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 77 -78.
From Mr. Charles Stuart* to the Hon. A. Paget.
London, Saturday 30th April 1803.
Dear
Sir,-That you may not remain ignorant of the present state of our Negotiations,
I hasten to transmit by Paul some Particulars most confidentially communicated
to me, and which you may rely upon to be authentic, though few People here
are acquainted with the Truth.
When
Lord Whitworth brought forward the Propositions of Ministry to the French
Government, it appears that he solely insisted upon the total Cession of
Malta, or the Admission and Continuance of a British Garrison prov ided it
were restored to the Order, withholding the Instructions which authorized
him to offer the Acknowledgment of the King of Etruria &c. in return
for a mere temporary Possession of the Island.
At
a Conference where these Points were in Discussion Joseph Bonaparte, lamenting
that his Brother would scarcely be persuaded to accede to such Terms, required
to know if the Possession of Malta during twenty years would satisfy our
Government. Upon this Lord Whitworth sent a Courier to London, whence, after
a Cabinet Council, Shaw was dispatched on Saturday night bearing the following
definite Instruction. First to demand the unqualified Cession of Malta during
ten or twenty years, then to enter into a separate Negotiation tending to
secure an adequate Indemnity for the Losses of the King of Sardinia, &
offering on our Part to acknowledge the Kings, Republics, & Usurpations
of Bonaparte in Italy ; & should he refuse acceding to such Simple
Conditions, Lord Whitworth is directed to quit Paris in seven Days. Shaw
is expected to return on Monday, & Tatten's Motion comes on on Tuesday,
when many (relying upon Reports that a second Negotiation to bring the Old
Ministers into Office has failed) conceive the Minority will swell to 150,
though the Intelligence in my preceding Page ill agrees with so unfavourable
a conclusion.
I
hope I shall receive Orders to set off to-morrow, & remain, &c.
Ch. Stuart.
P.S.-Since
writing the above, farther Dispatches have been received from Ld Whitworth
which, strange to say, wear every appearance of immediate war. The First
Consul has excluded Joseph Bonaparte from the Conferences, & declares
that he will rather consent to a total than a Temporary cession of Malta,
alleging the former to be a voluntary, the latter an extorted Act. . . .
Talleyrand seemed considerably alarmed when Ld Whitworth declared his Intention
of quitting Paris.
However
inconsistent all this may appear, I assure you the Dispatches upon which
I found my letters are not less contradictory. The general Impression in
the Office is that we may very shortly expect a recommencement of Hostilities.
. .
C. S.
* Afterwards Lord Stuart de Rothsay.
