, as
Chateaubriand would have agreed, to a tripartite instrument if England
were of the same opinion.

In March, 1827, Adams warned Gallatin that the sudden and unexpected
determination of Great Britain to break off all negotiation concerning
the colonial trade, and the contemporaneous interdiction of the vessels
of the United States from all British ports in the West Indies, had put
a new face on matters. A renewal of the convention of 1818 would
probably be agreed to by the Senate, but no concession in the form of a
treaty would be acceptable. His words were emphatic. "One inch of ground
yielded on the northwest coast,--one step backward from the claim to the
navigation of the St. Lawrence,--one hair's breadth of compromise upon
the article of impressment would be certain to meet the reprobation of
the Senate." In this temper of parties, Adams added, "All we can hope to
accomplish will be to adjourn controversies which we cannot adjust, and
say to Britain as the Abbe Bernis said to Cardinal Fleuri: 'Monseigneur,
j'attendrai.'"

But changes now occurred in the British ministry: Lord Liverpool died in
February, 1827--Mr. Canning in the following August. Lord Goderich
became prime minister. The new administration returned from Canning's
eccentric course to the old and quiet path. The commercial convention of
1815 was renewed indefinitely, each party being at liberty to abrogate
it at twelve months' notice. The joint occupancy of the Oregon
Territory, agreed to in 1818, was continued in a similar manner. On
September 29 a convention was signed, referring the northeast boundary
to the arbitration of a friendly sovereign. Mr. Gallatin believed that,
had Canning lived, he would have opened a negotiation on the subject of
impressment. Huskisson considered that 'the right, even if well founded,
was one the exercise of which was intolerable, but that this was not the
time to take up the subject.' The new British administration did not
dare to encounter the clamor of the navy, the opposition of the Tories,
and the pride of the nation on this question.

Having accomplished all that was practicable, completed all the current
business, and leaving the British government in a better temper than he
found it, Mr. Gallatin returned to the United States, reaching New York
on November 29, 1827. Nothing remained in foreign relations in respect
to which Mr. Gallatin felt that he could be of much use except the
northeast boundary. In a l