limitation in
the spring of 1810. Some action was imperative. A bill was drawn by the
Administration to meet the situation and introduced in the House by
Macon; but it failed to command the support of the party and was dropped
in favor of a second bill, commonly known as Macon's Bill No. 2, though
he was not the author of it. This measure eventually became law, May 1,
1810. "It marked the last stage toward the admitted failure of
commercial restrictions as a substitute for war," writes Mr. Adams. By
repealing the Non-Intercourse Act it left commerce free once more to
seek the markets of the world. In case either Great Britain or France
should revoke or modify its hostile policy, the President was authorized
to revive the Non-Intercourse Act against the delinquent nation.

After the Non-Intercourse Act of 1809, Napoleon had begun the
"sequestration" of American vessels in European ports. Sequestration
proved to be only a euphemistic expression for confiscation. On May 14,
he issued from Rambouillet a decree which authorized the seizure and
condemnation of all American ships in French ports. With an eye to the
needs of his war chest, the Emperor calculated that by drawing in this
net he would make a catch amounting to about six million dollars. As a
matter of fact, this was a conservative estimate. The American consul at
Paris reported the seizure of one hundred and thirty-four vessels
between April, 1809, and April, 1810. The actual loss to American
shipowners could not have been less than ten millions of dollars.

The news of the passage of Macon's bill suggested another stroke to the
wily conqueror of Europe. On August 5, he announced to the American
Minister that the decrees of Berlin and Milan were revoked and would be
inoperative after November 1, "it being understood that in consequence
of this declaration the English are to revoke their orders in council
and renounce the new principles of blockade," and that the United
States, conforming to its act of May 1, 1810, would "cause their rights
to be respected by the English."

Accepting this letter at its face value, with a credulity which now
seems incredible, President Madison proclaimed on November 2 that France
had withdrawn its decrees, and that in consequence commercial
intercourse with Great Britain would be suspended on and after February
2, 1811. Madison's haste was due to a very natural desire to coerce
Great Britain into a similar renunciation, but to his