340 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 
boundary according to the treaty, and Great Britain taking the ground 
that after the failure of previous attempts thus to settle the line 
according to the treaty, it was useless to attempt it again. In 1835, 
Great Britain proposed to accept the St. John from the termination 
of the due north line to its source, and the United States declined, but 
offered to endeavor to obtain the consent of Maine to the St. John 
from source to mouth as the boundary, to which Great Britain would 
not assent. Thus the discussion dragged on until 1837, in which 
year the President of the United States said of the boundary in his 
message to Congress :— 
The sole result of long pending negotiations, and a perplexing arbitration, 
appears to be a conviction, on its [Great Britain’s] part, that a conventional 
line must be adopted, from the impossibility of ascertaining the true one 
according to the description contained in that Treaty. (Blue-book, 29). 
Throughout the whole of the correspondence at this time, the 
most friendly spirit prevails between the two governments; there is 
the most genuine desire shown upon both sides to end the controversy, 
and both sides appear equally sincere in their respective positions. 
Apparently matters had now reached a deadlock, and the United 
States attempted to secure the consent of Maine to a conventional 
boundary. In 1838, however, the Legislature of that State voted that 
it was not expedient to assent to a conventional line, but that the 
State would insist upon the line established by the treaty of 1783, 
and further, that it would not consent even to the appointment of an 
arbitrator. The State thus not only refused to consider a conven- 
tional line, but it even refused assent to the plan the United States 
had been urging since 1832 for a commission with an umpire. Ap- 
parently the settlement was thus placed farther away than ever. 
At this time, (1838), Maine was endeavoring to induce Congress 
to pass a law providing for a survey of the boundaries in dispute, and 
the Legislature of Maine declared that if this were not done by Con- 
egress, either in conjunction with Great Britain or alone, 
it shall then be the imperative duty of the Governor, without further delay, 
to appoint forthwith suitable Commissioners and Surveyors, for ascertain- 
ing, running, and locating, the north-eastern Boundary of this State, and 
to cause the same to be carried into operation. (Blue-book, 1840, 17). 
The boundary here meant was, of course, the one claimed by 
Maine, and such a survey would have committed Congress irretrievably 
to the Maine claim. Congress, however, refused, and accordingly the 
Governor of Maine appointed a commission of survey consisting of 
John G. Deane, M. O. Norton and J. Irish. I have not seen the 
original report of this commission, but the extracts given by Feather- 
