gmertca, , ?|emp, an& JUapoleon - Vote Hemp

America, Russia, Hemp,and NapoleonEngland, it was one thing to get him to declare it and quiteanother to get him to wage it. At the end of the 1811 shippingseason, Speyer reported that the English had never molestedthe Swedish coastal trade, that Swedish vessels had even sailedin British convoys, and that considerable shipments had beensmuggled from Sweden to England. "France," he wrote, "oftenremonstrates against this intercourse, and in vain importunesthis government to adopt measures of decided hostility againstthe Englishfleets and trade in these seas." 26Bernadotte, safe behind the shield of Admiral Saumarez andhisfleet,could afford to treat Napoleon cavalierly. FrederickVI of Denmark, on the wrong side of that shield, still jumpednervously whenever Napoleon grumbled. In the past year theFrench Empire had advanced to the borders of Denmark.Wha t would prevent it from advancing further? Rumorsdarted through Paris about impending annexation of Denmarkand the possibility of a precautionary transfer by Frederick V Iof his government to Norway. 27Yet even the frightened Danes were growing restive andsullen under the domination of France. Privateering was nosubstitute for regular commerce. The British were brutal andhateful, but they did control the seas from which Denmar k haddrawn such a large part of its wealth. The empty expanse of theharbor of Copenhagen meant economic ruin for Denmark.At this favorable conjunction of the planets, George W .Erving was dispatched by the United States government toCopenhagen, arriving at noon on 30 Ma y 1811. 28 Ervingwasn't a permanently appointed minister to the Danish court.His, too, was an ad hoc mission to try to settle the matter ofseizures of American property, but he wasn't just an unknown206