The Creevey Papers
Thomas Creevey to James Currie, 16 May 1803
“16th May.
“. . . I supped with Fox, Grey, &c., &c.,
last night at Whitbread’s.
Fox says there are no state papers to be given us; the
whole dispute has been carried on by conversation. It began in consequence of
some intemperate furious expression of Buonaparte; it related to Egypt. . . . The Consul got
irritated; said he would put himself at the head of his army and invade
England. But the offence is about Egypt. He said upon this
subject—Nous l’aurons malgre
vous! Fox says he believes this
conversation to be the origin of the dispute, and that our claims upon Malta
are in the way of recognizance to make Buonaparte keep the
peace. . . .”
Charles James Fox (1749-1806)
Whig statesman and the leader of the Whig opposition in Parliament after his falling-out
with Edmund Burke.
Charles Grey, second earl Grey (1764-1845)
Whig statesman and lover of the Duchess of Devonshire; the second son of the first earl
(d. 1807), he was prime minister (1831-34).
Emperor Napoleon I (1769-1821)
Military leader, First Consul (1799), and Emperor of the French (1804), after his
abdication he was exiled to Elba (1814); after his defeat at Waterloo he was exiled to St.
Helena (1815).
Samuel Whitbread (1764-1815)
The son of the brewer Samuel Whitbread (1720-96); he was a Whig MP for Bedford, involved
with the reorganization of Drury Lane after the fire of 1809; its financial difficulties
led him to suicide.
