order to defeat, as much as depended 
upon me, their intention of gaining 
time, 1 wrote again to M. de Tal- 
leyrand, recapitulating the steps 
Thad taken since the return of the 
Bi thes and desired Mr. Tal- 
bot, the secretary of the embassy, to 
ke it, himself, at nine o’clock at 
night, when I thought M. de Tal- 
leyrand would be at home, to his 
house at Meudon. He was; how- 
-eyer, notat home. Mr. Talbot was 
‘told that he was at St. Cloud, where 
he had been all day, and that he 
would not be back until very late. 
He, therefore, left my private let- 
ter, with his name, and returned with 
the packet. It was my intention to 
have sent it on the following morn- 
ing to the Bureau, with orders, that 
it should be left there; at, one 
o’clock in the morning, I received 
a note from M. de Talleyrand, ac- 
counting for his not being able to 
answer me sooner, and appointing 
me at twelve o’clock at the Bureau 
des Relations Extérieures. 1 went 
at the appointed time. He began, 
by apologizing for having so long 
postponed the interview, which he 
attributed to his having -been the 
whole day with the first consul. 
We then entered upon business. 
I told him that, limited as I was 
by your lordship’s instructions, he 
could not be surprised at my impa- 
tience fo aequit myself of my duty. 
I explained to him the nature of 
your lordship’s observations on the 
‘proposal of the 4th, and that it was 
considered as, on one hand, imprac- 
ticable, from the refusal of the em- 
peror of Russia to take charge of 
ta, and, on the other, as being 
wholly inadequate to his majesty’s 
just pretensions. I gave him the 
Note in which this was expressed, 
and the project, on which alone a 
be, 
STATE PAPERS. 
731 
satisfactory arrangement could be 
framed. He read with apparent 
attention, and without many re- 
marks; and, after some time, he 
asked me, if I felt myself authorized, 
by my instructions, to conclude with 
him a convention, frarmed on the 
basis of my project, or, indeed, ex- 
tending that basis, since the first ar- 
ticle of it would be the perpetual 
possession of Malta to England, in a 
return for a consideration. I told 
him, I most certainly was not autho- 
rized to enter into any engagement 
of such anature, which would make 
the negotiation one of exchange, in- 
stead of a demand of satisfa¢tion and 
security.. To this he replied, that 
the satisfaétion and security which 
we required was Malta, and that 
this we obtained. That the first 
consul could not accede to what he 
considered, and what must be consi- 
dered by the public and by Europe, 
as the effect of coercion, but if it 
were possible to make the draft 
palatable, did I think myself justifi- 
able in refusing to do so. [I told 
him that, a¢ting in strict compli- 
ance with my instructions, I could 
haye no need of justification, and 
that [ came to him with the deter- 
mination of abiding strictly by them. 
He contended, that by communicat- 
ing a project, I merely stated on 
what grounds we would be willing 
to conclude, and that a counter- 
project, founded on the basis of 
giving us what we required, could 
not be refused a fair discussion. 
To this, 1 urged the resolution of 
his majesty’s ministers, to avoid 
every thing which could protract 
the negotiation. That I saw no 
other means of acting up to those 
views, than by making my stand on 
the project at all. events. I urged 
him, repeatedly, to explain himself 
more 
