offering the following resolution, which having been read Resolved, That the 17th joint rule of the two houses of The bill making appropriations for continuing the road from Detroit to Chicago, &c. was taken up, amended and ordered to its third reading. ascertained and estimated, the amount of the said exports also the quantity and value, and average price of the fol actually produced in each of the said states annually, low ng articles, respectively and annually exported duton, tobacco, rice, flour, wheat, Indian coru meal-also ring the same period from each of the said states, viz: cotthe value of all the other productions of agriculture-of The bill for the relief Susan Decatur was taken up in of the forest, and of all the productions of manufacture, all the productions of the fisheries, of all the productions committee of the whole and debated with much warmth respectively exported during the same period-also the of feeling, several amendments having been rejected. It value of all the manufactures of cotton, and of wool, reswas then reported to the house, when the debate was re-pectively exported during the same period-also the sumed. The previous question having been demanded amount of the disbursements of the federal government and put, and the speaker having stated the numbers on annually made in each of the states and territories-also each side, viz: "Yeas 79, Nays 81," but not having de- the restrictions imposed by foreign governments upon clared that the question was either carried or negatived, the importations of the domestic productions of the U. Mr. Alexander declared his desire to change the vote he States into foreign countries, and whether any efforts had given, and, it having been changed accordingly, the have been made by this government to procure an abolispeaker declared the votes to be equally divided, viz: tion of such restrictions by negociations. Yeas 80, Nays 80. Thereupon the speaker gave the casting vote in the affirmative. From this decision Mr. Bassett took an appeal, insisting that Mr. Alexander had no right to change his vote, after the number on each side were announced from the chair. The appeal was warmly debated by a large number of gentlemen, when finally it was decided by yeas and nays; yeas 122, nays 49; so the decision of the speaker was affirmed by the house. The question was then taken on the passage of the bill, and decided by yeas and nays as follows: The resolution was read and laid on the table. A motion to reconsider the vote by which the bill for bers to withdraw their papers. senate in the bill for the relief of the navy pension fund. ing appropriations for the navy were concurred in, as YEAS-Messrs. John Anderson, Samuel Anderson, Archer, John S. Barbour, Barlow, Barney, Bartlett, Bell, Brent, Buchanan, Bunner, Burges, Cambreleng, Carson, John C. Clark, Crowninshield, Warren R. Davis, De Graff, Dickinson, Dorsey, Drayton, Earll, Everett, John Floyd, o Virgna, John Floyd, of Georgia, Fort, Forward, Gale, Garrow, Gorham, Gurley, Hamilton, Haynes, Hinds, Hobbie, Hodges, Hoffman, Holmes, Ingersoll, Isacks, Jennings, Johnson, Keese, Kerr, Kremer, Lea, Little, Livingston, Locke, Mallary, Martin, McDuffie, McIntire, Mercer, Miner, Thomas R. Mitchell, Thomas P. Moore, Muhlenberg, Newton, Nuckolls, Owen, Plant, by the senate in the bill making appropriations for barThe committee then took up the amendments made Polk, Ramsay, James F. Randolph, Richardson, Ser-racks, &c. The amendment proposed an appropriation geant, O. H. Smith, Stoors, Taliaferro, Ebenezer Tuck- for Jefferson barracks, and the committee refused to coner, Van Rensselaer, Varnum, Verplanck, Washington, cur in it. Weems, Whipple, Wickliffe, Wilde, Ephraim K. Wil The committee then took up the bills for the construcNAYS-Messrs. Alexander, Alston, Armstrong, Bai-and to continue it through the state of Indiana. Several tion of the Cumberland road westwardly from Zanesville, ley, Baldwin, Barber, Philip P. Barbour, Barringer, amendments were rejected. The bill to authorise a subBassett, Edward Bates, Beecher, Blair, Blake, Brown, scription to the stock of the Chesapeake and Delaware Bryan, Buckuer, Buck, Chambers, Chilton, Claiborne. canal next claimed the attention of the committee, after James Clark, Conner, Coulter, Daniel, Thomas Daven- which it arose and reported the bills and amendments to port, Desha, Findlay, Fry, Gilmer, Harvey, Healey, the house. Johns, Lecompte, Letcher, Long, Lyon, Marable, Markell, Martindale, Marvin, Maxwell, Maynard, McCoy, McHatton, McKee, McLean, Merwin, Miller, John Mitchell, O'Brien, Órr, Pearce, Phelps, Pierson, Roane, Russell, Sawyer, Shepperd, Sinnick son, Sloane, Sprague, Stanberry, Stevenson, Sterigere, Stewart, Stower, Swann, Swift, Sutherland, Taber, Taylor, Tracy, Trezvant, stated that this is a part of the original plan of the buildThis proposition called up Mr. Van Rensselear, who Starling Tucker, Turner, Vance, Vinton, Ward, Whit-ing, and he hoped that the appropriation would not be tlesey, Williams, James Wilson, John J. Wood, Silas stricken out. Wood, Woods, Woodcock, Wolf, John C. Wright, nays, which were refused. Ayes 15, noes 104. The Mr. Whittlesey asked for the ayes and Yancey-88. proposition to amend was negatived. So the bill was lost, and then the house adjourned. Monday, March 2. the subject of the navy pension fund, and the pensioners Mr. Hoffman made a report on of widows and orphans, charged thereon, which was read and the resolution submitted was concurred in by the house, viz: Resolved, That the foregoing report, and the papers and documents accompanying the same, be referred to the secretary of the navy, to report thereon at the next session of congress. Mr. McDuffie, from the committee of ways and means, reported the following resolution. Resolved, That the president of the United States be requested to cause to be communicated to this house, at au early period of the next session, the amount of the productions annually exported from each of the United States, since the year 1820, and, as nearly as it can be in their amendments on the appropriation bills, exThe house concurred with the committee of the whole cepting the amendment of the senate, appropriating 24,769 dollars for a portico for the president's house, which Mr. Bassett moved to strike out. the yeas and noes were ordered. mative. lett, Bartley, Isaac C. Bates, Beecher, Blair, Blake, aer, Varnum, Vinton, Whipple, Whittlesey, Wickliffe, Jas. Wilson, Ephraim K, Wilson, Woods, Woodcock, Wolf, Yancey-76. NOES-Messrs. Robert Allen, Aiston, John Anderson, Bailey, Noyes, Barber, Barringer, Bassett, Brown, Bryan, Buchauan, Buck, Carter, Claiborne, John C. Clark, Conner, Culpeper, Warren R. Davis, De Graff, Drayton, Earl, Floyd, of Va. Floyd of Georgia, Fort, Fry. Gilmer, Hallock, Hall, Hamilton, Harvey, Haynes, Healy, Hobble, Hoffman, Holmes, Keese, Lea, Long, Martin, McCoy, McDuffie, Melntire, McKee, Owen, Phelps, Polk, Ramsay, Rives, Roane, Shepperd, Stower, Taber, Thompson, Trezvant Starling, E. Tucker, Daniel Turner, Verplanck, Wilde, John J. Wood, Silas Wood. Mr. Taylor moved to lay the message and documents on the table, and to print them. On motion of Mr. Hamilton the question was divided. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Mr. Storrs then adverted to the obligation imposed on the president to make communications on such subjects as concern the union, and to recommend to the consideration of congress such measures as he shall judge necessary. Mr. Haynes was opposed to the printing. Mr. Hamilton said, that this was a most extraordinary motion, to print a nonentity. We have not the instructions before us, but have to obtain them from the senate. What power have we to obtain them from the senate, at the moment we are going out of political existence? Perhaps the confidential seal of that body was placed upon the documents. He thought the Panama mission was inurned, and that we had attended its funeral. It had gone The house then took up the bill to authorise a sub-to the tomb of all the Capulets. There had been an atscription of stock in the Chesapeake and Delaware ca-tempt to entrap the other house, and it was a good scheme nal, when the amendments were concurred in, and the to send it to this house. But he hoped we should not be He called upon the bill ordered to be engrossed and read a third time to- twice caught in the same snare. day. house to come up and vote, and asked for the ayes and nues, which were ordered. -59. The bill was then ordered to be read a third time today. The bill authorising a subscription to the stock of the Louisville and Portland canal company was ordered to be read a third time to-day. The other bills were ordered to be read a third time to day. The bills were then read a third time and passed. The house then resolved itself into committee of the whole on the state of the union, Mr. P. P. Barbour in the chair. Mr. Thompson moved to lay the motion to print on the table. On the call of Mr. Vinton, the ayes and noes were ordered. The question was then taken, and decided in the affirmative. YEAS. Messrs. Addams, Alexander, Robert Allen, Alston, John Anderson John S. Barbour, Philip P. Barbour, Barlow, Barringer Bassett, Blair, Cambreleng, The committee then took up the amendments made Carson, John C. Clark, Conner, Daniel, Warren R. Daby the senate, in the bill making an appropriation to ena-vis, Desha, Duncan, Earll, Findlay, Floyd, of Va. Floyd, ble the president to hold a treaty with the Winnebago Indians, &c. The committee of ways and means recommenced a non-concurrence with the senate in their amendment. The committee concurred in the non-concurrence of the committee of ways and means in the amendments of the senate, and then rose and reported their non-concurrence to the house. On motion of Mr. Carson the house took a recess from half past four, till half past six o'clock. In the evening session a number of private and public bills were passed several amendments of the senate and house were compromised, and at 12 o'clock, the house adjourned. Tuesday, March 3. Mr. Ingersoll, by leave, moved a joint resolution to suspend the rule of the house which prevents bills from being sent to the president on the last day of the session, which, after some discussion, was ordered to be read a third time. The consideration of Mr. Barringer's resolution again occupied the house until the expiration of the hour. Mr. Allen, of Massachusetts, offered the following resolution: of Ga. Forward, Fry, Garrow, Green, Hallock, Hall, NAYS.-Messrs. Samuel C. Allen, Samuel Anderson, Mr. Newton moved the usual resolution, making provision for the messengers, &c. which was agreed to Mr. Ward moved the usual resolution, for the ap Resolved, That the thanks of this house be presented to the honorable Andrew Stevenson, for the able, impartial, and dignified manner in which he has presided over its deliberations, and performed the arduous and import-pointment of a committee to wait on the president of the ant duties of the chair. Uniied States, and inform him that if he had no further message to send to them, the two houses were ready to adjourn. The resolution was agreed to, and Mr. Ward and Mr. Bates of Mass. were appointed the committee on the part of the house of representatives. Considerable discussion took place on the above resolution, in which it was contended on the one side, that to receive this resolution either the unanimous consent of the house, or a suspension of the rule was necessary. On the other hand, it was insisted that the practice of the house warranted the reception of a resolution of this character, without the formality of suspending the rule, it being a matter of courtesy. Such was the decision of the chair, Mr. P. P. Barbour being the locum tenens: and from this decision Mr. Brent appealed to the house; but theness. decision of the chair was sustained by a vote ot 94 to 42. A message was sent to the senate to inform that this The objection of the reception of this resolution originated house was about to adjourn. Mr. Ward, from the committee of this house, appointed to wait on the president, had performed that duty, and had received for answer, that he had no other com. munication to make to this house, but to convey to every individual member his sincere wish of health and happi in a desire, on the part of a portion of the house, to obtain Mr. Haynes then moved that this house do now ada vote, previously, on the resolution in relation to the re-journ. The speaker then adjourned the house, in the printing of the scarce documents, which was the unfinished following terms:business of Saturday, as every member disclaimed any personal motive. The resolution was adopted. A message in writing was received from the president of the United States, transmitting to congress a copy of the instructions prepared by the secretary of state, and furnished to the minister of the United States appointed to attend the assembly of American plenipotentiaries first held at Panama, and thence transferred to Tacubaya. Gentlemen: The moment having arrived, in which I am about to lay down the trust with which you have houored me, and the connections which have existed between us are to cease, I should do violence to the feelings which now warm my heart, if I did not seize this occasion to express my deep sense of gratitude, for your past confidence and kindness, and the flattering proof just given, of your continued approbation and favor. لت INAUGURAL ADDRESS. Two years have elapsed, since I had the honor of be- I witness the ceremony of the inauguration. The number This period of service has been of persons present at the capitol, within, around, and in ing placed in this chair. distinguished by events and circumstances well calcula- front of it, have been variously eatimated. We suppose ted to render this station, not only one of extreme deli- that it did not tall short of ten thousand. cacy, but severe responsibility and labor. Steady and lasting applause; permament and solid reputation; can Delivered by general Andrew Jackson, on being sworn only be acquired in a station so exalted, by an undeviating adherence to elevated principles, and by a manly into office, as president of the United States, on the 4th upright and independent discharge of its high and impor- of March, 1829. Fellow-citizens: About to undertake the arduous dutaut functions.-Under the influence of these principles avail myself of this customary and and a just diffidence in my own qualifications, I came to ties that I have been appointed to perform, by the choice this chair with a settled determination to pursue that of a free people, course which should secure to me the testimony of my solemn occasion, to express the gratitude which their own mind, and the approbation of every just and liberal confidence inspires, and to acknowledge the accountabili man. That my efforts have not been wholly unavailing, which my situation enjoins. While the magnitude I am this day assured by the renewed evidence, of the of their interests convinces me that no thanks can be kindness and justice of the house, I receive it in the same adequate to the honor they have conferred, it admonishspirit of kindness in which it has been offered, and shall es me that the best return I can make, is the zealous dedcherish it through life, with feelings of profound respectication of my humble abilities to their service and their and the deepest gratitude. If, gentlemen, in the discharge of our multifarious duties, if, amid the storms and strife of passion or of party; if under the influence of momentary excitement, or irritation, any thing unkind should have been said or done, let us, I entreat you, endeavor to forget and forgive it, and let our separation (with many of us long, and with some of us forever) be in the spirit of peace and good will, and as becomes the representatives of virtuous and enlightened freemen. You will carry with you, gentlemen, my prayers for continued blessings upon our beloved country, and my best wishes for your health, prosperity and happiness." It remains for me only to announce that this house stands adjourned sine die. THE INAUGURATION. John C. Calhoun, vice president elect of the United States, took the chair of the senate at 11 o'clock. and the senate was called to order. good. As the instrument of the federal constitution, it will devolve upon me, for a stated period, to execute the laws of the United States; to superintend their foreign and confederate relations; to manage their revenue; to comand their forces; and, by communications to the legis lature, to watch over and to promote their interests generally. And the principles of action by which I shall endeavor to accomplish this circle of duties, it is now proper for me briefly to explain. In administering the laws of congress, I shall keep steadily in view the limitations as well as the extent of the executive power, trusting thereby to discharge the functions of my office, without transcending its authority. With foreign nations it will be my study to preserve peace, and to cultivate friendship on fair and honorable terms; and, in the adjustment of any difference that may exist or arise, to exhibit the forbearance becoming a powerful nation, rather than the sensibility belonging to a gallant people. In such measures as I may be called on to pursue, in The oath to support the constitution of the United animated by a proper respect for those sovereign members of our union; taking care not to confound the pow ers they have reserved to themselves, with those they have granted to the confederacy. The oath to support the constitution of the United States was then administered to the following new senators, by the vice president: viz. Messrs. Branch, The management of the public revenue-that searchClayton, Bibb, Hayne, King, Knight, Mc Lean, of Ohio Tazewell, White, Silsbee, Bell, Frelinghuysen, Sprague,ing operation in all governments-is among the most deland Livingston; and they took their seats. On motion of Mr. Smith, of Mary land, it was ordered that, when the senate adjourn, they will adjourn to meet to-morrow, at 12 o'clock. icate and important trusts in our; and it will, of course, demand no inconsiderable share of my official solicitude. Under every aspect in which it can be considered, it would appear that advantage must result from the obser At half past eleven o'clock, Andrew Jackson, the pre-vance of a strict and faithful economy. This I shall aim sident elect, entered the senate chamber, attended by at the more anxiously, both because it will facilitate the the marsal of the district. and the committee of arrange-extinguishment of the national debt-the unnecessary duration of which is incompatible with real independencements, and took his seat immediately in front of the sec and because it will counteract that tendency to public and retary's desk. The chief justice of the United States and associate private profligacy, which a profuse expenditure of money ful auxiliaries to the attainment of this desirable end, are judges, entered soon after, and occupied the seats assign- by the government, is but too apt to engender. Powered for them on the right of the president's chair The foreign ministers and their suits, in their splendid to be found in the regulations provided by the wisdom of official costumes, occupied seats on the left of the chair.congress, for the specific appropriation of public money, A large number of ladies were present, and occupied and the prompt accountability of public officers. the seats in the rear of the senators, and the lobby under the eastern gallery. The western gallery was reserved for members of the house of representatives. With regard to a proper selection of the subjects of impost, with a view to revenue; it would seem to me that the spirit of equity, caution, and compromise; in which At twelve o'clock the senate adjourned, and a proces- the constitution was formed, requires that the great intesion was formed to the eastern portico of the capitol, rests of agriculture, commerce, and manufactures, should where, in the presence of an immense concourse of spec-be equally favored; and that, perhaps, the only exception tators, filling the portico, the steps, and the enclosure, the president of the United States delivered his inaugural address, as given below, and, having concluded it, the oath to support the constitution was administered to him by chief justice Marshall. to this rule, should consist in the peculiar encouragement of any products of either of them that may be found es sential to our national independence. Internal improvement, and the diffusion of knowledge, so far as they can be promoted by the constitutional acts of the federal government, are of high importance. Considering standing armies as dangerous to free go Salutes were fired by two companies of artillery, stationed in the vicinity of the capitol, which were repeated at the forts, and by detachments of artillery on the plains.vernments, in time of peace, I shall not seek to enlarge When the president retired, the procession was re-formed, and he was conducted to the presidential mansion. He here received the salutations of a vast number of persons, who came to congratulate him upon his induction to the presidency. The day was serene and mild, and every way favorable to the wishes of those who had come from a distance to our present establishment, nor disregard that salutary lesson of political experience which teaches that the military should be held subordinate to the civil power. The gradual increase of our navy, whose flag has dis played, in distant climes, our skill in navigation, and our fame in arms; the preservation of our forts, arsenals, and dock-yards; and the introduction of progressive improves object as the actual settlement of the country by persons recognizing British authority, was conceived to exist. fifth article of the treaty of Ghent to the arbitration of a friendly sovereign or state, having received the assent of both the high contracting parties, berome At as early a period as the gradual advance of obligatory on them by an exchange of their respecpopulation required, the usual preliminary measures tive ratifications on the second of April last. In the were taken by Massachusetts, with a view to the set same official communication in which the undersigned tlement of the vacant lands on her eastern frontier. acquainted the earl of Dudley with his authority to In 1801, a grant of Mars Hill was made to certain exchange the ratification of the president of the soldiers of the revolution by a public act of the legis-United States for that of the king, he announced his lature of the state, which was followed by similar having received instructions in relation to the further proceedings in favor of others. That the country arrangements contemplated by the convention; and was not occupied, in conformity to these grants, is to no effort on the part of the United States, which be ascribed to the delays usually attendant upon the could, with propriety, be made, has been wanting to settlement of an exposed frontier, and to interrup-fulfil, literally, the stipulations by which the two tions growing out of apprehensions of hostilities with contracting parties engaged to proceed in concert to the neighboring province, which were realized by the choice of a friendly sovereign or state, as soon the declaration of war made by the United States as the ratifications should be exchanged. against Great Britain in 1812. Not only have many The undersigned would fail in obedience to his inacts of authority in the territory now in dispute structions, were he to conclude this note without debeen subsequently exercised by the states of Massa-claring to lord Dudley that, while the president hopes @husetts and Maine, but, in 1820, the enumeration of that the British government, participating in the dethe settlers on the Madawaska took place under the sire which he most anxiously feels to avoid all collisupreme authority of the United States, and with-sion on account of the temporary occupation of the out, as far as can be ascertained, any remonstrance on the part of Great Britain, or of the Province of New Brunswick. territory in contest, will effectually interpose its authority to restrain the provincial government from the exercise of any jurisdiction over it, such an interposition alone will supersede those precautionary measures which the government of the United States will otherwise feel itself constrained to adopt. The undersigned has the honor to renew to lord Dudley the assurance of his highest consideration. W B. LAWRENCE. 16, Lower Seymour street, 5th May, 1828. In the case of the land on which his unfortunate fellow citizen, now imprisoned at Fredrickton, was arrested, the undersigned would remark, that though it is situated in a section of country to which the general description of Madawaska is applied, the territory on which Mr. Baker and other Americans bave established themselves, is to the west of the ancient settlement of the French Acadians, and it is believed that no part of the country where they reside, that is to say, of the tract on the St. John's between the Meriumpticook and St. Francis rivers, has ever been in the possession of persons acknow- Sir,-After having, at our conference on the 19th ledging allegiance to the British government It instant, disposed of the business in relation to the arthus appears that, to justify the unwarranted exer-biter, lord Aberdeen directed the conversation to the cise of power, specially complained of, is wanting subject of the jurisdiction to be exercised over the even the apology of former usage, unsatisfactory as that would be. Mr. Lawrence to Mr. Clay. disputed territory pending the suit. He seemed to consider an exclusive authority derived from a regular government to be indispensable; and subsequently proceeded to maintain that to Great Britain this jurisdiction belonged, at least till his majesty was divested of it by the decision of the arbiter. The undersigned is not ignorant of the inconveniences which may arise from the disorder and anarchy to which the inhabitants of the controverted district may be exposed, should no authority be exer oised over them, either by the United States or the In replying to the observations on the first point, I neighboring British province. This is, however, an had little more to do than to repeat the explanations evil, to remedy which does not necessariaily demand with which you had furnished me, and of which I had the interposition of New Brunswick more than of availed myself in my official note to lord Dudley. I the state of Maine. It is an inconvenience which cited the government which the settlers on the Madathe United States cannot consent to remove by sub- waska had established, in order to point out how the jecting American territory to a foreign jurisdiction. evils of a temporary anarchy might be, in a great deIt believed that, should the settlers be left to them-gree, obviated, without the interposition of either selves, they will institute some form of government adapted to their condition, as was done for a long time on the Madawaska; that whether they do or not, it will be competent to the governments of Maine and New Brunswick, within their respective acknowledged limits, to guard against any disorders. At all events, the government of the United States cannot consent to the exercise of any exclusive British authority within the contested territory, founded on the plea of necessity; and, as many of the settlers are intruders on the soil, they can have no right to com plain of any disorders among themselves, resulting from their own unauthorized acts of intrusion. Maine or New Brunswick. I referred, as I had done in conversation with his lordship's predecessor, to the opinion expressed last summer by Mr. Canning, in an interview with Mr. Gallatin, and to the convention respecting the territory west of the Rocky Mountains. Lord Aberdeen here inquired whether I could enter into a similar arrangement with regard to the country now under consideration. I observed that my remark had been made merely by way of illus tration; that I had, by order of the president, made a demand for the redress of a specific injury committed on an American citizen, and bad further required that this country should abstain from the exercise of The undersigned, on this occasion, cannot avoid exclusive jurisdiction in a territory which we mainobserving that the inconveniences which confessedly tained belonged to the United States; that no answer arise from the unsettled state of the bouudary bead been returned to my reclamations; and that, theretween the dominions of the United States and Great ore, in o event, could a new proposition be expected Britain, constitute a most powerful reason for the from me; that it would be competent for him, in readoption of every measure calculated to insure aplying to my note, to make any offer or suggestion he prompt decision of the main question at issue. A might think fit as to the best mode of obviating inconconvention, formed with a view of submitting the veniences from a disputed title, till the judgment of conflicting decisions of the commissioners under the the king of the Netherlands is obtained; and that his American citizen a full idemnity for the wrongs |cluding the treaty of the 1783. jurisdiction of the one which he has suffered by the seizure of his person party over the country allotted o it was less comwithin the limits of the state of Maine, and a sub-plete than that which was granted to the other over sequent abduction and confinement in jail at Fred erickton. The undersigned is further instructed to require that the government of New Brunswick shall cease from the exercise of all and every act of exclusive jurisdiction within the disputed territory, until the question of right is settled by the two governments of Great Britain and the United States. its territory. The treaty by which the separation of the dominions of the two powers was effected, may be assimilated to a deed of partition between individuals holding property in common From the exchange of ratifications, the only doubts which could arise were necessarily restricted to the interpretation of its language. Nor has any thing occurred since the revolutionary war to vary the rights of Great Britain and America. The object of the 5th article of the treaty of Ghent was merely to direct the practical business of surveying and marking out the boundary line, in order to give effect to previous stipulations The motives which have led to these demands may be sufficiently inferred from a consideration of the occurrences already cited. In declaring, through the undersigned, that it cannot consent to the exer cise of any separate British jurisdiction, within any part of the state of Maine, as it understands the lim- To avoid, however, any misconstruction that might its of that state to be defined by the treaty of 1783, be drawn from his silence on the subject of a posprior to the decision of the question of title, the gosessory title, the undersigned deems it proper to devernment of the United States is only protesting clare that New Brunswick can adduce no claims by against unjustifiable encroachments on its sovereign- which a jurisdiction derived from prescription or the ty, and asking from Great Britain what it is willing first occupancy of the country can be sustained; and on its side to accord-that forbearance which the pre- he is far from admitting that, in this view of this sent state of the controversy most strongly inculcase, the pretentions of the United States are less cates. Indeed it is only by adopting such a course valid than those of Great Britain. that the collisions, which would arise from an at- It appears, from the best information that can be tempt by each party to give effect to its own pre- obtained, that no settlement had been made in the tensions, can be avoided. The importance of ab- territory at present in dispute, prior to the Ameristaining from any act which might jeopard the ami- can revolution; that, subsequently to that event, a cable relations betwen the two powers was early small one was formed at or near the Madawaska, by perceived; and instances have not been wanting in French from Nova Scotia, who had always previouswhich they have both been restrained by considera-ly resisted the English authority; and that, though tions of prudence and mutual respect, from exercising acts of exclusive jurisdiction within the disputed territory. To a complaint made so far back as the year 1818, by Mr. Bagot, at that time his majesty's minister in America, of irregular settlements attempted by citizens of the United States on the lands in controversy, the most ready attention was paid. On the other hand licenses to cut timber, granted by the provincial authorities, have been revoked, and the practice of cutting and removing the timber has been understood by the government of the United States to have been discontinued. Recent cases have also occurred, in which the interposition of the American government, requested by Mr. Vaughan, bas been promptly accorded in the spirit of that rule, of the expediency of which no better evidence can be required than the necessity which has given rise to the present communication The undersigned puposely avoids any observations which can lead to a premature discussion on points which are to be submitted to a tribunal selected by the two powers. However unanswerable he may conceive the arguments by which the claim of his country to the territory in question may be sustained, he is aware that it can be attended with no advan tage to adduce them on the present occasion. some grants of land may have been made to these settlers, by the provincial government, before the determination of the river St. Croix, in pursuance of the treaty of 1794, the acts of authority which took place were few and doubtful, nor is it believed that they were, till very recently, known to, much less acquiesced in by Massachusetts, to whom, till the separation of Maine, the jurisdiction as well as soil belonged. There was little occasion for the employment of criminal process among the relics of a primitive population, as these settlers were represented to be of a "mild, frugal, industrious, and pious character," desirous of finding a refuge under the patriarchal and spiritual power of their religion. For the arrangement of their civil affairs of every description, including their accidental disputes and differences among themselves, they were in the habit of having recourse to a tribunal of their own establishment, formed of one or two arbiters associated with the Catholic priest. subject these settlers to civil process; and last summer, for the first time, proceedings for trespass and intrusion on the crown lands were instituted against them. The settlement on the Aroostook was made within the last six years, partly by citizens of the United States, partly by British subjects, but with an impression, entertained by the whole community, that they were establishing themselves on American territory. It was not, indeed, till within three or four The undersigned also regards as inadmissible all at-years that the provincial government undertook to tempts to defend the exercise of British authority, in the territory referred to, during the time which may intervene before the decision of the arbiter is made, by asserting a title derived from possession. Considering the grounds on which the claims of the United States are founded, it is not perceived how arguments drawn either from first occupancy or immemorial possession can be made to bear on the final determination of the principal subject in dis cussion between the two countries, or how they can affect the question of temporary jurisdiction. Before the independence of the United States, not only the territory in dispute, but the whole of the adjoining province and state, was the property of a common sovereign. At the time of the division of the em pire, the United States and Great Britain defined, in express terms, their respective territorial limits, and it will not, it is presumed, be asserted that, on con The opinion of Great Britain, as to the practical jurisdiction exercised over the territory in dispute so late as the year 1814, may be seen by a reference to the proceedings at Ghent When proposing a revision of the boundary line of Maine, with reference to convenience, and asking the tract now contested as a cession, for which compensation was elsewhere to be made, it is asserted by the English plenipotentiaries, that the greater part of the territory in question is actually unoccupied," and strenu ous as were the efforts of his majesty's ministers to adjust such a variation of line as might secure a direct communication between Quebec and Halifax, it no where appears that a fact so important to their |