and longitude
of the northwest angle of Nova Scotia, of the northwesternmost head of
Connecticut River, and of such other points of the said boundary as
they may deem proper; and both parties agree to consider such map and
declaration as finally and conclusively fixing the said boundary. And in
the event of the said two commissioners differing, or both or either of
them refusing, declining, or willfully omitting to act, such reports,
declarations, or statements shall be made by them or either of them, and
such reference to a friendly sovereign or state shall be made in all
respects as in the latter part of the fourth article is contained, and
in as full a manner as if the same was herein repeated.

_Note IV_.

The point originally chosen by the commissioners in 1798 as the source
of the St. Croix was to all appearance the act of an umpire who wished
to reconcile two contending claims by giving to each party about half
the matter in dispute. No one who compares Mitchell's map with that of
Messrs. Featherstonhaugh and Mudge can fail to recognize in the St.
Croix of the former the Magaguadavic of the latter. That this was the
St. Croix intended by the framers of the treaty of 1783 was maintained,
and, it may be safely asserted, proved on the American side. On the
other hand, it was ascertained that the river called St. Croix by De
Monts was the Schoodiac; and the agent of Great Britain insisted that
the letter of the instrument was to be received as the only evidence, no
matter what might have been the intentions of the framers. The American
argument rested on the equity of the case, the British on the strict
legal interpretation of the document. The commissioners were divided in
opinion, each espousing the cause of his country. In this position of
things the umpire provided for in the treaty of 1794 was chosen, and
in the United States it has always been believed unfortunately for her
pretensions. A lawyer of eminence, who had reached the seat of a judge,
first of a State court and then of a tribunal of the General Government,
he prided himself on his freedom from the influence of feeling in his
decisions. As commissioner for the settlement of the boundary between
the States of New York and Vermont, he had offended the former, of which
he was a native, by admitting the claim of the latter in its full
extent, and it was believed that he would rather encounter the odium of
his fellow-citizens than run the risk of being c