§ No. II.—Note from Mr. Secretary Canning to the count de Starhemberg, dated April 25, 1807.
§ The undersigned, his majesty's principal secretary of state for foreign affairs, has laid before the king his master, the note delivered to him by the count de Starhemberg, envoy extraordinary, and minister plenipotentiary of his imperial majesty the 103 emperor of Austria, king of Hungary and Bohemia, in which his imperial majesty offers himself as the mediator of a general peace.—The undersigned has received the orders of the king, to transmit to the count de Starhemberg, the inclosed official answer to the note of his imperial majesty. Rendering the fullest justice to the motives which have actuated his imperial majesty, in the proposal of such a mode of negotiation, as can alone, by embracing the interests of all parties, conduce to the establishment of a solid peace, and to the permanent tranquillity of Europe, the king accepts, so far as his majesty is concerned, the offer of his imperial majesty's mediation, subject only to the condition of a like acceptance of it on the part of all the other powers who are engaged in the present war.—In executing this duty, the undersigned is happy to seize the opportunity of renewing to the count de Starhemberg the assurance of his high consideration. GEORGE CANNING.
§ (Official Note, referred to in No. 2.)
§ His majesty the king of the united kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, has received, with a just sense of the consideration which is due to every communication from his imperial majesty the emperor of Austria, king of Hungary and Bohemia, and of the motives by which, on this occasion, his imperial majesty has been actuated, the offer of his imperial majesty to become the mediator of a general peace.—The king, who has never ceased to consider a secure and durable peace as the only object of the war, in which his majesty is engaged, and who has never refused to listen to any suggestions which appeared likely to conduce to the attainment of that object, cannot hesitate to declare his entire concurrence in the opinion expressed by the emperor and king, that a peace of such a description is only to be attained through negotiations which shall be common to all the powers principally engaged in the war.—To such negotiations, whenever the consent of the other powers interested in them shall be obtained, the king will willingly accede; and his majesty will lose no time in communicating with such of those powers as are connected with him by the bonds of amity and confidential intercourse, for the purpose of ascertaining their views; and if those views shall be favourable to his imperial majesty's proposal, of concerting with them the mode in which such negotiations should be opened, and of agreeing upon the principles which (according to the suggestion 104 of his imperial majesty) it might be expedient previously to establish as the basis and foundation of a general discussion and arrangement.—With respect to the place which should be selected as the seat of the negotiations; his majesty would not object to any place which, in addition to the indispensable qualification, proposed in the note of his imperial majesty, of being sufficiently remote from the immediate influence of the events of the war, should have that of affording to his majesty, in an equal degree with all the other powers concerned, the opportunity of a prompt and uninterrupted communication with the plenipotentiaries who should be appointed to represent his majesty at the congress. GEORGE CANNING. Foreign Office, April 25, 1807.
§ No. III.—Note from the prince de Starhemberg to Mr. Secretary Canning, dated Nov. 20, 1807.
§ The undersigned has the honour to inform his excellency Mr. Canning, secretary of state for the department of foreign affairs, that he has received positive orders from his court, to make to the British ministry the most earnest representations on the importance of putting an end to the struggle which still exists between England and France; and the effects of which may produce to the rest of Europe the most fatal consequences. His majesty the emperor and king, animated by a constant desire to effect the restoration of repose and tranquillity, does not hesitate to request officially and earnestly his Britannick majesty to declare his intentions on this point in evincing to him his disposition to enter into a negotiation for a maritime peace upon a basis suitable to time reciprocal interests of the powers who may take a part in it.—The cabinet of St. James's has explained itself too often respecting its desire for the re-establishment of peace, for the undersigned not to flatter himself that he shall now obtain the formal assurance wished for by his court, which will completely prove to all the nations of Europe, the sincerity of the pacifick views of England.—The undersigned, &c. LOUIS PRINCE DE STARHEMBERG.
No. IV.—Note from Mr. Secretary Canning to the prince de Starhemberg, dated Nov. 23, 1807.
§ The undersigned, his majesty's principal secretary of state for foreign affairs, has laid before the king his master the official note presented by the prince de Starhemberg, envoy extraordinary and minister ple- 105 nipotentiary of his imperial majesty the emperor of Austria, in which the prince de Starhemberg expresses, by order of his court, the earnest desire of his imperial majesty for the termination of the present contest between Great Britain and France, and requires a sincere and formal declaration of his majesty's sentiments upon that subject.—His majesty having repeatedly and recently declared his disposition and desire to enter into negotiation for a peace on secure and honourable terms, and this declaration having been made in the most regular and authentic manner to the Austrian government, in the answer which the undersigned was commanded to return to the official offer by the prince de Starhemberg (in the month of April last) of his imperial majesty's mediation; and in that which his majesty has since directed to be returned to a similar offer on the part of the emperor of Russia, and which has been communicated to the court of Vienna; his majesty cannot receive without surprize an application for a renewal of the declaration of sentiments of which the court of Vienna has been so long and so formally in possession.—His majesty will not believe that any farther declaration can be necessary for the purpose of proving to the nations of Europe a sincerity which the nations of Europe cannot question. But in compliance with the wishes of a friendly power expressed with so much earnestness and anxiety, his majesty is nevertheless willing to repeat once more the assurance, already so often repeated, that his majesty is now, as he has at all times been, prepared to enter into negotiation for the conclusion of such a peace as shall settle on equal terms the respective interests of the powers engaged in the war, as shall be consistent with his majesty's fidelity to his allies, and shall provide for the tranquillity and security of Europe. The undersigned, &c. GEORGE CANNING.
No. V.—Note from the prince de Starhemberg to Mr. Secretary Canning, dated Jan. 1, 1808.
§ The undersigned, obeying the orders of his court, in conforming to the desire of that of the Thuilleries, has the honour to inform his excellency the secretary of state for the foreign department, that, in consequence of the pacifick dispositions of his Britannick majesty, announced in the answer returned on the 23d of November last, to his official note of the 20th of the same month, he is charged to propose to the English ministry to send immediately 106 plenipotentiaries to Paris for the purpose of treating for the establishment of peace between all the powers at present at war with England. This explicit and frank invitation must furnish a proof of the good faith and of the sincere intention of France to put an end to the calamities of war; and his imperial majesty consents with eagerness to be the intermediary of a result so desireable. It is hoped, that the court of London will not hesitate to recognize on this occasion the importance of the proposal which is made to it, and that it will be disposed to give a fresh proof of that desire which it has so often expressed, to restore repose to the rest of Europe, by naming negotiators to be entrusted with the important interests to be discussed.—To avoid every species of delay, the undersigned is authorized by France to give passports to the ministers whom the cabinet of St. James's may appoint for this purpose. The mode in which these overtures are submitted to the court of London, and the measures which are taken towards realizing the execution of them with the least possible delay, will effectually demonstrate the spirit of conciliation by which they are dictated. The undersigned, &c.