although he suffered much obloquy for refraining from it; and the
Emperor, unable to secure his assistance, allowed the pacific mediation
of France and England to have its weight. Preliminaries of peace were
set on foot (Oct. 1735), which ripened in three years into the great
treaty called the Definitive Peace of Vienna, by which the Spanish house
was allowed to retain Naples and Sicily. Sardinia was rewarded with some
frontier towns, among others Novara and Tortona, Lorraine was ceded to
France, and the young Duke of Lorraine, Francis, the affianced husband
of Maria Theresa (heiress to the Austrian Empire), was persuaded to
accept Tuscany in exchange. France and Sardinia again ratified the
Pragmatic Sanction. This somewhat trivial war thus completed the
incorporation of France, established the Bourbons in Naples, and was the
cause of the connection between Tuscany and the Austrian house.
[Sidenote: Increasing opposition to Walpole. 1734.]
[Sidenote: Wyndham's speech against Walpole.]
Walpole had been more than usually anxious to keep clear of European
wars, because the time for the dissolution of the Parliament under the
Septennial Act was rapidly approaching, and there seemed every reason to
believe that the struggle at the coming election would be a very fierce
one. The Opposition were already supplied with several very effective
cries. The Excise scheme, the arbitrary punishment of his opponents, and
his determination to keep up a standing army, would all powerfully
excite the people against the minister. Before the dissolution they
added one more cry against him by making a strong attack upon the
Septennial Act. As most of the Opposition Whigs had voted for this Act,
they had always shrunk from demanding its repeal. It required all the
skill of Bolingbroke, the wire-puller of the Opposition, to induce the
two parties to unite in the assault. The debate is interesting, as
showing in a great speech of Wyndham the temper of the Opposition and
the sort of charges to which Walpole was exposed. "Let us suppose,"
said Wyndham, "a man abandoned to all notions of virtue and honour, of
no great family, and of but 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, and most of them
equally abandoned to all notions of virtue or honour, a man ignorant of
the true history of his country, and consulting nothing but that of
enriching and aggrandizing himself and his favourites; in foreign
affairs trusting none but those whose education makes it impossible for
them to have such knowledge or such qualifications as can either be of
service to their country or give weight or credit to their negotiations.
Let us suppose the true interest of the nation by such means neglected
or misunderstood, her honour and credit lost, her trade insulted, her
merchants plundered, her sailors murdered; and all these things
overlooked only for fear his administration should be endangered.
Suppose him next possessed of great wealth, the plunder of the nation,
with a Parliament of his own choosing, most of their seats purchased,
and their votes bought at the public expense. Let us suppose attempts
made to inquire into his conduct, and the reasonable request rejected by
a corrupt majority of his creatures.... Upon this scandalous victory let
us suppose this chief minister pluming himself in defiances, because he
finds he has a Parliament, like a packed jury, ready to acquit him at
all adventures. Let us suppose him arrived to that degree of insolence
as to domineer over all the men of ancient families, all the men of
sense, figure, or fortune in the nation, and as he has no virtue of his
own, ridiculing it in others, and endeavouring to destroy or corrupt it
in all.... Then let us suppose a prince, ignorant and unacquainted with
the inclinations and interests of his people.... Could there any greater
curse happen to a nation than such a prince on the throne, advised and
solely advised by such a minister, supported by such a Parliament?"
Walpole replied in a speech scarcely less vigorous, unveiling the secret
influence of Bolingbroke, attributing to him the whole management of the
Opposition, and pointing out his vast ambition and unequalled
faithlessness.
The election, after a severe struggle, ended by giving Walpole a large
majority, although considerably smaller than he had hitherto commanded.
The depression of the Opposition was great, especially as Bolingbroke,
weary of all exclusion from power, and involved in quarrels with
Pulteney, withdrew to France.
[Sidenote: Prince of Wales head of the Opposition. 1735.]
The leadership which Bolingbroke thus resigned fell in some degree into
the hands of the Prince of Wales, not indeed that he possessed any of
the talents of a leader, but that he formed a rallying-point for all
sections of the Opposition. From his first arrival in England, in 1728,
there had been the usual differences between him and his father. He had
thought himself ill-used in the matter of his intended marriage with
Wilhelmina of Prussia, whom, though he had never seen, he pretended to
adore. The mutual dislike of the fathers of the proposed bride and
bridegroom had broken off that match. He had since married a sensible
wife, Augusta of Saxe-Gotha. But it was the parsimony of his father
which had principally excited his displeasure. He held his income of
£50,000 a year entirely at his father's will, whereas his father when
Prince of Wales had £100,000 secured to him. But parsimony was the
ruling passion of George II., and nothing could persuade him to increase
his son's income. Round the Prince had collected all the great leaders
of the Opposition; Pulteney, Chesterfield, Carteret, Wyndham and Cobham
were intimate with him, and Bolingbroke was his political instructor.
Nor was this all. Although the Queen had a love of literature, and in
some ways patronized clever men (especially in the matter of Church
preferment), Walpole had always refused to show them the least favour;
and as a natural consequence, all the better writers allied themselves
closely with the clever men of the Opposition, especially with
Bolingbroke, who had always been their friend. Swift, Pope, Gay, and
Arbuthnot, were constantly writing vigorously against Walpole.
"Gulliver's Travels" are full of strokes of satire against the conduct
of affairs. Some of Pope's sharpest lines refer to the Queen's
implacability towards her son. The "Beggars' Opera" of Gay was regarded
as being directed almost entirely against the Government. The "Quarrels
between Peacham and Lockit" were by some thought to allude to the
quarrel between Townshend and Walpole;[4] and in the Craftsman, the
organ of the Opposition, letters of the most virulent description were
constantly published against Walpole. To this brilliant Court it was
natural that the younger men rising to notoriety should ally themselves.
The intellect of the political world seemed there to be centred, and the
specious name of Patriot was apt to attract enthusiastic youth. Pitt and
Lyttelton began their political career as members of this Opposition.
It was not till the year 1737 that a public outbreak between the King
and Prince took place. In the preceding year an event had happened,
which, though of little historical importance, has been rendered
interesting by Sir Walter Scott in his "Heart of Midlothian." During the
King's absence in Hanover the Queen was left Regent. Two smugglers,
Wilson and Robertson, were imprisoned in the Tolbooth, and tried to
escape. Wilson went first, but being a big man, could not get through
the aperture they had made. Feeling that he had injured Robertson, on
the following Sunday in church he succeeded in grasping one of his
guards in each hand, and a third with his teeth, thus giving Robertson
an opportunity of escape, of which he availed himself. A strong sympathy
was excited for Wilson, and after his execution the soldiers were
attacked with stones. Porteous, who commanded the guard, fired upon the
crowd. For this he was tried and condemned to death, but, in
consideration of the provocation, was reprieved by Queen Caroline. The
people, enraged at this, organized a riot, and though notice was given
to the magistrates, no efficient means were taken for suppressing it.
The gates were locked, and the commander of the troops, frightened by
Porteous' example, refused to act. The Tolbooth was broken open, and
Porteous hanged to a barber's pole, all with the greatest order and
regularity. Having done this, and paid for the rope with which they
hanged Porteous, the crowd dispersed, nor could any of the rioters be
detected. The Queen, regarding the disturbance as a personal insult to
her authority, was extremely angry. It was proposed to abolish the
Edinburgh city guard and the city charter, level the gates, and declare
the provost incapable of holding any office. The opposition of the
Scotch members and of the Scotch nobles was however too great to be
disregarded, and ultimately the city being fined £2000, and the provost
declared incapable of office, no further punishment was inflicted.
[Sidenote: Quarrel of the King and Prince. 1737.]
[Sidenote: Death of the Queen.]
[Sidenote: Walpole retains his influence with the King.]
During this year the Prince of Wales had married. But this by no means
tended, as it was hoped, to the union of the Royal Family, for the
Prince at once renewed his demands for an increase of income. He
determined at length to follow Bolingbroke's advice, and demand that the
sum he received should not depend on the King's will, but be permanent
and fixed by the Parliament. This threat induced the King to make some
overtures, with a promise to give the Princess a jointure. They were
rejected, however, and the battle fought out. The great flaw in the
organization of the Opposition was then made manifest, for the Tories
(forty-five in number) refused to vote in favour of a Hanoverian
prince, and the ministers were victorious. This dispute was followed by
a still more scandalous squabble, the Prince hurried his wife from the
King's residence at Hampton Court to the empty palace of St. James's
when she was on the point of giving birth to her first child, who would
be in the direct line of succession to the throne. This insult was never
forgiven, and the King gave his son a peremptory order to leave the
Court. He withdrew at once to Norfolk House in St. James's Square, which
became the centre of the Opposition. The Queen remained implacable,
refusing to see him even on her deathbed. Her death happened within a
few weeks of this unhappy quarrel, to the great loss of the King, whose
want of intellect she had chiefly supplied, of Walpole, whose staunch
friend she had always been, and indeed of all England, for by seconding
Sir Robert's views she had been mainly instrumental in securing for it
that period of comparative rest which was so much wanted to re-establish
its wellbeing after the troublous time of revolution it had passed
through. It was believed that Walpole's power had rested chiefly on her
influence, and there was a general expectation that her death would be
followed by his downfall. The Opposition were much disappointed when
they found his influence with the King as great as ever. It is said that
with her parting words she had recommended the King to continue to trust
in her favourite minister; and her advice was then as always followed by
him. For though he was not a faithful husband, having had Lady Suffolk
for his mistress during the first years of his reign, and now allying
himself with Sophia de Walmoden, created Countess of Yarmouth, his
mistresses never had any great political influence over him--no
influence at all events comparable to that exercised by the Queen.
[Sidenote: The Opposition attacks his pacific policy.]
[Sidenote: George desires war.]
The Opposition, though disappointed, by no means relaxed its efforts,
and found a favourable point of attack in Walpole's pacific tendencies.
There were still several points of dispute unsettled with Spain. The
limits between Georgia and Florida were undetermined. By the Treaty of
Seville trade was established on its former footing between the two
countries, and the commercial relations between them were therefore
regulated by the somewhat indefinite treaties of 1667 and 1670. By these
the right of search and the right of seizure of contraband goods was
allowed to the respective nations. This right was exercised with varying
severity by the Spaniards according to their relation with England at
the time. But the trade of English America had very much increased, and
would not be restrained from seeking legally or illegally the trade of
South America. There was no doubt abundant smuggling. Even the South Sea
Company, which was allowed to send one ship a year, contrived in fact
much to increase that number by sending tenders with her, which secretly
replenished her cargo as she parted with it. On the other hand, it is
equally certain that the Spanish Guarda-Costas had exercised their
authority roughly, and many tales of the ill-usage of British subjects
were current. These stories were collected and brought up in Parliament
by the Opposition, the best known being that of Jenkin's ear. Jenkin was
a captain, who asserted that his ear had been torn from him, and that he
had been bidden to take it to his king. "Then," said he, "I recommended
my soul to God and my cause to my country." The ear, wrapped in cotton,
he was in the habit of showing to his listeners. This claptrap story was
most effective in rousing the popular indignation. Walpole resisted the
clamour, but met with great difficulties. The King, who was at heart a
soldier, now freed from the peaceful influence of his wife, was urgent
for war; and in the Cabinet itself Newcastle began to bid for increased
power by favouring this desire of the King.
In this eagerness for war, which is frequently represented as a folly on
the part of the nation, the people were probably really wiser than their
rulers. The state of Europe was becoming such that war was necessary for
England, if she was to uphold her position, and to obtain that paramount
situation in commerce and on the sea which her people then as now
regarded as her due. Walpole's peace policy was certainly directed
rather to the aggrandizement of his party than to the general interest
of the nation, and in pursuit of it he had allowed himself to be duped
by the pacific language of Cardinal Fleury. His attention had been
distracted from the broader lines of European politics to the details of
the constantly shifting diplomacy of the time. It is now known that, as
early as 1733, the Family Compact had been entered into between the two
branches of the House of Bourbon, for the express purpose of hampering
the trade of England, and with a stipulation for mutual assistance both
in war-ships and privateers in case of any encroachment on the part of
England. Nor was the agreement a dead letter. M. de Maurepas had been
busily and successfully employed in reorganizing the French navy.
[Sidenote: Negotiations with Spain. 1739.]
Walpole attempted at first to pursue his established policy of peace. He
opened negotiations with Spain, supported by such signs of coming
hostilities as induced that Court to agree to a convention. Many English
prisoners and some English prizes were restored, and compensation was
promised to the amount of £200,000. Against this, however, was set
£60,000 to be paid by England for the destruction of Spanish ships by
Admiral Byng in 1718, and in his eagerness for prompt payment Walpole
suffered it to be further reduced to £95,000. The disputed points were
left for further negotiation. No mention was made of the right of
search; the limits of Georgia were not defined. When this convention
became known the popular indignation was great. It was regarded as a
resignation of our rights. The ridiculously small sum given for
compensation was pointed out, and the payment of £60,000 for what the
people regarded as a glorious victory was naturally much resented. It
was in opposing this convention that Pitt seems first to have shown his
great powers of oratory. The ministerial majority was only twenty-eight.
Believing that they could now safely proceed to extremities, the
Opposition determined upon seceding from the House. With the arguments
all on one side, and the votes upon the other, it was impossible, they
said, for them to continue to do their duty there. It was a foolish
manœuvre, which, though tried more than once, has never been
successful. To the public it invariably appears factious, and as no
Opposition has been found determined enough to keep it up for any length
of time, it has always been made ridiculous by the speedy return of the
seceders. In the present instance Walpole sarcastically thanked the
Opposition for their withdrawal, and proceeded at once to pass several
measures which would otherwise have been sharply opposed; among others,
a subsidy to Denmark for a palpably Hanoverian object--the security,
namely, of the little castle of Steinhorst in Holstein.
[Sidenote: Walpole declares war rather than resign.]
But though he had carried his convention, and although the Opposition
had withdrawn, and Cardinal Fleury had offered the mediation of France,
it became obvious to Walpole that he must either declare war or resign.
His love of power prevented him from taking the latter and more
honourable course, and, to the loss of both power and fame, he suffered
himself to be dragged against his convictions into war, which was
declared on the 19th of October. The joy of England was very great,
although Walpole was full of gloomy forebodings, for, as he himself
said, "no man can prudently give his advice for declaring war without
knowing the whole system of the affairs of Europe as they stand at
present.... It is not the power of Spain and the power of this nation
only that we ought in such a case to know and to compare. We ought also
to know what allies our enemies may have, and what assistance we may
expect from our friends." He felt certain that the area of the war would
soon be extended, for, although he had successfully used his efforts to
maintain friendship with France, he knew that there was an intimate
connection between France and Spain which must sooner or later bring the
former into the field. Moreover, his information as to the plans of the
Jacobites was exceedingly accurate, and while the Opposition were
constantly deriding the notion of any formidable organization of that
party, he never ceased to be on his guard against it. The justice of his
views was at once shown, when the declaration of war called to life the
slumbering energy of the Jacobites. Intrigues were immediately set on
foot; a Committee was appointed in England; overtures were addressed to
Spain; and, as Fleury gradually grew colder and more estranged from
England, proposals were made to him also, to which he listened, and
promised that he would send a body of troops, probably the Irish
Brigade, to support any attempt in favour of the Stuarts; thus would be
fulfilled the condition without which the English Jacobites had always
refused to rise. It was hoped that the Duke of Ormond and the Earl
Marischal might make a simultaneous expedition from Spain.
[Sidenote: Increased vigour of the Opposition. 1740.]
Meanwhile, Walpole, having once yielded, seemed conscious that he no
longer possessed the absolute dominion over Parliament he had so long
enjoyed. Wyndham, his chief enemy, indeed had died: but in the ranks of
the Opposition were still to be found all those men of ability whom
twenty years of exclusive and jealous power had made his enemies; and to
his old foes was now added the exciting eloquence and uncompromising
energy of Pitt. To oppose this formidable body Walpole stood almost
alone in the Commons, supported only by such men as Henry Pelham, a
conscientious and sensible but not first-rate man, Wilmington, and Sir
William Young, whose ready ability scarcely atoned for his damaged
character. In the House of Lords he still counted the Duke of Newcastle,
Lord Hervey, and Lord Hardwicke among his party. But Hardwicke and
Newcastle were both opposed to his peaceful views, and the latter was
already intriguing against his chief. The Duke of Argyle had lately
become hostile to the ministry, and had been deprived of all his
employments. Walpole thus became the single object of all the Opposition
invectives. Every measure for the last twenty years which had either
failed or been unpopular was brought against him. The quarrel had
become personal between him and the Opposition. His efforts to retain
his power were unceasing. He yielded in the Cabinet as to the manner in
which the war was to be carried on; he gave the chief command of the
expedition in the West Indies to his political enemy Vernon; to secure
the Jacobite votes at the next election he even went so far as to enter
into correspondence with the Pretender, although probably without
serious intentions. But this conduct did but encourage his enemies, and
in the last session of Parliament (1741) Mr. Sandys brought forward a
motion, which was repeated in the Upper House, for his removal from the
King's councils. Walpole so far rebutted the charges brought against
him, that, after a defence of great eloquence, he succeeded in throwing
out the motion by a very large majority.
[Sidenote: Ill success of the war.]
[Sidenote: Walpole resigns. 1742.]
Walpole's forebodings were speedily fulfilled. Not only, as we have
seen, was the Jacobite party at once again called to life, but his
expeditions against Spain were by no means great successes. Anson
indeed, although all his other ships were lost, made several successful
attacks upon treasure-ships, captured Paita, and succeeded in bringing
'The Centurion' safe home after a circumnavigation of the globe. But
Vernon, though successful in taking Porto Bello (when his conduct was
vociferously contrasted by the Opposition with that of Hozier in
1726),[5] was repulsed with heavy loss in an assault on Carthagena.
France had become thoroughly hostile, and when, on the 20th of October
1740, the Emperor Charles VI. died, it became evident that the war would
shortly become European. In spite, however, of these proofs of Walpole's
foresight, in spite of his success against Mr. Sandys' motion, the
charges which had been brought against him had such an effect at the
next election that the Opposition found themselves with much increased
strength, and it became pretty plain that the Government would have but
a very small majority. The session opened with a series of close
divisions. The Opposition succeeded in carrying their Chairman of
Committees against the Government candidate, and when he found himself
at last defeated on the Chippenham election petition, Walpole took the
resolution of resigning. A few days later he gave up all his places, and
was made Lord Orford.
[Sidenote: Review of Walpole's ministry.]