694 Official Papers relative to the Negodaticn with France. 



After having mutually confidered the note 

 ef their Excellencies the plenipotentiaries of 

 tlic French governm! jit, the underfigned have 

 to remark, that the Britifli govcrnnjent, far 

 from pretending to " exatt Ir m the French 

 govcrnnier.t every reftitution wliith may fuit 

 their convenience, witlio-jt being bound to 

 make any reftitution to France," never ex- 

 prelTed any other w :fli than that of treating 

 with the French Government on the bafis 

 ■which was ptopofcd to them by France hcr- 

 felf, as it is exprclVed in the note ot Lord 

 La\iderdale, viz. " to treat generally upon the 

 bafis of uti pojjidetis, which was to be Icrupu- 

 loufly obfcrved, except in the cafe of Hanover, 

 vhich was propofed to be ceded to his Britan- 

 nic Majefty vvitli all ils dependencies." 



They niuft alfoobfcrve, that if it were pof- 

 fible to miftakc the refult which would ne- 

 cefiarily follow from this pvincjplc, the ver- 

 bal uilcuilion^ which took place on the 9th 

 inftant, between the French plenipotentia- 

 ries and the underfigned, leave no room for 

 doubt, whether the propofition thus laid down 

 uas perftdlly underllood by thole pknlpoten- 

 tiarics. 



The underfigned have therefore only to re- 

 peat, tiiat tliey cannot, confiftently witii tlie 

 inftrudlions ol' their Government, do otlier- 

 wife than infift upon the previous recognition 

 of this principle. It is on this condition alone 

 tiiit they are authorized to continue the ne- 

 gotiation. 



As foon as this principle fliall be agreed to, 

 the underfigned v\ili be ready to proceed to 

 th&difculiion o! the other points mentioned in 

 the note of Lord Laudcrd.Je. 



It only remains 'or the underfigned to add, 

 that if the Ficnch government expiefles a 

 difpofition to adhere to the propofal, fuch as 

 ,iii3 Britannic Majefty undcrllands it to have 

 been made by then), they ftiall congratulate 

 tlicinfclves as on a moil fortunate event j an 

 event which proinifes (according to the ex- 

 prefiiun of Mr. Fox, quoted by their Excel- 

 lencies), " a pe.ice honorable for the two na- 

 tions, and :it the fame tirr-.e of a nature to 

 infurc the future trantjuiUity of Europe." 



(^Sijjntd) Lauderd.^le. 

 Yahmolth. 



Co'-f tf a n.ifatch frcm Mr. Secretary Tox to 

 :bt Earh of Lauderdale and Tarmoutk, dated 

 Dcivmr.g-Jlrect, jiugujl Id.'i, I'oOe. 



My Lords, 

 Kis Majelly's fervants havi; obferved, from 

 the difpatchcs received this day, that fonie 

 infinuation has been throv.'n out by the French 

 government, of a difpofition on the part of 

 this country to gain fome unfair adv.-mtage by 

 the employment of two plenipotentiaries in 

 ti'.c prcfunt (lilcufiioiis That government 

 has fince taken the obvious mode of counter- 

 afting this ad-vantage (if any fach there was) 

 by naming on thi Ir )iart alfo a fccond pieiiipo- 

 .tentiary. But, tie King's government is de- 

 firoue, vvhilc it adheres tteadily to the lub- 



ftance of thofe points which ,ire thought fit t» 

 be inlifted on for the honor and intereft of his 

 Majtfty's crown, to leave no pretence for ca- 

 vils as to the form in which thefe difcuHions 

 are carried on. 'J he advantage which was to 

 be looked to from the p"rfonal Ih.irc which the 

 Earl of Yarmouth originally had in thefe 

 tninfa'^ions, as the bearer of the overtures 

 made by France, has now ceafed ; and, while 

 his Lorddiip has, on the one hand, property 

 recorded his decilive leAimony as to the re- 

 ality of thefe overtures, ai.d as to the exa£l 

 terms of peace fo offered, the French govern- 

 ment has, on the other hand, not only re- 

 fufed to adhere to thofe offers, but has ex- 

 preiliy declared, that they never can evert 

 have entered into their thoughts. '• It ne- 

 ver could have entered into the thoughts of 

 his Majefty the Emfieror of the French, King 

 of Italy, to take for the bafis of the negotia- 

 tion the uti pojjidctis." 



In this ftate of things the King's fervants 

 are not aware of any benefits that would be 

 likely to refult to his Majefty's fervice from 

 impoling on Lord Yarmouth any further duty 

 in this rcfpedf ; nor do they wi/h that any 

 fuch ground for cavil as I have before alluded 

 to, however unfounded it would be, fhuuld 

 be left to the enemy, 



Tiiey have, therefore, fubmittcd it as their 

 hum'ule advice to his Majefty, that, in cafe 

 of the continuance of the negotiations, the 

 French minifter {houlti be informed, that 

 they will henceforth be conducted by the' 

 Earl of Lauderdale alone, the Earl of Yar- 

 mouth having obt;:ined his Majefty's gracious 

 permiffioii to return to England ; but that, 

 his Majefty does not, on iiis part, make any 

 objeflion to Lord Lauderdale's treating with 

 both tlie perfons who have been named by the 

 French government for that truft : a pioof 

 pirfedfly decifive, in all its parts, that no un- 

 lair advantage, fuch as the Fiencli goven- 

 mcnt appears to apprehend, can iia\«e been iit 

 the King's contemplation. 



(Signed) C. J. Fox:* 



Q,fy of a Ncte from the Earl cf hauderdale to 

 AJrJJ'rs. Chamfagiiy and Clarke, dated Palis, 

 ^ugujl '^9th, 1806. 



The underfigned plenipotentiary of his 

 Britannic M.ijefty, being on the point of re- 

 newing with their Excellencies the French 

 plenipotentiaries the conferences of tlic i.'6ih 

 inftant, thinks himfe'f obliged to lay befoie 

 their Excelkncits the ftate of the negotiation, 

 fuch as it ftood after tlie note tranfmittcd on 

 the putt ot tlie .underfigned and of the Earl of 

 Yarmouth on the ISitli inftant. Theijr Ex- 

 cellencies the French ['Icnipotcntiaries will 

 perceive frohithis ftattiiitnt, that the dilcuf- 

 fion is come to a puint which will no longer 

 permit the undeifigned to continue it, unlefs 

 by the admiftionof the o.ily balis on which be 

 ii authorized to negotiate, their Excellencies 



• This was Mr. Fox's laft letter. 



fliould 



