tracting parties to the said treaty the several islands in the Bay of Passamaquoddy, which is part of the Bay of Fundy, and the island of Grand Manan in the said Bay of Fundy, do respectively belong, in conformity with the true intent of the second article of the treaty of peace of 1783, between his said Britannic Majesty and the aforesaid United States of America.

"We, the said Thomas Barclay and John Holmes, Commissioners as aforesaid, having been duly sworn impartially to examine and decide upon the said claims according to such evidence as should be laid before us on the part of his Britannic Majesty and the United States respectively, have decided and do decide, that Moose Island, Dudley Island and Frederick Island, in the Bay of Passamaquoddy which is part of the Bay of Fundy, do, and each of them does, belong to the United States of America; and we have also decided, and do decide, that all the other islands, and each and every of them, in the said Bay of Passamaquoddy, which is part of the Bay of Fundy, and the island of Grand Manan in the said Bay of Fundy, do belong to his said Brittanic Majesty, in conformity with the true intent of the said second article of the said treaty of 1783.

"In faith and testimony whereof we have set our hands and affixed our seals at the City of New York, in the State of New York, in the United States of America, this 24th day of November, in the year of our Lord 1817.

Witness,

JAMES T. AUSTIN,

Agt. U. S. A.

ANTH. BARCLAY,

Sec'y."

THOMAS BARCLAY, [L. S.] JOHN HOLMES, [L. S.]

In a joint letter the commissioners communicated their decision to the two governments. In this letter they explained their action as follows: "In making this decision it became necessary that each of the commissioners should yield a part of his individual opinion. Several reasons induced them to adopt this measure; one of which was the impression and belief that the navigable waters of the Bay of Passamaquoddy, which, by the treaty of Ghent, is said to be a part of the Bay of Fundy, are common to both parties for the purpose of all lawful and direct communication with their own territories and foreign ports."1

In his message to Congress, December 2, 1817, President Monroe referred to the decision of the commissioners, and declared his satisfaction with the decision. The British commissioner, in a letter to Mr. Chipman, the British agent, not finding in the message 1 Moore, International Arbitrations, I, 61, 62.

a word concerning "the Bay of Fundy or island of Grand Manan," inferred that the president felt "sore on that point."'1 Mr. Webster, in a letter to Mr. Gray, May 11, 1841, referring to the matter, wrote: "You know we think that Grand Manan should have been assigned to us." This, evidently had been a very general opinion with those who had given much attention to the matter from the time the decision was made. As has already been stated, Great Britain's claim to Grand Manan presented difficulties that gave anxiety to the British commissioner while searching for evidence in its support; and it may be true that if Mr. Holmes had been less anxious with reference to his seat in Congress and had exhibited, as the representative of the United States, equal firmness and dexterity as the British commissioner, a different decision might have been recorded.

But Colonel Barclay's statement to Lord Castlereagh, as to the way in which the decision was reached, should here be added in justice to Mr. Holmes: "He [Mr. Holmes] appeared astonished that either myself, or his Majesty's agent, had ever been serious in the claim for Grand Manan . . and [said] that he never would consent to decide that this island belonged to his Majesty. To these remarks I replied by declaring that unless he acceded to my last proposal, the appeal should be made to a friendly sovereign or state. Eventually he agreed to give up Grand Manan, provided I would add the island of Campo Bello to the three I had offered to give to the United States. I told him he had my ultimatum, an ultimatum I had brought myself with much difficulty to offer while under a conviction that his Majesty's title to Moose, Dudley and Frederick islands was beyond dispute. It was not until the morning of the 9th that I could induce the commissioner on the part of the United States to agree to the terms I had proposed, and then with great reluctance and apparent hesitation, and only on condition that I would unite with him in a letter to both governments expressive of our opinion that the eastern 1 Correspondence of Thomas Barclay, 399.

2 Webster, Private Correspondence, II, 103.

passage from the Bay of Passamaquoddy was common to both nations.'

1

Because of treaty stipulations, as already mentioned, British troops remained at Eastport until June 30, 1818. The designated day of their departure at length dawned, and it was made a memorable day in this most easterly frontier town in the United States. The ceremonies connected with the surrender of British authority centered at the fort occupied by the British garrison, Captain R. Gibbon commanding. Brigadier General James Miller of the regular army had been appointed by the president of the United States to receive the surrender of the place. He was accompanied by his aide, Lieutenant Allanson, while Massachusetts was represented by Lieutenant Colonel Sargent. At seven o'clock in the morning, in the presence of these representatives of national and state governments, of British officers and soldiers of the garrison, of officers and soldiers who were to take their places, and of citizens of Eastport and the surrounding country, the British flag was lowered and replaced by the flag of the United States amid such outbursts of patriotic feeling as found expression in the discharge of cannon, the strains of martial music, and especially in the hearty, prolonged cheers of the witnessing throng. Then the British troops marched to the ships awaiting them, embarked, sailed, and Eastport was left to added exhibitions of the general rejoicing. These were continued on the following day at a public dinner given by the people of Eastport in honor of General Miller. A century of peace between the two great English speaking countries has followed. May the bonds of friendship between Great Britain and the United States, greatly strengthened during this long period and especially in the recent great world war, never again be broken!

1 Correspondence of Thomas Barclay, 394.

T

CHAPTER V.

THE SEARCH FOR THE "HIGHLANDS."

HE fifth article of the treaty of Ghent contained the following provision for the establishment of the boundary line between the United States and the British provinces above the source of the St. Croix River, as determined

by the St. Croix commission:

Whereas neither that point of the highlands lying due north from the source of the river St. Croix, and designated in the former treaty of peace between the two powers as the northwest angle of Nova Scotia, nor the northwesternmost head of Connecticut river, has yet been ascertained; and whereas that part of the boundary line between the dominions of the two powers which extends from the source of the river St. Croix, directly north, to the above mentioned northwest angle of Nova Scotia; thence along the said highlands which divide those rivers that empty themselves into the river St. Lawrence from those which fall into the Atlantic Ocean, to the northwesternmost head of Connecticut river; thence down along the middle of that river to the forty-fifth degree of north latitude; thence by a line due west on said latitude, until it strikes the river Iroquois or Cataraquy, which has not yet been surveyed; it is agreed that, for these several purposes, two commissioners shall be appointed, sworn and authorized to act exactly in the manner directed with respect to those mentioned in the next preceding article,1 unless otherwise specified in the present article. The said commissioners shall meet at St. Andrews, in the province of New Brunswick and shall have power. . . . . to ascertain and determine the points above mentioned, in conformity with the provisions of the said treaty of peace of 1783, and shall cause the boundary aforesaid, from the source of the river St. Croix to the river Iroquois or Cataraquy, to be surveyed and marked according to the said provisions. The said commissioners shall make a map of the said boundary, and annex to it a declaration under their hands and seals, certifying it to be the true map of the said boundary, and particularizing the latitude and longitude of the northwest angle of Nova Scotia, of the northwesternmost head of Connecticut river, and of such other points of the said boundary as they may deem proper; and both parties agree to consider such map and declaration as finally and conclusively fixing the said boundary. And in the event of the 1An article referring to the Passamaquoddy islands.

two said commissioners differing, or both or either of them refusing or declining, or willfully omitting to act, such reports, declarations or statements shall be made by them, or either of them, and such reference to a friendly Sovereign or State shall be made in all respects as in the latter part of the fourth article is contained, and in as full a manner as if the same was herein repeated.1

As commissioner under these provisions, George III, September 4, 1815, appointed Thomas Barclay, who had served Great Britain on the St. Croix commission, and also on the commission that determined the boundary line among the islands of Passamaquoddy Bay and the nationality of the island of Grand Manan. April 3, 1816, President Madison, with the advice and consent of the Senate, appointed as the commissioner for the United States, Cornelius P. Van Ness, of Vermont. The two commissioners, sailing from Portland, August 17, 1816, arrived at St. Andrews on the 22nd, and entered upon the consideration of matters to which their attention had been directed. Henry H. Orne, of Massachusetts, was made the secretary of the commission, while Ward Chipman, who had been the British agent in connection with the St. Croix commission, and his son, Ward Chipman, Jr., appeared as agents for Great Britain, jointly or separately; but as at this time no agent for the United States had been appointed, the commission, after a session of two days, adjourned to meet in Boston, June 4, 1817. When the commission reassembled at that time, Mr. William C. Bradley, of Vermont, whom President Madison, February 17, 1817, had appointed agent for the United States, appeared and entered upon the duties of his office. Colonel Joseph Bouchette, surveyor general of Quebec, was appointed chief sur

1 American State Papers, II, 746, 747.

2 In 1811, George III became hopelessly insane, and during the rest of his reign the government was administered under the regency of the Prince of Wales, afterward George IV. George III died January 29, 1820.

3 At the time of his appointment Mr. Van Ness was the United States district attorney for the State of Vermont. Subsequently he was collector of the port of Burlington, chief justice of Vermont, governor of the state, United States minister to Spain, and later collector of the port of New York.