VIII. 1717. education, that it is of far more importance to CHAP. have the mind well disciplined than richly stored -strong rather than full. Walpole was, however, fond of perusing and quoting Horace, to whom, in his private character, he might, perhaps, not unaptly be compared. He was good-tempered, joyous, and sensual, with an elegant taste for the arts; a warm friend, an indulgent master, and a boon companion. We are told of him, that whenever he received a packet of letters, the one from his gamekeeper was usually the first which he opened. To women he was greatly addicted, and his daughter by his second wife was born before their marriage. He had an easy and flowing wit, but too commonly indulged it to the utmost limits of coarseness; and Savage, who had seen him familiarly at Lord Tyrconnel's, used to say of him that the whole range of his mind was from obscenity to politics, and from politics to obscenity. In his private expenses, he was not only liberal, but lavish; and it must be acknowledged that the magnificence of his buildings, the extent of his purchases, and the profusion of his entertainments at Houghton, gave his enemies no small handle for invective. t He should have recollected that the * See Johnson's Life of Savage. According to Coxe, his buildings and purchases at Houghton must have cost no less than 200,000l. (p. 728.), his pictures 40,000l. (p. 730.), his lodge at Richmond 14,000l. (p. 759.), and each "meeting" at Houghton 30007. (p. 758.). I believe that he died far from rich. 1717. CHAP. display of wealth by a Prime Minister is always VIII. unpopular with the multitude: if acquired, it excites suspicion; if inherited, envy. So true is this, that in democracies an outward air of poverty is often considered the best recommendation to public favour and confidence. In the United States an intelligent French traveller lately saw an eminent living statesman, a candidate for the Presidentship, canvassing in a patched coat and ragged hat. Such is the uniform of the courtiers to King Mob! It would be unjust to Walpole to conclude his character without alluding to his mildness and placability towards his political opponents. The system under which contending statesmen used to raise up rival scaffolds, and hunt down one another even to the death, ended during his administration; although I must own that I think no small part of the praise belongs to the personal clemency and kindliness of George the First and George the Second. On the whole Walpole appears to me to have been a man of many useful and some great * Marie, ou l'Esclavage aux Etats Unis, par M. de Beaumont, 227. vol. i. p. On this point we may safely trust the testimony of a zealous Jacobite. Lockhart of Carnwath tells us, "It was moved "and pressed in the Cabinet Council, to prosecute the Earls of 66 Wigtoun, Kincardine, and Dundonald, the Lord Balmerinoch, "and myself, for high treason (in 1726), but the late King "(George the First) opposed it; he said he would have no more "blood or fore-faulters'.... and in this he was so positive, "that his ministers, after several attempts, were forced to "drop it." (vol. ii. p. 398.) VIII. qualities; who faithfully served his country, but CHAP. who never forgot his own family; and who rose partly by the frailties of others, as well as by 1717. merits of his own. With every allowance for the “evil days and evil tongues" amongst which his lot had fallen, it is impossible not to own that his character wants something of moral elevation. Name him in the same sentence with a Chatham, and who will not feel the contrast? The mind of Chatham bears the lineaments of a higher nature; and the very sound of his name carries with it something lofty and august. Of Walpole, on the other hand, the defects-nay, perhaps, even the merits have in them something low and common. No enthusiasm was ever felt for his person; none was ever kindled by his memory. No man ever inquired where his remains are laid, or went to pay a homage of reverence at his tomb. Between him and Chatham there is the same difference as between success and glory! At the period of Walpole's resignation, in 1717, he had just matured a very able and well-considered scheme for the reduction of the national debts. The rate of common interest for money had, by the statute of the 12th of Anne, been reduced to five per cent.; but in the funds it continued to exceed seven*: and of these funds a * "Do not we make seven or eight per cent. by the public "funds, and this upon the security of the Parliament of England, "and are paid punctually every quarter ?" (Remarks of an English Gentleman to Count Gyllenborg, as quoted in his letter VIII. 1717. CHAP. part, namely, the Long and Short Annuities, was irredeemable, and could not be touched without the consent of the proprietors. The plan of Walpole, in which we may trace the earliest germ of a National Sinking Fund, was, in the first place, to borrow 600,000l. at only four per cent., and to apply all savings to the discharge of the principal and interest of the debts contracted before December, 1716. Concurrently with this scheme, he hoped to form arrangements with the Bank and South Sea Companies, by which they should not only reduce their own interest, but lend, if required, the former two millions and a half, and the latter two millions, at five per cent., to pay off such holders of redeemable debts as might refuse to accept an equal reduction. The first part of these measures was brought forward by Walpole on the very day of his resignation; an event which he announced, saying, "that he now presented "that Bill as a country gentleman; but hoped "that it would not fare the worse for having two 66 fathers, and that his successor would take care "to bring it to perfection." Nor were the expectations of Walpole disappointed; the arrangements he had in view with the Bank and South Sea to Gortz, Dec. 4. 1716.) Mr. Hungerford said in the House of Commons, May 20. 1717, "He knew by experience, and in "the course of his business, that money may be had at 4 per "cent. on good securities." See the detailed accounts in the Commons' Journals, vol. xviii. p. 497-507. VIII. 1717. Companies were successfully concluded, with some CHAP. alterations, by Stanhope; a result, no doubt, almost entirely owing to Walpole's skill and reputation for finance* ; but marked with peculiar disinterestedness on the part of the new Chancellor of the Exchequer. He stated, in the House, that he understood it had been the common practice of those concerned in the administration of the Treasury to make bargains for the public with the governors and directors of companies, by which some private advantages were generally made; but that, in his opinion, such bargains ought to be determined at the bar of the House; and if any advantages could be made, the public ought to have the benefit of them. This was a system in which his predecessors had not proposed any alteration. The financial measures in question were finally embodied in three bills, and all passed into laws. But though Stanhope and Walpole scarcely dif fered on this subject, a violent altercation arose between them on one occasion when it was before the House. Stanhope, giving way to his passionate temper, said that "he ingenuously owned his in capacity for the affairs of the Treasury, which "were so remote from his studies and inclination, *Several publications have assigned to Stanhope the merit of these reductions, and we read on his monument in Westminster Abbey, "Delicatam, publicarum pecuniarum fidem, temperato "solerter fœnore conservavit integram." I am bound to say, that I think this praise belongs not to Stanhope but to Walpole. |