[636] Journal 80, fo. 46b.
[637] Id., fos. 97-97b.
[638] Journal 80, fos. 46-46b.
[639] Repertory 205, fos. 644-646.
[640] Repertory 206, fos. 292-293, 458-465.
[641] Journal 80, fos. 219b, 237b-238b.
[CHAPTER XLII.]
Resumption of hostilities, May, 1803.
The peace proved to be no more than a temporary suspension of hostilities, and England's refusal to surrender Malta, which she had recovered in 1800, and which she had covenanted by the terms of the treaty to surrender to France under certain guarantees, served Napoleon for an excuse to renew the war. On the 12th May, 1803, Lord Whitworth, the British ambassador, quitted Paris, where he had been subjected to much rudeness by the First Consul, and at the same time the French ambassador was directed to leave London. Much as the City disliked war, and eager as it had been for peace, the Common Council were among the first to express their determination to support the king and country "against the insatiable ambition of the French Republic."[642]
Defensive operations.