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358 



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ii 



" Anianuan ve^auls found within theso liuiils ahuuld bo wiiruBd thai by uiigagiug, or piopuring to 

 tiiij;ug« iu iishing, tUoy will be liablu to forfeiture, and siiould receive the notice to iU'j)iut wliioh ia 

 contemplated by the laws of Nova Scotia, New bruaswick, and I'rinco Edvvuid Island, if witliin the 

 waters of one of tiiese colonics under circumstances of suspicion, But they shmUl not be carried 

 into port oxcoj)'., after wilful and persevcrin;^ neglect of the warnings whicli they may have received, 

 niul iu <';isi' it slionKI liecnme necessary to i)ro('eeil to foifpitnre, caws shouM, if possible, be selected fpr 

 tha' extreme steji in wlijeh the ofleiii.e of lishiiig has been committed within three miles ol Inmi. 



" iU-v AhijestN's liiivcrunieiit do not desire that the )>rohibition to enter IJritish bays should be 

 generally insisted on, except when there is reason to apprehend some substantial invasion of British 

 ri^'lits. And in particular, they do not desire American vessels to be prevented from navigating the 

 Gut of Canso (from which Her Majesty's Govenuneut nre advii^ed they may be lawfully excluded), 

 unless it shall appear that this permission is used to the injury of colonial fishermen, or for other 

 improper objects. 



" I have it in command to make this commuiiication to your Lordships ns conveying the deciaiOD 

 of Her Majesty's Government on this subject. 



" I have, &c., 

 (Signed) EDWAKD CARDWELL." 



I quote these instructions, and make tiiese observations, in order that hereafter it may 

 not he said tliat tiic views expressed by the American Counsel iu regard to tlie Buy of 

 Fuiidy and tlie Gut of Canso were acceded to by being passed sub silenlio by the Counsel 

 for Great Britain. 



\\ itii these preliminary observations, i shall return to the main question, and here I 

 may %ay that some weeks b;ick, when your Exceliency and Honours arrived at the conelu- 

 siiMi tiiat tins MKi'iiry should be elo-iod iiy oinl, instead of wiitten, ari.'umeiits. I toresaw 

 that great diriiculties must occur, it Counsel were expected to do what Counsel ordinarily 

 do whilst cliisiiig eases in Courts of ju>tice. If the iti.niense mtis-i of testimony, covering 

 many hundreds of pages, together with the voluminous appendices and addenda to the 

 evidence, were to he gone over, and the rel.itive value of the testimony on either side to 

 be weigud, it seemed certain that the several speeches closing this case, on either side, 

 must necessarily extend over weeks. I had some curiosity, when my learned friend, 

 Mr. I'oster, couimcnced his address, — and a very able one it was, — to see in which way he 

 would treat this matter, and whether or not he would attempt to go over all this evidence. 

 He quite leassuitd me, when he said: — 



" A yroat mass of testimony has been adduced on both sides, ami it niight seem to be iu irro- 

 concilnWe conthct. But let us not be disniiiyed at litis appearauce. Tliere are certain land-marks whict 

 cannot bo clianu'ed, by a careful attention to wliich I tlunk we mav expect to arrive at a tolorat .j 

 certain conclusion." 



I thought lie liad made an epitome of the evidence, and liad attempted to sift it, but 

 I was "dismaved" nfttrwnids, wiioii 1 discovered tliat, so fiir from consideiing himself 

 bound by lite te.-timony, be conveniently ignored nearly tiie wiioie ol the Bntish evidence, 

 and that tiie sintdl poitions to wliicii lie did refer, lie was pleased to treat in a way that 

 did nuicli more cicdit to iiis in::eiiuily as an advocate tiiaii to iiis spirit of fair dealing with 

 tlie witi esses. 1 tiieictoie did not teel at all rclie\cd by liis course. 'J'hrougliout his 

 speech, as 1 ^iulll show, tlicie have been a series of assuiiijdioiis, witiiout tlie siigiitest 

 cvideiKc on wliich to base tiicm. It was a most admiralile s|)eeeii in every respect but 

 one. it had lit'le or no foiuulation in the facts proved. It was an admirable and 

 ingi iiidus spcecli, I admit, nr.d the same nuiv he said of ihe speeches of his learned 

 codeiii;ues, ll was an adihiiahlc speecli in a liad cause. I'oituiuiteiy, 1 feel that I am 

 Hot here lor the |)urpose of measuiinu' my strength as an advocate against that ot Judge 

 I'osler. Were it so, 1 am very nuicli alraiil I should go to the wall. But 1 havc.ius:t this 

 iKivantiigL' over him, as 1 tliink I shall satisfy you before 1 have done, that my cause coidd 

 not lie iiijiued even by a bad advocate; and I think 1 shall show you that hia cause has 

 l;een nuiile the vei'y i)est ot tiy a WDndeiiiillv' good advocate. 



>.ow, I lliink that probahly tlie proiier course for me to take is to go through those 

 .^1 (.cclus, and iiitcr having done so, to turn your attention somewhat to the evidence. 1 

 take the very pleasant iind humourous speech ot my Iciirned liiend Mr. Trescot, which 

 certainly gave me a great deal of amusement, and, 1 humlily coiicei^'c, put me very much 

 in ihe position ol tiie man wlio was beaten by his wife, and wlio, hf ing remonstrated witli 

 1 y his liieiids lot peniitiiiig it, said tliat it pleased her and tlidn't hurt Inm. 'I he speech 

 ol i: y kiiiiicd liiei.d pleased him, and didn't hurt us ii bit. 1 will show why. In the 

 coiiise 111 his uiguiiiciil he lelerrcu to a .Minute ol' tlie Privy Council ol Caniida, niatlc in 

 answer lo Mini Kimiieiley slioitly after the 'I'reaty of 1S7I was negotiated between the 

 tv\- 1 ctnii.tiie-.. .Mr. I'rcscot laid great stress upon the fact that this was not a Treaty 

 bttueeii ilic United fetates and Canada, but that it was a Treaty between the United 



