The Paget Papers.
Letter from the Hon. Arthur Paget (Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Court of Austria) to Lord St Helens.
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 2. Pages 48 - 49.
From the Hon. A. Paget to Lord St Helens.
Vienna, April 1, 1802.
My
Dear Lord,-As I cannot prudently take upon me to send by this Messenger a
copy of Lord Elgin's last despatches to the office, I must confine myself
to informing your Lordship that, finding all his endeavours to counteract
the pressing demands made by the French Chargé d'affaires to the 0ttoman
Government for the ratification of the Treaty signed at Paris unlikely to
succeed, His Lordship presented on the 7th of March a note to the Porte stating,
that if the Ottoman Govt departed from its engagements towards His Majesty
contracted by this Ratification of the Preliminaries signed in London, by
acceding to the act required of them by France, that then His Majesty would
consider Himself as released from all the ties & obligations imposed
upon him by His Alliance with the Porte, and that he (Lord Elgin) should
consider his functions with regard to that alliance as at an end.
His
Lordship informs Lord Hawkesbury that this note produced an immediate effect
on the Councils of the Porte, who the next day declared to him officially
their resolution to adhere to their engagements with England, and to abandon
all idea of ratifying the Preliminaries signed by Ali Effendi and M. de
Talleyrand.-I have, &c.
(Signed) Arthur Paget.
