243 



stances, the writer of this report assumed the task of attempting to 

 impress the public mind with the probable state of affairs. He wrote 

 for the periodical and for the newspaper press ; he addressed letters to 

 persons interested in enterprises to ihe British colonial seas, and to 

 persons in official employments ; he continued his labors, in various 

 other wa3^s, for quite a year : he was unsupported, and abandoned the 

 design finall^'^ in despair. 



The American people remained in ignorance of the tenor of the cor- 

 respondence referred to above until August, 1S52, when it was em- 

 braced in the documents submitted by the President to the Senate, in 

 answer to a resolution of that body.* Lord Aberdeen's letter of March 

 10, 1845, t consenting to admit our fishermen into the Bay of Fundy, 

 "as the concession of a privilege,'''' and in relaxation of the new construc- 

 tion of the convention, and Mr. Everett's reply, of the 25th of the same 

 month,! accepting the same as the continuation of "a right" always 

 enjoyed, and never impaired, are properly inserted in this connexion. 

 The letter of our minister, it is to be observed, was among his last official 

 acts, as he was recalled almost innnediatel}^ alter communicating to 

 our government the conditions which, in opposition to the remonstrances 

 of the colonists, and the alleged "practical acquiescence" of our own 

 cabinet in the opinion of the crown lawyers, he had been able to se- 

 cure ; it closed the correspondence. In ability, it is in no respect infe- 

 rior to his letter of May 25th, 1844, already copied, and is among the 

 most valuable state papers in our archives, inasmuch as it is the only 

 one which we can cite to show our dissent to the British claim to the 

 Bay of Fundy, "as a haxj within the meaning of the treaty of 1818." 



His lordship said : 



" The undersigned, her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for 

 Foreign Affiiirs, duly referred to the colonial department the note which 

 Mr. Everett, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the 

 United States of America, did him the honor to address to him on the 

 25th of May last, respecting the case of the ' Washington,' fishing ves- 

 sel, and on the general question of the right of United States fish 

 ermen to pursue their caUing in the Bay of Fundy ; and having shortly 

 since received the answer of that department, the undersigned is now 

 enabled to make a reply to Mr. Everett's communication, which he trusts 

 will be found satisfactory. 



"In acquitting himself of this duty, the undersigned will not think 

 it necessary to enter into a lengthened argument in reply to the obser- 

 vations which have at different times been submitted to her Majesty's 

 government by Mr. Stevenson and Mr. Everett, on the subject of the 

 right of fishing in the Bay of Fundy, as claimed in behalf of the United 

 States citizens. The undersigned will confine himself to stating that 

 after the most deliberate reconsideration of the subject, and with every 

 desire to do full justice to the United States, and to view the claims 

 put forward on behalf of United States citizens in the most favor- 

 able light, her Majesty's government are nevertheless still constrained to 

 deny the right of United States citizens, under the treaty of 1818, to 

 fish in that part of the Bay of Fundy which, from its geographical 



*Ex. Doc. 100. tEx. Doc. 100, p. 135. X Ex. Doc 100, p. 136. 



