On the 7th of January the president of congress presented copies of letters which had passed between Lord Castlereagh and Mr. Monroe, in which the former proposed to appoint commissioners to treat about terms of peace, either at London or Gottenburg. The appointed place of meeting was Gottenburg; but the negociations were removed to Ghent, and they did not commence till the following August. In the meantime war continued. Early in February the American general, Wilkinson, moved his head-quarters to Bridlington and Platsburg; and he subsequently attacked a post commanded by Major Hancock, but was repulsed with considerable loss. In the month of May Sir James Yeo and General Drummond reduced the fort of Oswego, on the Lake Ontario, an achievement which was chiefly serviceable by retarding the equipment of the enemy’s armament on that water. Soon after this, however, the Americans became the assailants. General Brown, crossing the Niagara, compelled the garrison of Fort Erie to surrender prisoners of war; and then attacked the British lines at Chippawa, and compelled General Riall to retreat on Fort George. This officer, however, being re-enforced by some troops under General Drummond, returned, and compelled the enemy to take refuge under the cannon of Fort Erie. About this time the British government, on the dethronement of Napoleon, having resolved to prosecute the contest with increased vigour, a numerous fleet arrived in the St. Lawrence with 14,000 of the brave troops that had fought in the Peninsula. Sir George Prévost commanded them, and in the month of September he entered the American territory, and advanced against Platsburg, on Lake Champlain, in conjunction with a flotilla under Captain Dordnie of the navy. This expedition, however, resulted disastrously, and Sir George Prevost was recalled to answer charges preferred against him by Sir James Yeo; but he did not live to await his trial. Success, however, attended the British arms in other quarters. During this year Admiral Cochrane destroyed the Baltimore flotilla in the Patuxent; General Ross captured and set fire to the city of Washington, after having encountered and defeated an army of 9,000 Americans; General Pilkington reduced Moose Island, and two others, in the bay of Passamaquoddy; and the English frigate “Phobe” captured the United States’ frigate “Essex,” off Valparaiso, on the western coast of South America. On the other hand, a British sloop of war was captured by the American sloop “Wasp;” and an expedition, under Admiral Cochrane and Sir E. Pakenham, against New Orleans failed, after a severe rencontre with the American troops who defended the city. The final event of the war was the capture of Fort Bowyer, by the British, in the Gulf of Mexico. But before this event took place, a treaty of peace and amity had been signed at Ghent, which was afterwards ratified by both governments.
GEORGE III. 1814-1818
TREATY OF PEACE WITH AMERICA, ETC.
The treaty of Ghent was negociated on the part of America by Messrs. Adams, Bayard, Clay, Russel, and Gallatin; and of Great Britain by Lord Gambier, Mr. Goulburn, and Dr. Adams. On the grand cause of the war, and the primary object of dispute—the right of search, the treaty was wholly silent: the Americans tacitly abandoning their resistance to the maritime claims of England. The treaty restored conquests on both sides, and concluded a settlement of boundaries on the Canadian frontier, to be afterwards adjusted. Both parties bound themselves to do their utmost in abolishing the slave-trade—yet America is the land of slaves unto this day. The Indians were to be restored to the rights and possessions which they held in 1812. During the interval of the actual conclusion of this treaty and the circulation of the intelligence thereof, a sea-fight took place between the “President,” one of the largest American frigates, and the “Endymion,” a British frigate, commanded by Captain Hope: the “President” was captured.
MEETING OF PARLIAMENT.
A.D. 1815
The British parliament re-assembled on the 9th of February. The first measure brought under notice was the state of the corn-laws. Mr. Frederic Robinson proposed that no wheat should be imported while the price of a quarter remained under eighty shillings in the United Kingdom; but that it might be introduced from the British territories in North America when the price was sixty-seven shillings. He argued that it was highly impolitic to depend on foreign supplies; and that the greatest encouragement ought to be given to the production of such a quantity of corn as would preclude famine and the necessity of importation. This argument was forcibly controverted by Mr. Baring, who alleged that the practice of importation was not inimical to the progress of agriculture; that the accommodation of general consumers ought to be consulted before the interests of landlords; and that the suggested standard was improperly calculated on the supposed continuance of the present expenses of the latter class. Numerous petitions from the manufacturing and commercial towns were presented against any alterations in the corn-laws, but the bill passed both houses. When it was passed, the corporation of London addressed the prince regent, in hopes that he would withhold his assent from a measure so generally disliked by the nation, but it received his sanction. From that day to this the corn-law question has been a source of constant clamour and discontent. The ferment which the bill occasioned was great: the mob attacked the houses of its supporters, and the military were obliged to be called in to the aid of the civil power before the riots could be quelled: two individuals were shot by the soldiers.