him, that it had become necessary that he should not lose sight of the instructions of the 24th of June, as any pledge beyond that was incompatible with the views of the government.' Such was the nature of the charge of American ambition and aggrandizement, and such the evidence to support it.

"The conduct of the United States, from the moment of declaring the war, will serve, as well as their previous conduct, to rescue them from the unjust reproaches of Great Britain. When war was declared, the orders in council had been maintained, with inexorable hostility, until a thousand American vessels and their cargoes had been seized and confiscated, under their operation; the British minister at Washington had, with peculiar solemnity, announced that the orders would not be repealed, but upon conditions, which the American government had not the right, nor the power, to fulfil; and the European war, which had raged with little intermission for twenty years, threatIened an indefinite continuance. Under these circumstances, a repeal of the orders, and a cessation of the injuries which they produced, were events beyond all rational anticipation. It appears, however, that the orders, under the influence of a parliamentary inquiry into their effects upon the trade and manufactures of Great Britain, were provisionally repealed on the 23d of June, 1812, a few days subsequent to the American declaration of war. If this repeal had been made known to the United States, before their resort to arms, the repeal would have arrested it; and that

cause of war being removed, the other essential cause, the practice of impressment, would have been the subject of renewed negotiation, under the auspicious influence of a partial, yet important, act of reconciliation. But the declaration of war, having announced the practice of impressment, as a principal cause, peace could only be the result of an express abandonment of the practice; of a suspension of the practice, for purposes of negotiation; or of a cessation of actual sufferance, in consequence of a pacification in Europe, which would deprive Great Britain of every motive for continuing the practice.

"The reluctance with which the United States had resorted to arms, was manifested by the steps taken to arrest the progress of hostilities, and to hasten a restoration of peace. On the 26th of June, 1812, the American charge d'affaires. at London, was instructed to make the proposal of an armistice to the British government, which might lead to an adjustment of all differences, on the single condition, in the event of the orders in council being repealed, that instructions should be issued, suspending the practice of impressment during the armistice. This proposal was soon followed by another, admitting, instead of positive instructions, an informal understanding between the two governments on the subject. But both of these proposals were unhappily rejected. And when a third, which seemed to leave no plea for hesitation, as it required no other preliminary than that the American minister, at London, should find in the British govern

ment a sincere disposition to accomodate the difference relative to impressment, on fair conditions, was evaded, it was obvious that neither a desire of peace nor a spirit of conciliation influenced the councils of Great Britain."*

In following the able and conclusive vindication of Mr. Dallas,-which could not be mutilated without impairing, if not altogether destroying, much of its beauty and force, we have been led to deviate, in some degree, from strict chronological order. To return, therefore, to the position of Mr. Madison at the outset of his administration: He found himself, as we have seen, embarrassed by altercations and disputes of long standing, with the two great powers of the world, the one hostile in feeling as in conduct, and the other, though disposed to be friendly, compelled by the course of her adversary, to adopt measures of retaliation, as unjust to her ancient ally as they were injurious. During the administration of Mr. Jefferson, embargo had been tried in vain; though suffering much from the adoption of this measure, neither England nor France relented in anything; and, on the other hand, our people who were engaged in commerce, preferring to run the risk of evading the European blockades, rather than to have their vessels lie rotting in their harbors, began to grow still more violent in the utterance of their complaints.

In order to alleviate, as far as was consistent with the preservation of the national dignity, the burdens *Dallas' Exposition.

which weighed so heavily, though necessary to be borne, upon the citizens of the eastern and Middle Atlantic states, the non-intercourse system was substituted for the embargo, at the close of the session of Congress, in March, 1809. Trusting that this manifestation of a conciliatory spirit would be followed by the adoption of corresponding measures on the part of England, to whom all eyes were turned as the first aggressor in this series of outrages and insults; but, at the same time, fearing lest, notwithstanding their desire for peace, they might be compelled to take up arms in defence of their rights, provision was made by law, prior to the termination of the session, for a special meeting of the next Congress, to be held on the 22d day of May following.

Accordingly, the members of the eleventh Congress assembled at the Capitol, at the time specified in the act; and the House of Representatives was organized, by the re-election of Joseph B. Varnum, a democratic member from Massachusetts, to the office of Speaker. On the 23d instant, the President communicated his message to the two houses, from which, and the accompanying documents, it appeared that in the month of April previous, an arrangement had been entered into with the British minister, Mr. Erskine, by virtue of which the commerce between England and the United States would be renewed, from and after the ensuing 10th day of June.

By the repeal of the Embargo, and the substitution of a less obnoxious measure, a favorable opportunity

had been afforded for the renewal of negotiations. Acting in accordance with the spirit, though not the letter, of his instructions, Mr. Erskine proposed to make satisfaction for the attack on the Chesapeake, and to withdraw the orders in Council, on the 10th of June, upon certain preliminary conditions, which were promptly complied with by the American government; and on the 19th of April, the President had issued his proclamation in conformity with this arrangement. This favorable termination, as it was supposed of the existing difficulties, produced a most happy effect. The speedy revival of commerce was now looked for, and peace and prosperity seemed again to smile upon the land. It was under such auspicious circumstances that Congress came together. The session was necessarily brief; and after the passage of an act adopting the commercial laws to the new arrangement with Great Britain, and some few others of minor importance, the members again separated.

But this calm in the political atmosphere was of brief duration. The British Secretary for foreign affairs, Mr. Canning, was ambitious to become in the cabinet what Napoleon was in the field. His fiery and dashing counsels prevailed; and the proceedings of Mr. Erskine were wholly disavowed. The latter had insisted, in his dispatches to his government, that his deviation from the orders he had received, had been occasioned by a thorough conviction on his part, that, by a too strict adherence to the letter of his instructions, he might lose "the opportunity of promo