S FAs E «PoP Eak 78. 
venient, after an attentive and de- 
liberate perufal of thefe treaties, in 
order to ftate refpectively our ideas 
on this fubject. I obferved, that 
although I was perfectly prepared 
to do it at the moment, and felt al- 
moft bold enough to affirm, that no 
meafure could. be devifed which 
would fo completely meet: our in- 
tentions as an unreferved renewal 
of the treaties they hefitated about, 
yet I was very willing to acquiefce 
in their propofal, with this fimple 
-obfervation, that if any delay arofe 
from it, fuch delay was imputable 
to them and not to me. My words 
were, Je ne me rends fas refponfable 
es longueurs dans lefquelles cette difcuf- 
Sion pourrait mous entrainer. The 
French minifter’s anfwer was, Sz 
des longueurs fervent a determiner des 
objets qui fourraient donner lien a des 
querelles a l'avenir, ce fera du tems bien 
emp. It was not my with to con- 
teft this affertion, and our contfer- 
ence ended with it. 
(No. 19.) 
Extra® of a Difpatch from Lord 
Malmefoury to Lord Grenville, dated 
July 16, 1797. 
My Lord, 
Yefterday, at the moment I was 
preparing to attend the conference, 
in which we were to enter into 
fuller difcuffions on the. litigated 
fubjeé& of the renewal of the trea- 
ties mentioned in the fecond_arti- 
cle of the frojet, I received from 
the French Legation the inclofed 
paper (A). In about an hour I 
returned the inclofed anfwer (B), 
to which I received the inclofed re- 
ply (C); and I am this moment 
come from the conference which 
Lrg taken place in confequence 
of if. 
195 
I began. by faying, that I had fo- 
licited this interview from the fame 
motive which would actuate every 
part of my conducét; that I withed 
to make my reports not only cor- 
reét, but conciliatory, as far as de- 
pended on me; and I now was 
come, in order, if poffible, to ob- 
tain from them fuch comments and 
explanations on the note they fent 
to me yefterday, as would enable 
me, when I tranfmitted it to my 
court, to fecure the negotiation 
from being interrupted, perhaps a- 
bruptty terminated, by the perufal of 
it. IfI underftood it right, it meant, 
that the Direétory requires, as 
a fine qua non preliminary, that every 
thing the King has conquered from 
all and each of his enemies fhould 
be reftored, and that, till this ref- 
toration was confented to, the ne- 
gotiation was not even to begin. 
I faid, if I was correét in this ftate- 
ment, and the plain fenfe of the de+ 
claration would bear no other in- 
terpretation, I muft add, that it 
would not only moft certainly pre- 
vent the treaty from beginning, but 
would leave no room for treating 
at all, fince it deprived his Majefty 
of every means of negotiation ; for 
I could not fuppofe that it was in 
their thoughts to intimate that the 
principle of the treaty, as far as it 
related to his Majefty, was to be one 
of all ceflion, and no compenfa- 
tion; and yet that was precifely the 
pofition in which ‘his Majeity was 
placed by their note: 
One of the French Plenipoten-~ 
tiaries, who had let me proceed ra- 
ther reluétantly, here ftopt me, and. 
faid, that he and his colleagues were 
exceedingly happy that I had ex- 
prefied a wifh to fee them before I 
difpatched my meffenger; that they 
wifhed to affure me, that they had 
N2 thought 
