194] ANNUAL REGISTER, 1812. 



ble prospect of continually in- 

 creasing taxes to pay the interest 

 of these loans A correspondence 

 between Mr. Foster, the English 

 minister, and Mr. Monroe, the 

 American secretary of state, was 

 soon after communicated to Con- 

 gress, with the President's remark 

 upon it, which was in these words: 

 " The continued evidence afforded 

 in this correspondence of the hos- 

 tile policy of the British govern- 

 ment against our national rights, 

 strengthens the considerations re- 

 commending and urging the pre- 

 paration of adequate means for 

 maintaining them," It would be 

 superfluous to give a sketch of the 

 arguments used on each side in 

 this discussion— arguments refer- 

 ring to the beaten topic of the 

 French decrees and English orders 

 of council, and which have proved 

 totally inefficacious to produce 

 conviction on the different parties. 

 In reality, the law of nations, 

 though perpetually referred to, is 

 ^o vague in its principles, and so 

 varying in its application, that it 

 can never be relied on actually to 

 decide points on which the inte- 

 rests of contending states strongly 

 draw in opposite directions, and 

 no umpire exists to whom appeal 

 can be made. In the present un- 

 happy quarrel, both parties boasted 

 of their moderation and forbear- 

 ance: both alleged the reason 

 and justice of their cause ; jet 

 both were in fact determined by 

 motives of state-policy operating 

 exclusively upon themselves. 



When the particulars of raising 

 the necessary supplies for the war, 

 and equipping an adequate mili- 

 tary force, came to be discussed in 

 Congress, the great majorities in 

 favour of the measures proposed 



by government no longer appear- 

 ed, and several questions were 

 barely carried. It might now have 

 been hoped that the near prospect 

 of the inevitable burdens conse- 

 quent upon open hostilities, would 

 have occasioned a pause, during 

 which the friends of peace on both 

 sides might possibly discover some 

 expedient to bring matters to an 

 agreement; but just at this junc- 

 ture an incident occurred which 

 added new exasperation to the ex- 

 isting ill will. The President, on 

 March 9th, sent a message to both 

 houses, laying before them copies 

 of documents to prove, that at a 

 recent period, the British govern- 

 ment had sent a secret agent into 

 the United States, for the purpose 

 of fomentinsr disaffection against 

 the constituted authorities, and 

 eventually of effecting a separation 

 in the union. The circumstance to 

 which this complaint referred, was 

 the mission of a Captain Henry 

 into Massachuset's, by Sir James 

 Craig, governor of Canada, re- 

 specting which, an inquiry in the 

 English parliament has already 

 been reported. It there appeared 

 that some improper steps had in 

 fact been taken by Sir J. Craig, 

 but without the knowledge of the 

 sovernment at home. The mem- 

 bers of parliament, however, who 

 most condemned this conduct, a- 

 greed that the President would 

 have acted more correctly in mak- 

 ing a remonstrance to the British 

 administration, and receiving its 

 explanations, before he brought the 

 charge into Cc.igress ; but he pro- 

 bably could not resist the tempta- 

 tion of making use of such an op- 

 portunity to rekindle the animo- 

 sity of his fellow-citizens against 

 this country, which was perhaps 



beginning 



