The fun was juft fetting, when commodore Wager came up with the admiral, and then beginning to engage, in about an hour and half's time (it being dark) fhe blew up, not without great danger to the Expedition, from the splinters and planks, which fell on board her, on fire, and the great heat of the blaft. Hereupon the commodore put abroad his fignal lights for keeping company, and endeavoured to continue fight of fome of the enemies fhips; but finding, after this accident, they began to feparate, and difcovering but one, which was the rear-admiral, he made fail after her, and coming up about ten o'clock, when he could not judge which way her head lay, it being very dark, he happened to fire his broad-fide into her ftern, which did fo much damage, that it feemed to disable her from making fail; and being then to leeward, he, tacking on the Spaniard, got to windward of him, and the Kingston and Portland (which had by reason of the night, or the blowing up of the admiral, left fight of the other hips) following his lights foon after, came up with him, and affifted in taking the rear-admiral, who called for quarter about two in the morning. On board of this ship he fent his boat to bring to him the chief officers; and, before the rifing of the fun, he saw one large fhip on his weather-bow, and three fail upon the weather-quarter, three or four leagues off, lying then with their heads to the North, the wind being at north-eaft, an eafy gale. Then he put out the fignal for the Kingston and Portland to chace to windward, not being able himself to make fail, being much difabled; and, as he had a great part of his men in the prize, fo were there no less than three hundred prifoners on board his own fhip.

On Sunday the 30th, the wind being from the north-east, to the north north-weft, and but little of it, the Kingston and Portland had left off chace; but the commodore made the fignal for continuing it, which they did, and ran him out of fight, the fire-fhip ftill continuing with him; and he having lain by fome time, not only to put the prize in a condition of failing, but to refit his own rigging, made fail eastward on the gift, when the Kingston and Portland joined him, and gave him an account, that the fhip they chafed was the viceadmiral, to which, as they faid, they came fo near, as to fire their broadfides into her, but were fo far advanced towards the Salmadinas, a fhoal off Carthagena, that they were forced to tack, and leave her. This gave the commodore great uneafinefs, and determined him to call the captains of these fhips to account; but, in the mean time, he

fent

fent them orders to take or deftroy a galleon of forty guns, which he understood by a Swedish fhip, that had been trading at Baru, had taken shelter in that ifland. She was just coming out of port, as the Kingston and Portland appeared; upon which her crew ran her a-fhore, fet her on fire, and blew her up, fo that nothing could be got out of her, as the captains affirmed, and, as it appeared to the commodore afterwards, was true. On the 2d of June, the commodore finding his provifions and water fhort, the wind contrary, and nothing more to be done in thofe parts, refolved to fet the Spanish prifoners afhore, according to their request, on the island of Baru, and then proceed for Jamaica; which he performed accordingly; and the Spanish rear-admiral retained, as long as he lived, a grateful sense of the commodore's civility.

On the 8th of July, the Expedition, Kingston, and Vulture fire-fhip, brought the prize fafe into Port-Royal harbour (b): here the commodore found the new act of parliament for the diftribution of prizes; and though he had before per

(b) The prifoners gave an account, that the admiral was a fhip of fixty-four brafs guns, with fix hundred men, called the St. Jofeph, and had on board, as fome faid, five millions of pieces of eight; but, according to others, feven millions in gold and filver; that the vice-admiral mounted fixty-four brafs guns, and had between four and five hundred men, with four, or, as fome faid, fix millions of pieces of eight: and that the rear-admiral was mounted with four and twenty guns, having eleven more in the hold, and between three and four hundred men: but that, upon fome difference between the admiral and him at PortoBello, orders were given, that no money should be shipped on board her; fo that thirteen chests of pieces of eight, and fourteen pigs or fows of filver, which were privately brought on board in the night, and belonged to

fome of the paffengers, was all the treasure, which was on board, except what others might have about them, or were in trunks, of which they could give no account. This is the account, which the prifoners gave. Several relations publifhed foon after that time make the riches of the admiral and vice-admiralto have been far greater, the former at least thirty, and the latter twenty millions of pieces of eight. They all however agree, that the rear-admiral had no regiftred money on board. The other Spanish fhips had little or no money on board, but were chiefly laden with cocao, as the rear-admiral was, and but one of them was of any confiderable force, being of feven hundred tuns burden, and having forty brafs guns, and an hundred and forty men. But the two French fhips had about an hundred thoufand pieces of eight on board.

1708.

1708. mitted the failors to plunder as they thought fit, when the prize was taken, yet now he appointed agents, in obedience to that act of parliament, and ordered captain Long to deliver up near thirty thousand pounds worth of filver and effects, that he had taken between decks, in order to fatisfy the failors of the uprightness of his intentions. He likewise took care to dispatch intelligence to England, that ships might be fitted out to cruize for the galleons, that had escaped; and, on the 23d of July, he held a court-martial on the two captains Bridges and Windfor, who were both difmiffed for not having done their duty in the late engagement (c).

Another fquadron of the British fleet, under the command of Sir George Byng, carried over the arch-dutchefs Mary Anne, married to the king of Portugal, which was performed with great magnificence: fhe had a quick and easy paffage, arriving at Lifbon on the 27th of October. This did in fome measure make amends to that crown for our failing them in not fending over the fupplies, that had been fipulated. And it was a particular happines, that the Spaniards were fo weak, as not to be able to take advantage of the naked and unguarded ftate, in which the Portuguese were at that time.

After this large account of foreign affairs, it is time to return to the tranfactions at home.

The Mo- In the month of July, an ambaffador from the emperor of rocco am- Fez and Morocco arrived in Great-Britain with a prefent of baffador fix lions for the queen; but upon his coming to Hammerconfined. fmith near London, he was put under an eafy confinement

by way of reprizal for the reftraint put upon captain Delaval, the queen's envoy in that country, before he reached that court; which happened upon a falfe report, that fome ill ufage had been offered to Hamet Ben Hamet Cardenas, the late Morocco ambassador here. But, upon better information, the captain was released, as was alfo the Morocco ambalador. However the British envoy did not think fit to

(c) Captain Bridges of the Kington was difmiffed, because he left off chate when within fhot of the Spanish vice-admiral, doubting the pilot's knowledge, and being near the hol of Sal madinas, though the pilot offer. ed to carry the hip within fhoal. Captain Windfor of the Portland was alto dumilled, for not bear

ing fo near the enemy, as to keep fight of some of them, when they were engaged on the 28th in the night; for leaving off chace the next day, and for thortning fail on the 30th, before he came up fo far with the Spanish vice-admiral near Salmadinas, as he might have done,

go

go in person to the court of Morocco, and only fent thither, 1708. with her majesty's letter and prefent, Mr. Corbiere, his fecretary, who was received with great demonftration of respect.

About this time an indignity offered in London to count The Mufde Matucof, the Mufcovite ambaffador, was highly refented, covite not only by himself, but likewife by all concerned in the pre- ambassafervation of the rights and privileges of public ministers. dor arrestThomas Morton, a laceman in King-street, Covent-Garden, ed. and fome other tradefmen, to whom the ambaffador owed feveral fums of money, amounting in the whole to about three hundred pounds, finding he had taken his audience of leave, and being apprehenfive, that he would leave the kingdom without paying his debts, though a merchant in the city, trading to Mufcovy, had fet a day for fatisfying most of them, held feveral consultations together, and at laft refolved to arrest him; which was done accordingly, on the 21st of July, in the open ftreet, with feveral aggravating circumftances. For the ambaffador, not knowing at first the reason of his being feized, and imagining he was set upon by villains, ftruggled in his own defence, and was ill-ufed and overpowered by the bailiffs, who carried him to a fpunging-house at the fign of the Black Raven, where he was detained till the earl of Feverfham and a merchant of the city had bailed him. The ambaffador, incenfed at this infult, in violation of the law of nations, applied himself for redress to the government; and the next day wrote a letter to Mr. fecretary Boyle, wherein he urged, "That the queen, who

was fo jealous of the refpect due to the ambaffadors of "crowned heads, and had fo gloriously vindicated the ho "nour of the earl of Manchester, her ambaffador at Venice,

and caufed a rigorous punishment to be inflicted on the "officers of the custom-house, fome of whom were set in "the pillory, and others condemned to the gallies, only for infulting the gentlemen of his retinue, could not but most

ઃઃ

justly revenge the affront lately put upon him by a cor"poral punishment. That count Zobor, who was deliver"ed up to the discretion of the king of Sweden for picking "a quarrel with his envoy, likewife afforded an instance of "the fatisfaction he required, as being defirous of nothing "with greater earnest, than to avoid all the ill confequences "of this affair. For, in cafe the criminals were connived "at, under any colour whatsoever, he should be obliged to

take other meafures, and retire without recredentials, "leaving the whole matter to the management of his Czarish

"majesty,

1708.

"majefty, his master, as the protector of his injured honour, "and of his abused minifter."

At the fame time count Gallas, the emperor's envoy, the baron Spanheim, ambaffador from the king of Pruffia, and feveral other foreign minifters, thinking themselves concerned in the affront put upen their character, demanded a due reparation for the fame: all which having been laid before the queen, who ftill continued at Windfor, the expreffed a very great refentment for the indignity offered to the Muscovite ambassador, and commanded an extraordinary council to be fummoned on the 25th of July on that occafion. Mr. Morton, and fome other creditors, with the attorney, bailiffs, and other perfons concerned in the arrest of the ambaffador, having been examined, were committed to the cuftody of several meffengers, and ordered to be prosecuted with the utmost feverity, according to law. The next day, before Mr. Boyle was returned from Windfor, the Muscovite ambaffador wrote to him another letter, importing, "That, 66 as he had not received any teftimony of concern, or re66 gret, either from the queen, or any of her ministers, fince "he had fent him his complaints in writing, he found him"felf obliged to prefs for his departure; and therefore in"treated Mr. Secretary to get a paffport for him as soon as "poffible." Mr. Boyle acquainted the ambaffador, "That "feven of the principal accomplices, in the desperate at

tempt upon his perfon, were committed to prifon, and "under profecution, by order of the privy-council, who were "to meet again about that affair as soon as poffible." But the ambaffador, being impatient to leave the kingdom, wrote a third letter on the 27th of July to Mr. Secretary, for a paffport for himfelf and family. Mr. Boyle wrote, two days after, a letter to the ambaffador, acquainting him, "That "he had that morning fent him the paffport he defired: that "orders had been iflued out to the officers of the custom"houfe to wait on him, to cause his equipages to be tranf"ported without any moleftation; and he hoped, they had already done that to his fatisfaction: that an extraordina

ry meeting of the queen's privy-council was to be held that "day, to inquire further into the circumftances of that "difmal affair: that they had made a strict search after those, "who were any ways concerned therein; and had caused "ten others to be apprehended: that exprefs orders had "been given again to the attorney-general, to prosecute the "feventeen perfons now confined, with the utmoft rigour;

and