There is great Reason to believe, that had the fatal Attack, on the 29th of _June_, been repulsed from those Forts which were most defenceless, and most surprized, as it might have been done with a very small Number more, they never would have renewed it again with equal Fury, or equal Advantage. And if there be any Weight in this Supposition, if there was any Prospect of affording the Castle any Relief, we can't help being astonished that any Danger should induce you to decline the Prosecution of so glorious an Undertaking.----We cannot applaud the Voice you gave in the Council, according to our present Apprehensions; and we must continue in this Opinion, unless you shall vindicate your Conduct, and acquaint us with those Views that influenced your Lordship's Determination. This a Piece of Justice which the Honour of your Character requires, and which your Friends expect. As your Electors, we beseech it; as the Subjects of an insulted Kingdom, whose Losses are universally felt, we demand it at your Hands. Reflect, my Lord, (for your Country can never forget) what a long Succescession of dreadful Consequences this Loss must extend to Futurity? What additional Expences must the Protection of our Trade require, when thus deprived of its Guardian? What Sums can insure the Return of our Ships, exposed, as they must constantly be, to the Capture of our Enemies? What Profit can attend that Commerce, which must always be liable to irretrievable Losses? What Fleets of Convoys must be engaged for our Defence, which might otherwise be employed to the Annoyance of the Enemy? What aggravated Indignities we must 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.