432) is, or was (size not given),
Germania
Princept (Halse, 1702).
Thomas Carlyle
hwiijk Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www.
hathitrust.
org/access_use#pd-google
? CHAP. XI. ] BELLEISLE AND THE COVENANT-BREAKERS. 381
April--May 1741.
To which, we perceive, the young King answered,
"Magnificent, indeed! " but would not bite all at once;
and rather preferred corresponding with Fleury, on
business points, keeping the matter dextrously hanging,
in an illuminated element of hope and contingency, for
the present.
K Belleisle, after we know not how many days, re-
turned to Dresden; perfected his work at Dresden, or
shoved it well forward, with "that Moravia" as bait.
"Yes, King of Moravia, you, your Polish Majesty, shall
be! " -- and it is said the simple creature did so style
himself, by and by, in certain rare Manifestoes, which
still exist in the cabinets of the curious. Belleisle
next, after only a few days, went to Munch en; to
operate on Karl Albert Kur-Baiern, a willing subject.
And, in short, Belleisle whirled along incessantly, torch
in hand; making his "circuit of the German Courts,"
-- details of said circuit not to be followed by us
farther. One small thing only I have found remember-
able; probably true, though vague. At Munchen, still
more out at Nymphenburg, the fine Country-Palace
not far off, there was of course long conferencing, long
consulting, secret and intense, between Belleisle with
his people and Karl Albert with his. Karl Albert, as
we know, was himself willing. But a certain Baron
von TJnertl, -- heavy-built Bavarian of the old type,
an old stager in the Bavarian Ministries, -- was of
far other disposition. One day, out at Nymphenburg,
Unertl got to the Council-room, while Belleisle and
Company were there: TJnertl found the Apartment
locked, absolutely no admittance; and heard voices,
the Kurfurst's and French voices, eagerly at work
inside. "Admit me, Gracious Herr; urn Gottes Willen,
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? 382 FIRST SILESIAN WAR. [book III'
April--May 1741.
me! " No admission. Unertl, in despair, rushed round
to the garden side of the Apartment; desperately
snatched a ladder; set it up to the window, and con-
jured the Gracious Highness: "For the love of Heaven,
my AMergnctdigster, don't! Have-no trade with those
French! Remember your illustrious Father, Kurfurst
Max, in the Eugene-Marlborough time, what a job he
made of it, building actual architecture on their big
promises, which proved mere acres of gilt balloon! "*
Words terribly prophetic; but they were without effect
on Karl Albert.
The rest of Belleisle's inflammatory circuitings and
extensive travellings, for he had many first and last in
this matter, shall be left to the fancy of the reader.
May 18th, he made formal Treaty with Karl Albert:
Treaty of Nymphenburg, "Karl Albert to be Kaiser;
Bavaria, with Austria Proper added to it, a Kingdom;
French armies, French moneys, and. other fine items. "**
Treaty to be kept dead secret; King Friedrich, for the
'present, would not accede. *** June 25th, after some
preliminary survey of the place, Belleisle made his
Entry into Frankfurt: magnificent in the extreme. And
still did not rest there; but had to rush about, back to
Versailles, to Dresden, hither, thither: it was not till
the last day of July that he fairly took up his abode
in Frankfurt; and, -- the Election eggs, so to speak,
being now all laid, -- set himself to hatch the same.
A process which lasted him six months longer, with
curious phenomena to mankind. Not till the middle
of August did he bring those 80,000 Armed Frenchmen
across the Rhine, "to secure peace in those parts, and
* Hormayr, Anemoncn, (cited above), ii. 152.
** Given in Adeluny, ii. 359. *** Ibid. 421.
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? OHAP. XI. ] BELLEISLE AND THE COVENANT-BREAKERS. 383
April--May 1741.
freedom of voting. " Not till November 4th had Kur-
Sachsen, with the Nightmares, finished that important
problem of the Bohemian Vote, "Bohemian Vote ex-
cluded for this time;" -- after which all was ready,
though still not in . the least hurry. November 20th,
came the first actual "Election-Conference (Wahl-
Conferenz)" in the libmer at Frankfurt; to which suc-
ceeded Two Months more of conferrings (upon almost
nothing at all): and finally, 24th January 1742, came
the Election itself, Karl Albert the man; poor wretch,
who never saw another good day in this world.
Belleisle during those six months was rather high
and airy, extremely magnificent; but did not want dis-
cretion: "more like a Kurfurst than an Ambassador;"
capable of "visiting Kur-Mainz, with servants pur-
posely in old liveries," -- where the case needed old,
where Kur-Mainz needed snubbing; not otherwise. *
"The Marechal de Belleisle," says an Eyewitness, of
some fame in those days, "comes out in a variety of
"parts, among us here; plays now the General, Inow
"the Philosopher, now the Minister of State, now the
"French Marquis; -- and does them all to perfection.
"Surely a master in his art. His Brother the Chevalier
"is one of the sensiblest and best-trained persons you
"can see. He has a penetrating intellect; is always
"occupied, and full of great schemes; and has never-
"theless a staid kind of manner. He is one of the
"most important Personages here; and in all things his
"Brother's right hand. "** In Frankfurt, both Belleisle
and his Brother were much respected, the Brother espe-
cially, as men of dignified behaviour and shining qua-
* Buchboltz, ii. 57 n.
** Von Locn, Kleine Schriftcn (cited in Adelong, ii. 400).
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? 384 FIRST SILESIAN WAK. [bOQK m.
April--May 1711.
lities; but as to their Hundred-and-thirty French Lords
and other Valetry, these by their extravagancies and
excesses (Ausschweifungen) made themselves extremely
detestable, it would appear. *
* Buchholz, ii. 54; in Adelung, ii. 398 n. , a French brocari on the sub-
ject, of sufficient emphasis.
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? CHAP. XII. ] SORROWS OF HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY. 385
April--May 1741.
CHAPTEK XII.
SORROWS OF HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY.
George II. did not hear of Mollwitz for above a
fortnight after it fell out; but he had no need of Moll-
witz to kindle his wrath or his activity in that matter. *
George II. had seen, all along, with natural manifold
aversion and indignation, these high attempts of his
Nephew. "Who is this new little King, that will not
let himself be snubbed, and laughed at, and led by the
nose, as his Father did; but seems to be taking a road
of his own, and tacitly defying us all? A very high
conduct indeed, for a Sovereign of that magnitude.
Aspires seemingly to be the leader among German
Princes; to reduce Hanover and us, -- us, with the
gold of England in our breeches-pocket, -- to the
second place? A reverend old Bishop of Lidge,
twitched by the rochet, and shaken hither and thither,
like a reverend old clothes-screen, till he agree to
stand still and conform. And now a Silesia seized
upon; a Pragmatic Sanction kicked to the winds: the
whole world to be turned topsyturvy, and Hanover
and us, with our breeches-pocket, reduced to? "
The emotions, the prognosticatings, and distracted
procedures of his Britannic Majesty, of which we have
ourselves seen somewhat, in this fermentation of the
elements, are copiously set down for us by the English
Dryasdust (mostly in unintelligible form): but, except
* Mollwitz first heard of in London, April 25th (14th); Subsidy of
500,0001. voted same day. London Gazetle (April 11th 14th, 1741); Commonr
Journals, xxiii. 705.
Carlylc, Frederick the Great. VI. 25
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? 386
FIRST SILESIAN WAR. [bOOk XII.
April--May 1711.
for sane purposes, one must be careful not to dwell on
them, to the sorrow of readers. Seldom was there such
a feat of Somnambulism, as that by the English and
their King in the next Twenty Years. To extract the
particle of sanity from it, and see how the poor Eng-
lish did get their own errand done withal, and Jen-
kins's Ear avenged, -- that is the one interesting point;
Dryasdust and the Nightmares shall, to all time, be
welcome to the others. Here are some Excerpts, a se-
lect few, which will perhaps be our readiest expedient
These do, under certain main aspects, shadow forth the
intricate posture of King George and his Nation, when
Belleisle, as Protagonistes or Chief Bully, stept down
into the ring, in that manner; asking, "Is there an
Antagonistes, then, or Chief Defender? " I will label
them, number them; and, with the minimum of needful
commentary, leave them to imaginative readers.
No. 1. Snatch of Parliamentary Eloquence by Mr. Viner
(19th April 1741).
The fuliginous explosions, more or less volcanic, which
went on in Parliament and in English society, against
Friedrich's Silesian Enterprise, for long years from this date,
are now all dead and avoidable, -- though they have left their
effects among us to this day. Perhaps readers would like to
see the one reasonable word I have fallen in with, of opposite
tendency; Mr. Viner's word, at the first starting of that
question: plainly sensible word, which, had it been attended
to (as it was not), might have saved us so much nonsense, not
of idle talk only, but of extremely serious deed which ensued
thereupon!
"London, 19th April 1741. This day" (Mollwitz not yet
known, Camp of Grottin too well known! ) "King George, in
"his own high person, comes down to the House of Lords,--
"which, like the Other House, is sunk painfully in Walpole
"Controversies, Spanish-War Controversies, of a merely
"domestic nature; -- and informs both Honourable Houses,
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? CHAP. XII. ] SORROWS OF HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY. 387
April--May 1741.
"with extreme caution, naming nobody, That he much wishes
"they would think of helping him in these alarming cir-
cumstances of the Celestial Balance, ready apparently to go
"heels uppermost. To which the general answer is, 'Yes,
"surely! ' -- with a vote of 300,000/. for her Hungarian
"Majesty, a few days hence. From those continents of Par-
"liamentary tufa, now fallen so waste and mournful, here
"is one little piece which ought to be extricated into day-
light:
'Mr. Viner (on his legs): * * "If I mistake not the true
'intention of the Address proposed,' in answer to his Majesty's
most gracious Speech from the Throne, 'we are invited to
'declare that we will oppose the King of Prussia in his attempts
'upon Silesia: a declaration in which I see not how any man
'can concur who knows not the nature of his Prussian Majesty's
'Claim, and the Laws of the German Empire' (nor do J,
Mr. V. )\ 'It ought therefore, Sir, to have been the first
'endeavour of those by whom this Address has been so
'zealously supported, to show that his Prussian Majesty's
'Claim, so publicly explained' (by Kanzler Ludwig, of Halle,
who, it seems, has staggered or convinced Mr. Viner), 'so firmly
'urged, and so strongly supported, is without foundation and
'reason, and is only one of those imaginary titles which Ambit
'tion may always find to the dominions of another. ' (Hear,
Mr. Viner! )"*
A most indispensable thing, surely. Which was never
done, nor can ever be done, but was assumed as either un-
necessary or else done of its own accord, by that Collective
Wisdom of England (with a sage George II. at the head of
it); who plunged into Dettingen, Fontenoy, Austrian Sub-
sidies, Aix-la-Chapelle, and foundation of the English
National Debt, among other strange things, in con-
sequence! --
Upon that of Kanzler Ludwig, and the "so public
Explanation" (which we slightly heard of long since),
here is another Note,--unless readers prefer to skip it:
* Tindal, xx. 491, gives the Royal Speech (date in a very slobbery
condition); gee also Coxe, House of Austria, iii. 365. Viner's Fragment of
a Speech is in Thackeray, Life of Chatham, i. 87.
25*
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? 388 FIRST SILESIAX WAR. [bOOK xn.
April--May 1741.
"That the Diplomatic and Political world is universally in
"travail at this time, no reader need be told; Europe every -
"where in dim anxiety, heavy-laden expectation (which to us
"has fallen so vacant); looking towards inevitable changes
"and the huge inane. All in travail; -- and already uttering
"printed Manifestoes, Patents, Deductions, and other public
"tmvail-shrieks of that kind. Printed; not to speak of the
"unprinted, of the oral which vanished on the spot; or even
"of the written which were shot forth by breathless estafettes,
"and unhappily did not vanish, but lie dn archives, still
"humming upon us, 'Won't you readme, then? ' -- Alas,
"except on compulsion, No! Life being precious (and time,
"which is the stuff of life), No! --
"AtReinsberg as elsewhere, at Eeinsberg first of all, it
"had been felt, in October last, that there would be Mani-
"festoes needed; learned Proof, the more irrefragable the
"better, of our Right to Silesia. It was settled there, Let
"Ludwig, Kanzler of the University of Halle, do it. " (Herr
Kanzler Ludwig, monster of Antiquarian, Legal and other
Learning there: wealthy, too, and close-fisted; whom we have
seen obliged to open his closed fist, and to do building in the
Friedrich Strasse, before now; NUssler, his son-in-law, naving
no money: -- as careless readers have perhaps forgotten? )
"Ludwig set about his new task with a proud joy. Ludwig
"knows that story, if he know anything. Long years ago
"he put forth a Chapter upon it; weighty Chapter; in a Book
"of weight, said judges; -- Book weighing, in pounds avoir-
"dupois and otherwise, none of us now knows what:* -- but,
"in after years, it used to be said by flatterers of the Kanzler,
"'Herr Kanzler, see the effect of Learning. It was you, it
"was your weighty Book, that caused all this World-tumult,
"and flung the Nations into one another's hair! ' Upon which
"the old Kanzler would blush: 'You do me too much
"honour! '
"Ludwig, directly on order given, gathered out his docu-
* Title of this weighty Performance (seePreuss, Thronbesteigitnq, p.
432) is, or was (size not given), Germania Princept (Halse, 1702). Preoss
says farther, "That Book li. c. 3 handles the Prussian claims: Jagerndorf
"being ? 13; Liegnitz, ? 14; Oppeln and Ratibor, ? 16; -- and that Ludwig
"had sent a Copy of this Argument'' (weighty Performance altogether?
Or Book ii. c. 3 of it, which would have had a better chance? ) "to King
"Friedrich, on the death of Kaiser Karl VT. "
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? CHAP. XII. ] SORROWS OF HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY. 389
April--May 1741.
"ments again, in the King's name this time; and promised
"something weighty by Newy ear's day at latest. " Doubtless
to the joy of Niissler, who has still no regular appointment,
though well deserving one. "And sure enough, on January
'' 7th, at Berlin,'in three languages,' Ludwig^ Deduction had
"come out; an eager Public waiting for it;* -- and at Berlin
'' it was generally thought to be conclusive. I have looked
"into Ludwig's Deduction, stern duty urging, in this instance
"for one: such portions as I read are nothing like so stupid as
"was expected; and in fact, are not to be called stupid at all,
'' but fit for their purpose, and moderately intelligible to those
"who need them, -- which happily we do not in this place.
Judicious Mr. Viner availed nothing against the
Proposed Address; any more than he would against the
Atlantic Tide, coming-in unanimous, under influence of
the Moon itself, -- as indeed this Address, and the
triumphant Subsidy which was voted in the rear of it,
may be said to have done. ** Subsidy of 300,000/. to
her Hungarian Majesty; which, with the 200,000/. al-
ready gone that road, makes a handsome Half-million
for the present Year. The first gush of the Britannic
Fountain, -- which flowed like an Amalthea's Horn
for seven years to come; refreshing Austria, and all
thirsty Pragmatic Nations, to defend the Keystone of
this Universe. Unluckily every guinea of it went, at
the same time, to encourage Austria in scorning King
Friedrich's offers to it; which perhaps are just offers,
thinks Mr. Viner; which once listened to, Pragmatic
Sanction would be safe. ***
* Title is, Rechtsgcgrundetes Eigenthum (in the Latin copies', Patrimo-
nium , and Propricle fondee en Droit in the French copies) des &c. , -- that
is to say, Legal Right of Property in the Royal-Electoral House of Branden-
burg to the Duchies and Principalities of Jagerndorf, Liegnitz, Brieg, Wohlau
(Berlin, 7th January 1741).
** Coxe, iii. 265.
*** Mr. Viner was of Pupham, or Pupholm, in Lincolnshire, for which
County he sat then, and for many years before and after', -- from about
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? 390 FIRST SILESIAN WAS. [book XU.
April--May 1741.
This Parliament is strong for Pragmatic Sanction,
and has high resentments against Walpole; in both
which points the New Parliament, just getting elected,
will rival and surpass it, -- especially in the latter
point, that of uprooting Walpole, which the Nation is
bent on, with a singular fury. Pragmatic Sanction like
to be ruined; and Walpole furiously thrown out: what
a pair of sorrows for poor George! During his late
Caroline's time, all went peaceably, and that of
"governing" was a mere pleasure; Walpole and
Caroline cunningly doing that for him, and making
him believe he was doing it. But now has come the
crisis, the collapse; and his poor Majesty left alone to
deal with it! --
No. 2. Constitutional Historian on the Phenomenon of Walpole
in England.
"For above Ten Years, Walpole himself," says my
Constitutional Historian (unpublished), "for almost Twenty
"Years, Walpole virtually and through others, has what
"they call 'governed'England; that is to say, has adjusted
"the conflicting Parliamentary Chaos into counterpoise, by
"what methods he had; and allowed England, with Walpole
"atop, to jumble whither it would and could. Of crooked
"things made straight by Walpole, of heroic performance or
"intention, legislative or administrative, by Walpole, nobody
"ever heard; never of the least handbreadth gained from the
"Night-Realm in England, on Walpole's part: enough if he
"could manage to keep the Parish Constable walking, and
"himself float atop. Which task (though intrinsically zero
"for the Community, but all-important to the Walpole, of
1713 till 1761, when he died. A solid, instructed man, say his contempora-
ries. "He was a friend of Bolingbroke's and had a house near Boling-
broke's Battersea one. " He is Great-great-grandfather to the present Mr.
Viner, and to the Countess De Grey and Ripon; which is an interesting
little fact.
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? CHAP. XII. ] SORROWS OF HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY. 391
April--May 1741.
"Constitutional Countries) is a task almost beyond the faculty
"of man, if the careless reader knew it!
"This task Walpole did, -- in a sturdy, deep-bellied, long-
'' headed, John-Bull fashion, not unworthy of recognition. A
"man of very forcible natural eyesight, strong natural heart,
"-- courage in him to all lengths; a very block of oak, or of
"oak-root, for natural strength. He was always very quiet
"with it, too; given to digest his victuals, and be peaceable
"with everybody. He had tt>> rule, that stood in place of
"many: To keep out of every business which it was possible
"for human wisdom to stave aside. 'What good will you get
"of going into that? Parliamentary criticism, argument and
"botheration! Leave well alone. And even leave ill alone:
"-- are you the tradesman to tinker leaky vessels in England?
"You will not want for work. Mind your pudding, and say
'' little! ' At home and abroad, that was the safe secret. For,
'' in Foreign Politics, his rule was analogous: 'Mind your own
"affairs. You are an Island, you can do without Foreign Po-
"litics; Peace, keep Peace with everybody: what, in the Devil's
"name, have you to do with those dog-worryings over Seas?
"Once more, mind your pudding! ' Not so bad a rule; indeed
"it is the better part of an extremely good one; -- and you
"might reckon it the real rule for a pious Britannic Island
"(reverent of God, and contemptuous of the Devil) in times of
"general Downbreak and Spiritual Bankruptcy, when quar-
"rellings of Sovereigns are apt to be mere dog-worryings, and
"Devil's work, not good to interfere in.
"In this manner, Walpole, by solid John-Bull faculty (and
"methods of his own), had balanced the Parliamentary swag-
"gings and clashings, for a great while; and England had
"jumbled whither it could, always in a stupid, but also in a
"peaceable way. As to those same 'methods of his own,'
"they were -- in fact they were Bribery. Actual purchase of
"votes by money slipt into the hand. Go straight to the
"point. 'The direct real method this,' thinks Walpole: 'is
"there in reality any other? ' A terrible question to Uonstitu-
"tional Countries; which, I hear, has never been resolved in
"the negative, by the modern improvements of science.
"Changes of form have introduced themselves; the outward
"process, I hear, is now quite different. According as the
"fashions and conditions alter, -- according a3 you have a
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? 392 FIRST SILESIAN WAR. [book xn.
April--May 1741.
"Fourth Estate developed, or a Fourth Estate still in the grub
"stage and only developing, -- much variation of outward
"process is conceivable.
"But Votes, under pain of Death Official, are necessary
"to your poor Walpole: and votes, 1 hear, are still bidden
"for, and bought. You may buy them by money down (which
"is felony, and theft simple, against the poor Nation); or by
"preferments and appointments of the unmeritorious man, --
"which is felony double-distilled (far deadlier, though more
"refined), and theft most compound; theft, not of the poor
"Nation's money, but of its soul and body so far, and of all
"its moneys and temporal and spiritual interests whatsoever;
"theft, you may say, of collops cut from its side, and poison
put into its heart, poor Nation! Or again, you may buy, not
"of the Third Estate in such ways, but of the Fourth, or of
"the Fourth and Third together, in other still more felonious
"and deadly, though refined ways. But doing claptraps,
"namely; letting off Parliamentary blue-lights, to awaken
"the Sleeping Swineries, and charm them into diapason for
"you, -- what a music! Or, without claptrap or previous
"felony of your own, you may feloniously, in the pinch of
"things, make truce with the evident Demagogos, and Son of
"Nox and of Perdition, who has got 'within those walls' of
"yours, and is grown important to you by the Awakened
"Swineries, risen into alt, that follow him. Him you may, in
"your dire hunger of votes, consent to comply with; his
"Anarchies you will pass for him into 'Laws,' as you are
"pleased to term them;--instead of pointing to the whipping-
post, and to his wicked long ears, which are so fit to be
"nailed there, and of sternly recommending silence, which
"were the salutary thing. -- Buying may be done in a great
"variety of ways. The question, How you buy? is not, on
"the moral side, an important one. Nay, as there is a beauty
"in going straight to the point, and by that course there is
"likely to be the minimum of mendacity for you, perhaps the
"direct money-method is a shade less damnable than any of
"the others since discovered; -- while, in regard to practical
"damage resulting, it is of childlike harmlessness in com-
"parison!
"That was Walpole's method; with this to aid his great
"natural faculty, long-headed, deep-bellied, suitable to the
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? CHAP. XII. ] SORROWS OF HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY. 393
April--May 1741.
"English Parliament and Nation, he went along with perfect
"success for ten or twenty years. And 'it mighthave been for
"longer, -- had not the English Nation accidentally come to
"wish, that it should cease jumbling nowhither; and try to
"jumble somewhither, at least for a little while, or important
"business that had risen for England in a certain quarter.
"Had it not been for Jenkins's Ear blazing out in the dark
"English brain, Walpole might have lasted still a long while.
"But his fate lay there: -- the first Business vital to England
"which might turn up; and this chanced to be the Spanish
"War. How vital, readers shall see anon. Walpole, know-
"ing well enough in what state his War apparatus was, and
"that of all his Apparatuses there was none in a working
"state, but the Parliamentary one, -- resisted the Spanish
"War; stood in the door against it, with a rhinoceros deter-
"mination, nay almost something of a mastiff's; resolute not
"to admit it, to admit death as soon. Doubtless he had a
'' feeling it would be death, the sagacious man: -- and such it
"is now proving; the Walpole Ministry dying by inches from
"it; dying hard, but irremediably.
"The English Nation was immensely astonished, which
"Walpole was not, any more than at the other Laws of
"Nature, to find Walpole's War-apparatus in such a condi-
"tion. All his Apparatuses, Walpole guesses, are in no
"better, if it be not the Parliamentary one. The English
"Nation is immensely astonished, which Walpole againtis not,
"to find that his Parliamentary Apparatus has been kept in
"gear and smooth going by the use of oil:'Miraculous Scandul
"of Scandals! ' thinks the English Nation. 'Miracle? Law of
"Nature, you fools! ' thinks Walpole. And in fact there is
"such a storm roaring in England, in those and in the late
"and the coming months, as threatens to be dangerous to
"high roofs, -- dangerous to Walpole's head at one time.
"Storm such as had not been witnessed in men's memory; all
"manner of Counties and Constituencies, with solemn indig-
nations charging their representatives to search into that
'' miraculous Scandal of Scandals, Law of Nature, or whatever
"it may be; and abate the same, at their peril.
"To the now reader there is something almost pathetic in
"these solemn indignations, and high resolves to have Purity
"of Parliament and thorough Administrative Keform, in spite
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? 394 FIRST SILESIAN WAR. [bOOK Xn.
April--May 1741.
"of Nature and the Constitutional Stars;-- and nothing I
"have met with, not even the Prussian Dryasdust, is so un-
"sufferably wearisome, or can pretend to equal in depth of
"dull inanity, to ingenuous. livingreaders, as our poor English
"Dryasdust's interminable, often-repeated Narratives, volume
"after volume, of the debatings and colleaguings, the tossings
"and tumults, fruitless and endless, in Nation and National
"Palaver, which ensued thereupon. iWalpole (in about a
"year hence), * though he stuck to the ground like a rhino-
"ceros, was got rolled out. And a Successor, and series of
"Successors, in the bright brand-new state, was got rolled in;
"with immense shouting from mankind: -- but up to this date
"we have no reason to believe that the Laws of Nature were
"got abrogated on that occasion, or that the constitutional
"stars have much altered their courses since. "
That Walpole will probably be lost, goes much
home to the Royal bosom, in these troublous Spring
months of 1741, as it has done and will do. And here,
emerging from the Spanish Main just now, is a second
sorrow, which might quite transfix the Royal bosom,
and drive Majesty itself to despair; awakening such in-
soluble questions, -- furnishing such proof, that Wal-
pole <<md a good few other persons (persons, and also
things, and ideas and practices, deep-rooted in the
Country) stand much in need of being lost, if England
is to go a good road!
The Spanish War being of moment to us here, we
will let our Constitutional Historian explain, in his own
dialect, How it was so vital to England; and shall even
subjoin what he gives as History of it, such being so
admirably succinct, for one quality.
* February lSth (2d), 1742, quitting the House after bad usage there,
said he would never enter it again; nor did: February 22d, resigned in
favour of Pulteney and Company (Tindal, xx. 530; Thackeray, i. 46).
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? CHAP. XII. ] SORROWS OF HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY. 395
April--May 1741.
No. 3. Ofthe Spanish War, or the Jenkins's-Ear Question.
"There was real cause for a War with Spain. It is one of
"the few cases, this, of a war from necessity. Spain, by
"Decree of the Pope, -- some Pope long ago, whose name we
"will not remember, in solemn Conclave, drawing accurately
"'his Meridian Line,' on I know not what Telluric or Uranic
"principles, no doubt with great accuracy, 'between Portugal
"and Spain,' -- was proprietor of all those Seas and Con-
"tinents. And now England, in the interim, by Decree of
"the Eternal Destinies, had clearly come to have property
"there, too; and to be practically much concerned in that
"theoretic question of the Pope's Meridian. There was no
"reconciling of theory with fact. 'Ours indisputably," said
"Spain, with loud articulate voice; 'Holiness the Pope made
"it ours! ' -- while fact and the English, by Decree of the
"Eternal Destinies, had been grumbling inarticulately the
"other way, for almost Two Hundred years past, and no
"result had.
"In Oliver Cromwell's time, it used to be said, 'With
"Spain, in Europe, there may be peace or war; but between
"the Tropics it is always war. ' A state of things well re-
cognised by Oliver, and acted on, according to his op-
"portunities. No settlement was had in Oliver's brief time;
"nor could any be got since, when it was becoming yearly
"more pressing. Bucaniers, desperate naval gentlemen living
"on boucan, or hung beef; who are also called Flibustiers
"(Flibutiers, "Freebooters," in French pronunciation, which
"is since grown strangely into Filibusters, Fillibustiers, and
"other mad forms, in the Yankee Newspapers now current):
'' readers have heard of those dumb methods of protest. Dumb
"and furious; which could bring no settlement; but which did
"astonish the Pope's Decree, slashing it with cutlasses and
"sea-cannon, in that manner, and circuitously forwarded a
'' settlement. Settlement was becoming yearly more needful:
"and, ever since the Treaty of Utrecht especially, there had
"been an incessant haggle going on, to produce one; without
"the least effect hitherto. What embassyings, bargainings,
"bargain-breakings; what galloping of estafettes; acres of
"diplomatic paper, now fallen to the spiders, who always
"privately were the real owners! Not in the Treaty of Utrecht,
?
? CHAP. XI. ] BELLEISLE AND THE COVENANT-BREAKERS. 381
April--May 1741.
To which, we perceive, the young King answered,
"Magnificent, indeed! " but would not bite all at once;
and rather preferred corresponding with Fleury, on
business points, keeping the matter dextrously hanging,
in an illuminated element of hope and contingency, for
the present.
K Belleisle, after we know not how many days, re-
turned to Dresden; perfected his work at Dresden, or
shoved it well forward, with "that Moravia" as bait.
"Yes, King of Moravia, you, your Polish Majesty, shall
be! " -- and it is said the simple creature did so style
himself, by and by, in certain rare Manifestoes, which
still exist in the cabinets of the curious. Belleisle
next, after only a few days, went to Munch en; to
operate on Karl Albert Kur-Baiern, a willing subject.
And, in short, Belleisle whirled along incessantly, torch
in hand; making his "circuit of the German Courts,"
-- details of said circuit not to be followed by us
farther. One small thing only I have found remember-
able; probably true, though vague. At Munchen, still
more out at Nymphenburg, the fine Country-Palace
not far off, there was of course long conferencing, long
consulting, secret and intense, between Belleisle with
his people and Karl Albert with his. Karl Albert, as
we know, was himself willing. But a certain Baron
von TJnertl, -- heavy-built Bavarian of the old type,
an old stager in the Bavarian Ministries, -- was of
far other disposition. One day, out at Nymphenburg,
Unertl got to the Council-room, while Belleisle and
Company were there: TJnertl found the Apartment
locked, absolutely no admittance; and heard voices,
the Kurfurst's and French voices, eagerly at work
inside. "Admit me, Gracious Herr; urn Gottes Willen,
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? 382 FIRST SILESIAN WAR. [book III'
April--May 1741.
me! " No admission. Unertl, in despair, rushed round
to the garden side of the Apartment; desperately
snatched a ladder; set it up to the window, and con-
jured the Gracious Highness: "For the love of Heaven,
my AMergnctdigster, don't! Have-no trade with those
French! Remember your illustrious Father, Kurfurst
Max, in the Eugene-Marlborough time, what a job he
made of it, building actual architecture on their big
promises, which proved mere acres of gilt balloon! "*
Words terribly prophetic; but they were without effect
on Karl Albert.
The rest of Belleisle's inflammatory circuitings and
extensive travellings, for he had many first and last in
this matter, shall be left to the fancy of the reader.
May 18th, he made formal Treaty with Karl Albert:
Treaty of Nymphenburg, "Karl Albert to be Kaiser;
Bavaria, with Austria Proper added to it, a Kingdom;
French armies, French moneys, and. other fine items. "**
Treaty to be kept dead secret; King Friedrich, for the
'present, would not accede. *** June 25th, after some
preliminary survey of the place, Belleisle made his
Entry into Frankfurt: magnificent in the extreme. And
still did not rest there; but had to rush about, back to
Versailles, to Dresden, hither, thither: it was not till
the last day of July that he fairly took up his abode
in Frankfurt; and, -- the Election eggs, so to speak,
being now all laid, -- set himself to hatch the same.
A process which lasted him six months longer, with
curious phenomena to mankind. Not till the middle
of August did he bring those 80,000 Armed Frenchmen
across the Rhine, "to secure peace in those parts, and
* Hormayr, Anemoncn, (cited above), ii. 152.
** Given in Adeluny, ii. 359. *** Ibid. 421.
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? OHAP. XI. ] BELLEISLE AND THE COVENANT-BREAKERS. 383
April--May 1741.
freedom of voting. " Not till November 4th had Kur-
Sachsen, with the Nightmares, finished that important
problem of the Bohemian Vote, "Bohemian Vote ex-
cluded for this time;" -- after which all was ready,
though still not in . the least hurry. November 20th,
came the first actual "Election-Conference (Wahl-
Conferenz)" in the libmer at Frankfurt; to which suc-
ceeded Two Months more of conferrings (upon almost
nothing at all): and finally, 24th January 1742, came
the Election itself, Karl Albert the man; poor wretch,
who never saw another good day in this world.
Belleisle during those six months was rather high
and airy, extremely magnificent; but did not want dis-
cretion: "more like a Kurfurst than an Ambassador;"
capable of "visiting Kur-Mainz, with servants pur-
posely in old liveries," -- where the case needed old,
where Kur-Mainz needed snubbing; not otherwise. *
"The Marechal de Belleisle," says an Eyewitness, of
some fame in those days, "comes out in a variety of
"parts, among us here; plays now the General, Inow
"the Philosopher, now the Minister of State, now the
"French Marquis; -- and does them all to perfection.
"Surely a master in his art. His Brother the Chevalier
"is one of the sensiblest and best-trained persons you
"can see. He has a penetrating intellect; is always
"occupied, and full of great schemes; and has never-
"theless a staid kind of manner. He is one of the
"most important Personages here; and in all things his
"Brother's right hand. "** In Frankfurt, both Belleisle
and his Brother were much respected, the Brother espe-
cially, as men of dignified behaviour and shining qua-
* Buchboltz, ii. 57 n.
** Von Locn, Kleine Schriftcn (cited in Adelong, ii. 400).
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? 384 FIRST SILESIAN WAK. [bOQK m.
April--May 1711.
lities; but as to their Hundred-and-thirty French Lords
and other Valetry, these by their extravagancies and
excesses (Ausschweifungen) made themselves extremely
detestable, it would appear. *
* Buchholz, ii. 54; in Adelung, ii. 398 n. , a French brocari on the sub-
ject, of sufficient emphasis.
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? CHAP. XII. ] SORROWS OF HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY. 385
April--May 1741.
CHAPTEK XII.
SORROWS OF HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY.
George II. did not hear of Mollwitz for above a
fortnight after it fell out; but he had no need of Moll-
witz to kindle his wrath or his activity in that matter. *
George II. had seen, all along, with natural manifold
aversion and indignation, these high attempts of his
Nephew. "Who is this new little King, that will not
let himself be snubbed, and laughed at, and led by the
nose, as his Father did; but seems to be taking a road
of his own, and tacitly defying us all? A very high
conduct indeed, for a Sovereign of that magnitude.
Aspires seemingly to be the leader among German
Princes; to reduce Hanover and us, -- us, with the
gold of England in our breeches-pocket, -- to the
second place? A reverend old Bishop of Lidge,
twitched by the rochet, and shaken hither and thither,
like a reverend old clothes-screen, till he agree to
stand still and conform. And now a Silesia seized
upon; a Pragmatic Sanction kicked to the winds: the
whole world to be turned topsyturvy, and Hanover
and us, with our breeches-pocket, reduced to? "
The emotions, the prognosticatings, and distracted
procedures of his Britannic Majesty, of which we have
ourselves seen somewhat, in this fermentation of the
elements, are copiously set down for us by the English
Dryasdust (mostly in unintelligible form): but, except
* Mollwitz first heard of in London, April 25th (14th); Subsidy of
500,0001. voted same day. London Gazetle (April 11th 14th, 1741); Commonr
Journals, xxiii. 705.
Carlylc, Frederick the Great. VI. 25
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? 386
FIRST SILESIAN WAR. [bOOk XII.
April--May 1711.
for sane purposes, one must be careful not to dwell on
them, to the sorrow of readers. Seldom was there such
a feat of Somnambulism, as that by the English and
their King in the next Twenty Years. To extract the
particle of sanity from it, and see how the poor Eng-
lish did get their own errand done withal, and Jen-
kins's Ear avenged, -- that is the one interesting point;
Dryasdust and the Nightmares shall, to all time, be
welcome to the others. Here are some Excerpts, a se-
lect few, which will perhaps be our readiest expedient
These do, under certain main aspects, shadow forth the
intricate posture of King George and his Nation, when
Belleisle, as Protagonistes or Chief Bully, stept down
into the ring, in that manner; asking, "Is there an
Antagonistes, then, or Chief Defender? " I will label
them, number them; and, with the minimum of needful
commentary, leave them to imaginative readers.
No. 1. Snatch of Parliamentary Eloquence by Mr. Viner
(19th April 1741).
The fuliginous explosions, more or less volcanic, which
went on in Parliament and in English society, against
Friedrich's Silesian Enterprise, for long years from this date,
are now all dead and avoidable, -- though they have left their
effects among us to this day. Perhaps readers would like to
see the one reasonable word I have fallen in with, of opposite
tendency; Mr. Viner's word, at the first starting of that
question: plainly sensible word, which, had it been attended
to (as it was not), might have saved us so much nonsense, not
of idle talk only, but of extremely serious deed which ensued
thereupon!
"London, 19th April 1741. This day" (Mollwitz not yet
known, Camp of Grottin too well known! ) "King George, in
"his own high person, comes down to the House of Lords,--
"which, like the Other House, is sunk painfully in Walpole
"Controversies, Spanish-War Controversies, of a merely
"domestic nature; -- and informs both Honourable Houses,
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? CHAP. XII. ] SORROWS OF HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY. 387
April--May 1741.
"with extreme caution, naming nobody, That he much wishes
"they would think of helping him in these alarming cir-
cumstances of the Celestial Balance, ready apparently to go
"heels uppermost. To which the general answer is, 'Yes,
"surely! ' -- with a vote of 300,000/. for her Hungarian
"Majesty, a few days hence. From those continents of Par-
"liamentary tufa, now fallen so waste and mournful, here
"is one little piece which ought to be extricated into day-
light:
'Mr. Viner (on his legs): * * "If I mistake not the true
'intention of the Address proposed,' in answer to his Majesty's
most gracious Speech from the Throne, 'we are invited to
'declare that we will oppose the King of Prussia in his attempts
'upon Silesia: a declaration in which I see not how any man
'can concur who knows not the nature of his Prussian Majesty's
'Claim, and the Laws of the German Empire' (nor do J,
Mr. V. )\ 'It ought therefore, Sir, to have been the first
'endeavour of those by whom this Address has been so
'zealously supported, to show that his Prussian Majesty's
'Claim, so publicly explained' (by Kanzler Ludwig, of Halle,
who, it seems, has staggered or convinced Mr. Viner), 'so firmly
'urged, and so strongly supported, is without foundation and
'reason, and is only one of those imaginary titles which Ambit
'tion may always find to the dominions of another. ' (Hear,
Mr. Viner! )"*
A most indispensable thing, surely. Which was never
done, nor can ever be done, but was assumed as either un-
necessary or else done of its own accord, by that Collective
Wisdom of England (with a sage George II. at the head of
it); who plunged into Dettingen, Fontenoy, Austrian Sub-
sidies, Aix-la-Chapelle, and foundation of the English
National Debt, among other strange things, in con-
sequence! --
Upon that of Kanzler Ludwig, and the "so public
Explanation" (which we slightly heard of long since),
here is another Note,--unless readers prefer to skip it:
* Tindal, xx. 491, gives the Royal Speech (date in a very slobbery
condition); gee also Coxe, House of Austria, iii. 365. Viner's Fragment of
a Speech is in Thackeray, Life of Chatham, i. 87.
25*
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? 388 FIRST SILESIAX WAR. [bOOK xn.
April--May 1741.
"That the Diplomatic and Political world is universally in
"travail at this time, no reader need be told; Europe every -
"where in dim anxiety, heavy-laden expectation (which to us
"has fallen so vacant); looking towards inevitable changes
"and the huge inane. All in travail; -- and already uttering
"printed Manifestoes, Patents, Deductions, and other public
"tmvail-shrieks of that kind. Printed; not to speak of the
"unprinted, of the oral which vanished on the spot; or even
"of the written which were shot forth by breathless estafettes,
"and unhappily did not vanish, but lie dn archives, still
"humming upon us, 'Won't you readme, then? ' -- Alas,
"except on compulsion, No! Life being precious (and time,
"which is the stuff of life), No! --
"AtReinsberg as elsewhere, at Eeinsberg first of all, it
"had been felt, in October last, that there would be Mani-
"festoes needed; learned Proof, the more irrefragable the
"better, of our Right to Silesia. It was settled there, Let
"Ludwig, Kanzler of the University of Halle, do it. " (Herr
Kanzler Ludwig, monster of Antiquarian, Legal and other
Learning there: wealthy, too, and close-fisted; whom we have
seen obliged to open his closed fist, and to do building in the
Friedrich Strasse, before now; NUssler, his son-in-law, naving
no money: -- as careless readers have perhaps forgotten? )
"Ludwig set about his new task with a proud joy. Ludwig
"knows that story, if he know anything. Long years ago
"he put forth a Chapter upon it; weighty Chapter; in a Book
"of weight, said judges; -- Book weighing, in pounds avoir-
"dupois and otherwise, none of us now knows what:* -- but,
"in after years, it used to be said by flatterers of the Kanzler,
"'Herr Kanzler, see the effect of Learning. It was you, it
"was your weighty Book, that caused all this World-tumult,
"and flung the Nations into one another's hair! ' Upon which
"the old Kanzler would blush: 'You do me too much
"honour! '
"Ludwig, directly on order given, gathered out his docu-
* Title of this weighty Performance (seePreuss, Thronbesteigitnq, p.
432) is, or was (size not given), Germania Princept (Halse, 1702). Preoss
says farther, "That Book li. c. 3 handles the Prussian claims: Jagerndorf
"being ? 13; Liegnitz, ? 14; Oppeln and Ratibor, ? 16; -- and that Ludwig
"had sent a Copy of this Argument'' (weighty Performance altogether?
Or Book ii. c. 3 of it, which would have had a better chance? ) "to King
"Friedrich, on the death of Kaiser Karl VT. "
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? CHAP. XII. ] SORROWS OF HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY. 389
April--May 1741.
"ments again, in the King's name this time; and promised
"something weighty by Newy ear's day at latest. " Doubtless
to the joy of Niissler, who has still no regular appointment,
though well deserving one. "And sure enough, on January
'' 7th, at Berlin,'in three languages,' Ludwig^ Deduction had
"come out; an eager Public waiting for it;* -- and at Berlin
'' it was generally thought to be conclusive. I have looked
"into Ludwig's Deduction, stern duty urging, in this instance
"for one: such portions as I read are nothing like so stupid as
"was expected; and in fact, are not to be called stupid at all,
'' but fit for their purpose, and moderately intelligible to those
"who need them, -- which happily we do not in this place.
Judicious Mr. Viner availed nothing against the
Proposed Address; any more than he would against the
Atlantic Tide, coming-in unanimous, under influence of
the Moon itself, -- as indeed this Address, and the
triumphant Subsidy which was voted in the rear of it,
may be said to have done. ** Subsidy of 300,000/. to
her Hungarian Majesty; which, with the 200,000/. al-
ready gone that road, makes a handsome Half-million
for the present Year. The first gush of the Britannic
Fountain, -- which flowed like an Amalthea's Horn
for seven years to come; refreshing Austria, and all
thirsty Pragmatic Nations, to defend the Keystone of
this Universe. Unluckily every guinea of it went, at
the same time, to encourage Austria in scorning King
Friedrich's offers to it; which perhaps are just offers,
thinks Mr. Viner; which once listened to, Pragmatic
Sanction would be safe. ***
* Title is, Rechtsgcgrundetes Eigenthum (in the Latin copies', Patrimo-
nium , and Propricle fondee en Droit in the French copies) des &c. , -- that
is to say, Legal Right of Property in the Royal-Electoral House of Branden-
burg to the Duchies and Principalities of Jagerndorf, Liegnitz, Brieg, Wohlau
(Berlin, 7th January 1741).
** Coxe, iii. 265.
*** Mr. Viner was of Pupham, or Pupholm, in Lincolnshire, for which
County he sat then, and for many years before and after', -- from about
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? 390 FIRST SILESIAN WAS. [book XU.
April--May 1741.
This Parliament is strong for Pragmatic Sanction,
and has high resentments against Walpole; in both
which points the New Parliament, just getting elected,
will rival and surpass it, -- especially in the latter
point, that of uprooting Walpole, which the Nation is
bent on, with a singular fury. Pragmatic Sanction like
to be ruined; and Walpole furiously thrown out: what
a pair of sorrows for poor George! During his late
Caroline's time, all went peaceably, and that of
"governing" was a mere pleasure; Walpole and
Caroline cunningly doing that for him, and making
him believe he was doing it. But now has come the
crisis, the collapse; and his poor Majesty left alone to
deal with it! --
No. 2. Constitutional Historian on the Phenomenon of Walpole
in England.
"For above Ten Years, Walpole himself," says my
Constitutional Historian (unpublished), "for almost Twenty
"Years, Walpole virtually and through others, has what
"they call 'governed'England; that is to say, has adjusted
"the conflicting Parliamentary Chaos into counterpoise, by
"what methods he had; and allowed England, with Walpole
"atop, to jumble whither it would and could. Of crooked
"things made straight by Walpole, of heroic performance or
"intention, legislative or administrative, by Walpole, nobody
"ever heard; never of the least handbreadth gained from the
"Night-Realm in England, on Walpole's part: enough if he
"could manage to keep the Parish Constable walking, and
"himself float atop. Which task (though intrinsically zero
"for the Community, but all-important to the Walpole, of
1713 till 1761, when he died. A solid, instructed man, say his contempora-
ries. "He was a friend of Bolingbroke's and had a house near Boling-
broke's Battersea one. " He is Great-great-grandfather to the present Mr.
Viner, and to the Countess De Grey and Ripon; which is an interesting
little fact.
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? CHAP. XII. ] SORROWS OF HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY. 391
April--May 1741.
"Constitutional Countries) is a task almost beyond the faculty
"of man, if the careless reader knew it!
"This task Walpole did, -- in a sturdy, deep-bellied, long-
'' headed, John-Bull fashion, not unworthy of recognition. A
"man of very forcible natural eyesight, strong natural heart,
"-- courage in him to all lengths; a very block of oak, or of
"oak-root, for natural strength. He was always very quiet
"with it, too; given to digest his victuals, and be peaceable
"with everybody. He had tt>> rule, that stood in place of
"many: To keep out of every business which it was possible
"for human wisdom to stave aside. 'What good will you get
"of going into that? Parliamentary criticism, argument and
"botheration! Leave well alone. And even leave ill alone:
"-- are you the tradesman to tinker leaky vessels in England?
"You will not want for work. Mind your pudding, and say
'' little! ' At home and abroad, that was the safe secret. For,
'' in Foreign Politics, his rule was analogous: 'Mind your own
"affairs. You are an Island, you can do without Foreign Po-
"litics; Peace, keep Peace with everybody: what, in the Devil's
"name, have you to do with those dog-worryings over Seas?
"Once more, mind your pudding! ' Not so bad a rule; indeed
"it is the better part of an extremely good one; -- and you
"might reckon it the real rule for a pious Britannic Island
"(reverent of God, and contemptuous of the Devil) in times of
"general Downbreak and Spiritual Bankruptcy, when quar-
"rellings of Sovereigns are apt to be mere dog-worryings, and
"Devil's work, not good to interfere in.
"In this manner, Walpole, by solid John-Bull faculty (and
"methods of his own), had balanced the Parliamentary swag-
"gings and clashings, for a great while; and England had
"jumbled whither it could, always in a stupid, but also in a
"peaceable way. As to those same 'methods of his own,'
"they were -- in fact they were Bribery. Actual purchase of
"votes by money slipt into the hand. Go straight to the
"point. 'The direct real method this,' thinks Walpole: 'is
"there in reality any other? ' A terrible question to Uonstitu-
"tional Countries; which, I hear, has never been resolved in
"the negative, by the modern improvements of science.
"Changes of form have introduced themselves; the outward
"process, I hear, is now quite different. According as the
"fashions and conditions alter, -- according a3 you have a
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? 392 FIRST SILESIAN WAR. [book xn.
April--May 1741.
"Fourth Estate developed, or a Fourth Estate still in the grub
"stage and only developing, -- much variation of outward
"process is conceivable.
"But Votes, under pain of Death Official, are necessary
"to your poor Walpole: and votes, 1 hear, are still bidden
"for, and bought. You may buy them by money down (which
"is felony, and theft simple, against the poor Nation); or by
"preferments and appointments of the unmeritorious man, --
"which is felony double-distilled (far deadlier, though more
"refined), and theft most compound; theft, not of the poor
"Nation's money, but of its soul and body so far, and of all
"its moneys and temporal and spiritual interests whatsoever;
"theft, you may say, of collops cut from its side, and poison
put into its heart, poor Nation! Or again, you may buy, not
"of the Third Estate in such ways, but of the Fourth, or of
"the Fourth and Third together, in other still more felonious
"and deadly, though refined ways. But doing claptraps,
"namely; letting off Parliamentary blue-lights, to awaken
"the Sleeping Swineries, and charm them into diapason for
"you, -- what a music! Or, without claptrap or previous
"felony of your own, you may feloniously, in the pinch of
"things, make truce with the evident Demagogos, and Son of
"Nox and of Perdition, who has got 'within those walls' of
"yours, and is grown important to you by the Awakened
"Swineries, risen into alt, that follow him. Him you may, in
"your dire hunger of votes, consent to comply with; his
"Anarchies you will pass for him into 'Laws,' as you are
"pleased to term them;--instead of pointing to the whipping-
post, and to his wicked long ears, which are so fit to be
"nailed there, and of sternly recommending silence, which
"were the salutary thing. -- Buying may be done in a great
"variety of ways. The question, How you buy? is not, on
"the moral side, an important one. Nay, as there is a beauty
"in going straight to the point, and by that course there is
"likely to be the minimum of mendacity for you, perhaps the
"direct money-method is a shade less damnable than any of
"the others since discovered; -- while, in regard to practical
"damage resulting, it is of childlike harmlessness in com-
"parison!
"That was Walpole's method; with this to aid his great
"natural faculty, long-headed, deep-bellied, suitable to the
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? CHAP. XII. ] SORROWS OF HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY. 393
April--May 1741.
"English Parliament and Nation, he went along with perfect
"success for ten or twenty years. And 'it mighthave been for
"longer, -- had not the English Nation accidentally come to
"wish, that it should cease jumbling nowhither; and try to
"jumble somewhither, at least for a little while, or important
"business that had risen for England in a certain quarter.
"Had it not been for Jenkins's Ear blazing out in the dark
"English brain, Walpole might have lasted still a long while.
"But his fate lay there: -- the first Business vital to England
"which might turn up; and this chanced to be the Spanish
"War. How vital, readers shall see anon. Walpole, know-
"ing well enough in what state his War apparatus was, and
"that of all his Apparatuses there was none in a working
"state, but the Parliamentary one, -- resisted the Spanish
"War; stood in the door against it, with a rhinoceros deter-
"mination, nay almost something of a mastiff's; resolute not
"to admit it, to admit death as soon. Doubtless he had a
'' feeling it would be death, the sagacious man: -- and such it
"is now proving; the Walpole Ministry dying by inches from
"it; dying hard, but irremediably.
"The English Nation was immensely astonished, which
"Walpole was not, any more than at the other Laws of
"Nature, to find Walpole's War-apparatus in such a condi-
"tion. All his Apparatuses, Walpole guesses, are in no
"better, if it be not the Parliamentary one. The English
"Nation is immensely astonished, which Walpole againtis not,
"to find that his Parliamentary Apparatus has been kept in
"gear and smooth going by the use of oil:'Miraculous Scandul
"of Scandals! ' thinks the English Nation. 'Miracle? Law of
"Nature, you fools! ' thinks Walpole. And in fact there is
"such a storm roaring in England, in those and in the late
"and the coming months, as threatens to be dangerous to
"high roofs, -- dangerous to Walpole's head at one time.
"Storm such as had not been witnessed in men's memory; all
"manner of Counties and Constituencies, with solemn indig-
nations charging their representatives to search into that
'' miraculous Scandal of Scandals, Law of Nature, or whatever
"it may be; and abate the same, at their peril.
"To the now reader there is something almost pathetic in
"these solemn indignations, and high resolves to have Purity
"of Parliament and thorough Administrative Keform, in spite
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? 394 FIRST SILESIAN WAR. [bOOK Xn.
April--May 1741.
"of Nature and the Constitutional Stars;-- and nothing I
"have met with, not even the Prussian Dryasdust, is so un-
"sufferably wearisome, or can pretend to equal in depth of
"dull inanity, to ingenuous. livingreaders, as our poor English
"Dryasdust's interminable, often-repeated Narratives, volume
"after volume, of the debatings and colleaguings, the tossings
"and tumults, fruitless and endless, in Nation and National
"Palaver, which ensued thereupon. iWalpole (in about a
"year hence), * though he stuck to the ground like a rhino-
"ceros, was got rolled out. And a Successor, and series of
"Successors, in the bright brand-new state, was got rolled in;
"with immense shouting from mankind: -- but up to this date
"we have no reason to believe that the Laws of Nature were
"got abrogated on that occasion, or that the constitutional
"stars have much altered their courses since. "
That Walpole will probably be lost, goes much
home to the Royal bosom, in these troublous Spring
months of 1741, as it has done and will do. And here,
emerging from the Spanish Main just now, is a second
sorrow, which might quite transfix the Royal bosom,
and drive Majesty itself to despair; awakening such in-
soluble questions, -- furnishing such proof, that Wal-
pole <<md a good few other persons (persons, and also
things, and ideas and practices, deep-rooted in the
Country) stand much in need of being lost, if England
is to go a good road!
The Spanish War being of moment to us here, we
will let our Constitutional Historian explain, in his own
dialect, How it was so vital to England; and shall even
subjoin what he gives as History of it, such being so
admirably succinct, for one quality.
* February lSth (2d), 1742, quitting the House after bad usage there,
said he would never enter it again; nor did: February 22d, resigned in
favour of Pulteney and Company (Tindal, xx. 530; Thackeray, i. 46).
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? CHAP. XII. ] SORROWS OF HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY. 395
April--May 1741.
No. 3. Ofthe Spanish War, or the Jenkins's-Ear Question.
"There was real cause for a War with Spain. It is one of
"the few cases, this, of a war from necessity. Spain, by
"Decree of the Pope, -- some Pope long ago, whose name we
"will not remember, in solemn Conclave, drawing accurately
"'his Meridian Line,' on I know not what Telluric or Uranic
"principles, no doubt with great accuracy, 'between Portugal
"and Spain,' -- was proprietor of all those Seas and Con-
"tinents. And now England, in the interim, by Decree of
"the Eternal Destinies, had clearly come to have property
"there, too; and to be practically much concerned in that
"theoretic question of the Pope's Meridian. There was no
"reconciling of theory with fact. 'Ours indisputably," said
"Spain, with loud articulate voice; 'Holiness the Pope made
"it ours! ' -- while fact and the English, by Decree of the
"Eternal Destinies, had been grumbling inarticulately the
"other way, for almost Two Hundred years past, and no
"result had.
"In Oliver Cromwell's time, it used to be said, 'With
"Spain, in Europe, there may be peace or war; but between
"the Tropics it is always war. ' A state of things well re-
cognised by Oliver, and acted on, according to his op-
"portunities. No settlement was had in Oliver's brief time;
"nor could any be got since, when it was becoming yearly
"more pressing. Bucaniers, desperate naval gentlemen living
"on boucan, or hung beef; who are also called Flibustiers
"(Flibutiers, "Freebooters," in French pronunciation, which
"is since grown strangely into Filibusters, Fillibustiers, and
"other mad forms, in the Yankee Newspapers now current):
'' readers have heard of those dumb methods of protest. Dumb
"and furious; which could bring no settlement; but which did
"astonish the Pope's Decree, slashing it with cutlasses and
"sea-cannon, in that manner, and circuitously forwarded a
'' settlement. Settlement was becoming yearly more needful:
"and, ever since the Treaty of Utrecht especially, there had
"been an incessant haggle going on, to produce one; without
"the least effect hitherto. What embassyings, bargainings,
"bargain-breakings; what galloping of estafettes; acres of
"diplomatic paper, now fallen to the spiders, who always
"privately were the real owners! Not in the Treaty of Utrecht,
?
