, against their
better judgment, into a position hostile to Great Britain, by the
continued cry of a few demagogues, who were more anxious to give vent to
their old feeling of spite against Great Britain than to consult the
best interests of their country." (Tuttle's History of the Dominion of
Canada, Chap. lxxii., p. 349.)]

[Footnote 177: This Decree is dated "Imperial Camp, Berlin, November
21st, 1806." Its principal Articles are as follow:

"Art. 1. The British islands are in a state of blockade.

"Art. 2. _All commerce and correspondence with them is prohibited_;
consequently, all letters or packets written _in_ England, or _to_ an
Englishman, _written in the English language_, shall not be dispatched
from the post-offices, and shall be seized.

"Art. 3. Every individual, a subject of Great Britain, of whatever rank
or condition, who is found in countries occupied by our troops or those
of our allies, shall be made prisoner of war.

"Art. 4. Every warehouse, all merchandise or property whatsoever,
belonging to an Englishman, are declared god-prize.

"Art. 6. No vessel coming directly from England or her colonies, or
having been there since the publication of this Decree, shall be
admitted into any port.

"Art. 7. Every vessel that by a false declaration contravenes the
foregoing disposition, shall be seized, and the ship and cargo
confiscated as English property.

"Art. 10. Our Ministers of Foreign Relations, etc., are charged with the
execution of the present Decree."]

[Footnote 178: British Annual Register, 1807, Vol. XLII., Chap, xii., p.
227.]

[Footnote 179: Thompson's History of the War of 1812, between Great
Britain and the United States, Chap. III., pp. 23, 24.]

[Footnote 180: The justice of the proceedings and demands of the British
Government, the fairness of its proposals, and the injustice and
unreasonableness of the conduct of the Madison U.S. Government, are
forcibly presented in the following preamble to resolutions adopted by
the Legislature of the State of Massachusetts, as late as the 5th of
February, 1813:

"Whereas the President, in his message to Congress, has made known to
the people of the United States that the British Orders in Council have
been repealed 'in such manner as to be capable of explanations meeting
the views of the Government' of the United States; and therefore none of
the alleged causes of war with Great Britain now remain except the claim
of the right to tak