nited to force the pretender upon us, though we
had stood alone against them; but the impossibility of succeeding in
their design was not then so apparent to them as it is at present to us;
they had many reasons to wish, and therefore would not be long without
some to believe it practicable; and it was not the danger but the insult
that determined his late majesty to enter into an alliance with France.

War, my lords, is always to be avoided, if the possessions and
reputation of a people can be preserved without it; it was, therefore,
more eligible to oblige them to lay aside their scheme while it was yet
only in idea, than to defeat it in its execution. And an alliance with
France effectually restrained the emperour, as our fleets in America
reduced the Spaniards to desire peace.

Why we did not seize the cargo of the galleons, has been often asked,
and as often such answers have been returned as ought to satisfy any
rational examiner. We did not seize them, my lords, because a larger
part belonged to other nations than to the Spaniards, and because the
interests of our trade made it convenient not to exasperate the
Spaniards, so far as to render a reconciliation very difficult.

In the terms of this reconciliation, my lords, it is charged upon the
ministry, that they were guilty of contributing to the power of the
house of Bourbon, by stipulating that Spain, instead of neutral troops,
should be introduced into Italy. That those troops were less agreeable
to the emperour cannot be denied, but it has already been shown how
little reason we had to consult his satisfaction; and with regard to the
advantages gained by the French and Spaniards in the late war, a very
small part of them can be ascribed to six thousand troops.

With as little reason, my lords, is the charge advanced of neglecting to
preserve the balance of Europe, by declining to assist the emperour
against the French; for the intention of the war seems to have been
rather revenge than conquest, and the emperour rather exchanged than
lost his dominions.

That we declined engaging too far in the affairs of the continent,
proceeded, my lords, from a regard to the trade of the nation, which is
not only suspended and interrupted during the time of war, but often
thrown into another channel, out of which it is the business of many
years to recover it.

Nor have the ministry, my lords, deviated from their regard to trade, in
their transactions with Spain, whi