10 THE TREATY OF WASHINGTON. 



to time to vex and disturb the orood iinderstaiidiiio- 

 of botli Governments. Others of the questions, al- 

 though of more modern date, incidents of our late 

 Civil War, were all the more irritatino-, as beins; fresh 

 W' ounds to the sensibility of the j^eople of the United 

 States. 



If, to all these considerations, be added the fact that 

 negotiation after negotiation respecting these ques- 

 tions had failed to resolve them in a satisfectory 

 manner, it w^ill be readily seen how gi'eat was the 

 diplomatic triumph achieved by the Treaty of Wash- 

 in2;ton. 



It required joeculiar inducements and agencies to 

 accomi^lish this great result. 



Prominent among the inducements w^ere the pacific 

 spirit of the President of the United States and the 

 Queen of Great Britain, and of their respective Cabi- 

 nets, and the sincere and heartfelt desire of a great 

 majority of the people of both countries that no 

 shadow of offense should be allowed any longer to 

 linger on the face of their international relations. 



Great Britain, it is but just to her to say, if not con- 

 fessedly conscious of wrong, yet, as being the party to 

 , whom wrong was imputed, did honorably and w^isely 

 make the decisive advance toward reconciliation, by 

 consenting to dispatch five Commissioners to Wash- 

 ington, there, under the eye of the President, to treat 

 wdth five Commissioners on behalf of the United 



States. 



* 



Diplomatic congresses have assembled on j^revious 

 occasions to terminate the great wars of Europe, or 



ii 



