Admiral Byng and the cost of setting an example

How terrible was the historical Admiral Byng?

Clarke considers Byng mediocre and unlucky, with his execution intended as an example; the participants disagree over whether a pardon was expected.

Clarke describes Byng as a mediocre commander placed in an unfavorable situation, rather than treating him as uniquely incompetent. He connects the execution to earlier withdrawals and a determination to make an example of an admiral. Byng's more successful father provides an unfavorable personal comparison in that assessment. A participant recalls an expectation that Byng would be pardoned, while Clarke rejects that expectation. Voltaire's phrase about encouraging the others is translated near the end, returning to the exemplary purpose attributed to the execution.