that his hereditary good dispositions will be solicitously strengthened and improved by the daily instruction and example of his parents; who will complete their merit to these nations, by forming his youthful mind to the love of religion, of liberty, of our civil and ecclesiastical constitution, to a judicious zeal for the prosperity of Great Britain, and a sincere benevolence to mankind in general. May these pleasing labours be successful in the highest degree! May the royal infant grow up in health and strength, become the joy and boast of the public by every valuable attainment, delight your majesties by the most affectionate duty and gratitude, through an uncommon length of days mercifully granted you! and, born at the dawning of peace, may he see, all his life, the people of this land reaping the beneficial fruits of it to the utmost. It shall be our conscientious care to remind our fellow-subjects of the inestimable privileges which they possess, and the glorious expectations which they may justly entertain for themselves and their posterity, from your majesty and your family, if they will secure the divine pro. tection, by leading thankful, quiet, and peaceable lives in godliness and honesty, as their holy profession requires and we most dutifully intreat the continuance of your majesty's attention to the sacred in terests of Christian piety and moral virtue, which we are fully satished you have deeply at heart." His Majesty's most gracious Answer, My Lords and the rest of the Clergy, I ACCEPT with thanks these new assurances of your regard to the Queen; and see with particular pleasure the expressions of your gratitude to Almighty God, for the birth of the prince, my son. Your opinion of my fixed intention to educate him in every prin◄ ciple of religious and civil liberty, is truly acceptable to me. Be assured that no endeavour on my part shall be wanting to promote the sacred interests of Christian piety and moral virtue; and to transmit to posterity our present most happy constitution. Summary of the Papers relative to the Rupture with Spain; published by authority. THESE papers contain a series of the most material transactions between the two courts, from the time that M. Bussy presented the memorial in the name of his Catholic majesty, to that when the E. of Bristol left the court of Madrid, and war was declared against Spain. They begin with a letter of instructions from Mr. Pitt 19 the E. of Bristol on that unlooked-for event, in which the secretary remarks, that the engagements between the crowns of France and Spain were, by the French minister, avowed to be previous to the overtures of peace by France; and consequently were from that time as disingenuously suppressed, as they were in the moment insolently produced: That the memorial relative to the disputes between England and Spain, was so offensive, that the king's servants were unanimously of opinion utterly to reject it: that nothing could equal the king's surprize and regret at a transaction so unprecedented as that of an attempt to to mingle the disputes of a neutral power with the negotiations now carrying on with France; and that, in case the Spanish minister shall avow that this strange picce has really been authorized by the court of Madrid, then his excellency is enjoined to remonstrate with energy and firmness against the unexampled irregularity of such a proceeding on the part of Spain; and to assure M. Wail, that as, on the one hand, his majesty will by no means add any new facilities from the consideration of an union of councils, or of present or future conjunctions between France and Spain,-so neither, on the other hand, will his majesty's equity and moderation cease to dispose his royal mind to the same reasonable terms of accommodation with Spain as the king, excited by, inclination and determined by system, has, through the course of this negotiation, invariably declared himself ready to embrace.-Then follows the answer to be given to three points in dispute: First, Concerning the restitution of prizes made against the flag of Spain, or in violation of the territory of that kingdom; it suffices to say, that the courts here instituted to take cognizance of all matters of such a nature, are always open to the parties who think fit to seek redress in due course of justice; and it is superfluous to observe, that the ministers of his most Christian majesty are not a tribunal to which Great Britain allows an appeal. Next, as to the stale and inadmissible pretensions of the Biscayans and Guipuscoans to fish at Newfoundland, let M. Wall clearly understand, that this is a matter held sacred; and that no concession on the part of his majesty, so de structive to this true and capital interest of Great Britain, will be made to Spain, however abetted and supported: and it is still hoped, that prudence as well as justice will induce that court no longer to expect, as the price of an union, which it is at least as much her interest as ours to maintain inviolate, a sacrifice, which can never be granted. These clear and distinct answers being given, Mr. Pitt continues his instructions, &c. as follows: After the above memorial, and the intimation therein, little short of a declaration of a war in reversion, and that not at a distance, held out in terrorem on the part of France and Spain, M. Wall cannot wonder that your excellency is ordered by his majesty, as you hereby are, to desire again, in this conjuncture, a proper explanation with regard to the naval armaments that have been so long preparing in the various ports of Spain; and his excellency cannot but himself be sensible how strongly the king is called upon, in the order of things, and from the indispensable motives of what he owes to his crown and people, to expect that the court of Madrid will come to some explicit and categorical ecclaircissement, with regard to the destination of her fleets, as well as with respect to her dispositions to maintain and cultivate friendship and good correspondence with Great Britain: and this measure is become the more highly ne cessary, as the emissaries and partizans of France here are not a little active in endeavouring to infuse particularly into people's minds in the city, for purposes too obvious to mention, that a rupture with Spain, in conjunction with France, is a proaching, Although Although in the course of this instruction to your excellency, I could not, with such an insolent memorial from France before me, but proceed on the supposition, that, insidious as that court is, she could not dare to commit in such a manner the name of his Catholic majesty, without being authorized thereto, I must not, however, conceal from your excellency, that 'tis thought possible here that the court of France, though not wholly authorized, may, with her usual artifice in negotiation, have put much exaggeration into this matter; and in case, upon entering into remonstrance on this affair, you shall perceive a disposition in M. Wall to explain away and disavow the authorization of Spain to this offensive transaction of France, and to come to a categorical and satisfactory declaration relative to the final intentions of Spain, your excellency will, with your usual address, adapt yourself to so desirable a circumstance, and will open to the court of Madrid as handsome a retreat as may be, in case you perceive from the Spanish minister that they sincerely wish to find one; and to remove, by an effectual satisfaction, the unfavourable impressions which this memorial of the court of France has justly and unavoidably made on the mind of his majesty. In this dispatch, which bears date July 28, 1761, was inclosed the memorial already mentioned; Mr. Pitt's letter to M. Bussy, when he returned it, with two supplemental memorials of a most extraordinary nature, as Mr. Pitt expresses it, which the public has not yet seen; the receipt of all which the E. of Bristol acknowedges; and, in consequence of the instructions contained therein, his excellency had no less than five conferences with the Spanish minister, in which he had urged all that he had received in commission with great force of argument; the answers to which are as follow: M. Wall owned, that he had been informed of all that had passed at the court of London on the subject of the memorial in question; and that, in consequence of a proposal made by the court of Versailles to the king his master, his majesty had consented to guaranty the intended peace between France and England; and, at the same time, to accept of France's express offer of endeavouring to accommodate the disputes subsisting between England and Spain; but, in assenting to this, his excellency declared that his Catholic majesty had no design of offending the British court, and was not a little surprized that it could be productive of such an effect; that, as to England's declaration of adding no new facilitics to Spain, in consideration of any intimation or threatenings whatever, the Catholic king could not but applaud those sentiments in his majesty,which he felt so strongly within himself; adding, that the court of London was certainly at liberty to reject any proposals coming from the French ministry, but that the king of Spain no doubt had an equal right to communicate whatever measures he thought conducive to his interests, to the most Christian king, his majesty's friend, ally, and near relation. M. Wall pursued his discourse, by acquainting the earl with France's having spontaneously offered (in case the disputes of Great Britain and Spain should, at any time here after after occasion a rupture between the two courts) to unite her forces with those of Spain, to prevent the English encroachments in America: an offer which the Spanish monarch had received with great cordiality. General Wall then asked, whether it was possible to be imagined in England, that the Catholic king could seek to provoke the court of London at a time when the British nation was in the most flourishing and most exalted situation it had ever known?-assuring the earl, on the contrary, that the Catholic king, both before and at present, esteemed, as well as valued, the frequent professions he had made of his majesty's desire to adjust our mutual differences amicably; but, he perceived, the terms on which those disputes were sought to be accommodated, occasioned the difficulty. The Catholic king, he said, did not think England would look upon the French ministers as a tribunal to which the court of London would make an appeal, nor meant it as such, when the first article of grievances was conveyed through that channel. As to the second, the claim of the Guipuscoans and Biscayans to fish for bacallao,-it was what Spain had always insisted upon, and never receded from by any treaty and lastly, concerne ing England's evacuating all the usurped settlements on the log wood coasts, it had never been offered, but upon such conditions as were inconsistent with the dignity of the Spanish crown to accept; since the court of London would only consent, that, previous to her sending orders to those unjust settlers to remove, the Catholic king should be compelled to make known to the English in what manner the logwood was to be assured to the king's subjects, notwithstanding the Spanish monarch had repeatedly given his royal word, a method should be found out for that purpose; and that, till it was adjusted in what manner Great Britain should enjoy that privilege, the English cutters of logwood should continue without interruption, or molestation of any kind, to carry on their commerce upon the footing they at present exercise it. His Catholic majesty only asking, that, for his own royal decorum, the usurped establishments should be relinquished by the English, to prove that good faith we piqued ourselves upon, and to convince Spain we did not maintain those forcible posses In a paper which M. Wall communicated to the earl, by way of answer to all the earl had urged, is the following shrewd remarks on the two last articles: Concerning the liberty of the Biscayners and Guipuscoans to fish for bacallao, an absolute negative, says he, is given to that right by England, tho' it is well proyed: and with respect to evacuating the establishments, it is only offered upon terms inadmissible with the Catholic king's decorum, that, be fore doing it, he should assure to the English the logwood. Hard proceed. ing certainly, for one to confess that he is gone into the house of another to take away his jewels, and to say, "I will go out again; but first you shall engage to give me what I want to take." And still harder, when set in opposition with the bacallao; for the Spaniards want that for their food, as the English want the logwood for their fabrics; yet the English would by force take away the logwood, and hinder by force the Spaniards from taking away the bacallao. One would think that the English themselves ought with reluctance to produce such a pretension. sions as pledges, which sooner or later we imagined would compel the court of Madrid to grant us our own terms; and in the mean time to increase (which the British subjects did daily) the encroachments upon the coasts of Honduras. With regard to the naval armaments of Spain, the destination of her fleets, and the dispositions of his court to maintain friendship, and to cultivate a good correspondence with his Britannic majesty, M. Wall said, first, As to the naval preparations of Spain, that since the accession of his present Catholic majesty, including both the ships of the line and frigates, the whole number did not exceed that of 20; that, 2dly, With regard to their destination, some were frequently passing between Spain and Naples; others were intended to convoy the homeward or outward bound flotas, assogues, or register ships; and the remainder were to serve as a check upon the Barbary Corsairs, and to defend their coasts, or smaller vessels, from insults. And, in relation to the third question, his Catholic majesty's disposition and professions had invariably been the same, and were ever meant to cement and cultivate the friendship so happily subsisting between the two courts. For the greater exactness in this business, it was mutually agreed between the earl of Bristol and M. Wall, to deliver each other, in writing, the heads of the principal arguments made use of by both, in the frequent conferences they had on this occasion. These papers are inserted; and then follows another letter from the E. of Bristol, dated Segovia, Sept. 14, in which his excellency informs Mr. Pitt, That the governor of Sanroque had inquired into the behaviour of the inhabitants of Tariffa, and had given such effectual orders respecting their illegal protection of the French row-boats, as would effectually prevent any further remonstrances on that head; that the Spanish minister had complained of some additional works carrying on at Gibraltar; and that he had asked whether Great Britain could seriously entertain any apprehensions of a rupture between the courts; adding, That the Catholic king had at no time been more intent on culti vating a good correspondence with his majesty than at present. This letter did not come to hand till October 5, the day on which Mr. Pitt resigned the seals. In another letter, his excellency informs Mr. Pitt of the safe arrival of the flota in the bay of Cadiz, on board of which he says there is little more than 330,000 l. upon the Catholic king's account; and this paltry sum, the produce of the royal revenue for two years, owing to want of management in the viceroys and governors, and to the knavery of the assessors and collectors, who are the principal people concerned in defrauding the king of his dues. Another letter from his excellency, dated Sept. 28, exhibits a complaint made by the Spanish court against the English logwood cutters, who began to fortify themselves at Rio Tinto, on the river Wallis, and about the Laguna Azul; and an intimation from M, Wall, that if those settlers were ordered to withdraw, no kind of molestation whatever should be given to any of the English logwood cutters, either on the coast of Honduras, or the bay |