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Article MONTHLY CHRONICLE. ← Page 6 of 9 →
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Monthly Chronicle.
indefeasible , and as memorials and records of former greatness , and not as pretensions to present power . I argued however in vain . They treated it very gravely , and made so strong a stand upon it , that I could not avoid taking it for reference , which I thought it better to do , than , feeling as I did at the moment ,, 10 push the conversation further . ' The second insulated point was a very ma'erial one indeed , and which , although it has been adverted to as a proposal that might possibly be brought forward , I confess came upon me unexpectedly . It was to ask either a restitution
ofthe ships taken and destroyed at Toulon , or an equivalent for them . They grounded this claim on the preliminary declaration made b y Lord Hood on his taking possession of Toulon ; and on the eighth article of'he Declaration ofthe Committee ofthe Sections to him . They said , peace they hoped was about to . be re-established ; that his Majesty , in acknowledging the Republic , admitted that a sovereign ' y existed in the French Government ; and of course that the ships , held only as a deposit by England till this legal authority was admitted , ought now to be restored . I replied , that this claim was so perfectly unlooked
for , that it was impossible for me io have been provided for it in my instructions , and that I could therefore only convey my own private sentiments oh it , which were , that they could not have devised a step more likely to defeat the great end of our mission . One of the French P ' lenipoler . lioncries said , that he sincerely hoped not ; that without a restitution of the ships an equivalent might be found to effect the purpose desired , since their great object was , that something should appear to prove that this just demand had not been overlooked by them , and was not left unsatisfied by us . I told him fairly , I did not see where this equivalent was to be found , or how it could be appreciated ; and that , considering the great
advantages France had already obtained by the war , and those she was likely to obtain from the act of condescension I had already intimated liis Majesty was disposed to make , in order to restore peace , I was much surprized , and deeply concerned at what 1 heard . I trusted , therefore , that this very inadmissible proposal would be withdrawn : They said , it was not in their power ; and one of them , from a written paper before him , which he said were his instructions , read to me words to the effect I have already stated . ' Their third question was to any mortgage we might have upon the Low
Countries , in consequence of money lent to the Emperor by Great Britain . They wished to know if any such existed , since , as ' they had taken the Low ' Countries charged with all their incumbrances , they were to declare , that they should riot consider themselves bound to answer any mortgage given for money lent to the Emperor , for the purpose of carrying on war against them . ' I told Ihein , that without replying to this question , supposing the case to exist , the exception they required should have been stated in their Treaty with the Emperor , and could not at all be mixed up in ours ; that if they had taken
the Low Countries as they stood charged with all their incumbrances , there could be no doubt what these words meant , and that if no exception was stated in the first instance , none could be made with a retro-ac'ive effect . ' The French Plenipotentiaries ) however , were as tenacious on this point as on the other two ; and as I found to every argument I used , that they constantly opposed their instructions , I had nothing to do but to desire they would give me a written ' paper stating their three claims , in order that I might immediately transmit it to your ^ Lordship , and on this being promised our , conference broke up . ' '
( No . 13 . A . ) PROJET OF A TIIEATY OF PEACE . Be it known to all . those whom it may in any manner concern . The most Serene and most Potent Prince George the Third , by the Grace of God , KiiT » of Grea' Britain , France , and Ireland , Duke of Brunswick and X . unenburgh , Arch Treasurer and Elector of the Holy Boman Empire , and the Executive Directory of the French Republic , being equally desirous to put an end to the war ,-which has for some time past subsisted between the dominions of the two parties , have nar-ed and constituted for their Pleni potentiaries , charged with the concluding and signing of the definitive treaty of peace ; viz . the King of Great Britain , the Lord Baron of Malmesbury , a Peer of the kingdom of Great
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Monthly Chronicle.
indefeasible , and as memorials and records of former greatness , and not as pretensions to present power . I argued however in vain . They treated it very gravely , and made so strong a stand upon it , that I could not avoid taking it for reference , which I thought it better to do , than , feeling as I did at the moment ,, 10 push the conversation further . ' The second insulated point was a very ma'erial one indeed , and which , although it has been adverted to as a proposal that might possibly be brought forward , I confess came upon me unexpectedly . It was to ask either a restitution
ofthe ships taken and destroyed at Toulon , or an equivalent for them . They grounded this claim on the preliminary declaration made b y Lord Hood on his taking possession of Toulon ; and on the eighth article of'he Declaration ofthe Committee ofthe Sections to him . They said , peace they hoped was about to . be re-established ; that his Majesty , in acknowledging the Republic , admitted that a sovereign ' y existed in the French Government ; and of course that the ships , held only as a deposit by England till this legal authority was admitted , ought now to be restored . I replied , that this claim was so perfectly unlooked
for , that it was impossible for me io have been provided for it in my instructions , and that I could therefore only convey my own private sentiments oh it , which were , that they could not have devised a step more likely to defeat the great end of our mission . One of the French P ' lenipoler . lioncries said , that he sincerely hoped not ; that without a restitution of the ships an equivalent might be found to effect the purpose desired , since their great object was , that something should appear to prove that this just demand had not been overlooked by them , and was not left unsatisfied by us . I told him fairly , I did not see where this equivalent was to be found , or how it could be appreciated ; and that , considering the great
advantages France had already obtained by the war , and those she was likely to obtain from the act of condescension I had already intimated liis Majesty was disposed to make , in order to restore peace , I was much surprized , and deeply concerned at what 1 heard . I trusted , therefore , that this very inadmissible proposal would be withdrawn : They said , it was not in their power ; and one of them , from a written paper before him , which he said were his instructions , read to me words to the effect I have already stated . ' Their third question was to any mortgage we might have upon the Low
Countries , in consequence of money lent to the Emperor by Great Britain . They wished to know if any such existed , since , as ' they had taken the Low ' Countries charged with all their incumbrances , they were to declare , that they should riot consider themselves bound to answer any mortgage given for money lent to the Emperor , for the purpose of carrying on war against them . ' I told Ihein , that without replying to this question , supposing the case to exist , the exception they required should have been stated in their Treaty with the Emperor , and could not at all be mixed up in ours ; that if they had taken
the Low Countries as they stood charged with all their incumbrances , there could be no doubt what these words meant , and that if no exception was stated in the first instance , none could be made with a retro-ac'ive effect . ' The French Plenipotentiaries ) however , were as tenacious on this point as on the other two ; and as I found to every argument I used , that they constantly opposed their instructions , I had nothing to do but to desire they would give me a written ' paper stating their three claims , in order that I might immediately transmit it to your ^ Lordship , and on this being promised our , conference broke up . ' '
( No . 13 . A . ) PROJET OF A TIIEATY OF PEACE . Be it known to all . those whom it may in any manner concern . The most Serene and most Potent Prince George the Third , by the Grace of God , KiiT » of Grea' Britain , France , and Ireland , Duke of Brunswick and X . unenburgh , Arch Treasurer and Elector of the Holy Boman Empire , and the Executive Directory of the French Republic , being equally desirous to put an end to the war ,-which has for some time past subsisted between the dominions of the two parties , have nar-ed and constituted for their Pleni potentiaries , charged with the concluding and signing of the definitive treaty of peace ; viz . the King of Great Britain , the Lord Baron of Malmesbury , a Peer of the kingdom of Great