may have been before the war, and particularly with respect to the course of the Ohio, and the territories in that part since the surrender of Canada, and the line of its limits has been traced as aforesaid by the Marquis de Vaudreuil; all those opposite titles are united, and become valid without contradiction, to confirm to Great Britain, with all the rest of Canada, the possession of those countries on that part of the Ohio which have been heretofore contested.

2. The line proposed to fix the bounds of Louisiana, cannot be admitted, because it would comprise in another part, on the side of the Carolinas, very extensive countries and numerous nations, which have always been reputed to be under the protection of the King, a right which his Majesty has no intention of renouncing; and then the King, for the advantage of peace, might consent to leave the intermediate countries under the protection of Great Britain, and particularly the Cherokees, the Creeks, the Chicasaws, the Choctaws, and another nation, situate between the British settlements and the Mississippi.

THE LAST MEMORIAL OF FRANCE TO ENGLAND,

September 9, 1761.

I. The King has declared in his first Memorial, and in his Ultimatum, That he will cede and guarantee to England the possession of Canada, in the most ample manner. His Majesty persists in that offer, and without discussing the line of its limits marked in a map presented by Mr. Stanley, as that line on which England rests its demand, is without doubt the most extensive bound which can be given to the cession, the King is willing to grant it.

His Majesty has annexed four conditions to his guaranty; it seems that England agrees to them. The King only conceives that the term of one year for the sale of the French effects, and for the emigration, is too short, and his Majesty

desires that it may be agreed to extend the term of one year to eighteen months at least.

As the Court of England has added to the first article of their answer to the entire and total cession of Canada as agreed between the two Courts, the word dependencies, it is necessary to give a specific explanation of this word, that the cession might not in the end occasion difficulties between the two Courts with regard to the meaning of the word "dependencies."

II. The first paragraph, with respect to the limits of Louisiana, contained in the second article of the Answer from England, is agreed to by France. The second paragraph is neither just nor explicit, and it is finally proposed to express it in the following terms:

The intermediate savage nations between the Lakes and the Mississippi, and within the line traced out, shall be neuter and independent, under the protection of the King, and those without the line on the side of the English, shall be likewise neuter and independent, under the protection of the King of England. The English traders also shall be prohibited from going among the savage nations beyond the line on either side; but the said nations shall not be restrained in their freedom of commerce with the French and English as they have exercised it heretofore. *

*

It may be collected from this Memorial that the first Article of the English Answer was granted in the full extent which the Court of London required; France only desired eighteen months, instead of a year, for the emigration.

By granting the first part of the second Article, which cedes the whole current of the Ohio to England, France proposed in regard to the second point of that Article, to agree upon the nations which should be reputed neutral between Canada, Carolina, and Louisiana. This proposition was the more reasonable, because that by agreeing on this division of the possession of the two nations, an equitable system was adopted, discussions about the limits were prevented for the future, and France did not incur the risk of losing the colony of

Q

Louisiana whenever it pleased the Court of London to invade it.

In the Private Memorial of France, of July 15, 1761, Relating to Spain, the Duc de Choiseul proposes that Spain should be invited to guarantee the future Treaty of Peace. He says: "The King will not disguise from his Majesty that the differences of Spain with England fill him with apprehensions, and give him room to fear that, if they are not adjusted, they will occasion a fresh war in Europe and America. The King of Spain has communicated to his Majesty the three Articles which remain to be discussed between his Crown and the Crown of Britain, which are :

"1. The restitution of some captures which have been made during the present war upon the Spanish Flag.

"2. The privilege for the Spanish nation to fish upon the Banks of Newfoundland.

"3. The demolition of the English settlements made upon the Spanish territories in the bay of Honduras."

EXTRACT FROM M. BUSSY'S NOTE TO MR. PITT.

*

*

Since the Memorial of the Propositions from France, was formed, and at the instant that the courier was ready to set out for London, the King received the consent of the Empress-Queen to a separate peace with England, but upon two conditions:

1. To keep possession of the countries belonging to the King of Prussia.

2. That it shall be stipulated that the King of Great Britain, neither in his capacity of King or Elector, shall afford any succour, either in troops or of any kind whatever to the King of Prussia; and that his Britannic Majesty will undertake that the Hanovarian, Hessian, Brunswickian and other auxiliaries in alliance with Hanover, shall not join the forces of the King of Prussia, in like manner as France shall engage on her part not to yield succour of any kind to the EmpressQueen nor her allies.

Both these conditions appear so natural and equitable in themselves, that his Majesty could not do otherwise than acquiesce in them, and he hopes that the King of Great Britain will be ready to adopt them.

EXTRACT FROM MR. PITT'S LETTER TO M. BUSSY,

July 24, 1761.

* It is my duty to declare further to you in plain terms, in the name of his Majesty, that he will not suffer the disputes with Spain to be blended in any manner whatever in the negotiation of peace between the two Crowns; to which I must add, that it will be considered an affront to his Majesty's dignity, and as a thing incompatible with the sincerity of the Negotiation, to make further mention of such a circumstance.

Moreover, it is expected that France will not at any time presume a right of intermeddling in such disputes between Great Britain and Spain. These considerations, so just and indispensable, have determined his Majesty to order me to return you the Memorial which occasions this, as wholly inadmissible.

I likewise return you, Sir, as totally inadmissible, the Memorial relative to the King of Prussia, as implying an attempt upon the honour of Great Britain, and the fidelity with which his Majesty will always fulfil his engagements with his Allies.

M. DE VAUDREUIL TO THE DUC DE CHOISEUL,

October 30, 1761.

MY LORD, I was astonished to see, by the historical account of the Memorial of the negotiations between France and England, what I am charged with by the English, with regard to the limits of Canada, as it is entirely false and groundless. I shall give your grace a true account of what passed between Mr. Amherst and me on that head. When I capitulated, I traced out no limits whatever, and in all the messages that passed between the English General and me,

I made use of the word "Canada" only. Eight or ten days

ter the surrender of the country, he sent an officer to me for maps, to inform him of the extent of the colony. I returned for answer, that I had none, my maps having been taken away with my baggage at Quebec, in breach of the capitulation of that place; and the officer then showing me a map which he had in his hand, I told him the limits marked on it were not just, and verbally mentioned others, extending Louisiana on one side, to the carrying place of the Miamis, which is the height of the lands, which rivers run into the Quabache; and on the other, to the head of the Illinois.

What I have the honour to tell you, my lord, is strictly true; I am not afraid that the English can produce any proof of the contrary-for nothing passed in writing, on this head, nor was any line drawn on any map. I take the first opportunity to acquaint you with this, to prevent any further imposition.*

APPENDIX J.

EXTRACT FROM THE CHARTER GRANTED TO M. CROZAT, 1712. BOUNDARY OF LOUISIANA AND NEW FRANCE.

In the Grant of Louisiana to Crozat made by Louis XIV., in September 1712, he is empowered "to carry on exclusively the trade in all our territories by us possessed and bounded by New Mexico, and by those of the English in Carolina; all the establishments, ports, harbours, rivers, and especially the port and harbour of Dauphin Island, formerly called the Massacre Island, and the River St. Louis, formerly called the Mississippi, from the sea shore to the Illinois; together with the River St. Philip, formerly called the Missouri river, and the St. Jerome, formerly called the Wabash, (the Ohio) with all the countries, territories, lakes inland, and the rivers emptying directly or indirectly in that part of the River St. Louis. All

*For an account of the negotiations which led to peace, see Bedford Correspondence, volume 3.