STATE PRAPERS. 
this point, he has, in a case which is 
of essential interest to the gogd of 
human nature, done his duty as a 
man and aSa sovereign. 
I should sincerely regret, sir, 
that a discussion, began under such 
favourable auspices, should termi- 
nate without the attainment of its 
object. Should the hopes which I 
cherish vanish, I shall, at al] events, 
have the consolation of thinking, 
that the fault cannot be imputed to 
_ France, who demands and wishes 
nothing but what is justand reason- 
able. 
¢ Accept, sir, the assurance of my 
_ distinguished consideration. 
(Signed) Ch. Mau. Talleyrand. 
No. XI. 
Letter from Mr. Secretary Fox to 
M. Talleyrand, dated Downing 
: 
Street, June 14, 1806. 
; (Translation.) 
Downing-street, June 14, 1806. 
excellency’s dispatch of the 2d in- 
stant, 
__ Ecannot understand how, in treat- 
‘ing conjointly with England and 
Russia, you will acknowledge the 
principle of the alliance subsisting 
between the two courts; at most 
_ you will only acknowledge the faci; 
“much less can I conceive how you 
€an consider yourselves in any de- 
; gree lowered by this mode of treat- 
ing. Wedonot by any means pre- 
tend to dictate to France, either the 
_ Conditions of peace, or a mode of 
% en coutrary to the estab- 
_ lished usages. 
____In 1782, the epoch which your 
excellency alludes to in your dis- 
_ patch, we did not think ourselves in 
Vor. XLVIIL. 
. Sir, 
3 Ireceived a few days ago your 
% 
72% 
a state of degradation, yet when M. 
de Vergennes informed us that it 
was necessary for the honour of his 
court, that we should treat conjoint- 
ly with France, Holland and Spain, 
we did not think ourselves in any 
degree lowered by adopting the 
mode of negotiation to which that 
minister appeared to attach so much 
consequence. Your government is 
sincerely desirous of peace. In 
this country the same sentiment pre~- 
vails; and yet I could very well 
say of England what your excel-~ 
lency says of France ; namely, that 
the continuance of the war has 
never been prejudicial either to its 
glory or to its grandeur ; perhaps 
indeed, it has been so to its real 
and permanent interests, but. it 
has been equally so to those of 
France. 
With respect to the secret ‘condi- 
tions of our alliance with Russia, 
your excellency is too enlightened 
not toallow, that in what concerned 
the war and the propositions to be 
made to Prussia and Austria, secrecy 
was absolutely necessary. All that 
is nowat anend ; toact in concert 
for the establishment of the repose 
of Europe, and for its subsequent 
preservation, is the principal, and L 
may even say the only object of our 
present communications. 
After the open disavowal which 
you have made of the intention ° 
falsely imputed to you with respect 
to our continental connections, ne 
doubt can exist upon that essential 
point, and it would be the more dis- 
tressing that difficulty, in form ra- 
ther than in substance, should pro- 
long a war which the two governe 
ments equally desire to terminate, 
Let us now come to what your 
excellency proposes. 
¥ Prep The 
es 
