250 THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR 



was keyed up to the pitch set by Sumner, and 

 the senator s influence had to be reckoned on 

 in opposition to any abatement of the extreme 

 national claims. Nearly two years of secret 

 and unofficial negotiations were necessary be 

 fore a plan of adjustment was hit upon that 

 could be allowed to take official shape. In the 

 interval the stars in their political courses had 

 fought for harmony. Sumner, through a vio 

 lent personal and political quarrel with Presi 

 dent Grant, lost his influence with the support 

 ers of the administration, and was eventually 

 deposed from his powerful position as chair 

 man of the Senate Committee on Foreign Rela 

 tions. The Franco-Prussian War, with its cloud 

 of threatening diplomatic questions on the Con 

 tinent, gave a fresh impulse to the desire of 

 the British leaders to be free from the harass 

 ing burden of American unfriendliness. Under 

 these conditions the agreement was reached for 

 the appointment of a joint high commission to 

 meet at Washington and provide by treaty for 

 the settlement of all the matters in controversy 

 between the two governments. This commis 

 sion, after deliberations lasting from February 

 27 to May 8, 1871, concluded on the latter date 

 the Treaty of Washington that constitutes a 



