Note 40 — VOLUME II (continued 2)
Reading edition
Admiral Byng; on which occasion the following verses were made, which I now present to the reader.
We the court-martial now begin to sicken, And find at last that we are conscience stricken. Sad suppliants in Byng's behalf we come, And humbly crave you would defer his doom! Bound by our oath, we cannot yet make clear What 'twas we meant, nor never shall, we fear. We found him guilty, and we found him not; We wish'd him sav'd, yet wish'd him to be shot. But as at land, so did we find at sea: If we did one, the other could not be. Save him, great chief—your royal mercy show! Shoot him, dread chief—let royal justice flow! Relieve our consciences with pitying eye, And grant that Byng may neither live nor die!