honour and of justice. 
aside, and informed me, that al- 
though the first consul had been 
highly irritated at the unjust suspi- 
cion which his majesty’s government 
_ entertained, yet, he would notallow 
himself to be so far mastered by his 
feelings, as to lose sight of the ca- 
lamities which the present discussioa 
might entail! upon humanity. He 
dwelt much. on this topic, and ex- 
plained the measures to which he 
should be obliged to resort: he 
‘said, that if England wished to dis- 
cuss fairly, he wished the same; 
that if England prepared for war, 
he would do the same; and that if 
England should finally determine on 
hostilities, he trused to the support 
of the French nation in the cause of 
It was in 
vain that I repeated that England 
did’ not wish for war; that peace 
was as necessary to us as it could be 
to France; that all we desired, and 
all that we were contending for, 
was security; that every thing 
proved to us that that security was 
threatened by the first consul’s 
_ views on Egypt; and that, conse- 
quently, our refusal to evacuate 
Malta was become as much a neces- 
_ sary measure of precaution, as the 
_ defence of any part of his majesty’s 
_ dominions. 
To this kind of reason- 
ing M. de Talleyrand opposed the 
moderation of the first consul, his 
great self-denial, and his determi- 
_ nation to sacrifice even the most fa- 
_ ¥ourite points to his sincere desire 
_ to avoid a rupture. 
M. de Talleyrand now told me, 
j that, in order to facilitate my com- 
- munication of the first consul’s sen- 
timents, he would communicate to 
me a paper which he had that morn. 
_ ing drawn up with him ; that it was 
not to be considered as any thing 
_ absolutely official ; that it was a me- 
< 
STATE: PAPERS. 
697 
morandum to assist me, but such as 
I might, if I chose, transmit to your 
lordship. 1 now enclose it. 
I have the honour to be, &c. 
(Signed) Whitworth, 
The Right Hon. Lord Hawkes- 
bury, &c. &e. &e. 
Note Verbale referred to in No. 42. 
I. If his Britannic majesty, in his 
message, means to speak of the ex- 
pedition of Helvoetsluys, all the 
world knows that it was destined 
for America, and that it was on the 
point of sailing for its destination, 
but, in consequence of his majesty’s 
message, the embarkation and put- 
ting to sea are about to be counter- 
manded. 
If. if we do not receive satisfac- 
tory explanation respeéting these 
armaments in England, and if they 
actually take place, z# zs natural 
that the first consul should march 
20,000 men into Holland, since 
Holland is mentioned in the mes- 
sage. 
II. These troops being once in 
the country, 7 zs naturdl that an 
encampment should be formed on 
the frontiers of Hanover; and, 
moreover, that additional bodies 
should join those trgops which were 
already embarked for America, in 
order to form new embarkations, 
and to maintain an offensive and de- 
fensive position. 
IV. It ts natural that the first 
consul should order several camps 
to be formed at Calais, and on dif- 
ferent points of the coasts. 
V. It is likewise in the nature of 
things that the first consul, who was 
on the point of evacuating Switzer- 
land, should be under the necessity 
of continuing a French army in that 
country. 
Vi. Itis also the natural conse- 
quence 
