Sustained honor: The Age of Liberty Established

  CHAPTER XIII.

  THE PEACE PARTY.

  Terrence Malone, with all his frivolity and tendency towardludicrousness, had a remarkable amount of shrewdness in his composition.He was a bold, harum scarum fellow, as liable to pull the beard of aking, as to kick a pauper. Though he had fared well for an impressedseaman, Terrence had no love for Great Britain. Like others of his race,he made a noble American. One can scarcely find, a more patrioticAmerican than the Irish American, who, driven by tyranny from the landof his birth, transfers his love to the land of his adoption. Americahas never had a war in which the brave sons of the Emerald Isle have notbeen found under the star-spangled banner, musket in hand, risking theirlives for their adopted country.

  Young Malone had a double cause to hate England. His father had beendriven from Ireland, when Terrence was but a child, by the tyranny ofthe British, and he had been made to give almost four of the best yearsof his life to the service of King George.

  In January, 1812, Terrence announced to his father his intention ofgoing to Washington City.

  "What the divil be ye goin' to Washington City for, me boy?"

  "To see the prisident," was the answer.

  "You'd better be goin' to school, I'm thinkin'."

  "School, father!" said Terrence, with an impatient shrug of hisshoulders. "Faith, don't talk to me of schools and colleges, when it's awar we are goin' to have, sure. My next school will be breakin' heads."

  "Be the times, you'll have yer own cracked!"

  "Not before I've got even with some of the divilish Britons, methinks."

  "What be ye goin' to see the prisident about?"

  This interview, the reader will bear in mind, was before war had beendeclared.

  "I am going to tell Prisident Madison to give Johnny Bull a goodwhippin'."

  "Prisident Madison will tell yez to moind yer own business," theHibernian answered.

  "We'll see about that!"

  Terrence was determined on making the journey, and he set out next dayby the mail coach for Washington City. Public houses in Washington werenot numerous then, yet there were a few good hotels, and he put up atthe old Continental House. Terrence, with all his reckless impetuosity,proceeded carefully to his point. Where boldness won success, he wasbold; where caution and prudence were essential to win, he was cautiousand prudent.

  He noticed a door opening into a room from the main corridor, over whichwas tacked a strip of white canvas bearing in large black lettersthe words:

  "HEADQUARTERS OF THE PEACE PARTY."

  Men were coming and going from this apartment with grave and seriousfaces and corrugated brows, as if they had the weight of all the worldon their shoulders. Terrence watched the comers and goers awhile andthen halted a colored chambermaid, and, in an awe-inspiring whisper,asked who was sick in the room "ferninst." He was told no one. Hethought some one must be dangerously ill, people went in and out sosoftly and talked in such low tones; but she assured him it was the roomwhere the "peace party" met to discuss means to prevent PresidentMadison and congress from declaring or prosecuting war against GreatBritain. That those men were congressmen or merchants from Boston andother New England towns, who opposed war.

  Terrence was opposed to peace, and he knew no better way to declare warthan to begin it on the peace party. A bull was never made more furiousat sight of a red flag, than Terrence Malone at the streamer of thepeace party. One who knows what Terrence had suffered cannot blame him.At the very outset of the war, the government encountered open andsecret, manly and cowardly opposition. The Federalists in congress, whohad opposed the war scheme of the administration from the beginning,published an address to their constituents in which they set forth thestate of the country at that time, the course of the administration, andits supporters in congress, and the minority opinion for opposing thewar. This was fair and, if they acted on their convictions and not frompolitical prejudices, was honorable; but outside and inside of congressthere was a party of politicians composed of Federalists and disaffectedDemocrats, organized under the name of the Peace Party, whose object wasto cast obstructions in the way of the prosecution of war, and to compelthe government, by weakening its resources and embarrassing theoperations, to make peace. They tried to derange the public finances,discredit the faith of the government, prevent enlistment, and in everyway to cripple the administration and bring it into discredit with thepeople. It was an unpatriotic and mischievous faction, and the greatleaders of the Federalists, like Mr. Quincy and Mr. Emot, who, when thewar began, lent their aid to the government in its extremity, frownedupon these real enemies of their country; but the machinations of thePeace Party continued until the close of the war, and did infinitemischief unmixed with any good. [Footnote: Lossing's "Our Country," Vol.V., Page 1203.]

  This was the contemptible Peace Party at whose headquarters TerrenceMalone stood gazing. He determined to venture into the den and see whatit was like. The hour for the opening of congress had arrived, and menwith bundles of papers in their hands and anxious looks on their faceshurried away to the capitol building. Some were congressmen, but most ofthem were New England merchants. Terrence waited until all were gone,then, as the door of the headquarters stood wide open inviting him toenter, he walked boldly into the apartment.

  A man about thirty-five, dressed very neatly, with glasses on, waswriting at a table littered with papers.

  "Good morning to yez," said Terrence entering.

  "Good morning, sir," said the writer, giving him a glance and resuminghis writing as if the fate of the nation depended on it.

  "An' so this is the place where ye make peace?"

  "It's the place where we keep peace. It's the place where we oppose thefoolish and suicidal policy of President Madison," was the curt answer.

  "Who are you, misther?"

  "I am Ebenezer Crane, sir, secretary of the Peace Party."

  "Well, Misther Ebenezer Crane," and Terrence glanced at the secretary'slong legs, as if he thought the name no misnomer, "will yez answer me afew questions?"

  "Certainly," and Mr. Crane threw down his pen, wheeled his chair aboutand looked vastly important. "What have you to ask?"

  "Why do you oppose the war?"

  "Why should I favor it?"

  "Don't the government promise protection to its citizens? Is not theblissed stars and stripes insulted by the British? Have not they set themurdherin' haythin to killin' innocent women and children on thefrontier, and have they surrendered the posts as they should?"

  Mr. Crane, with one wave of his hand, swept away every objection.

  "That is all nothing!" he cried.

  "Nothing! howly mother, sir! do you call it nothing for Americans to beknocked down, carried aboard British ships, to be made slaves, to beflogged until they die, and shot if they object?"

  "Oh, those are all senseless, sensational stories, told for effect."

  "But I say they are true. I have jist returned from nearly four yearsservice on a British man-o-war."

  "But, sir, we must look to the welfare of our country. What are thelives of a few sailors--common fellows--compared to the rich commercewe enjoy with England? The wealthy men of New England would surely beruined by war."

  "Ye blackguard! do ye set up the riches of New England against the lifeof men because they are poor?"

  "Certainly," answered Mr. Crane, taking a cigar from his case, lightingit and proceeding to smoke. "What do Drake and Smoot, whom I represent,care for sailors like yourself? Why, if England wants such wretches, lether have them. We would sell them by the hundred, if we had our way.Caleb Strong, William Palmer and Roger Griswold, three of New England'sleaders, will never allow a soldier to march from their states to fightthe English--oh, no!"

  Terrence was now almost beside himself with rage. He vividly recalledthe tyranny of Snipes, and remembered that many of his friends werestill slaves aboard the man-of-war. His cheek flamed, and his eyeflashed. Slowly rising, he said:

  "Do yez set up yer riches aginst the p
oor lads, better than yerself,who are dyin' by the hundreds in British slavery? Do ye? Why, yespalpeen, ye have no more heart than a stone!"

  "I don't believe your stories in the first place, sir, and I don't careif they are true in the second. What is the life or happiness of such alow creature as yourself to the prosperity of Strong, Palmer orGriswold? I think that impudence has mounted its topmost round, when youdare enter these headquarters."

  "So yer for peace?" cried Terrence, his eyes dancing.

  "Yes."

  "Well, I'm for war!" and with this he struck Mr. Crane a blow betweenhis eyes which smashed his glasses, lifted him from the chair and senthim head first into a waste basket. When Mr. Crane recovered, he was ata loss for awhile to tell whether the house had fallen upon him, or hehad been struck with a six pounder. Terrence disappeared from theContinental House, and on the next day applied at the white house to seethe president.

  "The president's engaged," said the servant. Next day, the next, and thenext, he applied for admission and was always met with the same storythat the president was engaged, until Terrence began to believe that thedoor of the administration was closed to him, while he saw members ofcongress constantly admitted to the inaccessible man.

  At last, a gentleman who had witnessed his frequent calls, suggestedthat he send his card. The Irishman wrote:

  "Terrence Malone, Irish American, late impressed seaman on H.B.M. ship_Macedonian_."

  President Madison read the card and appointed a meeting with Terrence,and at the hour appointed the Irishman was at the white house. A servanttold him he would have to wait a few moments until Mr. Clay and Mr.Calhoun had finished a discussion with the president. Madison finallydecided to have these young members of the house hear the Irishman'sstory, and he was sent for. Terrence found himself in the presence oftwo of America's greatest statesmen, Clay and Calhoun.

  "Are you the prisident?" he asked of Mr. Madison.

  "Yes, sir; these are our friends, Mr. Henry Clay, speaker of the house,and Mr. John C. Calhoun."

  "Are you for war or peace?" asked Terrence.

  Mr. Madison, smiling, assured him they would much prefer peace, if itcould be obtained honorably, but that Great Britain would have to makeamends for some of the wrongs she had committed. He urged Terrence togive a detailed account of his impressment and captivity. He did so,omitting nothing from the time he was captured on the schooner bound toBaltimore to his escape. He was summoned a day or two later before acommittee of investigation, and narrated the story in all itshorrid details.

  HENRY CLAY.]

  The indignation against the Peace Party, who, in the face of all theevidence, would protest against war, was scarcely less than theindignation against Great Britain. The governor of Massachusetts (CalebStrong), of New Hampshire (William Plumer) and of Connecticut (RogerGriswold), refused to allow the militia of their respective States tomarch to the northern frontier on the requisition of the president ofthe United States. They justified their course with the plea that such arequisition was unconstitutional, and that the war was unnecessary.

  Terrence had frequent interviews with the president. His audacity andhis intense zeal won the admiration of President Madison and hiscabinet, as well as many congressmen. One day, while waiting in theanteroom, he noticed a man whose features were evidently Hibernian.

  "Do yez want to see the prisident?" asked Terrence.

  "To be sure; but I've waited long," he answered, with just the leastbrogue in his speech.

  JOHN C. CALHOUN.]

  "Are ye fer war or peace?" asked Terrence, leading the stranger into afar corner. The stranger looked the young Hibernian in the face for amoment and answered:

  "I am not an American; but if President Madison knew what I have to say,he'd give me an attentive ear."

  Terrence was shrewd enough to read the face of the stranger, and he knewhe had something of great importance to communicate.

  "Do yez want to see the prisident, really?" asked young Malone.

  "Certainly, I do."

  "Lave it all to me," the Irishman answered. Then he explained that hewas on the best of terms with President Madison and could get the ear ofthe president, when an audience would be denied everybody else. He urgedthe stranger to give him an intimation of his business with Mr. Madison.One Irishman will nearly always trust another, so the two Hiberniansrepaired to a hotel and, in a close room, the stranger told Terrencethat his name was John Henry, and that he had lived for several years inCanada. He told Terrence a story of the perfidy and treason of NewEnglanders; which produced many uncomplimentary ejaculations from theyoung Irishman.

  Terrence at once sent a note to President Madison, in which he hintedthat he had new and strange developments to make. Madison again admittedTerrence, and they arranged for a meeting between the president and Mr.John Henry, who had a letter from Mr. Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts.

  "IT ALL TO ME."]

  Late on a stormy night in February, 1812, Terrence conducted Henry tothe mansion of President Madison. But little was done at this firstmeeting. Henry said he had some secrets to divulge which were of verygreat importance to the people of the United States. An interview wasarranged for the next evening. Again Terrence conducted Henry to thepresident's mansion.

  On the way he said:

  "Say what you say for war. I want to meet Captain Snipes on say orshore."

  When they were closeted in the president's private office, Mr. Madisonasked:

  "Now, sir, who are you, and what is your business?"

  "I'm John Henry, an Irishman, sir," said Henry. "And I want to tell youthat for two years efforts have been in progress on the part of Britishauthorities in Canada, sanctioned by the home government, to effect aseparation of the eastern States from the Union, and attach them toGreat Britain."

  "Can that be possible?" cried the president. It was no news to him; forhe had heard the rumor before; yet he had always regarded it asgroundless;--at least he had doubted the disloyalty of his opponentsin the East.

  "It is every word true, Mr. President, and I have the very best proof inthe world of it."

  "What proofs have you?"

  "Can I speak freely?"

  "Certainly."

  "Without danger of arrest or imprisonment?"

  "You can."

  With this assurance, Henry said:

  "I was in the employ of Sir James Craig, governor-general of Canada, in1809, as a British spy to visit Boston and ascertain the temper of thepeople of New England."

  "You did so?"

  "Yes, sir."

  "What was the temper of the people of New England?"

  "At that time, sir, they seemed to be in a state of incipient rebellion,because of the passage of the embargo act. I was satisfied that the NewEnglanders were ripe for revolt and separation."

  "Well, was any action taken on your report?" asked the president.

  "No, sir. My performances in the matter so pleased Sir James, that hepromised to give me lucrative employment in the colonial government; butI waited and waited for the fulfillment of that promise, and in themeanwhile Sir James died. I went to England last year to seekremuneration for my services from the home government. I was flatteredand cajoled for awhile, and introduced into the highest circles ofsociety; but what did I want of society? I wanted money, and money Imust have."

  "Did they not pay you?"

  "Not a cent."

  "What did you ask?"

  "I demanded thirty thousand pounds sterling and not a farthing less. Ihad done the odious duty of a spy for my government. I had risked myfortune, my liberty and my life in the service of England, and sherequited me with empty promises."

  "They made you no offers?"

  "None. I offered to take a lucrative position in Canada."

  "And they offered you none?"

  "No. At last they seemed to grow weary with my demands, and hinted verystrongly that the disaffection in New England toward the government ofthe United States was nothing more serious than a
local partisanfeeling, and, as a polite way of dismissing me and getting rid of mydemand, they referred me to Sir George Prevost, the successor of SirJames Craig."

  "And have you called on Sir George?" asked Mr. Madison, coolly.

  "No, sir; I have had enough of their delaying and dallying, and insteadof sailing for Quebec, I sailed for Boston, determined, if thegovernment of the United States would pay me for it, to divulge thewhole secret of British perfidy to this government."

  "We'll pay ye, won't we, Misther Madison?" put in Terrence, with hischaracteristic impertinence.

  "What proofs have you of the perfidy of Great Britain?" asked thepresident.

  "I have letters, sir, and official documents which would make anyhonorable man blush."

  "No doubt of it, yer honor," put in Terrence.

  "Have you those papers with you, Mr. Henry?" asked the carefulpresident.

  "Some of them."

  "Will you produce them, so I may judge what they are?"

  "Yes, the prisident and mesilf want to get a squint at the dockymints,"put in Terrence.

  The very impertinence of Terrence was his success. Mr. Madison could notrepress a smile.

  Henry laid before the president the strong documentary evidence, whichclearly proved that Great Britain, while indulging in the most friendlyexpressions toward the United States, and negotiating treaties, wassecretly engaged in efforts to destroy the young republic of the West,by fomenting disaffection toward it among a portion of the people, andintriguing with disaffected politicians with an expectation, with theaid of British arms, to be able to separate New England from the Unionand re-annex that territory to the British dominions.

  Madison, who was just about to declare war against Great Britain, waswell satisfied of the importance of Henry's disclosures. Examining themcarefully, he asked:

  "What do you ask for these papers?"

  "Lave that all to me, Misther Madison," said Terrence with anearnestness which caused the grave Mr. Madison to smile; but Mr. Madisonwas not inclined to leave so important a matter with Terrence. He againasked Henry how much he asked for those papers.

  "I want one hundred thousand dollars."

  "It's too much, Misther Madison; we can't give it," declared Terrence.

  Madison, glancing at the impetuous Irishman, said that he could not passon such an important matter without consulting his cabinet and takingtheir advice in the matter, and consequently he dismissed his visitorsfor the present, assuring Mr. Henry that he would give the matter ofpurchasing his documents serious consideration, and in the course ofthree or four days at most hold another conference with them. The secretservice fund was at the disposal of the president, and he determined topurchase the documents with this fund, if his cabinet would so advise.The advice was given, and he sent a proposition to Henry, offering himfifty thousand dollars for his documents, which consisted chiefly of thecorrespondence of the parties to the affair in this country andin England.

  Henry accepted the offer and was paid the sum for his papers.

  Terrence obtained an interview with the president and said:

  "Misther Madison, why the divil did yez pay him such a price? If ye'd'a' left it all to me, I'd won the papers in three games of poker."

  The president thanked him and assured him that the government of theUnited States could well afford to purchase such valuable documents.

  "And now, Misther Madison, I am about to lave ye for awhile," saidTerrence, "and I want to ask ye a very important question!"

  "What is it?"

  "Mind ye, if ye say yes, I'm goin' to stand by ye through thick andthin." Mr. Madison assured him that his time was very much taken up, andbegged that he would be as brief as possible.

  "Are ye going to declare war, Misther Madison? Now ye needn't do any ofthe fighting yersilf. All I ask is that ye just turn me loose. I've gota frind, poor Sukey, who is still on board the English ship, and I justwant permission to go and bring him back."

  President Madison assured him that the public would be notified in duetime what course the administration would pursue, and that it was hisintention to maintain the honor and dignity of the nation to the lastextremity.

  Terrence left the president and went over to the Continental House tosee how Mr. Crane, the worthy secretary, looked with a rotten applebandaged over each eye. Terrence was arrested for assault and battery,plead guilty, and the patriotic Democrats took up a collection andpaid his fine.

  The disclosures of the documents procured from Henry, when made public,intensified the indignation of the Americans against Great Britain. Theinhabitants of New England were annoyed by the implied disparagement ofthe patriotism of their section of the Union. Both parties tried to makepolitical capital out of the affair. The Democrats vehemently reiteratedthe charge that the Federalists were a "British party" and"disunionists," while the opposition declared it was only a politicalmove of the administration to damage their party, insure the re-electionof Madison in the Autumn of 1812, and offer an excuse for the war. Theacrimony caused by these partisan feelings was at its height, when theNew England governors refused to send their militia to the frontier; andthe British government, in declaring the blockade of the American coast,discriminated in favor of that section. That the British, mistakingpartisan feeling for unpatriotic disaffection, hoped to carry out theirplan for disunion, there is no doubt; but the suspicion that the NewEngland people contemplated disunion and annexation to the Englishcolonies was probably without foundation.

  Terrence Malone remained in Washington City during the fierce contestbetween the Peace Party and the War Party. He was a constant thorn inthe side of the peace faction, and more than once came to blows withsome of the members. When war was declared, he sent the word topresident that he was ready to set out at once, and shortly after tookcommand of a privateer, which his father fitted out.

  While New England was halting in its support of the war, the people ofthe South and West were alive with enthusiasm in favor of prosecuting itwith sharp and decisive vigor. They had already suffered much from theIndians under British control, and the massacre at Chicago kindled aflame of indignation not easily to be controlled by prudence.

  The government resolved to retrieve the disaster at Detroit, by aninvasion of Canada on the Niagara frontier. For this purpose, arequisition was made upon the governor of New York for the militia ofthat State. He patriotically responded to the call, and Stephen VanRensselaer, the last of the Patroons and a patriotic Federalist retiredfrom public life, was commissioned a major-general and placed in commandof the militia. The forces were concentrated at Lewiston on the NiagaraRiver, Plattsburgh on Lake Champlain, and at Greenebush,opposite Albany.

  The British had, meanwhile, assembled a considerable force on QueenstownHeights, opposite Lewiston. At midsummer, hostile demonstrations hadbeen made on Lake Ontario and on the St. Lawrence frontier. Both partiesearly sought to get control of those waters, and the preparation ofarmed vessels on them was vigorously begun.

  An armistice was concluded by General Dearborn. This armistice enabledBrock to concentrate forces at Detroit and compel Hull to surrender.

  On the morning of the 13th of October, just after a heavy storm, ColonelSoloman Van Rensselaer passed over the river near Lewiston with lessthan three hundred men. They routed the British there, who fled towardLewiston pursued by Captain John E. Wool, who, though wounded, did notrelinquish the pursuit.

  General Brock and his staff at Fort George hastened to the scene, butwere compelled to fly, not having time even to mount their horses. In afew minutes, the American flag was waving over the fort.

  Brock rallied his forces and, with fresh troops, pressed up the hillafter the Americans, but, after a terrible struggle, was driven back andmortally wounded. General Sheaffe, who succeeded Brock, rallied thetroops. Only two hundred and forty Americans were on the heights.Lieutenant-Colonel (afterward Major-General) Winfield Scott had passedover the river to act as a volunteer. At request of General Wadsworth hetook active
command. The Americans, reinforced to six hundred, wereassailed by a horde of Indians under John Brandt. Scott led a chargeagainst them and drove them to the woods; but overwhelming forces ofBritish poured in on the Americans, and Van Rensselaer, who had gone tosend over militia, found they would not cross the river, their excusebeing that they were not compelled to serve out of their own State.

  Overwhelming numbers compelled the Americans to surrender. All theprisoners were marched to New Ark, where Scott came near having anencounter with two Indian chiefs.

  On the 13th of October, 1812, the Americans lost, in killed, wounded andprisoners, about eleven hundred men. General Van Rensselaer left theservice in disgust and was succeeded by Alexander Smythe of Virginia,who accomplished nothing of importance during the remainder of theseason. The situation of the Americans at the close of 1812 was this:The army of the northwest was occupying a defensive position among thesnows of the wilderness on the banks of the Maumee River; the army ofthe centre, under General Smythe, was resting on the defensive on theNiagara frontier, and the army of the north, under General Bloomfield,was also resting on the defensive at Plattsburgh.

  So far, the advantages had been altogether with the enemy, who were nomore gratified than the Peace Party, with their excellent excuse forsaying, "I told you so!"