166] ANNUAL REGISTER, 1796. 
of my claim could not of course 
become a subject of argument. 
I believe I have now, with a to- 
Jerabie degree of accuracy, in- 
formed your lordship of all that 
the French minister said on my 
opening myself to him on that part 
of my instructions which more im- 
mediately relates to peace between 
Great Britain, his Imperial ma- 
jesty and France. It remains with 
me toinform your lordship what 
passed between us on the subject of 
our respective allies. 
On the articles reserving a right 
to the court of St. Petersburg, and 
to that of Lisbon, to accede te the 
treaty of peace on the strict status 
ante bellum, the French minister 
made no other remark than by 
meationing the allies of the re- 
public, and by inquiring whether 
J. was prepared to say any thing 
Telative to their interests; which 
certainly the republic could never 
abandon. This. afforded me the 
opportunity of giving in the con- 
fidental memorial B. relative to 
Spain and Holland, and I pre- 
faced it by repeatung to him the 
substance of the first part of your 
lordship’s, No 12. 
Although I had touched upon the 
subject of the Spanish part of St. 
Domingo, when! had been speak- 
ing to M. Delacroix on the peace 
with France, yet as it did not be- 
come a matter of discussion between 
us ull l came to mention the peace 
with Spain, I thought it better to 
place all that passed on the sub- 
ject in this part of my dispatch ; 
itwas the only point on which he 
entered; but I by no means infer 
from bis not bringing forward some 
claims for Spain, that we are not 
to hear of any in the course of the 
Negotiation; on the contrary, I 
have little doubt that many, and 
most of them inadmissible, will be 
made before it can end. He, 
however, was silent on them at this 
moment, and confined all he had 
tosay to combating the idea that 
Spain was bound by the treaty of 
Utrecht not to alienate her pos- 
sessions in America. I had the ar- 
ticle copied in my pocket, and I 
read it to him. He contessed it was 
clear and explicit, but that circum- 
stances had so materially altered 
since the year 1713, that engages 
ments made then ought not to be 
considered as in force now. I said 
that the spirit of the articie itself 
went to provide for distant con- 
lingencies, not for what was ex- 
pected to happen at or near the 
time when the treaty was made 
and that it was because the altera- 
tion of circumstances healluded to 
was foreseen as possible, that the 
clause was inserted; and that if 
Spain paid any regard to the faith 
of treaties, she must consider her- 
self as no less striétly bound by this 
clause now than at the moment 
whenit was drawn up. I went on 
by saying that it did not; however, 
appear quite impossible that point 
might be settled without much 
difficulty ; and that means might 
be devised that his Catholic ma- 
jesty should not break his faith 
and both England and France be 
equally satisfied. I then held out 
to him, but in general terms, that 
either Spain might regain her pos- 
session of St. Domingo, by making 
some considerable cession to Great 
Britain and France, as the price of 
peace, or that, in return eee 
the whole of St. Domingo to France 
we should retain either Martinico 
or St. Lucia and Tobago. M. De- 
lacroix listened with a degree of 
attention 
