she will abide. She will do nothing rashly, and indulge in no spirit of nullification; and it will not be until all hope of settling the vexed question by negotiation, and all requests for other aid are denied or neglected, that she will throw herself entirely upon her own resources, and maintain unaided and alone, her just rights in the determined spirit of injured freemen. But those rights must be vindicated and maintained; and if all appeals for aid and protection are in vain, and her constitutional rights are disregarded, forbearance may cease to be a virtue— and, in the language of the lamented Lincoln, Maine may 'be compelled to deliberate on an alternative which will test the strictness of her principles, and the firmness of her temper. 999

Such is the language of the chief magistrate of that injured state; and it shows that the spell which for a period bound them in silence, has been broken. Maine is now alive to this subject; she intends that her voice shall be heard. And why should not Massachusetts speak out? We have a pecuniary interest in this question, as great as our first-born. We are joint-heirs with our offspring in this heritage; and not only self-interest, but parental solicitude should prompt us to action, and induce us to urge this subject upon the consideration of the federal government. To them belongs the right of adjusting this difficulty. And they owe it to their own character-to the honor of the nation, and the interest of two independent states, over which they bear rule, and whose rightful guardians in this respect they are, to press this subject upon the consideration of Great Britain.

But if the general government will remain silent, or by repeated concessions, will strengthen the claims of a foreign government, it becomes Massachusetts so far to take

this subject into her own hands, as to proclaim the grievances of an injured people in the ears of the nation. This Legislature owe it to themselves, to the honor of the Commonwealth, and to the interest of their constituents, to call public attention to the merits of this controversy. Entertaining these views, the committee will endeavor to spread before the Legislature the facts in relation to this controversy, that they may be able to decide upon the merits of our claim.

That this controverted question may be the better understood by the Legislature, two official maps are appended to this Report. The first is known by the name of Mitchell's map, and is allowed by both governments to have been before the commissioners of the two nations, at their public interviews during the pendency of the treaty of 1783. It represents the topography of the country, as it was understood by the high contracting parties at that time. The second is designated map A., and contains a just delineation of the water courses, and of the boundary lines as they are now contended for by the two nations. These maps differ in several respects from each other; but they are both official documents, agreed upon by the Convention of September, 1827, and accredited by the respective parties,-the latter as containing a delineation of the actual topography of the country, and the former of the topography as it was understood by the framers of the treaty of 1783.

It will be seen by map A., which is submitted as a part of this Report, that the line, as described by the treaty and claimed by the United States, extends north from the monument at the source of the St. Croix, across the St. John's to the highlands, near the forty-eighth degree north latitude, and thence along those highlands to the head of Connecticut river;—and that the line as claimed

Monts, all the country in North America between the fortieth and forty-sixth degrees of north latitude by the name of Acadie. De Monts and his followers commenced a settlement on this grant, but were dislodged by the British in 1613.-In 1621, James I. of England granted to Sir William Alexander all the lands of the continent now known by the names of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and a part of Lower Canada. The western boundary of this grant is described as commencing at Cape Sable crossing the bay of Fundy "to the river Holy Cross or St. Croix, and to the furthest source or spring upon the western branch of the same; thence by an imaginary direct line, to be drawn or run through the country, or over the land to the north, to the first bay, river or spring emptying itself into the great river of Canada; and from thence running to the east along the shores of the said river of Canada."

rence.

The territory included in this grant, was bounded on the west by the St. Croix, and a line drawn north from its source to the great river of Canada or the St. LawNova Scotia, for this was the name given to the grant to Sir William, was bounded on the north by the St. Lawrence; and this boundary continued until 1763. From 1621 to 1763 Nova Scotia or Acadie was alternately possessed by England and France, and knew no other northern boundary than the St. Lawrence.

In 1691, by the charter of William and Mary, the real province of Massachusetts Bay was created, consisting of the former provinces of Massachusetts Bay, New Plymouth, Nova Scotia, District of Maine, and all the land to the great river of Canada or the St. Lawrence. Massachusetts exercised some jurisdiction over Nova Scotia, appointed some civil and other officers, but owing to the

extent of her territory and other causes, she in a few years gave it up, and the British Government made it a separate province.

We have already said, that from the grant in 1621 to 1763, Nova Scotia was bounded north by the St. Lawrence. Though this province had been the subject of grants, of conquests, and cessions, the British government always recognized this river as the northern boundary, never extending their claim beyond, and never stopping short of it. In 1763, by the treaty of Paris, France ceded both Nova Scotia and Canada to Great Britain in full sovereignty.

When both these provinces became the property of Great Britain, she thought proper to erect the northern part of Nova Scotia and a part of Canada into a separate government by the name of Quebec. The king by his proclamation bearing date October 7, 1763, established this government, and bounded it as follows:-"On the Labrador coast by the river St. John, and from thence by a line drawn from the head of that river, through lake St. John, to the south end of lake Nipissim, from whence the said line crossing the river St. Lawrence, and the lake Champlain in forty-five degrees of north latitude, passing along the highlands which divide the rivers that empty themselves into the said river St. Lawrence from those which fall into the sea, and also along the north coast of the bay des Chaleurs, and the coast of the gulf of St. Lawrence to cape Rosiers, and from thence crossing the mouth of the river St. Lawrence, by the west end of the island Anticosti, terminates at the aforesaid river St. John."*

* This river falls into the gulf of St. Lawrence, and must not be confounded with one of the same name which falls into the sea through the bay of Fundy.

3

From this description we may easily learn the southern boundary of Quebec, the only boundary which relates to the question before us. On leaving the forty-fifth degree of latitude it passes along-not the highlands generally, but the highlands specially-"the highlands which divide the rivers that empty themselves into the St. Lawrence from those that fall into the sea." Here we have a definition of the highlands-they are the highlands which divide the rivers which run in opposite directions-into the St. Lawrence on the one side, and the sea on the other. But this is not all this line or rather its location is further described-it passes along the north coast of the bay of Chaleurs. By a recurrence to the subjoined maps, it will be seen, that such a line must run north of the forty-eighth degree of north latitude. Prior to the erection of the government of Quebec, Nova Scotia extended north to the river St. Lawrence; but the proclamation varied this boundary, by transferring it from the river to the source of the streams that flow into it ;-leaving the Metis, the Rimousky, the Green, and several other rivers on the north, and the waters of the Androscoggin, the Kennebec, the Penobscot, the St. John, and the Ristigouche on the south.

The boundary thus established in creating the province of Quebec, has often been recognized by the acts of the crown and the parliament. In 1763 Montague Wilmot was appointed governor of Nova Scotia, with a commission describing his territory as follows:-"Bounded on the westward by a line drawn from cape Sable across the entrance of the bay of Fundy to the mouth of the river St. Croix, by the said river to its source, and by a line drawn north from thence to the southern boundary of our colony of Quebec; to the northward by said boundary, as