The undersigned declares at the same time that it is to be understood that neither the said declaration signed by Count Floridablanca nor the acceptance thereof by the undersigned, in the name of the King, is to preclude or prejudice, in any respect, the rights which His Majesty may claim to any establishment which his subjects may have formed, or may desire to form in the future, at the said Bay of Nootka.
In witness whereof I have signed this counter declaration and sealed it with the seal of my arms at Madrid the 24th of July, 1790.
Alleyne Fitzherbert.
The only difference of any importance between the drafts prepared by the British Cabinet and the documents as finally signed is the insertion in the Spanish declaration of the clause “fully persuaded that His said Britannic Majesty would act in the same manner toward His Catholic Majesty under similar circumstances.”[326]
Fitzherbert wrote that on the first occasion of his paying his respects to His Catholic Majesty after the declarations had been signed that Monarch had deigned to converse freely concerning them, saying that they had given him the sincerest pleasure, and that he considered them “a happy earnest of the revival of that perfect harmony and good understanding which it was his constant wish to maintain with the Crown of Great Britain.” The ambassador reminded Leeds “that it is extremely unusual for His Catholic Majesty to converse with foreign ministers on any political topic, from which circumstance, joined to the known sincerity of his character and the marked cordiality of air and manner with which he accompanied this declaration, I can safely convey it to your grace as the genuine expression of his feelings.”[327]
These declarations settled merely the question of satisfaction which England had demanded as the indispensable preliminary to a discussion of the respective rights of the two Crowns on the Northwest Coast, and particularly at Nootka. This simply repaired the insult which England felt that she had suffered at the hands of Spain. They were now ready to begin negotiations on a friendly basis for the settlement of the present difficulty and the arrangement of a modus vivendi for the future. News of the declarations reached London August 5, and Grenville immediately notified the King, congratulating him on the event, “which, as far as it goes, appears highly satisfactory and seems to offer the most favorable prospect for such an ultimate termination of the business as may correspond with Your Majesty’s wishes.”[328] In a letter of the next day, Leeds praised Fitzherbert for the latter’s success.[329]
During the months of May, June, and July, while the negotiations that have been studied in this chapter were in progress, both countries continued their warlike preparations. Shortly after reaching Madrid Fitzherbert reported a Spanish fleet of 30 sail of the line, though poorly manned.[330] Baumgarten tells of the difficulty which the Spanish Government experienced in getting sailors. He says that they took refuge in the mountains to escape being pressed into the navy.[331] On July 5 the British ambassador reported that the Spanish fleet at Cadiz had been ordered to sea immediately, but he thought it simply a show of vigor to inspire confidence.[332] Four days later he received a note from Floridablanca explaining the movement. The King of Spain, having learned that the English fleet had put to sea, gave orders to his to move also, but to refrain from hostilities unless attacked.[333] Two Spanish ships of war, with 1,000 soldiers, had been sent to Porto Rico, since an attack was apprehended at that point.[334] By the 20th of the same month Spain had 34 ships of the line and 16 smaller craft at sea.[335] At the end of June an English fleet of 25 vessels of the line had put to sea,[336] and had been joined early in July by the Dutch fleet under Admiral Kinsbergen.[337]
During all this time the armaments had been carried on in spite of repeated offers and requests from Spain to disarm mutually. As early as May 18, on receipt of the British memorial presented two days before, Floridablanca had proposed to Merry mutual and proportionate disarmament.[338] This was repeated in the Spanish memorial of June 4.[339] The British Cabinet rejected the proposition. In his instructions of July 5 Leeds cautioned Fitzherbert to be particularly careful not to give the smallest encouragement to this idea. His Majesty could not consent to discontinue preparations until he should have secured freedom of commerce, navigation, and fisheries in the districts in question.[340] After the declaration and counter declaration had been signed, Floridablanca proposed limiting the operations of the fleets to prevent the possibility of an encounter.[341] On August 10 Campo, the Spanish ambassador in London, repeated the proposals for disarming.[342] In reply, four days later, Leeds gave assurance of England’s desire for peace, but declared that Great Britain refused to disarm until the matter in question should be settled for the future.[343] On the same day that Leeds gave this decided answer to Campo in London, Floridablanca, in Madrid, had again proposed to Fitzherbert a mutual disarmament. On September 10, Leeds sent a formal reply, repeating what he had said to Campo on August 14.[344]
Far from yielding to the Spanish proposals, Great Britain was continuing her preparations and calling on her allies to do the same. On the day that Leeds rejected Campo’s proposition to disarm, he instructed Auckland, the British ambassador at The Hague, to ask that Dutch preparations should not be relaxed. The national honor had been satisfied, but the question of peace or war had not been settled. It was requested that the Dutch fleet be ordered home for supplies and reënforcements.[345] August 19 this request was granted, and England was reassured of the support of Holland.[346] Baumgarten says that early in September the English and Spanish fleets were both hovering off Cape Finisterre, and were dangerously near to each other.[347]