Page:Cassell's Illustrated History of England vol 4.djvu/474

460 was, to buy off the prince of Wales and his adherents. For this purpose, he prevailed on the king to grant an additional fifty thousand pounds a year and the payment of all his debts, on condition that he should abandon the opposition. Secker, bishop of Oxford, was selected as the bearer of this offer; but the prince declined the proposal, declaring that he would listen to no overtures so long as Walpole continued in office. This was a stunning blow, but the tenacious minister did not yet give in. He continued to avail himself of the interval before the 21st to bribe and bring over less distinguished men. The opposition, however, were now every hour receiving fresh accessions of strength, and men who had stood the brunt of many years now went over to them. Lord Hervey joined Pulteney and Chesterfield; and Bubb Doddington, now perceiving that one side really preponderated, stepped out of his equivocal demeanour, and openly wrote to lord Wilmington to entreat him to persuade the king to dismiss the obnoxious minister.

The 21st of January arrived, and Pulteney entered on his great question. There was nothing new to bring forward, but the old charges were dressed up with new force, and Pulteney affected to make his attack on no particular person, but merely to demand a plain statement of the condition of the nation for the service of his majesty. Pitt used similar language; but this assumed candour was unceremoniously cast away by lord Perseval, who had been brought into the house by the re-election for Westminster. He declared that "the patriots" would be satisfied with nothing short of the dismissal of Walpole, as the great cause of all our present troubles and disgraces. He should, therefore, he said, vote for a committee of accusation.

Walpole defended himself with an ability worthy of his best days. He boldly reminded the opposition of the long twenty years of defeats in their endeavours to turn him out; he declared their accusations were just as false and groundless as ever; and he proceeded to anatomise the characters of Bubb Doddington and Pulteney in a manner which must have made men of any feeling wince. He was ably supported by Sir William Yonge, by Pelham, and Winnington, but the division showed a majority for the minister of only three. On this occasion five hundred and three members voted. On both sides the very invalids had been brought up to the house; but whilst the opposition brought them into the body of the house to be ready to vote, Walpole allowed his sick friends to occupy an adjoining room, belonging to his son as auditor of the exchequer, till they were called for. Then it was found that some of the opposition, who were aware of the circumstance, had filled the keyhole of the room with sand and dirt, so that it could not be unlocked till too late, and thus the minister lost their votes. The prince of Wales was present, and when a lame member was brought in who was in favour of Walpole, his royal highness remarked to general Churchill, "So I see you bring in the lame, the blind, and the halt." "Yes," replied Churchill, "the lame on our side and the blind on yours."

The result of this division shook the last resistance of Walpole. When the motion which had been rejected on the 18th of December — for copies of the correspondence with the king of Prussia — was again put, he made no opposition, and it passed without a division. He made, however, one more attempt to carry his measures. In the disputed election of Chippenham he stood his ground against the petition, and was defeated by a majority of one. It was now clear to himself that he must give way. His relatives and friends assured him that to defer longer was only to court more decided discomfiture. On the 31st of January, he, therefore, prepared to depart for his seat at Houghton, and the next morning he demanded of the king, in a private audience, leave to retire. George, on this occasion, evinced a degree of feeling that did him honour. When the old minister who had served him through so long a course of years knelt to kiss hands, the king embraced him, shed tears, and begged that he would often come to see him.

The next day, February 2nd, Walpole did the prince of Wales the courtesy, though he had greatly contributed to his fall, to send him a private intimation of his intended resignation, and that evening calling to him Sir Edward Baynton, the opposition member whose return was secured by Walpole's last division, he pointed out to him members who were then voting against him, but who owed many favours to him. He said it was time to retire, and that he would never again enter that house.

Ou the following day lord chancellor Hardwicke announced his majesty's desire that the house should adjourn for a fortnight, and during that interval Walpole resigned, and a new ministry was appointed. On the 9th Sir Robert was created earl of Orford, and on the 11th he made a formal resignation of all his places. He that day retired to his lodge at Richmond, as he expressed his hope to pass the remainder of his days in peace, far from the rancour of parties and heart-burnings of courts. Nevertheless, he was not allowed to withdraw without a passing storm of censure. He had not occupied the seat of power so long without taking care of himself. From a country squire of two thousand a year he had grown into a very opulent nobleman. His house at Houghton was worthy of being a royal palace, and was enriched by a noble collection of books and paintings. It is true that he had made part of this by speculations on the Stock Exchange, as we have seen, not neglecting to draw profit from schemes that he condemned, as the South Sea Bubble. Yet every one has regarded Walpole rather as an arbitrary than a rapacious minister. Though he helped himself and his friends, he did so with more moderation than many ministers who both preceded and succeeded him. However much we are obliged to condemn that system of political corruption which he raised to an unexampled height, though he did not originate it, we are equally obliged to confess that he might have employed the power it gave him much worse. He firmly maintained and established the protestant succession; he was a stanch friend to peace, and dared to cultivate an alliance with France as long as the opposition would let him. Under these circumstances, the country had risen rapidly in wealth and comfort, and at the time that the people were rejoicing enthusiastically in his downfall, they were enjoying the substantial blessings which he had conferred on the country. Those who came after him soon showed, by their bloody vengeance on the followers of the young pretender, a dark contrast to the humane policy of Walpole.