John and confine themselves to the valley of the
Aroostook; that they shall occupy that valley in a temporary manner
only, for the purpose, as agreed upon, of preventing depredations; and
that they shall not construct fortifications nor make roads or permanent
settlements.
Until this be done by the people of the State of Maine, and so long
as that people shall persist in the present system of aggression, Her
Majesty's Government will feel it their duty to make such military
arrangements as may be required for the protection of Her Majesty's
rights. And Her Majesty's Government deem it right to declare that if
the result of the unjustifiable proceedings of the State of Maine should
be collision between Her Majesty's troops and the people of that State
the responsibility of all the consequences that may ensue therefrom,
be they what they may, will rest with the people and Government of the
United States.
The undersigned has been instructed to add to this communication that
Her Majesty's Government are only waiting for the detailed report of
the British commissioners recently employed to survey the disputed
territory, which report it was believed would be completed and delivered
to Her Majesty's Government by the end of the present month, in order to
transmit to the Government of the United States a reply to their last
proposal upon the subject of the boundary negotiation.
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