This was written a few days after the Spanish Court had decided to abandon the family compact and form an intimate alliance with England as studied in the last chapter. The next issue of the same paper printed a letter from London, dated October 12, which had a very different tone:

This was written a fortnight after news had reached London of Spain’s proposed change. Instead of receiving the friendly advances of the Spanish Court in the spirit in which Floridablanca hoped, and apparently expected, the Court of St. James accepted them as an announcement that the French alliance had failed, and an acknowledgment that Spain was at the mercy of England. This is really what they meant. Instead of following Spain’s example and giving up some of her pretensions, England took advantage of Spanish helplessness and gave Spain ten days to decide whether she would accept war in the face of almost insurmountable difficulties, or peace with humiliating concessions. Much discontent had arisen in England at the length to which the negotiation was being drawn out. It was considered inconsistent with the decisive tone at the beginning. The object to be gained was thought to be hardly worth such an expensive armament continued for so many months. The ministry was being severely criticised, and felt the necessity of forcing a decision.[411]

Although feeling keenly the criticism of the armament, yet the Government was unwilling to disarm until Spain should have yielded. On September 10, in consequence of the repeated requests from Spain for a mutual disarmament, Leeds directed Fitzherbert to represent to Floridablanca that, with every wish for an amicable adjustment, it did not appear to the British Government expedient to disarm until such adjustment should be secured.[412] For the same reason the ministry was unwilling to accept any temporary arrangement, such as Floridablanca had suggested, which would postpone the final settlement to a later date. Consequently, on October 2 two drafts of a treaty were sent to Fitzherbert. They contained substantially the same terms except that one provided for the definite demarkation of the limits of Spanish exclusive sovereignty, and the other did not. These embodied Great Britain’s ultimatum. Fitzherbert was to give the Spanish Court ten days in which to decide on an answer. If at the end of that time an answer had not been received the ambassador was to quit Madrid.

After sending the ultimatum the British Court redoubled its energies in preparing for war. One is almost led to believe, from the vigor displayed, that war was desired and that the ultimatum was prepared with the deliberate intention of forcing a breach. In a letter of October 22 Leeds asked Auckland, the British ambassador at The Hague, to communicate to the Government of the Republic the probability of a rupture. He expected in a few days to send copies of all the correspondence relating to the discussion that Auckland might lay them before the Dutch Government. Although it might happen, he said, that England would be obliged to commence the hostilities, yet he had no doubt that every circumstance would convince mankind that “Great Britain was not the aggressor in the war which may, in a few days, disturb the general tranquillity.” After speaking of the cordiality of the Dutch Government, he continued:

A notion of the popular view of the impending war may be gleaned from a letter written by Storer to Auckland on the same day that the secretary for foreign affairs wrote the one just studied. Storer said that all of the officers were in high spirits at the prospect of a voyage to Mexico. He thought that the Nootka affair was merely a pretext for a war that had been previously determined upon. He said:

He thought that the negotiators themselves did not know what would happen.[415] If the British ministers were not actually trying to force a war, it is, at least, evident that they were willing to accept it should it come; and that they were not willing to make any considerable concessions to preserve peace.

The ultimatum, with instructions for his private guidance, reached Fitzherbert October 12. He was told that Floridablanca’s proposal for a temporary agreement was not admissible since it would leave the matter open to a subsequent discussion. It was important that it should be settled at once. If Floridablanca’s proposal had not been accompanied by assurances that indicated a sincere desire for accommodation with England, it would have been doubtful, he was told, whether anything could have been hoped from a further continuance of the negotiation. The prospect for a speedy settlement and the chance for dissolving the family compact compensated largely for the inconvenience of further delay, but that delay could be only for a few days. The Count’s committing himself on points of so much delicacy indicated that the Spanish Court had determined to go a considerable length. His language respecting France was consistent with his character. The temporary arrangement proposed by him admitted the British claims in general terms, but the indefiniteness of its terms would leave ground for disputes. Fitzherbert was to remind the Count that he had, in principle, admitted the justice of the British claims. The present articles, he was told, did no more than to secure definitely those rights. Their rejection would be considered as a proof either that Spain was not sincerely desirous of an accommodation or that she was unwilling to grant distinctly the security which the Spanish minister had argued to be in fact contained in the articles which he had suggested. The question as to security of navigation, commerce, and fisheries in that part of the world depended on whether Spain did or did not insist on her exclusive claim to the continent in question and the seas adjacent. This could be decided as well at one time as another. The question of restitution should depend on whether Spain rested her case on her pretended exclusive sovereignty or prior discovery, or whether she could prove that she had actual occupation of Nootka prior to the time when lands were purchased and buildings erected there by British subjects.[416] The only matter that could afford an excuse for delay was the determination of limits. Such an article would seem to be desirable to both sides, but His Britannic Majesty would not object seriously to the omission of such demarkation. The great expense of maintaining the armament ready for service and the just expectations of the public could not admit of further delay in coming to a decision on the question of peace or war. Fitzherbert was to communicate this fact to Floridablanca in the least offensive but the most explicit manner possible. Ten days was considered a sufficient time for the Spanish answer.

On the question of disarming in the event of an amicable settlement, Leeds suggested that mutual confidence would be a stronger security than any formal stipulations. England did not wish to reduce to a peace establishment at once, on account of the French armament and because of the fact that Russia seemed unwilling to adopt a moderate policy toward Turkey. It was incumbent on the allies to prevent the dismemberment of Turkey.[417]

On October 13, the next day after receiving the above instructions and the projets of a convention accompanying them, Fitzherbert had a conference with the Spanish minister, at which the latter’s language led the former to doubt the possibility of an amicable settlement. At an interview on the following day the British minister presented parts of the drafts of the ultimatum. The Count’s reception of these was so unfavorable that Fitzherbert thought best to warn all of the British consuls in Spain of the prospect of an immediate rupture. He wrote to his home Government that it seemed impossible to obtain a convention with a demarcation of limits. That no means of effecting a pacification might be left untried, Fitzherbert delivered to Floridablanca on October 15 a translation of the entire projet without the demarcation of limits. The Count’s reply of the next day was still in terms extremely wide of the English proposals, but it revived Fitzherbert’s hopes of engaging the Spanish minister by degrees to accede to His Britannic Majesty’s demands.[418]

In this reply of October 16 Floridablanca said that there were considerable difficulties in the way of agreeing to the English projet. He submitted some observations justifying some small but substantial changes which he had suggested. He remarked that the British projet, in demanding that the buildings and lands should be restored to the British subjects, assumed that they had once possessed them. He declared that this assumption was untrue; that the British subjects had only been attempting to make an establishment, from which the Spanish commander had prevented them. If they had ever bought land, as pretended, they had failed to take possession of it.

Before examining Floridablanca’s observations further it may be well to remark that this was the point of fact on which it was impossible for the two Courts to agree. Each relied on the statements made by its own subjects and these statements were conflicting. Meares told of his purchase of land and his erection of a building thereon in 1788 in such a manner as to lead the British Cabinet to believe that he had formed a substantial English settlement, and that the establishment was still there in the spring of 1789 when Martinez arrived. On the other hand, Martinez’s account showed that when he arrived at Nootka there were no evidences of any British establishment, but that the expedition under Colnett, which arrived two months later, came to form an establishment. Neither was wholly right nor wholly wrong.[419]

Floridablanca said that it was very difficult and almost impossible for Spain to consent that British subjects should land in unoccupied places to trade with the natives and form establishments. Places without a substantial Spanish occupation, he said, might be found almost anywhere along the coast of America. This clause, he said, ought to be omitted from the projet. Fitzherbert had proposed that British vessels should not approach within 10 leagues of places occupied by Spain. The Count insisted that the distance was too short. Instead of the expression, “occupied by Spain,” he would substitute the expression, “belonging to Spain.” With his observations the Spanish minister submitted a counter projet which embodied them. In his letter accompanying these documents, Floridablanca said that he had proposed a special junta to consider the English propositions. However, if Fitzherbert would agree to the Spanish counter projet, he would venture to propose it to the King and see if the matter could not be settled before the meeting of the junta.[420]

The Spanish minister had decided that Spain would have to yield to the English demands. He was directing his efforts toward an attempt to induce the British ambassador to modify those demands so that they would give as little offense as possible to Spanish pride. But other Spanish officials were not so ready to yield as the prime minister was.

Fitzherbert did not accept the count’s terms. He insisted on the British projet as it stood. The special junta was summoned. It was composed of eight of the principal ministers, not including Floridablanca. The order naming the members was dated October 19. The next day a note requested them to hasten, for the ambassador was very urgent. Sessions were held on the 21st, 22d, 24th, and 25th. The English projet was examined article by article.

The findings of the junta furnish an excellent notion of the feeling of Spaniards respecting the dispute. It was declared that Martinez’s conduct at Nootka had not been contrary to international law nor an insult to the English flag. What he had done was to prevent the forming of an establishment in a place belonging to the Spanish dominions, in which, by virtue of treaties made before all Europe and guaranteed by England herself, no foreign disembarkation was permitted without a just motive, and much less the forming of military or commercial establishments. Even granting that the proceedings of Martinez had been culpable, and, by a distortion of ideas, that the resistance to a usurpation could be considered an insult, Spain had already given England such satisfaction as was compatible with her dignity. The increasing of the British pretensions while the Spanish were being moderated showed that the Nootka affair was only a mask to cover England’s hostile designs of taking advantage of the revolution in France to attack the divided House of Bourbon.

Referring to a clause in the British projet providing for the return of any vessels that might have been seized since April, 1789, the conclusions of the junta declared that this showed England’s design of sending new expeditions. They would not limit themselves to fisheries nor to trading with the natives. They intended to form fortified establishments and construct vessels there to carry on trade with all of New Spain. Their first aggressions would lead to others. The weak and extended Spanish dominions afforded opportunities for their activity. There were many places that Spain had not been able and probably never would be able to people. The English pretension was the more irritating since it extended also to all the coasts of South America. If Spain should grant their demands she might expect in the end to surrender to them all of the commerce of Peru and New Spain.

The English offer of not allowing their subjects to approach within 10 leagues of any place occupied by Spain was useless, the junta declared, since they demanded the privilege of disembarking in all unoccupied places. By this means they could approach insensibly to those that were occupied. If the Spanish governors should attempt to prevent them, it would lead to disputes and to new negotiations which would afford new opportunities for aggressions. They would finally take all of these countries from Spain.

The English assumption of rights in South America was branded as an infamous artifice. Although Spain had for three centuries been in exclusive and peaceful possession of all South America, the English were now pretending that they had equal rights to unoccupied places. Appealing directly to the King, they said:

England, they declared, was now exacting more than she had dared to ask in 1763, when she had so great an advantage. She had forgotten her guaranty in the treaty of Utrecht that Spain’s American dominions should be restored as they had been in the reign of King Charles II, and should remain in that condition. If Spain should grant these privileges to England, other nations would claim them under the “most-favored-nation clause” of the same treaty.

The King was asked to consider how his father had resisted England when there was much less at stake and when the Spanish army and navy were in no better condition. In case of war England’s attention, they said, would be directed not against the Peninsula, but against the colonies. Havana Vera Cruz, Cartagena, Porto Rico, Santo Domingo, Trinidad, Caracas, Montevideo, and Buenos Ayres were considered likely points of attack. All of these were declared ready to defend themselves because of their superior garrisons and of climatic and strategic advantages.

Floridablanca had inclosed with other papers for the junta a copy of the observations on Spain’s relations to other powers, which he had prepared early in September on receipt of the news of the decree of the National Assembly.[421] Because of the frankness shown in other matters the junta said that they were encouraged to volunteer their own observations on this. Speaking of Prussia as England’s most powerful ally, they said that her King was not in a position to dictate terms to all of the northern powers, consequently he would have to consider his own defense. In view of this and of the existing state of Turkish affairs they concluded that England’s position was not an especially strong one. As to possible support for Spain, they said that France could not be blind to her interests and to her obligations under the family compact. To avoid the evil effects on the Spanish fleet of insubordination in the French navy the two could operate separately. Spain could probably not get any aid from the United States. Neither were they likely to join England. Portugal could not aid except by remaining neutral. There was nothing to ask or expect from Sardinia, Naples, Venice, or Turkey, and the African states ought to give little concern. As to Russia they were more hopeful. They suggested that it would not be impossible for Spain, by offering commercial advantages, to enter an alliance with Russia, Sweden, and Denmark and secure their help against England. They respectfully submitted to the King and his prime minister the idea of a treaty with Russia defining territorial limits on the western coast of America and guaranteeing each other against English aggressions on that coast.

The junta then offered several observations on the harshness of the English demands. England was offering nothing, they said, in return for the sacrifices demanded of Spain. She had turned a deaf ear to Spain’s repeated requests for a reciprocal disarmament, hence there was good reason to fear that she was trying to force a breach. It was plain that she intended to form new establishments in the Spanish dominions. She proposed to deprive Spain of the power of repelling the intrusions which she meditated by allowing no recourse except a report of the matter to the home governments and a new convention in each case. This would mean subjection and a continual state of war. She was inviting other nations to help her despoil Spain. She was insisting on the establishment of a principle which would allow usurpations in every uninhabited place. The whole Spanish dominions would shortly be destroyed. Her demands were as injurious as could be made after the most disgraceful war. If this cession should be made through fear in a time of profound peace, it would encourage still greater claims. Authorized by such a document other nations would form common cause, and the vast continent of the Indies would be exposed to a general occupation. Even in an unfortunate war Spain would only have to come to an understanding with her enemies, and there would be hope for favorable alliances and better terms with less sacrifices.

Finally the junta gave their conclusions as to the answer that should be made to England’s ultimatum. The concessions now demanded, they said, would inevitably lead Spain into a war. She would then suffer all that the King now wished to avoid, and England would certainly accept no less afterwards. In case that this projet should be rejected and war should ensue, what treaty, it was asked, could be concluded more absolutely ruinous, even in the remote chance of complete prostration, than the convention which was now proposed? Therefore the junta could not in any manner accept the unjust terms contained in the English ultimatum. They recognized that this would mean war. They advised preparation at once to repel hostile attacks and an immediate search for allies even before giving a final answer to the English ambassador.[422]

On October 25, the day of the last session of the junta, its conclusions were hurried off to Floridablanca to be laid before the King. Their reception and influence on the negotiation will be studied in the next chapter.[423]

Chapter XIII.
THE NOOTKA SOUND CONVENTION—ITS RECEPTION AND RESULTS.

After submitting the English ultimatum to the extraordinary junta, as studied in the last chapter, Floridablanca continued his conferences with Fitzherbert. He made strenuous efforts to induce the British ambassador to modify the English demands. In the first article, which declared that the buildings and lands on the Northwest Coast should be restored to the British subjects, the Count pressed earnestly for the insertion of the clause, “notwithstanding the exclusive rights which Spain has claimed.” This would have been almost tantamount to a recognition of the Spanish claim. Fitzherbert would not consent to it. But since the declarations of July had expressly reserved the discussion of those rights, and since the Spanish minister would not be content without some reference to them in the convention, the British ambassador consented to mention them in the preamble. Consequently, he proposed the insertion of the clause, “laying aside all retrospective discussion of the rights and claims of the two parties.” He was very careful to word it so that there would not be in it any admission of the justice of the Spanish claim. After some hesitation the Count accepted it.

In the second article Fitzherbert consented to the omission of one word. The projet had provided that “for all other acts of violence or hostility,” etc., reparation should be made. The Count objected to the word “other” as an unnecessary and invidious reference to the action of Martinez at Nootka in 1789, in view of the fact that satisfactory reparation for it had already been made. The British ambassador consented to omit “other.” The Spanish minister attempted to limit this reparation to offenses committed “on the said continent and the islands adjacent.” Fitzherbert would not agree. This would not have included the violence recently done to Captain Macdonald in the West Indies, mentioned in the last chapter. England apprehended other similar seizures, and such would not have been unnatural under the strained relations existing between the two countries for so many months.

The last clause of the third article, making the privilege of landing anywhere on the coast subject to the restrictions contained in the following articles, was not in the draft without a demarkation of limits which was made the basis of the treaty, but it was in the draft with a demarkation of limits. Fitzherbert compromised on this point and combined the two drafts. He admitted a limitation of the privilege without obtaining a definite demarkation of the boundaries of Spanish exclusive sovereignty. If Floridablanca had not secured this concession, it would have meant that the English could have landed and established colonies in any unoccupied spot on the coast of California, Mexico, Central or South America. This concession was not included in the draft which was examined by the special junta. It was on this point that they so violently opposed conceding the English demands and advised war at all hazards instead.

In the fourth article, regarding the limit of 10 leagues within which English vessels should not approach Spanish establishments, Floridablanca pressed very earnestly for extending the distance to 15 leagues. As a precedent for his contention, he cited the treaty of 1763 between England and France, which fixed 15 leagues as the distance within which French fishermen might not approach the coasts of Cape Breton. He suggested the insertion of the words “in the said seas,” which would confine this restriction to the Pacific. Fitzherbert embodied the last mentioned suggestion, since he conceived that it might be of advantage to the English fisheries on the Atlantic coasts of Spanish America, but he would not admit the extension to 15 leagues. His private instructions, as mentioned in the last chapter, had named 5 leagues as the distance to be first proposed, but had allowed him to concede 8 or even 10.

The fifth and sixth articles contained the stipulations upon which there was the most difficulty in agreeing. In the course of their discussion the negotiation was frequently on the point of being broken off. Floridablanca would not consent to a convention that failed to secure to Spain her exclusive intercourse with her establishments. Neither would he consent to fix any precise line as the boundary of the Spanish possessions, either on the north or the south. He pleaded insufficient information. Fitzherbert wrote to the British Cabinet that the language of the Spanish minister on both of these points was so firm and decisive as to make it evident beyond a doubt that the alternative of peace or war rested on finding or not finding a solution of these difficulties. Neither of the two drafts of the English ultimatum afforded a solution. The one provided that the subjects of the two Crowns should have free access to all unoccupied places and to all establishments formed since April, 1789, or to be formed north of a fixed line on the Northwest Coast and south of a fixed line on the South American coast. The other, omitting any reference to fixed limits, provided that this privilege should extend to the whole Pacific coast of North and South America.

In order to solve this difficulty the English ambassador admitted the restriction at the end of the third article, mentioned above. For the same purpose he consented to insert in the fifth article the clause, “situated to the north of the parts of the said coast already occupied by Spain.” This preserved the Spanish exclusive dominion as far northward as her most northern establishment. The provision in article 6 was materially changed. The draft of the ultimatum had provided that the subjects of neither nation should make any establishment south of a definite line to be fixed so long as no settlement should be formed thereon by the subjects of any other power. Instead of fixing a definite line the negotiators agreed to insert the clause, “in such part of those coasts as are situated to the south of those parts of the same coasts and of the islands adjacent already occupied by Spain.” They added the provision that in such places the respective subjects should have the right of landing and constructing temporary buildings for purposes connected with their fisheries. The clause, “so long as no establishments shall be formed thereon by the subjects of any other power,” was omitted from the article. This had been objected to on the ground that it would be virtually a public invitation to all nations to make settlements there and so join England in despoiling Spain of her dominions. In order to remove the Spanish objection to publicity and still assure England that she would not be compelled to keep her hands off while other nations should do the thing that she had bound herself not to do, the stipulation was embodied in a secret article. This secret clause provided that the stipulation in the sixth article forbidding the subjects of Spain and England to make establishments in such places should remain in force only so long as no settlements should be formed there by the subjects of any other power.[424]

These changes having been agreed to, Fitzherbert presented to Floridablanca on October 23 a new projet embodying them. He said that he had conformed to the ideas of Floridablanca as far as his instructions would permit. In order to discuss the new draft before it should be laid before the King, the British ambassador proposed to call on the Count in the evening of the same day.[425] When their conference closed, the Spanish minister said that he was still in doubt whether the reply which he should give the next morning would be for peace or war.[426] On the morning of October 24 Floridablanca said that the King had agreed to Fitzherbert’s terms and had promised that the convention should be signed with the usual formalities three or four days later.[427] The British ambassador pressed for an immediate signature, but the minister said that he could not consent to it. The Count was at the time with the King at San Ildefonso, whither His Majesty had gone on a hunting trip. Fitzherbert had gone to the same place to continue his conferences with the Count. The latter said that if the convention should be signed while there his enemies would charge him with having taken advantage of the fact that he was almost alone with the King to induce His Majesty to agree to a measure contrary to the interests of his Crown. He said also that he wished, before signing, to send a memorial to the junta to justify himself for signing the convention contrary to their opinion. He pledged His Catholic Majesty’s word that the convention should be signed “verbatim et literatim.”[428] The exchange of full powers took place on October 26, and the wording of the titles of the two negotiators to be inserted in the preamble was arranged on October 27.[429] According to the agreement made four days earlier, the following convention was signed on October 28:

Ratifications were exchanged by Floridablanca and Fitzherbert on November 22.

The fact that the convention was signed in opposition to the advice of the special junta occasioned lively comment for several weeks in Spanish official circles. It will be recalled from the last chapter that the sittings of the junta were on October 21, 22, 24, and 25, and that on the last date the junta hurried its conclusions off to Floridablanca, advising war rather than compliance with the English demands. From a statement in an earlier part of the present chapter, it will be remembered that the convention was virtually concluded between Floridablanca and Fitzherbert at their interview of October 23; and that on the next day the King pledged his word to sign the convention as it then was.

On October 27 a letter from Floridablanca informed Iriarte, the secretary of the junta, that the conclusions of the junta had been received on the 25th, had been laid before the King on the 26th, and were being considered by the Council of State. He cautioned the members of the junta to keep the proceedings of that body absolutely secret.[432] The Count evidently hoped to keep concealed the fact that the convention had already been agreed upon. He did not succeed long in doing this. On October 28 Iriarte replied to the Count’s letter of the day before, discussing at length the latter’s injunction to secrecy. Notes in Iriarte’s hand on slips of paper inserted later in these two letters show that he had learned of the fact of the convention’s having been agreed upon before the conclusions of the junta had been received, though it had not been signed until afterwards. In proof of the fact he referred to a circular letter which the British ambassador had written on October 26, telling all of the English consuls in Spain that the dispute had been settled and that the convention would be formally signed in a few days. Another brief note similarly inserted censured the administration very severely for accepting the English terms. It said:

On November 21 Floridablanca expressed the King’s thanks to all of the ministers that took part in the junta for their promptness and zeal. His Majesty assured them that he would not have hesitated a moment to carry out their recommendations if motives absolutely secret to himself had not compelled him to order the convention signed. The Count inclosed some reflections on the convention which His Majesty offered in addition to the secret motives.[434]

These reflections declared that the purpose of the Convention was to avoid a war in the present unhappy circumstances, reserving it for a more favorable time, if it should become necessary. It did not involve an absolute renunciation in case Spain chose not to observe it. It was shown that by a strict interpretation of some of its terms the Convention could be made of little value to England and little loss to Spain. In the stipulations that granted to English subjects privileges of commerce and settlement north or south of places already occupied, attention was called to the expression “already occupied.” The word “occupied” did not mean nearly so much as “inhabited” or “peopled” would have meant, and “already” did not mean “actually” or “now.” If a place had been once occupied and then abandoned this expression could be made to apply to it. The implication was that formal acts of taking possession where there had been no thought of making an actual settlement could be made to come under this head. Such acts had been performed practically all along the coast. Such a construction would have almost nullified the privileges granted to England. The reflections said further that the English were not allowed to approach Spanish settlements and Spain had equal rights with England anywhere on the coast. It was thought that Russia’s fear of English encroachments would be a safeguard against England. English trade and settlements were limited to the part of the coast north of Nootka. It was insisted that the treaty simply recognized existing conditions; that it conceded nothing except what had been allowed, and on the other hand obtained concessions by limiting the privileges. It was proposed to observe the Convention only so long as it should be to the advantage of Spain to do so. Whenever she felt strong enough to assert her ancient rights she could still do it.[435] The purpose of these arguments was doubtless to quiet adverse criticism of the Convention. It was partially successful at the time. A few days later, after the letter of Floridablanca and the reflections had been considered, all of the ministers of the junta sent to the King their thanks for his confidence.[436] But this success did not last long. Criticism of the Convention continued and finally led to the overthrow of Floridablanca. In May, 1791, the British ambassador wrote that the Spanish prime minister was very anxious to have England take effectual measures for preventing British vessels from touching at Spanish ports, that his enemies might not find new reasons for attacking him.[437] Finally, in the latter part of February, 1792, Floridablanca was dismissed from office. The Nootka business was said to have been the principal cause of his fall.[438]

News of the agreement to sign the convention reached London November 4. On that day Leeds wrote to Auckland that a messenger had just arrived with a dispatch from Fitzherbert, dated October 24, saying that the convention had been agreed upon and would be signed four days later. A copy inclosed with this letter exactly corresponds to the convention as signed.[439] An unofficial letter, written on the same day by a clerk in the foreign office and accompanying this official note, declared that the convention would speak for itself; that it contained everything that England had demanded. The writer said that the Spanish ministry had been decidedly for war rather than make the sacrifice, but that Floridablanca had obtained the King’s consent while on a hunting trip, and pledged his master’s word that the convention would be signed on their return, that it might have the sanction of his colleagues “pro forma.”[440] The signed convention reached London five days later. Leeds immediately sent a copy of it to Auckland, that the latter might lay it before the Dutch Government. The Duke congratulated the ambassador on the happy termination of such a very important negotiation.[441] On the day of its arrival, November 9, the British Court ratified the convention, and hurried a messenger off to Fitzherbert.[442] As stated above, the ratifications were exchanged at Madrid on November 22.

On November 12 Burges, under secretary for the foreign office, wrote to Auckland: