256 1733. CHAP. return, Chesterfield became Lord Steward of the XVI. Household, and in Parliament, a frequent and admired speaker; but did not display all the patience he had promised, when he found the whole power of the state monopolised by Walpole. The excise scheme appeared a favourable opportunity for Chesterfield to claim a share. His three brothers in the House of Commons voted against the Bill, and some sarcasms upon it were ascribed to himself. Yet it was generally thought by the public that the Minister would scarcely choose to dismiss abruptly a man of so much ability and influence; and it was even doubted, whether the King's confidence in Walpole still stood unimpaired. The public was soon undeceived. The Bill had been dropped on the 11th of April; on the 13th, as Chesterfield was going up the great staircase of St. James's Palace, he was stopped by an attendant, and summoned home to surrender the White Staff.* At the same time were dismissed, as being leagued with him, Lord Clinton, a Lord of the Bedchamber, the Earl of Burlington, Captain of the Band of Pensioners, and three northern peers, who enjoyed lucrative sinecures in Scotland, the Duke of Montrose and the Earls of Marchmont and Stair. Nay, more; the Duke of Bolton and Lord Cobham, holding not offices in the Court, but commissions in the army, were deprived of their regiments on no other ground, and by an unjustifiable stretch of the prerogative. Thus was the King's unabated XVI. regard for his minister declared; but thus also was CHAP. the Opposition most strongly reinforced, and a new and real grievance afforded for their declamations. To stem in some degree the formidable attacks that might now be expected in the Upper House, Walpole determined to send there two of his most eminent commoners, the Attorney and the Solicitor General. The former became Lord Chief Justice, with the title of Hardwicke, the latter, Lord Chancellor, with the title of Talbot. Of Lord Hardwicke I shall have often to speak hereafter. Lord Talbot is less conspicuous in history, only because he was more brief in life; he died, but three years afterwards, at the age of fifty-two; and, even amidst the strife of parties, was universally lamented as a man of the highest legal talents, of irreproachable character, and most winning gentleness of manners. The year 1733 is also remarkable for the kindling of a new war, in which, however, England took no part, and of which, therefore, a slight sketch will be sufficient for my object. Augustus the Second, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony, having died in February, his kingdom was immediately exposed to the usual evils of an elective monarchy. One faction called to the throne King Stanislaus, who had already reigned over them; another proclaimed Augustus, son of the late sovereign. The former was supported by his son-in-law the King of France, the other by the Emperor Charles and the Czarina Anne of Russia. 1733. XVI. CHAP. Stanislaus set out from France in disguise, attended only by a single officer, and, after a series of romantic adventures, arrived safe at Warsaw, and was again hailed the rightful King of Poland. He had certainly on his side the greater part of the nation; but a large Russian army entering Lithuania carried every thing in favour of his rival. Stanislaus was compelled to shut himself up in Dantzick, where he was besieged by the Russian and Saxon troops, and from whence he made his escape with great difficulty, while the remainder of Poland submitting to the conqueror proclaimed King Augustus the Third. The Emperor had been withheld from taking any direct part in this struggle by the remonstrances of Walpole; but, in spite of that prudent and pacific minister, he had so warmly, though indirectly, befriended Augustus, as to become involved in a war with France and Spain. The great object, at this time, of the Queen of Spain (the King I need scarcely mention) was to obtain a crown for her son, Don Carlos. This young Prince was already Duke of Parma, having been brought over two years before, with the convoy of an English fleet, on the death of the last Duke; and though his accession was for some months delayed by the Duchess-Dowager declaring herself to be pregnant, she at length admitted her hopes to be groundless, and Don Carlos was installed.* It See Boyer's Polit. State, vol. xlii. pp. 321. and 407. The English Admiral was Sir Charles Wager. XVI. 1733. was now contemplated by the Spanish Court to CHAP. seize this opportunity of making him King of Naples; and Fleury having been reluctantly drawn into hostilities, was induced to co-operate in this design. Spain and France, thus agreed, obtained the assistance of the King of Sardinia at the very time when he was promising it at the Court of Vienna; and their united armies, suddenly bursting into the Milanese, over-ran the whole of Austrian Lombardy. Charles, on his part, found himself almost without allies. Russia, having secured her own objects, quietly withdrew from the quarrel. Denmark was insignificant; Holland timorous; and the Government of England, embarrassed by the approach of a general election, was less than ever inclined to plunge into foreign war. Under these circumstances, the campaign of 1734. 1734 was any thing but favourable to Charles, either in Italy or on the Rhine. At the battle of La Crocetta, near Parma, the Austrians lost several thousand men, and their commander, Count Mercy. A Spanish army assembling in Tuscany, under the Duke de Montemar, marched with Don Carlos to the conquest of Naples, where the Imperial troops were too few for effectual resistance, and where the natives, as usual, remained passive in the struggle. Montemar entered the capital without striking a blow, and afterwards completed * Muratori, Annal. d'Ital. vol. xii. p. 189. CHAP. his conquest by a victory at Bitonto, near Bari. XVI. Capua and Gaeta, into which the best Austrian 1734. troops had thrown themselves, surrendered to him after a protracted siege; Sicily, almost without opposition, yielded to his arms; and the young Spanish Prince was crowned King, under the title of Charles the Third-the same with which, on the death of his brother, in 1759, he succeeded to the throne of Spain.* On the Rhine, the Emperor had called from his retirement, and placed at the head of his army, that great General who had already humbled France and rivalled Marlborough. But even the genius of Eugene could not cope with the superior numbers opposed to him. He saw the French, who had crossed the Rhine under Marshal Berwick, invest and attack Philipsburg without being able to make an effort for its relief. The siege was still proceeding when the French sustained a loss which the gain of no fortress could compensate, their illustrious commander, Berwick, was killed by a cannon-ball. He died at nearly the same place, and in nearly the same manner, as the instructor in arms of his father, Marshal Turenne. "I have "seen at a distance," says Montesquieu, "in the "works of Plutarch, what great men were, in "Marshal Berwick I have seen what they are!" * Muratori, Annal. d'Ital. vol. xii. pp. 205-209. He adds, "Fra tanti soldati fatti prigioneri ne i Regni di Napoli e Sicilia, "la maggior parte de gli Italiani, ed anche molte Tedeschi si "arrolarono nell' esercito Spagnuolo." See also Campo Raso Coment. vol. ii. pp. 66—116. |