tions with respect to seamen and for other purposes as may be calculated to promote the advantage of both nations. So far as related to the question of the armaments to be maintained on the lakes, Mr. Adams' connection with the matter thereupon ceased.

Mr. Bagot's powers would seem to have been express, although no record of their terms is found. He speedily opened the negotiation thus transferred to Washington by addressing to Mr. Monroe the following note, dated July 26, 1816:

[Mr. Bagot to Mr. Monroe, July 26, 1816.]

Mr. Adams having intimated to his Majesty's Government that it was the wish of the Government of the United States that some understanding should be had or agreement entered into between the two countries in regard to their naval armaments upon the lakes, which, while it tended to diminish the expenses of each country, might diminish also the chances of collision and prevent any feelings of jealousy, I have the honor to acquaint you that I have received Lord Castlereagh's instructions to assure you that His Royal Highness the Prince Regent will cheerfully adopt, in the spirit of Mr. Adams's suggestion, any reasonable system which may contribute to the attainment of objects so desirable to both States. Mr. Adams not having entered into any detailed explanation of the precise views of his Government for giving effect to the principle which he had offered for consideration, the British Government is unacquainted with the particular arrangements which the Government of the United States would propose to make for this purpose, but I have been instructed to assure you of the general disposition of His Royal Highness the Prince Regent to listen with satisfaction to any proposal which may secure such ends, and of his readiness to act in a spirit of the most entire confidence upon the principle which has been suggested by Mr. Adams.

Mr. Monroe replied to Mr. Bagot, fully setting forth the views and desires of the Government of the United States, his note being dated August 2, 1816, as follows:

[Mr. Monroe to Mr. Bagot, August 2, 1816.]

I have had the honor to receive your letter of the 26th of July, by which you inform me that Mr. Adams had intimated to your Government the desire of the President to arrange by compact the naval force which should be retained on the lakes by both nations, with a view to lessen equally the expense of each and likewise to guard against collision, but that he had not explained in sufficient detail the proposal which he had been authorized to make to lead, at that time, to any practical result. You assure me that His Royal Highness the Prince Regent is well disposed to the object, and that in concert with this

Government he is willing to adopt such measures as may be deemed expedient to give it effect.

The President being satisfied that if each nation should maintain on the lakes a large naval force it would expose both to considerable and useless expense, while it would multiply the risks of collision between them, instructed Mr. Adams, shortly after the peace, to make the proposal which you mention in the hope, from the amicable spirit in which it was conceived and the advantage which it was believed both parties would derive from it, that it might be carried into immediate effect. It is very satisfactory to the President to find that your Government approves the principle on which the proposal is founded and that His Royal Highness the Prince Regent is willing to act on it.

I infer from your letter that you are desirous of obtaining a precise project, either for the purpose of acting on it here immediately, in conformity with the powers already given you, or of transmitting it to your Government for its consideration. Whether it be for the one or the other purpose, I am instructed to afford all the facility that I may be able; though it would undoubtedly be more agreeable to the President that the arrangement should be made and executed with the least delay possible.

I have the honor now to state that the President is willing, in the spirit of the peace which so happily exists between the two nations and until the proposed arrangement shall be canceled in the manner hereinafter suggested, to confine the naval force to be maintained on the lakes on each side to the following vessels, that is: On Lake Ontario to one vessel not exceeding 100 tons burthen and one 18-pound cannon, and on the Upper Lakes to two vessels of like burthen and force, and on the waters of Lake Champlain to one vessel not exceeding the like burthen and force; and that all other armed vessels on those lakes shall be forthwith dismantled, and likewise that neither party shall build or arm any other vessel on the shores of those lakes.

That the naval force thus retained by each party on the lakes shall be restricted in its duty to the protection of its revenue laws, the transportation of troops and goods, and to such other services as will in no respect interfere with the armed vessels of the other party.

That should either of the parties be of opinion hereafter that this arrangement did not accomplish the object intended by it, and be desirous of annulling it, and give notice thereof, it shall be void and of no effect after the expiration of months from the date of such notice.

If this project corresponds with the views of your Government and you are authorized to accede to it under any modifications which you may propose and in which we can agree, I am instructed to give it immediate effect, either by convention, the interchange of notes, or in any form which may be thought best adapted to the ends proposed. If, on the other hand, you consider it your duty to submit this project to your Government for consideration and to await its sanction before you can adopt it, and have power to make, ad interim, any provisional reciprocal arrangement having the same objects in view, I shall be happy to digest with you such provisional arrangement and to carry it recip

rocally into effect for such time and in such manner as may be agreed on; or should your power be adequate, I am ready to concur in an immediate suspension of any further construction or equipments of armed vessels for any of the waters above named.

To this proposal and inquiry Mr. Bagot replied on August 6, 1816, announcing his inability, under his instructions, to come to an immediate agreement. He said:

[Mr. Bagot to Mr. Monroe, August 6, 1816.]

The general coincidence of sentiment which exists between our Governments in regard to entering into some arrangement upon this subject gives reason to hope that the several parts of it will become matter of easy adjustment; but as, in the consideration of any precise proposition to this effect, reference must necessarily be had to various points connected with the internal administration of His Majesty's provinces and to the naval assistance which the ordinary business of a peace establishment may require, I am not authorized to conclude definitely any agreement as to details without previously submitting it to my Government.

I shall therefore immediately forward for consideration the proposal contained in your letter; but I shall, in the meantime, willingly take upon myself to give effect to any arrangement upon which we may eventually agree for the purpose of suspending the further construction and equipment of armed vessels upon the lakes and of generally abstaining from exertion in those quarters.

Besides this correspondence it would seem that Mr. Monroe and Mr. Bagot held several conferences on the subject, for, under date of August 13, 1816, Mr. Monroe wrote an instruction to Mr. Adams at London, in which he said:

[Mr. Monroe to Mr. Adams, August 13, 1816.]

In consequence of instructions to Mr. Bagot, I have had several communications with him relative to the naval force to be retained on the lakes by each power, and also respecting the right of curing and drying fish on the shores of the British Provinces, northward of the United States, without having concluded a definite arrangement on either subject.

On the first, it appeared that Mr. Bagot's power was limited to a right to agree to suspend the further augmentation of the naval force on those waters, without fixing its maximum by any rational standard to the number of vessels, for example, which would be necessary for the support of the revenue laws, and that he was bound to communicate to his Government any precise proposi

tion which might be made to that effect, and to await its order respecting it. I made to him such a proposition, having in view the object mentioned, as well as the other important objects of economy and a desire to avoid irritation and collision. The affair terminated in an agreement on the point to which alone his power extended, and an understanding that he should transmit the specific proposition to his Government for consideration. On this point several notes have passed between us. * It is probable that the arrangement of these two interests will again rest with you. The advantage of it, as you are already authorized to treat on other important subjects, is obvious.

*

The latest of the communications thus referred to is a note which on the previous day, August 12, Mr. Monroe had addressed to Mr. Bagot for the purpose of closing with his provisional plan for suspending the augmentation of the respective naval forces on the lakes, as follows:

[Mr. Monroe to Mr. Bagot, August 12, 1816.]

I have had the honor to receive your letter of the 6th of this month, by which you inform me that, although you have full confidence that an agreement will finally be entered into by our Governments to limit in a satisfactory manner the naval force to be maintained by them on the lakes, you consider it your duty to submit to your Government the project which I lately communicated to you to that effect and to await its orders before you can proceed to make a definitive arrangement on the subject. You intimate, however, that you are willing to give effect to any arrangement on which we may agree for suspending in the meantime the further construction and equipment of armed vessels on the lakes and for abstaining from further exertion there.

To this delay no objection is entertained, provided such a provisional arrangement is made as may accomplish the just objects which our Governments have in view. This arrangement, however, like the other, should be equal. In the same spirit, therefore, I now propose the regulations stated in my former note, to be adopted as a provisional arrangement. If your powers authorize, and you approve those regulations, on being assured that you will adopt a similar measure an order will be immediately issued by this Government for carrying them fully into effect.

If your powers do not extend to this object, but are confined exclusively to the suspension of the further augmentation of the naval force on the lakes, I have then to observe that on receiving from you a statement of the force which your Government now has on the lakes, with an assurance that its further augmentation shall be suspended, an order will be immediately issued by this Government for confining the naval force of the United States there strictly within the same limit. *

*

Mr. Bagot replied the next day, August 13, 1816, practically closing the provisional arrangement to suspend the further increase of the forces on the lakes, by saying:

[Mr. Bagot to Mr. Monroe, August 13, 1816.]

For the same reasons which I have assigned in the letter which I had the honor to address to you on the 6th instant I conceive that I am not authorized to make, even provisionally, any precise agreement as to the exact manner in which the respective naval forces upon the lakes shall be limited, as in any such agreement, whether permanent or provisional, reference must equally be had to the arrangement of a peace establishment and the ordinary administration of His Majesty's provinces.

I am not in possession of a correct statement of His Majesty's naval force now in commission upon the lakes, but I will take the earliest means of procuring and communicating to you the most accurate information upon this point; and I can in the meantime give you the assurance that all further augmentation of it will be immediately suspended.

Two points are to be borne in mind in examining the preceding correspondence, that Mr. Bagot's powers, while explicit as to the subjects. of negotiation, do not appear to have authorized him to conclude any formal convention as to either the agreement to mutually limit the naval forces on the lakes or the pending questions in regard to the Newfoundland fisheries; and that as to the latter question Mr. Monroe's negotiations with Mr. Bagot did not result in any conventional agreement, the treaty of October 20, 1818, having been in the end negotiated and signed at London by Mr. Gallatin and Mr. Rush on behalf of the United States and Mr. Robinson and Mr. Goulburn on behalf of Great Britain as special plenipotentiaries. As has been said, no record is found in the Department of State of the text of Mr. Bagot's or Mr. Monroe's powers to negotiate on either of the subjects they considered; but the internal evidence of the correspondence exchanged, as well as the shape eventually taken by the agreement to restrict the respective armaments on the lakes, indicates that the powers of the negotiators in this regard did not go beyond a simple agreement or arrangement to that end and stopped short of authority to conclude a formal treaty.

The matter rested in abeyance until the following November, probably owing to Mr. Bagot having sought from the home Government, and not from the British authorities in the provinces, the promised