Mr. Walpole was then successively private secretary to Mr. Boyle, when chancellor of the exchequer, and secretary of state, and to Lord Townshend, when joint plenipotentiary with the Duke of Marlborough, to the congress at Gertruydenburgh. From the resignation of Lord Townshend to the accession of George I. he held no public office, remaining firm to his party. His name appears as a member of the Hanover club, with Lord Pelham, after wards Duke of Newcastle, Addison, &c. That club, who testified their zeal for the Protestant succession, by burning in effigy the devil, the pope, and the pretender! In 1713, he obtained a seat in parliament, and seconded his brother in opposing the treaty of Utrecht; a treaty which, in the last essay he ever committed to writing, he thus condemned. "After a series of wonderful successes for ten years, obtained by us, jointly with our allies, against the common enemy, we made an unequal and disadvantageous treaty of commerce with France. Our ancient privileges of trade to Old Spain, were explained away by a treaty of commerce with that crown; by our separate treaties of peace we sacrificed and abandoned, in violation of all good faith, the interest of our allies; and particularly, our solemn engagements with the King of Portugal (who had exposed himself to the vengeance of France and Spain, by deserting them to come into the grand alliance, and who, at the same time, had made a treaty with us, very beneficial to the trade of this country,) were broken, to oblige Spain; the security of the Netherlands, and of this nation, as well as the settlement of the Hanover succession (which, in consequence, was afterwards attempted to be subverted,) was left upon a very loose and precarious foot, by a new treaty of barrier and succession." On the accession of George I. he obtained the reward of his attachment to the whigs: and after holding the offices of under secretary of state, and under secretary to the treasury, he was, in 1715, deputed to the Hague, to con cur with General Cadogan, the British plenipotentiary, in an application to the States General, for the immediate succour of 6000 men. Having succeeded in this mission, he was afterwards appointed joint envoy with the general. Mr. Coxe has here introduced a sketch of the constitution of the United Pro for the conclusion of the triple alliance, Mr. During the course of the negociation Walpole gave the most solemn assurances to the states, that no treaty should be concluded with France without their participation. But the impatience of the king to secure the guaranty of France, ill according with the dilatoriness of the Dutch government, a separate treaty was arranged between the Abbot du Bois and secretary Stanhope, at Hanover, and full powers were forwarded to General Cadogan and Mr. Walpole, to sign it, in conjunction with du Bois. Mr. Walpole declined signing a treaty in contradiction to his solemn asseverations, requested instant permission to return to England; and, in a letter to Secretary Stanhope, expressed the agony under which he laboured. Having plighted to the States my faith, my honour, and my conscience, in his majesty's name, that nothing of this nature should be done, if I should afterwards sign with the abbé, in violation of these sacred and solemn assurances, which I repeated but last Tuesday in a conference, I should never be able to show my ignominious head here again. And therefore I plainly see, that this business, in which I thought I should have some share of credit, will end in my ruin; because, although I shall ever think it the last misfortune to disobey so good and gracious a sovereign; yet I must freely confess, I had rather starve, nay die, than do a thing that gives such a terrible wound to my honour and conscience, and will make me for ever incapable of serving the king any more, especially in this place, where I have at present some little credit and interest.** He made as strong remonstrances to Lord Townshend and his brother; and after much difficulty, obtained the king's per mission to return to England, and commit. the signature of the treaty to General Cadogan." The subsequent events of Mr. Walpole's public life, till his mission to Paris in 1726, cannot be fully understood without referring to the memoirs of his brother. Memoirs of Sir Robert Walpole, Correspo. dence, vol. i'. p. 107, 4t Sir Luke Schaub, a native of Basle, was, at this time, the English minister at Versailles. Lord Townshend and Lord Carteret were disputing for the ascendancy at home, and Schaub, who was of the party of the latter, suggested to him a scheme which he immediately adopted, to ingratiate himself with the king. This was to negociate a marriage between Amelia, the king's illegitimate daughter, and the Count de St. Florentin, and to procure, through the king's influence, a dukedom for the Count's father, the Marquis de la Vrilliere. The king warmly seconded this proposal, and Du Bois, who, by English influence had been made a cardinal, an archbishop, and a prime minister, readily promised his assent. On the death of Du Bois, it was expected that Count Nocé would come into power, who had been banished by the late cardinal, and considered Schaub as the cause of his disgrace. Lord Townshend therefore suggested the propriety of deputing to Faris a person capable of ascertaining the state of the French cabinet, and the real influence of Schaub; he obtained the king's consent, and entrusted this office to Mr.Walpole, who, to avoid disgusting Lord Carteret, was not to assume a diplomatic character. With respect to the affair of the dukedom, he was instructed neither to oppose it, lest he should offend the king, nor to interfere in it, if he could avoid it with pru dence. The Duke of Orleans was now in full possession of authority. Mr. Walpole immediately saw the power which Nocé possessed over him, though he was generally supposed to be the regent's social companion only; to this man, therefore, he paid his court, and thus secured the good-will of the duke. Schaub, who was aware of Mr. Walpole's mission, and apprehensive of being superseded, availed himself of the private negociation relative to the dukedom, to render his continuance at Paris necessary. The duke felt himself greatly embarrassed. Marshal Villars said to him, "your faithful servants cannot forbear representing to you, that you should not let it be said, that the King of England not daring to give his bastard to a lord, of whom he has more than two hundred at home, obliges you to create a duke in France to marry her!" The regent had just explained his wish to comply with the king's request to Mr. Walpole, and the difficul ties which opposed him, when his sud. den death prepared the way for the peaceful administration of Fleury. This excellent man, who had been formerly Bishop of Frejus, was no preceptor to the young king, and hitherto had been so cautious and unobtrusive, that even Mr.Walpole, skilled as he was in reading human characters, mistook him. "Frejus is not very able, I am told, as to foreign affairs; but a mighty bigot, insomuch, that the French themselves think him too great a Papist. I have learnt, this day, a particular instance of it, and of his being no great friend to England. The night before I was to deliver my credential letter to his majesty, l'abbé Alaric, subMr. Crawford and me, and, the next morn preceptor to the king, was in company with ing, being, at his usual hour, with his majesty, he talked to the king of my being to wait upon him that day, and of both of us, in so kind a way as to please his majesty, which Mr. Frejus taking notice of, stepped up, and said, But these are enemies, Sire, to our holy religion." Mr. Walpole, however, soon became aware of his growing credit and in fluence with the king; he obtained an interview with him, and that interview led to an intimacy and confidence to which Europe was probably indebted for many years of peace. The minute secret history of this period, is very interesting. The cunning of Schaub, the craft of Bolingbroke, then an outlaw at Paris, are laid open. When we recollect that the business which chiefly occupied the English minister at Paris, was to procure a dukedom for the busband of the king's natural daughter, we cannot refrain from smiling at the miserable intrigues which influence the fate of nations. At length the Duke of Bourbon explicitly avowed the impossibility of complying with the king's desire. Schaub was soon afterwards recalled, and Mr. Walpole nominated ambassador. For the history of the quadruple alli ance, and the treaties of Vienna and Hanover, we are again referred to the work of which this volume forms the supplement. The successful termination of these negociations was principally owing to the talents of Mr. Walpole, and his influence with Fleury, whose predominance in the French cabinet he 1 duly appreciated. The ministers at The ministers at home were repeatedly advising him to pay his court to the ladies who were supposed to govern the Duke of Bourbon; but he was satisfied that the duke himself owed his office to Fleury, and held it only by his forbearance. His conduct during the retreat of Fleury, confirmed their intimacy. There is something very ludicrous in the account of Louis XV.'s conduct, when he learnt that the bishop had retired in disgust. "The king said nothing, but with the greatest appearance of concern in his countenance, suddenly left the room, and went to his own closet, where, to avoid company coming to him, he retired to his garderobe, and set himself upon the close stool, in a very sullen and melancholy posture." I will not conceal from your lordship, that the bishop's country house being directly in my way from Versailles to Paris, I stopt in my chaise at the end of the village, at my return from court that Tuesday, and sent my servant to enquire, how the bishop did; resolving, in case he gave me any encouragement, to have made him a visit, and to have exhorted him to return to court, if possible; being persuaded, should he retire from business at this juncture, that things would go into the greatest confusion here, and have a dangerous influence on the foreign affairs. He returned me a civil compliment of thanks, and said he hoped, that he should see me in two or three days, and very early next morning he sent his secretary to me, to acquaint me that he was setting out to return to court, I did not think proper to wait upon him at Versailles, until Saturday last, and then I took care to see M. le Duc and M. de Morville first. "It is impossible for me to express the obliging manner in which the bishop received me, full of acknowledgment for that mark of my friendship, in calling upon him in the doubtful day of his retirement; and I hope his majesty will not be displeased at my having taken this step, which honour and gratitude, for his constant behaviour towards me, called upon me to take, whatever his fate night have been, which, I am persuaded, he will never forget.'. "The observation of Mr. Walpole, that Fleury never would forget his visit, was verified by the event; and their intimacy was strengthened by this mark of regard. The deference of Fleury to the English ambassador, gave umbrage to the French party, who were adverse to the union with England. Montgon says, that Mr. Walpole had subjugated Fleury, and calls them two fingers of the same hand; Marshal Villars also, and the Duc de St. Simon made the most urgent remonstrances to Fleury on his subserviency to the English ambassador, but without effect." While Mr. Walpole was attending his parliamentary business in 1726, the Spanish interest began to strengthen at Versailles. The schemes of Spain were soon destroyed by the disgrace of Ripperda. The worthless adventurer who had planned them, the Duke of Bour bon, was soon afterward displaced, and the administration entrusted to Fleury, then in the seventieth year of his age. The dispute between Spain and England, greatly embarrassed the Cardinal. His candid explanation of his own intentions to Mr. Robinson, during Mr. Walpole's absence, is highly honourable. "The allies," he said, "may trust me, that I shall never receive any proposal without communicating it to them, nor give any answer but what is agreeable to their senti ments. But as much management as I am bound to have for them, I am no less obliged to have some for our own people. The king has, and still honours me with his most intimate confidence; but I am far from having that of the nation in general, who, by the arts of some, or the ignorance of others, are taught to imagine, that I myself am too easy, and entirely led by the English. What is still worse, this evil has crept into the council; and I am often obliged to hear these reproaches thrown to my face; or when certain persons dare not contradict, at the board, the force of my reasons, they are afterwards weak or malicious enough to give out in the world, that I am the only author of all: it is in vain that they oppose me, and sometimes truly, sometimes falsely, arrogate to themselves the public merit of having done so. This is my situation, which would be much worse if I did not appear to be as ready and willing to hear all proposals for an accommodation, as I am resolute and determined to reject all such as cannot be received by the allies. An instance happened yesterday in council, to whom I appealed; applying myself to the king, whether they had not all been of opinion, that the first proposal from the emperor was not receiv able? they answered yes; and so of the second. I asked the same of the last, to which they gave the same reply; I then desired they would remember it, that on my side I might hear no more reproaches, and that on theirs they might expect to see me act in consequence of what they then avowed. "I speak to you," he added, "with sincerity, and as frankly as I write. I flatter myself this openness made my late letter as well received by the king of England as all my others are, I hope, by Mr. Walpole. I; shew the difficulties I labour under at home, as well as point out to you what you have to, rely upon. There is that difference between what I appear to do here, and what I am resolved to do in the main; the one is for my honour, the other for my self-preservation. To do otherwise than I do for the allies, would be to forfeit my word: and I might run the risk of being stoned, if I was thought here to do so much; for you must not imagine that this nation is universally disposed to a war, or will easily be brought to make one upon Spain; and therefore I am at a loss how to answer Mr. Walpole, when he demands that we should declare immediate war against that nation, on the first hostility against Gibraltar. There is the same reason for me not to disoblige the people of France, as there is with him for satisfying the people of England. But we have one method left still to dispose the French to a war, which is by turning wholly upon the emperor, and making him the chief author of it, and sufferer by it; which will have this good effect, to convince the king of Spain, better than all the force in the world, of the emperor's weakness, of which, as well as of his insincerity, his catholic majesty is already grown sufficiently jealous.' "At the conclasion of this discourse, the cardinal added, that the sentiments he then disclosed, were of too delicate a nature to be communicated in a dispatch to the secretary of state, and were only suitable to the intimacy between Mr.Walpole and himself." Of the secret articles between the courts of Vienna and Madrid, Mr. Coxe speaks thus. "The speech from the throne, on this important occasion, contained a remarkable passage: I have likewise received information, from different parts, on which I can entirely depend, that the placing the pretender upon the throne of this kingdom, is one of the articles of the secret engagements." "This charge, formally announced from the mouth of the king, was as formally disavowed by the emperor, and occasioned his imprudent appeal to the British nation, by the publication of his minister, Count Pam's memorial, which roused the spirit of the people, and united all parties in support of the dignity of the throne. This formal charge on one side, and denial on the other, of the two sovereigns, gave rise to a controversy, which occupied the attention of Europe at the period, and is still undecided. "Mr.Walpole, whose sagacity and information cannot be disputed, and whose sincerity cannot be questioned, believed the existence of these secret articles, as appears from numerous documents and observations in hs own hand-writing, found among his papers, not only during the negotiations against Spain and the emperor, but even in the latter. period of his life, when he had no views or interests to promote. Perhaps no proof made a stronger impression on his mind, than the communication of the secret articles by two Sicilian abbots, of great birth and consequence, who received them from King Philip himself, on the 15th of November, 1725, for the purpose of making their ob-. servations." The existence of this treaty, as assert. ed in Mr. Coxe's former work, has been controverted with too little urbanity by Mr. William Belsham. Mr. Coxe has now subjoined one of the articles, as communicated to Platania and Caraccioli, the two Sicilian abbots, by King Philip himself. "Their Cesarean and Catholic majesties, foreseeing that the King of England will oppose the execution of such designs, as well in regard to his particular interests, as not to lose his umpireship in Europe, for which reason he will undoubtedly engage the English nation, and unite the Dutch and other princes in his league, they oblige themselves to seek all methods to restore the pretender to the throne of Great Britain; to which end the Catholic king was to make use of the pretence of the restitution of Gibraltar, which he was to demand immediately as soon as the peace of Vienna was published. "The free remarks which these ecclesiastics made on the secret articles, inflamed the resentment of Philip, fand he banished them from Spain. They then retired into France, enjoyed the protection of the French government, and imparted much useful intelligence to Mr. Walpole. I trust this document, in addition to those already published, will show the futility of opposing vague conjectures and pervcited reasoning against positive fact," We agree with Mr. Coxe, that Mr. Walpole manifestedly believed the existence of these secret articles, and that his sagacity and information cannot be disputed. Such a design was consistent with the character of Ripperda, and the interest of the confederating powers. . The interest of Mr. Walpole at Versailles prevailed against the Spanish party. France co-operated with vigour and effect in counteracting the designs of Spain and the Empire; the Emperor was intimidated, and signed the preliminartes of peace at Paris; Philip, thus abandoned, was compelled to accept the conditions obtained for him; and the preliminaries were signed on the part of Spain also: but the death of George I. at this period, materially changed the situation of affairs. The Jacobites at Paris, with Atterbury at their head, began to cabal anew for the restoration of the worthless line of Stuart. They openly avowed their hopes; ruinours were spread that the two branches of the house of Bourbon were about to unite and compel England to receive its lawful sovereign; that Fleury had deceived the English; that even if the accession of George II. was undisturbed, Lord Townshend and Sir Robert Walpole would be displaced, and Mr. Walpole recalled from Paris. The cardinal, however, convinced his friend of his sincerity, and advised him immediately to go to London, to receive the king's orders in person, and explain to him the situation of affairs. Your excellency, said the cardinal, will do more in one or two conferences, than in volumes of letters. In conformity with this prudent advice, Mr. Walpole instantly departed. The king had announced his intention of displacing Sir Robert, whom queen Caroline was labouring to support: he received Mr. Walpole coldly, and appeared extremely dissatisfied that he had quitted his post without orders; but this interview and Fleury's letter decided the king, and he resolved to continue the system which his father had pursued. In consequence, he wrote, with his own hand, a gracious letter to Fleury: the manner in which it was received, indicates some weakness in the cardinal. Mr. Robinson has thus related it. "Your grace's other dispatch, inclosing his majesty's letter to the cardinal, required immediate execution: and having heard that his eminence was at Issy, near Paris, instead of accompanying the French king, as it was thought he would have done, to Rambouillet, I sent thither to demand his leave, and his hour, for my waiting upon him; which he having given for any time of the day, 1 did not lose a moment in going to present to him the king's letter, which his eminence opened and read in my presence; and it was easy to perceive, by his looks, what sensible pleasure it gave him, even before he expressed, as he did in the handsomest manner and words, his acknowledgments and thanks for so high and early a mark of his najesty's esteem and affection. "He told me he had indeed been already prevented with the hopes of having a place in his majesty's good opinion, by what count Broglio had acquainted him of the king's sentiments and regard for him, which his majesty had so strongly expressed at that minister's last departure from England. He repeated this often, being no less pleased with the civilities that were then made by the prince of Wales, than with the distinction now shown him by the king. "As I found that this circumstance seemed to have made much impression upon his eminence, I could not forbear, in order to make him as sensible as lay in my power, of his majesty's personal esteem for him, to acquaint him that when I was in England, and had the honour to be presented to the king. his majesty, in enquiring after France, had had the goodness to turn the questions he dinal's subject, and particularly with relation was pleased to make me, entirely to the carto his eminence's health, and to his drinking the waters at that time. And had the king that goodness? replied the cardinal, and was it possible he should know I was drinking the waters?' "I beg pardon, my lord, for mentioning these little incidents of conversations; they are little indeed, but, even as such, may per haps, serve to show how extremely pleased and flattered the cardinal is with his inajesty's past and present goodness to him.” When Mr. Walpole returned to Paris, he and the cardinal acted together "more like friends than ministers, and renewed their mutual endeavours to establish the tranquillity of Europe. At this time, Marshal Berwick, natural son of James II. was employed in concerting with Mr. Walpole," the brother of the great whig minister and supporter of the Brunswick family, operations against the emperor and Spain, who on their side were meditating to place his brother the pretender, on the throne of his ancestors! Marshal Berwick is represented in these memoirs, as a man of high integrity and unsullied honour: to that honour indeed, he seems ever to have been ready to sacrifice his feelings, his affections, and his opinions. In 1719, when he led a French army into Spain, his son, the duke of Lyria, was a general in the Spanish army opposed to him, and was exhorted by his father, to fulfil his duty to the sovereign whom he served. With Mr. Walpole he concerted operations against those who were attempting to place his family again upon the throne of England; that family cause he considered as hopeless and was ready to opcould have excused him for bearing arms pose, yet what but that family cause against his country? He was convinced that the union between France and Eng land was for the interest of both countries; he experienced much attention |