crisis; that I had hoped the French government, actuated by the same generous motives, would have acted in the same manner; that it might, by pursuing a contrary line of conduết, gain still a few days; but I must declare, that, in a very short time, I should have to communicate to him those very terms from which his were so wide, but to draw nearer to which was, perhaps, the object of his negotiating, in the form of an ultimatum, which would at least have one good effect, that of bringing the matter to an issue, and the certainty even of war was preferable to the present state of indecision. To all I could say, M. Talleyrand objected the dignity and honour of the first consul, which could not admit of his consenting to any thing which might carry with it the appearance of yielding to a threat. I told him that it never could be admitted that the first consul had a right to act in such a manner as to excite jealousy and create alarm in every state of Europe, and when asked for explanation or security, say that it was contrary to his honour or his dignity to afford either. Such arguments might, perhaps, do, when applied to some of those governments with which France had been accustomed to treat, or more properly to dictate to, but never could be used to Great Britain; that his majesty had a right to speak freely his opinion, and possessed also the means, whenever he chose to employ them, of opposing a barrier to the ambition of any individual, or of any state, which should be disposed to threaten the security of his dominions, or the tranquillity of Europe. Our conversation concluded by M. de Talleyrand's assuring me that he would report the substance of it to the first consul in the evening, and that, probably, he should have occasion to see me on the following day. I have the honour to be, &c. (Signed) Whitworth. The Right Hon. Lord Hawkesbury, &c. &c. &c. No. 62. Dispatch from Lord Whitworth to Lord Hawkesbury, dated Paris, April 25, 1803. My lord, The conversation I had on Saturday morning with M. Talleyrand has produced nothing from which I can draw a more favourable conclusion, as to the result of the negotiation, than when I last addressed your lordship. He told me, that although he had seen the first consul the night before, he had nothing to add to what he had communicated to me on Friday; that the first consul was determined not to give his consent to our retaining Malta, either in perpetuity or for a term, although, of the two, he would prefer the former, as the less repugnant to his feelings; that he was therefore ordered to repeat the proposal he had lately made me, of acceding to our demand of Lampedosa, or any of the neighbouring islands; and that, as our object was to obtain a settlement in the Mediterranean, he imagined that which we had ourselves pointed out would answer every purpose we might have in view. But, at all events, the first consul neither could nor would relinquish his claim to the full execution of the treaty of Amiens. To this I could only repeat what I had already said to him on the inade3 A quacy quacy of such a proposal, and of the impossibility in which I found myself to transmit it to your lordship. I lamented the course which the negotiation was taking, and that the first consul should have so little regard to the dreadful consequences which must ensue, as to suffer them to be outweighed by a mistaken notion of dignity. And I added, that notwithstanding the acquiescence which he might have met with from others, the plea of its being incompatible with the dignity of the French government to give satisfaction or security, when both might with justice be demanded, could never be admitted by Great Britain. M. de Talleyrand heard every thing I could say with the utmost patience, notwithstanding he had nothing satisfactory to say, and seemed unwilling to break up the conference. He constantly brought forward the same inadmissible proposal, requesting that I would at least communicate it to your lordship. This, I told him, I could not refuse to do, since every thing which passed between him and me must, of course, make the subject of my reports to your lordship. I declared, however, at the same time, that I should not think myself by any means authorized to suspend the execution of any instructions I might receive, tending to bring the negotiation to an issue, in the expectation of any change which such a proposal might produce. All I could do, and that I would certainly do, would be to communicate the ultimatum, if his majesty should think proper to furnish me with it, confidentially to M. de Talleyrand, before I presented it officially to him, as minister for foreign affairs. He assured me that " he should consider such a conduct as a further proof of my desire to conciliate, and that he could not yet forbear hoping that the differences might be adjusted. I repeated that if his hope was founded on the expectation of his majesty being induced to recede from his demand, it would be deceiving himself to cherish it. The remainder of the conversation turned on the calamities which would follow the failure of our endeavour to avoid a rupture. He insinuated that Holland, Naples, and other countries connected with Great Britain, would be the first victims of the war. I asked him whether he thought that such a conduct would add to the glory of the first consul, or whether the falling on the innocent and defenceless would not rather tarnish it, and ultimately unite against him, not only the honest men in his own country, but every government in Europe.— That it certainly would excite more detestation than terror in England, at the same time that it would serve to impress upon us still more strongly the necessity of omitting no means of circumscribing a power so perniciously exerted. I could not help adding, that although no act of hostility had actually taken place, yet the inveteracy with which our commerce, our industry, and our credit had been attacked in every part to which French influ ence could be extended, did, in fact, almost amount to the same, since it went to prove, in addition to the general system of the first consul, that his object was to pursue, under the mask of peace, the same line of conduct in which the preceding governments had acted. I now trust entirely to the effect of of the ultimatum, which will at least convince him that we are in earnest, and that he has nothing to expect from protraction. I shall not, how ever, as I said before, make use of this officially, until I have tried its effect in a more conciliatory man ner. I have the honour to be, &c. (Signed) Whitworth. The Right Hon. Lord Hawkesbury, &c. &c. &c. P. S. Your lordship's dispatches of the 23d, with their inclosures, were delivered to me, by Shaw, this evening at nine o'clock. I shall see M. de Talleyrand to-morrow morning; and I trust your lordship will not disapprove my following the line of conduct I had proposed, and which I have mentioned to your lordship, of informing him of the nature of my instructions, a few hours before I carry them officially into execution. W. No. 63. Extract of a Dispatch from Lord Whitworth to Lord Hawkesbury, dated Paris, April 27, 1803. I avail myself of the opportunity of a messenger passing through from Constantinople and Vienna, to inform your lordship of the state of the negotiation at this moment. I communicated to M. de Talleyrand the purport of my instructions of the 23d, yesterday at four o'clock. He immediately asked me if the possession of Malta was still insisted upon. I told him most certainly it was; and I repeated to him the particulars of the terms on which it was yet possible to conclude the business. That these were, the possession of Malta for ten years, during which period the authority, civil and military, was to remain solely in his majesty, and that at the ex piration of that term it was to be given up to the inhabitants, and not to the order; provided, also, that his Sicilian majesty shall be induced to cede to his majesty the island of Lampedosa; that Holland should be evacuated by the French troops within a month after the conclusion of a convention by which all these provision shall be secured; and that his majesty would consent to acknowledge the new Italian states, provided stipulations were made in favour of his Sardinian majesty and of Switzerland. I had no sooner made known these conditions than M. de Talleyrand told me it would be perfectly unnecessary to delay the official communication; for, as the possession of Malta was still insisted upon, although for a term, the first consul, would not consent to them. I accordingly did, repeat them to him in the manner he desired; when he told me that he comprehended perfectly what we required, but that, in similar cases, it was usual to state the demand in writing, and he desired I would give him a note upon the subject. I told him that I would repeat to him once more, or as often as he pleased, the express terms which I had stated to him, and that as my communication to him was verbal, I should, of course, be content with an answer in the same form. He consented, at length, to receive it, and to communicate to me the first consul's answer as soon as possible. I desired that he would recollect, that Tuesday next must be the day of my departure. was of yesterday evening. This morning a person came to me, whom I suspect of being employed by the first consul, for the purpose of ascertaining my sentiments, and told me that I should, in the course of the day, receive a letter from M. de Talleyrand, drawn up under the inspection of the first consul, which, although not exactly what I might wish, was, however, so moderate as to afford me a well-grounded hope, and might certainly be sufficient to induce me to delay, for a short time, my departure. I told him that it would be a matter of great satisfaction to me to perceive a probability of bringing the negotiation to a favourable issue; and that I should be extremely sorry to spoil the business by any useless precipitation. But it must be recollected, that I acted in conformity to instructions; that those instructions were positive; that by them I was enjoined to leave Paris on Tuesday next, unless, in the intermediate time, certain conditions were agreed to. Having received no letter in the course of the day, about four o'clock I went to M. de Talley rand; I told him that my anxiety to learn whether he had any thing favourable to tell me, brought me to him, and in case he had not, to recal to his recollection that Tuesday was the day on which I must leave Paris, and to request that he would have the necessary passports prepared for me and my family. He appeared evidently embarrassed, and after some hesitation observed, that he could not suppose I should really go away; but that, at all events, the first consul never would recal his ambassador. To this I replied, his majesty recalled me in order to put an end to the negotiation, on the principle that even actual war was preferable to the state of suspense in which England, and indeed all Europe, had been kept for so long a space of time. From the tenor of his conversation, I should rather be led to think that he does not consider the case as desperate. Upon my leaving him he repeatedly said, J'ai encore de l'Espoir. Saturday Evening. P. S. This day has passed without any occurrence whatever. The letter in question has not yet arrived. No. 65. xtract of a Dispatch from Lord Whitworth to Lord Hawkesbury, dated May 2, 1803. Another day has passed over without producing any change. I deter- mined to go myself to M. de Talleyrand, and to deliver, instead of sending, the inclosed letter. I told him that it was with great reluctance that I came to make this last application to him. That I had long since informed him of the extent of the term which had been assigned for my stay at Paris, and that as I had received, to this moment, no answer whatever to the proposal I had repeatedly made, I could no longer delay requiring him to furnish me with the necessary passports for the return of myself, my family, and the remainder of my mission, to England. Upon this I gave him the letter, a copy of which I inclose, and, on reading it, he appeared somewhat startled. He lamented that so much time had been lost; but said that enough remained, if I was authorised to negotiate upon other terms. I could of course but repeat to him, that I had no other terms to propose, and that, therefore, unless the the first consul could so far gain upon himself as to sacrifice a false punctilio to the certainty of a war, of which no one could foresee the consequence, nothing could possibly prevent my departure to-morrow night. He hoped, he said, this was not so near; that he would communicate my letter, and what I had said, to the first consul immediately, and that, in all probability, I should hear from him this evening. I thought it, however, right to apprise him, that it was quite impossible I could be induced to disobey his majesty's orders, and protract a negotiation on terms so disad. vantageous to ourselves, unless he should furnish me with such a justification as would leave me no room to hesitate; and that I did not see that any thing short of a full acquiescence in his Majesty's demands could have that effect. He repeated, that he would report the conversation to the first consul, and that I should shortly hear from him. In this state the business now rests; I am expecting either a proposition, or my passports, and am consequently taking every measure for setting out to-morrow night. Inclosure referred to in No. 65. Sir, Paris, May 2, 1803. When I had the honour, on Tues. day last, of communicating to you, officially, the last propositions which I was instructed by my court to submit to the French government, for the sake of removing the present difficulties, I had the honour to announce to you, that, in case the first consul should not consent to these propositions, I should find myself under the necessity of leaving Paris in eight days. We are nearly arrived at the end of this period, with out my having received any answer to this communication. It remains for me only, therefore, to obey the orders of the king my master to return to him; and, for this purpose, I entreat you, sir, to have the goodness to furnish me with the necessary passports. I seize this opportunity of renewing to your excellency the assurances of my high consideration. (Signed) Whitworth. His Excellency M. de Talleyrand. No. 66. Extract of a Dispatch from Lord Whitworth to Lord Hawkesbury, dated Paris, May 4, 1803. Soon after I had dispatched the messenger, the night before last, with my dispatches of the 3d, I received a communication from M. de Talleyrand, of which I inclose a copy, the purport of which was so completely short of every thing which could be satisfactory, that I did not think myself authorized to enter into any discussion upon it; and, as early as I could on the following morning, I returned the answer, of which the inclosed is a copy. After this I concluded, of course, that there was an end to the negotiation. I had, for some days past, been preparing for my departure; every measure was taken for setting out at four o'clock this morning, and we were expecting only the passports which I had demanded, for the purpose of ordering the post horses. The day and the evening passed without the passports having been sent; and whilst we were de. liberating on the motives of such a delay, about twelve o'clock at night, a gentleman who was with me received a communication, which con 3 A 3 vinced |