ever, to any of the exclusive rights of the Hudson Bay Company;
second_, the right to dry and cure fish was granted on the limited
portions of the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador, so long as they
remained unsettled; _third_, for this privilege of drying and curing
fish, the United States "_renounced forever_ and liberty theretofore
enjoyed or claimed by the inhabitants thereof to take, dry, or cure
fish on or within three marine miles of any of the coasts, bays,
creeks, or harbors of his Britannic Majesty's dominions in America
not included within the limits so described." Of this extraordinary
renunciation Mr. Rush wrote, many years after: "We [Mr. Gallatin and
himself] inserted the clause of renunciation; the British
plenipotentiaries did not desire it."

From the execution of this treaty--as might well have been seen--the
misunderstanding between the two countries in relation to the fisheries
became more and more complicated. The treaty seems to have considered
only the cod-fishing, and even from that point of view we paid an
enormous price for the poor privilege of drying fish on the
Newfoundland coast, by abandoning the right of mackerel fishing within
three marine miles of all other coasts of his Britannic Majesty's
dominions in America; for from that time the mackerel fisheries grew
into large proportions, and without regard to treaty provisions the
right of cod-fishing on the banks could never have been taken from us.

The difficulty of determining the three-mile line, the presence of
armed vessels to prevent its violation, the vexatious seizure of
American fishing-vessels, the reckless injustice of the British local
courts in their condemnations, constantly exasperated both parties, and
on several occasions threatened to bring the two Governments into
actual collision. Both countries recognized the necessity of a more
definite settlement; and in June, 1854, after thirty-six years of
continuous disturbance and danger, Mr. Marcy as Secretary of State,
and Lord Elgin, Governor-General of Canada, as plenipotentiary for
Great Britain, negotiated what is known as the Reciprocity Treaty. It
was hoped that the opportunity would be used to settle this question
permanently, or at least to secure and understanding that we should not
upon the termination of a temporary arrangement be relegated to the
irritating injustice of the treaty of 1818. But the wary diplomatists
of England, with sarcasm scarcely concealed,