Autographs and Manuscripts
TALLEYRAND, Charles Maurice, Prince de Bénévent (1754-1838). French Statesman. ()
Letter Signed ("ch mau. talleyrand"), as Foreign Minister, to Count Otto, "Ministre Plénipotentiére" [Ambassador] of France in London, informing him that the peace treaty between France and the Ottoman Porte has been signed.1 page folio with integral blank leaf in French, with the vignette of the figure of liberty writing, an olive branch in front of her and the printed heading of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.Paris, 1 jour complementaire an 10 [18 September 1802].
Trans: "Citizen, the exchange of the ratifications of the peace treaty beween France and the Ottoman Porte was concluded in Paris on 21 fructidor [8 September]. I am sending you the issue of the Official Journal which contains this treaty and which announces the reparations paid to France by the Dey of Algiers. The First Consul [Napoleon] wished to see Europe at peace and prosperity in the Republic. His twin aims have been fulfilled, and the universal pacification brings him [ie, the First Consul] further glory and calls all other governments to share in the happiness which it brings to France. I have no doubt that the government of the nation in which you reside will learn of this happy event with the greatest interest when you notify them of it."There is no doubt that Napoleon's concern with the prosperity of the republic was greater than any ambition for peace. The treaty with the Ottoman Empire, restoring an old alliance, was signed very soon after the Peace of Amiens which had brought a truce, rather than peace, between England and France. The treaty with the Ottoman Empire allowed France trading rights along the Black Sea, an important advantage for the French in their mercantile rivalry with Britain. The Ottoman Sultan, Selim III, was to remain an ally of France, even after the signing of the Treaty of Tilsit in 1807. This treaty, between France and Russia, could easily have been interpreted as a threat by Selim III, and indeed Alexander I may well have hoped that it would give him the opportunity to snatch territory from Turkey. However, soon after that treaty was signed, a British fleet, led by Admiral Duckworth, attempted to pass the Dardanelles and was soon repulsed by the Ottoman forces. The cultured and reforming Sultan was assassinated in 1808.
Stock Code: AU5321
