The Second War with England, Vol. 1 of 2

THE SECOND WAR WITH ENGLAND.

THE CONSTITUTION AND JAVA.
THE SECOND WAR WITH ENGLAND.
BY J. T. HEADLEY,
AUTHOR OF NAPOLEON AND HIS MARSHALS, WASHINGTON AND HIS GENERALS, THE OLD GUARD, SCOTT AND JACKSON, ETC. ETC.
IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL. I.
NEW YORK: CHARLES SCRIBNER, 145 NASSAU STREET. 1853.
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1853, by CHARLES SCRIBNER, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York.
C. W. BENEDICT, Stereotyper and Printer, 12 Spruce Street, N. Y.
More books, probably, have been written on the War of 1812 than on any other portion of our history. The great political leaders of that time were so vindictive in their animosities, and took such strong and decided ground on all political questions, that the success of one or the other afterwards in public life depended very much on his conduct during the war. Hence, much detached and personal history has been written in order to clear up or illustrate some particular event. A candidate for public office was often chosen for his services in the war; hence, every portion of it in which he took part was thoroughly investigated by both friends and foes. So if one had failed in that trying period of the country, the world was sure to hear of it when he came up for the suffrages of the people. The war proved very unfortunate for some of the leaders, and court martials and disgrace closed the career of many which had hitherto been bright and prosperous. These men have written long pamphlets and books in self-defence, or they have been written by their descendants, so that if hearing both sides would aid the reader in coming to a correct conclusion, he was pretty sure to reach it. When so many quarrels are to be settled the public will not fail to be informed all about the origin of them. Another class of works have been written, designed only to furnish a synopsis of the war, and scarcely reach to the value of histories. Others have been confined solely to the military and naval movements—others still are devoted almost exclusively to political matters of that period; so that notwithstanding the large supply of works on the War of 1812, I know of none in which all these different topics are even attempted to be combined in proper proportions. The present work is an effort to accomplish that end without being too voluminous on the one hand, or too general on the other. I have endeavored to give impressions as well as facts—to trace the current and depict the phases of public feeling, rather than inflict on the reader long documents and longer debates, in which everything that gave them life and interest was carefully excluded by the reporter.