eir farms. Neither was there among his
advisers any to correct his views; rather they had imbibed their own
from him, and their utterances in debate betray radical
misapprehension of military considerations.

Among the incidents attendant upon the embargo was the continuance
abroad of a number of American vessels, which were there at the
passage of the Act. They remained, willing exiles, to share the
constant employment and large freights which the sudden withdrawal of
their compatriots had opened to British navigation. They were
doubtless joined by many of those which received permission to sail in
quest of American property. One flagrant instance of such abuse of
privilege turned up at Leghorn, with a load of tropical produce;[268]
and the comments above quoted from an Havana letter doubtless depended
upon that current acquaintance with facts which men in the midst of
affairs pick up. It was against this class of traders specifically
that Napoleon launched the Bayonne Decree, April 17, 1808. Being
abroad contrary to the law of the United States, he argued, was a
clear indication that they were not American, but British in
disguise. This they were not; but they were carrying on trade under
the Orders in Council, and often under British convoy.[269] The fact
was noteworthy, as bearing upon the contention of the United States
Government soon after, that the Non-Intercourse Law was adequate
security for the action of American merchant vessels; a grotesque
absurdity, in view of the embargo experiences. That it is not
consonant with national self-esteem to accept foreign assistance to
carry out national laws is undeniable; but it is a step further to
expect another nation to accept, as assured, the efficiency of an
authority notoriously and continually violated by its own subjects.

Under the general conditions named, the year 1808 wore on to its
close. Both the British Orders in Council and the Decrees of the
French Emperor continued in force and received execution;[270] but so
far as the United States was concerned their effect was much limited,
the embargo retaining at home the greater part of the nation's
shipping. The vessels which had remained abroad, and still more those
which escaped by violation of the law, or abuse of the permission to
sail unloaded to bring back American property, for the most part
purchased immunity by acquiescence in the British Orders. They
accepted British licenses, and British convoy also,