im that we
must know where we are, that we are tired of this state of
anxiety.... Soften down a little at the end of the conference, and
invite him to return before writing to his Court."

But this careful rehearsal was to avail nothing; our stolid ambassador
was not to be cajoled, and on May 2nd, that is, seven days after his
presenting our ultimatum, he sent for his passports. He did not,
however, set out immediately. Yielding to an urgent request, he
delayed his departure in order to hear the French reply to the British
ultimatum.[255] It notified sarcastically that Lampedusa was not in
the First Consul's power to bestow, that any change with reference to
Malta must be referred by Great Britain to the Great Powers for their
concurrence, and that Holland would be evacuated as soon as the terms
of the Treaty of Amiens were complied with. Another proposal was that
Malta should be transferred to Russia--the very step which was
proposed at Amiens and was rejected by the Czar: on that account Lord
Whitworth now refused it as being merely a device to gain time. The
sending of his passports having been delayed, he received one more
despatch from Downing Street, which allowed that our retention of
Malta for ten years should form a secret article--a device which would
spare the First Consul's susceptibilities on the point of honour. Even
so, however, Napoleon refused to consider a longer tenure than two or
three years. And in this he was undoubtedly encouraged by the recent
despatch from St. Petersburg, wherein the Czar promised his mediation
in a sense favourable to France. This unfortunate occurrence completed
the discomfiture of the peace party at the Consular Court, and in a
long and heated discussion in a council held at St. Cloud on May 11th
all but Joseph Bonaparte and Talleyrand voted for the rejection of
the British demands.

On the next day Lord Whitworth left Paris. During his journey to
Calais he received one more proposal, that France should hold the
peninsula of Otranto for ten years if Great Britain retained Malta for
that period; but if this suggestion was made in good faith, which is
doubtful, its effect was destroyed by a rambling diatribe which
Talleyrand, at his master's orders, sent shortly afterwards.[256] In
any case it was looked upon by our ambassador as a last attempt to gain
time for the concentration of the French naval forces. He crossed the
Straits of Dover on May 17th, the day be