d river St. Croix to its source, and by a line drawn due
north from thence to the southern boundary of our Province of Quebec; to
the northward, by the same boundary, as far as the western extremity of
the Bay des Chaleurs."

Here, then, we find the first mention in an English dress of the line
to be drawn due north from the source of the St. Croix. There is no
evidence that it was a translation of the terms in the grant to Sir
William Alexander, but if it were it was made not by Americans, but by
Englishmen; and not only made, but set forth under the high authority of
the royal sign manual and authenticated by the great seal of the United
Kingdom of England and Scotland.

The due north line from the source of the St. Croix, meeting the south
bounds of the Province of Quebec, forms two angles. One of these was
the northeast angle of the Province of Sagadahock; the other is the
northwest angle of Nova Scotia. It aright be debated which of the
streams that fall into Passamaquoddy Bay was the true St. Croix, but
such a question could be settled by reference to evidence, and has been
thus settled by the award of the commissioners under the fifth article
of Jay's treaty. Among the many branches of a stream it may for a moment
be doubted which is to be considered as its principal source, but this
can be ascertained by proper methods, and it has been ascertained and
marked with a monument by the same commissioners. The tracing of a
meridian line may be a difficult operation in practical surveying, but
it can be effected by proper instruments and adequate skill, and this
task has in fact been performed by one of the present commissioners,
after being attempted by the surveyors under the fifth article of the
treaty of Ghent. The highlands are defined in the commission of Governor
Wilmot and the proclamation of 1763 beyond the possibility of doubt.
They are on the north shore of the Bay of Chaleurs as described in the
one instrument, and on the western extremity of that bay as described
by the other. They can therefore be found, and they have been found.

The Congress of 1779 and the framers of the treaty of 1783 were
therefore warranted in speaking of the northwest angle of Nova Scotia as
if it were a known point. It could have been laid down with precision on
any good map; it could be discovered by the use of adequate methods and
the expenditure of a sufficient appropriation; it was, in fact, as well
known as the forty-fifth