Sitting of 20 January 1809

THE LORDS COMMISSIONERS' SPEECH.
Mr. Robinson brought up the Report of the Address, which was read a first time. On the motion for the second reading,
Mr. W. Smithtook the opportunity of briefly expressing his sentiments on the subject. In concurring with the Address, he by no means understood himself to be precluded from making any future observations on the various topics which it embraced. For instance, while he heartily concurred in the propriety of rejecting the terms upon which the last offer of negotiation was made, he by no means meant to declare it as his opinion, that this country ought never to consent to the commencement of another negotiation, while Spain should continue in the hands of the French government.—On the subject of Sweden also he conceived that there was much room for further remark. We might probably be paying our 100,000 l. a month, merely for the purpose of having that sum used, however reluctantly, by Sweden to assist in the endeavour to exclude us from the Baltic. He condemned the levity with which the subjects of Spain and Portugal had last night been treated by the
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gentlemen opposite. Those gentlemen did not think they could possibly be called upon to answer for their conduct as culprits. When the day of investigation should come, he hoped that they would be able to exculpate themselves; but if it should turn out that the country was involved in a very great calamity; if the result should be that one of the finest armies that this country could ever boast, would be compelled to pass sub furca,then unquestionabiy it would become a matter of serious investigation, whether the fault lay with those who planned or with those who executed; for to one of the parties it must necessarily attach.
The Report was then read a second time and agreed to.

CONDUCT OF THE DUKE OF YORK.
Mr. Wardlegave notice, that on Friday next he would submit to the house a motion relative to the Conduct of his royal highness the Duke of York, Commander in Chief of the British Army, with respect to the granting of Commissions, the making of Exchanges, and the raising of Levies for the Army.

SIR A. WELLESLEY AND GENERAL STEWART.
Mr. Whitbreadwas anxious to be informed, by the noble lord opposite, as to the situation of two very respectable members of that house. He wished to know whether that noble lord's gallant relation, general Stewart, still retained his office of Under Secretary of State for the War Department; and whether sir A. Wellesley still retained his office of Chief Secretary for Ireland? If not, be wished to be informed at what period those two distinguished officers discontinued to hold those situations?
Lord Castlereaghreplied, that general Stewart was certainly still in legal possession of his office, for which if any blame was attributable, it was attributable to himself (lord C.) alone. But he could inform the hon. gent, that from the moment that officer quitted Portsmouth, he declined receiving any of the emoluments which arose from his civil situation. With respect to sir A. Wellesley, he did certainly consider that he was at the present moment in possession, and discharging the functions of the Chief Secretaryship for Ireland.
Mr. Whitbreadmade a few observations on the inconvenience to which the public service must be liable, by allowing the persons holding such offices, and particularly that of sir A. Wellesley, to be so long absent from their duty.

PAPERS RELATING TO THE NEGOCIATION WITH RUSSIA AND FRANCE.
Mr. Secretary Canning presented to the House, by his Majesty's command, the following Papers, and gave notice that he should move on Thursday next to take them into consideration.

CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE RUSSIAN AND FRENCH GOVERNMENTS, RELATIVE TO THE OVERTURES RECEIVED FROM ERFURTH.
No. I.—LETTER from Count Nicholas de Romanzoff to Mr. Secretary Canning, dated Erfurth,30 Sept.12 Oct.1808.—Received Oct.21.
Sir; I send to your Excellency a Letter which the emperors of Russia and Prance write to his majesty the king of England. The emperor of Russia flatters himself that England will feel the grandeur and the sincerity of this step. She will there find the most natural and the most simple Answer to the Overture which has been made by admiral Saumarez. The union of the two empires is beyond the rer.ch of all change, and the two Emperors have formed it for peace as well as for war.—His Majesty has commanded me to make known to your Excellency that he has nominated plenipotentiaries who will repair to Paris, where they will await the answer which your excellency may be pleased to make to me. I request you to address it to the Russian ambassador at Paris. The plenipotentiaries named by the emperor of Russia will repair to that city on the continent to which the plenipotentiaries of his Britannic Majesty and his Allies shall have been sent.—In respect to the bases of the Negotiation, their Imperial Majesties see no difficulty in adopting all those formerly proposed by England, namely, the Uti Possidetis,and every other basis founded upon the reciprocity and equality which ought to prevail between all great nations. I have the honour to be, with sentiments of the highest consideration, & c. (Signed)

COUNT NICOLAS DE ROMANZOFF.
No. II.—LETTER from his majesty the emperor of all the Russias, and Buonaparte, to his Majesty, dated Erfurth,12 Oct.1808.—Received Oct.21.
Sire; The present circumstances of Europe have brought us together at Erfurth. Our first thought is to yield to the wish and the wants of every people, and to seek, in a speedy pacification with your Majesty, the most efficacious remedy for the miseries which oppress all nations. We
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make known to your Majesty our sincere desire in this respect by the present letter.—The long and bloody war which has torn the continent is at an end, without the possibility of being renewed. Many changes have taken place in Europe; many states have been overthrown. The cause is to be found in the state of agitation and misery in which the stagnation of Maritime Commerce has placed the greatest nations. Still greater changes may yet take place, and all of them contrary to the policy of the English nation. Peace, then, is at once the interest of the people of the continent, as it is the interest of the people of Great Britain.—We unite in entreating your Majesty to listen to the voice of humanity, silencing that of the passions; to seek, with the intention of arriving at that object, to conciliate all interests, and by that means to preserve all the powers which exist, and to insure the happiness of Europe and of the generation, at the head of which Providence has placed us.
(Signed)
ALEXANDER.—NAPOLEON.
NO. III.—LETTER from M. de Champagny, to Mr. Secretary Canning, dated Erfurth,12 Oct.1808.—Received Oct.21.
Sir; I have the honour to transmit to your Excellency a Letter which the emperor of the French and the emperor of all the Russias write to his Britannic majeesty, The grandeur and the sincerity of tins step will, without doubt, be felt. That cannot be attributed to weakness which is the result of the intimate connection between the two greatest sovereigns of the continent, united for peace as well as for war.—His majesty the Emperor has commanded me to make known to your Excellency, that he has nominated plenipotentiaries, who will repair to that city on the continent to which his majesty the king of Great Britain and his allies shall send their plenipotentiaries. With respect to the bases of the Negotiation, their majesties are disposed to adopt those formerly proposed by England herself; namely, the Uti Possidetis,and any other basis founded upon justice, and the reciprocity and equality which ought to prevail between all great nations. I have the honour to be, &c.
(Signed) CHAMPAGNY.
No. IV.—LETTER from Buonaparté and his majesty the emperor of all the Russias, to his Majesty, dated Erfurth, Oct.12, 1808.—Received Oct.21.
Sire; The present circumstances of Eu-

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rope have brought us together at Erfurth. Our first thought is to yield to the wish and the wants of every people, and to seek, in a speedy pacification with your Majesty, the most efficacious remedy for the miseries which oppress all nations. We make known to your Majesty our sincere desire in this respect by the present letter.—The long and bloody war which has torn the continent is at an end, without the possibility of being renewed. Many changes have taken place in Europe; many states have been overthrown. The cause is to be found in the state of agitation and misery in which the stagnation of Maritime Commerce has placed the greatest nations. Still greater changes may yet take place, and all of them contrary to the policy of the English nation. Peace, then, is at once the interest of the people of the continent, as it is the interest of the people of Great Britain.—We unite in entreating your Majesty to listen to the voice of humanity, silencing that of the passions; to seek, with the intention of arriving at that object, to conciliate all interests, and by that means to preserve all the powers which exist, and to ensure the happiness of Europe and of this generation, at the head of which Providence has placed us.
(Signed)
NAPOLEON.—ALEXANDER.
No. V.—LETTER from Mr. Secretary Canning to the Russian Ambassador, at Paris, dated Foreign Office, Oct.22, 1808.
Sir; At the desire of count Nicolas de Romanzoff, I have the honour to acknowledge to your Excellency the receipt of the Letter which count Romanzoff has been pleased to write to me from Erfurth, dated the 30 Sep. 12 Oct. as well as of the Letter annexed to it addressed to the king my master. I shall lose no time in laving these two Letters before his Majesty, and in transmitting the Answers to your Excellency by an English courier. I have, & c. (Signed) GEORGE CANNING.
No. VI.—LETTER from Mr. Secretary Canning to M. de Champagny, dated Foreign Office,22 Oct.1808.
Sir; I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your Excellency's letter of the 12th instant from Erfurth, inclosing a Letter addressed to the king my master. I shall lose no time in laying these Letters before his Majesty, and in transmitting the Answers to them by an English messenger to Paris. I have, &c.
(Signed) GEORGE CANNING.
No. VII.—LETTER from Mr. Secretary Can-
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ning to the Russian Ambassador, at Paris, dated Foreign Office,28 Oct.1808.
Sir; Having laid before the king my master the two Letters which his Excellency the count Nicolas de Romanzoff has transmitted to me from Erfurth, I have received his Majesty's commands to reply to that which is addressed to him, by the official Note which I have the honour to enclose to your Excellency.—However desirous his Majesty might be to reply directly to his majesty the emperor of Russia, you cannot but feel, Sir, that from the unusual manner in which the Letters signed by his Imperial Majesty, were drawn up, and which has entirely deprived them of the character of a private and personal communication, his Majesty has found it impossible to adopt that mark of respect towards the emperor of Russia, without at the same time acknowledging Titles which his Majesty never has acknowledged.—I am commanded to add to the contents of the official Note, that his Majesty will hasten to communicate to his Majesty the king of Sweden, and to the existing government of Spain, the Proposals which have been made to him.—Your Excellency will perceive that it is absolutely necessary that his Majesty should receive an immediate assurance, that France acknowledges the government of Spain as party to any negociation.—That such is the intention of the emperor of Russia his Majesty cannot doubt.—His Majesty recollects with satisfaction the lively interest which his Imperial Majesty has always manifested for the welfare and dignity of the Spanish monarchy, and he wants no other assurance that his Imperial Majesty cannot have been induced to sanction by his concurrence or by his approbation, usurpation, the principle of which is not less unjust than their example is dangerous to all legitimate sovereigns— As soon as the Answers on this point shall have been received, and as soon as his Majesty shall have learnt the sentiments of the king of Sweden, and those of the government of Spain, I shall not fail to receive the commands of his Majesty for such communications as it may be necessary to make upon the ulterior objects of the Letter of count Romanzoff. I have, &c. (Signed) GEORGE CANNING.
No. VIII.—LETTER from Mr. Secretary Canning to M. de Champagny, dated Foreign Office,28 Oct.1808.
Sir; Having laid before the king my master the two Letters which your Excel-

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lency transmitted to me from Erfurth, one of which was addressed to his Majesty, I have received his Majesty's commands to return, in answer to that Letter, the Official Note which I have the honour herewith to enclose.—I am commanded to add, that his Majesty will lose no time in communicating to the king of Sweden and to the government of Spain the proposals which have been made to his Majesty.—Your Excellency will see the necessity of an assurance; being immediately afforded to his Majesty, that the admission of the government of Spain as a party to the negotiation is understood and agreed to by France.—After the Answer of your Excellency upon this point shall have been received, and so soon as his Majesty shall be in possession of the sentiments of the king of Sweden and of the government of Spain, I shall receive his Majesty's commands to communicate with your Excellency on the remaining points of your letter.—I have, & c. (Signed)
GEORGE CANNING.
No. IX.—OFFICIAL NOTE.
THE King has uniformly declared his readiness and desire to enter into Negotiations for a general peace on terms consistent with the honour of his Majesty's crown, with fidelity to his engagements, and with the permanent repose and security of Europe. His Majesty repeats that Declaration.—If the condition of the continent be one of agitation and of wretchedness; if many states have been overthrown, and mote are still menaced with subversion, it is a consolation to the King to reflect, that no part of the convulsions which have already been experienced, or of those which are threatened for the future, can be in any degree imputable to his Majesty. The King is most willing to acknowledge that all such dreadful changes are indeed contrary to the policy of Great Britain.—If the cause of so much misery is to be found in the stagnation of Commercial Intercourse,—although his Majesty cannot be expected to hear, with unqualified regret, that the system devised for the destruction of the commerce of his subjects has recoiled upon its authors, or its instruments,—yet is it neither in the disposition of his Majesty, nor in the character of the people over whom he reigns, to rejoice in the privations awl unhappiness even of the nations which are combined against him. His Majesty-anxiously desires the termination of the sufferings of the continent.—Tire war in which his Majesty is engaged,
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was entered into by his Majesty for the immediate object of national safety. It has been prolonged only because no secure and honourable means of terminating it have hitherto been afforded by his enemies.—But in the progress of a war, begun for self-defence, new obligations have been imposed upon his Majesty, in behalf of powers whom the aggressions of a common enemy have compelled to make common cause with his Majesty; or who have solicited his Majesty's assistance and support in the vindication of their national independence. The interests of the crown of Portugal and of his Sicilian majesty are confided to his Majesty's friendship and protection.—With the king of Sweden his Majesty is connected by ties of the closest alliance, and by stipulations which unite their counsels for peace as well as for war.—To Spain his Majesty is not yet bound by any formal Instrument; but his Majesty has, in the face of the world, contracted with that nation engagements not less sacred and not less binding upon his Majesty's mind, than the most solemn Treaties—His Majesty, therefore, assumes that, in an Overture made to his Majesty for entering into negotiations for a general peace, the relations subsisting between his Majesty and the Spanish Monarchy have beer, distinctly taken into consideration; and that the government acting in the name of his catholic majesty Ferdinand VII. is understood to boa party to any negotiation in which his Majesty is invited to engage. (Signed)
GEORGE CANNING.
No. X.—LETTER from Count Nicolas de Romanzoff, to Mr. Secretary Canning, dated Paris,31 Oct.1808.—Received Nov. 4.
SIR; The immediate departure of the English courier who, conveyed to me your excellency's Letter of the 28th of this month, obliges me to confine myself for the present to the acknowledgement of its receipt I rejoice that my arrival at Paris enabled me to receive that Letter myself, which was addressed to the Russian ambassador; and, M. de Tolstoi who held that post having been recalled by the emperor my master, in order to his being succeeded by the prince de Kourakin, I am happy to find myself in a situation to correspond directly with your excellency, I have the honour to be, &c. (Signed)
LE COMTE NICOLAS DE ROMANZOFF.
No. XI—LETTER from. M. de Champagny to Mr. Serctary Canmng, dated Paris,31 Oct.1808—Receined Nov.4.
Sir; His Majesty, the emperor my master, having left Paris, I am not willing to wait his orders to acknowledge the receipt of the Letter which your excellency did me the honour to write to me on the 28th of this month, and which I received this morning, as also of the official Note which was annexed to it. I shall lose no time in forwarding these Papers to his Imperial Majesty; and, as soon as his intentions shall be made known to me, I shall hasten to send another Courier to your Excellency. I am with the highest consideration, &c.
(Signed) CHAMPAGNY.
No. XII.—LETTER from Count Nicolas de Romanzoff to Mr. Secretary Canning, dated Paris, l6–28th Nov.1808.—Received Dec.6.
SIR; I transmit to your excellency my Answer to the Note of the 28th Oct. which you were pleased to address to count de Tolstoi; and I hasten to seize this fresh opportunity of renewing to your excellency the assurances of the high consideration with which I have the honour to be, &c.
(Signed)
LE COMTE NICOLAS DE ROMANZOFF.
No. XIII.—NOTE.
THE undersigned, minister for foreign affairs of his majesty the emperor of all the Russias, has the honour to replv to the Note of the 28th Oct. signed by Mr. Canning, secretary of state for foreign affairs to his majesty the king of Great Britain, and addressed by his Excellency to the Russian ambassador at Paris:—That the admission of the sovereigns in alliance with England, to a congress, cannot be a point of any difficulty, and that Russia and trance consent to it.—But this principle by no means extends to the necessity of admitting the plenipotentiaries of the Spanish Insurgents: the emperor of Russia cannot admit them. His empire, in similar circumstances,—and England can recollect one particular instance,—has always been true to the same principle. Moreover, he has already acknowledged the king Joseph Napoleon. He has announced to his Britannic Majesty, that he was unite; with the emperor of the French for peace as well as for war; and his Imperial Majesty here repeats that declaration. He is resolved not to separate his interests from those of that monarch; but they are both ready to conclude a peace, provided that it be just, honourable, and equal for all parties.—The undersigned sees with pleasure, that, in this difference of opinion respecting the Spaniards, nothing presents itself which
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can either prevent or delay the opening of a congress. He derives his persuasion in this respect, from that which his Britannic Majesty has himself confided to the two Emperors, that he is bound by no positive engagement with those who have taken up arms in Spain.—After fifteen years of war, Europe has a right to demand peace. The interest of all the powers, including that of England, is to render it general: humanity commands it; and such a desire, surely, cannot be foreign to the feelings of his Britannic Majesty. How can it be, that he alone can withdraw himself from such an object, and refuse to terminate the miseries of suffering humanity?—The undersigned consequently re news, in the name of the Emperor his august master, the Proposal already made, to send plenipotentiaries to any city on the continent, which his Britannic Majesty may please to point out; to admit to the congress the plenipotentiaries of the sovereigns in alliance with Great Britain; to treat upon the basis of the Uti Poffidetis,and upon that of the respective power of the belligerent parties: In fine, to accept any basis which may have for its object the conclusion of a Peace, in which all parties shall find honour, justice, and equality.—The undersigned has the ho nour, &c.(Signed)
COUNT NICOLAS DE ROMANZOFF.
No. XIV.—LETTER from M. de Champagny to Mr. Secretary Canning, dated Paris, 28th Nov.1808.—Received Dec.6.
SIR; I have the honour to transmit to your Excellency the Answer which I have been commanded to make to the Note which accompanied your Letter of the 28th Oct. last.—I have the honour to be, &c.
(Signed) CHAMPAGNY.
No. XV.—NOTE.
THE undersigned has laid before the Emperor his master, the Note of his excellency Mr. Canning.—If it were true that the evils of war were felt only on the continent, certainly there would be little hope of attaining peace.—The two emperors had flattered themselves that the object of their measure would not have been misinterpreted in London. Could the English ministry have ascribed, it to weakness or to necessity, when every impartial statesman must recognize in the spirit of peace and moderation by which it is dictated, the characteristics of power and true greatness? France and Russia can carry on the war so long as the court of London shall not recur to just and

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equitable dispositions; and they are resolved to do so.—How is it possible for the French government to entertain the Proposal which has been made, to it, of admitting to the negotiation the Spanish Insurgents? What would the English government have said had it been proposed to them to admit the Catholic Insurgents of Ireland? Prance, without having any Treaties with them, has been in communication with them, has made them promises, and has frequently sent them succours. Could such a proposal have found place in a Note, the object of which ought to have been not to irritate, but to endeavour to effect a mutual conciliation and good understanding?—England will find herself under a strange mistake, if, contrary to the experience of the past, she still entertains the idea of contending successfully upon the continent, against the armies of France. What hope can she now have, especially as Prance is irrevocably united with Russia?—The undersigned is commanded to repeat the Proposal, to admit to the negociation all the allies of the king of England; whether it be the king who reigns in the Brazils; whether it be the king who reigns in Sweden; or whether it be the king who reigns in Sicily: and to take for the basis of the negociation the Uti Possidetis.He is commanded to express the hope that, not losing sight of the inevitable results of the force of states, it will be remembered, that between great powers there is no solid peace but that which is at the same time equal and honourable for all parties.—The undersigned requests, &c. (Signed) CHAMPAGNY.
No. XVI.—LETTER from Mr. Secretary Canning to Count Nicolas de Romanzoff dated Foreign Office, 7th Dec.1808.
SIR; I shall lose no time in transmitting to your Excellency, by an English courier, the Answer which the King my master shall command me to return to the official Note, annexed to the letter of your excellency, dated the 16–28th of last month, of which I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt.—I seize with avidity this opportunity of renewing to your Excellency the assurances, &c.—(Signed)
GEORGE CANNING.
No. XVII.—OFFICIAL NOTE, dated Foreign Office,9Dec.1808.
THE undersigned, his Majesty's principal secretary of state for foreign affairs, has laid before the King his master the Note transmitted to him by his excellency the count Nicolas de Romanzoff, minister
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for foreign affairs of his Majesty the emperor of ail the Russias, dated on the 16–28th of Nov,—The King learns with astonishment and regret the expectation which appears to have been entertained that his Majesty should consent to commence a Negotiation for general peace by the previous abandonment of the cause of the Spanish Nation, and of the legitimate monarchy of Spain, in deference to an usurpation which has no parallel in the history of the world.—His Majesty had hoped that the participation of the emperor of Russia in the Overtures made to his Majesty would have afforded a security to his Majesty against the proposal of a condition, so unjust in its effect, and so fatal in its example.—Nor can his Majesty conceive by what obligation of duty or of interest, or by what principle of Russian policy, his Imperial Majesty can have found himself compelled to acknowledge the right assumed by Prance, to depose and imprison friendly sovereigns, and forcibly to transfer to herself the allegiance of loyal and in dependant nations.—If these be indeed the principles to which the emperor of Russia has inviolably attached himself; to which his Imperial Majesty has pledged the character and resources of his empire; which he has united himself with prance to establish by war, and to maintain in peace, deeply does his Majesty lament a determination by which the sufferings of Europe must be aggravated and prolonged: But not to his Majesty is to be attributed the continuance of the calamities of war, by the disappointment of ail hope of such a peace as would be compatible with jus tice and with honour The undersigned, &c. (Signed) GEORGE CANNING.
No. XVIII.—LETTER from Mr. Secretary Canning to M. de Champagny, dated Foreign Office 7 Dec.1808.
SIR; I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your Excellency's Letter of the 28th of last month, and of the official Note therein inclosed.—As soon as I shall have received the King's commands upon the subject of that Note, I shall not fail to transmit to your Excellency, by an English messenger, the Answer which his Majesty may command me to return to
it I have the honour to be, &c. (Signed)
GEORGE CANNING.
NO. XIX.—OFFICIAL NOTE, dated Foreign Office, 9th Dec.1808.
THE undersigned, his Majesty's principal secretary of state for foreign affairs, has laid before the King his master the

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Note transmitted to him by his Excellency M. de Champagny, dated the 28th Nov.— He is especially commanded by his Majesty to abstain from noticing any of those topics and expressions insulting to his Majesty, to his allies, and to the Spanish Nation, with which the Official Note transmitted by M. de Champagny abounds.—His Majesty was desirous to have treated for a peace which might have arranged the respective interests of all the powers engaged in the war on principles of equal justice: and his Majesty sincerely regrets that this desire of his Majesty is disappointed.—But his Majesty is determined not to abandon the cause of the Spanish Nation, and of the legitimate monarchy of Spain: and the pretension of France to exclude from the negotiation the Central and Supreme Government, acting in the name of his Catholic Majesty Ferdinand VII. is one, which his Majesty could not admit, without acquiescing in an usurpation which has no parallel in the history of the world.—The undersigned, &c.—(Signed)
GEORGE CANNING.
No. XX.—LETTER from Count Nicolas de Romanzoff to Mr. Secretary Canning, dated Paris,1–13th of Dec. 1808.—Received Dec. 17.
SIR; The messenger whom I had dispatched to your Excellency is returned to this place, and has brought me the Letter, which you did me the honour to write to me on the 7th of Dec. Some hours afterwards, the messenger whom your Excellency has sent to Paris, delivered to me from your Excellency, a Letter without date, which was accompanied by a Note, dated the 9th Dec. I shall transmit the whole for the information of the Emperor my master.—I avail myself of this opportunity to renew to, &c.—(Signed)
COUNT NICHOLAS DE ROMANZOFF.
No. XXI.—LETTER from M. de Champagny to Mr. Secretary Canning, dated Paris,13th Dec.1808.Received Dec.17 th.
SIR; I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your Excellency's Letter of the 9th instant, together with the Official Note which accompanied it. I shall lose no time in laying this Note before the Emperor my master.—I avail myself, &c.
(Signed) CHAMPAGNY.

DECLARATION OF THE KING OF GREAT BRITAIN RELATIVE TO THE OVERTURES MADE BY RUSSIA AND FRANCE.—DATED WESTMINSTER, Dec 15th. 1808.
THE Overtures made to his Majesty by
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the governments of Russia and of France have not led to Negotiation: and the intercourse to which those Overtures gave se being terminated, his Majesty thinks right thus promptly and publicly to lake known it's termination.—The continued appearance of a Negotiation, when peace has been found to be utterly unattainble, could be advantageous only to the enemy.—It might enable France to sow distrust and jealousy in the councils of lose, who are combined to resist her oppressions: And if, among the nations which groan under the tyranny of French alliance, or among those which maintain against France a doubtful and precarious independence, there should be any which even now are balancing between the certain ruin of a prolonged inactivity, and he contingent dangers of an effort to save themselves from that ruin; to nations so situated the delusive prospect of a peace between Great Britain and France could not fail to be peculiarly injurious. Their preparations might be relaxed by the vain hope of returning tranquillity; or their purpose shaken by the apprehension of being left to contend alone.—That such vas, in fact, the main object of France in he proposals transmitted to his Majesty from Erfurth, his Majesty entertained a strong persuasion.—But at a moment when results so awful from their importance and so tremendous from their uncertainty, might be depending upon the decision of peace or war, the King felt it due to himself to ascertain, beyond the possibility of doubt, the views and intentions of his enemies.—It was difficult for his Majesty to believe, that the emperor of Russia had devoted himself so blindly and fatally to the violence and ambition if the power with which his Imperial Majesty had unfortunately become allied, as to be prepared openly to abet the usurpation of the Spanish Monarchy; and to acknowledge and maintain the right, assumed by France, to depose and imprison friendly sovereigns, and forcibly to transfer to self the allegiance of independent nations.—When, therefore, it was proposed to his Majesty to enter into negotiation for a general peace, in concert with his Majesty's allies, and to treat either on the basis of the Uti possidetis, (heretofore the subject of so much controversy) or on any other basis, consistent with justice, honour, and equality, his Majesty determined to meet this seeming fairness and moderation, with fairness and moderation,

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on his Majesty's part real and sincere.—The King professed his readiness to enter into such negotiation, in concurrence with his allies; and undertook forthwith to communicate to them the Proposals which his Majesty had received. But as his Majesty was not connected with Spain by a formal treaty of alliance, his Majesty thought it necessary to declare, that the engagements which he had contracted, in the face of the world, with that nation, were considered by his Majesty as no less sacred, and no less binding upon his Majesty, than the most solemn treaties; and to express his Majesty's just confidence that the government of Spain, acting in the name of his Catholic Majesty Ferdinand VII, was understood to be a party to the Negotiation.—The reply returned by Prance to this proposition of his Majesty casts off at once the thin disguise, which had been assumed for a momentary purpose; and displays, with less than ordinary reserve, the arrogance and injustice of that Government. The universal Spanish nation is described by the degrading appellation of "the Spanish Insurgents"; and the demand for the admission of the government of Spain as a party to any Negotiation, is rejected as inadmissible and insulting.—With astonishment as well as with grief his Majesty has received from the emperor of Russia a reply, similar in effect, although less indecorous in tone and manner. The emperor of Russia also stigmatizes as "Insurrection", the glorious efforts of the Spanish people in behalf of their legitimate sovereign, and in defence of the independence of their country! thus giving the sanction of his Imperial Majesty's authority to an usurpation which has no parallel in the history of the world.—The King would readily have embraced an opportunity of negotiation which might have afforded any hope or prospect of a peace compatible with justice and with honour. His Majesty deeply laments an issue, by which the sufferings of Europe are aggravated and prolonged. But neither the honour of his Majesty, nor the generosity of the British nation, would admit of his Majesty's consenting to commence a negotiation, by the abandonment of a brave and loyal people, who are contending for the preservation of all that is dear to man; and whose exertions in a cause so unquestionably just, his Majesty has solemnly pledged himself to sustain.
Westminster, Dec.15, 1808.