223 ^^w' 



to do;" and in renewing the request "for an acknowledgment of the 

 improper conduct of the persons engaged in " the enterprise, he re- 

 marked that " the British government was disposed to waive all demand 

 for the punishment of the offenders, as the act resulted apparently from 

 unpremeditated violence." 



It does not appear that Mr. Clay ever replied to this letter, or that 

 the required " acknowledgment" was ever made in any form. 



The naval and diplomatic officers of his Majesty attached far more 

 importance to this affair than it deserved. Admiral Lake stated, and 

 the British charge d'affaires repeated to Mr. Adams, that the Reindeer 

 and Ruby were rescued " by two schooners and an open boat, under 

 American colors, full of armed men, with muskets and fixed bayonets, 

 amounting to about one hundred, headed by a Mr. Howard,* of East- 

 port, who is said to be a captain in the United States militia." But the 

 truth is, that "Mr. Howard" was a mere stripling, and a merchant's 

 apprentice. I was a witness to the whole affray. The two vessels 

 in question were partly owned by young Howard's employers. As 

 they hove in sight under charge of Captain Hoare's prize-masters, a 

 party of some thirty persons, many of whom were boys, and without 

 " muskets " or weapons of any sort, were hastily collected and em- 

 barked. The deed was bravely clone, and at the moment won the 

 plaudits of grave men. Persons of mature years who deliberately arm 

 themselves to expound treaty stipulations, are not to be justified; but 

 the acts of generous, impulsive youth, admit of apology and extenua- 

 tion. 



The period of quiet which followed the transactions last noticed indi- 

 cates that Captain Hoare was too zealous, or that his successors were 

 remiss in the performance of their duty, or that the masters of our fish- 

 ing vessels suddenly reformed their practices, and conformed to the 

 provisions of the convention. In January, 1836, Mr. Bankhead, the 

 British charge d'affaires, at the instance of the colonial authorities, 

 called the attention of Mr. Forsyth, Secretary of State,t to '•'■ repeated 

 acts of irregularity committed by fishermen of the United States;" but 

 the papers which accompanied his note specify the encroachments of 

 a single vessel only — namely, the schooner Bethel, of Provincetown, 

 Massachusetts. Still, the President, " without waiting for an examina- 

 tion of the general complaint," or that of the solitary instance cited, 

 "directed the Secretary of the Treasury to instruct the collectors to in- 

 form the masters, owners, and others engaged in the fisheries, that com- 

 plaints have been made, and to enjoin upon those persons a strict ob- 

 servance of the limits assigned for taking, drying, and curing fish by 

 the American fishermen, under the convention of 1818." 



In March, of the same year, an act was passed by Nova Scotia of 

 extreme, and, in some of its provisions, of inexcusable severity. It pro- 

 vides (among other things not material to our present purpose) — 



That "officers of the colonial revenue, sheriffs, magistrates, and any 



* William A. Howard, subsequently a midshipman in the United States navy, and a cap- 

 tain in the revenue sei-vice. He was in command of the steam cutter McLane at the attack 

 on Vera Cruz, during the late war with Mexico. * 



t Executiva Document, 100, p. 55. 



