Star.
London, England, 1815-10-13 00:00:00

this corn' Ait had
I
~oseed at the conference, and the reasons I had for
linkiag that the King of the Netherlands had aiight.l
to the Paintings, and requested him to lay the matter
lefore the King, and to beg his Majesty to do me the
,„.,,or .to determine die manner in which I might
bt..,a the object of the King of the Netherlands
..ithout in any manner offending his Majesty. 1
.e Prince Talleyrand promised me an answer by
be uat evening ; but as I did not receive it, I re.
„Ikea to him in the night, had a second conference
,iti• him, in which he gave me to understand that
iiiog would give no orders upon tlje subject, that
night do as I thought proper, and negociate with
dr.Denon, the Director of the Museum.
a In the morning, I sent my Aid-dc-Camp, Lieu-
mantle, to Mr. Dew,n, who told
enant•Colonel Free
that he had no orders to give up any paintings
of the Gallery., and that he should suffer none to
taken away but by force. • 1
I then sent Colonel Freemantle to Prince 'rat.
erTald to acquaint hint with this answer, and to in-
oar him that the troops would go the next morn-
, at twelve o'clock, to take possession of the paint- •
belongiti:.; to the King of the Netherlands, and
o Declare, that it any thing unpleasant should arise
;.•)41 this measure, the King's Ministers, and not I,
sere aiwvtrable for it. Colonel Freemantle likewiee
utorm...l Denon of the measure that was to be
it was, however, not necessary to send any
.t Prussian guard constantly occupied
C.,Jl:ery, and the pictures were taken away with-
any assistance being required from any of the
ti::&r my command, except a few, who assis-
„l as Libourits in the taking down and packing up.
It has Lieu allejged, that by having been the
of carrying away from the Gallery the
;ictures of the King of the Netherlands, I had been
;wilt, of a breach of a Treaty which I had myself
; an.l as there is no mention made of the Mu-
in the treaty of the _sth of March, and it seems
low the treaty spoken of is the Mr.itary Convention
,t Paris, it is nezessary to chew bow this Convention
connected with the !'lineunt.
I d not want to prove that the Allies were at
vir wit.. Y.-ranee ; there i. re, doubt that their armies
-ntered nadar military convention concluded
vith a,. Odicer Of the Government, thc Prefect of
•he DepaLtnunt of. the ;:t.iine, and an Officer of the
sary, who rep—sviiti:.l bath Authorities, at tOat mo-
unt present at Paris, and empowered by these Au-
herhics to negociate and conclude for them.
.14 The Article of the Convention which is alledged
o have ban broken, is the 11 th, which relates to
.he Public Property. I positively deny that this
'.:title has any reletence whatever to the Gallery of
" Tile French Commissioners introduced in the
rigindprrjet, an article to provide foe the security
4 this species of pro,:erty ; but Prince Blucher would
tot cunsent, saying, that there were in the Gallery
tiintings which had been taken from Prussia, and
ica Louis XVIII. had promised to restore; which,
ixivever, had never been done. I repeated this cif-
,lmstatice to the French Commissioners, ansl they
::ci,nsed to accept the ankle, tlth the exception of
:he Prussian pictures ; and to this proposal I answer-
that I was there as the Ally of all the Nations in
Europe, and that I must claim for other nations all
WaS conceded to the Prussians. I added, that
had no instructions concerning the Museum, nor
lay grounds to form an opinion how the Sovaeigns
mould act; that they would certainly urge that the
King should fulfil his obligations ; and that I advised
:o emit the article entirely; and to reserve this affair
A,r the dizession of the Sovereigns when they
arrive.

" Thus stands the affair of the Museum in reference

Treaty. The Convention of Paris is silent upon
,eid a nNociation took place, which left the bu-
.iness to the decision of the Sovereigns. _ _

" Taking it for granted that the silence of the
rrfuty el Paris of May 1314., respecting the Museum,
:ad given the French Government 'an indisputable
..!aim to the pieces contained in it, upon all future
cea:.ioas, it cannot be denied that this claire was an-
ii:iilatcd by this negotiation. •
" who negotiated for the French Govern-
atilt ju..l:_;ed that the victorious armies had a right to
l'f4 the Works of Art horn the Museum, and they
~..•cicre endeavoured to save them by introducing an
'":1:!= into the Military Convention. This Article
14::;!:Citd, and the claims of the Allies greatly
•ivaac.td by the negotiation on their side, and this
'ea; the reaswt that the article was rejected.
" Not only then uas the possession of them not
7,.lr4:iteed4y the Military Convention, but the above-
Lvt;;:ied lugocietion has tended the more to weaken
3 riBlit of the 'num!: government to the possession,
WAS fi.undcd en the silence of the Treaty of
CA May, 1814.
The Allies having now legal possession of the
,:rtes in the Museum, could do no otherwise than
tare them to those from whom they had been taken
iwaYi Contrary to the usages of civilized warfare,
.iuring the dreadful period of the French Revolution
uhl the tyranny of Bonaparte.
" The conduct of the Allies with respect to the
N.useuin, at the time of the Treaty of Paris, must be
ascribed to their desire to gratify the French army,
And to confirm the reconciliation with Europe, to
"hid) the army seemed at that time to be dispZsed.
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