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GRAY, WALPOLE, ASHTON. 53

Into another, •. . . . . • .

. I do assure you, every thing one has heard
say of Italy, is a lye, & am firmly of opinion, that no
mortal was ever here before us. I am writeing to
prove that there never was any such a People as the
Romans, that this was antiently a Colony of the Jews,
and that the Coliseum was built on the model of
Solomon's temple. Our People have told so many
Stories of them, that they do'nt believe any thing we
say about ourselves. Porto Bello¹ is still said to be
impregnable and it is reported the Dutch have
declar'd War against us. The English Court here,
brighten up on the news of our Conquests,, and
conclude all the Contrary has happened. You do not
know perhaps, that we have our little good fortune in
the Mediterranean, where Adm¹. Haddock² has over-

¹ It was of course already taken, by Admiral Vernon with
his six ships, Nov. 21, 1739.

² Walpole writing to West from Borne, May 7 of this year,
says * We heard the news last night from Naples that Admiral
Haddock had met the Spanish convoy going to Majorca, and
taken it all, all; three thousand men, three colonels, and a
Spanish grandee. . We conclude it is true, for the Neapolitan
Majesty mentioned it at dinner.' On which Wright notes
"This report, which proved unfounded, was grounded on the
fact that on the 18th April his Majesty's ships Lennox, Kent,
and Orford, commanded by Captains Mayne, Durell, and
Lord Augustus Mtzroy, part of Admiral Balchen's squadron,
being on a cruise about forty leagues to the westward of Cape
Finisterre, fell in with the Princessa, esteemed the finest ship
.of war in the Spanish navy, and captured her after an engage-



	GRAY, WALPOLE, ASHTON. 53 Into another, •. . . . . • . . I do assure you, every thing one has heard say of Italy, is a lye, & am firmly of opinion, that no mortal was ever here before us. I am writeing to prove that there never was any such a People as the Romans, that this was antiently a Colony of the Jews, and that the Coliseum was built on the model of Solomon's temple. Our People have told so many Stories of them, that they do'nt believe any thing we say about ourselves. Porto Bello¹ is still said to be impregnable and it is reported the Dutch have declar'd War against us. The English Court here, brighten up on the news of our Conquests,, and conclude all the Contrary has happened. You do not know perhaps, that we have our little good fortune in the Mediterranean, where Adm¹. Haddock² has over- ¹ It was of course already taken, by Admiral Vernon with his six ships, Nov. 21, 1739. ² Walpole writing to West from Borne, May 7 of this year, says * We heard the news last night from Naples that Admiral Haddock had met the Spanish convoy going to Majorca, and taken it all, all; three thousand men, three colonels, and a Spanish grandee. . We conclude it is true, for the Neapolitan Majesty mentioned it at dinner.' On which Wright notes "This report, which proved unfounded, was grounded on the fact that on the 18th April his Majesty's ships Lennox, Kent, and Orford, commanded by Captains Mayne, Durell, and Lord Augustus Mtzroy, part of Admiral Balchen's squadron, being on a cruise about forty leagues to the westward of Cape Finisterre, fell in with the Princessa, esteemed the finest ship .of war in the Spanish navy, and captured her after an engage-