excepted un

of any part of the shores of the United States, and lying between lines to be River St John, drawn due east from the points where the aforesaid Boundaries between Nova der the Trea"Scotia on the one part, and East Florida on the other part, shall respectively ties from the "touch the Bay of Fundy AND the Atlantick Ocean.* * * *

"But notwithstanding the clear right of these States, and the importance of "the object, yet they are so much influenced by the dictates of religion and "humanity, and so desirous of complying with the earnest request of their Allies, that if the line to be drawn from the mouth of the Lake Nepissing to "the head of the Mississippi cannot be obtained without continuing the war for "that purpose, you are hereby empowered to agree to some other line between "that point and the River Mississippi; provided the same shall in no part thereof "be to the southward of latitude 45° north.

"And in like manner, if the eastern Boundary above described cannot be "obtained, you are hereby empowered to agree, that the same shall be afterwards adjusted by Commissioners, to be duly appointed for that purpose, according to "such line as shall be by them settled and agreed on, as the Boundary between "that part of the State of Massachusetts Bay, formerly called the Province of Maine, and the Colony of Nova Scotia, agreeably to their respective rights." Subsequently, in the year 1782, after the negotiations had been actually opened, the American Congress again took these matters into their serious consideration, and concurred in a report made to them by a Committee of their House, appointed to investigate the subject of Boundaries with reference to the above-cited instructions.

Of that report, which may be seen at length in the above-mentioned "Secret Journals of the Old Congress," we cite the following extracts.

The Committee reported "that they had collected facts and observations, "which they recommend to be referred to the Secretary for Foreign Affairs, "to be by him digested, completed and transmitted to the Ministers Pleni"potentiary for negotiating a peace, for their information and use.

*

"With respect to the Boundaries of the States, Massachusetts claims under the charter granted by William and Mary on the "17th October, 1691.

*

"It is incumbent on us to show that the territorial rights of the thirteen "United States, while in the character of British Colonies, were the same with "those defined in the instructions given to Mr. J. Adams on the

August, 1779.

*

*

*

Atlantic
Rivers.

Appendix,

p. 40.

day of

grants, Appendix, that we

So fair are our pretensions rendered by the united operation of the charters, Royal commissions, and Indian cessions, "shall content ourselves with reviewing the objections which will most probably "be urged against them, without entering into the direct proofs of our titles. First objection. Even upon the supposition that the Charter of Massa"chusetts is valid so as to cover the vacant lands, still it does not follow that "St. John's River is part of its eastern Boundary; for that River is contended "to be in Nova Scotia under the expression of the New Charter of Massa"chusetts in 1691, which conveys the country between the Province of Maine and Nova Scotia. The south-west Boundary of Nova Scotia, therefore, will regulate this claim. But it is well known that in the altercation between France and Great Britain upon this very subject in 1751, Acadia or Nova "Scotia was asserted by the latter to be bounded by Pentagoet or Penobscot "River.

66

Answer. "It is to be observed, that when the Boundaries of the United "States were declared to be an ultimatum, it was not thought advisable to con"tinue the war merely to obtain territory as far as St. John's River; but that "the dividing line of Massachusetts and Nova Scotia was to be consigned to future "settlement. It must be confessed, also, that this country, which is said in the

E

P. 41.

River St. John,
excepted un..
der the Trea-
ties from the
Atlantic
Rivers.

Appendix, p. 42.

New Charter to border on Nova Scotia and the Province of Maine, on opposite “sides, and which goes under the name of Sagadahock, cannot be proved to extend "to the River St. John as clearly as to that of St. Croix. But there is some reason notwithstanding to believe, that Nova Scotia was never supposed by the British King in any grant to his subjects to come to the south of St. John's River, although he might have exacted from France a relinquishment of the lands to "the River Penobscot, or even Kennebec, as a part of Nova Scotia."

The Committee, after further reasoning upon the supposed Boundaries laid down in various old charters affecting that country, in which reasoning the frequent recurrence of the terms suppose and appear" plainly indicate that they were completely in the dark on a subject so perfectly vague and uncertain, conclude this part of their report by saying;

"We are obliged to urge probabilities, because in the early possession of a rough unreclaimed country, accuracy of lines cannot be much attended to. "But we wish that the north-eastern Boundary of Massachusetts may be left to future discussion, when other evidences may be obtained, which the war has " removed from us."

It must be remarked, that at the period of this report all the old charters, grants and delimitations of provinces were published and perfectly well known; yet, having all those documents within their reach, the report above recorded was made, and the instructions of 1779 confirmed by the Congress, and acted upon by the American Plenipotentiaries.

Now from the whole body of the above-recited documents we collect the following important particulars:

1st. That the mouth of the St. John River was, from the first, specifically described as being in the Bay of Fundy, while the Bay of Fundy was described as distinct from the Atlantic Ocean.

2ndly. That the north-west angle of Nova Scotia was, after all the consideration which the subject had undergone in Congress from 1779 to 1782, placed deliberately at that time, by the Americans themselves, at the source of the River St. John. For the Boundary of the United States is in that projet described as commencing north by the north-west angle of Nova Scotia, and thence running westward; east, by the River St. John from its source to its mouth. But there is no mention made of any connecting line between the point of commencement of the northern, and that of the eastern line; therefore, they must be taken as identical.

3rdly. We collect that such being the assumed position of the north-west angle of Nova Scotia, the highlands intended to divide the rivers falling into the Atlantic Ocean from those falling into the River St. Lawrence, are described in the very same terms which they now retain in the definitive Treaty of 1783.

Hence we deduce, that the highlands designated in the projet being then intended to divide the Androscoggin, Kennebec, and Penobscot Rivers alone, from those falling into the St. Lawrence, to the exclusion of the St. John, the highlands so described are still intended to divide the same rivers; and that from those rivers, therefore, the St. John is still intended to be excepted.

The position assumed by the United States for the north-west angle of Nova Scotia, it is true, was, as we shall presently see, abandoned by them in the course of the negotiations, and another assumed further east; but the phraseology respecting the highlands, as dividing certain rivers, having been preserved in its original terms, it is to be inferred that the Negotiators had the same highlands still in view, and that from first to last the River St. John was considered by them as entirely excepted from the class of rivers described as falling into the Atlantic Ocean.

The above-cited instructions were so strictly adhered to, and acted upon by the American Commissioners at Paris, that in the first projet of an article respecting Boundaries, submitted by them to the British Negotiator, scarcely

any deviation was made from the projet which has been already described as River St. John, transmitted with those instructions to the American Commmissioners.

excepted under the Trea

Atlantic

In the body of the article so submitted, the eastern Boundary, from the ties from the source of the St. John to its mouth, was still retained; but a note was ap- Rivers. pended to that article by the American Plenipotentiary, in which, conformably to the contingent instruction above quoted, it was proposed that the whole eastern Boundary should be referred to the decision of Commissioners, to be appointed subsequently to the signature of the Treaty. This circumstance seems to prove that what is termed in the Treaties the north-west angle of Nova Scotia, as well as the limits of Massachusetts Bay, were by the Americans themselves considered as subjects totally unmanageable from their hopeless obscurity and uncertainty.

The article thus drawn up was referred by the British Plenipotentiary at Paris to his Government, who were so dissatisfied with the proposition that they sent out to Paris one of the Under Secretaries of State, for the express purpose of combating it.

In confirmation of the preceding assertions we again refer to American do- * cuments.

In a work, entitled the "Private Correspondence of Dr. Franklin," we find the following authentic account, in brief, of what occurred during this important period of the negotiations in 1782. We transcribe the extracts in extenso, since they are too important and conclusive to allow the omission of any part of them.

1. Extract of a letter from Dr. Franklin to the Honble. Robert Livingston, dated Passy, 14th October, 1782.

"We have now made several preliminary propositions, which the English Minister, Mr. Oswald, has approved and sent to his Court. He thinks they "will be approved there, but I have some doubts. In a few days, however, the answer expected will determine. By the first of these articles the King of "Great Britain renounces for himself and successors all claim and pretension to "dominion or territory, within the thirteen United States; and the Boundaries are described as in our instructions, except that the line between Nova Scotia "and New England is to be settled by Commissioners after the Peace."

66

2. Extract of a letter from Dr. Franklin to the Honble. R. Livingston, dated Passy, December 5, 1782.

You desire to be very particularly acquainted with every step which tends "to a negotiation. I am therefore encouraged to send you the first part of the journal, which accidents and a long severe illness interrupted, but which from "notes I have by me may be continued, if I thought proper. In its present "state it is hardly fit for the inspection of Congress, certainly not for public "view; I confide it therefore to your prudence.

"The arrival of Mr. Jay, Mr. Adams, and Mr. Laurens, relieved me from "much anxiety, which must have continued, if I had been left to finish the Treaty alone; and it has given me the more satisfaction, as I am sure the "business has profited by their assistance.

Much of the summer had been taken up in objecting against the Powers given by Great Britain; and in removing those objections, in (Q. the?) using any expressions that might imply an acknowledgement of our independence, "seemed at first industriously to be avowed. (Q. avoided?) But our refusing "otherwise to treat, at length induced them to get over that difficulty; and then we came to the point of making propositions. Those made by Mr. Jay and me, "before the arrival of the other gentlemen, you will find in the enclosed paper, No. 1, which was sent by the British Plenipotentiaries to London for the King's consideration. After some weeks an Under Secretary, Mr. Strachey, arrived, "with whom we had much contestation about the Boundaries, and other articles "which he proposed; we settled some, which he carried to London, and returned with the propositions, some adopted, others omitted or altered, and

excepted un

RiverSt.John," new ones added, which you will see, Paper No. 2. We spent many days in disder the Trea-puting, and at length agreed on and signed the preliminaries, which you will ties from the "receive by this conveyance."

Atlantic
Rivers.

Paper No. 1, above referred to.

Articles agreed upon by and between Richard Oswald, Esq. the Commis"sioner of his Britannic Majesty for treating of peace with the Commissioners of the United States of America, on behalf of His said Majesty, on the one part, and Benjamin Franklin, and John Jay, two of the Commissioners of the said States for treating of peace with the Commissioners of His said Majesty, on their behalf, on the other part.

Whereas reciprocal advantages and mutual convenience are found by experience to form the only permanent foundation of peace and friendship be"tween States, it is agreed to frame the articles of the proposed Treaty on such principles of liberal equity and reciprocity, as that partial advantages (those "seeds of discord) being excluded, such a beneficial and satisfactory intercourse "between the two countries may be established, as to promise and secure to both "the blessings of perpetual peace and harmony.

1st. "His Britannic Majesty acknowledges the said United States, viz., "New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, to be free, sovereign, "and independent States; that he treats with them as such; and for Himself, His "Heirs and Successors, relinquishes all claims to the government, propriety and territorial rights of the same, and every part thereof; and that all disputes which might arise in future on the subject of the Boundaries of the said United "States, may be prevented, it is hereby agreed and declared that the following are, and shall remain to be, their Boundaries, viz. :

66

"The said States are bounded north by a line to be drawn from the north-west angle of Nova Scotia along the highlands, which divide those rivers that empty "themselves into the River St. Lawrence from those which fall into the Atlantic, to the north-westernmost head of Connecticut River; thence down along the "middle of that river to the 45th degree of north latitude, and thence due west "in the latitude forty-five degrees north from the Equator, to the north-western"most side of the River St. Lawrence, or Cataraguy; thence straight to the "Lake Nipissing, and thence straight to the source of the River Mississippi: west, by a line to be drawn along the middle of the River Mississippi, to where "the said line shall intersect the 31st degree of north latitude: south, by a line to "be drawn due east from the termination of the line last mentioned, in the lati"tude of 31 degrees north of the Equator to the middle of the River Apalachi"cola, or Catahouchi; thence along the middle thereof to its junction with the Flint River; thence straight to the head of St. Mary's River; thence down along the middle of St. Mary's River to the Atlantic Ocean and east, by a "line to be drawn along the middle of the St. John's River from its source to its "mouth in the Bay of Fundy; comprehending all islands within twenty leagues "of any part of the shores of the United States, and lying between lines to be "drawn due east from the points where the aforesaid Boundaries, between Nova "Scotia on the one part, and East Florida on the other, shall respectively touch "the Bay of Fundy AND the Atlantic Ocean."

"Paris, 8th October, 1782.

"A true copy of which has been agreed on between the American Commis"sioners and me, to be submitted to His Majesty's consideration.

"Alteration to be made in the Treaty, respecting the Boundaries of Nova "Scotia, viz. :

East, the true line between which and the United States shall be settled by "Commissioners, as soon as conveniently may be after the war.

3. Extract of a letter from D'. Franklin to the Honble. R. Livingston, Secre- River St. John tary for Foreign Affairs, dated Passy, 14th Dec'. 1782.

SIR,

excepted under the Treaties from the Atlantic

"We have the honour to congratulate Congress on the signature of the Rivers. "Preliminaries of a Peace between the Court of Great Britain and the United "States of America, to be inserted in a Definitive Treaty so soon as the terms "between the Crowns of France and Great Britain shall be agreed on. A copy "of the articles is here enclosed."-(N.B. The second article is there described such as it now stands in the Treaty of 1783.)

"Remarks on Article II. relative to the Boundaries :

"The Court of Great Britain insisted on retaining all the territories comprehended within the Province of Quebec, by the Act of Parliament respecting "it. They contended that Nova Scotia should extend to the River Kennebec."

Here, then, we learn that the projet of the article above-cited respecting boundaries, having been referred to the British Ministry, remained in London some weeks under the consideration of that Government; that neither the scheme of settlement contained in the body of the article, nor that referred to in the note appended to the article, were agreed to by the British Government; that is, that neither the one nor the other "could be obtained;" that on the return of the projet from London "there was much contestation about "boundaries;" that some were settled and carried back once more to London by the Under Secretary of State, who returned after a time to Paris with the propositions, some adopted, others omitted or altered, and new ones added.* We further learn that during these disputes Great Britain "insisted on retaining all the territories comprehended within the Province of Quebec by the Act of "Parliament of 1774," and that "she contended that Nova Scotia should extend to the River Kennebec." After all this persevering contention, the Preliminary Articles of 1782 at length came out, displaying the provisions respecting boundaries such as they now stand in the Definitive Treaty of 1783.

The evidence of Mr. Adams and Mr. Jay (co-plenipotentiaries with Dr. Franklin in negotiating the Treaty of 1782-3) relative to the same matters, subsequently taken on oath before the Commissioners appointed under the Treaty of 1794, for ascertaining the true St. Croix, corroborates in every point the information given by Dr. Franklin, and even contains some important disclosures in addition to it.

"The British Commissioners," says Mr. Adams, "first claimed to Piscataqua River, then to Kennebec, then to Penobscot, and at length to St. Croix, "as marked on Mitchell's map."

That map, Mr. Adams had declared, was the only map or plan which was used by the Commissioners at their public conferences.

66

Mr. Adams proceeds to say, "one of the American Commissioners at first proposed the River St. John as marked on Mitchell's map; but his colleagues observing, that as the St. Croix was the River mentioned in the charter of Massachusetts Bay, they could not justify insisting on the St. John as an ulti“matum, he agreed with them to adhere to the charter of Massachusetts Bay." "The ultimate agreement," repeats Mr. Adams, in reply to another interrogatory," was to adhere to the charter of Massachusetts Bay, and to the "St. Croix River, mentioned in it, which was supposed to be delineated in "Mitchell's map."

Now we have already seen in the extracts above given from the "Secret Journals," what were the then generally received notions and intentions of Congress respecting the Boundaries of the thirteen United States, as founded on their adherence to the charter of Massachusetts Bay; and that, consistently

The Paper in which these alterations were embodied is not annexed to Dr. Franklin's Letter above cited, in the work from which those extracts are taken.

F