633 Official Papers relative to the Negotiation with France. 



the name of the perlbn fclcdled would be 

 cominunicatcJ to us. 



It is proper to ftate, that in the courfe of 

 this converfstion Lord Yarnioutli recalled to 

 General Clarke's recollerliun, that in all the 

 interviews he had Iiad with him, he uniform- 

 ly ftatej tlie uti ficJiJetis as the only bafis 

 upon which he could poffibly treat. General 

 Clarke in reply faid, that he could make no 

 anfwer to what Lord Yaimoutli llatct', with- 

 out alluding to converfations, which he aft'eft- 

 ed to conlider as loofe, calling them " daro- 

 niuns p'Jit'iqufi" (political romances) ; at the 

 fame time by his filejice he clearly admitted 

 v/liat Lord Yarmouth moft dilHnclly ftjtcd. 



Our firft interview terminated with an ap- 

 pointment to meet at Lord Lauderdale's apart- 

 ments on Frirl.iy the 8th at twelve o'clock, 

 the General obierving that it might be per- 

 haps nccell-iry to put off the appointment, as 

 he vviJhed lo have full time to conlider the 

 note which had been delivered, and as the 

 new Plenipotentiary might wi(h to have an op- 

 portunity carefully to read the correfpondence 

 that hitherto had takerj place. He promifed 

 at the fame time, if this was the cafe, to give 

 us notic- by writing in the morning. 



On Friday the 8th, at eleven o'clock, the 

 inclofures (maiked B. and C.) were left at 

 IriDrcl Lauderdale's apartments, and an Jnfwer 

 was fcnt to Geneial Clarke, lluting that an 

 appointment had ocen made by Lords Lauder- 

 dale and Yarmouth to leceive the Tuvl;iih 

 Amballador at tour o'clock, and requrfting 

 that the meeting fiiould take place on Satur- 

 day the 9th, at noon. 



General Clarke and Monfieur Champagny, 

 Miniilerof the Interior, the newly appointed 

 Plenipotentiary, afterwards put olT this meet- 

 ing till fiiur o'clock to-day, as the latter was 

 obliged to attend the Emperor's privy-council 

 at Sc. Cloud. 



Late on Friday nir-ht Lord Yarmouth te- 

 c.ived the anfwer to the note delivered by 

 Lord L.iuJeidale, a copy of which ^marked 

 D.) isinclofed, towliich Lord Lauderdale and 

 Lord Yarmouth inimedi;itt!y returned the an- 

 fwer, alio inclofed, (marked E.) 



Gei.eral Clarke and M Champagny came to 

 the meeting appointed at four o'cfock, and a 

 tonverfation took place v.hich lafted for up- 

 wards of two hours. Into the details of this 

 it i.s impoilible now to enter. The general 

 objeft of it was to engage Lord Lauderdale to 

 depart from the bafis which he had infifted 

 ftjould he recognized, to prevail upon him to 

 confult his government, or to take ten or fif- 

 teen days for confidsration ; but it terminated 

 by Lord Lauderdale's declaring that the laft 

 jiDte was to be confidered as a prelude to his 

 demanding paflports, for which he fiiould ap- 

 ply lo M. Talleyrand in the couifc of tlie 

 evening. 



'Ihe letter, a copy of wh'ch (marked F.) 

 is i.ricliifed, was difp.itched to M. Tallcvrand 

 halt an hour alter tiie departure of the Ple- 

 aii^ote,.^tial:ics, snd it apps.irs highly iiripio- 



bable that any propofition (hould be madcj 

 which can alter our refolution of leaving 

 France the moment the pafTports arrive. 

 We have the hoaour to be, &r. 



(Signed) /^AUDERDAI.. 



Copy of a Nite delivered ty the E/ir! of LauJer-t 

 dale to General Clarke, at Pans, on the 

 7th of Augujl, 1806. 



The underfigned Plenipotentiary of his 

 Britannic Majelty, previous to entering upon 

 the negotiation attually pending between his 

 Sovereign and the court of France, thinks it 

 necefl'ary briefly to retrace the circumftancc* 

 in which it originated. At the fame time, he 

 conceives it confiftent with that charai-ter of 

 openness and fmcerity, which, as his Britan- 

 nic MajelVy's Plenipotentiary, he is determin- 

 ed invariably to fupport, to declare the only 

 balls upon which he can confent to treat, to 

 be the principle which Fiance herfelf origin- 

 ally laid down: and to define the nature of the 

 difcuflion into which he is about to enter. 



The ftrong and energetic language in which 

 the French government, a lew months fince, 

 cxpretled its delirefor peace, whilft it infpirej 

 his Majefty with confidence in the real fmce- 

 rity of the wiflies of the court of France, 

 left him only to regret that the propofal of 

 treating with his Majefty feparatcly from his 

 allies, appeared to prevent both France and 

 England from profiting by that happy difpofi- 

 tion of tiieir refpeflive governments; it being 

 at that time inipolVible for his Majefty, con- 

 formably with the good faith which he has 

 ever evinccil, to treat otherwife than conjoint* 

 ly with his ally the Emperor of Rulfia. 



Since tliat time, his Majefty having found 

 that cirjumftances, which it is unneccflary to 

 detail here, permitted his Majefty to nego- 

 tiate feparately: he received with great plea- 

 fure, the propofal of treating generally, upon 

 the bafis of utip.JfuLtis, which was to be fcru- 

 puloufly obferved, except in t!ie cafe of Ha- 

 nover, which was (iropofed to be ceded to his 

 Majefty, with all its dependencies. 



It is true, that this proi'ol'al was not made 

 either direftly, or througli the channel of an 

 accredited minifter: of its authenticity, how- 

 ever, no one could entertain the fmalleft 

 doubt. 



Independently of the authority which it 

 derived from the charadter of the perfon em- 

 ploved to communicate it, it leenied to agree 

 completely with what had been previoufly an- 

 nounced. For " The Empc'or defires nothing 

 that England pofiefles," (an avowal made at 

 the corauiencenient or the correfpondence be- 

 tween the two courts) was a natural prelude 

 to fuch a propofal. 



His Majt'ly regarded the ceffion of Hanover 

 as a proof of the fpirit of jultice in which the 

 propofal was conceived, becaufe this elcdlo- 

 rate, although occupied on account of a fup- 

 pcfed identity of interefts anJ of mealures, iu 

 fact had no relation wnatcvcr wi'.hthedif- 



putei 



