accession of george ii.—characters of the king and queen—adroit tactics of walpole—rise and fall of compton—attitude of the opposition—congress of soissons—causes of dispute with spain—stanhope's successful negotiations with king philip—retirement of townshend—walpole supreme—peace abroad and at home—walpole's system of wholesale bribery and corruption—the public prisons—duel between pulteney and lord hervey—the excise scheme—great outcry—withdrawal of the bill—walpole's vengeance—attack on the septennial act—wyndham's speech—depression of the opposition—definitive peace of vienna—gin act—the porteous riots—the prince of wales and the opposition—application for an increase of his allowance—birth of george iii.—death of queen caroline—attempt to reduce the army—disputes with spain—"jenkins' ear"—walpole's negotiations—secession of the opposition—further difficulties with spain—declaration of war—privateers and reprisals—vernon's victory—frederick invades silesia—assistance of england—parliament meets—sandys' motion—walpole's defence—disasters of maria theresa—she throws herself on the magyars—misfortunes of the english fleets—vernon repulsed from carthagena—power slips from the hands of walpole—his last battles—the chippenham election petition—his fall.

george ii. was born in 1683, and was, consequently, in his forty-fourth year when he ascended the throne. in 1705 he married the princess caroline wilhelmina of anspach, who was born in the year before himself, by whom he had now four children—frederick prince of wales, born in 1707, william duke of cumberland, born in 1721, and two daughters.

george had, if anything, a narrower intellect than his father, but spoke english fluently, though with a foreign accent—a great advantage over his predecessor. he was small of stature, and subject to fits of violent passion, neither of which qualities was conducive to royal dignity. nor did the attributes of his mind supply any gain calculated to remedy these defects. he was possessed of courage, which he had proved at the battle of oudenarde, and displayed again at dettingen, and he was praised for justice. perhaps it was a love of order and etiquette rather than justice which distinguished him. for his sort of military precision and love of soldiers he was nicknamed the "little captain" by the jacobites. but the worst trait of his disposition was his avarice. he admitted, says lord chesterfield, that he was much more affected by little things than great ones—the certain mark of a little mind; he therefore troubled himself very little about religion, but took it as he found it, without doubt, objection, or inquiry. he hated and despised all literature and intellectual pursuit, arts and sciences, and the professors of them.

as for the queen, she was a far superior person. she had been well brought up on the second marriage of her mother after the death of her father, by the queen of prussia, sophia charlotte, the sister of george i. she had been handsome till she grew corpulent and suffered from the smallpox, and still she was much admired for her impressive countenance, her fine voice, penetrating eye, and the grace and sweetness of her manner. she was still more admired for the striking contrast which she presented to her husband in her love of literature and literary men, extending her interest and inquiries into philosophy, theology, and metaphysics. those who are disposed to ridicule her pretence to such knowledge admit that she was equally distinguished by prudence and[58] good sense. she combined in her manners royal dignity and unassuming grace, and was more popular with the nation than any one of the hanover family had ever yet been. she delighted to engage theologians in discussing knotty points of doctrine, and in perplexing them with questions on the various articles of faith in different churches, and corresponded with them on these subjects through her bedchamber woman, mrs. clayton, afterwards lady sundon. but the best proofs of queen caroline's superiority were shown in her pure moral character, which was free from the slightest stain, and in her quick discernment and substantial promotion of the most able men in the church.

for a moment walpole appeared about to fall from his altitude, and the jacobite faction was in ecstasies. the dispatch of townshend, announcing the king's death in germany, arrived in london on the 14th of june, and was soon followed by himself. walpole instantly hastened to the palace of richmond, where the prince of wales resided, and was told that the prince was taking his usual afternoon siesta. he desired that he might be awoke, in consequence of important intelligence. george, suddenly aroused, rushed forth half dressed to learn the urgent business, when walpole knelt down and kissed his hand, informing him of his father's decease, and that he was king. george was at first incredulous, but walpole produced townshend's dispatch, and inquired whom his majesty would be pleased to appoint to draw up the necessary declaration to the privy council, trusting that it would be himself. to his consternation and chagrin the king said abruptly, "compton;" and walpole withdrew in deep vexation, imagining his own reign was at an end.

he waited on sir spencer compton with the royal command. this gentleman was confounded at the proposal to draw up the declaration to the privy council, and begged walpole to do it for him. walpole instantly recovered his spirits. he saw that such a man could never be his rival, and he advised his colleagues, if they went out of office, not to engage in any violent opposition, as they would soon be wanted again. he knew, too, that he had the queen in his favour, who was too clear-headed not to see that walpole was alone the man for the time. to complete his favour with her he offered to procure her a jointure from parliament of one hundred thousand pounds a year, whilst the impolitic compton had proposed only sixty thousand pounds. the queen did not oppose the king's attempt to change the ministry, but she impressed him with the danger of disturbing an already powerful and prosperous cabinet, and she made him aware of the fact that compton had been compelled to get walpole to draw up the declaration. besides the liberal jointure which he promised she added that he intended to add one hundred thousand pounds to the civil list. horace walpole, arriving from paris, threw his whole weight into the scale, representing difficulties which must beset foreign negotiations in new hands. these combined circumstances told strongly on george; but the finish was put to compton's government by his feeling overwhelmed by his own incompetence, and resigning the charge. the king had, therefore, nothing for it but to reappoint the old ministry again. some slight modifications took place. lord berkeley, who had joined the opposition of carteret and roxburgh, was replaced by lord torrington, and compton received the title of lord wilmington, the order of the garter, and the presidency of the council. the coronation took place on the 11th of october, 1727.

the hanoverian dynasty and the walpole ministry made rapid strides in popularity, and carried all before them. the new parliament met in january, 1728, and walpole's party had in the house four hundred and twenty-seven members, all staunch in his support. so strong was the party in power, that several measures were carried which at other times would have raised discontent. it was proposed by horace walpole that two hundred and thirty thousand pounds should be voted for maintaining twelve thousand hessians in the king's service. the duke of brunswick was, by treaty, to be paid twenty-five thousand pounds a year for four years for the maintenance of five thousand more troops.

these things did not pass without remark by the opposition. pulteney and bolingbroke discussed them with much vigour and acrimony in the craftsman. it was asserted in the house that the public burthens had increased instead of diminished since 1716; but walpole contended that there had been a reduction of debt to the amount of two million five hundred thousand pounds; and his statement was supported by a large majority, and it was laid before the king. the opposition then demanded an explanation of the expenditure of two hundred and fifty thousand pounds for secret service money. it was well understood that walpole had used the greater part of it in buying up that triumphant majority which enabled him to carry the most[59] obnoxious measures. the demands of the opposition were so vehement, and the abuse was so glaring, that even walpole was embarrassed how to get rid of the question. he could only recur to the old plea, that the money had been spent on services highly advantageous to the state, but which could not properly be made public. suddenly events lifted him out of his difficulty. news arrived that the king of spain, who declined to ratify the preliminaries of peace entered into at vienna, on hearing of the death of george i., hoping for a revolution, had now given way, and had issued what was called the act of pardo, ratifying the preliminaries, and referring all remaining difficulties to be settled at a congress to be held at soissons.

at the congress, which began in june, william stanhope, horace walpole, and poyntz represented england. at paris lord waldegrave supplied the place of horace walpole; and at the hague the earl of chesterfield ably managed the national interests. at the congress there was a frequent exchange of memorials and counter-memorials, but no real business was done. the only things which grew apparent were that france and spain were becoming more reconciled, and that the league between spain and the emperor was fast dissolving.

the great difficulties of the government at this time were the settlement of the questions with spain of the right to cut logwood in the bay of campeachy, and the retention of gibraltar. the spaniards had frequently resisted the cutting of logwood in the bay of campeachy by the english; and in 1717 the marquis of monteleone had presented a memorial against it; but the board of trade contended that the practice was of old standing, and amounted to a right. this representation was now laid before the house of commons, and was backed by many petitions from the merchants of london and other places, complaining of the interruptions to their trade to the south american and west indian colonies, which had been carried on by connivance rather than by actual permission of spain. there was a great fermentation in the public mind on these subjects, and the minister was accused of tamely submitting to national injuries. the nation seemed ready to rush into a war with spain, and perhaps all the more so that the king, in his opening speech, had observed that "an actual war was preferable to such a doubtful peace, but that the exchange was very easy to be made at any time."

the point, however, which excited the most indignation was that regarding gibraltar. there was a strong feeling in the public mind that the government was willing to give up this fortress to spain. the spanish government was extremely urgent on the subject, declaring that there could be no peace, no truce with england, until it was surrendered. it was recollected by the english public that stanhope had actually offered to give it up, and it was not known whether any equivalent except the signing of the quadruple alliance had been demanded. the opposition in the house of lords moved, "that effectual care be taken in any treaty that the king of spain do renounce all claims to gibraltar and minorca in plain and strong terms." the ministers, however, carried a more moderate resolution—"that the house relies on his majesty for preserving his undoubted right to gibraltar and minorca." a similar discussion with a similar result took place in the commons. the government saw plainly that nothing would induce the british people to relinquish this important station.

no sooner, therefore, had the parliament closed and the king set out to hanover, than ministers sent off william stanhope to madrid to procure a treaty of peace without any mention of gibraltar. on arriving at madrid he found that the court had removed to seville, in andalusia. this had been done by the influence of the queen, in order to draw philip from the council of castile, which was doing all it could to prevail on him again to abdicate. stanhope followed the court to seville, and laboured with such effect that he obtained the signing of a treaty of defensive alliance between england, spain, and france, to which holland afterwards acceded (november 9, 1729). by this treaty spain revoked all the privileges granted to austria by the treaties of vienna, and re-established the british trade with her american colonies on its former footing, restored all captures, and made compensation for losses. the assiento was confirmed to the south sea company. commissioners were appointed to adjust all claims of spaniards for ships taken in 1718, and to settle the limits of the american trade. the succession of don carlos to parma and tuscany was recognised, with the right to garrison the ports of leghorn, porto ferrajo, parma, and placentia with six thousand spanish troops. not a word was said of gibraltar—a silence amounting to a renunciation of its demand by spain; and that philip regarded it as such was evidenced by his[60] beginning to construct the strong lines of san roque, and thus to cut off all communication with the obnoxious fortress by land.

william stanhope was rewarded for his accomplishment of this treaty with the title of lord harrington, and was soon after made secretary of state. but whilst the english were delighted by the completion of the treaty, the emperor was enraged by it, and his mortification was doubled by the fact that, when he sought to raise four hundred thousand pounds by a loan in london to supply the want of his spanish subsidies, the ministry brought in and rapidly passed a bill prohibiting loans to foreign powers, except by a licence from the king under the privy seal. the opposition raised a loud outcry, calling it "a bill of terrors," an "eternal yoke on our fellow-subjects," and a "magnificent boon to the dutch." but walpole very justly answered, "shall british merchants be permitted to lend their money against the british nation? shall they arm an enemy with strength and assist him with supplies?"

in the midst of this prosperous career the two brothers-in-law, the ministers, began to differ in their views, and lord townshend was soon driven by the overbearing conduct of walpole to resign. lady townshend, the sister of walpole, and even queen caroline, exerted their influence for some time to put an end to these feuds; but lady townshend soon died, and the queen, finding the breach inevitable, took the side of walpole as the more indispensable servant of the crown. there were serious topics on which townshend and walpole differed, both domestic and foreign. townshend did not approve of the length to which matters were carried against the emperor, and he was weary of the timid temper of the duke of newcastle, and strongly urged his dismissal, and the employment of lord chesterfield in his place; but a pension bill brought the quarrel to a crisis. the object of the bill, which was warmly supported by the opposition, was to prevent any man holding a pension, or who had any office held in trust for him, from sitting in parliament. the king privately styled it "a villainous bill, which ought to be torn to pieces in every particular." both walpole and townshend were of the same opinion; but townshend was for openly opposing it, walpole for letting it pass the commons, and be thrown out in the lords. townshend, to whom the odium of rejecting it was thus carried in the lords, protested against this disingenuous conduct on the part of walpole, and assured him that the trick would soon be fully observed, and bring more unpopularity on him in the end than a manly, open opposition—which it did.

the temper of townshend was warm, though his nature was upright; and in this mood, a discussion taking place on foreign affairs at the house of colonel selwyn, the dispute became so heated that walpole declared that he did not believe what townshend was saying. the indignant townshend seized walpole by the collar, and they both grasped their swords. mrs. selwyn shrieked for assistance, and the incensed relatives were parted; but they never could be reconciled, and, after making another effort to obtain the dismissal of newcastle, and to maintain his own position against the overbearing walpole, townshend resigned on the 16th of may. he retired to reynham, and passed the remainder of his life in rural pursuits. one of the greatest benefits which he conferred on this country he conferred after his retirement—that of introducing the turnip from germany.

on the retirement of townshend, walpole reigned supreme and without a rival in the cabinet. henry pelham was made secretary at war; compton earl of wilmington privy seal. he left foreign affairs chiefly to stanhope, now lord harrington, and to the duke of newcastle, impressing on them by all means to avoid quarrels with foreign powers, and maintain the blessings of peace. with all the faults of walpole, this was the praise of his political system, which system, on the meeting of parliament in the spring of 1731, was violently attacked by wyndham and pulteney, on the plea that we were making ruinous treaties, and sacrificing british interests, in order to benefit hanover, the eternal millstone round the neck of england. pulteney and bolingbroke carried the same attack into the pages of the craftsman, but they failed to move walpole, or to shake his power.

the cause of the pretender sank in proportion to the peace throughout europe and the prosperity at home. from 1728 to 1740 it was at a very low ebb, and lost the few marked men who had moved in it. three of the chief leaders died about this time—mar, wharton, and atterbury. so low was the jacobite interest now fallen, that sir robert walpole said that, if ever the stuarts came again, it must be through the lowest people, for the chiefs were all dead or discouraged.

[61]

walpole's quarrel with townshend. (see p. 60.)

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[62]

such was the peace abroad and the prosperity of the country at this time, that there occur few events worthy of record. of those which took place in 1731, the most remarkable was an act abolishing the use of latin in all proceedings of the courts of justice, and the next the renewal of the charter of the east india company. if the country was peaceful and prosperous, however, it was neither free from corruption nor from the need of extensive reform. the very system of walpole which produced such a show of prosperity that an old scottish secretary of state asked the minister what he had done to make the almighty so much his friend, was built on the most wholesale bribery and corruption. it was, in fact, a purchased domestic peace. in social life the example of the government produced the like dishonesty. there was a fearful revelation of the proceedings of a charitable corporation for lending small sums of money to the industrious poor at legal interest; and sir robert sutton, the late ambassador at paris, was found so deeply implicated in the frauds and extortions practised on those they were employed to benefit, that he was expelled from the house. there was also an inquiry into the state of the public prisons of london, which opened up a most amazing scene of horrors. it was found to be a common practice of the warders to connive at the escape of rich prisoners for a sufficient bribe, and to inflict the most oppressive cruelties on those who were too poor to pay heavy fees.

the year 1732 was distinguished by little of importance. the opposition, led on by pulteney, attacked the treaty of vienna, concluded on march 16th, 1731, by which the pragmatic sanction had been approved of, and which, they contended, might lead us into a continental war some day, or into a breach of the public faith, of which, they asserted, this ministry had perpetrated too many already. they assailed the standing army, but were answered that there was yet a pretender, and many men capable of plotting and caballing against the crown. the king was so incensed at pulteney for his strictures on the army, that he struck his name out of the list of privy councillors, and ordered that all commissions of the peace which he held in different counties should be revoked. amongst the staunchest supporters of the government was lord hervey, a young man of ability who is now best remembered because, having offended pope, he was, according to custom, pilloried by the contentious poet, as sporus in the epistle to dr. arbuthnot. pope nicknamed him lord fanny, in derision of his dainty and effeminate manners. hervey contended that the writers who attacked government ought to be put down by force, and in his own person he attempted to put this in practice; for pulteney being suspected by him of having written a scarifying article on him in the craftsman, he challenged him, and both combatants were wounded. plumer very justly contended that scribblers ought to be left to other scribblers.

in the parliamentary session of 1733 walpole produced another scheme for increasing the revenue and lessening the burdens upon land, which was an extension of the excise. the excise duties were first levied under the commonwealth; they had now reached three millions two hundred thousand pounds annually. it was whilst the public were feeling the gradual increase of this item of taxation very sensibly, that they were alarmed by the news, which the opposition sounded abroad with all diligence, that ministers were about immediately to bring fresh articles under the operation of this tax, which was levied on articles of popular consumption. "a general crisis is coming!" was the cry. "a tax on all articles of consumption! a burthen to grind the country to powder! a plot to overthrow the constitution and establish in its place a baleful tyranny!" the opposition had now got a most popular subject of attack on the ministry, and it prosecuted it vigorously.

sir robert walpole was not a man, with his huge standing majority, to be readily frightened from his purpose. on the 14th of march, 1733, he brought forward his project in a speech in which he put forth all his ability, and that under a well-maintained air of moderation. he took advantage of the alarm that the tax was to be general, by representing the falsity of that declaration, and the very slight and limited nature of his real proposal. adverting to what he called the common slander of his having intended to propose a general excise, he said: "i do most unequivocally assert that no such scheme ever entered my head, or, for what i know, the head of any man i am acquainted with. my thoughts have been confined solely to the duties on wine and tobacco; and it was the frequent advices i had of the shameful frauds committed in these two branches that turned my attention to a remedy for this growing evil. i shall for the present confine myself to the tobacco trade." he then detailed the various frauds on the revenue in tobacco, which he stated were of such extent and frequency, that the gross average produce of the tax was seven hundred and fifty thousand pounds.[63] but the nett average only a hundred and sixty thousand pounds. the remedy which he proposed was to transfer this revenue from the customs to the excise. that the same might afterwards be applied to wine, a system of warehousing for re-exportation or placing in bond was proposed, which, he said, "would tend to make london a free port, and, by consequence, the market of the world." he held out the expectation that the success of this plan would render the land tax unnecessary, and thus enable the government to dispense with it entirely.

walpole ridiculed the notion which had gone abroad that the revenue officers would be increased into quite a standing army, and would endanger the common liberty by their being empowered to enter private dwellings to search for concealed excisable articles. he said the increase would be only a hundred and twenty-six persons and that the customs now possessed more searching power than he proposed to give to the excise.

whilst the debate was proceeding, great crowds gathered round the house, and became even more numerous and more agitated. walpole, irritated by the persuasion that these throngs were collected by the arts of the opposition, threw out a remark which he afterwards deeply repented. he said gentlemen might call themselves what they liked, but he knew whom the law called "sturdy beggars." this phrase, carried out of doors, highly incensed the crowd, who considered that it was meant to cast contempt on the people at large. at two o'clock in the morning, and after thirteen hours' debate, on division there appeared two hundred and sixty-six for the measure, and two hundred and five against. the great increase of the minority struck walpole with surprise and alarm.

when the resolutions of the committee were reported two days afterwards, the debate was renewed with all its vehemence, and pulteney unveiled another view of the case, which had much real truth and warning in it. "it is well known," he said, "that every one of the public officers have already so many boroughs or corporations which they look on as their properties. there are some boroughs which are called treasury boroughs; there are others which may be called admiralty boroughs; in short, it may be said that nearly all the towns upon the sea-coast are already seized upon, and in a manner taken prisoners by the officers of the crown. in most of them they have so great an influence that none can be chosen members of parliament but such as they are pleased to recommend. but, as the customs are confined to our seaports, as they cannot travel far from the coast, therefore this scheme seems to be contrived in order to extend the laws of excise, and thereby to extend the influence of the crown over all the inland towns and corporations of england."

despite these representations, however, the resolutions were confirmed by the same majority as before. other debates succeeded on the second reading of the bill, but the majority on these gradually sank from sixty to sixteen. as the storm grew instead of abated, the queen demanded of lord scarborough what he thought of it, and he replied, "the bill must be relinquished. i will answer for my regiment against the pretender, but not against the opposers of the excise." "then," said the queen, "we must drop it." sir robert summoned his majority, and requested their opinion, and they proposed to go on, observing that all taxes were obnoxious, and that it would not do to be daunted by a mob. but walpole felt that he must yield. he declared that he was not disposed to enforce it at the point of the bayonet, and on the 11th of april, on the order of the day for the second reading, he moved that the measure should be postponed for two months. thus the whole affair dropped. the usually triumphant minister found himself defeated by popular opinion. the opposition were hardly satisfied to allow this obnoxious bill thus to slip quietly away; but out-of-doors there was rejoicing enough to satisfy them.

the depth of walpole's mortification, however, was shown by the vengeance he took on those who had opposed him. this fell with peculiar weight on lord chesterfield. chesterfield had acquired a great reputation by his able management of affairs at the hague. since his return he had become lord steward of the household, and a frequent and much admired debater in the house. but chesterfield was too ambitious himself to stoop patiently to the domineering temper of walpole. he was said to have thrown out some keen sarcasms at walpole's excise bill, and his three brothers in the commons voted against it. only two days after the abandonment of the bill, as chesterfield was ascending the staircase at st. james's, he was stopped by an attendant, and summoned home to surrender the white staff. the same punishment was dealt out to a number of noblemen who acted in concert with him. lord clinton, a lord of the bedchamber, the earl of burlington, captain of the band of pensioners,[64] were dismissed, as well as the duke of montrose, and the earls of marchmont and stair from offices held in scotland. the duke of bolton and lord cobham were, by a most unjustifiable stretch of authority, deprived of their regiments.

in 1734 england was the witness of war raging in different parts of europe without having any concern in it, generally known as the war of the polish succession. a sharp parliamentary campaign had been conducted at home. the opposition talked loudly of the lamentable and calamitous situation of england, because she was wise enough to keep out of the war. their motions were all guided by the secret hand of bolingbroke, whose restless and rancorous mind could not brook that partial obscurity to which he was doomed by the immovable spirit of walpole. but the grand attack was on the septennial act. this was a delicate subject for the whigs in opposition, for they, and pulteney especially, had, in 1716, supported this act with many specious arguments. but wyndham led the way again with amazing eloquence, and discharged a philippic against walpole of such ruthless and scathing vigour, as must have annihilated a less adamantine man.

"let us suppose," said wyndham, "a man abandoned to all notions of virtue and honour; of no great family, and but of a mean fortune, raised to be chief minister of state by the concurrence of many whimsical events; afraid or unwilling to trust any but creatures of his own making, lost to all sense of shame and reputation, ignorant of his country's true interest, pursuing no aim but that of aggrandising himself and his favourites; in foreign affairs trusting none but those who, from the nature of their education, cannot possibly be qualified for the service of their country, or give weight and credit to their negotiations; let us suppose the true interest of the nation by such means neglected, or misunderstood, her honour tarnished, her importance lost, her trade insulted, her merchants plundered, and her sailors murdered; and all these circumstances overlooked, lest his administration should be endangered. suppose him next possessed of immense wealth, the plunder of the nation, with a parliament chiefly composed of members whose seats are purchased, and whose votes are bought at the expense of public treasure. in such a parliament suppose attempts made to inquire into his conduct, or to relieve the nation from the distress which has been entailed upon it by his administration. suppose him screened by a corrupt majority of his creatures, whom he retains in daily pay, or engages in his particular interest by distributing among them those posts and places which ought never to be bestowed upon any but for the good of the public. let him plume himself upon his scandalous victory because he has obtained a parliament like a packed jury, ready to acquit him at all adventures. let us suppose him domineering with insolence over all the men of ancient families, over all the men of sense, figure, or fortune in the nation; as he has no virtue of his own, ridiculing it in others, and endeavouring to destroy or corrupt it in all. with such a minister and such a parliament, let us suppose a case which i hope will never happen—a prince upon the throne, uninformed, ignorant, and unacquainted with the inclinations and true interests of his people; weak, capricious, transported with unbounded ambition, and possessed with insatiable avarice. i hope such a case will never occur; but, as it possibly may, could any greater curse happen to a nation than such a prince on the throne, advised, and solely advised, by such a minister, and that minister supported by such a parliament?" by those who have considered the extent to which walpole carried the system of corrupting the representatives of the people, and thus ruling at his own will, and not by the sanction of the public opinion and feeling, this severe portrait of him can scarcely be considered as exaggerated. walpole, no doubt, felt it deeply, but feeling, too, whence the attack really came—namely, from the armoury of bolingbroke—he passed wyndham lightly over, and emptied the burning vial of his indignation on the concealed foe, in a not less vigorous and graphic strain.

on the 16th of april parliament was dissolved and the elections were conducted with immense party heat. each side did all in its power, by fair means and foul, to increase its adherents. sir robert used the persuasives for which he became so famous, that he boasted "every man had his price," and if we are to believe the journals of the day, the opposition were not at all behind him, as far as their ability went. they made ample use, too, of the septennial act, the riot act, the excise scheme, and the unrecompensed commercial claims on spain. they declared the neutrality preserved under such circumstances disgraceful to the country, though they would have been the first to have denounced ministers had they gone to war. they gained several seats, but when the parliament met in january, 1735, it was soon discovered that, though less, the majority was as steady as ever, and the opposition having tried their strength against it for a few times, became greatly depressed for a while. bolingbroke quitted the country, and settled himself at chanteloup, in lorraine.

by permission of messrs. s. hildesheimer & co., ltd.

greenwich hospital

from the picture by t. r. hardy.

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[65]

sir robert walpole.

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whilst these affairs had been taking place in england, the emperor had been finding himself less and less able to contend against france and spain. he had in vain exerted himself to engage the dutch and english in his quarrel. he called upon them as bound by the faith of treaties; he represented the balance of power for which both holland and england had made such sacrifices, as more in danger than ever; but none of these pleas moving walpole or the dutch, he threatened to withdraw his troops from the netherlands, and make over that country to france. the threat of the emperor did not move walpole; he knew too well that it was but a threat. the emperor, therefore, was now compelled to come to terms. a treaty was to be entered into under the mediation of the maritime powers. as fleury and walpole, too, were bent on peace, they submitted to all the delays and punctilios of the diplomatists, and finally were rewarded by a peace being concluded between the different parties on these terms:—don carlos was to retain naples and sicily, but he was to resign the possession of parma and the reversion of tuscany; of the claimants to the polish crown, augustus was to remain king of poland, and stanislaus was to receive, as an equivalent, the duchy of lorraine, which, after his decease, was to devolve to the crown of france. this was an aim which france had had in view for ages, but which neither the genius of richelieu nor of mazarin could[66] accomplish. it was rendered comparatively easy now, as the young duke of lorraine was about to marry the empress's only child, the princess maria theresa, and thus to succeed through her to the empire. yet the duke ceded his patrimonial territory with extreme regret, and not till he had received in return the grand duchy of tuscany and a pension from france. the regnant grand duke of tuscany, the last of the medicis, was on the verge of death, and his decease took place in less than two years, when the duke of lorraine was put in possession. france and sardinia gave their guarantee to the pragmatic sanction, and sardinia obtained, in consequence, novara, tortona, and some adjoining districts. england appears to have looked on with strange apathy at this aggrandisement of france by the acquisition of lorraine, but it was impossible to prevent it, except by a great war, and walpole was not disposed for even a little one. this treaty is known as the definitive peace of vienna (nov. 8, 1738).

as harmony was restored on the continent, so harmony characterised, to a wonderful degree, the opening of the british parliament in january, 1736. the king felicitated the country on the happy turn which affairs had taken on the continent, and said "that he trusted the same peace and goodwill would manifest themselves in the domestic affairs of the realm." all appeared likely to realise this wish. a congratulatory address was carried without a division, and without a syllable of dissent. but the peace was hollow—the calm only preceded a storm.

the first debate arose on the subject of drunkenness and gin. drunkenness had of late years appeared to grow rapidly, and to assume more horrible features from the increasing use of gin. sir joseph jekyll proposed in committee that a heavy tax should be laid on this pernicious liquor, which should put it out of the reach of the working classes—namely, a duty of twenty shillings per gallon on all sold retail, and fifty pounds yearly for the licence to every retailer. this benevolent man had not arrived at the truth, that to tax a crime is only to stop up one vent of it, and to occasion its bursting out in half a dozen other places. sir robert walpole saw this clearly, and though he would not oppose the bill for this purpose, he predicted that parliament would soon be called upon to modify its provisions. the small duties heretofore levied on this article had brought in about seventy thousand pounds annually, and, as the excise had been made over to the crown, this sum went to the civil list. walpole demanded, therefore, that whatever deficiency of this sum should be produced by the new regulations should be made up to the civil list. the whole measure excited great clamour out of doors. it was regarded as an invidious attempt to abridge the comforts of the people, whilst those of the wealthy remained untouched. the clause proposed by walpole to protect the revenue was assailed with much fury both in and out of the house. it was said that the minister was quite indifferent to the morals of the people on the one hand, or to their enjoyment on the other, so that the revenue did not suffer.

the session of parliament closing on the 26th of may, george took his annual trip to hanover, leaving, as usual, the queen to act as regent. she found her duties this year by no means light. everyone is acquainted with the porteous riots, as they are described by the inimitable pen of sir walter scott in "the heart of midlothian." the simple historic facts are these:—two noted smugglers from fife, wilson and robertson, were condemned to death for a robbery, and were confined in the tolbooth of edinburgh. they made a determined effort to effect their escape before the day of execution. wilson, who would go first, being a man of a corpulent though very powerful build, wedged himself fast in the window, and could neither get out nor draw back again. he was found thus in the morning, and the two prisoners were again secured. wilson lamented that by his own eagerness he had prevented robertson from going first, who, from his slenderer person, could easily have escaped. before execution it was the custom at that period in scotland to conduct the prisoners about to suffer, under a strong guard, to church. this being done in the case of these two men, just as the service was concluded, wilson suddenly laid hold of two of the four soldiers who guarded them, called out to robertson to run for his life, and detained the third soldier by seizing him by the collar with his teeth. he escaped, and was never seen in edinburgh again. this daring scheme, so cleverly executed, raised the admiration of the bravery and magnanimity of wilson to the highest pitch. at his execution the soldiers were attacked with stones. porteous, who commanded the guard, fired upon the mob. for this he was condemned to death, but was reprieved by queen caroline after full inquiry. the people in fury attacked the tolbooth, the magistrates and the[67] commander of the troops were afraid to act, the prison was broken open, and porteous hanged on a barber's pole. all attempts to discover the perpetrators of the outrage failed.

but the more the mystery, the greater was the rage of the english government. on the opening of the session of parliament for 1737, a bill was brought in of a most frantic and unwise character:—"to abolish the charter of the city of edinburgh, to rase the city gates, disband the city guard, and declare mr. wilson, the provost, incapable of again holding any public office." nothing so furious and unstatesmanlike could ever have been imagined possible in the eighteenth century. witnesses were called to the bar of both houses, and amongst them three scottish judges, in their robes, were subjected to a sharp cross-examination. nothing, however, could be elicited except some degree of carelessness on the part of the city magistrates. the scottish nation, with its usual spirit, highly resented the menaces of this impolitic bill. the duke of argyll in the lords, and various members of the commons, denounced it as equally insulting and unjust. they were zealously supported by many english members, especially by wyndham and sir john barnard, and the bill gradually shrank into an act disabling mr. provost wilson from holding any office in future, and fining the city two thousand pounds for the benefit of the widow of captain porteous; and, alluding to her original station, it was jocosely said, therefore, that all this terrible menace ended in making the fortune of an old cookmaid.

the attention of the public was now again drawn to those unnatural feuds which disturbed the royal family. the exhibition of domestic discord and hatred in the house of hanover had, from its first ascension of the throne, been most odious and revolting. the quarrels of the king and his son, like those of the first two georges, had begun in hanover, and had been imported along with them only to assume greater malignancy in foreign and richer soil. the prince of wales, whilst still in germany, had formed a strong attachment to the princess royal of prussia. george forbade the connection. the prince was instantly summoned to england, where he duly arrived in 1728.

the prince found in the opposition in england the most unfortunate fosterers of his unfilial temper. pulteney, wyndham, chesterfield, carteret, cobham, and, worst of all, bolingbroke, became his associates, and the frequenters of his house. fast ripening into a pattern of unfilial popularity under such influences, possessing some accomplishments, and a desire to stand well with the people, he married in april, 1736, augusta of saxe-gotha, a princess of so much beauty and good sense, as might have reclaimed many a nature; who seems to have at least won the heart of her husband from his former romantic passion. it was an ominous circumstance, however, that the address of congratulation on this occasion was moved, not by the king's own ministers, but by the king's own opposition. pulteney was the mover, and it was supported by two young men who that evening made their first speeches, and in them burst suddenly forth with that splendour which was destined to grow transcendent through many years. they were pitt, afterwards lord chatham, and lord lyttelton.

scarcely was the prince married, when he began to complain of his limited income. his father, as prince of wales, had been allowed one hundred thousand pounds from the civil list, which then was only seven hundred thousand pounds, but he now received only fifty thousand pounds from a civil list of eight hundred thousand pounds. bolingbroke, two years before, on leaving england, told the prince, as his parting advice, to apply to parliament, without any regard to the king, for a permanent income of one hundred thousand pounds a year. under these circumstances, walpole persuaded the king to send a message to the prince, offering to settle a large jointure on the princess, and to make the prince's own income independent of his father. here the prince ought to have yielded; if he had been either politic or well-disposed, he would have done so. the king was at this time very ill, and his physicians declared that if he did not alter soon, he could not live a twelvemonth. this circumstance of itself would have touched any young man of the least natural feeling, to say nothing of policy; for, if the king died, there was an end of the question—the prince would be king himself. but he was now in such a temper that he would not listen to the royal proposal; and the next day, the 22nd of february, 1737, pulteney made his motion in the house of commons for an address beseeching the king to settle upon the prince a hundred thousand pounds a year, and promising that the house would enable him effectually to do so. what was still stranger, it was seconded by sir john barnard. the[68] commons were not willing to run counter to a prince apparently on the point of ascending the throne, and walpole would have found himself in a minority had wyndham, as he hoped, brought the tories to vote for the prince. but forty-five jacobites, who could not bring themselves to vote for an heir of the house of hanover, though they would by that have done a serious mischief to the hanoverian usurper, as they styled him, rose in a body and quitted the house. on the division, the ministerial party amounted to two hundred and thirty-four, the opposition to only two hundred and four—being a majority for ministers of exactly thirty. the next day the same motion was made in the lords by carteret, but was rejected by a large majority—one hundred and three to forty.

this decided repulse ought to have shown the prince the violence that he was doing to the public sense of decency, and the mischief to his own character; but the disappointment only the more embittered him and increased his miserable obstinacy. time had no effect in abating his unnatural resentment. though this parliamentary decision took place in february, he continued so much in the same temper, that the very last day of the following may, his wife being seized with symptoms of labour, he suddenly determined to remove her from hampton court, where all the royal family then were, and hurry her off to london.

fortunately, the princess was safely delivered at st. james's (june 4), though the house was unprepared for such an emergency—the rooms and beds being unaired, and there being no adequate suite of servants. the moment that the king heard of this extraordinary conduct of the prince, he despatched walpole and lord harrington to attend the birth, but they were too late. after that the king repulsed all the prince's advances towards a reconciliation. frederick betook himself to norfolk house, st. james's square, and there all the opponents of his father's government collected around him. the prince was now the head and centre of the opposition himself.

this open breach of the royal family was quickly followed by the death of the queen. besides the misery of seeing her son and husband so awfully at variance, she had long been struggling with a complaint which, out of false delicacy, she had carefully concealed. "the queen's great secret," says horace walpole, "was her own rupture, which, till her last illness, nobody knew but the king, her german nurse, mrs. mailborne, and one other person, lady sundon."

she continued till nearly the last to hide from the surgeons the real cause of her sufferings, and was treated by the medical men for gout in the stomach. when the secret was at length disclosed, it was too late; though one of the surgeons declared that, if they had been informed two days earlier, they could have saved her.

admirable as was the character of caroline, she has been accused of retaining her resentment against her son to the last. pope and chesterfield affirm that she died refusing to see or forgive her son; but ford, though he says she would not see him, states that she "heartily forgave him"; and horace walpole says she not only forgave him, but would have seen him, but that she feared to irritate her husband. to sir robert walpole she expressed her earnest hope that he would continue to serve the king as faithfully as he had done, and, curiously enough, recommended the king to him, not him to the king. she died on the 20th of november, perhaps more lamented by walpole than by her own husband (though, as lord hervey tells us, george was bitterly affected), for walpole well knew how much her strong sense and superior feeling had tended to keep the king right, which he could not hope for when she was gone. the king appeared to lament her loss considerably for a time, that is, till consoled by his mistress, the countess of walmoden, whom he had kept for a long time at hanover, and now soon brought over to england. he sent for her picture when she was dead, shut himself up with it some hours, and declared, on reappearing, that he never knew the woman worthy to buckle her shoe.

on the opening of parliament, in january, 1738, a desperate effort was made by the opposition at once to reduce the army and to kindle a war with spain. walpole proposed to place the army on a footing of seventeen thousand men. the "patriots," as they were called, voted to reduce the number to twelve thousand. walpole, exasperated at their factious conduct, launched an indignant sarcasm at them, which produced so much effect that they did not venture to divide on the motion. "no man of common sense," said walpole, "will now profess himself openly a jacobite; by so doing he not only may injure his private fortune, but must render himself less able to do any effectual service to the cause he has embraced; therefore there are but few such men in the kingdom. your right jacobite, sir, disguises his true sentiments. he roars out for revolutionary principles; he pretends to be a great friend to liberty and a great admirer of our ancient constitution; and under this pretence there are numbers who every day endeavour to sow discontent among the people."

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the porteous mob. (see p. 67.) [after the painting by james drummond, r.s.a.]

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defeated in this object, the patriots united all their force to embroil us with spain. there were many causes in our commercial relations with spain which led to violent discontent amongst our merchants. they found the trade with the spanish settlements in america exceedingly profitable, but they had no right, beyond a very limited extent, to trade there. the spaniards, though they winked at many encroachments, repressed others which exceeded these with considerable vigour. their coastguard insisted on boarding and searching our vessels which intruded into their waters, to discover whether they were bringing merchandise or were prepared to carry away colonial produce. by the treaty of 1670 spain had recognised the british colonies in north america, and england had agreed that her ships should not enter the ports of the spanish colonies except from stress of weather, or with an especial licence from the spanish government to trade. by the treaty of 1729 we had agreed to the old regulations regarding trading to the spanish main, namely, that we should have the assiento, or right of supplying these colonies with slaves, and that, besides this, we should only send one ship annually to the spanish west indies and south america. as fast as that authorised ship discharged its cargo in a spanish port, she received fresh supplies of goods over her larboard side from other vessels which had followed in her wake, and thus poured unlimited quantities of english goods into the place. other english traders did not approach too near the spanish coasts, but were met in certain latitudes by south american smugglers, who there received their goods and carried them into port. in short, such a system of contraband trade was carried on in these waters by our merchants, that english goods in abundance found their way all over the spanish american regions, and the great annual fair for goods imported from or by spain dwindled into insignificance.

it was no wonder that spain, feeling the serious effects of this state of things, should resist it; and when she did so, and exerted an unusual degree of vigilance, then the most terrible outcries were raised, and wonderful stories were circulated of spanish cruelties to our people beyond the atlantic. at this time the opposition got hold of one of these, and made the house of commons and the nation resound with it. it was, that one captain robert jenkins, who had been master of a sloop trading from jamaica, had been boarded and searched by a coastguard, and treated in a most barbarous manner, though they could detect no proof of smuggling in his vessel. he said that the spanish captain had cut off one of his ears, bidding him carry it to his king, and tell his majesty that if he were present he would treat him in the same manner. this story was now seven years old, but it was not the less warmly received on that account. it excited the utmost horror, and jenkins was ordered to appear at the bar of the house of commons on the 16th of march, to give an account of the outrage himself; and it would appear that both he and other witnesses were examined the same day. jenkins carried his ear about with him wrapped in cotton, to show to those to whom he related the fact, and the indignation was intense. he was asked by a member how he felt when he found himself in the hands of such barbarians, and he replied, "i recommended my soul to god, and my cause to my country." the worthy skipper had probably been crammed with this dramatic sentiment by some of his clever parliamentary introducers; but its effect was all the same as if it had been a genuine and involuntary expression of his own mind. researches made at the admiralty in 1889 proved that he really had lost an ear.

and, in truth, everything now seemed to run counter to walpole, and to tend towards war. his colleague, the duke of newcastle, who had been one of the most obsequious of subordinates both under stanhope and walpole, now thought he should serve himself decidedly by advocating war. the king was naturally of a martial turn; he had won some military repute in his youth, and he was no longer under the exceedingly sensible guidance of the queen. newcastle, therefore, probably in the hope of supplanting walpole, fostered this spirit in the king, and took advantage of it to recommend warlike measures in the cabinet, and to send despatches to the british ambassadors in spain, which but for the energy and wisdom of walpole might have done irreparable mischief, and which rendered the negotiations extremely difficult. lord chancellor hardwicke and lord harrington arrayed themselves on the same side, and blew the war-note in the house of lords with unrestrained zeal. there was a time when walpole would have had[71] these antagonistic colleagues dismissed; but both he and they saw too well that there was such a strong war spirit in both king and people, that no such thing was possible. he therefore pursued his efforts with the court of spain for peaceable conclusions, at the same time that he fell in so far with the belligerent spirit as to make active preparations as if for an encounter. this, however, was his last and most powerful argument for peace—an argument meant to tell on the fears, as he could not reach a spirit of conciliation in the spaniards.

he despatched a squadron of ten ships of the line to the mediterranean, under admiral haddock; another strong squadron sailed for the west indies; letters of marque and reprisal were issued to the merchants; and troops and stores were forwarded to georgia, which the spaniards had threatened to invade. he gave directions to all merchants in spanish ports to register their goods with a public notary in case of a rupture. these measures produced a rapid change of tone at the spanish court. on comparing the demands on both sides for damages sustained in commerce, there appeared a balance in favour of england of two hundred thousand pounds. against this, the spaniards demanded sixty thousand pounds in compensation for the ships taken by admiral byng in 1718—a claim which stanhope would never allow, but which had been recognised in the treaty of seville, and was now, therefore, acknowledged. this reduced the sum to a hundred and forty thousand pounds, which the spanish court proposed should be paid by assignments on the american revenues. this, the ministers were well aware, might involve the most endless delays and uncertainties, and they certainly showed a most conceding spirit by allowing a deduction of forty-five thousand pounds for prompt payment at madrid. the sum was now reduced to ninety-five thousand pounds; and this being agreed to, a convention was signed on the 14th of january, 1739.

in this convention no mention was made of the right of search, and various other matters were reserved for the consideration of the plenipotentiaries. when the convention was announced to parliament by the king in his opening speech, there arose a general denunciation of it both in and out of parliament. the right of search was declared to be purposely sacrificed; the limits of georgia were undefined; and the spanish captains in the west indies were unpunished for all their cruelties. that sixty thousand pounds should be allowed for compensation for ships taken by admiral byng in 1718 was very justly declared taxing us for our victories. in fact, walpole, in this treaty, seemed ready to give up everything to spain, knowing, probably, how hopeless it was to extract money from that country, and glad of an excuse of any set-off against our claims as to the easiest way of settling them. but all did not avail him. the more conceding he was to the spaniards the more immovable they became, whilst the public at home were enraged at the tameness displayed by ministers. ministers found their majority continually on the wane. on the division in the commons it had dwindled to twenty-eight, namely, two hundred and sixty votes against two hundred and thirty-two.

but that there should be a majority at all on such a question brought the opposition to try an experiment which they had been for some time planning. this was the absurd scheme of seceding in a body from the house of commons, on the plea that a paid and standing majority rendered all reason and argument nugatory. in the course of his farewell speech, wyndham made use of such violent language, that mr. pelham jumped up to move the commitment of the honourable member to the tower; but walpole was too well aware that such a proceeding would only have served the ends of the opposition, rendering them martyrs to their country's cause, and raising a vivid interest in their behalf. he therefore stopped him, and said that the measures which that gentleman and his friends might pursue gave him no uneasiness; on the contrary, the house was much obliged to them for pulling off the mask. relieved of their presence, he now carried his measures in unopposed quiet.

parliament, having so smoothly transacted its business, was prorogued on the 14th of june, and walpole then addressed himself to the settlement of the spanish difference. but here he found a spirit of resistance which had undoubtedly grown from the invectives of the opposition. the outcries against the spanish captains, the right of search, and the payment of compensation for the ships taken by byng, had given great offence to the proud spaniards. they were encouraged, also, by the earnest manner in which walpole had argued for peace. they now assumed a high tone. they complained of the continuance of the british fleet in the mediterranean. they demanded the payment of the sixty-eight thousand pounds which they said was due from the south sea company,[72] though it had been stipulated in the convention that it should not come into consideration.

here all further progress became impossible. the spaniards having reduced their debt to less than one half the original sum, were fighting stoutly to reduce it to nothing. there appeared no chance but for arms to decide it. cardinal fleury, with his usual pacific disposition, made an effort to avert the war by guaranteeing to undertake the payment of the ninety-five thousand pounds by spain, provided that the british fleet was withdrawn from the mediterranean. but english spirit, even in walpole, had now reached its limit of patience. the king and the nation were equally in a mood for war. walpole, therefore, ceased to listen any longer to the spanish objections, but took his stand on the true british ground of resistance to the right of search, and on that of an acknowledgment of all british rights and claims in north america. instead of withdrawing the mediterranean fleet, he ordered its reinforcement, sent sir chaloner ogle with fresh ships to the west indies, and sir john norris was ordered to put to sea with a third squadron. the above demands being peremptorily made from the court of madrid, and being rejected, war was proclaimed in london on the 19th of october. walpole, who had reluctantly resorted to this master evil, as he heard the rejoicings, exclaimed, "they may ring the bells now, but they will soon be wringing their hands!" the first symptoms of the consequences which the war was likely to produce were seen in the new hopes which it awoke in the ranks of the jacobites. large numbers of them met at edinburgh, and drew up a bond of association, pledging one another to take arms and venture life and fortune for the restoration of the stuart. on the other hand, those nations on which england calculated for aid hung back and remained neutral. the dutch were bound to furnish certain troops in case of war, and, before the declaration of it, horace walpole was despatched by his brother to demand their production; but they pleaded the menaces of france, which threatened them with invasion by fifty thousand men if they assisted the english, and which held out to them the prospect of their obtaining that trade to the spanish colonies which england had enjoyed. as for france herself, she assumed an air rather ominous of war than of peace, and thus britain was left alone in the contest.

the war was scarcely begun when it was discovered that we had proclaimed hostilities much before we were prepared to carry them out. our ships were badly manned, and therefore slow to put to sea, and the more alert spaniards were busy picking up our merchant vessels. not they only, but the french, dutch, and other nations who had hoisted spanish colours, were making wide devastation amongst our trading vessels. walpole was compelled to issue letters of marque and licences to swarms of privateers, which issued forth to make reprisals. the lords of the admiralty, on the 1st of february, 1740, had ordered an embargo on all shipping except coasters, so as at once to keep them out of reach of the enemy, and to induce seamen to enter the navy; but on the 28th of march a petition from merchants and owners of shipping was presented, complaining of the hardships and the destruction of trade by it. the lords of the admiralty contended that such had been the complaints of injuries done at sea to our traders, that they had been compelled to impose the embargo in the absence of sufficient hands for men-of-war. they now took the embargo off foreign ships, and gave notice to english owners that they would take it off altogether, on condition that the owners and masters of vessels would enter into an engagement to furnish a certain number of men to the navy in proportion to the number of hands in each trader. this also was denounced as a most oppressive measure, and the opposition represented it as intended to make the mercantile community sick of the war. driven, however, to extremities, ministers would not listen to these arguments; a motion was carried sanctioning this plan, and then the merchants came into it.

such were the difficulties which ministers had to contend with for commencing the war at sea. in one particular, however, there was more liberality; money was ungrudgingly voted; the land-tax was raised from two to four shillings in the pound, and the sinking fund was so freely resorted to, that the supplies altogether amounted to upwards of four millions. during these discussions, news came on the 13th of march, that on the 21st of november, 1739, admiral vernon had taken porto bello from the spaniards. this was good news for the opposition, for vernon was one of their party, and a personal enemy of walpole. there were great rejoicings and the lords sent down an address of congratulation to the king, for the concurrence of the commons. yet in this they could not avoid making a party matter of it, the address stating that this glorious action had been performed with only six ships, and thus to mark[73] the contrast with the doings of admiral hosier in those seas, and so to blacken his memory. the address was carried in a thin house, but only by thirty-six against thirty-one, so that along with the news went the comment to vernon, that the ministry begrudged him his glory. parliament was prorogued on the 29th of april, 1740, and the king set off on his summer visit to hanover.

great seal of george ii.

the turn of affairs on the continent justified walpole's gravest apprehensions. france was discovered to have made a compact with spain, and once having taken this step, she displayed her usual activity in every court of europe, to induce the allies to break with england and prevent her from making new leagues. walpole did his best to counteract these french influences. he managed to secure the russian court, before in connection with france, and subsidised sweden, denmark, hesse-cassel, and some other of the german states. but at this crisis (1740) died the savage old frederick william of prussia, and his son frederick now commenced that extraordinary military career which obtained him the name of the great. temptingly adjoining his own territory, the young king beheld that of an equally young female sovereign, maria theresa of austria, and he determined to extend his kingdom at her expense. the mystery of frederick's movements was dissipated by his crossing, on the 23rd of december, the austrian frontiers into silesia. it was seen that it was the favourable opportunity of overpowering a weak neighbour which had tempted the prussian to break his engagement, and to endeavour to make himself master of the domains of a defenceless young princess. but frederick brought out some antiquated claims on the province of silesia, and on these he justified his breach of treaties. maria theresa applied, in her alarm, to the powers who had concurred in the pragmatic sanction, but all except george ii. fell away instantly from her. they believed her incapable of defending her territories, and hoped to come in for a share of the spoil. the elector of bavaria joined prussia; saxony did the same; france was eager for the promised half of the winnings; and spain and sardinia assured frederick of their secret support. george ii., confounded by this universal defection, advised maria theresa to compromise the affair with prussia by giving up half silesia, or the whole, if necessary; but the high-spirited queen rejected the proposal with scorn, and called on george to furnish the troops guaranteed by england under the pragmatic sanction. george could, however, only assemble some few soldiers on the hanoverian frontier, but this obliged frederick to appropriate a considerable section of his army to guard against any attack from hanover.

the king, in his speech on opening parliament, mentioned the fleets which we had dispatched to the west indies and south america, and his determination to continue those armaments so as to bring spain to reason. he professed to rely with confidence on our allies, although we had scarcely one left, whilst in the same breath he admitted the no longer doubtful hostility of france[74] at the very moment that our only ally—namely, austria—was calling on us for assistance, instead of being able to yield us any, should we need it. on the proposal of the address, the opposition proceeded to condemn the whole management of the war. the duke of argyll led the way, and was followed by chesterfield, carteret, bathurst, and others, in a strain of extreme virulence against walpole, calling him a minister who for almost twenty years had been demonstrating that he had neither wisdom nor conduct. in the commons wyndham was no longer living to carry on the opposition warfare, but pitt and lyttelton more than supplied his place.

the storm grew every day more violent, and on the 11th of february, 1741, sandys, who had acquired the name of "the motion maker," announced that he intended to make a motion for a direct condemnation of the minister, and for his removal from office. on the following friday sandys made his threatened motion of condemnation. the surprise of the debate occurred when shippen—"the thorough shippen," as he was called—said that he would not join in the ruin of the assailed minister. he declared that he never followed any dictates of self-interest, and cared little who was in or out, unless he could see a prospect of different measures; but that he regarded this movement only as the attempt to turn out one administration in order to bring another in. he would therefore have no concern in it, and with that he withdrew, followed by thirty-four of his party. all prince frederick's servants and party also, except lyttelton, pitt, and granville, left the house; so that, though there were more than five hundred members present at the commencement of the debate, when the question came to be put there were not above four hundred.

it is said that sir robert had, some time before, addressed a letter to the pretender with the object of softening the asperity of his partisans in england, and that this had so raised the hopes of james, that walpole was actually intending to come round, that he had ordered his followers to avoid anything which should shake his power. whatever the cause, the fact was striking, and the opposition having concluded its onslaught upon him, he rose to make his reply. it was an occasion which demanded the utmost exertion of his powers, and he put them forth. walpole's speech on this day has justly been deemed his masterpiece. it was four o'clock in the morning when he concluded his masterly defence, and the motion was instantly rejected by two hundred and ninety votes against one hundred and six. the immediate effect of the attack appeared to be to strengthen the minister, and that considerably; his levée the next morning was more crowded than had ever been known, and he seemed to sway the cabinet with uncontrolled power. but thinking men predicted that the blow would tell in the end, when the momentary enthusiasm had gone off; and walpole himself seemed to be of the same opinion. the attack, in truth, was but the first outbreak of the storm which, kept up by the implacable spirit of a powerful opposition, was sure to bear him down at last.

whilst this powerful confederacy was putting forth all its strength to drive from the seat of supremacy the man who had so long guided the fortunes of england, another confederacy was knitting together its selfish members to rend in pieces and share amongst them the empire of the young queen of austria. frederick was willing enough to make a league with france, but he was cautious enough not to make it too soon. he wanted to know whether he could keep england out of the campaign, in which case he could deal easily with austria himself. walpole's attempts to prevent the war from becoming european, however, failed, and the treaty being signed with the prussian king, marshal maillebois marched an army across the rhine, and belleisle and broglie went with another. maillebois pursued his course direct for hanover, where george was drilling and preparing a number of troops, but in no degree capable of making head against the french. panic-stricken at their approach, he made haste to come to terms, and agreed to a year's neutrality for hanover, leaving maria theresa to her fate, and, moreover, engaging not to vote for the election of her husband, the duke of lorraine, to be emperor. the news of this conduct of the king of england in the person of the elector of hanover, was received in great britain with the utmost indignation. belleisle and de broglie had, during this time, joined their forces to those of the old elector of bavaria, the constant enemy of austria and the friend of france, and had marched into austria. he took linz, on the danube, and commenced his march on vienna. as this allied army approached vienna, maria theresa fled with her infant son, afterwards joseph ii., into hungary, her husband and his brother, prince charles of lorraine, remaining to defend the city.[75] the hungarians received their menaced queen with enthusiasm. she had done much since the recent commencement of her reign to win their affections. she had been crowned in the preceding month of june in their ancient capital, and had sworn to maintain their ancient constitution in all its force, and the people were fervent in their loyalty. when, therefore, she appeared before the hungarian parliament in presburg with her son in her arms, and called upon that high-spirited nation to defend her against her perfidious and selfish enemies, the sensation was indescribable. all rose to their feet, and, drawing their swords half-way from the scabbard, they exclaimed, "our lives and our blood for your majesty! we will die for our king, maria theresa!"

whilst these transactions had been taking place on the continent, our fleets, which should have kept the french and spaniards in check, had done worse than nothing. france had subtly delayed to declare war against us, so that, although she joined her fleets and armies to the enemy, we could not attack her without being the first to declare war, or to commence it by direct breach of the peace. admiral haddock, who was on the watch in the mediterranean to harass the spaniards, was thus baffled. the spanish fleet was joined by twelve french men-of-war from toulon, the admiral of which declared that he had orders to defend the spaniards if they were attacked. as the combined fleet, moreover, doubled his own, haddock was compelled to fall off and leave them.

still more inglorious were the proceedings of our fleet on the coasts of the spanish-american colonies. sir chaloner ogle joined vernon in jamaica on the 9th of january, 1741, and no time was to be lost, for the wet season set in at the end of april, which, besides the deluges of rain, is attended by a most unhealthy state of the climate. vernon, however, did not move till towards the end of the month, and then, instead of directing his course towards the havannah, which lay to the leeward, and could have been reached in three days, he beat up against the wind to hispaniola, in order to watch the motions of the french fleet under d'antin. it was the 15th of february before he learned distinctly that the french had sailed for europe in great distress for men and provisions. now was the time to make his way to cuba; but, instead of that, he called a council of war—the resource of a weak commander,—which was followed by its almost invariable result, a contrariety of advice. it was at length concluded that, as admiral torres had now sailed for the havannah, and thus closed the opportunity for its attack, the fleet should take in wood and water at hispaniola, and make for the continent of new spain. on the 4th of march the fleet came to anchor in playa grande, to the windward of carthagena.

carthagena was strongly fortified, and the garrison was reinforced by the crews of a squadron lying there under don blas de leon. if the place was to be assaulted, it should have been done at once; but vernon lay perfectly inactive for five days, as if to allow the enemy to make all his preparations for defence. notwithstanding this, the brave english erected a battery on shore, and played so effectually on the principal fort, that they soon made a breach in it, whilst the fleet fired into the harbour, thus dividing the attention of the enemy. in spite of their advantages, the spaniards abandoned their forts and batteries, the english entered the breach, the vessels in the harbour were destroyed, and the passage cleared so that the fleet could sail in and support the army. there appeared nothing capable of preventing the conquest of the town but the cabals of the two commanders. lord cathcart had caught the endemic fever and died, and was succeeded by general wentworth in command of the land forces. wentworth had a great contempt of vernon, and vernon was by no means well disposed towards wentworth. the fleet having entered the harbour, the land forces were all disembarked, and posted within a mile of carthagena; but there the success stopped. vernon had written home his dispatches to the duke of newcastle saying, "the wonderful success of this evening and night is so astounding, that we cannot but cry out, 'it is the lord's doing, and it seems marvellous in our eyes!'"

the news, when it reached england, produced a transport of exultation. bells were rung, cannon fired, and great rejoicings made, anticipatory of fresh tidings of wonderful success. but very different was the reality. wentworth called on vernon to bombard carthagena from the harbour, whilst he assailed it on land; but vernon replied that he could not get near enough to attack the town effectually, and that wentworth must attempt the reduction of the fort san lazaro, which commanded the town, and might be taken by escalade. this was[76] attempted, and while our men were thus standing under a murderous fire, they discovered, to their consternation, that their scaling ladders were too short. but the escalade was persisted in: they remained splicing their ladders, and a detachment of grenadiers, under colonel grant, reached the top of a rampart; but grant was instantly killed, and the grenadiers hurled back over the wall. still, the bull-dog spirit of the english made them persist in this desperate attempt, till six hundred—that is, half of them, lay dead, when they drew off.

all this time "the great admiral vernon," as the opposition delighted to call him, in disparagement of all the commanders favourable to the government, lay still with his ships and afforded no assistance to the land troops. when wentworth bitterly complained of this, to show that it was impossible to operate on the town from the harbour, vernon sent into the inner harbour the galicia, a spanish ship which had been taken. this ship kept up a cannonade on the town for several hours, producing little effect, and was fired on from the town with as little. the men were then brought off in boats, the galicia's cable was cut, and she was suffered to run upon a shoal, where she soon filled. the troops were now hastily re-embarked; the unhealthy season was at its height, and the men were swept away by fever more rapidly than they had been mowed down on land. the heavy rains had set in, and the troops in a few days were reduced to one half their number. admiral vernon instead of undertaking any enterprise which might have retrieved the honour of the british arms, set sail from jamaica with the forces in july, and anchored in the south part of cuba in a bay, on which he bestowed the appellation of cumberland harbour. here the remains of that fine fleet and army, capable of achieving the most brilliant conquests under able commanders, were suffered to corrode away under the influence of inactivity, the season, bad salted provisions, and excess of rum.

the conduct of vernon, though he had been the idol of the opposition, and not of the ministry, as it became known, increased enormously the unpopularity of walpole. though he had literally been forced into the war by the opposition, the whole of its disasters were charged, not on them, but on him; and they did not hesitate to throw from themselves upon him the odium of all its failures. the general election which now came on was seized upon to load walpole with all the weight of the unsuccessful war. the duchess of marlborough, pulteney, and the prince of wales raised funds to outbribe the master of corruption himself. they incurred heavy debts to complete his ruin, and as the news of the miserable issue of the expedition to the spanish settlements came in, numbers of those who had been returned to parliament as friends of the ministry turned round and joined the opposition in violent denunciations of the mismanagement of the war. lord chesterfield, whilst these transactions had been progressing, had hastened on to avignon, and, taking up his quarters with the duke of ormonde, obtained from the pretender letters to nearly a hundred jacobites in england and scotland, engaging them to put out all their power and influence against walpole.

whilst these combined efforts were being made to unseat him, walpole saw his cabinet every day becoming more untrustworthy, more divided against him. the duke of newcastle was eagerly pressing forward to supplant him. he had entered into secret engagements with the duke of argyll, and lord chancellor hardwicke threw himself into that clique. to these were added the earl of wilmington, formerly sir spencer compton, who, forgetting his alarm at the idea of succeeding walpole as prime minister, now was anxious for that honour. to add to these depressing circumstances, the king arrived from hanover in a humour ready to lay his disgrace and failure at anybody's door. on the 4th of december he opened the new parliament, and, conscious of his own contemptible figure after the submission to french dictation in hanover, he took care to remind it that he had commenced the war only at the urgent desire and advice of both houses, and that he had been particularly counselled to direct our naval efforts towards spanish america.

[77]

maria theresa and the hungarian parliament.

(after the picture by laslett j. pott, by permission of ephraim hallam, esq.)

[see larger version]

the opposition made no objection to the re-election of onslow as speaker of the commons, but they made a determined attack on the address. lord noel somerset moved that in the address his majesty should be desired not to engage this kingdom in a war for the defence of his hanoverian dominions. this was seconded by shippen, who declared that he had grown old in the house of commons only to see all the predictions of his life realised in the management of the nation. pulteney seemed to be animated by a double portion of patriotic indignation.[78] he reviewed walpole's whole administration, and accused him, not merely of individual acts of erroneous policy, but of deliberate treachery. the whigs, elated by this fiery denunciation of the minister, called for a division; but pulteney, aware that they had not yet a majority, observed that dividing was not the way to multiply. walpole, on his part, offered to leave out the paragraph thanking his majesty for his royal care in prosecuting the war with spain; but this was only regarded as a proof of conscious weakness, and pulteney proceeded to charge walpole with purposely ruining the nation to serve the pretender. this called walpole up, and he defended himself with all his accustomed self-command and ability. he retorted the charges of serving the pretender on his enemies, and these with real grounds. he referred to chesterfield's recent visit to the pretender's court at avignon. he asked, as he had done before more than once, whether he, as minister, had raised the war in germany, or advised the war with spain? whether he was amenable for the deaths of the late emperor and the king of prussia, which opened up all these complications? whether the lawless ambition of frederick, and the war between sweden and russia, were chargeable on him? he offered to meet the opposition on the question of the state of the nation, if they would name a day. this challenge was accepted, and the 21st of january, 1742, was fixed upon. the clause respecting the spanish war, as walpole had suggested, was also struck out, and the address then was carried unanimously.

but though the 21st of january was to be the day of the grand attack on the ministry, the battle was not deferred till then. every day was a field-day, and the sinking minister was dogged step by step, his influence weakened by repeated divisions, and his strength worn out by the display of the inevitable approach of the catastrophe. the first decided defeat that he suffered was in the election of the chairman of committees. the ministerial candidate, giles earle, was thrown out by a majority of two hundred and forty-two to two hundred and thirty-eight, and the opposition candidate, dr. lee, was hailed by a shout that rent the house. other close divisions followed. the fall of walpole was now certain, and he would have consulted both his dignity and comfort in resigning at once. this was the earnest advice of his friends, but he had been too long accustomed to power to yield willingly. he was oppressed with a sense of his defeats, and the insolence of enemies whom he had so long calmly looked down upon without fear. he was growing old and wanted repose, but he still clung convulsively to his authority, though he had ceased to enjoy it.

in these circumstances opened the year 1742. fearing the consequences of the debate on the state of the nation that was to take place on the 21st of january, walpole made a last grand effort to divide the party in array against him: this was, to buy off the prince of wales and his adherents. for this purpose he prevailed on the king to grant an additional fifty thousand pounds a year and the payment of all his debts, on condition that he should abandon the opposition. secker, bishop of oxford, was selected as the bearer of this offer; but the prince declined the proposal, declaring that he would listen to no overtures so long as walpole continued in office. this was a stunning blow, but the tenacious minister did not yet give in. he continued to avail himself of the interval before the 21st to bribe and bring over less distinguished men. the opposition, however, were now every hour receiving fresh accessions of strength, and men who had stood the brunt of many years now went over to them. lord hervey joined pulteney and chesterfield; and bubb doddington, now perceiving that one side really preponderated, stepped out of his equivocal demeanour, and openly wrote to lord wilmington to entreat him to persuade the king to dismiss the obnoxious minister.

the 21st of january arrived, and pulteney entered on his great question. there was nothing new to bring forward, but the old charges were dressed up with new force. walpole defended himself with an ability worthy of his best days. he boldly reminded the opposition of the long twenty years of defeats in their endeavours to turn him out; he declared their accusations were just as false and groundless as ever; and he proceeded to anatomise the characters of bubb doddington and pulteney in a manner which must have made men of any feeling wince. he was ably supported by sir william yonge, by pelham, and winnington, but the division showed a majority for the minister of only three.

the result of this division shook the last resistance of walpole. when the motion which had been rejected on the 18th of december—for copies of the correspondence with the king of prussia—was again put, he made no opposition, and it[79] passed without a division. he made, however, one more attempt to carry his measures. in the disputed election of chippenham he stood his ground against the petition, and was defeated by a majority of one. it was now clear to himself that he must give way. his relatives and friends assured him that to defer longer was only to court more decided discomfiture. on the 31st of january, he, therefore, prepared to depart for his seat at houghton, and the next morning he demanded of the king, in a private audience, leave to retire. george, on this occasion, evinced a degree of feeling that did him honour. when the old minister who had served him through so long a course of years knelt to kiss hands, the king embraced him, shed tears, and begged that he would often come to see him. on the 9th of february sir robert was created earl of orford, and on the 11th he made a formal resignation of all his places.