But we are told that we went into a war, as far as the reafon of things would give us leave. It seems then that the reafon of things would neither give us leave to protect our trade, nor to make reprizais, when our merchants were plundered. If these work are to pals for any thing more than empty found, it will follow either that Publicole is capable of affirming the groffeft untruth in a paper, addreffed to the people of England; or that our fituation is worfe than the leaft fanguine of our friends ever thought it, or the moft malicious of our enemies ever reprefented it. Very bad indeed muft it be, if the reafon of things obliged us to bear from the Spaniards, at this low ebb of their maritime power, what would not have been borne when their proud armada covered the feas; what would hardly have been borne, even in the reign of King James the First.

But, GoD be praised! this is not our cafe; and therefore Publicola muft be content to lie under the imputation which he hath drawn on himself by the boldnefs of his affertions.

He is frequently guilty of this fault; and the words which immediately follow thofe I have quoted, afford a ftrong inftance of it. "We did not,

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"fays he, take the galleons and bring them home; "but we blocked them up; which as completely "anfwered the true end and defign of fending that fleet, as the actual taking of them. The defign was to keep the money out of their hands (the Spaniards) and fo difable them to carry on the project of the treaty of Vienna." Very well. This matter is brought to a fhort iffue. The blockade of the galleons is over. Our fleet is come back from the Welt-Indies. The galleons are either come or coming. The Spaniards therefore are, according to Publico', no longer difabled from carrying on the pro

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ject of the Vienna treaty. I afk then, have they abandoned, have they renounced these projects? If our fleet blocked up the gallcons till this was done, he is in the right. This anfwered the defign of fending it. If they fhould, after this, break their faith, and renounce the moft facred obligations, none but they are to be complained of.

Publicole would have us believe, indeed, that they have renounced thefe projects; that they have granted us the main things in difpute; and that the congrefs is only to fettle other affairs of lefs importance. But this I deny; and he fhall be obliged to confefs either that he advances, here again, a bold untruth; or that he reckons our keeping Gibraltar not amongst the main things in difpute, but amongst thofe of lefs importance. Let him fhew me, if he can, in the preliminaries, a particular and exprefs confirmation of our right to this place, made by the Spaniards. I will undertake to fhew him the general words, by which the Spaniards will pretend in the congrefs, as it is notorious they do every where and on all occafions, that they have ftill a right to demand the reftitution of Gibraltar, and that this right is to be discussed in the congrefs.

I know it hath been faid more than once, in a very public place, and in a very folemn manner, that Gibraltar fhould not be even mentioned at the congrefs; but it would be impertinent to lay any ftrefs on the affurances of a perfon, who hath prefumed to give fo many groundlefs ones already; and who either hath been bantered moft egregiously himself, or hath made no fcruple of bantering his country.

Here then is one main point of our interests, to mention no more, ftill unfettled; not because the Spaniards have flown off from any agreement they had come to with us about it; but because it VOL. I.

was

was never fettled; and yet the galleons are left at liberty to come home.

If afferting our right to Gibraltar, and fome other things, which were founded fo high by an acquaintance of yours, Mr. Publicola (the author of the Enquiry) had no fhare in the ends which were propofed by fending our fleet to the WestIndies, fuch ftrange incomprehenfible ends may, for ought I know, have been completely answered: but if these points, fo effential to Great Britain, were any of the main things in difpute; if they were any of the ends propofed by what is called diftreffing the Spaniards; then is it falfe to affert that thefe ends have been completely answered.

When we confider what numbers of able and ufeful fubjects his majefty hath loft in the expedition to the Weft-Indies; and that we are, at least, as far off from a fettlement of interefts with Spain now, as we were before that expedition was undertaken, it is impoffible not to feel great and unaffected concern.

If it be afked, what was to be done? I fhall anfwer that, perhaps, it little becomes a private man to determine fuch great questions; but I will proceed to fhew, that all which Publicola advances against taking the galleons, is trifling.

Firft then, if blocking up the galleons in the Spanish ports was of fuch confequence, taking them would have been a more effectual measure to all the fame purposes.

Secondly, if we had taken them, as it is certain that Mr. Hofer could have done with ease, and with all their treasure on board, immediately on his first arrival, we fhould have had a chance the more for taking the flota too, which stole away to Europe, whilft our fquadron lay rotting before Porto-Bello.

Thirdly,

Thirdly, if we had taken this treafure, we should have had in our hands a fufficient fecurity for endemnifying our merchants, who have been the only fufferers, by the depredations of the Spaniards, whilft the French and Dutch have failed fecurely; and to one body of whom, I mean the South-Sea Company, the king of Spain owes, for former feizures unjustly made, as much perhaps as his proportion in the treasure of the galleons amounts

to.

Fourthly, to have taken the galleons would not have been liable to the fame inconveniencies, as we have feverely felt by pursuing an other measure. The expedition would have been foon over. The expence of lives and treafure would have been infinitely lefs. It would have coft little or nothing to have kept the Spaniards out of their money by a feizure, as long as the true reafon of things fhould have required it; whereas it hath coft us more than all that money is worth, to keep them out of it by a blockade only for a time; and for a time, which hath not been fufficient to fecure us against their defigns, or to make them lay afide their pretenfions. "But if we had taken them, fays Publicola,

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we should have taken the money of other people, "as well as of the Spaniards. We fhould have "been pirates." Let us fee how this hangs together. If we had reftored immediately to the proprietors their refpective fhares, as he fuppofes we must have done, the brand of piracy would not have ftuck upon us. But fuppofe we had thought fit not to restore their fhares to the Spaniards,. till our differences with the court of Madrid had been fettled; fhould we have been pirates in that cafe? He will be laughed at who affirms it. Would the king of Spain's fhare in this treasure have been no lofs to him? would he not have miffed the extra

vagant indulto, which he is now going to receive on this immense treasure? Should we have been pirates for punishing, in this manner, a prince, who actually befieged one of our fortreffes, who actually detained the fhips and feized the eftates of our merchants, and whofe fubjects every day killed, robbed and plundered the fubjects of Great Britain?

But I go a step farther; for if we ftop with Publicola, it will be always fhort of the mark, and we fhail never cxhauft the fubject, as I defire to do, because I defire to find the truth, and to be fure that I find it. What hath been faid hitherto, hath been faid on the fuppofition of a feizure only; and I hope the fcruples of Publicole's timorous confcience are appcafed. I hope he hath found out, by this time, that fuch a feizure might have been carried on without piracy. But fuppofe it had been a capture, not a feizure; fuch a capture as can never be made but in time of open war; fuch a capture as intitles the captors, by our laws, to the whole profit of the prize. Why then we had commenced a war against Spain by this action, as Spain had done long before against us by a thoufand hoftilities. Why then Vice-admiral Hofier, and the officers and feamen of his fquadron, had been in the fame cafe as Sir Charles Wager, and, the officers and feamen of his fquadron were in the last war; and I do not remember that these gallant men were ever profecuted as pirates at home, or reputed fuch abroad, or obliged to refund any part of the treafure they had taken.

Upon the whole matter, Publicola's argument proves nothing in the prefent cafe; or it proves that even when we are at war with Spain, we must not prefume to attack thefe facred galleons. Other nations are always interested in them, as well as the Spaniards.