Page:The Presidents of the United States, 1789-1914, v. II.djvu/288

230 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS ernments in a far better condition than he found it on his accession to the presidency. The long-standing and dangerous question of British dominion in Central America, in the hope of settling which Mr. Buchanan had accepted the mission to England, was still pending, but it was at length amicably and honorably settled, under his advice and approbation after he became president, by treaties between Great Britain and the two Cen tral American states, in accordance with the Ameri can construction of the Clayton-Bulwer treaty. Another subject of contention that had long ex isted between the two countries was removed by President Buchanan in a summary and dignified way. The belligerent right of search had been ex ercised by Great Britain in the maritime war of 1812. In process of time she undertook to assert a right to detain and search, on the high seas, in time of peace, merchantmen suspected of being en gaged in the slave-trade. In 1858 she despatched some cruisers with such orders to the coast of Cuba and the Gulf of Mexico. President Buchanan, al ways vigilant in protecting the commerce of the country, but mindful of the importance of prevent ing any necessity for war, remonstrated to the Eng lish government against this violation of the free dom of the seas. Then he sent a large naval force to the neighborhood of Cuba with instructions "to protect all vessels of the United States on the