g thus
happened which made it necessary to refer the points of difference to a
friendly sovereign or state, it was deemed expedient by the parties to
regulate this reference by a formal arrangement. A convention for the
purpose was therefore concluded on the 29th of September, 1827, and the
two Governments subsequently agreed in the choice of His Majesty the
King of the Netherlands as arbiter, who consented to act as such. The
submission of the points of difference, three in number, was accordingly
made to that Sovereign, and his award, or rather written opinion on the
questions submitted to him, was rendered on the 10th of January, 1831.
On the 7th of December following the President communicated the award
of the arbiter to the Senate of the United States for the advice and
consent of that body as to its execution, and at the same time intimated
the willingness of the British Government to abide by it. The result was
a determination on the part of the Senate not to consider the decision
of His Netherland Majesty obligatory and a refusal to advise and consent
to its execution. They, however, passed a resolution in June, 1832,
advising the President to open a new negotiation with His Britannic
Majesty's Government for the ascertainment of the boundary between the
possessions of the two powers on the northeastern frontier of the United
States according to the definitive treaty of peace. Of the negotiation
subsequent to this event it is deemed proper to take a more particular
notice.

In July the result of the action of the Senate in relation to the award
was communicated to Mr. Bankhead, the British charge d'affaires, and he
was informed that the resolution had been adopted in the conviction that
the sovereign arbiter, instead of deciding the questions submitted to
him, had recommended a specified compromise of them. The Secretary of
State at the same time expressed the desire of the President to enter
into further negotiation in pursuance of the resolution of the Senate,
and proposed that the discussion should be carried on at Washington. He
also said that if the plenipotentiaries of the two parties should fail
in this new attempt to agree upon the line intended by the treaty of
1783 there would probably be less difficulty than before in fixing a
convenient boundary, as measures were in progress to obtain from the
State of Maine more extensive powers than were before possessed, with
a view of overcoming the constitutiona