He told all save his love affair. That secret was too sacred.
When he had finished, good old Mrs. Winners was weeping bitterly, and
there was scarce a dry eye in the house; for all remembered that poor
Sukey was still a slave to the rapacity and cruelty of an
ambitious monarch.
CHAPTER XII.
WAR.
The story of the impressment, service and sufferings of Fernando Stevens
and his friends are no exaggerations. Well authenticated history shows
that there were thousands of cases similar, and even worse than theirs.
The conduct of England was without precedent and unbearable. Their great
need of men might have been some excuse for impressment of Americans;
but there was a spice of hatred in their cruel treatment of the
unfortunate sailors.
We read much about the rulers moulding the destiny of the people; but in
our republic the people mould the destiny of the rulers. Long before the
president had dared express a thought of war, there were staid old
western farmers, level-headed old fellows, who declared that war was
inevitable. America is not a country to be ruled by one man. The people
rule it, and every man thinks for himself, so that out of the conflict
of opinions the truth is usually reached. Before even the fiery congress
of 1812 had taken up the subject of hostilities, the legislatures of
the several States, urged by their farmer constituency, had by
concurrent resolutions declared in favor of war; but the timid
president, influenced by his own convictions and the opinions of his
cabinet, still hesitated.
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