St. John river and its tributary str.ams west of the Meridian line from the monument at the source of the Saint Croix, and the south line of the province of Quebec, or Lower Canada.

In the autumn of the year of 1820, an agent was sent by the Governor and council to explore the public lands upon the St. John and its branches west of the meridian line from the monument, which service he performed.

The Governor again in his message, which was delivered January 11, 1821 to both branches of the Legislature, called their attention to the subject of the preservation of the timber on the public lands, and after enumerating several places as the scenes of depredations, says, "it appears that trespasses within our acknowledged territory, particularly on the rivers Oroostook, De Chute, Presquille and Meduxnekeag, committed by persons residing in the British provinces are very great accordingly, arrangements have lately been adopted with a view to prevent such predatory incursions in future.”

He also states that he forwarded the Resolve of the prior session of the Legislature to the President, and Secretary, transmitted a copy of the same to the American Commissioners, who in reply" gave a reasonable ground of expectation that the final decision of the points in controversy respecting those lines would have been made in October last. And from information obtained from other sources, adds-"All reasonable hope of a speedy adjustment seems therefore to have vanished."

The Governor after having received information that British subjects were trespassing on the timber lands of Maine and Massachusetts on the Oroostook, appointed Benjamin J. Porter, Esquire with the advice of council to proceed immediately to that place, and to notify the persons whom he should find trespassing on the timber lands aforesaid west of the line which had been run by order of the Commissioners appointed by the United States and Great Britain from the monument at the source of the St. Croix to the line of the province of lower Canada, that if they would pay a proper consideration for the timber they had cut, and desist from any further depredation on that part of our territory, he was authorized to settle with them on those principles-but if they declined, he was directed to proceed to Houlton plantation and adopt the necessary measures, and obtain such assistance as in his judgment would be required, to take the trespassers and their teams and bring them to Houlton plantation, and there keep them until the Executive could be advised of the measures adopted.

The agent thus appointed and instructed proceeded to the Oroostook, and found British subjects trespassing there, with

whom he settled, and received also the assuranees required, that they would not return, and would desist from cutting the tim

ber.

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The efforts thus far made, not having produced the intended results, the Legislature, January 16, 1822, passed a resolve requesting the Senators and Representatives of this State in the Congress of the United States, to collect information touching the causes of the differences between the American and British Commissioners under the treaty of Ghent respecting the boundary line, between this State and the British provinces of lower Canada and Nova Scotia, and the extent and nature of the claims set up by the said British Commissioners, The resolve was duly communicated. No progress was however made and the object of the Resolve was not answered. In February 1822, an agent was appointed with full power to prevent trespassing upon the timber in the public lands, on the Oroostook, Maduxnekeag and Presquilla rivers and their branches west of the meridian line from the monument, and he entered immediately upon the duties of his agency and visited the places required, and accomplished the objects of his appointment. The subject is again recured to Jan. 10, 1824 by the Governor in his message, which led to no specific act on the part of the Legislature-Jan. 7, 1825, the Governor again calls the attention of the Legislature to the subject of the Northeastern boundary, stating also that he had understood from respectable sources, that depredations had been committed on our timber lands, on the Oroostook and Madawaska and other streams emptying into the St. John; and that unless energetic measures are speedily adopted on the part of the State, our valuable timber in that region will be soon destroyed; and that from the representations, the depredations were committed by British subjects.

This led to an investigation as far as the limited means possessed by the Government of this State permitted, and a resolve passed Jan. 24, 1825, among other things requesting the Governor of this State to correspond with the Governor of the province of New-Brunswick relative to the depredations which had been committed by British subjects on the timber on the public lands of this State, west of the boundary line between this State and the province of New-Brunswick, as heretofore recognized; and to ascertain whether that government had authorized any persons to cut timber upon these lands or to settle thereon.

The land agent of Maine was instructed in conjunction with such person as should be designated by Massachusetts, or if none should be appointed, without that agent, forthwith to take effectual measures to ascertain the extent of the depredations on the lands belonging to this State and Massachusetts, or on lands be

longing to this State; by whom the same have been committed, and under what authority, if any, such depredations were mitted.

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The Governor was also requested to forward each of the Senators and Representatives in Congress from this state a copy of the report of the Committee on the part of the Governor's Message relative to depredations on the public lands, and of the Resolves, and also to request them to take the necessary measures to obtain an early adjustment of the Northeastern boundary of this State.

The Governor'enclosed and forwarded the same on the 25th of January 1825. During the same session of the Legislature, February 22d, 1825, they passed a Resolve respecting the settlers on the St. John and Madawaska rivers. "Whereas there are a number of settlers on the undivided public lands on the St. John and Madawaska Rivers, many of whom have resided thereon for more than thirty years; therefore resolved, That the land agent of this State, in conjunction with such agent as may be appointed for that purpose, on the part of Massachusetts, be, and he is hereby authorized and directed to make and execute good and sufficient deeds, conveying to such settlers in actual possession, as aforesaid, their heirs and assigns, one hundred acres each, of land, by them possessed, to include the improvements on their respective lots, they paying the said agent for the use of the State, five dollars each, and the expense of surveying the same.

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, June 11, 1825, did provide by Resolve among other things-" Whereas there are a number of settlers on the St, John and Madawaska rivers, many of whom have resided there more than thirty years, therefore resolved, That the land agent of this Commonwealth in conjunction with such agent has been or may be appointed for that purpose on the part of the State of Maine, be, and the same is hereby authorized and directed to make good and sufficient deeds, conveying to such settlers in actual possession as aforesaid,their heirs and assigns, one hundred acres each of land by them possessed to include their improvements on their respective lots, they paying to the said agent, for the use of this Commonwealth five dollars each, and the expense of surveying the same."

The agents thus authorized did in the autumn of that year proceed up the St. John to the Madawaska settlement, and thence to the mouth of the Maryumpticook, and surveyed, and conveyed, two lots of land, on the 3d of October, to John Baker and James Bacon, citizens of this State. They had settled above the French neutrals on the St. John and its waters;

and at the time when the settlements on the lots were commenced, there was no settlement within several miles of them. They also posted up notices, stating their authority, and proposing to give deeds, according to the Resolves under which they acted.

This year Maine and Massachusetts, in continuing their surveys of the undivided lands, surveyed all which had not been previously done, and conveyed two ranges of townships on the meridian line running north from the Monument at the source of the St. Croix, and above Mars Hill, to a place within a few miles of the river St. John. The two grants of Massachusetts made in December 1807, to the town of Plymouth, and in Jan. 1808, to William Eaton, on the river Aroostook, according to surveys made in 1807, compose a part of the ranges.

In a letter bearing date May 23, 1825, from the British minister at Washington to the Secretary of State of the U. States, in answer to his of the 27th March preceding, complaining of the encroachments of the inhabitants of New Brunswick, committed upon lands of Maine and Massachusetts, in cutting and carrying away timber within the boundaries of those States-and the places where the trespasses were committed were also described in the accompanying papers, to be on the Aroostook and Madawaska rivers.

The British Minister in reply, states, that he had made inquiries of Sir Howard Douglass, the Governor of New Brunswick, and had been assured by him, that the charge, as far as the Government of the provinces was concerned, was unfounded, and that he should use his best endeavors to put a stop to practices in themselves so disgraceful. It was further stated by Sir Howard, "that in assuming the Government of New Brunswick, he found that licences to cut timber, and other acts of sovereignty, had long been exercised on the part of Great Bri-' tain over certain tracts of land in which the Bestook," (Aroostook) "and Madawaska were included, heretofore well understood to belong to New Brunswick, but subsequently claimed by the Commissioners of the United States appointed to negotiate with the British Commissioners for adjusting the boundary line of the respective provinces: to these claims no disposition was ever shewn, on the part of Great Britain, to accede."

It is not supposed that Sir Howard intended to misrepresent facts, because it would be entirely inconsistent with the honorable character which he is supposed to sustain; but acquitted of that charge, his representations must be attributed to ignorance of the subject, or want of research into the premises. Compare the history of the negotiation of the provisional treaty of peace in 1782, the doings of the Commissioners under the fifth article of

the treaty of 1794-more especially the argument of the British agent, and all the correspondence which preceded the treaty of Ghent, wherein the British Commissioners so often and so repeatedly ask the country, in which the Madawaska settlement is included as a cession, and are so often denied by the American Commissioners, on the ground that they possess no authority to make a cession, and no further comment is necessary to shew the falsity of his representations.

It is further said by Sir Howard "In fact by a reference to documents in the possession of the British Colonial department it appears that the settlement at Madawaska in the province of New Brunswick was made under a grant from the Crown upwards of thirty years ago, so late as the year 1810 no claim had been adyanced by the United States, although the settlement had been established at the time for upwards of twenty years under a grant from the Government of New Brunswick and had been constantly designated the Madawaska settlement."

Admitting the fact, as to the antiquity of the settlement to be as stated, giving the utmost extent to both modes of expression,it commenced under grants about the year 1790, long after the treaty of 1783. Unless the grants were within the province of Nova Scotia, they were intrusions; that they were not within the province abundantly appears from all the documents before quoted in relation to the boundaries. No valid claim of national soyereignty can be based on such acts in the forum of honor, conscience or law. And no jurisdiction can, with any semblance of propriety be claimed beyond the actual possession; it cannot without violating the acknowledged principles, in such cases be extended by construction. If such were the facts and the settlements had been made as early as 1790-if the British considered that they had any claim to the territory on that account, it is extraordinary, that it should have been entirely overlooked by the government, its ministers and commissioners, and never have been discovered until 1817 or since that time; more especially when the treaty of 1794 and the discussions under the fifth article of it wherein it was conceded that the line due north from the source of the St. Croix, wherever it should be established, crossed the St. John, to the line of the government of Quebec, and by a reference to the map it will at once be seen that had the most westerly point been adopted which the British agent contended for, that the Madawaska settlement is west of the meridian and at all events within the United States. When also the subject of surveying the boundaries had been discussed on several occasions between that time and the treaty of Ghent, and when also during the whole discussion which led to that treaty of Ghent, the territory is sought as a cession and with great perse