On the success of Barlow’s mission the fate of President Madison might depend. As long as France maintained her attitude of hostility to the United States, war against England would be regarded by a majority of the Northern people with distrust and dislike. On that point Madison was justly timid. The opposition of New England and New York must be quieted, and in order to quiet it Madison must prove France to be honest in respecting American rights; he must show that the decrees had been really repealed as he had so often and still so obstinately asserted, and that the vast confiscations of American property under the authority of those decrees would receive indemnity. The public had commonly supposed France to be comparatively a slight aggressor; but to the general surprise, when Congress, before the declaration of war against England, called for a return of captures under the belligerent edicts, Monroe’s report showed that the seizures by France and by the countries under her influence in pursuance of the decrees were not less numerous than those made by England under the Orders in Council. The precise values were never known. The confiscations ordered by Napoleon in Spain, Naples, Holland, Denmark, Hamburg, and on the Baltic outnumbered those made in his empire; but all these taken together probably exceeded the actual condemnations in British prize-courts. This result, hardly expected by the American government, added to its embarrassment, but was only a part of its grievances against Napoleon. Not only had France since 1807 surpassed England in her outrages on American property, but while England encouraged American commerce with her own possessions, Napoleon systematically prohibited American commerce with his empire. He forbade American vessels to import sugar or other colonial produce except by special license; he imposed a duty of sixty cents a pound on Georgia cotton worth twenty or twenty-five cents; he refused to take tobacco except in small quantities as a part of the government monopoly; and he obliged every American ship to carry for its return cargo two thirds in silks and the other third in wines, liquors, and such other articles of French produce as he might direct. The official returns made to Congress showed that in 1811 the United States exported domestic produce to the amount of $45,294,000, of which France and Italy took only $1,164,275.
Barlow’s instructions required him to reform these evils, but they especially insisted upon indemnity for seizures under the decrees. Haste was required; for Congress could not be expected to adopt extreme measures against England until France should have made such concessions as would warrant the American government in drawing a distinction between the two belligerents. Barlow arrived in Paris September 19, only to learn that on the same day the Emperor set out for Antwerp and Amsterdam. The Duc de Bassano received him kindly, assured him of the Emperor’s order to begin upon business at once, and listened courteously to the American complaints and demands. Then he too departed for Holland, whence he returned only November 9, when at Washington Congress had been already a week in session.
Nothing showed this delay to be intentional; but Napoleon never allowed delay when he meant to act, and in the present instance he was not inclined to act. Although the Duc de Bassano made no reply to Barlow, he found time at Amsterdam to write instructions to Serurier.[194] In these he declared that all American vessels captured since November, 1810, had been released, except those coming by way of England, which were not yet condemned, but only sequestered.
“The French government would like to know, before making a decision, how England would act toward American ships bound for France. If I return once more on the motives for this delay, it is only for your personal instruction and without making it a subject of an official declaration on your part. On this question you should speak as for yourself; appear ignorant what are the true motives for still detaining some American ships which have had communication with England; restrict yourself to receiving the representations sent you, and to declaring that you will render an account of them; in short, give no explanation that would imply that the Decrees of Berlin and Milan are not entirely revoked.”
While the Emperor was thus secretly determined to enforce his decrees, he was equally determined to pay no indemnities. Against sacrifices of money Napoleon always made unconquerable resistance.
In due time Barlow had his audience of reception, and made to the Emperor a speech, not without flattery. He ventured to mention his commercial objects, in the hope of calling out an answer that would suit his purpose. Napoleon’s reply proved for the hundredth time the danger of risking such experiments:—
“As to the commerce between the two Powers, I desire to favor it. I am great enough to be just. But on your part you must defend your dignity against my enemies and those of the Continent. Have a flag, and I will do for you all that you can desire.”
In reporting the interview to Monroe, Barlow added that the ambiguity of the Emperor’s reply made it unfit for publication.[195] Ambiguity was not the quality that a more sensitive man would have ascribed to a rebuff so sharp; but whatever the President may have thought, he took Barlow’s advice. The interview was never made known to Congress.
During the month of November Napoleon busied himself in commercial questions only in order to show liberality to England at the expense of America. He extended his system of licenses to the exchange of French wines for sugar in large quantities, and even to the importation of coffee, indigo, tea, wool, dyewoods, and other articles, all to be obtained from England by license.[196] He discovered that his exchanges would benefit France more than England in the proportion of three to one. “It is therefore the perfected system that has produced this result, which had not been expected for several years. Evidently the system thus established is a permanent system, which can be made perpetual.”[197] The motive for this discovery might be traced throughout all his economical experiments. He needed money.
Never had Napoleon’s ministers a harder task to give his acts a color of consistency. During the months of November and December Barlow held many interviews with Bassano, and made earnest efforts to obtain some written pledge in favor of American interests, but without success. December 19 he wrote that he was almost discouraged by the unexpected and unreasonable delay.[198] Napoleon made no more seizures, and released such American vessels as were held for violation of the decrees; but he conceded nothing in principle, and was far from abandoning his fiscal system against the United States. In order to meet Barlow’s complaints, Bassano gathered together every token of evidence that the decrees were not in force; but while he was asking the American minister how these facts could be doubted, a French squadron, Jan. 8, 1812, sailed from Nantes with orders to destroy all neutral ships bound to or from an enemy’s port. For several months American commerce was ravaged by these ships under the Emperor’s order, in pursuance of his decrees. January 19 Napoleon issued another order of the gravest character. His quarrel with Bernadotte the new king of Sweden had reached a rupture, and he carried out his threat of seizing the Swedish provinces south of the Baltic; but his orders to Marshal Davoust were almost as hostile to the United States as to Sweden:[199] “As soon as you shall be sure of seizing a great quantity of colonial merchandise in Swedish Pomerania, you will take possession of that province; and you will cause to be seized both at Stralsund and Anklam, in short at all points in Pomerania, whatever colonial merchandise may be found.” January 28 he wrote again:[200] “I wait with impatience your report on the colonial merchandise you shall have found in Pomerania.” He made no exceptions in favor of American property, for his need of money was greater than ever.