Treaty of Lunéville

“ French arms, and French diplomacy supported by armed force, were more successful elsewhere. The treaty of Lunéville was only the first of a series of treaties, by which France secured to herself a political position commensurate with her military glory. By the treaty of Aranjuez between France and Spain, signed on March 21, Spain ceded Louisiana to France, reserving the right of pre-emption, and undertook to wage war on Portugal in order to detach it from the British alliance. ”

“ LETTER II. PARIS, August, 1805.
MY LORD:—Though the Treaty of Luneville will probably soon be buried in the rubbish of the Treaty of Amiens, the influence of their parents in the Cabinet of St. Cloud is as great as ever: I say their parents, because the crafty ex-Bishop, Talleyrand, foreseeing the short existence of these bastard diplomatic acts, took care to compliment the innocent Joseph Bonaparte with a share in the parentage, although they were his own exclusive offspring. ”

“ Hawkesbury's despatch of four days later supplies an excuse for his contemptible device of pretending not to see this glaring violation of the Treaty of Lunéville. Referring to the events at Lyons, he writes:
"Extravagant and unjustifiable as they are in themselves, [they] must have led us to believe that the First Consul would [pg.351] have been more anxious than ever to have closed his account with this country."
Doubtless that was the case, but only on condition that England remained passive while French domination was extended over all neighbouring lands. ”

“ The claims of Saxony were bought off by a payment of 4,000,000 thalers. The most unsatisfactory part of the treaty was that it was guaranteed by France and Russia. ... On the whole, it was a great triumph for Frederick and an equal humiliation for Joseph II. His schemes of aggrandisement had been foiled."
R. Lodge, History of Modern Europe, chapter 20, section 3,
ALSO IN: T. H. Dyer, History of Modern Europe, book 6, chapter 8 (volume 3) .
BAVARIA: A. D. 1801-1803.
Acquisition of territory under the Treaty of Luneville.
See GERMANY: A. D. 1801-1803. ”

“ Thenceforth, until after the signing of the Treaty of Luneville in 1801, he was almost constantly engaged in military operations. He had risen from the ranks, and won commendation for stubborn valour from such commanders as Desaix, Kleber, Hoche, Westermann, and Moreau. He participated in the cruel war of La Vendee, won fresh laurels during the campaign of the Rhine (1796) , and fought with a furious lust for battle under the noble Moreau at Hohenlinden. ”

“ For England herself the event which accompanied it, the sudden withdrawal of William Pitt from office, which took place in the very month of the treaty, was hardly less significant. ... The bulk of the old Ministry returned in a few days to office with Mr. Addington at their head, and his administration received the support of the whole Tory party in Parliament. ... It was with anxiety that England found itself guided by men like these. ... The country stood utterly alone; while the peace of Luneville secured France from all hostility on the Continent. ”

“ All Europe knows that the British minister has endeavored to frustrate the negotiations at Luneville. In vain was it declared to him that France was ready to enter into a separate negotiation. This declaration only produced a refusal under the pretext that England could not abandon her ally. Since then, when that ally consented to treat without England, that government sought other means to delay a peace so necessary to the world. It raises pretensions contrary to the dignity and rights of all nations. The whole commerce of Asia, and of immense colonies, does not satisfy its ambition. ”

“ Should he continue victorious, and be in a position to dictate another Peace of Luneville, which probably would be followed by another pacific overture to or from England, mankind will again be ready to call out, "Oh, the illustrious warrior! Oh, the profound politician! He foresaw, in his wisdom, that a Continental war was necessary to terrify or to subdue his maritime foe; that a peace with England could be obtained only in Germany; and that this war must be excited by extending the power of France on the other side of the Alps. Hence his coronation as a King of Italy ”

“ Bear in mind that England had never conceded the validity of our title to the Louisiana Domain, and so if the carefully planned design to capture it had been successful, England was in position to hold that she did not regard it as a legal possession of the United States, and as not subject to return under the Peace Treaty. It is a violence to credibility to suppose that England, after finally dispatching the big expedition against Louisiana, would within a few weeks thereafter, agree to a peace treaty, recalling her troops from an anticipated successful conquest. ”

“ Lord Lyons to Lord Granville. Paris, May 13, 1881.
Barthélemy St. Hilaire certainly foreshadowed the Tunisian Treaty accurately when he said that it would very much resemble a Protectorate. It is so like one that it would be difficult to point out a difference. The guaranteeing the execution of the Treaties of the European Powers is sufficiently impertinent. As in all these French expeditions, there is a vast amount of dirty pecuniary stockjobbing [Pg 244] interests at the bottom, which have been the real motive power. ”

“ France, which had for over a year kept up a wavering policy, now entered into a treaty of alliance with the United States, in which it was agreed that if war should break out between France and England during the existence of the war in America, it should be made a common cause, and that neither of the contracting parties should conclude peace with England without obtaining formal consent of the other. ”

“ The effect of this wording in the mutual restoration clause, would have been that all territory belonging to either party, taken by the other, should be returned. But this would not embrace Louisiana, for from the English standpoint, it did not legally belong to the United States.
As to the first point, a quotation is here given from Updyke (page 317) : “The amended project returned by the British commissioners provided that the notification for the cessation of the war be issued after ratifications of the treaty should have been exchanged rather than at the time of the signature. ”

“ It is my duty to state, as a cause of very great regret, that very serious differences have occurred in this negotiation respecting the construction of the 8th article of the treaty of 1803, by which Louisiana was ceded to the United States, and likewise respecting the seizure of the Apollo, in 1820, for a violation of our revenue laws. The claim of the Government of France has excited not less surprise than concern, because there does not appear to be a just foundation for it in either instance. ”

“ Doubtless, this feeling arose from the unsettled condition of the boundary questions, and a fear that the United States would, as they did, demand the surrender of the whole of the original territory of Louisiana, called for by the treaty. Spain then undertook to prove that the pretensions of France to any territories west of the Mississippi could not be supported, and that the French settlements were only tolerated by Spain for the sake of peace. ”

“ Again quoting from Blaine: “England’s acquisition of Louisiana would have proved in the highest degree embarrassing, if not disastrous to the Union. No colonial acquisition ever made by her on any continent has been so profitable to her commerce, and so strengthening to her military position, as that of Louisiana would have proved. The fact was clearly seen by Bonaparte when he hastily made the treaty ceding it to the United States.” ”

“ When the President advanced this extraordinary theory of the nature of a preliminary treaty during a conversation, of which I made a full memorandum, I told him that it was entirely wrong, that by whatever name the document was called, whether it was "armistice," "agreement," "protocol," or "modus," it would be a treaty and would have to be sent by him to the Senate for its approval. I said, "If we change the status from war to peace, it has to be by a ratified treaty. There is no other way save by a joint resolution of Congress." ”

“ Your present negotiation about peace falls in very well to aid a proposition, which I am instructed to make, as soon as the Court of Versailles shall judge proper, of a triple or quadruple alliance. This matter, the treaty of commerce, which is now under deliberation, and the loan, will render it improper for me to quit this station, unless in case of necessity. If there is a real disposition to permit Canada to accede to the American association, I should think there could be no great difficulty in adjusting all things between England and America, provided our allies also are contented. ”

“ There is a strong disposition in our countrymen to discontinue even these; and very possibly it may be done. Consuls will be continued as usual. The interest which European nations feel, as well as ourselves, in the mutual patronage of commercial intercourse, is a sufficient stimulus on both sides to insure that patronage. A treaty, contrary to that interest, renders war necessary to get rid of it.
I send this by Chancellor Livingston, named to the Senate the day after I came into office, as our Minister Plenipotentiary to France. ”

“ But since they do not do this, surely it would not be bad policy, even if we gave up more to France in other respects, to prevent her appearing in the treaty as in any respect the champion of America, or as having made any claims for her; we giving her up everything she wants equally, and her future confidence and alliance being such an object to us. ”

“ As to England, any one of the legislatures may impose on her goods double the duties which are paid other nations; may prohibit their goods altogether; may refuse them the usual facilities for 287 recovering their debts or withdrawing their property; may refuse to receive their Consuls or to give those Consuls any jurisdiction. But with France, whose commerce is protected by a treaty, no State can give any molestation to that commerce which is defended by the treaty. ”