364

The North-west frontier, and Oregon [1783-1818

were permanent and could not be revoked, the treaty was permanent and could not be abrogated by a declaration of war. Lord Bathurst denied this. He knew of no exception to the rule that every treaty is abrogated by war between the parties. Whatever in the Treaty of Ghent was described as a right, e.g. the right to catch fish on the Banks of Newfoundland, was, like the acknowledgment of independence, irrevocable. But whatever was described as a liberty, e.g. the liberty to dry and cure fish on certain unsettled shores, was a concession granted by the treaty and perished with the treaty.

While negotiations dragged on, the fishing seasons of 1816 and 1817 came and went; and during each of them American fishermen were warned, seized, or driven from the forbidden waters by British ships of war. Matters had now come to such a pass that something must be done; and accordingly, in 1818, the American Minister proposed the immediate negotiation of a treaty for the settlement of the fisheries' dispute and other grievances of long standing. Among these were the northern boundary from the Lake of the Woods to the Pacific Ocean; and the respective claims of the two Powers to the Oregon country, which lay between the Rocky Mountains and the sea.

The treaty of 1783 had defined the extreme north-western boundary of the United States as a line running due west from the most northwesterly point of the Lake of the Woods to the Mississippi river, then supposed to rise in British America. To draw such a line was impossible; and by 1794 this fact had been so well established that the treaty then made with Great Britain promised a joint survey of the upper Mississippi, and the determination, if necessary, of a new line from the Lake of the Woods. But the survey was not made; and when, in 1803, Rufus King concluded a convention, it was stipulated that the boundary should be the shortest line from the Lake of the Woods to the river. But the convention was never ratified, and the boundary was still unsettled when Louisiana was purchased; when the possessions of the United States in the North-west were expanded to the Rocky Mountains; and when the Mississippi, as a boundary, disappeared. The next treaty was negotiated in 1806, and the 49th parallel of north latitude was accepted as the boundary from the Lake of the Woods westward "as far as the respective territories of the parties extend on that quarter." This treaty Jefferson refused to send to the Senate; so the boundary was still undetermined when the peace commissioners met at Ghent, and left the question where they found it.

Beyond the mountains lay the Oregon country, to which both Great Britain and the United States laid claim. The discovery and naming of the Columbia river by Captain Gray (1792); the exploration of the Columbia and its tributaries by Lewis and Clark (1804-6); the erection near the mouth of the river of the fur-trading port of Astoria (1812) such were the grounds for the pretensions of the United States

1818-9] Treaty with Great Britain.-Spanish delays 365

to ownership and absolute jurisdiction, grounds which may be briefly stated as those of discovery, exploration, and settlement. Great Britain denied the claim of the United States to absolute jurisdiction, founding her pretensions on the discovery of Nootka Sound by Captain Cook (1778); the building of a small vessel in a harbour in the Sound in 1788; the fact that the persons who built the vessel resided in a hut on shore; the Nootka Sound Convention with Spain (1790); the discovery of the Frazer river by Sir Alexander Mackenzie (1792); and the establishment of a fur-trading post west of the Rocky Mountains (1806). She claimed the right of her subjects to navigate the waters of the Oregon country, to settle in it, and to trade freely with its inhabitants and occupiers; and she conceded the same rights and no others to the United States.

These disputes were shelved for a time by an arrangement made in 1818. As to the fisheries, it was agreed that citizens of the United States might for ever catch fish on certain parts of the coasts of Newfoundland and Labrador, and of the Magdalen Islands; and that American fishermen might for ever dry and cure fish on any of the unsettled bays, creeks, and harbours of certain parts of Newfoundland and Labrador; while the United States renounced for ever the claim of its citizens to take, dry, or cure fish within three miles of any other of the coasts, bays, creeks, or harbours of the British possessions in North America; and agreed that the fishermen of the United States should never enter any of these harbours, bays, and creeks for any other purpose than procuring water, buying wood, seeking shelter, or repairing their vessels. As to the northern boundary it was agreed that the line of demarcation between the British possessions in North America and the United States should be the 49th parallel of latitude, running from a point south of the Lake of the Woods to the summit of the Rocky Mountains; and that in the Oregon country, for ten years to come, the harbours, bays, and creeks, and the navigation of the rivers should be free and open to the vessels, citizens, and subjects of the two Powers. It was, in short, an agreement for joint occupancy, leaving undecided the claims of either party to absolute control of the country.

Trouble next arose with Spain over the delivery of the Floridas. Early in 1818, while the negotiations were still going on, Ferdinand of Spain granted to three Court favourites areas of land so extensive that it seemed likely that every foot of Florida, not already given away, had been alienated by the Crown. The King's intention seemed to be to deprive the United States of the ownership of the soil and to leave to that country nothing but the jurisdiction. Adams was determined to prevent this, and inserted in the treaty the words, "All grants made since the said 24th January, 1818, are hereby declared and agreed to be null and void." But when the treaty reached Madrid (in May, 1819), the King, on one pretext or another, put off the ratification. The six months' time-limit expired; and eight months elapsed before a minister appeared

366

The Spanish colonies

[1808-18

at Washington to make an explanation. Adams was then informed that such a scandalous system of piracy had been carried on from the ports of the United States against Spain and her possessions, and such a spirit of hostility displayed, that His Majesty could not, with due regard to his honour, ratify the treaty till assured that these things would stop. He demanded pledges that no more armaments should be fitted out in the ports of the United States; that no more expeditions should be allowed to go forth to attack the dominions of Spain in the New World; and that the United States should not recognise the independence of the so-called South American Republics. The refusal of Adams to commit the government to any line of conduct regarding the rebellious colonies of Spain afforded an excuse for so much further delay that the treaty was not put into force till late in February, 1821.

Meantime, the true cause of Spain's procrastination became manifest. After the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo and the entry of the Allies into Paris, the so-called Second Peace of Paris was signed by the representatives of the Four Allied Powers, Russia, Austria, Prussia, and Great Britain. On the same day (November 20, 1815) they signed a further agreement, based on the Chaumont Treaty of March 1, 1814, and upon the subsequent proceedings at Vienna. This Quadruple Alliance bound the Four Powers to exclude Napoleon for ever from the throne of France, to maintain the restored monarchy, to resist any attack on the army of occupation, and to meet at stated intervals in order to consult concerning the common interest and to take such measures as might best serve the peace and happiness of Europe. True to this pledge, the representatives of the Four Powers met at Aix-laChapelle in the autumn of 1818, and reviewed the events of the last three years. The Bourbon monarchy seemed so firmly established in France that the army of occupation was withdrawn. But in Spain matters had gone from bad to worse. During ten years her colonies in the New World had been in a state of revolt, first against Joseph Bonaparte, then against the Cortes of Cadiz, and, since the restoration of 1814, against the King. Every resource of the Crown had been used, and used in vain; and now that the last dollar had been drawn from the treasury, Ferdinand appealed to the Allies for help. They had restored him to his throne. Why not restore to him his colonies? Why not let the work of subjugation be done by Great Britain? But Great Britain was not at all inclined to destroy the lucrative trade she had built up with the Spanish colonies since 1808; and, as no aid could be had from her, the Russian government, through its active ambassador Tatistcheff, came to the relief of Ferdinand and placed at his disposal a fleet of warships. But, when the vessels reached Cadiz, not one of them was found to be in a fit ondition for crossing the Atlantic.

The expedition was put off (April, 1818); and six months afterwards Russia and France (the latter of whom had now been admitted into the Alliance of the Powers) brought the condition of affairs in Spanish

1818-21]

The revolution in Spain

367

America before the Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle. But Great Britain's commercial interests prevailed on this occasion over her general willingness at this time to fall in with the policy of the Continental Powers; and the Congress declined to interfere. Left to herself, Spain made one more attempt at subjugation, just at the time when the Boundary Treaty was concluded at Washington. Should the attempt to reconquer her South American and Mexican colonies succeed it would be unwise to part with the Floridas. Ratification was therefore delayed; an army was gathered at Cadiz; and preparations were made to send it to America. Ere it could go, however, yellow fever broke out; the troops went into camp; and, while there, were won over to the cause of constitutional government by the agents of a great conspiracy against the King. On January 1, 1820, the troops rose and declared for the Constitution of 1812. Rebellion now spread far and wide; and Ferdinand in alarm promised to assemble the Cortes. But his people distrusted him, and on March 9, 1820, forced him to take an oath to support the Constitution.

Tidings of the collapse of absolute monarchy in Spain were received in the United States with unconcealed delight. That the people should look with indifference on the gallant struggle for liberty going on at their very doors was impossible. They were deeply concerned, and, as time passed, grew convinced that something more than the independence of a few colonies was at stake; that Spain was quite as eager to stamp out republican ideas as to put down rebellion; that, rather than see her fall, Europe would aid her; and that, if they succeeded in South America, it was just possible that the United States, whose example was the cause of so much political unrest, might be the next republic to feel their vengeance. The rising in Spain was therefore hailed as a blow at European interference; and the cause of the Southern Republics became more popular than ever. It found no truer friend than Henry Clay, Speaker of the House of Representatives. That the Republics should be recognised by the United States was his earnest wish. Towards this the House of Representatives could do little; but that little it did in May, 1820, by the passage of a resolution that it was expedient to provide a suitable outfit and salary for such Ministers as the President might send to any of the governments of South America which had established and were maintaining their independence of Spain. President Monroe did. not act upon the resolution, for the treaty with Spain was still unratified; and he was determined to give Ferdinand no excuse for refusing to sign. But Clay was not to be turned from his purpose, and, in the next session of Congress, moved an appropriation for sending a Minister or Ministers to the South American Republics. When this was voted down, he moved a resolution expressing the sympathy of the people of the United States with the people of the Spanish provinces struggling for liberty and independence. By that time the Spanish treaty had been ratified by Ferdinand; the resolution could do no harm; and the House therefore passed it in 1821.

368

The Congress of Troppau

[1820-1

In Europe the struggle with liberalism was fast coming to a crisis. The revival of the Constitution of 1812 in Spain, in March, 1820, was followed by the enforced acceptance of a similar Constitution by the King of the Two Sicilies in July, 1820; and by the overthrow (in September) of the Regency in Portugal, the establishment of a Junta, and the election of a Cortes to frame a Constitution. Even France showed signs of revolt against absolutism, which so alarmed Louis XVIII that he called for a meeting of the Powers. In October, 1820, the Emperor of Austria, the Czar, the King of Prussia, an ambassador from Great Britain, and two envoys from France met in the little town of Troppau in Moravia. The British ambassador did nothing; the envoys of France were careful to take opposite sides, and so committed their country to nothing. But the three Eastern Powers called on the people of Naples to abandon their Constitution or fight, and framed a circular, a copy of which was sent to every Court in Europe. The events of March and July, said the circular, had produced a feeling of disquiet and alarm, and a desire to unite and save Europe from the evils ready to burst upon her. That this feeling should be strongest with governments which had lately conquered the Revolution, and now saw it again appearing triumphant was no more than natural. The Allied Powers had, therefore, decided to take common measures of precaution, and restrain such States as, having overthrown legitimate governments, were seeking to introduce their disorders and insurrections into others.

The decision to apply armed intervention having been reached, it was resolved to apply the new doctrine at once to Naples. The King was summoned to meet the Allies at Laybach in January, 1821. Thither, accordingly, the old King went, leaving his son to act as Regent, only to be told that unless the deeds of July were at once undone an Austrian army would occupy Naples. When these things were known at Naples, the Parliament assembled, and, considering the King to be under constraint at Laybach, bade the Grand Duke defend the State. A rush to arms followed; the old King abdicated; an Austrian army entered Italy, crushed the liberal risings in Naples and Piedmont, and in spite of his abdication restored Ferdinand to the throne. From Laybach went forth another circular, in which the world was told that henceforth all "useful or necessary changes in the legislature and administration of States must emanate alone from the free will, the reflecting and enlightened impulses, of those whom God had rendered responsible for power."

Thus committed to the extermination of popular government, the Allied Powers next turned their attention to Spain, and for this purpose agreed to meet at Vienna in 1822. In the United States meantime the cause of the South American Republics (Mexico, Colombia, Chili, Peru, and Buenos Ayres) became more popular than ever. President Monroe, who, so early as May, 1818, had proposed to his Cabinet that the United States should countenance no pacification short of the independence of the Spanish colonies, but had not taken any overt steps in that