uld summon Austria to explain her present
ambiguous behaviour and frankly to recognize Joseph Bonaparte as King
of Spain. If Austria put a stop to her present armaments, the
supremacy of Napoleon in Central Europe would be alarmingly great.
Clearly it was not to Russia's interest to weaken the only
buffer-state that remained between her and the Empire of the West.

These fears were quietly fed by a special envoy of the Court of
Vienna, Baron Vincent, who brought complimentary notes to the two
Emperors and remained to feel the pulse of European policy. It boded
peace for Austria for the present. Despite Napoleon's eager arguments
that England would never make peace until Austria accepted the present
situation in Spain, Alexander quietly but firmly refused to take any
steps to depress the Hapsburg Power. The discussions waxed warm; for
Napoleon saw that, unless the Court of Vienna were coerced, England
would persist in aiding the Spanish patriots; and Alexander showed an
unexpected obstinacy. Napoleon's plea, that peace could only be
assured by the entire discouragement of England, Austria, and the
Spanish "rebels," had no effect on him: in fact, he began to question
the sincerity of a peacemaker whose methods were war and intimidation.
Finding arguments useless, Napoleon had recourse to anger. At the end
of a lively discussion, he threw his cap on the ground and stamped on
it. Alexander stopped, looked at him with a meaning smile, and said
quietly: "You are violent: as for me, I am obstinate: anger gains
nothing from me: let us talk, let us reason, or I go." He moved
towards the door, whereupon Napoleon called him back--and they
reasoned.

It was of no avail. Though Alexander left his ally a free hand in
Spain, he refused to join him in a diplomatic menace to Austria; and
Napoleon saw that "those devilish Spanish affairs" were at the root of
this important failure, which was to cost him the war on the Danube in
the following year.

As a set-off to this check, he disappointed Alexander respecting
Prussia and Turkey. He refused to withdraw his troops from the
fortresses on the Oder, and grudgingly consented to lower his
pecuniary claims on Prussia from 140,000,000 francs to 120,000,000.
Towards the Czar's Turkish schemes he showed little more complaisance.
After sharp discussions it was finally settled that Russia should gain
the Danubian provinces, but not until the following year. France
renounced all mediation betwe