DESPATCHES, REPORTS, CORRESPONDENCE, ETC. 243 



143 Aberdeen, her Majesty's principal Secretary of State for 

 foreign affairs, in reply to the communication of the under- 

 signed of the 15th of May last, on the case of the " Washington," and 

 the construction given by the government of the United States to 

 the convention of 1818, relative to the right of fishing on the coasts 

 of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. 



Lord Aberdeen acquaints the undersigned, that, after the most 

 deliberate reconsideration of the subject, and with every desire to do 

 full justice to the United States and to view the claims put forward 

 on behalf of their citizens in the most favorable light, her Majesty's 

 government are nevertheless still constrained to deny the right of 

 citizens of the United States, under the treaty of 1818, to fish in that 

 part of the Bay of Fundy which from its geographical position may 

 properly be considered as included within the British possessions; 

 and also to maintain that, with regard to the other bays on the 

 British American coasts, no United States fishermen has, under that 

 convention, the right to fish within three miles of the entrance of such 

 bay, as designated by a line drawn from headland to headland at 

 that entrance. 



Lord Aberdeen, however, informs the undersigned that, although 

 continuing to maintain these prsilions as a matter of right, her Maj- 

 esty^ government are not insensible to the advantages which might 

 accrue to both countries from a relaxation in its exercise; that they 

 are anxious, while upholding the just claims of the British crown, to 

 evince by every reasonable concession their desire to act liberally and 

 amicably towards the United States: and that her Majesty's govern- 

 ment have accordingly come to the determination "to relax in favor 

 of the United States fishermen the right which Great Britain has 

 hitherto exercised of excluding those fishermen from the British por- 

 tion of the Bay of Fundy, and are prepared to direct their colonial 

 authorities to allow, henceforward, the United States fishermen to 

 pursue their avocations in any part of the Bay of Fundy, provided 

 they do not approach, except in the cases specified in the treaty of 

 1818, within three miles of the entrance of any bay on the coast of 

 Nova Scotia or New Brunswick." 



The undersigned receives with great satisfaction this communica- 

 tion from Lord Aberdeen, which promises the permanent removal 

 of a fruitful cause of disagreement between the two countries, in 

 reference to a valuable portion of the fisheries in question. The gov- 

 ernment of the United States, the undersigned is persuaded, will duly 

 appreciate the friendly motives which have led to the determination 

 on the part of her Majesty's government announced in Lord Aber- 

 deen's note, and which he doubts not will have the natural effect of 

 acts of liberality between powerful states, of producing benefits to 

 both parties, beyond any immediate interest which may be favorably 

 affected. 



While he desires, however, without reserve, to express his sense 

 of the amicable disposition evinced by her Majesty's government on 

 this occasion in relaxing in favor of the United States the exercise 

 of what, after deliberate reconsideration, fortified by high legal 

 authority, is deemed an unquestioned right of her Majesty's govern- 

 ment, the undersigned would be unfaithful to his duty did he omit 

 to remark to Lord Aberdeen that no arguments have at any time 

 been adduced to shake the confidence of the government of the 



