THE GREAT SIEGE OF GIBRALTAR. 4.81 
—-an infantry ofticer—testify to the important share the Artillery had 
in the successful defence, but I have ventured to transcribe other entries 
than those referring to Artillery—some of them because they treat of 
important events, and others because of their quaintness of expression 
or meaning. 
Readers of the diary will probably agree that we can apply to it what 
Drinkwater says of his own historical record, namely : 
“Thave been reduced to greater accuracy and minuteness than 
ordinary historians are obliged to observe ; and instead of the acuteness 
of investigation, or a splendid sententiousness, I have been necessitated 
to pursue the narrative, almost uninterruptedly, in the tedious form of 
a Journal. I have not presumed to intersperse many animadyersions of 
my own: the only merit to which I can lay any claim, is that of a 
faithful narration of facts; and, I confess, I would at any time rather 
walk in the beaten track of truth, than mislead the judgement of my 
readers in the wilds of fancy and conjecture.” 
The singularly exact manner in which Spilsbury’s narrative agrees 
with that of Drinkwater—the acknowledged historian of the siege— 
leads one to the gratifying conclusion that both writers succeeded in 
keeping to the ‘ beaten track of truth,” and therefore lends consider- 
able interest and historical value to the diary of the former which after 
considerably more than a century is now brought to the light. It is 
hoped that this interest may be considered sufficient excuse for the 
publication of the foregoing extracts from Captain Spilsbury’s diary in 
the “ Proceedings” of the Royal Artillery Institution. 
65 
