Settlement of Difficulties

On the morning of the 9th of November (1779), Seyes induced the Council of Ancient to place Bonaparte in command of the military of Paris. Then Seyes and two other members of the Directory resigned, leaving France without an Executive authority, and Bonaparte, with its strong arm--the military--firmly in his grasp. The Councils immediately perceived how they had been deceived by a trick, and assembled at St. Cloud the next morning. Bonaparte appeared at the bar of the Ancients to justify his conduct. Perceiving their enmity, he threatened them with military violence if they should decide against him. Meanwhile Lucien Bonaparte had read to the Council of Five Hundred the letter of resignation of the three Directors amid shouts from the members of "No Cromwell! no Dictator! the Constitution forever!" Bonaparte now entered that Chamber with four grenadiers and attempted to speak, but was interrupted by cries and execrations. The members appeared to be on the point of proceeding to personal violence against him, when a body of soldiers rushed in and bore him off. He was then a small, spare man, of light weight. A motion was made for his outlawry, which Lucien refused to put, but leaving the chair, he went out and made an inflammatory speech to the soldiers. At its close Murat, at the head of a body of grenadiers, entered the hall and commanded the Assembly to disperse. The members replied with shouts and execrations. The drums were ordered to be beaten, the soldiers levelled their muskets, when all but about fifty of the Council escaped by the windows. These, with the Ancients, passed a decree making Seyes, Bonaparte, and Ducos provisional consuls; and in December, Bonaparte was made First Consul or supreme ruler of France for life.

It was at this crisis in the political affairs of France when the American envoys reached Paris. They were cordially received by Talleyrand, by order of the First Consul, and an amicable settlement of all difficulties was soon made. A convention was signed at Paris on the 30th of September, 1800, by the American envoys and Joseph Bonaparte, C.P.E. Fluvien, and Pierre L. Roederer, in behalf of France, which was satisfactory to both parties. The convention also made the important decision, in the face of the contrary doctrine avowed and practiced by the British government, that free ships should make free goods. This affirmed the doctrine of Frederick the Great, enunciated fifty years before, and denied that of England in her famous "Rule" of 1756, revived in 1793. Peace was established, the envoys returned home, and the provisional army of the United States was disbanded.

While the political events just recorded were in progress, war between the two nations actually began upon the ocean, although neither party had proclaimed hostilities. In July, 1798, the American Congress had declared the treaties between the United States and France at an end, and authorized American vessels-of-war to capture French cruisers. A marine corps was organized, and a total of thirty cruisers were provided for. Under the law for the creation of a navy, several frigates had been put in commission in 1797, but they were not ready for sea in the spring of 1798; but it was not long in the presence of impending war, before the United States, the Constitution (yet afloat), the Constellation and other war-vessels were out upon the ocean under such commanders as Dale, Barry, Decatur the elder, Truxton, Nicholson, and Phillips. Decatur soon captured a French corsair (April, 1798); and the British and French authorities in the West Indies were greatly surprised by the appearance of so many American cruisers in those waters in the summer and autumn of 1798. At the close of the year the American navy consisted of twenty-three vessels, with an aggregate armament of four hundred and forty-six guns.

It was at this time that the first of a series of outrages upon the flag of the republic was committed by a British naval commander, that finally aroused the people of the United States to a vindication of their honor and independence by an appeal to arms. The American cruiser Baltimore, Captain Phillips, in charge of a convoy of merchant vessels from Havana to Charleston, when in sight of Moro Castle fell in with a British squadron. The United States and Great Britain were then at peace, and Phillips did not expect anything from the commander of the squadron but friendship, when, to his surprise, three of the convoy were captured by the British cruisers. Phillips bore up alongside the British flag-ship to ask for an explanation, when he was informed by her commander that every man on board the Baltimore, who could not show a regular American protection paper, should be transferred to the British vessel. Phillips protested against the outrage; and when fifty-five of his crew were taken to the British flag-ship, he, under legal advice, surrendered his vessel with the intention of referring the matter to his government. Only five of the crew were detained by the British commander. These were impressed into the service of the royal navy, and the remainder were sent back. The Baltimore was released, and the British squadron sailed away with the three merchant-vessels as prizes.