CHAPTER XL THE ASCENDANCY AND FALL OF WALPOLE AND THE OPENING OF THE FIRST PART OF THE REIGN OF A NEW ERA OF WAR. George II as Man and King. George II, who was born in Hanover in 1683, was a mature man when he accompanied his father to England in 1714. Adapting himself with considerable readiness to his new surroundings, he was able to achieve some popularity and to attract around him a considerable party of supporters which only widened the breach already opened between him and the elder George. The new King was a dapper little man, vain, pompous, and fond of the show of power. Also he was madly ambitious to shine as a general; though, while he fought bravely in more than one battle, he never showed any military ability. His temper was very gusty; yet he was very methodical, fond of detail, and had considerable capacity for routine business. Though avarice, or at least extreme thriftiness, was one of his marked traits, he died comparatively poor, which has led to the conclusion that he must have spent much on his Hanoverian dominions. In foreign policy he was an opportunist without consistency of purpose, though, in general, he put Hanoverian and Imperial before English interests. In domestic politics he was timid and cautious, except for occasional outburst, of choler. Yet his lack of political courage led to a moderation and prudence of conduct which had a most happy effect on the growth of the constitutional government; during his whole reign he never once invaded the rights of the subjects, or sought to reassert the declining royal prerogative. Moreover, in the midst of George's faults, two virtues stand out conspicuously - petty, spiteful, and ungracious as he was, he was absolutely a man of his word, and, though he gave his confidence grudgingly, he never withdrew it from a Minister who proved worthy. Queen Caroline (1683-1737). — In 1705 he married Caroline of Anspach, fondly known as "Caroline the Good." Though he neglected and abused her, she gained such an ascendancy over him that she and Walpole came to be regarded as "the King's two ears." Patient and gracious, she was gifted with a keen sense of humor and uncommon tact; understanding her Consort thoroughly, she realized that he could be easily led but never driven. Her death in 1737 was a sad loss to the country. The Strength of Walpole's Government. Again at the accession of George II, the Pretender, who nourished hopes from a change of dynasty, was doomed to disappointment. There was a noisy opposition in Parliament, which Bolingbroke helped to organize, made up of discontented Whigs, Jacobites, and Hanoverian Tories, who called themselves the "Patriots "; but they were too divided in their personal and political interests to pull strongly together. Outside, the Government was fiercely assailed in the Craftsman - a brilliantly written sheet and other weekly periodicals as well as in pamphlets and ballads, though to little practical effect. The speeches of the Opposition speakers were prevented from circulating by Parliament's jealous refusal to allow its debates to be printed, and Walpole's peaceful, businesslike administration made for prosperity and contentment among the influential classes. Moreover, the Duke of Newcastle, a Secretary of State for thirty years, was, in spite of his apparent fussy ineffectiveness and his absurd timidity, an adroit political manager, and by his vast control of patronage, pensions, and boroughs, held Parliament in the hollow of his hand. Walpole becomes Prime and Sole Minister. Not only was Walpole able to frustrate attacks in Parliament, but he managed to make himself supreme in the Cabinet, thus becoming the first " Prime Minister" in the modern sense of the term, though the name was first applied to him by his enemies. His brother-in-law, Townshend, who, since his return to office in 1721, had devoted himself exclusively to foreign affairs, resigned, 16 May, 1730, and retired to his estates. One or two measures of reform were carried in the years immediately following. In 1731 it was provided, in spite of stout opposition from many lawyers and judges, that the proceedings in the courts of justice should henceforth be in English instead of Latin. "Our prayers," urged one eloquent advocate, "are in our native tongue, that they may be intelligible, and why should not the laws wherein our lives and properties are concerned be so for the same reason? Walpole's Excise (1733).—The Government was at the height of its popularity when Walpole introduced an excise scheme in 1733 which, in spite of its obvious merits, roused such a howl of opposition that 1 Although he was allowed to return to the country in 1723, he was still excluded from the House of Lords and lived at some distance from London. he bowed to the storm and abandoned the measure. As a means of strengthening himself in the support of the county aristocracy he reduced the land tax from two shillings in the pound to one, which obliged him to resort to various substitutes. A measure to impose an internal tax on salt, which bore rather heavily on the poorer class, was carried by a small majority. When this proved inadequate, Walpole introduced a measure providing that, in the case of tobacco and wine, the customs duty at the ports should be abolished and that, in its place, an excise should be imposed on retail traders. At the same time, goods bonded for reëxport were to be warehoused free of duty. The plan had much to commend it. It would do away with smuggling in these commodities, which prevailed to such an extent that £500,000 a year was lost out of a possible £750,000. Moreover, prices were not raised, while, by the warehousing provision, London would become a free port and the center of the world's markets. The Opposition and Withdrawal of the Measure. At once, however, the Opposition fomented an indignation which spread throughout the land. The excise was denounced as a "many-headed monster, which was to devour the people," 1 and as a "plan of arbitrary power.' The number of collectors required was magnified into a standing army who would be employed as creatures of the Government to control elections, while the right to enter and search places where goods were stored was condemned as an inquisitorial attack on liberty. There was certainly good ground for objecting to the increase of placemen; but the number required was only 126, and they were to have power to search only shops and warehouses, not private dwellings. These assurances, however, fell on deaf ears. During the debates crowds surged about the Parliament House threatening and yelling. Pamphlets multiplied, and petitions poured in from all quarters. The public was so heated " that rebellion was threatened. While he still had a small though decreasing majority for his bill, Walpole, yielding to the popular clamor, quietly withdrew it; for he regarded it as impolitic to cross the will of the people, even for their good. Toward his colleagues who opposed him he took a different attitude, depriving them of their offices at Court or of their commissions in the army. Some might regard this as a monstrous piece of resentment," but Walpole, by thus punishing men in official 1 So late as 1755 Dr. Johnson, in the first edition of his famous Dictionary, defined an excise as "hateful tax levied upon commodities, and adjudged not by common judges of property, but by wretches hired by those to whom the excise is paid." position who opposed a Government measure, took a long step in the direction of party unity under the chief of the Cabinet. All the Quarrels between George II and Prince Frederick. while, Walpole had to face scathing attacks from the Patriots, who denounced him as a man abandoned to all notions of virtue and honor. . . afraid or unwilling to trust any but creatures of his own making . . . with a Parliament of his own making, most of their seats purchased, and their votes bought at the public expense.” However, he managed after great exertion-spending, it is said, £60,000 of his private fortune to win a good, though decreased majority for the Parliament of 1735. Bolingbroke in despair left the country. Although he returned later, he never again mingled actively in party politics. After the withdrawal of the old Tory chief, the Opposition began to center about Frederick, Prince of Wales, who was engaged in constant quarrels with his royal father. This estrangement between father and son, unedifying as it was, was really a source of strength to the dynasty, for many of the Tories who had only seen a way to power through the Stuarts now began to fix their hopes on Frederick. Troubles with Spain. - The death of Queen Caroline, 20 November, 1737, deprived Walpole of his stanchest supporter. He kept his office over four years longer; but his peace policy, more and more fiercely assailed, at length broke down. Even the King, while he refused to accept his resignation, constantly thwarted his foreign negotiations in order to force him into a warlike attitude. In the end he yielded to the clamors of the Opposition, but too late to save his place. The trouble started with Spain. There were several causes of friction, but the most acute and important concerned trade relations, rising from the determination of the English to break down the colonial monopoly to which the Spanish clung so jealously. Though withdrawn for a time, the commercial concessions made to England by the Peace of Utrecht had been later renewed; but each nation was allowed the right to search and the seizure of contraband goods. While the Spanish exercised their rights with rigor and cruelty, the English, to the total disregard of treaty obligations, were guilty of shameless smuggling. Fleets were constantly putting into Spanish-American ports under pretense of refitting, really to buy and sell goods. Others lay off shore where they were visited by hosts of illicit traders. The one ship allowed by the Asiento was moored a short distance from the coast and continually loaded and unloaded. Cases of violence and indignities which English seamen suffered at the hands of the Spanish coast-guard were indignantly emphasized, while the violations of the law which called them forth were veiled in discreet silence. The ungracious delay of the Court at Madrid in redressing actual grievances only added fuel to the flames. The Case of Jenkins's Ear (1738). — Parliament was flooded with petitions from the merchants demanding redress. Sailors were posted . in the Exchange, exhibiting specimens of the loathsome food they had to eat in Spanish dungeons. Some, brought before the bar of the Commons, told their stories in minute and harrowing detail. While there was some truth in what they said, they were not examined under oath. Moreover, they were encouraged by partisan zeal, even by bribes, to exaggerate and invent. The tale of a shipmaster, Robert Jenkins, related in March, 1738, aroused the chief interest. According to his account, his ship had been boarded, 9 April, 1731, by a body of the Spanish coast-guard, and the captain had cut off one of his ears. He produced as evidence the severed member, which he had carried wrapped in cotton, ever since. In reply to the question as to what he had done, he replied: "I commended my soul to God and my cause to my country." While this stirring phrase, which became famous, was very likely coined for him, it is now believed that he lost his ear in the manner he described, and not in the pillory as some have hinted. With a number even of his own colleagues against him, Walpole struggled in vain to stem the swelling tide of antiSpanish opposition. The cry of "no search" ran "from the sailor to the merchant, from the merchant to the Parliament," and the Lords carried a resolution denying the right. Walpole Forced to Declare War (23 October, 1739). The Prime Minister, while admitting that the English merchants and sailors had grievances, still hoped to settle them by treaty. At the same time, he sought to put pressure on the Court at Madrid by preparations for war. In consequence, the Spanish released several prizes and captives, and signed a Convention by which they agreed to pay £95,000 damages to English merchants. When it became known that no provision had been made to limit the right of search, to punish those who had inflicted cruelities on English sailors, or to settle other outstanding questions, the Convention was furiously denounced. Walpole in his defense declared in words which have become famous: "Any peace is preferable even to successful war." In spite of French efforts to mediate, Walpole finally realized that he must either declare war or resign. So he framed a series of demands, including absolute renunciation of the right of search, immediate payment of the £95,000 fixed by the Convention, and an express acknowledgment |