AN 
 
 H 
 
 A. 
 
 TO 
 
 A ' ITTiR rO HIGH' ' HONOUR ' ' ; 
 
 THE EARL OF B... 
 
 • A V ' '' 
 
 V _\„ V N; - • V - 
 
A N 
 
 ANSWER 
 
 T O 
 
 A Letter to the Right Honourable 
 
 The Earl of B # # * , 
 
 In which the fal/e Reafoning, and abfurd 
 Conclufions, in that Pamphlet, are fully 
 detected and refuted : Addrefled to 
 
 The Right Hon. Earl T — mple. 
 
 quarens illidere dcntem 
 
 Offendet folido : 
 
 ridentem dicere verum 
 
 Quid vet at ? Hor. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 Printed for J. Wilkie, in St. PauPs Church. 
 Yard. 1761. 
 
— 
 
 f 
 
 TO THE 
 
 RIGHT HONOURABLE 
 
 EARL T-MPLE. 
 
 * 
 
 My Lord, 
 
 1 HAVE taken the Liberty of 
 addreffing the following Pages 
 to your Lordihip, not becaufe 
 you are a Friend of Mr. P. ’s, and, 
 on that Account, may be fuppofed 
 to lend a more willing Ear to any 
 Thing that is urged in his De- 
 fence ; for, I believe, your Lord- 
 (hip has fuch a Regard for Truth, 
 that, did you really think the Con- 
 dud: of that Gentleman indefenfi- 
 ble, you would not even wi/h to 
 
 fee 
 
 a 2 
 
DEDICATION. 
 
 fee it defended : But I have ad- 
 dreffed them to your Lordfhip, be- 
 caufe, being intimately conneded 
 with JVtr. P. and privy to all his 
 Meafures, you mull, of courfe, be 
 the mod: competent Judge of what- 
 ever is advanced, either in Support $ 
 or Diminution of his Character. 
 
 I have the Honour to be, 
 
 My Lord, 
 
 Your Lor djhip's moft obedient , 
 
 \ 
 
 And moft humble Servant. 
 
ad- 
 
 hf 
 
 it- 
 
 art* 
 
 A N 
 
 ANSWER, &c. 
 
 S HOULD an able and (kilful pilot, 
 after having (leered a (hip through 
 many (lorms and tempefts, and 
 almoft conducted her fafely to her 
 wi(hed-for harbour, be removed from 
 the helm ; and (liould any one of the 
 pafiengers, in order to prevent this 
 pilot from being reftored to his former 
 (lation, endeavour to convince the reft, 
 that the merit of guiding the (hip was 
 not due to him, it is certainly the duty 
 and intereft of every man on board, to 
 attend to the arguments advanced by 
 this paflenger, that, if they are juft, he 
 B may 
 
[ 2 ] 
 
 may acquiefce in the meafure that has 
 been taken ; and, if fali'e, he may em- 
 ploy every juftifiable method for re- 
 committing the helm to that hand, 
 which had fo long ruled it with fuch 
 fignal fuccefs. 
 
 Such, and fuch only, is the motive 
 that induced the writer of the following 
 Iheets, to make fome animadverfions on 
 a pamphlet lately published, entitled, 
 “ A Letter to the right honourable the 
 “ Earl of B***,” in which the author, 
 (who feems to be a gentleman of learn- 
 ing and abilities, and therefore the more 
 dangerous an advocate in a bad caufe) 
 endeavours to diminifti the merit of a 
 late great minifter, and to rob him of 
 the glory of thofe important conquefts, 
 which diftinguiihed his adminiftration. 
 
 He indeed pretends to fay, that truth 
 is the only fcope of his enquiry; but as 
 ail truths (mathematical alone excepted) 
 are of a doubtful nature, he muft excufe 
 
[ 3 1 
 
 me, if I happen to differ from him in 
 opinion, and think that truth does not 
 always lie on his fide of the queftion. 
 
 He further declares, that one of his 
 chief intentions was, to preferve that 
 fpirit of concord and unanimity, which 
 hath fo happily prevailed in the nation, 
 ever fince the acceffion of his prefent 
 majefty to the throne, and to prevent 
 thofe heats and animofities, whicn may 
 probably fucceed the relignation of the 
 great minifter he endeavours to decry. 
 
 I am as great a lover of peace and con- 
 cord, and as great an enemy to feuds 
 and animofities, as he can poffibly be; 
 but, I hope, I fliall neither be accufed 
 of deftroying the former, nor exciting 
 the latter, by vindicating the condud ot 
 Mr. P. fro™ thofe invidious reflections, 
 which he has thought proper to throw 
 upon it. 
 
 If he means that we ought not to find 
 fault with any meafures of t'he prefent 
 J3 2 miniftry 
 
[ 4 ] 
 
 miniftry (for, as it is a maxim in the 
 Englifh constitution, that the king can 
 do no wrong, we cannot poflibly find 
 fault with any meafure of his majefty) 
 he experts fuch a blind and implicit 
 obedience, as free-born Britons were 
 never accuftomed to pay, and, I truft, 
 never will be accuftomed to pay to any 
 miniftry whatever. 
 
 Indeed, had his majefty removed 
 Mr. P. from the poll of S — of S — te, 
 and declared his fixt refolution never to 
 employ him for the future, perhaps a 
 regard to public peace and harmony, 
 might have induced many people to ac- 
 quiefee tacitly in the meafure ; though 
 even that is a ftretch of complaifance, 
 which the nation has not been always 
 difpoled to Shew, and which, particu- 
 larly, it did not Shew, when the fame 
 right honourable gentleman was, Some 
 years ago, turned out of office. In this 
 cafe, an attempt to reconcile the minds 
 of the people to the meafures of the 
 
 govern- 
 
[ 5 3 
 
 government, by depreciating the merit 
 of the difplaced minifter, might be 
 deemed the more excufable : the unjuft- 
 nefs of the means, according to the old 
 jefuitical maxim, might be iuppofed to 
 be juftified, or, at leaft, palliated by the 
 goodnefs of the end. 
 
 But as that is not the cafe ; as the 
 right honourable gentleman refigned vo- 
 luntarily, and as we have reafon to 
 think that his majefty received his re- 
 fignation, rather with reluCtance than 
 otherwife, and with fuch a mark of 
 his royal favour, as contains a Urong 
 approbation of his part ccnduCt, and 
 makes it prefumable that he has no ob- 
 jection againft employing his fervices 
 on future occafions ; an endeavour to 
 leffen his character, by deftroying that 
 well-founded popularity, which he has 
 hitherto maintained with the nation, 
 and that truft and confidence, which he 
 has always poflefied with his fovereign, 
 is not only an injury done to Mr. P. 
 
 it 
 
[ 6 ] 
 
 it is an injury to the public in general ; 
 and, as fuch, deferves the animadverfion 
 of every fincere lover of his country. 
 
 It is owing to this confideration, and 
 this alone, that the public are troubled 
 with the following reflexions, which 
 are humbly fubmitted to their candid 
 and impartial judgment. 
 
 The author of the letter to the right 
 honourable the earl of B***, not con- 
 tent with employing the body of his 
 work in vilifying the conduit of Mr. 
 P. begins to throw his fquibs even in 
 his title-page. He fays in his motto : 
 
 “ Such flames as high in patriots burn, 
 “ Yet ftoop to blefs a child or wife 
 
 Pope. 
 
 What does the author mean by this 
 couplet ? does he mean to inlinuate that 
 Mr. P. has been adtuated, during the 
 courfe of his adminiftration, not by the 
 principles of public fpirit and patriot- 
 
 ifm. 
 
[ 7 1 
 
 ifm, which he profeffed, by the low 
 motives of felf-intereft and advantage ? 
 if he does, the united voice of the 
 whole nation, (a few fnarling cynics ex- 
 cepted, whofe narrow and contracted 
 fouls are not fufceptible of any generous 
 and noble fcntiments) will give him the 
 lie. Or does he mean, that no man 
 can be a patriot without laying alide all 
 regard to his wife, and children, and o- 
 ther relations ? if he does, he advances 
 an opinion, than which, however gene- 
 rally received, nothing can be more ri- 
 diculous and abfurd, as will plainly ap- 
 pear by attending a little to the nature 
 of true patriotilm. 
 
 The firfl exercife of the focial princi- 
 ple, is that fenfe of duty and obedience 
 which a child feels towards his parents. 
 As he advances in years, and extends 
 his connexions, the circle of his focial 
 affedtions begins to widen apace : at firft, 
 it takes in his friends, relations, and ac- 
 quaintances, then the neighbourhood in 
 
 which 
 
u 
 
 r s ] 
 
 , which he lives, after that, his native 
 country, and laft of all, the whole hu- 
 man kind without exception. This prin- 
 ciple, as it includes the love of our 
 country, is called patriotifm ; as it com- 
 prehends the whole human race, it is 
 teimed pnilanthropy, or univerfal love 
 and benevolence. 
 
 But will this author, or will any man 
 pretend to fay, that this fpirit of patri- 
 otifm may not be felt and exercifed, 
 without deftroying thofe original affec- 
 tions, from which it fprung, and upon 
 which it is built ? he may, with the 
 fime propriety, affirm, that an edifice 
 is not compleatly finifhed, till once the 
 foundation upon which it refts is entire- 
 ly ruined and deftroyed. A true patriot 
 will never prefer his own intereft to 
 that of his country ; but when he can 
 confult the former without injuring the 
 latter, and much more, when by con- 
 iulting the former he can even promote 
 the latter ; he would not adt like a pa- 
 triot. 
 
[ 9 ] 
 
 triot, he would not ad: like a man of 
 fenfe, he would ad like a fool and a 
 madman, ftiould he negled the favour-* 
 able opportunity. 
 
 But Mr. P. has accepted of a peer- 
 age for his family, and a penlion 
 for himfelf and family. He has : and 
 what then ? did not he deferve it ? does 
 not his fovereign fay he deferved it ? 
 and does not the united voice of the 
 nation applaud this inftance of the roy- 
 al favour ? has he, in conlideration of 
 thofe rewards, betrayed his country, or 
 engaged to betray it for the future ? on 
 the contrary, has he not refigned one of 
 the moft lucrative and honourable em- 
 ployments in the kingdom, becaufe he 
 could not be allowed to purfue fuch 
 meafures as he judged moft conducive 
 to the glory and intereft of his country ? 
 
 But ftill Mr. P. has accepted of a 
 peerage and a penfion : he has j and, 
 by that means, he has given hrs majefty 
 the pleafing fatisfadlion of thinking, that 
 C he 
 

 [ 10 ] 
 
 he Shall not be reckoned an ungrateful 
 matter; for, had that right honoura- 
 ble gentleman retired from office with- 
 out any marks of the royal approbation, 
 fuch a refledtion would have arifen in 
 the bread: of every Britiffi fubjedl, not- 
 withstanding his loyalty and attachment 
 to the bed of fovereigns. 
 
 By the fame means too, inflead of 
 diminishing, he has greatly encreafed 
 his power of ferving his country ; for, 
 though his incorruptible integrity, and 
 didinguidied abilities, would have al- 
 ways procured him the fame influence 
 with men of SenSe and probity, yet the 
 late addition to his fortune will give him 
 greatei interest with thole, who regulate 
 their opinions of men by their external 
 circumstances ; and under this category, 
 perhaps, may be comprehended nine 
 hundred and ninety-nine parts in a 
 thoufand of the human kind. 
 
 U 
 
 But 
 
[ II ] 
 
 But let us now proceed to confider 
 the body of the work, to which we {hall 
 find the motto, invidious and malignant 
 as it is, to be a very proper introduc- 
 
 pofitions, which we lhall beg leave to 
 tranfcribe, that the reader may be the 
 better enabled to judge how far he. has 
 fucceeded in proving them. 
 
 His firft is, “ that a folid, honourable 
 “ and advantageous peace, in the pre- 
 “ fent circumftances of Great Britain, 
 “ exhaufted as her people, and multiply- 
 “ ing as her debts are, is preferable to the 
 “ moil fplendid fuccefles of war.” 
 
 His fecond propolition is, “ that fuch a 
 ** peace would give Great Britain an op- 
 
 ** the future, to decline all continental 
 “ connexions, attended with fuch a pro- 
 
 He begins by laying down four pro 
 
 portunity, with honour and credit for 
 
 C 2 
 
 “ fufion 
 
r 12 i 
 
 M fufion of blood and treafure, as thofe 
 “ flie is now engaged in.” 
 
 His third, “ that this fyftem can re- 
 “ ceive no manner of fhock by the re- 
 “ fignation of the right honourable gen- 
 ** tleman, who a few days ago gave up 
 “ the feals of his office.” 
 
 And his fourth is, « that the fame 
 ct right honourable gentleman and his 
 “ friends, whofe patriotifm and difin- 
 
 tei efted attachment to their country 
 “ cannot be questioned, will and muft, 
 t( in confiftence with that character, co- 
 “ operate in the fame good work, whe- 
 ** ther he or they be in place, or out 
 “ place, as they cannot be fufpedted 
 “ of diftreffing his majefty’s meafures, 
 
 “ even fuppofmg thofe meafures not to be 
 *' their own.” 
 
 Such are the proportions' which our 
 author undertakes to prove: but how 
 does he prove them ? why, he endea- 
 
 vours 
 
[ *3 1 
 
 vours to prove the firft by (hewing, that 
 Mr. P. had far lefs concern than is 
 commonly imagined, in the glorious 
 conquefts that diftinguiffied his admini- 
 ftration; by depreciating the value of 
 thefe conquefts, in order to make us re- 
 fign them, or, at leaft, part of them, 
 with lefs reludtance ; and by fome (light 
 touches on the greatnefs of our national 
 debt, and our confequent inability to 
 maintain the war. 
 
 The fecond he attempts to demon- 
 ftrate by bitterly inveighing againft Mr. 
 P. for giving into continental connexi- 
 ons, and carrying them to fuch a length, 
 after the warm and vigorous oppofition 
 he had made to thefe connexions, be- 
 fore his advancement to the office of 
 g — of S~te, and by fome pitiable 
 lamentations on the miferable fate of 
 the Britifh troops in Germany, which 
 he is pleafed to reprefent as their (ham- 
 bles, and them as cattle devoted to 
 (laughter. 
 
 The 
 
i 
 
 [ J 4 ] 
 
 The third he endeavours to prove 
 by fuppofing that every courtier is a 
 P. a very comfortable fuppohtion to be 
 fure, and which wants nothing but truth 
 to make it compleatly fo. 
 
 And the fourth propofition he endea- 
 vours to demonftrate, by prefenting us 
 with a very fine panegyric on the mini- 
 % immediately preceding Mr. P.’s, and 
 by declaring that the firft man who at- 
 tempts to oppofe the meafures of the 
 miniftry in parliament, even though he 
 fhould judge thefe meafures to be in- 
 confiftent with the public welfare, ought 
 to be confidered as an enemy to his 
 country ; a do&rine, which, were it once 
 to prevail, and pafs into a law, would 
 not only degrade our parliament below 
 the parliaments of France, in which the 
 meafures of the miniftry are frequently 
 oppofed, if not rejedted ; but would go 
 well nigh to annihilate our parliament 
 entirely, which, to be fure, would be 
 one method of preventing all animofity 
 
 and 
 
I >5 1 
 
 and party-fpirit, at leaft in that auguft 
 aflembly, though, we believe, the nation 
 will take fome time to confider the 
 matter, before they try iuch a dangerous 
 and unprecedented experiment. 
 
 But let us now defcend to particular^, 
 by which means we fhall be better able 
 to judge of the ftrength or weaknefs of 
 our author’s arguments, and of the truth 
 or falfity of his reafoning. In order to 
 obferve fome kind of method, which we 
 are forry to fay our author has hardly 
 done, his obfervations on the lame fub- 
 jedt lying, frequently, fcattered and de- 
 tached in different parts cf his work, 
 we (hall confider what he has faid under 
 his fir ft head, which is by far the 
 longeft, and moft important, in three 
 diftindt divifions. 
 
 In the firft, we fhall examine what he 
 has alledged in diminution of Mr. P.’s 
 merit : in the fecond, what he has ad- 
 vanced in order to depreciate the value 
 
 of 
 
f 
 
 [ 16 ] 
 
 of our conquers : and in the third, 
 what he urges in favour of a peace with 
 France, and upon what terms he w'ould 
 have that peace concluded. 
 
 In page 7, he fays, “ No minifter, 
 “ perhaps, ever entered into power with 
 “ Wlth grater advantages on his fide, 
 “ *^ an ^ r * His perfonal and family 
 “ connexions, the good opinion his fo- 
 “ verej *g n Jrad of him, with the homage 
 the people paid to his integrity and 
 “ abilities, left him nothing to with for. 
 
 “ ^ t ^ le departments in government 
 “ were filled up by his nomination, and 
 eveiy fcheme he laid down was adopt- 
 
 “ ed, even before it was examined.” 
 
 “ His popularity,” adds he, “ received a 
 vaft acceffion by the milcarriage of 
 “ our fleet in the Mediterranean, and 
 “ that unaccountably ridiculous meafure 
 “ °/ fending for Hefiians and Hanove- 
 “ rians t0 protedt Great Britain, with 
 “ many other favourable accidents of 
 “ the fame kind.” 
 
 With 
 
[ *7 3 
 
 With regard to Mr. P.’s family con- 
 nexions, though honourable and power- 
 ful, feveral other minifters have entered 
 into office with as great advantages of 
 the like nature, nor does it appear that 
 Mr. P. was ever obliged to have re- 
 courfe to the intereft of his relations, in 
 order to fupport himfelf in any of his 
 meafures j depending chiefly, if not 
 wholly, upon his own reputation, po- 
 pularity, and influence. As to his per* 
 fonal connexions, the good opinion of 
 his fovereign, and the homage paid him 
 by the people, thefe were entirely owing 
 to his incorruptible integrity and diftin- 
 guifhed abilities ; and if a man ought to 
 be blamed for thefe endowments, the 
 author fhould have taken the trouble to 
 point out the qualities that merit ap- 
 plaufe. 
 
 That all the departments in govern- 
 ment were filled up by his nomination, 
 is certainly more than the author is able 
 to prove. It was, no doubt, Mr. P.’s 
 D in* 
 
[ 18 ] 
 
 intereft, and he was in the right to 
 make it his bulinefs, that no perfon 
 fhould be in office, who would oppofe 
 his meafures from a lpirit of party and 
 contradiction. 
 
 “ Every fcheme he laid down was 
 “ adopted, even before it was examin- 
 ** ed” : if, by this, he means, that all 
 his fchemes were fo rational, and fo 
 evidently calculated for the public good, 
 that they gained the approbation of the 
 other members of the council at firft 
 light, and without the labour of a ItriCt 
 fcrutiny, he pays him the higheft com- 
 pliment that can poffibly be paid to any 
 minilter ; but if he means that the 
 members approved of them without 
 underftanding them, he throws a re- 
 flection upon their characters, which 
 perhaps he did not mean to throw. 
 
 With regard to the encreafe of popu- 
 larity which Mr. P. acquired by his 
 warm and fpirited declamations againft 
 
 the 
 
[ i9 ] 
 
 the mifcarriage of our fleet in the Me- 
 diterranean, the conduit of the mini- 
 ftry at that time, and the unaccountable 
 meafure of fending for Heflians and 
 Hanoverians to defend Great Britain, 
 the author furely cannot mean this as 
 any diminution of Mr. P.’s merit. Did 
 he not deferve the popularity he acquir- 
 ed ? Did not all the other m-mb-rs of 
 p-rl--m-nt enjoy the fame means of en- 
 creaflng their popularity ? And did not 
 fuch of them as underftood, and regard- 
 ed, the intereft of their country, gree- 
 dily embrace the opportunity ? They 
 did : and they obtained degrees of po- 
 pularity, proportionable to their merit j 
 but Mr. P. inferior to none in the vir- 
 tues of the heart, and fuperior to all 
 others in the abilities of head, fhone 
 forth unrivalled and alone, and diftin- 
 guifhed himfelf above all his com- 
 patriots. 
 
 He fays, that many other favourable 
 accidents of the fame kind, contributed 
 D 2 to 
 
[ 20 ] 
 
 to encreafe Mr. P.’s popularity. If, by 
 thefe favourable accidents, he means 
 (and he can hardly mean any thing 
 elfe) the deplorable ftate in which the 
 nation was at the time of Mr. P.’s re- 
 ceiving the fcals , this, I apprehend, is 
 fo far from diminifliing, that it greatly 
 contributes to enhance his merit. In- 
 deed it mull be allowed, that the more 
 wretched our fltuation then was, the 
 greater mull have been his glory in re- 
 ftoring us to our former ftate of power 
 and grandeur. But does not this fup- 
 pofe, that he had the virtue to plan, 
 the courage to attempt, and the capa- 
 city to execute fuch an arduous under- 
 taking ? 
 
 Before Mr. P.’s advancement to the 
 office of S- 0 f S-te, difcord and ir- 
 relolution prevailed in our c-nc-Is, de- 
 jection and defpair overwhelmed the na- 
 tion, and our fleets and armies were 
 funk into a ftate of the moil l a2y in- 
 activity, if not of abfolute cowardice 
 
 and 
 
[ 21 ] 
 
 and pufillanimity. But no fooner was 
 that gentleman entrusted with the man- 
 agement of public affairs, than he feem- 
 ed, by a kind of magical influence, as 
 it were, to infufe his own virtuous, 
 prudent, and heroic fpirit, into every 
 Britifh fubjedh He reflored unanimity 
 and vigour to our c— nc-ls, filled the 
 minds of the people with truft and 
 confidence, and infpired our foldieFS and 
 failors with fuch a fpirit of courage and 
 intrepidity, as has raifed the Britifh 
 name to a degree of military glory, 
 which few nations have equalled, and 
 none have exceeded. 
 
 In page 9, he acknowledges that the 
 conqueft of Canada was a plan laid down 
 by Mr. P. and that it has redound- 
 ed greatly to his honour. “ But,” adds 
 he, “ will the mod idolatrous admirer 
 “ of that gentleman deny, that, had 
 “ not providence, for I fhall not call it 
 
 chance, co-operated with the incredi- 
 (t ble refolution of the Britifh troops, 
 
 “ and 
 
[ 2 2 ] 
 
 and the Biitilh general, it muft have 
 
 been felt as the moil fatal, and con- 
 “fdered as the moft extravagant fcheme 
 ** that ever was attempted to be put in 
 “ execution by this country the plain 
 meaning of which is, that we ought never 
 to attempt any bold and hazardous en- 
 terprize, however neceflary for our fafe- 
 ty and prefervation but that we fhould 
 fit quietly and tamely down, and allow 
 our infolent and rapacious enemies to 
 trample on our necks, and rob us of 
 our property : an advice which a Britiffi 
 fpirit reje&s with contempt and indig- 
 nation. Britons ever have, and ever 
 will attempt any enterprize, however 
 difficult and dangerous, whenever their 
 interefi: or their honour require it, and, 
 by their fuccefs, will confound the 
 gloomy predi&ions of all thofe grave 
 politicians, who, with a folemn fhake 
 of the head, foretel the mifcarriage of all 
 our fchemes, and the certainty of our ap- 
 proaching ruin. There is fomething plea- 
 fant enough in feeing this author afcribe all 
 
[ 2 3 ] 
 
 our fuccefles, during Mr. P. s admini- 
 ftration, to Providence, and all our 
 lodes to mifrnanagement : but we are 
 bound in charity to believe, that he is 
 adluated rather by a principle of religi- 
 on than a Ipirit of detra&ion ! 
 
 In page io, he makes it a difputable 
 point whether the reduction of Louilbourg 
 was planned by Mr. P. or not. but he 
 infinuates, that even admitting it was, he 
 canot podibly claim any merit from that 
 conqueft, becaufe, forlooth, tne lame 
 place was once conquered under a for- 
 mer adminiftration. By the fame way 
 of reafoning, we may prove that admi- 
 ral Hawke deferves no praile for beat- 
 ing the French fleet during the prefent 
 war, becaufe admiral Blake did the 
 fame in the time of Oliver CromweL 
 
 But, perhaps, we have midaken the 
 fenfe of our author ; pernaps he meant 
 to pay a compliment to Mr. P. Cer- 
 tain it is, whether he meant it or not, 
 
 he 
 
[ 24 ] 
 
 he has paid him one of the higheft 
 compliments that one man can pay to 
 another; for is it poffible to pay a 
 greater compliment to any man, than by 
 confefling that nothing material can be 
 urged again ft his character ? and this 
 confefiion die author has made with re- 
 gard to Mr. P. by having recourfe to 
 fuch pitiful (liifts, in order to leflen his 
 merit. What could induce him to em- 
 ploy this kind of panegyric, it is hard to 
 determine, unlefs perhaps he confidered 
 Mr. P. as one, who, in the words of 
 the poet, 
 
 — could not bear too modeftly refined, 
 A panegyric of a grofier kind. 
 
 All that he further advances in diminu- 
 tion of Mr. P.’s merit, is exa&ly in 
 the fame ftrain ; either impotent fatire, 
 or concealed panegyric, according as the 
 reader is pleafed to underftand it. 
 
 Let us next confider what he alledges 
 to depreciate the value of our conquefts, 
 
 in 
 
[ * ** 5 ] 
 
 in order to make us rcfign them, or, 
 at leaft part of them, with lefs reluc- 
 tance. 
 
 ** Louifbourg, he obferves, p. 2o, Is 
 ** but a negative advantage, and no ae- 
 ** quifition to Great Britain.” Louif- 
 bourg has always been confidered as the 
 key to North-America, and, as fuch, 
 is of infinite confequence to us. No 
 private man thinks his property fecure, 
 while the key of his warehoufe is in 
 the hands of his enemy ; and the au- 
 thor fhould have taken the trouble of 
 {hewing that the fame maxim will not 
 hold in a national fenfe, before he ven- 
 tured to undervalue the reduftion of 
 Louilbourg. 
 
 * He fays, in page io, “I {hall readily 
 
 “ admit that the conqueft of Senegal 
 *' and Goree was entirely owing to Mr. 
 
 « p. but the queftion with me is, 
 
 ** whether we have hitherto found thofc 
 ** acquifitions to be of fo great advan- 
 E tags 
 
 
[ ^ ] 
 
 " tage as they were given out to be to 
 “ our intereft and commerce.” Hitherto, 
 perhaps, we have not; but is that a 
 proof that we never fhall do fo ? is it 
 to be expe&ed, that, amidft the hurry 
 and tumults of war, we fhould find 
 leifure to improve our conquefts to the 
 utmoft advantage? the lead reflexion, 
 one fhould think, would have prevent- 
 ed any fenfible man from putting fuch 
 a quefiion. 
 
 He affedls to undervalue our con- 
 quefts in the Eaft-Indies, becaufe he 
 fays it is a difputable point whether the 
 advantages refulting from thofe con- 
 quefts are national or partial. The 
 wealth of a ftate has always been con- 
 fidered as confiding in the wealth of 
 its members, and whether the advan- 
 tages refulting from thefe conquefts 
 accrue to the public or private perfons, 
 it is dill an advantage to Great Britain. 
 
[ *7 J 
 
 The conqueft of Belleifle he is pleafed 
 to term a flower in the Britifh Gar- 
 land. “ I call that .conqueft a flower,” 
 fays he, page 1 2, “ becaufe I think no 
 “ reafonable man, either at home or a- 
 “ broad, can imagine that it will be 
 “ permanent ; or if permanent, that it 
 ** will not coft us fifty times more than it 
 “is worth.” And, in a ftill higher 
 ftrain, in page 17, he affirms, “ that 
 ** all the emoluments, that poflibly can 
 “ accrue to us from our conquefts, are 
 “ infufficient to indemnify us for the 
 ** fixth part of the annual intereft of the 
 “ money they coft us.” This is certain- 
 ly a very bold aflertion, and iiiuch more 
 than the author is able to prove. What 
 emoluments may pojjibly accrue to Great 
 Britain from her late conquefts, it is 
 neither in his power, nor the power of 
 any other man abfolutely to foretell ; 
 trade (and thefe conquefts are chiefly 
 valuable as they are fubfervient to 
 trade) being of fuch a very abftrufe 
 and intricate nature that no man can 
 E 2 fix 
 
[ 23 ] 
 
 fix the precife limits beyond which it 
 cannot be carried. But if all the emo- 
 luments that can poffibly accrue to us 
 from our conquefts, are infufficient to 
 indemnify us for the fixth part of the 
 annual intereft of the money they coft 
 us j then (we fuppofe the author means) 
 as a nceflary confequence, that we had 
 better reftore thefe conquefts to the 
 French, upon their paying us a third 
 part of that intereft, becauie, by fuch 
 a bargain, we fhall fave one half of 
 the fum we muft otherwife lole ; a very 
 advantageous kind of traffic, to be fure, 
 as it is trading at the rate of Cent, per 
 Cent, profit, though, we believe, it is 
 a kind of traffic in which the Englifh 
 will not chufe to engage, until they 
 have fome other proof of its real utility, 
 than this author’s aflertion. 
 
 In the fame page, the author affedls 
 to laugh at the common cant of thofe 
 ffiallow politicians, as he calls them, 
 who endeavour to apologize for the 
 
 greatnefs 
 
t 29 ] 
 
 greatnefs of our national expences, by 
 alleging that the money is all fpent 
 amongft ouffelves ; and we, in our turn, 
 cannot help laughing at the no lefs ri- 
 diculous cant of thofe more fhallow po- 
 liticians, who make money the meafure 
 of every thing, and gravely tell us that 
 becaufe our conquefts coft us more 
 money than they are worth (according 
 to their computation) they are there- 
 fore rather a detriment than an advan- 
 tage to the nation. 
 
 Every fmatterer in politics knows, 
 that the value of money is merely ideal 
 and imaginary ; that the ufe of it was, 
 at firft, invented, and is (till continued, 
 for no other purpofe than that of faci- 
 litating the courfe of trade and com- 
 merce •, for could trade be carried on as 
 eafily, and as expeditioufly, without as 
 with money, a pound of gold would be 
 of no more value than a pound of iron, 
 and hardly even of fo much, as it is 
 
 utterly 
 
r 3° ] 
 
 utterly unfit for a thoufand purpofcs to 
 which the other may be applied. 
 
 I or mftance, could the farmer give as 
 much grain to the clothier as would be 
 exadtly equal, in value* to the quantity 
 of cloth he receives from him, the bar- 
 gain would be as fairly and as effedtually 
 made, as if it had been tranfadted by the 
 greatell banker in Europe ; and fucb, 
 undoubtedly, was the manner of traffic 
 among the original inhabitants of the 
 earth, and fuch, even at this day, is the 
 manner of traffic among thole nations, 
 tiiat aie /till uncivilized and unculti- 
 vated. 
 
 But as it was found difficult to alcer- 
 tain the exadt proportion between differ- 
 ent kinds of commodities, or to determine 
 precifely how much grain, for example, 
 was equal in value to a certain quantity 
 of cloth, the ufe of money was invent- 
 ed to remove this difficulty, and to re- 
 duce thefe commodities to the fame 
 
 Hand- 
 
[ 3 1 ] 
 
 ftandard j and, for this purpofe, gold 
 and diver were employed, as being the 
 mod: hard and durable metals. Thus 
 fo much grain was fuppofed equal 
 to a piece of money, and fo much cloth 
 equal to the fame piece, and, by tranf- 
 ferring this piece from one perfon to an- 
 other, the property of thefe commodi- 
 ties, or of any other commodities that 
 were to be exchanged, was as fully 
 transferred as if the goods had been 
 delivered into the hands of the refpec- 
 tive merchants. Henqe it appears, that 
 the value of money is merely arbitrary, 
 and depends upon the mutual confent 
 of mankind, who have agreed to con- 
 fider it as the common meafnre of every 
 other commodity. 
 
 But if a perfon be fo fituated that he 
 cannot purchafe the commodities he 
 wants, or if thefe commodities are of 
 fuch a nature that they cannot be pur- 
 chafed, all the money in the world will 
 fignify nothing. The firfi: Spaniards 
 
 who 
 
[ 3 ^ ] 
 
 who took poifeffion of South-America, 
 had gold-hilts to their fwords j but un- 
 luckily they had neither a fhirt to put 
 on their back, nor meat to put in their 
 belly ; and yet they had great plenty 
 of money: but with all their money, 
 , were they really rich ? if they were, I 
 give them joy of their unfubftantial 
 riches, and would rather chufe to re- 
 main in Old England, where, without 
 a gold-hilted fword, or even without 
 a fword at all, I can have a clean fhirt 
 and a good dinner. 
 
 The cafe is the fame, if the commo- 
 dities we want be fuch as cannot be 
 purchafed with money. By thefe, I do 
 not mean health, ftrength, beauty, fenfe, 
 or any other qualities, whether of body 
 or mind (if indeed thefe may be called 
 commodities) which it is neither in em- 
 power to procure, nor in the power of 
 any human creature to beftow ; but I 
 mean empires, kingdoms, and all in- 
 dependent ftates of what denomination 
 
 foever. 
 
[ 33 ] 
 
 foever, the impofiibility of purchallng 
 which does not arile from the nature of 
 the thing itfelf, but from the high opi- 
 nion which the pofleffors of thefe coun- 
 tries entertain of their value, or rather 
 from their thinking, and juflly think- 
 ing, that they are abfolutely invalu- 
 able. 
 
 The value of all the land in Great 
 Britain (I mean the imaginary value, 
 for the real value cannot be efrimated) 
 at the rate of twenty, of thirty, of forty- 
 years purehafe, or at any rate you 
 pleafe, may be eafily computed ; but 
 lhould the proprietor of the mines of 
 Chili and Peru, offer us a fum of money 
 equal to that value, and demand, in 
 ccnfideration of that fum, to be put in 
 poffeliion of all the lands in the iiland, 
 how fhould we receive the propofal ? 
 Why, to be lure, we lhould, at firlf, 
 confider the man as a lunatic, and treat 
 him accordingly; but fhould he hill 
 perflft in his demand, we fhould, with- 
 F ou« 
 
[ 34 ] 
 
 out any ceremony, tofs him over the 
 rocks of Dover, and fend him and his 
 money to the bottom together. In a 
 word, it is abfolutely impoflible to efti- 
 mate the value of any commodity, un- 
 lefs the money arifing from the fale of 
 it, will be fufhcient to purchafe fome 
 other commodity of equal value ; but if 
 no fuch commodity is to be had, then 
 it is really invaluable. 
 
 Now if this reafoning be juft with re- 
 gard to Great Britain, it will hold, in 
 fome meafure, W’ith regard to all the do- 
 minions of Great Britain. I have not 
 time to purfue the argument to its ut- 
 raolt extent, nor to trace it through all 
 its confequences ; and I have only made 
 thefe curfory reflexions to expofe the 
 fallacious reafoning of thofe, who al- 
 ledge, that our late conquefts are ra- 
 ther a detriment than an advantage to 
 the nation, becaufe they have cofl: us 
 more money than they are worth, ne- 
 ver refledling that their real worth can- 
 not poffibly be known. The wealth of 
 
 a conn- 
 
[ 35 ] 
 
 a country docs not confift in the 
 quantity of gold and filver it con- 
 tains, but in the number and induftry 
 of its inhabitants j and a fingle pro- 
 vince that maintains ten thoufand in- 
 duftrious and dutiful fubje&s, is of more 
 confequence to the government, to 
 which it belongs, than all the money 
 in the world together. 
 
 It is not to be fuppofed, that our au- 
 thor, after having been at fo much pains 
 to depreciate our conquefts, will have 
 any great difficulty in concluding a peace 
 with France, which he feerns inclined 
 to make almoft upon any terms. He 
 
 would have us to reftore but does 
 
 not chufe to defcend to particulars; 
 though he feems ftrongly to infinuate, 
 that we ought to reftore Senegal and 
 Goree, becaufe, “ he doubts whether. 
 “ Great Britain hitherto has found thofe 
 “ acquifitions to be of fo great advantage 
 « jjg they were given out to be to our 
 « intereft and commerce j whether they 
 F 2 “ are 
 
[ 3 ^ ] 
 
 f‘ are not the grave of Englifh fubiects, 
 “ or whether they can cotnpenfate for 
 “ that immenfe mortality that is entail- 
 “ ed upon our pofTefling them Belle- 
 ifle, “ becaufe, if it is retained, it will 
 “ coft us fifty times more than it is 
 “ worth Guadaloupe, “ becaufe it is 
 ** extraneous to the original neceflary 
 principle upon which the war began, 
 f ‘ and becaufe he thinks fuch a cefiion 
 ft preferable to the continuance of this 
 ft devouring and expenfive war,” which 
 he would make us believe can be no o- 
 therwife prevented ; nor would he even 
 have us to retain Quebec and Canada, 
 unlefs they can be proved to be condu- 
 cive to the fecurity of our American co- 
 lonies, which he alledges they are only 
 faid to be ; but if they really are fo, he 
 has the complaifance to allow us to keep 
 them. In a word, he feems to hint 
 that we fliould retain nothing but what 
 evidently contributes to obtain the end, 
 for which the war was originally under^ 
 
 taken. 
 
[ 37 1 
 
 taken, namely, the prote&ion of our 
 trade and commerce. 
 
 But does not he know, that when a 
 perfon is call; in a fuit, he is obliged to 
 pay, not only the fum for which he 
 was fued, but likewife the cofts and da- 
 mages. And may not we, with the 
 fame equity, compel the French to in- 
 demnify us for the expences of the war, 
 by retaining all our conquefts ? Thefe, 
 indeed, according to his own calcula- 
 tion, are not fufficient to indemnify us 
 for a fixth part of the annual intereft of 
 the money they coft us ; and this, it 
 muft be owned, is but a poor indemni- 
 fication ; but better this than nothing. 
 But does not he further know, that na- 
 tions are to each other what men are in 
 a date of nature? and that, in that 
 Hate, if one man invades the property 
 of another, the injured party may not 
 only endeavour to recover what he has 
 loft, but may likewife deprive the ag- 
 
 f 
 
■ mj 
 
 1 38 ] 
 
 greflor of all power of hurting him for p 
 
 the future ? but fuppofe we were to t 
 
 rettore all our conquefts to the French, \ 
 
 what have they to give us in return ? I 
 
 for our author tell us that fomething e 
 
 muft be given up on both fides : why, a 
 
 they are to give us their mod gracious c 
 
 acquiefcence in what (hall be agreed u 
 
 upon at the congrefs, and their good s 
 
 faith in performing it, which he hum- < 
 
 bly apprehends muff be purchafed by 1 
 
 fome conceffions on the part of Great t 
 
 Britain. But what is this good faith of 
 the French ? take our author’s own 
 words for it , “ they are a people that < 
 
 “ meafure right by power." “ It is a ca- 
 “ pital maxim of the French monarchy, 
 
 “ that all renunciations are, of them- 
 “ felves, void and of no effect, if they 
 “ tend to the prejudice of the crown ; 
 
 “ and the moft exprefs flipulations 
 
 “ made by France will laft no longer 
 “ than her inability to break them.” So 
 that the good faith of the French in 
 
 performing 
 
[ 39 1 
 
 performing their treaties is no more than 
 
 their inability to break them : and yet 
 we mud purchafe this good faith of the 
 French by fuch concefiions as will both 
 enable and tempt them to break it : we 
 muft, by the very fame adt, at once pro- 
 cure and dellroy their inability to hurt 
 us. Excellent logic, truly ! furely out- 
 author cannot be in earned ; he 
 
 certainly means one thing, and pre- 
 
 tends another : and while he profelfes 
 to defend the meafurc of reftoring our 
 conquefts, he, doubtlefs, intended to 
 betray it : at lead, he has fnevvn the 
 badnefs of the caufe by the wcaknefs 
 the arguments, though, it mult be 
 owned, they are the bell that could be 
 advanced on the fubjedt; for indeed, 
 had the caufe been defenfible, no man 
 appears to be better qualified for defend- 
 ing it than our author, as may be eafi- 
 ly gathered from the many fhrevvd and 
 fenfible remarks to be found in other 
 parts of his work. 
 
 Our 
 
[ 4 ° ] 
 
 Our author, after having expatiated 
 largely on the greatnefs of our national 
 debt, and the dangerous confequences 
 of over-ftraining our public credit, fub- 
 joins, page 23. “I am, however, 
 “ fomewhat concerned to reflect, it is 
 “ poffible fome well - meaning people 
 “ may think I ought not to tell thofe 
 “ matters in Gath, or to publifh them 
 “ in Askalon. Alas ! my lord, they are 
 “ truths that are already but too well 
 ** known to the Philiftines, and even to 
 “ the daughters of the Philiftines ; they 
 “ are the truths that make them re- 
 “joice.” Why, truly, the Philiftines, 
 if they compare their own fttuation with 
 ours, have no great caufe to rejoice. 
 The Philiftines, after fuftering a national 
 bankruptcy, have already been obliged 
 to contribute their plate to fuppiy the 
 exigencies of the ftate, and the daugh- 
 ters of the Philiftines will probably be 
 foon obliged to contribute their jewels, 
 and ear-rings, to anfwer the fame falu- 
 
 tary 
 
[ 41 ] 
 
 tary purpofe ; but, thank heaven ! nei- 
 ther the Ifraelites, nor the daughters of 
 the Iftaelites, have yet been driven to 
 fuch extremities. 
 
 We have nothing to add to what we 
 have already faid on our author’s three 
 laft propofitions, except that he em- 
 braces every opportunity of detraCtino- 
 from the merit of Mr. P. with an eat 
 gernefs that betrays him into the moft 
 glaring contradictions. After afcribing, 
 in his ufual pious ftrain, our fuccefs in 
 the battle of Minden, to the miracu- 
 lous interpofition of providence, he 
 adds, “ had matters fallen out other- 
 “ w ^ e » i* 1 wba t a fituation here mufl 
 “ the minifter have been, who advifed, 
 “ and cven haftened, the fending over 
 " a bod y of troops, that, to all appear- 
 “ ance, were too few for victory, but 
 “ too numerous for butchery.” But 
 can any thing be more abfurd, than to 
 argue againft the utility- of a fcheme, 
 ^ from 
 
J 
 
 l 4 * ] 
 
 from the dangerous confequences that e* 
 
 might have enfued from its mifcarriage. h 
 
 On the contrary, we fhould imagine, > 
 
 that in proportion to inconveniences at- c 
 
 tending the failure of any fcheme, muft p 
 
 ever be the advantages accruing from its 1 
 
 fuccefs. A fcheme of fuch an indiffer- t 
 
 ent nature as to produce no good by its , J 
 
 fuccefs, or no evil by its mifcarriage, is 
 hardly worth the carrying into execu- 
 tion. 
 
 In order to reconcile us to the re- 
 fignation of Mr. P. he gravely alks ; , 
 
 “ what has this nation to apprehend 
 « from fuch a refgnation ? will France,” 
 fays he, “ will the emprefs queen, take 
 « it amifs ?” No : they will not take- it 
 amifs ; they will take it extremely well ; 
 they will triumph and rejoice : but is 
 that a rcafon why we, likewile, ought 
 to rejoice ? Our author, furely, will nop 
 pretend to fay that it is, unlefs he either 
 takes us for fools, or enemies to our 
 
 country, 
 
[ 43 ] 
 
 country. But we fuppofc, that, with 
 his ufual delicacy, he meant to pay 
 Mr. P. a compliment $ for a greater 
 compliment he could not poffibly have 
 paid him, than by acknowledging, that 
 his refignation affords matter of joy and 
 triumph to all the enemies of Great 
 Britain. 
 
 FINIS. 
 

 
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