296 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 
line drawn due north from the source of the Saint Croix River to the High- 
lands ; along the said Highlands which divide those rivers that empty them- 
selves into the river St. Lawrence, from those which fall into the Atlantic 
Ocean, to the northwesternmost head of Connecticut River ; thence Mes 
and thence down along the middle of St. Marys River [Florida] to the Atlan- 
tic Ocean. East, by a line to be drawn along the middle of the river St. 
Croix, from its mouth in the Bay of Fundy to its source, and from its source 
directly north to the aforesaid Highlands, which divide the rivers that fall 
into the Atlantic Ocean from those which fall into the River St. Lawrence ; 
comprehending all islands, etc. 
(Moore, Arbitrations, 1, 2.) 
The attempt to interpret these apparently plain words gave rise to 
the most prolonged, bitter, and, in one sense, useless disputes, for they 
never were interpreted, but the question was settled by a half-way com- 
promise between the two most most extreme interpretations. 
It will be well at the outset to examine what evidence exists as to 
the meaning intended to be given these words by the negotiators of the 
treaty in which they occur. The primary idea was to describe and fix 
the boundaries of the United States, and to do this it was necessary to 
establish lines between them and the neighboring British Territory. We 
inquire then what formed the basis for the lines of division established 
in the region under consideration? Happily the answer is plain ; the 
intention was to separate the new State of Massachusetts, then including 
Maine, from Nova Scotia on the east, and from Quebec on the north. 
This is not only evident upon a priori grounds, for Massachusetts was a 
leader in the successful revolution and Nova Scotia and Quebec had 
remained loyal to the Crown, but it is supported by ample direct evi- 
dence, of which that relating to Nova Scotia is as follows. Thus the 
treaty itself begins the boundary of the United States at the “north- 
west angle of Nova Scotia,” showing it was from Nova Scotia that the 
United States were here to be divided ; and again the last section of 
this article of the treaty (already quoted on page 278) speaks of includ- 
ing within the United States all islands between lines drawn due east 
from the mouth of St. Marys River in Florida and the River St. Croix 
“excepting such islands as now are, or heretofore have been within the 
limits of the said Province of Nova Scotia,” showing again a recognition 
of the separation of the United States from Nova Scotia. Further, the 
treaty adopts, as we shall see, the very language of the Acts and other 
documents on which the original boundaries of these countries are based. 
This fact, that the commissioners had it in mind to separate Massachu- 
setts from Nova Scotia is shown further by the testimony of the nego- 
tiators of the treaty upon both sides. Thus Hartley, one of the British 
