The Bourbon princes are received with the
insignia of the ancient royalty. Agents are sent to Switzerland
and Italy to raise up difficulties against France. Every wind
which blows from England brings me but hatred and insult. Now we
have come to a situation from which we must relieve ourselves. Will
you or will you not execute the treaty of Amiens? I have executed
it on my part with scrupulous fidelity. That treaty obliged me to
evacuate Naples, Tarento, and the Roman States, within three months.
In less than two months, all the French troops were out of those
countries. Ten months have elapsed since the exchange of the
ratifications, and the English troops are still in Malta, and at
Alexandria. It is useless to try to deceive us on this point. Will
you have peace, or will you have war? If you are for war, only say
so; we will wage it unrelentingly. If you wish for peace, you must
evacuate Alexandria and Malta. The rock of Malta, on which so many
fortifications have been erected, is, in a maritime point of view,
an object of great importance infinitely greater, inasmuch as it
implicates the honor of France.
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