The Sun.
London, England, 1807-01-06 00:00:00

• y ,
sess-,
tntemperate speeches and publteattens, that tt,ptAters
taineeltan idea of excluding this Country from any
interference in ~the affairs of the . This
had also been got rid of by an 'express denial 9f any
sfich intention communicated to him op the pat t_ofille
'French Governipepto Having got rid of all these
iMpediments,, There remained another pui.itt, to be
adjusted, namely, whether we should treat
.COns
jointly with RUS4id. Mr. Fox could not. say to'
France that she bad not a right to steci.le wheiter
or not she would enter into this joint Negotiation;
but he could say, that if the French
.Goernroent
would not consent to treat with. England and Russia
jointly, this Government would- enter into no Ne-
gotiation. He had stated, that if the French Go-
vernment were disposed to treat on this condition
he was ready to open the Neghtiation, and in this
stage, it was that these unfortunate words of uti
possidetis had first been introduced Before thli
period it did not appear from the Correspon‘lence that
They had been even thought of, though his Noble
Friend was of opinion that they might be deduced
by just inference from the contents of the Papers.
All that he could discover, respecting a basis in the
,Con'espondence, up to- this period, was the pro-
posal that the peace should be honourable to,
both Countries. He bad listened with atten-
tion to all that had been - said on this question,
but whether it was that he was unable to compre-
hend it, or that the uti possidetis had not been the
basis previously to- this recognilSed, he could not dis-
cover-any evidence of that fa&. Lord Yartneuth
was then sent over to treat on the basis ofa'Aual pos-
session, and he had not the least doubte that the Ne!ile
Lord was convinced, that such a basis had been ad-
mitted ; but he must add, that it was not evident on
the. face of the Papers. He ',sots fully persneaed that
Mr. Fox, and his Majesty's ;Ministers, had" been
sincere in their wishes for peace; and though he
may be. singular in ihe opinion, he also thought
that the French Minister, aed Government, were
equally sincere in their desire of peace. He did,
not think that they had int ited the Negotiation
with a view to any sinister purpose.ss-iingland
lost .nothing by the Negotiation,, and France could '
not have gained any thing by it. No man could
suppose that,, if the Negotiation had not b, en en-
.tered into, the Confederation of the Ito* would
not havetaken plaCe.' The Negotiation hill cer-
tainly produced the war With the fiStissians, bet then
his
,Majesty's :Ministers were not blameable for ;oat.
They had adopted that cause which appeared to
them most eligible. When T.erd Yarmouth went
.back to Paris with Mr. Fox's ansiver to M. Tal-
leyrand's vcrhal message, he-'lOund,. with' sur
prise, that the Minister' did not 'deny his having
admitted the basis' of actual possessioo ; he Was
then disposed to recede frOm it. There was some-
thing e \traordinary in the votiversations on the Snb.-
jeJ of the basis of actual .posse4sihn. , If that basis,
was to be admitted, it vvould appiy to the enemy
as well -as to us • and yet' Lard •Yar,noutli, in his
first mversation with l'alleyrAd,
,rencycd
ivalilot !Pies. Li its cohterence Vretich
Pienipo6;ntlariei, after dewanding Istria, with.
Jialuiaiia, for: the , King 91 S:coy, tie pi-otested
against any cessions .in the Indies, alt.! by This
atforded the French Negotiatofs a suJieiset groond
for departing from tine basis. Nothing could be
worse for the interest .of a *general 'than
such special pleading towards the Ettears, and such
a laxity with respect :to zerselves. Mr. Fox, in
his answer to Lord Yarmouth's, dispatch, directed
him to make Sicily a sine qua non, bat 'did not
say a word of the basis of actual possession.—
As' to Henover, the first mention of the cession
of that Ele&orate had been made by Lord Yar-
mouth, and the French Minister took three days to
consider the subje&, and it was net until after such
deliberation that. that point was given up. It was
necessary to examine into the actual state of the
question, in order to.ascertain whether it had been
owing to the ambition of. France that tse Negotia-
tion had failed,and whether the moments when peace
Might have been obtained had be. n satfered' to pass
by, never to be recalled, or whether there Was still
any hope of Peace. Certainly, the Noble Lord:had
not given any offence to the French Government by
his manner of insisting on the basis of actual pos-
session
; and, in justice to that Noble 'Lord; he
could' not but observe, that his conduit-in producing
his full powers did not deserve the reprobation that
had been bestowed upon it, as the sine qua non re-
spe&ing Sicily had been given up, and the conclusion
of M. D'Oubril's Treaty had placed him in a situa-
,tion of great difficulty. The Noble Lord then opened
his conferences with Gen. Cleft, and though there
appeared a considerable recession, on the part of the
French . Negotiator, from their former admissions,
that recession did not merit the reprehension which
his Noble Friend had expressed against it, France was
justified in rising in her del-notch after the conclusion
Of her separate treaty with Russia; as well as we were
on the refusal of the Emperor of 'Russia to ratify
that Ireaty. Another Negotiator was then sent so
Paris, and notwithstandincs all that had been said
upOn that subje& by the Hon. Gentletnau opposite,
the Noble Lord who had beeh scut, both horn his
accomplishments and talents, was. the most fit
person to be sent on such a tnission ; and be-
sides; what was no :Rangel-1A circumstance, • he
had the advantage of beins, acquainted with the per-
' sons with whom he was to treat. That Noble Lord
had been furnished with his instruaions, and in the
execution of the duties of his mission had Maintained
with firmness the dignity of the Country, though, ha
his opinion, he bad insisted too peremptorily upon
what was but a mere form. His first aa had been the
transmission of a Note, stating, that unless the basis
'of uti possidetis were admitted, he should demand his
passports. His mission, and-his peremptory`demand,
at the time at the political death of Mr. Fox, pro-
duced an impression unfavourable to the happy is-
sue of the Negotiation. Thepoiitical death of Mr.
'Fort produced a considerable sensation on the
Continent,_., whatever it might have done here, and
when a hear Negotiator had' ''Osten ,ent ,utst at that
particular moment, and it 'cods COdsidered what ,
Itersons remained in the L'abioet, toough` he was
perSuaded every one of his Majesty's Ministers
was sinceritly desirous of Peace, it NAaS not suss
prising that the French GovernmetiCishould have
Supposed that some :change hail taken hitscs, the
sentiments ollissiMajesty's Ministers- He thought
it would have been better, if; instead. of-demanding
his passports on the receipt of his note. from the
French Plenii'otentiaries, That had been so commented
upon,, Lord Lauderdale had .returned a, moderate ao-