The sufferings and victories of the westerners would have counted for nothing, had it not been for the success of the American arms in the east, and for the skill of our three treaty-makers at Paris--Jay, Adams, and Franklin, but above all the two former, and especially Jay.

On the other hand, it was the actual occupation and holding of the country that gave our diplomats their vantage-ground.

When the treaty was made, in 1782, the commissioners of the United States represented a people already holding the whole Ohio Valley, as well as the Illinois.

The circumstances of the treaty were peculiar; but here they need to be touched but briefly, and only so far as they affected the western boundaries.

The United States, acting together with France and Spain, had just closed a successful war with England; but when the peace negotiations were begun, they speedily found that their allies were, if any thing, more anxious than their enemy to hamper their growth.