Page:Readings in European History Vol 2.djvu/545

 Europe and Napoleon 507 We have decreed and do decree as follows: Article I. Every vessel, of whatever nationality, which shall submit to be searched by an English vessel, or shall consent to a voyage to England, or shall pay any tax what- ever to the English government, is ipso facto declared dena- tionalized, loses the protection afforded by its flag, and be- comes English property. II. Should these vessels which are thus denationalized through the arbitrary measures of the English government enter our ports or those of our allies, or fall into the hands of our ships of war or of our privateers, they shall be re- garded as good and lawful prizes. III. The British Isles are proclaimed to be in a state of blockade both by land and by sea. Every vessel, of what- ever nation or whatever may be its cargo, that sails from the ports of England, or from those of the English colonies, or of countries occupied by English troops, or destined for England, or for any of the English colonies, or any country occupied by English troops, becomes, by violating the pres- ent decree, a lawful prize, and may be captured by our ships of war and adjudged to the captor. . . . Pasquier, in his Memoirs, makes the following admir- able criticism of Napoleon's continental system. [Napoleon's unwise severity after the battle of Jena] was 438. Aeon- nothing compared to a measure adopted in the hour of intox- temporary's f. ., . , , . . . criticism of ication of victory, and which, by erecting an insurmountable Napoleon's barrier, so to speak, between France and England, condemned continental each of these two powers to entertain no hopes of peace and svstem - rest until its rival was completely destroyed. . . . Napoleon flattered himself with the idea of having found the means to deal a blow at his most deadly opponent in the matter nearest his heart. Seeing himself master of the greater part of the European coast, or at least enjoying a domination over the mouths of the principal rivers of Ger- many, he persuaded himself that it depended on him to close all Europe's markets to England and thus compel her