It was while the bitterness of feeling against England in the United States was most intense that Dorchester returned to Canada. St. Clair had been replaced in command on the Ohio frontier by General Anthony Wayne, a soldier who had proved his worth in the War of Independence, a man of strong words and actions, and war seemed to be imminent. ‘Soon after my return to America,’ Dorchester wrote in the following year, ‘I perceived a very different spirit’ (from that of the British Government) ‘animate the United States, much heat and enmity, extraordinary exertions, some open some covert, to inflame the passions of the people, all things moving as by French impulse rapidly towards hostilities, and the King’s Government of Lower Canada in danger of being overwhelmed, so that I considered a rupture as inevitable.’ Yet, as he said, he knew well that the British Government were anxious to maintain friendship and peace with the United States; there was no private inclination of his own to the contrary; nor, if there was, had he any force in Canada to back his views. In a previous dispatch, which was dated the 25th of October, 1793, almost immediately after his return, after having pointed out the likelihood of war and the necessity for reinforcements, he had written, ‘The interests of the King’s American dominions require peace, and I think the interests of the States require it still more, though their conduct both to us and the Indians has created many difficulties.’ He looked, he added, to a great future for the States and for the white race generally in North America, but not through war. ‘Not war, but a pure and impartial administration of justice under a mild, firm and wise government will establish the most powerful and wealthy people.’ [Sidenote: His firm attitude towards the United States.] [Sidenote: Protest of the American Government against Dorchester.] [Sidenote: Dorchester’s resignation.]