ghts of the
two nations to the same, resulting in the treaty. In April, 1850, the
Senate of the United States, by a very large vote, ratified and
confirmed this treaty, notwithstanding it was vigorously opposed by such
men as Stephen A. Douglas and Lewis Cass, then in the zenith of their
fame.

It appears in the Congressional record of 1850, and subsequently, that
the treaty was ratified without a very clear understanding of its
meaning; and it was even hinted, in rather plain language, that the
representative of Great Britain had been too sharp, too diplomatic for
his American brother, and had overreached him. It further appeared that
the honorable Senate was sadly deficient in knowledge of geography, and
national boundaries; for it is matter of record, that many Senators
voted for the ratification under the impression that British Honduras
was included in the territory of Guatamala, and that the British
settlements were in that republic; while, as a fact, Balize or British
Honduras was on the easterly side of the Isthmus, never had been a part
of that republic, and the British settlements were, and always had been,
in Yucatan. They further understood the treaty to say, that neither
government should occupy, fortify, or colonize Nicaragua, Costa Rica,
the Mosquito Coast, or any part of Central America; but it is a fact,
that at the very date of the treaty, at the date of the ratification,
and since, Great Britain occupied and colonized the Mosquito coast, or
that part which joins British Honduras on the northerly side of South
Honduras; and Mr. Douglas, in 1857, in a debate in Congress upon a
"resolution of inquiry as to the present status of the treaty," said:
"I voted against the treaty, Mr. President, for the reason that I am
unwilling to enter into any stipulations with any European power, that
we would not do on this continent whatever we might think it our duty to
do, whenever a case should arise. I voted against it because by clause
1 of that treaty we are debarred from doing what it might be our duty to
do; but as it has been entered into, I desire to see it enforced. I am
not yet aware that that clause of the treaty has been carried into
effect. I have yet to learn that the British Government have withdrawn
their protectorate from the Mosquito Coast; I have yet to learn that
they have abandoned the possession of that territory which they held
under the Mosquito King."

From the day that treaty was ratified t