imself
might have been induced, from the high esteem he felt for Mr. Fox, to
make concessions from which he would before have recoiled. But there
were two obstacles, I may say almost insurmountable ones. The first was
the conviction on the part of England that any peace which might be made
would only be a truce, and that Bonaparte would never seriously
relinquish his desire of universal dominion. On the other side, it was
believed that Napoleon had formed the design of invading England. Had he
been able to do so it would have been less with the view of striking a
blow at her commerce and destroying her maritime power, than of
annihilating the liberty of the press, which he had extinguished in his
own dominions. The spectacle of a free people, separated only by six
leagues of sea, was, according to him, a seductive example to the French,
especially to those among them who bent unwillingly under his yoke.

At an early period of Mr. Fox's ministry a Frenchman made the proposition
to him of assassinating the Emperor, of which information was immediately
transmitted to M. de Talleyrand. In this despatch the Minister said
that, though the laws of England did not authorise the permanent
detention of any individual not convicted of a crime, he had on this
occasion taken it on himself to secure the miscreant till such time as
the French Government could be put on its guard against his attempts.
Mr. Fox said in his letter that he had at first done this individual "the
honour to take him for a spy," a phrase which sufficiently indicated the
disgust with which the British Minister viewed him.

This information was the key which opened the door to new negotiations.
M. de Talleyrand was ordered to express, in reply to the communication of
Mr. Fox, that the Emperor was sensibly affected at the index it afforded
of the principles by which the British Cabinet was actuated. Napoleon
did not limit himself to this diplomatic courtesy; he deemed it a
favourable occasion to create a belief that he was actuated by a sincere
love of peace. He summoned to Paris Lord Yarmouth, one of the most
distinguished amongst the English who had been so unjustly detained
prisoners at Verdun on the rupture of the peace of Amiens. He gave his
lordship instructions to propose to the British Government a new form of
negotiations, offering to guarantee to England the Cape of Good Hope and
Malta. Some have been inclined from this concession to praise the
moderat