A.D. 1738.

PLAN OF OPPOSITION.

215

upon without opening our arms to receive him who, by his blind bigotry, had brought us to the brink of destruction; whereas now the scene is changed, and delusive hopes may be entertained from a young Prince who personally has inflicted no wrong, although all reflecting men are aware that his family in their exile have learned nothing and forgot nothing, and that Popery and slavery would be recalled along with them. The small army which is asked is indispensably necessary for the safety of the well-disposed. They will cherish it,-while it is hated by the seditious, because it prevents them from spreading war, bloodshed, and desolation over the face of their country."

As soon as the Chancellor had resumed the woolsack the House divided, when the motion was negatived by ninetynine to thirty-five.

After this defeat the opposition made a much more skilful, though a very profligate, move. Because the Spaniards objected to our carrying on a contraband trade with their American colonies, most frightful stories were propagated of their cruelty to our countrymen, of which "the fable of Captain Jenkins's ears was a fair specimen; and, under colour of taking revenge, there was an eager desire in the nation to fit out expeditions for the purpose of capturing their galleons, and seizing possession of their gold mines. Here was an opportunity to bring obloquy upon the pacific Walpole, who was represented to be "a furious mastiff to his own countrymen, but a fawning spaniel to the Spaniards." His opponents determined to give him only the alternative of a Spanish war or resignation, and it was generally believed that, fond as he was of power, he was fonder of peace, and that his political extinction was at hand. With this view certain resolutions were moved in the House of Lords, affirming the outrageous conduct of Spain, denying the right of search which she claimed, and praying that English commerce might be protected against her aggressions. The task of combating these was cast upon the Chancellor, but he did it feebly and ineffectually, hardly venturing to go further than to point out that the resolutions were so framed as to condemn the belligerent right_to_search neutral vessels which might be carrying contraband of wara right essential to the maintenance of our own naval ascendency. Finding that he was making no impression on the House, he withdrew his opposition, and the resolutions passed unanimously.

In the following session the same policy was pursued by

A.D. 1739.

66

the opposition leaders, whose great object was to attack a preliminary convention with Spain, by which Walpole had hoped that all differences might be adjusted, and peace might be preserved. They were now encouraged by the faithless Duke of Newcastle, who thought this a favourable opportunity for becoming prime minister; and it has been represented even that another member of the cabinet, from whom a very different line of conduct might have been expected, joined in the war cry. "The Chancellor, Lord Hardwicke," says Coxe, a man of moderation, good sense, and candour, was of the same opinion with the Duke of Newcastle, and spoke with such vehemence in the House of Lords against the depredations, and in favour of compulsory measures, that Walpole, who stood behind the throne, exclaimed to those who were near him, 'Bravo! Colonel Yorke: Bravo!'" b In justice to his memory, however, I am bound to declare that the printed reports of the proceedings of the Lords do not show the slightest foundation for this charge, and, if they are to be relied upon, they effectually repel it. He could not resist the motion for hearing witnesses at the bar, so that an opportunity was given for Captain Jenkins's celebrated declaration, that, when under the hands of the torturing Spaniards, "he committed his soul to God, and his cause to his country;" but in the debates on the convention Lord Hardwicke appears to have defended it at great length, and boldly and manfully to have attempted to dispel the public delusion. He showed, that while we have a right to the free navigation of the American seas for the purpose of carrying on an unrestrained intercourse with our own colonies, according to the laws we are pleased to lay down for the regulation of their commerce, the Spaniards had a right to lay down laws to regulate the commerce of their colonies, and to prevent the carrying on of a contraband trade in violation of those laws.

"The mode in which these respective rights shall be enjoyed and enforced," said he, "is the fair subject of negotiation and treaty, and cannot be satisfactorily adjusted by an appeal to arms. For this reason, plenipotentiaries were appointed on both sides, who, if they are permitted to proceed, may be expected to bring about a settlement for the mutual honour and advantage of the two nations. We have just reason to complain of the manner in which, in some instances, the Spaniards have exercised the right which we cannot dispute they possess; but let

b Coxe's Walpole, iv. 118; Lord Mahon, ii. 407.

A.D. 1739.

CHARGED WITH ENCOURAGING WAR.

217

us try whether we may not obtain indemnity and security without rushing headlong into a war, the result of which cannot certainly be foreseen, although the vulgar be captivated by the golden prospects which it is supposed to hold out. Having shown that no reasonable objection can be made to the treaty now before us, I must beg your Lordships to consider the present circumstances of Europe, the peculiar situation of this nation, and the relation we stand in to Spain. It must be allowed that no nation ought to enter into a war against a neighbouring nation for any object which may be attained by peaceable means. Of all nations, we ought to be the last unnecessarily and wantonly to engage in hostilities. A great part of our people subsist by trade; our landed gentlemen owe a great part of their yearly revenue to the commerce and manufactures we carry on. Not only should we, by the wished-for war, lose our intercourse with the dominions of Spain, allowed to be so profitable, but a shock would be given to our trade with the rest of the world. Considering our heavy debt and many taxes, we are in no very good condition for engaging in a dangerous, and expensive, and perhaps protracted war. The rest of Europe will not quietly look on and see us make conquests in Spanish America, if the fortune of war should at the outset be in our favour. The Spaniards would soon be assisted by France, and perhaps by other powers we little dream of at present. Then think, my Lords, of the numerous party in this country, who, I am sorry to say, are so little solicitous about the national glory, that they are ready to join an invading army, and to receive a despotic master from our natural enemies. Some of them are actuated by the hopes of making or mending their fortunes, some by malice and an unjust hatred of those employed in the administration. There are many at present disaffected to the government from principle, but their number is decreasing every day. The rising generation see the absurdity and ridiculousness of the prejudices in which their parents were bred, and in a few years we may expect to witness a general concurrence in the principles on which the change of dynasty was found necessary, and a general attachment to good order, and to the cause of civil and religious liberty. Prudence will, by-and-by, dictate submission even to the unprincipled, when they no longer see well-meaning men whom they can hope to make the tools of their wicked designs." " C

I must, therefore, absolve Lord Hardwicke from the charge of contributing to that madness which, a few months after, took possession of the nation, when Walpole, rather than quit office, agreed to a declaration of war against Spain,—when the heir apparent to the throne headed the mob in the streets of London, drinking "Success to the War!"-when, the treasures of Potosi being grasped in anticipation, and the golden dreams of the South Sea again deluding the public mind, there were greater rejoicings than followed the victories of Blenheim or

c 10 Parl. Hist. 1048, 1147.

of Waterloo,—and when the conscience-stricken minister exclaimed, "They are now ringing their bells; before long they will be wringing their hands." With that minister rests, I think, the greatest share of the disgrace of commencing this war-the most unprovoked and unjustifiable in our annals. Walpole's opponents were deeply to blame, and still more were his colleagues, who wished, by making him unpopular, to supplant him; but with him the responsibility rested, and, rather than part with power, even for a time, he consented to involve the country in hostilities which he knew to be unjust, and which he expected to be disastrous. Had he honestly resisted, the nation would speedily have been restored to reason, and he would have been restored to power. By tardily yielding to the public delusion, he did not recover the popularity he had lost by resistance, and he was, ere long, forced into permanent retreat. Fit punishment, likewise, fell upon the nation; for, during the contest, although the heavy calamities which several times seemed impending were averted, the military enterprises which were undertaken produced disappointment and disgrace; we were indebted to chance, and the blunders of our enemies, that our shores were not trod by invading armies; a Stuart prince, being recognised by all Scotland, was within a few days' march of the English metropolis, where there were many friends to receive him; and we were finally obliged to agree to a treaty of peace, by which Spain did not make a single concession on the points which had been the pretence for hostilities.d

When Lord Hardwicke had exerted himself to the utmost to avoid a rupture with Spain, and had delivered a speech which ought to have called forth the exclamation, "Well done, Grotius!"—although he cannot be much censured for remaining in office, as his resignation would only have made way for some more pliant lawyer,-I must confess that I think he would have done better by remaining quiet in parliament and watching a favourable opportunity for the restoration of peace. But Sir Robert having for the present out-manoeuvred his

d This is a case in which, as the lawyers say, we have "confitentes reos "all the accused parties pleading guilty. Walpole at the time, with his usual openness, admitted that he was doing wrong. "Some years after," says Burke, "it was my fortune to converse with many of the principal actors against that minister, and with those who

principally excited that clamour. None of them, no, not one, did in the least defend the measure, or attempt to justify their conduct. They condemned it as freely as they would have done in commenting upon any proceeding in history in which they were totally unconcerned."-Regicide Peace.

A.D. 1739.

SPEECH ON LIBERTY OF THE PRESS.

219

opponents by going over to the war party, the now blustering Chancellor strenuously defended a subsidy to Denmark, that she might assist us in the quarrel, and he exclaimed,"Whatever others may ay who advocate forbearance, I am for instantly entering upon action." He had for some time been regarded as the organ of the government in the House of Lords, no weight being attached to what fell from the Duke of Newcastle, who was ostensibly at the head of it. His Grace himself seems to have been aware of his own insignificance there, and thus writes to the Chancellor :-" It is no disagreeable circumstance in the high station in which your Lordship is, that every man in the House of Lords now knows that yours is the sense of the King's administration, and that their interest goes with their inclinations when they follow your Lordship."

g

66

During the Spanish war a discussion arose on a subject of more permanent interest--the Liberty of the Press,-when Lord Hardwicke delivered a speech with which he had taken great pains, and which is peculiarly interesting as coming from one who had been ten years Attorney-General, and was so long afterwards at the head of the law. With a view, as it was thought, of intimidating Pope, who had cruelly lampooned Lord Hervey and other peers, and kept the whole House in a state of apprehension, a complaint was made against a very inferior poet, Paul Whitehead, who had recently published a satire called 66 MANNER," reflecting upon several peers, and whose commitment to Newgate would not have excited much public sympathy. The author absconded; but Dodsley, his publisher, appearing at the bar, a motion was made that he should be taken into the custody of the Usher of the Black Rod, which was opposed by Lord Carteret and Lord Abingdon, on the ground that such a proceeding was contrary to the liberty of the Press.

The Lord Chancellor. "My Lords, the liberty of the press ought to be sacred with every Englishman, and, I dare answer for it, will ever be so with your Lordships. But I am afraid that there is nothing less

e 10 Parl. Hist. 1373, 1385, 1412, 1420.

f The Duke of Newcastle to Lord Hardwicke, 1739.

"Let SPORUS tremble! What? that thing

of silk,

SPORUS, that mere white curd of ass's milk," &c.

h It is said that Pope really was frightened by the "brave orts at the pridge," and he certainly was more cautious afterwards in meddling with high names, although his malignity to Grub Street continued to in

crease.