leaft incentives which the miniftry of Paris might CHAP. embrace to favour the Spaniards with an auxiliary IV. affitance: this, and the repeated declarations of France not to fuffer Spain to be difmantled of 1740. her poffeffions in America, intimidated the British miniftry from purfuing thofe vigorous and neceffary measures they would otherwife have purfued. But the detention of fuch magnificent fleets, and fuch numbers of failors, indolently riding in their own ports, was too apparent a foundation for creating a public difguft, and increafing the uneafinefs which had been already openly avowed; therefore fome expedition was neceffary to amuse the nation, and smother their discontent, while at the fame time the French fhould receive no provocation to arm in favour of the Spaniards; and poffibly with this view a fecret expedition was projected, for which a very potent fleet was af fembled at Portsmouth, where, on the 24th of June, Sir John Norris, admiral of the red, hoifted his flag on board the unfortunate Victory, a first rate of 110 guns, having under him Philip Cavendish, Efq; admiral, and Sir Chaloner Ogle, rear admiral of the blue, and on the 5th of July his royal highness the Duke of Cumberland embarked with the admiral, as a volunteer in the intended expedition. The defignation of this well-appointed navy confifting of twenty-one fail of the line and three fire-fhips, was variously conjectured; fome reported as though it was intended to bombard Sebastians; others infinuated that a confpiracy had been difcovered in Galicia. in favour of the English, and that this prefented a fair opportunity to favour an invafion on the coafts of that province; while others, with the fame uncertainty, furmifed an attempt on the Spanish fquadron at Ferrol: but whatever were

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PART the true and real motives of fitting out fo puiffant I. a fleet, the fcheme proved ineffectual and fruit

lefs; for after being detained, about a week, at St 1740. Helens by contrary winds, the fleet failed from thence on the 14th of July, with the convoy and merchant ships for Portugal and the Streights; but meeting with hard gales of wind at S. W. wherein the Lion man of war ran foul of the Victory and carried away her bowfprit, and the Lion lofing her fore-maft, the fleet returned to St Helens; and on the 22d failed again, but were detained at Torbay for near a month, and on the 13th of September returned to Spithead ; where, on his royal highness difembarking, an enterprize that had engroffed the whole public attention, and after having drawn upon it the eyes of all Europe, thus ingloriously completed fo fhameful and expensive an undertaking, without effecting any thing more than caufing four French men of war to fail from Breft, and attend the motions of the British admiral; when at the fame time there was force enough to have levelled the ftrongest fortifications in Spain. Though if this fleet had actually failed and ravaged the coafts of Spain, it must have been an impolitic fcheme; as it could tend only to compel the Spaniards in to a peace, before the British nation had fecured fuch advantages as they might have reasonably expected in the Weft Indies, by a proper exertion of their naval power in thofe feas, where they could have defied the whole world. Such pomp and oftentation in the European feas was ufelefs; had the British fleet fcoured the feas at home, with feparate men of war, and drove away the privateers, who were preying on their trade and infefting even their very coafts, keeping at the fame time a fufficient ftrength against any attack,

it would have been more fatisfactory to the mer- CHAP. cantile and general part of the nation, than any IV. fuccefs they could expect to have attended a de-r fcent on the coafts of Spain, where little advan- 1740. tage could be obtained.

On the 13th of October his Britannic majesty arrived at St James's from his German dominions. In November the parliament met, and his majesty opened the feffions with a fpeech, wherein he declared "His refolution of profecuting vigo"rously the war with Spain, even though France "should declare in her favour, as fome late extraor"dinary proceedings fhowed her inclination to do." The house of commons voted 40,000 feamen and ten new regiments of foot and marines, for the service of the enfuing year, for which they granted a land tax of four fhillings in the pound. To encourage the feamen and commanders effectually to perform their duty, a bill was paffed to veft the prizes folely in the captors; this animated the navy, for before his majesty had a confiderable fhare out of every capture taken by the men of war; and in December the houfe of commons granted his majesty a further fupply of 200,000l. towards the carrying on of a fecret expedition.

THOUGH his Britannic majefty's inftructions to Commodore Anfon were dated January 31, yet the commodore did not receive them from the Duke of Newcastle, the principal fecretary of ftate, until the 28th of June, together with an additional inftruction from the lords juftices dated June 19. On the receipt of thefe, the commodore immediately repaired to Spithead, resolving to fail with the firft fair wind, but was disappointed through the want of 300 feamen of his complement, which occafioned an inevitable delay, till the end of July, before this deficiency met

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PART with any fupply, and that fo far fhort of his expectations, that instead of 300 able failors, the commodore's fquadron was only augmented with 1749. 170 men, of which 98 were marines; and to increase his mortification, as the commodore expected that Colonel Bland's regiment and three independant companies of 100 men each were to embark as land forces on board the fquadron, he now found this difpofition was changed for 500 invalids to be collected from the out-penfions of Chelsea college indeed as these out-penfioners are computed to be generally about 2,000 in number, there was a poffibility of culling out 500 fomewhat capable of discharging their duty in this perillous enterprize; but alas! inftead of men hardy, ftrong, and fit to encounter with the difficulties and fatigues fuch a fquadron must neceffarily undergo, this was the moft aged and infirm detachment that could be collected out of the whole body. The commodore was greatly deceived at having fuch a decrepid land force allotted him, and the old veterans, fenfible of the dangers they were to encounter, confcious that they must most of them perish through diseases in such a laborious voyage before they arrived at the scene of action, and without contributing in the leaft to the fuccefs of the defign; and difguf ted at being thus hurried away from that repofe their former fervices for the public good had juftly deferved, out of the 500 no less than 241 deferted, and those that came on board were loaded with age and infirmities, moft of them being fixty and fome upwards of feventy, and the whole much fitter to spend the remainder of their lives in the ferenity of peace, and the enjoyment of that exemption and tranquility from arms, granted by every nation to the respect of age worn out

in their country's fervice, and for which the CHAP. royal master of these antient veterans, had fo IV. comfortably provided to fupport them in the decline of life. To fupply the deficiency of the 1740. invalids which had deferted, on the 8th of Auguft, 210 marines detached from different regiments, being raw undifciplined men, came on board; and the fquadron being now fitted out in the best manner the commodore was able to procure, he made the neceffary preparations for failing. THIS fquadron confifted of the following five men of war, floop of war, and two victualling ships;

the two victuallers were pinks, one of 400 and the other of 200 ton burden, and were to attend the fquadron, till the provifions taken on board were fo far confumed as to make room for the additional quantity the victuallers carried with them, which when taken into the men of war, the victuallers were to be difcharged. Befides the above complement of men as the fhip's crews, there were embarked on board the fquadron about 470 invalids and marines, under the denomination of land forces, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Mordaunt Cracherode.

ON