_Washington, April 27, 1838_.
HENRY S. FOX, Esq., etc.:
The undersigned, Secretary of State of the United States, has the honor,
by the directions of the President, to communicate to Mr. Fox, Her
Britannic Majesty's envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary,
the result of the application of the General Government to the State
of Maine on the subject of the northeastern boundary line and the
resolution which the President has formed upon a careful consideration
thereof. By the accompanying papers,[33] received from the executive
of Maine, Mr. Fox will perceive that Maine declines to give a consent
to the negotiation for a conventional boundary, is disinclined to the
reference of the points in dispute to a new arbitration, but is yet
firmly persuaded that the line described in the treaty of 1783 can be
found and traced whenever the Governments of the United States and
Great Britain shall proceed to make the requisite investigations with
a predisposition to effect that very desirable object. Confidently
relying, as the President does, upon the assurances frequently repeated
by the British Government of the earnest desire to reach that result if
it is practicable, he has instructed the undersigned to announce to Mr.
Fox the willingness of this Government to enter into an arrangement with
Great Britain for the establishment of a joint commission of survey and
exploration upon the basis of the original American proposition and the
modifications offered by Her Majesty's Government.
The Secretary of State is therefore authorized to invite Mr. Fox to
a conference upon the subject at as early a day as his convenience
will permit, and the undersigned will be immediately furnished with a
requisite full power by the President to conclude a convention embracing
that object if Her Majesty's minister is duly empowered to proceed to
the negotiation of it on the part of Great Britain.
The undersigned avails himself of this occasion to renew to Mr. Fox the
expression of his distinguished consideration.