* Sir William Wyndham died the preceding year, deeply regretted as an orator, a patriot, and a man, the constant assertor of British liberty, and one of the chief ornaments of the English nation.—In the course of the same year, general Oglethorpe, governor of Georgia, had, with some succours obtained from the colony of Carolina, and a small squadron of king’s ships, made an attempt upon Fort Angus- tine, the capital of Spanish Florida; and actually reduced some small forts in the neighbourhood of the place; but the Carolinians withdrawing in disgust, dissensions prevailing among the sea officers, the hurricane months approaching, and the enemy having received a supply and reinforcement, he abandoned the enterprise, and returned to Georgia.
CHAPTER IV.
The Army under lord Cathcart and Sir Chaloner Ogle proceeds to the West Indies..... Nature of the Climate on the Spanish Main..... Admiral Vernon sails to Carthagena..... Attack of Tort Lasar..... Expedition to Cuba..... Rupture between the Queen of Hungary and the king of Prussia..... Battle of Molwitz..... The king of Great Britain concludes a Treaty of Neutrality with Franco for the Electorate of Hanover..... A Body of French Forces join the Elector of Bavaria..... He is crowned kind of Bohemia at Prague..... Fidelity of the Hungarians..... War between Russia and Sweden..... Revolution in Russia..... The Spanish and French Squadrons pass unmolested by the English Admiral in the Mediterranean..... Inactivity of the naval Power of Great Britain..... Obstinate Struggle in electing Members in the new Parliament..... Remarkable Motion in the House of Commons by Lord Noel Somerset..... The Country Party obtain a Majority in the House of Commons..... Sir Robert Walpole created Earl of Orford..... Change in the Ministry..... Inquiry into the Administration of Sir Robert Walpole..... Obstructed by the new ministry..... Reports of the Secret Committee..... The elector of Bavaria chosen Emperor..... The king of Prussia gains the battle at Czaslaw..... Treaty at Breslau..... The French Troops retire under the Cannon of Prague..... A fresh Body sent with the Mareschal de Mallebois to bring them off..... Extraordinary retreat of M. de Belleisle-The king of Great Britain forms an Army in Flanders..... Progress of the War between Russia and Sweden..... The King of Sardinia declares for the House of Austria..... Motions of the Spaniards in Italy and Savoy..... Conduct of Admiral Matthews in the Mediterranean..... Operations in the West Indies..... The Attention of the Ministry turned chiefly on the Affairs of the Continent..... Extraordinary Motion in the House of Lords by Earl Stanhope..... Warm and obstinate Debate on the Repeal of the Gin-Act..... Bill for quieting Corporations..... Convention between the Emperor and the Queen of Hungary..... Difference between the King of Prussia and the Elector of Hanover..... The King of Great Britain obtains a victory over the French at Dettingen..... Treaty of Worms..... Conclusion of the Campaign..... Affairs in the North..... Battle of Campo Santo..... Transactions of the British Fleet in the Mediterranean..... Unsuccessful Attempts upon the Spanish Settlements in the West Indies
ARMY UNDER LORD CATHCART AND SIR CHALONER OGLE.
The British armament had by this time proceeded to action in the West Indies. Sir Chaloner Ogle, who sailed from Spithead, had been overtaken by a tempest in the Bay of Biscay, by which the fleet, consisting of about one hundred and seventy sail, were scattered and dispersed. Nevertheless he prosecuted his voyage, and anchored with a view to provide wood and water, in the neutral island of Dominica, where the intended expedition sustained a terrible shock in the death of the gallant lord Cathcart, who was carried off by a dysentery. The loss of this nobleman was the more severely felt, as the command of the land-forces devolved upon general Wentworth, an officer without experience, authority, and resolution. As the fleet sailed along the island of Hispaniola, in its way to Jamaica, four large ships of war were discovered; and sir Chaloner detached an equal number of his squadron to give them chase, while he himself proceeded on his voyage. As those strange ships refused to bring to, lord Augustus Fitz-roy, the commodore of the four British ships, saluted one of them with a broadside, and a smart engagement ensued. After they had fought during the best part of the night, the enemy hoisted their colours in the morning, and appeared to be part of the French squadron, which had sailed from Europe tinder the command of the marquis d’Antin, with orders to assist the Spanish admiral De Torres, in attacking and distressing the English ships and colonies. War was not yet declared between France and England; therefore hostilities ceased; the English and French commanders complimented each other; excused themselves mutually for the mistake which had happened; and parted friends, with a considerable loss of men on both sides.
NATURE OF THE CLIMATE ON THE SPANISH MAIN.
In the meantime sir Chaloner Ogle arrived at Jamaica, where he joined vice-admiral Vernon, who now found himself at the head of the most formidable fleet and army that ever visited those seas, with full power to act at discretion. The conjoined squadrons consisted of nine-and-twenty ships of the line, with almost an equal number of frigates, fire-ships, and bomb-ketches, well manned, and plentifully supplied with all kinds of provisions, stores, and necessaries. The number of seamen amounted to fifteen thousand; that of the land-forces, including the American regiment of four battalions, and a body of negroes enlisted at Jamaica, did not fall short of twelve thousand. Had this armament been ready to act in the proper season of the year, under the conduct of wise experienced officers, united in councils, and steadily attached to the interest and honour of their country, the Havannah, and the whole island of Cuba, might have been easily reduced; the whole treasure of the Spanish West Indies would have been intercepted; and Spain must have been humbled into the most abject submission. But several unfavourable circumstances concurred to frustrate the hopes of the public. The ministry had detained sir Chaloner Ogle at Spithead without any visible cause, until the season for action was almost exhausted; for, on the continent of new Spain, the periodical rains begin about the end of April; and this change in the atmosphere is always attended with epidemical distempers which render the climate extremely unhealthy; besides, the rain is so excessive, that for the space of two months no army can keep the field.