As to the person who would satisfy these requirements, the American commissioner said that the umpire appointed "should be favorably known in America and have an established reputation there for integrity and impartiality;" that, as the term. of the commission was limited, he should be immediately accessible; that, in order to avoid the translation of evidence and arguments, he should be able to speak and write English; and that, from various considerations, including the fact that his compensation would be very limited, he should have a residence in London. The American commissioner therefore suggested for the place George Peabody, who, though an American, had long resided and was permanently established in London. He thought Mr. Peabody better suited to the position than a person who was neither an Englishman nor an American, since few foreigners in London were known in America, except certain individuals who had "come in collision with their own governments," and who might therefore be prejudiced against existing forms of government in Europe, and the diplomatic representatives of other nations, who were open to objection from the circumstance that claims similar to those to be decided might be pending between the United States or Great Britain and their own governments, as well as from their official position and the intimate connections between their governments and Great Britain.

Such were the views of the American commissioner as expressed both in his letters and in personal conferences with the British commissioner.

While observing that the convention did not fix the compensation of the umpire, and that the pecuniary question would probably be a matter of secondary consideration, the British commissioner, although agreeing that it was desirable for the umpire to reside in London and to be thoroughly acquainted with the English language, said that these points were in his opinion of less moment than "the all important one of the umpire's possessing the qualification of being entirely free from bias, either by reason of nationality, connection, or of any possibility of interest in the matters or questions to be determined." With this view he suggested the names of Count Stezlecki, M. Van de Weyer, the Chevalier Bunsen, the Duc de Broglie, the Duc de Nemours, Prince Joinville, M. Guizot, and M. Lamartine. M. Van de Weyer was then the

minister of Belgium, and the Chevalier Bunsen the minister of Prussia, in London; but the British commissioner thought that this fact ought not to be considered, since their literary and social reputation entitled them "to take rank amongst that class of citizens of the world in whom every nation takes a pride, whose fame is the common property of all, and whose feelings, sympathies, and interests may be fairly considered as not confined to one place or people, but equally and indifferently spread over the whole world." Nor could such men as the French princes, the Duc de Broglie, and MM. Stezlecki and Lamartine have any bias on the claims in question. As to Mr. Peabody, the British commissioner said that he did not mean "for a moment to cast the slightest shadow on the reputation of that gentleman, either as a citizen of the United States, or as an American merchant residing" in London; he had honorably earned a high character for integrity and uprightness, and reflected credit on the country of his birth; but he was "essentially an American, standing at the head of the American commercial firms" in England, and looked upon "as par excellence the representative of the American commercial community" in that country. To take him from that sphere and put him in the post of umpire would be to place him in an invidious position. Being doubtful as to the propriety of choosing either a British subject or an American citizen, the British commissioner said he had refrained from officially referring to natives of Great Britain; but he suggested, as among those whose character, reputation, independent station, and social position placed them above all suspicion, Lords Brougham, Truro, and St. Leonards, ex-Lord Chancellors of Great Britain; Mr. Justice Patteson, ex-judge of the Queen's Bench; Thomas Babington Macaulay, George Grote, and Thomas Baring. At the same time he thought it was among foreigners, entirely indifferent to both countries, that an umpire should be selected.'

Agreement on Mr.
Van Buren.

The American commissioner would not exclude foreigners, and expressed his sense of the character and reputation of those whom the British commissioner had mentioned; but he was still deeply impressed with the difficulties of selecting one free from the objections which he had previously stated. As to the

Mr. Hornby to Mr. Upham, September 27, 1853. (MSS. Dept. of State.)

British subjects who had been suggested, he fully concurred in all that had been said concerning them, and, were the hear ing in his own country, he should hardly object to some of them. But the American claimants had come a long distance to present their petitions, and might think it hardly equal if, in addition to this circumstance, the umpire should be taken from England. In the belief that it would, under the circumstances, be more equal to select an umpire from America, the American commissioner said that he might name a gentleman, then on the Continent, but soon to return to London, who would compare favorably with any one who had been mentioned, whose fame was achieved, and who had no ambition to gratify "except perhaps that of establishing a reputation for justice in both hemispheres." He referred to Martin Van Buren, lately President of the United States, and he also named, as persons possessing an English as well as an American reputation, Richard Rush, Washington Irving, Russell Sturgis, and Thomas Aspinwall, formerly American consul at London and for twenty years a resident there.'

On the other hand, the British commissioner said that, while he was willing to admit the force of some of the observations as to the national feeling which might possibly arise in America regarding the fairness of decisions made in England, and at a distance from the residence of the American claimants, he could not admit as founded in reason or justified by experi ence the implication either that England exercised so vast an influence on the rest of Europe as to render her capable, even if she were so inclined, of prejudicing the interests of the people of any other country in such questions as those involved in the claims about to be submitted to decision, or that, in so far as the illustrious foreigners whom he had named were concerned, her influence could in any instance warp their judg ments or give their minds an undue or improper bias, or that any consideration, public or private, could induce men of such high standing and universal fame to depart one hair's breadth from that clear and straightforward course which an umpire should pursue. "It was this conviction," continued the Brit

ish commissioner, "which led me to submit their names to you, and it is an undoubted confidence in the integrity of the great men of your

1 Mr. Upham to Mr. Hornby, October 3, 1853. (MSS. Dept. of State.)

country that induces me to acquiesce in the nomination of Mr. Martin Van Buren, and I do so the more readily because I cannot but conceive that the man whom the citizens of so great a country as the United States should have deemed worthy to fill the part of Chief Magistrate and Ruler, must likewise be worthy of the confidence of a nation whose laws, sympathies, and feelings are nearly identical with their own.

"Mr. Martin Van Buren's career and character are so well known and esteemed in England, and his reputation as a statesman, a lawyer and a gentleman, is so firmly established here, that I do not hesitate to waive in his favor the more important of the objections which I felt myself justified in making to the appointment of an American to the office of umpire under the convention constituting the commission; and in so far as he is concerned, I am willing to give up my own opinion on the expediency of choosing that officer from a class entirely indif ferent by reason of nationality to the claimants of either country.

"In thus acquiescing in the nomination of one of the gentle men proposed by you, a countryman of your own, and also of one section of the claimants, I am actuated alone by the consideration of his high personal qualifications, my full reliance on your good faith, and my own desire to avoid the alternative provided by the convention in case of a disagreement between us on this important particular. To these considerations I look for my justification with my countrymen, feeling assured that in having acted on my own judgment for the best, I am en deavoring, so far as it is in my power, to serve indifferently the real interests of both sets of claimants."1

Declination of Mr.
Van Buren.

On the 13th of October 1853 the commis sioners wrote to Mr. Van Buren, who was then in Florence, apprising him of his selection as umpire and expressing the hope that he might be able so to act. On the 22d of October Mr. Van Buren replied, expressing his regret to find himself constrained to decline the appointment. He said:

"After spending the principal part of my life in the public service, I have for several years withdrawn myself not only from all personal participation in public affairs, but from attention to business of every description, save only what has been indispensable to the management of my private affairs. By adhering to this course I have secured to myself a degree of repose suitable to my age and condition, and eminently conducive to my happiness, and nothing could be more repugnant to my feelings than to depart from it now. Still if the matters in contestation consisted of a single question, which I could dispose of by one decision, in case of difference between the commissioners, I would not under the circumstances feel

'Mr. Hornby to Mr. Upham, October 11, 1853. (MSS. Dept. of State.)

myself at liberty to decline the responsibility of the umpirage. But my knowledge of the character of joint commissions like the present, and their almost invariable tendency to be kept on foot long after the expiration of the time first agreed upon for their conclusion, satisfies me that I ought not at my time of life to accept a trust which, besides exposing me to serious inconvenience, must control ny personal movements for a considerable length of time, and may postpone my return to the United States to a period far beyond that which would be at present anticipated."1

Selection of Joshua
Bates.

Mr. Van Buren having declined the post of umpire, the American commissioner proposed in his place Joshua Bates, of London, of the firm of Baring Brothers & Co. "Mr. Bates," said the Ameri can commissioner, "is an American-born citizen, who in early life gained such reputation for intelligence, energy, honorable character, and business acquirements as to cause a demand for his services in the leading banking house of this country and the world. His long residence in England in that position and his great success has established him here permanently as his adopted home, and has given him a standing and character that should impart full confidence to the claimants of both countries, as well as to the governments themselves, in the intelligence, integrity, and impartiality of his decisions."

In the nomination of Mr. Bates the British commissioner concurred, "having every confidence in his integrity and unblemished reputation." The nominee was at once notified of his selection, and duly accepted the trust; and, having received a commission,3 he attended the meeting of the commissioners

1S. Ex. Doc. 103, 34 Cong. 1 sess. 456-457.

2 Mr. Upham to Mr. Hornby, October 31, 1853. (S. Ex. Doc. 103, 34 Cong. 1 sess. 457.)

3" To all and singular to whom these presents shall come, greeting:

"Whereas, a convention was concluded and signed, at London, on the eighth day of February, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, between the United States of America and her Britannic Majesty, for the adjustment of certain outstanding claims of citizens of either government against the other, by which it is provided that one commissioner shall be named by each of said governments, with power to investigate and decide upon such claims, and that the said commissioners shall name some third person to act as arbitrator, or umpire, in any case or cases on which they may differ in opinion; and the honorable Nathaniel G. Upham having been appointed commissioner on the part of the United States, and Edmund Hornby, esquire, on the part of her Britannic Majesty, and having been, severally, duly qualitied and entered on the duties of their commission,