fore, were, in 1827, indefinitely extended-each power being now at liberty, however, to abrogate the agreement, on giving a year's notice of such intention. Notwithstanding this friendly arrangement, some public gentlemen of more zeal than wisdom, the very next year, brought up, in the House of Representatives, the military occupation of the Columbia. After a series of excited debates, the more fiercely patriotic and radical portion of the House succeeded in getting a bill reported, authorizing the exploration of Oregon, and the establishment of forts and garrisons from the 42d parallel to that of 54° 40', and to extend over those territories the U. S. jurisdiction. The entire bill was in plain violation of the provisions for joint occupancy. As such, it was strongly opposed by the most eminent members of the House; it was also perceived that the bill, covering the whole territory in dispute, was taking for granted that Great Britain, notwithstanding her long usage of that region, and the successive negotiations on our part for making an equable division, had in fact no right whatever on the Pacific coast. The bill was accordingly rejected.

In 1842, public attention having been again attracted to the Oregon question, a bill was brought into the Senate, providing, among other things, for the granting of specified tracts of land for permanent settlements, for the construction of forts from the Arkansas and Missouri rivers to the pass of the mountains, and at the mouth of the Columbia; and also for extending U. S. jurisdiction over that portion of Oregon lying between the 42d and the 49th parallels, saying nothing of territory farther north.

Ths bill, then, covered only that portion of Oregon which all our offers of compromise, so far, had claimed. It was, however, in spirit and in fact, an infringement of that same Convention of 1827, which neither power had yet abrogated; and it is quite a matter of wonder how it should ever have passed the Senate of the United States. It did pass, but hap. pily it was never carried through the House. Had it passed both Houses, the President would undoubtedly have vetoed it. Otherwise, if carried into effect, England would, we think, have had a just cause of war.

Such, then, had been the various discussions, negotiations and proposals, on the subject of Oregon. It will be seen

at once, that no proposition from Government, no Presidential Message, not even a vote of either House of Congress, had ever intimated, that in the final settlement of the question, we were to have any territory above the 49th parallel. What sudden light, then, we ask, has fallen upon the minds of the "leaders of the people," that the miscellaneous caucus at Baltimore, wiser than three generations of diplomatists, senators and statesmen, should so stringently declare, that the "Model Republic" was unquestionably owner of the entire region, and that the claim must be enforced to the last degree and minute? What equal illumination was reflected from them upon the mind of the President they made? what vast sense of duty to the nation lay at once on his "instructed" shoulders, that Mr. Polk, manifestly without studying the question, should declare in his inaugural address and first message, that our right to the whole of a territory which had been for 40 years the subject of dispute and compromise, was unquestionable and must be maintained? What wisdomdropping cloud had suddenly passed over the capitol, that belligerent senators should see grounds of action which their predecessors never dreamed of? What shadow of the spirit of Jefferson, that the patriotic "peace-maker," the " Organ," should burst itself daily with denunciation of England? And what did all this loud and martial front, kept up for months together-the violent tone of the radical press-apparent (though strangely tardy!) preparations for war-the depression of public confidence-the stagnation of business-the general uncertainty brooding over the minds of men-what did all this practically mean? That the Administration were sincere? That they really thought a war with Great Britain was necessary to save the honor and rights of the nation? That on the whole a war must come? Nothing of the kind. The whole country long since saw through the entire movement. It is now clearer than ever. It was, from first to last, a soulless bubble, blown up for political effect. Could war, indeed, have been even transiently popular with the body of the nation-could it have preserved to the authors of it their ill-gotten, ill-starred power for a single year-we should no doubt have had a conflict bloody and exhausting enough to have satisfied the hearts of the people." Had the country, indeed, been thoroughly pre

pared, the resources of the natien abundant for a long and deadly struggle, we believe the President would not have hesitated to plunge us into it, in mere hopes that success would make it popular. But the President and his advisers were very soon able to see what every one else saw-that the country was unprepared, and the nation opposed to itthat the community, in general, had no other feeling than that the question could be honorably settled by some kind of compromise. Having suffered himself, however, to consider his Executive conduct as marked out for him beforehand by an utterly irresponsible as sembly, (the Baltimore Convention,) whose ill-advised hasty dicta, were based on little reasoning and less knowledge; Mr. Polk, to preserve a popularity of so mean origin, kept out the declaration of extreme claims, such as no previous Administration had thought of insisting upon, and held up to the country the constant assurance of a triumph over Great Britain in negotiation or in war! The Administration knew that England would not yield to such extreme claims; they knew, as well, their own intention of not entering into hostilities; but if by a firm front, fiery press, violent debates, and fruitless negotiation, the question could be kept open and the public excited, what better means of maintaining themselves in power? Unfortunately, it was soon seen, that the English Government would not be trifled with; that the question must speedily be settled by easonable concessions, or there would Te a war in earnest. Besides, from the bate changes of public policy in England, Ithere was some chance that free trade might at length become captivating to the people of the United States-a measure for popularity quite inconsistent with war, and much safer. The question then was, how to get the most credit by settling the Oregon controversy on those moderate grounds on which all preceding Administrations had agreed in placing it. The first thing necessary was to let themselves down gracefully from the high position so long assumed. This was not easy to be done, except by a great man. However, the ideas of the Executive were kept in the dark; some Senators were employed to break ground against the too patriotic and belligerent; arbitration was rejected, as taking the credit of settling the question quite away from the Administration, but a notice of abro

gating joint occupancy was prepared, in spirit about half-way between war and peace; and the British Government is given to understand, that the prospects for British manufacturers in this country are about to brighten greatly, and that the Oregon dispute, it is thought, can now be settled on very reasonable grounds.

The British proposal accordingly is gladly transmitted. But how to accept at once, under his own hand, an offer so far short of what he had constantly claimed, and LESS than any previous Administration had ever proposed! How unfortunate it is, sometimes, to have too much authority! If he could but shift the responsibility! If the affair could seem to have been taken quite out of his hands! He will refer the matter to the Senate; he will make it appear highly

proper "-indeed, "necessary"-so to do; he will then have it understood, that he "wished to reject" the British proposal, but that the Senate would have it, and "courtesy towards that excellent body" forced him to conform. The proposition is accordingly sent to the Senate, and in the Message (confidential ac companying it, he uses a deal of discriminate reasoning, which eventually made public would show the entire propriety of a step he had never before dreamed of adopting.

"General Washington," he says, "repeatedly consulted the Senate and asked their previous advice, to which he always branch of the treaty-making power, and by consulting them in advance to his own action, the President secures harmony of action between that body and himself. The Senate are, moreover, a branch of the war-making power, and it may be eminently proper for the Executive to take the opinion and advice of that body in advance upon any great question which may inwar." Moreover" recent debates and volve in its decision the issue of peace or proceedings in Congress render it, in my judgment, not only respectful, but neces sary and proper."

conformed his action. The Senate are a

All this is undoubtedly true-but how late was it entering the Executive mind! Would it not have been equally "respectful" and "proper"-was it not equally "necessary"-to consult the treaty-making, war-making Senate before-to take its advice, for instance, before the offer to arbitrate was so summarily rejected? Was it well to be ignorant of what "General Washington repeatedly did,"

and let the country suffer months of ruinous uncertainty and depression before discovering that the counsels of that body might help along the wisdom of the President?

Having demonstrated the courtesy of the step, and the extreme desirableness of

harmonious action" between himself and them, he takes occasion to declare that he is still for 54° 40', and if they will have him accept such a proposition, why, of course, the responsibility must rest upon them.

"My opinions and my action on the Oregon question were fully made known to Congress in my annual Message of the 2d of December last, and the opinions therein expressed remain unchanged."

"Should the Senate," he adds, "by the Constitutional majority required for the ratification of Treaties, advise the acceptance of this proposition, or advise it with such modifications as they may upon full deliberation deem proper, I shall conform my action to their advice."

With what sagacity does that beautiful race-horse of a bird, the ostrich, stick its head, when hard pushed, under a bush and imagine that all its featherless posteriors, from the eyes backwards, are entirely concealed!

Such was the Message;-and "The Organ," ," with other Democratic presses, were then commissioned to say, that the President wished the Senate to advise him not to accept the British offer. No pretence could be more evidently false. He knew perfectly well, that the body of the Senate had never favored the extreme claims which he had assumed; and he knew that they were anxious to settle the question. This he knew when he referred the proposition to them. But fearing that not only his own party in the Senate, but the Whigs, might be disposed to hold him to the responsibility which he had so long arrogated, and refer the question back to himself, he added a concise clause :-" Should the Senate, however, decline to give such advice, or to express any opinion on the subject, I shall consider it my duty to reject the offer." Here was the alternative: take this responsibility upon yourselvessave me from eating my own words or keep the question unsettled and the country indefinitely disturbed and anxious. Mean and miserable subterfuge! As if

it were necessary for a man to cherish his "consistency," who, by a public letter, written with deliberate purpose to

deceive, had risen to power and betrayed the nation! But we consider it a fortunate thing that our government is so constructed, that a place can be provided by which an Executive of such qualities can creep from under a burden of duties and of trusts. Had not Mr. Polk found, or thought he had found, such a “hole of escape," should we have obtained the Oregon Treaty? We think not. He had been forced to know what was right in settling the question. But it is necessary to be consistent ! He would have negotiated, wavered, refused, till the powerful government in treaty with us, justly irritated, would have decided upon war, as the easiest method of ending so fruitless a controversy.

Happily, a majority of the Senate, are wise and calm-minded men. The treaty, as it came to them, was plainly defective, and disadvantageous in two or three respects. It does not specify with sufficient distinctness to avoid, we fear, future troublesome controversies, the guaranties of the possessory rights and lands of British subjects on both sides of the Columbia river. Especially, it conceded, not only the lower end of Vancouver's Islandwhich was entirely right-but the perpetual navigation of the Columbia, a point quite worthy of hesitation on our part, and about which the President and his whole party had uttered the most particular denunciations. It was also evident, from Mr. McLane's letter to the Secretary of State, that this treaty was not England's ultimatum; but intended to re-open the negotiation, with the prospect of a demand on our part, that the free navigation of that river should be confined to a term of years; and this demand would probably have been yielded to. But the Senate dared not, by any modification, trust it back again to the uncertain action of the Executive, or in any form to the hands of a bungling negotiation. They, therefore, ratified it, as it stood; and the President, with a saving of consistency which must gratify all his friends, signed it. The terms of the Treaty are as follows:

"ARTICLE 1.—From the point on the 49th parallel of north latitude, where the boundary, laid down in existing treaties and conventions between Great Britain and the United States, terminates, the line of boundary between the territories of Her Britannic Majesty and those of the United States shall be continued westward along the 49th parallel of north latitude to the middle of

the channel which separates the continent from Vancouver's Island, and thence southerly through the middle of the said channel, and of Fuca Straits, to the Pacific Ocean; provided, however, that the navigation of the said channel and straits, south of the 49th parallel of north latitude, remain free and open to both parties.'

"ARTICLE 2.- From the point at which the 49th parallel of north latitude shall be found to intersect the great northern branch of the Columbia river, the navigation of the said branch shall be free and open to the Hudson's Bay Company, and to all British subjects trading with the same, to the point where the said branch meets the main stream of the Columbia, and thence down the said main stream to

the ocean, with free access into and through the said river or rivers, it being understood that all the usual portages along the line thus described, shall in like manner be free and open. In navigating the said river or rivers, British subjects, with their goods and produce, shall be treated on the same footing as citizens of the United States; it being, however, always understood that nothing in this article shall be construed as preventing, or intended to prevent, the Government of the United States from making any regulations respecting the navigation of the said river or rivers, not inconsistent with the present treaty.'

"ARTICLE 3.-In the future appropriations of the territory south of the 49th parallel of north latitude, as provided in the first article of this treaty, the possess ory rights of the Hudson's Bay Company, and of all British subjects who may be already in the occupation of land or other property lawfully acquired within the said territory shall be respected.

"ARTICLE 4.-The farms, lands, and other property of every description, belonging to the Puget's Sound Agricultural Company, on the north side of the Columbia river, shall be confirmed to the said Company. In case, however, the situation of those farms and lands should be considered by the United States to be of public and political importance, and the United States Government should signify a desire to obtain possession of the whole or of any part thereof, the property so required shall

be transferred to the said Government at a proper valuation to be agreed upon between the parties.

"ARTICLE 5.-The present Treaty shall be ratified by the President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate thereof, and by Her Britannic Majesty; and the ratifications shall be exchanged at London at the expiration of six months from the date thereof, or sooner if possible."

Such is the difference between what was to be and what is. To whom now are these articles honorable, to whom dishonorable? They are honorable enough to the people of this country; for, in point of territory, they have obtained all that the real body of them were willing to compromise upon, but were united in demanding, together with some of the finest harbors, those lying in Fuca's Straits, that are to be found in the world. And as to the Columbia, though Great Britain had undoubtedly no right whatever for demanding the free passage of that river in perpetuity; yet it will not discredit the Senate of the United States, that they were willing, for the sake of a compromise, to make a concession of what is the most difficult to concede, a point of honor. It is, in reality, but a point of honor, since in times of peace, the navigation, on any great scale, of a river running seven hundred miles through the territory of another nation, and broken by numerous rapids and waterfalls, will be to British subjects practically impossible; and in time of war the river could be effectually shut away from them.

To the Whig party, and a few highprincipled men from the opposing ranks, this treaty is altogether honorable. It is mainly that which they have always desired. They said, We want nothing above the 49th parallel; we can concede nothing below it ;" and it cannot fail to be always considered that the credit of so settling the question was due, and due alone, to this portion of the community, and the Houses of Congress.

But to the Loco-Foco party, to its stump orators and caucus officers, to its vituperative press and declamatory Congressmen, to its wavering and doublethree senators and Mr. Buchanan, for his minded Executive, to all, (except two or able exposition of the original Spanish title,) what are the terms of this treaty but a historical disgrace? The history we have just given is a sufficient answer. We have nothing further to add-but this nation will surely ask themselves, whether a party and an administration, who have conducted one great question in so unscrupulous and dangerous a manner, are any longer to be trusted with the management of others equally important.

FLOWERS.

A BEAUTIFUL custom-one which I

should like to see introduced into this country-prevails in some parts of Europe, of scattering periodical offerings of fresh flowers upon the graves of departed friends. Flowers are esteemed by us, not so much on account of their extrinsic

beauty—their glowing hues and genial fragrance as because they have long been regarded as emblems of mortality— because they are associated in our minds with the idea of mutation and decay Are they not, then, the most appropriate tributes we can place over the decaying forms of those whom we once loved, and now in sadness lament?

ETIQUETTE.

The rules of etiquette were established by women, for the benefit of women, and are suited only to the nature of women; and a too punctilious observance of them by a man goes to show that over refinement has nearly unsexed him. It is not meet that the strong, free limbs of manhood should be fettered by the silken threads of ceremony-threads wove by triflers in the loom of Idleness-nor that the graces should be cultivated at the expense of that frank, open, and flowing courtesy which is in truth the highest mark of the true gentleman.

CHARACTER.

It is exceedingly difficult to pronounce upon the character of some men's minds, for the sufficient reason that they seem to have no minds at all.

Great warriors, like great earthquakes, are principally remembered for the mischief they have done.

MANNERS OF THE LEARNED.

The learned man seldom makes other than a poor figure in society. It is as if his wisdom was not his own, but all begged, borrowed, or stolen from books. However sensible he may be when busied at his desk, or in his library, he rarely unites to his character of an accomplished scholar, the manners, ease and dignity, of a man of the world. Half his time out of the drawing-room, if he goes at all

into society, is spent in lamenting the mistakes and blunders of etiquette committed in it. Learned women are still worse, and it is their inattention to the duties of their situation that makes the phrase blue-stocking one of such stinging for her attainments but there comes into reproach. I never hear a female lauded stockings down at the heel, hair unmy fancy a picture of a woman with combed, dress disordered, hands unwashed, and her whole appearance denoting of female deportment. disregard for the usual elegancies, bring contempt upon the profession Such persons of literature, of which they are unworthy members. Of what use is it that a woman can prate about Bacon, if she cannot cook a slice of it; and how inconsistent it is for her to be versed in matters of taste, when she outrages good taste in her general appearance ?

Certain young ladies, when in the presence of their lovers, maintain a prudent reserve and silence-wisely concluding they will imagine in them all the excellence they seek to find.

There are a good many people in the world who spend half their time in thinking what they would do if they were rich, and the other half in conjecturing what the devil they shall do as they are not.

THE WORLD.

What a bugbear is the world, and in what awe does it hold us? What will it say? is a question at which even the boldest must give pause. It exercises the severest espionage over us, and calls us rigidly to account for all our actions; it bow and cringe before it, to obey its berequires us to stand cap in hand to it, to And yet

hests and to fear its censure. this puissant world is, after all, but a very foolish, and often a very evil-minded world. Some whom it has pronounced great must needs themselves have been surprised at such a decision: tenacious of error, and slow to receive new truths, it has made martyrs of the good, and persecuted the wise: selfish and tyrannical, it fawns on the strong and oppresses the weak: corrupt, its opinions can be bought by show: capricious, it has its favorites whom it intoxicates with its praises