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32X

THE

UNITED STATES MAGAZINE,

AND

DEMOCRATIC REVIEW.

Vol. XVII.

NOVKMBKR, 1845.

No. LXXXIX.

THE

EDINBURGH AND FOREIGN QUARTERLY ON TKE OREGON.

Since the article in our June num-
ber on the Oregon question, two of the
British Quarterly Reviews have con-
tained articles on the same subject,
which may be regarded as expressions
of the views of the two ])artie8 into
which the people of Great Britain are
divided. The Edinburgh reasons in a
liberal s|)irit; and though it leans to
the British side, thinks, nevertheless,
that there may be some justice on ours,
and counsels moderation. The Foreign
Quarterly is insane in its hatred of
America and everything American,
sees nothing in our claims but unfound-
ed prctenc'ons, and appears to think
that nothing more is needed than Bri-
tish threats to frighten us into an aban-
donment of them.

Neither of these articles in itself
would be entitled to much consiilera-
tion; but they are tn be treated dif-
ferently. The Edinburgh is mode-
rate, and should be answered with rea-
sons; the Foreign Quarterly is too fu-
rious to be reasoned with, if its brag-
gart tone did not place it beyond the
pale of argument.

Perhaps our readers would like to
see the latest arguments of the English
in a condensed funn. We will give
them, therefore, a summary of the ar-
gument of the Edinburgh, passing over
all that part of the article which does
not relate strictly to the disputed (jues-
tion.

It begins with assuming that sove-
reignty over an unoccupied country
may be aer|uired by five ditlerent
means ; discovery, settlement, contigu-
ity, treaty, and prescription ; nnd it

VOL. XVII NO. LXXXIX.

lays down the preliminary proposition,
that the acts by which the sovereignty
is acquired must be the acts of a go-
vcniment, not of unauthorized indivi-
duals.

As to discovery: it admits that the
title of Spain, so far as that could give
it, was cf)mplete, and it rejects the
claims arising from discovery of both
the English and Americans. As to
our claim to the countrv of the Colum-
bia, founded upon the discovery of the
river, it gives three reasons for reject-
ing it : first, that Gray was not octu-
ally the first discoverer ; second, that
if he were, he was but a private indi-
vidual ; and third, that the discovery of
a river gives no title Ifi the country
drained by it ; three reasons any one
of which would be sufficient, if it
were well founded.

As to settlement: it rejects equally
the claims of America, of England,
and of Spain, oi. the ground tliat all
the settlements, snuill und ))artial nt
best, were the unauthorized acts of
private individuals, up to the time of
the Convention of 1818, since which no
act of either America or England can
have afli'ctcd the title.

As to treaty : it admits that the Con-
vention of the Escurial ought to be
deemed a temporary arrongeinent, and
that either nation hns the right to ter-
minate it, as it has the right to termi-
nate thfc Convention of 1818. Then it
insists that our claim, founded on pur-
chase from Spain, is sophistical, for
the reason, as we understand it, that
we ceded tn Spain the territory bo-
low 42, to which we had no title, and,

42018

324

BntuU Reviews on Oregon.

[November,

therefore, could, under the same treaty,
Uikc IK) title from Spain to the territo-
ry north of tliut parallel ; u reason the
force of whieli we acknowledge our-
selves uniilplc^ to perceive.

Prcscri])tion it coa.siders inapplicalile
to u case so recent ; and as to runtigu't-
ly, while it insists that neitlier America
nor England can claim a jieriect title
by contiguity, it nevertheless admits
that each hns an im])erfect title fi-om
that source to the ixjrtiim of Oregim
which adjoins its own frontier ; Ameri-
ca to that sou h of the 40th parallel,
and England to the rest.

U))on the whole, it maintains that
the disimte is one eminently ])roper to
be adjusted by arbitration, and thinks
that un honest arbitrator would divide
the territory by the 4'Jth jjarallel, giv-
ing, however, the whole of Vancou-
ver's Island to England.

Such is a very brief summary of the
argument of the Kdinhurgh. Our
readers will jierceive that it makes no
claim upon the pretended discoveries of
Drake, and that it obandons what we
considered the strongest ground of the
English claim, the Convention of the
Escurial. Its other positions, vi/., the
denial of the priority of Ciray's dis-
(•overy, the denial of right acquired
from discovery or settlement by pri-
vate persons, and the denial that the
discovery of a river gives a claim to
the territory which it waters, demand
some notice from us.

First, as to the ])riority of Gray's
discovery. His only comjietitor is tle-
ceta. The existence of the great river
of the west was matter of tradition and
of general belief long before his time.
Who first actually discovered it is the
question. To have seen the coast
where the river empties itself was
not enough ; that must have beeudone
by nil who coasted along the shore.
To constitute a discovery of the river,
it was necessary either to enter it or to
see it, knowing it to be a river. Hc-
ceto's account of what he saw is as
follows :

" In the evening of this day, I disco-
vered tt lurpe buy, to wliicli I «iivo the
name of Assumption Vni/, and of which a
pluu will 1)0 found in tbis journal. Its
tutitudc and loii^itiido arc ili'Icruiined iic-
eonliiig to the nmst exact iiiuium ulVordud
by tbi'i)i-y and jji-aclicc.

" " 'i'liL-Uitiludcii of the two most pronii-
ucnt tapes of this bay, especially of the

northern one, are calculated from the ob
BiTvatiDnii of this day.

" Having arrived opposite this bay at
six in the evening, and placed the ithip
nearly midway betw len tlie two capes, I
suunjed, and found bottom in twenty-
four brazat; the currents and eddies
were so Htrong that, nntwithutanding u
l)reKii of sail, it wa« difllcnlt to get out
clear of the nflrtberu cape, towards which
the current ran, though its direction waa
eovtward, in consequence of the tide
being at Hood.

" These currents and eddies of the
water caused me to believe that the placo
is the mouth of some great river, or of
Bon)e passage to another sea.

" Iliul 1 been certain of the latitude of
tbis bay, from my observanons of the
same day, I might easily have believed it
to be the passage discovered by Juan do
Fuca, in 15!)2, which is placed on the
charts between the 47th and the 48th de-
grees, where I am certain that no such
strait i-xists ; because I anchored on the
14th of July, midway between these two
latitudes, and carefully examined every-
thing around.

" Notwithstanding the great difference
between the position of this bay and the

{>assago mentioned by De Kuca, I have
iltlc difficulty in conceiving that they
may be the samo, having observed equal
or greater differences in the latitudes of
other capes oiul ports on this coast, as I
shall show at its proper tinie ; ant' in all
cases the latitudes thug assigned arc high-
er than the real ones.

" I did not enter and anchor in this
port, which in n)y plan I suppose to be
formed by an island, notwithstanding my
strong desire to do so; because, having
consmted the second captain, Don Juan
I'ere/, and the pilot, Don Christovol Hc-
vilhi, they insisted that I ouglit not to at-
tempt it, as, if we let go the anchor, wo
should not have men enough to get it up,
and to attend to the other operations which
would b(! thereby rendered iieCL'ssary.
Considering this, and also that, in order to
reach the anchorage, 1 should be obliged
to lower my long boat (the only boat I
had), and to man it with at least fourteen
of the crew, as I could not manage with
fewer, and also that it was then late in
tlu? day, I resolved to put out; and at the
distance of three or four leagues I lay to.
In the course of that night I experienced
heasy currents to tho south-east, which
made it impossible for mo to enter the
i)ay on the following morning, as I wa*
far to h^eward.

" These currents, however, convinced
me that a great ()iiantity of water ruslied
from this buy on llie el)l) of the tide.

" The two capes wliith I name in my
plan Cape Ban Uo(iue and Cuj)e Frondosa,
liu in the angle of ten degrees of the

1845.]

British Reviews on Oregun.

335

third qiiotlrnnt. Thoy oro bolli faced
witli red t-artli, and aro of little clovu-
tJon."

It will bo seen from tliia account
that Ilcceta did not enter the river;
that his actual position won fur outside
the bur, in twenty-iimr f'alhonis of
water ; nnd there is no evidence that
he even saw the opening of the land
through which the river issues. All
that he himself says, is, that tlie cur-
rents and eddies led him to hclirve. that
the jdace was " the mouth of some
S[rcat river or of some pussajje to ano-
ther sou." This was not seeing the
river or entering it. It was n belief in
its existence prothiced by the pheno-
mena which he observed.

The two next are questions of inter-
national low. According to thot law,
does a discovery or settlement of on
unoccupied territory by private indivi-
duals give any right whatever to the
goveniment or nation to which the in-
dividuals owe allegiance ? We main-
tain that it does, and thot this necessari-
ly follows from the doctrine of allegi-
ance and protection. Every (riti/.en of
this country who goes abrouil on any
lawful und«!"rtaking, goes as nn American
citizen, and is entitled to the protec-
tion of his government. If he enters
the jurisdiction of another govern-
ment, ho submits himself to that for
the time being ; but so long as he n;-
maius out of another jurisdiction, this
government should not permit another
to touch him. WhutloUows? That
American citizens settling in any unoc-
cupied country, not under unotlicr ju-
risdiction, arc us much sul-ject to the
jurisdiclion nnd government of their
own country as if they were at home,
and an; eciiially entitled to its protec-
tion. Rights and duties are correla-
tive. The new couiilrv having to be
defcniicd by the origiiiiil government of
its settlers," may lie goviTned by it also.
And the ruli- "tlml obtains in respect
to settlements by American citizens,
must obtain also in respect to disco-
very, which is but preparatory to set-
tlement.

The doctrine of the English leads to
this; that a nation cannot communi-
cate its authority, evccpl in purticnlar
cases. Now it must, lie admit icil that
any nation n\i'y give it.s sanction in
what manner and to whom it ))leases.
It may commission a few otlicers to

mak(! discoverie." and settlements in its
name, and by its authority ; or it may
authorize all its citizens t») discover and
setti(! new (Countries; or it may liedare
that it adopts any discovery and settle-
ment mad(; by any of its citizens. If
the sanction of the government is all
that is wanted, w(! do not see why it
may not Ih; given ufterwarils as well 08
betondiutid.

The remaining point is the extent of
claim accruing from the discovery of
the mouth of a river. It is to be
observed at the outset, that the ar-
ticle in the Edinburgh docs not state
the claim itself with exactness. The
ground token by us is, thot the tlisro-
very of a river is deemed a discovery
of Its course and branches, and of the
country drained by it. Then we contend
that fnmi discovery flows the right of
occui>ancy within a reasonable time.

What is discovery .' Is it the oc-
tuol sight of all thi- land or wotcr
within the limit? If it were so, the
view of one side of a mountain would
not be a discovery of the other, or one
side of a bay tlu; discovery of the op-
posite side. According to this, a dis-
coverer might have sailed hundreds of
miles along the northern shores of the
Amazon without ac(piiring tht; right-s
of a discoverer in its southern shores,
or any great r'r portion of the rivcT
than he actually saw. Now, so far
from this being tlv riceived doctrine, it
was pushed rat' r to the t)pposito
extreme, nnd, on one occasion, so for
that the S))iiniards laid claim to the
Pacific, from the discovery by Bal-
boa at Panairca.

In reason as well as in fact, the dis-
covery of one part of a river must be
deemed a discovery of the rest : for it
gives n duo to tlic rest, nnd it is
impossible to apportion it without,
leading to the most whimsical confii-
t^ion.

This is as far as we need to go. If
we had anv title to the country of the
Columbia by discoviry, it has not been
l(jsr through the scltlcini-nts of other
nations; for. in point of fact, there
have been no such .'^etllcnienLs on any
of the waters of tluil river ])rior to
otirs.

JJnt we could go further, unrl extend
the same principle to a('luil scathv
ment. The .-(ttlctnent is subseipusnt
and auxiliary to the discovery ; it per-
fects the title, otherwise imiwrfect. A

326

British Reviews on Oregon.

[Nrivcmber,

Bcttlcmrnt nt flic mnuth of n rivor rx-
teiids its juris liction over t\w upper
country, unlcsd mmw ))iirt of that coun-
try has Ihi'u iilrcndy settled or diseo-
vcred liy iinotlier.

IIow is tliis doctrine of jiublic Inwto
lie estiililishe<l ? IJy the prnctiec of
the nations concerned in the discovery
and settlement of the New World.
Uefore the <i])eniiij; of the fjrcnt Colum-
liiun Continent to the cyen of Europe,
there wns no occnsion fortlie establish-
ment of nny rule on the subject ; but
when the ambition nnd cupidity of the
iniiritinie nations of Kuroi>c strove to
obtain as much ns ])ossible of the
new-found hemisphere, some rules of
partition, some foundation for their
rehitivc rights, became indispensable.
The western .slion; of the Atlantic was
the scene of their cnterprizes. How
broail lay the continent before them they
little knew. When they landed on
the coasts, they tixik possession, as of
the country to its westernmost limits.
The first who reached the mouth of a
river had found an opening into the
land. The rivers were the gates of the
interior ; they who possessed them-
selves of these gates conceived that
they held good against all comers
whatever lay within. And thus it
hajipened that, without exception, so
far as is now known, the possession of
the mouth of a river was considered a
title as against other European nations
to all the country which lay abij/c it,
nnd was approachable through it ; in
other wmrds, to all the country which
its waters washed in their whole
course.

Thus the French, taking possession
of the mouth of the St. Lawrence,
claimed the coimtrj' to the north and
west ; and although the Spaniards
nctually first discovered the mouth of
the Afississi|i])i, yet thev were met
in their ascent by the "French, de-
scending from the Oliio and the
Upper Mississippi, whither they had
crossed from the head waters of the
St. Lawrence; and these titles of tVc
French and .S|)aniards had theefTect to
contract the titles of the English colo-
nics, which before had cloimed to the
South Sea.

It was said by the British negotia-
tors, in 1818, nnd has been repeated
by their journalists since, that our dif-
ferent titles are inconsistent with each
other. What if they arc inconsistent ?

Toes that weaken onr claim, or make
the British a better one ? There may
be ditli-rent claims to the same terri-
tory, of more or less strength ; none of
them perfect. Take for example, the
case of the claim by discovery, the
(daim by occupancy, and the claim by
contiguity, held by dilli-rert govern-
ments. If nny one of thei.c govern-
ments can by treaty unite them
all iti itself, it strengthens its title,
nnd it does so because it thus fur-
nishes an answer to its odversariea.
One may prefer the first title, another
may maintain thot the se(ond is the
best. Neither of them can be de-
monstrated to be perfect ; but the
purchase of all the titles silences all
the objectors. It is so in private af-
fairs. A land-owner purchases in aa
outstanihng claim against his estate,
to (]uict his title. lie docn not thereby
admit the title purchased to be good,
or his own previous one to be bad.
You connot destroy both his titles
by asserting that the two are incon-
sistent with each other. His answer
will be, "tell me whi(;h title you con-
sider good, and I will show you that
I have it." It is puerile then for any
Englishman, diplomatist or journalist,
to dis])arage our titles as inconsistent
with each other. They are a source
of strength, not on evidence of weak-
ness.

In regard to ihc line of partition
which the Edinburgh recommends,
we have not much to say. Wc have
already expressed the opinion in our
former article, that the ofliT of the
49th parallel, which our government
formerly made, was a reasonable nnd
proper compromise, and the south-
ernmost which we ought to concede.
Our government has twice ofTcred that
line, nnd the English Govcmme!;t has
as often rejected it. We would not re-
]ieut the ofl!er, after two refusals. But
at the same time we arc free to say,
that if England were to offer us that
line without more delay, so as to put
an end nt once to the disquietude,
which the very agitation of the matter
occasions, wc would accept it. We
are not insensible to the objections that
have been made to such a compromise,
nnd we know very well that the state
of irritation towards England which
prevails among us, particularly at the
west, disinclines a great body of our
countrymen to make any tcnns with

Jovcmbeft

1, nr make
'licro may
n;tie tern-
li i none of
implp, the
)vcry, the
V claim by
tit govnrn-
i.c gdvrm-
iiitc them
s its title,

thus fur-
rtversaries.
Ic, another
ontl is the
tti) be (le-
; but the
silrnops all
private af-
insc8 in an
his estate,
not thereby
to be good,
to be bad.
1 his titles

are incon-
His answer
tie you con-
iw yon that
hen for any
r journalist,
inconsistent
ire a source
;e of weak-

of partition
ecommends.
We have
nion in our
)fler of the
government
isonablc and
the south-
to concede.
ofTorcd that
cmmeiit has
ould not re-
fusals. But
free to say,
)flcr us that
eo as to put
disquietude,
f the matter
pt it. We
ijcrtions that
compromise,
hut the state
Inland which
ularly at the
body of our
terms with

1845.]

British ReviewB on Oregon.

337

her. But stror.g as arc these objec-
tions and tliii« feeling, we think ihcy
are outweighed by the considerations
which fiivor an immediate settlement of
the c|ue.stion, on the basis of some com-
promise. It is n.)t the case of a pro-
prietor giving up territory which be-
longs to him by an undisputed and in-
disputulile title. We believe our title
to the wliole to be g(K«l — that to the
part 8o\ith <)f 49* to be the best — but
we cniniot reasonably assume that Great
nrituiii is not sincere in her claim also.
We think it unf(Mini!cd, but it is not in-
disputably so. How are these claims
of two great nations to the same ter-
ritory, each being sincere in its claim,
to be niljustcd ? By compromis'*, by
arbitrament or by war. We are less dis-
(Kjsed to arbitrament than to compro-
mise, for the reasons given in the former
number. Wor is the last resort
when oil others fail. We wouldcompro-
mise sooner than go to wor ; though we
would go to war sooner than submit to
a dishonorable compromise. As to
Vancouver's Island, it should belong
wholly to America. England has
now almost a monopoly of islands.
The rest of Oregon is not im-
|>ortant to us. With Vancouver's Isl-
and, and the country south of the 49th
parallel, we hold the keys of the Pacific.
Thus we believe we have answered
all the arguments of the Edinburgh,
which make against the positions
that we have heretofore maintained, in
this Review. One other observation of
the reviewer must not escape us ; that
ill which he sneers nt the " ignoronco
of intenmtional law, which is the glar-
ing defect of American star 'nen."
This is I'ttther a remarkable observa-
tion for a Scotchman to make, seeing
that neither ."Scotland nor Kngland has
yet produced ony work of outhority on
mternntionni law, nor shown any parti-
cular (i])titude for such studies, whether
among its statesmen or lawyers, and
that the observation is made of a conn-
try which has numbered Franklin,
Adams, .leffcrson, .lay, (Jallatin and
Webster among its statesmen and di-
i)lomatists, nnil now Imasts of the best
living writer on international law. It
should seem to be impossible for Eng-
lishmen or Scotchmen, however fair in
general, to finish any discussion con-
cerning America, without a sneer at
ber. Wc do not care to retaliate on

the Edinburgh. If we did, we should
ask it to point to any English states-
man, eminently instructed in the law of
nations ; and if it ccjuld |K>int to one, we
should then refer to the history of
English diplomacy and war, as to a his-
tory of infractions of that code.

The Foreign i^uorterly, as we have
already observed, puts itself, by its in-
sane scurrility, out of the pale of argu-
ment. It gives us slanders for reasons.
'J'o pronounce its article more furious and
abusive than those which have ])receded
it, in the same journal, on American
all'airs, would be to make a distinction
where all arc eminent in wickedness.
One might su])|X)8e that all the spleen
of the (lisap|H)inted thrrmgh England,
all th.e falsehood of all the false, were
engaged in the service of that single
journal.

The journal, however, is nothing.
Who the reviewer may be, we know
not. lie may be a person whose
opinions would not be thought to de-
serve a moment's notice in any private
circle. But we fear that the utterance
of such sentiments is grateful to the po-
pular feeling in that country. We fear
that they are the sentiments of a large
class of its inhabitants. It is as the
representative of o i)arty that the jour-
nal can alone cloim attention. Other-
wise it has no significance.

As such a rejiresentative we regard
it; and we ask whither this thing is
tending. Is it the settled pur])ose of
any considerable number of persons in
that country to disparage this / Is is
their aim to stir u|) ill blood between
ILS? If such be the case, we arc
sorry for it. There are too many in-
flammable elements in each country to
make it safe.

Perhaps wc exaggerate the impor-
tance of these systematic attacks of the
British press. In themselves consid-
ered, we certainly tlo not think them of
any consetiuence ; it is only as an index
of the direction in which the English
mind is setting, that we amsider them
worthy of obsen-ation : and even then
jjossibly we overrate the evil which
they can do. But we cannot help
thinking that there is a woild of dan-
ger in the course of our foreign rela-
tions at present, immeasurably in-
creased by the tone of the English
press ; and on that account alone we
make these observations respecting it.

328

Briluk Reviews on Oregon.

[November,

Let 08 nr.dcratanrl each other. The
people of this country w»nt nothing of
the people or government, of Knglunil.
Wc are willin;j to exchange with them
the products ot our soil, and the work of
our hands. *Ve are glad to meet th(TO
in th(^ olHces of peace. Above all, we
desire to |)anicipate in the ndyontogrs
of (!vrry H'ep in the arts, in science, in
nivilizati(/n throughout the world. Hut
in our intercourse with (Ireat Britain,
we give os much as we receive. Cer-
tainly, we are not sensible of any be-
neKts received, for which we should be
grateful, and wo feel no gratitude. Jf
they like not our civil polity, wc like
theirs as little. If they are shocked at
what they call the rudeness of our
equality, we are not the less shocked
at the servility which we see in all
their classes, from the cottagers to the
nobles, each crouching to aiul fawning
upon its superior.

It is not, therefore, to obtain ad-
vantages for ourselves ; it is not from
admiration or fear of England, nor from
any other selfish or timid motive, that
we refer to the spirit which ap))ears
now to prevail in that country towards
us. IJut wc take this occasion to make
some oliservatioiis respecting the atti-
tude of the two countries towards each
other.

That this attitmle is at present un-
friendly is too apparent. Perhaps at
no period since the ll<!Volution, with
the single exception of the last war,
and the occurrences immediately ])re-
ccding, has it been more luifncndly
than it is at this moment.

Why is it so ? It is not from any
dislike entertained by Americans to-
wards Knglislimen. On the contrary,
there are prejudices in their favor, as-
sociated with the name and history of
their (rcmntry, prepossessions trailitional
ami hereditary, nurtured in cliiKlh(K)d.
))roin(ted by the studies of youth,
which the soberness and reason of mn-
turer age cannot wholly eradicate.
Their sources are obvious, and their
strength has proved hitherto greater
than revolution and war; bands mul-
tifold, and stronger than iron, wound
about the hearts of our ])eojile. Our
education, even nt this day, to our
regret be it spoken, is substan-
tially Knglish. In this, the eighth
generation from the settlement of Virgi-
nia and Massachusetts, we look to Eng-
land as the great mother of our learning

and our arts. From our youths up-
ward, her books are in our hands and
her songs on our li|w.

Our people have always desired
the sympathy of the English. —
As soon as the war of the Revo-
lution was over, notwithstanding the
circumstances of atrocity with which it
was carried on, wc were willing; to lay
them

" In tlio ilurp bosom of the ocean buried ;"

to shake hands across the water, and
make friends. The oiler was repulsed,
and from that Jay to this England hoa
been neither a sincere friend nor u ge-
nerous enemy.

What is the reason 7 It is her
haufrhliness and our rivalry. She
could not forget the mortification of her
own defeats, and had not the magnani-
mity to forgive the success of her re-
volted colonies. Not that she had any
cause for mortification or resentment.
If she had been swayed by a catholic
or philosophical spirit, she would have
remembered that English power had
been foiled in an attempt to put down
English law, and that just so much as
law and freedom are better than power
and oppression, she should have gloried
in the triumph of the first ovi'r the last.
If she had regarded less the disappoint-
ment of the moment, than the jierma-
nent success of her best principles, anrl
the spread of her laws and language,
she would have rejoiced in tin; prodi-
gious extension of all, by the dismem-
berment of the empire, and its jiartition
into two great em|iires, one republi-
can, and the other monarchical.

If there were nothing then to justify
this repulsive haughtiness to us, has
there been anything since ? Beginning
nt the separation of the two countries, to
which period their histories were the
same, conijiare them from that jvnni
of divergence, to see which has done
most for its own glory, and the ad-
vancement of the race. For half
th(! period, she has been wnging a fu-
rious war, to prevent the spread of re-
'.olutionarv doctrines in Europe, and
vo maintain pretensions the most arro-
gant against the rights of neutral
n itions throughout the worid. And in
the intervals of Eurojjean and Ameri-
can war, she has been warring in
Asia, forcing her trade upon unwilling
nations, desjioiling people and jjrincfas,
and interfering in the quarrels of the

nativr
their j
In sill
unifori

iNisNes
<ook
has SI
minion
never
them ;
men a*

of [low

poor ai
•Jued til
states,
through
of peue
. The
ries by
phies tt
nave thf
eontrarj
on eqna
been bn
j dust ?
! think, u.
' towards >
Then
thatmak
vols be t]
problem,
find in J
We thin
us both,
ours,
traffic at
shall do
drance fr
tlier over
sisting p
they find
we canni

Wc
more ani
nations of
ancestry
same la'
of mind
■•'omparal
two nnfi
good will
We ri
ami the a
side by si
try and
y/hercv(
lishman c
the other
and the
tor, and
Wars of

November,

1845.]

British Reviews on Oregon,

329

outhH up-
huiuU and

yr» tlesircd
Knglish. —
he Jl(!VO-
muriii); the
:h whi<:1» it
ling t<) lay

an buried ;"

water, and
w repulsed,
England has
1 nor a ge-
lt is hrr
dry. Sho
:ation of her
lie nmgnani-
18 of her re-
she had any
resentment.
)y a (latholic
would have
power had
to put down
t so much as
r than power
have gloried
pV(^r the last.
le disaiiiioint-
1 the jierma-
rineiples, anrl
nd language,
in the prodi-
tho dismetn-
il its partition
one re|mbli-
hical.

icn to justify
IS to us, has
Beginning
1) countries, to
rios were the
m that IvMnl
ich hos ilone
and the od-
Kor half
wnging a in-
s))read of re-
Kurope, and
he most arro-
of neutral
■orld. And in
n and Atneri-
n warring in
])()« unwilling
I! and i)rinc(ai,
uarrels of tlie

natives, to find pretexts for absorbing
their ]iosses»ions into herowndoniinioiiH.
In sliort, her foreign poli('y has been
uniform, unceasing aggression upon the

iK)ssesNi()ns and rights of oth(^r nations,
jook now at Amuriea. Hitherto she
has souglit only to possess her do-
minions nnd her rights in peaee ; Ims
never engaged in war, btit to defend
them ; has |irorlaimed the rights of
men as tlie oidy foundation anil source
of power ; ollered an asylum to the
poor and opi)res»ed of all nations ; sub-
dued the wilderness, founded cities and
states, and spread her commeree
throngh both hemispheres by the arts
of peace alone.

The Knglish have won many victo-
ries by sea and land. They have tro-
phies taken from mony nations. Bnt
have they won victories from us? On the
contrary, whenever %ve have met them
on equal terms, has not their lianncr
been brought to the deck or to the
dust ? It ill becomes them, wc should
think, to deport themselves haughtily
towards us.

Then as to our rivalry ; why should
that make her an enemy ? Cannot ri-
vals be friends ? That is the jiolitical
problem, which she must solve. Wc
find in it no cause for alienation.
We think the world is large enough for
us both. Her T)ros|)erity shall not mar
ours. We will labor, and build and
traffic at our own free will, a d she
shall do the same, without let oi hin-
drance from us ; and we can walk toge-
ther over the earth, befriending and as-
sisting each other none the less. If
they tind it otherwise, we regret it, but
we cannot help it.

We have relations with each other
more and closer than any other two
nations of the present or past: the same
ancestry ; the same language ; the
same laws ; pursuits similar ; habits
of mind alike ; energy and enterjiriae
i^omparnble only to each others. No
two nations have so many means of
good within their reach.

We rival each other in commerce
and the arts. We push our enterprises
side by side into every branch of indus-
try and every comer of the earth.
Wherever the American or the Eng-
lishman 0|)en8 any new channel of trade,
the other is sure to follow. In China
and the remotest East, under the equa-
tor, and within the frozen zones, the
stars of America and the cross of Eng-

land, float side by side. In all lands
are to lie found travelliTs ami traders, of
the same tongue nnd lineage, under
the protection of dilli'rent governments.
This rivalry, more than all tlu^ mishaps
of the past, explains the dislike of Kiig-
lishmen to everythiiig American. It
solves more problems of state than dip-
lomacy.

Pity that it should be so. With so
many motives to t)riiig tlicm together,
and so much good capable of accom-
plishment by their co-ojierHtion, we
cannot sulliciently rejin t that they
should have been so alienated. He
would be the greatest of benefactors,
not to these nations only, but to the
whole human race, who should succeed
in producing a cordial symjiafhv and co-
op<Tation between them. Tfie blr)od
of America is the blood of England, min-
gled with and enrichiil by the blocwl
of other races ; the sjiirit and enter-
prize of the Englishman being temper-
ed by the perseverance of the Dutch,
the tnoughtfulness of the (ierman, and
the enthusiasm of the Huguenot. En-
glish blood thus runs in a (juarter of
the world. Englishmen and the de-
scendants of Englishmen predominati!
in the New World, in Asia, nnd the
Southern islands. The English tongue
is spoken in every zone and beneath
every constellation of the sky.

But with all these motives to a cor-
dial understanding, it is, nevertheless,
certain that the alienation of the two
nations is becoming every day greoter.
What is common between them is put
out of sight ; synipathv is well nigh ex-
tinguished ; the waters of bitterness are
swollen up and running over ; they
have maildened tliose who drink of
them, till they seem ready to hunt
each other up and down the world.

If our feeide voice could be heard
by Englishmen, we would utter a word
of warning, b<'fore it is too lute. Wc
woidd beg them to remember that the
fiercest wars which havt; ever desolated
the earth have been set on fire by na-
tionol resentments. We would :. _ i >
them, that though we do not attach
much imiMjrtance to the attacks of in-
dividuals, whether writers or states-
men, yet we cannot mistake the evi-
dence which the number, fretjuency.
nnd violence of these attacks give of
the present disposition of great bodies
of their countrymen. For three or
four years the press has been piufuse

330

liritish liivicivt on Orcfion.

[NoTrmbcr,

bpyoiiil cxoiiiplf (»f every calumny, ap-
jdifil to Aiiii'ili'uns. Anilcvi'ii wliilr wc
wrilf tliirc Imt 'i|i|>car('(l u cliurj;i! tin)
gross we ttliiiitlil liuvf tli( "^lit to 111!
inudc or lu'lu'vt-d by iiicii in their
HenKcs, tliut (ini- of our iiutioimi iiiii|M
hail liirii rii^iigt'il in curryin;; sluvu
HJiui'kli'i', to 1)1' UMi'il in thi; nIiivu
iruilr. If Hueli thin;^s can bu bclicvnl
in Kiii;liin<l, or vvi.'n h|)i>kun witit
thi; rliiiiicv of lii'iiiff lislcncil to, tli.'n
lire ihu proplr of ihul country n|ii;
fur a wur with ust, uud on thu verge
of it.

It is lit best n |iitiiible einploynient to
Btir u|) uniiiicisiiieM, nnil es|ieciu!iy be-
tween eiNiiiiiiiiiitieH related to each
oilier us liieirs iinil ours. If by rensoii
of condiciuj; interests or opjioslte inox-
iius of policy, wars bctwi-'.-n us are in-
<!viiulile, lA least let ur, not add to the
evils of ordinary warfare the tenfold
bitterness of national revenge.

We should say ti EngliHliinen : You
are protoundly ignorant uf America;
you are blind to her history, her jiro-
Lijress, her coiulition, and her destiny.
You exaggerate your own importance,
and you depreciate your adversaries ;
two errors, of which you will leaj) the
'ruits in your next wars. Your mili-
tary resources alone would never have
])laced you i» the front rank of nations^
Yuur grcatncsM was essentially and alto-
gether niaritli»c. Can any man tell
iiow long even that can survive the
changes that are now occurring in
natal warfare ?

You have indeed * noble eountry.
God forbid tl .t we should slarder or
ileba.se it. It was the^home of our an-
cestors, which makes it barred. No
man can look upon the um>ur|)asscd
richness of your island, its heavHy-
laden fields, its stately mansions, the
vast commerce that nils its harbors,
without doing homage to the industry
that created such jiriKligies of wealth.
But money alone is not always ])owcr.
There nmy be a cancerous disease
within, fastened ujmn the vitals of the
•itate, and eating out its strength. You
have in your own bosom weakness more
than a countcriH)ise to all your jwwer,
d'scontented and indigent millions,
whom a lost battle or a ileficicnt har-
vest may turn in.o rebels, clamorous for
bread and for their rights as men, and
pulling down in their fury the pillars of
ihe state.

Bat where lie the fi)tiQdatioi» of our

power? Deep in the heartM of the
millions who thi'iiiselves riiiHcd and
now beiir on their Atliintean Hhoulilem
the fruiiiu of our |>olity. With ex-
haust less territories of llie ino.«t fertile
noil, with energies untraiiielled, fiee to
wek their own giKnl in their own way,
coiiipeteiiee within the reach of all,
there is no tusk tiM> great for our eoun-
tryiiieii (.o ai'coinplish, in a just cause
and with united elliirts. Unite then,
once • war with your country, exiis-
perale tiieniby eiicroaehiug upon their
rights, and by making them believe that
they are the objects of your dislike,
Olid you will have raiscti up against
you an enemy iiiorc forinidable than
Holland under the commonwealth or
France iimU'r Najioleon.

Do not count upon disseimions among
us. The genius of our institution*
tolerate* all sorts of opinions. There
have been diUlrenccs among us ow
almost all subjects, ami they v ill
doubtlrts coDtinui-. But the conduct of
your countrymen does more than any-
thing else to obliterate all dillerences of
opinion nspecting them. Notwith-
Htanding the prejudices of an educa-
tion favorable to you, and the innumer-
able ties which have hitherto drawn us
towards each other, wc feor that at
this moment, if all America were poll-
ed, there would be a majority of voices
for a war with you, and we ane confi-
dent that aill would desire your expul-
sion from the continent.

There is one subject above all others
on which there can never be a ditler-
ence of opinion among Americans ; and
that is, the introdnction into the New
World of the Europeon system of in-
tervention. The balance of power is
an idea purely Kurojieun. It has no
pface in the relations of other States.-
Its iiitro(hK:tion Iicre would at once
draw us into the vortex of European
jwlitics, and would be resisted by all
Americans as one man. We will meet
the evil as the threshold. If force bo
necessary to prevent it, wc will use
force, and we will use it at the first
moment of provocation. To hesitate
would be to fall.

You may arrangv your system \n
Europe Ets you chixjse, supervise each
other's governments, cut down a • - it ■,
if it be too large, or partitmn it, J 't
harbor dangerous doctrines ; t'U' your
scheme of policy shall no', rros? '-ht!
Atlantic. We form no pait ot your

)TfTnbcr,

1646.]

British RevieiOM on Oregon.

tri'i! to »

II wny, 1

of all, }

syKtrm. Wr knuw little of yonr
((iwtritK'o lit" Irgitirmifv, nn<J wr i-nrr
lesH. TlnTC! JM, in tliiit rouppct, a
pulf Ixlwccii the New World and 'ho
Old, wliich you hIibII nut poiw. If
you hove coIonicH iti thin hpinisiiheri",
/{ovcrii lliKiii M you plcosc ; hut that
Himll not iiitroduco you a.s n party
into our HyNtcm of independent states.
Our siifcty forbid.i it.

If we were to desire an occnsion for
war, we <;nu iiiia^inn none so likely to
unite all our nrople in its suppart, and
to arm us wuh the synipatny of the
wise niul good tl'nutj^ ;i)Ut Christendom.
The detestable syu.in of inter\enti()n,
inori! iliun nnythuig clue, has repressed
the lilii .Lies of Kuroiie, and kept back
the improvement of the world. It is
the iriijjhtieRt engine of oppression that
was ever devised. It has set its iron
heel upon every foot of lond from
Cape St. Vincent to the White Sea. Its
history is written in letters of blou<l.
Sjiain — distracted and impoverished
Spain — is a bleeding witness against it.
Italy is another; watched by Austrian
spies and garrisoned by Austrian troops,
(iermany is half sliHed by it. It has
crushed Poland to death. In a w.r
between this system and the free sys-
tem of the West, between the old spi-
rit and the new, we should enlitt on our
side the hand of every free man, and
the prayer of every true heart, through-
out Europe itself.

We wish we could indulge the ex-
])nctntion that our dilliculties about the
i>re;;on would be settled by ])caceful
uielhods ; but we fear it may be other-
wise. Apjjearances are threatening.
The demands of Knglund are too great ;
her demeanor is too haughty ; and
our people arc exosperated. Our go-
vernment cannot yield more than it
has done and preserve the confidencD of
the jieople. The question of peoee or
war, therefore, rests with Kngland.
Be it so. Wor is a great calamity ;
but it is not the greatest.

Far from us be the wish to accele-
rate that event. Rather, if it were in
our power, would we chain the pas-

sions that arc now howjinjj tn get Iooro,
till the moderate and wis*- <-ould recon-
cile these unhappy disputes. W«
show our desire for peace by connscl-
lutff compromise, notwithstanding tha
stri^nuous ojiposition it has received.
Hut we fear it may be already too lato.
Our olli-rs should have betn ai . , ed
years ago. The dial cannot moMi
backward. England is arming. .Sh'j
is doing more ; she is evoking a an; -
ilinries the terrible spiritn o^ national
jealousy and hatred.

If the territory in dispute wore never
so worthless, we could not allow our-
selves to bo pushed from it W'ihoui,
ceremony. But it is not worthless. It
commanils the Pacific. The real ub-
ject of contention is the commerce of
that sea. Its shores, so long occupied
by semi-barbarous nations, are about to
become the seata of civilization and
power. Tho stake is a great one.
A quarter of a ct.ntury will find po-
pulous States along the marr.i of that
sea. The imagination loses itself when
it travels into the future, sees an active
population like that which occupies
Americo, planted there, trading with
•he islonds, with Australia, with
China, India, and perhaps Japan (for
that country cannot long remain
shut against strangers), and contem-
plates the probable consequences to
the world. The increased mtercourse
with Eastern Asia may lead to a resur-
rection of the Asiatic mind. Certainly
the power which shall then have been
concentrated in the Pocific will make
itself felt in all the concerns of men.

Let us assert our claims withput
needless otrence. Let us show our con-
sciousness of strength in our modera-
tio:;. If we can have peace and our
substantial rights, we will not take coun-
sel of our resentments. And when war
comes, if come it must, we will enter into
it with the assurance that we have
done everything reosonable to avert it ;
but with unshaken confidence that it
will result in the maintenance of our
rights ond the discomfiture of their
assailants. D. D. F.