Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 4.djvu/15

Rh acquire an equally high reputation for dissipation and licentiousness. He was the Rochester of the period, with more than Rochester's abilities. He sought and gained the fame of a modern Alcibiades or Petronius. Amidst all his excesses, however, he maintained a real interest in literature. He was intimate with Dryden, and prefixed a laudatory poem to the first edition of the translation of Virgil. The verses did not hold out high promise of poetic power; and his later efforts in the same direction did little for his literary reputation. His most considerable production, Almahide, an Ode, is a miserable tawdry affair; the light ode to the equally light Clara is very much better, and has some vivacity and sparkle. He seems to have been conscious of his want of poetic genius, for his verse remains are not numerous.

For two years, from 1698 to 1700, he resided on the Continent, and during that time acquired the thorough mastery of the French language which was afterwards of so much service to him. On his return his friends, in the hope of withdrawing him to some extent from his loose mode of life, negotiated a marriage with the wealthy daughter of Sir Henry Winchescomb, a baronet of Berkshire. Marriage, however, effected little or no change in St John, and, though his wife never formally separated from him, and always retained a true affection for her husband, their married life was unhappy and divided. In February of the year following he entered Parliament as member for Wootton-Basset.

The Tory party, from a combination of circumstances, were then all-powerful in the House of Commons. The Partition Treaty, a measure for which, indeed, little can be said, had not met with popular favour, while William's large grants to foreigners, together with the general coldness and repulsiveness of his manners, had rendered him most unpopular. A perfect storm of discontent had arisen, and the Tories were nearly bewildered with the power which had been suddenly placed in their hands. Harley, perhaps, at that time, from his moderation, the most influential man of the party, led the House as speaker. St John enrolled himself among the Tories with the utmost enthusiasm, and from the first displayed such brilliant powers as placed him at once in the front rank, and gave him an almost unique position. His youth and high birth, his handsome and commanding presence, and his agreeable address, no doubt contributed largely to his rapid elevation; but what above all secured for him an unequalled success was his wonderful eloquence. The powers he unexpectedly evinced as an orator and debater were unrivalled then, and, if we are to take contemporary reports as our authority, had never been equalled, and have seldom, if ever, been surpassed. Not a fragment of his many speeches has come down to us; but from the criticisms of those who heard him speak, and from his published writings, some idea of their general quality may be gathered. The most prominent characteristics seem to have been copiousness and readiness, extreme fluency, and spontaneity, combined with a brilliant felicity of phrase, the right expression seeming to spring up naturally along with the thought to be expressed. His sentences are mostly massive and balanced, yet never heavy; flowing, but rarely redundant. He is, perhaps, the first British statesman whose parliamentary oratory has been really a power; and with such splendid qualifications it was little wonder that he readily became the protagonist of the Tory party. He was their mouthpiece; he gave expression to their half-articulate wishes, hounded them on in their insane attacks on the great Whig leaders, and barbed their invectives with his own trenchant wit. But, as he has himself admitted, it would be difficult to discover what object the Tories really had in view. Their only desire seems to have been to revenge themselves upon their political opponents and indirectly to assail the king. A definite policy they had not either at that time or throughout the succeeding reign. The Whigs had so far a basis of operations; they held by the Protestant succession, and were in favour of a war with France. The Tories, who, if thoroughgoing, were really Jacobites, were averse to the French war, because it indirectly weakened their party, and they did not favour the succession. But consistent adherence to principle is a thing one looks for in vain among the majority of statesmen in the reign of Anne. There never was a time in British history when the movements of politicians were regulated by such petty causes, and when great talents had to be turned to such paltry purposes. Politics became but a grand game, in which success meant office, power, wealth, and dignity; and to secure such success few hesitated at the most dishonourable means. Treason was a thing of common occurrence, and many names among the highest in English history are tarnished by acts of grossest treachery. Bolingbroke participates to the full in the spirit of his time. Never throughout his whole career can one observe the operation of a consistent policy, or trace the action of any motive higher than personal ambition. Mentally and morally he was well qualified to take a prominent place in the political struggle of the time.

The rush of popular favour to the Tory party was checked by Louis's acknowledgment of the Pretender as legitimate king of England. There was no opposition made to the proposed war, which was not interrupted by the death of William and the accession of Anne. Godolphin and Marlborough, both moderate Tories, were strongly in favour of the war, and consequently found themselves gradually drawn into harmony with the Whigs rather than with the extreme members of their own party. Several of the latter were removed from the cabinet, and among the new officials were Harley, and, curiously enough, St John, the former being made Secretary of State, the latter Secretary at War. It has been doubted to what influence St John owed this singular promotion. Harley's power was hardly great enough to effect it, and it is more than probable that it was in great part, if not entirely, the work of Marlborough, who had a very considerable affection and respect for St John; and who doubtless desired a friend of his to fill the office with which he had so many transactions. As secretary St John discharged his duties with great efficiency, and manifested the most enthusiastic admiration for Marlborough's military genius and success. Meantime Harley had been tampering with the secret springs which moved so much of the political machinery. His relative Mrs Masham was supplanting the imperious duchess of Marlborough, and through her influence the queen was becoming convinced that the interests of the nation should be confided to Harley and the Tories. She was ready to dismiss Godolphin at the first opportunity, but the Whigs were as yet too strong, and Harley's schemes having been discovered, he was in 1708 compelled to resign. St John, who can hardly be thought to have had no cognizance of what was afoot, resigned along with him, and spent two years in philosophical retirement, studying diligently and living loosely as before. During these years a gradual undercurrent of feeling swelled up against the Whig party. The war was distasteful, and its prolongation was looked upon as altogether the work of Marlborough. Above all. the queen was thoroughly alienated from her old friend and under the influence of Mrs Masham. Yet the strength of the Whig party might have enabled them to carry through their policy successfully had not an act of suicidal imprudence completely ruined them. The prosecution of Sacheverell was the signal for a perfect storm of insanely loyal feeling throughout the country. A Tory ministry