PERTAINING TO NEGOTIATION OF TREATY OF 1818. 307 



that purpose, and we also made the declaration annexed to the proto- 

 col of the third conference, the principal object of which was to 

 provide in any event for the revival of all our prior rights. The 

 insertion of the words " for ever " was strenuously resisted. The 

 British plenipotentiaries urged that, in case of war, the only effect of 

 those words being omitted, or of the article being considered as 

 abrogated, would be the necessity of inserting in the treaty of peace 

 a new article renewing the present one; and that, after all that had 

 passed, it would certainly be deemed expedient to do it, in whatever 

 manner the condition was now expressed. We declared that we 

 would not agree to any article on the subject, unless the words were 

 preserved, or in case they should enter on the protocol a declaration 

 impairing their effect. 



It will also be perceived that we insisted on the clause by which 

 the United States renounce their right to the fisheries relinquished 

 by the convention, that clause having been omitted in the first British 

 counter-project. We insisted on it with the view — 1st. Of prevent- 

 ing any implication that the fisheries secured to us were a new grant, 

 and of placing the permanence of the rights secured and of those 

 renounced precisely on the same footing. 2d. Of its being expressly 

 stated that our renunciation extended only to the distance of three 

 miles from the coasts. This last point was the more important, as, 

 with the exception of the fishery in open boats within certain har- 

 bors, it appeared, from the communications above mentioned, that 

 the fishing-ground, on the whole coast of Nova Scotia, is more than 

 three miles from the shores; whilst, on the contrary, it is almost 

 universally close to the shore on the coasts of Labrador. It is in that 

 point of view that the privilege of entering the ports for shelter is 

 useful, and it is hoped that, with that provision, a considerable por- 

 tion of the actual fisheries on that coast (of Nova Scotia) will, not- 

 withstanding the renunciation, be preserved. 



******* 



Mr. Rush to Mr. Adams. 



London, October 07, 1S18. 



I had the honor to write you a few lines on the 19th instant, and 

 immediately forwarded them in triplicate to the consul at Liverpool, 

 to be -'in oil' by the earliest ships, to say that we had on that day 



reed to sign a treaty with the British plenipotentiaries on the points 

 which I enumerated. It was signed on the 20th. Tin 1 joint despatch 

 from Mi-. Gallatin and myself, bearing date on the same day, giving 

 ;m account of the whole progress of the negotiation, was. together 

 with the convention itself and all the accompanying documents, 

 forwarded from hence to Liverpool on the 24th. 



A fin. uii ulting with Mr. Gallatin, I did nol feel at liberty to em- 

 ploy :i special me senger t<> be the bearer of the convention, trusting 

 to die ordinary opportunities by our merchant vessels, which are so 

 constant, and in general so safe. I accompanied the packet with a 

 pecial letter to Mi-. Maury, apprizing him of the importance <>f 

 committing it to hands that were trustworthy, and with directions 



that i< should he delivered to the po-hmi -ler :it New York, or 

 wherever else the ship may arrive, without any delay. It will thus, 



92 '09°— 8. Doc. 870, 61-:i. vol 2 21 



