44 CASE OF THE UNITED STATES. 



with regard to it in his instruction of August 13, 1816, to Mr. Adams 



merely that — 



At the commencement of our conferences Mr. Bagot informed me of 

 an order which had been issued by Admiral Griffith to the British 

 cruisers to remove our fishing vessels from the coasts of those prov- 

 inces which he would endeavor to have revoked pending the nego- 

 tiation. His attempt succeeded. I shall endeavor to have this 

 revocation extended so as to afford the accommodation desired until 

 the negotiation is concluded. All the information which has been 

 or may be obtained on this subject shall be transmitted to you." 



Subsequently, upon the temporary suspension of the negotiations 

 after Mr. Monroe's rejection, in January, 1817, of Mr. Bagot's third 

 proposal and in anticipation of the renewal of such negotiations as 

 soon as the President " could obtain the information necessary to 

 ascertain what arrangement would be best calculated to reconcile the 

 interests of both parties, which he hoped to do in the course of a few 

 months," Mr. Adams, pursuant to instructions from Mr. Monroe, 

 wrote to Lord Castlereagh on April 21, 1817, using the language 

 above quoted in regard to the intention of the President to renew the 

 negotiations in the course of a few months and stating : 



In the meantime he relied that no measures would be taken by his 

 Majesty's Government to alter the existing state of things; and par- 

 ticularly, that the order to the naval officer commanding on that sta- 

 tion, not to interrupt or disturb the American fishermen during the 

 approaching season, would be renewed.'' 



In reply Lord Castlereagh wrote to Mr. Adams on May 7, 1817: 



The undersigned. His Majesty's principal Secretary of State for 

 Foreign Affairs, in reply to Mr. Adams's note of the 21st ultimo, has 

 the honor to acquaint him that, as soon as the proposition which Mr. 

 Bagot was authorized in July last, to make to the Government of 

 the United States, for arranging the manner in which American citi- 

 zens might be permitted to carry on the fisheries within the British 

 limits, had been by them declined, viz : in the month of February, the 

 same was immediately notified by His Majesty's minister in America 

 to the British admiral commanding at Halifax; the effect of which 

 notification was to revive the orders which Mr. Bagot had taken upon 

 himself to suspend, in the expectation that the discussions in which 

 he was then employed with the American Government would have 

 led to a satisfactory issue. 



These discussions having failed of success, and the orders above 

 alluded to being consequently now in full force, the British Govern- 

 ment cannot but feel some reluctance again to suspend them, without 

 being in possession of more precise grounds for expecting an adjust- 

 ment. Persuaded, however, from the official communication received 

 from Mr. Adams, that it is not only the sincere desire of the President 

 of the United States to come to an amicable arrangement, but also 



"Appendix, p. 289. ^Appendix, p. 295. 



