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the North Seas. And altho' the Coast of • England affords many Places for Ships to put into, it may nevertheless happen oftentimes after the Demolition of the Mole and Dikes, for which the Magiftrates of Dunkirk beg your Majefty's Mercy, that the Ships of your Subjects may be fo driven and Wind-bound by bad Weather on the Coaft of Dunkirk, that being unable to reach their own Shoar, they will in vain regret, as well as all other Na⚫tions trading to the North, that Harbour of • Safety, of which they fhall be deprived; and avoid a bare Commiferation of the Danger to which Seafaring Men are expos'd, ought to have preferv'd for them, according to the common Dictates of Humanity.

Upon all these Confiderations, that is, 'confidering the fmall Damage which the Har'bour of Dunkirk, defpoil'd of all its Fortifi'cations, both on the Sea and the Land fide,

may caufe either to your Majefty's Subjects, or to thofe of your Allies; the Usefulness ' and Benefit which the Trade of Great Britain 'will find in the Prefervation of the said Har'bour in the manner above explained, And the unprofitable but ruinous Lofs which the unfortunate Inhabitants of that Town will fuffer by its Demolition, the Magiftrates of • Dunkirk and the Sieur Tuggbe their Deputy prefume to hope that your Majefty will graciously be pleafed to recal part of your Sentence, by caufing your Thunderbolts to fall only on the Martial Works which may have incurr'd your Majefty's Difpleasure, and by fparing only the Mole and Dikes, which in their naked Coudition can, for the future, be

' no

• no more than an Object of Pity. Nay, they fhall even be an Eternal Monument of your Majefty's Glory, fince by inceffantly Re• minding the Beholders of the dreadful Ornaments of which they fhall remain defpoil'd by your Majefty's Will alone, they will, at the ⚫ fame time, eternally preferve the Memory of 6 your Majefty's Clemency, which fhall have bestow'd them on the Tears and Groans of the Inhabitants of that Town, overwhelm'd 'with Grief.

'Tis by thofe Tears and by thofe Groans, that the Magiftrates and their Deputy, humbly proftrate at the Feet of your Majefty's Throne, no lefs Gracious than Dreadful, beg the Prefervation of their Harbour, and befeech your Majefty to vouchfafe to look with Eyes' of Pity on Eighteen Thousand Families, who. must be reduced to wander about, if by the • entire and severe Execution of your Majesty's • Orders, they are forced to quit their Habitations to go and feek or rather beg their 'Bread.

Let not your Majefty's ever beneficent Hand be the Inftrument of their Mifery and Dif'perfion! And let not the Inhabitants of Dunkirk be the only People in the World that ⚫ may complain of the Rigor of a Queen whofe 'Wifdom and Clemency is adored by all the, • Earth.

My Indignation at this Ufage of my Queen and Country, prompted me to write a Letter to Neftor Ironfide, Efq; which I fubfcribed English Tory.

Mr. Ironfide thereupon Prints my Letter Word for Word, and on Auguft the 7th Pub; lithes it with a fhort Preface, as follows:

T is ufually thought, with great Juftice, a very impertinent thing in a private Man to intermeddle in Matters which regard the State. But the Memorial which is mentioned. in the following Letter is fo daring, and fo apparently defigned for the moft Traiterous Purpofe imaginable, that I do not care what Mifinterpretation I fuffer, when I expofe it to the Refentment of all Men who value their Country, or have any Regard to the Honour, Safety, or Glory of their Queen. It is certain there is not much Danger in delaying the Demolition of Dunkirk during the Life of his present most Chriftian Majefly, who is renowned for the moft inviolable Regard to Treaties; but that Pious Prince is aged, and in cafe of his Decease, now the Power of France and Spain is in the fame Family, it is poffible an Ambitious Succeffor, (or his Miniftry in a King's Minority) might difpute his being bound by the A& of his Predeceffor in fo weighty a Particular..

Mr. IRONSIDE,

You

OU employ your in portant Moments,, methinks, a little too frivolously, when you confider so often little Circumftances of Drefs and Behaviour, and never make mention of Matters wherein you and all your Fellow-Subje&s in general are concerned. I give you now an Opportunity; not only of manifefting your Loyalty to your Queen, but, your Affection to your Country, if you treat

an

an Infolence done to them both with the Dif dain it deferves. The enclosed Printed Paper in French and English has been handed a'bout the Town, and given gratis to Paffengers in the Streets at Noon-Day. You fee the • Title of it is, A most humble Address or Memorial, prefented to her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain, by the Deputy of the Magiftrates of Dunkirk. The naufeous Memorialift, with the most fulfome Flattery, tells the 'Queen of her Thunder, and of Wisdom and • Clemency adored by all the Earth, at the fame ⚫ time that he attempts to undermine her Power, and escape her Wifdom, by befeeching her to ⚫ do an A&t which would give a well-grounded Jealoufie to her People. What the Sycophant • defires is, that the Mole and Dikes of Dunkirk may be fpared; and, it feems, the Sieur Tuggbe, for fo the Petitioner is called, was Thunder-ftruck by the Denunciation (which he fays) the Lord Viscount Bolinbroke made to him, That her Majesty did not think to • make any Alteration in the dreadful Sentence the had pronounced against the Town. Mr. IRONSIDE, I think you would do an A& worthy your general Humanity, if you would put the Sieur Tugghe right in this Matter, and let him know, That her Majefty has pronounced no Sentence against the Town, but his moft Chriftian Majefty has agreed that the Town and Harbour fhall be Demolished.

That the British Nation expect the imme-'diate Demolition of it.

That the very Common People know, that within two Months after the figning of the Peace, the Works towards the Sea were to

be

⚫ be demolished, and within three Months after it the Works towards the Land."

6.

That the faid Peace was figned the last of • March, O. S.

That the Parliament has been told from the Queen, that the Equivalent for it is in the Hands of the French King.

That the Sieur Tuggbe has the Impudence to ask the Queen to remit the most material Part of the Articles of Peace between Her 'Majefty and his Mafter.

That the British Nation received more Da'mage in their Trade from the Port of Dunkirk, than from almost all the Ports of France, either in the Ocean or in the Mediterra

nean.

That Fleets of above thirty Sail have come together out of Dunkirk during the late War, ⚫ and taken Ships of War, as well as Merchant • Men.

That the Pretender failed from thence to Scotland; and that it is the only Port the • French have till you come to Breft, for the whole Length of St. George's Channel, where any confiderable Naval Armament can be 'made.

That deftroying the Fortifications of Dun • kirk is an inconfiderable Advantage to England, in Comparison to the Advantage of deftroying the Mole, Dikes and Harbour, it being the Naval Force from thence which only can hurt the British Nation.

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That the British Nation expect the imme diate Demolition of Dunkirk.

That the Dutch, who fuffered equally with us from thofe of Dunkirk, were proba

bly