ssional elections had resulted in a large majority in favor of
the administration, and the war policy seemed to be acceptable to a
large majority of the people, though a strong party was opposed to it,
and endeavored to obstruct the measures necessary to the vigorous
prosecution of hostilities. The war commenced in earnest with the
appearance, in 1813, of a British fleet in Chesapeake Bay, and in March
the whole coast of the United States, with the exception of Rhode
Island, New Hampshire and Massachusetts, was declared in a state of
blockade. The long series of engagements on land and water during the
war which followed, find their proper place in the general history of
our country.

In March, 1813, soon after the commencement of hostilities, the Russian
minister to the United States communicated to the American government a
proposal from the Emperor Alexander to mediate between the belligerents.
The proposition was accepted, and the president appointed commissioners
to go to St. Petersburg to negotiate under the mediation of the emperor.
Great Britain declined the Russian mediation in September; but in
November the American government was informed that that power was
prepared to negotiate the terms of a treaty of peace.

Steps were at once taken to meet this proposal. Mr. Clay and Mr. Russell
were added to the commission previously appointed, and in January, 1814,
joined their associates in Europe. In August of the same year the
country was deeply aroused by the attack on the capitol. A British force
of 5,000 men ascended the Chesapeake, landed on the shores of the
Patuxent, and marched on Washington. The few troops hastily collected
were wholly unable to offer any effective resistance and retired before
the enemy, who proceeded to the city, burned the capitol, the
president's house, and other public buildings, and returned without loss
to their ships. The president and several members of his cabinet were in
the American camp, but were compelled to abandon the city in order to
avoid capture.

The enemy gained little by their movement, and the wanton outrage only
increased the bitterness of the people. Among the public occurrences of
the year 1814, the meeting of the Hartford convention, in opposition to
the continuance of the war, occupies a prominent place. The victory at
New Orleans, however, and the intelligence of the conclusion of the
treaty of peace, terminated the popular indignation. A treaty of peace
had b