session he said he was unable to state the progress that had been made under the fifth article of the British treaty in settling the eastern and northern boundary of the state. As Maine and Massachusetts had so deep an interest in the settlement of these boundaries, it would have been proper, he suggested, if the agent, appointed on the part of the United States, had been taken from one of these two states. Under existing circumstances he asked the Legislature to consider whether the interest of the state did not require the adoption of such arrangements as were best calculated to afford the present agent such information in relation to this important subject as the people of Maine had it in their power to give. It is not difficult to find in this suggestion an intimation that Mr. Bradley, the agent of the United States, in conducting its case under the provisions of the treaty of Ghent, was not equal to the demands of the task to which he had been assigned.

Governor King's allusion in his message to the boundary controversy did not escape the notice of Ward Chipman, the British. agent, who in a letter June 24, 1820, addressed to Henry Gouldburn, made this the closing paragraph: "It appears by the message of the governor recently communicated to the Legislature of the new State of Maine (an extract from which I have the honor herewith to transmit) that this State is taking a deeper interest than has been hitherto expressed in this District, in the result of the decision to be made by the commissioners under this article of the treaty, so that every effort may be expected from this quarany military experience, he was commissioned a major general of Massachusetts militia, in recognition of his forceful administrative qualities. He was a prominent member of the General Court of Massachusetts. An ardent advocate of the separation of Maine from Massachusetts, he presided over the convention that framed the constitution of the new state. As govermor of Maine, he received 21,083 votes out of the 22,014 that were cast. In his service as governor, and in all other positions to which he was called, he added honor to the family name, and died in Bath, Maine, June 17, 1852.

1Message to the Senate and House of Representatives, June 2, 1820, 14.

2 He was connected with the Foreign Office in London as under secretary for the colonies.

ter to defeat the just claims on the part of his Majesty upon the present occasion."

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The British agent rightly apprehended the significance of the words cited from Governor's King's message as indicating a stronger American opposition to British boundary claims than had characterized the management of the case of the United States hitherto. It was not the just, but the unjust, claims of Great Britain, however, that Governor King had in view in his message, and in opposition to which he proposed the adoption of such measures by the Legislature as would adequately safeguard Maine's territorial rights. The members of the Legislature in their consideration of boundary matters saw the importance of bringing the state as soon as possible into very close relations with the national government; and on June 12th, the following resolve was adopted: "Resolved, That the Governor of this State be requested to transmit to the President of the United States a copy of this resolve, accompanied with such representations in relation to this subject as he shall think proper and best calculated to effect the object. And also that he be authorized and requested to make such communications to the Governor of Massachusetts on this subject as he shall deem necessary.

The governor complied with the request of the Legislature and transmitted to the president a copy of the resolve. In this letter of transmission he said: "When it is considered that Massachusetts and Maine have the right of soil, that Maine has also a State jurisdiction, that the people here have not the honor of an acquaintance either with the commissioner or agent, and have not been advised of any reason for the delay to the present time, it

1Ward Chipman MSS., library of the Maine Historical Society. The above extract from Governor King's message was also inclosed in a copy of Mr. Chipman's letter to Mr. Gouldburn.

2 The reference in the resolve to the governor of Massachusetts was required inasmuch as by the act of separation one-half of all the lands within the District of Maine that belonged to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts still remained in the possession of that state.

Resolves of Maine, 1820, I, 23.

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will not be considered a matter of surprise that their extreme solicitude should be such as to render desirable information on a subject so generally interesting." But the desired information, said the governor, was not forthcoming. A letter from the secretary of state in reply stated that while it was expected that a final decision of all points in the boundary controversy would be reached in October, 1820, the expectation had not been realized. Accordingly, he had requested the Maine senators in Congress to confer with the boundary commissioners as they passed through New York on their way to Washington. They endeavored so to do, but not finding the commissioners, they had an interview with Mr. Bradley, the American agent. From his statement and from other sources, said the governor, all reasonable hope of a speedy adjustment of the boundary controversy had vanished. "In the meantime," he added, "it rests with the Legislature to devise such measures as are best calculated to preserve the best interests of the State, and protect it from a system of pillage countenanced by the claims of pretended title and rendered doubly active by the wholesome provisions of our navigation laws."'"

As stated at the close of the preceding chapter, the commissioners under the fifth article of the treaty of Ghent, finding an agreement impossible, exchanged a declaration of their disagreement October 4, 1821, and adjourned until the following April. On reassembling then, having prepared their reports, in accordance with the stipulations of the treaty, they presented the same for transmission to the two governments, and the commission came to an end. According to the provisions of the treaty, therefore, the commissioners having failed to render a decision, it now became the duty of the two governments to refer their reports "to some friendly sovereign or state to be then named for the purpose." Mr. Adams, the secretary of state for the United States, with the provision of the treaty in mind, had an interview with Stratford Canning, the British minister in Washington, and suggested that the United States would nominate as such a friendly 1 Deane, Report Relating to the New England Boundary, 1828, 45. Message of Governor King, January 11, 1821, 4, 5.