Some dissatisfaction had arisen between Pitt and Addington: the protégé had many times failed to defend his protector when violently attacked in the Houses; the counsels asked and given, were not always followed. Efforts had been made, more than once, to restore Pitt to power, but he felt that he could neither direct nor overthrow the cabinet that he had so long sustained, and for some time past he had absented himself from the House of Commons. "I am more and more persuaded," wrote he to his friend Mr. Rose, "after all that I see of affairs and of parties, that the role that I would play at present, if I were in town, would do more harm than good; it is therefore better, upon all accounts, that I remain, for the present, in the country." Pitt prolonged his stay at Walmer Castle some three months (February-May, 1803). The general state of affairs was in fact disquieting and serious, and the execution of the treaty of Amiens seemed doubtful. New revolutionary movements agitated Holland; the Cis-alpine republic was recognized, under French influence. The mediation of Bonaparte in the affairs of Switzerland, assured to him a weighty and firm ascendancy. Piedmont was annexed to the French republic. An expedition of Col. Sebastiani into Egypt disturbed the English. The cabinets in London and in Paris exchanged complaints and recriminations regarding the delays in consummating the treaty. "We claim the treaty of Amiens, all of the treaty of Amiens, and nothing but the treaty of Amiens," said the French. England still retained Malta, under the pretext that the Knights had not yet re-established themselves there, and that Malta was for them the only guarantee of good faith on the part of the French. {397} General Bonaparte made complaints regarding this subject, to Lord Whitworth, the English Ambassador at Paris. "I would rather see you in possession of the Heights of Montmartre, than of Malta," said the First Consul. He subsequently complained of the libels which were circulated against him in England, and of the delays in the trial of Peltin, the French pamphleteer and refugee. At the same time the consul himself wounded the legitimate pride of England by the arrogant language of his message to the Corps Legislatif. "The government declares with just pride that Great Britain cannot contend alone against France." Considerable armaments were in progress at various points on the French coast, provoking similar measures on the part of the British government. A message from the king to Parliament announced the same.