The Letters of Horace Walpole, Earl of Orford Volume I Part 30

Next week they commence their prosecutions, which they will introduce by voting a committee to inquire into all the offices: Sir William Yonge is to be added to the impeachments, but the chief whom they wish to punish is my uncle.(480) He is the more to be pitied, because n.o.body will pity him. They are not fond of a formal message which the States General have sent to Sir Robert, "to compliment him on his new honour, and to condole with him on being out of the ministry, which will be so detrimental to Europe!

The third augmentation in Holland is confirmed, and that the Prince of Hesse is chosen generallissimo, which makes it believed that his Grace of Argyll will not go over, but that we shall certainly have a war with France in the spring.

Argyll has got the Ordnance restored to him, and they wanted to give him his regiment; to which Lord Hertford (481) was desired to resign it, with the offer of his old troop again. He said he had received the regiment from the King; if his Majesty pleased to take it back, he might, but he did not know why he should resign it. Since that, he wrote a letter to the King, and sent it by his son, Lord Beauchamp, resigning his regiment, his government, and his wife's pension, as lady of the bedchamber to the late Queen.

No more changes are made yet. They have offered the Admiralty to Sir Charles Wager again, but he refused it: he said, he heard that he was an old woman, and that he did not know what good old women could do any where.

A comet has appeared here for two nights, which, you know, is lucky enough at this time and a pretty ingredient for making prophecies.

These are all the news. I receive your letters regularly, and hope you receive mine so: I never miss one week. Adieu! my dearest child! I am perfectly well; tell me always that you are.

Are the good Chutes still at Florence? My best love to them, and services to all.

Here are some new Lines much in vogue:(482)

1741.

Unhappy England, still in forty-one (483) By Scotland art thou doom'd to be undone!

But Scotland now, to strike alone afraid, Calls in her worthy sister Cornwall's (484) aid; And these two common Strumpets, hand in hand, Walk forth, and preach up virtue through the land; Start at corruption, at a bribe turn pale, Shudder at pensions, and at placemen rail.

Peace, peace! ye wretched hypocrites; or rather With Job, say to Corruption, " Thou'rt our Father."

But how will Walpole justify his fate?

He trusted Islay (485) till it was too late.

Where were those parts! where was that piercing mind!

That judgment, and that knowledge of mankind!

To trust a Traitor that he knew so well!

(Strange truth! I)ctray'd, but not deceived, he fell!) He knew his heart was, like his aspect, vile; Knew him the tool, and Brother of Argyll!

Yet to his hands his power and hopes gave up; And though he saw 'twas poison, drank the cup!

Trusted to one he never could think true, And perish'd by a villain that he knew.

(476) "February 21. Prince taken ill of the measles. The King sent no message to him in his illnesses Secker MS.-E.

(477) William Shippen, a celebrated Jacobite. Sir R. Walpole said that he was the Only man whose price he did not know. [See ante, p. 194, Letter 45.]

(478) William Murray, Mr. Pope's friend, afterwards Solicitor, and then Attorney-general.

(479) Sir Richard Lloyd, who succeeded Mr. Murray, in 1754, as Solicitor-general.

(480) Horace Walpole, brother of Sir Robert.

(481) Algernon Seymour, Earl of Hertford, eldest son of Charles, called the proud Duke of Somerset, whom he succeeded in that t.i.tle, and was the last Duke of Somerset of that branch; his son, who is here mentioned, having died before him.-D.

(482) These Lines were written by Sir Charles Hanbury Williams. [And are published in the edition of his works, in three volumes, 12 no.1.

(483) Alluding to the Grand Rebellion against Charles the First.

(484) The Parliament which overthrew Sir R. W. was carried against him by his losing the majority of the Scotch and Cornish boroughs; the latter managed by Lord Falmouth and Thomas Pitt.

(485) Archibald Campbell, Earl of Islay, brother of John, Duke of Argyll, in conjunction with whom (though then openly at variance) he was supposed to have betrayed Sir R.

W. and to have let the Opposition succeed in the Scotch elections, which were trusted to his management. It must be observed, that Sir R. W. would never allow that he believed himself betrayed by Lord Islay.

229 Letter 56 To Sir Horace Mann.

London, March 3d, 1742.

I am Obliged to write to you to-day, for I am sure I shall not have a moment to-morrow; they are to make their motion for a secret committee to examine into the late administration. We are to oppose it strongly, but to no purpose; for since the change, they have beat us on no division under a majority of forty. This last week has produced no new novelties; his Royal Highness has been shut up with the measles, of which he was near dying, by eating China oranges.

We are to send sixteen thousand men into Flanders in the spring, under his Grace of Argyll; they talk of the Duke of Marlborough and Lord Albemarle to command under him. Lord Cadogan (486) is just dead, so there is another regiment vacant: they design Lord Delawar's for Westmoreland;(487) so now Sir Francis Dashwood (488) will grow as fond of the King again as he used to be-or as he has hated him since.

We have at last finished the Merchants' pet.i.tion, under the conduct of the Lord Mayor and Mr. Leonidas;(489) the greatest c.o.xcomb and the greatest oaf that ever met in blank verse or prose. I told you the former's question about the copy of a letter taken after the original was lost. They have got a new story of him; that hearing of a gentleman who had had the small-pox twice and died of it, he asked, if he died the first time or the second-if this is made for him, it is at least quite in his style. After summing up the evidence (in doing which, Mr.

Glover literally drank several times to the Lord Mayor in a gla.s.s of water that stood by him,) Sir John Barnard moved to vote, that there had been great neglect in the protection of the trade, to the great advantage of' the enemy, and the dishonour of the nation. He said he did not mean to charge the Admiralty particularly, for then particular persons must have had particular days a.s.signed to be heard in their own defence, which would take up too much time, as we are now going to make inquiries of a much higher nature. Mr. Pelham was for leaving out the last words. Mr. Doddington rose, and in a set speech declared that the motion was levelled at a particular person, who had so usurped all authority, that all inferior offices were obliged to submit to his will, and so either bend and bow, or be broken: but that he hoped the steps we were now going to take, would make the office of first minister so dangerous a post, that n.o.body would care to accept it for the future. Do but think of this fellow, who has so lost all character, and made himself so odious to both King, and Prince, by his alternate flatteries, changes, oppositions, and changes of flatteries and oppositions, that he can never expect what he has so much courted by all methods,-think of his talking of making it dangerous for any one else to accept the first ministership!

Should such a period ever arrive, he would accept it with joy-the only chance he can ever have for it! But sure, never was impudence more put to shame! The whole debate turned upon him.

Lord Doneraile (490) (who, by the way, has produced blossoms of Doddington like fruit, and consequently is the fitter scourge for him) stood up and said, he did not know what that gentleman meant; that he himself was as willing to bring all offenders to justice as any man; but that he did not intend to confine punishment to those who had been employed only at the end of the last ministry, but proposed to extend it to all who had been engaged in it, and wished that that gentleman would speak with more lenity of an administration, in which he himself had been concerned for so many years. Winnington said, he did not know what Mr.

Doddington had meant, by either bending or being broken; that he knew some who had been broken, though they had bowed an bended.

Waller defended Doddington, and said, if he was gilty, at least Mr. Winnington was so too; on which Fox rose up, and, laying his hand on his breast, said, he never wished to have such a friend, as could only excuse him by bringing in another for equal share of his guilt. Sir John Cotton replied; he did not wonder that Mr. Fox (who had spoken with great warmth) was angry at hearing his friend in place, compared to one out of place. Do but figure how Doddington must have looked and felt during such dialogues! In short, it ended in Mr. Pultney's rising, and saying, he could not be against the latter words, as he thought the former part of the motion had been proved . and wished both parties would join in carrying on the war vigorously, or in procuring a good peace, rather than in ripping open old sores, and continuing the heats and violences of parties. We came to no division-for we should have lost it by too many.

Thursday evening.

I had written all the former part of my letter, only reserving room to tell you, that they had carried the secret committee-but it is put off till next Tuesday. To-day we had nothing but the giving up the Heydon election, when Mr.

Ppultney had an opportunity (as Mr. Chute and Mr. Robinson would not take the trouble to defend a cause which they could not carry) to declaim upon corruption: had it come to a trial, there were eighteen witnesses ready to swear positive bribery against Mr. Pultney. I would write to Mr. Chute, and thank him for his letter which you sent me, but I am so out of humour at his brother's losing his seat, that I cannot speak civilly even to him to-day.

It is said, that my Lord's Grace of Argyll has carried his great point of the Broad Bottom-as I suppose you will hear by rejoicings from Rome. The new Admiralty is named; at the head is to be Lord Winchilsea, with Lord Granard,(491) Mr.

c.o.c.kburn, his Grace's friend, Dr. Lee, the chairman, Lord Vere Beauclerc;(492) one of the old set, by the interest of the Duke of Dorset, and the connexion of Lady Betty Germain, whose niece Lord Vere married; and two Tories, Sir John Hind Cotton and Will.

Chetwynd,(493) an agent of Bolingbroke's-all this is not declared yet, but is believed.

This great Duke has named his four aid-de-camps-Lord Charles Hay; George Stanhope, brother of Earl Stanhope; d.i.c.k Lyttelton, who Was page; and a Campbell. Lord Cadogan is not dead, but has been given over.

We are rejoicing over the great success of the Queen of Hungary's arms, and the number of blows and thwarts which the French have received. It is a prosperous season for our new popular generals to grow glorious!

But, to have done with politics. Old Marlborough has at last published her Memoirs; they are digested by one Hooke, (494) who wrote a Roman history; but from her materials which are so womanish, that I am sure the man might sooner have made a gown and petticoat with them. There are some choice letters from Queen Anne, little inferior in the fulsome to those from King James to the Duke of Buckingham.

Lord Oxford's (495) famous sale begins next Monday, where there is as much rubbish of another kind as in her grace's history. Feather bonnets presented by the Americans to Queen Elizabeth; elks'-horns -cups; true copies converted into candle of original pictures that never existed; presents to himself from the Royal Society, etc. particularly forty volumes of prints of ill.u.s.trious English personages; which collection is collected from frontispieces to G.o.dly books, bibles and head-pieces and tail-pieces to Waller's works; views of King Charles's sufferings; tops of ballads; particularly earthly crowns for heavenly ones, and streams of glory. There are few good pictures. for the miniatures are not to be sold, nor the ma.n.u.scripts , the books not till next year.

There are a few fine bronzes, and a very fine collection of English coins.

We have got another opera,(496) which is liked. There was to have been a vast elephant, but the just directors, designing to give the audience the full weight of one for their money, made it so heavy that at the prova it broke through the stage. It was to have carried twenty soldiers, with Monticelli on a throne in the middle. There is a new subscription begun for next year, thirty subscribers at two hundred pounds each. Would you believe that I am one? You need not believe it quite, for I am but half an one; Mr. Conway and I take a share between us. We keep Monticelli and Amorevoli, and to please Lord Middles.e.x, that odious Muscovita; but shall discard Mr. Vaneschi.

We are to have the Barberina and the two Faussans; so, at least, the singers and dancers will be equal to any thing in Europe.

Our earl is still at Richmond: I have not been there yet; I shall go once or twice; for however little inclination I have to it, I would not be thought to grow cool just now. You know I am above such dirtiness, and you are sensible that my coolness is of much longer standing. Your sister is with mine at the Park; they came to town last Tuesday for the opera, and returned next day. After supper, I prevailed on your sister (497) to sing, and though I had heard her before, I thought I never heard any thing beyond it; there is a sweetness in her voice equal to Cuzzoni's, with a better manner. '

I was last week at the masquerade, dressed like an old woman, and pa.s.sed for a good mask. I took the English liberty of teasing whomever I pleased, particularly old Churchill. I told him I was quite ashamed. of being there till I met him, but was quite comforted with finding one person in the room older than myself.

The Duke,(498) who had been told who I was, came up and said, "Je connois cette poitrine." I took him for some Templar, and replied, "Vous! vous ne connoissez que des poitrines qui sont bien plus us'ees." It was unluckily pat. The next night, at the drawing-room, he asked me, very good-humouredly, if I knew who was the old woman that had teased every body at the masquerade. We were laughing so much at this, that the King crossed the room to Lady Hervey, who was with us, and said, "What are those boys laughing at set" She told him, and that I had said I was so awkward at undressing myself, that I had stood for an hour in my stays and under-petticoat before my footman. My thanks to Madame Grifoni.

I cannot write more now, as I must not make my letter too big, when it appears at the secretary's office nouc. As to my sister, I am sure Sir Robert would never have accepted Prince Craon's offer, who now, I suppose, would not be eager to repeat it.

(486) Charles, Lord Cadogan, of Oakley, to which t.i.tle he succeeded on the death of his elder brother, William, Earl Cadogan, who was one of the most distinguished "of Marlborough's captains." Charles, Lord Cadogan, did not die at the period when this letter was written. On the contrary, he lived, till the year 1776.-D.

(487) John, seventh Earl of Westmoreland. He built the Palladian Villa of Mereworth, in Kent, which is a nearly exact copy of the celebrated Villa Capra, near Vicenza. He died in 1762. Sir Francis Dashwood succeeded, on his decease, to the barony in fee of Le Despencer.-D.

(488) Sir Francis Dashwood, nephew to the Earl of Westmoreland, had gone violently into Opposition, on that lord's losing his regiment.