! sions which his majesty might obtained, I could take upon self to assure him, that his ma sty's ambition led him rather to reserve than to acquire. And that, with regard to the most propitious moment for renewing hostilities, his majesty, whose sincere desire it was to continue the blessings of peace to his subjects, would always consider such a measure as the greatest calamity; but that, if his majesty was so desirous of peace, it must not be imputed to the difficulty of obtaining allies; and the less so, as those means which it might be necessary to afford such allies for, perhaps, inadequate services, would all be concentrated in England, and give a proportionate increase or energy to our own exertions. At this part of the conversation, he rose from his chair, and told me that he should give orders to gene ral Andreossy to enter on the discussion of this business with your lordship; but he wished that I should, at the same time, be made acquainted with his motives, and convinced of his sincerity, rather from himself than from his ministers. He then, after a conversation of two hours, during the greatest part of which he talked incessantly, conversed for a few moments on indifferent subjects, in apparent good humour, and retired. Such was, nearly as I can recol lect, the purport of this conference. It must, however, be observed, that he did not, as M. Talleyrand had done, affect to attribute colonel Sebastiani's mission to commercial motives only, but as one rendered necessary, in a military point of view, by the infraction by us of the treaty of Amiens. I have the honour to be, &c. Whitworth. P. S. This conversation took last, and this mornvi. de Taileyrand. He with the first consul, after him, and he assured me that d been very well satisfied with the frankness with which I had Lade my observations on what fell from him. I told him, that, without entering into any farther detail, what I had said to the first consul amounted to an assurance of what I trusted there could be no doubt, of the readiness of his majesty's ministers to remove all subjects of discussion, where that could be done without violating the laws of the country, and to fulfil strictly the engagements which they had contracted, inasmuch as that could be reconciled with the safety of the state.As this applied to Malta and Egypt, he gave me to understand that a project was in contemplation, by which the integrity of the Turkish empire would be so effectually secured, as to do away every cause of doubt or uneasiness, either with regard to Egypt, or any part of the Turkish dominions. He could not then, he said, explain himself farther. Under these circumstances, no one can expect that we should relinquish that assurance which we have in hand, till something equally satisfactory is proposed and adopted. Whitworth. The Right Hon. Lord Hawkesbury, &c. &c. &c. I have great satisfaction in communicating to you his majesty's entire approbation of the able and judicious manner in which you appear to have executed the instructions which I gave to you in my dispatch of the 9th instant. The account you have given of your interview with the first consul, is, in every respect, important. It is unnecessary for me to remark on the tone and temper in which the sentiments of the first consul appear to have been express. ed, or to offer any observations in addition to those so properly made by your excellency, at the time, upon several of the topics which were brought forward by the first consul, in the course of your conversation; I shall, therefore, content myself with referring your excellency to my dispatch to Mr. Merry, of August 28, 1802, in which the subject of the complaints of the French government, respecting the freedom of the press, the emigrants, &c. are particularly discussed. I cannot, however, avoid noticing, that nothing approaching to explanation or satisfaction is stated to have been thrown out by the first consul, in answer to the just representations and complaints of his majesty, in consequence of the unwarrantable insinuations and charges contained in colonel Sebastiani's report against his majesty's government,--the of ficer commanding his forces in Egypt, and his army in that quarter; but that, on the other hand, the language of the first consul has tended to strengthen and confirm the suspicions which that publication was peculiarly calculated to excite. I shall now proceed to give you some farther instructions on the language which it may be proper for moɑ pose you mean Piedmont and Swit- acce hav my R, 1803. → property of the Spanish is restored to them;-the tion of a grand master :circumstances would have sufficient, without any other al grounds, to have warranted Majesty in suspending the evasation of the island, until some -ew arrangement could be adjusted for its security and independence. But when it is considered how greatly the dominion, power, and a influence of France have of late been extended, his majesty must feel that he has an incontestible right, conformably to the principles on which the treaty of peace was negociated and concluded, to demand additional securities in any new arrangement which it might be necessary to make, with a view of effect. ing the real objects of that treaty. And these considerations, sufficient as they might be in themselves, to justify the line of conduct which his majesty had determined to adopt, ie that article of the have received additional force from 11h22 reizes to Malta, the the views which have been recently s centaired in it (owing and unreservedly manifested by the #POSTOS winch it was not French government, respecting the power of his majesty to con- Turkish dominions, and the islands subjects and the sever elsewher of justic I said. fidenc crea be: tie pa b which any dis- last: believe, had with subject, ment were e explanaanthorized, at respecting e not been found capable in the Adriatic (and which have been recon. The refusal of Russia in a great degree admitted by the made to the arrangement, cx- first consul, in his interview with espt on condition that the Maltese your excellency)-views which are langue should be abolished;—the directly repugnant, not only to the suence of the court of Berlin, with spirit, but to the letter of the treaty respect to the invitation that has of Amiens. From the postscript in your exbeen made to it, in consequence of the treaty, to become a guarantee cellency's letter, it appears that a ing power-the abolition of the project was in contemplation, by Spanish priories, in defiance of the which, according to the declaration treaty to which the king of Spain of M. Talleyrand, the integrity of was a party-the declaration of the Turkish territory would be sethe Portuguese government, of their cured so as to do away every cause intention to sequestrate the proper- of doubt or uneasiness, either with ty of the Portuguese priory, as regard to Egypt, or to any other forming a part of the Spanish langue, part of the Turkish dominions.— 1 His His majesty will consider the communication of such a project as indicating a disposition, on the part of the French government, to afford him explanation and satisfaction respecting some of the points which have been the subject of his representations. But, after all that has passed, his majesty cannot consent that his troops should evacuate the island of Malta, until substantial security has been provided for those objects which, under the present circumstances, might be materially endangered by their removal. I am, &c. Hawkesbury. His Excellency Lord Whitworth, &c. &c. &c. No. 40. Dispatch from Lord Whitworth to Lord Hawkesbury, dated Paris, March 5, 1803. My lord, I saw M. de Talleyrand yesterday, and acquitted myself of your lordship's instructions. I recapitulated the several arguments therein contained, dwelling particularly on the open avowal of the first consul's views in Egypt; and concluding with the resolution of his majesty not to withdraw his troops from Malta, until some security should be given, that, by so doing, his majesty should not expose the safety of his own dominions. He heard me with great patience, and, in answer, endeavoured, as before, to convince me that there was no reason whatever for the apprehensions which we entertained. That it was true, the acquisition of Egypt had been, and, perhaps, still was, a favourite object of the first consul; but that it was not so much so, as to allow him to go to war for its attainment. I then told him, that what had in a particular manner excited the attention of your lordship, in my last report, was the assurance he had given me of some project being in contemplation, whereby the integrity of the Turkish empire would be so insured, in all its parts, as to remove every doubt or apprehension. I begged him, therefore, to explain himself on this subject, which I conceived to be of the utmost importance, since it was only by such means that both parties could be satisfied. He then gave me to understand, that what he had termed a project was nothing more than what had been expressed in the first consul's message to the legis lative body, when he says, that there is a French ambassador at Constan tinople, who is charged to give every assurance of the disposition of France to strengthen, instead of to weaken, that government. I expressed a doubt whether this, or any other parole security, would be considered as sufficient in such a transaction. Hereupon he repeated the question-What, then, is the security which you require, and which the first consul can give?— This, I told him, must be the subject of the negotiation on which we were willing to enter; and I trusted that the French government would bring into it the same temper, and the same real desire to conciliate, which was manifested by his majesty's ministers. M. de Talleyrand now informed me, that the first consul had, five or six days ago, ordered instructions to be sent to general Andreossy, by which he was to require an immediate and categorical answer to the plain question-Whether his majesty would, or would not, cause Malta to be evacuated by the Bri troops? That he concluded this communication was already made, and that he expected to learn the result of it in a very few days; adding, that all the first consul wanted was to know precisely on what he had to depend. I could not help lamenting this precipitate measure, since it could answer no good purpose, and would only tend to introduce into the discussion ill-humour and offended dignity, in the place of dispassionate reasoning. I begged him, however, to be prepared, and to prepare the first consul, to meet with more opposition to his will than he had been accustomed to on similar occasions. I told him, that his majesty was willing to discuss the point in dispute with fairness and candour, but certainly never would be intimidated into acquiescence; and I repeatedly urged, that, if he wished well to the peace of the two countries, he should prepare the first consul for the consequences which might naturally be expected from this step, and thus prevent the effect of any sudden gust of ill-humour. He was unwilling to admit that there could be any chance of satisfying the first consul short of a compliance with his wishes, founded, as he pretended. on good faith, Our conversation ended here, and I wait the result of Gen. Andreossy's communication with the utmost impatience. absolute and offensive than they really are. I found him to-day entirely disposed to give me another opinion, and to convince me, that the first consul, far from wishing to carry matters to extremity, was desirous to discuss, fairly, and without passion, a point which, he admitted, was of importance to both countries. He repeatedly assured me, that much as the first consul might have the acquisition of Egypt at heart, he would sacrifice his own feelings to the preservation of peace, and henceforth seek to augment his glory, by improving and consolidating the internal situation of the country, rather than by adding to its possessions. (Signed) Right Ilon. Lord Hawkesbury, &c. &c. &c. W. No. 41. Note from General Andreossy to Lord Hackesbury, dated March 10, 1803. The undersigned ambassador and minister plenipotentiary of the French republic to his Britannic majesty, had received from the first consul express orders to require from the British government some expla nations respecting the protracted occupation of the island of Malta, by the English troops. He had hoped that verbal communications would have been sufficient to have produced satisfactory expositions, by preparing the way for the mutual conciliation of minds and interests, a conduct which has been prescribed to him by his ardent zeal for the maintenance of harmony between the two countries, and of the peace of Europe, objects of the solicitude of the French government: but the undersigned thinks he can no longer delay |