116 A DOUBLE ATTACK. death of the Emperor Charles the Sixth (1740) brought on an European crisis, in which England was soon involved. She did her best to observe treaties, and stoutly supported Maria Theresa in her heroic defence of her empire against a formidable coalition. But Admiral Vernon was repulsed before Carthagena,* and other reverses followed, which the Opposition hastened to attribute to Walpole's ineffective prosecution of the war. They had already joined issue with him. On the 13th of February, 1741, Lord Carteret in the Peers, and a Mr. Sandys in the Commons, had moved† an humble Address to the king, that he would be graciously pleased to remove the Right Honourable Sir Robert Walpole from His Majesty's presence and councils for ever. In the Lords, the motion, though supported by the Duke of Argyll and Lord Bathurst, was negatived by 108 votes against 59. In the Commons 106 voted for, and 290 against it. This signal success was partly owing to Walpole's splendid defence, and partly to the * In April, 1741. This expedition is satirised by Smollett in his 'Roderick Random.' When notice of this motion was given, Walpole expressed his readiness to meet it, and laying his hand on his breast, he added with some emotion, "Nil conscire sibi, nulli pallescere culpa." Pulteney thereupon observed that he had misquoted Horace, who had written" nulla pallescere culpa." Walpole wagered a guinea on his accuracy, but being proved in the wrong, threw the stake across the table to his opponent, who caught it, and holding the coin up to the House, sarcastically exclaimed, "It is the only money which I have received from the Treasury for many years, and it shall be the last." The opening of this speech was very effective :-" I ask from whence does this attack proceed? From the passions and prejudicies of the parties combined against me, who may be divided into three classes, the Boys, the riper Patriots, and the Tories. The Tories I can easily for A CONTEMPORARY CARICATURE. 117 secession of the thirty-four Jacobite members, who, headed by "downright Shippen," withdrew from the division. The exultation of Walpole's friends at so unexpected a result was as great as the mortification of his antagonists. It found expression in one of the cleverest caricatures of the period, 'The Motion,' in which Lord Carteret, in a coach, is represented as being driven towards the Treasury by the Duke of Argyll as coachman, with the Earl of Chesterfield, who, by their impetuosity, are overturning the vehicle. Between the Duke's legs sits Bubb Doddington in the form of a spaniel; Lord Cobham holds on to the back of the carriage as footman, while in front are seen Pulteney wheeling a barrow laden with copies of the Craftsman,' and other Opposition papers. Here are a few of the descriptive verses : ... give; they have unwillingly come into the measure, and they do me honour in thinking it necessary to remove me as their only obstacle . . . Can it be fitting in them, who have divided the public opinion of the nation, to share it with those who now appear as their competitors? With the men of yesterday, the boys in politics, who would be absolutely contemptible, did not their audacity render them detestable? With the mock patriots, whose practice and professions prove their selfishness and malignity, who threatened to pursue me to destruction, and who have never for a moment lost sight of their object?"-Coxe's 'Walpole,' i. 637, 638. 66 *Shippen said of Walpole, to whom he seems to have been under some personal obligation, Robin and I are two honest men. He is for King George, and I for King James; but those men with long cravats only desire places, either under King George or King James." On the other hand, Walpole said of Shippen, that he was the only man whose price he did not know. 118 "DOWN WITH WALPOLE!” Between his legs de spaniel curr see; But pray who in de coaché sit-a! 'Tis honest J-nny C-t-ritta, Who want in place again to get-a. Close by stands Billy, of all Bob's foes How he lead de puppies by de nose!" This success is thought to have thrown Walpole off his guard, while, instead of discouraging, it did but exasperate the Opposition, and combined all sections of it in a continuous attack upon the triumphant Minister, as the main grievance of the State. The nation was to be relieved from all its ills by the dismissal and punishment of Walpole. If he were removed, trade would revive and commerce flourish. If he were removed, victory would attend the armies and fleets of England. "Down with Walpole!" was the cry which everybody echoed. Finally, assurances were given to the other members of the Administration that they might retain their places if they would but abandon him. This was the cleverest move of the Opposition, and it proved successful. We believe with Macaulay that he might probably have weathered the storm for awhile had his colleagues proved faithful to him. But they plotted against their chief. The Earl of Isla was suspected; * * " But how will Walpole justify his fate? He trusted Islay till it was too late, To trust a traitor that he knew so well! (Strange truth! betray'd, but not deceiv'd, he fell !)" Sir. C. Hanbury Williams. A MASTERLY DEFENCË. 119 the Duke of Newcastle something more than suspected. "His name," said Sir Robert, "is perfidy." Parliament was dissolved at the end of April, and the new elections showed how disastrously the tide had turned against the Minister. When the new Par liament met, he found that his majority did not exceed sixteen; and under the influence of popular clamour, the artifices of the Opposition, and the cabals of his colleagues, it rapidly sank to zero. Yet Sir Robert was as courageous as ever. His final struggle against his enemies reminds us of Napoleon's campaign in 1814; it exhibits the same readiness, the same dash, the same fertility of resource, the same vigour in fighting every point. Never did he display a finer ability than in this hopeless defensive conflict. On the motion for electing a chairman of committees (December 16th), the Opposition mustered 242 votes against 238. "You have no idea of their huzza," writes Horace Walpole to his friend Mann,* "unless you can conceive how people must triumph after defeats for twenty years together. We had one vote shut out by coming a moment too late; one that quitted us for having been ill-used by the Duke of Newcastle but yesterday, for which, in all probability, he will use him well to-morrow-I mean, for quitting us." The son adds, "Sir Robert is in great spirits, and still sanguine. I have so little experience that I shall not be amazed at whatever scenes follow. My dear child, we have triumphed twenty years; is it strange that fortune should at last forsake us?" A day or two afterwards a Cornish election was carried in four * Horace Walpole, Letters to Sir Horace Mann, i., 51–53. 120 THE STRUGGLE CONTINUED. divisions, the Minister's majority rising from 6 to 12, then to 14, and lastly to 36. A motion of Pulteney's was defeated by 237 to 227. But at the Westminster election the Opposition again triumphed, 220 against 216. "You see," writes Horace, "four is a fortunate number to them. We had forty-one new members in town, who would not or could not come down. The time is a touchstone for wavering consciences." The House having adjourned during the Christmas holidays, both sides were actively engaged in preparing for a renewal of the struggle. Its severity was begining to tell on Sir Robert's health and temper; but his spirit was still indomitable, and he rejected the advice of his personal friends that he should resign. He endeavoured, by an offer of an addition of £50,000 a year to his income, to detach the Prince of Wales from the Opposition; but his overtures were rejected. The Opposition were more successful in gaining over some of the Minister's adherents.* When the House met in January, Pulteney's motion, for referring to a Secret Committee the papers that had been laid on the table relating to the war, was defeated only by a majority of 3. Horace Walpole publishes a lively account of this famous debate. It was at three o'clock on Thursday afternoon, he says, that Pulteney rose and moved for a Even Lord Hervey trimmed. With a coffin-face, he is as full of his little dirty politics as ever. He will not be well enough to go to the House till the majority is certain somewhere, but lives shut up with my Lord Chesterfield and Mr. Pulteney-a triumvirate, who hate one another more than anybody they could proscribe, had they the power."-Horace Walpole, ut supra, i., 75, 76. |