which met with considerable opposition. No objection was stated to the terms of the treaty; but it was contended that much blame was imputable to ministers, for the delays which had taken place in concluding it. It was said, that, as soon as peace was concluded in Europe, a negociation with America ought instantly to have commenced. The treaty of Paris was signed on the 30th of May, and at that time peace should have been of fered to America. We should then have appeared, in the eyes of America and of Europe, as acting generously and magnanimously; and, by such a proceeding, we should have disarmed the hostile feelings of those who were most unfavourable to us. In place of this, however, we first declined the friendly offer of mediation made by the Emperor of Russia; and, when we afterwards entered into a direct negociation, through the means of commissioners, we proceeded in so dilatory a manner, that the first conference between the commissioners, at Ghent, did not take place till the 8th of August. It was further contend. ed, that it was in consequence of unreasonable, and consequently inadmissible, demands on our part, which we were afterwards obliged to retract, that the negociations at Ghent had been protracted till the 24th of December, when the treaty was signed. It was said, that, at the first conference, propositions had been made respecting the pacification with the Indians, who were in alliance with Great Britain, and the territorial rights of those Indians; the military occupation by the British of the Canadian Lakes, and the cession of certain islands which had been occupied by the Americans since the peace of 1783; and that it had been stated, that no peace could take place, unless these propositions were agreed to. The negociations had been suspended, till the instructions of the

American government could be obtained respecting these terms; and it had appeared, that, not only the American government, but the whole American people, were unanimous in refusing them. In consequence of this, new terms had been proposed by the British commissioners, in which there was not a word regarding the propositions which they had formerly declared to be a sine qua non; and when at last the treaty was concluded, it was found to be perfectly silent as to those propositions. The consequences of these delays were, in the words of Mr Ponsonby," a useless waste of treasure -an unfortunate and ever-to-be lamented waste of the best blood of the country-of the most distinguished officers-of the bravest, the most heroic troops-all sacrificed through the negligence or indolence of his Majesty's ministers!-all sacrificed by their not concluding a treaty of peace with America, the moment the treaty with France was signed; and by delaying that treaty still farther in disputing points with America, which they afterwards thought fit to aban don."

On the part of ministers, it was said, that it was an extraordinary objection to the conduct of the nego ciators, that every one of the proposi tions, which had been made in the course of the discussions, was not to be found in the treaty when conclu ded. It was observed, that perhaps no treaty was ever known to have been concluded upon the terms originally proposed; for those terms almost invariably underwent some modifications. As to the delays for which our ministers were blamed, it was shown that they had originated with the American government. The American commissioners had been instructed to make no peace, without our first re linquishing the right of impressment; without our expressly admitting, that

the American flag covered all who sailed under it. If these points were conceded, they were authorised to sign a peace with Great Britain; but not otherwise. It was not till the day of the first conference at Ghent, that the American commissioners were authorised to sign a treaty, without insisting upon those points; and, till that was the case, it would have been useless to have any conference, as it would have been vain to enter into discussion respecting terms which were wholly inadmissible. With regard to the propositions, which, it was alleged, were made by our negociators, and afterwards departed from, it was said, that, if the frontier could have been established, it would have been a great object; but, with all its importance, it never occurred to our ministers to make it an object of war. The great end they had in view, was one that affected the honour of the country, that of protecting those who had fought and bled with us. We owed to the Indians to replace them in a state of peace, and in the enjoyment of such possessions as they had before; and this had been accomplished by the treaty. It was, finally, stated, as a cause of the length of the negociation, that it was almost exclusively occupied in discussing questions which originated with the Americans themselves. The addresses, as moved, were carried by large majorities.

In the course of this discussion, all parties concurred in expressing their satisfaction that peace had been restored. On this subject, the follow ing excellent observations were made by Mr Ponsonby. "I trust in God," he said, "another war may never arise between these two countries, to teach them the respect which they owe to each other. There are no two countries in the world whose interests are more blended together

and there are no two countries where

it is more easy for those who govern them to observe the relations of peace and amity towards each other. It is not very easy, in governments constituted as ours are, to induce a quarrel between the two countries, if the true state of affairs be known to the people of each. Nothing but deception-nothing but misunderstanding-can produce such an effect. Both governments depend, in a great degree, on the support of popular opinion. That of America depends on it altogether; and, I thank God, the government of this country is very much influenced by the same principle. If, therefore, the people are not led astray, and if the two governments look to their true interests, it will be a difficult thing to encourage a war between nations so nearly assimilated. Many persons affect to look on America with great jealousy, as a growing and powerful rival; for my own part, sir, far from looking at America as a mere rival, I never tora my eyes towards that great continent, without feeling in my mind emotions of a much nobler description. For such a country as England to have been the parent of such a country as America-to have raised that which was once a wilderness to its present state of cultivation-to have established wealth and prosperity over an immense empire-to have given to the people that free system of government, which we alone possess amidst surrounding nations to see all this to consider America as the child of England, growing up and flourishing under her fostering hand-this is a situation of more true glory and of more real happiness, than any other nation on the face of the earth can boast of. England has been made great herself by her own liberty. That liberty never was threatened by free states. Whenever it was menaced, it was by powers differently constituted.

It is her duty, therefore, to set up as the patroness of freedom throughout the world. The nations ought to be taught to look to her for all the blessings which mankind may derive from independence-they ought to receive from her example those benefits which no other power can confer."

The treaty of peace was followed by a commercial treaty between the two countries, which was signed in London in July, and ratified by the American government in December. The principal features of this treaty are, that it establishes a reciprocal liberty of commerce between Great Britain and America ;-that it stipulates, that the duties on goods exported from, or imported into either country, shall not be higher than the duties on the exportation or importation of similar goods, to or from any other country; and that it admits American vessels, under certain regulations, to trade with the British settlements in the East Indies. This treaty the American President communicated in his message to Congress on 5th December, in the following terms." It is another source of satisfaction, that the treaty of peace with Great Britain has been succeeded by a convention on the subject of commerce, concluded by the plenipotentiaries of the two countries. In this result, a disposition is manifested on the part of that nation, corresponding with the disposition of the United States, which, it may be hoped, will be improved in. to liberal arrangements on other subjects, on which the parties have mutual interests, or which might endanger their future harmony. Congress will decide on the expediency of promoting such a sequel, by giving effect to the measure of confining the American navigation to the American seamen; a measure, which, at the same time that it might have that concilia.

tory tendency, would have the further advantage of increasing the independ ence of our navigation, and the resources of our maritime rights."

As we are now again in relations of peace and friendship with the United States, it appears equally useless and impertinent to enter into any further discussion as to the causes of the interruption of that friendship, or to enquire which party was to blame in producing the war. It would be a pity, like the modish couple in the farce, to renew an accommodated quarrel, by resuming the argument about a spade and a diamond, which originally gave rise to it. In the present pací fic state of the world, which we fervently hope will not soon be disturbed, those subjects of irritation between Britain and the United States, which produced the late unhappy war, cannot occur. Till another Buonaparte shall arise, and again engage all the nations of Europe in one great quar rel, an event scarcely to be anticipa ted even in the lapse of ages, all questions respecting the maritime rights of neutrals may sleep in oblivion. Disputes on other subjects may, indeed, arise between Great Britain and America; with regard, for instance, to their territorial boundaries. But it is very unlikely that any misunderstanding about a few square miles of woods or marshes on the Canadian frontier, will tempt either nation to forego the advantages of peace, and to plunge again into a war, which can produce nothing but mutual disaster. Of the benefits of peace and friendly intercourse, both nations have been made well aware, by the temporary privation of them. Our quarrel with America deprived us of the best foreign market for our manufactures ;-a market, which was already of immense extent, and constantly increasing. America is, and, in the natural course of things, ought to be, for a long period to

come, a great agricultural country; -and the almost boundless extent of fertile land, which requires only to be cleared and cultivated, must allow the principle of population to operate in its fullest extent. The inhabitants of such a country will naturally employ themselves chiefly in the cultivation of the ground, and will not be diverted from this object by the wish to become manufacturers, if they can easily obtain the commodities they require from other countries, at the expense of a part of the abundant produce of their soil. The mutual intercourse, therefore, of America, with Britain, was a great mutual benefit. Britain supplied the American cultivators in abundance with manufactured commodities; thus enabling them to employ themselves in the manner most favourable for spreading their population over the immense continent which they inhabit; while the benefit to Britain was incalculable, from the great and daily increasing market thus produced for her manufactures. The war, however, by interrupting this intercourse, and by depriving the Americans of our manufactures, checked their progress in agriculture and pulation, by compelling them to devote a part of their labour and capital to the fabrication of those articles which were indispensable to them. The consequence has been, that the slow progression by which an agricultural nation gradually becomes a manufacturing one, has been very greatly accelerated. Before the war, America was far from having reached that

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point, at which, from the cultivation of the ground having approached its limits, from the check to population, and cheapness of labour arising from that circumstance, and from the accumulation of capital, a portion of this capital, and of the labour of the country, would necessarily be turned into the course of manufacturing industry. But, in consequence of the dispute with Britain, the Americans became manufacturers from necessity; and there is no doubt that this circumstance will permanently diminish, to a certain extent, the American market for our manufactures. It is understood, however, that many of the infant manufacturing establishments of America were stifled by the immense influx of British goods into that country immediately after the peace; and there is reason to hope, that the Americans, when they can, as formerly, obtain an abundant supply of goods from Britain, will find it more advantageous to apply themselves to the cultivation of the boundless tracts of fertile land by which they are surrounded, than to endeavour to supply themselves with manufactured commodities. In addition to these considerations, the recollection of the distress produced in America by the absolute annihilation of her commerce, and in Britain, by the great abridgment of ours, in consequence of the war, will, it is to be hoped, render two nations, united by so many ties, unwilling, by any breach of friendship, to expose themselves and each other to a recur rence of similar misfortunes.

THE earthquake which shook the centre of the French empire, failed not to agitate its extremities. The situation of the island of Martinico became critical so soon as the revolution of March became known there. The governor, Count Vaugiraud, was faithful to the royal cause, and the militia, amounting to six thousand men, of whom, however, only one-half had arms, were sufficiently well inclined. But the troops of the line, consisting of 1300 men, who possessed the forts, shewed too much of the same disposition which manifested itself in France. The majority of the officers were de cidedly for Buonaparte, some putting up the tri-coloured cockade, and others, with similar sentiments less avowed, pretending that they only wished to return to France. The soldiers were chiefly refractory conscripts, who had never served, and had no attachment to Buonaparte, but who, having escaped from the army under his severe system, and finding themselves expatriated under the king's go

vernment, generally wished to return home. Count Vaugiraud acted with much good sense in anticipating the mischief which might have arisen, and which he had not the power to have controuled, by assembling the troops and releasing those of the officers who desired it from their obligations, informing them at the same time, that they must quit Martinique, and de claring that any attempt to raise the standard of rebellion would be repelled by force, and punished as an act of mutiny, in defiance of the oaths of fidelity which they had taken to Louis the Eighteenth.

Sir James Leith, commanding officer in the Leeward Islands, on learning the precarious state of this valuable colony, immediately sent to the aid of Count Vaugiraud a strong auxiliary force, which landed there on the 5th of June. The French soldiers of the line, except about 450 men, who remained faithful to the king, were disarmed, and suffered to leave the island, which was thus saved from a