156 University of California Publications in History

 Whether by turning about and offering to yield to the Colorado,
as he was authorized, Onis could have obtained a diminution of
the United States' pretensions in the Northwest sufficient to reach
an agreement, one cannot say. He obviously considered the Texas
question settled and therefore did not tender the concession that he
had been empowered to make. Adams, consequently, did not know
precisely to what extent Onis' instructions would permit him to
compromise." Adams regretted yielding the claim to Texas more
than most of the Cabinet members, but considered the concession
necessary to an agreement.
 Despite the insufficiency of these instructions, Onis set out to
negotiate further. On January 10 he called on Hyde de Neuville,
only to become more than ever disgusted with that minister's
efforts to make him agree to Adams' ultimatum and declaration
that the United States would not concede a single point. Un-
daunted, however, the Spaniard wrote Adams on the next day, say-
ing that he would be able to reopen the conversations with a view
to further compromise."
 No sooner had Onis taken that step than he heard that Hyde de
Neuville had new instructions which directed him to aid the Span-
iard in reaching a suitable settlement of the affairs as promptly as
possible. This was a distorted report of the Frenchman's instruc-
tions of September 1, 1818, quoted in the preceding chapter, tell-
ing him to act as a conciliator. Onis remarked, however, that he
would not trust French aid far, for he believed that France's real
aim was to ingratiate herself with the United States as a means of
"combatting the ambition of England.""
 Adams, in a conference on January 15, 1819, told Onis that the
people generally thought that he had been too liberal, and that, far
from making new propositions, he could only renew those of Oc-
tober 31. Onis, therefore, submitted his revised scheme the follow-
ing day, acting on his own initiative regarding the northwest
boundary because he believed that concessions were essential in
order to avoid serious trouble. His note was short, inasmuch as he
simply repeated his former proposal (that of November 16) and
made the additional statement that he would accept the course of
the Columbia as the line westward from the head of the Missouri."
Onis, in urging this solution, assumed a confidential tone with
Adams, telling him of the stupidity of the men who made up the