Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1845-1854, 1845-12-31

les that Great Britain has a Shdd0tO OF IT,
slale north efthe 49th parallel. by, reason
ofcontiguity, inasmuch as she now holds
the country north Of that parallel on
this s,de Of the mo untairs. To this !
reply, that the British governmen
advanced no such claim; prevented
perhaps, by the consideration that,
| if this ground Of claim gives to her
the shadow Of a right north of 40 de-
grees. it deprives her of even the shad.
ow of right south Of 40 degrees, and
she is not content with this, which would
be an almost equal division OF Oregon.
Besides which, the British territory on
this side Of tho mountains is incapable of
extension by contiguity, forit belongs
to the Hudson Bay Company, which
company is Iimited by its charter to the
lands on the coasts and confines of the
seas, lakes and rivers within tho Hud.
son straits and it would be ridiculous,
nay, impudent,past ennurance, for Grea.
Britain to pretend that the coasts Of
Hudson's straits cover the Pacific ocean
which is necessary in order to carry the
iurisdi :tion Of the Hudson's Bay into
Oregon.
Great Britain defends her prstension
to treat Oregon as unoccupied country,
SUBJECT to colonization by her, ON two
|grounds:
First, she argued that, conceding her
own defeat of title. still we had no bet
ter title. To this the United States re.
piled, by showing that we had better
title in our own prior discovery. prior
exploration, and prior settlement Of 0.
regon, and in our rights under France
and Spain.
Whereupon, secondly, Great Britain
alleged right TO co!onize in Oregon,
under the concession made to her By
Spain, in one of the clauses Of what is
called the Nootka convention: wora
of explanation concerning which, will
conclude all have to say on tho sub
|ject Of our title in Oregon.
suppose there is not in the history
of modern times, any case of war un-
der.aken or threatened with greater
precipitancy, or on pretexts more futile,
than the Nootka Sound quarrel of Great
Britain with Spain. The Spanish gov,
ernment, the first discovcrer OF N Nootks
Sound, sent Don Esteban MARITIME,
, there in 1888, to form settlement il
all the forms of legality and of public
right belonging TO any European estab
IIshment in America. Meanwhile, tive
vessels came to trade on the north ives
coast, under the general command O
one Mears-the Felice, with Meare.
for master, and the Iphigenia. having
one Douglas for supercargo. These two
persons were English adventurers, bu,
the vessels were Portuguese, with a
Portuguese owner and Portuguese pa.
pers, fitted out in the Portuguese colo
ny OF Macao, in China. In 1859, the Ip
higenia, (Mears being absent in the Fe
, lice) was seized by Don Esteban Mar
tlnez for an alleged breach OF the Span
. ish law-and justly seized perhaps-bu
) Immediately released. on Douglas Civ
ing bond that his (nominaC owner il
Macao would pay her value on demane
to the order of the Viceroy of Mexico
in case the seizure should be pronounc
ed legal and valid; after which, the Ip
hgenia continued her business along the
north west coast. Subsequently two
other vessels, the Argonant and Prln-
cess Royal, under the direction of on,
/ Colnett, made their appearance; ais
from Macao, purporting to be the prop
. erty of the (British) King George
) Sound Company. These vessels, togeth
er with vessel built on the coast b,
, Mears's people, called the Northwes
America, were seized by Martinez th'
same year. and the Argonant, with Col
r nett on board, was sent to San Bias fol
adjudication.
The Coade de Revillagigedo. ther
viceroy, decided that the seizure was
lawful and for good cause; but ordered
the vessels to be released, as an act O
comfy towards England, and because
of the alleged ignorance Of the parties
, in regard to the rights Of Spain-of al
which Spain herself. in the spirit Of can
dor and fair dealing, gave the first in
3 formation to the English government
! Mears, however, Immediately repaired
to England, and, upon the representa-
tions made by MISREPRESENTATION
now known, and universally seen to be
grossly and shamefully false in all es-
sential particulars--the British Govern.
ment dedided upon war, unless ample
satisfaction should be made by the Span
ish government. SPAN was in no con-
dition or spirit TO fight with England
and accordingly submitted without re-
serve to the demands of the British
ministry. The result was the conven-
ton Of 1890, called Of the Escurlal OF
more commonly OF Noolka. This con-
vention provides, among other things
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