HISTORY OF EUROPE. 



25 



iwanded on the one side, and refused 

 on the other, if there be a notice 

 given to tiio jjovver refusing, that, if 

 sucii conduct be persisted in, it will 

 be considered as a sulhcient cause of 

 ^val• : and if, alter this, the power so 

 informed continue aggression, or re- 

 fuse explanation, hostilities against 

 her will then be founded in the 

 principles of justice. Tliatthepro- 

 cecding ^vas not without a precedent, 

 in the general conduct of nations, 

 he shewed by the following examples 

 of hostilities being commenced be- 

 fore war was declared. The case of 

 sir G. Byng's mission, in 1718 ; that 

 of admiral Hosier, and the attack 

 upon GibraUar, in 1726; the seizure 

 of the tiritis^h vessels on their coasts, 

 by the Spaniards, in 1739 ; the Bri- 

 tish fleet sent to attack the French 

 off Dungeness, in i744 : the seizure 

 of the French ships in our ports, in 

 175o ; the datention of all British 

 ships in the ports of Spain, three 

 M'eeks before any declaration of 

 war : our seizure of Dtiteii ])roper- 

 ty in the iat war ; and the late bat- 

 tle of Copenhagen ; all of which 

 took place prior to any declaration 

 pf war, and many of them during 

 the progress of ncgociations. 



After this, about twelve o'clock at 

 night, tiie debate was adjourned, 

 and the discus'-ion resumed on the 

 day f.)IIowing, when Mr. Raine 

 spoke at great ienijfh in favour of 

 the amendment, and Air, Bankes in 

 support of the address. The latter 

 observed, that if the convention of 

 subsidy, agreed to between Spain and 

 .France, was no more than a fair 

 equivalent for the contingent in 

 kind, there could have been no ob- 

 jection to comnuinic'ite it to this 

 country, and the refusal to do so 

 was a proof that either it exceeded 

 4 fair c'luivalent, or that it contain- 



ed secret articles, the disclosure of 

 whicli must necessarily involve 

 Spain in an immediate war with 

 Great Britain. It was said that a 

 larger force should have been sent 

 out to prevent resistance, but it 

 should be recollected, that the trea- 

 sures were usually brought home in 

 single ships, and that their then com- 

 ing in a llefet were altogether unex- 

 pected. Mr. Johnstone answered 

 the last speaker, and was himself 

 replied to by JNlr. Ililey Addington. 

 Dr. Lawrence said, that the only 

 war, within the last century, in 

 which the integrity of Great Britain 

 was questioned, Mas a war with 

 Spain, and as that was at countrj 

 weak in power, though rich in pil- 

 lage, we ought, for our own charac- 

 ter, to be the more particularly cau- 

 tious how we commenced hostilities 

 against her. That ships had, in for- 

 mer instances, been seized before any 

 declaration of war, was undoubted- 

 ly true, but so far was that from be- 

 ing a justification, that every in- 

 stance of the kind which had oc- 

 curred, has since been condemned 

 and reprobated by every man of 

 common understanding. In answer 

 to -Mr. Bankes's suggestion, that the 

 treasure ships usually sailed singly, 

 he observed, that, several weeks pre- 

 vious to the attack, an accurate list 

 of those ships was published, from 

 which it appeared tliat some of them 

 would sail together from Lima, 

 which gave our governnjcnt an op- 

 portunity of mcjting them with a 

 superior force, if it was desirous of 

 saving the effusion of blood on that 

 unfortunate (ccasion. The master 

 of (lie rolls laid it dovv n as a princi- 

 ple, that, according to the law of 

 nations, no contract could be valid, 

 which would bind the contracting 

 party to an unju.st war; and tha 



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