a oe a 
_” 
_ changing 
ee eee Ss. ee ee oe 
STAPE, PAPERS. 727 
-ehange of greund. He defended 
himself by his former argument 
about altered circumstances, and 
said, that when no change of dispo- 
sition was manifested towards Great 
Britain herself, as to the restoration 
of Hanover, or the possession of 
Malta and the Cape, he thought we 
might suffer them to possess them- 
selves of a part of the states of their 
enemy, necessary to the tenure of 
‘the rest, which no consideration 
would now induce France to re- 
_ store, 
M. Talleyrand then asked whe- 
ther I had any powers, I told him | 
that I must decline answering that 
question, until he should inform me 
that there would be no further dis- 
cussion about Sicily; but that he 
might easily draw a conclusion that 
T had, from the honourable manner 
in which Great Britain endeavoured’ 
to remove every obstacle not in its 
own nature insurmountable. 
The minister then mentioned his 
being obliged to go to St. Cloud, 
and asked, what I said, I answered, 
*¢ That I was ordered to continue 
no conversation till I should bein- 
formed that this new demand, 
entirely the proposed 
basis, should be urged no more.” 
He appointed next morning for me 
to reccive an answer. 
I accordingly returned to the 
office yesterday morning, when M. 
Talleyrand repeated the same de- 
_ mand, offering to desist from the 
_ recognition by Great Britain of any 
or all the new states, waving ~this 
concession to the honour of the 
powers created by France, and 
setting Hanover against Sicily, and 
pleading that no such recognition 
being demanded, Hanover would 
then appear a fair equivalent for that 
island. _ He read the draft of an ar- 
ticle to this effect: that Great Bri- 
tain and France should not oppose 
each other’s arms against such of 
the powers now at war, as should 
not be named in the prelimiuary ar- 
ticles, 
To this I declined making any 
dnswer, repeating my orders not to 
converse further till he should aban- 
don this proposition, and return to 
the former basis. J added that, un- 
Jess he did so, I could expect no- 
thing but your order to return to 
England. 
M. Talleyrand wished to, revert 
to the old topic, on which I re- 
peated to him that it was impossible 
for me to converse on any part of 
the subject, till he should. entirely 
relinquish every mode of seeking for 
the possession of Sicily. 
M. Talleyrand desired me to in- 
form you, that on the 29th of June 
the French troops were to take pos- 
session of Cattaro. 
No. XVII. 
Extract from a Dispatch from the 
Earl of Yarmouth, to Mr. Secre- 
tary Fox, dated Paris, July 1, 
1806.—Received July 4. 
Paris, July 1, 1806.— Midnight. 
Sir, 
After closing the dispatch J had 
the honour to address to you this 
morning, I went for the passport M. 
Talleyrand had promised to “have 
prepared for the messenger’s re- 
turn, 
Instead of giving me the passport, 
he made many excuses for its having 
escaped his memory,. requesting me 
to wait till he should come. back 
from St. Cloud. 
When [ returned, M. ‘Talleyrand 
proposed to me to offer the Hans 
Towns as an establishment for the 
king of Naples, and that the British 
3A4 troops 
