698 
quence of all this, that the first con- 
sul should send a fresh force into 
Italy, in order to occupy, in case of 
necessity, the position of Tarentum. 
VII. England arming, and arm- 
ing with so much publicity, will 
compel France to put her armies on 
the war establishment, a step so im- 
portant, as cannot fail to agitate all 
Europe. 
The result of all these movements 
will be to irritate the two countries 
still more. France will have been 
compelled to take all these precau- 
tions in consequence of the English 
armaments, and, nevertheless, every 
means will be taken to excite the 
English nation, by the assertion 
that France meditates an invasion. 
The whole British population will 
be obliged to put themselves under 
arms for their defence, and their ex- 
port trade will, even before the war, 
be in a state of stagnation through- 
out the whole extent of the countries 
occupied by the French arms. 
The experience of nations, and 
the course of events, prove, that the 
distance between such a state of 
things and actual hostility, is. unfor- 
tunately not remote. 
As to the differences, of which 
meation is made in his Britannic 
majesty’s message, we know not of 
any that we have with England ; 
for it cannot be imagined, that a 
serious intention can have existed 
in England, of evading the execution 
of the treaty of Amiens, under the 
protection of a mililary armament. 
Europe well knows, that it is pos- 
sible to attempt the dismemberment 
of France, but not to intimidate her. 
No. 43. 
Dispatch from Lord Whitworth to 
Lord Hawkesbury, dated Paris, 
March 14, 1803, 
ANNUAL REGISTER, 1803. 
My lord, 
The messenger, Mason, went. on 
Saturday with my dispatches of that 
date, and, until yesterday, Sunday, 
Isaw no one, likely to give me any 
farther information, such as I could 
depend upon, as to the effect which 
his majesty’s message had produced 
on the first consul, At the court 
which was held at the Thuilleries | 
upon that day, he accosted me, evi- 
demily under very considerable agi- 
tation. He began by asking me if 
I had any news from England. I 
told him that I had received letters 
from your lordship two days. ago. 
He immediately said, and so you 
are determined to go to war. No! 
I replied, we are too sensible of the 
advantages of peace—Nous avons, 
said he, déja fait la guerre pendant 
quinze ans.—As he seemed to wait 
for an answer, I observed. only, 
een est déja trop.—Mais, said he, 
vous voulez la faire encore quinze 
annés, et vous m’y forgez.—I told 
him, that was very far from his ma- 
jesty’s intentions.—He then pro- 
ceeded to count Marcow and the 
chevalier Azara, who were standing 
together, at a little distance. from 
me, and said. to them, les Anglois 
veulent la guerre, mais s’ils sont les 
premiers a tirer ’epée, je serai le 
dernier a la remettre. Ils ne res 
spectant pas les traités. J] faut do- 
rénayant les couvrir de crepe noir. 
—He then went his round. In a 
few minutes he came back to me, 
and resumed the conversation, if 
such it can be called, by something 
personally civil to me. He began 
again — Pourquoi des armémens ? 
Contre qui des mesures de pracau- 
tion? Je n’ai pas un seul vaisseau 
de ligne dans les ports de France ; 
mais si yous voulez armer, j’armerai _ 
aussi; si vous voulez vous battre, 
je 
