v'^ S U ,0o. o- ^/._ » .'X \^^ ^/. *.,^ 'i'^" ^ ^v 'r* - \ '/^. "" '>*< ^' c^ -• O 'i- .. ,x^^ -<- ,^'^ x\ .#^ 0> "Ct. ,0 o. •X^' ■^■.:, oo \ I \ " \\ xV .0- ^>.,x^^ \^ T- -^ ■•. ^ "^ « , l"^■ ,N-^- .>^^^% ^ ,x\^' -'f V 1 6 .-^^ \^ °.. >■ -/'- .' .0- / ,-.^^ -^^ -N- / C' N ys-^^:- ,<^' s^-^. •'o. • o ^^ -^^ '^ ^o"V>'** '><^2^ "' V * , -A ■' » . ^ - , V^"^ ,') \ %4^' ■^■ ' -^^^ . 0- ,'-'"*., -^ ci- V O « * -, , > . •)^* .^ \' Oo, \'^^ "./' .^'' '^ -bo^ "-.0^ .<^- ^'^ ^0^ 1 A x^^' ^^ .. '<^ 'J^. •^ N r, -/' ' - W — .«. -- v'' ^. ' ■ •■ - f-^- * ■XV' 'f'- , •'. x^^ \ 1 r> . O. ■ O' . \ 1 « <• o Q r:> o \ -!> <'\ .s^"" c » ^ '■ RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE OLIVE BRAKCH. Extract of a letter from James JMadi son, Esq. President of the United States, Washington, January 28, 1815. " I have not been able as yet to do more than glance at the plan of the work, and run over a few of its pages. The course adopted of assembling authentic and striking facts, and addressing them impartially and independently, but with becoming emphasis, to the attention of the public, was best fitted to render it a valuable and seasonable service : and it appears that the success of your la- boui-s will well reward the laudable views with which it was undertaken." Extract of a letter from Thomas Jefferson, Esq. ex-president of the United States. Monticello, Feb, 9, 1815. " I thank you for the copy of the Olive Branch you have been so kind as to send me. Many extracts froiu it which I had seen in the newspapers, had ex- cited a wish to procure it. A cursory view over the work has confirmed the opinion excited by the extracts, that it will do great good." Extract of a letter from TV. Sampson, Esq. New York, Feb. 15, 1815. " I have read your Olive Branch ; and I can now express my sincere satisfac- tion. I must offer you my best compliments upon a production, which breathes the sentiments of pure and manly patriotism." Extract of a letter from Orchard Cook, Esq. Wiscasset, Me, April 2, 1815. " Permit me to offer you my thanks for j^our incomparable work, the Olive Branch. You can hardly imagine how much it is admired, and how much good it is doing." Extract of a letter from A". Biddle, Esq. a member of the Senate of Pennsylvania, a decided Federalist. " Mr. Biddle takes this opportunity of expressing to Mr. Carey the satisfac- tion which he has derived from reading his manly appeal from the passions to the reason of contending parties." Dec. 2, 1814. Extract of a letter from the Hon. Wm. Eustis, Esq. noiv minister of the United States, in Holland. Boston, Nov. 16, 1814. " The Olive Branch is certainly calculated to do great good. It bears, a3 you observe, the marks of rapidity : — but it is the rapid, rectilineal course of an enhghtened mind, directed by strong common sense." Extract of a letter from a literary Gentleman in Baltimore. Nov. 20, 1814. " Accept my sincere and hearty thanks for the Olive Branch. So far as my opinion goes, it is the best timed and most masterly performance I ever saw." Extract of a letter from Richard Rush, Esq. now J\Tinistcr Pleidpotentiary of the United Stales at the Court of St. James's. ' Washington, April 28, 1815. " R. R. has been fi-ee to declare upon all occasions, aiid the sentiment is now still further strengthened, that he thinks the country owes Mr. C a very large debt for the patriotic, the zealous, and the intelligent efforts of liis pen during the late strug-gle ; for his energetic, spii'ited, yet candid defence of public prin- ciples and public measures; for his just exposition of our institutions; for his discriminating and indefatigable selection of authentic documents illustrative of our history, and the forcible, perspicuous, and unanswerable commentai-ies which he has superinduced upon them. R. R. places, at a very high rate, the .share which Mr. Carey's publications have had in serving to rescue us from dan- ger, and to secure our triumphs ; and he anticipates in the mass of truth which they have diffused throughout the Union, effects from them of further and more lasting benefit." " There is perhaps no book extant, that in so small a compass contains so great a quantity of momentous political truth. Like the two-edged sword, said to have been wielded by the angel of light against " Satan and his angels," it dispels and puts to flight an army of error and falsehood."— ?feeA^/«/ Re^ster, vol. vii. page 371. A RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE OUVE BRANCH. Extract of a letter from Phillip Freneau, Esq. Mount Pleasant, October 30, 1815. « Your Olive Branch has excited much attention, wherever people will at all read. According to an old saying, it is worth its weight in gold ; and .since the pubUcation ofThomas Paine's Common Sense, I know nothing that has is- sued from the American press, of equal solid utility." Extract of a letter from James J. Wilson, Esq. Member of the United States' Senate. •' Trenton, June 21, 1815. " I consider your work not only as a gi-eat present acquisition, but as likely to produce good effects for a long time to come." Extract of a letter from Benjamin Austin, Esq. •' Boston, Oct. 24, 1815. " T consider the Olive Branch as the most lucid pubUcation that has appear- ed since the violence of party has plunged the pubhc mind into a chaos of po- litical eiTor." ^ Extract of a letter from the author of the British Spy. Richmond, Nov. 1, 1815. " I consider the Olive Branch as valuable in a higli degree, and all that I have heard speak of it in this quarter, express themselves in the warmest terms of approbation." Extract of a letter from Jesse Moore, Esq. Presiding Judge of the B. C. Pennsyl- vania. Meadville, September 29, 1815. • « I have no hesitation in saying that by writing and publishing the OliVe -Branch, yo^i have been a benefactor to the public ; and that in this opinion, after the present mists of party spirit sliall have evaporated, a very great pro- portion of the candid, honest, and intelligent men of every pai-ty will at length concur." Extract of a letter from Dr. James Tilton. Wilmington, Oct. 10, 1815. *' All that I hear of the Olive Branch, indicates that it passes with the same eclat among the people that Common Sense did in the Revolution." From " Liberty Hall," a Cincinatii JVe-uispaper. « The Olive Branch, published by M. Carey, of Philadelphia, has perhaps been tbe most popular and useful publication ever printed in America. It will hereafter be a matter of record of the most important transactions and docu- ments resulting from the war, and the causes that led to it." Extract from the Western Herald, Jidy 1815. " The Author of the Olive Branch deserves the thanks and gratitude of the nation. We have no hesitation in saviug that every man who can afford to buy a single book more tlian the Holy Scriptures, ought to buy the Olive Branch." Extract of a letter from Jonathan Roberts, Esq member of the Senate of the United States. « Your labours have contributed more than those of any other person, to re- move the mists of prciudice and misrepresentation. You have not only la- boured successfully to "present a clear view of the conduct of both sides— but you have promulgated your writings with such diligence and success as to dou- ble your merits." iMter from Mahlon Dickerson, Esq. late Governor of the state of Xe^v Jersey. " Trenton, Dec. 5, 1817. " T will thank vou to .set me down as a subscriber to your eighth edition of the Olive Tiranch. I have but two editions of that work— but should have had all, could I have procured them immediately on their first coming out. " Be assured no man thinks more highly of this work than 1 do. It is so com- pletely and peculiarly yours, thai I should have discovered the author on read- ing four pages. Indeed, while reading it, I think I hear your voice, and see your manner." THE OLIYE BRANCH: OR, FAULTS ON BOTH SIDES, FEDERAL AXD DEMOCRATIC. A SERIOUS APPEAL ON THE NECESSITY OF MUTUAL FORGIVENESS AND HARMONY. BY MfCAREY. TENTH EDITION, IMPROVED. " Paction is the madness of the many for the benefit of the few." " Frenzied be the head — palsied be the hand — that attempts to destroy thf" union." Gen. Eaton " Truths would you teach — or save a sinking land : " All fear — none aid you — and few understand." Pope. " Every kingdom divided against itself, is brought to DESOLATION." Matt xii. 2,1 " In dissensione nulla salus co7isJjicitur." Cxsar. " If we pay a proper regard to truth, we shall find it necessary not only to condemn our friends upon some occasions, and commend our enemies, but also to commend and condemn the same persons, as different circumstances may re- quire ; for as it is not to be imagined, that those who are engaged in great af- fairs, should always be pursuing false or mistaken measures ; so neither is it probable that their condcut can be at all times exempt from eiTOr." Polybivf. PHILADELPHIA : PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY M. CAREY AND SON JVo. 126, Chesnnt Street. June 1, 1818. e V Extract from Governor Strangle Speech, 17th January, 1806. " Changes in the constitution ol government are more injurious than in the Sj-stcm of laws : even a sSnall innovation maij deatroy its pri?ici plea. The tramers of the constitution had before ihem not only the forms which had been prefer- red by tlie several states ; but those also, which, before that time, hatl been de- vised in other ages and nations. And Ihougli the repeated experiments which have since talcen place in Europe, may suggest matter for warning, they atiord nothing for imitation. If, notwithstanding, it is found by experience, that the consutution ojicrates very unequally, or the construction of any partis doubt- ful, amendments may be necessary to alter or explain it. But it is in vain to expect tliut all ivill Oe satisfied. — Free governments admit of an endless variety of modifications; When the constitution was estabhshed, perhaps no man that became subject to it was perfectly pleased with every part. Jt was the result of mutual concession : and such, indeed, must always be the case, when a form of govcrmnent is voluntarily accepted by a community. " In the minds of some men, there seems to be a restlessness, ivMch renders them dissatisfied with any uniform course of things, and makes them eager in the pursuit of novelty. They abound in projects, and are ever meditating some fanciful clumge in the plan of government, which their imaginations represent as useful. But men of great ambition are still more dangerous ; they commonly make the fairest pretences to principles, though Ihey are actuated only by self-interest. If the constitution or laws of their country present obstacles to the accomplishment of their -wishes, they employ every artifce to alter or abolish them ; and if individuals oppose their at- tempts, they are equally artfid and solicitous to destroy their influence and re^ider them odious to their fellow citizens. " b'ew men, even in a prosperous community, are fully satisfied with their condition. A great part are easily induced to believe, tliat there is something wrong in the government or laws, which might be rectified to their advantage. They therefore readily embrace any specious proposal to effect an alteration. The crafty and ambitious knoiu hoiu to avail tliemselves of this disposition to change, and encourage their followers to expect that the amendments they propose will per- fectly suit their case, and produce the very blessings they wish : in this way they not only eii'cct tlieir immediate object, but acquire an influence which enables them afterwards to accomplish the most disastrous innovations. Sucli persons encourage hopes that can 7iever be realized, and excite complaints which tlie most wise and benevolent administration is unable to remove. " Our forms of government are, doubtless, like all other human institutions, impert'ect ; but they will insure the blessings of freedom to the citizens, and preserve their ti'anepiillity, as long as they are virtuous ; and no constitution that has been or can be formed will secui'e those blessings to a depraved and vicious people." Extract from the Answer of the Massachusetts Senate to the above Speech. " We shall look with a still more cautious eye upon every innovation attempt- ed to be made upon our national constitution. The integrity, experience, and extensive information discovered by the illustrious characters, who framed that valuable instrument, and the series of public prospei'ity enjoyed under it, enti- tle it to our higiicst veneration; its excellence appears witli still greater lustre, when compared with the ephemeral constitutions of many nations which have flitted across the eye in rajiid succession, and then sunk into total oblivion. We are not insensible, tliat our form of government must be imperfect, as was the nature of its autliors : but we recollect, at the same time, that any proposed alteration, under the mime of amendment, is liable to the same imperfections. " Believing, therefore, that the princ'plvs fthe constitution are as well adjusted as human infi-mity will permit, and that a ^'rall innovation may essentially peiTert its original tendency, we shall exert ourselves to preserve it in its pi'esent form, except in cases where its operation shall be foiuid extremely unequal and op- pressive." -i' I THIS BOOK, (AS A MARK OF GRATITUDE FOR INESTIMABLE BLESSINGS ENJOYED, IN LIBERTY OF PERSON, LIBERTY OF PROPERTY, AND LIBERTY OF OPINIONS, TO A DEGREE NEVER EXCEEDED IN THE WORLD,) IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED TO A BELOVED BUT BLEEDING COUNTRY, TORN IN PIECES BY FACTIOUS, DESPERATE, CON\^ULSIVE, AND RUINOUS STRUGGLES FOR POWER. IT IS LIKEWISE DEDICATED TO THOSE MILLIONS OF HUMAN BEINGS, WHO NEITHER HOLD NOR SEEK OFFICE ; BUT WHO ARE MADE THE INSTRUMENTS OF THOSE WHO DO SEEK THEM : AND WHO, WHILE A FOREIGN ENEMY PRESSES AT THEIR DOORS, ARE ENFEEBLED AND KEPT FROM UNION, TO GRATIFY THE AMBITION OF A FEW MEN, (NOT ONE IN FIVE THOUSAND OF THE WHOLE COMMUNITY) WHO HAVE BROUGHT TO THE VERY VERGE OF DESTRUCTION, THE FAIREST PROSPECT EVER VOUCHSAFED BY HEAVEN TO ANY NATION. BY THE .iUTHOR. Philad. J^ov. 8, 1814. O, B. 2 GO, OLITE BRANCH, INTO A COMMUNITY, WHICH, DRUGGED INTO A DEATH-LIKE STUPOR, WITH UNPARALLELED APATHY BEHOLDS THE PILLARS OF THE GOVERNMENT TEARING AWAY-. THE NATION NEARLY PROSTRATE AT THE FEET OF A RUTHLESS FOE , ANARCHY RAPIDLY APPROACHING; A NUMBER OF AMBITIOUS LEADERS, REGARDLESS OF THE COMMON DANGER, STRUGGLING TO SEIZE UPON THE GOVERNMENT, AND - APPARENTLY DETERMINED THE COUNTRY SHALL GO TO PERDITION, UNLESS THEY CAN POSSESS THEMSELVES OF POWER , AND, WITH THIS VIEW, OPPOSING AND DEFEATING EVERY MEASURE, CALCULATED TO INSURE SALVATION APPEAL TO THE PATRIOTISM, THE HONOUR, THE FEELING, THE SELF-INTEREST OF YOUR READERS, TO SAVE A NOBLE NATION FROM RUIN, Fftilad. Jan. 4, 18l5. PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. Philadelphia^ Nov. 8, 1814.* This work is submitted to the public with an uncommon de- gree of solicitude and anxiety. The subject it embraces, and the objects it has in view, are of inexpressible magnitude. The for- mer is the present critical situation of the United States, with the causes that have led to that situation ; the latter, the mitiga- tion of party rage and rancour, and the restoration of harmony. It is no longer doubtful that a conspiracy exists in New Eng- land, among a few of the most wealthy and influential citizens, to effect a dissolution of the union, at every hazard, and to form a separate confederacy. This has been believed by some of our citizens for years, and strenuously denied \)y others, deceived by the mask the conspirators wore, and by their hollow professions. But it requires more than Bceotian stupidity and dulness, to he- sitate on the subject, after the late extraordinary proceedings, which cannot possibly have any other object. Eighteen years have elapsed since this dangerous project was first promulgated-! From that period to the present, it has never been out of view. The end and the means were equally unholy and pernicious. Falsehood, deception, and calumny, in turn, have been employed to aid the design. The passions of the ci- tizens have been kept in a constant state of the most extravagant excitement. Every act of the government has been placed in the most revolting point of view. And to the public function- aries have been unceasingly ascribed the most odious objects, pursued by the most detestable means. About two-thirds of the papers published in the eastern states, are opposed to the present administration. They are all ex-parte. A single number of the Centinel, Repertory, Boston Gazette, He. rarely appears free from abuse of the administration. And I am pretty well convinced that attempts at vindication are hardly ever admitted. The object steadily and invariably pur- * The reader is requested, in reading the different Prefaces, to pay particu- lar attention to their dates. f In a series of essays, published under the signature of Pelham,in the Con> necticut Courant, 1796. 10 PRErACK TO THE ITRST LDITIOK. sued, is to run down the incumbents in office at all events. To this ooject every thing is made subservient, and every means of effecting it is regarded as lawful. On the injustice, the cruelty of this procedure, it is needless to descant. It is treating the highest public functionaries of the country, chosen by the unbiassed suffrages of a free people, with more cruelty and injustice than we should display towards the veriest rascal in society. Were he accused of any crime what- ever, his defence would be patiently heard before sentence would be pronounced. But our first magistrate, and other public offi- cers, are accused, tried, and condemned, without a possibility of defence. This is a great and deplorable evil — an evil so inveterate, as to render a remedy almost hopeless. It is hardly possible for any government to stand against such an unjust system, which is pregnant with the most awful consequences to society. It will be said that there are many newspapers devoted to the defence of the administration, as well as to destroy it. This does not remove the difficulty. Such are the folly and madness of the times, that the mass of our citizens confine themselves to those papers calculated to strengthen their prejudices. They rarely read defences, if any appear. And thus it is not surprising that those prejudices daily be- come more violent, and more extensive in their operation — and that through the address and industry of artful men, some of our citizens, otherwise highly estimable, are prepared to de- stroy that constitution, to whose abuse and perversion they ascribe all thrjse sufferings which have really flowed from the rapacity and injustice of the belligerents. Besides the party in New England, who are determined on a separation of the states for their own aggrandizement — there is one in the middle states equally dangerous. They are daily en- gaged in preparing the public mind for seizing the reins of go- vernment by violence, and expelling the public functionaries. With these gentlemen, it is a favourite idea, to send " the president to Elba,'' and supply his place with one of their own friends, and thus save the people the necessity of another elec- tion. Mr. Barent Gardenier, of New York, editor of the Cou- rier, and a few violent men in congress, are the most active of this party. All their talents and industry are devoted to this vile purpose. Blood and murder — lanterns and guillotines apart, this is as revolutionary, as disorganizing, as jacobiniral a project as any of those conceived by Danton, Legendre, Marat, Petion, or Ro- bespierre, in the earlv stages of the French revolution. And, reader, " lay 7iot thefiaUer'rng unction to your soul^"^ that we shall, in this event, escape bloodshed. It is as impossible that such PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION, It a flagitious project should be carried into operation, without rivers of blood being shed, as that ) ou could tear away the foun- dations on which a mighty edifice rests, without the edifice it- self crumbling to ruins ; or remove the dykes which oppose the violence of rushing torrents, and not have the circumjacent country overflowed. A favourite phrase with Mr. Gardenier is, that " the present administration must come doxvn.^'' This is quite explicit. ^ It is impossible to mistake the intention, or the mode of effecting it. The latter is very simple. History furnishes numerous exam- ples. It is the mode by which, after the Rubicon was passed, Julius Caesar rose to power on the ruins of the commonwealth ; by which Cromwell expelled the Rump parliament, and seized the reins of government ; and, to come to a later period, it is the mode whereby Bonaparte made himself master of the destinies of France. But, Mr. Gardenier, we are not ripe for this project yet. Can you, or can general Robert Wharton, (Mayor of Philadelphia) who has given the toast — " James Madison, on the island of Elba" — can you, I say, be mad enough to believe, that the hardy yeomanry of New York, New Jersey, or Pennsylvania, will al- low any band of desperadoes with impunity to tear the highest public functionaries of the nation from their seats — men chosen in strict conformity with the terms of the social compact ? If you flatter yourselves with any such pleasing delusions, awake, and shake off" the mighty error. Rely upon it, that those who may make the sacrilegious attempt, will, with their deluded followers, suffer condign punishment as traitors. For a considerable time past, the United States have exhibited a spectacle of the most extraordinar}- kind, and almost unique in the history of the world. Our constitution has probably but one material defect. It wants a due degree of energy, particularly pending war. If it were free from this, it might endure as many ages as the Spar- tan or Roman government. This defect must be a subject of deep and serious regret to all good men, not merely our cotemporaries or countrymen, but to those in future times and distant countries, who may feel an interest in the happiness of their fellow men. In perusing his- tory, we lament the errors of our ancestors — ours will be a sub- ject of lamentation to posterity. This serious defect in the frame of our government, renders it the imperious duty of all good citizens to uphold and support it with all their energy. But, all considerations of duty apart, tneye selfishness ought to prompt those who have any interest in 12 PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. the welfare of the country, who may lose, but cannot gain by con- vulsions, and tumults, and confusion, and anarchy, with all their efforts to uphold the government which protects them in the en- joyment of all the blessings of life. It is, however, awful to relate, that a large proportion of the wealthiest men in the community have been as sedulously em- ployed in tearing down the pillars of the government^ — in throwing every obstacle and difficulty and embarrassment in the way of its administrators, as if it were equally oppressive with that of Al- giers or Turkey, or as if they could derive advantage from anar- chy. Should they be cursed with final success in their endea- vours, they and their posterity will long mourn the consequences. The national vessel is on rocks and quicksands, and in danger of shipwreck. There is, moreover, a larger and more formidable vessel prepari'.ig all possible means for her destruction. But, in- stead of efforts to extricate her, the crew are distracted by a dis- pute how she came into that situation. The grand and only ob- ject with a part of them is to seize the helm — and, rather than not succeed, they are resolved she shall run the risque of going to perdition. This party swears that all our difficulties and dangers are owing to the imbecility, the corruption, the madness, the folly of the pilot, whom they threaten with " a halter," or to put him ashore " on the island of Elba." The others swear with equal vehemence, that the refractory, turbulent, and factious spi- rit of the mutinous pai't of the crew has run the vessel aground. They are, accordingly, determined to defend the pilot. A few individuals, who see that both parties have contributed to pro- duce this calamitous event, in vain hold out " the Olive Branch^'' and implore them to suspend all enquiry into the cause of the danger till the ship is extricated. But it is in vain. While the parties are more and more inflamed against each other, the ves- sel bilges on a sharp rock — down she goes — pilot — and support- ers — and mutineers — and peace makers — all in one common de- struction ! This, I am fearful, will be our fate. But it may be prevented. All that is necessary is that a few influential men in the different states unite — bury the hatchet — and lay aside all minor conside- rations while the vessel of state is in danger. This policy is so obviously just, that one hundred individuals throughout the union setting the example, would have sufficient influence to ac- complish the blessed object of saving their country. Will the Clarksons,-the Rays, the Ludlows, theRemsens, the Ogdens, the Pearsalls, the Lenoxes, the Harrisons, the Lawren- ces, the M'Cormicks, of New York-— the Willings, the Fran- cises, the Norrises, the Biddies, the Latimers, the Tilghmans, the Wains, the Ralstons, the Lewises, of Philadelphia — theGil- mors, the Olivers, the Sterets, the Howards, the Smiths, the PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. 13 Bryces, the Grahams, the Cookes, of Baltimore — and other such estimable federalists throughout the union, continue to regard with apathy the dangers of their countrj^, and not make a bold and decisive stand to rescue her ? No. It cannot be. Heaven has not, I hope, so far blotted us out of its favourable remem- brance, as to abandon us to such a frightful destiny. It will, I hope, at this late hour, interpose for our salvation, and dispel the horrible mists of passion and prejudice — of madness and folly — which intercept from ovir view the abyss that yawns be- fore us, ready to swallow us up in remediless destruction. In England, the opposition to the ministry is always violent, and, like the opposition here, is too generally directed against all the measures of governmejit^ whether meritorious or other- wise. But there is in parliament a substantial country party^ which occasionally votes with the minister, and occasionally with the opposition — supporting or opposing measures as con- science dictates. It is a most unfortunate fact, that in congress the number of members of this description is very s?nall. That body may be generally classed into federalists and democrats, who too fre- quently vote in solid colums.* There are, I grant, laudable ex- ceptions. But they are too rare. This is one of the worst features in the situation of the coun- try. The indiscriminate adherence to party, and uniform sup- port of party arrangements, encourage the leaders to proceed to extremities^ and to adopt violent and pernicious measures, which the good sense of their followers may reprobate, but from Avhich they have not fortitude enough to -withhold their support. This has been in all countries the most frightful of the consequences of the unholy and deleterious spirit of faction. Men, originally of the purest hearts and best intentions, are, by this ignis fatiius^ gradually corrupted, and led step by step to unite in acts, at which they would, at the commencement of their career, have recoiled with horror and affright. I believe it is a sound politi- cal maxim, that a thoroughgoing party-man cannot he a perfectly honest politician ; for there perhaps never yet was a party free from errors and crimes, more or less gross, in exact proportion to the folly or the wickedness of its leaders. The Jews, besieged by Titus, within the walls of their metro- polis, availed themselves of the cessation of the hostile attacks of their external enemies, to glut their vengeance, and malice, and factious spirit, by butchering each other — and thus both par- ties fell an easy prey to the invaders. To this deplorable pitch of madness, xve have not yet arrived. But that we have hitherto es- caped this calamity, is not for want of industry on the part of those who are unceasingly employed as incendiaries in blowing * This state of thing-s has-materially changed since the war. Party spirit in Congress has very nearly subsided. May, 1818. 14 PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. up the flames of discord, and preparing us for similar scene-s» The cool, and calm, and temperate part of the community, ap- pear torpid and languid, and take no steps to avert the awful ca- tastrophe. Let them awake from their slumbers soon ; or, at no distant day, the evil may be i-emediless, and they will in vain mourn over their folly. I believe Mr. Madison perfectly upright ; that his administra- tion of the government has been conducted with as pure inten- tions, as ever actuated a first magistrate of any country ; and that lord Chatham, or the great Sully, would have found it a very arduous task to manage the helm under the difficulties, ex- ternal and internal, that he has had to contend with. But were it a question that I'elated wholly to Mr. Madison or his admi- nistration, I should never have trespassed on the public. — Were Mr. Madison as patriotic as Curtius, or the Decii, as just as Aristides — and as immaculate as an archangel — nay, were all the heroes and statesmen of the revolution restored to life, and entrusted with the administration — I should consider their ho- nour, their interests, their happiness, or their safety, as dust in the balance, compared with the salvation of eight millions of people. It is difficult to conceive an object more worthy of the efforts of an ardent mind. A review of history will convince any rea- sonable or candid person, that there probably never was, and in- dubitably there is not at present, a more interesting portion of the human species, than the inhabitants of the United States. There never was a nation in which all the solid blessings and comforts of life were more fully enjoyed than they are here, and were secured by such slender sacrifices. I am not so blind an admirer, as to presume that the nation has no defects. 1 here never was a nation or individual free from them. But take all the leading points that give assurance of happiness, and afford the necessary indications of respectability ; and at no period can there be found a nation standing on more elevated ground. The former points of difference between the federalists and democrats have, for the present, lost all their importance. They are merged in objects of incomparably higher moment. Evils of incalculable magnitude menace us. A powerful enemy, flushed with success, and with superabundant means of annoyance, ho- vers on our coasts ; and, through his formidable navy, can inflict on us deep and lasting injury. And what is pregnant with more terror by far, instead of aiding to extricate us from this perilous situation, the opportunity of a season of difficulty and danger is seized on to attempt the dissolution of the union ; tO raise up hostile and jarring confederacies ; and to destroy the hopes man- kind have formed of our noble governmental experiment. To dispute about the minor points that have divided the par- ties heretofore, is madness. How superlative would be the folly PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. l5 and absurdity of two men, who were fighting about the interior decorations and arrangements of an edifice, regardless of the operations of two others, one of whom was undermining and preparing to blow it up in the air, and the other providing a torch to set it on fire ? A strait jacket would be loo slender a re- straint for them. Such are the folly and madness of those demo- crats and federalists who continue their warfare about the mode of administering the government, or the persons by whom it shall be administered, at a time when the government itself is in danger of being destroyed root and branch. The plan of this work requires some short explanation. I be- lieve the country to be in imminent danger of a convulsion, whereof the human mind cannot calculate the consequences. The nation is divided into two hostile parties, whose animosity towards each other is daily increased by inflammatory publica- tions. Each charges the other with the guilt of having pro- duced the present alarming state of affairs. In private life, when two individuals quarrel, and each believes the other wholly in the wrong, a reconciliation is hardly practicable. But when they can be convinced that the errors are mutual— as is almost universally the case — they open their eai-s to the voice of reason, and are v/illing to meet each other half way. A maxim sound in private affairs, is rarely unsound in public life. While a vio- lent federalist believes all the evils of the present state of things have arisen from the guilt of the administration, nothing less will satisfy him than hurling Mr. Madison from the seat of govern- ment, and " sending him to Elba.'" While, on the other hand, a violent democrat persuades himself that all our dangers have ari- sen from the difficulties and embarrassments constantly and stea- dily thrown in the way of the administration by the federalists, he is utterly averse to any compromise. — Each looks down upon the other with scorn and hatred, as the Pharisee in the Gospel, upon the publican. I have endeavoured to prove, and I believe I have fully proved, that each party has a heavy debt of error, and folly, and guilt, to answer for to its injured country, and to pos- terity — and, as I have stated in the body of this work, that mu- tual forgiveness is no more than an act of justice — and can lay no claim to the character of liberality on either side. But even supposing for a moment — what probably hardly ever occurred since the world was formed — that the error is all on one side, is it less insane in the other to increase the diffi- culty of extrication — to refuse its aid— to embarrass those who Mt>-. have the management of affairs ? My house is on fire. Instead of calling for aid — or providing fire-engines — or endeavouring to smother the flames — I institute an inquiry how it took fire— « whether by accident or design — and if bv design, who was the O.B. t6 PREFACE TO THE TIRST EDITION. incendiary ; and further undertake to punish him on the spot for his wickedness! a most wise and wonderful procedure — and just on a level with the wisdom, and patriotism, and public spirit of those sapient members of congress, who spend days in making long speeches upon the cause of the war, and the errors of its management — every idea whereof has been a hundred, perhaps a thousand times repeated in the newspapers — instead of meeting the pressing and imperious necessity of the emergency. I claim but one merit in this production, and that is by no means inconsiderable. It is, that with a perfect knowledge of the furious, remorseless, never-dying, and cut-throat hostility, w ith which Faction has in all ages persecuted those who have dared oppose her — and perfectly satisfied, that with us she is an impla- cable, as malignant, and as inexorable a monster as she has ever been, I have dared, nevertheless, to state the truth, regard- less of the consequences. I was, it is true, reluctant. I should by far have preferred, for the remainder of my life, steering clear of the quicksands of politics. None of the questions that have heretofore divided parties in this country, could have induced me to venture upon the tempestuous ocean. But at a crisis like the present, neutrality would be guilt. The question now is be- tween the friends of social order, and jacobins, who are endea- vouring to destroy the whole fabric of government, with the slender chance of building it up again — between peace and har- mony on one side, and civil war and anarchy on the other. A lamentable delusion prevails. 1 he community shut their eyes against the truth on the subject. But this is the real state of the case, or I am as grossly deceived as ever was human being. And unless some of our influential men exert themselves to al- lay the storm, a few short months will change doubt into aw- ful and dreadful certainty. While I was deliberating about the sacrifice which such a publication as this requires, one serious and affecting considera- tion removed my doubts, and decided my conduct. Seeing thousands of the flower of our population — to whom the spring of life just opens with all its joys, and pleasures, and enchantments — prepared in the tented field to risk, or, if necessary, sacrifice their lives for their country's welfare ; I thought it would be baseness in me, whose sun has long passed the meridian, and on whom the attractions of life have ceased to operate with their early fascinations, to have declined any risk that might arise from the effort to ward off the patricidal stroke aimed at a country to which I owe such heavy obligations. With this view of the sub- ject, I could not decide otherwise than I have done. On the execution of the work it behoves me to offer a few remarks. I know it is very considerably imperfect. It is hard- PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. ti ly possible to prepare any literary production under greater dis- advantages than have attended the Olive Branch. A large por- tion of it is, therefore, crude, and indigested, and without order. Were it a treatise on morals, religion, history, or science, which could not suffer by the delay necessary to mature and niethodize it, 1 should be unpardonable, and deserve the severest castiga- tion of criticism, for presenting it to the public in this unfinished state. But the exigencies of the times are so pressing, that were it delayed till I could digest it properly, it might be wholly out of season. It would be unjust were I not to acknowledge the numerous and weighty obligations I owe to "• The "Weekly Register," edited by H. Niles, the best periodical work ever published in America, from which I have drawn a large portion of the facts and documents I have employed. I venture to assert that no American library can be complete without this woi'k. I have carefully studied to be correct in point of fact and argument. But the circumstances under which I have written, render it probable that I may have fallen into errors. I shall therefore regard it as a most particular favour, if any gentleman who discovers them, however minute, will frankly point them out, and they shall be most cheerfully corrected. If of sufficient importance, I shall make a public acknowledgment in the news- papers. If the cause I espouse cannot be supported by truth, candour, and fair argument, may it perish, never to find another advocate ! PLAN OF AN UNION SOCIETY. " Above all things hold dear your national union. Accustom yourselves to estimate its infinite value to your individual and national happiness. Look on it as the palladium of your tranquillity at home ; of your peace abroad ; of your safety ; of yom* prosperity ; and even of that liberty which you so highly prize " wasuington's farewell address. WHEREAS many disaffected citizens have long laboured to prepare the public mind for a dissolution of the union, and the formation of separate confederacies ; and whereas they have at length publicly and daringly avowed their flagitious designs ; and whereas the experience of all history to the present time affords the most complete proof that such dissolutions of exist- ing forms of government, and the formation of new ones, have almost invariably produced bloody civil wars, the greatest curse that ever afflicted mankind ; and whereas the present form of the general government, if duly supported by our citizens, is calculated to produce as high a degree of happiness as has ever fallen to the lot of any nation ; and whereas the separate con- federacies, contemplated as substitutes for the present general 18 PREFACE TO THE ITRST EDITION* confederacy, even if it were possible to establish them peace- ably, would be pregnant with interminable future wars, such as have almost constantly prevailed between neighbouring states, with rival interests, real or supposed ; and would hold out every possible inducement, and every desirable facility, to foreign na- tions, to array each against the other, and thus subjugate the whole, or at least render them dependent upon, or subservient to those foreign nations ; and whereas, finally, it would be ab- solute madness to throw away the incalculable blessings we enjoy, for the mere chance of bettering our condition, and still more for the absolute certainty of rendering it much worse : Therefore resolved^ that we the subscribers do associate un- der the title of THE WASHINGTON UNION SOCIETY, of which the following is the ' CONSTITUTION. I. We solemnly pledge ourselves to support by every ho- nourable and legal means in our power, the existing form of the general government. II. That we will use our utmost endeavours to counteract, as far as in our power, all plots for the dissolution of the union. III. That we will correspond and cheerfully co-operate with all individuals, and bodies of men, in all parts of the union, who have the same views with us on the object embraced in the se- cond article, however they may differ from us on other political topics. IV. That the officers of the society shall be a president, vice- president, secretary, treasurer, committee of correspondence, and committee of elections. V. That it shall be the duty of the committee of correspon- dence, to invite the good citizens of this state, and of the other states, to form similar societies, and to correspond with them ; to investigate and expose to public abhorrence, the various plans that have been adopted from time to time, to effect the parri- cidal purpose of dissolving the union ; to place in the strongest point of light the advantages of our blessed form of govern- ment, with the tremendous consequences of civil war, and (the inevitable result of a separation) our being instruments in the hands of the great powers of Europe, to annoy, ravage, depo- pulate, slaughter, and destroy each other. PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. Philadelphia^ January A^^ 1815. THE unequivocal and decided approbation with which the former edition of this work has been favoured by respectable men of both the hostile parties that divide this country, I regard as among the most grateful circumstances of my life. Its nu- merous defects — its want of method — and the great imperfec- tion of its style and manner — were, I presume, regarded as atoned for by its obvious and undeniable object — the object of contributing my feeble efforts towards allaying the effervescence, the turbulence, the animosity that pervade the community, and are pregnant with such alarming consequences. Of the time that has elapsed since its first appearance, I have availed myself, to amplify — to methodize — and to improve it. And although I am very far indeed from presuming it to be perfect, yet I hope it will be found more entitled to patronage than it was in its original deshabille. It embraces a very convulsed period of our history ; and has been written under no common disadvantages. I have laboured under a great deficiency of various materials and documents, which no exertions have enabled me to procure — and it has been begun, carried on, and completed in moments constantly sub- ject to those interruptions inevitable in the pressure of business. To suppose, then, it were perfect, would argue a degree of in- sanity which the fondest and most doting delirium of paternal vanity could hardly palliate. It would be a case unparalleled in the annals of literature. The world has had numerous in- stances of men of most splendid talents — of laborious research, with abundant materials and documents — enjoying full leisure to do justice to their subjects — and employing years for the purpose — yet falling into egregious errors. It could not then be expected that a work embracing such a variety of objects, and written under such disadvantages as I have stated, should be free from them. But the reader may rest assured that what- ever they may be, they have not resulted from design. They are the offspring of slenderness of talents — deficiency of mate- rials — inadvertence — or that bias to which all men are subject, in a greater or less degree, when treating on subjects wherein 20 PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. they feel deeply interested : of the latter, however, I have la- boured to divest myself. Had I written with any view to literary reputation, the work would have made a totally different appearance. Instead of presenting the reader with so many documents verbatim, I should, as is usual with other writers, have given abstracts of them in my own words — and thus formed a regular connected narrative of events, far more agreeable to read than the work in its present form, and rather easier to write ; for the reader may rest assured, that I have frequently written three pages in less time than I employed in the search for a document, which does not occupy a single page, and whereof I could have readily given an analysis ; and long laborious researches for a document or newspaper paragraph or essay, have not unfrequently been wholly in vain. But though a thirst for literary reputation is far from illaud- able — and though it inspires to great exertions, it has not had the slightest influence on me in this case. It would have been utterly unavailing to counteract the loathing, the abhorrence I felt at entering into political discussion, or for making myself once more an object of newspaper abuse, of which few men in private life have been honoured with a greater share. No. I appeal to heaven for the truth of what I now declare. I soared to higher objects, far beyond such narrow views. I believed — I still believe — that a dissolution of the union is con- templated by a few ambitious and wicked men ; that in the state of excitement to which the public mind is raised, and which is hourly increasing by the most profligate disregard of truth and of the welfare of the country — and by the utmost prostitution of talents — a mere trifle would suffice to produce a convulsion — (as, when you have collected together a quantity of highly com- bustible materials, a single spark suffices to produce a conflagra- tion) — that a dissolution of the union would infallibly produce a civil war ; that in the event of a civil war, there would be a straggle throughout the country for ascendency, wherein would be perpetrated atrocities similar to those which disgraced the French revolution ; that even if we escaped a civil war, or, (if we did not) after its termination, and the establishment of sep- arate confederacies, the country would be cm^sed with a con- stant border war, fomented by the nations of Europe, to whom we should be a sport and a prey ; and that, in one word, a nation most highly favoured by heaven, is on the very verge of perdition. These views may be erroneous. Would to heaven they were ! They diff'er from those of most of my friends. The mass of the community do not accord with them. But they are unalterably impressed upon my mind, and I cannot shake them off. They PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. 21 are all supported by the instructive but neglected voice of his- tory. I possess not the happy faculty with which so many are endowed, to believe an event will not take place, because I hope and pray it may not. I am disposed to envy those who are thus gifted. It diminishes the hours ot suffering. In a life so chequered as ours, this is some advantage. But it has, like all other blessings, a counterpoising evil. When we disbelieve in the approach of danger, we make no preparations to repel it. "With these impressions, I preferred risking any consequences, however pernicious to myself, that might arise from the present work, to a state of torpor and inactivity — to perishing without an effort. In a sanguine moment, I indulged the flattering, the fond, (pray heaven it may not be the delusive) hope that my ef- forts might be so far crowned with success, as to make me the happy, the blessed instrument of arousing even one, two, or three active influential citizens from the morbid, the lethargic slumber, into which the community has been so fatally lulled ; that these might arouse others ; and that thus the potent spells might be dissolved, which, in a manner vmexampled in the his- tory of the world, make us regard with stupid, torpid apathy and indifference, the actual bankruptcy of our government (pro- duced by a most daring conspiracy) — the impending destruc- tion of our glorious constitution, the v/ork of Washington, Franklin, Livingston, Hamilton, &c. the depreciation of every species of property — and the approaching ruin of our country. Should heaven thus bless me, die afterwards when I may, I shall not have lived in vain. Should I fail, on my tombstone shall be engraven, " magnis excidit ausisj*^ I offer these great and solemn truths to the consideration of all who have an interest in the welfare of this country. I. A separation of the states ca7inot be effected rvithoiit an hn- ?nediate CIVIL, a7id almost con^?/2wa/ BORDER WAR ; and must inevitably place us at the mercy of England, and make this country the sport of the European powers ot all future times, II. As well might we expect to re-unite, without a flaw, the fragments of an elegant porcelain vase, shattered to pieces, as to restore the union, if dissolved but for one hour. III. A period of war, and invasion, and danger, is utterly un- fit for repairing or amending a constitution. Nothing but con- vulsion can arise out of the attempt. IV. General Washington, in his legacy, one of the noblest efforts of human wisdom, impressively urged his countrymen to frown indignantly upon any attempt to impair or dissolve the union. V. To hostile European powers a dissolution would be of immense and incalculable advantage. 22 PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION. VI. It would be inexpressible folly and madness to reject the policy dictated by Washington, and follow that which would be dictated by those powers of Europe who regard our prosperity with jealousy ; to abandon the maxims of our most devoted friend for those of our most deadly enemies. PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION.* Philadelphia^ April 10, 1815. I COMMENCE this preface, with feelings very different indeed from those by which I was actuated, when I penned the former ones. Prospects, public and private, have wonderfully im- proved. A revolution, immense, striking, glorious, and de- lightful, has taken place in the affairs of our blessed country, for which we cannot be sufficiently grateful to heaven. We have rot — I say emphatically, we have not — merited the change. I could assign various satisfactory reasons in proof of this opinion, extraordinary as it may seem. I waive them. It is unnecessary to enter into the recapitulation. But whatever may have been our past merits or demerits, I hope our prosperity is now fixed on a basis as firm as the rock of Gibraltar. In the present tranquillized state of the public mind, when the fears and solicitudes excited by the late alarming state of affairs have subsided, it will be difficult for the reader to justify, or even to account for, the warmth which many parts of this work display. It is therefore but justice to myself, to give a rapid sketch of the scenes through which we have passed, in order to account for the excitement of mind so obvious to every reader in the perusal of some of the chapters. The government had been nearly reduced to bankruptcy, and unable to raise money to discharge the most imperious engagements. There was no general circulating medium in the country. The banks from New-York to New-Orleans, in- clusively, had, with perhaps one or two exceptions, suspended the payment of specie. The bank notes of Philadelphia and New -York were depreciated in Boston from 15 to 25 per cent, below par. And every feature in our political affairs wore an equally awful aspect. Whether the causes I have assigned in chapterLII. really produced this state of things or not, is imma- terial. Be the cause what it may, the fact existed. Want of money had partially suspended the recruiting service. And • The thh'd edition, of 1250 copies, was printed in Boston. i'REFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION". 23 the pacification of Europe had quadrupled the disposable force of our enemy, and in the same degree increased our danger, and the necessity for energy and vigilance. Under these circumstances, congress was convened on the 19th of September, nearly two months earlier than the period fixed by law, in order to make provision for such an exti-aordi- nary emergency. The state of the nation was fully detailed in various executive communications, which called, imperiously called, for energy and decision. Rarely has a legislative body had more important duties to fulfil, or a more glorious opportunity of signalizing itself, and laying claim to the public gratitude. Rarely have stronger mo- tives existed, to arouse every spark of public spirit or patriot- ism that had lain dormant in the heart. And I venture to as- sert, there hardly ever was a legislature that more completely disappointed pviblic expectation — that more egregiously tailed of its dutv. The imbecility, the folly, the vacillation, the want of system, of energy, and of decision, displayed by the majority — and the unyielding, stubborn, violent, and factious opposition of the minoritv, to all the ineasures for which the occasion so loudly called — have affixed an indelible stain on the memory of the thirteenth congress. It will be long remembered with emotions neither of gratitude nor respect. No where, I am pei'suaded, in the annals of legislation, is there to be found an instance of precious time more astonishingly wasted. It had been in session nearly five months when the news of peace ar- rived — and had but three weeks to sit. The spring, the season of hostilitv and depredation, was rapidly approaching. And what had it done to serve or save its country ? What provision had it made of men or money ? Little or none. Nearly all the measures adapted to the emergency that had been brought for- ward in congress, had been defeated.* That this state of public affairs was calculated to excite warmth of feeling, and to call forth a strong expression of that warmth, must be obvious — and will not merely account for, but justify the high-wrought passages to be found in the work, which, under other circumstances, might perhaps be in- defensible. * I have asserted elsewhere, that England presents much to admire and copy. In this point she is transcendently superior to us. Had the British parliament been called in such a crisis as existed last September in tins coun- try, all the effective preparations necessary to breast the storm, would have been made in one week. Some of the declamatoiy speeclies, of two or three days long, occupied as much time as that parliament uould have required to raise fifty millions of money, and to provide means fur embodying an army of 50,000 m'en. O. H. 4^ 24 PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION. It will be asked, what good purpose can the re-publication ot this work answer at present? Is it not, it will be said, fur better to bury the hatchet, and to consign these things to oblivion, than to keep alive animosity and discord ? Were the tendency of the Olive Branch to keep alive discord, I should unhesitatingly consign it to the flames. But I utterly disbelieve this can be the consequence. I cannot admit that a fair detail of the mutual follies and wickedness of the two par- ties, has a tendency to perpetuate hostility between them. It is contrary to reason, common sense, and the universal experi- ence of mankind. Peace, or harmony, or conciliation, is not to be hoped for, while both parties clothe themselves in the deceptions mantle of self-righteousness — while they not only believe themselves immaculate, but their opponents " monsters unredeemed by any virtue.^''* Nothing but a serious, solemn, and deep-rooted con- viction on both sides, of egregious misconduct, can lead to that temper of mind which is necessary to produce a mild, concilia- ting spirit. While each acts the part of the self-approving pha- risee, we might with equal chance of success attempt to unite fire and water — light and darkness — virtue and vice, as to re- concile them. But when both regard themselves in their true light, as offenders against their duties to their country, they will be disposed to forgive, that they may be forgiven. This idea, which is the basis whereon this work rests, cannot be too often repeated, and inculcated on the public mind. I fondly hope the Olive Branch will have other uses — that it may serve as a beacon to other times than ours. When a navi- gator discovers new shoals, and rocks, and quicksands, he marks them on his chart, to admonish future navigators to be on their guard, and to shun the destruction to which ignorance might lead. This strongly applies to our case. By an extraordinary mix- ture of folly and wickedness, we had run the vessel of state on rocks, and quicksands, and breakers, where she was in immi- nent danger of perishing. We had brought to the verge of per- dition the noblest form of government, and the most free and happy people, that the sun ever beheld. But, thanks to heaven —not to our virtue,| our public spirit, or our liberality — we * .Ifonstra nulla virtute redempta. •j-The illustrious heroes of the western countrj' — our gallant navy — several of our generals and armies on the linos — the citizens of Baltimore and of Sto- nington — the garrison at Crany island — and the people of some other places — are obviously exempt from this censure. And never was there greater energy displayed than in New York, in making preparations for the warm reception of an enemy. But when we consider the violence of the eastern states against the rulers chosen by the people, the torpor and indifference of the mighty state of Pennsylvania, and of other portions of tiie union, we must heave a fljgh, and draw a' veil over past scenes preface" TO THE FOURTH EDITION. 25 have escaped. We have arrived safe in port. I have endeavour- ed to delineate a chart of the most formidable of the rocks on which our vessel was striking, to serve as a guide to future state pilots. I trust the chart cannot be examined attentively without benefit. It establishes an important, but most awful political maxim, that during the prevalence of the destructive, and de- vouring, and execrable spirit of faction, men, otherwise good and respectable, will too frequently sacrifice, without scruple or remorse, the most vital interests of their country, under the dic- tates, and to promote the views, of violent and ambitious lead- ers ! What a terrific subject for contemplation ! The publication of this book has estalolished one point, of con- siderable importance to the truth of history, and to the happi- ness of mankind ; that it is not quite so dangerous, as has been supposed, for a writer to draw a portrait of his cotemporaries — provided the features be faithfully and impartially delineated. It has been too generally presumed to be utterly unsafe to write of our own times with truth. With this idea I was impressed when I first engaged in the work. And it required no common stimulus to inspire me with the hardihood the undertaking re- quired. But the event has falsified the anticipation. Without any of the advantages that office, or rank, or connexions afford, I have dared publicly to stigmatize faction, and jacobinism, and disor- ganization — as well as factious men, and jacobins, and disorga- nizers — by their proper names, without distinction of party. And the reliance I placed upon the good sense of the public has not been disappointed. My efforts have been received by a large proportion of the good and great men of the nation with a favour and kindness, which fill my heart with the most exqui- site pleasure — and amply repay my trouble and my risk—the sacrifice of my business and of my enjoyments, during the pro- gress of the work — and hold out encouragement to political writers to shun that slavish and dishonourable devotion to party, whereby truth is sacrificed, and history made a mere tissue of fables. If no other effect had been produced by this book, I should not have written in vain. The advantages of cotemporaneous writing are numerous and weighty. When the passing events are recorded and comment- ed on, while they are, as it were, spread before our eyes, it only requires honesty of intention to make the portrait a tolerable likeness. But when we treat on occurrences of " years that are past and gone," it is like tracing the features of a deceased friend from memory. The great and leading outlines may be correct — but in filling up the drawing, many of the n^pst impor- tant characteristics must escape. ^& PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION. It may not be improper to warn the reader, that I am at- tached to, and in general approve of the political views and most part (not the whole by any means) of the conduct of that party which was stigmatized as antifederal, before the adoption of the federal constitution, and is now styled democratic or republican. We were called anti federalists, because we were eager to have the federal constitution amended previous to its ratification, doubting the practicability of amendment after- wards. We were wild and extravagant enough to see despo- tism in many of its features ; and were so fatuitous and blind as not to have the slightest idea of danger from the state go- vernments. We have lived to see our miserable infatuation, and to deprecate and deplore its consequences. My reason for this explicit avowal is, to induce the reader to receive my opinions ancl inferences with the caution which is necessary, from the probability of my being under the influence of that bias, which, more or less, every man feels towards the party to which he is attached ; and which, notwithstanding I have sedulously endeavoured to guard against its influence, may have occasionallv led me astray. To no human being has heaven deigned to impart infallibility : and it would be almost a miracle, if, in such a wide scope as I have taken, I were not sometimes warped by passion or prejudice. But to this it is proper to add, that I believe no man ever •wrote a book of this extent, and embracing such a variety of subjects, who made lighter demands on the complaisance or credulity of his readers than I have done. For as the subjects I have discussed are of incalculable moment — as the happiness or misery of unborn millions, as well as of this generation, de- pends on the course we steer — as that course must be materially affected by the correctness or error of the views we may take of our past system of conduct — and as I have dared to cite before the bar of the public, men of high standing — great ta- lents — great wealth — and powerful influetice — I have judged it proper to support, as far as in my power, and to a degree hardly ever exceeded, all the important facts, by documents of undeni- able authority. Many of my readers will probably believe that I have gone unnecessary lengths in this respect. But I trust I have not. It is at all events far better to produce too much evidence than too little. Were every line of my own writing in this work annihilated, the documents, which are its bones, and sijiews, and muscles, would be amply adequate to establish the positions I meant to prove. The strong style I have used in treating of the conduct of the eastern federalists, will be censured. But it may be de- fended on impregnable ground. In all their lucubrations on the motives of the war — the proceedings of the administration — PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION. 27 and the conduct of their opponents — they uniformly employ the most unqualified terms of reprobation and condemnation. To sheer, downright wickedness, all the errors and misfortunes that have occurred, are ascribed. There is not the slightest shade of allowance made for human imperfection. A deep, wicked, and desperate conspiracy to destroy commerce is assumed as the leading motive of government. And all its measures are charged to, and accounted for by, this absurd, this unfounded, this contemptible, this often-refuted allegation. Those who shew no mercy, and hardly any justice, have no right to complain, if they are themselves treated with strict and unrelenting justice. " \Vith what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again." I have in the appendix, commencing with chapter 60, consi- derably extended the subjects of this work. The pacific policy which our local situation affords us rea- son to hope we may safely pursue, and which our interest die tates, has induced me to review the restrictive system, and to point out its decisive effects on the prosperity of England. It is a most potent weapon — and, had not faction deprived it of its efficacy, would have insured us complete justice, and averted the horrors of warfare. To the defeat of this mild, but power- ful instrument, we may justly charge all the carnage and the ex- pense of the war. An efficient and safe mode of defence, whereby foreign ag- gressions may be prevented, and internal tranquillity preserved, is the greatest desideratum in our political system. It is the key-stone of the arch of our freedom and happiness. I have therefore gone most copiously into the consideration of the subject. — The authority I have produced is irresistible. Nei- ther Pringle, nor Cullen, nor Sydenham, on medicine — nor La- voisier, nor Chaptal, nor Davie, on chemistry — nor Luther, nor Calvin, nor Wesley, among their respective followers, on reli- gion — are superior authority to general Washington on militia service. I have therefore availed myself of his testimony, to an extent which nothing but the immense magnitude of the subject could j ustify. I have, likewise, in the appendix analized a small pamphlet, which I published last November, entitled " A calm address to the people of the eastern states," wherein I have given a full view of the very erroneous opinions entertained respecting the slave representation; and I think fully proved, that notwith- standing the unceasing outcry and clamour on this subject in the eastern states, from the organization of the government, those states have uniformly had more than their share of influ- ence in the legislature of the union, without having any regard 28 PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION. to the slave population. In the course of this investigation I have made two curious discoveries — one, that New- York and Delaware have each a slave representative — and the other, that Massachusetts, although she has no slaves, has a representative of her black population. Before I dismiss the work from my hands, feeling the soli- citude of a parent for his offspring, I cannot refrain from once more requesting the reader, when he discovers any errors of style or matter — any deficiency or redundancy — or, in a word, any thing to censure, that he will bear in mind the disadvan- tages under which I have written — in hours stolen from sleep^ and during the pressure of a business which in no common de- gree requires all the energies of body and mind ; that I have in my various editions, and in the public papers, solicited the suggestion of errors, which, if pointed out, I promised to cor- rect ; — and that I have also in the papers, and privately, in vain solicited communications from those who could and ought to have afforded them. On subjects that have employed so many thousand pens and tongues, much novelty cannot be expected. It is possible that there is not a new idea in the whole work. All that Dr. Frank- lin or Patrick Henry could claim in the investigation of topics so long hacknied, is merely the arrangement. . I fondly flatter myself that in this work will be found mate- rials for a complete defence of the American nation in its in- tercourse with England. I am grossly deceived, if the mild, forbearing, pacific system pursued by this country for so many years, amidst such grievous, such outrageous, such contumelious provocations, will not universally receive, as it deserves, the praise — and the oppressive and injurious conduct of England to us, the censure — of all Christendom. It would be gross injustice to suppose, that I wish to perpet- uate the hatred between the two nations. It is very far from my intention. It is the interest of the United States, and will be their policy, if treated with common decency or justice, to cultivate peace with all the world. And I am much deceived, if a plain and candid exposure of the vexatious, harassing, in- sulting, and lawless policy pursued by the successive ministers of England, from the year 1793, will not be the best means of preventing a recurrence of such impolitic and unjust conduct. They have deeply injured us. But the injury they inflicted on the vital interests of their own nation, has far exceeded what we have suffered. PREFACE f TO THE SIXTH EDITION.* Philadelphia^ September 6^ 181j. Once more, and probably for the last time, I offer the " Olive Branch," to my fellow citizens ; improved and enlarged as far as in my power. I feel grateful for the kindness and in- dulgence extended to its imperfections. Of the origin and progress of a work, which has succeeded so far beyond all human expectations, I may, perhaps, be permit- ted, without incurring the charge of vanity, to give a brief ac- count. Should the detail be really chargeable to that source, (iio man can judge correctly of himself) I hope it will be re- garded as a venial failing. Early in September, 1814, I was under as great a depression of mind, about the state of affairs, public and private, as any man ever experienced. A deep and awful gloom pervaded the thinking part of the community ! Thick clouds and darkness covered the horizon ! The keenest eye could not behold, and could hardly anticipate a single spark of sunshine ! Washing- ton had been taken — and its public buildings destroyed with Gothic barbarity ! Alexandria had been pillaged and plundered ! Hampton had suffered rape and rapine ! Baltimore was menaced with signal vengeance, and pointed out for military execution, in papers published by citizens of the United States ! ! ! I ! ! Philadelphia and New York were held in a state of the most alarming suspense, and in daily expectation of a hostile visit — and of perhaps sharing the fate of Washington and Alexandria ! And a proclamation by admira Cockbum had been received by our government, wherein he stated that he had received orders to desolate such parts of our country as were assailable. At this awful moment, the horrible, the disorganizing, the Jacobinical idea was not unfrequently advanced in our coffee- house, in our streets, and in our newspapers, that the war hav- ing been begun by the democrats, they must carry it on;| that they had no right to call on the federalists for assistance, which the latter ought not to afford ; that if the democrats compromitted the honour and the interests of their countrs, by a dishonourable peace, the federalists should take the power * The ^Kddlebury Edition, of 1920 copies, is the Fifth. f See the contents of the 75th chapter, for ample details in full proof of this allegation 130 PREFACE TO THE SIXTH EDITION. out of their hands, and then contend for the violated honour and dignity of the country ; that the British could not, nor, consist- ently with a regard to their honour, ought they to, treat with Mr. Madison, who should be compelled to resign ; with a vast variety of the same patriotic doctrines, which wei-e publicly pro- mulgated in some of our newspapers. At the same time, a few desperate men were preparing to add to the general distress and difficulty by a dissolution of the union.* I was appalled at this horrible and factious violence of some of the leaders of the federalists ; and equally so at the odious im- becility and inactivity of the democrats. As the government, chosen by the free voice of a large majority of the nation, did not exercise the energy and decision, that were requisite to con- troul and coerce the refractory minority, it appeared far better to make a change, than let the country become a prey to a foreign enemy — or be torn in pieces by internal discord, which seemed the only alternative. A frightful and sorrowful alternative ! But the violence of party and faction seemed to force it on the country. With a mind, harrowed up with these terrific considerations, I sat down to write, on the 6th of September. On a careful ex- amination of " the whole ground,'' the least of the mighty evils before the nation, appeai'ed to be, to submit to swallow the bitter pill presented, and make a radical change in the administration — so as to hold out inducements to the federalists to unite their exertions to rescue the country from impending ruin. This ra- dical change, I thought, ought to be introduced by resignation on the part of the incumbents. This confession will excite different emotions. Some readers will smile at the arrogance of daring to suggest such a plan. Others will abuse the imbecility of the proposal, to give an inch of ground. '•' He jests at scars who never felt a wound^^ And no man who cannot most distinctly and clearly place before his eyes, the gloomy and frightful prospect, then in view, is capa- ble of forming a correct judgment on the subject. But I feel the most perfect indifference, as to the opinion that may be en- * It may serve to dis])lay the high fever of the public mind, to annex an ar- rogant, and almost treasonable resolution offei'ed in the house of representa- tives of Massachusetts, about four weeks after this period, viz. Oct. 5, 1814, by Mr. I, aw of Lyman, which was, however, withdi'awn the next da\', as premature at that time. " llesolved, that a committee be appointed to confer with all the new *' England States, and see if they will agree to appoint a committee to join "them, and repair to tlie city of Washington immediately, then and there per- "sonally to make known to the president, the general opinion of all the New " England States in regard to the present war, and tlie manner in which it has " bee'n conducted ; and inform him that he MUST EITHElt RESIGN HIS "OFFICE AS PRESIDENT, or remove those ttmiisters and their oncers, yeho " have by their nefarious pla?is mined the nation .'.' ! .' ! J" PREFACE To THE SIXTH EEHTION. 31 tertained. I merely state the fact, neither caring for, nor ex- pecting praise, and equally remote from the deprecation of cen- sure. That evening I wrote twelve or fourteen pages, containing a brief review of our past proceedings — reflections on our actual situation — with hints for the proposed new arrangements. However great my despondence, I felt dissatisfied with what I had committed to paper. I laid it aside — and did not resume it for ten or twelve days. In the interim the glorious news arrived, of the complete defeat of the enemy at Baltimore — of the immortal M'Donough's victory on lake Champlain — of the discomfiture and flight of Gen. Prevost's Wellingtonians, at and from Plattsburg. These wonderful successes made a total change in the face of affairs. By this time my spirits revived. I re- jected my embryo work, and flattered myself into the opinion, that a candid appeal to men of integrity of both parties, might produce a beneficial eff"ect ; that a few might be aroused, and rouse others ; that at all events, it was worth the trial ; that in such a noble undertaking as an attempt to rescue the country, from what I regarded as impending anarchy, even a failure would be honourable — and success would be glorious and emi- nently beneficial. I therefore destroyed what I had written, and began the work anew, on its present plan, about the 18th of September. I had a large stock of public documents — I borrowed some — and with these, and the Weekly Register, amid all the hurry and bustle of business, in the leisure hours of six weeks, I patched up the first crude and indigested edition. It was published on the ninth of November. I ought to have observed, that when it was about two-thirds printed, I was struck with astonishment at my Quixotism and folly, in expecting to make an impression on a community, torn in pieces by faction ; a prey to the most violent passions ; and labouring under the most awful degree of delusion. My heart sunk within me at my presumption : and, the reader may rest assured, I was on the point of converting the sheets into waste paper. This ague fit went off" in a day or two ; and I determin- ed to give the work a fair experiment. The edition was small — only 500 copies. Two motives dic- tated this limited scale. I knew the work must necessarily be very imperfect, from the disadvantages under which it was written : and I determined, if it met with success, to have an opportunity to improve and extend it : moreover, from the al- most universal failure of political publications, I was far indeed from being sanguine in the hope of success. My expectations of sale lay principally at Washington. I sent one hundred copies there, as a sort of breakfast, calculating O. B. o 32 PREFACE TO THE SIXTH EDITION; upon a speedy sale of them, and an order for more. There were above two hundred legislators there, and twice as many visit- ors ; and I supposed that whatever might be the demerits of the execution, the importance of the topics discussed, would insure the sale of a large part of the edition ; more particularly, as I had already received a highly flattering approbation of the work from the late vice-president, and other gentlemen, to whom I had sent copies by mail. The result disappointed those calculations ; and, had I been actuated by the vanity of authorship, would have sufficiently mortified it ; for when I had, in Philadelphia, New-York, and Baltimore, disposed of the remaining four hundred, and wrote down to Mr. Weightman, at AVashington, to enquire into the success of the work, I learned that four of the hundred had been stolen on the road — that fifty-nine remained unsold — and that thirty-seven copies had fullif satis fed the curiosity of a president^ three secretaries^ thirty-six senators^ one hundred and eighty-two representatives^ one or two hundred clerks^ the whole of the population of the metropolis of the United States^ and all its 7iumerous visitors f It is probable, that in such circumstan- ces, so great a degree of miserable apathy and indifference, on topics of such magnitude, never before existed. I ordered back the remaining fifty-nine. A new edition was, however, called for, notwithstanding the discouraging coldness and culpable indifference of the members of the government. I used all possible expedition, and pub" lished, on the 11th of January, one thousand copies. The success of this edition exceeded that of the first. In five weeks there were not twenty copies unsold. And a day or two previous to the blessed, thrice-blessed news of peace, foreseeing the demand would require another edition, I contracted with a printer, to execute a third. When the joyful tidings came, I thought the public would no longer feel any interest in the work, and for a time abandoned the idea of republication. But I was mistaken. The demand increased. I printed a new edi- tion, which was published on the 13th of April, and was sold out in about three months, except a few copies in Georgetown, and elsewhere. As the eastern states were the scene, where such a work was most necessary, I was very desirous of giving it a circulation there. I saw, that to afford it a fair chance, it ought to be print- ed in Boston ; for otherwise only a few hundred at most, of my editions, would ever reach that quarter : and no person there being interested in the disposal of them, the effects of the book would be greatly circumscribed. I therefore offered the editors of the Chronicle, the Patriot, the Yankee, my friend Mr. Caleb Bingham, and Mr. A. Dunlap, the gratuitous privilege of print- PREFACE TO THE SEVENTH EDITION. 33 ing an edition, jointly ; merely on condition of presenting ten per cent, of the copies to persons unable to purchase. The two first, and Mr. B. declined ; they probably doubted the success of the enterprise. The editors of the Yankee, and Mr. Dunlap, jointly printed an edition, which, although it did not appear till after the peace, has been some time wholly sold off. Were the spirit of persecution in possession of as sovereign authority over the axe, or the gibbet, as formerly ; I should most indubitably be destroyed, for the very strong and unpalatable truths in this book, if I had " as manif lives as a cat^'> or " as one Plutarch is said to have had.'''' But thank heaven, those days are past. The spirit, however, remains. But it can only sate its malice, by slander and abuse of a man's character ; and by attempts to destroy his business, or his prospects in life. But to a man who has passed fifty-five, with a constitution never very good, and now considerably impaired, it is not very important what befals him, in the short remainder of life. When tender women, some of them pregnant, have freely gone to the stake, or to the gibbet, for dogmas, which they could not understand ; it does not require a very extraordinary degree of heroism, for a man of my age, to run any risques, of person or character, that may attend a bold appeal to the good sense of the nation, with a view to acquire the benediction, pronounced in the declaration, " Blessed are the peace makers." *** It would be ung-enerous not to acknowledge the obligation I am under to sundry gentlemen, tor documents of various kinds. Richard Hush, Cesar A. Rodney, Joseph Nourse, Adam Seybert, and Benjamin Homans, Esq'rs. have been uncommonly kind and attentive. Whatever they have had in their pow- er, they have furnished. To Mr. Duponccau's pamphlets I have had free ac- cess. From Mr. Blnns I have liad various newspapers highly serviceable. And Mr. Andrew Dunlap, late of Boston, now of Cincinatti, furnished me with the chief pai-t of tlie extracts from the Boston papers. I'hese gentlemen, and others whose names I need not mention, will, I hope, accept this public testi' mony of my gratitude. PREFACE TO THE SEVENTH EDITION. Philadelphia, Dec. 18, 1815. LITTLE more than thirteen months have elapsed since the iirst appearance of this work, and, contrary to all my calcula- tions, a seventh edition has been called for. The reader will, I trust, do me the justice to believe that I am fully sensible of the public indulgence. Regarding myself bound to render the Book as perfect as in my power, I have availed myself of all the information and do- cuments I could collect, and made a number of corrections and alterations, as I have done in the former editions. To this edition I have added some new chapters, at the close, on subjects whose importance will probably justify me in pre- senting,them to the view of my fellow-citizenp. PREFACE TO THE EIGHTH EDITION. Philadelphia^ July 1, 181 T. THE very great public favour and indulgence extended to the Olive Branch, enables me to lay it for the eighth time before my fellow citizens, in a little more than two years and a half from its first appearance. The contemplation of this work affords three sources of as high gratification as can be enjoyed by a rational being, actuated by liberal or public-spirited motives : — the satisfaction, whereof nothing can deprive me, of having employed the slender talents I possess, in the most sincere and ardent efforts to serve this country ; — the belief, founded on the concurring opinions of numbers of our best citizens, of both parties, that those efforts havenotbeen wholly unsuccessful; and, finally, the general appre- ciation of those efforts and their results, to their utmost extent — and probably far beyond it. Greater good fortune cannot attend any intellectual production. It is a truly rich reward, and far exceeds all the calculations, that could have been previously formed by the most extravagantly sanguine temper. To this Edition various additions have been made.* They are written in the same independent style as the former part of the work. I feel as little disposed as ever to sacrifice the cause of truth at the shrine of party or faction. A respectable gentleman, of federal politics, has given as his opinion, that though I struck both parties severely, yet I struck the federalists with the right hand, and the democrats with the left — and, as a man can strike harder with the right hand than with the left, that I was more severe upon the former than the latter. If this be true, as it probably is, a satisfactory reason can be given for it, whollv free from any sinister intention. Recent or passing events, whether pleasurable or distressing, make far more impression than those of remote date, although greater in magnitude. This is a trait in the human character, that cannot have escaped the observation of the most superficial. It is there- fore perfectly natural, that as the great sin of federalism — a sedi- tious and dangerous opposition to government, Avhich occupies so much of this Book — was in actual operation while I was writ- ing, it should have been the subject of more severe animadver- • The last ten chapters. PREFACE TO THE TENTH EDITION. 35 sion, than the sins of the democrats, which, though very great, were, in general, inferior in magnitude, and more remote in point of time. Moreover, I was strongly impressed with the opinion, and acted under its influence, that the course pursued by the leaders of the federalists, in which they were blindly and submissively followed by the mass of the party, led directly to anarchy, insur- rection, and civil war, with all their horrors. This opinion re- mains unchanged. It has been the subject of serious and deli- berate reflexion. And the more 1 reflect on it, the more thorough is my conviction. I am far from believing that such was the in- tention of the party generally, or even of their leaders. But I repeat, what I have frequently stated in this Book, that when popular violence is once loosed from the restraints of law and constitution. Omniscience alone can foretell the event, and Om- nipotence alone set bounds to the devastation. Thousands of horrible pages of the dreary and sickening history of mankind, bear the most overwhelming testimony to this all-important truth. M. CAREY. PREFACE TO THE TENTH EDITION.* Philadelphia, 3fay 25, 1818. TO this Edition no additions are made. A number of cor- rections, most of them of no very great importance, appeared requsite, and have accordingly been adopted. • The ninth Editionj of 1000 copies, was published in Winchester last sum- mer. contp:nts. Chap. Pag'e. 1. Crisis of afiairs of the United States. Dangers of parties and factions. Similarity of our situation to that of France, Italy, and England, previous to their civil wars, ...-.-. 37 2. Errors of the Democratic Party. Federal Constitution. Opposition to a Navy. Alien and Sedition Law. Jay's Treaty, - . . 46 3. Monroe and Pinkney's Treaty with England. Separation of the States. Treasonable Publications. Embargo. Non-intercourse, - - 53 4. Bank of the United States. Miserable Policy not to renew the Charter, 58 5. Armistice proposed by Admiral Warren, - - - - 59 6. Appointment of Mr. Gallatin as Minister to treat with Great Britain. Negociation at Gottenburg. Itecent neglect of due preparations, - 63 7. General Wilkinson and General Hampton. Proceedings of Congress. Lamentable torpor, delay, and indecision. Neglect of Public Opinion, 67 8. Captm'e of Washington. Causes. Mismanagement. Fort Washington. Trial of Captain Dyson. E.xtraordinary Sentence. Loans. Injury of Pubjic Credit. Retrospection, - - - - - - - 7Cy 9. The Federalists. Federal Convention and Constitution. Complainta of want of Energy in the Constitution. Disorganizers and Jacobins. Alien and Sedition Laws, - ..... 81 10. British Orders in Council, November, 1793. Enforcement of the Rule of 1756, ........ 84 11. Extracts from the Boston Memorial to Congress, - - 88 12. Extracts from the New York Memorial, - . - 89 13. Extracts from the Memoi'ial of the Merchants of Philadelphia, 91 14. Extracts from the Baltimore Memorial, , - . - 93 15. Extracts from the Memorials of Newhaven and Newburyport, 95 16. Extracts from the Memorial of the Merchants of Salem, Ms. . 96 17. Reflections on the Memorials. Uniform call for Redress. Uniform Pledge of Support, - . . , . . - 99 18. Characterof Merchants, by Edmund Burke. Illiberal and unfounded. Merchants as various in character as other classes of men, - - 101 19. British Depredations brought on the tapis in the Senate of the Uni- ted States. Condemnatory Resolutions passed, . . - 106 20. Attack on tlie Chesapeake. Proclamations iuterdicting our har- bours to the British, - ..... 108 21. Blockade of the Coast from the Elbe to Brest. Berlin Decree, - 115 22. Orders in Council of November 11, 1807. Milan Decree, . 117 23. Tiie Orders in Council of November 11, 1807, defended by Ameri- cans. Founded on the untenable plea of American acquiescence in the Berlin Decree. Enquiry into their Causes and ConsequenceSjby A. Baring, Esq., .M.P. ........ 122 24. Embargo. Situation of American Commerce. Factious clamour. Em- bargo a wise, prudent, and necessary measure, ... 129 25. Enqtiiiy into the Constitutionality of the Act for Enforcing the Em- bargo. Compared with acts passed during the pi-esidency of General Wash- ington and John Adams, - - - . . . 136 26. Patriotic Procedings, ..... 141 27. John Ileniy's Mission to the Eastern States. Instmctions from the Governor General of British America, ..... 143 28. Embargo Repealed. British and French vessels interdicted from en- tering our harbours. Importations from both countries prohibited, - 158 29. Embargo recommended to Congress by Merchants of New York, 160 CONTENTS. Chap. Page. 30. The Erskine Arrangement. A liberal and magTianimous procedure. Loudly applauded by all Parties. Rejected by England. Wonderful in- consistency, ....--. 162 31. Impressment of American seamen. Plea of James Madison. Of John Quincy Adams. Of William Cobbett. Of Weekly Register, - _ - 180 32. Impressment during the administration of General Washington. Let- ter from T. Jefferson to T. Pickering. From Mr. Jay From T. Pickering. From RufusKing, .-..--- 184 33. Impressment during the administration of Mr. Adams. Letter from Rufus King. From Silus Talbot. Fi'om Timothy Pickering. Instructions of Judge Marshall to Rufus King, - - - - - 186 34. Mr. Liston's Projet of a Convention respecting Deserters. Objected to by Mr. Pickering, Mr. Stoddart, Mi-. Wolcott, and Mr. M'Henry. Re- jected, ........ 193 35. Horrors of impressment, as submitted to Congress, by Timothy Pick- ering, secretary of state, .-..-- 195 36. Impressment during the administration of Mr. Jefferson. Letter from Rufus King. Arrangement with Lord St. Vincent rejected by Mr. King, 196 37. Documents on Impressment continued, ... 200 38. Subject of Impressment concluded, . - - . 206 39. An apology for an egregious error committed by the writer, on the subject of preparation for war. The whole session one continued series of preparations. Nineteen acts bearing strong notes of martial arrangement, 217 40 Reproaches of the minority against the imbecility of the majority. Pernicious consequences of newspaper misrepresentation. British deceiv- ed by their friends, ...... 220 41. War proceedings in Congress. Yeas and Nays. Inexplicable conduct, 224 42. Declaration of War. Violently opposed, ... 227 43. Peace Party. Composed of warlike materials. Repeated clamour for war, - - - _ 229 44. Inquiry into the Justice of the War, . - . . 236 45. Consideration of the Orders in Council continued. Strong and im- equivocal reprobation of them by James Lloyd and James Bayard, Esqrs. and Governor Griswold. Extract of a letter from Harrison Gray Otis, Esq. 242 46. Inquiry into the Justice of the War continued, - 25i3 47. Turbulence of Boston. Boston acts on Massachusetts. Massachu- setts acts on the other Eastern States. Jealousies and Discord sedulously excited. Hatefld Picture of the Southern States, - - - 253" 48. Arrogance of the Claims of the Eastern States. Statistical Tables. Comparison of the exports of the several states, ... 259 49. Comparison of the exports, foreign and domestic, of the different states, from 1791 to 1813. Glance at tonnage, ... 268 50. Another source of excitement among the citizens of the Eastern States. Duties on imports. Statistics. Southern States pay very nearly as much as the Eastern. Wonderful Delusion, ... - 275 51. Fallacy of the opinion of any hostility in the Southern against the Eastern States. Commercial and agricultural States mutually dependent on, and beneficial to each other, ..... 279 52. Money the sinews of war. Associations to prevent the success of the Loans. Efforts to bankrupt the government, ... 285 53. Smuggling earned to excess in Boston. Specie abundant there. Op- pressive drutls on New York. Arrangements between persons in Canada and in Boston, ....... 292 54. Subject continued. Brief statement of facts, - - 300 55. Massachusetts compared with Tennessee. The blind leading the blind. Profits of trade 50 per cent. ! Road to Ruin, - - 302 56. Pulpit Politics. Prostitution of the Sacred Functions. Massacre on board the Ocean. An Anthology of Sedition, ... 305 57. Parlies change Name and Character. Jacobins. Definition. Unholy Struggle for Power, the cause of all our difficulties, - - 312 Contents; Chap. . Page- 58. lUiberality of Prejudices against Foreigners. Ungrateful on the part of America. Irishmen and Frenchmen peculiar objects of disUke, - 314 59. Address to the Federalists of the United States, - . 321 APPENDIX. No. I. 60. Orders in Council. Restrictive System. Impolicy of the British Mi- Jiistiy. Abstract of the Examinations before the House of Commons. Ruin- ous Effects of the PoUcy of Great Britsun on tlie vital interests of that Na- tion, . - 329 61. England said to be struggling for her Existence. This no palliation ©f her outrages on neutral Nations Attack on Copenhagen, - 341 62. The clamour raised by the Eastern States on the subject of Repre- sentation, unfounded. The result of factious delusion, - * - 346 63. Statistics continued. Slave Representation fairly stated, - 348 64. Inquiry into the charge against tlie Southern States of destroying Commerce to promote Manufactures, . - - . - 354 6.5. iMilitia Defence. System of Classification proposed in Congi'ess. Re- jected. Awful outcry, ...... 355 66. Right of Society to coerce, and duty of citizens to afford. Military Service, ......-- 358 67. Power of Congress to call out the Militia. The usual mode of draft- ing oppressive, unequal, and unjust, .... 363 68. Inefficiency of Militia generally. Extravagantly expensive. General Washington's testimony on the subject full and complete, - - 367 69. Conscription or Classification of the Militia to fill up the Army, the Hkost impartial and efficacious mode. A measui'c of the Amei'ican Revolu- tion. Plan borrowed by France. General Knox's Plan, - - S77 70. Gerrymanderism. Derivation of this queer name. Political Legerde- main. A grand discovery how to enable a minority to rule the majority. Joint and concurrent votes. General ticket, .... 383 71. State of Representation in Massachusetts. Wretched System of Re- presentation in Maryland an I Virginia. Rotten Boroughs, - - 387 72. A Wonderful Contrast. " Let every soul be subject to the higher powers." — Rev. Dr. Morse — Rev. Dr. Parish — Rev. Dr. Osgood. Invoca- tion to War. Governor Oilman, - - - - 390 73. View of the prosperity of the United States, during the various ad- ministrations. Mighty errors prevalent on this topic, - - 396 74' Miscellaneous Facts and Observations, .... 411 APPENDIX. No. II. 75. Separation of the States. Civil War. Cromwehsm, - - 421 76. Abuse of the Freedom of the Press. Attacks on Monarchs and Na- tions of Europe, ....... 430 77. Shall we soon have another war ? The vulnerable part of Gi-eat Bri- tain. The late war. Defective Legislation. American Seamen, - 435 78. Congi'essional Caucuses for President and Vice-President, - 439 APPENDIX. No. m. 79. Western insurrection, - . - - - - 455 80. Blue lights; Congress, - - - - - 407 81. Faction. A most tremendous scourge, . - . - 463 82. Rejection of Monroe and Pinkney's treaty, ... 469 83. Hartford Convention, .-...- 473 84. Freedom of the seas. Prophets. Sedition, ... 477 85. Self-created Societies, - - - - - - 480 86. American magnanimity, generosity, and public spirit, - 486 87. Miscellaneous articles, ...»,» 490 88. Conscription. Impressment, - ~ • - - 495 THe POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. CHAPTER I. Crisis of the affairs of the United States. Dangers of parties and factions. Similarity of our situation to that of France^ Italy ^ and England^ previous to their civil wars. IN the year 1814, the situation of the United States was highly critical. Party and faction, the bane and destruction of the ancient republics,* were earned to such an extravagant ex- tent, as to endanger the public tranquillity — and menace us with civil war, the greastest scourge that ever afflicted mankind. Un- ceasing efforts were used to excite our citizens to open resis- tance of the government.! The principal scenes of these disor- ders lay in the eastern states ; but in almost every portion of the union, persons were constantly employed in inflaming the public mind, and preparing it for commotions. f Thousands and tens of thousands of our citizens, upright, honest, and honourable in private life, were so deluded by the madness of party and faction as to believe, that the defeat, the disgrace, anrl the disasters of our armies:}: — the destruction of public credit \ — (as leading to the • An idea has been propaj^ated by superficial writers, and generally be- lieved by superficial readers, that parly and fiiction are peculiar to republics. Never was there a greater error. Tl-ere is hardly a body of men, how small or insignificant soever, that is not dij^tuibed more or less by party and faction. Within the last ten years, one half, at least, of the Religious Congregations in Philadelphia, have been distracted by discord and faction, which, in various instances, have been carried to the extreme length of absolute separation. And, to mount iiigher, who can forget the violent factions at the commence- ment of the reign of George III, when England was on the very verge of in- surrection ? and let me add the religious crusade of lord George Gordon, which was the offspring of faction, and terminated in enkindling thirty-six fires at once in London : of wliich city the mob had undisturbed possession for several days. All the felons, and other tenants of the prisons, had their chains knocked off, and were let loose once more to prey on the public. Du- ring the sixteenth century, France was as much harassed and distressed by {action as any republic, ancient or modern, has ever been. The enumeration were endless. Let this slight sketch suffice. t These topics will be fully discussed in specific chapters at the close of tills work. \ To some this will seem impossible. It certainly appears incredible. But many things appears incredible, wluch are nevertheless true- And it is capa- ble of the most complet? judicial juoof, that gentlemen, highly estimable in SB POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH [chaf. 1. expulsion from their stations of the highest public functionaries duly chosen by the people) — were all " a consummation devout- ly to be wished"— and the certain means ol procuring a speedy and honourable peace, which we could not fail to obtain from the magnanimity of Great Britain, provided we removed those pub- blic officers, whom, according to them, she had so much reason to execrate. The uniform voice of history in vain proclaimed the generosi- tycf nations towards each other tobe a nunenti'y ; that the terms of a treaty are more or less favourable or injurious in propor- tion to the relative strength, and energy, and means of annoyance; or defence, of the parties ; that powerful nations have almost al- ways taken advantage of the feet>leness of their adversaries ; and that the, certain road to a speedy and honourable peace has throughout all ages been to wage war with the utmost decision tmd effect. Were history wholly silent on this topic, the inherent propen- sities of human nature, properly explored, would satisfy every rational mind of the soundness of these political maxims. They are fair deductions of reason and common sense, to which the universal experience of mankind bears testimony. Every nation, in its periods of debility, has been obliged occasionally to submit to injustice. Every nation, possessing the power to perpetrate in- justice, has more or les;* availed itself of the opportunity. The fears of civil war were regarded as visionary — as the wild effusions of a disordered brain. They werafelt by a small minority. And, were the correctness of opinions to be tested by the numbers who entertained them, they must have appeared most miserably erroneous. But this conclusion is unwarranted by history. It has been a thousand times asserted, and will be as often repeated, that the people of the United States were too enlightened to commit such a fatal error, knowing too well the value of the blessings they enjoyed, to sacrifice them so absurd- ly. Such a delusion was pardonable a few years previous to that period. But our then recent, stupendous follies ought to have wholly dispelled it. We had, in many cases, displayed as much insanity as the history of the world exibits in any of its pages. private life, have thanked God most fervently for the disgraceful capture of our armies* Others liave prayed to God that our soldiers who entered Cana- da might be slaughtered. This is one of the many strange and unaccountable instances in which our history is utterly unlike those of the other nations of the earth. It is really a sui generis. I feel pretty confident that no man of cha- racter or worth in England or France, ever rejoices at the disgrace or disas- ters of his country. But I blush to tell it, the disgrace of our armies has been repeatedly a subject of as much exultation in our coffee-houses and our newspapers, as in the city of London. I could name individuals of the ut- most worth in all the social relations, except that which they bear to their coun- try, whose satisfaction at the distresses and embarrassments of our govern- ment, has at least equalled that of lord Castlereagh. CHAP. 1] DANGERS OF FACTIONS. 39 Danger is not diminished by shutting our eyes against its ap- proach, or by denying its existt nee. This would be a cheap price to pay tor security. But it is not to be purchased thus. And those who seriously weigh the causes that led to the civil wars which desolated France, under the house of Valois; Eng- land under Charles I ; and Italy for entire centuries, with hard- ,ly any intermission ; will be convinced that our security was by no means so well founded as was generally supposed. In num- berless points of view, our situation and our proceedings bore a very strong analogy to those of the three nations to which I have referred, immediately previous to their respective civil wars. Whoever reads with due attention Davila's history of France, Machiavel's of Florence, or Clarendon's of the rebellion under Charles I. will be astonished at the near resemblance.* The difference between the state of the country a few years previous, and at the period under review, was indubitably far greater than from where we then stood to insurrection, and sepa- ration, and civil war. While thrre were so many combustible materials scattered abroad, and such unceasing pains taken to in- flame the public mind, very trivial accidents might have enkind- led a conflagration. — Once unhinge a government — once let loose mankind from the restraints of law and constitution— an.d the human mind cannot readily calculate the terrible result. It was said, that those who had for years urged the propriety, and necessity, and advantages to the eastern states, of a dissolu- tion of the union, did not intend to proceed thus far ; and that they held out these threats in terrorem to awe the administration. There is the strongest possible reason to believe that this was a pernicious, a fatal error — and that the leaders of the malcontents were perfectly serious in their views of a separation. How of- ten had the churches echoed with the insurrectional, the trea- sonable, the fanatical, the rebellious cry, " WHERE IS OUR MOSES ? Where is the rod of his miracles P Where is our Aaron ? Have we no Moses to lead us out of the land of Egypt ?'"\ Fatuity itself could not mistake the meaning of this species of declamation. But even were the leaders merely threatening, it afforded us no security against the ruinous result. Those who • The divisions, and distractions, and factions, that prevailed among, aud the bulclieries alternately perpetrated on each other by, the contending fac- tions in the Grecian and Italian republics, are ably and instructively detailed in the defence of the American Constitutions bythe ex-president John Adams. This work has not had the fate it merited. It has been laid aside, and is ai- most forgotten. Yet there is no work extant which contains more useful les- sons for an American — none in which the horrors of faction are more forcibly displayed — aone that our statesmen and politicians ought to study more care- fully. A few exceptionable passages, selected here and there, have been employed for the purpose of decrying it, and with too much success. But there never yet was a human production that might not be condemned to the flames by the same mode of trial. t See the sermons of the reverend Messrs. Osgood, Parish, are Gardiner, 40 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [chap. 1. raise the storm of civil commotions, possess not the power at pleasure to allay its violence — lo say with effect, " thus far shalt thou go, and no farther.'' This theory was iully exemplified in the civil wars of England betwen Charles I. and his parliament, and likewise in the French revolution. The latier, of which nearly all the early leaders perished in jails and on scaffolds, is a very strong case. Very few of those distinguished and illustri- ous men contemplated a recourse to arms. They hoped tor a bloodless triumph over tyranny. But they were borne down and destroyed by violent and sanguinary men, or rather mon- sters, whom their proceedings released from restraint, but whom their utmost efforts could not check or controul. Never had brighter prospects shone on a nation than those that shone on the United States. Never had a nation been more highly blest. Never had the security of person and propertv— - of liberty, civil and religious — been attained by such easy sacri- fices. Never had the weight of government pressed more light- ly. It was not felt. Never had the fondest theories of philoso- phers and lovers of mankind, been more completely realized. Our situation was ver}- analagous to that of a youth who inhe- rits a large estate, and, unacquainted with the difficulty ol its ac- quisition, cannot form an estimate of its value. This can only be done by a due consideration of the condition of those destitute of the advantages of fortune. He becomes a prodigal. He la- vishes away his treasures. He only then begins to appreciate them, when they are irretrievablv squandered. This was pre- cisely our case. We had not sufiiciently compared our situation with that of the mass of mankind. We had not taken a full view of the glorious, the inestimable advantages we possessed. We had the most noble inheritance that ever fell to the lot of a nation, and had not duly appreciated our happiness. We had jeopardi- zed it most wantonly and fatuitously. We were on the verge of its total loss. A little further progress iu folly and madness, and we should have been undone. We had, by rapid strides, ap- proached the banks of the Rubicon. Whether we should ])lunge ifn, and ford the stream, or, struck with a due sense of our errors and our danger, make a retrograde movement, and regain the elysium whence we started, was in the womb of time. Heaven directed us to the blessed alternative ! Beyond the stream verges a dreary desert, where anarchy and civil war hold their terrific reign, with all their long train of horrors, and where the devious paths lead directly to ruthless despotism. It was time therefore to make a solemn pause — to retrace our steps — and, since we refused to profit by the sad experience of other ages and nations, to avail ourselves of our own. By honest endeavours — by abating the odious violence of party spi- rit — by mutual compromise — by rending asunder the odious, the degrading, the pernicious yoke of the violent men whose in. x^Hxv. 1.] SEDITIOUS PUBLICATIONS. 41 fluence and prosperity depended on public commotions — we might happily regain the ground we had lost — we might dispel the delusion that was leading us to temporal perdition. To vindicate myself from the charge of folly, in those gloomy apprehensions and anticipations, I submit to the reader a few specimens of the unceasing efforts which for years iiad been made to enkindle the flames of civil war. That wc were not in- volved in it, is not justly chargeable to the want of a due degree of labour and industry. Never was more activity displayed — never was a cause more sedulously or ably advocated. And never was there less scruple about the meaijs, provided the end could be accomplished. "On or before the fourth of July, if James Madison is not out of ofiice, a ne% ; lor America, too, has her Butes and her Norths. Let then the comviercial states breast tjiemsehes to the shock, and know^thattotliemsclves they must look for safety. All party bickerings must be sacrificed on the al- tar of patriotism. Tiicn, and not till i'.en, shall they huotible the pride and ambi- tion cf Virginia, whose sirrngth lies in their weakness ; and chastise the insolence of those tnadvien of Kentucky and Tenne:>ee, who aspire to the government of these states, atifl threaten Hj ■.nxohe the country in all the liorror^ ofwar."^ • Idem, page 9. f Idem, page 1?. \ Ide.m, page 12. § Idem, page 15. jj Boston Repertory. •f New York Com.nnercial Advertiser. CHAf. 1.] CONSEQUENCES OF FACTION. 43 The language of the writers is plain and unequivocal. It ad- mits of no mistake or misconstructivn. That they intended to produce insurrection and dissolution of the union, unless they and their friends were enabled to seize upon the government, re- gardless of the frightful consequei ces, it would require consum- mate impudence to deny ; it would be folly, or insanity to dis- believe. What might ultimately be their success, it was impos- sible to foresee. Every thing depended on the course pursued by those who had an interest in the public welfare. If they were not wanting to themselves and to their country, we were sure to rise triumphant over our difficulties and embarrassments. But if the then prevailing wonderful apathy continued ; if we slug- gishly remained with our arms folded, while our situation be- came daily more awful and alarming ; ruin was inevitable. We should have afforded one of the most striking instances in histo- ry, of premature decay and decrepitude. The Lord in his mercy has averted such an awful iate ! Reliance was placed by those who denied the existence of the danger here described, upon the sober character of the nation. They regarded that character as a guarantee against civil war. I was well aware of this circumstance. I allowed it a due share of influence and importance. But the strong inference drawn from it, was unwarranted by history. And let it be observed, once for all, that in government, or politics, the only unerring guide is history, to the neglect of whose lessons may be ascribed more than two thirds of our errors and follies. The Athenians were a polished and refined people. No na- tion, in ancient times, ever excelled them in these respects. Yet thiy were occasionally seduced into the most frightful cruelties by their demagogues, their Cleons and other enrages. They often massacred their prisoners in cold blood, and long after the^ were taken. And the proscriptions and butcheries the adverse parties perpetrated on each other, wiicn they p;a3Cfd the ascen- dency, are frightful subjects of reflection, and to us hold out most invaluable warnings. No nation of modern Europe excelled France, few equalled her—- in courtesy — in mildness— in urbanity. And yet never did mankind exhibit themselves under a more hideous aspect-— never did they change nature more completely with wolves, ty- gers, and hyaenas, than the French have dene under Marat, Danton, Couthon, and Robespierre. These are axvful lesaona^ to xvh'ich those xvho xvcre lending their cid to tear down the pil- lars of government^ paid no tiHention. Man is the same every where, under the same excitements. We have our Cleons, and our Couthons, and our Dantons, and our Marats, and our Rol^spierres, and our Cron^A dls, who on- Iv required suitable occasions to have given scope to their fero- city. JVIild and gentle as is the American character generally. 44 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [cha». 1. the revolution in this country exhihitecf, in various places, where the parties were rancorously embittered against each other, many terrifying scenes. Prisoners were often hung up without trial by the parti zans on both sides. Men and women were treach- erously shot down in their houses*. And not unfrequently, private malice, to sate its rage, disguised itself under the cloak of public spirit. Let us ponder well on those circumstances. They are fraught with important admonitions. To apply a remedy to any evil, moral or physical, it is indis- pensably necessary to explore its nature — to ascertain its causes — and to trace its consequences. Any other procedure arises from error and folly, and is pregnant with defeat and disappoint- ment. With this view, and in the state of affairs just described, I re- spectfully solicited the public attention. I took a rapid retro- spective glance at the folly and guilt, which the factious and dis- cordant state of our country had generated. As far as in my power, I divested myself of party bias, and treated the sub- ject as if it belonged to another age or nation., Whatever er- rors I fell into, arose not from sinister intention : they were chargeable to inadvertence and human imperfection. On my freedom from partiality, I felt the more reliance, from my un- alterable conviction, that both the hostile parties that divide this country, and who regard each other with so much hatred and jealousy, had largely contributed towards the misfortunes that had befallen us — the melancholy change that had taken place in our situation — and the dangers that threatened us. It was im- possible for a candid mind to review the scenes through which we had passed for some years, without a thorough conviction, that each had been guilty of most egregious errors and follies, and occasionally of worse than error or folly ; and that when- ever the interests of the tuition and the interests of the party came in collision^ the former had been too frequently sacrificed,] by both federalists and democrats^ to the latter. No man who has any public spirit, can take a review of our history without feeling the deepest regret at the extent of the mischief this miserable sys- tem of conduct has produced. It has defeated many of the no- blest plans that the wisdom of the country has ever devised, and has prevailed to at least as great an extent here, as in almost any other country, or at anv other period of time. When the pre- sent generation sits for its picture to the iiistorian, it will form a strong contrast to that which is past and gone. The errors or follies, however, of cither party would have produced but little injury comparatively, had not those of the other conspired to give them malignity and effect. • See Ramsay's History of the Revolution in South Carolina. t This is one of Uie most lamentable and humiliating facts in our history. CHAP. 2.] PARTY HOSTILITY. -^ , From this exposition of my views, it was obvious I should steer a course very different from the generality of writers on political topics. With hardly a single exception, their object is, having espoused a party, to justify its supporters, and emblazon their acts, whether right or wrong ; and, if need be, "To make the worse appear the better cause." In pursuit of this object, their own partizans are all angels of light, — whose sublime and magnificent plans of policy are cal- culated to produce a political millennium ; and their opponents, demons incarnate, intent on the destruction of the best interests ot the country. These portraits are equally unjust and incor- rect. One is all beauty, with little resemblance to the pretended original — the other a hideous caricature equally foreign from honour, truth, and justice. ^=^:— -- ' - Among the frightful consequences resulting from this odious practice, a plain and palpable one presents itself. These hor- rible portraits engendered a satanical spirit ot hatred, malice, and abhorrence in the parties towards each other. Citizens of adverse opinions, whose views were perfectly pure and public spirited, were to each other objects of distrust and jealousy. They attached all possible guilt and wickedness — politicalat least — to their opponents- — and then detested the hobgoblins which they had themselves created. Society is not thus constituted. The mass of mankind of all parties, and in all ages, have meant well, except in periods of great depravity and corruption. And little more is necessary to produce harmony between them, than to understand each other correctly. But hostility is excited and perpetuated by the in- trigues and management of demagogues, whose influence and consequence dscjiend on fomenting discord, and who would sink into insignificance in times of tranq.iiUity. Mankind, as I have feinted, abhor each other, not for real existing differences, but for phantoms, the production of heated imaginations. Experience has frequently evinced, that the very plans of policy which par- ties out of power have reprobated and denounced as pernicious, they have pursued themselves as soon as they had vanquished their opponents, and seized on their places. And I believe every man of reflection will acknowlefige, that if the federalists had retained the administration in their hands, they would have advocated the rights of their country as firmly as their succes- sors have done ; and would probably hare adopted measures to resist the arrogant and destructive claims of England, similar to those, for which they have so strenuously, though not very hon- ourably or consistently, opposed the present administration. This is not mere supposition. It is historical fact. It will be seen in the sequel of this work, that the federalists took as high ground on the subject of impressment, and as firmly and O. B. 8 46 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [chap. 2. patriotically resisted the unjust, the daring, the degrading pre- tensions of England, as Mr. Jefferson or Mr. Madison have done. Yet the resistance of the two latter presidents to this atrocious violence, has been among the strongest accusations al- ledged against them by their political adversaries. It is impos- sible to reflect on these topics without sighing over human weak- ness and folly. Federalism has in these transactions suffered a stain never to be effaced. CHAPTER II. Erfors of the Democratic Party. Federal Constitution. Oppo- sition to a Navy* Alien and Sedition Law . y ay'' s Treaty » In pursuance of my plan, I proceed to a review of those errors of the democratic party, which contributed to change the pros- pects of this country, and to darken the political horizon ; and I trust it will appear that I have not done them injustice in charging a large portion of the folly and guilt of the late state of affairs to their account. Federal Constitution. In the convention that formed the federal constitution, the de- mocratic party sowed the seeds of a premature dissolution of that instrument, and of the American confederacy. Regarding society more as it ought' to be, than as it has ever been, or is ever likely to be ; seduced by theories more plausible than solid • — applying to a free elective government, deriving all its powers and authorities from the voice of the people, maxims, and ap- prehensions, and precautions, calculated for the meridian ot monarchy, they directed all their efforts, and all their views, to- wards guarding against oppression from the federal government. Whatever of authority or power, they divested it of, to bestow on the state governments, or reserve to the people, was regarded as an important advantage. Against the federal government their fears and terrors were wholly directed. This was the hor- rible monster, which they laboured to cripple and chain down, to prevent its ravages. — The state governments they regarded Avith the utmost complacence, as the public protectors against this dreadful enemy of liberty. Had they succeeded in all their views, they would have deprived the general government of nearly all its efficiency. Alas ! litde did they suppose that our grand danger would arise from the usurpations of the state gov- ernments, some of which have since most awfully and treasonably jeopardized the union. Unfortunately, this party was too suc- cessful in the convention. Its energy and ardent zeal produ- ced a constitution, which, however admirably calculated for a period of peace, has been found incompetent in war to call forth, at once and decisively, the energies of the nation, and the ad- c«AP. 2.} NAVY. 47 ministration of which has been repeatedly bearded, baffled, and thwarted by the state governments. Had the real federahsts in the convention succeeded, and made the general governmtnt somewhat more energetic — and endowed it with a small degree of power more than it pos;sesses — it might endure for centuries. What fate at present awaits it, is not in human wisdom to foresee. I fervently pray, with the celebrated father Paul, esto perpetua. This error of the democratic party arose from want of du- re- gard to the history of republics, and from a profound study of those political writers who had written under monarchial go- vernments, and whose views were wholly directed to guard against the danger of tyranny flowing from the overweening re- gal power, especially when possessed by men of powerful talents, and great ambition. The theories whence they derived their views of government were splendid and sublime — the produc- tions of men of great public spirit, and regard for the general welfare and happiness — and, had they been duly attempered by maxims drawn from experience, would have been of inestimable value. Establishment of a small Navy. The steady and factious opposition made by the democratic party, to the establishment of a small navy, adequate at least to the protection of our own coasts, has by the event been proved most wretched and miserable policy. It arose, as well from a spirit of hostility towards the party in power, as from a sordid and contemptible spirit of economy, which has in many instances disgraced and dishonoured this party, who have frequently pro- ved themselves, to use a very trite but very expressive proverb, '' penny wise — pound foolish." When we analyse the boasted spirit of economy, to which the opposition to a navy may be in part ascribed, we shall find it arises from two sources ; the one, men of narrow minds carrying into public, the huckstering habits of private life : the other, a base spirit of courting popularity by husbanding the public treasure, even on occasions when liber- ality is true economv, which as frequently occur in public affairs as in private life. IJoth motives are equally contemptible ; but the latter is more pernicious, and produces the most ruinous con- sequences. It starves and smothers public undertakings, and public spirit ; and often defrauds illustrious men of their due re- wards. It is the characteristic vice of our times, and of our nation; and ought to be hunted down by every man who has a real regard for the honour and interest of his country. To this vile spirit we must ascribe the never enough-to-be-despised de- bate, whether Eaton, the glorious and immortal hero of Derne*, * This is among- the most illustrious events in American military affairs by land, when all the circumstances of the case are taken into view. Who can reflect without amazement and admiration, on the heroism of the gallant band, that under this intrepid chief, pierced through the frijfhtful deaart, and 4g rOLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [chap. 2. should be rewarded with a sword or a medal ! a debate which brought down on the congress in which it took place, the con- tempt of every magnanimous and liberal man in the nation ; a debate which would have disgraced the common council of the most petty borough in the union. To this spirit it is due, that votes of thanks, and swords, and urns, and other cheap modes of displaying our gratitude, have tranquillized our minds, and de- ceived us into the opinion, that we have paid the boundless debt due to the Hulls, the Bainbridges, the Decaturs, the Perrys, the Porters, the Macdonoughs, the Joneses, the Kipleys, the Browns, the Scotts, the Cofl'ees, the Carrolls, the Macombs,the Jacksons, and the other heroes, whose glory will live as long as pul)lic spi- rit, consummate talents, and distinguished bravery command the veneration of mankind. The modest, the unassuming, the youthjTul Perry rescued a whole frontier, men, women, and children from the murderous tomahawk. Macdonough rescued another, and prevented the enemy from establishing his winter quarters far within our terri- tory. And Jackson achieved for himself and his country im- mortal honour, by an exploit certainly never exceeded, perhaps never equalled. He preserved one of the most important keys and emporiums of the country, from the power of the enemy, by the most consummate prudence, talents, and bravery. The in- terest of the property he saved from depredation, is probably above Sr50,000 per annum. Yet it is doubtful vvhether there is gratitude enough in our public bodies, who hold the purse strings of the nation, or in the individuals whose property has been pre- served, to make him any adequate return*. I hope and pray I may be deceived. I deprecate being correct in this calculation. But I have fearful misgivings on the subject. To enable us to form an estimate of the immense debt we owe our illustrious heroes, it is only necessary to call to recollection, the prostration of the public mind, and the degradation of the national character in the early part of the war, when our opera- tions on land were "one continued stream" of disgraces and dis- asters ; and when but for the exploits of Hull and a few others on the ocean, the name of an American would have been a pass- port to shame and disgrace. The national character was sup- ported throughout the war by out little navy, whose exploits may challenge comparison with any of the most signal acts of hero- shook a powerful usurper's throne to'the centre. The inauspiciotis interfe- rence that dashed the glorious prize to the earth, just as Eaton had stretched out his hand, and was ready to seize it without the smallest danger of an unfavourable result, is liighly to be regretted. The State of Massaclnisetts acquired a liigh degree of honour by its liberality to the warrior of Derne, on whom it bestowed ten tiuiusand acres of land as a mark of its esteem and admiration. This act of generosity, by the contrast, made the miserable conduct of Congress appear worthy of additional contempt. * The event has realised these, anticipations. CHAP. 2] NAVY. 49 ism recorded in histor}'. And on land, towards the close, it was nobly retrieved by the heroes whose names I have given, and others who nobly grace their country's annals. And is it pos- sible that congress will not give some substantial proof of the nation's gratitude for benefits so far beyond all price ! In very few instances, hitherto, have congress or the people of the United States discharged their duty' in this respect, or displayed a suitable degree of gratitude. Of votes of thanks they have been abundantly liberal. These cost nothing. A few swords and medals too have been awarded. But of all the be- nefactors of their country — those men -who have preserved it from the bottomless abysses of disgrace and dishonour into -which it zvas precipitously falling — who have given it a rank among the nations of the earth, there is hardly one on whom the nation has bestowed a reward worthy of it or him. The debt due to the illustrious men with whose names I have honoured my page, and others, who have trod the same path of glory, cannot easily be discharged, even on the ground of mere calculation of pecuniary advantage to the nation, exclusive of the elevation of its character. If England, whom in this respect we ought to aspire to emu- late, gave 500,000 sterling to her Wellingtons and Nelsons, let the United States give some solid and substantial proof of their gratitude, to their illustrious heroes. Such extravagant re- wards as the British parliament voted " the great lord" as he has been styled, are not here contemplated. But the gift ought to be worthy of the donor and acceptor ; ought to operate as a reward to the meritorious, and a stimulus to excite others to emulation. This is in some degree a digression. But I hope the feelings of my readers will be sufficiently in unison with these sentiments, not to require an apology. I therefore make none. I return to the navy. I feel confident, that the nation has lost five hundred times as much through the want of a small navy, as that navy would have cost. Numbers of instances have occurred, of valuable mer- chantmen having been captured by petty pickaroons, with one or two guns. Our ports have been insulted and outraged, and the ships and cargoes of our merchants plundered by privateers and sloops of war, v/hich a few armed vessels would have forced to keep a respectful distance. There is none of the points on which the two hostile parties have differed, wherein the demo- crats have been so far below their adversaries in consulting the real, the permanent honour and interest of the country, as the es- tablishment of a naval force. The policy of the federalists in this respect was dignified and honourable j that of the democrats miserably contracted. So POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [chaf. 2. Alien arid Sedition Laws^ and Eight per cent. Loans. The factious clamour excited against the sedition and alien laws, and against the eight per cent, loan,— -which clamour was the principal means of changing the administration, and taking it from the hands of the federalists, to place it in those of the de- mocrats — may be justly reckoned among the sins of the latter party. A candid review of the so-styled sedition law, at the present hour, when the public ferment to which it gave rise has wholly subsided, will satisfy any reasonable man, that so far from being an outrageous infringement of liberty, as was asserted, it was a measure not merely defensible, but absolutely necessary and indispensable towards the support of government*. To en- able the reader to judge for himself, without the trouble of refer- ring to a volume of the laws, I annex the document itself. " Sec. 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That if any persons shall wilawfully combine or conspire together, with intent to oppose any measure or mea- sures of the government of the United States, which are or shall be directed by the proper authoriiy, or to impede the operation of any law of the United States, or to intimidate or prevent any person holding a place or office in or under the government of tlie United States, from undertaking, performing-, or executing his trust, or duty ; and if any person or persons, with intent as aforesaid, shall counsel, advise, or attempt to procure any insurrection, riot, unlawful assem- bly, or combination, whether such conspiracy, threatening, counsel, advice, or attempt shall have the proposed effect or not, he or they shall be deemed guil y of a high misdemeanour ; and on conviction, before any court of the United States, having jurisdiction thereof, shall be punished by a fine not ex- ceeding five tiiousand dollars, and by imprisonment during a term not less than six months, nor exceeding five years ; and further, at the discretion of the court may be holden to find sureties for his or their good behaviour in such sum, and for such time, as the said court may direct. " Sec 2. And be it further enacted. That If any person shall write, print, utter or publish, or shall cause or procure to be written, printed, uttered, or published, or shall knowingly and willingly assist or aid in writing, printing, uttering or publishing any y jects of the British empire. CHAP. 7.] PROCEEDINGS OF CONGRESS. 69" made — amendments and postponements innumerable — and only two important acts passed — one for borrowing three millions of dollars — and the other for buying or building twenty schooners. To those who were actuated by a sincere regard for the wel- fare and safety of their country, these proceedings were a source of the most poignant uneasiness. They were utterly unaccount- able, and irreconcilable with the plainest dic.tates of reason and common sense. Laying aside all considerations of public spirit or patriotism, a due regard to personal interest and personal safety, ought to have prescribed a totally different line of con- duct. The majority, imbecile and feeble, endeavoured to shelter themselves by censuring the factious and turbulent minority who made these long speeches for the purpose of embarrassing them, and protracting their debates and proceedings. This plea cannot bear examination. Were it valid, a minority of six or eight persons, possessed of the faculty of making " lo7ig talks.^^'* might at all times totally baffle a majority, and paralize the operations of government. Suppose each member of the minority to make a speech of a day or two on every subject that arose for discus- sion — allow a reasonable time for replication to the majority and the whole year would be inadequate for that portion of bu- siness which the British parliament would with ease despatch in a month. Besides the procrastination arising from the displays of ora- tory which I have stated, there is another source of delay, equally injurious. Private and trifling business obtrudes itself on the attention of congress, and occupies a large portion of the time which is loudly called for by the important affairs of the nation. The former ought never to be allowed to interfere inju- riously with the important concerns of the nation. Here I must notice one particular case, of the most extraordi- nary kind that ever occupied the attention of a public body.— Never was there a greater mockery of a deliberative assembly, A stud horse, called Romulus, belonging to a Mr. David Dar- din, was impressed by a continental officer, in the year 1781. Having been valued at 750 pounds specie, General Greene, dis- gusted by the extravagance of the price, returned him. He was afterwards impressed by another officer, and never returned. The widow of the owner, Mrs. Amy Dardin, has been a very assiduous applicant to congress for remuneration from that pe- riod ; and the subject has, at various sessions, occupied a large portion of the time of that body. The wages of congress during the time of the debates, would, I am persuaded, purchase horses lor the best appointed regiment of dragoons in Christendom.— A worthy member from Virginia used to ride Romulus into congress in great state, every year during his life. He is now no more. Who has been appointed " master of the horse" in O. B. 11 \ 70 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH- [chaf. 7. his place, I cannot state. But that he has a successor, is be- yond a doubt ; tor Dardin's horse was curvetting and prancing as usual, even during the late very important session. A gentleman to whom I mentioned this circumstance, informs me, that in the year 1802 and 1803, there were two pamphlets published on this sul)ject, at the expense of the nation, for the use of the mcmbem^ the cost of which would perhaps have paid for the horse. To render this procedure more culpable, as well as more far- cical, the senate of the United States was on the 7th or 8th or 9th of February, 1815, when every moment of its time was in- expressibly invaluable, gravely debating a bill for the remunera- tion of Mrs. Dardin ! And it was then within a month of the close of its session — and had made no provision for the defence of our cities, liable to hourly destruction, nor for the restoration of public credit ! The mind is lost in the most profound asto- nishment and indignation at the contemplation of such a futile, such a puerile mode of managing public business. The annals ©f legislation can hardly produce any parallel. One of the two things. The claim is just or unjust. If the former, it is disgraceful and dishonourable not to have discharg- ed it. If otherwise, it is truly insufferable to have the public taxed by such importunity. Neglect of public Opinion* Of all the errors of the two administrations of Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Madison, the least criminal, but probably the most per- nicious in its results, is, the indifference they have displayed to- wards the unfounded allegations whereby they were borne down, and their reputation and usefulness destroyed. This may have arisen from an absurd reliance on the good sense of the public — - or on the rectitude of their own intentions — perhaps from their indolence or inattention. It was probably founded, if it arose from either of the two first motives, upon a trite, but fallacious maxim, which antiquity hath bequeathed us— "Truth is great, and will prevail." Millions of times has this captivating maxim been pronounced ; and it is almost universally admitted as in- controvertible. Yet the history of the world in almost every page bears testimony to its fallacy. Truth, unaided by indus- try, and activity, and energy, combats at very unequal odds against falsehood, supported by these auxiliaries. That truth, " other things being equal," is an overmatch for falsehood, I freely grant. But the friends of the former, if they rely wholly on its intrinsic merits, and do not exercise a due degree of vigi- lance, will be miserably deceived in their calculations. A supposed case in point. A matron is charged with having been seen entering a brothel in the face of day, with a notorious seducer. The story spreads. It is universally believed. Her CHAP. 7] PROCEEDINGS OF CONGRESS. U character is destroyed. She is shunned as contaminatory. Six months afterwards, she produces a host of unexceptionable wit- nesses to prove an alibi. They establish, incontrovenibly, that at the time stated, and for months before and after, she was in China, or Japan. It is in vain. Her character is gone. The waters of the Atlantic would not purif\' her. She pa\ s for her neglect and folly, the mighty forfeit of a destroyed reputation. Thus has it been with the administrations of Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Madison. They have been charged with criminal con- duct, frequently of the most flagrant kind. The charges have been passed over in silence for a considerable time. Not being denied, they were presumed to be admitted. And in fact, how can the public determine, whether silence under accusation arises from conscious guilt, a reliance upon conscious rectitude, or aa absurd and criminal neglect of public opinion ? I say," a criminal neg-iect o/' public opinion.'''' This declara- don is not lightly hazarded. The character of a public officer is in some sort public property. A private person may perhaps allow his to be destroyed, without inflicting misfortune on any person but himself. But the destruction ot that of a public offi- cer is really a public injury — as it materially impairs, if it does not destroy, his usefulness. There is in the history of General Washington, a circumstance which appears a departure from the sound, masculine good sense that almost universally presided over his conduct. During the revolutionary war, some of the British emissaries published a collection of letters ascribed to him, which were partly genuine, but interpolated with forgeries, and partly letters altoge;her for- ged. They were calculated to inspire strong doubts of his devo- tion to, and confidence in, the revolution. They were edited by a masterly pen. The attack was unavailing. The attachment to, and confi- dence in, the general, were unimpaired. The pamphlet sunk into oblivion. In the year 1795, during the discussion excited by Jay's trea- ty, it was reprinted as a genuine collection, and had an extensive circulation, in order to depreciate the character of the general. He did not at the time notice it. He allowed it to tske its course, apparendy indifferent as to the consequences. But at the close of his public functions, he recorded in the office of the secretary of state a formal denunciation of the forgery. This procedure was higldy injudicious. If the pamphlet were enti- tled to any animadversion, the proper period was that of its re- publication, and when of course it would produce all the injury that could result from it to his public character. The instances of neglects of this kind on the part of Mr. Jef- ferson and Mr. Madison, are numberless. I shall only instance two. A charge was alleged against the former, of having sent 72 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [cha?. 7. two millions of dollars to France^^for some secret and sinister purpose, which I cannot now recollect. It had been in universal circulation throughout the union, without any formal or satisfac- tory contradiction, for many months. At length, after it had done all the mischief it was calculated to produce, an authentic documental disproof crept out, exactly like the lady's alibi^ and with the same effect. One other instance, and I have done with this part of my sub- ject. The offer of the Russian mediation was made by M. Daschkoff in March, 1813. Mr. Pickering shordy afterwards published in Boston, a series of letters on the subject, which were republished in almost every town and city of the United States. He openly and unqualifiedly asserted that the whole transaction was a fraud and imposture — solely calculated to de- lude the citizens into subscriptions for the pending loan. — He denied the offer of a mediation altogether, and boldly referred to M. Daschkoff and Dr. Logan, to prove his statements correct. If ever an accusation demanded attention and disproval, this was of that description. It was advanced under his own signature, by a man who had held high official stations, and who possessed very considerable standing with the opposers of the government. But the same fatal and unpardonable neglect prevailed as in so many other instances. The allegation was allowed to produce its full effect without any other attempt at counteraction, than a few anonymous paragraphs of denial. To render this error more palpable, a motion was made in the senate of the United States, on the 2d of June, 1813, for a d.s- closure of the correspondence. Of this motion to bring the real state of the affair before the public, the government ought to have gladly availed iiself. But it was rejected. At length, when the affair had in some measure sunk into ob- livion, on the 18th of January, 1814, a motion was carried in the house of Representatives of the United States, for the publica- tion of the correspondence on the subject. It then appeared that the accusation was calumnious and unfounded— and that the transaction reflected a high degree of credit as well on the potent monarch, who took so warm an interest in our affairs, as on our government, for its prompt acceptance of the offer of mediation. But the disclosure was too late to counteract any ot the perni- cious effects that had resulted from the calumny. Many per- sons to this day believe the whole transaction to have been a de-* ception. CHAT. 8.] CAPTURE OF "WASHINGTON. 7^ CHAPTER VIII. Capture of Washington. Causes. Mismanagement, Fort-^ Washington. Trial of Captain Dyson. Extraordinary Sen- tence. Loans. Injury of Public Credit. Retrospection. Capture of Washington. On the 24th of August, 1814, the capital of the United States was taken by the enemy. His force was by no means of such magnitude as would have prevented the disaster from being ac- companied by disgrace. Had it been overwhelming, the loss might have excited regret, but we should have been spated mor- tification and dishonour. But as it stands a subject for historical record, the loss, although very great, is undeserving of consider- ation. Placed beside the disgrace, it sinks into insignificance like a molehill beside a mountain. The force of the enemy is variously stated. The highest es- timate is 6,000. Dr. Catlett, who had a favourable opportuni- ty of ascertaming with precision, states it at 3,540. Every per- son with whom I have conversed, that saw them, has been of opinion that they were so jaded with their march, and so dispi* rited, that, had suitable preparations been made, they might have been easily defeated, and probably captured. They landed at Benedict, on the 18th of August, and proceed- ed in a tolerably regular course towards Washington, which was the only object worthy of their attention. They were six days on their march. And there was hardly any preparation for their reception, till three or four days before their arrival at that city. The secretary at war ridiculed the idea of their attacking Wash- ington, till within three days of the battle of Bladensburg. One obvious plan of defence, which would have struck the mind of a mere tyro in military affairs, was to have garrisoned the capitol and the president's house, with as powerful a force as could have conveniently operated there. The strength of these two buildings would have enabled the garrisons to withstand any assault, and defend themselves, until troops could have been col- lected to encounter the enemv. It is not for me to decide on whom the censure ought to fall — on the president — the secretary at war — on the district general, Winder — or on the whole together. But let that point be de- termined as it may, it cannot be denied, that nothing but the most culpable neglect could have led to the results that took place— —results which could not fail to prove injurious to the national character in Europe, and which, had not the news of the exploits of the brave and illustrious Macdonough and Ma- comb, arrived there cotemporaneouslv ^vith the account of this disgraceful disaster, would have materially and perniciously af- fected the negociation at Gheisti 74 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [chap. 8. When the preceding strictures were written, I had not seen the Keport ol the Committee appointed to investigate the sub- ject, which I have recently examined with attention. It is clear- ly established by the documents annexed to this report, that the disasters arose from a series of the most extraordinary and un- accountable mismanagement. I shall enumerate a few of the in- stances in brief. Let me previously observe, that a cabinet council was held at Washington, on the 1st of July, wherein it was resolved to esta- blish a new military district, to comprise the cities of Washing- ton, Baltimore, and the adjacent country. The command of it was given to general Winder, who had explicit directions to make preparations to repel the enemy, should he make any at- tempt on the seat of government, which the council judged high- ly probable. Among the errors committed, the following are the most pro- minent: 1. There was no attempt to fortify those parts of the country calculated for defence, although General Van Ness, on behalf of the citizens of the District of Columbia, had made repeated and earnest applications to the secretary at war on the subject, and although the latter had as repeatedly promised to pay attention to their requests. 2. There was not the slightest effort to arrest the progress of the enemy, from the time of his debarkation till the day of the battle of Bladensburg, although the country through which he passed was admirably calculated for the purpose. 3. There was no camp formed equidistantly between Balti- more and Washington, so as to be able to cover and protect either or both places. 4. The troops from Baltimore were not ordered out in due season. Had the orders been, as most indubitably they ought to have been, issued at least on the debarkation of the enemy, these troops would have arrived in proper time — been fit for du- ty — and rescued the country from the disgrace and misfortune it experienced. 5. The orders for the Baltimore troops to march, were recei- ved in Baltimore on Saturday the 20th of August. They took up the line of march the next day, Sunday the 21st. On that evening' they received an order from General Winder^ by express^ TO HALT UNTIL FURTHER ORDERS ! Next day, they had renew- ed orders to march with full speed to Bladensburg. — Those to general Stansbury were received at 10 A. M. and those to colo- nel Sterrett at 2 P. M. The former reached Bladensburg on the 22d at night — the latter on the 23d at night. The fatal de- lay arising from the orders to halt, was among the principal causes of the disaster. Colonel Sterrett's corps arrived on the ground jaded, fatigued, and harassed. They had but little rest CHAP. 8.] CAPTURE OF WASHINGTON. ?4 the night previous to the battle, owing to some false alarms, and were in every respect unfit for being led into the engagement. 6. Colonel Young's brigade, by order of general Winder, was stationed at a distance from the field of battle, where it remained inactive during the whole time of the engagement, although with- in hearing of the report of the cannon. 7. An efficient corps of 600 infantry, and 100 cavalry, under colonel Miner, arrived at Washington on the evening preceding the battle. The colonel applied to general Armstrong for arms, and was directed to report hirnseifthe next morning 1 1 ! to co- lonel Carberry, who had the care of the arsenal. This gentle- man sptnt the night at his country seat, and was not to be found in the morning, although invaluable hours were spent in search- ing for him. At length an order for arms was procured from ge- neral Winder. Even then delay occurred, from the scrupulosi- ty of colonel CarBerry's deputy in counting the flints— and fur- ther delay in giving receipt for them. The consequence was, that this corps, which would, almost to a certainty, have decided the fate of the day in fiivour of its country, began its march so late, as to have no share whatever in the action, and met the re- treating army after its defeat ! ! ! 8. Had a stand been made in Washington, and the whole force, even discomfited as it was, been collected together, there is no doubt but the loss might have been retrieved. But there was not the slightest eflfort of the kind made. The retreat was conducted in a disorderly manner, and as much like a flight as could be. Throughout this work, in all important cases, I do not merely refer to my authorities, as is usually done. I quote as well as refer to them. I am desirous of silencing incredulity herself. In pursuance of this plan, I submit a few short extracts from the documents published by Congress, on which the preceding views are founded. Extracts from the letter of general Van Ness, to the cominittee of Congress, ap' pointed to inquire into the causes of the capture of Washington, dated November 23, 1814. " About the opening' of the present campaign, I pressed again upon the secretary the subject generally of our defence ; suggesting, in addition to the occlusion of the river, the convenience sxxd importance of a central catnp, in- termediate befween Baltimore, Annapolis, Washington, Alexandria, Georgetoitin, and the neighbouring towns and country. And in frequent interviews (in num- ber, to be sure, very much increased by the importunate applications and solicitations to me, of both the civil and military branches of the community, whose confidence in the secretary appeared, at an early period, at best wa- vering, if not declining) sometimes official, at other times not so, which I had with him, as the campaign progressed, I did not fail to repeat the sug- gestion. I still received assurances, generally verbal, favourable, accompa- nied by an otherwise apparent indifference, and confidence in our security."" * Report, page 28r. 76 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [chap. 8. " Thus liad the campaign prog-ressed, without any visible steps towards ■vVorks af defence, either permanent or temporary, either on the land or wa- ter side (I never having heard of a spade or an axe being struck in any such opera- tion) Of t'.iwards formiiij^ a rendezvous or camp of regular troops in the neigh- bourhood, to the great anxiety-, inquietude, and alarjn of the district and surround- ing country ; the secretary generally tr- ating with indifference at Least, if not idth levity, the idea of an attack by the enemy."* "In August last, when the increased and reinforced fleet, with the troops, ascended the Chesapeake, and were known, from authentic information, to have entered the Patuxent, I called on secretary Armstrong again ; and ex- pressed, as usual, my apprehensions, arismg from want of means and prepa- rations ; addmg, that from the known naval and reputed land force of the enemy, he probably meant to strike a serious blow. His reply was, "Oh yes ! by G-d, they would not come viith such a fleet 'without meaning to strike som.e- where': but they certainly will not come here. What the d — I will they do here ?" iSfc. After remarking that I differed very much from him, as to the proba- ble interest they felt in destroying or capturing our seat of government, and that I believed a visit to this place would, for several reasons, be a fa\ ourite object with them, he observed, " no, no ! Baltimore i^ the place, sir ; that 13 of so much more consequence."! " I continued to see general Winder occasionally as before, and to be as- tonished at the apparent sluggishness or procrastination in tlie preparation for the reception of the enemy, who was on his advance. I recollect well, that even after he had, according to authentic and undoubted information, as- cended to the head of the ship navigation of the Patuxent, and iiad, for about twenty-four hours, been debarking on the hither bank of that river, and marching his troops to their encampment ou the heights of Benedict (about forty miles from this on the usual route) general W in answer to an enqui- ry of mine, whether he had ordered on any troops from Baltimore, and whe- ther he thought they would be here in time, said, THAT THEY WERE ORDERED ON; AND THAT ALL HIS FEAR WAS, THAT THEY WOULD BE HERE TOO SOON. Expressing to liim my astonishment at the appreliension, lie said he thought it very probable that the enemy would suddenly turn about, and make a blow at Baltimore.' '| Extract from General Stansbury's Report. "The men under my command were worn down, and nearly exhausted from long and forced marches, want of food, and watching. They had been t nuith very little intermission, under arms, and inarching, from, the time of their de- parturefrom Bahiniore, with but little sleep, bad provisions, and but little oppor- tunity to cook. They certainly were not in a situation to g-o into battle; but my orders were positive ; and I was determined to obey them. " Before, and during the action, I did not see any of the force I was led to ex- pect would support me- I understood since, they were on their way to my as^ sistance, and I presume exertions were made to bring them up."§ Extract from. Colonel Miner's Report. " I took up my line of march, and arrived at the capitol between sunset and dark, [ Aug . 23.] and imnaediately made my way to the president, and reported my arrival ; when he referred me to general Armstrong, to whom I repaired, and informed him as to the strength of the troops, as well as to the want of arms, ammunition, &c. which made it as late as early candle-light ; when I was informed by that gentleman, the arms, &c. could not be had that night, and directed to report viyself next morning to colonel Carberry, who would furnish me with ariris, he. wliich gentleman, from early ntxt morn- ing, I diligently sought for, until a late hour in the forenoon, without being able to find him, and tiien went in search of general Winder, whom I found near the Eastern Brancli ; when he gave an order to the armourer for the munitions wanting, with orders to return to the capitol, there to wait further . orders."^ * Report, page 288. f Idem, page 292. \ Idem, page 295. § Idem, page 185. i{ idem, page 231. cHiAP. 8] CAPTURE OF WASHINGTON. 77 Extract from the Report of Doctor Catlctt. "Respecting the condition of the enemy's troops, I was informed by several of the Hritisli officers, that just previous to their reaching Rludcnsburp- (with excessive fatig-ue or entire exhaustion) they -luere dropping off in considerubk num- bers ; that in the action, it was on/i/ bij tlie most exlraordinuvy exertio7is that the main body cotdd be goaded on. Altlioug'h I observed some of their flankers at times advance on the run a small distance, these were said to be only the most active of their light companies of, and attaclied to, their eig-htj fifth regiment, commanded by lieutenant-colonel Thornton, acting as brigadier ; tliey appeared to me to halt, as if exhausted -with futigite, at or near the place where the .firing ceased on our part, about a mile and a half on this side of Bladeiisburg, about two o'clock, P. M."* Extract from the Report of the Committee of congress on the capture of Wash- ington. " Our forces at this time at tlie Old Fields, are variously estimated, with no material diflerence, at about tin-ee thousand men, in the following corps: about four hundred horse, under the command of the following- of!ii ers : lieutenant- colonel Lavall, colonel Tilman, captains Cakh\'ell, Thornton, Herbert, Williams, &c : four hundred regular tro()])s, under the coniniand of lieutenant-colonel Scott, viz thii-ty-sixth, thirty-eighth, and captain Morgan's company of the twelfth infantry ; six hundred marines and flotilla men under commodore Barney and captain Miller, with five pieces of heavy artillery ; two eighteen pounders and three twelve poundei-s : one thousand eight hundred militia and volunteers, general Smith's brigade of (ieoi-getown and city militia, and Mar\land militia under colonel Kramer, of which there were two companies of artilhrv imder captain Burch and major Peter, with six six pounders eacli, making aii aggre- gate of three thousand two hundred, with seventeen pieces of artijlery. "^ The enemy tvas -without cavalry, and had c-wo small field pieces and one ho-a-itzer,xlra~vn by men ; and the -whole country ivell calculated for defence, skinnisldng, and to im- pede the march of an euemy."\ " The march of our army to the city was extremely rapid and precipitate : and orders were occasionally given to captains of companies to hurry on the men, who were extremely fatigued and exjiausted before the camping ground was reached, near the Eastern Branch bridge, witliin the district of (.'ohnnbia."^: " Colonel George Miner, with his reg'iment of ^'irg•inia militia, composed of six htmdred infantry and one hundred cavalry, arrived at the city of AVashing- ton in the twilight of the evening of tlie tweiUy third; he called on the president who referred him to the secretary of war for orders ; the secretary i? formed him that anns could not be had that night ; but gave orders to report himself to colonel Cc.rberry, early in the morning, lolio -n'ould furnisii him -with arms and ammunition, as he was charged with that duly by general Winder. From early in the morninc^ till late in the forenoon, colonel Miner souglit colonel Carberry diligenth , but he could not be f)und. He rode to head quarters, and obtained an order from general Winder upon the ai-senal for armSj &c ; and marched to the place with his regiment, and its care he found committed to a young man, whose cauAion in giving out arms. Sec. very much delayed tlic arming and supplying this vegi- ment."'§ " The distance from Benedict to the city of Washington, by Bladensburg, is upwards of fifty miles. T/ie enemy was without baggage-wagoivs or means of transportation ,- his troops vtuch exhausted with fatigue ,- many coinpelled to gidt the ranks, and extraordinary exertions used to keep others in motion ,■ and, as if imahle to pursue our forces, remained on tlie battle ground : the enemy's advance reached the city about eight o'clock in tlic evening-, the battle having ended about two o'clock, or before."!] " The enemy, on the evening of the twenty -fifth, made the greatest exertions to leave the city of Washington. Tliey htid about forty indifferent looking hor- * Report, page 311. j Idem, page 21. \ Idem, page 23. § Idem, page 26. IJ Idem, pa^e Si. O. B. 12 ' rS POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH, [chap. 8- ses, ten or twelve carts and wagons, one ox-cart, one coach and several gigs. These were sent to Bladensburg to move oft" the wounded. A drove of sixty or seventy cattle preceded this party. Arriving at Bladensburg, the British sur- geon was ordered to select the wounded who could walk ; the forty horses -were mounted by those -who cojild ride ; the carts and ivugons loaded; and iipivards of ninety ivounded left behind. About twelve o'clock at night the British army pass- ed through Badensburg ; and parties continued until morning, and stragglers imtil after mid-day. The retreat of the. enemy to his shipping was precipitate and appare7itly under an alarm : and it is supposed that it was known to him that our forces had marched to Montgomery court-house."* " Ou the twelfth of July, general Winder was authorised, in case of menaced or actual invasion, to call into service the whole quota of Maryland. On the seventeenth general Winder was authorised to call into actual service not less than two nor more than three thousand of the drafts sissigned to his command, to form a permanent force to be stationed in some central position between Bal- timore and the city of W^ashington. On the same day, seventeenth of July, general Windci- was authorised to call on tlie state of Pennsylvania for five thou- sand men ; on Virginia, two thousand ; on the mihtia of the district of Colum- bia, in a disposable state, two thousand ; together with the six tliousand from Maryland, making an aggregate force of fifteen thousand drafted militia, three thousand of wliich were anthorisedto be called into actual service ; the residue in case of actual or menaced invasion, besides the regular troops estimated at one thousand, making sixteen thousand, independent of marines and flotilla-men- This was the measure of defence contemplated for the military district No. 10, and the measures taken by the war department up to the seventeenth of July in execution of it."f Destruction of Fort Washington. One extraordinary circumstance attended this disastrous affair, which deserves to be laid before the public. Fort Washington was commanded by captain Dyson, when the British took the city of Washington. He had received orders from general Wnider, should the enemy come into his rear, to blow up the fort, and retreat with his garrison. The enemy came. His orders were clear and explicit. He obeyed them — as it appears he was in duty bound. For this act, he was brought to trial — and sentenced to be dis- missed the service. I am not a military man, and know nothing of military affairs. I am therefore liable to error when I pronounce opinions on them. But with due deference to the court martial, whereof " briga- dier general Smith, of the militia of the District of Columbia, was president," I cannot but believe captain Dyson's case to be peculiarly severe : and judging on plain principles of reason and common sense, the sentence appears unjust. Extract from the report of general Winder. " I sent, by major Hite, directions to the commanding officer at fort Wash- ington, to advance a guard up to the main road upon all the r»ads leading to the fort ; and in the event of his being taken in the rear of the fort by the enemy, to blowup the fort, and retire across the river. "% * Report, page 36. f Idem, page 38. t Idem, page 172. CHAP. 8.] MILITARY MOVEIVfENTS. 79 I wish to have it understood that I have no personal know- ledge of general Armstrong, general Winder, or captain Dyson — nor do I believe I have ever seen any of them. Departure of general Izard from Plattsburg. One of the most extraordinary measures of the war — a mea- sure utterly indefensible, — has, as far as I know, almost wholly escaped censure. It affords one among ten thousand instances, to prove how seldom approbation or censure is meted out with due regard to justice. General Izard had an army of about 8000 regulars in the neighbourhood of Plattsburg. General Prevost, at no very great distance, had the command of about 14,000 troops, principally veterans. While the eyes of the nation were directed towards that quarter, and every man interested for the honour, the hap- piness, the independence of his country, was tremblingly alive to the future, and filled with the most awful forebodings of a ruin- ous result, from the fearful odds against our little army, amaze- ment and terror filled every breast, to find that 5 or 6000 of our troops, under the general who had directed his utmost energy' to train them to service, and to acquire their confidence, were or- dered to a remote situation, on an unimportant expedition, in which no laurels were, or probably could be, acquired. Thus was a most invaluable frontier exposed to all the horrors of de- solation. The annals of warfare present no instance of greater fatuity. It is difficult to conjecture what could have been the object con- templated by this wonderful movement. But whatever it might have been, had the utmost success crowned the undertaking, it could not possibly have compensated for the issue which was to have been rationally calculated on at Plattsburg. The result, however, was highlv glorious to .the nation. No- thing could have been more fortunate. But this does not dimi- nish an iota of the censure due to the measvux. — The character of an action, good or bad, is not affected, except with the ca- naille,* by its success, whether prosperous or the reverse. Many of the wisest schemes ever devised have failed of success. Many of the most absurd and ridiculous have prospered. But every man whose approbation is worthy of regard, commends or re- probates a measure according to the wisdom or folly displayed in planning it. Had general Izard's army remained at Plattsburg, and aided in the discomfiture of governor Prevost, the triumph of the Uni- ted States at the Saranac would not have been so transcendently great. Its removal, therefore, how absurd soever, is a subject * It may be proper to state, that the true distinction of the Canaille, is not dress, or station. It is mind. There are men worth ten thousand a year, who are of the canaille. 80 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. Lciiap. 8, of the most serious rejoicing-. It has added immensely to the laurels the nation acquired in the war. Loans. The last and perhaps the most grievous and unpardonable er- ror of the democratic party — an error, pregnant with baleful con- sequences to the finances and crLclit of the country, was, their de- pending on loans, for the support of the war, and deferring the imposition of taxes adequate to erect the superstructure of public credit upon. This arose from the miserable, the despicable, the pernicious dread of forfeiting popularity, and losing the reins of government — a dread often the parent of the most destructive measures. The consequence of this highly reprehensible error was, that the loans were made to very considerable loss, and that the public credit of the nation was most lamentably impaired. I H WE now gone through a review of the principal errors and follies, the neglects and the mismanagements of the demo- cratic party. I have detailed and canvassed them with the bold- ness of a freeman. I have followed the sound advice of Othello : " Nought extenuate — noi* aught set down in malice." On many of these points I am greatly at variance with men of powerful talents belonging to this party. Some of my facts and opinions have been controverted by a critic of considerable acu- men, in one of the daily papers. I have re-examined the vari- ous subjects embraced in this volume ; and, where I have found cause to change my opinion, I have unhesitatingly clone so. My object is truth. I have pursued it steadil)' — and, as far as I can judge of myself, without undue bias. But I well know how dif- ficult it is for human weakness to divest itself of prejudice ancl partiality. To the candid reader, I submit the decision. This detail of misconduct has been a painful task. Far more agreeable would it have been, to have descanted on the merits and talents of the president and other public functionaries. To a man of a liberal mind it is infinitely more agi'eeable to bestow the meed of praise, than to deal out censure. But a rough truth is preferable to a smooth falsehood. And whatever chance we have of arriving at the haven of peace and happiness depends upon a fair and candid examination of ourselves, which must in- falHbly result in a conviction, that, so great have been the errors, the follies, and the madness on both sides, mutual forgiveness requires no effort of generosity — it is merely an act of simple justice. Before I quit this branch of my subject, it is but proper to observe, that it is hardly possil)le to conceive of a more difficult and arduous situation than that in which Mr. Jefferson and Mr. dais. 9.] FEDERAL CONVENTIOxV. -81 Madison have been placed. They have had to struggle with two belligerents, one supremely powerful by land, and on that element holding in awe the chief part of the civilized world — the other equally powerful by sea : — and each, in his rage against the other, violating the clearest and most indisputable rights of neutrals, and inflicting upon us, in a time of pretended peace, nearly as much injurv as if we were arrayed among the belliger- ents. And the divisions and distractions of the country, with the formidable opposition of a powerful party, embracing all the governments of the eastern states and a considerable portion of the citizens of the rest of the union, must have caused the admi- nistration infinitely more embarrassment and difiiculty than the two belligerents together. The federalists, as I shall show more fully in the sequel, after goading the government into resistance, and vilifying it for not procuring redress, thwarted, opposed, and rendered nugatory everv rational effort made to accomplish the very object they professed to seek — a degree of madness and folly never-enough-to-be-deplored. CHAPTER IX. The federalists. Federal convention and constittttion. Complaints of want of energ-Tj in the constitution. Disorganizers and jfacobins. Alien and sedition laxvs. Having thus taken what I hope will be allowed to be a can- did view of the errors and misconduct of the democratic party, it remains to render the same justice to their opponents. And I feel confident, it will appear that the latter have at least as much need to solicit forgiveness of their injured country, as the former. In the career of madness and folly which the nation has run, they have acted a conspicuous part, and may fairly dispute the palm with their competitors. In the federal convention, this partv made every possible exer- tion to increase the energy, and add to the authority, of the ge- neral government, and to endow it with powers at the expense of the state governments and the citizens at large. Bearing strongly in mind the disorders and convulsions of some of the very ill-balanced republics of Greece and Italy, their sole object of dread appeared to be the inroads of anarchy. And as man- kind too generally find it difficult to steer the middle course, their apprehensions of the Scylla of anarchy effectually blinded them to the dangers of the Charybdis of despotism. Had they possessed a complete ascendency in the convention, it is proba- ble they would have fallen into the opposite extreme to that which decided the tenor of the constitution. This party was divided. A small but very active division was composed of monarchists, who utterly disbelieved in the efficacy or security Qf the republican form of government, espe- S2 rOUTlCAL OLIVE BRANCH. [chap. 9. cially in a tcrritorry so extensive, as that of the United States, and embracing so numerous a population as, at no distant pe- riod, was to be taken into the calculation. l"he remainder were genuine republicans, men of enlightened views, and a high de- gree of public spirit and patriotism. 'I'hey dilfered as widely from the monarchic part of that body, as from the democratic. It is unfortunate that their counsels did not prevail. For in government, as in almost all other human concerns, safety lies in middle courses. Violent and impassioned men lead them- selves, and it is not wonderful they lead others, astray. This portion of the federal party advocated an energetic, but a repub- lican form of government, which, on all proper occasions, might be able to command and call forth the force of the nation. The following letter sheds considerable light on the views of Alexander Hamilton, who took a distinguished part in, and had a decisive influence on, the proceedings of that respectable body. — It is obvious that a president during good behaviour, which appears by this document to have been a favourite fea- ture with Mr. Hamilton, could hardly be considered other than a president for life. New YonK, Sept. 16, 1803. Mt hear sin, I will make no apology for my delay in answering your inquiiy some time since made, because I could offer none which would satisfy myself. I pray you only to believe, that it proceeded from any thing rather than want of respect or regard. I shall now comply with your i-equest- " The highest-toned propositions which I made in the convention were for a president, senate, and judges, dtn-iiiq- good behaviour ,■ a house of representa- tives for three years. Though I would have enlarged the legislative power of the general government, yet I never contemplated the abolition of the state governments. But on the contrary, they were, in some particulars, constitu- ents part of my plan. " This plan was, in my conception, conformably with the strict theory of a government purely republican ; the essential criteria of which are, that the prin- cipal organs of the executive and legislative departments be elected by the peo- ple, and hold their offices by a responsible and temporary or defeasible nature, " .\ vote was taken on the proposition respecting the executive. Five states were in favour of it; among these Virginia; and though, from the manner of voting by delegations, individuals were not distinguished ; it was morally certain, from the known situation of the Virginia members (six in number, two of them. Mason and Ilandolph, professing popular doctrines) that Madison must have concurred in the vote of Virginia. Thus, if 1 sinned against repub- licanism, .Mr. .Madison is not less guilty. " I may truly then say, that I never proposed either a president or senate for life ; and tliat I neither recommended nor meditated the annihilation of the state governments. " And I may add, that in the course of the discussions in the convention, neither the propositions thrown out for debate, nor even those voted in the earlier stages of deliberation, were considered as evidences of a definite opi- nion in tlie proposer or voter. Tt appeared to be in some sort vmderstood, that, with a view to free investigation, experimental propositions might be made, which were to be received merely as suggestions for consideration. Accord- ingly it is a fact, that my final opinion was against an executive during good be- haviour, on account of tlie increased danger to the public tranquiUity incident to the election of a magistrate of his degree of permanency. In the plan of a constitution which I drew up, while the convention was sitting, and which I cHAF. 9.3 FEDERAL CONVENTION. 83 communicated to Mr. Madison about the close of it. perhaps a day or two after, the office of president has no longer duration than for three years. " This plan was predicated upon these bases : 1. That the political principles of the people of this country would endure nothing but a republ.can govern- ment. 2. That in the actual situation of the countrj', it was itself right and pro- per that the republican theory should have a fair and full trial. 3. That, to such a trial it was essential that the government should be so constructed as to give it all the energy and stability reconcilable with the principles of that the- ory. These were the genuine sentiments of my heart : and upon them 1 acted, " I sincerely hope that it may not hereafter be discovererl, that through want of sufficient attention to the last idea, the experiment of rcpubhcan go- vernment, even in this country, has not been as complete, as satisfactory, and as decisive as could be wished. Very truly, he. A. HAMILTON. Timothy Pickerisg, Esq. In the conflict of opinions in the convention, a spirit of com- promise was imperiously necessary in order to secure success to its labours. The tenacity of some leading men, of adverse opinions, had nearly rendered the effort abortive. According to Luther Martin, Esq. one of the Maryland delegates, the con- vention was several times on the verge of adjournment, without fulfilling the object of its appointment. But the good fortune of the nation prevailed : and after a session of about four months, the constitution was finally agreed upon, submitted to public discussion, and joyfully accepted by the American people. The federal party immediately assumed the reins, and admi- nistered the government for twelve years. During this period, its want of sufficient energy, and its danger from the state go- vernments, were frequent subjects of impassioned complaint. Every man who opposed the measures of the administration, of what kind soever they were, or from whatever motives, was stigmatized as a disorganizer and a jacobin. The last term in- volved the utmost extent of human atrocity. A jacobin was, in fact, an enemy to social order — to the rights of property — to religion — to morals — and ripe for rapine and spoil. As far as laws can apply a remedy to the alleged feebleness of the general government, the reigning party sedulously endea- voured to remove the defect. They fenced round the constitut- ed authorities, as I have stated, with an alien and sedition law. By the former, they could banish from our shores obnoxious foreigners whose period of probation had not expired. By the latter, every libel against the government, and every unlawful at- tempt to oppose its measures, were subject to punishment, more or less severe, in proportion to their magnitude. The alien law, I believe, was never carried into operation. It was held in terrorem over several active and influential foreign- ers, who, in the language of the day, were rank jacobins, and of course enemies of Ciod and man. But the case was far dif- ferent with the sedition law. Several individuals could bear 84 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [chap. 10. testimony, from experience, to the severity with which its sanc- tions were enforced. Some cases occurred, of a tragi-comical kind, particularly one in New- Jersey, in which a culprit was fovmd guilty and punished, under this law, for the simple wish that the wadding of a gun, discharged on a festival day, had made an in- road into, or singed the posteriors of Mr. Adams, then president of the United States. But every thing in this sublunary world is liable to revolution. This is proverbially the case with power in a republican govern- ment. The people of the United States changed their rulers. By the regular course of election, they withdrew the reins froni the federalists, to place them in the hands of the democrats. This was a most unexpected revolution to the former. It wholly changed their views of the government. It has been as- serted in England, that a tory in place, becomes a whig when out of place — and that a whig when provided with a place, be- comes a tory. And it is painful to state that too many among us act the same farce. The government, which, administered by themselves, was regarded as miserably feeble and inefficient, became, on its transition, arbitrary and despotic ; notwithstand- ing that among the earliest acts of the new incumbents, was the repeal not merely of the alien and sedition laws, but of the most obnoxious and oppressive taxes ! Under the effects of these new and improved political views, a most virulent warfare was begun against their successors. The gazettes patronized by, and devoted to, federalism, were unceasing in their efforts to degrade, disgrace, and defame the administration. All its errors were industriously magnified, and ascribed to the most perverse and wicked motives. Allega- tions wholly unfounded, and utterly improbable, were reiterated in regular succession. An almost constant and unvarying op- position was maintained to all its measures : and hardly ever was a substitute proposed for any of them. Not the slightest allow- ance was made for the unprecedented and convulsed state of the world. And never were more ardour and energy displayed in a struggle between two hostile nations, than the opposition mani- fested in their attacks upon the administration. The awful, la- mentable, and ruinous consequences of this warfare, and its de- struction of the vital interests of the nation, will fully appear in the sequel. CHAPTER X. British ovckrs in council, November^ 1793. Enforcement of the ride of 1756, As the difficulties and dangers of our country arose principal- ly from the belligerent invasions of our rights, I shall ccmimence. the consideration of them with the British order of 1793. CHAP. 10.] ORDER IN COUNCIL- 85 At that period, during the administration of general Wash- ington, the following order was clandestinely issued by the Brit- ish privy council : — •' George R. Additional instruction, to all ships of war, privateers, 8cc. " That they shall stop and detain all ships laden with goods, the produce of any colony belonging to France, or carrying provisions or other supplies for the use of such colonies ; and shall bring the same, with their cargoes, to le- gal adjudication in our courts of admiralty. " By iiis majesty's command. Signed, " Henry Dundas." Nov. 6, 1793. This order, a most lawless invasion of our rights, almost un- precedented ki extent, was incapable of pleading in its defence the right of retaliation, subsequently so hacknied and worn so thread- bare. In a few weeks it swept the seas of our commerce. Hun- dreds of our vessels were captured : and many of our merchants, who had no more anticipation of such depredations, than of an attack on their vessels by the Chinese, were absolutely reduced to bankruptcy. The annals of Europe for the preceding century furnish no measure more unjustifiable. The circumstances attending it very highly aggravated the out- rage. It was issued so clandestinely, and with such an extraor- dinary degree of secrecy, that the first account of its existence reached the London exchange, with the details of the captures it authorized and occasioned. And the American minister at the court of St. James's, was unable to procure a copy of it till the 25th of December. This lawless procedure excited universal indignation through- out the United States. There was a general clamour for war among all parties. Several very violent measures were moved and debated in congress — among the rest, the sequestration of all British property in the United States, for the purpose of indem- nifying our merchants. This was the project of Jonathan Dayton, of New Jersey, a leading federalist. While Congress was engaged in debating on various modes of procuring redress, the president arrested its career, by the nomi- nation of Judge Jay as minister extraordinary, to seek redress from the British government. This mission eventuated in the celebrated treaty which bears that minister's name, against which, volumes of denunciations were published by the democrats, with numberless gloomy and terrific predictions, on nearly the whole of which, as I have al- ready stated, time has stamped the seal of false prophecy. From this period till the year 1805, the collisions between the two nations were inconsiderable. The United States were in a most enviable state of prosperity in the years 1800, 1, 2, 3,4, 5, and 6. No nation ever enjoyed greater happiness. The commerce of the country, and particu- larly its exports, had most wonderfully increased. O. B. 13 8& POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [chap. 10. During the first four years of general Washington's adminis- tration, the whole value of the exports from this country, foreign and domestic, was about 100,000,000 dollars; whereas during the years 1803, 4, 5, and 6, they were more than treble that amount. Exports. Foreign. Domestic. Total. 1803 13,594,00'J 42,206,000 55,800.000 1804 36,231,000 41,468,000 77,699.000 1805 53,179,000 42,387,000 95,566,000 1806 60,283,000 41,253,000 101,536,000 163,287,000 167,314,000 330,601,000 The foreign articles were principally productions of the cola« nies of the enemies of Great Britain. Their amount excited her jealousy in a high degree, and led her, in the summer of 1805, to adopt the rule of the war of 1756, which rendered illegal any commerce carried on during war, by a neutral, with the colonies of a beUigerent, which had not been permitted during peace. This rule was furtively carried into operation, without any pre- vious notice, whereby our vessels and property to an immense amount were seized — carried into British ports — tried and con- demned. A circumstance attended this measure, which greatly aggra- vated its atrocious injustice. It was in direct hostility with pre- vious decisions of the British courts of admiralty, which had le- galized, in the clearest and most explicit manner, the trade now- proscribed and subjected to condemnation. In order to display the gross impropriety of this procedure of the British government, and its utter inconsistency with their preceding conduct and decisions, I annex a statement of the re- port of the king's advocate, on an application made to him in March, 1801, at the instance ofRufusKing, Esq. our minister at the court of St. James's, on certain cases wherein the rule of 1756 was attempted to be enforced. " It is now distinctly understood, and has been repeatedly so decided by the *' hicrh court of appeals, that THE PROnUGE OF THE COLONIES OF " xilE EXEMY MAY BK IMPOIITED BY A NKUTR.\L INTO HIS OWN "COI'NTRY, AND MAY BE EXPORTED FROM THENCE, EVEN TO "THE MOTHER COUNTRY OF SUCH COLONY; AND IN LIKE MAN- " NER THE PRODUCE AND MANUFACTURES OF 1HE MOTHER "COUNTRY MAY, IN THIS CIRCUITOUS MODE, LEGALLY FIND "THEIR WAY TO THE COLONIES. The direct trade, however, be- *' tween the mother country and its colonies, has not, I appi-ehend, been recog- "nised as legal, either by his majcaly's government, or by his tribunals. " What is a direct trade, or what amounts to an intermediate importation *' into the neutral country, may sometimes be a qtiostion of some difficulty. A *' general definition of either, applicable to all cases, cannot well be laid down. *' The question must depend upon the particular circumstances of each case. " Perhaps the mere touching in the neutral country, to take fresh clearances, " may properly be considered as a fraudulent evasion, and is in effect the di- ^' rect trade ; bnt the high court of admiralty has expressly decided (and I see CHAP. 10.] MERCANTILE ALARMS, SJ* "no reason to expect that the court of appeals will vary the rule) that landing ", the goods and paying the duties in the neutral country breaks the continuity of the *^ voyage; and is such an importation as legalises the trade, although the goods he " re-shipped in tlie same vessel, and on account of the same neutral proprietors, and " 6e forwarded for sale to the tnotker country or the colony," *' An extract from this report, containing the foregoing pas- " sage, was transmitted by the duke of Portland, in a letter of the " thirtieth of March, 1801, to the lords commissioners of the ad- '* miralty. The duke's letter concludes thus : " in order, there- " fore, to put a stop to the inconveniences arising from these erro- *' neous sentences of the vice admiralty courts, I have the honour *' to signify to your lordships the king's pleasure, that a communi- " cation of the doctrine laid down in the said report should be im- *' mediately made by your lordships to the several judges presi- " ding in them, setting forth what is held to be the law upon the " subject by the superior tribunals, for their future guidance and " direction.''* The depredations above stated, excited universal indignation throughout the United States. The mercantile part of the com- munity were exasperated to the utmost degree. The adminis- tration was stigmatized as equally regardless of the honour and interest of the nation, for not resisting these pretensions and pro- curing redress for the depredations. A recurrence to the ga- zettes of that period will fully prove that the federal party was then clamorous for war, if redress could not be procured for grievances incomparably less than those that finally provoked the late declaration of war. But it may be said, with some de- gree of truth, that newspapers are an equivocal criterion of the public opinion. This I well know, and freely admit : and there- fore I shall lay before the reader other and most unerring proofs of the mercantile temper of this period. Meetings of the merchants were held in almost all the com- mercial towns and cities in the United States. The subject was eloquently discussed. Strong memorials were agreed upon, urging the president and congress to adopt such measures as might be necessary to procure redress. In these memorials, which were couched in the most emphatical language, the pre- tensions of England were considered as akin to actual piracyf — as opening the door to the most flagrant frauds and imposi- tions — as unworthy of a great and magnanimous people — and as derogatory to our reputation and honour as an independent na- tion. The administration was in the most impassioned style in- voked to resist such pretensions ; and the memorialists generally pledged themselves most solemnly to support it in the attempt. As • Letter from Messrs. Monroe and Pinkney to lord Howick, dated August 20, 1R06. t " It cannot become the intep^rity of a great nation, to prey upon the unpro' i^cted property of a friendly power." Boston Memorial. 8S POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [chap. 11. I shall devote a separate chapter [the 18th] to the consideration of the policy of the mercantile portion of the nation, I shall not here inquire how far these pledges were redeemed. These memorials are immensely important in the formation of a correct estimate of the policy of our government. I shall, therefore, make very copious extracts from them. They are most precious documents, and present " a round, unvarnished tale" of the outrages experienced by American commerce, and the extravagant pretensions, as well as the lawless depredations of Great Britain. CHAPTER XI. Extracts from the Boston Memorial to Congress, The Boston merchants, after glancing at the vexations, insults, and barbarities, suffered from France and Spain, pass on to the consideration of the grievances inflicted by the British. They state that, " It is their obiect in the present memorial, to confine Uieir animadversions to THE MORE ALARMING, BECAUSE MORE NUMEROUS AND EX- TENSIVE DETENTIONS AND CONDEMNATIONS OF AMERICAN VESSELS BY GREAT BRITAIN, aud to adveit to the principles recently ai'owed, and adopted by her courts relative to neutral trade in articles of colo- nial produce ; — principles, which, if admitted, or practised upon in all the lati- tude, which may fairlv be inferred to be intended, would be destructive of the navigation, and V.AmCKl.'LX IMPAIR THE MOST LUCRATIVE COM- MERCE OF OUR COUNTRY : principles that had been virtually abandoned subsequently to their avowal, even during an intermediate and inveterate war, and during tl>e prosecution of a trade luhich is noiv interdicted and alleged to be illegal, hut which trade was at that time sanctioned by the promulgated decisions of her courts, and by an official communication from one of the highest organs of the very government, which is now attempting to destroy it, and with its sup- pression to ANNIHILATE, OR GREATLY DIMINISH THE COM- MERCE OF NEUTRAL NATIONS. "There is great cause to apprehend, that the British government means to set up as a principle, that slie has a right to interdict all commerce by neutrals, to the ports of her enemies, which ports had not been opened previously to tlie commencement of hostilities ; — that if she permits a trade with them in any degree, she has a right to prescribe the limits of it ; to investigate the inten- tion of the parties prosecuting it; and if such intention be not the actual dis- position of the property in the neutral country, to consider the merchandize, even after the importation into such country, after having been landed therein, warehoused, and the duties paid on it, as only in the stage of a continued and direct voyage from the colony to the mother country, or vice versa ; and therefore illegal, and liable to condemnation. "Unless the present disposition of the British admiralty courts, and navy officers, can be counteracted and removed, a widcly-dispersed and unprotected commerce, extending to every region of the globe, will only serve TO IN- VITE DEPREDATION, TO BANKRUPT OURSELVES, AND ENRICH OTHERS, UNTIL SUCH COMMERCE BE SWEPT FROM THE FACE OF THE OCEAN, and leave nothing in its stead, but sentiments of hostility and acts of contention. " A tacit submission to pretensions thus lofty and comprehensive, but which *our memorialists trust are most of them untenable, would, they conceive, be AN ABANDONMENT OF RIGHTS OPENLY RECOGNIZED AND A 8HAP. 12.] NEW YORK MEMORIAL. 89 DEREUCTiON OF THE MOST IMPOltTANT COMMERCIAL INTERESTS OF OUR COUNTRY. " Reason, and the most powerful considerations of equitv, enjoin it as a DUTY ON THE UNITED STATES TO OPPOSE THESE PRETENSIOXS ; for circumstanced as these states are, possessing an immensely extended and fertile territory, proclucinii- mostly the necessaries of life, which, with the mer- chandise obtained from abroad by the industry and enterprise of her citizens, she is obliged to barter, or furnish in payment for impoitaiions of foreign pro- duce or manufactures; it behoves her strenuously to contend for the right of an open commerce in Innocent articles between oilier nations that are willing to ac- cord it, and herself; for if the right be not both claimed and admitted, scarce- ly any of the European powers can in future be engaged in warfare without making the United States, in opposition both to her ettbrts and wishes, EITHER A VICTIM, OR PARI Y IN THE CONTEST. " As to the inquisitorial right of search into the ownership of neutral prop- erty set up by Great Brltam, and the doctrine appended to it, that a neutral im- porter shall not again export his goods, but that they shall be first alienated and passed into the nossession of others — your mfmorialists believe them to be UNSOUND IN POINT OF PUINCIPLE.'OFFENSiVE IN PRACTICE. ;AND NUGATORY IN EFFECT. " At any rate, whether the doctrine were soiuul or not, or whether It inju- red Great Britain or not, it cannot become the integrity and magnanimity of a great and powerful nation, at once, and without notice, to reverse her rule of conduct towards other states, and TO PREY UPON THE UNPROTECT- ED PROPERTY OF A FRIENDLYI^VYER, the extension of whose com- merce had been invited by the formal avowal of her intentions, and prosecuted, under a reliance on her good faith, and from the confidence reposed, that her courts, uniform to their principles, would never be infiuenccd by the time- serving politics of the moment "In all events, fully relying that the subject of our differences with Great Britain will rtceive the due comideration rf govermnent ; and that such measures will in consequence be promptty adopted, as will tend to DISSEMBARRASS OUR COMMERCE, ASSERT OUR RIGHTS. AND SUPPORT THE DIGNI- TY OF THE UNITED STATES, "Your memorialists have the honour to remain, in behalf of their constitu- ents and themselves, most respectfully, James Lloyd, jr. David Green, John Cofiin Jones, Arnold Welles, George Cabot, Thomas H. Perkins, David Sears, Boston, January 20, 1805. CHAPTER XII. Extracts from the Ntxv Tork memorml. "They have been suddenly confounded by unexpected intelligence of the arrestation, on the high seas, (f a Iwge portio7i 'f their property,^ ivhich had been embarked nx-ith the most unsuspecting cc>'Jidtnce. The feelings of your memorial- ists are not only excited by the losses whicii they have actually sustained, in consequence of a measure insusceptible of previous calculation, but, also, from the state of uncertainty in which they are placed with respect to future com- mercial operations. " In the recent decision, which prohibits an importer of colonial produce from exporting it to Europe, they perceive with concern, either a nugatory and vexatious regulation, or a meditated blow at what they deem an incontes- tible and v,,! liable right. " If the arrival ol'a ship in the country to which it belongs ; the landing of the cargo ; the inspection of the custom house ; the payment or security of du- ties ; do not terminate a voyage, then we confess our ignorance on a point, which, never having been before questioned, has been assumed by us as an acknowledged truth. If the entry forexponation; the embarkation of merchan- Ojse : th." re-inspectiou of the custom house ; the bond for securing a delivery 90 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [chap. 12. in a foreign country ; and a public clearance, do not indicate tlie commence- ment of a new voyage ; then we are yet to learn the meaning of tlie expres- sion. " But these embarrassments, though perplexing and vexatious, are not those which principally occasion our solicitude ; we are compelled to consider the late decisions of the British tribunals as preliminary steps towards a system of controlling the importations and exportationsof colonial productions, and there- by ANNIHILATING THE MOST LUCRATIVE BRANCHES OF OUR COMMERCE. If we owed this trade solely to the favour of Great Britain, still we might ask, what urgent motive, what imperious necessity, required that the favour shf)uld be resumed at a period ichen our commerce tuas spread over the ocean, and wlien a cliange so essential might destroy its security, and subject us to incalculable losses. We deny, however, that the rights of commerce, as claimed by us, are to be deemed favours ; on the contrary, if the law of na- tions is other than a temporary rule, prescribed by an arbitrary wdl, and en- forced by power, then we appeal to its most universal and inviolable principle in our defence. This principle is, that the goods of a neutral, consisting of articles, not contraband of war» in a neutral vessel, employed in a direct trade between neutral countries and ports of a belligerent country, not invested or blockaded, are protected. " Wliatever theoretical opinions may heretofore have been advanced, there has existed no such practical rule [as that of 1756] which, under the unpa- rallelled circumstances of the present war, MUST INFALLIBLY DES- TROY THE COMMERCE OF THIS COUNTRY. •• With these preliminary facts in view, we request permission to detail some of the most important consequences of the assumed rule, that neutrals may be restrained in time of war to their accustomed tr.ade in time of peace. Tlie injustice of such a rule, in relation to the United States, will be most manifest; the individuals employed in commerce would not alone be affect- ed : all the internal relations of our country would be disturbed ; the inte- rests of those districts which are most remote from our principal ports, would., in proportion to their dependence on foreign supplies, be most severely de- pressed. *' If Great Britain permits commerce betzveen her subjects and the colonies of her eneiriies, may we not, with the consent of those colonies, participate In the same commerce ? If our commerce with the enemies of Great Britain may now be confined to the system established in time of peace, may we not ap- prehend that the principle will be retaliated in respect to our commerce with the colonies of Great Britain ? In that case, WHAT CAN ENSUE BUT WAR, PILLAGE, AND DEVASTATION? *' Tiiese are not imaginary suppositions. They illustrate the most important principles of our commerce. They evince the necessity of a circuitous trade, to enable us to realize the greatvalue of exports of our own native productions, by which, alone, we acquire the power to liquidate the balance against us, in our commerce with Great Britain : they demonstrate, that the position against which we contend, is not a rule of the law of nations. THE LAW OF NATIONS ORDAINS NO RULE, WHICH IS UNEQUAL AND UN- JUST. " It is, however, with much sin-prise, tliat we have recently discovered, that the very circumbtances ui)on which our hopes of security were reposed, have been urged as arguments to jiistlfv an invasion of our rights ; and that HAV- ING TOTALLY SUPPRESSED THE EXTERNAL COMMERCE OF HER ENEMIBS, GKEAT BRITAIN IS NOW COUNSELLED TO AP- PROPRIATE TO HERSELF THAT OF HER FRIENDS. We wish only for justice : and believing that a commercial nation which disreg.irds justice, thereby undermines the cit.-idel of her power: we rely on the effect of mutual interests and wishes in promoting a coi-dial explanation and fair adjustment of every cause of misunderstanding ; in particular we re- ly on the government of our country, THAT OUR RIGHTS WILL- NOT BE ABANDONED, and tJiat NO ARGUMENT IN FAVOUR OF AN USURPATION WILL EVER BE DERIVED FROM OUR ACQUIES. CENCE. CHAP. 13.] PHILADELPHIA MEMORIAL. 9l *' Your mernorialists conclude with remarking, that they deem the present si- tuation of public affairs to be peculiarly critical and perilous ; and such as requires all the prudence, the ■wisdom, and the energy of the government, SUPPORTED BY THE CO-OPERATION OF ALL GOOD CITIZENS. By mutual exertions, under the benign influence of providence upon this hitherto favoured nation, we hope the clouds which threaten to obscure its prosperity may be dispelled. AND WE FLEDGE OUR UNITED SUPPORT IN FAVOUR OF ALL THE MEASURES ADOPTED TO VINDICATE AND SECURE THE JUST RIGHTS OF OUR COUNTRY." Nei\} York, Dec. 28, 1805. Signed on behalf of the merchants, by Joim Broome, chairman, Isaac Lawrence, Eben. Stevens, ElishaCoit, Edmond Seaman, Henry J. WyckoflT, Wm. W. Woolsey, Sml. A. Lawrence, Thomas Farmer, GoeletHoyt, Chis- M'Evers, jr. George Griswold, Charles Wright, James Arden, William Codman, W. Henderson, Wm. Clarkson, James Maxwell, Oliver Wolcott, William Bayard, Jolm B. Murray, W. Edgar, Thos. Carpenter, Rensselaer Havens,Rob«rt Lenox, John De Peysler, G. M. Woolsey, James Scott, Henry Post, Jolm B. Coles, Daniel Ludlow, John Kane, Archibald Gracie, Leiferi Lefterts, William Lovet, John Franklin, Gulian Ludlow, John Murray, Benjamin Bailey, John Taylor, P. Shermerhorn, J. R. Livingston, W. Van Zandt, D. M. Clarkson, John P. Mumfordi Benj. G. Minlurn, I. Clason, Samuel Russel, John Clendining, CHAPTER XIII. Extracts from the memorial of the Merchants of Philadelphuu I PROCEED to state the sentiments of the merchants of the great city of Philadelphia, on this invasion of their rights and those of the nation. We shall see that they felt the same sense of injustice of these measures, with their brethren of Boston and New York ; made the same strong requisition for protection ; and gave an equal pledge of full support. " A jealousy of our enterprise and prosperity, has excited a design of checUng the commercial growth of our country, the fruit of which has been an attempt to in. novate upon ancient and approved principles, and introduce unheard-of arti- <;les and provisions into the code of public law. «' It becomes your memorialists to state, that the pressure of these evils has ."■reatly increased, and that others, of even superior magnitude, have arisen, which assume a most alarming and distressing form. What were considered irregularities, insusceptible of prevention, have, by continuance and success, strengthened into REGULAR AND SYSTEMATIC PLUNDER. What were regarded as mischiefs incident to a state of war, temporary though not remediless, are vindicated upon the ground of rigiit ; and their practice is re- iterated under the authority of government, and receives the solemn sanction of law. " They moreover foresee, in the prevalence of the principles, and the con. tinuance ol" the practices alluded to, nothing but THE RUIN OF INDIVI- DUALS, THE DESTRUCTION OF THEIR COMMERCE, AND THE DE- GRADATION OF THEIR COUNTRY. " Could the judgment or even the charity of your memorialists see, m the new doctrines of the British court, nothing but the revival and enforcement of an ancient and established principle, which friendship had relaxed, or fa- vour permitted to slumber, they might regret the departed good, but could impute no injustice to the hand tiiat withdrew it. Tliey are struck, however, with.the novelty of these doctrines ; their unequivocal hostility to neutral interests and rights ; their inconsistency with former declarations of their ministrj, and deci- sions oi' tUmv courts, and with the extraordinary time aiul manner of their an- nunciation. 92 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [cha?. 1.3. " Tlie effect of : his novel principle upon neutral interests is of the most se- rious and aU min.. character. IT GOES TO NOTHING SHORT OF THE DESTRUCTION OF NP:UTR AL COMMERCE ; and from the well-known neutral situation and ciiaracter of the United States, to notldng short of iriflict- ing a most deep aivl deadly ivound upon their trade " But your memorialists cannot but consider, that this principle has. not the weight of a consistent and uniform support by the government which professes to upliold it. In 1801, the declaration of its ministry and the decisions of its courts, were unequivocally, "that the produce of tlie colonies of the enemy may be imported by a neutral into liis own coimtry, and be re-exported from thence, even to the mother country of such colony ;" and also, " that landing the goods, and paying the duties in tlie neutral country, breaks the continuity of the voyage, and is such an importation as legalises the trade, although the goods be re-shipped in llie same vessel, and on account of the same neutral proprietors, and forwarded for sale to t!»e mother country." In 1805, it is de- cided, that landing and paying the duties does not break the continuity of the voyage ; and the course of trade pointed out to tlie neutral, four years be- fore, as legal and safe, is now unsatisfactory to tlie belligerent, and ATTEND- ED INFALLIBLY WITH CONFISCATION. What clear and immutable principle of the law of nations, can that be, your memorialists would ask, which is supported bvthe high court of admiralty, and avowed by the ministry in 1801. and which is prostr;ued by the ministry and the iiigh court of appeals in 1805 ? Such a principle viust be considered as rather partaking of the shifting character of convenience, than of that of permanent right und established Unu.^ " Tlie time and manner of announcmg it accord with the principle itself. At a moment when mercantile enterprise, coniiding in the explanations on this point given by the Briii.sh ministry to our ambassador, is strained to the utmost, a new decision of the court of appeals is announced, and EVERY SAIL IS STRETCriEU i O COLLECT THE UNWARY AMERICANS, AVHO ARE UNSUSPECTINGLY CONFIDING IN WHAT WAS THE LAW Ol' NATIONS. •' In the principles they have here submitted to your consideration, they feel all the confidence of justice, and all the tenacity of truth. TO SURREN- DER THEM, THEY CONCEIVE, WOULD DKnOG\TE FRO.M THE JIATIONAL CHARACTER AND INDEPENDENCE OF THE UNITED STATES. FROM THE JUSTICE OF GOVERNMENT THEY HOPE FOR THEIR AVOWAL; FROM THE SPIRIT OF GOVEllNMENT THEY HOPE FOR rilEIli DEFENCE ; AND FROM THE BLESSING OF HEA- VEN THEY HOPE FOlt THEIR ESTABLISHMENT- " As c'lizens, they claim protection ; and they conceive that the claim is en- forced by the consideration, that from their industry and enterprise is collect- ed a revenue which no nation has been able to equal, without a correspondent expense for the protection of the means. " To preserve peace with all nations, is admitted, without reserve, to be both the interest and the policy of the United States. They therefore presume to suggest, that every measure, not inconsistent with the honour of the nation, by which the great objects of redress and security may be attained, should first be used. IF SUCH MEASURES PROVE INEFFECTUAL, WHATEVER MAY BE THE SACRIFICE ON THEIR PART, IT WILL BE MET WITH SUBMISSION." Thos- Fitzsimons, chairman, John Craig, .lac. Gerard Koch, Wm. Montgomery, George Latimer, W. Sims, Thos. W. Francis, \braliamlvinuing. Chandler Price, Robert Ralston, Tiiomas English, Philip Nicklin, L. Clapier, James Yard, Joseph S. Lewis, Thomas AUlbone, Daniel W. Coxe, Robert Wain, Manuel Eyre, R. E- Hobart, Secretary. The preceding list embraces decided men of both the hostile partite, and of various nations — Americans, English, Irish, French, and Dutch. •CSAP. 14] BALTIMORE MEMORIAL. ^3 CHAPTER XIV. Extracts froyn the Baltimore Memorial. The memorial of the merchants of Baltimore is more diffuse and argumentative than any of the preceding. It is a most mas- terly composition, and may be regarded as a complete and un- answerable defence of neutral rights against belligerent preten- sions and encroachments. Its maxims ought to be committed to memory by every statesman, in all those countries, whose inter- est it is to preserve a neutral situation. " It would not be desired that the state of thing-.s which Great Britain had herself prescribed, and which use and habit had rendered familiar and intelligi- ble to all, should be disturbed by oppressive innovations ; far less that these in- novations sliould, by atiirannical retrospection, be made X.o iusi\iy the seizure and <-onfiscation of their property, committed to the high seas, under the protection of the existing rule, and without -uariiing of the intended change. In tliis their just hope, your memorialists have been fatally disappointed. THEIR VESSELS AND EFFECTS TO A LARGE AMOUNT, HAVE LATELY BEEN CAPTU- RED BY THE COMMISSIONED CRUISElfS OF GREAT BRITAIN, upon the foundation of NEW PRINCIPLES SUDDENLY INVENTED, and applied to this habitual traffic ; and suggested and promulgated, for the hrst time, by sentences of condemnation ; bv whicli. iincvoida/jle iiynorance has been considered as criminal, and AN HONOUltABLE CONFIDENCE IN THE .TUSTICE OF A FRIENDLY NATION, PURSUED WITH PEIVALTY AND FORFEITURE. " Your memorialists are in no situation to state the precise nature of the rules to which their most important interests have been sacrificed : and it is not the least of their complaiHts against them, that they are undefined and unde- finable; equivocal in their form, and t/ieft instruments of oppression, by reason of their ambiguity. " Wlien we see a powerful state, in possession of a commei-ce, of which the world aftbrds no ex?^n\y\iis, endeavoring to interpolate into tlie laws of nations ca- suistical niceties andwaytuard distinctions, which forbid a citizen of another inde- pendent commercial country to export from that country what imquestionably belongs to him, only because he imported it himself, and yet allow liim to sell a right of exporting it to another ; which prohibit an end, because it arises out of one intention, but permit it when it arises out of two ; wliich, dividing an act into stages, searcli into the mind for a correspondent division of it in the contem- plation of its autlior, and detemiine its innocence or criminahty accordingly ; which, not denying that the property acquired in an authorised traffic by neu- tral nations from belligerents, may become incorporated into the national stock, and, under the slielter of its neutral character, tlius superinduced, and still preserved, be afterwards transported to every cjuarter of the globe, reject the only epoch, wliicli can distinctly mark the incorporation, and point out none other in its place ; which, proposing to fix with accuracy and precision, the Une of demarcation, beyond which neutrals are trespassers upon the wide domain of belligei'ent riglits, involve every thing in darkness and confusion; there can be but one opinion as to the purpose which all tliis is to accomplish. "Your memorialists object, in the strongest terras, against this new criterion of legality, because of its inevitable tendency to injustice; because of its pecu- liar capacity to embarrass with seizure, and ruin with confiscation, the whole of our trade with F.urope in the surplus of our colonial importations. " For the loss and damage which capture brings along with it, British courts of prize grant no adequate indemnity. Redress to anv extent is difficult ; to a com- petent extent impossible. And even the costs which an iniquitous seizure com- pels a neutral merchant to incur, in the defence of his violated rights, before their own tribunals, are seldom decreed, and never paid. " The reasons upon which Great Britain assumes to herself a right to intei'- dict the independent nations of the earth, a commercial intercourse with the colonies of her enemies (out of the relaxation of which pfetended right has O. B. 14 94 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [chap. 14. arisen the distinction in her courts, between the American trade from the co- lonies to the United States, and from tlie same colonies to Europe) will, we are confidently persuaded, BE REPELLED WITH FIRMNESS AND EF- FECT B\ OUR GOVERNMENT. " Shf forbids us from transporting in our vessels, as in peace we could, the pro- perty of her enemies ; enforces against us a ligorous list of contraband : dams up the great channels of our ordinary trade ,- abridges, trammels, and obstructs what she permits us to prosecute ,- and t/ien refers us to our accustomed traffic in time of peace for the criterion of our commercial' rights, IN ORDER TO JUSTIFY THE CON- SUMMATION OF THAT RUIN, WITH WHICH OUR LAWFUL COM- MERCE IS MENACED BY HER MAXLMS AND HER CONDUCT. " Tiie petnicious qualities of this doctrine are enhanced and aggravated, as from its nature might be expected, by the fact that GREAT BRITAIN GIVES NO NOTICE OF THE TIME WHEN, OR THE CIRCUMSTANCES IN WHICH, SHE MEANS TO APPLY, AND ENFORCE IT. Her orders of the sixth of November, 1793, by which the seas were swept of our vessels and efiects, -vere for the first time, announced by tJie ships ofiuar, and pnvateers, by ivliich they luere carried into execution. " The late decisions of her coiu'ts, which are in the true spirit of this doc- trine, and are calculated to restore it in practice, to that high tone of severity, whicli milder decisions had almost concealed from the world, came upon us by surprise. And the captures, of which the Dutch complained, in the seven years war, were preceded by no warning. THUS IS THIS PRINCIPLE MOST ItAPACIOUS AND OPPRESSH'E IN ALL ITS BEARINGS. Harsh and mysterious in itself, it has always been, and ever must be, used to betray neutral merchants into a ti'ade, supposed to be lawful, and then to give them up to pillage and niin. " But there can be no security ivhile a malignant and deceitful principle like this hangs over us. It is just what the belligerent chooses to make it, lurking, unseen, and uufelt, or visible, active, and noxious. It may come abroad when least expected : and the moment of confidence may be the moment of de- struction. It may sleep for a time ; bitt no man knows -when it is to atuake, to shed its banefid influence upon the commerce of the world. It clothes itself, from season to season, in what ma}' be called relaxations, but again, witliout any previous intimation to the deluded citizens of the neutrid powers, these relaxations are suddenly laid aside, either in the whole, or in part, and the work of confiscation commences. Nearly ten months of the late war had elapsed before it announced itself at all : and when it did so, it was in its most formidable shape, and in its fullest power and expansion. " Your memoriahsts feel themselves bound to state, that, according to au- tlientic information lately received, the government of Great Britain does, at this moment, ^ra;;* licences to neutral vessels taking in a proportion oftlieir cargoes there, to proceed on trading voyages to the colonies of Spain, from which she woidd exclude us ; upon the condition, that the return cargoes shall be earned to Great Bri- tain, to S7oell the gains of her merchants, a?id to give her a monopoly of the commerce of the world. This great belligerent right, then, upon which so much has been supposed to depend, sinks into an article of barter. It is used, not as a hostile in- strument wielded by a warlike state, by which her enemies are to be wounded, or their colonies subdued, but as the selfish means of commercial aggrandize- ment, for the ivipoverishment and nan of her friends i as an engine by which Great Britain is to be lifted vip to a vast height of prosperity, and the trade of neutrals crippled, and crushed, and de.itrayed. Such acts are a most intelligible commen- tary upon the jirinciple in question. They show that it is a hollow and fallaci- ous principle, susceptible of the worst abuse, and incapable of a just and honour- able application. They slicw that in the hands of a great maritime state, it is not, in its ostensible character of a weapon of hostility, that it is prized ; but ra- ther as one of the means of establishing an unbounded monopoly, by which every entei-prise calculated to promote national wealth and power, shall be made to begin and end in Great Britain alone. Such acts may well be considered as pro- nouncing the condemnation of the principle against which we contend, as with- drawing from it the only pretext, upon wluchit was possible to rest it. Great CHAP. 15] NEWBURYPORT MEMORIAL. 97 Britain does not pretend that this principle has any wan-ant in the opinion of writers on public law. She does not pretend, and cannot pretend, that it derives any countenance from the conduct of otlier nations. She is confessedhf solitary in the use of this invention, bij ivhich RAPACITY IS SYSTEM ATISED, and A STATE OF NEUTRALITY AND WAR ARE MADE SUBS'l ANTIAlLY THE SAME. In this absence of all otlier authority, her courts have made an appeal to her own early example, for the justification of her own recent practice. Your memoraiists join in that appeal, as afiorduig' the most conclusive and au- thoritative reprobation of the practice, wliich it is intended to support by it. "The solemn renunciation of the principle in question, in the face of the whole world, by her highest tribunal in matters of prize, reiterated in a succes- .sion of decrees, down to the year 1786, and afterwards, is powerfully confiiTned by the acquiescence of Great Britain, durmg tiie iirst, most important, and ac- tive period of the late war, in tlie free and unlimited prosecution, by neutrals, of the whole colony trade of France. She did, indeed, at last, prohibit tliat trade, by an instruction, UNPRECEDENTED IN THE ANNALS OF MARITIME DEPREDATIONS ; but the revival of her discarded rule was characterized with such circumstances of iniouity and violence, as rather to heighten, by the efl'ect of contrast, the veneration of mankind for the past justice of her tribunals. The world has not forgotten the instruction to which we allude, or the enormi- ties by which its true character was developed. Produced in mystery, at a moment when universal confidence in the integrity of her government had brought upon the ocean, a prey of vast vahie and importance ; sent abroad to the different naval stations with such studied secrecy that it would almost seem to have been intended to make an experiment, HOW FAR LAW AND HO- NOUR COULD BE OUTRAGED BY A NATION PROVERBIAL FOR RE- SPECTING BOTH : the heralds by whom it was first announced were the commanders of her commissioned cruisers, who at the same instant carried it into effect, with every circumstance of aggravation, if, of such an act, there can be any aggravation. Upon such conduct there was but one sentiment It was condemned by reason and justice. It was condemned by that law which flows from, and is founded upon "them. IT WAS CONDEMNED AND WILL FOR- EVER CONTINUE TO BE CONDEMNED BY THE UNIVERSAL VOICE OF TIIE CIVILIZED W^ORLD." Thomas Tenant, Henry i'ayson, Benjamin WiUiams, John Donnel, William Wilson, William Lorman, Luke Tiernan, T. Swan, William Taylor, T. Hollingsworth, Joseph Sterret, Robert Gilmor, George Stiles, Steuart Brown, James Calhoun, J.A.Buchanan, John Collins, Samuel Sterret, Alexander M'Kim, David Stewart, Hugh Thompson, William Patterson, Mark Pringle, Samuel Taylor, John Sherlock, John Strieker, Baltimore, January 21, 1806. This list, like that signed to the Philadelphia memorial, em- braces federalists and democrats indiscriminately — as well as citizens of various nations. CHAPTER XV. Extracts from the 3Iemorials of Newhaven and Ncxvbiiry port. Extracts from the memorial of the chamber of commerce of JVe'ivhaven. "Your memoraiists cannot behold without surprise and regret, a powerful and respectable nation, bending the principles of the common law of nations, to answer political purposes, and introducing a versatile policy into the solemn adjudications of her courts. WE HOLD IT TO BE EXTREMELY IMPOR- TANT THAT ALL NATIONS SHOULD COMBINE AGAINST SUCH INNO- VATIONS UPON THEIR RIGHTS; and, in particular, that the United States, whose geographical position gives them the best chance of maintaining neutral- ity, during wars in Europe, SHOULD FIRMLY RESIST EVERY ENCROACH- MENT UPON THE RICH rS OF NEUTRAL COMMERCK. (/6 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [iuAP. 16 "With these impressions of the necessity o^ measures for defending our com- mercial rights, which slnill be firm, but temperate, and bold, yet marked with a spirit of conciliation, your memorialists cordiallyunite with tlieir fellow-citi- zens of other commercial towns, in expressing tlieir sentiments freely to the le- g.slative and executive authorities of their country ; with assurances of their disposition TO GIVE AID AND SUPPORT TO EVERY MEASUREf)F GOV- EiiNMENT CALCULATED TO ACCOMPLISH THIS BIPORTANT OB- JECT." Signed by order, HENRY DAG GET, J^fevihaven, February 7, 1806. President of the Chamber of Commerce. Extracts from the memorial of the merchants of Keivburyport. ** In many cases our vessels and cargoes have been captured, tried and con- demned in courts of law, under unusual and alarming pretences, ivhich,if peivnit- ted to continue, THREATEN THE RUIN OF OUR COMMERCIAL INTER- ESTS. "So far from obtaining' redress of our grievances by the ordinary modes an4 processes of law, we have in most cases been subject to heavy costs, and suffer- ed embarrassing and distressing detention of propertj^ even where no pretence could be found to authorise the seizure of it. "Having sustained these losses and injuries in the prosecution of our lawful commerce, and in the exercise of our just rights, we rely with confidence on the wisdom, firmness, and justice of our government, to obtain for us that compen- sation, and to grcmt to us that protection, ivhich A REGARD TO THE HONOUR OF OUR COUNTRY, no less than the rights of our citizens must dictate and re- quire. Eben. Stockcr, Stephen Howard, Edward Tappan,") John Pearson, Wilham Bartlet, Moses Howard, C Committee. JK'etvburijport, December, 1805. "William Faris, _) The same outrages having been experienced by the citizens of Newhaven and Newburypoit as by those of other parts of the union, we of course find the same style of complaint — the same call for redress — the same pledge of support — in one caseexpli. citly expressed, in the other unequivocally implied. CHAPTER XVI. Extracts from the Memorial of the merchants of Salem, Ms. " Your memoralists have witnessed -udth unhesitating approbation the disbositioji to 7ieutraltttf, patronised by the general government, at\imes when national wrongs have been pressed with peculiar aggravations, and seemed to point to summan- redress^ Fn-mness and moderation have happily secured all the advantages of successful war, and the sober appeal of reason carried conviction to foreig-n na- tions. ° "Your memorialists, liowever, liave witnessed, with deep regret and deep anxiety, that to some of their tribunals they can no longer appeJl for safety .JVe~.v interpretations nj old ndes, and new glosses on ancient doctrines, have been arravcd to controul the circuitof neutral commerce, and restrain, if not annihil- ate. Its most beneficial operations. Their surprise has been the greater because the 7wt,on icho has adopted tliem, is one from ivhom ~.ve had a ri^ht to exbect the wost conciliatory conduct ; since witli her, ultimate!}' centre the proceedi of our lucTiIl^er''' ''*' P"'"''''^''' *^^ greatest portion of her staple manu "The interest.* of Gre.it Britain and the United States, seem in this respect mutual. We consume the products of her industry ; and give her, in return, besides large sums of money, rem mateinals by -.ohich she may l^-y new coniribu- tmrs. bimdanty of manners and Jiabits, of language ajid education, have addei? CHAP. 16.] SALEM MEMORIAL. 95 artificial inducements for intercourse, and gained for her among us a respect not sliglitly to be viewed, or inconsiderately forfeited. On all occasions the Uni- ted Stales have exhibited to-xards her an amicable interest, and a just, it may be ad' ded, a generous polici/. If, therefore, we had favours to ask or receive, our claims have been peculiarly strong upon her ; because we have been emphafi- cally the sinews of her opulence. But it is believed that the United States ne- ver asked of any nation more than justice, and are wiUing to be bound by the estabUshed rules of commerce. Your memorialists therefore express deep re- gret, because a confidence has been shaken which may not easily be restored ; and deep anxiety, because the principles alluded to, if conceded, MUST EVENTUALLY PROSTRATE OUR TRADE, OR LEAVE IT AT THE ARBITRARY DISCRETIOX OF BELLIGER EJK'TS. Whether peace or war prevail, the baneful influence will every where be felt ; and in the latter predicament, we shall, as neutrals, share the mischiefs of it without the chances of benefit. * " The principle, recently established by Great Britain, is, as your memorialists understand it, that it is not competent for (i neidrcd to carry on, in war, any trade, ivhich he is not accustomed to do in peace ; and that he shall not be pa-mitted to ef. feet that in a circuitous, which is inldbited in a direct trade : as corollaries from 'this principle, she insists that the colonial trade exercised by neutrals, shall not extend beyond the accustomed peace estabhshment ; and that whenever the neutral imports into his own country colonial produce with the intention to tranship it to the mother countiy, if a direct intercourse be interdicted in peace, the circuity of the route shall not protect the property from confiscation. It seems admitted that such circuitous route, with such intention, is not consider- ed as evidence of enemy's property, confiscable within ordinary rules; but as a distinct, substantial, and condemnatory principle, independent both in ef- ficacy and application. For it yields not to the most clear proof of neutral pro- perty, or innocent though misdirected conduct. The unaccustomed trade, or the importation with specific intentions, are tlie tests by which every voyage is to be tried. " In another view, the rule appears to your memorialists as not less untenable and unjust. It is stated, as a part of it, that if colonial produce be imported by any person with an intention to tranship it on his own account to the mother country, it is subject to confiscation. But if importedfor the purpose of general commerce, and thrown into the market for general transhipment, it is within the exception. To distinguish hctw e&n general and particular intentions, and to separate things so subtle'in their own natures, and almost incapable of proof, for the purposes'of national decisions, seems a. refl?ie merit reserved for the present age. The foundation of this modern doctrine is laid in this principle, that the neutral has no right, by an extension of his trade, to afibrd supplies to the belligerent to ward off tlie blows of his enemy, and to oppose for a longer period the do- minion of his force. But to this your memorialists deem it a conclusive answer, that the proposition proves too much ; that, if true, it is a foundation for a far more broad and sweeping principle ; that every commerce -with the belligerent is inhibited to neutrals ; for every commerce assists hirain resistance, and diminishes his necessities. A doctrine thus comprehensive, has never yet been avowed, and it is presumed never will be. Yet such must be the logical conclusion ; and it shews in-esistibly tlie absurdity of the assumed premises. « The accustomed, as well as the unaccustomed trade, is within the terms, and must stand or fall together. Either the doctrine is unsound, AjXD ASSUJMEJi AS A MERE PRETEXT FOR PREDATORY SEIZURES; or neutrals have no rights as such ; and must endure the calamities inflicted by bellige- rents in a contest in which tliey liave no voice, and in which they can reap only injury. " Other considerations add force to the preceding remarks. It is well knowa that in time of war neutrals cannot carry on even their accustomed trade in its full extent. They are prohibited from trading in contraband goods, and to blookaded ports. Variations necessarily arise in the relations of the hostile pavers, wliich the neutrsil ought to possess 9, right to tura to lus profit, as an 98 I'OLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [cuap.1&. indemnity for the obstructions of liis old trade. These obstructions are of a very serious nature. "When exercised in tlie mildest form, they produce OP- PRESSIVE SEAIiCHESAJVD DELAYS, EXPEJ^TSIVE LITIGATIOJ^T, AKD OFTEjXA total F. UL URE OF AM OTHER WISE L UCRA TIVE VOYAGE. Reason would therefore seem to declare, that for the hazai-ds of this nature, the benefits arising to neutrals from war, are not more than a just equivalent. " It is somewhat singular, that a belligerent should invite a trade idth itself, luhich it declares fruiidulent ivith its enemtj ,■ and should lift the arm of poiuer to crush the neutral, whose conduct is criminal oidij when it ceases to be partial ! " Such are tlie remai-ks your memorialists respectfully submit upon the rule considered in Itself. On this examination they confess it appears to them, fun- damentally incorrect. It subjects commerce to fluctuating decisions ; over- throws the ordinary mles of evidence ; and places an immense power to be ■wielded at the uncontroulable discretion of magistrates appointed by a single paity. " It therefore wants all the discriminative features of a fundamental proposi- tion of the law of nations ; uniformity, precision and general applicability. It would, in their opinion, if established, create greater evils than it professes to redress, by perpetuating strife, destroying tlie emoluments of trade, embaiTass- ing commercial intercourse, and LETTIM^G LOOSE THE PASSIOMS TO P^REY OX THE MISERIES, AJVD PLUA'BER THE PROPERTY OF THE LY.VOCE.YT. It would subject neutrals to hazards nearly as perilous as tliose of actual hostilities j and independent of its influence in stimulating to revenge and retahation, IT WOULD TRAjYSFER THE BEJVEFITS OF PEACE TOAA'Y VICTORIOUS USURPER OF THE OCEAJV. " It is conced'Cd by the British Civilians that during tlie American revohitlon, the doctrine was ientirely intermitted, and tlie commerce of neutrals was pur- sued according to the ancient code. Many cases of tills period might be cited from the admiralty records, which overthrow the rule, and expressly vindicate tlie opposite, if precedents are to decide, the judgments of a tribunal esta- bhshed in Great Uritain under her sole appointment, and acting with open powers, must surely, wlien acquiescence creates tlie law, complete the renun- ciation of the contested rule. "It is not tlie least singularity attending the conduct of the present war, that Great Britain has licensed her sid}jects in a trade -which she declares fraudu- lent in others ; that she admits them unmolested to supply her enemy with means of resistance, when she declares confiscation is the penally of neutral succo%ir. Were the rule ever so just In Itself, it certainly demands relaxation, when the bellige- rent partakes the profit, and connives at the breach. If its foundation be the unlawfulness of aflbrding assistance to a distressed enemy, surely it ought not to be enforced when that assistance Is an authorised object of speculation with the distressing belhgerent. "It is our pride to believe that the American merchants, with very few ex- ceptions, arc as distinguished for good faith as any on earth. The imputation thrown on them is a naked pretence to repel the odium of vexatious Injuries, and excuse violations of law, which cannot be justified. " Your memorialists wish to take no part in the contests which now convulse the world ; but acting with impartiality towards all nations, to reap the fruits of u just neutrality. If, however, conciliation cannot effect the piu'pose of justice, und Aj\' APPEAL TO ARMS be the last and necessary protection of honour, they feel no disposition to decline tlie common danger, or shrink from the common contribution. " Relying on the wisdom and fiminess of the general government in this be- half, they feel no hesitation to PLEDGE THEIR LIVES and PROPER- TIES in support of the measures ivluch maybe adopted to vindicate the public rights^ and redress t/ie public wrongs.'" John Hathorne, Joseph Snivigue, Jonathan Mason, 7 p v. B. Crowninshield, jr, Joseph White, jr. Joseph Story, 5 t^ommiuee.^ Sakm, January 20, 1806, CHAP. 17.] REFLECTIONS, 99 CHAPTER XVII. Rejlections on the memorials. Uniform call for redress. Uni- form pledge of support- A re-perusal of these important, these invahiable documents is recommended to the reader. Without bearing in mind their contents, it is impossible to form a correct estimate of the policy of this nation, or of the merits and demerits of the two parties, whose senseless, envenomed, and infuriated hostility was, of late, rapidly sending to perdition the noblest country, the happiest people, and the best form of government in the world. We must not forget for an instant, the cause of these impas- sioned complaints, these invocations for redress, these pledges of support. This is the most important item in the aflair. It was simply the right to re-export the productions of the colonies of the enemies of Great Britain — a right which, however clear and indefeasible, was wholly unessential to the prosperty of oWc country. We might have abandoned it without the sacrifice 6*f an iota of the happiness of our citizens, or the real honour of the nation. . j^^;>\^- No man of decency can deny, after the perusal of these docu- ments, that the mercantile citizens of the United States urged— it would not be extravagant to say, goaded — the government into a resistance of the high-handed and oppressive pretensions and outrages of Great Britain. Every paragraph establishes this im- portant fact. The expression of the public sentiment on this sub- ject was nearly simultaneous from Newburyport to Baltimore. That they calculated upon war, as the dernier resort, is obvi- ous from the phraseology. It cannot be inisunderstood. When the Boston merchants express their reliance, that " Such measures will be promptly adopted, as will tend to disembaiTass com- merce, ASSERT OUR RIGHTS, and support the dignity of the United States," it would be absurd and ridiculous to svtppose these measures were to be limited to mere negociation, the utter inefficacy of which had been so often experienced. A child would spurn at the idea of " asserting the rights and supporting the digjiity of the United States^^ by negociation alone. This had already proved a feeble resource, and might have been protracted for a century, without " asserting''' any of " our rights.''^ Their views were not so limited. No. War, war, war. must indu- bitably have been in their contemplation, should negociation have an unfavourable issue. Can any man of common sense doubt, can any man of charac- ter deny, that the merchants of Philadelphia calculated on WAR, when, after having suggested, " That every measure not inconsistent with the honour and interests of the nation, by which the great objects of redress and security might be attained, should be first tried ," they add " If such measures should prove ineffectual, ■\vhatever may be the sacrifice '^in their part, it will be met with submission ?" 100 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [caxp. 17. When the merchants of Newburypoit " Rely with confidence on the FIRMNT^SS and JUSTICE of the governmentj lo obtain for them compensation and protection," they must have been insane, if they did not calculate upon WAR as the ultima ratio. These are the worthy citizens who stand recorded in the annals of their country, as having since patrioti- callij pledged themselves to resist their own government, " EVEN UNTO BLOOD."* And who can pretend, that the merchants of Newhaven, when they called upon the government " FiiTnly to resist every encroachment upon the rights of neutral nations," did not calculate upon war? And did they not most solemnly pledge themselves to support war, should it eventually be de- clared, when they tendered the " Assurances of their disposition to give aid and support to EVERY MEA- SURE calculated to accomplish this important object ?" And when the New York merchants declared their « Reliance upon the government of their country, that their rights would not be abandoned," and that the crisis required ."AuTHE ENEiiGT, OS wcU as the prudence and wisdom of the government," ean there be found a man who will pretend that war was not calculated .on, unless other means might be found to accomplish the end in view ? It cannot be. And is there not a clear and explicit pledge to be found at the close of their memorial — " We pledge our united support in favour of all the measures adopted to vin- dicate and secure the just rights of our country." I am credibly informed that there arc subscribed to this me- morial, names of persons who lately prayed, fervently and open- ly, for the destruction of the armies of the United States invad- ing Canada! Most wonderful consistency and patriotism ! But the merchants of Salem are more explicit on the subject of war than most of their mercantile brethren elsewhere. They leave no room for inference or supposition. They most unam- biguously declare their views. " If, however, conciliation cannot effect the purpose, and AN APPEAL TO ARMS be the lust and necessary protection of honour, they feel no disposition to decUne the common danger, or shrink from the common contribution." And was there ever, since the world was formed, a more so- lemn pledge given, than the one with which they close their me- morial, and which I here repeat — " Relying on the wisdom and firmness of the general government, in this be- half, they feel no hesitation, to pledge their lives and properties in support of • This monstrous expression was contained in one of their addresses to the state legislature! in 1814. COAF. 18] CHARACTER OF MERCHANTS. lO.l the measures which may be adopted to VINDICATE THE PUBLIC RIGHTS, AND REDRESS THE PUBLIC WRONGS." In the next" chapter, I shall investigate the question, how far these pledges were redeemed. CHAPTER XVIII. Character of merchants by Edmund Burke. IlUbercd and wir founded. Merchants as various in character as other classes of men. Edmund Burke has left on record a most unfavourable cha- racter of merchants, which has been a thousand times quoted to their disparagement. He has, if my memory do not deceive me, asserted, that they have no national attachment or patriotism — that their ledger is their Bible — and gold their God. 1 his character is unfounded and illiberal. All sweeping de- nunciations of entire classes are unjust. The merchants are as various in their characters as any other description of men. There are among them numbers of persons of the highest re- spectability — great patriotism — a high sense of honour — great liberality--and possessing all the other virtues than can adorn the human character. There are likewise some as base and vile as the others are excellent. There is nothing in mercantile aftairs, or commerce, that has a tendency to deteriorate those who follow the profession. It is inconceivable how it should be otherwise. The large scale on which cmmeyce is conducted, is calculated to expand, not to illiberalize the mind. Moreover, a considerable portion of the merchants having en- joyed the advantages of the best education, must, from that cir- cumstance alone, have a fair chance of not meriting the denun- ciation of Edmund Burke. That the American merchants are, in general, shrewd, intel- ligent, and penetrating, cannot be denied. They are, in these respects, at least on a level with the merchants of any other country. It must, however, be acknowledged, that in the course they have steered from the commencement of the year 1806, when the preceding memorials were presented to Congress, till the declaration of war, and during its continuance, they have been as lamentably blind to their own vital interests, to the highest interests of their country, and to their duty as citizens, as if they were almost altogether deficient of the reasoning faculty. Thev have inflicted incalculable injury on themselves an J their country. Indeed, so intimately in this case were the interests of both connected, that they were, necessarily and equally, affected by the same wound. I hope to make this appear to their con^ viction, and that of the public. O. B. 15 10;2 POLITICAL OLm: BRANCH, [chat. 18. The reader has seen that the mercantile part of the communi- ty felt the highest indignation in 180G, at the pretensions of En- gland to limit the American trade in the colonial productions of her enemies ; that they very strongly remonstrated with the go- vernment to resist those pretensions; and that they pledged themselves to their country and to the xvorld^ to support what- ever measures might be necessary to obtain redress — obviously^ evidently^ and undeniably contemplating' even zmr with all its horrors. I propose to examine how their practice correspond- ed with their professions and pledges. The pacific measures adopted to effect the object of their de- sires were — a prohibition of the importation of some of the most important of the manufactures of Gi-eat Britain — an embargo, when the injuries we experienced from that nation had vastly in- creased — and non-intercourse. Did the American merchants redeem their pledge ? Did they preserve their faith ? Did they support the government in all or anv of these measures ? No. They indubitably did not. There is not a candid fe- deralist from New-Hampshire to Georgia, that will assert that the merchants, as a corps, supported the government in any of these measures. I say distinctly, as a corps. There were illus^ trious exceptions. But their fidelity in redeeming the pledge was unavailing. // was forfeited by the corps — completely for-^ feited. The clear, indisputable, and melancholy fact is, that after having impelled and goaded the administration into ineasures to procure redress, they not merely withheld their support from those measures, but actually, as far as depended on them, pre- vented their success. They hung hostilely on the skirts of the government, and defeated the embargo, non-intercourse, and all the other restrictive measures. I have thus far considered the point in respect to their duty as citizens, their plighted faith, and the obligation they thereby incurred to support the government in measures which had ari- sen out of their memorials, remonstrances, and solemn pledges. I now enter on the consideration of their conduct, as it de- monstrates an unparalleled blindness towards their own interests, and those of their country. "Whatever misjudging prejudice, or faction, devotion to Eng- land, or hostility to France, may pretend, the solemn fact is, that the United States were most grievously outraged and injured b)' Great Britain. The violence or excesses of France, enor- mous, and iniquitous, and indefensible as they were, afforded no justification to those of her enemy. " Retaliation," in the words of Mr. Bayard and Mr. Lloyd,^ " was A MERE PRE- • In a subsequent chapter, I sliall quote the senthneats of these gentlemen at full leneth. CHAP. 18.] MERCANTILE PROCEEDINGS. K)3 TENCE." If A. rob me of my hcrt^ it does notfolloxv that B has a right to retaliate on HIM, by robbing ME of my coat or ivaistcoat. And still less, if A threaten to rob me, but has not the power to do it, has B a right to retaliate on him by robbing me. France pretended to blockade England, and seize neutral vessels bound there — but was unable to effect her purpose through her destitution of naval power. England retaliated on France by SEIZING OUR VESSELS bound to that country; and persevered in that lawless course for entire years, having depredated on the United States to the amount of many millions, and with every species of aggravation, of which such an outrage is susceptible —and, forsooth, all zvas perpetrated to punish France, xvhom she was at the same tiine supply ing- ivith our productions herself! ! ! There is not in the history of the world any conduct more gross or less defensible. When we are laid in our graves, and our factions and con- vulsions have sunk into oblivion, posterity will pass a heavy sen- tence of condemnation upon these odious, these oppressive, these scandalous transactions. That America has been the aggrieved nation, and England ■wholly the aggressor, is palpable from one circumstance. In all the diplomatic intercourse that has taken place between the cabi- net of St. James's and that at Washington, the former has hard- ly ever made the slightest complaint of injustice against the lat- ter, except occasionally oi partiality towards France as a pallia-' tion of British violence. This, if it mean any thing, must cer- tainly mean that xve bore French depredation, insult, and outrage,^ more patiently than English outrage, insult, and depredation. If it have any other meaning, I shali be gratified to have it demon- strated. But we inflicted on France one solid, substantial, important, and most destructive injury, froin which England wholly es- caped. From 1793 to 1812, we uniformly submitted to the vio- lation of our neutrality, to the material benefit of one belligerent and extreme disadvantage of the other. Our commercial marine rvas a constant nursery for Great Britain, to supply hernavy ■with seamen to annoy and distress her enemy. This was an unceasing cause of w^r against us by France. It was in direct hostility with fundamental principles of the law of nations. It was affording a most decisive and all-important aid to one belligerent for the destruction of the other, to an enor- mous extent, unparalleled in the histoiy of Europe. It results, from the premises, that from the declaration of war between France and England, the latter power constandy made inroads upon us — ^and we as constantly sought redress — and that our principal grievances were the atrocious outrages practised on our seamen, and the reiterated and intolerable infringement of our commercial rights and privileges. 104 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANDU, [coAi'. 18. Under this view of the case, the correctness of which will not, I trust, be disputed, what course ought an enlightened body of merchants to steer? Suppose them patriotic, public-spirited, and magnanimous; a regard to the national honour and interest would impel them to uphold the government of their own country in a struggle against the lawless outrages of a foreign nation. But even suppose them base, sordid, selfish, avaricious, and without a single spark of patriotism, public spirit, or liberality, ought not their very selfishness dictate the same course? How could they lail to see that every edort to harass, to ci-ipple, to embarrass their own government, was an eftbrt towards enabling the foi-eign and agr gressing nation, to triumph over their country, and to enforce its claims, to the manifest and immense injury of their own most vital interests ? the latuity of a lad who had been but six weeks in a counting-house, and did not at once perceive the cogency of these arguments would be pitiable. This point is clear and plain in theory. But it does not rest on theory. We have a strong and practical illustration of it by our own melancholy experience ; an illustration which the merchants of this country will long have to deplore. By the Jacobinical, seditious, and disorganizing combinations to oppose the measures calculated to procure re- dress, England was enabled to enforce the orders in council for four years and a half; whereby, during sixteen months, she in- terdicted our trade with all Europe except Sweden and her own dependencies : that is to say, she forbade us to trade with about one hundred and thirty millions of the people of Europe. — For the remainder of the time, when she somewhat relaxed her orders, she proscribed our trade zvith at least ffty rnillions. Never has the sun in his course beheld such transcendent, such lamentable, such irreparable folly as the merchants of the United States have been guilty of in this instance. Throughout the whole of the arduous conflict between the United States and Great Britain, they invariably thwarted^ and harassed^ and em- barrassed their 07vn /^-overnment. They have defended the go- vernment of Britain throughout — and as constantly laboured, in the face of reason, justice', and common sense, to put their own nation in the wrong. And for what end ? to serve the purposes of party ; to enable a few ambitious fuen^ rvho ivere out ofo^ice^ and panted to /^et in, to accomplish this object I I ! • I once more wish to qualify these observations. There were here, as in a former case, noble exceptions among the mer- ( hants, citizens who displayed the most exalted patriotism, rhese exceptions do not invalidate the rule. I consider the merchants as a corps (for it is thus onlv^ they can be considered in t;ii3. discussion) and as their operations on the government and nation were felt — and more particularly, as they acted in the eastern States. CHAP. 18] MERCANTILE PROCEEDINGS. 105 Any one of the three pacific measures adopted by this govern- ment, had it been duly supported by the mercantile interest, would have obliged Great Britain to redress our wrongs, and very speedily. We should then have enjoyed an unshackled commerce. And had our merchants, either from patriotism or selfishness, submitted to a short temporary privation of business, they xvoidd have been repaid by a tenfold harvest of most lucra- tive commerce. But faction led them astray. 'They rendered wholly nugatory all the measures adopted to guard their inte- rests, and to extort justice for their wrongs. Great Britain was thus encouraged to proceed in her aggressions. This led to a wasting war. To the hostile opposition of the mercantile class, therefore, we may fairly ascribe its ravages. In all the wild, frantic, and fatuitous career of faction — from the earliest records of time to the present day, I believe there is no parallel case. Never did an intelligent, enlightened, and re- spectable body of men, make so immense, so wanton, so irreco- verable a sacrifice of their dearest interests, and so completely in hostility with the dictates of reason and common sense. If Belzebub or Lucifer held the reins of government^ policij and self-interest zvotdd dictate that in all contests with foreign nations^ he ought to be supported^ unless most manifestly and egre. giously unjust. Public spirit and selfishness equcdly combine to enforce this precept, Hoxv transcendently superior Great B7-itain torvers over us in this respect ! What a sublime lesson she holds out — what a noble example she offers us to follow I She is torn by faction like America. There is a constant strug- gle between the incumbents in office, and those who pant after the seats they fill. But whenever the honour or vital interest of the nation is at stake, party in ti great measure dies away, or, at least, becomes incapable of injuring the common cause — all unite under the national standard — and, till the end in view is ac- complished, distinctions are almost wholly lost in one common designation, supporters of their country's interests and honour. Not so in America. It is a fatal truth, that at the moment, when this page was written, [September 1814] when not merely our interest, and our honour, but even our very salvation was jeo- pardized, yacf?o« raged in many places with unabated violence ; and wicked men were incessantly employed in exciting our citi- zens to imbrue their hands in the blood of their countrymen,* in- stead of preparing to oppose a vindictive enemy. May the God of peace and love dispel the clouds that impend over us — banish our discords — and once more unite us in the bonds of harmony and charity towards each other. Amen. * This was the inevltnble tendency, although not the declared purpose, of a very considerable nuniber of the publications in certain newspapers. 106 POLH ICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [chap. 19 CHAPTER XIX. British Depredations brought on the tapis in the Sejiate of the United States. Condemnatorij Resolutions passed. In consequence of the presentation of the mercantile memo- rials, the Senate of the United States took the subject into their most serious consideration; and passed the following Resolu- tion, on the 10th Feb. 1806. " Re-solved, that the capture and condemnation, under orders of the British poveriiincnt, iind adjudications of their courts of admiralty, of American vcs- fccls antl tlicir cari^ocs, on tlie pretext of their being employed in a trade with the enemies of Great Britain prohibited in time of peace, is AN UNFROVO- KFI) \t;t;RKSSION Ll'ON THE PROPERTY OF THE CITIZENS OF THE UNITED S FATES ; A VIOLATION OF THEIR NEUTRAL RIGHTS ; AND AN ENCROACHMENT UPON THEIR NATIONAL INDEPENDENCE."* I hope the reader will attentively peruse this resolution. It is clear and explicit. It solemnly protests against the revival of the exploded rule of the war of 1756, as " An encroachment upon the national independence, and a violation of our neutral rights." Stronger language could not be well used. What renders it peculiarly remarkable, is, that it was carried by an unanimous vote of the Senate^ 28 members present. But secondly and chiefly, I beg it may be borne in remembrance, that among the senators who thus voted, are to be found Messrs. PICKERING, Hill- house, Bayard and Tracy. Another resolution, passed February 14, stands in these words : — " l{esolved, that the president of the United States be requested to DEMAND the restoration of the projjerty of their citizens captured and condemned on the pretext of its beinff emplnncd in a trade wit/i the enanifs of Great Jiritaiv, prO' hibited in time of peace ,- and tlie indemnification of such American citizens for their loHtea and (Uimages sustained by these captures and condemnations ; and to en- ter into such aiTangements with the British government, on these and all other difl'irenccs between the two nations, (and particularly respecting the IM- PRESSMENT OF AMEHIC.AN SEAMEN) as may be consistent with the hon- our and interests of the United States, and manifest their earnest desire, iox thcmselvcB and tlieir citizens, of that justice to wluch they are entitled."! There was a division upon this resolution. It was carried by twenty airirmative, against six negative votes. Messrs. PICK- ED I Xd, Hillhouse, Bayard, and Tracy were in the affirmative, as on the former resolution. To ol)tain redress from Great Britain, four modes presented tliemseUes — negociation — non-intercouse — embargo — or war. The first in order required to be first essayed. Accordingly, the administration entered upon negociation, and, to attach more solemnity to it, Mr. "NVm. Pinkney was ajipointed minister extra- ordinary, and united with Mr, Monroe, then resident at the court of St. James's. • Journal of the Senate for 1806— page 126. f Idem, page 131. CHAP. 19] COMMERCIAL RESTRICTIONS. lOT To give the negociation a greater likelihood of success, an act was passed,* making a strong appeal to the interest of Great Britain. This act prohibited the importation into the United. States, of a variety of her most important manufactures, viz. " All articles of which leather is the material of chief value. "All ailicles of which silk is the material of chief value. " All articles of which hemp or flax is the material of chief value. " All articles of v.'liich tin or brass is the material of chief value, tin in .sheets excepted. " Woolen cloths, whose invoice prices shall exceed five shillings sterling pel- square yard. " Woolen hosiery of all kinds. * " Window glass, and all the manufactures of glass. " Silver and plated wares. " Paper of every description. " Nails and Spikes. •' Mats and cloathing ready made. *' Milhnery of all kinds, " Playing- cards. " Beer, ale, and porter ; and pictures and prints." This act was passed on the 18th day of April, 1806, and, a^ has been shown, in compliance with t^e remonstrances of the mer- chants, as a means of inducing England to abandon her unjust pretensions, and cease her depredations. And with a laudable view to afford her time to weigh its consequences, and to pre- vent a rupture between the two nations, its operation was not to commence till the 15th of the following November, a period of seven months. Thus reluctant was our government to have re- course to extremities, notwithstanding the grievous provocations that had been offered. It is impossible to conceive a more leni- ent mode of proceeding, or one reflecting more credit on the forbearance of an injured and insulted nation. Still further to evince the wish of our rulers to preserve peace, the operation of this act was, in December 1806, suspended till the 1st of July 1807:1 and moreover, the president was author- ised, " if in his judgment the public good should require it, to suspend it still farther till the second Monday of December in the*, same year." Here let us pause a moment. The United States had suffer- ed depredations on their commerce to an enormous amount, by the revival of a pretended rule of the law of nations, which had, at a former period, been clearly and distinctly abandoned, and of which revival no previous notice had been given. And in- stead of having recourse to reprisals, or to a declaration of war, either of which would have been perfectly just, they adopted the mild measure of restraining the commerce of the aggressor, in order to make it his interest to do them justice. Never was great- er forbearance shown — ^never was forbearance worse requited. * Idem, page 220. f Laws of tlie United States, vol. vi, page 80. 108 POUTICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [chat. 20- CHAPTER XX. Attack on the Chesapeake. Proclamation hiterdktlng our har- bours to the British. While the depredations sustained by our merchants were yet under discussion, a tragical affair occurred, which still further unfortunately embroiled the two nations. The Chesapeake, capt. Gordon, sailed from Norfolk on the 22d of June, 1807. The Leopard, of 50 guns, which was moored near her, weighed anchor shortly afterwards. She soon over- took tlie Chesapeake, and demanded four sailors, three of whom had deserted from the British frigate Melampus. The fourth was said to have deserted from a British merchant vessel. Com- modore Barron, who was on board, refused to deliver the;ti;and in consequence, the Leopard commenced an attack upon the American frigate, which was wholly unprepared for resistance. Three men were killed, and sixteen wounded ; among the latter was the commodore, who struck his flag, and surrendered the vessel. Captain Humphreys, of the Leopard, sent an officer on board the Chesapeake, who seized four of her crew, William Ware, Daniel Martin, John Strachan, and John Wilson. Of these four persons, one was brought to trial at Halifax, and, being found guilty of desertion, was hanged. One died in confinement. The other two were retained in bondage till June 13th, 1812, a few days previous to the declaration of war, when they were restored to freedom onboard the Chesapeake, at Boston. This outrage excited the utmost indignation throughout the United States, and for a time united all parties in the common clamour for reparation of the insult and injury, or for war. The federalists were as ardent in their denunciations of the lawless violence, as the democrats. I have already stated the prudence of the then president, Mr. Jefferson. The attack took place on the 22d of June — and he delayed the extra meeting of congress till the 26th of October, to afford time for the effervescence of the public to subside. — = This wise measure preserved the country from war. But to guard against a repetition of these outrages and others which we had suffered within our own jurisdiction from British vessels of war, the president issued the follov/ing proclamation forbidding them the entrance into our ports and harbours. PROCLAMATION. During the wars, which, for some time, have unhappily prevailed among the powers of Kiirope, the United States of America, firm in their principles of peace, have endeuvoured by justice, by a regular discharge of all their national and social duties, and by every friendly office their situation has admitted, to maintain with all the belligerents their accustomed relations of friendship, hospitality, and commercial intercourse. Taking no part in the questions which animate the powers against each other, nor pernutting thepiselves to ottAP. 20.] PROCLAMATION. 10$ entertain a wish but for the restoration of [general peace, they have observed with good fiiith the neutrality they assumed : and they beheve that no instance of a departure from its duties can be justly imputed to them by any nation. A free use of their harbours and waters, the means of refitting and of refresh- ment, of succour to their sick and sutlering, have, at all times, and on equal principles, been extended to all, and this too amidst a constant recurrence of acts of insubordination to the laws, of violence to the persons, and ol' tres- passes on the property of our citizens, committed by officers of one of the belli- gerent parties received among us. In truth, these abuses of the laws of hospi- tality have, with few exceptions, become habitual to the commandei's of the British armed vessels hovering on our coasts, and frequenting our harbours. They have been the subject of repeated representations to their government. Assurances have been given that proper orders should i-estrain them within the limits of the rights of, and of the respect due to, a friendly nation -. but those or- ders and assurances have been without effect ; no instance of punishment for .past wrongs has taken place. At length, a deed, transcending all we have hithertp seen or suffered, brings the public sensibility to a serious crisis, and our for- bearance to a necessary pause. A frigate of the United States, trusting to a state of peace, and leaving her harbour on a distant service, has been surprized and attacked by a British vessel of superior force — one of a squadron then lying in our waters, and covering tlie transaction; and has been disabled from service, with the loss of a number of men killed and wounded. — This enormity was not only without provocation or justifiable cause, but was committed with the avow- ed purpose of taking l)y force, from a ship of war of the United States, a part of her crew; and that no circumstance might be wanting to mark its character, it had been previously ascertained, that the sjamen demanded were native citi- zens of the United States. Having effected his purpose, he returned to an- chor with his squadron within our jurisdiction. Hospitality under such cir- cumstances ceases to be a duty ; and a continuance of it, with such unconti-ol- led abuses, would tend only, by multiplying- injvu-ies and irritations, to bring on a rupture between the two nations. This extreme resort is equidly opposed to the interest of both, as it is to assurances of the most friendly dispositions on the part of the Britisli government, in the midst of which this outrage has been committed. In this liglit, the subject cannot but present itself to that govern- ment, and strengthen the motives to an honourable reparation of the wrong which has been done, and to that cfiectual controul of its naval commanders, which alone can justify the government of the United States in the exercise of those hospitalities it is now constrained to discontinue. In consideration of these circumstances, and of the right of every nation to re- gulate its own police, to provide for its peace and for the safety of its citizens, and consequently to refuse the admission of armed vessels into its harbours or waters, either in such numbers or of such descriptions, as are inconsistent with these, or witli the maintenance of the authority of the laws, I have thought proper, in pursuance of the authorities especially given by law, to issue this my proclamation, hereby requiring all armed vessels Iiearing commission under the government of Great Britain, now witiiin the harljours or waters of the United States, immediately and without any delay, to depart from the same ; and in- terdicting the entrance of all the said harbours and waters to the said armed vessels, and to all othere bearing commissions under the authority of the British government. And if the said vessels, or any of them, shall fail to depart as aforesaid, or if they or any others, so intei-dicted, shall hereafter enter the harbours or waters aforesaid, 1 do in that case forbid all intercourse with them or any of them, theii' officers and crews ; and do prohibit all supplies and aid from being furnished to them or any of them. And 1 do declare and make known, that if any person from, or within the jurisdiction and limits of the United States, shall aiford any aid to any such ves- sel, contrary to the prohibition contained in tins proclamation, either in refit- ting any such vessel, or in furnishing her, her officers, or crew, with supplies of any kind, or in any manner whatsoever ; or if any pilots shall assi.st in navigating any of the said armed vessels, unless it be for the purpose of carrying them, O, B. 16 110 rOLITiCAL 0LI\T: branch. [cuap. 20. in tlie first instance, bcvond the limits and jurisdiction of the United States, or unless it be in the case of a vesscJ forced by distress, or charged with pub- lic despatches as hereinafter provided for, such person or persons shall, on coin iction, softer all tlie pains and penalties by the laws provided for such of- IbllCeS, And 1 do herebv enjoin and require all persons bearing office, civil or mdita- ry, within or under the autliority of tiie United States, and all others, citizens or inhabitants thereof, or being within the same, witii vigilance and promptitude to exert their respective authorities, and to be aiding and assisting to tlie carrying this proclumatioii, and every part thereof into full eil'ect. l'n)\ ierty to co-operate with the govern- ment in any measures which they may adopt, whether of vengeance or retaha- tion." Extract from an address of a committee appointed in J^orfolk, to their fellow Citi- zens, dated Juli/ 11, 1807. " The la.st deed of savage ferocity, unparalleled even in the naval annals of Britain, awakened the sentiment of abhorrence in every breast. Every voice •was louil in its cull for reparation, commensurate to the insult ; British insolence and barbarity had reached the ne plus ultra. They had the unl)lusliing effron- tery to claini the rights of hospitality, while their hands were crimsoned and smoaking with tlie blood of your countrymen; even at the instant they had de- clared war in sight of those sliorcs from which, not many years past, their dis- comfited and recreant myrmidons were driven with disgrace; in sight of those monuments, which fill your breasts with a iioly and aspiring admiration for the valour and trium[jhs ofyour forefathers. The nation was unexpectedly plunged into war, and yourselves the first exjiosed to its ruthless blast. The choice of tame submission or resistance was forced on your consideration: with one voice you declared that your ancestors had wrested tlieir rights, their hberties and independence from the suiFocating grasp of British tyranny, by the sword ;and that you, their posterity, had resolved with it to defend and to perpetuate the hallowed patrimony." Ej-tract from the proceeding.'; of the citizens ofA'e-iu York, Jnbj 2, 1807. " liesolved, Tliat we consider the dastardly and unprovoked attack made oil the United States armed ship Chesajjeake, by his Britannic majesty's ship, the Leopard, to be a violation of our national rights, as atrocious as it is unpre- cedented." Last in the long list, let me take the liberty of offering to the M-orkl the sentiments of the citizens of Boston, in town meeting, held in the court-house. mstnn, July 10, 1807. " Resolved unanimously. That the late aggression, committed by a British ship of war on a frigate of the I'nited States, for the avowed purpose of taking Irom licr by force a part of iier crew, was a wanton outrage ui)on the persons and Ihcs of our citizens, and a direct attack on our national sovereignty andin- (lepcndence ; that the spirited conduct of our fellow citizens at Norfolk on this occasion, before the orders of government could be obtained, was highly ho- nourable to themscb es and to the nation. " Resolved unanimously, That the firm, dignified, and temperate policy adopted hy our executive at t/tis momentous crisis is entitled to our most cordial approbation and support. tHAP. 20.] ATTACK ON THE CHESAPEAKE. 113 " Resolved unanimously, That with all our personal influence and exertions we will aid and assist the constituted authorities in carrying the proclamation of the president of the United States, in every particular, into full and effectual execution." Besides the above meeting, there was another held in Boston^ at Faneuil Hall, on the 16th of July, .1807, at which John Coffin Jones, esq. acted as moderator. John Quincy Adams, Harrison Gray Otis, Wm. Eustis, Christopher Gore^ Charles Jones, John C. Jones^ Thomas H. Perkins^ Jonathan Mason^ and John War- ren, esqrs. were appointed a committee to prepare a report, .which contained the following resolutions — " Resolved, that we consider the unprovoked attack made on the United States' anned ship Chesapeake, by the British ship of war Leopard, a wanton outrage upon the lives of our fellow citizens, a direct violation of our national Jionour, and an infringement of our national rights and sovereignty. " Resolved, that we most sincerely approve the proclamation, and the firm and dispassionate course of policy pursued by the president of the United States : and we will cordially unite with our fellow citizens in affording effectual support to such measures as our government may further adopt, in the present crisis of our affairs." To those unacquainted with the solemnity and regularity of the proceedings in Boston town meetings, it may not be impro- per to state, that there is probably no town in the world whose public meetings are conducted with more propriety and decorum — and that these resolutions are as full and as fair an expres- sion of the sentiments of the citizens of the town as evef was given. I have already offered a few reflections on the charge of French influence, so universally alleged against Mr. Jeflerson, and so generally believed by the federalists throvighotit the union. At the period of passing these resolves, he had been in office six years and four months, out of eight years of his presidency. And, behold, the town of Boston, after so long an experience of his conduct in this dignified and arduous office, passes on him in a report expressly drawn up by Harrison Gray Otis, Christopher Gore, and other gentlemen of the sjime description, the highest encomiums for his "y?rwz aJid dispassionate course of policy^'''' at a crisis of the utmost delicacy. What a contrast — what a contra- diction between this panegyric and the never-ending abuse, the remorseless virulence, with which he has been assailed from that period to the present, in that town, by men, the major part of whom were probably at the meeting, and concurred in this vote of approbation ! Alas ! alas ! what a poor, miserable, contempti- ble, senseless animal is man ! To how little purpose is he endow- ed with that proud, distinctive faculty, called reason, of which he makes so little use ! It is due to justice, and to the spirit of impartiality which I have studiously laboured to preserve throughout this work, to state, that previous to the sailing of the Chesapeake, Mr. Ha- 114 POUTICAL OLIVE BRANCH/ [chap. 20 milton, the British consul at Norfolk, had made repeated official demands of tiiese four seamen, which demands were repelled by the officers on hoard the Chesapeake, with the concurrence and approbation of the cabinet at Washington. This refusal led to the orders issued by admiral Bex'keley, then at Halifax, to captain Humphreys, to take the men by force. It is also due to justice, to state, that as these men had entered voluntarily on board the Chesapeake — and as Great Britain steadily refuses to surrender foreigners who enter her vessels voluntariK- — the claim made for these four sailors was not justi- fied or warranted by her own practice. The following account of three of the four men thus seized, is extracted from a letter written by commodore Barron, to the secretary of the navy, and dated April, 7th, 1807. It arose from the requisition of the British consul at Norfolk, for their delivery. " William Ware, pressed from on board the brig Neptune, captain Crafts, by the British frigate Mclampus, in the bay of Biscay, has served on board the said frigate fifteen months. " William Ware is a native American, born on Pipe creek, Frederick county, state of MaryUnd, at Brace's mills, and served his time at said mills. He also lived at Ellicott's mills, near Baltimore, and drove a wagon several years be- tween Hagcrstown and Baltimore. He also served eighteen months on board the United States' frigate Chesapeake, under the command of commodore Mor- ris and captain James Barron. He is an Tndian looking man. " Daniel Martin was pressed at the same time and place. He is a native of Westport, in Mussachusotts, about thirty miles to the Eastward of Newport, Khoile-Island ; sc'rvcd his time out of New-York with captain MaiTowby, in the C:Jeich articles, as it may be lawfid to Import into such free port ; ^or to any vessel, or cai-go of any vessel, belonging to any country not at war ,CHAP. 22.3 ORDER IN COUNCIL. 119 Vith his majesty, which have cleared out from some port or place in this king- dom, or from Gibraltar or Malta, under such regulations as his majesty may think fit to prescribe, or from any port belonging to his majesty's allies, and shall be proceeding direct to the port specified in the clearance ; nor to any vessel, or the cai'go of any vessel, belonging to any country not at war with his majesty, which shall be coming from any port or place in Europe, which is de- clared by this order to be subject to the restrictions incident to a state of block- ade, DESTINED TO SOME PORT OR PLACE IN EUROPE BELONGING TO HIS MAJESTY, and which shall be on her voyage direct thereto ; but these exceptions are not to be understood as excepting from capture or confis- cation any vessel or goods whicli may be liable thereto in respect of having en- tered or departed from any port or place actually blockaded by his majesty's squadrons or ships of war, or for being enemies' property, or for any other cause than the contravention of this present order. " And the commanders of his majesty's ships of war and privateei-s, and other vessels acting under his majesty's commission, shall be, and are hereby in- structed, to warn any vessel which shall have commenced her voyage prior to any notice of this order, and shall be destined to any port of France, or of her allies, or of any other country at war with his majesty, or to any port or place fi'om which the liritish flag, as aforesaid, is exclude. 1, or to any colony belonging to his majesty's enemies, and which shall not have cleared out as is herein before allowed, to discontinue her voyage, and to proceed to some port or place in this kingdom, or to Gibraltar or Malta. And any vessel whichj after having been so warned, or after a reasonable time shall have been afford- ed for the arrival of information of this his majesty's order to any port or place from which she sailed, or which, after having notice of this order, shall be found in the prosecution of any voyage contraiy to tiie restrictions contained in this order, shall be captured, and, together with her cargo, condemned as lawful prize to the captors. " And whereas countries not engaged in the war, have acquiesced in the or- ders of France, prohibiting all trade in any articles the produce or manufacture of his majesty's dominions; and the merchants of those countries have given countenance and effect to those prohibitions, by accepting from persons styl- ing themselves commercial agents of tlie enemy, resident at neutral ports, cer- tain documents termed " certificates of origin," being certificates obtained at the ports of shipment, declaring that the articles of tlie cargo are not of the produce or mamfactiire of his majesty's dominions, or to that effect. " And whereas this expedient has been directed by France, and submitted to by such mercliants, as part of the new sy.stem of warfare directed against the trade of this kingdom, and is tlie most effectual instrument of accomplishing the same ; and it is therefore essentially necessary to resist it. " His majesty is tlierefore pleased, by and with the advice of his privy coun- cil, to order, and it is hereby ordered, that if any vessel, after reasonable time shall have been afforded for receiving notice of tliis his majesty's order, at the port or place from which suclt vessel shall have cleared out, shall be found car- ri/ing ami such certif.cate or document as aforesaid, or any document referring to or (mtherJicating the same, such vessel shall be adjudged lawful prize to the captors, together with the goods laden therein, belonging to the person or persons by whom, or on whose behalf, any such document was put on board. " And the right honovirable the lords commissoners of his majesty's treasury, his majesty's principal secretaries of state, tlie lords commissioners of the ad- miralty, and the judges of the high court of admiralty, and courts of vice-admi- ralty, are to take the necessary measures herein, as to them shall respectively appertain. W. FAWKENER." The preceding orders were assigned by Napoleon as a reason for, and justification of, the Milan decree, of which, although it somewhat deranges the chronological order of the work, I here submit a copy. But I prefer grouping these three documents together, for the ease and convenience of the reader. 12» POUTICAL OUVE BRANCH. [chap. 22. IMPERIAL DECREE. Jiejoinder to his Britanmc majestifs Order iix Cmmcil, of the llth Mvemher,\^07 . M our Royal Palace at Milan, December 17, 1807. "Napoleon, emperor of the French, king of Italy, protector of the RhenisU confcdenition. . . , ^ ^i n^u « ObservinK the measures adopted by the British government on the 11th November last, bv which vessels beloni^ing to neutral, friendly,or even powers tlic aUies of Kngland, are made liable not only to be searched by English cruizcre, but to be compulsorily detained in England, and to have a tax laid on tbom of so nuicli per cent, on tlie cargo, to be regulated by the British le- gislature. , ■ ,• u- f " Obsen iiig that Ijy these acts the British government denationalises ships ot every nation in Europe; that it is not competentfor any government to detract from its own independence and rights; all the sovereigns of Europe having m tnisl tlic sovereignties and independence of the flag ; that if by an unpardon- able weakness, and vhlcli in the eyes of posterity woiddbe an indelible staui, 8uch a tvranny were allowed to be estabhshed into principles, and consecrated by usage, the English would avail themselves of it to assert it as a right, as thev have availedthemselves of tiic tolerance of governments to establish the Infamous principle, that the flag of a nation does not cover goods, and to give to tlicir right of blockade an arbitrary extension, which infringes on the sove- reignly of every state ; we have decreed and do decree as follows : " 1. Every ship, to whatever nation it may belong, that shall have submitted to be searched by an English ship, or to a voyage to England, or shall have paid any tax wiiatsoever to the English government, is thereby, and for that alone, declared to be denationalised ."iohiivc forfeited the protection of its king; and to have become English property. " 11. Whether the ships tlius dcnntionaUscd hy the arbitrary measures of the English g()\ CI mnent, enter into our ports, or those of our aUies, or whether they fall into the hands of our ships of war, or of our privateers, they are de- clared to be good and lawful prize. " HI. The British islands are declared to be in a state of blockade, both by land and sea. Every ship of whatever nation, or whatsoever the nature of its cargo may be, that sails from the ])orts of England, or those of the English colo- nics, and of the countries occupied by English troops, and proceeding to Eng- land or to the Englisli colonies, or to countries occupied by English troops, is gooil and lawful prize, as contraiy to the present decree ; and may be captured bv our ships of w ar, or our privateers, and adjudged to the captor. ' " I\'. These measures, which are resorted to only in just retaliation of the barbarous system adopted hy Kngland, which assimilates its legislation to that of Algiers, shall cease to luive an}' elVect with respect to all nations who shall have the firmness lo compel the English government to respect their flag. They shall continue to be rigorously in force as long as that government does not return to the principle of the law of nations which regulates the relations of civilised states in a state of war. The provisions of thf present decree bhall be ul)rog:ited anil null in fact, as soon as the English abide again by the principles of the law of nations, which are also the principles of justice and honour " All our ministers are charged with the execution of the present decree, which shall be inserted in tlie bulletin of the laws. NAPOLEON." On the 25th of November, 1807, an additional order in coun- cil was issued, and on the 25th of March 1808, an act of par- liament passed, oi both whereof the object was to permit a trade between neutral nations (the only neutral nations then were the United States and Sweden) and France and her dependencies, on the condition that the vessels enq-as^-ed in it should enter some British port, PAY A TRANSIT DUTY, and take out a li- CHAP. 22.] TRANSIT DUTY. 121 cence ! And the British government affected to regard this ar- rangement as a favour conferred on neutrals ! ! ! This was fairly capping the climax. It may not be unsatisfactory to the reader^ to state the duties thus laid on the exports of the United States by a foreign na" tion. Well might Mr. Baring declare — " It is immaterial whether it be a tax on stamps, or on cotton. This ques- tion has been the subject of a long and bloody war." Goods allowed to be bonded. Barilla ... 10s per cwt. or - - g 2 22 Bark (Peruvian) '. - 6s — Cochineal - - - 7s — Cocoa nuts ... 20s — . . - Coffee - - . 28s— - - Ginger - - - 7s — Gum Arabic, and Senegal - 10s — - - - Hemp ... 15s — ... Hides (raw) - - 3s per hide Jalap ... Q(i per lb. Indigo - - - 2s — Iron (in bars) - - 6Gs — per cwt. Pimento . . - . "id per lb. Pitch ... 4s 4rZ per 31 1-2 gal. Quicksilver - - . Is per lb. . Rhubarb ■ . . - 2s — Rice ... 2s per cwt. Rum and Spirits single . 8d per gal. Do. over proof - . Is 4J - Sugar (brown or Muscovado) 10s per cwt. Do. (white or clayed) - 14s per cwt. Tallow - - - 7s— . Tar . - - 4s 4J per 31 1-2 gal. Tobacco - - . Id 1-2 per lb. - Turpentine (common) - 3s 6d per cwt. Wine - - . 120s per 252 gals. Wood (mahogany) - - 20s per ton Cotton - - - Wperlb. Timber - . . 2rs per 50 c. feet - Masts, &c. 6 inches under 8 Ss per piece . - *• ' 8 12 10s — 12 and upwards 27s — . . - Goods not alloiued to be boniled, and upon which the home consumption duties must be paid on importatio7i. Anchors 40 percent on the value Annatto - - . 48s M per cwt. Argol - - . 5s — Ashes ... lOs — ... Oak bark - - . 2s 6d - Bread - -. 4s — Butter - . . 20s— - Cable and Cordage - . 18s — ... Wheat - - - 10s per qr. Wheat meal and Flour - 5s per cwt. Stock-fish - - - 2s6rfperl20 Other Fish ... 4s per cwt. Seed Oil - . . 210s per 252 gals. JPo"k - - - 17s 6d per cwt. - - 3 92 Flax-seed - - - is- 6J per 56 lb. - - 33 1 35 1 57 4 44 6 28 1 57 2 22 3 33 67 11 45 13 32 4 96 22 45 45 15 30 2 22 3 11 1 57 96 3 78 26 64 4 44 17 5 98 1 11 2 22 5 98 10 65 1 11 2 22 55 90 4 44 4 00 2 22 1 11 56 90 46 62 132 POLITICAL OLIVE BKANCH. [chap.Sox Prize ^oods prohibited. Goods not enumerated, but which may be used in Great llritaiii ; on the present duties, 40 per cent. A letier from y/w/tca«, of Liverpool, dated m the be- giniunj^ of April, 18U8, has tliis paruj^raph : " TJiesc duties to attach to the cai-goes of all vessels hoimd from the United Slaten iv those ports on the continent, nvhich arc under the iiijiuence of France, and an-ive in this country, in compliance -with the orders in council of the eleventh of J^'ovembei-." .? Simopsis of part of the effects of these duties. " A cart^o of cotton, of 100 bales, of 300 lbs. each, which is about the com- mon weight, paving 9d sterling per lb. in England, would amount to the pre- cise s\im of 50,000 dollars. The same cargo of cotton at 14 1-2 cents,* the aver- age price for fine Louisiana cotton, would not cost at New Orleans more than 43,5U0 dollars. Thus the exporter would have to pay 6,500 dollars in London, as a duty for Ubcrty to proceed to the continent, more than the original cost — to this might be added the various other charges of tonnage, &c. amounting to about 2000 dollars more. " A cargo of tobacco may be said to consist of 400 hogsheads — ^for the sake of round numbers, we will suppose each hogshead to weigh only 1000 lbs. and the account stands thus— 400,000 lbs. Tobacco, at Id 1-2 sterUng der pound is 2,500/. sterling, or §11,100 00 Tonnage, at 12s per ton on 400 tons, is 240/. sterling, or 1,065 00 "Light money and various other charges and attendant expenses, would amount to 800 00 ^ Amount of tribute on a cargo 12,965 00 *• Of the 80,000 hogsheads sve geuerally exported, but about 12,000 were consumed in the British islands. The rest went to the continent. Put them, as before, at 1000 lbs. each, and what is the amount of tribute on this single article ■' 68,C»0O hogsheads tobacco, weighing each lUOO lbs. is 68,000,000 lbs. at Id l-2d .sterling per pound, is 425,000/. or gl,998,000 00 170 ships' toiuKigc, &c. at 2000 dollars each 34u,000 00 " .\mount of annual lnl)utc on tobacco 2,338,000 00 " A siiip would carry about from 3000 to 3500 barrels of floiU' ; say foy the sake of calculation, 6000 cwt. " 6,000 cwt. at 5s sterling per cwt. amounts to 1,500/., or ^6,660 00 " Tonnage and charges, as above 1,865 00 •* Amount of tribute on one cargo of flour 8,225 00 "A siiip load offish would cost about 3,500 or 4,000 dollars, including the duties and chargcs."f CHAPTER XXIII. Tfir orders in Council., of November 11, 1807, defended by Ame- ricans. Founded on the untenable plea of American acquies- cence 1)1 the Berlin Decree. Enquiry into the causes and consequences., by A. Baring., Esq. M. P. Pi-KNir. lot's as were the orders in coixncil to the most vital in- terests of the United States — degrading as was the condition of paying a transit duty in English ports — and unjust and unfound- ed as was the allegation on which these orders were predicated, * This was written previous to the late war, and states the prices in 1807. t For all these statements and calculalioiis I am indebted to Niles's Weekly Register, vol. 3, page 79. CHAP. 23.) BARING'S ENQUIRY. 1^3 there were defenders of them in this country— Americans bom. Among the number were men in high and elevated stations, possessing a great degree of pviblic confidence and pohtical in- fluence. It is a most singular fact, that the cause of England has been far more ably supported in our congressional debates, and in our political speculations and essays, than in London it- self. No man of character or standing in society in that city, or in the British parliament, has attempted to deny the magnitude of our wrongs. The ministry and their friends have palliated their proceedings by the miserable plea of necessity — and of retalia- tion — a plea that Barbarossa, or Koulikan, or Bonaparte, could with equal justice advance. But such respectable men as the Koscoes, the Whitbreads, the Barings, have bestowed on the outrageous measures of their government, the most unqualified reprobation. I have it not in my power at present to refer to the debates in parliament. But I perfectly well recollect, and such of my readers as have access to them will see at once, that the rec- titude of the conduct of our government, and its mild endea- vours to procure redress, have received the most unequivocal encomiums from some of the most illustrious characters in Great Britain. The respectability of Mr. Alexander Baring is a matter of public notoriety throughout the commercial world. There is no man in England more attached to the honour and interests of his country. His testimony has been, as I have said, uniformly borne in our favour, and against the enormous injustice of the orders in council — and as it cannot fail to have a weight propor- tioned to his talents, integrity, and character, I shall very freely quote from such an unexceptionable source. The orders in council of Nov. 11, 1807, were, as we have seen, predicated upon the pretence of our acquiescence in the Berlin decree. Mr. Baring having stated the fact,* that this decree had not been put into operation against our commerce, and that therefore, we had no right to remonstrate against it, proceeds, "Unless, therefore, his majesty's ministers have some information of which the public are not possessed, and which contradicts the very clear evidence the public do possess, we must conclude that the assertion in the ordei-s in council that America had been guilty of that acquiescence in the decrees of France, which was to draw down, and has drawn down upon her, our menaced retalia,- tion, is totally void of foundation.'"\ The fallacy of the allegatioti of an acquiescence in the Berlin decree having been proved, Mr. Baring thus accounts for the Milan decree, which was the offspring of the orders in council of November 11, 180r. " If what has been stated, be coiTect, that our orders in council are not jus- tified, by any previous provocation, they must be evidently acts of original ag- gression; and France retaliated much in the same manner and with the same * See page 117, f Baring's Enquiry, page 70. 124 rOUTICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [chap. 23. right as we ovirselves should have done, had the BerUn decree been rigidly executed.'" The following masterly analysis of 'the orders in council is taken from Mr. Baring's " Enquiry." " Jll trade directly from Amenca to every port and country at war tvith Great Britain, or from -u-hich the Brilish fag is excluded, is totally prohibited. In thin general prohibition, every port of Europe, with the exception at present of Sweden, it intituled : and no distinction whatever is made between the domestic produce of America, and that of the colonies, re-exported from tiience ! ! ! " 'I'lie trade from America to the colonies of all nations, remains unaltered by the present oi'der. America may export the produce of her own country, but that of no other, to Sweden. •• Witli tiie above exception, all articles, whether of domestic or colonial pro- duce exported by America to l-Auope, ipust be landed in this country [England] from whence it is intended to permit tiieir exportation, under such regulations as shall be hereafter determined. " By these regnilations it is understood that duties are to be imposed on all ar- ticles so re-exported. But it is intimated that an exception will be made m fa- vour of such as are the produce of the United States, cotton excepted. " Anv vessel, the cargo whereof shall be accompanied with certificates of French'consuls abroad, of its origin, shall, together witli its cargo, be hable to seizure and condemnation."! It is proper here to make a solemn pause. The subject de- serves the deepest, the most serious reflection. Let us examine this sketch, drawn by a masterly hand, beyond the reach of sus- picion. Let us consider the despotic, the lawless claims it asserts — the prostrate, the base, the despicable state in which it places the commerce and the rights of a sovereign, an independent, an unoffending nation — a nation whose trade was of incalculable importance to the power thus daring to legislate for her, and de- .stroy her dearest rights of sovereignty. When all this is fair- ly and dulv weighed, let us correctly appreciate the conduct oi so many Americans, who have asserted with a zeal worthy of a good cause, that England " has really done our commerce no es- sential injury!"-}: The annals of the world can produce nothing more indefensible — nothing more astonishing. The end proposed by the British government in this stupen- dous project of usurpation, is thus ably sketched. " 7/ie Jlmeiicans are to brin^^ to this country all the produce of their own, and all that of onr enrwit's' colonies, which they export to Europe. We are here to form a grand emporium of the costly produce nf Asia and America, which is to be dispensctl to the different countries of Kurope, under such regulations as we may think proper, I suppose, according to their good behaviour. Taxes are to be raisrd from the consumers on the continent ; and they are to be contrived with such judicious skill :Lsto secure our own West India planters a preference over tliose of Culia and Mailinique."§ " 'I'lie American mercliant, witli the best intentions of trading legally, can- not always know what this country permits ; for we admit that upholding a ge- neral principle which we never enforce, we may and do vary our pei-missions to neutrals under it as we please. Supposing him in this respect not liable to er- ror, he is exposed to unjust decisions in our vice admiralty courts — a danger of • Baring's Enquiry, page 70. f Idem, page 12. t Mr. Pickering's letter to governor Sullivan, page 1,2. § Bai-ing's Enquiry, page 16. dHAp. 23] BARING'S INQUIRY. 125 no common magnitude, if we are to believe the assertion of lord Hawkesbury in the iiouse of commons, tlie 29th of April, 1801, that of 318 appeals from these courts, only 35 of the condemnations were cQufrmed."* What a hideotis picture of the rapacity and piratical proceed- ings ol the British privateers is here exhibited! It is not unfair to suppose, that of the number of vessels captured and brought in for adjudication, one-fourth were cleared in the West Indies. Admitting this calculation, the whole number of captures em- braced in the statement of lord Hawkesbury, was probably 420, of which about 100 were cleared in the West Indies — 283 un- justly condemned there, and afterwards cleared in Great Britain — and only 35 really and bona fide lawful prize — so that it ap- pears, that of every twelve vessels brought in for trial, eleven were unjustly captured ! " If we liad maintained and defended this doctrine boldly and fairly against all nations, good arguments in favour of it coLdd not he wanting. But wlien we have uniformly yielded it, and indeed forborne to claim it, can it be consistent either -with magtianimitti or good puUcy, to brinq- it forward now, liKCAUSE THE ONLY REMAINING 'neutral HAS A DEFENCELESS COMMERCE ? If aiich cowardly injustice is to be one of our resources in these trying times, when eleva- tion of sentiment and of national character are more than ever wanted, the means and sirengtli of this powerfid empire arc inde/'J strangely 7nisiinderstood.'"'\ This is the language of a dignified character — language wor- thy of Athens or Rome when their glory was at its zenith. Hap. py would it have been for Great Britain — it would have placed her character on a towering eminence, had her statesmen, instead of the course of lawless depredation they pursued, been actuated by such elevated sentiments. "This decision [in tlie case of the Essex, Orme,] although the distinction was not made to catch the common eye, was well known to embrace the whole foreign trade of America, excepting that in her own produce. It circulated ra- pidly among our cruizers and privateers ; and in the course of a fortnight the seas were cleared of every American ship they coidd find,w\\\ch. now crowded our ports for trial ; and our West India merchants were gratified by neutral insurance and freights being at least doubled by this ingenious discovery. "Ij " This decision laid the fouiadation of all the complaints of America of our vexatious measiu-es against lier trade, as it introduced a totally new line of con- duct towards it; and that change produced the non-importation act, at which we affect so much indignGtio7i.'''if " Nor was the injury to the Americans confined to the application of these new and vexatious principles ; for our privateers, apprehending little danger of being made answerable for their erroi", wei'e not disposed to make nice dis- tinctions ; but detained and sent in every vessel they met with, under the most fri- volous pretences; in wldch they were also encowaged by tiie expectation of actual ■war. Of the extent to whicli this was carried, some idea may be formed, when it is stated, that cargoes, wholly of American produce, and of the produce of neutral countries trading with America, were captured, and even brought to trial."§ " The owners of privateers are in the daily practice of bringing in valuable cargoes, and offering immediately to release them for one or two hundred giuneas. Tliey sometimes require a much larger sum. The London merchant is either * Baring's Enquiry, page 43. f Idem, page 47. H Idem, page SO. ?• Idem, page 51. § I'Jem, pages 57 add 58. O. B. 18 126 POLITICAL OLn-E BRANCH. [chap. 23. obU^edto acquiesce in THIS INIQUITOUS llOBBEllY, or let his correspon- dent siitrer the more expensive vexations wliich it is unfortunately in the power of lliose people to infiict."* , . , c •■ The measures resorleil to by America, under these circumstances of pro- vocation, M'ere ccrUiinly of the »m7.'c/V'.v of IwstiUl,j, and such as evidmthj ,ho.L'ed a desire of jHcue. A law was passed prohibitin.^• the importation ot ccr^ tan\ articles of Bnlisli manufacture ; by which a demonstration of commercial w aifare was certainly intemled. But it is such as every independent natioii, even in lime of peace, has a ri^ht to resort to without giving offence ; and it the comnurce of America were to be materially interrupted, a reduction of her iniport.itii.n of European articles became indispensable. This law, after dilli. rent suspensions, is not yet repealed. Of its wisdom, as a commercial mea- sure, there niav be doubts; but as an aimoi/ance of our trade, for the purpose of enfurcinir a respect for theirs, ive have no right to complain of it.]'' " U" we had treated the commerce of America w ith sincerity, instead of mo- lesiinj? it, as we liav.- seen, BY A liKPETlTION OF THE MOST UlSGRACK- FL'L CIIK'AXE, that commerce would have suffered less, and our own ends would have been answered. Such an apijeal to the good sense of that country, would certainly have been less likely to produce war than the sophistry witli which they have been treated, and of wliich every man in it must detest the follv.'N "■/or so extensive an infmf to a countrr,, AVHOSE RIGHT OF INDEPEN- DENT SOVEREIGNTY WAS A lOLATED, AND WHOSE COMMERCE WAS DESTKOVEl) BY THIS PROCEEDING, it would have been in vain to search lor autliorities or precetlents any where."§ We have seen that French consular certificates of the origin ot the cargo of a vessel, by the orders in council, subjected both vessel and cargo to condemnation. On the iniquity of this fea- ture of the orders, Mr. Baring remarks : — *' We ill many cases require foreign articles, imported into this country, to be accompanied by certificates fnmi our consuls abroad. Nothing can, there- fore, be more frlvoKnis than the assertion of our right to complain of the ac- quiescence of American merchants in tlic regulations of France respecting cer- tificates of origin.^ I hope the reader will attend to the consequences of this fea- ture o( the orders in council. Let it never be forgotten. It is wcniliy of being borne in eternal remembrance. If they had no other oilious teature, this -would be sufficient to disgrace them, uikI their authors and abettors. Suppose Mr. George Cabot, lilr. Janies Lloyd, jun. Timothy Pickering, Commodore Dale, or any other citi/.en of tlie United States, to send a vessel to sea, owned by himself, manned with American sailors, and loaded with American productions — l>ound for the solitaiy corner of Europe, Sweden, which was not interdicted by the orders in council — suppose her provided with a French consular certilitate of the origin of the cargo: and finally, to close oui supjjositions, suppose her carried into London by a British pri- vateer, and brought before Sir William Scott for adjudication. She would most assuredly be condemned for an infringement OF THE LAW OF NATIONS, in being' provided xvith a French consular cerOjhate ! 1 1 What an awful mockery of justice in • Barinp's Enquiry, i)age 58. f Idem, page 59. 4 Idem, page 3 ^ Idem, page 64. \ Idem, page dOi. CHAP. 23.] BARING'S ENQUIRY. 127 those who prescribed — what a shameful prostration and baseness of mind in those who preached submission to — such a lawless regulation, calculated to '' prei/ upon the unprotected property of a friendly power. ^'^ " The comprehensive nature of the injury which America must suffer from our system, by leaving no class of its population unaffected by it, atfurds little hope'of the uiterfereiice of any for the preservation of peace. The great in- terest which a countiy still possessing the means of independence, should feel in the preservation of ours, -d-ill be lost in the more immediate and perceptible coii- seguencen of our foUy and injnstice."j[ "■ The new orders were of a description to produce a revolution in the whole commerce of the world; and a total derangement of those mutual rights and relations by which civilized nations have hitherto been connected.''^: " It must be evident from the whole tenor of our proceedmgs, that commer- cial interest has been our moving principle throughout ; that every demmistru- tion of the slightest hostilitu on the other side, has onginatsd in our attempts to ad- vance that interest in violating' the rights and interests of others ,- and that if -wc are at last called upon to take up arms, it is on our part a quarrel about sugar and coffee, and not in support of national honour."^ "" The consequences of such a state of things mvst produce ruin to every class and description of persons in America: and they are so obvious, so inevitable, that one cannot avoid thinking, that they must have occurred to the framei-s of this new system."'! " To make this limitation of neutral trade a part of the lawof nations, it is not sufficient that it should be asserted by one power. It must likewise be admit- ted by others ; which is so far from having been the case, that in all our discus- sions "about neutral riglits, wc have not only never obtained from any nation a recognition of this rule, but it aoes not even appear to have been at any time se- riously insisted upon."\\ " What can then be the object of holding up this rule [of 1756] as the palla- dium of our maritime rights, or why has it lain so long dormant ? instead of America being accused of a disposition to encroachment hostile to our dignity, in refusing to admit into the law of nations, a principle whicli has neither been admitted by or enforced toivards others, are we not rather ourselves wanting to our own dignity in proclaiming a law wliich we have never ventured to defend; in setting iip a right, which, by our own treaties with foreign nations, we have ourselves encouraged them to trample im i"'** " It would have been highly interesting to know how many instances [of fraudulent ownership] had been discovered ; as by pointing tlu-m out to our government, redress miglit have been obtained by application to that of Ame- rica, wiiose strict attention to the character of her flag has always been re markable."tt " I must say, and I speak from considerable experience, tliat the character of tlie great body of merchants in America, httle deserves the unjust insinua- tions in which writers on this subject have indulged." tt " During a considerable part of the last and present war, we have indeed re- spected tlie rights of those not concerned in it. But the conduct even op' France can furnish fe~cv stronger proofs of a disregard of them, and of more fnvolous pre- tences by which they have been invaded, than may be found in our conduct in 1805, and still more in the recent measures which we have tieen considering."^^ "If our commercial treaties with Portugal are to be held up, as they have been, to the admiration of statesmen, we cannot fail to admire the liberal policy of .\merica towards the produce of our industry, when we consider the large balance which she annually pays us, and our illiberal jealou.sy of her intercourse with other countries, from which alone tliat balance can be paid."111[ * See Boston Memorial, page 89. f Enquiry, page 78. + Idem, page 10. § Idem, page 79. 1 idem, page 18. || Idem, page 22. ** Idem, page 23. ft Idem, page 32. it Wem, page36. ■§§ Mem, page 71- 111 Idem, page 88. 128 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [chap. 23. " If my former observations produce, as I think they must, a conviction that the trade and propsrtvso sported witii, belone;' to an honest neutral, there can be no doubt tliut OIU CONDUCT TOUAWDS IF DESEHVKS THE NAME OF THE MOST UNQUAUFIEL) INJLS IICE."* I solemnly invoke the reader to re-peruse these extracts, with all the attention whicli their importance requires. They are overwhelming and unanswerable. They stamp with the seal of condemnation the orders in council, their British framers, and American apologists. Never was testimony more cogent. And never did power more completely forget and trample upon right and justice, than in this instance did the British ministry. The reader who compares the style and substance of the me- morials, with Mr. Baring's essay, will find that coincidence, that eogencv, that irresistible conviction which result from truth and lionourable principles. The American merchants, eloquent- ly and convincingly pleading for the rights of their country, and their own personal interests, unjustly assailed — speak nearly the same language, and make use of the same arguments, as Mr. Baring, when he sought to save his country from the disgrace and dishonour of employing her transcendent naval power to overwhelm and prey upon the commerce of an unoffending- neutral, merely because that neutral was not in a state to defend lierself. I trust that no apology can be necessary for these copious ex- tracts on this all-important topic. The high standing and cha- racter of the writer, as I have already observed, and take the lil)erty to repeat, entitle his sentiments to peculiar attention. Moreover, as an English merchant, interest, were he swayed by such a consideration, would have led him to advocate the or lers in council. But he had too high a regard for the honour of his country, to wish it to be sacrificed to paltry and sordid consiilerations of interest. After the reader has with the deep attention the subject de- scr\es, perused the above eloquent defence of American rights — exposure of our wrongs — and appeal to the honour and justice of (ireat Britain, writteti by a high-spirited and noble-minded Englishman, let him ])onder for a moment on the conduct of those Ainericans who have devoted their talents, their industry, anddieir influence, to defend the outrageous proceedings of Great Britain, and to place their own coimtry uniformly in the wrong. What ;i humiliating contrast ! — Mr.' Baring pleading the cause of the injured Ignited States in London — and Mr. Pickering and hundreds of other Americans pleading in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and elsewhere, against their own country, and in deO-nce of British inroads and British violence ! The contemplation iills the mind with astonishment ! Notwith- standing the evidence is so full\- before us, as to be irresistible, • Enquiry, page 57. CHAP. 24] EMBARGO. 139 it is not easy to believe that such an awful delusion could have ever existed, and to such an extravagant extent. It would be difficult, perhaps impossible, to find in historv any parallel case. Enlightened American merchants, alas ! so lar blinded bv party and faction, as to use their utmost endeavours to prevent the government of their country from procuring re- dress of intolerable grievances which bore so heavily on them- selves i CHAPTER XXIV. Embargo. Situation of American Commerce. Factious clamour. Embargo a wise^ prudent, and Jiecessary measure. I NOW proceed to consider the subject of the embargo, which, was one of the most potent instruments employed to exasperate and inflame the passions of the people of the eastern states, and which actually prepared a portion of them for open resistance to the government. The justice and propriety of every measure depend on the circumstances that accompany and induce it — the motives that lead to its adoption — and the consequences it is calculated to produce. Eet us apply these tests to the embargo. The reader has had the decrees and orders in council laid be- fore him in extenso. He has seen the exposition of the injustice of the latter by Mr. Baring. And he has had an opportunity himself of calculating the effects of both decrees and orders. From a calm consideration of these docviments, and of their inevitable operation on our trade, it is perfectly obvious, that had our vessels sailed in December, lo07, and January, February', March, April, and May, 1808, as freelv as they had formerly done, they would have universally fallen sacrifices ; those bound for France and her dependencies, to British — and those bound for the British dominions, to French cruisers. This would have produced an almost universal bankruptcy among our insurance offices and merchants. The plunder of our ships and cargoes, and the captivity of our seamen, would have augmented the resources of the belligerents, and enfeebled ourselves. The only real question was, whether our vessels should remain at our wdiarves, the property of our merchants, or be carried to France and England, the prey of privateers. But for the embargo, there would have been such a calamitous scene produced as has rarely occurred in any nation. We should have suff"ered all the worst consequences of war, without any of its com- pensatory advantages. Our merchants would have once more made the " welkin ring" with their complaints of injury — their eloquent appeals to the law of nations — their clamours for redress —-their reproaches of the government for its supineness — and 13U ipOLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH, [chap. 24. their solemn* pledges of support. We should have again had to negociate in vain for reparation. And we should have been ultimately goaded into war, after having been defeated in our endeavours to escape it, and deprived of the most efficient means for its prosecution. It has been said that the Berlin decree not having been car- ried into operation against American vessels ; and our govern- ment not having received an authentic copy of the orders in council ; therefore it was not justified in the recommendation of the embargo. And thus that degree of vigilance and care of the interests of his country and of the property of the merchaiJts, which entitled Mr. Jefferson to a monument from the mercan- tile interest, has been made the ground-work of the most serious accusation ! There is no measure of the general govermricnt from its first organization to the present hour, more strcmgly marked with wisdom, with foresight, and with attention to duty, than this re- commendation. There is, nevertheless, no measure that has gen- erated more factious or senseless clamour — more envenomed, prejudice — more unblushing misrepresentation. The atrocious case of the Horizon, which was the first in- stance wherein the Berlin decree was carried into efl'ect against American vessels, had previously occuned. Of this case Mr. Armstrong had transmitted an account in a letter dated Nov. 12, 1807, of which I have submitted a copy to the reader.f This letter and the documents accompanying it, established, be- yond a possibility of doubt, the extreme danger of our commerce from French depredation, and French courts of admiralty. Of the determination of the British government to meet the Berlin decree with measures of equal violence, undoubted inform- ation had been received by our administration in private letters, and even in the public papers. The recommendation of the em- bargo took place on the 18th of December, 1807: and on the 7)wrnhiif of that daij^ previous to tlie delivery of the presidents viessu(^x\ there had been published in the National Intelligencer the folbxving paragraph from a London paper. London, JVoveinber 10. " A proclamation is now, we understand, in readiness for his majesty's signa- ture, declaring France and the whole of her vassal kingdoms in a state of siege, and f)rri/ii/)ilhiif allintercnirse luith her or them — and all eiitravce of vessels into her or Ihrir har/>oi,r.i, EXCKPI" OF SUCH AS HAVE CLEARED LAST FROM A BRi'l'lSH POUT, EITHER HOME OR FOliElGN." Various private letters to the same effect, had been received by different citizens. Thus, between the two nations, our com- merce was completely cut up by the roots. The only part of • T had written " hollow and deceptions." Rut I struck the words out — how properly the reader will decide. 1 am doubtful myself of the correctness of the alteration. t See page 117. CHAP. 24] e:mbargo. 131 Europe, except her own dominions and dependencies, with which Great Britain allowed us to trade, was Sweden. And the Milan decree, by an extravagance of despotism, folly, and wick- edness, never exceeded in the annals of piracy and rapine, re- garded every neutral vessel, that had been searched by a British cruiser, as ipso facto denationalised^ and liable to capture, bound whence or where she might The mind is lost in astonishment at this ne phis ultra of wickedness, madness, and rapine. It was punishing as criminal, an act perfectly innocent — wholly unavoid- able — and in which the party punished had been merely passive ! Under these circumstances, what prudent merchant would send a vessel to sea — liable to capture Avhatever might be her destination ? For even if bound to Sweden, or any other comer of Europe, (if any such there were) not embraced in the scope of decrees and orders in council, she might be searched by an English privateer, and thus be subject to capture by the next French one that should overhaul her. What course had a government to steer, which, bound to watch over the interests of its constituents, w'as sincerely dis- posed to perform that duty faithfully ? Let any man not tram- melled by faction or inveterate prejudice, calmlv consider this question, and I feel most perfectly satisfied, he will reply — the alternative was, war against both nations — or a general embargo. Notwithstanding this plain state of the case — notwithstanding the imperious necessity of the measure — there was, as I have stated, no act of the federal government, since its first organiza- tion, that excited so much outcry or clamour. It was the sub- ject of incessant abuse in all the federal papers from New-Hamp- shire to Georgia, and from the Mississippi to the Atlantic. It has been ten thousand times reiterated, that it was unnecessarily oppressive — that it was wicked and tj'rannical — dictated by Na- poleon — a sacrifice of the dearest interests of the nation — and, to cap the climax, unconstitutional. In times of faction, the public possesses a wonderful faculty of swallowing the most monstrous and improbable falsehoods. It was almost universally believed to the eastward, that the em. bargo was the result of a combination hetxveen the Southern and Western States^ to ruin the Eastern ! ! I I have repeatedly heard this asserted by men otherwise of sound minds and cultivated understandings, and whose veracity convinced me that they did not attempt deception, but were themselves deceived. This ex- travagJJnt idea proceeds upon the miserable and fatuitous suppo- sition, that the merchant, whose vessels remain unemployed at the wharves, will in consequence be ruined ; but that the agri- culturist, whose wheat, flour, rice, cotton, naval stores, &c. stag- nate on his hands, will thereby suffer no injury^ or rather derive advantage, although they fall 'in value 30, 40, 50, or 60 per cent, 'Tis passing strange ! 132 POLITIOAL OLIVE BRANCH. [chap. 24. Never was there a more factious or unfounded clamour excit- ed. Never, I repeat, was a publit measure more loudly called for by existinij circumstances, never one better timed, and never one that would have produced more salutary consequences, had not f;iction deprived it of its clHcacy. With the knowledge Mr. Jefferson possessed, of the mighty dangers impendmg over our commerce, he would have justly me- rited impeachment for a dereliction of his duty, had he not re- commended an embargo for its protection. INIr. Pickering was the earliest, most ardent, and most zeal- ous opponent of the embargo. After having in vain exerted himself in the senate to prevent its passing, he laboured, and un- fortuniitelv with too much success, to excite a strenuous and se- tlitious opposition to it in his own state, and in the other Eastern States. He wrote a long, elaborate, and impassioned letter against it to the governor of Massachusetts, in which he endeavoured to pro\'e the measure wholly unnecessary — dictated by France — and adopted purely through hostility to England, who, he un- qualifiedly asserted, " had done our conrmerce no essential in- ji»*T-'' 'f o form a correct idea of the embargo, it must be considered in two points of view, wholly distinct — one, its original enaction — the other, its long duration. The latter may have been, and I believe was, an error. But I should not hesitate at this mo- ment, to submit the decision of the question to governor Strong, Kut'us King, George Cabot, or James Lloyd, jun. whether an embargo was not an indjspensible measure, at a period when all Europe, except Sweden, was declared in a state of blockade? The embargo was laid on the 23d of December, 1807. Mr. Pickering's letter Avas dated Feb. 16, ! 808, Avhen it hadnot been two months in operation ; of course its denunciations must have been levelled against the enaction of the law — and had no re- ference whatever to its duration. To enable the reader to form a correct estimate of the sound, ncss of Mr. Pickering's denunciation of this measure, let it be observed, that at the date of his letter, full and authentic infor- mu/ion tuul arrived in this conntrij^ of the enforcement of the Ber- lin decree^ of the enaction of the orders in council, and of the Milan decree. I deem it therefore highly proper to place IMr. Pickering's deehu-ations in contrast with each other — and likewise with the real state of affairs. The reader will then be enabled to decide the question correctly himself. Let me explain the four succeeding columns. The first con- tains a sketch of the British depredations on American com- merce, as stated in the mercantile memorials of 1805-6 — the se- cond Mr. Baring's view of the effects of the orders in council —the third, the resoUuion of the Senate, Feb. 10, 1806, on which CHAP. 25.] BRITISH DEPREDATIONS. l^S Mr. Pickering voted i?i the affirmative — ajid the fourth^ Mr> Fickering's vindication of England^ Feb. 16, 1808. The three first paragraphs of the first column are from the Bos- ton Memorial, signed by James Lloyd, George Cabot, 8ic. These g-ntlcmen are responsible for the truth or falsehood of the alle- gations, in which the British government is almost in terms charged with absolute piracy : for, according to these gentlemen, it was '•'■ preying upon the unprotected property of a friendhj poxver^'' which is but a mild form of expression for piracy. 1805—6. 1808. Mr. Picker- Mr. Picker- MEMORIALS. MR. BARING. ing, Feb. ing, Feb. 10, 1806. 16, 1808. "WE confine ■ourselves "Ml trade direct iy from _ to the more alarming, be- America to every port ami " The cap- " Tliese cause more exlendve deten- country at war -mth Great ture and con- facts demon- tions and condemnations of Britain, or from -which the dcmnation stratc, thatal- Jimerican vessels by Great British f/asi- is excluded, is under orders tliough Eng- Uritain."* _ totally prohibited. /« //«s of the British land with her "New vessels, o\\t\\e\Y general prohibition, every government, thousand first passage from the Uni- part of Europe ivith the ex- andadjudica- ships of war, ted States to Europe, are ception of Sweden, is inch/.- tions of their could have arrested, carried out of ded .■ and no f/Zstoirt/on courts of ad- destroyed theircourse,andinjurious- Wia/erer is made bet\ifeen mivAty, of A- ouv com- !y detained under the vex- s, re-exported from cargoes, on LY DONE country or colony of a bel- i(/i«?ce."* the pretext IT NO ES- rigerent."* "It would probably be oftheirbei7ig SENTlAL " It cannot become the no exaggeration to' say employed in INJURY."* magnanimity ofa great and that uptvards of three a trade with powerful nation, to prey fourths of aU the merchants, t\\e enemies * I.etter upon the unprotected pro- seamen, &c. engaged m of Great Bri- from the hon. perty of a friendly power."* commerce or navigation m tain, prohi- Timothy " Having totally sup- America, ttave, at sometime bited in time Pickei-ing, pressed the external com- or other, suffered from acts of peace, is senator from merce of her enemies, of our cruizers, which to an unprovok- the state of Great Britain is novj conn- i\\einhii.ve appeared wn- ed aggression Ma^ss. to his selled to appropriate to her- just, andwhich frequently upon the pro- excellency self that of her fricnds."-f mu.st have been so. They perty of the James Sulli- " This novel principle read, it is true, of the power citizens of the van, govern- goesto nothing short of the of France.— BUT THEY United States or of the said destruction of neutral com- FEEL EVERY DAY — a violation state dated merce.":\: THAT OF BRITAIN."! ean\\-aAe of and an ew- 11. cans,who are unsuspecting- America to Great Britain, cioachmmt ly confdiiig in what was hy i\ie a\o\ya\ of an \\\\.en- upon their na- ihe law of nations."^ ti'on to tax that trade on its tional inde- ♦' Our vessels and ef- passage to the continent, pendence."* fects, to a large amount, we are returning to those have lately been captured principle.^, to which, even as * Resohi- by her commissioned crui- « colo?iy, she xvuuld not sub- tion agreed zers, upon t!ie foundation mit. It is immaterial, wheth- to by the se- : — nate of the U. * Boston memorial. * Baring's Examination, States— Feb. f New York memorial. page"l2. 10, 1806. See % Philadelphia memorial, f Idem, page 74, pas-e 106- O. B, 19 134 POUTICAL OLIVE BKANXH [c«ap. 24 of new principles, sud- er it be a tax on stamps, or denlv invented."t on cotton 'I'liis question "'i'lie revivalofhcrdis- has been ulrcady the sub- cardcd rule was character- jcct of a loiiic und bloody ized ivitn such circiimstan- war ; and it can hardly be CCS of hiii/tiiti/ and violence supposi:d that Amencu asratherto heighten by the will now submit to a di- contrast the veneration of rect attack on her sover- niankind for tiie past jus- eign and independent tice of iier tribunals.'"* rights."" f Baltimore memorial. * Baring's Examination, page 76. It is not for me, to reconcile Mr. Pickering's sentiments* to each other — nor to the tenor of the Memorials — nor to Mr. Bar- ing's correct view of the orders in council. Let it be observed, let it never be forgotten, that the " unprovoked aggression" of 1306, remained unredressed at the date of the letter to governor Sullivan, February 1808. And, further, to this ^"^ nnpro'ookcd aggression'''' of 1806, the orders in council had been added in 1807, which more than quintupled the original outrage. But even independent of this extravagant addition, it is out of my power, bv all the rules of logic at my command, to satisfy my mind how '•^ the capture and conde^nnation of our vessels'''' — under false '■'■pretexts^'' and, as appears by the memorials of the mer- chants, to a most enormous amoimt — " the unprovoked aggression vpon the property of our citizens'''' — " the violatioji of our neutral rights'''' — and " the encroachment upon our national independence'''' can be made to accord with the broad, the sweeping, the un- qualified assertion that Great Britain has " really do7ie our cojh- vierce no essential injurij.'''' To be serious. The subject requires seriousness and sobrie- ty. Is not this a most astonishing and never-enough-to-be-la- mented instance of the horrible delusion in which strong party passions involve those who submit to their guidance ? Can light and darkness — vice and virtue — seraphs and demons — be more opposite to each other thati these assertions ? Would it not have been a most awftil inconsistency had they both been cotempora- ncous — or had the state of affairs, at the period of making the second, been exactly what it was at the period of making the first? Bat nliat an immense aggravation does this inconsistency re- ceive from the consideration, that in Feb. 1808, the first griev- • Some of the friends of Mr. Pickering, in order to destroy the efTect of the inconsisteiiry of these sontlmcnls, have asserted, that he did not make tlie de- claration that " England liad done our commerce no essential injury." 1 dare ^Ir. Pickering thus publicly and explicitly in the face of this nation to deny it himself 1 pledge rnysclf to prove it incontrovertibly. But he never will dare a denial. His letter, from which the extract has been made, containing this highly erroneous declaration, is in the Boston Centincl, edited bv Benjamin Russel, for March 12, 1808, and in the C;azette of the United Slates, edited by Enos Bronson, for the 14th of said month and year. CHAP. 24] ORDER IN COUNCIL. 135 ances had been unredressed, and others, as I have stated, incom- parably more mtolerable, been added? Ihe orders in council were, in outrage, injustice, and infraction of our rights of sov- ereignty, as far beyond the enforcement ol the rule of 1756, which was the ground of complaint in 1806, as wanton murder is beyond mere assault and battery. Never was I more deceived in my life, than I am at this mo- nient, if every candid, unbiassed reader do not agree with me, that the opposition to the operation of the embargo, was factious, disorganizing, absurd, and impolitic in the extreme ; and that those who rendered the law nugatory and unavailing have a high crime to answer for to their injured country. To avoid the pressure of the embargo, and to hold out induce- ments to our citizens to violate it, and to despatch their vessels clandestinely, the following most extraordinary order in council was published by the British government. George R. Instructions to the commanders of our ships of war and priva- teers. Given at our court at Windsor^ the 11th day of April^ 1808, in the 48th year of our reign. Our will and pleasure is, that you do not interrupt any neutral vessel laden with lumber and provisions, and going' to any of our colonies, islands, or settle- ments in the West Indies, or Soutli America, to ivhomsuever the property may appear to belong, and noticithstanding such vessel may not have regular clearances and documents on board ! ! ! And in case any vessel shall be met with, and being on her due course to the alleged port of destination, an endorsement sliall be made on one or* more of the principal papers of such vessel, specifying tlie des- tination alleged, and the place where the vessel was so visited. And in case any vessel so laden sh;dl arrive and deliver her cargo at any of our colonies, islands, or settlements aforesaid, sucli vessel shall be permitted to receive her freight, and to depai-t, either in ballast, or with any goods that may be legally exported in such vessel, and to proceed to any unblocicaded port ; notwithstanding the present hostilities, or any future hostilities which may take place. And a pass- port for siich vessels may be granted by the governor, or other person, having the cMef civil command of such colony, island, or settlement .' G. R. This astonishing document demands the most particular and pointed attention. — The ministers who prostituted the name of their sovereign by subscribing it to such an instrument, merit, and must receive the reprobation of every highminded English- man, who feels for the honour or dignity of his native country. The world has never seen such another instrument. And I hope there never will be a second instance of the kind. This order alone was adequate cause of war. This at least is certain, that many wars have been declared upon infinitely less provocation. What ! one of the most potent monarchs in the world, rather than do justice to an unoffending nation, on which for fourteen years, his ministers had perpetrated the most flagrant outrages, invites, and tempts, and affords facilities to its citizens, to violate the laws of their country, and openly pursue the infamous trade of smuggling! 136 POLITICAL OLIV'E BRANCH. [chap. 25. - The subject affords an ample field for, and invites to, copious comments. But I lorlxar. I leave it to the calm consideration of the candid reader, whether Englishman or American. CHAPTER XXV. Enquinj into the ConstmtionaUtij of the Act for enforcing the Embargo. Compared with acts passed during the presidencij of gen. IVashington and John Adams. The original embargo act had been openly and flagrantly vio- lated, I'he public prints in Boston had audaciously and sedi- tiously invited the citizens to set it at defiance. The British govci'nnK nt hud alao, as we have seen, added the allurement of its powerful invitation. Such an invitation was unnecessary. There are ahva\s to be found in every community, men who will seek the shortest road to fortune, whether through the dark paths of smuggling, or otherwise. These men united their obstreper- ous bruwlings, with the clamour raised by those whose grand ob- ject was to harass the government, for the chance of regaining the power they had lost. Thus the odium deserved by the crime of smuggling, was transferred to an act calculated to pre- serve the property of the merchants from belligerent depreda- tion; an act, be it never forgotten, which was the mildest mode of procuring that redress for which the mercantile part of the community had so loudly clamoured — and in the pursuit of which, they had so solemnly pledged themselves to support the government ! ! ! To prevent these evasions, an act was passed to enforce the embargo. 'Ibis was necessaril)- more strict and severe in its provisions than the original act. Meetings were held in various parts of the United States, denouncing the latter as oppressive and unconstitutional. A very numerous and respectable one was held in the city of Philadelphia, attended by a large propor- tion of the merchants, and a great number of other citizens. Of this meeting Commodore Truxton was chairman. Sundr)^ re- solutions Were passed, which embraced the essence of all the ob- jecti(jns raised against it throughout the union. I shall assume these resolutions as a text to reason upon, and shall endeavour to re iute the ol)jections. During tiic administration ofGenei-al Washington, an embar- go act had been passed by Congress. And during his admin- istratii«i, and that of Mr. Adams, various other acts had been passed, embracing prohil)itory and penal clauses, of a tenor simi- lar to those of the embargo law. No federalist will pretend that anv of those acts were unconstitutional. Some of their clauses wer? far more exceptionable than those of Mr. Jefferson's em- bargo act. If, therefore, the latter contain no provision what- ever, which is not substantially to be found in those passed dur- OHAP. 25.] EMBARGO. 137 ing the administration of the two first presidents, I presume that there is not a candid federahst in the union who will hesi- tate to admit, that the clamour against the former, as unconsti- tutional, was truly " factious, disorganizing, seditious, and Jaco- binical." The 9th, 10th and 11th sections were the most rigorous, the most obnoxious ; and, of course, were selected by the Philadel- phia meeting, as proper subjects for denunciation. I shall there- fore fairly collate them with the corresponding sections of the former embargo and other acts, passed during the reign of fede- ralism, to enable the reader to form his opinion : Proceedings of a meetijig of the Citizens of Philadelphia, Commodore Triactim in the Chair. « Resolved, That we consider the late act of Congress, commonly called "The enforcing law," to be a direct invasion of the established principles of civil li- berty, and of tlie express provisions of the constitution ; as arbitrary and severe to a degree unnecessary, even to accomplish the objects for which the law is professed to have been enacted ; as creating an enormous and dangerous aug- mentation of executive influence and power ; and as unnecessarily exposing the citizens to the miseries of civil discord and military execution. " Resolved, That the 9th section of this act, which authorises a ministerial officer, without j!)roce.9s of law, to seize goods at his discretion, under a pre- tence that he believes they are intended for exportation, or apparently on the way for the territories of a foreign power, is, in our opinion, a breach of the fourth article of the amendments to the constitution, which provides "that the right of the people to be seciu-e in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searciies and seizures, shall not be violated :" and of the fifth article of the amendments, which declares, " that no man shall be deprived of life, hberty or property, but by due process of law." ♦ENFORCING LAW.' PRECEDENTS Signed by Jeffeuson. Signed by Washington and Apams. 1. ' That the collectors of 1. ' That every collector, naval officer, and suf- all the districts of the United veyor, or other person espedalltj appointed by either States, shall be, and they o/^/iem for that purpose, shall have full power and are hereby authorised, to authority to e?;to- Am/ s/m^ or resseZ, in wluch they take into their custody specie, shall have reason to suspect any goods, wares or or any articles of domestic merchandise subject to duty, shall'be concealed, growth, produce or manu- and therein to search for, seize, and secure any facture, fomid on board of such goods, wares, and merchandise,' he — See any ship or vessel, boat, or act of 31st July, 1789, section 24. Act of 4th ether ~.vater craft, when there August, 1790, section 48. is reason to believe that they ' That it shall be the duty of the several offi- are intended for exportation : cers of the customs to make seizure of and secure 2. ' Or when in vessels, any ship or vessel, goods, wares or merchandise carts, wagons, sleighs, or which shall be liable to seizure by virtue of this any other carriage ; or in act, as well without, as within their respective dis- any manner appareyitly- on tricts' — See section 26 and 50 of the same act. — their way towards the terri- See also, act of the 2d March, 1799, sect. 68, 70. tory of a foreign nation, or ' That it shall be lawful for any officer of the the vicinity thereof, or to- revenue, to go on board of any ship or vessel^ wards a place where such whether she shall be within or without his dis- articles are intended to be trict ; and the same to inspect, search, and exa- exported : mine ; and if it shall appear, that any breach of 3. 'And not to permit the lavt^s of the United States has been committed, such articles to be removed, he. to make seizure of the same.' — See act of until, bond with sufficient 18th February, 1793, section 27. sureties shall have been gi- ' That any of the aforesaid articles (arms and ven for the landing, or the ammunition) excepting such of tUera as may coji- 13« POLITICAL OUVE BRANCH. [chap. 25. delivei-y of the same in stime place of the United States, where, in tJie opinion of tlie collector, there shall not be any danger of such articles being exported.' — Laws United SUtcs, vol. IX. page 192, section 9, of the actto enforce the embai'go.* stitute a part of the equipment of any vessel, which, during the continuanca of this prohibition, shall be found on board of any vessel in any ri- ver, port, bay, or harbour, within the territories of the United States, -.vith an intent to be exported from the United States to any foreign country, shall be forfeited,' &c. — See act of 22d May, 1794, section 2. 'That all goods, wares, andmerchandise brought into the United States by Umd, contraiy to this act, shall be forfeited, together w ith the carriages, horses, and oxen, that shall be employed in cann- ing the same ; provided that nothing herein shall be construed to extend to household furniture and clothing, belonging to any person or persons, actually coming into any part of the United States, for the purpose of becommg an inhabi- tant, or inhabitants thereof — See act of 4tii of August, 1790, section 70. * Tliat it shall be lawful for the President of the United States, to give instructions to the com- manders of the pubhc armed ships of the United States, to stop and examine any sliip or vessel of the United States on the high seas, which there may be reason to suspect to be engaged in any traffic, or commerce contrary to the true tenor hereof,' &c.— Act of 9lh February, 1799, sec» tion 5. Commodore TruxtuvLS Third Resolution, " Resolved, That the tenth section is contrary to the spirit of the constitution, inasmuch as it invests in the president a legislative authority by giving to his insti-uctions, in certain cases, the force of law." 'EM FORCING LAW.* ' The powers given to the collectors, either by this or any other act, respecting tiie embargo, to refuse per- mission to put any cargo on board any vessel, boat or other water craft; to detain any vessel, or to take into their custody any articles for the purpose of prevent- ing violations of the embar- g[o, shall be exercised in con- formity luith such instruc- tions, us the Jrresidenl may give, and such general rules as he may prescribe for that purpose, MAITE IN PURSUANCE OF THE POWERS AFORESAID ; which instructions and ge- neral rules, tlie collectors shall be bound to obey.' — Idemj section 10. PRECEDENTS, TJnder Washington and Jldams. 'That tlie President of the United States be, and he hereby is authorised and empowered, wfienever in his opiiiion the public safety shall so re~ quire, TO L.\Y AN EMBARGO on all ships and vessels in the ports of the United States, or tlie ships and vessels of any foreign nations, under such regulations as the circumstances of the case may require ; and to continue or revoke the same, whenever he shall tliink proper. And the pre- sident IS HEREBY FULLY AUTHORISED TO GIVE ALI. SUCH ORDERS TO THE OFFICERS OF THE UNITED STATES AS MAY BE NECESSARY _0 CARRY THE SAME INTO FULL EFFECT.' — See act of 4th June, 1794, section 1'. ' That an embargo be laid on all ships and ves- sels in tlie ports of the United States, whether already cleared out or not, bound to any foreign port or place, except ships or vessels under the immediate direction of the president of the Uni- ted States. And that the president op thb UNITED STATES BE AUTHORISED TO RIVE SUCH IN- STRUCTIONS TO THE REVENUE OFFICERS OF THE UNITED STATES, AS SHALE APPEAR BEST ADAPTED FOR C.4.HRYING THE SAID RESOLUTION INTO FULL EF- rECT,' Resolve of tlie twenty -sixth of March, 1792. CHAP. 25,] EMBARGO. 139 ♦ That the president of the United States be, and he is hereby authorised, to direct the revenue officers, and the officers commanding' forts and re- Temie cutters, to aid in the .execution of the health 2a-vs of the states, respectively, in s^ach manner as may appear to him necessary' ' Act of the twenty- seventh of May, 1796. 'That it shall be lawful for the president of the ' United States, if he shall deem it expedient and consistent with the interest of the United States, by his order; to remit and discontinue, for the time being, the restraints and prohibitions afore- said, either \vith respect to tlie French Republic, , or to any island, &c. with which a commercial in- tercourse may be safely renew'ed ; and also to re- voke mch orders, w-henever, in Ms opinion, the in- terest of the United States shall so require.' Act of the ninth of February, 1799, section 4. ' That it shall be lawful for the president of the United States at any time during the continu- ance of this act, to order all such aliens, as he shall judge dangerous to the peace and safety of the United States, or shall have reasonable ground to suspect, as concerned in any treasonable or se- cret machinations against the government there- of, to depart out of the teiTitories of the United States, within such times as shall be expressed in such order.' Act of the twenty-fifih of June, 1798, section 1. ' And all marshals and other officers of the United States, are required to execute all pre- cepts and orders of the president of the United States, issued in pursuance or by virtue of this act. ' Idem, section 4. Commodore Truxtuii' s fourth resohitioji. " Resolved, That the eleventli section of the act violates a political and ci%'il right, more sacred than any constitution, in authorising the military to fire upon the people, without the sanction or interposition of the civil authority. The principle contained in this section, ifmucli further extended, might wi»h com- petent force, convert our government into an absolute despotism." «ENFORC[NG LAW.' PRECEDENTS, *It shall be lawful for the Under fVashington and Adams. president of the United ' In every case arising under this act, it shall States, or such other person be lawfid for the president of the United States, as he shall have empoxvered or such other person as he shall have empowered for for that purpose, to employ i/m^/i^r/iosp, to employ such part of the land or such part of the land or na- naval forces of the United States, or of the militia val forces, or militia of the thereof, as shall Oe judged necessary, for the pur- United States, or of the ter- pose of takiiig possession of and detaining any such ritories thereof, as may be ship, or vessel, with her prize, or prizes, if any, judged necessary, in confor- in order to the execution of the penalties of tliis mity witli the provisions of act and to the restoring of such prize or prizes, this and other acts respect- in the cases in wliich restoration shall have been ing the embargo, for the adjudged ; and also for the purpose of pr executing purpose of prez'enting the il- the carrying on of any such expedition or enterprise legal departure of any ship or from the territories of the United States, against vessel, or of detaining, ta- the territories, or dominions of a foreign prince, king possession of, and keep- or state, with whom the United States are at ing in custody and guarding peace.' Act of the fifth of June, 1794, section 7. any specie or article of do- ' That whenever the laws of the United States mestic growth, produce, or shall be opposed, or the execution thereof ob- UO POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. chap. 25.] manufacture ; and also, for structed in any state, by combinations too power- tlie purpose of prcventbig ful to be suppressed by the ordinary course of ■and suppressing uiu/ armed or judicial proceeding, or by tlie powers vested in Hotous assemblage n't -piivson^ the marshal by this act [the same powers in exe- rcsistlng the custom house o£i- cuting the laws of the United States as sheriffs cevs in the exercise of their possess for executing the state laws] it shaU be duties, or m any manner op- lawful for the president ot the United States to posing the execution of the call forth the mihtia of such state, or of any otiier laws laying an embargo, or state, or states, us may be necessary, to suppress otherwise violating, or as- such combinations, and to cause the laws to be Hsting and abetting zdola- duly executed,' &c. Act of the twenty-fourth of tions of the same.' Idem, May, 1792. section 11* ' Provided, that whenever it may be necessary in the judgment of the president, to use the mili- tary force hereby directed to be called forth, the president shall, forthwith, by proclamation, com- mand such insurgents to disperse, and retire peaceably to their respective abodes, witliiu a limited time.' Ibid, section 3. To the candour of the reader I freely appeal. Let him care- fully compare these various sections together. Let him more particularly observe, that by the act of June 4, 1 794, congress actually vested the president with the poxver of L.AYING AN EMBARGO, " whenever^ in his opinion., the public safety should require it ;" which was, so far as respects this important branch of legislation, an actual surrender of the legislative pozver into the hands of the executive magistrate — and that they likewise conferred on him authority " to give such orders as might be necessary to carry into effect.^'* the law which he had of his own mere ?notion., the "■ legislative power to enact.'''' When he has duly pondered on these circumstances — when he has fully ascertain- ed that Mr. Jefferson's embargo act in no instance exceeded, and in many fell far short of, the rigour of former laws — will he not be lost in amazement, how it was possible so to excite the public passions, respecting this necessarv measure, as to actually endanger the permanence of the union? for it is an indubitable fact that instirrection and rebellion were threatened, and very probably intended — and it has been repeatedly asserted, and is confidently believed, that the tenth congress, through apprehen- sion of that issue alone, repealed the embargo act. I have reason to believe, that the legislature of Massachusetts actually passed an act making the enforcement of some of the provisions of the embargo law criminal, and attaching to it cer- tain penalties. It is out of my power to procure the act, or to state its details. * The whole of this comparison of these acts, is taken from a pamphlet, pub- lished in Philadclpliia, in 1809, and entitled "Tlie Constitutionality of the Em- bargo Laws, established by Precedent" — By Alexander James Dallas, Esq. It ought to be stated as an awfnl fact, to shew the violence of faction, that this cogent pamphlet produced not the smallest effect on tlie feverish state of the public mind. CHAP. 26.] PATRIOTIC PROCEEDINGS, 141 CHAPTER XXVI. Patriotic Proceedings.^ I ANNEX a few specimens of the style and substance of the resolutions and legislative remarks upon the embargo — in order to satisfy the reader that I have not exaggerated the deplorable and disgraceful phrenzy of the public mind. Extract from the resolutions of the toivn of Gloucester, January 12th, 1809. " Resolved, That we will mutually watch and protect what little property we have still left ; that we will use all hrufal means, ' to arrest the disturbers and breakers of tlie peace,' or such others as may, {under pretence of authority from ^■overnmeiit) 'go armed by nig'ht,' or utter any menaces, or threatening speeches, to the fear and ten-or of the good people of this town ; and that we will ever hold in abhorrence pimps, and spies, and night-walkers, who strive to fatten on the spoils of their suffering fellow citizens. " Resolved, That to our state government lue look for counsel, protection, and re^ lief, at this auful period of general calamity." Extract from the resolutions of the town of Bath, December27, 1808. " Resolved, That we have hitherto borne with silence the severe pressure of these ruinous laws [embargo laws ;] and although we now deem it our iluty to speak with Jirmness and decision our detestation of them, and the policy xvhick gave rise to them, we will still keep down tlie spirit of indignation which swells within us at the endurance of them ; and will conduct toward the national go- vernment and its several officers with suitable deference and moderation ; that we do, however, despair of obtaining any redress of these grievances, from that government, wliile its principal offices are filled as at present ; and that our only hope is, that the state governments, by their remonstrances and reso- lutions, may have more influence in effecting this object, than the petitions and memorials of individuals and towns. " Resolved, therefore. That a respectful address be forwarded in the name of the people of tliis town to the legislature of this commonwealth, stating to them the wrongs and grievances we already suffer, and the fearful apprehensions we experience, of speedily iiaving our calamity increased by the addition of still more restrictive and arbitrary laws ; expressing to them our approbation of the measures they have alreadj' adopted upon this important subject, and requesting them to take such other immediate steps for relieving the people, either by themselves alone, or in concert ivith other commercial states, as the ex= traordinary circumstances of our sitiiation may require." Extract from the memorial of the toivn of Boston to the legislature of JMassachur setts, January 25, 1809. " The inhabitants of the town of Boston, in town meeting assembled, respect- fully represent — That they are constrained to apply to your honourable body, as the immediate guardians of their rights and liberties, for yowv interposition to procure for them relief from the grievances which they now suffer, under the operation of the laws of the general government, abolishing foreign commerce, and subjecting the coasting trade to embarrassments which threaten its anni- hilation. Our hope and consolation rest with the legislature of our state, to ■whom it is competent to devise means of relief against the tmconstilutiojial measures ef the general government ,- that your power is adequate to this object is evident from the organization of the confederacy.^* * The factious, and seditious, and Jacobinical proceedings in the eastern states in the year 1809, that shook the government to its centre, were paraded in many of the federal papers throughout the union with great solemnity, headed with the words "PATRIOTIC PROCEEDINGS," in staring capitals. It is truly lamentable to reflect on the extravagant lengths to which the spirit of party leads its followers. Never was the word " patnotic" more grossly misapplied. O. B. 20 1:4.3 f OLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH [chap. 26-. F.xtmctfrom the prnceedings of the town of Topsfield, January 15, 1809. "Resolved, Tliatsiich has been (Hir suffering, and so gi-eat is our alarm, occa- sioned by the extraordinary measures lately adopted, that we shall never be con- tented until we are secured from a repetition of the same evils. That a bare repeal of the obnoxious acts oug-ht not, therefore, to satisfy a free and prudent people, any more than the repeal of the British stamp act sileTiced the patriots, of that day; that there ought to be a solemn renunciation of the right thus as- sumed ; and it is the opinion of this assembly, that legal and constitutional mea- sures should be adopted for that purpose. "This assembly declare it as their deliberate opinion, that there exists NO, CAUSE OF WAR WITH GREAT BRITAIN ; that such a war would be un- just, unnecessary, and extremely to be deplored ; that tlie removal of the em- bargo will not necessarily involve us in war ; but should this be the alternative, it ought to be a war with France, and not with Great Britiin. "Inhabiting apart of the union the most engaged in foreign commerce, they think themselves qualified to accide upon its risks, and the nature and extent of the injuries to which it is exposed ; and it is their firm belief, that our com- merce, unrestrained by self destroying measures, miglit find tnany sources of profitable employment, iiitlunU intcrferinff in aiiii decree iidth those principles of maritime laic, w'/iic/i GREAT BRITAIN deems essential to her existence, and lohich in an eventfid moment like the present she -mil NEVER VIELD. " And this assembly cannot refrain from expressing their conviction, that neither the honour nor the permanent interests of the United States recjuire that we sliould drive Great Britain, if it were in our power, to the surrender of those claims so essential to her in the mig-hlij conflict in xvJuch she is at present en- gaged ; a co/i/lict interesting to humanity, to morals, to religion, and the last strug- gle of liberty.'" Extract from a circidar handbill, puhlisJied at JVeivbiiryport. "You have reposed confidence in a COWARD [Jefferson] and leaned on a broken staff" too long. The day of political probation is fi\st verging to a close; when the fate of America will be decided; and laurels, bought with the price of freemen's blood, will grace the brows of the Gallic tyrant. I^ct every man who holds the name of America dear to him, stretch out his hand, and put this ac- cursed thing, the EMBARGO, from him. Be resolute : act like the sons of liberty, of GOD, and of your country ; nerve your arms with VENGEANCE against the DESPOT who would wrest the inestimable gem of your indepen- dence from you ; and you shall be conquerors .' " Give ear no longer to the syren voice of democracy and Jeffersonian liberty. It is a cursed delusion, adopted by traitors, and recommended by sycophants. "Jefferson; a man, who with the DAGGER of j!^o/)jjZ«r co«/V/e»ce first gave the stab to your liberties." Extract from the proceedings of the town of .lugusta in JMcdne, Jamiary 16, 1809. '• The awfid crisis has arrived, when it becomes necessary for the friends of our independence, to make a firm and decided stand ; when it becomes all-im- portant to throw aside minor considerations, and unite for the common good ; and when a sense of common danger draws us together to meet the approach- ing" storm. " ^^■ith submission almost amounting to criminal apath)', we have silffered privations and restrictions never before expected of, or endured by, a free people. Now, tliat even the means of subsi.stence is at hazard, and the sacred asylum of our dwellings is no longer held inviolable ; silence woidd be crime, and resis- tance -would become a virtue of the first 7)uignitude .' ! ! " Resolved, that the restrictions and impositions on our trade and commerce.,, are too great and ruinous any longer to be borne ; and that the general dis- tress of our country demands immediate relief." " We know if the embargo be not removed, our citizens will ere long set its penalties and restrictions at defiance. It behoves us to speak ; for strike we must, if speaking does not answer." Boston Repertoru. " It is better to suffer tlic AjMFUTATION of a Limb, than to lose tlfe AVIIOLE BODV. We must prepare for the operation. Wherefore then is AVt;' CHAP. 27.] HENRY'S MISSION. X43 EnglaTid Asleep ' wherefore does she SUBMIT to the oppression of enemies in the South ? Have we no jMoses, who ib inspired by the God of our lathers, and ivilUeud tts out of Egypt ?" Buston Gazette. " This perpetual embargo being unconstitutional, every man w ill perceive that he is not bound to regard it, but may send his jjroduce or merchandise to a foreign market in the same manner us if the government had never undertaken to prohibit it! If the petitions do wot produce a relaxation or removal of the embargo, the people ought to iminedialeli/ assume a higher tone. " The government of JIassac/iusctts has also a duty to perfoi-m. The state is Btill sovereign and independent." . Boston Centinel, September 10, 1808. Extract from the speech of Mr. HiUhonse, in the senate of the United States, on the bill for enforcing the embargo. " In my mind the present crisis excites the most serious apprehensions. A storm seems to be gathering which portends not a tempest on the ocean, but domes- tic convuhions ! However painful tiie task, a sense of duty colls upon me to raise my voice, and use my utmost exei-tions to prevent the passing of this bill. I feel myself bound in conscience to declare, lest tJie blood of those ~.vho should fall in the execution of this measure may lie on my head, that I consider this to be an act which directs a mortal blow at the liberties of my country ; an act containing tin- constitutional provisions, to which I'HE PEOPLE ARE NOT BOUND TO SUB- MIT, and to which, in my opinion, they will not submit."* Boston Centinel, Jan. 12, 1809. This speech requires the most serious reflection. A senator of the United States — whose age ought to have secured him from the heyday of passion and violence, and taught him sc^briety and gravity, in his place invites and encourages his f« How citizens to insurrection and rebellion ! And the law to which he excites resistance is not so rigorous, as laws which, I believe, he had concurred to frame : for I am persuaded he was in congress when those laws to which I have referred, were passed. A large volume might be filled with similar " patriotic pro- ceedings," as they were then styled, which threatened the peace of the nation wnth destruction. No pains had been spared to fan the flame. The public mind, by incessant appeals to the passions, had been excited to a species of delirium and madness. And such was the awful and disgraceful delusion, that the suf- ferings of the country by the lawless proceedings of the bellige- rents, were unjustly ascribed to the very measures of the govern- ment, calcttlated to enforce redr^^ss ! Greater insanity can hardly be conceived. CHAPTER XXVIL yohn Henry's Mission to the Eastern States. Instructions frojn the Governor General of British America. Contemporaneously with the ''patriotic proceedings,'^ of which I have presented the reader with a slight sketch in the preceding chapter, a most extraordinary circumstance occurred in Canada. Sir James li. Craig, governor general of the British provinces in North America, employed a certain John Henry * For the preceding extracts I am indebted to a papiplilet, styled " Things ;js they are," by H. Niles. 144 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [chap. 27. on a mission to the Eastern States, to ascertain the views of the malcontents, and how far, if they obtained " a decided injluence^'' they would " exert that injluence to bring about a separation from the general union.'''' Also " how far ^ in such an cvent^ they xvould look to JLngland for assistance^ or be disposed to enter into a connection xv'ith us'''' [the people of Canada.] This is a most important feature in the history of our era. I annex the correspondence between Sir James and Mr. Henry, without comment. No. I. JWr, lit/land, secretary to Sir James Craig, late governor general of the British proxrinces in JVbrth America, to JYlr. Henry, [Most secret and confidential.] .Quebec, 26th January, 1809. My dear sir — The extraordinary sitiialion of things at this time in the neigh- bouring states has suggested to the governor in chief, the idea of employing you on a secret and confidential mission to Boston, provided an arrangement can be made to meet the important end in vievi^, without throwing an absolute obstacle in the way of your professional pursuits. The information and political observa- tions heretofore received from you were transmitted by his excellency to the secretary of state, who has expressed his particular approbation of them ,• and there is no doiibt that your able execution of such a mission as I have suggested, would give tjou a claim not only on the governor general, but on his majesty's ministers, which might eventu illy contribute to your advantage. You will have the goodness, therefore, to acquaint me, for his excellency's information, whether you could make it convenient to engage in a mission of this nature, and what pecuniary assistance would be requisite to enable you to undertake it without injury to yourself. At present it is necessary for me to add, that the governor would furnish you with a cypher for carrying on your cori-espondence ; and that in case the lead- ing party in any of the states wished to open a communication with tliis go- vernment, their views might be communicated through you. I am, with great truth and regard, my dear sir, your most faithful, humble servant, (Signed) HERMAN W. RYLAND. John Henry, Esq. No. II. Montreal, Jain/ary 31, 1809. I have to acknowledge the favour of your letter of the 26th inst. written by the desire of his excellency the governor in chief; and hasten to express, through you, to his excellency, my readiness to comply with his wishes. I need not add how very flattering it is to receive from his excellency the assurance of the approbation of his majesty's secretary of state for the very humble service that I may have rendered. If the nature of the services in which I am to be engaged require no other disbursements than for my individual expenses, I do not apprehend that these can exceed my private resources. I shall be ready to take my departure before my insti-uctions can be made out. I have the honour to be, 8tc. J, H'x. H. W. Ryland, Esq. Sec. &c. No. III. General Instructions from sir J. H. Craig, to Mr. Henry, Quebec, 6th February, 1809. , Sir — As you have so readily undertaken the service wliich I have suggested to you as being likely to be attended with much benefit to the public interests, 1 am to request that with your earnest conveniency you will proceed to Boston, CHAP. 27.] HENRY'S mSSION. 145 The principal object that I recommend to your attention, is the endeavour to obtain the most accurate information of the true state of affairs in that part of the union, which, from its wealth, the number of its inhabitants, and the known intelligence and ability of several of its lead ng men, must naturally possess a very considerable influence over, and will indeed probably lead, the other eastern states of America in the part they may take at this important crisis. I shall not pretend to point out to you the mode by which you will be the most likely to obtain this important information. Your own judgment, and the connections which you may have in the town, must be your guide. I tliink it however necessary to put you on your guard against the sangulne- ness of an aspiring party. The federalists, as I understand, have at all times discovered a leaning to this disposition ; and their being under its particular in- fluence at this moment, is the more to be expected, from their having no ill- founded ground for their hopes of being nearer the attainment of their object than they have been for some years past. In the general terms which I have made use of in describing the object which I recommend to your attention, it is scarcely necessary, that I should ob- serve, I include the state of the pubhc opinion, both with regard to their inter- nal politics, and to the probability of a war with England ; the comparative strength of the two great parties into which the countiy is divided ; and the views and designs of that which may ultimately prevail. It has been supposed that if the federalists of the eastern states should be successful in obtaining that decided influence, which may enable them to di- rect the public opinion, it is not improbable, that rather than submit to a con- tinuance of the difficulties and distress to which they are now subject, they will exert that influence to bring about a separation from the general union. The earliest information on this subject may be of great consequence to our gov- ernment ; as it may also be, that it should be informed ho-ivfar, in such an event, they -would look to England for assistance, or be disposed to enter into a connection with us. Although it would be highly inexpedient that you should in any manner ap- pear as an avowed agent ; yet if you could contrive to obtain an intimacy with any of the leading party, it may not be improper that you should insinuate, though with great caution, that if they should luish to enter into any communication ivith our government through me, you are authorized to receive any such, andiuill safely transmit it to me : and as it may not be impossible that they should require some document by which they may be assured, that you are really in the situ- ation in which you represent yourself, / enclose a credential to be produced in that vieiv. But I most particularly ^njoin and direct, that you do not make use of this paper, unless a desire to that purpose should be expressed ; and 7itittitiona!. It must also be ob- served, tliat the execution of them is so invidious as to attract towards the offi- rers of government the enmity of the people, which is of course tran.sferable to tlie government itself; so that in case the state of Massachusetts slioukl 'ake any bold step towards resisting the execution of these la\^■s, it is hig'hly proba- ble that it may calculate iqjou tlie hearty co-operation of the people of Vermont, I learn tliat the .governor of this state is now visiting' tlie towns in the north- ern section of it ; and makes no secret of his determination, as commander in chief of the miUtia, to refn.se obedience to any command from the general government \chich ran tend to inten-j/pt the good understanding that prevails between the citizens of Vermont and his majesty's subjects in Canada. It is further intimated, that in csiiie of a. war, he 'ivill iise his influence to preserve the state neutral; and resist, with all the force he can command, any attempt to make it a party. I need )iot add, that if these resolutions are carried into effect, the utate of Vermont mnij be considered as an ally of Great Britain. To what extent the sentiments whicli prevail in this quarter exist in the neighbouring states, or even in tlie eastern' section of this state, I am notable to conjecture. I can only say, with certainty, that the leading men of the federal party act in concert ; and, therefore, infer that a common sentiment pervades the whole body throughout New England. I have seen a letter from a gentleman now at Washington, to his friend in this place: and as its contents may serve to throw some light on passing events there,! shall send either the original or a copy with this despatch. The writer of the letter is a man of character and veracity ; and whether competent or not to form correct opinions himself, is probal)ly within the reach of all the know- ledge that can be obtained by tlie ])arty to wjiich he belongs. It appears by his statement, that there is a very formidable majority in congress on the side of the administration ; notwithstanding- wliich, there is every reason to hope, tliat tlia cfeAP.27. HENRY'S MISSIOX. 147 northern states in their distinct capacity idll unite and resist by force a tvar -with Great Britain. In what mode this resistance will first show itself, is probably not yet determined upon ; and may in some measure depend upon the reliance that the leading- men njay place upon assurances of support from liis majesty's representatives in Canada ; and as I shall be on the spot to tender this, ivhenever the moment arrives that it can be done ~Mth effect, there is no doubt tliat ail tlieir measures may be made subordinate to tlie intentions of /us m(ijesty''s government. Great pains are taken by the men of talents and intelligence, to confirm t/ie fears of the common people, as to the concuiTence of t/ie .tout hern democrats in the projects of France ; and every thing tends to encourage the belief, that the dissolution oft/ie confederacy ~mII be accelerated by that spirit -which now actuates both political parties. I am, &c. ■ A. B. No. VIT. fl iudsor, Vermont, February 19, 1809. Sir — My last was written at Burlmg1;on, the principal town in tlie northern part of the state of Vermont. I am now at the principal town in tlie easterrj section. l"he fallacy of men's opinions, when they act under the Influence of sensibi- lity, and are strongly excited by tliose hopes which always animate a rising- par- ty, leads me to doubt the correctness of the opinion which I received in tlie nortliern section of this state ; which, from its contiguity to Canada, and neces- sary intercourse witli Montreal, has a strong interest in promoting a good un- derstanding with his majesty's government. Tlierefore, since my dc parture from Burlington, I have sought every favourable occasion of conversing- with the de- mocrats on the probable result of the policy adopted by the general govern- ment. The diflerence of opinion is thus expressed. The federal party declare, that in the event of a war, the state of Vermont tnll treat separately for itself -Mth Great Britain ; and support, to the utmost, tlie stipulations into which it may enter, without any regard to the policy of the general government. The democrats on the otlier hand assert, that, in such a case as that contemplated, the people would nearly be divided into equal num- bers; one of which would support the government, if it could be done without involving the people in a civil war: but at all events would risk every thing in preference to a coalition with Great Britain. This difference of opinion is not to be wholly ascribed to the prejudices of party. The people in the eastern section of Vermont are not operated upon by the same hopes and fears as those on the borders of the British colony. They are not dependent upon Montreal for tlie sale of their produce, nor the supply of foreign commodities. Tliey are not apprehensive of any serious dangers or inconvenience from a state of war : and altliough tliey admit that the governor, council, and three-fourths of the repre- sentation in congress are of the federal party, yet they do not believe that tlie state would stand alone and resist the national government. They do not, how- ever, deny, that should the state of Vennont continue to be represented as it is at present, it would in all probaliility unite with tlic neighbouring states in any serious plan of resistance to a war, which it might seem expedient to adopt. This I think is the safer opinion for you to rely on; if, indeed, reliance ought to be placed on any measure depending upon the will of the rabble, wdiich is ever changing, and mivst ever be marked with ignorance, caprice, and inconstancy. As the crisis approaches, the difficulty of deciding upon an hazardous alterna- tive will increase. And unfortunately there is not in Vermont any man of com- manding talents, capable of attracting general confidence ,- of inliislng into the people his own spirit ; and, amidst the confusion "of conflicting opinions, dan- gers and conimotion, competent to lead in tlie path of duty or safety. The go- vernor is an industrious, prudent man, and has more personal influence than any otlier. But his abilities are not suited to the situation in which a civil war would place him. I am, &c. A. B. No. VIII. Amherst, .A'eiv Hampshire, February 23, 1809. Sir— A gentleman going direct to Canada, affords a safe and fiivourable op, portunity of giving you some further account of mv progress. I will not make 148 POLITICAL OLIVE BRAXCII. [<5hap. 27. use of the post-offices, when I can avoid it; because private occasions super- cede tlie necessity of writing in cypher And the contempt of decency and principle, which forms part of the morals of the subaltern otHcers of a demo- cracy, would incline tliem to break a seal with the same indifl'erence that they break their words, wlien either curiosity or interest is to be indulged. I have not had sutiicicnt time nor evidence, to enable me io form any opinio7i for myself, of the lengths to which the federal party will carry opposition to the national government in the event of a war. MucJi may be inferred from the result of the elections of governors, which within two months will be made in the states of Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Khode Island. From all I know, and all 1 can learn of the general government, I am not apprehensive of an immediate war. The eml^argo is the favourite measure. And it is probable that other means will be employed to excite England to commit some act of hostility, for the sole purpose of placing the responsibility of war on that coun- try. This I most particularly recommend to the consideration of ministers. The dread of opposition, and the loss of popularity, will certainly keep the ruling party at Washington inactive. They will risk any thing but the loss of power ; and tliey are well aware that their power would pass away with the first cala- mity which their measures might bring upon the common people (from whom that power emanates) unless indeed they could find a sufficient excuse in the conduct of Great Britain. This impression cannot be too deeply felt by his majesty's ministers ; nor too widely spread throughout the British nation. It will furnish a sure guide in every policy that may be adopted towards the Uni- ted States. I have the honour to be, &c. A. B. -So. IX. Boston,March 5, 1809, Sir — It does not yet appear necessary that I should discover to any person the purpose of my visit to Boston ; nor is it probable that I shall be compelled, for the sake of gaining more knowledge of the arrangements of the federal party in these states, to avow myself as a regular authorised agent of the Bri- tish g-overnment, even with those individuals who would feel equally bound with myself to preserve, witli the utmost inscrutability, so important a secret from the public eye. / have suffcieiit means of information to enable me to judge of the proper period for offering the co-operation of Gi'eat Britaiit, and opening a correspondence be- tween the governor general of British Jlmerica and those individuals, ivho, from the part they take in the opposition to the national government, or the influence they may possess in any neiv order of things, that may grow out of the present differences, should be qualified to act in behalf of the northern states. An apprehension of any such state of things, as is presupposed by these remarks, begms to subside ; since it has appeared, by the conduct of the general g-overnment, that it is se- riously alarmed at the menacing attitude of the northern states. But although it is believed that there is no probability of an immediate war, yet no doubts are entertained that Mr. Madison will fall on some new expedients to bring about hostilities. What these may be, can only be deduced from what appears to be practicable. A non-intercourse with ling-land and France will probably su- percede the embargo ; which, by opening with the rest of Europe a partial le- gitimate commerce, and affording strong temptations to that which is illegal, will expose the vessels to capture, detention, and embarrassment; will justify the present policy ; and produce such a degree of irritation and resentment, as will enable the government of this country to throw the whole blame and re- sponsit)ility of war from its shoulders upon those of the British ministry. If in this, the party attaclicd to France should calculate with correctness, and the commerce of New England should greatly suffer; the merchants being in- jured and discouraged, would not only acquiesce in the restrictive system, but even submit to war. On the other hand, should the small traffic permitted by a non-intercourse law be lucrative and uninterrupted, the people would be clamo- rous for more, and soon compel the government to restore the friendly relations be- tween the two coimtries. While I offer my opinion on this subject, I cannot but express a strong hope, that, if any terms should be proposed by either govern- CHAP. 27.] HENRY'S MISSION. U9 ment, to which the other might think proper to accede, that A PRINCIPAL IMOTWE TO THE ADJUSTMENT OF DIFFERENCES SHOULD BE UN- DERSTOOD TO ARISE FROM THE AMICABLE DISPOSITION OF THE EASTERN STATES, PARTICULARLY OF THE STATE OF MASSACHU. SETTS. THIS, AS IT WOULD INCRBASE THE POPULARITY OF THE FRIENDS OF GREAT BRITAIN, COULD NOT FAIL TO PROMOTE HER INTERESTS. If it could not be done formally and officially, nor in a correspon- dence between ministers, still perhaps the administration in the parliament of Great Britain might take that ground : and the suggestion would find its way into the papers both in England and America. It cannot be too frequently repeated, that this country can only be governed and directed by the influence of opinion : as there is nothing permanent in its political institutions ; nor are the populace, imder any circumstances, to be re- lied on, when measures become inconvenient and burdensome. I will soon write again, and am, &c. A. B. No.X. Boston, March 7, 1809. Sir — I have already given a decided opinion that a declaration of war is not to be expected ; but, contrary to all reasonable calculation, should the congress possess spirit and independence enough to place their popularity in jeopardy by so strong a measure, THE LEGISLATURE OF MASSACHUSETTS WILL GIVE THE TONE TO THE NEIGHBOURING STATES; WILL DECLARE ITSELF PERMANENT UNTIL A NEW ELECTION OF MEMBERS ; IN- VITE A CONGRESS, TO BE COMPOSED OF DELEGATES FROM THE FEDERAL STATES, AND ERECT A SEPARATE GOVERNMENT FOR THEIR COMMON DEFENCE AND COMMON HTTtREST. This congress would probably begin by abrogating the offensive laws, and adopting a plan for the maintenance of the power and authority thus assumed. T/ieif luoidd by audi an act be in a conditioyi to make or receive proposals from Great Britain; and I should seize the first moment to open a correspondence with your excellency. Scarce any other aid would be necessary, and perhaps none required, than a few vessels of war from the Halifax station, to protect the ma- ritime towns from the little navy which is at the disposal of the national gov- ernment. What permanent connection between Great Britain and this section of the republic would grow out of a civil commotion, such as might be ex- pected, no person is prepared to decide. But it seems that a strict alliance must result of necessity. At present the opposition party confine their calcu- lations merely to resistance ; and I can assure you that at this moment they do not freely entertain the project of withdrawing the eastern states from the union, finding it a very unpopular topic; although a course of events, such as I have idready mentioned, would inevitably produce an incurable alienation of the New England from the southern states. The truth is, the common people have so long regarded the constitution of the United States with complacency, that they are now only disposed in this quarter to treat it like a truant mistress, whom they would for a time put away on a separate maintenance, but, without farther and greater provocation, would not absolutely repudiate. In all I have written, I have been careful not to make any impression anala- gous to the enthusiastic confidence entertained by the opposition, nor to the "hopes and expectations that animate the friends of an alliance between the northern states and Great Britain. I have abstracted myself from all the sym- pathies these are calculated to inspire ; because, notwithstanding that I feel the utmost confidence in the integrity of intention of the leading characters in this political drama, I cannot forget th.at they derive their power from a giddy, inconstant multitude ; who, unless, in the instance under consideration, they form an exception to all general rules and experience, will act inconsistently and absurdly. lam, &c. A. B. No. XL ■ Boston, March 10, 1809. Sir — In my letter No. 9, I took the liberty to express jfny opinion of the probable effect of the non-intercourse law intended to be enacted ; and of tha O. B. 21 150 POLITICAL OUVE BRANCH. [chap. 27. mode by which Great Britain may defeat the real intention of the American government in passing- it. But as tlio sort of impunity recommended mlg-ht, in its application to every species of commerce that would be carrie i on, be deemed by Great Britiiin a greater evil than war itself, a middle course might easily be adopted, which would tleprive France of the benefit resulting from an intercourse witli America, without, in any great degree, irritating the mari- time states. The higii price of all American produce in France furnishes a temptation which iiuTcantile avarice will be unable to resist. The consequence is obvious. But if instead of condemning the vessels and cargoes wliicii may \j<- arrested in pursuing this jiroliibited commerce, they should be conipcllod 1f) go into a British port, and there permitted to sell them, 1 think the friends of England in these states would not utter a complaint. Indeed, I have no doubt, that if, m the prosecution of a lawful voyage, the British cruizers should treat American ships in tills man;icr, their owners woidd, in the present state of the European markets, tbink themselves very fortunate ; as it would save them the trouble and expense of landing them in a neutral port, and from thence re-shipping them to England, now the best market in Europe for the produce of this coun- try. The government of the United States would probably complain, and Bona- parte become peremptory ; but even that would only tend to render the op> position in tlie northern states more resolute, and accelerate the dissolution of the confederacy. The generosity and justice of Great Britain would be extoll- ed, and the commercial states exult in the success of individuals over a govern- ment inimical to commerce, and to whose measures they can no longer submit with patient acquiescence. A. B. No. XII. Boston, March \^, 1809. Sir — You will perceive, from the accounts that will reach you in the public papers both from Wasjiington and Massachusetts, that the federalists of the northern states have succeeded in making the congress believe, that with such an opposition as they would make to the general government, a war must be confined to tlieir own territory, and might be even too much for that govern- ment to sustain. The consequence is, that after all the parade and menaces with which the ses.sion commenced, it has been suflered to end without carry- ing into ell'ectany of the plans of the administration, except the interdiction of commercial intercourse with England and France — an event.that was anticipa- ted in my former letters. Under what new cii-cumstances the congress will meet in May, will depend on the state elections, and the changes that may in the meantime take place in Europe. With regard to Great Britain, she can scarce mistake her true policy in relation to America. If peace be the object, every act which can irritate the maritime states ought to be avoided ; because the prevailing disposition of these will g'enerally be sufficient to kee]) the government from hazarding any hostile measures. If a war bettucen America and France be a grand desidvratnm, something more must be done ; an indulgc7U conciliutory policy must be adopted, which will leave the democrats witliout a j)retezt for hostilities ; and Bonajiarte, whose passions are too hot for delay, will, probably, compel this government to decide which of the two great belligerents is to be its enemy. To bring about a .separ(itio7i r>f tbe states, imder ditilinct and indepeniknt governmevts, is an nffair of more uncertainty ; and, horjcver desirable, cannot be effected but by a sc- Ties of acts andlom^ cmtinued policy, tending to irritate the southern, and cojiciliaie the noi-thern fieo/jle. The former are an agricultural, the latter a commercial people Tlie mode of cheering and depressing either, is too ol>vious to require illustration. I'llis, I am av.ai'c, is an object of nnuh interest in Great Britain ; as it wovlil forever secure the inteq'ritt) of hfs viaieslii\s possessions on tlie continent^ and MAKE THE nVO tlOVEUNMEN IS, OU W HATEVEB NUMBER THE PRESENT CONFEDERACY MIGHT FORM INTO, AS USEFUL AND AS MUCH SUBJECT TO THE INFLUENCE OF GREAT BRITAIN, AS HER COLONIES CAN BE RENDERED. * But it is an object only to be attained by * This sentence speaks volumes against the policy of those mis.guided and dn.ngcrous citizensj who have becy so zealous for tho or three lines] the infoi'mation transmitted by the undersigned to Sir James Craig, and by him to lord Castlereagh, met xuith his lordship's approbation,^ and when the hostile preparations in the United States suggested to Sir James Craig the necessity of making corresponding arrangements of precaution and defence, for the secui'ity of his majesty's colonies, he applied to the under- signed, to take a secret and confidential mission to the northern states to the party already mentioned ; to direct their operations^ and transmit regular information of the same, and to endeavour to render their plans subservient to the interest of Great Britain.% The undersigned readily un- dertook the mission, and spent five months in the active and zealous discharge of the duties connected with it. [An ei-asure here of twenty or t-iuenty-five^ Unes%] which deterred the general government from the purpose already men« tioned, and from a coalition with France,^ while the information which he trans- mitted to sir James Craig, probably saved the trouble and expense of arming the Canadian militia. All this, the vmdersig'ned performed without ever showing lus commission or appearing as an authorised agent — from a thorough convic- * See the letter of Mr. Ileniy addressed to the secretaiy of sir James Craig, and by him transmitted to Lord in the month of April, 1808. f See document No. 22, herewith submitted. i-- See docvnnent No. 22 and 23, herewith submitted. § See letter No. 1. of the series transmitted by sir J- Craig, tg the colonial department, under date February 14, 1809. 1 See the remainder of the afox'esaid letter. O. B. 22- 158 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [chap, 2S. tlon that a discovery of his mission would furnish the French party with the means of destroying the Influence of the party adhering to Great Britain in every quarter of 'America, and enable the general government to go to war up- on popular and tenable ground. In the application of sir James Craig to the undersigned to undertake the mission aforesaid, he says " the iv formation and political observations received from you heretofore -zvere all transmitted to the secretarij of state, ivho has expressed his particular approbation of them ,- and there is no doubt thap yow able execution of such a mission as I have above si/gffestcd, ivould give you a claim not only on the go- vernor general (of British America), but on his majesty's ministers" &c. The undersigned being now in England on his private aflfairs, and on the eve of departure for America, most humbly and respectfully submits his claims, under the stipulations aforesaid, to the earl of Liverpool, in the confident ex- pectation that his lordship will treat them with that justice, andliberahty, which, upon investigation, they may be found to merit. It may not be superfluous to add, that the undersigned has never received m any shape whatever any compensation or patronage for the services he has ren- dered. This fact, Mr. Ryland, the secretary of sir James Craig, now in London, can vouch ; as well as for the truth of all the matters set forth in this memorial. I have the honoui-, &c. (Signed) J. HENRY. 27, Leicester-square, June 23, 1811. CHAPTER XXVIIL Emban^o repealed. British and French vessels interdicted from entering our harbours. Importations frojn both countries pro- hibited. Invitation held out to both to cease their outrages on our commerce. The claiTiour excited against the embargo — the tumultuous proceedings in the eastern states — its inefficacy to answer the purpose intended, arising partly from the factious and disorga- nizing, and Jacobinical opposition it met with, and partly from the imbecility of Mr. Jefferson's administration, in not duly en- forcing it, as already statedf — all combined to produce its re- peal, which took place on the first of March, 1809. As a pacific measure, in lieu of the embargo, to induce the beUigercnts to respect our rights, and to cease their depreda- tions, under pretence of retaliation upon each other, the act commonly styled the non-intercourse act, was passed, of which I annex those sections containing its leading features. An act to interdict the Commercial Intercourse betiveen the Uni- ted States and Great Britain and France^ and their dependen- cies ; and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the senate and house of representatives of the United States of America in congress assembled, I'hat from and after the passage of this act, the entrance of tlie harbours and waters of the United States, and of the territories thereof, be, and the same is hereby interdicted to ail public ships and vessels be- longing to Great Britain or France, excepting vessels only which may be forced in bv distress, or which are charged with despatches or business from the go- vernment to which they belong, and also packets having no cargo or merchan- dise on board. And if any public ship or vessel as aforesaid, not being included in tlie exception above mentioned, shall enter any harbour or waters within the jurisdiction of the United States, or the territories thereof, it shall be lawful • See document No. 1, herewith submitted. f See page 56. CHAP. 28.] NON-INTERCOimSE. 159 for the president of the United States, or such other person as he shall have empowered for that purpose, to employ such part of the land and naval forces, or of the militia of the United States, or the territories thereof, as he shall deem necessarv, to compel such ship or vessel to depart. Sec. 3. And be it further enacted. That from and after the twentieth day of May next, the entrance of the harbours and waters of the United States, and the territories thereof be, and ^Ae same is hereby interdicted to all ships or vessels saili7ig under the fag of Great Britain or Fiance, or oivnedin -whole or in part by any citizens or S7cbjects of either ; vessels hired, chartered or employed by the government of either country, for the sole purpose of carrying letters or des- patches, and also vessels forced in by stress or by the dangers of the sea, only excepted. And if any ship or vessel sailing- under the flag of Great Britain or Prance, or owned in whole or in part by any citizen or subject of eithei-, and not excepted as aforesaid, shall, after the twentieth day of May next, arrive eitlier with or without a cargo, within the limits of the United States, or of tlie territo- ries thereof, such ship or vessel, together with the cargo, if any, which may be found on board, shall be forfeited ; and may be seized and condemned in any court of the United States or the territories thereof, having competent juris- diction : and aU and every act and acts heretofore passed, which shall be with- in the purview of this act, shall be, and the same are hereby repealed. Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That from and after the twentieth day of May next, it shall not be lawful to import into the United States or the terri- tories thereof, any goods, wares, or merchandise whatever, from any port or place situated in Great Britain or Ireland, or from any of the colonies or dependencies of Great Britain ; nor fi-om any poi-t or place situated in France, or in any of her colonies or dependencies, nor from any port or place in the actual posses- sion of either Great Britain or France. Nor shall it be lawful to import into the United States, or the ten-itories thereof, from any foreign port or place what- ever, any goods, wares, or merchandise whatever, being of the growth, pro- duce, or manufacture of France, or of any of her colonics or dependencies ; or being of the growth, produce, or manufacture of Great Britain, or Ireland, or of any of the colonies or dependencies of Great Britain ; or being of the growth, produce, or manufacture of any place or country in the actual possession of either France or Great Britain : provided, that nothing herein contained shall be con- strued to afi'ect the cargoes of ships wholly owned by a citizen or citizens of the United States, which had cleared from any port beyond the Cape of Good Hope, prior to the twenty-second day of December, one thousand eight hun- dred and seven, or which had depart'ed for such port by permission of the pre- sident, under the acts supplementary to the act layhig an embargo on all ships and vessels in the ports and harbours of the United States. Sec. 11. Andbe it further enacted, That the president of the United States be, and he hereby is authorised, in case either France or Great Britain shall so revoke or modify her edicts, as that they shall cease to violate the 7ieiitral coinmerce of the United States, to declare the same by proclamation ,■ after which the trade of the United States, suspended by this act, and by the act layi7ig an embargo on all ships and vessels in the ports and harbours of the United States, and the several acts supplementary thereto, may be renewed with the nation so doing : provi- ded, that all penalties and forfeitures which shall have been previously incurr- ed, by virtue of this or of any other act, the operation of which shall so cease and determine, shall be recovered and distributed, in hke manner as if the same bad continued in full force and virtue : and vessels bound thereafter to any fo- reign port or place, with which commercial intercourse shall by virtue of this section be again permitted, shall give bond to the United States with approved security, in double the value of the vessel and cargo, that they shall not proceed to any foreign port, nor trade with any country other than those with which commercial intercourse shall have be'en or may be permitted by tliis act. Enacted Marchl, 1809. I have already stated, that this law was preposterously and absurdly denounced, as feeble and imbecile, by ninety-nine out €)f every hundred democrats, in the United States. An impar. 160 POLITICAL OLIVE RUANCII. [chap. 29- tial view of it will prove the folly of this denunciation. It evinces a deep sense of the grievous injuries the nation had sus- tained from the belligerents — a sincere wish to return to the re- lations of peace and friendship with either or both — and an ar- dent desire to try every rational mode of procuring redress pre- vious to a recourse to the horrors of war. It held out in one hand prohibition and penalty for wrongs in- flicted—in the other "• the Olive Branch" — an invitation to, and premium for, a mere return to justice — a mere cessation ol un- provoked hostility. The statute books of all the nations of Christendom may be searched in vain, for a law entitled to more unequivocal applause — and rarely has a law been more generally censured. The federalists reprobated this act as well as the democrats — and with equal folly and madness — but on totally different grounds. They regarded it, forsooth, as too violent a measure — as calculated to produce war — or, in foct, absurdly enough, as a species of warfare ! " Sir, the bill before you is ivar. It is to suspend all intercoiirse, to put an f^nH to ^\ the relatinm of amity. What is that 6v^< war? ^ITzr of the \yorst kind ; ivur under the ilisgiiise of ]so>f-iNTi:Kcoi usk ; no power, having national feeling's, or regard to national character, will SUBMIT to mch COERCION."* " It [non-intercoiu'se] is cowardly ; for it is a base attempt to bring on a ivar •with Great Britain. It is FRENCH in every feature. It is intended as a mea- sure of hostility ajainst Great Britain. "\ CHAPTER XXIX.:^ Bmbargo once more. Recommended to Congress by a respectable body of merchants in Nexv-Tork. This shall be a short chapter. Three minutes will be suffi- cient to glance it over. I hope, however, it will not be the least interesting in the book. The embargo, we have seen, was enacted in December, 1807, to preserve the property of the American merchants from depre- dation under French decrees and British orders in council — and likewise to coerce the belligerents, through regard to their own interests, to cease violating our rights. The merchants, and their friends universally, throughout the nation, reprobated this measure. Independent of its pretended unconstitutionality, it was denounced as t3'rannical, and oppres- sive, and unjust towards our fellow citizens — as feeble, and im- becile, and inefficient towards those nations whose insults and outrages it was intended to prevent. • * ^Ir. Ilillhouse's speech on the non-intercourse bill before the senate, Feb- ruary 22, 1809. f Boston Uopertoiy. i This chapter is out of its chronological order ; but its immediate connec- tion with tliG subject of the preceding one, has induced me to place it here. CHAP. 29.] NEW YORK MEMORIAL. 161 That these sentiments pervaded the mercantile part of the community in 1807-8, I presmne no man of character will dare deny. Consistency is commendable. Let us enquire how far the merchants practised it. On the 15th of June, 1812, a memorial was presented to Congress, from certain merchants in New- York, praying for a continuance of the embargo, and the re- strictive system generally ! You are amazed, reader. You can hardly believe me. You are persuaded that I am not serious — that I am putting your credulity to a severe trial. You are " all in the wrong." I am as perfectly serious as I have ever been. And to remove all doubt on the sul^iject, be- hold the memorial — and behold also the names of the signers — forty-two federalists and sixteen democrats. Yes — deny it, who can. Here are forty-two federal merchants, invoking congress to continue the much-abused " restrictive system.;'' us likely to extort justice frorn Great Britain, MEMORUL. To the honourable the senate mid house of representatives of the United Slates of America in congress assembled, the memorial of the subscribers, merchants and others, inhabitants of the cittj of JVew-York, respcctfnUij sheweth: That your memorialists feci, in common witli the rest of their fellow citizens, an anxious solicitude for the honour and interests of tlieir country, and an equal detennination to assert and maintain them. That your memorialists believe that A CONTINUATION OF THE RE- STRICf IVE MEASURES NOW IN OPERATION, WILL PRODUCE ALL THE BENEFITS, WHILE IT PREVENTS THE CALAMITIES OF WAR; that when the British ministry become convinced tliat a trade with the United States cannot be i-enewed, but by the repeal of the orders in council, the distress of their merchants and manufacturers, and their inabihtij to support their armies in Spain and Portugal, 7vill probablu compel them to that measure ! Your memorialists beg' leave to remark, that such effects are even now visible ; and it may be reasonably hoped, tliat a continuance of the embargo and non- importation laws a few months beyond the fourth day of .Inly next, WILL EF- FECT A COMPLETE ANO BLOODLESS TRIUMPH OF OUR RIGHTS. Your memorialists therefore respectfulUi solicit of your honourable body, the passage of a law continidng the embargo, and giving- to the president of the Uni- ted States power to discontinue the whole of the restrictive system on the re- scinding' of the British orders in council. The conduct of France in burning our ships, in sequestrating our property entering her ports, expecting protection in consequence of the promised re- peal of the Berlin and Milan decrees, and the delay in completing a treaty with the American minister, has excited great sensation ; and we hope and trust will call forth from your honourable body such retaliatory measures as may be best calculated to procure justice. John Jacob Astor, John T. Lawrence, Amasa Jackson, Samuel Adams, Joseph W. Totten, William J. Robinson, Howland and Grinnel, Isaac Schermerhorn, Joseph Strong, E. Slosson, Alexander Rude n, Abrahams. Hallot, Israel fJibbs, Joseph Otis, Joshua Jones, Isaac Clason, Lewis Hartman, Frederic Gii-aud, jim. John Slidell, Garrett Stornj, Robert Roberts, 162 POUTICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [chap. 30. John K. Townsend, George Bement, John Crookes, Andrew Ogden, & Co. S. A. Rich, Hugh M'Cormick, Thomas Storm, Abraham Smith, John Depeyster, Amos Butler, Tiiomas IL Smith, jr. Gilbert Haight, Ebenezer Bumll, Andrew Foster, James Lovett, Isaac Heyer, Jacob Barker, Leftert Lefierts, Ralpli Bulkley, William Lovett, Augustus \yynkoop, Samuel Bell, William Edgar, jr. John W Gale, John F. Delaplaine, Samuel Stillweil, Thomas Rich, Peter Stagg, Jacob P. Giraud, Samuel Marshall, David Taylor, John Hone, Elbert Herring. WilUam Adee, John Kane, JVew York, June 1, 1812. A member of congress, Mr. Taylor, stated that he was in- formed there were on that list the names of two presidents of banks, three presidents of insurance companies, thirteen directors of banks, besides other names of '•'■ pre-eminent standing in the commercial xvorld.'''' Ponder, I beseech you, reader, on these things. They demand the most sober and serious considera- tion. The embargo, and the restrictive system generally, after having been defeated and rendered nugatory by mercantile op- position, are uow, by the merchants themselves, proclaimed to the world as likely to effect" a bloodless triumph of our rights .''* What a severe satire on themselves ; what a strong panegyric on their opponents — this short sentence contains ! CHAPTER XXX. The Erskine arrangement. A most liberal and magnanimous procedure^ probably never exceeded. Loudhj applauded by all parties. Rejected by England. Never was there a measure of more fairness and candour, than the arrangement made by our goveiTiment with Mr. Er- skine. The annals of diplomacy may be ransacked in vain to produce a negociation more deserving of encomium, or more honourable to both parties. In forty-four days after Mr. Ma- dison's inauguration, Mr. Erskine made candid overtures to our government for an accommodation of the existing differences between the two nations. They were received with a proper spirit of frankness, and with a promptitude never exceeded. The overtures were dated on the 17th of April — the reply the same day — Mr. Erskine's second letter, and the reply of the secretary of state on the 1 8th. And, both parties being sincerely desirous of a reconciliation, an equitable arrangement was adjusted in two days, that is to say, on the 19th, whereby neither the honour nor the interest of either nation was compromitted. Friendly intercourse between them was once more restored. Never was a negociation conducted on more liberal or candid principles. It was manly and magnanimous — and affords one of the very- few instances in which diplomacy was divested of her usual at- tendants, chicane and fraud. •HAP. 30.] ERSKINE'S ARRANGEMENT. 163 To enable the reader to form a correct opinion on this subject, I annex the whole of the correspondence between our govern- ment and the British minister. It will then appear that the trans- action can hardly be too highly eulogised. (No. I.) MB. EKSKIJfE TO MR. SMITH. Washington, 17th April, 1809. « Sir — I have the honour to hifonn you, that I have received his majesty's commands to represent to the government of tlie United States, that his ma- jesty is animated by the most sincere desire for an adjustment of the differ- ences, which have unhappily so long prevailed between the two coimtries, the recapitulation of which might have a tendency to impede, if not prevent an am'cable understanding. " It having been repi'Csented to his majesty's government, that the congress of the United States, in their proceedings at the opening of the last session, had evinced an intention of passing certain laws, which would place the rela- tions of Great Britain with the United States upon an equal footing-, in all res- pects, with other belligerent powers, I have accordingly received his majesty's commands, in the event of such laws taking place, to offer, on the part of his maiesty, an honourable reparation for the aggression, committed by a British naval officer, in the attack on the United States' ft'igate Chesapeake. " Considenng the act, passed by the congress of the United States on the first of March, (usually tei-med the non-intercourse act) as having produced a state of equality, in the relations of the two belligerent powers, with respect to the United States, I have to submit, conformably to instmctions, for the con- sideration of the American government, such terms of satisfaction and reparation, as, his majesty is induced to believe, will be accepted, in the same spirit of con- ciliation, with which they are proposed. " In addition to the prompt disavowal made by his majesty, on being appriz- ed of the unauthorised act committed by his naval officer, whose recal, as a mark of the king's displeasure, from an highly important and honourable command, im- mediately ensued, his majesty is wilhng to restore tlie men forcibly taken out of the Chesapeake, and, if acceptable to the American government, to make a suitable provision for the unfortunate sufferers on that occasion. " I have the honour to be, with sentiments of the highest respect and consi- deration, sir, your most obedient, humble servant. The hon. Robert Smith, esq. secretary of State, &c. « D. M. ERSKINE. (No. II.) MH. SMITH TO MB. ERSKINE. Department of State, April 17, 1809. «« Sir — I have laid before the president your note in which you have, in the name and by the order of his Britannic majesty, declared that his Britannic majesty is desirous of making an honourable reparation for the aggression com- mitted by a British naval officer in the attack on the United States' frigate the Chesapeake ; that, in addition to his prompt disavowal of the act, his majes- ^, as a mark of his displeasure, did immediately recall the offending officer from a highly important and honourable command ; and that he is willing to restore the men forcibly taken out of the Chesapeake ; and, if acceptable to the American government, to make a suitable provision for the unfortunate suf- ferers on that occasion. " The government of the United States havhig, at all times, entertained a sincere desire for an adjustment of the differences, which have so long and so unhappily subsisted between the two countries, the president cannot but i-e- ceive with pleasure, assurances, that his Britannic majesty is animated by the same disposition ; and that he is ready, in confonnity to this disposition, to make atonement for the insult and aggression, committed by one of liis naval officers i\\ the attack on the United States' frigate, the Chesapeake.^ 164 POLITICAL OUVE BRANCH. [chap. 30, " As it appears, at the same time, tliat, in making this offer, his Britannic majesty derives a motive from the equality, now existing' in the relations of the United States, with t)ic two belligerent powers, the president owes it to the occasion, and to himself, to let it be understood, that this equality is a result incident to a state of things, growing out of distinct considerations. " With this explanation, as rccjuisite as it is frank, 1 am authorised to inform you, that the president acce])ts of the note delivered by you, in the name and by the (u-der of his Britannic majesty; and will consider the same, with tlie «-*ngagcmcnt contained therein, wiien fulhlled, as a satisfaction for tlie insult an(l injury of which he has complained. But 1 have it in express charge from the president, to state, that whiJe he forbears to insist on a further punishment of the oftcnding officer, he is not the less sensible of the justice and utility of such an example, nor the less persuaded tluit it would best comport with what is due from his Britannic majesty to his own honour. " 1 have tlie honour to be, with the highest respect and consideration, sir, your most obedient servant, " R. SMITH." T/ie honourable David M. Eirskine, esq. envoy extraordinary and minister plenipo- tentiary of his Britannic majesty. (No. III.) MR. EUSKINE TO MR. SMITH. Washington, Jlpril, 18, 1809. " Sir — I have the honour of informing you, that his majesty, having been ■{persuaded that the honourable reparation which he has caused to be tendered for the unauthorised attack upon the Amei-ican frigate Chesapeake, would be accepted by the government of the United States in the same spirit of conci- liation, with which it was proposed, has instructed me to express his satisfac- tion, sliould such a happy termination of that aflair take place ; not only as hav- ing removed a painful cause of difference, but as aftbrding a fair prospect of a complete and cordial understanding being re-cstabhshed between tlie two countries. " The favour.able change in the relations of his majesty with the United States, which has been produced by the act (usually termed the non-intercourse act) passed in the last session of congress, was also anticipated by his majesty ; and has encouraged a furtiier hope, that the re -consideration of the existing differences might lead to their .satisfactory adjustment. " On these grounds and expectations, 1 am instructed to communicate to the American government, his majesty's determination of sending to the United States an envoy extraordinary, invested with full powers to conclude a treaty on all the points of the relations between the two countries. " [n the mean time, with a view to contribute to the attainment of so desira- ble an object; his majesty would be willing to withdraw his orders in council of January and November, 180r, so far as respects the United States, in the persuasion that the president of the United States would issue a proclamation for the renewal of the intercourse with Great IJritain ; and that whatever dif- ference of opinion should arise in the interpretation of the terms of such an agreement will be removed in the proposed negociation. " I have the honour to be, with sentiments of the highest consideration and esteem, sir, your most obedient humble servant, " D. M. ERSKINE. ' " Honourabk Hubert Smith, &c. &c. &c.^' (No. IV.) MB. SMITH TO MB. EUSKINP, Department of State, JprillS, 1S09. " Sir — The note which T had the honour of receiving from you this da}', [ lost no time in laying bef()re the president, who biing sineerel} desirous of a satis- factory adjustment of the dHlcrences unhap]/dy existing between Great Britain and the United States, iias authorised me to assure you, that he v\ ill meet, with ft disposition correspondent witli that of his Britannic majesty, the determin.a- tion of his majesty to send to the United States a special envoy, invested with CHAP. 30.] ERSKINE'S ARRANGEAffiNT. 165 full powers to conclude a treaty on all the points of the relations between the two countries. "I am further authorised to assure you, that in case his Britannic majesty should, in the mean time, withdraw his orders in council of January and No- vembei', 1807, so far as respects the United States, the president will not failto issue a proclamation by virtue of the authority, and for the purposes specified in the eleventh section of the statute, commonly called the non-intercoui-seact. J have the honour, &c. Sep. R. SMITH." (No. V.) MR. EHSKINE TO MH. SMITH. IVasMngioii, April 19, 1809. " Sir — In consequence of the acceptance, by the president, as stated in your letter dated the eig-hteenth Instant, of the proposals made by me on the part of his majesty, in my letter of the same day, for the renewal of the intercourse between the i-espective countries, I .am authorised to declare, that his majesty's orders in Council of January and November, 1807, will have been withdrawn as respects the United States, on the tenth day of June next. I h.ave the honour to be, &c. &c. D. M. ERSpNE." HunouraLle Robert Smith, &c. &c. (No. \l.) MH. SMITH TO MH. EHSKTN-E. -Depart iiwnt of State, April 19, 1809. « Sir — Having' laid befpre the president your note of this day, containing an assurance, that liis Britannic majesty will, on the tenth day of June next, have wididrawn his orders in council of January and Novem.ber, 1807, as far as re- .spects the United States, I have the honour of informing- you, that the president will accordingly, and in pursuance of the eleventh section of the statute, com- monly called'the non-intercourse act, issue a proclamation, so that the trade of the United States with Great Britain may on the saine day be renewed, in the manner provided in tlie said section. I have the honour. Sec. &c. ^ R. SMITH." BT THE PRESIDENT OF THE UXITEn STATES OF AMERICA. A PROCLAMATION. "Whereas it is provided by the eleventh section of the act of congress, en- titled " An act to interdict the commercial intercourse between the United States and Great Britain and France, and their dependencies ; and for other purposes ;" that " in case cither France or Great Britain shall so revoke or modify her edicts as that they shall cease to violate the neutral commerce of the United States," the president is authorised to declare the same by pro- clamation ; after which the trade suspended by the said act, and by an act Laying an embargo on all sliips and vessels in the ports and harbom's of the United States, and the several acts supplementary thereto, may be renewed with the nation so doing. And whereas the honourable David Montague Erskine, his Britannic majestv's envoy extraordinary, and minister plenipoten- tiary, has, by the order and in the name of his sovereign, declared to this go- vernment, that the British orders in council of January and November, 1807, will have been withdrawn as respects the Uwited States, on the tenth day of .Time next : Now, therefore, I James Madisox, President of the United States, do hereby proclaim, that the orders in council aforesaid will have been with- drawn oil the said tenth day of June next : after which day the trade of tlie United States with Great Britain, as suspended by the act of congress above mentioned, and an act laying an embargo on all ships and vessels in the ports and harbours of the United States, and the several acts supplementary there- to, may be renewed. O. B, 23 165 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH, [chap. 30. " Given under my hand and the seal of the United States, at Wash- ini^ton, the nineteenth duv of April, in the year of our Lord one I. s thousand eight hundred and nine, and of the Independence of the- United States, tlie thirty tliird." By the President, JAMES MADISON. R. SMITH, Secretary of State. Never was a measure more loudly or unanimously applaud- ed. Parties agix-ed in their encomiums on the act and the ac- tors, who hardly ever before or since, accorded on any subject. The federalists cannot have forgotten — if they have, history will not forget — that they repeatedly asserted, in the most confident terms, that England had been at all times ready to do us justice ; — that it had been in the power of Mr. Jefferson, at any period of his administration, to have procured equally fair and honour- able terms ; and that nothing but his profligate devotion to France, and deadly hostility to England, had prevented an equitable adjustment of all our differences. Mr. Madison was hailed as a truly American president. He was invited to federal entertainments — claimed as a federalist and a Washingtonian — ■ and halcyon days of peace and plenty were augured under his administration, which was indubitably to usher in a political millennium. The farce was carried on to such an extent by the federalists, that the democrats grew jealous. They Avere fearful of losing the attachment of the president, whose election they had made such exertions to secure. In an evil hour for the United States and Great Britain, this honourable arrangement was fatuitously and dishonourably re- jected by the British ministry ; and thus the two countries were once more involved in the most vexatious discussions. So far as respects the administration of Mr. Madison, this affair affords the most indubitable evidence of the utter falsehood of the charge of French Influence,* with which the wide welkin has rung, and which has been, and is, as firmly believed by hun- * In every age, and every nation, there has been, and is some slang preva- lent, by whicli the people are besotted, bereft of their reason, and led " to plsty such pranks before high licaven, as make e'en angels weep." Who is ig- norant of the magical effects in Great Britain of the cry, " the church is in dan- ger," whereby tlie severities and restrictions vuider which the protestant dis- senters groaned for about one hundred and fifty years, were firmly riveted on tliem. The charge of "French infuence'" in the United States has been so often reiterated, and so generally believed, that it appears to thousands of our citi- zens both impertinent and absin-d to doubt its existence. But there never has been the sliadow of ])roof of its existence alleged. And I feel perfectly confi- dent, that there are thousands of Englishmen in various parts of the United States, pari-icularly in our sea-ports, any one of whom takes a more active part in our ])olitics, and has more influence on our afl'airs, than any twenty French- men. Talleyrand's oliscrvation on this subject is perfectly just. "In every part of America through which I have travelled, I have not fovuid a single En- glishman, who did not feel himself to be an American ; nor a single French- man who did not find himself a stranger."* There are Frenchmen in New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, who have been naturalised ten, twenty, and even thirty years, who do not interfere so • Memoir on the Commercitd Relations of the United States with England' page 18. CHAP. 30.] ERSKINE'S ARRANGEMENT. 167 dreds of thousands of our citizens, as any portion of " holy writ." Had there been the shghtest particle of that noxious influence in our cabinet, it could not have failed to prevent such a rapid movement as healing the long-enduring and cankered breaches between the two countries in two days. Never in the annals of mankind, did a rooted, inveterate, and contemptible prejudice exist, so completely, so unanswenibly borne down by a strong and irrefutal^le fact, as in this case is the accusation of French influence : and yet no more attention has been paid to the strong and irresistible fact, than if it had not the slightest bearing whatever on the subject. 'Ihroughout the whole of Mr. Madison's administration, this senseless, ab- surd, and Jacobinical cry of" French influence" has disturbed the harmony of the country — endangered its peace — and produced the most magical effects, on " the most enlightened nation in the world." The conduct of the federalists respecting this celelDrated instrument, was to the last degree inconsistent and indefensi- ble— They were, after it was agreed upon, as I have stated, unani- mous and loud in their applause of England, for her magnani- mity in off'ering, and of Mr. Madison, for his patriotism and public spirit in accepting, the terms proposed by Mr. Erskine. The force of the language was exhausted, in panegyrical strains. All the praises of Mr. Madison were accompanied by direct ot insinuated abuse of his predecessor. The two presidents appear- ed like the two ends of a scale-beam. In proportion as one rose, the other sunk. Mr. Madison was elevated among the celes- tials — Mr. Jeff'erson precipitated among the infernals. There was hardly one of the party from New Hampshire to Georgia, who did not assert, that had Mr. Jeff'erson been disposed, he might have made an arrangement on as favourable terms at any time during his administration — for England had been at all times equally inclined to do us justice. But when England rejected this arrangement— when she gave the lie direct to all their asseverations of her willingness to ad- just the diff"erences between the two countries, on fair and hon- ouralile principles— they still defended her. They assailed, and abused, and vilified, and degraded their own -government. And Mr. Madison, who had been placed among the stars of heaven, sunk down at once below the horizon into pitchy darkness, with his predecessor. And for what ? Had he committed any crime to waiTant this change of opinion ? No. Had he altered the much in our politics as English, Scotch, and Irishmen frequently do within the first month after their arrival. I have never, in thirty years, known three Frenchmen in Philadelphia who took an active part in our politics. Many ot them rarely exercise the elective franchise. 165 POIJTICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [chap. 30. system of conduct which had been so highly extolled ? No. His only crime was, that England broke the faith her minister had so solemnly pledged to him^and to this cruelhj-injured and outraged country ! ! J ! ! ! Alas ! alas ! poor human nature ! To establish fully wliat I have asserted, I annex extracts from the federal papers and speeches, published before and af- ter the fatal, the monstrous, the absurd rejection of this arrange- ment. " We owe it to !Mr. Madison and his cabinet to say, and we do it with pride and pleasure, that tliey liave come forward with a degree of promptitude and manhness which reflects much honour on the7n and the country. Mr. Madison lias now done ~^i}IuLt .Mr. Jefferson irns requested by the Jiritish government to do in- the note a]>pendedto the treaty returned by him. Mr. Madison is now effectually re- sisting the French decrees, by a total non-intercourse with that country ; and this c!ountry will thank him for it to tlie latest generation." United States Ga- zette, Apri'l 24, 1809. " The candour, liberality, and .'sincerity displayed in those documents, are alike honourable to the two governments." Poulson's American Daily Advertiser, April 22, 18U9. " The non-intercourse with France, which congress threatened, Nov. 22, 1808, and i-eally enacted March 1st, 1809, takes place on 20th May next — this measure against France pi-oduced what no measure against England alone could obtain. England -ivas to be ivoii ivith signs of justice and impartiality ; and yielded to these considerations -what she tvovld not yield either to threats or force." Boston Repertory, May 9, 1809. " Nothing here said is designed to reflect on Mr. Madison as the president of the United States. In the first act is which he has beex called upox he has BEHAVED with WISDOM. JMuy he go on so. Mr. Madison thus far has in fact acted ministerially ; that is, pursuant to an act of congTcss, or the generally expressed voices of his countrymen." Idem. " We will not stop to enquire whether the spirited and vigorous measures of New England — their determined public declarations that they would not sub- mit to an unnecessaiy and destructive war, has induced the administration to listen to the same terms which Great Jiritain has always been ready to offer, and to 'ii'hich we have unifor7nly contended s/w was sincerely disposed." Boston Gazette, April 1809. "That Mr. Madison does not wish to embroil us with England, we are now thoroughly convinced ; while he continues to pursue an honest and impartial policy, where he makes one enemy, he will gain a dozen friends." Baltimore Federal Republican, as quoted l)y the Philadelphia Gazette, June 22, 1809. " Scarcely was .Mr. Madison seated in the chair of state, when, contrary to all our expectations, but agreeably to our wishes, he gave the lie to all his election- eering advocates ,- abandoned jiractically and in the face ef the world the policy and course of the sage ; and concluded with Mr. Erskine an agreement, which, knocking the ignominious ha/id-cnffs from our hands, unmooring our ships, rejoicing our hearts, and elevating ojir hopes, drew from the union (the jacobins excepted) an niifcigneil burst of heart-cheering applause. JWzri- statesman did an act more popidar or more conducir^e to the true and permanent interest of his country." Phila- delphia Gazette, June 23, 1809. "The public documents which we this day have the satisfaction of laying be- fore our readers are of a Jiighly pleasing and interesting character. The note of Mr. Ei-skinc furnishes satistactoiy evidence of a real disposition on the part of liis government to adjust, on permanent principles, the long subsisting" differ- ences vvitii this counti-y ; and Mr. Smith's answer to that note evinces a candour and promptitude ccjually honourable to the views and wishes of the American administration. IVhile both parties are governed by this spirit of confidence in the assurances of each other, we can foresee no possible circumstance to impede CHAP. 30.] RRSKINE'S ARRANGEMENT. 169 their anivlng at a full, liberal, and advantageous accommodation." Philadel- phia Gazette, June 19, 1809. " We sincerely trust that an enlightened administration will continue by its measures of prudence, economy, and wisdom, to increase the mortification and rage of men, aliens to the true interests and honour of our country." lb. On the second of May, 1809, Mr. Randolph moved in the house of Representatives of the United States, the following resolution — " Resolved, That the promptitude and frankness with which the President of the United States has met the overtures of the government of Great Bri- tain towai'ds a restoration of harmony and free commercial intercourse between the two nations, meet the approbation of this house." This occasioned a long debate, in which the federalists were universally in favour of the motion. Mr. Barent Gardenier was among the most ardent eulogists of Mr. Madison. There ap- peared to be no bounds to his applause. " This. tree from which we expected to gather only the fi-uit of bitterness and son-ow, is ah-eady yielding us fruit far different — gladness and unspeakable joy. To speak in the language of the resolution, ' the promptitude andf-cmkness ■with -ivhich the presideiit has met the ovei'titres of Great Britain,' while tliey re- ceive the applause and gratitude of the nation, caU not less imperiously for an unequivocal expression of them by this house. " I must say that I do like the words ' promptitude a?idfraiih)iess." The compliment they convey is highly merited, as I sliall endeavour to prove. " For bringing about this state of things, I yield my hearty approbation to the president of the United States ,- and I beheve that when none of us could see the end of our troubles, the president was seci-etly conducting us to the late happy results. " But at last that state of things ORIGINALLY PROPOSED BY GREAT BRITAIN, has been brought al)out, both as it regards the equality contended for, and as regards the assurance of resistance desired. The proclamation lac- ing removed, a fair adjustment could meet with no impediment from that cause. And it is a melancholy fact, in this respect there never tvould have been an impediment, if this government had been idlUng to do originally ivhat it has at last consented to do. " It is for the promptitude and frankness with which the president met this overture, that I thank him most cordially in behalf of my country. I approve it most heai-tily. " And it is now in proof before us, as I have always said and contended, that NOTHING -ivas -zvanting but a proper spirit of conciliation — nothing but fair and honourable dealing on the part o/THlS country, to bring to a happy issue all the fictitious differences bet-iveen this country and Great liritain ,- and that is now ac- knowledged to be ti-ue, for saying which, I have been so much censured— cen- sured, because it suited the purposes of some people, to attribute to me a con- fidence in the justice of the British government, wliich did not become an American citizen. " The president, veiy properly relying on tlie assurances of the British minister, that the edicts of Great Britain -would have been -ivithdra-ivn, on or be- fore the 20th of June then next, autliorised a renewal of intercoiu'se after that day." The governor of Massachusetts, in his speech to the legisla- ture, unites his praises vnth those of Mr. Gardenier — " We have great reason to indulge the hope of realizing those views [arising from a revival of commerce] from the prompt and amicable disposition, with V hich it is imderstood tlie present fcderi^l administration met the conciliatory 170 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [cH£t: 30. overtures of Great Britain — a disposition which is entitled to, and -will certainly re- ceive the heartij approbation of every one who sincerely loves the peace and prospe- rity of the nation." The senate and house of representatives re-echo this encomi- astic strain : « The present administration of the general government has had the insdom To discern, and the patriotism to commence, a course of policy respecting our com- merce and foreign relations, w hicli is calculated to promote the prospeiity, and to secure the peace and independence of our country." " The prompt acceptance by the federal administration of the concihatory overtures of Cireat JJritain, which opened the door for the removal of those "Tic-, ous embarrassments by which the industry and enterprize of our citizens^ have been so long puralized, tneets the approbation, and ivill ensure the support oj t/tis cemmo7itvealth." Messrs. Wagner and Hanson chimed in with the general strain of approbation, which was carried to the utmost extent, in order, by the contrast, to blacken the character of the former administration. " Sophistry is busily at work in the democratic papers, to show that the ac- commodation with England is the residt of the democratic plans — that is to say, of the embargo and non-intercourse law. If this could be made to appear, it A\ ould so f\r\absolve their autJiors from the ruin and sufferings imposed by those laws, as to prove that they had some effect. But the common sense of the people is proof against the delusion ; who are persuaded that what was so easily effected in April last, might have been done long before, and the nation been thereby saved from the humiliation of retiring from the exercise of its rights upon the ocean, as well as the immense loss it has suflrered,and continues to sustain in the decay and depreciation of its produce. Eveiy reflecting mind feels this at once ; nor does it require any chcuitous arg-ument to be convinced, that ft persevering and ardent opposition to these democratic Jtiggles, and not a vo- luntary abandonment of them, broke the embargo, and placed France and Great Britain jipon that equal footing, which the latter unifobmly declared would INDUCE lIEll TO COMPROMISE. * " Sincere and general as has been the joy spread by the return of a good un- derstanding with England, will be the indignation, which at no distant day, a calm review of the snares which have been laid to entrap our peace, and extinguish^ our prosperity, will unavoidably inspire. The current of the disapprobation of this conspiracy is not at a stand. It has much greater progress to make ; nor will it stop until it places an insuperable bar against even the aspiring party which, till latcl}-, has lorded it without opposition over the state of Maryland."* I shall add to these extracts the sentiments of Mr. Coleman, editor of the New- York Evening Post, which are as strong and decisive as any of the others. " Look at the files of this paper for a twelve month. You wiU find it insisted upon that Great Britain wished for an adjustment of differences, and would come to an accommodation the moment we gave her a chance to do so, by placing h'^r on an equal fooling with Fraiice.— Mr. Erskine very promptly begins, by stating, on our government's placing England on a footing with France, England will make . reparation — just precisely what i have said a hundred times over in this PAPER, SHE WOULD VERY GLADLY DO. « The first part of the second resolution accompanying the report of the com- mittee of foreign relations, contemplated SiU arrangement by which the respec- tive belligerents would be placed in a state of equality as to the exclusion of * Federal Republican, July 4, 1809. CHAP. 30.] EBSIvINE'S ARRANGEMENT. 171 their ships of war from our harbours. This report, was sent to England; and iiiimeiliutcly the British minister dih-^cted Mr. Erskinc to make the propositions which have hitely been acceded to and published, provided any measure ivas adopted w liich would place Great Britain in a state of equahty with her enetnies, as to the admission or exclusion of her ships of war from our harboui>s. The NON-ixTEivCOURSE ACT w.'.s OF THIS NATURi,. Mr. Erskiuc stated the intentions of las government, and an agreement has been made."* ""Well may die merchants of Alexandria rejoice at Mr. Madison's retw^ to the good old priuciple of F£;deiiai.is>i. Let the crazu professors of Jeffersonism give themselves up to weeping and wailing, and all the afflicting stings of jea- lousy and mortification. The federahsts WILL pay homage to Mr. Madison, while he continues to pursue the course he has taken."f t Relying on the good faith of Great Britain,our government immediately removed the restrictions on her commerce; re- stored the intercourse between the two nations to the state in which it had been previous to the misunderstanding ; and natu- rally expected to be met on the same fair and honourable ground by the other contracting party. But other counsels fatally pre- vailed at St. James's. The solemn contract made by its minis- ter plenipotentiary was rejected on the ground of his having " exceeded his instructions." Had Mr. Erskine made a wanton sacrifice of the honour and interests of his country — the rejection of his arrangement might be palliated, perhaps justified. But no man who has any i-egard to his character, will pretend this to have been the case. Both were equally secured. And to prevent any difficulty in the adjustment of the dispute — to evince more fully Mr. Madison's sincere wish for harmony, the thorny and difficidt subject of im- pressment was laid aside for future negociation. " But Mr. Erskine exceeded his instructions." What, in the name of heaven, I ask, must have been the instructions that did not warrant an envoy extraordinary to propose or ratify such an arrangement ; so simple, so fair, and so honourable ? But admitting for a moment, that Mr. Erskine exceeded his instructions — or let us even suppose that he had made this ar- rangement of his own mere motion, without any instructions Avhatever — what reasonable objection could be made to it? Could the most partial friend of England, if actuated by ho- nourable views, require better terms ? Let us analyse this arrangement — let us state the quid pro quo — To America it offered 1. A repeal of the orders in council — 2. Atonement for the outrage on the Chesapeake. * New York Evening Post, April 26, 1809. t Federal Republican. i The mass of tlie extracts in this chapter are chiefly taken from " Tilings as tliey are." l/;2 POLITICAL OUVE BRANCH. [coap. 5©- To England 1. A restoration of all the immense advantages of the most valuable commerce in the world — 2. A continuation of the suspension of intercourse between the United States and France. I freely appeal at this moment to George Cabot, James Lloyd, jr. governor Strong, Timothy Pickering, Alexander Contee Hanson, or to Lord Castlereagh, to decide whether there Avere anv thing in these terms that could warrant the government of a mighty nation to break the faith pledged by its minister — and to attach shame, disgrace, and dishonour to that minister in the eyes of his own nation and of the whole world ? Neither of these gentlemen will dare to aver that there was. The reader who has perused with attention the Erskine ar- rangement, and considered the advantageous terms it insured to Jingland, will be struck with surprise at its rejection. He will naturally ask, by what ill-starred and fatal councils were the British ministry influenced? This is a question not easily an- swered. I shall attempt a solution. A recurrence to the 26th chapter of this Avork, will show the tumultuous, disorganizing, and Jacobinical proceedings that occurred in Massachusetts in the early part of the year 1809. Open resistance to the embargo was advocated in the news pa- pers — preached from the pulpit — plainly menaced in the legisla- ture — and publicly proclaimed in inflammatory resolutions of town meetings. Intelligence of these disgraceful, these Jacobinical proceedings reached England contemporaneously with the account of Mr. Erskine's arrangement. It is highly probable that the British mi« nistry deceived themselves into the opinion that our government would be obliged to abandon the restrictive system altogether ; that they would then be able to enforce the orders in council, without losing the advantages of our trade; and that these consi- derations induced them to reject the arrangement. This I offer roeix-ly as a conjecture. That it is plausible can- not be denied. But in our times there will probably be no op- portunity of fully ascertaining how far it is correct. Another reason has been assigned. It is said that George III. was irritated at the implied censure of his government re- specting the conduct of admiral Berkeley, which, it is asserted, so far wounded his feelings as to induce him to reject the ar- rangement. Many of our citizens have defended the rejection on this groimd. Let us calmly and boldly investigate the affair. The United States are in a state of profound peace. One of their frigates leaves port. She expects no attack. She is therefore xmprepared for resistance. She is followed by a vessel of superior force, belonging to a friendly power. This vessel has just en- joyed the hospitalities of our ports. She overtakes our frigate CHAP. 30. ERSKINE'S ARRANGFAfENT. 173 She imperiously demands four seamen, said to be British. Bri- tish or Americans, they had entered vokintarily. And let it be borne in remembrance, the demand is made by a nation which holds in bondage, thousands of our citizens, who, in the pursuit of their lawful vocations, have been seized by force and violence, and often with bloodshed and desjjerate wounds. And further let it be also borne in i-emembrance, the demand is made by a nation which has proclaimed, as an irrevocable law to ALL THE WORLD, that s/ie xvUl hold^ at every hazard^ those sea- men^ natives of whatsoever country they may be^ xvho enter her service voluntarily.^ The demand is repelled. Our frigate is attacked. Our unresisting citizens are cruelly murdered ! ! ! The decks of the vessel flow with blood ! ! She is taken. The crew is overhauled. Fovir of them are outrageously seized, and made prisoners. One is ignominiously hanged ! ! The other three, ful- ly proved to be impressed Americans, are held in bondage — '• — I can go no farther My pen refuses its office Does not this blood cry to heaven for vengeance on the murderers? Can the foul stain be effaced but with blood ? " Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed." But, reader, I was wrong. My feelings led me astray. The atonement was worthy of the justice of the monarch whose sub- jects perpetrated — worthy of the nation which suffered — the hor- . rible outrage. For " Admiral Berkley xvas recalled from a high- ly important and honourable command^ as a mark of the king's displeasure! !''''] But let it be added, he was recalled to be placed on a better station. — He was removed from Halifax to be stationed at Lisbon:}: — And this was the only mark of displeasure he ever experienced. In 1810, he was promoted from the rank of vice-admiral to that of admiral. He is now lord high admiral of Portugal. To be serious. Every man of a correct mind and sound prin- ciples felt that his Britannic majesty owed it to himself to have displayed his disapprobation of the foul deed in some decisive mode. The offender ought to have been severely punished. And therefore it is impossible not to approve the dignified but mild style in which the president treats the transaction :— " I am authorised to inform you, that the president accepts of the note de- livered by you, in the name and by the order of his Britannic majesty ; and will consider the same, with the engag-ement contained therein, wheii fulfilled, as a satisfaction for the insult and injury of-vhich he has complained. But I have it in express charge from the president to state, that while he forbears to insist on a further punishment of the offending officer, he is not the less sensible of tlie jus- * This reason, a complete sic volo, sic jubeo — stat pro ratione voluntas — ha^j been repeatedly assigned, to justify a refusal of the surrender of natives of America, held in bondage on board British vessels of war, when chiimed by the proper agents of our government. t See Mr. Erskine' letter No. 1. + The outrage was committed in June. He did not leave Halifax till De- cember. O. B. 24 174 POLITICAL OLH^ BRANai. [chap. 30. tice and utility of such an example, nor the less persuaded that it -would best com- port loith what is due from his Britanync majesty to his oion honour.'* To enable us to form a correct idea of this transaction, let us suppose th^t commodore Barron had anchored in Portsmoiith or Plymouth — that twenty of his sailors had voluntarily entered on board a British frigate — that he had demanded them — had followed the frigate to sea — attacked her — killed part of her crew — seized as many as he judged proper — and, finally, to cap the climax, hanged one of them. What would be the result ? Ven- geance ! vengeance ! would have been the cry from the Orkneys to the Land's End — and nothing would appease the insulted digiiity of England, but Copenhagenizing New-York, or Bal- timore, or Philadelphia, or Charleston. " My dear sir, one of my oxen has gored one of your cows." " Well to be sure, you will make reparation — you will send me a cow in the place of the one I have lost. To that you cannot make any objections." "It is all very right. But hold, I mis- took. It is all the other way. It was your ox that gored 7ny coiv.''^ So, so, we'll see about it. Call some other time." " Mv good sir — this is not very correct. The business would have been soon settled^ had you been as zviUing to do justice to others., as to receive it frojn them.^'> Since the above was written, I have consulted Mr. Canning's despatches to Mr. Erskine, by which it appears that the British government calculated on Mr. Erskine's adjusting the differ- ences between the two nations on the following basis : Extract of a letter from Mr. Canning, secretary, to the honourable David J\I. Ers- kine, dated Foreign Office, January 23, 1809. " 1. That the Amei'ican g-ovcrnment is prepared in the event of his majesty's consenting to withdi-aw the orders in council of January and November, 1807, to withdraw contemporaneously on its part the interdiction of its harbours to ships of war, and all non-intercourse and non-importation acts, so far as re- spects Great Britain ; leaving them in force with respect to France, and the powers wliich adopt or act imder her decrees. ♦' 2. (VVliat is of the utmost importance, as precluding- a new source of mis- understanding wliich might arise after the adjustment of the other questions) THAT \MEllICA IS WK.LING TO IJENOUNCE, DURING THE PRE- SENT AVAR, THE PRETENSIONS OF CARRYING ON, IN TIME OF WAR, ALL TRADE WITH THE ENEMIES' COLONIES, FROM WHICH SHE WAS EXCLUDED DURING PEA(;E ! ! ! " 3. Great Britain, for the purpose of secm-ing the operation of the embargo, and of the bona fide intention of America to prevent her citizens from trading with France, and the powers adopting and acting luider the French decrees, IS TO BE CONSIDERED AS BEING AT LIBERTY TO CAPTURE ALL SUCH AMERICAN \ ESSELS AS MAY BE FOUND A I'TEMPTING TO TRADE WITH THE PORTS OF ANY OF THESE POWERS!!! without which sc- surity for Ihe oljservance of the embargo, the raising of it nominally with re- spect to Great Britain alone, would, in fact, raise it with respect to all the world. " On these conditions his majesty -luould consent to ■ivithdraio the orders in council of January and JVovember, 1807, so far as respects Jlmeiica." tHAr. 30,] EnSKINE'S ARRANGEilENT. 175 Let us examine this most precious document with all the at- tention its importance demands. Let us weigh its every line — its every word. Let us see what justice^ what fair dealing it meted out to this injured, this insulted, this plundered nation. Let us see how far the advocates of English libei^ality and Eng- lish justice are borne out in their commendations of England, and their intemperate abuse of their own government. The orders in council, existing at the date of the Erskine ar- rangement, blockaded France, Holland, and a part of Italy ; containing a population of about fifty millions of people. By Mr. Canning's instructions to Mr. Erskine, these orders were to be rescinded on three conditions — 1. Taking off all restrictions from the English commerce. 2. " Renouncing, during the existing war, all trade with the enemies' colonies from which we were excluded in time of peace:" in other words, assenting by treaty to the unjust and exploded rule of 1756. 3. Allowing the British to capture our vessels bound to France and her dependencies; which, reader, is neither MORE NOR LESS, THAN WEAVING THE ORDERS IN COUNCIL INTO A TREATY— and giving our own solemn sanction to the extra- vagant pretensions of Great Britain to limit our trade, which pretensions we had steadily resisted. Stupendous injustice ! — Never befoi^e were such revolting propositions made to any nation, not absolutely subjugated. What ! Make a treaty by which we should let loose upon our defenceless commerce, the whole host of the thousand public ships of w:ar, and hundreds of privateers, of the greatest naval power in the world ! The mind is lost in astonishment at such an unparalleled requisition. But gross, and insulting, and outrageous as was this proposi- tion — destructive as its acceptance would have been to the vi- tal interests of this countrv — there was, I believe, no federal printer from New Hampshire to Georgia, that expressed a sin- gle word of censure of the conduct of England for her daring and insulting demands, or for her breach of the contract. No. England was uniformly right— their own government as uni- formly wrong. It seemed impossible for England to commit any act, or make any demand that would not be justified — Let me establish these allegations — " It having been shewn, that the plea of ig-norance is inadmissible in the case of the Erskine an-angement ; that it was the secretary's duty to know the pow- er of the minister before he proceeded to act upon it ; that to act upon an un- known power, is to act without power : it follows that our administration, if they understood their business, must have been aware that they -ivere negociating ■with an unmUliorised individual ,- unauthorised quoad hoc, as to this particular subject; with one tuho had shotvn no authority for the pjirpose. Consequently they had no reason to rely on, nor to expect, a fulfilment of the compact by the British government, knotving, as they did, that it had been agreed upon ivithout 176 POLITICAL OLIVE BRA^XIL [chap. 30. anv adequate information of tlie terms having- been authorized by that govern- ment." United States Gazette, Dec. 11, 1809. " No expression has escaped any member of the British cabinet, eitlier in par- liament or elsewhere, making indecorous insinuations against the United States, or manifesting a temper unfriendly to conciliation. On the contrary they have declared a wish to renew amicable negociodon ; having named a minister for that purpose ; and, with at least appai-ent sincerity, have expressed their fears that this unfortunate en-or of Mr. Erskine may increase the difficulties of a jriendly arrangement between the two countries." United States' Gazette, October 5, 1809. " By letters from well-informed men in England, we are assured that tJiC con- duct of Mr. JLrskine is condemned by all parties in t/iat country ,■ that the temper of the pubhc is far beyond that of the ministry. A very general opinion pre- vails there, that it will be very difficult to keep any terms with this country: that ive are governed by men devoted to the interests of France, who are deterniineu to insist on terms from England ivhich never can he obtained//.'" Boston Palla- dium, August 11, 1809. " It is a tiTitli which the wisest and best patriots of America have long and seriously deplored, that the past administration had furnished no symptom of im- partiality between the two belligerents, \)rf . that the administration would be ren- dered greatly popular, and the resent- ment of the people proportionably augmented against England, whenever the chsavowal should he received. Whenever it shall be made to appear that the nation has been deceived, the trick will recoil upon the Secretary and his party with tenfold effect. The American people cannot bear knavery and imposition. If they discover that a fi'aud has been practised upon them at; home, the attempt to raise a clamouP against others, will be found but a poor protection to their popularity." Idem. " Those who were most violent at first in calumniating England, are now" willing at leat to suspend their decis- ion, if not to admit that oiir o-wn cabi- net in some measure will participate in >L'. Erskine's blame." Fed. Rep. Aug. 2, 1809. " Every one acknowledges, that had our executive concluded the arrange- ment of April last, with Mr. Erskine, knowing that he was unauthorised, the whole responsibihty for the conse- quences, however serious, would have rested upon themselves. It has been maintained by the editor of this Gazette, and is now demonstrated by the indubi- table authorities, adduced by Mr. Da- na, that to have do7ie so ivithoiit knoivinsr that he was authorised, was equally un- ■warrantable, and left the administration no ground on luhich to claim a ratification oftlie proceeding by the British goveni' ment. It is proved beyond a doubt, that i/ie government might, -cithjiist as rmich propriety, have cajoled -zvith gener- al Smith, or any other individual ; con- eluded a convention ,• proceeded to carry it into execution on their part : and then raised a clamour against the government of Great Britain, and accused them of perfidy and breach of faith for not recog- nizing and fulfilling the stipidations.^' Idem. Dec. 28, 1809. A folio volume might be filled with such frothy, elaborate, and anti- American defences of the British, and inculpations of the United States' government. But I feel satisfied that I have produced enough ; that none but the wilfully blind can deny, that no cause could ever boast of more ardent, more zealous, or more industrious advocates than the cause of Great Britain has expe- rienced in Boston, New-York, and Philadelphia; and that there BEFORE REJECTION. pie a perpetual irritation against the government of Great Britain ; we ai"e happy to find that Mr. Madison has more libei'al views. Fed. Rep. June 10, 1809. " Peace with England The 7iiar party and French partizans are throxvn into complete confusio7i. The perseve- rance of the Eastern States, aided by the returning sense of a formidable body of the people to the Southward, have DRIVEN AD]VnXISTRATION FROM ITS GROUND. Since Mr. Jefferson has retired in disgrace into private life, his successor has been com- pelled to abandon the ndnous policy un- der ivhich the country has so long suf- fered. With the magnanimity and frankness characteristic of a great and enlightened nation, England made a second attempt to renew the terms of amity and peace between the two nations. The particulars of the correspondence between Mr. Erskine and the secreta- ry of state are given in this day's pa- per. It proves what we have so of- ten repeated, and which has ever been, stubbornly denied by the democrats, that Gh'eat Britain was always infiuen- ced by a sincere desire to accommodate herwifortnnate differences with America. The preservation of the country has gi'own out of the efforts of tlie minori- ty of congi'ess." Idem, April 21, 1809. " We shall not stop to inqiare whe- ther the spirited and vigorous measures of New England — their determined pubhc declarations that they would not submit to an imnecessary and de- structive war, have induced the admin- istration to listen to the same terms which Great Britain has always been ready to offer, and to which xve have -uniformly con- tended she was sincereht disposed." Boston Gaz. April, 1809. 180 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [chap. 31, never was an administration pursued with more remorseless vi- rulence, and with less semblance of justice, than Mr. Madison's has been in this instance. After the reader has carefully perused those wretched attempts to palliate the miserable folly and madness of the British minis- try in the rejection of such an advantageous and honourable ar- rangement of the differences between the two nations, and to transfer from that ministry the high degree of odium it so justly deserved, to the administration of the American government, I beg he will attentively examine the following view of the sub- ject, taken from Bell's Weekly Messenger, of which the truth and candour are entitled to the highest approbation : " But the point of fact is, that the disavowal of Air. Erskine's act is of a piece with tlie general conduct of England towards America. Whenever cir- cumstances have in any way admitted it, our tone towards America has always been insulting-, and our conduct every thing but friendly. Every new hope on the continent ; every straw to the drowning expectations of Europe has but aggi-avated this unworthy sentiment. In our prosperity we have bullied Ame- rica; and when things are not so well with us, vve^have vented our strife in in- jurious language and unworthy conduct towards her. Whilst there were any hopes in Spain, America could get nothing direct ft-om us. But disappointment brought us to our senses, and the negociation was renewed. TJie coalition war on the continent has since broke out, and we begin to repent of our con- descension. " In this manner has the American negociation been on and off, during some j'eai's. — Our demands rising with our liopesand prosperity ,_and our moderation co-existent with our disappointment."* CHAPTER XXXI. Impressment of American seamen. Plea of James Madison. Of John S^d?icfj Adams. Of Win. Cobbett. Of Weekly Register. AN idea is very prevalent, that the impressment of our sea- men bv the British vessels of war is a grievance of little mo- ment, to which the malice entertained by our administration against England, has attached an importance of which it is utter- ly undeserving. Hundreds of thousands of our citizens have been duped into the belief, that this item of grievance was creat- ed under Mr. Jefferson, or at least incalculably exaggerated by him and his successor. Never was there a more egregious error. Never was fraud more successful in propagating — never was fa- tuitous credulity more deceived in believing — a tale as foreign from the truth as Erebus is from Heaven. Mr. Madison has been ten thousand times cursed for his folly and wickedness in involving this country in war for the purpose of securing a few seamen, said to be vagabond English, Irish, and Scotchmen, the scum of the earth, from the claims ot their lawful prince. It has been asserted that few or none of the natives of this country are impressed — that when such an acci- * The chief part of the cxti-acts in this chapter are taken from " Things as they are," written and published by II. Niles, editor of the Weekly Register, cEiP. 31.] nrPRESSMENT. 181 dent takes place^ redress is easily had — and further, that Eng- land is, and has at all times been, ready to make any arrange- ment whereby our sailors may be guarded against impressment, provided she can be secured against the loss ol hers. These assertions are utterly false. From the commencement of the war of the French revolution, to the late declaration of hostilities, this has been a constant, unceasing subject of recla- mation and complaint to the British government, as well under the administrations of General Washington and Mr. Adams, as imder those of Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Madison. And disgrace- ful, dishonourable, and infamous, would it have been to any of the presidents, had they been deaf to the complaints, and callous to the sufferings, of the American slaves, stolen by force and fraud from their families, and freedom, and favoured country, to perish, fighting the battles of their enslavers. " The practice has no parallel, either for atrocity or extent, in any thing of modern times, but the business of negro stealing on the coast of unfortunate Africa."* I submit to the reader the following eloquent and unanswer- able pleas against this nefarious practice. They so far transcend anv thing I could myself write on the subject, that I shall de- serve thanks for sparing my own, and substituting these lucub- rations. From the instructions of James Madison, esq. secretary of state, to James Moiiroe, esq. minister plenipotentiary at the court of London. " Were it allowable that British subjects should be taken out of American vessels on the high seas, it mig-ht at least be required that7/)e proof of t/ieir al- le^iance slmddlieon t/w British side. This ob\-ious and just rule is however re- versed. And every seaman on board, though going- from an American port, sailing under an Arnerican flag, and sometimes even speaking an idiom proving him riot to be a British subject, is presumed to be such, unless proved to be an American citizen. It may be safely affirmed, that iliisis an outrage luhich has no precedent, and which Great Britain -would be among the last nations in tlie world to suffer, if offered to her own subjects, and her own flag. " Great Britain has the less to say on the subject, as it is in direct contradic- tion to t/ie principles on ivliich she proceeds in other cases. Whilst she claims and seizes on the high seas, her own subjects voluntai-ily serving in American ves- sels, she has constantly given, when she could gi\e, as a reason for not dis- charging from her service American citizens, that tliey had voluntarily engaged in it. Nay more, whilst she impresses her own subjects from the American service, although they have been settled, and married, and naturalized in the United States, sl\e constantly refuses to release from her's, American seamen pressed into it, whenever she can give for a reason, that they are either settled, or married, within her dominions. "Thus, when the voluntary consent of the indi- vidual favours her pretensions, s/ie pleads the validity of that consent, When the voluntary consent of the individual stands in the way of her pretensions, it goes for notliing. When marriage or residence can be pleaded in her favour, she avails herself of the plea. Wlien marriage, residence, and naturalization are against her, no respect whatever is paid to either. SJie takes, by force, her own subjects ■^voluntarily serving in our vessels. She keeps by force American citizens involuU' iarily serving in her's. More flagrant inconsistencies caimot be imagined.''' * Weekly Register. O. B. 55 182 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [chap. 31. Never, since the world was formed, was there a stronger, or more irresistible train of argument, or collection of facts, than in the preceding paragraph. Never were flagrant injustice, out- rage, and violence more completely established, and eternally shut out from the possibility of defence. From a letter of John Q. Adains, esq. to JI. G. Olis, esq- "The impressed American citizens, however, upon duly authenticated proof, are delivered up. Indeed ! how unreasonable then were complaint ! how et- fectiiai a remedy for the wrongs ! an American vessel, bound to an European port, has two, three, or four native Americans impressed by a British man of war, bound to the East or West Indies. "When tlie American captain arrives at ills port of destination, he makes his protest, and sends it to the nearest Ame- rican minister or consul. When he returns home, he transmits ttie duplicate of his protest to the Secretary of State. In process of time, the names of the im- pressed men, and of the ship into whicli tliey have been impressed, tire receiv- ed by the agent in London. He makes his demand that the men may be de- livered up — the lords of the admiralty, after a considerable time for enquiry and advisement, return for answer, that the ship is on a foreign station, and their lordships can therefore take nt further steps in the matter — or, that the ship has been taken, and that the men have been received in exchang-e for French pri- soners — or, that they had no protections (tlie impressing' officers often havmg taken them from the men) — or, that the men -were probably British subjects ,■ or, that they had entered, and taken the bounty ; (to which the officers know how to reduce them) — or, thai they have been married, or settled in Englajid. In all these, cases, witliout further ceremony, their dischai'ge is refused. Sometimes, then' lordships, in a vein of humour, inform the agent that the man has been disc'iarged as unserviceable. Sometimes, in a sterner tone, they say he is an impostor. Or, periiaps by way of consolation to his relatives and friends, they report that he has fallen in battle, against nations in amity tvith his country. Sometimes the\- coolly return, that there is no such man onboard the ship : and \vhat has become of him, the agonies of a wife and children in his native land may be left to conjecture. When all these and many other apologies for re- fusal fail, tlie native American seaman is discharged — and when, by the charita- ble aid of his government, he has found his way home, he comes to be inform- ed, that all is as it should be — that thejiiimber of his fellow sufferers is small — that it ivas impossible to distiiiguish him from an Englishman — arid that he -was delivered vp, on duly authenticated proof." Extract from Cubbett''s Register. " Our ships of war, when they meet an American vessel at sea, board her, and take out of her by force, any seamen, whom our officei-s assert to be British subjects. There is no rule by which they are bound. They act at discretion ; and the consequence is, that great numbers of native Americans have been im- pressed, and great numbers of them are 7iow in our navy. The total number so held at any one time cannot, perhaps, be ascertained ; hnt from a statement pub - lished in America, it appears that ,TTr. Lyman, the late consul here, .stated the num- ber, about two years ago, at FOURTEEN THOUSAND. That many of these mat have died on board our ships — that many have been wounded — that many have been killed in action — and that many have been worn out in the service, there can be no doubt. Some obtain their release through the application of the American consul here : and of these the sufferings have in many instances been very great. There have been instances where men have thus got free after having been flogged through tlie fleet for desertion. " But it has been asked, whether we are not to take our sailors where we find them ? To which America answers, yes ; but take only your own : " take," said Mr. Lyman, " your whole pound of flesh ,• hut not a drop of blood" She says that she wishes not to have in her ships any British sailors : and she is willing to give them up, whenever the fact of their being British sailors can be proved. Lettiicm, she says, he brought before any magistrate, or any pubhc civil autho- ritj', in any one of your own ports, at home or abroad; and she is williu|f to CHAP. 31.] IMPRESSMENT. 183 abide by the decision. But, let hot men be seized in her ships upon the high seas (and sometimes at the mouths of her own rivers) where there is no body- to judge between the parties, and -ivhere the Brttish officer- going on board is at once ACCUSER, WITNESS, JUDGE, and CAPTOR !" From JViles's (Veeklii JRegister, vol. 3, page 303. "If the most dignified officer in the naval service of our enemy were to plun- der neutral vessels of a a box of cod-fs/i, or a bale of cotton, on suspicion that it was even enemy's property, it might cost him his whole fortune, with an igno- minious dismissal. The law of nations allows him to send in the vessel for adju- dication : and it becomes him to prove the fact he suspected. If he fail in this, he is often mulcted in heavy damages by the courts of law of his own countrj-. But in the business of man-stealing, he is Judge andjurij — he takes when and where he pleases, and is irresponsible for his conduct. If complaint be made, he silences it by the broad plea, " that his majesty wanted men .■" and if the man stolen is re- stored to liberty after years of dangers and servitude, without one cent for his hazard and toils, tliere are knaves who produce his case in evidence of " British inagnanimity .'" After the reader has carefully perused the preceding argu- ments, I request he will read and compare the sentiments of JVIr. Pickering on the subject of impressment at two different periods, the first when he was secretary of state, and the second when he was senator of the United States. Mr. Pickering, 1796, Mr. Pickering, 1808. " IVie British naval officers often im- " The evil we complain of arises press SWEDES, DANES, and OTHER from the impossibility of always distin- FOREIGNERS, from the vessels of the gjdshing the persons of two nations who Z7..5?«/tfs. THEY HAVE EVEN SOME- a few years since were one people, TIMES IMPRESSED FRENCHMEN! who exhibit the same manners, speak If there should be time to make out tlie same language, and possess similar the copy of a protest lately received, featiu-es.f it siiall be enclosed, describing the *' The British ships of war, agreea- impress of A DANE and A PORTU- bly to a right claimed and exercised GUESE. Tliis surely is an abuse easy for ages; a right claimed and exercised to coi-rect. They cannot pretend an in- dui'ing the whole of the adminlsti-ations ability to distingidsh these foreigners of Washington, of Adams, and of Jef- from their own subjects. They may ruith ferson, continue to take soHje q/" Me £?•/- as much reasonrob the American vessels tish seamen found on board our merchant of the property or merchandise nf the vessels,, and with them a small sumber Swedes, Danes, or Portuguese, as seize of ours, froivi the ijipossibilitt op and detain in their service the subjects of distinguishing EjfGLisHMEjr from ci- those nations fouiul on board American tizens of the United States."}" resse/s The president is extremely anx- "It is perfectly well known that ious to have this business of impress Great Britain desires to obtaijs placed on a reasonable footing."* only her own subjects.^- I cannot allow these extracts to pass without imploring the reader to ponder well on their contents — to compare them to- gether carefully. — The history of the human race, from the earli- est records of time, furnishes no stronger instance of contradic- tion, or inconsistency. Mr. Pickering, when his station as se- cretary of state, rendered it a duty to defend the rights of his country, clearly and explicitly asserts, that the British impressed * Letter from Timothy Pickering, esq. secretary of state, to Rufus King, esq. minister at the court of London, dated October 26, 1796. t Letter from Timothy Pickei'ing, to honourable James Sullivan, governor of Massachusetts, February 1808, page 13. 184 POLITICAL OLIVE BRAKCH. [chap. 32. Swedes, Danes, Portuguese, and even Frenchmen, from on board our vessels. Afterwards, to answer the purposes of faction, he states, in direct contradiction to facts of the utmost notorie- ty, that they impressed Americans merely through " the impos- sibility of distinguishing them from their own subjects !" What an awful perversion of facts ! chaptp:r XXXII. Impressment during the admi?iistration ofgerieral Washmgton. Extract of a letter from T. Jefferson, esq. secretary of state, to Thomas Pincknetj, ininister plenipotentiary of the United States at London, Department of State, June 11, 1792, «' The peculiar custom in Eng-land of impressing seamen on every appcaranc'e of war, will occasionally expose our seamen to peculiar oppressions and vexa- tions. It will be expedient that you take proper opportunities, in the mean time, of conferring with tlie minister on this subject, in order to form some ar- ran""ement for the protection of our seamen on those occasions. We entirely reject the mode which was the subject of conversation between Mr. Morris and him ; which was, that our seamen should carry about them certificates of their citizenship. This is a condition nevei- yet snhmitted to by any nation; one, with \Vhich seamen would never have the precaution to comply ; tlie casualties of their calling would expose them to the constant destruction or loss of this pa- per evidence ; and thus the British government tuoidd be annedivith legal authority to impress the ivhole of our seanmi. The simplest rule will be, that the vessel being American, shall be evidence that the seamen on board of her are such. If they apprehend that our vessels might thus become asylums for the fugitives of their own nation from impress gangs, the number of men to be protected by a vessel may be limited by her tonnage ; and one or two officers only be per- mitted to enter the vessel in order to examine tlie number ; but na press g-aTig should be allowed ever to go on board an American vessel, till after it shall be found that there are more than the stipidated mimher on board, nor till after the master ;5hall liave refused to deliver the supernumeraries (to be named by himself) to the press officer who has come on board for that purpose ; and even then the Ame- rican consul shall be called in. In order to urge a settlement of this point before u new occasion may arise, it may not be amiss to draw their attention to the Jjeadiar irritation excited on tlie last occasion, and the difficvlty of avoiding our ■makiiis- immediate reprisals on their seamen here. You will be so good as to com- municate to me what shall pas» on this subject, and it may be an article of con- vention to be entered into either there or liere." Fro7n the same to the same. October 12, 1792. "1 enclose you a copy of a letter from Messrs. Blow andMclhaddo, mer- chants, of Virginia, complaining of the taking away of their sailors, on the coast of Africa, by the commander of a British armed vessel. So many instances of this kind have happened, that it is quite necessary their government should ex- plain themselves on the subject, and be led to disavow and punish such conduct. t leave to your discretion to endeavour to obtain this satisfaction by such friend- ly discussions as may be most likely to produce the desired efiect, and secure to our commerce that protection against British violence, which it has never cxpei-ienced from anv other nation. No law forbids the seaman of any nation, TO engage in time of "peace, on board a foreign vessel : no law authorises such seaman "to break his contract, nor the armed vessels of his nation to interpose force for his rescue." From the same to the same. J\''ovember 6, 1792, " T enclose you now the copy of a letter from Mr. Pintard, our consul at Madeira, exhibiting another attempt at the practice on which 1 wrote to youin CHAP. 32.] IMI^RESSMENT. 183 my last, made by captain Hargood, of the British frigate Hyxna, to take seamen from on board an American vessel bound to the East Indies It is unnecessary todevelope to you the inconveniencies of this conduct, and the impossibility of letting it go on. 1 hope ijou -will be able to make the British ministry sentsible qf the ■necessity of punishing the past and preventing the future." Extract of a note from Mr. Jay, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of the United iS'tates at London, to lord Grenville, secretary of foreign affairs^ dated London, July 30, 1809. " The undersigned finds it also to be his duty to present, that tlie in-egulari- ties before mentioned extend not only to the capture and condemnation of American vessels and propei-ty, and to unusual and personal severities, but even to the impressment of Jjmerican citizens, to serve on board of armed vessels. He forbears to dwell on the injuries done to those unfortunate individuals, or on the emo- tions -which they must naturally excite, either in the bi easts of the nation to -which they belong, or of the just and humane of every country. His reliance on the justice and benevolence of his majesty, leads him to indulge a pleasing expectation, that orders will be given, that Americans so circumstanced be immediately hbera- ted, and that persons honoured with liis majesty's commissions do in future ab- stain from similar violences. " It is with cordial satisfaction that the undersigned reflects on the impres- sions whicli such an equitable and conciliatory measure would make on the peo- ple of the United States, and how naturally they would inspire and cherish those sentiments and dispositions which never fail to preserve as well as to produce respect, esteem, and friendship." Extract from the instmctions giveji by Timothy Pickering, esq. secretary of state, to Bufus King, esq. minister at the court of London. June 8, 1796. The long arid fndtless attempts that have been made to protect Jmerican sea- men from British impresses, prove that the subject is in its nature difficult. "The simplest rule would be, that the vessel being American, should be evi- dence that the seamen are such. But it will be an important point gained, if, on the high seas, our flag can protect those of whatever nation, who sail under it. And for this, humanity, as well as interest, powerfully plead. Merchant vessels carry no more hands than their safety renders necessary. To -withdraxu any of them «n the ocean, is to expose both lives and property to destruction. We have a right then to expect, that the British government will make no difficulty in acceding- to this very interesting provision. And the same motives should operate with nearly equal force, to procure for us the like exemption in all the British colo- nies, but especially in the West Indies. In the latter the consequence of an im- press is the detention of the vessel. By the detention, the vessel is injured or destroy- ed by theioorms, and the remiiant of the crew exposed to the fatal diseases of the cli- mate. Hence a longer detention ensues. The voyage becomes unprofitable to the merchant; and humanity deplores the loss of many valuable lives. But tliere is another cogent reason for an exemption from impresses in the British co- lonies—that THE PRACTICE WILL BE, AS IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN, SUB- JECT TO MONSTROUS ABUSES ; and the supreme power is so remote, that THE EVILS BECOME IRREMEDIABLE, BEFORE REDRESS CAN EVEN BE SOUGHT FOR. " To guai-d against abuses on the part of American citizens, every master of a vessel, on his arrival in any port of the British colonies, maybe required to report his, crew, at the proper office. If, afterwards, any addition be made to them by British subjects, these may be taken away. In the ports of Great Bri- tain and Ireland, the im]5ress of British subjects, found on board of our vessels, must doubtless be admitted. Rut this should be controlled by regulations to prevent InsuUs and injuries, and to administer prompt veYic^ -where American citizens f which ivill assuredly happen J shall be mistaken for JJritish subjects. " The7'e are three classes of men, concerning whom there can be no dijficidty. 1. JVative Amtrican citizens. 2. American citizens, ivherever bom, who xvere such at the definitive treaty of peace. 3. Foreigners, other than British subjects, sail- 18S POLITlfcAL OLIVE BRANCH. [chap. 33. mo- in Jmerican vessels, and whose persons ought to be as sacred, as it respects the British, as those of native citi-em. The 4tli class consists of British born sub- iects, but who, or many of whom, may have become citizens subsequent to the treaty of peace, or who hereafter may be admitted to the rights of citizens. It is this class alone, about which any pretence of riglit to impress can be made.^ With regard to these, it luav be attempted to protect them, as well m tmie ot war as of i^eace, in the following cases : First, when they shall have served in American vessels, public or private, for the same term in wiiich foreigners servin"'in British vessels would acquire the rights of British subjects, which is understood to be three vears ; or secondly, if so much cannot be obtained, vvhen those persons, originally British subjects, shall have resided five years in the United States, and been formally admitted to the rights of citizens, according to our laws. . . "It must often happen that sailors will lose their certificates; provision should therelbrc be made for the admission of other reasonable proof of their citizensliip, such as their own oaths, with those of the masters, iViates, or other creditable witnesses. The rolls of the crews, or shipping papers, may also be authenticated bv the collectors of the customs; an I then they ought to be ad- mitted as of cqiial validity witli the individual cexlificates." From the same to the same. September 10. 1796. « I enclose a letter from Francis S. Taylor, deputy collector of Norfolk, re- specting four impressed seamen. It appears to be written with candour, and merits attention. If, as the captain of the Prevoyante (Wemyss) says, the dig- nitv of the British government will not permit an enquiry on board their ships for American seamen, their doom is fijced for the war ,- and thus THE RIGHTS OF AN INDEPENDENT NATION ARE TO BE SACRIFICED TO BRI- TISH DIGNITY. Justice requii'es that such cnqviiries and examinations be made; because, otherwise, the hberatlon of our seamen will be impossible. For the British goveimment, then, to make professions of respect to the rights of our citi- zens, a>id willingness to release them, and yet deny the only means of ascertaining those rights, is an insulting tantalism. ^' If the Britisii. government have any regard to our rights, any respect for our nation, and place any value on our friendship, tliey will even facilitate to ns the means of releasing our oppressed citizens. The subject of our impressed seamen makes a part of our instructions ; but the president now renews his desire that their relief may engage your special attention." CHAPTER XXXIII. Impressment during' the admimstration of Mr. Adams. Letter from Ritfus King. From Silas Talbot. From Timothy Pick, ering. Instructions of fudge 3Iarshall to Rufus King. I NOW proceed, in chronological order, to state the views of our government upon — the remonstrances of our public officers against — and the redress afforded or refused in— the odious out- rage of impressment, during the administration of Mr. Adams. I begin with Rufus King, esq. whose name, from the grotmd he now takes in politics, is a tower of strength on this stibject. " The subject [of impressment] in all its details, has come under my obsen-a- tion ; and its importance, 1 confess, is much greater than 1 had supposed it- Instead of a few, and these in many instances equivocal cases, I have, since the month of July last, made apphcation for the discharge from British men of war, of two hundred and seventy-one seamen, who, stating themselves to be Ameri- cans, have claimed my interference : of this number eighty-six have by the ad- miralty been ordered to be discharged : thirty -seven more have been detained CHAP. 33] IMPRESSMENT. 187 as British subjects, or as American volunteers, or for want of proof that they are Americans ; and to my apphcations for the discharge of the remaining- one hundred and forty -eiglit, I have received no answer ; the ships on board of wliich these seamen were detained, having-, in many instances, sailed before an examination was made, in consequence of my apphcations. "It is certain, that some of those who have applied to me, are not American citizens. BUT THE EXCEPTIONS AKE IN MY OPINION FEW ; and the evidence, exclusive of certificates, has been such as in most cases to satistV me that THE APPLICANTS WERE REAL A:\IERICANS, who had been forced into the British service ; and who with singular constancy have generally per- severed in refusing pay and bounty, though in many instances they have been in service moi-e than two years. Timothy Pickering, esq. Hecretarij of State. RUFUS KING. To this document, I most earnestly invite and invoke the at- tention of the American nation, and of all the people of Christ- endom. It affords the most conclusive defence of the strong ground taken on this subject by the administration ; and sets the seal of eternal contradiction on the assertion, so often repeated, that the poor, miserable, enslaved, and by-his-country-abandon- ed sailor — the pride — the glorv — the bulwark of that ungrate- ful country — is " readibj surrendered^ vchen impressed by mis- take.'''' Let no man ever dare again to hazard the assertion. It is not true. It never was true. Mr. King tells a plain story. He applied for the emancipa- tion of 271 American slaves, forced to fight for their enslavers. Not quite a third were discharged : and more than one half of the whole number were debarred of any chance of redress, by a plain and simple process ; the vessels, on board of which they were, having " in many instances sailed before an examination was had in consequence of his application." Extract of a letter from Silas Talbot, esq. Kingston, Julij 4, 1797. " Admiral Sir Hyde Pai-ker, having gained information, that my application to the civil authority of this island, to obtain the release of such American citi- zens as were found to be detained on board his majesty's sliips of war, had been attended with some success, he immediately issued a general order to all cap- tains and commanders of ships and vessels of war, directing them not to obei; any -lurit of habeas corpus, nor suffer any men to leave their ships in coiiseqnence of any such writ. Since the above-mentioned order was issued, writs have been obtained against captain Elphinstone, of the Ttu-tar frigate, to produce three Americans, named in the writ, before the chief justice ; and against captain Foster, of the Albicore, to produce four ; and also, against captain Otway, of the Ceres frigate, to produce twenty Americans, in like manner before the chief justice. All those writs were served: but none of them was obeyed. Attachments against the said captains have been ordered by the court : and a writ of attachment against captain Otway was taken out fifteen days since. But the marshall has not been able, as he says, to serve it on captain Otway : and from all tliat I can learn, there is not any probability that he will serve the writ : so that the laws in tlds island, it seems, cannot be administered for the relief of American citizens, who are held in British slaveri/ ,• manv of whom, as thexj write me from on board captain Otway's ship, HAVE BEEN BROUGHT TO THE GANGWAY, AND WHIPPED, FOR WRITING TO THEIR AGENT TO GET THEM DISCHARGED !" SILAS nVLBOT. Timothy Pickering, esq. Secretary of State. 1S8 POIJTICAL OLIVE BRANCH. , [chaf, 33. Here again we find what redress the American slave had to expect. He was brought to the gangway, and ignominiously SCOURGED for daring to try to have his case taken into the cognizance of the American agent for the relief of impressed seamen ! ! ! Extract of a letter from the Secretary of State. August 15, 1797* " If any naval officer shall have committed such an outrage on any American seamen, as to BRING THEM TO THE GANGWAY, as you mention, or to in- flict any kind of pumshment on them, especially for seeking opportunities to inform you of their situation, for the purpose of obtaining the just relief to which they are entitled, pray endeavour to get proofs of the fact, that I may make it the subject of a special representation to the British goveriunent." Silas Talbot, esq. TIMOTHY I'lCKERING. Extract of a Letter from the Same. Trenton, October 3, 1797. "Lord Grenville's observations on the act of congress for the reUef and pro- tection of American seamen, present difliculties which demand consideration at the ensuing session. But your reasoning in your letter to his lordship of tlie thirtietii of last November, is conclusive against tlie British pretences to retain real American seamen who are married in their dominions, or who have vo- luntarily entered on board British vessels. It behoves the honour and faith of the British government, to adhere to their principle on natural allegiance luholly, or to renounce it wholly : and an answer on this point would have become his lord- ship's candour. "I consider colonel Talbot's agency in the West Indies to be no longer very important. The rigid conduct of admiral sir Hyde Parker (who from the begin- ning has thrown obstacles in the way) leaves but Utile room to get our seamen re- leased. The opp')sition of the officers in general, induced colonel Talbot to take out writs of habeas corpus at Jamaica, by which, directly or in their con- sequences, he obtained the discharge of nearly ffi y seamen. But admiral Parker has for some tmie past forbidden his officers to pay any attention to such lurits .■ and colonel Talbot informed me that some of our seamen have been punished for at- tempting to send letters to hinj to inform of their situation. "Mr. Liston assured me, that the British officers have orders not to impress any American seamen, and of course not to retain against their will any already impressed : but if they persist in obstructing every c/ianncl of information and proof of tlicir citizenship, such orders are, and ivill continue deceptive." iinfns King, esq. TIMOTHY PICKERING. Extract of a letter from Rufus King, esq. London, .March 15, 1799. " I mentioned our dissatisfaction with the continuation of the practice of taking out of our ships, met on the main ocean, such of their crews as did not possess certificates of American citizenship; denying, as I have often done, in former conferences, upon the same subject, any right on the part of Great Bri- tain, upon which the practice could be founded ; and suggesting that our ships of tear, by permission of our government, might -with equal right, pursue the same practice toward their merchantmen .• " Tliat not only seamen who spoke the English language, and who were evidentlv English or American subjects, but also ALL DANISH, SWEDISH, AND OTHER FOREIGN SEAMEN, WHO COULD NOT RECEIVE AME- RICAN PROTECTIONS, WERE INDISCRIMINATELY TAKEN FROM THEIR \ OLUNTARV SERVICE IN OUR NEUTRAL EMPLOY, and forced into the war in the naval service of Great Britain : « That on this subiect WE HAD AGAIN AND AGAIN OFFERED TO CONV CUR IN A CONVENTION, WHICH WE THOUGHT PRACTICABLE TO BE FORMED, AND WHICH SHOULD SETTLE THESE QUESTIONS IN A MANNER THAF WOULD BE SATISFACTORY FOR ENGLAND AND SAFE FOR US. CHAP. 23.] IMPRESSMENT. 189 " That to decline such a convention, and to persist in a practice which we were persuaded could not be vindicated, especially to the extent it was carried, seemed less equitable and moderate than we had a rig-ht to expect : " Lord Grenville stated no precise principle upon which he supposed this practice could be justified : aud the conversation upon this point, like many- others upon the same subject, ended without a prospect of satisfaction. The French and Spaniarck, and everij other nation, might pursue the same conduct as rightfully us G-reat Britain does. With respect /c//or«;g« seamen in our employ, this government has, if I recollect, yielded the point, though their oivn officers C07i. tinuc the practice. AVe are assured all Americans sliall be discharged on appH- cation for that purpose, and that orders to this effect have been given to their naval commanders; but tfus is far short of satisfaction ; mdeeJ, TO ACQl lESCE IX IT, IS TO GIVE UP THE RIGHT." RUFUS IvING. Thomas Pickering, esq. secretary of state. I beg the reader will most carefully and attentively re-peruse the second and third paragraphs of the preceding document. The second confirms the statement made by Mr. Pickering, when secretary of state, that Danes, Swedes and other foreigners, were impressed out of our vessels — and utterly contradicts and disproves his recent declaration, that the impressment of our seamen arose from the difficulty of discriminating between an Englishman and an American. What a farcical procedure it Avould be, to seize by mistake upon Danes, and Swedes, and Portuguese, as Englishmen! But the fact established by the third paragragh is still more important. It is, that this country " had again and again offered to settle these questions in a manner that would be satisfactory for England and safe for the United States :" and further, that " England had declined such a convention." And yet, Mr. Pickering has confidently stated the contrary, in direct opposi- tion to the fact, and to his own knowledge and experience. — I request attention to his declaration on this subject : — " Our government well know, that Great Britain is perfectly ivilling to adopt any arrangement that can be devised that -vill secure to her service the seamai who are her own subjects, and at the same time, exempt ours from impressment."* " JV man who regards the tndh, will question the disposition of the British go- rernment to adopt any arrangement that will secure to Great Britaiyi the service of her own subjects."\ These facts and assertions scorn the aid of comment. The dullest and most Boeotian reader must be struck with the aston- ishing contradiction and inconsistency they display. ^ With Mr. Pickering I am almost wholly unacquainted. He is far advanced . in years — and has held the highest and most confidential offices. " He has been honoured with the regard and esteem of the party to which he belongs, of whom he is consi- dered as one of the leaders. He has asserted of himself, • Letter of the honourable Timothy Pickering to his excellency James Sulli- van, governor of Massachusetts, February 16, 1808, page 1-3. •j- Idem, page 8. O. B. 26 190 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [chap. 33, " I may claim some share of attention and credit ; that share which is due to the man who defies the world to point, in the whole course of a long^ and pub- lic nie, at one instance of deception ; at a single departure from tiiith."* He and his friends are called on to reconcile the above state- ments with the facts of the case. It will give pleasure if he can, at the close of his long career, jitstify himself on this point to his own conscience, and to his own comitry, before whose bar he is thus solemnly cited. One other observation, and I distniss this letter. — Mr. King explicitly states, and with perfect justice, that to acquiesce in the idea that the surrender of our seamen is a satisfaction for the injury, is to admit the right of impressment, against which he most zealously and patriotically contended. Extract from a report of Timothy Pickefing, esq. secretary of state, to Cons^ress. December 9, 1799. " Admiral Parker paid no attention to tlie agent's' application on behalf of our impressed seamen ; the admiral having determined, and informed the agent of the dctenmination, that no proofs would be regarded by him, luiless specially presented by the American government through the British minister ; nor then, but in the single case of native Americans. Under this determination there wiE be detained, not only the subjects of his Bi-itannic majesty, naturalised since the peace of 1783 ; but all who, born elsewhere, were tlicn resident in, and had become citizens of the United States ; also, all foreigners, as GERMANS, SWEDES, DANES, PORTUGUESE, AND ITALIANS, who voluntarily serve in the vessels of the United States. And it is a fact that SUCH FOREIGNERS HAVE FREQUENTLY BEEN IMPRESSED ; although their language and other circumstances demoustrate THAT THEY WERE' NOT BRITISH SUB- JECTS." Here again we have Timothy Pickering, secretary of state, versus Timothy Pickering, senator of the United States. As secretary, he bears the strongest testimony on the subject of the latitudinarian principles on w)iich impressment is conducted. The subject strikes me in a new point of light. An Ameri- can vessel is met at sea by a British frigate, — The crew are brought trembling before that right reverend and worshipful magistrate, the lieutenant. All who cannot speak plain English are seized ; — as, being French, Germans, Danes, Italians, or Hottentots, they cannot be natives of the United States, and are not therefore entitled to protection from our flag. This scruti- ny is soon over. Another then takes place. And of those who speak plain English, he seizes as many as he supposes, or pre- tends to suppose, to be British sul^jects ! ! ! And yet we huve men in elevated stations who defend this practice ! Would to God that every n\an, how high, or how proud, or how exalted soever he be, who is an advocate for impressment, were himself impressed and enslaved on board a British man of war, with hard biscuit and junk beef for food, and a cat-o'-nine tails to * Letter of the honourable Timothy Pickering to his excellency James Sulli- van, governor of Massachusetts, Februaiy 16, 1808, page 13, CKAP. 33.] »rPRESS:SIENT. 191 his back, to punish his refractory spirit, in case he dared to com- plain ! Extract of a letter from John Marshall, esq. secretary of state, to Rufiis King, esq. minister plcnipotentiarii of the United States at London, dated Dppartment of State, September 20, 1800. "The Impressment of our seamen is an injuVv of very serious magnitude, which deeply afFects the feeling's and the honour of the nation. " This valuable class of men is composed of natives and foreigners, who en- g^ge voluntarily in our service. "No rig-ht has been asserted to impress the natives of America. Tet they are impressed; they are dragged on board f British ships ofivar, luith evidence of citi- zenship in their hands, and forced by violence there to serve, until conclusive testi- rnonials of tlieir birth can be obtained. These must most generally be sought for on this side of the Atlantic. Inthe mean time, ACl'LNOWLEDGED VIOLENCE IS PRACTISED ON A CITIZEN OF THE UNITED STATES, BY COMPEL- LING HIM TO ENGAGE AND CONTINUE IX FOREIGN SERVICE. Al- though the lords of tlie admiraltv uniformly direct their discharge on tlie pror chiction of this testimony ; YET MANY MUST PERISH, UNRELIEVED, AND ALL ARE DETAINED A CONSIDERABLE TIME, IN LAWLESS AND INJURIOUS CONFINEMENT. " It is the duty, as well as the right, of a friendly nation, to require that measuresbe taken by the British government to prevent the continued repe- tition of such violence by its agents. 'I'his can onlv be done bv punishing and frowning- on those who perpe\rate it. THE MERE RELEASE OF THE IN- JURED? AFTER A LONG COURSE OF SERVING AND SUFFERING, IS NO COMPENSATION FOR THE PAST, AND NO SECURITY FOR THE FUTUIJE. It is impossible not to believe that the decisive Intei-ference of the government in tliis respect, would prevent a practice, the continuance of which must inevitably produce discord between two nations, wliich ought to be the friends of each otlier. " Those seamen v/ho were born in a foreign cormtry, and have been adopted by this, were either the sul:)jects of Britain or some ofn.er power. " •' The right to impress those who were Briti.sh subjects has been asserted ; and the right to impress those of every other nation has not been disclaimed. " A'either the one practice nor the other can be justified. " With the naturahzation of foreigners, no other nation can interfere, fur- ther than the rights of that other are affected. The rights of Britain are cer- tainly not affected by the naturahzation of other than British subjects. Conse- quently, those persons, who, according to our laws, are citizens, must be so considered by Britain, and every other power not having a conflicting ciaunto "THE "united STATES, THEREFORE, REQUHIE POSITIVELY, TH\T THEIR SEAMEN WHO ARE NOT BRITISH SUBJECTS, WHE- THER BORN IN AMERICA OR ELSEWHERE, SHALL BE EXEAIPT • FROM IMPRESSMENT. " The case of British subjects, whether naturahzed or not, is more question- able ; but the right even to impress them is denied. The practice of the British government itself, may certainly, in a controversy with that government, be relied on The privileges it claims and exercises, may certainly be ceded to others. To deny this would be to deny the equality of nations, and to make it a question of power and not of right. . "If the practice of the British government may be quoted, that practice is to maintain and defend in their sea-service all those, of any nation, who have voluntarily engaged in it, or who, according to their laws, have become British subjects. , . , ^ , ^. - " AUen seamen, not British subjects, engaged in our merchant sen-nce, ougM to be equally exempt with citizens from impressments ; we have a right to en. ea^e them, and have a right to, and an Interest in, their persons, to the extent of the service contracted to be performed. Britain ^^«« ''"^t^^'^f ^..i(p Pn^° theirpevsonsoriothdrservice. TO TEAR THEM, THEN, FROM OUR POS^ 192 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [chap. 33. SESSION IS AT THE SAIME TIIVIE AN INSULT AND AN INJLTRY. IT IS AN ACT OF VIOLENCE FOR WHICH THERE EXISTS , NO PALUA- TI\E. "We know well that the difficulty of distinguishing- between native Ameri- cans and British subjects, has been used with respect to natives, as an apology for the injuries complained of. It is not pretended that this apology can be ex- tended to the case of foreigners ; and with respect to nati\ es, we doubt the ex- istence of the difficulty alleged. We know well that among tliat class of peo- ple called seanien, we can readily distinguish between a native American, and a person i-aised to manhood in Great Britain or Ireland ; and we do not perceive any reason why the capacity of making this distinction should not be possessed in tlie same degree by one nation as by the other. " If therefore no regulation can be formed which shall effisctually secure all Seamen on board American merchantmen, we have a right to expect from the justice of the British government, from its regard for the friendship of the Uni- ted States and its own honour, that it will manifest the sincerity of its wishes to redress this offence, by punishing those who commit it. "We hope, however, tiiat an arrangement may be entered into, satisfactory and beneficial to both paities. The article which appears to have been trans- mitted by my predecessor, while it satisfies this country, will probably restore to the naval service of Great Britain a greater number of seamen than will be lost by it. Should we even be mistaken in this calculation, yet the difference cannot be put into competition with the mischief which may result from the ir- ritation justly excited by this practice, throughout the United States. The ex- tent and justice of the resentment it produces, may be estimated in Britain by inquiring what impressions would be made on them by similar conduct on the pait of this government. '• Should we impress from the merchant service of Britain not only Americans but foreigners, and even British subjects, how long would such a course of in- jury unredressed be permitted to pass unrevenged!" How long would the go- vernment be content with unsuccessful remonstrance ? I beUeve, sir, that only the most prompt correction of, or compensation for, the abuse, would be ad- mitted *s satisfaction in such a case. "If the principles of tliis government forbid it to retaliate by impressments, there is yet another mode which might be resorted to. We might authorise our ships of war, though not to impress, yet to recruit sailors on board British merchantmen. Such are the inducements to enter into our naval service, that we believe even this practice would very seriously affect the navigation of Bri- tain, How, sir, would it be received by the British nation I" " Is it not more advisable to desist from, and to take effectual measures to prevent an acknow ledged wrong, than by perseverance in that wrong, to excite against themselves the ivell founded resentment of America, and force our govern- ■nient into measures ivMch may possibly terminate in open rupture .?" JOHN MARSHALL. To this able, eloquent, and acute defence of the rights of our oppressed and outraged sailors, and of our insulted sovereignty, the most pointed and particular attention of the reader is re- quested. The elevated rank and respectable standing of the wri- ter, entitle it to the utmost weight and influence. It sets the seal of reprobation on the impressment of the free citizens of a friend- ly neutral nation, by armed bands in the service of a belligerent : the most flagitious outrage ever perpetrated in a time of preten- ded peace. Extract of a letter from Hiifas King, esq. to the secretary of state, dated London , February 23, 1801. "The progress which had I)cen made in our negociation with this govcvn- itient, v/as such as must have brought it to a speedy conclusion, had not a . UAi*. 3-1..] f IMPRESSMENT. 193 change taken place in the department of foreign utT;iirs ; that the result wonld in the main have been satisfactory, is more than I am authorised to saj-, al- thougli 1 flattered myself with the hope that it w ould be so. Lord Hawkesbury assures me that he will give to the several subjects, which have been pretty fully discussed, an early iuid impartial consideration ; and I am in hopes that lord Vincent will likewise be inchned to attend to our reiterated remon- strances against the impressment of our seamen, and the vexations of our trade. KUFUS IvlNG." CHAPTER XXXIV. Mr. Lhtoii's projet of a convention respecting deserters. Ob- jected to hij Mr. Pickering^ Mr. Stoddart^ 3Ir. Wollcott^ and Mr. 31'' Henry. Rejected. In the year 1800, Mr. Listen, the British minister, submit- ted to Mr. Adams, president of the United States, a projet of a treaty for the mutual delivery of deserters, of which 1 annex the seventh and ninth articles, being those which alone bear on the subject of impressment. 7. "It is, however, understood, that this stipulation is not to extend to autho- rise either of the parties to demand the delivery of any sailors, subjects or citizens belonging to the other party, who have been enipio} ed on board the vessels of either of the respective nations, and who have, in time of war or threatened hostility, voluntarily entered into the service of their own sovereign or nation, or have beat compelled to enter therein, according- to the laws and prac- tice prevailing' in the ttvo coiintries respectively. 9. " It IS, however, understood, that no stipulation in this additional article bhall be consUued to empower the civil or military officers of either of the contracting parties forcibly to enter into the public ships of war ,- or into tlie forts, garrisons or posts of the other party ; or to use violence to the pei-sonsof the land or sea officers of the respective nations, with a view to compel the de- iiverj- of such persons as may have deserted from the naval or military service of either party as aforesaid ." This projet which was intended to sanction impressment on board private vessels, by the exception of " public ships of war," was submitted to the heads of departments, and to the attorney general, for their opinions, which I subjoin. From Timothy Pickering, esq. secretary of state, to Jlfr. Adams. Febniary20, 1800. " The secretary has the honour to lay before the president Mr. Liston's note of the fourth of February, together with his projet of a treaty for the recipro- cal deliverv of deserters ; which appears to the secretani -iitterhi inadmissib'r, UNLESS IT WOULD PUT AN END TO LMPllESSMENTS— which Mr. Listen seemed to imagine — widle the smeiuh paragraph of Ms projet eorpresshi recog-nizes the right of impressing JSrilUsh subjects, and co?isequenth/ American ciii. zens as at present. TIMOTHY PICKERING." B. Stoddart, esq. secretary of the navy, to the president February 26, ISOO . " The secretary of the navy is clearly of opinion, that it is better to have no article, and meet all consequences, than not to enumerate merchant vessels on the high seas, among the things not to be entered in search of deserters." Oliver IVolcott, esq. secretary of the treasury, to the president. Af>riJ'26,lS0O. " The projet of a treaty proposed by the minister of his Britannic majesty, for the reciprocal delivery of deserters from the land and naval service, does POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH [chap. 34. not svjfficiently provide against tJie impressment of American seamen ; and is there- fore deemed inadmissible.'" As a substitute for Mr. Liston's seventh article, Mr. Picker- ing proposed the following : " It is, however, understood, that nothing- in these stipulations shall be con- strued to empower the civil, military, or naval officers of'either of the contract- ing- parties, forcibly to enter into the territory, forts, posts, or vessels of the other party — or to use violence to the persons of the commanders or the offi- cers of the forts, posts, or vessels of the other party, with a view to compel the delivery of such persons as sliall desert as aforesaid." This article was intended fully to secure from impressment, even in our private as well as public vessels, not merely our own citizens, but also the subjects of Great Britain ; in a word, to put an end entirely to the practice of impressment on board our vessels. Mr. Wolcott, secretary of the treasury, proposed a substitute for the article objected to, still more clearly and explicitly anni- hilating the pretensions of England to impress seamen of any . description on board our vessels. " It is, however, understood, that nothing in the foregoing stipulations shall be construed to empower the civil or any other officers, of either party, forcibly to enter the forts, posts, or any other place within or under the juriscliction of the other party ; nor to empower the naval commanders or other officers of either party forcibl}' to enter any public or p"ivate vessels of the other party, on the high seas, with a view to compel the deli\'ery of any person whatever ; on the contrary, it is expressly declared to be the understanding of the contract- ing parties, that the mutual restorations of persons claimed as deserters, shall only be made by the free and voluntary consent of the mihtary officers employ- ed in the land service, or tlie commanders of the public or private ships or vessels of the two parties, or in pursuance of the decisions of the courts, judges, or other competent civil officers of the two nations, in all cases arising within their respective jurisdictions. O. WOLCOTT." James M' Henry , secretary of -war, to the president. War Department, April 16, 1800. " The secretary thinks the projet of Mr. Liston may be substantially ac- cepted, except the 7th article, which seems to provide that the United States shall not demand the delivery of any sailors, although their citizens, if they have been employed in British vessels, and who have in time of war, or threat- ened hostilities, voluntarily entered into the British service, or have been com- pelled to enter therein, according to the law and practice prevailing in Great Britain. This article is very inaccurately expressed ; for it says, "employed or entered into the service of their own sovereign or nation, or have been com- pelled to enter therein," &c. If this article mea7is, -what it is appreJiendedit does, it is wholly inadmissible. It establishes a principle reprobated by this country. The countcr-projet of the secretary of state, in substance, meets the secreta- ry's approbation ; but it is submitted, whether the adoption of part of the draft by the secretary of the treasury, will not improve it. '^ All which is respectfliUy submitted, JAMES M'HENRY." Apnim, 1800. *'The attorney general hanng read and considered the letter of the, secretary of state, and the j^rojet of an ai-ticle drawn by the secretary of the treasury, on the subject of deserters, which are proposed to be sent to the Britisli minister here, expresses liis entire approbation of the same. CHARLES LEE." CHAF. 35.] OIPRESSjMENT. 19a CHAPTER XXXV, Horrors of Impressment^ as submitted to congress^ by Tmothtj Pickerings secretary of state. To afford a specimen of the treatment of some of the impress- ed American seamen, whose cases it has become fashionable to treat with indifference, and whose awful sufferings have been palliated or denied, I submit extracts from authentic documents on the subject. It will incontrovertibly appear that the horrors of this odious and execrable business of impressment have been quintupled by the odious and execrable manner in which it has been conducted. Extract from the deposition of Eliphalet Ladd, second mate on board the Thomas and Sarah, of Philadelphia, and a native of E3eeter,J\"eiv Hampshire, annexed to a report submitted to congress by Timothy Pickering, esq. secretary of state. Kingston, June 19, 1799. Eliphalet Ladd maketh oath, that on Wednesday, the 12th inst. he came on shore with two seamen belong-ing to said ship, named John Edes, and Israel Randol, in order to land a boat load of staves ; that a press gang came up, and laid hold of John Edes ; that one of the press gang, named Moody, -vith a broad sword cut this deponent on the forehead, and made a -voiind of three inches ! ! They tlien took deponent, together with Edes, and conducted them in different boats on board the Brunswick man of war ; that the boat on board of which Edes was, made the ship some little time before that the deponent was in ; and on deponent's neai-ing the ship, he heard the cries of a man flogging ! ! ! and on going up the side of the Brunswick, he perceived Edes, who was ciying ; and adcb-esslng himself to the first lieutenant, a Mr. Hams, saying, here is a man who can attest to what I have told you. The lieutenant then laying hold of deponent by the arm, said, go along on the quarter deck, you damned rascal you ! ! ! which deponent accordingly did ; that all the impressed men were then examined, and aftei-wards ordered by the heutenant into the waist ; that when they got there, Edes pulled off his shirt, and SHOWED DEPONENT HIS BACK, WHICH WAS BRUISED FROM HIS SHOULDERS TO HIS HIPS ! ! ! He then informed, he had just been whipped -with ropes' ends, as depo- nent was going up the ship's sides, by the boatswain and his mates, by orders of the lieutenant ; that deponent remained on board the Brunswick all that day and the next night, during ivhich no surgical or medical assistance -vas gii'en to the ivound he had received on /lis head, nor to the bridses of tlie said Edes, vho, during the night, called out sevei^al times from extreme pain ; and the next morning was barely able to move himself; that between nine and ten o'clock the next morning, the whole of the impressed men were again ordered on the quarter deck, and stationed, except deponent and Edes ; that while tlie examination was going on, the captain of the Thomas and Sarah was coming on board, but was prevented by the lieutenant, who ordered the centinel to keep him off; that at about eleven o'clock the captain of the Bnmswick came on board; and at three o'clock deponent was discharged, but Edes retained. " ELIPHALET LADD." Sworn before William Savage, justice of the peace, &c. Further extract from the preceding report of Timothy Pickering, esq. secretary of state, to congress. Richard Carter, of the Pomona, of Portsmouth, impressed at the same time with Ladd and Edes, among other items of his deposition, swore, " he was violently forced into a boat, and STRUCK TWICE, WITH A DRAWN CUT- LASS, by oiie of the press gang; and that two men with pistols placed •ver this deponent, who loaded their pistols in the presence of this deponent, a-nd threatened to blow out his brains if he attempted to move or speak .- and then, tliey 1% POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [chap. 36, carried this deponent, and John Edes, one of tlie seamen of the ship Thomas and Sarah, an American citizen, whom they had also seized, on board the said Brunswick : this deponent and the said John Edes were ordered to go on the quarter deck, where Mr. Harris, the first lieutenant of the said ship, abused this deponent and said John Edes ; and gave them in charge to the master of said ship, while he went to look for the boatswain's mate; and soon after re- turned with the boatswain's mate, whom he ordered to take this deponent and the said John Edes, and to beat them ; in obedience to which orders, t/ie said Joh7i Edes and this deponent -were sevei^ely beaten, particularli/ this deponent, the doatsu'uin's mate doubling a rope of about three inches and a half thick, and BEATING THIS DEPONENT WITH GREAT VIOLENCE OVER THE HEAD, FACE, NECK, SHOULDERS, BACK AND STOMACH, UNTIL HE HAD TIRED HLVISELF ! ! ! and then he gave the same rope to one of the ma- riners of the said ship Bninswick ,■ and he also severely beat this deponent in tlie same maimer ! ! and tliis deponent saith, he received iiptvards of a hniidred blows / / and -was thereby greatly bndsed, and his face cut, and his stomach, as -well inter- nally as externally, mjured, so that deponait brought np a quantity of blood for se- veral daifs. " Sworn before me, WILLIAM SAVAGE." To avoid prolixity, I have omitted the residue of this depo" sitioii. The deponent was hberated by habeas corpus. Annexed to this deposition is that of the physician, who at- tended Richard Carter, who declared, that " Fi'om the situation in which he found the said Carter, he verily believed he had been very severely beaten some days previous, his blood being very much extravasated . and from the appearance of the bruises, it must have been done with a thick rope." It is difficult to find terms to pour out the abhorrence and in- dignation excited by the abominable scenes depicted in these depositions and narratives. Language fails in the attempt. Shame, disgrace, dishonour, and infamy, will attend the coun- cils and counsellors of America, for the base submission to such monstrous cruelty. The outrage ought to have been met at the threshold. — Atonement to the sufferers ought to have been made at the public expense, that is, as far as such horrible injuries can be atoned for — and demand made for the re-payment of the money thus employed. If not complied with, full and complete retaliation ought to have taken place. CHAPTER XXXVI. Impressment during' the ad^ninistration of Mr, 'Jefferson. Let- ter from Riifiis King. Arrangement with lord St. Vincent rejected by Mr. King. Letter from Rnfus King, esq. to the secretary of state. JVew York, July, 1803. " Sir — As soon as the war ajipearedto me unavoidable, I thought it advisable to renew the attempt to form an an-angement with the British government for the protection of our seamen. Witii this view I had several conferences, botlx with lord HawkcsbuVy and Mr. Adchngton, who avowed a sincere disposition to do whatever might be in their power to prevent the dissatisfaction on this subject, that had so frequently manifested itself during the late war : imth very candid professions, I, however, found several objections, in discussing the projet with the first lord of tlie admiralty. Lord Hawkesbury having promised to sign CHAP. 36.] IMPRESSMENT, 19? any agreement upon the subject that I should condude with lord St. Vincent. 1 endeavoured to quality and remove the objections he oHered lo our projet : and finally, the day before I left London, lord St. Vincent consented to the fol- lowing regulations : " 1. No seaman or seafaring person shall, vpon the high seas, cmd -Mihont the junsdiction of either partij, he demanded or taken out of any siiip or vessel be- longing to the citizens or subjects of one of the parties, by the public or private armed ships ormeii ofivar, belonging to or in tlie service of the other party ; and Strict orders shall be given for the due observance of this engagement. "2. Each pai-ty will prohibit its citizens or subjects from clandestinely cnn- ciealing or carrying away from the temtories or colonial possessions of the other, any seaman belonging to the other party. " 3. These regulations shall be in force for hve years, and no longer. " On parting with his lordship, I engaged to draw up, in tlie form of a con- vention, and send him these articles, in the course of the evening, who promis- ed to forward them, with his approbation, to lord Hawkesbury. I accordingly prepared and sent the draft to his lordship, who sent me a letter in the course of the night, stating that on further reflection he was of opinion, that the narro7ii sees should be expressly excepted, they having been, as his lordship remarked, immemoriallv coiisideredto be within the dominions of Great Britain ; that with this correction he had sent the proposed convention to lord Hawkesbury, who, his lordship presumed, would not sign it before he should have consulted the judge of the high court of admiralty, sir A\'illiam Scott. " As I had supposed, from the tenor of my conferences with lord St. Vincent, that the doctrine of the mare clauswn woidd not be revived against us on this occasion, but that England would be content with the limited jurisdiction or dominion over the seas, adjacent to her territories, which is assigned by the law of nations to other states, I was not a little disappointed on receiving this com- munication; and after weighing well the nature of the principle, and the disad- vantages of its admission, I concluded to abandon the negociation rather than to ac- quiesce in the doctrine it proposed to establish. " I regret, not to have been able to put this business on a satisfactory footing, knowing, as 1 do, its very great importance to botli parties. But I flatter my- self that I have not misjudged the interests of our country, in refusing to sanc- tion a principle that miglit be productive of more extensive exits than those it was oni' aim to prevent. RUFUS KING." This is a most important document, and must never for an instant be overlooked in forming a decision on the question of impressment. Mr. King was united with, and a leader among those men who were lately hunting down Mr. Madison, and preparing the way for anarchy and civil war : and the chief pre- tence was the stand Mr. Madison made against impressment. Nevertheless, we find that he took higher ground himself — and that it is indisputably true, that more than one half of the mi- series of our poor, oppressed, and enslaved seamen, are charge- able to his account. And whatever may be the maledictions which his friends are showering down upon Mr. Madison, a double portion of them has been richly earned by Mr. King. For it appears, that had he been so disposed, he might have res. cued our sailors from the horrors of impressment, every where but on the narrow seas, which would have greatly abridged their sufferings, as well as our complaints against (ireat Britain. And yet, lately, with a most wonderful and hideous degree of incon- sistency, he has, as I have stated, been persecuting and trying to crush ]Mr. Madison for the attempt to protect our seamen, in O. B. 27 198 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [chat. 36. whose favour he himself formerly displayed such a high degree of solicitude ! To evince how universal has been the indignation of our mer- cantile citizens against the oppression of, and cruelties perpe- trated upon, our seamen, I annex impressive extracts from do- cuments on the subject. Extract ft om a memorial to consTC'm, nf the inhabitants ofSaIem,Jainiary20,\^Q6' " Your memorialists are sorry, that other instances of hostile conduct have been manifested by Great Britain, less direct in their natvire, but not less dero- gatory from our sovereignty than those enumerated. THE IMPRESS MENT OF OUR SEAME>f, nntivillistniuUng clear proofs of citiienship, the violation of bur jurisdiclion by capture at the moutlis of our harbours, and insulting- treat- ment of our ships on the ocean, are subjects worthy of tlie serious considera- tion of our national councils, and will, we have no doubt, receive an eai-lj-, prompt, and decisive atttention." Signed in behalf of the inhabitants, by their authority, John Hathorne, Joseph Sjn-ague, Jonatlian Mason, Benjamin Crowninshield, jun. Joseph White, jun. Joseph Story. Extract from a memorial of c general meeting of the merchants of J\"ew York, Hc' cemher 26, li^. " But it is not on account of oui- pecupifliy-Iosses alone tliat we complairr. The constancy and valour of the seamen of the United States are justly themes of patriotic exultation. From tlieir connexion with us, -mc consider their cause as our cause ; their rights as our rights ,- their interests as our interests. Our feelings are indignant attlie recital of their -^vrongs." John Jacob Astor, Samuel Bell, Abraham Smithy Joshua Jones, Samuel Adams, J. F. Delaplalne, Thomas H.Smith, jun. Fred. Giraud,juT». HowlandSc Gi'innel, Peter Stagg, Andrew Foster, Robert Roberts, E. Slossom, David Taylor, Jacob Barker, John Crookes, Israel Gibbs, Wm. Adee, WiUiam Lovett, HughM'Cormick, Isaac Clason, John T. Lawrence, Wm. Edgar, jun. John Depevster, John Slidell, Joseph W. Totten, Samuel Stihvell, Gilbert Haight, JoliiiK. Townsend, I. Schermerhorn, Jacob P. Giraud, James Lovett, And. Ogden ?c Co. Alexander Ruden, Jolm Hone, Left'ert Lefferts, Thomas Storm, Joseph Otis, John Kane, Aug. Wynkoop, Amos Butler, Lewis Hartman, Amasa Jackson, Jolui W. Gale, Ebenezer B\irrlll, Gan-et Storm, Wm. J. Robinson, Thomas Rich, Isaac Hcjer, George Bement, Joseph Strong, Samuel Mar.shall, Ralph Bulkley, S. A. Rich, Abraham S. Hallet, Elbert Hernng. This beautiful piece of composition does equal honour to the head and heart of the writer. But many of these subscribers have violated their engagements. They have not i-edeemed the solemn pledge that accompanied this morceau. They have most indubitably done all in their power to fasten the horrors of im. pressment, with adamantine chains, on those illustrious men, " whose cause — whose rights — whose interests — they considered as their own cause — their own rights — their own interests." For no man beyond the rank of an ideot, can doubt, that every step taken to cripple the government — which game they lately played on a large scale — was a step towards laying the nation, tied neck and heels, at the feet of England, to prescribe what terms she pleased, and of course to perpetuate the miseries of impressment. uHAP. 36.] IMPRESSMENT. 199 Extract from the memorial of the nierchatits of Philadelphia to Congress, December 1805. " That our seamen should be exposed to the MEANEST INSULTS, AND MOST WANTON CRUELTIES, and tlie fruits of our industry and enterprise fall a prey to the proflig-ate, cannot but excite both feeling and indignation, and call loudly for the aid and protection of government." T. Fitszimons, L. Clapier, W. Montgomery, Thomas English, AV. Suns, Manuel Eyre, George L.atimer, Philip Nickhn, J. Gerard Koch, John Craig, Daniel W. Coxe, Chandler Price, .Joseph S. Lewis, Robert Ralston, Ab. Kinlzing, Robert Wain, Thomas Allibone, Th. W. Francis, James Yard, R.E. Hobart, secy Some of the gentlemen who signed this petition, stand in pre- cisely the same situation as some of the signers of New- York. The observations made on those — of course apply to these. Extract from the memoriul of the meixhants of Baltimore, dated Jannarij 21, 1805. " Your memorialists w ill- not trespass upon your time with a recital of the various acts by which our coasts and even our ports and harbours liave been converted into scenes of violence and depredation ; and our gallant coimlrijmen oppressed and persecuted." Thomas Tenant, William Patterson, Steuart Brown, WiUiam Taylor, John Donnel, .lolm Sherlock, David Stewart, Robert Gilmor, Luke Tiernan, Henry Payson, Mark Pringle, James Calhoun, T. Hollingswortli, William "NVilson, John Strieker, Samuel Steret, George Stiles, T. Swan, Benj.amin Williams, Hugh Thompson, J.A.Buchanan, Joseph Steret, William Lorman, Samuel Taylor. Alexander M'Kim, Extract from a memorial to Congress of the merchants of JVeivhaven, agreed to Febniari/ 7, 1806. "In regard to THE IMPRESSMENT OF AMERICAN SEAMEN, your memorialists feel in common with their fellow citizens, a lively indignation at the abuses of power often exercised by Biilish oflicers upon American citizens. We have full confidence that the government of the United States will adopt and pursue such ineasvu'es for restraining these injurious proceedings .as the honour and interests of the United States may require." After the murder of captain Pearce, entering the port of New- York, by captain Whitby, of the Leander, within the jurisdic- tion of the United States, there were meetings held in various parts of the country, to express their abhorrence of the outrage. On the 26th of April, 1806, at the Tontine Coffee House in New- York, there was a numerous and very respectable meeting of federalists, who appointed l^i/fus Kin^, Ebenezer Stevens, Oliver Wolcott, William W. W^oolsey, and William Hender- son, to draw up and report a set of resolutions for the occasion. In their report, which Avas unanimously agreed to, was the fol- lowing philippic against the administration, for permitting IM- PRESSMENT among other grievances. " Resolved, That the suftering foreign armed ships to station themselves off our harbour, and there to stop, search, and capture our vessels — to IMPRESS, WOUND, AND MURDER OUR CITIZENS, is a gross and criminal neglect of the highest duties of government ; and that an administration which pa- tiently pei'mits the same, is not entiiled iv the conjidence of a brave and free peo' pic. " Resolved, That the murder of John Pearce, one of our fellow citizens, by a shot from a British ship of war, at the entrance of our harboui-, and within half a mile of the shore, while he w»4 engaged in peaceably navigating a coasts 30O POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [chap. 37 ing vessel, laden with provisions for our market, is an act that excites our de- testation and abhorrence ; and calls upon our government for the adoption of prompt and vigorous measures to prevent a repetition of such wanton and in- human conduct, and so flagrant a violation of our sovereignty." Some of my readers may not know — but it is perfectly pro- per that all should know, that captain Whitby was brought to trial in England, and honourably acquitted^ notwithstanding the most undeniable evidence of the crime was dispatched to Eng- land at the expense of our government. For the murder of Pearce, no atonement has ever been made. It still cries shame and disgrace on his passive countrymen. CHAPTER XXXVII. Documents on impressment continued. Deposition of Isaac Clark. " I Isaac Clark, of Salem, in the county of Essex, and commonwealth of Mas- sachusetts, on solemn oath declare, that I Vk^as born in the town of Randolph, in the county of Norfolk; have sailed out of Salem aforesaid, about seven years ; that on the 14th of June, 1809, I was impressed and forcibly taken from the ship Jane, of Norfolk, by the sailing master (his name was Car) of his ma- jesty's ship Porcupine, Robert Elliot, commander. I had a protection from the custom-house in Salem, which I showed to captain Elhot; he swore that I 7t'as an Englishman ; tore my protecUo7i to pieces before my eyes, and thre^u it overboard, and ordered me go to work. I told him I did not belong to his flag, and 1 would do no work luider it. He then ordered my legs to be put in irons, and THE NEXT MORNING ORDERED THE MASTER AT ARMS TO TAKE ME ON DECK, AND GIVE ME TWO DOZEN LASHES : after re- ceiv:ng them, he ordered him to keep me in irons, and give me one biscuit and one pint of water for twenty four hours. After keeping me in this situa- tion one week, I was brought on deck, and asked by captain Elliot, if I would go to my duty. On my refusing, he ordered me to strip, tied me up a second time, and gave me txvo dozen more, and kept me on the same allowance another week — then ordering me on deck again, asked if I would go to work. I still persisted that I was an American ; and that he had no right to command my ser\ ices, and I would do no work on board his ship. He told me he would ' punish me until I was willing to work ; and gave jne the third tivo dozen lashes, ordered a very heavy chain put round my neck fsuch as they had used to sling the loiver yardj fastened to a ring bolt in the deck, and that no person, except the master at arms, should speak to me, or give me any thing to eat or drink, but one biscuit ancl a pint of water for twenty four hours, until I would go to work. I was kept in this situation nine weeks, when, being exhausted by hunger and thirst, I was obliged to yield. After being on board the ship more than two years and a half, and being ivoundedin an actionxvith a French frigate, I was sent to the hospital. When partially recovered, I was sent on board the Impregna- ble, 98 gun ship. My wound growing worse, J was returned to the hospital, when the AuK-rican consul received a copy of my protection from Salem, and procur- ed my discharge on the 29th day of April last. There were seven impressed AmericiJis on board the Porcupine, three of whom entered. ISAAC CLARK. Essex, ss. Dec. 23, 1812, "Then Isaac Clark personally appeared, and made solemn oath that the facts in the foregoing declaration, by him made and subscribed, were true in all their parts — before JOHN PUNCHARD, 7 Justices of the peace and of M. TOWNSEND, $ the quorum. «HAP. 37".] LVIPRESSMENT. 201 From Com. Rogers to the Secretary of the JVavy. U. S. Frigate President, Boston, Jan. 14, 1813. "Sir — Herewith you will receive two muster books, of his Britanuic mujes- ty's vessels Moselle and Sappho, found on board the British packet Swallow' " As the British have always denied that they detained on board their ships of war, American citizens, knowing' them to be such, I send you the enclosed, as a public document of their own, to prove how ill such an assertion accords with their practice. " It will appear by these two muster books, that as late as August last, abovt an eighth part of the Moselle and Sappho' s crexus were Americans ,■ consequentl}^ if there is only a quarter of that proportion on board their other vessels, that they have an infinitely greater number of Americans in their service than any American has yet an idea of. " Any further comment of mine on this subject, I consider unnecessaiy ; as the documents speak too plain for themselves. JOHN RODGERS. " The hon. Paul Hamilton, Secretary of the Navy." Extract of a letter from Commodore Porter to J\I. Carey, dated Washing-ton, July 13, 1815. " After closing my letter of this morning, I received yours of yesterday : and, as the only means ofprocui-ing the information required, have consulted Com- nvodore Rodgers, who informs me, that there appeared on the muster books of the Moselle and Sappho, tlie naines of from thirty five to forty men, who wcvc reported to the admiralty office, as impressed American seamen. The places of their nativity are also noted. The complement of men for each of the ves'- sels was about 160. With respect, &c. DAVID PORTER. "I Beekman Ver Plank Hoffman, of the town of Poughkeepsie, do certify, that I am a heutenant in the United States' navy ; that I was a lieutenant on board the Constitution in the action and capture of the Java ; and was sent on board that vessel ; and after the crew were removed, set her on fire, and blew her up. " Among the crew of the Java, THIRTEEN IMPRESSED AMERICAN SEAMEN were found, three of whom had entered the British service, and were left : the other ten were liberated as Americans." Poughkeepsie, April 16, 1813. B. V. HOFFMAN. " Richard Thompson, being sworn, saith, that he is a native of New Paltz opposite Poughkeepsie ; that lie sailed from Wilmington about the twenty- eighth of April, 1810, on board the brig W^arren, William Kelly, captain, for Coi'k On the homeward passage, in September following, he was imjiressed and taken on board the Peacock, a Britisii sloop of war, and comjjclled to do his duty ; that while on board that vessel, he made many unsuccessful attempts to write to his friends, to inform them of liis situation. He further saith, that after he had heai-d of the war, himself and two other impressed American seamen who were on board the Peacock, went aft to the captain ; claimed to be considered as American prisoners of war ; and refused to do duty any lon- ger. "We were ordered off the quarter deck, and the captain called for the mas- ter at anns, and ordered us to be put in irons. We were then kept in irons about twenty-four hours, when we were taken out, brought to the gangway, STRIPPED OF OUR CLOTHES, TIED AND WHIPPED, EACH ONE DO- ZEN AND A HALF LASHES, AND PUT TO DUTY. " He further saith, that he was kept on board the Peacock, and did duty till the action with the Hornet. After the Hornet hoisted American colours, he and the other impressed Americans again went to the captain of the Peacock, and asked to be sent below ; said it was an American ship ; and that they did not wish to figlit against their country. Tiie captain ordered us to our quarters ; called midshipman Stone to do his duty ; and if we did not do our duty, TO 3L0W OUR BRAINS OUT; "aye, aye !" was answered by Stone, who then 202 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [chai-. 37. held a pistol at my breast, and ordered us to our places. We then continued at our places, and were compelled to fight till the Peacock struck ; and we were liberated after about two years and eight months." his Poughkeepsie, April 17, 1813. RICHARP >^THOAIPSON. mark. Head over and siguedl JOSEPH HARRIS. in the presence of > JOHN FRIAR. Extract from the log book of a7i officer on board his majesty's ship Guerriere, in the action -with the Constitution. "The Guerriere was a frigate of one thousand and eighty tons hurden,taken f'rom the French in 1806 ; and liad three hundred and two men and boys be- longing to her. There ivere ten American seamen on board, who had belonged to her for some years. But as the declaration of war against Great Britain was not known when she sailed, there had been no opportunity of discharging them ; and captain Dacres considering it as unjust to compel a native of the United States to fight against his countrjinen, granted tliem permission to quit their quaiters, and go below." Captain Dacres, in his address to the court martial by which he was tried, states this fact in the following terms : " What considerably lueakened my quarters ivas pei^mitiing the Americans be- longing to t/ie ship, to quit their quarters on the enemy hoisting tlie colours of that nation, wliicli, though it deprived me of the men, I thouglit it was my duty." Boston, February 6, 1813. " Died at Boston, on the third instant, on board the frigate President, God- frey Hyer, seaman, aged forty -seven. The deceased was a native of Rliode- Island," and was one of the numerous instances of impressment, which have been the cause of complaint against the English. He was taken on board an Ameri- can merchant sliip, and though he never voluntarily entered their service, he was detained from his country and InsivienAs fourteen years, during which time he was present at seventeen engagements, and gained the reputation of a good seaman and a brave man. " He at length found means to escape ; and on his return to the United States, he immediately shipped on board the President, where he continued uu- til hia decease ; his conduct receiving tiie marked ajiprobation of his comman- der and the other officers of the frigate. He was interred on Thursday lust at Charlestown ; his funeral was attended by a heutcnant, eight midshipmen, all the petty officers, and fifty seamen of the ship ; and the ceremonies were per- formed by the chaplain in a manner highly solemn and impressive." From the Jioston Patriot, "My brother John Cand, of Woolwich, in the district of Maine, was prest onboard his majesty's frigate Macedonian, on the tenth of .June, 1810, from the ship Mount Hope, of Wiscasset, and was killed on boiml the :Macedonian, in the battle witli the United States, commodore Decatur. A disconsolate wife and child are in mouriiiiig and in sorrow, for the loss of a husband and parent, on whom they were dependent." JOSEPH CAND. "I John Nichols, a native of Durham, state of Massachusetts, relate and say, that I sailed from Portland in the ship Franklin, commanded by James Marks, as chief mate, bound to Liverpool, where we arrived the seventh day of Febru- ary, 1809. The same day I was taken by a press gang, coming from my board- ing house to the ship, and carried by them to the rendezvous, Cooper's Row, and detained one night. The next morning I gave the heutenant my protec- tion, and at tlie same time stated to him I was chief mate of the ship ; also captain Marks and Mr. Porter, supercargo, came, and were refused admittance. " I then asked the heutenant for my pi'otection •• he answered, I-zvill give it to you with a hell to it,-'" 'dnd i7n}nediately t07-e it zip before my face, and sent me onboard the guard ship Princess, where I remained one week, and was then sent round to Plymouth on board tlie Salvado;- guard sliip ; remained tliere onQ CHAP. 37.] lilPRESSMENT. 203 month, after which I was drafted on board the Abovikir, seventy -four, where I remained three years and fourteen days. " When tiie war broke out, 1 determined to give myself up a prisoner of war, let the consequence be what it would. Consequently on the twenty-eighth of October, I went to the captain, and gave myself up as a prisoner of war, and refused to do any more duty. Then he told me, I was an Englishman, and if I would not do duty, be would flog me ; and ordered me in irons, and kept me in irons twenty-four hours, after which I was taken to the gangwa)-, and received one dozen with the cat on my bare bach. " The captain then asked me if I would go to duty. I told him no : I would sooner die first. He then put me in irons agtiin for twenty -four hours, and /wa« once more brovght to the gang-way, and received as before with the siune questions, and answer as preceded ; and the same -ivas repeated four days successively, and / received four dozen on mif bare back. " After the fourth day I was a prisoner at large. The twenty-sixth day of December I was sent to prison without my clothes, they being refused me by the captain, after abusing me in the most insulting manner; and all I ever re- ceived for my servitude was fourteen pounds. During impressment, I have used my best endeavours to escape." ;/7toess, Jeduthan Upton. JOHN NICHOLS. From the Salem Register, July, 1813. Captain Upton has furnished us with a fist of 128 American seamen, who had been impressed on board British ships of war, and delivered up as pri- soners of war, with the places of their nativity, the ships they were discharged from, the time they have served, and the number of Am.ericans left on board the different ships'^ at the time of their discharge. These were on board one prison ship, the San Antonio. Besides these, there were on board the Chatham prison sliip, thi-ee hundred and twenty men, 7vho have been delivered tip in similar circumstances. Many of these poor fellows have been detained more than fif- teen years : and about forty of the one hundred and twenty eight on board the San Antonio belong to this state." To the Editors of the JVafional Intelligencer. " In 'the montli of February, 1797, I belonged to the ship Fidelity, captain Charles Weems, lying in the harbour of St Pierre's, Martinique. About one o'clock Sunday morning, I was awakened by a noise on the deck, and on going up found the ship in possession of a press gang. In a few minutes all hands were forced out, and ordered into their boat, and in a hea\y shower of rain conveyed on board the Ceres frigate. We were ordered on the gun deck until day light, by which time about eighty Americans ivere collected. " Soon after sunrise, the ship's crew were ordered into the cabin to be over- havded. Each was questioned as to his name, &c. when I was called on for my place of birth, and answered, J\l'evj castle, Belaivare. The captain affected not to hear the last ; but said, " aye, J\"e-wcastle ,- he's a collier ; the very man. I warrant him a sailor. Send him down to the doctor." Upon which a petty officer, whom I recognized as one of the press gang, made answer, " sir, I know this fello-iv. He is a schoolmate of mine, ami his name is Kelly. He was born in Bel- fast. And, Tom, you know me well enough ,- so don't sham yankee any more.''' « I thought," says the captain, " he was a countryman of our own; but an Irishman's all one — take him away." " The next was a Prussian, who had shipped in Hamburgh, as a carpenter of the Fidelity, in September, 1796. He affected, when questioned, not to under- stand English, but answered in Dutch. Upon which the captain laughed, and said, " This is no yankee. Send him down, and let the quarter-master pit him in the mess with the other Dutchmen : they will iinderstand him, and the boats^vain will learn liim to tcdk English." He was accordingly kept. " I was afterwards discharged by an order from Admiral Harvey, on the ap- plication of Mr. Craig, at that time American agent or vice-consul. I further observed that full one-third of her crew ivere impressed Americans." JOHN DAVIS, of Abel. ^Vrtw Yard, Oct. 12, 1813. 204 POUTICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [chap. 37. Copy of a letter from commodore Decatur to the secretary of the navy. U. S. ship United States, JK'ew London, MarchlS, 1814. " Sir — I have the honour to forward to you enclosed, a despatch received by me from captain Capel, the commanding officer of the British squadron before this port, written in reply to an application of mine, for the release of an Ame- rican seaman, detained against his will on board the frigate Statira. " Hiram Thaj er, born in the town of Greenwich, in the commonwealth of Massachusetts, was impressed into the naval service of Great Britain, in the montli of August, 1803, and detained ever since. " About six years ago, wiicn the Statira was put in commission, he was trans- ferred 10 her ; and lias been constantly on board her to this day. " 1 am informed, and in fact it was stated by captain Stackpole to lieutenant Hamilton, v ho was charged with the flag, that the late general Lyman, our consid at London, made application to the lords commissioners for the discharge of Thayer ; but they were not satisfied with the evidence of his nativity. " John Thayer, the father of Hiram, assures me that the certificate of the se- lectmen, the town clerk, and the minister of Greenwich, were forwarded some time ago to Mr. Mitchell, the resident agent for American prisoners of war at Halifax; but does not know why he was not released then. " The son has written to the fatlier, and infomied him, that on representing^ his case to captain Stackpole, he told him, "if theyfellin -with an American man ofivar, and he did not do his diitif, HE SHOULD BE TIED TO THE MAST, AND SHOT AT LIKE A DOG." " On Monday the 14th inst. John Thayer requested me to allow him a flag, to go oif to the enemy, and ask for the release of his son. This 1 granted at once, and addressed a note to captain Capel, stating that I felt persuaded that the application of the father, fiirnished as he was with conclusive evidence df the nativity and. identity of the son, would induce an immediate order for his discharge. " The reply is enclosed. The son descried his father at a distance in the boat, and told the lieutenant of the Statira that it was his father ; and I imder- stand the feelings manifested by the old man, on receiving the hand of his son, proved, beyond all other evidence, the pi-operty he had in him. There was not a doubt left on the mind of a single British officer, of Hiram Thayer's being- an American citizen. And yet he is detained, not as a prisoner of war, but COMPELLED, UNDER THE MOST CRUEL THREATS, TO SERVE THE ENl^xMIES OF HIS COUNTRY. " Thayer has so recommended himself by his sobriety, industry, and seaman- ship, as to be appointed a boatswain's mate, and is now serving in that capacity in the Statira ; and he says there is due to him from the British government about two hundred and fifty pounds sterling. He has also assured his father that he has always refused to receive any bounty or advance, lest he might affin-d some pretext for denying him his discharge whenever a proper apphcation should be made for it. f " I am, sir, with the highest consideration, your most obedient humble ser- vant, STEPHEN DECATUR." Extract from captain CapeVs letter, enclosed. " On board his B. M. slap La Hog^iie, offJVexv London, March 14, 1814. « Sir, — I regret that it is not in my power to comply with your request in or- dering the son of Mr. .lohn Thayer to be discharged from his majesty's ship Statira. But I will forward your application to the commander in chief, by the earliest opportunity, and I have no doubt he will order his immediate dis- charge. I am, &c. THOMAS CAPEL, Captain," &.c. Extract of a letter from commodore Decatur to the secretary of the Jiavy. JVew London, May\7th,lSlA: " The enclosed. No. 2, is the copy of a note addressed to captain Capel of his B. M. ship La Hogue, on the subject of Barnard O'Brien, a native citizen of the United States. In the boat that bore the flag of tJUCe to tlie La Hogue, the father of tlie man in qviestion went. quAP. 37.] mPRESSMENT, 205 " Captain Capel would not permit him to see liis Son. He directed my officer to inform me that he would answer my despatch the next day ; since when I have not heard from him." Lettm^ to captain Capel. " Sir — At Uie solicitation of Mr. Barnard O'Brien, whose son is now on board his Britannic majc sty's sliip La Hoguf , under your command, I have granted a flag- of truce, conducted by lieutenant Hamilton, with perniiss.on for Mr. < >'Brien to attend it. His object is to effect the liberation of his son, a native citizen of the United States. He bears with him a copy of the record of the town ofGro- ton in the state of Connecticut, signed by the town clerk and selectmen, as also a certificate from a number of respectable men in Groton, proving his nativity. With these documents 1 cannot doubt that he will effect the purpose of hi^ Visit. (Signed) ' STEPHEX DECATUR." «' Sir — We, the undersigned, take the liberty to solicit your assistance in be- jialf of Mr. Barnard O'Brien, in obtaining his son's release from the British ship La Hogue, off New-London. " We are well acquainted with the young man, and know him to be an Ame- rican born citizen. His letter to his father, dated on board the La Hogue, the 24th of March, is sufficient proof of his being on board (which letter will be shown you.) If you can give any assistance in obtaining his release, either by letting Mr. O'Brien go to the ship by a flag of truce, or in any other way, it will be considered a particular favour confen-ed on, sir, your most obedient ser\ants, . Gerald Galley, Geo. A. SuUeman, Nath. Kimball, Ro. S. Avery, .Tns. Tuttle, F^rastus T. Smith. " P. S. The young man's name is Barnard O'Brien, son of Barnard O'Brien^ and his wife Elizabeth O'Brien. He was born in the town of Groton, January 19th, 1785. Extract from the records of the toiv7i of Groton. A true copy, certified per Amos A. JViles, to-uin clerku " I certify that Amos A. Niles is town clerk for Groton, and that I believe the above certificate to be a tme and correct record of Bai-nard O'Brien's birth. I do also certify, that I have known the said Barnard O'Brien from his youtli. Bated Groton, April 7th, 1814. NOVES BARBER, Selectman for Groton. ■UNITED STATES OF A5rERICA. State ofJMaryland — to tvit. I, John Gill, Notary Public, by lettei-s patent, under the g-reat seal of the state of Maryland, commissioned and duly quahfied, residing in the city of Baltimore, in tiie state aforesaid, do hereby certify, attest, and make known, tliat on the day of the date hereof, before me pei-sonally appeared, Jas. M'Quillan, 7naster and John Wilkinson, chief mate of the sliip Strafford, of Baltimore, owned" by Messrs. Von Kapff and Brune, of the city of Baltimore, merchants, and made oath in due form of law, Tiiat while the said ship Strafford lay at anchor In the river Jade, say on the twenty -seventh of June, 1810, she was boarded by a boat from his Britannic majesty's brig of war Pincher, commanded by Samuel Bur- gess, which boat contained an officer and six men; that soon after they came on board, they impressed deponent Wilkinson, and the ship Strafford's carpenter, John Williamson ; and took them on board said brig- of war Pincher, where de- ponent Wilkinson was detained two months and twenty -two days, and then sent on board the Strafford ; but John Wilhamson was detained on boai-d her, and as deponents believe, still remains there, although said Wilkinson and said Williamson liad regular protections from the custom house at Baltimore ; and deponent Wilkinson further made oath, that at the time he was taken on board said brig, he was sick, and continued sick for some time, notwithstanding which they attempted to compel him to do ship's duty, which he refused to do ; when, on the 9th Jidy, eighteen hundred and ten, thev took him and TIED HIM TO THE GANGWAY, AND FLOGGED HIM SEVERELY, GRTXQ HIM EIGHTEEN LASHES ; after which he w:is threatened to be given DOUBLE AS MLTCH if he would not peiforni duty on board said brig ; and after some time (as he under.stands by the entreaties of captain M'Quillan and the Ame- rican consul at Bremen) he was sent onboard said ship Strafford, as before O. B. 28 206 POtlTICAL OLIVE BRANCH. fcHAP. 3§. stated, pay on Monday the 17th September, 1810. Of which an act having been of me requested, I have granted these presents to serve and avail as need and occasion may require. In testimony wliereof, the said deponents have hereunto subscribed their names, and I, the said Notar), have hereunto set my hand and affixed my nota- rial seal, the nineteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord one tliousand eight hunch-cd and eleven. JOHN GILL, Not. Pub. James M'Quillax, John Wilkinsov. CHAPTER XXXVIII. Subject of Impressment concluded. I HAVK now, as nearly in chronological order as possible, brought this odious, this detestable subject, to the last act of the drama. Some of the actors, who stood on high ground in the opening of the piece, sink far below par in this act. They stand in con- spicuous stations, and possess great influence on our destinies and those of our posterity. I regard it therefore as an impe- rious duty to canvass their conduct fully and completely, and to cite them to the bar of the public, which I thus do in the most solemn manner. Two of the gentlemen to whom I refer, are Timothy Pick- ering and Rufus King, esqrs. whose opinions and conduct on this important topic, have been, at different periods, in as di- rect hostility with each other, as day and night — truth and false- hood. The reader has seen how laudably, how zealously, how patri- otically both these gentlemen, on the subject of impressment, formerly contended for and defended the rights of their country — as well as opposed and struggled against the exorbitant and inadmissible claims of England. But they were lately united with the Olises, the Blakes, the Hansons, and the Websters, who appeared determined to " put down" — yes, reader, " put down" is the word— it is strong, significant, and unequivocal — I say, " to put doxvnthe admbiistra- tion'''' lor strenuously insisting on those rights, — for attempting to shield the seaman from the iron grasp of his enslaver. This is a clear case. I state it in brief. Either Messrs. Pick- ering and King were extravagant in their demands formerly, and endangered the peace of their country by preferring exorbi- tant and unjust claims on a nation, " the bidxvark of our holy re- ligion^'' — " strugglhig for our salvation^'' — and '■'■fighting the battles of Christendovi against Antichrist and his host^'' — or they were faithless to that country of late, and were using their ut- most endeavours, for factious purposes, to defeat her in the ef- fort to procure simple justice. There is no other alternative. Let them choose for themselves. Let the public ratify or reject the choice, I merely state the case. CHAP. 38.] IMPRESSIVIENT. 2,Q7 Nevei' was there a more striking or revolting instance of the deleterious spirit of faction — and of its power to deaden all the finer and more honourable feelings of human nature, than this question exhibits. It is disgraceful and humdiating to the hu- man species. High-minded American merchants — possessed of immense fortunes — enjoying in profusion all the luxuries and delicacies this world affords — and owing these manifold bless- ings to the labours, the skill, and the industry of our sailors— but ungratefully regardless of the agents by whom diey procure them, and blinded by party spirit, regarded with calm and stone-hearted apathy the miseries of impressment. They were not merely indifferent to the sufferings of the unfortunate sea- men, " purloined by men stealers^'' from all their humble bless- ings, and dragging out a miserable existence, in slavery of the most galling kind, with a rope's end ready to punish them for murmuring out their sorrows. No. They were not, I repeat, merely indifferent. They threw themselves into the scale of their enemies. They derided the idea of struggling for the se- curity of a few sailors, whom, in the face of heaven and earth, and in direct contradiction to the truth, they stvled vagabonds from England, Ireland, and Scotland, whom our government was wickedly protecting at the hazard of the ruin of their coun- try ! Almighty father ! To what an ebb is man capable of de- scending ! Let us suppose for a moment that the illustrious Hull, Jones, Perry, Porter, Decatur, M'Donough;, or any other of that constellation of heroes, who have bound their country's brows with a wreath of imperishable glory, had been pressed by a Cockburn, their proud spirits subjected to his tender mercies, and crushed by the galling chain and the rope's end ! What a scene for a painter — what a subject for contemplation— what a never-dying disgrace to those whose counsels would persuade the nation to submit to such degradation ! There is one strong and striking point of view in which the subject of impressment may be considered, and which really renders the tame acquiescence in it, which was lately contended for, pregnant with awful results. England has impressed from our sh'ips^ Danes^ Swedes, and Italians, as well as tiative /bne. ricans. WE HAVE SUBMITTED TO IT. And Mr. Pick- ering-, Mr, King, governor Strong, H. G. Otis, £s?c. plead in favour of submission. If this be just, what right, I demand, have we to prevent all belligerents whatever, and at all times, from copying the example ? Suppose France, Spain, and Italy, at war. Are not the cruisers of each nation justified in search- ing our vessels for the subjects of the powers to which they re- spectively belong, and as fully entitled to enslave the Danes^ Portuguese, Swedes, and Englishmen on board, as the British cruizers are to enslave Frenchynen, Spaniards, Danes and Por^ tuguese f This is a horrible view of the subject, and must 208 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [chap, 38. curdle the blood in the veins of every man possessed of Ame- rican feeling. There is no calculating the extent or the enormity of the evil. I must resume this topic. It is too important to be dismis- sed in a single paragraph. It deserves volumes. Would to heaven an abler pen were engaged in the discussion. That British officers have been in the constant habit of im- pressing, v/ithout any scruple, and that they regard it as their right to impress, Danes, Portuguese, Frenchmen, Italians, and all other foreigners found on board our vessels, is true, or Timothy Pickering,* Rufus King,f and Judge Marshal,:|: have disgraced and dishonoured themselves by asserting most awtul falsehoods. To their evidence on the subject, which is detailed above, I refer the reader. If Great Britain have a right to impress Frenchmen, or Spa- niards, or Dutchmen, on board our vessels, France, Spain, and Holland, have an equal right to impress Englishmen. Nothing can be more clear. Let us proceed. The British captains assert that they find it difficult or impos- sible to discriminate between Englishmen and Americans. It must be far more difficult for French captains. And they will be still more excusable for any jmstakes — and for enslaving Americans instead of Englishmen. What a frightful fate has faction prepared for our ill-starred sea-faring citizens ! I have stated that Messrs. Pickering, King, Strong, &:c. *' contended for submission to impressment." This requires explanation. They did not, it is true, iji xvords^ contend for impressment. But this was the inevitable result of their late course of proceeding ; for, as I have already stated, and beg to repeat, they laboured most indefatigably to destroy the present administration, principally for the stand made to put an end to impressment; and the consequence of the violent opposition made to the government on the subject, has been to oblige it to postpone the discussion of that important question, which may probably lead to a future war. A committee of the legislature of Massachusetts was appoint- ed, at a late session, to enquire into the affair of impressment. The object of the appointment was to damn the character of the administration, by diminishing the enormity of this high-handed offence, against which the Levitical law pronounced the sentence of death : — " He that stealeth a man — and selleth him — or if he be found in his hand^ he shall be put to death.'''* It is painful to state — but it is my duty to state to the world — that this committee by no means did justice to the subject. They acted with most palpable partiality. They reported— .' See page 190. f See pag-e 188. * See page 191, ,, CHAP. 38.] IMPRESSMENT. 209 wonderful to tell — impossible to believe — that at the commence- ment of the war, the number of impressed Americans belonging to the great commercial state of Massachusetts, on board Brit- ish vessels of war, was " only eleven I //''* — Yes — reader — it is really eleven — I have read it six times over, to convince my- self that I was not mistaken. But it is absolutely true, that a committee of the legislature of Massachusetts did report to that body, that at the commencement of the war, THERE WERE BUT " ELEVEN" IMPRESSED MASSACHUSETTS' SAILORS on board the vessels of his Britannic majesty. Now, reader, let me request you to consult the preceding doc- uments carefully — and observe 1. That there were ten Americans on board the Guerriere^ at the time of her engagement with the Constitution. This is es- tablished by the log book of one of her officers. § 2. That there ruere thirteen Americans on board the yava^j when she Avas captured by Bainbridge.^; 3. That there were on board the Moselle and Sappho, as ap- pears by the muster-books of those vessels, at least thirty-five impressed Americans.\\ 4. That these plain facts stand on such ground as neither Timothy Pickering, Rufus King, governor Strong, George Cabot, Harrison Gray Otis, Daniel Webster, or A. C. Han- son will dare to dispute. I hereby publicly challenge them to a denial. 5. That I have thus clearly and indisputably established, that on board of four vessels there were 10, and 13, and 35 Ameri- can slaves, being an average of fourteen to each. 6. That there are about 500 British vessels constantly in com- mission. 7. That an average of fourteen amounts to 7000 on board the British fleet. 8. That this statement corresponds pretty nearly with the re- cords of the secretary of state's office. And then, reader, decide what judgment must be passed on the committee, when they gravely state, that there were on * Road to Ruin, Xo. IV. § See page 202. f See lieutenant Hoffman's certificate, page 201. i: It would be unfaii' and uncandid not to state, that commodore Bainbi'idge deposed on the twentieth of February, 1813, before a committee of the housLt of representatives of the state of Massacliusctts, that there was but one im- ])ressed American on board the Java, when he captured her. This statement he qualified in a subsequent communication, and, as far as I understand the lat- ter, admits that there were two more. But if we wholly omit the Java, in con- sequence of the stupendous contradiction between the ceitificate of lieutenant Van Hoffman and the deposition of commodore Bainbridge, it will not mate- rially affect the above calculation. There will remain about forty-five im- pressed American eamen on board three British me.n of war. |} See coiiynoclore Porter's letter, page 201. 210 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [chap. 38, board the British vessels of war onltj eleven natives of Massa- chusetts ! ! ! It makes one sick to reflect on such obliquity of mind, and such monstrous perversion of fact. It is, however, true, that this committee, though the world is grossly deceived by the form of expression in the report, have a salvo to prevent establishing against them the charge of falsehood. They state, that these are the results, " as far as their enquiries zvent.^'' But this saving clause escapes the mass of readers. They fasten on the strong allegation, that " the ad- ministx-ation continued the war, on account of impressed sea- men ; and that there were only eleven natives of Massachusetts impressed.'''' All the rest escapes notice. '"'' As far as their enquiries xvenf is a very equivocal expres- sion. They may have stopped at the threshold — or they may have gone half way — or they may have gone through the busi- ness completely. That their enquiries did not go very far, is, however, pretty certain. The words " American slaves^"* will startle some delicate enrs. This strong expression is nevertheless correct. When an Algerine corsair attacks one of our vessels, and seizes it and the crew, the latter are justly regarded as slaves. Tet their case is far better than that of the Americans iiyipressed by British cruisers. The Algerine slaves work for task-masters. So do the British slaves. The Algerine slaves are flogged if they re- fuse " to do their duty." So are the British. The Algerine slaves have wretched fare. So have the British. Thus far they are on a parallel. But here the parallel ceases. The Algerine slave is never forced to jeopardize his life in battle — -he is never forced to point a gun that may slaughter his countrymen. But this the British slave must do, or " be tied to the mast, and SHOT AT LIKE A DOG ! !!"* Is he not then the most miserable of slaves ?| When the preceding chapter was written, I had not seen the Report of the Committee of the House of Representatives of Massachusetts, to which I have referred. I own a set of the Examiner, published by Barent Gardenier, of New- York, con- taining the Road to Ruin, ascribed to John Lowell, which quotes this report, and from which alone I knew of its contents, or even of its existence. I subjoin Mr. Lowell's quotations— "I find, from indlsputal)le documents furnished by the Rev. Mr. Tag-gart, member of (Congress from this state, that the whole number of American sea- men said to be detained at the beginning of tlie war, on board British vessels, did not exceed three hundred. * See commodore Decatm"'s letter, page 204. ■j- The idea which is dilated on in this paragraph must have been suggested by a perusal of tlie Weekly Register, vol. III. page 349. Of this I was not awai'e wlien I wrote it. I have recently made the discovery in the examination of that irivaluable work. CHAP. 38.] IlVfPRESSMENT. 211 ** I find by the investigation of a committee of our own house of representa- tives, that the number belonging to this state, so detained, did not exceed, so far as their enquiries tvejit, eleven me?i."* On the fourth of July, 1815, I received the Report itself from Boston : and I should ill deserve the confidence that has been reposed in my work, did I not avail myself of the oppor- tunity thus afforded me, to lay an abstract of some of its clocu>- ments before the reader. Extract from the deposition of John Eldridge. " I reside in Yarmouth in the county of Barnstable. I have been the master of a vessel about seventeen years, within the last twenty -four years; and have had on board my vessels from seven to sixteen men ; on an average about eight or nine. About the year 1803, while I was lying at Trinidad, in the sloop Stork, one of my men, while on shore, had quitted his boat, and was taken up by the press g'ang. His name was William Boynton, and he was, as he told me, an American. The next day I was informed by the officer of the press gang, that the man was taken, and immediately upon my application on boaixl the ship where he was placed, he was returned to me, with some money he had about him. He had left his protection on board the vessel at the time when he was taken. " In 1810, while I was at Martinique, a Portuguese boy named Joseph Friay, belong-ing to my vessel, was impressed from tlie vessel ; he was detained two days : but upon my apphcation he was discharged ; he had no protection, nor any indenture of apprenticeship : he was a servant to my mate." Extract from the deposition of WiUiam Parsons. " I reside in Boston, and have been engaged in commerce and navigation about thirty years. I have employed in my vessels, annually, upon an average, about fifty seamen, until the time of the embargo. I have no recollection of aiw of my seamen being impressed for the last tiventy years, except in one instance." Extract from the deposition of Caleb Loring. "I reside in Boston. I have been engaged in commerce and navigation be- tween eighteen and nineteen years. 1 have employed upon an average, annu- ally, about forty seamen in foreign trade. " I recollect, at present, but one instance of any of my seamen being iinpresscd by the British; in July, 1809, two seamen, belonging to the ship Hugh John- son, while she was lying at Palermo, were taken from her by a British man of war; I do not knovvtheir names — one of them was an Englishman, the other was an American." Extract from the deposition of Jilosvs To~n}ise7id, esq. " I, Moses Townsend, of Salem, in the county of Essex, esquire, do depose and say — that I have been engaged in commerce and navigation for about thir- ty years, and was master of a ship about twenty years. I have usually had crews of ten and twelve men, upon an average. I never had any men impressed from any of the vessels under my command, except once while I was at Bristol, in England. On that occasion, I had three or four men impressed, belonging to the ship Liglit Horse, under my command ; tliey were taken in the evening, and upon my application through the American consul, they were released the' next day." Extract from the deposition of Joseph JMndge. " I, Joseph Mudge, of Lynn, in the county of Essex, mariner, do depose and say — ^that I have followed the occupation of a mariner for about twentv vears, and have been master from the first of January 1800 (except about four months of the year 1812, while I was mate of a vessel, in order to get a passage to tlie United States from abroad.) "I have had seamen frequently taken from me by British cruizers ; but ne- ver had any man that 1 knew to be an American, taken from me, that was not released upon my application." * Road to Ruin, No. 4, from the Boston Centinch See Examiner, vol. I. p. 10. 212 VOLITICAL OUVE BRANCH, [chap. 38. Extract from the deposition ofJlndreiv Ilarraden. " I, Andrew Harraden, of Salem, in tlie county of Essex, mariner, depose and say — that 1 have followed the occupation of a mariner about thirty-two years, of which 1 ha\e been master from the year 1791 to this time, excepting two voyages performed during that period / have vevei- had any neamen impressed from my vessels, exce/H in one instance. In the year 1802, while at Cape Francois, in the nwnth of August, a man by the name of George Randall, of Boston, was taken from my vessel by a French press-master and his gang, and carried on board a French frigate lying at that port. On ap])lication to the commandant of tile port, he was released the next morning. J\'one of my men were ever taken or detained by the English." Deposition of J^'ahnm JMitchell. I, Nahum Mitchell, of Bridgewater, in the county of Plymouth, depose and say — that 1 was liorn, and have always lived, in Bridgewater. I have never heard of any cases of i)ersons impressed from that town. There never was any man of the name of William Robinson within my knowledge impressed from that place. 1 have been a selectman five years ; but not within ten years past. Feb. 16, 1813. Suffolk, ss. NAHUM MITCHELL. Sworn before me, Alexander Towxseijd, justice of the peace. Deposition of William Orne. 1, ^^'illiam Orne, of Salem, in the county of Essex, merchant, depose and say, That during the last twenty years, I have employed, upon an average, about sixty men annually, in my vessels. The only cases of impressment from my vessels, that I know of, are the following : In 1803, the ship Essex, Joseph Orne, master, being bound from Salem to Amsterdam, had a man, by the name of James Newhall, on board, who was impressetl on the passage. Newdiall said he was born in Windsor, in Connecti- cut ; and at the time of h.is being taken, told the captain of my ship, that he had forgotten to take out his protection from America : and the captain de- sired me to send it out to the consul, in London. I wrote to the selectmen of Windsor, who answered me, tliat there was no such man belonged to either of the towns of Windsor or East Windsor. Not long after, the man returned to Salem, and was found to be a British subject. In 1810, John Hanson, a Swede, was taken out of my brig Industry ; he had no American protection, but had a Swedish document. He soon after returned to Salem, and 1 have paid him off. WILLIAM ORNE. SUFFOLK, ss. Sworn to before me, \ Boston, February 19, 1813. James Savage, justice of the peace. Deposition of John Tucker. I, John Tucker, of Gloucester, in the county of Essex, do depose and say, That I have been master of a vessel for about forty-seven years, and until the last seven years. I never had any men impi'cssed from any of my vessels. About the year 1796, while I was lying at St. Pierre's, Martinique, an English oihcer from one of the frigates there, demanded a sight of the protections of my men ; as the laws of my country, as he said, made it necessary that my men sliould have them. I told him, I knew of no such law, having been absent about twelve months from my country. He told me, he should take my men on board for examination. I followed them on board ; they were detained about an hov.r, and then discharged. 1 know of no case of impressment from the town of Gloucester, except the following : A relation of mine, by the name of Aaron Burnham, has been in the British service about two years, and says he was impressed on shore in a British port; lie has written home frequently, but has never expressed any desire to be dis- charged, that I have heard of. His father and I are very near neighbours ; and 1 have frecjuently conversed with him, when he has informed me of receiving his son's letters. Hut he never stated that his son was desirous of returning. Daniel Parsons and Ignatius Parsons, 1 have heard, were on board the Britisk navy ; but 1 hu'.e no knowledge of their having been unpresscd. CHAP 38.] IMPRESSAreNT. 213 About the 3'aar 1796 (it was before our seamen took protections) while I was at Amsterdam, three of my men, viz. Jonathan Cook, John Medley, and John , an Englishman, requested a discharg'e from my vessel, and entered on board an English merchant ship, at that place. They went to Lisbon ; and while there, were impressed on shore by some British ship. Cook has since been home, and is now again in the British merchant service. I have never heard of Medley since. He has left a family in Gloucester : but they have nev- er apphed, to my knowledge, for a discharge. Cook and Medley were both Benjamin Oakes, of Gloucester, was taken about two years ago, as I have un- derstood, and that it was for the want of a jn-otection ; a protection has been sent out to him, at Halifax : and he has not yet rctui-ned. Nathaniel Riggs, of Gloucester, was on board a British ship, into which he had entered and'served, and received his wages and prize money. He has been at home four or five years. JOHN TUCKER. Boston, February 18, 1813. Deposition of Israel Thorndike. I, Israel Thorndike, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk, esquire, despose and sav. That I have for a considerable part of the time, for ten or twelve years past, (excepting the time of the embargo) usually employed, on an average, more than two hundred seamen annually, on board my own vessels, and those which I have had under freight and charter. The average of the length of the voy- ages, I should tliink, was about sLx to eight mojiths; not exceecUng eight months. I have not had more than six or seven men, to my recollection, impressed from my vessels, and those vessels employed by me, during that pei-iod. I can- not no\v recollect the names of the men ; from the ship Alexander Hodgdon, two or three men were taken about the year 1805 or 1806. They were, as I un- derstood from the captain, all foreigners. I think they were shipped in Leg- horn ; and I think they were impressed on a voyage from that place to the East Indies. I do not know whether they had any protections or documents, or not ; and have not since heard of them- The brig Hector had one man impressed from her, off the isle of Prance, about 1803 or 1804. He was, as I was informed by the captain, a Frenchman ; and I am inclined to believe, he was shipped at Beverly ; but do not know whether he had a protection or not, nor have I heard of him smce. The brig , Swanzev, master, lost one man in Liverpool, about 1809. His name was Neptune, an African, and he had there entered into the British ser- vice, while in a state of intoxication, as I was informed by the supercargo. The man had formerly been a servant in my family. 1 have not since heard of him. The brig Gilpin 'had two men taken from her, while on her voyage to Russia, in 1811, as I was informed by my clerks, who had tlieir information from the cap- lain. These two men were both foreigners, as I have been informed. I have heard nothing of them since ; nor do 1 know whether they had any protections Gr not. Daniel Parker, a British subject, who had a wife and family m Beverly, was impressed from one of my vessels, about twenty years since, in the Downs, or some other port of England. He was, as I was infonned, requested by an offi- cer of my vessel, at the time when he was taken, to declare that he was an American ; but said he would not deny his covmtry, and surrendered himself. This information I had from the captain of my vessel, the Fabius. He has since returned to his family in Beverly. I think he returned about twelve, or fifteen years since. I have no recollection of any other cases of impressment from any other vessel in which I haff a concern. ISRAEL THORNDIKE. Tlie fl'/iosiiion of Edward Lander. I, Edward Lander, of Salem, in the county of Essex, merchant, depose and say, , , That while I was in Leith, in the year 1811, in October, two men belonging to the Rachel, owned bv the honourable WilUam Gray, were taken fi'om the ves- O. B. ■ 29 214 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [chap. 3^- sel by an English boat. Their names were Israel Foster and Tuck, of Be- verly, in Miissacliusetts. Foster was released the next day, or the day after, and returned iiome in the same vessel. The other was put on board the Dia- dem, sixty four, which went to sea before the application reached her. At the request of the captain of the Rachel, I wrote a letter to the American consul at London (Mr. Lyman) whicli captain Mattinly (master of the Rachel) signed and forwarded. The letter was written the day after the men were taken, but be- fore die return of the man who was released, as I have stated above. I have understood, since my return to this country, that Tuck effected his escape at Spithcad, by means of a waterman, in about one month after his im- pressment. They were both Americans, and had protections. EDWARD LANDER. February 18, 1813. The deposition of Asa T. J\re7vhall. I, Asa T. Ncwhall, of Lynnfield, in the county of Essex, esquire, depose and say, That I know of no cases of impressed seamen belonging to Lynnfield, except the following : Andrew Mansfield, of Lyjmfield, sailed from Boston about four- teen years ago ; and was impressed (on his first voyage) and detained onboard a British man of war. His brother, Isaac, being on board the same vessel from which he was impressed, gave the information to liis mother on liis return. Soon after which, his mother forwarded documents for his release. He told me that he was shifted into several fhfferent vessels, which, he said, he supposed was tlie reason why he did not receive his documents sooner. After being some time under impressment, and in order to obtain better treat- ment, he entered ; not having any prospect of being soon released ; after he had entered, and two or tliree years after his impressment, evidence of his be- ing an American reached the ship he was in. His release was refused, on ac- count of his having entered. He remained in the British service about seven years; at tlie end of which time he was discharged, and received his wages; he returned liome soon after. Amos Newhall, of Lynnfield, saUed from Boston, about nine years since, and has since been seen on board a British man of war, as I have understood fronj liis brother ; but whether he was impressed or not, his friends do not know. Suffolk, s. s. ASA T. NEWHALL. JSoston, Fcbruarij 27, 1813. Extract from the deposition of Josiah Ome. " I, Josiah Orne, of Salem, in the county of Essex, mariner, depose and say — that I have been master of a vessel about twenty-seven years. •' I never had any men impressed from the vessels under my command by the Eng- jisfi — except in one instance — that was in 1801." Extract from JWithaniel Hooper'' s deposition. "1, Nathaniel Hooper, of Marblehead, merchant, do depose and say — that I have been engaged in commerce and navigation with my father and brothers for about nineteen years past ; and for about seven years previous to tlie em- bargo, we employed usually upon an average about fifty seamen in our vessels. We have never had any men impressedfrom any of our vessels, that tue knoiv »/." Extract from Benjamin T. Reed' s deposition. " I, Benjamin T. Reed, of Marblehead, in the county of Essex, merchant, de- pose and say — that I have, with my brother, Iieen engaged in trade and naviga- tion for about eighteen years past. Before the embargo, we usually employed two vessels annually, the crews of which would be from twelve to fifteen men — we never liad any men impressed from our vessefc previous to the embargo, lo my recollection." Thert'. are various other depositions annexed to the Report, the tenor i.nd tendency whereof are generally of a similar cha- racter to the above. -cSap. 38:) IMPRESSMENT. 215 The contradiction and inconsistency between these documents, and those I have produced in the preceding chapters, are so strong, so striking, and so utterly unaccountable, as to make us stand aghast with astonishment. To reconcile them in any sU .pe or mode is totally impossible. Were we to place full and im- plicit reliance upon the depositions just quoted, it wouid almost appear that impressment had been a matter of little or no con- sequence ; and that it had been most extravagantly exaggerated, to delude and deceive the public mind. But then what becomes of the strong and precise statements of Silas Talbot,^ of kulus King,! of Timothy Pickering,^ of judge Marshall,^ of commo- dore Rodgers,^ &c. witnesses who cannot possibly be suspected of anti- Anglican partialities, views, or prejudices i If the prevailing opinions of the great extent of impressment be unfounded, and if deception or delusion have been attempted, these gentlemen must have concurred in it, as well as their poli- tical antagonists ; for their testimony is among the most conclu- sive that has been produced on the subject. The statement of commodore Rodgcrs, respecting the muster books of the Moselle and Sappho, is the most recent document on the subject, and is beyond the reach of suspicion. To the reader I unhesitatingly submit the subject. Let him, whether Federalist or Democrat, honestly raise the scales of truth and justice — let him impartially weigh the evidence on both sides : and let him decide according to the credibility of these warring and irreconcilable documents. In addition to the information contained in the preceding pages, I have now before me a most powerful document on the subject of impressment. It is " A statement of applications made to the British g-overnment on 1538 cases of impressed seamen, claiming to be citizens of the United States, from the ele- venth of March, 1803, till the thirty -first of Aug-ust, 1804 ; by George Erving', agent of the United States for the relief and protection of their seamen." I subjoin an abstract : Number of applications, - - - • 1538 Of which are duplicates of former ones, - 306 Original applications, ^ _ _ _ 1232 1538 Refused to be discharged, having no documents. Ordered to be discharged, - - - Said not to be on board the ships specified. Refused to be discharged, said to have taken the bounty, and entered, - - - - 120 Said to be married in England, r - 17 1062 *.^eepagel8'7. fSeepag^elSS. t See page^l90. §See page 191. f Seepage201. 216 POLITICAL OLIVE BIlANCH. [ohai-. 38. Brought forward, . . - - lu62 Said to have deserted, - - - - . 13 Said to have been drowned, or died, - - 2 Ships, on board of which stated not in commission, 3 Refused to be discharged, said to be British subjects, 49 Refused to be discharged, said to be prisoners of war, 2 Do not appear to have been impressed, - - 6 On board ships stated to be on a foreign station, 22 Ships lost, on board of which were stated to be - 6 Refused to he discharged^ doctunents being insiifficient^ viz. 1. i''rotections from consuls and vice-consuls, - 88 2. Notarial affidavits made in the United States, 15 3. Notarial affidavits made in England, - - 27 4. Collectors' protections, - - - 41 5. Discharges granted from King's ships, they being American citizens, - - - . 4 6. Of different descriptions, and which were kept by the impress officers, - - _ 35 7. Applications yet unanswered, - - 163 1538 This abstract deserves to be read and examined over and over. Every line of it claims the deepest and most serious considera- tion. It appears that in less than eighteen months, twelve hun- dred and thirty-two persons were impressed out of American vessels, exclusive of the very great number, who, we may rea- sonably conclude, had no means of conveying their applications for redress to the proper organ. An entire volume might be written as a commentary on this memorial of British outrage and injustice, and of American disgrace and dishonour. The first item is hideous. Three hundred and eighty-three impressed Americans were doomed to remediless slavery, be. cause they were not branded with the mark U. S. or provided with a badge, a pass, a license, or certificate ! Suppose commo- dore Perry, or commodore Macdonough, or commodore Por- ter, had impressed three hundred and eighty-three men from on board of British vessels, under pretence of their being Ameri- cans — (and has the Almighty given any right to a British cap- tain or commodore beyond what he has vested in an American captain or commodore ?) and suppose Mr. Merry, Mr. Liston, Francis James Jackson, Mr. Rose, or Mr. Foster, had demand- ed them — and that our secretary of state had peremptorily re- fused to surrender them, because they had not the regular brand of G. R. or a proper certificate or protection, would (irtat Bri- tain have submitted to the slow process of further demanding and waiting for redress ? Indubitably not. One hundred and five were doomed to slavery, by a removal from the vessels by which they were impressed, to others. An CHAP. 39.] WAR PREPARATIONS. '2X7 easy and summary process, by which the doors of redress are eternally barred with adamantine fastenings. One hundred and twenty of these sufferers were withheld because they had taken the bounty, or voluntarily entered ! In forming an estimate of the justice of this plea, we must not lose sight of the subsequent cruel tragedy acted by order of commo- dore Berkley, on board the Chesapeake, in order to seize men who had voluntarily entered on board that vessel. If this be not — give 7io right — take no zvrong — I cannot divine what dor serves the title. I am tired of this vile, this odious, this detestable subject. It excites to loathing and abhorrence. I must draw to a close. But there is one more point that I must touch upon — and that is, that of the whole number of fifteen hundred and thirty-eight, there are only forty-nine asserted to be British subjects ! The American, who, after these statements, can advocate the atro- cious practice of impressment, mus''t be utterly lost to a sense of justice for his countrymen, or regard to the national rights or national honour. CHAPTER XXXIX. An apology for on egregious error committed by the zurifer, 07i the subject of preparation for rvar. The xvhole session one continued series of preparations. Nineteen acts bearing- strong notes of martial arrangement, I DEEM it indispensably necessary to correct a most egregious error into which I was betrayed by the haste in which my first edition was compiled and written. I therein enumerated, among the errors of Mr. Madison's administration, the neglect to make due preparation for the war, " previous to the commencement of hostilities.'' I deeply regret to have cast such a superficial glance at the subject; to have allowed myself to be so grossly deceived ; and to have contributed to lead my reader astray* There were ample preparations made, as may be seen by the following list of acts passed during that session of congress, to- wards the close of which war was declared. Previous to the declaration of xvar. 1. An act for completing the existing militaiy establishment. December 24, 1811. 2. An act to raise an additional m.ilitary force. This act pro- vided for raising ten regiments of infantry, tv/o regiments of artillery, and one regiment of dragoons, to be enlisted for five years, unless sooner discharged. The infantry amounted to about 20,000 men — the artillery to 4000 — and the cavalry to 1000. Jan. 11, 1812. 3. An act authorising the purchase of ordnance and ordnance stores, camp equipage, and other quarter-master's stores and small arms. Jan. 11, 1812. 218 POLITICAL OLIVe BRANCif . [chap. 39. 4. An act authorising the president of the United States to accept and authorise certain volunteer militia corps, not to ex- ceed 50,000 men. For this purpose there was an appropriation of 1,000,000 dollars. Feb. 6, 1812. 5. An act appropriating 108,772 dollars for the expenses inci- dent to six companies of mounted rangers. Feb. 20, 1812. 6. An act making appropriations for the support of the mili- tary establishment of the United States for 1812, viz. For the pay of the army - - - 869,968 Forage ----- 104,624 Subsistence ----- 685,000 Clothing ----- 293,804 Bounties and premiums - . - 70,000 Medical department - - - 50,000 Ordnance and ordnance stores - - 1,135,000 Fortifications ... - 296,049 For the quarter-master's department - - 735,000 For the purchase of horses - - - 150,000 Contingencies ----- 50,000 Indian department - - - - 164,000 Militia of Louisiana, &c. 32,000 Passed February 21, 1812. S4,635,445 7. An act making appropriations for the support of an addi- tional military force : For pay - - . - 1,406,857 Forage . - - - 154,435 Subsistence - 1,074,097 Clothing - 863,244 Bounties and premiums - 442,260 Horses for dragoons - 282,000 Quarter-master's departm£nt - - . 408,760 Medical department, - 125,000 - Contingencies - - - - > 355,911 Passed February 21, 1812. S5,l 12,564 8. An act making appropriations for the support of the navy of the United States, for 1812. Pay and subsistence - - - - Si, 123, 341 Provisions ----- 559J57 Medicines ----- 40,000 Repairs of vessels - - _ « 315,000 Freight, store-rent, &c, - - - 115,(^00 Navy yards, &c. - - - - 60,000 Ordnance and ordnance stores - - • . 280,000 Saltpetre, sulphur, &c. - - - 180,000 Pay and subsistence of marine corps - - 154,346 CHAP. 39.1 WAR PREPARATIONS. 219 Clothing for marine corps - - - 49,281 Military stores for do. _ - . 1,777 Medicines, &c. . - - - 3,501 Quarter-master's stores - - , . 20,000 Passed February 24, 1812. 2,902,003 9. An act making a further appropriation for the defence of our maritime frontier. This act appropriated for the purpose 8500,000. Passed March 10, 1812. 10. An act for a loan of gl 1,000,000 for defraying the above expenses. Passed March 14, 1812. 11. An act concerning the naval establishment, for repairing the frigates Constellation, Chesapeake, and Adams. For this purpose there was appropriated S300,000. By this act there was an appropriation made of S200,000 an- nually, for three years, for the purchase of a stock of timber for ship-building. The first appropriation was for rebuilding the frigates Philadelphia, General Green, New- York, and Boston, Passed March 30, 1812. 12. An act in addition to the act to raise an additional mili- tary force. Passed March 30, 1812. 13. An act to authorise a detachment from the militia of the United States, to the amount of 100,000 men. This act con- tained a clause appropriating one million of dollars towards de- fraying the expenses to accrue under it. Passed April 10, 1812. 14. An act for the organization of a corps of artificers. Pas- sed April 23, 1812. 15. An act for the better regulation of the ordnance. Passed May 14, 1812. Subsequent to the declaration of war, 16. An act for the more perfect organization of the army of the United States. Passed June 26, 1812. 1 7. An act making a further appropriation for the defence of the maritime frontier, and for the support of the army of the United States. Passed July 5, 1812. 18. An act making additional appropriations for the military establishment, and for the Indian department. Passed July 6, 1842. 19. An act making further provision for the army of the Uni- ted States. Passed July 6, 1812. It therefore appears, that nearly the whole session was spent in making preparation for hostility — for offensive and defensive operations. I shall not easily forgive myself the very extraor- dinary error, of which I have acknowledged myself guilty on this subject. I shall regard it as a monition as long as I live, against precipitate decision. And may I take the liberty of hinting to the reader, whoever he be, that he may derive a use- 220 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [chap. 40. fill lesson from the fact ? If, with the attention I have been in the habit of paying to public aftairs — i-eadin^ two or three news- papers every day — and perfectly convinced of the justice of the war — I have nevertheless fallen into such a palpable, such a monstrous error, on so plain a point — if I have brought so un- just an accusation against the congress which declared war — how dilBcult may it be for persons remote from opportunities of judging correctly, and liable to be misled by interested or fac- tious men, to form accurate opinions ? A further and most convincing proof of the magnitude of the error which I committed, is to be found in the circumstance, that on the 12th of July, 1812, only twenty-four days after the declaration of war, general Hull, at the head of two thousand five hundred men, well appointed, had penetrated into Canada: and, had the same talents and bravery that displayed themselves at Yorktown, Chippewa, Bridgewater, the Sarenac, New- Orleans, and other places, presided over their movements, there is no doubt that in the first campaign, the whole of Upper (.an- ada, and perhaps Lower Canada, with the exception of Quebec, might have been subdued. This army had 3750 muskets, 36 pieces of cannon, 1080 rounds of fixed ammunition for the can- non, 200 tons of cannon ball, 150 tons of lead, 75,000 musket cartridges made up, &c, &c. &c,* CHAPTER XL. Rep7-oachcs of the minority against the imbecility of the 7)iajority* Pernicious consequences of newspaper misrepresentation. Bri- tish deceived by their friends. While the serious preparations detailed in the preceding chapter were going forward, the federal printers throughout the union were pretty generally and zealously employed in ridicul- ing the idea of war — persuading the public that all these mea- sures were illusory, and intended to intimidate the British min- istry — and that our government possessed neither the courage nor the means to venture on hostility. I have already quoted the notorious declaration made by se- veral members of congress, particularly Mr. Josiah Quincy,that *' the majority could not he kicked into rvar.''^ This course of proceeding is not easily accounted for. It must have had some motive. And it requires an extraordinary degree of charity to ascribe it to a motive either laudable, or in fact not highly sinister or patriotic. Suppose, for a moment, that our rulers did not really mean war — that they were actually destitute of the means of carrying it on — that they were " too cowardly to be kicked into if — was it * See Weekly Register, vol. 3. page 93!; CHAP. 40.] NEWSPAPER MISREPRESENTATION. 221 wise, was it prudent, was it honourable, was it politic, to blazon our deficiencies to the world — to assure England that she might safely, and with impunity, continue the perpetration of her out- rages on an unoffending neutral, because that neutral could not be kicked into war to resist those outrages ? Surely not. In pursuance of the plan I have followed throughout this work, of establishing all points of importance bv intiisputable evidence, I subjoin a few of the paragraphs to which I refer. The two first are of a date much earlier than the declaration of war — and prove how long this system had been pursued. They will satisfy the most incredulous reader. Smoke / Smoke ! *' Our correspondent sng-gests, in the event of certain measures already taken by the executive faihug', then to augment the force by new levies — or by forming ten corps of 1200 men each, to be selected from the militia of a certain age of the several states, who may volunteer for such coi-ps during the war. It is to us a most astonishing and inconceivable thing", that on reading the above, any man should be alarmed, and think our government are about to take deci- sive steps. Will our administration never be understood? Shall we forever be the dupes of a contemptible farce, which has been exliibiting for years, to make people wonder and stare ? My life on it, our executive has no more idea of declaring war than my grandmother." Boston Repertory, January 9, 1810. " Our government ivill not make ivar on Great Britain ,- but m ill keep up a constant irritation on some pretence or other, for the sake of maintaining their influence as a party. The more tlie public suffer, the more iriitable they will be ; and government will trust to their address to direct that irritability against Great Britain." Boston Repertory, April 17, 1810. "The 25,000 men bill passed congress — and in this city [New York] the sensation produced by it was not lialf equal to tliat which was caused by the governor's notice of banks. Mr. G;dlatin recommended a whiskey tax, &c. and every body laughed to think what a queer thing it was for a man, who had figured so much in the whiskey insurrection, to be tlie author of such a mea- sure. The New York Gazette, however, still graced its columns, and we too sometimes, with " for Live i-pool — for London," &c &c. The committee of Vv-ays and means at last come out witli their Pandora's box of taxes. Yet nobodii dreams of -war. Tlie mechanics, the banks, nay the insurance offices go on as usual, iast of all the loan for 11,000,000 of dollars — Still no alteration of the public pulse — no concern by friend or foe of administration. All is well ! In the name of wonder, how or why is all this ! Exposed as the city of New York is, wliy this secui'lty, this apathy ? Are all the proceedings of government a farce, and that so palpable a one, as to be undei-stood by the most stupid ? Or what is tlie rea- son that not the slightest anxiety is felt by ourselves ? if government is in ear- nest, why have they not, why do they not proceed more rapidly ? IVhy is ow shipping permitted to run into certain capture? Either the government is m stfalse and hiipocritical, or tlie people out of their senses?" New York Evening Post, Feb. 1812. " When I see such a palpable failure in all the means, natural and necessary, for carrying on the wax* — when I see the exposure of your sea-board — when I see the actual military force, instead of being increased in efficiency, in fact reducing, neitlier promises, nor asseverations, nor oaths, shall make me believe that you -ivill go to war at the end of ninety days. Opposuit natttra. Nature has de- cided again.st you. Instead of that feast of war, to which we were invited, at the beginning of the session, we have served up to us the old dish of restrictions There is no need of prophecy to tell the result. At the end of ninety days, you will find that your preparation is not sufficient. The horrors of war will be preached up very assiduously during our recess. Familiarity with em'uargo will diminish its di-ead. The restrictive system becomes identified with some per- O. B. 30 222 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [vaxv. 40. sonal, local, paltry interest. The navigating states are sacrificed ; and the spirit and character of the country are prostrated in the dust, by fear or by avarice." Mr. Quiucey's speecii oii the embargo, April 3, lbl2. " The project of attacking Canada is now given up. Some other plan is to be devised." Philadelphia Gazette, January 30, 1812. " They [tlie leaders of congix-ss] have already gone far enough in war. They are conscious tliev cannot commence, prosecute, and terminate a war ; that the hands wliich begin will never hnish it. They shnnkfrom it. They already stag- ger under the lueight. " They are frightened as the aspect becomes a little serious, and wish to go home and think of it." Philadelphia Gazette, January 2U, 18i2. " If \ ou think a vote to raise 25,UU0 men, looks like war, qniet your appre- hensions. Vou do not understand wliat is here called management. THKRE WILL, AS I BB'.IEVE, BE NO WAR. The xvar whoop, the orders in council, the wm-importation, and pri'sidential caucusing will vanish before summer." — Baltiinore FedenU Gazette, as quoted in the Piiiladelphia Gazette, January 13, 1812. •' 1 tell A ou James Madison will not dare to march a man to Canada with the avowed spirit of warfare — not a man, sir — no — not one — in our present defence- less state. So no more of this dream.'" Philadelphia Gazette, Jan. 27, 1812. " We are firmlv persuaded, that the majority in congress do riot mean to de- clare war at present ,- 'ITIAT THEY DARE NOT ; and that all their threats are but contemptible vapouring, which will die away like the vapourings of a drunk- en man, l)efore theyrse." Boston Repertory, Dec. 24, 1811. " There will be much talk and little business this session. WAR IS OUT OF THE QUESTION. But it was determined in caucus last Sunday evening, to look big, and keep a stiff tipper lip." Philadelphia Gazette, November 9, 1811. " It is amazingly mal-a-propos, and moreover very vexatious, that while our centinels of pubhc Uberty are legislating away in "The full tide of successful experiment" at Washington, their well laid plans are failing every where; the two main sinews of their darlivq; war, appear to be most miserably lelaxed. NEI- THER MEN ARE TO BE HAD— NOR MONEY TO PAY THEM." Alex- andria Gazette, as quoted in tiie Philadelphia Gazette, May 14, 1812. This paragraph was published only five weeks before the de- claration of war. It was, with hundreds of others of siinilar character, calculated to keep up the delusion to the last, at home and abroad. During the period when those paragraphs were publishing in our Gazettes, I felt the most serious uneasiness on the subject. I believed their effect wotild be to produce war. I repeatedly- expressed my fears on the subject, and was convinced that they would delude England into a belief, that she might laugh our efforts to scorn — and that she would persevere in her obnoxious course till we were finally " kicked into -warP Among other gentlemen to whom I communicated my apprehensions on this subject, were James Milnor, Adam Seybert, and William An- derson, csqrs. then representatives in Congress from this state. It was in the gallery of the house of representatives, and, as far as I recollect, early in May, 1812. The efforts to spread this delusion were not confined to this side of the Atlantic. No. The same industry was empl. yed in letters to correspondents in England and Ireland, which made their appearance in the public papers in those kingdoms. Never was more ,ers^ xvho had generally votedwith him. for all these preparatory measures^ voted against the rear itself And further^ they did not merely vote against the rvar^ but thirty- four of them published a most inflammatory protest^ addressed to their constituents^ to excite them to oppose it. This protest, and other violent measures, were fatally but too successful. I annex the names of the protestors. Messrs. Brigham, Big-elow, M'Bride, Breckenridge, Baker, Bleecker, Cham- pion, Chittenden, Davenport, Emett, Ely, Fitch, Gold, Goldsborough, .Tackson, Key, Lewis, Law, Mosely, Milnor, Potter, Pearson, Pitkin, Quincy, Reed, Ridgeley, Sullivan, Stewart, Sturges, Tallmadge, Taggart, White, Wilson, Wheaton. The whole of the annals of legislation, from the first organiza- tion of deliberative bodies to this hour, cannot produce a more sinister^ dark^ or mysterious policy. These gentlemen, particu- larly Mr. Quincy, who has been so conspicuous in his opposition to the war, are most solemnly cited before the bar of the public, and called upon to explain the motives of their conduct to that country, which was brought to the jaws of perdition by the op- position which they excited against a war that they countenanc- ed in almost every stage but the last. CHAPTER XLII. Declaration of war. Violently opposed. At length, on the 18th of June, 18i2, v^ar was declared .against Great Britain in due form, after a session of above seven 228 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [chap. 42. months, and the most ardent debates. The final vote was carried in the senate by 19 to 13 — and in the house of representatives by 79 to 49 : affirmatives in both houses 98, negatives 62 ; that is, more than three to two, in both houses united.* War then became the law of the land. It was the paramount duty of all good citizens to submit to it. Even those who doubt- ed its justice or expediency, and who had opposed its adoption, were bound to acquiesce : for the first principle of all republican government, — and of all government founded on reason and jus- tice, is, that the will of the majority, fairly and constitutionally expressed, is the supreme law. To this supreme law the minori- ty is sacredly bound to submit. Any other doctrine is Jacobin- ical, and disorganizing, and seditious. It has a direct tendency to overthrow all government, and introduce anarchy and civil war. If it were lawful for the minority, in the unparalleled mode they adopted, to oppose or paralize the government, and defeat its measures, on the pretext that they were unjust, such pre- texts can never be wanting. And I aver, that it xvoiild he full as just^ as rig'hteous^ as legal^ and as constitutional^ for Mr. Holmes^ at the head of the minority in Massachusetts^ to besiege governor Strong^-in his hoiise^ and coerce him to retire from office^ as it XV as for- tilt Kings^ the Websters^ the Hansons^ and the Gores ^ to besiege president Madison at Washington. While the federalists held the reins of government, they in- culcated these maxims with great energy and eflPect. The least opposition to law excited their utmost indignation and abhor- rence. The vocabulary of vituperation was exhausted to brand it and its perpetrators with infamy. But to enforce rules which operate to our advantage, when we have power, and to submit to those rules, when they operate against us, are widely different. And the federalists, as I have already remarked, abandoned, when in the minority, the wise and salutary maxims of political economy which they had so eloquently preached when they were the majority. And they were not satisfied with mere preaching. They had occasional recourse to violence. A band of Philadelphia volun- teers, during the western insurrection, seized a printer at Read- ing in his own house, by force and violence, and scourged him in the market-place for a libel, not the twentieth part as virulent as those that are at present daily published with impunity. War is undoubtedly a tremendous evil. It can never be suf- ficiently deplored. It ought to be avoided by all honourable means. And the four successive administrations of the United * A very en-oneous idea has been promulg-ated, and found a too easy Ijelief, that tlie war was carried by a small and contemptible majority. How utterly unfounded it is, appears by the above statement. Measures of g^reat importance are rarely carried by lar^e majorities. CHAP. 43.] PEACE PARTY. '229 States government, from the commencement of the French re- volution, till i812, deserve great credit for the laudiible efforts they made to avoid wai% amidst such a variety of provocations. But there are situations which present greater evils than war as an alternative. This nation was precisely in such a situation. We had borne almost every species of outrage, insult, and de- predation. All our efforts to procure redress or justice had been in vain. And the uniform voice of history proves that the base submission of nations to such atrocities as were perpetrated upon us, inevitably produces a loss of national character, as well as of the respect and esteem of other nations — and mvites to further outrages and depredation, till the alternati\e finally be- comes, a loss of independence, or resistance with means and con- fidence impaired. The questions respecting the late war with Great Britain are, whether it was warranted by the conduct of that nation — and whether, after having been duly declared by the constituted authorities, it was not the incumbent duty of the whole nation to have united in support of it. The first of these questions is of so much importance that I shall devote to it the 44th, 45th and 46th chapters entire. I have already sufficiently discussed the second in the beginning of the present chapter. From the hour of the declaration of war, a steady, systemati- cal, and energetical opposition was regularly organized against it. The measure itself, and its authors and abettors, were de- nounced with the utmost virulence and intemperance. The war was, however, at first opposed almost altogether on the ground of inexpediency, and the want of preparation. Afterwards its opposers rose in their denunciations. They asserted it was un- holy — wicked — base — perfidious — unjust — cruel — and corrupt. Every m^ who in any degree co-operated in it, or gave aid to carry it on — was loaded with execration. It was pronounced in one of our daily papers to be " the most wicked and vmjust war that ever was waged." The utter disregard of truth and of the moral sense of the reader, which such a declaration betrays, is calculated to excite the utmost astonishment. Can this war for an instant be compared to the atrocious and perfidious war waged by Bonaparte against Spain — to the treacherous war of England against Denmark, begun by a most lawless and unpre- cedented attack upon the shipping and capital of an unoffending neutral ? I pass over thousands of other instances. And the assertion just quoted is so far from being true, that it is the very reverse of truth ; for probably no nation ever boi'e injustice and depredation so long without resistance. CHAPTER XLIII. Peace party. Composed of warlike materials. Repeated clamour for xvar. Immediately after the declaration of war, there was a party- formed, called the "Peace Party," which combined nearly th© O. B. 31 230 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [chap. 43. whole of the federalists throughout the union. Their object was, to expose the war— the administration— the congress who declared it— and all who supported it, to reprobation— and to force the government to make peace. This party embraced various descriptions of persons, all en- listed under the banners of federalism, whom it may not be im- proper to enumerate. First, those who were clamorous for war with England in 1793, for her depredations on our commerce. Secondly, those who declared and supported the war against France in ir98. ^ Thirdly, those who were vociferous for war against Spain in 1803, when she interdicted us from the right of deposit at New- Orleans. _ Fourthly, those who in 180J-6, urged the government to r^ sist the aggressions of England, and to make the alternative-^ redress ofxvroyigs^ or WAR. Fifthly, those who, after the attack upon the Chesapeake in 180r, were clamorous for war, as the only mode in which satis- iaction could be had for such an outrageous insult. To enable the reader to make a fair comparison of the several degrees of complaint at these several periods of time, I annex a synoptical view of them. 1793 Clamour for war with England. Cause. Depre- dations on com- merce. 1798 War with France. Cause. Depre- dations on com- merce. Ambas- sadors insulted. Vile at- tempt to extort money. 1803 1806 Clamour [ciam for war with Spain. Cause. Prohibi- tion of the right of depo- sit atNew Orleans, our for war with G. Britain. Cause. Enforce- ment of the ride of 1756. Impress- ment, 1807 1812 Clamour for war with G. Britain. Causef Attack ' on the Chesa- peake. Impress- ment. MV&v witli Great Britain. Causes. Impressment. American vessels, owweo by american citizens, laden' with amebicabt phoductions, and navigated by american seamen, liable to seizure AND CONnEMNATION,(/'6o?i7Jar, or peace. " At the renewal of the present war, we had proceeded for some time with all the ardour and zeal of good fortujie. We have been stopped again in our ca- reer by the renewal of harsh and vexatious i-estrictions on the part of England. She has again appealed to principles wliich we cannot admit, and claimed as rights, what we cannot grant her even as an indulgence. In the exercise of these assumed rights, we find a serious source of complaint; for it has cost us much. It is, however, nothing novel. It is but a renewal of tlie injuries we complained of in 1793." Boston Centinel, February 15, 1806. " They [the democrats in congress] dare not resist all aggressions alike, and^ assume the part of spirited impartiality as a magnanimous policy requires. If war is called for by the insulted honour of our country ; if the cup of concilia- tion is drained to the dregs, as they declare it to be, LET WAR BE DECLAR- ED ; LET AN EMBARGO BE LAID ; adequate funds provided ; the strong arm of defence nerved and extended; and a powerful navy ordered. In these measures the whole country, from Georgia to Maine, convinced of the necessi- t)', will be united." Boston Centinel, February 12, 1806. " I do not believe we sliall have war with any nation- Hiit our peace idll he at the expense of our spirit." Boston Centinel, March 8, 1806. " Our ministers in Europe ; may they never hesitate to PREFER WAR to dishonour and tribute." Toast drank at the artillery election. From the Bos- ton Centinel, June 4, 1806. " From Washington, January 23, 1806. " Fear, prejudice, or some other dastardly principle, is continually crossing the path of our rulers : and the loud call of our country, its commerce, and spoiled merchants, for energetic measiu-es, is unheard, or disregarded. My fears are, that the president's Ttiessage -mU only be supported by ruindy debates, or pen and ink reports. " Mr. Randolph, I am told, has very much injured his health by the exertions he is said here to have made during the time the house was in conclave. He has not attended the house for several days, and is sick. From one quarter or an- other, the proceedings of the house, when in secret session, are leaking out. My inquiries lead me to believe, that, in the spirited measures which Randolph proposed for supporting the presidents confidential message, he was joined by CHAP. 43.] CLAMOUR FOR WAR. 235 every federalist in the house ; by a majority of the Virginia representation, and some others ; but that he was in the minority ,- and further, that he was opposed by all the New England democrats to a man ! !" Boston Centinel, Feb. 5, 1806. •' Our seamen are impressed ; they are captured ; they are imprisoned ; they are treated with almost every kind of indignity, while pursuing their lawful business in a regular manner. How long must this be borne ? Has our govern- ment yet to learn, that 7io nation ever was or everioill be respected abroad, but in proportion as it exacts respect by punisMng -wanton insults upon its dignity, and -wanton depredation vpon the property of its citizens; that its doing justice to other nations cannot secure it respect, unless it has both abihty and disposi- tion to enforce measures of justice from them ; and that constant firmness of national attitude and conduct prevents insuUs, while pusillanimity invites them.." New Hampshire Gazette, July 31, 1805. « TO WHOM IT SUITS. "Look at the situation of our sea-coast, defenceless, a prey to picaroons, pri- vateers, and armed vessels of all nations. Our ports blockaded, our coasters and shipping robbed, our forts insulted, our harbours converted into private depots, where the very vessels which rob and disgrace us, are supplied with provisions, stores, and God knows what ; and where, it is more than probable, they have their agents, confederates, or co-partners. See the powers of Europe acting towards America, as if it were meant to insult her, or rather, indeed, sporting with her tameness in the eyes of the looking-on world. Disagreeing, fighting, and at enmity with each ether, in every thing else, in this one thing they perfectly agree, in treating America with indignity, insult, and deluding co?itempt. "Are you yet aware, sir, when it will end ? Are you sure that, if neglected, it will not amount to a height too great to be reached without strainings that may produce fatal convulsions in the state ? For God's sake, for the honour of your country-, for your own credit, rouse ,• let loose the spirit of the country ,- let loose its money bags ,• and save its honour ,- the nation luill one andallsiipport you.^^ New Hampsliire Gazette, January 31, 1805. In 1 807, the cause of complaint was still less substantial than in either of the other instances. Not to tire the reader with proofs of the public clamours for war at this period, I deem it abundantly sufficient to refer him to the twentieth chapter of this work, wherein he will find evi- dence to satisfy the most incredulous. Any man who was a partisan of war in the above cases, and reprobates the late war as unjust and unnecessary, betrays a most awful degree of inconsistency. And yet it is an indisputable fact, that the most violent, the most clamorous, the most Jaco- binical, and the most seditious, among the late " Friends of Peace^'' were among the most strenuous advocates for, and " Friends of War^'' on the former occasions. The Boston Centinel, after the declaration of hostilities, re- garded war as the most frightful of all possible evils. But this was not always its view of the subject. Within a fortnight after laying the embargo, that measure was pronounced more formi- dable than war itselif. " The embargo, which the government has just laid, is of a new and alarming, nature. War, great as the evil is, has less terror, and -will produce less irdsery than an embargo on such t)rincit>\es" Boston Centinel, January 2, 1808. ^5S POLITICAL OUYE BRANCH. [chap. 44. CHAPTER XLIV. hiquiry into the justice of the War. Those who were unacquainted with the causes that led to the late war, might, from the publications that have appeared against it, believe that the United States were wholly the aggressors — that England had been a tame and submissive sufferer of degra- dation, outrage, and insult — and that our rulers had been wan- tonly led, by inordinate and accursed ambition, to engage in a ruinous and destructive war, in order to enrich themselves — ■ squander away the public treasure — and impo\'erish the nation. They were, it' would appear, actuated by as unholy motives as ever impelled Attila, Genghis Khan, or Bonaparte, to perpetrate outrage and cruelty to the utmost extent of their power. These allegations were made in the strongest language in the public papers in London. The prince regent appealed to the world, that Great Britain had not been the aggressor in the war. And, as we have seen, the lords of the admiralty asserted that ■war was declared " after all the grievances of this country had been removed.'''' The federal papers re-echoed and magnified the accusations of the British writers ; and succeeded so far as to inflame a large portion of the public with the most frantic exaspertition against the rulers of their choice, whom they suspected of hav- ing abused their confidence. Governors of states in their addresses, as well as senates and houses of representatives in their replies, took the same ground ; and assumed it as incontrovertible that guilt, and profligacy, and corruption, were the parents of the declaration of war. The house of representatives of Massachusetts, regardless o£ the holy rule, '■'■Judge not^ lest ye be judged^'' in the most un- qualified manner, with an utter destitution of the least semblance of charity, asserted, that " The real cause of war must be traced to the first systematical abandonment of the policy of Washington, and llie friends and framers of tlic constitution ; to implacable animosity against those men, and their universal exclusion from all concern in the government of the country; to the. influence of worthless foreigners over the press, and the deliberations of the government in all its branches : to jealousy of the commercial states,*- fear of their pou!ited States^ xvouW'' by the explicit and unexceptionable de- claration of James Lloyd, '■'■ justify an interminable war' with her:' The question, reader, is thus reduced within a narrow com- pass. It only remains to be ascertained whether " she exerci- sed" the execrable '' right of impressment" of " real bona fide citizens" or not. If she did, the war, according to Mr. Lloyd, was just. To prove the fact beyond the possibility of doubt, I call in very high authority. I will give up for a moment my own calculation of TOOO — the secretary's statement of 6700— and even lord Castlereagh's admission of 1600.* I will rely upon the committee of the legislature of Massachusetts, and upon the reverend Mr. Taggart, member of congress from that state. The latter admits there were three hundred impressed Amer- ican seamen on board the British navy on the declaration of war. And a committee of the house of representatives of Massachu- setts, " as for as their inquiries xvenf admit that there were eleven impressed natives of the state on board that navy. I proceed logically. As " the exercise of the right" of im- pressing the "real bona fide native citizens of the United States into the service of Great Britain, would justify an interminable war rvith her or all the nations of the earth^'' — and as we have clearly established that there were, at all events, 300 native citi- zens of the United States so impressed — it follows that Mr. Lloyd must justify the late war — and will not dare to assert that it was *'■ founded in falsehood.'''' Q. E. D. Before I close the subject, I beg leave to introduce higher personages on the stage. The prince regent has publickly declared, that " it is known to the world that this country, [Great Britain] was not the ag- gressor in this war :" * Loi-d Castlcreagh, In the British parliament, I am assured and confidently believe admitted this number. 252 pm.lfTriAT, Dr.TVP- T^TJAKOH. [caAp.46. And the lords of the admiralty, in their proclamation, dated April, 1814, (see page 65,) express their regi'et on the subject of *' the unprovoked aggression of the American government in de- claring -war after all the causes of its original complaint had been removed.'''' To enter the lists against such formidable antagonists, is really bold and daring. But I hope I have proved, that the war was not " foimded in falsehood ;" — that Great Britain was noto- riously " the aggressor ;" and that none of " the original causes of complaint had been removed" previous to the declaration of war. Just as this page was going to press, I met with an impor- tant document, which bears powerfully and unanswerably on this topic. It is entitled " An abstract of the returns or lists received from general Lyman, of Ameri- can seamen and citizens, who have been impressed and held on board his Bri- tannic majesty's ships of war, from the first of October, 1807, till the thirty- first of March, 1809." The whole number of impressed men included in these re- turns, is - - - - - 873 Of whom were discharged - - _ 287 Applications unanswered _ - - _ i03 In ships on foreign stations - - - .48 Deserted - - • - - - 32 British subjects - - - - - - 98 Having voluntarily entered - - - - 34 Married in England or Ireland - - -7 The remaining 264 were refused to be discharged on various gi'ounds, of irregularity of documents, &c. &c. — But let it be borne in eternal remembrance, that of the xvhole nu7nber^ 873, there -were only 98 xvho were detaiyied as British subjects I ! This single document is of itself abundantly sufficient to brand with infamy, beyond the power of appeal or justification, the odious practice of impressment. Eight hundred and seventy- three persons, sailing under the American flag, which ought to have insured them full and complete protection, are seized with every circumstance of outrage, oppression, injury, and injustice, as British subjects — are torn from their friends and families and country — are compelled to fight the battles of Great Britain, at the risque of being slaughtered by her enemies — they are sub- ject to the most ignominious punishment, if they dare refuse to serve ; and yet, good heavens ! what an abomination ! when their cases are fully investigated, it is found that only 98 of them are asserted to be — though they rvere all stolen wider pre- tence that they rvere — British subjects .' ! I make a solemn appeal on this subject — not to the United States — not to the British nation — not to France — but to the whole world — and boldly aver, and dare contradiction, that no CHAP. 47] TURBLT.ENCE OF BOSTON, 253 nation ever perpetrated such atrocious, such horrible, such law= less violence on another nation, in a state of pretended peace and friendship ; and that no nation, with equal means of defence and offence, ever before submitted to such humiliation, such de- gradation, as Great Britain heaped on the United States. CHAPTER XLVII. Turbulence of Boston. Boston acts on Massachusetts. 3Iassa'- chusetts acts on the other eastern states, jfealousies and discord sedulously excited. Hateful picture of the southern states. Boston, the metropolis of Massachusetts, has been for along period, and more particularly since the close of the reign of fe- deralism, the seat of discontent, complaint, and turbulence. She has been herself restless and uneasy — and has spread restlessness and uneasiness throughout the union. She has thwarted, ha> rassed, and embarrassed the general government, incomparably more than all the other states together. Whatever difficulty or distress arose from the extraordinary circumstances of the times — and great difficulty and distress were inevitable — was aggravated and magnified to the highest degree, for the purpose of inflaming the public passions. The leaders in tliis business were clamorous, when we were at peace iu 1793, and in 1806, for war against England, on account of her depredations on their commerce, and in 1807, on account of the attack on the Chesapeake. They were equally clamorous, as w^e have seen, in 1803, for w^ar against Spain, on account of the interruption of the right of deposit at New Orleans, and denounced, in the most virulent style, the imbecility and cow- ardice of the government. Yet from the moment when war was declared, they clamoured for peace, and reprobated the war as wicked, unjust, and unnecessary, although the causes of war were incomparablv greater in 1812, than in 1793, or 1806, or 1807.* They made everv possible effort to raise obstructions and difficulties, in the prosecution of the war ; and yet repro- hated the administration for their imbecility in carrying it on. They reduced the government to bankruptcy, as I trust I shall prove ; and reproached it for its necessities and embarrassments. In a word, all their movements have had but one object, to en- feeble and distract the government, for the purpose of regaining their lost authority. This object has been too successfully at- tained. With a population of only 33,000 inhabitants, and a com- merce quite insignificant, compared with that of New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, or Charleston, Boston has, by manage- ment and address, acquired a degree of influence beyond all proportion greater than her due share — greater in fact than the * See chapters 43 and 44. O. B. 34 254 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. ' [chap, 47. above four cities combined — a degree of influence which has been exercised in such a manner as to become dangerous to public and private property and happiness, and to the peace and permanence of the union. It brought us to the very verge of its dissolution, and nearly to the awful consequence — a civii war. The movers of this mighty piece of machinery — this lever that puts into convulsive motion the whole of our political fa- bric, are few in number. But several of them are possessed ot inordinate wealth — considerable talents — great energy — and overgrown influence. They afford a signal proof how much a few men may effect by energy and concert, more especially when they ai"e not very scrupulous about the means of accomplishing their ends. A northern confederacy has been the object for a number of years. They have repeatedly advocated in the pub- lic prints a separation of the states, on account of a pretended discordance of views and interests of the different sections. This project of separation was formed shortly after the adop- tion of the federal constitution. Whether it was ventured be- fore the public, earlier than 1796, I know not. But of its pro- mulgation in that year, there is the most indubitable evidence. A most elaborate set of papers, under the signature of Pelham, was then published in the city of Hartford, in Connecticut, the joint production of an association oT men of the first talents and influence in the state. They appeared in the Connecticut Cou- rant, published by Hudson and Goodwin, two eminent printers, of, I believe, considerable revolutionary standing. There were then none of the long catalogue of grievances, which, since that period, have been fabricated to justify the recent attempts to dissolve the union. General Washington was president ; John Adams, an eastern citizen, vice-president. There was no French influence — no Virginia dynasty — no embargo — no non- intercourse — no terrapin policy — no democratic madness — no war. — In fine, every feature in the affairs of the country was precisely according to their fondest wishes. To sow discord, jealousy, and hostility between the different sections of the union, was the first and grand step in their ca- reer, in order to accomplish the favourite object of a separation of the states. In fact, without this efficient instrument, all their efforts would have been utterly unavailing. It would have been impossible, had the honest yeomanry of the eastern states continued to re- gard their southern fellow citizens as friends and brethren, hav- ing one common interest in the promotion of the general wel- fare, to make them instruments in the hands of those who in- tended to employ them to operate the unholy work of destroy- ing the noble, the august, the splendid fabric of our union and unparalleled form of government. CHAP. 47.3 iLLIBERALITY. 255 For eighteen years, therefore, the most unceasing endeavour.s have been used to poison the minds of the people of the eastern states towards, and to alienate them from, their fellow citizens of the southern. The people of the latter section have been pourtrayed as demons incarnate, destitute of all the good quali- ties that dignify or adorn human nature — that acquire esteem or regard — that entitle to respect and veneration. Nothing can exceed the virulence of these caricatures, some of which would have suited the ferocious inhabitants of New-Zealand, i-ather than a civilized or polished nation. To illustrate, and remove all doubt on, this subject, I subjoin an extract from Pelham's essays, No. I. " Negroes are, in all respects, except in regard to life and death, the cattle of the citizens of the southern states. Jfthey were good fur food, the probability is, that even the poiver of destroying their lii^es ivould be enjoyed by their owners, as fully as it is over the lives of their cattle. It camwt be, that their laius prohibit the owners from killing their slaves, because those slaves are human beings, or be- cause it is a moral evil to destroy them. If that were the case, how can they jus- tify their being treated, in all other respects, like brutes ? for it is in this point of view alone, that negroes in the southern states are considered in fact as dif- ferent from cattle. They are bought and sold ; they are fed or kept hungry ; they al'e clothed, or i-educed to nakedness ; they are beaten, turned out to the fury of the elements, and torn from their dearest connections, with as little re^ morse as if they were beasts of the fehV Never was there a more infamous or unfounded caricature than this — never one more disgraceful to its author. It may not be amiss to state, and it enhances ten-fold the tiu^pitude of the writer, that at the period when it was written, there were many slaves in Connecticut, who were subject to every one of the disadvantages that attended the southern slaves. Its vile character is further greatly aggravated by the con- sideration that a large portion of these very negroes, and their ancestors, had been purchased, and rent from their hotnes and families, by citizens of the eastern states, who were actually at that moment, and long afterwards, engaged in the Slave Trade, I add a few more extracts from Pelham : — ■ " We have reached a critical period in our political existence. The ques- tion must soon be decided, whether we shall contimte a nation, at the expense even of our union, or sink with the present mass of difficulty into confusion and slavery. " Many advantages were supposed to be secured, and many evils avoided, by an union of the states. I shall not deny that the supposition was well founded. But at that time those advantages and those evils were magnified to a far greater size, than either would be if the question was at this moment to be settled. " The northern states can subsist as a nation, a republic, without any connec- tion with the ■■southern. It cannot be contested, that if the southern states were possesssed of the same political ideas, an union would be still more desirable than a separation. But when it becomes a serious question, whether we sliall give up our government, or part with the states south of the Potomac, no man north of that river, whose heart is not thoroughly democratic, can hesitate what decision to make. " I shall in the future papers consider some of the great events which w^ll lead to a separation of the United States f show the importance of retaining 256 POLITICAL OUVE BRANCH. [chaf. 4". their present conslitution, even at the expense of a separation ; emleayonr to prove the imposdbilitij of an union for any long period in future, both from the moral and political habits of the citizens of the southern states,- and finally ex- amine carefully to see whether rve have not alreadi/ approached to the era when they must be divided."" It is impossible for a man of intelligence and candour to read these extracts without feeling a decided conviction that the writer and his friends Avere determined to use all their endea. vours to dissolve the union, and endanger civil war and all its horrors, in order to promote their personal views. This aifords a complete clue to all the seditious proceedings that have occur- red since that period — the unceasing efforts to excite the public mind to that feverish state of discord, jealousy, and exaspera- tion, which was necessary to prepare it for convulsion. The parties interested would, on the stage of a separate confederacy, perform the brilliant parts of kings and princes, generals, and generalissimos — whereas on the grand stage of a general union, embracing all the states, they are obliged to sustain characters of perhaps a second or third rate. " Better to rule in hcll^ than obey in heaven.'''' The unholy spirit that inspired the Avriter of the above ex- tracts has been, from that hour to the present, incessantly em- ployed to excite hostility between the different sections of the union. To such horrible lengths has tiiis spirit been carried, that many paragraphs have occasionally appeared in the Boston papers, intended, and well calculated to excite the negroes of the southern states to rise and massacre their masters. This will undoubtedly appear incredible to the reader. It is never- theless sacredly "true. It is a species of turpitude and baseness, of which the world has produced fcAv examples. Thus some progress was made. But it was inconsiderable. "While the yeomanry of the eastern states were enriched by a beneficial commerce with the southern, they did not leel dis- posed to quarrel with them for their supposed want of a due degree of piety or morality. A deeper game was requisite to be played, or all the pains taken so far, would have been wholly fruitless. This was sedu- lously undertaken. The press literally groaned Vvith efforts to prove five points, wholly destitute of foundation. First, that the eastern states were supereminently commercial. Secondly, That the states south of the Susquehanna were whoUv agricultural. Thirdlv, That there is a natural and inevitable hostility be- tween commercial and agricultural states. Fourthly, That this hostility has uniformly pervaded the whole southern section of the union. And Fifthly, That all the measures of congress were dictnted by this hostility ; and were actually intended to ruin the comtr.er- cial, meaning the eastern states. CHAP. 47.] DELUSION. 25T I do not assert that these miserable, contemptible, and decep- tions positions were ever laid down in regular foi-m, as theses to argue upon. But I do aver, that they form the basis of three fourths of all the essays, paragraphs, squibs, and crackers, that have appeared in the Boston papers against the administration for many years past. " The Koad to Ruin," ascribed to John Lowell, now before me, is remarkable for its virulence, its acri- mony, its intemperance, and for the talents of the -v^riter. fie undoubtedly places his subject in the strongest point of light pos- sible for such a subject. But if you extract from his essays, the assumption of these positions, all the rest is a mere caput mortimm — all " sound and fury." On these topics the changes are rung in endless succession. The same observation will ap- ply, and with equal force, to hundreds, perhaps thousands of es- says and paragraphs, written on the same topic. Never was the — gutta non vi^ sed saepe cadendo — more com- pletely verified. These positions, however absurd, however ex- travagant, however ridiculous they appear in their naked form, have, by dint of incessant repetition, made such an impression upon the minds of a large portion of the people of the eastern states, that they are as thoroughly convinced of their truth, as of any problem in Euclid. Boston having acted upon and inflamed Massachusetts, that state acted upon, and put in movement the rest of the eastern states, more particularly Connecticut and Rhode Island. New Hampshire and Vermont are but partially infected w ith the tur- bulent and Jacobinical spirit that predominates in Massachusetts. It thus happens, that a people proverbially orderly, quiet, so- ber, and rational, were actually so highly excited as to be ripe for revolution, and ready to overturn the whole system of social order. A conspiracy was formed, which, as I have stated, and as cannot be too often repeated, promised fair to produce a con- vulsion — a disfsolut'ion of the union — and a civil rvar, unless the seduced people of that section of the union could be recovered from the fatal delusion they laboured under, and restored to their reason. I shall very briefly, and without much attention to order or regularitv, consider these positions. They are not entitled to a serious refutation, but merely as they have been made the in- struments of producing so much mischief. Before I touch upon the commercial points, I shall offer a few observations on the high and exalted pretensions of the people of the eastern states, to superior morality and religion, over the rest of the union. There has not been, it is true, quite so much pa- rade with these exclusive claims as on the subject of commerce. Perhaps the reason is that there was no political purpose to be answered by them. But that the people of that section of the 258 rOLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [cBAr.4r. union are in general thoroughly persuaded that they very far excel the rest of the nation in both religion and morals, no man who has been conversant with them can deny. This folly of self righteousness, of exalting ourselves above others, is too gc" neral all over the world ; but no where more prevalent, or to greater extent, than in the eastern states. To pretend to insti- tute a comparison between the religion and morals of the people of Boston and those of Philadelphia, New York, or Baltimore, would be considered as extravagant and absurd, as a comparison of the most licentious votary of Venus, with a spotless vestal. — The Rev. Jedidiah Morse has in some degree devoted his geo- graphy to, and disgraced it by, the perpetuation of this vile pre- judice. Almost every page that respects his own section of the union is higlily encomiastic. He colours with the flattering- tints of a partial and enamoured friend. But when once he pas- ses the Susquehannah, what a hideous reverse ! — Almost every thing is there frightful caricature. Society is at alow and me- lancholy ebb, -and all his most sombre tints are employed in the description, in order to elevate, by the contrast, his favourite Elysium, the eastern states. He dips his pen in gall when he has to pourtray the manners, or habits, or religion, of Virginia or Maryland, either of the Carolinas or Georgia, or the western country. I should enter far into the consideration of this procedure of Mr. Morse, but that it has been ably discussed by a superior pen. The editor of die Port Folio, hi mseit a decided federalist, reprobates, and pronounces a just and eternal condemnation on the illiberality of thus making a school, or indeed any other book, a vehicle to excite animosities between fellow citizens of differ- ent portions of the same nation. The character of the eastern states for morality has been vari- ous at various times. Not long since, it was at a very low ebb indeed. It is within the memory of those over whose chin no razor has ever mowed a harvest, that Yankee and sharper were regarded as nearly synonimous. And this was not among the low and illiberal, the base and vulgar. It pervaded all ranks of society. In the middle and southern states, traders were uni- versally very much on their guard against " Yankee tricks,^' when dealing with those of the eastern. They now arrogate to themselves (and, for party purposes, their claims are sometimes admitted by their political friends here) to be, as I have stated, a superior order to their fellow- citizens. — They look down upon the people of the southern states with as much contempt, and with the same foundation, as did the Pharisee of old on the despised Publican. Both of those views are grossly erroneous. They never, as a people, merited the opprobrium under which they formerly la- MAP. 48.] -DELUSION, 259 boured. There were, it is true, many worthless miscreants among them, who, on their migration to the other states, were guilty of base tricks, which, by an illiberality disgraceful to our species, but nevertheless very common, were charged to the ac- count of the entire people of the eastern states, and brought them under a most undeserved odium. I feel a pride and pleasure in doing justice to the yeomanry of the eastern states. They will not suffer on a comparison with the same class of men in any part of the world. 1 hey are up- right, sober, orderly and regular — shrewd, intelligent, and well informed — and I believe there is not a greater degree of genuine native urbanity among the yeomanry of any country under the canopy of Heaven. And it is lainentable and unaccountable how they have allowed themselves to be so egregiously duped as they have been. I have known them long : and my respect for them, has gradually increased in proportion as my knowledge of them has extended. But I shall never admit any exclusive or super- eminent claim to the virtues which I know they possess. And I have no hesitation in averring, that although Boston, or Hart- ford, or Newhaven, may exhibit rather more appearance of reli- gion and piety, than New York, or Philadelphia, or Baltimore, yet the latter cities possess as much of the reality. It would astonish and frighten many of the pious people in New York or Philadelphia, to be informed — but they may nevertheless rely «])on the information as indubitably true — that a large portion of the clergy in the town of Boston, are absolute Unitarians ; and scout the idea of the divinity of Jesus Christ as com.pletely and explicitly as ever Dr. Priestly did. This is a digression. I did not intend to introduce it. Bvit since it is here, let it re- main. And let me add, that the present principal of Harvard College was known to be an Unitarian when he was elected. — - This fact establishes the very great extent and prevalence of the doctrine. CHAPTER XLVIII. Arrogance of the Claims of the Eastern States on the subject of Commerce. Statistical Tables. Comparison of the Exports of the several States. The high and sounding pretensions of the eastern states on the subject of commerce have been almost universally admitted. No person has ever thought it worth while to examine into the actual state of the facts. It has been presumed, that on a point where falsehood and deception could be so easily detected, such confident assertions would not be hazarded, unless they rested on a. strong foundation. And in drawing the line of demarcation between the eastern states and the rest of the union, in the minds of the mass of the community, all to the north and east of the line 260 POLITICAL OLIVfi BRANCIL [chap. 48. was regarded as devoted exclusively to commerce — all to the south and west, chiefly to agriculture. It is hardly possible to conceive a greater mistake. The rea- der will be astonished at the view I shall lay before him. I have been inexpressibly surprised myself at the developement, and even now can hardly credit my own statements. They are nevertheless indisputable. TABLE A. Table of Exports from the United States, of FOREIGJ^' and DOMESTIC pro- ductions and manufactures, from 17! 51 to 1802. Carefully extracted from the treasury returns. . J^fassac/iusetts. JMaruland. S. Carolina. JVe^u-York. Pennsylvania. 1791 §2,519,000 2,239,000 2,693,000 2,505,000 3,436,000 1792 2,888,000 2,623,000 2,428,000 2,535,000 3,820,000 1793 3,755,000 .'^ ,665,000 . . 3,191,000 2,932,000 6,958,000 1794 5,292,000 5,686,000 3,867,000 5,442,000 6,643,000 1795 7,117,000 5,811,000 5,998,000 10,304,000 11,518,000 1796 9,949,000 9,201,000 7,620,000 12,208,000 17,513,000 1797 7,502,000 9,811,000 6,505,000 13,308,000 11,446,000 1798 8,639,000 12,746,000 6,994,000 14,300,000 8,915,000 1799 11,421,000 16,299,000 8,729,000 18,719,000 12,431,000 1800 11,326,000 12,264,000 10,663,000 14,045,000 11,949,000 1801 14,870,000 12,767,000 14,304,000 19,851,000 17,438,000 1802 13,492,000 98,770,000 7,914,000 10,639,000 13,792.000 12,677,000 101,026,000 83,631,000 129,941,000 124,744,000 Connecticut. Virginia. Rhode Island. Gcorifia, JV*. Harnpsliire. 1791 g710,000 3,131,000 470,000 491,000 142,000 1792 879,000 3,552,000 698,000 459,000 181,000 1793 770,000 2,987,000 616,000 520,000 198,000 1794 812,000 3,321,000 954,000 263,000 153,000 1795 819,000 3,490,000 1,222,000 695,000 229,000 1796 1,452,000 5,268,000 1,589,000 950,000 378,000 1797 814,000 4,908,000 975,000 644,000 275,000 1798 763,000 6,113,000 947,000 961,000 361,000 1799 1,143,000 6,292,000 1,055,000 1,396,000 361,000 1800 1,114,000 4,430,000 1,322,000 1,174,000 431,000 1801 1,446,000 5,655,000 1,832,000 1,755,000 555,000 1802 1,606,000 3,978,000 2,433,000 1,854,000 565,000 12,328,000 53,125,000 14,113,000 Una. M 11,162,000 3,829,000 Vermont. »V. Caro '.w Jersey, Delaware. 1791 524,000 26,000 119,000 1792 527 ',000 23,000 133,000 1793 365,000 54,000 93,000 1794 321,000 58,000 207,000 1795 49:; >000 130,000 158,000 1796 671,000 59,000 201,000 1797 540,000 18,000 98,000 1798 53} %000 61,000 183,000 1799 20,000 485,000 9,000 297,000 1800 57,000 769,000 2,000 418,000 1801 57,000 874,000 25,000 662,000 1802 31,000 659,000 26,000 440,000 165,000 6,764,000 491;000 3,009,000 •HAP. 48*1 STATISTICS. 261 N. B. In the preceding and succeeding tables of exports, the figures below thousands are uniformly omitted, as not material to the calculation— and afiect- ing equally both sides of tlie question. Comparative views of the exports from the different states^ of foreign and domestic articles^ from 17^1 to 1802, inclusively. See 'I'able A. I. Maryland exported more than eight times as much as Con- necticut; more than seven times as much as Rhode Island; two per cent, more than " the great commercial state*' of Massachu- setts ; and very nearly as much as Massachusetts, New-Hamp- shire and Vermont united. Maryland 101,026,000 Massachusetts ------ 98,770,000 New Hampshire ----- 3,829,000 Vermont 165,000 102,764,000 Connecticut ... - - - 12,328.000 Rhode Island " 14,11^,000 II. Marvland exported above tiuo hundred andthirtij per cent. more than New Hampshire^ Vermont^ Connecticut^ and Rhode Is/and. Maryland „■ 101.026,000 New Hampshire ... - o,829,000 Veimont ....-- 165,000 Connecticut .... - 12,o28,000 l^^-^^l^l-'l ''^''''''' 30,435,000 III. South Carolina exported nearly six times as much as Rhode Island ; nearly seven times as much as Connecticut ; above twenty times as much as New Hampshire ; 500 times as much as Vermont ; and OJie hundred and seventy per cent, viore than those four states. Soutl. Carolina 83,631,000 New Hampshire io^;Q'nnn ' Connecticut " h'^To'^nn Rhode Island ^^'llt'^S^. ^'-™«"^ _'.!!fi'30,435,000 IV. Virginia exported seventy-three per cent, more than the four minor eastern states. Virginia -.----- 53,125,000 N. Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, and R. Island. See No. 2. 30,435,000 V. Virginia and South Carolina exported eight per cent, more than the five " great commercial eastern states ! ! .'" Virginia ----- -53,125,000 Smith firolina 83,631,000 bouth Laioiina .136,756,000 Massachusetts 98,770,000 New Hampshire, Vermont, &c. See No. 2. » ^!!:^^f^i29 2Q5,00Q O. B. 35 262 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [chap. 48. VI. North Carolina exported seventy per cent, more than New Hampshire and Vermont. North Carolina 5,764,000 New Hampshire 3,829,000 Vermont 165,000 3,994,000 VII. Georgia exported nearly as much as Connecticut. Georgia - 12,162,000 Connecticut - 12,328,000 VIII. The five southern states exported nearly twice as much as the five great commercial eastern states ! ! ! Maryland - - - - - - 101,026,000 Virginia 53,125,000 6,764,000 83,631,000 12,162,000 North Carolina .... South Carolina . - . - . Georgia .... - 256,708,000 Five eastern states. See No. 5. . - - - - 129,205,000 IX. Pennsylvania alone exported nearly as much as the " five great commercial eastern states." Peinis3'h rania . . . 124,744,000 Five eastern states. See : No. 5. - - 129,205,000 TABLE B. FOREIGJV PRODUCTIOjYS and , MAJS'UFACTURES exhoi 'ted from the United Statfufrom 1803 to 1813. Carefully taken from the treasury returns. jMassachusetts. J\'ev>-¥ork: Pennsylvcmia. iS'. Carolina. JMaryland. 1803 §3,369,000 3,191,000 3,504,000 947,000 1,371,000 1804 10,591,000 8,580,000 6,851,000 2,309,000 5,213,000 1805 13,738,000 15.384,000 9,397,000 3,108,000 7,450,000 1806 14,577,000 13,709,000 13,809,000 2,946,000 10,919,000 1807 13,926,000 16,400,000 12,055,000 3,783,000 10,282,000 1808 3,619,000 3,243,000 2,946,000 260,000 1,956,000 1809 6,119,000 4,232,000 4,810,000 385,000 4,056,000 1810 7,251,000 6,313,000 6,241,000 408,000 3,213,000 1811 ■ 5,192,000 3,518,000 3,865,000 210,000 3,820,000 1812 2,648,000 2,358,000 1,313,000 11,000 1,929,000 1813 294,000 1,124,000 327,000 53,000 1,005,000 81,324,000 Connecticut. . 78,052,000 65,118,000 14,420,000 50,214,000 Rhode Island. Virginia. Georgia. JV. Hampshire. 1803 §10,000 611,000 151,000 25,000 51,000 1804 29,000 817,000 395,000 74,000 262,000 1805 90,000 1,506,000 660,000 43,000 218,000 1806 193,000 1,142,000 428,000 383,000 1807 105,000 915,000 367,000 34,000 314,000 1808 15,000 102,000 18,000 2,000 1809 11,000 626,000 107,000 85,000 1810 5,000 456,000 189,000 3,000 9,000 1811 38,000 626,000 23,000 11,000 53,000 1812 150,000 17,000 9,000 1813 5,000 2,000 501,000 6,953,000 2,355,000 190,000 1,386,000 6HAP. 48.] STATISTICS. S63 Vermont. JV. Carolina. JYev) Jersey. Delanvare. 1803 27,000 26,000 240,000 1804 55,000 9,000 517,000 1805 67,000 12,000 280,000 1806 102,000 3,000 7,000 374,000 1807 55,000 4,000 5,000 151,000 1808 25,000 8,000 70,000 1809 49,000 50,000 41,000 1810 26,000 2,000 37,000 40,000 1811 538,000 4,000 1812 131,000 1813 1,000 1,075,000 61,000 107,000 1,713,000 Comparative views of foreign articles, exported from 1803 to 1813. See precediiiff Table B. I. Maryland exported above seven times as much as Rliode Island ; thirty-five times as much as New Hampshire ; forty- five times as much as Vermont ; one hundred times as much as Connecticut ; and above five times as much as the four minor eastern states. Maryland ... 50,214,000 Connecticut - - - - 501,000 Rhode Island - - - 6,953,000 New Hampshire - - - 1,386,000 Vermont . - - , . 1,075,000 9,915,000 II. South Carolina exported nearly twice as much as Con- necticut and Rhode Island ; above ten times as much as New Hampshire ; and above 40 per cent more than the four minor eastern states. South Carolina - - ' - - - - 14,420,000 Connecticut -_...- 501,000 Rhode Island - - - - - ' 6,953,000 7,454,000 New Hampshire .... - 1,386,000 Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut and Rhode Island. No I. 9,915,000 III. Maryland and South Carolina exported nearly eighty per cent, of the amount exported by Massachusetts and Connec- ticut. Mainland . . - . . 50,214,000 South Carolina - , - - - 14,420,000 Connecticut . - . - - 501,000 Massachusetts ...» - 81,324,000 -64,634,000 -81,825,000 IV. Virginia exported almost five times as much as Connec- ticut ; and above twenty per cent, more than Connecticut and New Hampshire. Virginia - - - - ' - 2,355,000 Coiuiecticut - - - - - 501,000 New Hampshire .... 1,386,000 .^—-^ 1,887,000 364 POUTICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [chap. 48. TABLE C. DOMESTIC PJiOBUCTWjYS and JLi.VUFJCTURES exported from the Uiiited States from 1803 to 181o. CarefuUy extracted from the treasury returns. Ji^Tussachusetts. S. Carolina. , Man/land. JVe-itr- York. Pennsvlvania. 1803 g 5,399,000 6,863,000 3,707,000 7,626,000 4,021,000 1804 6,303,000 5,142,000 3,938,000 7,501,000 4,178,000 1805 5,697,000 5,957,000 3,408,000 8,098,000 4,365,000 1806 6,621,000 6,797,000 3,661,000 8,053,000 3,765,000 1807 6,185,000 7,129,000 4,016,000 9,957,000 4,809,000 1808 1,5U8,000 1,404,000 764,000 2,362,000 1,066,000 1809 6,022,000 2,861,000 2,570,000 8,348,000 4,238,000 1810 5,761,000 4,881,000 3,275,000 10,928,000 4,751,000 1811 6,042,000 4,650,000 4,553,000 8,747,000 5,694,000 1812 3,935,000 2,1/24,000 3,956,000 6,603,000 4,660,000 1813 1,513,000 2,815,000 2,782,000 7,060,000 3,249,000 54,986,000 Virgiiua. 50,523,000 . 36,630,000 85,283,000 44,796,000 Connecticut. Georgia. R. Island. J\r. , Hampshire. 1803 ^5,949,000 1,238,000 2,345,000 664,000 443,000 1804 5,394,000 1,486,000 2,003,000 917,000 453,000 1805 4,945,000 1,353,000 2,351,000 1,065,000 389,000 1806 4,626,000 1,522,000 82,000 949,000 411,000 1807 4,393,000 1,519,000 3,710,000 741,000 365,000 1808 508,000 397,000 24,000 139,000 122,000 1809 2,786,000 655,000 1,082,000 658,000 201,000 1810 4,632,000 762,000 2,234,000 874,000 225,000 1811 4,798,000 994,000 2,557,000 944,000 315,000 1812 2,983,000 720,000 1,066,000 604,000 194,000 1813 1,819,000 968,000 1,094,000 234,000 29,000 42,833,000 Vermont. JV. Ca 11,614,000 1 18,548,000 7,789,000 3,147,000 rolina. JV. .Jersey. Delaware. A'. Orleans. Columbia. 1803 §89,000 926.000 21,000 187,000 1,412,000 1804 135,000 919,000 24,000 180,000 1,392,000 1,157,000 1805 101,000 767 ',000 20,000 77,000 2,338,000 1,135,000 1806 91,000 786,000 26,000 125,000 2,357,000 1.091,000 1807 148,000 740,000 36,000 77,000 3,161,000 1,363,000 1808 83,000 117,000 12,000 38,000 537,000 281,000 1809 125,000 322,000 269,000 96,000 344,000 681,000 1810 406,000 401,000 392,000 79,000 1,753,000 984,000 1811 32,000 79:: i,000 1,000 76,000 2,501,000 2,060,000 1812 7,000 489,000 4,000 29,000 1,012,000 1,593,000 1813 79c i,000 10,000 133,000 1,013,000 1,387,000 1,217,000 7,055,000 815,000 1,097,000 16,408,000 13,144,000 Comparative views of domestic articles., exported from 1803 t9 1813. See preceding Table C. I. South Carolina exported within eight per cent, of the whole amount exported by Massachusetts ; nearly seven times as much as Rhode Island ; above four times as much as Con- necticut ; and above twice as much as the four minor eastern states. CHAP. 48.] STATISTICS. 265 South Carolina 50,523,000 Massachusetts ..---- 54,£>8a,000 New Hampshh-e .... - 3,147,000 Vemiont - . - - - 1,217,000 Connecticut - - - > - - " 11,614,000 Rhode Island - - - - •- 7,789,000 -23,767,000 II. Virginia and Maryland exported more than all the eastern states. Virgioia - ■- - ' - - - 42,833,000 Maryland .... 36,63(.,000 79,463,000 Massachusetts - - - - - - 54,985,100 N. Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, 23,767,000 78,752,000 III. North Carolina exported almost seventy.five per cent, more than New Hampshire and Vermont, and nearly as much as Rhode Island. North Carolina - .... 7,055,000 NewHampsliire - . . , - 3,147,000 Vermont - - .... 1,217,000 4,364,000 Rhode Island 7,789,000 IV. North Carolina and Georgia exported more than the four minor eastern states. North Carolina - .... 7,055,000 Georgia 18,548,000 25,603,000 New Hampshire, Vemiont, Connecticut, &c- (No. 1.) 23,767,000 V. Georgia exported nearly twenty per cent, more than Con- necticut, New Hampshire, and Vermont. Georgia - 18,548,000 Connecticut .... - 11,614,000 New Hampshire ..... 3,147,000 Vermont ..... 1,217,000 -15,978,000 VI. The district of Columbia mid the state of Georgia export- ed thirty per cent, more than New Hampshire^ Fertnont^ Connect ticut and Rhode Island. Columbia ..... 13,144,000 Georgia - - .... 18,548,000 ^ 31,692,000 N. Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, and R. Island (No. 1.) 23,767,000 VII.' Virginia^ Maryland^ and South Carolina exported above sixty per ceiit. more than the eastern states. Virginia 42,833,000 Maiyknd 36,630,000 South Carohna 50,523,000 129,986,000 Fire eastern states (in No. 2.) - - - 78,752,000 266 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [cbap. 48, VIII. The district of Columbia^ of ten miles square^ exported more than New Hampshire^ Vermont^ and Rhode Island. Columbia 13,144,00© New Hampshire . - . - - 3,147,000 Vermont ..-.-- 1,217,400 Khocle Island 7,789,000 12,153,000 IX. The state of Virginia exported above half as much as the five easteiTi states, Virginia .-.--. - 42,833,000 The five eastern states (See No. 2.) - - - 78,752,000 X. Virginia exported nearly as much, and South Carolina fourteen per cent, more, than Pennsylvania. Virginia 42,833,000 South Carolina .... . - - - 50,523,000 Pennsylvania - - - - - - 44,796,000 XI. Virginia exported five hundred and fifty per cent, more than Rhode Island ; — 'three hundred and fifty per cent, more than Connecticut ; and almost a thousand per cent, more than New Hampshire and Vermont. Virginia 42,833,000 Rhode Island - 7,789,000 Connecticut --...- 11,614,000 New Hampshire -----. 3,147,000 Vermont 1,217,000 4,364,000 XII. The district of Columbia and Virginia exported more than Massachusetts I Columbia 13,144,000 Virginia ------ 42,833,000 55,977,000 Massachusetts - . - . . 54,986,000 XIII. The district of Columbia exported ten per cent, more than that great state wherein the Hartford Convention sat to regulate cominerce ! Columbia - - - - 13,144,000 Connecticut .... - 11,614,000 XIV. South Carolina and Georgia exported more than Massa- chusetts^ Rhode Island^ New Hampshire^ and Vermont 1 J .' South Carolina - . . - 50,523,000 Georgia - - - . . 18,548,000 69,071,008 Massachusetts . - . , - 54,986,000 Rhode Island - .... 7,789,000 New Hampsliire - . . - . 3,147,000 Vermont . -^ . . . 1,217,000 67,139,000 CHAP. 48.] STATISTICS. 267 XV. South Carolina exported above 250 per cent, more than Connecticut ; above five hundred per cent, more than Rhode Is- land ; and above one hundred and fifty per cent, more than both these states. South Carolina - '- - - - 50,523,000 Connecticut .... - 11,614,000 Rhode Island ..... 7,789,000 19,403,000 XVI. Maryland exported above fifty per cent more than the four minor eastern states. Maryland - ..... 36,630,000 Four minor eastern states (No. 1.) - - - - 23,767,000 XVII. North Carolina and Georgia exported more than the four minor eastern states. North Carolina - . . . . 7,055,000 Georg-ia ...... 18,548,000 25,603,000 Four minor eastern states (No. 1.) - . - 23,767,000 XVIII. South Carolina, Columbia, and New-Orlean?, export- ed more than the five eastern states. South Carolina - - . 50,5-3,000 Columbia - - . - 13,144,000 New Orleans - - . - 16,408,000 80,075,000 Five eastern states (No. 2.) - - 78,752,u00 XIX. The five southern states, the district of Columbia, and New Orleans, exported above tAvo hundred and thirty per cent, more than the five eastera states, and within ten per cent, as much as the middle and eastern states. Virginia, Maryland, and South Carolina (No. 7.) 129,986,000 North Carolina - - . 7,055,000 Georgia - . , . 18,548,000 Columbia - . - 13,144,000 New Orleans - - . 16,408,000 Five eastern states (No. 2.) - - 78,752,000 New-York - - . 85,283,000 Pennsylvania - - - 44,796,000 185,141,000 208,831,000 XX. New Orleans exported above twelve times as much as Vermont ; above twice as much as Rhode Island ; nearly 50 per cent, more than Connecticut ; above three times as much as New Hampshire ; and more than New Hampshire, Vermont, and Connecticut. New Orleans - .... 16,408,000 New Hampshire ■. - - 3,147,000 Vermont . . . 1,217,000 Connecticut - . - 11,614,000 15,978,000 Khode Island - - - 7,789,000 268 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [chap. 48. The reader must be tired of this investigation. "What idea must the world form of the arrogance and deception of the pre- tensions on the one side — and, on the other, of the folly and weakness of the rest of the union, to have so long suffered them to pass without detection and exposure. The naked fact is, that the demagogues in the eastern states, not satisfied with deriving all the benefits from the southern sec- tion of the union, that they would from so many wealthy colo- nies — with making princely fortunes by the carriage and expor- tation of its bulky and valuable productions — and supphing it with their own manufactures, and the manufactures and pro- ductions of Europe, and the East and West Indies, to an enor- mous amount, and at an immense profit — have unifc rmly treat- ed it with outrage, insult, and injury. And, regardless of their vital interests, the eastern states lately courted their own de- struction, by allowing a few restless, turbulent men to lead them blindfolded towards a separation, pregnant xvith their certain ruin. Whenever that event takes place^ they sink to their native ijisignifcance. If a separation Avere desirable to any part of the imion, it would be to the middle and southern states, particularly the latter, which have been so long harassed with the complaints, the rest- lessness, the turbulence, and the ingratitude of the eastern states, that their patience has been taxed almost beyond endurance. '■'' JesJiurun waxed fat^ ajid kicked.'''' And he will be severely punished for his kicking, in the event of a dissolution of the union. It ought to be observed, that a very large portion of the ex- ports from the eastern, consists of the productions of the southern states, first transported to Boston and other ports, coastwise. So that even the comparisons I have made, which are so mortal to the pretessions of the eastern states, place them on far better ground than they really deserve. For example — sup- pose, among the exports of these states, two millions of dollars* worth of cotton, One million of dollars' worth of flour, one miL lion (>f dollars' worth of naval stores, all drawn from the south- ern and middle states — ^they appear four millions of dollars stronger on the face of the argument, than they are in fact and in truth. And there is no doubt that this is the case to a vast extent. CHAPTER XLIX. Compariso?! of the expoi-ts^ foreign and domestic ^of the different states^ from 1791 to 1813. Glance at tonnage. To enable the reader to form a fair comparison between the commerce of the different states, I annex a synoptical view of CBAP. 49.3 STATISTICS. 269 the whole of our exports from the organization of the federal government till the close of 1813. He will see, at a sino-le glance, how very erroneous are the opinions that have hitherto prevailed on the subject; and how high even the foreign com- merce of the southern states soars over that of the boasted ^^ commercial states^'' General total of exports of foreign and domestic productions from tlie year 1791 to 1813, inclusive. JMassachusetts. JMaryland. S. Carolina. JVe^v-York. Pennsylvania. A 98,770,000 101,026,000 83,631,000 129,941,000 124,744,000 B 81,r>24,000 50,214,000 14,420,000 78,052,000 65,118,000 € 54,986,000 36,630,000 50,523,000 85,283,000 44,796,000- g235,080,000 187,870,000 148,574,000 293,276,000 234,658,000 A B G A B e Virginia. Connecticut. 53,125,000 12,328,000 2,355,000 501,000 42,833,000 11,614,000 Georgia. Rhode Island. A*. Ifam/jsliire. 12,162,000 14,113,000 3,829,000 190,000 6,953,000 1,386,000 18,548,000 7.789,000 3,147,000 98,313,000 24,443,000 30,900,000 28,855,000 8,362,000 vV Carolina. Vermont. JVeiu .Jersey. JV'. Orleans. Columbia. Delaware 6,764,000 165,000 491,000 3,009,000 61,000 1,075,000 107,000 1,713,000 7,055,000 1,217,000 815,000 16,408,000 13,144,000 1,097,000 §13,880,000 2,457,000 1,413,000 16,408,000 13,144,000 5,819,000 EXPLANATION. The first line, A, is taken from the table A, page 260. It contains the whole amount of the exports of foreign and domestic articles, from 1791 till 1802, in- clusive . The second line, B, is taken from the table B, page 262-3. It contains the whole of the foreign articles exported from 1802 till 1813, inclusive. The third line, C, is taken from the table C, page 264. It contains all the do- mestic articles exported from 1802 till 1813. Eastern sectioji. Middle section. So-uthern section. Mass. 235,080,000 N. Jersey 1,413,000 Maryland 187,870,000 N. Ham. 8,362,000 Delaware 5,819,000 Virginia 98,313,000 Vermont 2,457,000 N. York 293,276,000 N. Carolina 13,880,000 R. Island 28,855,000 Penn. 234,658,000 S. Carolina 148,574,000 Connec. 24,443,000 Georgia 30,900,000 N. Orleans 16,408,000 Columbia 13,144,000 ^299,197,000 535,166,000 509,089,000 < I cannot allow these tables to pass without requesting atten- tion to them in the most particular manner. As they throw an immense flood of light on a subject niost egregiously misunder- stood, and on which the most ruinous errors have prevailed, it behoves the reader to test his opinions by them, and lay aside the prejudices and misconceptions, if any, which he may have formed on these topics, O. B, 36 270 POUTICAL OLIVE BRANClt [chap. 49. All the late confusion, the tendency to disorganize the coun- try, to overturn the government, and to introduce civil war, arose from the errors prevailing on the subject of commerce,* of which the eastern states pretended to be, and were absurdly and ridiculously believed, the exclusive guardians and protec- tors. It is now clearly and indisputably established, that the commerce of the eastern is very far indeed inferior to that of the southern states. It appears, beyond the possibility of doubt or denial, that the five eastern states, since the formation of the government, have exported of foreign and domestic articles, including an hnmetise amount of southern productions, only about 229,000,000 dollars, of which a vast proportion was of foreign productions ; but that the southern states have in the same period exported to foreign countries no less a sum than 509,000,000 dollars, priyicipally of their oxvn productions and manufactures, exclu- sive of the prodigious amount of their cotton, tobacco, rice, naval stores, &c. expoited by the eastern states. The southern section of the vmion, which has been so cruelly, so wickedly, so unjustly vilified and calumniated for its hostility to commerce, is there- fore actually more interested in its preservation than the eastern states, in the proportion of pve to three. There is no instance to be found, of so palpable, so gross, so unfounded a calumny, resting on such a sandy foundation, so open to detection, and so pregnant with most ruinous consequences, having remained so long without investigation. From a view of the preceding tables, it appears that the com- merce of four of the eastern states is to the last degree insigni- ficant, compared with that of the southern states, as will appear on the following comparisons : — I. Virginia, since the organization of the government, has ex- ported above four times as mvich as Connecticut ; considerably more than three times as mucli as Rhode Island ; twelve times as much as New Hampshire ; forty times as much as Vermont ; and above fifty per cent, more than those four states. Virg-inla .... 98,313,009 Connecticut - - - 24,443,000 Rhode Isliuul - - . . 28,855,000 New H;impshire - - - 8,362,000 Vermont - . . - 2,457,000 64,117,009 * The history of the world hardly presents an instance of greater delusion or deception than prevailed on this subject * CHAP. 49.] STATISTICS. 271 * II. Maryland has exported nearly eight times as much as Connecticut ; above six times as much as Rhode Island ; twen- ty-three times as much as New Hampshire; almost eighty times as much as Vermont ; and almost three times as much as the four minor states. Marvland 187,870,000 Connecticut 24,443,000 Rhode Island ..... 28,855,000 New Hampshire .... - 8,362,000 Vermont - ... 2,457,000 64,117,000 III. North Carolina has exported almost thirty per cent, more than New Hampshire and Vermont. North Carolina - . - - - ^ 13,880,000 New Hampshire .... - 8,362,000 Vermont - - .... 2,457,0u0 10,819,000 IV. Georgia has exported considerably more than Connecti- cut or Rhode Island ; and almost three times as much as New- Hampshire and Vermont. Georgia 30,900,000 Connecticut ..... 24,443,000 Rhode Island ..... 28,855,000 New Hampshire ..... 8,362,000 Vermont ------ 2,457,000 10,819,000 V. South Carolina has exported above five times as much as Rhode Island; above six times as much as Connecticut; and one hundred and fifty per cent, more than the four minor east- ern states. South Carolina 148,574,000 Rhode Island - .... \ 28,855,000 Connecticut - 24,443,000 Four minor eastern states (see No. 1.) - - 64,117,000 VI. New Orleans and the district of Columbia have exported more of domestic productions^ in eleven years, than either Con- necticut or Rhode Island in twenty-three, of foreign and do- mestic. New Orleans, In eleven years - - i 16,408,000 Columbia, do. do. - '". i 13,114,000 29,522,000 Connecticut, in twenty-three years . - - 24,443,000 Rhode Island, do. do. ' - - - * 28,855,000 VII. New Orleans has exported nearly twice as much in ele- ven years, as New Hampshire in tvventy-three. New Hampshire, twenty-three yeai-s - * ' * , r'^n^'ma New Orleans, eleven years IM^a.^uu VIII. Virginia, 3Iaryland, and Columbia, have exported more than the whole five eastern states ! ! ! I .' I 272 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. C^hap. 49 Maryland 187,8/0,000 Virginia 98,313,000 Columbia 13,144,000 299,327,000! ! '. Five eastern stales .... 299', 192^000 !![- IX. The southern states have exported seventy-Jive per cent^ more than the Jive eastern ! ! ! Southern states 509,089,000!!'. Eastern states 209,197,000!!! Since the preceding pages were written, I have examined an interesting work, entitled, '' A geographical and statistical view of Massachusetts proper, by Rodolphus Dickinson, published anno 1813." It greatly elucidates the subject I have been dis- cussing ; and places the unsoundness of the high commercial claims of Massachusetts in nearly as strong a point of light as any of the documents I have given. "The exports in 1809 from Boston and Charlestown, of American produc- tions and manufactures, were 4,009,029 dollars, of which the value of rice, cot- ton, flour, tobacco, staves, and naval stores, being principally the produce of the southern states, was 2,294,lo9 dollars." The writer adds, " This, it is presumed, bears a relative proportion in amount, to the exports of other years." Page 79. It thus appears, that although Boston has disturbed the tran- quillity of the United States by her impassioned complaints on the subject of commerce, and the injury it has sustained by the hostility of the southern states, she is indebted to those states for considerably more than half of the American articles she ex- ports. She moreover finds an invaluable market with them for the chief part of her immense foreign importations, and for her valtiflble manufactures. It really makes one's heart ache with vexation, to find that such mighty, such ruinous errors prevailed on those important topics — errors that generated the most baleful passions, which were hourly increased by artificial excitements, and which threatened us with the most awful consequences. The reader must not be surprised at the frequent repetition of this sentiment. For " out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh ;" — and having been convinced that this was be- yond all comparison the most awful danger that threatened us, it is not to be wondered at, that it engrosses so large a space in this book. I shall conclude this topic with one observation, that there has rarely, perhaps never, occurred an instance of one nation more highly indebted to another than the eastern states are to the southern, and yet making such a very miserable and un- grateful return. (iHu. 49.] STATISTICS; 573 I imagined that in the preceding chapters I had fully ex- liausted the comparison of the commercial importance of the several sections of the United States. I had, at all events con- vinced every man whose mind was open to conviction, that the arrogant claims on this subject, of the eastern states, were utterly unfounded ; and that the middle and southern sections had as much more interest in the protection of commerce than their eastern brethren, as the merchant who loads a wagon, with 10,000 dollars worth of goods, has more interest in the inter- course between the seller and the consumer, than the oWner of the wagon. But I find I did not do full justice to the subject. A new view of it has been presented to the public by the indefatigable editor of the Weekly Register, which far transcends the views I took. But even Mr. Niles has not pursued the argument to the full extent of which it is susceptible. The exports of cotton from the port of Savannah alone, frofti the 20th of March till the 30th of June, 1815, a period of three jnonths and ten days, were Sea Island, 21,000 bales, each 300 lbs. at 33 1-3 cents, . . . _ 2,100,000 Upland, 55,582 bales, each 300 lbs. at twenty cents, - - _ . 3,334,000 5,434,000 Supposing all the other articles to amount to 1 ,066,000 6,500,000 and also supposing the exports of the remaining eight months and twenty days to amount to only half that sum, it is at the rate ef nearly 10,000,000 dollars for the year. A review of the tables in page 267, will show that the whole of the exports, of every kind, foreign and domestic, from the state of Massachusetts, for twenty three years, were only 235,000,000 dollars, which is an average of about 10,000,000 per annum, whereof considerably more than half was foreign. It therefore follows, that the do7nestic exports of the single port of Savannah this year, [1815] will equal the average of the exports of every Ymd^ foreign aiid do7nestic^ from the mighty^ the power- ful^ the commercicd state of Massachusetts^ from the time of the organization of the government till the close of the year 1813! ! ! Tonnage. The eastern states, which maintained such arrogant commer- cial claims, on the ground of their exports and imports, likewise preferred high pretensions on their transcendant superiority in point of shipping. These towering claims are unfounded, al- 274 POLITICAL OLIVE BR.iNCH. [chap. 49 though not hi the same degree with the others. Let the reader decide. I have before me a statement of the tonnage of the United States for two years, from which I submit a few ex- tracts, in order to inter these pretensions in the same grave with the rest. Tonnage of 1805 1810 Boston, 133,257 149,121 New York, 243,533 268,541 Philadelphia, 121,443 125,258 Baltimore, 102,434 103,444 Pordand, 33,007 32,599 Portsmouth, 27,719 28,820 Bath, 23,033 20,344 Newburyport, 36,574 39,100 Salem, 4^:^,53,7 41,462 Norfolk, 90,943 48,643 Charleston, 40,819 52,888 Thus it appears, that in the year 1810, the tonnage of Norfolk, as well as of Charleston, was considerably superior to that of any port in the eastern or middle states, except Boston, New- York, and Philadelphia; and that the tonnage of Baltimore was more than double that of any port in the eastern states, except Boston. The aggregate tonnage of Vermont, New-Hamp- shire, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, in tons 1811, was 108,000 That of the city of Baltimore in the same year was - 103,000 that is, the tonnage of the single port of Baltimore, was very nearly equal to the whole amount of the tonnage of these four states, which have made svich a clamour on the subject of com- merce. The tonnage of the whole district of Maryland for that year was 143,000 tons, being an excess of 35,000 tons, or nearly one third more than those states ! ! !* The clearances from the port of Savannah, exclusive of coast- erSy for April, May, and June, 1815, were 191, and the entries, also exclusive of coasters^ were 205. — Whereas the foreign en- tries into the port of Boston for five months, March, April, May, June, and July, 1815, were only 212 — and the foreign clearances only 270. That is, I beg peculiar attention to this point, the foreign entries into Savannah, in three months^ were 203, and into Boston in five months^ only 212 ! What a developement of the relative commerce of both ports ! how utterly beyond all expectation or calculation ! What a strong proof of the arro- gance and folly of the towering pretensions of the " Nation of New England ! ! !" » See AVeekly llegigter, Vol. VIIJ, pa^e 370, to which I am indebted for these facts. CHAP. 50.] DUTIES ON IMPORTS. 27S CHAPTER L. Another source of excitement among- the citizens of t/ie eastern states. Duties on imports. Statistics. Southern states pay very nearly as much impost as the eastern. Wonderful de- lusion. Those demagogues whose unceasing efforts were employed to excite the passions of the yeomanry ot the eastern states, and prepare them for insurrection and a dissolution of the union, rai- sed a great clamour on the subject of the enormous amount of duties paid by those states, and the insignificance of the suras paid by the southern section of the nation. Tliey thence infer- red the injustice and the inequality of the union, and its oppres- sive operation upon the former section. This item of complaint is, if possible, more fallacious than the one discussed in the preceding chapters. The disadvantage is all on the other side of the question. The eastern states import largely from Europe, and from the East and West Indies, for the supply of the southern states. The former, it is true, bond or pay the duties in the first instance. This appears to give them a wonderful superiority in the table of chities. But it can hardly be necessary to inform the reader, that the merchant who bonds the duties, is not the actual payer of them. Mr. Ed- ward Thomson, of this city, has imported, during this year, [1815] and of course will pay duties on, goods to the amount of probably above 2,000,000 of dollars. His consumption of duti- able articles is probably not 2000 dollars. Who can be so igno- rant as to pretend, that the government is beholden to him for the amount of the duties ! They are paid by the farmers of Chester, and Bucks, and Lancaster, and Delaware, and Berks counties, and of the southern and western states, &c. &c. The duties are added by the merchant to the first cost, with a profit on both — and the ultimate consumer is the real payer. The eastern states have thus levied taxes not merely on Mary- land, Virginia, North and South Carolina, and Crcorgia, but eveti on Pennsylvania ; for strange as it may seem, it is nevertheless true, that notwithstanding the immense wealth, the ardent enter- prize, and the great commercial advantages of Philadelphia, im- moderate quantities of East India and Chinese goods have been consigned for sale here, from Boston, Salem, and other eastern ports. But even, independent of the importation of the eastern for the southern states, the facts are unfairly stated. If the former actually consumed all the foreign articles they import, the duties they pay, compared with those paid by the southern states, will not warrant their holding the high, and arrogant, and insulting tone they have always assumed. 2r6 POOTICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [cHAJP. 5.0. To enable the reader to form a correct opinion on the subject, I annex a set of tables of the Net amount of the duties paid by the different states from the year 1791 to 1812, inclusive^ taken from the records of the trea- sury department^ and submitted to congress by Joseph Nourse^ esq, register of the treasury. J^Tetv Hampshire Vermont. Connecticut. R. Island- 1791 53,000 206,000 146,000 1792 41,000 142,000 46,000 1793 44,000 154,000 133,000 1794 38,000 ] 1,000 171,000 89,000 1795 44,000 155,000 244,000 1796 53,000 1,000 ■ 141,000 137,000 1797 27,000 115,000 276,000 1798 72,000 1,000 127,000 104,000 1799 99,000 2,000 289,000 260,000 1800 142,000 2,000 169,000 393,000 1801 133,000 328,000 284,000 1802 119,000 262,000 178,000 1803 122,000 1,000 301,000 266,000 1804 108,000 348,000 421,000 1805 109,009 354,000 349,000 1806 117,000 325,000 361,000 1807 99,000 314,000 123,000 1808 19,000 197,000 270,000 1809 39,000 3,000 129,000 35,000 1810 53,000 3,000 157,000 435,000 1811 62,000 5,000 240,000 318,000 1812 122,000 116,000 147,000 829,000 452,000 1,715,000 5,453,000 5,420,000 Jifassachnsetts,. J\'eio-York. Pennnylvania . JMarylmul. Virginia. 1791 977,000 1,564,000 1,491,000 641,000 851,000 1792 678,000 1,169,000 1,096,000 449,000 474,000 1793 950,000 1,195,000 1,804,000 869,000 388,000 1794 1,004,000 1,860,000 1,473,000 795,000 389,000 1795 1,415,000 2,000,000 2,271,000 523,000 396,000 1796 1,334,000 2,158,000 2,012,000 761,000' 598,000 1797 1,372,000 2,059,000 1,743,000 1,145,000 606,000 1798 1,168,000 l,743,OoO 1,029,000 885,000 629,000 1799 1,607,000 2,373,000 1,259,000 1,161,000 896,000 1800 1,974,000 2,741,000 1,350,000 623,000 644,000 1801 2,929,000 3,810,000 2,123,000 1,001,000 746,000 1802 1,525,000 2,490,000 1,410,000 634,000 689,000 1803 2,490,000 3,524,000 1,655,000 936,000 713,000 1804 4,630,000 3,872,000 2,609,000 1,538,000 902,000 1805 3,308,000 4,882,000 2,300,000 1,130,000 805,000 1806. 3,524,000 4,875,000 3,017,000 1,446,000 620,000 1807 3,576,000 4,926,000 3,162,000 1,633,000 506,000 1808 1,184,000 2,764,000 1,647,000 588,000 110,000 1809 1,384,000 2,981,000 1,405,000 155,000 257,000 1810 2,774,000 4,419,000 2,539,000 928,000 461,000 1811 1,816,000 1,979,000 1,840,000 722,000 195,000 1812 2,719,000 2,890,000 2,090,000 41,325,000 1,782,000 690,000 44,338,000 62,274,000 20,345,000 12,565,000 en ST. 50] DUTIES ON IMPORTS. 277 J\ *. Carolina. S. Carolina. Georgia. Columbia. JS". Orleanif- 1791 §115,000 538,000 91,000 1792 78,000 360,000 53,000 1793 63,000 359,000 35,000 1794 78,000 651,000 87,000 1795 99,000 710,000 54,000 1796 68,000 56,000 31,000 1797 105,000 700,000 62,000 1798 120,000 239,000 1799 154,000 858,000 1800 126,000 1,159,000 1801 125,000 1,002,000 663,000 94,000 1802 252,000 280,000 211,000 133,000 1803 159,000 646,000 182,000 143,000 1804 186,000 718,1 JOO 180,000 128,000 279,000 1805 165,000 843,000 95,000 119,000 342,000 1806 202,000 871,000 183,000 137,000 361,000 1807 196,000 735,000 -589,000 123,000 480,000 1808 16,000 225,000 35,000 20,000 77,000 1809 65,000 377,000 6,000 60,000 134,000 1810 58,000 567,000 134,000 50,000 244,000 1811 44,000 338,000 56,000 45,000 148,000 1812 47,000 433,000 260,000 80,000 137,000 2,621,000 12,665,000 2,907,000 1,132,000 2,202,000 In these tables, as in those of exports, there is no account taken of any sums below one thousand dollars. This operates equally on botli sides, and cannot affect the comparison, which is the object in view. From the foregoing tables, the following results appear. I. The southern states have paid nearly as large an amount of duties to the government, as the eastern. Maryland - - - 20,345,000 Virginia ' - - ■ 12,565,000 North Carolina - - - 2,621,000 South Carohn* - • - 12,665,000 Georgia - ^ ' 2,907,000 Columbia - - - 1,132,000 Orleans - - - 2,202,000 54,437,000 Massachusetts 44,338,000 New Hampshire - - - 1,715,000 Vermont - - 147,000 Connecticut - - - 5,463,000 Rhode Island - - - 5,420,000 ■ 12,745,000 57,083,000 II. The single state of South Carolina paid very nearly as much duties as the four minor eastern states. South Carolina Four minor eastern states (see No. 1.) 12,665,000 12,745,000 III. New Orleans paid twenty per cent, more in nine years, than New Hampshire and Vermont in twenty -txuo. Orleans .... 2,402,000 New Hampshire - - 1,715,000 Vermont - - - 147,000 - -__ 3,862,000 O. B. 37 SKS- POLITICAL OLtVE BRANCH. [chaj. 50. IV. Virginia alone paid very nearly as much as the four mi- nor eastern states. Vir^nia - . . . . 12,565,000 Four minor eastern stotes (see No. 1.) - - 12,745,000 V. New York and Pennsylvania paid nearly ninety per cent, more than the five eastern states. New York - - - 62,274,000 Pennsylvania - - - 41,325,000 103,599,000 rive eastern states (see No. 1.) - - - 57,083,000 VI. South Carolina paid more than twice the amount of du- ties paid by either Connecticut or Rhode Island ; seven times as much as New Hampshire ; and ninety times as much as Ver- mont. South Carolina . • 12,665,000 Connecticut • - 5,463,000 Rhode Island . • •* 5,420,000 New Hampshire - - 1,715,000 .Vermonl - - 147,000 Synopsis of duties paid fro 771 1791 to 1812 i7iclusive. Eastern section. JMiddle sectio?i. Southern section. Mass. 44,338,000 N. Jersey 259,000 Mar}' land 20,345,000 N. Hamp. 1,715,000 Delaware 1,223,000 Virginia 12,565,000 Vermont 147,000 N. York 62,274,000 N. Carolina 2,621,000 Connect. 5,463,000 Pennsylvania 41,325,000 S. Carolina 12,665,000 R. Island 5,420,000 Georg-ia 2,907,000 Columbia 1,132,000 Orleans 2,202,000 §57,083,000 S105,081,000 §54,437,000 Those who consider the very expensive habits of the plaij- fers of Virginia and South Carolina, and the immense amount of foreign goods received in those states from the eastern ones, as well as from New York, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, and how very large a proportion of the foreign merchandize import- ed by Massachusetts, is exported to the other states, can hardly doubt, that Virginia and South Carolina actually consume each as large an amount of dutiable articles, and of course in fact real- ly pay as much duties, as that state. A due consideration of the great number of coasters, which, in time of peace, are con- stantly plying from the ports of the eastern and middle to those of the southern states, will afford a strong support to this opinion. A very large proportion of the cargoes of the coasters bound to the southern ports consists of imported goods which have paid duties ; and the residue generally of articles of do- mestic manufacture. The return cargoes are all of raw mate- rials for manufactures, or articles of the highest value for exportation to Europe and elsewhere. It is not easy to con- ceive of a more advantageous commerce for the mother coun- PHAP. 51.} GQMIVIERCIAL VIEWS. 3^9 tries, as, in this case, the middle and eastern states may be just- ly styled. I repeat it, and hope the solemn truth will be borne in constant remembrance, that the southern states are virtually colonies to those states whose demagogues have never ceased slandering and vilifying them. I dismiss this part of my subject, I hope for ever. I trust that the assertion of the commercial superiority of the eastern states, will never again be urged on this community. CHAPTER LI. Fallacy of the ophiion of any hostility in the southern^ against the eastern states. Commercial and agricultural states miL- tually dependent on^ and beneficial to each other. Having, I hope, completely settled the question of the com- parative pretensions of the different sections of the union to commercial pre-eminence, I proceed to consider the positions, which assert the necessary hostility between an agricultural sec- tion of a country and a commercial one — the actual existence of that hostility in the southern states — and its baneful influence on the measures of congress. On these fallacious positions, the changes have been rung in endless succession, not merely by a crowd of anonymous wri- ters, but even public bodies whose stations entitle them to re- spect, have disgraced themselves by their dissemination. The lucubrations on this subject, published in Boston alone, would fill folio volumes. Throughout the whole, confident and un- founded assertion is substituted in the place of fact, reason, and argument. To enable the reader to form an idea of the errors prevalent: on this topic, I annex a few extracts. " They have seeyi at first an ill-concealed, but at last an open aiid itndisgtdsed iealoiitti of the -ivealth and poicer of the commercial states, operatijig in CONTI- NUAL EFFORTS TO EMBARRASS AND DESTROY THAT COMMERCE, WHICH IS THEIR UFE AND SUPPORT." - This is the language of a report to the legislature of Massa- chusetts, made by a joint committee of both houses, Feb. 11, 1814, on which was founded the most inflammatory appeal to the citizens of the eastern states. This report asserted the pro- priety, justice, and necessity of forcible resistance to the mea- sures of the general government, adding " The question is not a question of poiver or right with this legislature, but ditime or expediency." The committee proceed — " There exists in all parts of this commonwealth, a fear, and in many a set? tied belief, that the course of foreign and domestic policy pursued by the govern- ment of the United States, for several years past, has its foundation in a DELI- BERATE INTENTION TO IMPAIR, IF NOT TO DESTROY, TILVT FREE .:.;^1v "Xm 280 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. (chAp, St. SPIRIT AND EXERCISE OF COMMERCE, which, aided by the habits, man- ners, and institutions of our ancestors, and the blessings of divine providence, have been the principal source of the freedom, wealth, and general prosperity of this recently happy and flourishing people. " These opinions are not confined to the maritime borders of the state, whose interests are more immediately affected, and whose inhabitants have daily be- fore their eyes perishing ships, deserted warehouses, and starving mechanics and labourers : but are loudly responded from the interior, where the people generally sjTnpathise in the present distress of their brethren on the sea-coast, and wisely foresee, in their ruin, their own approaching wretchedness." The committee continue — •'The memorialists see, in this deplorable descent from national greatness, A DETERMINATION TO HARASS AND ANNHllLATE THAT SPIRIT OF COMMERCE which has ever been the handmaid of civil and religious liberty -, and to break the free spirit of this people bi/ depriving- them of their civil employment, and thus forcing the sons of commerce to populate and enrich the wilderness, for tlie benefit of those whose avarice has contributed largely to the war now desolating the country." This is the strain and style in which this miserable, this hack- nied, this destrvictive prejudice has been a hundred thousand times repeated, without even the shadow of foundation. Al- though these extracts are abundandy sufficient for my purpose, yet I judge it not intiproper to make a short addition from the address of the Hartford convention. " Events may prove, that the causes of om- calamities are deep and perma- nent. They may be found to proceed, not merely from the blindness of pre- judice, pride of opinion, violence of party spirit, or the confusion of the times : but they may be traced to implacable combinations of individuals, or states, to mO' nopolise po~.t'ei^ and office, AND TO TRAMPLE WITHOUT REMORSE UPON THE RIGHTS AND INlERESTS OF THE COMMERCIAL SECTIONS OF THE UNION. " The administration, after a long perseverance in plaiis to baffie every effort of commercial enterprise, had fatally succeeded in their attempts, at the epoch of the war." The convention enter into an enumeration of the causes which have led to the public distress, and close the catalogue, with " Lastly and principally, a visionary and supei-ficial theory in regard to com- merce, ACCOMPANIED BY A REAL HATRED, BUT A FEIGNED REGARD TO ITS INTERESTS, and a ruinous perseverance in efforts to render it an instrument of coercion and war." Never since faction first disturbed the peace of mankind, and made this earth a suitable abode for demons incarnate, did she employ a more hollow, fallacious, or unfounded pretext, to jus- tify her lawless proceedings, than is here to be combated. It is not merely untrue. It is the reverse of truth. It has not even the shadow of plausibility. In all this wretched effort to excite the hostility of fellow citi- zens against each other — to prepare the inhabitants of one sec- tion of the country to imbrue their hands in the blood of those of another — to renew in this holy, this blessed land, the horrors f)f the French revolution — to enable American Marats, and Dantons, and Legendres, and Robespierres, to rule us with a « CHAP. 51. COMMERCIAL \TEWg. 281 rod T)f iron — an all.important and overwhelming fact is -withheld from sight — a fact which destroys the whole of this miserable declamation as completely as ever the broad glare of the torch of truth dispelled the Cimmerian darkness of error and delusion. This mighty fact escaped my attention in all the former editions of this book. It is, that all the measures which are assumed as full proof of hostility to commerce, and charged to the debit of the southern states, have been supported by the powerful com- mercial states of Pemisylvania and New York ; steadily andun- deviatingly by the former, and by the latter with very few and slight exceptions. And further, that a considerable part of them have been supported by respectable portions of the repre- sentatives in congress, from New Hampshire^ Vermont, Rhode Island, and even Massachusetts ; for the three first states were, till lately, frequently represented almost wholly by democrats, who very generally advocated the measures herein reprobated. And it is further to be remarked, that the great commercial ci- ties of the union have been very generally represented by citi- zens who have given their full aid and support to the measures in question. Until lately, the majority for or against the admi_ nistration, even in Massachusetts, rarely exceeded two or three thousand. The election for governor in that state in 1812, was contested with great ardour. The friends and the enemies of the administration made the utmost exertions to call forth their whole strength — and the votes were, for Caleb Strong - - - 52,696 Elbridge Gerry - - > 51,326 And it is well known that Mr. Sullivan and Mr. Gerry, the de- mocratic candidates, were elected four or five times Avithin a space of ten years, which embraced nearly the whole of the mea- sures thus violently denounced. And I presume, no man of candour will deny, that the struggle between the different candi- dates, on those occasions, was as fair and unerring a criterion of the voice of the state on the approval or reprobation of the measures of the general government, as if the votes had been taken for president of the United States. Let us for a moment suppose, for sake of argument, that the eastern states are, as they pretend to be, exclusively commercial •= — and that the southern are exclusively agricultural. This is placing the case in the most advantageous point of light its friends could desire. Could there be any stronger bond of af- finity between two nations, or two sections of the same nation, than the mutual wants which this supposed case implies ? The agricultural portion would have imperious necessity for the ships, the seamen, and the capital of the commercial portion, for the purchase and transportation of her superfluous productions. And the navigation and capital of the commercial portion would 2B2 POLITICAL OLIVE BRAKCH. [chap. 61 find all the advantages they could require in the transportation and sale of the productions of the other. The agricultural portion, as I have already stated, would be merely in the situation of colonies to the commercial. What are the grand advantages of colonies to parent countries ? Mere- ly to increase their navigation — to afford an asylum for their superabundant population— to furnish raw materials for the em- ployment of their artisans and manufacturers — and to purchase the productions of the labours of those artisans and manufac- turers. All these favourable effects have been produced to an almost incalculable extent on the eastern, by their connexion and inter- course with the western and southern states. It therefore irresistibly follows, I repeat, that the latter have literally been but colonies to the middle, and more particularly to the eastern states. The hardy and enterprising Yankees pervade every bay, river, creek, and inlet of the southern states ; and for their notions carry off the solid coin of the country to replen- ish their coffers. They every where undersell and undermine the established southern storekeepers. Moreover, the cotton, the rice, the flour, the tobacco, and the naval stores of the southern states, have enabled the ship-owners of the eastern states to amass those over-grown nabob fortunes, which render them too aspiring to submit to the equal form of government which we enjoy. They have literally lived upon the industry of the southern states. Without the latter, their section of the union would rank very low indeed in the scale of nations. This state of things, so eminently advantageous to the eastern states, has never created faction, or complaint, or convulsions, or threats of dissolving the union, in the southern. They have cheerfully supported a government whose chief attention has been directed to the promotion of commerce — and which never did and never would have experienced any great difficulty with foreign nations but from the effort to protect the mercantile in- terests against the depredations of those nations. It requires little effort to prove, and little capacity to perceive, that there is and ever will be a commercial rivalry between Bos- ton and Providence — between Philadelphia and New York— between Baltimore and Philadelphia. But that a serious, think- ing people, like those of the eastern states, should have ever been duped to believe that there is any real cause of jealousy or hostility between the commercial and agricultural sections of the country, is a folly, of which it is hardly possible to find a parallel in the history of the madness and idiocy of the human species. To view the subject once more — although it really does not deserve further attention. Suppose, still, the southern states CHAP. 51.] COMMERCIAL VIEWS. 283 wholly agricultural, and the middle and eastern wholly commer- cial, and that the former have an overwhelming majority in the legislature of the union. How could it ever enter into the mind of any rational being to imagine, that the majority could for a moment be ignorant of the plain truth, that eveiy stroke aimed at commerce was a stroke at their own vital interests ? It is well known, that the representatives of the southern and western states are generally gentlemen of the highest grade of talents in congress. From causes which it is neither necessary nor proper here to detail, the middle states have rarely made as respectable a figure in that body as could have been wished. The eastern have not been quite so unfortunate. It requires, however, but a moderate portion of candour to acknowledge^ that although they are occasionally represented in congress, by men of considerable talents, they are in the aggregate far below Virginia, South Carolina, Kentucky, &c. And could this plain truth escape the Eppeses, the Gileses, the Clays, and the Popes, that it was impossible to injure commerce without infliciirig an equal injury on agriculture ? The agricultural portion of this great nation could infinitely better dispense with the commercial, than the latter with the for- mer. Never, since commerce first began, did a nation, having bulky raw materials to sell, and having demands for large quan- tities of merchandise, find any difficulty in creating a marine, or, amidst naval competitors for her trade, in securing the trans- portation of her commodities, and the purchase of merchandise, on fair and advantageous terms. But the decay of Portugal, Ve- nice, Genoa, the Hanse Towns, and other great commercial states, proves, that a nation possessed of a considerable marine, but labouring under great natural disadvantages, may ,'if it affront or offend the nations on which it depends, be reduced to its na- tive and intrinsic insignificance. The disadvantages of the eastern states are ver^^ considera- ble. The sterility of the soil will leave them eternally depen- dent upon the southern states ; for their situation imperiously forces them to have recourse to manufactures and commerce. Their agriculture must always be comparatively insignificant. They therefore, I repeat, owe their greatness principally to their immensely valuable trade with those states, which their un- grateful writers and demagogues are constantly vilifying and abusing, and which afford the principal pabulum for the com- merce of the middle and eastern states. Those demagogues are, as I have stated, unceasingly exciting animosities between the two sections of the union, by pretending a rivalry of interest, which is wholly unfounded. There is, let me repeat, real cause of jealousy between Rhode Island and Massachusetts : but none between either of them and Virginia or South Carolina. The latter are, and wiU forever continue, great agricultural 284 POl-ITICAL OLIVE BRANCH [chap. Si. states. Their immense and increasing productions "will find the most valuable employment for the shipping and for the manu- factures of the eastern and middle states. Should a separation take place, which I hope and trust in the goodness of Heaven is far remote, the eastern states will repent it first and last. They will have reason eternally to detest the unhallowed councils of those restless demagogues, who shall have plunged them into the abyss of ruin. Their hardy sons, who now migrate to the southward and westward by hundreds, will abandon their native soil by thousands — and daily add strength to the rival section of the nation, and equally enfeeble the parent states. The latter will dwindle into the insignificance from which they have been elevated by the tribute they have jlevied upon Virginia and her southern sisters. The horrors of an immediate civil war, and of a constant bor- der war, such as formerly existed betxveen England and Scotland^ are the only considerations that render a separation from Mas- sachusetts a measure to be at all deprecated. Were we insured from these two evils, a separation would be an advantage to the rest of the union ; for she has harassed the national councils to a most intolerable and shameful degree. She has appeared determined, ffshe could not rule the countrtj herself^ to send it to destruction headlong. She has been for years the source of most of the difficulties of the union. We should not have had vt^ar but for her.* And among the fea- tures of the present crisis, the most lamentable one is, that she cannot suffer the consequences of her folly, her arrogance, her restlessness, her faction, her jacobinism, her anti-Washington- ism, without inflicting an equal degree of misfortune on her innocent neighbours. Could she suffer alone, it were " a con- summation most devoutly to be wished.''^ A strong navigation act, and discriminating duties, would soon bring her to her senses, and convince her of the immeasurable folly and madness she has been guilty of. They would sink her to her proper level — that level, which her ungrateful soil — her insignificance in point of population — and the narrow limits of her territory, prescribe — and which, I repeat, nothing but the advantages she has derived from her persecuted, insulted, outraged, and de- famed sister states, could have enabled her to pass. She would repent of her infatuation, and most anxiously seek to be restored to a confederacy, on the major part of which she had unceasing- ly levied heavy contributions, and to which she owed all that * This assertion has been cavilled at by a Boston writer, but not refuted. Boston, by her Jacobinical and seditious opposition to the peaceable measures adopted to obtain from England that redress for which she herself had so loud- ly insisted on the interference of g'overnment ; and by her excitement of a si- milar opposition throughout the eastern states generally, defeated those mea- sures, and cncoiu-agcd England to proceed ill her outrages ; vvliich finally led to war. CHAP. 52.] ATTEMPTS ON PUBLIC CREDIT. 2S5 prosperity, that wealth, and that consequence, which had ren- dered her dizzy, inflated her with pride and arrogance, and brought on her downfall. CHAPTER LII. 3Ioney the sinews of zvar. Associations to prevent the success of the Loans» Efforts to bankrupt the Govermnent. Money has long been proverbially styled the sinews of war. It is no misnomer. Soldiers cannot be raised — nor put in mo- tion — nor arrayed in the field of battle, without money to clothe and feed them. A government at war, and destitute of funds or credit, must succumb to its adversary — bend the neck to the yoke — make humble submission — .and receive the law from the conqueror. To these truths history bears ample and uniform testimony. Under these impressions, shortly after the declaration of war, there was a combination formed to prevent the success of the government loans. A great majority of those who entered into this scheme resided in the eastern states, particularly in Boston, which was the grand focus of the conspiracy. For every measure, however atrocious, a plausible plea is always found to palliate or justify its enormity. This high- handed conspiracy to destroy the credit of the government of their country, which originated among the " moral and reli- gious people" of Boston, was predicated upon two positions : First, that England was, and had always been, willing tq make a treaty with us on fair and honourable terms ; and that, so great was her magnanimity, she would take no advantage of any embarrassments or difficulties which might arise from the destruction of the public credit. Secondly, that our administration was so obstinately deter- mined to continue the war, that it would make no peace while possessed of the means of carrying on hostilities. A corollary from these positions was, that if the conspirators prevented the success of the loans, and deprived the government of the means of prosecuting the war, we should in consequence have peace.* These extravagant positions must excite the amazement of any calm observer. " But as soon as he should be acquainted * This paragraph was written in September, 1814. The result of the nego- clatious at Ghent fully established the folly as well as wickedness of these proceedings. The public mind has been since very considerably undeceived on these points. I have heard gentlemen rejoice at the succes^ of the illus- trious hero, Jackson, at New-Orleans, as leading to peace, who, one or two years since, were so miserably deluded as to believe that the road to a cessa- tion of war lay through the defeat, disgrace, and disasters of the arms of thei> native country ! O, B. 38 28^ POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [chap. 52. " with the nature and existence of prejudice, passion, obstinacy, " wilfuhiess, wickedness, and, above all, with the character and " influence of party spii'it, the mystery would vanish at once : *■'• for he would then see that these, and not reason, decide, " /Reason asks for facts and arguments. Prejudice^ passion^ " and the rest^ ask for 7iames^ sound, noisc^ and fur ij. By *' those they are impelled — by these they decide.''''^ Our government had given four strong and irresistible proofs of a disposition to conclude the war, which carried conviction to every candid mind. First, on the 27th of June, 1812, it had offered the British government an armistice on the simple and reasonable condi- tions of suspending, during the negociation, the outrageous in- jury of impressment, and surrendering the American seamen previously impressed. The suspension of impressment at that period could not have occasioned Great Britain any possible dis- advantage ; for, having nearly annihilated all the rival navies of Europe, her stock of sailors could not require to be reple- nished by impressment from our vessels. And, as she had at all times professed a willingness to surrender our seamen, there could have been no difficulty on the second point. She ought, therefore, to have met our amicable overtures with frankness. If she were fighting for her existence, as has been said a thousand times ; and if it were jeopardized by our hostility ; it was the quintessence of madness and folly, not to have with- drawn us from the number of her enemies, when she could have effected that grand object on such easy terms, without impair- ing her credit or character. Secondly, It had promptly accepted the Russian mediation for the termination of hostilities. Thirdly, To remove all difficulty on the important subject of impressment, congress passed an acton the od of March, 1813, making such provisions, to commence from the close of the war, as to secure Great Britain against the seduction or employment of her seamen on board our vessels, public or private.f Fourthly, and most particularly, in the appointment of three ministers to negociate, Mr. Bayard, a decided federalist, was chosen — -a gentleman of high standing with his own party — of considerable talents — and strenuously opposed to the adminis. tration. This affords a full proof of the fairness and candour of our government. In the appointment of ministers in England, or elsewhere, I believe no similar instance has occurred, of the choice of a per- * Tlie Kxaminer, by Rarent Qardenier, vol. i. p. 57 , \ Among the nienibers who voted as^ainst this bill were Messrs. Josiah Quin- cy and Jolni Randolph. Their motives must have been very extraordinaiy. It is hardly possible to fothom them. CHAP. 52.] AlTEMPTS ON PUBLIC CREDIT. 287 Son hostile to the administration who appointed him. It was a very great tflbrt to remove suspicion and jealousy from the public mind: Nothing but the incurable folly and madness en- gendered by faction, could possibly resist the fair inicrence war- ranted by this appointment. But it was wholly unavailing. Faction is now, ever has been, and ever will be, deaf, and dumb, and blind, to reason and common sense. These four facts notwithstanding, the persuasion was general among the " Peace Fartij^'' that the government was averse to terminating the war. The talents of the federalists in the east- ern states and elsewhere, w^ere put in requisition to impress this idea on the public mind. The most unceasing efforts were em- ployed on this subject. The leaders of the party affected to be, and the others were, inflexible in the opinion. In consequence, every possible exertion was made, particular- ly in Boston, to deter the citizens from subscribing to the loans, in order to disable the government from carrying cm the war, and of course to compel it to make peace. Associations were entered into in the most solemn and public manner for this pur- pose. And those who could not be induced by mild means, were deterred by denunciations. A folio volume might be filled with the lucubrations that appeared on this subject. The pulpit, as usual in Boston, afforded its utmost aid to the press, to insure success. Those who subscribed, were in direct terms declared participators in, and accessaries to, all the " mur" ders^'' as they were termed, that might take place in the '' unhQ- hj^ unrighteous^ wicked^ abominable^ and accursed war /"* To enable us to judge of the wickedness and folly of these proceedings, let us examine what v/ould have been the conse- quence of complete success. No diminution of the guilt of any act arises from its failure to produce its usual and intended ef- fect. — The man who fires a pistol with intent to kill, is, in the eye of Heaven, as clearly a murderer, as he whose ball passes through the brains of his victim. Had complete success crowned the efforts of the conspirators, these awful consequences would have taken place : First, a national bankruptcy.! The public creditors, and those who depended on them, would have been ruined. * See chapter LVI. t After the above was written, this consequence was procluced to a ceftam extent by this consph-acy. Its injurious effects on the credit of the country may be seen by an examination of tlie following Boston Fnce current, extracted From tlie United States Gazette, Febimai ij 7, 1815. BELOW PAR. All the banks In New York state, Hudson and Orange excepted, 19 and 20 p. c. Hudson bank, - - - " |^ Orange bank, - " - " oa Philadelphia city banks, . - -.- - M Baltimore banks, * - . - " OA 9« Treasury notes, - - - - * m United States six oer cents. - " - ' m 288 POLITICAL OUVE BRANCH. [chap. 52. Secondly, with the downfall of the public stocks, would have fallen the stocks of banks, insurance-companies,* Jkc. Thirdly, private bankruptcy would have follow ed to an en- ormous extent : and wide-spread ruin would have pervaded the nation-! Fourthly, the national armies must have been disbanded, and the frontiers exposed to the desolating effects of the hatchet and tomahawk. The aged matron — the chaste and tender wife — • the blooming maiden — the decrepid grandsire — the manly father ■ — and the helpless infant — all would have been involved in one wide, impartial, and undistinguishing destruction ! Fifthly, our seaport towns would have been exposed to the mercy of Pakenhams, and Cockburns, and Gordons. They would have been bcaut\ed-and-hootied^ and have shared the fate of Alexandria, of Hampton, of Havre-de-Grace, and French- town. And sixthly, to close the awful catalogue, our government would have been laid at the mercy of Great Britain : — and, de- prived of the means of resistance, must have submitted to what- ever ignominious terms she might choose to impose.:): These were the results that must have taken place, had com- plete success crowned the horrible project. Never was more unholy purpose attempted. It is highly probable that many of the persons engaged in this conspiracy did not contemplate such extensive results. They may have looked no farther forward than to the restoration of peace. But the leaders in the scheme were too keen, too shrewd, too profound, and too hostile to the government of their coun- try, to allow vis to extend to them the same degree of charity. Their minds must have grasped all the stupendous and awful consequences ; and they had reconciled themselves to the wide- spread devastation. The success in the eastern states was considerable. Few men have the courage to stem the tide of popular delusion when it sets in very strong. There were some, however, who subscrib- ed openly, in defiance of denunciations and threats. Others of less firm texture, loaned their money by stealth, and as clandes- tinely as if it were treasonable. What, alas ! must be the aw- ful state of society, when a free citizen is afraid of lending his money publicly, to support the government that protects him — the mildest government ever vouchsafed by Heaven to man — * This consequence took place to a most alurming- degree. See the prece- ding note. -j- Strong traces of the pernicious effects of this conspiracy appear through- out the union. Some of the conspu-ators fell unlamcnted victims of their own machinations. % The recent subjugation of France holds out a most solemn and horror- inspiring lesson, on the effects of intenuil divisions. CHAP. 52.] ATTEIMPTS ON PUBLIC CREDIT. 289 whose mildness enabled its enemies to jeopardize its very exist- ence ! Who, that has a soul to feel — who, that has a spark of patriotism or public spirit in his frame, but must be fired with a holy indignation at such a hideous, such a horrible state of the public piind !!!!!! " Money is such a drug (the surest sign of the former prosperity, and pvesmt insecurity of trade) that men against their consciences, their honour, their duty, their professions and PROMISES; are willing to lend it secretly; to support the very measures which are both intended and calculated for their ruin." This paragraph, the prodiiction of John Lowell, establishes the existence of a combination to prevent the success of the loans, who had '■'■ promhed'''' each other, or pledged themselves not to subscribe — but, to avoid the reproaches and persecution of their associates, did it " secretly.'''' This conclusion irresis™ tibly follows. These '-*■ promises not to lend their money ^'^ must refer to the combination I have stated. It can have no other meaning. And the fair construction of their lending " secretly'''' can be no other than that they were liable to dis- grace with, or persecution from, their party, if they were known to lend. Of the species of denunciations held out to deter from sub- scriptions, some idea may be formed from the following para- graphs, taken from various Boston papers. " Let no mmi ~vho ivishes to continve the Tvar by active means, by vote or lendimr money, dare to phostrate himself at the altar ox the fast day ; for they are actually as imtch partakers in the -ivar, as the soldier ivlio thrusts his bavonet • and the JUDGMENT OF GOD WILL AWAIT THEM." Jifoney lent by federalists. " Will federalists subscribe to the loan"? will they lend money to our nation- al rulers ? it is impossible. First, because of the principle ; and secondly, be- cause of principal and interest. If they lend money now, they make themselves parties to the violation of the constitution, the cruelly oppressive measures in relation to commerce, and to all the crimes which have occuired in the field and in the cabinet. To what purpose have federalists exerted themselves to show the wickedness of this war, to rouse ihe public sentiment against it, and to show the authors of it not only to be unworthy of public confidence,' but highly criminal, if now they contribute the sums of money, without which) these rulers must be compelled to stop,- must be compelled to return to the policy and measures under which this country once was at peace, and in singular pi-osperity. " By the magnanimous course pointed out by governor Strong, that is, by withholding all voluntary aid in prcsecuting the war, and manfully expressing our opinion as to its injustice and ruinous tendency, we have arrested its pro- gress ; and driven back its authors to abandon their iiefarious schemes, and to look anxiously for peace. What then, if we now lend them money ? They will not make peace ; they will still hanker for Canada ; they will still assemble forces, and shed blood on our western frontier. Mere pride, if nothing else, would make them do it. The motives which first brought on the war, will still con- tinue it, if money can be had. But some say ; -mU you let the country become bankrupt ! no, the country tvill never become bayikrupt. But prat no not pre- vent THE ABUSERS OF THEIR BECOMING BANKRUPT ! ! !* Do UOt preVCnt thciU * Language is powerless to express the contempt and disgust this miserable sophistry must excite in every coiTcct mind. What a desperate plunge into 290 POLITICAL OLIVE BnAXCJI [mAv. 52. from becoming odious to the public, and replaced by better men. Ani/ Jddfralisl who lends moneij to goi'tiiimcnt, must go ami shake, hands luith James ^Madison, and claim fellowshii) with Felix Grundy. Let him no mure cult him- self federalist and friend to his cmtntry ! I ! HE AVILL 13E CALLED liY OTHER.S, INFAMOUS !!!!!! " But, secondly, federalists will not lend money, because tliey luill never get it again. How, where, and when, are tlie government to get money to pay inte- • rest ? And ivho can tell whet/ier J'lUtire rulers maij think the debt contracted under such circumstances, and hif men who lend money to help out measures which they have loudly and constantly condemned, ought to be paid ! On tl\e whole, then, tiiere are two veiy strong reasons why federalists will not lend money ; first, because it would be a base abandonment of political and moral principles ,• and secondly, because it is pretty certain tliey wiU never be paid again." Boston Gazette", April 14, 1814. " Our mercliants constitute an honourable, high-minded, independent, and intelligent class of citizens. They feel tiie oppression, injury, and mockery, with winch tiiey are treated by tlieir government. They will lend tiiem money to retrace tlieir steps ; but none to persevere in their present course. Let every highwayuuinfnd his own pistols ! ! .' .'" Boston Gazette. " We liave only room tliis evening to say tliat we trust no true friend to his country will be found among the subscribers to the Gallatin loan." New York Eve- ning I'ost. " No peace will ever be made, till the people say there shall be no war. If the rich men continue to furnisli money, war will continue till the mountains arc "melted with blood ; till every field in America is white with the bones of the peo- ple." Discourse delivered at Byiicld, the seventh of April, 1814. By Elijah Parish, D. D. " If this war is to be supported by loans, paper stock will breed as fast and fiister than merinos. The fleeces, if your pastures are good, will yield the in- terest ; but for your intei-est of paper stock, you must yield a fleece of loans annually from your own pockets. Fhe admiral and the purser have informed the crew, that they have but few shot in the locker ; they must be replenished, or the war laurels must wither. In our old war, when private men were public creditors, and became somewhat impatient of pubhc delay, the administration would promise them one new dollar for two hundred old ones, and try tiieir pa- tience again. JMy brother farmers, if you have money to let, let it lie. If the war continues, you will purchase your stock at four years old, cheaper than you can. raise it ; so unjust is tliis offensive war, in which our rulers have plunged us, in the sober consideration of millions, that they cannot conscientiously approach the God of armies for Ins blessing upon it." Boston Centinel, Jaimary 13, 1813. " It is verv grateful to find that the universal sentiment is, that ANY MAN WHOLENi5s HIS MONEY TO THE GOVERNMENT, AT THE PRESENT TLME, WILL FORFEIT ALL CLAIM TO COMMON HONESTY AND COM- MON COURTESY AMONG ALL TRUE FIUENDS TO l HE COUN FRY ! ! ! ! God forbid that any federalist should ever hold up his hand to pay federalists for money lent to the present riders ; and federalists can judge whether demo- crats will tax their constituents to pay interest to federaUsts." Boston Gazette, April 14, 1814. At these awful monuments of the horrible effects of that direst of human ills, remorseless faction, it is impossible to avoid heaving a deep and heartfelt sigh ! Everj' effort is employed to prevent a peaceful nation, goaded to war by a succession of out- rage, injustice, and depredation of the most flagitious, aggrava- ting^ and humiliating kind, from availing herself of her re- the bathos of politicaj error and folly a writer must make, to assert — and \\o\v deplorably stupid and deluded must his readers be, to believe — that a govern- ment can be a banki-upt, and the nation not pai-t!j^.-" and this was protected from in., fiimy by "the just odium against the war." Now it is well known that there was no part of the United States where smuggling' was carried on so largely and so barefacedly as in Boston ; and none wliere so much pains were taken to excite the public passions against the war, or with so much success. It is there- fore not in iVIr. Lowell's power to remove the fairness of the application. tl wish here to avoid being misunderstood. The statement respecting Bos» ton is to be received with due qualifications. I have numerous and most esti- mable acquaintances in Boston; equal in point of honour and integrity to any citizens in the United States. And such I consider the mass of the inhabitants., But in times of factious violence, the worst men always rise uppermost ; gain the ascendency; give the tone to public measures; and establish an arbitrary sway. And men who " laugh at perjury," and " sneer at the restraints of conscience," are precisely those who in such times of frenzy tn-annise over their fellow-citizens, aiid bear down or force with them the dispassionate and^ well-intentioned. At all events, the picture of Boston is not mine. If it be in- correct, I am not answerable. Let Mi% LoweU and liis friends settle the account between them, O. B. 39 29^ POLITICAL OLHE BRANCH. [chap. 53. God," who " knows horv to trace the causes' of human events.''^ This is most sorry and contemptible canting. It can deceive no man beyond the rank of an idiot. This hideous derangement of morals was solely the production of faction, which consecrates every means, however wicked, to answer its vile purposes. " Adininistnition hlreling'slVnay revile the northern statesi, and the merchants g-ent'rally, for this monstrous depravation of moi'als, tins oxecraljle course of smugg'ling and fraud. But tliere is a just God, udu) knows liow to trace the causes of iiuman events; and he will assurccUy visit upon the authors of this war, all the iniquities of which it has heen the occasion. If the guilty deserve oui* scorn or our pity, the tcmptei-s iind scaucers deserve our execration."* It is very just and true, that the guilty deserve our scorn, and that the seducers merit execation. But who, let me ask, were the seducers i those, indubitably, who for so many years had been employed, by every means, however base and vile, in exciting the people to forcible opposition to the rulers of their choice — who had, in the public papers, openly invited those, who needed no such invitation, to violate laws fairly and constitutionally en- acted, which they denounced as oppressive and " nnconstitiitiofi- aW These were " the seducers.'''' These were the men on whom heaven in its righteous decrees, must '•'• visit all the ini- ^uities^^'' to which their ambition, their turbulence, and their fac- tious spirit had given occasion. Many valuable British prizes were sent into Boston, which greatly added to the stock of goods introduced there by smug- gling. The middle and southern states, vt^hich refrained from this pestiferous practice, derived nearly all their supplies of fo- reign merchandise from that town. This course of events filled the vaults of the banks in Boston with incomparably more specie than they ever held before — and raised very heavy balances against the banks in New York. The Philadelphia banks were indebted to New York ; those in Baltimore to Philadelphia; and so on to the southward. It may not be unamusing to the reader to explain this process a little more in detail. New York purchased goods largely in Boston, partly for bank notes and partly on credit. For the latter portion, promissory notes were given, which were trans- mitted from Boston to the New York banks for collection. Very large purchases were likewise made in Boston by citizens of Philadelphia, Baltimore, Richmond, Petersburg, &c. Payments were made in bank notes of the middle and southern states, and in promissorv notes. Both were sent on to New York ; the first for transmission to the banks whence they were issued — - and the second for collection. This state of things suggested the detestable idea, at which the reader will stand aghast, of wielding the financial advaiv ■ Ro^d to Ruin, No. 6. CHAP. 53.] ATTEMPTS ON PUBLIC CREDIT. 295 tages then enjoyed in Boston, to produce the effect which the press and pulpit had failed to accomplish — that is, to stof) the wheels of government bij draining the banks hi the middle and southern states of their specie^ and thus producing an utter disa- bility to fill the loans ! 1 1 This scheme was projected in the winter of 1813-14, — and immediate arrangements were made to carry it into execution. It richly earned for the projectors the maledictions of the widows, and orphans, and other persons on M'hom it entailed so much distress and ruin. Accordingly, the New York, Philadelphia, and southern bank notes held by the Boston banks, were transmitted with demands for their amount in specie — and drafts were likewise drawn on the New York banks for the balances on the lace of the books, to enormous amounts. I am credibly informed that the sum thus drawn was seven or eight millions* of dollars from the time of commencing these operations till the 31st of August, 1814, when specie payments were suspended — a space of about eight months. To relieve themselves from this pressure, the New York banks drew as largely as the state of the accounts would admit, on those in Philadelphia — the latter on those in Baltimore — and those in the latter city on Washington, Alex- andria, Richmond, &c. A fearful alarm spread through the community. The issue was looked for with terror. Wagons were loading with specie at the doors of our banks almost every 'vveek. There have been three at one time loading in Philadelphia. The banks through- out the middle and southern states were obliged to curtail their discounts. Bankruptcies took place to a considerable extent. — Even wealthy men, who were wholly unprepared for such a crisis, suffered great inconvenience. Some M'ho had subscribed to the loans, were unable to comply with their engagements : and 0thers were withheld from subscribing, by tlie genei-al pressure for money. In consequence, the loan, then pending, partially failed, to the very great embarrassment of the government and distress of the public. This runs the nefarious object in view. I have before me "■ A true abstract of the statements of the several bank corporations of Massachusetts, rendered January, 1814," and published by the secretaiy of that commonwealth, from which I extract the amount of specie in their vaults, and of their notes in circulation. » Wlien I wrote this passag-e, I gTeatly vinclerrated the nmount thus with- drawn from the middle and southern states, w liich 1 estimated at only fom- millions of dollars. Subsequent inquiries have satisfied me that it was probably double that amount. The banks from New York to Norfolk inclusively, as well as most of those to the westward, were literally drained of then- specie, and nearly reduced to bankruptc^'. Two millions of dollars and more, have frequently been exported from Philadelphia alone for the East Indies m mvt season, without prodvicing uny sensible etfeet-, 295 POLITICAL OUVE BRANCH. [chap. 53, Jan. 1814. Specie. Notes hi circulation'' Massachusetts Bank, ^2,114,1 64 S682,708 Union, 657,795 233,225 Boston, 1,182,572 369,903 State, 659,066 509,000 New England, 284,456 161,170 Mechanics, 47,391 44,595 4,945,444 2,000,601 Of course there could not be the least pretext of want of spe- cie, to answer the utmost demand that could be reasonably cal- culated on. They possessed, for every hundred dollars of their notes in circulation, nearly 250 dollars in specie — a state .of things probably unparalleled in the history of banking, from the davs of the Lombards to the present time, 'No man can pretend, that with the above enormous amount of specie, and the moderate amount of notes in circulation, these banks would have deemed it either advisable or necessary te make such very unusual and immoderate drafts, particularly at the season of the year when this project was commenced, unless there was some extraordinary object to be accomplished. Notwithstanding the enormous sums of specie drawn into the town of Boston, from New York, Philadelphia, &c. so great was the drain to Canada and Nova Scotia, to pay for government bills and for smuggled goods, that but a very moderate sum re- mained in the banks there at the beginning of the year 1815. — I annex a statement of the amount in the vaults of the different banks, at two periods, subsequent to the preceding date, fi'om which an idea may be formed of the pernicious extent to which these proceedings were carried. July Ut, ISU. ya7i.lst,18l5. Massachusetts Bank, gl, 959,405 S763,682 Union, 639,789 202,786 Boston, 1,270,731 691,729 State, 1,114,421 88,339 New England, 484,258 252,832 S5,468,604 Si, 999,368 Thus, it appears, that in six months the amount of specie ha^ been reduced the enormous sum of nearly three millions and a half of dollars, notwithstanding the continual supplies from Nev»' York for tlie months of July and August. Attempts have been made to justify the extravagant drafts above stated, as merely the result of the balance of trade in fa- \-or of Boston. It has been asserted that it was no more than right and proper for the banks of that town to require the balan- qHAP. 53.] ATTEMPTS ON PUBLIC CREDIT; 297 ces due them ; and that the case daily occurs, of banks drawing on each other in a similar mode, when balances accrue. These palliatives will not stand the test of sober examination. A large portion of the heaviest drafts, indeed those that first ex- cited alarm, were made during the winter, when the freight was 20, 25, or 30 per cent, higher, in consequence of the wretched state of the roads, than it would have been, had they waited a few weeks. This is a conclusive circumstance, taken in con- junction with the fact, that there was a superabundance of specie 'in the Boston Banks, and likewise with the laborious, and unceas- ing, and profligate efforts that had been so long made, to destroy the public credit. It is well known to every person in the slightest degree ac- quainted with banking, that when two banks in different cities carry on a large intercourse with each other, balances will arise in favour of one and against the other, often to a very large amount; w^hich balances remain unclaimed, sometimes for months together, unless the specie be actually wanted. The banks do not choose unnecessarily to incur the expence of trans- portation — and wait in expectation of the balance being reduced by the regular operations of trade. I am safe in saying that at least two millions of dollars are constantly thus circumstanced, between New York, Philadelphia, Bahimore, Washington, and Richmond. New York occasionally owes largely to Philadel- phia — Philadelphia at other times to New York — and so of banks in other places. , To render the stroke at public credit more unerring — and to place the result wholly out of the reach of contingency, there ^ -ivere arrajigeinents made with agents of the government oj Lower Canada^ rvhereby an immense amount of British govern- ment bills^^ drawn in ^lebec^ were transmitted for sale to Ne7U * T]ics.e bills were openly advertised for sale in the Boston papers. I arl- nex an advertisement taken From the Boston Daily Advertiser, December 16, 1814. " 1 Bill for - - - - 800/") British government bills for sale, by "1 ditto .... 250/ C CHARLES W. GREEN. " 1 ditto .... 203/3 No. 14, India whai-f." 1,253/ Let the reader, after having considered the above ostentatious mode of ma- naging the intercourse with the enemy, compare the spirit which dictated it with that of the revolutionary war, as displayed in the following resolutions and orcUnances extracted from the journals of congij^ss. June 2, 1775. " Resolved that no bill of exchange, draft, or order, of any officer in the army or navy, their agents or contractors, be received or nego- ciated, or any refoney be suppUed to 'them by any person in America. Journals of compress. Vol 1, 105. Marcli 27, 1781. " It is hereby ordained that the citizens and inhabitants ot these United States be, and they are strictly enjoined and required to abstain from all intercoui-se, con-espondence, or dealings whatsoever with the subjects of the king of Great Britain, while at open war witli these United States, as • i'hey shall amru-ev the same at their peril. And the executives of the several states 298 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH". [chap. SS,- Tork^ PhUadclphia^ and Baltimore^ and disposed of to monied men^ on such advantageous terms as induced them to make large purchases. And thus was absorbed a very large portion of the capital of these three cities. These bills were forwarded through the agency of trusty per- sons \n Boston; and the proceeds being placed to their credit, added immensely to the command the Boston banks had acquir- ed, by the extent of the smuggling trade, over those in the mid- dle and southern states. Let us here make a solemn pause. Let us strip these facts of the thin veil thrown over them. Let us consider them in all their nakedness, in all their deformity. My heart sickens at the investigation. I turn with disgust, with horror, with affright, Boston, the cradle of the revolution, which claims so high a degree of pre-eminence for her " mora- lity and religion," after having failed in her endeavours to pre- vent the success of the loans, draws away the specie from the middle and southern states, in order to bankrupt the goveriiment, regardless of the universal ruin with which it threatened indis- criminately, friends of war — friends of peace — federalists — de- mocrats — young and old — men, women, and children ! And, to add a deeper dije to the transaction^ the specie is transniitted to Canada^ and enables the enemy to dispatch his red allies to swim in blood on the defenceless frontiers of their orvn country .'-* this is are hereby called vipon to take the most vigilant and effectual measures for de- tecting- such intercourse, correspondence, or dcahng's, and bringing- the authors thereof, or tliose concerned therein, to condign pnninliraenty Idem, Vol. VII. page 60. ".lune 21, 1782. Whereas some of the inhabitants of the United States, prompted eitiier by a sordid attacliment to gain, or by a secret conspii-acy with the enemies of their country, are wickedly engaged in carrying on an illicit traf- fic with their enemies, whereby a market is provided for British tnerchandizes, THE CIRCULATING SPECIe IS EXPORTED FROM THE UNITED STATES, the payment of taxes rendered moi-e difficult and burdensome to die people at large, and great discouragement occasioned to honest and lawful commerce : " Resolved, that it be and hereby is recommended to the legislatures of the se- veral states, to adopt the most elHcacious measures for suppressing all traffic and illicit intercourse between their respective citizens and the enemy. " Resolved, that the legislatures, or, in their recess, the executives of the se- veral states, be earnestly requested to impress, by every means in their power, on their respective citizens at large, the baneful consequences apprehended by congress, from A CONTINUANCE OF THIS ILLICIT AND INFAMOL S Traffic, and the necessity of their co-operating with the public measures by such united, patriotic, and vigilant exertions, us will detect and bring to legal pa. ■nishment those ivho shall in any manner have been concerned therein." Idem, page 3U1. * Mr. Lowell has attempted to deny the existence of this arrangement. But it stands on too strong ground to admit of being disproved. That these bills, to an immoderate amount, were transmitted from Quebec ; that they were drawn for the support of the armies employed in hostilities against this country ; and that they were paid for in specie, devoted to the support of those armies ; are facts too stubborn to be set aside. I hereby publicly dare him or any other person in the union to disprove any of them. They arc abundantly sufficient to establish the iniq'uty of the case. CHAP. 53.] ATTEMPTS ON PUBLIC CREDIT. 899 the work of faction, the heaviest sx;ourge that ever issued from Pandora's box ! The consequences of these vile operations were long severely felt. Many estimable individuals were absolutely ruined. Bank paper became an object of brokerage, and was sold at various rates from three to twenty-five per cent, discount. A general stagnation was produced. The loss fell most heavily on the poor, as is usual in all such cases. The rich were enabled to make most extravagant profits; and many of them were literally prey- ing upon the middle and poorer classes of society. The entire profits of business were swallowed up I)y the extravagant dis- counts paid on bank paper, a case hitherto unknown in this sec- tion of the union. And thus, in a season of distress and diffi- culty, the embarrassments of the citizens were doubled and tre- bled. And what is the most daring and profligate part of the business, the men who " Played these pranks before high heaven^'* were impudent enough to charge the whole of the distress to the account of the administration ! " The offence is rank — it smells to heaven.'''* To render the affair more shocking, more gross, more hideous, those who perpetrated this wickedness, hypocritically refused to rejoice in the victories of their country— as " unbecoming a moral and religious people ! ! !" There is no country in the world, but the United States, wherein such a crime could be perpetrated with impunity. Even by our mildest of all mild constitutions, it is treason. " Trea- son against the United States, shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, GIVING THEM AID AND COMFORT." If supplying an enemy with spe- cie to enalole him to carry on the war against their native coun- try, be not giving him " aid and comfort^'' and that of the most substantial kind, I am utterly ignorant of my native language, and know not what are " aid and comfort^'' Every man concerned in the business of furnishing these aids to the enemy, was ipso facto a traitor — his life was forfeited. That he did not expiate his crime by paying the forfeit, he owed to the ill-requited lenity of an insulted government. Every person who knew of the commission of the crime, and did not reveal it, was guilty of misprision of treason. Compare this offence with the rebellion of Massachusetts un- der Shays ; with the whiskey insurrection, in the neighbourliood of Pittsburg ; or with that of the poor, deluded, ignorant Fries ! You may as vv-ell compare the Andes to Mount Pleasant ! This crime in England would subject the perpetrator either to be hung and gibbetted, or to be hung, drawn, and quartered. 300 rOLlTICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [chap. 54. In the former case, his carcase would be exposed to be devour- ed by obscene birds of prey. In the latter, his head would be elevated as an ornament on the tower of London, or elsewhere, to deter other traitors from the perpetration of similar crimes. Let us once more, though the sight turn us aghast, examine this hideous scene — which sinks the perpetrators into the lowest abyss of infamy. Men in the " moral and religious^'' town of Boston, are obliged to lend their money to their own government by stealth. But in the face of day, within the knowledge of a whole c_ommunity, they send specie to the common enemy to support him in a vindic- tive warfare against their own country ! Can human nature sink lower ? They are " too iiioral and too religious'" to rejoice at the victories of their fellow-citizens — but they are neither '' too moral nor too religious" to aid the enemy to victory ! An age of penitence in sackloth and ashes would not efface this foul blot from the escutcheon of Boston. It is hardly possible to add a shade to the enormity of this erime. But one circumstance greatly enhances its atrocity. It was perpetrated while negociations for peace were pending, the success whereof it had so direct a tendency to defeat, by placing the British in a situation to rise in their demands ; although the guilty persons profess to belong to the " peace party." CHAPTER LIV. Subject continued. Brief statement of Facts. The immense magnitude of the subject of the conspiracy, stated in the preceding chapters, induces me to resume it. And as I may have been led astray by the delusion which is felt by almost every man who forms an hypothesis, I shall therefore state anew the- naked facts of the case, unaccompanied by my comments. Let the reader duly weigh the evidence, and acquit or condemn the accused town, as he may judge proper. I. Engagements were entered into in Boston by individuals, pledging themselves not to subscribe to the government loans. II. When some of them afterwards did subscribe, they found it necessary to do it " secrethf to avoid the odium and the persecution excited against all who lent their money to the go- vernment. III. The utmost influence of that powerful instrument, the press, and likewise of the pulpit, was employed to discouragb and denounce subscribers to the loans. They were proscribed as '■'■infamous^'' inthepubhc papers most extensively patronized ; and declared, in those papers, and from the pulpit, to be abso% lute " murderers.^"* IV. During the winter, when the roads were in wretched or- der, and when freight was of course from twenty to thirty pel' CHAP. 54.] ATTEMPTS ON PUBLIC CREDIT. 301 cent, dearer than the common freight, the Boston banks made hi^ moderate, continued, oppressive, unprecedented, and hostile drafts for specie on the Nexv Tork banks, V. At this period the former banks had in their vaults an un- paralleled quantity of specie — 07ie hundred and fftij per cent, more than their notes in circulation. VI. These drafts were continued through the spring and sum- mer, and obliged the banks in the middle and southern states so far to curtail their accommodations, as to bring the commercial world to the verge of bankruptcy. Large and ruinous bank- ruptcies did take place : twenty and upwaids occurred in New York in one day. VII. These drafts were carried to such a great extent, that on the 26th of August the banks in Baltimore — on the 29th those in Philadelphia — and on the 31st those in New York, were reducsd to the painful necessity of suspending the payment of specie. VIII. Contemporaneously with these immoderate drafts, a very large amount of bills drawn by the government of Lower Canada, were, through the medium of agents in Boston, distri- buted in New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. IX. These bills prodigiously increased the balances against the southern banks, and the power of drawing possessed by those in Boston, X. The specie received for these bills from New Tork, Phila- delphia and Baltimore, tvas forwarded to Canada, XI. When subscriptions for loans were opened, large quanti- ties of public stock were sold at public auction,* and also sent from Boston, to the markets in New York, and Philadelphia, and Baltimore, and sold at reduced rates, to tempt the monied men to invest their money therein, and thus to impede the success of the pending loans. I submit all these strong facts to the reader. Let him exa- mine them, and decide for himself. If he be an upright, can- did, honourable man — if he have a spark of public spirit in his composition — if he have not renounced all pretensions to the name of a Washingtonian — he will pronounce sentence against this transaction, its agents, its emissaries, its accomplices, and against all who connived at it. If this be '■''federalism of the Boston stamps"* I trust the high-minded and honest federalists of * Extract of a letter from Boston, dated February 24, 1815. " This day twenty thousand dollars, six per cent stock, was put up at auction; five thousand dollars of which only was sold for want of bidders, and that at forty per cent, under par. As for the former new loan, it would be considered little short of an insult to offer it in the market, it being- a very serious ques- tion who is to frither the child in case of national difficulties.'* J^'ew York Even- ing Post, February 27, 1815. O. B. 40 3Q2 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [chap. 55, the middle and southern states, will renounce the odious connec- tion, and disclaim all participation in such nefarious, such trea- sonable practices. Mr. Oakley, a member of the house of representatives of the United States, in a violent and declamatory speech, alleged the strongest charges of gross mismanagement and incapacity against the administration, for disadvantageous contracts made for some of the loans, whereby millions of dollars wei^e lost to the nation. All these losses and disadvantages are fairly chargeable to this conspiracy. A few ambitious demagogues in Boston have been the guide of federalists throughout the union. They led them a devious course from the paths prescribed by Washington. They allured them to the brink of insurrection, rebellion, and civil war, which are synonimous with a dissolution of the union. Whether the latter will have magnanimity and fortitude enough to regain the honourable paths from which they have been seduced, remains to be seen. Their contemporaneous fame — their character with posterity — their peace, their happiness, their prosperity — the fate of their wives and children — the destiny of their country — the question whether we shall be united as a band of brothers, or involved in civil war, with its long train of horrors — are all at stake. The stake is immense. Pray Heaven they may form a just and enlightened decision.* CHAPTER LV. Massachusetts compared xvith Tennessee. The blind leading the blbid. Profits of trade Jifty per cent ! Ro(^ to Ruiti. Never did faction more completely degrade and sink a peo- ple, than in Massachusetts. That once high-minded state was at- tacked by the British with a small force. They were allowed, without an effort, to dismember it. They established a regular government in their conquests. As no effort was made by this state, whose population amounts to about 700,000 free people, to prevent the conquest, so none was made to expel the enemy. Enslaved by faction, she whined, and scolded, and murmured, and winced, and threatened, and cursed the administration for not defending her, although she had made every possible exer- tion to enfeeble the government, and render it incapable of de- fence. To sum up the whole. Massachusetts was energetic, firm, bold, daring, and decisive in the contest with the general govern- ment. She would not abate an inch. She dared it to a conflict. She seized it by the throat, determined to strangle it ! She was imtameable as a lion, or a tiger, or a panther, or a leopard. But * Let it be observed this chapter was written in September, 1814. The note inthe preceding page was added to the "th Edition. CHAP. 55.] MASSACHUSETTS & TENNESSEE- 303 she was long-sufFering, and mild, and patient, and harmless, and inoffensive, and gentle, and meek, as a lamb or a turtle-dove, when she came in contact with the enemy. There is some mystery hangs about this affair, which time alone can develope. That the British should have attacked Massachusetts, where they had so many friends, and spared Pennsylvania, where the great majority were hostile to them, was so contrary to all the rules of true policy, as to be almost inexplicable. I dare not trust myself to hazard a conjecture on the subject. The tame acquiescence of such a powerful state, in so degrading a situation, must have had some extraordinaiy motive. None occurs to my mind that I would choose to com- mit to paper. But mark the contrast ! Heavens! What a contrast ! Tennessee, with a territory of 43,000 square miles — a white population of only 217,727, and a formidable black one of 44,535, to guard against, was assailed by the most powerful combination of Indians, and those of the bravest character, that ever existed since the first settlement of this country. She neither winced — nor whined — ^nor cursed the government — ^nor shrunk from danger — nor threatened a separation. She arose in her strength. She gird- ed on her armour. She called her sons from the counter and the plough — from the anvil and the loom — from the bench and the bar — from the senate house and the council chamber — and with a small degree of assistance from Georgia, she vanquished the hardy warriors whom a false reliance on British aid had al- lured to their ruin. Every successive effort on the part of the deluded assailants was equally pregnant with destruction. Com- pletely vanquished, they bent their necks to the yoke. They cursed the seduction which tempted them from ease, and com- fort, and happiness ; and on the forehead of their nation im- printed the broad seal of perdition. Since the above was written, Tennessee has earned tenfold fame by the heroism and public spirit her hardy sons have dis- played at New Orleans, where they acquired not merely for themselves — and their own state — ^but for the entire nation, a wreath of imperishable glory. In this grand achievement Ken- tucky partook largely. Both these noble states poured forth their sons by thousands, some of them from a distance of nearly eight hundred miles, to repel the invaders of their native country. With what effect they performed this patriotic service, histoiy will convey to posterity, countless ages hence. It will be a sub- ject of laudable pride to belong to a nation, whose lawyers and doctors — whose farmers and shopkeepers — whose clerks and mechanics, hastily collected together, signally defeated an army of veterans, of very far superior force, as formidable as any equal number ever arrayed in arras. 304 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [chap. 55^ The genius of Columbia hides her face with shame, and sor- row, and anguish, when she regards the ancient state of Mas- sachusetts, degenerated from, and a disgrace to, her hardy ancestors. But she looks down with pride, and pleasure, and exultation, on the youthful, high-spirited, patriotic, and heroic Tennessee and Georgia. It is hardly possible to find a stronger contrast — more dis- graceful on the one side — more honourable on the other. The blind leading the blind. There is no man whose zeal in inflaming the public mind, has equalled that of the author of the Road to Ruin. He has pub- lished as many different sets of papers to excite the abhorrence and detestation of the eastern states against the administration, as would fill two or three large volumes. He is, in politics, as veiy an enrage as ever lived. So violent are his passions on this topic, that they lead him eternally astray. He commits himself by the most extravagant positions, which nothing but the epi- demical madness of the times would have ever suffered to escape the keenest ridicule. In " the Road to Ruin," he most pathetically deplores the de- struction of comitierce, and the introduction of manufactures, both of which he regards as equal subjects of lamentation. And to make the stronger appeals to the passions of his readers — to enhance the misfortune of the loss of commerce — ^he very grave- ly states its profits at ''\fifty per cent ! I .'" It is even so, reader : ^' Jiffy P^^ ^^"^ •' •' •'" ^^ ^^ \y^vA to conceive a higher grade of extravagance and folly. I'he average profits of successful com- merce are not twelve per cent. And if the whole of the com- mercial capital employed in this country, during the last twenty years, be taken into view, including that of the merchants who have become b«nkrupts, it is probable that the profits do not ex- ceed eight per cent. The failures among that class are very numerous, and out of all proportion greater than among any other. Of the merchants in New York and Philadelphia who were in eminence ten years ago, I think I am warranted in say- ing, that nearly two-thirds have been utterly ruined. It is well known, that the West India trade has been almost always a los- ing one. In fact, of the few fortunate merchants who escape shipwreck, it may be fairly said, " Apparent rari nantes in gurgite vasto.'''' This writer is either a deceiver — or he has deceived himself. In either case he is " a blind leader of the blind ;" And it can never be sufficiently deplored, that a man in this situation should have so very pernicious an influence on the destinies of eight millions of people and their posterity. He has chosen a most CHAP. 56.] PULPIT POLITICS. 305 felicitous title — ^" The Road to jRuin.^'' — -And verily he has so long been leading his deluded followers on " the road to ru'in^'* that he has brought them to the very verge of the precipice. Lest the reader should suppose I have done him injustice, I submit his own words. If I have tortured his meaning, on my head be all the censure I have so freely bestowed upon him— " We take from trade a capital -which produced FIFTY PER CENT, and we invest it m manufactures, PRECARIOUS IN THEIR ISTATURE, wliich may never produce twenty, and which may prove our ruin."-j- This shoit paragraph is as fallacious as any equal number of lines ever published. Every position it lays down is deceptions. When the writer einphatically states, that manufactures are " precarious In their 7iature^'' he must mean, by way of contra- distinction, that commerce is blest with absolute security. Both are arrant errors. Commerce is proverbially insecure. No de- gree of prudence affords full security in that department. Manu- factures, prudently managed, have as much certainty as any other human undertakings whatever. One word more. What dependence can be placed upon the assertions, the insinuations, the allegations, on subjects abstruse or difficult to decide upon, of a man who makes such an egre- gious, such a momentous error in a case where detection treads 5?o closely on his heels ? CHAPTER LVI. Pidpit politics. Prostitution of the sacred functions. Mas- sacre on board the Ocean. An anthology of sedition. " Politics and the pulpit are terms that have httle agreement. J^o goimJ ous^ht to be heard in the church but the voice of healing chanty.''' [What a divine idea !] " The cause of civil liberty and civil government gains as little as that of religion, by this confusion of duties. Those who cjuit their proper charac- ter, to assume what does not belong to them, are, for the greater part, ignorant both of the character they leave, and of the character they assume. Wholly unacquainted with the world, in which they are so fond of meddling, and inex- perienced in all its affiiirs, on which they pronounce with so much confidence, they have notMng of poUtics but the passions they excite. Siirely the church is a place ivhere one daifs truce ought to be allnved to the dissensions and animosities of mankind.''^ Burke. Of all the abominations that disgrace and dishonour this country in these portentous times, I know nothing more deserv- ing of reprobation than the prostitution of the pulpit for party or political purposes. No man of correct mind can seriously re- flect upon it without shuddering with horror. A clergyman, whose functions pre-eminently require him to preach " peace and good will among men^'' ascends the pulpit among a congregation assembled to unite in praising and ador- ing the Omnipotent Creator. He holds in his hand the Tes- tament of Jesus Christy which breathes nothing but peace — he t See in the Examiner, vol. i. page 141, the Road to Ruin, No. VIII. 305 POLITICAL OLFVE BRANCH. [chap. 56, pronounces^ and has for a text^ the -words of Jesus Christy or of his apostles^ of the ?nost pacific tendency : and^ as a suitable ac- companiment^ for an hour long he employs all his zeal, all his talents, all his influence, for the fanatical, the anti-christian, the satanical purpose of enkindling among his hearers the most bale- ful^ the most furious passions — of preparing them for insurrec- tion and revolution — for all the Korrors of civil xvar. *' The alternative then is, that if you do not wish to become the slaves of those who own slaves, and who are themselves the slaves of French slaves, you must cither, in the language of the day, CUT THE CONNEXION, or so far alter the national compact, as to insure yourselves a due share in tlie go- vernment :" This elegant and sublime morgeau, which breathes so much of the spirit of St. Paul, " let every soul be sidyect to the higher powers^''* is taken from a sermon preached in Boston, by the Rev. Mr. Gardiner, July 23, 1812. The christian injunction of " cutting the connexion^'' that is, rebelling against their oxvn government^ wonderfully accords with the declaration of the text, which, gentle reader, is — '■'- 1 am for peace,'''' Psalm 120, V. 7. Never was there a more wonderful association — " Cut the conriexion'''' — and " / am for peace /" From such apostles of peace, good Lord deliver us ! It is impossible much to aggravate the hideousness of this procedure. But when the preacher commits himself by false- hood, as sometimes happens, it caps the odious climax. A few years since, on the eve of a general election in Massachusetts, to answer the purposes of party, a fabulous story was circulated, that the French had massacred the crew of a vessel called the Ocean. It was one of a thousand falsehoods of the same kind. A clergyman, whose name I spare, seized the story with avidity — wove it into his sermon — and invoked the vengeance of heaven on the murderers. But mark the end of it. The holy zeal of the auditor)^ had not time to cool, when, to cover the preacher with confusion, a resurrection of the murdered crew took place. They returned home, safe and sound, from the stilettos and daggers of the blood-thirsty French — and held cut a strong memento to the preacher against a repetition of such an anti-christian procedure. The practice of preaching political sennons is utterly impro- per, even when a congregation are all united — all of one senti- ment, if such a case ever occurred. But when they are divided, as must necessarily almost always happen, what a view does it present ? That portion of the congregation differing from the preacher, are reduced to the alternative of either absenting them- selves from divine worship, or sitting patiently silent under the undeserved reproaches, and abuse, and maledictions of a man who flies in the face of all his duties, and to whom they cannot offer a reply. CBAP. 56.] PULPIT POLITICS. 307 To enable the reader to form a correct estimate of the abomi- nation which I have here denounced, as well as of the justice of the denunciation itself, I present him with an anthology, se- lected from the sermons of three clergymen, the Rev. Messrs. Parish, Osgood, and Gardiner, to whom no small portion of the seeds of insurrection, rebellion, and civil war, so plentifully sown in the eastern states, is justly chargeable. Never, since the first establishment of the clerical functions, were they more miserably employed — more contrary to the divine injunctions of the meek and mild Jesus, whose disciples these reverend gen- tlemen profess to be — whose doctrines they profess to teach — and whose example they profess to follow, and to hold out for imitation. From the Rev. J. S. J. Gardiner^ A, 31. rector of Trhiky Church, Boston. " The British, after all, save for us by their convoys, infinitely more property than they deprive us of. WHERE THEY TAKE ONE SHIP, THEY PRO- TECT TWENTY. Where they commit one outrage, they do many acts of kindness." Discourse delivered April 9, 1812, page 15. " England is willing to sacrifice every thing to conciliate us, except her ho- nour and independence.*' Idem, page 10. " It is a war unexampled in the history of the luorld : wantonly proclaimed on the most frivolous and groundless pretences, against a nation from whose friend- ship we might derive the most signal advantages, and from whose hostility we htive reason to dread the most tremendous losses." Discourse delivered July 25, 1812, page 3. " So fiir from there being British partizans in this country, it is difficult to find an individual candid enough to do that nation common justice," Idem, page 10. *' Every provocation has been offered to Great Britain on our part, and our resentment has risen in proportion as she has shoinn a conciliating spirit." Idem, page 12. " What consequence is it to you, if they be repealed or not, if you are sold to JVapoleon, as you have reason to believe, by the slaves luho have abused your con- fidence" Idem, page 11. " Let no considerations whatever, my brethren, deter you at all times, and in all places, from execrating the present war. It is a war unjust, foolish, and ruinous. It is unjust, because GREAT BRITAIN HAS OFFERED US EVERY CONCESSION SHORT OF WHAT SHE CONCEFYES WOULD BE HER RUIN." Idem, page 15. " As Mr. Madison has declared war, let Mr. Madison carry it on." Idem, page 17. "THE UNION HAS BEEN LONG SINCE \TRTUALLY DISSOLVED : AND IT IS FULL TIME THAT THIS PART OF THE DISUNITED STATES SHOULD TAKE CARE OF ITSELF ! !" Idem, page 19. From the Rev. David Osgood, D. D. pastor of the church at Medford. "The strong prepossessions of so great proportion of my fellow citizens in favour of a race of demons, and against a iiation of more religion, virtue, good faith, generosity, and beneficence, than any that novj is, br ever has been upon the 308 FOLITICAL OLIAE BRANCH, [chap. 5ti. face of the earth, wring mv soul with anguish, and fill my heart with apprehen- *sion and terror of the judgnnents of heaven upon this sinful people." Discourse delivered Apinl 8, 1810, page 40. " If at the command of weak or wicked rulers, they undertake an unjust war, each man who volunteers his services in such a cause, or loans his money for its support, or by his conversation, his writings, or any other mode of influence, encourages its prosecution, that man is an accomplice in the wickedness, loads his conscience with the blackest crimes, brings the guilt of blood upon his soul, and IN THE SIGHT OF GOD AND HIS LAW IS A MURDERER." Bis. course delivered Jmie 27, 1812, page 9. " Since the period of their pretended repeal, SCORES, IF NOT HUNDREDS of our vessels have been seized in French ports, or burnt at sea by French cruisers, wliile many of their unoffending crews were manacled like slaves, con- jiJied in. French prisons, orforcedon hoard of French ships to fight against Englaild." Idem, page 11. " Our government, with a hardihood and effrontery, at which demons might have blushed, persisted in asserting the repeal." Ibid. •' My mind has been in a constant agony, not so much at the inevitable loss of our temporal prosperity and luippiness, and the complicated miseries of war, as at its guilt, its outi-age against heaven, against all truth, honesty, justice, good- ness ; against all the principles of social happiness." Idem, page 12. " Were not the authors of this war in character nearly akin to the deists and atheists of France ; were they not men of hardened hearts, seared consciences, reprobate minds, and desperate iiickedness, it seems utterly inconceivable that they should have made the declaration." Idem, page 13. "One hope on'y remains, that this last stroke of perfidy may open the eyes of the besotted p(;op!e ; that thev may awake, like a giant from his slumbers, and WREAK THEIR VENGEANCE ON THEIR BETRAYERS, by driving them from their stations, and placing at the helm more skilful and faithful hands." Idem, page 17. **Ifat the present moment, no symptoms of civil loar appear, they certainly -tdll aoon ; unless the courage of the ivar party should fail them ! ! .'" Idem, page 14.* " A civil -war becomes as certain as the events that happen according to the knoym laivs and established cotirse of nature ! ! .'" Idem, page 15,* From the Rev. E lis ha Parish, D. D. " The Israehtes became weary of yielding the fruit of their labour to pamper their splendid tyrants. They left tlieir political woes. THEY SEPARATED. WHERE IS OUR MOSES ! ! ! Where is the rod of his miracles ! ! ! Where is our ■Aaron .' ! ! Alas ! no voice from the burning bush has directed tliem here." Discourse delivered at By field, April 7, 1814, page 18. " There is a point ; there is an hour ,- beyond which you will not bear .' .' .'" Idem, page 12. " Such is the temper of American republicans, so called. A new language must be invented before we attempt to express the baseness of their conduct, or de- scribe the rottenness of their hearts." Idem page 21. * These sentences are already quoted in a former part of this book. They are nevertheless repeated here, as peculiarly appropriate. ■\ After the reader has perused this detestable effusion of prejudice and virulence, let him compare it with the following declaration, made by this rev- erend gentleman, in a sermon preached at Cambridge, Api-il 8, 1810 ; " God is my witness that I would not upon any consideration, willin.gly or unnecessarily wound the feelings of, or give offence to, an individual in this assembly." «HAP. 56.] PULPIT POLITICS. 309 " New England, if invaded, would be obliged to defend herself. Do you not then owe it to your children, and owe it to your God, to make peace for your- selves ?" Idem, page 23. " You may as well expect the cataract of Niagara to turn its current to the head of Superior, as a wicked congress to make a pause in the work of destroying their country, while the people will furnish the means." Idem, page 8. "Alas! WE HAVE NO MOSES TO STRETCH HIS ROD OVER THE SEA ! ! ! No Lebanon, nor Carmel, nor Zion to invite us across the de^p '.'* Idem, page J 4. " The Republics of Rome, and Venice, and perhaps another, which alone exists, have been as oppressive as the despotism of Tui'key, of Persia, or Ja- pan." Idem, page 3. Of the law of Pharaoh, which condemned to death the first- born of the Israelites, this reverend gentleman says— " A thousand times as many sons of America have probably fallen victims of this ungodly war, as perished in Israel by the edict of Pharaoh. Still the war is only beginning. If ten thousand have fallen, te7t thousand times ten thousand mayfalir Idem, page 7. Those who take the trouble of multiplying, will find that ten thousand times ten thousand make 100,000,000, who were to perish out of a population of 8,000,000 ! ! ! ! " Should the Enghsh now be at liberty to send all their annies and all their ships to America, and //;, one day burn every city from Maine to Georgia, your con- descending rulers would play on their harps, while they gazed at the tremeiulou3 conflatrratioiu'' Idem, page 8. " tyrants are the same on the banks of the Nile and the Patowmac ; at Mem- phis and at Washington ; in a monarchy and a republic.'" Idem, page 9. " Like the worshippers of Moloch, \he supporters of a vile administration sacrifice their cliildren and funilies on the altar of democracy. Like the wi- dows of Hindostan, they consume tliemselves. Like the frantic votaries of Juggernaut, they throw'themselves under the car of their pohtical idol. They are crushed by its bloody wheels." Idem, page 21. " The full vials of desjootism are poured on your heads. And yet you may challenge the plodding Israelite, the stupid African, the feeble Chinese, the drowsy Turk, or tlie frozen exile of Siberia, to equal you in tame submission to the powers that be." Idem, page 12. " Here we must trample on the mandates of despotism ! ! ! or here we must re- main slaves forever." Idem, page 13. " You may envy the privilege of Israel, and mourn that no land of Canaan has been promised to your ancestors. Y'ou cannot separate from the muss of corrup- tion, which would poison the atmosphere of paradise. Vou must, in obstinate despair, bow down your necks to the yoke, and with your African brethren drag the chains of Virginia despotism, unless you discover some other mode of escape." Idem, page 15. " Has not New England as much to apprehend as the sons of Jacob had i But no child has been taken from the river to lead -us through the sea." Idem, page 20. « God will bring good from every evil. The furnaces of Egypt Ughted Is- rael to the land of Canaan." Idem, page 22. " Which sooty slave, in all the ancient dominion, has more obsequiously watched the eye of his master, or flew to the indulgence of liis desii-es more servilely, than the same masters have wailed, and watched, and obeyed the orders of the gi-eat Napoleon ?"■ Discourse delivered at By f eld, Aprils, 18i:>, page 21. T t p " The legislators who yielded to this war, when assailed by the mamtesto ot their angi-y chief, established iniquity and murder by law" Idem, page 9. " In tiie first onset [of the war] moral principle was set at defiance. The laws of God, and hopes of man were utterly disdained. Vice thre^v off her veil, O. B. 41 3.10 POLITICAL OLn-E BRANCH, [chap. S&. and crimes -were decked idth highest honours. This war not only tolerates crimes, but calls for them, demands them. Crimes are the food of its life, the arms of its streng'th. This war is a monster, which every hour gormandises a thousand crimes, and yet cries, " give, give." In its birth, it demanded the violation of .all good faith, perjiuy of office, the sacrifice of neutral impartiality. The first moment in whicli the dragon mo\ed, piracy and murder ivere legalised. Havoc, death, and conjlagration -ax'rc the viands of lier frst repast ^' Idem, page 11. " Those western states which have been violent for this abominable war of murder ; those states which have thirsted for blood, (Jod has given them blood to drink. Their men have fallen. Their lamentations are deep and loud." Idem, page 16. " Our government, if they may be called the government, and not the destroyers of the country, bear all these tilings as patiently as a colony of convicts sail into Botany Bay." Idem, page 5. " Let every man who sanctions this war by his suffrage or influence, remem- ber tliat he is labouring to cover himself and his countiy witli blood. THE BLOOD OF THE SLAIN WILL CRY FROM THE GROUND AGAINST HIM." Idem, page 23. " How will the supporters of this anti-christian lonrfare endm'e their sentence ; endure tlieir own reflections; endure the fire tJtat forever hums; the ivorm -Mch never dies ; the hos annas of heaven ; WHILE THE SMOKE OF THEIR TORMENTS ASCENDS FOREVER AND EVER." Idem, page 24. " To raise army after army to be sacrificed, when the English do all which is possible, to soften the rigours of captivity, by kindness to the prisoners which they have taken BY THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS, restoring them to their families, WITHOUT A RANSOM, AND WITHOUT THEIR REQUEST ; to carry on such a war, after its only arowed cause has been removed, is it not the lawless attack of Goths and Vandals, the daring pillage of wild Arabs, a h- centious outrugc on all the jjrinciples of cliristianity, an impious abandonment of divine protection .''" Idem, page 5. I had beguti to comment on these extracts. But I have changed my purpose. I resign them to the judgment of the reader. I shall merely say, if the preachers were really sincere, what transcendent infatuation ! If not, what transcendent turpi- tude ! In either case, what transcendent profanation of the cler- ical fiinctioiis ! — and of a religion breathing peace and good will among men ! Maj- the Lord grant that no American congrega- tionmay ever again dishonour or disgrace itself by patiently lis- tening to such vile ribaldry. Success of the war. The enemies of the administration were lavish of their re- proaches, in the early stages of the war, on its ill success, which to many of them was a svibject of as much triumph, as if they belonged to a hostile nation — as if whatever dishonour and dis- grace might arise from it, were to attach themselves wholly to the administration. The blindness and perversity of many of our citizens on this topic, were lUterly astonishing. Whatever of glory was acquired, or of disgrace sustained in the war, its friends and enemies partook equally in the eyes of the world.* * This all-important ideals placed in tlie strongest and most striking point of light by the editor of the Analeclic Magazine, in the life of commodore Per- ry ; of which most elegant performance, may be saidwitli perfect truth, " the hero was worthy of such a biograplier, and the biographer was wortliy of such an illustrious hero." There is not extant a production of which I should be more gratified to have been the author. CHAP, 56.] SUCCESS OF THE WAR. 311 It is likewise made a subject of reproach to the administration, and of rejoicing to some dekided people, whom party passions have led astray, and blinded to the interest and honour of their country, that the government has abandoned its ground on the subject of impressment ! A most melancholy subject of re- joicing! Alas ! it was not the power of England, nor the down- fal of Bonaparte, that produced this abandonment of the claims of the poor, suffenng,nautical hero ! No. Internal discord, more fatal than tens of thousands of embattled enemies, has subjected to the risk of impi^essment countless numbers of future Hulls, Perrys, Porters, Lawrences, and M'Donoughs. The war, to the mortification of the enemies of the country, has crowned the Ignited States with naval glory. We have more impaired the naval standing of Great Bi-itain, than all the ene- mies she has had for a century ; and ourScotts, and our Browns, and our Ripleys, and our Gaineses, and our Macombs, and our Harrisons, and our Coffees, and our Carrols, and our Jacksons, have acquired by land, honour and glory equal to what has been acquired on the water b}' our Hulls, Decaturs, Bainbridges, Pei"- rys. Porters, Biddies, Joneses, and M'Donoughs. But had the war been unsuccessful, it would hot have been sur- prising. It would have more completely covered the nation with the proudest laurels, had Boston observed an impartial neutrality. But she persecuted the government with as much virulence, and malignity, raid violence, as if it were administered by demons incaniate. She involved in the vortex of disaffection no small portion of the population of her own and sister states, and did England rnore elective service than all her armies.^ Let those infatuated men, who caught the government by the throat, and almost strangled it, by the destruction of its credit, and by shackling all its efforts, only reflect for a few minutes calmly on the effect of their conduct. They desired peace. But they really prolonged the war. If, notwithstanding the immense disadvantages under which it was conducted, through the disaf- fection of such a large body of our citizens, we so harassed and crippled the trade of the enemy, what would have been the re- sult,, had the united energies of the nation been employed to avenge the national M^rongs- — had all the ports of the eastern * Of the sty]e and manner in wliich the government has been assailed on the subject of the loans, the reader will find hi the fifty-second and fifty -sixth chap- ters, a few specimens. Many of the paragraphs on this and other to])ics tlisplay ^ degree of malice, and virulence, and ribaldiy, tliat can only be equalled by the writers of the Courier and the Times. Adhesion to the enemy is visiBle in the elaborate defences of his conduct that so frequently appeared in a large pro- portion of the papers published to the eastward. And, strange to tell, there was a most elaborate set of essays published in Boston under the signature of Facifi- cus, defending the monstrous claim to one hundred and si::ty-five millions of acres of our territory, as a Siiw-qua-non condition of peace. These essays were republished in most of the federal papers throughout the union without com- ment or censure. 312 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [«;uap. 57 States contributed their proportion towards the common cause ? Great Britain would in that case have been wear)' of the war in twelve months. She would have given us an early and honour- able peace. Millions of debts and taxes would have been saved — thousands of lives on both sides been preserved — the destruc- tion of public and private credit been prevented — and the two nations would have been early restored to the relations of com- merce and friendship. This is an awful view of the labours of the '■^ peace party. '*'' CHAPTER LVII. Parties change 7iame and. character, Jacobins. Definition, Unholy struggle for porter ^ the caiise of all our dificulties. Parties sometimes change their names, though they retain their principles. But they more frequently change their cha- racter, and conduct, and principles, still retaining their names. On many occasions in England, whig administrations have en- forced tory measures. And some of the most whiggish mea- sures have been adopted by tory administrations. A very large number of the democrats in 1793, particularly in the western parts of Pennsylvania, were rank jacobins and disorganizers. They offered violence to the government, and raised an insur- rection, to free themselves from a paltr)- excise on whiskey, one of the most rational and salutary taxes ever devised. Most of those men who then violated the laws in this respect, are now strenuous supporters of the government. On the other hand, the federalists of 1793, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8, were zealous '■'•friends of order and good government.'''' This was with them a sort of watch-word. They were ardent sup- porters of the honour of the constituted authorities, which they identified with their own. A very large portion of them still adhere to the good old faith and practice. But there are too many who are arrant jacobins and disorganizers, and as ripe for tumult and commotion, as the most violent democrats of 1 7^o. They may murmur and may curse me for this declaration as much as they please. I care not. They may exhaust Enml- phus's whole collection of maledictions on my devoted head. But were these maledictions ten times reiterated, they would not efface from their escutcheon the foul blot of jacobinism. A jacobin is a man of violence in politics — an enemy to legal go- vernment — a man ripe for revolution. This definition is substan- tially correct. And every man, therefore, is a jacobin who was in favour of sending to Elba, the President of the United States^ chosen by the unbiassed votes of a free nation. Every man is a rank jacobin, who w^is for putting down the admiiiistration hy force. Every man is a rank jacobin, who, with Cyrus King, of Massachusetts, regardless of decency, decorum, propriety, or dignity of character, theatened the president in an inuendo xvith «HAP. 57.] STRUGGLE FOR OFFICE. 313 if a halter.^ Every man is a rajik jacobin, who, with Mr. Cole- man, editor of the New York Evening Post, preferred rvar with all its horrors, all its devastations, to a continuance of the present administration. Every man is a rank, furious, envenomed, and dangerous jacobin, who, with Mr. Blake, a quondam democraty seized the advantage of a distressing war, to organize one por- tion of the nation in hostility against the rest.j In fine, every man who wishes the minority to trample do\A-n and rule the majority — who himself opposes, or Avho excites op- position to, the laws — who seeks to dissolve the union under any pretext whatever — Avho defends the enemies of his country, right or wrong, and slanders and degrades his own government, is an enrage — a disorganizer — a jacobin. Struggle for ofice. It is in vain to disguise the truth. Would to God, that I had a voice of thunder to proclaim it through the nation ! The con- vulsions and dangers of our country arose from the lust of of- fice and power. The safety, the welfare, the happiness of eight millions of people and their posterity, were jeopardized and ex- posed to ruin, in the unholy straggle. To embarrass, disgrace, and render odious and unpopular the men possessed of power, for the purpose of displacing them, and vaulting into the vacant seats, is a procedure, as ancient as government itself. And that it has been almost universally prevalent here, is incontroverti- ble. It is not wonderful that those whose grand and sole ob- jects are power, and the emoluments of office, should pursue this plan. The depravity of human nature sufficiently accounts for it. But that a large portion of the community who neither have nor hope for places of honour or profit, should lend them- * To the disgrace and dishonour of the house of representatives of the Uni- ted States, this \T.le effusion of Billingsgate was allowed to pass without a call to order. f Mr. Blak"* is Hkely to be a conspicuous character. Neither iNIarat, Dan- ton, nor Robespierre began their career witli more violence than he hasah-eady displayed. Memo repente turpissmms. He will improve as he g-oes on. i stake my existence, that had a civil war taken place (as would have been the case, had Mr. Blake's counsels prevailed) and hadliis party not been crushed in the conflict, as they probably would; if they had acquired the ascendenc}, there would have been as summary process with the democrats of that quarter as thei'e was with the royalists under the guillotine ffoveniment of Paris, JMen are monsters all the -world over, tvhen unrestrained by hrw and constitution. I hope in the tender mercy of God, we shall never try the experiment. But if, in the ven- geance of heaven, we are destined to do it, we sliall add our example to that of France in proof of this theory. Mr. Blake transcended his friend Mr. Otii> far. The latter gentleman was surely violent enough ; but he was obliged to curb and restrain ho, trundling their barrows — sweeping the streets — or pursuing their genteel offices of chimney sweeps and night men — hate and despise the dag- and tail parleyvous — the blundering Irishman — the simple sawney Scotchman — the leek- eating Welchman. In fact, every man who wears a coat diifer- ent from his own, or who displays any indication that proves him not to be a "• true-born Englishman," is an object of con- tempt to an English scavenger. But it is not thus in high life in that country. A foreigner of genteel manners — decent address — and good character, is treated with the attention and politeness he deserves. With a degree of magnanimity, deserving of praise, and worthy of being copied, England, who possesses abundance of artists of high standing, and sterling merits, appointed the American West, as president of her royal academy. France, with a constellation of native talents never exceeded, entrusted her armies to a Berwick, to a Saxe, to a Miranda, to a Kellerman. At a more recent period, a Swiss banker presided over her finan- cial concerns. Russia has frequently placed over her fleets Scotch naval heroes. In fact, explore Christendom, and you will find there is no country so savage, so uncultivated, or so highly polished and refined, which does not cheerfully avail it- self of the proffered talents of the foreigner who makes his per^ manent domicil there. But in this " most enlightened'''' of all the enlightened nations of the earth, party spirit has excited a peculiar degree of ma- levolence against the Irish and the French — and for the same reason ; because England is hostile to both. The urbanity, the mildness, the equanimity, the refinement, and the politeness of the Frenchman, avail him nothing. He is an object of jealousy and ill-will, in spite of all his own good and endearing qualities, and in spite too of the services his nation " in the jlerij hour oftr'tal^"* rendered the United States. The poor, persecuted, proscribed, and oppressed Irishman, hunted out of his own coun- try, and knowing the value of liberty here, from the privation of it there — finds the antipathies of his lords and masters transfer- red to many of those whose fellow citizen he intends to become. To some of these narroAv, infatuated, bigotted and illile-ral men, a Hottentot, or a Caffrarian, or a Japanese, would be more ac- ceptable thaa an Irishman, 315 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [chap. 5S. One circumstance — were there no other on record — ought to endear to Americans, the name, the country of an Irishman. It has a high claim, not cancelled, on the pen of the historian. It has not yet had justice done it. Let me grace my book with the narrative. During the American revolution, a band of Irishmen were embodied to avenge, in the country of their adoption, the inju- ries of the country of their birth. They formed the major part of the celebrated Pennsylvania line. They bravely fought and bled for the United States. Many of them sealed their attach- ment with their lives. Their adopted country was shamefully ungrateful. The wealthy, the independent, and the luxurious, for whom they fought, were rioting in the superfluities of life, while their defenders were literally half starved, and half na- ked. Their shoeless feet marked with blood their tracks on the highway. They long bore their grievances patiently. They at length murmured. Ihey remonstrated. They implored a sup- ply of the necessaries of life; but in vain. A deaf ear was turned to their complaints.* They felt indignant at the cold negl ct — at the ingratitude — of that coimtry for which so many of their companions in arms had expired on the crimsoned field of battle. They held arms in their hands. They had reached the boundarv line, beyond which forbearance and submission be- come meanness and pusillanimity. As all appeals to the grati- tude, the justice, the generosity of the country, had proved una- vailing, they determined to try another course. They appealed * It is painful to state a much more recent case of this ingratitude, which is highly discrc'dital)le to the city of Phihidelphia. In the summer of the year 1814j this city was struck witli fear of a foe, who was believed to be preparing to attack us. Tiiousandsof citizens, many of them hundreds of miles remote from us, volunteered their services in our defence. They left their homes, their firesides, their parents, their wives, their children, their business, and all tlieir domestic enjoyments, to protect us. We made them a base return. They pined and languished in tlie hardsliips of a camp, neglected — grossly, .shame- fully neglected, by those for whom they were prepared to risk their precious lives. Conti-ibutions were requested by the committee of defence for the comfort of tlie soldiers, and for the support of their wives and children. — It is painful to state, birt it must be stated, that in a city where there are pro- bably one hundred persons worth above §250,000 — thirty or forty worth 3 or 400,000, and several supposed to be worth millions ; the whole contribution did not exceed §5,000 ; a sum which half a dozen individuals ought to have contributed themselves. The ingratitude and want of liberaUty of the citizens of Piiiladeljiliia, and the poverty of the government, which was unable to pay the mihtia tlieir hard earned dues, forced many of them to depend on cJiarity for the vieanx of reaching their distmit hoinea ! ! ! Could the immortal Pknn, the founder of the City of Brotherly love, look down from the regions of bliss, where he is at rest, he must have sighed over the disgraceful scene. *' The quality of mercy is not strained : It droppetli as the gentle dew from Heaven Upon tlie place beneath. It is twice bless'd. It blesseth liim that gives, and liim that takes," : cnAP. 58] PREJUDICES AGAINST I'OREIGXERS. 317 to hei' fears. They mutinied. They demanded with energy that redress for which they had before supplicated. It was a noble procedure. I hope in all similar cases, similar measures will be pursued. The intelligence was carried to the British camp. It there spread joy and gladness. Lord Howe hoped that a period had arrived to the " rebellion^'' as it would have been termed. There was a glorious opportunity of crushing the half-formed embryo of the republic. He counted largely on the indignation, and on the resentment of the natives of " the emerald isle.'''' He knew the irascibility of their tempers. He calculated on the diminu- tion of the strength of *' the rebels ^'>'> and accession to the num- bers of the royal army. Messengers were despatched to the m^u- tineers. They had carte blanche. They were to allure the poor Hibernians to return, like prodigal children, from feeding on husks, to the plentiful fold of their royal master. Liberality herself presided over Howe's offers. Abundant supplies of pro- visions — comfortable clothing to their heart's desire — all arrears of pay — bounties — ^and pardon for past offences, were offei^ed. There was, however, no hesitation among these poor, neglected warriors. They refused to renounce poverty, nakedness, suffer, ing, and ingratitude. The splendid temptations were held out in vain. There was no Judas, no Arnold there. They seiz- ed the tempters, and trampled on their shining ore. They sent them to their general's tent. The miserable wretches paid their forfeit lives for attempting to seduce a band of rag- ged, forlorn, and deserted, but illustrious heroes. We prate about Roman, about Grecian patriotism. One half of it is false. In the other half, there is nothing that excels this noble trait, which is worthy the pencil of a West or a Trumbull. Let me reverse the scene. Let me introduce some characters of a different stamp. Who is that miscreant yonder — dark, de- signing, haggard — .treachery on his countenance — a dagger in his hand? Is it not Arnold ? It is. Was he an Irishman? No. He was not of the despised cast, the foreigners. He was an Amei'ican. Neither Irish nor Fi"ench blood flowed in his veins. Behold, there is another. Who is he, that, Judas like, is pocketing the wages of corruption, for which he has sold his couiitry? Is he an Irishman? No. He is a native American. His name is Silas Deane. But surely that numerous band of ruflfians, and plunderers, and murderers, who are marauding and robbing — who are shoot- ing down poor farmers, and their wives, and their children, are '•'■foreigners,''^ It is impossible they can be natives. No na- tive American would perpetrate such barbarities on his unofiend- ing fellow citizens. It is an error. They are refugees and to-, ries — all native born. 31S POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [chap. 58. I am nn Irishman. With the canaille in superfine cloths and silks, as well as with the canaille in rags and tatters, this is a sub- ject of reproach. Every man, woman, or child, base enough to attach disgrace to any person on account of his country, is worthy of the most sovereign, the most ineflable contempt. Let them move in what sphere they may, whether in coffee-houses, or ball-rooms, or palaces — in hovels, or garrets, or cellars — they are groveling, sordid, and contemptible. To express the whole in two words — pity there were not words more forcible — they are MERE CANAILLE. I glory, I feel a pride in the name of Irishman. There is not under the canopy of Heaven, another nation, which, ground to the earth as Ireland has been, for six hundred years, under so vile a proconsular government — almost every viceroy a Verrcs , a government, whose fundamental maxim is, " divide and de- stroy" — whose existence depends on fomenting the hostility of the Protestant against the Presbyterian and Catholic, and that of the Catholic against the Protestant and Presbyterian — there is not, I say, another nation, which, under such circumstances, would have preserved the slightest ray of respectability of cha- racter. A book now lies before me, which, in a few lines, with great naiveic, devclopes the horrible system pursued by England in the government, of Ireland, to excite the jealousy of one part of the nation against the other. A schemer, of the name of Wood; had influence enough to procure a patent for supplying Ireland with copper coin in the year 1724, whereby he would ha^e amassed an immense fortunfe by fleecing the nation of its gold and silver in return for his base copper. Dean Swift ex- posed the intended fraud with such zeal and ability, that he aroused the public indignation at the attempt, and thus the pro- jector was fairly defeated, and his patent revoked. Primate Boulter, who was at that period prime minister of Ireland, in a letter to the Duke of Newcastle, deplores the consequences of this fraudulent attempt, in uniting parties -which^ till then^ had been embittered enemies. This grand dignitary of the church regarded a cessation of discord and hostility among the oppress- ed Irish, as a most alarming event ! pregnant with danger to the authority of England ! But, reader, I will let him speak for him- self : " The people of every relipon, country, and party here, are alike setag'ainst Wood's half-pence : and, their agreement in this has had AVERY UNHAPPV INFLUENCE ON THE AFFAIRS OF THE NATION, by bringing on intima- cies betiveen I'api^t^ andJacohites, and the JVhigs, tvho before had no correspondence luith them ! ! .'" Sec Boulter's Letters, vol. 1, page 7. Dubhn edition, 1770. Notwithstanding all the grinding, the debasing circumstances that militate against Ireland and Irishmen, there 's no country in Christendom, which has not witnessed tlie heroism, the gene- CHAP. 58.] PREJUDICES AGAINST FOREIGNERS. ^* 319 rosity, the liberality of Irishmen — none, where, notwithstanding the atrocious calumnies propagated against them by their op- pressors, they have not forced their way through the thorny and briery paths of prejudice and jealousy, to honour, to esteem, to respect. It has been said, that they are in this country turbulent, and refractory, and disorderly, and factious. This charge is as base as those by whom it is advanced. There is more turbulence, more faction, more disaffection in Boston, whose population is only 33,000, and which has as few foreigners as, perhaps, any town in the world, than there are in the two states of Pennsyl- vania and New York, with a population of 1,700,000, and which contain probably two-thirds of all the native Irishmen in this country. While native-born citizens, some of whom pride them- selves on Indian blood flowing in their veins, and others who boast of a holy descent from those " sainted pilgriins^'' whom British persecution drove to the howling wilderness, were sacri- legiously and wickedly attempting to destroy the glorious (would to Heaven I could say, the immortal) fabric of our unparalleled form of government ; of the Irishmen in this country, high and low, ninety-nine of every hundred were strenuously labouring to ward off the stroke. 1 said, there is no country that owes more to foreigners than the United States. I owe it to myself and to my reader, not to let a point of such importance rest on mere assertion. Of the men who acquired distinction in the cabinet, or in the field, du- ring the revolutionary war, a very large proportion were fo- reigners. In " the times that tried men's souls," they were gladly received, and courteously treated. Their services were then acceptable. But now, like tlie squeezed orange, they are to be thrown aside, and trodden under foot. The illustrious La Fayette, general I.ee, general (iates, gen- eral Stewart, the inestimable general Montgomery, general Pu- laski, general Kosciusko, baron Steuben, baron de Kalb, general M'Pherson, general St. Clair, genei-al Hamilton, Robert Morris, the amiable Charles Thompson, judge Wilson, baron de Glau- bec, Thomas Paine, Thomas Fitzsimons, William Findley, and hundreds of others, eminent during the revolution, were fo- reigners. Many of them were not excelled tor services and merits by any native Americai, whether the blood of a dingy Pocahontas crawled through his veins, or whether he descended in a right line from any of " the Pilgrims" that waged war against the potent Massasoit. Since the preceding pages were written, I have met with a pamphlet of great merit, written by one of the authors of *' Salinagundi," from which I quote the following statement Avith pleasure : as affording an able vindication of the Irish, and 320 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [chap. 58 a fair sketch of the oppressions and wrongs they have endured. In the name of the nation I thank the writer for this generous effusion, of which the vaUxe is gready enhanced, by the extreme rarity of such liberality towards Ireland or Irishmen on this side of the Adantic. The work has, moreover, the merit of being an excellent defence of this country against the abuse of British critics. It is earnestly recommended to the perusal of every American who feels for the honour of his country. " The history of Ireland's unhappy connexion with England, exhibits, from first to last, a detail of the most persevering, galling, grinding, insulting, and systematic oppression, to be found any where except among the helots of Sparta. There is not a national feeling that has not been insulted and trodden under foot ; a national right that has not been withheld, until fear forced it from the grasp of England ; or a dear, or ancient prejudice, that has not been violated in that abased country. As Christians, the people of Ireland have been denied, under penalties and disqualifications, the exercise of the rites of the Catholic religion, venerable for its antiqiiitt/ ; admirable for its unity ; and consecrated by the belief of some of the best men that ever breathed. As men they have been de- prived of the common rights of British subjects under the pretext that they were incapable of enjoying them : which pretext had no other foundation than their resistance of oppression, only the more severe by being sanctioned by the laws. ENGLAND FmST DENIED THEM THE MEANS OF IMPROVE- MENT ; AND THEN INSULTED THEJI WITH THE IMPUTATION OF BARBARISM." While on the point of closing this page, I have been furnished with a noble effusion on this subject, from very high authority. Its sterling merits, and its justice towards the nation I have dared to vindicate, will warrant its insertion, and amply com- pensate the perusal. «*«*******« j^ dependency of Great Brltaiii, Irchmd has long Ian- gidshed under oppression reprobated by humanity, and discountenanced by just policy. It would arg-ue penury of human feelings.and ignorance of human rights, io submit patiently to those oppressions. Ce/ituries have tfitnessed the struggles oj Ireland; but with only partial success. Rebellions and insurrections have conti- nued with but short intervals of tranqui!lit_v. Many of the Irish, like the French, are tlie hci'cditary foes of Great Britain. Jlmerica has opened her arms to the op- pressed of all nations. No people have availed themselves of the asylum with more alacrity, or in greater numbers than the Irish. HIGH IS THE MEED OF PRAISE, RICH THE REWARD, WHICH IRISHMEN HAVE MERITED FROM THE GRATITUDE OF AMERICA. AS HEROES AND STATES- MEN, THEY HONOUR THEIR ADOPTED COUNTRY." The above sublime and correct tribute of praise, is extracted from the Federal RcpubUca?!^ of June 22, 1812, and forms part of an unanimous address agreed to by the /f^/era/ members of the legislature of Maryland, to the people of that state. I have been highly and very unexpectedly gratified to find another advocate and defender of the Irish nation, since the pub- lication of my former edition. Mr. Coleman, the editor of the Kczv-Tork Eveiiiuiy' Post^ bears this strong testimony in favoui of that nation, "in his paper of the seventh of March, 1815 : * See pamphlet entitled " The United States and England," page 99. CHAP. 59] ADDRESS TO THE FEDERALISTS 321 " JVo character is more eniimable and respectable than that of the real Irish gen- tleman : and those ivho have come to reside among us, are distinguished by the ur- banity of their manners, and the liberality of their minds." CHAPTER LIX. Address to the federalists of the United States.^ GENTLEMEN, An attentive perusal of the preceding pages, can, I hope, hardly have failed to place me beyond the suspicion of the des- picable vice, flattery — and must give to my commendation at least the merit of sincerity. After these introductory remarks, I make no scruple to declare my decided conviction, that in private life, I know of no party, in ancient or modern history, more entitled to respect, to esteem, to regard, than the American federalists in general, in all the social relations, of husbands, parents, brothers, children, and friends. There are exceptions. But they are as few as apply to any body equally numerous. Political prejudice, or the widest difference of opinions, has never so far obscured my visual ray, as to prevent me from discerning, or my reasoning faculty from acknowledging this strong, this honourable truth — the more de- cisive in its nature, from being pronounced by a political oppo- nent. But, fellow-citizens, after this frank declaration in your praise as to private life, and for private virtue, let me freely discuss your public conduct. , Believe me, I mean not to off"end. I trust I shall not. I address you the words of truth. The crisis forbids the use of ceremony. I hope you will give the subject a serious consideration — and receive with indulgence what emanates from candour and friendship. I believe there is not to be found, in the widest range of his- tory, another instance of a party so enlightened, so intelligent, so respectable, and in private life so virtuous, yielding them- selves up so blindly, so submissively, and with so complete an abandonment of the plainest dictates of reason and common sense, into the hands of leaders so undeserving of their confi- dence. In and after the days of Washington, you stood on a proud eminence— on high and commanding ground. You were friends of order and good government. You were trem- blingly alive to the honour of your countr}'-. You Identified it with your own. But it is difficult to find a more lamentable change in the conduct of any body of men than has taken place with your leaders. The mind can hardly conceive a greater contrast * Tliis chapter was written, let it be observed, in November, 1814. I covild not alter it so as to suit it to e.xjsting- circumstances. I have tlierefore auowed it to remain as a testimony of the sUite of the nation at that period. 322 POLITICAL OUVE BRANCH. [chap. 59. than between a genuine Washingtonian federalist of 1790, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, and the Bostonian, who, covered with the pre- tended mantle of Washingtonian federalism, destroys the credit of his own government, and collects the metallic medium of the nation, to foster the armies preparing to attack and lay it waste. Never were holy terms so prostituted. Washington from Heaven looks down with indignation at such a vile perversion of the au- thority of his name. Let me request your attention to a few facts — and to reflec- tions and queries, resulting from them — I. Your proceedings and your views are eulogized in Mon- treal, Quebec, Halifax, London, and Liverpool. The Courier, and the Times, and all the other government papers are loud and uniform in your praise. — This is aii awful fact^ and ought to make you pause in your career. IL Tour party rises as your country sinks. It sinks as your country rises. This is another awful fact. It cannot fail to rend the heart of every public-spirited man among you. For the love of the God of Peace — by the shade of Washington — by that country which contains all you hold dear, I adjure you to weigh well this sentence — you sink as your cowitry rises. Yes, it is indubitably so. It is a terrific and appalling truth. And you rise as that desponding^ lacerated^ perishing^ betrayed coun- try sinks. " I would rather be a dog, and bay the moon," than stand in this odious predicament. III. Had there been two or three surrenders like general Hull's — had Copenhagenism befallen New York, or Philadelphia, or Baltimore, or Charleston — or had our Constitutions, and United States, and Presidents, and Constellations, been sunk or carried into Halifax — and our Porters, and Biddies, and Bain- bridges, and Perrys, and Hulls, been killed or taken prisoners, your leaders would have been crowned with complete success. They would have been wafted on a spring tide to that power which is " the God of their idolatry." Every eve?it that sheds lustre on the anns of America is to them a defeat. It removes to a distance the prize to which their eyes and efforts are directed. But every circianstance that entails disgrace or distress oji the country^ xvhether it be bankruptcy^ defeat^ treachery^ or cowar- dice^ is auspicious to their views, IV. Never has the sun in his glorious course^ beheld so esti- mable, so respectable, so enlightened a party as you are, in the frightful situation, in which the ambition of your leaders, and your own tame, thoughtless, inexplicable acquiescence have placed you. V. By fulminations from the pulpit — by denunciations from the press — by a profuse use of British government bills — by un- CHAP. 59] ADDRESS TO THE FEDERALISTS. 323 usual, unnecessary, hostile, and oppressive drafts for specie on the New York banks ; and by various other unholy, treasonable and wicked means, the leaders of your party in Boston have reduced the government to temporary bankruptcy ; have pro_ duced the same effect on the banks ; have depreciated the stocks and almost every species of property 20 to JO per cent. VI. These treasonable operations have served the cause of England more effectually than lord Wellington could have done with 30,000 of his bravest veterans. They have produced in- calculable, and, to many, remediless distress. VII. After having' thus treasonably destroyed the credit of the government^ one of their strongest accusations is its bankrnptcij.^ VIII. A man who tiesfanother, neck and heels, and gags him might, with equal jusiicg^ blow out his brains for not singing Yankee doodle, or danciwg a fandango, as those who produce bankruptcy inculpate the bankrupt with his forlorn and despe- rate circumstances. IX. There is no other country in the world, where these pro- ceedings would not be punished severely — in many thev would be capitally. Their guilt is enormous, clear, and indisputable. They strike at the safety, and even the existence, of society. X. By the sedition law,j enacted by some of these very men, and their followers, heavy fines, and tedious imprisonment, were awarded against offences incomparably inferior. XI. While you submit to leaders, whose career is so iniqui- tous, were you in private life as pure as archangels, you partake largely of the guilt of those whom you uphold ; whose power of destruction depends on your support ; and who would sink into insignificance, but for your countenance. XII. If the pretext, or even the strong belief, on the part of the minority, that a war, or any other measure, is unjust, can warrant such a Jacobinical, seditious, and treasonable opposition as the present war has experienced, no government can exist. The minority in all countries, uniformly denounce all the mea- sures they have opposed, as unjust, wicked, unholy, or uncon- stitutional — or all united. XII. The most unerring characteristic of a deperate fac- tion, is an uniform opposition to all the measures proposed by its * It is impossible for languag'e to convey the contempt and abhorrence that are due to the canting, whining speeches delivered in congress on the bank- ruptcy of the government, by the men who were deeply guilty of producing it; whose treasonable efforts have been crowned with success ; who have largely contributed to blast the most cheering prospects that Heaven ever vouchsafed to accord to any of the human race. ^The tears thus shed, are exactly typified by those that so plentifully fall from the voracious crocodUe over the prey he is going to devour. f See chapter 3. 324 POLITICAL OUVE BRANCH. [chap. 59. opponents^ whether good or had^ and without offering substitutes. The more dangerous the crisis, and the more necessary the mea- sures, the more infallible the criterion. XIV. This characteristic exactly and most indisputably ap- plies to your leaders. This country is on the brink of perdition. Yet they have opposed and defeated every measure devised for our salvation. They appear determined to deliver us tied hand apd foot into the power of the enemy, unless they can seize the reins of government. XV. You profess to be disciples of Washington. The title is a glorious one. Let us test the practice of your leaders by the holy maxims of Washington. He raised his voice against — warn- ed you to shun — and pronounced the strongest condemnation upon 1. All obstructions of what kind soever, to the execution of the laws ; 2. All combinations to direct, controul, or awe the constituted authorities ; 3. All insidious efforts to excite hostility hetxveen the different sections of the United States ; 4. And, in the most emphatical manner, cdl attempts to dis- solve the union. XVI. But the leaders of your party, particularly in Boston, have 1. Openly obstructed the execution of the laws : 2. Combined to controul the constituted authorities : 3. Actually excited as dire hostility to the southern states, in the breasts of those under their influence in the east- ern, as exists between France and England ; and 4. Been constantly endeavouring, by a series of the most in- flammatory and violent publications, to prepare the eastern people for a dissolution of the union. XVIL In fine, all the steps they take, and their whole course of proceedings, are in direct hostility with the c/eed, the advice, and the practice of Washington. XVIII. While you follow such leaders, you may profess to be disciples of Washington : but an impartial world will reject your claim. XIX. Suppose your leaders at Washington succeed in driving Mr. Madison, and the other public functionaries from office, and seize upon the reins of government themselves, what a melan- choly disgraceful triumph would it not be, to raise your party on the ruins of your form of government. XX. Such an usurpation could not fail to produce civil war. XXI. If your party set the example of such atrocious vio- lence, can you persuade yourselves that the *•'■ poisoned chalice'''* KHAP. 59.J ADDRESS TO FEDERALISTS. 225 will not, at no very distant period, be " returned to your own lips ?" XXII. You profess to desire peace. I firmly believe you do. But are divisions, and distractions, and envenomed factions, and threatened insurrections, the seed to sow for a harvest of peace ? XXIII. All the seditious and treasonable measures adopted in Boston and elsewhere, to harass, cripple, and embarrass your government, have, previous to the war, had an inevitable tenden- cy to enable Great Britain to regulate, controul, and restrict your commerce — and to set at defiance all the attempts to pro- cure redress — and, since the war, their tendency has been to prolong its ravages. XXIV. Are you prepared — can you reconcile yourselves, to incur all the risk — to suffer all the ruin that a revolution will in- fallibly produce, to enable Rufus King, Timothy Pickering, Christopher Gore, Cyrus King, and Daniel Webster, to seize the reins of government, and exile *•' to Elba''' — or execute with Cyrus King's celebrated " halter'''' your venerable fii'st magis- trate ? Suppose they succeed, what will be the advantage to you individually? I plead not, fellow citizens, for democracy ; I plead not fof federalism. Their differences have sunk into utter insignificance. Were the contest between them^ I should not have stained a sin- gle sheet of paper. I plead against jacobinism; I plead against faction ; I plead against attempts to " overawe and controul the constituted authorities." I plead the cause of order ; of govern- ment ; of civil and religious liberty. I plead for the best consti- tution the woiid ever saw ; I plead for your honour as a party, which is "Vi the utmost jeopardy. I plead for your estates, which are going to ruin. I plead for your bleeding country, which lies prostrate and defenceless, pierced with a thousand wounds. I plead for your aged parents, for your tender children, for your beloved wives, for your posterity, whose fate depends upon your conduct at this momentous crisis. All, all, loudly implore you to withdraw your support from those who are leagued for their destruction, and who make you instruments to accomplish their unholy purposes. You are on the verge of a gaping vortex, ready to swallow up yourselves and your devoted countr)' . To advance a single step may be inevitable perdition. To the right about. It is the path to honour, to safety, to glory. Aid in ex- tricating your country from danger. And then if you select calm, and dispassionate, and moderate candidates for public office, there can be no doubt of your success. I am firmly persuaded that nothing but the intemperate and unholy violence of your leaders has prevented vou from having that share of influence O. B. 4r. 326 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH, [chap. 59- in the councils of the nation to which your wealth, your num- bers, your talents, and your services, give you so fair a claim. The constitution may be imperfect. Every thing human par- takes of human infirmity and htiman error. It has provided a proper mode of amendment. As soon as peace is restored, and the fermentation of public passions has subsided, let the real or supposed defects be brought fairly forward, and submitted to the state legislatures, or to a convention, as may be judged proper. But while the vessel of state is on rocks and quicksands, let us not madly spend the time, which ought to be devoted to secure her and our salvation, in the absurd and ill-timed attempt to amend, or, in other words, to destroy the charter party under which she sails. May the Almighty Disposer of events inflame your hearts ; enlighten your understanding ; and direct you to the proper course to steer at this momentous crisis ! And may he extend to our common country that gracious blessing which brought her safely through one revolution, without entailing on us the frightful curses inseparable from another ! PhUad, Nov. 1814, POSTSCRIPT. January 9, 1815. As the apprehensions on the subject of a dissolution of the union which are repeatedly expressed in this book, and which have led to its publication, are treated by many as chimerical ; and as the result of the Hartford convention, just published, appears to countenance the idea, that the danger is overrated, the writer, in justification of his fears, simply states, that even admitting that the leading men to the eastward do not contemplate a dissolution of the union, it does not by any means follow that we are safe from such an event, while the public passions are so constantly excited, and kept in such a high state of fermentation. It is an easy process to raise commotions, and provoke seditions. But to al- lay them is always arduous ; often impossible. Ten men may create an insurrection ; which one hundred, of equal talents and influence, may be utterly unable to suppress. The wea- pon of popular discontent, easily wielded at the outset, be- comes, after it has arrived at maturity, too potent for the fee- ble grasp of the agents by whom it has been called into exist- ence. It hurls them and those against whom it was first employed, into the same profound abyss of misery and de= struction. — -Whoever requires illustration of this theory, has only to open any page of the history of France from the era of the national convention till the commencement of the reign of Bonaparte. If he be not convinced by the perusal, " he would not be convinced, though one were to rise from tlie dead," APPENDIX TO THE SIXTH EDITION. Th£ favourable reception this work has experienced, in- duces me to make a few additions to it, which I respectfully submit to my fellow-citizens. They embrace topics mostly untouched, or at least slightly handled in the original work. Some of them are of vital im- portance to the dearest interests of the nation. In this portion of the publication, as well as in what pre- cedes it, I have endeavoured to divest myself of any undue bias. I have pursued truth undeviatingly, and regardless of consequences. How far I have succeeded, the reader must judge. I request a candid and fair examination of the various subjects — and that my errors, whatever they be, may be as- cribed to any other cause than an intention to mislead, of which I feel myself utterly incapable. M. C. September, 1815. CHAP. 60. ORDERS IN COUXeiF,. 329 CHAPTER LX. Orders 171 Council. Restrictive system. Impolicy of the British ministry. Abstract of the examinations before the House of Commons. Ruinous effects of the policy of Great Britain on the vital interests of that nation. That the violation of the rights of the United States by the orders in council, required to be resisted by our government, will not be denied by the most strenuous opposer of the ad- ministration. And that every peaceable means of obtaining re- dress, ought to be fully tried before a recourse to war, will be admitted. Appeals to the honour and justice of the British government had been repeatedly made. Our ministers had in vain presented various remonstrances on the subject. No redress had been vouchsafed. Our injuries had increased in violence. Other means were necessar)\ Perhaps no nation, but our own, whose policy is eminently pacific, would have hesitated on the subject. War — horrible, destructive war, would early have been the re- sort. But with a most laudable regard for human life, and hu- man happiness — with a view to prevent the carnage, the demo- rahzation of war, our government had recourse to various paci- fic measures to enforce redress. Great Britain is a manufacturing and commercial nation. Upon her manufactures depends in a great degree her commerce. Both ai-e indispensible not merely towards her prosperity, but her security, her very existence. We furnished her with the most important market in the world. Our trade was immensely valuable. And as we asked but simple justice, it was beUeved, and on the strongest ground of reason and policy, that it could be rendered her interest to cease her gross violations of our rights. The effort was most meritorious. It is worthy of fu- ture imitation. Our imports from Great Britain had risen to the enormous sum of above 50,000,000 of dollars* in a year. It had been * By a report of Alexander Hamlltoti, esq. secretary of the treasury, dated December 23, 1793, it appears that at this very early period, in the infancy of our government, we had imported from the British dominions the precedin.e: year ...----- §15,285,428 Whereas our exports were only ... - 9,ooj,41o Leaving in favour of Great Britain a balance of - - §5,922,012 Our exports to the French dominions for the same year were ^'^'^oq'q^o And the imports only 2,0m,S^'6 Leaving a balance in favour of the United States of - g2,210,387 330 POUTICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [cuap. 60. Steadily improving. The punctuality of our importers had ex- teeded that of the other customers of England. A considera- ble part of the trade had for some time been transacted for ready money. As a large portion of the continent of Europe had been, as it were, hermetically sealed against British trade, it was rationally presumed, that if the alternative were held out to Great Britain, either to cease the violation of our rights, or to forfeit our trade, she would certainly adopt the former. Fatuity of the blindest character alone could have hesitated in the choice. It is doubtful whether any administration of any age or nation, ever displayed a higher degree of outrageous folly and dis- regard of the vital interests of its own country. Every motive of prudence and policy dictated to England, as an imperious and paramount duty, to treat the United States with kindness, libe- rality and attention. Every fair means ought to have been em- ployed to conciliate our citizens, and to induce them to bury the animosities of the revolution in utter oblivion. Such a liberal course of proceeding would have been productive of immense advantages to her dearest interests. The trade of this country was the main buttress that propped up the tottering fabric of British paper credit, and furnished means to replenish the veins of the body commercial and finan- cial, which had been so ruinously phlebotomized by the lancet of subsidies to foreign powers, and the enormous expenses of war, and which had suffered so much by the starvation of the continental system. It requires but a cursory examination of the whole tenor of the conduct of England, towards this country, to be satisfied that it has been steadily and uniformly the reverse of what a wise statesman would have adopted. The predatory and lawless orders in council, so clandestinely issued against American com- merce, " preij'rng upon the unprotected property of a friendly power,''''* — the wanton, cruel, barbarous, and unprecedented sei- zures of our citizens on the high seas — the countenanced, the flagitious forgery of our ships' papers, advertised in their Ga- zettes, and defended in parliament — the blockade of our ports, and capture of vessels bound in and out — the shameful viola- tions of our rights of sovereignty within the limits declared sa- cred by the laws of nations — the murder of Pearce in one of our harbours — and the total neglect of all applications for redress of these grievances,! were as utterly impolitic as they were unjust * See Boston memorial, si;^ned by James Lloyd, jun. David Green, Arnold Welles, David Soars, John Coffin Jones, George Cabot, and Thomas H. Perkins, for and in behalf of the whole body of the mercantile citizens of that town, page 88. f Itedress of grievances was not only never afforded — but in almost every instance the officers who perpetrated the greatest outrages, were absolutely promoted. CHAP. 60.] BRITISH IMPOLICY. 331 and flagitious. It is impossible to conceive a course of con- duct more completely marked by an utter destitution of reason, common sense, justice, regard to the law of nations, or a sound and enlarged view of the true and vital interests of the British nation. It requires no sagacity to foresee the sentence history will pronounce on this miserable, this harassing system. Un- qualified reprobation awaits it, as well as its authors and abet- tors. It was calculated to sour and alienate the friends of Eng- land in this country, and to increase the hostility of her enemies — to treble the influence of the latter, and proportionably to di- minish that of the former. The conduct of P'rance had been in many points so utterly indefensible, so great a violation of our rights, and of the plain- est dictates of justice, that had Great Britain conducted tOAvards us with even a moderate share of decency or propriety, she might have readily arrayed this nation in hostility against her grand enemy seven years ago. The sole reason that prevented an earlier declaration of war against one or other of the belligerents, was, that it would have been madness to have attacked both ; and each had so atrociously outraged and injured us, that, in the strong, clear, and just language of Governor Griswold, " such had been the character of both, that no circumstance could justijy a preference to either^'' This important and irresistible decla- ration was, as already stated, made to the legislature of Con- necticut, on the 12th of May, 1812. The annals of commerce do not, I believe, furnish an instance of one nation enjoying so lucrative a trade with another, as Eng- land maintained with this country, as well for extent, as for immensity of advantage. We furnished her with the most va- luable raw materials for her manufactures, and received in re- turn for these materials, the manufactured articles, wrought up often at 10, 20, 30 or 40 fold advance of value. It is hardly possible to conceive a more gainful commerce. A Sully, or a Colbert, or a Ximenes, or a Chatham, would have cherished such a trade as "• the apple of his eye'"' — and shunned with awe every thing in the least calculated to impair or destroy it. For every valuable purpose, we were literally colonies of Great Britain. That is to say, she derived from us all the ad- vantages that nations have ever derived from colonies, without the expense of fleets or armies for our protection. And so strong has been and is the partiality of a large proportion of our citizens for English habits, and English manners, and English fashions; and such is the devotion of a number of our presses, and our li- terary men, and our pulpits, to the defence and justification of England, that it required but little care to have maintained her influence here unimpaired. If, notwithstanding such an irrita- ting, and insulting, and predatory system as she pursued, she oo 32 POLITICAL OUVE BRANCH. [chap. 60. still retained so many warm, zealous, and influential partizans, what might she not have done, had she pursued a system of kindness and conciliation ! Her ministers abandoned the noble, lawful, mimense, and rich trade with this country, for a miserable trade of smuggling, not one-tenth in amount or value, and resting upon the pestiferous and hateful basis of forgery and perjury ! Alas ! that the af- fairs of mighty nations should fall into such hands ! I cannot resist the temptation of enriching this page— of em- balming it with the glowing eloquence of Henry Brougham, Esq. M. P. on this inexhaustible topic. " Good God ! the incurable perverseness of human folly ! always striving after things that are beyond their reach, of doubtful worth, and discreditable pur- suit and neglecting- objects of immense value, because, in addition to tlieir own importance, they have one recommendation which would make meaner things desirable— that they can be easily obtained, and honestly, as weU as justly en- ioyed ' It is this miserable, shifting, doubtful, hateful traffic, that we j>refer, to 'the srire, re^tilar, increasing, honest gains of American commerce ,- to a trade which is' placed beyond the enemy's reach, which, besides enriching ourselves in peace and honour, only benefits those who are our natural friends, over whom he has no controul," * * " which supports at once all that remains of liberty bevo'nd the seas, and gives hfe and vigour to its main pillar within the realm, the manufactures and commerce of England."* _ " I have been drawn aside from the course of my statement respecting tlie importance of the commerce wliich we are sacrificing to those mere whimsies, 1 can call them nothing else, respecting our abstract rights. That commerce is llie whole American market, a branch of trade in comparison of which, -whether yon regard its extent, its certainty, or its progressive increase, every other si7iks into irtsimificance. It is a market which in ordinary times may take oflT about thir- teeii millions] -worth of our manufactures .- and in steadiness and regularity it is " 'rhe returns indeed are as sure, and the bad debts as few, as they used to be even in the trade of Holland. These returns are also grown much more speedy Of this you have ample proof before you, from the witnesses who have been examined, who have all said that the payment was now as quick as in any other line— and that the Americans often prefen-ed making ready money bargains for sake of the discount."§ To return to the course pursued here. The intercourse be- tween England and this country %vas prohibited by an act passed on the 1st of March, 180y, commonly called the non, intercourse law, for the vital clauses of which I refer the reader to chap. 28. A repeal, or modification of the orders in council, so as to cease violating the rights of the United States, was to authorise the president to restore the intercourse. This mild and laudable mode of procuring redress, which en- titles its authors to the unqualified approbationof their fellow ci- tizens and posterity — and to which history will do the justice that ungrateful cotcmporaries have denied, was treated with ridicule and contempt in this country, as futile and imbecile, and utterly ineffectual in its operation upon England. * Speech in parliament, June 16, 1812, Philadelphia edition, page 39. •f- Nearly sixty millions of dollars, i Speech, page 34. 4 Idem, page oSr. CHAP. 60.1 ORDERS IN COUNCIL. i 3^ With a blindness, folly, and madness, of which there are few parallels, the British ministry persevered in their unjust sysr tern towards this country, notwithstanding its destructive effects on the vital interests of their own. Their most valuable and im- portant manufactures were paralized — their manufacturers redu- ced to beggary and ruin — a regular trade, amounting to above 50,000,000 of dollars, annually, annihilated — and the sources dried up, from whence they principally derived the means of subsidizing foreign powers to fight their battles. In vain did the wisest and best of the people of England en- ter their most solemn protest against the orders in council — that miserable system, on which egregious folly and rampant injus- tice were stamped in the most legible characters. In vain did the starving workmen — ihe impoverished manufacturers imploi'e the administration for relief. They were deaf as the adder, whose ears are closed " to the voice of the charmer, charm he never so wisely.'' At length in the spring of 1812, the public sufferings had so far increased — and the clamour for redress was so universal, that the British ministry were impetuously driven to allow an enquiry to be instituted in pai-liament into the operation and effects of the orders in council. This measure was adopted with an ill grace, and not until the most serious and alarming riots and in- surrections had occurred among the workmen and labourers in several parts of England, The examination commenced on the 29th of April, 1812, and continued until the 13th of the following June. Witnesses were examined from most parts of England. The evidence uniform- ly and undeviatingly concurred to prove how transcendently im- portant was the American trade to the manufacturers of Great Britain — how awfully calamitous the annihilation of that trade had been — and the miserable policy of an adherence to the orders in council. All this was apparent and undeniable from the very first day of the examination^ could there have beeii any previous doubt on the subject. The minutes of the examination, as publishedby order of par- liament, form a ponderous folio volume of nearly 700 pages, and exhibit a frightful picture of the results of the sinister and absurd policy which dictated the orders in council. To the United States this is a subject of immense Importance. Our form of government — our dearest interests — the hahits, and inclinations, and manners of our people, lead us to pursue a paci- fic policy. And if there be an effectual instrument, whereby, without war, we can extort justice from nations which violate our rights, or offer us outrage, it affords additional and invalua.. ble security for the permanence of the blessed state of peace. — While we can make it pre-eminently the interest of those nations with which we have intercourse, to reciprocate kindness and jus- O. B. 44 5U POLmCAL OLIVE BRANCH. [ghap. 60. t'lce, and refrain from injustice and depredation, we may reason- ably calculate upon their pursuing that desirable course. To evince, therefore, the efficacy of the so-much abused re- strictive system, I subjoin a few extracts from the evidence given before the house of commons, of its effects on the dearest interests of Great Britain. April 30, 1812. Mr. THOMAS POTTS, merchant of Binningham.—Yrom 20,U00 to 25,000 men in liirmiiig'liani, who have no7v only half work. General state of the town ex- tremely depressed, and the distress nniversal. jManufactnrers harte been keeping their men employed in creating- stock nearly to the extent of their capital, and many of them are in consequence in extreme difficulties. If no favourable cliange takes place, the manufacturers will be oblig-ed within two months to dismiss two- thirds of their hands, and some of them the whole. Large quantities of Rir- mingham g'oods have been lyine^ in Liverpool, waiting- for shipment for 12 to 15 months past. The American market, a steady and increasing one, and the pay- ments, ivhich have been retfularly improinng, now very good. Since the prohibi- tion in America, goods have been sent to Canada : but they have been sold there for less than their cost in the manufacturing towns. Has tried the South America,n market with very indifferent success; and has concluded never to rnake another shipment to that country, as he beUeves those shipments have not yielded 25 per cent. Manufactures in America have made an alarming progress within two years; but thinks that if the intercoin'se was speedily thrown open, they would be effectually checked. f'Foiddship his goods to Ame- rica the moment the orders in council were rescinded, having positive and specific instructions from his correspondent to that effect. Knows houses in Birming- ham, who have goods ready to ship to America, which cost them 70,000/. 50,000/. 40,000/. 25,000/. 20,000/. and workmen have emigrated from Birming- ham to America. Has no doubt that if the Jlmericmi trade was opened, the distress in Jiirmingltam would instantly cease, Mr. WILLIAM RLAKEWAY, Lamp Manufacturer of Birmingham.— Goods principally sent to America. Trade so much diminished that he woidd have stopped his business altogether, had it not been for regard for his workmen, by whom he has been gaining money for twenty years. Stock so much accumula- ted tiiat nearly the whole of his capital is absorbed by it. Unless the American, market is opened, cannot keep on his hands at all. Has hitherto borne the sufl'er- ings of his workmen himsL-lf, but will be compelled to discharge them, however reluctant to do so. I/as sought, but not found relief in any other market. Recol- lects the scarcity in 1800, and 180) : but the distress was not at all equal to the present, because there was plenty of work. Mr. JAMES RYLAND, of Birmingham, manufiicturer of plated coach har- ness and saddle furniture. — Principal part of his manufacture exported to the Uni- ted Slates. Previous to 1808, the export was very considerable and increasing, the returns prompt, and payment sure. Workmen who formerly earned 30 to 40s. per week, now get aljout 20s. and those who used to get "20s. now earn about 1 1 or 12s. Shelves loaded with stock, and the greater part of his capital ab- sorbed in it. Two-thirds of the workmen employed in this business must be dis- charged, if no favourable change takes place. Since the falling off of the Ameri- can market, has opened a house in London ; but has found so majiy persons focking tf) the same market, thiit lie has been able to carry it on -with very little success. Pre- T'ious to the ordcrg in. council, the trade was in a very floiirishing state : they were full of orders, and their men full of work. Has received no relief from the 8outh American market ; and knows no market equal to that of the United States, for the sale of this manufacture. Mav 4, 1812. Mr. JEREMIAH RIDOUT, merchant, of Rinningham.— Has goods to the value of 20,000/. prepared for the American market, which he would instanth' eHAi-. 60.] STAGNATION OF TRAD&. 3,^5 ship if the onlers in comicil -were removed, being so advised by his partner in Jlme- rica. 'I'lie workmen very much distressed ; " I have seen people shed tears ; I have confined myself behind tlie door tor fear of seeing- those people, lest they should impoi-tune me to give them orders ; they have told me they did not know what to do. One man said, ' what can I do i" if I go to the magistrate, he will tell me to g'ofor a soldier; 1 am a married man, and God knows what I must do uidess 1 steal, and then 1 shall go to Botany Bay.' I do not like such words ; I cannot bear it." Mr. GEORGE ROOM, Japanner, of Birmingham, has manufactured princi- pally for America, which is the best market he ever kneiu, after triiing er>ert/ one. Workmen in general have not more than half work. Has tried the home trade ; but the competition is so g-reat, and ])rices so much reduced, that it was not wortii going atten Has found very httle reUef from the trade to Sicily and Portugal, which is the only foreign European trade they have had, and which does not bear any thing like a comparison to the American trade. From 600 to 1000 hands employed in this business in Birmingham alone ; and there are gTeat manufactories in Bilston and Wolverhampton. Mr. ROBERT FIDDI.\N, manufacturer of brass candlesticks, 8ic. at Bir- mingham, chiefly for home consumption. Trade much diminished within the last 12 months, and earnings of workmen reduced one-fourth. Had a conversa- tion with some of his men on the subject of dismission ; they entreated him not to dismiss them, saying, '• you know we cannot get employment elsewhere," and beg-ged that he would apportion the work among them, and let each bear a share of the burden. Stock very much increasing, and will be obliged to dis- miss a number of his men, unless an aheration takes place speedily. Has no dotibt that his trade ivoidd be Jmtinto its former profitable situation, if the American trade was again opened. Mr. .lOSEPH WEBSTER, wire manufacturer, of Birmingham.— //"oZ/'fes wa- imfacture for the American market, &nd half i'ov the home trade. The" demand very much diminished, so that although his manufacture is reduced, his stock is much increased. Has orders from America, which would exhanst all his great stock on hand, if the orders in council were repealed. If no favourable change takes place, he shall feel himself compelled to discharge a great number of his men. May 5, 1812. Mr. JOSHUA SCHOLFIELD, American merchant, Bii-mingham. — Trade first began to fail in 1808. In 1809, rather better, but still very limited. In 1810, very large shipments for one season. The goods for 1811 now lying in Liverpool. Has orders from America to ship as soon as the orders in council are removed, as soon as the trade is opened. Has had frequent advices from his agent resident in America, that manufiictures are very fast increasing there, and has reason to know it from particular circmnstances. One p.articidar article no\y in peat demand is card wire, for the manufacture of cotton and wool cards, which are wanted for their machinery. Has had the article of nkils countermand- ed on the ground that they can be manufactured cheaper in America than they can be imported. Has had many painful opportunities of witnessing the distress which prevails among the lower orders of the people in Birmingham ; believes it to be extreme. Has a warehouse in Wolverhampton : the lower orders in qnite as ^reat distress there ,- their goods may be bought at any price ; there are manv small manufacturers there, who are selling some of' their stock at, he believes, a lower rate than it cost them. Attributes the distresses of the trade and manufac- tures principally to the orders in council, believing them to he the cause of the non-intercourse with America. Has the most painful forebodings that the con- tinuance of the restrictions upon the American trade will give great encourage- ment to the increase of mamifactures in America. Mr. JOHN BAILEY, merchant, of Sheffield. The manufactures of Sheffield, or the supply of the market of the United States, employ 6000 persons, besides others dependent on that trade. The export to America is about one-third of the whole manufactures of Sheffield. About one-tenth of the usual springy shipment 336 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. , [chap. 60. was made in 1811,and none since. Stock of goods have been increasing in Shef- field, to a conside Table extent; but there are orders for shipment to America, im- mediately on the rescinding of the orders in council. Information from a large ma- nufacturer, that he now pays one-sixth part of the wages which he did when the Ame- rican trade was open ; and that one-half of what he has manvifactured for the last fifteen months, is now dead stock. Another of the principal manufacturers informed him, that he now employs only half of his usual number of men, whom he employs only four days in a week ; that he retains them from a principle of huma- nity, as they have grown old in his service, and that he still holds in stock all his goods made in the last eigiiteen months. Believes this to be a fair specimen of the general state if manufa.tures in Sheffield. His orders for sliipment, on the removal of the orders in council, amount to the whole twelve months ship- ments. The amount of Sheffield goods ready for shipment to America 4U0,000/. and orders on hand to the same amount. Poor rates of Sheffield, year ending 180r, 11,000;. : now 18,000/. Workmen's wages not reduced : but they are now only employed about three days in the week. Every man fully employed before the loss of t:ie American trade. Lower classes never so much distressed as at present. Some articles which were formerly exported from Sheffield, are now manufactured in America. May 13, 1812. Mr. WILLIAM MIDGELY, woollen manufacturer, of Rochdale, Lancashire. —The parish contains about 36,000 inhabitants, of which about one half are employed in this manufacture. He formerly employed about 600 hands, now about 400. Began to turn off his hands when his stock became very large, about six montlis ago. Stock is still increasing, and larger than it was before : and tlie home trade has fallen off very much indeed. Has in a considerable de- gree exhausted his capital in trade, "and if there be not an opening, it is im- " possible to keep on my work people ; and I am distressed about the poor *' people, for they have not, many of them, half victuals now." If the market continues as it is now, must turn off 200 of his hands, and if they are turned off, does not see where they can get work any where else. Has lived in RoclidaJe most of his life time, and been in business thirty years, but never knern the dis- tt'ess so great as at present. " The distress is to be seen in the people^ s countenances, *' every week getting tliinner and looking worse ; those that had a little money " have had to take it, aiKi they are almost run out of it ; they have spent what " little they had to buy bread." About two-fifths of this manufacture for the United States of America, and none for foreign Europe. Has very large orders for America, which should have gone off more than 12 months ago. Has found that market, a steady, sure, and increasing one. Workmen's wages reduced. Price of oatmeal twelve months ago 2d. per pound, now SJ. If the trade to America was opened, there would be fair employment for the manufacturers of Rochdale. Mr. THOMAS SHORT, manufacturer of hosiery at Hinckley, in Leicester- shire. — The total number of persons employed in the manufacture at Hinckley, and tlie adjoining villages, nearly 3,000. About one-third to one-fourth of the manufacture is for the American market, and the value about 30,000/. per annum. In good times employs upwards of 200 hands, now employs about two-thirds of the number. In consequence of the loss of the American market, the manufacturers in general state they must turn off one half of their ha?ids, if the de- mand is not greater than at present. Twelve to fourteen hundred persons now unem])loyed. The home trade is much injured by the competition of per- sons formerly in the foreign trade ; and now affords no profit. May 14, 1812. Mr. WILLL\M THOMPSON, woollen manufacturer, of Rawden, near Leeds. Has been in business 30 years. In 1810 employed 650 hands, and ma- nufactured 6,000 pieces of goods for the American market. In the last year made 4,000 pieces, and has dismissed 200 hands- His stock of goods, worth up- wards of 90,000/. being much greater than at any former period. The remain- ing hand* have not more than one-third work. In good times his men earned CBAP. 60.] STAGNATION OF TRADE. , 3SJ from 16s. to 30s. a week, and now only one-third. JVever knevi the poor in so distressed a state before; not even when corn was dearer in 1800; they had plenty of work at that time. " The distress of the workmen is very evident by their countenance, and by the raggedness of their dress. They are evidently in a worse situation than I ever knew them before." If a favouraole chaiip-e does not take place, must dismiss the whole of his hands, as the hc/y sio^k'of goods renders it out of his power to continue them. Made a small'shipni.ent to South America about twelve months ago, but has not yet reccxven anv re<- turns ; and will not siiip farther at present. Made a shipment to Canada, value 30,0001. about fourteen months age, for which he has not yet received one-sixth; and those goods that did sell were to a considerable loss, say from 25 to 30 per cent. If there was an open trade to America, all the distresses -would be very short- ly removed; activity would be rtsumed, and the countenances of the {)oor would chan;^e very fast ; if that were once effected, it would give a general spring to our neighbourhood. Ha^ orders from America for the -whole of his goods, pro- vided the orders in council -were rescinded. Mr. CHRISTOPHER LAWSON, woollen merchant, of Leeds. In good times exported to America, to the value of 80,0001. annually. Present stock of goods 40,000/. Made a shipment to Amelia Island in 1811, under the idea that it might get into America, but it remains there at present. Conceives all the merchants trading to Amevici are in the same state. The common caladation is, that Yorkshire goods are exported to America, to the amoimi oftivo rniUions an- nually. Great complaints have been made of the home market for the last six mon:hs. Has orders for goods to be shipped to America, on the repeal of the orders in council. May 15, 1812. Mr. DAVID SHEARD, blanket and flushing- manufacturer, of the parish of Dewsbury. In good times employs about 800 hands : 100 of tliem are now quite out of employ, and the reiiiainder have one-third, or one-fourth work. , The average wages of men, women and ciiildren, in good times, were lis. a week, and are now 3s. 9d. The manufacturers have given over accumulating stock ; they do not wish to run into debt, and the money they had is all made up into goods. Weekly wages paid in the hamlet, in good times, used to be 469/. now 294/. Thinks the home trade as good as it was. Trade began to fall off in the beginning of 1811 : and among the loiver orders of p'/ople THERE IS VERY GREAT DISTRESS INDEED. If favourable circumstances do not turn up, wiU be obliged to turn off half the hands he now employs. Had a good trade before the intercourse with America was stopped. Mr. FR..\NCIS PLATT, merchant and woollen manufacturer, of Saddlewortfe. The trade has fallen off very considerably since 1810, owing to the want of American trade. His own stock of goods larger than ever it was before, being nearly 30,ujO/. The district of Saddleworth contaii.s a population of nearly 12,000 persons, most of whom are engaged in the woollen business, and they do ?iot now get half the work they used to have. His capital absorbed in goods, and if tiiere is not a market soon, must discharge his men in tote ; which is the case with my.nvifact'irers in general in that district. In -iO or 50 yeai's he has never k-no-wnihe listress equal to th^ present. — Great numbers of the people ne- ver tast<^ animal fv od at a'l: their principal food is oatmeal boiled in water; and sometimes potatoes for cl'iner. Was informed, by a very honest msn, ihat he, his wife, and s'^ his children, had to go to bed, and had not even a morsel of that oatmeal and v.-ater to put into their mouths. Was also informed by another that he had got some little oatmeal, and boiled it .n wat<:i ; that he had to wet it in water instead of milk, or any other liquid, witli hisfr.od. The peop'e have been very peaceable in th's parish ; and is certain thty wi!l remain so, provided they could get employment, cr any thing near full employment: they have no disposi- tion .at all to riot. Has e nquirefl in some instances whether tl e poor have receiv- ed parish relief; but believes that in the principal part of the manufacturing districis, the poor would nearly starve, probably not to death, but pretty close to it, before they went to the parish ; for tliis reason— the}- have not been ac- 338 POLITICAL ULIVE BKANXH. [chap. 60. customed to it, and It is a kind of disgrace or something of that kind, and they will not go to it if they can get half work and half wages ; they will take every means in tiieu- power to keep ott' the parish. Oatmeal is 3 l-2d to 4d the pound, or double the usual price. I'olatoes are about the same proportion ; never knew them any thing like so high as they are at present. Has no doubt that if goods could be shipped to America, there would be work. The poor are iK)t well clothed. on-ioio May 20, 1812. Mr. JOHN HOFFMAN, churchwarden of the parish of Spital Fields. — The looms employed in the manufactures of Spital Fields, about 17,000, to 20,000 ; and about 5,000 of them are in the parisii of Spital Fields, -where at least one huff of the iveavei-s are out of employment, and the lo-wer orders in a most deplorable state. More than one instance has occurred, where THEY HAD DIED LITERAL- LY FOU WANT. Soup distributed is about 3j000 to 4,000 quarts a day. Has dismissed a considerable number of his hands, who were employed in the silk trade. The light silks of Spital Fields sell in America ; of other sorts the French are cheaper than ours. If the American trade was open, there would be an ojiportunity of sending a considerable quantity of goods there ; has in the course of some years, manufactured goods for the American market, prin- cipally of the slight quality. Within these two years there has been no trade to America ; and therefore he was obUged to turn off his hands employed for that particular trade. If the trade was opened again, has no hesitation in say- ing those very articles would find sale there ; and he would take back the hands he had dismissed, which he believes is the case with others in the same line as himself In October last he purchased potatoes for the workhouse at 31. 10s. per ton ; within the last six weeks, they have been selling in Spital Fields market, at 12/. 13Z. and 14/. a ton. Persons -who have died for -want, have applied for, and obtained relief : but they were too far gone before they made appli- cation; has uniformly found that the industrious poor 7vill never apply for relief till the very last extremity. Believes that more than a fifth of the silk manufactured in Spital Fields went to America ; and more than one tliird of his own manu- facture, for seven years, was for the American market. The want of an ade- quate supply of raw silk, has been one great cause of tlie want of emi)lo}-, and consequent distress of the manufacturers. May 25, 1812. Mr. SHAKSPEARE PHILLIPS, merchant, of Manchester,— was examined by the house four years ago upon the orders in council. Is an exporter of manufactured goods to the United States of America, when the trade is open. Has a great stock of goods on hand, which is the case of the manufacturers in general. Has orders to a very large amount to be shipped in the event oftlie orderte in coxmcil being rescinded. Has no doubt that orders of this kind, which are now in Manchester, would, if executed, greatly relieve the distress of that place. The state of the workmen in Manchester and the neighboicrhood is very deplorable. They are deficient in work, and are working at extremely low wages. If the American trade was open, would not fear the competition of the American manufiictures in the market, as he conceives they are only forced into that measure. Several adventures, which he had made to South America, have left a considerable loss. Cannot state the proportion which the American market bears to tiie general manufactory of Manchester and its neighbourhood ; but from his knowledge of its vast Influence upon the manufacture in gen- eral, is convinced that the exports annually amount to an enormous sum. Has no doubt tliat If the American market was freely open, there would be full em- ployment for the labouring manufacturers of Manchester. When the ti-ade with America from France and this country were both open, did not experience the least competition in the cotton manufactures on the part of France, and has not the least apprehension of any. The present duty on raw cotton in France being about 3,s-. a pound, amounts to a prohibition ; and any country imposing such a duty cannot seriously intend to establish any great manufacture. I trust there is here superabundant testimony of the trans- cendent folly and madness, as well as of the flagrant injustice of CHAP. 60.] ORDERS IN COUNCIL. 339 the system pursued by the British ministry, which inflicted so much misery and wretchedness on that interesting and valuable class of subjects, the manufacturers and artizans. The testimony is equally strong against the folly of such of our fellow citizens, as, by rendering nugatory the restrictive system, so fatally in- volved in the horrors of a wasting war, two great nations whom ten thousand motives arising from mutual interests — common descent — congenial manners — and sameness of language — ought to have impelled to cultivate the strictest ties of friendship. During the progress of these examinations, on the 21st of May, the official repeal of the French decrees was communicat- ed by Mr. Russel, the American minister, to the court of St. James. But notwithstanding the solemn pledge of the British ministry to proceed pari passu with the French government, .in the business of repeal, there was no step taken respecting a re- peal of the orders in council, till the 23d of June, that is, for nearly five weeks. Nothing was done till after the whole ex- amination was completed, and until after an address had been moved in the house of commons, for the repeal, by Mr. Brough- ham, on the 17th of June, grounded on the result of the exami- nations, which was withdrawn by the mover, on a pledge by the ministers, that the orders would be repealed. As a palliation for this delay, it is stated that the assassination of Mr. Percival, the British pi-emier, on the 11th of May, dis- tracted the attention of the ministry, and prevented the redemp- tion of the pledge. This palliation will not bear a moment's re- flection. The parliamentary examination was predicated on the injury the British trade suffered — and had hardly the slightest regard to any other consideration. And as I have stated, the revocation of the orders in council was not attempted till that examination was finished. Nearly five weeks [thirty-three days] had elapsed from the notification of the French repeal, and forty-three days from the death of Mr. Percival, And no man can pretend that one or two weeks would not have been abun- dantly sufficient. To .prove the charge I have adduced against the British mi- nistry of gross impolicy, as well as injustice, in their treatment of this country, which led to the wasting war so injurious to both nations, I submit to the reader, part of a speech delivered in the British house of commons, by Mr. Whitbread, on the 13th of February, 1812, about four months previous to the de- claration of hostilities, embracing a review of the diplomatic in- tercourse between the two countries, " Of Mr. Pinkney he need say little : he was a man of sound spnse and judgement, of an able and acute mind, anfl of the hic^-liest reputation. He was a man who had conducted himself during- his residence in this country, in a man- ner most honourable to himself, and likely to benefit both nations. At all t'mies, taking the most impartial view of the diflfevent interests concerned, his 3^0 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [chap. 60. conduct, though firm, had been most conciliatory. Without losing sight of the claims of his country, with whicli he was intrusted, he had at all times ap- proached the ministers with whom he was in treaty, with respect, attention, and deference. Firm to his purpose, and able to elucidate the subjects under discussion, he had never failed in time, punctuaUty, or mode of procedure, in his mission. He -would he cotdd say as much for those with xvhom Mr. Pinkney had mtercourse. But it was not so : and it was impossible to say, that gentleman had been treated with the proper and punctilious ceremony he merited by the marquis Wellesley. At the period when this correspondence commenced, a great soreness prevailed in America, on account of the rupture witii Mr. Jack- son. The feelings of that cou?itry laere in a state of extreme irritation ; and this topic was the subject of Mr. Pinkney's first letter to the noble marquis. One would have thought at sucli a time that a minister would have felt that no want of decorum or attention on his pail, should be superadded to augment the un- pleasant feeling already too prevalent ; but it so happened, that to this very letter of Mr. Pinkney, of the 2d January, on the subject of another minister's being appointed in the room of Mr. Jackson, no answer was returned, until the 14:th of March. Upwards of two months of precious time were wasted, during which Mr. Pinkney, aware that some time might be necessary, waited with the most patient respect and decorum. " On the 15th of February, the American minister again wrote to the British secretary, on the subject of our blockade, one of the most important in discus- sion, and in all its bearings, between the two countries. To this no answer was returned till March 2. Again, on the 30th of April, Mr. Pinkney addressed a letter to lord Wellesley, relative to the Berlin and Milan decrees, which were considered as the chief source of all the existing differences, and therefore merited the most earnest and immediate attention ; but to this letter no answer was ever returned. " On the 4th of May following, another letter was sent to our foreign secre- tary, complaining of the forging of ships' papers, carried on in London, by -which British sliips and property -were made to appear as American. This traffic was alleged to be openly and notoriously carried on : a?id it was not possible to co7i- ceive one more infamous to the nation whei-e practised, or injurious to the cmntry against -which it -was directed. Yet THIS CHARGE OF INFAMY AGAINST BHirAIN, THIS INJUSTICE AND INJURY TO AMERICA, WAS PASSED OVER IN UTTER SILENCE, AND NO ANSWER WHATEVER TO THE LETTER WAS RETURNED. " On tlie 23d of June, Mr. Pinkney again wrote, referring to his letter of the 30th of April, on the subject of the Berlin and Milan decrees, and request- ing an answer ; but no answer was returned- On the 7th of July he wrote again relative to the appointment of a minister in the room of Mr. Jackson, (his first subject on the 2d of .fanuary) and even at this distance of time re- ceived no official aimver, but merely a verbal assurance or private note, that a minister would be immediately sent out. On the 8th of August, Mr. Pinkney once more wrote, referring to his letters of the 23d June and 30th April ; but could obtain no answer. " On the 21st August, he again by letter pressed the subject of blockade ; but could obtain no answer. On the 25th of the same month, he again wrote to state the revocation of t'^e Berlin and Milan decrees ; and to this communi- cation our minister atlengtli condescended to send a reply. The next part of the corrosDondcnce was another letter from Mr. Pinkiiey, relative to a rnisap- prehension of Sir James Sanmarez, on the nature of the blockade of Elsineur, and on the impressing of certain seamen from an American ship. To the for- mer subject an answer was returned ; but of the latter no notice was taken- He had indeed been much surprised at the whole course of this correspon'ence ; but at this particular period his astonishment was greater tlian ever. That a subject so keenly felt by America, as th- impressing of her citizens, should be entirely passed over in silence, tvas beyond all former neglect and inat'ention. " All the world knew that this point \vas the one on which the greatest dif- ficulty existed In negociatlng an amicable adjustment between the two coun- tries ," and that our conduct to-wards American seamen stood more in the -way of con- cfiHP. 6I.3 STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE. 841 ciliation than any other matter -whatever. Sui'ely then such an opportunity ought not to liave been neglected ; surely it was the duty of the British minister to show, by his speedy attention to the subject, tliat he was as anxious to evince the spirit of conciliation as to profess it ; and that, knowing how fatal to the in- terest of this country a rapture with America would be, he would have eagerly embraced the opening presenting itself, to demonstrate our amicable intentions, and remove one of the sorest grievances complained of. But, no ! reluctantly and coldly w-as the answer on this subject wrung forth — not from the noble secretary, not by letter from him, but practically by tlie disciiarge of these sea- men, by Sir William Scott, in the court of admiralty, thereby acknowledging and declai'ing the inght and justice of the claim urged on the part of America. This was the conciliation of the noble secretary, tliat he permitted the sentence of a court of justice, to give a practical answer to a foreign minister, whom he would not take the trouble of putting pen to paper to satisfy on so interesting a point. "On the 21st of September, Mr. Pinkney found it necessary again to ad- dress the British government; and referring to his letters of the 30th April, 23d June, and 8th August, on the subject of the Berhn and Milan decrees, he urged an immediate answer, as his government had long been in expectation of a communication on that head. Again, on the 8tli and 10th December, he wrote ; and -with these letters concluded his correspondence, being unable to obtain any satisfactory information ; and soon after he deinaiided his audience of leave of the Prince Regent.'" -~ The >vretched and depredating system pursued by the British ministry, has in its consequences produced the most sakitary effects on this country, and inflicted the most serious and vital injury on Great Britain. It has accelerated the progress of our manufactures more in five or six years, than in the common course of events would have taken place in thirty. It has, in a very great degree, emancipated us from our former slavish de- pendence on the looms and the anvils of Great Britain. And on the subject of naval affairs, it is impossible to estimate the injury Great Britain has received by it, or the glory the United States have acquired. The vaunted prowess of England, her towering pretensions to naval pre-eminence, that character which in former naval conflicts prepared her sailors for victory, and her enemies for defeat, are irretrievably tarnished in a con- test with the youngest maritime power in the world. CHAPTER LXI, England said to be struggling for her existence. This no pal- liation of her outrages on neutral nations. Attack on Copen- hagen. Among the various errors lately prevalent, and pregnant with baneful consequences, a very important one was, that the Euro- pean war on the part of England was a war for her existence — and this has been alleged not merely as a palliation, but as a jus- tification of her outrages upon our citizens and upon our com- merce. The outrages and depredations she perpetrated, were covered over with this mantle of oblivion, for the purpose of defaming the administration that resisted them. O. B. 45 342 POLITICAL OLIVR BRANCH. [chap. 6L 1 have already touched on this subject incidentally. It re- quires further elucidation. And at the hazard of repetition, I resume it. The most important aggressions of England on the commerce of this country, may be i^eferred to four epochs — 1. The lawless and predatory captvires in 1793, during the administration of gen. .Washington. 2 The application in 1805, of the rule of 1756, without any previous notice or warning, and, to aggravate the enormity, against her own exposition of the law of nations, and against the decisions of her courts of admiralty ; whereby the seas were swept of the American vessels and commerce. 3. The paper blockade by Charles J. Fox's administration, of the coast from the Elbe to Brest, an extent of 800 miles. 4. The orders in council of Nov. 1807. Of these in due course. 1. Lord Castlereagh himself, or the marquis of Wellesley, would not dare to assert that the depredations in 1793 could be palliated by the jeopardy of her existence. They were wanton, unprovoked, lawless, and predatory to the last degree. General Washington presided over the destinies of this country. He had resolved on and observed a fair and impartial neutrality. The manner, and time, and circumstances, were as monstrous as the measure itself. 2. On the subject of the predatory system of 1805, I shall merely refer the reader to the mercantile memorials of that pe- riod* written and signed by men who have since as ably de- fended and justified the conduct of England, as at that period they unqualifiedly reprobated and denounced it. This change in their opinions and conduct changes not the nature of the- facts. For tlie proceedings of the British ministry at that pe- riod, every honourable Englishman must blush. They were unworthy of, and disgraceful to, a mighty and respectable na- tion. 3. Charles James Fox's blockade was a gross violation of the laws of nations. — It was in direct hostility Avith previous decla- rations made by that statesman himself — as well as with the ho- nourable and indeed the only legal definition of a blockade, pre- viously given to our government by Mr. Merry, the British mi- nister here, as follows : — « iVdmiralty Office, January 5, 1804. " Sir, "HuAing communicated to the lords of the admiraUy, lord Hawkesbury'a letter of the 23(1 ult. enclosing- the copy of a dispatch which his lordship had received from Mr. Tliornton, hi.s majesty's cliarg-e d'affaires in America, on the subject of the blockade of the islands of Martinique and Gaudaloupe, to- gether with the report of the advocate general thereupon, I have their lord- * See chapters xir, xv, and xvli. CHAP. 61.] STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE. 343 ships' command to acquaint you, for his lordship's information, that they have sent orders to commodore Hood, not to consider any blockade as existing, mi- less in respect In parficular ports -u^hich may be actuaUij invested ; and then not to capture vessels bound to such ports, unless they shall previously have been warned not to enter them ; and that they have also sent the necessary direc- tions on the subject to the judges of the vice-admiralty courts in the West Indies and America. " I am, &c. George Hammond, Esq. EVAN NEPEAN." Here is the only fair, and honest, and honourable exposition of the law of nations on this subject, laid down by England herself. This letter stands on eternal record — and seals the ir- revocable condemnation of that vile predatory system, whereby, according to George Cabot, James Lloyd, and the other Boston memorialists, she v»^as, during the course of the French war, " PREYING UPON THE UNPROTECTED PROPER- TY OF A FRIENDLY POWER."* If lord Castlereagh, the marquis of Wellesley, lord Cathcart, George Cai^.ning, Mr. Rose, or Mr. War-in-Disguise, should find this accusation somewhat indigestible, let them hurl the gauntlet at Mr. Lloyd and his friends. 4. The orders in council close the catalogue. They will form an eternal blot on the escutcheon of the administration by which they were enacted, and so long supported. For their impolicy the reader is referred to chapter LV, It was at least equal to their flagrant injustice. From the 1st of March, 1809, they lost whatever plea or palliation might have previously existed for them. The non- intercourse act, passed on that day, put it in the power of Great Britain, at any hour she pleased, to open our ports to her trade and navigation — -to shut them against the vessels and trade of France — and in eft'ect to have ultimately produced war between that nation and the United States. The refusal of this oifer was a clear, convincing, and unan- swerable proof, that her sole object was monopoly; and that, in the language of Mr. Bayard, retaliation was merely " a pre- tence." Her depredations were committed without intermission. Let any honest Englishman — any candid federalist, now that the reign of delusion has terminated, say, were these depreda- tions, to pass over their immorality and injustice, such measures, as, on mere principles of policy, " a nation strug-gl'mg for her exisience^^^ ought to have adopted ? Was it just, or proper, or prudent, for " a nation stniq'g-lifig for her existence^'''* to violate the rights, and to plunder the property, of an unoffending neu- tj-al, and risk a war with that neutral ? Siu'ely not. In a word, let Timothy Pickering, Rufus King, George Ca- hot, or governor Strong, clecide, whether the conduct of Great * Let it be observed that the predatory system of 1805, denounced by th? Boston memorialists, as " preying upon the unprotected profterty of a friendly po-ver,''^ was incomparably less unjust and more defensible than the subset quent outrages perpetrated on American commerce. 344 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [cuap. 61 Britain on the ocean were not as unjust, as arbitrary, and as lawless, as that of Bonaparte on terra firma i Whether the clandestine orders of 1793, and those of i805, were not as per- fidious, as faithless, and as utterly indefensible, as any act of the French emperor ? And finally, to sum up the whole, whether there be in the history of mankind any act much more atrocious than the attack upon Copenhagen, the capital of an innocent and respectable neutr; 1, for the purpose of seizing her fleet? Whe- ther this act, and the pt-rfidious conduct of Bonaparte towards Spain, are not exactly of the same character ? " Amidst all the con\^ilsions which Europe had experienced in consequence of tlie revolution in France, the- kingdom of Denmark had, by the wise and temperate policy of her ruler, been in a great measure preserved from the fa- tal consequences of those commotions which had overturned governments of much greater political consequence. This had been accomplished, not by hu- mila'ing himself to any of the belligerent powers; not by espousing the cause of such of them as appeared for tlie moment to be successful ; but by maintain- ing a firm, dignified, and undeviating independence, neither influenced by in- trigues nor intimidated by threats. Her naval and military establishments, though not great, were respectable ; and, combined with the natiu'al advanta- ges of her situation, might justify her in the hopes of defending herself with success against any enemy that should attempt to infringe upon her neutrality. In order to defend this neutrality, the Danish government had, for a considera- ble time past, concentred its army on its continental frontiers ; and it has been stated, that this measure was adopted at the instance of Great Britain, as being favourable to the protection of her commerce. In this situation the British fleet, with a large military force, arrived on the coast of Zealand, where the Danish government saw no reason to recognize them in any other character than that of friends and protectors. They were there joined by the German legion from the isle of Hugen : and Mr. Jackson, the British resident at Copen- hag'en, according to the instructions received from his court, demanded from the Danish goTernment THE SURRENDER OF ITS NAVY TO HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY, to be retained by him vmtil the restoration of a general peace- Tills proposition was indignantly rejected ; in consequence of which the troops were landed ; and a ])roclamation was published by lord Cathcart, the com- mander-in-chief, stating the motives and objects of such a proceeding, and threatening, that in case of resistance, the city of Copenhageii should be deso- lated BY EVERY POSSIBLE MEANS OF DEVASTATION. Unprepared as the city then was, the crown prince gave orders that it should be defended to the last extremity. Of the Danish navy, not a ship was rigged, and the crews were absent. On the second day of September, the British troops commenced the attack, on three sides of the city, which continued for several days wilJiout intermission; during which 6,500 shells were thrown into the town, which was soon on fire in upwards of thii-ty places. The timber-yards were con- sumed ; tlie powder magazine blew up ; the steeple of the cathedral chvirch was in a blaze, and fell amidst the continual shouts of the British troops. From the mode of attack which had been adopted, hostilities were not confined to the Du7nsh sohUei-y and the arvied burgliers engaged in the defence of the city ; but .?.r- iended to the inhabitants of both sexes — the aged, the young, the infirm, the sick, and the helplesa, fur -rliose safety no opportimity ivas afforded of providing, and gretit numbers of whom perished by the bursting of she/Is, the fire of the artillery, and t.he innnmerable accidents conseqnent on so dreadful and unexpected an attack. It socjv appeared that the city was unable to make an efiectual resistance : the Briti.'^ li forces having a])proached with their trenches so near, as to be enabled to sc t it on fire whenever they pleased. To prevent this consummation of misery, the Danish conmnander assented to terms of capitulation, by which he agreed! to sui'render up the fleet, upon condition that the British army should evacuate CHAP, 61] STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE. 545 the island of Zealand within six weeks, and that public and private property should in the mean time be respected."* Of these horrible scenes, worthy of Alaric, Attila, or Genghis Khan, it is impossible to read, without shuddering with hoiTor. Every Englishman, who possesses a due sense of national hon- our, must deplore the stain they have impressed on the escut- cheon of his native land — and must join in the execration to which the upi'ight part of mankind have consigned and will eternally consign the ministers who planned and ordered the perpetration of such a scene of barbarous and merciless outrage. Away then for ever with the miserable cant of " a struggle for her existence,''^ as not merely a palliative, but a justification of "PREYING UPON THE UNPROTECTED PROP- ERTY OF A FRIENDLY POWER."! This high and damning accusation against Great Britain, of " preying upon the unprotected property of a friendly poxver'''' was advanced, as I have repeatedly had occasion to state, by George Cabot, Jaines Lloyd, Thomas Perkins, Arnold Welles, and the other Boston merchants who signed the memorial to congress in 1805; but who have, from that period to the present, inconsistently been the advocates of the British, and the accusers of their own government. Every nation at war may be said " to struggle for her exist- ence.''^ But she is not therefore to " struggle^'' her unoffending neighbours out of their ships, their seamen, their property, or their dearest rights of sovereignty, to help to preserve herself in ^'- a struggle " created by lawless ambition. Not many months have elapsed since the United States, con- tending single-handed against the most fonriidable naval power that ever existed, might be most emphatically and most correct- ly said to be ^'■struggling for their existence^'' which was really and truly jeopardized. What consummate folly and madness, as well as injustice, would it have been, to have commenced de- predations on the commerce of Russia, France, Spain, or Hol- land, and to add one or more of those nations to the list of our enemies ? At such a critical time, it becomes nations to " carry their faculties so meek'' as to give no reasonable cause of offence. If, therefore, the idea be correct, that Great Britain was really " struggling for her existence^'' so far from justifying or palliat- ing her irritating and outrageous conduct towards the L^nited States, which ultimately goaded us into war, it only more fully proves the dire insanity of those fatuitous and ruinous counsels by which her affairs were directed. * "Roscoe's view of the causes, objects, and consequences, of the present ^-ar — and on the expediency or the danger of a peace with France," page 42. \ See Boston niemorialj Chap. 11. 346 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [chap. .62. CHAPTER LXII. The loud clamour raised by the eastern states on the subject of representation xuholly unfounded. The result of factious de- lusion. Statistics. Examination of the representation in the Senate.* To reconcile the people of the eastern states to the parricidal project of a dissolution of the union, there has been a fearful outcry raised on the subject of its inequalities and disadvantages, and its oppressive operation on that portion of the nation, par- ticularly in regard to the representation in the lower house of congress. The most extravagant errors are afloat on this topic. It is generally believed, that the southern states have an enor- mous and undue influence in that body, in consequence of taking the slaves into account in fixing the number of its members. I waive, for a few minutes, the consideration how far this in- equality and injustice exist. For sake of argument, I will admit them for the present. And I respectfully ask the reader, whether it be possible to form a partnership or connexion of any kind, without inequality? Take any species you choose. Ex- amine the talents, the address, the capital, the means of promot- ing the joint interests of the concern ; you will find that there is in some — perhaps in all these respects — a considerable ine- quality ; that one party has an advantage in respect to under- stmding, or influence, and another in point of capital or skill — or in some of the various ways in which men differ from their fellow mortals. Go to the married state. And I aver, that it is almost absolutely impossible to form any connexion whatever with a perfect equality. This being obviously and strikingly the case in those simple associations which I have considered, how could it be supposed that so delicate and complicated an association as that of thir- teen independent sovereignties, more or less various in their habits, in their productions, intheir climates, in their population, in their pursuits, could have been formed without a spirit of compromise — without a mutual balancing of advantages and disadvantages ? To expect it, would be the quintessence of folly. But the reader will doubtless be astonished, when he finds what is the real state of the case. He will be convinced, that the alleged grievances which have been made the instruments of exciting the angry passions of our eastern brethren, and prepar- ing them for rebellion, have no existence. Let the two legisla- tive bodies be combined together, and it will be obvious, that the eastern states have had, and still have, rather more than the share of influence to which their white population entitles them, * This, and the two succeeding chapters, are extracted from a pamphlet, pub- lished Nov. 28, 1814, by the author of the Olive Branch, and entitled " A CaJm Address to tlie people of the Eastern States." GHAP. 62.] STATISTICS. 347 I have taken some pains to make the calculations requisite, in order to lay the real state of the case before the public : and I submit the result in both branches of the legislature. Exammatio7i of the representation of the eastern states in the Senate of the United States^ on the ground of white population only^ since the org-anization ofthegovernmejit. Population of the United States, Anno 1790, 3,929,326 Deduct slaves, _ , . - 697,697 White population, . - - - 3,231,629 Total population of the eastern states, - 1,009,522 Deduct slaves, . - - - - 3,886 White population, _ - - - 1,005,636 Total number of Senators, 28. As 3,231,629 : 28 : : 1,005,636 : 8.713 Thus, their exact proportion, had the slaves been rejected, was 8.713 ; whereas they had ten senators. Population of the United States, Anno 1800, 5,303,666 Deduct slaves, _--.-. 896,849 White population, . - - _ ^ 4,406,817 Population of the eastern states - - - 1,233,011 Deduct slaves, . _ _ - - 1,339 White population, - - . - . 1,231,672 Total number of Senators, 34. As 4,406,817 : 34 : : 1,231,672 : 9.502. Here, again, they had more than their proportion, which was 9.502 ; whereas, they had ten. Population of the United States, Anno 1810, 7,239,903 Deduct slaves, ------ 1,191,364 White population, - . - - . 6,048,539 White population of the eastern states, . 1,471,973 Total number of Senators, 36. As 6,048,539 : 36 : : 1,471,973 : 8.760. On this recent census, their proper proportion is 8.760 ', whereas, they have, as before, ten. 848 POLITICAL OLI\lE BRANCH. [chap. 63. Thus it is evident that the eastern states have had in the senate, more than their due proportion of influence from the commencement of the government — and that in the present se- nate they have actually 14 percent, more than they are entitled to, taking mto consideration vierely the white population of the nation^ notwithstanding the introduction of new states. Who can forget the daring threat held out by Mr. Quincey, of resistance to the introduction of new states, " aynicably if they could, violently if they must .^'' " Mr. Quincey repeated and justified a remark he had made ; which, to save all misapprehension, he committed to writing in the following- words : " If this bill passes, it is my deliberate opinion, that it is \'irtually A DISSO- I^UTION OF THE UNION ; that it will free the states from their moral obli- gation ; and as it will be the right of all, so it will be the duty of some, TO PRE- PARE FOR A SEPARATION, amicably if theij ca«— VIOLENTLY IF THEY MUST."* Any person unacquainted with the subject, to have heard or read Mr. Quincey's speeches, would have concluded — and not unreasonably — that some lawless outrage had been perpetrated on the section of the union which he represented ; and that it •was robbed of its due share of influence in the senate by that measure. How astonished must he be to find, that from the or- ganization of the government, the fact has been directly the re- verse ; that it has had more than its due share of influence ; and that the other sections of the union have had solid and substan- tial causes of complaint on this subject ! CHAPTER LXIII. Statistics continued. Slave representation fairly stated. Residt.. The state of the representation in the lower house, to which the loud complaints of Francis Blake, Mr. Lowell, Mr. Harri. son Gray Otis, and their friends, particularly refer, remains to be considered. They have been but too successful in persuad- ing their fellow-citizens, that to the fatal source of slave repre- sentation may be ascribed all the manifold oppressions, and in- justice, which, they allege, the eastern states have experienced. There is probably not one man in a thousand who has a con- ception how very slight the inequality is here. I have asked a number of intelligent and well-informed men their opinions — and some surmised 100 per cent, beyond the truth— others were wide of it 200 per cent. What must be your amazement, reader, to learn, that if all the slaves in the United States were discarded, in the apportion- ment of members of the house of representatives of the United States, it would make a difference of only three in the number of representatives of the eastern states ? •National Intelligencer, Jan. 15, 1811, in the debate on the admission of Louisiana as a state. CHAP. 63.] STATISTICS. 34:9 The white population of the United States at the late census, was _----_ 6,048,539 That of the eastern states, - _ _ - 1,471,973 Total number of members, 182. Actual representatives of the five eastern states 41. As 6,048,539 : 182 : : l,47i,973 : : 44,0048. Thus it appears, that were the representation graduated by the white population alone, the eastern states would be entitled to but 44 representatives. Therefore, the injury they suffer by the admission of the slaves, is only a reduction of three members, in a body of 182 — whereas they have one and a quarter more than they ai'e entitled to in the senate, a body of 36 members. That is to say, and let it be borne in remembrance, in one branch they are not two per cent, below their proportion — and in the other branch, which is by far the more influential and powerful, they have about 14 per cent, more than they are fairly entitled to by their white population. A viexv of the slave representation in the House of Representa- tives of U. S, CensKs oyiSlO. Ratio^ one representative for 35,000 inhabitants. J\Taryland. Total population Deduct slaves 380,546 111,502 Divide by the ratio 35000)269,044(7 Remainder 24,044 Add three-fifths of 111,502 slaves 66,900 Divide by 35,000)90,944(2 Remainder 10,950 Add 3-5tlis of 80,561 slaves 48,336 . Divide by 35,000)59,286(1 Fraction rejected 24,286 Ten representatives — nine for wliites — one for slaves. JVorth- Carolina. Total population 555,500 Deduct slaves 168,824 Fraction rejected 20,944 Nine representatives — 7 for whites- 2 for slaves Virginia. Total population 974,622 Deduct slaves 392,518 Divide by 35,000)582,104(16 Remainder Add three-fifths of 392,518 slaves 22,104 235,504 Divide by 35,000)257,608(7 Divide by 35,000)386,676(11 Remainder l,6r6 Addtlu-ee-fifths of 168,824 slaves 101,292 Divide by 35,000)102,968(2 Fraction rejected 32,968 Thirteen representatives — eleven for whites — two for slaves. Smith- Carolina. Total population 415,115 Deduct slaves 196,365 Fraction rejected 12,608 Twenty-three representatives — 16 for whites, 7 for slaves. Kentucky. Total population 406,511 Deduct slaves 80,561 Divide by 35,000)218,750(6 Remainder Add tln-ce-fifths of 196,365 slaves 8,750 117,819 Divide by 35,000)325,950(9 O. B. 46 Divide by 35,000)126,562(3 350 POLITICAL OUVE BRANCH. [chap. 63 Fraction i-ejected 21,569 Fraction rejected 345 Nine representatives— six for whites — Six representatives— four for whites- three for slaves two for slaves Georg-ia. Tennessee. Total population 252,433 Total population 261,727 Deduct slaves 105,218 Deduct slaves 44,535 Divide by 35,000)147,215(4 Divide by 35,000)217, 192(6 Kemainder 7,215 Remainder 7,192 Add tliree-fifths of 105,218 Add 3-5ths of 44,535 slaves 26,661 slaves 63,130 Fraction rejected 33,853 Divide by 35,000)70,345(2 No representative of the slaves. Afcxvfacts on the subject of the slave representation in the lower house. New-York, by the first and last cen- Bela-ware has a slave representative. sus, has had for ten years, and will Total population of Delaware have for ten more, one slave represen- in 1810 ■ 72,674 tative.. Deduct slaves 4,177 Total population of New-York, Anno 1790 340,120 Divide by 35,000)68,497(1 Deduct slaves 21,324 Remainder 33,497 Divide by the ratio of 33,000)318,796(9 Add 3-5ths of 4,177 slaves 2,505 Remainder 21,796 Divide bv 35,000)36,002(1 Add 3-5ths of 21,324 slaves 12,794 _ Fraction rejected 1,002 Divide by 33,000)34,590(1 Fraction rejected 1,590 — Massachusetts, to her gi'eat Itonour, Total popidation of New-York, has no slaves. But it is a curious fact. Anno 1810 959,069 that she has a representative of her Deduct slaves 15,071 black population. Her white population is 693,039 Divide by 35,000)943,998(26 Black 7,706 Remainder 33,998 700,745 Add 3-5ths of 15,071 slaves 9,009 This, divided by 35,000, just allows her twenty members. Deduct the Divide by 35,000)43,007(1 blacks, andslie would have but nint- teen. tion rejected 8,007 Representatives of slaves. 1790 1800 1810 New-York 1 1 Delaware 1 Mar\land 2 2 2 Virginia 6 6 7 North Carolina 2 2 2 South Carolina 2 2 2 Georgia 1 1 2 Tennessee 1 1 Kentucky 1 1 14 15 19 CHAP. 63.] STATISTICS. 351 The following views display the very extraordinary inequali- ties that exist in the representation in the senate. They fuUv establish the mutual forbearance and the laudable spirit of com- promise that prevailed in the federal con^'ention. VIEW I. . Free persons. Senators. Massachusetts 700,745 2 N. Hampshire 214,460 2 Vermont 217,895 2 Connecticut 261,632 2 Rhode Island 76,823 2 1,471,555 10 Free persons. Senators. New-York 944,0:.2 2 Pennsylvania 809,296 2 Virginia 58^,104 2 N. Carolina 386,676 2 Kentucky 325,950 2 3,048,058 10 Free persons. Thus it appears that the eastern states with only 1,471,555, have as much influence in the senate of the United States, as the above five middle and southern states with , . _ - - 3,048,058 VIEW II. Free persons. Senators. N. Hampshire 214,460 2 Vermont 217,895 2 Connecticut 261,632 2 Rhode Island 76,823 2 770,810 8 Free persons. Senators. New-York 944,032 • 2 Pennsylvania 809,296 2 Virginia 582,104 2 N. Carolina 386,676 2 2,722,108 8 Thus four of the eastern states, with 775,810 free persons, have as much influence as four middle and southern states with 2,722,108 — and four times as much as Pennsylvania with 809,296, VIEW III. Free persons. Senators. Massachusetts 700,745 2 N. Hampshire 214,460 2 Vermont 217,895 2 Fi- Maryland Virginia N. Carolina ee persons. Senators, 269,044 2 582,104 2 386,676 2 Connecticut 261,632 Rhode Island 76,823 2 2 Ohio Kentucky Tennessee 230,760 325,950 217,192 2 2 2 S. Carolina 218,750 2 Georgia 147,215 2 1,471,555 10 2,377,691 16 352 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [chap. 63. The result of this comparison was utterly unexpected. It •\vili no doubt surprize the reader. It is a fair and overwhelm- ing view of the comparative ir.fluence in the senate, of the mur- muring, discontented, and oppressed " nation of New Eng- land'' with that of the whole of the- ancient " slave states," as they are called. It appears that the former have one represen- tative in senate for every 147,155 free persons, and that the lat- ter have one for every 148,605. The addition of Louisiana has somewhat altered the state of the representation. It makes the ratio for the slave states about 136,000. VIEW IV. nators. 2 Delaware 6.^,497 2 Free persons. Senators. Rhode Island 76,823 2 145,320 Free persons. Senators. New- York- 944,032 2 Pennsylvania 809,296 2 1,753,328 Thus, one free person in Rhode Island, it is obvious from the above view, possesses as much influence in the senate of the United States as twelve in New York or ten in Pennsylvania. And one in Delaware possesses nearly as much as fourteen in New York or twelve in Pennsylvania. One in Rhode Island has more than seven in Virginia. VIEW V. Free persons. Senators. N. Hampshire 214,460 2 Connecticut 261,632 2 Rhode Island 76,823 2 55..>yi5 Free persons. Senators. Virginia 582,104 2 582,104 Thus, three eastern states, with 552,915 free persons, have six senators ; and Virginia, with 582,104, has but two. If the wisest and best of the citizens of the United States as- sembled in convention, with General Washington and Dr. Franklin at their head, found it necessary for the peace, and happiness, and respectability of the country, to agree to the con- stitution, with such prodigious inequalities as are stated above, it is not difficult to form an opinion on the folly and wickedness of the loud complaints of injustice and inequality, on points to the last degree insignificant, whereby the spirit of sedition has been excited in the eastern states. The war question, it has been said, was carried by the slave representatives. This is an egregious error. The majority in CHAP. 63.] STATISTICS. 353 the lower house was 30. And the whole number of slave re- presentatives is only 19. So that had they been totally reject- ed, the question of war would have been carried. I pass over the slave representatives from New York and Delaware, both of whom voted against the war. I likewise waive the conside- ration of the fact, that eleven members from the southern states also voted against the measure. A fair view of all the preceding tables and facts, will satisfy any man not wholly destitute of truth and candour, that the interests of the eastern states have been carefully guarded in both branches of the legislature of the union. Their complaints are to the last degree groundless and factious. It will further prove, that Pennsylvania has a stronger ground of complaint by far in the senatorial branch, than the eastern states in the other. With a population of 809,296 free persons, she has but two senators ; whereas New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, with 770,8 iO, have eight. The difference is enormous and immense. Statement of the number of members in the house of representa- tives^ after each different ceiisus. New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, Louisiana, First. Second. Thi 4 5 6 2 4 6 14 17 20 7 7 7 2 2 2 10 17 27 5 6 6 13 18 23 1 1 2 8 9 9 19 22 23 10 12 13 6 8 9 2 4 6 6 10 3 6 6 1 103 141 182 354 POLITICAL OLIVE'BRANCH. [chap. 64- CHAPTER LXIV. Enquh'ij into the allegation, against the southern states^ of de- stroijing commerce^ to promote manufactures. Utterly un- founded. The eastern states deeply interested in manuj'acturcs. The southern the reverse. Let me, reader, still further trespass on your attention. There is one point of considerable importance, on which our eastern fellow citizens have been egi^egiously deceived, and on which it- is desirable they should form correct opinions. That the administration and the southern members of con- gress are actuated by an inveterate hostility to commerce, and that their measures have been dictated by a desire to destroy it for the purpose of injuring the so-styled commercial states, has been assumed as an incontrovertible fact, which could nei- ther be disputed nor denied. It has been, as I have stated, re- echoed by governors and legislatures — by inflammatory writers in newspapers — and by equally inflammatory cleygymen in their pulpits, until any doubt of it is believed to be as wicked and he- terodoxical, as a doubt of the miracles of the Koran is regarded by the mufti at Constantinople. It was necessary to find some motive for this hostility. It would have been too monstrous to assert that the southerners^ as some of the eastern writers have styled the people of the southern states, destroyed commerce to promote agriculture, and of course to advance their own interests. This would not stand examination, and was therefore abandoned. It was, how- ever necessary to devise some pretext. And, it has a thousand times been asserted, that the hostility to commerce arose from a desire to promote mamfactnrcs. And this sorry tale has been believed by the " most enlightened'''' portioji of " tJie most en" lightened nation in the xvorldy The following facts will shew the transcendent folly and im- posture of this allegation. 1. The eastern states have numerous and important mam fac- tories^ established on a large and extensive scale. 2. The extreme sterility of a large portion of their soil, and the comparative density of their population, render manufactu- ring establishments indispensibly necessary to them. 3. They are therefore deeply a7id vitally interested in the pro. motio7i of mamfactures^ without which they would be in a great measure depopulated by the attractions of the western, middle, and southern states. 4. The manufactures of the southern states are principally in private families. o. These states have no redundant population. Their people find full employment in agriculture. CHAP. 65.] STATISTICS. 355 . 6. They have therefore little or no interest hi the promotion of 7namfactiires. 7. But the reduction, or restriction, or injury of commerce, cannot fail vitally to injure them, by lessening the demand for^ and loxvering the price of their productions. We have seen that it has produced this effect to a inost ruinous extei^t. 8. It irresistibly follows, that if the southern states wantonly destroyed or restrained commerce, to promote manufactures, it would be inflicting the most serious and vital injury on them- selves^for the mere purpose of serving those states to xvhich they are said to bear an inveterate and deadly hostility ! ! ! 9. Whoever, possessing any mind, can disseminate those opinions, must mean to deceive : for he cannot possibly believe them himself. 10. Whoever can believe in these absurdities, may believe that rivers occasionally travel to their sources — that lambs de- vour wolves — that heat produces ice — that " thorns produce figs" — or, what is almost as absurd, that the soil of Massachu- setts is as fertile, and the climate as mild, as the climate and soil of South Carolina or Georgia. CHAPTER LXV. Militia defence. System of Classif cation proposed in Congress. Rejected. Axvful outcry. Towards the close of the late war with Great Britain, an attempt was made in Congress to employ in the defence of the nation a portion of the militia, in a mode the most simple, the most practicable, the most efficient — and at the same time, the least burdensome, that was ever adopted in any countr}% Those persons throughout the United States, who are subject to militia duty, were to be divided into classes, each of twenty-five. Every class was to furnish one of its members, who was to serve for one year, or during the war, and whose bounty was to be contributed by the rest of the class in certain proportions. Or, if one of the class thought proper to serve, a recruit was to be enlisted at their joint expense.* Against this noble system of defence, so equitable, so just, so unexceptionable — so adequate to its end — so easy and free from burden to our citizens — so likely to bring the war to a close, by convincing the enemy of the impossibility of making any im- pression on us, there was a most hideous outcry raised in and * These were the grand important features of various plans submitted to Congress, and to the Legislature of Pennsylvania, which were absurdly reject- ed to the disgrace and dishonour of both parties. There were some unessen- tial differences between ihem, not worth attention in this discussion. To the honour of the enlightened and patriotic Legislatui-e of New-York, it was not deten-ed by the wretched and factious clamour that prevailed on this subject. It passed a.11 act to raise 10,0(^0 men on the cl^lssifiQatjon plan. 35S POLITICAL OUVE BRANCH. [chap. 65. out of congress— an outcry highly disgraceful and factious. It was branded with the odious name of " Conscription^^'' and iden- tified with the PVench system, whereby the whole male popula- tion of France was subject to the despotic will and pleasure of the executive. To the passions of the people the most inflammatory appeals were made. A most lamentable delusion prevailed on the sub- ject. The attempt was of course defeated. Many of our citi- zens were, by unceasing efforts, led to believe, that the plan was Avholly unprecedented in this country ; that it was utterly un- constitutional and pernicious ; and that it was intended as the basis of a military despotism. And to such an awful extent was the frenzy carried, that open resistance was publickly threatened. Sexegenarian veterans, shaking their hoarj^ locks, and burnishing their rusty, revolutionary arms, were disposed to punish, at the point of the bayonet, those whom they were taught to regard as violators of the constitution. It is hardly possible to conceive of a more awful, or more dis- graceful delusion. Never were the public cuUibility and cre- dulity more miserably played upon ; for, as I have already observed, it is hardly possible to contrive a plan of public defence more just, more rational, more unexceptionable, or more effi- cient. Let us calmly examine the matter. Recruits for a year, or for the war. Could have been readily procured at any time for about two hundred dollars. Of course, the tax on each indivi- dual, of twenty-five persons bound to funiish a recruit, would be only eight dollars, for which he would be exempt from all the dangers, and hardships, and privations of a military life ! The British ministry would probably have made immense sacrifices to prevent the establishment of such a system. It was the measure most really formidable and efficient against their veteran armies, that had been devised. But surely this ought to have been no reason why American legislators should oppose it — or why the factious or tumultuous meetings, held to denounce the system, should be eulogized as displays of " the spirit of se- venty-six.''''* Had such a wretched spirit prevailed in '76, this glorious country would never have emerged from its colonial and dependent state. From the extreme abhorrence of wars and fightings, manifest- ed by some of the members of congress — from the wailings, and whinings, and lamentations, and strong sensibilities, at the possible loss of a single life, a stranger might suppose they were quakers or menonists, who were not merely conscientiously scrupulous against carrying arms themselves, but principled * In several parts of the union, factious and seditious meetings were held to denounce this plan, Avliose proceedings were detailed in many of our papers, headed in Iar§^e letters with the words, " SPIRIT of TG." «HAP. 6o.l MILITIA DEFENCE. 357 against warfare altogether. And from the delicacy of their constitutional exceptions and objections, it might be rtasonably presumed, if the constitution were not at war with such pre- sumption, that there was no power given, or intended to be con- veyed, to the general government, to command or coerce the military service of any individual citizen. It would appear, that the citizens of the United States had obtained letters pa- tent from Heaven for enjoying all the benefits of society and of self-government, without risking either life or limb — or shed- ding a drop of blood in their defence. While the public delusion on this topic lasted, argument was useless. Prejudice, and passion, and irrationality, almost uni- versally predominated. But every species of folly and madness has its day. When the spell is dissolved, it becomes harmless and inoffensive. It is then a fair subject of Inquiry and investi- gation. The understanding of the public may be addressed with a tolerable chance of success. I therefore venture to discuss the subject, and solicit the calm attention of the reader. In case of future wars, from which we cannot hope to be exempt, it may be of considerable importance to establish correct opinions on a subject of such immense magni- tude, — I mean the most eligible mode of public defence. I undertake to prove these seven points : — 1. That there is no principle more clearly recognized and es- tablished in the constitutions and laws of the several states, than THE RIGHT OF SOCIETY TO REQUIRE AND COERCE, AS WELL AS THE DUTY OF THE CITIZEN TO AFFORD, MILITARY SERVICE FOR THE GENERAL DEFENCE. 2. That the power of congress to call forth, and order the employment of, the militia, in cases of invasion^ rebellion, or in- surrection, is as clearly established as any other power vested in that body. 3. That the mode of drafting, generally prescribed by the mi- litia laws of the several states, is oppressive, unequal, and unjust. 4. That the force so drafted is generally inefficient, and enor- mously expensive. 5. That the system of classification is the most impartial — the most efficacious — and the least oppressive mode of calling into operation the militia, of any of the plans that have ever been de- vised. 6. That the proposed system of classification prevailed du- ring the revolution — and of course, instead of having been bor- rowed from France, by our present rulers, was, if borrowed at all, borrowed by her from this country. 7. That the classification or conscription system, elaborately matured by genei-al Knox, and stamped with the seal of general Washington's approbation, was more strict and extensive in its provisions, than any of the recent plans. O. B. 47 3^8 POUTICAL OLrV'E BRANCH. [chap. 66. CHAPTER LXVI. Right of society to coerce^ and duty of the citizens to afford^ mili- tary service^ recognized by the constitutions and larvs of the se- veral states. Mode of drafting militia unjust and oppressive. To establish my first point, that " there is no principle more clearly recognized, and established, in the constitutions and laws of the several states, than the right of society to require and co- erce, as well as the duty of the citizen to afford, military service for the general defence," I submit to the reader, the most sa- tisfactory extracts from the constitutions of New-Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Kentucky ; and from the militia laws of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New. York, New-Jersey, Pennsyl- vania, Delaware, Maryland, Georgia, and Kentucky. These are all the states whose statute books I have been able to procure. The declaration of rights of the state of New-Hampshire, ex- pressly provides, that "Every member of the community has a right to be protected by it, in the eniovmcnt of his life, hberty and property : he is therefore bound to contribute his share to the expense of such protection ; and TO YIELD HIS PERSONAL SERVICE WHEN NECESSARY, or an equivalent." It gives the governor for the time being, complete and plenary power, " by himself or any chief commander or officers," •' To train, instruct, exercise, and govern the militia and navy ; and for the special defence and safety of the state, to assemble in martial array, and piit in •warlike postjcre the inhabitants thereof,- and to lead and conduct them ; and with them encounter, repulse, resist, and pursue by force of arms, as well by sea as by land, -within and loithont the limits of the state, every such person or persons as shall at any future time attempt the destruction, invasion, detriment, or an- noyance of the state." It further invests the governor with the mighty and tremen- dous power, " To use and exercise over the army and navy, and over the militia in actual service, THE LAW MARTIAL IN TIME OF W AR, INVASION, AND ALSO IN REBELLION, declared by the legislature to exist, as occasion shall neces- sarily require." Nothing can be more clear and explicit than these provisions. They level in the dust the volumes of rant and declamation, which have been uttered in congress, and with which the press has teemed on this important topic. The constitution of the'state of Massachusetts contains the same provisions, couched in the very same words, as that ol New-Hampshire. One has been obviously copied from the other. It is therefore unnecessary for me to make any extract from that of the former state. I refer the reader to the volume of the Constitutions of the United States. The constitution of New York explicitly declaires, that cuAP. 66.] MILITIA DEFENCE. 359 " Whereas it is of the utmost importance to the safety of every state, that it should always be in a condition of defence, and IT IS THE DUTY OF EVERY MAN WHO ENJOYS THE PROTECTION OF SOCIETY, TO BE PHEP\- RED AND WILLING TO DEFEND IT : Therefore tliis convention, in the name and by the authority of the g-ood people of this state, doth ordain, deter- mine, and declare, that the militia of this state, at all times hereafter, as well in peace as in war, skall be armed and disciplined, and IN READINESS FOR SERVICE." The declaration of rights of the constitution of Vermont, states that " Every member of society hath a rig-ht to be protected in the enjojTnent of life, liberty, and property ; and therefore is bound to contribute his proportion towards the expenses of "that protection, and YIELD HIS PERSONAL SER- VICE, when necessary, or an equivalent thereto,***. J\'or caii unii man ivlio is conscientiously scmpuloiis of bearing arms, bejustlij compelled thereto, IF HE WTLL PAY SUCH EQUIVALENT." The old constitution of Pennsylvania is in unison with those already quoted — viz. " Every member of society hath a right to be protected in the enjoyment of life, liberty, and property ; and therefore is bound to contribute his proportion to- luards the expense of that protection, or an equivalent thereto; but no part of a man's property can be justly taken from him, and applied to public uses, with- out his consent, or that of his legal representatives ; nor can any man who is conscientiously scrupulous of bearing" arms, be justly compelled thereto, if he will pay such an equivalent." The existing constitution of Pennsylvania is equally clear : " The freemen of this commonwealth shall be armed and disciplined for its de- fence. Those who conscientiously scruple to bear arms, shall not be compelled to do so ; but shall pay an equivalent for personal service.'^ Kentucky holds the same language — " The freemen of this commonwealth (negroes, mulattoes, and Indians ex- cepted) shall be armed and disciplined for its defence. Those who conscientious- ly scruple to bear arms, shall not be compelled to do so ; but shall pay an equiv- alent for personal service." The old constitution of Delaware has a clause nearly verbatim with some of the preceding — "Every member of society liath a right to be protected in the enjoyment of life, liberty, and property ; and is therefore bound to contribute his proportion towards the expense of that protection, and YIELD HIS PERSONAL SER- VICE, when necessary, or an equivalent thereto." I presume I might here dismiss the subject. It is impossible to resist the conviction the foregoing clauses flash on the mind. They strike cavilling and casuistry, declamation and sophistry, dead, as with the forked lightning. The wisest and best men of seven states, engaged in the all-important duty of framing forms of government for their fellow-citizens, solemnly recognize the paramount right of society to coerce, and the imperious duty of the citizen to affoi'd, personal service, or an equivalent, for the general defence. And the intelligent and respectable men who framed the constitutions of New-Hampshire and Massachusetts, invested the governors with the power to lead the militia in pur- 360 POLITICAL OLI^T^ BRANCH. [chap. 66. suit of an enemy, " within and without the state,''^ and to exercise MAHllAL LAW on the militia, as well as on the regular army. I now proceed to detail the legal provisions on this point. — They M'ill be fomid equally clear and conclusive. I begin with Massachusetts. " Whenever the governor, or commander in chief, shall order a delachment from tlie militia aforesaid, and any person wlio shall be detaclicd in obedience to such orders, being duly notified thereof, and ordered to march to the place of rendezvous, s/ialt neglect or refuse to obey such order,- or shall not, ivilhintwenti/ four hours after he shall have been notified as aforesaid, pay a fine often pounds to the captain or commandivg officer of the compan i/ to xvhich he shall belong, or procure an able-bodied man in his stead, SlJC 1 1 PERSON SHALL BE CONSIUEKED AS A SOLDIER IN SUCH DETACHMENT, AND BE DEALT AVITH ACCORD- INGLY ; and in all cases where the said fine shall be paid, the same shall he applied to liiring men for any service which stiall be required of the company under the command of the captain or officer who shaU receive the same."* Should any commissioned officer of the militia refuse to make a detachment from the corps under his command, for the purpose of repelling invasion, suppressing insurrection, &c. then " In addition to the punishment which may be inflicted by virtue of any act for regulating the militia, if convicted thereof before the justices of the su- preme judicial court, he shall be subject to be fined ni a sum not exceeding fifty pounds, and to be adjudged incapable of sustaining any office in the coiimwnwealth for a term not exceeding ten years,- to either or both of the said penalties ac- cording to the aggravation of tiie offence and circumstances of the offender, as to the justices of the said coui-t shall seem meet. " And be it further enacted. That if any person, whether non-commissioned officer or private, and belonging either to the train band or alarm list, who shall be detached or ordered to march for the support of the civil authority, or suppression of any insurrection, existing or apprehended, as aforesaid, shall refuse or neglect to mai-ch, armed and equipped, in tlie manner and at the time wluch the officer l)y whom he shall be detached sliall direct, or shall desert or leave the service before he shall be regularly discharged, if convicted thereof before the justices of the supreme j udicial court, he shall be subject to be fined at the dis- cretion of the said court, in a sum not exceeding ten pounds. •' And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, Tliatifany person, in public or private conversation, or by any ways or means, shall dissuade or endea- vour to prrvetit any military officer from perforndng the duty required of him hy thin act, or any person or persons, detached or ordered to march for the purpose aforesaid, from marching to the place of rendezvous, or from continuing in the Sfei'vice until regularly discharged, each person so oHi?nding, being convicted thereof, as aforesaid, sliall pay a fine to the use of the commonwealth, not ex- ceeding FIFTY POUNDS, and shall recognize for his good behaviour for a term not exceeding three years."i[ I hope the reader will compare these sections with the most rigorous of those contained in Mr. Monroe's or Mr. Giles's plans. Candour will compel him to acknowledge, that the latter are incomparably less burdensome and oppressive than the former. The statute of Connecticut respecting the militia, adopts the regulation of the act of congress, whereby every free able-bodied white man, between the ages of 18 and 45, is declared subject * Permanent laws of Massachusetts, vol. I. page 314. ■f Idem, page 330. QHAP. 65.] mLITIA DETENCE, 361 to militia duty. It further exempts quakers from that duty, on the payment of three doUars and thirty cents per annum. It then invests the captain general with power, in certain specified cases, to order out even the xvliole of the militia or miHtarij force of the state. I submit the very strong and expressive clause to the reader : " The captain g-eneral, or, in bis absence, the next commanding officer of state, is hereby authorised and empowered, as he may judge necessary, upon the. occasion of an alann, invasion, or notice of the appearance of an enemy, cither by sea or by land, to order out the WHOLE or any part of the military force of tJus state ; to assemble and put the same in warlike order ; and the same to lead, or- der, and employ, for the assistance or relieving any of the inhabitants of this state, at- tacked by an. enemy, or in danger thereof; and generally to issue and publish, by proper staffer orderly officer, such orders as he shall judge expedient, to carry into execution the intent and design of this act."* The militia law of New York is equally clear and explicit — " The commander in chief of this state may, tri case of invasion or other emer- q-ency, when he shall judge it necessary, order out AN \ fKOA'CJU'riONT OF THE iVULITIA OF THIS STATE TO MARCH TO ANY PART THEREOF, and continue as lo7ig as he may think necessary ,• and like-cvise may, in consequence of an application of the execiitiifp of any of the United States, on an invasion or insurrec- tion, or an cipprehension of an invasion of such state, AT HIS DISCRETION ordei- ANY NUMRER OP THE MILITIA, not exceeding one third part thereof, TO SUCH STATE : Provided, That they be not compelled to continue on duty oat of this state more tlian forty days at one time ; that while in actual service, in consequence of being so called out, they shall receive the same pay and ra- tions, and be subject to the same rides eind regulations as the troops of the United States of ,^menca."-\ New- Jersey has not been deficient in making similar provision for the public safety. Her militia law declares, " That the commander in chief of this state, for the time being, may, in case of invasion or other emergency, WHEN HE SHALL JUDGE IT NECESSARY, order out any proportion of the militia of this state, to march to any part thereof, and continue as long as he may think it necessary, not exceeding two months."t She imposes a heavy and burdensome fine on delinquents — a line which the poorer classes cannot pay, and which, of course, inevitably compels them to the service. " Any person refusing or neglecting to perform his tour of duty, or to pro- cure a substitute, shall pay a fine of twenty dollars for every sucii neglect or re- fusal. § " If any militia man shall desert while he is on a tour of duty, he shall be fin- ed in any sum not exceeding twenty dollars for every sucl) olt'ence ; or may be imprisoned fur any time not exceeding two months, at the discretion of a court martial ; and, if a non-commissioned officer, he shall also be degraded and placed in the ranks." || I next proceed to state the law in Pennsylvania. — The same good sense that presided over the decision on this subject in the other states, is discernible here : * Statute laws of Connecticut, page 310. ■f Laws of the state of Mew-York, vol. I. page 512. Jf Patterson's laws of Ne\v-Jer.sey, page 441. § Idem, pag-e 442. y Idem, page 443, 362 POLITICAL OUVE BRANCH. [chap. 66. *' Whenever It may be necessary to call into actual service any part of the militia, in case of rebellion, or oi" actual or threatened invasion, of this or any of the neif^-hbouring states, then it shall and may be laiuful for the governor to order into actual service, SUCH PART OF THE MILITIA, BY CLASSES, AS THE EXIGENCY MAY REQUIRE ; provided that the part so called, doth not ex- ceed four classes of the militia of any brigade."* " If anymilitiaman shall desert ivhile he is on a tour of duty, he shall be fined thirty-l-vo dollars for every such offence, and be obliged to march on the next tour of duty, under the same penalties as at first. If a non-commissioned officer shall so desert, he shall be degraded and placed in the ranks ; shall pay a fine of thirty six dollars ; and be obliged to serve another tour as a private."! " The militia of the state, while in the actual service thereof, or of the United States, shall be subject to the same rules and reg^dations as the federal urmy."^ The little state of Delaware recognises the same principles — the same rights — the same duties — of which I have shewn the recognition in so many other states. " The governor shall have full power and authority, in case of an invasion, rebellion, or irisurrection xvithin the state, or any of the neighbouring states, to call into service such part of the vdlitia by classes, as to him shall seem necessary ,- and in case of the absence of the governor of this state, on any insuiTCCtion, rebellion, or invasion, the commanding officer of each brigade is hereby authorised and direct- ed to issue his orders to call out such part of the militia as }w may judge immediately necessary."^ The provisions of the militia law of Maryland are equally strong and unequivocal. " In all cases w^here a militiaman may be drafted to perform a tour of duty imder the laws of this state, he shall be considered as a soldier, and liable to all the^ duties as such, unless he shall furnish a substitute: and the lieutenant colonel of the regiment, or commanding oflScer of the extra battalion, as the case may be, tp which he may belong, shall be the sole judges of the qualification of .said sub- stitute ; and may receive him or reject him at their discretion. "|| " If a sudden invasion shall be made into any county in this state, or in case of an insurrection in any county, the commanding officer in such county is here- by AUTHORISED AND REQUIRED to order out THE WHOLE or such part of his militia as he may think necessary, and in such manner as he may think best, for repelling such invasion, or suppressing such insurrection ; and shall call on the commanding officers of regiments in the adjacent counties, for such aid as he may think necessary ; ivho shall forthioitlt in like manner furnish the same."1 By the militia law of the state of Georgia, every male citizen who has resided within the state for ten days^ if of the proper age, is subject to perform military duty.** This carries the right of society to coerce the citizen to military duty in public defence, to the utmost extent. The duty of the governor, in the case of insurrection or inva- sion, is as explicitly and unequivocally stated in the militia law of Georgia, as in those already quoted : — * Purdon's Abridgment of the laws of Pennsylvania, page 381. I Iih-m, page 384. t Idem, page 386. § Laws of Delaware (Wilmington, 1793,) page 213. II Kelty's Laws of Maryland, vol. II. 1798, chap. c. 1 Ibid. ** Digest of Laws of Georgia, page 460, CHAF. 67.) MILITIA DEFENCE, 553 *' His excellency the governor is hereby empowered to assemble and embody such part of the militia of the state as he may from tinie to time think neces- sary, to repel any invasion, insurrection, or rebellion, winch may happen with- in the same, and to order such officers to command the said mihtia as he may see fit."* Kentucky has been equally mindful with her sister states, of the great duty of making adequate provision for the public safety. " Every able-bodied male citizen, of this or any of the United States, resid- ing in this state, who is of the age of eighteen and under forty -five, shall be en- roUed by the commanding officer of the company within whose bounds he may reside."! " The governor shall have power to call forth such parts of the miUtia as he may judge necessary, in time of war, invasion, or insun-ection, or when the dan- ger may be such that the public safety shall requu'e it." " The militia, when in the service of this state, shall be governed by tlie ar- ticles of war, which shall be in force in the continental army .":{: By the law of Rhode Island, like the others I have quoted, the militia, when in actual service, are regarded as soldiers, and subject to martial law — " Whenever the military force of this state, or any part thereof, shall be call- ed into actual service, it shall be subject to the articles of war, pi-escribed by con- gress for the government of the troops of the United States."i| These are, as I have already observed, all the states whose statute laws I have been able to procure. They are, I presume, adequate to the purpose. It is not to be doubted, that similar provisions exist in all the others. CHAPTER LXVII. Power of Congress to call out the Militia. The usual mode of drafting oppressive^ unequal^ and unjust. My second position is, " that the power of congress to call forth, and order the employment of, the militia, is as clearly es- tablished as any other power vested in that body." The general defence of the nation is confided to congress. This is their incumbent duty. The means and power to per- form this duty are vested in them by the constitution. They are authorised and empowered — " To raise and support armies." The exercise of this power has not been, nor can it be, called in question. They are further authorised and empowered — " To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the union ; sup^ press iimirreciion ; and REPEL INVASIONS," I beg the reader will carefully examine this clause over and over. It requires the most serious and sober reflection. Here • Idem, page 465. f Toulmin's Laws of Kentucky, page 78. \ Idem, page 80. U Public Laws of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. Providence. 1798, Page 440. 364 POUTICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [chap. 67. is a clear, explicit, and most unequivocal power given to the general government by the constitution of the United States, to call forth the militia in three specified cases. One is '' to repel invasion.'''' The country was '•''invaded^'' during the last war. And yet every attempt to carry this power into operatioii, in the mode most efficient and least burdensome, was opposed and defeated by men of high standing, great talents, and professing a sacred regard to the honour and interests of their country ! ! ! And the whole of the opposition rested on the absuixl, the un- tenable ground of the measvu'e being " unconstituUonaV And this wretched pretext was blmdly admitted and defended by a large portion of our citizens ! It will be difficult for posterity to give credence to the existence of such miserable folly on the part of their ancestors, who had nearly put on record the modest declaration, that they were " the most enlightened nation on the surface of the globe." As a specimen of the declamation used on this subject, I an- nex a short extract from a speech delivered by Cyrus King, member of the house of representatives of the United States, from the state of Massachusetts. *' If wliat I have urg-ed, will not induce you to aiTest the progress of this bill, T appeal to you, I beseech you, as friends to humanity, to spare the tears which tlie passage of tliis bill will cause to flow ! I appeal to you as fathers, by every endearing- tie which binds you to your children, not to deprive the aged parent of the child of his youth ! tlie support and solace of his declining years ! lest you bring his g'rey hairs with sorrow to the grave ! I entreat you to make the case your own ! suppose a darling child ! an only son snatched from you by tlie scourge of war ! in the language of grief and nature, you would ex- claim : " would to God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son ! my son !" This was the miserable rant bv which our fathers and our mothers — our wives and our children — our towns and our cities — were deprived of protection, and, but for the peace, would have been delivered defenceless to the enemy ! Mr. Miller, of New York, was equally eloquent in his denun- ciation of this system. I lay before the reader a specimen of the cogent and con'u'incing arguments he used : — " I object, sir, to the whole system of force and coercion; and contend that under this constitution you have no riglit to raise armies except by voluntaiy enhstmcnt; and fiu'ther, that if you had the right, it would not be discreet to exercise it. •' The plan which gentlemen wish adopted is conscription! They call it clas- sijication and penalty — classification and draft — sir, tltcve is poison in the dish ,■ garnish it as you please, there is poison still. You call it classification ! I stickle not for names — " a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." Is this classification P Disguise thyself as thou wilt, slavery, still thou art a bitter draught." Tlie times demand that things should be called by their right names. This is conscription, and ii'ith features, more hideous, than are to be found in the exploded system (four luiforttuiate cousin of Elba .' ! !* * Perhaps a more extravagant, groundless, and absurd assertion was never hazarded before. It is very difficult to compare the two systems together, there is such an immense difference between thgrn. I shall state but one sin- CHAP. 67.] MILITIA DEFENCE. 365 " By this system the people of these United States, will be in.itantlv and/or- elbly transfonned into soldiers — the ordinary course of lite must be abandoned, for the perils and vexations of a camp ! Our peaceful occupations must be for- saken. The merchant must quit his counting house ; the farmer his plough ; the mechanic his work shop ; the professional man his pursuits — all, all must become soldiers ! — Our sons and our brothers, those who are to be tlie " future men'' of this country, instead of laying the foundation for future usefulness, must be sut^jected to the moral and physical evils of a camp. All the habits of domestic life must be annihilated, and all its endearments outraged or disi'e- jfarded. Tiie husband must be torn from his wife and children, and tiie child forcibly separated from the society and protection of his parents. I beseech gentlemen to pause before they venture upon a system like this. " This plan violates the constitution of ijoitr country. It invades the rights of the state governments; it is a direct infring-ement^ of their sovereignty. It concentrates all power in the general government, and deprives the states of their " necessary security." It does away all claim to personal freedom. It is a daring attempt upon the rights and liberties of this people. *^ Armies diVe. the forces of t/ie United States, with which they are to carry on their wars; and are subject to their exclusive jurisdiction and coiitroul. £ut the militia are the state troops, which congress have no power to raise. They are a force existing, known, and acknowledged at the time of the adoption of this constitution ; existing without the aid or concuiTcnce of the general govern- ment. The general poiver over the militia resides in the states ; a particidar au- thori'y for objects defined, was carved out of that general power, and granted to the United States." When the reader has attentively perused all this rhapsody, and is almost terrified to death by reflection on the frightful des- potism which was preparing to swallow up our freedom and hap- piness, he has, in order to calm the ebullitions of his indignation ' — to restore his tranquillity — only to read two lines of the con- stitution, granting the power, and dictating the duty of the ge- neral government, " to call forth the jnilitia, to repel invasion.^^ Let him then ascertain the fact, that the country was actaally invaded a.t the very time wheii Mr. Miller so confidently, in the face of the constitution, dared to assert, that " the militia are the state troops, which congress have no power to raise.'''' When he has proceeded thus far, he will soon be convinced that all the long, declamatory, and inflammatory speeches on this subject, which occupied so many Aveeks of the time of congress, v/ere mere " sound and fury, ^'' To return. The constitution further authorizes the general government — " To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the militia ; and, for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the United Slatss." This last power is merely limited and qualified by the reser- vation, to the several states, of the appointinent ofoflicers, and training the men. The limitation is in these words : .gle feature of that difference. In France it was hai'dly possible to induce go. vernment to accept of substitutes, ard never without great interest and immense pecuniary saci'ifices ; and of course those persons conscripted were almost uni- versally obliged to serve, in spite of their utmost opposition ; whereas, by the American act, express provision was made fop subbtitutss, and no man need serve, who could raise eight or ten dollars ! ' 0. B. 48 366 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH, [chap. 67. " Reserving to the states respectively the appoint mciit of the officers, and the ail Liiority of training the militia according to the disciphne proposed by congress." A calm and candid review of these clear delegations of power, cannot fail to result in a conviction, that in all cases of obstruc- tions to the laws— of insurrection — or invasion — the right, the power, and duty of congress, to order out the militia, are as clear a right, power, and duty, as ever were conveyed or ordained liy any instrument, public or private. It follows, that the attempt to defeat this grant of power, was antifederal and factious, and had a tendency to destroy the government. I SHALL now proceed to prove, " that the existing mode of drafting the militia, is oppressive, unequal, and unjust." In nearly all the states, as we have seen, the governor is au- thorised, in certain specified cases, to call the militia into ser- vice, in such numbers and proportions as he may judge proper. He possesses plenary discretiimary powers. He may raise the whole in three or four counties, or he may divide them equally among all the counties in the state. This discretionary power is highly exceptionable on the ground of favouritism ; and is in direct hostility with the gene- ral spirit of all our institutions, which universally define duties and limit powers with grt at precision. It will not, it cannot, be denied, that it is liable to considerable abuse. But I shall not consider the danger of its abuse. The discus- sion of this objection, great and powerful as it is, does not come within my present plan. I shall suppose the power exercised with sound judgment and strict impartiality, so far as the latter requisite is compatible Vvith the present system. It is still liable to the most serious and solid objections. It is radically and in- curably defective. Its operation is unjust, unequal, and oppres- sive. Let us examine how it is carried into operation. Suppose there are ten counties in a state, each containing 10,000 militia — and that the presence of an invading foe induces the presider.t to make a call upon the governor for a draft of 5,000 men. It is obvious, that the most equitable and impartial mode of drafting them, according to the present miserable sys- tem, will be, to make a requisition of 500 out of each county. But it is generally made on two or three neighbourhoods, as near to the place of danger as possible, while the remainder of the state is wholly exempt from the duty. The extreme op- pression and injustice of this mode are too palpable to require en£Q£.cement. And it is impossible to remove its radical injustice ; for in whatev r way they are drawn, the burden, the risk of health, and life, the sacrifice of business, the expenses of a camp, and all the other di '^advantages of military duty, which ought to be borne, or pp.i ■ for, equally, by 100,000 persons, fall exclusively on 5,000. It is impossible for the human mind to conceive of any HH^r. 68.) jMILITIA DEFE^XE. ^ 367 system much more unequal, unjust, absurd, or contemptible. Five thousand citizens bear all the burden of military service for the protection of 93,000, who neither run risk incur ex- pense, nor suffer any inconvenience ! It is an arduous task to impress the public mind with a correct sense of the folly or absm-dity of laws or customs, which have '■^^ g-roxvn with the groxvth'''' of society. This renders it difficult in all countries, to gain a fair or patient hearing for arguments against the established order of things, how^ever contrary to rea- son, common sense, or common justice. But 1 ,t us, in order to display the injustice of this wretched principle, extend it to the affair of taxation. This will render it more palpable and strik- ing. Suppose a law were passed to oblige 5,000 men to pay all the taxes of 95,000 others, who were themselves to be totally ex- empt from taxation! What an uproar w^ould it not excite ! The clamour would be loud and general with the parties that suffer- ed the oppression, who would by force resist the operation of it. Yet the injustice of such a law is far inferior to that of the ex- isting militia system, to which we submit without murmur — and not merely submit without murmur, but were of late sense- lessly ready to rise in insurrection, to prevent any melioration of such vile oppression ! I say inferior; because the burden of mi- litary service is far more onerous than that of taxation. If this do not prove the propriety, truth, and justice of our claim to the title of " the most enlightened nation in the >vorld," I am afraid it will never be established. CHAPTER LXVIII. Inejfficiency of Jllilitia generally. Extravagantly expensive. Ge?i' eral Washington's testimony on the siibject full and complete. My fourth position is, that " the force thus drafted is general- ly inefficient, and ruinously expensive." At present, the militia are collected together in a disorderly and irregular manner. The materials are as discordant and in- coherent as the mind can conceive. The men are unaccustomed to discipline — they have very loose ideas on the subject of sub- ordination. They have little experience — less military skill* — * " To place any dependence on militia, is assi/redhi resting upon a broken staff — men just dragged from the tender scenes of domestic life — uiuiccnstomed to the din of arms — totally unacquainted with every kindof military skill; which beins^ followed by a want of confidence in themselves, when opposed to troops regularly trained, disciplined, and appointed, sviperior in knowledg-e and su- perior in arms, makes them timid and ready to fly from their own sliadows. Be- sides, the sudden change in their manner of living, (particularly in the lodging) brings on sickness in many, impatience in all, ami such an nnconquerabk desire of returning to their respective Jiomes, that it not onlii produces shaniefi/l and scanda- lous desertions among- themselves, hut infuses the lil-e spirit into others." Gcnerid AVashington's letters, London edition, vol. I. page 270. 368 POLITICAL OLR^E BRANCH [chap. 68- little confidence in themselves — little in their officers — and their officers are not so void of justice as to lavish any large portion of confidence on them. Suppose them, thus assembled, thus officered, thus qualified — to encounter a disciplined foe of half their numbers, in the openjield. And we must tixkc the open field into our calcula- tion. Lamentable would be the issue. On the one side would be a band of hardened desperadoes, inured to slaughter — repos- ing full reliance in their officers — and marching forward with that confidence in themselves, which is the harbinger and pre- sage of victory. On the other, men utterly undisciplined — dis- trusting each other, and distrusting themselves — and under of- ficers chosen, in most cases, not for their military talents and endowments, but for companionable qualities, which, however agreeable in the social circle, are of no avail in the tented field. The mind sickens at the contemplation of the result. Nothing shoi't of a miracle, can render it prosperous to the militia. The chances are immensely against them. They may be said to be literally led to slaughter — the result being too generally a most frightful carnage. There is a further consideration, which greatly enhances the horror of this contemplation. The materials of the two hostile bodies are as different as can be conceived. On one side are to be seen in the ranks, some of the most invaluable of our citi- zens, men with large families, whose whole future happiness depends on their preservation — future Washingtons, or Frank- lins, or Livingstons, or Dickinsons. On the other, a congeries of the refuse of society from all parts of Europe. What a con- trast ! It is in fact a game of hazard, at which guineas are staked against cents — and at which it is impossible ever to equalize the stakes. That some of the best men in the world are destitute of per- sonal courage — and that some of the worst are abundantly sup- plied with it, is well known to every man who has even but su- perficially reflected on human nature. Courage is a constitu- tional quality, which, when not imparted by nature, can hardly^ ever be acquired. And it therefore follows, that in these com- pulsory' embodyings of militia, there will be often found men, who, however useful they may be in civil life, are wholly un- suitable for the camp. Liability to pay for a substitute, or a false shame, may lead many of these men to obey the summons to the field. But when the clangor of arms sounds, nature, whose voice has been disregarded, asserts her sway. Ten men of this description may, by spreading a panic, cause the defeat of an entire army. In political economy, as in all other sciences, it may be laid down as an incontrovertible maxim, that wherever there is a «HAP, 68-] MILITIA DEFENCE. 369 Strong and striking opposition between fact and theory, the latteif is a fallacious guide, which cannot fail to lead its votaries astray. But when theories are supported by facts, they rarely mislead. The American revolution is fraught with strong and decisive facts on the subject of the militia, which hold out the most unerr- ing admonitions. The letters of General Washington to congress are replete with complaints of the inefficiency, and of the ruinous results, of the militia system of the United States. They fully prove, moreover, that the cost of militia service is extravagantly high • — and that a dependence on militia for regular and continued service, is attended with the utmost danger. There is no authority on any subject whatever, more com- manding, or more decisive, than that of General Washington, upon militia defence. In no nation was it ever, probably, more fully and completely essayed, than in the United States, during the war that eventuated in the acknowledgment of their indepen- dence. No man, therefore, ever had a fairer opportunity of judging on this topic — and there is no man on whose judgment more reliance could be placed. As this is a subject of vital importance to the nation — as our happiness, and that of our posterity, as well as the safety and independence of our country, may, and probably will, depend upon a correct system of defence, I have judged it proper to produce the most ample display of the general's experience on the subject. An examination of the dates will shew that the evils com- menced with the very dawn of the revolution ; for the first complaint of the general is contained in a letter, dated July 10, 1775, not two months after the battle of Lexington. July lOt/i, 1775. " All the general officers agree, that no dependence can be put on the militic, for a continuance in camp, or regularity and discipline during the short time they may stay."* July Uth, 1775. "From some authentic and late advices of the state of the ministerial troops, and the great inconvenience of calling in the militia in the midst of harvest, I have been induced for the present to waive it."f February 9th, 1776. *' Though I am sensible that we never have, since that period, been able to act upon the offensive, and been at times not in a condition to defend, yet ths cost of marchijig home one set of men — bringing in another — the havcc and ivaste oc~ casio7ied by the first — the repairs necessary for the second — with a thousand inciden- tal charges and inconveniences which have arisen, and which it is scarcely pos- sible either to recollect or describe— amount to near as much as the keeping up a respectable body of troops the whole time, ready for any emergency, would have done. To bring men well acquainted with the duties of a soldier, requires time- To * Official letters to the honourable the American Congi-ess, written during the war between tlie United States and Great Britain, by his excellency Gene- ral Washington. London, 1795 : vol. I. p, 7- t Idem, page 9. 370 POLITICAL OLIVE BR.\NCII [chap. 63. bring them under proper discipline and subordination, not only requires time, but is a work of great difficulty ; and in this army, where there is so little dis- tinction between the officers and soldiers, requires an unconmion degree of attention."* " Again, men of a day's standing will not look forward : and from experience we find, that, as the time approaches for their discharge, they ffroiv careless of their arms, ammunition, camp utensils, cJc. Nay, even the b.arracks themseh'ts have felt uncommon marks of wanton depredation, and Lay us under fresh ti-ouble and additional expepse in providing for every fresh set, when we find it next to impossible to procure such articles as are absolutely necessary in the first instance. To this may be added the seasoning wliich new recruits must have to a camp, and the loss consequent thereupon. But tliis is not all — mf7i, en- t-a^'-ed for a short limited time onlij, have the oncers too much in their power ; for to obtain a degree of popularity, in oi'der to induce a second enhstment, a kind of familiarity takes place, which brings on a relaxation of discipline, unlicensed furloughs, and other indulgences, incompatible with order and good govcrn- ment."t " There are vet but few companies of the mihtia come in. This delay ivill, I am much afraid, fnistrate the intention of their being called upon, as t/ie season is slipping fast away when they maybe ofsei^ice"^ April 4th, 1776. " I heartily wish the money had arrived sooner, that the militia might have been paid as soon as their term of service expired. Tlie chsappointment has given them great uneasiness, and they are gone home much dissatisfied^^ " I would also mention to congress, that the militia regiments wliich were last called upon, in making up their abstracts, charged pay — the officers, from the time they received orders to raise companies — and the privates, from tlie time they respectively engaged to come or were called upon, though they did not marcli for a considerable time after — some not within three, four, to twenty da\s, during all which they remained at home about their own private affairs, without doing any tiling else than " preparing for the march," as they say, by way of plea."! Jidy 17 th, 1776. " The Connecticut light-horse, mentioned in my letter of the 11th, notwith- standing their then promise to continue here for the defence of this place, are BOW discharged, and are about to return home — having peremptonly refused all kinds of fatigue duty, or even to mount guard, claiming exemption as troopers. Tlioug"h"the?r assistance is much needed, and miglit be of essential service in case of an attack, vet I judged it advisable, on their application and claim of such inilulgcnce, to discharge them ; as granting tliem wOuld set an example to others, and mlglit produce'many ill consequences. The number of men in- cluded in tlie last return, by this is lessened about five hundred."f August im, 1775. « They, [the British] mean to procrastinate their operations for some time, trusting that the militia xvhich have come to our succottr will soon become tired, and return home, as is but too usual 'Mth them "** August 19th,1776. _ " Governor Trumbull,in a letter of the loth, advises me that Ward's regi- ment in the service of the state.s, was on the march to this ai-my, and that lie and his council of safety had in the whole ordered fourteen militia regiments to rein- force us. Three of them have an-ived, and amount to about a thousand and twenty men. When tiie whole come in, we sliall be on a much more respect- able footing than we liave been ; but I greatly fear, if the enemy defer then- attempt for an>' considerable time, they will be extremely impatient to return home ; and if tliey should, we shall be reduced to disti-ess agHi?i."ff * Idem, page 87. f I'^em, page 88. \ Idem, page 91. § Idem, page 118. || Idem, page 120. t Idem, page 19 ** Idem, page 232. ^jf Idem, page 233. «HAr. 68.3 MILITIA DEFENCE. Sri The militia, instead of calling^ forth their utmost efforts to a brave ar^ man- ly opposition, in order to repair our losses, are dismmied, intractable, and impa- iient to return. Great numbers of them have gone off- — in some instances, almost bu ■zvhole regiments, by half ones, and by companies at a time. This circumstance, of itself, independent of others, when fronted by a well-appointed enemy, supe- rior in number to our whole collected force, woidd be sufficiently disagreeable — but, wlien their example has infected another part of the army — when their want of ilisciphne, and refusal of almost every kind of restraint and govern- ment, have pi'oduced a like conduct but too common to the whole, and an en : tire disregard of that order and subordination necessary to the welldoing of an army, and whicli had been incidcated before, as well as the nature of our mili- tary establishments would achnit of — our condition is still more alarming ; and with the deepest concern I am obliged to confess my want of confidence in the generality of the troops. •' All these circumstances fully confirm the opinion I ever entertained, and which I more than once in my letters took the liberty of mentioning to con- g'ress, that no dependence can be pitt on the militia, or other troops than those en- listed and embodied for a longer period than our regulations heretofore liave prescribed. I am persuaded, and as fully confirmed as I am of any one fact that lias happened, that our liberties must of necessity be greatly hazarded, if not entirely lost, if their defence is left to any but a permanent standing army — 1 mean one to exist during the war. Nor would the expense incident to the sup- port of such a body of troops as would be competent to almost every exigencv, far exceed that which is daily incurred by calling in succour, and new enlist- ments, which, when effected, are not attended with any good consequences. Men who have been free, and subject to no controul, cannot be reduced to or- der in an instant : and the privileges and exemptions tliey claim and will have, influence the conduct of others ; and the aid derived from them is nearly counter' balanced by the disorder, irregidarity and confusion, they occasion."* September 4th, 1776. " The militia, under various pretences, of sickness, &c. are daily diminishing ,- and in a little time, I am persuaded, their number tuitl be vei'y inconsiderable. "jf " The militia from Connecticut is reduced from 6000 to 2000, and in a few days will be merely nominal. The arrival of some Maryland troops, &c. from the flying camp, has in a great degree supplied the loss of men ; but the ammuni- tion they have carried away will be a loss severely felt. 7V impxdse for going home xvas so irresistible, it answered no purpose to oppose it. I'hough 1 would not discharge, I have been obliged to acquiesce ; and it affords one more melancholy proof, hoxv delusive all such dependencies are."i^ September 20th, 1776. " It is a melancholy and painful consideration to those who are concerned in the work, and have the command, to be forming armies constantly, and to be left by troops just luheji they begin to deserve the name, or perhaps at a moment when an important blow is expected."^ September 2'kh, 1776. " The thirteen militia reg-iments from Connecticut being reduced to a little more than fOO men, rank and file, fit for duty, I have thought proper to discharge the whole, to save the states the immense charge that would arise from officers^ pan. There are many militia, too, that have just come in, or are on their way from that state, none of whom are provided with a tent, or a single camp utensil. This distresses me beyond measure. "|| September 24th, 1776. " Again : men accustomed to unboundetl freedom and no controul, cannot brook tlie restraint which is indispensibly necessary to the good order and go- vernment of an army ; without which liceiuiousness and every kind of disorder reign. To bring men to a pi'oper degree of subordination is not the work of a * Idem, page 244. | Idem, page 246, tWem, page 255. § Idem, page 265. || Idem, page 267. Z72 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. Cchap. 6S. day, 3 month, or even a year : and unhappily for us and the cause we are en- gaged ill, the little discipline I have been labouring to establish in the army under my immediate command, is in a manner done away by having- such a mixture of troops as have been called together within these few months."* " Relaxed and unfit as our rules and regulations of war are for the goverw- meut of the army, tlie militia, (those properly so called, for of these we have two sorts — the six months' men, and those sent in for temporary aid) do not think themselves subject to them, and therefore take liberties the soldier is pu- nislied for. This creates jealousy ; jealousy begets dissatisfactions ; and these by degrees ripen into mutiny, keeping the whole army in a confused and disor- dered state — renderuig the time of those who wish to see regularity and good order t)revail, more unhappy than words can describe. Besides this, such re- peated changes take place, tliat all arrangement is set at nought, and the con- stant fluctuation of things deranges every plan as fast as adopted. These, sir, congress may be assured, are but a suiall part of the inconveniences which migut be enumerated, and attributed to militia ; but there is one that merits particular attention, and that is, the expense. Ckutain i am, that it would be CHEAPER TO KEEP FIFTI OR A HUNDRED THOUSAND IN CONSTANT PAY, THAN TO DE- PEND UPON HALF THE NUMBER, AND SUPPLY THE OTHER HALF OCCASIONALLY BY 5IILITIA. The time the latter are in pay before and after they are in camp, as- sembUng and marching — tlie waste of ammunition, the consumption of stores, which in spite of every resolution or requisition in congress, they must be fur- nished with or sent home, added to other incidental expenses consequent upon their coming to, and conduct in, camp — surpasses all idea, and destroys every kind of regularity and economy which you could establish among fixed and re- gular troops, and will, in my opinion, prove (if the scheme is adliered to) THE ilUlN OF OU;i CAUSE."t " The jealousies of a standing army, and the evils to be apprehended from one, are remote ; and, in my judgment, situated and circumstanced as we are, not at all to be dreaded : but the consequence of wanting one, according to my ideas, formed from the present view of things, is certain andinexiiable ndn. For if I -was called upon to declare upon oath, ivhether the militia have been most ser- •viceable or hurtful, up'ni the -whole, I should subscribe to the latter. I do not mean by this, however, to arraign the conduct of congi-ess : in so doing-, 1 should equally condemn my own measures, if I did not my judgment : but experience, which is the best criterion to work by, so fully, clearly, and decisively repro- FOR THEAI UPO>3' THIS ISSUE. An army fonned by good officers moves like clock w^ork : btit there is no situation on earth less enviable, nor more distressing, than that of a person who is at the head of troops who are regardless of order and discipline, and who are unprovided with almost every necessary. In a word, tlie difficulties which have for ever surrounded me since I have been in the service, and kept iny mind constantly upon the stretch — the wounds which my feelings (as an officer) have received hy a thousand things v/hich liave hap- pened contrary to my expectations and wishes, added to a consciousness of inabiliti] to govern an armij composed of such discordant parts, and under such a variety of intricate ami perplexing circumstances, induce not only a belief, but a thorough conviction in my mind, that it will be impossible (unless there is a thorough cliange in our military system) for me to conduct matters in such a manner as to ^'we satisfaction to the pubhc, which is all the recompense I aim at, or ever wislied for."i: September 30, 1776. " By a letter received from the committee of safety in the state of Nev/ Ilampsiiirc, I find a thousand of their militia were about to march the 24th tiltimo, to rclnfi)rce this army, in consequence of the requisition of congi-css. Previous to their march, general Ward writes me, he was obliged to furnjsh them with five hundred pounds of powder, and a thousand pounds of musket • Idem, page 271. j Idem, page 272. + Idem, page 273. CEAP. 68.] MILITIA DEFENCE. 373 ball ; and I have little reason to expect that they are better provided with other articles than they were with ammunition. In this case, they wiU only add to our present distress, which is already far too great, and become disgust- ed with the service, THOUGH THE TIME THEY WERE ENGAGED FOR IS ONLY TILL THE FIRST OF DECEMBER— this wiU injure their enlisting for a longer time, if not wholly prevent it."* Ociober ith, 1776. " Upon the present plan, T plainly foresee an intervention of time between the old and new army, which must be filled up with militia (if to be had) WITH WHOM NO MAN WHO HAS ANY REGARD FOR HIS REPUTATION, CAN UNDERTAKE TO BE ANSWERABLE FOR CONSEQUENCES."t October 31st, 1776. " Our army is decreasing fast. Several gentlemen^ -who have come to campivith- in a few days, have observed large numbers of militia r eturning home on the differ- ent roads."t J^'ovembcr 9lh, 1776. " I have little or no reason to expect that the militia now here, will remain a day longer than the time they first engaged for. I have recommended their .stay, and requested it in general orders. General Lincoln and the Massachu. setts commissioners are using their Interest with those from that state. But as fixr as I can judge, we cannot rely on their staying. "I have no assurances that more than a very fcsv of the troops composing the flying camp ivill remain after the time of their eni^ugement is out: so far from it, I am told, that some of general Ewing's brigade who stand engaged to the first of January, are now going away."§ December Isi, 1776. " The enemy are fast approaching — some of tliem are now in sight, .'ill the men of the Jersey fying camp under general Heard, being applied to, have refused to continue longer in service.''"^ Trenton, December Sd, 1776. " I look out earnestly for the reinforcements from Philadelphia. I am in hopes that if we can draw a good head of men together, it will give spirits to the militia of this .state, who have as yet afforded me little or 710 assistance ,• nor can I find they are likely to do much."% Trenton, December 5th, 1776. " Sorry I am to observe, liowever, that the frequent calls upon the militia of this state, the want of exeilion in the principal gentlemen of the country, or a fotal supineness and insensibility of danger till it is too late to prevent an evil that was not only foreseen, but foretold, have been the catises of our late disgraces- " Jfthe militia of this state had stepped forth in season, (and timely notice they had) 7i'e might have prevented the enemy^s crossing the Hackinsac, although with- out some previous notice of the time and place, it was impossible to have done this at the North river. " At Hackinsac our force was insufficient, because a part was at Elizabeth- town, Amboy, and Brunswick, guarthng a coast which I thought most exposed to danger ; and at Brunswick, because I was disappointed in my expectations of militia, and because on the day of the enemy's approach (and probably the occasion of it) the time of the Jersey and Maryland brigades' service expired ; NEITHER OF WHICH WOULD CONSENT TO STAY AN HOUR LONGER, " These, among ten thousand other Instances, mlglit be adtluced to shew the disadvantages of short enbstments, and the little dependence upon militia in times of real danger. " My first wish is, that congress may be convinced of the impropriety of rely- ing upon the militia, and the necessity of raising a larger standing army than they have voted. The saving in the articles of stores, provisions, and in a thousand other things, by having notliing to do with militia, unless in cases of extraordinary exigency, and such as could not be expected In the common • Idem, page 279. f Idem, page 282. i Idem, page 301. § Idem, page 324. |1 Idem, page 328. *( Idem, page 330. O. B. 49 374 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [chap 68 coui'se of events, V'oukl amply supply a large army, which, well officered, would be daily improving-, instead of CON'llNUlNG A DESTRLCTIVE, EX- TENSIVE, AND DISOUDERLY MOIJ. 1 am clear in opinion, that if 4U,UOO men had been kept in constiuit pay sisico tlie first commencement of hostilities, and the militia had been excused doing' duty during that ])eriod, the continent, would have saved money. '\'V1ien 1 rcHcct on the losses we have sustained for want of g-ood troops, the certainty of this is placed beyond a doubt in my mind. In such case, tlie militia, who have been hai-assed and tired by repeated calls upon them (and farming- and manufactures in a manner suspended) wouId» upon any pressing emergency, have run vith alacrity to arms ; whereas the Cr\' now is, " tliey may as ivll be mined hi oju: ivaij as another," and tvith dijicid- Ui'theij are obtained. I mention these things, to shew, that, in my opinion, ifa7iy dependence is placed vpon militia another year, conj^ress will be deceived. AVIien danger is a little removed from them, tliey will not turn out at all. When it comes home to tliem, the well affected, instead of fl) ing to arms to defend themselves, are busily employed in removing their iamilies ynd ett'ects — whilst, the disaffected are concerting measures to make their submission, and spread terror and dismay all around, to induce others to follow the example. — Daily experience and abundant proofs warrant this information."* December 16th, 1776. " Tlint the militia are not to be depended on, or aid expected from them but in cases of the most pressing emergency, \%T\o\. \^o be doubted. The first of these propositions is unquestionable : and fatal experience has given her saiiction to the truth of the latter. Indeed their lethargy of late, and backwardness to turn out at this alarming crisis, seem to justify an apprehension that notliing can bring them from their homes. For want of their assistance, a large part of Jersey has been exposed to ravage and to plunder ; nor do I know that Penn- S) Ivaiiia would share a better fate, could general Howe effect a passage across the Delaware with a respectable force. I'hese considerations have induced me to wis] I that no reliance, except such as way arise from necessity, should ever be had 071 tlicm (I'^ain ; and to make further mention to congress of the expediency of increasing- their army. 1 trust this measure will meet their earliest attention."| December 20th, 1776. " Short enlistments, and a mistaken dependence upon militia, have been the origin of all our misfortunes, and the great accumulation of our debt.":j: " We find, sir, that the enemy are tlaily gaining .strength from the disaffec- ted. This strength, Uke a snow-ball, by rolling, will increase, unless some means can be devised to check effectually the progress of the enemy's arms. JNIilitia may posmbly do it for a little while : but in a httle while also, the mili- tia of these stales ivhich have been frequently called upon, will, not turn 07it at all, or if they do, it will be with so much reluctance and sloth, as to amount to the same thing — instance New Jersey! witness Pennsylvania! — could anything but the river Delaware have saved Pliiladelphia ! Can any thing (the exigency of the case indeed may justify it) be more destructive to the recruiting service, THAN Gl\ lN(i TEN DOLLARS BOUNTY FOR SIX WEEKS' SERVICE OF THE MILITIA, WHO COME IN YOU CANNOT TELL HOW— GO YOU CANNOT TKI.L WHEKE— CONSUME YOUR PIU)MSIONS— EXHAUST YOUR SroUES, AND LEAN E YOU AT LAST AT A CRITICAL MOMENT. " These, sir, arc the men 1 am to depend upon, ten days hence ; this is the basis on wliich your cause must and will forever depend, till you get a large standing army sufficicntof itself to oppose the enemy."|l January Isi, 1776. " After much persuasion, and the exertions of their officers, half or a greater proportion of those from the eastward have consented to stay six weeks on a bounty of ten dollars. I feel the inconveniency of this advance, and I know the consequences that will result from it — but vvhat could be done .'' Pennsylvania liad allowed the same to her militia — the troops felt their importance, and Would have their price."^ * Idem, page 333. f Idem, page 346. f Idem, page 350. ^ Ibid. II Idem, vol'. 11. page 3. CHAC. 68.] MILITIA DEFENCE. 3/,^' January Sth, 1777. " Their large picquets advanced towards Trenton — their great prepara- tions, and some intelhgence I liad received, added to their knowledge that tli'e first of January brought on a dissolution of the best part of the army — ga^■e me the strongest reasons to conchide that an attack upon us was meditating."* Jaivv.ary 7th, 1777. " Tlie severity of the season has made our troops, especially the militia, ex. tremely impatient, and has reduced tiie number very considerably. Every day Biore or less leave us."f January 19th, 1777. " The fuctuating state of an army composed chief y of militia, bids fair to reduce '■us to the situation in ivldch we were some little time ujo — that is, of scai'ce having an army at all — except reinforcements sjjeedily arrive. One of the battahons from the city of Philade-lphia, goes home to day, and the other two only remain a few days longer upon courtesy. The time for which a country brigade under general Mifflui came out is expired; and they stay from day to day by dint of solicitation — their numbers much reduced by desertions "§ " As militia must be our dependence till we can get tlie new army raised and properly arranged, I must entreat you to continue your endeavours with the states of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, to tui-n out every man they possibly can, and for some time long-er than they generally have stipulated for. IF THEY AGREE FOR A MOI^'J'H, or any limited time, it should conmiencc from the time they actually join the army, and not from the time they leave their homes : otherwise the marching backwards and forwards consumes the term of engagement."! January 22d, 1777. " The necessity that we have been and are now \mdcr, of calling in and arm- ing the militia, scatters our armory all over the world in a manner. Their offi- cers are so irregular, that they generally suffer their men to carry home every thing that is put into their hands, which is forever lost to the pubHc."** February 20th, 1777. " At this time we are only about four thousand strong — a force you will sup- pose, unequal to a successful opposition, if they were not militia, and tar too small for the exigencies of our aiian-s. It is impossible to ol^tain exact returns, though they are daily called fur — owing to the frec^uent and almost constant departure of some of the corps."-f-[- February 28ih, 1777. "I was in hopes, that, by the time the militia who are now in service would be discharged, we should have had a considerable number of the new levies in the field : but, though I have reports from all quarters of the great success of the recruiting, 1 cannot get a man into the service. General Jackson's militia all go the 5th of March (many are gone already :) and general Lincoln's on the J5th. These two bodies form so considerable a part of our force, that, unless they are replaced, / s/utll be in a manner destitute." \ir JMornstotvn, March lAtJi, 1777. " What prospect there may be of immediate succours from other quarters, 1 know not : hnt from the militia of tliis state I cannot expect to derive much more aid. Those who are well afl'ected have been so frequently called from their homes, that they are tired out, and almost profess an abhorrence of the ser- vice."§§ . , . ■ J- < " By the paymaster's report, the commissary here requires an immediate draft for a hundred thousand ; and the militia returning and about to leave camp a hundred and twenty thousand more. T/ie expense of culling on them so frequently is almost incredible. '''\*i * Idem, page 3. f Idem, page 6. § Idem, page 10 1 Idem, page 11. ** Idem, page 24. ff Idem, page 36. n Idem, page 42. ^1 Idem, pa,^e 44, 3r6 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [chap. 68. JMorristoivn, March 26th, 1777. " I urged governor Trumbull, in a letter of the 6th inst. to send two thou- sand of his militia to tlie same place. But sorry am I to observe, the militia have got tired."* " For want of proper coercive powers, from disaffection and other causes — the militia of this state [J\'cw Jersey] are not to be depended upon. — Then "''^ drawn out -with difficult II, and at a 7no.1t enormous expense, as tlieir accounts will shew. — THEY COME, YOU CAN SCARCE TELL HOW : THEY GO, YOU HARD- LY KNOW WHEN. IN THE SA]ME PREDICAMENT ARE THOSE OF PENNSYLVANIA."t " Small as our present force is, it will be reduced in a few days, by the going off of the Jersey three-months-men, the Cecil county militia, and the Virginia volunteers, all of whom claim discliarges next month.":!: ./ipril 28th, 1777. ** So early as the 6th of March I wrote to governor Trumbull, earnestly re- questing two tiiousand militia to be sent to general Mc Dougal, to be employed at Peekskill, and on the communication in West -Chester county, for six iveeks. With this requisition he most readily complied, so far as his orders were ne- cessary, and (I am certain) his influence M'ould extend. This 1 have repeated, and this supply he has exerted himself to furnish ; yet so ineffectual have his endeavours been, tliat not more than eight hundred had come out by general Mc Dougal's return on the 17th instant.' § J\latj I2th, 1777. " I would observe, if the militia are called out, it .should be for a fi.xed deter- minate time ; for though they will certainly return when that expires, 3'et that is more tolerable than for them to go off in parties every day as their whim and caprice suggest — which has always been the case when the time is not stated. I would also observe, if it is possible, they should be engaged to march out of their states, if ordered. If their service is located, they will move with great reluctance, if they move at aU."|| June 2d, 1777. " The shameful deficiency in all our ai-mies affords but too just grounds for disagreeable apprehensions : if the quotas assigned the different states are not immediately filled, we shall have every thing to fear. IFe shall never be able to resist their force, if the militia are to be relied on : nor do I know whether their aid, feeble and inefficient as it is, is much to be expected."^ September 7th, 1777. *' In respect to the militia requested, (of Jersey) his excellency is doubtful whether tliey can be obtained : for gov. Livingston, by a late letter, informs, that he had no expectation that more than three hundred of the thousand called for to garrison the posts of the higiilands, would march, notwitlistanding he had issued orders for that purpose ; and that three weeks would prol^ably elapse before that number went."** October 7th, 1777. *' Since the action, gen. Furmaii's brigade of Jersey militia has quitted us. The trten began to be uneasy at their situation, and desirous to return home : and as, by some intelligence from g-eneral Dickinson, there was reason to imagine there miglit be a call for their services in the Jerseys, it was thought expedient to gratify their desire."ff October V3th, 1777. " I will only observe, that the consequences of calling the militia into the field in the course of the -var, have been .10 severely and ruinozisly felt, that I trust our vieivt \i.ill never be turned to them but in cases of the greatest extremity." \\ JSTovember \st, 1777. " The militia from Virginia and Maryland are no longer to he counted 071 : all the former, except about two hundred, are already gone -, and a few days, I ex- pect, will produce the departure of the wiiole or c'iiief part of the latter, from the importunate applications which some of tliem have made."'§§ * Idem, page 46. f Idem, page 47. ± Idem, page 48. § Idem, page 64. || Idem, page 75. % Idem, page 86. ■*» Idem, page 1G3. -j-fldem, jjagc 180. i,\ Idem, p. 139. f;4 Idem, p. 197. GHAP. 69.] MILITIA DEFENCE. 377 " Agreeable to my expectations, the ^JHrginia] viilitia are gone ; so that we have none now in aid of the continental troops but those of this state [Pennsyl- vania] mentioned in the retuni, and a few from Maryland."* " Th« militia of this state, supposing they should be tolerably vig-orous in. their exertions, will not be equal to the task : at least it will be difficult, if not impracticable, for them to do it. It is to be wished that siich as can be drawn out, may be engaged to sene THliEE MONTHS, or TWO AT LEAST, (if it can be efiected) after their arrival in camp ; and that a mode could be adopted to sup- ply their places with others at the expiration of their term, should tlie exigency of our affairs require it. A time for their continuance should be fixed, or they ■ivill always be uneasy and pushing off",- and the longer circumstances will admit it to be, the better: for, after the period occurs, for which they came, it will be im- possible to detain them a moment.\ A perusal of the preceding extracts cannot fail to shake the faith of the most strenuous advocates for reliance on militia as *a general defence. Never was a point more ably or convincingly enforced. The immense importance of the subject — the mighty errors that prevail on it — and the ruinous consequences those er- rors may entail on us — will, 1 trust, fully justify such long de- tails. The following positions are clearly and irresistibly established : 1. That the expense of militia is exorbitantly great. 2. That they cannot be reduced to that strictness of discipline which is indispensibly necessary in all armies. 3» That the period of service is so short, that it expires before they can acquire military skill. 4. That whatever be the emergency, when the period of ser- vice has expired, the militia cannot be retained in service, with- out solicitation, utterly destructive of subordination. I am well aware, that there are illustrious exceptions to these observations. The militia have, in many instances, made a grand and glorious display of all the military virtues, in as high a de- gree as the bravest veterans. They have defeated equal and su- perior numbers of troops of the latter description : witness Platts- burg. New Orleans, &c. But these cases do not form the rule. They are the exceptions. And whatever instances may be pro- duced to invalidate my positions, can be outnumbered ten-fold. But I studiously draw a veil over the subject. To any man of reason and common sense, who reflects on the mode of selection, or who inspects a body of drafted militia, it must be obvious that the system is radically wrong. CHAPTER LXIX. Conscription or classification of the militia to fill up the armij^ the most impartial and efficacious mode. A measure of the American revolution. Plan borrowed by France. General Knox' s plan. I NOW undertake to establish my fifth position, " that the sys- tem of classification is the most impartial, the most efficacious, ^ Idem, page 200. \ Idem, page 201. 3J^g POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [chap. 6$. and the least oppressive mode of calling the militia into service, of any of the plans that have ever been devised." This mode of calling the militia into service, applies to, and bears equally upon, the whole body throughout the nation, with- out exception. This is a characteristic of impartiality and jus- tice, peculiar to this system ; and, had it no other advantage, would entitle it to a decided preference over every other. That it is most efficacious is equally clear. The service is entirely voluntary. No man is obliged to serve who does not find himself qualified, and who has any aversion whatever to the service, because there is not an individual in the country who cannot pay his proportion of the expense of hiring a substitute. It is needless to prove, as it must be self-evident to the most su- perficial observer, that there is an incalculable difference in point of efficiency between any number of men, who, being drafted by lot, are foixed to serve, whether they choose or not, and the same number of men who enter the service of their own free will. That this system is the least oppressive, is equally indisputable. According to the prevailing militia systems, every man dralted must either serve, or send a substitute at his own individual ex- pense. In all the states, heavy, and, to the poor, ruinous fines, are imposed on delinquents. Thirty-three dollars, which is the fine in Massachusetts, is an enormous sum to a poor person, which forces him into the sen' ice, however reluctant or unfit for duty. Whereas, according to the classification plan, all the per- sons liable to militarj- service throughout the state, or states, as the case may be, would contribute their respective quotas to- wards paying those who might offer their services, or who might be enlisted, if enlistment w ere necessary, which it rarely would be. This contribution would, in no case operate oppressively. My sixth proposition is " that the classification system pre. vailed during the revolution." All that is necessary to prove this, is to refer the reader to the following extracts from the laws of Pennsylvania and New-Jer- sey, which were similar in substance to those enacted in the other states. " And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the commission- ers of the city and several counties of this state respectively, -or any two of them, sliall direct the assessors of the several townsliips, wards, and districts, in the said city and counties respectiveh', to meet on or before the first day of February next, at the usual place of holding courts in. the said city and counties respectively, or at such other place or places where the said commissioners shall think most convenient ; and shall then and there, in conjunction with the said assessors, proceed to class the taxable persons and property within the said city and counties respectively, in such manner that the said propertv, together with a proportionable sum on all taxable single freemen, shall be divided into as many equal parts as the cjuotaof men, which the said city and counties res- pectively arc by this wt required to eijist, shall consist of, paying due regard CHAP. 69.] ^nLITIA DEFENCE. 379 to the ease and convenience of the inhabitants, by including' those who reside near each other within the same class; and shall transmit to the several clashes, by persons by them to be appointed for that service, an order in '.miing, under the hand'i of the said commissio7iers, or any two of I hem, with a duplicate annexed, containing^ the numes of each a7id everif person composing the same, requiring each ef:he said classes TO ENLIST DURING THE WAR, ANDDELIVER TO THE PROPER OFFICER, ONE ABLE BODIED RECRUIT WITHIN FIFTEEN DAYS THEREAFTER."* " And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the commission- ers of the city and several counties of this state respectively, or any two of them, shall forthwith transmit to the several classes, classed by virtue of an act of the assembly of this state, entitled, " An act to complete the quota of the federal army assigned to this state," passed the twenty-third of December, one thou- sand seven hundred and eighty, by persons to be by them appointed for that service, an order in writing' under their hands, with a duplicate annexed, con- taining- the names of each and every person composing such class, recpdring each of the said classes to enlist for the term of eigliieen months as aforesaid, and DELIVER TO THE PROPER OFFICER, ONE ABLE BODIED RECRUIT WITHIN FIFTEEN DAYS. " And be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, Tliat if any class or classes shall jieglect or refuse to enlist one able bodied recridt as aforesaid, within the time limited and directed, or to make return thereof to the assessors of the proper township, ward, or district, it shall and may be lawful for the said commission- ers, or township, ward, or district assessors, or any of them, and they are hereby authorized and required, to enhst for the tei-m aforesaid, and deliver to the pro- per officer, one able bodied recruit, in behalf of such class or classes, respec- tively ; and that it shall and may be lawful for the said commissioners, town- ship, ward, or district assessors, or either of them, v\here such neglect or refu- sal sliall happen, to proceed and le\y, in the manner directed by the laws now in force for levying and collecting other pubhc taxes, on the class or classes so neglecting or refusing, the sum agreed to be paid by the said commissioners, township, ward, or district assessors, or any of them, to the said recruit, and the reasonable expenses accruing thereupon, in proper proportions, according to the last pubhc tax levied thei-ein ; wliich they are hereby enjoined and dii-ect- ed to do within two days after such recruit shall be enlisted. " Be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid. That the commissioners of the several counties respectively, shall provide and keep a book, into which they shall enter in numerical order the several delinquent classes, as they shall be returned to them, and sh.aU enlist recruits for the said delinquent classes, accorchng to their respective numbers; and in like manner levy and collect fhe sums imposed on tliem respectively by this act."f "The several colonels or commanding officers of regiments and battalions of this state, shall cause the several companies of militia in their respective regi- ments or battalions, to be divided into eight parts, to be called classes, as near- ly equal as may be, and numbered, from one to eight, in numerical order : and the captains shall cause the names and surnames of the persons in the respec- tive companies, with the classes to which each belongeth, to be returned to the colonels or commanchng officers respectively, at such time as they shall appoint within six days after such division shall be made. "Sect. 5. That the captain general, or commander in chief for the time be- ing, in case of invasion or rebelhon within this state, or in case any part of the militia of this state shall be requested by congress, to assist tiie continental ar- my, in this or any of the adjoining states, may and is hereby empowered to caWinto actual service, any part of the militia, not exceeding one haf, by classes, as afore- said, as to him shall seem necessary ,• the first draft to be composed of number one of each company : and in case that shall not be sufficient for the emergen- cy, then number two shall be drawn ; and so on, by classes, from time to time, as occasion may require. "^ * Laws of Pennsylvania, 1780, chap. cxci. page 428. f Idem, page 5QK i. L.aws of New .Jersey, Marcli 15, and September 23, 1777. 38» POLiriCAL OLIVE BRANCH. [chap. 69. In the cases of persons refusing or declining to serve, or to furnish a substitute, the sixth section provides for the seizure and sale of their goods, for the purpose of hiring substitutes. By these laws, each class was obliged to furnish an able bo- died recruit — either one of its own number, or a person to be enlisted by it, and at the joint expense of the memloers — which is precisely the idea of the secretary of state and of Mr.. Giles. This is, I presume, conclusive. This relieves the system of classification from the odium attached to it as a discovery of the French republic, which has had more credit in this respect than it deserves. It took the plan at second hand from the sages and heroes of the American revolution. My next point is to prove, " that the classification or conscrip- tion system, most elaborately matured by General Knox, and stamped with the seal of General Washington's approbation, was more strict in its provisions than any of the recent plans." General Knox addressed his system to President Washington. It bears date, January 18, 1790 — and the letter which prefaces it, has the following introduction : *' Having' submitted to your consideration, a plan for tlie an-angement of the militia of the United States, which I had presented to the late congress of the United States, and you having apjiroved of the general principles thereof, w/iA rertain exceptions, 1 now respectfully lay the same before you, modified accord' ing to the alterations you were phased to snsi's^est." From this plan, approved, as we see, and submitted to con. gress by General Washington, I annex an extract, amply ade- quate to prove, that it bore the essential features which belong to the system of defence vvhich v.'as lumted down by the folly and madness of faction and sedition. In fact, it was much more strict and severe in its details, than either of those digested by the secretary at war or Mr. Giles — that enacted in New York — or the one rejected by the sapient legislature of Pennsylvania. None of the recent plans contemplated service beyond 45 years — whereas, Gen. Knox carried his views to a third class, to be coi^posed of citizens between 46 and 60 years. His plan likewise contemplated compulsory service of the mariners, who, as we shall see, were to be subject to conscription. Extracts from Getieral Knox's plan for the gerieral arrangement of the militia of the United States, submitted to congress by General Washhjgton, January 179G, and publis/ied by order of tlie house of representatives of the United States. " An energetic national militia is to be regarded as the capital security of a free republic, and not a standing army, forming a distinct class in the commu- ^ty. " The period of life in which military service shall be required of the citi- zens of the United States, to commence at 18, and tenninate at tlie ag-e of 60 years. " The men comprehended by this description, exclusive of such exceptions as the legislatures of the respective states may think proper to make, and all CHAP. 69.] MILITIA DEFENCE. 381 actual mariners, shall be enrolled for different degrees of military duty, and di- vided into distinct classes. " The 1st class shall comprehend the youth of 18, 19, and 20 years of ag'e, to be denominated the advanced corps. " The 2d class shall include the men from 21 to 45 years of age, to be deno"- lainated the main corps. " The 3d class shall comprehend inclusively the men from 46 to 60 years of age, to be denominated the reserved corps. " All the mihtia of the United States shall assume the form of the legion, which shall be the permanent establishment thereof. *' A legion shall consist of 153 commissioned officers, and 2880 non-commis- sioned officers and privates. " The companies of all the corps shall be divided into sections of 12 each. It is proposed by this division, to establish one uniform vital principle, which in peace and war shall pervade the militia of the United States. " All requisitions for men to form an army, either for state or federal pur- poses, shall be furnished by the advanced and main corps, by means of the sec- tions. "The executive government, or commander in chief of the militia of each stiite, will assess the numbers required on the respective legions of these corps. " The legionary general will direct the proportions to be furnished by each part of his command. Should the demand be so great as to require ojie 7nanfrom each section, then the operations hereby directed shall be performed by single sections. But if a less number should be required, tliey will be furnished by an associa- tion of sections or companies, according to the demand. In any case, it is pro- bable that mutual convenience may dictate an agreement with an individual to perform the service required. If, however, no agreement can be made, one must be detached by an indiscriminate draft, and the others sliall pay liim a sum of money equal to the averaged sum which sliall be paid in the same legion for the voluntary performance of the services required. " In case any section or company of a legion, after having furnished its own quota, should have more men willing to engage for the service required, other companies of tlie same legion shall have permission to engage them — the same rule to extend to the different legions of the state. " The legionary general must be responsible to the commander in chief of the military of the state, that the men furnished are according to the descrip- tion, and that they are equipped in the manner, and marched to the rendez- vous, conformably to the orders for that purpose. " The men ivho may be drafted, shall not serve more than three years at one time. " ^11 the actual mariners or seamen in the respective states shall be registered iji districts, and divided into txvo classes — the first class to consist of all the seavien from the age of 16 to 30 years inclusively — the second class to consist of all those from the age of 21 to 45 inclusively. " The first class shall be responsible to serve three years on board of some public armed vessel or ship of 7var, as a commissioned officer, or private marine, for which they shall receive the customary wages and emoluments. " The 2d class shall be responsible for a portion of sei-vice i/i those cases to tuhick the first class shall be uneqiial — the number required shall be furnished by sec- tions, in the same manner as is prescribed for the sections of the militia." " The advanced legions, in all cases of invasion or rebellion, shall, on requi- sition of the lawful authority, be obliged to march to any place ivithin the United States, to remain embodied for such time as shall be directed, not to exceed one year, to be compntedfrom the time of marching from the regimental parade ,- diu-ing the period of their being on such service, to be placed on the continental esta- blishment of pay, subsistence, clothing, forage, tents, camp equipage, and all such other allowances as are made to federal troops, at the same time and un- der the same circumstances. O. B. 50 382 POLITICAL OLIVE BRAlSiCH. [cha?. 69. " The common mode of recruiting is attended with too great destruction of mo- rals to be tolerated ; and is too jincertain to be the principal resource of a wise nation in time of danger. The public tUitli is frequently wounded by unwor- thy individuals who hold out delusive promises which can never be realized. By such means an unprincipled banditti are often colle<*fed, for the purpose of defending' every thing that should be dear to freemen. The consequences are natural. Such men either desert in time of danger, or are ever ready, on the slightest disgust, to turn their arms against their country. By the establishment of the sections, an ample and permanent source is opened, \s lie nee the state in everv exigency may be supplied with men whose all depends on the pros- perity of tlieir country." I request the reader will duly weigh these extracts, and will examine the admirable plan, at large, which ought to immortal- ize the memory of General Knox. It is to be hoped, that the day is not far distant, when the adoption of such a system will place a rampart around our firesides and our families, which might bid defiance to all the hosts of Europe combined, were they to attempt our subjugation. This would far excel the famous Chinese wall, built to guard against the incursions of the Tar- tars — or the Pictish wall of the Roman general Agricola. I cannot pass over one incident connected with this affair, which shews, in a striking point of light, the delusion which the spirit of faction excites. After the noble, efficient systems of the secretary at war and Mr. Giles fell sacrifices to the convul- sive struggles in congress for power — and after, of course, the countrv was thus left in a manner defenceless and exposed to the inroads of a powerful enemy, the house of delegates of the state of Maryland published an address to Rufus King, Esq. lavishing compliments on him for his services in defeating those plans of defence, and thereby subjecting their houses, their wives, their children, their parents, and themselves, to the mer- cy of Cockburns and Gordons ! ! ! " Resolved, that the thanks of this house, in behalf of the freemen of Mary- land, be, and they are hereby presented to the honourable llufus King, of the senate of t!ic United States, for the seasonable and successful interposition of his experienced wisdom and influence of character, in avertimr the maditated operation of a measure, hosti/e to the iminunitii's of conxtitutioiial freedom, offensive to the pure crenius uf ind'ljendence, und fraiijrftt ~vith coimequenre.i habftd and appall- ing to the !'' Of the style of these denunciations and threats, I annex a fair and full specimen, from the Gazette of the United States, October 22, 1808. 592 POLITICAL OLIA'E BRANCH. [chap, 72 « If the news this day received, of an actual declaration of war by Bonaparte, should prove true, the traitoroim emissaries of JVapoleon, who every where abound in the countrv, iviU find it necessary to loiver their tone. What can be tolerated in time of peace, THE PEOPLE WILL NOT BEAR IN TIME OF WAR. Tlie advocates of French despotism ymist either go to their wasters, or be more cautious in their language. It is true, that France has, to all intents and purposes, been making war upon us these twelve months. But as it has not been declared in form, and as our government have not thought proper to make any opposition, the papers of Napoleon, and his agents of every description, have hitlierto been suffered to carry on their intrigues, and to promote the cause of their master by every means which they chose to adopt. WE MUST NOW COR- RECT THE PROCEDURE." One other newspaper specimen of an earlier period, from the Baltimore Federal Gazette, July 5, 1798 — " I believe that some of the old French leaven still remains among us ; and that some vile and degenerate wretches, whom I call French partisans, or Ame- rican jacobins, \v\\\ not join any military associations, or patriotic loan, but discou- rage them as far as they dare ; these men should be carefully watched : and if they should artfully attempt to form any military corps, (and they will be known by the character of their officers and privates) notice should be given to our federal and state GOVEa]srMENTS, to prevent commissions issuing for ivant of infor- mation.^^ These specimens are, I presitme, enough of this description. I now proceed to detail the sentiments of three clergymen, who have rendered themselves conspicuous by their rancorous hostility to the administrations of Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Madi- son — the Rev. Jedidiah Morse, the Rev. David Osgood, and the Rev. Elijah Parish. I have no recent sermon of Dr. Morse's : but of the anti -christian spirit that predominates in the late ser- mons of the two latter gentlemen, I have given abundant proofs and specimens in the 56th chapter of this work. Let us examine what were their sentiments when the administration was in the hands of their own party. Never wms there a stronger contrast. And first, of Dr. Parish. This reverend gentleman delivered an address, on the 4th of July, 1799, which breathes in every page the most devoted submission to rulers, the most decided support of their measures, and the most virulent fulminations against the opposers of the government. Its spirit may be rea- dily conceived from the following short specimen : — «It is a time of day that requires cautious jealousy ; not jealousy of your magistrates, fur you have given them yonv confidence ,- but of those wlio slander their administration. To be jealous of your i-ulers would be, as if a person were to choose a bride from all the beauties of tlie world, and then instantly without cause, be jealous of her alone. Your fmblic characters are your own choice. Watcli those ungrateful souls who murmur about taxation and oppression, tlie burdens of govei-'nment and religion. They have fellowship with our enemies— they are trailm-s to God and Christianity. Be jealous of those who declami against alien and sedition laws. They probably have a hankering for lying and rebellion themselves. In a word, let honest men, let the friends of Cod and hu- manity, spurn from their embrace every man who t.-ifles with his father's reli- gion, the hope and salvation of the world ; who alarms weak minds with the de- signs of government ,- who discourages tlie Tnost formidable means of defence. It was the sword which gave courage to declare independence. Such is tlie present CHAP. 72.] WONDEEFUL CONTRAST. 393 state of human nature, that NOTHING BUT THE SWORD CAN DEFEND OUR INDEPENDENCE. Never, never while there is a crimson drop in your hearts will vou suffer an armed foe to breatiie your native air. — CURSED BE HE THAT KEEPETH RACK HIS SWORD FROM BLOOD. LET HIM THAT HATH NONE, SELL HIS COAT AND BUY ONE. THE CONTEST IS DESIRABLE." How shall we account for this ravenous thirst for blood — this invocation of the sword — this elaborate defence of the constitu- ted authorities — how reconcile it with the pacific spirit, the de- nunciations of war, and the malignant abuse of the administra- tion, which are to be found in chapter 56 ? There is only one conceivable clue — and that is, when blood was called for, it was French blood — French blood — French blood that was to flow. Next I exhibit the Rev. Dr. Osgood. A convention of con- gregational ministers agreed to an address to president Adams, in May, 1798, which was signed by that gentleman among Others. I annex a short extract : " We remember Christ's command to forgive and love our most injurious enemies. But neither the law of Christianity or of reason requires us to pros- trate our national independence, freedom, propertij, and honour, at the feet of proud, insatiable oppressors. Such a prostration would be treason against that Being who gave us our inestimable privileges, civil and religious, as a sacred deposit, to be defended and transmitted to posterity. It would be criminal unfaithfulness and treachery to oui' country, our children, and the wliole human race. " The intimate connexion between our civil and Christian blessings is alone sufficient to justify the decided part whicli the clergy of Jlmerica have uniformly taken IN SUPPORTING THE CONSTITUTED AUTHORITIES am} political interests of their coiintry," Next follows the Rev. Jedidiah Morse, whose eloquence and sound reasoning " in olden timc^^'' cannot fail to excite the ap- probation of the reader. The following extracts are from a ser- mon delivered by this reverend gentleman, May 9, 1798. " Our newspapers teem with slander and personal invective and abuse. Our rulers, grown grey, many of them, in the service of their country ; who, in the various dignified and responsible offices they have filled, have discharged their duties with great ability and incon-uptible integi'ity, are yet stigmatized conti- nually, as unfriendly to the rights and liberties of the people, and to the true interests of their country. Our government itself, the most perfect, the best administered, the least burdensome, and most happifying to the people, of any on earth, is yet steadily opposed in all its important measures ; and regular and continual efforts are made to " stop its wheels." " .'is citizens lue ought ruith one heart cleave to, and sjipport, o^ir oiun govern- ment. It is a government of otir o-vn forming, and administered by men of our oiuji choice ; and therefore claims onr confidence and support. , Tie ought to repel, imth indignation, every suggestion and slanderous insinuation, calculated to iveaken a pist confidence in the rectitude of the intentions of our constituted authorities. Jill sitch insi?iuations, at this critical period, proceed from an influence hostile to our peace ,- and if permitted to have their intended effect, MAY ACCOMPLISH THE PUR- POSES OF OUR ENEmES, IN OUR DIVISION, AND THE OVERTHROW OF OUR GOVERNMENT. While, on the one hand, we would avoid passive obedience and non-resistance, let us not vibrate i.'ito the other extreme, and be- lieve it a duty to be jealous and suspicious of every thing which Is done by our rulers. We thought them honest men, and friends to their country, when we elected them into office : and what have they since done to forfeit our good opimon ? /pet tUeix measwes be examined ^^ ith candoiu-, and we shall assured- 394 POLITICAL OUVE BRANCH. [chap. 72. ly sa)^, they degei-ve -ivell of their country. In this moment of our political danger, let us be impressed with this truth— that— "United we stand— divided we fall." The increasing union among us, and the revival and expression of the true American spirit, are tokens for good, and augur well in regard to our pohtical interests. " To tl\£ unfriendly disposition and conduct of a f or eig-n power, ive may ascribe the unhappy divisions that have existed amon^ us, -which have so greatly disturbed our peace, and threatened the overthrow of our government. Their maxim, to which i hey have strictly and steadily adhered, has been, "Divide, and govern." Their too great influence among us has been exerted vigorously, and in conformity to a eleep-laid plan, in cherishing party spirit, in vilifying the men we ha-ve, by our free suffrages, elected to administer our constitution : and they have thus endeavoured to destroy the confidence of the people in the constituted authorities, and di- vide tlaem from the government." A comparison of these doctrines with the doctrines and prac- tice of the Rev. Messrs. Osgood and Parish, in 1812, 1813, and 1814, as exhibited in chap. 56, must excite the most painful sen- sations in the mind of every man who feels for the honour of his species. It is impossible for the human mind to conceive of a more striking contrast — a more deplorable instance of infatuation and delusion — or a more awful memorial of, and memento against, human weakness. From the pulpit, I descend to the civil walk — and submit the opinion of Governor Oilman in 1798, from an address to the le- gislature, with the echo from both houses. From Governor Gilman''s speech to the legislature of JVe^v-Hampshire. " Perfection in Iiuman affairs is not to be expected : to satisfy every citizen is next to impossible. But if our system of national government is generally good ; if it is free ; if we have the choice as frequently as we wish, of persons to ad- minister it ; if one of the fundamental and irreversible principles in a republi- can government, is, that a majority shall govern ,- is it not proper to give a. firm fnipport to the laws and administration of such a government, and for every citizen duly to consider how far clamour and opposition thereto has invited or procured, or may invite or procure, injuries from any foreign nation ?' Extract from the answer of the senate to the above address. " Convinced that our national government is formed on the surest basis of li- berty; that the majority ought to rule ; that we have an opportunity as often as we can rationally wish, to change and elect our rulers, we view it as the palla- dium of our rights, and entitled to our firmest support. "Althougli jealousy is a laudable trait in a political character, yet when very scrupulously exercised towards the administrators of government, it may tend to Lessen the confidence of a people in their mlei-s — and we view with regret and in- dignation the faction that clamours for the destruction of our peace and government^ and conceive its only sowceto be the dregs of successive foreign anarchy, operating on the weak and vicious." Extract from the answer of the house. " As the constitution of the government was framed by the wisest and best men ; was adopted after a candid discussion, and upon mature deliberation, without violence or tumult ; it belongs to us to repose proper confidence in the of- ficers of our own choice, and wihingly afford effective aid to that government which we have instituted for the common good. The beneficial effects of the constitution of the United Stat.s have been generally felt, and acknowledged to be far greater than were at first expected. A spirit of inquiry into the princi- ples of a govei'nment, and the mode of its administration, pertains to.a free people. But when that spirit becomes intemperate, and its designs are TO PRO- MOTE OPPOSITION, TO DIVIDE AND WEAKEN THE GQVEfi^MENT, CHAP. 72.J WONDERFUL CONTRAST. 39S IT MAY EMBOLDEN FOREIGN POWERS TO INVADE OUR RIGHTS, and embarrass the measures necessary to obtain redress. Wherever such a restless, un- easy temper appears, we will lend oiu- firmest aid to discourage and correct it." Extract from an address of a meeting' of federalists at Elizabeih-to-wn, Sept. 1798. " United we are able to protect ourselves without any foreign aid, against all attacks from abroad. But agitated by factious opposition to our government, which is our only rallying point against danger, and weakened by internal dis- sensions, we invite the invasion of foreign powers, expose ourselves to fall an easy prey, or to form unequal alliances for our safety. Let us seriously ask our- selves who is it that do most towards increasing our expenses and our taxes, in- viting the invasion of foreign powers, weakening our means ofdefen(fe, and driving us to form European alliances . — whether they who are active to pix)- mote miion, to support government, to prepare to repel hostility ; or those who busily engender divisions ,- revile our own government ; indiscriminately censure, and (as tar as they dare) oppose all its acts ; refuse to repair to its standard ; en- deavour to paralize all its efforts, and encourage every disposition to sedition." This is a handsome piece of composition, and reflects credit on its author. It contains important and instructive lessons on political economy. It is one proof among millions to be found in the history of mankind, how much easier it is to preach than to practice. Had the opposers of the late war borne these doctrines in mind, and regulated their conduct by them, they would be able to cast a retrospective eye on their past proceedings with more comfort and satisfaction than they can at present. — " Uni- ted., zve are able to protect ourselves against all attacks from abroad^'' is a sacred truth, worthy of being borne in eternal re- membrance. — ^" Agitated by factious opposition to our govern- ment^ which is our only rallying point against danger, and weak- ened by internal dissentions, xve ijivitc the invasion of foreign powers, and expose ourselves to fall an easy prey.'' How la- mentable it is, that the proposers, patrons, and members of the Hartford convention, who, " agitated the country by a factious opposition to the government^'' did not reflect that they were, in tones of thunder, by every step they took, " inviting the invasion of a foreign enemy," exposing their native country " to fall an easy prey," and " paralizing all its efforts," as well as " encou- raging every disposition to sedition !" Let us hear a few more admonitory lines from the same quarter ; — " The time is at length come, when all inferior disputes are to be laid aside, or to be offered a sacrifice for the general good. — Whatever the objections, if any, we have had, against any part of the acts of our administration, ought to be entirely suppressed, or at least suspended, till the dangers which threaten vs from luithout are 07>ercome or vanquished. In this great object of general concern and safety, we have one common and inseparable interest, and should therefoi-e unite in one common language and exertion." This is a fertile topic, and might be commented on to a great extent.* But I trust I have " mack out 7ny case^^ completely, and • Some of the extracts in this chapter and in the 56th, are taken from an ex- cellent little pamphlet, published in New-Hampshire, and entitled " An address to the clergy of New England, on their opposition to the rulers of the United fe'tates. Bv'a Lavmtm." 396 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [chap. 73. that it would be extreme supererogation to enter into any further detail. CHAPTER LXXIII. Viezv of the prosperity of the United States^ during the various administrations* Mighty errors prevalent on this topic. A VERY large portion of our citizens have imbibed a deep and rooted impression, that from the period when the administration of tha general government was withdrawn from the hands of the federalists, and placed in those of their political opponents, the prosperity of the nation began rapidly to decay. They believe that during the presidency of General Washington and that of Mr. Adams, particularly the former, our political and commer- cial sun had ascended to its meridian height ; that even previous to the embargo and restrictive system generally, it had, under the administration of Mr. Jefferson descended towards the hori- zon ; that those measures sunk it far below, whence it is neyer to rise, till the powers of the general government, legislative and executive, are restored to the '■'■ genuine sons ofJVashingtorC^ — nui-tured in his bosom — formed in his school — imbued with his maxims — and determined to tread in his footsteps, and to follow his illustrious example. The universal prevalence of these opinions among the federal- ists of this country, will hardly be controverted. I doubt whe- ther there is a man among them, from the highest grade of intel- lect down to the opposite extreme, who does not regard it as im- pertinence and presumption to call them in question. And the prevalence of the impression is not wonderful. The assertions have been so often repeated, with so much confidence, and in so manv shapes and forms, that it was not in human nature for the federalists to withhold assent. It is well known that mankind lend an easy credence to those opinions that flatter their vanity, olTer incense to their pride, tend to promote their interest, or to gratify their ambition. The prevalence of these opinions has produced most delete- rious consequences. It has embittered fellow-citizens against each other with the most virulent animosity. The federalists, persuaded that their antagonists have impaired the honour, and happiness, and pi-osperity of our common country, have regarded them with sentiments of rancour, and hatred, and disgust. And if their views of the case were correct, their opponents would be fit objects of those hostile feelings. It would be laudable to strain every nerve to expel from power men whose whole course had proved them unworthy of it. The angry passions raging on one side, enkindle their likeness in the brea'^ts of their opponents, who are deeply exasperated at the injustice they believe them- CHAP. 7S.] AAIERICAN PROSPERITY. 397 selves to have experienced from their adversaries. This is per- fectly natural. And time, which in- all common cases possesses the property of diminishing the force of passion, is unfox'tunately deprived of this salutary power, by the zeal and activity of those who find an interest in fomenting public discord. And that there are many of our citizens of this description, possessed of great talents, great industry, and great influence, cannot be denied. If the allegations against the democratic administrations were true, I should most heartily and cordially pray for a change of our rulers. I am not in love with ruin or disgrace. And far from being willing to sacrifice the honour, or happiness, or inte- rest of a great nation for the advantage of a president, vice-pi^e- sident, and a few secretaries, &c. &c. there are no ten thousand men of either party who, for a single second, ought to be put in- to the scale against a tenth part, not to say the whole of the nation. I believe that such are the sentiments of the democrats ge- nerally. I am convinced that if they could be persuaded that Mr. Jefferson or Mr. Madison had sacrificed the interests or the honour of their country, they would unhesitatingly prefer Ru- fus King, Timothy Pickering, George Cabot, or De Witt Clin- ton. Perish the rnan, whoever he be, who would offer up the happiness of millions to promote the interests or the views of a few ! This subject well deserves the most serious consideration. It will amply repay the time bestowed on it by the reader. If the opinions, which I have stated, be correct, they ought to be as ge- Derally promulgated as possible ; no pains nor exertions ought to be spared in order to illuminate the minds of those who dis- believe them. If they be erroneous, the sooner and more com- pletely they are detected, exposed, and " consigned to the tomb of the Capulets," the better. And I trust there is no upright, candid federalist, that would wish the elevation or the influence of his party to be promoted, or regained, or perpetuated by the prevalence of error. He would scorn to be wafted to power by the unhallowed means of delusion. The chief criteria, whereby to decide upon the decay or pros- perity of nations, may be reduced to six heads. 1. Domestic industry and improvements in all their various branches. 2. Foreign commerce. 3. Increase or decrease of revenue. 4. Discharge or accumulation of debts. 5. Navigation. 6. Population — whether stationary, increasing, or decreasing. I shall slightly touch on each of these. O. B. ' 52 39a FOLITICAL OLIVE BlliVNCH [chap. 73 SECT. I. Domestic hidiistnj and improvements. The first item, which is the most important, and embraces by far the greatest sum of human happiness, does not afford those marked and decisive documents or data, that the custom houses and other public offices furnish for the remaining five. The progress of national industry sheds its beneficent influence around, without glare or ostentation. Hamlets become villages — villages become towns — towns become cities — and cities double their po- pulation — almost unobserved. There are few or no documents to establish the facts. They are yet, on due investigation, tan- gible and strikingly visible. Nevertheless, from the extreme scarcity of data or documents, I was almost wholly discouraged from entering on this part of the subject, and disposed to appeal to the readers personal observations for the rapid advances of domestic industry, and the general improvement of the country. But I have judged it better to avail myself of the few I possess, which are gleaned from Blodget's Economica, than pass the sub- ject over in silence. They are principally estimates, and cannot therefore be supposed to be entirely correct. But they are suffi- cient to answer the purposes of comparison, which is all the ob- ject I have in view. 1. In tillage — Anno 1797 Acres 9,600,00 1801 10,500,00 1805 11,400,000 2. Meadows and fallow grounds — 1797 9,500,000 1801 9,900,000 1805 10,350,000 9. \ 3. Total improved lands— 1797 35,600,000 1801 37,400,000 1805 39,400,000 1807 39,990,000 4. Value of cultivated lands per acre- 1801 S5.60 1805 6.25 5. Horses — 1797 990,000 1801 1,070,000 1805 1,200,000 1807 1,300,000 6. Horned Cattle— 1797 1801 1805 1807 7. Bank notes 1797 1801 1804 2,220,000 2,500,000 2,950,000 3,200,000 in circulation — » S 10,000,000 11,000,000 14,000,000 1897 S 18,000,000 8. Metallic medium — 1797 1801 1804 1806 1807 g 16,000,000 17,000,000 17,500,000 18,500,000 20,000,000 aluation of real and personal tate— g 2,190,500,000 2,430,500,000 2,502,000,000 2,518,000,000 es- 1797 1801 1804 1807 10. 1797 1801 1804 1807 Toll Bridges- No. Capital Stock, g 1,100,000 1,860,000 2,000,000 15 25 30 48 11. Turnpikes and Canals — 1797 25 ^2,300,000 1801 33 3,050,000 1805 48 4,900,000 1807 82 12. Insurance Companies — • 1797 9 S 3,300,000 1801 22 6,000,000 1804 40 10,000,000 1807 17,000,000 CHAP. 73. AMERICAN PROSPERITY. 199 13 Banks. 1803 S12,317,449 No. Capital Stock. 1806 19,553,890 1797 25 S19,200,000 Anno 1801. 1810 1801 31 22,400,000 16. No. of post offices— 957 — 2403 1805 39 39,500,000 Length of roads tra- 1807 86 50,000,000 velled by mails— 21,840 37,035 14. Cash in treasarv — Weekly transporta- 1797 §888,998 tion in stages 24,490 46,380 1801 3,295,391 Weekly transporta- 1803 4,824,821 tion in sulkies or 1806 4,538,105 on horseback— 34,380 61,171 1807 9,643,842 Amount of weekly 15. Custom house bonds. transportation — 58,870 L33,551 1797 §10,405,091 Yearly transporta- 1801 15,237,527 tion— 3,057,964 5,592,652 Of the above items, the nhie first are, as I have stated, mere- ly estimates. From the nature of the case, they could not be otherwise. But they afford tolerable data for calculations and comparisons of the advancement of the prosperity of the coun- try. The next six items, the toll bridges, tiunpikes, and canals, insurance companies, banks, cash in the treasury, and custom house bonds, were derived from actual documents, procured by the unwearied exertions of the author of the Economica. The last item is extracted from a recent post office publication. Section II. Foreign commerce, I proceed to the second criterion of national prosperity. And here the documents are full, complete, and irresistible. They deserve, and I hope will receive the most particular attention. The federal government was organized and went into opera- tion in 1789. No tables of exports were, however, published for that or the succeeding year. They began in 1791. I am, there- fore, limited to six years of General Washington's administratioij. Let it be observed, that from 1791 till 1802 inclusively, there was no discrimination, in the official tables of exports, between American productions and manufactures, and those foreign arti- cles which were re-exported from the countrv. This renders the comparison less complete than it would otherwise have been. Exports from the United fitates, President Washington. 1791 §19,012,000 1792 20,753,000 1793 26,109,000 1794 33,026,000 1795 47,989,000 1796 67,064,000 174,188,000 President Adams, 1797 §56,850,000 1798! 61,527,000 1799 78;66o,000 domestic and foreign. 1800 70,971,000 President Jefferson. 1801 §94,115,000 72,483,000 55,800,000 77,699,000 -268,013,000 1802 1803 1804 1805 1806 1807 1808 95,566,000 101,536,300 108,343,000 22,430,000 -300,097,000 ■327,875,000 400 POIJTICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [chat. 73. President Madison. 1809 52,203,000 1810 66,757,000 1811 61,376,000 1812 38,527,000 1813 27,855,000 246,718,000 Exportation of American productions and manvf admires. President Madison. President Jefferson. | 1803 42,205,000 1804 41,467,000 1805 42,387,000 1806 41,253,000 1807 48,699,000 1808 9,433,000 225,444,000 1809 31,405,000 1810 42,366,000 1811 45,294,000 1812 32,658,000 1813 25,008,000 176,73 1,000 Annual average of America?! exports ^foreign and domestic. 1. During presidency of General Washington, §35,500,000 2. During that of Mr. Adams, 67,000,000 3. For the whole of General Washington's and 1 ^^ ^59 OOO Mr. Adams's presidency, J ' ' 4. During Mr. Jefferson's first period, 75,000,030 5. During his second, including a year of embargo, 81,900,000 6. For his whole term, 78,460,000 7. During Mr. Madison's first five years, includ- ") ^g ^^^ ^^^ ing a year and a half of war, J ' ' 8. For Mr. Jefferson's and Mr. Madison's 67,200,000 Average of domestic exports. 1. During six years of Mr. Jefferson's presiden- ") ^7 ^qq qqq cy, from 1803 till 1808 inclusive, J ' ' 2. During five years of Mr, Madison's, 35,300,000 3. For eleven years from 1803 to 1813, inclusive, 36,500,000 To the candid reader, desirous to form correct estimates of the affairs of his country, and to divest his mind of pernicious- errors, I venture earnestly to recominend a careful considera- tion of these tables. He will thereby be convinced, that from the year 1801 till 1807, inclusive, and until France and Eng- land commenced their disgraceful and unparalleled course of ra- pine and devastation, " preying on the unprotected commerce of a friendly power,'' the United States made as rapid progress in the career of prosperity and happiness, so far as respects fo- reign commerce, as any nation in the world has ever done. Section III. Revenue. The third criterion whereby to test the progress of the pros- perity of the United States, is the situation of its revenues. Decay and decrepitude are incompatible with their increase or advancement. I shall therefore state the net amount of the im- post of the United States, from 1791 to 1812, inclusive, taken from the official documents submitted to Congress by Joseph Nourse, Esq. Register General, in pursuance of the order of CHAP. 73.] AMERICAN PROSPERITY. 401 the house of representatives. Of the direct taxes I have not a statement — but they are unessential in the formation of a com- parison. President Washlng'ton. 1791 6,534,263 1792 4,614,924 11 I'lO 187 President Jefferson, 1801 13,362,702 1802 8,327,260 1803 11,322,427 1804 14,996,965 1793 6,073,512 1794 6,683,313 1795 7,959,409 :796 7,368,120 . '~>R 084 'i54 1805 14,978,880 1806 1^,015,317 1807 16,492,889 1808 7,176,985 iT/f, f,p,4 071 President Adams. 1797 8,258,111 1798 6,192,447 1799 9,035,348 1800 9,351,346 .... 1^ 837 '^T^ President Madison. 1809 7,138,676 1810 12,756,831 1811 7,888,863 1812 13,059,855 40,844,225 This table requires but little examination. It is decisive and overwhelming — and of itself would fully suffice to settle this great question. I subjoin the result : Average duties on impoi'ts. 1. General Washington's presidency, six years, ^ 6,500,000 2. Mr. Adams's four years 8,200,000 3. General Washington's and Mr. Adams's ten "J years. ; 7,200,000 4. Mr. Jefferson's first period of service, four years, 12,000,000 5. do. second period, four years, 13,000,000 6. Mr. Madison's first period, 10,210,000 7. Mr. Jefferson's and Mr. Madison's, twelve years, 11,956,000 It were needless to add comments. The most superficial reader cannot mistake — the most prejudiced dare not reject — the strong and irresistible evidence heix laid before the public. Section IV. National Debts. The next criterion of the decay or prosperity of a nation, is Its debts. It is self-evident, that a nation or an individual, whose debts are rapidly discharging, cannot be in a state of decay or depreciation. In order, therefore, to enable the reader to de- cide the question at issue by this criterion, I subjoin a statement of the national debt of the United States, on the first day of every year, from 1791 till 1812. Debt of the United States. President Washin^'ton. 1791 ^ 75,463,476 1792 77,227,924 1793 80,352,634 1794 78,427,404 1795 80,747,587 1796 83,762,172 Debt of tlie United States. President Adams. 1797 g 82,064,479 1798 79,228,529 1799 78,408,669 1800 82,976,204 4{)2 POLITICAL OUVE BRANCH {chap. 7Z. President Jefferson. 1801 83,038,U50 1802 80,712,632 1803 77,054,686 1804 86,427,120 J805 82,312,150 1806 75,723,270 1807 69,218,598 1808 65,196,317 President Madison. 1809 57,023,193 1810 53,172,302 1811 47,913,756 1812 45,120,150 This affords a most exhilarating view of the situation of the United States, and proves the utter fallacy of the prevailing opinions cm this topic. It appears incontestibly, that in twelve years of democratic administration, frorn 1801 to 1812, inclusive^, the debt was reduced from - $ 83,038,050 to ----- - 45,120,150 37,917,900 notwithstanding the purchase of \ 15 000 000 Louisiana for J ' ' which is an actual reduction of 52,918,900 And to increase our surprise and our rapturous joy at such a glorious view of the immense resources of our blessed country, one of the early measures of Mr. Jefferson's administration was the repeal of a catalogue of burdensome taxes.* Among the wonderful and inexplicable complaints and libels against the democratic administration was the repeal of these taxes. It is the first time in the history of the world, that the repeal of grinding, harassing, and degrading taxes was consider- ed as matter of accusation, or as an unpopular measure. The taxes repealed, were — t. The excise on stills and domes- tic distilled spirits. 2. On refmed sugar. 3. On licences to re- tailers. 4. Duties on pleasurable carriages. 5. Stamps. In some of the late very elaborate publications of Mr. Pick- ering, in which he employed his utmost talents and influence to dissuade his fellow citizens from subscribing to the government loans, a principal argument was deduced from the wickedness of the repeal of these taxes. And the Hartford convention, after drawing the most alarming picture of the hideous state of public affairs, in enumerating the means whereby " A high state of public prosperity .has undergone a miserable and afflicting reverse through the prevalence of a weak and profligate pohcy," expressly state, as the fourth cause — " 7Vie abolition of exiatin^ taxes, requisite to prepare the couiitry for those changes to -which nations are alwat/s exposed, -uAth a view to the acquisition of po^ pular favour." * As a farther proof how extravagantly erroneous the public opinion h.^s been on this svibject, the reader will observe, that the debt of the United States, at the commencement of 1801, when the federalists ceased to i-ule this country, was above 7,000,000 of dollars more than it had been in 1791. CHAP. 73.] AMERICAN PROSPERITY. «)2 I shall not attempt to decide — I leave that task to the mem- bers of the Hartford convention — with what propriety in De- cember, 1814, the distress, or difficulty, or embarrassment, or decay of the United States, real or supposed, could be ascribed to the repeal, in 1802, of taxes, some of them most odious, when such in the interim had been the overflowing state of the treasu- ry, that the public debt had been reduced 37^,918,900 dollars, ex- clusive of the purchase of Louisiana. This is a most extraordi- nary paradox. Section V. Navigatw?i. The increase or decrease of the tonnage of a commercial na^ tion, is an important criterion of the retrogradation or the ad- vancement of its prosperity. Let us calmly enquire into the in- dications deducible from this source. I lay before the reader a table of the tonnage of the United States from 1793 till 1812, inclusive. President Washington. Tons. 1793 491,789 1794 628,415 1795 747,961 1796 831,897 2,700,062 President Adams. 1797 876,910 1798 888,326 1799 946,407 1800 973,489 ^ 3,685,132 President Jefferson. 1801 1,032,216 1802 892,102 ^Lverage tonnage of last four years of General ") ^ , ,, ^^ Washington's presidency, J" ^ (^^^s. b^5,om of Mr. Adams's 921,000 of General Washington's and Mr. Adams's 79 ,000 of Mr. Jefferson's eight years, 1,097,000 of Mr. Madison's first period, ' 1,355,000 of Mr. Jefferson's and Mr. Madison's, 1,257,000 I trust that these statements cannot fail to prove the utter want of foundation of the idea that the prosperity of the United States, so far as respects navigation, has decayed, since the ehange of rulers. Notwithstanding the unprecedented depre- dations perpetrated on us by both belligerents, the tonnage of die nation has increased with a steady pace. The increase during the first period of Mr. Madison's administration, is really as- tonishing. Section VI. Population, The statements I shall give on this point are extracted from the census of 1800, the last year of the administration of the T071S. 1803 949,171 1804 1,042,402 <^ r)i «[ o<-)t 1805 1,140,366 1806 1,208,733 1807 1,268,545 1808 1,242,443 President Madison. 1809 1,350,178 1810 1,442,781 1811 1,414,770 1812 1,232,502 — — 5,440,231 404 POUTICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [chap. 73. federal party, and that of 1810, when their successors had held the reins of government for ten years, during which the perni- cious effects so generally ascribed to their system, must have had ample time to develope themselves. 1800. 1810. Population of Maine, 151,719 228,705 Vermont, 154,465 217,895 New Hampshire, 183,858 214,460 Massachusetts, 422,845 472,040 Connecticut, 251,002 261,942 New York, 586,050 959,049 New Jersey, 211,149 245,562 Pennsylvania, 602,835 810,091 Virginia, 886,149 974,622 North Carolina, 478,105 555,500 South Carolina, 345,591 415,115 Georgia, 162,686 252,433 Kentucky, 220,959 406,511 Tennessee, 105,602 261,727 Ohio, 230,760 455,365 City o^ New York, 60,529 96,373 City of Philadelphia and 1 ^ gg ogj, Liberties, J ' City of Baltimore, 26,614 ' 35,583 To^vn of Boston and rest") 28,614 34,381 ot Duttolk county J ' Newport, 6,739 7,907 Providence, 7,614 10,071 Nantucket, 5,617 6,807 Portsmouth, N. H. 5,339 6,934 New Haven, 4,049 6,967 Pittsburg, 1,565 4,768 Here are most incontrovertible proofs of the advancement of the United States in the road of happiness and prosperity. Every part of the union which did not labour under disadvantages from its crowded population, or its sterility, or the migration of its citizens, has made rapid strides in this glorious course. What a stupendous increase in the states of New- York, Pennsyl- vania, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ohio ! With what ineffable delight must every friend of his species contemplate these glorious scenes of expanding population, civilization, and happiness ! Agriculture, arts, manufactures, commerce, and sci- ence, spreading their holy empire where a few years past the wild Savage prowled in quest of prey ! I dare flatter myself with the hope that I have presented the reader with sufficient materials to satisfy him that the glowing CHAP. 73], AlVIERICAN PROSPERITY. 403 statements of the extraordinary prosperity of this country during the predominance of federalism, and of its utter decay from a change of rulers, are gross errors, utterly void of foundation and pregnant with as pernicious consequences, as most that have ever prevailed in this or perhaps in any other country. This nation, previous to the operation of the federal goveniment was in a most prostrate and abject state. Arts, trades, and commerce languished. Industry had little or no encouragement. Tender laws and other measures, impolitic and unjust, had banished con- fidence between man and man. An unfavorable balance of trade had exhausted the country of its metallic medium. The states were hostile to, and jealous of, each other. In a Avord the prospects of the nation, for want of a general controlling go- vernment, had been so extremely gloomy, that good men began to doubt whether in its consequences the revolution would de- serve to be styled a blessing. But the establishment of our most noble and most excellent form of government, proiuced a rapid and astonishing change. Confidence was completely restored. Arts, trade, and commerce revived. State jealousy was disarmed of all its powers to re- tard or destroy public prosperity. In a word, the happiness and prosperity of the nation were fixed on foundations as durable, I hope, as the rock of Gibraltar. But it is equally and undeniably true, that the country was in- comparably more prosperous for seven entire years of Mr. Jef- ferson's administration, than during the administration of his pre- decessors. This is a truth, a strong truth, deny it who may, which, if I courted popularity, I should not dare to promulgate. To many it will appear little short of blasphemy. But whatever may be its appearance, and however unpopular it may be, I have fully proved, that during those seven years, the population, the ex- ports, the revenue, the tonnage, and the domestic industry of the nation, had made more progress, than they had done during the administration of General Washington ; and that the public debt, which, during the administration of the two first presidents, had been increased, was, under their successor, reduced with un- paralleled rapidity. And it therefore incontrovertiblv appears, that the country was more prosperous during that period, than under the general's administration, although it had been then highly prosperous. I entertain a due sense of the transcendent merits of General Washington. He was indisputably a truly great and most illus- trious character. His conduct during the revolution earned him a conspicuous niche among the small but glorious band of heroes who saved their country, or who sacrificed their lives in the glo- rious struggle to save her. He ranks with Leonidas of Sparta, Epaminondas of Thebes, Cimon of Athens, Alfred of England, O. B. 53 406 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [chap. 7± Wallnce of Scotland, Henry IV. of France, Brian Boiromhe of Ireland, Maurice Prince of Orange, Gustavus Vasa of Swe- den, Andrew Doria of Genoa, and others of this description, who hold the first rank among the benefactors of the human race. And to those who read the statements of the wretched ma. terials with which he had to form his armies, as may be seen chap. 68, his merits will be vastly enhanced. The miserable sys. tem pursued by the eax-ly congresses, of trusting the fate of the country to short enlistments and to militia, trebled his difficulties, and trebled his merits in struggling against and overcoming^ them. Independent of General Washington's services during the war, he was eminently useful to his country afterwards. But for the influence of his name, the federal convention would hardly have agreed upon a constitution. Of this, it is true, there is no complete proof — nor is it fully susceptible of proof. It must eternally rest on mere opinion. But any man who attentively reads Luther Martin's statement of the proceedings of the con- vention, (the only published record) and who duly considers the difficulty they experienced to agree upon a form of government — and how nearly all their efforts escaped being blasted, even with the advantage of General Washington's influence and exer- tions, will not regard this opinion as very extravagant. But I force it on no man. I further believe, that even after the consti- tution was promulgated, the influence of his name and support was absolutely necessary to ensure it success. It was in jeopardy. The minorities in several of the state conventions were nume- rous, active, and influential. There was, therefore, considerable difficulty in setting the machinery of the government in motion. It was a truly arduous task. But when once the vessel was fairly launched, the duties of the pilot v/ere quite easy. With this immense and solid stock of indisputable claim on the gratitude of his country, and on the esteem and admiration of the great and good of our era and of all future ages, he needs not any addition to his fame, of which the title is not as clear as the noon-day sun. And to ascribe to him, or his councils exclu- sively, the flood of prosperity that succeeded the establishment of a solid form of government, would be a radical error against the truth of history. As well might we ascribe the fertility of the soil, when both seasons and climate are favourable, to the vigi- lance of the steward who superintended the plantation, as ascribe the beneficent effects of unshackled and protected industry, to JTrcsidents, governors, or kings. All that mankind require, in, order to be industrious and happy, is to have their property se- cure. And this is the natural effect of wise laws. If the nations of Europe, oppressed by wasteful and destroy- ing governments — at war forty or fifty years out of every century t BAP. 73.] AMERICAN PROSPERITY. 40? — curbed and constrained and controlled in their industry by monopolies, and restrictions, and grinding taxes — if, i say, un- der all these, and numberless other disadvantages, the European nations make advances in prosperity, as is undeniably the case, would it not be inexpressibly wonderful, if we did not run ra- pidly in the same career — if we did not outstrip them as far as the hale, hearty, vigorous, full-blooded racer outstrips the stage horse, worn out by hard service, and merciless usage ? To suppose a parallel case. A ship is, in the technical sense, well found in every respect. She has a noble crew. She is on the open sea with the winds perfectly favourable. She runs rapidly before them, and makes nine, ten, or eleven knots an hour. She reaches her destined port in perfect safety. ^Vould it not be ig, norance or folly to ascribe to the skill of the captain the rapidity of her movements or the success of her voyage ? It is chiefly when the sky is overcast with clouds and darkness — when the furious hurricanes howl around the ship — when the waves, open- ing wide their devouring jaws, seem ready to swallow her up, that there is a demand for the energy, the talents, and the forti= tude of the master of the vessel. Without any disrespect to presidents, and governors, and kings, this is a pretty analogous case to theirs. In times of tranquillity, there is little room for a display of the talents of an executive magistrate. In a well-ordered state, the laws maybe said to exe- cute themselves. The long train of judges, jurors, attorney generals, marshals, constables, &c. are eternally on the alert, to prevent infraction. It may and will seem a paradox (I shall be charged with deal- ing in paradoxes) to assert, as I do, that at least as much talents are actually necessary for a legislator as, almost in every case, for a governor, and, in ordinary cases, for a president. In a free representative government like ours, the grand, con- trolling, and supereminent power is in the legislature. They or- dain, direct, command. Their will, fairly expressed, enforces obedience equally from the governor or president, as from the lowest mendicant. If the governor or president, as the case may be, dare to violate their commands, he is impeachable. I return to Mr. Jefferson. " But," it will be said, " the prosperity of the United States was arrested during the last years of his administration.'' This I do not, I cannot deny. It appears fully evident from all the documents I have given. Whence arose this stagnation ? This is an important enquiry. The application in 1805 of the rule of the war of 1756, had made great havoc on the trade, commerce, and resovirces of the country. But they readily recovered from the stroke. At the close of 180r, the French decrees and British orders in council 408 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [chip. 73: went into full operation. And they were met by our embargo. I have already stated, and I hope there is not a man of candour in Europe or America who will doubt or deny, that these mea- sures of France and England reduced the United States to the alternative — of war with one or both — or else an embargo. We were literally hunted off the ocean. That an embargo was less pernicious than war — and that it was highly meritorious to try every other means previous to the horrible recourse to arms, no " friend of peace" can deny. But be this as it may, as the arrestation of our prosperity arose from the measures of France and England — and as it has never been pretended that the American administration advised or encouraged those powei-s to adopt their orders and decrees, it conclusively follows that the outcry against the restrictive sys- tem of Mr. Jefferson, which these predatory and outrageous measures rendered indispensable, is utterly unjust and un- founded. There is another mode of deciding this question. If the demo- cratic administrators of the general government really exercised hostility against commerce, they had no mode of displaying that hostility but by the enaction of anti-commercial laws, or the re- peal of pre-existing laws favourable to commerce. This is sell- evident. Except in this shape, they are as perfectly powerless over commerce as a council of Indians held in a wig-wam. And if there were any anti-commercial laws enacted, they must be still extant. The statute books are every where to be found. And I now in the face of the United States and of Christendom, deny that a single law can be produced, enacted during the ad- ministration of Mr. Jefferson, which can by any man of charac- ter be ascribed to hostility to commerce. There is not one. Nor was any law favourable to commerce repealed. Let the statute books he carefully examined, and the laws brought to the se- verest scrutiny. It would be most extravagant folly to ascribe the law of 1 806, prohibiting the importation of certain articles of British manu- facture, to the hostility of the government to commerce. This law was enacted in consequence of the clamours and remon- strances of the commercial men themselves, in order to induce Ens^land to cease her unjust and injurious depredations upon their commerce. We now draw towards a close. We have seen, I repeat, that the population, the exports, the tonnage, the domestic industry, and the revenue of the nation, made rapid pi'ogress for seven years of Mr. Jefferson's administration ; and that during the same period its debts had most rapidly decreased — and it appears that no law hostile to commerce was enacted — no law favourable to commerce repealed — and that our prosperity continued till it Avas CHAP. 73.] AMERICAN PROSPERITY. 409 cut up by the roots by foreign powers. How, then, can a candid federalist lose sight of justice, or propi-iety, or the holy rule, *' do as you would be done by," so lar as to charge to the past or present administration, the consequences of measures over which they had no controul ? The federalists would complain most grievously, were they made responsible for those of Mr. Jefferson or Mr. Madison. And where is their justice in ma- king Mr. Jefferson or Mr. Madison responsible for the mea- sures, or the consequences of the measures, of Mr. Percival or Napoleon Bonaparte ? If I have succeeded, to the extent of my wishes, and indeed of my calculations, to tStablish the positions I have laid down in -this chapter, I cannot fail to have rendered a great and lasting service to my fellow-citizens of both descriptions, federalists and democrats. The former I shall have convinced of the unsoundness of their towering pretensions to an exclusive promotion of the prosperi- ty of this nation, as well as of the extreme injustice of the strong and damning accusations they have preferred against, and the deadly hostility they have borne towards, their fellow-citizens, who are wholly guiltless of the crimes laid to their charge. These are important truths deservingof their most serious consideration. To retract error is magnanimous. To pursue a course of error, merely because it has been unfortunately commenced through hiadvertence, is worse than folly. These considerations ought to induce them to lower their tone, and to regard their brethren with more kindness and charity than they have heretofore ex- tended to them. There is one point which cannot be too much or too frequently enforced. The federalists have been divested of the powers of the general government for above sixteen years. That entire period they have spent in an unceasing struggle to regain the power they had lost. They have spared neither pains nor expense. They possess large numbers of men of powerful talents, which are in constant requisition for the purpose. They have greatly the superiority of newspapers in perhaps all the seaport towns, owing to mercantile influence.* They have struggled in peace — they have struggled in war — they have struggled when the nation might be said to be almost wholly free from taxation ' — and when under the pressure of taxes of the most oppressive kii^d — they have struggled while we were covered with disgrace and overwhelmed by disaster — and they have struggled when a halo of glory surrounded the United States. They have strug- gled under every possible variety of circumstances. They have left nothing unessayed. In this struggle their beloved country •■ In Pliiladelphia, there are six federal and four democratic papers. The proportion is about the same in other cities. 410 POLITICAL OLIVK BRANCH. [chai". 73, was brought to the jaws of perdition. In this struggle, they were placed in the mortifying predicament, that their views were likely to prosper by the defeat and disgrace — and to be ut- terly disappointed by the success, of their beloved country. And in this struggle, some of their leaders committed acts in aiding and abetting the enemy, which, under any other government, or in any other nation, would have forfeited their lives. Alter all these struggles and efforts, they are as far as ever from the at- tainment of the prize which they have for above sixteen years been devouring with their longing eyes. And what has been the result of these efforts ? To engender and disseminate a spirit of faction, the dicest scourge that ever cursed a country — to divide man from man — to demoralize the nation — to prepare us of late for civil war and all its horrors — to deprive themselves of all the influence their numbers, their talents, and their virtues, would have -insured them — and to place them in the frightful situation of opposing almost all the measures of the administration, however wise or salutary — however well calculated to promote the happiness and glory of their country. It is time to pause — to cast a retrospective eye on the past — to look forward for the result. A very little reflection will suf- fice to convince them, that if they regard their honour as a party — their character in history — their duty as citizens — and the welfare of their country — a change, a radical change is necessary. No man of common sense, who pays attention to the existing circumstances of the United States, can persuade himself that they have any chance of regaining power, unless by a convul- sion, in which they would be the earliest and greatest sufferers, and which they would have every reason to curse most bitterly. And surely "vvith the wounds of bleeding, gasping France before their eyes — with her groans in their ears — they would not be so mad, so blind, so lost to reason, to common sense, to religion, to public spirit, to all regard for themselves and their country, as to pursue power through such a desperate road as a convuU sion. If they have failed to gain ground in the great states of New- York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and North Carolina, when war, stagnation of business, and depreciation of property of every kind, aided their efforts to render their adversaries unpopular, is it not " hoping against hope,'' to calculate on producing this ef- fect when smiling Peace with her cornucopia has once more re- visited our favoured land ? Let them take the advice of a real friend, although a political opponent. Let them not render a government, whose only im-^ portant defect is its feebleness, still more feeble, and thus endan- ger its destruction, by a blind and indiscriminate opposition, forbidden by every principle of common sense ancl patriotism^ CHAP, n.] MISCELLANEOUS FACTS. 411 Let them with their utmost energy oppose all impolitic, inju- rious, or unjust measures — but let them yield a cordial and hearty support to every one calculated to promote the public good. This is what constitutes a noble and dignified opposition pai'ty. Let them, if they choose, use all their efforts to regain the power they have lost, by fair and honourable means. Let them charitably regard their political adversaries, as intending to pi'omote the public good, even when they believe them in er- ror. Let them make allowance for human imperfection, from which they are no more exempt than their antagonists. By this course they will make more progress in one year than they have in sixteen by intemperate violence. This has recoiled, and will continue to recoil on themselves. If I have in this chapter, done a kindness to the federalists, I have performed an equal service to the democrats, by clearing up satisfactorily, various points of considerable importance to their character. I hope I have fully and completely disproved the heinous charge adduced against them, of destroying the pro- sperity of their country — a charge which has gained credence*, even across the Atlantic, from its incessant reiteration here. CHAPTER LXXIV. 3fiscellaneous facts and observations. ' In this chapter I shall collect a number of unconnected facts and observations, which I have not been able to introduce else- where. . I. A very moderate degree of knowledge of history, or human affairs, furnishes numberless instances of the discordance be- tween very plavisible anticipations and the actual results on which they are predicated. I offer one. The best friends of this country were always distressed at the probable consequences of a war upon the southern states. It was presumed that such a state of things would afford a favourable opportunity, which would be eagerly embraced by the slaves, to rise upon their masters, and act over again the horrors of St. Domingo. It was not taken into consideration, that a state of war requiring mar- tial preparations and arrangements, would greatly add to the fa^ cility of crushing insurrection, without in the least adding to the means of its organization. It was als(» anticipated that the hardy and enterprizing state of Massachusetts would shew such a bold front towards an invading enemy, as to totally forbid, or at least compel him to abandon, the attempt. Events have falsi- fied both calculations. No insurrection was attempted, or per- haps thought of by the slaves to the southward. Georgia, a 412 POLITICAL OLIVE BliANCH. [chap. 74 feeble southern state, acquired a high degree of honour by the war. It covered Massachusetts with disgrace. II. The attempt to impress men from on board the Chesapeake, was not the first outrage perpetrated by the British on an Ame- rican national ship. During the administration of Mr. Adams, several sailors were, in the West Indies, pressed from on board the Baltimore, a public vessel of the United States. III. Violent partizans have in all ages believed the monstrous doc- trine, that the end sanctifies the means ; a doctrine the fruitful parent of numberless crimes. This frequently leads parties to adopt measures at which each individual member would have shuddered. Our country has witnessed various instances of this kind. Among the rest, unceasing eiforts have been made by some of the most zealous and violent opposers of the administration, to persuade the public that the late war was a measure concerted between Bonaparte and our administration, and for which the former had paid the latter liberally. The following letter which first appeared in the Boston Centinel, was one of the innumer= able means employed for this purpose. And had the British agents in Paris entered into the project, and afforded any coun- tenance to the accusation, it would have gained universal cre- dence among the enemies of the administration in this country, and might have produced alarmmg consequences. Verv much to their credit and for our happiness, they allowed it to die a na- tural death. . "mPOHTANT LETTETJ. " The orig-inal of a letter from an American g'enlleman in Paris, of which the following' is an extract, has been seen by the editor, who vouches for its having' been faithfully copied therefrom : — " raris. May 26, 1814. " The treaty is nearly concluded, and we shall once more see all the world in peace, excejjting- our own country — thanks to the wisdom of the democrats and the partizans of Bonaparte ! Since tlie war has been declared, he has not exci-cised one single act of amity or friendship, either toward the nation or any hidividual. It is very well known by every one here who has connexion with the government, thcit it luas by hriberti that the vote for the war ivas obtained. A gentlciruin employed in the office of the department of foreign affairs, told me, that he naw on the books the names of the senators bribed, and the sums paid each nf them bij Serrurier //.' 1 hope in a short time to be able to procure a copy of it, to send to you. The country was sold by Annstrong before he left l-'aris, and the war was decided upon ; and in consequence he was made secretary of war, the better to accomplish the diabolical system .'.'.' I hope the events which have taken ])lace in Europe will enlighten the American people, and shew them their true interest; and that they will have resolution and patriotism enough to dismiss from their councils men wlio have so basely betrayed theii- country and the confidence that was reposed in them by their fellow citizens. This is the first step towards making an honourable and durable peace, wliich must be the desire of every true American." Boston Centinel. This letter was re-copied, as '■^ a most important document^'' into a large portion of the federal papers. CHAP. 74] FORGERY. 413 IV. French and English injluence. The United States have i-esounded with the charge of French influence, which I have incidentally touched upon in some of the preceding pages. Of its existence a large portion of our citizens are as thoroughly satisfied as of any of the demonstra- tions of Euclid. On the subject of British influence there is an almost total silence, although from sameness of language, mer- cantile intercourse, and the powerful operation in our cities of British capital and British agents, it is plain and palpable. On the 12th of January, 1814, governor Strong delivered an ad- dress to the legislature of Massachusetts, in which he laid con- siderable emphasis on a — " Proposal made by the French emperor that the congress at Prague should be composed of plenipotentiaries from France, the United States, Denmark, and the other allied princes on the one hand, and the plenipotentiaries of Eng- land, Prussia, and their alhes on the other." From this proposal the worthy governor implied " a connex- ion with France in the war" — in other words, the hideous hydra of " Fren.ch influence." While he thus sagaciously discovered French hifluence^ or French connexions, in a circumstance so utterly unimportant, is it not astonishing that he wholly overlooked the extent of Bri- tish injluence in Boston, the town wherein he wrote his address — and that he was as silent as the grave about the enormous supplies of specie at that very time furnished to the British na- tion then at war with his native country — and about the open, undisguised intercourse carried on with the enemy, and the public sales of his government bills? This is most assuredly " straining at gnats, and swallowing camels." V. Forgery of ships'' papers. In the enumeration of the grievances whereby the United States were driven to war with England, little has been said on the subject of the forgery of our naval papers, whereby our flag was discredited, the British commerce protected, and extended at our expense, and our vessels exposed to the indignation " T the other belligerents, who must, in numberless instances, h:i '^ found it impossible to discriminate between vessels fitted out in England with simulated documents, and vessels fitted out bona fide in the United States. It is impossible to find an upright man in the world, who will not loudly and unhesitatingly con- demn and execrate such an odious, such a detestable practice. Of the existence of this practice, no man doubts. But ot the extent to which it was carried, I believe very few are aware. I submit a few documents which will throw light on the subject— - and shall leave it then to the reader's reflections. O. B. 54 414 POLITICAL OLIVE BIlA^XH, [chap. 7i Mr. Brougham, member of parliament for Liverpool, in a speech on the subject of the orders in council, read the follow- ing circular from a house in that city, established to carry on the manufacture of simulated papers. Liverpool, " Gentlemen — We take the liberty herewith to InfoiTn you that we have es-- tablished ourselves in this town, FOR THE PURPOSE OF MAKING SIMU- LATED PAPERS, which we are enabled to do in a way v/hich will give am- ple satisfaction to our employers, not only being- in possession of the original documents of the sliips' papers, and cleai-ances to various ports, a list of which we ainiex ; but our Mr. G B having worked with his brother, Mr. J B , in the same line, for the last two years, and understanding all the necessary languages. " Of any changes that may occur in the different places on the continent, we ai-e careful to have the earliest information, not only fi-om our own con- nexions, but from Mr. J B , who lias proffered his assistance in every way, and who has for some time past made simulated papei's for Messrs. B 8c P , ot this town, to whom we beg leave to refer you for further infor- mation. We remain. Sic." Then follows a list of about twenty places, from and to which they can forge papers, having all the clearances ready by them from the different public agents the moment they receive intel- ligence that any merchant may need their assistance in this scheme of fabrication.* From the London Mo7mi7ig Chronicle, June 12, 1813. " To ship brokers, custom house agents, notaries pubhc, merchants, &c. — Si- mulated papers and seals, capital counting-house fi.xtures, twenty very excel- lent and expensive charts and maps, &c. — By Mr. Sampson, at his ware- house, 16 Size lane, Bucklersbury, on 'I'hursday next, at 11, by direction of the assignees. " The valuable fixtures and fittings up of the counting-houses, thirty-four boxes containing simulated ships'' papers and seals for foreign countries, various coloured inks; foreign writing paper, &c. of Mr. Peter Vander A. A. merchant, a bankrupt, (removed from his offices. No. 9, Water lane. Tower-street) com- prising seven mahogany one flap and two flap counting house desks, book case, two capital library and writing tables, with drawers, stamping and sealing presses, a patent instantaneons light macliine, an excellent mahogany portable writing desk witli secret drawers, two patent polygraphs, several capital charts, amongst winch ai'e the Northern Sea, the Cattegat, the Azores, tlie Atlantic Ocean, the Baltic Pilot, West Indies, British Channel, coast of England and lloUaud, Mediterranean, Europe, Asia, and America; Mercator's World ; Lau- rie and Whittle's new map of the British isles, on spring rollers and boxes ; Cary's Universal Atlas; a new ledger, journal and waste book, five volumes of the Beauties of England and Wales, and ninety -five numbers of ditto, six mo- rocco leather cases, &c. To be viewed two days preceding the sale, at the bro- * In noticing this matter in the house of commons, Mr. Stephens, author of War in Disguise," said, " he would ask gentlemen sincerelij, were they pre- pared to abandon all trade to tiie continent of Europe on account of those ob- jections, in point of moraliti/, which had been stated by the honourable mover? [Mr, Brougham.] He felt himself perfectly ready to meet any gentleman upon this ground ; and lie really believed he would find few who had iveakness enough to think, or hypocrisij enough to assert, that the whole track' of Europe ought to be abandoned on account of the immorality of the frauds necessarilij practised in the carrying it on. As to the forging \>a.\tcvs of the French consuls' certificates of origin, he was convinced that neither this, nor shewing false colours to the enemy, would be supposed so serious an inunoraiity as to make us consent to abandon all our trade." IVeckly Register . l. s. But it is, after all, the same dish, a little more nicely garnished. The privateersman who '■'■preyed'''' vipon the " unprotected property of a friendly poioer'*'' merely " ap- propriated'''' that property to himself. That in the whole world a single man, who did not profit by this system, should be found to justify, or even palliate it, is amazing beyond expression. But that American merchants, whose vital interests and whose country's dearest rights it cut up root and branch, should have taken this ground, as we know they have done, will to our posterity appear as fabulous and as romantic as the celebrated story of Don Bellianis of Greece-— the renowned history of Parismus, Parismenos, and Parismeni- des — or the delectable tales of Aladdin's wonderful lamp, and Sinbad the Sailor, It will be asked, why discuss this subject now? What purpose can it answer, but to anger and to irritate — to prevent the OHAP. 75.] DISSOLUTION OF THE UNION. 421 wounds received and given from cicatrizing ? Ought not these topics to be buried in eternal oblivion i Can this be a proper time for such enquiries ? I answer, this is the time — the only- time. What purpose would the discussion have answered, dur- ing the violence and turbulence of war I A period of peace is precisely the time to investigate the question, all important to the United States, whether the rights of neutral nations are to be held by the tenure of the forbearance, the moderation, the justice, the generosity of belligerents — a tenure, of the precari- ousness whereof we have had so many admonitory examples — or whether the rights, the sovereignty, the trade, the commerce of neutral nations shall be treated by belligerents with the re- spect to which they are entitled. This is a glorious theme for enlightened men on both sides of the Atlantic — worthy of a Milton, a Grotius, a PufFendorif — of a Henry, a Dickinson, or a Franklin. CHAPTER LXXV. Separation of the States. Civil War, Cronvwelism, Throughout this work, I have repeatedly expressed a be- lief, that we were of late in danger of a civil war. In fact, to that idea the work owes its existence. Such a stimulus as the apprehension of that hideous result was necessary to force me on the undertaking. In this opinion I stand almost alone. Both federalists and democrats utterly disbelieve it. Many scout it as utterly ro- mantic, and regard it as almost a sufficient proof of insanity. I shall attempt to convince every dispassionate reader that this opinion, although entertained by a very small minority, stands upon impregnable ground. I shall take the liberty to assume, as a datum on which to rea- son, that during external warfare, and in the inflamed state of the public mind that lately existed, a separation of the states, or a forcible expulsion of the public functionaries from their official stations, would have produced civil war. Those who are not disposed to concede me this point, may pass over this chapter; as it is not intended for their perusal. I shall, I trust, accomplish my object, by establishing beyond the possibility of doubt or denial, that there was a fixed deter- mination among a considerable number of the leading men in the eastern states, and some elsewhere, who were blindly fol- lowed by a great portion of the cominunity in that quarter, and by many in the other states, to dissolve the union — and that there was likewise as fixed a determination in the middle states, to coerce the executive officers to resign their stations. The necessity and the advantages of a dissolution of the union were as openly and as explicitly advocated in the Centinel, the O. B. 55 432 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [chap. 75. Repertor}-, and the Boston Gazette, and in the sermons of the reverend Messrs. Gardiner, Osgood, and Parish, more particu- larly the latter, as if the measure were not merely perfectly harmless, but legal and laudable. To reconcile the public mind to that most nefarious of pro- jects, the existing evils were exaggerated by every possible means. The persons who planned a separation, had treasonably destroyed the public credit; as far as in their power prevented the raising of troops ; threw every difficulty in the way of the prosecution of the war; and then grounded their plea of the necessity of a separation, on the incapacity and imbecility of an executive, whose every effort they iiad thwarted and trammel- led. It is difficult to conceive of a course of conduct more un- fair or disingenuous. While they were thus unceasing in their efforts to accomplish the grand object of a separation, they hypocritically affected deep regret at the cruel necessity that was imposed on them. " Those who startle at the danger of a SEPARATION, teU us, that the soil and therefore a considerable expense would be incurred to per- form this act of justice in a style worthy ofa great nation. But is it any reason why a debtor should not pay his debts, merely because his creditors are numerous ? Surely not. And there are, it is to be hoped, few men in the country so base as to grudge to pay their quota of this debt of gratitude. A?nerica}i seamen. Among the reasons why the claims of American seamen to be shielded by their country from the horrors of impressment should be attended to, there is one of considerable weight, which appears to have escaped notice. I believe our seamen, man for man, possess worth superior to their fellow-citizens on shore. In other words, that there is more sterling virtue, and less worthlessness among them, in proportion to their numbers, than is to be found on shore. This is high praise. It is, however, coolly and calmly pemied. I have, with all the impartiality and candour I can command, weighed the opinion over and over. And my mind is unalter- ably made up on the subject. Let us compai^e the commodores and captains, unci lieutenants, and midshipmen, with the upper and middle classes of society on shore — and is there a man whose heart beats high for the honour, the glory of our nautical citizens, that will shrink from the severest scrutiny. Of the sedition, the treason, the disaffection to their country. "•Jftap. 78.] CONGRESSIONAL CAUCUSES, 43» and adhesion to its enemies, which lately pervaded entire sec- tions of the union, there was not a single instance to be found in our glorious navy. Blake's maxim, " to defend the country, let who would rule," pervaded the whole, and animated them as with one soul. Let an American traverse the globe, and his cheek will never be suffused with a blush for any act of his navat countrymen. The most daring and intrepid courage — the most sublime heroism — the most exalted generosity and liberality to- wards their captives — have elevated them to the highest pinnacle of glory. And if the ofEcers stand thus high, are not the sailors as con- spicuous in their sphere ? Are they not far, very far, superior to men of the same grade on land ? Most undoubtedly. I hope, then, that their country will never again leave them to the merci- less gripe of a British lieutenant, or to the ignominious and bloody stripes of a British boatswain. It reflects discredit on the government that there is no public hospital or asylum provided for the common sailors, maimed or grown decrepid in their country's service. I am delighted to be able to put on record, that since I began this chapter, a public- spirited citizen who has no concern in commerce, and who de- sires his name to be concealed, has authorised a friend to head a subscription for the excellent purpose of establishing such an asylum, with one thousand dollars. It is hoped our Girards, and our Clapiers, and our Willings, and our Pratts, and oar Ralstons, and our Kochs, will imitate this laudable example. CHAPTER LXXVIII. Congressional Caucuses for President and Vice-President. This is a delicate subject to discuss at any time. It is pecu- liarly so at the present moment,* as nominations for these offices must be shortly made. And it may be supposed that I write with a view to this individual case. I shall therefore probably give offence to many whose opinions I prize, and would be very re- luctant to forfeit. To this consequence, however, I submit. No man, who has not fortitude to dare such an issue, ought ever to take the pen on cotemporaneous politics. I have no view to any particular candidate, nor to any particu- lar election. My remarks shall be general. They will apply to all congressional nominations of presidents and vice- presidents, as well past as future. That the elective principle is the key-stone of the arch of re- presentative or republican government, is a maxim in which all * ■vVritten JanHarj^ 1816, 4'4(3 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH, [chap. 78 political writers are agreed. And that its purity ought therefore to be guarded with the utmost vigilance, is beyond all doubt or controversy. — Every measure calculated to vitiate it — to subject it to the influence of intrigue or sinister management, ought to excite the alarm of all the friends of rational liberty, and produce the most decisive exertions to remedy the evil. These ideas, so intrinsically just, as, I hope, to command uni- versal assent, apply to every grade of public ofBcers elected by the people. Bat the higher the office, and the more extensive its powers, the more cogent becomes the reasoning, and the more decided the call for care and circumspection. It does not require any argument to prove, that the most im- portant elections in the United States, are those of president and vice president. This stands confessed. The high degree of solicitude they excite, not merely in this country, but some- times in foreig-n nations, is a full proof of the pu.blic sentiment on this subject. It will therefore be time well employed to examine whether the system pursued in the important operation of nominating candidates for these exalted stations, be pure and correct, or whether it be radically unsound and vicious. If the former, it is entitled to a cordial support. If otherwise, our best and most influential citizens ought to devise and apply a remedy. In order to decide whether a system be correct, or the re- verse, it is necessary to state precisely what it is. My information as to the plan pursued by the federal party is so imperfect, that I must confine myself to that of their political opponents. During the session of congress previous to the close of the presidential term of office, a convention, or caucus, as it is term- ed, is held of the senators and members of the house of repre- sentatives of the United States, belonging to this party. They take a silent vote by ballot on the candidates proposed. Those gentlemen on whom they finally agree, arc recommended to the citizens of the United States as the candidates of the party for the two offices. In every instance hitherto, this nomination has been acquies- ced in bv the great body of the party. Hence it results, that this nomination is virtually and substantially equivalent to an elec- tion. This is a most serious and solemn consideration. The party considers itself bound to support the candidate thus proposed. And any state, hoAvcver powerful, or any indi- vidual, however high his standing, or important his services, that does not submit to this dictation, is denounced. The oppo- sition is regarded as apostacy from the party. It thus appears, that "the most enllghted nation in the world'" elects its first magistrate through the agency of a few men, who CHAP. 78.3 Congressional caucuses. 441 are themselves merely elected for the purpose of legislation. It is true, we persuade ourselves, that we elect the president and vice-president. We have eighteen boards of electors, who, witli much parade and solemnity, ballot for those officers. But it is in fact little more than mere form. The business, as hitherto conducted, is precisely to confirm tlie high behests of the cau- cus, who have really and truly dictated the candidate — to regis- ter their edicts, as, under the arbitrary monarchs of France, the parliaments of that country were obliged to register the royal edicts. It is easy to perceive how great a departure this is from our political principles — ^hoW directly in the teeth of freedom of election. But before I attempt to reason on the subject, I shall submit to the reader some historical sketches of past arrangements. I have tried to procure data or documents respecting the no- minations in 1800 and 1804. But my researches have been fruitless.* With those of 1808 and 1812, I have been more suc- cessful. I can furnish a tolerably circumstantial account of both, which will enable the reader to decide with accuracy on the justice or unsoundiiess of the view^ I shall give. Mr. Jefferson, the third president of the United States, had determined to retire from public life, on the close of the second period of his official duties. His intentions were announced to congress on the 10th December, 1807, nearly twelve months previous to the election of his successor. About six weeks afterwards, that is, on the 23d January, 1808, a convention of the democratic members of both houses of congress, at Washington, was summoned by a circular from Ste- phen Roe' Bradley, one of the senators from the state of Ver- inont. This important prerogative was assumed, or pretended to be derived from the circumstance of his having been chair- man of a similar caucus, held for the same purpose, in 1804 ! ! * His Qircular letter follows : " In pursuance of the powers vested in me as president of the late conven- tion of the republican members of both houses of congress, I deem it expedi- ent, for the purpose of nominating suitable characters for the president and vice-president of the United States, for the next presidential election, to call a convention of the said repubhcan members, to meet at the senate chamber, on Saturday, the 23d instant, at six o'clock, P. M. at which time and place your personal attendance is requested, to aid the meeting- with your influence, infor- mation, and talents. Dated at Washington, this I9th day of January, 1808. "STEPHEN R. BRADLEY."! This assumption of power excited the indignation of several of the members, who did not merely absent themselves from the * The failure is of no importance, as in these elections there was little or no opposition in the party, t American Register, vol. v. page 80-. / 442 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. fcHAP. 78. meeting, but denounced it in the most pointed terms. Some idea may be formed of their sentiments, from the following re- ply of Edwin Gray, esq. one of the members of the house of representatives from Virginia. « SlH, " Your proclamation, dated the 19th instant, and addressed to me, I have just received; and I take the earliest moment to deqlare myabhon-ence of the usurpation of power declared to be vested in you— of your mandatory style, and the object contemplated. I deny th.at you possess any right to call upon tlie repubhcan members of congress, or other persons, at this time and place,, to attend a caucus for the presidential election. You must permit me to remind you that it was for a far different purpose for which my constituents reposed their confidence in me. I cannot consent, either in an individu.al or representa- tive capacity, to countenance, by my presence, the midnight intrigues of anf set of men who may arrogate to themselves the right (which belongs only to the people) of selecting proper persons to fill the important offices of president and vice-president ; nor do 1 suppose that tlie honest people of the United States can much longer suff'er, in silence, so direct and palpable an invasion upon the most important and sacred right belonging exclusively to them.* " Stephen Roe Bradlet, Esa. EDWIN GRAY.' ' Josiah Masters, one of the representatives from the state of New York, affixed a placard in a conspicuous place in Congres.'v Hall, in the following words : " In pursuance of a similar power, vested in mc.with that assumed by Stephen R. Bradley, one of the senate, contrary to the true principles of the constitution^ I deem it expedient, for the purpose of not nominating any characters for presi- dent or vice-president of the United States at the nextpresidentialelection, not to call a convention, alias caucus, to meet in the senate chamber, on Saturday, the 23d instant, at six o'clock, P. M.; at which time and place the personal attend- ance of the said republican members is notrequested,toaidthcimconstitutional meeting, solicited by the said Stephen R. Bradley ; and at which time and place I hereby request they will not attend to aid and sanction an infringement of one of the most important features and principles of the constitution of the United States. "JOSIAH MASTERS." « Washington, Jan. 21, 1808." Nevertheless, ninety-four members attended the caucus. Five of the number refused to take any part in the proceedings — and of course the business was decided by eighty-nine. It must be satisfactory to the reader to know how the several states were represented in the caucus, and the proportion that the votes in that body bore to the weight they enjoyed in con- gress. Li Caucus'. In Coii^resn. Senators. Repres. Senators. Repres. New Hampshire .--15 25 Massachusetts - - - 1 10 2 17 Vermont ...-22 24 Connecticut . . - 2 7 Rhode Island --.-22 22 New York ... 01 2 17 New Jersey .... 2 4 2 o 24 M 58 Ibid. (JHAP. 78.] CONGRESSIONAL CAUCUSES. 44S Broug'ht forward Pennsylvania Delaware Maryland Virginia Ohio Kentucky North Carolina South Carolina Georgia - - . Tennessee Indiana Territoiy The votes were— President. For James Madison, George Clinton, James Monroe, 24 14 58 1 8 1 4 2 13 1 1 2 4 1 7 1 5 2 4 2 2 1 21 73 2 18 2 1 2 9 2 22 2 1 2 6 2 12 2 8 2 4 2 3 1 145 83 89 Vice-President. For George Clinton, 79 John Langdon, 5 Henry Deai-born, 3 John Quincy Adams, 1 88 Against the proceedings of this caucus, there was a strong protest published by seventeen members of both houses of con- gress. The reasons assigned for the protest were two-fold — one was the utter impropriety of the measure itself — and the other, ob- jections to the presidential candidate. It cannot be amiss to state some of those reasons.* " Our alai-m is equally excited, whether we advert to the mode in which the meeting was summoned, or to the proceedings after it was convened. The se- nator who assumed the power of calling together tlie members of congress, did it under the pretext of that power being vested in him, by a former conven- tion ; this pretext, whether it be true or not, implies an assertion of a right in the congress of 1804, to direct their successors in the mode of choosing the chief magisti-ate ; an assertion which no man has ever before had the hardihood to advance. The notices were private ; not general to all the m,embers of the two houses ; nor confined to the republican party ; a delegate from one of the territories was invited and attended ; a man who in elections has no suffrage, and in legislation no vote. The persons, who met in pursuance of this unpre- cedented summons, proceeded without chscussion or debate, to determine by ballot the candidates for the highest offices in the union. Tlie characters of different men, and their pretensions to the public favour, were not suffered to be canvassed, and all responsibiUty was avoided by the mode of selection. The •determination of this conclave has been published as the act of the republican party ; and with as much exultation as the result of a solemn election by the nation. Attempts are making to impress upon the public mind, that these pro- ceedings ought to be binding upon all the republicans : and those who refused to attend, or disapprove of the meeting, arc denounced as enemies of liberty, and as apostates from the cause of the people. In this state of things, wc think it our duty to address you, and we deem ourselves called upon to enter our most solemn protest against these proceedings. " It is true that at former periods, when tiie election of a president and vice- president approached, it was customary to hold meetings of the members of congress, for tlie purpose o/ recommending candidates to the public. But ' Idem, page 81. 444 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [chap. 78. tliese meeUngs, if not justified, were palliated by the necessity of union. The federalists presented a formidable phalanx ; and eitlier to succeed at all, or to prevent them from placing the candidate for the vice-presidency in the presi- dential chair, it was necessary to exert the combined efforts of tlie whole re- pubhcan party. But it is equally true, that in those cases, the nominations for the presidency were matters of course. In tlie first and second elections under the constitution, the eyes of all were turned upon General Washington : and since the expiration of those periods, during which he filled the supreme exec- utive office, there has not till now been any difference of opinion among the_ republicans, as to the candidates for the first magistracy. The real object of all former meetings was to produce such a co-operation as would secure the election of a repnbhcan vice-president. " The circumstances, which might be urged ni extenuation of such a mea- sure heretofore, do not now exist. The federalists are comparatively few iu number, and form but a feeble party. They cannot give to any one candidate, more than sixteen or seventeen votes out of one hundred and seventy-six ; no federalist can therefore be elected by the electors ; and should no person have a majority of all the electoral votes, the choice of the president will devolve on the members of the present house of representatives, in which the federalists have the votes of only two states, Connecticut and Delaware. The alteration of the constitution prevents the danger of any intrigue, by which the intended vice-president iTiight be elected president. No good reason can therefore now be assigned, why a union of the republicans in favour of any particular person, shoidd be attempted by a measure in itself so exceptionable, as a nomination by the senators and representatives in congress. " So conscioOs were the members who attended the late meeting, of the weight of objections which might be urged against their proceedings, that they have thought it proper to publish an exculpatory resolution, proposed by Mr. Giles, of Virginia, and unanimously adopted. They have declared, that in "making the nominations, they have acted only in their individual characters as citizens." This is very true, because they could act in no other, without a breach of their oaths, and a direct violation of the letter of the constitution. But was it not intended that those nominations should be enforced by the sanction of congressional names ?— They proceed to assert " that they have been induced to adopt this measure, from the necessity of the case, from a deep conviction of the importance of a union of the republicans throughout all parts of the United States, in the present crisis of both our external and internal affairs." AVe trust we have shown that no such necessity exists, and that a union among the republicans, in favour of an individual, is not important. " We do therefore, in the most solemn manner, protest against the proceed-^ ings of the meeting, held in the senate chamber, on the twenty-third day qt' January last, because we consider tliem — " As being in direct hostility to the principles of the constitution : « As a gross assumption of power not delegated by the people, and not jus- tified or extenuated by any actual necessity. " As an attempt to produce an unju.st bias in the ensuing election of presi- dent and vice-president, and virtually to transfer the appointment of those officers from the people, to a majority of the two houses of congress. « And we do in the same manner, protest against the nomination of James Madison, as we believe him to be unfit to fill the office of president in the pji.-e- sent juncture of our affairs. "JOSEPH CLAY, W. HOGE, ABKAHAM TRIGG, SAMUEL SMITH, JOHN RUSSELL, DAN. MONTGOMERY, JOSLVH MASTERS, JOHN HARRIS, GEORGE CLINTON, jun. SAMUEL MACLAY, GURDON S. MUMFORD, D. R. WILLIAMS, JOHN THOMPSON, JAS. M. GARRETT, PETER SWART, JOHN RANDOLPH" EDWIN GRAY, ■'• City of JVasfdngton, Feb. 27, 1808." CHAP. 78. CONGRESSION.VL CAUCUSES. 445 The caucus nomination met with violent opposition in vai'i- ous parts of the United States. The same ground was taken as by the protestors. George Clinton possessed the regard, the es- teem and the gratitude of his fellow citizens, in a very high de- gree. The members of congress from the state of New York were most decidedly attached to him ; and, except one, absent- ed themselves from the caucus. There was, moreover, in the state of Virginia, a strong partj'^ in favour of Mr. Monroe, who appointed a most respectable committee to promote his election. But all opposition was vain. The paramount influence of the congressional caucus overpow- ered all competition; and the votes of the presidential electors were President. Vice-President. James Madison 122 Georg-e Clinton 113 C. C. Pinckney 48 llufus King- 48 George Clinton 6 John Langdon 9 James. Madison o James Monroe 3 176 176 It is therefore obvious that 83 members of congress did effectually dictate a president, and 79 a vice-president, fur the United States. And it is equally clear that they took the na- tion completely by surprise ; and by their precipitation did not allow the chance of a fair expression of public opinion. The occasion by no means required such haste. They might have waited till the close of the session without any conceivable dis- advantage : whereas, as I have already stated, in six weeks from the declaration of Mr. Jefferson's determination, and above ten months previous to the election, they wrested the choice from the hands of the nation. In the whole of this statement, I studiously waive all compa- rison between the three respectable citizens who alone were con- templated for president by the party — James Madison, James Monroe, and George Clinton. Their merits, or demerits, do not at all affect the question : and it cannot be denied, that there was a degree of indecorum and impropriety in the measure that can- not be justified. I shall now give a view of the caucus in 1812, considerably more in detail, as more recent. It was held on the 18th of May, and attended by 17 senators, and 65 members of the house of representatives. To enable the reader to investigate the subject with more accuracy, I annex a list of their names — the states they represented — and the sta- tions they filled. O. B. 58 446 POLITICAL OUVE BRANCH. [cHXP. 78- JVeti' HampsMre. Senator. Richard Ciitts. Representatives. Josiah Bart let, Obed Hall, John A. Harper. JMaasacliiisetts. Senator. John B. A'arniim. Representatives. Isaiah L. Green, Ebcnezer Seaver, Charles Turner, jiin. ■\Vm. M. Richardson. Vermont. Senator. Jonathan Robinson. Representatives. James Fisk, Samuel Shasv. Rhode Island- Senator. Jeremiah B, Howell. JVew York. Senator. John Smith. Representatives. Samuel L. Mitcliill, Ebenezer Sage, Thomas Sammons. J\te.\v Jersey. Senator. John Condit. Representatives. Lewis Condit, James Morgan, Adam Boyd. J^cnnsylvnnia. Senators. Andrew Gregg, Michael Leib. Representatives. William Anderson, David Bai-d, Robert Brown, William (Crawford, Roger Davis, William Findlay, John M. Hyneman, Abner Lacock, Aaron Lyle, William Piper, William SmiUe, George Smith. JMaryland. Representatives. Samuel liing-gold, Robert A\'right. Virginia. Senator. Richard Brent. Representatives. Bui'well Basset, Matthew Clay, Wm. A Bui-well, John Dawson, Tliomas Gholson, Peterson Goodwyn, A. M. H.iwcs, . — 'I'aliaferro, Wilham M'Coy, Hugh Nelson, Thomas Newton, James Pleasants, jun. JVurth Carolina. Senator. James Turner. Representatives. ^Villis Alston, James Cochran, ^V'illiam R. King', Israel Pickens. South Carolina. Senator. John Taylor. Representatives. William Butler, John C. Callioun, Elias Earle, Thomas Moore, Richard Winn. Georgia. Senators. William H. Crawford, Charles Tait. Representatives. William H. Bibb, Boiling Hall, George M. Troup. Kentucky. Senator. John Pope, Representatives. Henry Clay, Joseph Desha, Richard M. Johnson, Samutl M'Kee, Stephen Ormsby, Anthony New. Tennessee. Senators. Joseph Anderson, G. W. Campbell. Representatives.. Felix Grundy, John Rhea, John Sevier. Ohio. Senator. Thomas Worthingtoii. Representative. Morrow. Mississippi Territoii/. )rge Indiana Territory — Jonathan Jennings. George Poindextcr. CHAP. 78.] CONGRESSIONAL CAUCUSES. ^ U7 In Caucus. In 6emctt»,f '^ Sen. Rep. Sen. Rep. ' New Hampshire, - - -13 2 5 Vermont, - - -- 1224 Massacluisetts, - - - 1 4 2 17 Connecticut, - - - - 2 7 Rhode Island, - - - 1 2 o New-York, - - - - 1 3 2 17 New-Jersey, - '. - -1326 Penns}'lvania, - - - 2 12 2 18 Delaware, - - - -002l Maryland, - - - - 2 2 9 Virginia, - - - -112 2 22 North Carolina, - - - 1 4 2 12 South CaroUna, - - - 1 5 2 8 Georgia, - - - - 2 3 2 4 Kentucky, - - - -1626 Tennessee, - -- -2323 Ohio, - - - - 112 1 Indiana ten-itor}', - - - 1 1 Mississippi territory, - - - 1 1 17 65 34 144 Still further to facilitate a decision on the justice or injustice of this procedure, I submit four different views of its results : First Viexv, Votes in Caucus. In both Haiises, Connecticut and Delaware, Five eastern states, - - . New-York, .... Pennsylvania and New-Jersey, Maryland, - . - . . Virginia, ..... North Carolina, - . - ' - South Carolina and Georgia, - ' Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, Mississip^pi and^ Indiana teri'itories, S 12 13 45 4 19 18 28 2 11 13 24 5 14 12 16 .15 16 Second Viezv. New- York and Massachusetts, - - - 9 38 South CaroUna, Georgia, Kentuck)', Tennessee,') c,_ „ Ohio, Mississippi and Indiana territories, 5 *" "^ ^ Pennsylvania, New-Jersey, and Connecticut, 18 37 New Hampshire, Maryland, and North CaroUna, 11 32 Third View. Massachusetts, .... 5 jg New-York, - - ... 4 19 Pennsylvania, - - - ..14 20 Virginia, ----- 13 24 Fourth Viexv. Five eastern states, - - - - 13 45 Middle — New- York, Pennsylvania, New- Jersey'? ,,9 r^ and Delaware, 5 ~'' Southern — Maiyland, Virginia, North CaroUna,^ „. ,„ South CaroUna, and Georgia, J ■\Vestern states^ - , - . j-j iq:^ 448 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [chap. 78, New- York and Massachusetts, with 38 members in congress, had but nine votes in caucus ; whereas South Carolina, with ten members, had seven votes. The Avestern states and territories, with sixteen votes in con- gress, and two members without votes, had no less than fifteen votes in caucus ; being within one as many as Massachusetts, Connecticut, New- York, Maryland, North Carolina, and Dela- ware, which, with 75 votes in congress, had only 16 in caucus. It is impossible to review these tables without being most forcibly struck with the manifest injustice of the operation of this anomalous proceeding. It is in every point of view inde- fensible. The only palliation that I have ever heard, or seen in print, of a congressional nomination of president and vice-president, is, that in any other mode it would be difficult, if not impossible, to concentrate the exertions and energies of the democratic party in any one candidate ; and that therefore unless this system were adopted, they would be liable to a defeat. This is a flimsy covering, to justify a measure not merely un- warranted by the constitution, but, as I shall show, in direct hos- tility with as wise and as sound a provision as any in that most noble instrument. For every departure from constitutional principles that ever has taken place, or ever will, an equally plausible reason may be found. The British house of commons was chosen trienni- ally from the reign of William III. till anno 1716, under the reign of George I. During 1715, a rebellion had taken place — and been suppressed. And the then existing parliament, under pretence that the Jacobites would, in anew parliament, acquire a dangerous ascendency, and that the nation would be under French influence, passed an act directing the elections to be septennial. It may not be irrelevant to state a few of the prin- cipal reasons given in favour of the septennial bill. In the house of lords, •' Tlie duke of Devonshire made a speech on the inconveniences that attend triennial elections ; sug'gesting, in particular, that they keep up party di\-isions ; raise and ferment feud's and animosities in private families ; occasion ruinous expenses ; and give occasion to the cabals and intrigues of foreign princes. It therefore became the wisdom of that august assembly to apply a proper remedy to an evil, which miglit be attended with the most dangerous conse- quences, especially in the present temper of the nation. For, though the re- bellion was happily suppressed, yet the spirit of it remained unconquered, and seemed only to wiut for an opportunity to shew itself with more violence ; and that the election of a new parliament, which by the triennial act was not far off, being the most favourable juncture which the disaffected could expect, he thought it absolutely necessary to deprive them of it."* The reasoning in the house of commons was equally frivolous and deceptious : * Rapin's England, vol. xix. p. 5. CHAP. 78.] CONGRESSIONAL CAUCUSES. 449 *' Mr. Lyddall made a long speech for the bill, and, among otlier things, said, "If this opportunity be lost, you may possibly never have another, or at least so good a one, not only to conquer but even to eradicate that spirit of Jaco- bitism, which has dwelt long among us, and has more than once brought this nation to the very brink of ruin and destruction. Since, therefore, with much danger and difficulty, we have at last secured our reUgion, laws, and liberties, when all was at stake from the treachery of the late ministiy, and the imac- countable proceedings of the last triennial parliament, why should you run the risk of having a new one so soon, first chosen by French money, and then vot- ing by French directions ' Since the kmg and liis parliament exert their united power for the good of the pubUc, and to retrieve the honour of the nation, why should they not continue longer together, that they may finish what they have so unanimously and happily begun ? Upon the whole, the electors and people of all the boroughs in England having, for several years past, been bribed and preached into the pretender's interest, and a dislike of the protest- ant succession, it becomes rather necessity than choice, to apply an extraordi- nary remedy to an extraordinary disease."* The danger, if real, subsided — if pretended, as appears pro- bable, lost all its plausibility. But power was too sweet to be abandoned. The septennial act remains. It has been in opera- tion above a century. The best men in the British dominions have used their utmost endeavours, in vain, to have the original system restored. Those who alone have the power of correct- ing the evil, would thereby diminish their own influence. It is therefore utterly hopeless to expect a reformation. And the best political writers of Great Britain ascribe to this single source a large , proportion of the abuses that have arisen since the important change took place ; as the eflfect of the alteration is to render the representative almost wholly independent of> and irresponsible to, his constituents. ^ After having given a concise, but I hope a satisfactory histo- rical sketch of the two most important congressional caucusses that have occurred, I proceed \o point out, in brief, a few of the radical and powerful objections, to which they are incurably liable. 1. The first objection is, that they are manifestly unequal, and of course unjust. We have seen that some of the states have had in caucus nearly the whole number of their representatives in congress — some two-thirds — some one- half—and some were wholly unre- presented. And this is an inevitable result of the present sys- tem of caucussing. The states of New- York and Pennsylvania, with 1,700,000 free inhabitants, if represented by federalists, woiild not have as much influence in a democratic caucus, as the Indiana territory, if represented by a democrat. I trust there is not a candid man in the nation who will deny, that this is an overwhelming and unanswerable objection to the system. 2. They make the seat of government a scene of intrigue, and pave the way for the inroads of corruption. * Idem, page 16.. 450 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [chap. 785. While the nomination^ (that is to say, arguing from past ex- perience, the election) of president and vice president, i-esides in a body of men, collected in one spot for months together, it presents a focus for intrigue, and management, and, let me add, for corruption, not merely to ambitious men in our own country, but to the ministers of foreign powers, who may feel, as some of them undoubtedly do, a desire to acquire an undue influence in our councils.* The office of president holds out lures to two of the strongest passions of human nature — .ambition and avarice. Almost every page of history affords the most admonitory warnings against their deleterious effects. A man of powerful influence, actua- ted by ambition or by avarice, and desii'ous of filling the presi- dential chair, can very readily offer sufficient temptations, by the numerous offices of profit and honour in the gift of the pre- sident, to a few of the leading members of congress, to secure their influence, which will give the command of a majority of the votes in caucus. Against this pernicious consequence, the constitution very wisely provides. It directs that the electors of president and vice-president shall assemble on one day, in their respective states, thus rendering it impossible, from their numbers, and their distance, to tamper with them effectually. 3. A third objection deserves consideration. When a presi- dent is desirous of a re-election, he will, as the important period of the caucus approaches, find it necessary to consult the views and wishes of the leading members of congress, to a degree hardly compatible with the independence which his official sta- tion requires. A political leader in congress, possessed of great influence and address, feels his own importance, and it would not be extraordinary if he were, on certain occasions, to make it likewise felt, and oppressively too, by the president. 4. The fourth objection is of itself abundantly sufficient. It is simply, that a congressional caucus for president or vice-pre- sident is absolutely unconstitutional. There are only three classes of persons who are expressly pro- hibited from being electors of either of those officers. 1. Mem- bers of the senate. 2. Members of the house of representatives of the United States — and, 3. Persons holding offices under the United States. The constitution expressly declares, that — " no senator, or representative, or person holding an office under the United States, shall be appointed an elector." Is it not wonderful — would it not be incredible, if the fact did not thus stare us in the face — that two of the three classes * The objection here stated, may be found detailed more fully and more satisfactorily in the address of the New-York committee, appointed at the last presidential election. SHAP. 78] CONGRESSIONAL CAUCUSES. 451 of men, who are expressly excluded by the constitution, from any agency in this important operation, should have dared to assume the whole power of election, and that the usurpation should have been tamely submitted to by their fellow-citizens ? The provision of the constitution is singularly wise and pro- found. It is intended to prevent an undue influence upon the election — to erect a barrier between the legislative body and the first executive magistrate. And is there a man in the nation who will venture to say, that the efl^ects proposed to be produced by this provision, are not utterly destroyed by the members of the legislature daring to propose camdidates, who must be sup- ported under the penalty of a political anathema ? Disproportionate and objectionable as were the caucuses of 1808 and 1812, a caucus, merely congressional, for the ensuing presidential election, would now (1816) be far more incorrect. The eastern states being almost wholly represented in congress by federalists, the voice of these states would be ver}^ nearly lost in a democratic caucus. They would have little more in- fluence in the affair, than the inhabitants of Jamaica or Calcutta. The state of Ohio or Tennessee would have more weight in the arrangement, than New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode Isl-ind, Delaware, and perhaps Maryland. It is impossible for any man, of fairness and candour, not to be struck with, or not to acknowledge, the gross^ palpable, and mon- strous impropriety of such a system. That a constitutional provision might be devised, I feel confi- dent. I will venture respectfuUv to suggest one. Should it be regarded as improper or inadequate, others may be proposed. In two of the states, Connecticut* and New Jersey, the people vote for candidates to be put in nomination for members of con- gi-ess. If, then, applying this plan to the office of president, at * Extract from an Act for regulating the election of Senators and Representatives, for the Congress of the United States, for the Slate of Connecticut. <( ' 2. ^^nd be it further enacted, That the freemen of the several towns in this state, at the freemen's meeting in April, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety-six, and once in two years tliereafter, at tlie free- men's meeting- in April, immediately after giving in their votes for the officers of government, sliall each give in his vote or suffrage for fourteen persons, such as he Judges qualified, to stand in nomination, for election in the niontii of October, then next following, as representatives of the people of this state, in the congress of the United States, their names being fairly written on a piece of paper, to the person who by law presides in said meeting; who shall in the presence of the freemen, make entry of all such persons as the freemen shall vote for, and the number of votes for each ; and lodge the same in the town-clerk's ofiice, of the town to which he lielongs, and transmit a copy under his hand and seal of office, sealed up, to the general assembly, in May then next following, by one of the repi-esentatives of such town ; at whicli assembly, tlie votes of the freemen shall be counted in manner and form as is hereafter in this act directed. And the fourteen persons v/ho have the gi-eatest number of votes, shall be the persons whose names shall be returned to the several to'wns, to stand in the nomination aforesaid," 452 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [chap. 7S. the general election in each state, next previous to the election for president and vice-president, the electors were to vote for candidates to be put in nomination for these offices, the sense of the nation would be fairly taken : and from the candidates thus designated, the electors might finally fill the offices. But this, or any other constitutional provision is a remote ob- ject, and even if adopted, will be too late for the ensuing elec- tion. A remedy for some of the evils of the Washington cau- cus may be suggested. Let those states that are wholly repre- sented by federalists, appoint a number of delegates to proceed to attend the caucus at Washington, equal to the whole number of members of congress belonging to these states ; and those, that arc in part represented by federalists, a number equal to the number of federalists. Thus, m the decision of this important operation, every state will have its due share of influence.* These delegates may be appointed either by the people in their districts, or by the democratic members of the several le- gislatures, as the case maybe. It is obvious, that, although this plan does not remove the constitutional objection, it obviates some of the other most solid ones. If the federalists manage this affair- by congressional caucus, every line of this chapter applies to them as well as to the demo- crats. Just as this sheet was going to press, I met with a plan pro- posed by a writer in a Louisville paper, which deserves serious consideration. It is, for the state legislatures to appoint com- mittees of correspondence to ascertain the public sentiment re- specting the various persons among whom it might be proper to make a choice. If in this mode a concentration of the energies and exertions of the party could be obtained, as seems not im- probable, it would be by far the best mode that has hitherto been suggested. It would, at all events, obviate all the strong •and solid objections to which the system that has heretofore pre- vailed, is liable. • This idea was suggested by Mr. John Binns, editor of the Democratic Press, several months since — and is merely carrying into operation a system already acted upon in tlie state of Pcnnsylvaniaj in elections for governor. Jt J.3 not tliercfore wholly an untried sclieme. APPENDIX TO THE EIGHTH EDITION,^ CHAPTER LXXIX. Western Insurrection. Views of the war. jfohn Henrij^ Among the sins of the democratic party, the western inaur- vection claims a proud pre-eminence. Had it not been met with the energy and decision which General Washington displayed on the occasion, its obvious tendency was, and the probable re- sult would have been, to destroy the recently raised fabric of the federal government — the pride of the new, the admiration of the old, world. The wise and the good of this country, and of Eu- rope, regarded the crisis with the deepest awe and solicitude. The prospect was calculated to appal persons of no mean degree of fortitude. The fate of unborn millions hung for a season in suspense and doubt. Heaven smiled propitiously on us. It in- terposed for our salvation. Our executive magistrate wisely called forth an overwl^elming force, which frowned down trea- son and rebellion. They shrunk, shuddering with terror, into their dens, and called on the mountains to cover them. This heinous sin, hideous enough under any possible form, is greatly aggravated by a consideration of the subject that led to it. It was the excise on spirituous liquors. f Never can the ministers of taxation appear in a less exceptionable form, than v/hen they derive means of defraying the expenses of govern- ment, by limiting the horrible ravages of the destroyer, drun- kenness, which, by profound observers, is believed to devour more human victims than the sword. The deluded men, whose crimes forfeited their lives, to the offended justice of their country, and some of whom actually lost them in the insurrection,:|: were guilty of most atrocious out« * Published July 4, 1817. f In chapter 74, there are some severe strictures against the continuance of the excise system, which to supei-ficial readei-s will appear inconsistent with these remarks. But this will be the case with that class of readers only. The excise there reprobated extended to various objects of useful industry, and on some of them had a most oppressive effect. t There were a few gf the rioters killed in the attack upon the inspector's liouse in Pittsburg. O, B. 59 454 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [chaf. 79. rages. They seized a person of the name of Wilson, whom they presumed to be, but who really was not, a collector of the revenue — stripped him of his clothes, which they burned — tarred and feathered him— burned him on several parts of the body with a heated iron — and dismissed him naked, wounded, and otherwise in a suffering condition.* They tarred and feathered other persons. And they seized and carried off witnesses, in order to prevent their giving testimony of the outrages. f I'hev likewise burned the barns, with their contents, of per- sons who had given information against the insurgents ; and not satisfied with this outrage, they perpetrated the same even on those who had merely complied with the law.i Th" In order, therefore, to evince move completely the transcen- dent t'olly and arrogance of the pretensions of the eastern states — and their comparative commercial insignificance, I submit a few tables, confined wholly to domestic articles : — New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Domestic Exports^ 1816. No. 2. S 119,486 892,594 5,008,974 418,996 587,007 S, 7,027,057 Georgia, S 7,436,692 Thus it appears, that of domestic productions, which are the bone and marrow of the commerce of a nation, the single state of Georgia exported more than the whole of " the nation of New England" — notwithstanding that this " nation," in its exports, included a large amount of cotton, rice, and other southern pro- ductions. No. 3. "The nation of New England," (see No. 2) - . §7,027,057 Maryland, - . . . . g 4,834,490 Virginia, ..... 8,115,890 District of Columbia, ... 1,555,572 North Carolina, - . - . . 1,328,271 South Carolina, .... 10,446,213 • Georgia, ...... 7,436,692 Loui^ana, ..... 5,251,833 -38,968,961 No. 4. The single port of New Orleans has exported fifty times as much as New Hampshire ; nearly six times as much, as Ver- mot>t; twelve times as much as Rhode Island; above eight times as much as Connecticut; and somewhat more than Mas- sachusetts. New Orleans, ,-.... ;j5 5,251,833 New Hampshire, - - _ . g 119,486 Vermont, ...... 892,594 Massachusetts, .... 5,008,974. Rhode Island, ..... 418,995 Connecticut, ...... 587,00r ^-7,027,057 No. 5. The district of Columbia, of ten miles square, expor ted forty per cent, more than New Hampshircj Rhode Island, j md Con- necticut. 4?6 POUTICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [cbap. 8a. Columbia, ... ... g 1,555,572 New Hampshire, .... g 119,486 Rhode Island, . . . . . 418,996 Connecticut, - - , - . 587,007 1,125,489 No. 6. South Carolina has exported twice as much as, and Georgia fifty per cent, more than, Massachusetts. South Carolina, .--,..§ 10,446,213 Georg-ia, ....... 7,436,692 Massachusetts, --..-. 5,008,974 No. 7. Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia, and Louisiana, have ex- ported almost four hundred and fifty per cent, more than all the eastern states. Virginia, ..... g 8,115,890 South Carolina, ..... 10,446,213 Georgia, ..... 7,436,692 New Orleans, - . - . . 5,251,833 31,250,628 Five eastern states, . - - . . 7,027,057 These statements fully display the transcendent superiority of the commerce of the southern states over that of " the nation of New England," in domestic productions. That in those articles they have a superiority over all the rest of the union, was never suspected. But it is, nevertheless, true. No. 8. " The nation of New England," (No. 2) . , g 7,027,057 New York, ....... 14,168,291 New Jersey, ...... 9,746 Pennsylvania, ...... 4,486,329 Delaware, ...... 54,685 Eastern and middle states, . . . . g 25,746,108 Southern States, (No. 3) .... g 38,968,961 Thus it appears that the domestic exports of the southern states are above fifty per cent, beyond those of all the rest of the union. I shall conclude these overwhelming statements, with one still more striking. 'I'he whole of the exports of " the nation of New England," of foreign and domestic articles, including cotton, rice, tobacco, naval stores, &c. derived from the southern states, was, in 1816, as we have seen, (No. 1) only g 12,375,928 Whereas, of domestic articles alone, the exports from Georgia and Louisiana were, Georgia, ... 7,436,692 Louisiana, - - . 5,251,833 12,688,525 CHAP. 84.] STATISTICS. 47? Thits^ the wonderful fact appears hicontestible, that Georgia and Louisiana exported^ in the year \&\Q>^ more doinestic produc- tions^ than " the nation of New England'''' exported zvithin the same period, of every description, foreign a?id domestic ! ! ! Reader, ponder well on these strong facts — and then answer this simple question — Has the world ever witnessed more tran- scendent folly than the eastern states have displayed in assem- bling a convention at Hartford, to guard the interests of com- merce against the hostility of the southern states, at the risque of civil war and all its horrors ? Import Duties. On the subject of the import duties paid by the different states, there was a great clamour excited, and the mass of the people of the eastern states were thoroughly satisfied, that they bore almost the whole expense of the government, their south- ern brethren contributing but little towards it. I annex two tables of the duties on imports for the year 1815. Georgia paid more duties than the four minor eastern states. Georg'ia, - - - - . . . g 882,453 New Hampshire - - . . . 92,316 Vermont --.-.. 228,957 Rhode Island ..... 233,024 Connecticut - - - - - .' 233,683 787,980 The southern states paid twenty-five per cent, more than the eastern, exclusive of the duties really paid by them on foreign goods bonded to the eastward, and consumed to the southward. Maryland, - . - . . . g 4,050,504 Virginia, ..... 1,226,404 Columbia, -....„ 482,'426 North Cai-olina, ..... 345,204 South Carolina, ..... 1,429,498 Georgia, ..... 882,453 Louisiana, ...... 984,909 Four minor eastern states, as above, - - g 787,980 Massachusetts, ..... 5,771,667 ■9,401,398 I r 7,559,647 CHAPTER LXXXIV. Freedom of the seas. Prophets. Sedition. Opposition to the XV ar. Jury Trial. The hallucinations of minds of respectable grade, are in manv cases wholly inexplicable, and excite astonishment. C. C. Brown, a writer of very considerable celebrity, published " an address to congress," in Philadelphia, anno 1803, in which he openly avow- ed the monstrous and absurd theory, that England had just the same right to exclude us from, as we had to navigate, the ocean; that our conduct to Great Britain and France, flowed from the O. B. 62 478 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [chap. 84- same source as theirs towards us ; that vessels unemployed were, worse than vessels captured or shipwrecked; and that the real law of nations is, that each must enrich and aggrandize itself by all the means in its power. These crude and absurd ideas were delivered with as much solemnity as so many responses of the Delphic Oracle. They form the sum and substance — the pith and marrow, of a prolix pamphlet of above ninety pages. Prophets, In all ages, prophets have been highly gratified to have their predictions fulfilled— and, so far as lay in their power, have ge- nerally spared no pains to effect their accomplishment. Of this propensity the United States have exhibited several instances. I cite one. Some of the high-toned federalists, about the time of the for- mation of the federal constitution, ridiculed, as the quintessence of political absurdity— as transcendently Utopian — the idea of its being practicable to give permanency to the republican form of government in so extensive a country as the United States. They pitied the folly, or detested the wickedness of the attempt. Some of these gentlemen in Boston and elsewhere have made great exertions, to secure the verification of their predictions.—' Thank heaven they have been disappointed. Sedttioji. Although I have given numerous instances of the seditious spirit that prevailed in the eastern states, during and subsequent to the embargo, yet it can hardly be unacceptable to the reader to put a few more on record, in order more fully to evince the dangerous nature of the precipice from which we have escaped. A memorial to the legislature of Massachusetts, presented by the citizens of the town of Hadley, contains the following very significant paragraph. " Resolved, that in our opinion, a perseverance in that deadly hostility to commerce, which, we believe, derives its orig-in and its vigour from a deep rooted ji-alousy of the eastern states, will inevitably lead to a DISSOLUTION OF TIIK UXION. And thoiig-h we most sincerely deprecate such an event, j'et we cannot suppress our fears, that the time is at iiand, wlien A SEPARA- TION OF THESE STATES will be enforced by the most irresistible of all motives— SELF-PRESERVATION ! !" The citizens of Boston at the same period, passed the follow- ing among other resolves. "Resolved, that we will not voluntarily aid or assist in the execution of the act passed on the ninth of this month, for enforcing- the several embargo laws : and that all those who sliall assist in enforcing upon others the arbitrary and unconstitutional provisions of this act, ought to be considered as enemies to the Constitution of the United States, and hostile to the liberties of this peo- ple!!" CHAP. 84.] JURY TRIAL. 4,79 At a meeting of the inhabitants of the County of Hampshire in Massachusetts, a number of inflammatory resokitions were passed, of which the tenor may be calculated from the following. " Resolved, that causes are continually occurring', which tend to produce a ?nost calamitous event — a dissolution of the umon." On the 5th of August, 1812, a meeting was held in Castine, at which the following resolutions among others were passed :— " Resolved, that we do not hold ourselves bound in honour or patriotism, vo- luntarily to enlist in the army destined tor foreign conquest : but that we will not lag behind any of our fellow -citizens in resisting and repelling invasion of our rights, our liberty, or our country. " Resolved, that we contemplate with pleasure the patriotic spirit which animates the friends of peace throughout the United States ; and that we hail it as kindred to the spirit of 1775." How far the pompous pledge given in the first resolution, was redeemed, the unresisted invasion and conquest of Castine, afforded a handsome illustration. Opposition to the War. Although the late war declared against Great Britain was as just as any war ever waged, yet those who opposed the declara- tion to the very last stage, can offer very strong arguments in their defence. The issues of wars are so totally uncertain — so many nations have been utterly ruined by them — and the divi- sions of our citizens were so inveterate and deep rooted — that men of the purest hearts and clearest heads, might well hesitate before they would consent to pass the Rubicon, even though they might be well satisfied that the accumulation of injury heaped on this country, had warranted a recourse to the ultima ratio at a much earlier stage of aggression. But what justification can be offered for those who, after war was declared by a respectable majority — after it had become the law of the land — while the nation was in jeopardy of its exist- ence — while deep perdition stared their country in the face, continued to embarrass and enfeeble, and endeavoured to stran- gle that government which was the sole barrier between them and anarchy, and civil war, on the one hand — and subjugation by a foreign foe on the other ! When they cast a retrospective eye on their infatuation and delusion, they must be preyed on by the deepest regret and remorse. yury Trial. James Ross, an eminent lawyer of Pittsburg, was, many years since, the federal candidate for governor of the state of Penn- sylvania. Some of his opponents circulated a malicious and ly- ing report, to ruin his character, that he had administered the sacrament to a dog. This excited a deadly hostility against him, among the sober and religious part of his fellow citizens— lost him many friends — and increased the ardour and the energy of his enemies. 4Sa PdUTICAL OLIVE BRA^XH. [chap. 85. The report was traced to some individual whose name I do not recollect. Mr. Ross sued him for damages. After all the vexatious and irritating delay that chicane can contrive, the case finally came before a jury. A verdict was given against the de- fendant — with damages. And how much damages, reader, would you suppose ? You might guess for a dozen years, be- fore you could guess the exact sum. It was, to the best of my recollection, six cents. I write from memory, having mislaid the account of the trial : but I am confident it was below a dollar ! So much for our boasted trial by jury. CHAPTER LXXXV. Self -created Societies. Merit unrewarded. Compensation Law. The proceedings of parties and factions, however different their principles, views, and professions, bear a wonderful ana- logy to each other, when placed in similar circumstances. Those who possess power, strain every nerve, too often regardless of right or wrong, to preserve it. Those who are divested of it, too generally use every possible means to acquire it, equally regard- less of justice. During the inflammation of the public mind, excited by the then recent French revolution, and the art and address of M. Genet, the democratic party, then in a minority, established de- mocratic societies, which, by their affiliations in every ramifica- tion of the United States, were intended, and expected, by co- operation, to overawe the administration, to dismount their an- tagonists, and to enable the leaders to vault into the vacant sad- dles. This effect they would indubitably have produced, but that they were denounced by General Washington, and both houses of congress, as having been implicated in encouraging the oppo- sition to the general government, which, finally, led to the west- ern insurrection. This was a mortal stroke to them, and totally enfeebled them thenceforward. General Washington, after detailing the various steps that led to the final explosion, states, in his address to congress, anno 1794— " From a belief that by a more formal concert, the operation of the excise laws might be defeated, certain self-created Societies assumed the tone of con- demnation. Hence, while the g'rcater part of Pennsylvania were conforming' themselvesto the acts of excise, a few counties were resolved to prostrate them." To this the senate replied — " Our anxiety, arising- from the licentious and open resistance to the laws, in the western counties of Pennsylvania, has been increased by tlic proceedings of certain self-created Societies, relative to the laws and administration of the government ; proceedings, in our apprehension, founded in political error, cal- culated, if not intended, to disorganize our government, and which, by inspir- ing delusive hopes of support, have been influential in misleading our fellow citizens in the scene of msurrection." CHAP. 85. J SELF-CREATED SOCIETIES. 481 The denunciation of the house of representatives, was not quite so unequivocal. It excited an ardent debate, and was great- ly softened down : " We learn, with the greatest concern, that any misrepresentations what- ever, of the government and its proceedings, either by individuals, or combina- tions of7nen, should have been made, and so far credited, as to foment the fla- grant outrage which has been committed on the laws." General Washington expressed his utter disapprobation of those societies much more pointedly in his letters to his friends : " The real people," he says, " occasionally assembled, in order to express their sentiments on political subjects, ought never to be confounded with per- manent, self-appointed Societies, usurping the riglit to conti'oul the constituted authorities, and to dictate to public opinion. While the former was entitled to respect, the latter was incompatible with all government, and must either sink into general disesteem, or finally overturn the established order of things." To Mr. Jay,thennegociatingin London, he wrote as follows ; " That the self-created Societies, who have spread themselves over this coun- try, have been labouring incessantly to sow the seeds of distrust, jealousy, and, of course, discontent, hoping thereby to effect some revolution in the go- vernment, is not unknown to you. That they have been the fomenters of the western disturbances, admits of no doubt in the mind of any one who will ex amine their conduct. But, fortunately, they have precipitated a crisis, for which they were not prepared ; and thereby have unfolded views which will, I trust, effect their annihilation much sooner than itmight have happened. An occasion has also been afforded for the people of this country to show their abhorrence of the result, and their attachment to the constitution and the laws ; for I be- lieve, that five times the number of militia that were required, would have come forward in support of them, had it been necessary."! The Washington Benevolent Societies owe their origin to the same lust of power that engendered the Democratic Societies. They were intended, like those democratic societies, to give an undue influence to the members beyond what their numerical force entitled them to. And the advantages of concert and co- operation are so great, that wherever they are established, they cannot fail to produce this effect. The time and place of their birth are considerably against them. They originated in Boston, at a period when that town was the grand focus of disaffection and sedition — when " Moses and Aaroii^'' were invoked to lead " the oppressed Israelites'''' un- der the standard of rebellion, to a " new region,'' to " Mount Carmel." And the prime agents in all these rebellious move- ments were among the leaders of the W^ashington Benevolent Societies — leaders whose views and proceedings were as diame- trically opposite to the holy admonitions of Washington, as light is opposite to darkness. That among the Washington Benevolent Societies are to be found thousands of the best citizens in the United States' — • * Marshall's Life of Washington, vol. v. page 592. f Idem, page 593. 4S2 POLITICAL OLIVJ^ BRANCH. [chap. 85, that the objects of those citizens are perfectly pure — that they would shudder with horror at the idea of any illegal act, I most unhesitatingly admit. — But there cannot be a doubt, that when- ever the views of such societies embrace political operations, as they almost universally do, they are to be regarded with great watchfulness and jealousy. They are liable to every pos- sible objection ever made against the Democratic Societies. Merit unrewarded. That congress, the proper organ of the gratitude and liberali- tv of the nation, has not discharged the debt due to many illus- trious individuals, whose talents and patriotism powerfully aid- ed in saving this country, is a truth which, however it may be regretted, cannot be controverted. The instances are unfortu- nately but too numerous. The defence of Baltimore, and the defeat of the British there, were among the most fortunate circumstances of the war. Had the enemy succeeded, Philadelphia would probably have fallen the next victim — and the war might have been prolonged for another year, with the most calamitous results at home and abroad. To the success there, major Armistead, who cominand- ed Fort M'Henry, and lieutenant Webster, who commanded a six gun battery, mainly contributed. The best judges of the state of the case, are of opinion, that but for the noble efforts of skill and bravery displayed by lieutenant Webster, the British would very probably have succeeded. With his six guns, and about forty men, he kept up such a destructive fire upon them, as finally induced them to abandon the enterprize. It is painful to state, that neither of these citizens has receiv- ed from the government of the United States any remuneration for their brilliant and most useful services, of which it has hard- ly taken any notice whatever. A few public spirited individuals in Baltimore subscribed to- ward the purchase of a handsome piece of plate for major Ar- mistead, and a sword for lieutenant Webster — and thus ends the sorry tale of gratitude for such important services ! ! Lieutenant Webster was induced, by the advice of some of his friends, to establish a grocery store in the centre of Balti- more, and calculated upon the patronage of a city to which he had rendered such substantial services. He has been disappoint- ed even in those moderate expectations, and a few weeks since was closing his concerns after the much-to-be-regretted failure of his experiment. Coynpensation Larv. Few circumstances have occurred of late years more discre- ditable to the nation, as well as to its representatives, than the proceedings respecting the compensation law. CHAP. 85.] OOIMPENSATION LAW. 483 The wages of congress were fixed, on the organization of the government, at six dollars per day. They remained stationary, so far as respects the house of representatives, from that period till the operation of the law which iorms the subject of this dis- cussion. A factious clamour was raised by the democrats against the extravagance of the compensation, with a view of rendering un- popular the federalists who had passed the six dollar law. The clamour was nearly as great as that raised against the recent compensation law. But as it was founded in soi'did and sinis- ter motives, it gradually subsided. The public acquiesced in the propriety of the wages. Twenty- eight yeairs have since elapsed. Money has greatly depreciated in value. Some articles advanced 20, 30, 40, and 50 per cent in price. And some might be pointed out, of which the price is doubled. Superfine cloths are among the number. It would be waste of time, and indeed an insult to the reader, to undertake to prove the necessity, under these circumstances, of increasing the compensation of the members of congress. It is self evident. This being assumed, the only real question on the subject is, whether the increase were too great, or otherwise. In forming a fair estimate of the proper amount of compensa- tion for any species of service, public or private, it requires to be regulated by a compound ratio of the value of the time be- stowed — the situation of the parties — the sacrifices they make — the compensation for similar or other services — and the expense of living. $■ Applying all these tests to the law in question, it can be un- answerably defended. There are large and important classes of citizens, embracing no small proportion of the persons suitable for the situation of members of congress, whom the amount of the compensation which has afforded ground for so much factious clamour, or even double that amount, would not adequately pay for the sacrifices they would make, by accepting seats as members of congress. I mean first-rate lawyers, doctors, and merchants. W hat com- pensation, for instance, would 1500 dollars per annum be to Mr. Wirt, Mr. Pinkney, or Mr. Emmet; to Dr. Wistar, Dr. Physick, or Dr. Monges ; or to Wm, Gray, Mr. Willing, Mr. Ralston, or Mr. Girard.* • There is frequently a considerable difficulty in prevailing' on suitable per- sons to stand candidates for congress in our capital cities. I was, some years since, a member of a committee appointed to wait on sundry g'entlemen who were contemplated as candidates. We consulted four in succession, who de- clined. This was the year in which Mr. Clay was first elected. He was the fifth gentleman applied to ; agreed to become a candidate ; and was success- ful. He was at the time a clerk in the bank of North America. 484 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [chap. 85 In order to enable the reader to form a correct idea on the execrated compensation of the members of congress, I annex a statement of the compensations given to sundry officers, some un- der the general government, and some in a few other situations. Secretary of State's office. Secretary - - - ' Chief clerk Second . - - Third Four others, each Treasury department. Secretary - - - Chief clerk Second ... Two others, each Fifth Sixth Comptroller's office. Comptroller Chief and second clerk, each Third and fourth, each Fifth Sixth and seventh, each Eighth and ninth, each - Auditor's office. Auditor ... Principal clerk - Second ... Four others, each Tliree others, each - One Register s office. Register ^ . . Chief clerk Second ... Third and fourth, each - Fifth Sixth Three others, each - Treasurer's office. Treasurer - - - First clerk Second - • Third General Land office. Commissioner First clerk Second ... Three others, each War department. Secretary ... Chief clerk Second ... §5000 2000 1500 1350 1150 §5000 2000 1650 1500 1400 1300 S3500 1500 1300 1100 1088 1000 jgSOOO 1600 1300 1150 1100 1000 §3000 1766 1516 1450 1400 1066 1000 §3000 iroo 1300 1240 §3000 J 600 1100 1050 §4500 1600 1430 Third and fourth, each - § 1300 Seven others, each - - 1000 Paymaster's office. Paymaster general - - S 2500 Chief clerk - - 1840 Second ^ . - 1495 Third - - - 1250 Fourth - - - 1200 Fiftli - - - 1150 Three others, each - 1100 Five others, each - - 1009 Accountant's office. Two accountants, each - § 2000 Two clerks, each - - 1600 Four others, each - 1300 Seventh - - - 1200 Four others, each - 1150 Twelfth - - - 1050 Three others - - 1000 Supenntcndant' s office. Superintendant - - §3000 Chief clerk - - 1600 Second - - - 1200 Third - - - 1000 Secretary ofJVavy's office. Secretary - - - §4500 Chief clerk - - 2000 Second - - - 1300 Third and fourth, each . 1200 JSTuvy Commissioners' office. Three commissioners, each • § 3500 Secretary - - 2000 Three clerks, each - - 1000 .iccountant ofJVavy's office. Accoimtant - First clerk Second Third Fourth Three others, each Five others, each General Post oj Postmaster genei'al First assistant Second do. Book-keeper Assistant Six clerks, each Three others, each ice. Mayor of the City of Philadelphia . . . - President of the Bank of Pennsylvania . - - Casliier of do. - - - - . . ^ . Governor of the State - - - Secretary .....-- Speaker of the Senate, should he exercise the office of Governor Chief Justice Supreme Court (and §4 per day while on circuit) §2300 1600 1320 1280 1120 1060 1000 §3000 1700 1600 1300 1100 1200 1000 §3000 4000 4000 5333 1333 3333 33 2666 67 LHAP. 85,] COIMPENSATION LAW. 485 Assistant Judges - - 1600 Secretary of the Land office 1333 33 and §4 per day, while on Receiver general of Land circuit. Oihce Treasurer - - - 1333 33 Comptroller General - 2133 33 Surveyor General - 1333 33 Register General - 1333 33 Let it be observed that the salaries of the above officers of the state of Pennsylvania were fixed anno 1791, when money was from 1 7 to 20 per cent, more valuable than at present. A careful exa.mination of the above cannot fail to satisfy any man whose mind is open to conviction, that the obnoxious com- jjensation was no more than reasonable ; and that the outcry against it was, as I have stated, factious, or the result of a beg- garly spirit of economy, discreditable to the nation, of which every man who has its honour at heart, must feel deeply ashamed. The most injurious of the consequences of the miserable clamour against this law, was, that some of the most valuable members of congress fell into such discredit with their constitu- ents, as to be superseded by rival candidates. Among the mem- bers who shared this fate, there is probably none who ought to be more regretted than Mr. Hurlbut, a federalist, of Massa- chusetts, a gentleman of considerable talents, and remarkable for fairness and candour, qualities of inestimable value in a public character. It may seem extraordinary, at the first glance, that while the people of the United States are regarded as deserving severe censure for the factious outcry excited against this law, the pro- ceedings of congress on this subject, at its last session, are deem- ed -equally deserving of reprobation. Nothing has occurred in the variegated annals of that body much more reprehensi- ble. Never was time more wretchedly spent — never talents more misemployed. It is not improbable that a third or a fourth part of the session was prostituted to, I had nearly said, never-ending debates on the repeal of this act. Almost every member capable of making a speech, filled two, three, four, or five columns of the newspapers, until the public was disgusted not more with the act than with its defenders and opposers. The subject might have been compressed within the compass of a nutshell. Any man of tolerable talents might have exhausted all that was v/orth hearing on either side of the question in three hours. And, had congress possessed the firmness that becomes such a body, it would have scouted the idea of a repeal — and, had it a due sense of its own dignity, it would have decided the question in two or three days. When regard is had to the number of all-important laws which might have been enacted in the time thrown away on this paltry subject, the folly displayed on it must be a subject of deep and lasting regret. O, B. 63 Clerk - . . - gsooo Second clerk - - ■ 1800 Four other clerks (each) 1500 Serjeant at arms - ^ 1500 Doorkeeper 1500 Assistant doorkeeper - 1450 486 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH, [chap. 86. There are some of the salaries paid by the United States' government, that are still more striking cases in point than any of those I have given : Senate. House of Representatives. Secretary - - - gSOOO "' " Principal clerk - - 1800 Two engrossing clerks (each) 1500 Serjeant at arms - - 1500 Deputy Door-keeper - 1450 What a triumph will it afford in Europe to those who hate and aifect to despise this country, to be able to state, that the whole nation has for two years been kept in a state of commo- tion and ferment, because the members of the legislature of the union dared to fix their own salaries at the same rate as those of clerks, Serjeants at arms, and doorkeepers ! It is really inex- pressibly mortifying to reflect on the subject. It is not worth while to offer anv argument derived from the heavy expense of living at Washington, where board and lodg- ing are probably twice as high as at the seat of government in any of the eastern or middle states. A rational man need not take this point into consideration to enable him to decide the question. Seamen, The clamour made by the British government on the subject of the seduction of their seamen, has hardly ever been exceeded in point of inconsistency. To a superficial observer it might appear that Great Britain was guiltless of enticing or receiving the seamen of any other nation — and that her fleets were wholly manned with her own subjects. This inference would be per- fectly natural — because on no other ground could she be war- ranted in the remonstrances she made against the admission of her seamen on board our vessels. But the astonishing fact is, that in war, she has generally more foreigners than natives in her service. The following is a statement of the relative pro- portions of each, for three years. Natives. Foreigners. I80r - - - 42,000 43,000 1808 - - - 29,000 43,000 1810 - , - 34,000 58,000 CHAPTER LXXXVI. Ariicrican magnanimity., generosity^ and public spirit. A large portion of this work cannot be perused without excit- ing mixed sensations of surprise and pity at the transcendent folly, and indignation at the political sins, of both the parties by which the country is divided. As a relief to the gloom this CHAP. 86.] MAGNANIMITY. . 48? view of the subject naturally inspires, I had determined to de- vote a long chapter to record various traits of honour, generosi- ty, magnanimity and justice, which elevate the national charac- ter ; place it on a level in some cases with that of Greece or Rome ; and hold out glorious examples to posterity. I regret to state, that most of the materials of which it was to have been composed, have been irrecoverably mislaid. It is therefore ne- cessarily circumscribed within much narrower limits than I had proposed. The British sloop ofwar. Sylph, was wrecked off the east end of Long Island, and nearly the whole of her crew perished. The few survivors were destitute of almost every thing : and in many countries would have been thrown into prison, as if they had been captured in batde. But to the honour of our government, as soon as the intelligence reached Washington, orders were issued not merely for their liberation, without exchange, if previously confined, but that they should be provided with whatever was " necessary for their subsistence and comfort." It was likewise ordered that " they should be either sent in a cartel to Halifax, or conveyed by a flag to one of the ships off New York harbour." The captain of an American privateer, the Midas, having landed some of his men, on Royal Island, at the plantation of a Mr. Bafnett, gave them orders " to set fire to the buildings." Accordinglv, " four handsome dwelling houses, and fourteen negro huts,'' were consumed. Intelligence of this outrage being conveyed to the seat of gov- ernment, by the collector of the customs at Wilmington, N. C. the president of the United States immediately sent orders to that officer to revoke the commission of the captain of the Mi- das, for " the wilful deviation from his instructions, which en- joined the strictest regard to the usages of civilized nations." The merit of this order is gready enhanced by the time of its occurrence. It is dated the 25th of November, 1814, when the feelings of the nation were festering under the then recent Van- dalic destruction of the public buildings at Washington — and the abominable atrocities perpetrated at Hampton and elsewhere — and when the strict laws of war might, perhaps, in retaliation, have justified the infliction of a desolating vengeance on the de- fenceless shores of the West Indies. The conclusion of the or- der is so just and pointed, that I most cheerfully present it to the reader : " In communicating this determination of the president, it is proper to re- mark, that by whatsoever acts of flagrant outrage upon defenceless towns and properly of unarmed and unresisting individuals, the British naval and military officers on our maritime and inland frontiers may have provoked, or may here- after provoke, severe measures of retaliation, it is for the government alone to prescribe the manner and the means of retaliation." 488 rOLITICAL OLt\'^E BRANCH. [chap. 86. That the conduct of our naval heroes towards their conquer- ed enemies has displayed a high degree of magnanimity, kind- ness, and liberality, there is not the shadow of a doubt. " Proofs rise on proofs, and still the last the strongest." It is delightlul to find the most decisive testimony borne on the subject, even by the British officers themselves, who must be most indisputa- ble evidence. Captain Dacres, to his honour be it said, expresses himself in the most unequivocal terms on this subject, in the official letter containing an account of his capture : " I feel it my duty to state, that the conduct of Captain Hull and his officers to our men, has been that of a brave enemy ; the greatest care being taken to prevent our men losing the smallest trifle, and tlie greatest attention being paid to the wounded." Of the conduct of the amiable and universally-lamented Cap- tain Lawrence, the following decisive testimonial was given by the officers of the Peacock : JK^exv-York, 27th March, 1813. "Sin — We, the surviving officers of his Britannic majesty's late brig Pea- cock, beg leave to return you our grateful acknowledgments for the kin'd at- tention and hospitality we experienced during the time we remained on board the United States sloop Hornet. So much was done to alleviate the distress- ing and uncomfortable situation in which we were placed when received on board the sloop you command, that we cannot better express our feelings than by saying, " We ceased to consider ourselves prisoners;" and every thing that friendship could dictate, was adopted by you, and the ofticers of the Hornet, to remedy the inconvenience we would otlicrvvise have expei-ienced, from the unavoidable loss of the whole of our property and clothes, by the sudden sink- ing of the Peacock. " Permit us, then, sir, impressed as we arc, with a grateful sense of your kindness, Vor ourselves and the other officers and ship's company, to return you and the officers of the Hornet our sincere thanks, which we shall feel obliged if you will communicate in our name ; and believe us to remain, with a high sense of the kind offices you have rendered us, your hnml)le servants, " F. xV. WIllGHT, 1st lieutenant. (;. LAMURET, 2d lieutenant. EDWARD LOTT, master. J. WHITTAKER, surgeon. F. D. UNWIN, purser. " Jamen Laxvretice, esq. commander U. S. sloop Hornet." Captain Carden bore the most unequivocal testimony to the chivalric liberality of Commodore Decatur and his officers. All the private property of the ofticers and men on board the Mace- donian was given up to the owners — and for some wine, and other articles, which nine officers out of ten, similarly circum- stanced, would have seized, without any " compunctious visit- ings of conscience,-' the commodore paid the captain eight hun- dred dollars. To the humanity, kindness, and liberality of commodore Bain- bildge towards the prisoners, captured in the Java, General His- lop bore the most honourable testimony. Next to the gratifica CHAF. 86] MAGNANnOTY. 489 tion which a liberal mind feels in the contemplation of the con- duct of the victor, is that felt in reading the candid acknowledg- ments of the vanquished. Gen Hislop to Commodore JSainbridge, Dear Sir, St. Salvador, Januaty 3d, 1813. I am justly penetrated with the fullest sense of your very handsome and kind treatment, ever since the fate of war placed me in your power : and I beg once more to renew to you my sincerest acknowledgments for the same. Your acquiescence with my request in granting me my parole, with the offi- cers of my staff, added to the obhgation I had previously experienced, claims from me this additional tribute of my thanks. May I now finally flatter myself^ that in the further extension of your generous and humane feehngs, in the alleviation of the misfortunes of war, you will have the goodness to fulfil the only wish and request I am now most anxious to see completed, by enlarging on their parole, (on the same conditions you have acceded to with respect to myself) all the officers of the Java, still on board your ship — a favoiu- I shall never cease duly to appreciate, by your acquiescence thereto. I have the honour to subscribe myself, dear sir, your much obliged and very humble servant, (Signed) T. HISLOP. Commodore Bainbridge. Answer of Commodore Bainbridge. United States' Frigate Constitution, St. Salvador, 3d Jan. 1813. Dear Sir, I have received your letter of this date, conveying sentiments of your feel- ings for my treatment towards you since the fate of war placed you in my power. The kind expressions which you have been pleased to use, are justly- appreciated by me, and far overbalance those common civilities shewn by me,_ and which are always due to prisoners. I regret that the lumbered state of my ship prevented me from making you as comfortable on board, as I sincerely wished to have done. I have complied with your last request, respecting pa- roling all the officers of the Java. In doing so, your desire, in addition to my disposition to ameliorate, as much as possible, the situation of those officers, considerably influenced me. Permit me to tender you (notwithstanding our respective countries are at= war) assurances of sincere esteem and high respect, and to assure you that I. shall feel at all times highly gratified in hearing from you. With fervent wishes for the recovery of the gallant Captain Lambert, I have the honour to subscribe myself, very respectfully, &c. (Signed) Wm. BAINBRIDGE. • Ldeiit. Gen. Hislop, of the British army. General Hislop to Commodore Bainbridge. Dear Sir, St. Salvador, 4th January, 1813. Allow me once more to express my sincerest acknowledgments for this last instance of your kind attention to my wishes, by having complied with my re- quest in behalf of the officers of the Java. Lieutenant Chads delivered to me your very polite and obliging letter : and be assured, that I sliall feel no less gratification at all times to hear from you, than that which you are so good as"" to express yon will derive in i-eceiving infomiation respecting myself. May I request now that you v/ill be so good as to cause to be lookea for, a small chest,* containing articles of plate, more valuable to me on account of * The chest loas merely mislaid. It had been restored by orders of Commodore Bainbridge, prior to the receipt of this letter. 490 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [chap. 87. having been presented to me by the colony of Demarara, where I commanded for several years. I have tlie honour to be, he. (Signed) T. mSLOP Commodore Bainbridge. CHAPTER LXXXVII. Miscellaneous articles. The people of the eastern states, thank heaven, are recover- ing fast from the paroxysms of the malignant political fever, wherebv they were, during the war, driven to the utmost excess of insanity and idiocy.' With aching hearts, they look back on their wild career. There is no point of view in which it can be placed, to produce this effect more forcibly, than by a contrast with the heroism, patriotism, and liberality of the western states, which have elevated the national character to a level with those of Greece and Rome, in their proudest days of glory. The following instance of devotion to country, and of alacrity in preparation for her defence, has perhaps hardly ever been exceeded. Governor Meigs, at Chilicothe, received an express, requir- ing aid, to support General Hull against the enemy, on Satur- day the 18th of July, 1812. On Sunday the ladies of the place (heaven reward them for " doing good on the Sabbath''''') worked all day to equip their fathers, husbands, brothers, and lovers, for the service. On Monday the drums beat to arms — and before noon of that day, a new and complete company of sixty men paraded and marched, fully equipped and uniformed. Several of the most respectable citizens of the place were among the vo- lunteers. It has been affirmed that empire and science are tra- velling to the westward. And certain it is, that glory and public spirit follow in their train — or, to speak more correcdy, lead them forward on their route. The legislature of Tennessee passed an act the 25th of Sep- tember, 1813, for raising 3500 men, to march against the Creeks, and authorising the banks of the state to lend, and the governor to borrow, any sum of money not exceeding S300,000, for arm- ing and equipping them. The act contained a clause directing, in the event of the gene- ral government refusing to pay the debts thus contracted, " that at the next session of the legislature of that state, a tax should be laid upon the taxable property within the same, sufficient to raise the sum and the interest thereon, which might be borrow- ed by the governor." Contrast this act, in the enaction of which presided exalted liberality and the purest patriotism, with the following miserable act passed in Massachusetts, about four months afterwards — an CHAP. 87.] TOOTHLESS MALIGNITY. 491 act displaying as much toothless malignity as, ever entered into any public document. • Commomoealth of JMassadnisetts. An act declaratory of the true intent and meaning' of an act entitled, " An act to provide for the safe keeping of all prisoners committed under the authority of the United States, in the several gaols within tliis commonwealth." Sec. 1. Be it enacted by the senate and house of representatives in general court assembled, and by the authoi'ity of the same, That nothing contained in an'act entitled, " An act to provide for the safe keeping of all prisoners commit- ted under the authority of the United States, in the several gaols of tliis com- monwealth," shall be so coixstrued as to authorise the keepers of said gaols to take custody of, and keep within said gaols, any prisoners oornmitted by any other authority than the judicial authority of the United States. And whereas, several prisoners of war have been committed to gaols within this commonwealth, under the executive authority of the United States: Sec. 2. Be it further enacted, That the keepers of the said gaols are hereby authorised and required to discharge from said gaols all such prisoners of war, after the expiration of thirty days from the passing oftliis act, unless tliey shall be sooner discharged by the authority of tlie United States. Feb. 1814. The same toothless malignity that the house of representa- tives, senate, and governor of the very respectable and enlight- ened state of Massachusetts exhibited in the above act, actuated the citizens of New Bedford, in their attempt to prevent, as far as lay in their power, the destruction of the enemy's commerce by our privateers, by the following resolutions : Voted, nnanimously. As expressive of the sense of the inhabitants of this town, that inasmuch as we have uniformly disapproved of the impolitic, unnecessary, and ruinous war in which the United States are engaged, we have considered it to be our duty to abstain, and have scrupulously abstained from all interest and concern in sending out private armed vessels, to harass the commerce of tlie enemy, and fi'om all voluntary acts which appeared to us to have a tendency to prolong the duration, encourage the prosecution, or increase th ■ ravages of the " unprofitable contest ;" that we have seen with disapprobation several private armed vessels belonging to other ports, taking shelter in our peaceful waters ; and regret that we have not authority, by law, wholty to exclude them from our harbour, where they serve to increase our dangers, and to excite tu- mult, disorder, riot, and confusion. Voted, iiiianimousUj, As expressive of the sense of the inhabitants of this town, ^h^i private armed vessels, while cruising in various climates, and visiting shi]5s and vessels from every country, are extremely liable to contract and receive on board infectious diseases ; and that in such cases there is every reason to suspect that such vessels, and the persons, baggage, and clotliing, on board, may be infected with some contagious distemper — Voted, icnariiwoxisly. As expressive of the sense of the inhabitants of this town, that the safety of the inhabitants thereof requires tliat any private armed vessel or vessels, which shall an-ive or be bound to the harbour of New Bedford, from an}'' port or place, shall be required to perform quarantine during a term of not less than forty days; and that the selectmen and health committee of the town be requested to cause all such vessels to perfomi quarantine at such place as they shall appoint, and under such restrictions and regulations as they may judge expedient. J\Vw^(?(//brt/, /^//^ 21, 1814. By these insidious resolves, a privateer, direct from New York, Philadelphia, or Baltimore, would be obliged to perform qua- rantine of " not less than forty days." Thus, so far as depend- 492 POLITICAL OLIVE BilANCH. [chav. i^T. ed on the " patriotic citizens" of New Bedford^ while the num- berless government vessels and privateers of the enemy, were preying on our exposed commerce, they would cut up our pri- vateering by the roots ! To these striking examples of infatuation, I shall add one more — and then close the scene. But the reader may rest assur- ed, that there are enough on record to fill a handsome pocket volume, and that not printed on very large type. Some of the disaffected citizens of the state of New York were in the habit of seizing British deserters, and conveying them across the lines, to receive punishment for the abandon, meat of their sovereign. To deter from a continuance of this foul crime, the legislature of that state passed the following act : Be it enacted by the people of the state ofJ\''eiv York, represented in senate unci aS' semblij. That if any person or persons witliin tliis state sliall apprehend, arrest, or detain, or assist, or aid or abet, in the appreliension, arrest, or detention, of any British deserter or deserters, knowing- him or them to he such, and with intent to return him or them to tlie enemy, such person or persons, on beini^ thereof convicted, shall be deemed guilty of felony, and shall be sentenced to imprisonment, in the state prison, for the term of ten years. Passed October 11, 1814. The spirit of disaffection that existed during the war, appears in no way more disgusting, than in the elaborate attempt made in certain newspapers to depreciate the merits and the glory of the defenders of their country. In this they ran a race with the most envenomed of the ministerial papers in London. After the defeat and capture of the army of general Pz^octor, which, treading on the heels of the illustrious Perry's glorious exploit, excited a general burst of joy among all the friends of this country, the following comments on the subject were pub- lished in two influential eastern papers : — " At length, the handful of British troops, which, for more than a year, had baffled the numerous armies of the United States, in the invasion of Canada, deprived of the genius of the immortal Jirock, have been obliged to yield to superior power and numbers." Sal&m Gazette, Oct. 22, 1814. " We shall surrender all our conquests at a peace. It is indeed a hopeful exploit for Harrison, with five thousand troops, who h.ave been assembling and preparing ever since .Tulj-, 1812, to fight and conquer fovir hundred and" fifty worn-out, exhausted British regulars, whom the Indians had previously de- serted." Boston Daily Advertiser, Oct. 23, 1814, Extract of a letter from Albany. JVot>. 24, 1813. " Every hour is fraught with doleful tidings from the north. Humanity groans from t!ie frontic rs. Hampton's army is reduced to about 2000 ; AVilkin- son's cut up .and famishing. Crimination and recrimination are the order of the day. Democracy has rolled herself up in weeds, and lain down for her List wallowing in the sloug-h of disgrace. Armstrong, the cold-blooded direc- tor of all this military anarchy, is still here, but chop-fallen. No profane allu- sion, but Now lift, ye saints, your heads on high. And shout — for your redemption's nigh." Boston Gazette. cHAp.Sr.] THEORIES OF GOVERNMENT. 453 Public Spirit. Shortly after the declaration ol war, a company of aged citi- zens was formed in Kowan County, North Carolina, ol which the members were from 45 to 80 years of age. They were em- bodied mider the title of " The Company of Silver Locks." The following is the preamble to their articles of association. "The undersigned soldiers, having many of us fought for our libertj' in the revokition, and now from our advanced age are unable to undergo the same hardships in the field as formerly ; yet our bosoms swell with indignation, when we hear of our honour and independence being insulted by foreign enemies, who have not only begun the awful work of death themselves, but encouraged the savage tribes to spill the blood of our innocent brethi-en on our frontiers, regarding neither sex or age : " We, therefore, are willing to aid our beloved country, i" opposing the ene- my and suppressing the influence of dangerous and ill-designing men (as we fear may exist among us) in every instance, so far as we may be justified by the laws of our country." In the city of Richmond, shortly after the declaration of war, a subscription was opened for raising a sum of money for the benefit of such poor persons and their families, as might leave Virginia in the service of the United States ; and on the spur of the occasion, the sum of 5,282 dollars was collected,* The following resolution was agreed to by both houses of the legislature of New York, on the 22d of October, 1814, without a dissenting voice, notwithstanding that a considerable portion of the members were high-toned federalists, and, of course, hos- tile to the administration. " Resolved unanimously. That the house of assembly of the state of New- York, view with mingled emotions of surprise and indignation, the extravagant and disgracefid terms proposed by the British commissioners at Ghent — and however ardently they may desire the restoration of peace to their country, they can never consent to receive it, at the sacrifice of national honour and dignity — that they therefore strongly recommend to the national legislature the adoption of the most vigorous and efficacious measures in the prosecution of the war, as the best means of bringing the contest to an honourable termina- tion, and of transmitting unimpaired to their posterity their rights, liberty, and independence." Theories of Government, We have lived through a most eventful period, a period In which as many strong and important facts have been compress- ed into the space of a year, as in former times would have af- forded ample materials for the history of half a century. It is difficult for the mind to grasp these mighty events — to trace effects to their causes — and to deduce lessons of instruct tion from the whole for ourselves and our posterity. One consequence resulting from a deep contemplation on the subject— is, that it staggers our faith in some of the generally * Compare this hberality with the paltry conduct of Philadelphia in similar circumstances, as stated, page 316, What, an awful contrast! O. B, 64 494 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. fcHir. 87. received maxims of the most celebrated writers on political (economy. In this superficial sketch, I confine myself to the affairs of this country only. The French revolution is one of those poli- tical phenomena, that bid defiance to all the ordinary powers of calculation. That the people of the United States, taken in mass, are more generally well informed than those of any other country with which we are acquainted, can hardly be denied. And it ap- pears equally true, that there is np part of this countr}% in which information is more generally spread, than among the people of the eastern states. 'l\\\s is the result of the most admirable system of education which has prevailed among them for so Jong a period. While this claim of superior mental cultivation is unhesita- tingly advanced for the mass of our citizens, it would be the extreme of arrogance to pretend to compare our higher orders with those of France, England, and Germany, among whom will be found numbers of illustrious men who far excel the most highly cultivated among our citizens. Compared with Europe, on the ground of intellect, we stand nearly as we do with respect to wealth. There, both are in extremes : — a small number im- mensely wealthy, and the mass of the community in penury. Here we have hardly any in penury— and as few immensely rich. Thus it is w ith endowments of mind. We have no La- lands, nor La Places, nor Buffons, nor Robertsons, nor Scotts, nor Opies. But we have none buried in such deplorable igno- rance as prevails in various parts of Europe. Every theory of government that has met with the approba- tion of the friends of maiikind, has presumed, that a people circumstanced as we are, enjoying all the advantages of a mild and rational government, would duly appreciate its value, cling to it in all its difficulties, and risk, or, if necessary, sacrifice for- tune ?^nd life in its defence. Is not this the fact, reader ? Is it not a beautiful and enchant- ing theorv ? Who, aiuong us, has not hung delighted on the pages of J^ocke, Sydney, Harrington, Price, and Junius, in ivhich this captivating view is given of human nature ? But what have we had the misfortune to witness ? A most awful and till now a most incredible reverse. We have seen, that a most enlightened portion of our common coun- try was in a state of delusion and insanity that could not be exceeded bv the most ignorant and oppressed populace in the yrorst-governed part of Europe — that they were proceeding, step by step, to anarchy and civil war— that they were on the point of selling their sacred their holy birthright for a mess of pottage — and, finally, that the wealthy and the higher orders of society were zealously tearing down the pillars of government, CHAP. 88.] CONSCRIPTION. 49S while the middle and lower classes were as zealously guarding them from destruction I ! ! ! CHAPTER LXXXVIII. Conscription. Impressment. It is a curious subject of investigation, to trace the influenced and effects of faction, in different countries and in different pe- riods. And it will be found, that the most violent bodily disor- ders in different parts of the world, and at different eras, are not more uniform in their symptoms and operations than are those of the mind. The lamentable and disgraceful defeat of the noble plans of defence suggested by the secretary of state, and by Mr. Giles, has been fully detailed in a preceding part of this book. They were falsely asserted to be of French origin : — and to this false- hood, it is not improbable at least one half of the factious and senseless violence with which they were opposed, may be traced. The history of England affords a case of the most perfect analogy, that can be conceived. The atrocious practice of impressment had been long a sub- ject of the loudest and most unqualified complaint and disappro- bation. The nation was to the last degree tenacious of its liber- ties : and yet an entire class of a most useful description was put out of the protection of the law, and subjected to the most enormous violence and outrage — as well as to what may be justly termed a most galling slavery. The British mmistry in 1 748, attempted to apply a remedy to this crying evil. A bill was submitted to parliament, where- by the mariners throughout the kingdom were to be registered — > a certain portion of them to receive some small amount of pay — ^and to be liable, in cases of emergency, to serve in the royal navy for a limited time. It requires but a very superficial consideration of the subject, to be convinced, that the interests of humanity, as well as of the seamen, would be promoted by such a bill, the provisions of which were as guarded as could be conceived. But faction defeated this wise plan. It was run down by the same senseless clamour as our conscription. It was branded with the foul charge of being " Frenchified." This was enough. The ministry were compelled to abandon it. " The members in the opposition, affecting to represent this measare in an odious light, as an imitation of the French method of registering seamen, with- out their consent, Mr. Pelham dropped it as an unpopular project."* The intrinsic merit of this plan induced an attempt to revive it in 1758, with considerable improvements, one of which was, that * SmoUet's England. Pliiladelphia edition, 1810, vol.iii. p. 68. 496 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH. [chap. 88. where any number of seamen were required by the government, they should be drawn by lot. The same success attended this attempt as had done the former.f It was run down by the same absurd outcry. Another effort was made in 1759, to rescue the seamen from the horrors of impressment, by improvements on the bill of the preceding year. A still greater clamour was excited — and the bill was rejected. In order to shew the excessive absurdity of the objections made to the plan of Mr. Pelham, on the ground of its being of French original, I annex a statement of the regulations of the French seamen, so far as respects compulsory service. They are as far superior to those of the British navy, as the British go- vernment is superior to that of Turkey. For this statement I acknowledge myself indebted to P. S. Duponceau, Esq. an emi- nent French barrister of this city. " The French law for the claosification, or, as it might per- haps be called, for the conscription^ of seamen, was enacted by Lewis XlVth, in the year 1668, under the ministry of the great Colbert. Before the enactment of that law, the French government had no resource left, when they wanted seamen, but to lay a general embargo on merchant vessels in all their ports ; by which means mariners were left without employ- ment, and compelled by necessity to enlist on board the king's ships. But the classification system having been suggested by Colbert in the year 1667, was put in force, by way of ex- periment, in the governments of La Rochelle^ Brouage^ and the Isles of Re, Oleron, and Aix, where it operated so suc- cessfully, that the next year its provisions were extended to the whole kingdom. " This Ordonnance, which bears date the 22d of September, 1668, provides in substance : That all persons who have been employed two years in maritime service on board of a mer- chantman, shall be considered as seamen by profession^ and as such shall be enrolled or registered in a public office estab- lished within each maritime district or department. In time of war, the seamen so registered are divided into three classes : and each class is bound alternately to serve for one year on board the king's ships when required. After having thus served one twelvemonth, they are discharged and free to en- gage again in the merchants' service ; the next class in order takes their place; and so on in rotation, until the end of the war. *' Seamen who are constantly employed on board oi fishing vessels^ are exempt altogether from the operation of this law. In order to encourage the fisheries, the edict declares that t Idem, page 521. CHAP. 88] THE PULPIT. 49? " those who are regularly employed in that line, shall not be *' classed like other mariners^ and shall not be compelled to " serve on board the ships of the royal navy. *' The seamen who are classed as abovementioned, enjoy " many important privileges, to make them amends for this " compulsive service. They are exempt at all times from serv- " ing in the militia. Soldiers cannot be quartered or billetted " in their houses. They are exempt from all the burdensome *' offices of the state, such as with us that of constable, guardian " of the poor, and the like : and while in actual service, no legal " process can be served upon them, and all suits actually de- " pending, are superseded." For further details, see 1st Valin, page 509, and following. The Pulpit. Chapter 56 exhibits an awful view of the deplorable infatua- tion which led to the prostitution of the pulpit, in Boston, to excite to anarchy, rebellion, and civil war. It is delightful to contemplate its application in New- York, to the sacred, I had almost said the divine, purpose, of defending our fathers, our mothers, our sisters, our brothers, our wives, our children, our homes and our altars. The rev. Mr. M'Leod, a gentleman of powerful talents, preached a set of sermons, entitled, " A Scrip- tural View of the Character, Causes, and Ends of the Present War ;" in which are displayed a holy zeal — a glowing spirit of patriotism, a profound knowledge of scripture, and an eloquence not unworthy of a Massillon or a Bourdaloue. I intended to have given copious extracts from them, but my limits forbid the indulgence of that intention, and confine me to a few para- graphs — enough, however, I trust, to induce readers of taste to possess themselves of the whole work. " I affirm the justice of the ivar from its covimencement. Our neutral trade was violently opposed, and almost totally destroyed ; our property was cap- tui-ed; our fellow-citizens were enslaved, while peaceably pursuing' their pro- per employment ; and negociation failed, after the exertions of years, to pro- cure redress for the past, or immunity for the future. To recover and preserve propei-ty, to redeem and to defend men, these are lawful causes of war. These are the causes of the present war. The argument requires neither art nor eloquence. It is. obvious to every capacity. It is irresistible. It may be evaded, but it cannot be refuted. If it fail in extorting confession, it cannot fail in producing conviction. " American property has been seized and destroyed : American citizens have been impressed and enslaved. These are the facts. " War, in defence of property, of liberty, and of life, is lawful. This is the principle. " Apply the principle to the facts. The United States have declared war, in order to vindicate the rights of property, of liberty, and of life. Therefore is the present war, from its origin, a defensive and a just war. This is the argument. " You may speak about it, and write about it ; you may close your eyes upoa it ; you may go round about, and fly from it : but you will in vain offer resist- i98 POLITICAL OLIVE BRANCH; [chap. 88. ance to its truth. The facts are notorious. The principle is confessed. The application is necessary. -' I would urge the support of the war, because I earnestly long for a per- manent peace. You know the enemy. His claims will rise by his successes; and fall, in proportion to his defeats. The more he suffers, the more will he be disposed to relinquish the contest. The greater his danger, the sooner will he come to an accommodation. By consistency and unanimity, America might have finished this war as soon as it had commenced. It is only by afl'ecting the fears of the foe, that he can be made to listen to the voice of equity "1 would recommend the support of this war, because it is just. The United States ask for nothing but what they ought to have ; wiiat it is lawful for the euemy to give; what is, in its very nature, moral— the protection of property, and personal liberty. I pray for success to these righteous claims. 1 pray for courage to the warrior, and for success to the armaments by which the plea is urged, because the cause is just — because it is necessary to the repose of the world — because God has promised that this cause shall universally prevail. " When your country is at war, in defence of her rights, it is your duty to encourage, by all lawful means, her exertions in the strife. It is criminal to diminish her strength, or impede her progress. To this principle I would call your notice from the pulpit, while our friends, and our brethren from the adja- cent country are assembled round our city, to defend it from attack. While tliose among our fellow-worsliippers in this house, who are fit to bear arms, are practising in the field, the arts of defensive warfare ; while all ranks and classes of our fellow-citizens are employing their hands and their money in raising bulwarks on every assailable point, to protect our homes and our places of pub- lic worship, let us accompany them with our wishes and our prayers, lest we become an enslaved people. " Those, who withhold their support from the war in which their country is engaged, do what tends to prolong the evil. " When appeal is once made to the law of force, the parties, if they do not cease to reason, employ discussion only as an auxiliary to the sword. It then becomes a contest for victory. The aggressor, influenced originally by prin- ciples of injustice, is not likely to be corrected by his own success. The his- tory of nations aflbrds no instance of claims which occasioned war, being relinquished by the offending party merely because the resistance of the other was feeble. When a people are divided, they offer themselves an easy prey to the aggressor ; and even if tliey should ultimately succeed in redressing the evil, their weakness and discord certainly prolong the contest. A protracted warfare, although ultimately successful, is a present evil ; and the friends of a speedy peace will always, in war, be desirous to employ the energy wliich alone can deserve and secure a peace. With th- work of death none should trifle. It is ruinous — it is cruel, to prolong, unnecessarily, even a war of defence. In so far as any member of the community, in public or in private, distracts the councils, or impedes the progress of those who conduct the war, he evidently prolongs the contest, and does what he can to prevent the return of peace. So iar the guilt of a protracted warfare is chargeable upon him. It is, indeed, an evidence of the displeasure of the Deity, when a people, instead of unani- mously co-operating for punishing the aggressor, are so divided and enfeebled, as to prolong, for years, a contest which might be brought to a successful issue almost immediately after its commencement. The man who withholds his support in such a case, is the enemy of peace : he loves his party more than he docs his country, more than he does honour and justice ; more even than humanity or his own interest, connected with the return of peace, who strives, for the sake of party, to enfeeble tlie arm of authority, to withhold the neces- sary resources, and to discourage the soldier. " The Deity is a God of justice and of truth. He will have us to judge righteous judgment. He commands us to love the truth and the peace ; and to promote the knowledge and practice of equity. Therefore he reproves those who do not support an equitable war, as the cause of God, the Supreme .ludge. Judges, v. 23. " Curse ye Mcroz,'' (said the angel of the Lord,) " curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof; because they came not to the kelp of t/m Lord, ti the help of the Lord against the mighty." THE EfJD. INDEX. Achiiles's tender heel, - » - - - ' 439 Adams's Defence of the American Constitutions, tribute to, - 39 Administration of Mr. Jefferson, weakness of, - - - - 56, 57 Admiralty address to the British navy, .... 63 Alexander, emperor, his opinion of the justice of the war, - - 240 Alien law, extract from, ..---- 51 Alien and sedition laws, 83, opposition to, - - - - 50 American revolution, barbarities perpetrated in, . - - 44 American merchants, true policy of, - - - - - 105 Americans vindicating the outrages of Great Britain, - - 124 American impressed sailors scourged for trying to procure redress, 187 American slaves on board British men of war, - - - - 210 American magnanimity, generosity and public spirit, - - 486 Appointment of Mr. Gallatin, as minister, impolitic, - - 63 Armistice, proposed by admiral Warren, 59— ^-rejected by Mr. Madison, 60 — impolicy of the rejection, - - - - 63 Ai-mlstice proposed by Mr. Madison, 61 — rejected by Lord Castlereagh 61 Arnold, Benedict, treason of, - ... - 317 Associations to prevent the success of the loans, - - 285 Attack on the Chesapeake, statement of the, 108 — Remarks on, - 175 Baltimore Mercantile Memorial, extracts from, ... 93 Bank of the United States, non-renewal of the character of the, - 58 Banks, bankruptcy of the, . . - - . 470 Bankruptcies, numerous, in middle and southern states, - - 295 Baring, Sir Francis, purchased 2200 shares in the Bank U. States, - 59 Baron, commodore, letter from, - - - - - 114 Bayard, James A. his opinion of the orders in council, - - - 242 Baring's inquiry into the effects of the orders in council, - 123 Berlin Decree,' Abr-mfter 21, 1806, .. ... 115 Berlin decree not enforced against American vessels, for 12 months, 117 Blake, Francis, remarks on, - . . . . 313 Blind leading the blind, ..... . 304 Blockade of the coast from tlie Elbe to Brest, - - - 115 Blockade, British definition of, ..... 342 Blue lights, ....... 457 Bonaparte complains of being libelled by Peletier, . - 435 Boston Mercantile Memorial, extracts from, - - - 88 Boston banks, abstract of the state of the, ... 296 Boston has 44 members in the H. of R. of Massachusetts, - . 388 Boston, turbulence of, ----- . 253 Bourbons and Guisesj deadly animosity between, ... 430 500 INDEX. Boyle's (captain) blockade of the British dominions, - - 116 British depredations brought on the tapis in the senate of the U. S. - 106 British importations, law limiting, .... 107 British proclamation, ordering tlie impressment of British subjects on board American vessels, - - - - - -114 British government bills, advertisement for the sale of, - - 297 British prizes sent into Boston, - .... 294 British depredations, calculation of the amount of, . - 239 British depredations, governor Plumer's opinion on, - - 240 British ministry deceived by their friends, - - - 223 British government bills openly advertised for sale in Boston, - 297 British depredations, mercantile meetings against, - - 87 British privateers, horrible picture of the rapacity of, - - 125 British system towards United States, impohcy of, - - 330 British ministers, indefensible conduct of, - - - - 339 Brougham, Henry, extract from speech of, ... 332 Caning, Mr. George, instruction of, to Mr. Ersklne, . - . 174 Caucuses, observations on, ..... 459 Catlet, Dr. report of, ..... -77 Certificate of Lieutenant B. Van Hoffman, .... 201 Chesapeake, proceedings respecting the attack upon the, - 110, 111,112 Chesapeake, murderous attack on the, 108, 173 — Indignation excit- ed by the, - - - - - - 110, 112, H3 Change in the prospects of the country, - - - - 40 Church is in danger, magical effects of the deceptions ciy, - 166 Civil war, danger of, 39, endeavours to produce, - - - 41 Civil wars of France and England, .... 421, 422 Classification system, excellence of, 356,357, 358 — a measure of the Ame- rican revolution, - . . - . - 378, 379 Cobbett, W. reflections of, on the impressment of American seamen, 182 Colonial trade, report of King's advocate upon, - - - 86 Combination to paraUze the government, 295, ruinous consequences of, 288, particulars of, - - - - - - 300 Combination, treasonable, to bankrupt the government, - - 285 Commerce of America, all-important to England, 330 — extent of - 329 Commerce of different parts of the United States, - - 260 Commercial intercourse with Great Britain and France, act to interdict, 158 Committee of Congress, report of, - . . - -77 Compensation Law, - - - . - - 482 Conflagration at Washington, effects of, - - - - 73 Congress, lamentable Imljecility of, - - - - 67, 68 Congress, imbecile proceedings of, - - . - 458 Congi'essional caucus, unconstitutional and Illegal, - 440, 441, 442 Conscription of Militia, Pennylvania law respecting, . - - 378 Conscription, ....... 495 Consular certificates of origin, a cause of capture, ... 126 Constitutions of various st.ates, extracts from, ... 358 Congress empowered to call out the militia in case of invasion, 363, 364 Copenhagen, destruction of, Mr. Roscoe's account of the, - - 344 Craig, Sir James, his instructions to John Henry, - - 144 Credentials from Sir James Craig, to John Henry, ... 145 Credulity, wonderful, of faction, .... 131 Critical situation of the United States, . - - - 39 Dacres, captain, address of, to the court martial, ... 202 Dardin's (Amy) horse, proceedings respecting, ... 70 Danes, Portuguese and Swedes, impressed in American vesssels, 207 Davila's history of French civil wars, reference to, - - - 39 Deane, Silas, treason of, ----- - 317 Debts of the United States, diminution of the, ... 401 Declaration of war against France, motion for, rejected, - - 248 Decatur, letter of, respecting blue lights, - - . - 457 INDEX. 501 392 63 480 47 200 201 402 255 Democrats threatened with vengeance as friends of Bonaparte, Democrats rail at the appointment of Judge Jay to negociate with England, - - - Democratic Societies, . . . - Democrats, errors of, respecting government, Deposition of Isaac Clark, .... Deposition of Richard Thompson, ... Direct taxes repealed under Mr. Jefferson's administration. Discord, attempts to produce, between eastern and southern states. Documents on the subject of impressment, annexed to the report of the committee of the legislature of Massachusetts, 211 ; Deposition of J. Eldridge, 211 ; of William Parsons, ibid ; of Caleb Loring, ibiil ; of An- drew Ilaraden, 212; of Josiah Orne, 214; of Nathaniel Hooper, ibid; of B. T. lieud, ibid. Domestic improvements and industry, progress of. Duties paid by the different states, from 1791 to 1812, Dyson, captain, unjust treatment of. Eastern states, pretensions of, to superiority over the southern, y'*^. Eastern states, character of, at various periods, yt^ Eastern states, greatly dependent upon the southern, Eastern states, deeply interested in manufactures, Eaton, Gen. - • ... Eight per cent, loan, opposition to, - Embai-go, act to enforce the - - - _ Embargo, flagrantly violated, 136 — repealed. Embargo, recommended to congi-ess by merchants of New York, Embargo, not duly enforced by Mr. Jefferson, Embargo, factious clamour against, ... Kmbarg-o, a wise, prudent, and necessary measure, Embargo, British proclamation invites to violation of. Embargo, Philadelphia resolutions against. Enforcing law, extracts from, English outrages, details of, - English canaille detest foreigners of all descriptions, England, magnanimous example of, England struggling for her existence, a mere delusion, England more ably defended in America than in London, England, elaborate defences of, England carries on with France the trade interdicted to the U. States, England makes war without any declaration. Error, egregious, committed by the author of the Olive Branch, Errors of the democratic party, ... Erskine arrangement, hberal and magnanimous, Erskine arrangement, loudly and universally applauded, Erskine arrangement, newspaper extracts respecting, Erskine arrangement, analysis of, - Erskine arrangement, cause of its rejection, Erskine, Hon. David M. letters to the secretary of state, Erskine, Mr. George Canning's instructions to. Exports of the United States, ... Exports of the United States, statements of the - Exports of the United States, increase of, - Exports of the United States, foreign and domestic, 260— foreign, 2te, domestic, 264 — various comparisons of the - '261 262 Extract from the proceedings of the legislature of Massachusetts, ' 236 Extract from the report of tlie committee recommending a declaration of 237 96 89, 198 93, 199 9.5, 199 4^3 398 276 78 257 258 283 354 47 52 136 158 160 57 132 129, 130, 132, 133 135 137 137 .342 315 315 341 123 177, 178 239 436 217 46 162 166 168, 169, 170 171 172 163, 164 174 473 ' 399 86 war, Extract from the memerial of the merchants of Salem, Extract from New York memorial, Extract from the memorial of the merchants of Baltimore, Extract from the memorial of the merchants of Newhaven, inaction, a tremendous scourge, O, B. 65 502 INDEX. Faction, consequences of, - - - .39 Fuction, deleterious effects of, respecting impressment, - 207 Federal convention, proceedings in, - - - 81 Federal party, division among, ... 81 Federal constitution, formed with great difficulty, - - 83 Federal party, their unavailing struggles for power, - 409 Federal constitution, happy consequences of, - - 405 Federalists, errors of, - - - - 81 Federalists, address of the author to, - - - 321 Federalists pursued the policy they reprobated in the democrats, 46 I'ederalists in 1793, 4 and 5, friends of order and good government, 312 Foreigners, illiberality of prejudices against, - - 314 Foreigners, hst of, who supported the cause df America, - 319 Foreign commerce, progress of, - - - 399 Fort Washington, capture of, - - - - 78 Foster, Augustus, Esq. extract of a letter from, - - 249 Fox's (Charles James) blockade from the Elbe to Brest, - 115 France, American injustice to, - - - 103 France, urbanity of, — hideous change in its manners, - - 43 Freedom of the seas, - - - - 477 French influence, utter want of foundation of the charge of, 113, 166 Gardiner, Rev. J. S. J. extracts from his political sermons, - 307 General government, wonderful pusillanimity of the, - - 391 General tickets, extremely partial and unjust, - - 386 Gerrymanderism, definition and injustice of, - - 383 Generosity of nations, a nonentity, ... 38 Gilman, governor, extract from his speech, - - 394 Gottenburg, neg-ociation at, impolitic, - - 64 Government, theories of, .... 493 Governor of Massachusetts, his praise of Mr. Madison, - 169 Great Britain egregiously deceived by her friends, - - 223 Great Britain vulnerable in her commerce, - - 436 Griswold, governor, extract from an address of, - - 243 Grisw old, governov, his opinion of the conduct of France and England, 243 Gucrriere, particulars of the capture of the, - - 202 Guerriere, extracts from the logbook of the, - - 202 Guises and Bourbons, deadly animosity between, - - 430 Hamilton's views of the Federal Constitution, - - 82 Hartford Convention, - - - - 473 Hartford convention censures the repeal of direct taxes, - 402 Hartford convention, extract from an address to, - - 424 Henry, John, ill requited by the British, - - 456 Henry, John, extravagant bonus given to, - - 456 Henry, John, statement of the mission of, - - 143 Henry, John, letters from, - - - I44, 145 Hillhouse, Mr. invites to insuiTection, - ^ 143 Horizon, atrocious case of the, - - 117, 130 Horizon^ letter respecting the capture of the, - - I17 Imbecility of the government, reproaches of the, - - 220 Import duties, - - _ . 477 Impressment, . - - . . 495 Impressment, resolution of the senate of the United States, against, 106 Impressment on board the Baltimore, vessel of the U. S. - 412 Impressment of American seamen, reflections on, - 181, 2, 3, 4 Impressment of American seamen, various views of, - 180—199 Ingratitude of the United States, - . _ 49 In-surrection and ci^ il war, easily excited, difficult to suppress, - 327 Instructions of Mr. Madison to Mr. Monroe, - - 181 Instructions from Timothy Pickering, Esq. to Rufus King, Esq. 185, 186 Ireland and Irishmen, strong federal ti'ibute to, - - 320 Ireland and Irishmen, elegant defence of, « . « 320 Irish and Frenchmen, objects of jealousy, - - 31o INDEX. SOS Irishmen in Pennsylvania line, sufferings and hardships of, - 316 Irishmen, zealous in their support of the government, - 319 Izard, departure of from Plattsburg, higlily injudicious, - 79 Jackson, Francis James, Esq. extract of a letter from, - ' 248 Jackson, General, exploits of, - - - - 48 Jacobin and Jacobinism, definition of, - - 312 Jay's Treaty, factious opposition to, - - " - 52 Jefferson, Thomas, malignant abuse of, - - 167 Jews, deplorable and factious state of the, - - - 13 Jury Trial, fact respecting, - - - , 479 King, Rufus, Esq. vote of thanks to him on the classification bill, 382 King, Cyrus, speech of, on the classification bill, - - 364 King, Rufus, conduct of, respecting impressment, - 206 Knox, General, his plan for classification of the Militia, - - 380 Ladd, Eliplialet, deposition of, - _ - - 195 Legislature of Ohio, their declaration respecting the war, - 241 Letter from the Secretary of State to Admiral Warren, - 61 Letter from Mr. Russel, to Lord Castlereagh, - - 61 Letter of John Quincy Adams, Esq. to Harrison G. Otis, Esq. - 182 Letter from Thos. Jefferson, secretary of state, to Rufus Iving, Esq. 184 Letter from Rufus King, Esq. to Timothy Pickering, - 186, 188 Letter from Silas Talbot, to Timothy Pickering, Esq. - - 187 Letter from Timothy Pickering, s^retary of state, to Silas Talbot, 188 Letter from John Marshall, secretary of state, to Rufus King, - 191 Letter from T. Pickering, secretary of state, to president Adams, - 193 Letter from Benjamin Stoddart, Esq. secretary of the navy, to do. - 193 Letter from Oliver Wolcott, Esq. to do. - - 193 Letter from James M'Henry, Esq. secretary at war, to do. - 194 Letter from Commodore Rodgers, - - - 201 Letter from Commodore Porter to the author of the Olive Branch, 201 Letter from John Nichols, - - - . 202 Letter from John Davis, of Abel, ... 203 Letter from Commodore Decatur to the secretary of the navy, - 204 Letter from Captain Capel to Commodore Decatur, - - 204 Letter from Commodore Decatur to Captain Capel, - - 205 Liberality and forbearance of the United States, - - 107 Licentiousness of the Press, instances of, -. - - 431 Liston's, Mr. projet of a convention respecting deserters - 193 Liverpool, Lord, letter of, respecting John Henry, - - 156, 157 Lloyd; James, Esq. extract from a speech of, - - 242 Lloyd, James, Esq. extract of a letter from, - - 250 Lloyd, James, his opinion of the Orders in Council, - 242 Loans, ruinous dependence upon, - - - 80 Loans to government, treasonable efforts to prevent the success of, 285 Loans, advertisements of Boston brokers, respecting, - r 291 Lyon, Matthew, severe case of, - - - 51 Machiavelian advice of John Heiuy, ... 150 Madison, James, administration of, - - - 460 Mai-yland representation, unequal, unjust, and oppressive, - 388 Massachusetts degraded by faction, 302 — compai-ed with Tennessee, 303 — invaded without resistance, - - 503 Massachusetts has a representative of her black population, - 350 Massachusetts, factious and turbulent spirit of, - - 284 Massachusetts, representation in, vei-y ill ai-ranged, - - 387 Members of the house of representatives of the United States, - 353 Merchants, character of, by Edmund Burke, - - 101 Merchants utterly fail to redeem their pledge, - -"* 102 Merchants misei-ably mistake their true policy and interests, - 104 Mercantile meetings to remonstrate against Britisli depredation, - 87 Merit unrewarded, - - - - 482 Milan Decree, December 17, 1807 - - - 120 Milan decree, atrocious wickedness of the, - - . 131 504 INDEX. Miller, Mr. Speech of on the classification bill, - . 364 Militia, extracts frOm state constitutions respectmg'the, - 358 Militia, extracts from state laws respecting the, - - 360 Mll'tia, extracts from the letters of Gen. Washington on the subject of, 369 Militia defence, examination of its efficiency, - - 367 Militia service, right of society to coerce, - - 358 Militia laws of various states, extracts from, - - - 360,361 Militia drafts, oppressive, unequal, and unjust, • - 366 Militia defence, inelhclency of, 368 — Gen. Washington's denuncia- tions of, - - - - - 369, 370 Minor, col. report of, - - - - ^ 76 ^Imoiity, inexplicable conduct of the, - - ' - 224 Mone3', "the sinews of war, ... 285 Monroe s Treaty, rejection of, _ - . 469 Monroe and Pi nkney, extract of letter from, - - 87 Monroe and Plnkney's treaty rejected by Mr. Jefferson, - 53, 469 Morals, horrible depravation of, - - - 293 y Morse, Rev. Jedldiah, extracts from a political sermon of, - ^ 393 Muster books of Moselle and Sappho, . . , 201 National reflections, highly imjust, ... 432 Na%y, democratic opposition to, ... 47 National debt of the United States, tables of the, - - 401 Newspaper statements, erroneous, ... 222 Neglect of public opinion, ruinous consequences of, - '70 Newhavcn Mercantile Memorial, extracts from, - . 95 Newspaper misrepresentation, ruinous consequences of, - 220, 221 Newburyport Mercantde Memorial, extracts from, - - 96 Newburyport threatens to resist the government '* even unto blood," 100 New Orleans, remarks on the occlusion of, - 231 Newspaper denunciations of subscribers to government loans, - 289 New York Mercantile Memorial, extracts from, - 89 New York Memorial, recommending an embargo - ' 401 Nominations, improvement in, - - - 461 Non-intercourse reprobated by democrats, 57 — and by federalists 161 Non-importation law, tenor of, - - - 107 Non-intercourse law, view of the, ... 160 Northern Grievances, extracts from, ... 41, 42 Note of the British Commissioners, appended to Monroe's treaty, 54 O'Brien, Barnard, impressed seaman, certificate respecting, - 204 Op])osition to the government, ruinous consequences of the, - 311 Orders in Council, and Decrees, resolution respecting the - 246 Ordei'S in Coimril, evidence respecting the operation of the - 334, 335 OrderinCouncil, Nov. 1793, 85— Nov. 11, 1807, - - 117 Orders in Coumll, denunciation of, by James Lloyd, 242 — by James A.Bayard, 243— byH. G. Otis, - " - - 245 Orders in Coimcil, 1793, ruinous consequences of, - 85 Orders in Council, Nov. 11, 1807,117— Nov. 25,1807, 120— defended by Americans, .... 122 Orders in Council required to be resisted, - - 329 Orders in Council, inquiry into the effects of the, 333 — testimony against, 334 Osgood, Hev. David, extracts from the political sermons of, - 307, 393 Otis, Harrison Gray, Esq. extract of a letter from, - - 245 Outi-ages, succession of, perpetrated on this country by the British, 3'50 Pacific nit asurt's defeated by mercantile opposition, - - 102 •^ Parsh, llev. Elijah, extracts from his political sermons, ' /^ 309,39^ Parliament'iry proceediii5;,s in England, - - - 68 Party and faction the barie of republics, _ = 37 Paily writers, decejitious conduct of, - - - 45 Party men, tliorough-going, rarely honest politicians, - 13 Parties change naiTies and principles, . . = 511 Patriotic proceedings, .statement of, - - - 141 Peace party, ruinous consequences of their exertions, i' - 312 UTOEX. 505 Peace party, composed of warlike materials, - - - - 230 Peletier, prosecuted for a libel on Bonaparte, ... 435 J<^ Pelham's Essays, extracts from, - - - - ' /\ ^^^ Pennsylvania line, sufferings and heroism of, - •• • ' 316 Perceval, Spencer, assassination of, - - - - - 339 Perry, consequences of his victory, - - - - 48 Philadelphia Mercantile Memorial, extracts from, - - - 91 Philadelphia, citizens of, as religious as those of Boston, - - 259 Philadelphia, ingratitude of, - - - - - - 316 Pickering, Mr. Timothy, vote of, against British depredations, 106 — against impressment, - - - - - -106 Pickering, T. wonderful contrast of the opinions of, - - 133 Pinkney, Wm. character of, - - - - - - 339 Political writers, partiality of, - - - - - 45 X Political sermons, extracts from, . - - . N(f 307> 308 Popular delusion, influence of, - - - - - 37 Popular delusion, extraordinary instance of, - - - - 287 Populationof the United States, progress of the, - - 404 Plumer, governor, extract from his speech 1812, - - 240 Proclamation inviting to a violation of the embargo, - - 135 President's proclamation restoring intercourse with Great Britain, 165 Population of the United States, tables of the progress of the, - 404 Pickering, Mr. Timothy, letters of, respecting impressment, - 1^, 190 Pittsburg, Insurrection at, ----- - 453 Proclamation, interdictingour ports to British vessels of war, - 108 Power of congress over the militia, inquiry into the, - - 363 Preparations, neglect of, ...... 64 Preparations for war, ..... 217,218,219 " President Madison to Elba," a favourite idea with many, - . 11 Pretensions of Great Britain exposed by Boston merchants, - 88 Pretensions of England, extravagant, - - - - 174 Printer at Reading scourged by a band of Philadelphia volunteers, 223 Proceedings of congress, imbecility and folly of, - - - 67, 68 . Prosperity of the United States, view of, - - - 396,398,407 Prophets, ......... 473 Pulpit politics, a hideous abomination, . - - ^/ 41, 305, to 310 Quincey, Josiah, inexplicable and inconsistent conduct of, - - 227 Quincey, Josiah, seditious speech of, - - -v . 348 Randolph, John, resolutions of, in favour of Mr. Madison, " - - 169 Repeal of orders in council, extract from the, ... 62 Repeal of orders in council, very equivocal, - - - - 62 Report of Timothy Pickering, Esq. secretary of state, to congress, 195 Reproaches by the minority of Congress against the majority, - 22(j Republics, history of, not duly studied by tlie democrats, . 47 Resolution of the senate U. States against the rule of 1756, - - 106 Resolutions of the Federal Republicans of New York, - - 199 Resolution of the town of Gloucester respecting the embargo, 141 — of Bath, ibid; of the town of Boston, ibid; of the town of Topsfield, 142 — of the town of Augusta, ..... 142 Resolutions of the revolutionary congress, respecting intercourse with the enemy, - - - - - - - 297 Retaliation, a mere pretence on the part of England, - - 242, 243 Revenues of the United States, increase of the, - - 400,491 Richard Carter, deposition of, - - - - --195 Road to Ruin, delusion and misrepresentation of, - - 304 Rule of 1756, utterly abandoned by the British government, 86 — a mere pretext to cover predatory seizures, - - - - 95 Russian mediation, misrepresentation respecting, ... 72 Ryland, H. W. his letters to John Henry, . - 144, 154, 157 Salem Mercantile Memorial, extracts from, ... 95 Secretary of suite's letters to Hon. D. M.Erskine, - - 163,164 50.6 INDEX. Sedition law, exU'act from, . . . , .50 Sedition, ....... 473 Senate of New Hampshire, extract from the reply of, - . 394 Senate of Massachusetts, their declaration respecting the war, - 240 Senate of Maryland, their declaration respecting the war, - - 241 Senate and house of representatives of Massachusetts, their praise of Mr. Madison, .....-- lYQ Senatorial representation, iniquitous arrangement of, - - 384, 385 Separation of the states, project for a, in 1796, - - 255, 256, 257 Separationof the states, steadily advocated in Boston, - - 56 Septembrization perpetrated by a small portion of the mob of Pains, 433 Sniugghng carried to great excess in Boston, - - 292, 293 Sober character of the Americans no security against civil war, - 43 X. Southern states, unfavourable anticipations respecting, belied by events, 411 \^ Southern states, shameful libel against the, - - . . 255 Specie, accumulation of in Boston, .... 294 ■ Specie, oppressive drafts for, on middle and southern states, ■■ 295 Speech of Henry Brougham, Esq. extract from a, - * 332 Stansbury, general, i-eport of, - - - - - - 76 Statement of apphcations on the subject of impressment, to the British government, ...... 215, 251 Thayer, Hiram, hard case of - - - - - 204 Thompson Richard, impressed seaman, sufferings of, - - 201 Tonnage of the United States, view of, - - 274,403 Transit duties, tariff of, payable by American vessels, - - - 121 Transit duties, 121 — F. J. Jackson's view of the payment of, - 248 United States, glorious prospects of, 40 — remarks upon, - - 41 United States, not sufficiently munificent towards great merit, . 48 United States, view of the prosperity of, - - - - 14,396 Van Ness, gen. report of, to a committee of congress, - - 75 Virginia representation, unequal, unjust, and oppressive, - - 389 War, constant cause of with England, .... 53 War, violently opposed by the minority, - - - 228, 229, 230 War proceedings in congress, details of the, - - 224 War with England inevitable but by sacrifice of national character, 229 War, repeated clamour for, ..... 230,231 AVar, inquiry into the justice of, - - - - - 236 War proceedings in congress — yeas and nays, ... 224 War, view of the, - - - - - - ■ 455 War, opposition to the, ...... 479 Washington, general, his great merits and services, - - 405 Wasliington, capture of, documents respecting, - - 75,76,77 Washington Benevolent Societies, - - - - - 481 Washington, libels against, - ... 467 Wealthy men lending their aid to overturn the government, - 12 WeUington, lord, immensely rewarded, - - - 49 Western Insurrection, ..... . 453 Whitby, captain, honourably acquitted for the murder of Captain Pearce, 200 Wilkinson and Hampton, violent enemies, - - - - 67 Winder's orders to destroy Fort Washington, ... 78 Wolcott, O. objections to Mr. Liston's projet respecting deserters . 193 Yeas and Nays on various questions regarding war, - - 224 THE END. ^s ■. ^ >:"■.-: -^ .>A- V O ^ - ■ , - ^ , :•.'. ^^- ^ -,V' a\ o -^ '. •/• ' " " ^ -^ ■*• k; \' '/ ^ A- ^'^ \ ■- '/ ^ ^'^' *. ,^- ; ' -^z /. -%,^' z-*^'. %..^/ ' ■ "" A^^ c " -^ '■ '■ 'h " " iv - ^ ' « <■ '-^ A^ " ^ '■ -. -^-^ •^^ ^' ^ ■ ' >^ .,N >/-. >:^ V C5 '^rl. 0- ^y\ = .\0 ^. o^- -%. * s ^. ^ .0 " X •^ ^\# .^■> -'^^. 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