CHAPTER III
.
_The Russians take Oczakow..... Death of Gaston de Medeis, Duke of Tuscany..... Death of Caroline, Queen Consort of England..... Dispute in Parliament about the Standing Army..... Spanish Depredations..... Motives of the Minister for avoiding a War..... Address to the King on the Subject of the Depredations..... Bill for Securing the Trade, of his Majesty’s Subjects in America..... Debates in the House of Lords..... Birth of Prince George..... Admiral Haddock sails with a Squadron to the Mediterranean..... Progress of the War against the Turks..... Dispute and Rupture between Hanover and Denmark..... Sir Robert Walpole extols the Convention in the House of Commons---Motion for an Address, that the Representations, Letters, &c, relating to the Spanish Depredations, should be laid before the House..... Petitions against the Convention..... Substance of that Agreement..... Debate in the House of Commons on the Convention..... Secession of the chief Members in the Opposition..... Debate in the House of Lords upon an Address to his Majesty touching the Convention..... Message from the Throne touching a Subsidy to Denmark, and a Power to augment the Forces of the Kingdom..... Parliament prorogued..... The King of Spain publishes a Manifesto..... The Emperor and Czarina conclude a Peace with the Turks..... Preparations for War in England..... Apology in the House of Commons for the seceding Members..... Pension Bill revived, and lost..... Porto Bello taken by Admiral Vernon..... Hard Frost..... Marriage of the Princess Mary to the Prince of Hesse..... Strong Armament sent to the West Indies..... Death of the Emperor and Czarina..... Proceedings in Parliament..... Seamen’s Bill..... Discontents against the Ministry..... Motion for removing Sir Robert Walpole from his Majesty’s Councils and Presence for ever..... Debate on the Mutiny Bill..... Proceedings in the House of Lords..... Close of the last Session of this Parliament_
THE RUSSIANS TAKE OCZAKOW.
A congress had been opened at Niemerow in Poland, to compromise the differences between the czarina and the grand seignor; but this proving ineffectual, the emperor declared war against the Turks, and demanded assistance from the diet of the empire. He concerted the operations of the campaign with the empress of Muscovy. It was agreed that the Imperialists, under count Seckendorf, should attack Widdin in Servia; while the Russians, commanded by count de Munich, should penetrate to the Ukraine, and besiege Oczakow, on the Roristhenes. They accordingly advanced against this place, which was garrisoned by twenty thousand men, and on the side of the Roristhenes defended by eighteen galleys. The Muscovites carried on their approaches with such impetuosity and perseverance, that the Turks were terrified at their valour, and in a few days capitulated. Among those who signalized themselves by uncommon marks of prowess in these attacks, was general Keith, now field-marshal in the Prussian service, who was dangerously wounded on this occasion. Meanwhile count Seckendorf, finding it impossible to reduce Widdin without a squadron of ships on the Danube, turned his arms against Nissa, which was surrendered to him on the eight-and-twentieth day of July; but this was the farthest verge of his good fortune. The Turks attacked the post which the Imperialists occupied along the Danube. They took the fort of Padudil, burned the town of Has in Wallachia, and plundered the neighbouring villages. The prince of Saxe-Hilburghausen, who had invested Bagnalack in Bosnia, was defeated, and obliged to repass the Saave. Count Seckendorf was recalled to Vienna; and the command of the army devolved upon count Philippe. Count Kevenhuller was obliged to retreat from Servia; and Nissa was retaken by the Mussulmen. The conferences at Niemerow were broken off; and the Turkish plenipotentiaries returned to Constantinople.
The kingdom of Poland now enjoyed the most perfect repose under the dominion of Augustus. Ferdinand, the old duke of Courland, dying without issue, the succession was disputed by the Teutonic order and the kingdom of Poland, while the states of Courland claimed a right of election, and sent deputies to Petersburgh, imploring the protection of the czarina. A body of Russian troops immediately entered that country; and the states elected the count de Biron, high chamberlain to the empress of Muscovy. The elector of Cologn, as grand-master of the Teutonic order, protested against this election; but the king of Poland agreed to it, on certain conditions settled at Dantzic with the commissiaries of the new duke and those of the czarina. In the month of July, John Gaston de Medicis, great duke of Tuscany, died at Florence; and the prince de Craon took possession of his territories in the name of the duke of Lorraine, to whom the emperor had already granted the eventual investiture of that duchy.
DEATH OF CAROLINE, QUEEN CONSORT.
In England the attention of the public was attracted by an open breach in the royal family. The princess of Wales had advanced to the very last month of her pregnancy before the king and queen were informed of her being with child. She was twice conveyed from Hampton-Court to the palace of St. James’, when her labour-pains were supposed to be approaching; and at length was delivered of a princess in about two hours after her arrival. The king being apprised of this event, sent a message by the earl of Essex to the prince, expressing his displeasure at the conduct of his royal highness, as an indignity offered to himself and the queen. The prince deprecated his majesty’s anger in several submissive letters, and implored the queen’s mediation. The princess joined her entreaties to those of his royal highness; but all their humility and supplication proved ineffectual. The king, in another message sent by the duke of Grafton, observed, that the prince had removed the princess twice in the week immediately preceding the day of her delivery, from the place of his majesty’s residence, in expectation of her labour; and both times, on his return, industriously concealed from the knowledge of the king and queen every circumstance relating to this important affair; that at last, without giving any notice to their majesties, he had precipitately hurried the princess from Hampton-Court in a condition not to be named; that the whole tenor of his conduct, for a considerable time, had been so entirely void of all real duty to the king, that his majesty had reason to be highly offended with him. He gave him to understand, that until he should withdraw his regard and confidence from those by whose instigation and advice he was directed and encouraged in his unwarrantable behaviour to his majesty and the queen, and return to his duty, he should not reside in the palace; he therefore signified his pleasure that he should leave St. James’, with all his family, when it could be done without prejudice or inconvenience to the princess. In obedience to this order the prince retired to Kew, and made other efforts to be readmitted into his majesty’s favour, which, however, he could not retrieve. Whatever might have been his design in concealing so long from the king and queen the pregnancy of the princess, and afterwards hurrying her from place to place in such a condition, to the manifest hazard of her life, his majesty had certainly cause to be offended at this part of his conduct; though the punishment seems to have been severe, if not rigorous; for he was not even admitted into the presence of the queen his mother, to express his duty to her in her last moments, to implore her forgiveness, and receive her last blessing. She died of a mortification in her bowels, on the twentieth day of November, in the fifty-fifth year of her age, regretted as a princess of uncommon sagacity, and as a pattern of conjugal virtue.
DISPUTE IN PARLIAMENT.
The king opened the session of parliament on the twenty-fourth day of January, with a short speech recommending the despatch of the public business with prudence and unanimity. Each house presented a warm address of condolence on the queen’s death, with which he seemed to be extremely affected. Though the house of commons unanimously sympathised with the king in his affliction, the minister still met with contradiction in some of his favourite measures. One would imagine that all the arguments for and against a standing army in time of peace had been already exhausted; but, when it was moved that the same number of land forces which they had voted in the preceding year should be continued in pay for the ensuing year, the dispute was renewed with surprising vivacity, and produced some reasons which had not been suggested before. The adherents of the minister fairly owned, that if the army should be disbanded, or even considerably reduced, they believed the tory interest would prevail; that the present number of forces was absolutely necessary to maintain the peace of the kingdom, which was filled with clamour and discontent, as well as to support the whig interest; and that they would vote for keeping up four times the number, should it be found expedient for that purpose. The members in the opposition replied, that this declaration was a severe satire on the ministry, whose conduct had given birth to such a spirit of discontent. They said it was in effect a tacit acknowledgment, that what they called the whig interest was no more than an inconsiderable party, which had engrossed the administration by indirect methods; which acted contrary to the sense of the nation; and depended for support upon a military power, by which the people in general were overawed, and consequently enslaved. They affirmed, that the discontent of which the ministry complained, was in a great measure owing to that very standing army, which perpetuated their taxes, and hung over their heads as the instruments of arbitrary power and oppression. Lord Polworth explained the nature of whig principles, and demonstrated that the party which distinguished itself by this appellation, no longer retained the maxims by which the whigs were originally characterised. Sir John Hinde Cotton, who spoke with the courage and freedom of an old English baron, declared, he never knew a member of that house who acted on true whig principles, vote for a standing army in time of peace. “I have heard of whigs,” said he, “who opposed all unlimited votes of credit; I have heard of whigs who looked upon corruption as the greatest curse that could befall any nation; I have heard of whigs who esteemed the liberty of the press to be the most valuable privilege of a free people, and triennial parliaments as the greatest bulwark of their liberties; and I have heard of a whig administration which has resented injuries done to the trade of the nation, and revenged insults offered to the British flag.” The ministry triumphed as usual, and the same number of forces was continued.
SPANISH DEPREDATIONS.
Ever since the treaty of Seville, the Spaniards in America had almost incessantly insulted and distressed the commerce of Great Britain. They disputed the right of English traders to cut logwood in the bay of Campeachy, and gather salt in the island of Tortugas; though that right was acknowledged by implication in all the treaties which had been lately concluded between the two nations. The captains of their armed vessels, known by the name of guarda-costas, had made a practice of boarding and plundering British ships, on pretence of searching for contraband commodities, on which occasions they had behaved with the utmost insolence, cruelty, and rapine. Some of their ships of war had actually attacked a fleet of English merchant ships at the island of Tortugas, as if they had been at open enmity with England. They had seized and detained a great number of British vessels, imprisoned their crews, and confiscated their cargoes, in violation of treaties, in defiance of common justice and humanity. Repeated memorials were presented to the court of Spain, by the British ambassador at Madrid. He was amused with evasive answers, vague promises of inquiry, and cedulas of instructions sent to the Spanish governors in America, to which they paid no sort of regard. Not but that the Spaniards had reason to complain in their turn, of the illicit commerce which the English traders from Jamaica and other islands, carried on with their subjects on the continent of South America; though this could not justify the depredations and cruelties which the commanders of the guarda-costas had committed, without provocation or pretence.
MOTIVES FOR AVOIDING A WAR.
The merchants of England loudly complained of these outrages; the nation was fired with resentment, and cried for vengeance; but the minister appeared cold, phlegmatic, and timorous. He knew that a war would involve him in such difficulties as must of necessity endanger his administration. The treasure which he now employed for domestic purposes, must in that case be expended in military armaments; the wheels of that machine on which he had raised his influence would no longer move; the opposition would of consequence gain ground, and the imposition of fresh taxes, necessary for the maintenance of the war, would fill up the measure of popular resentment against his person and ministry. Moved by these considerations, he industriously endeavoured to avoid a rupture, and to obtain some sort of satisfaction by dint of memorials and negotiations, in which he betrayed his own fears to such a degree, as animated the Spaniards to persist in their depredations, and encouraged the court of Madrid to disregard the remonstrances of the British ambassador. But this apprehension of war did not proceed from Spain only; the two branches of the house of Bourbon were now united by politics, as well as by consanguinity; and he did not doubt that in case of a rupture with Spain, they would join their forces against Great Britain. Petitions were delivered to the house by merchants from different parts of the kingdom, explaining the repeated violences to which they had been exposed, and imploring relief of the parliament. These were referred to a committee of the whole house; and an order was made to admit the petitioners, if they should think fit, to be heard by themselves or by counsel. Sir John Barnard moved for an address to the king, that all the memorials and papers relating to the Spanish depredations should be laid before the house; and this, with some alteration proposed by sir Robert Walpole, was actually presented. In compliance with the request, an enormous multitude of letters and memorials was produced.
The house, in a grand committee, proceeded to hear counsel for the merchants, and examine evidence; by which it appeared that amazing acts of wanton cruelty and injustice had been perpetrated by Spaniards on the subjects of Great Britain. Mr. Pulteney expatiated upon these circumstances of barbarity. He demonstrated, from treaties, the right of the British traders to the logwood of Campeachy, and to the salt of Tortugas; he exposed the pusillanimity of the minister, and the futility of his negotiations; he moved for such resolutions as would evince the resentment of an injured nation, and the vigour of a British parliament. These were warmly combated by sir Robert Walpole, who affirmed, that they would cramp the ministers in their endeavours to compromise these differences; that they would frustrate their negotiations, intrench upon the king’s prerogative, and precipitate the nation into an unnecessary and expensive war. Answers produced replies, and a general debate ensued. A resolution was reported; but the question being put for recommitting it, was carried in the negative. The house, however, agreed to an address, beseeching his majesty to use his endeavours to obtain effectual relief for his injured subjects, to convince the court of Spain that his majesty could no longer suffer such constant and repeated insults and injuries to be carried on, to the dishonour of his crown, and to the ruin of his trading subjects; and assuring him, that in case his royal and friendly instances with the catholic king should miscarry, the house would effectually support his majesty in taking such measures as honour and justice should make it necessary for him to pursue. To this address the king made a favourable answer.
{1738}
BILL FOR SECURING THE TRADE IN AMERICA.
The next important subject on which both sides exercised their talents, was a bill prepared and brought in by Mr. Pulteney, for the more effectual securing the trade of his majesty’s subjects in America. This was no other than the revival of part of two acts passed in the reign of queen Anne, by which the property of all prizes taken from the enemy was vested in the captors; while the sovereign was empowered to grant commissions or charters to any persons or societies, for taking any ships, goods, harbours, lands, or fortifications of the nation’s enemies in America, and for holding and enjoying the same as their own property and estate for ever. The ministry endeavoured to evade the discussion of this bill, by amusing the house with other business, until an end should be put to the session. A mean artifice was practised with this view; and some severe altercation passed between sir Robert Walpole and Mr. Pulteney. At length the bill was read, and gave rise to a very long and warm contest, in which the greatest orators of both sides found opportunities to display their eloquence and satire. Mr. Pulteney defended the bill with all the ardour of paternal affection; but, notwithstanding his warmest endeavours, it was rejected upon a division.
When the mutiny bill was sent up to the house of lords, a long debate arose upon the number of troops voted for the ensuing year. Lord Carteret explained the situation of affairs, in almost every nation of Europe, with great conciseness and precision. He demonstrated the improbability of a rupture between Great Britain and any power against which a land army could be of any service. He examined the domestic circumstances of the nation; and proved that whatever discontents there might be in the kingdom, there was little or no disaffection, and no seeming design to overturn or disturb the government. In answer to an argument, that such a number of regular forces were necessary for preventing or quelling tumults, and for enabling the civil magistrate to execute the laws of his country, he expressed his hope that he should never see the nation reduced to such unfortunate circumstances: he said, a law which the civil power was unable to execute, must either be in itself oppressive, or such a one as afforded a handle for oppression. In arguing for a reduction of the forces, he took notice of the great increase of the national expense. He observed, that before the revolution, the people of England did not raise above two millions for the whole of the public charges; but now what was called the current expense, for which the parliament annually provided, exceeded that sum; besides the civil list, the interest due to the public creditors, and the sinking fund, which, added together, composed a burden of six millions yearly. The earl of Chesterfield, on the same subject, affirmed, that slavery and arbitrary power were the certain consequences of keeping up a standing army for any number of years. It is the machine by which the chains of slavery are rivetted upon a free people. They may be secretly prepared by corruption; but, unless a standing army protected those that forged them, the people would break them asunder, and chop off the polluted hands by which they were prepared. By degrees a free people must be accustomed to be governed by an army; by degrees that army must be made strong enough to hold them in subjection. England had for many years been accustomed to a standing army, under the pretence of its being necessary to assist the civil power; and by degrees the number and strength of it have been increasing. At the accession of the late king it did not exceed six thousand; it soon amounted to double that number, which has been since augmented under various pretences. He therefore concluded, that slavery, under the disguise of an army for protecting the liberties of the people, was creeping in upon them by degrees; if no reduction should be made, he declared he should expect in a few years to hear some minister, or favourite of a minister, terrifying the house with imaginary plots and invasions, and making the tour of Europe in search of possible dangers, to show the necessity of keeping up a mercenary standing army, three times as numerous as the present. In spite of those suggestions, the standing army maintained its ground. The same noblemen, assisted by lord Bathurst, distinguished themselves in a debate upon the Spanish depredations, which comprehended the same arguments that were used in the house of commons. They met with the same success in both. Resolutions equivalent to those of the lower house were taken; an address was presented; and his majesty assured them he would repeat, in the most pressing manner, his instances at the court of Spain, in order to obtain satisfaction and security for his subjects trading to America. This assurance was renewed in his speech at the close of the session, on the twentieth of May, when the parliament was prorogued.
BIRTH OF PRINCE GEORGE.
At this period the princess of Wales was delivered of a son, who was baptised by the name of George, now king of Great Britain. His birth was celebrated with uncommon rejoicings: addresses of congratulation were presented to the king by the two universities, and by almost all the cities and communities of the kingdom. But the prince of Wales still laboured under the displeasure of his majesty, who had ordered the lord-chamberlain to signify in the gazette, that no person who visited the prince should be admitted to the court of St. James’. His royal highness was divested of all the external marks of royalty, and lived like a private gentleman, cultivating the virtues of a social life, and enjoying the best fruits of conjugal felicity. In the latter end of this month, rear-admiral Haddock set sail with a strong squadron for the Mediterranean, which it was hoped would give weight to the negotiation of the British minister at the court of Madrid. The act to discourage the retail of spirituous liquors had incensed the populace to such a degree, as occasioned numberless tumults in the cities of London and Westminster. They were so addicted to the use of that pernicious compound, known by the appellation of gin or geneva, that they ran all risks rather than forego it entirely; and so little regard was paid to the law by which it was prohibited, that in less than two years twelve thousand persons within the bills of mortality were convicted of having sold it illegally. Nearly one half of that number were cast in the penalty of one hundred pounds; and three thousand persons paid ten pounds each, for an exemption from the disgrace of being committed to the house of correction.
PROGRESS of the WAR AGAINST the TURKS.
The war maintained by the emperor and the czarina against the Ottoman Porte, had not yet produced any decisive event. Count Seckendorf was disgraced and confined on account of his ill success in the last campaign. General Doxat was tried by a council of war at Belgrade, and condemned to death, for having surrendered to the enemy the town of Nissa, in which he commanded. The diet of the empire granted a subsidy of fifty Roman months to the emperor, who began to make vigorous preparations for the ensuing campaign; but, in the meantime, Ragotski, vaivode of Transylvania, revolted against the house of Austria, and brought a considerable army into the field, under the protection of the grand seignor. He was immediately proclaimed a rebel, and a price set upon his head by the court of Vienna. The Turks taking the field early, reduced the forts of Usitza and Meadia, and undertook the siege of Orsova; which however they abandoned at the approach of the Imperial army, commanded by the grand duke of Tuscany, assisted by count Konigsegg. The Turks, being reinforced, marched back and attacked the Imperialists, by whom they were repulsed after an obstinate engagement. The Germans, notwithstanding this advantage, repassed the Danube; and then the infidels made themselves masters of Orsova, where they found a fine train of artillery, designed for the siege of Widdin. By the conquest of this place, the Turks laid the Danube open to their galleys and vessels; and the Germans retired under the cannon of Belgrade. In the Ukraine, the Russians, under general count Munich, obtained the advantage over the Turks in two engagements; and general Lasci routed the Tartars of the Crimea; but they returned in greater numbers, and harassed the Muscovites in such a manner, by intercepting their provisions, and destroying the country, that they were obliged to abandon the lines of Precops.
DISPUTE BETWEEN HANOVER AND DENMARK.
In the month of October, an affair of very small importance produced a rupture between the king of Denmark and the elector of Hanover. A detachment of Hanoverians took by assault the castle of Steinhurst, belonging to the privy-counsellor Wederkop, and defended by thirty Danish dragoons, who had received orders to repel force by force. Several men were killed on both sides before the Hanoverians could enter the place, when the garrison was disarmed, and conducted to the frontiers. This petty dispute about a small territory, which did not yield the value of one thousand pounds a-year, had well nigh involved Hanover in a war, which, in all probability, Great Britain must have maintained; but this dispute was compromised by a convention between the king of England and Denmark.
The session of parliament was opened on the first day of February, when the king in his speech to both houses, gave them to understand that a convention was concluded and ratified between him and the king of Spain, who had obliged himself to make reparation to the British subjects for their losses, by certain stipulated payments; the plenipotentiaries were named and appointed for regulating, within a limited time, all those grievances and abuses which had hitherto interrupted the commerce of Great Britain in the American seas; and for settling all matters in dispute, in such a manner as might for the future prevent and remove all new causes and pretences of complaint. The motion for an address of approbation was disputed as usual. Though the convention was not vet laid before the house, the nature of it was well known to the leaders of the opposition. I Sir William Wyndham observed, that if the ministry had made the resolutions taken by the parliament in the last session the foundation of their demands; if they had discovered a resolution to break off all treating, rather than depart from the sense of parliament, either a defensive treaty might have been obtained, or by this time the worst would have been known; but, by what appeared from his majesty’s speech, the convention was no other than a preliminary; and, in all probability, a very bad preliminary. He supposed the minister had ventured to clothe some of his creatures with full powers to give up the rights of the nation; for they might do it if they durst. Sir Robert Walpole, in answer to these suggestions, affirmed, that the ministry had on this occasion obtained more than ever on like occasions was known to be obtained; that they had reconciled the peace of their country with her true interest; that this peace was attended with all the advantages that the most successful arms could have procured; that future ages would consider this as the most glorious period of our history, and do justice to the councils that produced the happy event, which every gentleman divested of passion and prejudice was ready to do; and which, he believed, the present age, when rightly informed, would not refuse. In a word, he extolled his own convention with the most extravagant encomiums.
The house resolved to address the king, that copies of all the memorials, representations, letters, and papers, presented to his majesty, or his secretary of state, relating to depredations, should be submitted to the peru sal of the house; but some members in the opposition were not contented with this resolution. Then Mr. Sandys, who may be termed the “motion-maker,” moved for an address, desiring that the house might inspect all letters written, and instructions given by the secretaries of state, or commissioners of the admiralty, to any of the British governors in America, or any commander-in-chief, or captains of his majesty’s ships of war, or his majesty’s minister at the court of Spain, or any of his majesty’s consuls in Europe, since the treaty of Seville, relating to losses which the British subjects had sustained by means of depredations committed by the subjects of Spain in Europe and America. This was an unreasonable proposal, suggested by the spirit of animosity and faction. Mr. H. Walpole justly observed, that a compliance with such an address might lay open the most private transactions of the cabinet, and discover secrets that ought, for the good of the kingdom, to be concealed. It would discover to the court of Spain the _ultimatum_ of the king’s demands and concessions, and the nation would thereby be deprived of many advantages which it might reap, were no such discovery made. He said, that as soon as the differences betwixt the two courts should arrive at such a crisis, and not before, the consuls were instructed to give notice to the merchants that they might retire in time with their effects; but should such instruction come to the knowledge of the Spaniards, it would be a kind of watch-word to put them on their guard, and unavoidably occasion the ruin of many thousands of British subjects. Certain it is, no government could act either in external or domestic affairs with proper influence, dignity, and despatch, if every letter and instruction relating to an unfinished negotiation should be exposed to the view of such a numerous assembly, composed of individuals actuated by motives in themselves diametrically opposite. The motion being rejected by the majority, the same gentleman moved again for an address, that his majesty would give directions for laying before the house copies of such memorials or representations as had been made, either to the king of Spain or to his ministers, since the treaty of Seville, relating to the depredations committed in Europe or America. A debate ensued; and, upon a division, the question passed in the negative.
{GEORGE II. 1727-1760}
PETITIONS AGAINST THE CONVENTION.
The house, in a committee of supply, voted twelve thousand seamen for the service of the ensuing year, and the standing army was continued without reduction, though powerfully attacked by the whole strength of the opposition. The commons likewise ordered an address to his majesty, for the copies of several memorials since the treaty of Seville, touching the rights of Great Britain, or any infraction of treaties which had not been laid before them. These were accordingly submitted to the inspection of the house. By this time the convention itself was not only presented to the commons, but also published for the information of the people. Divers merchants, planters, and others trading to America, the cities of London and Bristol, the merchants of Liverpool, and owners of sundry ships which had been seized by the Spaniards, offered petitions against the convention, by which the subjects of Spain were so far from giving up their groundless and unjustifiable practice of visiting and searching British ships sailing to and from the British plantations, that they appeared to have claimed the power of doing it as a right; for they insisted that the differences which had arisen concerning it should be referred to plenipotentiaries, to be discussed by them without even agreeing to abstain from such visitation and search during the time that the discussion of this affair might last. They therefore prayed that they might have an opportunity of being heard, and allowed to represent the great importance of the British trade to and from the plantations in America; the clear and un disputable right which they had to enjoy it, without being stopped, visited, or searched by the Spaniards, on any pretence whatsoever; and the certain inevitable destruction of all the riches and strength derived to Great Britain from that trade, if a search of British ships sailing to and from their own plantations should be tolerated upon any pretext, or under any restrictions, or even if the freedom of this navigation should continue much longer in a state of uncertainty. These petitions were referred to the committee appointed to consider of the convention. Another remonstrance was likewise presented by the trustees for establishing the colony of Georgia, setting forth that the king of Spain claimed that colony as part of his territories; and that by the convention, the regulation of the limits of Carolina and Florida was referred to the determination of plenipotentiaries; so that the colony of Georgia, which undoubtedly belonged to the crown of Great Britain, was left in dispute, while the settlers remained in the most precarious and dangerous situation. It was moved that the merchants should be heard by their counsel; but the proposal was strenuously opposed by the ministry, and rejected upon a division.
This famous convention, concluded at the Pardo on the fourteenth day of January, imported, that within six weeks to be reckoned from the day on which the ratifications were exchanged, two ministers plenipotentiaries should meet at Madrid, to confer, and finally regulate the respective pretentions of the two crowns, with relation to the trade and navigation in America and Europe, and to the limits of Florida and Carolina, as well as concerning other points which remained likewise to be adjusted, according to the former treaties subsisting between the two nations: that the plenipotentiaries should finish their conferences within the space of eight months: that in the meantime no progress should be made in the fortifications of Florida and Carolina: that his catholic majesty should pay to the king of Great Britain, the sum of ninety-five thousand pounds, for a balance due to the crown and subjects of Great Britain, after deduction made of the demands of the crown and subjects of Spain: that this sum should be employed for the satisfaction, discharge, and payment of the demands of the British subjects upon the crown of Spain: that this reciprocal discharge, however, should not extend or relate to the accounts and differences which subsisted and were to be settled between the crown of Spain and the assiento company, nor to any
## particular or private contracts that might subsist between either of
the two crowns, or their ministers, with the subjects of the other; or between the subjects of each nation respectively: that his catholic majesty should cause the sum of ninety-five thousand pounds to be paid at London within four mouths, to be reckoned from the day on which the ratifications were exchanged. Such was the substance of that convention, which alarmed and provoked the merchants and traders of Great Britain, excited the indignation of all those who retained any regard for the honour of their country, and raised a general cry against the minister who stood at the helm of administration.
DEBATE ON THE CONTENTION.
The eyes of the whole kingdom were now turned upon the house of commons. The two contending parties summoned their whole force for the approaching dispute; on the day appointed for considering the convention, four hundred members had taken their seats by eight in the morning. In a committee of the whole house, certain West India merchants and planters were heard against the convention; so that this and the following day were employed in reading papers, and obtaining information. On the eighth clay of March, Mr. H. Walpole having launched out in the praise of that agreement, moved for an address of approbation to his majesty. He was seconded by Mr. Campbell of Pembrokeshire; and the debate began with extraordinary ardour. He who first distinguished himself in the lists was sir Thomas Sanderson, at that time treasurer to the prince of Wales, afterwards earl of Scarborough. All the officers and adherents of his royal highness had joined the opposition; and he himself on this occasion sat in the gallery, to hear the debate on such an important transaction. Sir Thomas Sanderson observed, that the Spaniards by the convention, instead of giving us reparation, had obliged us to give them a general release. They had not allowed the word satisfaction to be so much as once mentioned in the treaty. Even the Spanish pirate who had cut off the ear of captain Jenkins, [260] _[See note 2 L at the end of this Vol.]_ and used the most insulting expression towards the person of the king--an expression which no British subject could decently repeat--an expression which no man that had a regard for his sovereign could ever forgive--even this fellow lived to enjoy the fruits of his rapine, and remained a living testimony of the cowardly tameness and mean submission of Great Britain; of the triumphant haughtiness and stubborn pride of Spain. Lord Gage, one of the most keen spirited and sarcastic orators in the house, stated in this manner the account of the satisfaction obtained from the court of Spain by the convention; the losses sustained by the Spanish depredations amounted to three hundred and forty thousand pounds; the commissary by a stroke of his pen reduced his demand to two hundred thousand pounds; then forty-five thousand were struck off for prompt payment; he next allotted sixty thousand pounds as the remaining part of a debt pretended to be due to Spain, for the destruction of her fleet by sir George Byng, though it appeared by the instructions on the table, that Spain had been already amply satisfied on that head; these deductions reduced the balance to ninety-five thousand pounds; but the king of Spain insisted upon the South-Sea company’s paying immediately the sum of sixty-eight thousand pounds, as a debt due to him on one head of accounts, though in other articles his catholic majesty was indebted to the company a million over and above the demand; the remainder to be paid by Spain did not exceed seven-and-twenty thousand pounds, from which she insisted upon deducting whatever she might have already given in satisfaction for any of the British ships that had been taken; and on being allowed the value of the St. Theresa, a Spanish ship which had been seized in the port of Dublin. Mr. W. Pitt, with an energy of argument and diction peculiar to himself, declaimed against the convention, as insecure, unsatisfactory, and dishonourable to Great Britain. He said the great national objection, the searching of British ships, was not admitted, indeed, in the preamble; but stood there as the reproach of the whole, as the strongest evidence of the fatal submission that followed; on the part of Spain, an usurpation, an inhuman tyranny claimed and exercised over the American seas: on the part of England, an undoubted right by treaties, and from God and nature, declared and asserted in the resolutions of parliament, were now referred to the discussion of plenipotentiaries, upon one and the same equal footing. This undoubted right was to be discussed and regulated; and if to regulate be to prescribe rules, as in all construction it is, that right was, by the express words of the convention, to be given up and sacrificed; for it must cease to be any thing from the moment it is submitted to limitation. Mr. Lyttelton, with equal force and fluency, answered the speech of Mr. H. Walpole. “After he had used many arguments to persuade us to peace,” said he, “to any peace, good or bad, by pointing out the dangers of a war, dangers I by no means allow to be such as he represents them, he crowned all those terrors with the name of the pretender. It would be the cause of the pretender. The pretender would come. Is the honourable gentleman sensible what this language imports? The people of England complain of the greatest wrongs and indignities; they complain of the interruption, the destruction of their trade; they think the peace has left them in a worse condition than before; and in answer to all these complaints, what are they told? Why, that their continuing to suffer all this, is the price they must pay to keep the king and his family on the throne of these realms. If this were true, it ought not to be owned; but it is far from truth; the very reverse is true. Nothing can weaken the family; nothing shake the establishment, but such measures as these, and such language as this.” He affirmed, that if the ministers had proceeded conformably to the intentions of parliament, they would either have acted with vigour, or have obtained a real security in an express acknowledgment of our right not to be searched as a preliminary, _sine qua non_, to our treating at all. Instead of this, they had referred it to plenipotentiaries. “Would you, sir,” said he, “submit to a reference, whether you may travel unmolested from your house in town to your house in the country? Your right is clear and undeniable, why would you have it discussed? but much less would you refer it, if two of your judges belonged to a gang which has often stopped and robbed you in your way thither before.” The ministers, in vindication of the convention, asserted, that the satisfaction granted by Spain was adequate to the injury received; that it was only the preliminary of a treaty which would remove all causes of complaint; that war was always expensive and detrimental to a trading nation, as well as uncertain in its events; that France and Spain would certainly join their forces in case of a rupture with Great Britain; that there was not one power in Europe upon which the English could depend for effectual assistance; and that war would favour the cause and designs of a popish pretender. The house, upon a division, agreed to the address; but when a motion was made for its being recommitted, the two
## parties renewed the engagement with redoubled eagerness and impetuosity.
Sir William Wyndham and Mr. Pulteney poured all the thunder of their eloquence against the insolence of Spain, and the concessions of the British ministry. Sir Robert Walpole exerted all his fortitude and dexterity in defence of himself and his measures, and the question being put, the resolutions for the address were carried by a small majority.
SECESSION OF THE CHIEF MEMBERS IN THE OPPOSITION.
Then sir William Wyndham, standing up, made a pathetic remonstrance upon this determination. “This address,” said he, “is intended to convince mankind, that the treaty under our consideration is a reasonable and an honourable treaty. But if a majority of twenty-eight in such a full house should fail of that success; if the people should not implicitly resign their reason to a vote of this house, what will be the consequence? Will not the parliament lose its authority? Will it not be thought, that even in the parliament we are governed by a faction? and what the consequence of this may be, I leave to those gentlemen to consider, who are now to give their vote for this address: for my own part, I will trouble you no more, but, with these my last words, I sincerely pray to Almighty God, who has so often wonderfully protected these kingdoms, that he will graciously continue his protection over them, by preserving us from that impending danger which threatens the nation from without, and likewise from that impending danger which threatens our constitution from within.” The minister was on this occasion deserted by his usual temper, and even provoked into personal abuse. He declared, that the gentleman who was now the mouth of his opponents, had been looked upon as the head of those traitors, who, twenty-five years before, conspired the destruction of their country and of the royal family, in order to set a popish pretender upon the throne; that he was seized by the vigilance of the then government, and pardoned by its clemency; but all the use he had ungratefully made of that clemency, was to qualify himself according to law, that he and his party might sometime or other have an opportunity to overthrow all law. He branded them all as traitors, and expressed his hope, that their behaviour would unite all the true friends of the present happy establishment. To such a degree of mutual animosity were both sides inflamed, that the most eminent members of the minority actually retired from parliament; and were by the nation in general revered as martyrs to the liberty of the people.
THE HOUSE OF LORDS DEBATE UPON AN ADDRESS TO HIS MAJESTY.
The dispute occasioned by the convention in the house of lords, was maintained with equal warmth, and perhaps with more abilities. After this famous treaty had been considered, lord Carteret suggested, that possibly one of the contracting powers had presented a protest or declaration, importing that she acceded to such or such a measure, only upon condition that the terms of that protest or declaration should be made good. He said, that until his mind should be free from the most distant suspicion that such a paper might exist in the present case, he could not form a just opinion of the transaction himself, nor communicate to their lordships any light which might be necessary for that purpose. The adherents to the ministry endeavoured to evade his curiosity in this particular, by general assertions; but he insisted on his suspicion with such perseverance, that at length the ministry produced the copy of a declaration made by the king of Spain before he ratified the convention, signifying that his catholic majesty reserved to himself, in its full force, the right of being able to suspend the assiento of negroes, in case the company should not pay within a short time the sum of sixty-eight thousand pounds sterling, owing to Spain on the duty of negroes, or on the profit of the ship Caroline; that under the validity and force of this protest, the signing of the said convention might be proceeded on, and in no other manner. In the debate that ensued, lord Carteret displayed a surprising extent of political knowledge, recommended by all the graces of elocution, chaste, pure, dignified, and delicate. Lord Bathurst argued against the articles of convention with his usual spirit, integrity, and good sense,
## particularly animated by an honest indignation which the wrongs of his
country had inspired. The earl of Chesterfield attacked this inglorious measure with all the weight of argument, and all the poignancy of satire. The duke of Argyle, no longer a partisan of the ministry, inveighed against it as infamous, treacherous, and destructive, with all the fire, impetuosity, and enthusiasm of declamation. It was defended with unequal arms by the duke of Newcastle, the earl of Cholmondeley, lord Hervey, the lord chancellor, the bishop of Salisbury, and in
## particular by the earl of Hay, a nobleman of extensive capacity and
uncommon erudition; remarkable for his knowledge of the civil law, and seemingly formed by nature for a politician; cool, discerning, plausible, artful, and enterprising, staunch to the minister, and invariably true to his own interest. The dispute was learned, long, and obstinate; but ended as usual in the discomfiture of those who had stigmatized the treaty. The house agreed to an address, in which they thanked his majesty for his gracious condescension in laying before them the convention. They acknowledged his great prudence in bringing the demands of his subjects for their past losses, which had been so long depending, to a final adjustment; in procuring an express stipulation for a speedy payment; and in laying a foundation for accomplishing the great and desirable ends of obtaining future security, and preserving the peace between the two nations. They declared their confidence in his royal wisdom, that in the treaty to be concluded in pursuance of the convention, proper provisions would be made for the redress of the grievances of which the nation had so justly complained; they assured his majesty, that in case his just expectations should not be answered, the house would heartily and zealously concur in all such measures as should be necessary to vindicate his majesty’s honour, and to preserve to his subjects the full enjoyment of all those rights to which they were entitled by treaty and the law of nations. This was a hard won victory. At the head of those who voted against the address we find the prince of Wales. His example was followed by six dukes, two-and-twenty earls, four viscounts, eighteen barons, four bishops, and their party was reinforced by sixteen proxies. A spirited protest was entered and subscribed by nine-and-thirty peers, comprehending all the noblemen of the kingdom who were most eminent for their talents, integrity, and virtue.
{1739}
A message having been delivered to the house from his majesty, importing, that he had settled nine-and-thirty thousand pounds per annum on the younger children of the royal family; and desiring their lordships would bring in a bill to enable his majesty to make that provision good out of the hereditary revenues of the crown, some lords in the opposition observed that the next heir to the crown might look upon this settlement as a mortgage of his revenue, which a parliament had no power to make; that formerly no daughter of the royal family was ever provided for by parliament, except the eldest, and that never was by way of annuity, but an express provision of a determinate sum of money paid by way of dowry. These objections were overruled; and the house complied with his majesty’s request. Then the duke of Newcastle produced a subsidy-treaty, by which his majesty obliged himself to pay to the king of Denmark seventy thousand pounds per annum, on condition of the Dane’s furnishing to his Britannic majesty a body of six thousand men, when demanded. At the same time his grace delivered a message from the king, desiring the house would enable him to fulfil this engagement; and also to raise what money and troops the exigency of affairs, during the approaching recess, might require. Another vehement dispute arose from this proposal. With respect to the treaty, lord Carteret observed, that no use could be made of the Danish troops in any expedition undertaken against Spain, because it was stipulated in the treaty that they should not be used either in Italy, or on board of the fleet, or be transported in whole or in part beyond sea, after they should have marched out of the territories of Denmark, except for the defence of the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland; nay, should France join against the English, the Danes could not act against that power or Spain, except as part of an army formed in Germany or Flanders. This body of Danes may be said, therefore, to have been retained for the defence and protection of Hanover; or, if the interest of Britain was at all consulted in the treaty, it must have been in preventing the Danes from joining their fleets to those of France or Spain. Then he argued against the second part of the message with great vivacity. He said nothing could be more dangerous to the constitution than a general and unlimited vote of credit. Such a demand our ancestors would have heard with amazement, and rejected with scorn. He affirmed that the practice was of modern date in England; that it was never heard of before the revolution; and never became frequent until the nation was blessed with the present wise administration. He said, if ever a general vote of credit and confidence should become a customary compliment from the parliament to the crown at the end of every session, or as often as the minister might think fit to desire it, parliaments would grow despicable in the eyes of the people; then a proclamation might be easily substituted in its stead, and happy would it be for the nation if that should be sufficient; for when a parliament ceases to be a check upon ministers, it becomes a useless and unnecessary burden on the people. The representatives must always be paid some way or other; if their wages are not paid openly and surely by their respective constituents, as they were formerly, a majority of them may in future times be always ready to accept of wages from the administration, and these must come out of the pockets of the people. The duke of Argyle and the earl of Chesterfield enlarged upon the same topics. Nevertheless, the house complied with the message; and presented an address, in which they not only approved of the treaty with Denmark, but likewise assured his majesty they would concur with his measures, and support him in fulfilling his engagements, as well as in making such further augmentation of his forces by sea and land, as he should think necessary for the honour, interest, and safety of these kingdoms.
PARLIAMENT PROROGUED.
The same message being communicated to the commons, they voted seventy thousand five hundred and eighty-three pounds for the subsidy to Denmark, and five hundred thousand pounds for augmenting the forces on any emergency. As Great Britain stood engaged by the convention to pay to the crown of Spain the sum of sixty thousand pounds in consideration of the ships taken and destroyed by sir George Byng, which sum was to be applied to the relief of the British merchants who had suffered by the Spanish depredations, the commons inserted in a bill a clause providing for this sum to be paid by the parliament. When the bill was read in the house of lords, a motion was made by lord Bathurst for an address, to know, whether Spain had paid the money stipulated by the convention, as the time limited for the payment of it was now expired. The duke of Newcastle, by his majesty’s permission, acquainted the house that it was not paid, and that Spain had as yet given no reason for the non-payment. Then a day was appointed to consider the state of the nation, when lord Carteret moved for a resolution, that the failure of Spain in this particular was a breach of the convention, a high indignity to his majesty, and an injustice to the nation; but, after a warm debate, this motion was overruled by the majority. The minister, in order to atone in some measure for the unpopular step he had taken in the convention, allowed a salutary law to pass for the encouragement of the woollen manufacture, and two bills in behalf of the sugar colonies; one permitting them, for a limited time, to export their produce directly to foreign parts, under proper restrictions; and the other making more effectual provisions for securing the duties laid upon the importation of foreign sugars, rum, and molasses, into Great Britain, and his majesty’s plantations in America. The supplies being voted, the funds established, and the crown gratified in every particular, the king closed the session with a speech on the fourteenth day of June, when the chancellor in his majesty’s name prorogued the parliament. [262] _[See note 2 M, at the end of this Vol.]_
THE KING OF SPAIN PUBLISHES A MANIFESTO.
Letters of marque and reprisal were granted against the Spaniards; a promotion was made of general officers; the troops were augmented; a great fleet was assembled at Spithead; a reinforcement sent out to admiral Haddock; and an embargo laid on all merchant ships outward-bound. Notwithstanding these preparations of war, Mr. Keen, the British minister at Madrid, declared to the court of Spain, that his master, although he had permitted his subjects to make reprisals, would not be understood to have broken the peace; and that this permission would be recalled as soon as his catholic majesty should be disposed to make the satisfaction which had been so justly demanded. He was given to understand, that the king of Spain looked upon those reprisals as acts of hostility; and that he hoped, with the assistance of heaven and his allies, he should be able to support a good cause against his adversaries. He published a manifesto in justification of his own conduct, complaining that admiral Haddock had received orders to cruise with his squadron between the capes St. Vincent and St. Mary, in order to surprise the Assogue ships; that letters of reprisal had been published at London in an indecent style, and even carried into execution in different parts of the world. He excused his non-payment of the ninety-five thousand pounds stipulated in the convention, by affirming that the British court had first contravened the articles of that treaty, by the orders sent to Haddock; by continuing to fortify Georgia; by reinforcing the squadron at Jamaica; and by eluding the payment of the sixty-eight thousand pounds due to Spain from the South-Sea company, on the assiento for negroes. The French ambassador at the Hague declared that the king his master was obliged by treaties to assist his catholic majesty by sea and land, in case he should be attacked; he dissuaded the states-general from espousing the quarrel of Great Britain; and they assured him they would observe a strict neutrality, though they could not avoid furnishing his Britannic majesty with such succours as he could demand, by virtue of the treaties subsisting between the two powers. The people of England were inspired with uncommon alacrity at the near prospect of war, for which they had so long clamoured; and the ministry seeing it unavoidable, began to be earnest and effectual in their preparations.
{GEORGE II. 1727-1760}
THE EMPEROR AND CZARINA CONCLUDE A PEACE WITH THE TURKS.
The events of war were still unfavourable to the emperor. He had bestowed the command of his army upon velt-mareschal count Wallis, who assembled his forces in the neighbourhood of Belgrade; and advanced towards Crotska, where he was attacked by the Turks with such impetuosity and perseverance, that he was obliged to give ground, after a long and obstinate engagement, in which he lost above six thousand men. The earl of Crawford, who served as a volunteer in the Imperial army, signalised his courage in an extraordinary manner on this occasion, and received a dangerous wound of which he never perfectly recovered. The Turks were afterwards worsted at Jabouka; nevertheless, their grand army invested Belgrade on the side of Servia, and carried on the operations of the siege with extraordinary vigour. The emperor, dreading the loss of this place, seeing his finances exhausted, and his army considerably diminished, consented to a negotiation for peace, which was transacted under the mediation of the French ambassador at the Ottoman Porte. The count de Neuperg, as Imperial plenipotentiary, signed the preliminaries on the first day of September. They were ratified by the emperor, though he pretended to be dissatisfied with the articles; and declared that his minister had exceeded his powers. By this treaty the house of Austria ceded to the grand seignor, Belgrade, Sabatz, Servia, Austrian Wallachia, the isle and fortress of Orsova, with the fort of St. Elizabeth; and the contracting powers agreed that the Danube and the Saave should serve as boundaries to the two empires. The emperor published a circular letter, addressed to his ministers at all the courts of Europe, blaming count Wallis for the bad success of the last campaign, and disowning the negotiations of count Neuperg; nay, these two officers were actually disgraced, and confined in different castles. This, however, was no other than a sacrifice to the resentment of the czarina, who loudly complained that the emperor had concluded a separate peace, contrary to his engagements with the Russian empire. Her general, count Munich, had obtained a victory over the Turks at Choczim in Moldavia, and made himself master of that place, in which he found two hundred pieces of artillery; but the country was so ruined by the incursions of the Tartars, that the Muscovites could not subsist in it during the winter. The czarina finding herself abandoned by the emperor, and unable to cope with the whole power of the Ottoman empire, took the first opportunity of putting an end to the war upon honourable terms. After a short negotiation, the conferences ended in a treaty, by which she was left in possession of Azoph, on condition that its fortifications should be demolished; and the ancient limits were re-established between the two empires.
PREPARATIONS FOR WAR IN ENGLAND.
A rupture between Great Britain and Spain was now become inevitable. The English squadron in the Mediterranean had already made prize of two rich Caracca ships. The king had issued orders for augmenting his land forces, and raising a body of marines; and a great number of ships of war were put in commission. Admiral Vernon had been sent to the West Indies, to assume the command of the squadron in those seas, and to annoy the trade and settlements of the Spaniards. This gentleman had rendered himself considerable in the house of commons, by loudly condemning all the measures of the ministry, and bluntly speaking his sentiments, whatever they were, without respect of persons, and sometimes without any regard to decorum. He was counted a good officer, and this boisterous manner seemed to enhance his character. As he had once commanded a squadron in Jamaica, he was perfectly well acquainted with those seas; and in a debate upon the Spanish depredations, he chanced to affirm, that Porto Bello on the Spanish main might be easily taken; nay, he even undertook to reduce it with six ships only. This officer was echoed from the mouths of all the members in the opposition. Vernon was extolled as a another Drake or Raleigh; he became the idol of a party, and his praise resounded from all corners of the kingdom. The minister, in order to appease the clamours of the people on this subject, sent him as commander-in-chief to the West Indies. He was pleased with an opportunity to remove such a troublesome censor from the house of commons; and, perhaps, he was not without hope, that Vernon would disgrace himself and his party, by failing in the exploit he had undertaken. His catholic majesty having ordered all the British ships in his harbours to be seized and detained, the king of England would keep measures with him no longer, but denounced war against him on the twenty-third day of October. Many English merchants began to equip privateers, and arm their trading vessels to protect their own commerce, as well as to distress that of the enemy. The session of parliament was opened in November, when the king, in his speech to both houses, declared, that he had augmented his forces by sea and land, pursuant to the power vested in him by parliament for the security of his dominions, the protection of trade, and the annoyance of the enemy; and he expressed his apprehension, that the heats and animosities which had been industriously fomented throughout the kingdom, encouraged Spain to
## act in such a manner as rendered it necessary for him to have recourse
to arms. In answer to this speech, affectionate addresses were presented by both houses, without any considerable opposition.
The seceding members had again resumed their seats in the house of commons; and Mr. Pulteney thought proper to vindicate the extraordinary step which they had taken. He said, they thought that step was necessary, as affairs then stood, for clearing their characters to posterity from the imputation of sitting in an assembly, where a determined majority gave a sanction to measures evidently to the disgrace of his majesty and the nation. He observed, that their conduct was so fully justified by the declaration of war against Spain, that any further vindication would be superfluous; for every assertion contained in it had been almost in the same words insisted upon by those who opposed the convention: “every sentence in it,” added he, “is an echo of what was said in our reasonings against that treaty; every positive truth which the declaration lays down, was denied with the utmost confidence by those who spoke for the convention; and, since that time, there has not one event happened which was not then foreseen and foretold.” He proposed, that in maintaining the war, the Spanish settlements in the West Indies should be attacked; and that the ministry should not have the power to give up the conquests that might be made. He said he heartily wished, for his majesty’s honour and service, that no mention had been made of heats and animosities, in the king’s speech; and gave it as his opinion, that they should take no notice of that clause in their address. He was answered by sir Robert Walpole, who took occasion to say, he was in no great concern lest the service of his majesty or the nation should suffer by the absence of those members who had quitted the house; he affirmed, the nation was generally sensible, that the many useful and popular acts which passed towards the end of the last session, were greatly forwarded and facilitated by the secession of those gentlemen; and, if they were returned only to oppose and perplex, he should not be at all sorry to see them secede again.
PENSION-BILL REVIVED AND LOST.
Mr. Pulteney revived the bill which he had formerly prepared for the encouragement of seamen. After a long dispute, and eager opposition by the ministry, it passed both houses, and obtained the royal assent. Mr. Sandys having observed, that there could be no immediate use for a great number of forces in the kingdom; and explained how little service could be expected from raw and undisciplined men; proposed an address to the king, desiring that the body of marines should be composed of drafts from the old regiments; that as few officers should be appointed as the nature of the case would permit; and he expressed his hope, that the house would recommend this method to his majesty, in tender compassion to his people, already burdened with many heavy and grievous taxes. This scheme was repugnant to the intention of the ministry, whose aim was to increase the number of their dependents, and extend their parliamentary interest, by granting a great number of commissions. The proposal was, therefore, after a long debate, rejected by the majority. Motions wore made for an inquiry into the conduct of those who concluded the convention; but they were overruled. The pension-bill was revived, and so powerfully supported by the eloquence of sir William Wyndham, Mr. Pulteney, and Mr. Lyttelton, that it made its way through the commons to the upper house, where it was again lost, upon a division, after a very long debate. As the seamen of the kingdom expressed uncommon aversion to the service of the government, and the fleet could not be manned without great difficulty, the ministry prepared a bill, which was brought in by sir Charles Wager, for registering all seamen, watermen, fishermen, and lightermen, throughout his majesty’s dominions. Had this bill passed into a law, a British sailor would have been reduced to the most abject degree of slavery; had he removed from a certain district allotted for the place of his residence, he would have been deemed a deserter, and punished accordingly; he must have appeared when summoned, at all hazards, whatever might have been the circumstances of his family, or the state of his private affairs; had he been encumbered with debt, he must have either incurred the penalties of this law, or lain at the mercy of his creditors; had he acquired by industry, or received by inheritance, an ample fortune, he would have been liable to be torn from his possessions, and subjected to hardships which no man would endure but from the sense of fear or indigence. The bill was so vigorously opposed by sir John Barnard and others, as a flagrant encroachment upon the liberties of the people, that the house rejected it on the second reading.
PORTO BELLO TAKEN by ADMIRAL VERNON.
The king having by message communicated to the house his intention of disposing of the princess Mary in marriage to prince Frederick of Hesse; and expressing his hope that the commons would enable him to give a suitable portion to his daughter, they unanimously resolved to grant forty thousand pounds for that purpose; and presented an address of thanks to his majesty for having communicated to the house this intended marriage. On the thirteenth day of March a ship arrived from the West Indies, despatched by admiral Vernon, with an account of his having taken Porto Bello, on the isthmus of Darien, with six ships only, and demolished all the fortifications of the place. The Spaniards acted with such pusillanimity on this occasion, that their forts were taken almost without bloodshed. The two houses of parliament joined in an address of congratulation upon the success of his majesty’s arms; and the nation in general was wonderfully elated by an exploit which was magnified much above its merit. The commons granted every thing the crown thought proper to demand. They provided for eight-and-twenty thousand land-forces, besides six thousand marines. They enabled his majesty to equip a very powerful navy; they voted the subsidy to the king of Denmark; and they empowered their sovereign to defray certain extraordinary expenses not specified in the estimates. To answer these uncommon grants, they imposed a land-tax of four shillings in the pound; and enabled his majesty to deduct twelve hundred thousand pounds from the sinking fund; in a word, the expense of the war, during the course of the ensuing year, amounted to about four millions. The session was closed on the twenty-ninth day of April, when the king thanked the commons for the supplies they had so liberally granted, and recommended union and moderation to both houses.
{1740}
During the greatest part of this winter, the poor had been grievously afflicted in consequence of a severe frost, which began at Christmas, and continued till the latter end of February. The river Thames was covered with such a crust of ice, that a multitude of people dwelt upon it in tents, and a great number of booths were erected for the entertainment of the populace. The navigation was entirely stopped; the watermen and fishermen were disabled from earning a livelihood; the fruits of the earth were destroyed by the cold, which was so extreme, that many persons were chilled to death; and this calamity was the more deeply felt, as the poor could not afford to supply themselves with coals and fuel, which were advanced in proportion to the severity and continuance of the frost. The lower class of labourers, who worked in the open air, were now deprived of all means of subsistence; many kinds of manufacture were laid aside, because it was found impracticable to carry them on. The price of all sorts of provisions rose almost to a dearth; even water was sold in the streets of London. In this season of distress, many wretched families must have perished by cold and hunger, had not those of opulent fortunes been inspired with a remarkable spirit of compassion and humanity. Nothing can more redound to the honour of the English nation, than did those instances of benevolence and well-conducted charity which were then exhibited. The liberal hand was not only opened to the professed beggar, and the poor that owned their distress, but uncommon pains were taken to find out and relieve those more unhappy objects, who, from motives of false pride or ingenuous shame, endeavoured to conceal their misery.
These were assisted almost in their own despite. The solitary habitations of the widow, the fatherless, and the unfortunate, were visited by the beneficent, who felt for the woes of their fellow-creatures; and to such as refused to receive a portion of the public charity, the necessaries of life were privately conveyed, in such a manner as could least shock the delicacy of their dispositions.
MARRIAGE OF THE PRINCESS MARY TO THE PRINCE OF HESSE.
In the beginning of May, the king of Great Britain set out for Hanover, after having appointed a regency, and concerted vigorous measures for distressing the enemy. In a few days after his departure, the spousals of the princess Mary were celebrated by proxy, the duke of Cumberland representing the prince of Hesse, and in June the princess embarked for the continent. About the same time, a sloop arrived in England with despatches from admiral Vernon, who, since his adventure at Porto Bello, had bombarded Carthagena, and taken the fort of San Lorenzo, on the river of Chagre, in the neighbourhood of his former conquest. This month was likewise marked by the death of his Prussian majesty, a prince by no means remarkable for great or amiable qualities. He was succeeded on the throne by Frederick his eldest son, the late king of that realm, who has so eminently distinguished himself as a warrior and legislator. In August, the king of Great Britain concluded a treaty with the landgrave of Hesse, who engaged to furnish him with a body of six thousand men for four years, in consideration of an annual subsidy of two hundred and fifty thousand crowns.
STRONG ARMAMENT SENT TO THE WEST INDIES.
Meanwhile, preparations of war were vigorously carried on by the ministry in England. They had wisely resolved to annoy the Spaniards in their American possessions. Three ships of war, cruising in the bay of Biscay, fell in with a large Spanish ship of the line, strongly manned, and took her after a very obstinate engagement; but the Assogue ships arrived with the treasure in Spain, notwithstanding the vigilance of the English commanders, who were stationed in a certain latitude to intercept that flota. One camp was formed on Hounslow-heath; and six thousand marines lately levied were encamped on the Isle of Wight, in order to be embarked for the West Indies. Intelligence being received that a strong squadron of Spanish ships of war waited at Ferrol for orders to sail to their American settlements, sir John Norris sailed with a powerful fleet from Spithead to dispute their voyage; and the duke of Cumberland served in person as a volunteer in this expedition; but, after divers fruitless efforts, he was, by contrary winds, obliged to lie inactive for the greatest part of the summer in Torbay; and, upon advice that the French and Spanish squadrons had sailed to the West Indies in conjunction, the design against Ferrol was wholly laid aside. In September, a small squadron of ships, commanded by commodore Anson, set sail for the South-Sea, in order to act against the enemy on the coast of Chili and Peru, and co-operate occasionally with admiral Vernon across the isthmus of Darien. The scheme was well laid, but ruined by unnecessary delays and unforeseen accidents. But the hopes of the nation centered chiefly in a formidable armament designed for the northern coast of now Spain, and his catholic majesty’s other settlements on that side of the Atlantic. Commissions had been issued for raising a regiment of four battalions in the English colonies of North America, that they might be transported to Jamaica, and join the forces from England. These, consisting of the marines and detachments from some old regiments, were embarked in October at the Isle of Wight, under the command of lord Cathcart, a nobleman of approved honour, and great experience in the art of war; and they sailed under convoy of sir Chaloner Ogle, with a fleet of seven-and-twenty ships of the line, besides frigates, fire-ships, bomb-ketches, and tenders. They were likewise furnished with hospital ships and store ships, laden with provisions, ammunition, all sorts of warlike implements, and every kind of convenience. Never was an armament more completely equipped, and never had the nation more reason to hope for extraordinary success.
DEATH OF THE EMPEROR AND CZARINA.
On the twentieth day of October, Charles VI., emperor of Germany, the last prince of the house of Austria, died at Vienna, and was succeeded in his hereditary dominions by his eldest daughter’, the archduchess Maria Theresa, married to the grand duke of Tuscany. Though this princess succeeded as queen of Hungary, by virtue of the pragmatic sanction guaranteed by all the powers in Europe, her succession produced such contests as kindled a cruel war in the empire. The young king of Prussia was no sooner informed of the emperor’s death, than he entered Silesia at the head of twenty thousand men; seized certain fiefs to which his family laid claim; and published a manifesto, declaring that he had no intention to contravene the pragmatic sanction. The elector of Bavaria refused to acknowledge the archduchess as queen of Hungary and Bohemia; alleging, that he himself had pretensions to those countries, as the descendant of the emperor Ferdinand I., who was head of the German branch of the house of Austria. Charles VI. was survived but a few days by his ally, the czarina Anne Iwanowna, who died in the forty-fifth year of her age, after having bequeathed her crown to Iwan, or John, the infant son of her niece, the princess Anne of Mecklenburgh, who had been married to Anthony Ulrick, duke of Brunswick Lunenberg-Bevern. She appointed the duke of Courland regent of the empire, and even guardian of the young czar, though his own parents were alive; but this disposition was not long maintained.
PROCEEDINGS IN PARLIAMENT.
The king of Great Britain having returned to England from his German dominions, the session of parliament was opened in November. His majesty assured them, on this occasion, that he was determined to prosecute the war vigorously, even though France should espouse the cause of Spain, as her late conduct seemed to favour this supposition. He took notice of the emperor’s death, as an event which in all likelihood would open a new scene of affairs in Europe; he therefore recommended to their consideration the necessary supplies for putting the nation in such a posture that it should have nothing to fear from any emergency. Finally, he desired them to consider of some proper regulations for preventing the exportation of corn, and for more effectual methods to man the fleet at this conjuncture. The commons, after having voted an address of thanks, brought in a bill for prohibiting the exportation of corn and provisions, for a limited time, out of Great Britain, Ireland, and the American plantations. This was a measure calculated to distress the enemy, who were supposed to be in want of these necessaries. The French had contracted for a very large quantity of beef and pork in Ireland, for the use of their own and the Spanish navy; and an embargo had been laid upon the ships of that kingdom. The bill met with a vigorous opposition; yet the house unanimously resolved that his majesty should be addressed to lay an immediate embargo upon all ships laden with corn, grain, starch, rice, beef, pork, and other provisions, to be exported to foreign parts. They likewise resolved that the thanks of the house should be given to vice-admiral Vernon, for the services he had, done to his king and country in the West Indies. One William Cooley was examined at the bar of the house, and committed to prison, after having owned himself author of a paper, intituled, “Considerations upon the Embargo on Provision of Victual.” The performance contained many shrewd and severe animadversions upon the government, for having taken a step which, without answering the purpose of distressing the enemy, would prove a grievous discouragement to trade, and ruin all the graziers of Ireland. Notwithstanding the arguments used in this remonstrance, and several petitions that were presented against the corn-hill, it passed by mere dint of ministerial influence. The other party endeavoured, by various motions, to set on foot an inquiry into the orders, letters, and instructions, which had been sent to admiral Vernon and admiral Haddock; but all such investigations were carefully avoided.
A very hot contest arose from a bill which the ministry brought in, under the specious title of, A bill for the encouragement and increase of seamen, and for the better and speedier manning his majesty’s fleet. This was a revival of the oppressive scheme which had been rejected in the former session; a scheme by which the justices of the peace were empowered to issue warrants to constables and head-boroughs, to search by day or night for such seafaring men as should conceal themselves within their respective jurisdictions. These searchers were vested with authority to force open doors in case of resistance; and encouraged to this violence by a reward for every seaman they should discover; while the unhappy wretches so discovered were dragged into the service, and their names entered in a register to be kept at the navy or the admiralty-office. Such a plan of tyranny did not pass uncensured. Every exceptionable clause produced a warm debate, in which sir John Barnard, Mr. Pulteney, Mr. Sandys, lord Gage, Mr. Pitt, and Mr. Lyttelton, signalized themselves nobly in defending the liberties of their fellow-subjects. Mr. Pitt having expressed a laudable indignation at such a large stride towards despotic power, in justification of which nothing could be urged but the plea of necessity, Mr. Horatio Walpole thought proper to attack him with some personal sarcasms. He reflected upon his youth: and observed that the discovery of truth was very little promoted by pompous diction and theatrical emotion. These insinuations exposed him to a severe reply. Mr. Pitt standing up again, said, “He would not undertake to determine whether youth could be justly imputed to any man as a reproach; but he affirmed that the wretch, who, after having seen the consequences of repeated errors, continues still to blunder, and whose age has only added obstinacy to stupidity, is surely the object of either abhorrence or contempt, and deserves not that his grey head should secure him from insults; much more is he to be abhorred, who, as he has advanced in age, has receded from virtue, and becomes more wicked with less temptation; who prostitutes himself for money which he cannot enjoy; and spends the remains of his life in the ruin of his country.”--Petitions were presented from the city of London and county of Gloucester against the bill, as detrimental to the trade and navigation of the kingdom, by discouraging rather than encouraging sailors, and destructive to the liberties of the subject; but they were both rejected as insults upon the house of commons. After very long debates, maintained on both sides with extraordinary ardour and emotion, the severe clauses were dropped, and the bill passed with amendments.
DISCONTENTS AGAINST THE MINISTRY.
But the most remarkable incident of this session was an open and personal attack upon the minister, who was become extremely unpopular all over the kingdom. The people were now, more than ever, sensible of the grievous taxes under which they groaned; and saw their burdens daily increasing. No effectual attempts had as yet been made to annoy the enemy. Expensive squadrons had been equipped; had made excursions, and returned without striking a blow. The Spanish fleet had sailed first from Cadiz, and then from Ferrol, without any interruption from admiral Haddock, who commanded the British squadron in the Mediterranean, and who was supposed to be restricted by the instructions he had received from the ministry, though in fact his want of success was owing to accident. Admiral Vernon had written from the West Indies to his private friends, that he was neglected, and in danger of being sacrificed. Notwithstanding the numerous navy which the nation maintained, the Spanish privateers made prize of the British merchant ships with impunity. In violation of treaties, and in contempt of that intimate connexion which had been so long cultivated between the French and English ministry, the king of France had ordered the harbour and fortifications of Dunkirk to be repaired; his fleet had sailed to the West Indies in conjunction with that of Spain; and the merchants of England began to tremble for Jamaica; finally, commerce was in a manner suspended, by the practice of pressing sailors into the service, and by the embargo which had been laid upon ships in all the ports of Great Britain and Ireland. These causes of popular discontent, added to other complaints which had been so long repeated against the minister, exaggerated and inculcated by his enemies with unwearied industry, at length rendered him so universally odious, that his name was seldom or never mentioned with decency, except by his own dependents.
MOTION FOR REMOVING SIR R. WALPOLE FROM HIS MAJESTY’S COUNCILS.
The country party in parliament seized this opportunity of vengeance. Mr. Sandys went up to sir Robert Walpole in the house, and told him, that on Friday next he should bring a charge against him in public. The minister seemed to be surprised at this unexpected intimation; but, after a short pause, thanked him politely for this previous notice, and said he desired no favour, but fair play.*
* Upon this occasion he misquoted Horace. “As I am not conscious of any crime,” said he, “I do not doubt of being able to make a proper defence, _Nil conscire sibi nulli pallescere culpæ_.” He was corrected by Mr. Pulteney; but insisted on his being in the right, and actually laid a wager on the justness of the quotation.
Mr. Sandys, at the time which he had appointed for this accusation, stood up, and in a studied speech entered into a long deduction of the minister’s misconduct. He insisted upon the discontents of the nation, in consequence of the measures which had been for many years pursued at home and abroad. He professed his belief that there was not a gentleman in the house who did not know that one single person in the administration was the chief, if not the sole adviser and promoter of all those measures. “This,” added he, “is known without doors, as well as within; therefore, the discontents, the reproaches, and even the curses of the people, are all directed against that single person. They complain of present measures; they have suffered by past measures; they expect no redress; they expect no alteration or amendment, whilst he has a share in directing or advising our future administration. These, sir, are the sentiments of the people in regard to that minister; these sentiments we are in honour and duty bound to represent to his majesty; and the proper method for doing this, as established by our constitution, is to address his majesty to remove him from his councils.” He then proceeded to explain the particulars of the minister’s misconduct in the whole series of his negotiations abroad. He charged him with having endeavoured to support his own interest, and to erect a kind of despotic government, by the practice of corruption; with having betrayed the interest and honour of Great Britain in the late convention; with having neglected to prosecute the war against Spain; and he concluded with a motion for an address to the king, that he would be pleased to remove sir Robert Walpole from his presence and councils for ever. He was answered by Mr. Pelham, who undertook to defend or excuse all the measures which the other had condemned; and acquitted himself as a warm friend and unshaken adherent. Against this champion sir John Barnard entered the lists, and was sustained by Mr. Pulteney, who, with equal spirit and precision, pointed out and exposed all the material errors and malpractices of the administration. Sir Robert Walpole spoke with great temper and deliberation in behalf of himself. With respect to the article of bribery and corruption, he said if any one instance had been mentioned; if it had been shown that he ever offered a reward to any member of either house, or ever threatened to deprive any member of his office or employment, in order to influence his voting in parliament, there might have been some ground for this charge; but when it was so generally laid, he did not know what he could say to it, unless to deny it as generally and as positively as it had been asserted.--Such a declaration as this, in the hearing of so many persons, who not only knew, but subsisted by his wages of corruption, was a strong proof of the minister’s being dead to all sense of shame, and all regard to veracity. The debate was protracted by the court members till three o’clock in the morning, when about sixty of the opposite party having retired, the motion was rejected by a considerable majority.
{GEORGE II. 1727-1760}
DEBATE ON THE MUTINY BILL.
A bill was brought in for prohibiting the practice of insuring ships belonging to the enemies of the nation; but it was vigorously opposed by sir John Barnard and Mr. Willimot, who demonstrated that this kind of traffic was advantageous to the kingdom; and the scheme was dropped. Another warm contest arose upon a clause of the mutiny bill, relating to the quartering of soldiers upon innkeepers and publicans, who complained of their being distressed in furnishing those guests with provisions and necessaries at the rates prescribed by law or custom. There were not wanting advocates to expatiate upon the nature of this grievance, which, however, was not redressed. A new trade was at this time opened with Persia, through the dominions of the czar, and vested with an exclusive privilege in the Russian company, by an act of parliament. The commons voted forty thousand seamen for the service of the ensuing year, and about thirty thousand men for the establishment of land-forces. They provided for the subsidies granted to the king of Denmark and the landgrave of Hesse-Cassel; and took every step which was suggested for the ease and the convenience of the government.
PROCEEDINGS IN THE HOUSE OF LORDS.
The parties in the house of lords were influenced by the same motives which actuated the commons. The duke of Argyle, who had by this time resigned all his places, declared open war against the ministry. In the beginning of the session, the king’s speech was no sooner reported by the chancellor, than this nobleman stood up and moved that a general address of thanks should be presented to his majesty, instead of a recapitulation of every paragraph of the king’s speech, re-echoed from the parliament to the throne, with expressions of blind approbation, implying a general concurrence with all the measures of the minister. He spoke on this subject with an astonishing impetuosity of eloquence, that rolled like a river which had overflowed its banks and deluged the whole adjacent country. The motion was supported by lord Bathurst, lord Carteret, the earl of Chesterfield, and lord Gower, who, though they displayed all the talents of oratory, were outvoted by the opposite party, headed by the duke of Newcastle, the earl of Cholmondeley, lord Hervey, and the lord-chancellor. The motion was rejected, and the address composed in the usual strain. The same motions for an inquiry into orders and instructions which had miscarried in the lower house, were here repeated with the same bad success; in the debates which ensued, the young earls of Halifax and Sandwich acquired a considerable share of reputation, for the strength of argument and elocution with which they contended against the adherents of the ministry. When the house took into consideration the state of the army, the duke of Argyle having harangued with equal skill and energy on military affairs, proposed that the forces should be augmented by adding new levies to the old companies, without increasing the number of officers; as such an augmentation served only to debase the dignity of the service, by raising the lowest of mankind to the rank of gentlemen; and to extend the influence of the minister, by multiplying his dependents. He therefore moved for a resolution, that the augmenting the army by raising regiments, as it is the most unnecessary and most expensive method of augmentation, was also the most dangerous to the liberties of the nation. This proposal was likewise overruled, after a short though warm contention. This was the fate of all the other motions made by the lords in the opposition, though the victory of the courtiers was always clogged with a nervous and spirited protest. Two days were expended in the debate produced by lord Carteret’s motion for an address, beseeching his majesty to remove sir Robert Walpole from his presence and councils for ever. The speech that ushered in this memorable motion would not have disgraced a Cicero. It contained a retrospect of all the public measures which had been pursued since the revolution. It explained the nature of every treaty, whether right or wrong, which had been concluded under the present administration. It described the political connexions subsisting between the different powers in Europe. It exposed the weakness, the misconduct, and the iniquity of the minister, both in his foreign and domestic transactions. It was embellished with all the ornaments of rhetoric, and warmed with a noble spirit of patriotic indignation. The duke of Argyle, lord Bathurst, and his other colleagues, seemed to be animated with uncommon fervour, and even inspired by the subject.
{1741}
A man of imagination, in reading their speeches, will think himself transported into the Roman senate, before the ruin of that republic. Nevertheless, the minister still triumphed by dint of numbers; though his victory was dearly purchased. Thirty peers entered a vigorous protest, and Walpole’s character sustained such a rude shock from this opposition, that his authority seemed to be drawing near a period. Immediately after this contest was decided, the duke of Marlborough moved for a resolution, that any attempt to inflict any kind of punishment on any person, without allowing him an opportunity to make his defence, or without any proof of any crime or misdemeanor committed by him, is contrary to natural justice, the fundamental laws of the realm, and the ancient established usage of parliament; and is a high infringement of the liberties of the subject. It was seconded by the duke of Devonshire and lord Lovel; and opposed by lord Gower, as an intended censure on the proceedings of the day. This sentiment was so warmly espoused by lord Talbot, who had distinguished himself in the former debate, that he seemed to be transported beyond the bounds of moderation. He was interrupted by the earl of Cholmondeley, who charged him with having violated the order and decorum which ought to be preserved in such an assembly. His passion was inflamed by this rebuke; he declared himself an independent lord; a character which he would not forfeit for the smiles of a court, the profit of an employment, or the reward of a pension; he said, when he was engaged on the side of truth, he would trample on the insolence that should command him to suppress his sentiments.--On a division, however, the motion was carried.
In the beginning of April, the king repairing to the house of peers, passed some acts that were ready for the royal assent. Then, in his speech to both houses, he gave them to understand, that the queen of Hungary had made a requisition of the twelve thousand men stipulated by treaty; and that he had ordered the subsidy troops of Denmark and Hesse-Cassel to be in readiness to march to her assistance. He observed, that in this complicated and uncertain state of affairs, many incidents might arise, and render it necessary for him to incur extraordinary expenses for maintaining the pragmatic sanction, at a time when he could not possibly have recourse to the advice and assistance of his parliament. He therefore demanded of the commons such a supply as might be requisite for these ends; and promised to manage it with all possible frugality. The lower house, in their address, approved of all his measures; declared they would effectually support him against all insults and attacks that might be made upon any of his territories, though not belonging to the crown of Great Britain; and that they would enable him to contribute, in the most effectual manner, to the support of the queen of Hungary. Sir Robert Walpole moved, that an aid of two hundred thousand pounds should be granted to that princess. Mr. Shippen protested against any interposition in the affairs of Germany. He expressed his dislike of the promise which had been made to defend his majesty’s foreign dominions; a promise, in his opinion, inconsistent with that important and inviolable law, the act of settlement; a promise which, could it have been foreknown, would perhaps have for ever precluded from the succession that illustrious family to which the nation owed such numberless blessings, such continued felicity. The motion however passed, though not without further opposition; and the house resolved, that three hundred thousand pounds should be granted to his majesty, to enable him effectually to support the queen of Hungary. Towards the expense of this year, a million was deducted from the sinking fund; and the land-tax continued at four shillings in the pound. The preparations for this war had already cost five millions. The session was closed on the twenty-fifth day of April, when the king took his leave of this parliament with warm expressions of tenderness and satisfaction. Henry Bromley, Stephen Fox, and John Howe, three members of the lower house who had signalized themselves in defence of the minister, were now ennobled, and created barons of Montford, Ilchester, and Chedworth. A camp was formed near Colchester; and the king having appointed a regency, set out in May for his German dominions.*
* Sir William Wyndham died the preceding year, deeply regretted as an orator, a patriot, and a man, the constant assertor of British liberty, and one of the chief ornaments of the English nation.--In the course of the same year, general Oglethorpe, governor of Georgia, had, with some succours obtained from the colony of Carolina, and a small squadron of king’s ships, made an attempt upon Fort Angus- tine, the capital of Spanish Florida; and actually reduced some small forts in the neighbourhood of the place; but the Carolinians withdrawing in disgust, dissensions prevailing among the sea officers, the hurricane months approaching, and the enemy having received a supply and reinforcement, he abandoned the enterprise, and returned to Georgia.
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