76 THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



posed to deal with Russia I send you a sketch of my successive offers to satisfy 

 Her. I certainly (whatever you and the Hudson's Bay Company may be 

 disposed to do) could not venture further, and I suspect that if my offers had 

 been accepted I ran no small risk of being disapproved by you. 



As to the maritime question that I suppose musl be settled and I think 

 this Country is mad not to see that by making quietly a recantation which, 

 if it were to stand bald and alone, would be a very mortifying thing to their 

 pride and dignity. 



Nesselrode would have been very tractable, as I know that at the bottom 

 of his heart, he thinks the Ukaze indefensible and the line of territorial demar- 

 cation a matter of very secondary importance to either party. But Poletica 

 having been called upon to defend the Ukaze when he was Minister in America, 

 feels his amour propre concerned, and they are both under the dominion of the 

 Russian American Company at the head of which is an old Admiral Mardwinoff, 

 an honest man, but mighty obstinate, and who mistakes this obstinacy for 

 patriotism. 



I do not know exactly how Middleton is going on with his Convention upon 

 the subject, but I believe that there is some little hitch, growing as I imagijie, 

 out of the liberty to trade on the Russian coasts upon which The United States 

 insist very much. I know nothing else upon which there can be any hitch, 

 as there is no boundary to fix. 



As Middleton and I act separately the Russians of course try to play us 

 off one against the other but hitherto without success. 



I am &c. 



CHARLES BAGOT 



Sir Charles Bagot to Mr. George Canning 



St. Petersburgh 



Augt. 24, 1824 



Here is pretty work, and here is pretty upshot of all your, and Lord St. 

 Helens and my labours about North West Coasts. I can hardly figure your 

 surprize when you first read my despatch upon the subject — but it is all true — 

 true as Gospel, and I believe that you have as much chance of getting Moscow 

 ceded to Great Britain as of inducing this Country to yield upon the three points 

 on which we have split. I believe that it is not necessary for me to say more 

 to you at present than I have said in my despatch, though I shall have much 

 to say when we meet in England. My opinion is that both Nesselrode and Pole- 

 tica are now afraid of signing any thing upon the subject in which there are 

 not great & signal advantages secured to Russia. There has, I understand, 

 been an immense clamour raised against them for supposed sacrifices of Russian 

 interests in the Convention made with the United States; and they hope & 

 believe that it will not be ratified in America. It is true that there certainly 

 are points stipulated for in your last projet which were not in contemplation 

 in our former discussions, but still this would not sufficiently account for my 

 finding the P. P. so much more difficult to deal with than they were 3 

 months ago. 



