a night squadron of boats was fitted out for the purpose of proceeding to Navy Island and capturing the steam-boat "Caroline," she being supposed to be there at the time, as she plied daily between the American shore and the island, for the purpose of supplying the rebels and their associates with provisions, arms, and ammunitions. On reaching the island it was discovered that the steamer had removed from it, and was moored near the American shore to be ready for another trip the next morning. The British force immediately boarded and took possession of her, and it being found impossible to tow her through the strong current of the river, she was set on fire and left to drift over the Falls. Subsequent to this transaction a British subject was arrested and imprisoned by the New York authorities, on a charge of being one of the party that destroyed the "Caroline." The British Government at a later period avowed the act of the destruction of the vessel as a justifiable one, and claimed that Mc Leod, the individual in question, could not be held personally responsible for acts done by him at the command of his own sovereign. This principle was admitted without hesitation by the Government of the United States, which endeavoured to procure the liberation of Mc Leod from his imprisonment. The authorities of

New York, however, declared that their state laws must take their course, and that the interference of the authority of the Federal Government would not be permitted in this case; so that, through the intricacy of their inter-relations with their own States, the Federal Government was baffled in the execution of one of its most important constitutional functions. Mc Leod was at length discharged by a jury of the State of New York, and returned to his own country. At the period of Lord Ashburton's negotiations with Mr. Webster, this affair, as appears by this gentleman's letter of July 27, 1842, had taken the simple form of a complaint from the Federal Government, of a violation of their soil and territory. To this Lord Ashburton

answers :

"I believe I may take it to be the opinion "of candid and honourable men, that the "British officers who executed, and their Go"vernment who approved it, intended no slight "or disrespect to the sovereign authority of the "United States."

In another part of his letter, he says:—

"Looking back to what passed at this time, "what is perhaps most to be regretted is, that some explanation and apology for this occurrence was not immediately made; this, with a frank explanation of the necessity of the

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case, might and probably would have pre"vented much of the exasperation, and of the subsequent complaints and recriminations, to "which it gave rise."

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It having been successfully demonstrated on the part of Great Britain, that the authorities of the State of New York were the first to fail in the respect due to the international relations of the two countries, and that the British authorities had been compelled, from the necessity of the case, to suppress the outrage committed upon her, in the manner they had done, but without in any way intending a disrespect to the United States, Mr. Webster, in his letter of the 6th of August, when speaking of the respect due "to "the inviolable character of the territory of "independent States," replies:

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"Undoubtedly, it is just that, while it is "admitted that exceptions growing out of the great law of self-defence do exist, those ex"ceptions should be confined to cases in which "the necessity of self-defence is instant, over"whelming, and leaving no choice of means, "and no moment for deliberation."

The case of the "Caroline" forming precisely such an exception, this delicate matter was finally settled upon this ground. Both parties agreed that an inviolable respect for the territory of independent States was an essential

F

principle of civilization, yet that certain cases must form exceptions to the observance of the principle, and the correspondence on this subject terminated by Mr. Webster's declaration that

"The President is content to receive these " acknowledgments and assurances in the con"ciliatory spirit which marks your Lordship's

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letter, and will make this subject, as a com"plaint of violation of territory, the topic of "no further discussion between the two Go"vernments."

But, independently of the advantage which each country secured to itself by this friendly arrangement of what at one time bore a very unpromising aspect, another important point connected with the subject has been conceded to Great Britain, which removes all apprehension of a recurrence of similar difficulties upon the frontier. The Federal Government having declared that no British subject can be held responsible by the State Courts for an act committed by the command of his sovereign, the Congress has now enacted a law, whereby the States surrender to the Federal Government the exclusive jurisdiction over cases similar to that of Mc Leod; so that hereafter no similar excitement can be created by the interference of State Courts. On this subject Mr. Webster, in

the same letter, where he apologetically states that "it was a subject of regret that the release "of Mc Leod was so long delayed," declares "that the Government of the United States "holds itself not only fully disposed, but fully "competent to carry into practice every principle which it avows or acknowledges, and to fulfil every duty and obligation which it owes "to foreign governments, their citizens or "subjects."

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So that not only the point of honour has been satisfactorily adjusted on both sides, but all the security that could be asked has been given to Great Britain, that the Federal Government will exercise its power to prevent the recurrence of the evil that led to this painful and dangerous misunderstanding*.

If Mr. Lemoinne has sent out his paper to the world as the deliberate judgment of a man of candour and intelligence upon the merits of the Treaty of Washington, it is to be regretted that not even an allusion is made either to the friendly spirit in which this part of the negotiation was carried on, or to the great importance both to Great Britain and America of the Act of Con

*If we may judge from the congratulations offered by the Parliament of Canada, to the Governor General, Sir Charles Bagot, the Treaty of Washington is as popular in that Province as it is in New Brunswick.