dent, that American workshops could not compete with those of England, unless some protection was afforded to home manufactures. The questions which arose in connection with this topic occupied a large share of the attention of Congress and the people, and the best talent of the country was devoted to the discussion of the subject of protection, and the principles on which trade between various nations is to be conducted, in order best to attain the advantage of each and all of them. With that versatility which marks the American character, the moment the way was open, men at once gave their energies to that which promised to be the most profitable. Commerce sprang into active life, and the ocean soon became white with the canvas of our merchant ships. Cotton rose from ten to more than twenty cents the pound. Tobacco, which had no sale at more than two or three dollars the hundred weight, now brought fifteen, twenty, and even twenty-five dollars a hundred. Land increased proportionably in value, and labor was immediately in demand at high prices. Wealth began to flow in; habits of indulgence in conveniences and luxuries began to be formed; and gold, and silk, and wines, took the place, in part, of silver, and cotton, and common spirits; houses were better furnished; means of personal and social enjoyment were considerably increased; a desire for the advancement of architectural and kindred improvements began to be diffused; and, with the exception of a depreciated currency of irredeemable bank paper, the condition of our country

was hopeful, promising, and full of courageous animation. We shall see, as we advance, how the results of the future sustained the hopes and aspirations of our countrymen forty years ago.

In connection with the treaty of peace, we may mention here, that Messrs. Gallatin, Clay, and Ad- 1815. ams, after a short delay, proceeded to London, where they at once entered upon the arrangement of a commercial convention, which had been proposed, as a supplement to the peace; and that without adopting Mr. Jefferson's advice, to insist first upon the relinquishment of the claim to impress American seamen. The commissioners did, however, attempt to introduce "neutral rights" into this new negotia tion; but as the British government refused to treat with them upon that basis, the commercial relations of the two countries alone were dealt with. After a tedious and not altogether pleasant or satisfactory discussion, a convention for four years was signed on the 3d of July. In substance, this convention amounted to the placing of the direct trade between the United States and Great Britain, upon a strictly reciprocal basis. But the trade with the British possessions in the East Indies, was to be carried on in American ships, directly, only with the United States; and the traffic between the United States and the British possessions beyond the Atlantic, was not to be affected by the reciprocity article; "but," as the convention said, "each party was to remain in complete possession of its rights with respect to such

CH. I.]

an intercourse," the meaning of which was, that the United States was not to be admitted to this branch of trade at all. At the close of the year, the convention was ratified by the president.

The "Dartmoor massacre," occurring, as it did, while the negotiations just spoken of were in progress, may properly be noticed in this place. It will be remembered, that many hundreds of American seamen had been impressed on board British vessels, in former years; when the war broke out, the larger part of these positively refused to serve against their countrymen. The result was, that the British government put them in prison in great numbers. The Dartmoor prison, some seventeen miles inland from Portsmouth, was selected; and in that gloomy place of confinement, subjected to hardships and trials not easy to describe adequately in words, these brave sons of America dragged out the weary days and nights, sustained only by the hope that the period was not far distant, when their country victorious would demand their release. It requires no effort of the imagination to conceive, that the state of feeling between the prisoners and their keepers was as bad as it could well be, and that it increased in acerbity with the progress of time and events. When it became known to the imprisoned Americans, that a treaty of peace had been concluded, and they saw and felt that they were not immediately set free, the greatest excitement prevailed amongst them. Uneasy, restless, angered, they were in a condition ready for outbreak and manifestations of feel

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ing and sentiments not likely to prove agreeable or even tolerable to the men placed as guards over them. More than five thousand men were shut up in this prison, and, suffering many of them from the small-pox, and all of them from the cruel insolence of their keepers, collisions began to occur, and bloodshed could not be unlooked for. The prisoners became exasperated at the delays in their being released; violent language was freely indulged in; and they declared with oaths that they would make their escape by violence ere long. On the 4th of April they received no bread, which led them the next day to break into the depot for provisions, despite the efforts of the guards. On the 6th, the commander of the guards, induced by what he thought to need the summary course he adopted, in order to subdue the exasperated and excited prisoners, gave orders to the soldiers to fire upon them. Again and again was this done, and seven were killed and sixty wounded in this fearful onslaught on a crowd of unarmed men.

Messrs. Clay and Gallatin, at that time in London, engaged in negotiating the commercial convention, immediately put themselves in communication with Lord Castlereagh on this subject. Mr. Charles King on the part of the American, and Mr. Larpent on the part of the British government, were appointed commissioners to examine into the whole matter; and a complete, if not a very satisfactory, investigation of this sad affair took place. And finally, the Prince Regent communicated to Mr. Monroe his disapproba

tion of the conduct of the soldiers, and his desire to make a compensation to the widows and families of the sufferers; which proposition the president declined to accept. This was the "Dartmoor massacre," and, though it was not easy to forgive the outrage, we are glad to say that it led to no rupture of peaceful relations between our country and England.

While the people of the United States were rejoicing at the return of peace, with its manifold blessings, their attention was turned to the necessity of warlike measures in order to protect their rights in the Mediterranean, (p. 290.) A word or two of explanation will make it clear, how it happened that the dey of Algiers, despite the knowledge of American prowess, ventured to take measures which demand ed summary retribution.

During the administration of Washington, in 1795, a treaty had been concluded with Algiers, (see vol. ii., p. 368,) and the United States had agreed to pay to the dey, as tribute for the privilege of not being molested in the Mediterranean, which he and his fellow marauders on the African coast had the insolence to claim as belonging to them, the value, in maritime stores, of $21,600 annually. Year by year, this tribute had been paid to the entire content of the dey; but in July, 1812, he was induced, not improbably by some outside pressure or influence,*

to act in a very different manner. When the Alleghany arrived, loaded with the usual stores, the dey took upon him to complain of the quantity, quality, and worth of the goods sent to him; and in a passion, real or pretended, declared, that he would not receive them. He also ordered the vessel which had brought the stores to quit the port immediately, and the American consul with her, in spite of every attempt made by that officer to explain matters. A new demand was also made, which shows the dey to be an adept in the kind of cunning that enabled him to tyrannize over his own subjects with effect. The year of the Mohammedans, as our readers know, consists of three hundred and fifty-four days only, and therefore there would be a greater number of their years, in any given period, than of years computed in the usual manner. This peremptory Algerine had the assurance to insist, that the years contemplated in the agreement to send an annual tribute, were Mohammedan, not Christian, years; and that there were, in consequence, arrears of half a year's payments due to him, amounting in value to $27,000. The consul, Mr. Lear, was told, that unless he paid this immediately, he should be sent in chains to the galleys, the vessel and the stores in her should be confiscated, every American in Algiers condemned to slavery, and war declared. against the United States.

* In Cooper's "Naval History," (vol. iii., p. 8,) there are reasons given for the belief, that British agents in Algiers had led the dey to the conviction, that the United States would be unable to maintain

themselves against the overwhelming naval power of England, and hence, that he might venture with im punity, upon acts of outrage and oppression. Sec, also, Mackenzie's "Life of Decatur," pp. 260-63.

proved, for another of the Algerine vessels hove in sight during the interval, and a single hour's delay would have been repaid by its capture. "Tribute renounced for ever," says Ingersoll, "prisoners emancipated, compensation for whatever losses were stated, together with stipulations for humanities of international law, were the terms of this treaty, which served as a model to similar conditions, soon afterwards submitted to, unresistingly, by Tunis and Tripoli."

Decatur, with considerate policy, restored to the dey the two captured vessels, and, before proceeding further, determined to dispatch one of the smaller ships to the United States with the news of his success. The Epervier was selected, and she departed, but was as never seen or heard of, after passing Gibraltar on the 12th of July. Early this month, Decatur left Algiers, and on the 25th, arrived with his

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squadron in the Bay of Tunis. Having learned that two American prizes, during the late war, had been taken out of that port, and carried off by a British cruiser, in despite of neutral rights and treaty stipulations, and that other injuries to the United States had been allowed, Decatur demanded and procured instant satisfaction for the insults, and full restoration of the property. On the 5th of August, Decatur arrived at Tripoli, the pacha of which had permitted two American vessels to be taken under the guns of his castle, and had refused protection to an American cruiser within his jurisdiction. For these wrongs, in like manner, full compensation was demanded and given, and

the chivalrous Decatur had the additional satisfaction at both these places, of being able to effect the liberation of Neapolitan and Danish subjects doomed to hopeless servitude.

Commodore Bainbridge, in the Independence, seventy-four, and with other ships, arrived not long after Decatur's prompt and decisive measures had taken effect; and finding that every thing required by the honor and the interest of the United States had been accomplished, he left part of his force to winter in the Mediterranean, and in October, returned home, where he found Decatur, who had arrived at New York on the 12th of November.

th

The first session of the fourteenth Congress was begun at Washington, on the 4th of December. The federalists had gained strength in the Senate, but the administration party was active and efficient in carrying forward the plans and purposes of Mr. Madison and his supporters. In the House, the democratic majority was a little increased, and amounted to fifty-two over the federalists; but the absence of any inducement to organize an opposition, owing to the return of peace, was of greater advantage than the numerical strength of the party. Gaillard was once more elected president of the Senate, pro tempore; and Henry Clay, by eightyseven votes against thirty-two, divided amongst four candidates, was placed, for the third time, in the speaker's chair.

The president's message spoke first of the war which had broken out anew with the Algerines; of the treaty of Ghent and the convention on the sub