"cal delineations, which were filed with the Commissioners "under the fifth article of the Treaty of Ghent, any en"graved map heretofore published, and also a transcript of "the above mentioned map A, or of a section thereof, &c."

The engraved dotted boundary lines on Mitchell's map may not be strictly considered as evidences of topography : but they are evidence at least of the manner in which those boundaries were understood in the year 1755, when the map was published. And this is of some importance, inasmuch as the map is certified to have been undertaken with the approbation of the Board of Trade, and to be chiefly composed from drafts, charts, &c., transmitted by the Governors of the several colonies.

According to that map, Nova Scotia and New England are made to extend as far north as the southern bank of the River St. Lawrence, which, according to the pretensions of Great Britain, was deemed to be the boundary between her possessions and Canada. The boundary between Nova Scotia and New England is delineated by an engraved dotted line, from the mouth of the River St. Croix to its northerly source, and thence, by a due north line which extends {\

to the southern bank of the River St. Lawrence. The territory east of that boundary line is designated in large capital letters, by the name of Nova Scotia or Acadia: and the territory west of the same line is, in a similar manner, designated as New England.

In order, undoubtedly, to preserve, against Massachusetts, the pretensions of the Crown to the territory east of the Penobscot, a similar engraved dotted line extends along that river from its mouth to its northeasternmost source, whence it is, by a short eastwardly line, connected with the due

north line above mentioned. It may be observed that it thereby appears, that the claim of the Crown to the territory east of the Penobscot extended no farther north than the source of that river, and that the whole country north of it, west of the due north line, embracing the whole basin of the upper branches of the River St. John, and extending as far north as the southern bank of the River St. Lawrence, was, according to the Board of Trade, part of New-England.

The first mentioned dotted line is precisely the same as that declared by the treaty to be the boundary between the United States and Great Britain, with the single exception, that its northerly extremity, or north-west angle of Nova Scotia, was by the treaty removed due south to the highlands described in that instrument.

I will hereafter advert more particularly to the topography of Mitchell's map. But some of its general features must be now stated in order to understand the copy of it which did belong to Mr. JAY.

The latitudes, the general course of the main branch of the River St. John, and its relative position to the River St. Croix, to the Penobscot, and to the tributary streams of the River St. Lawrence, are laid down on Mitchell's map with sufficient correctness for all practical purposes. The point at which the due north line (from the source of the River St. Croix) crosses the River St. John is placed on that map, 140 miles in a direct line (north by west) from the mouth of the River St. Croix; which does not differ ten miles from the fact. From that point, the course of the main branch, which Mitchell expressly calls "R. St. John," up to its most western source is about west-south-west, and the distance 115 miles in a straight line. This agrees, with remarkable

correctness in both respects, with the actual situation of the source of the west branch of map A, (Mr. FEATHERSTONHAUGH'S Mittaywoquam). The south and south-west branches are not laid down by MITCHELL, and were not known before the surveys executed under the joint commission of 1818.

The north-easternmost branch of the River St. John unites, on MITCHELL'S map, with the main river at the same point where this is intersected by the due north line above stated; which in point of fact is erroneous. This branch, to which he gives no name, issues in his map from his lake Medousa. This lake is that now known by the name of Temiscouata, and the river issuing from it is the Madawaska. For you will find that, on that map, the north-western source of the lake Medousa is opposite and close to the source of the Pistole river, which empties into the River St. Lawrence, a short distance north-east from the source of the Wolves River (Riviere le Loup), and about thirty-five miles south-west from the mouth of the river Metis. All which, as will appear by recurrence to the map A, or to any other modern map, is the precise position of the northern extremity of the Temiscouata lake.

Mr. JAY's map, which is now exhibited before you, is the map of MITCHELL; and a red line is delineated upon it, which is designated through its whole extent as being Mr. OSWALD'S line. These words are also written with red ink, and were at once recognised by Mr. WILLIAM JAY, as being the handwriting of his father, the Hon. JOHN JAY. This is the only line or coloring on the map which is known to have been laid down by Mr. JAY. The map itself is colored; which must have been done subsequently to the year 1755, the maps of MITCHELL having had originally no coloring whatever.

In this map, Nova Scotia is designated by a red border, the ground not being colored. New England is colored yellow, New York blue, &c., and Canada green. This last circumstance at once shews for what purpose the map was colored. Canada is made to include all the country between the lakes and the Ohio. The Quebec act is the only public act which ever gave that extension to Canada. And accordingly, following that green boundary of demarcation, from the Gulf of St. Lawrence westward to the Mississippi, you will find that it does agree, in every respect, with the southern boundary of the province of Quebec, as prescribed by that act. There can be, therefore, no doubt that the map was thus colored during or subsequent to the year 1774, and very little that the whole of the map was colored at the same time. It is highly improbable that this should have been done by Mr. JAY; and the whole appears to have been executed by an artist under the direction of the map vender. The colored line, red on the one side and yellow on the other, which, in conformity with the line claimed by the United States as their Eastern boundary, extends from the mouth of the River St. Croix to its source, and thence due north to the southern boundary of Canada, appears to me to be nothing more than the above mentioned dotted line of MITCHELL, marked with the colors assigned respectively in this map to Nova Scotia and New England. It appears therefore to me that this map came in the possession of Mr. JAY colored as it is, with the single exception of the red line first above mentioned, and designated as Mr. OSWALD'S line.

There is no difficulty in discovering what are the boundaries intended to be represented by this line.

The American and British Commissioners met at Paris and commenced their negotiations in September, 1782, Mr. ADAMS and Mr. Laurens were not yet present, when, on the 8th October, 1782, Dr. FRANKLIN and Mr. JAY entered into a provisional arrangement with Mr. OSWALD, to be submitted however to his Britannic Majesty. The boundaries defined by that agreement are in the following words, and correspond precisely with the line designated on Mr. JAY's map, as Mr. OSWALD'S line, viz :

"The said States are bounded north by a line to be drawn " from the north-west angle of Nova Scotia along the high"lands, which divide those rivers that empty themselves into "the River St. Lawrence from those which fall into the At"lantic, to the north-westernmost head of Connecticut Riv

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er; thence down along the middle of that river to the forty"fifth degree of north latitude, and thence due west in the "latitude forty-five degrees north from the Equator, to the "north-westernmost side of the River St. Lawrence, or Catar"aquy; thence straight to the Lake Nipissing, and thence "straight to the source of the River Mississippi; west, "by a line to be drawn along the middle of the River Mis"sissippi, to where the said line shall intersect the thirty-first "degree of north latitude; south, by a line to be drawn due "east from the termination of the line last mentioned, in the "latitude of thirty-one degrees north of the Equator, to the " middle of the River Apalachicola, or Catahouche; thence "along the middle thereof to its junction with the Flint River ; "thence straight to the head of St. Mary's River; thence "down along the middle of St. Mary's River to the Atlantic "Ocean; and east, by a line drawn along the middle of St. "John's River from its source to its mouth in the Bay of Fun"dy; comprehending all islands within twenty leagues of any "part of the shores of the United States, and lying between

C