tot, SAGA T Boat A P BOR S, 
That fo allow it to remain in doubt 
whether his Majefty was to have 
any compenfation or not, was in o- 
ther words to leave it in doubt whe- 
ther the Directory fincerely meant 
eace or not:—And that, although 
was very far from wifhing for any 
improper hafte, or not to move in 
a matter of fuch magnitude with be- 
eoming prudence and deliberation, 
yet I could not forbear lamenting 
that more than a month had now e- 
Japfed without our having advanced 
a fingle ftep, notwithftanding his 
Majeity had, in the very outfet of 
the negotiation, manifefted a mo- 
deration and forbearance unprece- 
dented under fimilar circumftances : 
That anxious as I was not to pre- 
judice it by any reprefentations of 
mine, I muft fay, this delay placed 
me in a very aukward pofition, as I 
really did not perceive how I could 
account for it in a way at all fatis- 
factory, at the fame time that it was 
quite impofflible for me to fuffer a 
longer {pace of time to pafs over 
without writing to my court. 
- ‘One of the French Plenipotenti- 
aries expreffed his earneft with that 
I would write immediately ; he was 
eonfident this delay would be feen 
in its true light; and added, * Si 
nous mn avancons pas a fas de Géant, 7’ ef~ 
Jere que nous marchins dun pas fur? — 
And another of them repeated this 
hrafe. 1 expreffed my fincere 
ope this might be the cafe, but it 
-would have been much better prov- 
ed by the communication of the 
counter-projeét they had in a man- 
ner pledged themfelves to procure, 
than by any vague and indetermi- 
nate affuranees of what might pof- 
fibly be the refult of the prefent 
fufpenfion of all bufinefs. They 
eblerved to me, that the counter- 
project would of courfe be (virtu- 
205 
‘ally) contained in their next in- 
fiructions; and that their only mo- 
tive for wifhing to fee me, was to 
convince me that this delay had 
neither originated with them, nor 
been occafioned at Paris by any 
want of attention to this important 
bufinefs, or from any caufe not im- 
mediately and clofely connected 
with it. I defired to know from 
them when they thought it proba- 
ble they fhould receive pofitive and 
explicit inftructions; whether in 
three, four, or five days? — They 
faid, it would be probably eight or 
ten; and one of them obferved, that 
as our not meeting more frequently 
gave rife to many idle rumours and 
falfe reports, he would propofe to 
me, if I had no objection, to mect 
every other day at two o’clock :— 
That it was very poffible that in 
‘our next two or three meetings we 
might have nothing material to fay, 
but that we fhould get better ac- 
quainted with each other, and in 
our converfations mutually fuggeft 
ideas which might be of ufe. 1 
readily confented to this. I hada 
conference again this morning. As 
I was very defirous of being enabled 
to tranfmit to your Lordfhip fome 
more fatisfactory account as to the 
motives of this delay, I again preff- 
ed the French Plenipotentiaries on 
this point. They each of them re- 
peated what they had faid before ; 
and on my endeavouring to make 
them feel how impoffible it was that 
his Majefty fhould not be hurtat this 
demur on fo very fimple a point, 
one of them. faid, you ought to au- 
gur favourably from it; your note 
wasa refufal to agree to what was 
ftated by the Directory in their in- 
ftructions to us a fine qua non: If the 
Directory were determined to per- 
fitt in this jine qua non, they would 
have 
