1741.

THE QUEEN OF HUNGARY.

259

pact phalanx of opposition peers. But here also the effort was defeated · - the numbers being 108 against 59. The prince of Wales, although he was present at the debate, did not vote; a course which was followed by several peers who held places under government, and who may be reasonably suspected of participating in that sentiment of hostility against a prime minister belonging to the commons, which has so frequently been exhibited by the hereditary chamber. When the motion was disposed of, the duke of Marlborough moved a resolution to the effect, that any attempt to inflict punishment of any kind without proof was contrary to law and justice, which was carried after an obstinate contest; but upon both questions, strong protests were entered by upwards of thirty peers.

It was not, however, in the power of any majorities to save the administration. It received a shock from these proceedings which it never recovered; and from this time, its internal dissensions increased, and its influence at home and abroad rapidly declined.

In April, the king informed both houses that he had received a requisition from the queen of Hungary for assistance, agreeably to existing treaties; that he had ordered the Danish and Hessian auxiliaries to be in readiness to march, and that it would now become necessary to incur extraordinary expenses for the maintenance inviolate of the Pragmatic Sanction. The opposition could not consistently with all their previous declarations refuse help to the queen of Hungary, whom they had in a manner taken under their special protection; but an unfortunate allusion to Hanover in his majesty's speech produced a fierce attack upon the German policy of the king, Shippen reiterating his former protest against any interposition in the affairs of the electorate. In the midst of the storm, however, a vote of 200,000l. was carried, on the motion of the minister, as a parliamentary grant to the queen, and a further sum of 300,000l. to be employed at his majesty's discretion. These grants being obtained, the

parliament was dissolved on the 25th of April, and the king, contrary to the urgent remonstrances of Walpole, departed for Hanover.

The

To the elections all eyes were now turned. struggle was to decide the fate of that minister, who had held the reins of power for a longer term than any of his predecessors, who throughout a period marked by memorable events and transitions, had displayed uncommon capacity for business, and singular aptitude for controlling the machinery of government, but who at last, by a strange combination of circumstances, had incurred the almost universal suspicion of the people, and the ill-disguised jealousy of nearly all his colleagues. He, alone, felt no apprehensions about. the result, sinking into a lethargy of confidence from which he was awakened only by his fall.

The duke of Newcastle, Wilmington, and other members of the cabinet, were so desirous of removing Walpole, that they even secretly leagued with the opposition at the hustings, and conspired with the enemies of the king, for the sake of getting rid of the head of the administration to which they belonged. The first trial of strength was in Westminster, where the court influence was so powerful that no attempt had hitherto been made to disturb it. Two opposition candidates were set up; and the proceedings becoming tumultuous, the poll was abruptly closed, the military imprudently called in, and in the midst of the uproar the government members were returned. The example of popular resistance in Westminster was boldly followed in other parts of the country. Large sums of money were subscribed by the tories; the representation was vigorously contested inch by inch; and the strong holds of the government, especially in Cornwall and Scotland, were broken in, and carried by violence or bribes.

While these scenes were enacting in the provinces, the cabinet was rent by divisions. The minister, responsible for all the acts of the administration, was kept in ignorance of the progress of the foreign nego

1741.

INTRIGUES OF PARTIES.

261

tiations, and all the impediments that official malice could devise were thrown in his way. The most calumnious reports were spread abroad concerning him. It was even asserted, that he had taken private measures to paralyse the operations of the fleet that had been sent out to act against the Spaniards; that he had betrayed to Fleury and Patinho the projected movements of the war, and had received large remittances from those ministers to purchase up the parliament. Scandalous pamphlets were published, insinuating the most incredible charges; such as that a dishonourable peace was in contemplation with Spain, the basis of which was the surrender of Gibraltar and Minorca, the aggrandisement of the house of Bourbon, and the degradation of Austria. Profiting by these circumstances, the tories and the disaffected whigs formed a powerful coalition; and directing their combined energies to one point, succeeded in raising a clamour throughout the country, from which, even before the meeting of parliament, the fate of the minister was publicly and insolently predicted. The parties who entered into this unnatural alliance to demolish their common enemy made no provision for the ultimate result; and committed to accident or superior intrigue the construction of the government that was to be founded on his ruin.

CHAP. XII.

1741-1748.

DECLINING INFLUENCE OF WALPOLE. CONTESTED ELECTIONS. -FRUITLESS OVERTURES TO THE PRINCE OF WALES. PULTENEY'S MOTION ON THE STATE OF THE NATION. RESIGNATION OF WALPOLE. PULTENEY FORMS A COALITION ADMINISTRATION, BUT REFUSES TO TAKE OFFICE. FEUDS IN THE OPPOSITION. THE NEW CABINET ADOPT THE POLICY OF THEIR PREDECESSORS.-COMMITTEE OF INQUIRY INTO THE CONDUCT OF WALPOLE. BILL TO COMPEL EVIDENCE. FAILURE OF THE INVESTIGATION. CHARACTER OF WALPOLE. APOSTASY OF CARTERET. -MILITARY DISASTERS ABROAD. -DECLARATION OF WAR AGAINST FRANCE. CARTERET'S RESIGNATION. RECONSTRUCTION OF THE GOVERNMENT.-MOTION FOR THE REPEAL OF THE SEPTENNIAL ACT REJECTED. -DEATH OF CHARLES VII.-INVASION OF THE AUSTRIAN NETHERLANDS. CONTINUED FAILURES OF THE ALLIES. TRANQUILLITY OF IRELAND. REBELLION OF PRINCE CHARLES IN SCOTLAND. CHANGE IN THE MINISTRY. APPOINTMENT AND RESIGNATION OF LORD GRANVILLE. PRODIGALITY OF THE SUPPLIES. RESUMPTION OF HOSTILITIES. NAVAL VICTORIES OF ANSON AND HOWE.-TREATY OF AIX-LA-CHAPELLE.

THE new parliament assembled on the 4th of December, 1741. Onslow was re-elected speaker. The king's speech contained special references to the non-fulfilment of the engagements of foreign powers, and the hitherto fruitless efforts made by his majesty in support of the house of Austria. This circumstance induced a belief that the speech was not dictated by the minister, who had invariably exhibited particular caution in alluding to the king's allies. It was accordingly taken for granted that there was a preponderating party against him in the cabinet, and the feebleness of his conduct at this moment confirmed the suspicion.

1741.

CONTESTED ELECTIONS.

263

An amendment was proposed to the address, leaving out a paragraph thanking his majesty for prosecuting the war with Spain. Walpole permitted this insulting amendment to be carried; and in an answer to a violent speech of Pulteney's, in which all the charges recently brought against the minister were repeated, contented himself with saying that, so far from evading the responsibility of his measures, he was ready to second a motion for inquiring into the state of the nation. The challenge was instantly accepted, and the 21st of January named for hearing the motion, the avowed object of which was to put the administration upon its trial.

In the interim the contested elections were to be decided. It was notorious that the decisions in such cases had become a mere party business ever since the house of commons, on the occasion of the Aylesbury petition, had assumed the right of determining finally the qualifications of electors.* The opposition worked with indefatigable zeal to defeat the ministerial candidates in every instance, carried their own chairman of the election committee, and threw out the sitting members for Westminster by a majority of four; and when the house was adjourned, on the 24th to the 18th of January, it was evident that the influence of the government was at an end in that assembly, hitherto so tractable and subservient. It was expected that the result of the Westminster petition would force Walpole to resign; but he was resolved to make one desperate effort more. In the brief recess that followed he prevailed on the king to make an overture to the prince of Wales for increasing his income to 100,000l. and paying his debts, on condition that he would not oppose the measures of government. The prince's reply was a peremptory refusal to all propositions of a similar nature so long as sir Robert Walpole continued at the head of the administration. This was the prelude of the minister's downfall.

*This occurred in 1704, and was strongly opposed by Walpole, then in the beginning of his career.