The Camden journal. [volume] (Camden, S.C.) 1836-1851, 1841-03-10
r Teclions, can be.aseertained With certaih1

the treaties, there could be no ground tor
doubt; but the case is rendered yet strong !
er by other corroborative circumstances
The British Government claims the ter
ri,ory north Of Mars Hill; and contends
Tint the point specified in the treaty as
the northwest angle of Nova scot1a is that
hill. Bat there's no ang lie in.t the line ot
Nova Scotia at that point. The boundary
Of that Province always continued In
right line more than hundred miles north
Of Mars Hill; and to call it the northwest
angle. when there is no angle, no northern
boundary. would be absurd. &
Il is contended that the rivers which fall
into estuaries of the ocean ibhot empty
themselves into the ocean. This IS 100
trifing a quibblc to need relutatlon. IL
may with as much propriety be said that
the Blue Ridge. and not the Allegheny, Is
the dividing highland between the rivers
which empty themselves into the Mlssls-
sippi, and those which empty,into the At
Fantic, because the rivers fotrn bays before
they reach tho ocean.
; 1t is contended ,ha: the highlands, on
which Mars Hill is situated, ore mere ele-
waited than those which divide the waters
of the Atlantic from those Of the st.
Lawrence. lfsuch were the fact, it would
moi constitute them the highlands describ.
81 in the treaties. The Restook, the
Aliguash, the Matawaska, and several
other rivers. lie north of the ridge for
WHICH the British Government contend.
and they all fall into the ST. Johns; and
the St. Johns also lies wholly north Of
that ridge. and it empties into the Bay oi
Fundy, which is an estuary of the ocean.
To sustain their claim then, they must
make the Bay Of Fundy to be the river
Saint Lawrence. The Memptcook. the
Grande Fourche, and the Ris.igouch into
which they empty. all take their rise in
the disputed territory, and the Ristigouch
does not fall into the ST. Lawrence, but
into the Bay Chaleur: The case then is
as clear as demonstration can make il.
1t is urged that the British commission.
ers, in the treaty of pesce. did not intend
to deprive their provinces of direct
communication between Halifax and Que
bee. Their intention is better known
by their acts, than by modern construc.
tinn; and the British Government, first in
Europe for wisdom and intelligence.
should be the last Government On earth
to plead ignorance ia matter on which
they were negotiating.
Before the conquest Of Canada from
the French, Nova Scotia extended to the
St. Lawrence, and its northwest angle
was Oh that river, and at the point where
the line drawn due north from the source
of the ST. Croix will intersect it. The
west side Of that line was New England,
and the east side Nova Scotia. When in
the treaty Of 1863 the territory of Canada
was confirmed to the British, the province
of Quebec, as il was then called, was
constituted British province; and as the
city Of Quebec was situated on the St.
Lawrence, the province was extended
south Of the highlands which divide the
waters OF ihe ocean from those Of the St.
Lawrence, so as 10 include the valley Of
that river. This took from the north of
Nova Scotia and New England that mar.
row strip Of territory, from the Bay
Chaleurs on the east, along the highlands
which divide those waters, to the eastern
bank of the Connecticut on the west, in
latitude As, and from those highlands on
the south, to the ST. Lawrence on the
north. The proclamation which defined
this boundary was dated Oct. 7, 1868. In
l774, it was confirmed by act Of Parlia-
ment. That line was the undisputed
northern boundary Of Nova Scotia and
New England from that time forward.-|
The commissioners Of the King of Great
Britain to his Governors, all recognise
this line as the southern boundary Of
Canada; and claim for any territory
south OF it was never minated fol half a
century after.
Such arc my views concerning the
true boundary Of the northeastern part oil
the State Of Maine; and such nv senti.
ments of the obligation of the United
States TO maintain that boundary. The
possession of any part of the territory
within it by Great Britain, is violation of
the treaty of peace, and an invasion Of
the United States.
The only remaining question then is
that of expediency. The question of
right is settled; and what stronger con-
firms it is, that no American, who had
ever examined the subject, ,dissen,s from
the decision. The ties oE-consanguinity,
Of affection and Of interest, which exist
between this country and Great Britian,