[251] "Dropmore P.," ii, 471. Thugut took no interest whatever in Toulon (see Vivenot, iii, 324, 327, 362, 363). Other proofs follow (pp. 381, 384) of the pressing demands which Grenville, also Mr. Trevor at Turin, made for the fulfilment of the Emperor's promise. Some difficulties supervened as to the provisioning of the 5,000 Austrian troops on the march and the place of embarkation; but these were far from insuperable. Clearly the operating cause was Thugut's conviction that there was at Toulon a number of troops "excédant ce que toute place quelconque peut exiger pour sa défense" (ibid., 385).
[252] "H. O." (Adm. Medit, 1793), Hood to Dundas, 24th November.
[253] Ibid. O'Hara to Hood. This reached London on 8th December; but, as we have seen, Ministers up to 22nd December continued to rely on the arrival of the Austrians as providing a sufficient reinforcement.
[254] "Dropmore P.," ii, 447; "Mems. of Sir G. Elliot," ii, 190, et seq.
[255] "F. O.," Spain, 28.
[256] Even by M. Cottin in his works, "Toulon et les Anglais," "L'Angleterre et les Princes."
[257] "F. O.," Austria, 34. Grenville to Eden, 7th September. So in his letter of 4th October to Pitt he refers to "such other towns or districts [in S. France] as may become objects of indemnity." See, too, "Dropmore P.," ii, 412, 438; Vivenot, iii, 326.
[258] "Dropmore P.," iii, 487.
[259] "H. O.," 455, ad fin.
[260] "Malmesbury Diaries," iii, 33.