divi

and fidelity, and had inveighed against the folly of keeping up sions at a crisis when all hands were needed. Both Clephane and Lockhart agreed, that the project of going over to Scotland, without either a settled scheme or foreign succour, was utterly hopeless, and could serve only to lose the cause and ruin its adherents altogether. It appeared that Inverness and Dunbar, who advised the scheme, meant themselves to stay abroad, the one attending the Prince, and the other managing affairs with foreign Powers; and Lockhart could not forbear remarking, that he should have had a much better opinion of these two gentlemen, if they had thought fit to run equal hazard with their King, in a project they so much approved.

The answers which James received from Paris and from London were equally discouraging, and urged him in the strongest manner to forbear so desperate an enterprise. "You will observe, Sir,' writes Atterbury, "what a spirit of caution and fear possesses your friends at home, and how they dread any alarm being given to the Government, or taken by it. . . . . It appears that nothing is to be expected from them, without a foreign, and a very considerable assistance. It is plain that the Tories at this turn hoped to get into place, if not into power; and though they resolved to keep their principles and inclinations if they had done so, I much question whether they really would, or rather I am satisfied that the bulk of them would not; and therefore it is a happiness to you, Sir, that their aims have hitherto been and will probably continue to be defeated."*

Nor was the Pretender left quiet and undisturbed to mature his plans; on the contrary the French government, urged by the English, sent positive directions to the Duke of Lorraine to compel James to quit his territories. The Duke, who was little more than the vassal of France, durst not disobey, and wrote to James in his own hand, pressing him in the strongest manner to go out of his country in three days. "Thus," says James, "in my present situation, I cannot pretend to do any thing essential for my interest, so that all that remains is the world should see that I have done my part." He determined, however, by the advice of Atterbury, instead of crossing the Alps, to repair to the Papal State of Avignon. But even there the French influence was exerted to dislodge him. In the ensuing spring he was compelled to return to Italy, where he rejoined his consort, and seems to have become gradually reconciled with her. A German traveller who was at Rome in 1731, saw them living, to all appearance, in perfect harmony together, and speaks with high praise (as indeed all parties do) of Clementina's grace and goodness, her quick talents, and her never-failing charity. It is even said,

Bishop Atterbury to James, August 20, 1727. Appendix.

† James to Atterbury, August 9, 1727. Appendix.

Polnitz, Memoirs, vol. ii. p. 60, ed. 1737.

[Another German traveller in Italy, in 1730, gives the following account of the Pretender at that time: "As to your inquiry concerning the figure made by the Pretender

but on no good authority, that she used to express her sorrow at having left her husband and retired to a convent.* The chief object of their contention, Inverness, was sent to a kind of exile at Avignon; but Dunbar still retained the chief influence at the little Court of the Pretender.

Meanwhile events in England were proceeding very far from favourably to his cause. The new Parliament, which met in January, 1728, displayed a ministerial majority even greater than the last. "On the first day," says Horace Walpole, "we had 427 members in the House, most of them sincere and hearty friends, and in perfect good humour." Their choice for Speaker (Sir Spencer Compton being now a peer) fell unanimously upon Mr. Arthur Onslow, sprung from a family which had already twice filled the chair, and endowed with high personal qualifications for that office. During three and thirty years did this accomplished man continue to preside over the House of Commons, with thorough knowledge of forms, and perfect impartiality of judgment; and even after his retirement he still contributed to the public service, by his ready advice and guidance to younger politicians.§1

• Account of the Funeral Ceremonies of the Princess Clementine Sobieski. Preface. To Earl Waldegrave, January 24, 1728. Coxe's Walpole.

See Parliamentary History, vol. i. p. 703; and vol. vi. p. 744.

"It was permitted to the compiler of this work to visit that excellent man in his

to the British crown; I must say it is every way very mean and unbecoming. The court of Rome indeed has issued an order, that all the subjects should style him 'King of England; but this is no more than an empty title, and made a jest of by the Italians themselves; for some of them discoursing with me, whom they conceive to be none of his friends, sometimes by a kind of jocular civility, term him Il Re di qui, i. e. the local king, a king here,' Rex in partibus; whereas the rightful possessor is styled Il Re di quà, the king there,' i. e. in England, upon the spot.

"He generally appears abroad with three coaches; and his household consists of about forty persons. He lately assumed some authority at the opera, by calling encore, when a song that pleased him and some others, was performed; it was not, however, till after a considerable pause, that his order was complied with. This is the only time that ever he has been known to affect the least power; and this instance of compliance is no more than what the claps of half a dozen of the spectators will at any time procure. At his coming into an assembly, no English Protestant rises up; and even the Roman Catholics pay him their compliments in a very superficial manner. It is certain that his pusillanimity, and the licentiousness of his amours, have certainly lessened him in everybody's esteem." Keysler's Travels, Letter 48, English Translation. London, 1760.

Keysler speaks, though in an ill-natured way, of the Princess Clementina's devotional character; and alleges that it is but an outward reconciliation between her and her husband. This traveller was strongly in the Hanoverian interest, not only as a German, but as a preceptor in the family of George the First's favourite, Bernsdorf, whose grandsons he educated and travelled with, on the tour which forms the subject of his four volumes. One of these pupils was afterwards distinguished as the Baron Bernsdorf, the minister of Frederick V. of Denmark ]

[In an anonymous work entitled "The Ornaments of Churches considered," printed at Oxford, 1761, I find the following acknowledgment of a service rendered by Speaker Onslow to the Church, at a time when great neglect of the material condition of Churches prevailed. In the dedication of the volume to him, it is said:" As soon almost as you first took the chair of that honourable House you became the friend of St. Marga. ret's, Westminster, (the parochial church of the Commons of Great Britain,) and recom⚫ mended the case so effectually near thirty years ago, as to procure at that time, a large sum of money from Parliament for the repairs of it." The book is adorned with a spirited engraving of the Speaker in his seat in the Church.]

The King's speech on opening the session lamented the tedious and still unsettled negotiations with Spain, and the consequent necessity of continuing warlike preparations; but did not omit the usual professions of economy, and willingness to reduce the national expenses. Such professions, in fact, are frequently the most ardent where the supplies to be demanded are largest. To the address, in answer, Shippen moved an amendment, and inveighed against Hosier's expedition as useless and insignificant; for that we might have rifled the galleons of Carthagena, and plundered Porto Bello, and have had those riches in our hands to dispute with the Spaniards.* He was seconded by Wyndham; but their observations were so ill received by the House, that they did not venture on a division. Almost the first occasion when the opposition made a stand was when they had reason and justice completely on their side. It was proposed by Horace Walpole that the sum of 230,000l. should be granted for maintaining, during this year, 12,000 Hessians in the British pay; a measure quite unworthy the King of England, but very advantageous to the Elector of Hanover. If troops were wanted, could we not raise them at home? Or, if a similar step had been taken in the rebellion of 1715, amidst pressing and fearful dangers, can it be urged that the precedent applied to orderly and settled times; and might we not quote against this motion the very words of its mover on another occasion, when he said that little, low, partial, Electoral notions are able to stop or confound the best conducted project for the public?" Nevertheless, so strong was the party in power, that 280 voted with, and only 84 against them.

66

Of a similar tendency was a treaty just concluded with the Duke of Brunswick, stipulating a subsidy of 25,000l. a year to him during four years, whilst, on his part, he was to furnish, if required, 5000

men.

retirement, and to hear those observations on the law and constitution, which, particularly in the company of young persons, Mr. Onslow was fond of communicating." Hatsell's Precedents, vol. ii. Preface, p. ix. ed. 1785.

* Mr. Tilson to Earl Waldegrave, February 2, 1728. † Horace Walpole to Sir Robert, September 1, 1739.

[At a later part of the 18th century, the policy, which the author justly characterizes as unworthy, of employing mercenary Hessian troops instead of raising the forces at home, was, as is well known, resorted to under circumstances which aggravated the impolitic character of the measure. It was never more strongly condemned than by Wordsworth, in a passage of lofty and impassioned wisdom, which I am tempted to quote here from his now rare Tract on the Convention of Cintra.

"The ministers found it an easy task to hire a band of Hessians, and to send it across the Atlantic, that they might assist in bringing the Americans (according to the phrase then prevalent), to reason.' The force with which these troops would attack, was gross, tangible, and might be calculated; but the spirit of resistance, which their presence would create, was subtle, ethereal, mighty and incalculable. Accordingly, from the moment when those foreigners landed-men, who had no interest, no business in the quarrel, but what the wages of their master bound him to, and he imposed upon his miserable slaves;-nay, from the first rumour of their destination, the success of the British was (as hath since been affirmed by judicious Americans), impossible." Wordsworth on the Convention of Cintra, p. 140. London, 1809.]

In this temper of the House a discussion between Walpole and Pulteney afforded a certain triumph to the former. Pulteney asserted that, in spite of the Sinking Fund, the public burthens had increased instead of diminishing since 1716. Such statements, enforced in an able pamphlet, and in several numbers of the "Craftsman," began to pass current upon the public. On the other hand, it was maintained by Walpole in the House of Commons, that 6,000,000l. had been discharged since that year; and that, allowing for new debts, the decrease was still no less than 2,500,000l. Pulteney defended his calculations, adding, that he should be prepared to prove them in a few days, and would stake his reputation on their accuracy. Accordingly, on the 4th of March, there ensued a sort of pitched battle between the rival statesmen, when the statement of Walpole was affirmed by a large majority, and afterwards embodied in a Report, which was laid before the King.

The opposition hoped to be more successful in calling for a specific account of so large a sum as 250,000l. which was charged for Secret Service. Walpole gave the usual answer, that the public interest would suffer by the disclosure; and the debate was still proceeding when some important news arrived. The King of Spain, on learning the death of George the First, had determined not to ratify the preliminaries signed in his name, but without his authority, at Vienna. He hoped to see, not merely a change of administration but a change of dynasty follow the Royal decease in England; he expected, at least, great discord and divisions in the new Parliament: but finding the result quite otherwise, and unable to stand alone against the Hanover allies, his reluctance at length gave way. From his country palace he issued what was termed the Act of the Pardo, accepting the preliminaries with France and England, and referring further difficulties to a Congress, about to be held at Soissons. The express which brought this intelligence reached Walpole in the midst of his speech on the Secret Service; he immediately availed himself of this event, and having communicated it to the House, added, that the country would now be relieved from the burthen of its late expenses, and that he could assure the Members who clamoured for an account of the Secret Service money, that it had been expended in obtaining that peace, of which the preliminaries were just signed. So much satisfaction did this news spread through the House, that the question was instantly called for, and passed without a division. In fact, to the end of this Session (I might almost say, of this Parliament) the ministerial numbers continued steady, and even increasing; and verified the shrewd saying, that a good majority, like a good sum of money, soon makes itself bigger.*

At the Congress, which opened in the month of June, the English plenipotentiaries were William Stanhope, Poyntz, and Horace Walpole. The business at Paris was intrusted to Lord Waldegrave, whom Horace Walpole praises for "a good understanding:" but

* Walpole's Letters to Mann, December 3, 1741.

still more for what was most requisite under Sir Robert, "a supple and inoffensive disposition."* At the Hague our interests were most ably conducted by the Earl of Chesterfield, one of the most shining characters of this age; whom Smollett, though with much party spirit, goes so far as to call the only man of genius employed under Walpole.t

The Congress of Soissons, however, proved a worthy counterpart of the Congress of Cambray. It was a mere routine of forms; a dull accumulation of endless memorials and counter memorials, without leading to the decision of a single disputed point. A proposal for a provisional instead of a definitive treaty equally failed, and it became necessary to revert once more to separate negotiations. “It is evident to us all here," writes Townshend, "that this nation will not long bear this uncertain state of things." It was lamented in the King's Speech, when Parliament met again in January, 1729, "and I am not insensible," said His Majesty, "that some may be induced to think that an actual war is preferable to such a doubtful and imperfect peace; but the exchange is very easy to be made at any time!"

Although the Session of 1729 was almost entirely engrossed with Foreign affairs, there are two other of its transactions that seem deserving of attention. The first was, the expression of the public joy and loyal congratulations to the King at the arrival of Frederick Prince of Wales. For some reason not very clear, but probably to gratify the Hanoverian party, the young Prince had never been allowed to visit England in the lifetime of George the First. He now came over at the age of twenty-one, a pledge of the Protestant succession, and not without qualities to captivate the multitude, who are always apt to love an heir apparent better than a King. I shall have occasion to show how soon this fair prospect was clouded and darkened by faction, and how scrupulously Frederick followed his father's example in caballing against him.

Another affair this Session, in which the Court was less honourably mingled, was a motion for granting His Majesty 115,000l. to supply a deficiency in the Civil List. It afterwards appeared that in truth there was no such deficiency, yet the Minister persevered and carried the Bill by a large majority. The transaction was very painful to Walpole, and no less injurious to his public character; and he is said to have used every argument with the Court to dissuade it from urging the demand. We are told also that the resistance to it in the House of Lords was very strong, although (so strictly were their

* Coxe's Walpole, vol. iii. p. 8.

1

History of England, book ii. ch. 4.

To Mr. Poyntz, February 21, 1729.

["The Congress," says Lord Hervey, "was opened this summer at Soissons, but the cooks of the Plenipotentiaries had much more business than their secretaries, for all the employment of these great national and regal representatives was giving and receiving visits and dinners." Memoirs of the Reign of George II. vol. i. chap. v.]