iendly
regulations were not reciprocated by America. The means of retaliating
injuries which might be inflicted on British commerce were stated, but
those means, it was said, ought not hastily to be adopted, the more
especially, as the existing government of the United States had
discovered dispositions more favourable to a liberal and fair
intercourse between the two countries, than had been manifested by the
respective states. For several reasons it was deemed adviseable not
suddenly to disturb the existing state of things, but to regulate the
trade of the two nations by a treaty, the stipulations of which should
be equal, and mutually beneficial, provided such a treaty could be
formed without a departure from those principles which were considered
as fundamental.

[Sidenote: General Wayne appointed to the command of the army.]

No abatement of hostility having taken place among the north-western
Indians, the preparations for terminating the war by the sword were
earnestly pressed. Major General Wayne was appointed to succeed
General St. Clair, who resigned the command of the army; and the
utmost exertions were made to complete it to the establishment; but
the laws furnished such small inducements to engage in the service,
that the highest military grades, next to that of Commander-in-chief,
were declined by many to whom they were offered; and the recruiting
business advanced too slowly to authorize a hope that the decisive
expedition which was meditated, could be prudently undertaken in the
course of the present year. Meanwhile, the public clamour against the
war continued to be loud and violent. It was vehemently asserted, that
if the intentions of the government respecting the savages were just
and humane, those intentions were unknown to them, and that their
resentments were kept up by the aggressions of whites, and by the
opinion that their expulsion from the country they occupied was the
object of the hostilities carried on against them. However satisfied
the President might be of the fallacy of these opinions, they were too
extensively maintained not to be respected, as far as was compatible
with a due regard to the real interests of the nation. While,
therefore, the preparations for offensive operations were hastened by
a vigorous exertion of the means at the disposal of the executive, it
was thought adviseable to make another effort to terminate the war by
a direct communication of the pacific views of the