1811. made for REPARATION was made by the British for the attack on the Nov. 12. Chesapeake. Augustus J. Foster, the British envoy, informed Reparation the secretary of the United States, that he was instructed to attack on repeat to the American government the prompt disavowal made the Chesapeake. by his majesty, on being apprized of the unauthorized act of the officer in command of his naval forces on the coast of America, whose recall from a highly important and honourable command immediately ensued as a mark of his majesty's disapprobation; that he was authorized to offer, in addition to that disavowal on the part of his royal highness, the immediate restoration, as far as circumstances would admit, of the men who, in consequence of admiral Berkeley's orders, were forcibly taken out of the Chesapeake, to the vessel from which they were taken; or, if that ship were no longer in commission, to such seaport of the United States as the American government may name for the purpose; and that he was also authorized to offer to the American government a suitable pecuniary provision for the sufferers in consequence of the attack on the Chesapeake, including the families of those seamen who fell in the action, and of the wounded survivors. The president acceded to these propositions; and the officer commanding the Chesapeake, then lying in the harbour of Boston, was instructed to receive the men, who were to be restored to that ship.1 The message of the president to congress indicating an appre- Nov. 29. hension of hostilities with Great Britain, the committee of foreign President's relations in the house of representatives reported resolutions for message. filling up the ranks of the army; for raising an additional force of 10,000 men; for authorizing the president to accept the services of 50,000 volunteers, and for ordering out the militia when he should judge it necessary; for repairing the navy; and for authorizing the arming of merchantmen in self-defence. These resolutions were principally agreed to. A bill from the senate for raising 25,000 men, after much discussion, was agreed to by the house. Theatre at The theatre at Richmond, in Virginia, was burnt. The house Dec. 26. was uncommonly full; not less than 600 persons were present. Richmond The curtain rose on the second act of a pantomime; the or- burnt. in Connecticut, where, by direction of his last will, he was buried. He was a member of the first provincial congress in Massachusetts, but lived afterward chiefly in retirement, greatly respected for the intellectual, moral, and Christian excellencies of his character. He founded the Professorship of Sacred Literature in the University in Cambridge. The late Hon. Samuel Dexter of Boston was his son. 1 American State Papers. 1811. chestra was in full chorus; a performer came on to open the scene; when sparks of fire began to fall on the back part of the stage, and Mr. Robertson came out, waving his hand first to the ceiling, then exclaiming, "The house is on fire!" The cry of fire, fire, passed rapidly through the house; and the scene of horror and distress that followed, baffles all description. All flew from their seats. Cries and shrieks filled the house. Many persons were trodden under foot; several were thrown back from the windows from which they were struggling to leap. The stair ways were blocked up, and the smoke threatened instant suffocation. Many leaped from the windows of the first story, and were saved; some from the second window; others were shockingly burnt. The fire flew with amazing rapidity; and within ten minutes after it caught, the whole house was wrapped in flames. Nearly 70 persons perished in the conflagration; and a considerable number afterwards expired, in consequence of injuries they received. Among those who perished in the flames was George W. Smith, governor of Virginia, and Abraham B. Venable, president of the Bank of Virginia; the first had, but a few days before been placed in the chair of government; the last had very honourably filled several high stations, and had been in the house of representatives, and in the senate of the United States, during the most interesting periods. Interment Pursuant to an ordinance of the common council of the city of the dead. of Richmond, the remains of those who perished in the fire were deposited in the area which had been enclosed within the walls of the theatre; an area, which was to be encompassed by a wall five feet high. The interment was made on Sunday the 30th, when a mournful procession moved to the sepulchral spot. The remains were chiefly enclosed in two large mahogany boxes, and were deposited in the centre of the place where the pit stood. The city was bathed in tears. Affair of the On the 16th of May there was an engagement between the Little Belt. United States frigate President, commanded by captain Rodgers, and the British sloop of war Little Belt, commanded by captain Bingham, in which the Little Belt had 11 men killed and 21 wounded. Only one man of the frigate was wounded. The Little Belt gave the first fire. Fires. Gun boat lost. A fire in New York, on the 19th of May, destroyed nearly 100 buildings. On the 31st of the same month, a fire at Newbury Port consumed more than 200 buildings, and property to the amount of 600,000 dollars.1 On the 4th of October, the United States gun boat Nɔ. 2. was 1 Within a few months after the fire at Newbury Port, the sufferers received in donations from their fellow citizens about 128,000 dollars. lost at sea; and all who were on board, excepting one man, 33 1811. in number, perished. son's expe Indians. The frontier settlers being seriously alarmed by hostile indica- Gov. Harritions on the part of the Indians, governor Harrison resolved to dition a move towards the Prophet's town, on the Wabash, with a body gainst the of Kentucky and Indiana militia, and the 4th United States regiment, under colonel Boyd, to demand satisfaction of the Indians and to put a stop to their threatened hostilities. His expedition was made early in November. On his approach within a few miles of the Prophet's town, the principal chiefs came out with offers of peace and submission, and requested the governor to encamp for the night. It was merely a treacherous artifice. four in the morning the camp was furiously assailed, and a bloody Tippecaand doubtful contest ensued. The Indians were finally repulsed with the loss, on the part of the Americans, of 62 killed and 126 Indians rewounded, and a still greater number on their's. Colonel Davies, pulsed. a distinguished lawyer, colonel White, of the Saline, and several other valuable officers, fell on this occasion. Governor Harrison, having destroyed the Prophet's town, and established forts, returned to Vincennes. At Nov. 7. noe. A tornado, on the 11th of September, did great damage and Tornado. destroyed several lives at Charleston, South Carolina. An earthquake was felt in the southern and western parts of the United EarthStates on the 16th of December; and was succeeded by two others on the 23d of January and 7th of February.1 quake. An act was passed by the legislature of New York, to provide Internal for the improvement of the internal navigation of the state. navigation. On the failure of cotton, the planters of Georgia turned their Sugar, wine, attention to sugar, wine, and oil. Mr. John Cooper, of St. Si- and oil mon's, made two pipes of excellent red wine. Sweet and castor Georgia. oil was made in great abundance on the sea coast of Georgia. Mr. Thomas Spalding, Mr. Cooper, and Mr. Grant, made parcels of Muscovado sugar. At Mr. Spalding's plantation, on Sapelo island, were made 25 lbs. of good sugar, and the next year, 84 lbs.2 The Massachusetts General Hospital was incorporated. The 1 Memoirs of Amer. Academy, iii. 350—360; an Account of several shocks of an Earthquake, in the Southern and Western parts of the United States, by Governor Winthrop Sargent. The first of these three shocks occurred at governor Sargent's house in Natchez at 2 o'clock in the morning. The brick floor of the basement story, which was 6 feet below the surface of the earth, was evidently agitated--furniture considerably jarred-and glass, plate, and China ware put in motion upon the shelves. The shocks were considerably felt along the banks of the Mississippi, and in some degree at New Orleans. In the opinion of governor Sargent, these were the first earthquakes which had extended to the Mississippi since the discovery of America. 2 Niles's Register, 1812, where it is said, Mr. Spalding" will have 50 acres in Otaheite cane.' made in 1811. Episcopal church of St. John's at Providence, Rhode Island, was consecrated by bishop Griswold. Trade with Kentucky. Deaths. The sum of 2,950,000 dollars was shipped from the port of Philadelphia alone to Canton and Calcutta ; supposed to be about one half of the whole amount exported in this year from the United States to Asia. Kentucky manufactures of hemp were valued at 500,000 dol lars. Francis Dana died at Cambridge, aged 67 years;1 and John Rodgers, at New York, in the 84th year of his age, and 63d of his ministry.2 1 He was the son of Richard Dana of Boston, who was a distinguished lawyer, and an energetic magistrate, and eminently useful to the community in the trying times just preceding the American revolution. Judge Dana was educated at Harvard College, where he was graduated in 1762. He afterward received from this college the degree of Doctor of Laws; and he was Vice President of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Having finished his legal studies under the direction of his uncle, Edmund Trowbridge, who was eminently learned in the law, and for some time chief justice of the colony, he commenced the practice of law, and was engaged in the duties of his profession when the war of the revolution began. From this moment he became distinguished for his patriotism and devotedness to the cause of his country. In 1779 he received a commission from congress as secretary to Mr. John Adams, the minister plenipotentiary appointed to negotiate a treaty of peace and commerce with Great Britain, and, in case of the minister's death, charging him with the affairs of the commission. While acting as secretary, under this appointment, at Paris, he received a commission from congress, dated December 18th, 1780, appointing him minister to the court of St. Petersburg; and he proceeded to Russia. See 1783. Although the policy of that court precluded success at the time, "yet the able, firm, and intelligent manner in which Mr. Dana fulfilled his novel and responsible mission, was highly honourable to himself, and met the entire approbation of his country. He was received upon his return from Russia by his fellow citizens with sentiments of deep respect and veneration." He was elected a member of congress, and of the first convention at Annapolis; and very soon after was appointed to a seat on the bench of the Supreme Court in Massachusetts, of which he was afterward chief justice for many years. He was also a member of the Massachusetts Convention for ratifying the national constitution, and one of the most strenuous advocates for its adoption; and those now living, who heard him in the debates of that body, speak to this day of his clear and thrilling eloquence. "Chief Justice Dana was acknowledged and felt by every lawyer to be a man of a lofty and elevated mind; clear, logical, learned," and of the first rank in his profession. The great characteristics of his mind were nice discrimination, great simplicity in his views, and unusual, almost unexampled energy. His judicial opinions were not only sound, but they were announced in language at once clear, classical, and forcible. They commanded the most silent attention, and seldom failed of producing the most perfect conviction." Manuscripts furnished by Richard R. Dana, Esq. a son of the chief justice, and an original Notice of judge Dana by a gentleman of the law, well acquainted with his professional and private character, and familiar with the eventful times of his public life. 66 2 The Rev. Dr. Rodgers was born in Boston in 1727. Early imbibing the principles of the Reformed churches, and the spirit of the Puritan divines, his ministry and his life were worthy of both. The private and the pastoral charac ter of this estimable man and respectable minister is faithfully delineated by his surviving colleague, the Rev. Dr. Miller, in "Memoirs of the Rev. John Rodgers." 8vo. 1813. 1812. recom THE president of the United States, considering it expedient, President under existing circumstances and prospects, that a general em- mends an bargo be laid on all vessels now in port, or hereafter arriving, for embargo. the period of 60 days, recommended to congress the immediate passage of a law to that effect. A law was passed on the 3d of April, and signed by the president on the 4th, laying an embargo law. for 90 days. An act was soon after passed, to prohibit the exportation of specie, goods, wares, and merchandise, during the continuance of the embargo.2 Embargo sage. On the 1st of June, the president communicated to congress President's additional documents on the subject of our affairs with Great war mesBritain. In his message, on this occasion, he strongly stated, as hostile acts, the impressment of American seamen by the British; the seizure of persons as British subjects, on the high seas, sailing under the American flag; the violation of the rights and the peace of our coasts by British cruisers; the blockading of their enemies' ports without an adequate force; and the orders in council affecting neutral rights; and suggested a suspicion, that the Indians had been instigated to acts of hostility by British agents; and submitted the question, "Whether the United States shall continue passive under these progressive usurpations, and these accumulated wrongs; or, opposing force to force in defence of their national rights, shall commit a just cause into the hands of the Almighty Disposer of events." On the 3d of June, the committee on foreign relations, to whom was referred the president's message, presented to the house of representatives a report, or manifesto of the causes and reasons of war with Great Britain; which was concluded by a recommendation of an immediate appeal to arms. The next day, a bill for declaring war with Great Britain passed the house of representatives; on the 17th it passed the senate; and on June 19. the 18th it was signed by the president, who on the day following Proclama issued a proclamation of the war.3 tion of war. The minority in the house of representatives entered a protest Protest. against the declaration of war; declaring, that the subject of impressments had been once satisfactorily adjusted in a treaty between the British court and the American envoys Monroe and Pinckney, and though that treaty was not ratified, the same terms might still be obtained; that official notice having been given of the repeal of the French decrees, they entertained no doubt of 1 American State Papers. 2 Niles' Register, ii. 92, 107. 3 American State Papers, v. 151-165. |
