The Paget Papers.

Letter from the Hon. Arthur Paget (Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the King of the two Sicilies) to Lord Minto.

Source: Paget, Right Hon. Sir Augustus B. Paget, G.C.B. The Paget Papers, Diplomatic and other Correspondence of the Right Hon Sir A. Paget. G.C.B., 1794-1807, 2 Vols. Longmans, Green and Co. New York 1896. Vol 1.  Pages 352 - 354.

From the Hon. A. Paget to Lord Minto.

Palermo, April 25th, 1801.

My Lord,- . . . I scarcely ever felt more satisfaction at any political event than I have experienced at hearing of the death of the late E : of Russia.* That, together with our operations in the Baltic, the defeat of the French in Egypt, and the recovery of the King, which account has just reached me, & from whose illness the French Govt expected no doubt to reap some advantage, are important events indeed, & such as I trust cannot fail ultimately to bring Bonaparte to reason.
Your Lordship will have discovered from the tenor of my dispatches how entirely I enter into the ideas you have suggested to me with regard to the situation of these Countries. Had I given credit to all that has been said & written to me upon the subject, I should have expected that the Neapolitan Government would have resisted the invasion of the Enemy. Had it done so, it is still a question to me whether thPy would not have been able to procure to themselves better and more honourable terms. It is extremely unfortunate that we have at this time had no force here to second my representations, for I am (sure) that if the Neapolitans had been properly managed, and that we had had a few sail of the line there, the Enemy would never have got admittance there. I speak supposing our last accounts to be true that a corps of 10,000 men were within 20 miles of that place. I cannot get the people here to speak out, their conduct forms the strangest mixture. I constantly receive the most obliging messages from His S. My. from whieh one might suppose that he wished to keep upon good torms with us ; on the other hand, whether it really proceeds from the difficulties they are in (which is not impossible) or from what other motive I cannot say, but the reserve and silence with regard to their situation in general at Naples, with regard to their granting of peace, with regaid to what they must or ought to know to be the immediate views and operations of the French in their Country, is really inconceivable. As to General Acton I really believe that the times are too hardly pressing upon him & that he has lost his head. He is I believe an honest man, and that is all I can say for him. I lament, my Lord, the situation of H.S.My, but indeed he is indebted to himself for it ; he has had near two years to put his Country into a state of deffence, and during that time not an improvement of any sort whatever either in his Army, Navy, or fortresses has been made ; (always trusting of his Army, against whom His Ministers are always braying out, for the defence of his Dominions). I do not say that he would have come off victorious, but I Certainly Cannot think but that he might have made a very good fight, by which means he certamly would have insured to himself the good will and admiration of the forces ; & this would have been the case had Genl Acton, who had the whole resources at his disposal, acted with the same degree of spirit that Gallo has done at Paris. Your Lordship may be sure that I will not fail to represent to H.S.My the conduct of the latter in the very favorable point of view you have represented it, & which I dare say is not felt as it ought to be. I hope your Lordship will not think that I have been too harsh with this government, for I should think it my duty to go much further lengths had I the Co-operation of an English Squadron. Words are of no avail in times like these, & I am of opinion that we should go to any length rather than risk the arrival of Succour from the Enemy in Egypt. With regard to Sicily I have the most solemn promises and assurances to rest upon, that in case of an attempt to invade it a proper resistance will be shewn ; without nothing has been said by the french about it, but we are for that not the less exposed to their infamous Intentions ; on the other hand, notwith standing all I can say or do I see little or no preparations going on for deffence. What therefore I have just said above is more grounded upon what I hope from the implacable Enmity of the Sicilian to the french, than I from any confidence I have in the vigour of this Government.
Having said all this, I beg to assure your Lordship of the presumption I am in that H.S.M. is most cordially attached to his majesty and the English nation ; and that he has seen with the utmost grief the probabilities of being forced to separate his interests from those of Gt. Britain. I say separate, for it seems to me impossible that the french should allow him to maintain his neutrality. I therefore fear that self defence will oblige us to act in a manner so repugnant to the feelings which your Lordship expresses with so much reason to be those of his majesty towards the King of Naples. If, as it would appear, the latter is competent to furnish shipping for the transport of french troops to Egypt, I presume that we must use every means in our power in order to counteract their hostilities, and blockade his ports, and even Naples itself ; and I trust that we may not be driven to make use of even stronger measures.

* Paul's son, Alexander, was opposed to the Armed Neutrality, and reversed his father's policy.

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