t of the
diplomatic secret order was to embroil France in a naval war with the
United States.

The condition of American commerce, after the promulgation of the
French decree, became deplorable indeed. A merchant-vessel flying the
American flag was never safe unless under the guns of an American
war-vessel; and the reduction of the navy had made these few indeed.
Should the brig "Nancy" or "Sarah Jane" put out from the little port
of Salem or New London, she was certain to be overhauled by some
British frigate, whose boarding officer would pick from the brig's
crew a few able sailors, and leave her to make her way short-handed as
best she might. Next would come along some French frigate or
privateer,--some "Terreur," "Incroyable," or "Insurgente,"--whose
astute officers would quickly notice the gaps in the American crew,
and, finding out that the brig had been boarded by the English, would
declare her a prize for having given aid to the enemies of _la belle
France_. Should the little brig be so fortunate as to escape the
civilized belligerents, there were still the pirates of Tripoli, the
picaroons of the French West Indies, and the unauthorized and
irresponsible pirates, who, with forged commissions and flying the
Spanish or Portuguese colors, ravaged the seas in all directions. The
career of an American merchantman at that time is admirably told by
our great novelist Fenimore Cooper in his sea-tale of "Miles
Wallingford." The fate of the good brig "Dawn" was the fate of too
many an American vessel in those turbulent times; and the wondrous
literary art with which the novelist has expanded the meagre records
of the times into an historical novel of surpassing interest makes an
acquaintance with the book essential to a proper knowledge of American
naval history.

The first act of retaliation on the part of the United States was the
embargo ordered by Congress, which prohibited any vessel from leaving
American ports. This action had two effects. It quickly brought about
great distress in European countries, which even then relied much on
the United States for food. This was the chief object of the embargo.
The second effect was inevitable. The sudden check upon all foreign
commerce plunged business in all parts of the United States into
stagnation. Sailors out of work thronged the streets of the seaport
towns. Farmers trudged weary miles beside their ox-teams, only to
find, when they had hauled their produce to town,