rally unbending, was
now working more and more in self-made grooves. Of these the deepest
was his commercial warfare; and he pushed on, reckless of Europe and
reckless of the Czar. In the middle of December he annexed the North
Sea coast of Germany, including Oldenburg. The heir to this duchy had
married Alexander's sister, whose hand Napoleon had claimed at Erfurt.
The duke, it is true, was offered the district of Erfurt as an
indemnity; but that proposal only stung the Czar the more. The
deposition of the duke was not merely a personal affront; it was an
infraction of the Treaty of Tilsit which had restored him to his
duchy.

A fortnight later, when as yet he knew not of the Oldenburg incident,
Alexander himself broke that treaty.[247] At the close of 1810 he
declined to admit land-borne goods on the easy terms arranged at
Tilsit, but levied heavy dues on them, especially on the _articles de
luxe_ that mostly hailed from France. Some such step was inevitable.
Unable to export freely to England, Russia had not money enough to buy
costly French goods without disordering the exchange and ruining her
credit. While seeking to raise revenue on French manufactures, the
Czar resolved to admit on easy terms all colonial goods, especially
American. English goods he would shut out as heretofore; and he
claimed that this new departure was well within the limits of the
Treaty of Tilsit. Far different was Napoleon's view: "Here is a great
planet taking a wrong direction. I do not understand its course at
all."[248] Such were his first words on reading the text of the new
ukase. A fatalistic tone now haunts his references to Russia's policy.
On April 2nd he writes: "If Alexander does not quickly stop the
impetus which has been given, he will be carried away by it next year;
and thus war will take place in spite of him, _in spite of me_, in
spite of the interests of France and Russia.... It is an operatic
scene, of which the English are the shifters." What madness! As if
Russia's craving for colonial wares and solvency were a device of the
diabolical islanders.[249] As if his planetary simile were anything
more than a claim that he was the centre of the universe and his will
its guiding and controlling power.

Nevertheless, Russia held on her way. In vain did Alexander explain to
his ally the economic needs of his realm, protest his fidelity to the
Continental System, and beg some consideration for the Duke of
Oldenburg. It was ev