refiner of fentiment; he was not absolutely a courtier, but having received a small favour from the m-r, was edging on his fide; and when any body bore hard upon his measures; he had a curious talent of diftinguishing, and could glofs over matters, fo neatly, as would cheat a vulgar eye. These two. gentlemen, principally engroffed the talk: and the fubftance of their difcourfe, was as follows.

WELL, neighbours, fays Sir Thomas; you fee Minorca is gone at laft; notwithstanding the brave governor and garrifon held it out fivel weeks after the fleet deferted them; and our hopes and fears are now decided: but take the whole business, from the beginning to the end, both in plan and execution, with its surprising, fcenes; it forms fuch a tragi-comedy; and is upon the whole, fuch a blot upon the prefent times, that I defy the moft paintul ranfacker of aur annals to produce its rival: the affair of Leftock and Matthews in the laft war, was ab triumph, in comparifon to this; and what at fad omen is this at the beginning of a war?, what a clog will it be upon our negotiations, when we come to treat of peace? for my part, I cannot for my life fee, what we can hope what not fear; till we have fome better proafo of the wifdom and integrity of our mrs; till fome other of our admirals have fignalized themselves in fome eminent action, and reco40 vered the credit of the British flag. dog

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THIS is not the clamour of the people only; for, were that the cafe, our deep-intrenched ms might, perhaps, laugh at, and despise it; but it has reached the very throne itself:The arreft of Byng, the moment he reached the English coaft, is a proof of this; and a proof likewise, that the my are forced to give way to the refentment of the nation: and fhould he upon conviction be condemned, as a traytor to his King and Country, and offered up to the manes of thiofe brave men, who fell in St. Philip's defence; I hope, like petty villains, he will make his dying fpeech; and to ease his confcience, and make his peace with heaven (if fuch comprehenfive iniquity can be forgiven) difcover all his affociates, if there be any, without refpect of perfons: remorfe of mind may poffibly extort, what a love of his country could not; and if he does this, he makes all the atonement in his power, to an abused, and deluded people. There are perfons, I know, fuch infidels in this matter, that be his guilt what it will; they declare, they would stand in his fhoes for five fhillings, as to the danger of a legal death: they confider him, as skulking, like others before him, behind the fhield of an omnipotent m-r: but I will not believe, notwithstanding what is paft, that impunity is the ftanding rule even of our present ad-n; or that it is poffible for fuch a criminal, if found. guilty, to be difmiffed with the soft penalty of. a reprehenfion, when every drop of his blood,

and

and every inch of his body ftands a debtor to national justice.

Τ

SIR THOMAS, I agree with you in the main ; but let us have a little patience: if Byng be the cd and fc1, we have too much rea fon to fear no punishment can be too great for him: a man, who kills another, must pay the forfeit of his life: nay, a poor famish'd rogue, who stops you on the highway, and robs you of a fhilling, is obnoxious to the fame punishment: what then is due, or rather; what is not due to the man who plunders, or stabs his native country; and whose mischief spreads it felf, as wide as his infamy? but, as I said, Sir Thomas, let us not prejudge! let the whole evidence be before the court, and then, and not: till then, pass fentence: I know, Sir, you are a candid man, and would not in a private cause: judge by another rules and let not your zeal for the public, though it fprings from a virtu ous principle, tranfport you even to with a thing, which in your cooler moments you might fee cause to retract: the difgrace of our fleet in the Mediterranean, and the fad consequence of it, I view in the fame light, and feel with the fame fenfibility, as you do; but let us not be caft down too much; when it is poffible at leaft, that this disgrace and loss, may in a little time be in fome measure repaired; we may have the good fortune, perhaps, under a brave comman-> der to retake the ifland; and then the laurels. our enemy has gathered will foon wither; and the expence of his expedition be a kind of triumph

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triumph over himself. As to our my cl am willing to think they will for their own fakes chufe to go to the bottom of this affairs and I hope, the juftice of the nation will take place; fo far as the guilt of the admiral, and others, fhall be made evident.

L

MR. SPLITHAIR, you are for ever refining, and by the artful juggle of your, perhaps's and may-be's, call off our attention from the main point. As to what our my will do, the best way of judging is, by what they have done: if the plan be as defective as the execution, and it seems fo to me, it may be their intereft to fmother, not to clear the bufinefs: and may not perfons, I beseech you, be bought to fwear away the life of the nation, as well as the life of a fingle perfon? I fay no more of this at prefent: but fure you are in jeft, when you infinuate our retaking the inland: What, do you think the French will leave a weak garrison in the fort, like us? the papers fay, (and is it not probable?) that feven thousand men are left there, and had our garrifon been equal to that number with the heroic Blakeney at their head, they might have defied the army of the enemy, and held it out, in fpite of all their efforts, till fuch a fleet might have been fent, as must have raised the ficge: whether fuch a fleet would have been fent, is one thing: but that such a fleet could have been fent is certain; and why such was not fent at firft, ought to be explained, and must be explained before the jealoufy of the

nation will fubfide; who (laying all circumftances together) may think that the island was from the beginning devoted; and that Byng's expedition was only a mock affair, to fence against the foreseen refentment of the people. But if this was not the Cafe, what was it? was it ignorance? was it fupinenefs or indifference? what was it?These are diftinct articles from Byng's conduct, which alone cannot solve our perplexities.

BUT tell me, Mr. Splithair, what probability there is of retaking this island and fort:-fuppose we have a more powerful fleet in those feas, than any our enemy can face: what is to be done? the fleet alone can't take the fort; and under the present menaces of the enemy against our mother country, can forces be spared? what then can this fleet do, befides protecting our merchant-ships in those feas? they may starve the garrifon, you will fay? but can you think our vigilant enemy has not laid-invast provisions, to add to the ftores found there, when there was nothing to hinder him; and would not the detention of fo large a fleet, diftress our other fervices? may not North-America? may not the Sugar Iflands want a fleet? nay; do they not want one now, and the French fhips ride triumphant in their feas? and if the enemy has the address to divide our fleets, and draw us off from the other principal objects of our attention; may they not be fuperior to us in a particular part? This project then of retaking, B 4

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