1256 MISCELLANEOUS. 



the whole. He would not hesitate to act on a bill proposing a proper 

 and suitable principle of reciprocity. 



"Mr. Seward would vote with pleasure for the resolution. It was 

 limited to two objections: to obtain information as to diplomatic cor- 

 respondence on the subject, and whether any naval force had been 

 sent to the seas where the difficulty had arisen. The importance of 

 these fisheries was conceded by all, and no one State was more inter- 

 ested in them than another. It was well known that any attempt to 

 drive our fishermen from these fisheries would involve the whole 

 country in a blaze of war, hi which case his State would be deeply 

 interested. 



"Mr. Rusk said that if the object of that naval force ky Great 

 Britain was to bring about a reciprocity of trade, no matter how fa- 

 vorably he ought to look on such a proposition otherwise, he would 

 never give it his assent under the duresse of British cannon. He 

 thought the domineering spirit of England ought to be met promptly." 



On the 25th of July, and two days after the resolution passed the 

 Senate, the Secretary of State was publicly received at his family 

 home, Marshfield, Massachusetts. In the course of his reply to an 

 address by the Hon. Seth Sprague, he is reported to have spoken in 

 reference "to recent occurrences, threatening disturbances to this 

 country, on account of the fisheries," in these words: 



"It would not become me to say much on that subject, until 

 I speak officially, and under direction of the head of the govern- 

 ment. And then I shall speak. In the mean time, be assured that 

 that interest will not be neglected by this administration, under any 

 circumstances. The fishermen shall be protected in all their rights 

 of property, and in all their rights of occupation. To use a Marble- 

 head pnrase, they shall be protected ' hook and line, and bob and sinker.' 

 And why should they not? They are a vast number who are em- 

 ployed in that branch of naval enterprise. Many of the people of 

 our own town are engaged in that vocation. There are among you 

 some, who, perhaps, have been on the Grand Bank for forty successive 

 years. There they have hung on to the ropes, in storm and wreck. 

 The most important consequences are involved in this matter. Our 

 fisheries have been the very nurseries of our navy. If our flag-ships 

 have met and conquered the enemy on the sea, the fisheries are at the 

 bottom of it. The fisheries were the seeds from which these glorious 

 triumphs were born and sprung. 



"Now, gentlemen, I may venture to say one or two things more on 

 this highly important subject. In the first place, this sudden inter- 

 ruption of the pursuits of our citizens, which had been carried on 

 more than thirty years, without interruption or molestation, can 

 hardly be justified by any principle or consideration whatever. It 

 is now more than thirty years that they have pursued the fisheries in 

 the same waters and on the same coast, in which, and along which, 

 notice has now come that they shall be no longer allowed these priv- 

 ileges. Now, such a thing cannot be justified without previous notice 

 having been given. A mere indulgence of long continuance, even if 

 the privilege were but an indulgence, cannot be withdrawn at this 

 season of the year, when our people, according to the custom, have 

 engaged in the business, without notice without just and seasonable 

 notice. 



