66 66 ever I may think of men, God forbid that my private opinion should be the only rule of my judgment! I "should desire to have an exterior conviction from facts "and evidences..... A Noble Lord to whom I had the "honour to be related has been often mentioned in this "debate. He was impeached and imprisoned; by that "imprisonment his years were shortened; and the pro"secution was carried on by the Right Honourable Gen"tleman who is now the subject of your question, though "he knew at that very time that there was no evidence "to support it. I am now, Sir, glad of this oppor"tunity to return good for evil, and to do that Right "Honourable Gentleman and his family that justice "which he denied to mine." So saying he left the house, and was followed by his kinsman Mr. Robert Harley. As remarkable, though on very different grounds, was the conduct of Shippen. He observed that he looked upon this motion as only a scheme for turning out one Minister and bringing in another; that it was quite indifferent to him who was in or who was out; and that therefore he would give himself no concern in the question. With these words he withdrew, and was followed by thirtyfour of his friends. Nay, Lord Cornbury even went further; and, declaring that no man whose ardour for vengeance had not extinguished every other motive of action could resolve to sanction a method of prosecution by which the good and bad are equally endangered, announced that he should vote against the motion. The course of these Jacobite Members excited much surprise, and called forth many conjectures. So far as Shippen himself is concerned, it is explained by a fact which one of his relatives communicated to Mr. Coxe. Some time before, Sir Robert Walpole having discovered a correspondence which one of Shippen's party carried on with the Pretender, Shippen called on the Minister, and entreated him to save his friend. Sir Robert readily complied, and then said: "Mr. Shippen, I cannot desire you to vote with the administration, for with your prin"ciples I have no right to expect it. But I only require, "whenever any question is brought forward in the House affecting me personally, that you will recollect the favour 66 66 1741. WALPOLE'S REPLY. 73 "I have now granted you.” * It is not to be supposed, however, that this engagement could bind any one but Shippen himself. But a letter of Mr. Thomas Carte, in the Stuart collection, and referring to this very subject, shows that the hopes inspired by Walpole's message to the Pretender were not yet wholly dissipated.† It proves also that the motion of Sandys had been hastily brought forward without due and sufficient communication to the Jacobite Members, and that at the last moment they felt displeased, and determined to show their displeasure, at this arrogant neglect. When Pulteney had sat down Sir Robert rose, and delivered a speech equal if not superior to any of his former efforts. Some of the charges against him, such as the despotic dismissal of officers, did not in my opinion admit of any satisfactory answer; but on many points his defence was conclusive, and on all most able. He observed that the parties combined against him might be divided into three classes, the Tories, the dissatisfied Whigs, calling themselves Patriots, and the Boys-the latter phrase denoting how generally the young men of promise who entered Parliament had joined the Opposition banner, and thus afforded, perhaps, the surest of all omens of a Minister's fall. "The Tories," said Sir Robert, "I can "easily forgive; they have unwillingly come into the measure, and they do me honour in thinking it necessary "to remove me as their only obstacle. .. 66 "Gentlemen have talked a great deal of patriotism—a "venerable word when duly practised; but I am sorry to say that of late it has been so much hackneyed about, "that it is in danger of falling into disgrace: the very "idea of true patriotism is lost, and the term has been "prostituted to the very worst of purposes. A patriot, "Sir! why patriots spring up like mushrooms! I could "raise fifty of them within the four-and-twenty hours— "I have raised many of them in one night. It is but refusing to gratify an unreasonable or an insolent demand, "and up starts a patriot. I have never been afraid of 66 * Memoirs of Walpole, vol. i. p. 671. Mr. Carte to the Pretender (Received April 17. 1741.). See 66 "making patriots, but I disdain and despise all their "efforts. I am called repeatedly and insidiously "prime and sole Minister. Admitting, however, for the "sake of argument, that I am prime and sole Minister in "this country; am I therefore prime and sole Minister of "all Europe? am I answerable for the conduct of other "countries as well as for that of my own? Many words are not wanting to show that the particular views of "each Court occasioned the dangers which affected the "public tranquillity; yet the whole is charged to my ac"count. Nor is this sufficient; whatever was the conduct "of England, I am equally arraigned. If we maintained. "ourselves in peace, and took no share in foreign trans"actions, we are reproached for tameness and pusilla"nimity. If, on the contrary, we interfered in the disputes, we are called Don Quixotes, and dupes to all the world. "If we contracted guarantees, it was asked, why is the "nation wantonly burthened? If guarantees were de"clined, we were reproached with having no allies." Sir Robert next proceeded to vindicate the Treaty of Hanover, and the whole series of his foreign policy. In his financial administration, he contended that within the last sixteen or seventeen years no less than 8,000,000l. of the Debt had been discharged by the application of the Sinking Fund, and 7,000,000l. more taken from that fund and applied to the relief of the agriculturists through the diminution of the Land Tax. As to the conduct of the war, "as I am neither Admiral nor General," said he, as I have nothing to do either with our Navy or Army, "I am sure I am not answerable for the prosecution of it. "But were I to answer for every thing, no fault could, I 66 think, be found. It has from the beginning been carried 66 on with as much vigour, and as great care of our trade, 66 te as was consistent with our safety at home, or with our "circumstances at the beginning of the war; and if our "attacks upon the enemy were too long delayed, or if they have not been so vigorous or so frequent as they ought to have been, those only are to blame who have " for many years been haranguing against standing armies. In conclusion, what have been the effects of this "corruption, ambition, and avarice with which I am so "abundantly charged? Have I ever been suspected of ... 1741. 66. WALPOLE'S TRIUMPHANT MAJORITY. 75 "being corrupted? A strange phenomenon, a corrupter "himself not corrupt! Is ambition imputed to me? Why "then do I still continue a Commoner? I, who refused 66 a White Staff and a Peerage!--I had, indeed, like to "have forgotten the little ornament about my shoulders, "which gentlemen have so repeatedly mentioned in terms "of sarcastic obloquy. But surely, though this may be regarded with envy or indignation in another place, it "cannot be supposed to raise any resentment in this 66 House, where many must be pleased to see those honours "which their ancestors have worn restored again to the "Commons. I must think that an Address to "His Majesty to remove one of his servants, without so "much as alleging any particular crime against him, is 66 one of the greatest encroachments that was ever made upon the prerogative of the Crown; and, therefore, for "the sake of my master, without any regard for my own, "I hope all those that have a due respect for our Constitution, and for the rights and prerogatives of the "Crown, without which our Constitution cannot be preserved, will be against this motion." 66 66 This speech, which was not concluded till nearly four in the morning, produced a strong effect, and was followed by a triumphant division; the numbers being, for the motion 106, against it 290, an unusually large majority, mainly resulting, however, from the secession of the Tories. In the Upper House, that evening, Lord Carteret was powerfully supported by Argyle and Bathurst, but opposed by the Lord Chancellor, the Duke of Newcastle, and Lord Hervey, and the motion was negatived by 108 votes against 59. The Prince of Wales was present, but did not vote; and it was observed that Lord Wilmington, though holding office under the Government, likewise remained neutral. A strong protest, which had been prepared, as is said, by Bolingbroke*, was signed by 31 Peers. The remark of Sir Robert himself, in a conversation with Sandys, was, that they might, perhaps, get the better of him, but he was sure no other Minister would ever be * Charles Yorke to Philip Yorke. Coxe's Walpole, vol. iii. p. able to stand so long as he had done-twenty years.* The first effect of these motions seemed to be the securing of Walpole in power. His levee the next morning was the fullest ever known †; congratulations poured in from all sides; while his opponents, baffled and confounded, were imputing to each other the blame of their failure. But in its ulterior consequences the motion of Sandys served in the ensuing General Election to point and concentrate every attack upon the Minister, as the one great grievance of the state; and on the other hand, it is asserted that his success on this occasion threw him off his guard, and by increasing his confidence slackened his exertions.‡ An occurrence of this Session, still more important in its consequences, was the Subsidy granted to the Court of Vienna, where there had arisen a new conjuncture of affairs, portentous and eventful to the other European states. The Emperor Charles the Sixth had died on the 20th of October 1740. His daughter Maria Theresa, the heiress of his dominions with the title of Queen of Hungary, was but twenty-three years of age, without experience or knowledge of business; and her husband Francis, the titular Duke of Lorraine and reigning Grand Duke of Tuscany, deserved the praise of amiable qualities rather than of commanding talents. Her Ministers were timorous, irresolute, and useless: "I saw them in despair," writes Mr. Robinson, the British envoy, "but that "very despair was not capable of rendering them bravely desperate." The treasury was exhausted, the army dispersed, and no General risen to replace Eugene. The succession of Maria Theresa was, indeed, cheerfully acknowledged by her subjects, and seemed to be secured amongst foreign powers by their guarantee of the Pragmatic Sanction; but it soon appeared that such guarantees are mere worthless parchments where there is strong temptation to break and only a feeble army to support them. The principal claimant to the succession was the 66 *Opinions of the Duchess of Marlborough, p. 108. The date of 1739 is clearly erroneous. † Mr. T. Carte to the Pretender. Letter received April 17. 1741. Tindal's Hist. vol. viii. p. 491. § Mr. Robinson to Lord Harrington, October 22. 1740. Coxe's House of Austria. |