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 'Ci/ 
 
 NOT 
 
 rPON THE 
 
 SOUTH WESTERN BOUNDARY LINE 
 
 OP 
 
 THE BRITISH PROVINCES 
 
 OP 
 
 LOWER CANADA AND NEW BRUNSWICK, 
 
 AND 
 
 THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 
 
 MONTREAL. 
 ARMOUR AND RAMSAT, ST. FRANQOIS XAVIER STREET. 
 
 * 1839. * 
 
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NOTES 
 
 rPON THE 
 
 SOUTH WESTERN BOUNDARY LINE, 
 
 (fee. <fcc. 
 
 The period of the determination of the great question now 
 pending between Great Britain and the United States of 
 America, concerning the Boundary Line, which is hereafter 
 to separate the Colonial possessions of the former from the 
 territories of the latter, in the long tract of country stretching 
 from the head of the Connecticut River to the Bay of Fundy, 
 is now fast approaching, and mens' minds in this Province 
 begin, at last, to be awakened to the important effects which 
 the determination, however given, must have upon the future 
 fates of the country. 
 
 Much that is well worthy of perusal has already been writ- 
 ten in support of the right of Great Britain to the territory in 
 dispute. 
 
 There is, however, one part of the subject which, it would 
 seem, has not been so fully treated as would have been desir- 
 
able ; — I mean that part which relates to the controversies 
 which, from time to time, arose respecting this Boundary 
 Line between the English and French possessions, whilst 
 Canada belonged to the Crown of France, and the treaties 
 by which those controversies were settled. 
 
 A notion has been adopted by many, otherwise well in- 
 formed men, that in the present discussions between Great 
 Britain and the United States of America, the positions to be 
 maintained by Great Britain, are the same as those which 
 France heretofore maintained without success. Now, al- 
 though it be true that the present controversy cannot be right- 
 ly understood without a knowledge of the history of the con- 
 troversies which preceded it, still it differs essentially from the 
 anterior controversies. 
 
 Conflicting titles are produced, and adverse possession set 
 up on the one side and on the other. In investigating these 
 opposite lines of title, we cannot be certain of understanding 
 the last title without first understanding that which imme- 
 diately precedes it, and so back until we reach the first link of 
 the chain, and with this we ought to begin. The chronolo- 
 gical order, always an useful aid to the memory, cannot here 
 be inverted without prejudice to the judgment, nor can a 
 single link of the chain be with safety omitted. 
 
 This dry and humble, but necessary inquiry, can probably 
 be no where conducted with so much advantage as in this 
 country. It is intimately connected with the early history of 
 the Colony, and this must be sought for in ancient travels and 
 original documents, possessing no where else the same inter- 
 est, and no where else so easily accessible. 
 
 The French settlements upon the North American Contin- 
 ent long preceded those of England. 
 
 'I 
 

 ■ i 
 
 In 1506, Jean Denys, of Honfleur*, published a chart of the 
 coast of Newfoundland, and in 1508, a savage was conveyed 
 by a pilot of Dieppe, to France. But the first of all the voy- 
 ages made to North America with the view of effecting settle- 
 ments there, was unquestionably that of the Baron do Lery 
 and de St. Just, in 1518.t He landed cattle upon Sable Island 
 in this voyage, whilst it was more than a hundred years after- 
 wards (A. D. 1624) that cattle were first conveyed to New 
 England, t 
 
 It is not necessary here to advert to the voyages of Jean 
 Verrazan to the southern parts of North America, in the years 
 1523, 1524 and 1525, nor to those in the same direction of 
 Laudoniere, Riband, and of the Chevalier de Gourgues. Nor 
 is it necessary for us to take any notice of the voyage of 
 Jaques Cartier, in 1534, and of his settlement upon the north 
 shore in 1535 ; nor of the first appointment of a Lieutenant 
 General in the countries of " Canada, Hochelaga and 
 Sagu2nay, and others in 1540." Our attention will be 
 confined to the River and Gulf of Saint Lawrence, and to 
 the great Peninsula commencing on the southern shore of the 
 Saint Lawrence, opposite Quebec, and terminating at the 
 mouth of the River St. Croix, in the Bay of Fundy. 
 
 After the f Vixq of an attempt to make a settlement at Ta- 
 doussac, by th. Sieur Chauvin, a French Protestant, and after 
 his death, about the year 1602, the Sieur de Monts, who had 
 made his first voyage with Chauvin, formed the project of 
 effecting a settlement more to the southward.il The Sieur de 
 Poitrincourt joined in this enterprise. L'Escarbot, whom the 
 
 *Fastes Chronologiques du Nnuveau Monde, p. 13. 
 
 tL'Escarbot, p. 21 . tSalmon, III. 536. 
 
 llM6moires des Commissaires du Roi, et de ceux de Sa Majcste Britannique 
 6ur Ics possessions et les droits respectifs des deux Couronncs en Aiueriqu. !• 
 137-CnampIain, part I. p. 42. 
 
k^ 
 
 6 
 
 Sicurclc Puilnncovnl tocjk wiili liuii U) Aiiiencaon Ins second 
 voyniTo, ill lOlM), has f.nven tlio history of these early scttlo- 
 incnts, wliereol he was, as it were nn eye witness, since Port 
 Royal (Ann.npoUs) was only rounded in 1()()5, and that he was 
 mainly accessary to the earliest advances of that Colony. 
 
 Tlic letters patent nominating- the Sienr de Monts Liciif.cn- 
 ant General pour rcprCscntcr Tioire pcrsonne an Pai/s, 
 TcrrUo'irc Coles ct Conjlns de VAcadic, a coniniencar dcs 
 le quaranlc-qualrie/ne dCgrC jus(ju''au qnarante-siviCmc, 
 bear date the 8ili November, 1G03, and may be read in 
 L'Escarbot, p. 417. 
 
 As early as 1C04, the Sieur de Monts iitted out two ships, 
 one intended to form a settlement within the limits of his grant, 
 in wliich he emlnirked with the Sieurs Cliamplain and De 
 Poitrincourt, the other rmder the command of the 8ieur de 
 Pont Grave, intended principally for the fur trade.* 
 
 Upon the Gth May, 1(301, they reached the coast of Acadie, 
 at Port Rossignol, and thence sailing coastwise, they reached 
 a port, which they called Port an Mouton. 
 
 They thence went to Cape Sable and explored a large Bay> 
 which they denominated La Baie Fran^oise, and which is 
 now known by the name of the Bay of Fundy. The port at 
 the entrance of this Bay, was, from its signal beauty, called 
 Port Royal ; and the Sieur de Poitrincourt was so well pleas- 
 ed with the situation, that he solicited and obtained a grant of 
 land, there to settle with his family.t After going out of Port 
 Royal and exploring the Mines, they crossed the Bay and ar- 
 rived at the river St. John on the 24th of June ; leaving, then, 
 that river, and sailing coastwise, they came to the mouth of a 
 river, and settled on a small island in it, which they called St. 
 
 tol 
 
 * Mem. des Comm, I. 137, 
 
 + L'Escarbot, p. 110. 
 
Croix, ii iiaiue wluch was al'tcrwards truiisicrrcd to tliu rivur 
 Itself/ 
 
 The situation of St. Croix not boin^ found advantairoous. it 
 was determined to cflcct a new settlement at Port Koyal, ajid 
 this was carried into effect in 1GU5 t 
 
 Another settlement was elfticted, about the same time, to- 
 wards the river Pentagoct, (Penobscot,) by the Sieur dc la 
 Sanssaye.t 
 
 The Colony not receiving nnich support from France, was 
 feeble and unprospcrous, but retained quiet jiossession of tlic 
 country. Against tliis Colony, in a time of profound peace, 
 the expedition of Argal was directed. 
 
 He found it totally unprepared for defence. The inhabit- 
 ants, who had assiduously and successfully cultivated the 
 friendship of the Indians, being restrained by no fear of hostil- 
 ity from them, were scattered abroad in the woods, ennfaged in 
 their several pursuits, and a ship and bark, just arrived from 
 France, laden with articles necessary for the use of the Colony, 
 were surprised in port, and their cargoes taken to James 
 Town Argal left no garrison to keep possession of the place, 
 and after his departure, the French, who had only dispersed 
 themselves among the Indians, during the continuance of dan- 
 ger, immediately resumed their former station. 
 
 The pretext for this predatory expedition was, that the 
 French, by settling in Acadie, had invaded the rights of the 
 English, acquired by the first discovery of tlic continent.!! 
 
 The voyages of discovery, made by the English and French 
 to the coast of North America, had been nearly contempora- 
 
 *L'Escarbot, pp- 441 ct seq. tL'Escarbot, 495; 49G, Mem, Coins. 138. 
 
 iChamplain, pt. !• p. 104 et soq. 
 
 I'Chaimers,— liutchinson,— MiarsliaU'sLifc of Washington, vol. Lp-ii. 54, 55. 
 
8 
 
 neons, nnd they set up conflicting claims to tlio territory. In 
 1003, Henry IV. of France (as has already been seen) granted 
 to De Monts a commission, as Lieutenant General over that 
 part of America, which lies between the 40th and 46th degrees 
 of north latitude, with powers to colonize and to rule it, and 
 in 1606, King James granted to the two Virginia Companies 
 all that territory which lies between the 34th and 45th degrees 
 of north latitude, in consequence of which, in 1614, Captain 
 Argal attacked and dispersed tho settlements made by the 
 Frencli on the Bay of Fundy. In 1620, James granted to the 
 Plymouth Company all that territory which lies between the 
 40th and 48th degrees of north latitude, and in 1621, he, as 
 King of Scotland, granted to Sir William Alexander, under 
 the title of Nova Scotia, with the consent of the Plymouth Com- 
 pany, the country bounded on the north, and east, and south 
 by the river St. Lawrence and the ocean, and on the west by 
 the river St. Croix. Under these diflferent grants, actual set- 
 tlements had been made by the French as far south and west 
 as the St. Croix, and by the English as far north and east as 
 the Kennebec or Connecticut River. During the war with 
 France, which broke out in the commencement of the reign of 
 Charles the First, that Monarch granted a commission to Cap- 
 tain Kirk, for the conquest of the countries in America, occu- 
 pied by the French, and under that conomission, in 1629, Ca- 
 nada and Acadie were subdued ; but by the treaty concluded 
 at St Germain, those places were restored to France, without 
 any description of their limits, and Port Royal, Quebec, and 
 Cape Breton, were severally surrendered by name.* 
 The Treaty of St. Germain contained not a cession^ but a 
 
 ♦Ch»lmcw,— Hutchinson,— MwsbaH's Life of WaBhington, vol. 1, p.p. 103-4. 
 
 ti 
 
9 
 
 r. tu 
 :mitcd 
 til at 
 egrees 
 it, and 
 panics 
 egrees 
 'aptain 
 jy the 
 I to tlie 
 sen the 
 he, as 
 under 
 tiCom- 
 1 south 
 west by 
 Lual set- 
 ad west 
 east as 
 ar with 
 reign of 
 I to Cap- 
 !a, occu- 
 529, Ca- 
 included 
 without 
 see, and 
 
 tw, but a 
 
 I p.p. 103-4. 
 
 restitution^ as will \\i> 'j<.'cn on r.^ll'reiicc to the terms ol' jt,. 
 ThcciivunistaiicesaccoiiUKiiiyin*^ iho in'i^oiialiou ol'tliis Trea- 
 ty, s'" IJir us Canada and Aeadiouro concerned, arc to be Ibnnd 
 as well in (,'iiarlr'voix, vol. I. p. ITi'and sec |. as in (lie lui^in- 
 nniif of the second book of tlit' llisioric-i Canadensis Creiixii. 
 The lii'tters I'jiteiit to Wiliiani Alexande:- Iviil of .Slirling-, 
 were anterior to the Treaty of St. Ciennaiii, liis first i)atcnt by 
 James tlio First, beiny^ of the yc:\r KJSl, and bis second by 
 Charles the I'irst, hearin:^ elate in Ibisi."), whilst the 'I'reaty of 
 St. Germain is of 10o3. The description of Nova Scotia, ns 
 given in tiiese Letters Patent, is in the followin^j words : — 
 
 " OniiiPs ct si/iifnlas terras conliticnics ct insidas sittuttas 
 ^'- et jaccutes in America, intra Caput sen promonlvrimn 
 " Comtnnnitcr Can do iSablc appellaiu/n, jaeens propc lati- 
 " tudincni (piadraginta trinm ffradun/n ant eo circa ab 
 " equinoctiali linctlvcrsns SeptentrionenL n qno proniontorio 
 '' versus littus maris tendcns ad Occidcntem ad tStationem 
 <' naviam tSanctfc Marim vnlgo Saint J\1an/s Bay^ ct dcin- 
 " ceps versus Septcntrioncm per directum lineam, introituni 
 '' sice ostium 'magnm illius stationis navium trajicienton 
 " qnie excurrit in tcrroi Orientalcm plagam inter regiones 
 " Suriquorum et Hccheminorum vtilgo Scvriquois ct Etche- 
 '' Tnins ad Jluvinmvulgo nomine Sanctce Crncis appcllatn?n, 
 " et ad scartiiriginem rcmotissiman sive fontem ex occi- 
 *' DENTALi PARTE ejusdcm, qui SB jtrimiun prosdicto Jluvio 
 " immiscet ; imde per imaginariani directam lineam qiim 
 " jjergere per terrain seu currere versus Septentrionein con- 
 " cipictur'ad proximam naviuin staiioncmjluciitm vel scar- 
 " turigincm in magna Jluvio de Canada sese exnneranteni 
 " et ah eo pergendo versus Orientem jyer maris oras littor- 
 <' ales ejusdcm Jiuvii de Canada, ad Jluvium. slationcm na- 
 
10 
 
 " viuj?i, portum aut littus comyminiter nomine dc Gachep6 
 " aut GaspC notntn et appcllatutn ; et dcinceps versus JSu- 
 " ronotum ad Insulas Baccalaos vel Cape Breton vocataSf 
 " relinquetido easdein insulas d dcxtra et voraginem dicti 
 ^'fluvli de Canada sive magnce staticnis navium et terras 
 " de Neivfoundland cum insulis ad easdem terras pertinen- 
 " tihus a sinistra et deinceps ad Caput sive promontorium 
 " de Cap Breton proQdictum jacens propelatitudinem quad- 
 " raginta quinque graduum aut eo circa, et a dicto promon- 
 " iorio de Cap Breton versus meridiem et occidentem ad 
 •' prcedictum Cap de Sable ubi incepit perambulatio, inclu- 
 " dens et co-npre/iendens intra prcedictas maris oras littorales 
 " ac earum circumfcrentias a niari ad mare, omnes terras 
 " continentes cumjlumifiibus, torrentibus, sinibus, littoribus 
 '* insulis, aut Tnaribus jacentibus prope aut infra sex leucas 
 *• ad aliquam earumdem partem, ex Occidentali, boreali vel 
 " Orient all par tibus orarum littoralium etprcBcinctuumear- 
 " umdein, et ab Euronoto ubijacet Cap Breton, et ex Austra- 
 *' li parte ejusdem [ubi est Cap de Sable) omnia Maria ac 
 " insulas versus meridiem intra quadraginta leucas dicta- 
 " rum orarum littoralium earumdem, magnam insulam 
 " vulgariter appellatum Isle de Sable vel Sablon includendo, 
 " jace7ite?n versus Carban vulgo sonth south-east, circa tri- 
 " ginta leucas a dicto Cap Breton in mari et existentem in 
 '• latitudine quadraginta quatuor graduum aut eo circa.''^ 
 
 In the Treaty of St. Germain there was a formal surrender 
 of all claim to the land described in the Earl of Stirling's Pa- 
 tent, and it was to have been expected, that nothing more would 
 have been heard of that claim. 
 
 However, " Colonial Historians," says Chalmers,* « with an 
 • Chalmer's Political Annals of the Colonics, p. 93. 
 
 bel 
 cot 
 
 the 
 pro 
 to 
 
 t 
 
 Wad 
 
11 
 
 ^hep6 
 f Eu- 
 )ataSi 
 dicti 
 lerras 
 tinen- 
 oriwm 
 quad- 
 omon- 
 em ad 
 , inclu- 
 torales 
 terras 
 torihus 
 leucas 
 eali vel 
 um ear- 
 Austra- 
 aria ac 
 s dicta- 
 nsulam 
 udendoj 
 irca tri' 
 ntem in 
 Irca.''^ 
 nrrender 
 ng's Pa- 
 re would 
 
 ' with an 
 
 " inattention or interestedness, of which there are few exam- 
 " pies, have always insisted that, not\vithe:tanding the aoso- 
 " lute restitution before mentioned, certain rights with regard 
 " to that territory still remained in Eni^^and ; and her stutes- 
 " men, with a credulity and want of wisdom equally unexam- 
 " pled, have implicitly adopted their sentiments.* But in 
 " what consists the justice or policy of preserving latent pre- 
 '* tensions, which cannot be defended by candid discussion ? 
 <' The law of nations reprobates whatsoever contnbutcs todis- 
 " turb their repose ; and the present gcneiation has abundant 
 " cause to deplore that system of mistaken politics which en- 
 " tailed on this realm contentions and debts, that posterity 
 " may, possibly, regret in vain." 
 
 No sooner was Acadie restored to France, in 1632, than 
 her Sovereign granted to De Kazilly, the lands around the Bay 
 and River of St. Croix. The Company of New France con- 
 veyed, in 1635, the territory on the banks of the River St. John 
 to St. Etienne De La Tour, the General of that Colony. Mas- 
 sachusetts, as well as the other settlements of New Eugland, 
 beheld witli regret the progress of the French on the adjacent 
 coast, and dreaded their ultimate success ; and Sedgewick, 
 who was commander-in-chief of Cromwell's forces in New 
 England, was easily persuaded to attack a people, whose reli- 
 gious tenets he detested, and whose country he hated. He ac- 
 quired Port Royal by capitulation, in August, 1G54; giving to 
 the inhabitants liberty in their religion, and security for their 
 property, and, on these conditions, Acadie soon after submitted 
 to his power.t 
 
 * This appears to have been written before the American Revolution. 
 
 t Chalmer's Political Annals of the Colonies, pages Idii-l- Marshall's Life of 
 Washington. 
 
12 
 
 I 
 
 After the conquest of the peninsula of Nova Scotia by the 
 arms of Cromwell, he issued his Letters Patent, granting to 
 the Sieurs Charles de St. Etienne, Crowne and Temple, the 
 country and territory called Acadie, by the following descrip- 
 tion, (as given in the French translation of it, contained in the 
 " Memoires des Commissaires du Roi, et de ceux de iSa Ma- 
 ^^ jeste Britannique sur les possessions et les droits nsjjeciifs 
 " des deux Couronnes en Am6rique^^ cited above.) " Le 
 " pays et territoire appelle I'Acadie et partie du pays nomme la 
 " Nouvelle Ecosse dei)uis Merliguesche du cote de I'Est jus- 
 " qu'au Port et Cap de la Hevc rangeant les cotes de la mer jus- 
 " qu'au Cap de Sable, et delajusqu'a un certain Port, appelle le 
 " Port la Tour.ei a present nomme le Port JJEsmeron.ctdela. 
 " rangeant les cotes et Isles jusqu'au Cap et Riviere Sainte Ma- 
 " rie rangeant les cotes de la Mer jusqu-au Port Royal, et dela 
 " rangeant les cotes jusqu'au fond de la Baie, et dela rangeant 
 " la dite Baie jusqu'au Fort St. Jean, et de la rangoant toute la 
 " cote jusqu'a Pentagoet et Riviere St. George dans Mescourus, 
 " situe sur les confins de la Nouvelle Angieterre du cote de 
 " I'Oiiest et en dedans les terres tout le long des dites coles jus- 
 '•' qu'a cent lieues dc profondeur, et plus avant, jusqu'a la pre- 
 " miere habitation foite par les Flanians ou Francois, ou par les 
 " Ansflois de la Nouvelle An<;lcterre." 
 
 In the month of November, 1055, a treaty was made between 
 the two nations. France demanded the restitution of the 
 country which had been taken from her. The English Go- 
 vernment setup claims to this country. The decision of this 
 controversy was, b}' the 25th article of the treaty of Westmins- 
 ter, referred to Commissioners, but the question was only ulti- 
 mately settled by the treaty of Breda. Tiio restitution o( Aca- 
 die and the other possessions of France in America, which had 
 
 mc 
 as 
 
 mi 
 
 do| 
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13 
 
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 lie Ma- 
 et del a 
 \ngeant 
 oiite ui 
 icourus, 
 
 cote de 
 Dies jus- 
 a la pre- 
 Li par les 
 
 Detween 
 of the 
 lish Go- 
 of this 
 estmins- 
 Dnly iilti- 
 i ot Aca- 
 .-hich had 
 
 11 
 
 been conquered by the English, was stipulated for by that treaty 
 made in 1667, and carried into effect in 1670. 
 
 Tlie article of the Treaty of Breda relating to the restitution 
 of Acadie, is in the following words : — " Le cidevant nomme 
 " Seigneur le Roi de la Grande-Breta<riie rcstituera aussi et 
 " rendra au ci-dessus nomme Seigneur leRoi Tres-Chretien, 
 " ou a cenx qui auront charge et mandementde sapart, icelle 
 " en bonne torme du Grande Sceau de France, lepaysappclle 
 " 1' Acadie, situe dans I'Amerique Septentrionale, dont le Koi 
 " Tres-Chretien a autrefois joui, et pour executer cette restitu- 
 " tion, le sus-nomme Roi de la Grande-Bretagne incontinent 
 " apres la ratification de la prescnte alliance, fournira au sus- 
 " nomme Roi Tres-Chretien, tous les Actes et Mandemens 
 " expediesducmentet en bonne forme, necessaires a cotelfet, 
 " ou les ferafournir a ceux de ses Ministres et Officiersqui se- 
 " rout par le delegu6s." 
 
 The Act of restitution of Acadie, by the Crown of iiUngland, 
 bears date the 17th of February, l6f37-8, and will be found in 
 the appendix to this paper, under tlie letter A. 
 
 Here, then, is a second restitution, not cession, of Acadie, 
 which formed a portion of the territory comprised in the Let- 
 ters Patent of James tlie First, and Charles the First, in favour 
 of Sir William Alexander. 
 
 In 1674, the Fort of Pentagoet was attacked by an English- 
 man, with the crew of a Flemish ship, and taken possession of 
 as well as that of Fort St. John. In 1680, some men from 
 Massachusetts seized upon the same Forts, which they aban- 
 doned, and the Baron of St. Castin, who had repaired that of 
 Pentagoet, was summoned by the Governor of New England 
 to evacuate it. 
 
 These acts of aggression were made the subject of loud 
 
n ' 
 
 14 
 
 '■r 
 
 i 
 
 complants on the part of the French Colonists, and the British 
 Colonists on their part complained of similar acts of aggression 
 within their territories by the French Colonists. — The war 
 commenced anew between the two nations in 1G89, and in the 
 month of October, 1690; the English took Port Royal and 
 Chedabucto, and summoned Gluebec in the month of October 
 in the same year, 1090. The peace which was re-established 
 in 1697, restored tranquillity to America leaving the belliger- 
 ents in possession of the territories they had there before the 
 war. Thio treaty, known by the name of the Treaty of Rys- 
 wick, like tlietwo preceding treaties of St. Germanis and Bre- 
 da, contains a restitution to France of her North American 
 possessions generally, and under it the great Peninsula of the 
 River and Gulf of Saint Lawrence was restored to that power. 
 
 This peace, however, was but of short duration, and the war 
 again commenced between the two nations in 1702. The 
 treaty of Utrecht put an end to this war in 1713. By the twelfth 
 Article of this treaty His Most Christian Majesty ceded and 
 transferred to the Queen of Great Britain, Novam Scotiam 
 quoque sive Acadiam totam limitibus suis antiquis compre- 
 hensamutet Partus Regis urhem^ nunc Amiapolim regiam 
 dictam ceteraque omnia in istis regionihus^ quce ab usdem 
 terr is et insulis pendent^ ^c. 
 
 It is not necessary at present to enter into the details of the 
 controversies which arose between the two States upon the 
 construction of this article of the treaty. 
 
 The original limits of Acadie, as established by the Letters 
 Patent to the Sieur De Monts, as Lieut. General of that Coun- 
 try and the adjoining countries, bearing date the 8th Novr. 
 1603, embrace the country between the 40th and 46th de- 
 grees of latitude. The grant of the company of New France 
 
 « 
 
 el 
 
 It 
 
15 
 
 tish 
 sion 
 war 
 ilhe 
 
 and 
 tober 
 Lslied 
 liger- 
 3 the 
 
 Rys- 
 l Bre- 
 Bvicaii 
 of the 
 power, 
 le war 
 The 
 wellth 
 ed and 
 'cotiafn 
 ompre- 
 regiatn 
 
 usdem 
 
 ol the 
 )on the 
 
 Letters 
 it Coun- 
 h Novr. 
 6th de. 
 
 France 
 
 to Clmrles De St. Etienne, Sieur De La Tour, Lieutenant 
 General of Acadie, ot the Fort of La Tour, on the River St, 
 John, bears date the lllh February, 1638, and contains a grant 
 of Le Fort et habitation dc hi Tour situ6 en la Riviere St. Jean 
 en la Nouvclle France entre Its qvarante-cinq et quarante-six 
 dCgrCs de latitude^ ensemble les terrcs pi'ochainement adja- 
 cenles Hiceluidans Ventendue dc cinq lieus aiidessus, le long 
 de la dtte riviere^ sur dix lieues de jjrofondeur dans les terres^ 
 4'c. ^c. tenirle tout en Jief mouvant et relevant de Q,uC- 
 beCj 6(*c. 
 
 Difficulties having previously existed between M. De St. 
 Etienne and M. le Commandeur De Razilly, Lieutenant Gen- 
 eral of New France, who had settled upon, or near, the Bay 
 of Fundy, and held a grant of the River and Bay of St. Croix, 
 of twelve leagues in breadth and twenty leagues in depth, His 
 Most Christian Majesty Louis XIII. by a letter dated the 10th 
 Feb. 1638, and addressed to Mr. De Razilly, deiermines the 
 limits of Mr. De Razilly's government and those of Acadie, 
 which letter was addressed to Mr. De St. Etienne in the fol- 
 lowing words: — "Monsieur D'Aulnay Charnisay — Voulant 
 " qu'il y ait bonne inte lligence entre vous et le Sieur de la 
 " Tour sans que les limites dcs lieux ou vous avez a com- 
 " mander I'un et I'autre puissent donner sujet de cont reverse 
 " entre vous ; j'ai jug6 a propos de vous faire entendre mon 
 " intention, touchant I'etendue des dits lieux, qui est que sous 
 " l'autorit6 que j'ai donn6 a mon cousin le Cardinal, Due de 
 " Richelieu sur toutes les terres nouvellement decouvertes 
 " par le moyen de la navigation, dont il est Surintendant, 
 •< vous soyez mon Lieutenant General en la Cote des Etche- 
 " mins, a jyrendre depuis le milieu de la terre ferme de la 
 " Baie fVan^oise, en tirant vers les Virginies, et Gouver- 
 
16 
 
 i } 
 
 •'< neur da Pcntagoet el que la charge du IS'iaur inon Lieut- 
 " ena)U GCiiCrul en la Cole d^icadie soil dejnds la niUieude 
 " la dile Bale FraiKjohe jasqu'au dClruil dc Canscuu, 
 
 The JSieur Do La Tour was, on an accusation of keeping 
 lip coiYUTiunicalions with foreign Protestants, arrested by order 
 of tlie Court of France and sent home, and the Sieur De 
 Charnisay succeeded in gettiiigjinnexcd to his government in 
 1617, under tlie name of " I'Acadio et Confms," tlie two ter- 
 ritories whereof op.e was known by the name of Etchemins, 
 and the other by tliat of Acadie. The Sieur l)e ( 'harnisay did 
 more, for he obtaiiied a grant of the country which extends 
 from Cajje ( !anscau to Cape Rozier, at the entrance of the 
 Gulf of tlie St. Lawrence, whieji liad never before formed 
 part of tiie government of the Etchcnjins nor of that of 
 Acadie ; but the King of France afterwards, in tlie 3'ear 1654, 
 made a grant of this latter tract lo the Sieur Denys.t 
 
 M. De Charnisay died in 1650, and the Sieur De St. 
 Etienne having exculpated himself from the charges made 
 against hiin, obtained Letters Patent not materially different 
 from those which had been granted to M. De Charnisay in 
 1647. 
 
 It appears from the foregoing that the country designated 
 in the aforesaid letter to M. De Charnisay, by the name of 
 Acadie ; and the country designated in the commission of 1647 
 to M. De Charnisay, and likewise in the commission to M. De 
 St. Etienne, in 1651, in like manner designated by the name 
 of Acadie ; and the country designated by the same name by 
 Cromwell, in the grant to Crowne and Temple, differed in 
 their metes and bounds from each othei", and that they all 
 
 * Mem- des Comiii' et Pieces ju.^lificatives. 
 
 + Mem. des comm- 
 
17 
 
 jieut- 
 eude 
 iseuu, 
 
 eping 
 order 
 ir De 
 ent in 
 vo ter- 
 emins, 
 ;ay did 
 xtends 
 of the 
 formed 
 hat of 
 : 1654, 
 
 De St. 
 s made 
 iffereiit 
 isay in 
 
 iigrnated 
 lame of 
 of 1647 
 oM.De 
 le name 
 lame by 
 fered in 
 they all 
 
 in- 
 
 diflcred, ni their metes and bounds, from the country described 
 in the Letters Patent of James I. and of Charles 1. in favor of 
 Sir Wm. Alexander, and there called Nova Scotia. This 
 ambiguity gave rise to long discussions between the commission- 
 ers of the two powers, which could hardly end otFferwise than 
 in a war. The English commissioners, on the part of His Ma- 
 jesty, in two memorials presented to the commissioners of His 
 Most Christian Majesty, bearing date the 21st September, 1750, 
 and the 11th of January, 1751, claimed the whole country ly- 
 ing to the eastward of a line running due north, from the 
 mouth of the Kennebec, and striking the St. Lawrence nearly 
 opposite duebec. — On the other hand, the Governor General 
 of Canada encouraged the Acadians and Indians to remove 
 from the new possessions of Great Britain to the neighbour- 
 ing establishments belonging to France, and furnished both 
 with provisions and clothes at an enormous expense to the Go- 
 vernment of France.* Great efforts were made, and expenses- 
 incurred on both sides, to secure the alliance of the Indians. 
 The crisis was fast approaching, when it was to be determined 
 which of the two nations Was to obtain the ascendancy in the 
 vast territory lying between the Gulf of Mexico and the Gulf of 
 St. Lawrence. 
 
 We now come to the war which ended in the conquest of 
 Canada, in 1759, and in its cession, in 1763. As early as 1749 
 the marquis De La Gallissoniere, ihen Governor General of 
 New France, began to act openly. He Was only relieved in 
 the month of September in that year, and by that time all his 
 orders had been given. 
 
 In the Spring he had sent a Colony to Detroit and had es- 
 
 *lt is probable that the inhabitants of Madawaska arc descended from theso 
 Emigrants if not from older Settlers. 
 
 Mem- pouiM' Bigot Intcndt. dela Nouv. France- 
 
18 
 
 ij 
 
 Hi 
 
 
 tublishcd a gfirrison tlicrc. llo had afterwards caused other 
 Ibrts to be built ; those of "Baie des Puans, des Scioux, de To- 
 ronto," afterwards called fort Rouille, and that of the River dc 
 la Presentation. He had reinforced the forts of Frontenac 
 and Niagara. He had taken measures to transfer the Indian 
 trade from the English fort of Choueguen (now Oswego) to the 
 h'rench posts and forts. — He had ordered all English who 
 should be found trading with the savao-es within the limits 
 which he prescribed, to be arrested, and several were so. 
 
 But the most important event which occurred in this year 
 was a solemn proclamation made by the Marquis Dc La Oalis- 
 sonierc, in the name of the King of France, of the exclusive 
 risfht of his Sovereign to the whole of Canada, He sent a 
 strong detachment, under the Sieur de Celeron, to determine 
 the limits of Canada, which he iixed at the River Ohio, then 
 called La l^elle Riviere. He caused public and authentic pos- 
 session to be taken of that river in the name of the l^ino- of 
 France. He Jiad planted on its banks, posts decorated with 
 his King's arms. He liad boundaries planted, and had attach- 
 ed to them medals in lead, which represented, or recalled to 
 mind that event, with inscriptions establishing the taking pos- 
 session. He thus declared implicitly that the fort of Choue- 
 guen and some other English establishments on this side of 
 the River Ohio were encroachments, from which the English 
 must either withdraw or be expelled. 
 
 An idea may be formed of the astonishing efTorts made with- 
 in the colony at that time, from some facts stated by M. Bigot, 
 then Intendant General of Canada, in his defence upon an ac- 
 cusation of peculation preferred against him after his return 
 to France, on the conquest of this country in 1759. 
 
 According to him, and lie could have had no interest in aug- 
 
 ii i 
 
19 
 
 )thcr 
 
 To- 
 er de 
 tenac 
 idian 
 to the 
 
 who 
 limits 
 
 5 year 
 Galis- 
 jliisivo 
 sent a 
 Drminc 
 I, then 
 tic pos- 
 Lino* of 
 }d with 
 attach- 
 xlled to 
 ng pos- 
 Chouo- 
 side of 
 EngUsh 
 
 de with- 
 l. Bigot, 
 )n an ac- 
 ,s return 
 
 3t in aug- 
 
 menting the amounts, the stores sent to Louisburg and tlio 
 Island of St. John, in 1750, amounted to 333,000 livres 15 sols 
 and 8 deniers, and the expense lor the posts at the River St. 
 John and Chediak for the same year was 297,389 livres, 19 
 sols and 4 deniers. It appears in the same memorial that there 
 was sent to the River St. John, in 1751, 800 barrels of tlour and 
 100 barrels of pork by the French Government. 
 
 The estimate by M. Bigot, for the expenses of the frontier 
 posts of Acadie, for the year 1751, amounts to 820,503 livres 
 9 deniers. The expense in that year at the post of the point of 
 Beau Scjour alone, for provisions distributed, amounts to GO,- 
 000 livres. The expenses of 1752 exceeded those of 1751. 
 
 In 1753 the Marquis Du Quesnc attempted to take anew, 
 possession of the River Ohio, and built several forts there. The 
 Sicur Marin, whom he sent thither with a numerous body of 
 men, built several forts in that country, and among the rest, 
 a fort to which the name of the Governor in Chief, was given. 
 
 M. Bigot states tlie expenses incurred for that expedition, up 
 to the 1st of October, 1753, at 2,658,230 livres 9 sols and 4 
 deniers. He stated in his despatch of that month to the French 
 Minister, that he had informed the Marquis Du Q,uesne that 
 from the manner in which the expedition was carried on, it 
 would cost at least 3,000,000, to which the General had an- 
 swered, *' que e'etoit le salut du Canada,et qu'on ne pouvoit s'en 
 dSpartir." Upon the operations ending on the 1st of October, 
 1753, and stated by M. Bigot to have been paid, is not included 
 the expense of a detachment of 1040 men, who were to proceed 
 imderthecommandof the confidential friend of M. Bigot, M. 
 Pean, to the Belle Riviere, nor the wages of the workmen in 
 digging the foundations of, and in building the forts, nor the 
 expenses of the transport of 18 or 20,000 quintals of merchan- 
 
20 
 
 
 dize from Prosqu'ile to the River aux Uocufs, a distance ol eight 
 leagues, which was effected on men's backs. 
 
 In 1753, the same efforts were continued, and besides a large 
 issueof paper currency, which was depreciated 30 per cent, 
 M. Bigot drew bills of exchange on the French Treasury, to 
 Ihe amount of three millions and a half. 
 
 The expenses, in the years 1754 and 1755, of the French 
 Government, in carrying on their project of aggrandizement 
 in North America, were enormous. The Intendant's estimate 
 for the French posts upon the Ohio alone, in the year 1756, 
 amounted to between two and three millions of livres. The 
 estimate of the same officer, transmitted from Canada to 
 France, on the 29th of August, 1758. for the following year 
 of 1759, amounted to from thirty-one to thirty-three millions 
 of livres. It appears that twenty-four millions were actually 
 drawn for before the taking of Quebec, in September, 1759.* 
 
 The foregoing circumstances are adverted to, for the pur- 
 pose of shewing the character of the war which was terminat- 
 ed by the treaty of 1763, containing a cession of all the North 
 American possessions of France to Great Britain. It was a 
 war of conquest on both sides, and one wherein each party 
 felt that the question of British or French ascendancy in the 
 North American continent would be finally and irrevocably 
 settled. The efforts made by the British nation, and by the 
 colonists of Great Britain, corresponded with the magnitude 
 of the object at stake. The detail of these need not here be 
 entered into, contained as they are in historical works in the 
 possession of all. There is one document, however, of such 
 great intrinsic merit, and disclosing so fully and distinctly the 
 views entertained by the leading men in the English North 
 
 * Mom- pour M. Bigot, Intomlant dc 1« Nouv. France 
 
 of. 
 
 » VJ 
 
 « al 
 
 f • 
 
 :in 
 
21 
 
 f eight 
 
 alnrgo 
 ir cent, 
 Liry, 10 
 
 French 
 izement 
 istimalc 
 ir 1756, 
 3. The 
 nada to 
 ing year 
 milUons 
 actually 
 •, 1T59.* 
 the pur- 
 ;erminat- 
 lie North 
 
 t was a 
 ich party 
 y in the 
 evocably 
 id by the 
 lagnitude 
 >t here be 
 is in the 
 
 of such 
 inctly the 
 sh North 
 
 American Colonies of that day, respecting ilie controversy 
 which was just about to be settled by tlie ultima ratio rcgum, 
 that 1 cannot forbear to advert to it. 
 
 It is entitled, '* A memorial, stating the nature oi the service 
 in North America and proposing a general plan of operations 
 as founded thereon," and is to be found in the appendix to a 
 work of Governor Pownal, entitled " The Administration of 
 the British Colonies." This document is the more important 
 when it is recollected that the map^ commonly called Mitchell's 
 Map, was compiled by the direction of, and from materials 
 furnished by, the author of this paper, and published about the 
 same time that this paper was written. It was, in fact, a war 
 
 MAP. 
 
 The treaty of 1763 left Great Britain sole and undisputed 
 master of all the territory on this side of the Mississippi. The 
 French division lines came to be obliterated. Tliey were, in 
 the language of the civilians, destroyed 2Jer confusio7iem. 
 
 It became, then, necessary to establish new provincial lines 
 of division of the conquered territories. 
 
 By the proclamation of 1763, " The government of Glucbec 
 " is bounded on the Labrador coast by the River Saint John, 
 " and from thence by aline drawn from the head of that river, 
 '' through the Lake Saint John, to the south end of the Lake 
 " Nipissim ; from whence the said line, crossing the River 
 " Saint Lawrence, and the Lake Champlain in forty-five de- 
 " grees of north latitude, passes along the highlands, which di- 
 " vide the rivers that empty themselves into the said River 
 " Saint Lawrence from those which fall into the sea ; and also 
 " along the north coast of the Bay des Chaleurs, and the coast 
 
22 
 
 " of the Gull of Siiiiit Lawrence to Cnpc Rosier, and from 
 " thence crossing the mouth of the Kivcr Suiiit Lawrence, by 
 *' the west end of the Island of Anticosti, terminates at the 
 " aforesaid River Saint John." 
 
 There can be no doubt, as well from the tenor of this proc- 
 lamation, as from other evidence, tliat tlie intention of His 
 Majesty's Government, at that time, was to assimilate the new 
 acquisitions on tliis continent, in religion, laws, and govern- 
 ment, to the other dominions of Great Britain in North Ame- 
 rica. 
 
 It has so often been asserted tliat Great Britain was restrict- 
 ed by the terms of the capitulation, from changing the old 
 laws of the country, that many believe such to be the case. 
 But this is an error ; as may be seen on referring to the capit- 
 ulation itself. 
 
 It was expected that the conquest of Canada would secure 
 the tranquillity of the North American possessions of England. 
 The very contrary of this happened, and the prediction of the 
 Due de Choiseul, and of Burlvc, was verified. France, no 
 longer skirting our old Colonics, with her well ordered line of 
 posts, and the warlike Indian tribes of this continent, over 
 which she possessed unlimited control, the internal discontents 
 of the Colonies, ceasing to be compressed by a powerful exter- 
 nal enemy, burst forth with encreased violence. Great Bri- 
 tain had incurred an enormous expense, during the war of 
 1759, and was desirous of being refunded some portion of it by 
 the Colonies. But the Colonies themselves had also made im- 
 mense sacrifices, both in men and money. " When Mr. Gren- 
 " ville began to form his system of American revenue, he stat- 
 " ed in the House of Commons, that the Colonies were then in 
 " debt two million six hundred thousand pounds sterling mo- 
 
23 
 
 1 from 
 
 ce, by 
 
 ttt the 
 
 s proc- 
 of His 
 he new 
 Tcvcni- 
 i Amc- 
 
 restrict- 
 r the old 
 he case, 
 iio capit- 
 
 d secure 
 England, 
 on of the 
 caiice, no 
 id line of 
 ent, over 
 scontents 
 iiil exter- 
 reat Bri- 
 c war of 
 )n of it by 
 made im- 
 Mr. Gren- 
 le, he stat- 
 ire then ui 
 srling mo- 
 
 " ncy ; and was of opinion they would disclinrgc tliat debt in 
 " four years. In this state, tlioso untaxed people were actu- 
 " ally subject to the payment of taxes to the amount of six 
 " hundred and fifty tliousund pounds a year, hi fact,howc- 
 " ver, Mr; Grenville was mistukun. The funds given li)r 
 " sinking the debt did not prove quite so ample as both the 
 " Colonies and lie expected. The calculation was too san- 
 " guine; the reduction was not completed till some years af- 
 <' ter, and at dilHrent limes in dilierent Colonies."* 
 
 The plan of taxin<( the Colonics for a revenue, to be levied 
 under the authority of the Imperial Parliament, and to be ap- 
 plied to Imperial purposes by it, was first atteuipted to bo car- 
 ried into cflect by Mr. Grcnvillc's Act of 1707. The discon- 
 tents produced by this measure, and the general fbrmcalalion 
 in the old Colonies seem to have induced achaiigo in lUe views 
 of England relative to ihc new acquisitions on this continent. 
 In the rupture, wliich it was easy now to see must take place, 
 the probability was, tliat these latter v.'onld remain failhful to 
 Great Britain. To assimilate the new acquisitions to the old 
 oneswould facilitate their union with the old Colonies. To 
 secure to the new subjects their laws and religion was calcu- 
 lated at once to alienate them from the other Colonies, and to 
 attach them to Great Britain. Such seems to have been the 
 motive of the provisions of the 14th of the King, relative to the 
 old laws and religion of the mass of the inhabitants of the then 
 Province of duebec. 
 
 The first public document in which we can trace the oper- 
 ation of these new views of policy is in a Report made in 1769 
 by His Excellency Brigadier General Carleton, the Governor 
 
 * Burke. 
 
24 
 
 n 
 
 m Chiel' oi the said Province to His Majesty in Council, con- 
 cerning the administration of the laws and the state of justice 
 in the said Province, which suggests to His Majesty the reviv- 
 ing of the whole French laws in civil matters. 
 
 The French settlements could not be considered as extend- 
 ing below the Bay des Chaleurs. There was no reason then 
 of Policy or Justice to extend the French laws in that direc- 
 tion beyond that Bay ; leaving all beyond it towards the Gulf 
 to the Province of Nova Scotia. *: The boundaries of the Pro- 
 vince of Gluebec as given in the 14th of the King are as 
 follows : 
 
 " All the territories, islands and countries in North Ameri- 
 " ca, belonging to the Crown of Great Britain, bounded on 
 " the south by a line from the Bay of Chaleurs along the high 
 *' lands which divide the rivers that empty themselves into 
 " the River Saint Lawrence, from those which fall into the 
 " sea, to a point in forty-five degrees of northern latitude, on 
 *' the eastern JPank of the River Connecticut, keeping the said 
 " latitude directly west through the lake Champlain, until in 
 " the same latitude, it meets the River Saint Lawrence ; from 
 " thence up the eastern bank of the said river to the Lake On- 
 " tario, thence through the Lake Ontario, and the river com- 
 " monly called Niagara, and thence along by the eastern and 
 " south-eastern bank of Lake Erie, following the said bank, 
 " until the same shall be intersected by the northern boundary, 
 " granted by the Charter of the Province of Pensylvania, in 
 " case the same shall be so intersected, and from thence 
 " along the said northern and western boundaries of the 
 " said Province, until the said western boundary strikes the 
 " Ohfo ; but in case the said bank of the said Lake shall not 
 <« be found to be so intersected, then foUowins: the said bank 
 
25 
 
 " until It shall arrive at that point of tlicsaid bank which shall 
 " bo Jiearcst to the north-western ani>lc of the said Province 
 " of Pensylvania, and thence by a right line to the said north- 
 " western angle of the said Province, and thence along- the 
 " western boundary of the said Province, until it strikes the 
 " Kiver Ohio, and along the bank of the said river, westward, 
 " to the banks of the Mississippi, and nortlnvard to the soutli- 
 " ern boundary of the territory granted to the merchants ad- 
 " venturers of England, trading to Hudson's Bay, and also all 
 " such territories, islands and countries w^liich have, since the 
 <' tenth of February, one thousand seven iumdred and sixty- 
 " three, been made part of the Government of Newfoundland, 
 " be, and they are hereby, during His Majesty's pleasure, an- 
 " nexed to, and made part and parcel of the Province of Q,uc- 
 " bee, as created and established by the said Royal Proclama- 
 " tion of the seventh of October, one thousand seven hundred 
 " and sixty-three." 
 
 The Royal Commission which was about the same time 
 granted to Montague Wilmot, Esq., appointing him Captain 
 General and Governor in Chief over the Province of Nova 
 Scotia, thus describes the limits of that Provmce, namely : 
 
 ** To the northward, our said Province shall be bounded 
 " by the southern boundary of our Province of Quebec, as 
 " far as the western extremity of the Bay des Chaleurs ; to 
 '' the eastw^ard by the said bay and the Gulf of Saint Law- 
 " rence, &c. and to the westward, although our said Province 
 " hath anciently extended, and doth of right extend, as far as 
 " the River Pentagoet, or Penobscot : it shall be bounded by 
 " a line drawn from Cape Sable across the entrance of the Bay 
 " of Fundy to the mouth of the River St. Croix, by the said 
 " river to its source, and by a line drawn due north from 
 
 D 
 
26 
 
 vr 
 
 ^>:!'li 
 
 " thence to the southern boundary of our Colony of Quebec." 
 But as well the line running from Cape Rosier to the height 
 of land, as the line running from the Bay des Chaleurs to the 
 height of land, are partition lines, only as between the Pro- 
 vince of Nova Scotia and the Province of Quebec. 
 
 I proceed now with the main subject. The unfortunate 
 war of the revolution is known to us all : and I pass over to 
 the next great epoch in this inquiry, which is the treaty of 
 peace between Great Britain and her old Colonies, concluded 
 at Paris in the year 1783. 
 
 The main end and object of that treaty, was the recognition 
 by Great Britain of the independence of her old Colonies as a 
 separate nation, with all the powers and rights incident to 
 sovereignty. The subordinate provisions of the treaty must, 
 then, be looked at in relation to this, its great end and object. 
 To recognize the old Colonists as sovereigns of their own 
 possessions, was one thing ; to surrender the new acquisitions 
 of England to the newly erected State, would have been ano- 
 ther. The war, so far as the Colonies were concerned, had 
 never been a war of conquest ; it was a war of principle. And 
 if it could by any means be looked upon as a war of conquest, 
 it had in that view entirely failed, for the American arms had 
 been repelled from the new possessions of England. These 
 new possessions had remained faithful to their Sovereign. A 
 demand made to Great Britain, of a surrender of a portion of 
 her undoubted territories and an abandonment of her faithful 
 subjects in these Colonies, was me which if made, would 
 have been instantly rejected as an indignity. 
 
 The most restricted claim of Great Britain embraced the 
 St. Croix. The French, whom they now represented, for a long 
 
 i 
 
27 
 
 time claimed to the Kennebec. The Penobscot, or Pentagoet, as 
 it is called by the French,\vas also long in controversy l^etwecn 
 the two nations, and it is believed that it will be found that the 
 French settlements upon the Penobscot are anterior to the 
 English. This is probably the reason why we find the Pe- 
 nobscot in discussion, as a boundary between the two coun- 
 tries, both at the treaty of 1783, and at the treaty of Ghent. 
 The American negociators of the treaty of 1783, themselves, 
 felt the force of these obvious reasons. Mr. Adams, one of the 
 negociators of that treaty, in his examination before the com- 
 missioners, under the fifth article of the treaty of 1794, for de- 
 termining the true St. Croix, produced in evidence on this oc- 
 casion by the American agent, states as follows : — ''The Brit- 
 " ish commissioners first claimed to Piscataqua River, then to 
 " Kennebec, then to Penobscot, and at length to St. Croix, as 
 *•' marked on Mitchell' map. One of the American Ministers, 
 " at first proposed the River St. John, as marked on Mitchell's 
 " map, but his colleagues observing that as the River St. Croix 
 " was the river mentioned in the charter of Massachusett's 
 " Bay, they could not justify insisting on the St. John as an 
 " ultimatum, he agreed with them to adhere to the charter of 
 " Massachusett's Bay." 
 
 Again in the secret journals of the old Congress, most op- 
 portunely published in Boston, in August 1821 ; we find the 
 instructions of Congress to their Commissioners for regulating 
 the treaty of 1783, including an original project of the article 
 respecting boundaries from which the following are extracts : 
 " These States are bounded north by a line to be drawn from 
 " the north-west angle of Nova Scotia, along the highlands 
 " which divide those rivers, that empty themselves into the 
 " River Saint Lawrence, from those which fall into the At^ 
 
28 
 
 " Iciutic Occnii to llic uorthwcstermost head of Connecticut 
 " River." The southern boundary is made to terminate as 
 in the definitive treaty by a line " drawn along the middle of 
 " St. Mary's Kiver to the Atlantic Ocean." 
 
 The description continues, "east by a line to be drawn along 
 *' the middle of St. John's River from its source to its mouth, 
 " in the Buy of Fundy, comprehending all Islands, etc," as in 
 the definitive treaty describing the points where the boundaries 
 " respectively touch the Bay of Fundy and the Atlantic 
 *' Ocean.'' 
 
 The object of Great Britain, as well in the treaty of 
 Utrecht as in the treaty of 1783, so far as regards this terri- 
 tory seems to have been to secure the Fisheries upon its coasts, 
 and this object was fully attained by taking the St. Croix as 
 the boundary. The Marquis De La Galissoniere, than whom 
 no man was better acquainted whh the public aflairs of this 
 continent in his day, informs us, that such was the object of 
 the treaty of Utrecht, in the twentieth article of the memorial 
 of the Commissioners of His Most Christian Majesty, upon 
 theUmitsof Acadie, signed by himself and Mr. De Silhouette, 
 and bearing date the 4th Oct. 1751, says : — "II est aise do re- 
 '• connoitre que I'objet principal des Anglois au traite d'U- 
 " trecht etoit de s'assurer de la peche : c'est dans cet esprit 
 f' que I'Angletcrre se, fit ceder I'Isle de Terre-Neuvc, c'cst 
 " aussi dansle meme esprit qu'ellese fit ceder I'Acadie ; ctque 
 " pourdonner plus de foveur surtout aux peches de la Nou- 
 *' velle Angleterre, elle stipula la jouissance exclusive des 
 '• Bancs qui sont situes vis-a-vis les cotes d'Acadie, et qui sont 
 '' extrememcnt abondans en poisson. Ce dernier objet sc 
 " trouvoit rempli par la cession de I'Acadie, telle qu'elle a etc 
 '• designee dans Ic cours de cc mCmoire, a qui puissc convc- 
 
29 
 
 " nil* cettc pOche exclusive ; ni la cote dos Etclieniins, ni mi 
 " cune dc cclles du Golf'o Saint Laurent, n'ont des liancs u 
 '• leur sud-est, sur lesquels on puisse pecher." 
 
 The point of departure once settled, the next subject of dis- 
 cussion would be the direction of the line. The lirst mention, 
 which I find made of this line is again in the Marquis De La 
 Galissoniere's memorial ; it is in the following words : 
 
 " L'objection d'incertitude sur ces limites, ne pent done 
 " tomberquc sur celles del'interieur desterres ; ct cettc dcci- 
 '• sion est une prcuve de I'exactitude etla bonne foiqueles 
 " Commissaires da Roi se sont propose d'apporter au regle- 
 " mentdes limites, puis que ce qu'ils auroient pu murquer a 
 " cet egard, auroit eie arbitraires, n'y ayant jamais eu dans le 
 " fait aucunes limites etablies dans cette partie, et c'est lapre- 
 '' cisement I'objot de ce qui est a regler entreles Commissaires 
 " respectifs. 
 
 " Dans de pareils cas, la regie la plus usilee etla plus con- 
 " venable, est d'etendre Ics limites dans I'interieur des terres, 
 " jusqu'a la source des rivieres qui se dechargent a la cote, 
 " c'est-a-dire ; quechaque nation a de son cote les eaux pen- 
 " dantes ; c'est ainsi qu'on en a use a la paix des Pyrenees, 
 " pour fixer les limites entre la France et PEspagne ; et si les 
 " Commissaires du Roi connoissoicnt une regie plus equita- 
 " ble, ils la proposeroient aux Commissaires de Sa Majesle 
 " Britannique." 
 
 The article of the treaty of 1783 which relates to this line 
 of boundary is the 2nd article, and it provides as follows : — 
 " That all disputes which might arise in future on the subject 
 " of the boundaries of the United Stales may be prevented ; it 
 " is agreed and declared, that the following are and shall be 
 " their boundaries, viz ; from the north-west angle of Nov 
 
30 
 
 . !i 
 
 ll 
 
 " Scotia, viz : that angle which is formed by a hue drawn duo 
 " north from the source of St. Croix River to the highlands, 
 *' along the said highlands which divide those rivers, that cmp- 
 " ty themselves into the River Saint Lawrence from those 
 " which fall into the Atlantic Ocean to the north-westermost 
 "head of Connecticut River, thence down along the middle of 
 " that river, to the 45di degree of north latitude, from thence 
 " by a line due west on said latitude, until it strikes the River 
 <' Iroquois or Cataraquy." 
 
 The southern boundary is terminated " by a line down along 
 " the middle of St. Mary's River to the Atlantic Ocean." The 
 boundary is continued *• east by a line to be drawn along the 
 " middle of the River St. Croix from its mouth in the Bay of 
 " Fundy to its source, and from its source directly north to the 
 " aforesaid highlands which divide the rivers that fall into the 
 " Atlantic Ocean from those which fall into the River Saint 
 *• Lawrence, comprehending all islands within twenty leagues 
 *<ofany part of the shores of the United States, and lying be- 
 *' tween lines to be drawn due east from the points where the 
 «' aforesaid boundaries between Nova Scotia on the one part, 
 *' and East Florida on the other, shall respectively touch the 
 " Bay of Fundy, and the Atlantic Ocean, excepting such is- 
 " lands as now are, or heretofore have been within the limits 
 " of the said Province of JNova Scotia." 
 
 The next public document to be looked at is the treaty be- 
 tween Great Britain and the United States of America, made 
 on the 19th of November, 1794. The fifth article of that trea- 
 ty is to the following effect: — "Whereas, doubts have arisen, 
 " what river was truly intended under the name of the River 
 *' St. Croix, mentioned in > 'le said treaty of peace, and forni- 
 " inga part of the boundary therein described, that question 
 
31 
 
 " shall be referred to the final decision of commissioners to be 
 " appointed in the following manner, viz : — 
 
 " One commissioner shall be named by His Majesty, and one 
 '• by the President of the United States, by and with the advice 
 " and consent of the Senate thereof, and the said two commis- 
 " sioners shall agree on the choice of a third ; or if they can- 
 " not so agree, they shall each propose one person, and of the 
 " two names so proposed, one shall be drawn by lot in the 
 " presence of the two original commissioners ; and the three 
 *' commissioners so appointed, shall be sworn, impartially to 
 "examine and decide the said question according to such 
 " evidence as shall respectively be laid before them, on 
 " the part of the British Government and of the United States. 
 " The said commissioners shall meet at Halifax, and shall 
 " have power to adjourn to such other place or places as they 
 " shall think fit. They shall have power to appoint a Secre- 
 " tary, and to employ such surveyors or other persons as they 
 " shall judge necessary. The said commissioners shall, by a 
 " declaration under their hands and seals, decide what river is 
 " the River St. Croix, intended by the treaty. The said dc- 
 " claration shall contain a description of the said river, and 
 " shall particularize the latitude and longitude of its mouth 
 " and of its source. Duplicates of this declaration, and of the 
 « statements of their accounts, and the journals of their pro- 
 " ceedings, shall be delivered by them to the agent of His 
 " Majesty, and to the agent of the United States, who may 
 " be respectively appointed and authorized to manage the 
 *' business on behalf of the respective governments; and both 
 '* parties agree to consider such decision as final and conclu- 
 " sive, so as that the same shall never thereafter be called into 
 " question, or made the subject of dispute or difference be- 
 " tween them." 
 
32 
 
 ■!:rit 
 
 jii'ii 
 
 ^•lii'^ 
 
 .Soon aiior the making oC tlus licaly, Tlioinas IJuvday, 
 Llsi^uire, on tiiu l)art ol' His ^lajcsty, and David IIuwcll, 
 Kbquirc, on the i)art ol" lliu UniU'd States,wcre named commis- 
 sioners to carry llio above clause into ellcct. In 1700, Egbert 
 JJenson, Ef^qiure, a Judge of the Supreme Court of the State ol' 
 New York, was a]ipointed as an urniMre by the mutual agree- 
 ment of both commissioners to settle a question which it seems 
 had arisen whether the lliver St. Croix, mentioned in the lore- 
 going treaties, was the river now known by the name of tlie 
 Magaguadavic as was contended on the part of the United 
 States, or the river now known by the name oi" the River 
 Schoodic as was urged on our part. The umpire determined, 
 that the Kiver Schoodic was the true St. Croix. 
 
 A new difliculty arose, after ascending the St. Croix lor 
 about live and twenty miles ; at that distance two streams are 
 met with, the one from the westward, taking its source in the 
 Crooked Lake and running through a succession of large lakes, 
 commonly called the Schoodic Lakes ; the other taking its 
 source in a lake called Grand Lake, and emptying itself at the 
 same point, as the waters proceeding from the Schoodic Lakes 
 at a distance as was mentioned before of about twenty-live 
 miles from the mouth of the St. Croix. The American com- 
 missioner contended, that the latter branch oi'the St. Croix was 
 that branch at whose head waters the point of departure was to 
 be taken, whilst on the other hand the commissioner named by 
 Great Britain, urged that the point of departiu'e could not be 
 any other than the highest waters of the westernmost source 
 of the St. Croix. 
 
 It is somewhat surprising that such a claim should have 
 been "' all set up by the American Commissioner. The St. 
 Croix being the westernmost boundary of Nova Scotia, its 
 
33 
 
 westernmost waters were alone to be looked at. Again, in tiie 
 original Letters Patent to Sir William Alexander, the western 
 branch of the St. Croix is expressly named as the boundary of 
 the Province of Nova Scotia. The words in this patent, it 
 will be recollected, are " ad fluvium vulgo nomine Santse Cru- 
 " cis appel latum, et ad scaturiginem remotissimam sive fontem 
 " ex Occidentali parte, ejusdemqui se primum praedicto fluvio 
 " immiscet." Other reasons might be added, but it is sufficient 
 to say, that at the expiration of two years from the time when 
 the difficulty was first started, (A. D. 1798,) a decision was 
 made by the umpire, rejecting as might have been expected, 
 the American pretensions upon this score. 
 
 For this we have the authority of a writer who has publish- 
 ed a pamphlet on this subject under the signature of Verax, 
 who evidently had access to the original documents of the 
 commission, and could not have been mistaken upon a point 
 of such vital importance.* His words in his first letter are as 
 follows : 
 
 " The next year aftsr this treaty was concluded, viz. in 
 " the year 1784, a part of the ancient Province of Nova Scotia, 
 " bordering on the United States, was erected into the Prc- 
 " vince of New Brunswick, and settlements were made by the 
 *' King's subjects, at St. Andrews, and on the River Sohoodic, 
 «* as being the St. Croix, and the boundary of the treaty. The 
 " Americans soon set up a claim to the River Magaguadavic, 
 *< as the St. Croix ; and the treaty of amity, commerce, and 
 " navigation, made in the year 1794, commonly ca'led in the 
 *' United States, Jay's treaty, provided for settling this question 
 " by a board of three commissioners. By the provisions of this 
 
 *This pamphlet is understood to come from the pen of the Hon- Mr. Chip- 
 man. Chief Justice of New Brunswick, and the Law Agent on the part of Ofreat 
 Britain, on the reference to the King of the Nedicrlands, 
 
 E 
 
II 
 
 34 
 
 *' treaty, one commissioner was to bo appointed by each gov- 
 " ernment, and the two commissioners so appointed, were to 
 " agree in the choice of a third ; or if they could not agree, 
 *' each was to propose one person, and of the two names so 
 " proposed, one was to be drawn by lot, in the presence of the 
 *' two original commissioners. In this instance, the two ori- 
 " ginal commissioners did agree in the choice of a tliird. A 
 " Judge of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, and 
 " a man whose character stood high lor talent and integrity ; it 
 " being probably tliought more adviseable by the British com- 
 ** missioner, to select, by mutual choice, an individual whose 
 " character was known to him although a citizen of the Uni- 
 ** ted States, than to trust to the nonjination of a third com- 
 '* missioner, and thus, in all probability, the decision of tlic 
 *' controversy entirely to chi'.nce. — This was in the year 1796. 
 *' The discussions before thiee commissioners were continued 
 *< until the Autumn of 1798 ; the Magaguadavic being 
 '* throughout, most strenuously insisted upon as the true River 
 " St. Croix, on the part of the United States. The result in 
 *' the first instaiv^e was, at the time well understood to be that 
 " the third commissioner, ivho was, in fact, the iiinpirc, ex- 
 " pressed himself satisfied that the British claim was f idly 
 " established to the River ^choodic^ as the River St. Croix, 
 " tridy intended by that name in the treaty of 1783, and to 
 
 '* the WESTERN BRANCH OF THAT RIVER, AS THE TRUNK 
 
 « AND MAIN RIVER ; the Original commissioner expressing 
 '* himself to be of a different opinion." 
 
 It would seem, that after so giving his opinion, the commis- 
 sioners and umpire were all functi officio, and that it remained 
 only to place the boundary stone, indicating the point of de- 
 parture at the head waters of the westernmost source of the 
 Schoodic River. This was not done. 
 
 1 1- 
 
B5 
 
 It is certain, that the ouudary dMiri^ of the point oU 
 lure was fixed at the highest w.iter* 'he no' 'veriuiic t 
 source of theSchoodic River. Is is from "ais Ihtal /urce,thiit 
 all the difficulties, which for the last 35 y< irs hnvv onibarass- 
 ed the settlement of this most important question have risen. 
 It is this, and not any ambiguity in the treaty of 1783 which 
 has protracted for so many years and still keeps unsettled a nc- 
 gociation, which if the point of departure had been properly 
 placed at the highest head waters of the westernmost source of 
 the Schoodic, either would not have been at all necessary, or 
 must have been settled in six months ; and this is the next 
 part of the enquiry to which I shall proceed. 
 
 But before doing so I would beg leave to state this occur- 
 rence in the words of the author of Verax, and also in those 
 of the author of a pamphlet published in London, in 1820, 
 entitled, " Considerations of the Claims and Conduct tff the 
 " United States respecting the North Eastern Boundary, and 
 " of the value of the British Colonies in North America. — 
 " London, 1826." 
 
 The former of those writers goes on to say : — " The third 
 " commissioner however, placed the source of the river, which 
 " the treaty required to be particularized, at the mouth of the 
 " easternmost of the Schoodic Lakes, where he seems to have 
 " considered it as losing the form of a river. This point is 
 " situate about five or six miles above the confluence of the 
 " Cheputnaticook with the main river, and on a meridian 
 " several miles to the eastward of the source of the Cheputna- 
 *' ticook. In this state of things, it was proposed by the Ame- 
 " rican agent, 6y ^Day of accommodation^ to adopt the ex- 
 " trcme northern source of the Cheputnaticook, or northern 
 " branch of the Schoodic, as the source of the St. Croix. The 
 
86 
 
 " inducement to tliis proposal, on liis part, was said to l)c to 
 '* save to the state of Massachusetts, certain grants of land 
 " that had been made by that state between the western and 
 " northern brandies of the Schoodic ; and as this proposal 
 *' placed the source of the St. Croix on a meridian considtra- 
 " bly to the westward of the point named as the source of tli*^ 
 «» river by the third commissioner, it was acceded to on the 
 " part of His Majesty, and brought about what was evidently 
 " a very desirable object — an unanimous decision of the three 
 " commissioners, who accordingly, by their declaration, esta- 
 " blished the River Schoodic, and the northern branch of that 
 " river to its source, as the River St. Croix, truly intended in 
 " the treaty of 1783. The declaration of these commissioners, 
 " is thus spoken of by the President of the United States, 
 " in his speech to Congress, December 8th, 1798. This de- 
 " cision, it is understood, will preclude all contention among 
 •' individual claimants, as it seems that the Schoodic, and its 
 " northern branch, bound the grants of lands which have been 
 " made by the respective adjoining governments. 
 
 " I have been thus particular in the history of the decision 
 ** with regard to the River St. Croix, which was a matter of 
 ** notoriety at the time, and it is reasonable to suppose may be 
 "substantiated by documents in the hands of those officially 
 **- connected with the transaction, because the writers in the 
 ** State of Maine, in a spirit by no means liberal or magnani- 
 " mous, speak of it as one in which an advantage was obtained 
 " over the United States, and made a merit of the State of Maine 
 " and Massachusetts having quietly submitted to it ; whereas, 
 ** if national controversies are to be weighed in the same narrow 
 *« scale as the disputes of obstinate litigants, in a municipal 
 *♦ court, the advantage may be fairly said to lie on the part 
 
37 
 
 ** of the United tStateSf for it appears lo mc, lliat the course 
 ** pursued by the Co7Hmissio)icrs, luider tlie trenty of 1791, 
 " witli regard to the source of the St. Croix, is clearly arrone- 
 " oiis^ upon the principle which cstubhshed the river itself to be 
 ** the true St. Croix. 
 
 *' That principle is sliortly this : the River St. Croix, intend- 
 
 ** ed in the treaty of 1783, is a river, a duo liortii line from the 
 
 ** source of which, forms one side of the north-west angle of 
 
 ** Nova Scotia, and, therefore, was a part of the western bound- 
 
 " ary of that Province. The river which was a part of the 
 
 " western boundary of Nova Scotia, is the river intended by 
 
 " the name of the St. Croix, in the original erection of that 
 
 " Province, by the grant of King James I. to Sir William 
 
 " Alexander, in the year 1621, and in that grant described 
 
 " thus : — « The river, commonly called by the name of St. 
 
 " ' Croix, and to the most remote spring or fountain from the 
 
 « < western part of the same, which first mingles itself with the 
 
 " ' aforesaid river.' The river thus described in this grant to 
 
 " Sir William Alexander, is the river called St. Croix, by the 
 
 " first French voyagers there, in the ^ ear 1604. The partic- 
 
 " ular and minute description given by these voyagers of the 
 
 " river which they called St. Croix, and especially of a small 
 
 " island in the mouth of that river, on which they wintered, 
 
 " correspond exactly with the river Schoodic ; and a small is- 
 
 *' land in the mouth of that river, a short distance above St. 
 
 " Andrews, called by the French Isle St. Croix, since called 
 
 *' Bone, or Docea's Island, on which island were found, in the 
 
 " year 1799, and probably exist to the present day, indubitable 
 
 " traces of the habitations described with such minute particu- 
 
 " larity by the French historians of the voyage of 1604 ; and 
 
 « the description of these historians will correspond with no 
 
38 
 
 *' otlicr river or island in that neighbourhood. The river 
 '* Schoodic is, therefore; the river intended in the grant to Sir 
 " William Alexander, as a western boundary of Nova Scotia ; 
 " and if so, by the description in the grant, should be followed 
 " as a boundary to its most western source, or spring, whicli, 
 " according to tlie principle, would be tlie true boundary of tlic 
 " treaty of 1783. But as a measure of acco?n?nodation, sug- 
 " gested by tlie person to whom the management of this matter 
 " was entrusted by the United States, and acquiesced in by all 
 " the parties, ihe source of the St. Croix was fixed at a point 
 " on a meridian several miles to the eastward of the source de- 
 " signated in the original declaration of the western boundary 
 " of Nova Scotia ; and is, therefore, in so far, an advantage to the 
 " United States. 
 
 *'• Now, I cannot tliink that this designation of the source of 
 '^ the River St. Croix, by the Commissioners, under the 5tli 
 " article of the treaty of 1794, can be defended upon the princi- 
 " pies whicli must demonstrably have governed their decision. 
 " And His Majesty's subjects in this quarter would be well jus- 
 " tilled in complaining of it, if it had not been yielded to, for the 
 " purpose of preventing a more unfavourable result, according 
 " to the original decision of the umpire in the selection of a 
 " point lying on a meridian line several miles further to the 
 " eastward, as the source of the river, and if its effect on the in- 
 " tcrior boundary were of material moment. But the fact is, 
 " that if the most western source of the Schoodic had been de- 
 " cided to be the source of the St. Croix, under the treaty, it 
 " would have carried the line, running due north from that 
 " point, only about ten miles further to the westward ; and if the 
 " river St. .Tolni is to be crossed by this due north line, according 
 " to the claim set up by the Americans, in the controversy now 
 
39 
 
 " subsisting, such line, from the most western source of the 
 " Schoodic, would have crossed the St. John, about four^-cu 
 " miles above the Great Falls ; and as to its pernicious opcra- 
 " tion, as a boundary, would not vary su])stantially from a north 
 " line run from the monument at the source of the Cheputnati- 
 " cook. 
 
 " But, say the American writers, the St. Croix intended 
 " by thetreaty of 1783, is not the St. Croix of Sir William 
 " Alexander's grant, in 1G21, nor the St. Croix, so named by 
 " the Sienr De Monts, in 1604 ; but the river marked by the 
 " name, on Mitchell's map, which map was before the commis- 
 *• sioners who negociated the treaty of peace, in 1783, and 
 « the river marked on that map, as the St. Croix, is the next 
 « great river westward of the St, John, and is clearly the 
 '' Magaguadavic. 
 
 "TJiismap of Mitchell was published in the year 1755, 
 " prior to the erection of the Province of Quebec, and the 
 " introduction of highlands, as a northern boundary of these 
 « sea-board Provinces, in the year 1763. This map, as it rc- 
 " gards the Bay of Passamaquoddy, and the rivers issuing into 
 " it, is evidently erroneous and imperfect ; so much so, that 1 
 " will confidently assert that not one of the rivers, or the 
 f' islands of this bay, would be known with certainty, from a 
 " comparison of the delineation of them on the map, with the 
 " natural objects as they exist. But there is a characteristic 
 " of the river, which the compiler of this map calls the St. 
 *' Croix, not to be mistaken, and that is, a line of boundary 
 " traced along the western side of the river, and the 
 " lake at the source of the river, and along the northcr- 
 " ly side of the lake, to the most northern part of it ; and 
 '' thence in a north course toasmr-U river, the St. Barnabas, 
 
^0 
 
 (( 
 
 cc 
 
 (( 
 
 emptying into the St. Lawrence; on one side ofeach line the 
 
 country is called New England, and on the other Nova Sco- 
 " tia. Now, in the grant of 1621, to Sir William Alexander, 
 " the boundary of Nova Scotia is continued from the source of 
 " the St. Croix, as before quoted, by an imaginary direct line 
 " which may be conceived to go over the land, or run towards 
 
 the north to the nearest bay, river, or spring, discharging it- 
 " self into the great river of Canada. There can be no doubt 
 " then, that the boundary line thus traced on Mitchell's map, 
 '* indicates what was at that time esteemed to be the boundary 
 " of Nova Scotia, from the mouth of the St. Croix to the St. 
 " Lawrence ; and tliis boundary is the boundary described in 
 " Sir William Alexander's grant. If then, the river called St. 
 *' Croix, in Sir Wm. Alexander's grant, is the river so called by 
 " the French, in 1604, and this river is demonstrably, unless 
 " the face of nature be changed, the Schoodic ; the proof is per- 
 " feet that the Schoodic is the river intended by the name of 
 " St. Croix, in Mitchell's map. 
 
 " It is worthy of remark also, that there is a river marked 
 " on this map on the eastern side of Passamaquoddy Bay 
 " probably intended for the Magaguadavic, which it is also 
 " probable, in consequence of the fads so near it's mouth, had 
 « not then been explored, and so its size and extent were not 
 "then known. 
 
 " Similar considerations might be applied to prove that 
 «' in all the authentic maps published from the time of the 
 «' original erection of the Province of Nova Scotia, in 1621, 
 <' to the peace of 17S3, the river called St. Croix, is intended 
 " to be the river originally designated as the western boundary 
 » of that Province, under that name.'' 
 
41 
 
 rin 
 
 The author ot tlie pamphlet entitled " Consideration, &,c."* 
 gives a somewhat different nccountoftiie matter. He says — 
 It is said by the treaty of 1794, this difference (as to boun- 
 dary) was referred to commissioners. — They disagreed. In 
 that case they were to nominate an umpire. A most unequal 
 compromise was suggested and adopted. The British com- 
 missioner was to have the nomination, but the umpire was 
 to be a citizen of the United States. A person so chosen 
 could hardly have been expected to decide otherwise than 
 that the Schoodic was the River St. Croix, and its most east- 
 ern source the source ; though if tlie ancient boundaries of 
 Nova Scotia deserved any consideration, its charter had, in 
 express and very forcible terms, appointed tlie most western 
 fountain and spring T 
 
 It is proper here to point out several material errors of fact 
 n the foregoing statement of Verax. 
 
 I pass over the extraordinary error of the American umpire, 
 n taking the Cheputnaticook, and the lakes and sources of the 
 Cheputnaticook, for the main stream of the Schoodic, and 
 the lakes and sources of the Schoodic. I pass over the still 
 more extraordinary error of the umpire in taking the lowest 
 expanse of water in that river, as its source. 
 
 The whole source of the Cheputnaticook River, from its 
 source to its confluence, is from sixty to seventy miles. It 
 takes its rise there, in springs or marshes, and not in a lake, 
 and runs in the form of a small river, for a distance of about 
 ten miles, at which point it spreads out into a long irregularly 
 formed expanse of water, which, from its resemblance to a 
 lake, is popularly, but improperly, denominated Grand Lake, 
 
 * Mr- Bliss, Agent for the Province of New Brunswick, in London, is unJer- 
 stood to be the author of this pamphlet. 
 
 F 
 
42 
 
 ol twelve or liftccn miles in length. It thence proceeds a dis- 
 tance of seven or eight miles, with its usual river breadth, and 
 there again expands into two or Ihree smaller and irregular 
 sheets of water, which might, in like manner, be improperly 
 called lakes, the lowest of which is not, as stated by Verax, at 
 the distance of six miles above the confluence of the Cheput- 
 naticook, or eastern branch of the Schoodic, but is at a distance 
 of from twenty-five to thirty miles from the point of confluence. 
 
 Another highly material error of fact, to be found in this 
 statement, is, '• that if the most western source of the Schoodic 
 " liad been decided to be the source of the St. Croix, under the 
 «' treaty, it would have carried the line, running due north from 
 " that point, only about ten miles further to tlie westward*" 
 
 Now, so far from this being the case, the interval between 
 the meridians of longitude of these two points, is twenty sta- 
 tute miles. The interval between the two points, in a straight 
 line, is fifty statute miles. 
 
 This mislocation of the point of departure was altogether 
 unknown in this Province, until soon after the publication of 
 the before mentioned pamphlets. 
 
 It is not now many years since rumours first began to be 
 whispered, implying that the American line intersected the 
 route from Halifax to Gluebec. 
 
 The belief that such might be the case, acquired such a de- 
 gree of consistency, that upon the close of the last America »i 
 war, the following article was inserted in the treaty of peace 
 between Great Britain and the United States of America, at 
 Ghent. 
 
 " Whereas, neither that point of the highlands lying due 
 " north from the source of the river St, Croix, and designated 
 " in the former treaty of peace between the two Powers, as the 
 
ids a dis- 
 idth, and 
 irregular 
 iproperly 
 Verax, at 
 I Cheput- 
 i distance 
 nfluence. 
 d in this 
 Schoodic 
 inder the 
 orth from 
 vard*" 
 between 
 '■enty sta- 
 i straight 
 
 Itogether 
 cation of 
 
 ran to be 
 cted the 
 
 ich a de- 
 L.merica»i 
 of peace 
 lerica, at 
 
 ing due 
 isignated 
 fS; as the 
 
 4a 
 
 " north-west angle of Nova IScotia, nor the north-westernmost 
 *''' head of Connecticut i^irer, has yot been ascertained; and 
 "whereas that part of the boundary line between the domin- 
 " ions of the two Powers, which exteiids from the source of the 
 " River St. Croix, directly north to the above mentioned nor:h- 
 " west angle of Nova Scotia, thence along the said highlands, 
 " which divide those rivers that empty themselves into the Ri- 
 " ver St. Lawrence, from those which fall into the Atlantic 
 " Ocean, to the north-westernmost head of Connecticut River, 
 " thence down along the middle of that River to the forty-fifth 
 " degree of north latitude, thence by a line due west on said 
 " latitude, until it strikes the River Iroquois, or Cataraqui/, 
 " has not yet been surveyed?'^ 
 
 The article goes on to provide for the appointment of Com- 
 missioners, and that " they shall have power to ascertain and 
 "rfe^crmi/?e the points above mentioned, in conformity with 
 " the j)rovisions of the said treaty of peace, of 1783 ; and shall 
 " cause the boundary aforesaid, from the source of the river 
 " St. Croix to the Iroquois, or Cataraquy, to be surveyed, and 
 " marked according to the said provisions." 
 
 The article further directs that '• the Commissioners shall 
 " make a map of the boundary, particularly the latitude and 
 " longitude of the north west angle of Nova Scotia, the north- 
 *■'' westernmost head of Connecticut River, and such other 
 " points as they may deem proper." 
 
 The motives assigned by Verax, for the procedure of the 
 Commmissioners and umpire, in thus substituting for the true 
 pohit of departure, one which, from his statement, it appears 
 that all parties knew to be otherwise, seem to be entirely in- 
 adequate. 
 
 There is reason to believe that subsequent to the treaty of 
 
44 
 
 17S3, to wit, about the year 17S7, settlements were made un- 
 der the authority of the State of Massachusetts within the Bri- 
 tish lines. The circumstances attending this settlement, are 
 not sufficiently well known, to enable one to judge whether it 
 was made in good faith or not. 
 
 But supposing the utmost good faith to have obtained with 
 the settlers, the greatest extent to which their claim, I will not 
 say upon the justice, but upon the magnanimity of His Majes- 
 ty's government could have been carried, would have been for 
 a confirmation of their titles to the lands in their actual pos- 
 session, upon their taking the oath of allegiance, and becoming 
 the King's subject* ; or if this last condition was not agreeable 
 to them, then to have been allowed to sell the lands in their 
 actual possession, and to remove from the country with their 
 eflects, having a reasonable time allowed them for effecting the 
 sale of their lands. But it is clear that it should have been 
 given as a boon, and should have been strictly confined to the 
 lands in the actual possession of settlers under grants from the 
 State of Massachusetts. 
 
 Unanimity was in itself a thing highly desirable ; but the 
 price which seems here to have been paid for it, — the surrend- 
 er of a small province, without any other equivalent, may, per- 
 haps, be thought too high. 
 
 Verax, it is apprehended, is also in an error, in considering 
 the erroneous location of the point of departure, in 1798, as 
 conclusive and irremediable. 
 
 The power conferred upon the commissioners of the two 
 countries, under the treaty of 1794, was a limited power- -li- 
 mited as to the subject of it, and limited as to the form and 
 manner in which it was to be executed. 
 
 The matter referred to the commissioners was, to determine, 
 
45 
 
 ade un- 
 tile Bri- 
 lent, are 
 tiether it 
 
 ed with 
 ivill not 
 Majes- 
 Deen for 
 lal pos- 
 icoming 
 [•reeable 
 n their 
 h. their 
 ting the 
 i^e been 
 to the 
 om the 
 
 lit the 
 irrend- 
 ly, per- 
 
 derino; 
 '98, as 
 
 le two 
 er- -H- 
 n and 
 
 rmine. 
 
 '•' what river was truly intended under the name of the River 
 '' St. Croix, mentioned in the said treaty of 1783, and forming 
 " apart of the boundary therein described." — Art. 5. 
 
 If the commissioners named she a Id not agree, then the trea- 
 ty provides that "the two commissioners shall agree on the 
 «' choice of a third, or if they cannot so agree, they shall each 
 " propose one person, and of the two names so proposed, one 
 " shall be drawn by lot, in the presence of the two original coni- 
 ** missioners." 
 
 It has been seen above that another, and very different mode 
 of selection was adopted by the commissioners, and the im- 
 portant point, that the umpire should be an American citizen, 
 surrendered. 
 
 The umpire and the commissioners were next to be sKvorn, 
 " to examine and decide the said question, according to such 
 " evidence as should respectively be laid before them, on the 
 '* part of the British government, and of the United JStates." 
 
 They were then, by a •'•' declaration under their hands and 
 <« seals," to " decide what river is the River iSt. Croix, intended 
 " by the treaty ;" and this declaration was "to contain ades- 
 " cription of the said river, and was to particularize the lati- 
 " tude and longitude of its mouth, and of its source."' 
 
 " Duplicates of this declaration, and of the statements of 
 *' their accounts, and of the journals of their proceedinos," 
 were to be delivered by them, "to the agent of His Majesty, 
 " and to the agent of the United States, who may be respecti- 
 " vely appointed and authorized to manage the business on 
 " behalf of the respective governments;" and then, and then 
 only, both parties agreed " to consider such decision as final 
 " and conclusive, so as that the same shall never thereafter be 
 " called into question, or made the subject of dispute or difler- 
 " ence between them," 
 
46 
 
 It appears IVom the foregoing, that the power of the commis- 
 sioners was confined to the determining of the question otwhat 
 river was the Kiver St. Croix, intended by tlie treaty of 1783. 
 That point determined, they were instructed to cause it to be 
 surveyed. What should be considered its source was not re- 
 ferred to them; and their finding, therefore upon this ques- 
 tion would, even if regular, have been a mere and absolute 
 nullity. 
 
 But there were irreglarities in the proceedings (as stated by 
 Verax,) which, if the treaty had given them power to deter- 
 mine, this question would still have vitiated their determina- 
 tion. 
 
 The umpire was not named in the manner prescribed by 
 the treaty. It does not appear that he was sworn, nor indeed 
 could he have been ; otherwise how, after acknowledging the 
 westernmost waters of the St. Croix, to be the St. Croix, could 
 he have placed the point of departure upon the tributary stream 
 of the Cheputnaticook ? It does not appear that the declara- 
 tion, under the hand and seal of the commissioners, required 
 by the treaty, was ever made. 
 
 But why go farther, when we have it stated by Verax, that 
 the point of departure was settled by comp7'omise. Where is 
 there to be found any power to compound or compromise, con- 
 ferred upon the commissioners. And is not such compromise 
 again a mere and absolute nullity 7 
 
 Nor can this nullity be covered by the silence of Great Bri- 
 tain, unless full knowledge of the mislocation of the point 
 of departure be brought home to His Majesty's Govern- 
 ment. 
 
 It is exceedingly improbable that it was known to the King's 
 Ministers ; when we consider how subversive it is in its con- 
 sequences, to the great ends had in view by the framers 
 
47 
 
 of the treaty oi' 1783, and how ruinous those consequences 
 are to the just rights of England. 
 
 This brings me to the last branch of the subject, which is, 
 the consideration of tliose consequences, and to it I shall 
 strictly confine myself— for it is not my intention to enter into 
 the general arguments upon the claims of the two governments, 
 lest the weakness of the advocate might impair the strength of 
 
 the cause. 
 
 To understand the effects which this most unfortunate error 
 has produced, it is necessary to bear in mind that there are in 
 the southern peninsula, washed by the waters of the St. Law- 
 rence and the Gulf, three distinct great levels. 
 
 Any ordinary map will show the sources and the courses of 
 the rivers in this Peninsula, and having them, we have the 
 relative elevation of the lands, and the line of these their se- 
 veral levels plainly marked out. 
 
 The first consists of a range of high lands, extending from 
 the head of the Connecticut River to the head of the St. 
 Croix ; and the waters which descend are poured into the St. 
 Lawrence on the one side, and the Atlantic Ocean on the 
 
 other. 
 
 The second consists of a range of highlands, running north- 
 easterly around the sources of the St. John, thence in an eas- 
 terly direction along the head waters which empty themselves 
 into the St. Lawrence, between auebec and Cape Hosiers, the 
 extreme limit of that river to the eastward. 
 
 The third is a subordinate range, running north and south, 
 from the River St. John, along the head waters that empty 
 
48 
 
 lluiinselvcs into the Gull' and probably toucliin^ nt its ex- 
 lieiiiity, tlio last mentioned highlandif, and to the eastward lo 
 Cape Rosiers. 
 
 Each of these ranij^eshas probably spnr.s, — in which of them 
 Mars-hill is, docs not appear. 
 
 If thepoint ()f'*1eparture had been taken attlie source of the 
 St. Croix or Schoodic River, there is reason to believe that the 
 heii^ht of land first above described, would have been struck at 
 a distance of about twenty miles h'om that point, and the high- 
 lands might, have been followed in a sinuous, but distinctly 
 marked course to the Jieadoi the Connecticut River. And if 
 the secondly above described level be taken to be the highlands 
 referred to by the treaty of 1783, as contended by the American 
 government, then those highlands would have been struck at 
 a point, on the south shore a few leagues below the moulh of the 
 Saguenay. Whereas, by taking the source of tlie tributary 
 stream of the Cheputnaticook, as the point of departure the Ri- 
 ver St. John came to be intersected at a low point of its course, 
 and in the immediate proximity of the third range of high- 
 lands above describ&d, and brought us to Mars-hill, whence it 
 is highly improbable that we can proceed to any other than the 
 range of highlands, secondly or thirdly described. 
 
 The loss of territory incurred by this misloeation of the point 
 of departure is very great. Some ideamay be formed of its ex- 
 tent, by considering the loss of territory incurred before we 
 reach Mars-hill. 
 
 There was lost by it — First, The triangular piece ofground 
 lying between the two branches of the Schoodic, having its 
 apex at the confluence of the two branches, and for its base, 
 the line running from the westernmost source of the Schoodic, 
 to the easternmost source of the Schoodic, being a distance of 
 
4D 
 
 fifty miles ; lor one ol'its sides, tlio whole leiigtii olilic Ciisiciii 
 branch of the Schoodic, above tlic point of confluence, being 
 about sixty miles ; and, for its remaining side, the whole western- 
 most brancli of the Sclioodic, above tiic point of confluence, 
 being about forty miles, and containing an area, as those 
 rivers run, of about 028,480 acres. 
 
 Socondlj/, A territory, in tlie form of a trapezium, having 
 lor one of its sides twenty miles (from the westernmost source 
 of the Schoodic to the commencement of the height of land); 
 for another of its sides, fifty miles (the distance, in a straight 
 line, from the westernmost source of the Schoodic, to the east- 
 ernmost source of that river,) being the base line of the before- 
 mentioned triangle ; having for its third side the line extend- 
 ing from the easternmost source of the Schoodic to Mars-hill ; 
 and for its tburth side, the line which connects the point of ter- 
 mination at Mars-hill, with the point of termination of the first 
 mentioned lino, running from the westernmost source of the 
 St. Croix, to the extremity of the height of land. 
 
 These two tracts will be found to embrace, probably, one 
 million and a half acres of land ; and this, whether the hypo- 
 thesis of the British or of the American Government, be thought 
 to be the true one. 
 
 The territory thus surrendered, between Mars-liill and the 
 River and Gulf of St. Lawrence, is immense ; but it will be 
 lesser or greater as the one or the other of these two hypotheses 
 is adopted. 
 
 The mischief, however, does not end here. Proceeding 
 from a point so far to the eastward and northward, not only is 
 the second range of highlands struck much lower down than 
 it would otherwise have been, and thus a great extent of terri- 
 tory sacrificed ; but we here come to intersect the S(. John, at 
 
 o 
 
50 
 
 a low point, whore its waters are navigjible, instead ol' citl»er 
 not intersecting it at all (if the British hypothesis be the true 
 one) or intersecting it only towards the source, as would bo 
 the case, if the American hypotliesis were admitted. So, too, 
 all the waters emptying themselves into the Gulf, would, even 
 under the American hypothesis, belong to Great Britain, as be- 
 ing to the eastward ot the Kiver St. John. 
 
 It will be recollected that the American Commissioners, in 
 1783, declined even proposing a surrender of the navigable 
 waters of the St. John to the future Republic. 
 
 It is thus seen (contrary to what is asserted by Verax,) that 
 this change in the point of departure, had a most material ef- 
 fect upon the interior boimdary. 
 
 The inquiry is thus brought down from the earliest periods 
 of this and of the adjoining countries, to the treaty of Ghent, 
 in 1815. 
 
 I have not access to tlie documents which would be requi- 
 site to carry it down to the present day, and without which it 
 would not be possible to form any judgment upon the present 
 state of the controversy. 
 
 To do this, it would be necesssary to be in possession of all 
 the documents relating to, and the circumstances accompay- 
 ing the alleged compromise, under which the point of depar- 
 ture is stated to have been fixed at the easternmost^ instead of 
 the westernmost source of the Schoodic river. 
 
 (I 
 (I 
 
}rs, in 
 
 APPE^IDIX. 
 
 " Charles, «fcc. — To all persoris to whom lliose presents 
 " shall come, greeting : — 
 
 " Whereas, by the treaty of peace concluded at Breda, the 
 
 * 31st of July last past, between our Ambassador and those of 
 
 * our good Brother, the Most Christian King, it is among otlier 
 ' things agreed, that we shall restore to the said Kin^, or unto 
 ' such as shall receive lor that purpose, his commission, duly 
 
 * passed under the Great Seal of France, the country which is 
 
 * called Acadie, lying in North America, which the said Most 
 
 * Christian King did formerly enjoy, and to that end, that we 
 
 * should immediately, upon the ratification of the agreement, 
 ' deliver or cause to be delivered unto the said Most Christian 
 ' King, or such Ministers of his as should be thereunto ap- 
 ' pointed, all instruments and orders duly dispatched, which 
 ^ should be necessary to the said ratification ; as also in like 
 
 * manner, that we should restore unto the said Most Christian 
 
 * King, all islands, countries, forts and colonies, any where 
 ' situated, which might have been gotten by our arms, before 
 ' or after the subscription of the said treaty, and which the 
 
 * said Most Christian King, possessed before the First of Janu- 
 
 * ary, in the year 1665, on coiitfition that he the said Most 
 
 * Christian King should, with all speed, or at the farthest, 
 
 < within six months, to be reckoned from the day of subscrib- 
 
 * ing that agreement, restore unto us, or unto such as for that 
 
 < purpose should receive our commands, duly passed under 
 
 * our Great Seal of England, that part of the Island of St. 
 
 < Christophers, which the English possessed tlie First of Janu- 
 
52 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 *'ary, 1005, before the declaration of the kite war; and should 
 "to that end, immediately upon the ratiiication of the said 
 " agreement, deliver, or cause to be delivered nnto us, or such 
 " ot our Ministers as should be thereunto a]>pointed,;ill neces- 
 *' sary instruirents and orders ; as also that he, the said Most 
 "(^hristian King, should in lilvo nianner restore unto us, the 
 "Islands called Autigoa and JNlontserrat, if they were in his 
 "power; and all other islands, countries, Ibrts, and colonies, 
 "which might have been gotten by the arms of the said Most 
 « Cin-istian King, before or after the subscription of the said 
 *' treaty, and which we possessed before we entered into the 
 "war with the States General, (to which war that treaty puts 
 " end) as appears by the several articles of the said treaty, 
 "which are as follows --Articles, VJI. VIll. IX. X. XI. XII. 
 " XIII. XIV. and XV. And we desiring on our part, sincerely 
 « and truly, without all delay or difficulty, under what pre- 
 ii fence or colour soever, to accompli^;!! and observe the said 
 *i treaty, and every article, clause, and part thereof, and more 
 « particularly what concerns tlie restitution and delivery of the 
 u said islands, countries, castles, and colonies, which our mean- 
 ti ing and intention is, they shall be forthwith delivered to our 
 cisaid good Brother as aforesaid, or such as shall be thereto, 
 u by him sufficiently empowered and appointed ; know ye 
 u that we for these, and several good considerations, us there- 
 (( unto especially moving, have given, granted, quitted, trans- 
 it lerred, surrendered, and delivered, and by these presents 
 « signed witli our Royal Signature, do for us, our heirs and 
 « successors, lor ever, grant, quit, transfer, surrender, and de- 
 « liver all that country, called Acadie, lying in North Ameri- 
 « ca, which the said Most Christian King did formerly enjoy, 
 « as namely, tiie forts and habitations of Pentagoet, St. John, 
 « Port Royal, La Have, and Cap de Sable, which his subjects 
 « enjoyed under his authority, till the English possessed them- 
 « selves of them, in the years 1G54 and lC55,and since ; or also 
 « the country of Cayenne, in America, with all and singular, 
 "the forts and places therek| and to them, or any of them be- 
 «' longing; ; and all and every ine islands, countries,castles, forts, 
 " and colonies which were in the possession of our said good bro- 
 " ther, before the declaration of the war with the United Provin- 
 *• ces of the lower countries, and which have been taken from 
 " him or his subjects, by our forces, before or since the signing 
 " of the said treaty, with all the riglits, powers, privileges, sov- 
 « ereignty, jurisdiction, preeminence, and authority, that 
 
APPEiNDIX. 
 
 53 
 
 that 
 
 '* doth or might boloncr to us, witliin the same and every of 
 " them, to be and remain to him, the said Most Christian K ing 
 "his heirs and successors forever, with the same and like 
 " power, authority, and sovereignty as they would or might 
 " have done to us, our heirs and successors. Wiiereas, we 
 " therefore have, and by these presents do, from this time ibr- 
 " ward, and for ever, disseize and dispossess ourself in favour 
 " of our said good Brother, his heirs, and successors ; and ac- 
 " cordingly him and them have, by these presents do seize, and 
 " possess, all the same, and of every part and parcel thereof, in 
 " pursuance of our said treaty, and of the respective articles 
 " thereof, without exeixiption, limitation, or exception what- 
 " soever, and for the full and effectual execution thereof, our 
 " will and pleasure is, and we do hereby strictly charge and 
 '' require, as well our Captain General and Governor in Chief 
 '• of our Caribbee Islands, our Governor of our Country of 
 " Nova Scotia, for the time being, as the several Governors, 
 " Captains, Commanders in Chief of the said Country of Aca- 
 " die la Cayenne, and of others, the said islands, countries, 
 " castles, forts, and colonies respectively, that forthwith and by 
 " virtue liereof, without all difAculty or delay, they surrender 
 " and give up into the hands of our said good Brother, or to 
 " such as he shall thereto appoint, as aforesaid, the said coun- 
 " tries, islands, castles, forts, and colonies, and every of them ; 
 " withdrawing such of our garrisons and forces as shall have 
 *' been placed there for our service ; and for this end, we have 
 " freed, acquitted, and discharged, and by these presents, do 
 " for us, our heirs and successors, free, acquit, and discharge 
 *< our said Captain General, the several Governors, Captains, 
 <« and Commanders of all and singular, islands repectively, 
 " of and from the charge, command, and government of the 
 a same ; and all such as are employed by tifiem therein, or in 
 " any of them, so as not to be at any time hereafter chargeable, 
 t< answerable or accountable to us, our heirs or successors, for or 
 <« concerning the same, or for or concerning any matter or thing 
 <« they shall do by virtue of these presents. VVhereas, we will 
 « that all and singular, our inferior officers, civil and military, 
 « our soldiers, people, and subjects, of our said islands, countries, 
 " castles, and forts, whom it may concern, and every of them, 
 « do take due notice and be obedient, accordingly, to such 
 *f orders and directions as shall be given to every of them, by 
 « our said Captain General, our Governors, Captains, and 
 « Commanders respectively, in the due and punctual execution 
 
54 
 
 APPE^'D1X, 
 
 " of these presents without delay or difficulty, or obstruction 
 " whatsoever ; for which this shall be to them and every of them 
 " and to all others whom it may concern, against us, our heirs 
 " and successors, a full and sufficient warrant and discharge 
 " in this behalf. In witness whereof we have caused our Seal 
 <« of England, to be put to these presents.— Given, &c. 
 
 H7th February/, 1667-8." 
 
APPENDIX. 55 
 
 B 
 
 Mitchell's map. 
 
 The expression so frequently used in the American State 
 Paper upon tlie Boundary question, respecting Mitchell's Map, 
 to wit, that '* it icas before the Commissmiers ivho framed 
 the treaty of 1783," is one which appears to be calculated to 
 convey very erroneous notions. 
 
 It is true that Mitchell's Map was before the Commissioners, 
 but this is not the whole truth. So, also, were various other 
 maps. 
 
 The matter in negociation at the treaty of 1783, involved 
 the question, what was the extent of territory acquired in this 
 quarter, by the cession of Canada contained in the treatv of 
 1763. ^ 
 
 Mitchell's Map, if 1 recollect rightly, was compiled from 
 reports made to the Colonial Office, by the Governors of the 
 different Colonies, concerning the limits of their several Go- 
 vernments, under the superintendence of Governor Pownall 
 whose signature will be found to it. It was published about 
 the year 1757, and, of course, at a time when views of territo- 
 rial aggrandizement were, as stated in the text, rife upon this 
 continent. 
 
 Not only the map, called Mitchell's Map, but also the vari- 
 ous maps and charts which had been adverted to in the con- 
 troversy between the English and French Commissioners, in 
 1751-2, must have been before the Commissioners who framed 
 the treaty of 1783. 
 
 The negociators of that treaty, on both sides, well knew the 
 character of Mitchell's Map ; and if Franklin could raise his 
 head from the grave, he would smile at the importance wliich 
 the American Commissioner and Government now affect to 
 give it. 
 
 But, after all, the words of the treaty are to be looked at 
 — from these alone can we know the mind of the framers of it. 
 What effect Mitchell's Map may have had upon their minds, it 
 is impossible to conjecture ; and, if it could be known, ii would 
 be entirely useless. 
 
56 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 c 
 
 EARLY TITLES TO LANDS ON THE RIVER ST. JOHN, FROM 
 THE FRENCH GOVERNMENT. 
 
 It will bo seen, from the following documents, tliat the 
 possession of the River St. John by the Crown of France (in 
 whose place Great Britain now stands,) is of very old date. — 
 
 " La Conipagnie de la Nouvelle France : A tons ccux qui 
 " ces presentes lettres verront ; Saint : Le desir que nous 
 " avon.s d'apporter toute diligence possible a I'otablissement 
 " de la colonic de la Nouvelle France, nous faisant recher- 
 " cher ceux qui ont la volonte d'y contribuer de leur part, et 
 " I'obligation que nousavonsde recompenser,partoutes voies, 
 " Ics travanx de ceux qui nous assistent, et d'embrasser les 
 " occasions dc lour temoignerpar eflets, etant bien informus 
 " des bonnes inclinations que M. le Commandeurde Razilly, 
 " Licutenant-General pour le Roi en la Nouvelle France, a 
 " toujours cues pour faire reussir cette eiUreprise, et desirant 
 '• I'en reconnoitre par les gratifications a nous possibles ; A 
 " ces causes, avons au dit sieur de Razilly donne et octroye, 
 " donnons etoctroyons par ces presentes, Tetendue des terrcs 
 " et pays qui ensuivent ; a savoir la riviere et bale iSainte- 
 " Croix, isles y contenues, et terres adjaccntes cfiinepart et 
 " iV autre en la Nouvelle j^/'ance,del'etenduc de douze lieues 
 " de large, a prendre le point milieu en I'isle Sainte-Croix, oii 
 " le Sieur de Monts a hiverne, et vingt lieues de proiondeur 
 " depuis le port nux Coquillcs, qui est en I'une des isles de 
 «' I'entree de la riviere et baic Sainte-Croix, chaque lieue de 
 " quatre mille toisos de long. Pour jouir des dits lieux par 
 " le dit sieur de Razilly, ses successeurs et ayans cause, en 
 " toute propriete, justice et seigneurie a perpetuite, tout et 
 «' ainsi, et a pareils droits qu'il a plii au Roi donner le pays 
 " de la Nouvelle France a la Compagnie ; h la reserve de la 
 «' foi et hommaire que le dit sieur Commandeur, ses succes- 
 " seurs et ayant cause, seront tonus porter au fort Saint- 
 " Louis a Quebec, on autre lieu qui sera desthiu par la ditc 
 " Compagnie, par un seul hommage ligc a chaque mutation 
 " de possesseur des dits lieux, avec une maille d'ordu poids 
 '< d'une once, et le revenu d'unc annuo de ce que le dit sieur 
 '< Commandeur se sera reserve, apres avoir donne en lief ou 
 " a ecus et rentO; toutou partic des dits lieux ; quo les nppela- 
 
ArPKADlX- 
 
 57 
 
 " tions (ill jiige (Jill sera Otabli esdits iieiix };ar Ic ditsieurdc 
 " Razilly, ressortiront niicment a la coiir et justice souverainc 
 " qui sera ci-apres 6tablie au Sault Saint-Louis ou ailleurs ; 
 " que les homines que le dit sieur Commandeur fera passer 
 " en la Nouvclle France tourneront a la decharge ct dimuni- 
 " tioii du nombrc dc ceux que la Compagnie doit I'aire passer, 
 sans que le dit sieur Commandeur ow les siens puissent 
 traiter des peaux et pcUcteries qii'aux conditions portees par 
 I'edit dc I'^tablissemcnt de la Compagnie de la Nouvelle 
 France ; et en cas que le dit sieur Commandeur dfisire faire 
 porter a cette etcndue de tcrre quelque nom et titre plus ho- 
 norable, se retirera vers Ic Roi et Monseigneur lo Cardinal 
 de Richelieu, Grand-Maitre, Chef et Surintendant general 
 dc la navigation et commerce de France, pour lui etre pour- 
 vii conformemcnt aux articles accordes a la ditc Compa- 
 gnie. Ell temoins de quoi nous avons signe ces presentes. 
 A Paris, au Bureau de la Nouvelle France, le dix-neiivieme 
 Mai, Mil six cent trentc-dcux. SignC hxmi avec paraphe, 
 Secretaire. 
 
 << 
 
 ({ 
 
 ou 
 
 en 
 et 
 
 f( 
 
 a 
 
 i( 
 
 H 
 
 " Louis dc Buade, Comte dc Frontenac, Conseiller du Roi 
 
 < en ses Conseils, Gouvcrneur et Lieutenant-general pour Sa 
 ' Majeste en Canada, Acadie, Isle de Terre-neuve et autres 
 
 < pays de la France septentrionale : A tous ceux qui ces pre- 
 ' sentes leltres verront ; Salut. Savoir faisons que vCi la 
 
 requetc a nous presentee par le sieur Pierre de Joibert, Ecu- 
 yer, sieur de Soulange et de Marson,"Major de Pentagoet, et 
 Commandant des forts de Gemisik et de la riviere de Saint- 
 ' Jean, accqu'il nous pliit lui accorder en titre de fief, sei- 
 gneurie, haute, moyenne et basse justice, le lieu appele 
 " Nachouac, et que Ton appellera a I'avenir Soulange, sur la 
 " dite riviere de Saint Jean, a quinze lieues du dit Gemisik, 
 " contenant deux lieues de front de chaque cote sur la rivi- 
 " ere, et deux lieues de profondeur dans les terres, aussi de cha- 
 «' cuii cote, ensemble les isles et islets qui sont dans la dite rivi- 
 '< ere au devant des dites lieues de front ; requerant celtc 
 quantite, attendu le peu de bonnes terres labourables qui s'y 
 trouvent. Nous, en vertu du pouvoir a nous donne par Sa 
 Majeste, conjointement avec M. Duchesneau, Conseiller du 
 Roi en ses Conseils, et Tntendant de la justice, police et fi- 
 nance dc cepays, et en consideration des services que ledit 
 sieur de Marson v a rcndus, etdesirantl'engagor a les y coii- 
 tinucr, avons au dit "jieur dr Marson accorde, donne ct con- 
 
 H 
 
 (( 
 
 (( 
 
58 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 " ce(.l('*;domioiis. accordons et cone cdons par Ics preseiites, le 
 " dit lieu appele Nuchouac, quo ron appellera h I'avcnir tSou- 
 " lan^-e, sur hi dite liviore d(3 Saint Jean, contcnant doux 
 " lieues do front du chacine cote de la dite riviere, et deux 
 " lieuesdo profbndenr dans les torres, aussi dc chaque cote, 
 '• ensemble les isles et islets qui sont dans la dite riviere au 
 " dcvant des dites deux lieucs de front, pour, dutout, jouir par 
 " lui, ses hoi rset ayant cause, en fief, seigneurie, haute, moy- 
 *< enne et basse justice, avec le droit de chasse etde pechedans 
 " I'etendnc des elites lieux, a. la chartre dc lafoi et hom/niaf^e^ 
 " que Ic dit siour de Marson, ses dits hoirs et ayant cause, se- 
 " ront tPMU^ da porter au Chateau Saiut- Louis dc cctte ville 
 " de (Xuebcc, du quel 11 rcUvera aux droits et redevances ac- 
 " couturnes, et audesirde la coutume de laPrevote et Vicom- 
 " te de Paris, qui sera suivie pour cet egard par provision, et 
 " en attendant qu'il en soit antrement ordonne par Sa Majes- 
 *' te ; etque les appellations dujugequipourra etre etabli au 
 " dit lieu, rcssortiront par devant 
 
 " Et a la charofe qu'il tiendra et Ibra tenir feu et lieu par ses 
 " tenanciers, sur les concessions qu'il leur accordera ; et a fau- 
 " te de cc laire, qu'il rentrera de plein droit en possession de la 
 '• dite terre ; et conservera le dit sicur de Marson, ct fera con- 
 " server par ses tenanciers, les bois de chenequisetrouveront 
 " proprcs pour la contruction des vaisseaux, dans Tetendue 
 '• des dits lieux ; et qu'il donnera incessamment avis au Roiet 
 " a nous, des mines, minieres et mineraux, si aucuns se trou- 
 " vent, et y laisseraetfora laisser tons cheminset passages ne- 
 '• cessaircs : le tout sous le bon plaisir deSa Majeste, de la- 
 " quelle il sera tenu de prendre la confirmation des presentes 
 " dans un an. En temoins dequoi nous avons signe cespre- 
 " sentes, a icelles fait apposer le sceau de nos armes, et con- 
 " tresiijner par I'unde nos Secretaires. Donne' a Ciuebec, le 
 " douzieme Octobre, mil six cent soixantc-seize ; ainsi sig?i6 
 *' <i ron,^-//?,a/, Frontenac, scelle a cote du sceau des armes 
 " dn dii Siii^ncuv, et contrcftis-ue plus has, par Monseigneur. 
 " Le Chasseur, avec paraplie. Etensuite est Ccrit. 
 
 '• Lc titre do concession ci-dessus, a Ote confirme par arret 
 " du Consoild'Etatdu Roi,du 29 Mai, 1680, et registre an 
 " grefte du Conseil souverain a Qu«''bec, suiv:,nt lc dit arret 
 '• du Conseil d'Etat, et cclui du dit Conseil souverain, du 21 
 «< Octobre au dit an, par moi, Grcffier en chef au dit Conseil, 
 ' soussignO. Ainsi signC PeuvheT; avec paraphc/^ 
 
Api'i;.M>ix 
 
 59 
 
 se- 
 
 ct 
 
 n 
 .i 
 u 
 
 '* Louis (Ju Ijiiadc, Cointe tie Frontenac, Consoill. r du lloi 
 eu SOS Coiiseils, Gouveineiir ct Lieutenant General pour 
 Sa JMcijesio en Canada, V::idio. Is!o do T(;ire-neuve at au- 
 tres pay.'ido la L'rancesepiuriti'ionalc : A toii'"^ reux qui ccs 
 ])re.seiitcs Ictires V(Mfont ; Salut. fSavoir faisons (juo sur la 
 nxpiete a nous jaeseiiU'o par Pierre do Joibcrt Ecuyci', sieur 
 de Soulange etde Marson, Major de Pcntagoet, etConnnan- 
 *' dant des ibrts de Geniisik et di; la riviere de Saint Jean, 
 " contenant que depuis quatre annees qu'd a riionneur de 
 '* commander sous n<">s ordros dans les dits forts, il a fait di- 
 " verses reparations at augmejitations a colui d<'(Jemisik, alin 
 " de le rcndrcloo-eable ct de defense, n"y ayant aupara vant 
 '* qu'un petit loo-ement de bois tout mine, entoure senlement 
 *' dequcUiues palissades a dcmi-tombees par terre : en sorte 
 " que pour redifier le tout, il lui auroit coCite bcaucoup, et se 
 " verroit encore contraint (f y faire de grandes depenses pour le 
 " remettre en etat, a cause de la mine entiere (ju'en out fait 
 " lesHoUandois en le faisantprisonnier dans le dit fort, il y a 
 " deux ans, et lui enlevant generalement tout ce qu'il y 
 " avoit; cequi ne seroitpas juste, s'ii n'etoit assure d'obtenir 
 " I'eliet des promcsses de M. Talon, ci-devant Intendant de la 
 *' justice, police et linance de ce pays, Icquel lui en avoit fait es- 
 " perer la propriete ; c'est pourquoi il requeroit qu'il nous pint 
 " lui accorder pour son remboursement la proprietc du fort ou 
 *' maison de Gemisik, avec une lieue de chaque C(Me du dit fort, 
 " faisant deux lieucs de front, la devanture de hi riviere, et les 
 " isles et islets qui y sont, et deux lieues de profondeur dans les 
 " tcrres, avec le droit de chasse et de pecbe dans I'etendue des 
 " dits lieux : le tout en fief, Seigneurie, haute, moycnne et basse 
 "justice ; duquel fort M, Talon, lors Litendant de la justice, 
 '« police et finance de ce pays, lui auroit promis la propriete, 
 " attendu les depenses et voyages qu'il avoit faits dans le pays 
 *' pour le service de Sa Majeste, pen auparavant notre arrivee 
 " dans ce gouvernement. Nous, en vertu du pouvoir a. nous 
 "donn6 par Sa Majeste, con join tement avec M. Ducliesneau, 
 " Conseiller du Roi en scs Conscils, et Tntendant de justice, 
 *' police et finanrte de ce pays, et en consideration des services 
 "que le dit sieur de Marson y a rendus, et de la deponse q I'il 
 " a faite pour Tentretien et augmentation du dit fort de Gem- 
 " isik, de la perte qu'il a soufFerte, il y a deux ans, lorsqu'il fut 
 *' pris et pille par les Ilollandois ; et pour aucnnernent le de- 
 " dommager et I'engager de continuer ses services, avons, au 
 " dit sieur de Marson, donne, octroye, concede, donnons, oc- 
 
60 
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 " troyons et concedon.s parces pr^sentcs, Icdit tori tic Gcmis- 
 " ik,avcc miu lieuo dc chaquo cote dii dit fort, faisaiit deux 
 ** licucs de IVont, Uidevanlure do la riviere, et Ics isles et islets 
 " qui y sont, et deux lieiics de prolbndeur dans les tcrrcs, avec 
 '* le droit de chasse et de pechc daus I'C'tendue des dits lieux ; 
 " pour, du tout, jouir par lui en pleinc propriety, ses lioirs et 
 " ayant cause, en fiefet seigneurie, haute, moyenric et basse 
 ** justice ; a la charge dc lafol ct hornmage que le dit sieur do 
 ** Marson, ses dits hoirs et ayant cause seront tonus de porter 
 '* mi Ciitcan Saint Louis da cette ville da Quebec, dufpicl il 
 " rclevcra aux droits et rcdevances accoiitumes, et au desir de 
 " la coiiutume de la Provote et Vicomte de Paris, qui sera 
 <« suiviepour cet egard par provision, et en attendant qu'il en 
 " soit autremeut orclonne par Sa Majeste ; et que les nppella- 
 " tionsdu juge qui pourra etrc etabli au dit lieu, ressortiront 
 «< par devant ****** A la charge qu'il tiendra et lera tenir 
 " feu et lieu par st\s tenanciers, sur les concessions qu'il leur 
 « accordera ; et a faute de ce faire, qu'il rentrera deplein droit 
 " en possession de la dite terre : et conservera le dit sieur de 
 it Marson, et fera conserver par ses tenanciers, les bois de 
 '• chfine qui se trouveront propres pour la construction des 
 « vaisseaux, dans I'etenduc des dits lieux ; et qu'il doiuiera in- 
 " cessamment avis au Roi ou a nous, des mines, miuieres ou 
 <' mincraux, si aucuns s'y trouvent, et qu'il laissera et lera 
 " laisser tous chemins et passages necessaires : le tout sous le 
 " bon plaisir de Sa Majeste, de laquelle il seratenu de prendre 
 " la confirmation des presentes dans un au. En temoins de 
 *< quoi nous avons signe cos presentes, a icelles fait apposer le 
 *' sceau de nos armes, et contre-signer par Tun de nos Secre- 
 *' taires. Donne a Quebec, le seizieme Octobrc mil six cent 
 " soixante-seize ; ai?isi signC a Voriginal oi ])ardiemain, 
 " Frontenac, ct coiitre-signC plus Ijcts, par Monseigneur, Le 
 " Chasseur, avec paraphe. Et au dos du dit titre est 6crlt, 
 
 " lie titre de concession dc I'autre part, a ete confirme par 
 « arret du Conseil d'Etatdu Roi, du 29 Mai, 1680, et registre 
 " au greffe du Conseil souverain a Quebec, suivant Ic dit ar- 
 " ret du Conseil d'Etat et celui du dit Conseil souverain, du 
 " vingt-quatrieme Octobre au dit an, parmoi. GrefRer en Chef 
 '' au dit Conseilj Soussigne. Ainsi signC Peuvret, avec 
 " paraphe." 
 
 "Lcssicurslc Fobvre de la Barrc, Seigneur du dit lieu 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 61 
 
 »' (/onsuillor du Roi en ses Conseils, Gouvernoiir ct sou laeu- 
 '< tenant General dans toiites les torres de la Nouvellc-France ; 
 " ct de Meules, Chevalier, Seigneur de la Source, ('onsei Her 
 " du Koi en ses Conseils, Intendant de justice police ct finance 
 " en Canada, ct pays de la dite France Septentrionalo : A tons 
 " ceux (]ui ces prescntcs lettres verront ; ^alut. Savoir, fais- 
 " ons que sur la requete a nous presentee par Kcne d' Amours, 
 " Ecuyer, sieur do Clignancourt, a ce qui nous pint lui voul- 
 " oir accorder en titre de fief, seigneurie, et justice, haute, moy- 
 ** cniie et basse, ce qui se rencontre de terre non concodee le 
 *' long dc la Riviere de Saint Jean, dcpuis le lieu de Mcdoctct, 
 *' icelui conipris, jusqu'au long sault qui sc trouve en remontant 
 " la dite riviere de Saint Jean, icelle comprise, avec les isles et 
 " islets qui se trouveront dans cet espacc, et deux lieues de 
 " i)rofondcur de cliaquc cote de la dite riviere de Saint Jean. 
 " Nous, en vertudu pouvoir a nous conjointement donue par 
 " Sa Majcste, avons donne, accorde, concede, donnons, accor- 
 " dons et concedons par ces presentcs au dit Sieur de 
 " Clignancourt, dc qui se rencontre ce terre non con- 
 " cedee ni habitee le long de la dite riviere de Saint 
 " Jean, dcpuis le dit lieu de Madoctet, icelui compris, jus- 
 " qu'au long sault qui se trouve en remontant la dite ri- 
 " viere de Saint Jean, icelle comprise avTC les isles et is- 
 'Metsqui serencontreront dans cet espace, et deux lieues do 
 " prolbndourde chaque cote do la dite riviere de Saint-Jean ; 
 " pourjouir dela dite etendue de terre et de tout ce qui s'y 
 '' pourra rcncontrer, par le dit sieur de Clignancourt, ses hoirs 
 " et ayant cause, a perpctuite en titre dc fief, seigneurie, hau- 
 " te,moyenneet basse justice, en faire et disposer commedo 
 *' chose a lui appartenante ; lequel fief et seigneurie portera le 
 " nomde Clignancourt, a la charge de \afoi et hommasc que 
 " le dit sieur de Clignancourt, ses dits hoirs et ayant, seront 
 <' tenus d'apporter a Sa Majeste au chateau de Saint-Louis 
 " (/e ce/^e t'iZ/e, duquel il relevera aux droits et redevances or- 
 " dinaires, suivant la coutume de la Prcvote et Vicomto do 
 " Paris suivie en ce Pays ; qu'il ticndraou feratenir feu et 
 " lieu, et y obigera les particuliers a qui il accordera des 
 " terres, et qu'a faute de ce faire par eux, il rentrera de plein 
 " droit en la possession d'icelles ; qu'il ne souffrira la dite ri- 
 " viere de Saint Jean etre embarrassee, afin que la navigation 
 " y soit libre, qu'il conservcra ct fcra conserver les bois de 
 <' chenc qui s'y trouveront propres pour la construction dcs 
 "^vaisseaux ; donncra avis a Sa Majeste ct a nous, des mines, 
 
&z 
 
 API'H.NDIX. 
 
 " miiut'rcs ct miiuTaiix, si aucuns s'y trouvoiit, laisscra et lem 
 '< laisscr ct tejiir i-ii bon rtat Uis chcmins et passniros lu'-cos- 
 " sal res, «}1 (|ihI (l^ia drfiicli'jr ct liahitaer Ii.s (lits li(,'ux, ot Ics 
 " ganiiradu hatiiiicus ct do bcstiaux diiiisdoiix nuy du ce jour, 
 " aulroinc'iit laprosmite concessioii deiiiourcra iiullu et de mil 
 " eilct : le tout sous lo Ijoii plaisir (le Sa Majosfe, de laquello il 
 "soratcMiu de prendre coiiliniiatioii (Vicelle dans deux ans. 
 " En ibi de quoi nous avoi)ssin;ne ccs presentes, a icelles fait 
 "a}>po.ser lo sccaii de nos amies et contre-siiiiier par le Sccru- 
 " tan-e de nous clit Intendant. Donne' a Ciuebce, le vinirt 
 " Septcinbre mil six cent c]uatre-vin,£i;t-i|ualie. Slirug Lh 
 "Febviie dk la Barhf, i:r dk MeulivS. iiV plus bas^ par 
 " MonsieiLciicur Peuvrkt. Et scelle. 
 
 " Colbtione al'original en parclicmin a moi rcpresenteet 
 " a. I'instant rendu, par moi Conseiller, Secretaire du Roi et 
 " Greiliercn ciiet'duConseil souverainde laNoiivelle France. 
 " A Glue bee le vini^t-troisieine iSeptenibrc, mil six centqtiatre- 
 " vingt-quatre. /V/xi'/id Peuvret.'' 
 
 '• A tons ceux qui ces presentcs lettrcs verront ; Salttt : 
 " Savoir taisons que siir la rcquote a nous presenteo par I'ier- 
 " re Chesnct, Ecuyer. sicur duBreuil, tendantc a ce qu'ilnous 
 " pint lui accordcr en propricto deux lieues de front Ic long 
 '• de la Riviere de Saint- Jean, danz 'e lieu appele par les Sau- 
 " vages Canibecacliiclic, ct petit Nachouac faisant lo milieu 
 •* de sa concession, avec les isles ct islets qui se trouveront au 
 " devant, et trois lieues do profondeur, ensemble le droit de 
 " traite avec les Sauvages, de chasse, de peche dans la dite 
 " etendue, et le tout tenir en fief^ seigneurie, haute, basse et 
 " nioyenne justice. Nous, en consequence du pouvoir a nous 
 " donne par Sa Majeste, avons au dit sieur du LJreuii accorde et 
 "concede, accordons et concedons a perpetuite, deux lieues 
 " de front le long de la riviere de St. Jean, dans le lieu appele 
 « par les Sauvages Canibecachiche et petit Nachouac, savoir, 
 " line lieued'un cote, et unc de I'autre, le dit petit Nachouac, 
 " faisait le milieu de la dite concession, avec les isles et islets 
 " qui se trouveront au devant, et trois lieues de profondeur, 
 «' ensemble le droit de traite avec les Sauvages, chasse et de 
 «' peche dans la dite etendue ; pour, par lui, ses hoirs et ayant 
 '' cause, en jouir a perpetuite, a titrede fief et seigneurie, avec 
 '* haute, moyenne et basse justice, et droit de chasse et de peche 
 « dans toute I'etendue de la dite concession : a la charpe de rendre 
 
A ITEM) IX. 
 
 03 
 
 '' \i\fi,U;l lioynmufroan Chateau dc^'auil Louis de (i/u'6^r,etd(! 
 »' payer los droits ordiiiaircs acluuiiu! nmtatioii : Ictoutsiiivatit 
 »' la cofitnme do Paris ; do conservcr ct lairo conserver i)!»r ses 
 " teiiaiicicrs, Ics hois dc clu'uc (lui so trouvcront dans toutc IW 
 " tendiie de ladite concession, i)roi)rcs pour la construction des 
 " vuisseaux ; ct de donncr avis des mines, niinieres ct mine- 
 '« raux, a Sa Majestc ou au Gouvcrneur du pays, si nu- 
 " cuns se trouvent ; dc fairo insorer parcillc condition dans les 
 " concessions (pi'il lui sera i)erniis d'accordcr sur la dite terrc, et 
 « decommencerdanstrois ansdecc jour, a travailler pourhabi- 
 «' ter ladite terrc, a peine d'etre decliu de la possession d'icelle. 
 « En teujoin de quoi nous avons signr ces presentcs, a icelles 
 " fait apposer Ic sceau de nos amies, et contre-signer par I'un do 
 « nos Secretaires. Fait a Quebec, cc septieuie Janvier, mil 
 " six cent (luatrc-virijTt-neuf. SignC i. K. De Bins ay dh 
 *' Denonville, J. iJoriiAiiT CiiAMPiGNY. Et plus bas^ par 
 *' Monseigncur, De Fredin. 
 
 *' Collatione a I'original en papier, par moi Notairc Soussi- 
 <« gne, CO vingt-huitieme Septcmbre mil six cent quatrc-vingt- 
 " dix-ncuf, et a I'instant rendu. ^'igitC Hoppinot.'' 
 
 The foregoing Paper was first printed in 1830. Tlie 
 present has been thought a fit occasion to reprint it for 
 publication. 
 
 Montreal, Sept. 23, 1839.