er the _coup d'etat_ of the Eighteenth _Brumaire_
(9 Nov., 1799), to turn the tide, rehabilitate the internal
administration of France, and by the victories of Marengo in June
and Hohenlinden in December of 1800 to force Austria once more to
a separate peace. Paul I of Russia had already fallen out with his
allies and withdrawn his armies and his great general, Suvaroff,
a year before. Now, taken with a romantic admiration for Napoleon,
and angry when the British, after retaking Malta, refused to turn
it over to him as Grand Master of the Knights of St. John, he was
easily manipulated by Napoleon into active support of the latter's
next move against England.

This was the Armed Neutrality of 1800, the object of which, from
the French standpoint, was to close to England the markets of the
North, and combine against her the naval forces of the Baltic.
Under French and Russian pressure, and in spite of the fact that
all these northern nations stood to suffer in one way or another
from rupture of trade relations with England, the coalition was
accomplished in December, 1800; Russia, Prussia, Sweden, and Denmark
pledging themselves to resist infringements of neutral rights,
whether by extension of contraband lists, seizure of enemy goods
under neutral flag, search of vessels guaranteed innocent by their
naval escort, or by other methods familiar then as in later times.
These were measures which England, aiming both to ruin the trade
of France and to cut off her naval supplies, felt bound to insist
upon as the belligerent privileges of sea power.

To overcome this new danger called for a mixture of force and diplomacy,
which England supplied by sending to Denmark an envoy with a 48-hour
ultimatum, and along with him 20 ships-of-the-line, which according
to Nelson were "the best negotiators in Europe." The commander in
chief of this squadron was Sir Hyde Parker, a hesitant and mediocre
leader who could be trusted to do nothing (if that were necessary),
and Nelson was made second in command. Influence, seniority, a clean
record, and what-not, often lead to such choices, bad enough at
any time but indefensible in time of war. Fortunately for England,
when the reply of the Danish court showed that force was required,
the two admirals virtually changed places with less friction than
might have been expected, and Nelson "Lifted and carried on his
shoulders the dead weight of his superior,"[1] throughout the ensuing
campaign.