At present, sir, I shall content myself with bare assertions, like those
of him by whom I am accused, and hope they will not be heard with less
attention, or received with less belief. For surely it was never denied
to any man to defend himself with the same weapons with which he is
attacked.
I shall, therefore, sir, make no scruple to assert, that the treasure of
the publick has been employed with the utmost frugality, to promote the
purposes for which it was granted; that our foreign affairs have been
transacted with the utmost fidelity, in pursuance of long consultations;
and shall venture to add, that our success has not been such as ought to
produce any suspicion of negligence or treachery.
That our design against Carthagena was defeated, cannot be denied; but
what war has been one continued series of success? In the late war with
France, of which the conduct has been so lavishly celebrated, did no
designs miscarry? If we conquered at Ramillies, were we not in our turn
beaten at Almanza? If we destroyed the French ships, was it not always
with some loss of our own? And since the sufferings of our merchants
have been mentioned with so much acrimony, do not the lists of the ships
taken in that war, prove that the depredations of privateers cannot be
entirely prevented?
The disappointment, sir, of the publick expectation by the return of the
fleets, has been charged upon the administration, as a crime too
enormous to be mentioned without horrour and detestation.
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