It was the misfortune of this prince, as well as a very great prejudice to the nation, that he had been misled into strong prepossessions against the tories, who constituted such a considerable part of his subjects. They were now excluded from all share of the royal favour, which was wholly engrossed by their enemies; these early marks of aversion, which he was at no pains to conceal, alienated the minds of many from his person and government, who would otherwise have served him with fidelity and affection. An instantaneous and total change was effected in all offices of honour and advantage. The duke of Ormond was dismissed from his command, which the king restored to the duke of Marlborough, whom he likewise appointed colonel of the first regiment of foot guards, and master of the ordnance. The great seal was given to lord Cowper; the privy seal to the earl of Wharton; the government of Ireland to the earl of Sunderland. The duke of Devonshire was made steward of the household; lord Townshend and Mr. Stanhope were appointed secretaries of state; the post of secretary for Scotland was bestowed upon the duke of Montrose. The duke of Somerset was constituted master of the horse; the duke of St. Alban’s captain of the band of pensioners; and the duke of Argyle commander-in-chief of the forces in Scotland. Mr. Pulteney became secretary at war; and Mr. Walpole, who had already undertaken to manage the house of commons, was gratified with the double place of paymaster to the army and to Chelsea-hospital. A new privy-council was appointed, and the earl of Nottingham declared president; but all affairs of consequence were concerted by a cabinet-council, or junto, composed of the duke of Marlborough, the earls of Nottingham and Sunderland, the lords Halifax, Townshend, and Somers, and general Stanhope. The regency had already removed sir Constantine Phipps and the archbishop of Armagh from the office of lords-justices in Ireland, and filled their places in the regency of that kingdom with the archbishop of Dublin and tire earl of Kildare. Allan Broderick was appointed chancellor; another privy-council was formed, and the duke of Ormond was named as one of the members. The treasury and admiralty were put into commission; all the governments were changed; and, in a word, the whole nation was delivered into the hands of the whigs. At the same time the prince-royal was declared prince of Wales, and took his place in council. The king was congratulated on his accession in addresses from the two universities, and from all the cities and corporations in the kingdom. He expressed particular satisfaction at these expressions of loyalty and affection. He declared in council his firm purpose to support and maintain the churches of England and Scotland as they were by law established; an aim which he imagined might be effectually accomplished, without impairing the toleration allowed by law to protestant dissenters, and so necessary to the trade and riches of the kingdom; he, moreover, assured them he would earnestly endeavour to render property secure; the good effects of which were no where so clearly seen as in this happy nation. Before the coronation he created some new peers, and others were promoted to higher titles.* On the twentieth day of October he was crowned in Westminster with the usual solemnity, at which the earl of Oxford and lord Bolingbroke assisted.**
* James lord Chandos, was created earl of Carnarvon; Lewis lord Kockingham, earl of that name; Charles lord Ossulton, earl of Tankerville; Charles lord Halifax, earl of Halifax; Heneage lord Guernsey, earl of Aylesford; John lord Hervey, earl of Bristol; Thomas lord Pelham, earl of Clare; Henry earl of Thommond, in Ireland, viscount Tadcaster; James viscount Castleton, in Ireland, baron Sanderson; Bennet lord Sherrard, in Ireland, baron of Har-borough; Gervase lord Pierrepont, in Ireland, baron Pierrepont in the county of Bucks; Henry Boyle, baron of Carleton in the county of York; sir Richard Temple, baron of Cobham; Henry lord Paget, earl of Uxbridge. ** In the month of October the princess of Wales arrived in England with her two eldest daughters, the princesses Anne and Amelia.
On that very day the university of Oxford, in full convocation, unanimously conferred the degree of doctor of civil law on sir Constantine Phipps, with particular marks of honour and esteem. As the French king was said to protract the demolition of Dunkirk, Mr. Prior received orders to present a memorial to hasten this work, and to prevent the canal of Mardyke from being finished. The answer which he received being deemed equivocal, this minister was recalled, and the earl of Stair appointed ambassador to the court of France, where he prosecuted this affair with uncommon vigour. About the same time general Cadogan was sent as plenipotentiary to Antwerp, to assist at the barrier-treaty, negotiated there between the emperor and the states-general.
PRETENDER’S MANIFESTO.
Meanwhile the number of malcontents in England was considerably increased by the king’s attachment to the whig faction. The clamour of the church’s being in danger was revived; jealousies were excited; seditious libels dispersed; and dangerous tumults raised in different parts of the kingdom. Birmingham, Bristol, Chippenham, Norwich, and Reading, were filled with licentious riot. The party cry was, “Down with the whigs! Sacheverel for ever!” Many gentlemen of the whig faction were abused; magistrates in towns, and justices in the country, were reviled and insulted by the populace in the execution of their office. The pretender took this opportunity to transmit, by the French mail, copies of a printed manifesto to the dukes of Shrewsbury, Marlborough, Argyle, and other noblemen of the first distinction. In this declaration he mentioned the good intentions of his sister towards him, which were prevented by her deplorable death. He observed that his people, instead of doing him and themselves justice, had proclaimed for their king a foreign prince, contrary to the fundamental and incontestable laws of hereditary right, which their pretended acts of settlement could never abrogate. These papers being delivered to the secretaries of state, the king refused an audience to the marquis de Lamberti, minister from the duke of Lorraine, on the supposition that this manifesto could not have been prepared or transmitted without the knowledge and countenance of his master. The marquis having communicated this circumstance to the duke, that prince absolutely denied his having been privy to the transaction, and declared that the chevalier de St. George came into Lorraine by the directions of the French king, whom the duke could not disoblige without exposing his territories to invasion. Notwithstanding this apology, the marquis was given to understand that he could not be admitted to an audience until the pretender should be removed from the dominions of his master; he therefore quitted the kingdom without further hesitation. Religion was still mingled in all political disputes. The high churchmen complained that impiety and heresy daily gained ground from the connivance, or at least the supine negligence, of the whig prelates. The lower house of convocation had, before the queen’s death, declared that a book published by Dr. Samuel Clarke, under the title of “The Scripture Doctrine of the Trinity,” contained assertions contrary to the catholic faith. They sent up extracts from this performance to the bishops, and the doctor wrote an answer to their objections. He was prevailed upon to write an apology, which he presented to the upper house; but apprehending it might be published separately, and misunderstood, he afterwards delivered an explanation to the bishop of London. This was satisfactory to the bishops; but the lower house resolved that it was no recantation of his heretical assertions. The disputes about the Trinity increasing, the archbishops and bishops received directions, which were published, for preserving unity in the church, the purity of the christian faith concerning the holy Trinity, and for maintaining the peace and quiet of the state. By these every preacher was restricted from delivering any other doctrine than what is contained in the holy scriptures with respect to the Trinity, and from intermeddling in any affairs of state or government. The like prohibition was extended to those who should write, harangue, or dispute on the same subjects.
GEORGE I, 1714—1727
NEW PARLIAMENT.
The parliament being dissolved, another was called by a very extraordinary proclamation, in which the king complained of the evil designs of men disaffected to his succession; and of their having misrepresented his conduct and principles. He mentioned the perplexity of public affairs, the interruption of commerce, and the heavy debts of the nation. He expressed his hope that his loving subjects would send up to parliament the fittest persons to redress the present disorders; and that in the elections, they would have a particular regard to such as had expressed a firm attachment to the protestant succession when it was in danger. It does not appear that the protestant succession was ever in danger. How then was this declaration to be interpreted? People in general construed it into a design to maintain party distinctions, and encourage the whigs to the full exertion of their influence in the elections; into a renunciation of the tories; and as the first flash of that vengeance which afterwards was seen to burst upon the heads of the late ministry. When the earl of Strafford returned from Holland, all his papers were seized by an order from the secretary’s office. Mr. Prior was recalled from France, and promised to discover all he knew relating to the conduct of Oxford’s administration. Uncommon vigour was exerted on both sides in the elections; but, by dint of the monied interest, which prevailed in most of the corporations through the kingdom, and the countenance of the ministry, which will always have weight with needy and venal electors, a great majority of whigs was returned both in England and Scotland.