By this time the American people were clamoring more loudly than ever for war with England. The congressional candidates were obliged to declare whether they favored or opposed the war. Those who opposed it were beaten at the polls. Congress, which had been making preparations for some time for hostilities, declared war against England, June 18, 1812. It is a regrettable fact that we could not know that almost on the same day England suspended the Orders of Council, so far as they affected this country. Had the Atlantic cable been in existence at the time, there would have been no war. ENGLAND'S OVERWHELMING NAVAL STRENGTH. England had been fighting so continuously with her neighbors that her strength on the ocean was overwhelming when compared with ours. She had 1,036 vessels, of which 254 were ships-of-the-line, not one of which carried less than seventy-four guns. This immense navy was manned by 144,000 men. The American navy numbered 12 vessels, besides a few gunboats of little value. Indeed, the relative strength of the warring nations was so disproportionate that the intention of the United States at first was not to attempt a conflict on the ocean. Captains Bainbridge and Stewart, however, persuaded the government to allow our little navy to try its hand. Despite the seeming hopelessness of such a struggle, it had some advantages for the Americans. In the first place, it was easier for them to find the enemy than for the latter to find them, because of the disproportion between the number of their vessels. More important, however, than all was the fact that our navy contained no politicians. The men were brave sailors, and marvelously skillful in handling guns. With these conditions they were sure to win glory on the ocean. Still another fact must be mentioned, for it will explain many of the incidents recorded in the following pages. England had been triumphant so long on the ocean that she had become unduly confident and careless. She held the surrounding nations in light esteem, and had good warrant for doing so. Naturally this led her greatly to underestimate the insignificant American navy. When such a mistake is made the consequences are sure to be disastrous to the one committing the blunder. Truth compels the statement that in every war in which our country has been engaged since the Revolution, the disasters have been mainly due to the politicians. They have the "pull," as it is called, with the government, and secure the appointment of men as leaders who are totally lacking in military skill. When defeat has followed defeat, with exasperating regularity, the government gradually awakes to the fact that the most criminal thing it can do is to place a politician in charge of a body of brave men, or to appoint a callow youth to the same position, merely because his father was a good soldier and has become a politician. THE WAR UNPOPULAR IN SOME SECTIONS.