ion, as to the right of the Six Nations to the land _over_
the Allegany mountains, and on both sides of the river Ohio, quite to
the Mississippi,--is evident, from the memorials which passed between
the British and French Courts in 1755.

In a memorial delivered by the King's Ministers on the 7th June 1755,
to the Duke Mirepoix, relative to the pretensions of France to the
above-mentioned lands, they very justly observed--"As to the
exposition, which is made in the French memorial of the 15th article of
the treaty of Utrecht, the Court of Great Britain does not think it can
have any foundation, either by the words or the intention of this
treaty.

1st, "The Court of Great Britain cannot allow of this article, relating
only to the persons of the Savages, and _not their country_: The words
of this treaty are clear and precise, that is to say, the Five
_Nations_ or Cantons, are subject to the dominion of Great
Britain,--which, by the received exposition of all treaties, must
relate to the _country_, as well to the persons of the inhabitants;--it
is what France has acknowledged in the most solemn manner;--She has
well weighed the importance of this acknowledgement, at the time of
signing this treaty, and Great Britain can never give it up. The
countries possessed by these Indians, _are very well known, and are not
at all so undetermined_, as it is pretended in the memorial: they
_possess_ and _make them over, as other proprietors do, in all other
places_."

5th, "Whatever pretext might be alledged by France, in considering
these countries as the appurtenances of Canada; _it is a certain truth,
that they have belonged, and_ (as they have not been given up, _or made
over_ to the English) _belong still to the same Indian nations_; which,
by the 15th article of the treaty of Utrecht, France agreed not to
molest,--Nullo in posterum impedimento, aut molestia afficiant."

"Notwithstanding all that has been advanced in this article, the Court
of Great Britain _cannot_ agree to France having the least title to the
river Ohio, and the _territory in question_." [_N.B._ This was all the
country, from the Allegany mountains to the Ohio, and down the same,
and on both sides thereof to the river Mississippi.]

"Even that of possession is not, nor can it be alledged on this
occasion; since France cannot pretend to have had any such before the
treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, nor since, unless it be that of certain
_forts_, unjustly erected