"Great things are happening," said the member of the firm to whom I have already referred; "our agent at Washington says war is absolutely certain within a fortnight. On the 1st of June, President Madison sent a message to Congress in which he went over the difficulties with Great Britain, pointing out the numerous insults and aggressions of that power upon us, and clearly showed the necessity of war. The message was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations, and on the 3d of June, a majority of the Committee agreed upon a manifesto and reported it as a basis of a declaration of war. The next day (June 4), a bill which was drawn by Mr. Pinkney, the Attorney-General of the United States, declaring war to exist between the two countries, and was presented to the House of Representatives by Mr. Calhoun. Congress is now debating the subject with closed doors, but it is known that there is a majority in both Houses in favor of war, and the President will sign the bill as soon as it is passed." This was great, though not altogether unexpected, news, and I'm sure that as David and I looked at each other there were expressions of astonishment on our faces. "We have relays of horses and riders between here and Washington," the gentleman continued, "and will have the news of the declaration of war as soon as any one can get it, and probably ahead of any one else. Our agent at Washington is sufficiently near the President to obtain his signature to your commissions immediately, so that you will not be delayed in getting to sea, and going to work on the enemy's commerce." Then he told us that a sloop loaded with all the supplies we wanted to complete our outfit would meet us at our anchorage, and that the men to fill out the crews were being engaged at one of the shipping offices close at hand. One member of the firm remained constantly at Paulus Hook, which is on the shore of New Jersey, opposite New York, to receive messages from Washington, and as soon as it was known that a state of war existed we would be notified. Well, the bill declaring war passed the lower House of Congress by a vote of seventy-nine to forty-nine. On the 17th it passed the Senate by a vote of nineteen to thirteen, and on the same day it was signed by the President. On the 19th of June Mr. Madison issued a proclamation which formally declared war against Great Britain, the second war of the United States for its independence.