LESSONS IN BOOKKEEPING. 



287 



to Bare him by the exertions of friendly member* in 

 tin ir place iu Parliament; bat tbo only result of the; 



A., t>> I.I..L : _' the admiral's life till tho 14th of March. 

 ( >u that day the boats of the fleet at Spithead were ordered 



: -iii.d the Monarch, the thinl-rato in which, since his 



imiral Byng had remained in custody of the 



Admiralty marshal. All captains and certain other officers 



witness tho deed which was to be done, and 



:i all things were ready. Shortly before that time, the 

 I'l-i-iuicr, whoso demeanour had been invariably dignified and 

 composed, asked tho marshal to take charge of a paper he had 

 writu-H, containing comments upon his trial, and on the circum- 

 stances under which he had acted at Minorca. " Happy for 

 me," ho wrote, " at this, my last moment, that I know my own 

 innocence, and am conscious that no part of my country's mis- 

 fortunes can be owing to me. I heartily wish the shedding of 



d may contribute to tho happiness and service of my 

 country, but cannot resign my just claim to a faithful discharge 

 of my duty according to the best of my judgment, and the utmost 

 exertion of my ability for His Majesty's honour and my country's 

 service. I am sorry that my endeavours were not attended with 

 more success, and that the armament under my command proved 

 too weak to succeed in an expedition of such moment. Truth 

 has prevailed over calumny and falsehood, and justice has wiped 

 off the ignominious stain of my supposed want of personal 

 courage, and the charge of disaffection. My heart acquits me 

 of these crimes ; but who can be presumptuously sure of his own 

 judgment ? If my crime is an error in judgment, or differing in 

 opinion from my judges, and if yet the error in judgment should 

 be on their side, God forgive them, as I do ; and may the dis- 

 tress of their minds, and uneasiness of their consciences, which 

 in justice to me they have represented, be relieved and subsided 



aa my resentment haa done. The Supreme Judge MM all heart* 

 and motives, and to him I most submit the justice of my caiwe. ' 



Having delivered this paper, Admiral Byxig walked out from 

 his cabin on to the quarter-deck, where the marines who were to 

 kill him were already drawn up. He bad resolved not to have 

 his eyes bandaged ; bat the entreaties of his friends, woo feared 

 lest his looks should intimidate the soldiers, prevailed, and be 

 suffered a handkerchief to be bound round his brows. In three 

 minutes from the time of quitting his cabin, John Byng was 

 placed in his coffin, having fallen instantaneously dead, with 

 five bullets in his body. 



Thus perished Admiral Byng, whose reputation has been 

 cleared by posterity of the blemish which malice and interested 

 hatred were so busy in casting upon it. His body was not cold 

 before people began to cry out that he had been murdered, and 

 the cruel persistency of the king in carrying oat the sentence of 

 death caused Byng to be raised in the popular estimation to a 

 height of favour he scarcely deserved. The means by which the 

 Government sought to hide their own defects, by the sacrifice of 

 one man, recoiled on their own heads, and the ghost of Byng, 

 like that of Banqno, haunted them terrifically at their feasts. 

 The sacrifice they offered up did not propitiate the national 

 resentment, but whetted it the rather ; and those whose incom- 

 petency and mismanagement had brought so many disgraces, 

 including the loss of Minorca, upon the nation, were driven from 

 power. But amid the blaze of glory, which the genius of Pitt 

 and his friends shed around the latter years of George II., 

 people did not forget and it was well they should not forget 

 the disgraceful seal which was put to the former years of 

 national disgrace, by the execution, on the 14th of March, 

 1757, of Admiral Byng, on board the Monarch, in Portsmouth 

 harbour. 



LESSONS IN BOOKKEEPING. XIIL 



SUBSIDIARY BOOKS.-THE DAY BOOK. 



IN this lesson is given the continuation of the Day-book, con- April to the end of- June. The details of these sje in the 

 taining the entries of the Purchases and Sales of Cotton, from Memoranda of Transactions. 



(4) 



DAY BOOK. 





