626 



BRITAIN. 



Britain. 



1759. 



War*- 



gainst 



Spain. 



Operations 

 of the 

 Itritish 

 fleets. 



roay be punished. To rob a man of the fruits of his 

 wit, is to rob him of his property ; and as wit is too 

 often the sole property of its possessor, the injustice 

 becomes a cruelty. If poets and players are to be 

 restrained, let them be tried by their peers, not by a 

 lord chamberlain. A power lodged in his hands to 

 judge without appeal, is a power unknown to the 

 constitution." 



The public attention was, however, soon called 

 from domestic to foreign disputes. The unexplained 

 rights of the English to cut logwood in the bay of 

 Campeachy, and the attempts of the individual tra- 

 ders to drive an illicit trade with the Spanish main, 

 had drawn indiscriminate retaliations and injuries 

 from the guarda castas of that nation, who plundered 

 the English merchants, and sent the subjects of Bri- 

 tain to be buried in the mines of Potosi. Remon- 

 strances had already been made to no purpose ; but 

 the clamours of the merchants were at last listened 

 to by parliament ; and a convention between the two 

 crowns was concluded at Prado, importing, that ple- 

 nipotentiaries should meet at Madrid to regulate the 

 subjects in dispute. Spain was to pay a sum of mo- 

 ney, on condition of her claims on Britain being sa- 

 tisfied ; and both sides were to discontinue hostile pre- 

 parations. But the minister, in demanding the first 

 supply from parliament, was obliged to acknowledge, 

 that the sum stipulated by Spain had not been paid ; 

 and, to appease the public now, he began to prepare 

 for war. The French declared themselves bound by 

 treaties to assist Spain : the Dutch declared a neu- 

 trality. 



Never was war commenced so entirely with the 

 wishes of the nation, and the supplies were granted 

 in parliament without debate. Admiral Vernon sail- 

 ed to the coast of South America, and, with only six 

 ships, destroyed all the fortifications of Porto Bella, 

 and came away with scarcely the loss of a man. 

 Commodore Anson was to have co-operated with 

 Vernon across the isthmus of Darien, but was de- 

 tained by the blunders of the ministry ; and, coming 

 into the South Seas at the stormy season, his fleet 

 was dispersed, and his crew miserably reduced by 

 the scurvy. He refreshed his men, however, at the 

 delightful island of Juan Fernandez ; after which, he 

 sailed along the coast of Chili, and destroyed the 

 rich city of Paita. Traversing next the great Pa- 

 cific Ocean, his crew were again visited by the dread- 

 ful disorder of the sea scurvy. One of his ships be- 

 coming leaky, and the number of hie hands decrea- 

 sing, he set her on fire in the middle of the ocean. 

 His fleet being now reduced to one ship, the Centu- 

 rion, and all the crew in the most deplorable condi- 

 tion, he cast anchor on the deserted island of Tinian, 

 which lies about half way between the American 

 and the Asiatic continents. This island had some 

 years before been peopled by near 30,000 inhabi- 

 tants j but an epidemical distemper coming among 

 them, destroyed a part, and the rest forsook the 

 place. Nothing, however, could exceed tbe beauty 

 of the spot. The most romantic imagination cannot 

 form a scene surpassing what Tinian naturally af- 

 forded, green fields, groves, cascades, flowers, and 

 prospects. All that a sea beaten company of mari- 

 ners could wish was found in abundance, clear and 



wholesome water, medicinal herbs, domestic animals, 

 and other necessaries for refitting their shattered ves- 

 sels. From thence he proceeded to China, and, re- 

 turning the same way, fell in with the long-expected 

 prize of a Spanish galleon from the Philippine islands, 

 valued at 313,000 ; which, with other captures, he 

 brought to England, after finishing a voyage of three 

 years, profitable to himself and his crew ; and though 

 not immediately conducive to the good or glory of 

 the nation, yet indirectly compensating for the loss 

 of a fine squadron, by the sea-farmg experience which 

 he left recorded. 



The armament to which Anson was to have acted 

 subordinately, was very unfortunate. It consisted of 

 29 ships of the line, nearly as many frigates, <ind of 

 15,000 soldiers. They arrived before Carthagena, 

 and mastered the strong forts which defended the 

 harbour, but were obliged to use the escalade in at- 

 tempting those which lay nearer the town. But the 

 guides being unfortunately slain, the forces attempt- 

 ed the strongest places of the forts ; their scaling 

 ladders were too short ; and they retreated at last, 

 leaving 600 dead behind them. The rainy and sick- 

 ly season set in soon after this fatal attempt ; and the 

 commanders disagreeing among themselves, ai.d un- 

 able to retrieve the calamity, re- embarked the troops, 

 and returned. 



The discontent which this fatal miscarriage oc- 

 casioned, fell principally upon the minister ; and 

 the activity of the enemy, who took hundreds of 

 merchantmen, while our fleets made but few reprisals, 

 increased the murmurs of the ; cople. In the suc- 

 ceeding parliament, the elections went in favour ot the 

 Country Party ; and Walpole, after a vain endeavour 

 to gain over the Prince of Walts and his friends to 

 his support, by making him pecuniary offers, beheld 

 his strength expire in the House of Commons, and 

 resigned ail his employments. He was succeeded as 

 minister by Lord Carteret. The people rejoiced uni- 

 versally at his fall, expecting from his successor a re- 

 dress of grievances at home, and a vigorous conduct 

 of the vvttr abroad ; but the war continued for some 

 years with indifferent success. Some unsuccessful ex- 

 peditions were carried on under Admiral Vernon and 

 Commodore Knowles ; the issue of these, and the ge- 

 neral failure ot a naval war, inspired the nation with 

 impatience, to try their fortune and their energies on 

 the other element. The king's attachment to hi 

 electoral dominions concurred with this desire ; and, 

 as an army was prepared for Flanders, the Spanish 

 war became but a secondary object. 



The troubles of Europe were now breaking out 

 afresh, from the disputed succession which succeeded 

 the death of Augustus, King of Poland. Germany 

 and Russia supported the Elector of Saxony, son of 

 the deceased king. France declared for Stanislaus, 

 whom Charles the XII. of Sweden had long ago no- 

 minated ; and attacked Austria with an army com- 

 manded by the aged Marshal Villara, who had now 

 no Mariborough to oppose him. The Duke of 

 Montemar, the Spanish general, was equally victori- 

 ous in the kingdom of Naples ; and the emperor, 

 Charles the VI. had the mortification of seeing him- 

 self deprived of the greatest part of Italy, for having 

 attempted to give a king to Poland. These rapid 



C'-ang. 

 mmUti 



Affair, 

 the co 

 nent. 



