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.

TO JONAS GALUSHA.1

MAD. MSS.

WASHINGTON, November 30, 1812.

SIR I have rec? your letter of the 7th instant communicating a Resolution of the General Assembly of Vermont, pledging their co-operation with the General Govt & with the Nation, in the present contest with a Foreign Power. Had this Contest originated in causes, appealing with a less indiscriminate force to the common interests & honorable feelings of every portion of our fellow Citizens, that respect for the will of the majority, regularly proclaimed, which is the vital principle of our free Constitution, would have imposed on all, the sacred duty which is thus laudably recognised by the State of Vermont; and the discharge of which is enforced by the powerful consideration, that nothing can more contribute to prolong the contest and embarrass the attainment of its just objects, than the encouragement afforded to the hopes of the Enemy, by appearances of discord & discontent among ourselves.

In doing justice to the patriotism which dictated

1 Governor of Vermont, a Republican, now serving his second term. Vermont was the only New England State which cast its vote for Madison for President at this time. By the following year, however, it became Federalist.

the Resolution transmitted, I take a pleasure in remarking that it is heightened by the particular exposure of Vermont to the pressure which the war necessarily brings with it, and in assuring myself that proportionate exertions of her Citizens will add new lustre to their character. In the war which made us an Independent Nation their valor had a conspicuous share. In a war which maintains the rights and attributes of Independence on the Ocean, where they are not less the gift of nature and of nature's God than on the land, the same zeal & perseverance may be confidently expected from the same pride of liberty & love of Country.

Accept the assurances of my high respect & best wishes.

TO WILLIAM EUSTIS. 1

MAD. MSS.

Dec 4, 1812.

DEAR SIR,-I have recd your letter of yesterday with the impressions wch could not but result from your purpose of retiring from an Office so nearly related to that which has been entrusted to me, in which your services have been coeval with mine, & in which I have witnessed the zeal and constancy of your exertions for the public good under difficulties peculiarly arduous & trying. In bearing this testi

1 Eustis's retirement as Secretary of War was probably voluntary, he himself recognizing that Congress had no confidence in his ability to cope with the situation. Monroe was appointed Secretary of War pro tempore January 1, 1813, and served till February 4.

mony, I indulge my own feelings as well as pay a tribute which is so justly due.

I take the liberty of adding a hope that it will not be inconsistent with your arrangements, to continue your official attentions untill they can be replaced by

a successor.

I thank you for the kind wishes you have expressed, and I offer the best of mine for your welfare & happiness.

TO PAUL HAMILTON. 1

MAD. MSS.

December 31, 1812.

DEAR SIR, I have recd your letter of yesterday, signifying your purpose to retire from the Dep! which has been under your care.

On an occasion which is to terminate the relation in wch it placed us, I cannot satisfy my own feelings, or the tribute due to your patriotic merits & private virtues, without bearing testimony to the faithful zeal, the uniform exertions, and unimpeachable integrity, with which you have discharged that important trust; and without expressing the value I have always placed on that personal intercourse, the pleasure of which I am now to lose.

With these recollections & impressions I tender you assurances of my affect esteem, and of my sincerest wishes for your welfare & happiness.

1 Hamilton's resignation was probably on a hint from Madison. On January 12, 1813, William Jones, of Pennsylvania, succeeded him.

SPECIAL MESSAGE TO CONGRESS.

FEBRUARY 24, 1813.

To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:

I lay before Congress copies of a proclamation of the British lieutenant-governor of the island of Bermuda,1 which has appeared under circumstances leaving no doubt of its authenticity. It recites a British order in council of the 26th of October last, providing for the supply of the British West Indies and other colonial possessions by a trade under special licenses, and is accompanied by a circular instruction to the colonial governors which confines licensed importations from ports of the United States to the ports of the Eastern States exclusively.

The Government of Great Britain had already introduced into her commerce during war a system which, at once violating the rights of other nations and resting on a mass of forgery and perjury unknown to other times, was making an unfortunate progress in undermining those principles of morality and religion which are the best foundation of national happiness.

The policy now proclaimed to the world introduces into her modes of warfare a system equally distinguished by the deformity of its features and the depravity of its character, having for its object to dissolve the ties of allegiance and the sentiments of loyalty in the adversary nation, and to seduce and separate its component parts the one from the other.

The general tendency of these demoralizing and disorgan

1 The circular of the British Government dated November 9, 1812, transmitting the Order in Council of October 26, to the LieutenantGovernor of the Bermudas, contained this paragraph:

"Whatever importations are proposed to be made under the order, from the United States of America, should be by your licenses confined to the ports in the Eastern States exclusively, unless you have reason to suppose that the object of the order would not be fulfilled if licenses are not also granted for importations from other ports in the United States. "Annals of Cong., 12th Cong., 2a Sess, p. 1119.

izing contrivances will be reprobated by the civilized and Christian world, and the insulting attempt on the virtue, the honor, the patriotism, and the fidelity of our brethren of the Eastern States will not fail to call forth all their indignation and resentment, and to attach more and more all the States to that happy Union and Constitution against which such insidious and malignant artifices are directed.

The better to guard, nevertheless, against the effect of individual cupidity and treachery and to turn the corrupt projects of the enemy against himself, I recommend to the consideration of Congress the expediency of an effectual prohibition of any trade whatever by citizens or inhabitants of the United States under special licenses, whether relating to persons or ports, and in aid thereof a prohibition of all exportations from the United States, in foreign bottoms, few of which are actually employed, whilst multiplying counterfeits of their flags and papers are covering and encouraging the navigation of the enemy.

SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 1

About to add the solemnity of an oath to the obligations imposed by a second call to the station in which my country heretofore placed me, I find in the presence of this respectable assembly an opportunity of publicly repeating my profound sense of so distinguished a confidence and of the responsibility united with it. The impressions on me are strengthened by such an evidence that my faithful endeavors to discharge my arduous duties have been favorably estimated, and by a consideration of the momentous period at which the trust has

1 Madison had been re-elected by a vote of 128 to 89 for De Witt Clinton, of New York. Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, and Virginia voted for him; Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island against.