the northwest angle of Nova Scotia? Where is the northwesternmost head of the Connecticut river? Shall the parallel of forty-five degrees remain as marked, or shall the error be corrected? To agree on any one of these was hopeless; the commissioners accordingly gave up the attempt, filed their dissenting opinions, presented their reports, and in November, 1821, adjourned subject to the pleasure of their governments. Failure to agree now made it the duty of Great Britain and the United States, under the treaty of Ghent, to refer the reports of the two commissioners to "some friendly sovereign or state" as arbitrator. But one delay followed another, and nearly seven years slipped by before the King of the Netherlands was chosen as the arbitrator, and three more ere he made his decision. The statement which the United States laid before the King began with a discussion of "the highlands " as used in the treaty of 1783. Definite words, such as mountains, hills, or other terms, it was said, which might be construed to apply to the peculiar character of the country, had been carefully excluded, and the general term highlands had been carefully inserted. It meant land more or less elevated, which at some point due north from the source of the St. Croix divided the waters falling into the St. Lawrence from those falling into the Atlantic, and which continued so to do eastwardly all along the north boundary of Nova Scotia, and westwardly all the way to the northwesternmost head of the Connecticut river. Now, there were but two places on the line due north from the source of the St. Croix where the land parted rivers flowing in different directions. One was ninety-seven miles north of the St. Croix, and separated the tributary streams of the river St. John, which entered the Bay of Fundy, from tributaries of the Restigouche, which found its way to the Bay of Chaleurs and so to the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The other was fortyseven miles farther north, and divided the waters of the Restigouche from those of the Metis, which joined the river St. Lawrence. Which of these was the point intended by the treaty depended, then, on what that instrument meant by "rivers that empty themselves into the river St. Lawrence " 1828. WHAT RIVERS FLOW INTO THE ATLANTIC ? 471 and by "those which fall into the Atlantic Ocean." The first expression was clear enough, for it embraced such, and such only, as flowed into the particularly designated river. In the second the words Atlantic Ocean meant that great subdivision of the sea which, with its bays, gulfs, and inlets, washed the shores of the east coast of North America. If this were not so, then there was no river in Maine or Nova Scotia which fell into the Atlantic Ocean. The Restigouche entered the Bay of Chaleurs and Gulf of St. Lawrence; the river St. John, the Bay of Fundy; the Magaguadavic and Schoodic, Passamaquoddy Bay and the Bay of Fundy; the Penobscot, the bay of the same name; the Kennebec, the Sagadahock Bay. But the treaty makers, with Mitchell's map before them, had very properly considered that these rivers fell into the Atlantic, and had contrasted them with those which emptied themselves into the St. LawThe highlands of the treaty were therefore those which separated the waters of the Restigouche, which fell into the Atlantic, from the waters of the Metis, which entered the St. Lawrence, and where these highlands were met by the due north line from the source of the St. Croix was the northwest angle of Nova Scotia. rence. The British statement set forth, on the other hand, that the northwest angle of Nova Scotia was at Mars Hill; that the highlands of the treaty were those running thence to the Connecticut river, and that the Penobscot, the Kennebec, and the Androscoggin were the rivers which the treaty referred to as falling into the Atlantic and which were to be separated from those entering the St. Lawrence. Waters falling into the Atlantic Ocean, not those falling into the Gulf of St. Lawrence or the Bay of Fundy, were to be separated from the tributaries of the St. Lawrence. The Bay of Fundy was never intended by the treaty to be considered as the Atlantic, nor the St. John as one of the rivers falling into that ocean. The plain intent and purpose of the treaty was to make the St. Croix part of the eastern boundary of Maine, and so divide the country above it that all great rivers discharging their waters within British territory should be British from mouth to source, and all falling into the ocean within American territory should be American throughout their entire course. The highlands must, therefore, lie to the south of the St. John river, and the northwest angle of Nova Scotia must be at or near Mars Hill. This hill, said the American statement, does not fulfil any of the requirements of the treaty. It does not divide any waters; it is at least one hundred miles from the source of any stream falling into the St. Lawrence, and no highlands extend eastward from it in such wise as to form the northern boundary of Nova Scotia. The sole reason for mentioning the northwest angle of Nova Scotia was to identify the highlands of the treaty with those described in the proclamation of 1763 as forming the south boundary of the Province of Quebec, which in the commission of Montague Wilmot were also made the north boundary of Nova Scotia. It was clear, therefore, that Mars Hill was not on the highlands of the treaty. From the surveys it appeared that, of the many streams which formed the head waters of the Connecticut, fourHall's stream, Indian stream, Perry's stream, and the main Connecticut-rose in the highlands, and that all united their waters north of the true latitude of forty-five degrees. Great Britain claimed that head which, of all others, should be found to lie most to the northwest of the main stream. As the river was known as the Connecticut far above its junctions with Hall's stream and Indian stream, even to a body of water called Connecticut Lake, Great Britain held that the source of the most northwestern tributary of this lake was the northwesternmost head of the Connecticut. This, the American commissioner argued, was a branch of the northeasternmost head; the source contemplated by the treaty was that of the west branch of Indian stream. Concerning the third point in controversy, the commissioner from the United States submitted that the treaty dealt with that part of the boundary only which had never been surveyed and marked; that the forty-fifth parallel had been run out and marked between 1771 and 1774, had ever since been the basis of land grants and jurisdiction, and should be suffered to remain as it was. The British commissioner 1831. DECISION OF THE ARBITRATOR. 473 insisted on the letter of the treaty-the true parallel, and no other. On the tenth of January, 1831, the arbitrator made his award. Disregarding the arguments of the two parties as to the first point in dispute, the King drew a line due north from the source of the St. Croix to the middle of the St. John, up the St. John and the St. Francis to the source of its southwesternmost branch, and cut the disputed territory in twain. The northern piece he awarded to Great Britain, and the southern to the United States. The northwesternmost head of the Connecticut he declared to be the most northwestern of the streams which enter Connecticut Lake. The forty-fifth parallel he decided should be truly located without regard to former surveys, but the forts near Rouse's Point should remain with the United States.* No sooner was the award announced than the Minister of the United States at The Hague, without waiting for instructions, protested. King William had drawn his own boundary because he did not believe it possible to execute the treaty of 1783. In doing so the King had, in the opinion of the American Minister, exceeded his powers, for the question where the boundary line should be drawn was one the United States would submit to no sovereign.† In Maine, when the award became known, indignation rose to fever heat. Some denounced the Government for its folly in submitting the interests of a republic to the decision of a crowned head. Others held that the Senate could not part with an inch of American soil, nor change the boundary claimed by a State without its consent. In a dispute of this kind the Government was merely the agent of Maine. In these views the Legislature shared, and in February, 1831, gave expression to them in no uncertain language. The Convention of 1827, said one resolution, tended to violate the Constitution of the United States and to impair the sovereign rights and powers of the State of Maine, and relieved her of all obligation to submit to any decision made * International Arbitrations, J. B. Moore, vol. i, pp. 119–136. + Senate Executive Documents, No. 3, First Session, Twenty-second Congress. or to be made under the Convention. It is the opinion of the Legislature, said another, that the decision of the King of the Netherlands cannot and ought not to be considered as obligatory on the United States either on principles of honor, right, or justice. No decision, said the third, made by any umpire under any circumstances, if it dismembers a State, either has or can have any constitu tional force or obligation on the State so dismembered unless the State sanction the decision, which Maine was far from doing.* When Massachusetts consented to part with the district of Maine she reserved a share in the wild lands. interested party, her General Court now resolved that the adoption of the line drawn by the King of the Netherlands would deprive both Maine and Massachusetts of large tracts of territory; that the Government of the United States had no constitutional right to cede any portion of the territory of the States composing the Union to any foreign power, nor to deprive any State of land or property belonging to it; that any act purporting to have such an effect would be wholly null and void, and in no way obligatory upon the government or people of either of the States; that the General Court of Massachusetts solemnly protested against the adoption of the proposed line; that any act purporting to put it into effect would be performed without the consent of Massachusetts and in violation of her rights, and would be null and void and in no way binding on her government or people; and that she would cheerfully cooperate with Maine in any measures best calculated to prevent the adoption by the Government of the United States of the line recommended by the King of the Netherlands.† That Maine was serious in her determination not to recede from her claims was made yet more manifest by two acts of the Legislature. One incorporated a new town, to be called Madawaska, within the bounds of which was some Resolves of the State of Maine, 1829-1835, pp. 242-246; Resolve of February 28, 1881. Resolves of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Resolve of February 15, |