o preponderate against the other powers.

By entering into an alliance with Sardinia, we have taken from the
crown of Spain all the weight of the territories of Italy, of which
the Austrian forces are now in possession, without fear or danger of
being interrupted; while the passes of the ocean are shut by the
fleets of Britain, and those of the mountains by the troops of
Sardinia.

Those unhappy forces which were transported by the Spanish fleet, are
not only lost to their native country, but exposed without provision,
without ammunition, without retreat, and without hope: nor can any
human prospect discover how they can escape destruction, either by the
fatigue of marches, or the want of necessaries, or the superiour force
of an army well supplied and elated with success.

This, my lords, is an embarrassment from which the Spaniards would
gladly be freed at any expense, from which they would bribe us to
relieve them, by permitting the demolition of new fortresses, or
restoring the army which we lost at Carthagena.

Of this alliance the queen of Hungary already finds the advantage, as
it preserves countries in her possession, which, if once lost, it
might be impossible to recover; and sets her free from the necessity
of dividing her army for the protection of distant territories.

Thus, my lords, the Spaniards are obstructed and distrusted; of their
armies, one is condemned to waste away at the feet of impassable
mountains, only to hear of the destruction of their countrymen whom
they are endeavouring to relieve, and the establishment of peace in
these regions of which they had projected the conquest; and the other,
yet more unfortunate, has been successfully transported, only to see
that fleet which permitted their passage preclude their supplies, and
hinder their retreat.

Nor do we, my lords, after having thus efficaciously opposed one of
the princes of the house of Bourbon, fear or shun the resentment of
the other; we doubt not to show, that Britain is still able to retard
the arms of the haughty French, and to drive them back from the
invasion of other kingdoms to the defence of their own. The time is at
hand, my lords, in which it will appear, that however the power of
France has been exaggerated, with whatever servility her protection
has been courted, and with whatever meanness her insolence has been
borne, this nation has not yet lost its influence or its strength,
that it is yet able to fill the contine