The persons named at the end of the poem as possible replacements for Walpole are all persons who were at one time members of the Whig party but who had joined the opposition because of their dislike for Walpole. John Carteret, Earl Granville (ll. 231-236, p. 13, and referred to as Camillus in the first edition), had a long struggle with Walpole for control of the Whig party and joined the Opposition Whigs after he returned from the lord lieutenancy of Ireland in 1730. It was Carteret who was to move the unsuccessful resolution on 13 February 1741, requesting the King to remove Walpole from his "presence and counsels for ever." William Pulteney, Earl of Bath (ll. 237-242, p. 13, and referred to as Demosthenes in the first edition) was also an early ally of Walpole's who later broke with him to form the Patriot party. He became one of the editors of The Craftsman. Philip Stanhope, Earl of Chesterfield (ll. 243-245, p. 13, and referred to as Atticus in the first edition) was also a lifelong Whig who joined Carteret in leading the opposition to Walpole in the Lords. Hugh Hume, Lord Polwarth and Earl of Marchmont (ll. 246-257, p. 14, and referred to as "that fam'd Caledonian Youth" in the first edition), had been a persistent and relentless opponent of Walpole in the Commons, but on the death of his father in February 1740 had acceded to the Earldom of Marchmont and been unable to get elected as a representative peer. Although twenty years younger than Pope (he was only 32 in 1740) he became a close friend and was appointed an executor of his will. Pope refers to his friendship in his Verses on a Grotto: "And the bright Flame was shot thro' MARCHMONT'S Soul."[ 35 ] Sir Richard Temple, Viscount Cobham (ll. 258-261, p. 14), was also a staunch Whig who broke with Walpole and joined the Patriots. He, too, was an intimate friend of Pope's who addressed the first moral essay to him and praised his famous gardens at Stowe in the fourth. John Campbell, Duke of Argyle (ll. 262-265, pp. 14-15) was a distinguished soldier who joined the Opposition during the discussion of Spanish affairs. Both Pope and Thomson had celebrated his eloquence, and ll. 262-263 here are a direct recollection of lines 86-87 in Pope's Epilogue to the Satires: Dialogue II:
ARGYLE, the State's whole Thunder born to wield,
And shake alike the Senate and the Field.
With the exception of Carteret each of the persons named at the end of the poem was either an acquaintance or a close friend of Pope's. We have here one last example of the remarkable degree to which the author of this pamphlet had assimilated the true facts of Pope's life into his fictional re-creation.
According to the title page, The Great Man's Answer is by the same author as Are these things so?. Once again, the setting is Pope's grotto, but this time the poet engages Walpole in a direct dialogue. The poem begins with the poet being disturbed in his retreat by someone "thundering at the gate." It is Walpole who has come to answer the questions asked in Are these things so?. He maintains that Britain has not fallen as low as Pope claims and that the Honour of the Fleet is still intact. He defends his handling of Parliament, his fiscal policies, his appointment of Placemen and Pensioners, his attitude to Commerce, and the self-aggrandisement involved in many of his contracts. These defences, which only bring out a severer irony in Pope, lead up to Walpole's version of his own epitaph in contrast to that given him in Are these things so?. Where Pope had stressed his role as the grave-digger of British Liberty, Walpole sees himself as the healer of factions. Finally he falls back on his ultimate weapon of bribery. But his offers of money, pension, place, title, and honour are turned down by the poet with increasing scorn, and the poem ends with appropriate focus on Pope's incorruptibility.
The following notes are offered to help with the topical allusions.[ 36 ] The poem opens with Pope directing his servant, John Serle (1. 7, p. 1), to see who is thundering at his gate. This is a playful allusion to the famous opening of An Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot where Serle had been urged to an exactly opposite course of action. The "Gazetteer Abuse" scornfully mentioned by Pope (1. 37, p. 3) is a reference to The Daily Gazetteer, a pro-Government newspaper which ran from 30 June 1735-20 June 1745. The incomplete words, "Se—s" (1. 66, p. 4) and "P———ts!" (1. 79, p. 5) refer to Senates and Parliaments respectively. Walpole's claim (1. 89, p. 5) that "Gin would then be drank without control" refers to the government's Gin Act of 1736, which placed an excise of five shillings a gallon on gin. His later claim that there would be "No License on the Press, or on the Stage" (1. 98, p. 6) refers to the Stage Licensing Act of 1737, which placed the theatre under the control of the Lord Chamberlain.
For Pope's ironic application of the epithet "sturdy" (1. 164, p. 9) to the London Merchants see the notes to Are these things so?. Pope's mention of "Angria" (1. 204, p. 11) is a comparison of Walpole to a Mahrattan pirate chief of the early part of the century. Walpole's introduction to his own epitaph, "They best can speak it, who will feel it most" (1. 223, p. 12) is an allusion to Pope's Eloisa to Abelard (1. 366): "He best can paint 'em who shall feel 'em most."
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NOTES TO THE INTRODUCTION
[ 1 ] H. R. Plomer, A Dictionary of the Printers and Booksellers Who Were at Work in England. 1726-1775 (Oxford, 1932), p. 61.
[ 2 ] The London Daily Post and General Advertiser, 23 October 1740. "This Day is Published. Are these things so? The previous question from an Englishman in his Grotto, to a Great Man at Court."