eclaration should be
made good. He said, that until his mind should be free from the most
distant suspicion that such a paper might exist in the present case,
he could not form a just opinion of the transaction himself, nor
communicate to their lordships any light which might be necessary for
that purpose. The adherents to the ministry endeavoured to evade his
curiosity in this particular, by general assertions; but he insisted
on his suspicion with such perseverance, that at length the ministry
produced the copy of a declaration made by the king of Spain before he
ratified the convention, signifying that his catholic majesty reserved
to himself, in its full force, the right of being able to suspend the
assiento of negroes, in case the company should not pay within a short
time the sum of sixty-eight thousand pounds sterling, owing to Spain on
the duty of negroes, or on the profit of the ship Caroline; that
under the validity and force of this protest, the signing of the said
convention might be proceeded on, and in no other manner. In the debate
that ensued, lord Carteret displayed a surprising extent of political
knowledge, recommended by all the graces of elocution, chaste, pure,
dignified, and delicate. Lord Bathurst argued against the articles
of convention with his usual spirit, integrity, and good sense,
particularly animated by an honest indignation which the wrongs of his
country had inspired. The earl of Chesterfield attacked this inglorious
measure with all the weight of argument, and all the poignancy of
satire. The duke of Argyle, no longer a partisan of the ministry,
inveighed against it as infamous, treacherous, and destructive, with all
the fire, impetuosity, and enthusiasm of declamation. It was defended
with unequal arms by the duke of Newcastle, the earl of Cholmondeley,
lord Hervey, the lord chancellor, the bishop of Salisbury, and in
particular by the earl of Hay, a nobleman of extensive capacity and
uncommon erudition; remarkable for his knowledge of the civil law,
and seemingly formed by nature for a politician; cool, discerning,
plausible, artful, and enterprising, staunch to the minister, and
invariably true to his own interest. The dispute was learned, long,
and obstinate; but ended as usual in the discomfiture of those who had
stigmatized the treaty. The house agreed to an address, in which they
thanked his majesty for his gracious condescension in laying before them
the convention. They acknow