III., who was in no manner opposed to the cession of the fortress, had set his heart on obtaining in exchange.[1] So little aware however were his descendants of the sentiments of their predecessor on the throne, that on the formation of Lord Grey's Cabinet in 1830, William IV. insisted on a declaration from Lord Lansdowne, that he had no intention of renewing the proposition which he attributed to Lord Shelburne of ceding Gibraltar, a proposition to which, so William IV. declared, no patriotic king could possibly accede.
Simultaneously with this change of front on the part of Vergennes, the Dutch plenipotentiaries Berkenroode and Brantsen, who had at length arrived in Paris with full powers, informed Fitzherbert, in what the latter considered a very dictatorial manner, that they would insist on the recognition by England of the principles laid down by Fox in his despatch of April to M. Simolin, in regard to the Armed Neutrality being recognized by England as a preliminary to any treaty of peace with the Dutch Republic.[2] They also demanded the restitution of all the English conquests, and compensation for all the captured Dutch merchant vessels. These demands Fitzherbert refused, explaining that he considered that the despatch of Fox had become null and void, from the moment that the overture for peace which it likewise contained had been rejected by Holland, as it had been.[3]
The respective negotiators being entirely unable to come to any terms, the French Government again despatched Rayneval to England.
On arriving Rayneval proceeded to demand Dominica for France, and suggested the following arrangement regarding Gibraltar; viz. that France should yield Dominica and Guadaloupe to England, receive Gibraltar in exchange, and then arrange for an equivalent with Spain. Shelburne however rejected both propositions, and intimated to Rayneval that the negotiation could not drag on for ever,
- ↑ Fitzherbert to Shelburne, November 5th, 1782. Fitzherbert to Grantham, October 28th, 1782.
- ↑ See supra, p. 112.
- ↑ Projet de Préliminaires, November 9th, 1782. Fitzherbert to Grantham, October 28th, 1782. Vergennes to Shelburne, November 15th, 1782.
