| Share page | Visit Us On FB |
|
INTRODUCTION lxxiii
r
to it, and the evidence is on the whole in favour of the usual attribution.
The feeling which inspired Thomson's opposition to Walpole's Government, and his attack on its pusillanimous policy towards Spain, was shared by the populace in general. It appears also in a satire called The Pacific Fleet (p. 170).
The popularity of the war with Spain is brought out by The English Sailors Resolution to Fight the Spaniards. It dwells on the grievances of the merchants, tells the story of Captain Jenkins's ear, and ends by an appeal to enter under Haddock (p. 172). This probably refers to the sending of Rear-Admiral Nicholas Haddock to the Mediterranean in 1737, when war was expected. A New Song, written after the actual outbreak of hostilities, begins by rejoicing that King George has at length resolved to correct the violence of the Spaniards :
' And now for to maul 'em they press 'em and haul 'em To get some brave fellows to man our brave fleets. And now they'll unpadlock the sword of brave Haddock, He'll thump all the Spaniards that ever he meets.'
War was actually declared by England against Spain on October 23, 1739, and the general satisfaction with which that step was welcomed is shown by England's Glory in the Declaration of War (seep. 174).
The first engagement of importance in European waters took place on April 8, 1740, when the Princesa, a Spanish 76-gun ship, was taken by three of Vice-Admiral Balchen's squadron, viz., the Lenox, the Kent, and the Orford (Clowes, iii. 267). The part assigned to the Irish first lieutenant of the Princesa and his fellow-countrymen on board her is a new fact, if it is true (p. 175). |
||