reason, my lords, can invention or imagination
assign, why the troops, who had been for some time disciplined, were not
rather sent to the assistance of Vernon than the new marines, except
that some of them were commanded by men who had obtained seats in the
other house, and who, by their settled adherence and avowed fidelity to
the minister, had recommended themselves too powerfully to be rashly
exposed in the service of their country to the bullets of the Spaniards.

So great, my lords, has been the minister's regard to senatorial
abilities, and so strict his gratitude to his friends, that I know of
but one member of the other house that has been hazarded in this
expedition, and he a hopeless, abandoned patriot, insensible of the
capacity or integrity of our ministry, and whom nothing has been able to
reconcile to our late measures. He, therefore, who has never exerted
himself in defence of the ministry, was, in his turn, thought unworthy
of ministerial protection, and was given up to the chance of war without
reluctance.

But I hope your lordships will concur with me in the opinion, that it is
not always necessary to gratify the ministry, but that our country
claims some part of our regard, and, therefore, that in establishing our
army we should pursue that method which may be most accommodated to our
constitution, and, instead of imitating the military policy of the
French, follow the example of those nations by whose troops they have
been conquered.

Had this scheme been hitherto followed, had our new levies, instead of
being put under the command of boys, been distributed in just
proportions among the standing regiments, where they might soon have
been qualified for service by the inspection of experienced officers, we
might now have seen an army capable of awing the court of Spain into
submission, or, if our demands had been still refused, of revenging our
injuries, and punishing those who have insulted and despised us.

From an army thus raised and disciplined, detachments, my lords, ought
to have been sent on board of all our fleets, and particularly that
which is now stationed in the Mediterranean, which would not then have
coasted about from one port to another, without hurting or frighting the
enemy, but might, by sudden descents, have spread terrour through a
great part of the kingdom, harassed their troops by continual marches,
and, by frequent incursions, have plundered all the maritime provinces,
dr