known in England; and the British claim to search American ships, and take from them seamen whowere supposed to be British subjects—after all, by far the most important ground of quarrel-was not given up. As the war between England and France was then concluded (though it broke out again shortly afterwards for a few months), it appears to have been thought that this delicate question might be passed over in silence.

It is painful to find that one of the chief American heroes of the war which had just concluded-namely, General Jackson-was bitterly assailed for his proceedings at New Orleans. Many were of opinion that he had acted despotically in declaring martial law, and that during the period of his command he had enforced that law with unnecessary rigour. It appears that a member of the Louisiana Legislature, about the period of the siege, attacked Jackson in a newspaper. The General ordered his arrest, and, on Judge Hall granting a writ of habeas corpus, Jackson refused obedience to the writ, and even went so far as to arrest the judge, and send him out of the city. This, no doubt, was an extreme application of his exceptional powers under the state of siege; but New Orleans was at that time in such a condition that nothing short of a despotic exercise of authority could have saved it. After the successful defence of the city, Jackson was himself arrested on a charge of contempt of court, and fined a thousand dollars. He was so far sustained by popular opinion, however, that the crowd in court hissed the sentence, and bore the General on their shoulders into the street. By Congress, Jackson honoured with a vote of thanks and a gold medal; and thirteen years later, when he was a candidate for the Presidency, his achievements were not forgotten.

was

A treaty to regulate commerce between the two countries was signed at London on the 3rd of July, and ratified by the President on the 22nd of December, 1815. The rejoicings in the United States

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over the restoration of peace were universal and enthusiastic. The country had gained immensely in naval and military reputation; but its sufferings had been terrible. The loss of life, the destruction of property, the disturbance of material interests, had all been on a very large scale. The progress of the United States had been thrown back some years by this disastrous and unnatural struggle; and the feeling of friendship between the two great divisions of the English race, which was beginning to recover slightly from the War of Independence, was again dashed to the earth by bitter and exasperating memories. Since then, no war has occurred between Great Britain and the United States. Causes of quarrel have been numerous, and interested or passionate people on both sides of the Atlantic have endeavoured, by inconsiderate speaking and writing, to kindle the fires of mutual hate; but the good feeling and good sense of both countries have grown stronger with every year, and it is now understood that there are better ways out of a disagreement than through the mouth of a cannon. Increased facilities of communication-steam-vessels and electric telegraphs-have caused such an interchange of ideas on every subject of interest to human beings that the chances of a misunderstanding are greatly reduced. The press of England and the press of America speak equally to both lands, and, although their utterances are not always wise, there is a constantly-increasing overplus of opinion in favour of friendliness and peace. The manufacturers of both nations meet in the great Exhibitions of London and Philadelphia, compare their productions, profit by each other's inventions, and strengthen the habits of amity by the ties of personal acquaintance. In 1814, the English and the Americans knew little of one another, excepting such knowledge as they derived from a hundred recollections of mutual injury and insult. In these happier times they are familiar with the whole round of each other's lives, and feel through every fibre the ennobling reality of their kinship.

2,360 merchant-vessels, mounting 8,000 guns; that, in addition to this, twenty-nine British ships of war, mounting about 800 guns, were lost on the American coast, by wreck or otherwise; and that the Americans lost only twenty-five vessels of war, and a much less number of merchant-ships than the British. The people of the young Republic were naturally proud of their achievements. They boasted that General Jackson had conquered the conquerors of Napoleon, and ranked the defence of New Orleans among the great exploits of military history.

The war with England had only just been brought to a termination, when trouble again arose in connection with the Barbary pirates. The Dey of Algiers had in 1812 obliged Mr. Lear, the American consul, to pay him twenty-seven thousand dollars, to ensure the safety of himself, his family, and a few American residents, all of whom were threatened with slavery if the money were not produced. During the struggle of the United States with Great Britain, this African despot, knowing that the American navy would be entirely engrossed by its formidable opponents, attacked all the American merchant-vessels he could find, seized their cargoes, and sent their crews into servitude. These Mohammedan rovers were still just the same men as they had been more than two hundred years before, when Captain John Smith, afterwards of Virginia, sailed along the Mediterranean coasts in spite of them. They were nothing better than marine highwaymen, and America submitted to their exactions only so long as she felt herself unable to resist. On the conclusion of peace with England, the Government of Mr. Madison resolved to pay no more tribute to the piratical States of Barbary. War was therefore declared against the Algerines in March, 1815, and two squadrons, under Commodore Bainbridge and Commodore Decatur-officers gloriously associated with previous triumphs over the same enemy-were sent out to bring them to reason. On the 17th of June, Decatur fell in with the frigate of the Algerine Admiral, which he speedily captured. Two days later, he took another frigate, and on the 28th of the same month appeared before Algiers. He demanded the immediate surrender of all American prisoners, full indemnification for property destroyed, and the absolute renunciation for the future of all claims to tribute from the United States. The Dey, who had been informed of the capture of two of his vessels, saw the prudence of yielding, and on the 30th of June signed a treaty conceding all the requirements of

Lossing's History of the United States.

Decatur. That commander being afterwards joined by Bainbridge, the Pasha of Tunis was forced to pay forty-six thousand dollars, in compensation for American vessels which he had allowed the English to capture in his harbour during the war; and a similar demand made on the Pasha of Tripoli was also satisfied. Before the close of summer, the Barbary Powers had been completely humbled, and the commerce of the United States in those waters made secure.

The last complete year of Madison's Administration (1816) was not signalised by many events of importance. A new National Bank, to replace that whose charter (granted in the time of Washington) expired in 1811, was established by Congress in 1816, with a capital of 35,000,000 dollars, and a charter to continue twenty years. Treaties of peace were concluded with the Choctaws, Chickasaws, Cherokees, and other Indian tribes, by which additional territories were ceded to the Republic. Indiana became an independent State in the same year. This region originally constituted a part of New France, and several trading posts were established there in the early years of the settlement. The whole of the North-western Territory, of which Indiana was a part, was ceded to England at the peace of 1763, but became a portion of the Federal possessions after the conclusion of the War of Independence. On the 19th of April, 1816, a Bill passed the Federal Legislature for enabling the people of Indiana to form a Constitution and a State Government; and the resolution formally admitting their country into the Federation as a distinct State, was sanctioned on the 11th of December.

Having now filled the Presidential chair for nearly eight years, Madison determined to follow the examples of Washington and Jefferson, and to retire from any further candidature. In the approaching election, the Democratic party gave their support to Mr. Monroe, of Virginia, for the Presidency, and Mr. Daniel D. Tompkins, of New York, for the secondary office. The Federalists, whose power had by this time sunk very low, brought forward Mr. Rufus King for the chief post, and, as regarded the other, divided their votes between several candidates. In the autumn, Monroe and Tompkins were elected by large majorities; indeed, the former had only one vote against him in the electoral college-the vote of New Hampshire. James Monroe was born in Westmoreland county, Virginia, in April, 1759, and was of Scotch descent. During the Revolu tionary War, he served for some time in the army, which he quitted after the Battle of Monmouth

Court House, in the year 1778, rejoining it when his State was invaded in 1781. He had studied the law under Jefferson, and, while still a young man of five-and-twenty, was elected a delegate to the Continental Congress, after previously serving in the Virginia Legislature. Subsequently, he represented his country at Paris, and became Governor of his native State on returning to America. In the early years of the present century, he was again sent as Minister to Paris, and afterwards to Madrid and to London. In the Administration of Madison he had been Secretary of State. His death took place at New York on the 4th of July, 1831, and he lies buried under a simple slab in one of the cemeteries of that city.

The rule of Monroe began on the 4th of March, 1817. His Cabinet consisted of John Quincy Adams, Secretary of State; William H. Crawford, Secretary of the Treasury; John C. Calhoun, Secretary of War; Benjamin Crowninshield, Secretary of the Navy; and William Wirt, At torney-General. All these Ministers were avowed members of the Democratic party, except John Quincy Adams, and even he had for some years forsaken his former allegiance to the Federalists. Monroe himself belonged very decidedly to the former of those political bodies, and, on his first embassy to Paris, was so strongly attached to the principles of the French Revolution that he was thought to have neglected the interests of his own Government, and was recalled by Washington. It was on his second mission to Paris, in 1802–3, that he conducted, together with Robert R. Livingston, the negotiations for the cession of Louisiana; and when in London, in 1806, he concluded, in conjunction with William Pinckney, that treaty concerning the disputed matters between England and America which Jefferson refused to allow. was a man of good judgment, of cautious and prudent views, and of untiring perseverance in the conduct of business; but in original genius he was inferior to his predecessors. In character, his amiability was equal to that of Madison; but he had an awkward manner, which sometimes led to unpleasant results, since no quality is more necessary in a statesman than the power of saying the right thing at the right moment, and of leaving a great many things unsaid. Nevertheless, he was generally respected, and his inaugural address was considered satisfactory by most sections of the country. Shortly after his accession to power, he made a tour, of more than three months' duration, through a large part of the Union, passing from Maine, in the east, to Detroit, in the west. Jefferson disapproved of these progresses, as having

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too monarchical a character; but Washington had in practice given them his sanction.

At the commencement of his rule, Monroe found the manufacturing interests of the country in a very embarrassed state, owing to the competition of British goods, which, by reason of the great improvement of machinery in the old country, could be much more cheaply produced there than in America, and which, but for the duties it was considered necessary to impose on them, would probably have extinguished the native manufactures altogether-at least, for a time. The industrial arts, in which the United States now hold so conspicuous a place, were in a very rude condition in 1817. Our readers do not need to be reminded that, during the colonial days of English America, all manufactures there were not merely discountenanced, but actually forbidden, by the British Parliament. The working of iron promised at one time to be a great source of profit to the New Englanders; but it was prohibited by the Imperial Government. So also with regard to so slight a matter as the manufacture of hats everything which could interfere with English traders was to be suppressed, in accordance with the selfish and ignorant policy of those days. Shortly after the achievement of independence, attempts were made to establish manufactories of various textile fabrics; but, owing to the dearness of labour, the want of surplus capital, and the absence of machinery, very little was effected. The imposition of the embargo at the close of 1807 was the first circumstance which gave a decided encouragement to the manufactures of America. The people were of necessity compelled to fall back upon their own resources, and, notwithstanding a few failures at the beginning, considerable progress was made in a surprisingly short time. The value of native manufactured goods, as early as 1810, was 170,000,000 dollars; in 1814, it was probably 200,000,000.* The exclusion of foreign commodities during the war, had the natural effect of enhancing the price of those which were produced at home; and the manufacturers of America were beginning to drive a good trade, when the restoration of peace interfered with their prospects. The country was inundated with British and other European productions; and for some while, until legislation of a protectionist character came to the assistance of the native manufacturer, all industries of this kind sank considerably. From 1818, however, they revived, and thenceforward entered on a stage of progressive development.

History of the United States (1826)-an American production.