which, in declining
to admit them, had suggested substitutes finally accepted by Erskine;
so that the United States understood that the arrangement was reached
on another basis than that laid down by Canning. This assertion he
drew from the expressions of Erskine in a letter to Canning, after the
disavowal. Smith replied that Erskine, while not showing the despatch,
had stated the three stipulations; that they had been rejected; and
that the subsequent arrangement had been understood to be with a
minister fully competent to recede from his first demand and to accept
other conditions. Distinctly he affirmed, that the United States
Government did not know, at any time during the discussion preceding
the agreement, that Erskine's powers were limited by the conditions in
the text of his instructions, afterwards published. That he had no
others, "is now for the first time made known to this Government," by
Jackson's declaration.

[Illustration: JAMES MADISON
From the painting by Gilbert Stuart, in Bowdoin College,
Brunswick, Me.]

Jackson had come prepared to maintain, not only the British
contention, but the note set by Canning for British diplomatic
correspondence. He was conscious too of opposing material force to
argument, and had but recently been amid the scenes at Copenhagen,
which had illustrated Nelson's maxim that a fleet of ships of the line
were the best negotiators in Europe. The position has its advantages,
but also its dangers, when the field of warfare is that of words, not
deeds; and in Madison, who superintended the American case, he was
unequally matched with an adversary whose natural dialectical ability
had been tempered and sharpened in many campaigns. There is
noticeable, too, on the American side, a labored effort at acuteness
of discrimination, an adroitness to exaggerate shades of difference
practically imperceptible, and an aptitude to give and take offence,
not so evident under the preceding Administration. These suggest
irresistibly the absence, over Madison the President, of a moderating
hand, which had been held over Madison the Secretary of State. It may
be due also to the fact that both the President and his Cabinet were
somewhat less indisposed to war than his predecessor had been.

In his answer to Smith Jackson reiterated, what Smith had admitted,
that Erskine had made known the three conditions. He added, "No
stronger illustration of the deviation from them which occurred