"And that all disputes which might arise in future on the subject
of the boundaries of the said United States may be prevented, it is
hereby agreed and declared that the following are and shall be their
boundaries viz.,--from the north-west angle of Nova Scotia, viz., that
angle which is formed by a line drawn due north from the source of the
St. Croix to the highlands, along the said highlands which divide those
rivers that empty themselves into the St. Lawrence from those which
fall into the Atlantic Ocean, to the north-western-most head of the
Connecticut River, thence down along the middle of that river to the
45th degree of north latitude."
"If it can be shown, as it easily may, that there existed a then known
tract of country called "the Highlands," which had been in use in
former official documents, and which did separate the river flowing
south into the Atlantic Ocean from others flowing into the St. Lawrence
and into the St. John, which emptied itself into the Bay of Fundy,
not into the Atlantic Ocean,--if also the documents of the period
show that it was a leading object with Great Britain to preserve to
their dependencies the exclusive navigation of the river St. John,
and that the river St. Croix, and the line drawn north from it to the
said highlands, were fixed as boundaries to the land conceded to the
States, for the purpose of securing this exclusive possession,--if it
can be shown that a tract of country so circumstanced was one of the
concessions specially objected by Mr. Fox, Mr. Burke, Lord North, and
Mr. Sheridan, in the debates upon the peace (wherein upon a division,
the numbers were, against the Ministry 224, in favour 208), under
the name Penobscot, the principal river of the tract, which, with
its tributary streams did rise on the south side of these highlands,
and did fall into the Atlantic Ocean--if, too, as appears from all
these circumstances, the district now called Maine, was no other
than the district ceded to Massachusetts, under the name Penobscot,
the very objections made by these leading oppositionists afford the
strongest possible proof that the claims of an additional extent now
made by Maine and Massachusetts were unjust and unreasonable, and
more palpably absurd and untenable, when it is considered, that with
a view to obtaining a right to the navigation of the St. John, the
negociators did actually endeavour to obtain the portion of country
lying between the St. Croix--the St. Croix line and the St John, then
first attached to the government of Nova Scotia--and that the secret
articles of Congress prove it to have been a subject of debate, whether
the war should be continued on account of such additional territory,
(a question which was decided in the negative). The very contest
about the navigation of the St. John, also is in itself a proof of
the unsoundness of the claim, for it would be of little value to
shut out the mouth of the St. John, and the extent of its course cut
off by the St. Croix, and the northern line, if, by allowing America
possessions beyond the then known highlands, you had conceded a
territory connecting them with the St. John; and such would be the case
by allowing the extension of their settlements beyond the highlands to
the Aristook. I take it this fact of itself is sufficient to prove the
injustice of the claim.
"Moreover, the district so conceded, under the name Penobscot, and
which is no other than the present Maine, does actually fulfil the
special conditions laid down in the second article. It includes all
the rivers which flow from the highlands, and fall into the Atlantic,
and includes no other, and after crossing these said highlands, not
one river, except the St. John, does flow south towards the Atlantic,
except as a tributary stream of the St. John, through the Bay of Fundy.
"Neither can it be said that these tracts were then as little known
at the conclusion of a war, in which every part had been traversed,
as they have been to later Colonial Ministers, for the Government of
that day met the objections made to the cession of Penobscot in this
way:--One objector had stated that it ought not to have been ceded
by a maritime state, on account of the wonderful supply of excellent
timber for masts which it was known to afford. In opposition to which,
the Minister stated, "that it was proved by the certificate of Captain
Twiss, one of the ablest surveyors in the service, that there was not a
tree in the tract capable of making a mast."
"And one leading member of the Opposition, condemning the neglect
of Government in not making terms for the deserted loyalists, who
had forfeited their property by adhering to Great Britain, put his
question in these terms--"Could not all the surrenders we were to
make--the surrender of New York, the surrender of Charleston, of Long
Island, Staten Island, Penobscot, and Savanna, purchase security for
these meritorious persons?" Now, how much stronger would have been the
argument, if the cession of Penobscot had not been limited, as the
British boundary line limits it, by the highlands, but had extended
further, so as to entitle the States to the waters of the St. John,
and enable them to cut off the communication between Canada and Nova
Scotia? He adds also, that the inhabitants of these very places were
armed with us in the defence of their estates, and therefore we can
only attribute the rise of Maine as a State to the circumstance
of Massachusetts becoming possessed of the confiscated estates of
Penobscot, the boundaries of the state of Massachusetts having
previously been in a direct line from the Connecticut River to the Bay
of Passamaquoddy.
"That the description given in the treaty of 1783, Art. 2,--'A line
drawn due north from the heads of the St. Croix to the highlands, along
the said highlands which divide those rivers that empty themselves into
the St. Lawrence from those which fall into the Atlantic Ocean,' was a
description known and acknowledged in 1783 both to American and British
commanders and negotiators, is proved by the fact of that description
being used not only in the act of 1774, but in the Royal proclamation
of 1763. And this point is confirmed by another fact--viz. the
movement of a detachment of the American army under Colonel Arnold for
the invasion of Canada from the side of New England, while General
Montgomerie invaded it by the upper side and the lakes, in September,
1775, in not more than seven years before the preliminaries of peace;
and it is also to be observed that no part of Arnold's route came near
the northern ridge of highland to which the Americans lay claim, and
which in fact does not divide the rivers falling into the St. Lawrence
from those falling into the Atlantic Ocean, but only divides those
falling into the St. Lawrence from those falling into the St. John;
whereas the ridge claimed by Britain, referred to in the 14th George
III., 1774, and in the Royal proclamation of 1763, does actually
separate all the rivers flowing southward into the Atlantic from all
the rivers which flow north and north-east, whether they fall into the
St. Lawrence or into the St. John; and further, upon the north side of
the ridge claimed by Britain as the bound there does not rise a single
river which falls into the Atlantic, while all the rivers rising on the
south of the British boundary do fall into the Atlantic. It is a long
passage to copy, but the whole may give your readers a better notion
of the country traversed than were I merely to transcribe the passage
which proves my point. Under that passage I shall therefore place a
score:--
"'On the 22d of September, 1775, Arnold embarked upon the Kennebec (one
of the rivers rising on the south of the British ridge, and flowing
towards the Atlantic), in 200 batteaux, and proceeded with great
difficulty up that river, having a rapid stream, with a rocky bottom
and shores, continually interrupted by falls and carrying places, with
numberless other impediments to encounter. In this passage the batteaux
were frequently filled with water, or overset, in consequence of which
arms, ammunition, and stores were lost to a great extent. At the
numerous carrying places, besides the labour of loading and reloading,
they were obliged to convey the boats on their shoulders. The great
carrying place was above 12 miles across. That part of the detachment
which was not employed in the batteaux marched along the banks of the
river, and the boats and men being disposed in three divisions, each
division encamped together every night. Nor was the march by land more
eligible than the passage by water. They had thick woods, deep swamps,
difficult mountains, and precipices, alternately to encounter, and were
at times obliged to cut their way for miles through the thickets. The
constant fatigue and labour caused many to fall sick, which added to
their difficulties, and provisions became at length so scarce, that
some of the men ate their dogs, and whatever else of any kind which
could be converted into food.
"'Arriving at the head of the Kennebec, they sent back their sick,
and one of their colonels took that opportunity of returning with his
division, without the knowledge or consent of the Commander-in-Chief.
By this desertion Arnold's detachment was reduced about one-third:
they, however, proceeded with their usual constancy: _and having
crossed the Heights of Land, as a ridge that extends quite through
that continent is called, and from whence the waters on either side
take courses directly contrary to those on the other_, they at length
arrived at the head of the Chaudiere, which, running through Canada,
_falls into the River St. Lawrence near Quebec_. Their difficulties
were now growing to an end, and they soon approached the inhabited
parts of Canada; on the 3d of November a party, which they had pushed
forward, returned with provisions, and they soon after came to a house,
being the first they had beheld for 31 days, having spent the whole
time in traversing a hideous wilderness, without meeting anything
human.'
"Now, here you have, in the report of a campaign made by an American
general eight years before the peace, viz. in 1775, and printed in an
English _Annual Register_ five years before the peace, viz. 1799, as
direct a reference to the same marked distinction of rivers flowing
different ways, in consequence of the peculiar nature of the country,
as it is possible to desire; and you have an acknowledgment, _totidem
verbis_, that the then known designation of such tract was no other
than that used in the article of the subsequent treaty, as it had been
also used in the 14th of George III. by the British Legislature and in
the Royal proclamation of 1763, and upon examining any map, that of
the Useful Knowledge Society or any other, it will be seen that all
the rivers rising on the south side of the British boundary do fulfil
the terms of the above treaty, and that all on the other, or north
side, do, as the above account of Arnold's march expresses it, 'take
courses directly contrary.' The rivers on the south side flow towards
the Atlantic Ocean, not one on the other side does flow towards it--in
itself the most indisputable proof that the American claim cannot stand
with those words of the article which assign to them only that tract of
territory wherein the rivers flow towards and 'fall into the Atlantic
Ocean.'
"I may here remark, that as the proclamation of 1763 is the earliest
reference I know to these highlands so dividing the rivers, and as that
proclamation proceeds from west to east, and as General Arnold found
at the west end the peculiar marks required, the only really amicable,
and perhaps the only certain, mode of ascertaining the bound, would be
not to start on a loose cruise for highlands at the line of St. Croix,
which can itself only be determined by its abutment with the specified
highlands (in fact, I believe this loose and hand-over-head mode of
proceeding has produced all the difficulty), but to start the search
where General Arnold crossed, and run the line eastward according to
the direction of the rivers, giving all the territory wherein 'the
rivers fall into the Atlantic,' as by the treaty, to America, that
wherein 'the rivers flow the contrary way' to Britain; for with this
report of General Arnold's march seven years before under our view, it
is impossible to believe that General Washington would have sanctioned
a reference to so marked a distinction as these so-called 'highlands'
in one sense, while he meant, in future times, the reference to
be interpreted in another. Viewing the matter according to these
lights, which is the only just mode of viewing it, as a case between
Christians, Penobscot, the cession of which was reprobated in the
British Parliament at the time (and when many officers who had been
employed in Canada and in the States were present in both Houses), does
fulfil the terms required by the treaty--namely, it embraces all the
rivers which, rising on the south of Arnold's ridge, flow towards and
'fall into the Atlantic Ocean;' whereas, neither the boundary claimed
by America nor the line set out by the King of Holland as a fair
compromise, acceded to by the sufferer, Britain, and refused by the
gainer, America, can in any wise be said to meet.
"I know not, Sir, whether you will think these remarks, and this
information, upon a question likely to terminate in a war, or a
disgraceful concession of the just rights of the British nation, may
be useful or acceptable to you; but, such as they are, you are welcome
to them, and may use them as you please; and allow me at the same
time to add, there are other parts of the history of the same period
which would cast considerable light upon the present extraordinary
proceedings of the British Government in regard to Canada.
"I have the honour to remain, Sir,
"Your obedient servant,
"W.J.D. Waddilove."