In our pursuit, sir, of national interest, we shall be obliged frequently to oppose the schemes which private men or separate fraternities, have formed for their own advantage, and which they may be expected to defend with all their art; both because every man is unwilling to imagine that the publick interest and his own are opposite, and because it is to be feared, that many may consider the publick only in subordination to themselves, and be very little solicitous about the general prosperity of their country, provided none of the calamities which afflict it extend their influence to themselves. We are in the discussion of this question, sir, to consider that we are engaged in a war against a nation from which insults, depredations, oppressions, and cruelties, have been long complained of, and against which we are, therefore, to act with a resolution proportioned to the injuries which we have suffered, and to our desire of vengeance. We are to practice every method of distressing them, and to promote the success of our arms even at the expense of present gain, and the interest of private men. It is well known, sir, to all who have either heard or read of the Spaniards, that they live in carelessness and indolence, neglect all the natural advantages of their own country, despise the gain of foreign commerce, and depend wholly on their American settlements, for all the conveniences, and, perhaps, for most of the necessaries of life. This is the particular circumstance that makes a war with Britain so much to be dreaded by them. A nation superiour to them by sea holds them besieged, like a garrison surrounded by an army, precludes them from supplies, intercepts their succours, and if it cannot force their walls by attack, can, at least, by a blockade, starve them to a capitulation. Thus, sir, by a naval war with an enemy of superiour strength, they must at length be subdued, and subdued, perhaps, without a battle, and without the possibility of resistance; against such an enemy their courage or their discipline is of no use; they may form armies, indeed, but which can only stand upon the shore, to defend what their enemies have no intention of invading, and see those ships seized in which their pay is treasured, or their provisions are stored. Such, sir, is our natural superiority over the Spaniards, a species of superiority that must inevitably prevail, if it be not defeated by our own folly; and surely a more effectual method of defeating it, the Spaniards themselves could not have discovered, than that of insuring, their ships among our merchants. When a ship thus insured is taken, which, notwithstanding all precautions, must sometimes happen, we examine the cargo, find it extremely valuable, and triumph in our success; we not only count the gain to ourselves, but the loss to our enemies, and determine that a small number of such captures will reduce them to offer us peace upon our own terms.