Bingham lost upwards of thirty men, and his ship suffered severely.  A Court of Inquiry was ordered on the conduct of Capt.  Rogers, which decided that it had been satisfactorily proved to the court, that Capt.  Rogers hailed the Little Belt first, that his hail was not satisfactorily answered, that the Little Belt fired the first gun, and that it was without previous provocation or justifiable cause.” [Footnote:  Lives of the Presidents.]

Several attempts were made after this, to preserve the peace of the two countries, but in vain.  England, it is true, withdrew her obnoxious Orders in Council.  It was, however, too late.  Before intelligence of this repeal reached the shores of the United States, war was declared by Congress, on the 18th of June, 1812.

It was a popular war.  Although strenuously opposed by portions of the Eastern States, as destructive to their commerce, yet with the mass of the people throughout the Union, it was deemed justifiable and indispensible.  A long series of insults and injuries on the part of Great Britain—­the seizure and confiscation of our ships and cargoes; the impressing of our seamen, under circumstances of the most irritating description; and the adoption of numerous measures to the injury of our interests—­had fully prepared the public mind in the United States, with the exception of a small minority, to enter upon this war with zeal and enthusiasm.

With occasional reverses, general success attended our arms in every direction.  On land and on sea, the American eagle led to victory.  The combatants were worthy of each other.  Of the same original stock—­of the same stern, unyielding material—­their contests were bloody and destructive in the extreme.  But the younger nation, inspirited by a sense of wrongs endured, and of the justness of its cause, bore away the palm, and plucked from the brow of its more aged competitor many a laurel yet green from the ensanguined fields of Europe.  In scores of hotly-contested battles, the British lion, unused as it was to cower before a foe, was compelled to “lick the dust” in defeat.  At York, at Chippewa, at Fort Erie, at Lundy’s Lane, at New Orleans, on Lake Champlain, on Lake Erie, on the broad ocean, Great Britain and the world were taught lessons of American valor, skill, and energy, which ages will not obliterate.

This war, though prosecuted at the expense of many valuable lives, and of a vast public debt, was, unquestionably, highly beneficial to the United States.  It convinced all doubters that our government was abundantly able to resent aggressions, and to maintain its rights against the assaults of any nation on earth.  This reputation has been of great service in protecting our commerce, and commanding respect for our flag, throughout the world.  But the chief benefit of the war was the development of our internal resources, which, after all, form the great fountain of the wealth, strength, and permanence of a nation.  Deprived by the embargo,