36 EFFECT OF THE RECALL [1812. 



mentioned consideration, " to use my influence, official 

 as well as personal, to put them down ; for, said he, I 

 can assure you that the peasantry on your estate in 

 Barbadoes are fully better off than those on your 

 Durham estates," so little had he understood our Eng- 

 lish history. I answered that " I was sorry to say he 

 had applied to a wrong quarter ; for that I was one 

 of the principal leaders of those whom he wanted to 

 put down. But I hoped he would form a better 

 opinion of us and of our measures, by reading the 

 report of the House of Lords' committee, under my 

 friend the Duke of Kichmond," which I sent him, as it 

 had just been printed. I received no answer, and con- 

 cluded that he had altered his will. He died in 1837, 

 and I have since found that my conjecture was well 

 founded. His will was made seven years after our 

 correspondence. 



The state of our relations with America had become 

 exceedingly alarming, in consequence of the delay in 

 recalling the Orders in Council, and the manner of the 

 recall. There appeared in the United States Govern- 

 ment signs of a disposition to precipitate a rupture. 

 Letters I received at this time from my ally, Baring, 

 showed how much he shared in the alarm. The 

 following gives also the course which he recommended 

 our commercial and manufacturing bodies to take : 



FROM ALEXANDER BARING. 



"CARSHALTON, August 1, 1812. 



"DEAR BROUGHAM, Since you wrote your letter 

 you will have seen the American declaration of war, 

 which renders the situation of our traders more em- 

 barrassing. I am obstinate in my opinion that the 



