The Washington herald., 1914-07-05
THE FIRST STUMBLE

tral ships to pay tribute
Dee Il lsr-Sapoleon's Milan decree Ggltnst nen-
tral ships submitting to BrnsA fesu-
Dee 2. lsoT-The United States adopted smO7O
r.h n 1ss-SIur.t APPOINTED to command in Spain:
Nch. ~ IsOs-Chares " surrendered crown Of
suain to his son Ferdinand
AM 2 isOs-NapoIeon seized Papsl ports.
AR, T. Iso-Nspoleon condemned al Anencan
Nav = rsOs-spanish Rerolution began
Nav lOs-Charles and Ferdinand surrendered
crown Of Spain TO Napoleon.
July & Isos-England formed alliance with spanish
ReTolutionists.
July a lss-French defeated By Wellesley in Pur-
1u,v q 1sos-EiSE sdgsi Jo.eph fed from Madrid.
Sep 2. IsCs-CEsr and Napoleon mst At Erfurt-
Dec g. lsO-NHpoleon entered Mad1d
Dec Y lsos-Started in pursuit Of Sir John Moore
Jan IS. lsOe-Death of Sir John Moore
Jan Il. Isoe-NapoIeOn left for Paris
VATHILE he was fighting his way to to
w plains of Poland and Prussia,
Napoleon expressed the oeIiet
that he would have to war no more. re
turning to- to Paris % on miaSemm oSesnns of o TEN
months in Germany. he connoently an
rfounced, Now begins the finest epoch
OF my reign" To his ministers ne & ae.
cIared,'I have had enough Of the trade
of general. Let US enjoy our greatness
and turn merchants and manufacturer.
He stood on the summit OF power ana
his will As he walked the giddy heights,
however, he saw distant peaks that
seemed to rise above him ana ehanenge
his restless spirit to climb higher stln.
But all the roads he saw opening before
him, whether their finger posts invited
him TO Spain, or to Rome, to Divorce or
TO Moscow. inevitably ran down hill
since he was in fact at the top.
American Trade Ruined.
He was at peace with all the world
save a little island that lay on in the tog
Of the North Atlantic, like "a wart on the
nose of Europe" as he contemptuously
described it. But he was conndent ne
could conquer England in bloodless
campaign without firing another gun ana
without leaving his capital:
Since the day England and France went
to war in 1903, the British navy had been
cunning for the French nag at sea, wnlie
and battling TO seal the harbors of Eu-
rome against British trade. With the
flags of France and her allied nations
thus swept from the ocean ana bngnsn is
vessels excluded from the harbors OF the
continent, the American nag became the
favorite refuge and protector OF great
commerce.
To prevent the infant republic Of the
West taking from them the lead in the
carving trade, the British ministers S
adopted the watchword, No trade except
through England" and forbade neutral
ships TO enter any port of Napoleon S EN-
pire unless they first visited an Engn
port and paid a heavy tribute 10 the
British treasury. Napoleon thereupon re
torted with a decree which condemned TO
seizure any vessel submitting to that ex-
action. With that stroke the doom OF the
commerce of the seas was complete. Inc
great waters all but reverted 70 the the
VOYAGES of Columbus, Cana, ana Ma
SeilaR, while Napoleon undertook to re-
open the ancient overland routes to the
The new world was now involved with
the old in a universal conflict. It was
estimated that only one in eight Amerl-
can vessels crossing the Auanuc es-
caped capture at the hands OF france OF
The United States. seeking at once to
protect its ships and retaliate on both
Of the belligerent powers, adopted tne
embargo act which forbade American
vessels to clear for European ports ana
which cut OF Europe from American sup
plies. But Europe was not then oepeno,
ent on American cereals and indeed had
vet hardly begun to draw on the new
world for foodstuffs. English manufac-
turers therefore, became the principal
sufferers from the embargo. and in Man.
chester alone thirty-one mills were re-
duced to half time for lack Of American
cotton, and forty-four were closed en-
tirely. Meanwhile the masts OF idIe %
ships rose like forests in front Of the
wharves Of New York. Boston, and
Nevertheless the stars and Stripes con-
tinued to appear in European waters,
many American ships eluding the en-
barge act by staying away from home
and engaging in the carrying trade pc
tween foreign ports. But by a further
Of the United States entering his har-
bors, since they had no right under
American law TO be absent from their
own ports. Obedient to this last decree
ls4 American ships were seized in year.
and their cargoes. aggreEating in value
$1,000. 600, were conhscated.
A Barbed Wire Fence.
When England saw the bayonets Of
Napoleon, like a barbed wire fence in
closing the shores Of the Atlantic and the
Baltic, the Mediterranean and the sAdri-
attic she sought to keep the port Of Co
penhagen open to her trade by lombard
ing that city and carrying OF the Dan
ish navy. Napoleon at the same time
was menacing a feeble nation at the 9TH
or extremity of Europe and demanding
that Lisbon, the only southern port where
the British flag still found a welcome.
should be closed. IF Portugal does not
do as wish" he stormed at the Portu-
guese ambassador, "the House of Bra
Eanza VIII cease to reign in two months.
will no longer tolerate an English am
bassador in Europe, but will declare war
against any power that receives one al
its court"
He was determined to plant his guns at
bar England from the land as efrectually
as she was barring France from the sea:
The few poor little ports of the Papal
States did not escape his attention. Pope
Plus VII being sternly commanded to
close them to British trade and join the
continental alliance against Great Brit
ain. In a letter to Prince Eugene, vice
roy of Italy, which he was instructed to
read to the pontif. the Emperor ad-
dressed these rough threats to the heir
of ST. Peter:
There were kings before there were
popeS Any pope who denounced me to
Christendom would cease to be Pope in
my eyes: would look upon him as anti
Christ. I would cut my people of from
all communication with Rome. Does the
Pope take me for Louis the Pious? /
will not fear to gather the Gallician, Ital-
ian. German. and Polish churches in a
council without any Pope and protect my
peoples against the priests Of Rome. This
Is the last time viii enter into any dis
cussinn with the Rnman priest rabble ''
While Plus VII discreetly yielded IN the
cemmander-ir-chief Of an army Of soo,o ooc
mex