"Ever since America, the elder daughter of Great Britain, wanted to commence housekeeping for herself, and had such difficulty in escaping from her arbitrary old father, she has not had the kindliest feelings toward him. She lost sight of the fact that the British Parliament was by no means the British people, a great majority of whom sympathized with her in her struggles for constitutional liberty, and regretted the misery it produced. "Though not actuated by hostile feeling against the father, she was determined to overturn his short-sighted policy. Washington did his best to repress the anti-British spirit which pervaded the Democratic party, and succeeded in establishing a commercial treaty with Britain, but unfortunately after his death the Democratic party came into power, and the dislike for everything British began to show itself more than ever. "Meanwhile Europe was almost completely at the mercy of Napoleon. England, whose fleet swept the seas, being the only obstacle in his way, he determined to strike at her power at the most vital part, so he closed all the ports of Europe against her manufactures, and authorized the seizure of all vessels bound for British harbors. "England retaliated by declaring all the ports of France and her allies from which the British flag was excluded in a state of blockade. In doing this Britain was merely adopting Bonaparte's own measures against himself. "This state of things paralyzed American trade, and the Democratic party made it a favorable opportunity of stirring up feeling against England, instead of against Bonaparte, who alone was responsible. "Meanwhile two or three unfortunate circumstances, as you are aware, helped to widen the breach. An American frigate, the _Chesapeake_, was cruising off Virginia, and as she had some British deserters on board, was hailed by an English man-of-war, the _Leopard_, and a formal demand was made for these men. The American captain refused to admit the right of search, whereupon a broadside was fired from the British ship, and the deserters were given up. "The English Government did not approve of the act, and offered to make reparation, but Congress declared war. About the same time Britain withdrew the Order-in-Council which affected the American trade, and though it was known in the United States that the cause of the war had been removed, Congress did not recede from its hostile position, but had decided to drive Britain from Canada, and to add it as another State to the Union. This policy was opposed by the Republican party, who sent delegates from several counties in New York protesting against the war."