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John H. Mitchell—Oregon — 
And rules his rustic home— 
As chief and first I shall be sung, 
Though lowly, great in might, 
To tune my country’s heart and tongue, 
And tune them both aright. 
The Contention of Great Britain. 
In our contention with Great Britain respecting Oregon terri- 
tory it was very earnestly and with some degree of facetiousness 
asserted by the British minister, Packenham, that the different 
titles under which we claimed were conflicting and therefore 
destroyed each other, namely, discovery by Spain, cession from 
France, and discovery and settlement by American citizens; but 
Mr Calhoun,as Secretary of State, in his letter to Mr Packenham, 
disposed of that assertion with this remark: 
‘Tt has been objected that we claim under various and conflicting titles 
which mutually destroy each other. Such might indeed be the fact while 
they were held by different parties, but since we have rightfully acquired 
both those of Spain and France and concentrated the whole in our own 
hands, they mutually blend with each other and form one strong and 
connecting chain of title against the opposing claims of all others, includ- 
eng Great Britain.” 
Mr Buchanan, in referring to this phase of the case, said: 
‘This isa most ingenious method of making two distinct and inde- 
pendent titles held by the same nation worse than one—of arraying them 
against each other and thus destroying the validity of both. From the 
moment Spain transferred all her rights to the United States all possible 
conflict between the two titles ended, both being united in the same party. 
Two titles which might have conflicted, therefore, were thus blended 
together. The title now vested in the United States is just as strong as 
though every act of discovery, exploration and settlement on the part of 
both powers had been performed by Spain alone before she had trans- 
ferred all her rights to the United States. The two powers are one in this 
respect; the two titles are one, and they serve to confirm and strengthen 
each other.” 
Great Britain, again through her plenipotentiaries, sought to . 
discredit the effect of the discovery of Columbia river by Cap- 
tain Robert Gray, for the reason, as suggested, that his ship, the 
Columbia, was a trading and not a national vessel. This conten- 
tion was speedily disposed of by Mr Buchanan with this remark: 
“The British plenipotentiary attempts to depreciate the value to the 
United States of Gray’s discovery because his ship, the Columbia, was a 
