T XVII. 1737. had never risen to speak with more CHA P. ctance; but that, from his personal of the two great characters concerned, convinced that neither of them would aimself injured because any gentleman his opinion or vote freely in Parliament. He ad that he had the King's commands to acquaint them with the particulars of the message delivered to the Prince on the preceding day, and of His Royal Highness's answer; that 50,000l. a year, with the revenues of the Duchy of Cornwall, amounting to about 10,000l. more, formed a competent allowance for the heir apparent; and that the King could afford no more from the Civil List; that to interfere between father and son would be highly indecorous; and that no real precedent for it could be adduced, except under Henry the Sixth, a prince so weak, that the Parliament found it necessary to assume several rights and privileges to which they were not properly entitled. The King's ill health, however, made more impression than the minister's arguments, and greatly reduced the usual majority of the latter: nay, he would even have been left in a minority, had Wyndham been able to fulfil his promise when he answered for his friends. But the more ardent Tories were unwilling to give any vote in favour of the heir of Hanover, or against the authority of the Crown, and they left the House in a body, to the number of forty-five; a secession which, as it appears to me, exactly measures the strength of the XVII. * CHAP. persons not expected to survive. This circumstance, while it aggravated the undutiful conduct of the Prince, induced many more politicians to approve it. 1737. The King, on his part, at last hearing of his son's design, was persuaded by Walpole to send him a message, promising to settle a jointure upon the Princess, and, though not augmenting the Prince's income, to make it independent, and out of His Majesty's control. This message was de. livered by several great officers of state, especially Lord Hardwicke, who had just succeeded Lord Talbot as Chancellor; but it produced only some civil expressions from Frederick, without any change of purpose.† On the very next day, the 22d of February, 1737, Pulteney made his motion in the House of Commons, in the form of an Address, beseeching the King to settle upon the Prince 100,000l. a year, and promising that the House would enable him effectually to perform the same. He was seconded by Sir John Barnard. Their arguments, couched in very moderate and cautious terms, turned chiefly on historical precedents of heirs apparent and presumptive, who, it was maintained, had a right to a sufficient and settled income. Walpole began his reply by de "I heard this day, from a pretty good hand, that His "Majesty has been worse than they cared to own..... The "physicians say, that if he does get over this illness, he cannot "live a twelvemonth." Opinions of the Duchess of Marlborough, February 6. 1737. See also Dodington's Narrative. + Lord Hardwicke's Narrative. Hardwicke Papers. XVII. claring that he had never risen to speak with more CHA P. pain and reluctance; but that, from his personal knowledge of the two great characters concerned, 1737. he was convinced that neither of them would think himself injured because any gentleman gave his opinion or vote freely in Parliament. He said that he had the King's commands to acquaint them with the particulars of the message delivered to the Prince on the preceding day, and of His Royal Highness's answer; that 50,000l. a year, with the revenues of the Duchy of Cornwall, amounting to about 10,000l. more, formed a competent allowance for the heir apparent; and that the King could afford no more from the Civil List; that to interfere between father and son would be highly indecorous; and that no real precedent for it could be adduced, except under Henry the Sixth, a prince so weak, that the Parliament found it necessary to assume several rights and privileges to which they were not properly entitled. The King's ill health, however, made more impression than the minister's arguments, and greatly reduced the usual majority of the latter: nay, he would even have been left in a minority, had Wyndham been able to fulfil his promise when he answered for his friends. But the more ardent Tories were unwilling to give any vote in favour of the heir of Hanover, or against the authority of the Crown, and they left the House in a body, to the number of forty-five; a secession which, as it appears to me, exactly measures the strength of the CHAP. decided Jacobites in that House of Commons, It is XVII. remarkable, that in the preceding Parliament the 1737. Jacobite numbers were said to be almost the very same, being computed, in 1728, at fifty.* Wyndham himself, to maintain his influence over his party, though he spoke, found it expedient to refrain from voting. Thus, on the division, the Opposition was reduced to 204, while the minister who could still muster 234, prevailed. On the 25th, the same motion was made in the House of Lords by Carteret, but rejected by a very large majority; and a protest, on this occasion, was signed by only fourteen peers. The step which the Prince had taken on this occasion, though rash and violent, is not incapable of much defence: his next admits of none. Stung by his recent disappointment, and anxious at all hazards to show some public insult to his father and mother, he took the opportunity of the ensuing 31st of July, when the Princess was seized with the pains of childbirth. It was not till less than a month before that he had deigned to send the King and Queen any announcement of the approaching event. The whole Royal Family were then at Hampton Court, and all proper attendance for Her Royal Highness was awaiting her first summons. Nevertheless, no sooner did her pains begin, than the Prince, to the imminent danger of her life, hurried her in the middle of the night to Lon * See Hallam's Constit. Hist., vol. iii. p. 338. XVII. 1737. don, to the unaired palace of St. James's, without CHAP. the slightest intimation to the King and Queen, or to any of the great officers of state whom custom required to be present on such occasions. The King, however, hearing of this abrupt departure, immediately despatched Sir Robert Walpole and Lord Harrington to attend the birth; but they did not arrive till after the Princess was delivered of a daughter. The behaviour of Frederick to the Queen (for, on the first notice of her son's exploit, she too had hastened to St. James's, and was with the Princess at seven in the morning) is recorded by no better authority than Horace Walpole's, but seems highly probable, and well according with the rest of his conduct. "The gracious Prince, so "far from attempting an apology, spoke not a word "to his mother; but, on her retreat, gave her his "hand, led her into the street to her coach-still "dumb; but, a crowd being assembled at the gate, " he kneeled down in the dirt, and humbly kissed "Her Majesty's hand! Her indignation must "have shrunk into contempt ! " * Such feelings might, indeed, be justified by such actions. What can we think of him who runs the risk to lose his wife, rather than not insult his father; and who contrives to prove himself at once a careless husband, a froward son, and a foolish politician? Frederick very soon found it requisite, * Reminiscences, Works, vol. iv. p. 309. He repeats the same story in his Memoirs, vol. i. p. 64. |