what no nation should suffer long
to remain in dispute--the true line which divides its possessions from
those of other powers. The nature of the settlements on the borders of
the United States and of the neighboring territory was for a season such
that this, perhaps, was not indispensable to a faithful performance of
the duties of the Federal Government. Time has, however, changed this
state of things, and has brought about a condition of affairs in which
the true interests of both countries imperatively require that this
question should be put at rest. It is not to be disguised that, with
full confidence, often expressed, in the desire of the British
Government to terminate it, we are apparently as far from its adjustment
as we were at the time of signing the treaty of peace in 1783. The sole
result of long-pending negotiations and a perplexing arbitration appears
to be a conviction on its part that a conventional line must be adopted,
from the impossibility of ascertaining the true one according to the
description contained in that treaty. Without coinciding in this
opinion, which is not thought to be well founded, my predecessor gave
the strongest proof of the earnest desire of the United States to
terminate satisfactorily this dispute by proposing the substitution
of a conventional line if the consent of the States interested in the
question could be obtained. To this proposition no answer has as yet
been received. The attention of the British Government has, however,
been urgently invited to the subject, and its reply can not, I am
confident, be much longer delayed. The general relations between Great
Britain and the United States are of the most friendly character, and
I am well satisfied of the sincere disposition of that Government to
maintain them upon their present footing. This disposition has also,
I am persuaded, become more general with the people of England than
at any previous period. It is scarcely necessary to say to you how
cordially it is reciprocated by the Government and people of the United
States. The conviction, which must be common to all, of the injurious
consequences that result from keeping open this irritating question, and
the certainty that its final settlement can not be much longer deferred,
will, I trust, lead to an early and satisfactory adjustment. At your
last session I laid before you the recent communications between the two
Governments and between this Government and that of the