142 APPENDIX TO BRITISH CASE. 



I now informed him that Mr. Gallatin, the present Minister 

 83 from the United States at Paris, would take part in the nego- 

 tiation, and come over to London as soon as it would be con- 

 venient to say that plenipotentiaries would be appointed on the part 

 of Great Britain. He said, the sooner the better ; and that Mr. Robin- 

 son and Mr. Goulburn would be named to treat with us. His Lord- 

 ship said that he himself would be obliged to set out for the continent 

 to attend the European congress, by the 20th or 25th of next month, 

 but that the negotiation could go on in his absence. He intimated a 

 wish, however, that it might open, if practicable, before he went 

 away. I answered that all the necessary powers and instructions 

 from our Government had not yet reached us, but that we were in 

 daily expectation of them. 



He next asked whether, in order to guard against all possible delays 

 that might be incident to the general negotiation, which was to em- 

 brace so many points, I was prepared to agree at once to a renewal of 

 the convention of 1815 for a term of years to be agreed on, declaring 

 that the British Government was ready, at any moment, to concur 

 in such agreement. 



I answered, without reserve, that I was already in possession of a 

 full power to this effect, which, independently of other objects, might 

 be carried into execution. 



I wrote yesterday to Mr. Gallatin to apprise him of the necessity 

 of coming over, the contingency which was to bring him having hap- 

 pened. From the answer I have received to my letter to him of the 

 2d of this month, I think it probable that he will be here in three 

 weeks, or sooner; so that, if our full powers arrive, the negotiation 

 may be opened before Lord Castlereagh's departure. Should Mr. 

 Gallatin concur, we will make the renewal of the convention for eight, 

 ten, or twelve years, our first act. This I hope the President will 

 approve. The reasons that operate with me are, 1. It will not only 

 provide against delays, but all uncertainties in the result, of the pos- 

 sibility of which we are forewarned simultaneously with the desire 

 expressed to enter the field of negotiation. It is not only important 

 that there should be no chasm in the commercial relations between 

 the two countries, but equally so that our merchants should have 

 timely notice that there will be none. 2. Every inquiry that I have 

 made among merchants from the United States, with whom I have 

 been able to confer in this city, has produced the most unequivocal 

 opinions that this convention is working well for us, which entirely 

 falls in with the communications I have received from the depart- 

 ment. 3. Taking this for the fact, it seems naturally to follow that 

 it is our part to consent to the renewal the moment Britain says she 

 will, lest the day should go by. Oh this head I will just state that 

 I have heard, through a respectable source, that there are already 

 some British ship-owners in Liverpool who talk of petitioning their 

 Government against its renewal. Lastly, my power to renew seems 

 to me, from your despatch of the 30th of May, to be complete; or 

 will its exercise thwart, in any degree, pur prospects of a more en- 

 larged treaty under the general negotiation. 



