USA > Maine > Piscataquis County > Historical collections of Piscataquis County, Maine, consisting of papers read at meetings of Piscataquis County Historical Society, also The north eastern boundary controversy and the Aroostook War, V. I > Part 26
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Although for these reasons I must decline any further correspondence with Your Excellency on this subject, yet it is in entire unison with the Sentements and dis- position which I know to animate His Majesty's Govern- ment, that I take this occasion to assure Your Excel- lency of my sincere and cordial desire to do all in my power, so far as I personally am at liberty to use any discretion in the duties which I am imperatively charged, to meet, with respect and consideration, the amicable disposition which Your Excellency professes. I trust my Conduct will be found to evince a just and manifest Solicitude to repress and punish any acts on the disputed Territory which might lead to the interruption of a good understanding between the two Countries, and to keep the question in a state propitious for a speedy and amica- ble adjustment.
I have the honor to be With the most respectful consideration, Your Excellency's Obedient Servant, Howard Douglas.
Sir :
Department of State, Washington, D. C. Nov. 19, 1827. His Excellency Enoch Lincoln, Governor of Maine.
The president being desirous to possess certain information in respect to settlements within that part of the territorial limits of Maine which is claimed by Great Britain, and especially as to the causes of the arrest and
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condemnation of John Baker, an American citizen, has authorized me to employ Mr. Barrell to proceed to Maine, and, if necessary, to New Brunswick, to collect the information desired. I beg leave to present Mr. Barrell to your Excellency as a respectable and intelli- gent gentleman, worthy of respect and confidence. He will communicate to you, particularly, the various points on which the President wishes to obtain information ; and I have to request of your Excellency such assistance to Mr. Barrell, in the execution of his commission, as you may think proper to render.
I am, with great respect,
Your Excellency's obdt. servt.
H. Clay
His Excellency Enoch Lincoln,
Portland, Maine.
Department of State Washington 27th Nov." 1827.
Sir,
I have to acknowledge the receipt of the Letter which your Excellency did me the honor to address to me on the 19th instant with its accompanyments, all of which have been laid before the President. He sees with great regret the expression of the sentiment of your Excellency that "Maine has not been treated as she has endeavored to deserve." Without engaging, at this time, in a discussion of the whole subject of our dispute with Great Britain about the North Eastern boundary of the United States, in which the State of Maine is so deeply interested, which would be altogether unprofitable, I am sure I shall obtain your Excellency's indulgence for one or two general observations which seem called for by the above sentiment.
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By the Treaty of Ghent, in the contingency which unhappily occurred, of a nonconcurrence between the British and American Commissioners in fixing that boundary, they were directed respectively to report to their Governments, and the difference thus left unad- justed was to be referred to a Soverign Arbitrator. Your Excellency, in the course of the correspondence which has passed between you and this Department, has protested against this reference, and your objections to it have received the most respectful Consideration. The fulfilment of solemn obligations imposed upon the United States by the faith of treaties; & the duty with which the President is charged by the Constitution of taking care that the Laws (of which our treaties with foreign powers form part) be faithfully executed, did not appear to leave him at liberty to decline the stipulated reference. If any other practical mode of settling the difference had occurred, or been suggested by your Excellency, to the President, it would have received friendly and diliberate consideration.
It is certainly most desirable that Nations should arrange all differences between them, by direct negotia- tion, rather than through the friendly agency of third powers. This has been attempted and has failed. The Government of the U. States is fully convinced that the right to the territory in dispute is with us and not with G. Britain. The convictions of Maine are not stronger, in respect to the validity of our title, than those which are entertained by the President. But Great Britain professes to believe the contrary. The parties cannot come to the same conclusion. In this state of things what ought to be done? National disputes can be settled only amicably or by an appeal to the sword. All will agree that before resorting to the latter dread- ful alternative, every friendly and peaceble measures
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should be tried and have failed. It is a happy expedi- ent, where Nations cannot themselves adjust their differ- ences, to avail themselves of the Umpirage of a friendly and impartial power. It multiplies the chances of avoiding the greatest of human calamities. It is true that it is a mode not free from all objection, and Mr. Gallatin has adverted to one, in the extract, which you give from one of his dispatches. But objectionable as it may be, it is better and not more uncertain than the events of war. Your Excellency seems to think that the clearness of our right should prevent the submission of the controversy to an Arbitrator. But the other party professes to be equally convinced of the indisputa- ble nature of his claims ; and if that consideration were to operate on the one side it would equally influence the other. The consequences will be at once perceived. Besides, the clearness of our title will attend it before the Arbitrator, and, if we are not deceived in it, his favorable decision is inevitable.
The President regrets, therefore, that in conducting the negotiation with G. Britain, he could not conform to the views of your Excellency, by refusing to carry into effect a treaty, to the execution of which the good faith of the Nation stood pledged, and which was moreover en- joined by the express terms of the Constitution. But, if he could have brought himself to disregard this double obligation under which he is placed, how could the interests of Maine have been advanced? She is not in possession of the disputed territory, or at most but of a small part. Both parties stand pledged to each other to practice forbearance, and to abstain from further acts of soverignty on the unoccupied waste, until the question of right is settled. If that question cannot be settled by the parties themselves, and may not be settled by arbitration, how is it to be determined? The re-
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maining alternative has been suggested. Whether ·the time has arrived for the use of that does not belong to the President but to another branch of the Govern- ment to deside.
I cannot but hope that your Excellency, upon a review of the whole subject, in a spirit of candor, will be dis- posed to think, that the Executive of the U. States has been endeavoring, with the utmost zeal, in regard to our North Eastern boundary, to promote the true interests of the United States and of the State of Maine, and that this respectable State has been treated neither with ne- glect nor injustice.
I am, with great respect, Your Excellency's Obedt Servt. H. Clay
Portland Decr 1st 1827
Sir
In pursuance of the Commission which I have received from the President, the objects of which have been fully explained to your Excellency, I have to request that your Excellency would be pleased to furnish me with any documentary or other evidence which you may possess, or which it may be in your power to pro- cure, respecting the period when the right was first asserted to exercise authority from the States of Massa- chusetts or Maine, over the settlements on the Mada- wascah and Aroostic Rivers, branches of the St Johns, or either of them.
I have the honor to be, with great respect, Si Your Excellency's Obt Servt S. B. Barrelle.
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His Excellency
Enoch Lincoln Governor of Maine.
Fredericton N. B. Decr 24th 1827.
Sir
I have already had the pleasure to acquaint you with my arrival here, and the obliging reception of your letter by Sir Howard Douglas. I was detained by the continuance of His Excellency's indisposition until the 11th instant. As soon as I understood that his health was so far confirmed that he would probably be able to attend to business, I prepared an application to him, in pursuance of your direction, for the release of John Baker, which I addressed to His Excellency, the Lieu- tenant Governor of New Brunswick, on that day. I had written a note on the same day to the Secretary of the Province, requesting him to lay the paper before Sir Howard Douglas, as soon as His Excellency's health and pleasure should permit.
Before I despatched it, I received a verbal communi- cation from Sir Howard Douglas, delivered by Mr Odell, the Secretary, together with Captain Douglas, His Excellency's private Secretary, stating that some time before my arrival His Excellency had received a former letter from you, to which he had also before my arrival returned an answer, acquainting you that it would be neither consistent with his sense of duty, nor in con- formity with his instructions to give the explanations required in that letter to any Persons, except those under whose orders he is placed, or with whom he is directed to correspond; and that consequently having no Power to treat, he could not in any way recognise me as an accredited agent from the State of Maine. At the same
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time, it was said, it would afford Sir Howard much sat- isfaction, if the government of the State of Maine should become fully and correctly informed of circumstances respecting which, he said, he regretted to find that very erroneous impressions and misrepresentations were preva- lent in that State.
Mr Odell also stated, that he was directed by Sir Howard Douglas to express his great regret that he had been so long prevented from making any communication to me respecting the letter, which I had borne from you, and to state that he had taken the very earliest oppor- tunity, that his health would permit, to give me the above information- and added very polite expressions, implying every hospitable regard and attention, that could be received by an American stranger passing through the Province.
In reply to M' Odell I briefly expressed my regret, that His Excellency's health had not allowed me to be apprised earlier of a circumstance, which existed at my arrival, and the effect of which appeared so decisive. I adverted to the mention, that was made by the same gentlemen, when they formerly did me the honour to call upon me from Sir Howard Douglas for the purpose of receiving your letter and preventing any unnecessary detention on my part, that a reply had been written to your first letter, which I told them had certainly not been received when I left Portland, and with the purport of which I was not until now made acquainted.
Touching the point of His Excellency Sir Howard Douglas's present communication, I took the liberty to allude to the practice prevailing between the adjoining states of the American Union and Provincial Gover- ments of His Britannic Majesty on the subject, and instanced the particular circumstance within our own experience as a State, of a like application having been
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made by the Earl of Dalhousie to Governor Parris. I wished to leave this circumstance open to the influence which it might possibly have in the determination of Sir Howard Douglas. I requested Mr Odell to receive the note I had prepared and then exhibited to him, and to consider the paper which I prepared to present through him to His Excellency as proffered also at the same time: to which Mr Odell assented, or made no objection.
I proceeded on the same day to enclose the before mentioned application, in a letter to Sir Howard Douglas, which I sent with the note to M' Odell.
On the following day the paper was returned to me by Mr Odell, with a note from him signifying, that it was by His Excellency's command; and that in pursu- ance of the course which his Excellency had laid down and in conformity with the terms which he had caused to be communicated to me, if my Letter to His Excel- lency contained any matter relating to my visit to New Brunswick, His Excellency could not receive it.
In compliance with what I conceived to be the import of this communication, I immediately proceeded to reply to M' Odell, that I begged leave to acquaint Sir Howard Douglas, that the object of the letter which I had the honour to address to His Excellency, on the day before, was confined in its terms to an application to him, as Lieutenant Governor &c of this Province for the release of John Baker, a citizen of the State of Maine, in prison in this place in pursuance of my appointment, and in obedience to your direction; that I referred therein to an application of a similar nature addressed by the Earl of Dalhousie Governor General &c of the Canadas to the Honble Albion K. Parris late Governor of Maine, which I assured Sir Howard Douglas was most respect- fully received : and that I referred no further in my letter to the general purposes of my visit to this province,
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namely, to enable the government of Maine to become fully and correctly informed concerning the truth of cir- cumstances, respecting which His Excellency was pleased to express his regret that very erroneous impressions and misrepresentations were prevalent in that state,- than simply to say, that His Excellency was already apprized of those valuable and important purposes, by yourself. I persuaded myself that His Excellency was fully acquainted with the respectful sentiments and amicable dispositions which this proceeding on your part was intended to cherish.
While I could not avoid the occasion of expressing the pain I felt on account of the necessity imposed upon me of entering into a preliminary explanation of this nature, concerning the part of duty, which I was charged by yourself as Governor of Maine, with performing for such purposes and touching a point of such vital interest to the State of Maine, as the liberty of one of its citi- zens, I begged leave to renew the tender of my applica- tion, together with a copy of the Earl of Dalhousie's, for His Excellency's determination .- -
I received a reply from Mr Odell dated the 14th inst. on the day subsequent of the date, acquainting me, that conformably to my request he transmitted the letter enclosed to be laid before Sir Howard Douglas, and had received His Excellency's instructions to return the same to me, and to state that His Excellency could not depart from the course of proceeding which, upon every view of the case in question, he had adopted, and which line of conduct had been already communicated to me
This reply left nothing for me but to ascertain whether I could depend upon the countenance of Sir Howard Douglas, in the manner solicited by you, to enable me to proceed upon the further duty to which I was directed by you to perform in different parts of the
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country so far as it might lead me through this province ; and for facility of which you had been pleased to refer me to Sir Howard Douglas. The intimation previously conveyed to me by His Excellency concerning my visit to New Brunswick, had not escaped my notice, but as I did not wish to lose the benefit that you intended by your recommendation of me to Sir Howard, upon any mere ground of inference, in the present condition of the country, I was desirous to be made certain on that point.
I accordingly addressed a note on this subject the next day to Mr Odell, in which I also took occasion to acknowledge the favour he had done me in reducing to writing the substance of his verbal communication from Sir Howard Douglas to me, of the 11th instant; and to recapitulate on my part the residue of what passed in that conversation.
Having the benefit of the communication made by Mr Odell at that time thus expressed in very distinct terms before me, I stated to him in this note, that if the remark, that His Excellency Sir Howard Douglas had no power to treat, had failed to attract my atten- tion, it was because the exercise of no such power was sought.
I also took occasion in this note to state that in the application which I addressed to Sir Howard Douglas for the release of Baker, I forbore to make a positive demand for the delivery of the persons, who might prove to have been active in the affair of the arrest and engaged in the abduction of that individual; although such further appeal to His Excellency's power would have been authorized by principles of public law, accordant with the usage existing between the Adjoining governments of the United States, and dominions of His Britannic Majesty -- and especially warranted by the cir-
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cumstances of the case. This was an omission of form, which I could only excuse myself for endeavouring to reconcile with my duty, by considerations of respect for the authority of this government, on which I relied to render Such request unnecessary.
For the polite and condescending terms with which Sir Howard Douglas was pleased to accompany his former communication in regard to me personally I begged leave to express my most grateful and respectful acknowledg- ments .-- My business however in this province, I stated further in my note to M' Odell, was not of per- sonal, but public concern; and that in the line of duty that had been marked out for me, it behoved me to ascertain what assurance I could have of the countenance of Sir Howard Douglas. I explained my view of the extent of this question to be, so far as might be required for my progress in the execution of the office assigned me by the Governor of Maine, to inquire into the nature of complaints recently made by citizens of Maine resid- ing near the frontier of aggressions committed by inhabi- tants of New Brunswick. I particularly expressed my wish it might be understood, that I was authorized by you, if an opportunity should be afforded, to invite His Excellency, Sir Howard Douglas's assistance, in this inquiry, with a view of conducing to a mutual, impartial, and satisfactory result, and that I had reason to think that Some degree of expectation was cherished by you that such a course of proceeding would be acceptable to His Excellency.
I added, that it became more interesting for me to be informed of the line of conduct, that it might be imper- ative on me to pursue, in consequence of the general inti- mation from His Excellency to which I have adverted, in connection with circumstances also, to which I knew not how far it might be suitable for me to advert ;- which
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had been more immediately brought to my knowledge within a recent period ;- and which were further embar- rassed by the superadded difficulty of recognizing any right of interposition on the part of the State of Maine with the Executive Authority of His Majesty's Province of New Brunswick, under such views as might be adopted.
In reply to the inquiry which I respectfully solicited an opportunity to make, feeling precluded from any more direct communication with Sir Howard Douglas, I received a note from the Secretary of the Province, Mr Odell, that as he had no other instructions from His Excellency, other than those already communicated to me, he was not able to give me any answer, nor was he authorised to enter into any further correspondence on the subject .- -
I received this last and conclusive communication on monday the 17th instant, -and on the Same day I had the pleasure of seeing M' Barrell, who had arrived the evening but one before by the way of St. Johns, and whom I lost the opportunity of seeing on Sunday by being at Oromocto. I was exceedingly gratified by the privilege thus presented through your introduction to renew an early acquaintance on my part with Mr Barrel, and it is a very high satisfaction that he comes recom- mended by the President of the United States to seek the information so important to us, and to the councils of the federal government as it regards, the constitu- tional guarantee to each State in the union of an inde- pendent republican government, and of the integrity of its territory against invasion.
As you were pleased to express an opinion that my distinct agency is not intended to be superceded ; but on the contrary to signify your determination, that I should proceed to the end of my original destination, so as to
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leave no occasion to repeat my visit to this section; and at the same time invite me to avail myself of the essential advantage, that may be afforded by the valuable sanction of Mr Barrell's federal agency and personal in- fluence, I beg to assure your Excellency of my most cordial cooperation, and that he shall receive that friendly and respectful consideration from me, to which he is every way entitled. And while I shall faithfully indeavour to redeem your Excellency's promise to him of every assistance in my power to diminish the fatigue of his arduous office, I have already followed your Excel- lency's example, as well as directions, in free communi- cation with him, and shall proceed in that spirit of per- fect confidence which you enjoin and in pursuance of those principles, which you have impressed, to act with this gentlemen, as a friend, in the most open, frank and unreserved manner, in relation to the rights and senti- ments of Maine.
It was not until monday, the 17th instant, that I received your Excellency's different letters, dated 19th November, enclosing a copy of a letter from His Excel- lency the Governor of Massachusetts, - - 26th November, acknowledging the receipt of my letter to you from Lubec,- and 3ª of December containing a copy of Mr Clay's letter to you of the 27th November .- -
In your letter of the 26th November, you stated and enforced the propriety of representing to the govern- ment of New Brunswick those independent rights of Maine as to territory and jurisdiction, of which it has been intended to deprive it. You observed it should be distinctly understood that the State holds its right to jurisdiction especially, as only restrained by the limited and concurrent authority which the federal constitution has conferred on the government of the United States within their acknowledged limits. You remark, that
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this is a point involving by possibility serious results, and considering that the occasion only requires the reit- eration of sentiment, which, you are pleased to accom- pany with the obliging remark, is repeated with the single view, of meeting in regard to me, a certain degree of responsibility, you omit to extend the observation. I understood your Excellency to be desirous, that I should not leave New Brunswick without presenting to the government of this Province the views entertained by our State in regard to the rights in question; and that you wished me to exhibit those views at large in conformity to the facts I might ascertain and the same principles I presume, to which you have solicited the attention of the Government of the United States- This, you consider will preclude all future pretense of acquiescence in the foreign occupation or exercise of jurisdiction by which it is to be feared that the wrongs which are growing may be expected to ripen into right. The neighbouring government, you say, can never com- plain of the want of frankness although we shall with- out discussion simply declare, that while the State of Maine will without doubt be anxious to maintain a friendly communication, it will probably be obliged to refuse its acquiescence in any measures interfering with with its own territorial rights, or the personal. Liberty of its citizens.
The object of my attempt to make a representation of the injury lately done to the State of Maine, and to ask for the relief and atonement required by the uni- versal principles of common justice and the general rules of public law having failed, I proceeded immediately to relate the occasion and to record the result, in the only mode that was open to me, namely, that of a memorial of the circumstances; and I endeavoured to fulfil the duty enjoined upon me by your instructions according to
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the limited means in my power. I viewed it as proper to accompany it with a remonstrance against the exorbi- tant pretension set up on the part of the Province of New Brunswick to a large proportion of the State of Maine, which I know not by what strange means has latterly acquired the title of disputed territory ; against the unauthorized assumption also of terming it and treating it as a subject of negotiation between the Gov- ernments of Great Britain and the United States; and against the extraordinary extension of a foreign juris- diction over the unquestionable territory of an independ- ent State.
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