262

Importance of MINORCA.

manners only. And as this fo evidently
tends to the benefit and advantage of the
ftate, why should the magiftrate decline
vesting the church with proper powers for
this purpofe? For let it be observed, that
the coactive power lent the church, is not
to be employed for her own ufe, or in her
own fervice, but for the use, and in the A

fervice of the ftate.

Warburton is fo far from being partial to the clergy, that he afferts the pertihence, propriety, and ufe of lay chancellors, as a fit means to preserve and perpetuate the memory of the origin and dependency of these courts, or to shew that they were derived from, and apppointed by, the civil magistrate.

He does indeed go fo far as to be even for admitting the laity into ecclefiaftical fynods. There appearing to be much the fame reason for laymen fitting in convocation, as for churchmen in parliament." p. 160.

C

With the fame spirit of liberty and freedom he obferves, "That these spiritual D courts ought to be fubject to prohibitions iffuing from the temporal judicatures." For that it is of the nature and condition of all inferior courts to be appealed from, to a fuperior.

Thefe free and generous conceffions in favour of the laity, difpofe me to think favourably of the alliance, at least not to rank it amongst thofe deteftable and per- E nicious writings, which are compofed with a view to aggrandize and enrich the clergy at the expence of the laity.

Whatever I may think of the writer,
and his other works, I have fome regard
for the alliance, as it seems to be the only
book which can furnish us with any rati-
onal defence of an establishment and a
teft law. For as thefe feem to be the
only fecurity of the national church, I
1hould be unwilling to give them up till
fomething, at leaft more fpecious and
plaufible, is alledged against them.
I am, Sir,

Your most obedient fervant,
June 10, 1756.
H. R.

June

to be seen for many miles, (fee p 157.) at the fame time that the other roads were extremely bad, and this amendment folely owing to the ufe of broad wheels. We fhould be obliged to our correfpondents, if they would favour us with an account of their effects upon the roads at a great diftance from London. If the above pamphlet, which is no more than 6d. price, was difperfed among the farmers and carriers, it might be a means of removing the great prejudice they have against broad wheels, and fhew them that it is manifeftly their intereft to use them on all

lands whatever.

The judicious Author of, The Importance of the Island of Minorca, and Harbour of Port Mahon, printed for R. Baldwin, jun. after having infanced our Want of Policy, on our fift becoming poffeffed of the Ifland, in not introducing the Religion and civil Government of England, or taking one Step to make it useful to us, fays,

S the natives of Minorca are gene

A rally computed to be about 28,000,

they must have at least 4000 men able to bear arms, which would have been no inconfiderable addition to our ftrength, if we could have depended upon their fidelity and courage; but as this ifland lies fo conveniently for trade, and a communication between the richest parts of Afia, Africa, and Europe, it would certainly have foon become a general magazine and mart for the trade of all thofe countries, if we had at first established the civil government and laws of England for all British fubjects and foreigners that should fettle in, or come to trade in the island; and this would have increased the number of inhabitants fo much, that by this time, inftead of 28,000, their number might have amounted to 3 or 400,000. For this purpose it would have been necessary to have established a civil as well as a military governor, and to have made the former abfolutely independent of the latter, unlefs when the inland was in danger of being invaded, and martial law proclaimed with the confent of a council and affembly, the former appointed by the crown, and the latter chofen by the people, with the approbation of the crown, or of fome officer appointed by the crown; for fuch an approbation would have been G neceffary, in order to keep factious and feditious men out of fuch a popular affembly.

p

Then with regard to trade, the whole ifland, with every harbour and creek thereof, ought to have been declared a free port, without any fort of duties or fees either upon importation or exporta

1756.

LETTER from Admiral BYNG.

tion, nor any tax upon goods of any kind,
until they come into the retailer's or the
confumer's hand. Even then the taxes
ought to have been as moderate, and col-
lealed in as easy a manner, as was poffi-
ble, in order to have made living in the
inland both cheap and convenient; for
very moderate taxes of this kind, with a A
land tax of 25. in the pound in time of
peace, and four in time of war, always
fully and equally, and for that reafon fie-
quently, affeffed, would have probably
produced as much as would have paid all
the regular troops, we should have been
obliged to keep within the island in time
of peace, and perhaps would have spared
a confiderable fum yearly for maintaining
and improving the fortifications of all
thofe places, which could by nature have
been the most easily fortified.

I have faid all thofe places, for furely we ought to have had more fortified places in this important island, than one fingle citadel; but some of the cities, and particularly Ciudadella, ought to have been as compleatly fortified as the nature of the ground would admit: The town of St. Philip's ought likewife to have been made a fortified city, and extended up the harbour as far as the head of St. Stephen's cove; and as the ground on which Marlborough redoubt now ftands is so high, the highest part of it ought to have been included within a regular and strong fortification. For the further fecurity of the harbour of Port-Mahon, the intended fortification of Cape-Mola ought to have been finished, and Philipet little redoubt very much enJarged; and for the fecurity of our naval ftores Bloody Island ought to have been well fortified quite round, and filled with magazines cafmated, and made as much bomb-proof as poffible.

[To be concluded in our next.]

After all the illufory accounts received by the way of France, Holland, and Spain, of the late engagement in the Mediterranean, matters were cleared up by the following advices published in the Gazette of Saturday, June 26.

Admiralty Office, June 26. EXTRACT of a Letter from Admiral BYNG to Mr. CLEVELAND, Secretary of the Admiralty. Dated on board the Ramilies off Minorca, May 25, 1756.

I

1

Have the pleasure to defire that you will acquaint their lord hips, that having failed from Gibraltar the 8th, I got off Mahon the 19th, having been joined by his Majefty's thip Phoenix off Majorca two days before, when the enemy's feet appeared to the S. E. Falling little wind, it was five before I could form my line,

B

263

and diftinguish any of the enemy's motions, and not at all judge of their force more than by their numbers, which were feventeen, and thirteen of these appeared large.

They at firft ftood towards us ia

a regular line, and tacked about seven, which I judged was to endeavour to gain the wind of us in the night, fo that, being late, I tacked, in order to keep the weather gage of them, as well as to make fure of the land wind: In the morning, being very hazy, and not above five leagues off Cape Mola, we tacked off towards the enemy at eleven, and at day-light had no fight of them; but two Tartans, with the French private fignal, being clofe in with the rear of our feet, I fent the Princess Louifa to chafe one, and made the fignal for the rear admiral, who was nearest the other, to fend fhips to chafe her. The Princefs Louifa, Defiance, and Captain, became at a great distance, but the Defiance took her's, which had two cap-. tains, two lieutenants, and one hundred and two private foldiers, who were fent out the day before with fix hundred men, on board Tartans, to reinforce the French fleet, on our then appearing off the place. The Phoenix (on capt. Harvey's offer) prepared to serve as a fire fhip, but without damaging her as a frigate till the fignal was made to prime, when the was then to fcuttle her decks, every thing else being Dprepared that the time and place allowed of. The enemy now began to appear from the maft-head: I called in the cruizers, and when they had joined me, I tacked towards the enemy, and formed the line a. head; I found the French were preparing theirs to leeward, having unsuccessfully endeavoured to weather me: They were twelve large ships of the line and five frigates. As foon as I judged the rear of ours was the length of their van, we tack'd altogether, and I immediately made the fignal for the ships that led to lead large, and for the Deptford to quit the line, that ours might become equal in number with theirs. At two I made the fignal to engage, as I found it the fureft method of F ordering every ship to close down on the one that fell to their lot. And here I must exprefs my great fatisfaction at the very galiant manner in which the rear admiral fet the van the example, by instantly bearing down on the fhips he was to engage, with his fecond, and who occafioned one of the French fhips to begin the engagement, which they did by raking ours as they went down: I bore right down on the fhip that lay oppofite to me, and began to engage him, after having received their fire for sometime on going down. The Intrepid, in the very beginning, had his foretopmaft fhot away, and as that hung on his fore

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* See the Plan given with our laft Magazine.

fail

FAMOUS SEA-FIGHT!

We have this month, in addition to our late useful charts and plans, obliged our readers ith the heautiful chart annexed, exhibiting the feat of war in the Mediterranean, &c. &c,

264

FAMOUS SEA-FIGHT!

C

June

the leaft contention or doubt arofe. I do not fend their lordships the particulars of our loffes and damages by this, as it would take me much time, and that I am willing none fhould be loft in letting them know an event of fuch confequence. I difpatch this to Sir Benjamin Keene, by way of Barcelona, and am making the beft of my way to Gibraltar, from which place propofe fending their lordships a more particular account.

P. 8. I must defire you will acquaint their lordships, that I have appointed capt, Hervey to the command of the Defiance, in the room of capt. Andrews, slain in the action.

I have juft fent the defects of the ships, as I have got it made out whilft 1 was clofing my letter.

State of the English and French fleets in the late

fail and backed it, he had no command
of his fhip, his foretack, and all his braces
being cut at the fame time, fo that he
drove on the next ship to him, and obliged
that, and the fhips a head of me, to throw
all a-back: This obliged me to do fo alfo
for fome minutes, to avoid their failing all
on board me, though not before we had
drove our adverfary out of the line, who
put before the wind, and had several shot
fired at him by his own admiral. This not
only caused the enemy's center to be unat.
tacked, but left the rear admiral's divifion
rather uncovered for fome very little time.
I fent and called to the fhips a-head of me,
to make fail on and go down on the ene-
my, and ordered the Chesterfield to lay B
by the Intrepid, and the Deptford to fup-
ply the Intrepid's place. I found the ene-
my edged away conftantly; and as they
went three feet to our one, they would
never permit our clofing with them, but
take the advantage of deftroying our rig
ging; for tho' I clofed the rear admiral
laft, yet I found I could not again slofe
the enemy, whofe van were fairly drove
from their line, but their admiral was
joining them by bearing away. By this
time it was paft fix, and the enemy's van
and ours were at too great a distance to
engage; I perceived fome of their fhips
ftretching to the northward, and I ima-
gined they were going to form a new line."
I made the fignal for the headmoft hips to D
ack, and thofe that led before with the
Jarboard tacks, to lead with the starboard,
that I might, by the first, keep (if poffible)
the wind of the enemy; and, by the fe-
cond, be between the rear admiral's divi-
flon and the enemy, as his had fuffered
moft, ás alfo to cover the Intrepid, which
I perceived to be in a very bad condition,
and whofe lofs would give the balance a
gainf us, if they attacked us the next
morning, as I expected. I brought too
about eight that night, to join the Intre-
pid, and to refit our fhips as falt as pof-
ible, and continued fo all night.
next morning we faw nothing of the ene-
my, tho' we were ftill lying too : Mahon
was N N. W. about ten or eleven leagues.
I fent cruizers out to look for the Intrepid
and Chesterfield, who joined me next day;
and having, from a ftate and condition of
the fquadron brought me in, found that
the Captain, Intrepid, and Defiance (which
latter has loft her captain) were very
much damaged in their mats, I thought
it proper, in this fituation, to call a coun-
cil of war, before I went again to look for
the enemy.
I defired the attendance of
general Stuart, lord Effingham, and lord
Robert Bertie, and colonel Cornwallis,
that I might collect their opinions upon
the prefent fituation, at which council not

The

action in the Mediterranean, with the num ber of perfons killed and wounded in each fhip.

ENGLISH.

9

Ramilies, Adm. Byng, Capt. Gardner, 20 guns.-Buckingham, Rear-Adm. Weft, Capt. Everit, 70 guns, 7 w. 3 k.—Culloden, Capt. Ward, 74 guns.-Captain, Capt. Catford, 70 guns, 30 w. 6 k.-Revenge, Capt. Cornwall, 70 guns.-Lancafter, Capt. Edgecumbe, 66 guns, 14 w. 1k-Trident, Capt. Durell, 64 guns.-Intrepid, Capt. Young, 64 guns, 39 w. k.-Kington, Capt. Parry, 60 guns.Princefs Louifa, Capt. Noel, 60 guns, 13 w. 3 k.-Defiance, Capt. Andrews, 60 guns,45 w. 14 k.-Portland, Capt. Baird, 50 guns, zo w. 6 k.-Deptford, Capt. Amhurft, 50 guns.-Chesterfield, Capt. Lloyd, 41 guns.-Experiment, Capt. Gil24 guns. E christ, 24 guns.-Dolphin, --Phoenix, Capt. Hervey, 24 guns.-Fortune, Capt. Maplefden. 14 guns.

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FRENCH.

Le Foudroyant, La Galiffoniere, lieutenant-general, to guns, 10 w. 2 k.Le Redoubtable, Glandeves, Chef d'Efcadre, 74 guns, 3 w.-La Couronne, La Clu, Chef d'Efcadre, 74 guns, 3 w.-Le Temeraire, Beaumont, 74 guns, 15 W.Le Guerrier, La Broffe. 74 guns, 43 w.2 k, Le Lion, St. Agnan, 64 guns, 7 w. -Le Sage, Duruen, 64 guns, 8 w-L'Orphee, Raimondis, 64 guns, 9 w. 10 k.→→→ Le Content, Sabran, 64 guns, 191 ·5k.Le Triton Mercier, 64 guns, 14 w. 5 k. L'Hipotame, Rochemaure, 50 guns 10 w. 2 k. Le Fier, D' Herville, 50 guns, 4w. -La Junon, Beausfier, 46 guns. - La Rofe, Coftebelle, 26 guns.-La Gracieufe, Marquizan, 24 guns.-La Topaz, Carne, 24 guns.-La Nimphe, Callian, 14 guns, JOUR.

W.

We have this month, in addition to our late ufeful charts and plans, obliged our readers with the beautiful chart annexed, exhibiting the feat of war in the Mediterranean, &c. &c.