XII. 1723. CHAP. cultivated, than it is from literary motives at the present day. In foreign affairs Carteret had succeeded to the great influence of Stanhope over the Court of the Palais Royal.* He confirmed it by immediately appointing Sir Luke Schaub Minister at Paris, as the former and the most friendly channel of communication with Dubois. In fact it was through Dubois that England for six years drew France into a close concert of measures in return, the Abbé, it has been said, but never shown, received a yearly pension from the English Government; and at all events it is certain, that it was partly at the application, and with the aid of George and his Ministers, that Dubois obtained first an Archbishop's mitre, and then a Cardinal's hat.† Carteret and Walpole could not long continue to agree. Walpole was aiming at a monopoly of power; Carteret was determined to hold fast a share of it. The one expected to find a dependent and not a colleague; the other, a superior and not a master. In this contest Carteret was backed (but very cautiously, and so as not to commit themselves) by Lord Carleton, Privy Seal, by "Englishman to know." Lord Chesterfield to Mr. Dayrolles, Sept. 15. 1752. * Dubois transferred his devotion to Carteret, as the minister "who was supported by Sunderland, and who boasted, that he "had succeeded to the influence, as well as to the principles, of "Stanhope. . . . . The friendship of Dubois increased the "consequence of Carteret." (Coxe's Walpole, vol. i. p. 179.) + See the Mémoires de Duclos, vol. ii. p. 81., and the letter of Stanhope in the Mém. Sécrets de Sevelinges, vol. i. p. 275. Sevelinges throws great doubt on the story of the pension from England. (p. 16.) XII. 1723. the Duke of Roxburgh, Secretary for Scotland, CHAP. and by Lord Cadogan, who had succeeded Marlborough as Commander in Chief; while, on the other hand, Townshend and all the other ministers were firmly linked to Walpole, and mainly guided by him. The Hanoverian courtiers and favourites were in like manner split in two sections. The Duchess of Kendal, who had a strong liking for the most powerful party, and a happy instinct in discerning it, sided with Walpole and Townshend, as she had before with Stanhope and Sunderland; and the brother ministers always speak of her in their letters as their firm friend, and the "good Duchess." On his part, Carteret had secured the Countess of Darlington, and her sister Madame de Platen. And thus the struggle for the Royal confidence on this occasion turned, perhaps, on the attractions of ladies, rather than on the merits of statesmen. It has also been alleged, that at Hanover Carteret endeavoured to strengthen his interest by promoting the King's German measures, which Townshend, more patriotically, withstood. Yet this does not seem very consistent with the charge shortly afterwards made on precisely the same authority against Townshend himself, as wholly Hanoverian. "Han"over is Lord Townshend's great merit," says the Duke of Newcastle.*" He endeavours to make all "measures Electoral," says old Horace Walpole.† * To Lord Harrington, April 23. 1730. CHAP. XII. Such was the state of things when the two Secretaries of State attended the King to Hanover, and 1723. when the pending contest came to an issue between them. At that time a marriage had been proposed between a daughter of Madame de Platen and the Count St. Florentin, son of La Vrillière, French secretary of state; but the Countess required, as a condition, that a dukedom should be granted to La Vrillière. This dukedom immediately became an object of eager interest with George the First, and Carteret instructed Sir Luke Schaub to make every exertion to obtain it from the Duke of Orleans. We should observe that this affair belonged to Carteret, as secretary for the southern department, in which France was comprised, and that the other secretary had no claim to interlope in his province. Nevertheless, Lord Townshend, unwilling to see an affair of so much interest in the hands of a rival, determined, if possible, to draw it from his management. With this view, and at the instigation of Walpole, he despatched his brother Horace to Paris, under the pretence of settling the accession of Portugal to the Quadruple Alliance, but in reality to watch the movements and counteract the influence of Schaub. In the midst of these cabals, suddenly died the Duke of Orleans, and it was then that Bolingbroke came into play. He perceived that the party of Walpole and Townshend was much the stronger, and would finally prevail; and he determined to pay court to them rather than to Carteret. XII. 1723. Accordingly he hastened to greet Horace Walpole CHAP. with many friendly assurances and much useful information; and exerted his influence with the Duke de Bourbon for his service. Nay, more, he threw into his hands one or two very favourable opportunities for pushing his pretensions by himself. But Horace Walpole, who had a rooted aversion to Bolingbroke, received all his overtures very much at arm's length, and wished to accept his intelligence without either trust or requital. As he writes to his brother: "I have made a good "use of my Lord Bolingbroke's information, with"out having given him any handle to be the negotiator of his Majesty's affairs."*"This," says Bolingbroke, "I freely own, I took a little unkindly, because I have acted a part which deserves "confidence, not suspicion." + But whatever might be the resentment of Bolingbroke, he was compelled to smother it: his restoration was entirely in the power and at the mercy of the English Ministers, and to obtain it, he could only continue his painful submission and unavailing services. With respect to the affair itself of the dukedom, neither Schaub nor Walpole could prevail. The French nobility considered the family of La Vrillière as not entitled to this distinction, and raised so loud a cry at the rumour of it, as to * Horace, to Robert Walpole, Dec. 15. 1723. Coxe's Life of Horace Lord Walpole. To Lord Harcourt, January 12. 1724. 1724. CHAP. render its execution almost impracticable. UltiXII. mately, Madame de Platen, being pacified by a 1724. portion of 10,000l. from King George, and no longer thinking a dukedom indispensable to a husband, allowed the marriage to take place without the required promotion. But a total breach had meanwhile ensued between the two English negotiators. "It is impossible," writes Horace Walpole, "for the King's interest to be carried on "here, so long as Sir Luke Schaub and I are to "act jointly together."* Thus it became necessary for the King to choose between Schaub and Horace Walpole; in other words, between their patronsCarteret and Townshend. With little hesitation, the King decided for the latter; Schaub was recalled, and Horace Walpole received credentials as ambassador to Paris. Nay, more, Townshend obtained the dismission of his rival with the same honours which had formerly smoothed his own. The Lord Lieutenancy of Ireland was bestowed upon Carteret; his office of Secretary of State was transferred to the Duke of Newcastle, and the ascendency of the brother ministers became wholly uncontrolled. Cadogan and Roxburgh bent down lowly before the storm, and it passed them over; and Carteret himself bore his defeat with great frankness and good humour. He owned that he considered himself very ill used, especially when * To Lord Townshend, March 22. 1724. Coxe's Life of Horace Lord Walpole. |