parallel as to leave the whole of Quadra and Vancouver's Island to England, whereas that line of latitude would give us the southern extremity of that island, and consequently the command of the straits of Fuca on both sides. pointed out on a map the extent of this concession; and Lord Aberdeen said he would take it into consideration. P. 21, 1. 1-3. I then The next day Mr. Everett more formally referred to the subject in a note to the British secretary: Appendix, p. 21, 22. MY DEAR LORD ABERDEEN. * that * 46 GROSVENOR PLACE, 30th November, 1843. It appears from Mr. Gallatin's correspondence Mr. Huskisson had especially objected to the extension of the 49° to the Pacific, on the ground that it would cut off the southern extremity of Quadra and Vancouver's Island. My suggestion yesterday would obviate this objection. * * A glance at the map shows its importance as a modification of the forty-ninth degree. Edward Everett. * * p. 22-24. # On the 2d of February, and on the 1st of April, 1844, Mr. Everett Appendix No. 20, reports that he continuously insisted with Lord Aberdeen that the only modification which the United States could, in his opinion, be brought to agree to, was that they should waive their claim to the southern extremity of Vancouver Island, and that Lord Aberdeen uniformly answered: "he did not think there would be much difficulty in settling the question." During the following months Mr. Everett and Lord Aberdeen, both wishing sincerely to settle the controversy, had further frequent conver P. 18, 1. 32, 33. P. 23, 1. 39, 40. sations, and, as the result of them all, Mr. Everett reported that [13] England would not accept the *naked parallel of 49° to the ocean, but would consent to the line of the forty-ninth degree, provided it could be so modified as to leave to Great Britain the southern exAppendix No. 22, tremity of Vancouver Island. "I have spared no pains,” p. 26, 1. 23-27. wrote Mr. Everett on the 28th of February, 1845, "to impress upon Lord Aberdeen's mind the persuasion that the utmost which the United States can concede is the 49th parallel with the modification suggested, taking always care to add that I had no authority for saying that even that modification would be agreed to." To one fact I particularly invoke the attention of the Imperial arbitrator: not the least room for doubt was left by Mr. Everett with regard to the extent of the modification proposed. He had pointed it out to Lord Aberdeen on the map, and had so often and so carefully directed his attention to it, that there could be no misapprehension on the limit of the proposed concession. Mr. Everett retired from office in the full persuasion that the northwestern boundary would be settled, whenever the United States would consent so far to depart from the parallel of 49° as to leave the whole of Vancouver Island to Great Britain. Appendix No. 21, D. 24, 25. THE PAMPHLET OF MR. STURGIS. The subject attracted public attention. On the 22d of January, 1845, Mr. William Sturgis, a distinguished citizen of the United States who had passed several years on the northwest coast of America, delivered in Boston a lecture on what was now generally called the Oregon question, in which, hitting exactly the idea of Mr. Everett, he proposed as the boundary: "a continuation of the parallel of 49° across the Rocky Mountains to tide-water, say to the middle of the Gulf of Georgia; thence by the northernmost navigable passage (not north of 49°) to the straits of Juan de Fuca, and down the middle of [14] these straits to the Pacific Ocean; the navigation of the Gulf of Georgia and the Straits of Fuca to be forever *free to both parties; all the islands and other territory lying south and east of this line to belong to the United States, and all north and west to Great Britain. By this arrangement we should yield to Great Britain the portion of Quadra and Vancouver's Island that lies south of latitude 490 Will Great Britain accede to this? I think she will." The pamphlet of Mr. Sturgis, accompanied by a map on which the proposed boundary is marked, was read by Lord Ashburton and by Lord Aberdeen. To one who eminently enjoyed the confidence of both governments Lord Aberdeen pronounced it "a clear and sensible view of the matter." Lord Ashburton, whose opinion on the subject carried the greatest weight, wrote to Mr. Sturgis : Appendix No. 26, p. 30, 1. 3. Appendix No. 25, p. 28, 1. 7-11. Your treatise enables me every day to answer satisfactorily the questions put to me so often, where is the Oregon, and what is this dispute about? You have stated the case distinctly in a few pages, aud, what is indeed uncommon, with great impartiality MR. BUCHANAN NEGOTIATES WITH MR. PAKENHAM. Meantime the negotiation on the Oregon question had been transferred to the new British minister at Washington. Offers of arbitration had been rejected; emigration across the plains gave promise of founding States on the Pacific; and the Congress of the United States teemed with propositions to prepare for establishing a territorial government in Oregon. When the administration of Mr. Polk entered upon office, all parties in America were unanimous in insisting on a boundary at the least as favorable as the parallel of 49°; while a very large number, and seemingly the largest number, thought the time had come for America, as the heir of Spain, to carry its claims beyond the parallel of 49°. But the new administration would not swerve from the moderation which had marked the policy of the country. [15] Appendix No. 28, p. 31. Meantime both parties had received more accurate in* formation on the geography of that district. In July, 1841, Appendix No, 27. Captain Wilkes had made a survey of the waters south of P. 31. 490, especially of the channel of Haro; and in the early part of 1845 his narrative and accompanying map had been published both in America and England. Believing now that Great Britain would accept the line of 49°, with the small modification for the southern end of Vancouver Island, the American administration, on the 12th of July, 1845, made to the British minister at Washington the proposal, "that the Oregon territory shall be divided between the two countries by the forty-ninth parallel of north latitude from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean; offering at the same time to make free to Great Britain any port or ports on Vancouver's Island south of this parallel, which the British government may desire." A friendly spirit dictated the proposition, which it was sincerely hoped and expected might "prove the foundation of lasting peace and harmony between the two countries." The proposition, which excited surprise by its moderation, was rejected by the British plenipotentiary at Washington, who, without even waiting to refer the subject to the ministry in p. 32, England, suffered the negotiation on his part to drop, expressing his trust that the United States would offer "some further pro- Appendix No. 30, posal for the settlement of the Oregon question." Appendix No. 29, p. 32, 33. In consequence of receiving such an answer, the American Secretary of State withdrew the offer that he had made. On hearing of this abrupt rejection of the American proposal, Lord Aberdeen invited Mr. MacLane, the new American minister Appendix No. 31. at London, to an interview, of which Mr. MacLane made 34 report : Lord Aberdeen not only lamented but censured the rejection of our proposition by Mr. Pakenham without referring it to his government. He stated that if Mr. Pakenham had communicated the American proposition to the government here, as he was ex pected to have done, he, Lord Aberdeen, would have taken it up as a basis of his [16] action, and entertained little doubt that he would have been enabled * to propose modifications which might have resulted in an adjustment mutually satisfactory to both governments. Appendix No. 34. p. 37-39. The conduct of Mr. Pakenham was not censured in private only. Lord Aberdeen censured it in the House of Lords. In the House of Commons, on the night of Friday, the 23d of January, 1846, Lord John Russell condemned it as "a hasty proceeding." Sir Robert Peel was cheered, when on the same evening he observed: It would have been better had he transmitted that proposal to the home government for their consideration; and, if found in itself unsatisfactory, it might possibly have formed the foundation for a further proposal. And now that the re-opening of the negotiation was thrown upon his ministry, he was loudly applauded by the House, as he gave a pledge for his own future conduct in these words: I think it would be the greatest misfortune, if a contest about the Oregon between two such powers as England and the United States, could not, by the exercise of moderation and good sense, be brought to a perfectly honorable and satisfactory conclusion. FINAL PROPOSAL OF THE EARL OF ABERDEEN. Appendix No. 35, p. 39-41. Lord Aberdeen confessed that it now fell to him to propose a peaceful solution of the long controversy. Mr. Everett had left him no doubt as to the utmost departure from the parallel of forty-nine degrees, which the United States, under the late administration, could have conceded. The only doubt was now, if the United States would still be willing to yield so much. The rude rejection of Mr. Buchanan's proposal had roused and united their people. Mr. Calhoun, the late Secretary of State, and the ablest Senator from one section of the country, declared himself in the Senate for the forty-ninth degree as the boundary line. Mr. Webster, the former Secretary of State, who had settled with Lord Ashburton the northeastern boundary, re[17] peatedly "said as plainly as he could speak, or put down * words in writing, that England must not expect anything south of fortynine degrees." All those members of Congress who were of a different mind, Mr. John Quincy Adams, a late President of the United P. 40, 1, 22-26, p. 41. States, Mr. Cass, afterward Secretary of State, Mr. Sevier, then the chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, contended, not for less than the line of forty-nine degrees, but, under the heirship from Appendix No. 36, Spain, for very much more. The voice of England became loud for the line of the forty-ninth parallel. Mr. Bates, an American naturalized in Great Britain by act of Parliament, and much trusted by both governments, wrote from London: P. 40, 1. 8-21. Appendix No. 33, p. 36. The forty-ninth degree, to the strait, giving Vancouver's Island to Great Britain, is as much as any American, be he Bostonian or Carolinian, will, I think, consent to give up. If Great Britain is not satisfied with that, let them have war if they want it. The British government sought anxiously to know what proposition the American Government would consent to receive, and the P. 35, 1. 11, 12. American Government proved its firmness by its moderation. To protect the rights of the country, Congress voted to give to Great Britain the twelve months' notice required by treaty, for terminating the convention of 1827, and thus open the region of the Northwest to the progress of American colonization. Meanwhile, on the 26th of Febru Appendix No. 37, ary, 1846, Mr. Buchanan answered, that the President would 43 1. 7-9, 17. consent to consult the Senate on the proposition, to divide |