mentioned to the minister for foreign affairs his majesty's permission to lord Yarmouth to return to England seemed to me calculated to afford as little opportunity as possible to the French government to cavil about a change of form in the mission. I think it proper to add, that in doing this, every facility was afforded by lord Yarmouth, who in the handsomest manner desired me on this, as on other occasions, to consider only what I thought most ad. vantageous for the public service. I have the honour to be, Sir, &c. Inclosure in No. 40.-Is a copy of a note from the earl of Lauder dale to M. Talleyrand, dated August 17, 1806, announces lord Yarmouth's intention to return to England with his majesty's assent, and lord Lauderdale's remaining. No. XLI. Extract from a Dispatch from Mr. The contents of your last dispatches do not appear to require any particular answer, and this messenger is sent back only that you may be enabled to keep us regularly in formed (so long as you shall still continue at Paris) of the state of the negotiation there. If, on the arrival of any intelligence of the decision of Russia not to ratify without the consent of this court, the French government should increase their offers in order to separate his majesty from the emperor of Russia, your lordship is on all such occasions to observe, that it is M. d'Oubril's treaty alone that has released his majesty from the obligation not to separate in substance his treaty from that of Russia; an obligation to which his majesty had determined scrupulously to adhere, and from which, even in point of form, he had departed no farther than he had learnt to be the wish of Russia herself. Should, therefore, M. d'Oubril's treaty not be ratified, the two courts would revert to their former situation, with the additional bond of union which would result from the mutual proofs they would thus have afforded to each other of their resolution to adhere in variably to the spirit and principles of their alliance. No. XLII. Copy of a Dispatch from Lord Lau derdale to Mr. Secretary For, dated Paris, August 25, 1806.Received September 3. Sir, Paris, August 25, 1806. In my dispatch of the 16th instant, I had the honour of transmitting to you a copy of a letter sent by lord Yarmouth and myself, on the 14th instant, to the minister of foreign affairs. I have now to inform you that my desire to combine with firmness the utmost degree of forbearance that appeared to me consistent with the character with which his majesty has been pleased to invest me, induced me patiently to suffer the silence of the French government, without remark, from the 14th till the 22d, when I transmitted to the minister for foreign affairs a note, of which I have the honour to inclose you a copy, marked (A.) No notice having been taken of this note by his excellency, I have this morning sent a second note, of which I have also the honour to inclose a copy, marked (B.) I have the honour to be, &c. (Signed) Lauderdale. The right hon. C. J. Fox. First Inclosure (A.) Copy of a Note from the Earl of Lauderdale to M. Talleyrand, dated August 22, 1806. (Translation.) SIR, the 9th instant, between the French plenipotentiaries and the undersigned, leave no room for doubt, whe ther the proposition thus laid down was perfectly understood by those plenipotentiaries. "The undersigned have, therefore, only to repeat, that they cannot, consistently with the instructions of their government, do otherwise than insist upon the previous recognition of this principle. It is Paris, August 22, 1806. on this condition alone that they are authorized to continue the negotia tion." The undersigned, minister plenipotentiary of his Britannic majesty, finds himself under the necessity of recalling to the attention of his excellency the minister for foreign affairs; " 1st, That in the morning of the 12th instant, a note, signed by the undersigned and the earl of Yarmouth, and dated the 11th, was transmitted to his excellency general Clarke, in which the undersigned observed, "The British government, far from pretending to exact from the French government every restitution which may suit their convenience, without being bound to make any restitution to France, never expressed any other wish than that of treating with the French government on the basis which was proposed to her by France herself; as it is expressed in the note of lord Lauderdale, viz. to treat generally upon the basis of uti possidetis, which was to be scrupulously observed, except in the case of Hanover, which was proposed to be ceded to his Britannic majesty, with all its depen.. dencies. They must also observe, that if it were possible to mistake the result which would necessarily follow from this principle, the verbal discussions which took place on 2ndly, That on the 14th instant, the undersigned, together with the earl of Yarmouth, had again the honour to state in writing to his excellency the minister for foreign affairs, "The silence of their excellencies, the plenipotentiaries, in this respect, gives us reason to presume that we múst not, at the present moment, expect such an explanation on their part. "Impressed with this idea, we desire to put an end to the general expectation of both nations, considering the slight appearance there is of seeing it realized. We feel that the demand which we make, under such circumstances, of passports for our return, may be susceptible of interpretations of a nature to retard the happy moment, when the views of the French government shall approach nearer to those which it had been supposed to entertain. It is in order to prevent the possibility of such a misinterpretation, that we think it incumbent on us to assure your excellency, that a step which would have the effect of causing any obstacle to the renewal of the negotiation, would be very far from our intention, though, from the reasons which we have detailed, we find our selves obliged to put an end to our mission." The undersigned, on finding that no answer was made to these communications, persuaded himself that this delay might proceed from dispositions favourable to the progress of the negotiation, and that he should be at length rewarded by an answer conformable to this expectation; even when he found that no answer arrived, he still persevered in a conduct, which must have incontestibly proved the sincerity of the desire he had evinced, to receive explanations which might enable him to follow up the objects of his mission. But if, so early as the 14th instant, the undersigned, together with the ear! of Yarmouth, found himself obliged to observe to his excellency, the minister for foreign affairs, that he feared, (from the silence of their excellencies, the French plenipotentiaries) that no answer would be given on the subject; and if, at that period, they thought it incumbent on them to declare the necessity they were under, in pursuance of their sovereign's orders, of demanding passports for their departure, the undersigned has no occasion to remark to his excellency the minister for foreign affairs, how imperiously the fresh delays that have taken place since that date, prescribed to the undersigned the pressing renew. al of this demand. The undersigned must at the same time add, that, not being able to persuade himself, that in case an unfavourable answer had been intended, his excellency the minister for foreign affairs, would have so long deferred the adoption of the only alternative, namely, the sending passports, he does not even now proposal, such as the ministers of his Britanic majesty understood it to have been made on the part of the French government, since it is thus alone that the expectation of both nations can at last be realized. Even if these hopes should not be well founded, the undersigned will never regret a delay which has afforded him the opportunity of manifesting, in an unequivocal manner, the sincere desire of a solid and honourable peace, which his majesty has never ceased to entertain, and of which his majesty has given the most convincing proof, in authorizing the undersigned to negotiate on the basis proposed, in the first instance, by France. It is with this view that the undersigned has borne so long a state of uncertainty, without making the least observation on the unac countable delay. The undersigned, in now request. ing his excellency, the minister for foreign affairs, to transmit to him provisionally, and for the purpose of being made use of in the cases already pointed out, passports for himself and his suite, conceives that he has adopted the only means for preventing the necessity he might otherwise find himself under (if he was forced to repeat this demand) of accompanying it by representations, such as would be authorised by the law of nations, and by the dignity of his sovereign. (Signed) Lauderdale. Second Inclosure (B.) Copy of a Note from the Earl of Lauderdale to M. Talleyrand, dated August 25, 1806. (Translation.) Paris, August 25, 1806. The silence still maintained by give up the hope of a renewal of the their excellencies the French pleni potentiaries, what point the English government wish to attain. In the first instance, obsolete forms were brought forward and urged for our acceptance, the text and the substance of which had never been admitted, nor even discussed, by the French government, and when this difficulty appeared to be removed, and the French plenipotentiaries held out a prospect of sacrifices which proved more and more the desire of their government for peace, points antecedent to the negotiation were recurred to, and a question was started again which had been three times decided; irst, by the powers given to M. d'Oubril, with which his Britannic majesty's plenipotentiaries were acquainted, afterwards by the powers given to the earl of Yarmouth, and lastly, for the third time, by those of the earl of Lauderdale. One might have supposed that a discussion, terminated before the first conference of the respective negociators, and decided even by the very fact of their negotiation, would not again be brought forward. His majesty the emperor wishing however to give a fresh proof of his uniform desire for the re-establishment of peace, adheres to the following proposal: That the negotiation between France and England shall continue; that the minister plenipotentiary of his majesty the king of Great Britain shall be at liberty to introduce into the treaty, either as a public or a secret article, or in any other form which would answer the same end, whatever he may conceive would tend to reconcile the existing differences between France and Russia, and would procure for the latter a participation in the benefits of peace, it being well understood, that no proposal shall be admitted except such as are res pectively honourable, and are not injurious to the real power and the dignity of the two empires; and that we shall not see again brought forward the extraordinary proposals which M. de Novosiltzoff was charged to make on the part of Russia, and which, having marked the origin of a coalition conquered and destroyed in its birth, ought equally to be forgotten with the coalition itself. There are proposals which, being only the result of blind confidence, and of a species of infatuation, and being founded neither on the real force of the parties, nor on their geographical situation, are deprived of their pacific character, and carry with them their own condemnation. France ought neither to abandon the interests of the Ottoman empire, nor a position which enables her to sustain that empire against the aggressions with which she is openly menaced by Russia; but as all the objects destined to enter into the arrangements of the treaty, must be reserved for discussion, the undersigned will not seek to anticipate the result which it may produce. If, after the changes which have taken place in the cabinet of his Britannic majesty, peace is still wished for in England, peace may be made, and that without delay. The emperor will not hesitate to make soine sacrifices in order to ac. celerate it, and to render it durable; but if the dispositions for peace should have changed in London, if the wise and liberal views manifested in the first communications which took place with the illustrious minister, whom both nations lament, should no longer prevail, a vague discussion, the French government. The general result of what passed, impressed me with the conviction, that the French plenipotentiaries no longer thought on making peace, upon the grounds of which France was understood to desire it, at the time of Jord Yarmouth's communication; and I am confident, that the part I bore in the discussion, thoroughly satisfied them, that I was resolved firmly to adhere to the ground which I had taken in the note of the 11th, on which I was invited to hear their remarks. The hour of dinner terminated our conference, a renewal of which, on any day I should name, was, after dinner, anxiously solicited by M. de Champagny. I objected to it, as apparently unnecessary, and only calculated to protract my stay in this country, to no purpose; but, before I left him, expressed my willingness to comply once more with the wishes of the French plenipotentiaries, as a farther mark of my anxiety to do any thing which even they could think had a tendency to produce that peace, which his majesty was so aaxious to accomplish on equitable terms and another meeting was fixed, to take place on Friday the 29th at three o'clock. Late on the evening of the 26th, I waited on the minister for foreign affairs, for the purpose of informing him, that, at the request of the plenipotentiaries of France, I had agreed to a renewal of the conference. He had gone to St. Cloud, and, as by the minister's absence, I had no opportunity of explaining my reasons for not waiting on him, for the purpose of asking passports, as an nounced in my note of the 25th, I thought it right, early next morning to send a letter, of which a copy is inclosed, (marked C.) On the 27th, after dinner, I had a very long conference with the minis ter for foreign affairs, the substance of which confirmed me in the opini on I had antecedently formed, in consequence of what passed at the meeting with the plenipotentiaries of France, that there is at present no disposition to make peace on the terms tendered for his majesty's ac ceptance; and I am convinced you will have the same impression, when I state to you that M. Talleyrand, in the course of our conversation, repeatedly made use of the following marked expression: "Jamais l'Em pereur ne cedera un grain de poussière du territoire François.” In the course of this conference, the minister frequently alluded to the situation of Hanover, and stated that, within eight and forty hours, its fate must be determined for ever. He seemed much surprised that nothing appeared to make any impres sion on me, frequently repeating, that, in getting the Cape, Malta, and his majesty's Hanoverian dominions, I should make a glorious peace; and assuring me, that if this opportunity should be lost, he did not foresee any means by which peace could be ever attained, as the emperor was determined to make war all his life, rather than yield any part of the ter ritory of France, the integrity of which he had sworn to maintain. Our conversation ended, by my assuring him, at the time I was about to retire, that while these sentiments continued to prevail in this country, it was impossible peace should be made, and that, with the knowledge I now possessed of the opinions entertained by the French govern ment, |
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