106 



rendered, in direct violation of our instructions, a real, existing, 

 practical liberty, which, even in the war of our Independence, had 

 been deemed of the highest importance, and at its close had been, 

 with infinite difficulty, secured ; a liberty, of which that portion of 

 the Union, whom it immediately concerns, had been, from the time 

 of the treaty of 1783, in the constant, real, and useful possession ; 

 while the British would have surrendered absolutely nothing a 

 l*ight which, by inference from their own principle, was abrogated 

 by the war ; a right which, under the treaty of 1783, they had en 

 joyed for thirty years, without ever using it, and which, in all human 

 probability, never would have been of more beneficial use to the 

 British nation, than would be to the people of the United States the 

 right of navigating the Bridgewater canal, or the Danube. 



There was certainly an inconsistency on the part of the British 

 government, in claiming a right to navigate the Mississippi, while 

 asserting that the treaty of 1788 was abrogated by the war : and 

 when pressed by us to say on what principle they claimed it without 

 offering for it an equivalent, they said the equivalent was, their ac 

 ceptance of the 49th parallel of latitude for the northwestern boun 

 dary, instead of the line, to which they were entitled by the treaty 

 of 1783, to the Mississippi. As they gave up the line to the river, 

 they said they had a right to reserve its navigation, and access to 

 it for that purpose. They had said the same thing to Messrs. Mon 

 roe and Pinkney in 1807 ; and the principle had been assented 

 to by them, with the subsequent sanction of President Jefferson. 

 Still the whole argument leaned upon the continuing validity of the 

 treaty of 1783 ; for the boundary line, as well as the Mississippi na 

 vigation, was null and void, if that treaty was abrogated. We re 

 plied to them, that, although we were willing to agree to the 49th 

 parallel of latitude for the boundary, and thought it of mutual in 

 terest that the line should be fixed, we were yet not tenacious of 

 it ; we could not agree to their article of mutual surrender, with a 

 pledge of future negotiation ; but we would consent to omit the 

 boundary article itself, and leave the whole subject for future ad 

 justment. And to this they finally agreed. 



The advantage of this to us was, that we came out of the war, 

 without having surrendered the fishing liberties, as they had been 

 enjoyed before, and stipulated at the treaty of 1783. We were 

 still free to maintain, and we did, after the conclusion of the peace, 

 effectively maintain, the existence of the right, notwithstanding the 

 intervening vvar. The British government still insisted that the 

 treaty of 1783 was abrogated by the war ; but when called upon to 

 show, why then they treated the United States as an independent 

 nation, and why in the treaty of Ghent they had agreed to four 

 several commissions to ascertain the boundaries, &quot;according to the 

 true intent and meaning of that same treaty of J783,&quot; they finally 

 answered, that they considered our Independence, and the boun 

 daries, as existing facts, like those of other nations, without refer 

 ence to their origin. This left nothing but a dispute about words j 



