198 LESTER BURRELL SHIPPEE he added as his personal opinion, the establishment upon the Pacific was likely to be increased in the not remote future. Canning lost his temper and made some hasty remarks, al- though he was disinclined to reduce his views to writing. A second interview the following day was held at the suggestion of President Monroe, who, while he felt that it was impos- sible that the British were seeking at that time causes for dispute, thought that no possible opening should be left for a misunderstanding of the contention of the United States. Accordingly Adams,, in a long and rather acrimonious con- versation, plainly stated to Canning where the United States stood both in respect to its claims upon the Northwest Coast and to its understanding of the Convention of 1818. Entries in his diary both at the time and afterwards show that never again did his relations with the British minister resume the friendly and informal footing which existed before this event. But the topic was dropped. Canning had become involved in an altercation over an issue which the British government did not desire to press at the time, and he was notified ex- plicitly to this effect, and told that he was not upon his own initiative to reopen the subject without instructions from London. 23 Furthermore Adams was equally willing to let the affair rest. 24 He did not mention the interviews when draft- ing instructions to Rush in London, for he was sure that Canning would report to his government, and, if the question should be brought up, it would be from the English side and Castlereagh would be forced to disclose himself. He reviewed in his mind the whole course of events from the time Monroe first made the request for the restoration of Astoria down to the time of Canning's outburst ; from it all he thought he perceived in the British policy the intention to prevent the acquisition by the United States of the disputed coast and at the same time no indication that Great Britain intended to take an unequivocable stand. Moreover, Canning's "zeal and vehemence" had, in Adams' opinion, brought his government 23 F. O. Am. 156, quoted by Schafer in Am. Hist. Rev., Jan., 1911, 288 note. 24. Memoirs, V, 260, i.
