240 THE TREATY OF WASHINGTON. 



any distance from the shore.&quot; But we are not re 

 quired to pay for any relinquishment on the part of 

 Great Britain of the fictitious claim founded on the 

 erroneous opinion of the Law Officers of the Crown, 

 which, on the false assumption that &quot;headlands&quot; are 

 mentioned in the Treaty of 1818, extends an imagi 

 nary line seaward three marine miles from each cape 

 of bays and indents of the coast, joins the extremities 

 of those two lines by a straight line, and then re- 

 quires our fishermen to keep outside of this connect 

 ing line. Deluded by that opinion, the British Gov 

 ernment, indeed, absurdly undertook to exclude us 

 by force from the Bay of Fundy, but failed to main 

 tain its pretension in that respect. 



What we purchase is the right to enter and fish with 

 in the three marine miles of the shores at the bottom 

 of certain lays, harbors, and creeks (from which alone 

 we were excluded by the Treaty of 1818), disregard 

 ing wholly the opinion of the Law Officers of the 

 Crown. Looking at the clause under consideration, 

 in this its only proper light, it is plain that it can 

 not impose any serious charge on the United States. 



