lake Champlain, and on the upper lakes; territorial objects of considerable interest Great Britain had equal reason to be satisfied with the result For her the territory northwest of the St John, worthless to us, had a geographical and political value; it gave her a convenient connection between her provinces, which was all she desired Both sides gained the only object which really was of importance to either, a settlement by creditable means of a wearisoe and curse of war

Both governments appear to have been fortunate in the constitution of the joint co line of boundary Mr Albert Smith, of Maine, was appointed commissioner on the part of the United States, with Major Jaineers as head of a scientific corps, and Mr Edward Webster[26] as his secretary On the part of Great Britain, Lieutenant-Colonel J B B Estcourt, of her Majesty's service, was appointed coineers, as principal astronoentlemen were also employed on both sides Great hars and results of the commission The lines were accurately run, and that part of thenated by rivers was marked all the way by substantial cast-iron monuments, with suitable inscriptions, at every les; and wherever the lines extended through forests, the trees were cut down and cleared to the width of thirty feet All the islands in the St John were also designated with iron overned; and upon that and all other strea portions of the boundary, monuments were erected at the junction of every branch with the reat and difficult questions included in this adjustarded by Grotius and other respectable authorities as the duty of states, by the law of nations Other authorities reject this doctrine;[27] and if it be the law of nations, it requires for its execution so much administrative machinery as to be of no practical value without treaty stipulations The treaty of 1794 with Great Britain (Jay's treaty) itives, in cases of ery; and the case of Jonathan Robbins, uave a political notoriety to that feature of the treaty not favorable to its renewal in subsequent negotiations

This treaty stipulation expired by its own limitation in 1806

Besides the convenience of such an understanding on the part of the two great coe, personal appearance, and manners render mutual escape so easy, the condition of the frontier of the United States and Canada was such as to make this provision all but necessary for the preservation of the peace of the two countries An extensive secret organization existed in the border States, the object of which was, under the delusive name of ”sympathy,” to foh an agreereat deal of political agitation unfriendly to border peace, murder and arson were, of course, within its provisions It appears from the testimony of the parties best informed on the subject, that the happiest consequences flowed froton No es,” ”associations for the Liberty of Canada,” or violences offered or retaliated across the line The mild, but certain influence of law imposed a restraint, which even costly and formidable military means had not been found entirely adequate to produce

The stipulations for extradition in the treaty of Washi+ngton appear to have served as a model for those since entered into between the most considerable European powers A convention for the saland and France on the 13th of February, 1843, and other siotiated Between the United States and Great Britain the operation of this part of the treaty has, in all ordinary cases, been entirely satisfactory Persons charged with the crimes to which its provisions extend have been mutually surrendered; and the cause of public justice, and in many cases important private interests, have been materially served on both sides of the water

Not inferior in importance and delicacy to the other subjects provided for by the treaty was that which concerned the measures for the suppression of ”the slave-trade” on the coast of Africa In order to understand the difficulties hich Mr Webster had to contend on this subject, a brief history of the question iven The law of nations, as understood and expounded by the most respectable authorities and tribunals, European and Aht of search of neutral vessels in tierents

It recognizes no right of search in tiht of visitation and a right of search To coainst the will of her commander, to come to and be boarded, for any purpose whatsoever, is an exercise of the right of search which the law of nations concedes to belligerents for certain purposes To do this in time of peace, under whatever name it may be excused or justified, is to perform an act of mere power, for which the law of nations affords no warrant The moral quality of the action, and the estimate formed of it, will of course depend upon circumstances, motives, and manner If an armed shi+p board a vessel under reasonable suspicion that she is a pirate, and when there is no other convenientthat point, there would be no cause of blaroundless

The British govern a stop to the traffic in slaves, has at different times entered into conventions with several of the states of Europe authorizing a -vessels of each contracting party by the arht to search the vessels of nations not parties to them But if an armed shi+p of either party should search a vessel of a third power under a reasonable suspicion that she belonged to the other contracting party, and was pursuing the slave-trade in contravention of the treaty, this act of power, performed by mistake, and with requisite moderation and circuround of offence It would, however, authorize a reasonable expectation of indeht suffer by the detention, as in other cases of injury inflicted on innocent persons by public functionaries acting with good intentions, but at their peril

The governislative branches, has at alnance to enter into conventions for a ht of search It has not yielded to any other power in its aversion to the slave-trade, which it was the first governrew principally out of the injuries inflicted upon the Aes in the i the wars of Napoleon, and incidentally to the belligerent right of search and the enforcement of the Orders in Council and the Berlin and Milan Decrees

Besides a wholesale confiscation of American property, hundreds of American seamen were impressed into the shi+ps of war of Great Britain

So deeply had the public sensibility been wounded on both points, that any extension of the right of search by the consent of the United States was for a long tieneral as it was, yielded at last to the detestation of the slave-trade Toward the close of the second administration of Mr Monroe the executive had been induced, acting under the sanction of resolutions of the two houses of Congress, to agree to a convention with Great Britain for a ed in the traffic This convention was negotiated in London by Mr Rush on the part of the United States, Mr

Canning being the British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs