MISCELLANEOUS. 1225 



that American vessels have no right to fish, and indeed are expressly 

 debarred from fishing, in any bay on the coast of Nova Scotia. 



"The words of the treaty of October, 1818, article 1, run thus: 'And 

 the United States hereby renounce forever any liberty heretofore 

 enjoyed or claimed by the inhabitants thereof, to take, dry, or cure 

 fish, on or within three marine miles of any of the coasts, bays, creeks, 

 or harbors of his Britannic Majesty's dominions in America, not 

 included within the above-mentioned limits, [that is, Newfoundland, 

 Labrador, and other parts separate from Nova Scotia:] provided, how- 

 ever, that the American fishermen shall be admitted to enter such bays 

 or harbors for the purpose of shelter/ &c. 



"It is thus clearly provided that American fishermen shall not take 

 fish within three marine miles of any bay of Nova Scotia, &c. If the 

 treaty was intended to stipulate simply that American fishermen 

 should not take fish within three miles of the coast of Nova Scotia, &c., 

 there was no occasion for using the word ' bay ' at all. But the proviso 

 at the end of the article shows that the word 'bay' was used design- 

 edly; for it is expressly stated in that proviso, that under certain cir- 

 cumstances the American fishermen may enter bays, by which it is 

 evidently meant that they may, under those circumstances, pass the 

 sea-line which forms the entrance of the bay. The undersigned ap- 

 prehends that this construction will be admitted by Mr. Everett. 



"That the Washington was found fishing within the Bay of Fundy, 

 is, the undersigned believes, an admitted fact, and she was seized 

 accordingly." 



It is possible that the contents of Lord Aberdeen's letter were imme- 

 diately communicated to Lord Falkland, since the latter, a few weeks 

 after its date, issued a proclamation charging all officers of the cus- 

 toms, the sheriffs, and other officials of Nova Scotia, to be vigilant in 

 enforcing the provision of several recited acts of the imperial and pro- 

 vincial legislatures, and the stipulations of the convention with the 

 United States, relative to illicit fishing within certain distance of the 

 coasts, bays, and harbors of British America. Mr. Everett again ad- 

 dressed the British minister on the 25th May, 1844, in a state paper 

 which, for spirit, dignity, and force of argument, is a model. It is 

 here inserted entire: 



"The undersigned, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipoten- 

 tiary of the United States of America, had the honor duly to receive 

 the note of the 15th of April, addressed to him by the Earl of Aber- 

 deen, her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, in 

 reply to the note of the undersigned of the 10th of August last, relative 

 to the seizure of the American vessel the Washington, for having been 

 found fishing within the limits of the Bay of Fundy. 



"The note of the undersigned of the 10th of August last, although 

 its immediate occasion was the seizure of the Washington, con- 

 tained a reference to the correspondence between Mr. Stevenson and 

 Viscount Palinerston on the subject of former complaints of the Ameri- 

 can government of the manner in which the fishing vessels of the 

 United States had, in several wavs, been interfered with by the pro- 

 vincial authorities, in contravention, as is believed, of the treaty of 

 October, 1818, between the two countries. Lord Aberdeen's atten- 

 tion was particularly invited to the fact that no answer as yet had been 

 returned to Mr. Stevenson's note to Lord Palmerston, of 27th March, 

 1841, the receipt of which, and its reference to the Colonial Depart- 



