The course of events and the lapse of time were working steadily to our advantage.
In 1826 Great Britain declined to accept the 49th parallel, but demanded the Columbia River as the boundary.

Twenty years afterwards she accepted the line previously rejected.

American settlers had forced her back.

With the sweep of our emigration and civilization to the Pacific coast two years after the treaty of 1846, when gold was discovered in California, the tendency would have been still more strongly in our favor.

Time, as Mr.Calhoun said, "would have effected every thing for us" if we could only have been patient and peaceful.
Taking the question, however, as it stood in 1846, the settlement must, upon full consideration and review, be adjudged honorable to both countries.