XLI. 1843. CHAP. to be involved in the deepest distress. She had recently sustained an unparalleled disaster in Affghanistan, and had only just emerged from a costly war both in India and China. She had a military and naval force on so very reduced a scale, that not more than ten thousand men could have been collected, after providing for the necessary garrisons, to defend London, or ten sail of the line to assert the honour of the British flag in the Channel. In these circumstances, to have plunged into a fresh war with a considerable naval power, and the one from whom the materials for our chief manufactures were derived, would have been hazardous in the extreme, and might have induced dangers wholly disproportioned to any advantages to be derived from the contest. 93. Encouraged by the success with which the bold asserThe Oregon tion of their claims on the Maine frontier had been question: Its history, attended, the Americans next proceeded to adopt a simi lar policy on the other side of the Rocky Mountains. A vast district of country, called OREGON, then lay between that alpine barrier and the sea, of great importance from its natural fertility, its mineral riches,-the rich island of Vancouver, two hundred and fifty miles long, abounding with coal, belonging to its territory, and the command which it afforded of the Columbia river, the great stream which descended from its western fountains, and the destined channel of communication from the St Lawrence and the great chain of lakes to the Pacific Ocean. So little was either the geography or importance of this immense region understood when the treaty with the United States, in 1783, was concluded, that, literally speaking, nothing was arranged at all regarding it. So unsettled was the matter, and so discordant the claims of the British Government and the United States on the subject, that Lord Castlereagh said to Mr Rush, the American Minister, in 1822, that, "by holding up a finger, war could at any time be produced about it." So wide were the American pretensions, and so warm the feelings excited, XLI. 1843. on both sides, that it was with no small difficulty that CHAP. that lamented statesman, and after him Mr Canning, prevented hostilities actually breaking out regarding it. Sensible of the danger of such a state of things, the two Governments, in 1818, entered into a convention, by which the whole Oregon territory was to be open to settlers from both countries for the period of ten years, and this state of promiscuous occupation was to continue for an indefinite period after. It was impossible, however, that this uncertain and precarious state could remain after the country began to be occupied by settlers, however few and far between on either side. It was indispensable that they should know to whom they belonged, and to which government they owed allegiance. This necessity became more pressing when the increasing numbers and augmented spirit of adventure in the United States led to great numbers of the inhabitants of that country leaving their homes, and seeking new settlements in distant regions. In 1842 and 1843, great numbers of these hardy pioneers of civilisation, impelled by the want and stagnation of enterprise, which General Jackson's crusade against the banks had produced in the United States, crossed the Rocky Mountains, and, armed only with their rifle, cartridge belt, axe, and scrip, boldly settled in the desert wilderness. So strong did the passion for main- 1President's taining and extending these settlements become, that, in Message, 1843, the President of the United States was constrained 1824; Ann. Reg. 1824, to give notice to the British Government, that he was ning's Life, about to put an end to the existing state of promiscuous i. 337; Parl. possession-a determination which rendered it necessary 3; Ann. to fix a boundary-line on this side also between the terri- 320. tories of the two Governments.1 317; Can Deb.lxxxiii. Reg. 1846, 94. It was no easy matter to effect this object, for the passions of the Americans, now strongly excited, were Conclusion hurrying them in great numbers to what they deemed the land of promise on the other side of the Rocky Moun VOL. VII. G of a treaty. XLI. 1843. CHAP. tains. Large caravans were formed which traversed the pathless prairies, found their way over the stony barrier, and descended into the boundless wastes which extended from its foot to the shores of the Pacific. It seemed, from the numbers which went, and the haste with which their journey was urged on, that they were desirous to forestall the British, and occupy the country in dispute in such numbers that any attempt to dislodge or transfer them would be impossible to either power. In a word, they were doing exactly the thing which, at the same time, they effected in Texas, which was to squat down in sufficient numbers on the territory, to render it worth while for the Union to incorporate it with their other States, whereby, at one blow, they wrested from the Spaniards a region of 350,000 square miles in extent, or more than twice the area of France. The language used in Congress on the subject, especially in 1844 and 1845, was extremely violent, insomuch as to leave a pacific solution of the question apparently hopeless. To such a length did they go, that on 23d April 1846 the Congress passed a resolution that notice of the termination of the joint occupancy should be sent to the British Government, and providing for the occupation of the Oregon territory. This bill passed the Senate by a majority of 42 to 10, and the House of Representatives by 142 to 46. Every one in both countries now expected that the next step would be an assertion of their right to the entire territory in dispute, and an appeal to arms for its support. Fortunately, however, for the peace of the world, the Government of the United States was guided by more pacific views, and the treasury had not sufficiently recovered the terrible June 1846. monetary crisis produced by General Jackson's crusade against the banks, to render it advisable to face a fresh 1846, 326, war, which would immediately lead to the destruction of ii. 656, 657. their foreign trade, and ruin of the large revenue they derived from the import duties,' at the very time when April 23, 1846. 1 Ann. Reg. 327; Mart. XLI. they had just declared war against the Republic of Mex- CHAP. ico. Lord Aberdeen sent out a proposal for a compromise, which was approved of by a large majority in the Senate, and accepted by the President, Mr Rush. 1843. 95. By this treaty, which arranged the respective claims of the parties on a very equitable footing, the territory Its terms. on the continent was divided between the parties in such a way as to give the larger portion to the United States. The line stretched from a point in the 49th "latitude to the middle of the channel which separates the continent from Vancouver's Island, and thence southerly through the middle of the said channel and up Fuca Strait, provided that the navigation of the whole of the said channel and straits south of the 49th parallel of north latitude shall remain free and open to both parties. From the point which the 49th parallel of north latitude shall be found to intersect the great northern branch of the Columbia river, the navigation of the said branch shall be open to the Hudson Bay Company, and British subjects trading with the same, to the point where the said branch meets the main stream of the Columbia, and thence down the said main stream to the ocean." By this arrangement the whole of Vancouver's Island, a possession of great importance, remained to Great Britain. It enjoys a temperate climate, not unlike that of the British Islands; and from the valuable seams of coal which it contains, must ultimately come to be a possession of very great value. So closely joined are the British and American territories on the other side of the Rocky Mountains, and so much detached from all the rest of the world, that the celebrated American statesman, Mr Webster, has declared his conviction, that ere long their Treaty, inhabitants will detach themselves from both States, and 1846; Ann. set up a separate Republic of their own on the shores 27, 28. of the Pacific.1 These treaties, conducted with such difficulties, between Great Britain and the United States, are worthy of 1 June 17, Reg. 1846, XLI. 1843. 96. on these CHAP. remark, as indicating the advent of the period when the American population was bursting the limits of their territories, wide as they were, and pouring over in mighty Reflections streams into the adjoining States. So strong was this disTreaties. position, that it was with difficulty that the Governments withstood the pressure; and it was only by the accidental circumstance of the largest portion of the flood breaking into Texas, that the whole of Oregon was prevented from being overwhelmed. This is a very singular circumstance, especially when the stationary condition of the French population in Lower Canada is taken into consideration. It adds another to the many proofs with which history abounds, that Republican States, so far from being the most pacific, are the most warlike and aggressive of all nations; and that the multis utile bellum is in them a stronger provocative to conquest than either the ambition of kings or the rivalry of ministers. It points distinctly to democratic institutions as the great expelling force which drives civilised man from his native seats, and fills the wilderness of nature with hardy settlers, the destined fathers of mighty nations. But it is calculated not less strongly to evince how peculiarly these qualities are developed in the Anglo-Saxon more than any other race of mankind, and how admirably adapted their disposition, at once nomad and agricultural, is to their destined mission of clearing and peopling the vast forests which overspread the surface of the New World. America was not the only the administration of Sir R. thspute with was threatened with hostility. also of a war with France, and of discord was not any jealousy or ambitious projects of either power in Europe, but a contest for the protectorate of the distant island of Otaheite in the Pacific Ocean. To understand how this came about, it is necessary to premise that the beautiful island of Otaheite, so well known to British readers from Cook's Voyages, had of 97. Origin of France. quarter in which, during Peel, the British empire It was on the very verge strange to say, the cause |