er-in-law before his
reply could be received.

It was only within the limits of the French empire that Napoleon's
authority had been sufficient to enforce the rigorous exclusion of
British goods. His allies, including Sweden, which closed her ports to
British products in January, 1810, and declared war on Great Britain in
the following November, had adopted the continental system; but
administrative weakness, and the obvious interest that every people had
in its infraction, rendered its operation partial. Napoleon, determined
to enforce the system in spite of every obstacle, met this difficulty by
placing in immediate subjection to the French crown the territories
where British goods were imported. The first ally to suffer was his own
brother, Louis, King of Holland. His refusal to enforce Napoleon's
orders against the admission of British goods was followed at once by a
forced cession of part of Holland to France and the establishment of
French control at the custom houses, and shortly afterwards by the
despatch of French troops into Holland and its annexation to France on
July 9, 1810. In December the French dominion over the North Sea coast
was extended by the annexation of a corner of Germany, including the
coast as far as the Danish frontier, and the town of Luebeck on the
Baltic. As a result of this annexation, the duchy of Oldenburg, held by
a branch of the Russian imperial family, ceased to exist. The act was a
conspicuous breach of the treaty of Tilsit, which Napoleon considered
himself at liberty to disregard, as Russia had shown by her conduct
during the campaign of 1809 that she was no longer more than a nominal
ally of France. At last, on January 12, 1811, Russia asserted her
independence in fiscal matters by an order which declared her ports open
to all vessels sailing under a neutral flag, and imposed a duty on many
French products. Still the course of French annexation crept onwards,
and quietly absorbed the republic of Vallais in Switzerland, which had
been a great centre of smuggling.

[Pageheading: _THE CONTINENTAL SYSTEM._]

Meanwhile, the restrictions and prohibitions which formed the
continental system were made more and more severe. By the Trianon tariff
of August, 1810, heavy duties were levied on colonial products, and by
the Fontainebleau decree of October 18 all goods of British origin were
to be seized and publicly burned. In November a special tribunal was
created to try offenders against