248 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 
the same shall never hereafter be called into question, or made the subject of 
dispute or difference between them. 
(Moore's International Arbitrations, 6, where the document is given in full.) 
The history of the organization operations and the decision of 
this commission is told so fully, judiciously, and withal so interestingly, 
by Moore in his invaluable work on the International Arbitrations of the 
United States that, from a general point of view the subject seems to 
be exhausted. I shall not attempt therefore to go over the ground 
covered by him, particularly as to its legal and personal phases, but 
shall in accordance with the plan of this present work, treat the subject 
rather from the point of view of local history and geography. There 
is, indeed, plenty of literature upon the subject, for it is discussed also 
by Burrage in his “ St. Croix Commission,” and there are many refer- 
ences to it in Amory’s “ Life of Sullivan,” and Rives’s “ Barclay.” 
The British commissioner was Thomas Barclay, of Annapolis, 
Nova Scotia, a prominent loyalist. The American commissioner was 
David Howell, an eminent lawyer of Rhode Island. Together they 
selected as the third commissioner Egbert Benson of New York, a 
lawyer of high reputation. The decisions of a majority were to be deci- 
sive. As secretary of their commission, they chose Edward Winslow, one 
of the foremost of New Brunswick’s many eminent loyalists. The com- 
mission was to employ such surveyors and other assistants as it deemed 
necessary, and was to decide the question according to the evidence 
submitted to it by the respective agents of the two governments. 
The American agent was James Sullivan, the Historian of Maine, and 
one of the most eminent lawyers of his time in Massachusetts, while 
the agent for Great Britain was Ward Chipman, Solicitor-General of 
New Brunswick, and another prominent loyalist. It is safe to say that 
these appointments could hardly have been improved upon. All of 
them were men of great ability, eminent in their respective walks of 
life, open-minded and eager to find the right. The sessions of the 
commission were marked by the greatest harmony,’ and resulted in a 
decision well-nigh universally accepted as fair and in accordance with 
the evidence. It was in fact a nearly ideal commission, ideally man- 
aged. 
The commission first met at Halifax in August, 1796, before the 
third member had been agreed upon, but transacted little business 


1 To such a degree as to call forth from the American Agent, James Sulli- 
van, this remark :—‘‘ Why shall not all the nations on earth determine their 
disputes in this mode, rather than choke the rivers with their carcasses, and 
stain the soil of continents with their slain ? The whole business has been 
proceeded upon with great ease, candor and good humor.” Amory’s “ Life of 
Sullivan,’ quoted by Moore, 17. 
