that will open a mine of
wealth to all concerned[see Note 7] (not the wealth of gold, but of
commerce and trade). But to proceed--and here again I must tax your
memory. You will, no doubt, recollect, that after the King of Holland
had given his decision in the year 1831 as to our disputed boundary with
America, which had been referred to him, and that all eyes were fixed
upon that question,[see Note 65] which had become very serious and
difficult to settle, his Grace the Duke of Wellington, in speaking on
the subject,[see Note 8] alluded to another very important boundary
question (then little thought of by the public),[see Note 9] and his
Grace pointed to the Oregon.[see Note 33] The discussions and
difficulties that afterwards arose before the final disposal of that
dispute, most assuredly marked its importance, and proved that the
ever-watchful talent of the Duke had not been attracted to that spot,
without cause.

"We thank the gods
Our Rome has such a soldier!"

Montgomery Martin says, "But for the Hudson's Bay Company, England would
probably have been shut out from the Pacific." Be that as it may, we had
at all events, one statesman's watchful eye upon that ocean, and the
very important question is now disposed of for ever, leaving open to
England another most valuable high road, with the making of which we
(again like the fly on the wheel) think we must have something to do; at
all events, we may discuss and talk about it,--as in the Tyrian we
formerly did about the great Steam Line from and to Liverpool and
Halifax. But to proceed seriously. Did his Grace, let it be asked, when
pointing to our North-Western boundary line, look forward at that time
to the shores of the Pacific as being "the end of the West and the
beginning of the East?" Did his Grace's imagination picture to his
mind's eye swarms of human beings from Halifax, from New Brunswick, from
Quebec, from Montreal, from Byetown, from Kingston, from Toronto, from
Hamilton, the Red River Settlement, &c. &c. &c., rushing across the
rocky mountains of Oregon with the produce of the West in exchange for
the riches of the East? Did his Grace imagine the Pacific Ocean alive
with all descriptions of vessels sailing and steaming from our
magnificent Colonies--New Zealand, Van Diemen's Land, New South Wales,
New Holland, from Borneo and the West Coast of China, from the Sandwich
Islands, and a thousand other places, all carrying the ric