On the ninth of May Glenelg wrote to Sir George Arthur who succeeded
Bond Head as Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada, saying: "With
reference to my Dispatch to Sir Francis Bond Head of the 4th December
last No 255, I enclose for your information the copy of a letter from
the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs stating the substance
of the opinion given by the Law Officers of the Crown in respect to
the restitution of Fugitive Slaves who may be demanded from the
Government of Upper Canada on the plea of their having committed
crimes at the places from which they have fled. In conformity with the
opinion of the Law Officers of the Crown I have to desire that Jessie
Happy, the individual with respect to whom this question was raised
shall be forthwith set at liberty."

It is impossible not to see that the very stringent rules laid down by
the Law Officers of the Crown at Westminster were intended to be in
_favorem libertatis_. Happy was released November 14th, 1837, and so
far as appears from the official records no further application was
ever made for the extradition of a runaway slave until after 1842.
That year the well-known Ashburton Treaty was concluded[22] between
Britain and the United States. This by Article X provides that "the
United States and Her Britannic Majesty shall, upon mutual
requisitions ... deliver up to justice all persons ... charged with
murder, or assault with intent to commit murder, or piracy or arson or
robbery or forgery or the utterance of forged paper...." Power was
given to judges and other magistrates to issue warrants of arrest, to
hear evidence and if "the evidence be deemed sufficient ... it shall
be the duty of the ... judge or magistrate to certify the same to the
proper executive authority that a warrant may issue for the surrender
of such fugitive."

It will be seen that this treaty made two important changes so far as
the United States was concerned. It made it the duty of the executive
to order extradition in a proper case and took away the discretion. It
gave the courts jurisdiction to determine whether a case was made out
for extradition.[23] These changes made it more difficult in many
instances for a refugee to escape; but the courts were astute as ever
in finding reasons against the return of slaves.

The case of John Anderson is a well-known one in evidence. He was born
a slave in Missouri. As his master was Moses Burton, he was known as
Jack Burton. He mar