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GENERAL ROSS SLAIN-DEFENCE OF FORT M'HENRY.

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In the midst of a hostile country, General Ross, with CHAP. a handful of exhausted men, was ill at ease. Perhaps he had read of Concord and Lexington, and was alarmed 1814. lest "the indignant citizen soldiery" would turn out and harass him on his retreat. Early the following night he kindled the camp fires, and leaving behind him the sick and wounded, he commenced a stealthy retreat to his ships. His alarm was needless; in a march of four days not the least opposition did he experience. Four days after the taking of the capital, the British frigates, passing by Fort Washington, which offered but little resistance, came up the Potomac and anchored opposite Alexandria, which town saved itself from a bombardment by paying an enormous tribute.

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When his men were refreshed, General Ross moved with the fleet up the Chesapeake, toward Baltimore. The militia of Maryland by this time had assembled for the defence of the city, and also several companies of volunteers had arrived from Pennsylvania. The enemy, eight thousand strong, landed at North Point, at the mouth of Sept. the Patapsco. The land forces commenced their march, and the fleet to ascend the river, intending to capture Fort McHenry, situated two miles below the city. An advance party of Americans were thrown forward. In a skirmish with this party, General Ross was killed, yet the invaders pressed on; the militia, after a spirited encounter, retired in good order. The next morning the enemy advanced, yet hesitatingly, as the neighboring hills were covered with soldiers, field works and artillery, which altogether made a formidable appearance. They were under the veteran General Samuel Smith, the same who so gallantly defended Fort Mifflin in the Revolution. The British hesitated to commence the attack without the cooperation of the fleet, which was then busily engaged in bombarding Fort McHenry, but without much success, as the fort was replying with great spirit. When it was

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CHAP. ascertained that the fleet could not pass the fort, the invaders silently retired in the night and re-embarked.

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It was amid the excitement of this cannonade that Francis Key composed the popular song of the "Star Spangled Banner." He had gone to ask the release of certain prisoners, and had been detained during the attack on board the British fleet.

From Eastport in Maine to Sandy Hook, the whole Eastern coast was liable to these marauding expeditions. One of the most serious of these, was the bombardment of Stonington in Connecticut, which continued for four days, but after throwing shells and rockets, and several attempts to land, the enemy retired. They were repelled in every instance by the sturdy militia. Field works, garrisoned by the yeomanry of the country, were thrown up at all points along the coast likely to be an object of Aug. attack. This was done by the State authorities, the national government being so completely enfeebled, as to be unable to afford the least aid to any of the States.

The people of New England, with very few exceptions, continued to complain of their grievances. Their distress was great; the embargo, enforced by severe penalties, ruined their fisheries and their coasting trade, and had deprived them of many of the necessaries of life. They looked upon these restrictions as more odious and unfeeling than the Boston Port Bill, which roused the colonies to independence; a gross and palpable violation of the principles of the Constitution, not to be submitted to without a pusillanimous surrender of their rights and liberties."

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Petitions poured in to the legislature of Massachusetts, asking it to take measures to redress these grievances. A committee to whom these petitions were referred, reported Feb. in terms expressive of the general sentiment of the petitioners. They believed that the war, so fertile in failures, and so threatening as to its results, was uncalled for and

DEBATES IN CONGRESS-DANIEL WEBSTER.

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wrong in principle. They saw in the future the people CHAP. impoverished, deprived of their comforts, and their hopes blasted. And the committee recommended a convention 1814. of delegates from the commercial States, to obtain amendments to the constitution that would secure them against such evils.

These manifestations of discontent had their effect, and the President himself proposed the abandonment of the restrictive system, not only the embargo, but the nonimportation act. In order to encourage domestic manu- Mar factures, instead of the latter he recommended that for three years after the close of the war double duties be imposed upon imported goods, and that the exportation of specie be prohibited.

The advocates of the war in Congress, annoyed at the failures of the last two years, attributed their want of success to the influence of those opposed to the war; instead of acknowledging their own imprudence, in thus rushing, without preparation, into hostilities, or ceasing to be infatuated with the idea of conquering Canada. In the discussion on a bill to procure enlistments for the army, Daniel Webster in reply to these charges, no doubt expressed the general sentiment of those opposed to the war. In those sections of the country where the population was most numerous, the war was unpopular because of its impolicy;-it was no detraction from their patriotism that they did not join heart and hand in measures which they deemed the extreme of folly. He continued," Give up your futile projects of invasion. Extinguish the fires which blaze on your inland frontiers. Establish perfect safety and defence there by adequate force. Let every man that sleeps on your soil sleep in security. Having performed this work of beneficence and mercy on your inland border, turn and look with the eye of justice and compassion on your vast population along the coast. Unclench the iron grasp of your embargo. Take

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CHAP. measures for that end before another sun sets upon you. XLIV. With all the war of the enemy upon your commerce, if 1814. you would cease to make war upon it yourselves, you would still have some commerce. That commerce would give you some revenue. Apply that revenue to the augmentation of your navy. Let it no longer be said, that not one ship of force, built by your hands since the war, yet floats upon the ocean. If the war must continue, go to the ocean. If you are seriously contending for maritime rights, go to the theatre where alone those rights can be defended. Thither every indication of your fortune points you. There the united wishes and exertions of the nation will go with you. Even our party divisions, acrimonious as they are, cease at the water's edge. They are lost in attachment to the national character, on the element where that character is made respectable. In time you may be able to redress injuries in the place where they may be offered; and, if need be, to accompany your own flag throughout the world with the protection of your own cannon."

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The embargo and non-importation act were repealed, while action on the other recommendations of the President was postponed.

The delegates to the convention recommended by the legislature of Massachusetts, met upon the appointed day Dec. at Hartford. In accordance with the sentiments expressed in the call for the convention, the members were enjoined not to propose measures "repugnant to their obligations, as members of the Union." They met in a time of trial and distress to confer with each other on the best means to relieve the country of a ruinous war, and secure the blessings of a permanent peace. The Convention, consisting of but twenty-six members, sat with closed doors. After a session of twenty days it adjourned, and, as the result of their deliberations, published an address to the people. The address disappointed the more violent

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opponents of the war, who thought the occasion demanded CHAP. more decided measures. The President and his cabinet had been much alarmed; in the Convention, they imagin- 1814. ed lurked some terrible plot of treason; they breathed more freely when they read this address and the resolutions.

After recapitulating the evils which the war had brought upon the people whom they represented, they expressed their sentiments upon other wrongs; such as the enlistment of minors and apprentices; the national government assuming to command the State militia; and especially the proposed system of conscription for both army and navy. "Strange propositions for a government professedly waging war to protect its seamen from impressment!" "The conscription of the father with the seduction of the son, renders complete the power of the national executive over the male population of the country, thus destroying the most important relations of society."

"A free constitution administered by great and incomparable statesmen realized the fondest hopes of liberty and independence, under Washington and his measures. The arts flourished, the comforts of life were universally diffused, nothing remained but to reap the advantages and cherish the resources flowing from this policy."

"Our object is to strengthen and perpetuate the union of these States, by removing the causes of jealousies."

In furtherance of these views they proposed amendments to the Constitution; among others, to equalize the representation in the lower House of Congress, by basing it on free population; against embargoes and non-intercourse laws; to make the President ineligible for a second term. These amendments were never adopted by the States. The existence of the Convention showed the intense feeling on the subject of the war and its consequences, and its deliberations exhibit no other spirit than that of wishing to redress grievances by constitutional means.

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