%256. The Chesapeake and the Leopard.%--Such an attempt to punish Great Britain by cutting off a part of her trade was useless, and only made her more insolent than before. Indeed, just a week after the President signed the non-importation bill, as one of our coasting vessels was entering the harbor of New York, a British vessel, wishing to stop and search her, fired a shot which struck the helmsman and killed him at the wheel. About a year later, June, 1807, an attack more outrageous still was made on our frigate _Chesapeake_. She was on her way from Washington to the Mediterranean, and was still in sight of land when a British vessel, the _Leopard_, hailed and stopped her and sent an officer on board with a demand for the delivery of deserters from the English navy. The captain of the _Chesapeake_ refused, the officer returned, and the _Leopard_ opened fire. To return the fire was impossible, for only a few of the guns of the _Chesapeake_ were mounted. At last one was discharged, and as by that time three men had been killed and eighteen wounded, Commander Barron of the _Chesapeake_ surrendered. Four men then were taken from her deck. Three were Americans. One was an Englishman, and he was hanged for desertion.[1] [Footnote 1: Maclay's _History of the Navy_, Vol. I., pp. 305-308; McMaster's _History_, Vol. III., pp. 255-259.] %257. The Long Embargo.%--The attack on the _Chesapeake_ ought to have been followed by war. But Jefferson merely demanded reparation from Great Britain, and when Congress met in December, 1807, asked for an embargo. The request was granted, and merchant vessels in all the ports of the United States were forbidden to sail for a foreign country till the President saw fit to suspend the law. The restriction was so sweeping and the damage done to American farmers, merchants, and shipowners so great, that the people began to evade it at once. They would send their vessels to New Orleans and stop at the West Indies on the way. They would send their flour, pork, rice, and lumber to St. Marys in Georgia and smuggle it over the river to Florida, or take it to the islands near Eastport in Maine and then smuggle it into New Brunswick. Because of this, more stringent embargo laws were passed, and finally, in 1809, a "Force Act," to compel obedience. But smuggling went on so openly that there was nothing to do but use troops or lift the embargo. In February, 1809, accordingly, the embargo laws, after fourteen months' duration, were repealed. Instead of them the Republicans enacted a Non-intercourse law which allowed the people to trade with all nations except England and France.[1] [Footnote 1: McMaster's _History_, Vol. III., pp. 279-338; Adams's _History_, Vol. IV., Chaps. 7, 11, 13, 15.]