y were honestly employed,
enable him to act, and that he has suffered our counsels to be
embarrassed; that he sees with great tranquillity those suffering by the
war, at whose request it was begun, and imagines it a proof of the
excellence of his own scheme, that those who forced him to break it, may
in time repent of their importunities.

For that in the management of the war, my lords, no regard has been had
either to the advantages which the course of our trade inevitably gives
to our enemies, or to the weakness to which the extent of their
dominions necessarily subjects them, that neither the interest of the
merchant has been consulted, nor the ease of the nation in general
regarded, that the treasure of the publick has been squandered, and that
our military preparations have intimidated no nation but our own, is
evident beyond contradiction.

It is well known, my lords, to every man but the minister, that we have
nothing to fear from either the fleets or armies of the Spaniards, that
they cannot invade us except in America, and that they can only molest
us by intercepting our traders. This they can only effect by means of
their privateers, whose vessels, being light and active, may be easily
fitted out, nimbly seize their prey, and speedily retire.

The experience of the last French war, my lords, might have taught us
how much we have to fear from the activity of men incited by prospects
of private gain, and equipped with that care and vigilance, which,
however omitted in national affairs, the interest of particular men
never fails to dictate. It is well known, my lords, how much we lost
amidst our victories and triumphs, and how small security the merchants
received from our magnificent navies, and celebrated commanders. It was,
therefore, surely the part of wise men, not to miscarry twice by the
same omission, when they had an opportunity to supply it.

I need not inform your lordships of what every reader of newspapers can
tell, and which common sense must easily discover, that privateers are
only to be suppressed by ships of the same kind with their own, which
may scour the seas with rapidity, pursue them into shallow water, where
great ships cannot attack them, seize them as they leave the harbours,
or destroy them upon their own coasts.

That this is, in its own nature, at once obvious to be contrived, and
easy to be done, must appear upon the bare mention of it, and yet that
it has been either treachero