THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE HISTORY ENGLAND. VOL.L PRINTED BY SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE LOXDON HISTORY OF ENGLAND PKOM THE PEACE OF UTRECHT TO THE PEACE OF VERSAILLES. 17131783. BY LOUD MAHON. &OL^\\o?e>) PJr> 'i p in IN SEVEN VOLUMES. VOL. I. 17131/20. FIFTH EDITION, EEVISED. LONDON: JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. 1858. 7 jess v, I CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME. CHAPTER I. A.0. 1713. Introduction ... The Peace of Utrecht ..... 5 State of Parties ...... g Whigs and Tories - - - - - ib. Remnant of the Republican party - - .7 The Jacobites - - s Retrospect on the Revolution of 1688 - - ' - ib. Act of Settlement in 1701 -10 Increase of the Jacobite party - - 14 Views of the Duke of Marlborough - - Hi. The Established Church - - - 1 6 The Roman Catholics ..... ,y A The Dissenters - ..17 Manners of the English gentry .... 7 y A Population - - -18 Revenue - - - - - - 19 High amount of salaries - - - -go Character of Queen Anne - - - - 2-2 The Lord Treasurer Oxford - - - - 2. 'I Lord Bolingbroke Secretary of State ... 2.5 CHAPTER IL Chances of the Royal Succession - - - 31 Intrigues of Lord Oxford - - - - t6. < >f Lord Bolingbroke - 33 Divisions in the Cabinet j'^ J u*.jf-*, A 4 v CONTENTS. A. D. Page 1713. Meeting of Parliament - 3* The Treaty of Commerce with France - - 35 Attacks of the Opposition - - - 36 Mutual animosity -. - - - tb. Addresses to remove the Pretender from Lorraine - 37 Motion for a Repeal of the Union with Scotland - 38 Sermons of Dr. Sacheverell - - - 4(J Public Thanksgiving for the Peace - - 4 1 Parliament prorogued - - - - ib. And dissolved - - - - - -42 Despondency of the Whigs .... ib, New Elections - - - - - - 43 Digression on the state of hoth Houses in this reign - ib. On the House of Lords - - - - 44 On the House of Commons .... ib. Advantage of the smaller boroughs - - 45 Scarcely any reports of the debates - - 46 Nor lists of the divisions - tb. Their place supplied by party pamphlets - 48 Character of Swift .... ib. Violent measures of Bolingbroke against the press - 50 Concurred in by the House of Commons - - ib. Jacobite intrigues during the autumn - - 52 New appointments at Court - - - 53 New-modelling the army - - - 54 The Pretender is urged to renounce his religion - 55 His refusal - - - - - ib. The friends of the Protestant Succession - 56 Active measures of General Stanhope ... ib. Supineness of the Court of Hanover - - 57 Declining health of the Queen - - - 58 Swift and the Duchess of Somerset - - 59 CHAPTER m. 1714. Ferment in Scotland - - - - 61 And in Ireland - - - - - - 63 The Duke of Shrewsbury Lord-Lieutenant - - ib. The new Parliament of England meets - - 64 Attack upon Swift in the Lords - - 65 And upon Steele in the Commons - - 66 Speech of Robert Walpole - - - 67 And of Lord Finch - - - - - 68 Case of the Catalans ... - 69 Address in their behalf from the Lords - - 7 1 Votes on the security of the Protestant Succession - 72 And against the Pretender ... -4 CONTENTS. V JL D. Page 1714. The Envoy from Hanover demands the Prince's wric - 75 Perplexity of Ministers - 76 Resentment of the Queen .... ib. Change of policy in the Whig party - 77 Lord Clarendon sent ambassador to Hanover - 79 Death of the Princess Sophia - - ib. The Schism Act .... 80 Speech of Stanhope - - - - 8 1 Lord Oxford's ambiguous conduct - - 82 Machinations of the Jacobites - - - - 84 A proclamation issued against the Pretender - - 85 Divided state of the Ministry ... - ib. Open quarrel between Bolingbroke and Oxford - 86 Lady Masham takes the part of the former - 87 The latter is dismissed by the Queen - - - 88 Project of the new Administration ... ib. The Duke of Marlborough returns to England - - 89 The Queen's dangerous illness - - - 90 The Dukes of Somerset and Argyle appear in the Council 91 Shrewsbury recommended as Lord Treasurer - 92 And appointed by the Queen - - ib. Measures to secure the Protestant Succession - - ib. The Queen dies - - - - - 93 CHAPTER IV. Project of Atterbury - - - - 94 The Lords Justices nominated - - - - 95 Marlborough arrives in London - - - 96 Parliament meets - - - 97 Recognition of the new Government by Foreign Powers 98 Character of George the First - - - - 99 He leaves Hanover - - - - -101 Arrives in England - - - - - 102 New Administration .... - 103 The two Secretaries of State - ib. Lord Townshend - - - - - 105 General Stanhope - - - - - 106 Anecdotes on his appointment - - - 1 1 1 Leadership of the House of Commons - - - 112 The Coronation - - - - -114 Proceedings of the Pretender .... ib. Embassy of Stanhope to Vienna - - - 115 1715. His return - - - - - 117 Dissolution of Parliament .... ib. The new one meets - - - -118 Debate on the Address - - - -119 VI CONTENTS. A. D. Page 1715. Intended prosecution of the late Ministers - 119 Bolingbroke escapes to France - - - 121 The Committee of Secrecy - - - 122 Examination of Prior - - - - - 123 Report of the Committee - - - - 124 Bolingbroke, Oxford, and Ormond are impeached - 125 Flight of Ormond - - - - -127 Oxford is committed to the Tower - - 129 Impolicy of these acts of vengeance ... ib. Disturbances in the country - - - - 132 The Riot Act passed - ib Death of the Marquis of Wharton ... 133 And of Lord Halifax - - - - ti>. CHAPTER V. Plans of the Jacobites abroad - - - - 135 Lord Bolingbroke at Paris - - - ib. He becomes Secretary of State to the Pretender - - 1 36 His negotiations with the French Court - - - 137 Arrival of the Dnke of Ormond - - - - 1 39 Death of Louis the Fourteenth - - - 1 40 Altered views of the Government of France - - 1 4 1 Communications with England - ib. Ineffectual attempts of Ormond - - - - 144 Lord Mar _.-.-- 145 He leaves London - - - - ib. And raises an insurrection in the Highlands - - 146 His force increases - - 147 Plan to surprise Edinburgh Castle - - - 14S It fails - ... 1 50 Difficulties of the English Government - ib. Duke of Argyle appointed to command in Scotland - 151 And Lord Sutherland sent to the extreme north - - 152 Mar enters Penh - - 1 54 His want of military skill - - - - 155 Movements of the English Jacobites - - 156 Arrest of six Members of Parliament - - 1 57 Tranquillity preserved in the western counties - -158 And at Oxford ... - Insurrection in Northumberland - - 159 Mr. Forster chosen as its leader - - 1 60 Insurrection in the south of Scotland under Lord Kenmure 1 6 1 Forster and Kenmure join their forces - - - i7>. Expedition of Brigadier Macintosh - - - 1 62 His attempt upon Edinburgh ... - ib. Defended by the Duke of Argyle - - - 163 CONTENTS. Vll A. D. Page 1 7 1 5. Macintosh retreats - - - - 164 His junction with Forster and Kenmure- - - 166 Their march along the Border - - - - 167 They enter Lancashire - - - - - 1 68 Attacked by the King's troops - - - - 169 Their surrender at Preston - - - - 172 Proceedings in Scotland .... ib. Mar advances against Argyle - - - 173 Battle of Sheriffmuir - - - - - 1 74 Mar makes a retreat - - - - '-176 Loss of both armies - 177 CHAPTER VL Negotiations of Lord Mar - - - - 179 James lands at Peterhead - - - - 181 1716. He proceeds to Scone Palace - - - - 182 Bad state of his affairs - - - - -183 His character and conduct - - - - 184 The Duke of Argyle sets his army in motion - 186 The insurgents retreat from Perth - - 187 The Pretender and Lord Mar re-embark - - 189 Dispersion of the insurgent army ... 190 The Pretender at St. Gcrmains - ... ib. Advice of Lord Bolingbroke - - - - 1 9 1 Dismissal of that Minister .... ib. His vindication - - - - - -192 Trials of the prisoners in England - - - 193 Seven Peers sent to the Tower - - - - 194 Address from the House of Lords - - - 195 Lord Nottingham dismissed from office - - - 196 Execution of Lord Derwentwater ... ib. And of Lord Kenmure - - - - -197 Trial of Lord Wintoun - - - - - 198 Remarks on these proceedings - ib. Bill to strengthen the Protestant interest - - 200 The Septennial Act ..... if,. It passes the House of Lords .... 204 Petitions against it ... 205 It passes the Commons - - - - ib. Opinion of Lord Somers upon it 206 His death and character .... 207 The King determines to visit Germany - - - 2 1 Repeal of the restraining clause - ib. The Prince of Wales appointed guardian of the realm - 211 The King's departure - - - - ib. viii CONTENTS. A. D. Page 1716. His want of popularity at this period - - - 212 The Duchess of Kendal - - - - - ib. The Countess of Darlington - - - - 213 CHAPTER VH. Views of foreign policy - - - - -214 Difficulties of a treaty with the Emperor - - 2 1 5 The Duke of Orleans Regent in France - - - 2 1 6 His new political system - - - - 2 1 7 Question of Mardyke - - - - -218 The Abbe Dubois -. - - - - 219 He meets Stanhope at the Hague - - - 221 The Regent sends him to Hanover ... ib. Preliminaries signed at that place ... 223 State of Northern affairs .... 224 Treaty with Denmark against Sweden - - - 225 Ambitious designs of the Czar - - - - 226 He attempts to obtain a footing in Germany - - ib. Project to seize his person .... ,',. Opposition of the Ministers in England - - - 227 Peaceful adjustment of that question - - - 228 Difficulties respecting the French treaty - - - 229 Violence of Horace Walpole - - - - 23 1 Suspicions against Lord Townshend ... 232 Justification of his conduct - ... 233 Other grounds of dissatisfaction - 234 The Earl of Sunderland .... 236 His journey to Hanover .... 239 Angry correspondence ----- 240 Horace Walpole proceeds to Hanover - 242 Fresh causes of complaint .... 243 Cabals of the Prince of Wales - 244 Lord Townshend is dismissed from his office of Secretary 246 But offered the Lord-Lieutenancy of Ireland - - 247 Charge of treachery against Stanhope - 248 His defence ------ 250 CHAPTER Ministerial schism - - - - - 252 Letters of Townshend and Walpole - - - 253 1717. The King returns to England .... 255 The Ministers are reconciled .... ib. Negotiation at the Hague - - - 2G CONTENTS. IX A. D. Page 1717. Conclusion of the Triple Alliance - 256 The King of Sweden intrigues with the Jacobites - ib. Projects of invasion - 257 Arrest of Count Gyllenboig - - - - 259 And of Baron Gortz ..... 260 The Parliament meet - - - - - 261 Renewed Ministerial schism - - - ib. Dismissal of Lord Townshend - - - - 262 Resignation of Robert Walpole and others - - ib. Conduct of Walpole in Opposition ... 263 His early life - - - - - 264 His character - .... 267 Financial measures of Walpole and Stanhope - - 273 Angry altercation between them - - - 274 Lord Cadogan accused of peculation ... 275 But acquitted ...... 276 Trial of Lord Oxford - - - - ib. Cabals of Walpole and others in his favour - - 277 His impeachment is dropped - - - - 279 His letter to the Pretender .... ib. Act of Grace - - - - - ib. Stanhope raised to the Peerage - - - - 280 State of Spain - - 281 Power and policy of Cardinal Alhoroni ... ib. His causes of complaint with the Emperor - - 284 He determines on war ..... 285 Armament at Barcelona - - - - 286 Conquest of Sardinia ..... 287 France and England interpose - ... 288 Difficulties at the Court of Vienna ... 289 Another armament prepared by Alberoni - 291 His intrigues with the disaffected in France - - 292 And in England ..... 293 CHAPTER IX. Breach in the Royal Family .... 294 Parliament meets - - - - ib. 1718. Scarcity of silver - - - - 295 An English fleet sent to the Mediterranean - - 298 Exchange of offices between Stanhope and Sunderfend - ib. Retirement of Addison - - - - ib. And of Lord Cowper - ... 299 Death and character of the Duke of Shrewsbury - ib. Last meeting of the Conrocation ... 302 Negotiations at Madrid ..... 303 A new Spanish armament .... 304 X CONTENTS. A. D. Page 1718. Stanhope undertakes a mission to Paris - 305 Conclusion of the Quadruple Alliance ... ib. Stanhope proceeds to Madrid - 306 Sailing of the Spanish armament ... ib. Their troops land in Sicily - 307 Views of Alberoni - ... ib. Negotiations of Stanhope at the Escurial - - 309 His return to England - - - - -310 State of Spain at this juncture - ib. Progress of the Spaniards in Sicily - 312 Admiral Byng and the English fleet at Naples - - 313 They sail through the Faro - - - 314 Naval action off Cape Passaro - - - - 315 Destruction of the Spanish fleet - - - - 316 Fury of Alberoni at these tidings - 317 His projects baffled in Holland - - - - 318 And at Turin - - - - - - ib. Plan of alliance between Russia and Sweden - - 3 1 9 Charles the Twelfth is killed - - - - 320 Total change in Northern affairs ... ib. Projects of Alberoni in France - ib. Conspiracy of the Duke and Duchess du Maine - - ib. I discovered by the Government ... 322 The Duke and Duchess arrested ... 323 Declaration of war from France and England against Spain 324 Session of Parliament - - - - - 325 Design of Stanhope for the relief of Protestant Dissenters 326 And of Roman Catholics .... ib. He proposes the Repeal of the Schism Act - - 327 1719. Opposition of Walpole - - - - 329 The Bill is carried .... ib. Journey of the King to Hanover ... 330 CHAPTER X. Alberoni's preparations for an invasion of England - 331 The Pretender arrives in Spain - ... 332 Sailing of the expedition .... 333 It is scattered by a storm .... 334 Two frigates reach Scotland .... 335 LorJs Marischal, Tullibardine, and Seaforth disembark - ib. Action at Glenshiel - - - - - 336 Surrender of the Spaniards .... ib. Escape of the Scottish chiefs .... ib. And of Princess Sobieski .... 333 Campaign on the Pyrenean frontier ... 339 The French take St. Sebastian - - - - 341 CONTENTS. XI A. D. p age 1719. The English storm Vigo - ... 342 State of affairs in Sicily - - 343 The Austrian reinforcements arrive ... 344 Battle of Franca Villa - - - - - ib. Alberoni attempts to obtain a favourable peace - - 345 Determination of France and England to enforce his dismissal - - . . . -346 Cabals at Madrid ..... 347 The Earl of Peterborough .... 343 His negotiations against Alberoni ... 359 Disgrace of that Minister .... 351 He is banished from Spain .... $. Conclusion of Peace - - ... 352 Affairs of the North - - - - - ib. Return of King George from Hanover - 354 Meeting of Parliament - - - - - ib. The Peerage Bill - - - . - ib. Motives of that measure .... 355 Pamphlets for and against it - - - 357 True object and origin of the Peerage - 359 Opposition of Walpole to the Bill ... 352 His eloquent speech - .... 365 The Bill is rejected by the House of Commons - - ib. APPENDIX - - - f INTRODUCTION. THE era of the Georges in England may be compared to the era of the Antonines at Rome. It was a period com- bining happiness and glory a period of kind rulers and a prosperous people. While improvement was advancing at home with gigantic strides, while great wars were waged abroad, the domestic repose and enjoyment of the nation were scarce for a moment ever broken through. The current was strong and rapid, but the surface re- mained smooth and unruffled. Lives were seldom lost, either by popular breaches of the law or by its rigorous execution. The population augmented fast, but wealth augmented faster still : comforts became more largely dif- fused, and knowledge more generally cultivated. Unlike the era of the Antonines, this prosperity did not depend " on the character of a single man."* Its foundations were laid on ancient and free institutions, which, good from the first, were still gradually improving, and which alone, amongst all others since the origin of civil society, have completely solved the great problem how to combine the greatest security to property with the greatest free- dom of action. Il is true, however, that this golden period by no means affords us unmixed cause for self-congratulation, and con- tains no small alloy of human frailties and of human passions. Some of the quiet I have mentioned may be imputed to corruption, as much as some of the troubles to faction. Our pride as legislators may sink when we * See the remarks of Gibbon, Decline and Fall, chap. iii. voL L p. 127. ed. 1820. VOL. I. B : '. .' : .*; BISTORT OF ENGLAND INTROD \ii3cover; tltat {m? constitutional pre-eminence has arisen 'still m'ore rorh.'happ.y accident than from skilful design. We may likewise blush to think that even those years which, on looking back, are universally admitted as most prosperous, and those actions now considered irreproach- able, were not free at the time from most loud and angry complainfs. How ungratefully have we murmured against Providence at the very moment when most enjoying its bounty ! How much has prosperity been felt, but how little acknowledged ! How sure a road to popularity has it always been to tell us, that we are the most wretched nnd ill-used people upon the face of the earth ! To such [>n extent, in fact, have these outcries proceeded, that a Tery acute observer has founded a new theory upon them; and, far from viewing them as evidence of suffering, con- siders them as one of the proofs and tokens of good government. * In attempting to unfold, at least for a small period, this mingled mass of national wisdom and national folly, of unparalleled prosperity and of stunning complaints, I venture to promise the reader, on my part, honesty of purpose. I feel that unjustly to lower the fame of a political adversary, or unjustly to raise the fame of an ancestor to state any fact without sufficient authority, or to draw any character without thorough conviction, implies not merely literary failure, but moral guilt. Of any such unfair intention I hope the reader may acquit me I am sure I can acquit myself. The published works which I shall quote I need not enu- merate. The MSS. which I have consulted for this volume are the following : The Stanhope Papers, at Chevening ; the Stuart Papers, which were transmitted to the late King from Rome, and to which I obtained access by the gra- cious indulgence of his present Majesty ; the very im- * " J'ai toujours trouve que le meilleur gou-vernement est celui " centre lequel on crie le plus furt sur les lieux memes ; et il suffit de " citer 1'Angletcrre et les Etats Unis d'Amerique ; car cela prouve " qne Ton a 1'oeil sur ccux qui dirigent les affaires, et qu'on peut im- " puu^ment ccnsurer leurs mesures. " (Simond, Voyage d'ltalie, torn. ii. p. 286.) A still more celebrated Genevese, M. de Sismondi, makes a similar observation in his recent essay, Sur 1'Element Aristocratique. /NTROD. FROM THE PEACE OF UTRECHT. 3 portant collection of the Earl of Hardwicke, which he has laid open to me in the most liberal and friendly manner ; the collections (mostly copies) of Archdeacon Coxe, which were presented by his brother to the British Museum ; and the Memoirs of the Master of Sinclair, with notes by Sir Walter Scott, which I owe to the kind- ness of J. G. Lockhart, Esq. January, 1836. THE HISTORY OF ENGLAND FEOM THE PEACE OF UTRECHT. CHAPTER I. THE administration of Marlborough and Godolphin, in the reign of Queen Anne, shines forth with peculiar lustre in our annals. No preceding one, perhaps, had ever comprised so many great men or achieved so many great actions. Besides its two eminent chiefs, it could boast of the mild yet lofty wisdom of Somers, the matured intellect of Halifax, and the rising abilities of Walpole. At another time, also, the most subtle statesman and the most accomplished speaker of their age, Harley and St. John, were numbered in its ranks. It had struck down the overgrown power of France. It had saved Germany, and conquered Flanders. " But at length," says Bishop Fleetwood, with admirable eloquence, " God for our sins ' permitted the spirit of discord to go forth, and, by ' troubling sore the camp, the city, and the country (and oh that it had altogether spared the place sacred to his worship !) to spoil for a time this beautiful and pleasing prospect, and give us in its stead I know not what. Our enemies will tell the rest with pleasure." To our enemies, indeed, I would willingly leave the task of recording the disgraceful transactions of that period. Let them relate the bedchamber influence of Mrs. Masham B 3 6 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. I. \vith k'er- sovereign a^fiitl the treacherous cabals of Harley against his. colleagues by what unworthy means the gre&i ^dmiaastration of Godolphin was sapped and over- thrown - how his "successors surrendered the public interests to serve their own how subserviency to France became our leading principle of policy how the Dutch were forsaken and the Catalans betrayed until at length this career of wickedness and weakness received its consummation in the shameful peace of Utrecht. It used to be observed, several centuries ago, that as the English always had the better of the French in battles, so the French always had the better of the English in treaties.* But here it was a sin against light ; not the ignorance which is deluded, but the falsehood which de- ludes. We may, perhaps, admit that it might be expe- dient to depart from the strict letter of the Grand Alli- ance to consent to some dismemberment of the Spanish monarchy to purchase the resignation of Philip, or al- low an equivalent for the Elector of Bavaria by the cession of Sicily and Sardinia, or, perhaps, of Naples. So many hands had grasped at the royal mantle of Spain, that it could scarcely be otherwise than rent in the struggle. But how can the friends of Bolingbroke and Oxford pos- sibly explain or excuse that they should offer far better terms at Utrecht in 1712, than the French had been willing to accept at Gertruydenberg in 1709? Or if the dismissal of the Duke of Marlborough had so far raised the spirits of our enemies and impaired the chances of the war, how is that dismissal itself to be defended ? It is at the conclusion of this unworthy treaty in March, 1713, and not till then, that I have fixed the com- mencement of my narrative. At that period the two great contending parties were dis- tinguished, as at present, by the nicknames of Whig and Tory. But it is very remarkable that, in Queen Anne's * " Jamais ne se mena traite cnfre les Francois et Anglois que le " sens des Franfois et leur habilete ne se monstrat pardessus celle des " Anglois, et ont lesdits Anglois un mot commun qu'autrefois m'ont . " dit traitant avec eux ; c'est qu'aux batailles qu'ils ont cues avec les " Francis toujours, ou le plus souvent, ils ont eu le gain ; mais en " tous traitez qu'ils ont eu a conduire avec eux, ils y ont eu perte et " dommage." (Mem. de Comines, liv. iii. ch viii. 1713. WHIGS AND TORIES. 7 reign, the relative meaning of these terms was not only different, but opposite to that which they bore at the ac- cession of William the Fourth. In theory, indeed, the main principle of each continues the same. The leading principle of the Tories is the dread of popular licentious- ness. The leading principle of the Whigs is the dread of Royal encroachment. It may thence, perhaps, be de- duced that good and wise men would attach themselves either to the Whig or to the Tory party, according as there seemed to be the greater danger at that particular period from despotism or from democracy. The same person who would have been a Whig in 1712, would have been a Tory in 1830. For, on examination, it will be found that, in nearly all particulars, a modern Tory resembles a Whig of Queen Anne's reign, and a Tory of Queen Anne's reign a modern Whig.* It is, therefore, a certain and a very curious fact, that the representative at this time of any great Whig family, who probably imagines that he is treading in the foot- steps of his forefathers, in reality, while adhering to their party name, is acting against almost every one of their party principles. I am far, however, from wishing to impute this change as an inconsistency, or want of principle, in either Whigg or Tories. The current of party often carries men very far, and almost imperceptibly, from the point where they first embarked ; and what we scarcely blame even in in- dividuals, we cannot, of course, condemn in successive generations. And in all the variations the name is com- monly the last thing that is changed : a remark which Paley makes of religion |, and which is equally true in politics. Besides these two great party divisions, there was also, in the reign of Anne, a handful of Republicans and a large body of Jacobites. The former generally screened themselves under the name of Whigs, as the latter under the name of Tories. But the former, comprising at that time only a few of the more violent Dissenters, and a rem- nant of the Roundheads, possessed hardly any influence, and * Some instances and illustrations of this remarkable counter- change will be found in the Appendix to this volume, ad fin, f Moral Philosophy, book v. ch. K. 8 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. I. deserves but little detail. Nay, even amongst that small party which was taunted as Republican, by far the greater number are not to be understood as positive enemies of the Throne. They wished both the monarchy and peer- age to subsist, though with diminished authority. It is true, that the term of Republican Party was perpetually in the mouth of the Tories and the courtiers. But this, which at first sight might make us believe in its strength, is, in fact, only another proof of its weakness ; since the idea of a Republic was so generally hateful to the nation as to afford a useful byword for crimination. " It may " be confidently asserted," says Mr. Hallam, of the reign of William, " that no Republican party had any existence, ' if by that word we are to understand a set of men whose ' object was the abolition of our limited monarchy. . . . ' I believe it would be difficult to name five persons to ' whom even a speculative preference of a Commonwealth ' may, with great probability, be ascribed."* It is surely no small proof how severely the people had suffered under the old Commonwealth, to find that, with all the miscon- duct of the succeeding reigns, that Commonwealth had left no roots nor offsets behind it. The Jacobites, on the other hand, were at this time a most numerous and powerful party. To explain their principles and conduct will require a short historical re- trospect. The Revolution of 1688 is an event of which the English have long been justly proud. While James the Second continued a constitutional monarch, they con- tinued a loyal people. They were neither rebellious under just authority, nor submissive under despotic en- croachments. They took up arms neither too late nor too soon. If their conduct be compared with that of any other people, under similar circumstances, it may well be doubted whether any ever so completely and so ad- mirably fulfilled their conflicting duties as subjects and as freemen. On deposing and banishing James the Second, the pro- clamation of his infant son as King, with the Prince of Orange, or one of the Princesses as Regent, would un- * Constitutional Hist. vol. iii. p. 164. 3d ed. 1713. THE JACOBITES. 9 doubtedly, in my opinion, have been the natural and proper course. But the doubts entertained at that time of the Prince of Wales's legitimacy his removal into an enemy's country the probability of his education as a Roman Catholic the firm determination of William to decline a temporary trust and the necessity of making England, in his hands, an active member of the Con- federacy for maintaining the Liberties of Europe all these prevented a compromise else so just and salutary. The result was, a vast extension of party feuds, sixty years of national division, and three civil wars. The party of the Jacobites, which would otherwise have been utterly insignificant, and soon have ceased to exist at all, grew into a large and formidable power ; and the dis- cussion turned no longer, as it should have done, on the personal guilt of James, but on the inherent right of his son. It is also very remarkable, that even over those minds which had utterly disavowed any such inherent right, the tenet still exercised a latent but considerable influence. Compare the style of the leading statesmen of the day in addressing James the Second and his successor. Even in the worst actions of James, we find even the Opposi- tion using more respectful and deferential language to- wards him than William, in the fulness of power, often received from his own official servants. * They enter- tained, unconsciously, a sort of feeling that the Prince of Orange was not their rightful ruler. And how much stronger must that feeling have been amidst the multi- tude, which is so much less capable of appreciating argu- ments or drawing distinctions which respects laws or institutions from their antiquity so much more than from their wisdom ! How should this feeling warn the nations never lightly, nor without full provocation, to cast off the sway of their rulers ! How does it show that, in many cases, a bad King with a good title may be happier for the state than a good King with a bad title ! Thus the Revolution, though undoubtedly a great and glorious event, was nevertheless attended with no small * See especially the letters to the King of Admiral Russell in the Shrewsbury Correspondence, and those of Lord Sunderland in the Hardwicke Papers. Nothing can be more blunt and insolent. 10 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. I. concomitant evils. Still, however, there was the prospect that the succession would be preserved in the line of Charles the First. But the death of Queen Mary in 1694, and of the Duke of Gloucester in 1700, having blighted these hopes, it became necessary for Parliament to provide for the succession. In 1701 was accordingly passed the celebrated Act of Settlement, excluding not only the son of James the Second (then known by the name of the Pretender), but the next Catholic heirs ; and entailing the Crown upon Sophia, Electress Dowager of Hanovei', a daughter of the Queen of Bohemia, and a granddaughter of King James the First. This was fol- lowed up, in 1702, by another Act for abjuring the Pre- tender, to which William gave the Royal Assent only a few hours before he expired; a legacy worthy that great man. On an impartial consideration, the measures of 1701 and 1702 may be considered to deserve unmixed praise. For, however desirable the project of a Regency might have been at first, it seems certain that any subsequent attempt to bring in the Pretender could not have been accomplished without ruin to both our civil and religious liberties. The Pretender being therefore excluded, who then should be chosen ? With so strong a Protestant feeling as then happily prevailed in England, it would have been little short of madness to select a Catholic sovereign. No other alternative then remained, to com- bine hereditary right as much as possible with constitu- tional freedom, but to appoint the nearest Protestant heir. There was, no doubt, serious evil in selecting a sove- reign who, like George the First, was a German in birth and in habits, and a stranger to the manners, to the laws, and even to the language, of the people he was called upon to govern. There was evil in selecting the ruler of a small independent state ; and there was reason to fear that the interests ol the Electorate might be some- times unduly preferred to those of England. But how light and transient do not these evils appear, when com- pared to those of priest-craft and slavery, which they averted ! With what reverence ought not the promoters of the Hanover Succession, during the reign of Anne, 1o be remembered by every patriotic friend of freedom by 1713. ACT OF SETTLEMENT. 11 every duteous son of the Church ! And how much has their wisdom been shown forth, not merely by contempo- rary arguments, but by subsequent results by the long period of happiness and honour which this country, through the blessing of Providence, has enjoyed under the present reigning family ! A part of this happiness and honour should, no doubt, also be ascribed to the cautious limitations which accom- panied the Act of Settlement. It was provided 1. That whosoever shall hereafter come to the possession of this Crown shall join in communion with the Church of England, as by law established. 2. That in case the Crown and imperial dignity of this realm shall hereafter come to any person, not being a native of this kingdom of England, this nation be not obliged to engage in any war for the defence of any dominions or territories which do not belong to the Crown of England, without the consent of Parliament. 3. That no person who shall hereafter come to the possession of this Crown shall go out of the dominions of England, Scotland, or Ireland, without con- sent of Parliament. 4. That from and after the time that the further limitation by this act shall take effect, all matters and things relating to the well-governing of this kingdom, which are properly cognisable in the Privy Council by the laws and customs of this realm, shall be transacted there ; and all resolutions taken thereupon shall be signed by such of the Privy Council as shall take, advise, and consent to the same. 5. That after the said limitation shall take effect as aforesaid, no person born out of the kingdoms of England, Scotland, or Ire- land, or the dominions thereunto belonging (although he be naturalised or made a denizen, except such as are born of English parents), shall be capable to be of the Privy Council, or a member of either house of Parliament; or to enjoy any office or place of trust, either civil or mili- tary ; or to have any grant of lands, tenements, or heredi- taments, from the Crown to himself, or to any other or others in trust for him. 6. That no person who has an office or place of profit under the King, or receives a pension from the Crown, shall be capable of serving as a member of the House of Commons. 7. That after the said limitation shall take effect as aforesaid, Judges' com- 12 HISTORY OF ENGLAND CHAP. I. missions be made QUAMDIU SE BENE GESSEUINT, and their salaries ascertained and established ; but upon the Ad- dress of both Houses of Parliament it may be lawful to remove them. 8. That no pardon under the Great Seal of England be pleadable to an impeachment by the Com- mons in Parliament. The first of these articles was a safeguard of our national religion, as the second of our national inde- pendence. The want of some such restraint as the fifth had been felt very strongly in the case of William and his foreign favourites, his Portlands and his Albemarles; and its enactment proved most salutary during the reigns of the first two Georges. Great advantages would in like manner have been derived from the third article, had it not, as I shall afterwards have occasion to show, been too readily repealed on the accession of George the First. The sixth article, on the other hand, was hasty and ill- considered. There can be no doubt that, in the reign of William, as in the two preceding, the number of placemen in the House of Commons was dangerously and uncon- stitutionally large ; nor can it be denied that a fearful degree of corruption and venality had grown out of that abuse.* But to extirpate that abuse by its opposite by the total and unconditional exclusion of all members of the Government seems scarcely less absurd than a physician who should advise a glutton to touch no food at all. To pronounce the favour of the Crown to be of course incompatible with the confidence of the people, appears dangerous in theory. To determine that no Minister of State should bring forward and explain his measures to Parliament, would be ruinous in practice. So evident, indeed, were these and other such considera- tions, that, in 1706, after an interval of cool reflection, the article was repealed. But two provisions of great importance were established in its stead. First, that every member of the House of Commons accepting an office under the Crown, except a higher commission in the army, shall vacate his seat, and a new writ shall issue. Secondly, that no person, holding an office created since the 25th of October, 1705, shall be capable of being * See, for instance, ParL Hist. vol. v. pp. 886. 911. &c. 1713. INCREASE OF THE JACOBITES. 13 elected at all.* These restrictions continued unchanged, and even unquestioned, during the reigns of the four Georges. It may be observed, however, that the vacating of seats by Members who take office might often have been productive of most serious injury, had it not in a great measure been neutralized by the effect of the smaller boroughs. For until our new constitution of Parliament in 1832, any eminent statesman, though he might be out- voted at one place, was perfectly sure of his election at another. The defeat of a great party leader, under any circumstances, such as that of Mr. Brougham in West- moreland, or of Sir Robert Peel at Oxford, was speedily repaired at Winchelsea or Westbury. The Act of Settlement, in favour of the House of Hanover, was, however, attended with one great but un- avoidable evil a large increase of the Jacobite party. Many of the Tories had been willing to concur in the ex- clusion of James the Second and his son, so long as the throne was held by other members of his family, but were most reluctant to admit so wide a departure from the hereditary line as the establishment of the House of Hanover. There was, also, a very general wish to see still upon the throne some descendant of Charles the First, a monarch whose memory had become hallowed in the minds of the people from the crime of their fathers against him, and from his consecration as the "Royal " Martyr " by the Church. Under the influence of these feelings, a very considerable number of the landed gentry, and of the High Churchmen, began to cast a wistful look of expectation towards St. Germains. " Several in Eng- 'land," writes a Jacobite agent in 1711, "wish the King well, who would not hazard their estates for him . . . If he came with ten thousand men it is ' thought there would not be a sword drawn against him. There are, besides, a set of men well dis- * See the excellent remarks of Mr. Hallam (Const. Hist. vol. Hi. p. 257. 8vo. eel.). I would, however, presume to doubt whether that eminent writer be not mistaken when he says, that " at the same time " were excluded all such as held pensions during the pleasure of the " Crown." That clause seems to have been rejected in 1706, since ten years afterwards a Bill for that very object was brought in by General Stanhope. See the Parl. Hist. vol. vii. p. 374. 14 HISTOKT OF ENGLAND. CHAP I. " posed, who have taken the oaths to the Government only " by form, and whom General Stanhope, in Sacheverell s " trial, called the Non-juror Swearers. These are very " numerous in the two kingdoms." * Besides these besides the steady old Jacobites besides the whole body of the Roman Catholics, the Court of St. Germains also received promises of support from several leading Ministerial statesmen. The extent of this infidelity, which has more recently come to light from the publication of original papers, is truly appalling. No feeling of attachment to party, nor of admiration for greatness, should make us shrink from exposing the shameful treachery of men who secretly kept up a treasonable correspondence with seals of office in their hands, and professions of loyalty on their lips. Amongst these, since 1688, had been Admiral Russell, Lord Danby, the Duke of Shrewsbury, the Lord Treasurer Godolphin, and, above all it is with shame and sorrow that I write it the Duke of Marlborough. His conduct to the Stuarts is, indeed, a foul blot on his illustrious name. He had from early life been attached to James the Second. He had received high favours from that monarch. Yet he quitted that monarch at the very hour when fortune was turning upon him, and under all the circumstances that could add a sting to perfidy. I do not deny that a sense of patriotism, and a conviction of the dangers to which both religion and liberty were exposed under the government of James, would justify his conduct, and that he might be praised for remember- ing, with a truly Roman spirit, his duty to his country before his obligations to his patron. But, as Hume well observes, this defence requires that we should find on his part ever after the most upright, disinterested, and public- spirited behaviour. How difficult, then, does it become to excuse his defection when we find him, almost im- mediately after its success, taking measures to provide for a change of circumstances to stand well with the de- throned Court, should it be restored to have to plead the most ardent vows of repentance and attachment ! How difficult when we find him betraying to the enemy * Macpherson's Original Papers, vol. ii. p. 212, &c. ed. 1775. 1713. THE DUKE OF MARL BOROUGH. 15 the secret expedition against Brest when we find that expedition consequently failing and costing the lives of eight hundred British soldiers ! * What defence can pos- sibly be offered for such conduct ! No other than that of Manlius when he pointed to the Capitol ! To the last, Marlborough persevered in these deplorable intrigues. To the last he professed unbounded devotion to the Courts both of Hanover and of St. Germains. Thus, for example, in April, 1713, he writes to the Elector: "I entreat you to be persuaded that I shall " be always ready to hazard my fortune and my life for " your service." In October of the same year we find him solemnly protesting to a Jacobite agent, that he had rather have his hands cut off than do anything preju- dicial to King James's cause !f It may be observed, how- ever, that a correspondence with the exiled family during the reign of Anne, though equally dangerous and hurtful to the public interests, was far less treacherous and dis- graceful to the parties themselves than during the reign of William. The objects of the Jacobites had changed. Under William they wished to dethrone and expel the reigning monarch. Under Anne, on the contrary, their views were, in England at least, directed to the hope of her succession. When any of her Ministers, therefore, concurred in these views, they, at least, did not concur in any personal injury or insult to the sovereign whom they served. Nay, these views were more than suspected to be in accordance with Her Majesty's secret predilections. It is to be observed, before I quit the subject of parties, that the Tories at this period were the more numerous, * The secret letter of Marlborough to King James is printed by Macpherson, voL i. p. 485. Coxe (vol. i. p. 76.) endeavours to defend him, by alleging that Marlborough knew that he had sent his intelli- gence too late to be of any service to the French. But this would only be a further refinement of perfidy. In the Memoirs alleged to be written by Fouche, and perhaps compiled in part from his notes, there is the boast of a similar course with respect to the plans of Napoleon, before the battle of Waterloo. See voL ii. p. 342. ed. 1824. f See Macpherson's Original Papers, vol. ii. pp. 442. and 488. It appears, also, from the Stuart Papers at Windsor, that the chief com- munications with the Duke of Marlborough, towards the close of Anne's reign, were carried on through the means of Mr. Tunstal, un- der the cant name of "Trevers." Marlborough's cant name was " Malbranche." 16 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. I. and comprised the bulk of the landed proprietors and parochial clergy. The Whigs, on the other hand, had in their favour nearly the whole monied interest. The great majority of the English at this period firmly held the doctrines of the Established Church, and zea- lously supported its privileges. " The Church for ever ! " had become a favourite cry. During Sacheverell's trial the sedan chair of the Queen used to be surrounded by an anxious crowd exclaiming, "God bless your Majesty " and the Church! We hope your Majesty is for Dr. " Sacheverell ! " Another proof of this salutary attachment may be drawn from the fact, that both the Tories and Whigs were accustomed to charge each other as a ground of unpopularity with endangering the Church ; the Tories because they favoured the Roman Catholics ; and the Whigs because they favoured the Dissenters. The state of each of these sects may, perhaps, require a few words of detail. The Roman Catholics at this time seemed very incon- siderable as to numbers. In Ireland, indeed, or at least in its southern and western provinces, they comprised the mass of the labouring classes ; but these at that time were men of most unruly temper and abject ignorance, and befriended by no party in the state. Swift was a Tory of that era ; yet, in all the eighteen volumes of his works, it would not be easy to point out a single sentence of sympathy or interest with this portion of his fellow- countrymen. So far from it, that in some passages he is anxious to represent the Irish Protestants as English settled in Ireland, and to draw a strong line of distinction between them and the native Irish.* In England, on the other hand, the Roman Catholics could boast of many adherents amongst the ancient peerage and gentry and other educated classes, but had hardly any hold upon the lower. In spite of their very small numbers, they were the objects of extreme alarm to the Protestants, from the remembrance of their former persecutions, and from the religious tenets and impending return of the Pretender. The most unfounded imputations against * Sec, for instance, a letter to Pope so late as July 23. 1737. " "We " are grieved to find you made no distinction between the English " gantry of this kingdom and the savage old Irish." 1713. THE ENGLISH GENTRY. 17 them were always greedily received. No charge was too gross, no falsehood too glaring, for the credulous ani- mosity of the public. In fact, it is very remarkable how frequently the multitude arrives at a right conclusion from false premises ; and it might be truly asserted, that such old wives' fables as the burning of London by the Roman Catholics have produced more effect against them than even the noble martyrdom of Ridley or the unanswerable arguments of Chillingworth. Very rigorous enactments had been passed against the Catholics in the reign of Queen Anne. But in practice these were for the most part moderately and mildly administered ; and we find Bolingbroke asserting, in 1714, that the Catholics " enjoy " as much tranquillity as any others of the Queen's sub- jects."* Of the Protestant Dissenters, who at this period, be-' fore the rise of Methodism, were not numerous, I shall have a better opportunity of saying a few words when I come to the repeal of the Schism Act. The manners of the English gentry, in this age, were, in a great measure, purely national ; and, except, at Court, had received from foreign nations neither polish nor corruption. To travel had not yet grown to be a very common practice. It was not yet thought that a visit to more genial climes, or more lovely landscapes, was the best preparation for afterwards living happy and con- tented in our own. In fact, according to the old English maxims, no one could go abroad without special permis- sion from the sovereign. Thus, in the reign of Elizabeth, Sir William Evers was severely punished because he had presumed to make a private journey to Scotland.f In the first part of the eighteenth century, the same autho- rity seems still to have existed, at least with respect to the great nobility. The Duke of Shrewsbury, for example, could not go abroad, in 1700, until he had obtained leave from King William. ij: Thus, also, the Duke of Marl- borough's application for a passport, in 1712, was op- * Letter to Mr. Prior, Jan. 30 1714. Corresp. TO!, ii. f See a letter from James the First, interceding for Evers, in Birch's Memoirs, vol. ii. p. 511. | Shrewsbury Corresp. p. 630. VOL. I. C 18 HldTORT OF ENGLAND. CIIAP. T. posed by several members of the Cabinet.* The fees for a passport at the Foreign Office amounted to upwards of 6/.t, a sum far from inconsiderable in those days, and serving as a check upon the lower class of travellers. To travel with passports from the Foreign Ministers re- sident in England is a later, and, in my opinion, a mis- chievous and unwarrantable innovation. Thus amongst the gentry and middle classes of Queen Anne's time, the French language was much undervalued, and seldom studied. At Court, however, the case was very different ; and, though few could speak French very accurately, it is remarkable how much the style of many eminent men at this period, in their private corres- pondence, teems with Gallicisms. The letters of Marl- borough, especially, appear written by a Frenchman. Thus, for example, he uses the word " opiniatrety" for obstinacy, and "to defend" instead of to forbid.^ At the peace of Utrecht, the population of England was not much above five millions. It may be doubted whether that of Scotland exceeded one million || , or that of Ireland, two ; although I need hardly observe how far less accurately and carefully such calculations were made in those days. It is certain, however, that the rural in- * Coxe's Life, voL vi. p. 221. f Bolingbroke's Corresp. vol. it p. 82., note to a letter from Prior, of Sept. 1712. When I was Under Secretary of State in that depart- ment (in 1835), I found the fees on each passport reduced to 2/. 2*. 6d. f See Coxe's Life, vol. iv. pp. 229. 243, &c. The duty on the im- portation of unbound foreign books into England from June, 1711, to June, 1712, amounted only to 120/. 15s., and in the ensuing year to 192/. 3s. (Commons' Journals, vol. xvii. p. 605.) That duty which had been doubled in 1711, appears to have been 60 per cent. ad valorem. ( Ibid. p. 642.) See the Preface to the 1st. vol. of the Population Returns, 1831, p. 45. According to the calculations of Mr. Finlaison, the population of England andWalesin 1710 was 5,066,000, and in 1TOO, 5,134,000, thus showing a decrease of 68,000 in ten years. It is remarkable that all the periods often ye.irs between 1710 and 1830, when the popula- tion had grown to 13,800,000, exhibit, on the contrary, a steady and progressive increase. Will the wars of Queen Anne's reign account for the difference ?. But then, what shall we say to the wars of the French Revolution ? |( Yet Fletcher of Saltoun estimated the number of gipsies in Scot- land at iiot less than 200,000 ! A monstrous exaggeration ! 1713. THE NATIONAL DEBT. 19 habitants of England then very far outnumbered those in the towns ; but the latter having since increased in a much greater proportion, more especially in the manu- facturing districts, the two classes have come nearly to an equality * ; a change which has, I fear, involved within it the germ of other changes. The national debt, at the accession of Anne, had been only 16,000,000/., with an interest of 1,300,000/. In 1714, it had grown to 52,000,OOOA, with an interest of 3,.300,000/ f By the accounts presented to Parliament in that year, it appeared that the expense of the late war during twelve years, amounted to nearly 69,000,000/., making a yearly average of above five millions and a half.J The debts, during tins period, seem to have been con- tracted on very mode'-ate terms. Lord Treasurer Go- dolphin observes, in one of his letters, in 1706: "Though ' the land and trade both of England and Holland have ' excessive burthens upon them, yet the credit continues ' good, both with us and with them ; and we can, either 'of us, borrow money at four or five per cent. ; whereas, ' the finances of France are so much more exhausted, 'that they are forced to give 20 and 25 per cent, for every 'penny of money they send out of the kingdom, unless 'they send it in specie." In 1709, the supplies voted exceeded seven millions, a sum that was unparalleled, and seemed enormous. || In fact, though these sums at present may appear light in our eyes, they struck the subjects of Anne witli the utmost astonishment and horror. "Fifty millions oi' debt, and six millions of taxes!" ex- claims Swift : " the High Allies have been the ruin of " us!" Bolingbroke points out, with dismay, that the public revenue, in neat money, amounted, at the Revolution, to no more than two millions annually; and the public debts, that of the bankers included, to little more than three hundred thousand pounds. Speaking of a later period, and of a debt of thirty millions, he calls it " a sum that will * See Colquhoun's "Wealth and Resources, p. 23. t Ibid. p. 265. I Parliamentary History, voU vi. p. 1346. Letter to the Duke of Marlborough, dated Sept. 24. 1706, and printed in the 3d volume of Coxe's Life II Somerville's Queen Anne, p. 334. c a 20 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. I. " appear incredible to future generations, and is so almost " to the present ! " It is, I hope, with no undue partiality, that I venture to remark, how much juster and more cor- rect on this point were the views of Secretary Stanhope. Ju the minutes of a conference which he held in 1716, with Abbe Dubois, I find the following remark recorded of him : " However large our national debt may be " thought, it will undoubtedly increase much more, and "believe me, it will not hereafter cause greater diffi- " culty to the government, or uneasiness to the people, " than it does at present."* But, though we might astonish our great-grandfathers at the high amount of our public income, they may as- tonish us at the high amount of their public salaries. The service of the country was then a service of vast emolu- ment. In the first place, the holder of almost every great office was entitled to plate ; secondly, the rate of salaries, even when nominally no larger than at present, was, in fact, two or three times more considerable from the inter- mediate depreciation of money. But even nominally, many offices were then of higher value, and when two or more were conferred upon the same person, he, contrary to the present practice, received the profits of all. As the most r-.-markable instance of this fact, I may mention the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough. Exclusive of Blenheim, of Parliamentary grants, of gifts, of marriage portions from the Queen to their daughters, it appears that the fixed yearly income of the Duke, at the height of his favour, was no less than 54,825/., and the Duchess had, in offices and pensions, an additional sum of 9,500| a sum, I * See the Memoires de Sevelinges, vol. L p. 207. f A statement of the offices and emoluments enjoyed by the Duke )i Marlborough : Per annum. Plenipotentiary to the States ... 7,000 General for the English forces on Mr. How's estab- lishment .... 5,000 General in Flanders, upon Mr. Brydges' establish- ment ------ 5,000 Master of the Ordnance - ... 3,000 Travelling charges as Master of the Ordnance - 1,825 Colonel of the Foot Guards, being twenty-four companies 2,000 1713. HIGH AMOUNT OP SALARIES. 21 need hardly add, infinitely greater than could now be awarded to the highest favour or the most eminent achieve- ments. There can be no doubt that the former scale was unduly high : but it may be questioned whether we are not at present running into another as dangerous ex- treme ; whether by diminishing so much the emoluments of public service, we are not deterring men with genius, but without fortune, from entering the career of politics, and forcing them rather to betake themselves to some lucrative profession ; whether the greatest abilities may not thereby be diverted from the public service ; whether we are not tending to the principle that no man, without a large private property, is fit to be a Minister of State ; whether we may not, therefore, subject ourselves to the worst of all aristocracies, an aristocracy of money ; whether we may not practically lose one of the proudest boasts of the British Constitution under which great talent, however penniless or lowborn, not only may raise, but frequently has raised, itself above the loftiest of our Mon- tagus or Howards. In Queen Anne's time the diplomatic salaries were re- gulated according to a scale established in 1669. Am- Pension ... . 5,000 From the States of Holland, as General of their Forces -.---- 10,000 From the foreign troops in English pay, six-pence per pound ----- 15,000 For keeping a table .... 1,000 54,825 Offices, &c. of the Duchess. Keeper of the Great and Home parks - - jfr 1,500 Mistress of the Robes .... 1,500 Privy purse ..... 1,500 Groom of the Stole .... 3,000 Pension out of the Privy Purse ... 2,000 9,500 (From Somerville, p. 260.) Lord Dartmouth, probably with party exaggeration, says, " Her Grace and the Duke together had above " 90,000f. a year" salary." Note to Burnet's Hist, vol vi. p. 33. ed. 1833. C 3 22 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. L bassadors- ordinary in France, Spain, and the Emperor's Court, had 100/. a day, and 1500/. for equipage; in Portugal, Holland, Sweden, and the other Courts, !()/. a day and 1000/. for equipage. Ambassadors-extraor- dinary had every where the same allowances as the Am- bassadors-ordinary, and differed only in the equipage money, which was to be determined by the Sovereign ac- cording to the occasion.* Considering the difference in the value of money, such posts also were undoubtedly more lucrative and advantageous than at present. But, on the other hand, these salaries and sometimes even those of the civil government at home were very ir- regularly paid, and often in arrear. " I neither have re- " ceived, nor expect to receive," says Bolingbroke, in one of his letters f, "any thing on account of the journey which ' ; I took last year by Her Majesty's order (into France) , <; and, as to my regular appointments, I do assure your " Lordship I have heard nothing of them these two ' years." Ministerial or Parliamentary corruption at least so far as foreign Powers were concerned did not in this ge- neration, as in the last, sully the annals of England. Thus, for example, shamefully as the English interests were betrayed at the peace of Utrecht by the English Ministers, there is yet no reason whatever to suspect that they, like the patriots, of Charles the Second's reign, had received presents or "gratifications" from Louis the Fourteenth. Should we ascribe this change to the dif- ference of the periods or of the persons ? Was the era of the peace of Utrecht really preferable to that of 1679, hailed by Blackstone as the zenith of our constitutional excellence ?J Or were Bolingbroke and Oxford more honest statesmen than Littleton and Algernon Sidney? In reviewing the chief characters which we find at this period on the political stage, that of the Queen need not detain us long. She was a very weak woman, full of prejudices, fond of flattery, always governed blindly by some female favourite, and, as Swift bitterly observes, " had not a stock of amity to serve above one object at a * See Bolingbroke's Correspondence, vol. i. p. 114. t To Lord Strafford, Aug. 7. 17 13,' vol. ii. p. 466. J Comment, vol. iv. p. 439. ed. by Coleridge, 1825. 1713. THE LORD TREASURER OXFORD. 25 "time."* Can it be necessary to waste many words upon the mind of a woman who could give as a reason a lady's reason ! for dismissing a Cabinet Minister, that he had appeared before her in a tie-wig instead of a full- bottom ? | Is it not evident that in such a case we must study the advisers and not the character of a sovereign that we must look to the setting rather than to the stone? Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford, and at this time Lord Treasurer and Prime Minister, is one of the most re- markable examples in history, how it is possible to attain both popularity and power without either genius or virtue. Born in 1661, and bred in Presbyterian principles, which, however, he was not slow in forsaking, he entered Parlia- ment soon after the accession of King William, and was, during four years, Speaker of the House of Commons. On quitting the Chair, in 1704, he was made Secretary of State, through the recommendation of Marlborough. He was, however, an object of suspicion to his other col- leagues. " His humour,' 1 says Lord Chancellor Cowper at the time, " is never to deal clearly or openly, but ' always with reserve, if not dissimulation, and to love " tricks when not necessary, but from an inward satis- " faction in applauding his own cunning." | He had hitherto, in a great measure, skilfully trimmed between the Tories and the Whigs, and secured a great number of adherents from both. But, almost immediately after his junction with the latter, lie began to cabal against thm ; obtained private interviews with the Queen, through the means of Mrs. Masham ; gradually worked himself into Her Majesty's confidence, and filled her with distrust of her responsible advisers. His letters at that period to Marlborough and Godoiphin prove that he knew how * Memoirs relating to the Change, Works, vol. iii. p. 227. In his Journal to Stella, he describes Her Majesty's manner at a drawing- room : " She looked at us round with her fan in her mouth, and " once a minute said about three words to some that were nearest hei " and then she was told dinner was ready, and went out." August 8. 1711. f Scott's Life of Swift, p. 165. J Private Diary, Jan. 6. 1706. Lord Cowper's Diary was printed, but not published, by the Roxburgh Club, in 1833, and I have re- ceived a copy by the kindness of the Rev. E. C. Hawtrcy. It had been seen by (..'i>xe in MS. c 4 24 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. I. to combine the most subtle schemes of malice with the most ardent professions of friendship. His plotting being at length partly brought to light, he was compelled to re- sign in February, 1708. But he immediately put himself at the head of the Tories ; and, retaining his back-stairs influence at Court, and his early friends amongst the Dissenters, he, in little more than two years, undermined and overthrew the great Whig administration. He be- came chief of that which succeeded, obtained not only the Treasurer's staff, but the Earldom of Oxford, and, next to Mrs. Mashara herself, was now the most im- portant subject of the realm. He seems to have possessed in perfection a low sort of management, and all the baser arts of party, which enabled him to cajole and keep to- gether his followers, and to sow divisions amongst his enemies. He spared neither pains nor promises to secure adherents. He affected upon every question a tone of forbearance and candour. But he was one of those in- ferior spirits who mistake cunning for wisdom. His slender and pliant intellect was well fitted to crawl up to the heights of power through all the crooked mazes and dirty by-paths of intrigue ; but having once attained the pinnacle, its smallness and meanness were exposed to all the world. From the moment of his triumph, the expert party leader was turned into the most dilatory and help- less of Ministers. His best friends were reduced to com- plain that no business could be done with him. " Lord " Treasurer," says Swift, " is the greatest procrastinator " in the world. He only says, ' Poh ! poh ! all will be " ' well.' He told Mr. Lewis it should be determined to- " night, and so he will say a hundred nights."* Even his taste for literature was numbered amongst his faults ; for in him (if I may borrow a phrase from Tillotson) it was only a specious and ingenious sort of idleness. In personal intercourse he was mild, courteous, and concili- * Journal to Stella, Nov. 2. 1711 ; Dec. 19. 1711 ; and April 15. 1712. Another Tory, Lockhart, says of him : " He was, indeed, " very civil to all who addressed him, but he generally either spoke " so low in their ear, or so mysteriously, that few knew what to make " of his replies, and it would appear he took a secret pleasure in " making people hang' on and disappointing them." Comment. p. 370. 1 713. LORD BULKS vJBROKE. 25 atory ; but in public affairs, whenever he could temporise no longer, and was driven to some decision, he had a bias to prerogative and arbitrary measures, as being most easy and convenient to himself.* With all his indolence in business, he was so jealous of its possession as to claim from his colleagues a larger share of it than even the greatest genius and activity could have satisfactorily transacted. Such was the new Prime Minister of England. His principal colleague, Henry St. John, was born in 1678. He was an only son by his father's first marriage, the heir to a good estate in "Wiltshire, and sprung from a younger branch of the Lords St. John of Bletsoe one of the most ancient and illustrious houses in the kingdom. His early education was directed by a puritanical mother, whose imprudent zeal compelled him painfully to peruse huge tomes of controversial divinity when far too youn te understand their value, and thus, perhaps, implanted in his mind the h'rst seeds of his aversion to tlie truths of Revelation. " I resolve," he says himself, writing to Swift in 1721, " to make my letter at least as long as one of your sermons ; and, if you do not mend, my next shall be as long as one of Dr. Manton's, who taught my youth to yawn, and prepared me to be a High Church- man, that I might never hear him read, nor read him more. " It is, in fact, not a little remarkable, that the two great champions of High Church at this time Oxford and Bolingbroke should both have been bred up amongst the Dissenters. Manton, whom Bolingbroke thus alludes to, was a non-conforming and most volu- minous divine, very worthy, but a little tedious, who, being impressed with some fanciful idea as to the analogy of numbers, wrote 119 sermons upon the 119th Psalm! Young St. John pursued his studies at Eton and Oxford, and at the dissolution of Parliament, in 1700, was elected Member for Wotton Basset. He entered public life endowed with every gift of nature, of fortune, and of education, except the most important of all fixed principle. A handsome person, a strong consti- * " Doubtless," says Blackstone, " all arbitrary measures, well exe- " cuted, are the most convenient." Comment, vol. iv. p. 350. ed. 1825. From thence, how often are indolent men the greatest tyrants ! 26 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. I. tution, a most engaging, yet most dignified manner, were his external recommendations ; and were supported by a rich fund of reading, deep powers of thought, and bound- less ambition. He looked through the characters of others with a keen and searching eye. His eloquence, both com- manding and rewarding the attention of his hearers, was ready, full, and gushing ; according to his own beautiful illustration, it flowed like a stream that is fed by an abundant spring, and did not merely spout forth, like a frothy water, on some gaudy day.* His genius was vast and lofty, yet able to contract itself at will scarcely any thing too great for its grasp, and scarcely any thing too minute for its care. With such splendid abilities, such active ambition, he might have been the greatest and most useful statesman of his, or, perhaps, of any age. But he utterly wanted virtue. He was no believer in revealed religion, whose tenets he attempted to sap in his writings, and disregarded in his life. He had early rushed into pleasure with an eagerness and excess that might have been forgiven his youth and his ardent passions, had he not afterwards continued them from a miserable personal vanity. He aimed at being the modern Alcibiades a man of pleasure at the same time as a man of business ; sitting up one night to reel at a drunken orgy, sitting up the next to compose a despatch on which the fate of Europe might hang; at one hour dealing forth his thunder- bolts of eloquence to the awe-struck senate, at another whispering soft words at the ear of yielding beauty ! f In this unworthy combination he lost all dignity of mind. There ceased to be any consistency between his conduct and his language. No man ever spoke more persuasively of the fatigues of business, yet no man was ever more * See the letter on the Spirit of Patriotism. f Voltaire, in one of his letters, relates, or invents, " ce que disait " a ses compagnes la plus fameuse catin de Londres : Mes sceurs, " Bolingbroke est declare, anjourd'hui, Secretaire d'Etat ! Sept mille " guinees de rente, mes soeurs, et tout pour nous ! " See a note to Swift's Works, vol. xvii. p. 291. Lord Bolingbrokc's beautiful lines to one of these ladies, " Dear, thoughtless Clara," &c., seem to prove, that had he applied himself to poetry he would have excelled in it. 1713. LORD BOLINGBROKE. 27 fretful and uneasy in retirement. For him. activity was as necessary as air for others. When excluded from public life, there were no intrigues, however low and grovelling, to which he did not stoop in order to return to it. Yet all his writings breathe the noblest principles of independence. " Upon the whole of this extraordinary "character," says his intimate friend, Lord Chesterfield, " what can we say but, Alas ! poor human nature ! " As a writer, Lord Bolingbroke is, 1 think, far too little admired in the present day. Nor is this surprising. His works naturally fail to please us from the false end which they always have in view, and from the sophistical argu- ments which they are, therefore, compelled to urge. As a politician, he wished to prove that the peace of Utrecht was honourable ; as a philosopher, that the Christian religion was untrue. To one or the other of these points his ob- servations are almost always tending. It is no wonder, therefore, if, from the worthlessness of the materials, we are disposed to undervalue the beauty of the workman- ship. But, surely, his style, considered apart from his matter, seems the perfection of eloquence. It displays all the power and richness of the English language ; and, in all its changes, never either soars into bombast, or sinks into vulgarity. We may observe with admiration, that, even when defending the cause of tyranny, he knows how to borrow his weapons from the armoury of freedom. The greatest praise of Bolingbroke's style is, however, to be found in the fact, that it was the study and the model of the two greatest minds of the succeeding generation Mr. Burke and Mr. Pitt. The former, as is well known, had so closely embued himself with it, that his first pub- lication was a most ingenious, and, to many persons, de- ceptive imitation of its manner. To Mr. Pitt it was recommended by the example and advice of his illustrious father, who, in one of his letters, observes of " Oldcastle's " Remarks," that they "should be studied, and almost got " by heart, for the inimitable beauty of the style."* Mr. Pitt, accordingly, early read and often recurred to these political writings ; and he has several times stated in con- * To Lord Camelford, May 4. 1754. Letters published by Lord Grenville. 28 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. I. versation to the present Lord Stanhope, that there was scarcely any loss in literature which he KO deeply deplored, as that no adequate record of Bolingbroke's speeches should remain. What glory to Bolingbroke, if we are to judge of the master by his pupils ! My observations upon Bolingbroke's character have drawn me from my slight sketch of his political career. It remains for me to say, that, having entered the House of Commons in 1700, he almost immediately became one of the most shining and admired speakers of that fastidious assembly. He took the side of the moderate Tories, and more particularly attached himself to Harley. With him he joined the administration of Marlborough and Godol- phin, in 1704, and, notwithstanding his youth, was ap- pointed Secretary at War. Marlborough, especially, appears to have taken the warmest interest in the pro- motion of a rising statesman, whose abilities he discerned, and on whose friendship he relied. " I am very glad." he writes to Godolphin, " that you are so well pleased " with Mr. St. John's diligence, and I am very confident "he will never deceive you."* On his part, St. John professed perhaps he felt at the time the warmest at- tachment to his illustrious patron, and addressed him in such terms as the following : " The vast addition of re- ' nown which your Grace has acquired, and the wonderful ' preservation of your life, are subjects upon which I can ' never express the thousandth part of what I feel. ' France and faction are the only enemies England has 'reason to fear, and your Grace will conquer both."t How little was it then foreseen, that the statesman who thus wrote would become the most deadly opponent of the hero the champion of " France and faction," and thus, by his own avowal, the enemy of England ! St. John, in fact, still continued his close connection with Harley. He plunged deep with that crafty leader into the intrigues of Mrs. Masham ; with him he also was * Letter to Lord Godolphin, July 13. 1704. f Secretary St. John to the Duke of Marlborough, May 17. 1706. In a previous letter of August 18. 1 705, we find him professing to the Duke " the strongest ties of gratitude," and anxiously deprecating " an ill peace, which is certain ruin to us ! " 171t3. LORD BOLINGBROKE. 29 detected, and compelled to resign, in February, 1708. But on this event he immediately joined the Tories, threw into their scale, till then suspended, the whole weight of his ability, and by them was, at no distant period, tri- umphantly borne back into office. In September, 1710, he was made Secretary of State, with the supreme di- rection of foreign affairs. For this post he was peculiarly qualified, by not only understanding, but writing, the French language most correctly an accomplishment which even at present is by no menns common, and which at that period was very rare. His task in both conducting and defending the negotiations for peace was extremely arduous. " When I undertook," he says himself, " in ' opposition to all the Confederates, in opposition to a ; powerful turbulent faction at home, in opposition even ' to those habits of thinking which mankind had con- ' traded by the same wrong principle of government, ' pursued for twenty years, to make a peace, the utmost 'vigour and resolution became necessary."* It is on St. John that the shame of the inglorious treaty of Utrecht should mainly rest. He directed all its steps from Lon- don ; and some fresh difficulties having unexpectedly arisen, he undertook to remove them by a journey to Paris, and a conference with Torcy. At nearly the same time, July 1712, he was raised to the peerage by the title of Viscount Bolingbroke, and on this new political theatre displayed the same talent, and won the same ascendency as in the House of Commons. These two statesmen, Oxford and Bolingbroke, were the leading members of the Tory administration. At the head of the Opposition, at this period, were Lords Somers, Cowper, and Halifax, in the House of Peers ; General Stanhope and Mr. Robert "Walpole in the Commons. One far greater than all the illustrious Marlborough was no longer in England. Mortified at the unworthy per- sonal attacks to which he was exposed, and more es- pecially at the base charge of peculation levelled against him under the name of Sir Solomon Medina, he had with- drawn to the Continent in November, 1712, and was re- * To Lord Strafford, April 8. 1712. Corresp. voL i. p. 456. 30 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. I. joined by his. Duchess in the following spring. After some wandering, they fixed their residence at Antwerp, where they could carry on a close correspondence with their political friends, and from whence (as was shown by the event) a very short notice might, on any sudden emergency, summon them to England. 1713. INTRIGUES OF OXFORD. 31 CHAPTER AFTER the conclusion of the peace of Utrecht, the eyes of all England were turned with anxious and undivided attention to the chances of the Royal Succession. That thig could be no very distant prospect became evident from the frequent illnesses and declining strength of the Queen. A few months more, it seemed probable, would sever the last remaining link which united the posterity of Charles the First with the throne of England. Warned by Her Majesty's precarious health to look forward, her Ministers were much divided in their wishes; all, indeed, professing alike their attachment to the Hanover Suc- cession, but the greater number of them secret partisans of the Pretender. The Lord Treasurer, on this as on every other occasion, appears doubtful in his objects and crooked in his means. So early as 1710, he had sent, through Abbe Gaultier, an overture to Marshal Berwick, the Pretender's illegitimate brother, to treat of the restoration of the Stuarts ; Anne retaining the Crown for her life, and securities being given for the religion and liberties of England. Peace was, however, he declared, an indispensable preliminary ; and he seemed no less anxious that the whole negotiation should be carefully concealed from the Court of St. Ger- mains, of whose usual indiscretion he was probably aware. Berwick, as may well be supposed, raised no objection to these or any other terms ; and Oxford promised that next year he would transmit a detailed and specific plan for their common object. No such plan, however, arrived ; and, when pressed by the French agents, the Treasurer only descanted on the importance of first securing the army, or returned such answers as " Let us go gently," and " Leave it all to me." As the General Election ap- proached, Oxford became somewhat more explicit, but Btill gave nothing in writing beyond one insignificant 32 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. JL sentence*, and no more in conversation than seemed re- quisite to secure the powerful support of the Jacobites for his administration. The advice he offered was also sometimes of a very questionable nature, as that James should leave Lorraine, and go, for example, to Venice, where he might indeed, as Oxford urged, have more easy intercourse with the travelling English ; but where, on the other hand, he. would have been very far removed from England, and unable to profit by any sudden con- juncture in his favour. On the whole, Marshal Berwick and the Pretender himself soon became convinced that Oxford's view was chiefly his own present maintenance in power, and that he had no serious intention of as- sisting them.f In fact, notwithstanding this negotiation, there are several strong reasons for believing that Oxford was, at heart, no enemy to the Hanover Succession. He had mainly helped to establish that Succession in 1701, and his vanity had, therefore, an interest in its success. It was the safer and the legal side no small recommen- dation to a very timid man. His Presbyterian connections his frequent overtures for a reconciliation with the Whigs his perpetual disagreements with his more de- cided Jacobite colleagues his avowed contempt of the old Stuart policy might all be pleaded as arguments on the same side. I say nothing of his loud and eager professions of zeal at the Court of Hanover; but, on the whole, I do not doubt that he would readily have pro- moted the accession of that family, if he could have been assured of their favour afterwards, or if he could have brought them in with small trouble and no hazard to him- * " Je parlerai a M. 1'Abbe (Gaultier), avant son depart, au sujet " de M. le Chevalier." April, 1713. The secret letters of Gaultier and Iberville to Torcy are not amongst the Stuart Papers, but in the French diplomatic archives. Sir James Mackintosh had access to them in 1814 ; and some extracts from his collections, by an accom- plished literary friend of his and acquaintance of mine, Mr. John Allen, in the Edinburgh Review, No. cxxv., have been very useful to me. + "II est moralement certain que toutes les avances qu'il nous avail " faites n'avaient eu pour motif que son propre interet, ami de joiiulru " les Jacobites aux Torys, et par la se rendre le plus fort dans lo " Parlement, et y faire approuver la paix." Mem. de Berwick, torn. ii. p. 132. ed. 1778. 1713. INTRIGUES OF UOLWGRROKE. 33 self. But indolence and caution were always the main springs of his character : and, perhaps, those of his con- temporaries knew him best who believed that he had no fixed designs at all.* Bolingbroke, on the contrary, had plunged into the Ja- cobite intrigues headlong and decisively. Of the usual incitements to Jacobitism higli doctrines of divine right nnd indefeasible allegiance he was, indeed, utterly des- titute ; but he was no less destitute of that z< j al for civil rights and the Protestant religion which bound the hearts of his countrymen to the Hanover Succession. Without any prejudice on either side, he looked solely and steadily at his personal interests. He perceived that his Tory connections and his ties with France made him an object of suspicion at Hanover, and left him little to expect from that family upon the Throne. The same reason, however, would render him a favourite with " King James the " Third," especially should that empty title become more substantial through his aid. He, therefore, determined to forward the views of the Jacobites. We find him, at the end of 1712, in secret communication with them f ; and during the two following years, he is repeatedly men- tioned by the French agents, Gaultier and Iberville, in their private letters, as holding with them most con- fidential intercourse, and giving them most friendly counsels. Of the remaining members of the Cabinet, the Jacobites could also reckon on Secretary Bromley J, and the Dukes of Buckingham and Ormond. Some others, such as Lord Chancellor Harcourt, may be considered as uncertain or wavering ; and several, like the Bishop of London, as sincere friends to the Protestant Succession. It may easily be supposed that an administration thus variously composed could not long remain cordially united. Oxford and Bolingbroke gradually came to be considered * See Bolingbroke's Letter to Wyndham. and Cunningham's Hist. vol. ii. p. 303. The latter, however, is, I must admit, very poor au- thority for any fact or opinion. f Macpherson's Papers, vol. ii. p. 367. j Bromley is mentioned in Iberville's instructions as " un homine " attache presque ouveitement au parti du Hoi (Jacques)." r>t. 26. 1713. VOL. I. D 34 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. D. as leaders of separate and jarring divisions. The former, as far as professions could go, was indeed most smooth and complying. In his own expression, " If the company " should say Harrow on the Hill or Maidenhead were the " nearest way to Windsor, I would go with them, and " never dispute it, if that would give content, and I might " not be forced to swear it was so." * But, in practice, Lord Oxford was by no means the easy colleague he de- scribes. All those who knew him bitterly complain of his little jealousies and want of confidence, of the undue share which he claimed in business, of his dilatory manner of transacting it. So early as May 1711, we find Boling- broke write to Lord Orrery, " We who are reputed to " be in Mr. Harley's intimacy have few opportunities of " seeing him, and none of talking freely with him. As he " is the only true channel through which the Queen's " pleasure is conveyed to us, there is and must be a per- " feet stagnation, till he is pleased to open himself, and set " the water flowing." Ths feuds between the two Mi- nisters were frequently composed, more especially by Swift, their common friend. But as the subject matter of division still remained, it always broke out afresh with aggravated rancour. Such was the state of parties when Parliament met in April, 1713. At this period the Ministers were by no means appre- hensive of defeat in either House. Of the Upper, Swift writes, on the day before the meeting, "Lord Treasurer " is as easy as a lamb. They are mustering up the " proxies of the absent Lords, but they are not in any fear "of wanting a majority, which death and accidents have " increased this year."f In the Commons their preponder- ance was even more secure. But that House being then under the operation of the Triennial Act, and in its third and last Session, both parties showed great timidity in all their movements, and were anxious not to commit them- * Harley to Lord Godolphin, Sept. 10. 1707. Append, to Somer- ville, p. 625. f- Journal to Stella, April 8. 1713. Bolingbroke also expected that " the Sesaiou will be quiet and short." To Lord Orrery, March 6. 1713. 1713. TKEATY OP COMMERCE WITH FRANCE. 35 selves to any measures that might impair their popularity at the ensuing Elections. On the 9th of May, the following message was pre- sented from her Majesty to the House of Commons : " Anne R. As it is the undoubted prerogative of the " Crown to make peace and war, I have ratified the treaties " of peace and commerce with France, which had been " signed by my order, and have concluded a treaty with " Spain, which will be signed at Utrecht as soon as the " Spanish Ministers are arrived there." These treaties were then laid before the House. The stipulations being already well known, and a large ma- jority of the Commons having shown a determination to support them, no debate was attempted on the general question. It would have been but poor generalship to have attacked the whole line with such inferior forces, instead of singling out the weakest points. The Op- position accordingly made a resolute stand on the 8th and 9th articles of the Treaty of Commerce, to which they knew that many of the Ministerial members were disin- clined. This 9th article provided that all laws made in Great Britain since 1664, for prohibiting the importation of any goods coming from France should be repealed ; and that, within two months, a law should be passed that no higher custom duties should be paid for goods brought from France than were payable for the like goods brought from ;my other country in Europe. Now the latter clause was a direct violation of the Methuen Treaty, according to which the duties on the Portuguese wines were always to be lower by one third than the duties on the French*; and this violation would, of course, have lost the English all their trade with Portugal, which was at this time by far the most thriving and advantageous they possessed. Their rising manufactures of silk, of linen, and of paper were, moreover, threatened with unequal competition and probable ruin. The merchants and practical men of business in that unenlightened age such men were usually preferred to theorists and speculators with scarcely any exception, viewed this project with dismay ; and it has been calculated, on apparently good grounds, * See the treaty in the Commons' Journals for 1 71.3, p. 348. D 2 3ti HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. II that h&d the project passed, the annual balance against, or loss to, Great Britain, would have been not less than 1,400,000/.*: so that, on the whole, I think we may fully agree with Bishop Burnet,that " if even we had been " as often beat by the French as they had been beat by ^ us, this would have been thought a very hard treaty." f The subject was debated in the House of Commons on the 14th of May, the day appointed to bring in a Bill to make good the 8th and 9th articles of the Treaty of Com- merce, when the Opposition put forth all their strength. Mr. Gould, an eminent merchant, Mr. Lechmere, an eminent lawyer, Sir Peter King, and General Stanhope, especially distinguished themselves on that side. They were ably answered by Sir William Wyndham and Mr. Arthur Moore (a, person who, by his industry and abilities, had, much to his honour, raised himself from the station of a footman) ; and, though they were joined by several of the other party, such as Sir George Newland and Mr. Heysham, they were, on the division, outvoted by 252 against 130. Yet Bolingbroke himself admits that "the " treaties met with the coldest reception when they were " laid before the Houses ; and those who were frightened *out of their senses, lest they should not be made, af- <( fected to appear very indifferent to them when they were " made. 1 ' | On the 9th of June, the House resolved itself into Committee on the Bill, and heard several merchants at their bar argue and protest against it. A debate then ensued, remarkable for a singular burst of party feeling. General Stanhope, to confirm the statements of one of the merchants, had quoted in his speech some words from the preamble of an Act passed in Charles the Second's reign. Upon this, the Speaker, supposing Stanhope to be mis- taken, rose, and exclaimed, " There is no such thing in '-' that Act ! " The General thereupon desired the Clerk at the table to read the Act in question, when it appeared that his quotation was right, and both he and several other Members then enveighed with much passion on the Speaker's blunder. This little anecdote most strongly shows the mutual animosities and rancour of the times. * Macpherson's History of Commerce, vol. iii. p. 31. ed. 1805. f Burner's History, vol. ii. p. 620. foL ed. J To Mr. Prior. July 4. 1713. Corresp. vol. ii. p, 437. 1713. ATTACKS OF THE OPPOSITION. 37 In the House of Commons, any rude interruption from the Speaker, or any harsh invectives against him, are, per- haps, the very furthest extremity to which its party spirit ever runs. On the following days, some more mercantile petitioners were heard at the Bar against the Bill ; and the former speakers on that side renewed and enforced their argu- ments, thus backed by the testimony of practical men. Through these means, a powerful effect was made upon the Ministerial phalanx. Sir Thomas Hanmer, member for Suffolk, a man of great weight with the House on all occasions, and more peculiarly on this, because in his general politics a Tory, supported the objections of the Whigs ; and at last, on the 18th of June, on the question that the Bill should be engrossed, it was decided in the negative by 194 to 185. Thus was wardtd off one at least of the dangers of the inglorious negotiations at Utrecht. * Emboldened by this hard-won victory, the Whig leaders determined to try an address in both Houses, entreating the Queen " to use her most pressing instances for remov- " ing the Pretender from the Duke of Lorraine's domin- " ions." This was moved in the Lords by the Earl of Wharton, on the 29th of June, without any previous notice. The Court party were taken completely by sur- prise. A pause ensued. At last, Lord North rose, and endeavoured to have the motion set aside, observing, that it would show a distrust of her Majesty's intentions. He asked, also, where, after all, they would have the Preten- der live; since most, if not all, the' powers of Europe were, like the Duke of Lorraine, on terms of friendship with her Majesty. But, no one venturing openly to op- pose the motion, it was unanimously carried. On the 1st of July, General Stanhope brought forward the same motion in the Commons. Here also no opposi- tion was attempted. But Sir William Whitlocke artfully threw out, that he "remembered the like address was for- " merly made to the Protector for having Charles Stuart * According to Bolingbroke, " The reason of the majority was, that " there had been, during two or three clays' uncertainty, an opinion " spread that the Lord Treasurer gave up the point." To Lord Straf- ford, June 20. 1713. D 3 38 HISTORY OF EXGLAXD. CHAP. H " removed out of France." This was meant to remind the House how soon afterwards, in spite of tliat vote, Charles had been restored to the Throne. The Jacobites, however, having the fear of the approaching elections before their eyes, remained perfectly quiet ; and the two Addresses were carried up to Her Majesty, whose answers were in the same sense, but evidently cold and constrained. The negotiation opened in consequence at Paris led to no good result. It was always skilfully eluded by the French Ministers, and never heartily pressed by the Eng- lish. Their agent, Prior, speaks of it with ridicule in his letters. " To say the truth, my dear Lord Bolingbroke, " M. de Torcy thinks us all mad. He asked me many " questions, which, for the best reason in the world, I did " not answer ; as, for instance, how we can oblige a man " to go from one place when we forbid all others to "receive him?"* But even further, it is asserted, in the secret correspondence of Gaultier, that Bolingbroke himself had, with singular baseness, privately suggested to the Duke of Lorraine the pretexts for eluding his own public demands !f Some other proceedings of this Session seem to deserve attention. The House of Commons proposed to renew the duty on malt for another year. A question then arose whether or not this duty should be laid on the whole island ; the Scotch members being most eager and vehe- ment against bearing any share of it. Finding themselves outvoted, and the Bill passed the Commons, they held several private conferences with the Peers of their party; sent an Address to the Queen ; and, finding this ineffec- tual, indignantly agreed to move for an Act for dissolving the Union between the two kingdoms. Such a motion was accordingly brought forward by the Earl of Findlater, on the 1st of June, and produced a long debate. Lord Peterborough indulged his lively fancy. He observed, " that though sometimes there happened a difference be- " tween man and wife, yet it did not presently break the " marriage ; so, in the like manner, though England, who " in this national marriage must be supposed to be the * Bolingbroke's Correspondence, vol. ii. p. 678. t To M. de Torcy, Dec. 13. and 14. 1713. 1713. THE ACT OF UNION ASSAILED. 39 " husband, might, in some instances, have been unkind " to the lady, yet she ought not presently to sue for a " divorce, the rather because she had very much mended " her fortune by this match." The Duke of Argyle said, " that it was true he had a great hand in making the " Union : that the chief reason that moved him to it was " the securing the Protestant Succession, but that he .was " satisfied that might be done as well now if the Union " were dissolved ; and that, if it were not, he did not " expect long to have either property left in Scotland or " liberty in England!"* It does not appear that Bolingbroke undoubtedly the greatest orator of the time took any part in the debate. But his remarks upon the subject in a letter to the Duke of Shrewsbury may excite some serious reflec- tions at the present period : " Your Grace will wonder " when I tell you that they intend to move in our House, ' on Monday, to dissolve the Union. You may be sure ' that all those whose spirits are naturally turbulent and ' restless all those who have languished under expecta- ' tion, and all those who have any personal resentment, ' take this occasion to add to the cry and to pursue their ' own views by intermingling them in this cause ' We shall, I believe, ground on this motion a Bill to ' make it high treason, by any overt act, to attempt the dissolution of the Union. If, after this, we go on to ' show them all reasonable indulgence, and at the same time to show to them and to all mankind a firmness of ' resolution and a steadiness of conduct, good will have ' come out of evil, and we shall reap some benefit from ' this CONTRETEMPS."! To any one who considers either the nature of this question, or the usual feelings and conduct of the House of Lords, the division on Lord Findlater's motion Avill appear not a little surprising. Fifty-four Peers voted for it, and exactly as many against it. Proxies were then called for ; and, there being 13 in the affirmative, and 17 in the negative, it was rejected by a majority of only four. But the fact is, that this subject, like every other * Parliamentary History, vol. vl p. 1217. See also Lockhart'g Comment, (p. 414 437.) for a very full account of this proceeding, f Bolingbroke's Correspondence, vol. li. p. 409. D 4 40 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. II. in the Session, was considered not so much on national as on party grounds. And if such a course could ever de- serve indulgence, it would surely be at a crisis when the fate of the Hanover Succession hung trembling in the balance, and with it the fate of the Protestant establish- ment, of the British Constitution, of everything that we cherish as dear, or respect as venerable. * Another party matter was the favour shown by the House of Commons to Dr. Sacheverell. The sentence of the House of Lords, forbidding him to preach during the space of three years, expired on the 23rd of March ; and on the Sunday following he held forth, for the first time, at his own church of St. Saviour's, and, taking for his text the words, " Father, forgive them, for they know " not what they dof," drew an unseemly parallel between liis own sufferings and the Redeemer's Passion. The House of Commons, anxious to show their disapprobation of the former proceedings against him, appointed him to the honour of preaching before them on the Restoration Day ; and the Court was no less forward in conferring a rich benefice upon him. Never, perhaps, had any man attained a higher pitch of popularity. We are told, that as as he passed to and from the House of Lords, on his trial, the by-standers used eagerly to press about him, and strive for the happiness of kissing his hands.J We are told that, on his journey through Wales, even our princes in their progresses could scarcely have vied with his reception : that the day on which his sentence ex- * A curious account of this division is given in a letter to Swift from Erasmus Lewis, at that time M. P. for Lestwithiel. He tells us that both the Tory Peers who voted with the Lord Treasurer against the dissolution of the Union, and the Scotch who voted for it, were " under agonies" lest they themselves should be victorious ! " In all " the time I have been conversant in business, I never before observed " both sides at the same time acting parts which they thought contrary " to their interests. " See Swift's Works, vol. xvi. p. 71. f St. Luke, ch. xxiii. 34. On this sermon we find in Swift's Journal to Stella, April 2. ; " I went to Lord Treasurer's at six, where I found " Dr. Sacheverell, who told us that the bookseller had given him 1 OOi " for his sermon preached last Sunday, and intended to print 30,000. " I believe he will be confoundedly bit, and will hardly sell above " half." | Burnet's History, vol. ii. p. 542. foL ed. $ Ibid. p. 553. 1713. PARLIAMENT PROROGUED. 41 pi red was celebrated, not only in London, but in several parts of the country, with extraordinary rejoicings.* Would not all this appear to imply that he must have possessed some degree of talent or of merit ? Yet the concurrent testimony of some of his friends, as well as of his enemies, represents him as utterly foolish, ignorant, ungrateful his head reeling with vanity, his heart over-- flowing with gall, t This venerated idol, when we come to try its substance, appears little more than a stock or a stone. But Sacheverell was considered as the represen- tative of a popular party doctrine as the champion and the martyr of the High Church cause ; and the multitude, which always looks to persons much more than to prin- ciples, can rarely be won over, until even the clearest maxim appears embodied in some favourite leader. The 7th of July had been appointed by the Queen as a clay of public thanksgiving, for what she termed " the " safe and honourable peace lately concluded." Both Houses went in procession to St. Paul's; and in the even- ing there were extensive illuminations blazing forth from the city, and magnificent fire-works played off from the river. The Queen, however, was prevented by illness from attending ; and the Whigs kept aloof from a pageant wliic!), in their eyes, must have appeared a profanation. On the 16th of the same month the Queen was so far recovered as to be able to prorogue Parliament in person. " My Lords and Gentlemen," she said, " at my coming to " the Crown I found a war prepared for me. God has " blessed my arms with many victories, and at last has " enabled me to make them useful by a safe and honour- " able peace. I heartily thank you for the assistance you " have given me therein, and I promise myself that, with " your concurrence, it will be lasting. To this end I re- * Tindal's History, vol. vi. p. 106. t Sir Walter Scott truly observes : " Although the Tory Ministry " was formed in consequence of the ferment raised by this silly tool, " the eminent writers of their party seldom mention him but with con- " tempt." Note to Swift's Works, vol. vi. p. 250. As to Sacheverell's real principles, I have found the following entry in a " Minute of " what was resolved on by his Majesty and Earl Bolingbroke," Octo- ber 14. 1715 (Stuart Papers), " Sacheverell to make his way to the " King (on his landing) unless be can be more useful in London," 42 HISTOUY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. H. " commend it to you all to make my subjects truly sensible " of what they gain by the peace." It is curious to contrast this address of Queen Anne with that of the Prince Regent, a century afterwards, on closing the Session of 1814. We shall find that the shameful peace of Utrecht is commended with far higher praise than the triumphant peace of Paris. It was not necessary to ask statesmen " to make my subjects truly " sensible" of the glory of the latter. We may observe, also, that the Prince Regent, in alluding to the great vic- tories of the war, pays a proper and natural tribute to " the consummate skill and ability displayed by the great " commander whose services you have so justly acknow- " ledged." In Queen Anne's speech, on the contrary, the Duke of Marlborough is meanly and enviously shut out from all notice. Did Harley and St. John really think that his glory depended on their notice, or that they could lower his fame by suppressing his praises ? The Parliament, thus prorogued, was dissolved a few days afterwards. At this period the hopes of the leading Whigs seem to have been greatly depressed. The Hano- verian Minister was told by Stanhope that " the greatest ' number of country gentlemen is rather against us than * for us ; " and the General added his opinion, that " if ' things continue ever so short a time on the present ' footing, the Elector will not come to the Crown unless ' he comes with an army."* The Whigs made, however, the most of their ca'ise in their appeals at the Elections. They inveighed, and not without success, against the Treaty of Commerce of their opponents. To show their concern for trade, and especially for the staple commodity of England, they in most places wore pieces of wool in their hats ; while on the other hand the Tories assumed green boughs, as seeking to identify themselves with the most popular event in English history the Restoration. f It is a melancholy reflection for human nature, how * Schutz to Bothmar, Oct. 3. 1713. Macphcrson, vol. ii. p. 505. f Hist, of Europe, 1713 and 1714. I find from a letter in the Stuart Papers, that there were in like manner symbols assumed on the Pretender's birth-day in 1716. The Jacobites wore white roses ; and the Whigs farthing warming-pans ! (Letter of Mr. Thos. Innes, London, June 11. 1716.) 1713. THE HOUSE OF LORDS. 43 easily and completely even the most intelligent classes of even the most intelligent people may sometimes be im- posed upon. There seem* some inherent proneness in mankind to great national delusions. The same men whom we find as individuals watchful and wary, not readily trusting professions, nor often misled by appear- ances, as a body will often swallow open-mouthed the most glaring absurdities and contradictions; and the press, which ought to be the detector of such delusions, will sometimes stoop to be their instrument. Thus, in the Elections of 1713, it is certain that a very great majority of the English people were zealously attached to the rights of the House of Hanover. The Tory adminis- tration was well known to be on ill terms with that family, and was publicly accused of favouring the cause of its rival. We might, therefore, have presumed that the people of England must needs have taken one or the other course have cooled in their zeal either for a Protestant King, or for Jacobite Ministers. Yet, with wonderful blindness, they resolutely adhered to both ; and, while de- voutly praying for the Electress Sophia, as heir pre- sumptive, while solemnly burning, on the 18th of No- vember, amidst unanimous huzzas, figures of the Devil, the Pope, and the Pretender *, they yet returned to Par- liament a vast majority of friends to an administration which, in all its actions, studied the advantage of one at least of those three personages. The Whigs, it is true, were victorious in several places, and, on the whole, per- haps, were not losers by this election, as compared to the last ; but they still formed but a feeble fraction of the House of Commons ; while, in the House of Peers, on the other hand, they continued to exert a manifest ascendency. The scope of this work appears to me to impose the necessity, and the period of a General Election to afford the occasion, for my giving some details on the compo- sition of both Houses at this period. First, then, of the House of Lords. It comprised, at this period, one Prince of the Blood Royal, the Electoral * Hist, of Europe for 1 7 1 3 and 1 7 1 4, p. 203. The 1 8th of Novem- ber was the anniversary of Queen Elizabeth's accession. 44 HISTORY OF EXGLANTX CHAP. H. Prince of Hanover, under the title of Duke of Cambridge ; twenty-two other Dukes, two Marquesses, sixty-four Earls, ten Viscounts, and sixty-seven Barons. These, with twenty-six Spiritual and sixteen Scottish Represen- tative Peers, made up a total of 207 : several of whom, however, as Roman Catholics, could take no part in public business. In comparing these numbers with those at the accession of William the Fourth, we find them, at this later period, amount to 390, including four Spiritual and twenty-eight Temporal Representative Peers from Ire- land an increase, certainly, not at all more than com- mensurate with the improvement of properties and the increase of population. In fact, the proportion between the Peers and the population will be found nearly the same at both periods. Were such limits to be outstepped in any very great degree, the result could not fail to be felt injuriously by the landed interest, as withdrawing considerable proprietors from the representation of the counties, and throwing that representation into inferior hands. Of the 207 Peerages which existed at the accession of George the First, not more than fifty-two remained un- altered at the death of George the Fourth. But the rest were by no means all extinctions. Many appear changed only from promotions in rank as, for example, the Earls of Exeter and Salisbury ; and, on the other hand, several are continued in collateral branches, and under lower but more ancient titles, as was the case, for in- stance, with the Dukedom and Earldom of Shrewsbury. It may not be undeserving of notice as a singularity, that though, in 1714, the body of Peers was so much smaller than in 1830, a greater number of them held the rank of Dukes. The House of Commons then, and throughout that century, consisted of 558 Members ; 513 being sent from England, and 45 from Scotland. It is well worthy of observation, how large a number of the family interests and local ties which still exist, or, at least, Avhich existed before Lord Grey's administration, were in force at this early period. We find, in this Parliament, a Drake re- turned for Amersham, a Grimston for St. Albans, a Whitmore for Bridgnorth, a Musgrave for Carlisle, a 1713. THE HOUSE OF COMMONS. 45 Cholraondeley for Cheshire, a Bathurst for Cirencester, a Bankes for Corffe Castle, a Lowther for Cumberland, a Wynn for Denbigh, a Mundy for Derby, a Foley for Droitwich, and another Foley for Hereford, a Hervey for Bury St. Edmund's, a Mostyn for Flint, an Eliot for St. Germains, a Berkeley for Gloucestershire, a Brovvnlow for Grantham, an A'Court for Heytesbury, Lord Hinchin- brook for Huntingdon, Sir Edward Knatchbull for Kent, a Sibthorp for Lincoln, a Walpole for Lynn, a Wentworth for Malton, a Bruce for Marlborough, a Vaughan for Merioneth, Thomas Cartwright for Northamptonshire, a Fitzwilliam for Peterborough, an Edgcombe for Plympton, a Fleetwood for Preston, a Cocks for Reigate, a Vernon for Stafford, a Cecil for Stamford, a Dowdeswell for Tewkesbury, a Greville for Warwick, and a Forester for Weulock.* These hereditary seats in Parliament, com- bining in some degree the permanence of Peerages with the popularity of Elections these feelings of mutual kindness, which bound together our wealthy gentry and their poorer neighbours, and brought them into frequent and friendly intercourse these bulwarks against any sudden and overwhelming tide of popular delusion appear to me to have been one of the main causes of the good working of our ancient constitution, and, still more, of its long duration. Thanks, in great measure, to them, the constitution of England might long be compared to its country, smooth yet not uniform, diversified yet not rugged, equally removed from the impracticable heights of democracy or the dead level of despotism ! T In support of this opinion I may be permitted to ob- serve, that, in the times of Queen Anne as in ours, all the eminent statesmen of the age, with scarcely one ex- * See a list of this House of Commons in the Parliamentary His- tory, vol. vi. p. 1246. The list is, however, incorrect in some parti- culars ; and thus, for instance, does not contain the name of Steele. He was member for Stockbridge. (Hist, of Europe lor 1713 and 1714, p. 265.) t Dante says of Cesena, though in a different sense from that of a balanced constitution " Cosi com 'ella sie tra '1 piano e '1 monte " Tra tirannia si vive e stato franco." Inf. c. 27. v. 53. 46 HISTORY OF ENGLA>T>. CHAP. H. ception, owed to the smaller boroughs, now disfranchised, either their introduction into public life, or their refuge during some part of it. Lord Chancellor Cowper sat for Beralston, Lord Chancellor King for the same place, Harley for Tregony, Craggs afterwards for the same, Walpole for Castle Rising, Steele for Stockbridge, Addi- son for Malmesbury, Prior for East Grinstead, Stanhope for Wendover, Lord Chesterfield for St. Germains, Pul- teney for Heydon, Shippen for Bramber, and Bolingbroke for Wotton Basset ! Such were the brilliant results of our late representative system. We have now irrevo- cably cut off the fountain head. But we wisely expect that the stream will not cease to flow ! I am not, however, a blind and indiscriminate admirer of our former Parliamentary constitution. Its most inde- fensible part, I mean the sale and purchase of seats, may be traced at a much earlier period than is commonly sup- posed. When Mr. Hallam states that this practice is never mentioned in any book that he remembers to have seen, of an earlier date than 1760*, he, for once, departs from his usual accuracy. Thus, for instance, we find Lady Mary Montagu write to her husband in 1714, when he wished to come into Parliament, " Perhaps it will be " the best way to deposit a certain sum in some friend's " hands, and buy some little Cornish borough."! Thus also, " it is notorious," said the Earl of Dorset, in Parlia- ment, when arguing against the system of triennial elec- tions, " that a great number of persons have no other " livelihood than by being employed in bribing corpora- " tions."t Reports of the speeches in either House, which now exercise so powerful an influence upon the public mind, were at this period almost unknown. We find, indeed, some account of striking sentences, or the principal argu- ments of a few Parliamentary leaders. But, in the first place, these do not seem to have been brought before the public by a daily press ; and, secondly, it is scarcely an exaggeration to say, that the record of a single protracted debate at the present time is longer than the record of a * Constitut. Hist. vol. iii. p. 402. f Letters, vol. ii. p. 146. ed. 1820. j Parliamentary History, vol. vii. p. 297. 1713. LISTS OF THE DIVISIONS. 47 whole Session in the reign of Queen Anne. Strangers, also, were much more frequently excluded than at pre- sent ; and questions of foreign policy, especially, were often (as now in North America) debated with closed doors. In the Parliamentary History for March, 1714, we find that the Commons having the day before made an order for clearing the House of all strangers, not ex- cepting the Peers, it was moved in the Lords to make the like order, without excepting the Commons. But this motion was successfully opposed by the Duke of Argyle, who said, very much in the style of a courtier, " It is for the honour of this august assembly to show " that they are better bred and have more complaisance " than the Commons ! " A strange argument for legis- lators ! Still less was there at this period any publication of the lists of the divisions. In 1696, the printing and cir- culating the names of a minority in the House of Com- mons had been unanimously voted a breach of privilege, and " destructive of the freedom and liberties of Parlia- " ment."* It may, however, be doubted whether the just responsibility of members to their constituents was thereby at all impaired ; since, on any doubtful point, the electors would of course address an inquiry to their representative as to the vote he had given ; and if even he were so utterly base as to wish to deceive them, still he could not answer falsely, whilst there were many hun- dred witnesses to the real fact. To suppose a question not calling for any such inquiries from constituents, is to suppose a question of very little public importance, or constituents of very little public spirit. We may, there fore, perhaps, infer that the modern practice of lists in the daily papers is more useful for the gratification of curiosity than for the maintenance of principle ; and we may regret that so many hours should be wasted in the House of Commons by explanatory speeches, when the same object might be attained by explanatory letters. At present more members speak to satisfy their sup- porters out of doors, than to convince their opponents in the House. In Queen Anne's reign, the place of daily reports of * Commons' Journals, voL xi. p. 572. 48 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. n. the debates was in a great measure supplied by frequent party pamphlets. It was through these that the people were sometimes instructed and restrained, and more often spurred and goaded, in the politics of the day. Never before had England seen this paper warfare waged with such fierce and deadly rancour. Never before had it been conducted by such eminent abilities. On the one side, the Whigs could boast of the graceful and ea-y style, the inimitable humour and the fertile fancy of Addison ; of the buoyant spirit, the keen and biting vehemence of Steele. On the other side, the Tories pos- sessed in Swift perhaps the greatest master of satire that ever lived. He was bold, vindictive, and unscrupulous. He was seldom restrained either by delicacy or compas- sion. He had a thorough knowledge of all the baser parts of human nature for they were his own. If, indeed, it be possible that an accomplished satirist should ever be an amiable man, Swift at least was not that pro- digy ; and his life and character appear consumed by the same fiery rancour which glows in his writings. We find him bred as a Whig, under Sir William Temple patronised as a Whig, by Lord Somers boasting of himself as a Whig, in his writings* and then, without a pretence of principle, without the slightest charge against his friends on public grounds, and merely on an allegation of personal neglect, turning round to the Tory leaders at the very moment when those leaders were coming into office, and having evidently no better reason for deserting his cause than that he thought it in danger. We find him instantly single out all his former friends for his libels, and assail them with all the deadly resent- ment of a renegade. The illustrious Somers, for example, his early friend, so lately held up as " the modern Aris- " tides," becomes "a false, deceitful rascal."! We find him in some cases even making a boast of insincerity ; and thus saying of Lord Rochester, " Though I said I " only talked from my love to him, I told a lie, for I do " not care if he were hanged." J We find him now urge his greedy claims for reward upon both Bolingbroke and * Works, vol. iii. p. 240, &c. ( Works, vol. iii. p. 273. ; and vol. ii. p. 155. J Journal to Stella, Dec. 30. 1710. 1713. DEAN SWIFT. 49 Hurley ; and at length, in the spring of 1713, extort the Deanery of St. Patrick's from a reluctant Queen and hol- low friends. We find him, a beneficed clergyman, indite a sarcastic allegory on the principal sects of Christianity ; we find him indulge in the grossest and most unseemly allusions, even when writing to a young, an unmarried, and a virtuous woman, who had become attached to him* a woman whom his cold-hearted cruelty afterwards hurried to an early grave. Such is my opinion of his character. I turn to his writings, and my contempt for the man is at once lost in my admiration of the author. What vigour and vivacity of style ! How rich is his variety of illustration, how terrible his energy of invec- tive ! How powerfully does he cast aside to the right and to the left all extraneous or subordinate topics grapple at once with the main matters at issue and give battle to the whole strength of his opponents ! Though nearly all written as mere occasional pieces, and to serve an immediate object, his works have been deser- vedly classed by posterity as permanent productions, and display more, perhaps, than any other, the whole force of plain and homely language. It has already been mentioned, that in the reign of Queen Anne, party pamphlets and lampoons had attained a new degree of both talent and importance. The great Whig Administration had borne these attacks, for the most part, with inward soreness but ostensible indiffer- ence. It was not till a libel was heard from the pulpit, and a nickname applied in a sermon to a minister of state f, that the resentment of Godolphin drew his col- leagues into the unfortunate impeachment of Sacheverell. The Tory Ministers, on the other hand, who had been, while out of office, the prime movers of these attacks, did not bear the libels, to which they in their turn became exposed, with the same patience as their predecessors. In this, as in almost every other matter, they had recourse to the most violent measures. In one day, Secretary St. John had no less than twelve booksellers and publishers * Journal to Stella, Oct. 4. 1710, &c. f Volpone to Lord Godolphin. Another nickname applied at the time to the same nobleman, from his ungainly looks, was Vaconface. VOL. I. E 5O HISTORI OF ENGLAND. CHAP. II. taken up for libels on the administration.* Not satisfied with such activity, he, in January, 1712, brought down a message from Her Majesty to the House of Commons, complaining of the " great licence which is taken in pub- " lishing false and scandalous libels, such as are a reproach " to any government ; " and declaring that " this evil * seems to be grown too strong for the laws now in force." The House of Commons, at that time completely under the control of St. John and his colleagues, in their answer went even beyond the Royal Message, and lamented that, " not only are false and scandalous libels printed and " published against your Majesty's government, but the " most horrid blasphemies against God and religion. " And we beg leave humbly to assure your Majesty that " we will do our utmost to find out a remedy equal to " this mischief." Accordingly, in March, 1712, the House having resolved itself into Committee, Sir Gilbert Dolben moved the following Resolutions : " 1. That the liberty taken in printing and publishing " scandalous and impious libels creates divisions among " Her Majesty's subjects, tends to the disturbance of the " public peace, is highly prejudicial to Her Majesty's " government, and is occasioned for want of due regulat- " ing the press. " 2. That all printing presses be registered with the " names of the owners and places of abode ; and that the " author, printer, and publisher of every book set his t: name and place of abode thereto." A Bill founded upon these two Resolutions was ordered by the House to be brought in ; but it was dropped in the course of the Session, several Members having, as they believed, found a more effectual method for suppress- ing the evil in question by laying a heavy duty on all newspapers and pamphlets. This was done ; and the tax, according to Swift, exceeded the intrinsic value of both the materials and the work ; yet, considered as a * Journal to Stella, Oct. 24. 1711. St. John says himself, in one of his letters, " My Lord Marlborough's stupid chaplain continues to " spoil paper. They had best, for their patron's sake as well as their " own, be quiet. I know how to set them in the pillory, and how to " revive fellows that will write them to death." To Mr. Harrison, Sept. 21. 1711. Corresp. voL i. p. 226. 3713. PARTY-PAMPHLETS ANT) LIBELS. 51 party measure, it failed in its effect : for the zeal of the Opposition, which must at all times he keener than that of the party in power, speedily found funds to continue its attacks, while the Tory writers did not always enjoy the same advantage ; so that, as their chief libeller after- wards complained, this impost was " to open the mouths " of our enemy and shut our own."* In fact, no point of modern legislation seems more perplexing than that of the abuses of the public press. Their grievance which is, in fact, power without responsibility is great and undoubted ; but a despotic remedy for them would be a greater grievance still. Under the benignant influence of a free constitution, libellers, like vermin in summer, will naturally grow and thrive. It is a matter well worthy the inquiry of an enlightened age, whether we must needs bear the lesser evil for the sake of the greater good, or whether it be possible to check the licentious- ness of the press without impairing the liberty out of which it springs. In considering this question, we must measure the mis- chief of libels, first, by the false opinions or inflamed re- sentments which they may raise amongst the people ; and, secondly, by their effect on the illustrious objects of their venom. In the latter respect it is true that the very ex- tent of the evil happily works out its own cure. So com- mon and unscrupulous are now the attacks on every one engaged in public life, or even filling an elevated rank, that few men can fail to become completely callous and unmoved by them. But, the case, I may observe, was very different in less turbulent times, or with more sen- sitive tempers. How often have not such malignant falsehoods damped the brightest energies, and discouraged the most active patriotism ! They have quelled spirits which had not shrunk before embattled armies, which had confronted the terrors of a Parliamentary impeachment the Tower and the block. Of all the leading states- men at the time of Anne, the two who appear to have pos- * Swift, Four last Years of the Queen, Works, vol. v. p. 301. I may observe, however, that a foreign ambassador writes in 1716, " Printers nm great risks in printing any thing that displeases the " Government." Count Gyllenborg to Gortz. London, Oct. 23. 1716. (, Papers laid before Parliament.) E 2 52 HISTORY OF EXGhAJS'D. cHAP. IT. sessed the greatest mastery of temper and powers of self- control are Marlborough and Somers. The former, in the opinion of Adam Smith, even surpassed in these qualities all other great public characters of modern times. Yet we find both Somers and Marlborough writhing and em- bittered by the sting of even the most insignificant literary insects. The private letters of the Duke are filled with complaints against "the villanous way of " printing, which stabs me to the heart." * "I find," says Lord Somers, " that in any reign, and with any suc- " cess, there will be little cause to envy any one who has " a share of the Ministry in England."! Are these, we may be allowed to ask, the feelings with which a generous country should desire its great men to regard it ? Is it not also to be feared that the country may thus have lost the advantage of much enterprise and genius which would otherwise have been exerted for its service ? And, above all, have we any ground to hope that the very excess of the evil, which undoubtedly works out its own cure so far as private feelings are concerned, has at all the same effect with regard to public delusion or exasperation ? From this long, but I hope not superfluous digression, I return to the schemes and proceedings of the British administration. In the period between the dissolution of the old Parliament and the meeting of the new one, in Fe- bruary, 1714, the party of Bolingbroke in the Cabinet ap- pears to have exerted a decided preponderance over that of Oxford. In the same proportion as his influence in- creased, the tendency of every measure grew more and more in favour of the Pretender and his partisans. We have now laid open to public view, in Macpherson's and Lockhart's volumes, the most confidential correspondence of that period, secret reports from the agents both of Hanover and of St. Germain's; and it is very remarkable that, widely as these letters differ in all their views and wishes, and sources of information, they yet perfectly agree as to the fact of the new counsels of England being for the in- terests of the latter. The Hanoverians write with bit- terness and alarm ; the Jacobites in a most confident and * To the Duchess, April 16. 1711; and several others, f Letter to the Duke of Shrewsbury, December, 1 704. 1713. FEW APPOlMMJfiNTS AT COURT. 53 joyous tone. " The changes," says the Jesuit Plunkett *, " go on by degrees to the King's advantage ; none but " his friends advanced or employed in order to serve the " great project Bolingbroke and Oxford do " not set their horses together, because he (Oxford) is so " dilatory, and dozes over things, which is the occasion " there are so many Whigs chosen this Parliament. " Though there are four Tories to one, they think it "little The Ministry must now sink or swim " with France." f So strong was, in fact, the Jacobite conviction on this point, that the Pretender wrote with his own hand recommending the Ministry to the support of his friends in England ; and on the 19th of September, Xairne, his Under Secretary of State, sent a still more specific injunction to the Jacobites that they should as- sist the Tories at the elections, and promote all the mea- sures of the Court. The new appointments at that Court were likewise nearly all such as to possess no small claim to this sup- port. Sir William \Vyndham became Chancellor of the Exchequer. The Duke of Athol received the Privy Seal for Scotland, the Earl of Mar the seals of Secretary of State for the same kingdom. The vacant Bishopric of Rochester and Deanery of Westminster were both con- ferred on Atterbury, a Jacobite divine of great abilities and still greater ambition. But one of the principal steps to which Bolingbroke and Orrnond applied themselves for the promotion of * This Plunkett, under the name of Rogers, was a stirring Jaco- bite agent, who had previously dipped in a most detestable conspiracy against the Duke of Marlborough. He assured the Ministers that Marlborough and the principal Whigs meant to fire the City, seize the Queen, murder Oxford, &c. See Coxe's Life, vol. vi. p. 167. f Letters dated Oct. 7. and 28. 1713. Macpherson, vol. ii. p. 439. and 446. The Queen is always termed Princess Anne, and often mentioned witli bitterness on account of her conduct to her father. Several old catches against her and Queen Mary's proceedings at that time have been handed down by tradition in old Jacobite families. Here is one that I remember to have heard from a Cornish gentle- man : " William and Mary, George and Anne " Four such children never had man 1 " They turned their father out of door, M And called their brother a son of a .** 3 54 HISTORY OK ENGLAND. CHAP. II. their final object, and which may serve as an additional proof of it, was new-modelling the troops. Even in .M;ty we find Plunkett stating, " We are paying and discarding " the army every day. It is observable those that were "of Oliver's (King William's) making are laid aside."* The Duke of Ormond was made Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, thus placing under his control the prin- cipal strongholds of the coast f; and Berwick and Edin- burgh were in like manner entrusted to sure hands. But the influence of the Duke of Marlborough over troops whom he had so often led to victory and never once to failure, was naturally looked upon as a most formidable obstacle. The personal enemies of that great man were therefore eagerly brought forward by the Government, and his friends, at every opportunity, dismissed the ser- vice, or at least withdrawn from active employment. A scheme was even formed by Ormond for compelling several such officers to sell their commissions, and Government was to advance 10,000/. to assist some of their own crea- tures in becoming the purchasers. J But this project, fraught as it was with danger to the Hanover Succession, was happily baffled by Oxford's neglecting to provide the requisite funds ; and, in fact, throughout all this period the usual inertness of that minister, and perhaps we may add his disinclination to the Jacobite cause, acted as a drag-chain on the headlong career and downward descent of his colleagues. It was not only in their negotiations abroad and their government at home, that the English Ministers be- friended the heir of the Stuarts ; they had much at heart a still more effectual step for his service, by persuading * Macpherson's Papers, voL ii. p. 412. See an account of the regi- ments disbanded in the Journals of the House of Commons, vol. xvii. p. 293. t A previous and ineffectual attempt had been made to induce the Earl of Dorset to gire up Dover Castle. See H. Walpole's letter to Mann, May 17. 1749. J See Swift's Works, vol. vi. p. 444. note. Marshal Berwick observes, " Le Tresorier differait de jour a " atitre de regler Tannee malgre les solicitations du Due d'Onnond " avec lequel a 1'insu d'Oxford j'etais en commerce de lettres." (Mem. vol. ii. p. 128.) See also the extracts from the Stuart Papers, Appendix. 1713. JACOBITE INTRKJUfcS. 55 him to renounce, or at least pretend to renounce, the Roman Catholic faith. An apparent accession to the Church of England was, therefore, on high authority, and on many occasions eagerly pressed upon James. In July, 1712, we find a letter from the Duke of Buckingham, urging that measure with the utmost vehemence as the one thing needful.* In February, 1714, Oxford dictated a letter from Gaultier to the Pretender, assuring him that if he wished to be sure of the succession, it was absolutely requisite that he should dissemble his religion, or change it for that established amongst his countrymen ; and that so long as he continued a Roman Catholic the Queen would do nothing for him.f The language of Bolingbroke, on many occasions, was the same ; and at last he observed to Iberville, that if the Elector of Hanover ever did mount the throne of England it would be entirely through the fault of the Pretender, in refusing to do what was quite indispensable to gain the hearts of the nation and allay their apprehensions.^ Nor were these remonstrances and wishes confined to Protestant statesmen ; it appears from other letters of Iberville that several leading Catholics concurred in them. "According to the information I " receive on all hands," writes that agent, " there is not " one Tory fool-hardy enough to say a single word that " shall pledge him to acknowledge King James after the " death of the Queen, nor perhaps who is really disposed " to favour him, unless he will become a member of the " Church of England. It seems to me, that within the " last few days the Protestant Jacobites speak pretty " openly in this sense. Nay more, most of them think " that he cannot hesitate or scruple to take that course. " They believe that the dylay in his doing so at this dan- " gerous crisis of the Queen's health (a delay of which '* they all disapprove) is owing only to his expecting some ' assurances that if he takes that step he shall be acknow- ledged as the heir." |j The Pretender was now nearly in the same situation as * Macpherson's Papers, vol. ii. p. 327. t Gaultier to the Pretender, Feb. 6. 1714. J Iberville to Torcy, July 2. 1714. Letters of IbervilJe, between June 23. and July 11. 1714 j| Iberville to Torcy. February 26. 1714. E 4 56 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. O. his groat -grandfather, Henry the Fourth of France ; when many even of his Huguenot followers implored him to sacrifice his faith for the attainment of his throne. His uncle also, Charles the Second, had, in 1660, consented t.i suppress his secret religious predilections. But to the great and lasting honour of James he disdained any such unworthy compromise with his conscience ; and lie wrote a very able letter, to be circulated amongst his partisans in England, and in which he declared his fixed determi- nation neither to dissemble nor to change*; a rare and admirable instance of religious sincerity in princes. It was hoped, however, by the Pretender, that this letter might have the good effect of increasing the confidence of his friends, since he who thus preferred his conscience to his interests might be more surely relied on in his solemn promises to respect the religious establishment and constitutional rights of others. But such an argument was far too refined for popular apprehension ; his sin- cerity, though a merit in him, must have been a misfor- tune to England had he come to the throne ; and, however praiseworthy might be the sentiments of his letter, its general circulation at such a period cannot be considered otherwise than ill-timed and injudicious. This letter, however, by no means put an end to the importunities of the Jacobites with the Pretender, nor to their exertions for him. Both continued with unabated ardour; and the latter, at least, with good prospects of success. On the other side, the friends of the Protestant Succes- sion, fully aware of their danger, no less endeavoured to take their measures in case of an appeal to arms. In the absence of Marlborough, and in want of his master-mind, they considered Stanhope as their military chief; and that general became the pivot of several important schemes and missions. He held some private conferences with the principal officers of the French refugees, a numerous body, and zealous for the Protestant cause. He des- patched several officers to the opposite coasts to ascertain the movements of the troops, and to guard against the * See this letter in Macpherson's Papers, vol. ii. p. 525. The ill effect it had produced is mentioned by Iberville to Torcy, just before the Queens death, July 20. 1714. 1713. THE COURT OF HANOVER. 57 Pretender secretly collecting and landing at the head of any considerable force.* He and his friends were also brooding over a scheme no less adventurous and decisive than that which they dreaded in their opponents ; for they had it in contemplation that, on the Queen's death, or dangerous illness, or perhaps even greatly declining health, the Elector should come over with a body of troops.f Such a design was, of course, kept scrupulously secret ; yet, as we shall find, it came to the knowledge of Ministers in the course of the ensuing spring. It was supported by Marlborough with all his influence, and he sent General Cadogan from abroad to concert with Stan- hope the necessary arrangements for that purpose.| Yet the Duke positively refused to commit himself in docu- ments, by putting his name to an association which had been framed by the most eminent of the Whigs in Eng- land, and brought to him at Antwerp by Mr. Onslow a refusal not unattended, on their part, by some disappoint- ment and suspicion. The Court of Hanover, however, on this as on other occasions, showed but little readiness to second the exer- tions of its friends in England. The Dowager Electress was still living at the advanced age of eighty-two, and sometimes appeared jealous of the attention of her son to affairs in which she, as the next heir, considered herself chiefly concerned. From age she was slow and dilatory, as much as the Elector from temper. Both of them dis- played, also, either an ill-judged parsimony, or a surpris- ing poverty, in refusing to lay out small sums, from time to time, according to the advice and entreaties of their English correspondents. In vain was it urged upon them that a very moderate expense might secure some doubtful * " The officers sent by Mr. Stanhope to the Boulonnais and Flan- " tiers are returned ; and report that they found no troops in motion " there, only that nine -Irish battalions and a regiment of dragoons " were advanced from Lorraine, and in quarters at Douay, Valenci- " ennes, and Hesdin, and that the officers said openly that they had " orders to be ready to march upon a moment's warning." Kreyen- berg to Robethon, Feb. 16. 1714. Macpherson's Papers, voL ii. p. 567. t Macpherson, vol. ii. p. 472, &c. j See Coxe's Life of Marlborough, vol. vi. p. 263. 58 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. IL elections or determine some wavering friends.* In vain did Marlborough especially beseech the Elector not to spare his money, and offer to assist him with a loan of 20,000/. So far from being able or willing to enter into such expenses, the Elector, at this very period, was him- self soliciting a pension for his mother from Queen Anne, f Such means as calling in an armed force and buying mercenary partisans the sword and the purse appear strange expedients for securing a succession which was not only the regular and appointed course of law, but rooted in the hearts of three fourths of the English people at that period. Yet let us not too rashly condemn the statesmen who had recourse to these expedients. Let us remember how firmly established was the administration against which they had to strive ; how fearful the dangers from which they finally delivered us ! Nor let it be for- gotten that no suspicion of any personal lucre or ad- vantage to themselves, nor of illegal violence against their opponents, ever attached to their counsels, either for the application of money or for the landing of troops. The broken health of the Queen, at this period, was another circumstance that stimulated both parties to exertion, as showing the importance of time. Her Ma- jesty's constitution had in early life been injured by repeated miscarriages Having of late years grown large and unwieldy, she could no longer take her former exer- cise of hunting, whilst she still continued to indulge- somewhat too freely at her table ; and she became subject to fits of the gout, which gradually grew more and more frequent and severe. Other ailments also intervened. On the 24th of December, she was seized with an inflam- matory fever, and for several days remained alarmingly ill. Meanwhile various reports spread abroad, and, as usual, the less that was known the more .there was rumoured. Even Her Majesty's death was more than once asserted. The monied men were seized with a panic. * Baron Schutz to Bothmar, Dec. 11. 1713. Halifax and Sunder- land pressed that day for 2000i " to carry the elections of the Com- " mon Council of London ;" and Stanhope added, " We are all sure " that being masters of the Common Council, London will present " to Parliament any address we choose ! " f See Somerville's Queen Anne, p. 556. 1713. THE DUCHESS OF SOMKKSET. 59 The funds fell. A run was made upon the Bank, and a deputation hastened up in fear and trembling to the Lord Treasurer, to request his advice and assistance. Under his direction, the Queen wrote a letter to the Lord Mayor announcing her recovery*; and a short time afterwards still more satisfactorily confirmed her own account, by arriving in London and opening Parliament in person. The alarm, however, caused by Anne's undoubted jea- lousy of Hanover, and supposed predilection towards St. Germain's, was not so easily appeased. The ground for it, in fact, grew daily stronger. One of the first objects of Lord Bolingbroke and Mrs. Masham had been to re- move as much as possible from Court all warm partisans of the Hanover Succession. None of these were left about Her Majesty, except the Duke and Duchess of Somerset, who afforded no handle for dismissal. The Duke was Master of the Horse, a well-meaning man, but of shy proud habits and slender understanding ; insomuch that, on one occasion, we find Marlborough justifying himself as from a serious imputation, from any idea of having trusted or employed him in affairs of importance.! The Duchess, on the other hand, was a bold, imperious woman, with all that firmness of mind which her husband wanted. It was found that she was accustomed to ply the timid conscience of the Queen with hints on the terrors of Popery and the duty of securing the Protestant establishment. The floodgates of party virulence were instantly opened upon her ; and a Protestant clergyman led the van against the inconvenient Protestant zealot. In his " Windsor " Prophecy," Swift poured forth some most vehement in- vectives against the Duchess, reproaching her with having red hair, and with having connived at the murder of her first husband. It is difficult to guess which of these two accusations the Duchess resented most deeply, the latter being without a shadow of foundation, while the former, unhappily, could not be denied. To tell the truth of a * See this letter, dated February 1., in Tindal (vol. vi. p. 136.). f " I beg you will have so kind an opinion of me as to believe I " can't be so indiscreet as to employ the Duke of Somerset in any "thing that is of consequence." To the Duchess, July 19. 1708. Swift says of Somerset, that he "had not a grain of judgment ; hardly common sense." Works, vol. x. p. 300. (30 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. II. lady's person is sometimes still more unpardonable than to spread falsehoods about her character. Certain it is, however, that the Duchess of Somerset became Swift's most deadly enemy, and, by her influence with her Royal mistress, was one of the principal means of excluding him from higher church preferment. It may easily be supposed that however strong might have been Anne's Jacobite predilections, she found it necessary to conceal them with great care ; and this was especially the case, since in her mind they were so fre- quently struggling with natural timidity and conscientious fears for the Established Church. Yet, in more than one instance, her family feelings burst through the veil which usually surrounded them. One of these is related by Lockhart of Carnwath. That zealous Jacobite having brought up what he terms a " high monarchical " address from the county of Edinburgh, was told by the Queen that she did not doubt his affection to her person, and hoped that he would not concur in any design to bring over the Prince of Hanover during her lifetime. Some- what surprised at this sudden mark of confidence, " I ' told her," says Lockhart, " that Her Majesty might ' judge from the address I had read, that I should not be ' acceptable to my constituents if I gave my consent for ' bringing over any of that family, either now or at any time hereafter. At this," adds Lockhart, " she smiled, and I withdrew, and then she said to the Duke of Hamilton she believed I was an honest man and a fair dealer." * * Lockhart's Comment, p. 317 1714. FERMENT IN SCOTLAND. 61 CHAPTER m ALTHOUGH the scope of this work does not lead me to notice, in detail, the merely local affairs of Scotland or Ireland, I must not omit that both the sister countries were then in a state uf extraordinary ferment. In both, the Jacobite leaven was working far more strongly than in England; and it can scarcely be doubted, but that in Scotland that party comprised a majority, not only as to numbers, but also as to property. The Whig Ministers had constantly kept a very apprehensive eye upon the Highland chiefs, whom they knew to have generally most disaffected principles, and always most devoted fol- lowers. I may even assert, that the fierce and nearly fatal struggle which finally took place in 1745 had been clearly foreseen and anticipated, even in the reign of Queen Anne ; and it has been a matter of just reproach to Walpole, that, preferring present ease to future safety, he did not, during his twenty years of peace and power, bring forward any measures to break the discipline and avert the danger of these military bodies. So early as 1708, Stanhope had introduced a bill for that object, but had not been able to carry it through. The adminis- tration which came to the helm in 1710 was, as may well be supposed, by no means inclined to destroy these useful and ever ready weapons of the Jacobites ; on the con- trary, it even secretly assisted them with money. Their o\vn Solicitor General for Scotland, Sir James Steuart, declared in the House of Commons, that, to his certain knowledge, 3000/. or 4000/. had been yearly remitted to the most decided of the Highland clans.* For this dis- covery Steuart was dismissed from office, but it formed the subject of a keen attack from the Duke of Argyle in the House of Lords. Oxford admitted the fact ;.but said * Parl. Hist. voL vi p. 1275., and Lockhart's Comment, p. 459. b'2 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. in. in his defence that he had only followed the example of King William, who, after reducing the Highland clans, had allowed still more considerable pensions as hush- money.* Nothing was alleged against this apology, and the Lord Treasurer's conduct was approved by the House. It may be observed, however, that if the payments of King William had been suspended during several years, there was required a reason as well as a precedent before they were renewed. On the whole, it must be admitted that to rule Scot- land at this period was a task of no ordinary difficulty. Its system of administration was, no doubt, fraught Avith gross and manifold abuses ; but I believe that even the highest degree of perfection would not have secured it against the animosity and accusation of the Scotch. That high-spirited people bore with impatience any go- vernment from London. The ideas of subjugation and dependence were constantly floating before their eyes, and lending a distorted medium to every object they sur- veyed. In no part of their dominions had the Stuarts been urged to exercise such arbitrary and grinding power ; in none had William the Third encountered more harassing and vexatious opposition. Even his practised patience had become at length exhausted. On one occasion, when the Duke of Hamilton was extolling Scotland to him, " My Lord," exclaimed His Majesty, "I " only wish that it was a hundred thousand miles off, " and that you were King of it!" The Union, which was designed as a remedy to these heartburnings, proved at first only their aggravation. Never did a treaty pro- duce more ultimate advantage to a nation ; never was any received with such general and thorough hatred.f I Parl. Hist. vol. vi. p. 1339. The payments of King William were made through the Earl of Breadalbane. It is said that, on being asked by the minister for a particular account of his disbursements, Breadal- bane replied, " Why, my Lord, the money is spent the Highlanders " are quiet and, that is the only way of accounting among friends I ' Chambers's Rebellions of 1689 and 1715, p. 325. f Swift calls it with his usual felicitous expression, " Blest Revolution ! which creates " Divided hearts, united States ! " Works, vol. xiv. p. 69 1714. FERMENT IN IRELAND. <>3 have already had to detail the violent attempt made in the House of Lords for its repeal ; but that repeal was constantly held out as a bait by the Scotch Jacobites ; and some even went so far as to declare that if they failed in regaining their freedom, they hoped at least to be able to deprive us of ours ! * Ireland, at this period, was scarcely in a more tranquil situation. The Ministers had sent in the autumn, as Lord Lieutenant, one of the most prominent characters of the age, the Duke of Shrewsbury. After having been connected in turn with almost every party, Shrewsbury's views as to the great point of the Succession might at this time be considered doubtful. During his adminis- tration in the reign of William, he had stooped to a trea- sonable correspondence with St. Germain's. On the other hand, when passing through Paris, on his way to Italy, he had, if indeed we may trust his own account in his journal f, skilfully parried an indirect proposal from that quarter. On the other hand, again, decided Jacobite partialities might be presumed from the part he had taken in tripping up the Whig administration of 1710, and from the trust reposed in him by the opposite party. Had he not been expected to come into the secret views of Bolingbroke and Ormond, he would surely never have been stationed at such confidential posts as Paris and Dublin. Yet, as will appear in the sequel, he deceived these Ministers as he had their predecessors ; his old principles triumphed, and, at the last crisis, he came forth a most timely and useful assertor of the Protestant cause. The Duke arrived at Dublin on the 27th of October. * As a remarkable instance of this bitter feeling, see the conversa- tion between Stanhope and Lockhart, as reported by the latter. (Comment, p. 479.) " As you Englishmen," said Lockhart, " have made slaves of us Scotchmen, I should be glad to see you reduced to the same state !" f " My old acquaintance, the Duke of Lauzun, one day took occasion to commend the Prince of Wales, and wished that by any means I might have an opportunity of seeing so fine a youth. I told him I questioned not his merit, but had no great curiosity. " But if I must see him, I would much rather it were here than in " England. This reply dashed all further discourse of thi? kind.'' Corresp. p. 185. 64 HISTORY OF ENGLA>T>. CHAP. HI. His instructions were to take the same line as the Go vernment in England ; to profess unabated zeal for the House of Hanover, and thus lull the public apprehensions, and prevent a Protestant cry at the elections. Accord- ingly, he seized the first opportunity, at a public enter- tainment, to declare that " he was still the same as in " 1688," and to drink to the " pious and glorious memory "of King William;" which, in Ireland, has always been a favourite party symbol. Soon afterwards, a riot having taken place in the Dublin election, and being, of course, like every other mischief, imputed to the Roman Catho- lics, the Duke ordered several of their chapels to be closed. Yet, with all his pains and professions, the Irish elections turned for the most part in favour of the Oppo- sition. Scarcely had Parliament met before a struggle ensued in the Commons as to the choice of Speaker ; and Sir Alan Brodrick, the Whig candidate, was elected by a majority of four. The Whig party fell next upon the Lord Chancellor, Sir Constantine Phipps, who had lately countenanced the Jacobites almost without disguise, and an Address was voted to the Queen for his removal. On the other side, the Lords, where the Court party Avas the stronger, took up the Chancellor's cause, passed a counter- Address in his favour, and severely censured Mr. Nuttall, a lawyer, for having called his Lordship " a canary-bird," which, it seems, is an Hibernian term of reproach. It became evident that a collision was preparing between both Houses, and that the Lower was ripe for the most violent determinations. In this state of things, the Min- isters, not less afraid of its effects in Ireland than of its example in England, sent directions to Shrewsbury to prorogue the Parliament, and it sat no more this reign. The Duke, on his part, anxious to watch the progress of events at Court, obtained leave of absence, and set out for England, leaving Sir Constantine Phipps and two Archbishops as Lords Justices. That more important assembly, the Parliament of Great Britain, met on the 16th of February, 1714, and though the Tories had a large and undoubted majority in this House of Commons, yet here, also, the choice of Speaker fell upon a member who had lately opposed several of their measures, Sir Thomas Hanmer. Jso person was i714. PAMPHLETS I'.Y SWIFT AND STEELE. 65 even set up on the other side ; partly on account of the weight and merit of Sir Thomas, partly because Oxford and Bolingbroke had hopes of regaining him and the other moderate Tories, and partly from their difficulty in agreeing amongst themselves as to the choice of a can- didate. The earliest attention of both Houses was turned to the public press, and to those pamphlets of which the preceding chapter gave a full account. Her Majesty's opening speech had contained a " wish that effectual care " had been taken, as I have often desired, to suppress " those seditious papers and factious rumours by which " designing men have been able to sink public credit, and " the innocent have suffered. There are some who are " arrived to that height of malice as to insinuate that the " Protestant Succession in the House of Hanover is in " danger under my government !" It soon appeared that, as far as this system of libels was concerned, both Houses, though in very opposite di- rections, were smarting from its stings. The Tory House of Commons proceeded against the " Crisis," a new pamphlet of Steele's.* The Whig House of Lords pi'o- ceeded against an answer to that pamphlet, called " The " Public Spirit of the Whigs." Swift was well known to be the author, but had not affixed nor announced his name ; so that the anger of the Peers could wreak itself only on the publisher and printer. These were imme- diately summoned to the bar. And here it may be ob- served that Swift, throughout his whole career, never showed the slightest scruple at allowing his underlings to suffer in his place, nor thought of relief to them by exposure of himself. The alleged ground of offence in " The Public Spirit of the Whigs" was a bitter and in- sulting attack upon the whole Scottish nation in treating of the Union ; and the majority of the House took up the * The " Crisis" is a very poor performance. Sir Walter Scott says c it, " It is chiefly a digest of the Acts of Parliament respecting the " Sticcession, mixed with a few comments, of which the diction is " neither forcible, elegant, nor precise ; while by the extraordinary "exertions made to obtain subscriptions it is plain that the relief of " the author's necessities was the principal object of the publication." Lite of Swift, p. 185. VOL. I. F 66 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. m. matter warmly. The Lord Treasurer, on his part, pro- tested he knew nothing of the pamphlet, exclaimed against the maliciojis insinuations contained in it, and readily joined in an order for committing the publisher and printer to the custody of the Black Rod. It may assist our judgment of Oxford's character to observe, that at the very time he was thus professing his ignorance of the author, and his detestation of the book, he wrote a letter to Swift in a counterfeit hand, express- ing his sympathy, and enclosing a bill for 100/.* Lord Wharton, however, still pressed to have Barber, the printer, closely examined, with a view of discovering the " villanous author." But the artifice of Oxford warded off the blow. He directed a prosecution againt Barber himself, which rendered his evidence as to the author no longer admissible in law. The Scottish Peers, headed by the Duke of Argyle, now went up in a body to the Queen, with a demand for vengeance on the insult they had suf- fered. At their request a proclamation was issued, which promised a reward of 300/. for discovering the author of the libel ; but this and the other legal measures were skilfully dropped by the Lord Treasurer as soon as the clamour had abated. In the Commons, Steele having put his name to his pamphlet, and being a member of the House, suffered far more severely than Swift in the Lords. The party tone of his former essays in the Tatler, and the triumph of his late election, had made him peculiarly hateful to the Tories ; and their animosity against him burst forth on the very first day of the Session. Sir Thomas Hanmer having been proposed as Speaker, Steele, somewhat pre- sumptuously, perhaps, for a new member, rose to support the nomination. " I rise up," he said, " to do him ho- nour" words which immediately drew from the majority * The letter was as follows : "I have heard that some honest "men who are very innocent are under trouble, touching a printed " pamphlet. A friend of mine, an obscure person, but charitable, puts "the enclosed bill in your hands to answer such exigencies as their " case may immediately require. And I find he will do more, this ' otiiig only for the present." The name and the date are given in Swift's endorsement, and the letter is printed with his Works (voL xvi p. 126.). 1714. SPEECH OF ROBERT WALPOLE. 67 an ironical cry of "Tatler! Tatler!" and, as he after- wards came out, he was greeted with " It is not so easy " a thing to speak in the House" " He fancies because "he can scribble" ; and other such sneering observa- tions. These, however, were but the first mutterings of the impending storm.* It burst on the llth of March by a direct attack from Mr. Hungerford, (a lawyer, who had been expelled a former House of Commons for bri- bery,) seconded by Auditor Foley, a kinsman of the Lord Treasurer. They quoted some passages in the " Crisis," which implied that the Hanover Succession was in danger under Her Majesty's government, and took good care to apply to the Queen what was intended for the Ministry. So determined was the hostility of the Court party, that it was not without much demur that a week was allowed to Steele to prepare for his defence ; and on the appointed day Auditor Foley actually moved that he should withdraw without making any defence at all ! The latter proposal was, however, too gross and glaring to be admitted. Steele, nevertheless, did not think proper to take his seat on the side-benches as a member, but stood at the bar as a culprit, with Stanhope on one side, and Walpole on the other. Addison also sat near, and prompted him upon occasion. Thus ably sup- ported, he spoke for nearly three hours, with great elo- quence and spirit, and then retired. It was now generally expected that Foley would sum up the case, and answer the defence paragraph by paragraph. But the Auditor, confident of his ready majorities, and thinking further trouble needless, contented himself with saying, " With- ' out amusing the House with long speeches, it is plain ; that the writings that have been complained of are 'seditious and scandalous, injurious to her Majesty's Go- ' vernmcnt, the Church, and the Universities ; and I ' move that the question should be put thereupon." This motion occasioned a very warm debate, in which there were several powerful speeches on the side of Steele. But of these the most remarkable were those of Walpole and Lord Finch. " By the present mode of proceeding," * See Mr. Steele's apology, printed in the ParL Hist. voL vi p. 1286. F 2 6ft HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. HI. said the former, " Parliament, which used to be the scourge only of evil Ministers, is made by Ministers the scourge of the subject Mr. Steele is only attacked because he is the advocate for the Protestant Succession. The cause which he so ably defends gives the offence. Through his sides the Succession is to be wounded. His punishment will be a symptom that the Succession is in danger, and the Ministry are now feeling the pulse of Parliament to see how far they may be able to proceed From what fatality does it arise that what is written in favour of the Protestant Succession, and countenanced by the late Ministry, is deemed a libel on the present administration?"* Lord Finch was son of the celebrated Tory leader, Nottingham. He owed some personal obligations to Steele, who had formerly refuted a libel on his sister. He now rose to defend her defender : but addressing the House for the first time, and overcome by the bashfulness usually felt on that occasion, he found all his attempts to express himself in vain, and sat down in confusion, merely saying, "It is strange I cannot speak for this man, though " I could readily fight for him." These words being overheard, produced a general feeling in his favour ; the Avhole House rang with encouraging "Hear! Hears;" and thus called on, Lord Finch rose a second time, and delivered a speech fraught with high public spirit and natural eloquence. He particularly justified Steele in his reflections on the Peace of Utrecht. " We may," he said, " give it all the fine epithets we please, but epithets do not change the nature of things. We may, if wo please, call it here honourable ; but I am sure it is accounted scandalous in Holland, Germany, Portugal, and over all Europe except France and Spain. We may call it advantageous ; but all the trading part of the nation find it to be otherwise : and if it be really advantageous, it must be so to the Ministry that made it." Such was the beginning of a public career which, though not illustrious, was long, useful, and honourable. As Earl of Winchelsea and Nottingham, Lord Finch * The notes of this speech were found amongst Sir Robert Walpole's papers, and are published by Coxe jn his Lite, vol. i. p. 44. 1714. CASE OP THE CATALANS. 69 formed part of several administrations, and held his last cabinet office above half a century from the time of his outset.* Of the speeches delivered against Steele no account appears. But when the question was put, that his publi- cation should be declared a scandalous libel, and the author expelled the House, it was carried by 245 votes against 152 a most fierce and unwarrantable stretch of party violence. Soon after this transaction, a generous effort was made in the House of Lords on behalf of the ill-fated Catalans. The treatment of that poor people by Oxford's adminis- tration is perhaps the foulest of all the blots upon its memory. They had first been roused to revolt at the instigation of England. In the name of the Queen had Lord Peterborough summoned them to arms, and solemnly promised to secure to them their ancient Fueros, or pro- vincial liberties. Under this belief had they nobly fought and suffered. Through their aid had the Austrian cause been for several years maintained in Spain, and its stand- ards twice seen to float from the towers of Madrid. That cause, it is true, Avas laid prostrate for ever in the burn- ing streets of Brihuega and the bloody plain of Villa Viciosa. But it fell from no fault of the Catalans them- selves. They had performed, and were even yet per- forming, their part of the contract, while ours, on the contrary, was shamefully withheld. At the Peace of Utrecht, their promised Fueros were utterly neglected by the English plenipotentiaries, and nothing beyond an amnesty (that is, mere personal pardon) was stipulated for them. We even find Lord Bolingbroke sneering at what he calls their "obstinacy,"! and attempting to prove that " it is not for the interest of England to preserve the " Catalan liberties!"}: The shamelessness of Lord Bolingbroke's conduct will * He resigned the Presidency of the Council in July, 1766, and died in 1769, aged 81. Lord Waldegrave says of him, that at the Admiralty, " his whole conduct was so unexceptionable, that faction " itself was obliged to be silent." (Memoirs, p. 139.) f Letter to the Queen, Dec. 17. 1713, in Lord Bolingbroke's Corre Bpondence. f Case of the Catalans, in Tindal's History, vol. vi. p. 258. F 3 70 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. m. appear yet more glaring, if we contrast it with that which the same people had received from the French, and re- member that the French, with all their great qualities, have never been thought remarkable for a liberal inter- pretation or an exact fulfilment of their treaties. These are points on which we have often, and not always unjustly, compared their faith with the Punic. But on this occa- sion they might well have retaliated upon ours. During the reign of Philip the Fourth, the Catalans had risen in another insurrection against the Castillian government.* In that insurrection they had received assistance from the French, as in the latter from the English. In both cases had there been mutual engagements, in both were their struggles for independence finally foiled ; but did the French forsake them at the Peace of the Pyrenees in 1659, as the English at the Peace of Utrecht in 1712? So far from it, that we find the 55th article of that treaty provide, in the most positive manner, for the restoration and maintenance of the Catalan Fuerost; and what is more, we find that under the guarantee of France these privileges were effectually respected. The Catalans, now forsaken by their Austrian as well as by their English allies, and opposed to both the mo- narchies of France and Spain, yet stood heroically firm, and determined to wage the contest for their freedom single-handed. But their noble spirit failed to rouse any sense of j ustice or humanity in Bolingbroke ; and so far from befriending them, by word or deed, he now prepared to assist in their reduction, and to fill up the measure of his own disgrace by despatching an English squadron to the Mediterranean. The Admiral, Sir James Wishart, was directed, in his first instructions, " to repair with the * The Catalan wars of that century might form a very interesting narrative. When Dr. Dunham observes, that " for the domestic " portion of this and much of the following reign, there are no native " contemporary authorities extant ; at least we know of none ;" (Hist. of Spain and Portugal, voL v. p. 93.) he overlooks the Guerra de Cataluna en tiempo de Felipe IV., por Don Francisco de Melo; one of the most valuable and authentic historical records in the Spanish language. See Mr. Dunlop's Memoirs of Spain, vol. i. p. 287. f See the Corps Diplomatique, ed. 1728, vol. vi. part 2. p. 271. Lord Clarendon is very inaccurate in what he says on this point. (Hist, of RebelL voL vii p. 355. Oxf. ed.) 1714. ADDRESS liY LORD COWPER. 71 " fleet before Barcelona, then besieged by the enemy, and ~* demand immediate payment of the value of the Queen's " stores in the town, or a sufficient security for payment " in some reasonable time : to take care to time his arri- " val before the town according to the advices from Lord " Bingley (then designed to be sent to Madrid as ambas- " sador) : by the strongest representations to induce the " regency of Barcelona to accept of the terms that shall " be obtained for them : to take all the necessary measures " pursuant to the Queen's intentions to put an end to the " confusions that now reign in those parts, and all proper " methods of persuasion to induce the inhabitants of Ma- " jorca to submit to the terms that shall be offered them ; " and, in case of refusal, to employ his squadron in coun- " tenaricing and assisting all attempts which may be " made for reducing them to a due obedience."* On these instructions, we may observe, first, that England was under the same engagements to secure the privileges of Majorca as those of Catalonia at the time Sir James Wishart received direct orders to attack the former ; and, secondly, that the whole expedition was planned in con- cert with, and in deference to, Sir Patrick Lawless, the Spanish envoy in London, who, during the preceding September, had presented a memorial to Bolingbroke, stating that " His Catholic Majesty hopes the Queen will " order a squadron of her ships to reduce his subjects to " their obedience." Thus England was actually not merely forsaking her faithful and ill-fated allies, but leaguing herself with France and Spain against them ! It was at this point that the House of Lords, with a generous feeling of compassion, took up the cause of the oppressed. The first step a motion for papers on the 17th of March was not opposed by the Ministry. On the 31st, the subject was resumed by Lord Cowper's moving an Address to the Queen, " That her endeavours " for preserving to the Catalans the full enjoyment of " their ancient liberties having proved ineffectual, their " Lordships made it their humble request that she would " continue her interposition in the most pressing manner " in their behalf." Lord Cowper was ably supported by * See the case of the Catalans, p. 261 F 4 72 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. m. liia former colleagues, Sunderland and Halifax ; while on the other part, Boliugbroke declared " that the Queen " had used her endeavours to procure to the Catalans the " enjoyment of their ancient liberties and privileges ; but " that, after all, the engagements she had entered into " subsisted no longer than while King Charles was in " Spain !" But that miserable subterfuge (then urged for the first time) made no impression on the House. The Ministers found it necessary to lower their tone ; and Lord Chancellor Harcourt could only observe, that the Address would be more welcome to Her Majesty if the word " ineffectual," as applied to her former endeavours, were left out. Thus amended, the Address passed with- out opposition, and was presented the next day.* Her Majesty's answer was as follows : " My Lords, I heartily thank you for this Address, ' and the satisfaction you express in the endeavours I ' have used for securing the Catalans their just liberties. ' At the time I concluded my peace with Spain, I resolved ' to continue my interposition, upon every other proper ' occasion, for obtaining those liberties, and to prevent, " if possible, the misfortunes to which that people are " exposed by the conduct of those more nearly concerned " to help them." The last sentence is an evident and angry allusion to the Cabinet of Vienna. f But the Address of the House of Lords was by no means fruitless of relief for the Catalans. Bolingbroke immediately sent fresh orders to Sir James Wishart not to appear before Barcelona, nor to attack the Majorcans till he should hear from Lord Bingley and receive directions from England ; and Lord Bingley's instructions were also (in appearance at least) considerably modified. Meanwhile the Lord Treasurer greatly surprised the House by moving for leave to bring in a bill " For the " further security of the Protestant Succession, by making * The Lords obtained also the concurrence of the Commons in this address. Commons' Journals, vol. xvii. p 575. f This was the tone taken by all the Ministerial writers of the time: " How dreadful," says Swift, in his Public Spirit of the Whigs, " must " be the doom of those who hindered these people from submitting to " the gentle terms offered them by their Prince !" &c. Wurk>, voL iv. p. 446. 1714. MOTION BY SIR EDWARD KNATCHBULL. 73 " it high treason to bring in any foreign troops into the " kingdom." At first sight, this measure seemed to point at St. Germain's ; but it was, in reality, directed against Hanover, and adverted to the secret design, already men- tioned, of bringing over the Elector with a body of troops. Bolingbroke, however, dissembling his real drift, and finding himself hard pressed by the Opposition, observed, in the course of the debate, that he doubted not his noble friend who had introduced the motion meant only such foreign troops as might be brought into the kingdom by the Pretender. This the Lord Treasurer himself con- firmed. But it was answered that, in that case, such a bill was altogether unnecessary ; and that the law already provided sufficient weapons, such troops being either open enemies, if foreigners, or traitors and rebels, if natives ; and on the whole, the motion was so coldly received by the House, that it does not seem to have been carried further. The Ministers, however, undaunted by this check, attempted to retrieve their reputation by a decisive vote in both Houses, that the Protestant Succession was not in danger under Her Majesty's government. In the Lords, this question came on early in April. The debate was very remarkable, from the fact that a body of Peers, hearty friends to the Protestant Succession, but holding Tory politics, and hitherto supporters of the Tory Admi- nistration, separated from it on this trying occasion. The chief of these were the Archbishop of York and several other prelates ; the Earls of Abingdon, Jersey, and An- glesea, Lords Ashburnham and Carteret. Anglesea was especially hostile in his language : looking full at the Treasurer, he said, that " if he found himself imposed " upon, he durst pursue an evil Minister from the Queen's " closet to the Tower, and from the Tower to the scaf- " fold." But, in spite of this schism, the Ministerial vote was passed by seventy-six against sixty-four ; and thus, in fact, it was passed by the twelve Peers of the new creation. The House of Commons, on the 15th, displayed a si- milar scene. The House having, on the motion of Sir Edward Knatchbull, resolved itself into Committee on the tame question of the Protestant Succession being out of 74 niSTORV OF ENGLAND. CHAP. m. danger, tliere appeared, as in the Lords, a secession from the Government of many moderate Tories, (the Hanove- rian Tories, as they were then termed,) with the Speaker at their head. A very powerful speech from him drew over a considerable number on this occasion ; and, on the division, the Court could only muster 256 against 208. Next day, on reporting the Resolution to the House, another fierce debate arose. Walpole applauded the pub- lic spirit of the Speaker, but added, that he despaired of seeing truth prevail ; since, notwithstanding the weight of a person of his known integrity and eloquence, the majority of votes had carried it against reason and argu- ment. Stanhope endeavoured to prove the Protestant Succession in danger by this single induction, that, as was universally acknowledged, it had been the French King's intention, so it was still his interest, and he had it more than ever in his power, to restore the Pretender. But the Opposition did not venture on a second division. In the Lords, the Whigs showed their resentment in a far less justifiable manner. The Earl of Wharton moved, that Her Majesty might be requested " to issue out a pro- " clamation, promising a reward to any person who should " apprehend the Pretender dead or alive." The last clause a direct encouragement to murder might dis- grace eren a barbarous age and a false religion ; and it is with great regret that I find such illustrious names n^ Halifax and Cowper ranged in defence of this savage and unchristian proposal. They, Whigs as they were, by a strange anomaly, relied mainly on the precedent of James the Second, in setting a price on the head of his nephew the Duke of Monmouth : so inconsistent do men some- times become from party spirit ! To oppose this Address was by no means safe or prudent at that time, as laying open the opponent to the charge of Jacobitism ; yet Lords North and Trevor did not shrink from this duty. The former concluded his speech by saying, that no man had more respect and affection for the House of Hanover, or would do more to serve them than himself ; but that they must excuse him if he would not venture damnation for them. The latter moved as an amendment, " That the " reward should be for apprehending and bringing the " Pretender to justice, in case he should land or attempt 1714. PERPLEXITY OP MINISTERS. 75 " to land." Many of the Whig peers concurred with the amendment ; all the Whig bishops had withdrawn from the debate ; and the House of Lords, to their honour, rejected Lord Wharton's proposal. The House of Lords, on the same day, passed two Reso- lutions : 1. That no person, not included in the Articles of Limerick, and who had borne arms in France or Spain, should be capable of any employment, civil or military. 2. That no person, who is a natural born subject of her Majesty, should be capable of sustaining the character of public Minister from any foreign potentate. These Reso- lutions were levelled entirely at Sir Patrick Lawless, an Irishman, who was then in London as agent from the Court of Spain in the treaty of commerce. He had been an adherent of James the Second, had intrigued in the cause of his son, was in frequent and close communica- tion with Bolingbroke, and held the Roman Catholic faith. All these might be just grounds of jealousy; but, as mere truth and reason have seldom sufficient weight with the vulgar, some of the leading Whigs did not scruple to add several absurd and groundless allegations. Walpole had even gone so far as to allude to him, in the House of Commons, as a man " strongly suspected of " having imbrued his hands in the blood of the late " Duke of Medina Celi and Marquis of Leganez,"* an utter calumny. The Ministers, however, wisely yielded to the popular prejudice ; and sent to Lawless a friendly suggestion to withdraw into Holland. In the midst of these Parliamentary proceedings, the Ministers were thrown into the greatest confusion by an unexpected diplomatic demand. The Hanoverian envoy, Baron Schutz, had, instead of any precise instructions from his Court, received an order to consult and be guided by Somers, Halifax, Cowper, and other undoubted friends of the Protestant Succession. All of them were, at this period, unanimous in thinking that their great object could not be better secured than by the presence of one of the Hanover family in England. So long an they had indulged any hope of regaining the Queen's favour, they had been unwilling to urge, or even to allow, * Coxe's Life, vol. i. p. 45. 76 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. 111. a measure which they knew to be peculiarly distasteful to Her Majesty ; but seeing her now thoroughly wedded to Tory counsels, they looked much more to the safety of her legal successor than to her own satisfaction. They saw, besides, that the active intrigues of the Jacobites could only be withstood by equal activity and vigour on the other side ; and their plan was that the Electoral Prince, having been created a Peer by the title of Duke of Cambridge, should come over and take his seat. With such views, and under the guidance of these statesmen, Schutz, on the 12th of April, suddenly waited upon Lord Chancellor Harcourt, and told him that he had orders from the Electress Sophia to ask for the Avrit of the Prince as Duke of Cambridge. The Chancellor, much discomposed, changed colour and looked down*; and, after a long pause, answered that he would speak of it to the Queen. On Schutz's taking his leave, the Chancellor followed him to the door, and begged him to observe that he had not refused the writ, but only wished, in the first place, to take Her Majesty's orders. A cabinet council was imme- diately summoned. At its conclusion, Harcourt wrote drily to the envoy, stating that the Queen, not having received the least information of that demand from him, or in any other manner whatsoever from the Court of Hanover, could hardly persuade herself that he acted by direction from thence ; but that the writ of the Duke of Cambridge had been sealed at the same time with all the others, and lay ready to be delivered to the envoy when- ever he called for it. It soon appeared how great was the resentment of the Queen, and the perplexity of Mi- nisters. Three days after Schutz had an interview with the Lord Treasurer. " He told me," says the envoy in his despatches, " that he never saw the Queen in a greater " passion He said I ought to have addressed my- " self to the Secretary of State, or to him, who would " not have failed to advise very properly in the affair ; " protesting that he had no service more at heart, after " the Queen's, than that of the Electoral family ; and " that he was vexed at what had happened, the Queen " taking it as the greatest mark of contempt that could * See an account of this conversation in the despatch of Schutz to Kobethon, April 13. 1714. Macpherson's Papers, vol. ii. p. 590. 1714. CHANGE OF POLICY IN THE WHIGS. 77 " be given her. He added, that had it not been for this " incident, Her Majesty would have invited the Electoral " Prince to pay her a visit next summer, forgetting that " he had told me, but a moment before, that she was too " much afraid to see any of the Electoral family here, " and that, this alone excepted, she would willingly grant " everything else that could be demanded of her. He " heaped together several very unintelligible things in " this discourse."* It also appears that Oxford, in this conversation, ad- ' vised Schutz, as a friend, to appear no more at Court. Finding that Schutz was not disposed to take this hint, it was folloAved two days after by a positive and formal injunction from the Secretary of State; and he was in- formed, at the same time, that the Queen considered his conduct as a grievous insult, and had directed her Mi- nister to solicit his immediate recall from the Elector. Alarmed at this, and having acted without special orders, Schutz set out himself for Hanover, to convey the writ and justify his conduct in demanding it. At first sight this transaction appears, no doubt, ho- nourable to the zeal and sincerity of the Whigs. But a close and impartial examination tends, on the contrary, in some degree to disparage the course which they pur- sued on this occasion. It Avas generally known that the Queen had always entertained a rooted and unconquer- able aversion to the presence of any of the Electoral fa- mily in England. Besides that weak minds often shrink from the sight of an heir, as reminding them of death, she might justly fear the cabals and intrigues which would gather round the Court of her intended successor ; and might remember how much she herself, in that very situation, had been able to thwart and embarrass the Government of William. She might remember the jea- lousy and apprehension which Queen Elizabeth, from the very first period of her reign, had manifested against ac- knowledging the claim, or receiving the visit, of Mary of Scots.f In short, it was positively certain that Her * See Macpherson's Papers, vol. ii. p. 599. t See Buchanan's History of Scotland, 17th Book. "I will be " Queen of England as long as I live," says Elizabeth. " What ! do " you think I am willing to have my grave-clothes always before my 78 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. HI. Majesty would never willingly allow any of the Hanover family to reside in England, and that no Minister of hers could venture to propose it. Such had been the state of things so early as 1705. In that year the Whigs were in place, and the Tories in opposition. The ground of the two parties was opposite to what it became nine years afterwards, and their con- duct was opposite also. In 1705 the Tories, wishing, on the one hand, to harass the Government, and, on the other hand, to manifest their own attachment to the Pro- testant Succession, brought forward motions in both Houses to invite the Princess Sophia, as presumptive heir, to come over to England. The Whigs, being then in office, and compelled to take the orders of the Queen, withstood, with all their might, this plausible proposal, and argued that, in a matter of that delicate and domestic nature, the inclinations of Her Majesty were not to be coldly overlooked, still less openly opposed.* The pro- posal was, however, so entirely in accordance with the general principles of the Whigs, that several amongst them in both Houses, with the Archbishop of Canterbury at their head, refused to take part against it, and joined with the Tories on that question. Such men might, with perfect propriety and consistency, pursue, in 1714, the same object they had already urged in 1705. But, with regard to the main body of the Whigs, I must own, notwithstanding my approval and admiration of their general policy at this time, that I think it very difficult to excuse their conduct in these two instances that " eyes ? Kings have this peculiarity, that they have some kind of " sentiments against their own children, who are born lawful heirs to " succeed them. How then is it likely I should stand affected towards " my kinswoman, if she be once declared my heir ? Just as Charles " the Seventh was toward Louis the Eleventh. Besides, and that " which weighs most with me, I know the inconstancy of this people; " I know how they loathe the present state of things ; I know how " intent their eyes are upon a successor. It is natural for all men, as " the proverb is, to worship the rising rather than the setting sun. I " have learnt that from my own times, to omit other examples : when " my sister Mary sat at helm, how eagerly did some men desire to see " me placed on the throne ! " &c. English Version, vol. ii. p. 1 58. ed. 1690. * See Somervillc's Queen Anne, p. 111. ; and Coxe's Marlborough. vol. ii. p. 240. 714. DEATH OF THE PRINCESS SOPHIA. 79 they may be charged with too little patriotism at the first period, or with too much party-spirit at the latter. The application of Schutz. and the consequent indig- nation of the Queen, made her Ministers determine on strong remonstrances with the Court of Hanover. They appointed as ambassador, first Lord Paget, and almost immediately afterwards, the Earl of Clarendon depend- ing, perhaps, on his illustrious name, for of talents or of judgment he was certainly utterly destitute. We find it stated of him in a grave despatch, that when he was appointed governor of New York, and told that he should represent Her Majesty, he fancied that it was ne- cessary to dress himself as a woman, and actually did so ! * The Queen wrote to the Elector, and to Princess Sophia, with her own hand, on the 19th of May, depre- cating, in the strongest terms, the proposed visit of the Prince, and holding out threats as to the consequences if he came. On the other hand, the Whig chiefs, and more especially the Duke of Marlborough, continued in their letters to be no less vehement in urging the necessity of his Highness's immediate arrival.f It is difficult to say to what decision these opposite exhortations would have led, had not an unexpected in- cident postponed it. This was the sudden death if, indeed, at eighty-three any death should be termed sud- den of the good old Princess Sophia. She had been much affected at reading the peremptory letters from the Queen ; and on the next day after their receipt, the 28th of May, whilst walking in the gardens of Herrenhausen, she was seized with an apoplectic fit, and fell dead into the arms of the Electoral Princess, aftenvards Queen * Bothmar's despatch to Rebellion, June 16. 1714. Macpherson's Papers. This Lord Clarendon was Edward, the third Earl of the first creation ; he died in 1723. In the despatch of Bothmar " the Indies," are named by mistake for New York; and Macpherson attempting to correct this error commits another by naming " Pennsylvania." t " By this remedy," writes the Duke to Robethon, on the 5th of May, " the Succession will be secured without risk, without expense, " and without war ; and likewise it is very probable that France, " seeing herself prevented in that manner, will abandon her design of " assisting the Pretender In my humble opinion, it would be " proper to use despatch, and that the Prince should set out before "Lord Paget arrives." Cadogan wrote still more pressingly from London on the 7th. 80 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. HI. Caroline. She was a woman of most amiable temper and no mean acquirements, being perfect mistress of the Dutch, German, English, French, and Italian languages and during her long life she had never belied the cha- racter that becomes an English and a Royal birth. She used to say that she should die happy if she could only live to have " Here lies Sophia, Queen of England," en- graved upon her coffin ; and it is remarkable within how very few weeks her wish would have been fulfilled. The death of the Princess enabled the Elector, now become immediate heir to the English Crown, to steer his course without disobliging either the sovereign or his friends. After pausing for nearly three weeks, he an- swered the Queen's letter in most civil and submissive, but very vague terms ; and despatched orders to Baron Bothmar, his envoy at the Hague, to proceed to London, and to consult with the Whig leaders, whether, after all the unavoidable delay that had occurred, any idea of sending over the Electoral Prince had not better be post- poned till next Session. Meanwhile the English Ministers were not inactive. Oxford, who had constantly endeavoured to keep well with the Court of Hanover who perhaps really intended its interests who had early in the year sent thither his cousin Mr. Harley with warm expressions of duty and attachment, saw, with despair, that the late events had confirmed the distrust and aversion in that quarter, whilst he had failed to push his negotiations with the other. His influence with the Queen was also daily de- clining, or, rather, had already ceased. In spite of all his whispers and manoeuvres, Bolingbroke, in conjunction with Atterbury, perceiving how necessary it was to their ultimate designs still further to discourage, nay, even to crush the Dissenters, drew up in Council, and brought into Parliament, as a Government measure, the celebrated Schism Act. This act enjoins That no person in Great Britain shall keep any public or private school, or act as tutor, that has not first subscribed the declaration to conform to the Church of England and obtained a licence from the Diocesan, and that upon failure of so doing the party may be committed to prison without bail ; and that no such licence shall be granted before the party pro- 1714. THE SCHISM ACT. 81 flukes a certificate of his having received the Sacrament, according to the communion of the Church of England, within the last year, and also subscribed the oaths of allegiance and supremacy. This tyrannical Act, introduced in the Commons on the 12th of May by Sir William Wyndham, was of course vehemently opposed by the Whigs. We know that Sir Peter King, Mr. Hampden, Sir Joseph Jekyll. and Robert Walpole spoke against it, although nothing beyond their names has been preserved on this occasion. But some observations of General Stanhope, which appear in the scanty reports of those debates, and which seem to have excited much attention, may perhaps be said, without undue praise, to be far in advance of the time at which they were delivered, and to show a large and enlightened toleration, which it was reserved for a much later gene- ration to feel, acknowledge, and establish. We are told that he " showed, in particular, the ill consequences of " this law, as it would of course occasion foreign educa- " tion, which, on the one hand, would drain the kingdom " of great sums of money, and, which was still worse, " would fill the tender minds of young men with pre- judices against their own country. He illustrated and " strengthened his argument by the example of the En- " glish Popish seminaries abroad, which, he said, where " so pernicious to Great Britain, that, instead of making " new laws to encourage foreign education, he could wish " those already in force against Papists were mitigated, " and that they should be allowed a certain number of "schools." It is singular that some of the most plain and simple notions, such as that of religious toleration, should be the slowest and most difficult to be impressed upon the human mind. The Schism Act passed the Commons by a majority of 237 against 126. In the Lords, the second reading was moved by Bolingbroke *, and ably opposed by Lords Cowper and Wharton. " It is somewhat strange," said * We have no account of Bolingbroke's speech on this occasion. In his letter to Wyndham he urges the best, perhaps the only argu- ment that could be alleged on that side : " The evil effect is without " remedy, and may therefore deserve indulgence ; but the evil causa " is to be prevented, and can therefore be entitled to none." VOL. I. G 82 HISTORY OF I-.VGLAXD. CHAP. m. the latter, OXFORD DISMISSED. 67 What had Oxford to oppose to these bedchamber in- trigues ? Nothing. His own artifices had become too refined for success, and too frequent for concealment. His character was understood. His popularity was gone. His support, or, at least, connivance, of the Schism Act, had alienated his remaining friends amongst the Puritans. Nay, even the public favour and high expectations with which he entered office, had, from their re-action, turned against him. The multitude seldom fails to expect im- possibilities from a favourite statesman ; such, for in- stance, as that he should increase the revenue by repealing taxes ; and, therefore, no test of popularity is half so severe as power. We also find it positively asserted by Marshal Berwick, in his Memoirs, that the Court of St. Germain's had in- timated to the Queen, through the channel of the Duke of Ormond and of Lady Masham, its wish to see the Lord Treasurer removed.* It is the more likely that Ormond was employed in this communication, since it appears that, in the preceding April, he had offered to receive a letter from the Pretender to the Queen, and to put it into the hands of Her Majesty, which Oxford had always de- clined to do-t Thus, then, all the pillars which had hitherto upheld his tottering authority were sapped and subverted, and on the 27th of July came the long-ex- pected crisis of his fall. Her Majesty had that afternoon detailed to the other members of the Council some of the grounds of her displeasure with Oxford ; and it is re- markable, that even his confidant and creature Erasmus Lewis appears to admit their just foundation.^ After a lady a job of some money out of the Asiento contract ; of course after that he " could do no service to the Queen ! " * Mem. vol. ii. p. 133. A little before this time (June 9.) Oxford had addressed a long letter to the Queen, which was printed in the report of the Committee of Secrecy next year. It is artful and sub- missive, but seems to have produced no effect. f Gaultier to Torcy, April 25. 1714. j " The Queen has told all the Lords the reasons of her parting " with him (Oxford), namely : That he neglected all business ; that he "was very seldom to be understood ; that when he did explain him- " self she could not depend upon the truth of what he said ; that he " never came to her at the time she appointed ; that he often came fc drunk ; lastly, to crown all, that he behaved himself towards her G 4 88 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. Hi. personal altercation, carried on in the Queen's presence, and continued till two in the morning, Anne resumed the White Staff; and the whole power of the State with the choice of the new administration were left in the hands of Bolingbroke. The first step of the new Prime Minister was an at- tempt to cajole his political opponents. On the very day after Oxford's dismissal, he entertained at dinner, at his house in Golden Square, Stanhope, Walpole, Pulteney, Craggs, and the other most eminent Whig members of the House of Commons * ; but he altogether failed either to conciliate or delude them. The Whigs positively required, as a security for the Protestant Succession, that the Pretender should be removed from Lorraine ; whilst Bolingbroke confessed that such a banishment of her brother would never be sanctioned by the Queen. It is difficult to conceive how Bolingbroke could possibly have anticipated any other issue to these overtures than dis- appointment ; and they are the more surprising, since, on the same day, he had an interview with the chief agent of France and the Pretender, whom he assured of his undiminished regard f, and since he was, in fact, steadily proceeding to the formation of a purely Jacobite adminis- tration. His projected arrangements were as follows : The Seals of Secretary, and the sole management of Foreign Affairs, were to remain with himself; whilst, to prevent his being 'overshadowed by any new Lord Trea- surer, that department was to be put into commission, with Sir William Wyndham at its head. The Privy Seal was to be transferred to Atterbury ; Bromley was to con- tinue the other Secretary of State ; and the Earl of Mar, the third for Scotland ; the Duke of Ormond, Commander - in-Chief ; the Duke of Buckingham, Lord President ; and Lord Harcourt, Chancellor. To fill up the other inferior " with bad manners, indecency, and disrespect. Pudet htec oppro- " bria nobis, &c. I am distracted with the thoughts of this and the " pride of the conqueror." To Swift, July 27. 1714. * Political State, Aug. 1714, p. 83. f " II m'a assure qu'il etait dans les memes sen'imens a 1'egard " de Montgouliu (the Pretender) pourvu qu'il prit les mesures qui " convicndraient aux honnetes gens du pays." Gaultier to Torcy Aug. 7. 1714, N. S. 1714. INTENDED CABINET OF BOLINGBROKE. 89 appointments was considered a matter of great difficulty, there being very few whom Bolingbroke thought suffi- ciently able to be useful, or sufficiently zealous to be trusted.* But the Cabinet he intended (for it was never nominated), consisting, as it did, of scarcely any but Jacobites, and comprising not a few who afterwards openly attached themselves to the Pretender, and were attainted of high treason, can leave no doubt as to his ultimate design, and must convince us that, had the Queen lived only three months longer, our religion and liberties would have been exposed to most imminent peril. In the midst of his triumph, the new Prime Minister found his exultation dashed with alarms at the approach- ing re-appearance of Marlborough on the political scene. That illustrious man had early in the spring determined to return to England so soon as the Session should be closed, and was already at Ostend, awaiting a favourable wind. His motives for coming over at this period have been often canvassed, but never very clearly explained. On the one hand, we find, from the despatches of the Hano- verian agents, that his journey had not been undertaken in concert with them.f On the other hand, the common rumour of his secret cabals and intended junction with Bolingbroke is utterly disproved by the evidence of Bolingbroke himself, who, in his most private correspond- ence, expresses his apprehensions at this journey, and hints that it proceeded from some intrigues of Lord Oxford.^ How far may we believe this latter suspicion * " The sterility of good and able men is incredible." Erasmus Lewis to Swift, July 27. 1714. f Bothmar to Robethon, July 16. O. S. 1714. "It is surprising " that the Duke of Marlborough comes over at such a crisis, and dot's " not rather wait until it is seen which of the two competitors will " cany it with the Queen. Lord Sunderland himself does not under- " stand this." J " Lord Marlborough's people give out that he is coming over, an 1 " I take it for granted that he is so ; whether on account of the ill " figure he makes abroad, or the good one he hopes to make at home, 4i 1 shall not determine. But I have reason to think that some peopli-, " who would rather move heaven and earth than either part with " their power or make a right use of it, have lately made overtures " to him, and have entered into some degree of concert with his " creatures. ' To Lord Straflbrd, July 14. 1714. 90 HISTOKV OF ENGLAND. CHA1'. Ill to be truly founded? It is certain that, at the close of 1713, Oxford had written to the Duke in most flattering terms, and obtained a grant of 10,000/. to carry on the works at Blenheim. It is no less certain, however, that the confidential letters of the Duchess, during June and July, 1714, speak of Oxford with undiminished aversion.* On the whole, I am inclined to think that Marlborough had had some private communication with the Lord Treasurer, but had not committed himself in any even the slightest degree ; that he was returning to England to see and judge for himself of the prospect of affairs ; and that he did not feel himself so far pledged to his former colleagues as to be entirely debarred from any new political connection. But a mightier arm than even that of Marlborough was now stretched forth to arrest the evil designs of Bolingbroke. The days, nay, even the hours, of Queen Anne were numbered. Her Majesty's spirits had been so much agitated by the altercation in her presence, on the night of the 27th, as greatly to affect her health ; and she herself said to one of her physicians, with that in- stinct of approaching dissolution so often and so strangely found before any danger is apparent, that she should not outlive it. The imposthume in her leg being checked, her gouty humour flew to her brain ; she was seized with an apoplectic fit early in the morning of Friday the 30th, and immediately sank into a hopeless state of stupe- faction. It may easily be supposed what various emo- tions such an event at such a crisis would occasion ; yet it is a very remarkable proof of the bad opinion com- monly entertained of Her Majesty's counsels, and of the revolutionary result anticipated from them, that the funds rose considerably on the first tidings of her danger, and fell again on a report of her recovery.f Bolingbroke and the Jacobites, stunned and bewildered by this sudden crisis, were unable to mature their plans so rapidly as it required. The Whigs, on their part, were found much better prepared ; having already, under the guidance of Stanhope, entered amongst themselves * See Coxe's Life, vol. vi. p. 299. f See Swift's Works, vol. vi. p. 457. 1714. THE QUEEX'S DANGEROUS ILLNESS. 91 into an organised association, collected arms and am- munition, and nominated officers. They had in readi- ness several thousand figures of a small fusee in brass, and some few in silver and gold, to be distributed amongst the most zealous followers and the most active chiefs, as signals in the expected day of trial.* Stanhope was now taking every measure for acting with vigour, if necessary, on the demise of the Queen to seize the Tower, to secure in it the persons of the leading Jacobites, to obtain possession of the outports, and to proclaim the new King. Most anxious eyes were also cast upon the coasts of Dover, where the hero of the age and the idol of the army was daily expected from Ostend. The genius of the Duke of Marlborough would no doubt have rendered any such struggle successful, but it was reserved for the Duke of Shrewsbury to avert its necessity. That eminent man the only individual who mainly assisted in both the great changes of dynasty of 1688 and 1714 cast aside, at this crisis, his usual ter- giversation and timidity, and evinced an honest zeal on behalf of " the good old cause." His means, it is true, were still strongly marked with his characteristic dupli- city. Whilst Bolingbroke appears to have fully con- fided in his attachment, he secretly concerted measures with two of the great Whig Peers, the Dukes of Argyle and Somerset. The result appeared on Friday the 30th. That morning the Council met at Kensington, it being then, as now, composed only of such councillors as had received a special summons, and the high officers alone were present. The news of the Queen's desperate con- dition had just been received. The Jacobites sat dispi- rited, but not hopeless, nor without resources. Suddenly the doors were thrown open, and Argyle and Somerset announced. They said that, understanding the danger of the Queen, they had hastened, though not specially summoned, to offer their assistance. In the pause of surprise which ensued, Shrewsbury rose and thanked them for their offer. They, immediately taking their seats, proposed an examination of the physicians ; and on their report suggested that the post of Lord Treasurer * Lockhart's Comment., p. 463. 92 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. III. should be filled without delay, and that the Duke of Shrewsbury should be recommended to Her Majesty. What a scene for a painter ! Shrewsbury, with his usual lofty air and impenetrable smoothness the courtly smile, under which the fiery soul of St. John sought to veil its anguish and its rage the slow, indecisive look of Or- mond and the haughty triumph of Argyle! The Jacobite Ministers, thus taken completely by sur- prise, did not venture to offer any opposition to the recommendation of Shrewsbury ; and accordingly a de- putation, comprising Shrewsbury himself, waited upon Her Majesty the same morning, to lay before her what seemed the unanimous opinion of the Council. The Queen, who by this time had been roused to some degree of consciousness, faintly acquiesced, delivered the Trea- surer's staff to Shrewsbury, and bade him use it for the good of her people. The Duke would have returned his staff as Chamberlain, but she desired him to keep them both ; and thus, by a remarkable, and I believe unparal- leled, combination, he was invested for some days with three of the highest offices of Court and State, being at once Lord Treasurer, Lord Chamberlain, and Lord Lieu- tenant of Ireland. How strange to find all these dig- nities heaped upon a man who had so often professed his disinclination to public business Avho had, during many years, harassed King William with applications to resign, and repeatedly entreated his friends to allow him to be " an insignificant cipher, instead of a bad figure ! " ' " Had I a son," he said on one occasion, " I would sooner " breed him a cobbler than a courtier, and a hangman " than a statesman !"t Another proposal of the Dukes of Somerset and Argyle, which had passed at the morning meeting, was to send immediately a special summons to all Privy Councillors in or near London. Many of the Whigs accordingly attended the same afternoon, and, amongst them, the illustrious Somers, who, in spite of his growing infirmi- ties, would not for the first time in his life be absent from the post of duty. His great name was in itself a * See his letter to Lord Halifax, August 24. 1705, in the Shrews- burv Correspondence. f To Lord Soiners, June 17. 1701. 1714. THE QUEEN DIES. 93 tower of strength to his party ; and the Council, with this new infusion of healthy blood in its veins, forthwith took vigorous measures to secure the legal order of suc- cession. Four regiments were ordered to London, seven battalions recalled from Ostend, an embargo was laid on all the ports, and directions sent that a fleet should put out to sea. The next day the Queen had sunk back into a lethargy, and the physicians gave no hopes of her life. The Coun- cil hereupon sent orders to the heralds-at-arms, and to a troop of the life-guards, to be in readiness to proclaim the successor. They sent express to Hanover Mr. Craggs, with a despatch to the Elector, earnestly requesting him to hasten to Holland, where a British squadron should attend him, and be ready to bring him over, in case of the Queen's demise. They also wrote to the States of Hol- land, reminding them of their guarantee to the Protestant Succession. They appointed Lord Berkeley to command the fleet. They ordered a reinforcement to proceed to Portsmouth, and an able general officer to Scotland ; great importance being attached to the former, and much disaffection apprehended in the latter ; and, in short, no precaution was neglected to insure tranquillity, or to check disturbances in any quarter where they might arise. At seven the next morning, the 1st of August, the great event took place the Queen expired! She had not recovered sufficient consciousness either to take the Sacrament or to sign her will. " The Earl of Oxford " was removed on Tuesday the Queen died on Sunday ! " What a world is this, and how does Fortune banter " us !" says Bolingbroke.* * Letter to Swift, Aug. 3. 1714. Iberville writes the day before to the King of France : " Milord Bolingbroke est peuetre de douleur . . " II in'a assure que les mesures etaient si bien prises, qu'en six se- " maines de temps on aurait mis les choses en tel etat qu'il n'y aurait 14 eu rien a craindre de ce qui vient d'arriver." 94 HISTOBY OP ENGLAND. CHAP. IV. CHAPTER IV. NEVER, perhaps, were the most reasonable calculations of judicious and reflecting men more thoroughly or more happily falsified than at the death of Queen Anne. Look- ing to the distracted state of parties in England to the storm of disaffection ready to burst forth in Ireland and Scotland remembering that the Hanover Succession would be discountenanced by all the Catholic Powers from religion, and by many of the Protestant from policy that France, and Spain, and Italy, were as favourable to the Pretender as they dared that the Emperor, from German jealousies of the Elector, was by no means de- sirous to see him on the British throne that his claims would be promoted only by the exhausted republic of Holland, or the infant monarchy of Prussia viewing, also, the genius of Bolingbroke and his ascendency over the Queen the demise of the latter could only be anti- cipated as a period of violent struggles and a doubtful victory. Yet the skilful interposition of Shrewsbury, and the prudent measures of the Council, completely warded off the expected conflict ; and no son, with the most undisputed title, and in the most loyal tinges, ever succeeded his father with more apparent unanimity and quiet, than now a foreign and unknown prince was hailed as King of England. We are, indeed, assured that Atterbury, immediately on the Queen's demise, proposed to Bolingbroke to at- tempt proclaiming James at Charing Cross ; and offered himself to head the procession in his lawn sleeves. But Bolingbroke, shrinking from an enterprise so desperate, with the majority of the Council and the Executive Government against them, the Bishop is said to have exclaimed, with an oath, " There is the best cause in " Europe lost for want of spirit!" With this exception, the Jacobites appear to have been utterly helpless and surprised ; their real inferiority of numbers being now r714. THE LORDS JUSTICES. 95 most strikingly displayed. George the First was pro- claimed in London, in York*, and the other principal cities of England, amidst the loudest acclamations. Previous to the proclamation, however, and immediately after Her Majesty's demise, the Council had met ; and the Hanoverian resident, M. Kreyenberg, produced an instrument in the Elector's own writing f, nominating the persons who, as provided by the Regency Act, and in conjunction with the seven great officers of state, were to act as Lords Justices until the King's arrival. The list was found to contain the names of eighteen of the principal Peers, nearly all belonging to the Whig party ; such as the Dukes of Shrewsbury, Somerset, and Argyle ; Lords Cowper, Halifax, and Townshend. Two omissions, however, excited great surprise and displeasure : the most patriotic statesman and the most illustrious warrior of the age being passed over in Somers and Marlborough. The increasing infirmities of the former might, indeed, supply a pretext for his being omitted ; yet, had they even made the nomination an empty compliment, it was one due and required by his character. The exclusion of Marlborough, and of his son-in-law Lord Sunderland, was commonly ascribed to a personal pique of the Elector against the former, who, during the campaign of 1708, had, in pursuance of his duty and of the public service, forborne to communicate any part of the plan of opera- tions.! But it is probable that the real motive for the slight put upon these illustrious men was a jealousy of * An account of this ceremony is given by Lady Mary W Mon- 'agu, in a letter to her husband from York (vol. ii. p. 137. ed. 1820): ' I went to-day to see the King proclaimed, which was done, the ' Archbishop walking next the Lord Mayor, and all the country ' gentry following, with greater crowds of people than I believed to ' be in York ; vast acclamations and the appearance of a general ' satisfaction ; the Pretender afterwards dragged about the streets ' and burned ; ringing of bells, bonfires and illuminations ; the mob ' crying ' Liberty and Property !' and ' Long live King George !' . . ' All the Protestants here seem unanimous for the Hanover Succes- " sion." f There were two duplicates of this instrument ; the one deposited with the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the other with the Lord Chancellor. See the Lords Justices' speech to Parliament, Aug. 5. 1714. J Coxe's Life, vol. iv. p. 309. 96 HISTORf OF ENGLAND. CHAP. IV great party leaders, an impression derived from Tory insinuations that they had attempted to dictate to Queen Anne, and a resolution to avoid a second " Junta." It may easily be supposed what just resentment swelled in the bosom of Maryborough at the news of his unexpected exclusion. He had landed at Dover on the very day of the Queen's death. Proceeding to London, his public entry drew forth so warm a welcome from the people as more than atoned for the insult of his sovereign. It might truly be called a triumph whether we consider the hero thus restored to his country, or the joyful festivities which greeted his return. Two hundred gentlemen on horseback, headed by Sir Charles Cox, member for South- wark, met him on the road ; the procession was joined bj a long train of carriages ; and though his own broke down at Temple Bar, and he was obliged to enter another, the accident only gave fresh delight to the spectators, as serving to display his person to their view. He appeared in the House of Lords at its meeting, and took the oaths ; but then, deeply chagrined at his exclusion, retired into the country until the arrival of the King. The Lords Justices, having met, chose Addison their secretary, and ordered all despatches addressed to the Secretary of State to be brought to him. Thus Lord Bolingbroke, so lately supreme, found himself obliged to wait like some humble suitor at the door of the Council Chamber with his bag and papers, and to receive com- mands instead of giving them. One principal object of anxiety was Ireland, where it was feared that the Catho- lics might attempt a rising ; and the Lords Justices at first had it in contemplation to send thither immediately, and without waiting for the King's sanction, Sunderland as Lord Lieutenant, and Stanhope as Commander-in- Chief.* But the unanimity and quiet which they saw around them allayed their apprehensions ; and, in fact, the Lords Justices of Ireland (the Archbishop of Armagh, and Sir Constantine Phipps) peaceably proclaimed King George on the 6th of August ; nay, more, in vindication of their suspected zeal, issued a proclamation for disarming * Despatch from Bothmar to Robethon, Aug. 3. 1714. M&cpher- ou's State Papers. 1714. PARLIAMENT MEETS. 97 Papists and seizing their horses. At Edinburgh, also, the same ceremony took place without opposition. According to the provisions of the Act of Regency, Parliament met on Sunday, the day of the Queen's de- mise. Secretary Bromley moved, That the Commons should adjourn to the Wednesday following, the Speaker being in Wales ; but Sir Richard Onslow replied that the occasion was too critical, and time too precious for any to be wasted ; and it was carried that the House should adjourn only to the next day. The three follow- ing days were occupied in taking the oaths. On the 5th the Lords Justices came down to the House of Peers ; and the Lord Chancellor, in their name, delivered a speech, announcing their authority ; observing, that as several branches of the revenue had expired with the Queen, they recommended to the Commons to provide anew for the dignity and honour of the Crown ; and con- cluding : " We forbear laying before you anything that " does not require your immediate consideration, not " having received His Majesty's pleasure. We shall " only exhort you, with the greatest earnestness, to a " perfect unanimity, and a firm adherence to our Sove- " reign's interest, as being the only means to continue " among us our present happy tranquillity." In pur- suance of this intimation, loyal and dutiful Addresses to His Majesty were unanimously carried in both Houses, expressing, according to the motley combination of feel- ings which it is thought proper to profess on such occasions, their deep grief at " the death of our late " sovereign lady Queen Anne, of blessed memory," and their lively pleasure at the accession of a monarch of such " princely virtues," and " undoubted right to the " crown."* Their next business Avas the settlement of his Civil List. The Tories, by rather too glaring a ma- noeuvre for favour at Court, proposed one million, which was more by 300,000/. than had been granted to Queen Anne. But the wisest of the King's friends perceived that such an augmentation would furnish grounds for * " We are as full in the House of Commons as at any time. We " are gaping and staring to see who is to rule us. The Whigs think " they shall engross all. We think we shall have our share." Erasmus Lewis to Swift, Aug. 7. 1714. VOL. I. U 98 HISTORY OF KNGLAND. CIIAP. IV, future complaints of Royal rapacity, proceeding, perhaps, from the very same party which had urged it. The pro- posal, therefore, though not openly opposed, was discou- raged and dropped ; and the sum of 700,000/. was voted. During the progress of the Bill, Horace Walpole, brother of Robert, moved, That the Committee should be instructed to insert a clause for the payment of the arrears due to the Hanover troops in the pay of England. These ar- rears, amounting to 65,0221.*, had been withheld ever since July, 1712, when the troops in question, and seve- ral other regiments in English pay, had protested against the shameful secession of the Duke of Ormond, and indignantly left the English standards. To the Whigs this conduct appeared most public-spirited and praise- worthy, while the Tories held it forth as something hardly short of military desertion. The payment of the arrears had therefore long been a point of contention between the two parties, and only a very few weeks before had been negatived by a large majority in this same House of Commons.f But the accession of the sovereign of these troops to the throne of England proved to be a most conclusive argument, and effected many strange conversions ; the motion of Horace Walpole was seconded by Sir William Wyndham, and was carried without op- position. Another clause, moved by Horace Walpole, for a reward of 100, OCX)/, to be paid by the Treasury to any person apprehending the Pretender if he should attempt to land, passed also. Several other money bills having been carried received the Royal Assent by com- mission, and this short Session was closed by prorogation. Nor was the Regency less prosperous and undisturbed in the foreign relations of the kingdom. The Court of France, confounded by the Queen's sudden death, and dreading any pretext for another war whilst their wounds from the last were still green, determined peaceably to acknowledge King George. A verbal assurance to this effect was first brought over by Lord Peterborough, who, with his usual activity, had hastened from France on the first news of the great event in England J; and this was * See the items in the Commons' Journals, vol. xvii. p. 577. f See Lockhart's Comment., p. 469. j See Lord Stair's Diary in the Hardwicke State Papers, voL ii. p. 528. 1714. KING GEORGE THE FIRST. 99 speedily followed and confirmed by a letter from Louis himself to the Lords Justices. The recognition of the Hanover Succession by this haughty monarch was con- sidered, as it proved, an earnest that it would likewise be acknowledged by the other European powers. The first use made by the Lords Justices of the peaceable disposition of Louis is one that does them high honour, a.s tending to retrieve that of the country. They inter- ceded in behalf of the unhappy Catalans, so infamously betrayed by the late administration, and now closely pressed by the combined forces of France and Spain. Prior received orders to make an application on this subject, while new instructions were sent out to Admiral \Yishart in the Mediterranean, and a communication was entered into with one of the Catalan deputies in London. But it was already too late. The doom of that heroic people was sealed. The application of Prior was civilly declined, and a fresh and more peremptory one prevented by the storm and reduction of Barcelona on the fatal llth of September. During these transactions the eyes of all England were intently and anxiously directed to Hanover. The new King was a man of more virtues than accom- plishments. His private character if, indeed, the cha- racter of a King can ever be called private was upright, honourable, and benevolent. He was apt to remember M i \ ires much longer than injuries a quality rare in every rank of life, but least of all common with princes. He was steady in his friendships; even in his temper; sparing, and sometimes niggardly, in his expenses. This severe economy also extended to his time, which he dis- tributed with the precision of a piece of machinery, and of which he devoted no small share to public business. A desire for peace was in him combined with tried valour and military knowledge, and he loved his people as much as he was capable of loving any thing. But, unhappily, his qualities, however solid, were not shining. A heavy countenance an awkward address an aversion to the pomp of majesty, nay even to the acclamations which greeted him, disgusted the multitude ; while men of edu- cation were mortified at finding that he neither loved nor encouraged any branch of literature or science, nor any H 2 100 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. TV. one of the fine arts, except music. Politicians complained of his unbending obstinacy and contracted understanding. " His views and affections," says Lord Chesterfield, " were " singly confined to the narrow compass of his Electorate ; ' ; England was too big for him." A diffidence of his own parts made him reluctant to speak in public, and select for his familiar society persons of inferior intellect and IOAV buffoonery ; nor did he ever show a proper dignity, either in his mind or manners. It may seem absurd to reckon amongst the faults of this prince that he was already fifty-four years of age, attached to German customs, and utterly ignorant of the English language ; yet there can be no doubt that these wore the circumstances which most impeded his good government or extensive popularity. A hard fate that the enthronement of a stranger should have been the only means to secure our liberties and laws ! Almost a cen- tury of foreign masters! such has been the indirect but undoubted effect of the Great Rebellion. Charles and James, driven abroad by the tumults at home, re- ceived a French education, and pursued a French policy. Their government was overthrown by a Dutchman ; George the First and George the Second were entirely German; and thus from 1660 to 1760, when a truly English monarch once more ascended the throne, the reign of Queen Anne appears the only exception to a foreign dominion. Let not these observations mislead the reader as to my opinion of that crisis. Far from me be any feeling of aversion, or even of indifference, to the Hanover Succes- sion ! On the enthronement of that family depended, I most firmly believe, the security of our laws, of our pro- perties, of our religion, of every thing that we either cherish or revere. In spite of every drawback, the cause of Hanover was undoubte Uy the cause of liberty, and the cause of the Stuarts the cause of despotism. These two adverse principles will be found in almost all a^es, and under every variety of parties, to carry on their fierce and unceasing warfare ; the bright spirit is constantly struggling against the malevolent fiend. But let it be observed, that amongst all the masks which the hateful demon of despotism knows how to assume, none is more 1714. THE KIXG LEAVES HANOVfeRi : /.j , ,/ dangerous and ensnaring than when/rf ptjts; ori tj guise of revolutionary licence when-it- tfoiabats its rivAl ' ' with his own weapons, and seems only to aim at a greater extension of liberty. Thus are the friends of constitu- tional and settled freedom (unassailable on all other points) too often taken in the rear and overpowered. Can it be doubted, for example, that in France, in 1791, when the struggle lay between the Gironde, or partisans of the new limited and representative monarchy, and the Montagne, or the clamourers for further democratic changes, the cause of liberty was really witli the former, and the cause of despotism with the latter ? Would not the former, by their success, have maintained a constitutional freedom? Did not the latter, by prevailing, only con- duct the nation through the dismal road of anarchy to its inevitable termination a military despotism ? To trace these two principles at work, and to assign to each its proper side at different periods, is one of the most curious and most instructive tasks in history. The Earl of Clarendon, the ambassador from Queen Anne, had reached Hanover on the 16th of July, and a few days afterwards had his first audience at the country palace of Herrenhausen The Elector was profuse in his expressions of attachment and gratitude to Her Majesty, disclaimed all intention of displeasing her, and imputed the application of Schutz entirely to Princess Sophia.* But on the 5th of August arrived Mr. Craggs, with an account of the Queen's dangerous illness ; and the same night three expresses one to Lord Clarendon, and two to the Elector brought the news of her death. George received the intelligence with composure and moderation. lie immediately summoned his Ministers. He determined to entrust the government of his German dominions to a Council, with his brother, Prince Ernest, at its head ; that his eldest son (afterwards George the Second) should * Despatches from Lord Clarendon to Secretary Bromley, pub- lished by Coxe. " When," says Lord Clarendon, " I came to men- " tion Schutz's demand, the Elector said these words : " J'espere " qne la Reine n'a pas cru que cela s'est fait par mon ordre ; je ' vous assure que cela a etc fait a mon insu ; la defunte Electrice 44 ' avail ecrit a Schutz saus que je 1'aie su pour s'infornier pourquoi 44 ' le Prince n'avait pas eu son writ,' " &c. H 3 LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFOR 102 HISTORY Of ENGLAND. CHA1'. IV. accompany him to England; that the greater part of hi* . hMiuly -sUouM .folio Jv a few weeks after; but that his young grandson, Prince Frederick, should remain at Hanover. No small testimony to his merit and good government was displayed in the extreme grief of the people at his approaching departure ; and his exaltation could not console them for their loss. The King, as a. parting gift, intimated to the magistrates that they might ask some favour from him ; and, at their request, he took the excise off provisions, and released the insolvent debtors from prison. The delay which took place in his departure he did not set out till the 31st has been ascribed to profound policy, and to the prudent wish of obtaining some further intelligence from England*; but writers are too fre- quently unwilling to assign any common motive to any Royal action, and they forget that George the First was always deliberate and phlegmatic in his movements, and had many matters of business to settle in his Electorate. On his arrival at the Hague he received compliments from the States and foreign Ministers, and communica- tions from his friends in England, and he finally matured his arrangements for the new administration. At length, at six o'clock on the evening of the 18th of September, the King and Prince landed at Greenwich, where a vast concourse of the principal nobility and gentry had hast- ened to welcome their arrival. George showed very flattering attention to the leading Whigs, such as Marl- borough, Sunderland, and Somers, but took no notice whatever of Ormond or Harcourt ; and it was after many difficulties, and in total silence, that Oxford was admitted the next morning to the honour of kissing his hand. Even before His Majesty's landing, he had, in some degree, disclosed his political intentions by sending direc- tions to remove Bolingbroke from his office of Secretary of State, and to appoint in his place Lord Townshend. This order was executed on the last of August with strong marks of displeasure against the fallen Minister ; Shrewsbury, Somerset, and Cowper taking the Seals from him, and locking the doors of his office. The bitter mcr- * Coxe's Memoirs of Walpole, vol. i. p. 60. ^ 1714. NEW ADMINISTRATION. 103 tification of Bolingbroke pierces through the thin veil of his philosophy, as he writes to Atterbury : " To he " removed was neither matter of surprise nor of concern " to me. But the manner of my removal shocked me for " at least two minutes I am not in the least inti- " midated from any consideration of the Whig malice " and power: but the grief of my soul is this I see " plainly that the Tory party is gone."* The nomination of the new Ministry by the King was a full triumph to the Whigs. He showed, however, a jealousy of those veteran chiefs who, under the name of Junta, had formerly directed them, by giving his chief confidence to a man hitherto of much less weight amongst them Lord Townshend, already appointed as Secretary of State, and now considered as Prime Minister. Stan- hope was made the second Secretary, and the Duke of Montrose succeeded the Earl of Mar for Scotland. Wai- pole, at first, received only the subordinate appointment of Paymaster-General, and was excluded from the Cabinet ; but, daily rising as a debater and financier, before many months, was found so useful in the House of Commons as to be highly promoted. The Duke of Shrewsbury, having resigned his offices of Lord Lieu- tenant of Ireland and Lord Treasurer, was succeeded in the for-mer by Lord Sunderland ; whilst the latter was put into commission, with Lord Halifax at its head. As further favours to Halifax, he was raised to an Earldom, and allowed to transmit to his nephew his lucrative sinecure of Auditor of the Exchequer. Lord Cowpcr became Lord Chancellor ; the Earl of Wharton, Privy Seal ; and the P^arl of Nottingham, President of the Council. Mr. Pulteney was Secretary at War, and the Duke of Argyle Commander-in-Chief for Scotland. In Ireland, the Archbishop of Armagh and Sir Constantino Phipps were removed from the office of Justices, and the * Macpherson's State Papers, vol. ii. p. 651. In a previous letter, printed in Bulingbroke's own correspondence, he says, " I served the " Queen to the last gasp as faithfully, as disinterestedly, as zealously, " as if her life had been good for twenty years, and she had hud " twenty children to succeed her : .... on the same principle will M I serve the King if he employs me." To Lord Strafford, Aug. 13. 1714. H 4 1 04 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. IV. latter replaced as Chancellor by Mr. Broclrick. High posts in the Royal household were given to Somerset and Devonshire. The Privy Council was dissolved, and a new one formed, which, according to the higher ideas of the office at that time, consisted of only thirty-three members. The Cabinet Council was to comprise Not- tingham, Sunderland (when in England), Somers *, Halifax, Townshend, Stanhope, the Lord Chancellor, and Marlborough. The latter had been most earnestly en- treated by the Duchess even as she states, upon her knees, not to accept of any employment in the new reign. She urged that the exploits he had achieved, and the wealth he had amassed, would render him of far more use to the Court than the Court could be to him ; and that he ought never to put it in the power of any King to use him ill. It might have been expected that Marlborough would have yielded to the arguments of one to whom he once declared, " I do assure you, upon my " soul, I had much rather the whole world should go "wrong than that you should be uneasy." f But the brilliant meshes of a Court are seldom spread in vain.j The Duke consented to resume his offices of Captain- General and Master of the Ordnance ; and was, besides, gratified by appointments bestowed upon his three sons- in-law, Lord Godolphin, the Earl of Bridgewater, and the Duke of Montagu. He soon found himself, however, reduced to a mere shadow of his past authority ; he was treated with much respect, but no sort of confidence ; scarcely ever invited to the Cabinet, of which he nomi- nally formed a part, and confined to the most ordinary routine of his official functions. We are told that, though Commander-in-Chief, he could not obtain even a lieu- tenancy for a friend ; and that not unfrequently he re- quested Pulteney, the Secretary-at-War, to solicit in his place ; and used to add, " Do not say it is for me ; for " whatever I ask is sure to be refused ! " * Lord Somers was at this time too infirm for any active office. A further pension of 2000/. a year was, however, granted him. See Comm. Journ. vol. xviii. p. 110. f Letter to the Duchess, May 29. 1702. j " La Conr,'' says La Bruye're," " ne rend pas heureux. mais " ernpeche de 1'etre ailleurs." 1714. LORD TOVTXSIIEXD. 105 Such neglect to such a hero may palliate, but cannot excuse, his hateful treachery. It appears from the Stuart Papers, that, whilst Marlborough continued, at least in name, Commander-in-Chief of the British Army, he sent a sum of money to France as a loan to the Pretender just before the rebellion of 1715, which this money, no doubt, assisted in raising!* The new Secretary of State, Charles Viscount Towns- hend, was born about the year 1676, of a very ancient family in Norfolk. Plis father, Sir Horatio Townshend, was, according to Clarendon, " a gentleman of the greatest " interest and credit in that large county, of very worthy " principles, and of a noble fortune, which he engaged " very frankly in the King's cause." f On the Restora- tion, his zeal was rewarded by a peerage, and afterwards by the further rank of Viscount. Charles, the second Lord, on first taking his seat in the House of Lords, joined the Tory party ; but his more matured conviction led him to act with the Whigs, and he especially attached himself to Somers. He did not, however, take any pro- minent part in politics until, in 1709, he was appointed joint plenipotentiary with Marlborough to treat of peace at Gertruydenberg, and in the same year ambassador to the States General. As such, he concluded with them the Barrier treaty ; and the recommendation of Slinge- land, Heinsius, and their other leading men, proved after- wards of no small service to him with George the First. Returning home, on the expulsion of the Whigs from office, he continued to support them in Parliament ; and drew still closer the personal friendship and county con- nection, which already united him to Walpole, by a marriage with his sister. Few men, perhaps, ever de- served or obtained a higher reputation for integrity ; and it is no small proof of the general opinion, that, though he so decidedly forsook his first political connec- tion, he was never exposed to any taunt of base or in- terested motives. His mind was frank and open ; his intentions generous and honourable. To both his wives he was a most kind husband ; to all his children a most * Lord Bolingbroke to the Pretender, Sept. 25. 1 71 5, Stuart Papers. See Appendix. f Hktory of the Rebellion, voL vii. p. 322. ed. Oxford, 1826. 106 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. IV. affectionate father ; and to his servants a benevolent master : " sure tests of real good nature," adds Lord Chesterfield; "for no man can long together simulate or " dissimulate at home." Unfortunately, this amiable disposition was joined with a manner coarse and rough, even to brutality. He was imperious and overbearing, impatient of contradiction, and extremely tenacious of preconceived opinions. On one occasion we find him candidly own that he knew himself to be "extremely "warm."* From this disposition, combined with the influence of Walpole over him, he was at one period betrayed into a very reckless and unjustifiable course of opposition ; and the same temper sometimes led him to opinions, or, at least, to expressions, ill suited to a con- stitutional monarchy. " His Lordship," writes his private secretary, in 1716, "thinks it the great misfortune of tliis "government that our Kings cannot always act up to " what they judge right, but must be often obliged to "have regard to the humour of their subjects." f Assi- duity and experience, rather than natural parts, had made him an excellent man of business. As an orator, he was confused and ungraceful in his delivery; but commanding respect by his thorough knowledge of the subject, and always speaking to the point. As a Minister, it may truly be asserted that none ever entered Downing Street with a more honest heart, or left it with cleaner hands. The second Secretary of State, James Stanhope one of the very few subjects in modern times who have com- bined the direction of councils with the command of armies was born at Paris j, in 1673. He left the University of Oxford as a mere stripling, to accompany his father when sent as Envoy to Spain, soon after the Revolution. Yet in spite of this early interruption to his studies, he had already acquired some classical pro- ficiency ; the intervals of leisure which he afterward-; snatched from active employments made him an accom- * Coxe's Walpole, vol. i. p. 338. f Mr. Poyntz to Secretary Stanhope, Aug. 17. 1716. Coxe's Walpole, vol. ii. p. 73. J From his birth i\broad, it became necessary to pass an Act for his naturalization in 1696. See Commons' Journals, vol. xi. p. 420, &c. 1714. GENERAL STANHOPE. 107 (dished scholar; and we find him, in 1719, one of the most active and important years of his administration, engage the Abbe Vertot in a controversy on a very knotty point of ancient history, not without some appli- cation to modern times the mode of election or in- heritance of the Roman Senate. In 1691, taking leave of his father at Madrid, he embarked at Valencia for Italy, and in his way witnessed in Majorca the latest, I think, of the large public Autos de Fe.* After a visit to Koine and Naples, he served for some time under the Duke of Savoy, and afterwards in the English regiment of Foot Guards, with which he joined the army in Flan- ders. His conduct at the siege of Namur in 1695 when, though not on duty, he went as a volunteer to the attack of the castle, and supplied the place of the officers who fell around him, until he also sunk down disabled with a wound attracted, in a high- degree, the notice of King William, who desired that, young as he was, he should always have free access to his person ; and gave him a company of foot, and soon afterwards a Colonel's commission. In the last Parliament of that Prince, he was elected member for Newport ; in the first of Queen Anne, for Cockermouth ; and a few months later, on the breaking out of the war of the Succession, he commanded the van-guard of the English who landed in the Bay of Cadiz, and acquired as much honour as 'that miserable expedition could admit. In the course of that war, he obtained at different times the rank of General, the com- mand in chief of the British army in Spain, and the diplomatic post of Envoy-extraordinary to the Court of Charles. His skill and valour, signalised on many pre- vious occasions, shone forth above all in the victories of Almenara and Zaragoza, but were not able to avert the * " I arrived here the 3<1 inst., and could get but very ill accom- ' modations by reason of the concourse of people which are here at ' tliis time to assist at the Auto de Fe, which began last week ; for ' Tuesday last there were burnt here twenty-seven Jews and heretics, ' and to morrow I shall see executed above twenty more ; and Tues- ' day next, if I stay here so long, is to be another fiesta, for so they entitle a day dedicated to so execrable an act. The greatest part ' of the criminals that arc already and will be put to death were the ' richest men of the island, and owners of the best houses in this 14 city." Letter to his father, Palma, May 5. 1691. MS. 108 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. T* disaster of Brihuega. That evil day closed his career as a soldier. But even during that career, ever since his election as a member of Parliament, he had taken a fre- quent and active part in politics as might be done with far less difficulty at a period when an army regularly withdrew into winter quarters, and when its commanders might therefore be spared for the Parliamentary campaign. Thus, for example, in 1710, by far the most stirring and important year of his military life the year of Alme- nara, Zaragoza, and Brihuega he had, before leaving England in the spring, distinguished himself as one of the managers of Sacheverell's impeachment. In the same year, also, but during his absence, he was put in nomination for Westminster, together with Sir Henry Button Colt. They were decidedly the mob favourites * ; a circumstance which, at that period, did not either imply subserviency or insure success. The popular shouts at Westminster were not then reserved exclusively for de- spotic pledges ; nor had it yet become usual for the electors to determine their choice according to the clamour of the non-electors. Accordingly, after a sharp struggle, the Whig candidates were here as elsewhere defeated by a large majority, and Stanhope could only fall back upon the burgage-tenures of Cockermouth. j The General arrived from his Spanish captivity in August, 1712, to the great joy of the principal Whigs. " Your return," wrote Walpole to him, " is the only good "effect that I ever hoped from our celebrated peace." | Even before his arrival in England, he had taken an op- portunity of publicly showing his aversion for the treaty then in progress, by declining an introduction to Louis the Fourteenth, when offered by Lord Bolingbroke at Fontainebleau a refusal then much noticed, and con- sidered by the new administration as an insult to them- * Swift mentions in his Journal to Stella : " In the way we met " the electors fur Parliament-men, and the rabble came about our " coach crying a Colt ! a Stanhope ! &c. We were afraid of a dead " cat, or our glasses broken, and so were always of their side." Oc- tober 5. 1710. f See the Memoirs of the Life of James Earl Stanhope, London, 1721. I am not acquainted with the author's name ; he is a warm panegyrist. J Letter to General Stanhope, Houghton, Aug. 24. 1712. MS. IT 14. GENERAL STANHOPE. 109 selves.* Finding that he meant to keep no terms with them, their animosity led them to appoint some com- missioners, at the head of whom was Shippen, to sift and examine all his payments of late years in Spain as Envoy- extraordinary or Commander-in-chief, and if possible to establish some charge against his character, or some claim upon his fortune. It was proved, however, from Stanhope's accounts and explanations!, that far from his owing the Government any thing, he had left them his debtors ; and I find it stated in his family papers, that he thereupon claimed and received this balance, which it had otherwise been his intention to relinquish. It is added, that soon afterwards meeting Shippen in the House of Commons, he walked up and thanked him for the pecuniary benefit he had thus derived from the hos- tility of the commission. On his return from his captivity, Stanhope devoted himself wholly and eagerly to what had hitherto been only a divided pursuit ; and he carried into politics the same qualities which had raised him in the field. He had always been distinguished as an officer of very great activity and personal exposure to danger as one always foremost in his charges of cavalry as one who would always rather cry " Come on" than " Go on" to his men ; and iu the council his energy and vehemence are re- corded both by his enemies and friends. The " noble " flame," which yet lives in the immortal poetry of Pope J, will be found admitted even in the sneer of Bolingbroke, that " Mr. Stanhope was not apt to despair, especially in "the execution of his own projects.'' There were few men opposed to him in council who did not feel the force of his haughty and resolute spirit. But it appears that his ardour sometimes rose to violence, and betrayed him * Sec Tindal's History, vol. vi. p. 10. Lord Bolingbroke in hia despatches does no more than drily notice Stanhope's arrival. To Lord Dartmouth, August 22. 1712. f Stanhope s answer to the Commissioners was published early in 1714, as a tract. See also Boyer's Political State, 1713, 1715, &c. J " Carleton's calm sense and Stanhope's noble flame " Compared, and knew their generous end the same." Epilogue to Satires. Letters on History. Letter 8. vol. i. p. 225. ed. 1773. 1 J HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. IV. into starts of passion and precipitate decisions ; that he was by no means master of his temper, and often lost it in debate. * Another defect it is nearly allied to the former of Stanhope's political character, was too much openness. He was unwilling to conceal or disguise his plans and proceedings, as state necessity but too frequently requires. He used to say that, during his administration, he found that he always imposed upon the foreign ministers by merely telling them the naked truth ; since they, sus- pecting some deep stratagem, and thinking such candour from a rival impossible, never failed to write to their respective Courts information directly contrary to the assurances he gave them.f But it is evident that such a scheme of policy cannot be long effectual, and is only an ingenious excuse for indiscretion. In this respect, as in most others, the character of Stanhope stands in most direct contrast to that of his predecessor, Harley, who carried his reserve and dissimulation to such an extent as most frequently to defeat itself, who, when he wished to be secret, only became mysterious, and raised curiosity instead of eluding observation. Stanhope was, I believe, not unambitious of power ; but, as to money, few statesmen have ever shown them- selves more disinterested. J He left his son, as Lord Chesterfield once said of him in the House of Peers, " little else besides the honour of a seat amongst your " Lordships ;" and of the landed possessions which his re- presentative now enjoys, scarcely one fifth is derived from him. In his youth he is stated, and I believe truly , * It may be observed, however, that Stanhope seldom showed this hastiness to foreigners, or in negotiations. The caustic St. Simon says of him, " II ne perdait point le sang-froid, rarement la politesse, " avail beancoup d'esprit, de genie, et de re.^source." (Mem. vol. xviii. p. 339.) f See some comments on this plan of Lord Stanhope by l.ady M. W. Montagu (Letter to Lady Bute, March 6. 1753). J For a remarkable instance his reply to a munificent offer of tlic Emperor Charles VI. I venture to refer to my War of the Suc- cession, p. 177. The authority of Cunningham, who had been personally disobliged by Stanhope, and who is seldom accurate on any subject, might be rejected. But we are told by the impartial St. Simon, " Ce General 1714. GENERAL STANHOPE. Ill to have been licentious ; even then, however, he was an assiduous and able man of business. Like most other distinguished generals, he, in the field, gradually acquired the talent how, on any sudden emergency, to pour forth very rapidly a variety of orders, each, apparently, un- connected with the last, yet each tending to the same point from a different quarter, and forming, when put together, a regular and uniform plan. His bodily ac- tivity was no less remarkable, and appeared in the great number of special missions he undertook, and of affairs he transacted at foreign capitals whilst holding the seals of office at home. All this, I firmly believe, is no more than strict justice requires me to say of him. Yet I cannot deny that, in drawing his character, or in esti- mating his abilities, I may, perhaps, be misled by my affectionate and grateful attachment to his memory. I may, perhaps, be too ready to adopt the panegyric of Steele, on his " plain-dealing, generosity, and frankness " a natural and prevailing eloquence in assemblies "an heroic and inspiring courage in the field a gentle " and winning behaviour in conversation." I may, per- haps, be partial in believing, as I do, that, had his life been longer spared had not his career been cut short so soon after he had reached the heights of power and the age of forty-seven years the world would not have been, what Steele proceeds to call it, " in arrear to his " virtue ;" and that he would be generally acknowledged as inferior to few other public characters in the history of his country. It is for the reader to reflect and to decide. It remains for me to touch upon a circumstance con- nected with Stanhope's appointment as Secretary of State. Horace Walpole, Lord Orford, who numbered him amongst Sir Robert's enemies, and disliked him as such, says of him, in his Reminiscences " Earl Stanhope " was a man of strong and violent passions, and had dedi- " cated himself to the army ; and was so far from think- " Anglais avail etc fort debauche." (Mem. vol. vii. p. 293. ed. 1 829.) As to Stanhope's maturer years, I find that in 1708, in a private cor- respondence between two other persons, his "strict morals" are com- mended. See the Collection of Original Letters published by Hi. T. Forster. London, 1830, p. 23-i. 112 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. IV. " ing of any other line, that when Walpole, who first " suggested the idea of appointing him Secretary of State, " proposed it to him, he flew into a furious rage, and was " on the point of a downright quarrel, looking on himself "' as totally unqualified for the post, and suspecting it a "plan of mocking him."* In conversation with Arch- deacon Coxe, Lord Orford afterwards improved this story into Stanhope's putting his hand to his swordf; and, perhaps, had Lord Orford lived a little longer, it might have grown into a statement of Stanhope's actually stab- bing Walpole. It relates to a period of which the nar- rator has just before, in his Reminiscences, had the unusual candour to own that he was " but superficially " informed." The story is, moreover, in one of its cir- cumstances, contradicted by a letter of the elder Horace Walpole, who states that it was he, and not his brother Robert, who first suggested the idea of appointing Stan- hope Secretary of State. J But even were there no such circumstances to shake Lord Orford's testimony, it is, I conceive, fully disproved by the tenor of the Commons' proceedings in the Sessions of 1713 and 1714. All those who have perused them cannot fail to perceive that Stanhope had taken a very active and prominent part in them ; and that none, not even I think Robert Walpole, at that time competed with him as a leader of the Opposition in that House. It is, therefore, as it seems to me, utterly incredible and absurd that so natural and common a result of Parliamentary distinction as the offer of a high civil appointment should have moved Stanhope into any expression of surprise or resentment. But this is not all. So far from being unexpectedly raised by the favour of Walpole, it appears, on the con- trary, that Stanhope, and not Walpole, was the Govern- ment leader of the House of Commons. In the contem- porary writers, I find, it is true, no positive statement either to that or to the opposite effect. But I find that, in the first place, Stanhope held the high office of Se- * Reminiscences, Works, vol. iv. p. 287. ed. 1798. f C"oxo's Memoirs of Walpole, vol. i. p. 96. t Letter to Etough, Sept. 21. 1752, printed in Cuxc's second Tolume. Horace had been Stanhope's private secretary iu Spain. 1714. LEADERSHIP IN THE COMMONS. 113 cretary of State, and Walpole only the subaltern post ot Paymaster; so that it can hardly be supposed that the former was to be under the direction of the latter. I find, secondly, that in the Cabinet Council Walpole had no seat*; and I would ask, whether there is a single instance of the House of Commons being led by any placeman not a Cabinet Minister? I find, thirdly, that in the ensuing Session, the King's messages were brought down by Stanhope, and not by Walpole. I believe, therefore, that Stanhope was 'the Govern- ment leader at first. There is no doubt, however, that as time went on Walpole showed himself the more able debater ; and, accordingly, as will be seen in the sequel, he was promoted to be First Lord of the Treasury in October, 1715. It may be observed that, with the exception of Not- tingham, who of late had always acted with the Whigs, not a single Tory was comprised in the new adminis- tration. Some modern writers have severely arraigned the policy of George in that respect. They have argued that he ought to have shown himself the King of the whole people, promoted the junction of both parties, in- stead of the triumph of one, and formed his government on broad and comprehensive principles. But was such an union really possible ? Had not the Whigs and Tories too fiercely and too recently waged war to be so suddenly combined ? If even an experienced native monarch might have shrunk from this attempt, would it not have over- whelmed a stranger to our language and manners ? How ill had that experiment succeeded with William the Third, a prince so far more able and energetic than George ! Would it have been prudent, while the storm of a Jacobite rebellion was gathering, to place at the helm any statesman of doubtful or wavering loyalty ? For though, on the one hand, it would be most unjust to accuse the whole Tory party of Jacobite principles, it can as little be denied that many of its leaders secretly held them. Let us not, then, consider as the fault of George what was rather the misfortune of his times, nor fall into the common error of judging past events by the standard of present facts and present feelings. * Tindal, vol. vi. p. 318. VOL. I. I 114 HTSTORT OF ENGLAND. CHAP. TV. Meanwhile a great number of loyal addresses from the various cities and counties continued to pour in. The Ministerial arrangements were all completed before the Coronation, which took place on the 20th of October, and which, according to custom, was signalised by se- veral promotions both in and to the Peerage. Few of the principal statesmen of the time, whether in or out of power, failed to attend the solemnity ; both Oxford and Bolingbroke were present ; and there were great demon- strations of joy throughout most parts of the kingdom. The day was, however, painfully marked in some places by riot and outrage, and other such tokens of public dis- approbation, especially at Norwich, Bristol*, and Bir- mingham, the latter being then remarkable for its high- church and monarchical principles. The University of Oxford also chose that day to confer unanimously, in full convocation, an honorary degree upon Sir Constantino Phipps, the late Jacobite Chancellor of Ireland. Meanwhile the innocent cause of these unhappy di- visions the Pretender, or, as he was frequently called, the Chevalier de St. George was still residing in Lor- raine. On the first tidings that his sister was either dead or dying, he had immediately posted towards the Court of Versailles; but found it so fearful of allowing England any pretext for a rupture that it would not afford him the least countenance. M. de Torcy gave him a civil but positive injunction to quit the French do- minions ; and, finding his partisans in England benumbed and confounded, and making no effort in his favour, he returned whence he came, after one melancholy visit to the Queen Dowager at Chaillot. From Bar-le-Duc he soon afterwards proceeded to drink the waters of Plombieres. There, on the 29th of August, New Style, he issued a manifesto, asserting his right to the Crown, and explain- ing the cause of his inactivity till " the death of the * The crv of the Bristol rioters was, " Sacheverell and Ormond ! " Damn all foreign governments !" One house was plundered, and one man murdered. In November, seven of the ringleaders were brought to trial, and sentenced to fine and imprisonment ; " but it " was thought surprising," says a contemporary, " that not one of " them suffered capitiilly." (Tindal, vol. vL p. 341.) A curious contrast to the scenes of 1831. 1714. STANHOPE SENT TO VIENNA. 115 " Princess, our sister, of whose good intention towards " us we could not for some time past well doubt." When published in England, this incautious declaration pro- duced an impression most unfavourable to the late ad- ministration, as unveiling their secret and disavowed, because defeated, designs in favour of the Jacobites. Their adherents at first insisted upon this document being a base contrivance of the Whigs to reflect upon the memory of the Queen and of her Tory government, but were much disconcerted at finding its authenticity acknowledged. However, they soon rallied sufficiently to be able to pour forth with some effect a host of libels, whose tendency we may easily discover from their titles : " Stand fast to the Church! Where are the Bishops "now? The Religion of King George. No Presby- " terian Government. The State Gamester ; or, the " Church of England's Sorrowful Lamentation. JEsop " in Mourning. The Duke of Ormond's Vindication. " The Lord Bolingbroke's Vindication. No Lord Pro- " lector, or the Duke of Marlborough's Design defeated !" The hawkers who cried these and other such pamphlets were sent to the house of correction by the Lord Mayor, with the approbation of Lord Townshend j and some an- tidotes to the poison were put forth on the other side.* On the day after the Coronation, Secretary Stanhope, and Sir Richard Temple, just created Lord Cobham, set out together on a secret mission to Vienna. It was of great importance to remove the jealousy and coldness - * Addison, in one short piece (Freeholder, No. 14., Works, vol. if p. 384. ed. 1761) very humorously exposes the inconsistencies of the High Church Jacobites, by drawing out the articles of what he calls A Tory's Creed. The three first are as follows : L That the Church of England will be always in danger till it has a Popish King for its defender. II. That for the safety of the Church no subject should be tolerated in any religion different from the Established, but that the head of our Church mav be of that religion which is most repugnant to it. III. That the Protestant interest in this nation, and in aU Europe, could not but flourish under the protection of one who thinks himself obliged, on pain of damnation, to do all that lies in his power for the extiipa- tion of it. I 2t 116 HISTOHV OF ENGLAND. C BAP. IV. with which the Emperor Charles the Sixth had seen the accession of the House of Hanover, and to allay his ap- prehensions as to any encroachments in Germany. Nor was it of less moment to induce the Imperial and the Dutch Governments to conclude the Barrier Treaty, which was still under discussion, and presenting an ob- stacle to any renewed alliance or cordial co-operation between them. Lord Cobham was intended as the per- manent ambassador ; but the personal appearance of Stanhope, in the first instance, was considered most de- sirable, from his having formerly been so closely linked with the Emperor in Spain obtained so large a share of his regard and confidence and, since that period, continued in correspondence with His Majsty. Stanhope went first to the Hague, where he had a conference with Pensionary Slingeland, Fagel, Hop, and other leading Dutch statesmen. He found them not unreasonable as to the articles of the Barrier Treaty, nor averse to the idea of a defensive alliance with the Emperor for their mutual security, but timidly shrinking from any public declaration or immediate measures. On the whole, they seemed much more afraid of personal responsibility than of national loss ; and " it is my decided opinion," adds Stanhope, " that if we do not help them to do their J< own business, it will never be done at all. There is " not one amongst them who dares to take anything upon * himself." Proceeding to Vienna, Stanhope was most graciously received by Charles, and represented in strong terms to His Majesty, and to Prince Eugene, that a speedy conclusion of the Barrier Treaty was most neces- sary to arrest the further progress of French intrigues in Holland ; that the public mind in that country was be- coming soured ; and that the possession of one town, or a few thousand florins, more or less, was not to be put in competition by the Emperor with the advantage of a sincere friendship and close alliance with the Dutch. But he met with unexpected difficulties. " I found," he says, " Prince Eugene much irritated with the Dutch, <' and very indignant at their last proposals ; insomuch " that he declared he should never advise the Emperor < to accept the Low Countries on such terms. The Low " Countries, he observed, were of little value, either to 715. DISSOLUTION OF PARLIAMENT. 117 " the Emperor or to the empire ; they were only a burden " to the former ; and, if he should consent to accept them, " it would be much more for the sake of his old allies " than for his own." The English Minister remained at Vienna during se- veral weeks, endeavouring to overcome these obstacles. In his opinion, " the Emperor is much more moderate than most of his ministers. His views on the general system of European policy seem to me as just and rea- sonable as could possibly be expected ; but all his Government is so exasperated against the Dutch, that I really cannot tell to what extremities they may not proceed." Stanhope succeeded in lowering their pre- tensions as to several articles, but could not bring them to any positive and satisfactory adjustment. Setting out from Vienna on the 22d of December, New Style, he returned to confer with the statesmen at the Hague, and was again in England early in January.* His embassy, though it failed in several of its objects, tended to facilitate the subsequent negotiations ; and the Barrier Treaty, after a long and well-matched struggle between Dutch and Ger- man obstinacy, was, at length, brought to a conclusion, and signed in November, 1715. The States were to receive 500,000 crowns yearly, and to garrison Namur, Tournay, Menin, Furnes, Warneton, Ypres, and Knoque, together with Dendermond, jointly, f Immediately after Stanhope's arrival, the Ministers, meeting in Council, determined to publish two Royal proclamations the one dissolving the Parliament, the other calling a new one.ij: The terms of the latter gave * Secretary Stanhope to Lord Townshend, Nov. 6. 24. Dec. 5, &c 1714. f See Lamberty, vol. ix. p. 24., and Coxes House of Austria, vol. iii. p. 25. ; but the former strangely omits Namur and Tournay as they stand in Dumont's collection. Coxe also is by no means accu- rate in this portion of his history ; and his treaty of Westminster of May 5. 1715 is quite imaginary. I should conclude it to be a mis- print for May 25. 1716, but that he goes on to speak of the change of policy produced by the death of Louis XIV., Sept. 1. 1715. J A striking instance of blind and unreasonable party accusations is to be, found in the Memoirs of Berwick, who charges the govern- ment of George the First, amongst other faults, with having " casse 14 le Parlement qui venait de le reconnaitre si unanimement !" Yet i 3 l!8 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAT. IV considerable, and, I think, very just offence. It severely reflected on the evil designs and miscarriages of the late Government, and advised the electors, in the choice of their representatives, to " have a particular regard to " such as showed a firmness to the Protestant Succession " when it was in danger." Such suggestions, however cautiously worded, are clearly unconstitutional ; and ap- pear least of all becoming in the mouth of a Prince so lately called over to protect our liberties and laws. Can it be doubted, also, that the Ministers, when using the name of Majesty, should have carefully avoided all ap- proach to party violence and rancour? The elections, however, went precisely as the framers of the proclamation could have wished.* How strange and sudden are the veerings of popular favour ! In the House of Commons, which sat at the beginning of 1710, the Whigs had a very great majority. The elections of that autumn, and of 1713, sent up as large a majority on the side of the Tories. Now, again in 1715, the Whigs found themselves lords of the public mind, and victorious in nearly all their contests. Some grounds have else- where been given that will partly account for these re- vulsions ; but to explain them altogether on any thing like reason, or without a liberal allowance for the caprice of popular assemblies, would, I believe, be found as im- practicable as to say why the wind should blow from the north to-day, and from the south to-morrow. The Houses met on the 17th of March, when the Whigs, without opposition, raised Mr. Spencer Compton to the Speaker's chair. A few days afterwards, the King came down to open Parliament in person ; but, being un- able to pronounce English, gave his speech to be read by the statutes 7 & 8 W. III. c. 15. and 6 Ann. c. 7. made it imperative that the Parliament should be dissolved within six months from ttie demise of the Crown. See Mem. de Berwick, voL ii. p. 135., and Blackstone's Comment, vol. L p. 188. ed. 1825. * There is a curious account of some slight disturbances nt these elections in a contemporary pamphlet, " Account of the Ri >ts and ' Tumults, &c. ; printed for J. Baker, 1715." We are told that at Cambridge the under-graduates took an active part, and that " a " right trusty body of passively obedient Johnians were mounted on " their College leads, under which the members were to pa s with '* good store of brick-bats to discharge on their heads !" (p. 2 '3.) 1715. THE NEW PARLIAMENT MEETS. 119 the Chancellor. Its tone was frank and affectionate. He thanked all his loving subjects for their zeal and firmness in defence of his succession. He gently lamented the unsatisfactory terms of the peace, and the incomplete ful- filment of even those ; and he ended with assurances that the established Constitution in Church and State should be the rule of his government, and the happiness of the people the chief care of his life. The Addresses in answer to His Majesty's speech raised warm debates in both Houses. The Duke of Bolton having moved that of the Lords, in which there were the words " recover the reputation of this kingdom," Lord Bolingbroke, in a masterly harangue (it was his last in Parliament), vindicated the memory of the late Queen, and proposed to change the word " recover" into " main- " tain." The original Address was, however, carried against him by 66 to 33 ; and " I saw," he says, " to the " shame of the Peerage, several Lords concur to condemn, " in one general vote, all that they had approved of in a " former Parliament by many particular Resolutions." It is remarkable that Lord Townshend did not speak at all on this occasion, and that the Duke of Shrewsbury took part against the Court. In the Commons, the Address moved by Walpole con- tained even stronger expressions: "It is with just " resentment we observe that the Pretender still resides " in Lorraine ; and that he has the presumption, by de- " clarations from thence, to stir up your Majesty's sub- " jects to rebellion. But that which raises the utmost " indignation of your Commons is, that it appears therein " that his hopes were built upon the measures that had " been taken for some time past in Great Britain. It " shall be our business to trace out those measures " whereon he placed his hopes, and to bring the authors " of them to condign punishment." This was the first authentic announcement of the intention of the Ministers to call their predecessors to account, and it was confirmed by Secretary Stanhope in the course of the debate. A report, he said, had been industriously spread about that the present Ministers never designed to bring the late to trial, but only to censure them in general terms ; but he could assure the House that, notwithstanding all tUe l 4 120 HISTORY OF ENGLAXD. CHAP. IV. endeavours that had been used to prevent a discovery of the late mismanagement, by conveying away several papers from the Secretaries' offices, yet the Government had sufficient evidence left to prove the former Ministry the most corrupt that ever sat at the helm ; that those matters would now be laid before the House ; and that it would appear that a certain English General had acted in concert with, if not received orders from, Marshal Villars. The Opposition made their stand upon another part of the Address, which, they said, reflected upon the memory of the late Queen ; but this objection was dexterously parried by Walpole. Nothing, he declared, was further from their intentions than to asperse the late Queen : they rather designed to vindicate her memory by expos- ing and punishing those evil counsellors who deluded her into pernicious measures : whereas the opposite party endeavoured to screen and justify those counsellors, by throwing on that good, pious, and well-meaning Princess all the blame and odium of their evil counsels. On the division, the Government had 244 votes, and the Oppo- sition 138. It was evident, from the intimation of Stanhope, that if even the Duke of Ormond, the General alluded to, should be left untouched, at all events Oxford and Boling- broke, the chiefs of the Cabinet which had framed his instructions, were to be singled out for trial and punish- ment. The two Ministers thus threatened pursued a very different course. Oxford, still guided by his nau- rally slow and phlegmatic temper which, however unfit for action, can, in a defensive position, sometimes supply the place of wisdom, and, still more frequentlv, of dignity determined calmly to await the storm.* Bolingbroke, ever since his dismissal, had affected an unconcerned and confident demeanour ; had appeared every where in pub- lic ; had taken apart in debate; had, in conversation, descanted with his usual eloquence and insincerity on the pleasures of retirement. "I find by experience," he used to say, ' that 1 can be unfortunate without being * "He (Lord Oxford) has certainly made advances of civility to " the Whi'.'s. -which they hare returned with the utmost contempt." Mr. Ford to Swift, Aug. 14, 17H. 1715. BOLINGBROKE ESCAPES TO FRANCE. 121 unhappy." The same tone was also adopted towards him by his friends, and thus, for example, by Swift : " I ' hope your Lordship, who was always so kind to me ' while you were a servant, will not forget me now in your greatness. I give you this caution, because I verily believe you will be apt to be exalted in your new station of retirement, which was the only honour- ' able post that those who gave it you were capable of conferring."* But though the language of the fallen Minister was that of innocence, his conduct was that of guilt. His heart began to fail him when he looked the danger more nearly in the face. He was informed falsely, as it afterwards appeared that Prior, who had been recalled from his post at Paris, and was just landed, had promised to disclose all he knew. He feared that his enemies would pursue him to the scaffold, he felt that he deserved it, and, in an evil hour for himself, he took the resolution of flying from England. According to his own account, moreover, so thorough was his abhorrence of Oxford, that the necessity of concerting measures with him for their common defence was a principal motive in deterring him from making any defence at all.f To con- ceal and secure his flight, he appeared at Drury Lane Theatre the evening before, the 26th of March ; and, at the close of the performance, bespoke (according to the custom of the time) another play for the next night. Having then disguised himself as a servant to La Vigne, a messenger of the King of France, he set off to Dover, and embarked for Calais undiscovered. From thence he proceeded to Paris ; and soon afterwards, as I shall have occasion to show, accepted the seals of Secretary of State from the Pretender. The Duke of Ormond, at first, went into the opposite extreme ; and, instead of running from the storm like * Swift to Bolingbroke, Sept. 14. 1714. t See his letter to Sir William Wyndham. I should observe- that this letter does not seem to have been published until after Boling- broke's death. It was, I conceive, written about the time it purports to be (1717), privately printed, and circulated amongst a few persons. In 1 744, Bolingbroke mentions his finding a copy of it while looking for other pamphlets (Coxe's Walpole, vol. ii. p. 343. ), which appears to indicate that it had not been recently printed. Perhaps, however, it was circulated in MS. 122 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. IV Bolingbroke, or awaiting it like Oxford, attempted to meet and brave it. By the magnificence of his mode of living, and the public levees which he held, he seemed arrogantly vying with Royalty itself. He held a sort of Opposition Court at Richmond : he openly connected himself with the most ardent Jacobites : he showed no displeasure at finding his name coupled with " High " Church " as the watchword of riots : he was known to foment those riots : he was proud to be the idol of the mob ; and he became at length, as Bolingbroke observes, the bubble of his own popularity. Had he pursued a more moderate course, there is every reason to believe that he would never have been brought to trial. He was not responsible for the restraining orders as a statesman, and, as a soldier, it was his evident duty to obey them. Even without this apology, the Ministers would have shrunk from touching a man with so many friends in the country and in the House of Commons ; and have feared that, however easily they might lop off the smaller branches, so great a bough could scarcely be hewed down.* On the 9th of April, Secretary Stanhope laid before the House all the instructions, memorials, and other papers relating to the late negotiation for peace and ces- sation of arms f ; and, observing that they were too many and too voluminous to be perused by the whole House, he moved that they should be referred to a select Committee of twenty-one persons. No opposition was made to Stanhope's motion, and the Committee was se- lected by secret lists, which, from the temper of the majority, of course produced the appointment of the principal Whigs. The members met the same evening ; chose Walpole for their chairman ; and, during the next two months, pursued their investigation with all the * In Coxe's MSS. vol. xxxvi. Brit. Mus., is a letter from Mr. Car- donnel to the Duke of Marlborough, dated June 14. 1715, urging, " whether some means might not be found to bring over the Duke of " Ormond to a sense of his error, and the owning his having been " misled .... It is not improbable the Ministry would choose to let " him drop rather than bring on a prosecution against him." f There were twelve volumes bound up, and three other " small " books." Com. Jouru. vol. xviii. p. 57. 1715. COMMITTEE OF SECRECY. 123 activity of party zeal and personal resentment. It being a Committee of secrecy, we have no authentic record of their proceedings. Prior, however, who fell under their heavy displeasure for refusing to disclose his secrets, or criminate his employers, has given us an account of his examination, from which I shall make some extracts : " The most confused questions were put to me upon " several heads, backward and forward, by Lechmere, " and Boscawen, and Lord Coningsby ; the two first of " whom, I think, understood not one word of what they 'were saying Being asked of whom I received "money in France? I answered, of M. Cantillon. ' Was " ' he not a Papist ? ' said Boscawen. ' Else, sir,' I said, " ' he could not have been a banker at Paris, which he " ' had been for several years before I knew him. In one " ' word, he was the common banker to whom the English " ' addressed themselves.' Stanhope and Walpole I found " frowning, and nodding at each other, and extremely " ashamed of this vile stuff. They proceeded in " asking me to give an account of what, they said, I must " needs know the meeting of the Lords at my house, " with Mesnager and Gaultier. I said, M. Mesnager " had often been at my house ; that the Secretary of " State had seen him there ; that I had eat and drank, ' ; and been abroad with him several times. They took " great hold of this. Boscawen expressed himself with " great joy, ' This is more than we knew before ! ' And " from thence they ran wildly back When I knew " Gaultier ? when I had been with Mesnager ? I an- " swered to this in as general terms as I could. ... I was " interrogated without method or connection, as any " member of the Committee pleased ; and, indeed, Avith " confusion and disorder enough amongst themselves ; " for they sometimes stopped each other's questions, and " proposed new ones of their own Walpole and " Stanhope grew mightily perplexed ; the one in a sullen, " the other in an unbounded, passion. Coningsby raved 'outright The Chairman told me that the Com- "mittee were not at all satisfied with my behaviour, nor " could give such an account of it to the House as might "merit their favour in my behalf; that, at present, they " thought fit to lay me under a stricter confinement than 124 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. IV "that of my own house. Here Boscaweu played the " moralist, and Coningsby the Christian, but both very " awkwardly The messenger, to whose house they " intended to confine me, being called, Coningsby asked " him if his house was secured by bolts and bars. The " messenger answering in the negative, Coningsby very " angrily said, ' Sir, you must secure this prisoner ; it is " ' for the safety of the nation ; if he escapes, you shall " ' answer for it.' " This picture is, no doubt, much too highly coloured, but as undoubtedly has many features of resemblance.* Before the report of the Secret Committee was pre- pared, there was scarcely a debate in the House of Com- mons, on whatever subject, that did not give rise to some outbreak of party violence, as in an inflamed state of body every humour festers. Thus, on one occasion, Sir William Wyndham having inveighed against the King's proclamation in January, which he said was of dangerous consequence to the very being of Parliaments, he was fiercely called upon to explain these words, and, refusing, was assailed with the cry " To the Tower ! To the " Tower ! " but Walpole, with much dexterity, averted any such unpopular act of rigour. " I am not," he said, " for " gratifying the desire which the member who occasions " this great debate shows of being sent to the Tower. It " would make him too considerable ; and as he is a young " man of good parts, who sets up for a warm champion "of the late Ministry, and one who was in all their " secrets, I would have him be in the house when we "come to inquire into the conduct of his friends, both " that he may have an opportunity to defend them, and be " a witness of the fairness with which we shall proceed " against those gentlemen, and that it may not be said " that we take any advantage against them." In com- pliance with this hint, Wyndham, instead of being com- mitted to the Tower, was only ordered to be reprimanded by the Speaker. * See Prior's account at length in the Parl. Hist. vol. vii. Appendix, No. 2. " It is certain," says Dr. Birch, " Mr. Prior did prevaricate." (Tindal's Hist. vol. vi. p. 380.) I must observe that Prior's examina- tion did not take place until the 16th of June, after the report of the Committee. 1715. REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. 125 On another occasion, when the Civil List was under dis- cussion, Sir William Wyndham incautiously observed, that in the late Queen's time the sum of 500,000/. was sufficient for the support of her family and civil list, though she reserved 50,000/. a year for King James's consort. The Ministers joyfully pounced upon this un- wary confession ; and Stanhope rose to request the House to take notice of what that gentleman had advanced, be- cause it Avould serve to confirm some matters which the Committee of Secrecy had found in the papers that were laid before them.* On June 1st, on a Bill for regulating the forces, Mr. Shippen, a leading Jacobite, having first thrown out the common-place charge against the administration of in- tending to set up a standing army, insinuated his belief that, after all the clamour that had been raised, their Secret Committee would end in smoke. This produced some most bitter invectives from the other side. Bos- cawen complained of " the insolence of a certain set of "men ; " and declared, that so far from ending in smoke, the Secret Committee were now ready to make their report. Walpole said that he " wanted words to express " the villany of the late Frenchified Ministry ! " And Stanhope added, he "wondered that men who were guilty " of such enormous crimes had still the audaciousness to " appear in the public streets ! " To such heights had party spirit risen ! At length, on the 9th of June, the long-expected report of the Committee, drawn up by Walpole, as the chairman, was read by him in the House of Commons. Its reading occupied five hours that day, and on the next was read a second time by the clerk at the table. It is a document of great clearness, perspicuity, and power ; skilfully mar- shalling all the facts adverse to the late administration, and followed by an array of seventy -one extracts from their own correspondence, or other authentic documents, in confirmation of its charges. No one, I believe, could * Parl. Hist. vol. vii. p. 59. In the same debate, a member of the Opposition, whose name is not recorded, made some most malignant observations on an increase in the Judges' salaries, which had been made since His Majesty's accession, and which, he said, " was not for " services done, but expected." 126 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. IV. peruse it without feeling his bosom burn with indignation at the base motives and shameful conditions of the Peace of Utrecht above all, at the disgraceful line of conduct prescribed to Ormond at the suspension of arms at the cold-blooded betrayal of the Catalans to Spain at the wanton gift of Tournay to France at the effrontery of Bolingbroke in attempting to pass upon the British people renunciations which the very parties who were to make them had privately owned to be invalid. Seldom ,has the avenging arm of offended justice laid bare a scene of such selfish disregard to public interests. In one point, however the alleged intrigues of Bolingbroke and others of the Ministry with the Pretender the report appears extremely weak and inconclusive. These intrigues are now, it is true, placed beyond all doubt by the subsequent avowal of some of the principal actors, or the disclosure of their most secret papers. But, at that period, nothing beyond circumstantial evidence or probable conjectures could be produced in support of this accusation ; nor would it, therefore, have sufficed as the foundation for a charge of treason. The reading of the report being concluded, Sir Thomas Hanmer moved, That its consideration should be post- poned till the 21st; but this was warmly opposed by Stan- hope and Walpole, and negatived by a large majority. Walpole then rose and impeached Bolingbroke of high treason. The friends of Bolingbroke in the House were not few, but his flight prevented their defence. A long silence ensued ; and at length some timid expressions of dissent from Mr. Hungerford and General Ross were all that was heard in behalf of the lately triumphant leader of the Commons. The resolution having passed without a di- vision, Lord Coningsby next stood up and said, " The worthy Chairman of the Committee has impeached the hand, but I do impeach the head; he has impeached the clerk, and I the justice ; he has impeached the scholar, and I the master : I impeach Robert Earl of Oxford, and Earl Mortimer, of high treason and other high crimes and misdemeanors ! " This resolution also was carried without a division ; but the impeachment of Ormond was a matter of much greater difficulty and debate. It was moved by Stanhope 171-5. FLIGHT OF ORMOND. 127 on the 21st, and led to a discussion of nine hours and a half. Several undoubted friends of the Protestant Suc- cession spoke in favour of the Duke ; amongst others, Sir Joseph Jekyll, one of the Committee of Secrecy ; and Ormond had so many partisans in the House, that the motion of Stanhope was passed by a majority of only forty-seven. Next day, Mr. Aislabie also impeached, not of high treason, but of high crimes and misdemeanors, the Earl of Strafford, as one of the two plenipotentiaries at the Congress of Utrecht*; Mr. Hungerford sarcasti- cally observing, that the Bishop of London, the other plenipotentiary, was, it seemed, to have the benefit of Clergy ! It appears, however, that the zeal displayed in defence of Ormond inclined the Ministers to drop their proceed- ings against him, and the Duke of Devonshire had even taken measures to obtain for him a private audience of the King, in which any expressions of loyalty and pro- mises of good conduct would probably have been accepted. Such a course was warmly pressed upon the Duke by his FTacobite confederates, who wished him to maintain his footing in England, and to lull the suspicions of the Government until their plans should be matured. An- other scheme had also been framed for an immediate insurrection in the West ; many measures having been concerted, and many engagements taken by Ormond him- self for that object. But Ormond, who combined very honourable feelings with a very feeble resolution, could neither stoop to the dissimulation of the first project, nor rise to the energy of the second. He took, of all courses, the worst for himself and his party : he secretly fled to France. It has been said that, before he went, he paid a visit to Lord Oxford in the Tower, and advised him to attempt his escape; that finding his arguments ineffec- tual, he took leave of him with the words, " Farewell, " Oxford without a head!" and that Oxford answered, " Farewell, Duke without a duchy!" On the flight of Ormond, Acts of attainder against him and Bolingbroke were passed without difficulty, and * Coxe erroneously says that the impeachment of Strafford wa moved by Stanhope. (Life of Walpole, p. 67.) 128 HISTORY OK ENGLAND. CHAP. IV almost without opposition ; but Ormond, unlike Boling- broke, having thus taken his part, steadily adhered to it in evil fortune, and never returned to his native countrv. He was certainly a man of very amiable temper and no mean accomplishments, and with no blot upon his cha- racter unless incapacity and utter want of vigour are to be looked upon as such. He died in 1745, at the age of fourscore. He is described by St. Simon, in his visit to Madrid in 1721, as short and fat in person, but yet of most graceful demeanour, and most noble aspect ; remark- able for his attachment to the Church of England, and refusing large domains which were offered as the price of his conversion.* Twenty-two years later we find the following account of him at Avignon, in the lively letters of Lady Mary Montagu : " All the English, without " distinction, see the Duke of Ormond. Lord Chester- ' field, who, you know, is related to him, lay at his house ' during his stay in this town ; and, to say truth, nobody can be more insignificant. He keeps an assembly where all the best company go twice in the week ; lives here in great magnificence ; is quite inoffensive ; and seems to have forgotten every part of his past life, and to be of no party." f Thus then, of the three Peers impeached of high trea- son, the Earl of Oxford remained alone. On the 9th of July, Lord Coningsby, followed by a great part of the House of Commons, brought up to the bar of the Lords sixteen articles of impeachment against him, to which six further ones were afterwards added. The first fif- teen referred to the transactions of the Peace of Utrecht ; but the sixteenth to the creation of twelve Peers in De- cember, 1711, "by which the said Earl did most highly abuse the influence he then had with Her Majesty, and prevailed on her to exercise, in the most unprecedented and dangerous manner, that valuable and undoubted prerogative which the wisdom of the laws and consti- tution of this kingdom hath entrusted with the Crown " for the rewarding signal virtue and distinguished merit ; " by which desperate advice he did not only, as far as in * M&n. de St. Simon, vol. xix. p. 441 , ed. 1829. f To Mr. Wortley, June 1. 1743. 1715. OXFORD SENT TO THE TOWER. 129 " him lay, deprive Her Majesty of the continuance of " those seasonable and wholesome counsels in that critical " juncture, but wickedly perverted the true and only end " of that great and useful prerogative, to the dishonour " of the Crown, and irreparable mischief to the con- " stitution of Parliaments." The impeachment being thus before the Lords, a debate arose in that House, whether any of the articles amounted to high treason ; and it was proposed to consult the Judges: but a motion to that effect was lost by 84 votes against 52. On the next motion, that Oxford should be commit- ted to the Tower, the Earl rose and addressed the House in a short speech protesting his innocence, and most artfully insinuating that, in many of the acts imputed to him, he had only obeyed the positive orders of the Queen. This, in fact, seems to have been true with respect to the cessation of arms and the instructions to Ormond*, and would have raised a question of most peculiar difficulty, at a period when the present doctrine of ministerial responsibility was still extremely loose and unsettled in the public mind. " My Lords," said Oxford, in conclu- sion, " if Ministers of State, acting by the immediate " commands of their Sovereign, are afterwards to be made " accountable for their proceedings, it may, one day or " other, be the case of all the members of this august " assembly My Lords, I am now to take my leave ' of your Lordships, and of this honourable House, per- ' haps for ever. I shall lay down my life with pleasure ' in a cause favoured by my late dear Royal mistress ; ' and when I consider that I am to be judged by the 'justice, honour, and virtue of my peers, I shall acquiesce ' and retire with great content. And, my Lords, God's ' will be done ! " In spite of this specious appeal, Lord Oxford, though reprieved for a few days from an indis- position, was committed to the Tower. In considering these acts of Ministerial animosity with that calmness which, at such a distance of time, it requires no great effort to preserve, they appear to me most un- doubtedly intemperate and unwise. On the guilt of the * See an anecdote in Lord Hardwieke's State Papers, voL ti. p. 482. VOL. I. K 1-30 HISTORY OP ENGLAND. CHAP. IV. former administration, in transacting the Peace of Utrecht, I have already expressed no qualified opinion. But, in the first place, did that guilt amount to high treason ? Waiving their intercourse with the Pretender, which there was not sufficient evidence to prove, the stress of the accusation for treason lay in their seeking to obtain Tournay for the French, which was construed to be within the Act of Edward the Third, an adhering to the Queen's enemies.* Now, it must I think, be ad- mitted, not only that this interpretation seems a straining of the Act, but that the motives of the Ministers, in the cession of Tournay, however culpable, were not precisely either treasonable or rebellious. So clear is this view of the subject, that above a year after the impeachment of Oxford, we find even the Cabinet Council the same which had directed the impeachment " of opinion that " the charge of high treason should be dropped, it being " very certain that there is not sufficient evidence to " convict him of that crime ; but that he should be " pushed with all possible vigour, upon the point of " misdemeanor." f But further it was surely no very safe or constitutional course (as was forcibly urged by Sir William Wyndham) to found charges of treason on * See Blackstone's Comment, vol. iv. p. 82. ed. 1825. f Despatch from Lord Townshend to Secretary Stanhope, dated Nov. 2. 1716, and printed in Coxe's second volume of the Life of Walpole. The Archdeacon, when he refers to this passage in his first volume (p. 70.), draws an entirely erroneous inference from it as to the original accusation : " It is a justice due to Townshend and " Walpole to observe, that they strenuously insisted Oxford should not " be accused of high treason, but only tried for high crimes and inis- " demeanors." He previously (p. 68.), with the same view, descants upon " the approved humanity of such men as Townshend, Devoii- '' shire, Stanhope, and Walpole." Now, neither in the passage he alleges from the correspondence nor in any other, is there the slight- est evidence that any one of these statesmen disapproved of the origi- nal accusations for treason, although in the course of the trial they all modified their views. As to Walpole, the only testimony (-that nt' Bolingbroke, in his letter to Wyndham) speaks of him as the one who most warmly urged the original impeachments ; but this state- ment appears just as vague and unsupported as that of Coxe upon the other side. The real trnth seems to be, that Walpole, not being then a member of the Cabinet, had not much hand in either checking or urging these most impolitic measures. 't71o. PARTY VIOLENCE. 131 the transactions of a peace which had already been ap- proved by two successive Parliaments. Even if I could admit the justice of such impeachments, I should still utterly deny their policy. From the violence of party feeling, the King could not, it is true, at first, call any even of the moderate Tories to his counsels ; but he ought, nevertheless, to have applied himself to allay that violence, and to detach those Tories from their banner, instead of making them cling closely together by the point of honour and exasperation which always spring from persecution. Was it not his interest to invite faith- ful services in future by a generous oblivion to the past ? Was it not the duty of his Ministers to draw at least one advantage from his foreign birth, and keep his name clear from their own party rancour and resentment? That resentment might, no doubt, be justifiable : they had, when out of office, undergone much personal perse- cution from their triumphant rivals ; they had to avenge the exile of Marlborough and the imprisonment of Wai- pole. But they ought to have remembered that the only mode by which such injustice could be excused in the eyes of posterity was by its retaliation ; and that their headlong vengeance would incur the charge of supply- ing the fuel and stirring the flames of the smouldering civil war. And all this, let us ask, for what ? Was any thing gained, or could any thing be gained, by these impeach- ments ? We may, perhaps, be told of the demands of justice against the late Ministers of the necessity of deterring future ones from similar misconduct. But surely in this case, the failure of their misconduct, and their consequent exclusion from office, would have been sufficient as punishment for themselves or as warning to others. Unsuccessful guilt seldom makes imitators. Or if it be alleged that Bolingbroke or Oxford, by their po- pularity in the country, or the number of their friends in Parliament, might, perhaps, at some future time, over- come the Whigs and reinstate themselves in office - could there be a stronger argument to show the impolicy of assailing men so formidably backed, and of driving a large and formidable party to despair ? It is to be observed, however, that, in theae impeach- K2 132 HISTORT OF ENGLAND. CHAP. IV. merits, the Ministers, so far from outrunning the wishes and demands of their own party, rather fell short of them. The language of some of their adherents was much stronger than their own. Thus, for instance, Lord Stanhope of Shelford, afterwards the celebrated Earl of Chesterfield, making his first speech on one of these oc- casions, said, " he never wished to spill the blood of any of " his countrymen, much less the blood of any nobleman ; " but he was persuaded that the safety of his country " required that examples should be made of those who " had betrayed it in so infamous a manner." To this speech, Lord Chesterfield, in after-life, looked back with just regret. " Had I not been a young member," he ob- serves, " I should certainly have been, as I own I de- " served, reprimanded by the House for some strong and " indiscreet things that I said."* Meanwhile, riots and outrages were increasing in se- veral parts of the country. Staffordshire, above all, a county long remarkable for its Tory politics f, was the scene of disturbance. " High Church, and Ormond for " erer ! " was the cry. The mob, inflamed with zeal for their ecclesiastical establishment, and persuaded that its security would be very much promoted by pulling down Dissenters' meeting-houses, assembled in great numbers for that object. Many buildings were destroyed and many sectarians insulted. Against such proceedings it was thought requisite to point a sharper law ; and re- course was had to the Riot Act a statute passed in * Letter to his son, March 15. 1754. Dr. Maty says in his Life, " As soon as he had done speaking, one of the opposite party took " him aside, and having complimented him upon his coup d'essai, v observed that he was exactly acquainted with the date of his birth, ' and could prove that when he was chosen a member of the House " he was not come of age, and that he was not so now ; at the same * time he assured him that he wished to take no advantage of this, " unless his own friends were pushed, in which case, if he offered to '* vote, he would immediately acquaint the House with it. Lord " Stanhope, who knew the consequences of this discovery, answered " nothing ; but making a low bow, quitted the House directly, *' and went to Paris ! " f Boswcll observes in 1778 : "I drank chocolate this morning " with Mr. Eld, and., to my no small surprise, found him to be a Staf- " fordshire Whig a. being which I did not believe had existed !" Life of Johnson, Croker's ed. vol. iv. p. 185. 1715. THE RIOT ACT. 133 the reign of Mary, and limited to the Queen's life ; and, in like manner, enacted by Elizabeth, but never since revived. It was now made perpetual, and with increased powers. It provides, that if any twelve persons are unlawfully assembled to the disturbance of the peace, and any one Justice shall think proper to command them, by proclamation, to disperse ; if they contemn his orders, and continue together for one hour afterwards, such contempt shall be felony without benefit of clergy. By a subsequent clause, the pulling down of chapels or houses even before the proclamation, is made subject to the same penalty.* This Act, which still continues, though bearing a harsh and arbitrary aspect, has, I be- lieve, in practice, never given rise to any deeds of op- pression, nor well grounded causes of complaint. From the great amount of public business, the Houses sat this year till the 21st of " September. Even then the rebellion, which I shall detail in the next chapter, being on the point of rising Parliament was not pro- rogued, but only adjourned at short intervals, till it met again next year ; so that what is called its first Session extends from March, 1715, till June, 1716. This spring, died two of the Ministers; first, the Mar- quis of Wharton, Privy Seal, a man of great talents but profligate character, and succeeded by a son still more able, and still more abandoned than himself; secondly, Lord Halifax. No one had basked more largely in the sunshine of the new Court : he had received from its bounty an Earldom, the Garter, and the office of First Lord of the Treasury. Other men murmured at this rapid accumulation of favours. To himself, on the con- trary, they all seemed inferior to his merit. He aimed at the great post of Lord Treasurer a post never re- vived under the Georges ; and, finding this withheld from him, did not scruple to enter into negotiations with his political opponents, and plot with them against his party and his principles. Happily for his reputation, these cabals were interrupted by his death. Halifax was justly renowned for the literary talents which he possessed himself and patronised in others ; for his skill in finance ; * Blackstone's Comment, vol. iv. p. 142 ed. 1825. it 3 134 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. IV. for his eloquence in debate ; for his activity in business. He was, however, better fitted iu his later years, at least to adorn than to lead a party. Marlborough, in his private letters, has, with his usual admirable dis- crimination of characters, touched upon the weak point of this: " I agree with you that Lord Halifax has no " other principle but his ambition ; so that he would put " all in distraction rather than not gain his point." And again : " If he had no other fault but his unreasonable " vanity, that alone would be capable of making him " guilty of any fault."* On the demise of Wharton and Halifax, the Privy Seal was put into commission ; and the Earl of Carlisle, a re- spectable nobleman, with some taste but no talent for poetry f, was made First Lord of the Treasury. He was soon found, however, wholly unequal to that high office ; and it was, in October, 1715, transferred to Walpole as a just reward for the talents he had displayed during the last Session, and especially in the impeachments. * To the Duchess, February 7. 1709, and Nov. 28. 1708. f His Lordship continued rhyming till a few hours before his death, in 1 738 ; and " it is a pity," says Horace Walpole, " that such " wholesome precepts were not couched in more harmonious num- * bers." Royal and Noble Authors ; Works, voL i. p. 534. 1715. PLANS OF THE JACOBITES. 136 CHAPTER V. To those who attentively consider the state of parties at the accession of George the First, it will, I think, appear indisputable that the friends of the Pretender would, sooner or later, with more or with less resources, have attempted an insurrection in his cause. On the other hand, however, I am far from denying that this insur- rection gathered strength from the vindictive measures of the Whig administration measures which tended to exalt the hopes, and increase the numbers, of the dis- affected. To their success, however, three things seemed essen- tial : first, that the rising in England should take place conjointly with that in Scotland ; secondly, the personal presence of the Pretender whenever his standard was first raised ; and, thirdly, some assistance from France. It will be my task to explain how, partly from mis- fortune, but more from mismanagement, not one of these objects, though reasonably expected, was attained. Lord Bolingbroke on arriving at Paris, had by no means openly and at once attached himself to the Ja- cobite party. Still hoping for a favourable construction from his judges in England, he resolved not to provoke them by any fresh ground of accusation. He went to the Earl of Stair, the new British ambassador, and pro- tested to him that he would enter into no disloyal en- gagements ; and he wrote to Secretary Stanhope with similar assurances. We learn, however, from the best authority, that Bolingbroke, with characteristic duplicity, at the very time that he made those professions to Lord Stair, and wrote thus to Stanhope, had a secret conference with Marshal Berwick, the Pretender's illegitimate brother ; gave a flattering report of the Jacobite interest in England; and observed, that the time was not yet come for himself K 4 1 36 HISTORY OF EXGLAXD. CHAP. V. to espouse it publicly.* Having thus, as much as pos- sible, made terms with both parties, the noble exile retired into Dauphine, where he anxiously awaited the course of events. Here he soon received tidings of the Bill of Attainder passing against him, and felt, as he says, the smart of it tingling in every vein. His own inclina- tion was seconded by letters from his friends ; he saw that it was no longer necessary to keep measures with the House of Hanover, and hastening to Commercy in Lor- raine, he publicly joined the exiled heir of the Stuarts, f " The very first conversation I had with the Cheva- " lier," says Bolingbroke himself, " answered in no degree " my expectations. He talked to me like a man who ex- " pected every moment to set out for England or Scot- " land, but did not very well know for which." | He was in very active communication with both countries, as also with the Court of France. The letters from the Scotch were warm and eager ; they declared themselves impa- tient to rise; they pressed for the Chevalier's arrival amongst them, (sometimes, according to Bolingbroke, in terms much more zealous than respectful,) and seemed to apprehend no other danger than having the honour of the Restoration taken from them, or shared with others. From England, on the contrary, the advices were as loose and undetermined as might be expected from the character of the Duke of Ormond, who had taken upon himself the whole direction of the business in that coun- try. He had received from James a commission, with the most ample powers that could be given ; and he was in close correspondence with Berwick, the intended gene- ralissimo of the Pretender's armament. His reports on the state of public feeling were most favourable ; he did not scruple to assert that, out of every ten persons, nine I * Mem. de Berwick, vol. ii. p. 137. t James, on his part, received Bolingbroke with great distinction, and soon afterwards sent him an Earl's patent : " I cannot, you know," he says, " as yet give you very essential proofs of my kindness, but " the least I can do for so good and faithful a servant is in sending " you the enclosed warrant, which raises you a degree higher than " my sister had done before, and which will fix your rank with me "beyond dispute." July 25. 1715. Stuart Papers. Letter to Sir William Wyndham. 1715. BOUNGBKOKE AND ORMOND. 137 were against King George ; he had, moreover, he said, taken care to distribute money amongst the disbanded officers, to keep alive his influence with the army, and to foment the tumults of the people.* But when from state- ments the Duke came to projects, he declared that he and his friends were unable or unwilling to stir, unless assisted by France with a body of at least three or four thousand troops, a sum of money, and a supply of arms and ammunition. In answer to this application, the Ministers of Louis declared, in a frank and friendly spirit, that, for their own national interest, the maintenance of peace with England was indispensable ; that, therefore, no body of troops could possibly be sent, nor any ostensible assist- ance afforded, but that secret supplies of money, arms, and ammunition should not be withheld. Louis even prevailed upon the Court of Madrid to promise a loan of four hundred thousand crowns to the Chevalier, who, on his personal credit, had already been able to raise one hundred thousand, besides ten thousand stand of arms. Ormond and his friends were, therefore, under no false hopes. They were told plainly, and at once, that no foreign troops could be expected. It was for them next to consider whether or not they could act without such aid ; and, on either alternative, to state their inten- tion plainly and distinctly. But Ormond was in war like Oxford in politics. Instead of taking either part, he wavered between both. Sometimes he renewed his re- quest for troops sometimes he urged the Pretender to embark immediately for England. Guided by resent- ment rather than by reason, his course shifted from day to day ; and he always felt most sure of subverting the Government, whenever he was most angry with it. Such hot and cold fits marred all attempts at regular design. The evident policy of the Chevalier under these cir- cumstances was to restrain the Scotch, and to quicken the English, so that both might ultimately act together, and to entangle the Court of France in hostilities against the Government of George. For all these objects, Paris appeared the best pivot for his negotiations ; and Boling- * See the Mem. de Berwick, voL ii. p. 135. J38 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. V. broke, having accepted the Seals as his Secretary of State, repaired thither towards the end of July. "Here," he says, " I found a multitude of people at work, and every one doing what seemed good in his own eyes ; no sub- ordination, no order, no concert The Jacobites had wrought one another up to look on the success of the present designs as infallible Care and hope sat on every busy Irish face. Those who could write and read had letters to show, and those who had not yet arrived to this pitch of erudition had their secrets to whisper. No sex was excluded from this " Ministry." * With such a multitude of counsellors, and liberality of disclosures, it was not difficult for an acute nd able Minister like Lord Stair to penetrate into all their "secrets" as they were still by courtesy termed. While Bolingbroke was striving to dispose and regulate this chaos of intrigue, he had the satisfaction to receive at length from England more distinct and positive in- structions, in a memorial agreed upon between the Duke of Ormond, Lord Mar, Lord Lansdowne, and the other heads of the Jacobites. This paper again strongly urged the importance of a body of French troops, and the dan- ger of coming without them. But, it added, if the Che- valier were determined to run that risk, he ought to set out so as not to land until the end of September, Old Style, by which time Parliament would in all probability be prorogued, and the influential Jacobite Peers "and Members of the House of Commons have returned to their respective counties. In this case, it demanded that the Chevalier should bring with him 20,000 arms, a train of artillery, 500 officers, and a considerable sum of money ; and when these should be in readiness, it promised to give him notice of the proper place for landing. This paper Bolingbroke immediately adopted as the compass for his course ; and communicated part of it to the Ministers of Louisf, whom he found struggling between the most * Letter to Sir William Wyndham. His despatch to the Pretender, of July 23. 1715 (Appendix), is in a similar strain ; and, in fact, the greater part of the statements in the Letter to Wyndham are very remarkably confirmed by the correspondence in the Stuart Papers. f Bolingbroke to Torcy, August, 1715. Stuart Papers. See Appendix. i715. ORMOND ARRIVES IN FRANCE. 139 friendly zeal for the Pretender and the fear of another war. To the request for troops, or for any open engage ment, they were still steadily opposed ; but they were willing to grant indirect supplies, and had already al- lowed a small armament to be fitted out at Havre, partly at their expense, and under a fictitious name. Thus they would probably have been drawn from step to step farther than they at first designed ; the resentment of the Court of England and of the Whig administration would have blazed high ; the Jacobites would then have secretly con- curred with the Hanoverians in endeavouring to fix upon the Court of France the aid it had afforded ; and, on the whole, Bolingbroke declares himself clearly of opinion, that, had Louis the Fourteenth lived six months longer, the war between France and England would have been renewed. Thus, then, at this juncture the cause of the Stuarts seemed to bear a brighter aspect than it had assumed since the battle of the Boyne. But it was soon again overcast first by the flight of Ormond, and, secondly, by the death of Louis. Ormond had promised, in his letters, to keep his ground to the last ; to remain at Richmond, unless threatened with arrest ; and in that case to hasten to the western counties, the chief seat of his influence, and there put himself at the head of his friends. With this view he had already concerted some measures for seizing the cities of Bristol, Exeter, and Plymouth ; he had assigned stations to a great number of disbanded officers in his interest, and had even provided relays of horses on the road, to secure his rapid progress.* But though personally a brave man, at the last moment his heart failed him. He slunk away and crossed over to France in a small sloop, without leaving any order what- ever for those who had confided in his management, and were awaiting his directions. His arrival at Paris struck a great damp on the Jacobite cause. The French states- men, who had heard his popularity so often and so loudly bragged of, and who had looked upon him as the main pillar of his party, now began, from the easy subversion of the first, to entertain no very favourable opinion of the latter. * Mem. de Berwick, vol. ii. p. 143. 140 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. V The health of Louis the Fourteenth had for some time been declining. That sun, so bright in its meridian, so dim and clouded at its setting, was now soon to disap- pear.* It would be a melancholy task to trace the changes in his fortunes and his character during sixty years from his joyous and triumphant manhood to his cheerless and sullen old age. To be stripped of his hard- Avon conquests to see the fabric of power, raised in fifty toilsome and victorious years, at last crumbled into dust to hear the exulting acclamations which used to greet his presence transformed to indignant murmurs or mournful silence to be deprived by a sudden and su*- picious death of nearly all the princes of his race, and left with no other male descendant for his successor than an infant great-grandson to be a prey to grasping bastards, and to the widow of a deformed buffoon ; such was the fate reserved for the vaunted conqueror of Monsf, for the magnificent lord of Versailles ! He died at last on the 1st of September in this year.| " He was," says Bolingbroke, " the best friend the Chevalier had, and when I engaged " in this business my principal dependence was on his " personal character All I had to negotiate by " myself first, and in conjunction with the Duke of Or- " mond afterwards, languished with the King. My hopes " sunk as he declined, and died when he expired." The new ruler of France, the Regent Duke of Orleans, having attained his authority in opposition to Madame de Maintenon, to the faction of the Bastards, and to the last advisers of Louis the Fourteenth, was of course in- clined to very different counsels. Both the Ministers and * Louis had taken the sun for his device in 1662. Many years afterwards, a Calvinist caricature, in allusion to the power of Madame de Maintenon over him, represented him not unaptly as a sun peeping from behind a woman's hood. See the Mcmoires de Maurepas, voL iii. p. 329. ed. 1792. t " C'est Jupiter en personne " Ou c'est le vainqueur de Mons !" says Boileau in his triumphal ode on the taking of Namur. J Voltaire tells us : " Le Comte de Stair paria selon le genie de " sa nation que le Hoi ne passerait pas le mois de Septembre ! " Siecle de Louis XIV. ; Anecdotes. A strange bet for an ambassador ! 8 Letter to Sir William Wyndham. The same feeling is apparent in his letters to James in the Stuart Papers. 1715. THE REGENT DUKE OF ORLEANS. 141 measures of the late Sovereign were immediately changed. The Regent could not, indeed, any more than Louis, entirely forsake the cause of an unfortunate kinsman of one sprung, like himself, from the blood of the heroic Henri Quatre. He perceived, moreover, that should the Chevalier prevail in his enterprise, the Government of France could not fail to obtain, as it would deserve, great influence and ascendency over the restored Government of England, and he was careful to put no obstacle in the way of such advantages. But he also perceived, that should the Jacobites be crushed and overpowered, he might derive no small accession of strength from a close alliance with the Ministers of George. He had, in fact, already, during the lifetime of Louis, entered into secret negotiations with them*; and in this course he had peculiar facilities from his personal knowledge of the new Secretary of State, with whom he had lived on familiar terms in early life, and whom, during his Spanish cam- paigns, he had entrusted with some most delicate and confidential overtures.t On the whole, therefore, Lord Stair's representations were far more favourably heard than during the former reign ; while Bolingbroke and Ormond, though by no means altogether repulsed, were much less warmly encouraged. Bolingbroke continued for some time, however ineffec- tually, to ply the new French Government with his pro- jects and demands. Ormond, on the contrary, hoped that he had found a shorter and surer channel to the Regent's favour in one Mrs. Olivia Trant, a lady much addicted to intrigues both of politics and love ; but, un- happily, by no means so great a proficient in the first as in the latter. It was found very easy to entangle the Regent in the snares of beauty, but impossible to draw from him through those means any more effectual suc- cour, or even any less cautious expressions.^ The Duke * See the Mem. de St. Simon, vol. xiii. p. 396. ed. 1829 ; and Lord Stair's Diary in the Hardwicke State Papers, voL ii. p. 533. and 541. It appears that the English Ministers went so far as to offer the Duke of Orleans assistance in troops and money, if requisite, to secure his regency. Mem. de Sevelinges, voL i. p. 197. t I venture to refer the reader to my War of the Succession, pp. 261266. J Ormond afterwards gives an account of a private interview he 142 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. V. of Orleans, in fact, was a man who deserves at least this praise that amidst all his manifold amours he never allowed any of his mistresses any influence in business. Once, it is related of him, being anxiously and repeatedly urged by one of these fair politicians at a private inter- view, he at length led her before a mirror at one end of the apartment. "Look at those lovely lips," he cried, " and own yourself that they were not made for state " affairs ! " * It was in the midst of these useless negotiations that Admiral Sir George Byng came into the road of Havre with a squadron, and that Lord Stair positively demanded that certain ships, which he designated by name, and which he truly alleged to be equipped for the Pretender, should be given up by the French Government. Thus pressed, the Regent did not, indeed, comply with the requisition or surrender the ships, but he ordered them to be unloaded, and the arms which they conveyed to be deposited in the King's magazines.f Such Avas the early blight that fell on the Pretender's only armament ; and thus, too, it became apparent that little assistance from the Continent, beyond the encouragement of his personal presence, was any longer to be looked for. Under these circumstances Bolingbroke despatched an agent to London, with a message to Lord Mar that he understood it to be his Lordship's opinion that Scotland could do nothing effectual without England that Eng- land would not stir without assistance from abroad and that no assistance from abroad could be relied upon ; and he requested his Lordship to draw the inference from these three propositions. But this agent, on arriving in London and communicating with Erasmus Lewis, the late secretary to Lord Oxford, and now an active mem had with the Regent, in a letter to the Pretender, Oct. 21. 1715. Stuart Papers. He adds, " I have only told it the Queen ; Lord " Bolingbroke knows nothing of this ; it being desired by Mr. O'Brien " (the Regent) that he should not." * See Duclos, Memoires, vol. i. p. 402. ed. 1791. f Bolingbroke writes, however, to the Pretender : " There are at " Havre 1300 arms, 4000 weight of powder, and other stores on board " another ship which is not yet discovered. I intend to send her, as " I write to Lord Mar." September 21. 1715. See Appendix. 171-J. JAMES LEAVES LORRAINE. 143 ber of the Jacobite conspiracy, learned that Mar had already gone to raise the Highlands. It is positively asserted by Berwick, that the Pretender, without any intimation either to himself or Bolingbroke, had sent orders to Mar to begin the insurrection in Scotland without further delay.* The veracity and the means of information of Berwick are equally unquestionable ; yet it seems difficult to credit such an extremity of falsehood and folly in James. There are several circumstances to disprove, there are none to confirm it ; and, on the whole, I suspect that Berwick must have been misled by an excuse which Mar afterwards invented for his own rash- ness. James himself, writing to Bolingbroke on the 23d of September, expresses an anxious desire that his Scotch friends will at least wait for his answer, if they cannot, as he hopes, stay so long as to expect a concert with England. f Is it not beyond belief that he should already, several weeks before, have given positive orders to the opposite effect that he should have issued such momen- tous directions at a moment so unfavourable, and concealed them from his best friends and most able advisers ? The insurrection once raised, however imprudently, there was no other course for the Chevalier than to main- tain it vigorously. Both he and Ormond gave abundant proof of personal courage. The latter immediately set otf from Paris ; and the former was as fully prepared to leave Lorraine and take ship for Great Britain, although Bolingbroke observes, that it was then no longer possible to carry over even such a handful of men as should secure the Prince from being taken by the first constable he might meet on shore. J He had several times fixed a day for his departure from Commercy, but had as often been compelled to postpone it, in compliance with the earnest injunctions which he received from England, and which continued to prescribe delay. It was not till the 28th * Berwick, Mem. vol. ii. p. 158. f James to Lord Bolingbroke, September 23. 1715. See Appendix. j Letter to Sir William Wyndham. See Lord Mar's account from France. Tindal, vol. vi. p. 506. James's partisans circulated a shameful rumour that Lord Stair had formed a plan for his assassination on the road. See Mem. de St. Simon, voL xiii. p. 403. It4 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. V. of October, that, freed from these trammels, he set out in disguise, and travelled westward to St. Malo. Meanwhile the Duke of Ormond had sailed from the coast of Normandy to that of Devonshire*, where, accord- ing to his last engagements with his partisans, he expected to find them in arms. But the English Government had now taken vigorous measures to nip the rebellion in its bud. Maclean, an active agent of Ormond, had betrayed him.f The principal friends of Ormond were arrested ; the others dispersed ; and when the Duke came to the appointed place he found no signs of a rising not a single man to meet him, instead of the thousands he ex- pected ; and he was compelled to steer again towards France. On landing in Brittany he found, at St. Malo, the Chevalier just arrived from Lorraine, and actively employed in shipping off supplies for Scotland. After several conferences with him, the Duke again embarked, with the daring and indeed desperate project of throwing himself upon the English coast, and taking the chance of some favourable circumstances ; but a violent tempest forced him back a second time. On the other part, the Chevalier seeing the plan of the English insurrection baffled, and having completed his business at St. Malo, resolved to proceed himself to Scotland ; but having been obliged to postpone his sailing for a few days, he found it at the end of that time to be no longer practicable, the harbour being closely blockaded by several English men- of-war. In this extremity the young Prince set off by land from St. Malo, where, says Bolingbroke, he had as many Ministers as there were people about him. He travelled privately on horseback across the country to Dunkirk, having previously sent directions that a ship should be prepared for him in that port. There he arrived in the middle of December, when he immediately embarked on board a small vessel of eight guns, attended only by six gentlemen, who were, like himself, disguised as French naval officers ; and with this scanty retinue did the last heir of the Stuarts set sail for their ancient kingdom. * He took with him only about twenty officers and as nany troopers from Nugent's regiment. Mem. de Berwick, vol. ii. p. 165. j Lord Bolingbroke to the Pretender, Nov. 8. 1 7 1 5. See Appendix. 1715. LORD MAR. 145 We must now revert to what had been passing on the other side of the Channel, and especially to the proceed- in as of Lord Mar. John Erskine, eleventh Earl of Mar, was made of the willow and not of the oak. He had early in the late reign entered public life as a Whig ; he had afterwards turned Tory ; he had again joined the Whigs in promot- ing the Scottish Union : but in 1710, when the Tories came into power, he discovered that his principles were entirely in accordance Avith theirs, and readily became their Secretary of State, and manager for Scotland. His embarrassed fortune has been urged, but should scarcely be admitted, as an excuse for these changes, which had gained him no very honourable nickname in his native country.* On the accession of George he had addressed to that monarch a letter full of loyal congratulations and warm professions of attachment.! Finding himself, ne- vertheless, deprived of office, and with little hope of regaining it under that government, he plunged headlong into all the intrigues of the Jacobites, and became their chief for Scotch as Ormond for English affairs. He Avas a man of great activity, judgment, and address, but no knowledge of war ; at home in Court cabals, but, as we shall afterwards find, unskilful and helpless in a camp. In person he was deformed, and his enemies were accus- tomed to say of him that his mind was as crooked as his body. Till the moment of his leaving London, Mar evinced no common duplicity. On the 1st of August he appeared at the levee of King George ; on the 2d he set off to raise the Highlands for King James. He embarked in dis- guise, with Major-General Hamilton and Colonel Hay, on board a small collier ; and it is even said that, the better to conceal his rank, he wrought for his passage. : * He was called "Bobbing John." See Chambcrs's History of Dundee's and Mar's Rebellions, p. 172. a very compendious and pleasing narrative. t See this letter in Tindal's History, vol. vi. p. 406. J Memoirs of the Master of Sinclair, p. 51. MS. I am indebted for the communication of this valuable document to the kindness of my friend Mr. Lockhart. It is copied in about 1400 quarto pages, and enriched with notes by Sir Walter Scott. The Master of Sinclair VOL. I. L 146 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. V. From Newcastle he proceeded northwards in another vessel ; and, landing on the coast of Fife, he went from the house of one friend to another until he reached his own seat in the " braes " or hills of Aberdeenshire. During his journey he had sent letters to the principal Jacobite gentlemen, inviting them to a great hunting match on the 27th ; such entertainments being in the Highlands common pretexts for political councils, and precursors of military risings On the 27th, accordingly, there was a large meeting at Lord Mar's, attended by the Marquesses of Huntly and Tullibardine, eldest sons of the Dukes of Gordon and Athol ; by the Earl of Southesk, the chief of (jrlengarry, and several other noblemen and gentlemen. Lord Mai- addressed the meeting in an elaborate speech, owning his error in having promoted that " accursed treaty," the Union; and declaring his resolution to retrieve his fault by attempting to restore his country to her ancient inde- pendence. The claims of their rightful sovereign His Majesty's commands to rise his promise to come amongst them in person England ripe for insurrection France teeming with supplies were not forgotten in Mar's ha- was eldest son of Henry seventh Lord Sinclair, and had served under Marlborough, but was sentenced to death for having killed two brother officers in duels. He fled into the Prussian dominions with the con- nivance of Marlborough, and afterwards obtaining the Queen's pardon, went to reside at his paternal seat of Dysart,- in Fife. He engaged in the rebellion of 1715, and was attainted ; but a pardon for his life being granted him in 1726, he returned to Dysart, where he remained till his death, in 1750. " He seldom," says Sir Walter, " ventured to " Edinburgh, and was then always well armed and attended, holding " himself still in danger of the vengeance of the Schaws, or other " enemies. The following memoirs," Sir Walter continues, ' are " written with great talent and peculiar satirical energy. They are 44 intended as a justification of the author's own conduct, but are more " successful in fixing a charge of folly and villany upon that of others " than in exculpating his own. They will be a precious treat to the 44 lovers of historical scandal, should they ever be made public. The " original memoirs, written by the hand of the author, are in the " library at Dysart ; but there are other transcripts in private collec- 44 tions, though some, I understand, have been destroyed, to gratify 44 those whose ancestors fall under the lash of the Master. It is re- 44 markable that the style, which at first is not even grammatical, "becomes disengaged, correct, and spirited in the course of com- 14 position." 1715. INSURRECTION IN THE HIGHLANDS. 147 rangue, nor without effect upon his audience. All present took an oath to be faithful to one another, and to the Earl of Mar as the general of King James ; and agreed to return each to his own estate for the purpose of raising his men, and afterwards bringing them together. It appears, however, from the most authentic docu- ments, that the Scotch gentlemen, though willing to obey the call of the Chevalier, were, from the first, by no means sanguine of success. They saw well what slight chances of victory were to be balanced against the imminent hazard of their lives and fortunes ; and the death of Louis the Fourteenth, of which they were soon apprised, however it might be glossed over by Mar's creatures*, seemed to the most discerning a fatal blow. Yet a deep and devoted, however mistaken, sense of duty overbore every other consideration in their breasts. Who that reads of the lofty forgetfulness of self, of the chivalrous attachment to the fallen, that shone forth in the three rebellions of 1689, 1715, and 1745, and that notwithstanding repeated reverses " for all that " and all that, and twice as much as all that," in the words of their own spirit-stirring song still stood firm and undismayed, does not feel inclined to cry shame upon the charges of mean selfishness and calculating caution, so often cast upon this brave Scotch people ? Who will not own that they have generous actions to show against the empty words of their maligners ? Never, in my opinion, did any nation combine in a more eminent degree the sense and shrewdness which are sometimes thus unfairly urged as their reproach with the highest courage and most unconquerable fidelity. Lord Mar, having sent orders to his vassals to join him, raised the standard of the Chevalier on the 6th of September, at Kirkmichael, a village of Brae Mar. He was then attended by no more than sixty men.f The standard, on its erection, was consecrated by prayers ; but the Highlanders, ever watchful of omens, observed * " Malcolm said (on being told of Louis's death) he was very well " pleased to hear it, for a young prince such as the Regent would " push our affair with more vigour than the old King, who was half M doated." Master of Sinclair's MS. p. 84. See also p. 105. j- Patten's History of the Rebellion of 1715, p. 153. ed. 1717. L 2 148 HISTORY OF ENGLAXD. CHAP. V. as an unfavourable sign that as the pole was planted in the ground the gilt ball fell down from its summit. The next care of Mar was to issue several letters, de- clarations, addresses, and manifestoes ; papers very va- rious in title, but nearly the same in substance.* His little force was now daily increased by fresh followers. About 500 of his own vassals joined him on foot. The gentlemen who came on horseback were formed into a body under the Earl of Linlithgow, entrusted with the guard of the standard, and dignified by the name of the " Royal Squadron." This body, which at the outset was only of twenty horse, soon grew into several hundreds.f Meanwhile the flame was spreading in all directions. The white cockade such was the emblem of the English as it is now of the French Pretender was assumed by clan after clan. The first to rise was that of Macintosh ; they had nearly 500 in arms, and seized the important post of Inverness. James was proclaimed by the Earl of Panmure at Brechin, by the Earl Marischal at Aber- deen, by Lord Huntly at Gordon, and by Mr. Graham, brother to the celebrated Claverhouse, at Dundee. On the 14th, Colonel John Hay, brother of the Earl ot Kinnoul, obtained possession of Perth ; and the Earl of llothes, who was advancing to secure that place for the Government, with some men from Fifeshire, retired without a blow. In short, nearly the whole country to the north of the Tay was in the hands of the insurgents. Meanwhile a scheme had been formed by the Jacobites in another part of Scotland, which, if successful, would probably have put them at once in possession of the whole of that kingdom. About eighty persons at Edin- burgh, chiefly Highlanders, had plotted to seize and sur- prise the Castle, a stronghold of infinite importance, and containing nearly all the arms, stores, and money then at the disposal of the Government. At the head of the conspi- rators was a Roman Catholic nobleman, Lord Drummond. * In his letter to his own bailiff, on the 9th, he says, " Let my own "tenants in Kildrummie know that if they come not forth with their " best arms, I will send a party immediately to burn what they shall " miss taking from them ! By all that's sacred, I'll put this " in execution ! '' i Master of Sinclair's MS. p. 118. 1715. DESIGN UPON EDINBURGH CASTLE. 149 By dint of some bribery, and the cheaper expedient of high promises, they gained over three soldiers in the gar- rison*, and resolved to scale the Castle rock, at a place on the north side near the sallyport, where it seemed the least precipitous, and where one of their friends would be the sentinel at the time appointed the 9th of September, at nine o'clock at night. Ladders of a peculiar construction had been prepared, which were to be drawn up by the Jacobite soldiers, and fastened to a strong stake within the wall, so as to enable the conspi- rators to climb. It had also been concerted, that on ob- taining possession of the Castle they should fire three cannon ; that when this signal should be heard by some men stationed on the opposite coast of Fife, a fire should be kindled on the heights ; and that these beacons, con- tinued northward from hill to hill, should, with the speed of a telegraph, apprise Mar of his advantage, and enable him to complete it by immediately pushing forward to Edinburgh. But, unhappily for Mar, a very slight accident was sufficient 'to defeat this promising scheme. One of the Jacobites engaged in it, Mr. Arthur, had communicated the whole design to his brother, Dr. Arthur, a physician. Dr. Arthur, a timid man. and a recent convert, was much agitated at these tidings, and could not disguise from his wife his feelings of uneasiness and anxiety ; nor, when pressed by her curiosity for the cause of them, had he the firmness to conceal it. Thus entrusted to a wo- man, the secret soon ceased to be so. The lady, without her husband's knowledge, sent an anonymous letter to the Lord Justice Clerk, informing him of the whole con- spiracy. Her letter did not reach his Lordship till ten, nor his express the Castle till eleven o'clock on the evening of the 9th ; so that, had the conspirators been punctual to their time, their object might have been already attained, in spite of the disclosure. But some of them carousing at a tavern, and drinking deep bumpers to the success of their enterprise, allowed the moment for its execution to slip by, and did not bring the ladders to the foot of the * " One sergeant, William Ainslie, and two privates, were engaged " in this scheme. Ainslie was afterwards hanged." Sir Walter Scott's note on Sinclair's MS. p. 97. L 3 150 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. V. Castle rock until two hours after their appointment.* Scarcely had the three sentinels above begun to draw the ladders, when the time for the change of guard arrived, and when the officers of the garrison were roused by the news of the express. One of the Jacobite sentinels, seeing other soldiers coming round the rampart, fired his piece, and called out below that they had ruined both themselves and him. His companions, at the same time, let go the ropes. The conspirators beneath (some of them much hurt by the fall of the ladders) immediately dispersed ; and, although a party of the city guard sallied out upon them from the West Port, in hopes of making prisoners, only four of them were taken. These proved to be, Ramsay and Boswell, writers to the Signet ; Leslie, late page to the Duchess of Gordon ; and Captain Maclean, a veteran of the field of Killiecrankie. Thus, through the combined influence of wine and women, was this daring scheme defeated. The Cabinet of St. James's meanwhile had no easy game to play. The whole force at its disposal in Great Britain was scarcely above 8000 men.f With these it had not only to encounter secret conspiracies, undisguised rebellions, and threatened landings in many places, but al^o to keep the peace in several other districts, where the mob, inflamed by malicious insinuations, and zealous in the cause of the Church, which they believed to be endangered, pulled down meeting houses of Dissenters, and committed other acts of riot and outrage. With such scanty numbers the Ministers had to support the throne of George and to brave the enmity of Louis to confirm a new dynasty and overawe an ancient rival. The chief control and direction in this arduous duty fell upon Secretary Stanhope, on account of his military character. The Duke of Marlborough was indeed far * " They were so far from carrying on their affairs privately, that " a gentleman who was not concerned told me that he was in a house * that evening, where eighteen of them were drinking, and heard the ' hostess say that they were powdering their hair to go to the attack * of the Castle ! " Sinclair's MS. p. 103. A strange son of powder to provide on such an occasion ! f The army estimates for 1715 show us a total of more than 16,000 men at the expense of 556,000/. but of these less than 9000 were at home. See the Comm, Journ. voL xviil p. 47. 1715. THE DUKE OF ARGYLE. 151 more highly qualified for that or any other service ; but, as I have already mentioned, was then an object of aversion at Court, and deprived of all real and effective power.* The state of Scotland had, of course, been from the first a matter of great anxiety. So early as the 24th of July, Stanhope had obtained leave to bring in a Bill " for " the encouragement of loyalty in Scotland," f by which it was hoped in some degree to bridle the disaffected clans. Yet, when at the end of August the first intelli- gence came that these clans were actually gathering, Stanhope and his colleagues concurred in thinking that this array was only designed as a stratagem to draw the King's forces northward, and favour the projected insur- rection of Ormond in the west ; and such, in fact, was the opinion held at this time by the Jacobites themselves at Bristol and other places. J The Ministers accordingly determined to send no more troops to Scotland ; on the contrary, it was to the south-western counties that they ordered the few regiments at their disposal. They di- rected General Whitham, the Commander-in-Chief in Scotland, to march with the handful of regular troops (about fifteen hundred) that could be mustered, and take post at Stirling, so as to maintain the passage of the Forth ; but almost immediately afterwards they super- seded him in behalf of the Duke of Argyle, whose per- sonal knowledge of the country, and whose princely influence over it, could not fail to be most important in the coming struggle. Argyle might be considered an hereditary foe of the Stuarts, yet his attachment to the Whig party was very recent and doubtful, and no man had taken a more active part towards their expulsion from office than himself. On that occasion he seems to have been guided by a mean resentment against Marl- borough, who thought but lightly of his character, and who goes so far as to say, in one of his private letters, " I cannot have a worse opinion of any man than I have " of the Duke of Argyle." By the new Tory adminis- * Look back to p. 104. ; and see Coxe's Walpole, vol. i. p. 81. t Comm. Journ. vol. xviii. p. 237. This Act received the Royal Assent on the 30th of August. | Tindal's History, vol. vi. p. 421. To the Duchess, March 25. 1710. L 4 152 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAT. V. tration, which he had contributed to raise, he was sent to succeed Stanhope in Spain an appointment which, from the desperate state of affairs, added nothing to hid laurels. His return to England was soon followed by his rupture with the Ministry ; he was dismissed from his employments, and rejoined his former friends, who, though they could scarcely place any very unmixed con- fidence in his support, yet knew its value too well to receive it otherwise than warmly. This powerful chief- tain was born in 1678.* His influence was not confined to the Highlands, nor his talent to a field of battle ; he was also distinguished as a speaker in the House of Lords ; and though extremely cool and collected in his conduct, his oratory was warm and impassioned, f His manner was most dignified and graceful, his diction not deficient in elegance ; but he greatly impaired its effect by too constantly directing it to panegyrics upon his own candour and disinterestedness qualities of which I firmly believe that no man ever had less. The Earl of Sutherland, also a zealous friend of the Protestant Succession, was directed to embark in a King's ship, the Queenborough, and sail for his domains in the extreme north of Scotland, with a commission to raise his vassals, as well as any other clans on which he might prevail in favour of the established Government. Other measures of great vigour and activity were taken by Stanhope and his colleagues. According to an article in the guarantee for the Protestant Succession, the Dutch had bound themselves to furnish a body of 6000 men, in case of need ; and to claim this contingent, Horace Wai- pole was now despatched to the Hague. At home, the Parliament was induced to vote most loyal Addresses * It is stated in Collins's Peerage (vol. vi p. 443.) that he was twenty-three in 1705 ; but here he appears to be confounded with his brother, the Earl of Isla, who afterwards succeeded him in the Dukedom. f Thomson says of him, " From his rich tongue persuasion flows." "I thought him," says Lord Chesterfield, " the most art'ecting, per- " suasive, and applauded speaker I ever heard. I was captivated, " like others ; but when I came home and coolly considered what he " had said, stripped of all those ornaments in which he had dressed " it, I often found the matter flimsy and the arguments weak." Letter to his son, December 5. 1749. 1715. LORD BREADALBAXE. 153 to suspend the Habeas Corpus Act to grant liberal supplies to offer a reward of 100,000/. for seizing the Pretender alive or dead and to empower the King to seize suspected persons. All half-pay officers were re- called to active service. Twenty-one regiments (7000 men) were ordered to be raised. At Edinburgh the Government, availing themselves of the suspension of the Habeas Corpus, arrested and im- prisoned in the Castle several noted Jacobites ; the Earls of Hume, Wigtoun, and Kinnoul, Lord Deskford, and Messrs. Lockhart of Carnwath and Hume of Whitfield. By a clause in the new Act for encouraging loyalty in Scotland, which had passed on the 30th of August, the King had also been empowered to summon any suspected persons to Edinburgh, there to give security for their good behaviour ; or, in case of non-appearance, to be denounced as rebels. This provision was immediately put in force by the Lord Advocate, and a great number of persons were summoned ; but the effect is admitted, on all hands, to have been very unfavourable to the Government. It drove to a decision those wavering politicians who would, in all probability, have remained quietly at home, with- out declaring for either party ; and the decision thus forced upon them was almost always for their secret inclination the Pretender. Scarcely any obeyed the requisition ; and most of them gave civil excuses to the one party, but active assistance to the other. Thus, for example, the veteran Earl of Breadalbane, a man nearly fourscore years of age, sent to Edinburgh an affidavit of his ill health, which is still preserved, and which exhibits a most dreadful array of all human infirmities. Coughs, rheums, and defluxions gravel and stitches pains in the back and kidneys seem the least in the catalogue ; it declares him unable to move without danger to his life; and it is attested " upon soul and conscience" by a neighbouring physician, and by the minister of the parish.* Yet, on the very day after the date of this paper, the old Earl had left home and joined the army of Mar ! That general was still in the Highlands. He had * See the collection of Original Letters and Papers on the Re- bellion of 1715, p-inted at Edinburgh, 1730, p. 20. 154 Hisxcmr OF ENGLAND. CHAT v. found great difficulty in raising the Athol men, from the Duke of that name making no manifestation in his favour ; but it has been alleged by his enemies that he himself had secretly endeavoured to disgust the Duke of Athol with the enterprise, apprehending that, should this power- ful nobleman join the insurgents, he and not Mar would be considered their leader.* To obtain the Duke's men, but without the Duke, is said to have been Mar's object ; and he at length succeeded in it, through the exertions of Lord Tullibardine and two of his brothers. Above 500 from that country joined their young Marquis. At length, on the 28th of September, Mar made his entry into Perth ; when his forces fell but little short of 5000 men. On the same day, also, he was cheered by the arrival of Mr. James Murray, second son of Lord Stor- mont, with most auspicious tidings from Commercy. Twelve ships, full of arras and ammunition, were described as ready to sail, and the Chevalier as resolved to follow them without delay. One or two small ships of that kind had, in fact, already reached the Scottish coast, and safely disembarked their stores, and accident threw into Lord Mar's hands a similar supply from a different quar- ter. A vessel had been equipped at Leith by the govern- ment, and freighted with 300 stand of arms for the use of the Earl of Sutherland's party in the North. Stress of weather compelled the vessel to take shelter under the Fife coast near Burntisland ; and the skipper, being a native of that place, took advantage of the gale to go ashore and visit his family. On the 2d of October, intel- ligence of his neglect of duty was brought to Perth ; it was determined to try this favourable opportunity ; and at five o'clock the same evening, a party of eighty horse, under the command of the Master of Sinclair, sallied from the gates. They arrived at Burntisland about mid- * Sinclair's MS., p. 116. " It is certain," he adds, " the Duke was ' of that consequence that he'd have done more in one day in raising " the Highlands than Mar in two months." See also p. 236. I have seen in the King's Library at the Brit. Mus. (Polit. Pamph. case 95.) a MS. " Memoire de ce qui s'est passe dans le pays d' Athol et des " loyales defences que sa Grandeur le Due a faites pour le service du " gouvernement." 1715. It was no doubt drawn up in Irench in order to be laid before the King. 1715. LORD MAR AT PERTH. 155 night, surprised the skipper in his bed, seized the arms in the ship, and returned safely the same night with their booty, though, both in going and coming, they had to pass within ten miles of Stirling. This exploit gave peculiar satisfaction to the insurgents, as tending not only to augment their own resources, but to impair those of a formidable enemy ; and it also encouraged Mar to push his outposts along the coast of Fife, and to station garrisons in the castles of Burntisland and of Falkland. Meanwhile the Duke of Argyle had arrived in Scotland about the middle of September, and hastened to the camp at Stirling. He had brought with him not a single bat- talion of troops, not one piece of artillery. He had found under his command no more than 1000 foot, and a body of dragoons, partly from that excellent regiment the Scots Greys * , but altogether of only 500 men. His own clan was kept quiet by the dread of an inroad from General Gordon with a party of Mar's followers ; on his flank and rear, Glasgow, Dumfries, and other towns, were threatened by the Jacobites ; and there seemed great danger of his being completely surrounded at Stir- ling, and yet he could not move from before its ramparts without still more imminent peril. Under such circum- stances, the course for Mar to follow was plain. He could, early in October, have mustered above 8000 men ; with which, says Marshal Berwick, he ought to have immediately marched forward ; and he could scarcely have failed to drive Argyle before him headlong over the Tweed, and obtain possession of the whole of Scot- land, f But it was now that Mar's want of military * " The dragoons, called the Scots Greys for many years, main- ' tained a character greatly superior to that of an ordinary regiment. ' They never gave a bounty exceeding a crown, and were recruited ' from a class of persons greatly superior to those who usually enter ' the army, such as the sons of decent farmers and tradesmen, who ' felt a vocation for the army. No ignominious punishment was ' ever inflicted, and a criminal who had merited such was previously ' transferred to another regiment." Sir Walter Scott's note on Sinclair's MS. p. 304. t Mem. de Berwick, vol. ii. p. 160. The Marshal adds, " L'on peut " avoir beaucoup d'esprit, beaucoup de courage personnel, etre " habile ministre, et toutefois n'avoir pas les talens requis pour une " entreprise de cette nature. II est certain que Mar ne les avail 14 pas." 156 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. V. genius grew apparent. He had been very successful in prevailing upon the Highland chieftains and stirring up the clans, a task which required only address and manage- ment ; but having thus drawn the sword, it remained a useless weapon in his inexperienced hands. He lingered at Perth for several weeks, awaiting the movements of the Jacobites in England, who, on their part, were also in a great measure at gaze, and in expectation of his movements. In civil wars, to lose an opportunity is to lose all ; and the victory belongs to the swift still more than to the strong. There were several other circumstances that should have warned Mar against such procrastination. First, the disposition of his Highlanders, who were as usual careless of stratagem, eager for battle, and likely, if with- held, to cool in spirit and to dwindle in numbers ; next, the great expense, and consequent disgust, occasioned by delay to the principal gentlemen engaged, from the neces- sity of their maintaining many of their subordinate friends and vassals ; thirdly, the host of jarring pretensions and claims to command amongst the leading men, which must always be expected in an irregular force, and which can only be prevented by frequent enterprise and active em- ployment. The Master of Sinclair, who was present, complains bitterly of the number of gentlemen, who " were not satisfied with being Colonels when they were " not capable of being Corporals ! " He tells us, also, that Mar being jealous of his authority, did not sufficiently consult nor willingly employ his ablest officers, and trusted too much to the judgment of one Major Clep- hane. " To make," he says, " his Lordship's sudden mili- ' tary genius more conceivable and natural, Clephane ' was cried up to the skies, and was always buzzing in ' his ear, like Mahomet's pigeon, and it was granted ' there wanted no more to make a consummate general ' than Mar's head and Clephane's practice." The movements of the English Jacobites, on which Mar so much depended, will now require some detail. Stanhope had continued to take the most vigorous mea- sures against them. Lords Lansdowne and Duplin, and the titular Duke of Powis, were committed to the Tower ; a warrant was issued against the Earl of Jersey; and 1715. THE ENGLISH JACOBITES. 157 Lieutenant-Colonel Paul, of the Guards, being detected in enlisting men for the Pretender, was secured. On the 21st of September, the very day of the adjournment of Parliament, which did not meet again for business till next year, Stanhope brought down to the Commons a message from the King, desiring their consent for appre- hending six members of their House, whom His Majesty had cause to suspect of treasonable practices. These six members were Sir William Wyndham, Sir John Packing- ton, Mr. Edward Harvey, Mr. Forster, Mr. Anstis, and Mr. Corbet Kynaston ; all men of violent High-church principles, and considerable local power. The consent requested was unanimously granted by the House; and Harvey and Anstis being still in town, were immediately apprehended. The former stabbed himself in two or three places of the breast, but his wounds proved to be not mortal. Sir John Packington was brought up to London from his house in Worcestershire ; Sir William Wyndham was seized at his in Somersetshire, while asleep in bed : however, pretending to go into an inner room to take leave of his wife, who was with child, he made his escape through a postern. A proclamation, offering a reward of 1000/. for his discovery, was now issued ; and Sir William finding that one of his letters had been intercepted, and that his retreat was likely to be tracked, thought it prudent to surrender himself. Accordingly, coming up to London, he put himself into the hands of Lord Hertford, his brother-in-law, who sent notice of it to Stanhope. The matter was then laid be- fore the Privy Council, the King himself being present ; and the Duke of Somerset, the father of Lady Wyndham, offered to be responsible for the conduct of his son-in-law. It was no light matter to refuse and offend the first Pro- testant Peer of the country a firm friend of the Hanover Succession a powerful leader of the Whig party. But Lord Townshend considered the proofs against Wyndham so strong, and the necessity for his arrest so urgent, that lie resolutely made a motion for that object. A long pause ensued. During nearly ten minutes no other mem- ber ventured to support him ; until at length two or three rose together to second the motion. It was carried ; and as the King withdrew into his closet, he took Lord 158 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. v. Townshend's hand, and said, " You have done me a great " service to-day."* Somerset, who expressed his resent- ment warmly and intemperately, was removed from his office of Master of the Horse the first appearance of a schism in the Whig administration.! The arrest of Wyndham, whose influence in the western counties was predominant, and who held the threads of the whole Jacobite conspiracy, was of great avail in breaking and unravelling its texture. Troops had al?o been marched into that quarter ; Bristol, which the Jaco- bites intended to surprise, was carefully guarded by Earl Berkeley, as Lord Lieutenant of the county ; seve- ral chests of fire-arms, and about 200 horses, designed for the use of the insurgents, were there discovered and seized, and their most active agents arrested. At Ply- mouth, where a similar attempt had been projected by the Jacobites, similar precautions were taken against them ; and Sir Richard Vyvyan, a stirring Cornish gentleman of considerable note, was sent up to London in the custody of a messenger. The University of Oxford also felt the rod of power. That learned body had of late scarcely made a secret of their disaffection to the Government. On the flight and attainder of the Duke of Ormond, their Chancellor, they had, as a token of approbation of his principles, conferred that dignity upon the Earl of Arran, his brother ; and their honorary degrees were in like manner reserved only for non-jurors, or at least High Tories. An intercepted letter from an undergraduate to his friend in London boasts that " Here we fear nothing, but drink James's " health every day." Colonel Owen and several other broken officers had taken shelter at the University, and were concerting measures with the Heads of Houses, and projecting an insurrection, to be combined with that of Bristol ; but Stanhope, having intelligence of the design, sent thither General Pepper, one of his Brihuega office rs, with a squadron of dragoons. Marching all night, Pep- per entere' 1 Oxford at day-break, on the 6th of October. * Coxe's Walpole, voL i. p. 71. f See Somerset's personal animosity against Townshend and Stan- hope in his letter to Lord Lsla of Dec. 13. 1716. Coxe's Walpole, voL iL p. 148. 1715. DRAGOONS AT OXFORD. 159 He immediately summoned to his presence both the Vice- Chancellor and the Mayor, delivered to them a letter from Stanhope, and acquainted them with his orders to seize eighteen suspected persons. The two dignitaries, scared at the unexpected sight of soldiers, readily pro- mised him their assistance towards this object, and the soldiers began their search ; Pepper, at the same time, declaring to the Vice-Chancellor that if any disturbance happened, or if any persons assembled in the streets above the number allowed by the Riot Act, he would order his men to fire. No such extremities, however, came to pass. Colonel Owen, who was lodging at the Greyhound Inn, leaped over a wall in his night-gown, and escaped into Magdalen College ; but of the other suspected persons ten or twelve were taken, and the soldiers left the town. Such proceedings, it must be owned, bear something of a harsh and tyrannical aspect, and seem more worthy of Spain or Italy than of England. Yet, by these measures was the intended insurrection crushed in its bud, and the bloodshed which must have followed it happily averted ; nor should we forget that the apparent mildness which forbears to punish faults is, in many cases, real cruelty which tempts to crimes. No rising whatever took place in the west ; and when Or- mond, as already mentioned, came off Plymouth, accord- ing to his appointment, he found no one ready to meet him, and was refused, says Bolingbroke, a night's lodging in a country which he had been told was in a good pos- ture to receive the Chevalier himself. The importance of the service done to the House of Hanover in this trans- action will best be estimated by the fact that the Jacobite party had always considered Ormond's design as far more hopeful and momentous than Mar's. In the north of England, however, affairs took a less pacific turn. The shires of Lancaster and Northumber- land were, more than any others in England, embued with the lingering spirit of Catholicism ; and Mr. Fors- ter, one of the persons aimed at in the King's Message of the 21st of September, was member for the latter county. A messenger had been sent down to seize him at Dur- ham ; and a writ was also entrusted to the same person against the Earl of Derwentwater, a young nobleman 160 HISTORY Oi ENGLAND. CH VP. V. whose influence was considerable in the north, and whose Jacobite zeal was inflamed by his tenets as a Roman Catholic, and by his descent as sprung from an illegiti- mate daughter of Charles the Second. Hearing of the orders for their arrest, and being thus driven to ex- tremity, both Forster and Derwentwater resolved, rather than surrender, to precipitate their intended insurrection. By appointment with some friends they met on the 6th of October, at a place called Greenrig, from whence they marched the same night to the small town of Rothbury. Their force was then only sixty horse ; but, on pro- ceeding to Warkworth, they were joined by Lord Wid drington*, another Roman Catholic Peer, with thirty more. They chose Mr. Forster for their general ; not on account of his superior influence and station, still less from any supposed abilities or military knowledge, but simply because he was a Protestant, and because it was thought unwise to rouse the popular animosity by placing a Papist at their head. Forster himself, but in disguise, proclaimed the Chevalier at Warkworth with sound of trumpet, and as many other formalities as a remote vil- lage could admit. From Warkworth he marched to Aln- wick, and from Alnwick to Morpeth. He had many offers of assistance from the country people ; but had no arms to equip them, and received no others than horsemen. Of these, however, no small number joined him from the borders ; so that on entering Morpeth, he could muster as many as 300. It seems probable that a rapid advance might have given the insurgents possession of Newcastle, where seve- ral leading gentlemen, especially Sir William Blackett, were eager to receive them ; but their delay enabled the inhabitants to prepare for defence. A great majority * This was the fourth Lord Widdrington, great grandson of the one killed on the King's side in 1651. "He was," says Clarendon, " one of the most goodly persons of that age a gentleman of " the best and most ancient extraction of the county of Xorthumber- " land, and of a very fair fortune." (Hist vol. vi. p. 504. ed. 1 826.) The accounts of his descendant in 1715 are much less favourable. " I could never discover anything like boldness or bravery in him," says Mr. Robert Patten, the chaplain no doubt an excellent judge of military prowess. (Hist. p. 61.) 1715. LOUD KEKMURE. 161 there, as almost every where in England, was warmly in favour of the Protestant Succession : 700 men came for- ward to enlist as volunteers, the walls were hastily re- paired, the gateways closed up with stones, and this im- portant post was secured. Thus disappointed, the insur- gents withdrew towards Hexham, where they hoped to communicate with their friends in Lancashire ; and they had already sent an express to Lord Mar, to explain their want of foot soldiers, and entreat his assistance in that respect. Meanwhile another insurrection was breaking forth in the south-west of Scotland. Lord Kenmure proclaimed the Chevalier at Moffat on the 12th of October, and next day attempted to surprise Dumfries ; but the Marquis of Annandale, with some attendants, having thrown himself into that town, it was secured for the King. Within a few days, Lord Kenmure was joined by the Pearls of Nithisdale, Wintoun, and Carnwath, and other persons of note ; but the chief command still remained with himself.* He determined to unite his forces they were about 200 horsemen with those of Mr. Forster, and for that ob- ject proceeded through Hawick and Jedburgh, over the border to Rothbury, where, on the 19th, he was joined by " the handful of Northumberland fox -hunters," as Sir Walter Scott contemptuously calls them.f From thence the combined body, being apprised of Lord Mar's having sent Brigadier Macintosh and a reinforcement to their aid, and of his appointing Kelso as the place of junction, directed their march to that town. The expedition of Brigadier Macintosh had been planned even before Mar received intelligence of the Northumbrian insurrection. I have already had occasion to notice his ruinous procrastination in lingering at Perth, and not attacking, as he might, and defeating, as he must, the scanty numbers of Argyle. Instead of such judicious boldness, he began to weave a complicated web of strata- * " He was of a singular good temper, and too calm and mild to ' be qualified for such a post, being plain both in his dress and in " his address." (Patten's Hist. p. 52.) This is the first time, I believe, that fine clothes have been reckoned amongst the requisites for a good General. f Note to Sinclair's MS. ad fin. VOL. i. M 162 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. V gems, and designed, in his own phrase, to enclose the Duke " in a hose-net " at Stirling. For this purpose he had already despatched to his right a body under General Gordon to seize Inverary, keep the Campbells from rising, and then descend upon the English army from the west. On his left he wished to affect a similar diversion, by sending another detachment across the Frith of Forth, and threatening Argyle from the rear. The soldiers selected by Mar for this latter service were picked men, chiefly from the clan Macintosh, and the regiments of Lords Nairn, Strathmore, and Charles Murray : they amounted to nearly 2000, and their command was in- trusted to Brigadier Macintosh of Borlum*, a veteran of very great experience, zeal, and intrepidity. It was no <-asy matter to cross the Frith in safety, there being then three English men-of-war at hand, to guard against any such attempt. But in hopes of mis-directing their atten- tion, another detachment of 500 men was marched to Burntisland, and made apparent preparations for effecting a passage at that place. The consequence was, that the men-of-war immediately sailed to that point to intercept them, if they attempted to come over. No sooner was the enemy thus engaged, than Macintosh, having ob- tained some open boats at Crail, Pittenweem, and Elie (small ports twenty miles to the eastward), embarked his men secretly at night, and put to sea. Next morning, the first object descried by the English seamen was the fleet of boats already half way over the channel. They attempted to give chase ; but wind and tide being, as Macintosh had calculated, both against them, they could only send their boats in pursuit, and only capture one of the enemy's. Forty insurgents were thus taken prisoners and conveyed to Leith, where they were secured in the gaol ; of the others, two or three hundred, with the Earl of Strathmore, were stranded on the islet of May ; but the remainder, to the number of 1600, safely reached the main land at the ports of Aberlady and North Berwick. The local authorities at Edinburgh stood aghast at an Borlum was the name of the Brigadier's estate (Chambere's Rebell. p. 217.) ; and Mr. Hogg is mistaken in calling it Borland, after A mall place in Perthshire. (Jacobite Relics, p. 151. ed. 1819.1 1715. BRIGADIER MACINTOSH. 163 enterprise so dexterous and so daring. Their city was by no means prepared against an attack ; but they had in their Provost, Sir George Warrender, an active and undaunted chief. An express was immediately sent to Argyle, entreating his assistance ; and measures were taken to barricade the gates, to provide arms, and to enlbt volunteers. Brigadier Macintosh had previously forired no design against Edinburgh, nor was any such autl-orised by his instructions; but, hearing of the public consternation and the defenceless state of the city, and believing this great prize to be within his grasp, he de- termined to push forward and seize it. Accordingly, having stopped at Haddington one night to refresh his meu, he, on the 14th of October, advanced against the capital; and in the evening he reached a place called Jock's Lodge, within a mile of Edinburgh. Here he learnt that the Duke of Argyle was every moment ex- pected, and that a considerable number of the citizens had taken arms. He therefore thought it expedient to pause in his progress, and turned aside towards Leith, where he threw open the gaol, and released the forty prisoners captured in their passage. From thence late the same night, he crossed to North Leith, and took up his quarters in the citadel. The citadel of Leith was a square fort with four demi- bastions, and a dry ditch around it, built in the time of Cromwell, but since in a great measure dismantled. It afforded, however, to Macintosh no contemptible position for defence ; and during the night, he obtained from the government stores at the Custom-house a large quantity of meal, brandy, and other articles of provision ; he took eight pieces of cannon from the vessels in the harbour to mount upon his ramparts, and he supplied the place of gates by hasty barricades of wood; so that the next morning found him ready, if required, to stand a siege. On the other side, the Duke of Argyle had answered the call of the Provost with remarkable promptitude and judgment. He took with him two or three hundred dragoons, and about as many foot, whom he mounted on country horses, and, by dint of great expedition, he came in sight of Edinburgh a few hours after Macintosh, and entered the city at 10 o'clock that night. Being X 2 164 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. T. joined next morning by the horse militia of the neigh- bouring district, and also by the city guard and volun- teers, he found himself at the head of about 1200 men ; with which force he marched to North Leith ; and coming before the citadel, sent forward a messenger with a summons to surrender, and a threat, that, if compelled to use force, he would give no quarter. A Highland gentleman, the Laird of Kinnachin, ap- peared upon the ramparts to answer this summons. ' Surrender," he said, " was a word they did not under- stand, and he hoped never would. Quarter they were determined neither to take nor to give. As for an assault, if his Grace were prepared to give, they were ' no less prepared to receive it." Argyle was, in fact, by no means able to execute his threat. He dismounted, and deliberately walked round the citadel, surveying it both on the land and sea side ; but finding no vulnerable point, he determined to post- pone the attack till next morning, when he expected the aid of some artillery ; and for that day accordingly he inarched back with his force to Edinburgh. But it was now apparent to Macintosh that the arrival of this force from Stirling had blighted his hopes of reducing the city. On the contrary, it was far more probable that he himself would be taken, so soon as artillery was brought against him. Moreover, he felt that acting as he did against his instructions he was liable to a heavy responsibility, and could only escape the most severe censure by the most splendid success. On these grounds he determined to resume his original plan, to steal forth from the citadel of Leith that night, and direct his march to the south of Scotland. Having thus resolved, Macintosh sent a boat over the Frith, to inform Mar of his designs ; and, as the vessel left the shore, he directed a shot to be fired after it ; by which stratagem, he deceived the crews of the English men-of-war, who supposed the boat to belong to one of their friends, and made no attempt to intercept it. When night had completely set in, Macintosh silently marched from the citadel, proceeding along the beach, and across the head of the pier, where his men were knee deep in water. He entered Musselburgh before midnight, and 1715. MACINTOSH RETREATS. 165 'arly on Sunday, the 16th, he arrived at Seton Palace the seat of their partisan, the Earl of Wintoun, about seven miles from Edinburgh*, where he availed himself of a very strong garden wall as an intrenchment, and prepared for a vigorous defence in case of pursuit from Argyle. Meanwhile, Lord Mar had been rejoined by Lord Strath- more and the troops stranded in the Isle of May, who, unable to fulfil their original destination, had found an opportunity of sailing back to Fife. The insurgent gene- ral had also received early tidings of the deviation of Macintosh from his instructions, and of the departure of Argyle from Stirling. He perceived that the only diver- sion which he could make in behalf of his lieutenant was by marching forwards with his army towards Stirling, since thus he might probably draw the Duke from Edin- burgh, and rescue Macintosh from danger. If, on the other hand, Argyle should remain absent, it might then be easy for Mar to disperse the remaining English troops, and effect the passage of the Forth. With these views, he immediately put his army in motion. Startled at his approach, General Whitham, who was second in command at Stirling, immediately despatched a pressing letter to Argyle, entreating him to return as soon as possible with his detachment. This express reached the Duke on the night of Sunday, the 16th. He had already been apprised of the new position of the insurgents at Seton House, and had deter- mined to assail them the next day. But the danger of Stirling, and of his whole army, overbore every other * Seton House had some time before been forcibly entered and rifled by the Lothian militia. Lord Wintoun, in his answer to the articles of impeachment against him (Jan. 23. 1716), ascribes their conduct entirely to " private pique and revenge. The most sacred ' places," he adds, " did not escape their fury and resentment : they " broke into his (Roman Catholic) chapel, defaced the monuments of " his ancestors, took up the stones of their sepulchres, thnist irons " through their bodies, and treated them in a most barbarous, inhu- " man, and unchristian-like manner !" (Parl. Hist. vol. vii. p. 280.) I wish that I were able to contradict this disgraceful charge. Lord Wintoun had not at that time taken arms against the government : he was living peaceably in his own house ; so that there was no pretext, but his religion, for such outrages. M 3 166 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. V. consideration, and he hastily quitted Edinburgh on Mon- day morning, with nearly all the forces he had brought, and thus, by a singular combination of events, whilst Macintosh seemed to run from Argyle, Argyle, on his part, seemed to run from Macintosh. The activity and judgment of the Duke deserve, however, the highest praise on this occasion ; and by his timely retreat he saved Stir- ling, as by his timely coming he had saved Edinburgh. At four o'clock that afternoon Mar had already reached Dumblane, six miles from the English camp, with 4000 men, and an equal number following at a short distance in the rear ; and nothing could have prevented his onset but Argyle's arrival nor ought that. The insurgent general should undoubtedly have given battle at a time when his enemy's force was so much less than he could hope again to find it ; yet he preferred the timid resolu- tion of turning round and marching back to Perth with- out striking a blow, alleging as excuses that the country fcbout Dumblane was too exhausted to supply him with provisions ; that he could not leave the north exposed to the incursions of Lord Sutherland ; that he had not yet received all the reinforcements he was promised. The truth is, as William the Third observes in one of his letters, that " whenever there is an unwillingness to do " any thing, reasons against it are easily found to prove " that impossible which is not so."* Macintosh, meanwhile, remained two days at Seton House, expecting an attack from Argyle. Had he known of that General's departure, he might, perhaps, have resumed his designs against Edinburgh, although the number of volunteers and Militia now assembled could scarcely have admitted of his success. A party of these, which had sallied forth under Lords Rothes and Torphi- chen, deprived him, however, of all intelligence as to the state of the city ; and on the 19th he began his march, struck across the wilds of Lammermoor, and on the 22d joined the southern insurgents at Kelso. The combined furce was then about 2000 men, namely, 1400 foot under Macintosh, and 600 Northumbrian and Dumfries-shire horsemen under Lord Kenmure and Mr. Forster. * Letter to the Duke of Shrewsbury, dated August 30. 1694, and printed in the Shrewsbury Correspondence. 1715. MACINTOSH JOINS KENMURE. 161 Two plans were now open for the adoption of thia army. First, to march southwards and engage General Carpenter, an officer of great merit, second in command at the battles of Almenara and Zaragoza and at th^ defence of Brihuega, and high in Stanhope's confidenct, who had now been sent as the military chief to New- castle, and who was advancing at the head of about 90O cavalry. As these were newly levied, and very raw soldiers, there appeared a reasonable prospect of d( feating them with more than twice the number of irregular troops, and such a victory would have cast no small lustre on the rebel arms. The second plan was to march northwards to take Argyle in the rear, so as to co- operate with an attack of Lord Mar in front. Either of these plans, if decidedly pursued, seemed to promise great advantages ; but the difference of opinions as to their comparative merit precluded both. The Scotch officers refused to enter England, the English were deter- mined to advance no further in Scotland. Under these circumstances, they agreed upon a miserable compromise. They determined to march neither against Carpenter nor against Argyle, but to proceed along the range of the Cheviots, and to keep at nearly the same distance from the Border a senseless half-measure, which failed as much as half-measures commonly do. The leading of- ficers, on this occasion, instead of forming a rational and deliberative body, seemed rather to resemble an inani- mate mass, which, when drawn by equal forces in dif- ferent directions, naturally takes an intermediate course. One of the first results of their folly was, that Car- penter and his dragoons falling into their track, and following in their rear, gave to their marrh the appear- ance of a flight. The disputes amongst themselves were also kept alive by the want of a final decision, and daily grew louder. On one occasion the English even threat- ened to surround the Highlanders, and compel them to march, but the mountaineers merely cocked their pistols, and calmly observed, that if they were to be made a sacrifice, they were determined at least that it should be in their own country. It was with great difficulty that this quarrel was hushed. At length, having reached Langholm, at no great distance from the Irish Channel, M 4 168 HISTORY OP ENGLAND. CHAP. V. and being deterred from a project they had formed of investing Dumfries, it became necessary for them to de- termine their further movements ; and after a long alter- cation, they finally resolved upon an invasion of Lan- cashire, where they had good grounds to expect the rising and junction of the Roman Catholic gentry. Macintosh entered heartily into the scheme, but was unable to prevail upon all his followers ; and a detach- ment of 500, disregarding his orders, marched away to the northward by themselves. The remaining body of the insurgents entered Eng- land on the 1st of November, and took up their quarters for that night at Brampton, a small town in Cumberland, where Mr. Forster opened a commission which he had received during the march from Lord Mar, authorising him to act as their General in England. Next day they proceeded to Penrith. The Posse Comitatus had been called out to oppose them : it was headed by the Bishop of Carlisle and Lord Lonsdale *, and amounted to above 10,000; but these ignorant men, having formed to them- selves a dreadful idea of the insurgents, were seized with a panic terror at their approach, and dispersed in all directions. A great number of horses and of prisoners were taken ; but the latter, being of far less value to the insurgents than the former, were immediately released. From Penrith they pursued their march through Appleby and Kendal to Kirby Lonsdale, every where proclaiming the Pretender, and levying the public money. They received no assistance from the leading Catholics in Cumberland and Westmoreland ; most of them, such as Mr. Howard of Corby, and Mr. Curwen of Workington, having been previously secured by the government in Carlisle Castle. At Kirby, however, Mr. Forster was joined by some of the Roman Catholic gentlemen of Lancashire ; and they now entered that county, directing their march upon the town of the same name. Lancaster was then occupied by the notorious Colonel Chartres, who wished to defend the place by blowing up the * This bishop was Dr. William Nicholson. Lord Lonsdale was the third and last Viscount of the first creation. He died unmarried in 1750. He is said, in Collins's Peerage, to have been "a great " patriot, and a Lord of tht bedchamber," a happy combination ! 1715. MARCH INTO ENGLAND. 169 bridge over the Loyne, and preventing the enemy's passage; but this being opposed by the inhabitants, he retired, and the rebels entered without hindrance. They had here the satisfaction to release several of their friends imprisoned in the county gaol, especially one Thomas Syddal, who had headed a mob at Manchester in pulling down a meeting house. On the 9th they pushed forward to Preston, from whence Stanhope's regiment of dragoons, and one of Militia, withdrew on their approach. The insurgents received at this place a very large acces- sion of force, being joined by nearly all the Roman Catholic gentry of the district, with their servants and tenantry, to the number of about 1200.* Most of these, however, were very imperfectly armed ; some had swords and no muskets, others had muskets and no swords ; many had no other weapons than pitchforks, and none had any notion of discipline, so that this rabble might be considered an incumbrance rather than a succour; and thus Preston, instead of affording new energy to the English rebels, became, as we shall presently find, the term of their inglorious career. General Carpenter, on learning that the rebels were in full march into England, had also crossed the border, and hastened by forced marches to Newcastle and Dur- ham, from whence he combined his movements with General Wills, an officer who had served with distinction in the Spanish campaigns, and who had now been sent by the Government to command in the north-west. The Jacobites had certainly cause to lament that their friends should, during the last year, have raised so many riots in Lancashire, more troops having accordingly been sent to that quarter than would otherwise have been the case. Wills had at his disposal Wynne's, Pitt's, Stan- hope's, Honey wood's, Munden's, and Dormer's regiments of cavalry ; consisting, for the most part, of newly levied men, but comprising good and experienced officers. These forces were assembled by Wills first at Manchester, * Lancashire was very strongly Jacobite. Lord Sunderland, in 1719, speaks of one Mr. Crisp, a gentleman of estate there, who had acted with so much zeal for the Government during the Rebellion, that (what does the reader suppose ?) " he has never been ab'e to live " in the country since ! ' See Appendix to vol. ii. 170 HISTORY OP ENGLAND. CHAP. V. and more completely at Wigan, to which Stanhopes regiment had retired from Preston, and to which Wills marched on the llth. Having there received intelligence that Carpenter was advancing from the opposite quarter, and would be ready to take the rebels in flank, he deter- mined to set his own troops in movement the next morn- ing. It was on the evening of the 1 1th that Forster first became aware of Wills's approach. Disheartened and confounded, that incapable chief, instead of giving his orders or summoning a council, only retired to bed ; and it was not till roused by Lord Kenmure and other officers from his unseasonable slumbers that he directed any measures for defence. Preston was a place whose natural advantages might have seemed to insure an obstinate resistance, did not resistance, as all history shows, depend infinitely more on the spirit of the defenders than on the strength of the ground. Even an open town like Zaragoza becomes a citadel when garrisoned by Aragonese ; even the triple ramparts of Gaeta are of no avail with Neapolitans upon them ! In front of Preston was a bridge over the Ribble, where a handful of resolute men might have stood their ground against an army. From this bridge to the town (a distance of about half a mile) the road ran through a hollow between two steep banks. This was the place where, in 1648, Oliver Cromwell had encountered such stout resistance from the Royalists, who are said to have rolled down large stones from the heights upon him and his men ; one of these stones coming so near him, that he could only escape by making his horse leap into a quicksand.* But Forster took no advantage of this pass. He confined his measures to Preston itself, sta- tioned his men in the centre of the town, and drew barricades along the principal streets. So evident to a military eye was the importance of the bridge over the Ribble, that when Wills, on the 12th, reached that point, and found it undefended, he came to the conclusion that the rebels must have retired from * Patten's History, p. 99. We may observe, however, that no men- tion of this mode of resistance is made by Clarendon (Hist. vol. vi. y 74. ed. Oxf. 1826), nor by Cromwell himself in his official despatch (Rushworth's Coll. vol. vii. p. 1237.) 1715. SURRENDER AT PRESTON. 171 Preston, and were returning to Scotland. As he ap- proached the town, however, and found the enemy ready to maintain it, he prepared for an immediate onset. Under his direction two of the barricades were gallantly charged by separate divisions, but their intrepid attack was met with equal courage. A destructive fire was poured upon them, not only from the barricades, but from the neighbouring houses, and they had few oppor- tunities to retaliate upon their invisible assailants. When the night came on they withdrew, having suffered consi- derable loss, and made little impression. Early next morning General Carpenter arrived with some of his cavalry ; but even after this junction the King's troops, according to Marshal Berwick's statement, did not exceed 1000 men.* But whether or not able to overpower Mr. Forster, they were enough to terrify him. Quite dis- heartened, he, without consulting several of his principal officers, sent Colonel Oxburgh to propose a capitulation. Oxburgh found Wills by no means inclined to treat ; the General saying that he would not enter into terms with rebels ; that they had already killed many of his Majesty's subjects, and must expect to undergo a similar fate. After many entreaties he at last relented, so far as to say, " that " if the rebels would lay down their arms, and surrender " at discretion, he would protect them from being cut to " pieces by the soldiers until further orders from the " Government." f The news of this proposal filled many of the insurgents with the highest indignation. " Had Mr. Forster," says an eye-witness, " appeared in the streets, he would have " been slain, though he had had a hundred lives." The Highlanders, especially, almost rose in mutiny ; wishing to rush upon the King's troops sword in hand, and cut their way through them to their native country ; but the chiefs, divided amongst themselves, perceived that it was too late for an enterprise which could only have been accomplished by a hearty and combined determination. * Mem. de Berwick, vol. ii. p. 1 62. His short sketch of this re- bellion, and his account of numbers on other occasions, are remarkably accurate. He had, of course, the best sources of information. f See Wills's evidence at Lord Wintoun's tria) HowelTs State Trials, vol. xv. p. 854. 172 HISTORY OF EXGLAXn. CHAP V. They resolved to yield to their fate, gave up Lord Der- wentwater and Colonel Macintosh* as hostages, and induced their followers to lay down their arms. Amongst the captives were Lords Derwentwater, Widdrington, Nithisdale, Wintoun, Carnwath, Kenmure, Nairn, and Charles Murray ; and members of the ancient northern families of Ord, Beaumont, Thornton, Clavering, Patten, Gascoigne, Standish, Swinburne, and Shafto. The total number taken was only 1400; a number so unequal to the previous computation as to show that many above all, no doubt, the Lancashire peasants had either es- caped from the town, or disguised their persons in it. Seventeen of their men had been killed in the defence ; of the King's troops seventy, and as many wounded. Thus ingloriously ended the English insurrection ! Thus helpless are even the bravest men when without an able one ! Another illustration of this truth was given in Scot- land on the very day of the surrender of Preston. Mar had continued to linger at Perth even beyond the com- mencement of November, whereas a true general might have been master of Scotland six weeks before. It is well observed by Sir Walter Scott, that, " with a far less ' force than Mar had at his disposal, Montrose gained ' eight victories and overran Scotland ; with fewer num- ' bers of Highlanders, Dundee gained the battle of Kil- ' liecrankie ; and with about half the troops assembled ' at Perth, Charles Edward, in 1745, marched as far as ' Derby, and gained two victories over regular troops. ' But in 1715, by one of those misfortunes which dogged ' the House of Stuart since the days of Robert the Second, ' they wanted a man of military talent just at the time ' when they possessed an unusual quantity of military ' means." f During this senseless delay, the force of Argyle at Stirling had been more than doubled by re- inforcements from Ireland ; for one amongst the many errors of the Jacobites, both in 1715 and 1745, appears to have been their neglect of the sister island ; probably because they considered it too remote to bear very power- * This person is confounded by Mr. Chambers (Hist. p. 281.) with the Brigadier. See the evidence at Lord Wintoun's trial. f Note to Sinclair's MS. ad fin. 1715. BATTLE OI SHERIFFMUIR. 173 fully on a conflict for the Crown of England , but their inactivity in a country where they had so many partisans enabled its government to dispose of the troops which must otherwise have been left for its defence. Several regiments landing from Ireland hastened to the standards of Argyle, and raised his army to 3300 men, of whom 1200 were cavalry, so that it seemed probable this occa- sion would again confirm the old proverb "Forth bri- " dies the wild Highlaudman." On the 10th of November, Mar, at length starting from his lethargy, marched from Perth with all his bag- gage, and provisions for twelve days. Next morning he was joined at Auchterarder by General Gordon and some of the western clans *, and the combined body amounted to upwards of 10,000 men, but presented a very motley appearance ; gentlemen and their servants on good horses, equipped with swords and pistols ; volunteers from the towns on foot ; Lowland peasants with arms slung over their plain grey clothes ; Highland chiefs and DUNNIE WASSAILS in their own romantic garb ; and a train of half-naked mountaineers ; " and upon the whole," says Sinclair, " though we had more men, the Duke's army " had more firearms in a condition to fire."f On the 12th, the troops came to Ardoch, within eleven miles of Stirling ; and Argyle, learning their approach, did not hesitate to give them battle, but marched forward and occupied the town of Dumblane. Early next morning, Sunday the 13th, both armies advanced against each other. The ground which now lay between them had been the former place of meeting for the Militia of the sheriffdom of Menteith, and thence called the Sheriifmuir ; it was swelling and uneven, but well suited to evolutions of cavalry. Even before quit- ting Stirling, Argyle, anxious to avail himself of his superiority in horse, had resolved to meet the enemy, if possible, at that very spot. He now ranged his troops in battle-order, taking to himself the command of the * Gordon had not been very snce.:ssfnl in his expedition to Arjryle- shirc. Lord Isla, brother to the Duke, had thrown himself into Inverary, and held out the place with great bravery. Sir W. Scott's note to Sinclair, p. 699. f Memoirs, p. 795. 174 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. V. right, giving the left to General Whitham, and the centre to General Wightman. On the other side, the insurgents displayed equal alacrity ; and the brave spirit of the Highlanders, so long curbed by the timid counsels of Mar, now burst forth free and unrestrained, like a moun- tain eagle from its cage. When the Earl summoned his principal officers around him, and proposed to them the alternative of a battle or a retreat, his voice was drowned by impatient cries of Fight ! Fight ! "and we were no sooner got to our posts," says one of them, " than a huzza began, with tossing up of hats and bonnets, and ' ran through our whole army on the hearing we had resolved to fight. No man who had a drop of Scots' blood in him, but must have been elevated to see the cheerfulness of his countrymen on that occasion."* Mar himself took post at the head of the clans opposite the left wing of the Royal troops, and endeavoured to outflank them by his superiority of numbers. It was, however, on the other wing that the battle began. The insurgents in that quarter opened against Argyle a fire so simultaneous and so well sustained as to extort the praises of even their practised opponents ; it was such as few regular forces could have surpassed, and still fewer have stood. But the Duke was not inactive. His expe- rienced eye turned to a morass on his right : it was usually impassable ; but he calculated the effects of the last night's frost, and commanded Major Cathcart to lead a squadron over the hardened level, and strike upon the enemy in flank. Meanwhile he put himself at the head of his remaining horse, and, watching the favourable moment, charged the rebels at once both in front and side. Discipline carried the day ; the rebels were beaten back at the point of the sword. They made, however, a most resolute resistance, and, in their retreat upon the river Allan, less than three miles distant, they made above ten attempts to stop and rally. Argyle, on his part, be- haved with no less humanity than courage : he offered * Sinclair's MS. p. 805. General Wightman says in his official despatch, " I must do the enemy the justice to sy, I never saw " regular troops more exactly drawn up in line of battle, and that iu " a moment, and their officers behaved with all the gallantry ima- " ginable," 1715. BATTLE OF SHEUIFFMU1R. 175 quarter to all those he recognised ; and, on one occasion, was seen to parry three strokes which one of his dragoons had aimed at a wounded gentleman. At length, after an obstinate fight of two or three hours, the Duke succeeded in forcing the enemy over the Allan, a great number being drowned in the stream ; but meanwhile he had altogether lost sight of the rest of his army, where affairs had assumed a very different appearance. The clans commanded by Lord Mar had opened their fire upon the Royalists left wing. The first fire of the Eng- lish in return mortally wounded the Chief of Clanranald, a gallant veteran who had served abroad under Marshal Berwick, and who is remembered in the Highlands to this day for his feudal state and splendour. For a moment the fall of this revered leader damped the courage of the clans. But Glengarry *, starting from the ranks, and throwing his bonnet into the air, " Revenge ! Revenge ! '' he cried in Gaelic ; " to-day for revenge, and to-morrow foi " mourning ! " Fired at these quickening words, the Highlanders rushed forward ; in another moment they were upon amongst the enemy, thrusting aside the bayonets with their targets, and by their broadswords spreading destruction and what with Englishmen is still more difficult terror through the hostile ranks. In a few minutes the whole of Argyle's left wing was com- pletely routed. General Whitham fled headlong from the field, and never stopped till he found himself in the streets of Stirling. Nor do terrified generals ever want followers. A part of the Royal centre gave way with their left wing, and had these been vigorously charged, the whole might have been scattered ; but this oppor- tunity being neglected, chiefly from the obstinacy and waywardness of the Master of Sinclair, General Wight- man drew off three regiments of foot to the right, and then inarched forward to rejoin Argyle. The two armies were now in a very strange situation, each having defeated the left wing of the other. Argyle had had no communication with the main body of his forces ; an aide-de-camp whom he sent for that purpose * This was the same chief who had carried the Royal Standard at the battle of Killiecrankie. He died in 1724. Scott's uote to Sinclair, p. 292. 176 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. V. having fallen as he passed along the lines ; and it was afterwards ironically said of the Duke by his enemies, that he had strictly fulfilled the Christian precept of not letting his left hand know what his right was doing. On being joined, however, by the three regiments of foot and learning the disaster of the rest, he with an un- daunted spirit *, immediately drew together his weary soldiers, and led them back to the field of battle. Lord Mar, on his part, had driven the fugitives before him as far as Corntown, a village near Stirling, when he heard of the Duke's success on the other wing. At this intel- ligence he stopped short, ranged his men in some order, and marched back to the Sheriffmuir, Avhere, fearful of ambuscade or surprise, he took up his position on some rising ground. From thence he soon beheld the harassed forces of Argyle on their return, slowly toiling along the road, at the bottom of the hill. So scanty was their number, and so exhausted their strength, that a single charge down-hill must have, in all probability, destroyed them. Argyle himself fully expecting an attack, ranged his men behind some enclosures and mud walls, placed two cannon in his front, and steadily awaited the danger. In this position both armies remained for some time, gazing at each other ; but the energy of Mar utterly failed him at this decisive crisis. Instead of crying Forwards, he gave orders for a retreat in the opposite direction ; and the Duke, hearing the sound of the re- ceding bagpipes, quietly pursued his march to Dumblane, where he fixed his quarters for the night. It was on this occasion that Gordon of Glenbucket, one of the insurgent Highlanders, his heart swelling at the torpor of his gene- ral, made the celebrated exclamation, " Oh, for an hour " of Dundee !"f * One of his officers observing to him that he much feared his Grace had not won a complete victory, Argyle answered in two lines of an old Scotch song : " If it was na weel bobbit, weel bobbit, weel bobbit, " If it was na weel bobbit, we'll bobb it again." f Scott's note to Sinclair's MS. p. 843. If they had but thrown " down stones," says Sir Walter, " they might have disordered " Argyle's troops." General Wightman himself owns in his official despatch (Nov. 14. 1715), "If they had had either courage or con- 1715. LOSS OF BOTH ARMIES. 177 Thus ended the desultory and half-fought battle of Sheriffmuir. Both parties eagerly claimed the honour of a victory in their despatches, thanksgivings, and ser- mons* ; but the Duke showed the better right to it, by re-appearing on the field of battle the next morning with his guard, while Mar never came again within several miles of it. Argyle might also boast of the usual tro- phies of success having captured four pieces of cannon, thirteen stand of colours, and three standards, including the Royal one, called " the Restoration." f The loss of men sustained by the two armies bore a more equal pro- portion. The insurgents are supposed to have had 700 killed, including the young Earl of Strathmore J , and other persons of note ; nearly 200, amongst them Lord Strathallan, were sent prisoners to Stirling ; and many more had been taken, but were rescued in the course of the engagement ; as was the case, for instance, with the Earl of Panmure, and Mr. Robertson of Strowan. The Duke's army had nearly 200 killed, as many wounded, and scarcely fewer taken ; the most eminent among the last being the Earl of Forfar and Colonel Lawrence. It must also be observed, that several of the chiefs and soldiers in Mar's army were, at best, but lukewarm in the cause, and inefficient in the conflict. According to the Master of Sinclair's own avowal, it appears that he, Lord Huntly, and several others, were desirous, even before the battle, of treating with Argyle and laying down their arms. From such men, even though personally brave, " duct, they might have entirely destroyed my body of foot ; but it " pleased God to the contrary." * It may be observed that a controversial war of sermons was waged at this period between both camps. The party of the esta- blished Government were particularly pleased with a text which they thought happily reflected on the titles of James the Seventh, and of the Pretender as James the Eighth, of Scotland : M And the beast " that was and is not, even he is the Eiyhth, and is of the Seven, " and goeth into perdition." Rev. xvii. 11. f Woodrow Letters, MS., as quoted in Chambers's History. j " He was taken and murdered by a dragoon ; and it may be " said of his fate, that a mill-stone crushed a brilliant." Sinclair's MS. p. 859. Sinclair's MS. p. 790. Soon afterwards Sinclair and Lord Rollo secretly offered to go over with the whole Fife squadron I a fact VOL. I. N 1 78 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. V. no great exertions could be expected. Sinclair, as I have already mentioned, refused to charge. The Marquis of Huntly made what historians, when speaking of great men, usually call " a prudent retreat." Of Lord Sea- forth's common Highlanders, we are told, without cir- cumlocution, that they "ran off." Robert MacGregor, afterwards so well known under his nickname of Rob Roy, showed hardly more spirit : when he received orders to advance, he merely said to the messenger, " If they " cannot do it without me, they shall not do it with me." The Stuarts of Appin and the Camerons of Lochiel, two of the bravest clans of the Highlands, retired without striking a blow. The latter were commanded by the son* of Sir Evan Dhu, the renowned chieftain who had fought against Cromwell, and who was still alive in 1715, but incapable, from his great age, of taking the field ; and it is said that, on returning home, the clan contrived to keep the event of the battle a secret from their aged chieftain ashamed to make him feel that the Camerons had declined from the spirit of their fathers. which Sinclair takes care to suppress in his Memoirs, but which appears from Lord Townshend's despatch of Jan. 10. 1716. See Appendix, vol. ii. * This son, John Cameron, was father of Donald, of whom Sir Walter Scott says that " he united all the accomplishments of a " gentleman and scholar with the courage and high spirit of a High- " land chief." Notes to Sinclair, p. 292. Donald was the hero of Mr. Campbell's poem, " Lochiel ;" and will be frequently mentioned in my narrative of " the 45." 1715. LORD MAR'S NEGOTIATIONS. 179 CHAPTER VL AFTER the battle of Sheriffmuir, the Duke of Argyle re- turned to his former camp at Stirling, satisfied at having arrested the progress of the insurgents, and maintained the passage of the Forth. It was still in the power of Lord Mar to have renewed the conflict, and such was the wish of many of his officers. " If we have not yet gained " a victory," said General Hamilton, " we ought to fight " Argyle once a week till we make it one." But more timid counsels prevailed, and Mar, leading back his troops to Perth, relapsed into his former inactivity. The time when he might have acted with effect was, indeed, already flown. It was observed at the time, by even the detractors of Argyle's military reputation, that whether or not Sheriffmuir were a victory for the Duke, it was at least a victory for the King. The clans speedily began to forsake the standards of Mar, and to go home ; some in order to secure their plunder, others from shame at their late misconduct ; some from having quarrelled with their Lowland allies, others because disheartened at the General's temporising policy. News also reached head-quarters that Lord Sutherland was advancing at the head of the Monroes, the Mack ays, and other Whig clans, and that Inverness had been retaken from the insur- gent garrison by Forbes of Culloden and Simon Fraser of Lovat.* This intelligence afforded to Lords Huntly and Seaforth a plausible pretext, which they had for some time desired, of withdrawing from the enterprise. " It was their duty," they said, " to cover their own "country;" and they marched with all their retainers * This was the famous may we not say the infamous ? Lord Lovat., executed in 1745. His deceit and treachery are still pro- verbial in the Highlands. He had originally joined the insurgents of 1715, but now turned against them with the view of establishing his pretensions as head of the family against the claims of a Jacobite heiress. Chambers's History, p. 283. n 2 ISO HISTORY OF ENGLAlfD. CHAP. VI. trom the camp ; not, however, without many promises of a speedy return. Through these and similar causes, Lord Mar's army dwindled to half its original numbers : nor was the rem- nant firm and compact. There were not a few, who, hopeless of success apprised of the surrender at Pres- ton having no tidings whatever of the Chevalier and believing him, therefore, to be a prisoner in England were inclined to lay down their arms if they could obtain honourable terms. Mar endeavoured, on the contrary, to persuade them to sign a declaration, which should en- gage them to stand by the cause and by each other. At length, however, to prevent private and separate treaties, lie was compelled to promise that he would ascertain how far Argyle might be inclined to treat, or what terms he might be prepared to offer. For this overture Mar em- ployed two channels of communication: first, the Countess of Murray, the Duke's aunt ; and secondly, Colonel Law- rence, one of the prisoners at Sheriffniuir, who was now released on parole.* The Duke sent a very courteous answer, declaring that his instructions only enabled him to treat with individuals, and not with the whole body, but that he would immediately apply for more extended ] lowers. According to this promise, he sent his commis- sion to London for enlargement. The Ministers, however, were by no means inclined to come into his views. They had averted Ormond's insurrection ; they had crushed Forster's ; they had, therefore, the best part of their troops at their disposal, and were determined not to treat on a footing of equality with the rebels who still re- mained in arms, wishing not merely to lop the growth, * I have compared Sinclair's Memoirs, p. 1086., with Lord Mar's Journal from France ; but neither of these is much to be trusted on this point the former being a philippic against Mar, and the latter his apology. In the collection of original papers (p. 114.) is given a most minute report to Lord Mar from a trumpet, John Maclean, sent to Stirling on a previous message. He especially dwells on the good cheer he received, which to him was probably not the least interesting part of the business : "A sentry brought me my dinner, namely, pies, " roast beef, and hens, and a bottle of wine ; and in the afternoon ' another bottle of wine, and at night a third Mr. Kinears showed me his embroidered vest, and asked me if I saw any gentle- " men at Perth with a vest such as he wore ? I said a thousand," &c. 1715. JAMES LANDS AT PKTEIttiEAD. 181 but to pluck out the roots, of the rebellion Some re- ports had already reached them as to Argyle's doubtful and temporising views ; and so far from enlarging his commission, they would not even return his old one. Moreover, the 6000 Dutch troops for whom they had applied had landed about the middle of November, and were already in full march to Scotland. On the arrival of these powerful reinforcements, Argyle's army was increased in a still greater proportion than Mar's had fallen off, and he might now consider the rebels as completely in his grasp. A great fall of snow at this season, and a long continued frost, alone, he said, prevented him from marching against them. Mar re- mained at Perth only as it were by sufferance, and ha.l secretly determined, whenever Argyle should advance, to yield the town without a blow.* It was at the time that the affairs of the Chevalier bore this lowering and gloomy aspect, that he himself arrived in Scotland. I have elsewhere explained the reasons of his long delay, and shown that it was in no degree attri- butable to any want of zeal or spirit on his part. He landed at Peterhead on the 22d of December, attended by only six persons, one of whom was the Marquis of Tyne- mouth, son of the Duke of Berwick ; and the vessel that brought him was immediately sent back to France with the news of his safe arrival. He passed through Aber- deen without disclosing the secret of his rank, and pro- ceeded to Fetteresso, the principal seat of his young partisan the Earl Marischal, where he was detained for several days by his doubts as to the movements of Argyle.f Meanwhile, Lord Mar, at Perth, had no sooner been apprised of his arrival, than he took horse with the Earl Marischal, General Hamilton, and about thirty other gentlemen, and hastened forward to meet their long ex- pected Prince. Fully convinced as I am of the justice and wisdom of the Hanover Succession, and of the national miseries that must have resulted from its overthrow, I yet cannot divest myself of a feeling of reverence al- * Lord Mar's account from France ; Tindal's Hist. vol. vi. p. 492. f The Pretender to Lord Bolingbroke, Jan. 2. 1716. Stuart Papers. See Appendix. The cause publicly assigned was an ague. > 3 182 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. VI. most of partiality when I behold the unhappy grandson of Charles the First striving for the throne of his fathers, and trace his footsteps on the soil of his ancient dominion. The reception of Mar at Fetteresso was, as might be expected, highly cordial ; the Chevalier warmly acknow- ledged his past services, and created him a Duke. On the 30th, James set off from Fetteresso, and on the 4th of January he slept at Glammis Castle, the residence of the Earls of Strathmore, which he declared to be the finest gentleman's seat that he had ever seen in any country. Two days afterwards he made his public entry into Dundee on horseback ; the Earl of Mar riding on his right hand, and the Earl Marischal on his left, while nearly 300 gentlemen brought up the rear. He was hailed with loud and general acclamations, and, at the request of his friends, remained for an hour at the market- place to gratify the eager affection of the people, who thronged to kiss his hands. Continuing his progress, he, on the 8th, arrived within two miles of the army, at the Royal palace of Scone, where he established his residence, named a regular Council, and performed several other acts of state. He issued six proclamations for a general thanksgiving, in gratitude of the special and " miracu- " lous providence" shown in his safe arrival*; for prayers in churches ; for the currency of all foreign coins ; for the meeting of the Convention of Estates ; for ordering all fencible men, from sixteen to sixty, to repair to his standard ; and for his coronation on the 23d of January. " At the first news of his landing," says one of the in- surgent gentlemen at Perth, " it is impossible to express " the joy and vigour of our men. Now we hoped the day " was come, when we should live more like soldiers, and " should be led on to face our enemies, and not be moul- " dering away into nothing, attending the idle determi- " nation of a disconcerted Council."! His appearance * Collection of Original Papers, p. 1 60. f True Account of the Proceedings at Perth, by a Rebel. London, 1716, p. 15., a curious and authentic narrative. Mr. Chambers, who quotes this work, is mistaken (note, p. 332.) in ascribing it to the Master of Sinclair. If he had had an opportunity of reading Sinclair's MS. Memoirs he would have found that Sinclair had already gone northwards to Lord Huntly's ; that he was not at 1710. SCONE PALACE. 183 amongst his troops was, however, attended with mutual disappointment. He had been promised by Lord Mar a large and victorious army. They had been told that he would bring with him a numerous body of officers, and, perhaps, of men, and a large supply of money, arms, and ammunition. He now came almost alone in the midst of a dwindled and discordant multitude. On making his entry into Perth, the day after he reached Scone Palace, he expressed his wish to see " those little Kings with " their armies," as he called the chiefs and the clans ; and one of the most martial tribes of Highlanders was ac- cordingly marshalled before him. He was much pleased at the appearance and the arms of the mountaineers ; but, on inquiring how many such were in arms for him, and learning their scanty numbers, he could not conceal his feelings of concern and surprise*; and in fact, so much reduced was the insurgent army, that they could not ven- ture to disclose their weakness by the customary pageant of a general review. Nor was there any reasonable hope of speedy rein- forcements. Huntly and Seaforth, to whom James had immediately applied, were privately treating with the government for a submission ; and the unusual depth of the snow was a reason with some, and a pretext with many others, for remaining at home. Meanwhile, Argyle still continued in front, at the head of an army, now immensely superior both in numbers and in discipline, and he had already pushed his outposts along the coast of Fife, dislodged the insurgent garrisons, and cut off the supply of coal from the camp at Perth. Difficulties such as these might have baffled even the military skill of Marl borough or the heroic spirit of Montrose. Still less could they be overcome by a young and inexperienced Prince. Had James been bred a Protestant, had he come to the throne by undisputed succession, and had he ruled in tranquil times, he would certainly have been a popular monarch, from his graceful Perth during any part of these later transactions, and never saw the Chevalier in Scotland. * Mar in his previous letters had swelled his army to 1 6,000 men ; Mem. de Berwick, voL ii. p. 170. N 4 184 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. VI. manners, his mild temper, and his constant application to business. The letters of his which I have read in the Stuart and other Collections, appear to me written with remarkable ability and power of language. But he had neither that daring energy, nor that sound judgment, which might fit him for the part of leader in trying emergencies. It was once observed by Stanhope to Duboia, that if ever France should fit out an expedition against England, he only hoped, to insure its failure, that the Pretender might be placed at its head.* Natui-3 had made this Prince a quiet unenterprising man, edu- cation a bigoted Catholic, and, like most of the Princes of his race, he combined an obstinate and unreasonable pertinacity in what he had once determined, with a blind submission to favourites, sometimes unwisely chosen and always too readily obeyed.f Even at this period, the crisis of his own fate, he was so little warned by his father's as to refuse, or rather evade, giving the same promise of security to the Church of Ireland as to the Church of England, and stubbornly to withstand all the representations of Bolingbroke upon that subject !J The appearance and demeanour of the Chevalier, when in Scotland, seem to be truly described by one of the gentlemen who had taken up arms for his cause: " His " person was tall and thin, seeming to incline to be lean " rather than to fill as he grows in years. His counte- " nance was pale, yet he seems to be sanguine in his " constitution, and has something of a vivacity in his eye " that perhaps would have been more visible, if he had " not been under dejected circumstances and surrounded " with discouragements, which it must be acknowledged, w were sufficient to alter the complexion even of his soul " as well as of his body. His speech was grave, and not " very clearly expressing his thoughts, nor overmuch to " the purpose, but his words were few, and his behaviour " and temper seemed always composed. What he was * Sevelingcs, Memoires Secrets, vol. i. p. 201. f See the deliberate and reluctant opinion of one of his warmest partisans, Mr. Lockhart of Carnwath, writing in the year 1728 ; Lockhart Papers, vol. ii. p. 405. J Bolingbroke to James, Nov. 2. 1715. Appendix. See also his remarks in the letter to Wyridham, 1716 JAMES AT PERTH. 185 " in hig diversions we knew not; here was no room for " such things. It was no time for mirth. Neither can " I say I ever saw him smile I must not conceal, " that when we saw the man whom they called our King, " we found ou r selves not at all animated by his presence, " and if he was disappointed in us, we were tenfold more " so in him. We saw nothing in him that looked like " spirit. He never appeared with cheerfulness and vigour " to animate us. Our men began to despise him ; some " asked if he could speak. His countenance looked ex- " tremely heavy. He cared not to come abroad amongst " us soldiers, or to see us handle our arms or do our ex- " ercise. Some said the circumstances he found us in " dejected him ; I am sure the figure he made dejected " us ; and, had he sent us but 5000 men of good troops, " and never himself come amongst us, we had done " other things than we have now done."* The same writer adds, however, " I think, as his af- " fairs were situated, no man can say that his appear- " ing grave and composed was a token of his want of " thought, but rather of a significant anxiety, grounded " upon the prospect of his inevitable ruin." His speech to his Council, also, which was printed and circulated at the time, is marked by sense and spirit. " Whatso- " ever shall ensue," he said in conclusion, " I shall leave " my faithful subjects no room for complaint that I have " not done the utmost they could expect from me. Let " those who forget their duty, and are negligent of their " own good, be answerable for the worst that may happen. " For me it will be no new thing if I am unfortunate. " My whole life, even from my cradle, has shown a con- ' stant series of misfortunes, and I am prepared (if so it please God) to suffer the threats of my enemies and '' yours." The council held on this occasion, the 16th of January, determined upon several important measures. First, to fortify Perth, a labour which might have been and should have been completed long before ; secondly, to impede the advance of the Duke of Argyle by burning Auch- terarder, and all the other villages on the road to * True Account of the Proceedings at Perth, by a Rebel, p. 19. 186 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. VI. Stirling. It was with the utmost difficulty that the Chevalier could be brought to consent to this harsh and invidious project; a reluctant permission, was, however, at length wrung from him, and the measure accom- plished. Steps were also taken to summon the absent dans, and to obtain supplies of arms and money ; for it was one of the many misfortunes of the Jacobites at this juncture, that a vessel which was bringing them some gold from France in ingots had been stranded, and the treasure lost.* Meanwhile the government, dissatisfied at Argyle's procrastination, sent down General Cadogan, one of Maryborough's best officers, to quicken and decide his movements. Cadogan, on coming to Stirling, found the Duke, as he says, anxious to invent excuses for inaction, and labouring to discourage the troops by exaggerating the numbers of the enemy and the dangers of the service. f One of his pleas for remaining quiet was founded on the want of artillery ; but Cadogan, proceeding in person to Berwick, hastened the arrival of the expected train. Another of the Duke's objections was the extreme rigour of the season ; another the burning of the villages (for excuses are never wanting where inclination is) ; but the urgency of Cadogan over-ruled all his difficulties, real or pretended, and obliged him, on the 24th of January, to begin employing the country people in clearing away the snow, preparatory to the march of the army. The news of this intention rapidly flew to Perth, causing great perplexity amongst the chiefs, and great rejoicings amongst the men. The latter were loud and clamorous for battle ; the former sat in deliberation the whole night of the 28th, but could come to no decided resolution. " Why, what would you have us do ? " said an officer next day to one of the tumultuous parties gathered in the streets. " Do ! " cried a Highlander, " what did you call us to arms for ? Was it to run " away? What did the King come hither for? Was it " to see his people butchered by hangmen, and not strike " one stroke for their lives ? Let us die like men, and * Lord Mar's Account from France. This money was part of the loan from Spain. Mem. de Berwick, vol. ii. p. 169. f Coxe's Life of Marlborough, vol. vi. p. 334. 1716. RETREAT FROM PERTH. 187 " not like dogs ! " A gentleman from Aberdeenshire added his opinion, that they ought to take the person of their monarch out of the hands of his present timid counsellors, and then, if he were willing to die like a Prince, he should find there were ten thousand gentle- men in Scotland who were not afraid to die with him.* These sentiments were no doubt very becoming in brave subalterns ; but as certainly it behoved the generals to bear in mind the enormous disproportion of numbers and of discipline the incomplete defences of Perth and the difficulty of standing a siege the actual want of fuel and the future want of provisions the danger of a second Preston and the possibility that some of the in- surgents might be base enough to make terms with the government by giving up the Chevalier. A retreat to the northward, on the contrary, would afford further time for the chance of foreign succours, would secure the person of the Pretender, might entangle Argyle's army in the intricacies of the Highland hills, expose him to a battle on more equal terms, and deprive him of all service from his cavalry. On these grounds, we can scarcely join the Highland soldiers in condemning as pusillanimous the resolution which was finally taken of withdrawing from Perth, although I admit, there seems reason to believe, that many of the chiefs had already for some time determined to abandon the whole enterprise, to induce the Pretender to re-embark at Montrose, and the army to disperse in the Highlands. The resolution to retreat, finally formed at a Council on the night of the 29th of January, was promulgated to the army on the 30th, a day whose evil augury for the House of Stuart was observed and lamented by all pre- sent. With sullen silence, or indignant outcries, did the Highlanders prepare for their departure ; and mournful was the farewell of their friends at Perth, now about to be exposed to the vengeance of the insulted government. Early next morning the troops began to defile over the Tay, which, usually a deep and rapid river, was now a sheet of solid ice, and bore both horse and foot of the retreating army. Their march was directed along the Carse of Gowrie to Dundee. * True Account of Proceedings at Perth, p. 28. 188 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. VI. On the other hand, the English and Dutch troops did not quit Stirling till the 29th. They advanced that day to Auchterarder, one of the villages burnt by the insur gents, where they encamped all night upon the snow, a few only being partially sheltered by the blackened and roofless walls that still remained. Argyle, leading the vanguard, entered Perth about twelve hours after the last of the insurgents had left it, and, first allowing a day of rest, proceeded with a select body in their pursuit. Ca- dogan writes to Marlborough at this juncture: "The " Duke of Argyle grows so intolerably uneasy, that it is " almost impossible to live with him any longer ; he is " enraged at the success of this expedition, though he " and his creatures attribute to themselves the honour of " it. When I brought him the news of the rebels being " run from Perth, he seemed thunderstruck, and was so " visibly concerned at it, that even the foreign officers " that were in the room took notice of it Since " the rebels quitting Perth, he has sent for 500 or 600 of " his Argyleshire men, who go before the army a day's " march to take possession of the towns the enemy have " abandoned, and to plunder and destroy the country, " which enrages our soldiers, who are forbid, under pain " of death, to take the value of a farthing, though out of " the rebels' houses. Not one of these Argyle men ap- " peared whilst the rebels were in Perth, and when they " might have been of some use." * The real motives for Argyle's backwardness are not perhaps very apparent. He may have wished to spare many of the insurgents from private friendship and con- nection ; he may have been afraid lest the forfeiture of their estates should involve the loss of his own seignorial rights over some of them. It seems to me, however, still more probable, that, considering the chance of invasions from France, or insurrections in England, he was unwill- ing to act too vigorously against the Chevalier, and to cut off all hopes of future power if that party should pre- vail. Certain it is, at least, that such was the opinion * Letter from General Cadogan to the Duke of Marlborough, dated Feb. 4. 1716, and printed in Coxe ? s Memoirs. Coxe is mis- taken as to the march of the troops from Stirling ; they reached Tullibardine not on the fourth day, but on the second. 1.7 16. JAMES RE-EMBARKS. 189 entertained of his motives by the government at London ; insomuch, that, in a very short time, he was deprived of his command, and recalled to England. It is certain, also, that there was a period in Queen Anne's reign when he was thought by no means disinclined to espouse the Pretender's interests, and that in 1717 and 1718 there was on foot another project for gaining him over to that cause a project which, according to the judgment of the leading Jacobites, failed chiefly on account of Lord Mar's jealousy and James's consequent refusal to give the positive assurances required.* With all his valour, skill, and eloquence, there was never, I believe, a more fickle and selfish politician than Argyle. The insurgent army from Dundee continued its march to Montrose, where the Chevalier was pressed by his secret advisers to re-embark. For some time he turned a deaf ear to their remonstrances, and earnestly pleaded to share the fate of his friends. Every hardship, he said, every danger he was most ready to endure with the men who had sacrificed their all for his service ; and it appears that the only argument to which he finally yielded was, that it would be much more easy for these unfortunate men to obtain terms from the government in his absence than whilst he remained with them. His departure, however, was carried into effect in a manner that gave it every appearance of desertion and deceit. All reports ot any such intention were utterly denied ; his guards were ordered to parade as usual before his lodgings, and his baggage was sent forward with the main body of the army, as a pledge of his intention to follow. Having thus lulled the vigilance of his partisans, James, on the evening of the 4th of February, slipped out of a back- door, and proceeded on foot to Lord Mar's quarters, and from thence to the water-side, attended by that nobleman and by several others. They pushed from shore in a private boat, and embarked in a small French vessel, which was waiting for them in the roads, and which immediately stood out to sea. Such is the fate of those whose characters are less daring than their enterprises ! * See the details of this transaction in the Lookhart Papers, voL ii. p. 13. 190 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. VI. The Chevalier left behind him a commission appoint- ing General Gordon commander-in-chief, and giving him fuU powers to treat with the enemy ; and he also left a letter to the Duke of Argyle, with a sum of money, the remnant of his slender resources, desiring that it might be applied for the relief of the poor people whose villages he had given orders to burn ; " so that," he adds, " I " may at least have the satisfaction of having been the " destruction of none, at a time I came to free all."* It is needless to dwell upon the grief and disappoint- ment of the insurgent army after the loss of their leader. They marched towards Aberdeen, hourly growing fewer and fewer, as individuals escaped or concealed themselves in different directions ; and from Aberdeen they retired up Strathspey to the wilds of Badenoch and Lochaber. Very few fell into the hands of the enemy, partly from the remissness of Argyle's pursuit to Aberdeen, and partly from the difficulty of sending regular troops into the rug- ted and desolate tracts beyond it. On the latter point inclair has recorded a very remarkable opinion : " I remember that I once heard his Grace of Marlborough say in Flanders, that if ever he commanded against the Highlanders, he would never be at the trouble of fol- lowing them into their hills, to run the risk of ruining an army by fatigue, and giving them any occasion of advantages, when he could post himself so as to starve them if they pretended to keep together, or till, by their natural inconstancy, they separated ; after which ' every one would do his best to get terms." f In the Highlands the insurgent body finally dispersed : the com- mon men, safe in their obscurity, retiring to their private homes, whilst the gentlemen for the most part took boats in Caithness, escaped to the Orkneys, and afterwards made their way to the Continent. James himself, after a voyage of seven days, landed safely at Gravelines, and proceeded from thence to St. Germain's. On the morning after his arrival he was * The original letter is printed in Mr. Chnmbers's History, p. 312. Its existence was for some time denied by the Whig writers, who assailed the Pretender's personal character with very unjust though perhaps natural severity. f Sinclair's Memoirs, MS. p. 343. 17] 6. DISMISSAL OF BOLINGBROKE. 19J visited by Lord Bolingbroke, whom he received with much show of kindness. It was strongly urged upon him by that able Minister, that he should hasten to Bar, and take possession of his former quarters before the Duke of Lorraine had time to desire him to look out for a residence elsewhere. He might otherwise be reduced, from the want of any other asylum, to take shelter in the Papal state of Avignon, which would not only remove him to a greater distance from England, but produce a most unfavourable effect upon the Protestants of that country. James, after some days' delay, and several attempts to obtain an interview with the Regent, seemed to acquiesce in this advice ; promised Bolingbroke to set out at five the next morning; asked him to follow as soon as possible, and pressed him in his arms at parting with every appearance of confidence and cordiality. Yet at that very moment he had already decided on the dis- missal of the Minister whom he so tenderly embraced. Whether it be that he gave ear to the charge of treachery which others hurled against Bolingbroke to cover their own incapacity and want of conduct or whether he had been moved by some disrespectful expressions which Bolingbroke had uttered in a drunken sally* he took a resolution which, beyond all others, perhaps, set the seal to the ruin of his cause. Instead of posting to Lorraine, he went to a little house in the Bois de Boulogne, the residence of several intriguing female politicians, and there he had private interviews with the Spanish and Swedish Ministers, pleasing himself with an air of mys- tery and business (one of the surest symptoms of a little mind), and neglecting the only real business which he should have had at that time. Three days afterwards, Bolingbroke unexpectedly received a visit from the Duke of Ormond, who put into his hands two orders in a very laconic style, written by the Chevalier the one dismiss- ing him from his post as Secretary of State, and the other * For the charge of treachery by Mr. James Murray, and the answers by Lord Bolingbroke and his secretary Brinsdon, see Tindal's Hist. (vol. vj. p. 516.) The story of Bolingbroke's drunken ex- pressions does not, I think, rest on very certain authority ; it is related more at length in Coxe's Walpole (vol. i. p. 200. See also voL iL p. 307.). The charge of treachery is most certainly false. 192 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. VI. requiring him to deliver to the Duke the papers in his. office " all which," adds Bolingbroke, " might have " been contained in a letter-case of a moderate size. I " gave the Duke the seals, and some papers I could rea- " dily come at. Some others, and, indeed, all such as I " had not destroyed, I sent afterwards to the Chevalier, " and I took care to convey to him by a safe hand several " of his letters, which it would have been very improper " the Duke should have seen. I am surprised that he " did not reflect on the consequence of my obeying his a order literally. It depended on me to have shown his " general what an opinion the Chevalier had of his capa- " city.* I scorned the trick, and would not appear piqued, <( . when I was far from being angry." Yet, however any feeling of anger might be disavowed, the reader may easily guess that the fiery spirit of St. John glowed with the strongest resentment. He imme- diately renounced all connection with the Jacobite party ; he even made overtures to Lord Stair for his own pardon in England ; and to the Queen Mother, who sent to assure him that his dismissal had taken place without her know- ledge, and that she hoped to adjust matters, he indignantly replied that he was now a free man, and that he wished his arm might rot off if he ever again drew his sword or his pen for her son's cause ! It is scarcely possible to con- demn too much the absurd infatuation which urged the Pretender thus wantonly to cast away the ablest, perhaps the only able man in his service. On this transaction we may suspect the remarks of Bolingbroke. But we should trust the testimony of Marshal Berwick, a man of accu- rate information and scrupulous veracity, whose attach- ment to his brother was not in this case warped by any peculiar friendship for the fallen minister. " One must " have lost one's reason," he observes, " if one did not see " the enormous blunder made by King James in dismiss- " ing the only Englishman he had able to manage his * This assertion is confirmed by the letters themselves, now pre- served in the Stuart Papers. Thus, on Nov. 15. 1715, James writes, " Our good hearty Duke (Ormond) wants a good head with him. I 44 would have sent Booth, but I could not persuade him." The orders conveyed by Ormond to Buiingbroke are still amongst the Stuart Papers, and are exactly as the latter describes them. 1716. TKIALS OF 1HE PRISONERS. 193 " affairs ; for, whatever may be said by some persons of " more passion than judgment, it is admitted by all Kng- " land, that there have been few greater Ministers than " Bolingbroke. He was born with splendid talents, which ; ' had raised him at a very early age to the highest em- " ployments ; he exerted great influence over the Tory 4i party, and was in fact its soul. Could there then be a " more lamentable weakness than to rid one's self of such " a man at the very time when he was most wanted, and " when it was most desirable to make no new enemies? " If even he had been to blame, it would have been pru- " dent to have effected his exclusion by some milder " means, and these would not have been hard to find ; it " need only have been insinuated to him that the coldness " which prevailed between him and Ormond would not " admit of their acting any longer together But " to cast a public stigma upon him, and seek to blacken " his character with the world, is an inconceivable pro- " ceeding, and it has lost King James many more friends " than people think. I was in part a witness how Boling- " broke acted for King James whilst he managed his " affairs, and I owe him the justice to say, that he left " nothing undone of what he could do ; he moved heaven " and earth to obtain supplies, but was always put off by " the Court of France ; and though he saw through their " pretexts and complained of them, yet there was no " other power to which he could apply." The last and most painful, but unavoidable result, of this rebellion still remains to tell the conviction and punishment of its leaders. In Scotland few or none of note had been taken, while the surrender of Preston, on the contrary, had given into the hands of Government a great number of considerable persons, both Scotch and English. Of these, some half-pay officers, being treated as deserters, underwent a summary trial before a Court Martial, and were forthwith shot, according to its sentence. About five hundred of the inferior prisoners were sent to Chester Castle, and many others to Liverpool ; but those of gentle birth were escorted 10 London, where they arrived on the 9th of December. From Highgate each of them had his arms tied with a cord across his back (Mr. Forster, though a member of Parliament, not ex- VOL. i. o 194 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. VI. cepted), their horses being led by foot-soldiers, and the drums of their escort beating a triumphal march ; an insult to prisoners before their trial, which the notoriety of their guilt may explain rather than excuse. Having thus made a public entry (for so their enemies termed it in derision), they were divided amongst the four prin- cipal prisons, the noblemen being secured in the Tower. The trial of these last before the House of Lords was the first object of Parliament, when it reassembled on the 9th of January. On that very day Mr. Lechmere, in a long speech, which is still preserved*, descanted upon the guilt of the rebels, and the " many miraculous provi- dences " which had baffled their designs ; and ended by impeaching James, Earl of Derwent water, of high treason. Otlier members followed, and impeached Lord Widdring- ton, the Earls of Nithisdale, Wintoun, and Carnwath, Viscount Kenmure, and Lord Nairn. No opposition was offered, and the impeachments were carried up to the Lords on the same day. The accused noblemen were brought before the House on the 19th, and knelt at the bar until the Lord Chancellor desired them to rise, when they pleaded Guilty, acknowledging their crime, and throwing themselves upon the King's mercy all except Lord Wintoun. Sentence of death was accordingly pro nounced upon the former, and preparation made for the trial of the latter. Of the six Peers thus condemned, one, Lord Nairn, is said to have been saved solely by the interposition of Stanhope. They had been at Eton together, and, though they had scarcely met since that time, yet the Minister still retained so much friendship for his former school- fellow, as earnestly to plead for his life; and finding his request refused by the other members of the Cabinet, he made his own resignation the alternative, and thus pre- vailed, f Great interest was also made in behalf of the rest. The Duchesses of Cleveland and Bolton, and other ladies * See Part. Hist., vol. vii. pp. 227 238. Lechmere had been made Sol'citor-General in October, 1714, but (I know not for what offence either given or received) had ceased to be so in December, 1715. Beatson's Political Index. f See some remarks on this occurrence in Seward's Anecdotes, vol. ii. p. 252. ed. 1804. I must observe, however, that it rests chiefly on the evidence of tradition. 1716. LADY NITHISDALE. 195 of the first rank, accompanied the young Countess of Der- wentwater to an audience of the King, and joined her in imploring His Majesty's clemency. On another occasion Ladies Nithisdale and Nairn (this was before Stanhope's interposition had succeeded), concealing themselves be- hind a window-curtain in an anteroom, and waiting till the King passed through, suddenly rushed forth, and threw themselves at his feet. Attempts were also made elsewhere upon feelings more ignoble than those of com- passion ; and the first Lord of the Treasury declared in the House of Commons, that 60,000/. had been offered to him if he would obtain the pardon of only one, Lord Derwentwater. Several of the staunchest Whigs in the House of Commons amongst others Sir Richard Steele, with his characteristic good nature were inclined to mercy. But Walpole took the lead in urging measures of severity, and declared that he was " moved with indig- " nation to see that there should be such unworthy mem- " bers of this great body, who can, without blushing. " open their mouths in favour of rebels and parricides." When we consider how very greatly and undoubtedly Walpole was distinguished by personal lenity and forbear- ance during his long administration, his vehemence on this occasion may surely be alleged as no small proof of the real necessity for making some rigorous examples. He moved the adjournment of the House till the 1st of March, it being understood that the condemned Peers would be executed in the interval ; but he prevailed only by a majority of seven, the numbers being 162 and 155. In the House of Lords the friends of the unfortunate noblemen made a still more effectual stand. A debate having arisen on the presentation of their petition, one member of the Cabinet, the Earl of Nottingham, mindful of his former Tory principles and friendships, suddenly declared in their favour. His unexpected defection threw confusion and discord into the Ministerial ranks, the resistance of the Government was over-ruled, and an Address to the King for a reprieve to such of the con- demned Lords as should deserve his mercy, was carried by a majority of five.* * See some remarks on this Address in Mr. Hallam's account of Lord Danby's impeachment in 1679. Const. Hist. vol. ii. p. 562. o 2 196 H1STORV OF ENGLAND. CHAP. VI. Astonished and alarmed at this result, the Ministers met in Council the same evening. They drew up the King's answer to the Address, merely stating, " that on " this and all other occasions he would do what he " thought most consistent with the dignity of his Crown ' : and the safety of his people." They determined, how- ever, to comply with the declared wish of one branch of the legislature, so far as to respite, besides Lord Nairn. the Earl of Carnwath and Lord Widdrington ; but, at the same time, to forestall any further pleas or intrigues in favour of the three remaining Peers, they despatched an order for their execution the next morning. A resolution was also taken to dismiss from office Lord Nottingham, his son Lord Finch, and his brother Lord Aylesford, as a mark of the Royal displeasure at the course which the former had so unexpectedly taken in debate. On this Walpole writes as follows to his brother : " You will be surprised at " the dismission of the family of the DISMALS ; but all the " trouble we have had in favour of the condemned Lords " arose from that corner ; and they had taken their PLI to " have no more to do with us ; and so the shortest end * was thought the best. There are storms in the air, but * I doubt not they will all be blown over."* In the night that intervened, one of the condemned Peers, Lord Nithisdale, had the good fortune to make his escape from the Tower in disguise. His wife, with an heroic courage inspired by tender affection, saved his life at the hazard of her own, sending him forth in her own dress, and remaining a sacrifice, if required, in his place. \ Thus the number of noble victims was finally reduced to two ; and early next morning, the 24th of February, Lords Derwentwater and Kenmure were brought to the scaffold, which had been erected on Tower Hill, and which was all covered with black. Derwentwater suf- fered first : he was observed to turn very pale as he ascended the fatal steps ; but his voice was firm, and his demeanour steady and composed. He passed some time * Coxe's Walpole, vol. it p. 51. f Lady Nitliisdale's own affecting narrative will be found in the Appendix. Her Lord's escape is overlooked by Coxe where he speaks of three Peers being actually beheaded. Memoirs of Walpole, voL i. p. 73. 1716. EXECUTIONS. 197 in prayer ; and then, by leave of the Sheriff, read a paper, drawn up in his own hand, declaring that he died a Roman Catholic that he deeply repented his plea of Guilty and expressions of contrition at his trial and that he acknowledged no one but King James the Third for his rightful sovereign. He added : " I intended to " wrong nobody, but to serve my King and country, and " that without self-interest, hoping, by the example I gave, " to have induced others to their duty; and God, who sees l< the secrets of my heart, knows I speak truth " I am in perfect charity with all the world I thank " God for it even with those of the present Govern - " mcnt who are the most instrumental in my death." He then turned to the block, and viewed it closely, and finding in it a rough place, that might hurt his neck, he bid the executioner chip it off. This being done, he pre- pared himself for the blow by taking off his coat and waistcoat, and laying down his head ; and he told the executioner that the sign he should give him to do his office would be repeating for the third time, "Lord " Jesus, receive my soul ! " At these words, accordingly, the executioner raised his axe, and severed the Earl's head at one blow. Thus died James Radcliffe, third and last Earl of Derwentwater, a gallant and unfortunate, however misguided and erring, young man, greatly be- loved for his amiable qualities in private life, his frank- ness, his hospitality, his honour. His descendants are now extinct ; but his brother, having married a Scottish peeress, was the ancestor of the late Earl of Newburgh. His princely domains in Northumberland and Cumberland are amongst the very few forfeitures of the Jacobites which have never been restored by the clemency of the House of Hanover*: they are settled upon Greenwich Hospital ; but in 1832, a part of them was alienated to Mr. Marshall of Leeds. The execution of Lord Kenmure, which immediately followed, did not much differ in its painful details. He was attended by his son, by some friends, and by two clergymen of the Church of England. Like Lord Der- * A clear rent-charge of 2500/. per nnn. out of these estates was, however, granted to the Newburgh family in 1788. See the Annual Register for that year, p. 139. o 3 *98 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. VI. wentwater, he showed great courage and firmness ; like him, he repented having pleaded Guilty at his trial, and offered up a prayer for the Pretender. He then knelt down at the block, and his head was struck off at two blows. With respect to Lord Wintoun, his trial did not begin till the 15th of March. He was a man supposed to be in some degree of unsound mind, although, like most per- sons in that unhappy state, he showed abundance of cunning and dissimulation. His only object seemed to be delay, having retarded his trial by petitions for time, and other such devices ; and when, at length, it came to be proved, on unquestionable evidence, that he had freely joined and acted with the rebels, he had little else to urge than that his most material witnesses had not yet arrived, and that the season was very bad for travelling ! The High Steward, Lord Cowper, having over-ruled his objections with some harshness, " I hope," said Lord Wintoun, " you will do me justice, and net make use of " Cowper-law, as we used to say in our country ; hang a " man first, and then judge him !"* He entreated to be heard by counsel, which was refused. " Since your Lord- " ships will not allow my counsel, I don't know nothing ! " He was found Guilty, and sent back to the Tower, from whence he afterwards found means of making his escape. The trials of inferior offenders came on before the ordinary tribunals. A great number were found guilty. Many were pardoned ; several, amongst others Forster and Brigadier Macintosh, broke from prison ; and, on the whole, from the great number of convicts, only twenty- two were hanged in Lancashire, and four in London. Bills of attainder were passed without opposition against Lords Mar, Tullibardine, and many others, in their absence. It may be doubted whether in these proceedings a tone of calmness and forbearance was in all cases sufficiently preserved by the Judges. Chief Baron Montagu rebuked a jury for acquitting some persons indicted of treason ; * Howell's State Trials, vol. xv. p. 847. and 892. The true old Scottish saying referred not to Cowper but Cupar, a town where little mercy was shown to Highland rovers. See, however, a different ex- planation in the Supplement of Dr. Jamieson (vol. i. p. 282.). 1716. EX ECUTIONS. 1 99 and Lord TWnshend's secretary, writing to Stanhope, complains of " the listlessness which reigns in all the " courts of justice, except two or three, where men of " spirit preside." * Lord Chancellor Cowper, in passing sentence on the condemned Catholic Peers, could not refrain from inveighing against their religion, and advis- ing them to choose other spiritual guides in their dying moments. Yet no one has ever ventured to assert that any of the condemnations were legally unjust, nor any of the victims innocent. The Tory writers, indeed, raised a loud cry of violence and excessive rigour in the Minis- ters : " they have dyed the Royal ermines with blood!" says Bolingbroke. But was not some expiation due to other blood to the blood of those loyal and gallant sol- diers who had fallen in conflict with the rebels to the blood still reeking from the field of Sheriffmuir and the streets of Preston ? Was it not necessary to crush the growing spirit of Jacobitism by some few severe exam- ples ? Would it have been wise to tempt another rebel- lion, by leaving the last unpunished? Let us not be misled by that shallow humanity which can only reckon the number of punishments inflicted, and quite overlooks the number of crimes thus prevented which forgets that rigour to a few may sometimes be mercy to the many. It has indeed been argued, and still more frequently assumed, that the rebellion of 1715, being founded on a conscientious opinion of hereditary right, and on a loyal attachment to the heir of the ancient Kings, was more excusable than ordinary treason. So far as regards the moral guilt of the insurgents, or their estimation with posterity, this argument I admit to be perfectly well founded. But surely no Government, providing for its own safety, could possibly admit such a principle for a single moment. On the contrary, the more specious were the pretexts of insurrection, the more were measures of repression called for on the part of the reigning dynasty ; and, in the words of Gibbon, " the rebel who bravely " ventures, has justly forfeited his life."f On the whole, therefore, the execution of the rebels, taken with arms in their hands, seems to me to stand on entirely different * To Secretary Stanhope, Sept. 8. 1716. Coxe's Walpole. f Decline and Fall, vol. xii. p. 242. ed. 1820. o 4 200 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. VI. ground from the vindictive proceedings against Boling- broke and Oxford ; and while condemning the latter, I rannot but think, considering the spirit of those times, that the first did not exceed the measure of justice and necessity. Punishment was not, however, the only object of the Ministers ; they thought also of prevention. On the 1st of March, Lechmere moved for leave to bring in " a Bill " to strengthen the Protestant Interest in Great Britain " by enforcing the Laws now in being against Papists'' such, in those times, being the panacea for all evils ! Lechmere was seconded by Lord Coningsby, and no member venturing to oppose his motion, the Bill was passed on the 17th of April ; and we find that one of its clauses provided for the "effectual and exemplary punish- " ment of such as being Papists shall enlist themselves in " His Majesty's service."* But by far the most important and most celebrated measure of the Government was their change in the duration of Parliament. Under the Act passed in 1694 its period had been fixed at three years. The cause of that narrow limitation may probably be found in the enormous period of seventeen years, to which Charles the Second had prolonged his second Parliament, and which, by a natural revulsion, drove the rninds of men into the opposite extreme.f The triennial system had now been tried for upwards of twenty years, and found productive of much inconvenience without any real bene- fit. There is no evidence whatever to prove that the House of Commons had even in the smallest degree shown itself more watchful or public-spirited during that epoch than either before or since ; nay, on the contrary, it may be asserted that the grossest and most glaring cases of corruption that could be gleaned out of our whole Par- liamentary annals belong to those twenty years. The Speaker (Sir John Trevor), on one occasion, accepted a bribe of 1000 guineas from the City of London, and, on its detection, was himself obliged to put to the vote that he had been guilty of a high crime and misdemeanour.^: The Secretary of the Treasury (Mr. Guy), on another * Comm. Journ. vol. xviii. p. 423. t See Hallam's Const. Hist. voL iii. p. 201. J Parl. Hist. vol. v. p. 906. 1716. TRIENNIAL PARLIAMENTS. 201 occasion, was sent to the Tower for a similar offence.* A shameful system of false endorsement of Exchequer bills on the part of several members was detected in 1698 f ; and even Burnet, the apologist of those times, is reduced to admit the existence, and deplore the extent, of the corruption.^ It is not to be supposed, however, that this was the cause which principally, if at all, influenced the Ministers in proposing the restoration of septennial Parliaments. Theirs was a case of pressing and immediate danger. A rebellion scarcely quelled an invasion still threatened - parties in the highest degree exasperated a Govern- ment becoming unpopular even from its unavoidable measures of defence : such were the circumstances under which, according to the Act of 1694, the Parliament would have been dissolved at the risk of tumults and bloodshed a most formidable opposition and, perhaps, a Jacobite majority. What friend of the Protestant Succession could have wished to incur this terrible re- sponsibility ? Even those who may approve of triennial Parliaments in general, would hardly, I think, defend them at such a juncture. According to this view of the subject, there was at first some idea of providing only Tor the especial emergency; but it was judged more safe and constitutional to propose an uniform and permanent recurrence to the former system. It was, therefore, on permanent grounds that the question was argued in 1716 ; and I need scarcely add, that it is on such only that it should be considered now. In considering, therefore, the general question, we may, in the first place, cast aside the foolish idea, that the Par- * Par!. Hist. voL v. p. 886. f Ibid. p. 1170. j History of his own Times, vol. ii. p. 42. fol. ed. The Bishop adds, " I took the liberty once to complain to the King of this method " (of buying votes) : he said he hated it as much as any man could " do ; but he saw it was not possible, considering the corruption of " the age, to avoid it, unless he would endanger thu whole." " It must be owned," says Mr. Moylc, in a letter at that time to Horace Walpole, " the Whigs, when the Septennial Bill was first " proposed, did not relish it at all, but these arguments and the " necessity of the tunes converted them." Coxes Walpole, voL ii. p. 63. 202 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. VI. liament overstepped its legitimate authority in prolonging its existence ; an idea which was indeed urged by party- spirit at the time, and which may still sometimes pass current in harangues to heated multitudes, but which has been treated with utter contempt by the best constitu- tional writers.* If we look to the practical effects of the change, the most obvious and most important is the in- creased power of the popular branch of the legislature. Speaker Onslow, a very high authority on this subject, was frequently heard to say that the Septennial Bill formed the era of the emancipation of the British House of Commons from its former dependence on the Crown and the House of Lords. f As a confirmation of this statement, I consider it very remarkable, that, referring to the period immediately preceding, or immediately sub- sequent, before the Septennial Bill could have time to work this gradual change, no government of those days appears to have felt the necessity of retaining in the House of Commons some of their principal statesmen as its leaders. On the contrary, we find the most active and able party chiefs, such as Harley and St. John on one side, or Montagu and Stanhope on the other, pro- moted to the peerage whenever their services wen 1 thought to deserve that distinction, without any refer- ence to the gap which their absence would leave in St Stephen's Chapel, and apparently without any public in- convenience. Walpole is probably the first since the Revolution, who, on system, confined himself to the House of Commons, as his proper or as the principal sphere. In fact, a House of Commons elected for three years could not have that degree of stability or combination, which would enable it to enter into any successful competition either with the Peers or with the King. Bound fast by the fears of their approaching elections, they could sel- * Mr. Hallam observes : " Nothing can be more extravagant than " what is sometimes confidently pretended by the ignorant, that the " Legis'ature exceeded its rights by this enactment, or, if that cannot ' legally be advanced, that it at least violated the trust of the people " and broke in upon the ancient constitution." (Constitut. Hist, vol. iii. p. 316.) f Communicated by Sir George Colebrooke. See Coxe's Walpole, ToL i. p. 75. 1716. THE SEPTENNIAL ACT. 203 dom either exert the power or obtain the reputation which belong to independence. We may also observe, that the same short tenure, which, in one state of public feeling, renders the House of Commons too weak as towards the King and the Peers, would, in another state of public feeling, make it too weak as towards the violent democracy. Combined with a system of pledges, and with the choice of needy adventurers, we may conceive how triennial elections might utterly degrade the dignity of a representative, and turn him into a mere tool and puppet of popular caprice ; nor is it a little amusing to see how some of the loudest bawlers for freedom would willingly bow beneath the yoke, and stoop to a degree of personal bondage, far more galling and shameful than any that ever aroused their sympathy for others. The Ministers determined that their proposed Bill should originate in the House of Lords. It was there that they felt least sure of a majority ; and they wished, that, in case of failure, their friends in the Commons should not at least incur needless unpopularity, nor lose ground at the ensuing elections. Accordingly, on the 10th of April, a Bill for the repeal of the Triennial Act was brought in by the Duke of Devonshire.* It was of course keenly opposed by the whole weight of the Oppo- sition, yet their numbers were less formidable than had been apprehended ; and their chief division on the Bill going into Committee, gave them only 61 votes against 96. f Some remarks of the Earl of Isla in supporting the Bill, though certainly exaggerated, might perhaps have deserved some attention in the remodelling of our repre- sentative system, as showing the dangers of a mere pecu- niary qualification, and its fluctuation according to the changes in the precious metals. " For," said he, " forty " shillings a year in freehold, which qualifies a man to " vote in elections, was formerly as good as forty pounds * This was William, the second Duke, at that time Lord Steward of the Household ; he succeeded in 1707, and died in 1729. (Collins's Peerage, vol. i. p. 355.) His father had been one of the principal promoters of the Triennial Bill. t See Parliamentary History, vol. vii. p. 305. How could Coxe assert that there were only 36 votes against it in the House of Lords ? (Memoirs of Walpole, vol. i. p. 75.) HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. VI. " is at present, so that formerly the electors were either " gentlemen or men of substance, whereas now the ma- " jority of them are of the dregs of the people, and there- " fore more subject to corruption." He was answered bv Lord Peterborough, whose speech, however, as far as we have any record of it, consisted chiefly of a dull and elaborate sneer against the doctrine of the Trinity. The Duke of Buckingham, who spoke on the same side as Peterborough, made a far better and less excursive use of his wit. "The Triennial Act," he owned, "is subject to some inconveniences ; the best things are not exempt from them ; but should we on that account repeal a good law and alter the constitution ? Pray, my Lords, consider what you are doing ! Why, to prevent robbing on the highway, you forbid travelling ! " Thirty Peers, members of the minority, signed a pro- test against this Bill; and it maybe observed, that amongst the chief opponents of the Ministry were their former stanch supporters, the Dukes of Somerset and Shrews- bury. The estrangement of the former has already been explained ; for that of the latter it might be difficult to account on any other ground than his usual versatility. He had, about a year before, resigned in disgust his office of Lord Chamberlain, alleging ill health, his favourite pretext, which was not yet worn out by the constant use of twenty years. But the truth is, as we find from the Stuart Papers, that at this time, or soon afterwards, he had embarked in the Jacobite intrigues.* The Septennial Bill, having passed the Lords, was sent down to the Commons, and read a second time on the 24th of April. Walpole being then severely indisposed f, was unable to take any part in support of the measure ; but it had his full concurrence, and it was defended on the part of the Government by Secretary Stanhope, Craggs, Aislabie, Lord Coningsby, and several others. " Ever since the Triennial Bill has been enacted," said * " The Duke of Shrewsbury is frankly engaged, and was the la-t " time I heard of him very sanguine." Bolingbroke to the Pretender August 20. 1715. Appendix. f " My brother Walpole," says Lord Townehend, " lay so ill that "his life was despaired of." To Stanhope, Oct. 16. 1716. Coxe'i Walpole. 1716. THE SEPTENNIAL ACT. 205 Sir Richard Steele, " the nation has been in a series of " contentions ; the first year of a Triennial Parliament " has been spent in vindictive decisions and animosities " about the late elections ; the second Session has entered " into business ; but rather with a spirit of contradiction " to what the prevailing set of men in former Parliaments " had brought to pass, than of a disinterested zeal for the " common good ; the third Session has languished in the " pursuit of what little was intended to be done in the " second ; and the approach of an ensuing election lias " terrified the members into a servile management, ac- " cording as their respective principals were disposed ' towards the question before them in the House. Thus ' the state of England has been like that of a vessel in ' distress at sea ; the pilot and mariners have been wholly ' employed in keeping the ship from sinking ; the art of ' navigation was useless, and they never pretended to ' make sail." On the other hand, the cause of Triennial Parliaments did not want many able advocates, especially Sir Robert Raymond, Mr. Hutchinson, Mr. Bromley, the late Secre- tary of State, and Mr. Shippen, the rising leader of the Tories. " Long Parliaments," said the latter, " will " naturally grow either formidable or contemptible .... " There was a famous simile applied by Julian Johnson ' to the long Parliament of King Charles the Second ; that a standing Parliament will always stagnate, and 4 be like a country pond which is overgrown with duck's * meat. I make no application ; this present Parliament ' is so far from being a stagnating pool, that it might ' rather be compared to a rapid stream, or irresistible ' torrent." It is plain that Shippen here alludes to the violent proceedings against Oxford and Ormond. The Ministers, on this occasion, were, moreover, op- posed by their late Solicitor-General, Lechmere, who, as one of their friends testily observed at the time, " always " damns every thing that does not originally come from " himself."* On a division, the Bill was committed by 284 votes against 162; and it should be noted, that meanwhile the people at large showed no disapprobation of the intended change. On referring to the Journals of * Mr. Moylc to Horace Walpole. Coxe's Memoirs, vol. ii. p. 62. 206 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. VI. the House of Commons*, I find that the only petitions presented against it were from Marlborough, Midhurst, Hastings, the corporation of Cambridge, Abingdon, New- castle-under-Lyme, Horsham, Westbury, Cardiff, and Pe- tersfield ; none of them places of much importance, and one half of them either mutilated or extinguished under *he Reform Bill of 1832. In Committee on the Bill Lechmere proposed a clause to disable such persons from becoming members of either House of Parliament as have pensions during pleasure. But Stanhope urged that such a clause would only clog the Bill and endanger its miscarriage, a part of it being an infringement on the privileges of the Peers ; and he announced his intention of himself bringing in a separate Bill with reference to pensioners in the House of Com- mons. Accordingly, he over-ruled Lechmere's proposition (probably intended as a stratagem for defeating the Septennial Bill altogether); and the same evening he moved for leave to bring in a Bill to disable any person from being chosen a member of, or sitting or voting in, the House of Commons, who has any pension during pleasure, or for any number of years, from the Crown. This Bill was accordingly prepared, and ordered to be brought in by Stanhope, Craggs, and Boscawen, and it passed on the 8th of June.f As for the Septennial Bill, it was read a third time on the 26th of April, the mi- nority mustering no more than 121. We are told, apparently on very good authority, that during the progress of the Septennial Bill, the great Lord Somers rallied for a few hours from his paralytic complaint ; and that his brilliant intellect, so long over- cast by sickness, shone forth from amidst the clouds. Lord Townshend, being apprised of the change, imme- diately waited upon the venerable statesman, who, as soon as he saw him enter the room, embraced him, and said, " I have just heard of the work in which you are " engaged, and congratulate you upon it. I never ap- " proved of the Triennial Bill, and always considered it " in effect the reverse of what it was intended. You " have my hearty approbation in this business ; and I * Journals, vol. xviii. p. 429, &c. f Coium. Journ. vol. xviii. p. 460. 1716. DEATH OF LORD SOMERS. 207 u think it will be the greatest support possible to the "liberty of the country."* This judgment, however, will probably weigh only with such as were already of the same opinion ; others will find it easy to reconcile a love of Triennial Parliaments with a veneration for Lord Somers, by doubting, not unfairly, whether his short in- tervals from sickness did really restore the full use of his faculties. These, however, are the last public sentiments recorded of that illustrious man. He expired on the 26th of April, leaving behind him a name ever to be held in reverence, so long as an enlightened love of liberty or a profound knowledge of law, the most statesmanlike wis- dom or the most inflexible integrity, are understood and upheld amongst mankind. He was born in 1650, at Worcester, his father being an attorney in that city.f In his childhood he is said to have displayed all the ap- plication and seriousness of a man. | In his manhood he certainly showed all the gentleness and softness of a child. Yet his passions were naturally angry and im- petuous, as is gladly alleged by his enemies, who do not perceive that this fact, which they intend as blame, in reality, conveys the highest panegyric on his temper and self-command; || Being bred to the Bar, he soon became eminent in his profession, but did not confine himself to * This anecdote was communicated by the first Lord Sydney and Mr. Charles Townshend, who had it from their father. (Coxes Walpole, vol. i. p. 76.) A nearly similar story is recorded of Lord Somers in the preceding year, when he lamented the impeachment of Queen Anne's ministers, and compared it to the proscriptions of Marius and Sylla. f Shrewsbury Correspondence, p. 389. This Mr. Somers was agent to the Talbot property. Swift calls him "a noted rogue" (vol. x. p. 303.). J See a character by Dr. Birch, in Seward's Anecdotes, vol. ii. p. 249. ed. 1804. " He was," says Bumet, " fair and gentle perhaps to a fault, con- " sidering his post " (vol. ii. p. 107. ed. folio). This is admitted even by Swift : " I have hardly known any man with talents more proper " to acquire and preserve the favour of a Prince ; never offending in " word or gesture ; in the highest degree courteous and complaisant." Four Last Years (Works, vol. v. p. 171.). || See Swift's Works, vol. x. p. 303. The Dean acids, "I allow " him to have possessed all excellent qualifications except virtue." In Swift's vocabulary " virtue " means faction. 208 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. vi. it ; and in some political writings forcibly and fearlessly inveighed against the arbitrary measures of the Court. In the memorable trial of the Seven Bishops, he acted as their counsel : in the Convention Parliament he was chosen a representative of his native city ; and both in his place in the Commons, and as one of the managers of the conferences with the Lords, actively promoted the great work of the Revolution. He was soon after made Solicitor-General became, in 1692, Attorney-General; and in 1693 Lord Keeper. In 1697 he was still further promoted to a peerage and the office of Lord Chancellor honours which, so far from soliciting, he was with great difficulty persuaded to accept when proffered. In all these employments he maintained the same serene and lofty character neither arrogant to his inferiors nor servile to the King. But all his merit could not shield him from the usual vicissitudes of popularity ; and he found, as Shrewsbury afterwards observed in a letter to himself, that " ours is a country that will not be served ; " satisfied neither with those in affairs nor with those " who decline them."* In 1701 he was assailed by a Parliamentary impeachment, chiefly for his share in the Treaty of Partition ; and so formidable was the outcry against him, that King William, well as he knew his innocence, and highly as he prized his services, had, even before his trial, found it necessary to deprive him of the Seals. His personal mortifications, however, never drove him into political rancour. He remained for se- veral years in dignified exclusion from office, observing rather than opposing the Government, and dividing hi.s time between the duties of a peerage and the pursuits of science. In the former he was considered a leader of his party ; in the latter he was chosen President of the Royal Society. He is one of those to whose exertions the Union with Scotland is principally due. In 1708 he be- came President of the Council to the great Whig Ad- ministration. In 1710 he resigned with the rest of his colleagues, and was again conspicuous in the ranks of opposition. But age and infirmities were now creeping upon him, and he suffered from paralytic attacks, which * Letter from Rome, July 5. 1701. 1716. LORD SOJIERS. 2C9 have been ascribed to perhaps the only blemish in his private life an excessive passion for women.* His great faculties gradually sunk from their former energy into torpor, and from torpor into imbecility ; and at his death he had for some time survived the powers of his mind. In the whole range of our history, I know not where to find a more upright and unsullied public cha- racter than that of Somers. He had contracted nothing of the baseness and venality of his age. He had touched pitch, and was NOT defiled. In the words of Horace Walpole, he was one of those divine men, who, like a chapel in a palace, remain unprofaned, while all the rest is tyranny, corruption, and folly. He had all the know- ledge, but none of the pedantry, of his profession. He loved the law of England, not as too many seem to love it, merely for the sake of the dross that defiles it for the gibberish which still clings to its language for the mummeries into which some of its forms have grown. He loved the law of England as the armoury from which, when threatened either by democracy or by despotism, we may draw our readiest weapons, and which may pre- vent recourse to any others. In foreign affairs he was no less deeply skilled, having most attentively studied the balance of power, and the political interests of Eu- rope. As a speaker, his reasoning was close and power- ful, his diction flowing and manly. The natural warmth of his temper, which he so successfully mastered in politics, glowed unrestrained in his attachment to his friends ; and as no man was ever more deserving of the veneration of posterity, so no one was ever more beloved in private life. During the time that the Ministers were carrying the Septennial Act and their other measures through Par- liament, they had another struggle, almost as important and far more difficult to maintain, at Court. The King's impatience to revisit his German dominions could no longer be stemmed. It was in vain that his confidential * On this point we should utterly disregard such libels as those of Mrs. Manley. (New Atulantis, vol. iv. p. 56, &c. ) But it seems to me that an impartial writer is compelled, however reluctantly, to admit the testimony of Lord Somers's own kinsman and admirer, Mr. Cooksey. (Observations, &c. p. 28.) VOL. I. F 210 HISTORY OF r.XGLAND. CHAP. VI. advisers pointed out to him the unpopularity that must attend, and the dangers that might follow, his departure at such a crisis ; their resistance only chafed instead of curbing His Majesty, and at length the Ministers let go the reins. Two great obstacles, however, still remained to delay his journey first, the restraining clause in the Act of Settlement ; and, secondly, his jealousy of the Prince of Wales, whom, in his absence, it would be in- dispensable to invest with some share at least of power and sovereign authority. As to the first of these difficulties, it might have been met in two modes ; by proposing to Parliament either an occasional exception, or a total repeal of the restraining clause. The former would certainly have been the more safe and constitutional course, but the latter was thought the most respectful, and accordingly preferred. Accti tomed as George was to foreign habits, and attached to his Hanoverian subjects, his ardent desire to visit them should be considered a misfortune indeed to our country, yet by no means a blemish in his character. But it cer- tainly behoved the Legislature to hold fast the invaluable safeguard which they already possessed against his foreign partialities. It might, therefore, be supposed by a super- ficial observer, that the repeal of the restraining clause, when proposed by Sir John Cope in the House of Com- mons, would have been encountered with a strenuous opposition. On the contrary, it passed without a single dissentient voice ; the Whigs and the friends of Govern- ment supporting the wishes of the King, and the Tories delighted at the prospect that His Majesty's departure would expose his person to unpopularity and his affairs to confusion. The jealousy which George the First entertained of his son was no new feeling. It had existed even at Hanover, and been since inflamed by an insidious motion of the Tories in the House of Commons, that, out of the Civil List, 100,000/. should be allotted as a separate revenue for the Prince of Wales. The motion was over-ruled by the Ministerial party, and its rejection offended the Prince as much as its proposal had the King. In fact, it is re- markable as a peculiarity either of representative govern- ment, or of the House of Hanover, that, since the power 1716. THE KING GOES TO GERMANY. 211 of the House of Commons has been thoroughly established, and since that family has reigned, the heirs apparent have always been on ill terms with the sovereign. There have been four Princes of Wales since the death of Anne, and all the four have gone into bitter Opposition. " That " family," said Lord Carteret, one day in full Council, " always has quarrelled, and always will quarrel from " generation to generation." Such being His Majesty's feelings, he was unwilling to intrust the Prince with the government in his absence, unless by joining other persons in the commission, and limiting his power by the most rigorous restrictions. Through the channel of Bernsdorf, his principal favour- ite, he communicated his idea to the members of the Cabinet, and desired them to deliberate upon it. The answer of Lord To wnshend to Bernsdorf is still preserved.* He first eagerly seized the opportunity of recapitulating in the strongest manner the objections to the King's de- parture, and then proceeded to say, that the Ministers having carefully perused the precedents, found no instance of persons being joined in commission with the Prince of Wales, and few, if any, of restrictions upon such commis- sions ; and that they were of opinion, " that the constant " tenour of ancient practice could not conveniently be " receded from." Under such circumstances, the King found it impossible to persevere in his design. Instead, however, of giving the Prince the title of Regent, he named him Guardian of the Realm and Lieutenant an office unknown in England since the days of the Black Prinee.f He also insisted that the Duke of Argyle, whom he suspected of abetting and exciting his son in ambitious views, and who, as Groom of the Stole to the Prince, had constant and easy access to his person, should be dismissed from that and all his other employments. Having thus settled, or rather unsettled, matters, George began his journey on the 9th of July, and was attended by Staii- * It is dated May 19 , and printed in Coxe's Walpole, voL ii. p 51. f There were, moreover, several restrictions imposed upon the authority of the Prince of Wales. They are dated July 5. 1716, and may be seon in Coxe's MSS. vol. Ivi Brit. Mus. p 2 212 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. VI. hope ; the other Secretary, Lord Townshend, being de- tained by the pregnancy of his wife in England. It cannot be denied that at this period the popularity of George the First was by no means such as might have been expected from his judicious choice of Ministers, or from his personal justice and benevolence of disposition. These qualities, indeed, were not denied by the multitude, but they justly complained of the extreme rapacity and venality of his foreign attendants. Coming from a poor Electorate, a flight of hungry Hanoverians, like so many famished vultures, fell with keen eyes and bended talons on the fruitful soil of England. Bothmar and Bernsdorf, looking to the example of Bang William's foreign favour- ites, expected peerages and grants of land, and were deeply offended at the limitations of the Act of Settle- ment. Robethon, the King's private secretary, whilst equally fond of money, was still more mischievous and meddling ; he was of French extraction, and of broken fortunes : a prying, impertinent, venomous creature, for ever crawling in some slimy intrigue. All these, and many others, even down to Mahomet and Mustapha, two Turks in his Majesty's service, were more than suspected of taking money for recommendations to the King, and making a shameful traffic of his favour. But by far the greatest share of the public odium fell upon the King's foreign mistresses. The chief of these, Herrengard Melesina Von Schulenburg, was created by His Majesty Duchess of Munster in the Irish peerage, and afterwards Duchess of Kendal in the English. She had no great share of beauty ; but with George the First a bulky figure was sufficient attraction. To intellect she could make still less pretension. Lord Chesterfield, who had married her niece, tells us that she was little better than an idiot ; and this testimony is confirmed by the curious fact, that one morning, after the death of her Royal lover, she fancied that he flew into her window in the form of a raven, and accordingly gave the bird a most respectful reception. She affected great devotion, and sometimes attended several Lutheran chapels in the course of the same day ; perhaps with the view of coun- tenancing a report which prevailed, though I believe without foundation, that the King had married her with 1716. THE DUCHESS OF KENDAL. 213 the left hand, according to the German custom. Her rapacity was very great and very successful. After the resignation of the Duke of Somerset, no Master of the Horse was appointed for several years, the profits of the place heing paid to the Duchess ; and there is no doubt that her secret emoluments for patronage and recommend- ations far surpassed any outward account of her receipts. Sir Robert Walpole more than once declared of her (but this was after the death of George the First), that she would have sold the King's honour for a shilling advance to the best bidder. The second mistress, Sophia Baroness Kilmanseck, created Countess of Darlington, was younger and more handsome than her rival; but, like her, unwieldy in per- son, and rapacious in character. She had no degree either of talent or information, it being apparently the aim of George, in all his amours, to shun with the great- est care the overpowering dissertations of a learned lady.* * This sort of feeling is well expressed in the pretended memoirs of Madame du Barry, " J'aimais a les voir," she says of two block- heads j " leur entretien me reposait 1'imagination." (Vol. i. p. 145 .) 214 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. VH. CHAPTER VIL THE journey of the King from England was marked by important negotiations in foreign affairs, and by a violent schism in the domestic administration. Both of these, as involving in no ordinary degree the safety of the country and the character of its principal statesmen, require from the historian a particular detail. It has already been noticed, that at the accession of George the First, he had not a single secure ally but the States- General, and his son-in-law, the King of Prussia. Even the latter was frequently estranged from him, and every other power in Europe seemed either indifferent or hostile. The Pretender, backed by a large party at home, stationed in Lorraine, as on a neighbouring watch-tower, ready to descend at every favourable opportunity, and secretly assisted with gold from Spain and arms from France, had, since that time, shaken the state to its foun- dations in a most dangerous rebellion. Nor had the sup- pression of that rebellion by any means quelled the spirit or blasted the hopes of his party. It was every where raising its head, and preparing for a fresh attempt ; whilst, on the other hand, the people at large were mur- muring at the oppressive and unwonted burden of a standing army, which, therefore, it seemed equally dan gerous to disband or to maintain. On the whole, it plainly appeared that it was hopeless to expect any re- storation of quiet and security, unless France, our nearest and most formidable neighbour, and the power that could afford by far the greatest aid to the Pretender, should be effectually detached from his cause. Now, to effect this necessary object, either of two plans might be pursued. The first and most obvious was to follow up the principles of the Grand Alliance, and form a close connection with the States-General and the Em- peror, so as to compel France to dismiss the Pretender, and his principal partisans, Mar and Ormond, from all 1716. FOREIGN POLICT. 215 her dominions or dependencies. But to this course there were strong, and indeed invincible, objections. The pro- tracted struggle of the Cabinets of Vienna and the Hague, with respect to the Barrier Treaty, and the bitter animo- sity which had thereby arisen on both sides, prevented any close and cordial union between them. Nor was the Emperor friendly to King George, as Elector of Hanover ; he viewed with peculiar jealousy the claims upon Bremen and Verden, which will presently be noticed ; and with- out relinquishing these, it would have been impossible at that juncture to enter into a thorough concert of measures with the Cabinet of Vienna. The States-General, it is true, had no such jealousy ; but their administration, once so active and able, was daily lapsing more and more into weakness and imbecility : " it is now," says Horace \Valpole, the British Minister at the Hague*, " a many- " headed, headless Government, containing as many mas- " ters as minds." Their torpid obstinacy, which had so often defied even the master-mind of Maryborough, was far beyond the control of any other English minister. Besides, what sufficient inducements could be held out to them or to the Emperor for incurring the hazard of another war? Would the Catholics of Vienna be so very zealous for the service of the Protestant Succession ? Would the Austrian politicians at all times eminently selfish consider the banishment of the Pretender from France as more than a merely English object? Would they risk every thing to promote it ? W r hy, even when their own dearest interests were at issue when the monarchy of Spain was the stake they had shown a remarkable slackness and indifference. " We look upon the House of Austria," said Lord Bolingbroke, in 1711, as a party who sues for a great estate IN FORMA PAU- PERIS." f And he adds elsewhere : " I never think of the conduct of that family without recollecting the image of a man braiding a rope of hay, whilst his ass bites it off at the other end."J On the whole, there- * See his Life by Coxe, p. 12. f To Mr. Drummond, August 7. 1711. j To Mr. Drummond, January 5. 1711. Marlborough himself was sometimes provoked into similar expressions " The Emperor 216 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. VII. fore, it appeared in 1716, that the utmost to which the States-General and the Emperor could be brought, was a defensive alliance with England, in case of aggres- sion from France or other powers ; and such alliances were accordingly concluded with Holland on the 6th of February, and with the Kmperor on the 25th of May. with a mutual guarantee of territory*; but these still left the desired removal of the Pretender and his adherents unaccomplished. It became necessary, therefore, to consider the second plan for attaining this great object ; namely, by treaty and friendly union with France herself. Nor were there wanting, since the death of Louis the Fourteenth, many circumstances highly favourable to such views. The Regent Duke of Orleans had, in nearly all respects, adopted a different political course. So long, indeed, as the Jacobites were in arms in Scotland, he clung to the hope of the restoration of the Stuarts ; or, in other words, the establishment in England of an entirely French policy. But the suppression of the rebellion and the return of the Pretender having dissipated, or at least delayed, all such hopes, and the Regent considering the new Government of England as more firmly established, seriously turned his mind to the advantage which might arise to him from a friendly union with it. Besides the public interests of France, he had also personal objects at stake ; and he looked to the chance of his own succession to the throne Not that he had even for a single moment, or in the slightest degree, formed any design against the rights of Louis the Fifteenth ; Avith all his failings (and he had very many) in private life, he was certainly a man of honour in public, and nothing could be more pure and above reproach than his care of his infant sovereign. But he might fairly and justly contemplate the possibility that the life of a sickly boy might prematurely end ; on which event the Regent would have become the legiti- mate heir, since the birthright of Philip the Fifth of Spain had been solemnly renounced. It was, however, generally understood, that in such a case Philip was not " is in the wrong in almost everything he does." To Lord Sunder- land, June 27. 1707. * bee Lamberty, Mem. vol. ix. p. 395. and p. 471. 1716. THE REGENT ORLEANS. 217 disposed to be bound by his renunciation ; and, in fact, in his position, he might disclaim it with some show of plausibility, since his own rights upon the Spanish Crown were only founded upon the invalidity of a renunciation precisely similar. His grandmother, the Infanta Maria Theresa, on her marriage with the King of France, had in the most solemn manner, for herself and her descend- ants, renounced all claim to the Crown of Spain. Yet her grandson was now reigning at Madrid. How could, then, that grandson be expected cordially to concur in the principle that renunciations are sacred and inviolable, and cheerfully forego the sceptre of France if once placed within his grasp ? Foreseeing this opposition, and not without apprehen- sions that the King of Spain might, meanwhile, attempt to wrest the Regency from his hands, the Duke of Orleans was anxious to provide himself with foreign support, and knew that none could be stronger than a guarantee from England of the succession to the House of Orleans. For this object he was willing, on the part of France, to make corresponding concessions. Such a guarantee would also, not merely thus indirectly, but in itself, be highly advan- tageous to England, as tending to prevent that great sub- ject of apprehension, the union of the French and Spanish Crowns upon the same head. Thus, then, the Cab net of St. James and the Palais Royal had, at this period, each a strong interest to enter into friendly and confiden- tial relations with each other. This was first perceived and acted upon by the Regent. Townshend* and Stan- * Coxe tells us in his Memoirs of Walpole, that " Townshend was " the original adviser and promoter of the French treaty, and had " gradually surmounted the indifference of the King, the opposition " of Sunderland, and the, disapprobation of Stanhope." But this statement in his first volume (p. 98.) is disproved by the docu- ments published by himself in the second. On AUJJ. 17. 1716, Old Style, Mr. Poyntz writes to Stanhope, " His Majesty knows that " Lord Townshend has long been of opinion that any further " engagements with the Regent, particularly with respect to the snc- " cession, would only serve to strengthen the Regent, and to put it in " his power to do the King greater mischief." And Lord Townshend himself, in his letter to the King, of November 11. 1716, Old Style, ex- pressly limits the period when he began to approve and forward this French treaty to the time when the Abbe Dubois was first sent by the Regent to the Hague. 218 HISTOUY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. VII. hope were for some time reluctant to enter into a close alliance with their ancient enemies ; but gradually saw its expediency, and without much difficulty prevailed upon the King, who, very soon, as we shall find in the sequel, became still more anxious for it than themselves. Another matter of negotiation between France and England, which had commenced even under the reign of Louis the Fourteenth, was the question of Mardyke. By the treaty of Utrecht Louis had bound himself to demolish the port at Dunkirk. This he had accordingly performed ; but, at the same time, he had begun a new canal at Mardyke, upon the same coast, which works produced a great ferment in England, and became the immediate subject of remonstrance with the Court of Versailles.* On the one hand, it was urged that such a construction was an evident breach of the spirit, if not the letter, ot the treaty ; and that the plenipotentiaries at Utrecht, when they stipulated the demolition of Dunkirk, never could have intended that another and a better harbour should be opened in its neighbourhood. On the other side, it was answered that Mardyke was not Dunkirk ; that the King of France had faithfully performed his agreement ; and that, having done so, there was nothing in the Treaty of Utrecht to deprive him of the natural right of a sovereign to construct any works he pleased within his own dominions. Beyond such counter-state- ments very little progress was made in the negotiation ; and it seemed probable that the French might be enabled to profit by the gross negligence of the British plenipo- tentiaries in not expressly guarding against such a con- tingency in a separate article. But when the Regent became anxious for the friendship of England, he saw the necessity of yielding much, if not all, of his pretensions at Mardyke. He withdrew the negotiation from the reluc- tant and unfriendly management of M. de Chateauneuf, the French Resident at the Hague, and he determined to intrust it to his own most confidential adviser, the Abbef Dubois. * See Lord Stair's Journal at Paris, in the Hardwicke State Papers, vol. ii. p. 528. f I used the word Abbe as most consistent with the present custom, although I believe that in sterling English writing the word Abbot 1716. ABB DUBOIS. 219 The Abbe Dubois, afterwards Cardinal and Prime Minister, was at this time sixty years of age. His father was a poor apothecary, near Limoges. Young Dubois came to Paris in hopes of a bursarship at a college ; but failing in this object, he combined an opportunity for learning with the means of livelihood by acting as servant to the Principal. He afterwards became tutor in the family of a tradesman named Maroy; and it is a curious fact, that young Maroy, who in the days of his poverty had been his pupil, in the days of his greatness became one of his postilions. A more favour- able turn of fortune afterwards assigned to Dubois a subaltern post in the education of the Duke of Chartres, and the prince and the preceptor soon became inseparable friends. A ready wit, undaunted assurance, and saga- cious counsels, recommended Dubois, who, moreover, did not scruple to augment his favour by the most shameful services. His agency triumphed over the virtue of rustic beauties, and introduced them by stealth into the apartments of the young Duke, at the Palais Royal ; and, unlike some other teachers, Dubois always followed in his own conduct the same maxims which he prescribed or permitted to his pupil. On completing this excellent education, the venerable ecclesiastic was for some time attached to the embassy of Marshal Tallard in England, but he always continued his connection with the Palais Royal, and was looked upon by the Duke of Chartres, then of Orleans, as one of his surest and most steady counsellors. He adhered to that prince through good report and ill report ; and, on returning, directed the political course of His Royal Highness with the highest degree of foresight and sagacity. His profligate cha- racter was, however, so notorious, that when Philip should be employed to denote not only the real superior of a monas- tery, but also the titular distinction common amongst the French clergy. I find it used in the latter sense by the best writers of the best times of our literature, in the lively letters of Lady M. W. Montagu (vol. i. p. 97, &c. ed. 1820), the grave despatches of Boling- broke (To Lord Straftbrd, March 7. 1712), and the masterly memoirs of Clarendon (Life, vol. iii. p. 356, c. Oxf. ed.). I take the liberty of mentioning these authorities, having formerly been termed " a " bigoted purist " for my use of the word Abbot in the War of tbj Succession (Edin. Review, No. cxii. p. 499.). 220 MlSTORT OF ENGLAND. CIIAP. VTT. became Regent, it was not without much opposition and clamour that he could appoint him a counsellor of state. The Regent's own words on that occasion show his true opinion of his favourite : " Let me beg of you, my dear " Abbe, to be a little honest ! " * The gross vices of Dubois, and his shamelessness in the high ecclesiastical dignities which he afterwards at- tained, have justly made his name infamous with later times. But they have also, less justly perhaps, dimmed his great reputation for talents. Where any one quality stands forth very prominently from a character either for good or evil, posterity in general confine their attention to that alone, and merge every other in it. We remember that Dubois was most unprincipled we forget that he was most able. It would be difficult to name another French statesman of the last century who more thoroughly understood at once the foreign relations and the domestic administration of his country, or who brought more skill, resolution, and activity to promote them, whenever they were combined with his own aggrandisement. We cannot but admire the vigour of an intellect which was never unnerved either by poverty in youth or by pleasure in old age ; which triumphed over all his rivals for power ; and raised him at length, a priest without religion and a politician without honour, to the highest pinnacles of the Church and of the State ! In explanation of this remarkable phenomenon, we may also observe, that even in the smallest trifles, this accomplished knave had trained every faculty to the purpose of penetrating the thoughts of others, and con- cealing his own. Thus, for example, he had accustomed himself to a slight stammer in conversation, with the view of never being discomposed by any sudden question, and of gaining a few moments for reflection without appearing to pause, f Let us observe, likewise, that, not- * " L'Abbe, un pcu de droiture je t'en prie." (Scvelinges, Meraoires Secrets du Cardinal Dubois, 2 vols. Paris, 1814.) This is a verv valuable work, compiled from the MS. correspondence of Dubois. I hare found it particularly useful for the negotiations at Hanover and the Hague. It should be compared with the English dixmments printed in Coxe's Wai pole. f Mem. de St. Simon, vol. xii. p. 190. ed. 1829. 1716. MEETING AT THE HAGUE. 221 withstanding his brilliant success, Dubois was anything but happy. " Would to Heaven," said he to Fontenelle, when in the fulness of hig power, "that I were now "living in a garret, with a single servant, and fifteen " hundred francs a year ! " It was Dubois whom the Regent selected for the nego- tiation with England, not only on account of his superior dexterity, but also because, during his former residence in that country, he had had the advantage of forming a personal acquaintance, and even friendship, with Secretary Stanhope. He was therefore instructed to proceed to the Hague, at the time of King George's passage, under the pretence of buying books and pictures, and to endeavour, without any ostensible character, to see Stanhope, and to sound the intentions of the English Cabinet. Dubois fulfilled this mission with his usual address : he had several interesting conferences with Stanhope *, and con- vinced himself that, though there were still many diffi- culties and prejudices in the way of a treaty, yet that they should not be considered as insuperable. On hearing this opinion, and reading the minutes of what took place at the Hague, the Regent determined to employ Dubois in prosecuting what he had ably begun, and to send him on a second and more decisive mission. The Abbe accordingly set off for Hanover, which he reached on the 19th of August. He was still without any public character, concealed his name, and lodged at Stanhope's house.t In his first interviews with that Minister, he endeavoured, by every artifice, to entrap his adversary, and obtain some advantage in the negotiation. * July, 1716. See the Mcmoires Secrets de Sevelinges, vol. L p. 189 208., for an ample detail of these conferences, taken from the minutes of Dubois. f Hanover was at that period not a little overflowing with stran- gers. Lady M. W. Montagu describes the scene in her usual lively style : " The vast number of English crowds the town so much, it is " very good luck to get one sony room in a miserable tavern. I dined " to-day with the Portuguese ambassador, who thinks himself very " happy to have two wretched parlours in an inn The King's "company of French comedians play here every night: they are ' well dressed, and some of them not bad actors. His Majesty dines " and sups constantly in public." To the Countess of Bristol, Nov. 25. 1716. 222 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. VII. Thus, at the outset, he offered none but very insufficient expedients with respect to Mardyke, proposing little more than to alter the sluices, whilst the same depth of water was still to be preserved ; and attempting to perplex the whole matter by a great bundle of draughts and other papers, which he had brought with him. Stanhope, in answer, expressed himself determined not to recede in any respect from his original demand. " As to the succession to the " throne of France," says Stanhope, " I offered to draw " up an article with him, expressing His Majesty's gua- " rantee of the same to the Duke of Orleans in as strong * terms as he could suggest ; but when we came close to " the point, I found that, notwithstanding the guarantee " of this succession be the only true and real motive "which induces the Regent to seek His Majesty's friend- " ship, yet the Abbe was instructed rather to have it " brought in as an accessory to the treaty, than to have 41 an article so framed as to make it evident that was his " only drift and intent. He insisted, therefore, very " strongly for three days, that His Majesty should in this " treaty guarantee the Treaty of Utrecht, the 6th article " of which treaty contains every thing which relates to "the succession of the Crown of France."* It might easily be shown how much embarrassment and danger would have resulted to the new Government of England, had they been unwarily drawn in to accept this insidious proposal, and to guarantee the whole treaty so shamefully concluded by their predecessors. Stanhope accordingly met this request with a positive refusal. " The Abbe, " finding me thus peremptory, talked of going away im- " mediately, which threat I bore very patiently ; but, thinking better of it, he brought himself to be satisfied, 'if an article should be inserted to guarantee the 4th, ' 5th, and 6th articles of the Treaty of Utrecht between 'France and England, and the 31st between France and ' Holland, the two former of which relate only to the ' succession of England, and the two latter contain every 'thing which concerns that of France, and the renuncia- * Despatch from Secretary Stanhope to Lord Townshend, dated Aug. 24. 1716, and printed in Coxe's "Walpole, vol. ii. p. 68 72. It contains a full account of the whole negotiation at Hanover. Sec also the Meuiuires de Sevelinges, vol. L p. 213 221. 1716. NEGOTIATIONS AT HANOVER. 223 " tions upon which it is founded." This scheme not being liable to the same objections as the former, Stan- hope drew up an article accordingly, and laid it before the King, who approved of it, and desired him to endea- vour to bring Dubois to consent to it, " which, however," adds Stanhope, " it has cost me three days' wrangling to "do." As to the Jacobite cause, the Abbe made no difficulties, but offered three expedients, by which the Pretender would be sent beyond the Alps, either before or imme- diately after the ratification of the treaty. Reserving the option of one of these, and leaving the article of Mardyke to be determined in England, the preliminaries were conditionally signed by Stanhope and Dubois, and immediately forwarded both to London and to the Hague, it having been intended from the first that the treaty should, if possible, be a triple one, so as to include the Dutch ; and they, on their part, eagerly entering into these views, and seeing the wisdom of closely adhering to the policy of England.* On receiving the preliminaries, Lord Townshend and Mr. Methuen, who acted as Secretary of State during Stanhope's absence, expressed entire satisfaction, and only doubted whether the Regent would ever consent to demolish Mardyke in the manner required.f Their first interview with M. Iberville, who was sent over from France to conclude that article with them, confirmed their apprehensions ; " it being very plain," writes Mr. Poyntz, " by the course of the negotiation with him, that u though the draining of the waters is made the pretence, " yet the maintaining a depth sufficient to admit men-of- " war and privateers is the real aim of the French." J But three days more entirely changed the scene. " My " Lord Townshend and Mr. Methuen make no doubt but * Lord Townshend even complained of their being too anxious to treat " that forward disposition which appears in too many there " for negotiating with France." Mr. Poyntz to Secretary Stanhope. Sept. 8. 1716, O. S. Coxe's Walpole. f Mr. Poyntz's despatch to Secretary Stanhope. Aug. 21. 1716, 0. S., printed in Coxe's Walpole. J Despatch to Secretary Stanhope, Sept. 8. 1716, 0. S., printed in Coxe's Walpole. 224: HISTOUT OF ENGLAND. CHAP. Vn. ' you will be very much surprised to hear so soon, after ' what I had the honour to write to you in my last, that ' M. Iberville has given in a paper, by which he consents ' to ruin the FASCINAGES, and to reduce the sluice to the ' breadth of sixteen feet, which, in the opinion of the ' most skilful of our sea officers, as well as engineers, will ' more effectually exclude ships of war and privateers ' than what was first proposed in the paper annexed to ' His Majesty's project. They impute this alteration in ' the conduct of the Regent partly to the perplexed state ' of his own affairs, and partly to his having a better ' opinion of His Majesty's than heretofore But, ' be the cause what it will, they think they have the ' justest cause to felicitate His Majesty on the conclusion ' of a treaty with France, as an event not more glorious ' in itself than advantageous in its consequences." * Thus, then, every obstacle to the French alliance seemed to be most happily removed, and nothing wanting to the treaty but its final ratification. Meanwhile the state of the King's relations with the northern powers was growing very critical. On coming to the Crown of England, His Majesty had by no means enlarged his views from the narrow bounds of the Elec- torate. His pride in his new dominions never at all diverted his thoughts, or slackened his zeal for merely Hanoverian objects. Amongst the foremost of these had always been the acquisition of the former Bishoprics of Bremen and Verden, rich districts, which, at the peace of Westphalia, had been secularised and ceded to Sweden, and ever since possessed by that power. But the daring and chivalrous spirit of Charles the Twelfth, now King of Sweden, as at first it had led him forward to victory, so at last drew upon him the depredations of all his neighbours. Danes, Norwegians, Saxons, Prussians, Muscovites all gathered round to attack and despoil the fallen lion. Frederick the Fourth of Denmark especially had, in 1712, conquered Sleswick, Holstein, Bremen, and Verden ; during which time Charles having fled into Turkey after his defeat at Pultawa, remained obstinately fixed * Mr. Poyntz to Secretary Stanhope, Sept. 11. 1716, 0. S. Coxe's Walpole. 1716. TREATY WITH DENMARK. 225 at Bender, and showed a romantic pride in withstanding both the orders of the Sultan and the dictates of common sense. At length, however, starting from his lethargy to the defence of his dominions, he set off, travelled in- cognito through Germany, and suddenly arrived at his town of Stralsund, in November, 1714, before it was known there that he had even quitted Bender. His re- turn made the enemies of Sweden tremble for their prey ; and Frederick of Denmark, hopeless of retaining all the conquests he had made, determined to sacrifice a share, in order to secure the rest. With this view, he, in July, 1715, ratified a treaty with George as Elector of Hanover, by which he agreed to put Bremen and Verden in pos- session of his Electoral Highness, on condition that George should pay 150,000^., and join the coalition against Sweden. Accordingly, in the autumn of that year, a British squadron, under Sir John Norris, had been sent into the Baltic, ostensibly to protect our trade from Swedish depredations, but with the real purpose of compelling Sweden to cede the provinces on the Weser, and accept a sum of rnoaey in compensation for them. Charles, however, was not dismayed only the more exasperated by these proceedings; and far from yielding to George, entered eagerly, as we shall afterwards find, into the Jacobite cabals against him. It is to be observed that Townshend, Walpole, Stan- hope, and, in fact, all the Ministers of George the First, entirely approved of his treaty with Denmark. Even after Townshend had left office in disgust, we find him, in a letter to Pensionary Slingeland, strongly urging his opinion that without any reference to the wishes of the King, and for the sake of England only, it was most desirable that Bremen and Verden should be wrested from Sweden and annexed to the Electorate.* He might plausibly show the ill use which Sweden had often made of these territories her usual connection with France the consequent influence of both these States on the politics of the Empire and the importance of the Elbe and Weser being open to British commerce. On these grounds it is certain that England had an interest in * See Coxe's Walpole, vol. i. p. 87. VOL. I. Q 226 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. VII. the cession, But it is no less certain that this interest was small, contingent, and remote ; and that if any other Prince than the Elector of Hanover had been King of England, the latter power would never have concluded such treaties, nor run such hazards for the aggrandise- ment of the former, with so slight a prospect of advantage- to itself. But the territories of Bremen and Verden were not the only points at issue : another storm seemed to be gather- ing in the North. The genius of Peter the Great had already begun to make his people, so lately unknown or despised, an object of jealousy to other European powers ; and one of his chief and most dangerous designs was to obtain a footing in the Empire. For this purpose he was disposed to avail himself of his alliance with the Duke of Mecklenburg, to whom he had given his niece in marriage, and of some differences which had sprung up in that country between the Duke and his subjects.* He unex- pectedly poured a large body of troops into the Duchy, and, on some remonstrances from Denmark, publicly threatened that he would quarter a part of them in the Danish territories. Such daring schemes of aggrandise- ment could not fail to be warmly resented both by the Emperor and by the smaller German sovereigns ; and George the First, being then at Hanover, was not among those least offended or alarmed. There was, moreover, great personal animosity between him and the Czar, though with scarcely any ground for it f ; but differences which have once arisen from trifling causes are generally found to be the stronger in proportion to the slightness of their origin. George sent his favourite counsellor, Bernsdorf, to Stanhope with a project "to crush the Czar " immediately ; to secure his ships, and even to seize his " person, to be kept till his troops shall have evacuated * I glide lightly over the obscure domestic affairs of Mecklenburg. Those whj wish for further details may consult Lamberty, vol. v. p. 47. ; and, for the subsequent negotiations, voL x. p. 107, c., and the Hardwicke Stale Tapers, voL ii. p. 558. t See St. Simon, vol. xv. p. 75. ed. 1829. " Cette haine," he adds, "a dure toute leur vie et dans la plus vive aigreur." "The " Czar hates King George mortally," writes Mr. G. Gyllenborg to Count Gyllenborg, Sov. 1716. (ParL Hist, vo 1 vil p, 402.) 1716. THE CZAR. 227 " Denmark and Germany." Stanhope went directly to the King, whom he found very anxious that such orders should be sent to Sir John Norris. But Stanhope would consent to no further instructions than that Sir John should join his remonstrances with those of the King of Denmark, thus very properly avoiding any decisive steps until the matter could be referred to the other Ministers in England. To Lord Townshend he himselt wrote thus: "I shall check my own nature, which " was ever inclined to bold strokes, till I can hear from " you. But you will easily imagine how I shall daily " be pressed to send orders to Sir John Norris. The " truth is, I see no daylight through these affairs. We " may easily master the Czar if we go briskly to work, " and that this be thought a right measure. But how " far Sweden may be thereby enabled to disturb us in " Britain, you must judge. If the Czar be let alone, he " will not only be master of Denmark, but, with the body " of troops which he has still behind on the frontiers of " Poland, may take quarters where he pleases in Germany. " How far the King of Prussia is concerned with him we " do not know, nor will that Prince explain himself. " The King now wishes, and so does your humble servant, " very heartily, that we had secured France. The Abbe " (Dubois) talks to me as one would wish, and showed me " part of a despatch from Marshal d'Huxelles this morn- "ing, whereby they promise that the minute our treaty is " signed they will frankly tell us every thing they know " touching the Jacobite projects from the beginning. I "was, you know, very averse at first to this treaty; " but I think truly, as matters now stand, we ought not " to lose a minute in finishing it." * The contents of this letter gave no small uneasiness to the Cabinet in England. Lord Townshend, in an "ab- ' solutely secret " answer to Stanhope, expresses his fear that the prosecution of the northern war would be their ruin, and his opinion that peace ought immediately, even at some sacrifice, to be made with Sweden. In his public despatch, and speaking in the name not only of the other * Letter to Lord Townshend, dated September 25. 1716, N. S. and printed in Coxe's Walpolo. Q 2 228 HisioRr OF ENGLAND. CHAP. m. Ministers, but of the Prince of Wales, he represents the ill effects oi a rupture with the Czar, more especially the seizing of the British merchants and ships in Russia, and the prohibiting the supply of naval stores from thence to England. That Norris's squadron should winter in the Baltic is also strongly objected to, above all, at a time when England was threatened with an invasion from Sweden and a rising from the Jacobites. " However," Townshend proceeds, " His Royal Highness, on the other " hand, is no less deeply affected with a just sense of the " imminent danger which these kingdoms, as well as the " Empire, are exposed to from the behaviour of the Czar, ' who, it is plain, intends to make himself master of the 4 whole coast of the Baltic On the whole, His ' Royal Highness is of opinion that His Majesty, if he ' thinks the King of Denmark able to go through with ; the project in question, may insinuate privately, and ' under the greatest secrecy, that he will not only acqui- 'esce in His Danish Majesty's making this attempt, but ' that he will also support and assist him in the sequel of ; this affair when once this blow is given." This modified proposal was by no means satisfactory to the King. He was chiefly intent on the continuance of his squadron in the Baltic ; and Lord Townshend, know- ing this to be His Majesty's wish, should at least have taken care to speak of it with temper. Yet, the follow- ing are the words of Poyntz, his private secretary, to .Stanhope : " My Lord perceives, by a letter from M. " Robethon, that the King is likely to insist on Sir John " Norris's squadron being left to winter in the Baltic ; " and he commands me to acquaint you, that it makes " him lose all patience to see what ridiculous expedients " they propose to His Majesty for extricating themselves "out of their present difficulties, as if the leaving you " eight men of war to be frozen up for six months would "signify five grains towards giving a new turn to the " affairs of the North." * Meanwhile, at Hanover the designs of Russia continued * Despatch, dated Sept. 25. 1716, O. S. This despatch is not marked private, and was therefore (see Coxe's Walpoie, vol. ii. p. 56.) EO be laid before the King. No wonder he complained of Lord Towushend's disrespectful tone. 1716. THE DTJKE OF MECKLENBURG 229 to be watched with great anxiety. " There is reason to " believe," writes Stanhope to Townshend, on the 16th of October, " that the Duke of Mecklenburg has signed " treaty with the Czar to give up his country to him 'in exchange for Livonia, and other tracts of country that way. Wismar, which is the strongest town and ' best fortified in Germany, is at present garrisoned by six battalions ; two of the King's, two Danes, and two Prussians. It is probable the Czar will immediately ' invest that place, and God knows how far we may de- ' pend upon either of the auxiliary presidiaries, such is ' the stupidity and knavery of both those Courts I ' believe it may not be impossible to put this northern ' business in such a light as may induce the Parliament not to look on it with indifference. If I mistake not, ' Cromwell, who understood very well the interest of ' England with respect to foreign powers, fitted out more than one fleet to the Baltic, with no other view than to ' secure that, in the treaties of peace to be made betwixt ' those northern potentates, a freedom of trade to the ' Baltic should be preserved to all nations. He fre- ' quently offered considerable sums of money to the King ' of Sweden for Bremen It is certain, that if the " Czar be let alone three years, he will be absolute " master in those seas." But to what result this alarming question might have tended can still only be matter of conjecture, for, happily, the apprehended crisis never came. The remonstrances which Sir John Norris had been instructed to make, combined with those of the Danish Court, and probably also of the Austrian agents, proved sufficient to deter the Czar from his projects against Mecklenburg, and induce him to re-embark the greater part of his troops ; and thus was quietly averted an enterprise which it seemed almost equally dangerous for England to suffer or repel. Whilst, however, the Russian expedition seemed to be impending, the King justly considered it of the utmost importance to lose no time in concluding his treaty with France. " Such was the impatience of some people," says Stanhope to Townshond, " that I assure you I have had " much ado for this fortnight last past to withstand the ( the utmost importance that the Pretender should be forced to cross the Alps as 1716. HORACE WALPOLE. 231 a despatch to Secretary Metbuen, Stanhope adds, that, in the King's opinion, the Dutch cannot possibly take it amiss, since the clause for their accession would fully secure their interests; that the full powers lodged at the Hague, and intended for the three governments' signing jointly, may possibly not be sufficient to authorise a separate sig- nature ; but that, in such a case, it was His Majesty's pleasure that proper powers should be forthwith sent from England. It is to be observed, that during the whole progress of this negotiation, the British plenipotentiaries at the Hague had made frequent and positive assurances to the States that the treaty should not be finally concluded without including them. On the part of the States there was still no objection raised to the treaty itself, but it was found that the slowness of Dutch forms would pre- vent their signature for some time longer. Under these circumstances, it was the opinion of Stanhope that the urgency of northern affairs rendered it impossible to admit of such delay, and that the spirit of the engagement to the States would be fully and honourably performed by the clause which stipulated that they should, as soon afterwards as they pleased, be admitted as parties to the treaty. Such was also the view of the subject taken by Cadogan. But the second plenipotentiary, Horace Wai- pole, espoused the opposite sentiment with the utmost vehemence. "I cannot, for my life, see why the whole ' system of affairs in Europe should be entirely subverted ' on account of Mecklenburg I had rather starve, ' nay, die, than do a thing that gives such a terrible ' wound to my honour and conscience I should 'look upon it as no better than declaring myself a villain ' under my own hand I will lay my patent of ' reversion in the West Indies, nay, even my life, at His ' Majesty's feet, sooner than b guilty of such an action ;" these are amongst the expressions of his letters. He ended by an earnest request both to Stanhope and Towns- hend, that he might be permitted to return home, and leave the signing of the treaty to his colleague alone. Whether the scruples of Horace Walpole in this in- soon as possible, and this still further explains the haste of the French treatj. Q 4 232 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. VII. stance be thought well or ill founded, they at all events deserve that respect and esteem due even to the excess of honourable and punctilious feelings. It may, however, be questioned whether he is still entitled to the same praise when we find him, to relieve himself from his per- plexing situation, secretly suggesting to his brother-in- law, Lord Townshend, the idea of raising up fictitious obstacles in the way of the King's orders for the utmost despatch. " Is it impossible," he asks, " that the un- " answerable arguments of our friends in Holland, the 'contrary winds, the usual delays in passing powers " under the Great Seal, or some other excuses that may " be proper to be made to the Abbe, should prevent " our signing with him before the States are ready ? " * Lord Townshend, a man of the highest honour and probity, was utterly incapable of any such official treachery as pretending to obey whilst in reality op- posing the injunctions of his sovereign. In his answer to Horace Walpole, through his secretary Poyntz, it is plainly declared, that though "his Lordship is entirely " of your opinion as to the inconveniences that are to be " apprehended from signing this treaty separately, yet he " thinks you cannot well decline the King's positive com- " mands ; at least no relief is to be obtained against them " from hence." Lord Townshend himself, in a subse- quent letter of explanation to M. de Slingeland, con- demns the idea of eluding the King's intentions as " a " pitiful artifice and evasion."")" By some singular acci- dents, however, his conduct boi*e a very great appearance of what he so strongly and so sincerely condemned. On the 28th of September he had written to Hanover, dis- suading a separate signature ; but admitting that, if it should be resolved upon, the powers already sent to the plenipotentiaries at the Hague would be quite sufficient for that purpose. Only four days afterwards he wrote again, saying that the powers were insufficient, and that new ones would be necessary, without, at the same time, giving his reasons for the change in his judgment. This omission, which proceeded only from haste or spleen, was not unnaturally imputed by the King and by Stanhope to * Coxe's Walpole, vol. ii. p. 105. f Ibid - P- 159 - 1716. SUSPICIONS AGAINST TOWNSHEND. 233 his concurrence in the views of Horace Walpole, and his determination to find pretexts for delay. Another inci- dent now arose to strengthen and confirm these suspi- cions. The new full powers forwarded by Townshend were found to be drawn up in the most general and guarded terms, not making the slightest mention of the treaty with France, and seeming, therefore, as if they were purposely intended to avoid any thing like an ap- proval or recognition of it from the British Cabinet. Abbe Dubois considered these powers much too loose and vague to be secure ; he refused to sign the treaty upon them*, and it became necessary again to send to England for fresh powers. Lord Townshend afterwards satisfactorily accounted for these suspicious circum- stances in his conduct. " The full power," he says, " was conceived in general terms, including all particu- " lars, and therefore, as was thought here, the better " fitted to suit all unforeseen circumstances that might " arise Mr. Methuen himself concluded the " treaty of Portugal in virtue of such a full power ; and ' several others have done the like, without any one's " making the objection now started by Abbe Dubois." f Subsequently, in a private letter, Lord Townshend adds, " Indeed, the true reason of my choosing to have them * " L'Abbe Dubois manda aussi-tot au Due d'Orleans qu'il etait " impossible de ne pas voir dans cet incident Peffet d'une intrigue " ministerielle, dont le but etait de prolonger la negociation jusqu'a " 1'ouverture du Parlement ou Ton comptait bien la faire entierement " avorter." (Mem. de Sevelinges, vol. i. p. 229.) In a previous letter Dubois observed, " Qiie Lord Stanhope lui avait avoue que si la " conclusion de 1'alliance se remettait jusqu'a Fouverture du Parle- " ment d'Angleterre, 1'autorite qu'il pouvait avoir dans la Chambre " Basse et le credit de Robert Walpole ne seraient pas suffisans pour " empecher 1'opposition d'attaquer et meme de faire rompre 1'alli- " ance." (Ibid. p. 223.) f Letter to the King, Nov. 11. O. S. 1716. Coxe's Walpole. On the other hand, Stanhope, in his letter to Townshend of Nov. 1 ] . N. S., complains, " Que 1'on s'est ecarte de la route commune, et des formes M constamment usitees ; " and this appears to be greatly confirmed by what passed at the Hague : " L'Abbe Dubois avait cependant offert " de se contenter de ce plein pouvoir, pourvu que Lord Cadogan " 1'assurat par ecrit qu'il etait dans une forme usitce en Angleterre. " Mais ce ministre s'etait refuse a donner cette assurance." Mem. Secrets de Sevelinges, vol. i. p. 230. 234 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP; nr. " drawn in general terms was, that if the King should '' think it necessary to have his Ministers sign separately " before those of the States, that separate instrument " might, according to His Majesty's intentions, be after- " wards perfectly sunk upon our signing all together, " and no footsteps of any such order appear in the full " powers whenever they should come to be made public " together with the treaty."* These explanations fully acquit Lord Townshend of any treacherous design. But when the news of Dubois' objection, and of the conse- quent difficulties and delays, reached Hanover, without any explanation at all from Lord Townshend, who, on the contrary, in his later despatches, studiously and pointedly abstained from noticing in any manner the signature of the preliminary agreement with Dubois, and who had even dropped a hint of his own resignation!, it is no wonder that both the King and Stanhope should have believed Lord Townshend to have completely es- poused the views of Horace Walpole, and participated m the violent language of the latter. " All this together," writes Stanhope, "makes me think that what I have " done here is so highly disapproved of, that special " care is taken not to make a single step in acknovv- " ledgment of it, and that it will be for me alone to " answer for what I did in pursuance of the King's " repeated orders, on reasons which I consider most "justly founded, and which I shall be ready to main- " tain against all those who may think proper to assail " them." | On the whole, whilst fully admitting that Townshend's conduct was free from blame, I cannot but think the appearances against him so strong, as no less fully to justify the suspicion and resentment of Stanhope. We are now comr to the celebrated schism in the great Whig administration of George the First. Stanhope, under the influence of the feelings I have just mentioned, immediately went to the King (they were then at the hunting seat of Gohre), and tendered his resignation. * To M. Slingeland, Jan. 1. 1717, O. S. Coxe's Walpole. f Coxe's Walpole, vol. ii. p 126. and 117. j Letter to Lord Townshend, Nov. 11. 1716, N. S. Coxe'i Walpole. 1716. SCHISM IN THK MINISTRY. 235 The King, however, would by no means accept it, being scarcely less offended than himself at Lord Townshend's supposed behaviour, and having at the same time against that Minister and Robert Walpole other motives of dis- pleasure, to which I have not yet alluded. With all his great merits (and I believe that there never lived a more upright and well-meaning man), it could scarcely be denied, even by Townshend's warmest partisans, that he was sometimes careless in business, violent and over- bearing in manner. George the First, who seldom either neglected his affairs, or forgot his dignity, had early perceived these occasional deficiencies in his Minis- ter ; and, during his absence from England, they were frequently repeated and exaggerated to him by his Ger- man favourites. With Walpole also the King was, at this time, seriously at variance as to some money for the Munster and Saxe- Gotha troops. These had, under the authority of Parlia- ment, been taken into the British service, at the time of the Pretender's landing in Scotland. On the suppression of the rebellion there was no further occasion for these auxiliaries ; still, however, the agreement having been already signed, it became necessary to make some pay- ment in dismissing them. This the King had advanced from his own resources, but now declared that Walpole had promised him to make good the sum from the British treasury ; whilst Walpole, on the other hand, was no less positive in " protesting before God that I cannot recollect " that ever the King mentioned one syllable of this to " me or I to him, but my memory must fail me when His " Majesty says the contrary."* There seems no need to impeach the recollection or the veracity of either the Monarch or the Minister. George the First could speak no English ; Walpole could speak no French nor Ger- man : the only channel of communication between them was bad Latin, and nothing could be more probable than that they should misunderstand each other. All these and several other grounds of dissatisfaction with the brother Ministers were improved to the best * Walpole to Stanhope, Nov. 11. 1716, 0. S. Coxe's Walpole. See the treaties for the Munster and Saxe-Gotha troops iu the Com- mons' Journals, March 28. 1717. 236 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. VII. advantage by Baron Bothmar in England, and by the Duchess of Kendal at Hanover. The former, as Towns- hend vehemently declared, " has every day some infa- " mous project or other on foot to get money ;" * in which he was most properly, but sometimes perhaps a little roughly and unguardedly, checked by that Minister. At this time especially, he appears to have had hopes of a considerable sum from the French lands in the island of St. Christopher, which had been ceded to England at the Peace of Utrecht f; and there is no doubt that his pri- vate correspondence with the King afforded him a full opportunity of retaliating upon those who caused his dis- appointment. The Duchess of Kendal, on her part, had undertaken, for what contemporaries term a " considera- " tion," but posterity a " bribe," to obtain a peerage for Sir Richard Child, a Tory member of the House of Com- mons ; and she was not a little displeased with Towns- hend for counteracting, or at least delaying, that measure, and representing to the King how greatly the interests of his administration would suffer from the promotion of a decided political opponent. Another no less formidable antagonist of the Prime Minister remains to be mentioned in one of his own col- leagues, Charles Earl of Sunderland, at this time Lord Privy Seal. It is remarkable how frequently that family has held a leading position in the councils of the empire. * Lord Townshend to Stanhope, Oct. 16. 1716, 0. S. Coxe's Walpole. At a later period I find the following character of Both- mar in a letter from Craggs : " C'est bien le plus faible raisonneur " sur les affaires que j'aie a mon avis connu de ma vie. Quand les " petits genies veulent faire les habiles gens ils ne manquent jamais " de tomber dans la mauvaise foi, comme les femmes qui veulent mal- " gre nature etre spirituelles, se jettent a corps perdu dans la medi- "sance." To Mr. Schaub, July 21. 1719. Hardwicke Papers, vol. xxxvii. f Walpole says upon this, in a letter to Stanhope of Sept. 28. 1716, O. S. ; " I understand by Bothmar that the King is pretty much " determined to have the whole produce at his own will and private " direction ; and what is suggested to bring this matter immediately " into a transaction is the danger there may be that the Parliament " may by some act or vote lay their hands upon it and prevent the "King's intentions." I find from the Commons' Jonrmils that full returns on the value of these lands were moved for and ordered. April 12. 1717. J716. LOUD SUNDKRLAJ7D. 237 To say nothing of the honours of Maryborough by female descent, we find Robert, the father of this Lord Sunder- land, Prime Minister under James the Second ; we find his great grandson First Lord of the Admiralty under George the Third ; and his next descendant leader of the House of Commons under William the Fourth. The character of Earl Robert false to his religion, to his friends, and to his country is undefended, and I think indefensible. But the character of Earl 'Charles has, in my opinion, been unjustly depreciated; he has been con- founded with his predecessor, and the perfidy of the parent has cast its blighting shade over the fame of the son.* The father was a subtle, pliant, and unscrupulous candidate for Royal favour. The son carried his love of popular rights to the very verge of republican doctrines. If he be sometimes open to charges of secret cabals, we find him much more frequently accused of imprudent vehemence and bluntness. According to Lord Dart- mouth, " Queen Anne said Lord Sunderland always " treated her with great rudeness and neglect, and chose " to reflect in a very injurious manner upon all Princes " before her, as a proper entertainment for her."']' Even his own father-in-law, the Duke of Marlborough, think- ing him too hasty and incautious, had, in 1706, dissuaded his appointment as Secretary of State, and only yielded at length to the entreaties of his friends, and to the posi- tive commands of the Duchess.J The post of Secretary of State was filled by him till June, 1710, with much talent and success ; and on being dismissed from office, he refused the Queen's proposal of a pension of 3000/. a year for life, declaring that if he could not have the honour of serving his country he would not plunder it a degree of generosity which, in those times, was very * " Lord Sunderland is said to have too much resembled, as a " politician, the Earl his father." (Lord Orford's Works, vol. iv. p. 287.) This vague imputation is followed by a strange story about his consulting his rival Sir Robert Walpole, as to the restoration of the Stuarts ; a story which I concur with Mr. Haliam (Const. Hist. vol. iii. p. 336.) in rejecting as utterly incredible. i Note on Burnet's History, vol. vi. p. 9. J See Coxe's Life, vol. iii. p. 88., &c. Marlborough at length said to his wife, " I have writ as my friends would have me, for I had "much rather be governed than govern." August 9. 1706. 238 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. VII. far from being common or expected. He was undoubt- edly a man of great quickness, discernment, and skill ; of a persevering ambition, of a ready eloquence. Under the snow of a cold and reserved exterior there glowed the volcano of an ardent and fiery spirit, a warm attach- ment to his friends, and an unsparing rancour against his opponents. His learning is not denied even by the enmity of Swift*, and his activity in business seems to be equally unquestionable. In private life he might be accused of extravagance and love of playf, and his con- duct in more than one public transaction appears to me either equivocal or blamable ; but I may observe that several points for which he was condemned by his con- temporaries, would, on the contrary, deserve the appro- bation of more enlightened times. Thus, for example, I find in a letter from the Duke of Grafton when Lord- Lieutenant of Ireland: " Lord Sunderland carried the " compliment to this country too far, by choosing out of " the natives all the chief and most of the other Judges, " and the Bishops too, which has been attended with very " mischievous consequences to the English interest." J At the accession of George the First, Sunderland, con- scious of his talents and his services, proud of the high places he had already filled, and relying on the eminent claims of his father-in-law, had expected to be the head of the new administration. It even appears that he inti- mated to Baron Bothniar his wish of being appointed Secretary of State, and that Bothmar, at one moment, was inclined to recommend him for that office. It was with bitter disappointment that he found his name, and that of Marlborough, omitted in the list of the Lords Justices during the King's absence. It was with still more chagrin that he afterwards saw himself placed beneath Lord Townshend, who had hitherto, in all public transactions, been subordinate to him. The Lord-Lieutenancy of Ireland, which was bestowed upon him., by no means satisfied his craving for power ; he * See Swift's Works, voL x. p. 304. f Coxe's Marlborough, vol. vi. p. 342. j This letter is dated Dec. 29. 1723, and is printed in Coxe'i Walpole. Macpherson's State Papers, vol. ii. p. 641. 1716. SUNDERLAND AND STANHOPE. 239 accepted it with sullenness ; he never went over for the discharge of its duties ; and, on the death of the Marquis of Wharton, was permitted to exchange it for the post of Privy Seal and a seat in the Cabinet. Still, however, excluded from real authority, and still, therefore, discon- tented and restless, he, in a great measure, seceded from his colleagues, and took no part for their defence or assistance in the House of Lords. During the two first years of George's reign, his name scarcely ever occurs in the proceedings of that assembly. Meanwhile he attached to himself several of the seceders that now began, from various causes, to fall off from the great Whig party, more especially Lord Cadogan, Hampden, and Lechmere, and was prepared to use every opportunity for the over- throw of a Cabinet to which he still continued to belong. In the month of July, Sunderland had been allowed by the King to go to Aix-la-Chapelle, to drink the waters. Walpole writes upon this to Stanhope: " Lord Sunder- lands talks of leaving England in a fortnight, and, to be sure, will not be long from you. He seems very pressing to have instructions from us how to behave at Hanover. His professions for an entire reconciliation and a perfect union are as strong as words can express, and you may be sure are reciprocal ; and when I con- sider that common interest should procure sincerity among us, I am astonished to think there is reason to fear the contrary."* Accordingly, from Aix-la-Cha- pelle, Sunderland wrote for leave to proceed to Hanover ; and this permission Stanhope used his influence to obtain from the King. An implied censure is cast upon Stan- hope by a modern writer, as if he had acted treacherously towards Townshend and Walpole, in promoting instead of opposing, the application of their dissatisfied colleague.f But surely, on the contrary, it is evident, from the passage already cited in Walpole's letter, that such an application had been foreseen and reckoned upon in London that Sunderland, far from making his journey to Hanover a secret, had asked Walpole for advice as to his conduct * Walpole to Stanhope, July 30. 1716, O. S. In another letter of Aug. 30. 0. S., he says still more positively, " Lord Suuderlaud has " left us, and will be soon with you." t See Coxc's Walpole, vol. i. p. 96. 240 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. VIT. there and that Walpole never requested Stanhope to hinder his progress. It is no -less clear, from the mere fact of retaining this well-known antagonist in the Cabi- net and in the office of Privy Seal, how necessary it was thought to keep on good terms with him. And, still further, Stanhope's recommendation rests on no external testimony, but on his own : he was so far from wishing to conceal it, as he might easily have done, had he pleased, that he mentioned it the same day to Lord Townshend's secretary with all the confidence of upright intentions. * I prevailed, this morning, for leave that Lord Sunder- ' land should come hither after drinking the waters of Aix. He had writ to me for leave ; and you will easily imagine, if it had not been granted, where the fault would have been laid ; so I did really press it, and ob- tained it with difficulty."* When once at Hanover, Sunderland assiduously applied himself to gain the favour of the King and the friendship of Stanhope, and not without success. The misunder- standing which arose with Townshend gave him an ex- cellent opportunity to fill up, as it were, the gap left vacant in the confidence of both the Monarch and the Minister. He attended the Court to Gohre, and was there when, on the llth of November, Stanhope tendered his resignation. So far from accepting it, the King caused Stanhope to write, under his own eye, and in French, a letter to Townshend, expressing grave displea- sure at the delays of the French treaty, and requiring an immediate explanation. Orders were, likewise, sent to prorogue the Parliament, and to postpone the public business, until His Majesty's return. On that day Sun- derland also wrote to Townshend to the same effect, but without authority from the King, and in a very rough and peremptory tone, thus showing, at once, how impe- rious was his temper, and how great was the influence he had already acquired over the mind of his sovereign. f The explanations of the Prime Minister were not long * Letter to Poyntz, September 8. 1716. Coxe's Walpole. f See Stanhope's arid Sunderland's letters in Coxe's Walpole, vol. ii. p. 126 128. I have already made some extracts iron) the former in explaining the grounds for the suspicions of Lord Tnw!.>- hend. The King himself also wrote to Lord Townshend on the same day, but his letter is not preserved. 1716. ANGRY CORRESPONDENCE. 241 delayed. They bear the same date as Stanhope's charges the latter New Style, and the former Old. To Sun- derland he vouchsafed no answer at all. To Stanhope, his answer is short and resentful only a few lines, end- ing with, " I pray God forgive you : I do." But hia letter to the King contains a most manly, clear, and con- clusive vindication of his conduct in every part of the transaction of which he stood accused.* But in the interval, whilst Lord Townshend's answers were still, expected at Hanover, there carne from him an important despatch on another subject. It appears that the King had, some time before, sent directions to the Cabinet Council in England to consult on the heads of the business which it would be necessary to bring for- ward in the next Session ; His Majesty declaring, at the same time, that he was desirous of passing the whole winter abroad, if any means could be found to carry on his affairs in his absence. This seems to have been His Majesty's real inclination, although a more recent writer, without assigning a single proof from contemporary re- cords, and speaking, so far as I can discover, merely from his own conjecture, represents it as a trap suggested by Sunderland to obtain proofs of the cabals with the Prince of Wales, which he imputed to Townshend and Walpole.f According to the King's orders Townshend, on November 2. Old Style, drew up, in a despatch to Stanhope, the sen- timents of the Cabinet on the politics of the North, the payment of the public debts, the trial of Lord Oxford, and a proposed Act of Indemnity. Being anxious to gratify the King's inclination, Townshend did not press His Majesty's return on this occasion ; but he strongly urged that, if His Majesty did remain at Hanover, the Prince should be entrusted with a discretionary power, so as to meet unexpected difficulties or altered circum- stances.J Townshend, moreover, thought it right to * These letters, like the rest, are printed in Coxe's Walpole, vol. ii. p. 128134. f Coxe's Walpole, vol. i. p. 99. j See this despatch in Coxe's Walpole, vol. ii. p. 1 20. It may be observed that as to northern politics, Townshend greatly fluctuated in his opinion. In his former letter to Stanhope of Sept. 23 O. S., he urges a peace with Sweden, even at some sacrifice : in his letter VOL. I. R 242 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. VH. select some confidential person to be the bearer of this despatch, and to explain more fully to His Majesty, if needful, any of the points contained in it. For this pur- pose he pitched upon Horace Walpole. That gentle- man had received from Hanover the permission he had solicited to quit the Hague, and leave the signature of the French treaty to his colleague*, and thereupon he had returned to England. Horace Walpole made such speed in his new commission as to reach Gohre on the 23d of November, New Style. He found that the King had by this time determined to return to England, and to open the Parliament in person ; and he therefore appears to have considered the despatch of which he was the bearer, and which provided for the event of the King's absence, as supererogatory, and be- stowed no further thought or care upon it. It will pre- sently be seen how greatly he was mistaken, and how very unfavourable an impression that despatch was pro- ducing on the mind of His Majesty. The attention of Horace Walpole was, meanwhile, fully engrossed with the Royal and Ministerial resentments on the subject of the French treaty. He perused copies of the letters which had gone out to Lord Townshend, and observed, with sorrow and surprise, the unfounded suspicions of Stanhope and the rising ascendency of Sunderland. Want of frankness was never the fault of Horace Wal- pole. He warmly remonstrated with Stanhope ; ex- plained the doubtful circumstances in Townshend's con- duct ; declared, that if there was any blame incurred by the delay of the signatures at the Hague, that blame be- longed solely to himself, and to his scruples in affixing his name to a separate treaty ; and finally, he answered of November 2. O. S., he is for pushing the war with Sweden, hut coming to a good understanding with the Czar. Nor can this fluc- tiiiition be sufficiently explained by any intermediate discovery of the Swedish scheme for a Jacobite invasion, since that scheme would of course have dropped, had a peace been concluded as Townshend at first proposed. * Stanhope not only granted this permission to the urgent request of Horace Walpole, but so far complied with his views as to write to Dubois, proposing that the signature should be delayed eight days more, in hopes that the Dutch might finish their formalities within that time. See his letter in the Mem. Secrets de Sevelinges, vol. i. p. 227. * 7 16. HORACE WALPOLE AT HANOVER. 243 for the high honour and undiminished friendship of his two brother Ministers. Stanhope, on his part, convinced by the truth of these remonstrances, acknowledged that he had been misled by unfounded suspicions and suggestions, and had wrongly accused Lord Townshend on the matter of the French treaty. " We must now, however," added he, " look for- " ward instead of backward." He declared that he frankly cast off his own doubts, and promised to use his influence with the King to efface the unfavourable impression which His Majesty, like himself, had conceived, from the delay of the signatures.* Accordingly, he vindicated Townshend's conduct to the King and to Sunderland, and had already, in a great measure, re-established His Majesty's former good humour and complacency before the arrival of Townshend's own letter of defence. That letter completed the good work ; the King, like Stanhope, now candidly acknowledged his mistake, and desired Horace Walpole to convey to Townshend the strongest assurances of his entire satisfaction and confidence in the matter of the signatures. Nor did His Majesty give any hint to Horace Walpole of other causes for displeasure. Stanhope, on his part, warmly expressed to Horace Walpole his feelings of friendship and esteem for the brother Ministers ; entrusted him with conciliatory letters to both, and earnestly requested him to lend his good offices for effacing all unpleasant recollections, and esta- blishing a cordial and complete harmony between them. At the same time, however, he frankly warned Horace Walpole that rumours were abroad of cabals against the King's authority, begun by Townshend and Walpole with some of the Prince's adherents, and more especially with the Duke of Argyle ; nor did Stanhope deny his own * The authentic details of what passed between Horace Walpole and Stanhupe, are, except one or two scattered hints, only to be gleaned from two letters of the furmer to the latter, on December 8. and 23. 1716, N. S. Coxe, who has printed these Utters, has added some particulars from his own ideas of probability. Where could he find any authority for saying that " Walpole reminded Stanhupe that u he owed his high situation to Townshend and his brother," or that * Stanhope expressed a high sense of his obligations to them ? " There is not a word to that effect in any contemporary statement, and the favour thus implied never existed, as I have shown elsewhere * 2 244 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. VD. suspicions that there was some truth in this intelligence.* Nevertheless, Horace Walpole, knowing these rumours to have no foundation in fact, and being naturally of a sanguine, confident temper, did not doubt but that his speedy return to England with the letters of Stanhope, and the declarations of the King, would thoroughly heal the late and hinder future dissensions. Accordingly, on the 3d of December, after a stay of only ten days, he again set out for England ; but his journey was so much delayed by unforeseen accidents, his missing the yacht over the Maesland Sluys, and afterwards the contrary winds, that he did not arrive in London till the 22d. He then delivered his letters and messages, to the perfect satisfaction, as it seemed, of Townshend and Walpole. But a new storm was already in the air, and scarcely had the first been lulled before it burst. In order to explain the causes of this second and de- cisive Ministerial tempest, it becomes necessary to revert to the King's jealousy and dislike of his son. We have already seen with what extreme reluctance His Majesty, on leaving England, had conferred upon His Royal High- ness even the most moderate degree of authority. Every step, every word, from the Prince, were now most sus- piciously watched, and most severely scrutinised at Han- over. Causes of displeasure soon arose, partly, it is true, from the Prince's fault, but much more from his necessary circumstances and position. The heir-apparent of a Crown seldom fails to be hated by the monarch in propor- tion as he is loved by the nation ; and his only sure road to Court favour lies through unpopularity. Now the Prince, being less cold and reserved in demeanour than his father, and also in some degree acquainted with the * Horace Walpole writes to Stanhope, Dec. 23. 1716 : "And as " to the King's interest .... what has been imputed to Lord " Townshend and the others as a heinous crime, will be found to " have been the most glorious and faithfullest part of their adminis- " tration, for the service of His Majesty. I take this liberty with you " because you. talked in a ve/y free though in a very mistaken manner to " me on this subject." (Coxe's Walpole, vol. ii. p. 147.) The im- portant fact of this frank intimation of the suspicions then at work and soon to cause Townshend's downfall, is quite overlooked or sup- pressed in Code's narrative. It would not have been compatible with his charge of treachery against Staiihope. 1716. THE PRINCE OF WALES. 245 English language, was naturally better liked by the mul- titude : he increased his popularity by a short progress through Kent, Sussex, and Hampshire, and by several acts of grace, such as the dispensing with passports between Dover and Calais *, which were all ascribed to him. Party-spirit, moreover, with its usual unerring instinct, darted upon this vulnerable point for assailing His Majesty's person and government. The Prince's affability of manner, his disposition to unite all parties, his fondness for English customs, were loudly extolled, with the covert insinuation of the King's deficiency in these qualities ; and addresses to His Royal Highness were prepared and presented from several counties with the most loyal expressions, but often with the most dan- gerous designs. This, says Lord Townshend, is the wisest step the Jacobites have yet taken f ; but it was, also, eagerly promoted by Lechmere, Hampden, and the other discontented Whigs. Thus, even if faultless, the Prince would hardly have escaped suspicions and misgivings from Hanover. But his own conduct was besides indiscreet and caballing. He closely connected himself with the Duke of Argyle, paid court to the Tories and to the Whigs in opposition, and showed the utmost eagerness to hold the Parliament in person. " By some things that daily drop from him," says W'alpole, " he seems to be preparing to keep up an "interest of his in Parliament, independent of the King's. " We are here chained to the oar, and working "like slaves, and are looked upon as no other." J Under such circumstances, and treated, as they were, with cold- ness by the Prince, the situation of Townshend and Walpole must, no doubt, have been sufficiently irksome. Nor was theirs an easy course to steer. It was incumbent upon them, for the King's service, to counteract the Duke of Argyle's ascendency, and to gain the Prince's confi- dence and favour, and in this they partly succeeded. But, while striving for that object, they fell into the * Tindal's History, vol. vii. p. 33. f Coxe's Walpole, vol. ii. p. 76. j Letters to Stanhope, July 30. and Aug. 9. 1716, O. S. Coxe-8 Walpole. * 3 246 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. VII. opposite danger, by arousing against them jealousy and distrust in the mind of the King. The integrity and honour of Lord Townshend in this, as in every other transaction of his life, were, I believe, without a stain. His prudence, however, in one or two eases, seems to be far more questionable, and he com- mitted errors which his more cautious colleague success- fully avoided. He was persuaded by the Prince to write to Stanhope, pressing the King for a speedy decision as to His Majesty's coming over, and plainly disclosing His Royal Highness's desire to hold the Parliament.* Still more impolitic was the recommendation already men- tioned in his despatch of the 2d of November, that a discretionary power should be vested in the Prince. That despatch was, in fact, as a modern writer well observes, the death-warrant of Lord Townshend's administration.! It seemed to add weight and confirmation to the charges of Sunderland of cabals with the Duke of Argyle and other discontented Whigs, and of an intention to set the son above the father. The King, however, suppressed his resentment at the moment, partly, I presume, on account of the arrival of Horace Walpole, and the justifi- cation of Lord Townshend precisely at that time from another imputation, and partly to obtain time to consult Bothmar and his other secret counsellors in England. The return of the post, about the middle of December, appears to have kindled His Majesty's latent indignation into open flame ; and he vehemently declared his inten- tion of dismissing Lord Townshend from his service. Under these circumstances, Stanhope asserts that he first endeavoured to alter the King's resolution, and that, finding His Majesty immovable, he next applied himself to soften His Majesty's resentment, by representing the past services and high character of Lord Townshend, and the injustice of any open disgrace. These remon- strances wrought upon the King so far as to induce him to permit that Lord Townshend should be offered the appointment to another great and important dignity of state, the Lord Lieutenancy of Ireland ; so that the loss of his office of Secretary might seem an exchange, or * Townshend to Stanhope, Sept. 25. 1716, 0. S. Coxe's Walpole. e's Walpole, vol. i, p. 103, 17 J 6. LORD TOVVNSHEND DISMISSED. 24? nominally even a promotion, instead of a dismissal. Ac- cordingly, Stanhope wrote to Secretary Methuen, and likewise to Townshend, on the loth of December, con- veying that message from His Majesty in the most gracious terms, and without a single word expressive of the Royal indignation. To Robert Walpole he also wrote on the same day more at length : "If I could " possibly have an hour's discourse with you, I am sure " I should make you sensible that the part I have had in " the last step hath been for my Lord Townshend's ser- " vice. Every circumstance considered, I do in my con- " science believe this was the only measure which could " secure the continuance of a Whig administration with " any ease to the King. His Majesty has been more " uneasy of late than I care to say ; and I must own I " think he has reason, even though I don't pretend to " know so much of the matter as the King does, His " Majesty receiving many advices which come neither " through my hands nor my Lord Sunderland's. But I " cannot help observing to you, that he is jealous of cer- " tain intimacies witli the two brothers (Argyle and " Isla). I hope His Majesty's presence in England, and " the- behaviour of our friends in the Cabinet, will re- " move these jealousies. No one can contribute more " to this than yourself ; and I must tell you that my Lord " Sunderland, as well as myself, have assured the King " that you will do so. You know that ill offices had " been done you here, which might have made some im- " pression, if my Lord Sunderland and I had not in good " earnest endeavoured to prevent it.* You will, I am " persuaded, believe that our endeavours were sincere, " when I shall have told you with the frankness I am " going to do what our scheme is here for the Ministry. " In case my Lord Townshend accepts of Ireland, which, ' ; tor a thousand reasons, he ought to do, the Cabinet * This assertion is confirmed by previous passages in Stanhope's correspondence. Thus, writing to Lord Townshend on the 16th of October, he begs of him to press Walpole to settle the Munster ud Saxe-Gotha payments, and adds the following friendly caution, "I " have more reason to press this than I care to say to you, but I fear " some people do ill offices to Walpole." See also his letter of the 6th of November to the same effect. 248 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. YH " Council will remain just as it was, with the addition of " the Duke of Kingston, as Privy Seal. Mr. Methuen " and I shall continue Secretaries. But if my Lord " Townshend shall decline Ireland, and if which by " some has been suggested, but which I cannot think " possible he should prevail upon you to offer to quit " your employments, the King, in this case, hath engaged " my Lord Sunderland and myself to promise that hi.s " Lordship will be Secretary, and that I, unable and un- " equal as I am every way, should be Chancellor of the " Exchequer for this Session ; the King declaring, that " as long as he can find Whigs that will serve him he " will be served by them, which good disposition Hi* " Majesty shall not have reason to alter by any back- " wardness in me to expose myself to any trouble or " hazard. You know as much of our plan now as I do, " and are, I dare say, fully satisfied that I think it highly " concerns me that -you should stay where you are. I " am very sorry that my Lord Townshend's temper hath " made it impracticable for him to continue Secretary. " The King will not bear him in that office, be the con- " sequence what it will. This being the case I hope " and desire that you will endeavour to reconcile him to " Ireland, which I once thought he did not dislike, and " which, I think, he cannot now refuse, without declaring " to the world that he will serve upon no other terms " than being Viceroy over father, son, and these three " kingdoms. Is the Whig interest to be staked in defence " of such a pretension ? or is the difference to the Whig " party, whether Lord Townshend be Secretary or Lord " Lieutenant of Ireland, TANTI?" It is on this transaction that a charge of base dissimu- lation and treachery has been brought against Secretary Stanhope by Archdeacon Coxe. " As Brereton," he says, " who conveyed these despatches without being apprised " of their contents, could not have quitted Gohre more " than three days subsequent to the departure of Horace " Walpole, it was obvious that he (Horace Walpole) had * been duped and deceived, that the plan for the removal " of Sunderland had been then settled, and that the " solemn promises made by Stanhope were never in- 1716. STANHOPE ACCUSED OP TREACHERY. 249 " tended to be fulfilled."* But it will be found from the authentic letters which Coxe himself has published that his heavy accusation rests upon a gross error he ha? made as to the dates. It does him no great honour as an historian that we should thus be able to disprove the statements in his first volume by the documents in his second. The letters from Stanhope, announcing the re- moval of Townshend, are dated on the 15th of December. On the 8th Horace Walpole had already reached the Hague on his way home from Hanover, and wrote to Stanhope an account of his progress.f It is evident, therefore, that he must have quitted Hanover towards the beginning of that month. But further still, a passage in a subsequent letter from Robert Walpole to Stanhope indicates the 2d of December as the precise day when Horace began his journey homewards. Alluding to the friendly expressions of Stanhope to Horace, and to the subsequent dismissal of Townshend,' Robert Walpole ob- serves, " What could possibly create so great an alteration " among you in the space of twelve days is in vain to " guess." | Thus, then, it appears that the real interval was no less than four times greater than that assigned by Archdeacon Coxe, and that therefore his charge of trea- chery deduced from the shortness of time completely falls to the ground. Are there, however, any other grounds for accusing Stanhope of treachery in this transaction ? I think none. How could he possibly have acted more kindly for his friend, or more patriotically for his country ? When he found the King determined to dismiss his Prime Minister, and absolutely fixed in that determination, he could surely do no better for Lord Townshend than endea- vour, as it were, to break the force of his inevitable fall, and obtain for him an appointment of still higher profit, * Memoirs of Walpcle, vol. L p. 101. ( See this letter iu Coxe's Walpole, vol. ii. p. 137. It is to be re- membered that all the letters of Horace Walpole from the Continent are, like Stanhope's, dated N. S. This is beyond question, he having left London express with Lord Townshend's despatch of Nov. 2., O. S., that is, Nov. 13. N. S., and his letters from the Hague and Hanover on his first arrival being dated Nov. 17. and 23. ; and this is so stated by Coxe himself, vol. i. p 99. J Coxe's Walpole, vol. ii. p. 145. 250 HISTOUY OF ENGLAND. CHAP, vn and scarcely inferior power. It may be said, however, that he ought rather to have resigned his own office than acquiesced in the loss of Lord Townshend's. But what \vould have been the consequence ? Not, I am convinced, any change in the King's inflexible temper, but the dis- solution of the whole Whig administration ; thus either throwing the Government into the hands of a factious opposition, or leaving the country, at a most stormy crisis, without any efficient hands at the helm. Can this really be thought the duty of an honest public servant ? Let me borrow Stanhope's own words in writing to Methuen : " The King thinks fit to remove one servant " from a worse to a better post. Is this a reason for " others to abandon him ? I am sure that if it had " happened to yourself to be turned out, and without any * colour of reason, you would not in your own case let your resentment carry you to any indecent behaviour, much less would you spirit up mankind to such divi- sions as must end in the destruction of your country if not prevented. Do some people expect by their beha- viour to force the King to make my Lord Townshend Secretary again ? If they do, they don't know him. If they do not, what do they propose? Who- ever wishes well to his King, to his country, and to my Lord Townshend, ought to persuade him to accept of Ireland. I hope Walpole, upon cooler thoughts, will use his endeavours to this end. If you have any in- terest or credit with them, for God's sake make use of it upon this occasion. They may possibly unking their master, or (which I do before God think very possible) make him abdicate England, but they will certainly not force him to make my Lord Townshend Secretary. I will not enter into the reasons which have engaged the King to take this measure, but it is taken ; and I will ask any Whig whether the difference to the public between one man's being Secretary or Lord Lieutenant ' of Ireland is of such consequence that we ought to ' hazard every thing for the resentment of one man ? " The vindication of Stanhope appears to me complete ; and with respect to Sunderland also, I see no foundation * Stanhope to Methuen. January 13. 1717. Coxe's Walpole. 1716. STANHOPE'S DEFENCE. 251 for any charge of treachery. I admit that, unlike Stan- hope, he, far from striving to avert, probably promoted and co-operated in the fall of Townshend. But then his political position was very different from Stanhope's. He was not bound to Townshend by any ties of confi- dence and friendship. He had some grounds to complain of Townshend's jealousy, and of his own exclusion from .power. He was considered by Townshend not as an ally, but as a rival ; and his enmity was all along ex- pected and foreseen. Now it surely must be owned that previous confidence is implied in a charge of treachery ; and that where there was no friendship there can be no breach of friendship. In concluding my narrative of the various and intri- cate transactions which led to Lord Townshend's dismis- sal, I may observe that even had they not existed there seems great reason to doubt whether the Ministry could have continued unchanged. We have some remarkable expressions to that effect in a letter written at a previous period under Townshend's own direction: " His Lord- ' ship and Mr. Methuen are sorry to observe that from ' the disposition of offices, and the behaviour of Lords ' Sunderland and Cadogan before the King's going over, ' as well as from the encouragement since given to the Tories by the Prince's countenancing Mr. Hill, Mr. Hutchinson, and the Dukes of Shrewsbury and Argyle, the Whigs in general are become so uneasy and divided, that should things continue upon the present foot, the prospect for the next Session of Parliament would be but melancholy."* * Mr. Poyntz to Secretary Stanhope, August 17. 1716, O. S. Coxe's Walpole. 252 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. VIIL CHAPTER VHI. THE news of Lord Townshend's removal was received in London with almost universal disapprobation. No clear and definite cause being then assigned for that measure, and its advisers being absent from England, a large field was left open to conjecture, exaggeration, and mistrust.* It was commonly considered as a Hanoverian cabal, as a fatal proof of the ascendency of Continental politics ; and the conduct of Stanhope, in being a party to it, was loudly and generally inveighed against. The Jacobites hailed this symptom of weakness in the Government as an omen of hope to their cause. The Whigs, who well knew the high worth and tried merit of Lord Townshend, felt no less sorrow than surprise at his dismissal ; and the monied men foreboded the loss of public confidence, and the decline of public credit. " I will venture to say," writes Mr. Brereton, the same who brought these despatches from Hanover, " the town is in greater con- " fusion now than it was in any part or at any alterations " whatsoever made in the late Queen's reign. . . . When " I go into the City all the considerable men there crowd " about me, and press me in the most earnest manner to " give some reasons for these sudden and unexpected " resolutions, and to tell them who I thought were the " advisers and contrivers of them."f It may be doubted, however, whether there is not some exaggeration in these statements, since, when we come to positive facts, we * " It is difficult to trace the causes of a dispute between states- " men." This was the remark of Sir Robert Walpole after his own quarrel with Lord Townshend in 1730. Coxe's Memoirs, vol. i. p. 339. t Mr. Brereton to Mr. Charles Stanhope, December, 1716. Eras- mus Lewis writes to Swift, Jan 12. 1717. "The division of the " Whigs is so great that, morally speaking, nothing but another re- " bellion can ever unite them." In this sense Lewis would probably not have been displeased at their union. 1716. MINISTERIAL SCHISM. 253 find that the fall in the funds did not amount to one per cent.* Townshend himself, and the Walpoles, were not among the least indignant. Their resentment was still further exasperated by a very intemperate letter from Sunder- land to Lord Orford, directly accusing Townshend, Robert Walpole, and the Lord Chancellor, of having entered into engagements with the Prince and Duke of Argyle against the King's authority.! No wonder that Townshend, per- fectly innocent as he felt himself on that charge, should have more than ever given the reins to his passionate temper, shouM complain of this "infamous accusation" from the " villany and infatuation " of Lord Sunderland, and should impute to that nobleman "frenzy fits" in writing his letters.^ Townshend lost no time in sending his answers to Hanover. To Stanhope he wrote only a few lines in a style of bitter irony ; to the King his letter was couched in very loyal and becoming terms, re.-pectfully but firmly declining the offer of Ireland. " My private affairs," says he in his correspondence with the Hague, " would " not permit me to remove to Ireland, any more than " common honesty would allow me to put the profits of " that employment in my pocket, without going over to " do the duties of it." This was intended as a severe reflection on Sunderland, for having acted in the manner here described ; but it might have been more prudently omitted, since we shall find Townshend himself very shortly afterwards taking precisely that course which he had branded as repugnant to " common honesty." Both the Walpoles, on their part, wrote to Stanhope in very reproachful terms, declaring that he had acted " in a passion," and with ' sudden changes to old sworn " friends ;" and that, in their opinion, the authors of this * Letter from Mr. Charles Stanhope to Mr. Brcreton. December, 1716 f This letter itself is missing ; but it is mentioned by Lord Towns- hend when writing to M. Slingeland, Jan. 1. 1717, 0. S., and by Baron de Wassenaar when writing to Lord Townshend, Jan. 26 1717. Coxe's Walpole. J See Townshend's le:ter to Slingeland, Jan. 1. 1717, O. S. Ibid. 254 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. VIIV. " scheme did not expect that Townshend would, nor " desire that he should, accept the Lord Lieutenancy." Stanhope, in his reply, expresses deep concern that what he judged and meant as a service to Lord Townshend should be thus resented ; that, so far from representing his Lordship's refusal of the Lord Lieutenancy to his prejudice, he had obtained the King's commands to renew the offer ; that the Lord Lieutenancy would at all events be kept open for him till the King's return ; and that he entreated Robert Walpole to prevail upon Townshend to accept it. He adds his satisfaction that Walpole at least has expressed no thoughts of resigning his office, and most earnestly hopes that they may " continue to live " and act for the King's service with the same friendship " and union which has been."* These friendly expressions tended in no small degree to allay the resentment of the brother Ministers ; and a still more favourable effect was produced when the King left Hanover, and passed a few days at the Hague, on- his way to England. The leading men of the Dutch republic were, for the most part, personal friends of Townshend. To one of them, Slingeland, he had just written a full account of his dismissal and vindication of his conduct. They openly expressed their fears of the fatal consequences which this division in the British Cabinet might produce to the combined interests of the two countries, and they left no exertion untried to pro- mote a reconciliation. They held repeated conversations with Sunderland and Stanhope ; they wrote pressing let- ters to Townshend. They assured him that Sunderland repented of his violent letter to Lord Orford, and of his charge of caballing with the Duke of Argyle, which had proceeded from his misconceiving a hasty expression of Lord Cadogan. They declared, as they truly might, * Stanhope to Robert Walpole, Jan. 1. and 3. 1717. Archdeacon Coxe imputes the conciliatory language of Stanhope in writing to Walpole and Methuen to his ' terror" at perceiving the great weight which the opinion of the Dutch statesmen had with George the First when His Majesty was at he Hague on his return to England (Me- moirs of Walpole, vol. i. p. 104, 105.). A single fact overturns this surmise. The letters quoted by Coxe are dated from Hanover before the King's departure. 1716. THE KING RETURNS TO ENGLAND. 255 that the blame rested mainly upon the Hanoverians, and their false intelligence from England ; that if Lord Town- shend declined the King's commands at present, he would close the avenue to his returning favour ; and that if even Lord Tow nshend should be indifferent to that considera- tion, he ought still to sacrifice his own resentment to the necessity of union and to the public good * The King himself, on his arrival (he landed at Margate towards the end of the month), received Townshend very graciously, and expressed his regret for the precipitation with which he had acted. By his direction the fallen Minister received a visit from Count Bernsdorf, who stated to him that His Majesty having, though perhaps on false reports and on hasty impulse, taken away the seals from Lord Townshend, could not, with due regard to his own consistency and character, immediately restore them. But, if Lord Townshend would accept of Ireland, the King, satisfied with that mark of submission, would give him every satisfaction in his power ; would make no other change whatever in the administration ; and, so far from requiring Townshend to proceed to his post, would allow him to continue a member of the Cabinet in England, and give him leave to consider the Lord Lieutenancy as only a temporary office, to be exchanged hereafter for an- other at his pleasure. Townshend was softened by these promises ; he saw, moreover, all the evils of division at that dangerous crisis; and, being still more patriotic than passionate in his character, he gave way, and accepted the terms proposed to him. His political adherents, comprising Methuen, Pulteney, Walpoles, the Duke of Devonshire, and Lord Orford, were thus satisfied, and remained in their places. Methuen, who had hitherto merely acted as Secretary of State during Stanhope's absence, was now appointed his colleague for the southern department ; and thus it was hoped that the party schism might be completely closed, and the great body of Whigs completely reunited. My wish of presenting these intricate Ministerial transactions in one unbroken narrative has prevented me * Baron de Wnssenaar to Lord Townshend, Jan. 19. and 20. 1717. Coxe's Walpole. 256 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. VHI. from noticing till now the conclusion of the treaties at the Hague. Even after sufficient full powers for Lord Cadogan had arrived, some trifling obstacles delayed for several days longer the separate signature of the Abbe Dubois. Cadogan insisted that the title of King of France should still be borne by George the First, and that the treaty should be written, not in French, but in Latin. In the former point he prevailed, in the latter he yielded ; and, in fact, how could he deny that the two " Kings of France " should negotiate in the language of that country? "It is not difficult to discover," says Dubois, " that these pretensions in the English Ministers " proceed from their inexpressible terror of being brought " before Parliament, and most severely arraigned on the "slightest pretext."* But these little difficulties being soon surmounted, the Convention between France and England was finally signed on the 28th of November. Meanwhile, the slow formalities of the Dutch Republic were by no means exhausted, and the agents of the Court of Vienna made every exertion to delay or to prevent its accession. But happily the principal statesmen were sensible of their true interest; and some threats of the Regent's displeasure having spurred their lazy good will, they at length waived some forms, quickened some others, and finally signed the treaty on the 4th of January, 1717. It repeated all the articles of the previous convention be- tween England and France ; which convention, when Stanhope, shortly afterwards, passed through the Hague, was, at his suggestion, destroyed ; that no idea might prevail of separate interests, and that the whole might seem in appearance, as well as be in reality, " THE TRIPLE " ALLIANCE." f It had been intended that the King should open Par- liament immediately on his return ; but its meeting was delayed, and the public attention diverted by a new and unexpected discovery. That the Jacobites should enter into another conspiracy was no strange event ; but to find the King of Sweden negotiating with them, and intending to assist their revolt by foreign invasion, might justly * Mem. de Sevelinges, vol. i. p. 232. ; see also p. 454. f Mem. de Sevelinges, vol. i. p. 240. ; Corps Diplomatique, voL viil par; i. p. 484. ed. 1731. 1716. DfTRIGUKS OF BARON GORTZ. 257 excite dismay. So far back as the late rebellion the Duke of Berwick had formed a project of this nature, and held several conferences upon it with Baron Spaar, the Swedish Minister at Paris. It was designed that a body of seven or eight thousand Swedes, then encamped near Gothen- burg, should be embarked at that port ; that a sum of 150,000 livres should be advanced by the Pretender for their expenses ; and that they should proceed to Scotland, which, as Berwick observes, would be the easier, since no one had the least idea of such a scheme, and since, with favourable winds, the passage might be made in forty-eight hours.* A trusty messenger was immediately despatched with this project to the King of Sweden. But Charles being then closely besieged in Stralsund, it was long before this communication could reach him ; and when it did, the critical state of his own affairs compelled him to decline it. A renewal of this enterprise was now a favourite object with Charles, and recommended to him by the influence of Baron Gortz, his chief confidant and minister. Gortz was a Franconian by birth, and an ad- venturer in fortunes ; but a man of singular activity, penetration, and address. For courage he was much less distinguished : he appears to have slunk ignominiously from several duels, especially from one with General Grumkow, first Minister to the King of Prussia f ; and it is not a little singular that a coward should have gained the highest favour of the most warlike prince of his age. His wandering, hap-hazard mode of life, before his ap- pearance at the Swedish Court, had given him a peculiar dexterity in dealing with different characters, and an utter freedom from scruple as to the means which he employed ; and he was, says Voltaire, equally lavish of gifts and of promises, of oaths and of lies. J This active adventurer, having gone from Court to Court to stir up enemies against the House of Hanover, at length fixed his station at the Hague, as envoy from Sweden. Amongst those whom he had noticed and * Mem. de Berwick, vol. ii. p. 147. ed. 1778. See also the extract* from the Stuart Papers. Appendix. f See Lamberty, Mem. vol. ix. p. 267. This was the same Grum- kow so grossly caricatured in the Memoires de Bareith. Histoire de Charles XII., livre viii. VOL. I. S 258 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. VHI. wished to take with him in his journeys, was Voltaire, at that time a very young man, known only as the author of some political lampoons, for which he was soon afterwards confined in the Bastille ; but the historian has since com- memorated the obscure intrigues of the satirist.* From Holland Gortz carried on a secret correspondence, with Count Gyllenborg and Baron Spaar, the Swedish Ministers at London and at Paris ; he had also some direct com- munications with the Pretender and the Duke of Ormond, and he had received full powers from Sweden. The views of Gortz were most extensive. He wished to form new political connections for his master, whose imprudent heroism had hitherto gained him more admirers than allies. He projected a peace with the Czar, and even a perfect concert of measures between that monarch and Sweden' a conspiracy against the Regent in France an insurrection against George the First in England and an invasion of Scotland by Charles in person. It is evident that nothing could have been more auspicious for the Jacobite cause than to find itself freed from the unpopularity which attended its dependence upon France, and assisted no longer by a Romish but by a Protestant ally. Spain also entered warmly into this scheme. Its Prime Minister, Alberoni, sent to Spaar a subsidy of a million of French livres ; and the little Court of the Pre- tender offered 60,000/. Time, which, next to money, is the chief auxiliary in such enterprises, was to be fixed as early as possible ; the invading army was to number 12,000 Swedish soldiers, and the military reputation of their King was in itself a host. Happily for England this mine was tracked before it burst. So far back as October, some letters between * ee Voltaire, Histoire de la Russie sous Pierre le Grand, partie ii. ch. 8. Observe how slightingly Voltaire, then called Arouet, is spoken of in the contemporaiy Memoires de St. Simon (vol. xv. p. 69.). f The Czar, who was then travelling in Holland and France, was certainly favourable, in general, to the schemes of Gortz. According to Voltaire, he did and he did not see Gortz at the Hague. " Gortz * vit deux fois a la Have cet Empereur." (Histoire de Charles XII.) " Quand Gortz fut a la Haye le Czar ne le vit point." ( Histoire de Pierre le Gratd. ) But such inaccuracies are not uncommon in Voltaire. 1717. COUNT GYLLENBORG ARRESTED. 259 Gyllenborg and Gortz being stopped and deciphered by the Government in London, afforded a clue to the whole conspiracy*, and on the King's return fresh information was received, and further measures became necessary. Stanhope, to whose department this affair belonged, laid it before the Council on the 29th of January, and pro- posed the decisive remedy of arresting the Swedish onvoy and seizing his papers. A foreign Minister who conspires against the very Government at which he is accredited has clearly violated the law of nations. He is, therefore, no longer entitled to protection from the law of nations. The privileges bestowed upon him by that law rest on the implied condition that he shall not outstep the bounds of his diplomatic duties, and, whenever he does so, it seems impossible to deny that the injured Government is justified in acting as its own preservation may require. On such grounds the Cabinet having agreed to the pro- posal of arresting Gyllenborg, it was executed on the same day by General Wade, who found the Count making up some despatches. In a few words he explained hi mission, laid hold of the papers on the table, and de- manded tlio.se from the scrutoire. The Swede, much surprised and irritated, warmly expostulated on the laws of nations being violated in his person, and asked leave to send for the Marquis de Monteleon, the Spanish Am- bassador, that he might consult with him ; but Wade stated his positive orders not to let him speak with any person. On the other hand, the Count would by no means give up the key of the scrutoire, and the Countess, who came in, declared that it contained only her plate and linen ; but it being, nevertheless, broke open, it was found to be full of papers. These, General Wade, ac- cording to his instructions, sealed up and carried away, leaving a sufficient guard upon his prisoner. On th< same day were also arrested. Mr. Caesar, Member o\ Parliament for Hertford, and Sir Jacob Bancks, formerly * Lord Townshend to Secretary Stanhope, Oct. 12. and Nov. 2. 1716. (Coxe's Walpole.) Bolingbroke, writing to Wyndham, Sept. 13., observes, "The people who }>elong to St. Germain's and Avignon " were never moie sanguine in appearance." s 2 260 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. Vm. member for Minehead, who were suspected of a share in the same conspiracy.* In a proceeding so unusual and startling, it was judged proper that Stanhope should write a circular to all the foreign Ministers in London, informing them of the reasons for Gyllenborg's arrest ; and none of them ex- pressed any resentment, except the Marquis de Monte- leon.f But a far more complete vindication than Stan- hope's letter was afforded by those of Gyllenborg, which had been seized at his house, and which were forthwith published by authority.:}: They confirmed, in +he most undoubted manner, all the charges of the Government, all the suspicions of the public. It is remarkable that the name of Walpole occurs in them ; and some hasty words of his are repeated, as if his disgust with some of his brother Ministers might probably draw him into the conspiracy. In this I am persuaded that Gortz and Gyllenborg did complete injustice to Walpole, and, in fact, their expressions clearly prove that he had not afforded them any adequate grounds for such hopes. Gortz was on his way to England to put the last hand to the conspiracy, and had already reached Calais, when he heard of the fate of his colleague, and upon this re- turned to Holland. But at Arnheim he and his two secretaries were taken into custody, by an order from the States, obtained at the application of England. The arrest of this prime mover was certainly still more im- portant than Gyllenborg's, but it appears to me to have been far less justifiable. For, admitting the full right of any government to seize and search a foreign Minister if * " Count Gyllenborg has passed most of this summer with Caesar, a creature of Lord Oxford's, in Hertfordshire." Towushend to Stanhope, Oct. 12. 1716. f Political State, 1717, vol. i. p. 150. j The material passages of this correspondence are printed in the Parliamentary History, vol. vii. p. 396 421. " I do not know whether Mr. Walpole's expressions were the " effect of his first rage on account of his brother-in-law, my Lord " Townshend's, being removed, or whether they came from his heart." Gyllenborg to Gortz, January 23. 1717. The subject was mentioned in the House of Commons by Mr. Hungerford, on the 22nd of February. Coxe, in his Life of Walpole, passes over the whole transaction in silence. 1717. PARLIAMENT MEETS. 261 conspiring against itself, yet it by no means follows that this extreme resource should be extended to the case of a conspiracy against an ally. Charles, when informed of the proceedings at London and at Arnhcim, maintained a haughty silence, neither owning nor disowning the conduct of Gyllenborg, but directing, as a measure of reprisal, the arrest of Mr. Jackson, the British Resident in Sweden. With respect to the Dutch, whom he wished to conciliate, he pursued a milder course, merely forbidding their Minister to ap- pear at his Court. Meanwhile, the Regent of France interposed his good offices as mediator ; and, after several months of negotiation, and the Regent making an assu- rance, in the name of Charles, that His Majesty had never any intention to disturb the tranquillity of Great Britain, Count Gyllenborg was sent home and exchanged with Mr. Jackson ; and Gortz, with the consent of the English Government, was set at liberty in Holland.* The Parliament, on its meeting (it was opened on the 20th of February by the King in person), expressed great indignation at the conspiracy so happily crushed. One member even went so far as to move that war should be declared against Sweden ; which, Stanhope observed, it would be quite time enough to do if Charles should ac- knowledge the practice of his Ministers. Addresses to the King were carried in both Houses with perfect unanimity. But this happy concord was not of long continuance ; and the late schism in the administration was soon found to be by no means truly and thoroughly healed. Walpole was too conscious of his own ability and influence, and too aspiring in his temper, to be long contented with a second place. His own quarrel, some years afterwards, with his brother-in-law and most inti- mate and steady friend Lord Townshend, clearly shows how little he could bear a rival near the throne ; and ac- cording to his own expression at that time, he was de- termined that the firm should be not Townshend and Walpole, but Walpole and Townshend. Thus also he ill brooked the superior influence of Sunderland and Stanhope. Private coldness, and, perhaps, private cabals, soon led to public reserve, to utter silence in the House * Political State, 1717, voL ii. p. 88. 8 3 262 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. VIII. of Commons, or to faint and formal support. On the motion of granting His Majesty a supply against Sweden, it was expected by the Government that "Walpole, named as he had been in the Swedish correspondence, would have felt it incumbent upon him to show peculiar zeal and energy. But, on the contrary, his unwillingness and dissatisfaction were apparent ; and though he did speak in favour of the motion*, yet he seems to have done so coldly and shortly ; and all his and Townshend's personal adherents, known to act according to his advice and direction, voted on the opposite side. They were, of course, joined in this policy by the whole body of Jaco- bites, Tories, and discontented Whigs, and prevailed so far that, on the division, the motion for a supply was carried by a majority of only four the numbers being 153 against 149. No Government could possibly close its eyes or re- strain its hands from the authors of so insidious an attack ; and coming as it did from the party of which Lord Townshend was called the leader, it was necessary to make an example of that nobleman. The state of the case was immediately laid before the King; and, accord- ing to His Majesty's directions, Secretary Stanhope, on the same evening of the division, the 9th of April, wrote a letter to Lord Townshend, acknowledging his past ser- vices, but announcing his dismissal from the Lord Lieu- tenancy of Ireland. If Stanhope and Sunderland had formed any similar intention against Walpole, it was anticipated by that Minister, who, early next morning, waited on His Majesty to resign his places of First Lord of the Treasury and Chancellor of the Exchequer. G eorge showed great regret at parting with so able a servant, and endeavoured to persuade him to keep his post, using many kind expressions, and several times pressing the seals back upon him ; but Walpole, though moved even to tears by His Majesty's goodness, remained firm in his determination. His example was followed the same morning by Methuen and Pulteney, and, a few days afterwards, by Lord Orford and the Duke of Devonshire. * Coxe is mistaken in saying that Walpole in this debate " main- " tained a profound silence.'' (Life, p. 106.) Both Robert and Horace Walpole spoke for the Supply. (Pad. Hist. vol. vii. p. 439.) 1717. ROBERT WALJPOLE UESIGNS. 263 Stanhope was appointed First Lord of the Treasury and Chancellor of the Exchequer. Sunderland and Addison Secretaries of State, James Cruggs Secretary at War, the Earl of Berkeley First Lord of the Admiralty, the Duke of Newcastle Lord Chamberlain, and the Duke of Bolton Lord Lieutenant of Ireland : Lord Cowper and the Duke of Kingston remaining in their places. The loss of Walpole was severely felt by the new ad- ministration. His influence with the House of Commons, and his reputation with the public, had greatly risen, and he was superior to Stanhope both in power of debate and in knowledge of finance. His late conduct, however, exposed him to many angry reflections ; his cabal against his colleagues was termed " a criminal conspiracy," and his withdrawing from the Government, " a defection ;" and these charges appear to have induced him, during the first few days, to pursue a very moderate course. When Stanhope proposed to fix the subsidy against Swe- den at 250,000/., and when Pulteney thundered against " a German Ministry," Walpole closed the debate, and turned it in favour of the Government by observing, that having already spoken in favour of the Supply, he should now give the Court his vote. Soon afterwards he took an opportunity to promise, in the House of Commons, that " the tenor of his conduct should show he never " intended to make the King uneasy, nor to embarrass "his affairs."* But never, certainly, was any profession so utterly belied in performance. Almost from the mo- ment he left the Treasury until the moment he returned to it, he uniformly and bitterly opposed every measure of the Government. No regard for the public, no feel- ing for his own consistency, ever withheld him. He unscrupulously leagued himself with Shippen, Wyndham, Bromley, and other decided enemies to the reigning dy- nasty, insomuch that Shippen, on one occasion, expressed his satisfaction that his friend Walpole was no more afraid than himself of being called a Jacobite. He had made a warm opposition to the Schism Bill at its pass- ing, saying that it rather resembled a decree of Julian the Apostate, than a law of a Protestant Parliament ; * Parliamentary History, vol. vii. p. 446. and 449. s 4 264 HISTORY OP ENGLAND. CHAP. VHl. yet he no less strenuously resisted the repeal of that very law when proposed by Stanhope. We shall find him, who had been one of the prime movers of Oxford's im- peachment, contriving a legal difficulty, and assisting that Minister's escape. We shall find him joining the vulgar outcry against a standing army, and declaring that 12,000 men were fully sufficient, at the very time when he well knew the country to be in danger of another insurrection, and of invasions both from Sweden and from Spain. We shall find him, so acute and practical a statesman, not ashamed to argue against that necessary measure the Mutiny Bill, and exclaiming in the heat of debate, " He that is for blood shall have blood ! " In short, his conduct out of office is indefensible, or, at least, is undefended even by his warmest partisans* ; and, in looking through our Parliamentary annals, I scarcely know where to find any parallel of coalitions so unnatural, and of opposition so factious. The character of a statesman so reckless in opposition, but so eminent in office, deserves the most attentive con- sideration, and affords the best clue to the history of England for more than twenty years. During his life, he was loaded with unmerited censures ; since his death, he has sometimes received exaggerated praise. Amidst the showers of invective which his enemies have poured, amidst the clouds of incense which his flatterers have raised, the true lineaments of his mind are dimly and doubtfully seen ; and I should have failed far more com- pletely in my attempt to give an impartial representation of them, but for the kindness of a most eminent man, who has condescended to point out several errors in my first impressions, and to send me his own matured reflections on this subject. Robert Walpole was born in 1676, of an ancient gen- tleman's family in Norfolk. His natural indolence would probably have overpowered and kept down his natural abilties, had he not been a third son, and seen the necessity of labour for his bread. At Eton, where he was the con- temporary, and in some degree the rival, of St. John, he was educated as one intended for the Church, and used to * See the reflections of Speaker Onslow and of Archdeacon Coxe (Memoirs, vol. i. p. 110., and voL ii. p. 551.). 1717. ROBERT WALPOLE. 265 say of himself afterwards, with perhaps no unreasonable vanity, that had he taken orders, he should have been Archbishop of Canterbury instead of Prime Minister. But, at the age of twenty-two, he found himself, by the death of his brothers, heir to the family estate, with a double advantage the inheritance of an elder and the application of a younger son. On the decease of his father in 1700 *, he was returned to Parliament for the family borough of Castle Rising. He immediately and zealously attached himself to the Whigs ; and as, besides the two seats at Castle Rising, he could command another at Lynn, he brought his party no small accession of poli- tical patronage. The first time when he rose to speak (on what subject is not recorded) he by no means fulfilled the hopes of his friends ; he was confused and embar- rassed, and, according to the Parliamentary phrase, " broke down." But his perseverance soon retrieved this failure. The occasion on which he appears to have first distin- guished himself was the celebrated proceeding on the Aylesbury election in 1704; and thus, by a curious con- trast, the statesman, who was afterwards denounced as the most profligate parliamentary leader ever known in England, the very "father of corruption," gained his earliest laurels as the champion of free elections ! From this time forward Walpole slowly but steadily rose in fame as a debater. He also naturally contracted a close friendship and intimacy with many of the leading men of his party, especially with Lord Treasurer Godol- phin ; with Pulteney, who in after life, became his chief rival and antagonist ; and with Stanhope, who had taken his brother Horace as his private secretary. In March, * Horace Walpole says in one of his letters, " The other day Sir " Robert found an old account book of his father's, wherein he set " down all his expenses. In three months and ten days that he was " 111 London one winter, he spent what do you think ? 64/. 7s. 5rd Marlborough seems passionately to desire." (Lewis to Swift, June 15. 1717.) " My Lady Marlborough is almost dis- " traded that she could not obtain her revenge." (The same, July 2. 1717.) For the tradition see the Biogr. Brit. art. Churchill, in second edition, and Coxe's Marlborough, vol. vi. p. 352. t Lord Oxford to the Pretender, Sept. 1716. This letter was seen by Sir James Mackintosh at Carlton House. T 4 280 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. VHI. of Carnwath, Lords Widdrington and Nairn, were re- leased from the Tower ; seventeen gentlemen under sen- tence of death in Newgate, and twenty-six in Carlisle Castle, were set at liberty ; many likewise from the Fleet, the Marshalsea, and in the custody of messengers. At Chester about two hundred of the prisoners of Preston were set free ; in Scotland all persons remaining in the castles of Edinburgh and Stirling received the same be- nefit; and in short, the prison doors were thrown open in both kingdoms. Besides the Earl of Oxford, there were some other exceptions named, especially Lord Har- court, Prior, and Thomas Harley ; but on the whole, no Act of Grace, in like circumstances, had, for ages past, been clogged with fewer.* In fact, the gradual advance of humane and merciful principles in our legislation, the progressive respect for human life, and aversion to hu- man sufferings .are most cheering and delightful to contemplate. Even the very clemency of one age appears cruelty to the more compassionate feelings of the next. When in Elizabeth's reign, for example, the great Lord Burleigh signs a warrant for torturing on the rack, or disembowelling some suspected persons, and gives orders that it shall be done " as charitably as such a thing can " be," his contemporaries admire the kindness of the reser- vation, whilst we can see only the barbarity of the sen- tence. Thus also in the Act of Grace of 1717, so highly extolled for its mercy, a modern reader is shocked to find excepted " all and every person of the name and clan " of Macgregor." It is to be observed, however, that the Act of Grace by no means reversed the past attainders, nor restored the forfeited estates, the yearly income of which in Scotland was about 30,000/., and in England 48,000/. At the close of the Session, the First Lord of the Trea- sury was raised to the Peerage by the title of Viscount Stanhope. I have already had occasion to notice that * An abstract of the Act is given in the Political State, 1717, vol ii. p. 59 72. One contemporary pamphlet carries its adulation to such a pitch of blasphemy as to say that the "clemency of King George " was not only great, but even extended farther than that of God "himself!" (Tindal's Hist. vol. vii. p. 160.) The reverse of the picture may be seen in Lockhart's Memoirs, vol. ii. p. 5. 1717. FOREIGN POLITICS. 281 until the Septennial Act had taken full effect, and had raised the House of Commons into greater power and dignity, hardly any care seems to have been taken by any government to retain some of its leading members in that House. Harley, St. John, and Stanhope, are strong con- temporary instances of this indifference. By the promo- tion of the latter, the Ministerial lead in the Commons devolved upon Addison, Craggs, and Aislabie men without sufficient official experience or Parliamentary weight who do not seem to have been entrusted with the direction, and scarcely even with the knowledge, of the more important affairs who only defended what others had decided upon who were not so much Mi- nisters as deputies and agents for Ministers ; insomuch that we find Craggs sometimes designated as merely " Lord Sunderland's man." The close of the Session left Ministers at leisure to de- vote their whole attention to foreign politics, which con- tinued to bear an uncertain and lowering aspect. At this period, the chief danger seemed to lie in the Penin- sula. The Court of Lisbon, indeed, gave no uneasiness. John the Fifth was then slumbering on the throne of Portugal, and his long reign from 1707 to 1750 was the usual reign of a weak Prince in a Catholic country the government of the King's mistress when the King is young, and the government of the King's confessor when the King is old. But, at Madrid, the equally feeble mind of King Philip was sustained and strengthened by the genius of Alberoni, one of the most remarkable characters of this age, who, by birth the son of a labouring gardener, and in calling a village curate, had, partly by eminent abilities, and partly by low buffooneries *, (I ought also to add, favourable fortune,) risen to a Cardinal in the Roman Church and Prime Minister of the Spanish Mo- narchy. The Queen entirely governed Philip, but Al- beroni governed the Queen. Under his skilful direction, Spain began to resume its ancient position amongst na- tions. Trade revived, order and economy were introduced in the finances, a new navy was created, the army became * See in St. Simon < Mem. voL v. p. 40. ed. 1829) how he first gained the favour of Vendoine. 282 msTORr OF ENGLAND. CHAP. vin. disciplined and well commanded. " Let your Majesty "remain but five years at peace, "said he to his master, " and I will make you the most powerful monarch in "Europe."* Mr. Bubb, the British Minister at Madrid, observes in like manner that, " as low as Spain is, there "is no nation can so soon retrieve itself, and sooner at " present than ever. Formerly the dominions in Italy " and Flanders were a vast charge to them instead of an " advantage. They were maintained by the resources of " the Indies and of the two Castilles, whereas at present " this expense is at an end ; the Castilles pay rather " more than ever, while the King draws considerable "resources from Aragon and Catalonia, which paid " little or nothing before.f In fact, his resources exceed " by one third those of any of his predecessors, and his " expenses are reduced one half; so that, with a little " order, he will soon make himself an useful ally." + Nothing, in fact, can show more strongly the general misgovernment of Spain than the sudden prosperity and power to which an able Minister has sometimes been able to raise it, and the glory of such statesmen is the disgrace of its usual system of despotic rule. Alberoni at first did not want inclination as well as means to become a most useful ally to England. He found, in 1715, at the commencement of his power, some commercial negotiations pending between that country and Spain ; and it was chiefly through his influence that * See Alberoni's apology in the Historical Register, 1722, p. 201. This is an able defence, full of important facts, but going rather too much into detail. A IMme Minister vindicating his public conduct might have disdained to boast that " he was at the sole charge of " curing fifteen girls who were all sick of a contagious distemper ! " (p. 203.) f In 1701, Louis the Fourteenth truly observes in his instructions to Count Marsin, " L' Aragon ne donnerait pas le moindre sucours " pour les besoins les plus pressans de la Castille." (Mem. de Noailles, vol. ii. p. 108.) | Mr. Bubb to Secretary Stanhope, Feb. 19. 1715. This is fully confirmed by San Phelipe " Verdaderamente, Alberoni dio a ver " las fuerzas de la MonarqniaEspanola, qnando sea bien administrado " cl Erario, siendo indubitabile que gastos tan excesivos en tan " brieve tiempo ningun Rev Cato.lco ha podido hacerlos." (Cornea- tarios, vol. ii. p. 167, &c.) 1717. CARDINAL ALBERONI. 283 they were brought to a successful issue. A previous treaty of commerce with the Archduke, as King of Spain, had been concluded by Stanhope at Barcelona, in 1707, on most advantageous terms ; but this, of course, had fallen with the Austrian cause. In the new treaty with Spain, signed in December, 1715, Stanhope obtained very large concessions ; restoring British subjects to the same advantages in trade which they enjoyed under the Austrian Kings, and providing that they should in no case pay higher or other duties than the Spaniards them- selves.* In the same conciliatory spirit, Alberoni, during the rebellion in Scotland, avoided any open countenance or support to the Pretender ; and even published a pro- clamation in the name of Philip, declaring His Majesty's intention to give no assistance to the enemies of George. " Next to God," once said Alberoni to Mr. Bubb, " the " King my master looks up to yours." | The friendly disposition of the Spanish and British Ministers was still further improved by a personal correspondence which sprung up between them. Stanhope, while a prisoner at Zaragoza, had become acquainted with Alberoni, who was then an humble attendant of the Duke of Vendome J ; and even at that period Stanhope, struck with his abili- ties, had foretold his future greatness. He now wrote to Alberoni, expressing pleasure to see his anticipations fulfilled thanks for Alberoni's exertions towards the Commercial Treaty and wishes for a sincere and last- " ing friendship" between the two Courts. Alberoni replied in a similar strain ; and the correspondence then * The treaty of Stanhope with Charles the Third, in 1 707, may be seen in Martens' Supplem., vol. i. p. 64. ; and that with Philip the Fifth in 1715, ibid. p. 111. Mr. Bubb writes to Stanhope, Dec. 12. 1715, "The Ministry here have done every thing they could against "us . ... Whatever we settled with the King in the morning, the " Cardinal del Giudice and his party undid at night .... Alberoni " has behaved very obligingly and heartily in this affair." f Mr. Bubb to Secretary Stanhope, May 4. 1716. f Alberoni, in his apology, boasts that it was he who persuaded Vendome to accept the command in 1710, and also to move forward from Bayonne when the Duke was deterred by an attack of gout, and by the news of the battle of Zaragoza. (Hist. Register, 1722, p. 200.) Stanhope to Alberoni, Dec. 30. 1715. 284 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. Vllf. begun was continued on a very confidential footing, thus excluding, in fact, from business Monteleon, the Spa- nish Ambassador at London, who was wholly in the Pre- tender's interest. This mutual cordiality was not, however, of very long continuance. In proportion as the power of Alberoni in- creased, his views of policy expanded, and they at length became irreconcilable with those of England. It is the usual fault of adventurers, if raised to the head of affairs, to embrace too many projects at once to prefer the shining to the solid and to pursue in public affairs the same daring and hazardous course-which led to their own personal advancement. Alberoni was eager to depress the party of the Regent in France, and entered warmly into the cabals against the authority of his Royal High- ness by the Duke du Maine and other malcontents. Another favourite object was to humble the Emperor, who had never yet acknowledged Philip as King of Spain who still retained that title for himself, and as- signed that of Prince of Asturias to his infant son * who had formed at Vienna a council of Spanish exiles and who above all, under the peace of Utrecht, held all the former Spanish dominions in Italy. Besides the na- tural desire of regaining these, the Queen of Spain, as a Princess of Parma, had claims to the eventual succession of that Duchy and of Tuscany, and was most anxious to acquire the guarantee of them for one of the Infants. " In "short," concludes Mr. Bubb, "the absolute control over " Spain will belong to the highest bidder for the Queen's " son. This is the grand and the only maxim which "has never changed since I have been here."f With these views, it may easily be conceived that the Court of Spain was deeply mortified to see the conclusion of the defensive treaty between England and the Emperor. The guarantee of territory which it contained, affording a strong additional security to the Italian provinces, was peculiarly unwelcome ; but still far greater pain and in- dignation were excited at Madrid on the news of the * San Phelipe Coment. vol. ii. p. 166. The young prince died in 1717, the same year Maria Theresa was born. f Mr. Bubb to Secretary Stanhope, June 15. 1716, 1717. CARDINAL ALBERONI. 285 Triple Alliance, thus checking any designs upon France even more directly than those upon Italy. There was still every disposition, on the part of England, to culti- vate the most friendly intercourse with Spain ; but this was no longer in accordance with the ambitious designs of Alberoni. From this time forward he appears to have changed his whole system ; and, though still holding a conciliatory tone towards England, he suspended the ex- ecution of the Treaty of Commerce, and connived at the vexations practised upon English merchants ; while, moreover, he decidedly rejected some proposals from England to bring about an accommodation between Spain and the Emperor. Alberoni, however, Avas by no means anxious for Avar ; he still wished, on the contrary, to avoid an open rupture ; he felt the necessity of the five years of quiet he had asked for his reforms, and saw the danger of plunging into hostilities against powerful allies, and with imperfect preparations. But one very slight incident baffled his pacific views. Don Joseph Molines, then ambassador at Rome, having been appointed Inquisitor-General of Spain, had set out on his journey by land with a passport from the Pope, and a promise of security from the Im- perial Minister. Nevertheless, he was arrested on his way by the Austrians, and conveyed to the citadel of Milan ; while his papers were transmitted to Vienna, with the hope of their affording intelligence as to the de- signs of the Spanish Cabinet. This insult, after so many other causes of complaint, real or supposed, was the last drop that made the waters of bitterness overflow. Philip and his Queen, highly incensed, would no longer hear of any objections to a war, and overbore the real reluct- ance of their favourite Minister.* Alberoni had, in fact, sufficient difficulties and dangers on his hands at home. His bold innovations had raised a whole host of enemies ; and at this very time a plot * Some high authorities, such as San Phelipe (vol. ii. p. 151.), the Memoires de Noailles (vol. v. p. 74.), &c., treat the reluctance of Alberoni as mere aftectation, and himself as the sole cause of war. But the contrary is, I think, satisfactorily proved by Coxe (Memoirs of the House of Bourbon, vol. ii. p. 275.). 286 HISTORY OP ENGLAND. CHAP. VHI. was forming against him by one of the most distinguished generals in the Spanish army, and one of the most steady adherents to Philip during the war of the succession, the Marquis de Villadarias. The confederates of Villadarias were Don Joseph Rodrigo, the President of Castille, and some thirty of his most devoted officers ; and his project was a partial rising, to combine the principal cities and the superior courts and councils, for a joint representa- tion to the King, and for the dismissal of the obnox- ious Minister. The French ambassador, when secretly consulted by Villadarias, thought the enterprise too ha- zardous*, nor does it seem to have proceeded ; at least I find no further account of it ; and when Spain had be- come actually engaged in war, the noble spirit of Villa- darias would not refuse to serve his country even in a subaltern capacity, and under the direction of his po- litical enemy ; and I shall have to speak of his gallantry as one of the Generals in the second Spanish expedition. War being once inevitable, Alberoni bent all his ener- gies to its successful prosecution. He did not act like some preceding Spanish Ministers, who, in difficult cir- cumstances, had done nothing for themselves, and ap- peared to rely entirely on their saints, or their allies. He sent his chief secretary and confidant, Don Joseph Pa- tino, to hasten the preparations at Barcelona, where the soldiers and the ships were collecting. The whole force amounted only to twelve ships of war and 8600 men ; but, in a period of profound peace in the south, even these excited considerable alarm, and no less conjecture throughout Europe. Of their aim and object nothing was known, and therefore much was reported. The Emperor trembled for Naples, the Genoese for Savona, and the King of Sicily for that island ; in England it was feared that the Spaniards would send over the Pretender ; . * St. Aignan to Louville, June 1. 1717, Memoires de Louville. Villadarias had previously been to Paris to concert measures with the French statesmen. Louville wrote to St. Aignan, April 18. 1717, " Villadarias retourne a Madrid. II est au fait de tous nos secrets. " Contiez-vous a lui, mais ne le voyez point en public. II est de ces "vrais Espagnols qui veulent une alliance offensive et defensive avec " la France, mais qui la veulent uniquement dans I'mteret de leur " Prince et de leur pavs." 17 1 7. CONQUEST OF SARDINIA.. 2S7 while the Pope piously believed that all these prepara- tions were levelled against the Infidels in the Levant. In fact, one principal reason for this mystery was to im- pose upon his Holiness, who had not yet consented to be- stow upon Alberoni the much desired Roman purple ; but that favour having been wrung from the reluctant Pontiff in July, the new Cardinal immediately threw aside the mask. Orders were given for the sailing of the expedition ; its command was entrusted to the Marquis de Lede, and on the 20th of August its real object was disclosed by its anchoring in the Bay of Cagliari. The island of Sardinia, consisting chiefly of marshes or of mountains, has, from the earliest period to the pre- sent, been cursed with a noxious air, an ill cultivated soil, and a scanty population. The convulsions produced by its poisonous plants gave rise to the expression of Sar- donic smile, which is as old as Homer*, and even at pre- sent the civilisation of the surrounding continent has never yet extended to its shores. The people are still almost in a savage state ; and I do not remember any man of any note or eminence who was ever born amongst them, unless it be the historian of this very expedition.! This barren territory, for centuries a dependency of Spain, had been secured to the Emperor at the same time that Victor Amadeus obtained the far more fruitful island of Sicily. Of late, however, a prospect of ex- changing the first for the latter had been held out to the Emperor by the members of the Triple Alliance, in hopes to obtain his accession ; and it was partly with the view of baffling this negotiation, and partly as a step to future conquests in Italy, that Alberoni made Sardinia the first object of his arms. The Spanish troops experienced no difficulty in land- ing, nor much in the investment of Cagliari. But they met with a stubborn resistance in its siege, the place * Odyss. lib. xx. v. 302. f San Phelipe, Coment. vol. ii. p. 158 165. He was present with the Spanish army, and took an active part in the. cause of Philip, as he had also done in 1708. (War of the Succession, p. 252.) lie is obliged to own of his native island, " Nada perdio cl Emperador con " Cerdeiia ; nada gano el vencedor." 288 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. VIIL being garrisoned chiefly by some Aragonese and Catalans of the Austrian party, who combined on this occasion the common rancour of exiles with the proverbial courage of their countrymen.* They defended themselves to the last extremity ; and even when they had surrendered, the island was not yet subdued. The Spaniards had to march forty leagues to the northward to form the sieges of Alghero f and of Castel Aragonese J ; they suffered severe loss from the pestilential vapours in the midst of the summer heats, and more than two months elapsed before their conquest was entirely completed ; when the Marquis de Lede, leaving 3000 men as a garrison, re- turned with the rest to Barcelona. There is no doubt that, instead of returning home- wards, the Spanish expedition would at once have pro- ceeded to Sicily, had not England interposed at the first news of its aggression. The King of England was pledged to maintain the neutrality of Italy, and bound besides by a defensive treaty with the Emperor. Above all, the great object of the Triple Alliance had been the preservation of peace in Europe; and the allies were de- termined to spare no labour nor firmness for that end. Uubois hastened over to London, to hold some confi- dential interviews with Stanhope. It was determined to make every exertion to mediate between Philip and Charles; and according to the plan laid down, the for- mer was to renounce all claims on the Italian provinces, and the latter on the Spanish monarchy ; the Emperor * The Aragonese were proverbial for their valour amongst the Spaniards. Thus in Don Quixote : " ganar fama sobre todos los " caballeros Aragoneses que seria ganarla sobre todos los del Mundo." (Part 2. ch. 4. vol. v. p. 79., ed. Paris, 1814.) I remember at Madrid seeing a worthy Castillian very testy at this passage. f Alghero was founded in the twelfth century by the Doria family. The fortifications are still kept in good repair, and there are some fine brass guns with the inscription "Parant ha^j fulmina pacem." (Smyth's Sardinia, p. 281.) J This is now called Castel Sardo. " It occupies the summit of a "steep rocky pinnacle immediately over the sea." (Smyth's Sardinia, p. 261.) The place is no favourite with Capt. Smyth; he tells us that " like the Carse of Gowrie, it may be said to want water all " the summer, fire all the winter, and the grace of God ail the year " tlirough ! " 1 71 7. THE COURT OF VIENNA. 289 was to be gratified with the acquisition of Sicily in ex- change for Sardinia ; .and the King of Spain with the succession to Parma, and to the whole or nearly the whole of Tuscany, lor the Infant Don Carlos. These offers, being a tolerably fair and impartial award for each of the contending parties, were, of course, bitterly op- posed by both. It was hoped, however, that, backed by so formidable a confederacy as the Triple Alliance, they would be finally accepted ; and, in order to give them greater weight at Madrid, Stanhope despatched his cousin, Colonel William Stanhope (since created Earl of Harrington), as ambassador to Spain. The Regent, soon afterwards, sent thither the Marquis de Nancre in the same character ; but the tone both of France and of Holland, in this negotiation, was far less earnest and effectual than that of England, the Regent being with- held by the affinity which had so lately subsisted in politics, and which still subsisted in blood, between the two branches of the House of Bourbon. " I have been " shown the instructions for M. de Nancre," writes Lord Stair : " they are certainly drawn in the most guarded ' and cautious terms that I have ever seen. No man ' could touch fire with more unwillingness and circum- ' spection than these instructions touch every point that could give the slightest chagrin to Spain. M. de Nan- cre is to say nothing savouring of threat Nor has he any orders to insist upon a declaration that the Spaniards will not, in the meanwhile, undertake an in- vasion of Italy. Yet, in my opinion, there is no way to avoid a war so sure as seeming not to be afraid of it." * " As to the Dutch," observes Stair, in another despatch, " they will gladly accede whenever they find us ' concur with the Emperor ; but their weak and pitiable ' state of government prevents them from engaging in ' any thing of vigour, unless they find themselves in good ' and large company." f Nor were there fewer difficulties with the Court of Vienna. St. Simon assures us that the Emperor had * Lord Stair to Lord Stanhope, Paris, March 6. 1718. (Orig. in French.) f To Lord Stanhope, March 11. 1718. (Orig. in French.) VOL. I. U 290 HISTORY OP ENGLAND. CHAP. VIII. such strong personal repugnance to resign his claims upon the Spanish monarchy, that his Ministers scarcely durst mention the subject before him.* I find it stated, however, in the instructions to Colonel Stanhope, " that " the Emperor at first had showed no want of readiness " to conclude a peace with Spain. He agreed to yield " the succession of Parma ; but, in spite of the most " pressing entreaties from His Majesty, and from the ' Regent, he positively refused the dominions of the " Grand Duke of Tuscany. Even while the war with " the Turks seemed likely to continue, the Emperor and " his Ministers seemed immovable on this point. But " now, when it is evident that the Emperor may at his " pleasure conclude a peace, or at least a long truce, " with the Turks, the King our master, and the Regentj :< are apprehensive that the Imperial Court will be still " more difficult to deal with than before." Temporal enemies were not the only ones roused against Alberoni by his conquest of Sardinia. The Pope, swayed by Austrian counsels, and indignant at having been duped by the Spanish Minister, launched forth an angry Brief to Philip, threatening him with the " divine vengeance," and assuring him that " not only "your reputation, but your soul also is at stake ;"f and he backed these spiritual remonstrances by a suspension of the INDULTO, or ecclesiastical tax, in the Peninsula. This brief was publicly circulated throughout Spain, but was treated with utter contempt by the Minister ; and the Indulto was strictly levied as before. It is remark- able that one of the very few serious differences between the Spanish Court and the Holy See should have oc- curred with a Cardinal as Prime Minister ; and it is still more strange that, in a country so blindly devoted to the Catholic faith as Spain, the Papal indignation should have produced so little effect. Is it that the Spaniards are still more zealous for their country than for their religion, and, even in matters of faith, look rather to Madrid than to Rome? I find it stated that, at this period, even the statues of Saints could not please them unless attired in the true Spanish habit! J * Mem. voL xv. 328. ed. 1829. t See the Brief at length in the Historical Register, 1717, p. 357. J See the Travels of Father Labat, who visited Cadiz in 1705, and 1717. SPANISH INTRIGUES. 291 The representations of Colonel Stanhope and of M. de Nancre were met by Alberoni first with anger, and after- wards with dissimulation. In one of his private letters he inveighs against " certain unprincipled men, who " would cut and pare states and kingdoms as though " they were so many Dutch cheeses ; " * nevertheless, after a vain struggle for the cession of Sardinia, he sul- lenly consented to open a negotiation on the basis of the proposed preliminaries. But it soon became apparent that his object was only to gain time and to spread divi- sions. Under his orders, the most active measures were in progress for another armament. Ships of war were built in the Spanish ports, or bought in foreign ones f ; the founderies of cannon at Pamplona, and the manu- factories of arms in Biscay, sent forth the din of prepara- tion ; soldiers were enlisted in all quarters ; the irregular valour of the Miquelets in Catalonia was raised and im- proved by discipline ; and no less than six regiments were formed from those hardy mountaineers* In order to obtain money for this armament Alberoni did not, as he boasts himself, lay any tax upon the people ; but mortgaged some revenues, enforced the strictest economy, sold some offices at Court, and stinted the Queen's per- sonal expenses, insomuch that Her Majesty afterwards complained of not having been allowed "sufficient to who says of one of its churches, "Sainte Anne qui est d'un cote ' du berceau de 1' Enfant Jesus, est habillee commc une vieille dame, " d'une grande robe de velours avec des dentelles d'or. Elle est assise " sur un carreau a la manic-re du pays, et tient son chapclet a la main. " St. Joseph est a cote de ISainte Anne vetu a 1'Espagnole. les culottes ' le pourpoint et le manteau de damas noir, avec la golille, les bas de " soie avec la rose de rubans de la meme cottkur, les cheveux partagea " sur le cote de la tete ct poudres, des grandes lunettes sur le nez, le " chapeau a forme plate sous le bras gauche, Tepee de longueur, et le " poignard avec un tres-grand chapelet a la main droite ! " (Voyages, vol. i. p. 23.) In the same volume is a curious story of the monks of Cadiz, who, it seems, never attended the midnight Mass prescribed by their rules, although the bells for it were still rung every night, as the 1 ' said, "pour I'edification du peuple I" * To Mr. Bubb. Printed from the Melcombe Papers in the origin^ French in Seward's Anecdotes,. vol. iii. p. 255. ed. 1804. f " This Court has contracted for the timber and all other necessaries "for the building of ihree ships in Catalonia, and eight in Cantabria, " and six from 60 to 80 guns they have bought of the Dutch - r so that o 2 292 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. VHI. "provide common necessaries"* words which, from such a quarter, may perhaps mean only jewels and trinkets ! In short, there was no doubt that Alberoni persevered in his aspiring hopes, and that the return of summer would be marked by a renewal of his warlike enterprises. To withstand the confederacy of France England and Holland, and to dare at the same time the enmity of the Court of Vienna, might have appalled the boldest Spa- nish statesman in the proudest days of the monarchy ; but, even in its decline and abasement, did not daunt the lofty soul of Alberoni. His active armaments at home were combined with skilful negotiations abroad. He enticed Victor Amadeus by holding out a prospect of the Milanese as an equivalent for Sicily ; he encouraged the Turks to continue their war against the Emperor in spite of their defeats ; he made overtures to Prince Ra- gotzky, the exiled Prince of Transylvania, and urged him to attempt the recovery of his dominions. In the north of Europe he adopted the views of Gortz, and had grounds to expect that Charles the Twelfth and the Czar, concluding a peace, and forgetting their old animosities, would combine against George the First for the restora- tion of the exiled family. The commercial jealousy of the Dutch was stirred anew by the intrigues of Alberoni. The factions in France were taken under his fostering care ; he caballed to raise an insurrection of the discon- tented in Britanny, and of the Protestants in the Ce- vennes ; and made overtures to the secret parties of the Jesuits, of the Parliaments, and of the Duke and Duchess du Maine. The convocation of the States-Ge- neral, the immediate reformation of abuses, the speedy payment of the public debts all popular measures, and the more so as being some of them impracticable were " they pretend to have a numerous squadron at sea next year. One " Castaiieta, a sea officer, and a builder, is gone to Holland to take " care of their purchase ; these six ships they will certainly have, and, " if we allow them, six more." Mr. Bubb to Lord Stanhope, Nov. 14. 1717. Hardwicke Papers, vol. xxxvii. * This was said in 1725, See Mr. Keene's despatch as quoted in Coxc's House of Bourbon, vol. ii. p. 392. 1717. SPANISH INTRIGT3ES. 293 professed as objects by his emissaries; and the seeds were ready laid of a wide and alarming conspiracy. But it was against England, as the soul and spirit of the whole confederacy, that the Cardinal more especially directed his batteries. Besides his northern negotiations, he entered into a direct correspondence with the Preten- der, who, in consequence of the Triple Alliance, had been compelled to cross the Alps, and who had fixed his tem- porary residence at Rome. An expedition to the British coasts, conveying a sufficient body of troops, and to be headed by Ormond or by James himself, stood foremost amongst the schemes of Alberoni. Meanwhile he availed himself to the utmost of the divisions in England ; his agents and creatures publishing specious declamations on the burden of taxes, the dangers of a standing army, the losses of trade which must follow a rupture with Spain, and other such popular topics ; and finding, unhappily, not merely the Tories, but also some of the Whigs in opposition, eagerly second their efforts to agitate and inflame the public mind. Such unwearied and combined exertions threatened the most serious danger, and required the most active measures ; but before I come to the steps adopted by the British Government for its defence, I must resume the thread of our domestic affairs. 294 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. DC. CHAPTER IX. tlie coldness between George the First and his son had been merely a Court secret, or a public surmise, it produced comparatively little mischief; but when it grew into an avowed and open breach, followed by a change of residence, and authenticated by published let- ters, it became a much more momentous affair. The jea- lousy and suspicion of the King, the forwardness and caballing of the Prince, have been already mentioned in this narrative, and from a very slight spark, their smoul- dering resentments blazed high. On the christening of one of the Prince's children, the Prince had designed his uncle, the Duke of York, as godfather ; but, by the King's commands, the Duke of Newcastle stood in that relation at the ceremony, not as proxy for the Duke of York, but in his own behalf. The Prince incensed at this inso- lence (so he called it), as soon as the ceremony was over, addressed Newcastle in very harsh and reproachful terms ; and the King, offended at this want of respect, ordered his son to remain in his own apartments under arrest, and soon afterwards sent him his commands to quit St. James's. The Prince and Princess accordingly withdrew into the house of the Earl of Grantham, Lord Chamber- lain to His Royal Highness. This frivolous dispute, in which the King was certainly severe, the Prince undu- tiful, and both childish, produced a total alienation be- tween them during several years.* A notice was issued, that no person who paid his respects to the Prince or Princess would be received at Court ; they were deprived of their guard of honour and other distinctions ; and the * St. Simon, who is always fond of scandal, and not always solicitous as to its truth, does not scruple to say, " Jamais le pere ' n 'avail pu souffrir ce fils, parcequ'il ne le croyait point a lui." (Mem. voL xviii. p. 197. ed. 1829.) 1718. SCARCITY OF SILVER. 295 Secretary of State wrote a circular to the Foreign Mi- nisters, giving an account of this whole transaction; nay, to such an extent did the Royal displeasure proceed, that George formed a scheme for obtaining an Act of Parlia- ment by which the Prince, on coming to the throne, should be compelled to relinquish his German states. This project he afterwards laid before Lord Chancellor Parker ; and it was only on the Chancellor's representa- tions of its inexpediency and impracticability, that it was abandoned by His Majesty. On the other hand, the Prince, fixing his residence at Leicester House, openly raised the standard of opposition against his father. The feverish anxiety produced by this schism in the Royal Family was very apparent during the whole of this Session. It was a subject never touched upon, but always feared and expected in a debate. On one occasion, when the House of Lords was very full and the Prince of Wales present, Lord North and Grey rose, as he said, " to take " notice of the great ferment that is in the nation." Here he made a pause, and his hearers were in no small pain and suspense as to what might follow ; but Lord North soon relieved them by mentioning only the great scarcity of silver, and the consequent hindrance of trade. This scarcity of silver was, in fact, one of the principal matters to which the Parliament of this year directed their attention. The reports on this subject of Sir Isaac Newton, as Master of the Mint, are still on record, and appear interesting from his name, if not from their con- tents. Lord Stanhope, in his official statement, as head of the Treasury, ascribed the scarcity of silver to three causes ; first, the increasing luxury in relation to plate ; secondly, the vast exports of bullion and other plate to the East Indies ; thirdly, the clandestine trade that had lately been carried on of exporting silver and importing gold to and from Holland, Germany, and other countries. In support of these allegations Stanhope produced several papers, and, among the rest, one drawn up at the Custom House, by which it appeared that in 1717 the East India Company had exported near three millions of ounces of silver, which far exceeded the imports in that year ; so that large quantities of silver specie must necessarily Lave been melted down, both to make up that export and u 4 296 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. IX. to supply silversmiths. He also hinted at "the malice of " some persons, who, by hoarding up silver, thought to " distress the Government;" and declared that, neverthe- less, public credit had never yet been so high, for that " the Government could now borrow great sums at three " and a half per cent." On the whole, it was resolved, " that the standard of the gold and silver coins of this " kingdom ought not to be altered in weight, fineness, or " denomination ; but that a Bill should be brought in for " the more effectual preventing the melting down of the " coins of this kingdom." I find, however, from the Lords' Journals, that though this Bill was accordingly prepared, and went into committee, it did not pass this Session. It has often occurred to me to doubt whether our prac- tice of computing sums in gold instead of silver coins -- always reckoning by pounds or guineas instead of crown- pieces has not had a tendency to raise and keep up prices unduly for small purchases. The Duke de Sully carries this idea further ; he declares himself convinced by experience that even a crown-piece is too large a value for common computations * ; and, in fact, it may be observed, that, since his time, the French have adopted the reckoning by LIVRES instead of ECUS. The Parliament sat only from the 21st of November to the 21st of March, without much of moment occurring. It is remarkable, that the seceding Whigs do not appear to have gained ground by their open junction with the Tories ; and that the Government prevailed against them, on almost every occasion, by larger majorities than during their cabals in office.! '^ ne chief question on which the Opposition made a stand this Session was the Mutiny * " Je crois avoir fait 1'experience que 1'habitude de nommer nn " ecu faute d'une denomination plus propre aux petits details porte " insensiblement toutes les parties du commerce dans les ventes et " dans les achats au-dela de leur vraie valeur." (Mem. de Sully, voL ii. p. 148. ed. 1747.) f " Tout est alle dans le Parlement au souhait de notre Roi, qui " n'aura plus d'embarras pour de 1'argent pendant toute cette seance. "Aussi les fonds continuent a hausser considerablement." Lord Stanhope to Abbe Dubois, Dec. 23. 1717. Hardwkke Papers, vol. xx vi. 1718. SHIPPEN SENT TO THE TOWER. 297 Bill a good topic for popular declamation, and on which the long experience of Walpole, as Secretary of War, enabled him to speak with peculiar powers of mischief; but it was carried in the Commons by 247 against 229. In the House of Peers, Oxford and Straiford (for the impeachment of the latter had been silently dropped), resuming their places, took a prominent part in the debate ; Lord Townshend also spoke against the Bill ; and in the division they had 77 votes, and the Govern- ment 91. During one discussion Shippen, forgetting his usual caution, was betrayed into the observation, that some of His Majesty's measures were rather calculated for the meridian of Germany than of Great Britain ; and that it was the only infelicity of His Majesty's reign that he was unacquainted with our language and constitution. Nothing could be more true than the remark nothing more mischievous than the intention ; and a storm of indignation was immediately raised against the "down- right " Jacobite.* It was moved that he should be taken into custody ; and, though Walpole interposed in favour of his new ally, and dexterously afforded him an oppor- tunity for an explanation, which would probably have been accepted, yet Shippen, disdaining any submission, was sent to the Tower, where he remained during the rest of the Session. Meanwhile, our relations with Spain had been growing to the critical point described in the foregoing chapter ; and the Ministers, on full consideration, foresaw that an English fleet might be required to avert or to resist the designs of Alberoni. For this purpose a Royal Message was delivered to the House of Commons, on nearly the last day of the Session, adverting to the possible necessity of a larger naval force ; and a corresponding Address was moved by Sir William Strickland, pledging the House to make good any such excess in the sea-service of 1718, as His Majesty might find requisite to preserve the tran- quillity of Europe. Both the Message and the Address cautiously shunned the mention by name of any foreign " I love to pour out all myself as plain " As downright Shippen." POPE. Shippen used afterwards to say of Walpole, " Robin and I are two " honest men ; though he is for King George, and I for King James." 298 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. ix. power ; but Walpole insidiously observed, that sucli an Address had all the air of a declaration of war against Spain. It was, however, carried without dividing. Preparations were immediately commenced for a large armament at Portsmouth ; its destination to be the Mediterranean, its commander Sir George Byng. Still, however, it was confidently hoped that negotia- tions might prevent an appeal to arms; and it was chiefly with the view of effecting this happy result, that a change was made at this period in the office of Secretary of State. Stanhope, from his personal intimacy at the Courts of Paris, Vienna, and the Hague, and his long experience of Spain, was the person who, even when removed to the Treasury, still exercised a paramount influence on our foreign affairs. Dubois, Prince Eugene, and many others, continued to apply to him instead of to Sunderland ; he was still looked to by Continental states as the head of the counsels relative to them ; and the King likewise relied mainly on him in these affairs. Under such circum- stances it was undoubtedly better that he should resume the office which would give him the official and respon- sible control of our foreign policy ; and that the manage- ment of our domestic affairs, together with the chief post .at the Treasury, should be transferred to Snnderland. Accordingly an exchange of offices took place between the two Ministers ; and Stanhope was also, at this period, raised to an Earldom. The office of Chancellor of the Exchequer, which Stanhope had also held, was, however, conferred upon Aislabie. The other Secretary of State, appointed with Sunder- land, had been Addison. That admirable writer, whose works must give instruction and delight to all men capa- ble of either, and whose renown can never cease so long as the English people, or even the English language, en- dure, unhappily conies before the historian as only a mute at St. Stephen's, and a trifler in Downing Street. When- ever he had to deal with practical and pressing affairs, the razor was found too sharp for the blocks. It has often been related, how, when Secretary to the Lords Justices, and desired to write an official notice of the Queen's death, he was so distracted with the choice of words, and so overwhelmed with the importance of the J.718. LORD COWPER RESIGNS. 299 crisis, that at length the Lords, losing all patience at his bungling, summoned a common clerk who readily did what was required in the usual form of business. In a higher office his deficiencies were of course still more ap- parent.* He himself became painfully sensible of them, and solicited his retirement, which he obtained at this time with a pension of 1500/. a year. But ill health (this had been another cause of his official failure) brought his useful life to a close in only fifteen months : he expired at Holland House (then and since a classic spot in English literature), with the memorable words upon his lips, " See in what peace a Christian can die !" His successor, as Secretary of State, was James Craggs, a ready speaker, a good man of business, and a consistent politician. The Government sustained at this time another loss, and no light one, in Lord Cowper, who resigned the Great Seal. His motive I do not find explicitly stated by others, and his own private Journal does not extend so far.f That he parted from his colleagues on good terms, may be presumed from his being promoted to an Earldom ; but I conjecture that the Peerage Bill, and the Act for the relief of Dissenters, which he so strenuously opposed next year, might be already contemplated by the Cabinet, and that Lord Cowper had determined never to concur in them. His health, however, was declining, and his temper had soured, and either of these circumstances might suggest a wish for retirement. His place was occupied, not filled, by Lord Parker, Chief Justice of the King's Bench, and afterwards Earl of Macclesfield. From the usual versatility of the Duke of Shrewsbury, it is doubtful whether his death could be considered a gain or a loss by any political party. He expired this year on the 1st of February. * The following is a striking remark by Sir James Mackintosh : " What a good exchange of stations might have been made by Swift 4 and Addison ! Addison would have made an excellent Dean, and ' Swift an admirable Secretary of State !" See the Memoirs of Mack- intosh, by his son, vol. ii. p. 91. a worthy record of a most accom- plished man. f The last entry in Lord Cowper's Diary is Sept. 21. 1714, and there are but very few in that and the next preceding years. 300 HISTORY OF EXGLAND. CIIAP. IX. Charles Talbot, the twelfth Earl of Shrewsbury, was born in 1660, and succeeded to the title at a very early age, his father having been killed in a duel with the Duke of Buckingham.* The family was then, as at pre- sent, Roman Catholic ; but the young Earl embraced the Protestant faith so early as 1679, and, by his steady ad- herence to it in very trying times, incurred the displea- sure of King James. He was foremost in the secret schemes against that Prince ; and one of the seven who, in June, 1688, signed the celebrated Association, inviting the Prince of Orange. He continued throughout one of the chief promoters of the Revolution ; and, as such, was employed as Secretary of State, and raised to a Dukedom by the new sovereign. So polished, engaging, and con- ciliatory were his manners as to make him in a great measure loved and trusted by both parties, insomuch that William the Third used to call him " the King of Hearts." " I never," says another most acute observer, " knew a " man so formed to please, and to gain upon the aifection " while challenging the esteem." f He appears, more- over, to have combined considerable talents with upright intentions ; but his temper was timid and shrinking ; he was averse to business from his disposition, and unequal to it from his health. " If," as he says himself, " a man " cannot bear the air of London four days in a year, he ' must make a very scurvy figure in a Court as well as " in a Ministry." \ His delicate mind also, like his body, was not made for the wear and tear of politics, as is trulv and beautifully expressed in a letter to himself from Lord Halifax : " I confess I always thought there was too " much fine silver in your Grace's temperament ; had " you been made of a coarser alloy, you had been better * See an account of this duel in Pepys's Diary. January 17. 1668. Lady Shrewsbury was the Duke of Buckingham's mistress, and is said to have held his horse in the dress of a page whilst lie was fight- ing her husband. t Lord Bolingbroke to Lord Orrery, May 1 8. 1711. Marlboroughi compares his manner to Eugene's in one of his letters. "Prince' " Eugene has in his conversation a great deal of my Lord Shrewsbury, v " with the advantage of seeming franker." (To the Duchess, June 1 5. 1704.) J Letter to King "William, December 10. 1698, printed in Coxe's Correspondence, p. 181 1718. THE DUKE OF SHREWSBURY. 301 " fitted for public life."* Accordingly, during the whole term of his administration under King William, we find him almost unceasingly applying to His Majesty for per- mission to resign. His value, however, as the only man who could soften and combine the fierce partisans of that mortifying period was so much felt by William, that no prince ever showed greater reluctance to dispense with the services of a subject, and that his importunity did not prevail till 1700, when he resigned all his offices ; and, hoping to restore his health by quiet and a purer air, proceeded to Rome, and resided there five years. On his return, passing through Augsburg, he contracted or an- nounced a marriage with the Marchesa Paleotti, his Italian mistress. Having reached England, he resided chiefly in the country, at his seat of Heythorp ; but re- newed his former intimacy and political union with the Whigs, leaving his proxy with the Duke of Maryborough, and declaring that thus placed he thought his vote more sure to be employed for the public good than were he present to give it.f But this good understanding soon became disturbed. He was nettled at the coldness with which the Duchess of Marlborough, and other Whig ladies, treated his foreign wife J, and he was no less offended at failing to obtain from the Whig Ministers some object of personal ambition for himself; the Lord Lieutenancy of Ireland, according to one account a pension, according to another. At this period of dis- pleasure with his former friends, he became entangled in the subtle snares of Harley ; he privately entered into all the cabals of that crafty statesman and of his bed-cham- * Letter without precise date, but written in 1705, and printed in the Correspondence, p. 655. f He observes in one of his letters at this time, " I own it is hard " at first to choose one's friendships well, but when they are once fixed " upon a merit like the Duke of Marlborough, and their worth ex- " perienced, it is past my comprehending how that should ever be 44 lessened or shaken." (See Coxe's Marlborough, vol. v. p. 212.) J The Duchess writes to Lady Cowper, Oct. 23. 1710: "Your " description of the Duchess of Shrewsbury is very good. I have " heard much such an account of her, only with this addition : my " Lord Duke looking a little grave, she chucked him under the chin, " bidding him look up, amongst all the company ! She is a great " honour to a Court ! " 302 HISTORY OF ENGLA>T>. CHAP. IX. ber ally ; and he had secret conferences with the Queen at Windsor, on subjects not confided to her Ministers. Still, however, with his characteristic doubt and timidity, he avoided committing himself, or making any decided movement, until perfectly assured of the ascendancy of Mrs. Masham. He then took his seat in the House of Lords, and boldly defended the cause of Sacheverell against the Ministry. Nor was this all. The Queen availed herself of an interval, when Parliament was pro- rogued, Marlborough commanding in Flanders, and Go- dolphin betting at Newmarket, to deprive the Marquis of Kent of the Chamberlain's staff, and intrust it to Shrews- bury. Complaint and remonstrance proved unavailing ; and this first step was followed up until the utter over- throw of the Whig administration, and the establishment of the Tories, with whom Shrewsbury then combined. Though retaining his office of Lord Chamberlain, he was appointed to that of ambassador at Paris, from whence, in the autumn of 1713, he was, as I have already had occasion to state, transferred to the Lord Lieutenancy of Ireland. The year 1717 is remarkable as the last on which the Houses of Convocation ever sat. From the Restoration to the Revolution, that assembly had been very inefficient either for good or for evil ; and Bishop Burnet sarcasti- cally observes of it in 1689, that " ever since 1662, the " Convocation had continued to sit, but to do no busi- " ness ; so that they were kept at no small charge to do " nothing, but only to meet and read a Latin litany."* Since that period, however, and especially in the reign of Anne|, they had at intervals displayed great activity and most violent wrangling, the two Houses being almost al- ways on bad terms with one another. On the accession of George the First, the Convocation was permitted to hold its sittings as usual. But it was not long before the Lower House plunged eagerly into a contention with Dr. Hoadley, Bishop of Bangor, who, in a sermon on the spiritual kingdom of Christ, had used expressions tend- ing, it was alleged, " to subvert all government and dis- cipline in the Church;" and also "to impugn and * Hist. vol. iu p. 33. foL ed. f Somerville's Queen Anne, p. 81. and 124. J'/IS. BISHOP HOADLET. 303 " impeach the Royal Supremacy in causes ecclesiastical.** This debate, known by the name of the Bangorian Con- troversy, would supply materials enough for a volume, but hardly interest enough for a page ; and it may be sufficient for most readers to state, that the Government, anxious to compose these dissensions, and prevent any appearance of a schism in the Church, arrested the pro- ceedings by a sudden prorogation, since which the Con- vocation has never met again for business. Several good and wise men have deplored the cessation ; and it is certainly possible that the frequent holding of this assem- bly might have checked the progress of dissent, and more early provided sufficient space and means for religious worship. But it is at least equally probable that its dis- putes would sometimes have widened into schism, its zeal warmed into intolerance ; that the trade of agitator might have grown profitable in the church as it is in the state; and that the enemies of all religion would often have been gratified with the unseemly sight of conflicting divines. The British negotiations at Madrid continued, but did not advance. In vain did Colonel Stanhope and Nancre combine their efforts in vain did the latter receive new arid more effectual instructions from the Regent ; in vain did Lord Stanhope urge Alberoni in private letters the Cardinal maintained the same haughty tone as if Spain still held in its hands the balance of European power.* The project of peace he termed an unheard-of monster, a goat-stagf, and the peace of Utrecht a treaty made for the Devil ; complaining that the King his master was treated as if he were a king of plaster, or like a German ! " But " the Lord's hand," he added from Scripture, " is not " shortened ! " It is easy to perceive that the Prime Minister had not yet wholly discarded the coarse buffoon- eries which had first fascinated Vendome, and that his * Antonio Perez used to say, " Francia y Espana las Balanzas de " Europa, Yuglatcrra el Fiel." (Relaciones, Append, p. 25. cd. 1 624.) t Un hirco-cerf! (St. Simon, Mem. vol. xvi. p. 180. ed. 1829.) Comme un Hoi de platre ! (Ibid.) Trailer un Roi d'Espagne a 1'Al- lemande ! (P. 236.) La main de Dieu n'est pas raccourcie ! (vol. xv. p. 1 06. ) The Treaty of Utrecht a treaty made for the Devil 1 (Alberoni's Apology, Hist. Regist. 1722, p. 209.) 304 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. DC. style had not risen with his station. He was above all indignant at the naval preparations in England, but only the more actively pursued his own. The Spanish arma- ment comprised twenty-nine ships of war*, with trans- ports for 35,000 veteran soldiers, 100 pieces of battering cannon, 40 mortars, and a vast supply of provisions, stores, and ammunition of all kinds. Never, says a Spanish historian by no means favourable to Alberoni never had an expedition so formidable been sent forth by any former sovereign of Spain, not even by the Emperor Charles or by Philip the Second.f The fleet was intrusted to Don Antonio Castaneta, a shipbuilder rather than a sailor in his original profession, and the troops were com- manded by the Marquis de Lede, a Fleming in the Spanish service, of misshapen stature, but of great military expe- rience. The first place of equipment for the expedition was Cadiz, and its precise destination entirely unknown. Except the ex-Jesuit Patino, the Cardinal had not a single confidant to his schemes, and is perhaps the only instance in history of a very vain man (for such, un- doubtedly, was Alberoni) who never once betrayed his secrets. On receiving information of this mighty armament, Stanhope and Sunderland did not hesitate to give Byng their last instructions ; and the Admiral sailed for the Mediterranean on the 4th of June with twenty ships of the line. The news from Spain had also no small effect at Vienna in lowering the pretensions of the Emperor. Our agent at that Court was then General de St. Sa- phorin, a Swiss of the canton de Berne, who had lately * See the enumeration of these ships in Campbell's Lives of the Admirals, vol. iv. p. 437. This is as the fleet was off the Faro. San Phelipc reckons twenty-two ships of the line, and three merchant vessels, armados en guerra ; but this was on leaving the Spanish ports, and the others may have joined on the voyage. f Nunca se vieron en Espana preparatives tan grandes ; ni Fer- dinando el Catolico que tantas espediciones ultramarinas hizo, ni Carlos V. ni Felipe II. que hizieron muchas han formado una mas adornada de circunstancias y de preparatives. (San Phelipe, vol. ii. p. 167.) The French ambassador says that Alberoni had an eye to every thing himself. " H entre dans tous les details, et paie jusqu'aux * souliers des nourrices ! " Mom. de Louvillc, vol. ii. p. 220. 1718. THE QUADRUPLE ALLIANCE. 305 been taken into the English diplomatic service.* He had found at first the Emperor's Ministers, especially Starem- berg, deaf to all his overtures ; but the greatness of the Spanish expedition, and, still more, the news of its having proceeded from Cadiz to Barcelona, wrought such changes, that St. Saphorin was able to announce their acceptance of the terms proposed to them. They also consented to the mediation of England for a peace between the Em- peror and the Turks, which was, accordingly, signed this summer, and which left a considerable Austrian force disposable for Italy. Under these circumstances, Stan- hope immediately concerted his measures with Dubois, who was still in London f, to frame the articles for a new treaty between England, France, and the Emperor. There still remained to subdue some hesitation in the mind of the Regent, and great reluctance on the part ot his principal Ministers ; and Stanhope, anxious to over- come all obstacles at this crisis, undertook a journey to Paris and held several conferences with Philip. The Marshal d'Huxelles, chief of the Council for Foreign Affairs, not only opposed the project with the greatest warmth, but absolutely refused to sign an alliance levelled against a grandson of Louis the Fourteenth. Neverthe- less, Stanhope and Stair prevailed. The treaty was concluded early in July, though not finally signed till August ; and, from the subsequent accession of the Dutch, received the name of THE QUADRUPLE ALLIANCE. The basis of this celebrated treaty was declared to be the * St. Simon speaks of this gentleman as " fort decrie depuis long- " temps par plusieurs actions contre 1'honneur et la probite, et par ses " maneges encore et ses declamations contre la France." ("Mem. vol. xv. p. 193. ed. 1829.) On the other hand, I find in the Biogr. Univ. (art. Pesmes), "A ses talents militaires et diplomatiqucs il " joignait le jugement Ic plus sain, 1'esprit le plus perseverant, et le " coeur le plus droit !" I have no materials for deciding which of these statements is a lie. f Duhois remained in England for the formal signature, and did not return to Paris till August. (Hist, of Europe, 1718, vol. ii. p. 197.) The Duke de St. Simon dcsi-ribes him iis having played a merely passive part. " Stanhope regla tons les articles du traite. . . . " L'Abbe Dubois avait declare qu'il ferait tout ce que voudrait le Roi " d'Angleterre," &c. (Mem., vol. xvi. p. 285. and 299.) But it is to be observed that St. Simon had a personal animosity against Dubois, and strives on every occasion to depreciate his exertions. VOL. I. X 306 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. IX. Peace of Utrecht, and its object the preservation of tran- quillity in Europe. It provided, according to the inten- tions I have already explained, for the mutual renuncia- tions of the King of Spain and the Emperor, for the reversion of Parma and Tuscany to the Infant Don Carlos, and for the exchange of Sicily and Sardinia be- tween Victor Amadeus and Charles. As a compensation for the unequal value of the two islands, the Emperor acknowledged the claims of the House of Savoy to the succession of Spain in case of the failure of Philip's issue. In twelve separate and secret articles it was stipulated, that the term of three months should be allowed for the accession of Philip and of Victor Amadeus, in default of which the whole force of the contracting parties was to be employed against both or either, and compel them to submit. In hopes, however, of still averting an appeal to arms, Stanhope determined to proceed in person to Madrid, with the secret articles, and to make every exertion to subdue the stubbornness of Alberoni. He relied very much for success on an offer of yielding Gibraltar, in case all other means should fail ; an idea, of course, kept profoundly secret, and, in my opinion, quite inconsistent with our national interests, or national glory.* He also relied on some strong instructions from the Regent to M. de Nancre, which he was to carry out with him to Madrid. and which, according to St. Simon, had been dictated by Stanhope himself.f "With these prospects he set out from Paris, attended by Mr. Schaub (afterwards Sir Luke), a Swiss in the British service, and his confidential secretary. At that time the departure of the Spanish armament was already known, and its destination suspecte I in France.^ It bad sailed from Barcelona with sealed orders, * The blame of this idea of giving up Gibraltar rests mainly with Stanhope ; he had suggested it from Paris to his colleagues in Eng- land, and obtained their acquiescence. (Secretary Craggs to Earl Stanhope, July 17. 1718. See Appendix, vol. ii.) In another letter of Craggs to Stanhope, of Sept. 16. 1720 (Hanhvicke Papers, vol. Ivii.), he alludes to ' the opinion you have that Gibraltar is of no great * consequence." t Mem. vol. xvi. p. 332. ed. 1829. j ' Le 1- de * mois, nioi Lord Stanhope ai vu M. le Regent. 1718. THE SPANIARDS IN SICILY. 307 which the Admiral was not to open till out at sea, and which were found to contain an injunction to steer to Cagliari, and there to open another sealed parcel enclosed. At Cagliari the real object of the expedition was at length revealed, the Admiral being directed to land the troops in Sicily, and the General to make himself master of that island. Accordingly the fleet pursued its voyage, and on the 1st of July the army was set on shore at the beautiful bay of Solanto *, four leagues distant from Palermo. That capital was unprepared for defence ; many of the chief men friendly to their former Spanish rulers, or connected in blood with them, and the multitude, as usual, thinking their present grievances the worst, and looking back to the past as to the " good old times." The Marquis Maffei, the Piedmontese Viceroy, after providing for the garrison of the castle, had only at his disposal about fifteen hun- dred soldiers. He made a precipitate retreat, and the Spaniards a triumphal entrance ; the citadel surrendered to them after a short blockade, and they confidently ex- pected the speedy and complete reduction of the island. The motive of Alberoni in directing his arms to this quarter had been principally to avert the threatened interposition of France and England. Both powers were pledged to the neutrality of Italy, and one also to the guarantee of the Emperor's dominions ; but neither of them had contracted any such obligation with regard to Sicily, or to the states of Victor Amadeus. Alberoni might therefore not unreasonably hope that they would hesitate before they plunged into a war, where they had no direct pledge to redeem, and no immediate interest to defend. He might hope, at all events, for some months of delay and negotiation, during which he trusted that his intrigues might have matured that a domestic con- spiracy might be bursting forth in France that a "... II avait appris de tres-bonne part que la flotte d'Esragne devai " allcr en Sicilc, quo I'idi'-e du Cardinal cst de s'cmparer de cttte isle " ot que pendant 1'liiver il cruit pouvoir baillcr a.ssez de besogne au " Ki en Angletcrre et a M. le Due d'Orleans en France." Lord Stanhope and Lord Stair (joint letter) to Secretary Craggs, July 6. 1718. Hardwicke Papers, vol. xxv. * Solanto is close under Cape Zafarana, I remember seeing there a palace and " tonnara," or tunny fishcrv, of the late King of Naples. x 2 808 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. IX. Swedish or Russian army might be landing in Great Britain and that he might then, without molestation, pursue his further designs on Naples and the Milanese. Nor was he withheld by the state of his negotiation with Victor Amadeus ; that negotiation had indeed proceeded to considerable lengths ; but had finally failed, the King of Sicily demanding subsidies which the King of Spain was not inclined to grant. The invasion was still further recommended by the large number of Spanish adherents, and the small number of Piedmontese troops, in that island. Flushed with the tidings of the first success in Sicily, Alberoni became less tractable than ever. The first news of the Quadruple Alliance, or rather the very idea of its possibility, excited his fury. " Could I believe," he cried, ' that such a treaty was really signed, Nancre should not ' remain a quarter of an hour longer in Madrid .... The ' King my master will wage eternal war rather than con- ' sent to this infamous project, and he will wreak his ; vengeance on those who presume to threaten him with it. If Stanhope comes here thinking to lay down the ; law, he will find himself ill received. I have sent him ' a passport as he requested, and I will hear the proposals ; he brings, but it will be impossible to give them the ' slightest attention unless they totally differ from the ' project." * Nor was the Cardinal daunted by the close approach and avowed object of the British expedition. On arriving off Cape St. Vincent, Admiral Byng had despatched a messenger with the tidings and with a copy of his in- structions to Colonel Stanhope, requesting him to com- municate both to the Spanish Government. In an inter- view which the British envoy consequently had with Alberoni, he found all his remonstrances met only with a burst of vehement invective against France and England ; and when he presented a list of the British ships, the Cardinal furiously snatched it, tore it to pieces, and trampled it under his feet. At the close of the conversa- tion, however, he promised to take the King's commands, and to send an answer in writing ; but this answer, which * St. Simon, Mem. vol. xvi. p 343. and 349. ed. 1829. 1718. LORD STANHOPE AT MADRID. 309 was delayed for several days, brought merely a dry in- timation that Admiral Byng might execute the orders of the King his master. In this temper of the Spanish Government the arrival of Lord Stanhope at Madrid, on the 12th of August (he had been delayed by their remissness in forwarding his passport), could produce little effect. Finding that the Court had gone to the Escurial, he hastened thither, obtained the co-operation of the Marquis de Nancre, and had several conferences both with the King and with the Cardinal ; but neither the Royal puppet, nor the Minister who pulled the strings, gave him any but very slight hopes of acceding to his propositions. Even these slight hopes were dispelled by the news of the reduction of Messina. " I showed my Lord Stanhope," says the Car- dinal himself, " that as long as the Archduke (the Em- ' peror) is master of Sicily, all Italy will be the slave of ' the Germans, and all the powers of Europe not able to ' set her at liberty. I also represented to him very ' clearly that to make war in Lombardy was to make it in ' a labyrinth, and that it was the destructive burial-place ' of the French and English. In conclusion, I told him ' that the proposition of giving Sicily to the Archduke ' was absolutely fatal, and that of setting bounds after- ' wards to his vast designs a mere dream and illusion. ' This is the substance of all the conferences had by my 4 Lord Stanhope." * From Stanhope's despatches f , however, it appears that Alberoni continued pacific pro- fessions to the last, and endeavoured to shift the blame from himself to his master. He declared that he wished for no conquests in Italy, and knew that Spain would be far more powerful by confining itself to its continent and to its Indies, and improving its internal administration, than by spreading itself abroad in Kurope as before. At parting with Stanhope he even shed tears, and promised to let slip no occasion that might offer of adjusting mat- ters ; and, more than once, he bitterly complained of the * Cardinal Alberoni to Marquis Berctti Landi, Aug. 29. 1718. Boyer's Political State, 1718, vol. ii. p 222. f Stanhope's despatches from Fresnada near the Escurial, and from Bayonne on his return, are inserted in the Appendix to my second vo- lume, and give a very curious view of Alberoni's character and policy. x 3 310 HISTORY OF ENGLAXD. CHAP. IX. King of Spain's obstinacy and personal resentment against the Emperor and the Duke of Orleans. Yet, on the other hand, he could not altogether conceal his hopes ot raising disturbances in France and England ; he evi- dently felt no small share of the animosity which he ascribed solely to his master ; and he seems to have fluc- tuated from hot to cold fits, according as the mail from Sicily brought him favourable or unfavourable news. With respect to Gibraltar, that affair was so secretly conducted, that it cannot be accurately traced. Whether, as some believe, there were other conditions (especially a large demand of territory in America) annexed to the offer*, and that Alberoni would not comply with them, or whether Gibraltar itself appeared to him an inade- quate reward for the relinquishment of his ambitious schemes, certain it is that the proposal did not move him from his purpose, and that the English Minister found it necessary to return homewards without succeeding in the object of his journey. But whatever resentment Stanhope might feel at the stubbornness of Alberoni, he did not fail to observe, nor hesitate to own, the eminent talents of that Minister. He who had seen Spain in the evil days of her Charles the Second, when a decrepit sovereign feebly tottered on her sinking throne when her agriculture, her trade, and her respect among nations were all but annihilated when famine stalked through her palaces f -- when her officers, chosen by Court favour, brought back nothing from their campaigns but ignorance and promotion when her soldiers, once the terror of Europe and the scourge of America, were reduced for want of pay to beg in the streets, or to wait at the convent doors for their d lily dole of foodj ; he who had seen Spain during the * "There is reason to believe that the offer of Gibraltar was " coupled with some condition besides the immediate succession of " Spain to the peace." (Coxe's House of Bourbon, vol. ii. p. 329.) It may be observed that Gibraltar was about this period a source of profuse and ill-regulated expense. Lord Bolingbroke in a despatch to Lord Portmore of March 29. 1712, complains that "at Gibraltar " things have hitherto been in the utmost confusion and under the " loosest management." - I.ettres de Villars, p. 220. 3. SCAJ Labat's Travels, vol. i. p. 252. This was no new case : the 1?18. STATE OF SPAIN. 311 War of the Succession, torn and bleeding with internal strife, city against city, and kingdom against kingdom lie could scarcely have believed that in the course of a few short years he should see the same country send forth an Armada of nearly thirty line-of-battle ships, and of more than thirty thousand well appointed, well paid, and well disciplined troops that this fleet should be built in the long disused and forsaken harbours of Cata- lonia and Biscay that this army should be clothed from new native manufactories that weavers from England and dyers from Holland should import their industry and ply their trade in Castille that a great naval col- lege should be established and flourishing at Cadiz that new citadels should be built at Barcelona and Pamplona, and the old fortifications repaired at Rosas, Geroria, Fuenterabia, and St. Sebastian. Already had workmen begun to construct a new and extensive port at Ferrol already had a Dutch engineer undertaken to render the river Manzanares navigable, and the capital of Spain open to water-carriage.* America, which, in the words of Alberoni, " had become Terra Incognita " even to Spain," again appeared an Eldorado ; and a FLOTA arriving from it during Lord Stanhope's embassy, Duke of York told Pepys how the Spanish soldiers " will refuse no " extraordinary service if commanded ; but scorn to be paid for it as " in other countries, though at the same time they will beg in the " streets In the citadel of Antwerp a soldier hath not a u liberty of begging till he hath served three years." (Pepys's Diary, December 20. 1668.) * A similar project, to connect Madrid and Lisbon by water- carriage, had been formed under Charles the Second ; but the Council of Ciistille, after full deliberation, answered that if God had chosen to make these rivers navigable, he could have done so without the aid of man, and that therefore such a project would be n daring violation of the divine decrees, and an impious attempt to improve the works of Providence! (Letters by the Rev. E. Clarke, 1763, p. 284) The sinallucss of the Manzanares, which is almost dry in summer, has been a frequent subject of jest among the Spaniards themselves. That quaint old poet Gongora, however, allows it the rank of Viscount among rivers : " Manzanares, Manzanares, " Os que en todo el aguatismo, " Sois el Duque de A r royus, " Y Vizcoiide dc los Kios ! " x 4 312 HISTORY OF ENGLAYD. CHAP. IX. had on board no less than six millions and a half in gold and silver ! * Nor had Alberoni been wholly engrossed with what is useful ; objects of taste and elegance had also a part of his care. A traveller at this time might have seen a stately palace arising in the romantic wilds of Guadarramaf, and new ornaments embellish the de- licious island-garden of Aranjuez.J Struck with these great works, and greater designs, Stanhope publicly ob- served, " If Spain goes on at this rate, and has the same " success in the other establishments she has in vic\\*, " there is no power will be able to resist her!" The Spaniards on their part, roused by their own successes, might be pardoned for assuming a prouder tone, and displaying their high national spirit; they might speak more slightingly than ever of all foreign nations, and forget at the moment that they had a Frenchman for their King, an Italian for their Minister, and a Fleming for their General ! From negotiations at Madrid, let us now turn to war- fare in Sicily. The Piedmontese had become most un- popular in the island ; many towns and districts rose in insurrection against them ; and in one, Caltanisetta ||, forty of their soldiers were butchered by the savage peasantry. The only places that could offer any resist- ance were Syracuse, Trapani, Melazzo, and Messina ; in the first of which Maffei, the Viceroy, had taken refuge ; * Boyer's Polit State, 1718, voL ii. p. 167. f The palace of San Ildefonso, begun during Alberoni's admi- nistration, was completed in 1723. (San Phelipe, Coment. vol. ii. p. 303.) J These gardens seem familiar to us, from Mr. Southey's beautiful description. (Penins. War. vol. iv. p. 60.) They have been em- bellished by almost every successive sovereign of Spain, since Charles V. Even in the sixteenth century the place was proverbial for its fountains, and the name is humorously applied by Cervantes to issues in the leg ! (Don Quixote, part 2. ch. 50. vol. vii. p. 28. ed. Paris, 1814.) This is a testimony to which Alberoni referred with pride after his fall. See his Apology, Hist. Register, 1722. p. 208. || This is, I presume, the Cantanieta of San Phelipe. The Spanish writers are often careless as to names. One of their strangest blun- ders relates to Syracuse, which, from a resemblance of sounds, they sometimes confound with the capital of Aragon, and call Zaragoza de Sicilia. 1718, ADMIRAL BTNG. 313 but it was against the latter that De Lede directed his arms, leaving only a small detachment to the westward for the blockade of Trapani. To march along the Si- cilian coast is by no means an easy task, from the great number of FIUMARAS, which have never any bridges to cross them *, and which, according to the season, display either swollen and impetuous torrents, or dry and rugged beds of huge stones. The Spanish infantry was, accord- ingly, transported to Messina by sea; while only the cavalry proceeded along the shore, its vanguard com- manded by the Marquis de Villadarias, the old and gal- lant adversary of the English in the Bay of Cadiz, and on the field of Almenara. The city of Messina gladly opened its gates to the in- vaders ; but the citadel, which had a garrison of 2500 Piedmontese, required a regular siege ; and trenches were opened against it on the 31st of July. Its safety was an object of the deepest solicitude to the Austrians in the kingdom of Naples, foreseeing that they themselves would infallibly be the next object of attack. Their Viceroy, Count Daun, was a brave and skilful officer; but the troops under his orders were few f ; and it is certain that, had he been left only to his German soldiers (the Neapolitan are scarcely worth reckoning), he would, so far from assisting Maffei, have speedily shared his fate. But the mighty arm of England was already outstretched for his succour. On the very day after the investment of Messina, the fleet of Sir George Byng anchored in the Bay of Naples. The possibility of an attack upon Sicily had not been overlooked in the Admiral's instructions ; he was directed, in that case, " with all his power to hin- " der and obstruct the same ; " and he, therefore, imme- diately landed, to concert measures with Count Daun. He was informed that the last letters from Vienna gave * There is a proverbial saying in Sicily, that the island contains only un monte, un fonte, e un ponte ; meaning Etna, Arethusa, and a bridge over the Salso near Alicata. (Capt. Smyth's Sicily, p. 199.) f According to St. Simon there were only 6000 foot and 1500 horse in the kingdom. (Mom. vol. xvi. p. 279. ed. 1829.) Tindal speaks of eight or twelve thousand. (Hist. vol. vii. p. 214.) Considering how long a Spanish invasion of Naples had been expected by the Emperor, even the highest of these numbers appears incredibly smalL 314 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. IX. hopes of the King of Sicily's speedy accession to the Quadruple Alliance, His Majesty having already requested the aid of the Imperial troops, and consented to admit them into the Sicilian fortresses. Under these circum- stances, it was resolved that Daun should despatch, and Byng convoy, a detachment of 2000 German infantry to the garrison of Messina. These men being embarked in TARTANAS, the Admiral bore away for the straits of the Faro ; but still hoping to prevent hostilities, he sent his first Captain to the Marquis de Lede with a conciliatory letter, proposing a suspension of arms for two months. This overture being civilly declined, he put the Germans, for safety, into Reggio, and sailed through the Faro in search of the Spanish fleet. The Spanish Admirals, meanwhile, were benumbed by that indecision which, in military matters, is perhaps Ktill more pernicious than error. Castaneta does not appear to have been guided by any positive orders from his Government ; but was directed, in all difficulties, to apply to Patino, the INTENDENTE, as he was called, of the whole expedition, who, having been eighteen years a Jesuit, may be presumed to have had somewhat less of naval than of religious or political knowledge. From fear of responsibility, or ignorance of details, Patino gave only a very vague answer, amounting to little more than that the Spanish fleet should provide for its safety. A council of officers, convened thereupon, and comprising, besides Castaneta, the Rear- Admirals Mari, Chacon, and Cammock, could scarcely be said to deliberate ; it only wavered. Much loose conversation passed ; no useful resolution was taken. The only sensible scheme was that of Cammock, an Irishman in the Pretender's interest and the Spaniards' service, who proposed that they should remain at anchor in the road of Messina, ranging their ships in line of battle, with their broadsides to the sea, by which means they might not only have been supported by the batteries and troops on shore, but, from the variety and force of the currents, would have rendered a regular attack upon them extremely difficult, if not impracticable.* * The station of the Spanish fleet was at a beautiful bay called // Pnradiso, about two miles north of Messina. About a century alter the action, it was viewed l>y a very experienced and intelligent 1718. BATTLE OFF CAPE PASSAKO. 3 IS This proposal being over-ruled, the Admirals put out to pea, without any fixed determination either to fight or to retreat ; but continued lingering and hovering, first off Cape Spartivento, and then off Cape Passaro, until in the morning of the 1 1th of August they saw Byng and his squadron close upon them. The British fleet was superior in force as well as in discipline ; for, though the Spaniards had most ships, several of these were only brigs or armed merchantmen, whilst none of the British vessels carried less than fifty guns.* On the approach of the English, Mari and six men-of-war, which were separated from the main fleet of the Spaniards, drew nearer to the Sicilian coast ; and Byng despatched a di- vision, under Captain Walton, to intercept them. There seems little doubt that the English Admiral would not have shrunk from the responsibility of the first attack ; but the firing, in fact, was begun by Mari's ships, and, being returned by the English, there ensued a general engagement.! A slight breeze, which sprung up, carried the English fleet into the very midst of the Spanish, and mingled the ships of both nations together. The Spa- niards, without order and concert, and vessel after vessel attacked in succession by a superior force, found even the highest courage, the most stubborn resistance, unavailing. Castaneta himself, as bold in action as irresolute in coun- cil, endeavoured to cheer his seamen by the most deter- mined bravery ; and even when wounded in both legs, " naval officer (Capt. Smyth), who observes, that had the fleet re- " mained at anchor there (as Cammock proposed), it would have been " very difficult to annoy it." (Sicily and its Islands, p. 1 12.) Among the Stuart Papers I have found " His Majesty's private instructions to " Admiral George Cammock." * The total number of guns in the English fleet was 1 400, in the Spanish 1284 ; and two vessels included in the latter list were not in the action, having been sent to Malta under Admiral Guevara. (Campbell's Lives of the Admirals, vol. iv. p. 427. and 438.) f That the Spaniards began the action is always urged in the English State Papers of this period, and is distinctly admitted by San Phelipe (Coment. vol. ii. p. 195.): The Spanish historian is some- what testy at this battle. He observes, that the English are suj>erior Beamen to the Spaniards, because they study nothing else (porque estos no tienen otro oficio), but that the Spanish courage is far higher (imponderable valor, mas que los Ingleses !) (p. 191. and 195.) 316 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. IX. this Spanish Widdrington still continued to fight upon his stumps. But both his efforts and his example were in vain. Even had the English been fewer, I may be pardoned for believing that they would still have been victorious. Castafieta was made prisoner, and the greater part of his fleet either taken or destroyed. Admiral Cammock alone, with ten ships of war, forced his way from the battle, and found shelter in the port of La Va- letta. In an opposite direction Mari had also made his escape with some ships of the line ; but Captain Walton, being sent in pursuit, compelled them to surrender. Wal- ton's report, on this occasion, is remarkable for simplicity, the usual attendant and the surest recommendation of merit. It was merely, " Sir, we have taken and destroyed " all the Spanish ships which were upon the coast : the " number as per margin." A naval writer well observes, that the ships which Captain Walton thrust into his margin would have furnished matter for some pages in a French relation.* The loss of the English in the action of Passaro was not considerable ; only one ship, the Grafton, suffered severely. To have thus annihilated the Spanish armada might be thought something more than merely a declara- tion of war ; yet Byng affected not to consider it as such, and sent a complimentary letter to De Lede, urging that the Spaniards had begun the battle, and that they ought not to look upon this accident as a rupture between the t\vo nations. This compliment, it may well be supposed, was very coldly received by men still smarting under the loss and shame of their defeat. Nor did it deaden their zeal for the reduction of Messina ; on the contrary, they pushed their attacks with so much vigour, that, in spite of the efforts of the Austrian troops at Reggio, and the activity of the British fleet in the straits, the place sur- rendered at the close of September ; and Byng thereupon sailed back with his squadron to Naples. The conduct of the English Admiral in fighting the Spanish fleet was entirely approved by the English Mi- nistry. It is remarkable that Stanhope, who had left * Campbell's Admirals, vol. iv. p. 428. J718. FURY OF ALBERONI. 317 Spain before any news of the action had arrived*, writes to Byng from Bayonne on the 2d of September, recom- mending the very course which the Admiral had already taken : " Nothing has passed at Madrid which should ' divert you from pursuing the instructions you have. ' .... If you should have an opportunity of attacking ' the Spanish fleet, I am persuaded you will not let such ' an occasion slip ; and I agree perfectly in opinion with ' what is recommended to you by Mr. Secretary Craggs, ' that the first blow you give should, if possible, be deci- ' sive. The two great objects which I think we ought ' to have in view are, to destroy their fleet if possible, ' and to preserve such a footing in Sicily as may enable ' us to land an army there." The manner in which the Admiral had anticipated these directions was much praised ; even the Spaniards acknowledged his high per- sonal merit ; and, on his return from his command, this brave and skilful officer was deservedly raised to the rank of Viscount Torriisgton. The high-flown hopes which Alberoni had cherished of the Spanish armament may give us some idea of his burst of rage at its defeat. He wrote to the Marquis de Monteleon in most vehement terms, loudly complaining of breach of faith, and commanding that Minister to depart immediately from England. His letter and the ambassa- dor's to Mr. Craggs, were also, by his direction, made public in London, with the view of raising a national ferment against the Ministry. But the indignation of Alberoni was not confined to words ; he gave orders, in direct violation of the Treaty of Commerce, to seize the British goods and vessels in the Spanish ports, and to dismiss the British Consuls from the Spanish territory. Numerous privateers also were fitted out and sent forth * Coxe conjectures that " before Earl Stanhope quitted the capital, " some intelligence of the discomfiture of the fleet probably reached " Alberoni." (House of Bourbon, vol. ii. p. 330.) But this is cer- tainly an error. The action was fought on the llth, Lord Stanhope set out on the 26th ; and on examining the dates at which other tidings of the Sicilian army reached Madrid, it will be found that they never came in so short a time. Nor could a vessel be speedily despatched from a fleet just defeated and dispersed. Moreover Coxe's supposition is not readily to be reconciled with Alberoni's burst of indignation at the first public announcement of the battle. 318 msTORr OF ENGLAND. CHAP. nc. against the British traders. Yet it is remarkable that, in spite of these mutual injuries, the breach was not yet considered complete and decisive, and that a declaration of war from England was still withheld. We are also assured that an edict was published at Madrid by beat of drum, prohibiting all persons from speaking of the disaster of the fleet ; an order which, as it seems suited only for the meridian of Tunis or Algiers, I should have thought utterly incredible in Spain, were it not recorded by most unimpeachable authority.* Alberoni himself, irritated and not dismayed by his reverses, haughtily persevered in his domestic prepara- tions and foreign cabals ; and I shall now proceed to relate the issue of his manifold schemes in Holland, Piedmont, Sweden, France, and England. The commercial jealousy of the Dutch, and their natural slowness, were turned to the best advantage by the Marquis Beretti Landi, the Spanish ambassador. He had, however, an able antagonist in the Minister from England, Earl Cadogan, whose great influence with the States rested not merely on his talents and services, but also on his known intimacy with the Duke of Marlbo- rough, and on his marriage with a Dutch lady of power- ful connections. Neither of these distinguished rivals altogether prevailed. Cadogan, indeed, obtained the accession of Holland to the Quadruple Alliance ; but Landi delayed it for several months, and until the cause of Spain had been struck by further disasters. At the Court of Turin there was no such opportunity for hesitation ; the difficulties of Victor Amadous were pressing and immediate. He found his kingdom of Sicily at the same time claimed by Charles and attacked by Philip. No succour, no hope appeared for him in any quarter ; on the one side stood the Quadruple Allies, presenting the treaty and demanding his signature, and on the other side there gleamed 30,000 Spanish bayonets against him. Even after the expedition to Sicily, Albe- roni had not altogether lost his hope of cajoling Victor * " On public au son da tambour une defense de parler du desastre "de la flotte." (Ihic de St. Aignan to the Regent, Sept. 17. 1718. Mem. dc Xuaiiles, vol. v. p. 96.) 171H. SWEDEN AND RDSSIA. 319 Amadous : he represented the conquest of the island as only a precautionary measure to prevent its transfer from its rightful owner, and expressed an ardent zeal for the preservation of the Peace of Utrecht. But the artilice was too gross, and easily seen through.* The King of Sicily determined, that if he must lose his island, he would at least incline to that power which offered a positive, though insufficient, compensation for it; he therefore broke off all intercourse with Spain, acceded to the Quadruple Alliance, and consented to give over to Imperial troops the remaining fortresses of Syracuse, Melazzo, and Trapani. His Regal title of Sicily was soon after exchanged for that of Sardinia, still held by his descendants ; and this was perhaps the only negotiation which the House of Savoy had ever yet carried on with- out extracting from it some advantage. In Sweden and Russia, the schemes of Alberoni seemed at first more hopeful ; and, according to his own expres- sion, there was reason to expect that the northern clouds would break in thunder and hail-storms.f A negotiation between Charles the Twelfth and the Czar had been opened in the Isle of Aland, , under the mediation of a Swedish agent ; and the Duke of Ormond had hastened to Russia as plenipotentiary of the Pretender.^ It was agreed that Peter should retain Livonia, Ingria, and other Swedish territories to the southward of Finland ; that Charles should undertake the conquest of Norway and the recovery of Bremen and Verden ; and that both monarch* should combine for the restoration of Stanislaus in Poland, and of the Stuarts in Great Britain. The latter point was foremost in the wishes of Gortz, who had plumed and forwarded the whole design who enjoyed more than ever the confidence of his master and who had left his Dutch captivity, stung with disappointment at his failure, and burning with revenge against King * " Esta carta (del Cardinal) en la realidad era absolutamente " iuutil, y no dobicra hater Alberoni perdido tiempo en ella." (Ortiz Compendio, vol. vii. p. 336.) f St. Simon, vol. xv. p. 308. ed. 1829. j Amongst the Stuart Papers is the original passport given to Ormond in Russian and Latin, and signed by Peter the Great. Ormond travelled under the name of Brunet. 820 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. IX. George and King George's Ministers. So active and em- bittered an enemy was the very man to raise and direct the tempest against England. The tempest was raised ; but it burst upon his own head. Charles, pursuing his plans and impatient of delay, led an army into Norway, notwithstanding the severity of winter ; and on the llth of December, with the snow and ice deep around him, he was pressing the siege of the frontier fortress of Frede- rickshall, when a musket-ball from an unknown hand laid him lifeless on the frozen ground. He had begun to reign and (what in him was synonymous) to fight in his eighteenth year ; he died in his thirty-sixth ; and, during that period, he had been the tyrant and scourge of that nation by whom his memory is now adored ! Such is the halo with which glory is invested by posterity ! But very different was the feeling at the time of Charles's fall ; and a total change of system was so universally de- manded as to be easily effected. His sister Ulrica was proclaimed his successor by the Senate ; but the form of the monarchy was altered from the most despotic to the most limited in Europe. All his Ministers were dis- missed, all his projects abandoned : his chief favourite, Gortz, gratified the public resentment by an ignominious death upon the scaffold ; and the intended league, which had threatened the throne of England, vanished as speed- ily and utterly as one of those thunder-clouds to which Alberoni had compared it. I have already had occasion to notice the projects of Alberoni in France, and the party with which he was connected in that country. Its head was nominally the Duke, but in truth the Duchess du Maine ; the former being of a timorous and feeble mind, and the latter abounding in courage and in cabals. She was grand- daughter to the famous Conde, and was assured by all her dependants, especially her husband, that she inherited the spirit of that great man, although in truth her cha- racter had more of passion than prudence, and more of prudence than dexterity, A single fact from her do- mestic life will give an idea of her violence ; she could not bear the least suspense of hunger, or restraint of regular meals, and had always in her apartment a table with cold meats, of which she paitook at any instant that 1718. CONSPIRACY IN FRANCE. 321 the fancy struck her. This bold virago had opened a secret concert of measures witli the Prince of Cellamare, the Spanish ambassador, and used to drive to nightly conferences at his house in a borrowed carriage, with Count Laval acting as coachman. It does not appear that any great number of persons were fully initiated into their schemes* ; but it is certain, that though the conspirators were few the malcontents were many. The conclusion of the Quadruple Alliance had provoked great murmurs, there being opposed to it the judgment of the most able statesmen, and, what is far more formidable, the prejudices of the multitude. Marshal d'Huxelles had repeatedly refused to sign that treaty, and only yielded, at length, to the positive commands of the Regent ; Mar- shal Villars presented a strong memorial against what he termed the unnatural alliance of France with England ; and, in one word, all the adherents of the old Court loudly inveighed against the altered system of the new. Even the wife of the Regent, a sister of the Duke du Maine, was more mindful of her ties by blood than by marriage. The States of Brittany complained of pro- vincial oppression, the Jesuits sighed for a return, and the Parliament of Paris for an augmentation of power ; and all with one voice reprobated, as they most justly might, the personal profligacy and boundless influence of Dubois. Nothing could be more various than the views of all these parties and persons, some eager to destroy, others only to restore or to improve ; but the skill of Alberoni knew how to combine them for one common movement; and it is precisely by such junctions of dis- sembling knaves and honest dupes that nearly all revolu- tions are effected. The project was to seize the Duke of Orleans in one of his parties of pleasure near Paris, to convoke the States-General, to proclaim the King of Spain, as next in blood, the rightful Regent, and th.i * " Messrs, de Laval ef de Pompadour avancaient comme certain " tout ce qui leur passait par la tete, promettant 1'entremise et 1'appui " de quantite de gens entierement ignorans de leurs desseins, que sur " de vaines conjectures ils jugeaient pvopres a y entrer." (Mem. de Madame de Staal, vol. ii. p. 6.) Slie was then Mademoiselle de Launar ; first a maid and afterwards a companion and confidant of the Duchess du Maine. Her reflections are shrewd and sarc;isuc, VOL. i. y 322 HISTORY OP ENGLAND. CHAP. IX Duke du Maine his deputy. Already had the eloquent pen of Cardinal Polignac been employed in appropriate addresses, which were kept in readiness, to the King, to the States, and to the Parliaments ; and already had armed bands, under the semblance of FAUX SAUNIERS, or salt smuggbrs, been directed to gather on the Somme. The first intelligence to the Regent that some such plot was brewing came from the Cabinet of St. James's, and a warning was also given by the French embassy at Madrid. The Government, however, judiciously re- frained from showing any symptom of alarm ; thus lull- ing the conspirators into such security and remissness, as to neglect the use of cipher and other precautions for secrecy. It only remained for Cellamare to transmit to Madrid an account of his proceedings, with copies of the manifestoes already mentioned, and to take the last orders of Alberoni upon the subject. There was then at Paris a young Spanish abbe, Don Vicente Portocarrero, a kins- man of the celebrated Cardinal ; and it was he whom Cellamare determined, at the beginning of December, to send with these important papers thinking that his youth would be a security against suspicion, and his rank against arrest ; and for similar reasons he adjoined to him a son of the Marquis de Monteleon. But these things had not escaped the watchful eye of Dubois. How they came to his knowledge is doubtful ; on this point St. Simon professes ignorance, and Voltaire shows it.* Be this as it may, Dubois gave orders to pursue the travel- lers, and Portocarrero was overtaken at Poitiers, himself arrested, and his papers seized. These papers, forwarded * " Une entremetteuse distinguee fonrnissait des filles a ce jeune " homme. Elle avait longtemps servi 1'Abbe Dubois, alors Secretaire " d'Etat. Elle fit agir line fille fort adroite qui vola des papiers im- " portans, avec quelques billets de banque dans les poches de 1'Abbe " Portocarrero L'Abbe ayanr vu ses papiers disparaitre, " et ne retrouvant plus la fille, partit sur le champ pour PEspagne ; "on courut apres lui." &c. (Voltaire, Siecle de Louis XV.) This story, however, is certainly false, at least in its details, it being quire evident from the original documents that Portocarrero had no sus- picion of discovery or pursuit until he reached Poitiers. A similar anecdote, perhaps with more foundation, is told by Madame de Staal of the Secretary of Cellamare, but she does not name him. (Mem. vol. ii. p. 24.) 1718. THE DUCHESS DU MAINE ARRESTED. 323 to Paris, \vere found to afford a clue to some discoveries, and a confirmation of others; and Dubois, making a great merit of his vigilance, and keeping the affair as much as possible in his own hands, laid them before the Regent. It was determined to adopt the same treatment towards Cellamare as, under precisely similar circumstances, Gyl- lenborg had received in London ; and his person was ac cordingly put under arrest, and his papers examined ; but the ambassador had already had time to conceal or destroy the most private. To seize the persons of the Duke and Duchess du Maine seemed of still more importance, and perhaps of greater difficulty in case of popular ferment and tumult. The Regent determined that, immediately on their arrest, they should be conveyed from the neighbourhood of Paris ; the Duke to Dourlens, in Picardy, and the Duchess to the castle of Dijon. Not the slightest re- sistance was experienced in the execution of these or- ders : the husband was arrested at Sceaux, the wife in the Rue St. Honore, and they were removed to their several destinations, each with equal safety, but by no means with equal submission. During the journey, the Duke, pale and terror-stricken, was seen to mutter prayers and cross himself whenever he passed a church; but did not venture 10 ask many questions, or to make a single complaint ; and, for fear of giving offence, did not even mention the Duchess or his children. The Duchess, on the contrary, having for many years at Sceaux amused herself with acting plays, assumed the deportment of a tragic heroine, poured forth torrents of furious reproaches, not the less sincere though often contradictory, and seemed to find great consolation and relief in reviling the officer who guarded her.* Besides the Duke and Duchess du Maine, Cardinal Polignac, M. de Pompadour, and several others, were either exiled or arrested ; and the conspiracy was effec- tually crushed by the dispersion of its- chiefs. Cellamare was escorted to the frontiers of Spain. A circular, ad- dressed to the Foreign Ministers at Paris, explained the causes which had led to the strong but necessary measure * St. Simon, Mem. voL xviL p. 25Qi and 270. ed. T 2 324 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. IX. of seizing one of their number ; and in confirmation of this statement, were also published two of the letters from Cellamare, which Portocarrero had been conveying.* Before the news of this disappointment reached Madrid a total rupture had already taken place between Alberoni and the Duke de St. Aignan, French ambassador-! The latter, disgusted at his fruitless remonstrances, and bound by positive instructions, had requested his audience of leave ; but this, under various pretexts, was eluded by the Cardinal, who expected the speedy explosion of the con- spiracy in France, and who wished, in the event of its failure, to retain the French ambassador as a hostage for Cellamare. Under these circumstances, St. Aignan set out from Madrid without notice, and Alberoni, much irritated, gave orders to have him pursued and arrested. But the Frenchman, knowing the person with whom he had to deal, and expecting some such order, left his car- riage near Pamplona, with a servant to personate him, and crossed the mountains on a mule to St. Jean Pied du Port, The precaution was well timed, for the servant was arrested, and for some time detained as the ambas- sador. Meanwhile Alberoni, aware that this violent measure must lead to retaliation in France, wrote to Cellamare, directing him, in case he should be obliged to leave the country, " first to set fire to all the mines." But this letter arriving after Cellamare's detention, was intercepted by the French Government, and would have rendered it far more difficult for Alberoni, had he even wished it, to disavow his agent and his acts. The Car- dinal, however, entertained no such intention. On the contrary, when he learnt the miscarriage of his hopeful schemes, he induced his Royal master to issue, on the 25th of December, a manifesto, avowing and justifying his measures, assailing the government of the Duke of Orleans, and appealing to the French nation against it. * Sec these letters in their original Italian in Borer's Political State, 1718, vol. ii. p. 509518. f " Saint Aignan etait trop jeune, trop timide, et surtout trop panvre " ponr balancer nn honime comme Xlberoni. On ne doit pas atfendre " de vigilance ntile d'un ambassadeur qni rcconrt aux expediens pour ** vivre ; or ce seigneur etait souvent reduit a engager son argenterie ; ' ainsi qu'il 1'avmie dans ses lettres au Marquis de Louville." (Mem, 1e Louville, vol. ii. p. 189.) 1718. SESSION OF PARLIAMENT. 325 After such provocation it was impossible for the Re- gent any longer to withhold a declaration of war against Spain. The English Cabinet had for some time been urging him to this measure, and delaying its own, with a view to his accession. Both declarations were published at nearly the same time, the English on the 17th of De- cember, Old Style, and the French on the 9th of January, New Style. At this period the Parliament was sitting, it having met on the llth of November. The addresses in answer to the King's speech, moved in the Upper House by Lord Carteret, and in the Lower by Lord Hinchinbroke, pro- duced a warm debate on Spanish affairs. Lord Stanhope, in answer to Lord Strafford, gave an account of his late negotiations and journeys, stating that it was high time for Great Britain to check the growth of the naval power of Spain, in order to protect and secure the trade of Bri- tish subjects, who had been violently oppressed by the Spaniards that he thought it an honour to have been amongst those who advised Sir George Byng's instruc- tions and that he was ready to answer for them with his head. On a division the Lords' Address was carried by 83 against 50. In the Commons Walpole declared against the Quadruple Alliance with a vehemence which shortly afterwards proved a little embarrassing to him, when in scarcely more than a year he became a steady supporter of that very system. He observed that the late measures were contrary to the laws of nations, and a breach of solemn treaties, and that the giving sanction to them in the manner proposed could have no other view than to screen Ministers, who were conscious of having done something amiss, and who, having begun a war against Spain, would now make it the Parliament's war. Shippen and Wyndham supported Walpole, but Secretary Craggs replied to him with great spirit ; and on putting the question, the Ministers had 216 votes, and the Oppo- sition 155. Subsequently, on the King's declaration of war, there was in the Commons an equally vehement debate, but a still more decisive division. Nor does it appear that the war caused any dissatisfaction in the nation at large : on the contrary, the vast preparations of Spain had excited uneasiness, and their attacks on our Y 3 326 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. IX. trade, indignation ; the victory of Bjng was highly cele- brated, and the opposition of Walpole found but few sup- porters amongst the friends of the Hanover Succession. Besides, with the multitude there are two things which are almost always very popular at the beginning the first is a war, and the second a peace. The great measure of this Session was the Act for the relief of Protestant Dissenters. By the passing of the Bill against Occasional Conformity in 1711, and of the Schism Bill in 1714, they had been reduced to a state of great humiliation and depression, and they found the enmity of the Tories more steady than the friendship of the Whigs. Stanhope, however, had earnestly espoused their cause, and, ever since he came into power, had sought to frame and carry through some measure in their behalf. He wished to repeal not merely the Bill against Occasional Conformity and the Schism Bill, but also the Test Act, thus placing the Dissenters on the footing of perfect political equality. Nor were the views of Stan- hope confined to Protestants ; he had also formed the plan of repealing, or at least of very greatly mitigating, the penal laws in force against the Roman Catholics ; and there will be found in the Appendix a paper which he wrote to be put into the hands of some leading men of that persuasion, containing some conditions with the Pope, and some clauses of an oath for themselves, as terms of the proposed indulgence. The first negotiations failed*, and Stanhope's life was too short to carry that design any farther ; nor do I think that he or any other * Craggs writes to Stanhope, June 30. 1719. "Dr. Strickland " thought that the paper was digested in the properest form to be ' shown to the Roman Catholics, and, at his request and persuasion, I " carried a copy of that paper, not signed, to a meeting where the " Duke of Norfolk, Lord Waldegrave, and Mr. Charles Howard " assisted I found the two noblemen inclinable to come into " the proposal therein made." The negotiation was, however, broken off. Craggs says in another letter, of July 24., " I understand since, " that these folks have been misled by the Prince's people, who have " given them mighty assurances that they would destroy the present " Ministry with the King, and so discouraged them from engaging " themselves in a falling house. There is good reason to believe that " this is all owing to Mf . Pulteney." These letters are in the Hard- wicke Papers, voL cxxv. 1718. EEPEAL OF THE SCHISM ACT. 327 man, at that period, would have been able to effect it against the general tide of public feeling ; but still the scheme seems not undeserving of attention, as the earliest germ of Roman Catholic Emancipation. Several conferences passed between Stanhope and som$ of the principal of the Protestant Nonconformists, and they found Sunderland as friendly in his views, though not so sanguine in his hopes. He seems to have estimated more justly than Stanhope the formidable obstacles in the way of the proposed concessions ; the resistance not merely of the Tories and High Churchmen, but perhaps of the Whigs in opposition, notwithstanding all their previous pledges. " It would be difficult enough," said Sunderland, " to repeal the Schism and Occasional Con- " formity Acts, but any attack upon the Test Act also " would ruin all." Stanhope, after some opposition, yielded to these views, and joined Sunderland in advising the Dissenters to forego for the present -a part of their pre- tensions. The Ministers promised that the repeal of the Test Act should be proposed at a future and more favour- able opportunity ; and the King himself, who had taken a much warmer interest in this than in most English questions, spoke in the same sense to Lord Barrington, one of the dissenting body: the Dissenters acquiesced, and it was determined that only some few of the less im- portant clauses of the Test Act should be comprised in the measure of relief. With this compromise, Lord Stanhope brought forward his measure in the Lords on the 13th of December, under the specious name of an Act for strengthening the Pro- testant interest. He endeavoured to show the reason and advantage of restoring Dissenters to their natural rights, and of easing them from these stigmatising and oppressive laws, which, he said, had been made in turbu- lent times, and obtained by indirect methods ; and he argued, that by the union of all true Protestants, the Church of England would still be the head of all the Protestant churches, and the Archbishop of Canterbury become the patriarch of all the Protestant clergy. Lords Sunderland and Stamford made some observations (of these we have no record) in support of the motion. But a powerful combination immediately appeared against it. > 4 328 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. EC. The Duke of Devonshire first complained that the House was taken by surprise, and that it was irregular to bring in a Bill of so great consequence without previous notice, forgetting, until Stanhope reminded him, that the very same course had been pursued by himself two years before, in bringing forward a still more important measure, the Septennial Act. The Earl of Nottingham observed, with a sneer, that the Church of England was certainly the hap- piest Church in the world, since even the greatest contra- dictions two Acts made for her security, and the repeal of those very Acts were all said to contribute to her support. Earl Cowper declared himself favourable to the repeal of the Schism Act, but apprehensive for the security of the Test and Corporation Acts, " because he " looked upon those Acts as the main bulwark of our " excellent constitution in church and state, and therefore " would have them inviolably preserved and untouched." The Earl of Isla said that he considered the measure a violation of the Treaty of Union with Scotland. The discussion being postponed till the 18th, was on that day almost entirely confined to the Right Reverend Bench. Both the Archbishops (Doctors Wake and Dawes) declared against the measure ; his Grace of Canterbury observing, " that the scandalous practice of occasional ' conformity was condemned by the soberest part of the ' Dissenters themselves ; and that he could not forbear * saying that some amongst them made a wrong use ot ' the favour and indulgence that was shown them upon ' the Revolution, though they had the least share in that ' happy event." He also derived an argument against the measure from the lenity of the Government ; urging that since the Schism Act had never been enforced, and was, in fact, a dead letter, it seemed needless to make a law to repeal it. Several other prelates took the same course. On the other hand, the Bill was strongly de- fended by Bishops Hoadley, Willis, Gibson, and Kennett.* The latter, however, hurried away by his zeal, was be- * Bishop Kennett was rather less indulgent to Roman Catholics. In his MS. Diary he appears much displeased with Swift, whom he heard " instructing a young nobleman that the best poet in "England was Mr. Pope a Papist!" (See Swift's Works, vol. xvi. p. 100.) 1719. THE PROTESTANT DISSENTERS. 329 trayed into some very unseemly remarks on the clergy in Charles the First's reign, who, he said, " had promoted " arbitrary measures and persecutions, until they first " brought scandal and contempt upon the clergy, and at " last ruin both upon church and state" a reflection, which, as Lord Lansdowne smartly observed in his reply, would have much better become a descendant of Brad- shaw than a successor of Laudi The debate was continued on the following day, and was concluded by a division of 86 for the Bill and 68 against it so large a minority that the Ministers felt themselves compelled, in Committee, to comply with Cowper's amendments, and to strike out the clauses refer- ring to the Test and Corporation Acts. With this muti- lation the Bill was sent down to the Commons. A sharp debate ensued on the 7th of January, and in the list of those who spoke we find the name of almost every man of any political note in the House ; but even the meagre and scanty records which are usually given of speeches at this period fail us here, the gallery having been on that day closed against strangers. We only know that Walpole and his friends warmly opposed the Bill, that some personal altercation arose between him and Lech- mere, and that on a division there appeared 243 Ayes to 202 Noes. It was observed that even this small majority was gained chiefly by the Scotch Members, for, of 37 that were in the House, 34 voted for the Bill. It passed, however, without much further debate, and without any change. When we consider the powerful combination by which this Bill was opposed, and the narrow majority by which it was carried in both Houses, we can hardly doubt that Sunderland judged rightly in his wish to exclude the Test Act from its provisions, and that, had Stanhope's vehemence prevailed, the whole measure would have miscarried. But the " more favourable opportunity" promised the Dissenters for the repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts never came. Those Acts remained on the Statute book one hundred and nine years more, but remained only like rusty weapons hung in an armoury, trophies of past power, not instruments of further aggres- sion or defence. An Indemnity Bill, passed every year 330 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. IX. from the first of George the Second (there were some, but very few, exceptions*) threw open the gates of all offices to Protestant Dissenters as fully as if the law had been repealed ; and if they still wished its repeal, it was because they thought it an insult, not because they felt it an injury. The Parliament was prorogued on the 18th of April. In His Majesty's speech allusion was. made to his design of passing the summer in his German dominions, and he accordingly set out for them a few weeks afterwards. Stanhope, though appointed one of the Lords Justices, was the Minister who attended the King abroad. The Duchess of Kendal also, as usual, accompanied His Ma- jesty. No mention was made in the Regency of the Prince and Princess of Wales, who thereupon indignantly retired into the country. Nor were they deputed to hold levees during the King's absence, that duty, to the great scandal of the public, and further divulgement of family discord, being assigned to the young Princesses. * See Mr. Hallam's Const. Hist., vol. iii. p. 334. 1719. PRINCESS CLEMENTINA SOBIESKI. CHAPTER X. IN England, as in France, the hopes of Alberoni rested more on internal factions, than on foreign arms. He knew the numbers and influence of the English Jacobites ; he heard the clamours of the opposition against the Spanish war, and he trusted that the party which so eagerly echoed his manifestoes in the House of Commons would be as ready to support him in his schemes against the .reigning family. But in this he was certainly quite deceived. Most statesmen bred in despotic monarchies utterly mistake the nature of our Parliamentary warfare, and cannot distinguish between the loyal subject who declaims against a Minister, and the traitor who plots against the Throne. Flushed with vain hopes, and find- ing the prospect of the Swedish invasion closed by the death of Charles the Twelfth, Alberoni resolved to assist the Pretender with an expedition of his own. Accord- ingly, he gave directions for equipping a formidable ar- mament at Cadiz, and offered its command to the Duke of Ormond, the same general who some years before had led an English expedition against Spain, who had at- tempted Cadiz, and stormed Vigo ! But such are only the common vicissitudes of exiles ; they are used as tools by those who once felt them as foes. The Pretender himself was also invited to Spain, not indeed to head the vanguard of the invading army, but to be able te join it speedily, in the event of its safe landing and prosperous progress. Since the influence of France had compelled him to cross the Pyrenees, James had resided sometimes at Urbino and sometimes at Rome. He had lately, to the great joy of his party, contracted a marriage with Princess Clementina, the grand-daughter of John So- bieski, late King of Poland, and she was on her way to join her betrothed husband, when she was arrested and detained at Inspruck, in the Imperial territories : a fa- 332 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. X. vour of the Emperor to the English Government un- worthy of them to solicit, and base in him to grant. The memory of John Sobieski, the heroic deliverer of Vienna, might have claimed more gratitude from the son of the Prince whom he had saved. The Chevalier did not hesitate to accept Alberoni's invitation to Spain ; but knowing the great power of the Imperialists in Italy, and seeing by the affair at Inspruck how readily that power would be exerted against him, especially while a British fleet rode victorious in the Mediterranean, he thought stratagem requisite to effect his design. He pretended to set out to the northward with the Earls of Mar and Perth, and in reality despatched those noblemen and a part of his suite, who, as he expected, were ar- rested at Voghera, he being supposed to be amongst them. They were conveyed to the castle of Milan, and some time elapsed before the mistake was discovered and the prisoners were released. The news that the Pre- tender was taken had meanwhile spread abroad, and Lord Stair had written it in triumph to the Ministers in London. Under the cover of this report, James secretly embarked at the little port of Nettuno ; and after touch- ing at Cagliari, landed at Rosas in the beginning of March, 1719. There being then no further object in mystery, he was received at Madrid, not only publicly, but Royally ; his residence was appointed in the palace of Buen Retire, and visits were paid to him as to the King of England by Philip and his Queen. The magnificence of his entry and public reception is extolled by Spanish writers. But I may observe in passing, that the ancient splendour of the Court of Madrid had long since faded away, during the melancholy reigns of the last Austrian Princes, and that the subsequent accounts of it which the Spaniards are still inclined to utter and we to receive are often indebted to fancy for their brilliant colouring. Never, for example, was there an occasion when splen- dour would have been more natural and becoming when it better accorded with the popular feeling, or had been ushered in by longer preparation than the first public entry of Philip himself in February, 1701, four months after the death of Charles the Second ; yet never was there a pageant more mean and unsightly. For 1719. JAMES AT MADRID. 333 when we discard the national exaggerations, and look to the impartial testimony of an Englishman, who happened to be present, we find that " His Majesty entered in a " filthy old coach of the late King, without guards ; his " better sort of attendants, some on horseback and some " in coaches, at half an hour's distance from one another ; " and divers of the inferior sort attending the baggage, " in so very ragged clothes as exposed them extremely " to the scorn of the Spaniards." At the same time order was so ill preserved, that " no less than forty men, " women, and children, were trod under foot and killed " outright, and above one hundred are now said to be " languishing under their bruises, and dying daily." * On James's arrival at Madrid, the orders for sailing were despatched to the armament at Cadiz. It consisted of five men of war and about twenty transports, with 5000 soldiers, partly Irish, on board, and arms for 30,000 more. Several of the chief exiles of 1715 took part in this enter- prise. Ormond himself was to embark when the fleet touched at Corufia, and to assume its command with the title of Captain-General of the King of Spain.! He was provided with a proclamation to be published at his landing, in the name of Philip, declaring: that His Majesty had determined to send part of his forces as auxiliaries to King James ; that he hoped Providence would favour so just a cause ; but that the fear of ill success should not hinder any person from declaring for it, since he promised a secure retreat in his dominions to all that should join him ; and, in case they were forced to leave their country, he engaged that every sea or land officer should have the same rank as he enjoyed in Great Britain, and the soldiers be received and treated like his own. In England, meanwhile, the King and Ministers were still more active for their own defence. The Duke of Orleans, eager to requite a similar favour, had sent them timely warning of the intended expedition | ; and he * Mr. Jackson to Mr. Pepys, Feb. 24. 1 701 . Pepys's Correspondence. f Duke of Ormond to the Pretender, March 17. and 27. 1719. Stuart Papers. J Letter of Abbe Dubois to Earl Stanhope, March 15. 1719. Ilardwicke Papers, vol. xxxviii. He gives all the details of the Chevalier s embarkation at Nettuno, says that Cammock had gone to 334 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. X, offered them the aid of any number of his troops. These were declined ; but six battalions were accepted and came over from the Austrians in the Netherlands, and two thousand men from the States-General a very doubtful policy, where the strength of the foreign succour was by no means such as to counterbalance the disgrace of employing it. The English troops were disposed to the best advantage, especially in the north and west. A squadron of our ships, under Sir John Norris, rode in the Channel. Both Houses assured the King of their sup- port, and a proclamation was issued offering 10,000/. for the apprehension of Ormond on his landing.* But on this occasion it might be said of George, as once of Honorius f> that winds and storms fought upon his side. Scarcely had the Spanish fleet lost sight of Cape Finisterre before it was assailed by a tremendous tempest. The surges of the Bay of Biscay, lashed into fury by a hurricane for twelve days, scattered all the ships from each other, and tossed them far and wide. In tVie extremity of danger most of the crews cast overboard the horses, the guns, the stands of arms, in order to lighten the vessels ; others were dismasted or unrigged ; and the same ports which had lately sent them forth strong and well appointed ships saw them return one by one as crippled wrecks. Against such disasters even the genius of Alberoni could not strive, and all further thoughts of the expedition were abandoned.^ It was only a further aggravation of the calamity of him at Rome deguisG en matelot, and that Ormond passed the Pyrenees deguiae en valet. He offers as aid " tout ce que nous pourrions faire " pour la conservation de la France si elle etait en danger." * There were two proclamations, one at Dublin and the other in London ; the one offering 10.000/ and the other 5000/. A strange distinction ! (Borer's Polit. State, 1719, vol. i. p. 41. and 336.) The Duke's house, in St. James's Square, was about this time set np to auction by the Government ; it was sold to a Mr. Hackett for 7500/. f The noble lines of Claudian are well known : " nimium dilecte Deo, cui fundit ab antris .Solus armatas hyemes, cui militat aether, Et conjurati veniunt ad classica vend ! " (De III. Cons. Honor, v. 96.) J Ormond himself had written to Alberoni from Coruna, ( March 42. 1719, Stuart Papers,) requesting a delay, or in fact a relinquish- 1719. BATTLE OF GLENSIIIEL. 335 this tempest to the Jacobites that two frigates escaped its violence and pursued their voyage to Scotland, since, thus unsupported, they could of course only bring ruin on those whom they conveyed and on those who welcomed them. On board were the Earls Marischal and Seaforth, and the Marquis of Tullibardine, with some arms and about 300 Spanish soldiers. They landed on the 16th of April at Kintail in Ross-shire ; and the frigates putting out again to sea, left them scarcely any alternative but to become either conquerors or captives. Their first object was concealment, in order to await the expected landing of Ormond in England ; accordingly, they scarcely ad- vanced beyond Kintail *, and for some time the Govern- ment believed that they had re-embarked. A few hundred Highlanders joined them, either the devoted adherents of the exiled Lords, or the bold adventurers that always swarm in a lawless country, but there was no general gathering of the clans.f During some weeks they appear to have remained unmolested ; a strong proof of the unwillingness to give information, and of the thorough disaffection of that district to the existing government. At length some ships of war coming to that coast retook Donan Castle, of which the rebels had made themselves masters ; and General, now Lord, Car- penter, who commanded in Scotland, directed some forces against them from Inverness. The officer employed in this service was General Wightman : he had with him ment of the enterprise, as its design was already known to France and England. He could not, he says, be so imprudent as to propose to attack England with 5000 men, unless by surprise. * According to San Phelipe, Lord Seaforth went on to Bracaam (Coment. vol. ii. p. 216 ) ; meaning, probably, as has been suggested to me, Brahan Castle, the chief seat of the Mackenzics. The names in San Phelipe are often strangely distorted. With him the Duke de Maine, for instance, becomes ntanata ; Lord Townsheiid, Fouvesken- dem ; and Lord Cobham, Chacon. f " A resolution had been universally taken not to move in Scot- " land till England was fairly engaged." (Lockhart's Mem. vol. ii. p. 22 ) The Jacobites at Edinburgh were also on their guard against false rumours. An express came to them from Lord Stormont in Annandale, that Ormond's fleet had been seen to pass that coast ; " but I gave it no credit," says Lockhart, " when I perceived his l5 DAU80 S7 18 v.l S7 AUTHOR Stanhope, P.H.S. v.l TITLE History of England. DATE DUE BORROWER'S NAME Stanhope, P.H.S, History of England.