st receive from the most contemptible
Powers in the _Mediterranean_, who will look upon this Defeat as the
certain Token of the Ruin of our once invincible Navy.

Whoever considers this sad Concurrence of Misfortunes, and at the same
time the Enormity of the Disgrace we have sustained, will blush to find so
black a Period as this recorded in the Annals of _Great Britain_. Let it
never be remembered, what great and lasting Advantage might have been
reaped from the Defeat of the most rash Invasion that was ever undertaken,
how fatal a Wound we might have given to their Ambition, and what future
Hostilities might have been prevented. May Posterity forgive us for losing
the most glorious Opportunity of gaining a complete and final Triumph over
our Enemies, that Heaven ever gave. May not our Colonies reproach us for
all those Cruelties and Calamities, which this disastrous Event has
contributed to enhance and prolong.

And now, my Lord, I proceed to the Defence you have made in favour of the
Admiral, when the united Voice of his Country called upon him to answer
for his Conduct: And here you have espoused his Cause with a Solicitude
eager for his Safety, and with a Confidence which the Persuasion of his
Innocence could only create.----You was pleased to express the greatest
Surprize, that the Action on the 20th of _May_ should be so universally
condemned by the Nation; and to prevent your Friends from being carried
down the Tide of popular Clamour, you favoured them with a particular
Account of the Situation, Strength, and Armament of the two Squadrons. You
gave a particular Calculation of the Weight of Metal, the Number of Guns,
and Superiority of Men; from which it appears, that if no Confidence was
to be placed in the Valour and Activity of our Seamen, and the Experience
of our Commanders, we must inevitably lose the Victory.--To confirm this,
the State of our Fleet might be added, which has been so pathetically
represented as weak, destitute, and unprovided with necessary Stores and
Tenders, at a Time, alas! when it ought to have been invincible. Besides,
we have been told of the immense Rate at which our Enemy's Ships failed,
(if we were capable of being bubbled by so palpable an Imposition) which
must necessarily disappoint our most vigorous Efforts in the Chace.

And yet, notwithstanding these unsurmountable Difficulties, which it was
Mr. _Byng_'s peculiar Misfortune to encounter with, your Friends cannot
cease to be