g a planter in some one of the Southern States!! Perhaps he
intends to marry some rich planter's daughter and to get his plantation
and negroes in that way. This, I imagine, will be his only way to do it.

"The newspapers which I shall send with this will inform you of the state
of our public affairs. We have high hopes that Governor Strong will be
our governor next year. I have no belief that our _war hawks_ will be
able to involve the country in a war with Great Britain, nor do I believe
that the President really wishes it. It is thought that all the war talk
and preparations are intended to effect the reelection of Mr. Madison.
The _Henry Plot_ is a farce intended for the same purpose, but it can
never be got up. It will operate against its promoters."

While the father was thus writing, on March 21, of the political
conditions in America from his point of view, almost at the same moment
the son in England was expressing himself as follows:--

"_March 25, 1812._ With respect to politics I know very little, my time
being occupied with much pleasanter subjects. I, however, can answer your
question whether party spirit is conducted with such virulence here as in
America. It is by no means the case, for, although it is in some few
instances very violent, still, for the most part, their debates are
conducted with great coolness.

"As to the Prince Regent, you have, perhaps, heard how unpopular he has
made himself. He has disappointed the expectations of very many. Among
the most unpopular of his measures may be placed the retention of the
Orders in Council, which orders, notwithstanding the declarations of Mr.
Perceval [the Prime Minister] and others in the Ministry to the contrary,
are fast, very fast reducing this country to ruin; and it is the opinion
of some of the best politicians in this country that, should the United
States either persist in the Non-Intercourse Law or declare war, this
country would be reduced to the lowest extremity.[1]

[Footnote 1: Orders in Council were issued by the sovereign, with the
advice of the Privy Council, in periods of emergency, trusting to their
future ratification by Parliament. In this case, while promulgated as a
retaliatory measure against Bonaparte's Continental System, they bore
heavily upon the commerce of the United States.]

"Bankruptcies are daily increasing and petitions from all parts of the
Kingdom, praying for the repeal of the Orders in Council, have been
presen