fhe had nothing to apprehend. What she had to hope, I determine not, from this party to the Hanover treaty. The other princes and ftates, who acceded to this treaty, acceded in fuch a manner, as it is easy to prove, if Publicola fhould think fit to deny it, that we could have little to hope, and Spain little to apprehend, from their engagements, in her disputes with us about our immediate interefts. All other powers foftened towards each other by degrees; and by degrees we got deeper into the quarrel. Spain, from having no ally, came to have many; fome more, fome lefs to be depended on; none to be feared. From having a multitude of difputes, fhe came to have none, except with us. We, on the other hand, from having none of our interests in difpute, are come to fee hardly any others in controverfy. From feeling ourselves backed by feveral allies, we are come, at leaft in the points of direct relation to us, to have in effect no ally but one; and with that one we own that we are diffatisfied; nay, we own that we are afraid of him. The writer, I am answering, infinuates both; nay, he does it almoft in exprefs words. He complains of the indifference of France in fupport of our interefts; and of the danger of engaging in a war, in concert with France. Who would have thought it, Mr. D'Anvers? Here is the London Journal contradicting the Enquiry; and I am able to point out to you many grofs inftances of his doing the fame thing. Here is Publicole accounting for our prefent difficulties, now they are come upon us, by the very arguments which were urged against the Hanover treaty, and which proved that the natural confequence of that treaty was just what the event hath fhewn it to be. Thofe who wrote against the Enquiry foretold what would happen. Publicola juftifies the miniftry, by complaining that it hath happened! I will mention but one inftance more of this kind; and that shall be with relation to the Oftend company. "The grand quarrel, fays Publicola, was between us and Spain. The Oftend trade, about "which fuch a noife hath been made, was more "the concern of our neighbors, both by treaty and "intereft, than our own."-Now I will leave the world to decide by whom all this noise about the Oftend trade hath been made. Did not you, Mr. D'Anvers, and feveral other writers, maintain that this company was of but little concern to us, in oppofition to the whole party on the contrary fide, who took all poffible pains, both within doors and without, to prove that the Oftend trade was a point of the utmost concern to Britain, and even equal to Gibraltar itself? Nay, the author of the Enquiry, who hath now the mortification to fee himself given up, in every material article, by both parties; even by thofe who fet him to work, goes fo far, p. 57 of that memorable performance, as to affert, that Gibraltar would be of no importance to us, if the Oftend company fhould be fuffered to fubfift; and having labored that point, with all his ftrength, for no lefs than twenty pages together, concludes it thus: "That not only our own East and West India "trade, and that of the Dutch, will be ruined by "the Oftend company, which will be the imme"diate effect of it, or rather is fo already in fome degree, but also that the contagion will spread "to many other branches of the British and Dutch "trade; and convey along with it the riches, the "ftrength and the naval power to the fame Spanish "Netherlands. "But were it fo that Holland alone would be "the fufferer by the Oftend trade, which is far "from being the cafe, yet the ruin of Holland must carry along with it, in the end, the ruin of Bri"tain." Such Such abfurdities as thefe would provoke merriment in a cafe of lefs confequence; but they provoke indignation in a cafe where the honor and in. tereft of our king and country are fo deeply concerned. Into this state were our foreign affairs brought, when his prefent majefty came to the crown. I mention this the rather, because they, who now think it for their intereft to date the rife of all this mif chief fo much backwarder than it can confiftently with truth be dated, may poffibly find it for their intereft hereafter, if new and almost unavoidable dif ficulties fhould come upon us, in confequence of what they have done in a former reign, to date the rife of them as much too forward. Let it then be remembered that all which hath happened in this reign, is no more than a prolongation of the fame fcene. The great fcenes of the world are not to be fhifted at our pleasure. They must be continued fometimes, when we are convinced the moft that they are weakly framed. Opportunities must be waited for, and we truft they will happen. We are fure they will be improved by the capacity, the vigor, the experience and valor of our auguft monarch. A feasonable and powerful effort hath often broke through the most complicated evils. A word hath often effected what the 'moft tedious negotia tions, fuch as we have been accustomed to, could never have brought about. I have now done with Mr. Publicole for this time; and I hope for good and all. If my letter is letter is grown into a greater length than I defigned, this hath been owing principally to an earneft defire of fetting thefe matters (fo often and fo grofsly mifreprefented) in a juft and clear light. I have advanced no facts but fuch as are of public notoriety, fuch as I know to be true, and fuch as I do verily believe to be fo, upon fuch grounds as reafonable men have always thought thought fufficient to conftitute, in cafes of this nature, the highest probability. I have endeavored to push no confequence, nor to ftrain any argument farther than I judged it would evidently bear; for whatever Publicola may think, which concerns me little, I affure you, Mr. D'Anvers, that I would not have given myself this trouble, fmall as it is, of answering him for any other reafon but this; that, in order to get well out of our present difficulties and dangers, it is neceffary to know truly how we came into them; and that he, therefore, who contributes to difpel from before the eyes of mankind those mifts of error which are fo industriously raised at this time, does fome fervice to his king and his country, I am, Sir, &c. JOHN TRO T. ΑΝ |