These rash words, spoken in Washington on the 3rd, reached. England on the 26th of March. They brought the two great transatlantic countries to the verge of war. The Times immediately declared that "Oregon will never be wrested from the British Crown, to which it belongs, but by war." Aberdeen in the Lords, Peel in the Commons, repeated the same language. "I can only say that we possess rights which in our opinion are clear and unquestionable; and by the blessing of God, and with your support, these rights we are fully prepared to maintain."

Fortunately, however, for humanity, neither England nor America was prepared to commit the grave crime of fighting about a territory still inhabited by only a handful of people. The words which the President had uttered were, it was recollected, spoken before the formation of his Cabinet. Buchanan, whom he appointed Secretary of State in succession to Calhoun, showed no disposition to imitate his chief's example. With the President's authority, the negotiation which had been temporarily interrupted was renewed, and the American Government suggested that the 49th parallel should be made the frontier line from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific, but that any ports south of that line on Vancouver Island which Great Britain might select should be free to British subjects. Unfortunately, Pakenham refused the American proposal, and the American Government, annoyed at its unceremonious rejection, at once withdrew it.5 Still more unfortunately, the President, in December 1845, declared that, compromise having failed, the time had arrived. for terminating the Convention which sanctioned the joint. occupation of the disputed territory; and the British Ministry formally decided on increasing the army and navy estimates. Both Governments were drifting on currents which threatened to bear them into collision with each other.

4

1 Times, 28th of March 1845.

2 The words are Aberdeen's, Hansard, vol. lxxix. p. 124; but Peel used similar language, ibid., p. 199. War seemed so likely that Williams, a Radical member, forbore from moving a reduction n the army estimates.

Ibid., p. 210. Ibid., p. 110. 6 Ibid., p. 134.

For the moment the question of peace or war rested with the United States. The Senate passed a resolution in April 1846, authorising the President to give the necessary notice at his discretion for the termination of the Convention of 1827. But, in doing so, it avowed a hope that "the attention of the Governments of both countries may be the more earnestly and immediately directed to renewed efforts for the amicable settlement of all their differences and disputes in respect to the said territory." The House of Representatives, however, in accepting the resolution, struck out this paragraph, substituted a less friendly one, and made it obligatory, instead of discretionary, on the President to give notice of the termination of the Convention. Fortunately, both Houses agreed to refer the matter to a joint committee, which adopted words acceptable to both. The discretion of the President was restored; and both Houses consented to hope that "the attention of the Governments of both countries may be more earnestly directed to the adoption of all proper measures for the speedy and amicable adjustment of the difficulties and disputes relating to the said territory." 1

The attitude of Senate and Representatives, however, would not of itself have ensured a conclusion of the dispute. An arrangement was secured by the wise forbearance of Aberdeen. He had the good sense to see that the friendship of the United States was worth more to England than a few hundred square miles of unsettled territory; and he drew up some distinct provisions for settling the question which he offered to incorporate in a treaty. These provisions made the 49th parallel the boundary-line between the two countries on the mainland, but they reserved the whole of Vancouver Island for the Crown of Britain, and they made the navigation of the Columbia free to the subjects of both countries. The American Government accepted this offer, and the difficulty, which had been a source of danger for thirty years, was in this way removed.

1 The House of Representatives wished the paragraph to run, "that the attention of the Government may be the more earnestly directed to the importance of a speedy adjustment of all the differences and disputes in respect of the said territory." Ann. Reg., 1846, Hist. p. 325.

There is a roundness and completeness about the acts of the Peel Ministry which must strike the most superficial critic. The domestic policy of the five years during which it endured forms a complete and continuous chapter. Its foreign policy is similarly complete. News that the United States had accepted the British conditions reached England on the very day on which the ministry announced its retirement; and Aberdeen had the satisfaction of stating the termination of the controversy immediately before Wellington rose to communicate the fall of the Administration.1

France.

If the arrangement of this dispute had been the only advantage which this country owed to Aberdeen, his administration of the Foreign Office should have been remembered with gratitude. In another quarter, however, he rendered equal service. In 1841 France was angry at the check which she had received from Palmerston in the East.2 If Melbourne had remained in office a good understanding between French and English would have been almost impossible. A change of ministers in both countries happily enabled differences to be arranged. Guizot was a warm admirer of Peel, and Peel's most illustrious lieutenant had a sincere respect for France. "Il y avait," wrote Guizot, "entre les deux ministères, des causes de sympathie plus profondes que les bons rapports personnels; Sir Robert Peel et ses collégues étaient des conservateurs devenus libéraux, nous étions des libéraux qui devenaient conservateurs." 3 "Moi, j'ai une ancienne idée politique bien simple, mais bien arrêtée," said Wellington to the French Minister in London; "c'est qu'on ne peut rien faire dans le monde pacifiquement qu'avec la France."4

The better understanding which was thus promoted by the ministers was confirmed by a visit which the queen paid to France in September 1843. Louis Philippe, after a reign of thirteen years, was still treated as a "parvenu" by Nicholas

1 Hansard, vol. lxxxvii. p. 1037.

"Le Traité du 15 Juillet et notre échec dans la question d'Egypte avaient réveillé en France les vieux sentiments de méfiance et d'hostilité contre l'Angleterre." Guizot, vol. vi. p. 156. 3 Ibid., p. 146.

Ibid., vol. v. p. 268; and cf. a similar declaration in vol. vi. p. 103.

of Russia1 The King of the French, therefore, derived real advantages from a friendly visit of "the most powerful sovereign in Europe."2 Guizot and Aberdeen seized the opportunity to talk over everything which concerned the two countries. Thenceforward they were not merely friends, they were colleagues. Palmerston had approached every crisis with a desire to win a fresh diplomatic victory; Guizot and Aberdeen were always actuated by a wish to preserve the good understanding which they had happily established.3

The Tahiti

Never was understanding more opportune. While Guizot and Aberdeen were discussing affairs at Château d'Eu, events were in progress in another hemisphere, which, incident. under different guidance, might have produced war between France and England. At the end of 1839 France had decided to acquire some island in the Southern Hemisphere, suitable as a naval station for its vessels and a penal settlement for its convicts. A French officer, Dupetit Thouars, who had recently returned from a long expeditionary voyage in a French frigate, recommended the Marquesas Islands for the purpose. The French Government adopted the recommendation, promoted Thouars, and sent him in August 1841, in the Reine Blanche, to take possession of them in the name of France.

The Reine Blanche reached the Marquesas Islands in the spring of 1842. Dupetit Thouars took possession of them, received the submission of the chiefs, and, leaving a small garrison upon their shores and a corvette in the roads, sailed away, his instructions fulfilled and his mission completed. Thouars, however, was one of those officers who are not satisfied with literal obedience to their orders. South-west of the Marquesas Islands are the Society Islands, among which Tahiti is regarded as the "pearl of the archipelago" and the (6 queen of the Southern Seas." Without instructions from his Government, Thouars took upon himself to deal with Tahiti. 1 He refused to address him as his brother (Guizot, vol. vi. p. 335), or to send an ambassador to the Court of France. See Mr. H. Reeve's article on

Ambassadors, Encyclopædia Britannica, 9th edition.

2 The expression is the Prince Consort's; see Sir T. Martin's Life, vol. i. p. 182. 3" Rien ne gâte plus les grandes affaires que les petites querelles," was Guizot's wise axiom. Guizot, vol. vii. p. 441.

Thouars

Pomare.

Tahiti, like the Marquesas Islands, was nominally independent. But its queen, Pomare, was under the influence of some English missionaries. The chief of these, Pritchard, a few years before, had received a com- and Queen mission as consul from Palmerston. On several occasions, at Pritchard's instigation, Pomare had driven French Roman Catholic missionaries from her shores. Thouars himself, four years before, had forced Pomare to pay two of these missionaries an indemnity of 2000 piastres. Since this occurred, however, several French vessels, touching at Tahiti, had encountered what Guizot called "un mauvais vouloir vexatoire." What could be more natural than that a zealous French officer should touch at Tahiti, renew his remonstrances, and insist on a fresh indemnity?

Poor Pomare, pressed with this demand in 1842, had nowhere to turn for help. Pritchard happened to be away, and she was called on to pay 10,coo piastres in twenty-four hours, or to submit to the occupation of her kingdom. "Since we cannot govern by ourselves in the present state of things," so she pathetically wrote, "without risking the loss of our islands, our liberty, and our authority, we invite the King of the French to take us under his protection." Thouars at once accepted, in the name of Louis Philippe, the offer which Pomare thus made. He arranged for the appointment of a provisional government, composed of the French consul and two lieutenants of the Reine Blanche, and for the hoisting of the French colours above the standard of Tahiti.1

Thouars' action

ratified.

In ratifying Thouars' unauthorised proceedings, Guizot was at pains to assure the British Government that France would protect the Protestant missionaries and respect religious freedom; and, in the course of a debate on a proposal for an extraordinary credit of about £240,000 for the support of the French establishments in the Pacific, he went out of his way to pay a very high compliment to the English missionaries. Aberdeen, satisfied with the assurances that he received, told the Admiralty officially, 1 Guizot's Mémoires, vol. vii. pp. 43-50. State Papers, vol. xxxi. p. 937-945