time it was possible for him to make his eloquence heard. Walpole may well have thought that he had crushed Bolingbroke for ever. He had, however, under-estimated the powers of the Tory leader. Though Bolingbroke could deliver no more orations, he was still master of his pen and of his persuasive tongue, and he set to work to weld together a parliamentary opposition out of the most discordant elements. Those elements were in the main three. There were in the House of Commons about fifty Jacobites, a small number of Tories accepting the House of Hanover, and a gradually-increasing body of Whigs sulky because Walpole did not admit them to a share of power. Of the latter the leader was William Pulteney, an indiscreet politician but an excellent speaker. Between Bolingbroke and Pulteney an alliance was struck, and by the end of 1726 they had combined in publishing The Craftsman, a weekly paper in which Walpole was held up to obloquy as erecting a ministerial despotism by the use of corruption.

23. The Excise Bill. 1733.-In 1733 Walpole gave a handle to the attacks of his enemies. There was an immense amount of smuggling and of other frauds on the customs revenue. To meet the difficulty Walpole proposed to establish a new system of levying the duties on tobacco, intending, as he gave out, to extend it subsequently to those on wine. According to this new system all tobacco imported was to be brought free of duty into warehouses under Government supervision. The duty would be paid by those who took it out for home consumption, and its sale would only be allowed at shops licensed for the purpose, in the same way that certain houses are licensed for the sale of beer at the present day. As the tax was really paid on an imported article, it would have been more prudent in Walpole if he had continued to call it a customs duty, as an excise was an unpopular form of taxation. He called it, however, an excise, probably because the sale of the tobacco was confined to licensed houses, as the sale of any other excisable article would be. He had, indeed, reason to hope that his plan would prove acceptable. In the first place if it were adopted smuggling would be far more difficult than it had hitherto been, because it would now be more easy to detect the sale of the smuggled article ; and in the second place not only would the public revenue be benefited, but the honest trader would be less liable to be undersold by the smuggler. A third advantage would also be gained. Hitherto goods imported in order to be subsequently exported had had to pay duty, which was only recoverable upon the

723

observance of intricate formalities accompanied by considerable expense. According to Walpole's plan, the tobacco stored in Government warehouses could be exported without any payment at all; and the export trade of the country would be encouraged by liberating it from unnecessary trammels.

24. The Defeat of the Excise Bill. 1733.-To the arguments which Walpole addressed to the intelligence of his hearers, he took care to add others addressed to their pockets. Almost all the members of the House of Commons were country gentlemen, and Walpole, therefore, reminded them that the revenue would be so increased ---at the expense of those who had bought smuggled goods that he would be able to remit the Land Tax. Walpole's proposals were indeed admirable, but Bolingbroke and Pulteney stirred up popular feeling against them by wild misrepresentations. The masses were persuaded to believe that Walpole wanted to subject them to a general excise, to search their houses at any hour without a warrant, and to raise the price of tobacco. All classes joined in the outcry. The very soldiers were no longer to be depended on. At last Walpole resolved to withdraw the Bill. "I will not," he once said in private conversation, "be the minister to enforce taxes at the expense of blood." It was, in short, wise to convert customs into excise, but it was not expedient. In this regard for expediency lay the sum of Walpole's political wisdom, and it was because he possessed it that the House of Hanover and the constitutional system connected with the House of Hanover rooted themselves in England. If, however, Walpole gave way before the nation, he resolved to be master of the Cabinet, and he summarily dismissed some of his principal colleagues who had been intriguing with the Opposition against him.

25. Disruption of the Opposition. 1734 1735.-Bolingbroke had won the trick, but he could not win the game. The Excise Bill was quickly forgotten, and Walpole's great services were again remembered. In 1734, in a new House of Commons, his supporters were nearly as numerous as before. Bolingbroke was never thoroughly trusted by the discontented Whigs, and in 1735 he retired to France, leaving English politics to shape themselves without his help.

26. The Family Compact. 1733.-Walpole's management of foreign affairs was as dexterous as his management of Parliament. He had hitherto not only kept England from embarking in war, but had contributed his aid to the restoration of peace on the

1733-1737

THE FAMILY COMPACT

725 Continent itself whenever this had been possible. In 1733 a war broke out, usually known as the War of the Polish Succession, but embracing the West of Europe as well. It was noteworthy that in this war France and Spain appeared in close alliance, and that they had signed a secret treaty, known as the Family Compact, which was directed against Austria and England. The two branches of the House of Bourbon were to act together; and the whole basis of Walpole's foreign policy was thus swept away. At the time when the death of Louis XV. was considered probable (see p. 707), it had been natural that the Duke of Orleans should see in an alliance with England a barrier against the claim likely to be put forward to the French throne by Philip V.; but all that was altered now. Not only was the Duke of Orleans dead, but Louis XV. had become a husband and a father, and the question of Philip's claim to the succession was therefore no longer important. France had recovered her military strength, and it was believed at the French court that a close alliance with Spain would enable her to dictate terms to Europe. When peace was signed in 1735 at Vienna, Austria ceded Naples and Sicily-with other smaller possessions in Italy-to Charles, the second surviving son of Philip V., whilst Lorraine was given to Stanislaus Leczinski (the father-in-law of Louis XV.), on the understanding that after his death it was to be merged in France. Walpole, who knew of the existence of the Family Compact soon after its signature, had abstained from joining in the war—perhaps thinking that the allies were too well occupied in Europe to meddle with England.

27. Dissensions in the Royal Family. 1737. In 1737 Walpole's position was weakened by two untoward events. A quarrel broke out between George II. and his eldest son Frederick, Prince of Wales; and the Prince, being turned out of the court, put himself at the head of the Opposition. Not long after this Queen Caroline, Walpole's truest friend, died.

Com

Pope,

I. The Reign of Common Sense.-Walpole had been hitherto successful because he had governed on principles of common sense. He had kept the peace and had allowed men to grow rich by leaving them to pursue their own callings without interference. mon sense was, indeed, the chief characteristic of the age. its leading poet, was conspicuous for felicity of expression and for the ease and neatness with which he dealt with topics relating to man in society. High imagination and the pursuit of ideal beauty had no place in his mind. In matters of religion it was much the same. Those who spoke and wrote on them abandoned the search for eternal verities, contenting themselves with asking where the balance of probability lay, or, at the most, what was the view most suitable to the cultivated reason. To speak of anyone's zeal or enthusiasm was regarded as opprobrious. In social life there was a coarseness which was the natural consequence of the temper of the day. Men drank heavily, and talked openly of their vices.

2. Smuggling in the West Indies. -Such a generation turned eagerly to the pursuit of wealth, and chafed at the restrictions which other nations attempted to place on its commerce. It happened that Spain—the weakest of European nations--had the most extended territory open to commercial enterprise. As in the days of Elizabeth (see p. 447), the Spanish Government tried to prevent the English from trading with its American dominions, whilst the Spanish colonists, on the other hand, were anxious to promote a trade by which they were benefited. It was notorious that English merchants did their best to evade the restriction imposed on them