end, by sending a special must me

full power to make a final settlement of all matters in dispute.

This step was determined on from

C

DIPLOMATIC AND OFFICIAL

PAPER S.

TREATY OF WASHINGTON OF 1842.

NORTHEASTERN BOUNDARY.

A LEADING object sought to be accomplished, and which was accomplished, by the Treaty of Washington, was the settlement of the controversy between the United States and England relative to the northern and northeastern boundary of the United States.

The history of this controversy, from the Treaty of Peace, in 1783, to its final adjustment in 1842, is given in Mr. Webster's speech in the Senate, the 6th and 7th of April, 1846, which is contained in this publication. In the summer of 1841, Mr. Webster signified to Mr. Fox, the British minister at Washington, that, having received the President's authority for so doing, he was then willing to make an attempt to settle the boundary dispute, by agreeing on a conventional line, or line by compromise. In September of that year the ministry of Sir Robert Peel came into power; and Lord Aberdeen, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, having been informed of what had been said by Mr. Webster to Mr. Fox, invited Mr. Everett, at that time minister of the United States at the court of London, to an interview on that subject. The following correspondence immediately took place

Mr. Everett to Mr. Webster.-[EXTRACTS.]

LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, London, December 31, 1841. *

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At a late hour on the evening of the 26th, I received a note from the Earl of Aberdeen, requesting an interview for the following day, when I met him at the Foreign Office, agreeably to the appointment. After one or two general remarks upon the difficulty of bringing about an adjustment of the points of controversy between the governments, by a continuance of the discussions hitherto carried on, he said that her majesty's government had determined to take a decisive step toward that end, by sending a special minister to the United States, with a full power to make a final settlement of all matters in dispute. This step was determined on from с

a sincere and earnest desire to bring the matter so long in controversy to an amicable settlement; and if, as he did not doubt, the same disposition existed at Washington, he thought this step afforded the most favorable, and, indeed, the only means of carrying it into effect. In the choice of the individual for the mission, Lord Aberdeen added, that he had been mainly influenced by a desire to select a person who would be peculiarly acceptable in the United States, as well as eminently qualified for the trust, and that he persuaded himself he had found one who, in both respects, was all that could be wished. He then named Lord Ashburton, who had consented to undertake the mission.

Although this communication was, of course, wholly unexpected to me, I felt no hesitation in expressing the great satisfaction with which I received it. I assured Lord Aberdeen that the President had nothing more at heart than an honorable adjustment of the matters in discussion between the two countries; that I was persuaded a more acceptable selection of a person for the important mission proposed could not have been made; and that I anticipated the happiest results from this overture.

Lord Aberdeen rejoined, that it was more than an overture; that Lord Ashburton would go with full powers to make a definitive arrangement on every point in discussion between the two countries. He was aware of the difficulty of some of them, particularly what had incorrectly been called the right of search, which he deemed the most difficult of all; but he was willing to confide this and all other matters in controversy to Lord Ashburton's discretion. He added, that they should have been quite willing to come to a general arrangement here, but they supposed I had not full powers for such a purpose.

This measure being determined on, Lord Aberdeen said he presumed it would be hardly worth while for us to continue the correspondence here on matters in dispute between the governments. He, of course, was quite willing to consider and reply to any statement I might think proper to make on any subject; but, pending the negotiations that might take place at Washington, he supposed no benefit could result from a simultaneous discussion here.

Mr. Webster to Mr. Everett.-[EXTRACT.]

DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, January 29, 1842. By the "Britannia," arrived at Boston, I have received your dispatch of the 28th of December (No. 4), and your other dispatch of the 31st of the same month (No. 5), with a postscript of the 3d of January.

The necessity of returning an early answer to these communications (as the "Britannia" is expected to leave Boston on the 1st of February) obliges me to postpone a reply to those