Part 25 (2/2)
King George I. died on the 11th of June, 1727, suddenly, by apoplexy, and was succeeded by his son George II., a man who resembled his father in disposition and character, and was superior to him in knowledge of the English const.i.tution, though both were inclined to steer the British bark by the Hanoverian rudder. Like his father, he was reserved, phlegmatic, cautious, sincere, fond of business, economical, and attached to Whig principles. He was fortunate in his wife, Queen Caroline, one of the most excellent women of the age, learned, religious, charitable, and sensible; the patroness of divines and scholars; fond of discussion on metaphysical subjects, and a correspondent of the distinguished Leibnitz.
The new king disliked Walpole, but could not do without him, and therefore continued him in office. Indeed, the king had the sense to perceive that England was to be governed only by the man in whom the nation had confidence.
[Sidenote: East India Company.]
In 1730, Walpole rechartered the East India Company, the most gigantic monopoly in the history of nations. As early as 1599, an a.s.sociation had been formed in England for trade to the East Indies. This a.s.sociation was made in consequence of the Dutch and Portuguese settlements and enterprises, which aroused the commercial jealousy of England. The capital was sixty-eight thousand pounds. In 1600, Queen Elizabeth gave the company a royal charter. By this charter, the company obtained the right of purchasing land, without limit, in India, and the monopoly of the trade for fifteen years. But the company contended with many obstacles. The first voyage was made by four s.h.i.+ps and one pinnace, having on board twenty-eight thousand pounds in bullion, and seven thousand pounds in merchandise, such as tin, cutlery, and gla.s.s.
During the civil wars, the company's affairs were embarra.s.sed, owing to the unsettled state of England. On the accession of Charles II., the company obtained a new charter, which not only confirmed the old privileges, but gave it the power of making peace and war with the native princes of India. The capital stock was increased to one million five hundred thousand pounds.
Much opposition was made by Bolingbroke and the Tories to the recharter of this inst.i.tution; but the ministry carried their point, and a new charter was granted on the condition of the company paying to government two hundred thousand pounds, and reducing the interest of the government debts one per cent. per annum. By this time, the company, although it had not greatly enlarged its jurisdiction in India, had acc.u.mulated great wealth. Its powers and possessions will be more fully treated when the victories of Clive shall be presented.
About this time, the Duke of Newcastle came into the cabinet whose future administration will form the subject of a separate chapter.
[Sidenote: Resignation of Townsend.]
In 1730 also occurred the disagreement between Walpole and Lord Townsend, which ended in the resignation of the latter, a man whose impetuous and frank temper ill fitted him to work with so cautious and non-committal a statesman as his powerful rival. He pa.s.sed the evening of his days in rural pursuits and agricultural experiments, keeping open house, devoting himself to his family and friends, never hankering after the power he had lost, never even revisiting London, and finding his richest solace in literature and simple agricultural pleasures--the pattern of a lofty and cultivated n.o.bleman.
The resignation of Townsend enabled Walpole to take more part in foreign negotiations; and he exerted his talents, like Fleury in France, to preserve the peace of Europe. The peace policy of Walpole ent.i.tles him to the grat.i.tude of his country. More than any other man of his age, he apprehended the true glory and interests of nations.
Had Walpole paid as much attention to the intellectual improvement of his countrymen, as he did to the refinements of material life and to physical progress, he would have merited still higher praises. But he despised learning, and neglected literary men. And they turned against him and his administration, and, by their sarcasm and invective, did much to undermine his power. Pope, Swift, and Gay might have lent him powerful aid by their satirical pen; but he pa.s.sed them by with contemptuous indifference, and they gave to Bolingbroke what they withheld from Walpole.
Next to the pacific policy of the minister, the most noticeable peculiarity of his administration was his zeal to improve the finances. He opposed speculations, and sought a permanent revenue from fixed principles. He regarded the national debt as a great burden, and strove to abolish it; and, when that was found to be impracticable, sought to prevent its further acc.u.mulation. He was not, indeed, always true to his policy; but he pursued it on the whole, consistently. He favored the agricultural interests, and was inclined to raise the necessary revenue by a tax on articles used, rather than by direct taxation on property or income, or articles imported. Hence he is the father of the excise scheme--a scheme still adopted in England, but which would be intolerable in this country. In this scheme, his grand object was to ease the landed proprietor, and to prevent smuggling, by making smuggling no object. But the opposition to the Excise Bill was so great that Sir Robert abandoned it; and this relinquishment of his favorite scheme is one of the most striking peculiarities of his administration. He never pushed matters to extremity. He ever yielded to popular clamor. He perceived that an armed force would be necessary in order to collect the excise, and preferred to yield his cherished measures to run the danger of incurring greater evils than financial embarra.s.sments. His spirit of conciliation, often exercised in the plenitude of power, prolonged his reign. This policy was the result of immense experience and practical knowledge of human nature, of which he was a great master.
[Sidenote: Unpopularity of Walpole.]
But Sir Robert was not allowed to pursue to the end his pacific, any more than his financial policy. The clamors of interested merchants, the violence of party spirit, and the dreams of heroic grandeur on the part of politicians, overcame the repugnance of the minister, and plunged England in a disastrous Spanish war; and a war soon succeeded by that of the Austrian Succession, in which Maria Theresa was the injured, and Frederic the Great the offending party. But this war, which was carried on chiefly during the subsequent administration, will be hereafter alluded to.
Although Walpole was opposed by some of the ablest men in England--by Pulteney, Sir William Windham, and the Lords Chesterfield, Carteret, and Bolingbroke, his power was almost absolute from 1730 to 1740. His most powerful a.s.sistance was derived from Mr. Yorke, afterwards the Lord Chancellor Hardwicke, one of the greatest lawyers that England has produced.
[Sidenote: Decline of his Power.]
In 1740, his power began to decline, and rapidly waned. He lost a powerful friend and protector by the death of Queen Caroline, whose intercessions with the king were ever listened to with respectful consideration. But he had almost insurmountable obstacles to contend with--the distrust of the king, the bitter hatred of the Prince of Wales, the violent opposition of the leading statesmen in parliament, and universal envy. Moreover, he had grown careless and secure. He fancied that no one could rule England but himself. But hatred, opposition, envy, and unsuccessful military operations, forced him from his place. No s.h.i.+pwrecked pilot ever clung to the rudder of a sinking s.h.i.+p with more desperate tenacity than did this once powerful minister to the helm of state. And he did not relinquish it until he was driven from it by the desertion of all his friends, and the general clamor of the people. The king, however, appreciated the value of his services, and created him Earl of Orford, a dignity which had been offered him before, but which, with self-controlling policy, he had unhesitatingly declined. Like Sir Robert Peel in later times, he did not wish to be buried in the House of Lords.
His retirement (1742) amid the beeches and oaks of his country seat was irksome and insipid. He had no taste for history, or science, or elegant literature, or quiet pleasures. His tumultuous public life had engendered other tastes. ”I wish,” said he to a friend, ”I took as much delight in reading as you do. It would alleviate my tedious hours.” But the fallen minister, though uneasy and restless, was not bitter or severe. He retained his good humor to the last, and to the last discharged all the rites of an elegant hospitality. Said his enemy, Pope,--
”Seen him I have, but in his happier hour Of social pleasure--ill exchanged for power; Seen him, unc.u.mbered by the venal tribe, Smile without art, and win without a bribe.”
He had the habit of ”laughing the heart's laugh,” which it is only in the power of n.o.ble natures to exercise. His manners were winning, his conversation frank, and his ordinary intercourse divested of vanity and pomp. He had many warm personal friends, and did not enrich himself, as Marlborough did, while he enriched those who served him.
He kept a public table at Houghton, to which all gentlemen in the country had free access. He was fond of hunting and country sports, and had more taste for pictures than for books. He was not what would be called a man of genius or erudition, but had a sound judgment, great sagacity, wonderful self-command, and undoubted patriotism. As a wise and successful ruler, he will long be held in respect, though he will never secure veneration.
It was during the latter years of the administration of Walpole that England was electrified by the preaching of Whitefield and Wesley, and the sect of the Methodists arose, which has exercised a powerful influence on the morals, religion, and social life of England.
[Sidenote: John Wesley.]
John Wesley, who may rank with Augustine, Pelagius, Calvin, Arminius, or Jansen, as the founder of a sect, was demanded by the age in which he lived. Never, since the Reformation, was the state of religion so cold in England. The Established Church had triumphed over all her enemies. Puritanism had ceased to become offensive, and had even become respectable. The age of fox-hunting parsons had commenced, and the clergy were the dependants of great families, easy in their manners, and fond of the pleasures of the table. They were not expected to be very great scholars, or very grave companions. If they read the service with propriety, did not scandalize their cause by gross indulgences, and did not meddle with the two exciting subjects of all ages,--politics and religion,--they were sure of peace and plenty. But their churches were comparatively deserted, and infidel opinions had been long undermining respect for the inst.i.tutions and ministers of religion. Swearing and drunkenness were fas.h.i.+onable vices among the higher cla.s.ses, while low pleasures and lamentable ignorance characterized the people. The dissenting sects were more religious, but were formal and cold. Their ministers preached, too often, a mere technical divinity, or a lax system of ethics. The Independents were inclined to a frigid Arminianism, and the Presbyterians were pa.s.sing through the change from ultra Calvinism to Arianism and Socinianism.
The reformation was not destined to come from Dissenters, but from the bosom of the Established Church, a reformation which bore the same relation to Protestantism as that effected by St. Francis bore to Roman Catholicism in the thirteenth century; a reformation among the poorer cla.s.ses, who did not wish to be separated from the Church Establishment.
[Sidenote: Early Life of Wesley.]
John Wesley belonged to a good family, his father being a respectable clergyman in a market town. He was born in 1703, was educated at Oxford, and for the church. At the age of twenty, he received orders from the Bishop of Oxford, and was, shortly after, chosen fellow of Lincoln College, and then Greek lecturer.
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