209 



to rjavigate the Mississippi, we objected, that by our construction 

 of the treaty of 1783, it was unnecessary. If we admitted their 

 construction of that treaty, so as to give them a new right to the 

 navigation, they must give us an equivalent for it. We otTered 

 an article recognising the continuance of the rights on both sides j 

 this offer met, however, with very great opposition among our- 

 selves — ^for there were two of us against making it, and who thought 

 the navigation of the Mississippi incomparably more valuable than 

 the contested part of the fisheries. Not so did the British govern- 

 ment think ; for they, instead of accepting it, oflered us an article 

 stipulating to negotiate hereafter for an equivalent to be given by- 

 Great Britain for the right of navigating the Mississippi, and by the 

 United States for the liberties of the fisheries within British juris- 

 diction. This was merely to obtain from us the formal admission 

 that both the rights were abrogated by the war. To that admission 

 I was determined not to subscribe. The article was withdrawn 

 ?ast Thursday by the British plenipotentiaries, who accepted our 

 proposal to say nothing in the treaty about either, and to omit the 

 nrlicie by which they had agreed that our boundary west from th*; 

 Lake of ihe Woods should be the 49th parallel of north latitude. 

 They at the same time referred again to their original declaration, 

 that the fisheries within British jurisdiction would not hereafter be 

 .^•ranted without an equivalent. It is evident that it must be the 

 Subject of a future negotiation. The only thing possible to be done 

 now, was to preserve our whole claim unimpaired, and with that I 

 consented to sign the treaty. 



" As a citizen of iMassachusetts, I felt it to be most peculiarly my 

 duty not to abandon any one of her rights, and I would have refused 

 to sign the treaty had any one of them been abandoned : but it was 

 impossible to force a stipulation in favour of the fisheries ; and for 

 a temoorary possession of Moose Island, merely until it shall be as- 

 certained whether it belongs to her or not, we could not think of 

 continuing the war. 



<' Mv colleagues propose to leave Europe about the first of 

 April, in the Neptune, which is waiting for them at Brest. I have 

 great satisfaction in saying, that our harmony has been as great and 

 constant, as perhaps ever existed between five persons employed 

 too-ether upon se importaat a trust. Upon almost all the important 

 questions, we have been unanimous. J. Q. A.*' 



The information requested in these letters was collected, and 

 transmitted to me, and received at Louden in the summer of 1815. 

 The material parts of it are contained in the following papers, the 

 first of which is from a letter of James Lloyd, Esq. to my corres- 

 pondent, and is now published with Mr. Lloyd's permission. Ii 

 was written in consequence of the communication to him of the. 

 above letter from me, and, as will be seen by its date, within foui 

 weeks after that of Mr. Russell's letter to Mr. Monroe from Paris, 



