Books: The Letters of Horace Walpole Volume 3

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April 20th, Saturday.

The Poor-bill is put off till Monday; is then to be amended, and
then dropped: a confession of weakness, in a set of people not
famous for being moderate! I was assured, last night, that
Ireland had been twice offered to you, and that it hung on their
insisting upon giving you a secretary, either Wood or Bunbury. I
replied very truly that I knew nothing of it, that you had never
mentioned it to me and I believed not even to your brother. The
answer was, Oh! his particular friends are always the last that
know any thing about him. Princess Amalie loves this topic, and
is for ever teasing us about your mystery. I defend myself by
pleading that I have desired you never to tell me any thing till
it was in the gazette.

They say there is to be a new alliance in the house of Montagu:
that Lord Hinchinbrook(804) is to marry the sole remaining
daughter of Lord Halifax; that her fortune is to be divided into
three shares, of which each father is to take one, and the third
is to be the provision for the victims. I don't think this the
most unlikely part of the story. Adieu! my dear lord.

(796) In a letter to his son, of the 22d of April, Chesterfield
says:--"Apropos of a minority: the King is to come to the House
tomorrow, to recommend a bill to settle a regency, in case of his
demise while his successor is a minor. Upon his late illness,
which was no trifling one, the whole nation cried out aloud for
such a bill, for reasons which will readily occur to you, who
know situations, persons, and characters here. I do not know the
provisions of this intended bill; but I wish it may b(@ copied
exactly from that which was passed in the late King's reign, when
the present King was a minor. I am sure there cannot be a
better."-E.

(797) As to his dismissal.-C.

(798) Sir Francis Dashwood, lately confirmed in this barony, as
the heir of the Fanes by his mother. He had been chancellor of
the exchequer in Lord Bute's administration.-E.

(799) George, third Earl of Orford, Mr. Walpole's nephew; on
whose death, in 1791, he succeeded to the title.-E.

(800) George, second Earl of Pomfret, while Lord Lempster, had
the misfortune to kill Captain Grey, of the Guards, in a duel: he
was tried at the Old Bailey in April 1752, and found guilty of
manslaughter only. See vol. ii. p. 124, letter 54.-E.

(801) The son, it is supposed, of the Duc de Praslin.-C.

(802) Louis L`eon de Brancas, the eldest son of the Duc de
Villars Brancas: he was, during his father's life, known as the
Comte, and afterwards Duc, de Lauragais, and was a very singular
and eccentric person. He was a great Anglomane, and was the
first introducer into France of horseraces `a l'Anglaise; it was
to him that Louis XV.--not pleased at his insolent Anglomanie--
made so excellent a retort. The King had asked him after one of
his journeys, what he had learned in England? Lauragais
answered, with a kind of republican dignity, "A panser"
(penser).--"Les chavaux?" inquired the King. On the other hand,
he was one of the first promoters of the practice of inoculation.
stories about him, both in England and France, are endless: "He
was," says M. de Segur, who knew him well, "one of the most
singular men of the long period in which he lived; he united in
his person a combination of great qualities and great faults, the
smallest portion of which would have marked any other man with a
striking originality." He died in 1823, at the age of
ninety-one--his youthful name and follies forgotten in the
respectable old age of the Duc de Brancas.-C.

(803) Philip, second Earl Stanhope; for a character of whom, by
his great-grandson, Lord Mahon, see vol. i. p. 308, letter 96,
note 771.-E.

(804) Afterwards fifth Earl of sandwich. The match with lady
Eliza Savile took place on the 1st of march 1766.-E.

Letter 249 To Sir David Dalrymple.(805)
Strawberry Hill, April 21, 1765. (page 391)

Sir,
Except the mass of Conway papers, on which I have not yet had
time to enter seriously, I am sorry I have nothing at present
that would answer your purpose. Lately, indeed, I have had
little leisure, to attend to literary pursuits. I have been much
out of order with a violent cold and cough for great part of the
winter; and the distractions of this country, which reach even
those who mean the least to profit by their country, have not
left even me, who hate politics, without some share in them. Yet
as what one does not love, cannot engross one entirely, I have
amused myself a little with writing. Our friend Lord Finlater
will perhaps show you the fruit of that trifling, though I had
not the confidence to trouble you with such a strange thing as a
miraculous story, of which I fear the greatest merit is the
novelty.

I have lately perused with much pleasure a collection of old
ballads, to which I see, Sir, you have contributed with your
usual benevolence. Continue this kindness to the public, and
smile as I do, when the pains you take for them are misunderstood
or perverted. Authors must content themselves with hoping that
two or three Intelligent persons in an age will understand the
merit of their writings, and those authors are bound in good
breeding to Suppose that the public in general is enlightened.
They who arc in the secret know how few of that public they have
any reason to wish should read their works. I beg pardon of my
masters the public, and am confident, Sir, YOU Will not betray
me; but let me beg you not to defraud the few that deserve your
information, in compliment to those who are not capable of
receiving it. Do as I do about my small house here. Every body
that comes to see it or me, are so good as to wonder that I don't
make this or that alteration. I never haggle with them; but
always say I intend it. They are satisfied with the attention
and themselves, and I remain with the enjoyment of my house as I
like it. Adieu! dear Sir.

(805) Now first collected.

Letter 250 To The Earl Of Hertford.
Arlington Street, May 5, 1765. (page 391)

The plot thickens; at least, it does not clear up. I don't know
how to tell you in the compass of a letter, what is matter for a
history, and it is the more difficult, as we are but just in the
middle.

During the recess, the King acquainted the ministry that he would
have a Bill of Regency, and told them the particulars of his
intention. The town gives Lord Holland the honour of the
measure;(806) certain it is, the ministry, who are not the court,
did not taste some of the items: such as the Regent to be in
petto, the Princes(807) to be omitted, and four secret
nominations to which the Princes might be applied. However,
thinking it was better to lose their share of future power than
their present places, the ministers gave a gulp and swallowed the
whole potion; still it lay so heavy at their stomachs, that they
brought up part of it again, and obtained the Queen's name to be
placed, as one that might be regent. Mankind laughed, and
proclaimed their Wisdoms bit. Upon this, their Wisdoms beat up
for opponents, and set fire to the old stubble(808) of the
Princess and Lord Bute. Every body took the alarm; and such
uneasiness was raised, that after the King had notified the bill
to both Houses, a new message was sent, and instead of four
secret nominations, the five Princes were named, with power to
the crown of supplying their places if they died off.

Last Tuesday the bill was read a second time in the Lords. Lord
Lyttelton opposed an unknown Regent, Lord Temple the whole bill,
seconded by Lord Shelburne. The first
division came on the commitment of the whole bill. The Duke of
Newcastle and almost all The opposition were with the majority,
for his grace could not decently oppose so great a likeness of
his own child, the former bill, and so they were one hundred and
twenty. Lord Temple, Lord Shelburne, the Duke of Grafton, and
six more, composed the minority; the Slenderness of which so
enraged Lord Temple, though he had declared himself of no party,
and connected with no party, that he and the Duke of Bolton came
no more to the House. Next day Lord Lyttelton moved an address
to the King, to name the person he would recommend for Regent.
In the midst of this debate, the Duke of Richmond started two
questions; whether the Queen was naturalized, and if not, whether
capable of being Regent: and he added a third much more puzzling;
who are the Royal Family? Lord Denbigh answered
flippantly, all who are prayed for: the Duke of Bedford, more
significantly, those, only who are in the order of
succession--a direct exclusion of the Princess; for the Queen is
named in the bill. The Duke of Richmond moved to consult the
judges; Lord Mansfield fought this off, declared he had his
opinion, but would not tell it--and stayed away next day! They
then proceeded on Lord Lyttelton's motion, which was rejected by
eighty-nine to thirty-one; after which, the Duke of Newcastle
came no more; and Grafton, Rockingham, and many others, went to
Newmarket: for that rage is so strong, that I cease to wonder at
the gentleman who was going out to hunt as the battle of Edgehill
began.

The third day was a scene of folly and confusion, for when Lord
Mansfield is absent,

"Lost is the nation's sense, nor can be found."

The Duke of Richmond moved an amendment, that the persons capable
of the Regency should be the
Queen, the Princess Dowager, and all the
descendants of the late King usually resident in England. Lord
Halifax endeavoured to jockey this, by a previous amendment of
now for usually. The Duke persisted with great firmness and
cleverness; Lord Halifax, with as much peevishness and absurdity;
in truth, he made a woful figure. The Duke of Bedford supported
t'other Duke against the Secretary, but would not yield to name
the Princess, though the Chancellor declared her of the Royal
Family.(809) This droll personage is exactly what Woodward would
be, if there was such a farce as Trappolin Chancellor. You will
want a key to all this, but who has a key to chaos? After
puzzling on for two hours how to adjust these motions, while the
spectators stood laughing around, Lord Folkestone rose, and said,
why not say now and usually? They adopted this amendment at once,
and then rejected the Duke of Richmond's motion, but ordered the
judges to attend next day on the questions of naturalization.

Now comes the marvellous transaction, and I defy Mr. Hume, an
historian as he is, to parallel it. The judges had decided for
the Queen's capability, when Lord Halifax rose, by the King's
permission, desired to have the bill recommitted, and then moved
the Duke of Richmond's own words, with the single omission of the
Princess Dowager's name, and thus she alone is rendered incapable
of the Regency--and stigmatized by act of parliament! The
astonishment of the world is not to be described. Lord Bute's
friends are thunderstruck. The Duke of Bedford almost danced
about the House for joy. Comments there are, various; and some
palliate it, by saying it was done at the Princess's desire; but
the most inquisitive say, the King was taken by surprise, that
Lord Halifax proposed the amendment to him, and hurried with it
to the House of Lords, before it could be recalled; and they even
surmise that he did not observe to the King the omission of his
mother's name. Be that as it may, open war seems to be declared
between the court and the administration, and men are gazing to
see which side will be victorious.

To-morrow the bill comes to us, and Mr. Pitt, too, violent
against the whole bill, unless this wonderful event has altered
his tone.- For my part I shall not be surprised, if he affects to
be in astonishment at missing "a great and most respectable
man!"(810) This is the sum total--but what a sum total! It is
the worst of North Britons published by act of parliament!

I took the liberty, in my last, of telling you what I heard about
your going to Ireland. It was from one you know very well, and
one I thought well informed, or I should not have mentioned it.
Positive as the information was, I find nothing to confirm it.
On the contrary, Lord Harcourt(811) seems the most probable, if
any thing is probable at this strange juncture. You will scarce
believe me when I tell you, what I know is true, that the
Bedfords pressed strongly for Lord Weymouth--Yes, for Lord
Weymouth. Is any thing extraordinary in them?

Will it be presuming, too much upon your friendship and
indulgence, if I hint another point to you, which, I own, seems
to me right to mention to you? You know how eagerly the ministry
have laboured to deprive Mr. Thomas Walpole of the French
commerce of tobacco. His correspondent sends him word, that you
was so persuaded it was taken away, that you had recommended
another person. You know enough, my dear lord, of the little
connexion I have With that part of my family,(812) though we do
visit again; and therefore will, I hope, be convinced, that it is
for your sake I principally mention it. If Mr. Walpole loses
this vast branch of trade, he and sir Joshua Vanneck must shut up
shop. Judge the noise that would make in the city! Mr.
Walpole's(813) alliance with the Cavendishes (for I will say
nothing of our family) would interest them deeply in his cause,
and I think you would be sorry to have them think you
instrumental to his ruin. Your brother knows of my writing to
you and giving this information, and we are both solicitous that
your name should not appear in this transaction. This letter
goes to you by a private hand, or I would not have spoken so
plainly throughout. Whenever you please to recall your positive
order, that I should always tell you whatever I hear that relates
to you, I shall willingly forbear, for I am sensible this is not
the most agreeable province of friendship; yet, as it is
certainly due whenever demanded, I
don't consider myself, but sacrifice the more agreeable task of
pleasing you to that of serving you, that I may show myself Yours
most sincerely, H. W.

(806) It was certainly the result of his Majesty's own good
sense, directed to the subject by his late serious indisposition;
but the details, and the mismanagement of these details, were, no
doubt, the acts of the ministers.-C.

(807) The King,'s uncle and brothers.-E.

(808) These hints as to the modes by which the extraordinary
prejudices and clamours which disturbed the first years of the
reign of George III. were excited and maintained at the pleasure
of a faction, are very valuable: and the spirit of the times was
in nothing more evident than in the intrigues and violence which
marked the progress of so simple and necessary a measure as the
Regency-bill.-C.

(809) This opinion of the Chancellor's appears to have been
considered by Mr. Walpole as very absurd, and he seems inclined
to come to the same conclusion which Sterne has treated with such
admirable ridicule in the case of the Duchess of Suffolk, viz.
that "the mother was not of kin to her own child." See Tristram
Shandy, part 4. Nothing in the debate of Didius and Triptolemus
at the visitation dinner, is more absurd than this grave
discussion in the House of Lords, whether the King's mother is
one of the Royal Family.-C.

(810) This was Mr. Pitt's expression on not finding Lord Anson's
name in the list of the ministry formed in 1757. Mr. Walpole,
disliked Lord Anson, and on more than one occasion amuses himself
with allusions to this phrase.-C.

(811) Simon, first Earl of Harcourt: he was, in 1768, ambassador
to Paris, and in 1769, lord-lieutenant of Ireland.-C.

(812) This coolness between Mr. Walpole and his uncle should be
remembered, when we read that portion of the Memoires which
relates to Lord Walpole.-C.

(813) Mr. Thomas Walpole's elder brother (second Lord Walpole,
and first Lord Orford of his branch) married the youngest
daughter of the third Duke of Devonshire.-C.

Letter 251 To The Earl Of Hertford.
Arlington Street, Sunday, May 12, 1765. (page 395)

The clouds and mists that I raise by my last letter will not be
dispersed by this; nor will the Bill of Regency, as long as it
has a day's breath left (and it has but one to come) cease, I
suppose, to produce extraordinary events. For agreeable events,
it has not produced one to any Set Or side, except in gratifying
malice; every other passion has received, or probably will
receive, a box on the ear.

In my last I left the Princess Dowager in the mire. The next
incident was of a negative kind. Mr. Pitt, who, if he had been
wise, would have come to help her out, chose to wait to see if
she was to be left there, and gave himself a terrible fit of the
gout. As nobody was ready to read his part to the audience,
(though I assure you we do not want a genius or two who think
themselves born to dictate,) the first day in our House did not
last two minutes. The next, which was Tuesday, we rallied our
understandings (mine, indeed, did not go beyond being quiet, when
the administration had done for us what we could not do for
ourselves), and combated the bill till nine at night. Barr`e,
who will very soon be our first orator, especially as some(814)
are a little afraid to dispute with him, attacked it admirably,
and your brother ridiculed the House of Lords delightfully, who,
he said, had deliberated without concluding, and concluded
without deliberating. However, we broke up without a division.

Can you devise what happened next? A buzz spread itself, that the
Tories would move to reinstate the Princess. You will perhaps be
so absurd as to think with me, that when the
administration had excluded her, it was our business to pay her a
compliment. Alas! that was my opinion, but I was soon given to
understand that
patriots must be men of virtue, must be pharisees, and not
countenance naughty women; and that when the Duchess of Bedford
had thrown the first stone, we had nothing to do but continue
pelting. Unluckily I was not convinced; I could neither see the
morality nor prudence of branding the King's mother upon no other
authority than public fame: yet, willing to get something when I
could not get all, I endeavoured to obtain that we should stay
away. Even this was warmly contested with me, and, though I
persuaded several, particularly the two oldest Cavendishes,(815)
the Townshends,(816) and your nephew Fitzroy,(817) whom I trust
you will thank me for saving, I could not convince Lord John,
[Cavendish,] who, I am sorry to say, is the most obstinate,
conceited young man I ever saw; George Onslow, and that old
simpleton the Duke of Newcastle, who had the impudence to talk to
me of character, and that we should be ruined with the public if
we did not divide against the Princess. You will be impatient,
and wonder I do not name your brother. You know how much he
respects virtue and honour, even in their names; Lord John, who,
I really believe, respects them too, has got cunning enough to
see their empire over your
brother, and had fascinated him to agree to this outrageous,
provoking, and most unjustifiable of all acts. Still Mr. Conway
was so good as to yield to my earnest and vehement entreaties,
and it was at last agreed to propose the name of the Queen; when
we did not carry it, as we did not expect to do, to retire before
the question came on the Princess. But even this measure was not
strictly observed. We divided 67 for the nomination of the
Queen, against 157. Then Morton(818) moved to reinstate the
Princess. Martin, her treasurer, made a most indiscreet and
offensive speech in her behalf; said she had been stigmatized by
the House of Lords, and had lived long enough in this country to
know the hearts and falsehood of those who had professed the most
to her. Grenville vows publicly he will never forgive this, and
was not more discreet, declaring, though he agreed to the
restoration of her name, that he thought the omission would have
been universally acceptable. George Onslow and all the
Cavendishes, gained over by Lord John, and the most attached of
the Newcastle band, opposed the motion; but your brother, Sir
William Meredith, and I, and others, came away, which reduced the
numbers so much that there was no division;(819) but now to
unfold all this black scene;(820) it comes out as I had guessed,
and very plainly told them, that the Bedfords had stirred up our
fools to do what they did not dare to do themselves. Old
Newcastle had even told me, that unless we opposed the Princess,
the Duke of Bedford would not. It was
sedulously given out. that Forrester,(821) the latter duke's
lawyer, would speak against her; and after the question had
passed, he told our people that we had given up the game when it
was in our hands, for there had been many more noes than ayes.
It was Very true, many did not wish well enough to the Princess
to roar for her; and many will say no when the question is put,
who will vote ay if it comes to a division. and of' this I do not
doubt but the Bedfords had taken care--well! duped by these gross
arts, the Cavendishes and Pelhams determined to divide the next
day on the report. I did not learn this mad resolution till four
o'clock, when it was too late, and your brother in the House, and
the report actually made; so I turned back and came away,
learning
afterwards to my great mortification, that he had voted with
them. If any thing could comfort me, it would be, that even so
early as last night, and only this happened on Friday night, it
was generally allowed how much I had been in the right, and
foretold exactly all that had happened. They had vaunted to me
how strong they should be. I had replied, "When you were but 76
on the most inoffensive question, do you think you will be half
that number on the most personal and indecent that can be
devised?" Accordingly, they were but 37 to 167; and to show how
much the Bedfords were at the bottom of all, Rigby, they
Forrester, and Lord Charles Spencer, went up into the Speaker's
chamber, and would not vote for the Princess! At first I was not
quite so well treated. Sir William Meredith, who, by the way,
voted in the second question against his opinion, told me Onslow
had said that he, Sir William, your
brother, and Lord Townshend, had stayed away from conscience, but
all the others from interest. I replied, "Then I am included in
the latter predicament.(822) but you may tell Mr. Onslow that he
will take a place before I shall, and that I had rather be
suspected of being
mercenary, than stand up in my place and call God to witness that
I meant nothing personal, when I was doing the most personal
thing in the world." I beg your pardon, my dear lord, for
talking so much about myself, but the detail was necessary and
important to you; who I wish should see that I can act with a
little common sense, and will not be governed by all the frenzy
of party.

The rest of the bill was contested inch by inch, and by division
on division, till eleven at night, after our wise leaders had
whittled down the minority to twenty-four.(823) Charles
Townshend, they say, surpassed all he had ever done, in a wrangle
with Onslow, and was so lucky as to have Barr`e absent, who has
long lain in wait for him. When they told me how well Charles
had spoken on himself, I replied, "That is conformable to what I
always thought of his parts, that he speaks best on what he
understands the least."

We have done with the bill, and to-morrow our correction goes to
the Lords. It will be a day of wonderful expectation.. to see in
what manner they will swallow their vomit. The Duke of Bedford,
it is conjectured, will stay away:--but what will that
scape-goose, Lord Halifax, do, who is already convicted of having
told the King a most notorious lie, that if the Princess was not
given up by the Lords, she would be
unanimously excluded by the Commons! The Duke of Bedford, who
had broke the ground, is little less blamable; but Sandwich, who
was present, has, with his usual address, contrived not to be
talked of, since the first hour.

When the bill shall be passed, the eyes of mankind will turn to
see what will be the consequence. The Princess, and Lord Bute,
and the Scotch, do not affect to conceal their indignation. If
Lord Halifax is even reprieved, the King is more
enslaved to a cabal than ever his grandfather was: yet how
replace them! Newcastle and the most desirable of the
opposition have rendered themselves more obnoxious than ever, and
even seem, or must seem to Lord Bute, in league with those he
wishes to remove. The want of a proper person for chancellor of
the exchequer is another difficulty, though I think easily
removable by clapping a tied wig on Ellis, Barrington, or any
other block, and calling it George
Grenville. One remedy is obvious, and at which, after such
insults and provocations, were I Lord Bute, I should not stick; I
would deliver myself up, bound hand and foot, to Mr. Pitt, rather
than not punish such traitors and wretches, who murmur, submit,
affront, and swallow in the most
ignominious manner,--"Oh! il faudra qu'il y vienne,"--as L`eonor
says in the Marquis de Roselle,--"il y viendra." For myself, I
have another little comfort, which is seeing that when the
ministry encourage the Opposition, they do but
lessen our numbers.