were taken under his fostering care; he caballed to raise an insurrection of the discontented in Britanny, and of the Protestants in the Cevennes; 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-General, 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 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 Pretender, who, in consequence of the Triple Alliance, had been compelled to cross the Alps, and who had fixed his temporary 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. CHAPTER IX. WHILE the 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 letters, it became a much more momentous affair. The jealousy 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 smouldering 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 insolence (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 Chamberlain to his Royal Highness. This frivolous dispute, in which the King was certainly severe, the Prince undutiful, and both childish, produced a total alienation between 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 Secretary of State wrote a circular to the Foreign Ministers, giving an account of this whole transaction; nay, to such an extent did the Royal displeasure procced, that George formed a scheme for obtaining an act of Parliament 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 representations of its inexpediency and impracticability, that it was abandoned by his Majesty. On the other hand, the Prince, fixing St. Simon, who is always fond of scandal, and not always solicitous as to its truth, does not scruple to say, "Jamais le père n'avait pu souffrir ce fils, parcequ'il ne le croyait point à lui." (Mem. vol. xviii. p. 197, ed. 1829.)1 1["But," adds Lord Campbell after the same quotation, "the prevailing opinion now is that Sophia of Zell was ever a true wife." Lives of the Chancellors, vol. iv. p. 519, note, chap. cxxi.] 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 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 hinderance 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 contents. 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 have been melted down, both to make up that export and 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, nevertheless, 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 practice 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 "Je crois avoir fait l'expérience que l'habitude de nommer un écu faute d'une dé time, the French have adopted the reckoning by LIVRES instead of ÉCUS. 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.* The chief question on which the Opposition made a stand this session was the Mutiny 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 Strafford (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 Government 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 "downright" 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 opportunity 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 nomination plus propre aux petits details porte insensiblement toutes les parties du com merce dans les ventes et dans les achats au-delà de leur vraie valeur." (Mém. de Sully, vol. ii. p. 148, ed. 1747.) "Tout est allé dans le Parlement au souhait de notre Roi, qui n'aura plus d'embar ras pour de l'argent pendant toute cette séance. Aussi les fonds continuent à hausser considérablement."-Lord Stanhope to Abbé Dubois, Dec. 23, 1717. Hardwicke Papers, vol. xxvi. t "I love to pour out all myself as plain 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." 1 [See Lord Campbell's account of this debate, and of Lord Cowper's share in it. "It was proposed to keep up a force of 16,000 men for the whole kingdoin, and that for any military offences which they might commit, they should be tried by a court-martial." Lives of the Chancellors, vol. iv. p. 377, etc., chap. cxvi.] 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 tranquillity of Europe. Both the message and the address cautiously shunned the mention by name of any foreign power; but Walpole insidiously observed, that such 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 negotiations 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 circumstances it was undoubtedly better that he should resume the office which would give him the official and responsible control of our foreign policy; and that the management of our domestic affairs, together with the chief post at the Treasury, should be transferred to Sunderland. 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 Sunderland, had been Addison. That admirable writer, whose works must give instruction and delight to all men capable of either, and whose renown can never cease so long as the English people, or even the English language, endure, unhappily comes before the historian as only a mute at St. Stephen's, and a trifler in Downing Street. Whenever 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 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 apparent.* He himself became painfully sensible of them, and solicited his retirement, which he obtained at this time with a pen The following is a striking remark by Sir James Mackintosh: "What a good exchange of stations might have been made by Swift and Addison! Addison would have made an excellent Dean, and Swift an admirable Secretary of State!" See the Memoirs of Mackintosh, by his son, vol. ii. p. 91:-a worthy record of a most accomplished man. |