ace was not obtained, to impress on all
around them, by precept and example, a respect for the laws by which
they were governed, as well as a just confidence in those who
administered them, and to cherish and encourage that spirit which had
hitherto proved the firmest barrier against all the attempts of the
enemy. And as the parliament was about to expire, and he should avail
himself of an early opportunity of appealing to the sense of the people
for the election of a new Assembly, he recommended the honorable
gentlemen and gentlemen to give the inhabitants of the province a true
idea of the nature and value of the constitution which they possessed,
so that their choice of representatives might fall on those who would
endeavour faithfully to uphold it, and so promote the safety, welfare,
and prosperity of the province.

Sir George Prevost evidently threw out some hints to the Legislative
Council, which could not have been particularly palatable.

In Sir George's speech there was an allusion to peace not being at
hand. Sir George made that reference doubtless in connection with the
fact that Russia had offered to mediate between the contending powers,
with reference to an amicable settlement of their differences. Indeed
commissioners were appointed to negotiate, by the United States.
Messrs. Gallatin, Adams, and Bayard were named. But Great Britain
declined the proposal, though the Prince Regent offered a direct
negotiation either at London or Gottenburg. The offer was accepted, and
Messrs. Henry Clay, Jonathan Russell, and Albert Gallatin, were added
to the commissioners already in Europe, and sailed soon after for
Gottenburg. Lord Gambier, Henry Goulburn, and William Adams were
appointed on the part of the Court of St. James, to meet them. The
place of meeting was subsequently changed to Ghent, in Flanders, and
the conference met in August. But while the conference sat the war was
carried on.

The first fight of moment in 1814, occurred on the Pacific Coast. The
American Commodore Porter had been cruising in the frigate _Essex_, for
some time, in the Pacific, with wonderful success. He had with him as a
consort, a captured whaleship, which he had armed with twenty guns, and
named the _Essex, junior_. Captain Hillyard, in the British frigate
_Phoebe_, accompanied by the sloop of war _Cherub_, had been sent in
search of the successful cruiser, and on the 9th of February, gained
intelligence to the effect that with two