[266] Alison, vol. xi., p. 105, in a note, mentions a striking instance of how the Berlin decree was opposed even to Napoleon’s own interests. Shortly after its issue there arrived at Hamburg an urgent order for the immediate delivery of a very large amount of clothing for his army; but the resources of the Hanse Towns were so totally unable to provide within the specified time the requisite supply, that Bourrienne, the French diplomatic agent, after trying in vain every other expedient, was obliged to contract for it with English houses. Thus while the Emperor was boasting that by the continental system he had excluded British goods from the continent, 50,000 to 60,000 of his half-naked soldiers were, in the depth of winter, clothed by the manufacturers of Halifax, Leeds, and other English towns. [267] M. Thiers’ ‘Consulat et l’Empire,’ vii. 222. [268] This is Mr. Fox’s Order of April 8, 1806. [269] This is Lord Grey’s Order. The _Morning Chronicle_ of Jan. 4, 1808, in commenting on the above order, remarks that Lord Grey “distinctly stated to the United States of America that their acquiescence in a code which violated the rights of independent States would compel this country to take steps for its own protection.... The Decree is certainly directed against the Americans—it is a menace to her; ... she must choose her party.” [270] By the Portland Administration, of which Canning and Perceval were members: two orders would seem to have been issued on the same day. Key to ‘Orders,’ p. 5. [271] These Orders in Council are dispersed through a multitude of works. In 1808 they were laid before Parliament, and will be found _in extenso_ in vol. x. ‘Parl. Papers’ of that year. [272] Such was the effect in England of these proclamations, that in the months of September and October 1807, when these or similar orders were anticipated, no fewer than sixty-five applications were made to the Commissioners of Customs at the port of London for permission to re-land cargoes, already shipped in the Thames for exportation to the continent of Europe, the impression being that goods arriving there in English vessels would be confiscated (‘Parl. Papers,’ vol. x., 1808, p. 11). [273] The Orders in Council were fully examined by Mr. Alex. Baring in his pamphlet. Mr. Baring’s sympathies were strongly American, but, on the whole, fair to this country (see ‘Enquiry into Causes and Consequences of the Orders in Council,’ Lond. 8, 1808). [274] Alison, ch. xlii. (1806).