HISTORY OF EUROPE. 241 



lish goods seized in the Hanse 

 Towns and the ports of Prussia 

 brought eight or nine millions 

 sterling into the French exchequer. 

 In Westphalia, a line of French 

 custom-houses extendedfromRees 

 to Bremen. The hatred of Eng- 

 lish merchandize became at length 

 stronger than the desire of im- 

 proving the French finances. All 

 English merchandize, whether 

 taken at sea or land, was ordered 

 to be burnt. The decrees, first, 

 for seizing, and lastly, for burn- 

 ing English merchandize, were 

 carried into execution with great 

 rigour, in the Hanse Towns, in 

 France, Italy, Germany, Prussia, 

 Switzerland, and Denmark. The 

 zeal of his Danish majesty, in this 

 business, was signalized by a seve- 

 rity that seemed to outrun even 

 that of Buonaparte. To hold any 

 intercourse with England was 

 made felony in the captain of a 

 ship, who was accordingly liable 

 to be punished with death, and 

 the owner of the ship was to be 

 branded. By an imperial decree, 

 punishments of different kinds and 

 degrees were denounced against 

 all who should be concerned in 

 English merchandize, from cap- 

 tains of ships to common porters. 

 We have a picture of the rigour 

 with which the anti-commercial 

 decrees of Buonaparte were en- 

 forced, in a letter, dated at Frank- 

 fort, November 1, and received 

 in London November 16. " The 

 gates of the town have been shut, 

 and domiciliary visitsmade to most 

 of the mercantile houses in the 

 city, in order to seize every kind 

 of English and colonial goods." 

 The emperor, as some relief to his 

 own subjects, granted licences to 

 Vol. LII. 



certain individuals, both for ex- 

 portation and importation of cer- 

 tain articles, on certain conditions. 

 But such licences were not to be 

 signed by any of his ministers: 

 they must be signed by himself. 

 His autograph consisted in the 

 three first letlers of his name, 

 [Nap.] fantastically written. He 

 repealed, nominally, the decrees 

 of Berlin and Milan, as far as re- 

 lated to America : but he imposed 

 such a duty on the importation 

 of colonial produce as amounted 

 nearly to a prohibition ; while, at 

 the same time, he continued to 

 seize occasionally, and sequestrate 

 American vessels as usual. 



On the side of Italy, Buona- 

 parte had nothing to excite his 

 jealousies or fears, but the influ- 

 ence of the ecclesiastics, who still 

 maintained the supremacy of the 

 Pope. A greater concourse than 

 ordinary of that order, from all 

 parts of Italy, and even some 

 from other countries, was remark- 

 ed at Rome. The ecclesiastical 

 states, of which his holiness had 

 been deprived, manifested strong 

 symptoms of dissatisfaction. Such 

 of the priests, both regular and 

 secular, as were strangers, or only 

 visitors at Rome, were ordered to 

 repair to the usual places of their 

 respective residences. A French 

 corps, 20,000 strong, was col- 

 lected in the vicinity of Rome. 

 A great part of these troops were 

 at first quartered on the inhabi- 

 tants : but in consequence of the 

 numerous assassinations of the 

 soldiers, which this dispersion oc- 

 casioned, and which became every 

 day more frequent, it was aban- 

 doned. Some of the churches and 

 other public buildings were con- 



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