STATE PAPERS. 
fuse to fulfil the treaty. He now 
made the tour of Europe, to prove 
to me that, in its present state, there 
was no power with which we could 
coalesce, for the purpose of making 
war against France; consequently 
it was our interest to gain time, and 
if we had any point to gain, renew 
the war when circumstances were 
more favourable. He said it was 
not doing him justice, to suppose 
that he conceived himself above the 
opinion of his country or of Eu- 
rope. He would not risk uniting 
Europe against him, by any violent 
act of aggression, neither was he so 
powerful in France, as to persuade 
the nation to go to war, unless on 
good grounds. He said that he had 
not chastised the Algerines, from 
his unwillingness to excite the jea- 
lousy of other powers, but he hoped 
that England, Russia, and France 
would one day feel that it was their 
interest to destroy such a nest of 
thieves, and force them to live ra- 
ther by cultivating their land, than 
by plunder. 
In the little I said to him, (for he 
gave me, in the course of two hours, 
but very few opportunities of say- 
ing a word,) I confined myself 
strictly to the tenor of your. lord- 
ship’s instructions. I urged them 
in the same manner as I had done to 
M. de Talleyrand, and dwelt as 
strongly as I could on the sensation 
which the publication of Sebastiani’s 
report had created in England, 
where the views of France towards 
Egypt must always command the 
utmost vigilance and jealousy. He 
maintained that what ought to con- 
vince us of his desire of peace was, 
on the one hand, the little he had to 
gain by renewing the war, and, on 
- the other, the facility with which he 
might have taken possession of 
Vou, XLY. 
689 
Egypt, with the very ships and 
troops which were now going from 
the Mediterranean to St. Domingo, 
and that with the approbation of all 
Europe, and more particularly of 
the Turks, who had repeatedly in- 
vited him to join with them, for the 
purpose of forcing us to evacuate 
their territory, 
I do not pretend to follow the 
arguments of the first consul in de- 
tail: this would be impossible, from 
the vast variety of matter which he 
took occasion to introduce. His 
purpose was evidently to convince 
me, that on Malta must depend 
peace or war, and, at the same time, 
to impress upon my mind a strong 
idea of the means he possessed of 
annoying us at home and abroad. 
With regard to-the mistrust and 
jealousy which, he said, constantly 
prevailed since the conclusion of the 
treaty of Amiens, I observed, that, 
after a war of such long duration, so 
full of rancour, and carried on in a 
manner of which history has no ex- 
ample, it was but natural that a 
considerable degree of agitation 
should prevail: but this, like the 
swell after a storm, would gradually 
subside, if not kept up by the po- 
licy of either party ; that I would 
not pretend to pronounce which had 
been the aggressor in the paper war 
of which he complained, and which 
was still kept up, though with this 
difference, that in England it was in- 
dependent of government, and in 
France its very act and deed. ‘Yo 
this I added, that it must be admit- 
ted that we had such motives of mis- 
trust against Irance, as could not 
be alledged against us; and I was 
going to instance the accession of 
territory and influence gained by 
France since the treaty, when he 
interrupted me, by saying, 1 sup- 
Y y pose 
