Star.
London, England, 1813-04-16 00:00:00

MN

"a'REFLEGTIWCY
ON THE CONDUCT OF THE AMERICANS, OM 15*
THE SITUATION OF OUR•AFPAIPS IN CANADA. •

. The brilliant achievements of our little army id
Canada, in repelling the attacks of our American
enemies, have of late been so conspicuous as to claim
the attention of the Mother Country, much as she is
occupied in the contemplation of the grand and in-
. terestinr events which are now passing on the Con-
tinent; and in the Peninsula. Interesting as these
events are, it is to be hoped, that Government will
shew they possess minds sufficiently capacious to em-
brace and attend to the interests of the British empire
in every quarter, and in all their bearings.
We have now upon our hands a fresh foe, and,
give nse leave to add, a bitter ataxy: the English, in
general, are not aware of this. Nothing is more na-
tural than for people to judge of others by themselves.
The English have, generally speaking, no enmity to
the Americans ; on the contrary, they still preserve
for them that kind of warmth of feeling of which a

good-natured Mall COMA divest himself towards his
relatives, though he may have been ill treated by
them. The Americans, on the contrary, have a

deep-rooted enmity to Britain, and they imagine (judg-
ing of others from themselves) that we are equally
inimical to them. I shall, in a few words, attempt
to explain the causes of the hostile spirit of America.
A state of warfare stronj excites the passions of
' hatred and revenge : this is particularly the case in
civil wars and rebellions. Did it act only on people
of mature age, a short time (by consigning them to
the dust) would cure the evil : but unfortunately it
acts most powerfully on younger minds. The bitter
sketches, the execrations and reviling.s which in our
younger days we hear our fathers pour nut on the
enemies of our country, are listened to with avidity,
and make an -impression never to be eradicated.—
This.applies strongly to the Americans. The gene-
rality of the present dent men of America were boy
during the American war, and were accustomed to
associate in their minds with the idea of an English-
man every thing that was abominable—every thing
that their headstrong and misguided parents were in
the daily habits of saying, while venting their rage
on the English. The American peace followed. It
is not now necessary to investigate whether their suc-
cess was owing to oar misconduct, or to their valour ?
suffice it to know, that the Americans universally
think it is to flair yaw, they owe every thing ; and
all those who have been inAmerica must recollect,
the abnost every second man be meets with, lets him
know, that he thinks himself the son or relation of
sine ;WO who seopsred the English ; and (they very
often insultingly add) they could conquer them again
if necessary. I shall abstain frost any discussion as
to the correctness of this opinion ; sacs it to say,
that it gni:up...the fact is so.

The renewed intercourse consequent upon the en-
satioa of hostilities, had not existed long enough to
soften the irritation of their minds, when the French
revolution broke est. America was not behind the
sesta' the world in rejoicing at an event that seemed
fraught with happiness to mankind ?.—she opened her
arms to France. The pan the French had taken in
the American war, had produced a national feeling
of gratitude (the selfish views of France were not
attended to), and in proportion as Englishmen were
hated, Frenchmen were loved. The minds of their
young men filled with animosity to England, and
with kindness to France, lavished the affections of
their hearts upon French republicans, in whom they
now more than ever imagined they saw friends and
brothers. Their old men, their Jeffersons and Madi.
sons, nourished and countenanced those notions—
alas ! how fallacious—how delusive ! But notwith-
standing their fallacy, made evident by the horrid
conduct of the French, no one conversant with the
human heart will suppose that a change of sentiment
would speedily ensue. No.—The heart dings to its
early impressions with obstinacy, and is wonderfully
slow in acknowledging even to itself, and still slower
in confessing to the world its errors, or adopting a
different line of conduct.
To minds impressed as theirs were, every com-
mercial dispute or misunderstanding tvould serve to
ireitate and infante. Unfortunately the state of the
commercial world was such asto produce many oeca-
lomat dispose. The commercial regulations which
iitiezdattfdimay conduct of the French rendered it
mosisa,ap. the English to adopt, often interfered
with the Antogions MilliMtne. The distracted state
of Europe opened *Orkin.old for American specu-
laiille and industsh wiOda wok crowped with success
and with weal& Amain sionsiewed herself with
sow selkompluanori—.the attlibutod to her own
superior merits alone, what she ought to have attri-
-buiti not a little to the circumstances in which the
European powers found themselves.
Tom being dependent colonies, the United States
In s fews.years bye a considerable commercial
pews; I, and tbkintildoolitof their rise had the same
eikce. this* aukkiiikelieftwastraes OA individuals.
,may, csaisiarbkwurostioseelwrivarter; and
is ow? qtaaatmdmiraisodinito areesded with ours,
so that * maids** dorsi of toonnurcial jealousy
Thuo4lop modoropition of their minds to
Vowel with Gtule Arittio—for which I trust I have
sasisfagtogilip monsentod; was, from an unfortunate
chi of events, ansply supplied with materials of a
esture much more cakuleteti to inflame than to sooth

—•
Odle the hatred of the Americans to the English, we
shoold find it in the tenduet of those who were received
in America and became citisens and who had either
been banished froMbence fair their treasons and climes,

or whose perverted judgments aad heated imaginations
had led them to believe that America would yield
them more rational liberty and greater happiness
than they could enjoy in Britain. The most criminal
of those characters, and those who possessed the
greatest talent became Editors of Newspapers; and
thus disseminated with rapidity their pestiferous sen-
timents. Their unnatural hatred to the country of
their fathers was thus planted and spread over a soil
strongly predisposed to nourish it :—the fruit now
appear s.
It %%ere to be wished that all Governments would
be ruled by those high sentiments dr
honour which
regulate individual conduct—that they would cease
to league with (what they think) the stronger against'
the weaker state, and to prefer unprincipled and ♦i-
ciatcd connections with the greater commercial advan-