and comprised the bulk of the landed proprietors and parochial clergy. The Whigs, on the other hand, had in their favour nearly the whole monied interest. The great majority of the English at this period firmly held the doctrines of the Established Church, and zealously supported its privileges. "The Church for ever!" had become a favourite cry. During Sacheverell's trial the sedan chair of the Queen used to be surrounded by an anxious crowd exclaiming, "God bless your Majesty "and the Church! We hope your Majesty is for Dr. "Sacheverell!" Another proof of this salutary attachment may be drawn from the fact, that both the Tories and Whigs were accustomed to charge each other. as a ground of unpopularity with endangering the Church; the Tories because they favoured the Roman Catholics; and the Whigs because they favoured the Dissenters. The state of each of these sects may, perhaps, require a few words of detail. The Roman Catholics at this time seemed very inconsiderable as to numbers. In Ireland, indeed, or at least in its southern and western provinces, they comprised the mass of the labouring classes; but these at that time were men of most unruly temper and abject ignorance, and befriended by no party in the state. Swift was a Tory of that era; yet, in all the eighteen volumes of his works, it would not be easy to point out a single sentence of sympathy or interest with this portion of his fellowcountrymen. So far from it, that in some passages he is anxious to represent the Irish Protestants as English settled in Ireland, and to draw a strong line of distinction between them and the native Irish.* In England, on the other hand, the Roman Catholics could boast of many adherents amongst the ancient peerage and gentry and other educated classes, but had hardly any hold upon the lower. In spite of their very small numbers, they were the objects of extreme alarm to the Protestants, from the remembrance of their former persecutions, and from the religious tenets and impending return of the Pretender. The most unfounded imputations against *See, for instance, a letter to Pope so late as July 23. 1737. "We are grieved to find you made no distinction between the English gentry of this kingdom and the savage old Irish.” 1713. THE ENGLISH GENTRY. 17 them were always greedily received. No charge was too gross, no falsehood too glaring, for the credulous animosity of the public. In fact, it is very remarkable how frequently the multitude arrives at a right conclusion from false premises; and it might be truly asserted, that such old wives' fables as the burning of London by the Roman Catholics have produced more effect against them than even the noble martyrdom of Ridley or the unanswerable arguments of Chillingworth. Very rigorous enactments had been passed against the Catholics in the reign of Queen Anne. But in practice these were for the most part moderately and mildly administered; and we find Bolingbroke asserting, in 1714, that the Catholics" enjoy as much tranquillity as any others of the Queen's sub"jects."* ' Of the Protestant Dissenters, who at this period, before the rise of Methodism, were not numerous, I shall have a better opportunity of saying a few words when I come to the repeal of the Schism Act. The manners of the English gentry, in this age, were, in a great measure, purely national; and, except, at Court, had received from foreign nations neither polish nor corruption. To travel had not yet grown to be a very common practice. It was not yet thought that a visit to more genial climes, or more lovely landscapes, was the best preparation for afterwards living happy and contented in our own. In fact, according to the old English maxims, no one could go abroad without special permission from the sovereign. Thus, in the reign of Elizabeth, Sir William Evers was severely punished because he had presumed to make a private journey to Scotland.† In the first part of the eighteenth century, the same authority seems still to have existed, at least with respect to the great nobility. The Duke of Shrewsbury, for example, could not go abroad, in 1700, until he had obtained leave from King William. Thus, also, the Duke of Marlborough's application for a passport, in 1712, was op * Letter to Mr. Prior, Jan. 30. 1714. Corresp. vol. ii. † See a letter from James the First, interceding for Evers, in Birch's Memoirs, vol. ii. p. 511. Shrewsbury Corresp. p. 630. posed by several members of the Cabinet.* The fees for a passport at the Foreign Office amounted to upwards of 67.†, a sum far from inconsiderable in those days, and serving as a check upon the lower class of travellers. To travel with passports from the Foreign Ministers resident in England is a later, and, in my opinion, a mischievous and unwarrantable innovation. Thus amongst the gentry and middle classes of Queen Anne's time, the French language was much undervalued, and seldom studied. At Court, however, the case was very different; and, though few could speak French very accurately, it is remarkable how much the style of many eminent men at this period, in their private correspondence, teems with Gallicisms. The letters of Marlborough, especially, appear written by a Frenchman. Thus, for example, he uses the word "opiniatrety" for obstinacy, and "to defend" instead of to forbid.‡ At the peace of Utrecht, the population of England was not much above five millions. It may be doubted whether that of Scotland exceeded one million ||, or that of Ireland, two; although I need hardly observe how far less accurately and carefully such calculations were made in those days. It is certain, however, that the rural in * Coxe's Life, vol. vi. p. 221. † Bolingbroke's Corresp. vol. ii. p. 82., note to a letter from Prior, of Sept. 1712. When I was Under Secretary of State in that department (in 1835), I found the fees on each passport reduced to 21. 2s. 6d. + See Coxe's Life, vol. iv. pp. 229. 243, &c. The duty on the importation of unbound foreign books into England from June, 1711, to June, 1712, amounted only to 120l. 15s., and in the ensuing year to 192l. 3s. (Commons' Journals, vol. xvii. p. 605.) That duty which had been doubled in 1711, appears to have been 60 per cent. ad valorem. (Ibid. p. 642.) § See the Preface to the 1st. vol. of the Population Returns, 1831, p. 45. According to the calculations of Mr. Finlaison, the population of England and Wales in 1710 was 5,066,000, and in 1700, 5,134,000, thus showing a decrease of 68,000 in ten years. It is remarkable that all the periods of ten years between 1710 and 1830, when the population had grown to 13,800,000, exhibit, on the contrary, a steady and progressive increase. Will the wars of Queen Anne's reign account for the difference? But then, what shall we say to the wars of the French Revolution ? Yet Fletcher of Saltoun estimated the number of gipsies in Scotland at not less than 200,000! A monstrous exaggeration! 1713. THE NATIONAL DEBT. 19 habitants of England then very far outnumbered those in the towns; but the latter having since increased in much greater proportion, more especially in the manu facturing districts, the two classes have come nearly to an equality *; a change which has, I fear, involved within it the germ of other changes. The national debt, at the accession of Anne, had been only 16,000,000l., with an interest of 1,300,0007. In 1714, it had grown to 52,000,000l., with an interest of 3,300,000l.† By the accounts presented to Parliament in that year, it appeared that the expense of the late war during twelve years, amounted to nearly 69,000,000l., making a yearly average of above five millions and a half. The debts, during this period, seem to have been contracted on very moderate terms. Lord Treasurer Godolphin observes, in one of his letters, in 1706: "Though "the land and trade both of England and Holland have "excessive burthens upon them, yet the credit continues "good, both with us and with them; and we can, either "of us, borrow money at four or five per cent.; whereas, "the finances of France are so much more exhausted, "that they are forced to give 20 and 25 per cent. for every 'penny of money they send out of the kingdom, unless "they send it in specie."§ In 1709, the supplies voted exceeded seven millions, a sum that was unparalleled, and seemed enormous. In fact, though these sums at present may appear light in our eyes, they struck the subjects of Anne with the utmost astonishment and horror. Fifty millions of debt, and six millions of taxes!" exclaims Swift: "the High Allies have been the ruin of "us!" Bolingbroke points out, with dismay, that the public revenue, in neat money, amounted, at the Revolution, to no more than two millions annually; and the public debts, that of the bankers included, to little more than three hundred thousand pounds. Speaking of a later period, and of a debt of thirty millions, he calls it " a sum that will *See Colquhoun's Wealth and Resources, p. 23. +Ibid. p. 265. Parliamentary History, vol. vi. p. 1346. Letter to the Duke of Marlborough, dated Sept. 24. 1706, and printed in the 3d volume of Coxe's Life. Somerville's Queen Anne, p. 334. tr appear incredible to future generations, and is so almost "to the present!" It is, I hope, with no undue partiality, that I venture to remark, how much juster and more correct on this point were the views of Secretary Stanhope. In the minutes of a conference which he held in 1716, with Abbé Dubois, I find the following, remark recorded of him: "However large our national debt may be "thought, it will undoubtedly increase much more, and “believe me, it will not hereafter cause greater difficulty to the government, or uneasiness to the people, "than it does at present." But, though we might astonish our great-grandfathers at the high amount of our public income, they may astonish us at the high amount of their public salaries. The service of the country was then a service of vast emolument. In the first place, the holder of almost every great office was entitled to plate; secondly, the rate of salaries, even when nominally no larger than at present, was, in fact, two or three times more considerable from the intermediate depreciation of money. But even nominally, many offices were then of higher value, and when two or more were conferred upon the same person, he, contrary to the present practice, received the profits of all. As the most remarkable instance of this fact, I may mention the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough. Exclusive of Blenheim, of Parliamentary grants, of gifts, of marriage portions from the Queen to their daughters, it appears that the fixed yearly income of the Duke, at the height of his favour, was no less than 54,8257., and the Duchess had, in offices and pensions, an additional sum of 9,500† —a sum, I * See the Mémoires de Sevelinges, vol. i. p. 207. † A statement of the offices and emoluments enjoyed by the Duke of Marlborough :— Plenipotentiary to the States General for the English forces on Mr. How's estab Per annum. - £7,000 Travelling charges as Master of the Ordnance 1,825 Colonel of the Foot Guards, being twenty-four companies 2,000 |