written nullâ pallescere culpâ. The minister defended his quotation, and, Pulteney repeating his assertion, he offered a wager of a guinea. Pulteney accepted the challenge, and referred the decision of the dispute to the minister's friend, Nicholas Hardinge, clerk of the House, a man distinguished for classical erudition. Hardinge decided against Walpole; the guinea was immediately thrown to Pulteney, who caught it, and holding it up to the House exclaimed, "It is the only money I have received from the Treasury for many years, and it shall be the last.”— Coxe's "Life of Walpole." The identical guinea may now be seen in the Medal Room of the British Museum, with the following memorandum in the handwriting of Pulteney:-" This guinea I desire may be kept as an heir-loom. It was won of Sir Robert Walpole in the House of Commons, he asserting the verse in Horace to be nulli pallescere culpa, whereas I laid the wager of a guinea that it was nullâ pallescere culpâ. He sent for the book, and, being convinced that he had lost, gave me this guinea. I told him I could take the money without any blush on my side, but believed it was the only money he ever gave in the House, where the giver and receiver ought not equally to blush. This guinea, I hope, will prove to my posterity the use of knowing Latin, and encourage them in their learning."

Keyhole Tactics.-On the 21st January, 1742 (writes Coxe), Pultency made the celebrated motion for referring to a secret committtee the papers relating to the war, which had been already presented to the House. As this motion involved in it numerous charges against the conduct of the war, stated the necessity of a parliamentary inquiry, and brought on personal invectives against the minister, Sir Robert Walpole took a considerable share in the debate, and was roused to the utmost exertions. The motion was negatived by a majority of only three, in the fullest house known for many years, for 503 members voted. The efforts were so great on both sides that numbers were brought in from the chamber of sickness. Several voted in that condition on the side of opposition; but some who intended to have supported the minister were prevented from appearing at the division. They had been placed in an adjoining apartment, belonging to Lord Walpole as auditor of the Exchequer, which communicated with the house. The adversaries, aware of this fact, filled the keyhole of the door with dirt and sand, which prevented their admission into the house till the division was over. On this occasion, as General Churchill was sitting next to the Prince of Wales, who was in the House of Commons to hear the debate, a member was brought in who had lost the use of his limbs. "So," says the prince, "I see you bring in the lame, the halt, and the blind." "Yes," replied the general, "the lame on our side, and the blind on yours."

Disparaging the Peers.-"When I have turned out Sir Robert Walpole," remarked Pulteney on one occasion, "I will retire into that hospital for invalids, the House of Peers." He afterwards entered the "hospital" as Earl of Bath.

Turning the Key on Him.-For his earldom (observes Ewald) Pulteney had but to thank his old enemy. Walpole had prompted the

King to offer the leader of the Opposition a coronet, and Pulteney had succumbed to the proposal. Soon after his refusal of office, however, he wished to decline the honour, but Walpole, well aware how public opinion would view the matter, advised the King to insist upon its original acceptance. "I remember," writes Horace Walpole, “my father's action and words when he returned from court and told me what he had done-'I have turned the key of the closet on him!' making that motion with his hand." It is said that when Pulteney received the patent of his creation as Earl of Bath he flung the parchment down and trampled upon it.

Insignificant Men.-By the fall of Walpole, Lord Bath enjoyed for some days a kind of sovereign power. But he ruined his character, and, from a most glorious eminence, sank down to a degree of contempt. The first time Sir Robert (who was now Earl of Orford) met him in the House of Lords, he threw out this reproach: "My Lord Bath, you and I are now two as insignificant men as any in England."-Dr. King's "Anecdotes."

Party Relations.-On the resignation of Sir Robert Walpole in 1742, the formation of an administration was, at his suggestion, offered to Pulteney, on condition that no prosecution should be instituted against the late minister. To this condition Pulteney declined to agree, saying, "Even should my inclination induce me to accede to these terms, yet it might not be in my power to fulfil my engagement, the heads of parties being like the heads of snakes, which are carried on by their tails."

HENRY PELHAM.

(1696-1754.)

His Intrepidity.-In the debates on the Excise Bill, in March, 1733, Pelham warmly supported that measure, in defiance of party and popular clamour. During this period of agitation he not only defended the Minister (Walpole) in Parliament, but on one occasion evinced his personal attachment by an act of great intrepidity. After the last debate on the bill, as Sir Robert Walpole was passing through the lobby of the House of Commons, accompanied by Mr. Pelham, he was surrounded by a clamorous mob, not of rabble, but of well-dressed persons, When the two friends had nearly reached the steps leading to Alice's coffee-house, some individuals seized Sir Robert's cloak, and, as the collar was tightly fastened, nearly strangled him. At this moment of danger Mr. Pelham attacked the assailants, pushed Sir Robert into the passage leading to the coffee-house, and, drawing his sword, stationed himself at the entrance, exclaiming in a firm and determined tone, "Now, gentlemen, who will be the first to fall?" This spirited defiance overawed the assailants, who quietly dispersed.-Coxe's "Pelham Administration.” The archdeacon adds in a foot-note that the above is a correct version of the occurrence, which was inaccurately given in his "Memoirs of Sir Robert Walpole.”

A Posthumous Malediction.-The principal article of the Ways and Means in 1752 was the land tax, which the Minister (Mr. Pelham)

entertained hopes of reducing to the ordinary rate of two shillings in the pound. He discovered, however, that this reduction could not be effected without trenching on the sinking fund, and thus depreciating the public securities, and therefore he determined to continue the tax at three shillings. This resolution was resisted by some violent members, whom Lord Orford sarcastically terms "the sad refuse of all the last Opposition," who contended that the land was already too much burdened to admit of the continuance of a tax at three shillings. Mr. Pelham and his adherents, in reply, alluded to the great rise in the value of land, which, they said, rendered reduction unnecessary. The arguments and influence of the Minister prevailed, and the resolution was carried in the committee by 176 against 50. On the report the opposition was still more feeble; and Mr. Sydenham concluded a speech which closed the discussion, by a ludicrous parody of the well-known epitaph on Sir John Vanbrugh, which he applied to Mr. Pelham

"Lio heavy on him, land, for he
Laid many a heavy load on thee."

The resolution was finally adopted by a majority of 58 against 19.-
Ibid.

THE FIRST DUKE OF NEWCASTLE.
(1693-1768.)

The Duke and the Leadership of the Commons.-The Duke became First Lord of the Treasury on the death of his brother, Henry Pelham, in 1754. He had some difficulty in finding a leader of the House of Commons, and opened negotiations with Henry Fox, afterwards Lord Holland. Macaulay writes: "The proposition which he made was that Fox should be Secretary of State, with the lead of the House of Commons; that the disposal of the secret service money-or, in plain words, the business of buying members of Parliament-should be left to the First Lord of the Treasury; but that Fox should be exactly informed of the way in which this fund was employed. To these conditions Fox assented. But the next day everything was in confusion. Newcastle had changed his mind. The conversation which took place between Fox and the duke is one of the most curious in English history. 'My brother,' said Newcastle, 'when he was at the Treasury, never told anybody what he did with the secret service money. No more will I.' The answer was obvious. Pelham had been not only First Lord of the Treasury, but also manager of the House of Commons; and it was therefore unnecessary for him to confide to any other person his dealings with the members of that House. But how, said Fox, can I lead in the Commons without information on this head? How can I talk to gentlemen when I do not know which of them have received gratifications and which have not? And who,' he continued, is to have the disposal of places ?' 'I myself,' said the duke. 'How then am I to manage the House of Commons?' 'Oh, let the members of the House of Commons come to me!' Fox then mentioned the general election which was approaching, and asked how the ministerial boroughs were to be filled up. Do not trouble yourself,' said Newcastle; 'that is

all settled.' This was too much for human nature to bear. Fox refused to accept the Secretaryship of State on such terms; and the duke confided the management of the House of Commons to a dull, harmless man, whose name is almost forgotten in our time, Sir Thomas Robinson. 'Sir Thomas Robinson lead us!' said Pitt to Fox. The duke might as well send his jack-boot to lead us.””

A Living Caricature.-There is scarcely any public man in our history of whose manners and conversation so many particulars have been preserved. Single stories may be unfounded or exaggerated. But all the stories about him, whether told by people who were perpetually seeing him in Parliament and attending his levee in Lincoln's Inn-fields, or by Grub-street writers who never had more than a glimpse of his star through the windows of his gilded coach, are of the same character. Horace Walpole and Smollett differed in their tastes and opinions as much as two human beings could differ. They kept quite different society. Walpole played at cards with countesses, and corresponded with ambassadors. Smollett passed his life surrounded by printers' devils and famished scribblers. Yet Walpole's duke and Smollett's duke are as like as if they were both from one hand. Smollett's Newcastle runs out of his dressing-room with his face covered with soapsuds to embrace the Moorish envoy. Walpole's Newcastle pushes his way into the Duke of Grafton's sick room to kiss the old nobleman's plasters. No man was so unmercifully satirised. But in truth he was himself a satire ready made. All that the art of the satirist does for other men, nature had done for him. Whatever was absurd about him stood out with grotesque prominence from the rest of the character. He was a living, moving, talking caricature. His gait was a shuffling trot; his utterance a rapid stutter; he was always in a hurry; he was never in time; he abounded in fulsome caresses and in hysterical tears. His oratory resembled that of Justice Shallow. It was nonsense effervescent with animal spirits and impertinence. Of his ignorance many anecdotes remain, some well authenticated, some probably invented at coffee-houses, but all exquisitely characteristic. "Oh-yes-yes-to be sure-Annapolis must be defended-troops must be sent to Annapolis-Pray where is Annapolis ?" Cape Breton an island! wonderful!-show it me on the map. So it is, sure enough. My dear sir, you always bring us good news. I must go and tell the King that Cape Breton is an island." And this man was, during nearly thirty years, Secretary of State, and, during near ten years, First Lord of the Treasury!-Macaulay on Horace Walpole. Somebody said t'other day, "Yet sure the Duke of Newcastle does not want parts." "No," replied Lord Talbot, "for he has done without them for forty years."-Walpole's Letters to Mann.

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THE EARL OF HARDWICKE.
(1690-1764.)

A Distinguished Judge.-Sir Philip Yorke, who has previously been referred to as Attorney-General in Sir Robert Walpole's Administration, was made Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench in 1733, and

created a peer by the title of Baron Hardwicke. Being afterwards elevated to the woolsack, he remained Lord Chancellor for twenty years, and he is distinguished as never having had a decision reversed, and only three even appealed against.

Very Peremptory.-On the day, writes Campbell, that Lord Talbot died (Feb. 14th, 1737), the great seal was delivered up by his executors into the hands of George II. Lord Hardwicke was now regarded as decidedly the most useful man to be introduced into the Cabinet, and to preside on the woolsack as Chancellor. But, there being some difficulty as to the accompanying arrangements, the great seal remained for a whole week in the personal custody of the King. Meanwhile, as Parliament was sitting, and there was no Lord Chancellor or Lord Keeper, it was necessary to provide a Speaker for the House of Lords, and the great seal, while in the King's possession, was (somewhat irregularly) put to a commission authorising Lord Hardwicke to act in that capacity. He accordingly did act for several days as Speaker, without being Chancellor. During this interval it is related that Walpole, resisting some of Hardwicke's demands, said to him by way of threat, "I must offer the seals to Fazakerly!""Fazakerly!" exclaimed Hardwicke," impossible! he is certainly a Tory-perhaps a Jacobite!" "It's all very true," coolly replied Sir Robert, taking out his watch; "but if by one o'clock you do not accept my offer, Fazakerly, by two, becomes Lord Keeper, and one of the stanchest Whigs in all England." The bargain was immediately closed, and Lord Hardwicke was contented with the promise that the next Tellership should be bestowed upon his son.

Titles and Trappings.-The Earl of Hardwicke had been so long known and spoken of as Lord Chancellor, that many of his friends even had forgotten his ordinary title. Upon his first appearance at the royal levee after his resignation (1756) he was announced as the Earl of Hardwicke, but the King, with whom he had been much in favour, not recognising the title, merely replied by his usual cold question, 'How long has his lordship been in town?" When he advanced, the alteration in his appearance caused by the absence of the wig and robes completed the delusion; the Earl left the presence-chamber without being recognised by the master whom he had served so long.Cooke's "History of Party."

THE EARL OF BUTE.
(1713-1792.)

An Unpopular Minister.-The First Lord of the Treasury (says Macaulay) was detested by many as a Tory, by many as a favourite, and by many as a Scot. He could hardly walk the streets in safety without disguising himself. A gentleman who died not many years ago used to say that he once recognised the favourite earl in the piazza of Covent Garden, muffled in a large coat, and with a hat and wig drawn down over his brows. His lordship's established type with the mob was a jackboot -a wretched pun on his Christian name and title. A jackboot, generally