109 



tlie coast ol" C'ape Breton, under exactly similar circumstances with tiie seizure of 

 the *' Washington.'' 



Mr. Kverett, at tiie re(|iiest ol' tiic United States' Cjovernnient, called this 

 seizure to the notice of the Karl of Aberdeen, and reiterates the arguments 

 previously used with reference to the " Washington :" — 



Mi:. i'lvKKiiTT Til iHi; K\i;i, or Aukiiukk.n, OcthIikk '.k IS44. 



"Till' uiulciti.iiiii'd. Knvov KxUiiortliuiuy ainl Miiii.sU'i' I'luiiipotenliary ol' tliu United States of 

 Aiiii'iiiii, lius till' lioiimii' 111 tniiisiiiil In the Karl dI' Alicwli'cii, Ifor Mujosty's I'liiicipal Si-cretarv of 

 Siiili' t'l.! Kiiii'i;_'ii AHairs. tlic acnpiii|)aii.viiij; pajH-rs rclatiii;,' U> the caiiluvu of iiii American fisliin;,' 

 vi'HSL'l. till' • Ari,nis,' liy ;i ('invcniiuciit iiitlcr from Halifax, the ' Sylpli,' on tlic Otli .Fuly last. 



" III ailililiuii tn till' M-iziiii' of till' vessel, her lati^ coniniatuler, as Lord Abenlcon will perceive from 

 hi.s ih']iositioii, eoiiipliiiiis nC hai*li Irealiiieiil on the ]iart of the captoi*. 



'•'file yioiiiuls a.<.sit.'iieil fm liie eajitiire of tlii.s ve.ssel are not stated willi ureal dinlinctness. They 

 a|i|iear In he eonneeteil partly with the eoiistruction .set up hy Her Majesty's provineial authorities in 

 Aiiieriea, that the liiii' «illiiii which vessels of the United Stales are forbidden to lish is to be drawn 

 t'roni headland to iieadland, and not to follow the indentations of the eoust ; and partly with the TCgu- 

 hitions established by those authorities in conseqnenee of the anne.xation of Cape Breton to Nova 

 .Seotia. 



"With respeel to lla^ former point, the uiuler.sinned thcms it unneee.s.sary, on this oeeasion, 

 to aiUl imythinf; to the observation eontained in his note to Liird Aberdeen ol the li5th of 

 ^lay, oil the subjeit of the limitations of the rii;ht seemed to Ameriean H,shinj,'-vessels by the 

 Treaty of 17815 aiul the Conveutiou of IMS, in reply to the note of his Lordship of the IStli of 

 April on the .same subjeel. As far as the ea]itiire of the ' .Vrj^iis ' was iiiaile under the same autho- 

 rity of the Act aimexinj; Cape I'.reton to Nova Seotia, the uiuler.sijjned wniild ob.ser\'e that he is 

 miller llie imjiression thai the i|iiestioii of the lejjtality of that measure is still pending before the 

 .liidieial Conniiittee of llei .Majesty's I'rivy tlotincil. It w<aili! be ver\ ilniilitl'iil whether rii^hts 

 seemed lo Ameriiaii vessels under public eompaets eoiild, under any eircmjislaui'es, be impaired by 

 acts of siibsei|iieiil domestic Ic'^'islaliiai ; but to j)roeoed to capture .Vmerieaii vessels in virtue <if sueli 

 acts, wliih: their legality is drawn in i(iiestiou by the home (Jovernment, si cms to be a mea.sure as 

 mi.jiisi as il is harsh. 



'• W'ithoiil enlarniiiu nii tlie.se view.s of tlu! subjeel, the undersigned woiilii invite the utteution of 

 the Karl nf .Mierdecn to the severity and injustice which in other respeds characterize the laws and 

 !e;,'uIutioiis adiipli'il b\ Her ."Majesty's jirovineial authorities airaiiist the lisliiiii,'-ve.ssels of the Tinted 

 Staie^. Slime ui' ilie piovisiiiiis ol' the ])rovincial law, in reference, to ibe sei/mes which it authorizes 

 I'f American \essels. were pronounced, in a note of Mr. Sievensnii io Viscmint I'almerstoii, of the 

 JTtli of ^laicli, 1841, lo be ■ violaliims of well-estoblished principles of the connnon law of Knglaiid, 

 and of the prineiples ni' tlie just laws of well-civilized nation.^ :' and this sirouj,' lanf,'ua;_'e was used by 

 .Ml-. Stevenson undei tlie cvpress inatructions of his Government. 



".\ demand fif security to defend the suit from peraons .so little able to furnish it a.s the captains 

 ot .>mall lisliiiiL scboiiiiers, and so heavy that, in the lanyua^o of the Consul at Hidifa.\, 'it is genenilly 

 better to let the suit ;^ii by dol'aiilt.' must be reijarded .^s a provision of this description. Others still 

 more o])pressivc .iir pointed out in .Mr. Stevenson'.s note above referi-ed to. in reference to which the 

 iindersii,'ned liii.i- hiiii.selr obliged lo repeat the remark made in his note tn l.oixl Aberdeen of the lOtli 

 of .Vuf^ust, ls|:i. tliat he lielieves it still remains unanswered. 



•■ It is stated by the eiiptain of the ' .\iyus' that the commaniier of the .Nova .Seotia .schooner by 

 which he was captured said that he was within three miles of the line beyond which, 'on their construc- 

 tion of the Tieatv , "e were a lawful ])rize, and that he seized us to settle the micstioii.' 



The iindei-iuncd iiuaiii feels il his duty, on behalf of his (jovernment. formally to protest against 

 an act of this deseriplioii. .\merican vessels of trilline size, anil imrsuing a liranch of industry of the 

 most harmless ,le-iiipiioii, which, however IxiiieHcial to themselves, occa.sions no del riiueut to others 

 instead I'f In im; turned olf the debaleable fishiii;; giiiuud. — a remedy fully adeipiate to the alle]^ed evil, 

 — are ])mceedeil aeaiiisl as if (>iii,'ajied in the most undoubted infractions of uimiicipal law or the law 

 ol' nations. ca|ilured and sent into port, their crews deprived of their elothin<; and per.soiial eli'ects, and 

 the vessels .iulijected 111 a mode ol procedure in the (."oiirts which aijiounls in many eases to eoiifisca- 

 lioii : and this is done In settle the construction of a Tivaty. 



" A course so violent and unnecessarily har.sh would be lei^arded by any Cioveinmeiil as a just 

 ciiiise of coin])laint ai;ainsl any other with vluiin it mi;,'hl differ in the eon.siruction of a national com- 

 piul. I'liit wlien il is cmisitleivd that the.se i.re the acts of a provincial (Jovernment with whom that of 

 llie I'nilcd Stales has and can have no intercourse, and that they cnntinue am! are repeated while the 

 1' lilted St.ites and (ireat Britain, the tmly partus to the Treaty the pHr]wirtof who.se provisions is udled 

 in i|Uestiiiii, are amicably di.scnssinu the matter, with every wish on bulb .sides to bring it lo a rea.son- 

 alde setllenient, l.onl Aberdeen will (U'rceive that it '...'"inin.s a subject of complnint of the most .serious 

 kind 



'• As such, the undersigned is instructed again to bring il lo Lord Aberdeen's notice, and to express 

 the conliilent ho]>e thai such iiien.sun>s of redress as the nrgoncy of the ease i-equiivs will, at the instance 

 of bis l.onlship, be promptly resorted to." 



Match 10, IS-I.'), Lord Aberdeen writes to Mr. Kverett, inl'orming him that, 

 altiioiig'li tlie Mritisii Government still iidliercd to their previous construction of the 

 Treaty, and denied any right of American fishermen to lish within three miles of a 

 (•J80J K 



