243] 33 GEORGE III. Copies of Correspondence between lency lord Grenville, minister of state for foreign affairs, That the royal proclamation published the 21st of this month, and communicated to the two Houses of Parliament, contains some expressions which might, contrary to the intentions of the British ministry, give weight to the false opinions which the enemies of France endeavour to circulate with respect to her intentions towards Great Britain. If certain individuals of this country have established a correspondence abroad, tending to excite troubles therein, and if, as the proclamation seems to insinuate, certain Frenchmen have come into their views, that is a proceeding wholly foreign to the French nation, to the legislative body, to the king, and to his ministers; it is a proceeding of which they are entirely ignorant, which militates against every principle of justice, and which, whenever it became known, would be universally condemned in France. Independently of those principles of justice, from which a free people ought never to deviate, is it not evident, from a due consideration of the true interests of the French nation, that she ought to desire the interior tranquillity, the continuance and the force of the constitution of a country which she already looks upon as her 'natural ally? Is not this the only reasonable wish, which a people can form, which sees so many efforts united against its liberty? The minister plenipotentiary, deeply sensible of these truths, and of the maxims of universal morality upon which they are founded, had already represented them in an official note, which he transmitted to the British ministry the 15th of this month, by the express orders of his court; and he thinks it his duty to repeat, on the present occasion the important declarations it contains: "Religiously faithful to the principles of its constitution, whatever may be definitively the fortune of her arms in this war, France repels every idea of aggrandisement; she wishes to preserve her own limits, her liberty, her constitution, and her inalienable right of reforming herself, whenever she shall judge proper: she will never consent that foreign powers should in any shape dictate, or should dare to nourish a hope of dictating laws to her; but this very pride, so natural and so just, is a pledge to all the powers from whom she shall have received no provocation, not only of her constantly pacific dispositions, but also of the respect which the French will at all times know how to pay to the laws, the usages, and all the forms of government of different people. The king also desires that it may be known, that he would disavow, decidedly and severely, all those of his agents in foreign courts at peace with France, who might dare to deviate a moment from this respect, either by fomenting or by favouring revolts against the established order, or by interfering in any manner whatever in the [244 internal politics of those states, under pretext of making proselytes, which, exercised towards friendly powers, would be a real violation of the law of nations. "The king hopes that the British government will see in this exposition the incontrovertible justice, and the necessity of the war, which the French nation carries on against the king of Hungary and Bohemia, and that it will further find therein, that common principle of liberty and independence, of which it ought not to be less jealous than France; for England also is free, because she would be so, and certainly she has not suffered that other powers should constrain her to change the constitution which she has adopted, that they should lend the least assistance to her rebellious subjects, nor that they should pretend to interfere, under any pretext, in her internal discussions." The honour of France, her desire of preserving and augmenting a good understanding between the two countries, and the necessity of clearing up every doubt as to her dispositions, requiring that they should be as publicly known as possible, the under-signed minister plenipotentiary requests that lord Grenville would communicate this official note to the two Houses of Parliament, previous to their deliberating on the proclamation of his Britannic majesty of the 21st of May. He seizes this opportunity of renewing, &c. The minister plenipotentiary of France, F. CHAUVELIN. (Signed) London, May 24th, 1792, Fourth Year of French Liberty. No. IV.-LETTER from Lord Grenville to M. Chauvelin, dated Whitehall, May 25, 1792. ты I have already had the honour, Sir, to acknowledge the receipt of the note which you addressed to me, dated yesterday. Desiring, with ardour and sincerity, to maintain, in all the affairs that I may have the honour to treat with you, that harmony and cordiality which correspond with the intentions of the king, it is with regret that 'I find myself under the necessity of making to you the following observations on the subject of that paper:-I am persuaded that it was not at all your intention to deviate from the rules and forms established in this kingdom for the correspondence of the ministers of foreign courts with the king's secretary of Tast your state for this department. But it was impossible for me not to remark that in note, the only question relates to a communication which you desire me to make to the two Houses of Parliament, before they deliIt is berate upon an object which you appear to believe they were about to discuss. necessary for me to observe to you, Sir, that in my quality of secretary of state to his communication any majesty, I cannot receive from a foreign minister, but in order to lay it before the king, and to receive his majesty's commands thereupon; and that the delibera- No. VI.--NOTE from M. Chauvelin to Lord tions of the two Houses of Parliament, as well as the communications which his majesty shall be pleased to make to them, relative to the affairs of the kingdom, are objects absolutely foreign to all diplomatic correspondence, and upon which it is impossible for me to enter into any discussion whatever with the ministers of other courts. GRENVILLE. No. V.-LETTER from M. Chauvelin to lord Grenville, dated Portman-square, May 25, 1792. Grenville, received June 2, 1792. The under-signed minister plenipotentiary from the king of the French to his Britannic majesty has the honour to state to his excellency lord Grenville, minister of state for foreign affairs, that the royal proclamation, published the 21st of this month, and communicated to the two Houses of Parliament, contains some expressions which might, contrary to the intentions of the British ministry, give weight to the false opinions which the enemies of France endeavour to circulate with respect to her intentions towards Great Britain. This, Sir, is the only answer which it will be possible for me to return to the note in question; which, as well in its form as in its object, cannot be considered as a regular and official communication, I shall always feel the greatest pleasure in reporting to his majesty the assurances which you may be authorised to give me for that purpose, of the If certain individuals of this country have friendly dispositions of your court; and I de-established a correspondence abroad, tending sire you to accept, &c. to excite troubles therein, and if, as the proclamation seems to insinuate, certain Frenchmen have come into their views, that is a tion, to the legislative body, to the king, and proceeding wholly foreign to the French nato his ministers; it is a proceeding of which they are entirely ignorant, which militates against every principle of justice, aud which, whenever it became known, would be universally condemned in France. Independently of those principles of justice, from which a free people ought never to deviate, is it not evident, from a due consideration of the true interests of the French nation, that she ought to desire the interior tranquillity, the continuance and the force of the constitution of a country which she already looks upon as her natural ally? Is not this the only reasonable wish, which people can form, who sees so many efforts united against its liberty? The minister plenipotentiary, deeply sensible of these truths, and of the maxims of universal morality upon which they are founded, had already represented them in an official note, which he transmitted to the British ministry the 15th of this month, by the express orders of his court; and he thinks it his duty to repeat, on the present occasion, the important declarations which it contains: I have this moment, my lord, received the letter which you have done me the honour to write to me on the subject of the note which I sent you yesterday, the 24th instant. I have the honour to thank you for the obliging manner in which it is expressed. You have done justice to my intentions, in believing that I did not intend to depart from the established rules and forms of this kingdom. I by no means thought, when I presented that note to you, that the demand contained in it ought not, as well as all others, to be laid before the king of Great Britain; it was expressly in the intention of giving to his majesty fresh assurances of deference and respect for the British government, that I did myself the honour of making that last notification: and it being my desire to make this manifestation of the dispositions of the French government as public as possible, I thought it best to beg you to communicate it to both Houses of Parliament. In making this request, my lord, I intended to obviate the false interpretations which might be occasioned in the two Houses by the article of the proclamation, which is the subject of it; I flattered myself by this means to contribute towards the maintenance of that harmony, and of that cordiality between the two states, of which I with joy remarked the expression in the assurance which you gave me, that it is no less desired by his Britannic majesty than by the king of the French. As to the rest, my lord, any other form which it may suit you to adopt, and which may render very public the sentiments of France, her true dispositions with regard to England, and the orders which I have received from the king of the French, and which I have communicated to you, will equally answer the wish of the French government. Please to accept, &c. (Signed) F. CHAUVELIN. "Religiously faithful to the principles of its constitution, whatever may be definitively the fortune of her arms in this war, France repels every idea of aggrandisement; she wishes to preserve her own limits, her liberty, her constitution, and her inalienable right of reforming herself, whenever she shall judge proper: she will never consent that foreign powers should in any shape dictate, or should dare to nourish a hope of dictating laws to her; but this very pride, so natural and so just, is a pledge to all the powers from whom she shall have received no provocation, not only of her constantly pacific dispositions, but also of the respect which the French will at all times know how to pay to the laws, the usages, and all the forms of government of different people. The king also desires that it may be known, that he would disavow, decidedly and severely all those of his agents in foreign courts at peace with France, who might dare to deviate a moment from this respect, either by fomenting or by favouring revolts against the esta blished order, or by interfering in any manner whatever in the internal politics of those states, under pretext of making proselytes, which, exercised towards friendly powers, would be a real violation of the law of nations. "The king hopes that the British government will see in this exposition the incontrovertible justice, and the necessity of the war. which the French nation carries on against the king of Hungary and Bohemia, and that it will further find therein, that common princiciple of liberty and independence, of which it ought not to be less jealous than France; for England also is free, because she would be so, and certainly she has not suffered that other powers should constrain her to change the constitution which she has adopted, that they should lend the least assistance to her rebellious subjects, nor that they should pretend to interfere, under any pretext, in her internal discussions." The honour of France, her desire of preserving and augmenting a good understanding between the two countries, and the necessity of clearing up every doubt as to her dispositions, requiring that they should be as publicly known as possible, the undersigned minister plenipotentiary requests that lord Grenville would obtain his Britannic majesty's permission to communicate this official note to the two Houses of Parliament, previous to their deliberating on the proclamation of the 21st of May. He seizes this opportunity of renewing, &c. The minister plenipotentiary of France, (Signed) F. CHAUVELIN. No. VII.-NOTE from M. Chauvelin to lord Grenville, dated June 18th, 1792. The undersigned minister plenipotentiary of his majesty the king of the French has transmitted to his majesty the official note which lord Grenville addressed to him on the 24th of May last, on the part of his Britannic majesty, in answer to that which he had the honour to deliver to him on the 15th of the same month, together with the royal proclamation published in consequence of it. He is directed to assure his Britannic majesty of the due sense which the king entertains of the friendly dispositions, and of the sentiments of humanity, of justice, and of peace, which are so clearly manifested in that answer. The king of the French observed with care all its expressions, and is happy in consequence to renew to the king of Great Britain the formal assurance that every thing which can interest the rights of his Britannic majesty will continue to be the object of his most particular and most scrupulous attention. He hastens at the same time to declare to him, conformably to the desire expressed in that answer, that the rights of all the allies of Great Britain, who shall not have provoked France by hostile measures, shall by him be no less religiously respected. In making, or rather in renewing this declaration, the king of the French enjoys the double satisfaction of expressing the wish of a people, in whose eyes every war which is not rendered necessary by a due attention, to its defence is essentially unjust, and joining particularly in the wishes of his Britannic majesty for the tranquillity of Europe, which would never be disturbed if France and England would unite in order to preserve it. But this declaration of the king's, and the dispositions of his Britannic majesty, authorize him to hope that he will be induced eagerly to employ his good offices with those allies to dissuade them from granting directly or indirectly, any assistance to the enemies of France, and to inspire them with regard to its rights, that is to say, its independence, with those attentions which France is ready to manifest on every occasion for the rights of all powers who shall observe towards her the terms of a strict neutrality. The steps taken by the cabinet of Vienna amongst the different powers, and principally amongst the allies of his Britannic majesty, in order to engage them in a quarrel which is foreign to them, are known to all Europe. If public report even were to be credited, its successes at the court of Berlin prepare the way for others in the United Provinces. The threats held out to the different members of the Germanic body to make them deviate from that wise neutrality which their political situation, and their dearest interests, prescribe to them; the arrangements taken with different sovereigns of Italy to determine them to intrigues by which Russia has just been inact hostilely against France; and lastly, the duced to arm against the constitution of Poland; every thing points out fresh marks of a vast conspiracy against free states, which seems to threaten to precipitate Europe in universal war. The consequences of such a conspiracy, formed by the concurrence of powers who have been so long rivals, will be easily felt by his Britannic majesty: the balance of Europe, the independence of the different powers, the general peace, every consideration which at all times has fixed the attention of the English government, is at once exposed and threatened. The king of the French presents these serious and important considerations to the solicitude and to the friendship of his Britannic majesty. Strongly penetrated with the marks of interest and of affection which he has received from him; he invites him to seek, in his wisdom, in his situation, and in his influence, means compatible with the independence of the French nation, to stop, whilst it is still time, the progress of that confederacy, which equally threatens the peace, the liberty, the happiness of Europe, and The undersigned secretary of state to his majesty has had the honour to lay before his majesty the note which Monsieur Chauvelin sent him on the 18th of June. The king always receives with the same sensibility from his most Christian majesty the assurances of his friendship, and of his disposition to maintain that happy harmony which subsists between the two empires. His majesty will never refuse to concur in the preservation or re-establishment of peace between the other powers of Europe, by such means as are proper to produce that effect, and are compatible with his dignity, and with the principles which govern his conduct. But the same sentiments which have determined him not to take a part in the internal affairs of France, ought equally to induce him to respect the rights and the independence of other Sovereigns, and especially those of the allies; and his majesty has thought that, in the existing circumstances of the war now begun, the intervention of his counsels, or of his good offices, cannot be of use, unless they should be desired by all the parties interested. Nothing then remains for the undersigned, but to repeat to M. Chauvelin the assurances of those wishes which his majesty forms for the return of tranquillity, of the interest which he will always take in the happiness of his most Christian majesty; and of the value which he attaches to his friendship, and to the confidence which he has shown him. GRENVILLE. (Signed) to him, dated the 19th of this month: before he can answer it, he must, under the present circumstances, request M. Chauvelin will be pleased to explain to him the object of the conference which he has desired. No. XI. NOTE from M. Chauvelin to lord Grenville, dated Portman Square, Nov. 22d, 1792. M. Chauvelin has the honour to present his that the private conversation which he had compliments to lord Grenville. He thought the honour to propose to him a few days since, could not, in the present circumstances, without any inconveniency, but have produced advantageous effects: if lord Grenville thinks otherwise, and considers such an interview as useless at this moment, M. Chauvelin will not insist upon it; and will only regret that he has not been able to seize this opportunity of offering his respects to lord Grenville, and of renewing to him assurances of his esteem, No. XII.-LETTER from lord Grenville to M. Chauvelin, dated Whitehall, Nov. 28th, 1792. Sir;-I could have wished that you had thought yourself enabled to satisfy the desire which I expressed to you, of knowing the object of the conference you demanded of me some days ago: but as, on reflecting on the situation of affairs, I have thought with you, that the private conversation you proposed to me may be useful under the existing circumstances, I will not refuse it. I will beg of you to be so good as to come to the office for Foreign Affairs to-morrow at noon, if that hour should be convenient to you. In the mean time I renew, &c. GRENVILLE. No. XIII.-NOTE from M. Chauvelin to lord Grenville, dated Portman Square, Dec. 27th, 1792, the first year of the Republic. The undersigned minister plenipotentiary of France has the honour to communicate to his excellency lord Grenville the instructions which he has received from the Executive lay them before his Britannic majesty's secreCouncil of the French republic, with orders to tary of state for the department of foreign affairs, in case he should believe that he could not sufficiently soon obtain an interview with that minister. The French government, by continuing, since the recall of lord Gower from Paris, to leave at London its minister plenipotentiary, conceived that it gave his Britannic majesty an unequivocal proof of the desire it had to continue to live upon good terms with him, necessary and inherent to the internal reguand to dispel those clouds which the events lations of France, appeared at that time to have occasioned. The intentions of the Executive Council of France, with regard to England, have not ceased to be the same; but it has not been able to see with indifference the public conduct which the British ministry maintains at present towards France. It is with regret that it has remarked in this conduct, a character of ill will, to which it is yet unwilling to give credit. It has however felt, that its duty to the French nation required it no longer to leave it in a state of uncertainty, into which it had been thrown by several measures recently adopted by the British government-an uncertainty which must be shared by the British nation, and which is equally unworthy of both countries. The Executive Council of the French republic has, in consequence, authorized the minister of France at London, to demand with openness of the ministers of his Britannic majesty, if France ought to consider England as a neutral power, or as an enemy; and it has especially charged him to obtain a definitive answer upon this point. But, in asking from the ministers of his Britannic majesty a frank and open explanation as to their intentions with regard to France, the Executive Council is unwilling they should have the smallest remaining doubt as to the disposition of France towards England, and as to its desire of remaining in peace with her; it has even been desirous of answering beforehand all the reproaches which they may be tempted to make in justification of a rupture. On reflecting what may be the reasons which may determine his Britannic majesty to break with the French republic, the Executive Council has been able to find no other than a false interpretation, which is, perhaps, given to the decree of the National Convention of the 19th of November. If a real alarm has been occasioned by this decree, it can have arisen only for want of understanding its true sense. The National Convention never meant that the French republic should favour insurrections, should espouse the quarrels of a few seditious persons, or, in a word, should endeavour to excite disturbances in any neutral or friendly country whatever. Such an idea would be rejected by all the French. It cannot be imputed to the National Convention without doing it injustice. This decree, then, is applicable only to those people, who, after having acquired their liberty by conquest, may have demanded the fraternity, the assistance of the republic, by the solemn and unequivocal expression of the general will. France ought and will respect, not only the independence of England, but even that of those of her allies, with whom she is not at war. The undersigned has therefore been charged formally to declare, that she will not attack Holland, so long as that power shall, on its side, confine itself towards her within the bounds of an exact neutrality. The British government being thus set at its ease upon these two points, no pretence for the smallest difficulty could remain, ex cept as to the question of the opening of the Scheldt, a question irrevocably decided by reason and by justice, of small importance in itself, and on which the opinion of England, and perhaps of Holland itself, is sufficiently known, to render it difficult seriously to make it the single subject of a war.-Should, however, the British ministry avail itself of this last motive, as a cause of declaring war against France, would it not, in such case, be probable, that its secret intention must have been, at all events, to bring on a rupture; and that it made use, at the present moment, of the vainest of all pretences, to colour an unjust aggression, long ago determined upon? On this unfortunate supposition, which the Executive Council rejects, the undersigned would be authorized forcibly to support the dignity of the French people, and to declare with firmness, that this free and powerful people will accept the war, and repel with indignation an aggression so manifestly unjust, and so little provoked on its part. When every explanation, calculated to demonstrate the purity of the intentions of France, when all peaceable and conciliatory measures shall have been exhausted by her, it is evident that all the weight, all the responsibility of the war, will fall sooner or later on those who shall have provoked it. It will, in fact, be nothing but a war of the administration alone against the French republic; and if this truth could for a moment appear doubtful, it would not perhaps be impossible for France speedily to convince of this a nation, which, in bestowing its confidence, has never renounced the exercise of its reason, or its respect for truth and justice. Such are the instructions which the undersigned has received orders to communicate officially to his excellency lord Grenville; inviting him, as well as the whole council of his Britannic majesty, to weigh, with the most serious attention, the declarations and the demands which they contain. It is evident that the French nation is desirous of maintaining peace with England; she affords a proof of this, by lending herself frankly and openly to dissipate all the suspicions which so many different passions and prejudices are unceasingly at work to raise up against her; but the more she shall have done to convince all Europe of the purity of her views, and of the justice of her intentions, the more will she have a right to expect no longer to be misunderstood. He The undersigned has orders to demand a written answer to the present note. hopes that the ministers of his Britannic majesty will be brought back, by the explanations which it contains, to ideas more favourable to the re-union of the two countries, and that they will not have occasion, for the purpose of returning to them, to consider the terrible responsibility of a declaration of war, which will incontestibly be their own work, the consequences of which cannot be otherwise than fatal to the two countries, and to |