his general understanding of a treaty as a formal agreement between nations, a simple enough notion and one which can hardly fail to have been developed incidentally in the earlier course of the work. To return, then, to our preparatory consideration of the treaty of 1783, it should be pointed out that certain articles of that treaty[7] had provided for the payment of debts contracted before the war, for the restitution of all confiscated Tory estates, and, on the other side, for the withdrawal of English troops from United States territory. These provisions had not been carried out. Hard feeling between the two countries was further aggravated by England’s serious interference with our commerce. Her vessels persisted in searching our ships and impressing our seamen. The limit of patient endurance seemed reached when in 1793 the English government ordered the seizure of all neutral vessels carrying provisions to French ports. What was to be done? Clearly either one of two things: resort to war or enter into a new agreement. The class is presumably familiar with the fact that in spite of the advocacy of an alliance with France by certain of our leaders and their insistence on a renewal of the war with England, our government had definitely decided on a policy of neutrality and peace. Since we were not to fight England, it remained to settle our difficulties by means of a new treaty. How can our government make a treaty with a foreign nation? With this question we bring our pupils face to face with the first type-element in the Jay Treaty lesson. The class has not long since taken up the story of the making of our Constitution, and may be assumed to realize its significance as the “fundamental law.” What has the Constitution to say on the subject of treaty-making? The President “shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two-thirds of the Senators present concur.” The significance of this provision can easily be cleared up by a brief explanation of the organization of Congress, the chief general powers of that body, and the most important points of difference between the functions of the two houses.