On 1 February Walpole laid this Convention before Parliament, and, despite vociferous opposition, it was eventually ratified on 9 March by a vote of 244 to 214. As a result of this ratification a considerable section of the opposition, under the leadership of Sir William Wyndham, immediately seceded from Parliament. Feelings had never been higher. On 15 May, one day after the payment had fallen due, Benjamin Keene, the British Minister in Madrid, was officially informed that the L95,000 would only be paid if Admiral Haddock removed his fleet from the Mediterranean. England had no intention of recalling Haddock, for both Gibraltar and Minorca would then remain defenceless, and Spain clearly had no real intention of paying the money. From this point on war became inevitable and on 19 October 1739 the declaration was made "and was received by all ranks and distinctions of men with a degree of enthusiasm and joy, which announced the general frenzy of the nation."[17] It was on hearing the church bells pealing at the news that Walpole made his famous remark: "They now ring the bells, but they will soon wring their hands."[18] One month later, on 22 November, Admiral Vernon captured Porto Bello, the port in which the _guarda-costas_ had been fitted out. The news of this victory did not arrive in England until nearly four months later on 13 March 1740, but it brought with it great public excitement and jubilation. Thus by the end of 1740 the revenge on the Spanish had begun. Those who had demanded war seemed justified and Walpole had been discredited. This is the political background against which these pamphlets are set. * * * * * Both pamphlets have been attributed to James Miller, but the evidence for such attribution is cumulative rather than definitive.[19] _Are these things so?_ has been far more frequently attributed to Miller than _The Great Man's Answer_. The earliest attribution is found in D. E. Baker's _Biographia Dramatica_ which, although it was not published till 1812, was originally compiled by Baker sometime before 1764.[20] Robert Watt also lists _Are these things so?_ as Miller's work in his _Bibliotheca Britannica_, Edinburgh, 1824.[21] The entries under Miller in the _CBEL_ and _DNB_ both accept these attributions as does the _British Museum Catalogue_. The evidence for attributing _The Great Man's Answer_ to Miller is far more slender and rests largely on the publisher's claim on the title page, which may well have been made for the sake of promotion, that it is "By the Author of _Are these things so?_".