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 FEDERAL RELATIONS OF OREGON 103 tice to the British minister of the intentions of the govern- ment of the United States, aroused some little feeling although the explanations of the Secretary of State smoothed the mat- ter over. 1 7 Orders were hastily issued by the British govern- ment so that a national vessel was at the mouth of the Co- lumbia in October of 1818. Captain Hickey formally surren- dered the post to J. B. Prevost, agent of the United States, but the North- West Company continued to conduct its trading op- erations as before. Keith, the chief factor, was assured by Prevost that the company might rely implicitly upon the jus- tice and equity of the government of the United States, and, al- though he was not authorized to make any promises, he could state without hesitation that the company would be treated with great liberality should the policy of his government ever extend to the point of exclusion. 18 The surrender of the post formed a part of Lord Castle- reagh's policy with respect to the whole question of the title to the Northwest Coast of America. 1 * As an issue among those remaining from the Revolution and the War of 1812 fisher- ies, boundaries in the Northeast and in the Lake-of-the- Woods region, impressment, commercial relations, indemnities, etc. it fell to Richard Rush, minister to Great Britain, and Albert Gallatin, special envoy, to deal with it in 1818. Since some, perhaps all, of these issues were far more pressing than that of the title to the Columbia River Valley, it is not surprising that both the American and British governments were willing to let the whole matter rest in statu quo. 20 The British gov- ernment, while acquiescing in the surrender of Astoria, would not admit the title of the United States to the soil upon which it stood. The United States, having in hand the negotiations with Spain over Florida and the western boundary was con- 17 Memoirs of J. Q. Adams, IV, 93. See also Rush to Secretary of State, 14 Feb., 1818, Am. S. P., For. Rel., IV, 853, for Castlereagh's attitude. i8>For this correspondence see Am. S. P., For. Rel. IV, 854; also girea in Annals, iyth Cong, ist Ses., II. 2140-2. 19 Castlereagh's policy in issuing the orders is indicated in a dispatch of 4 Feb. 1818, given l>y Schafer in Am. Hist. Rev., IOIO-H, 183-4. 120 Adams to Rush and Gallatin, 28 July, 1818, Am. S. P. For. Rel., IV, 377-8,