170 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1803. 
mencement of hostilities; not asa 
cause of war, but as an act of war. 
Here all discussion about Malta 
should have ended. Lord Whit- 
worth had said, the occupation of 
Malta by England, in some shape 
or other, was necessary ; and Tal- 
leyrand had said such occupation 
would be deemed the commence- 
ment of hostilities, Ultimatum is 
sent after ultimatum ; and at last 
you give up the idea of retaining 
Malta for ever, on the dignified and 
honorable condition, that France 
agreed to your reserving it for ten 
years only, and secured your pos- 
session in full sovereignty of the 
island of Lampedosa. Your last 
ultimatum,(for however absurd may 
be the expression, there is no way 
of stating the proceedings of this 
negociation, but by taiking of the 
Ist, 2d, Sd, and last ultimatum) 
by which you, of course, pledge 
yourself to abide; and which, if 
it had been agreed to, would have 
brought the negociation to a favour- 
able issue 5 proposed, that in consi- 
deration of the immense accessions 
of strength obtained by France, 
upen the continent, she should 
give up Malta for ten years, and steal 
Lampedosa for you for ever! You 
therefore gravely state, that at the 
end of ten years, the vast accession 
of force to France, confirmed by 
ten years possession ; the immense 
increase of her resources, ripened 
to ten years maturity ; her posses- 
sion of Italy, her influence in Ger- 
many, in Spain, and in Portugal, 
and her command of Holland, will 
be counterbalanced by the enor- 
mous acquisition of a barren rock, 
of an island without an inhabitant, 
of that nursery of gulls, Lampe- 
dosa! The next cause of war is 
the attack upon the liberty of the 
press, and the requisition to trans= 
port the qmigrants to Canada or 
elsewhere. J call. upon ministers 
to point out to me, in any part of 
the correspondence, which lays 
upon your table, one remonstrance 
against the insolent attack upon the 
liberty of the press. Lord Hawkes- 
bury writes very prettily on the 
subject, and lord Whitworth assures: 
M. Talleyrand that it is impossible 
for lord Hawkesbury to controul 
the licence of the press here, be- 
cause he could not influence a sin- 
gle newspaper for his own objects, 
He trusts, therefore, that the first 
consul will not be so unreasonable 
as to insist upon his controlling the 
language of the news writers and 
pamphieteers in this country.— 
But have we one word of remon- 
strance against the insolent lan+ 
guage, or the insulting tone of the 
French government? Can minis- 
ters point out one instance in 
which they directed lord Whit- 
worth to ask satisfaction for the 
outrage, and to say, in distinct 
terms, that unless interference in 
our own concerns, by France, was 
distinctly and openly disavowed, 
he would leave the country? No; 
in proportion as France increased in 
insolence, we multiplied concession 5 
and the more revolting and violent 
became her demands, the weaker 
and the more inefficient became 
our remonstrances. When we 
look to the subject, relating to the 
French emigrants, disgraceful in- 
deed, is the tale we have to tell, and 
disgusting the scene of humiliation 
which his majesty’s ministers have 
acted. The first attack made by 
the French government is a remon-= 
strance from Jalleyrand -to Mr, 
Merry, 
ner = 
— 2 
wer“ * 
