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 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 Spanish Claims to Carolina, Georgia & Florida, 1739. 
 ROBIXS, B. Address to the Electors, and other free subjects 
 of Gt. Britain, occasioned by the late Session, in which is contained 
 a particular Account of all our Negotiations with Spain. London, 1739. 
 
 $15.00 
 Relating to the Spanish Claims in Carolina, Georgia, Florida, etc. 
 
 . \
 
 - 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 fe,
 
 
 *. 
 
 ,
 
 A N 
 
 ADDRESS 
 
 . f O THE 
 
 ELECTORS. 
 
 And other FREE SUBJECTS of 
 
 Great Britain ; 
 
 Occafion'd by the LATE 
 
 SECESSION. 
 
 In which is contained 
 
 A particular Account of all our Ne- 
 gotiations with SPAIN, and their Treatment 
 of Us, for above Ten Years paft. 
 
 The THIRD EDITION./? 
 
 ' 
 
 L O N D O N: 
 
 Printed for H. Go RE HAM, next the Leg- 
 Tavern in Fleet-ftreet. 173$. 
 
 [Price One Shilling,]
 
 AttOM, LtNDX AKD 
 TlLDEN FOUNDATWWS* 
 
 1900.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 HE following Sheets might in 
 all ^Probability have never feen 
 the Light) had not many Gentle- 
 men of gre-at Diftinffiion, both 
 in Forttme and Char after, been 
 infamoufiy abus'd by minifterial 
 Authority, as a Kennel of Hounds, Tray tors, 
 Run-aways, Scoundrels, Rogues and Ralcals, 
 5? for only following the Dictates of their Con- 
 faiences, and endeavouring to ftrve their 
 | Country. 
 
 Every Man, who hath made any Remarks 
 8 on our political Diiputes, for feveral Tears 
 o faff, muft have obferv'd that the minifterial 
 8 Writers have always dealt in perfbnal Pane- 
 g gyrick, or perlbnal Calumny, in/lead of de- 
 % fending the Mealures, which have been the 
 * Occa/ion of theje unhappy Litigations -, where- 
 as the Country Writers have chiefly confin'd 
 Thewfefow to Facts, inftead of Perfons, and 
 A a never 
 
 449094
 
 iv PREFACE. 
 
 never attack* d the latter, without very great 
 ' I' revocation, any farther than the Matter in 
 Queftwn might be thought to rcflett upon 
 'Them. 
 
 lam very forty for the Occajion of faying 
 fo much upon this 'Subject, in the following 
 Sheets i but "Truth ought to be heard on both 
 Sides. Enough, and more than enough, hath 
 been fa'ul on one Side already -, and 1 hope the 
 other Side may be allow' d to make their De- 
 fence, according to that old Maxim; audi 
 "alteram Parteni. 
 
 A N
 
 A N 
 
 ADDRESS 
 
 TO THE 
 
 ELECTORS, 
 
 Gentlemen^ 
 
 HOUGH You have already ap* 
 proved the Conduct of thofe Mem- 
 bers, who have purpofely abfented 
 Themfelves from all Meetings of 
 Parliament, fince the Approbation 
 there given to the late Convention 
 with Spain j yet as the Succefs of the falutary Mea- 
 fures, propos'd by this Seceffion, ought to be much 
 dearer to Thofe engag'd in it, than meerly the 
 Defence of their own Characters ; and as the chief 
 View of it was to fave a finking Constitution, by 
 exciting the publick Attention, and endeavouring 
 to difpofe every difmteietted Briton ferioufly to 
 examine into the prefenc Pofture of our Affairs, 
 and the Caufes of thofe late Events* which have 
 fo apparently fully 'd our 'national Honour , it is 
 B therefore.
 
 therefore abfolutely neceflTary, the Seflion being 
 over, that You Ihould be more fully inform'd 
 of the Circumftances, which preceded this Secejfim, 
 the Motives that occafion'd it, and the Advantages 
 propofed by it. 
 
 You need not be told that the greateft Part of 
 Tbofe, who have abfented Themfelves, are Gentle- 
 men, whofe Behaviour in Parliament for many 
 Years pad, hath at lead had the Appearance of Dif- 
 intereftednefs, and confequently merited ycfur Ap- 
 plaufe. Though their Attempts for the pkblick Good 
 have been often defeated j yet They flatter'd Them- 
 felves that a corrupt Influence was not fo ftrong, but 
 that Truth might at lalt prevail againft it. For this 
 Reafon They were in Hopes that by their Perfe- 
 verance, and a continual Application to the Duties 
 of their Poft, They mould at laft eradicate theft Pre- 
 judices, to which They were willing to impute their 
 frequent Difappointments, in Profccution of the true 
 Interefts of the Nation. 
 
 And, notwithftanding the general ill Succefs of 
 their Endeavours ; yet in particular Inftances, of 
 the greateft Moment, They have fometimes ilg- 
 nally contributed to the Preiervation of the public 'k 
 Happinefi and Liberty \ of which no other Proofs 
 are necefiary than the Deftruction of the Excife 
 Scheme, which was intirely owing to their publick 
 Spirit, fupported by the general Voice of the 
 People without Doors. 
 
 Nor hath their Behaviour in Parliament been 
 unattended with feme other Advantages, when 
 thofe principally defign'd by Them have fail'd ; 
 for by their Pains in making Themfelves Mailers, 
 and their Care to explain the mofl dbflrufe and 
 important Points, They have render f d the People 
 ot this Kingdom better Judges of their true In- 
 terrfts, (fuch as the national jfeto, the Revenue, 
 
 the
 
 (3) 
 
 the civil-Lift, treaties, Trade, Sec.) than this, or per- 
 haps any other People have been, in any Time paft. 
 
 Thus did They proceed, notwithftanding their 
 repeated Attempts to ferve the Publick had fo 
 rarely any Weight ; for as They were fupported 
 by a Confcioufnefs of their honeft Intentions, and 
 were encourag'd in their Refolutions, by the Con-" 
 currence of the Majority of the Nation , who feem'd 
 to intereft Themfelves very ftrongly in their Suc- 
 cefs, They hoped that the Voice of the People 
 would at laft become the Voice of Parliament, and 
 that a Reformation of publick Meafures would 
 crown all their upright Endeavours. 
 
 But whilft They flatter'd Themfelves with this 
 glorious ProfpecT:, an undue Influence feem'd to pre- 
 vail in all Cafes, except a very few ; and though 
 the utmoft Efforts were made by the minifterial 
 Party to palliate it, They had not their defir'd Ef- 
 fect, they could neither degrade the Gentleman in 
 the Oppofitwn from the general Reputation They had 
 io delervedly obtgin'd, nor would the Nation be 
 perfuadad to change its Sentiments as to the Con- 
 duel ofpublick Affairs ; though it is to be fear'd that 
 in many other Initances, it hath been too fuccefsful. 
 
 For this Reafon, it is certainly of the higheft 
 Confequence that You mould examine, with the 
 utmoft Attention, the Condudt of thofe Gentlemen^ 
 who have given their Approbation this Seflion to 
 the late Convention with Spain ; fince no Proceedings 
 of Parliament were ever more liable to invidious 
 Interpretations, and Sufpicions of undue Influence. 
 
 For this Convention was, in Appearance, fo in- 
 jurious to our undoubted Rights,, and 16 different 
 from what We had been taught to expert, that it 
 hath undergone the private Cenfure of almoft 
 every Individual in the Nation, to whom even the 
 moft obfcure Account of it hath been communi- 
 B 2 cated
 
 (4) 
 
 cated 1 believe I may venture to aflert that 
 
 not ten Thou/and out of ten Millions approved it. 
 
 Nor did the publick Difguft ftop here , for the 
 City of London, and other great trading TOWNS, 
 fraring it would end in the Deduction of their 
 Commerce, petitioned the Parliament, for the Pre- 
 ftrvacion of their 'Trade, in Terms, which declar'd, 
 as far as They durft, their Abhorrence of this 
 Convention, and their Apprehenfions of its fatal 
 Confequences. 
 
 Now, when this Agreement with Spain* thus 
 difhonourable in Appearance, dreaded by the 
 Merchants, and detefted by the Publick, was not- 
 withftanding approv'd by a Majority in Parliament, 
 many of whom had made no fcruple in private to 
 condemn it, and fome even after They had pub- 
 Jickly approv'd it , when it likewife appeared that 
 the Reaions urg'd for that Approbation were al- 
 together inconclufive , and therefore that the Mo- 
 tives, which fway'd Them, were not of a Nature 
 to be publickly avowM , what was not to be fuf- 
 pecled from a Proceeding, in Appearance*, fovery 
 extraordinary ? It was not to be doubted 
 that Ibo/e, who have of Jate fo ftrongly after ted 
 their Apprehenfions of Corruption, in the Conduit 
 of our Parliamentary Affairs, would urge this E- 
 vent as a decifive Inftancc, in Proof of their Accu- 
 fation. 
 
 As the Concurrence of the Majority in Parlia- 
 ment, in Favour of the Convention, was fo con- 
 trary to the Expectations of the Nation, who were 
 in Hopes that the Legijlature would have cenfured 
 it, in liich a Manner as it was univerfally thought 
 to deferve ; it was believ'd that this Approba- 
 tion, fo liable to malicious Infinuations, would 
 not be flightly overlook*d by the Publick, but be 
 dirtinguifh'd by a Singularity of Behaviour proper 
 
 to
 
 (5) 
 
 to excite the general Attention, and thereby dif- 
 pofe You to examine the Circumftances of this 
 Event, with all the Caution neceffary upon fo 
 important an Occafion. 
 
 And, furely, You cannot pofiibly doubt of the Im- 
 portance of the Occafion, when You confidcr that 
 the Preiervation of our Conftitution, and the En- 
 joyment of our moft valuable Rights, do immedi- 
 ately depend on the Integrity of your Reprefenta- 
 tives. It is therefore of the urmoft Confequencc 
 that You fhould be particularly informed of their 
 Behaviour ; efpeciajly if, at any Time, it fhould 
 appear to be obfcure or ambiguous, 
 
 If it could be prefum'd that the Convention, when 
 cxamin'd attentively, would really appear as mif- 
 chievous to our Commerce, and as fhameful to our 
 national Character, as it hath been commonly r- 
 prefented, it could never have receiv'd the unby- 
 afs'd Sanftion of the Legijlature. If therefore We 
 are at Liberty to fufpect that undue Influence pre- 
 vail'd, in this Inftance, and that our moft valuable 
 Rights were facrific'd to the Safety of the Minifter^ 
 We can have no Reafon to hope that Thofe, who 
 for their private Interefts had thus abandon'd Us, 
 will ever oppofe any future Excefles of minifterial 
 Power, however exorbitant. 
 
 In this Cafe, it becomes the Duty of Thofe, who 
 firft perceive the Danger, and know the Confe- 
 quences of it, to forewarn You of your perilous Si- 
 tuation ; for though whenever it fliall happen that 
 a Majority of your Reprefentatives arc in the Hands 
 of the Minifter^ voting only as He inftru&s Them, 
 You are then indeed under abfolute Power ; yet this 
 Grievance, if timely perceiv'd by You, is always 
 to be remedied by legal. Methods, vefted in You by 
 our Conjlitution for that Purpofe ; the Laws having 
 given You the Right of petitioning his Majefty for 
 
 a/iw
 
 (O 
 
 a free Parliament ; and, at a new Election, it re 
 your Duty to withdraw your Truft from Tboff^ 
 who You have Reafon to believe have perfidioufly 
 fold You, and to replace Them with Gentlemen more 
 worthy of your Confidence. 
 
 But (hould You not be thoroughly made fenfiblc 
 of the Influence and evil Tendency of Corruption, 
 or fuffer Yourfelves to be deceiv'd by the outward 
 Forms of a Parliament, when the EJ/ence of it is 
 gone j a (hort Continuance under this Deception 
 may forever difable You from preferving that /*- 
 dependency of Parliament^ upon which all your an- 
 lient Liberties depend. 
 
 It therefore appears of how great Confequence it 
 is to the Publick, that You Ihould be rous'd by my 
 lawful Meafuret, the more Jingttlar the more ef- 
 fefluat, whenever it (hall be difcover*d that the 
 Parliament is in the Power of the Minifter. 
 
 The doing of This by all -proper Methods, how- 
 ever ttnufiail they may be, becomes in fuch Cir- 
 cumftances as much more the Duty of every ba~ 
 ueft Reprefentative, than his Attendance on the 
 minuter Intererts of his Borough, or County, as the 
 PrticTvation of Liberty, and the Support of our 
 Covjlitution are of more Confequence than the 
 Rights of any particular Society. 
 
 Suppofmg therefore that the Convention was 
 really as dimonourable as the Publick have been? 
 made to believe, and confequently that it could 
 only be approv'd by fuch as were gain'd by undue 
 Jnfluenft ; on this Suppofition, I fay, it is evident 
 that me Gentlemen in tbe SeceJ/iott y by raifing the 
 Attention of the Nation, and thereby engaging You 
 in a more particular Difcufllon of this Affair, have 
 contributed their utmoft to your future Prcferva- 
 tion.
 
 (7) 
 
 A more accurate Difquifition into our late Ne- 
 gociations with Spain being therefore confefiedly 
 necefiary, either to juftify the general Diflike of 
 them without Doors, or to vindicate the Characters 
 ofthofe Gentlemen, who voted for it within Doors, 
 1 (hall endeavour to gratify that Defire of Infor- 
 mation, which the late Seceffion hath rais'd in You, 
 and to Jay before You all the material Particulars 
 of that memorable Tranfa^ion. 
 
 But I muft obferve to You, that it is neceffary 
 You mould be firft acquainted with the many 
 Breaches of Faith, and the very injurious Treat- 
 ment of Spain towards Us, for above ten Tears 
 paft ; fince it was upon this previous Knowledge 
 of the Perfidy and Infolence of that Nation that We 
 ought in Prudence to have regulated our late Ne- 
 gotiations. 
 
 And therefore, before I enter upon the Subject 
 of the Convention, I mail give You a fummary Ac- 
 count of what hath pafs'd between Us and Spain, 
 fince the Rupture in the Year 1727, confirming 
 every Part of it by fucb Authorities as are not lia- 
 ble to Exception ; by which You will be fully fa- 
 tisfy'd how little her Promifes deferv'd to be trull- 
 ed, and how little We could depend on any Re* 
 ctrefs, that was to be obtain*d by a future Negotia- 
 tion. 
 
 The Rupture between Us and Spain, in the Year 
 1727, was firft made up by the Preliminary Ar~ 
 tides fign'd at Paris, on the laft Day of May in the 
 fame Year. 
 
 But the Pacification ftipulated by thofe Articles, 
 though fubmitted to by Us, was never obferv'd by 
 the Spaniards, except before Gibraltar, where the 
 Bravery of our Troops, rather than the Strength 
 of our Garrifon, had taught Them that open Force 
 would prove ioeffeclual. 
 
 To
 
 To pacify the Publick, who were highly exaf- 
 perated at the daily Depredations committed by 
 the Spanifh Privateers, in Defiance of the Cejfa- 
 tion of Arms, whilil We did not attempt to make 
 any Reprizals, there was fign'd at the * Pardo, 
 during the next Sefiion of Parliament, a new Con- 
 vention, more explicit than the Preliminaries. 
 
 In this Convention, his Calbolick Majejly pro- 
 mifes intirely to abandon the Siege of Gibraltar , 
 engages that all Hoftilities (hall immediately ceafe , 
 that our American Trade mail be no longer inter- 
 rupted ; and that a clear and exprefs Order fhall 
 be forthwith ifiued for the Reftitution of the Prime 
 Frederick, a Ship belonging to the South-Sea Com- 
 pany. 
 
 But tbefe Promifes were as ineffectual as the for- 
 mer \ every one of them being evaded The 
 
 Prince Frederick was not reftot'd Gibraltar 
 
 was more clofely blockaded than it had ever been 
 before ; and the Hoftilities of Spain in the Weft- 
 Indies oblig'd our Merchants of London* Briflol^ and 
 Liverpool, to petition the Parliament for Redrefs, 
 at their next Seflion ; which gave Occafion to our 
 memorable Spitbead Expedition, during the Sum- 
 mer. 
 
 However, upon our confenting at laft that Spa- 
 niJJj Garrifons mould be introduc'd into the ftrong 
 Places of lufcany, Parma, and Piacentia, Spain 
 condefcended to treat with Us again ; and in the 
 Treaty of t Seville, fign'd the 9th of Nov. 1729 
 N. S. it was again promis'd Us that all Hoftilities 
 and Violences, on the Part of Spain mould ceafe j 
 and that the moft rigorous Orders fhould be pub- 
 Jifli'd for their future Prevention. His Cathoiick 
 
 * See the Convention Jtgnd at the Pardo, Art. i, 2. 3. 
 f TfYrf')V Seville, /irt. 5, ar.4 th zd jcparatt .3;.-, 
 
 M
 
 (9) 
 
 Majefty likewife engaged to make Us Reparation 
 both for what He had confifcated, and for what 
 Damages We had fuffer'd by the Continuation of 
 Hoftilities beyond the Time formerly prefcrib'd for 
 the Cefjation of them. 
 
 All thefe Engagements were again violated ; 
 their Depredations in America increafing after this 
 Treaty, and the Reilitudon thereby promis'd for 
 Confiscations and Seizures not being made good to 
 this Day j though, in order to procure thefe Sti- 
 pulations, We contented to a Meafure, which 
 hath fince prov'd fatal to the Ballance of Power 
 in Europe. 
 
 The Pyracies of the Guarda Cojfas again o- 
 fclig'd our Merchants to petition the Parliament, 
 in little lefs than a Year after the Treaty was 
 fign'd ; and the King, being addrefs'd upon it, a 
 * fourth Promifc was obtain'd from the Spanijh 
 Court, that thefe Hoftilities mould be effectually 
 reftrain'd ; which Promife, like the preceding ones^ 
 ferv'd only to amuie Us, and was followM by 
 greater KxcefTes. 
 
 Notwichftanding all thefe notorious Breaches of 
 Faith, We were flatter'd that our CommiJJaries* 
 who met Thofe of Spain in the Beginning of the 
 Year 1732, would procure Us ample Relief. 
 
 Bat to baffle thefe Hopes, We had the Mortifi- 
 cation to find that the frft Affair, which occurr'd 
 after the Opening of their Commiffion, was a 
 Demand made by the Spani/b Commiffaries, 
 that there mould be immediately paid by the 
 South- Sea Company the full Duties for Negroes > 
 
 * See the King of SpairiV Declaration dated at Seville^ Feb. 
 8, 1732 JU. 
 
 C amount-
 
 amounting to * 30,000 /. per Annum, to be rec- 
 konM from the Pacification. 
 
 They infifted upon a direct Comply.mce with 
 ibis Demand, and dcclar'd that otherwife They 
 could not proceed to the Difcufiion of any other 
 Point. 
 
 Now, it was well known to Them, and prov'd 
 by our Commiffaries, that for near three Years of 
 the Interval, tor which They demanded thefc Du* 
 ties, They had deprived the Company or" their 
 Trade, and had prohibited their Vefleh from en- 
 tering the Spanijh Ports. 
 
 "With fuch an happy Augury did this Commi/Jion 
 open, by a Demand made for Duties at a Time, 
 when no Trade was permitted. The Foundation* 
 of this Claim too was very remarkable, as it a- 
 mounted to This, that Spain infifted on the Du- 
 ties from a certain paft Period, not b-caufe She 
 had at that Time open'd the Trade, but bccaufc 
 She had promis'd to do it, and had broken her 
 Faith. 
 
 Indeed, the Spanijh Commiffhries did at la ft, 
 after a Month's Difpute, confent to abate of 
 their firft Demands; but what We grant- 1 1. 7 
 Way of Compromife to The.n, on this Plead, 
 was very prejudicial to the acknowledg'J Rights 
 of the Company ; and our Complyance, after- 
 wards drew upon the Company a .Prctenfion Hill 
 more extraordinary ; for in one of the Confe- 
 
 * ffif Authorities referred to by the following 'Numbers are 
 the Liters -and Papers to and from trie Cemmi/ar/r, in Spain 
 prefented to the Houfe of Conmons, the i^tbcf May, 175^ ; 
 pu'tfuant ti tkcir Adjrej) of the z%tb of March, in tht fame 
 Tear. 
 
 See the Preceding] on this Head in A r ;. 8, 9, u, 13, 15, 
 i; 5 , ao, 21, 23. 
 
 renccs, 
 
 4ft
 
 .00 
 
 fences, it was urg'd by Us, that as before the Rup- 
 ture the Company, by the Vexation of the Spamfh 
 Officers, had been often prevented from introducing 
 the whole Number of Negroes, according to A- 
 greement, though at the fame Time They had 
 paid the full Duties, it was therefore hoped that 
 an Allowance would be made Them for what 
 They had thus overpaid. But it was reply'd by 
 the Spanifo Commffaries, that the Company were to 
 expect; on this their Confeflion, that the King 
 their Mafter ? . inftead of granting Them any Thing 
 on this Head, would inSft on Reparation for the 
 Damage, which his Dominions had fuftainM by 
 not being fupply'd \vith the whole Number of 
 * Negroes as llipulated by the AJJiento Treaty. 
 
 This Affair being thus difpatch*d, the Spanijh 
 Commiffaries agreed to the mutual Exchange of the 
 refpe&ive Claims on either Side -, which being 
 done, They in the next Place declared that where- 
 as the King their Matter hath an indifputable Right, 
 by the Gift of Pope Alexander the 6th &c. to the 
 Property, and Dominion of all the Continents, 
 I/lands and Seas adjacent, " either already difco- 
 *' ver'd, or that fhall he hereafter difcover'd, be- 
 " tween the Ar flick and Antartick Poles an hun- 
 <{ dred Leagues Weltward of the IQands des A- 
 *' zores -, excepting thofe Places, which have fin ce, 
 " by Agreement with his Cathotick Majefty, been 
 " poffels'd by other Princes ; and whereas the Bri- 
 " tijh Nation have introduc'd Themfelves into the 
 
 * See No. 66. 
 
 N- B. It may not be improper to obferve that thefe 
 Difputes about the Kegroe Duties do not at all relate to the 
 Sum of 68,000 1 lately claimM by the King of Spain from the 
 Soxtb Sea Company ; the Foundation of this Demand being of 
 a different Nature, as We fhall hereafter explain. 
 
 C 2 " fai<4
 
 faid Dominions, without the Content of his 
 
 * faid Catholick Majejly, particularly into the 
 4 Iflands of New Providence* St Catherine, St An- 
 4 drews, Port Royal &c : * and within the Li- 
 4 mits of Florida, the Britiflj Commiffaries ought 
 
 * to agree that the above-mention* d Places be eva- 
 4 cuated, and that all Others, which have been 
 *' pofTefs'd in the like Manner, would be left free 
 " and unmolefted, or that the Britijh Nation fhall 
 " make appear, that They are in Pofieflion of 
 *' them, by Virtue of an Agreement with his 
 " Catholick Majejly." 
 
 And in Confequence of this their pretended Do- 
 minion in the American Seas, t the Spanijh Commif- 
 faries at the fame Time infifted that, in order to 
 avoid 'the Hoftilities of Spain, the Ships of Great 
 Britain, or her Colonies, pafling through thofe Sea;, 
 lhall not vary from their proper Courfe. 
 
 The Defign of this Reltriction is fmce more 
 particularly explained in a Letter from Mr de la 
 Quadra to our Minifter, Mr Keene i wherein He 
 declares, ' || That the only Navigation, which 
 ** can be claimM by the Englijh, being That to 
 ' their own Colonies, whilit They fteer a due 
 ' Courfe, their Ships are liable to Confifcation, 
 ** if it fhould be prov'd that They have alter'd 
 " their Route, in order to draw near to the Spanijh 
 
 ** Coafts" So that it ftems the lace iearching 
 
 and pillaging of our Merchants is founded on the 
 Dominion of thofe Seas veiled in Them by a Grant 
 irom his Holinefs Pope Alexander. 
 
 i, 43. 
 -f- See No. 21, Art. 29. 
 
 [j Sa Mr de la Quadra's Letter to Mr Keenr, dattd fcb t id. 
 3^-8, laidbefirt t*:t Hule of Cemr.ins Lift Ymr.
 
 .But notwithftanding the high Indignity offer'd 
 Us by tbofe Pretenfions^ and the fcoffing Infult of 
 gravely urging to Us fuch a ridiculous and chime* 
 rical Title to them, our Commiffaries (till continued 
 their Conferences with Them j and proceeded, in 
 Confequence of the 5th Article of the Treaty of 
 Seville, to claim the Reftitution of ajl Prizes taken 
 by Spain, fince the Time prefcrib'd by the Preli- 
 minary Articles for the mutual CeJJation of Hofti- 
 lities. 
 
 But here again the Infolence of Spain exerted it- 
 felf, in its uiual Manner ; for though that Court 
 had no Doubt refolv'd never to grant Us Repara- 
 tion for any Injuries We had fuffer'd, at whatever 
 Time or in whatever Shape they had been com- 
 mitted, yet She chofe to cavil about the %ime* 
 from whence We were intitled to it, in order to 
 ihew, by the Wildnefs of her Reafoning, in what 
 extream Contempt She held Us ; for her Commiffa- 
 ries infilled, that the Preliminaries referred to in 
 the ^th Article of the Treaty tf Seville were not the 
 Preliminaries fign'd at Paris in 1727, but the Con- 
 vention at the Pardo, fign'd Jn the Year 1728 ; 
 for, faid They, though it was ftipulated by the 
 Preliminaries fign'd at Paris that all Hoftilities 
 mould ceafe, and that Reparation mould be made 
 for all Prizes taken after the Time prefcrib'd for 
 the CeJJation of Hoftilities ; yet thefe Stipulations 
 being broken, and Hoftilities continued, it became 
 neceflary to form a new Agreement next Year 
 at the Par do, in order to obtain a more compleae 
 Pacification , and therefore this Convention ought 
 to be confider'd as the Epocba t from whence Re- 
 ftitution ought to commence. 
 
 See No. 56, 58, 60, 62, 64, 
 
 But
 
 But it muft be remember'd that this Continuation 
 of Holtilities, and Breach of Stipulations, here 
 urg'd to debar Us of our Right, were intirely 
 owing to Spain, and therefore one cannot but be 
 amaz'd at the Confidence of her Commiffaries, 
 who could thus formally undertake to prove, that 
 becaufe their Mafler had not made good his En- 
 gagements to Us, We did by this his Breach of 
 Faith, lofe all the Right dcriv'd to Us by repeated 
 Treaties, as well as the Law of Nations. 
 
 Notwhhftanding all This, our Comrtuffaries dill 
 proceeded j and the Spaniards, in Conlcquence of 
 our exemplary Submifiion, demanded in the next 
 Place * that Reftitution mould be made to Them, 
 tor thofe Spanijh Men of ffar, which were taken 
 by Us near Sicily in the Year 1718, grounding this 
 Claim upon the 5th Article of the Treaty of Ma- 
 drid, in the Year 1721, by which We had pro- 
 mis'd to reftore them in the Condition they were 
 then in, or the Money they were fold for, if any 
 had been fold. 
 
 The Circumftances of this Tranfaclion, as re- 
 lated in a Pamphlet intitled Obfervations on the 
 Treaty of Seville, publifh'd in the Year 1730, and 
 generally imputed to the Minifter himfelf, arc 
 thefe. 
 
 " t That his Calholick Majefty did actually fend 
 4 CommiJ/hries, in Puriuance of the Treaty of 
 * 1721, to Port-Mahon, where the laid Men of 
 ' War then lay, and that they were really at that 
 " Time ofTei'd to tbofs Commijfaries, but relus'd 
 " by Them on Account of their being in a de- 
 " eay'd Condition, and unfit for Service j and were, 
 
 See No. 68. 
 
 See P. 22. of tbe faid treatfa 
 
 " upon
 
 05) 
 
 e< upon their Refufal, drawn out of the Hirbour, 
 *< and fiink in the main Sea." 
 
 Accordingly our CommiJJlirics did, in their An- 
 fwer to this Demand, declare t that They con- 
 ceiv'd it to be altogether without Foundation ; fmce 
 immediately after the figning of the faid Treaty, 
 in the Year 1721, his Britannick Majefly not only 
 fent Orders to Port-Mahon^ for the faid Reftitution, 
 but Copies of them were like wife given to the 
 Marquis de Pozzobueno, his Catholick Majefty's Mi- 
 nifter at London -, and therefore the Treaty of 1 72 1 
 was in this Inftance fully executed, on the Part of 
 his Britannick Majefty. 
 
 Nor did the Spani/h Commi/aries deny that fuch 
 Orders were given 5 but, amongft other Reafons, 
 They were pteas'd to declare, in their Anfwer, 
 " |i That Reftitution was ftipulated of att the Ships, 
 " wirh their Furniture, 6ff. and not the Difpatch 
 cc of Orders alone , and therefore -it is plain thar 
 fc< fmce They did not take Effect, the above- 
 c * mention'd 5th Article hath not been comply'd 
 ft with." 
 
 In (hort, to inform You of all the Affronts, to 
 \vhich We have meanly fubmitted from the Hands 
 of that imperious Nation, during the Continuance 
 
 of thefe Conferences, would be needlefs But, 
 
 not to detain You much longer with the Detail of 
 thefe difagreeable 'franfaftions^ I fhall only obferve 
 that all the Proceedings, on their Side, were one 
 continued Infult on our Under/landings, and an often- 
 
 tatious Contempt of our Power * If our 
 
 CommiJJ'aries demanded the Payment of Money, 
 due from the Spanijh Court to our Merchants by 
 private Contract, which had been many Years re- 
 
 See No. 70. || See No. 72. * See No. 50. 
 
 fusM
 
 Them by the Offices, where it ought to 
 have been paid, the Spanijh Commij/aries anfwer'd, 
 that the Payment in Queftion being the proper 
 Bufinefs of ibofe Offices, They could not inter- 
 meddle in ir, or take any Cognizance of it - 
 If Reftitution was demanded for Briti/h Ships ille- 
 gally taken, where Orders for Reftitution had long 
 been granted by the Spanijh Court, but which were 
 never comply 'd with by their Governors abroad ; 
 We were anfwer'd, -j* that as They had difpatch'd 
 Order* for Redrefs, They would not enter farther 
 into the Difcufiion of the Affair - If We gave 
 themoft authentick Proofs of our Veflcls being il- 
 legally taken by their Guarda Coflas, They told 
 Us* that they could only be determin'd by their 
 own Condemnations in the Ports, where the Prizes 
 happen'd to be carry*d ; an Account of which 
 They always promis'd to fend for; and yet fo 
 little were even ihefe Accounts to their Mind, 
 though drawn up for the mod Part by the very 
 gyrates, tbemfdvo, that after near a Year's Delay, 
 They dcny'd their having been able, even in all 
 that Interval, to procure any one Account from 
 their cov; People ; || though it was well-known 
 that many had been tranfmmed to Them long be- 
 fore that Time 5 and yet, during this infolent Corv 
 rempt of our moft equitable Claims, They often 
 Determin'd their own Pretenfwns, in their own Fa- 
 vour, and thereupon i/Tued their declfive Orders, 
 without ever propolingto difcufs them at a Confe- 
 rence ; -f_J_ though they were of fuch a Nature as, 
 by the Treaty of Seville were exprefsly referr'd 
 K> the Examination vf Comtmffaries, as difputable 
 Points. - When our Commijfaries complaiu'd of 
 their peremptory Decifion, according to their own 
 
 + See No. 
 l, No..., 45 

 
 C'7) 
 
 Interefts, the very Points, which it was the Bufi- 
 nefs of their Conferences mutually to determine ', 
 They were anfwer'd, f that the Right of the King, 
 their Matter, was fo indisputable, that all Conten- 
 tions about it would appear fcandaious. 
 
 Jn fhort, notwithftanding all our repeated Ad- 
 vances and Submiflions, our Commiffaries did not 
 procure from Spain the leaft Acknowledgment of 
 any of our Claims, however juft and unqueftiona- 
 ble ; nor the leaft Reparation for any of thofe 
 Robberies, by which, in Defyance of the moft fo- 
 Lemn Treaties* We have been plunder'd, at diffe- 
 rent Times, of more than one Million 0f Pounds 
 Sterling. 
 
 Nor had Spain the Moderation to reftrain the 
 Infolence of her Guarda Coftas, even during thele 
 Conferences, whilft We were each Day furnifhing 
 Her with Proofs of our condefcending Temper ; 
 but, ihftead of imitating our Meeknefs, She grew 
 more tyrannical, as We grew more humble, till at 
 laft her Outrages in America arriv'd at an incredible 
 and infupportable Height. The daily Seizure of 
 our Veffels, and the unheard-of Barbarities that 
 have been committed on our Fellow-Subjects, arc 
 not unknown to You. Let it fuffice to obferve, 
 that thefe Indignities affected the Publick fo ftrong- 
 ly at laft, that on the Petition of the Merchants 
 for Relief, the laft Year, the Mimfler faw Himleir" 
 under the Neceffity of giving Way to the Cur- 
 rent He acknowledg'd the Juftnefs of the ge- 
 neral Complaint ; promfc'd that the moft effectual 
 Means fhould be employ'd for Redrefs, during 
 the Summer , and, on its being infinuated that 
 thofe Promifes would prove as little effectual as his 
 former Efforts of the fame Kind, He was pleas'd 
 
 t N 98. 
 
 I) t
 
 to ask, bow He Jhould be able to flew bis FACE 
 again in that Houfe, if He did not procure full Re- 
 paration for the Honour of the NATION, as weJl as 
 tor the LoJ/es of our MERCHANTS ? 
 
 This brings Us down to the late Convention, 
 form'd in Confequence of thefe Afiurances. 
 
 As the Examination of this Subject was princi- 
 pally propos'd by this AcMrefs to You, I mult beg 
 
 your Attention to a new Scene of Affairs Our 
 
 CommiJJaries are now no more. We confefs that 
 We have not been able to reduce Spain to Reafon 
 by Negotiation ; and our Minifter declares that He 
 will at laft try more vigorous Meafures. 
 
 Accordingly, when the Parliament was rifen laft 
 Year, We put almoft our whole Navy into Com- 
 mifiion ; and fo (hongly was the Fublick perfuad- 
 ed that We fhoul.d then really attempt to procure 
 Ourfelves Juftice by our Arms, that even Thole, 
 who (till queftion'd the Sincerity of thefc military 
 Preparations, fcarcely dar'd to avow their Sufpi- 
 cions. 
 
 However, towards the latter End of the Sum- 
 mer, our boftile Meafures were lufpended ; and We 
 were told that Spain, terrify 'd with the Apprehen- 
 fionof a War, had granted Us all We could rea- 
 lonably demand, and had fubmitted to whatever 
 We could have hoped for, even at the End of the 
 Tttoft fuccefiful War. 
 
 1 his, had it been true, was a very fortunate 
 Event ; for furely if All, that could be expected from 
 a fuccefsful War, was granted Us without a Blow, 
 our Governors muft have been mad not to have ac- 
 cepted it. 
 
 What our rcafonable Demands were, which We 
 expected would have been by thefe Means fecur'd 
 to Us, was very well known What the 
 
 Nation infilled upon was, not the Promifcs of Spain 
 
 for
 
 ( IP) 
 
 for future Reparation , and future Reftraints on her 
 Guarda C oft as. 
 
 Thefe, as We have feen already, had been four 
 fimes re-iterated, and as often evaded, without 
 even a Pretence affign'd. 
 
 Much lefs was it an Agreement that our mutual 
 Pretenfions fhould be fettled by a diftant Negotia- 
 tion. 
 
 For it would have been an unheard-of Piece of 
 Poltronerie, after We had been thus injur'd, had 
 often demanded Redrefs in vain, and had arm'd 
 Ourfelves to procure it, to difarm and confide again 
 in our Enemy, meerly upon his Promife that He 
 would hereafter treat with Us ; and ftill more ridi- 
 culous would this Conduct have been, with Regard 
 to Spain* of whofe Candour in Negotiation We had 
 above ten Years fuch fhameful Experience. 
 
 In ihort, no Promiics of Spain t however expli- 
 cit, ought alone to have induced Us to difarm ; 
 for as they could not be more folemn than thofe We 
 had long ago procur'd, the trufting in them again, 
 after the numerous Inftanres or her Perfidy, was 
 increaling her Infolence, and, in a Manner throw- 
 ing away ail the Trcaiure, which the Preparations 
 for War had coil Us. 
 
 In order to have treated with Honour, it was ne- 
 cedary that, before We had fufpended our military 
 Meafures, Spain mould have convinc'd Us that She 
 really defign'd to grant Us that Juftice, which We 
 had ib long fued for in vain. This would have 
 been effedtually done, by immediately fccuring to 
 Us the Payment of thofe Sums, which cannot be 
 deny'd by Her to be due, tor the Seizures and 
 Confiications of the Effects belonging to Britijh 
 Subjetts. 
 
 And it could not be urg'd that, previous to this 
 
 Step, it was ncceflary to make up the Accounts of 
 
 D 2 tboje
 
 (20) 
 
 tbofe Seizures \ for tbofe Account* have been long 
 fince deliver'd to the Court of Spain, and no Ex- 
 ceptions have been yet made to them. 
 
 The Accounts of the Seizures of the South Sea 
 Company's Effedts, in particular, have been de- 
 clar'd by t\\tSpani/h Officers themfelves, who feiz'd 
 them, to amount to one Million and an half of Dol- 
 lars* notwithftanding the exorbitant Deductions, 
 that were made, and the Retufal of many Offices 
 to give any Account of what pafs'd through their 
 Hands. 
 
 The Juftnefs of this Demand cannot be que- 
 ftion'd by Spain ; fince tbofe Seizures were not only 
 made in Defyance of the moft exprefs Treaties, but 
 his Catholick Majefty hath twice promis'd Reftitu- 
 rion to the Company, on the Word and Faith of a 
 King ; and hath even given Them Draughts on his 
 Treafury, though the ^reajury hath never yet 
 thought fit to comply with Them. 
 
 The Reparation for rhc illegal Captures made by 
 the Guarda Coftas could as little be queftion'd , 
 thofc Vcflels, for which Reparation was demanded, 
 having been taken in fuch Circumftances as free'd 
 them from all Sufpicion of even intending any il- 
 licit Trtide. 
 
 Thefe Captures, as fpecify*d by Mr. Stert, (a 
 Gentleman, who can never be fufpected of aggra- 
 vating cur Demands) amounted to* 343,2777. 
 
 This Account too, or the greatelt Part of it, 
 hath been long fince laid before the Spanijh Court ; 
 And it They have not acquit fc'd in it, They have 
 not howf vrr excepted to it. 
 
 As \Ve were then told that the Terror of our 
 Arms had induc'd Spain to grant Us ail We fought 
 
 Sec tin A.ttunt deliver'd to Parliarr.crt. 
 
 by
 
 by a War, it was expeaed'by the Publick that, 
 before We difarm'd Ourfelves, that Court mould 
 have formally difavow'd her pretended Domi- 
 nion in the Seas of America, and her Practice of 
 fearcbing our Ships ; which She founded, as We 
 have feen, in an imaginary Sovereignty ; that She 
 fhould have immediately paid the Value of the 
 above- mention' d Seizures and Conffeations, amount- 
 ing to near the Sum of 700,000 /. or, had She 
 been unable to pay it, that She fhould at lead have 
 given Us fuch Security for it, that it fhfuld not 
 be afterwards in her Power to withdraw. 
 
 Thefe Preliminaries being eftablifh'd, We might 
 then, indeed, have difarm'd Ourfelves with Ho- 
 nour, and have rely'd on her Promifes for the 
 Puniftiment of thofe Captains of her Guarda Coftas, 
 who had behav'd to Us with fuch unparaJlel*d 
 Barbarity and Infolence, as well as for her future 
 Reftraint of thefe Injuries. 
 
 Such were the Reafonings and Expectations of 
 the Publick i at that Juncture. Thefe were the 
 Advantages propofed by a War , and it was hoped 
 that thefe Engagements had been fubmitted to by 
 Spain, when We faw our naval Armaments difcon- 
 tmued. 
 
 But how great was our Surprize, when many 
 Months after our military Preparations had been 
 laid a fide, it was confefs'd by the Minifter, that 
 Nothing had been yet agreed on ? What likewife 
 augmented the general Uneafinels, was a Difcovery 
 laid to be made in that Interval, that our Fleets 
 fcnt out, during the Summer, to the Weft Indies, 
 and to the Mediterranean, carried with Them no 
 Orders to ad offenfively, or to make anyReprifals, 
 trio' They departed from hence long before the 
 pretended Submifiion of Spain ; and at a Time, when 
 
 the
 
 (22) 
 
 the Minijler made the ilrongeft Proteftations of his 
 rejblute Intentions. 
 
 ThisCondud made it become generally fufpected 
 that all thrfe boflft edP reparation swtrc never defign'd 
 againlt our Enemies, but only to amufe aur own 
 People at home, till Spain was prevailed upon by 
 our Intieaties to condefcend to treat with Us upon 
 any Terms, in order that Something, bearing the 
 Appearance of an Agreement, might be produced 
 before the Meeting of Parliament \ which, how- 
 ever infufficient, might at lead ferve as an annual 
 Expedient ot Delay, if it could not be impoled on 
 the Nation as fatisfactory and honourable. 
 
 But the Infolence of Spain was fo much inflated 
 by tbefe Measures, that no Agreement could be 
 procured from that Court, till afrer the ufuaJ Time 
 of the Sitting of Parliament, which was prorogu'd 
 rn Expectation of it, and afterwards adjourn'd, in 
 
 order 10 get the Convention ratified However, 
 
 during the Prorogation, and Adjournment, the 
 lpr&-ext2?ed,C0?tventiQ**iriv*d t and was loon after 
 publifh'd to the Nation. 
 
 How far the Behaviour of Spain, in agreeing 10 
 this Convention, favours of the Subjnijfion, with which 
 We weic Ilattu'd, let the following Narration de- 
 clare. 
 
 Previous to the figning of//j/j Convention, by the 
 Spanijh and Brifi/b Mimjiers, Mr de la Quadra 
 writes the following Letter to Mr Keene. 
 
 Sir^ Pardo, Jan. 10. 1739. N. S. 
 
 ' * TT FREWITH I tranfmit to You the Kin^s 
 4< XJL Declaration, in which his Majcfty pro- 
 ** tcjts mat He rckrves the Right of fufpending 
 
 4< the 
 
 * N : . B. -:i-r- Lftters b,re i.'ftf>} l-,'tic,'j Mr de la Quatlra 
 *r.d AJr Kcenv. 1 , together 'jciib 'be annexed Protcft, were icrn- 
 
 '
 
 * the Ajjiento Company in a proper Time JnentionM 
 " therein -, and I hope that, according to our A- 
 44 greement. You will advtfe Me of your having 
 " receiv'd it, in order to notify the Contents of 
 it to your Court-, as well as to the Company \ 
 and that, in order to prevent any Doubt, or 
 Equivocation, You will be pleas'd to express 
 the Contents of it in your Anfwer, for the 
 greater Security of the good Faith of our Pro- 
 ceedings. 
 
 lam, &c. 
 
 Sebaftian de la Quadr*. 
 
 The. Declaration, or PraV/?tninfmitted with this 
 Letter) was as follows. 
 
 ^ Seba/tian de la Quadra, Counfellor 
 and firft Secretary of State to his Catholick 
 Majejly. and his Minifter Plenipotentiary for the 
 ** Convention, which is treating with the King of 
 44 England, by Order of his Sovereign, and in 
 " Confequence of the repeated Memorials and 
 " Conferences, that have intervened with DOR 
 ' Benjamin Keene, his Entannick Majeftfs Minifter 
 <4 Plenipotentiary, and of its having been agreed 
 ' therein, with reciprocal Accord, to make the 
 prefent Declaration an tflential and nedeflary 
 " Means to overcome fuch long debated Difputes, 
 " and that the faid Convention may be fign'd, doth 
 44 formally declare that his Catbolick Majejty refer ves 
 ** to Himfelf intire the Right to be able to fufpend 
 
 tnunicated to the Parliament by tbe Mirnflr^ after it bad keen, fy 
 other Means, difcover'd that fuch a Proteft was deliver'' di but 
 feveral other Papers, relating to this Slffair, tvere not permitted 
 to be c air d for. In all Probability, they aould have diflinctfy 
 explain 1 d the fecret Management of this dark Tranj ''action. 
 
 ' the
 
 (H) 
 
 " the AJJiento of Negroes, and to difpatch the 
 ' Orders necefiary for the Execution thereof, in 
 *' Cafe the Company does not fubmit to pay, within 
 " a (hortTerm, the 6,oooLftcrling, which it hath 
 " confefled to owe for the Ducy on Slaves, accord- 
 * ing to the Regulation of 52^. per Dollar , and 
 ' for the Profits of the Ship, the Royal Caroline * 
 * and He doth likewife declare that under the 
 Validity and Strength of this Proteft, the Sign- 
 ing of the Convention above- mention*d lhall be 
 ** proceeded upon, and not other wife ; becaufe it 
 f is under this firm Suppofition, and fo that it be 
 ** not eluded by any Motive or Pretext, that his 
 ** Catholick Majejly hath confented to it. 
 
 44 yf//&Pardo, the loth of January 1739. 
 (L. S. ) Sebajlian tie la Quadra. 
 
 That You may the better judge of the Founda- 
 tion of this Demand of 6S,ooo/. fterling, thus 
 made on the South-Sea Company, I muft inform 
 You that the Duties agreed to be paid for the Ne- 
 groes introduced into the Spani/h Weft -Indies, is by 
 the AjJientQ fettled at a certain Number of Dollars ; 
 and the Company have accordingly paid the ftipulat- 
 cd Sum, according to the Rate of Exchange between 
 Great Britain and Spain -, nor did the Pcrfons, au- 
 thoriz*d to receive tbofe Duties, ever quettion the 
 Juftnefs of the Payments. 
 
 But, in Confequence of an Alteration made by 
 his Catholick Mqefiy in his Coin, many Years 
 iincc, there is in Spain another Species of Dollars, 
 more valuable than the Exchange Dollar ; and Don 
 Geraldino, the Spani/h Minifter at this Court, hath 
 made a wile Difcovery that all the Duties paid 
 fince this Change in the Coin, ought to have been 
 paid in this heavier Dollar-* He therefore not 
 only declares that This (hall be the Rule of all 
 
 future
 
 future Payments, but at the fame Time demands 
 from the Company a Sum equal ro what, according 
 to this Method of Eftimation, hath been paid fhort . 
 lince the Coin was fir ft varied. 
 ; The Amount of this Retrofpect is the Sum men- 
 tion'd in tticProfirft to be the Duty upon Slaves, ac- 
 cording to the Regulation of 52 d. per Dollar. 
 
 With Regard to \\izother Claim therein mention'd, 
 (the Profits of the Royal Caroline] it muft bf remem- 
 ber'd that, by the AJJiento, the King of Spain was 
 to be interefted one Fourth in all the Trade carried 
 on by the Company, and was to receive one Fourth 
 of the NEAT GAINS. 
 
 By the frequent Seizures of the Company's Effect", 
 the denying of Licences, the Refufal of the Spamjh 
 Officers to obey them, when they were procur'a, arU 
 other iniquitous Practices of Spain, the annual Ship, 
 which was granted to the Company, as an Induce- 
 ment for Them to undertake the Negroe-'Trade , hath 
 occafion'd a much greater Lofsto Them, than even 
 the Negroe-Trade \tk\fy for which it was intended to 
 compenfate ; fo that of all, which have been hither- 
 to fent, the two laft only have been gainful. 
 
 The latter of Tbefe was the Royal Caroline, on 
 which the Profits were much more con fiderable than 
 on the other ; and though the former Lofles of the 
 Company might poflibly exceed twenty Times the 
 Gains made, in this particular Inflancc ; yet fooa 
 after her Arrival in England, Don Geraldino de- 
 manded, in the Name of his Mafter, his Share of 
 what mould appear to be gain'd by that Voyage. 
 
 This is the Spamjh Conftruction of the Phrafe, 
 NEAT GAINS, which is mention'd in the AJJientofor 
 Negroes -, and from hence arifes the fecond Claim, in- 
 ferted in the Proteft, (for the Profits of the Ship, 
 the Royal Caroline] which, together with the firft, 
 (for the Duty on Slaves] according to the Regu- 
 E latiyn
 
 (26) 
 
 lation of 52 d. per Piqftre, amounting to the Sum 
 of 68,ooo/. fterlingy it is afierted in the Proteft y 
 that the Company have confefs'd Themfelves to owe. 
 How great an Untruth ! -The Company have 
 
 not, in any Time paft, nor do They at this Time 
 acknowledge the Juftnefs of either of tbefc Claims > 
 but, on the contrary, have always declar'd that 
 
 both of them were abfolutely without Foundation 
 
 This Falfhood will likewife appear in a ftronger 
 Light, when You are inform'd of the Equivocation, 
 on which it is founded. 
 
 When the two fore -mentioned Claims were laid be- 
 fore the Court of Directors, by Don Geraldino, He 
 was told that a RetrofpecT: for Duties^ after an un- 
 queftionable Payment for fo many Years, was ob- 
 vkxifly unreasonable, and that the Demand for his 
 Maker's Share of the Gains, made by the Royal Ca- 
 roline^ ought to have been preceded by the Pay- 
 ment of his Share of their former Lojfcs, and that 
 They were aftonifh'd at his urging Pretenfions fo 
 apparently groundlefs. 
 
 He was alfo told, that had theft Demands been 
 the moft equitable and indifputable, yet even then 
 all They could agree to would be the letting them 
 againft fuch a Part of that much greater Sum, which 
 his Mafter had confefs'd to be due to Them, and 
 which He had fo frequently engag'd to pay Them ; 
 for as to the Inftances made by Him, to have thefe 
 Claims immediately difcharg'd, whilft the avow'd 
 Debt of Spain ftill remains unfatisfied, They could 
 never comply with them, unlels by the mod fhame- 
 lefs Proftitudon of the Truft repofed in Them by 
 their Proprietors. 
 
 However, notwithflanding thefe reafonable Alle- 
 gations, the Majority of the Directors > being ftrongly 
 engaged in the Interdl of the Minijlr^^ were pre- 
 vailed on, in fome Meafure, to emulate the C'on- 
 
 citlcenlion
 
 (27) 
 
 defcenfion of their Superiors ; and therefore They 
 did agree to the Payment demanded of Them on 
 thefe Pretences, provided the King of Spain would 
 previoufly grant Them a Prolongation of the 'Term 
 of their Trade, and would alfo give a certain 
 fpecify'd Security for the fpeedy Payment of the 
 Debt of one Million and an half of Dollars, which, 
 as We have above obferved, He had fo often ac- 
 knowledged to be due to them 3 at the fame Time 
 declaring, that it was in Confideration of thefe 
 Terms only, that They fubmitted to the Claims 
 of Spain , fo obvioufly unreafonable. 
 
 As the whole of the Conditions defired by the 
 Company, previous to their Compliance, confided 
 only of Promifes and Orders to be iffued by the 
 Spanijh Court ; which Spain might afterwards fuf- 
 pend as She pleas'd, long before the Execution of 
 them could take Place -, Don Geraldino, who well 
 knew the fmall Importance of fetch Engagements, 
 did, in fome Meafure, approve of this Compro- 
 mife j but as, in their T ran factions with Us, 
 rhe Infolence of Spain has never known what 
 Bounds to prefcribe to Htrfelf, He foon changed 
 his Opinion, and litigated each Part of it, pro- 
 pofing at the fame Time other Terms, full of 
 Ambiguity and Chicane , which not being agreed 
 to by the Company, He at laft peremptorily infilled 
 on the immediate Payment of the Sum of 68,ooo/. 
 wi'hout any Terms or Conditions whatever, ftil- 
 ing it a Debt confefled by the Company to be due 
 to his Mafter, and declaring that if They did not 
 comply with his reafonable Demand, his Mafter 
 would immediately deprive Them of all their 
 Trade with his Dominions, tho* granted to Them 
 by the moft folemn Treaties, and fo frequently con- 
 firmed to Them by his Royal Word ana Pro- 
 mife. 
 
 2 As
 
 (28) 
 
 As incredible as this may appear, it is the true 
 Iliftory of the Protcfi row before Us. This is, 
 in Subftanr.e, what has been laid before the Gene~ 
 ral Court by the Directors Themfelvcs, and has 
 Icen pubJifhed to the World above three Months, 
 without being once contradicted, during that whole 
 Time. 
 
 But in Cafe of a Rupture with Spain, They 
 may poflibly pur it in another Light, and explain 
 to Us fome bidden Truths, of Concefiions made to 
 Them by Mr Keene, or our Ministers at borne ; 
 with Regard to this Particular, which was refus'd 
 to both Houfes of Parliament. 
 
 That You may the better judge of the Behaviour 
 of Mr Keene, our Minifter, on the Receipt of this 
 Proteft, I muft inform You, that, betides his Port 
 of Ambaffador, He poficfTes alfo the Office of 
 .Agent for the South-Sea Company with the Court of 
 Spain, for which he receives from the Company* 
 y.j 1 have been inform\i, a Sallary of 1500 1. per 
 Annum. As He firtt went to Spain in this Capa- 
 city, and has continued in it ever fmce ; He 
 mult of Neceffity have been acquainted with all 
 tbefe Tranfaftions. He mult have known that the 
 Demand of the 68 ooo /. was intirely groundlefs , 
 and that afiferting the Company to have confcfled it 
 to be due was a molt notorious FaKhood. He 
 mult alfo have plainly feen, that as the Proteft is 
 I'.iid to hav: b^.i made with reciprocal Accord^ He 
 is thereby charged with lupporting thefe iniquitous 
 Claims, with allowing that the Company had con- 
 icfifed this Debt, and with confpiring to deprive that 
 Company, by which He was intruited, of all their 
 s of T'-ade, vefted in Them by many Afts of 
 , in Confequence of the moft folemn 
 
 ifS A Charge, from which his belt Friends 
 
 would be glad to ice Him abfolv'd. 
 
 In
 
 (2 9 ) 
 
 In thefe Circumftances, was it not reafonable to 
 expect that a Perfon, who lay under fuch Obliga- 
 tions to the Company, would refent the un warrant-- 
 able Proceedings againft it, fupported by the 
 groffeft Prevarication -, and who likewife faw that 
 the Court of Spain had in this Proteft defcribed 
 Him, not only as an Accomplice, but as a principal 
 Contriver of this perfidious Tranfaction ? What, 
 I fay, was not to be expected from One, who, be- 
 fides his particular Engagements to the Company 9 
 had alfo, by his Character of a puUick Minifter, 
 the Care of the national Honour, and the Rights 
 of every Briti/h Subject intruded to his keeping, 
 as He was negociating a Treaty with Spain^ in- 
 which, We were told, that Nation had promifed 
 to grant us all which We could ever afk, even at 
 the End of the moft fuccefsful War. 
 
 But in vain are all Expectations of every Thing 
 but the outward Shew of Spirit from thofe Hands^ 
 who have now engrofied the Direction of our pub- 
 lick Affairs. How much vainer then were the 
 Hopes, that in this Inftance our Minifter Plenipo- 
 tentiary mould behave with a Dignity fuitable to 
 his high Office, and to the Character of the Na- 
 tion He reprefented , when (as it has fince been 
 difcovered) the Money, which was by this Proteft 
 to have been extorted from the Company, was co- 
 vertly to have been applied towards the quieting of 
 pur Dome/tick Clamours* by pretending it to have 
 been the Reftitution made by Spain for the Depre- 
 dations on our Merchants. 
 
 For the Court of Spain, well knowing the pa*- 
 cifick Difpofition of our Minifter, could not be 
 prevailed on to allow us that Reparation, which 
 They had fo often promifed ; and it being, in 
 iome Meafure, neceflary to the Minifter, that the 
 Contention, made the Beginning of this Year, 
 
 ; fhould
 
 fhould, At leaf! in Appearance, fecure fo Us fome- 
 ihing of this Nature, He nVd his Kye upon the 
 South-Sea Company, as a Body of Men, who by 
 frequent and implicit Reliances on Spani/h Delu- 
 fions, and his known Intereft in their Directors, 
 were already trained to his Purpofe. He therefore, 
 m order to referve to his Catholick Majefty the 
 greateft Part of the 95,000 /. which by the Con- 
 vention is ftipulated for Reftitution to Us, Mr 
 Keene and Mr De la Quadra agree, that a Proteft 
 ihall be deliver'd, on the Part of the King of Spain, 
 previous to the figning of the Convention, by which 
 He refer ves to Himfelf the Right of forcing the 
 Company to reimburfe Him 68,ooo/. He declaring 
 that, under the Force and Validity of this Proteft, the 
 Convention may be proceeded on, and no otberwife 
 Thus it is intended, though purpofely exprefled with 
 Ambiguity, that if the Company re-fufe to pay this 
 Sum, our Claim to the 95,000 /. (hall, by their 
 Refufal, be annihilated. 
 
 This Interpretation and Purpofe of the Spaniards 
 could not well be unknown to our Minifters, be- 
 caufe it cannot be forgot how induflrioufly They 
 oppos'd and defeated a Refolution to declare the 
 Convention broke on the Side of Spain, no Part of 
 the 95 ooo/. having been paid, though the ftipu- 
 lated Time was then elaps'd, that King perfifting 
 in his Demand of 68,ooo/. from the South Sea 
 Company, as a neceffary Preliminary, without which 
 he held Himft-lf enagag'd for Nothing. 
 
 'This P rot eft then being intended to conceal rhe 
 Truth of that fubtle Intriegue from vulgar Kycs, 
 that the other Part of our Agreement in the Con- 
 "jtntion might dazzle the Publick, by the oflema- 
 tious Reparation there pretended to be allowed \ it 
 could not be? expected that a Tranfa<5tion fo ntcH- 
 iary to :hc Mirifier, ar,d principally conirive;i by 
 
 Hun,
 
 (3' ) 
 
 Him, as Sir Thomas now aflerts, could be referited 
 by our Ambaffadvr in the Manner it deferv'd. Ac- 
 cordingly We find that Mr. Keene, far from deny- 
 ing the Juftnefs of the Claim of the 68,ooo/. or 
 that the Company had confefTed the Debt, or that 
 He had agreed with reciprocal Accord that this Pro- 
 left fhould be delivered i far from refenting the 
 matchlefs Affront hereby offered to the Britijh Na- 
 tion ', He, on the contrary, in his Anfwer to Mr 
 De la Quadra, afferts, that the Company had ac- 
 knowledg'd the Debt, and owns that this Proteft 
 had been previoufly concerted and agreed to be- 
 tween Them ; thereby confefling, what without 
 his own Teftimony would never have been be- 
 lieved, viz. that He, the Ambaffador of Great- 
 Britain^ and Agent for the Company, in Confede- 
 racy with the Spanijh Minifter, had agreed to give 
 up the Property of that Company, with whofe 
 Affairs He had been many Years intruded, to the 
 Sum of 68,ooo/. or otherwife to deprive Them of 
 ihofs Right^ which They poffeis'd by the moftfacred 
 'treaties, and the Law of Nations. But not to take 
 tliefe Facts on my Affertion, let the following Let- 
 ter bear Witnefs to the Truth of them. 
 
 Madrid, January ir. N. S. 
 SIR, 
 
 " T H AV E juft receiv'd your Excellency's Let- 
 " J[ ter of Yetterday in the Evening, with the 
 " Declaration, which You have figned in the Name 
 of his Catholick Majefty, referving to Himfelf 
 the Right to be able to iufpend the Company of 
 the Affiento, and to difpatch the neceffary Orders 
 for that Purpof:, in Cafe the Company refufe to 
 pay, within a (horc Term, the Sixty-eight thou- 
 fand Pounds Sterling, which it has confeffed to 
 " owe, on Account of the Duty on Negroes , upon 
 
 the
 
 ( 3* ) 
 
 the Foot of 52 d. per Dollar, and of the Profit of 
 " the Royal Caroline -, and I wilj not fail, purfuanc 
 " to what WE have agreed, to fend thcfaid De- 
 <f claration to my Court, and to tranfmit a Copy 
 ' thereof to the Company, by the Courier, that 
 
 " will be charged with the Convention figned 
 
 ' I have the Honour to be, &c. 
 
 B.KEENE. 
 
 Thus have We feen that a Negotiation, preceded 
 by a prodigious Armdment, which was continued in- 
 active, as We were told, upon the Promife of Spain 
 to grant Us all our realbnable Demands, inftead of 
 procuring Us our long- expected Satisfaction, has 
 fubjected Us to ruder Infults, and more undifguifed 
 Injuftice, than any of which We formerly com- 
 plained ; whilft at the fame Time the minifterial 
 Writers, and their Patron, far from refenting thefe 
 perfidious and oppreffive Proceedings, endeavour 
 to cover them by Equivocation and Falfhood, as 
 
 they were occafion'd by 1 dare not fay 
 
 what. 
 
 At the fame Time They publickly defended the 
 Honour, Faith and Humanity of the Spanijh Na- 
 tion, whilft They endeavour'd to ftigmatize their 
 own Countrymen, as the moft faichlefs Savages a- 
 mongft the Race of Mankind. 
 
 After this View of the Proteft, which preceded 
 the late Convention, the Stipulations contained in 
 that Convention cannot deferve your Notice ; fince, 
 were they ever fo advantageous and honourable, yec 
 as they were concluded, in conGrquence of our re- 
 ceiving that infolent and tyrannical Declaration, and 
 were figned under its Force and Validity, no Terms 
 connected \v\thfucb a Proceeding can poflibly merit 
 your Approbation. 
 
 However
 
 (S3) 
 
 However the Condefcentions, contained in the 
 Convention itfelf, are no ways inconfiflent with the 
 obfequious Conduct, that preceded them ; for it 
 feems in Effect to deliver Carolina and Georgia in- 
 to the Hands of Spain, by putting a Stop to the 
 EftaUiJhments and Fortifications in thofe Parts. It 
 confirms the Claim of the Spaniard to a Sovereign- 
 ty in the American Seas, by referring, as doubtful, 
 to a future Decifion, the Property of a Britijb Vef- 
 fel, confefled by the Captors to be taken on our 
 own Coafts, above an hundred Leagues from any 
 Spanijh Settlement it leaves all the future Security 
 of our Commerce to a diftant Negotiation ; and how 
 effectual a Remedy That is like to prove to the 
 prefent Oppreffion of our Merchants, let the fatal 
 Experience of the laft twelve Tsars declare. 
 
 I fhall now acquaint You with the Reafons, that 
 have been urged in Favour of this Convention -, 
 from whence You may make your own Judgments 
 whether they prevail'd, in foauguft an Afiembly, 
 folely by their own Force and Sufficiency. 
 
 The firft Argument ufed to prove the Merit of 
 this Convention, was the Honour it had done to 
 our Negotiations, by procuring a Sum of Money 
 to be allowed to our Merchants, for Reparation of 
 their Loflfes , a Circumltance, We were told, but 
 rarely occurring even in thofe Treaties, formed in 
 Confequence of the greatejl Succejfes. 
 
 To this it was anlwered, that if Stipulations of 
 this Kind were unufual, it ought to be confidered, 
 that it was ftill more unufual, that a Nation fo a- 
 vowedly plundered, as We had been for twelve 
 Tears pad, fhould for fo long a Time be prevented 
 from doing Themfelves Juftice. 
 
 That the Reparation of 95,ooo/. hereby pro- 
 
 mifed to Us, was not one feventh Part of what 
 
 the King of Spain had before engaged Himfelf to 
 
 F pay i
 
 pay -, and that after the numerous Inftances of the 
 rerfidy of Spain, Promifes alone were wholly iiV- 
 fignificanr. 
 
 And farther, that even this Promife of Repara- 
 tion was a fhameful Colluiion ; fince in order to 
 obtain it, We had winked at the Relblution of Spain, 
 to rob the South-Sea Company ot 68,000 /. which 
 was to have been covertly applied as Part of the 
 Sum promifed. 
 
 To invalidate the Force of thefc Objections, it 
 was in the next Place urged by the friends to the 
 Convention, that the Proteft was an Act, irt which 
 We had no Part ; and that therefore, though it was 
 confefled that the Terms of that Prottft were ex- 
 tremely fcandalous, yet it had no more Relation to 
 the Convention than to the grand Alliance, 
 
 To this it was replied, that it was undeniable by 
 the Letter 's, which had paflcd between Mr De f& 
 Quadra and Mr Keene, and had been laid before the 
 Houfe, that the Delivery of this Proteft had been 
 concerted between Them, and therefore that it was 
 certainly a Part of the Agreement between the i r ^o 
 Nations. . . . 
 
 That had We known nothing of it 'rill after the 
 figning of the Convention, yet as U declares the Re- 
 lblution of the King of Spain, from which He has 
 not yet departed ; We muft either confefs that the 
 Contention is by thefe Means broken through ; or 
 that if after being acquainted with this Proteft, We 
 ftill acquiefce, We mult necefiarily ex-pedt that it 
 will make a Part of the .Execution of the Con- 
 vention. , ... 
 . In anfwer to the general Difiatisfaclion, that arofe 
 from our not being exempted by this Conrentisii 
 trom the future Searchings of the Spanifi Guarda 
 , it was urg'd, that although this Exemption 
 b.i not particular] y fpcciwai in it, y_et as S.pai had 
 
 agreed
 
 (n) 
 
 agreed that the future .Negotiation fhould be regu- 
 kted by thofe former Treaties, in which She had no 
 fuch Right, She did by that Conceffion virtually 
 agree to.the Exemption in Queftion. 
 
 To this it was .anfwered, that Spain pretended 
 at, all Times to, allow us the Benefit of thofe Trea- 
 ties i but 'interpreted away our Right, of being 
 exempted from Search , contained in them ; fo thac 
 her agreeing to treat with Us, on the Foot of thofe 
 Treaties, -was no Conceffion, unlefs She exprefsly 
 renounced her unjuft Interpretation of them. 
 
 That it was ft range fuch fophiftical Reafoning 
 fhould be urged againft a pofitive Fact, which eve- 
 r.y Gentleman knew, or might know , that Spaing 
 at the Time of figning the Convention, did peremp- 
 torily refufe to difclaim her Practice of Searching. 
 
 Laftly, We were told by a Gentleman, emi- 
 nently skill'd in foreign Affairs,, that the Nation 
 had no Allies, and that the prodigious Load of our 
 Debts rendered Us incapable of 'vigorous Meafures. 
 Nay, it was., asked of Thofe, who difapproved of 
 the Convention, whether They intended by their 
 Cavils to force the Nation into a War, under thefe 
 difaftrous Circumjlances ~. How provoking is it 
 to hear Thofe, who have been ; negotiating Us, for 
 eighteen Tears, into fuch a Situation, making Ufe 
 of thefe .Arguments, however juft they might ap- 
 pear, in the Mouths of Others ? 
 
 On this it has been obferved> that the Declara- 
 tion of that honourable Gentleman, that We had 
 neither Money nor Friends, was a .very extraordi- 
 nary one ; efpecially at a Conjuncture, when if ic 
 was believed : b,y our Enemies, it might prove high- 
 ly detrimental to the PubHck, that He fhould thus 
 confefs a Circumftance fo full of Humiliation to 
 Himfelf and his Brother ; for it was known that 
 the Care of qontinuing to Us our old Allies, and 
 F 2 procuring
 
 (30 
 
 procuring Us new Ones, had been near twenty 
 Years his peculiar Province, as the husbanding of 
 the puUick Treafure had, during the fame Time, 
 been intruded to the Management of his Brother. 
 
 That after this Declaration, it would be impofli- 
 ble to avoid reflecting on the many Speeches, Pam- 
 phlets, Gazetteers, &c. which for many Years paft 
 have been filled with Encomiums on the Happinefs 
 of our Situation ; for in thefe elaborate Performan- 
 ces, compofed, many of them, by the Minifterhim- 
 felf, and the Authors of all of them nourifhed by 
 his liberal Hand, We have been perpetually con- 
 gratulated upon the confummate Prudence of our 
 Alliances, the flourifhing State of our Trade, the 
 Increafe of our national Wealth, and of our na- 
 tional Influence* under the prefent glorious Admini- 
 ft rat ion. 
 
 That as to the Load of our Debts, mentioned by 
 this Gentleman, as a Difcouragement to all vigorous 
 Attempts, This was ftill more furprizing in his 
 Mouth , fince it was well known that the ferious 
 Efforts made for the Payment of them by Thofe, 
 who were deeply affected with Apprehenfions of 
 the Danger, to which their Continuance would at 
 laft erfpofe Us, had been often treated by Him and 
 his Brother with Contempt and Ridicule. They 
 have frequently affirmed in the very fame AJJembly, 
 that the poftponing of tbofe Payments was rather 
 advantageous than detrimental to the Publick, per- 
 fuading us almoll annually, on the moft frivolous 
 Pretences, to divert the Treafure deftined to this fa- 
 
 Jutary Purpofe Nor muft it be forgot that 
 
 the Scheme of a worthy Patriot, and ftrongly fup- 
 ported, though in vain, by moil: of the Gentlemen, 
 who lately feceded, for reducing Intereft to 3 per 
 Cent, was rejected by thefe Gentlemen, at that Time, 
 and perhaps will never be in our Power again. 
 
 That
 
 (37) 
 
 That fo little did thefe Gentlemen formerly feern 
 to fufpect, that the Revenue of this Kingdom was 
 infufficient to fupport any Meafures, however vi- 
 gorous, that in thefe Difputes with Spain, during 
 the loft twelve Tears, in which We were engaged 
 in no War, We have fpent, in naval Armaments^ 
 Standing Armies, and Alliances^ which have neither 
 aflifted our Friends, nor injured our Enemies* near 
 twenty eight Millions of Money ^ a Sum that would 
 have paid, for the fame Time, two Armies equal 
 to That, which We maintain' d in Flanders, under 
 the * late Duke of Marlborougb, and eight Times 
 
 more 
 
 * Our Quota to the Army in Flanders, under the Duke of 
 Marlborougb, was 50,000 Men. Their Pay, at a Medium, 
 amounted to about 1,060,000 1 per Annum, and when one 
 Year, towards the End of the War, They were augmented 
 to 65,178, their annual Pay even then amounted to but 
 1,324.727!. 
 
 The Expence of the War, during the Year 1 704, amounted 
 to no more than 3,465,886 1 arifing from the following Ar- 
 ticles, viz. 
 
 40,000 Men for Sea Service _ 2,080,000 
 
 50,000 Men Land-Forces in Flanders 1,062,252 
 
 Sublidies to the Allies 55 2 7 Z 
 
 For the Portugal Service 150006 
 
 The Ordinance for Land-Service ~*, 1 18,362 
 
 3.465,886 
 
 Our domeftick Expence, in the fame Year, a- 
 
 mounted only to 1,183,000!, under the follow- 
 ing Heads, viz, 
 
 The Civil Lift , 
 
 The Ordinary of the Navy 
 
 For circulating Exchequer Bills 
 
 For Guards and GarrH'ons . .. .. . .- 
 
 ',3094
 
 more than the whole Expence of the War in that 
 >rofperous Year, 1 704, in which We gain'd the; 
 ever-memorable Battle of Blenheim by Land, and 
 with our Fleet took Gilt altar, and beat near Ma- 
 laga the compleateft Fleet ever lent to Sea by 
 France. 
 
 But again -, ibis Gentleman could not furely in- 
 tend by this Declaration, that We were to fubmit 
 to all Indignities of every Kind, rather than rifk 
 the Inconveniences of a War. If therefore, weak 
 and contemptible as We are reprefented, it is ftilj 
 incumbent on Us, to refent a certain Degree of ill 
 Ufage from our Neighbours, it will be difficul: 
 even to imagine an Incident more prejudicial to our 
 Honour, and the future Interefts of our Commerce, 
 than this infolent Proteft of Spain. Every difmte-* 
 refted Briton, who examines the Circumitances of 
 this deceitful Contrivance, will furely refolve, that 
 whilft there remains one Ship of our Navy, Hands 
 to man her, and Money to arm and victual her, 
 it would be inglorious to fubmit to fo barefac'd an 
 Impofition. 
 
 But farther, our behaving under this" Affront, 
 with a Dignity .and Spirit worthy of the Erilijh 
 Nation, would in all Probability prove the molt 
 effectual Means of avoiding a War, which a tajrne 
 Compliance muit at laft inevitably bring upon Us. 
 It is ridiculous to fuppofe, that our Condefcenfion 
 in this Inftance would render Spain lefs prefuming ; 
 that our Submifiions would not every Day increafe 
 
 So that the whole Expence of that Year, made up of thefe 
 t#o Sums, is 4,648,886 1, or fomethirg more than four Mil- 
 fiotti and an half '; which is but about one Million and a Quar- 
 ter more than it hath coft Us each Year, at an Average, for 
 lu fire Tean piji, if the Civil-Lift be reckon 'd at a Million. 
 
 her
 
 ^er Pretenfions, and that her repeated Infults would 
 not at laft end in a War, or in our Servitude. 
 
 That in Reality her prefent Violences were ma- 
 nifeftly the Effedt of our chrijlian Forbearance, 
 and had always increafed in Proportion to our Con- 
 cefTions ; that had two or three Men of War been 
 employed againft her Guarda Coftas ten Years ago -, 
 and had fpeedy and exemplary Juftice been execu- 
 ted on fuch of thofe Pyrates, as had been found acl- 
 ing 'illegally, in all Probability our late Difputes 
 with that Nation might have been unknown to Us ; 
 for it could hot be fuppofed that the King of Spain 
 would have ferioufly concerned Himfelf with the 
 Interefts of a few avowed Thieves at Porto Rico 
 and the Havana ; nor could France^ in fuch a Cafe, 
 have interpos'd, with the leaft Pretence of Juftice 
 - That an Appearance of Spirit might yet fave 
 Us hut if We again gave Way, Spain might be 
 encourag'd to expedt an unreferv'd Comply ance 
 with all 'her Demands, and from thence be em- 
 bolden'd to increafe her Infolence and Tyranny to 
 fuch a Degree, "that even the prefent pacifick Gen- 
 tlemen would at laft' be necefiituted to declare for 
 War^ under the additional Difadvantage of having 
 perhaps, -incurr'd frefli Difcredit with all their 
 Neighbours, as well as Piftfuft amongft their own 
 Countrymen ; whilft They have fuffer'd Spain to 
 ftrengrhen Herfelf with an Attyance of the greateft 
 Confequehce, -ftcur'd to Them by Treaty, and ce- 
 mented t>y Marriage. 
 
 ' Thus have I laid before You the principal Cir- 
 cumftances of this important 'Affair \ and from this 
 Narrative, You will doubtlefs be fatisfied, that 
 our recervingihat infolent Protefl, and figning the 
 Convention, afterwards, without irs being withdrawn, 
 was a Behaviour, which' to Thofe, who have not 
 been abteto difcover thefecret Motives of fuch a 
 , Conde-
 
 Condefcenfion, muft have appeared highly difho- 
 nourable to the Nation. 
 
 And You will furely confefs that when, at any 
 Time, the Dscifions of your Reprefentatives are op- 
 pofed to the general Senfe of the Kingdom, You can- 
 not be too diligent in examining the Motives, that 
 have determined Them. 
 
 This Enquiry is a Duty You owe to your own 
 Safety, and to their Characters* 
 
 In this Differtation I (hall fuppofe a Parliament 
 totally fubfervient to a Minifter for their Pay, with- 
 out the leaft Regard to Honour, to Juftice, to 
 their Country, or their Pofterity ; a Situation I am 
 very far from believingWe either now are, or ever 
 ftiall be in ; and therefore hope I may argue with 
 full Freedom, and without Offence. 
 
 "Whenever, by the Number of profitable Places 
 in the Gift of the Crevin* or the Minifter, as well 
 as the immenfeSums, that an exorbitant Civil-Lift* 
 nnd our prodigious annual Expence naturally put 
 into his Hands, He can procure a Majority of tb& 
 f.egiflature to become his Penfioners, and to coftfi- 
 tkr the pecuniary Rewards, which They receive 
 from his Hands, as of infinitely more Confcquence, 
 than what their Share of the publick Expences a- 
 mount to -, a Parliament thus modelled can furely 
 be no Defence to our Liberty 5 fince no Reafon 
 .-.in be given, why They mould, at any Time, op- 
 pofc the Will of their Paymafter, however mif- 
 chievo'us or tyrannical -, for That would be maim- 
 ing the Hand that feeds Them, and foolifiily a- 
 ban.ioning thofc Advantages, which They had al- 
 ft a 1y prclm'd to every other Intereft and Obliga- 
 tion, as of more Account, than their Confcience y 
 tiVi v Hunoitr* and their Country. 
 
 The abfolute Power acquired over Us by theft 
 vil! be the more fatal and permanent, 
 
 when
 
 ) 
 
 when it is difguifed under the exterior Shew of our 
 ancient Conftitution ; becaufe the Bulk of Mankind, 
 perceiving no Change in the cujlomary Forms of 
 Government, fufpeft not the Fraud till too late ; 
 and thus Thofe, whom We fliould appoint the 
 Guardians of our Liberty, would make ufe of that 
 Truft repofed in Them, to hufh our Sufpicions, 
 and to perfuade Us into the Belief of our Security ; 
 whilft They were fixing our Chains, and confult- 
 ing with their Leader, what Precautions were moft 
 prudent to be taken, during this Interval of our 
 Delufion, to defeat all our Efforts for Redrefs, 
 when We fhould at laft be awakened, and perceive 
 the Horrors of our Situation. 
 
 But the abfolute Power, to which We mould be 
 neceffarily fubjecled by a Parliament thus corrupt- 
 ed, is not the only Mifchief attending it. 
 
 For abfolute Power may be ufed with Prudence 
 and Humanity. It is poflible that an arbitrary 
 Monarch may neither impoverifh his People by a 
 Load of unneceffary Taxes, nor expofe Them, by 
 the Folly of his ConduR, to the Scorn of their 
 Neighbours, and the Power of their Enemies. 
 
 But fhould We be ever governed by a corrupted 
 Parliament, a needlefs Profufion of the publick 
 Treafure, and an univerfal Mifmanagement of Af- 
 fairs, both Foreign and Dotneftick, would in thofe 
 Circumftances be inevitable. 
 
 For as the conftant Pay of fuch a Parliament 
 muft in fome Shape or other be furnifhed by the 
 unhappy People, who are at the fame Time ruined 
 by their Venality ; and as an immediate Tax, ex- 
 prefsly for this Purpofe, would even (hock that Con- 
 fidence, which no Degree of publick Shame could 
 have Force to affect -, therefore that their belov'd 
 Traffick might not be fufpended, it would be ne- 
 ceffary to alarm the Nation with chimerical Necef- 
 G fities
 
 (4*) 
 
 fities and imaghary Dangers j that the publick $,%.- 
 pence being by thefe Pretences augmented, .there 
 might be more Room in the various Articles, of 
 which it would confift, to allot to tbefi Mercenaries 
 the Means of their private Indemnification. .Thus 
 would Millions be raifed on the Nation, under the 
 moft impertinent Pretences, meerly that theft Imple- 
 ments of Power might filch their ten Thoufands out 
 of them, whilft They are treating the t)ift'refFesof 
 the Publick, occafioned by thefe exorbitant , Ex- 
 pences, with Raillery and Contempt. 
 
 It is, indeed, but reasonable that thefe Gentlemen 
 fhould receive Tome Gratification from the Miferies 
 of the reft of Mankind, fmce by abandoning the Inte- 
 reft of the Common-wealth, and giving up their Con- 
 fciences into the Keeping of a Minijter, They would 
 become the Objects of publick Odium. It is like- 
 wife to be fuppoied that, in their Turns, They 
 would burn with the fincereft Hatred to Thofe, 
 whom, having thus grievoufly abufed, They can- 
 not help confideriiig as their Enemies ; and as 
 Thofe, from whole Hands They might one Day 
 apprehend the juft Reward due to their Perfidiouf- 
 nefs. 
 
 Befides engaging the Nation in the moix 
 extravagant Expences, the better to protect and 
 difguife their Excejfes, a Parliament thus de- 
 bauched would of NecefTity occafion the publick 
 Affairs to be managed with a greater Degree of 
 Unlkilfulnefs, than would be done in any other 
 Government ; for as it is to be prefumed, that the 
 Gentlemen compofing the Majority of fuch an Af- 
 fcmbly would, in this Cafe, be moft of Them pof- 
 fefTed, either by Themfelves or their Friends, of 
 rhe principal Pojls of the Government, and of the 
 Direction of tbofe Offices, through which all the na- 
 tional Tranfactions muft pals i and as the grearefl 
 
 Part
 
 (43) 
 
 Part of Them would be raifed to tbofe Places, not 
 on Account of their Merit, or particular Abilities, 
 but meerly in Confequence of their Parliamentary 
 Intereft ; fb their Continuance in them would in no 
 wile depend on their proper Difcharge of the Du- 
 ties annexed to them. Thus the principal Pofts 
 in our Army, our Fleet, and our publick Offices of 
 every : Kind, might be filled with Men incapable 
 of the Employments allotted to them. 
 
 Bcfides this general Wane of Abilities, which 
 would be occafioned hereby in every Part of our 
 Conduct, it would be highly the Intereft of the 
 Corrupted, that to thefe unavoidable Irregularities 
 as many voluntary Errors as poOlble might be 
 added; fince when, by a Complication of Dif- 
 treffes, the Nation mould at any Time be alarmed, 
 and the Minifter mould fufpect his Safety, the 
 Price of Corruption would advance ; new Preten- 
 fions would be pleaded 5 new Diftribution* made ; 
 and new Places erected j fo that the Blunders We 
 fliould make in our national Affairs, would be of 
 . all Incidents the moft lucrative, and therefore the 
 moft defirable to a corrupted Parliament. 
 
 And if (as We have ieenj an unnecefTary Pro- 
 fufion of the publick Treafitre,, and an eternal 
 Round of Blunders in our national Affairs, muft 
 be the inevitable Confequence of a venal Legifla- 
 ture, it cannot be doubted that We muft alfo by 
 thefe Means be rendered contemptible to our 
 Neighbours, and impotent to our Enemies. 
 
 Befides, the Management of this Scene of Cor- 
 ruption would totally engrofs the Attention and 
 Care of Thofe, who mould happen to be Chief in 
 Power , fince, as tbefe Practices would rarely take 
 Place, till our Governors have, by their Ambition 
 or Avarice, merited the Indignation of the Pub- 
 lick, and begin to apprehend its juft Refentment; ; 
 G 2 and
 
 (44) 
 
 and as the Protection acquired by tbefe odious Me- 
 thods will continually augment the publick Ha- 
 tred, it would become more and more necefiary to 
 a Minifter, in fuch Circumftances, to perpetuate 
 his Influence over the Parliament, from whence only 
 He could hope for Security againft the united 
 Murmurs of an inflamed People. By thefe Means 
 his own Safety f and the Continuation of his Power, 
 being of fo much more Importance to Him, 
 than the Intereft or Honour of that Country, by 
 which He muft know Himfelf detefted, He would 
 naturally purfue the Methods of Corruption, and con- 
 fider them as the principal, if not the fole Operations 
 of Government , at the fame Time difregarding the 
 Lofs of our national Reputation, the Deftruction 
 of our Commerce, and the Abolition of our Power, 
 provided that over any of thefe Ruins the grand 
 Machine of Corruption might be conducted with 
 greater Eafe and Security ; for Corruption will 
 necefiarily constitute one abfolute Minijler, and pur 
 the whole Legiflature in his Pocket, as Villan 
 Duke of Buckingham did Proxies, which He car- 
 ry'd to fuch a Pitch, that it occafion'd an Order, 
 which is ilill obferv*d, that no Lord fhould have 
 more than two Proxies. 
 
 Thus does it appear that a corrupted Parliament, 
 inftead of protecting the publick Liberty and the 
 publick Happinefs, by having its Intereft connected, 
 as it ought to be, with That of the reft of the 
 Nation j inftead of anfwcring the Purpofe of 
 its original Inftitution, would deliver us up, al- 
 moft without Redemption, to the defpotick Power 
 of their Paymafter. They would pillage the pub- 
 lick Treafurc without Remorfe } draining the 
 People^ on the moll groundlefs Pretences, of vaftly 
 larger Sums, than even what the fcandalous Wages 
 of their Servitude amounts to, with a View that, in 
 
 the
 
 the Multiplicity of Tranfactions, their own Plun- 
 der might be more eafily fcreen'd from Obfervation* 
 We have alfo feen, that it muft neceflarily throw 
 the Bufinefs of the Nation into Hands the leaft 
 capable of executing it -, by which Means our 
 Commerce, our Reputation* our Spirit ', and our 
 Power, would immediately decay, by no fmall 
 Degrees ; and from the moft free, the moft hap- 
 py, and the braveft People in the Univerfe, We 
 fhould foon become contemptible Slaves, eminent 
 only for our Wretcbednefs and Cowardice. 
 
 Thefe would be the dreadful Confequences of a 
 corrupted Legijlature, if the Virtue of the Nation, 
 in fuch an Exigency, mould not interpofe betimes 5 
 and from hence You may judge of what infinite 
 Importance it is to your Safety, that even on the 
 Suspicion of any indirect Influence upon your Re- 
 prefentatives, your Attention ought to be awakened 
 by every honed Art, and your Cafe laid before 
 You ; that You may be enabled to difcover when- 
 ever You are in Danger of being betrayed, or 
 fold by your Reprefentatives ; for if, in Confe- 
 quence of thefe Informations, You timely fufpe& 
 the Mifchief, it will then be in your Power to 
 prevent its Effects -, fmce there is vefted in You, 
 by the Laws of the Land^ and the repeated Refo- 
 Jutions of the Houfe of Commons, an effectual Re- 
 medy againft all the Confequences of fuch irregular 
 Proceedings. 
 
 The Remedy I mean is the Right of petitioning 
 bis Majefty for a free Parliament, and for the 
 Redrefs of Grievances. 
 
 You are intitled to this Right, as I have already 
 obferved, by numerous Rdblutions of the Houfe of 
 Commons, and by many exprefs Laws ; particu- 
 larly by the Bill of Rights, framed at the Revolu- 
 tion, as the Charter of car future Freedom. 
 
 Nay,
 
 (4*) 
 
 vNay, fo facred has this Right -been formerly 
 efteem'd, that when, on Occafion of the Petitions 
 for the Sitting of the Parliament, from all Parts 
 of the Kingdom, in the Time of Charles zd, 
 the Court- Party endeavoured to procure Counterr 
 Addrejfes, declaring their Abhorrence of fucb Peti- 
 tioning -, the Parliament, upon their Meeting, did 
 not only declare, Nemine contradicente, that it is, 
 and ever hath been the undoubted Right of the Sub- 
 jefts of England to petition the King for the calling 
 and fitting .of Parliaments, and redrej/ing Grie- 
 vances -, but They alfo refolved, that to traduce fuch 
 a Petitioning as a Violation of Duty, and to repre- 
 fent it to bis Majefty as tumultuous and feditious, is 
 to betray the Liberty of the Subject, and contributes 
 to the Deftgn of fubverting the ancient legal Conjiitu- 
 tion of this Kingdom, and introducing arbitrary 
 Power. 
 
 In Confequence of thefe Votes it was ordered, 
 that a Committee be appointed, to enquire of all fucb 
 'Perfons, as have offended againfl thefe Rights of the 
 Subjefts; and Sir Francis Witb&ns having been 
 found guilty by the Committee of encouraging the 
 Addreffes for the Abhorrency &c. it was refolved, 
 that Sir Francis Withens, by promoting andprefent- 
 ing to his Majefty an Addrefs exprejfing his faid Ab- 
 horrency, hath betrayed the undoubted Rights of the 
 ' Subjects of England. 
 
 It was alfo ordered that He fhould be expelled 
 the Houfe, and that He mould receive his Sentence 
 on bis Knees. 
 
 Many others too were cenfured ; and an Im- 
 peachment was ordered againft Sir Francis North, 
 Chief Juftice of the Common Pleas, for adviiing 
 and afliiting in drawing up and patTing a Proclama- 
 tion, that had been iflucd againit tumultuous Pe- 
 titions. 
 
 Nor
 
 (47) 
 
 Nor is it furprizing that an boneft Parliament 
 should thus ftrenubufly affert the Right of the Sub- 
 ject to petition his Majefty for the Redrefs of their 
 Grievances* efpecially for the Calling, and Sitting 
 of Parliaments ; for Experience had taught Them, 
 that in our moft fcandalous Times, when the Prac- 
 tice of influencing our Reprefentatives, by pecuniary 
 Diftributions* had taken Place, the moft effectual 
 Method of removing this Evil, had been found 
 to be Addre/ing his Majefty to grant to his loyal 
 Subjects the Benefit of zfree Parliament, either by 
 delivering up to publick Juftice Thofe of his 
 Minifters, who had thus abufed his royal Confidence ', 
 in debauching the Legijlature^ or by difiblving the 
 Parliament, which had fubmicted to this Difho- 
 flbiny and thereby putting it in the Power of the 
 Publick, by a new EJettion, to replace with Gen- 
 tlemen more worthy of their Confidence the Seats 
 of Thofe, who were known thus infamoufly to 
 have betrayed their Truft. 
 
 . And fhould You, by the future Triumphs of 
 Corruption, be ever necefiitated to requeft the fame 
 gracious Favour of his prefent Majefty, We mould 
 have the ftrongeft Preemptions to hope, from his 
 known Regard to Juftice , and to the Interefts of 
 bis People, that in this righteous Caufe He would 
 pot be inexorable to your Petitions. 
 
 For if, in any fuch future Exigence, it mould 
 appear to his Majefty by the Unanimity and Ear- 
 neftnefs of your Addrejjes, that your Complaints 
 were not the artful Clamours of a Faffion, aiming 
 at Power, nor did arife from all the wicked Arts 
 and Infinuations, that Malice and Faljhood could fug- 
 geft \ but were founded on the real Ills We mould 
 feel \ when it mould by thefe Means be evident 
 to his Majefty, that thefe Petitions of his faithful 
 Subjects - were only the .honeft Efforts of a free
 
 (48) 
 
 People, zealous for the Prefer vation of their Ho- 
 nour and their Liberty, and thereby moft effectu- 
 ally fecuring the Luftre of the Throne, it would 
 be Injuftice to his known Paflion for Equity, to 
 fuppofe that, under thefe Circumftances, We 
 ihoultl not receive from his royal Hands all the 
 Redrefs, which the Greatnefs of our Sufferings 
 would then require. 
 
 But as We cannot flatter Ourfelves that all our 
 future Monarch* will be equally difpofed with his 
 prefent Majejly, to liften to the jult Requefts of 
 their People ; and as it is much more prudent to 
 prevent Diforders, than to neglect them for a Time, 
 relying on the Efficacy of the Remedies, of which 
 We are fuppofed to be Matters, it would therefore 
 become your Wifdom ferioufly to deliberate on 
 the moft likely Means of fecuring your Reprefen- 
 tatives, at all Times, from this pernicious Influence 
 of Corruption, fo fatal to their Honour, and to 
 your Safety. 
 
 This I conceive, as to the ffauje of Commons, 
 will be bed effected by a Bill, that mould reftrain 
 and limit the Number of Members, pofiefied of 
 Places under the Crown ; and mould at the fame 
 Time enact proper Penalties againft fuch Perfons, 
 beyond the Number allow'd, who, during their 
 Continuance in that Houfe, mould partake of the 
 Bounties of the Crown, either in Penfions, Grants, 
 Places, Quartering, or in any other Shape what- 
 ever -, for the eafy Difcovery of all which fecref 
 franfatfions, effectual Methods mould likewife be 
 taken in the fame Bill. 
 
 Such an Aft as this would eftablifh and confirm 
 the antient Luftre of the Houfe of Commons j for 
 it would effectually render the Interelt of that 
 Body infeparable from the true Interejt of the Na- 
 tion i and We mould thereby have the moft indu-, 
 
 bitable
 
 (49) 
 
 bitable Security that the genera] Courfe of our puff- 
 lick Affairs would be directed by a due Regard to 
 our Honour, and our Ha-ppinefs. 
 
 Tliis, perhaps, might be one of the Motives, 
 which incited ttofe, whom for many Years paft 
 You have confidered as the Guardians of your Li- 
 berty, to engage in the late Seceffion t in order to 
 avow to You in the mod affecting Manner a Truth, 
 that had You been only told it, might poffibly not 
 have lufficiently alarmed You. 
 
 With this Truth, however difagreeable, your 
 Safety demands that You mould be acquainted -, it 
 being in your Power only to fave the Nation from 
 the impending Danger. 
 
 Know then that it is the Opinion of *fboj y who 
 have hitherto exerted Themfclves in your Service, 
 that if a Place-Bill be not procured, all their honeft 
 Efforts will for the future be ufelefs to You, and 
 your Ctinftitution will foon be at an End. 
 
 For it cannot be doubted that our Conftitution 
 will be at an End, and We mail be Slaves to the 
 Crown, whenever a Majority of both Houfes of Par- 
 liament are Servants of the Crown, and vote only as 
 tlie Minijler directs Them. 
 
 ThcHoufe of Lords We all "know to be a perma- 
 nent Body, and molt of the great Offices of State 
 will probably, nay even neccffanly, be ilur'd a- 
 monglt Them. Perfons of iuch exalted Rank and 
 Honour may not be thought fo liable to the In- 
 fluence of a Minifter ; but it will require no fmall 
 Degree of Virtue to oppole his Meafures, however 
 unjuft, if it mould be true that the annual Sum of 
 209,400 : oo : oo/. is diftributed amongtt Them. 
 
 In the Houfe of Common ;, above two Hundred 
 
 Members are known to poflcls profitable Puffs ; of 
 
 which it is in the Power of the Crown to oifpof- 
 
 fcfs Th?m at Pleaiure ; and the Total of their 
 
 H blown
 
 ($0 
 
 known Salaries amounts to above two Hundred 
 tbofuar.d Pounds per Annum. 
 
 There are, betides, great Numbers of Candi- 
 dates for Places , it being a Maxim perpetually, 
 inculcated amongft all 'Thofe, who have any Pre- 
 tenfions to Preferments of any Kind, that the mod 
 ipeedy and infallible Method of fucceeding is 
 being chofen into Parliament ; nay, it is not un- 
 common for a Poft to be given away, under this 
 cxprefs Condition, that He, who receives it, (hall 
 immediately endeavour to get Himfelf cholen ; 
 and in many Offices the Poffeffor is expefted ,to be 
 conftantly in Parliament, his Seat in that 'Houfe be- 
 ing confidered as the Tenure, by which He holds 
 his Place, and without which his Pofiefiion would 
 be very infecurc. 
 
 That tbcfe Gentlemen might be fully inform'd of 
 the Duty expected from Them, it hath lately 
 grown a Cuftom to difp'ace Thofe, who, being 
 ihfluenc'd by an hontrt Regard for the Trujt re r 
 ppsM in Them, have vcntur'd to oppofe any mini- 
 fterial Meafures, which. They apprehended to be 
 mifchievous to the Intereft of that People, of whole 
 Rights They had been conftituted Protectors. 
 
 Nay, fo far have thefe Praftices, thefe pernicious 
 PratticeS) been avowed, that on fome extraordi- 
 nary Inftances of this Kind, which had been 
 mention'd in Parliament, n certain Minifter had 
 the Aflurance to declare in the Face of that Aflem- 
 bly, that He muft be a very pityful Fellow, if He 
 did not immediately turn out 'Thofe, who at any 
 Time mould oppofe his Meafures-, a Proceeding, 
 which He was pleas'd to (tile endeavouring to make 
 }Jim lefe a Minifter. 
 
 This being therefore the avowed Cafe, thru who- 
 ever ventures to oppofe the Will of the Minifter, 
 ";) lure of torfejsin^ all the Advantages He re- 
 ceives
 
 ) 
 
 cei ves frorn the Crotwi, it requires no Depth #f 
 Judgment to difcern, that our Liberties and Proper- 
 ties can never be effectually fecured, for the Time- 
 to .come, againft the nwft licentious Schemes of Power, 
 till the Number of Place-Men in the Houfe of Com- 
 mons is reduced- fo low; .as- to render Them incapa- 
 ble of controuling the honefter Decifions of the - 
 influenced Part. 
 
 For, as We have already obfervM that the 
 known Salaries of the Place-Men amount at prefenc 
 to above two hundred thoufand Pounds per Annum, 
 in the Houfe of Commons, befides fecret Bounties, 
 which fome of Them may be fufpeded to receive ; 
 how can it be expected, in thefe degenerate Days, 
 that fuch an immenfe Income mould be aban- 
 doned, meerly from the Motive of honeftly dif- 
 charging the Truft repofcd in Them by their 
 Electors. 
 
 For inftance, the annual Stipends receiv'd from 
 the Crown by one Family only amount to more 
 than the 'whole Land-Tax of that County, in which 
 their .Eftajes are fituated. If this Revenue was in 
 lefshoneft Hands, it could not be expected, that 
 the Reduction of our national Expences, the Dimi- 
 nution of our Taxes^ or the Payment of our Debts, 
 fhould ever influence Them in Oppofition to their 
 more important Inlereft, fo vaftly exceeding all that 
 They could ever fuffer from the publick Poverty 
 and Misfortunes. 
 
 Moreover, the hard Conditions of a Place-Man 
 in Parliament, and the Neceflity He is under, 
 either of betraying his Country^ if required, or 
 lofing a confiderable Part of his Subfiftence, 
 will necefllirily deter all honeft Men from engaging 
 in fo hateful a Situation ; or if there mould be 
 amongft Thefe fome one of a more inflexible Dif- 
 pofnion, who dares to follow the Dictates of his 
 H 2 o\v a
 
 own Heart, though his whole Fortune fell a Sacri- 
 fice to his Integrity, yet This does not mend the 
 Matter. His Place would be immediately taken 
 from Him, and if it be confiderable, Another would 
 be foon found, who would engage Himfelf, on Con- 
 dition of having it given Him, to purchafe the 
 Votes of the next venal Borough, that is vacant, 
 and thus the deftruftive Syftem of Corruption 
 would continue all its Motions with unabating 
 Vigour. 
 
 Befides, as our Judgment takes a ftrong Tincture 
 from our Inclinations, and as Approbations and 
 Difapprobations, even of the belt-meaning Men, 
 are in fome Degree influenced by their Wijhes, 
 it would be a very great Misfortune to Them to 
 difcover that the Minifter was purfuing Meafures 
 detrimental to the Publick ; fmce the Oppofilion 
 They mult then engage in, would deprive Them 
 of Advantages, which may poffibly be extremely 
 necefiary to their prefent Condition of Life. This 
 Interell, which They had upon a Suppofition that 
 the Defigns of the Minifter Ihould be upright and 
 honourable, will naturally afttdt their Opinions of 
 fublick Affairs, and will imperceptibly eilablifh in 
 their Minds fuch temporary and fallacious Principles 
 as may bdl contribute to the quieting of rheir 
 Confdenccs, in the Afliftance They thus lend, 
 unknown to Themlelves, to the moft deftrufthc 
 Schemes. 
 
 What occafions all the Corruption in our little 
 Boroughs, but the general Opinion of Corruption 
 'within Doors , which gives evo-y mercenary Elettor 
 a Pretence for asking to be paid tor his Vote? 
 This Prolufion of the publkk Trtafxrt is likewile 
 very detrimental to the Honour of the Cro-wn, not 
 only as it makes a bad Impreflion on the Minds 
 of the People, but: di fables his Majefly from ex- 
 
 eftiog
 
 ($3) 
 
 CTttng his known Generality for the pnblick Good. 
 What figniftes an immenfe Civil-Li/, whiift tht 
 greateft Part of it is fwallow'd up "in Places, Pcft- 
 fwns zndfecret Service ? Would it not be infinitely 
 more glorious for fo good a Prince to refund Part 
 of it, for the Eafe of a People groaning under 
 their Burthens ; or, at lead, to employ it for the 
 Support of new-erected Manufactures, fuch as the 
 Scotch and Irijh Linnefts^ or the Encouragement of 
 ufeful Arts and Sciences? The building of Wejl- 
 mmfter Bridge only, at the royal Expence, inftead 
 of a deftni'&ive Lottery, would be a. more lading 
 and honourable Monument to his Majefty's Me- 
 mory, than all the Money thrown away by the 
 Methods before mention'd. 
 
 The Necefiity therefore of a Law for reflraining 
 the Number of Place-Men^ that may fit in PArliA- 
 metit, appearing thus obvioufly requifite to our fu- 
 ture Prefervation, You may poffibly ask Me, how 
 fo great a Good maybe procur'd by your Influ- 
 ence. 
 
 To this 1 anfwer, that if fully convinced of its 
 abiblute Neceffity, You relblve to contribute your 
 utmoft Efforts to obtain it, You cannot furcly fail 
 in fo virtuous an Atempt. 
 
 For, not to repeat the Weight that your united 
 Petitions would have on your Reprcfentati-veSi or 
 the Inftrufiions^ which You have now a Right to 
 give Them, the Time will loon come, when a 
 new Parliament muft be chofen , and it will then 
 be in your Power to make each Candidate's Affec- 
 tion to this mofl fclutary La 1 a Teft of his Me- 
 rit, and how far He is worthy of the Trull He 
 ibllicits. By thciir Mc.ms ii \viS! bj-poffible, if 
 it fl-iould appear to be your general Sentiments, to 
 comoofe a M'-.--' t wi PtrUJwi!* -of fuch 
 
 Gcmk-
 
 (5+) 
 
 Gentlemen as are honeft enough not only to ac- 
 knowledge the Neceffity of ibis Law^ but alfo to 
 exert their utmoft Endeavours actually to obtain 
 it. 
 
 The late SeceJ/ion too will much contribute to 
 this defireable End. 
 
 For as it was principally founded on the appa- 
 rent Necefiky of fuch a Law^ it has by thefe 
 Means united the Wifhes and Endeavours of All, 
 who have engaged in it, on this important Point; 
 
 That You may be the better apprized of the 
 Advantages of the SeceJJion, and how much it may 
 tend, in its Confcquences, to procure Us this laft- 
 ing Security for our Liberty ; I muft inform You 
 that Tboje, who are the moft deeply interelled in 
 the Prevalence of Corruption, have been greatly 
 alarm'd on this Occafion, and have therefore ex- 
 erted all their Endeavours to render it odious, in 
 order to prevent the good Effefts of it, by repre- 
 fentingitasa Breach of Tnift, and that it would 
 have been more agreeable to the Confidence re- 
 pos'd in tbofe Gentlemen by their Eledors, to have 
 adher'd to the accuftom'd Forms, and thereby im- 
 pofing upon the Nation, than to have declar'd the 
 Truth, and inform'd their Conftituents> as They 
 did by this Behaviour, that in the prefent Circum- 
 ftances of A flairs it was impoflible to do Them 
 any Service. 
 
 But does not every Member of Parliament 
 who accepts of an Employment after his Election, 
 give up the Truft repos'd in Him by the People 
 more than Tbofe > who withdraw Themfelves for 
 a while, in order to put Matters upon a better 
 Footing? It is therefore ridiculous for the Court- 
 Party to upbraid the Country Party with Self inte- 
 reftcd Hews, and betraying their Truft, whilft They 
 
 are
 
 are fo notoriously guilty of both Themfejyes in a 
 more eminent Degree ? For one who accepts of 
 a Place, which forfeits his Seat in Parliament, % 
 not a tejnporary, but a perpetual Seceder -, unlefs his 
 Eleffors are fo weak, or fo corrupt as to chufe Him 
 again. 
 
 The minijierial Party have like wife endeavour^ 
 to exaggerate the Danger, to which we mould be' 
 hereby expofed ; fince the Nation would, by thefe 
 Means, be left in the Hands of fucb Perfpn^, as it 
 is prefum'd thofe Gentlemen, ct>mpofmg the Secef- 
 Jion, fufpect of 'Defigns not the moft innocent. 
 But furely after the Convention had been approved 
 of, it could not be fuppos'd, that any other Mea- 
 flire from the fame Quarter could have mifcarried 
 by their Oppofition , not even that unlimited and 
 moft extraordinary Vote of Credit itfelf, which was 
 pafs'd at the End of the SefTion, when the Houfe 
 is generally thio, without what is now call'd a Se- 
 ceffion. It was reafonable, at lead, to believe, 
 that the Watchfulnefs of the Publick, excited 
 by this particular Step, would be a much greater 
 Security againft any new Law, that mould have 
 been mifchievous to our Liberty, than the faint 
 unavailing Efforts of a Minority, which had been 
 fo lately defeated fn a Queftion, the leaft liable to 
 Difpute of any, that had ever been before that 
 Houfe. 
 
 They have likewife reprefented this Secejfion as 
 an Appeal to the 'People, intended to excite Them 
 to a Civil War -, but This is a Calumny too grofs 
 to be impofed upon any, but the very meaneft of 
 'their own deluded hireling Herd. The bare Recol- 
 lection of the Names of the Gentlemen engaged in ... 
 it, the Property They pofiefs, and their paft Be- 
 
 haviour in publick Life, fufficiently confute it 
 
 It
 
 (SO 
 
 It MS only a Kind of filent Proteft, and in the 
 mod decent Way, to recover Thar, without 
 which all imift be loft. Befides, I am afliirM 
 that it arofc from no previous Concert amongft any 
 of the Members, bur was the Refult of every 
 Gentleman's private Judgment of Things, and 
 
 the .Jnopoflibility of Hemming the Torrent 
 
 AY hat could be more affecting than the'Iaft Words 
 of the Merckatitii viz. that They muft dilpofc 
 .( ir Effeftsi fell their Ships, part with their 
 Ptitntttfions, and ' fly to fomc other Country for 
 Protection, ir' they could not find it here? > 
 Bi.it: to return. 
 
 .jull however be ackhowledg'd that tbis Sg- 
 
 was' intended as an Appeal to the PuUick - 9 
 
 '^fdl nbc to excite You to Rebellion^ but to 
 
 tde You by the legal Methods, which our 
 
 ..".tion has put into your Hands, to lave your 
 
 ry trom all future Dangers, in which the 
 
 .'-, Power of Corruption may one Time involve 
 
 It was intended as a Motive tor examining 
 
 /'.iw;/;, which preceded it ; that You, 
 
 be latisfred ot your prefent Situation, and 
 
 not doubled that if You mould, upon 
 
 .:i Enquiry, find Yourlelves in any Danger, 
 
 i-arvmoufly concur in fome Jawiul 
 
 >^)d ro \y,. 
 
 .?oly concur with the Gentle- 
 
 who have vyj^idrawn Themfelvcs, that a 
 
 -/.' . . is ' : '. i. oft proper l-'xpedient, upon 
 
 v>ccaiio,'!, They will probably attend the ev.fu- 
 
 ;:j ordti to propofe and fuppor: 
 ..-:', no: doubting that if They are fc- 
 :u by ;wr Petitions to your irfpedive Repce- 
 :itd wiih a Zeal and Sieadincfs be- 
 : - Lhc O:c\iiion, They may ever then pro- 
 cure
 
 (57) 
 
 core this new Rejtnftion, fo necefiary to the future 
 Prefer vat ion of our Liberty. 
 , But fhould aM thtir Efforts on this Head prove 
 abortive, the next Sejfion, as They are fully faris- 
 ficd that it would be in vain to attempt the Ser- 
 vice of the Publick, in any other Shape till this 
 Law can be obtained 5 They may, perhaps; in 
 Confequence of fuch a Difappointment, again re- 
 treat till, by the Exertion of your Vinue and 
 Spirit in a new Elettion, You fhall have procured 
 to the, Kingdom a new Parliament, rhat fhalJ, 
 without Hefnaticn, grant to the Wifhes and Ne- 
 cefllties of the Publick this invaluable BleJJing. 
 
 Upon the whole, You cannot doubt, after what 
 hath been already faid, that a Bill of this Nature 
 is abfo'lutely neceffary for the Prefervation of your 
 Liberties, and the Support of your Conftitution. 
 
 There hath been rais'd on the Nation, for 
 eighteen Tears paft, at a Medium, near feven Mil- 
 lions annually. 
 
 We have all felt the Hardfhips cf fo exorbitant 
 a Payment. It hath ruin'd the moft valuable 
 Branches of our Trade, and brought a very con- 
 fiderable Part of the Kingdom to Beggary and 
 extreme Diftrefs. 
 
 It is highly the Intereft of the Publick that, by 
 the Payment of our Debts, and Frugality in all our 
 Expences, We mould reduce tbefe annual Payments 
 as low as pofllble. 
 
 Were our Debts paid, and our Affairs mand-g'd, 
 
 With proper Oeconomy, the whole annual Expence, 
 
 in Time of Peace, need not exceed i,jf7O,ooo/. - y 
 
 this Sum being efteem'd by the Whigs, * at the 
 
 I End 
 
 * Vide* Paper; intitled a View of the TAXES, FUNDS, 
 end PUBLICS REVENUES OF ENGLAND, printed in the Tear
 
 (*) 
 
 End of the fete War, fufficient for all the ncceflary 
 Purpofesof Government. 
 
 But the Payment of our Debts, and a Reduction 
 of Faxes, that muft neceffarily attend it, would 
 take away many of thofe Places, which arc now 
 pofiefs'd by Members of Parliament, and their 
 Relations. 
 
 This Reduction of our annual Expences, and 
 entering into frugal Meafures, would likewife abo- 
 lifh more of thofe Places, and cut off many other 
 Articles of private Gain, which our prefent Pro- 
 fnfion perpetually furnifhes to the Favorites of a 
 Minifter. 
 
 How therefore can We expect, from the pre- 
 fent felfijh Difpofition of Mankind, that either our 
 Debts, our Taxes, or our Expences, fhould be in 
 any Manner reduc'd, when Tbofe, from whom 
 thefe falutary Meafures muft proceed, are fo 
 deeply interefted againft them ? 
 
 If then, it cannot be expected that our Debts 
 fhould be ever paid, our Taxes diminifh'd, our 
 Expences regulated, or our Liberty fecur'd, whilft 
 the Houfe of Commons, by the Number of Place- 
 men in it, fhouid be maniieftly retain'd by the 
 Crown, You will furely agree that your molt ftre- 
 nuous Endeavours can never be more virtuoufly 
 
 1712, and reputed to be written by an intimate Friend of Sir- 
 ROBERT WALPOLE. In this P,.per, the neceflary annual 
 Expences, in Time of Peace, are faid to be no more than the 
 
 The C/f/7 Lift - 
 The Guards and Gar>ifont 
 The Ordinary of the AW-y 
 
 Total 
 
 . !ovM
 
 employ'd than in procuring Us an Exemption from 
 the Terrors of fo dangerous a Situation. 
 
 For, according to the high Eftimation, in which 
 I perfuade Myfelf You hold your Liberty and 
 Hafpinefs, You will certainly value the Means of 
 their Prefervation, and will therefore exert your 
 moft zealous Efforts to procure that Law, upon 
 which depends the chiet Solidity of our Conjlitu- 
 tion, and the Continuance of thole Bleffirigs to our 
 Poflerity, which We have receiv'd from our An* 
 ceftors. 
 
 We have had Trials enough to convince Us 
 that all Attempts elfewbere are in vain ; and there- 
 fore our Hopes depend intirely upon Tou, by all 
 legal and peaceable Methods, prefcrib'd by our Con- 
 ftitution -, for Nothing is farther from my Thoughts 
 than animating You to any violent, or tumultuary 
 Proceedings, which would difgrace fo glorious a. 
 Caufe, and give our Enemies an Advantage over 
 
 Us, inftead of redrefling our Grievances No, 
 
 whatever your Refolutions may be, let the whole 
 be conducted with that Duty, which becomes good 
 and loyal Subjefts, as well as fuch a Spirit as be- 
 comes Freemen, and fuch Temper as becomes Men 
 of Senfe. 
 
 I am, Gentlemen, 
 
 Tour affectionate Fellow-Subject 
 and humble Servant, &c. 
 
 I 2 POST-
 
 ( 
 
 POSTSCRIPT. 
 
 IT may not be amifs to fubjoin a few Obferva- 
 tions on what hath pafs'd fince the Seceflion. 
 
 I need nor repeat to You that this Meafure was 
 occafion'd by the Approbation given to the Con- 
 vention^ which feveral Gentlemen apprehended to 
 he very injurious and difhonourable to the Nation^ 
 for Reafons mention'ti in the foregoing Sheets. 
 
 They chofe therefore to withdraw, after They 
 had born their Zeftimony againft it, Jeft even their 
 Attendance and fruitlefi Oppofition might Teem to 
 juftify and give, a Sanction to Mea/ures-, which 
 They could not approve -, for it is the old Cant* 
 Way of arguing amongft Men. in Power, * that 
 their Measures muft certainly .be right, . becaufe 
 they had rtctiv'd the Approbation of Parliament ; 
 though, perhaps, They might have previoufly fe* 
 cur'd a Majority to Them Lives, by Places, Pen- 
 JjonSy Proviifes,. Threatening*, and other courtly 
 
 Methods of the fume Nature Befides, tbefa 
 
 Gentlemen ivjver remember, or rather affect to for- 
 ger, the. Cafe of the late Earl of Oxford, who was 
 impeach'd of Ifyb Treajbn in one Kirliament for- 
 coiii'luding a Ireatv, which was- voted jufti wife 
 :md honourable by a fbrnier Parliament j and every 
 Body knows who had the principal Management of 
 that Profecittiw. 
 
 AS, much as. the late Convention was exroll'd by 
 the mbnjl:rial Party, and <*vcn faid to contain all 
 that wMJte cxpcclcd at the. End of the moft Ji{cccff r 
 ful War\ \ccitvt-ry fo.>n appear *d to be as incf- 
 as nny of uur .fyrmsr Tttaties, and fully
 
 juftify'd the Apprehenfions of thofe Gentlemen, whQ 
 
 bppos'd it It was, indeed, the moft fhort- 
 
 lived Treaty, that ever was made , and refembles 
 the Animal on the Banks of the Nile, which is faid 
 to perform all the Functions of Life in one Day. 
 
 For, upon the South- Sea Company's refuting to 
 pay the unjuft Demand ot 68,000 /, ftipulated by 
 our Minifter at Madrid, without their Confent, 
 the Court of Spain peremptorily refus'd to pay any 
 Part of the 95,000 /. which was agreed upon, as 
 a pretended Reparation for the Loffes of our Mer- 
 chants , and thus the Time ftipulated for the Pay- 
 fnentof it elaps'd, by which the Convention was, 
 in Effect, diflblv'd. Nor could the Court of 
 Spain be" prevail^ upon, by all the pathetick Re- 
 rhohftrances of our Plenipotentiaries, to proceed 
 upon (he other Points refer'd to Them, without 
 making the Payment of this 68,ooo/. and the 
 Revocation of our Fleet, two neceffary Prelimina- 
 ries. They likewife refus'd to give up their info.* 
 lent Claim of fearching bur Ships on the High- 
 Seas, and even infifted on their Right to fome of 
 our Poffeffions in 'the Weft -Indies.. This put an 
 End to the Conferences , upon which Mr Keene 
 preferred a thundering Declaration to the Court of 
 Madrid, which was follow'd by an Order of Coun- 
 cil' at home,- for granting Letters of Marque and 
 Reprizal to pur Merchants. The Preamble to this 
 Order breathes a true Spirit of Refentment, and 
 had the Honour to be fign'd by the two Arcb-Bi- 
 Jhops^ and fome other Privy Counfellors, in tjjie 
 Ablcnce of the Mini/I er, who prudently retired 
 into the Country, upon this Occafion. I will not 
 c'nll it a Secejfim -, becaufe That is an hard Word, 
 and apply 3 d only to the Country Party. 
 
 Our military Preparations, both .by Se.i a,nd 
 Land-, hive been "carry'd on ever fince with the 
 
 utiiioil
 
 utmoft Vigour,, by Embargoes, ImpreJJing, Inlifi, 
 Mgy and fitting out Ships. This- hath, indeed, 
 occnfion'd a great Interruption of Trade ; and will, 
 no Doubt, put Us to a vaft Expence. But all 
 private Confederations muft be facrific'd to the pub- 
 Bfk Gotd; and if a proper Ufe fhould be made of 
 Sfofd prodigious Armaments, I believe every honeft 
 Englt/hman will chearfully fubmit to his Share of 
 the Burthen. 
 
 What feems to g-ive the greateft Uneafmefs and 
 Difiatisraction i? the Land-Army , which, with the 
 prefent Augmentation, is a very formidable Force, 
 and may endanger our Liberties, unlefs They are 
 employed in foreign Service* for there does not 
 fcem to be any great Danger of a domeftick Inva- 
 pefr, from the preterit Circumftances of Affairs in 
 fcurope ; and fr there (hould be the leaft Sufpfcion 
 ot i'uch a Defign, our great naval Armaments, 
 with the Affections of the People, are more than 
 iufficient to defeat it, without fuch a numerous 
 funding Army. But if there fhould be any real 
 Occalion for Them, either at home, or abroad, it 
 is to be hoped that They will be immediately re- 
 duced to their former Complement, at leaft, as loon 
 as the Service is over , for it They (hould be con- 
 tinued afterwards, it will certainly add to the Un- 
 cafinefs of the People, who have long complain'd 
 of the Burthen of a much lefs Number of mercenary 
 "Troops, in Time of Peace. What may farther 
 add to their Apprehenfion, is the Experience of 
 many Years how difficult it is to obtain any Re- 
 duction of military Forces, when They are once 
 rais'd ; and fome difaffected Perfons might, per- 
 haps, fuggcft that They were kept up for evil Fur- 
 poles againft the next Eleffion. 
 
 A very little Time will now determine whether 
 Peace or War is to be the Ifiue of all our long and 
 
 tedious
 
 tedious Negotiations. An honourable Peace is cer- 
 tainly the moft eligible, upon many Accounts ; but 
 in Cafe That fliould be any longer deny'd Us by 
 our haughty Enemies, a vigorous War will become 
 abfblutely neceffary, under all our Incumbrances, 
 for the Prefervation of our 'Trade, Honour, Liber- 
 lies* and Conftitution. I fhall therefore conclude 
 with this hearty Prayer 
 
 ieafB;tftafai 
 
 FINIS.
 
 

 
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