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Atlantic Ocean. James' River and Roanoke, and of their tributary streams, is more than one half of the whole extent of the line. And of those four rivers, the three first named empty themselves into the Atlantic Ocean, through the bay of Chesapeake; and the Roanoke, through an inland bay, known by the name of Albemarle Sound, which has no communication with the sea, but through three narrow and shallow passes. It cannot therefore be doubted that in this instance, by rivers which fall into the Atlantic Ocean, those are meant which fall into its bays or inlets, as well as those which fall directly into the main ocean.

The following provision is found in the preliminary articles between France and Great Britain, of the 20th January 1783, and was acceded to by the United States: (k) "That such vessels and effects as should be taken in the channel and in the north seas, after the space of twelve days, to he computed from the ratification of the said preliminary articles, should be restored on all sides. That the term should be one month from the channel and the north seas, as far as the Canary Islands inclusively, whether in the Ocean or in the Mediterranean; two months from the said Canary Islands as far as the Equinoctial line or Equator; and lastly, five months in all other parts of the world, without any exception, or any other more particular description of time or place."

In this instance the term "North Seas" must have been understood to include the Baltic: but, as a distinct term for the limitation of captures was assigned to the channel and the north seas, it was necessary to distinguish. both by their special names; and no inference can thence be drawn, whether they were, or were not, understood to be distinct seas from the Atlantic Ocean.

As the same term is assigned for the Ocean and the Mediterranean, their being distinctly specified by their respective names proves, that they are there considered as distinct seas. But the term "Ocean," which, in reference to the coast of America, can only mean the Atlantic Ocean, is there made to comprehend all its other inlets and bays, without even excepting the Gulf of Mexico; since it was not deemed necessary to enumerate any of them specially.

Similar terms of limitation had in the negotiations at Ghent been, in the first instance, proposed by the American, and in substance agreed to by the British Plenipotentiaries. (7) To these the American Ministers proposed afterwards the following alteration: (m)

"The term to be fifteen days in the channel, in the north seas, in all parts of the Atlantic Ocean to the equinoctial line or equator, and in all parts of the MediterraneTwo months in the Atlantic Ocean, to the latitude of the Cape of Good Hope, and three months in all other parts of the world."

an.

In this, as in the former instance, the words "Atlantic Ocean" clearly embrace all its American inlets and bays, without excepting the Gulf of Mexico. In the alteration proposed to this by the British Plenipotentiaries, and which will be analyzed in a subsequent part of this Statement, the term "Atlantic Ocean" embraces the Gulf of St. Lawrence, but is distinguished from "the Gulf of Mexico and all parts of the West Indies."

The provisions finally adopted in the treaty of Ghent throw no further light on the subject, on account of the terms in which they are expressed.

A still more conclusive argument was offered in the First American Statement, which has been anticipated in that of Great Britain. It is in order to weaken its force, that, at the same time that it is suggested in the British Statement, that all bays and gulfs

(k) Written Evidence, No. 9 (a)
(1) Written Evidence, No. 46.
(m) Written Evidence, No. 46.

nel" has also been used as including both the "Manche" or British and the Irish Atlantic Ocean. Channel.

Long usage has consecrated those expressions; and it will therefore be admitted, that although geographers, in their great divisions of the Ocean, consider those several seas as parts of the Atlantic Ocean, they are generally, in common language, taken as distinct; so as to render it doubtful whether the term "Atlantic Ocean," used by itself in a public document, could be properly understood to include those inland seas. But it may be confidently asserted, that in common language, as well as in its geographical-acceptation, the term "Atlantic Ocean," when used alone, and its meaning is not restrained by some other expressions, has ever been held to embrace all the inlets, bays, and gulfs of the American coast; or, that if there has ever been any exception, it is solely that of the Gulf of Mexico.

Thus Governor Pownall, when speaking generally of the Atlantic Ocean, considers it as embracing even the Gulf of Mexico. "We know from observation how much higher the Atlantic Ocean is than the Pacific; and how it is piled up against the American coast on the western shore of the Gulf of Mexico, driven thither by the trade winds," &c.

Mr. Bouchette, Surveyor General of Lower Canada, in his topographical description of that province, (i) speaks of "the vast collections of fresh waters forming the chain of lakes, that, through the channel of the St. Lawrence, descend like another sea, to swell the bosom of the Atlantic." And again, "the River St. Lawrence receives nearly all the rivers that have their sources in the extensive range of mountains to the northwards, called the Land's Height, that separates the waters falling into Hudson's Bay, still further to the north, from those that descend into the Atlantic."

In this last instance, the term "Atlantic" embraces both the River and Gulf of St. Lawrence. In the first, as the channel of the St. Lawrence can mean nothing but the River St. Lawrence, which empties itself into the gulf of the same name, that gulf is there again identified with the Atlantic.

In another place he says, "Beyond this range, at about fifty miles distance, is the ridge generally denominated the Land's Height, dividing the waters that fall into the St. Lawrence from those taking a direction towards the Atlantic Ocean. This chain commences upon the eastern branch of the Connecticut river, takes a north-easterly course, and terminates near Cape Rosier, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence." As the ridge there described commences on Connecticut River and terminates at Cape Rosier, the waters divided by that ridge from those that fall into the River St. Lawrence, embrace the rivers that empty themselves both into the Bay of Fundy and into the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

It is declared, in the Proclamation of 1763, to be the royal will, that no Governor of the colonies of Quebec, East Florida or West Florida should presume to grant lands beyond the bounds of their respective governments; "as also that no Governor or Commander in Chief of our other colonies or plantations in America, do presume, for the present, and until our further pleasure be known, to grant any warrant of survey or pass patents, for any lands beyond the head or sources of any of the rivers which fall into the Atlantic Ocean from the west or north-west."

Those other colonies, lying between those of Quebec and East Florida, extended along that line of demarcation beyond which it was forbidden to grant lands, from the north-easternmost sources of the River Susquehanna which lie north of the 42d degree, to those of the Altamaha River in 33 degrees of north latitude.

The space occupied along that line by the sources of the Susquehanna, Potomac,

(i) Written Evidence, No. 43.

Atlantic Ocean. James' River and Roanoke, and of their tributary streams, is more than one half of the whole extent of the line. And of those four rivers, the three first named empty themselves into the Atlantic Ocean, through the bay of Chesapeake; and the Roanoke, through an inland bay, known by the name of Albemarle Sound, which has no communication with the sea, but through three narrow and shallow passes. It cannot therefore be doubted that in this instance, by rivers which fall into the Atlantic Ocean, those are meant which fall into its bays or inlets, as well as those which fall directly into the main ocean.

The following provision is found in the preliminary articles between France and Great Britain, of the 20th January 1783, and was acceded to by the United States: (k) "That such vessels and effects as should be taken in the channel and in the north seas, after the space of twelve days, to be computed from the ratification of the said preliminary articles, should be restored on all sides. That the term should be one month from the channel and the north seas, as far as the Canary Islands inclusively, whether in the Ocean or in the Mediterranean; two months from the said Canary Islands as far as the Equinoctial line or Equator; and lastly, five months in all other parts of the world, without any exception, or any other more particular description of time or place."

In this instance the term "North Seas" must have been understood to include the Baltic: but, as a distinct term for the limitation of captures was assigned to the channel and the north seas, it was necessary to distinguish both by their special names; and no inference can thence be drawn, whether they were, or were not, understood to be distinct seas from the Atlantic Ocean..

As the same term is assigned for the Ocean and the Mediterranean, their being distinctly specified by their respective names proves, that they are there considered as distinct seas. But the term "Ocean," which, in reference to the coast of America, can only mean the Atlantic Ocean, is there made to comprehend all its other inlets and bays, without even excepting the Gulf of Mexico; since it was not deemed necessary to enumerate any of them specially.

Similar terms of limitation had in the negotiations at Ghent been, in the first instance, proposed by the American, and in substance agreed to by the British Plenipotentiaries. () To these the American Ministers proposed afterwards the following alteration: (m)

"The term to be fifteen days in the channel, in the north seas, in all parts of the Atlantic Ocean to the equinoctial line or equator, and in all parts of the Mediterranean. Two months in the Atlantic Ocean, to the latitude of the Cape of Good Hope, and three months in all other parts of the world."

In this, as in the former instance, the words "Atlantic Ocean" clearly embrace all its American inlets and bays, without excepting the Gulf of Mexico. In the alteration proposed to this by the British Plenipotentiaries, and which will be analyzed in a subsequent part of this Statement, the term "Atlantic Ocean" embraces the Gulf of St. Lawrence, but is distinguished from "the Gulf of Mexico and all parts of the West Indies."

The provisions finally adopted in the treaty of Ghent throw no further light on the subject, on account of the terms in which they are expressed.

A still more conclusive argument was offered in the First American Statement, which has been anticipated in that of Great Britain. It is in order to weaken its force, that, at the same time that it is suggested in the British Statement, that all bays and gulfs

(k) Written Evidence, No. 9 (a)
(1) Written Evidence, No. 46..
(m) Written Evidence, No. 46.

must be taken as so distinct from the seas and oceans, with which they are respective- Asantic Ocean. ly connected, as to convert the generic term "Atlantic Ocean" into a mere specific designation, embracing neither of the inlets, bays, nor gulfs connected with it; an exception is attempted to be made, with respect to what is called another class of bays.. These are stated to be "merely the expansions of the mouths of rivers, of which they bear the name," and to be "regarded in no other light than as portions of the rivers themselves."

As the Sagadahoc Bay and the Penobscot Bay, through which the rivers Kennebec and Penobscot empty themselves into the Atlantic, are specified by their names in Mitchell's Map, it was felt that, unless such an exception could be made, the conclusion was unavoidable, that, if the Bay of Fundy and the Gulf of St. Lawrence must be considered as distinct from the Atlantic Ocean for all the purposes of the treaty, there was no river which could, under that instrument, be considered as falling into that Ocean.

But there is no foundation for the distinction. The names of "bay" and " "gulf" have been indiscriminately given every where to inlets differing as much in character as in size. The appellation of gulf is equally given to that of Lyons and to that of Finland, though of an entirely different character: of two inlets of the same character, one is called Hudson's Bay, and the other Gulf of St. Lawrence: and all that portion of the River St. Lawrence which extends from the mouth of the Sagueny to Cape Rosiers, might have been distinguished by the appellation of "Bay," with as much propriety, as what is called "Bay of Delaware." The name of "Bay" has in fact been given to inlets of every size and description. In Mitchell's Map various bays are designated, (Casco Bay, Well's Bay, &c.) smaller than that of Penobscot, and which do not bear the name of any rivers emptying into them.

If there was any foundation for the broad assertion, that the term "Atlantic Ocean” does not in general embrace the Bays and Gulfs connected with that Ocean, it would rest solely on the fact, that such Gulfs and Bays are known by distinct names: and that fact is as true of the Sagadahoc and Penobscot Bays, as of the bay of Fundy or of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. If those Bays which are described in the British Statement, as the expansions of the mouths of rivers, can be regarded in no other light than as portions of the rivers themselves, those Bays also, which, like that of Fundy, are merely contractions of the Ocean, must necessarily be regarded only as portions of the Ocean itself.

Nor can the Penobscot Bay be at all considered as an expansion of the river of that name. That river discharges itself into the Bay in the same manner as the River St. Croix falls into the Bay of Passamaquoddy, which last bay is, by both Governments, held, not as an expansion of the River St. Croix, but as a part of the Bay of Fundy. (n) Both bays are formed by a number of islands, and they are not, as the Delaware may be considered, a continuation of the rivers which fall into them.

It cannot, at all events, be denied, that Long Island Sound, through which Connecticut River empties itself into the Atlantic Ocean, is a large inlet of the Atlantic, of as distinct and marked character as the Bay of Fundy; nor that the River Connecticut is, as much as the Penobscot and the Kennebec, one of the rivers described in the treaty as falling into the Atlantic Ocean, which are to be divided from the rivers falling into the St. Lawrence; since the boundary line extends along the dividing Highlands, as far as the North-westernmost source of that river.

The argument remains unshaken, that, (with the exception of such Bay or Gulf, as may be excepted by virtue of some other provision of the treaty,) if the rivers which fall into the Atlantic Ocean through a gulf, bay, or inlet, known by a distinct name,

(n) Written Evidence, No. 1. Treaty of Ghent, Art. 4.

D

Atlantic Ocean. are not, in the clauses of the treaty in which such rivers are mentioned, to be held as "rivers falling into the Atlantic Ocean," there is not a single river, contemplated

Bay of Fundy.

by the treaty as such, to which the description applies.

Finally, it is only necessary to refer to the clause of the treaty of 1783, now under consideration, to be satisfied that its meaning admits of no doubt.

The words are: "The Highlands which divide those rivers that empty themselves into the River St. Lawrence, from those which fall into the Atlantic Occan."

In that sentence, not only the Atlantic Ocean is neither united with nor distinguished from the Bay of Fundy nor the Gulf of St. Lawrence, but it is expressly distinguished from the River St. Lawrence, and from that river alone. And this is the peremptory reason, why the "rivers that fall into the Atlantic Occan" must, in that clause, be necessarily understood to embrace all the rivers which fall into any of the inlets of that ocean, with the sole exception of those which empty themselves into the River St Lawrence, and from which they are to be divided.

23.

OBJECTION DERIVED FROM THE DESIGNATION OF THE BAY OF FUNDY, AS DISTINCT
FROM THE ATLANTIC OCEAN.

In that clause of the treaty which has heretofore been considered, the rivers which fall into the Atlantic Ocean are distinguished only from those which empty themselves into the River St. Lawrence. But, in another sentence of the same article, and in reference to another part of the boundary, the Bay of Fundy is twice designated by its specific name, and once, as contradistinguished from the Atlantic Ocean. It is thence inferred, in the British Statement, that those terms, "Bay of Fundy" and "Atlantic Ocean," "being taken as distinct and separate, the one from the other, in one part, (of the treaty,) they must surely be equally so considered in every other part; for it would be contrary to all reason and consistency, to assign one meaning to a term. in one clause, and a different meaning to the same term in another clause of the same instrument."

This sweeping inference, in support of which not a single argument or authority has been adduced, is altogether denied by the United States. They contend, that it would be equally contrary to reason and common usage, to assign the same meaning to a term in one clause, which it may have in another clause of the same instrument, when it appears from the general tenor of the two clauses, and the expressions used in each respectively, that the term, in one is restrained by those expressions, and has, therefore, a narrower signification; whilst, in the other, it is used in a more general sense, or is restrained in a different manner.

In one of the clauses of the treaty, the term "Atlantic Ocean" is contradistinguished from, and must, in construing that clause, be held as distinct from the Bay of Fundy. In another clause of the treaty, the same term is contradistinguished from the River St. Lawrence alone, and must, accordingly, in construing that clause, be held as distinct from that river alone, and not from the Bay of Fundy, nor from any of the other inlets, which, in its general sense and common acceptation, are part of the Atlantic Ocean.

This is perfectly consistent with the appropriate rules of language, by which every instrument must be construed. But as it is obvious that the objection, on the part of Great Britain, rests exclusively on the inference thus attempted to be drawn, we will now proceed to establish the correctness of our own construction, by unexceptionable authorities, taken from British documents immediately connected with the subject.

1. The boundaries of the Grant to Sir H. Roswell and others, by Charles I., dated the 4th day of March, 1628, and commonly called "the Colony Charter," as quoted

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