opium trade in China, Emperor Taouk-Wang delivered this ultimatum: "True, I cannot prevent the introduction of the poison; but nothing will induce me to raise revenue from the vice and misery of my people." The emperor, himself a reformed opium smoker, had lost three sons by this vice. All this time American, Dutch and Russian trade with China had been continued. President Tyler made it the subject of his message to the American Congress during this year. From the first any American traffic in opium was discouraged. [Sidenote: Webster-Ashburton agreement] [Sidenote: "Battle of the Maps"] [Sidenote: American interests in Hawaii] [Sidenote: Daniel Webster resigns] The Webster-Ashburton treaty, regulating the northeastern boundary between the United States and Canada, was signed on August 9. A strip of territory claimed by the State of Maine was ceded to Canada, while a more important strip was yielded to Vermont and New York. The treaty also provided for a joint repressive action against the slave trade, and for the extradition of criminals. It was Webster's greatest achievement in diplomacy, as was indicated by the fact that the American Senate, notwithstanding its hostility to President Tyler, ratified it by a three-fourths vote. In England more serious opposition was encountered. In Parliament the treaty was termed "Ashburton's Capitulation," and Lord Palmerston went so far as to attribute its concessions to Ashburton's partiality toward his American wife. The ratification of the treaty was followed by an international controversy known as "The Battle of the Maps." An early map found by Jared Sparks, the American historian, in the Library of Paris, had been used in the Senate to insure the ratification of the treaty without the knowledge of Lord Ashburton. When this became known in England it was denounced as underhand dealing. Frantic search in the archives of the British Museum brought to light another map, bearing the autograph indorsement of King George III. As it turned out, this only sustained the American contentions, and was used in Parliament to vindicate Lord Ashburton, just as Sparks's map had been used in behalf of Webster. Credit also belongs to Webster for his strong stand made at the time the Hawaiian Islands were threatened by a French expedition. It was then stated, as reiterated by President Tyler to Congress, that, in view of the preponderant intercourse of the United States with those islands, the American government would insist that no European nation should colonize or possess them, nor subvert the native governments. After a settlement of these international questions, Daniel Webster was permitted to resign his secretaryship to join the Whig opposition on the floor of the House. His resignation was the more readily accepted since he was known to be out of harmony with the Administration's designs against Mexico. As the son of President Tyler has recorded: "The