quo_. Thus
the Court of Florida Bianca was made the responsible editor of the armed
neutrality, and, from a report that vain-glorious Spaniard addressed to
Carlos III., one may see how immensely he felt flattered at the idea of
having not only hatched the armed neutrality but allured Russia into
abetting it.

[11] This same Sir James Harris, perhaps more familiar to the reader
under the name of the Earl of Malmesbury, is extolled by English
historians as the man who prevented England from surrendering the right
of search in the Peace Negotiations of 1782-83.

[12] It might be inferred from this passage and similar ones occurring
in the text, that Catherine II. had caught a real Tartar in Lord North,
whose Administration Sir James Harris is pointing at. Any such delusion
will disappear before the simple statement that the first partition of
Poland took place under Lord North's Administration, without any protest
on his part. In 1773 Catherine's war against Turkey still continuing,
and her conflicts with Sweden growing serious, France made preparations
to send a powerful fleet into the Baltic. D'Aiguillon, the French
Minister of Foreign Affairs, communicated this plan to Lord Stormont,
the then English Ambassador at Paris. In a long conversation,
D'Aiguillon dwelt largely on the ambitious designs of Russia, and the
common interest that ought to blend France and England into a joint
resistance against them. In answer to this confidential communication,
he was informed by the English Ambassador that, "if France sent her
ships into the Baltic, they would instantly be followed by a British
fleet; that the presence of two fleets would have no more effect than a
neutrality; and however the British Court might desire to preserve the
harmony now subsisting between England and France, it was impossible to
foresee the contingencies that might arise from accidental collision."
In consequence of these representations, D'Aiguillon countermanded the
squadron at Brest, but gave new orders for the equipment of an armament
at Toulon. "On receiving intelligence of these renewed preparations, the
British Cabinet made instant and vigorous demonstrations of resistance;
Lord Stormont was ordered to declare that every argument used respecting
the Baltic applied equally to the Mediterranean. A memorial also was
presented to the French Minister, accompanied by a demand that it should
be laid before the King and Council. This produced the desire