[318] Orford says that Sackville moved for them on April 29. The Parliamentary History says that Fox moved for them on March 29 (xv. 702).
[319] Parl. Hist. xv. 702.
[320] Orford, ii. 185-6.
[321] Orford, ii. 188-90.
[322] Orford, ii. 193-7.
[323] The Consul at Genoa had warned Newcastle early in February that a surprise attack on Minorca was meditated. Mr. Corbett, who states this, (England in the Seven Years War, i. 97) excuses Newcastle for neglecting the information, one does not see why. More attention was paid to an intercepted despatch of the Swedish minister at Paris, dated February 25, 1756.
[324] Walpole to Chute, June 8, 1756.
[325] 'So also we find it recorded during the siege of Malta, that some hesitation having displayed itself on the part of the slaves in exposing themselves, during their pioneering labours, to a fire more than ordinarily deadly, the Grand Master directed some to be hanged and others to have their ears cut off, "pour encourager les autres" as the chroniclers quaintly and simply record.' Porter's 'History of the Knights of Malta,' ii. 272.
[326] Fox to Ellis, July 12, 1756. Holland House MSS.
[327] Chatham Corr. i. 158.