ward, and Mr. Boyd perceiving himself chased
by two of the enemy's light vessels, he returned oy the same route to
the garrison, without having sustained the least damage; a circumstance
which plainly confutes the notion of Mr. Byng, that it was impracticable
to open a communication with the garrison of St. Philip's. Next day the
hopes of the besieged, which had prognosticated a naval victory to
the British squadron, a speedy relief to themselves, and no less than
captivity to the assailants, were considerably damped by the appearance
of the French fleet, which quietly returned to their station off the
harbour of Mahon. That same evening they were told by a deserter,
that the English fleet had been worsted in an engagement by M. de la
Galissonniere; and this information was soon confirmed by a general
discharge, or _feu-de-joie_, through the whole French camp, to celebrate
the victory they pretended to have obtained. How little soever they
had reason to boast of any advantage in the action, the retreat of the
English squadron was undoubtedly equivalent to a victory; for had Mr.
Byng acquired and maintained the superiority at sea, the French forces
which had been disembarked in Minorca, would, in all probability, have
been obliged to surrender prisoners of war to his Britannic majesty. The
case was now much altered in their favour: their squadron cruised about
the island without molestation, and they daily received, by means of
their transports, reinforcements of men and ammunition, as well as
constant supplies of provisions.

The English garrison, however mortified at finding themselves thus
abandoned, resolved to acquit themselves with gallantry in the defence
of the place, not without some remaining hope that the English squadron
would be reinforced and return to their relief. In the meantime, they
sustained and retorted the enemy's fire with undaunted resolution. They
remounted cannon, the carriages of which had been disabled; they removed
them occasionally to places from whence it was judged they could do
the greatest execution; they repaired breaches, restored merlins, and
laboured with surprising alacrity, even when they were surrounded by
the numerous batteries of the foe; when their embrasures and even the
parapets were demolished, and they stood exposed not only to the cannon
and mortars, but also to the musketry which fired upon them without
ceasing, from the windows of the houses in the town of St. Philip. By