dency, Mr. MADISON having been proposed for re-election in caucus by the Republican members of Congress. He was a most able and accomplished statesman, and had been, originally, opposed to the war: so that his defeat was regarded as a signal triumph by the Republican party.

Congress re-assembled on the 24th of May, and Mr. CLAY was again elected Speaker of the House, receiving 89 votes, in opposition to Hon. TIMOTHY PITKIN, who received 54. The message of President MADISON transmitted on the 25th, gave a brief and lucid sketch of the condition of the country, and contained an allusion to the spirit and manner in which the war had been waged by the British, who, it declared, were "adding to the savage fury of it on one frontier, a system of plunder and conflagration on the other, equally forbidden by respect for national character and by the established rules of civilized warfare." This mention of the sufferings and wrongs of his gallant countrymen, aroused the indignation of Mr. CLAY: immediately after the reading of the message, he called attention to that portion of its contents, and, in a few most eloquent remarks, expressed his abhorrence of the outrages said to have been committed by the British armies and their savage allies, declaring that, "if they should be found to be as public report had stated them, they called for the indignation of all Christendom, and ought to be embodied in an authentic document, which might perpetuate them on the page of history." Upon his motion, and without opposition or division, a resolution was adopted, referring this portion of the President's message to a Select Committee. Towards the close of the session a Report was made by Mr. MACON on behalf of this Committee, in which a mass of testimony was submitted, exhibiting, in the clearest manner,

the inhuman outrages repeatedly perpetrated upon American prisoners, by the Indian allies of British troops, and often under the eye of British officers. It closed with a resolution requesting the President to lay before the House, during the progress of the war, all the instances of departure, by the British, from the ordinary mode of conducting war among civilized nations.

Congress had assembled under auspicious circumstances. The fortune of war, which at its commencement, seemed so much against us, had turned in our favor; and signal victories, by sea and by land, had repeatedly crowned the American arms. A fifth naval victory had been added to the glory of our maritime exploits by Capt. LAWRENCE of the Hornet, who, with but eighteen guns, had captured, after a brisk and gallant action of fifteen minutes, the British sloop of war, Peacock, Capt. PEAKE, carrying twenty-two guns and 130 men, the latter losing her captain and nine men with thirty wounded, while our loss was but one killed and two wounded. York, the capital of Upper Canada, had been captured by the army of the centre, in connection with a naval force on Lake Ontario, under Gen. DEARBORN, while the issue of the seige of Fort Meigs, under Gen. HARRISON had won for that officer, high and distinguished laurels for bravery and military skill. As early as September of the previous year, the Emperor Alexander of Russia, had suggested to Mr. ADAMS, our Minister at St. Petersburgh, his intention to offer his mediation between the United States and Great Britain. The proposition had been favorably received and assurances had been given to the Emperor, of the earnest desire of our government, that the interest of Russia might remain entirely unaffected by the existing war between us and England; and

that no more intimate connections with France would be formed by the United States. With these assurances the Emperor had been highly gratified, and in the early part of March, 1813, the Russian Minister at Washington, M. DASCHKOFF, had formally proffered the mediation of his government, which was readily accepted by the President. It was rejected, however, by the British government, to the great surprise of our own, on the ground that their commercial and maritime rights would not thereby be as effectually secured as they deemed necessary; but, accompanying the rejection, was an expression of willingness to treat directly with the United States, either at Gottenburg or at London; and the interposition of the Emperor was requested in favor of such an arrangement. In consequence of the friendly offer of the Russian government, Messrs. ALBERT GALLATIN and JAMES A. BAYARD, had been sent to join our resident Minister, Mr. ADAMS, as Envoys Extraordinary, at St. Petersburgh. The proposal of the British Ministry, to treat with us at Gottenburg, was soon after accepted, and Messrs. CLAY and JONATHAN RUSSELL were appointed, in conjunction with the three Plenipotentiaries then in Russia, to conduct the negotiations. On the 19th of January, 1814, Mr. CLAY accordingly resigned his seat as Speaker of the House, in an eloquent and appropriate address. He received the thanks of the House, for the manner in which he had discharged the duties of his responsible office, and soon after sailed on his foreign mission.

There was a peculiar propriety in the selection, on the part of our government, of Mr. CLAY as one of the Commissioners, charged with the high duty of negotiating a treaty of peace with our ancient and powerful foe. He had been foremost in denouncing her aggressions upon our rights and

his voice had aroused the nation to a sense of the grievances and wrongs we had sustained at her hands. The vigor which his counsels inspired into the National Legislature, had greatly contributed to a successful prosecution of the contest, and the distinctness with which he had always and so eloquently defined the principles and rights, in defence of which we fought, made him a peculiarly suitable person to aid in insisting upon their full recognition as the sole condition on which permanent peace could be secured.

An intention was at first entertained of conducting the negotiation at London, as more likely to result in the conclusion of peace, but Ghent was finally fixed upon with the approbation of our government, as a more eligible point than either of the others that had been suggested. On the part of the Britith government, Lord GAMBIER, HENRY GOULBURN, Esq. and Dr. WILLIAM ADAMS had been appointed Commissioners. They arrived at Ghent on the 6th of August, 1814, all the American Plenipotentiaries being present, except Mr. GALLATIN, who arrived soon after. In the negotiation which succeeded, the British Commissioners had the decided advantage arising from their proximity to their government, which enable them the more readily to consult the wishes of the Ministry and thus to enlist upon their side all the strength of the British cabinet; while our Embassadors, by reason of their remoteness from home, were under the necessity of deciding upon the spot and on their own responsibility, all the questions that necessarily arose during the discussion. Whenever a note of any importance was received by the British Commissioners from ours, (as we learn by one of the official despatches,) it was immediately sent by them to London and an answer awaited, in the form of instructions. What

ever, on the other hand, was received by our delegation, was discussed by them in conference and thence committed to some designated member who was to prepare an answer. This was then submitted to the council, a copy taken to his lodgings by each member, and such amendments suggested as each deemed proper; these were again discussed and the final answer jointly agreed upon. The exact share each member of the Commission had in the preparation of the official papers, cannot of course be ascertained; but in this as well as in the oral discussions of the joint meeting, it is under stood that Mr. CLAY bore a conspicuous part.

The negotiation was opened by the British Commissioners, at the first conference held on the 8th, by the expression of a sincere desire on their part that it might end in a solid and honorable peace. These sentiments were reciprocated; and they then stated the principal subjects upon which the discussions would be likely to turn. The tone in which the negotiation was commenced was such as to forbid all hope of peace. At their first meeting the British had declared that an arrangement on the subject of Indian pacification must be effected; that the boundaries of the Indian tribes, lying within our own territory, must be settled by treaty with Great Britain, and that the United States must be precluded from the right of purchasing Indian lands without the consent of that nation. The object of this was of course, to maintain the Indians as a perpetual barrier between the United States and the British provinces; and any stipulation upon the subject would have been a virtual cession, on our part, of the right both of sovereignty and of soil. The other subjects upon which the British embassadors proposed to treat, were the forcible seizure of mariners from merchant vessels on the