Page:Early western travels, 1748-1846 (1907 Volume 6).djvu/179



In 1846, when the boundary question (that of the Oregon Territory in particular) was at its height, the Hon. delivered in the United States Senate a decisive speech, of which the following is an extract:—

"Now for the proof of all I have said. I happen to have in my possession the book of all others, which gives the fullest and most authentic details on all the points I have mentioned—a book written at a time, and under circumstances, when the author (himself a British subject and familiar on the Columbia) had no more idea that the British would lay claim to that river, than {4} Mr. Harmon, the American writer whom I quoted, ever thought of our claiming New Caledonia. It is the work of Mr., a gentleman of Montreal, with whom I have the pleasure to be personally acquainted, and one of those employed by Mr. in founding his colony. He was at the founding of , at its sale to the Northwest Company, saw the place seized as a British conquest, and continued there after its seizure. He wrote in French: his work has not been done into English, though it well deserves it; and I read from the French text. He gives a brief and true account of the discovery of the Columbia."

I felt justly proud of this notice of my unpretending work, especially that the latter should have contributed, as it did, to the amicable settlement of the then pending difficulties. I have flattered myself ever since, that it belonged to the historical literature of the great country, which by adoption has become mine.

The re-perusal of "Astoria" by