The Letters of Horace Walpole, Earl of Orford Volume I Part 63

(979) Only son of Algernon, Earl of Hertford, afterwards the last Duke of Somerset of that branch. [lord Beauchamp was seized with the smallpox at Bologna, and, after an illness of four days, died on the 11th of September; on which day he had completed his nineteenth year.]

(980) Son of Fitzjames, Duke of Berwick. This Bishop of Soissons, on the King being given over at Metz, prevailed on him to part with his mistress, the d.u.c.h.ess de Chateauroux; but the King soon recalled her, and confined the bishop to his diocese.

(981) Son of King George II. by Madame Walmoden, created Countess of Yarmouth.

(982) General Braitwitz, commander of the Queen of Hungary's troops in Tuscany, speaking of the two powers, his mistress and the King of Sardinia, instead of' saying "ces deux pouvoirs," said "ces deux potences."

393 Letter 151 To Sir Horace Mann.

Arlington Street, Nov. 9, 1744.

I find I must not wait any longer for news, if I intend to keep up our correspondence. Nothing happens; nothing has since I wrote last, but Lord Middles.e.x's wedding;(983) which was over above a week before it was known. I believe the bride told it then; for he and all his family are so silent, that they Would never have mentioned it: she might have popped out a child, before a single Sackville would have been at the expense of a syllable to justify her.

Our old acquaintance, the Pomfrets, are not so reserved about their great matrimony: the new Lady Granville was at home the other night for the first time of her being mistress of the house. I was invited, for I am in much favour with them all, but found myself extremely d'eplac'e: there was nothing but the Winchilseas and Baths, and the Gleanings of a party stuffed out into a faction, some foreign ministers, and the whole blood of Fermor. My Lady Pomfret asked me if I corresponded still with the Grifona: "No," I said, "since I had been threatened with a regale of hams and Florence wine, I had dropped it." My Lady Granville said, "You was afraid of being thought interested."--"Yes," said the queen-mother, with all the importance with which she used to blunder out pieces of heathen mythology, "I think it was very ministerial."

Don't you think that the Minister word came in as awkwardly as I did into their room? The Minister is most gracious to me; he has returned my visit, which, you know, IS never practised by that rank: I put it all down to my father's account, who is not likely to keep up the civility.

You will see the particulars of old Marlborough's will in the Evening Posts of this week: it is as extravagant as one should have expected; but I delight in her begging that no part of the Duke of Marlborough's life may be written in verse by Glover and Mallet, to whom she gives five hundred pounds apiece for writing it in prose.(984) There is a great deal of humour in the thought: to be sure the spirit of the dowager Leonidas(985) inspired her with it.

All public affairs in agitation at present go well for us; Prince Charles in Bohemia, the raising of the siege of Coni, and probably of that of Fribourg, are very good circ.u.mstances.

I shall be very tranquil this winter, if Tuscany does not come into play, or another scene of invasion. In a fortnight meets the Parliament; n.o.body guesses what the turn of the Opposition will be. Adieu! My love to the Chutes. I hope you now and then make my other compliments: I never forget the Princess, nor (ware hams!) the Grifona.

(983) The Earl of Middles.e.x married Grace, daughter and sole heiress of Lord Shannon. On the death of his father in 1765, he succeeded, as second Duke of Dorset, and died without issue, in 1769.-E.

(984) Glover, though in embarra.s.sed circ.u.mstances at the time, renounced the legacy; Mallet accepted it, but never fulfilled the terms.-E.

(985) Glover wrote a dull heroic poem on the action of Leonidas at Thermopylae. ["Though far indeed from being a vivid or arresting picture of antiquity, Leonidas," says Mr.

Campbell, "the local descriptions of Leonidas, its pure sentiments, and the cla.s.sical images which it recalls, render it interesting, as the monument of an accomplished and amiable mind."]

394 Letter 152 To Sir Horace Mann.

Arlington Street, Nov. 26, 1744.

I have not prepared for you a great event, because it was really, so unlikely to happen, that I was afraid of being the author of a mere political report; but, to keep you no longer in suspense, Lord Granville has resigned: that is the term "l'honn'ete fa'con de parler;" but, in few words, the truth of the history is, that the Duke of Newcastle (by the way, mind that the words I am going to use are not mine, but his Majesty's,) "being grown as jealous of Lord Granville(986) as he had been of Lord Orford, and wanting to be first minister himself, which, a puppy! how should he be?" (autre phrase royale) and his brother being as susceptible of the n.o.ble pa.s.sion of jealousy as he is, have long been conspiring to overturn the great lord. Resolution and capacity were all they wanted to bring it about; for the imperiousness and universal contempt which their rival had for them, and for the rest of the ministry, and for the rest of the nation, had made almost all men his engines; and, indeed, he took no pains to make friends: his maxim was, "Give any man the Crown on his side, and he can defy every thing." Winnington asked him, if that were true, how he came to be minister? About a fortnight ago, the whole cabinet-council, except Lord Bath, Lord Winchilsea, Lord Tweedale, the Duke of Bolton, and my good brother-in-law,(987) (the two last severally bribed with the promise of Ireland,) did venture to let the King know, that he must part with them or with Lord Granville. The monarch does not love to be forced, and his son is full as angry. Both tried to avoid the rupture. My father was sent for, but excused himself from coming till last Thursday, and even then would not ,go to the King; and at last gave his opinion very unwillingly. But on Sat.u.r.day it was finally determined: Lord Granville resigned the seals, which are given back to my Lord President Harrington. Lord Winchilsea quits too; but for all the rest of that connexion, they have agreed not to quit, but to be forced out: so Mr. Pelham must have a new struggle to remove every one. He can't let them stay in; because, to secure his power, he must bring in Lord Chesterfield, Pitt, the chief patriots, and perhaps some Tories. The King has declared that my Lord Granville has his opinion and affection-the Prince warmly and openly espouses him. Judge how agreeably the two brothers will enjoy their ministry!

To-morrow the Parliament meets: all in suspense! every body will be staring at each other! I believe the war will still go on, but a little more Anglicized. For my part, I behold all with great tranquillity; I cannot --be sorry for Lord Granville,-for he certainly sacrificed everything to please the King; I cannot be glad for the Pelhams, for they sacrifice every thing to their own jealousy and ambition.

Who are mortified, are the fair Sophia and Queen Stanislaus.

However, the daughter carries it off heroically: the very night of her fall she went to the Oratorio. I talked to her much, and recollected all that had been said to me upon the like occasion three years ago: I succeeded, and am invited to her a.s.sembly next Tuesday. Tell Uguccioni that she still keeps conversazioni, or he will hang himself. She had no court, but an ugly sister and the fair old-fashioned Duke of Bolton. It put me in mind of a scene in Harry VIII., where Queen Catherine appears after her divorce, with Patience her waiting-maid, and Griffith her gentleman-usher.

My dear child, voil'a le monde! are you as great a philosopher about it as I am? You cannot imagine how I entertain myself, especially as all the ignorant flock hither, and conclude that my lord must be minister again. Yesterday, three bishops came to do him homage; and who should be one of them but Dr.

Thomas.(988) the only man mitred by Lord Granville! As I was not at all mortified with our fall, I am only diverted with this imaginary restoration. They little think how incapable my lord is of business again. He has this whole summer been troubled with b.l.o.o.d.y water upon the least motion; and to-day Ranby a.s.sured me, that he has a stone in his bladder, which he himself believed before: so now he must never use the least exercise, never go into a chariot again; and if ever to Houghton, in a litter. Though this account will grieve you, I tell it you, that you may know what to expect; yet it is common for people to live many years in his situation.

if you are not as detached from every thing as I am, you will wonder at my tranquillity, to be able to write such variety in the midst of hurricanes. It costs me nothing; so I shall write on, and tell you an adventure of my own. The town has been trying all this winter to beat pantomimes off the stage, very boisterously; for it is the way here to make even an affair of taste and sense a matter of riot and arms.

Fleetwood, the master of Drury-Lane, has omitted nothing to support them, as they supported his house. About ten days ago, he let into the pit great numbers of Bear-garden bruisers (that is the term), to knock down every body that hissed. The pit rallied their forces, and drove them out: I was sitting very quietly in the side-boxes, contemplating all this. On a sudden the curtain flew up, and discovered the whole stage filled with blackguards, armed with bludgeons and clubs, to menace the audience. This raised the greatest uproar; and among the rest, who flew 'into a pa.s.sion, but your friend the philosopher. In short, one of the actors, advancing to the front of the stage to make an apology for the manager, he had scarce begun to say, "Mr. Fleetwood--" when your friend, with a most audible voice and dignity of anger, called out, "He is an impudent rascal!" The whole pit huzzaed, and repeated the words. Only think of my being a popular orator! But what was still better, while my shadow of a person was dilating to the consistence of a hero, One of the chief ringleaders of the riot, coming under the box where I sat, and pulling off his hat, said, "Mr. Walpole, what would you please to have us do next?" It is impossible to describe to you the confusion into which this apostrophe threw me. I sank down into the box, and have never since ventured to set my foot into the playhouse.

The next night, the uproar was repeated with greater violence, and nothing was heard but voices calling out, "Where's Mr. W.?

where's Mr. W.?" In short, the whole town has been entertained with my prowess, and Mr. Conway has given me the name of Wat Tyler; which, I believe, would have stuck by me, if this new episode of Lord Granville had not luckily interfered.

We every minute expect news of the Mediterranean engagement for, besides your account, Birtles has written the same from Genoa. We expect good news, too, from Prince Charles, who is driving the King of Prussia before him. In the mean time, his wife the Archd.u.c.h.ess is dead, which may be a signal loss to him.

I forgot to tell you that, on Friday, Lord Charles Hay,(989) who has more of the parts of an Irishman than of a Scot, told my Lady Granville at the drawing-room, on her seeing so full a court, "that people were come out of curiosity." The Speaker,(990) is the happiest of any man in these bustles: he says, "this Parliament has torn two favourite ministers from the throne." His conclusion is, that the power of the Parliament will in the end be so great, that n.o.body can be minister but their own speaker.

Winnington says my Lord Chesterfield and Pitt will have places before old Marlborough's legacy to them for being patriots is paid. My compliments to the family of Suares on the Vittorina's marriage. Adieu!

(986) By the death of his mother, Lord Carteret had become Earl Granville.-E.

(987) George, Earl Cholmondeley.

(988) Bishop of Lincoln [successively translated to Salisbury and Winchester. He died in 1781.]

(989) Brother of Lord Tweedale.

(990) Arthur Onslow.

397 Letter 153 To sir Horace Mann.

Arlington Street, Dec. '24, 1744.

You will wonder what has become of me: nothing has. I know it is above three weeks since I wrote to you; but I will tell you the reason. I have kept a parliamentary silence, which I must 'explain to you. Ever since Lord Granville went out, all has been in suspense. The leaders of the Opposition immediately imposed silence upon their party; every thing pa.s.sed without the least debate--in short, all were making their bargains.

One has heard of the corruption of courtiers; but believe me, the impudent prost.i.tution of patriots, going to market with their honesty, beats it to nothing. Do but think of two hundred men of the most consummate virtue, setting themselves to sale for three weeks! I have been reprimanded by the wise for saying that they all stood like servants at a country statute fair to be hired. All this while nothing was certain: one day the coalition was settled; the next, the treaty broke off-I hated to write to you what I might contradict next post.

Besides, in my last letter I remember telling you that the Archd.u.c.h.ess was dead; she did not die till a fortnight afterwards.

The result of the whole is this: the King, instigated by Lord Granville, has used all his ministry as ill as possible, and has with the greatest difficulty been brought to consent to the necessary changes. Mr. Pelham has had as much difficulty to regulate the disposition of places. Numbers of lists of the hungry have been given in by their centurions of those, several Tories have refused to accept the proffered posts some, from an impossibility of being rechosen for their Jacobite counties. But upon the whole, it appears that their leaders have had very little influence with them; for not above four or five are come into place. The rest will stick to Opposition. Here is a list of the changes, as made last Sat.u.r.day:

Duke of Devonshire, Lord Steward, in the room of the Duke of Dorset.

Duke of Dorset, Lord President, in Lord Harrington's room.

Lord Chesterfield,+ Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, in the Duke of Devonshire's.

Duke of Bedford,+ Lord Sandwich,+ George Grenville,+ Lord Vere Beauclerc,(991) and Admiral Anson, Lords of the Admiralty, in the room of Lord Winchilsea,* Dr. Lee,* c.o.c.kburn,* Sir Charles Hardy,* and Philipson.*

Mr. Arundel and George Lyttelton,f Lords of the Treasury, in the room of Compton* and Gybbon.*

Lord Gowerf again Privy Seal, in Lord Cholmondeley's* room, who is made Vice-Treasurer of Ireland in Harry Vane's.*

Mr. Doddington,+ Treasurer of the Navy, in Sir John Rushout's.*

Mr. Waller,+ Cofferer, in Lord Sandys'.*

Lord Hobart, Captain of the Pensioners, in Lord Bathurst's.*

Sir John Cotton, +(992) Treasurer of the Chambers, in Lord Hobart'S.(993) Mr. Keene, Paymaster of the Pensions, in Mr. Hooper's.*

Sir John Philippsf and John Pitt+ Commissioners of Trade, in Mr. Keene's and Sir Charles Gilmour's.*

William Chetwynd,+ Master of the Mint, in Mr. Arundel's.

Lord Halifax,+ Master of the Buck-hounds, in Mr. Jennison's, who has a pension.

All those with a cross are from the Opposition; those with a star, the turned-out, and are of the Granville and Bath squadron, except Lord Cholmondeley, (who, too, had connected with the former,) and Mr. Philipson. The King parted with great regret with Lord Cholmondeley, and complains loudly of the force put upon him. The Prince, who is full as warm as his father for Lord Granville, has already turned out Lyttelton, who was his secretary, and Lord Halifax; and has named Mr. Drax and Lord Inchiquin(994) in their places. You perceive the great Mr. William Pitt is not in the list, though he comes thoroughly into the measures. To preserve his character and authority in the Parliament, he was unwilling to accept any thing yet: the ministry very rightly insisted that he should; he asked for secretary at war, knowing it would be refused-and it was.(995)

By this short sketch, and it is impossible to be more explanatory, you will perceive that all is confusion: all parties broken to Pieces, and the whole Opposition by tens and by twenties selling themselves for profit-power they get none!

It is not easy to say where power resides at present: it is plain that it resides not in the King; and yet he has enough to hinder any body else from having it. His new governors have no interest with him-scarce any converse with him.

The Pretender's son is owned in France as Prince of Wales; the princes of the blood have been to visit him in form. The d.u.c.h.ess of Chateauroux is poisoned there; so their monarch is as ill-used as our most gracious King!(996) How go your Tuscan affairs? I am always trembling for you, though I am laughing at every thing else. My father is pretty well: he is taking a preparation of Mr. Stephens's(997) medicine; but I think all his physicians begin to agree that he has no large stone.

Adieu! my dear child: I think the present comedy cannot be of long duration. the Parliament is adjourned for the holidays; I am impatient to see the first division.