On our present meeting it is my first duty to invite your attention to the providential favors which our country has experienced in the unusual degree of health dispensed to its inhabitants, and in the rich abundance with which the earth has rewarded the labors bestowed on it. In the successful cultivation of other branches of industry, and in the progress of general improvement favorable to the national prosperity, there is just occasion also for our mutual congratulations and thankfulness. With these blessings are necessarily mingled the pressures and vicissitudes incident to the state of war into which the United States have been forced by the perseverance of a foreign power in its system of injustice and aggression. Previous to its declaration it was deemed proper, as a measure of precaution and forecast, that a considerable force should be placed in the Michigan Territory with a general view to its security, and, in the event of war, to such operations in the uppermost Canada as would intercept the hostile influence of Great Britain over the savages, obtain the command of the lake on which that part of Canada borders, and maintain cooperating relations with such forces as might be most conveniently employed against other parts. Brigadier-General Hull was charged with this provisional service, having under his command a body of troops composed of regulars and of volunteers from the State of Ohio. Having reached his destination after his knowledge of the war, and possessing discretionary authority to act offensively, he passed into the neighboring territory of the enemy with a prospect of easy and victorious progress. The expedition, nevertheless, terminated unfortunately, not only in a retreat to the town and fort of Detroit, but in the surrender of both and of the gallant corps commanded by that officer. The causes of this painful reverse will be investigated by a military tribunal. A distinguishing feature in the operations which preceded and followed this adverse event is the use made by the enemy of the merciless savages under their influence. Whilst the benevolent policy of the United States invariably recommended peace and promoted civilization among that wretched portion of the human race, and was making exertions to dissuade them from taking either side in the war, the enemy has not scrupled to call to his aid their ruthless ferocity, armed with the horrors of those instruments of carnage and torture which are known to spare neither age nor sex. In this outrage against the laws of honorable war and against the feelings sacred to humanity the British commanders can not resort to a plea of retaliation, for it is committed in the face of our example. They can not mitigate it by calling it a self-defense against men in arms, for it embraces the most shocking butcheries of defenseless families. Nor can it be pretended that they are not answerable for the atrocities perpetrated, since the savages are employed with a knowledge, and even with menaces, that their fury could not be controlled. Such is the spectacle which the deputed authorities of a nation boasting its religion and morality have not been restrained from presenting to an enlightened age. The misfortune at Detroit was not, however, without a consoling effect. It was followed by signal proofs that the national spirit rises according to the pressure on it. The loss of an important post and of the brave men surrendered with it inspired everywhere new ardor and determination. In the States and districts least remote it was no sooner known than every citizen was ready to fly with his arms at once to protect his brethren against the blood-thirsty savages let loose by the enemy on an extensive frontier, and to convert a partial calamity into a source of invigorated efforts. This patriotic zeal, which it was necessary rather to limit than excite, has embodied an ample force from the States of Kentucky and Ohio and from parts of Pennsylvania and Virginia. It is placed, with the addition of a few regulars, under the command of Brigadier-General Harrison, who possesses the entire confidence of his fellow soldiers, among whom are citizens, some of them volunteers in the ranks, not less distinguished by their political stations than by their personal merits. The greater portion of this force is proceeding in relieving an important frontier post, and in several incidental operations against hostile tribes of savages, rendered indispensable by the subserviency into which they had been seduced by the enemy - a seduction the more cruel as it could not fail to impose a necessity of precautionary severities against those who yielded to it. At a recent date an attack was made on a post of the enemy near Niagara by a detachment of the regular and other forces under the command of Major-General Van Rensselaer, of the militia of the State of New York. The attack, it appears, was ordered in compliance with the ardor of the troops, who executed it with distinguished gallantry, and were for a time victorious; but not receiving the expected support, they were compelled to yield to reenforcements of British regulars and savages. Our loss has been considerable, and is deeply to be lamented. That of the enemy, less ascertained, will be the more felt, as it includes among the killed the commanding general, who was also the governor of the Province, and was sustained by veteran troops from unexperienced soldiers, who must daily improve in the duties of the field. Our expectation of gaining the command of the Lakes by the invasion of Canada from Detroit having been disappointed, measures were instantly taken to provide on them a naval force superior to that of the enemy. From the talents and activity of the officer charged with this object everything that can be done may be expected. Should the present season not admit of complete success, the progress made will insure for the next a naval ascendancy where it is essential to our permanent peace with and control over the savages. Among the incidents to the measures of the war I am constrained to advert to the refusal of the governors of Maine and Connecticut to furnish the required detachments of militia toward the defense of the maritime frontier. The refusal was founded on a novel and unfortunate exposition of the provisions of the Constitution relating to the militia. The correspondences which will be laid before you contain the requisite information on the subject. It is obvious that if the authority of the United States to call into service and command the militia for the public defense can be thus frustrated, even in a state of declared war and of course under apprehensions of invasion preceding war, they are not one nation for the purpose most of all requiring it, and that the public safety may have no other resource than in those large and permanent military establishments which are forbidden by the principles of our free government, and against the necessity of which the militia were meant to be a constitutional bulwark. On the coasts and on the ocean the war has been as successful as circumstances inseparable from its early stages could promise. Our public ships and private cruisers, by their activity, and, where there was occasion, by their intrepidity, have made the enemy sensible of the difference between a reciprocity of captures and the long confinement of them to their side. Our trade, with little exception, has safely reached our ports, having been much favored in it by the course pursued by a squadron of our frigates under the command of Commodore Rodgers, and in the instance in which skill and bravery were more particularly tried with those of the enemy the American flag had an auspicious triumph. The frigate Constitution, commanded by Captain Hull, after a close and short engagement completely disabled and captured a British frigate, gaining for that officer and all on board a praise which can not be too liberally bestowed, not merely for the victory actually achieved, but for that prompt and cool exertion of commanding talents which, giving to courage its highest character, and to the force applied its full effect, proved that more could have been done in a contest requiring more. Anxious to abridge the evils from which a state of war can not be exempt, I lost no time after it was declared in conveying to the British Government the terms on which its progress might be arrested, without awaiting the delays of a formal and final pacification, and our charge' d'affaires at London was at the same time authorized to agree to an armistice founded upon them. These terms required that the orders in council should be repealed as they affected the United States, without a revival of blockades violating acknowledged rules, and that there should be an immediate discharge of American sea men from British ships, and a stop to impressment from American ships, with an understanding that an exclusion of the sea men of each nation from the ships of the other should be stipulated, and that the armistice should be improved into a definitive and comprehensive adjustment of depending controversies. Although a repeal of the orders susceptible of explanations meeting the views of this Government had taken place before this pacific advance was communicated to that of Great Britain, the advance was declined from an avowed repugnance to a suspension of the practice of impressments during the armistice, and without any intimation that the arrangement proposed WRT sea men would be accepted. Whether the subsequent communications from this Government, affording an occasion for reconsidering the subject on the part of Great Britain, will be viewed in a more favorable light or received in a more accommodating spirit remains to be known. It would be unwise to relax our measures in any respect on a presumption of such a result. The documents from the Department of State which relate to this subject will give a view also of the propositions for an armistice which have been received here, one of them from the authorities at Halifax and in Canada, the other from the British Government itself through Admiral Warren, and of the grounds on which neither of them could be accepted. Our affairs with France retain the posture which they held at my last communications to you. Notwithstanding the authorized expectations of an early as well as favorable issue to the discussions on foot, these have been procrastinated to the latest date. The only intervening occurrence meriting attention is the promulgation of a French decree purporting to be a definitive repeal of the Berlin and Milan decrees. This proceeding, although made the ground of the repeal of the British orders in council, is rendered by the time and manner of it liable to many objections. The final communications from our special minister to Denmark afford further proofs of the good effects of his mission, and of the amicable disposition of the Danish Government. From Russia we have the satisfaction to receive assurances of continued friendship, and that it will not be affected by the rupture between the United States and Great Britain. Sweden also professes sentiments favorable to the subsisting harmony. With the Barbary Powers, excepting that of Algiers, our affairs remain on the ordinary footing. The consul-general residing with that Regency has suddenly and without cause been banished, together with all the American citizens found there. Whether this was the transitory effect of capricious despotism or the first act of predetermined hostility is not ascertained. Precautions were taken by the consul on the latter supposition. The Indian tribes not under foreign instigations remain at peace, and receive the civilizing attentions which have proved so beneficial to them. With a view to that vigorous prosecution of the war to which our national faculties are adequate, the attention of Congress will be particularly drawn to the insufficiency of existing provisions for filling up the military establishment. Such is the happy condition of our country, arising from the facility of subsistence and the high wages for every species of occupation, that notwithstanding the augmented inducements provided at the last session, a partial success only has attended the recruiting service. The deficiency has been necessarily supplied during the campaign by other than regular troops, with all the inconveniences and expense incident to them. The remedy lies in establishing more favorably for the private soldier the proportion between his recompense and the term of his enlistment, and it is a subject which can not too soon or too seriously be taken into consideration. The same insufficiency has been experienced in the provisions for volunteers made by an act of the last session. The recompense for the service required in this case is still less attractive than in the other, and although patriotism alone has sent into the field some valuable corps of that description, those alone who can afford the sacrifice can be reasonably expected to yield to that impulse. It will merit consideration also whether as auxiliary to the security of our frontiers corps may not be advantageously organized with a restriction of their services to particular districts convenient to them, and whether the local and occasional services of mariners and others in the sea port towns under a similar organization would not be a provident addition to the means of their defense. I recommend a provision for an increase of the general officers of the Army, the deficiency of which has been illustrated by the # and distance of separate commands which the course of the war and the advantage of the service have required. And I can not press too strongly on the earliest attention of the Legislature the importance of the reorganization of the staff establishment with a view to render more distinct and definite the relations and responsibilities of its several departments. That there is room for improvements which will materially promote both economy and success in what appertains to the Army and the war is equally inculcated by the examples of other countries and by the experience of our own. A revision of the militia laws for the purpose of rendering them more systematic and better adapting them to emergencies of the war is at this time particularly desirable. Of the additional ships authorized to be fitted for service, two will be shortly ready to sail, a third is under repair, and delay will be avoided in the repair of the residue. Of the appropriations for the purchase of materials for ship building, the greater part has been applied to that object and the purchase will be continued with the balance. The enterprising spirit which has characterized our naval force and its success, both in restraining insults and depredations on our coasts and in reprisals on the enemy, will not fail to recommend an enlargement of it. There being reason to believe that the act prohibiting the acceptance of British licenses is not a sufficient guard against the use of them, for purposes favorable to the interests and views of the enemy, further provisions on that subject are highly important. Nor is it less so that penal enactments should be provided for cases of corrupt and perfidious intercourse with the enemy, not amounting to treason nor yet embraced by any statutory provisions. A considerable number of American vessels which were in England when the revocation of the orders in council took place were laden with British manufactures under an erroneous impression that the non-importation act would immediately cease to operate, and have arrived in the United States. It did not appear proper to exercise on unforeseen cases of such magnitude the powers vested in the Treasury Department to mitigate forfeitures without previously affording to Congress an opportunity of making on the subject such provision as they may think proper. In their decision they will doubtless equally consult what is due to equitable considerations and to the public interest. The receipts into the Treasury during the year ending on the 30th of September last have exceeded $16.5M, which have been sufficient to defray all the demands on the Treasury to that day, including a necessary reimbursement of near $3M of the principal of the public debt. In these receipts is included a sum of near $5.85M, received on account of the loans authorized by the acts of the last session; the whole sum actually obtained on loan amounts to $11M, the residue of which, being receivable subsequent to the 30th of September last, will, together with the current revenue, enable us to defray all the expenses of this year. The duties on the late unexpected importations of British manufactures will render the revenue of the ensuing year more productive than could have been anticipated. The situation of our country, fellow citizens, is not without its difficulties, though it abounds in animating considerations, of which the view here presented of our pecuniary resources is an example. With more than one nation we have serious and unsettled controversies, and with one, powerful in the means and habits of war, we are at war. The spirit and strength of the nation are nevertheless equal to the support of all its rights, and to carry it through all its trials. They can be met in that confidence. Above all, we have the inestimable consolation of knowing that the war in which we are actually engaged is a war neither of ambition nor of vain glory; that it is waged not in violation of the rights of others, but in the maintenance of our own; that it was preceded by a patience without example under wrongs accumulating without end, and that it was finally not declared until every hope of averting it was extinguished by the transfer of the British scepter into new hands clinging to former councils, and until declarations were reiterated to the last hour, through the British envoy here, that the hostile edicts against our commercial rights and our maritime independence would not be revoked; nay, that they could not be revoked without violating the obligations of Great Britain to other powers, as well as to her own interests. To have shrunk under such circumstances from manly resistance would have been a degradation blasting our best and proudest hopes; it would have struck us from the high rank where the virtuous struggles of our fathers had placed us, and have betrayed the magnificent legacy which we hold in trust for future generations. It would have acknowledged that on the element which forms three-fourth of the globe we inhabit, and where all independent nations have equal and common rights, the American people were not an independent people, but colonists and vassals. It was at this moment and with such an alternative that war was chosen. The nation felt the necessity of it, and called for it. The appeal was accordingly made, in a just cause, to the Just and All-powerful Being who holds in His hand the chain of events and the destiny of nations. It remains only that, faithful to ourselves, entangled in no connections with the views of other powers, and ever ready to accept peace from the hand of justice, we prosecute the war with united counsels and with the ample faculties of the nation, until peace be so obtained and as the only means under the Divine blessing of speedily obtaining it.
On our present meeting it is my first duty to invite your attention to the providential favors which our country has experienced in the unusual degree of health dispensed to its inhabitants, and in the rich abundance with which the earth has rewarded the labors bestowed on it. In the successful cultivation of other branches of industry, and in the progress of general improvement favorable to the national prosperity, there is just occasion also for our mutual congratulations and thankfulness. With these blessings are necessarily mingled the pressures and vicissitudes incident to the state of war into which the United States have been forced by the perseverance of a foreign power in its system of injustice and aggression. Previous to its declaration it was deemed proper, as a measure of precaution and forecast, that a considerable force should be placed in the Michigan Territory with a general view to its security, and, in the event of war, to such operations in the uppermost Canada as would intercept the hostile influence of Great Britain over the savages, obtain the command of the lake on which that part of Canada borders, and maintain cooperating relations with such forces as might be most conveniently employed against other parts. Brigadier-General Hull was charged with this provisional service, having under his command a body of troops composed of regulars and of volunteers from the State of Ohio. Having reached his destination after his knowledge of the war, and possessing discretionary authority to act offensively, he passed into the neighboring territory of the enemy with a prospect of easy and victorious progress. The expedition, nevertheless, terminated unfortunately, not only in a retreat to the town and fort of Detroit, but in the surrender of both and of the gallant corps commanded by that officer. The causes of this painful reverse will be investigated by a military tribunal. A distinguishing feature in the operations which preceded and followed this adverse event is the use made by the enemy of the merciless savages under their influence. Whilst the benevolent policy of the United States invariably recommended peace and promoted civilization among that wretched portion of the human race, and was making exertions to dissuade them from taking either side in the war, the enemy has not scrupled to call to his aid their ruthless ferocity, armed with the horrors of those instruments of carnage and torture which are known to spare neither age nor sex. In this outrage against the laws of honorable war and against the feelings sacred to humanity the British commanders can not resort to a plea of retaliation, for it is committed in the face of our example. They can not mitigate it by calling it a self-defense against men in arms, for it embraces the most shocking butcheries of defenseless families. Nor can it be pretended that they are not answerable for the atrocities perpetrated, since the savages are employed with a knowledge, and even with menaces, that their fury could not be controlled. Such is the spectacle which the deputed authorities of a nation boasting its religion and morality have not been restrained from presenting to an enlightened age. The misfortune at Detroit was not, however, without a consoling effect. It was followed by signal proofs that the national spirit rises according to the pressure on it. The loss of an important post and of the brave men surrendered with it inspired everywhere new ardor and determination. In the States and districts least remote it was no sooner known than every citizen was ready to fly with his arms at once to protect his brethren against the blood-thirsty savages let loose by the enemy on an extensive frontier, and to convert a partial calamity into a source of invigorated efforts. This patriotic zeal, which it was necessary rather to limit than excite, has embodied an ample force from the States of Kentucky and Ohio and from parts of Pennsylvania and Virginia. It is placed, with the addition of a few regulars, under the command of Brigadier-General Harrison, who possesses the entire confidence of his fellow soldiers, among whom are citizens, some of them volunteers in the ranks, not less distinguished by their political stations than by their personal merits. The greater portion of this force is proceeding in relieving an important frontier post, and in several incidental operations against hostile tribes of savages, rendered indispensable by the subserviency into which they had been seduced by the enemy - a seduction the more cruel as it could not fail to impose a necessity of precautionary severities against those who yielded to it. At a recent date an attack was made on a post of the enemy near Niagara by a detachment of the regular and other forces under the command of Major-General Van Rensselaer, of the militia of the State of New York. The attack, it appears, was ordered in compliance with the ardor of the troops, who executed it with distinguished gallantry, and were for a time victorious; but not receiving the expected support, they were compelled to yield to reenforcements of British regulars and savages. Our loss has been considerable, and is deeply to be lamented. That of the enemy, less ascertained, will be the more felt, as it includes among the killed the commanding general, who was also the governor of the Province, and was sustained by veteran troops from unexperienced soldiers, who must daily improve in the duties of the field. Our expectation of gaining the command of the Lakes by the invasion of Canada from Detroit having been disappointed, measures were instantly taken to provide on them a naval force superior to that of the enemy. From the talents and activity of the officer charged with this object everything that can be done may be expected. Should the present season not admit of complete success, the progress made will insure for the next a naval ascendancy where it is essential to our permanent peace with and control over the savages. Among the incidents to the measures of the war I am constrained to advert to the refusal of the governors of Maine and Connecticut to furnish the required detachments of militia toward the defense of the maritime frontier. The refusal was founded on a novel and unfortunate exposition of the provisions of the Constitution relating to the militia. The correspondences which will be laid before you contain the requisite information on the subject. It is obvious that if the authority of the United States to call into service and command the militia for the public defense can be thus frustrated, even in a state of declared war and of course under apprehensions of invasion preceding war, they are not one nation for the purpose most of all requiring it, and that the public safety may have no other resource than in those large and permanent military establishments which are forbidden by the principles of our free government, and against the necessity of which the militia were meant to be a constitutional bulwark. On the coasts and on the ocean the war has been as successful as circumstances inseparable from its early stages could promise. Our public ships and private cruisers, by their activity, and, where there was occasion, by their intrepidity, have made the enemy sensible of the difference between a reciprocity of captures and the long confinement of them to their side. Our trade, with little exception, has safely reached our ports, having been much favored in it by the course pursued by a squadron of our frigates under the command of Commodore Rodgers, and in the instance in which skill and bravery were more particularly tried with those of the enemy the American flag had an auspicious triumph. The frigate Constitution, commanded by Captain Hull, after a close and short engagement completely disabled and captured a British frigate, gaining for that officer and all on board a praise which can not be too liberally bestowed, not merely for the victory actually achieved, but for that prompt and cool exertion of commanding talents which, giving to courage its highest character, and to the force applied its full effect, proved that more could have been done in a contest requiring more. Anxious to abridge the evils from which a state of war can not be exempt, I lost no time after it was declared in conveying to the British Government the terms on which its progress might be arrested, without awaiting the delays of a formal and final pacification, and our charge' d'affaires at London was at the same time authorized to agree to an armistice founded upon them. These terms required that the orders in council should be repealed as they affected the United States, without a revival of blockades violating acknowledged rules, and that there should be an immediate discharge of American sea men from British ships, and a stop to impressment from American ships, with an understanding that an exclusion of the sea men of each nation from the ships of the other should be stipulated, and that the armistice should be improved into a definitive and comprehensive adjustment of depending controversies. Although a repeal of the orders susceptible of explanations meeting the views of this Government had taken place before this pacific advance was communicated to that of Great Britain, the advance was declined from an avowed repugnance to a suspension of the practice of impressments during the armistice, and without any intimation that the arrangement proposed WRT sea men would be accepted. Whether the subsequent communications from this Government, affording an occasion for reconsidering the subject on the part of Great Britain, will be viewed in a more favorable light or received in a more accommodating spirit remains to be known. It would be unwise to relax our measures in any respect on a presumption of such a result. The documents from the Department of State which relate to this subject will give a view also of the propositions for an armistice which have been received here, one of them from the authorities at Halifax and in Canada, the other from the British Government itself through Admiral Warren, and of the grounds on which neither of them could be accepted. Our affairs with France retain the posture which they held at my last communications to you. Notwithstanding the authorized expectations of an early as well as favorable issue to the discussions on foot, these have been procrastinated to the latest date. The only intervening occurrence meriting attention is the promulgation of a French decree purporting to be a definitive repeal of the Berlin and Milan decrees. This proceeding, although made the ground of the repeal of the British orders in council, is rendered by the time and manner of it liable to many objections. The final communications from our special minister to Denmark afford further proofs of the good effects of his mission, and of the amicable disposition of the Danish Government. From Russia we have the satisfaction to receive assurances of continued friendship, and that it will not be affected by the rupture between the United States and Great Britain. Sweden also professes sentiments favorable to the subsisting harmony. With the Barbary Powers, excepting that of Algiers, our affairs remain on the ordinary footing. The consul-general residing with that Regency has suddenly and without because been banished, together with all the American citizens found there. Whether this was the transitory effect of capricious despotism or the first act of predetermined hostility is not ascertained. Precautions were taken by the consul on the latter supposition. The Indian tribes not under foreign instigations remain at peace, and receive the civilizing attentions which have proved so beneficial to them. With a view to that vigorous prosecution of the war to which our national faculties are adequate, the attention of Congress will be particularly drawn to the insufficiency of existing provisions for filling up the military establishment. Such is the happy condition of our country, arising from the facility of subsistence and the high wages for every species of occupation, that notwithstanding the augmented inducements provided at the last session, a partial success only has attended the recruiting service. The deficiency has been necessarily supplied during the campaign by other than regular troops, with all the inconveniences and expense incident to them. The remedy lies in establishing more favorably for the private soldier the proportion between his recompense and the term of his enlistment, and it is a subject which can not too soon or too seriously be taken into consideration. The same insufficiency has been experienced in the provisions for volunteers made by an act of the last session. The recompense for the service required in this case is still less attractive than in the other, and although patriotism alone has sent into the field some valuable corps of that description, those alone who can afford the sacrifice can be reasonably expected to yield to that impulse. It will merit consideration also whether as auxiliary to the security of our frontiers corps may not be advantageously organized with a restriction of their services to particular districts convenient to them, and whether the local and occasional services of mariners and others in the sea port towns under a similar organization would not be a provident addition to the means of their defense. I recommend a provision for an increase of the general officers of the Army, the deficiency of which has been illustrated by the # and distance of separate commands which the course of the war and the advantage of the service have required. And I can not press too strongly on the earliest attention of the Legislature the importance of the reorganization of the staff establishment with a view to render more distinct and definite the relations and responsibilities of its several departments. That there is room for improvements which will materially promote both economy and success in what appertains to the Army and the war is equally inculcated by the examples of other countries and by the experience of our own. A revision of the militia laws for the purpose of rendering them more systematic and better adapting them to emergencies of the war is at this time particularly desirable. Of the additional ships authorized to be fitted for service, two will be shortly ready to sail, a third is under repair, and delay will be avoided in the repair of the residue. Of the appropriations for the purchase of materials for ship building, the greater part has been applied to that object and the purchase will be continued with the balance. The enterprising spirit which has characterized our naval force and its success, both in restraining insults and depredations on our coasts and in reprisals on the enemy, will not fail to recommend an enlargement of it. There being reason to believe that the act prohibiting the acceptance of British licenses is not a sufficient guard against the use of them, for purposes favorable to the interests and views of the enemy, further provisions on that subject are highly important. Nor is it less so that penal enactments should be provided for cases of corrupt and perfidious intercourse with the enemy, not amounting to treason nor yet embraced by any statutory provisions. A considerable number of American vessels which were in England when the revocation of the orders in council took place were laden with British manufactures under an erroneous impression that the non-importation act would immediately cease to operate, and have arrived in the United States. It did not appear proper to exercise on unforeseen cases of such magnitude the powers vested in the Treasury Department to mitigate forfeitures without previously affording to Congress an opportunity of making on the subject such provision as they may think proper. In their decision they will doubtless equally consult what is due to equitable considerations and to the public interest. The receipts into the Treasury during the year ending on the 30th of September last have exceeded $16.5M, which have been sufficient to defray all the demands on the Treasury to that day, including a necessary reimbursement of near $3M of the principal of the public debt. In these receipts is included a sum of near $5.85M, received on account of the loans authorized by the acts of the last session; the whole sum actually obtained on loan amounts to $11M, the residue of which, being receivable subsequent to the 30th of September last, will, together with the current revenue, enable us to defray all the expenses of this year. The duties on the late unexpected importations of British manufactures will render the revenue of the ensuing year more productive than could have been anticipated. The situation of our country, fellow citizens, is not without its difficulties, though it abounds in animating considerations, of which the view here presented of our pecuniary resources is an example. With more than one nation we have serious and unsettled controversies, and with one, powerful in the means and habits of war, we are at war. The spirit and strength of the nation are nevertheless equal to the support of all its rights, and to carry it through all its trials. They can be met in that confidence. Above all, we have the inestimable consolation of knowing that the war in which we are actually engaged is a war neither of ambition nor of vain glory; that it is waged not in violation of the rights of others, but in the maintenance of our own; that it was preceded by a patience without example under wrongs accumulating without end, and that it was finally not declared until every hope of averting it was extinguished by the transfer of the British scepter into new hands clinging to former councils, and until declarations were reiterated to the last hour, through the British envoy here, that the hostile edicts against our commercial rights and our maritime independence would not be revoked; nay, that they could not be revoked without violating the obligations of Great Britain to other powers, as well as to her own interests. To have shrunk under such circumstances from manly resistance would have been a degradation blasting our best and proudest hopes; it would have struck us from the high rank where the virtuous struggles of our fathers had placed us, and have betrayed the magnificent legacy which we hold in trust for future generations. It would have acknowledged that on the element which forms three-fourth of the globe we inhabit, and where all independent nations have equal and common rights, the American people were not an independent people, but colonists and vassals. It was at this moment and with such an alternative that war was chosen. The nation felt the necessity of it, and called for it. The appeal was accordingly made, in a just because, to the Just and All-powerful Being who holds in His hand the chain of events and the destiny of nations. It remains only that, faithful to ourselves, entangled in no connections with the views of other powers, and ever ready to accept peace from the hand of justice, we prosecute the war with united counsels and with the ample faculties of the nation, until peace be so obtained and as the only means under the Divine blessing of speedily obtaining it.
on our present meeting it is my first duty to invite your attention to the providential favors which our country has experienced in the unusual degree of health dispensed to its inhabitants and in the rich abundance with which the earth has rewarded the labors bestowed on it in the successful cultivation of other branches of industry and in the progress of general improvement favorable to the national prosperity there is just occasion also for our mutual congratulations and thankfulness with these blessings are necessarily mingled the pressures and vicissitudes incident to the state of war into which the united states have been forced by the perseverance of a foreign power in its system of injustice and aggression previous to its declaration it was deemed proper as a measure of precaution and forecast that a considerable force should be placed in the michigan territory with a general view to its security and in the event of war to such operations in the uppermost canada as would intercept the hostile influence of great britain over the savages obtain the command of the lake on which that part of canada borders and maintain cooperating relations with such forces as might be most conveniently employed against other parts hull was charged with this provisional service having under his command a body of troops composed of regulars and of volunteers from the state of ohio having reached his destination after his knowledge of the war and possessing discretionary authority to act offensively he passed into the neighboring territory of the enemy with a prospect of easy and victorious progress the expedition nevertheless terminated unfortunately not only in a retreat to the town and fort of detroit but in the surrender of both and of the gallant corps commanded by that officer the causes of this painful reverse will be investigated by a military tribunal a distinguishing feature in the operations which preceded and followed this adverse event is the use made by the enemy of the merciless savages under their influence whilst the benevolent policy of the united states invariably recommended peace and promoted civilization among that wretched portion of the human race and was making exertions to dissuade them from taking either side in the war the enemy has not scrupled to call to his aid their ruthless ferocity armed with the horrors of those instruments of carnage and torture which are known to spare neither age nor sex in this outrage against the laws of honorable war and against the feelings sacred to humanity the british commanders can not resort to a plea of retaliation for it is committed in the face of our example they can not mitigate it by calling it a against men in arms for it embraces the most shocking butcheries of defenseless families nor can it be pretended that they are not answerable for the atrocities perpetrated since the savages are employed with a knowledge and even with menaces that their fury could not be controlled such is the spectacle which the deputed authorities of a nation boasting its religion and morality have not been restrained from presenting to an enlightened age the misfortune at detroit was not however without a consoling effect it was followed by signal proofs that the national spirit rises according to the pressure on it the loss of an important post and of the brave men surrendered with it inspired everywhere new ardor and determination in the states and districts least remote it was no sooner known than every citizen was ready to fly with his arms at once to protect his brethren against the savages let loose by the enemy on an extensive frontier and to convert a partial calamity into a source of invigorated efforts this patriotic zeal which it was necessary rather to limit than excite has embodied an ample force from the states of kentucky and ohio and from parts of pennsylvania and virginia it is placed with the addition of a few regulars under the command of harrison who possesses the entire confidence of his fellow soldiers among whom are citizens some of them volunteers in the ranks not less distinguished by their political stations than by their personal merits the greater portion of this force is proceeding in relieving an important frontier post and in several incidental operations against hostile tribes of savages rendered indispensable by the subserviency into which they had been seduced by the enemy a seduction the more cruel as it could not fail to impose a necessity of precautionary severities against those who yielded to it at a recent date an attack was made on a post of the enemy near niagara by a detachment of the regular and other forces under the command of van rensselaer of the militia of the state of new york the attack it appears was ordered in compliance with the ardor of the troops who executed it with distinguished gallantry and were for a time victorious but not receiving the expected support they were compelled to yield to reenforcements of british regulars and savages our loss has been considerable and is deeply to be lamented that of the enemy less ascertained will be the more felt as it includes among the killed the commanding general who was also the governor of the province and was sustained by veteran troops from unexperienced soldiers who must daily improve in the duties of the field our expectation of gaining the command of the lakes by the invasion of canada from detroit having been disappointed measures were instantly taken to provide on them a naval force superior to that of the enemy from the talents and activity of the officer charged with this object everything that can be done may be expected should the present season not admit of complete success the progress made will insure for the next a naval ascendancy where it is essential to our permanent peace with and control over the savages among the incidents to the measures of the war i am constrained to advert to the refusal of the governors of maine and connecticut to furnish the required detachments of militia toward the defense of the maritime frontier the refusal was founded on a novel and unfortunate exposition of the provisions of the constitution relating to the militia the correspondences which will be laid before you contain the requisite information on the subject it is obvious that if the authority of the united states to call into service and command the militia for the public defense can be thus frustrated even in a state of declared war and of course under apprehensions of invasion preceding war they are not one nation for the purpose most of all requiring it and that the public safety may have no other resource than in those large and permanent military establishments which are forbidden by the principles of our free government and against the necessity of which the militia were meant to be a constitutional bulwark on the coasts and on the ocean the war has been as successful as circumstances inseparable from its early stages could promise our public ships and private cruisers by their activity and where there was occasion by their intrepidity have made the enemy sensible of the difference between a reciprocity of captures and the long confinement of them to their side our trade with little exception has safely reached our ports having been much favored in it by the course pursued by a squadron of our frigates under the command of commodore rodgers and in the instance in which skill and bravery were more particularly tried with those of the enemy the american flag had an auspicious triumph the frigate constitution commanded by captain hull after a close and short engagement completely disabled and captured a british frigate gaining for that officer and all on board a praise which can not be too liberally bestowed not merely for the victory actually achieved but for that prompt and cool exertion of commanding talents which giving to courage its highest character and to the force applied its full effect proved that more could have been done in a contest requiring more anxious to abridge the evils from which a state of war can not be exempt i lost no time after it was declared in conveying to the british government the terms on which its progress might be arrested without awaiting the delays of a formal and final pacification and our charge at london was at the same time authorized to agree to an armistice founded upon them these terms required that the orders in council should be repealed as they affected the united states without a revival of blockades violating acknowledged rules and that there should be an immediate discharge of american sea men from british ships and a stop to impressment from american ships with an understanding that an exclusion of the sea men of each nation from the ships of the other should be stipulated and that the armistice should be improved into a definitive and comprehensive adjustment of depending controversies although a repeal of the orders susceptible of explanations meeting the views of this government had taken place before this pacific advance was communicated to that of great britain the advance was declined from an avowed repugnance to a suspension of the practice of impressments during the armistice and without any intimation that the arrangement proposed wrt sea men would be accepted whether the subsequent communications from this government affording an occasion for reconsidering the subject on the part of great britain will be viewed in a more favorable light or received in a more accommodating spirit remains to be known it would be unwise to relax our measures in any respect on a presumption of such a result the documents from the department of state which relate to this subject will give a view also of the propositions for an armistice which have been received here one of them from the authorities at halifax and in canada the other from the british government itself through admiral warren and of the grounds on which neither of them could be accepted our affairs with france retain the posture which they held at my last communications to you notwithstanding the authorized expectations of an early as well as favorable issue to the discussions on foot these have been procrastinated to the latest date the only intervening occurrence meriting attention is the promulgation of a french decree purporting to be a definitive repeal of the berlin and milan decrees this proceeding although made the ground of the repeal of the british orders in council is rendered by the time and manner of it liable to many objections the final communications from our special minister to denmark afford further proofs of the good effects of his mission and of the amicable disposition of the danish government from russia we have the satisfaction to receive assurances of continued friendship and that it will not be affected by the rupture between the united states and great britain sweden also professes sentiments favorable to the subsisting harmony with the barbary powers excepting that of algiers our affairs remain on the ordinary footing the residing with that regency has suddenly and without because been banished together with all the american citizens found there whether this was the transitory effect of capricious despotism or the first act of predetermined hostility is not ascertained precautions were taken by the consul on the latter supposition the indian tribes not under foreign instigations remain at peace and receive the civilizing attentions which have proved so beneficial to them with a view to that vigorous prosecution of the war to which our national faculties are adequate the attention of congress will be particularly drawn to the insufficiency of existing provisions for filling up the military establishment such is the happy condition of our country arising from the facility of subsistence and the high wages for every species of occupation that notwithstanding the augmented inducements provided at the last session a partial success only has attended the recruiting service the deficiency has been necessarily supplied during the campaign by other than regular troops with all the inconveniences and expense incident to them the remedy lies in establishing more favorably for the private soldier the proportion between his recompense and the term of his enlistment and it is a subject which can not too soon or too seriously be taken into consideration the same insufficiency has been experienced in the provisions for volunteers made by an act of the last session the recompense for the service required in this case is still less attractive than in the other and although patriotism alone has sent into the field some valuable corps of that description those alone who can afford the sacrifice can be reasonably expected to yield to that impulse it will merit consideration also whether as auxiliary to the security of our frontiers corps may not be advantageously organized with a restriction of their services to particular districts convenient to them and whether the local and occasional services of mariners and others in the sea port towns under a similar organization would not be a provident addition to the means of their defense i recommend a provision for an increase of the general officers of the army the deficiency of which has been illustrated by the and distance of separate commands which the course of the war and the advantage of the service have required and i can not press too strongly on the earliest attention of the legislature the importance of the reorganization of the staff establishment with a view to render more distinct and definite the relations and responsibilities of its several departments that there is room for improvements which will materially promote both economy and success in what appertains to the army and the war is equally inculcated by the examples of other countries and by the experience of our own a revision of the militia laws for the purpose of rendering them more systematic and better adapting them to emergencies of the war is at this time particularly desirable of the additional ships authorized to be fitted for service two will be shortly ready to sail a third is under repair and delay will be avoided in the repair of the residue of the appropriations for the purchase of materials for ship building the greater part has been applied to that object and the purchase will be continued with the balance the enterprising spirit which has characterized our naval force and its success both in restraining insults and depredations on our coasts and in reprisals on the enemy will not fail to recommend an enlargement of it there being reason to believe that the act prohibiting the acceptance of british licenses is not a sufficient guard against the use of them for purposes favorable to the interests and views of the enemy further provisions on that subject are highly important nor is it less so that penal enactments should be provided for cases of corrupt and perfidious intercourse with the enemy not amounting to treason nor yet embraced by any statutory provisions a considerable number of american vessels which were in england when the revocation of the orders in council took place were laden with british manufactures under an erroneous impression that the act would immediately cease to operate and have arrived in the united states it did not appear proper to exercise on unforeseen cases of such magnitude the powers vested in the treasury department to mitigate forfeitures without previously affording to congress an opportunity of making on the subject such provision as they may think proper in their decision they will doubtless equally consult what is due to equitable considerations and to the public interest the receipts into the treasury during the year ending on the 30th of september last have exceeded which have been sufficient to defray all the demands on the treasury to that day including a necessary reimbursement of near 3m of the principal of the public debt in these receipts is included a sum of near received on account of the loans authorized by the acts of the last session the whole sum actually obtained on loan amounts to 11m the residue of which being receivable subsequent to the 30th of september last will together with the current revenue enable us to defray all the expenses of this year the duties on the late unexpected importations of british manufactures will render the revenue of the ensuing year more productive than could have been anticipated the situation of our country fellow citizens is not without its difficulties though it abounds in animating considerations of which the view here presented of our pecuniary resources is an example with more than one nation we have serious and unsettled controversies and with one powerful in the means and habits of war we are at war the spirit and strength of the nation are nevertheless equal to the support of all its rights and to carry it through all its trials they can be met in that confidence above all we have the inestimable consolation of knowing that the war in which we are actually engaged is a war neither of ambition nor of vain glory that it is waged not in violation of the rights of others but in the maintenance of our own that it was preceded by a patience without example under wrongs accumulating without end and that it was finally not declared until every hope of averting it was extinguished by the transfer of the british scepter into new hands clinging to former councils and until declarations were reiterated to the last hour through the british envoy here that the hostile edicts against our commercial rights and our maritime independence would not be revoked nay that they could not be revoked without violating the obligations of great britain to other powers as well as to her own interests to have shrunk under such circumstances from manly resistance would have been a degradation blasting our best and proudest hopes it would have struck us from the high rank where the virtuous struggles of our fathers had placed us and have betrayed the magnificent legacy which we hold in trust for future generations it would have acknowledged that on the element which forms of the globe we inhabit and where all independent nations have equal and common rights the american people were not an independent people but colonists and vassals it was at this moment and with such an alternative that war was chosen the nation felt the necessity of it and called for it the appeal was accordingly made in a just because to the just and being who holds in his hand the chain of events and the destiny of nations it remains only that faithful to ourselves entangled in no connections with the views of other powers and ever ready to accept peace from the hand of justice we prosecute the war with united counsels and with the ample faculties of the nation until peace be so obtained and as the only means under the divine blessing of speedily obtaining it
present meeting first duty invite attention providential favors country experienced unusual degree health dispensed inhabitants rich abundance earth rewarded labors bestowed successful cultivation branches industry progress general improvement favorable national prosperity occasion also mutual congratulations thankfulness blessings necessarily mingled pressures vicissitudes incident state war united states forced perseverance foreign power system injustice aggression previous declaration deemed proper measure precaution forecast considerable force placed michigan territory general view security event war operations uppermost canada would intercept hostile influence great britain savages obtain command lake part canada borders maintain cooperating relations forces might conveniently employed parts hull charged provisional service command body troops composed regulars volunteers state ohio reached destination knowledge war possessing discretionary authority act offensively passed neighboring territory enemy prospect easy victorious progress expedition nevertheless terminated unfortunately retreat town fort detroit surrender gallant corps commanded officer causes painful reverse investigated military tribunal distinguishing feature operations preceded followed adverse event use made enemy merciless savages influence whilst benevolent policy united states invariably recommended peace promoted civilization among wretched portion human race making exertions dissuade taking either side war enemy scrupled call aid ruthless ferocity armed horrors instruments carnage torture known spare neither age sex outrage laws honorable war feelings sacred humanity british commanders resort plea retaliation committed face example mitigate calling men arms embraces shocking butcheries defenseless families pretended answerable atrocities perpetrated since savages employed knowledge even menaces fury could controlled spectacle deputed authorities nation boasting religion morality restrained presenting enlightened age misfortune detroit however without consoling effect followed signal proofs national spirit rises according pressure loss important post brave men surrendered inspired everywhere new ardor determination states districts least remote sooner known every citizen ready fly arms protect brethren savages let loose enemy extensive frontier convert partial calamity source invigorated efforts patriotic zeal necessary rather limit excite embodied ample force states kentucky ohio parts pennsylvania virginia placed addition regulars command harrison possesses entire confidence fellow soldiers among citizens volunteers ranks less distinguished political stations personal merits greater portion force proceeding relieving important frontier post several incidental operations hostile tribes savages rendered indispensable subserviency seduced enemy seduction cruel could fail impose necessity precautionary severities yielded recent date attack made post enemy near niagara detachment regular forces command van rensselaer militia state new york attack appears ordered compliance ardor troops executed distinguished gallantry time victorious receiving expected support compelled yield reenforcements british regulars savages loss considerable deeply lamented enemy less ascertained felt includes among killed commanding general also governor province sustained veteran troops unexperienced soldiers must daily improve duties field expectation gaining command lakes invasion canada detroit disappointed measures instantly taken provide naval force superior enemy talents activity officer charged object everything done may expected present season admit complete success progress made insure next naval ascendancy essential permanent peace control savages among incidents measures war constrained advert refusal governors maine connecticut furnish required detachments militia toward defense maritime frontier refusal founded novel unfortunate exposition provisions constitution relating militia correspondences laid contain requisite information subject obvious authority united states call service command militia public defense thus frustrated even state declared war course apprehensions invasion preceding war one nation purpose requiring public safety may resource large permanent military establishments forbidden principles free government necessity militia meant constitutional bulwark coasts ocean war successful circumstances inseparable early stages could promise public ships private cruisers activity occasion intrepidity made enemy sensible difference reciprocity captures long confinement side trade little exception safely reached ports much favored course pursued squadron frigates command commodore rodgers instance skill bravery particularly tried enemy american flag auspicious triumph frigate constitution commanded captain hull close short engagement completely disabled captured british frigate gaining officer board praise liberally bestowed merely victory actually achieved prompt cool exertion commanding talents giving courage highest character force applied full effect proved could done contest requiring anxious abridge evils state war exempt lost time declared conveying british government terms progress might arrested without awaiting delays formal final pacification charge london time authorized agree armistice founded upon terms required orders council repealed affected united states without revival blockades violating acknowledged rules immediate discharge american sea men british ships stop impressment american ships understanding exclusion sea men nation ships stipulated armistice improved definitive comprehensive adjustment depending controversies although repeal orders susceptible explanations meeting views government taken place pacific advance communicated great britain advance declined avowed repugnance suspension practice impressments armistice without intimation arrangement proposed wrt sea men would accepted whether subsequent communications government affording occasion reconsidering subject part great britain viewed favorable light received accommodating spirit remains known would unwise relax measures respect presumption result documents department state relate subject give view also propositions armistice received one authorities halifax canada british government admiral warren grounds neither could accepted affairs france retain posture held last communications notwithstanding authorized expectations early well favorable issue discussions foot procrastinated latest date intervening occurrence meriting attention promulgation french decree purporting definitive repeal berlin milan decrees proceeding although made ground repeal british orders council rendered time manner liable many objections final communications special minister denmark afford proofs good effects mission amicable disposition danish government russia satisfaction receive assurances continued friendship affected rupture united states great britain sweden also professes sentiments favorable subsisting harmony barbary powers excepting algiers affairs remain ordinary footing residing regency suddenly without banished together american citizens found whether transitory effect capricious despotism first act predetermined hostility ascertained precautions taken consul latter supposition indian tribes foreign instigations remain peace receive civilizing attentions proved beneficial view vigorous prosecution war national faculties adequate attention congress particularly drawn insufficiency existing provisions filling military establishment happy condition country arising facility subsistence high wages every species occupation notwithstanding augmented inducements provided last session partial success attended recruiting service deficiency necessarily supplied campaign regular troops inconveniences expense incident remedy lies establishing favorably private soldier proportion recompense term enlistment subject soon seriously taken consideration insufficiency experienced provisions volunteers made act last session recompense service required case still less attractive although patriotism alone sent field valuable corps description alone afford sacrifice reasonably expected yield impulse merit consideration also whether auxiliary security frontiers corps may advantageously organized restriction services particular districts convenient whether local occasional services mariners others sea port towns similar organization would provident addition means defense recommend provision increase general officers army deficiency illustrated distance separate commands course war advantage service required press strongly earliest attention legislature importance reorganization staff establishment view render distinct definite relations responsibilities several departments room improvements materially promote economy success appertains army war equally inculcated examples countries experience revision militia laws purpose rendering systematic better adapting emergencies war time particularly desirable additional ships authorized fitted service two shortly ready sail third repair delay avoided repair residue appropriations purchase materials ship building greater part applied object purchase continued balance enterprising spirit characterized naval force success restraining insults depredations coasts reprisals enemy fail recommend enlargement reason believe act prohibiting acceptance british licenses sufficient guard use purposes favorable interests views enemy provisions subject highly important less penal enactments provided cases corrupt perfidious intercourse enemy amounting treason yet embraced statutory provisions considerable number american vessels england revocation orders council took place laden british manufactures erroneous impression act would immediately cease operate arrived united states appear proper exercise unforeseen cases magnitude powers vested treasury department mitigate forfeitures without previously affording congress opportunity making subject provision may think proper decision doubtless equally consult due equitable considerations public interest receipts treasury year ending 30th september last exceeded sufficient defray demands treasury day including necessary reimbursement near 3m principal public debt receipts included sum near received account loans authorized acts last session whole sum actually obtained loan amounts 11m residue receivable subsequent 30th september last together current revenue enable us defray expenses year duties late unexpected importations british manufactures render revenue ensuing year productive could anticipated situation country fellow citizens without difficulties though abounds animating considerations view presented pecuniary resources example one nation serious unsettled controversies one powerful means habits war war spirit strength nation nevertheless equal support rights carry trials met confidence inestimable consolation knowing war actually engaged war neither ambition vain glory waged violation rights others maintenance preceded patience without example wrongs accumulating without end finally declared every hope averting extinguished transfer british scepter new hands clinging former councils declarations reiterated last hour british envoy hostile edicts commercial rights maritime independence would revoked nay could revoked without violating obligations great britain powers well interests shrunk circumstances manly resistance would degradation blasting best proudest hopes would struck us high rank virtuous struggles fathers placed us betrayed magnificent legacy hold trust future generations would acknowledged element forms globe inhabit independent nations equal common rights american people independent people colonists vassals moment alternative war chosen nation felt necessity called appeal accordingly made holds hand chain events destiny nations remains faithful entangled connections views powers ever ready accept peace hand justice prosecute war united counsels ample faculties nation peace obtained means divine blessing speedily obtaining
present meeting first duty invite attention providential favor country experience unusual degree health dispense inhabitant rich abundance earth reward labor bestow successful cultivation branch industry progress general improvement favorable national prosperity occasion also mutual congratulation thankfulness blessing necessarily mingle pressure vicissitude incident state war unite state force perseverance foreign power system injustice aggression previous declaration deem proper measure precaution forecast considerable force place michigan territory general view security event war operation uppermost canada would intercept hostile influence great britain savage obtain command lake part canada border maintain cooperate relation force might conveniently employ part hull charge provisional service command body troop compose regular volunteer state ohio reach destination knowledge war possess discretionary authority act offensively pass neighboring territory enemy prospect easy victorious progress expedition nevertheless terminate unfortunately retreat town fort detroit surrender gallant corp command officer cause painful reverse investigate military tribunal distinguishing feature operation precede followed adverse event use make enemy merciless savage influence whilst benevolent policy united state invariably recommend peace promote civilization among wretched portion human race make exertion dissuade take either side war enemy scruple call aid ruthless ferocity arm horror instrument carnage torture know spare neither age sex outrage law honorable war feeling sacred humanity british commander resort plea retaliation commit face example mitigate call men arm embrace shock butchery defenseless family pretend answerable atrocity perpetrate since savage employ knowledge even menace fury could control spectacle deputed authority nation boast religion morality restrain present enlighten age misfortune detroit however without console effect follow signal proofs national spirit rise accord pressure loss important post brave men surrender inspire everywhere new ardor determination state district least remote sooner know every citizen ready fly arm protect brother savage let loose enemy extensive frontier convert partial calamity source invigorate effort patriotic zeal necessary rather limit excite embodied ample force state kentucky ohio part pennsylvania virginia place addition regular command harrison possesses entire confidence fellow soldier among citizen volunteer rank less distinguished political station personal merit great portion force proceed relieve important frontier post several incidental operation hostile tribe savage render indispensable subserviency seduce enemy seduction cruel could fail impose necessity precautionary severity yield recent date attack make post enemy near niagara detachment regular force command van rensselaer militia state new york attack appear order compliance ardor troop execute distinguished gallantry time victorious receive expected support compel yield reenforcement british regular savage loss considerable deeply lamented enemy less ascertained felt include among kill command general also governor province sustain veteran troop unexperienced soldier must daily improve duty field expectation gain command lake invasion canada detroit disappoint measure instantly take provide naval force superior enemy talent activity officer charge object everything do may expect present season admit complete success progress make insure next naval ascendancy essential permanent peace control savage among incident measure war constrain advert refusal governor maine connecticut furnish require detachment militia toward defense maritime frontier refusal found novel unfortunate exposition provision constitution relate militia correspondence lay contain requisite information subject obvious authority united state call service command militia public defense thus frustrate even state declare war course apprehension invasion precede war one nation purpose require public safety may resource large permanent military establishment forbidden principle free government necessity militia mean constitutional bulwark coast ocean war successful circumstance inseparable early stage could promise public ship private cruiser activity occasion intrepidity make enemy sensible difference reciprocity capture long confinement side trade little exception safely reach port much favor course pursue squadron frigate command commodore rodgers instance skill bravery particularly tried enemy american flag auspicious triumph frigate constitution command captain hull close short engagement completely disable captured british frigate gain officer board praise liberally bestow merely victory actually achieve prompt cool exertion command talent give courage high character force apply full effect prove could do contest require anxious abridge evil state war exempt lose time declare convey british government term progress might arrest without await delay formal final pacification charge london time authorize agree armistice found upon term require order council repeal affected united state without revival blockade violate acknowledge rule immediate discharge american sea men british ship stop impressment american ship understand exclusion sea men nation ship stipulate armistice improve definitive comprehensive adjustment depend controversy although repeal order susceptible explanation meet views government take place pacific advance communicate great britain advance decline avowed repugnance suspension practice impressment armistice without intimation arrangement propose wrt sea men would accept whether subsequent communication government afford occasion reconsider subject part great britain view favorable light receive accommodate spirit remain know would unwise relax measure respect presumption result document department state relate subject give view also proposition armistice receive one authority halifax canada british government admiral warren ground neither could accept affair france retain posture hold last communication notwithstanding authorized expectation early well favorable issue discussion foot procrastinate late date intervene occurrence merit attention promulgation french decree purport definitive repeal berlin milan decree proceed although make ground repeal british order council rendered time manner liable many objection final communication special minister denmark afford proof good effect mission amicable disposition danish government russia satisfaction receive assurance continue friendship affected rupture united state great britain sweden also profess sentiment favorable subsist harmony barbary power except algiers affair remain ordinary footing reside regency suddenly without banish together american citizen find whether transitory effect capricious despotism first act predetermined hostility ascertain precaution take consul latter supposition indian tribe foreign instigation remain peace receive civilizing attention prove beneficial view vigorous prosecution war national faculty adequate attention congress particularly draw insufficiency exist provision fill military establishment happy condition country arise facility subsistence high wage every specie occupation notwithstanding augment inducement provide last session partial success attend recruit service deficiency necessarily supply campaign regular troop inconvenience expense incident remedy lie establish favorably private soldier proportion recompense term enlistment subject soon seriously take consideration insufficiency experience provision volunteer make act last session recompense service require case still less attractive although patriotism alone send field valuable corps description alone afford sacrifice reasonably expect yield impulse merit consideration also whether auxiliary security frontier corps may advantageously organize restriction service particular district convenient whether local occasional service mariner others sea port town similar organization would provident addition mean defense recommend provision increase general officer army deficiency illustrate distance separate command course war advantage service require press strongly early attention legislature importance reorganization staff establishment view render distinct definite relation responsibility several department room improvement materially promote economy success appertain army war equally inculcated example country experience revision militia law purpose render systematic well adapt emergency war time particularly desirable additional ship authorize fitted service two shortly ready sail third repair delay avoid repair residue appropriation purchase material ship building great part apply object purchase continue balance enterprising spirit characterize naval force success restrain insults depredation coast reprisal enemy fail recommend enlargement reason believe act prohibit acceptance british license sufficient guard use purpose favorable interest view enemy provision subject highly important less penal enactment provide case corrupt perfidious intercourse enemy amount treason yet embrace statutory provision considerable number american vessel england revocation order council take place laden british manufacture erroneous impression act would immediately cease operate arrive united state appear proper exercise unforeseen case magnitude power vested treasury department mitigate forfeiture without previously afford congress opportunity make subject provision may think proper decision doubtless equally consult due equitable consideration public interest receipt treasury year end 30th september last exceeded sufficient defray demand treasury day include necessary reimbursement near 3m principal public debt receipt include sum near received account loan authorize act last session whole sum actually obtain loan amount 11m residue receivable subsequent 30th september last together current revenue enable u defray expense year duty late unexpected importation british manufacture render revenue ensue year productive could anticipate situation country fellow citizen without difficulty though abounds animate consideration view present pecuniary resource example one nation serious unsettled controversy one powerful mean habit war war spirit strength nation nevertheless equal support right carry trial meet confidence inestimable consolation know war actually engage war neither ambition vain glory wag violation right others maintenance precede patience without example wrong accumulate without end finally declare every hope avert extinguish transfer british scepter new hand cling former council declaration reiterate last hour british envoy hostile edicts commercial right maritime independence would revoke nay could revoke without violate obligation great britain power well interest shrink circumstance manly resistance would degradation blast best proudest hope would strike u high rank virtuous struggle father place u betray magnificent legacy hold trust future generation would acknowledge element form globe inhabit independent nation equal common right american people independent people colonist vassal moment alternative war choose nation felt necessity call appeal accordingly make hold hand chain event destiny nation remain faithful entangled connection view power ever ready accept peace hand justice prosecute war united counsel ample faculty nation peace obtain mean divine bless speedily obtain