are the only people who, during peace, have been dragged from our ships on the high seas, by Christian nations, and condemned to servitude ;" and as the question is still unsettled, after a bloody war between kindred people, of three years' continuance; and liable again to be renewed, whenever circumstances shall render the practice of it of any use to the former-it demands some further consideration.

England, in theory, has always pretended, that a person born within the realm became, of course, an English citizen, and could not expatriate himself, and become a citizen of another country; that she had a right, notwithstanding his naturalization elsewhere, to claim the services of such a person, under any and every vicissitude. Her practice, however, has been otherwise. No nation in the world, during the last fifty years, has employed so many foreign seamen as England. By an act of Parliament, a person, by serving two years in the English navy, becomes ipso facto, naturalized, and acquires all the rights of an English subject. It will, therefore, be seen, that her principles and her practice are at variance. This frequently happens, not only to nations but to individuals, who, disregarding entirely the rules of right, adopt, as their basis of action, the rules of might, as has too often been the case with this "mistress of the seas."

The practice of impressment grew up from a small beginning; and, by improvident acquiescence on our part, without conceiving it possible, that it ever would assume so horrible a shape, became, and was in fact, an insult to the whole civilized world. The manner in which it was exercised even augmented its atrocity; and the climax of humiliation to which Americans were subjected, a century hence will scarcely be credited.

A lieutenant in the British navy, and sometimes even a midshipman, on boarding an American vessel, caused its crew to be mustered on deck, and selected such as suited his purpose. The good sailor was, of course,

an Englishman, and therefore impressed; and the poor sailor an American. Voyages were thus frequently broken up, and the safety of American vessels thus endangered, for want of mariners to conduct them to their destined port.

At first, England claimed a right to search our merchantmen, for deserters from the public service of Britain; she next claimed a right to impress English seamen engaged on board our ships; and finally, that every person who could not prove on the spot, to the satisfaction of the boarding officer, that he was an American, should be carried into bondage; and, against his will, should be compelled to fight the battles of England, and to become the executioner of his friends and brethren, or to fall himself by their hands.

The insidious conduct of England, in relation to impressment, may, therefore, be compared with the approach of the serpent to our first mother, described by Milton.

England also asserted a right to search "neutral vessels for enemies'

goods." The doctrine laid down in the law of nations, "that a ship on the high seas is as inviolable as the territories of the nation at peace;" admitted by the whole of Europe as correct international law, and denied only by England, whose power on that element happened to predominate, was thus disregarded; and a principle adopted, which no other nation ever did, or ever can recognize, without a sacrifice of her independence. England might as well have claimed her subjects from our territories, as from our ships. Whatever may have been her right, to prevent the subjects of Great Britiain from quitting the land of their birth, or of punishing them for so doing, when their services were required at home, she certainly had no right to pursue them into our territory, or demand them from us, unless by virtue of express stipulations.

When she was pressed for a reason to justify her conduct, the only one she deigned to give was, that "she was contending for her own exist. ence," and must have men to man her thousand ships. During Washington's administration, as early as 1794, the British government was officially told: "That they might as well rob the American vessels of their goods, as drag the American seamen from their ships in the manner practiced by them." The subject became, at length, a theme of reprobation and remonstrance by every patriotic statesman in our country. Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Marshall, Jay, Pickering, King, and a host of others, all concurred. Our Government, instead of resisting the practice by force of arms, gave certificates of nativity, in common parlance known as "protections." And the American seaman was thus compelled to stoop to the humiliation, of carrying about on the high seas his papers;—as if a piece of paper would protect a seaman, when his country's flag had lost its efficacy. These, however, were shortly unavailing. They were torn in pieces by the petty officers to whom they were presented for examination, and their fragments scattered to the winds: England thus asserting, and maintaining the right, of dragging from underneath our flag, "every one who could not prove upon the spot, that he was not a British subject." Seven thousand American citizens were thus, it was said, at one time retained in the British service against their will. The number may have been exaggerated, and probably was; but if it was seven hundred, the principle is the same, and demanded relief or vengeance. Although war had not been declared, the feelings of the American people, from day to day, became more and more hostile.

Our relations, in the meantime, with France, were not of the friendliest kind. Her deportment was eccentric, lawless, and unstable. She was "a comet, threatening all nations." Our true wisdom was, therefore, to keep out of her way. On the ocean she was but little to be dreaded, and in no condition to execute her threats. England issued her Orders in Council: Napoleon, his Berlin and Milan Decrees, and the ocean soon presented the humiliating spectacle of "a traveller robbed, and the robbers quarrelling about the spoil." This, however, was called "re

taliation." France declared, that we suffered the depredations of England with more patience than her own; and England, that she alone had a right to plunder us. An embargo was first resorted to on our part; a non-intercourse afterward; neither of which were, or could be enforced. And Napoleon, "having first announced a sense of returning justice, on the 18th of June, 1812, the United States and Great Britain were at war. Among other causes of irritation, was an attack upon the Chesapeake, which for a while convulsed the nation. A Government ship, in a time of peace, was suddenly attacked in our own waters, compelled to surrender, and several seamen alleged to be British, were forcibly taken from her. The outrage admitted of no apology, and its effects on the American mind, were at first overwhelming. Party animosity was suspendedmeetings were held in almost every village-the newspapers were filled with formal addresses-volunteer companies were organized; and in the frenzy of the moment, a universal cry for war immediately went forth. England, however, apologized for her conduct; said that she never pretended to the right of impressing American citizens; yielded to the humiliation of surrendering those impressed, upon the very deck from which they had been forced; and to evince her sincerity, removed the officer by whom the violence had been committed.

The justice of the late war with England, cannot then be questioned. Its necessity, by some, was denied; and its policy at that particular time, was severely arraigned. That our Government were unprepared for the event, all admit. That defeat and disaster, from some cause or other, at first attended our arms, is a matter of history; and that Britain read in our naval combats, a commentary on her practice of impressment, and her tyranny of the sea, no one can deny.

War having been declared on the 18th of June, 1812, and the bill for that purpose having passed both Houses of Congress, signed and approved by the president, and become a law, it was publicly proclaimed on the following day, and the event variously received throughout the country. In some places, demonstrations of joy, and in others, of sorrow, were immediately apparent. The commercial prosperity of the Atlantic cities, injured, as it was, by the depredations of the two great contending powers in Europe; and lingering, in hopes of better times, was now at an end. Their ships were to be laid up, and their business to cease; the coasts of the southern States were to be laid open to marauding expedi tions, and the western frontier once more to be exposed to the horrors of Indian warfare.

Insults and injuries-violated honor and violated rights, however, demanded its declaration; and being once declared by lawful authority, the love of country demanded its support.

The number of enlisted soldiers in the American army, at that time, did not exceed five thousand. The president was authorized, however, to accept the services of fifty thousand volunteers, and to call out one hundred thousand militia. The best troops in the world being wholly

inefficient, unless commanded by able and experienced officers, much difficulty arose, at first, in making proper selections. Those renowned

in arms during the revolutionary war, had principally paid the debt of nature. Those that remained, were either advanced in years, or had acted merely as subalterns; and all, without distinction of age, had laid aside their military habits from long repose. One opinion, however, prevailed to a considerable extent, that great reliance might yet be placed on the revolutionary soldier; and hence, from that circumstance alone, selections to the chief commands at first were made, and corrected afterward, as experience led the way.

The whole military force of Canada, at that time, did not exceed two thousand regular troops; and a large portion of its population, especially in the upper province, was friendly to the American cause. Its conquest, therefore, was considered by many as an easy matter; "a mere breakfast spell," as some pretended soldiers in military garb, and some flaming patriots, "with more sail than ballast, and less sense than either," used frequently to remark, Buffalo was little else than a collection of log-houses; the southern shore of Lake Erie was nearly a wilderness; Detroit scarce anything but a military station; Mackinaw and Chicago, were military and trading posts; and the northern parts of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, the abode of savages; in the main, hostile to the United States, and friendly to England. The busy hum of commerce now pervading our ports, was unheard; and the active, enterprising population, now spread over lands where the white and the red man were about to contend for victory, was then far away. (See note 1.)

When Michigan was erected into a territory, in 1805, Colonel, afterward General Hull, was appointed its first governor. His name had long been familiar to the American people, having been an officer of high repute in the revolutionary army. Early in 1775, he exchanged the profession of law for that of arms; and enlisting a company of infantry in the State of Connecticut, repaired to Cambridge, and arrived there soon after Washington had assumed upon himself its chief command. When the British evacuated Boston, in 1776, Captain Hull repaired to New-York with his company; and in the battle of White Plains was wounded. From thence he crossed the Hudson, and accompanied the commander-in-chief in his retreat through New-Jersey; fought afterward at the battles of Trenton and Princeton, and for his gallant conduct there, was promoted to a majority. He was present, and commanded a battalion at the taking of Burgoyne; aided in the defence of Fort Stanwich ; wintered with the army at Valley Forge, in 1777; led the eighth Massachusetts regiment afterward, at the battle of Monmouth; and commanded the American left wing at the taking of Stony Point, where, at midnight, with unloaded arms, he advanced at the head of his column to the attack, and was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel. He afterward escorted the commander-in-chief into New-York, after its evacuation by the British; and after the preliminaries of peace had been

signed, at the head of his regiment, he also escorted the beloved commander of our armies to his barge, and paid him the last military honors which he received from those gallant troops, which had followed his standard through all the vicissitudes of the revolutionary war.

During this period, the public orders issued to the army; the resolutions of the old Continental Congress; the letters of General Washington, and the letters and orders of other generals, under whom he had served, make frequent and honorable mention of his name. Having been Governor of Michigan from 1805, down to the period of which we are about to speak, and being also superintendent of Indian affairs; having the reputation, too, of a gallant soldier, educated in the very best of schools, where could a leader for the northwestern army have been found, of fairer or more brilliant promise? He was accordingly selected by Mr. Madison for that purpose-not, however, at his own solicitation, as will appear from the following letter of Governor Eustis, the secretary of war.

"In the latter part of February, 1812, information was received from Mr. Atwater, then secretary of the Territory of Michigan, and acting as governor, that there were strong appearances of hostilities among the Indians, and that the territory was in danger; that General Hull urged on him, as secretary of war, the expediency and necessity of ordering a force there, for the protection of Detroit, the Territory of Michigan, and the northern frontier; that he (General Hull,) declined, in the first instance, accepting the office of brigadier general; that Colonel Kingsbury was thereupon ordered to Washington, for the purpose of proceeding to the State of Ohio, to take the command of this force, and on account of bodily indisposition, was not ordered on the command; and afterward, when he (General Hull,) was appointed, it was not solicited by him; and that he manifested great anxiety for the safety of the northern frontier, and the Territory of Michigan."

Previous to the declaration of war, General Hull, as Governor of Michigan, stated in several letters to the war department, the necessity of more troops for the defence of the northwestern frontier; and in case of a war with England, (an event which was then probable,) that a naval force on Lake Erie would be indispensable." He stated further, "that without such a force, an army could not be supported at Detroit," and that "that place, together with Mackinaw and Chicago, must necessarily fall into the hands of the enemy;" "that an army also on the Niagara frontier, to assist and coöperate with the army at Detroit, would also be essential." The propriety and correctness of the above suggestions, no one at that time, or since, has presumed to arraign.

The exposed situation of the northwestern frontier, being thus made known to the administration, not only by General Hull, but by others, adequate measures, it was supposed, were taken for its safety. Early in the spring of 1812, the Governor of Ohio was called upon by the president, "to detach twelve hundred militia, and prepare them for actual service." These being joined by the 4th United States regiment, then at Vincennes, were ordered afterward to Detroit; and Governor Hull was desired by the president to accept a brigadier's commission, and take upon himself their command. He at first declined the appointment,