'With the death of his wife, Sir John's interest in country life came to an end; and leaving his son to the care and instruction of his old friend at Ludgvan, he set out for a foreign land. Meanwhile, however, the parliamentary horizon was rapidly clouding over; a crisis was clearly imminent; and, on his return to England, it was to find that, for the present at least, his sorrow must be drowned in more work, in a redoubled attention to those duties which his early reputation now pointed to him to fulfil. And thus, as the Walpole Administration draws on to its close, the figure of Sir John St. Aubyn—the "little baronet," as he was called—comes prominently to the front as one of the most vigorous, as he certainly was the most conscientious, of the opponents of the then unpopular Prime Minister. On the subject of the vote of thanks, including an approbation of the manner in which the Spanish War had been prosecuted, which was carried by a small majority in the House of Commons early in 1741, he writes (April 9th) as follows: "I believe ye Folks in ye country are very much puzzled abot many of our Proceedings, and I don't wonder at yr doubts about that unseasonable vote of Innocence; especially when ye Opportunity was so fairly given, wch ye Nation has been so long expecting us to take ye advantage of." But the country party the while felt that no opportunity must be lost, and no vigour spared in the attack. Contrast the tone of the following extract from a letter dated May 5th, and note how the space of one single month had served to fan the flame. Sir John now inveighs against "such Insolence in Administration, such wantonness in Power, wch surely nothing could produce but that mistaken vote of Innocence, wch so lately happen'd. And yet," he continues, "this is ye Man agt whom we want evidence to advise his Removal, when at my very door there are such glaring Proofs, which, in less corrupt times, would deprive Him of his Head." Day by day the enemies of the Ministry acquired fresh strength: the elections were against the Court interest, even Westminster returning two members hostile to it. Walpole tottered on the brink of ruin, and had it not been that, during a short adjournment of the House in 1742, he resigned his office and was elevated to the peerage, he might, as we know, even have been committed to the Tower.
'No sooner had Parliament reassembled than a measure was brought in by Lord Limerick, and seconded by Sir John St. Aubyn, to inquire into the conduct of the last twenty years. This was lost by two votes; but another, also proposed by Lord Limerick on the 23rd of March, for an inquiry into the conduct of Robert, Earl of Orford, was carried, and a Select Committee appointed by ballot. And now came Sir John's political triumph. To this committee he was appointed by every vote in the House of Commons, to the number of 518. "An honour," says the MS. from which we quote, "neither then nor before (as far as the Records of Parliament can reach) ever conferred on any member, as Mr. Speaker Onslow on the spot observed to Sir John's great commendation." When the committee was appointed he declined the offer of the chair, and Lord Viscount Limerick was chosen chairman. The following is an extract from a letter of Sir John's, dated from the Secret Committee Chamber, June 22nd, 1742: "We are now," he writes, "winding up our bottoms as well as we can under ye disabillitys which we have been fetter'd with, nothwithstanding which, we shall show the world enough to convince if not convict. I am sorry there has been so much unconcern in ye Gentlemen of our country; I wish I could say in some an unconcern only. We have had, and I wish we mayn't for ever now have lost, ye only opportunity which may happen to retrieve ye Honour and establish ye National Institutions of ye Country.... The Town is in high spirits at present, upon the accounts we have from Germany and Italy. This turn is not owing to ye merit of ye new Administration, but to ye Vigour of this Parliament, which has had Its free Operation during this Inter-Regnum of Power, and whenever that happens, England must have Its due Influence upon ye Continent; and if she had acted as she ought for some years past, what might have been brought about, when ye bare expectation of her acting has produc'd such great events?"
'"About this time," says Dr. Borlase, "Sir John being offer'd to take place as one of the Lords of the Admiralty, he was ready, he said, to serve his King and country, but would take no place unless upon the express condition that his freedom and independency in Parliament should remain unquestioned and uncontroll'd. These were not times to endure, much less shake hands with such inflexible Virtues; as he coveted no place, he never had one, 'though capable of any.'"
'On the 31st March, 1744, when war was declared with France, the inhabitants of Mount's Bay became alarmed for the safety of their trade. Two things were required; a stationary armed vessel to protect their shores and fisheries from privateers (for three of the principal fishermen had already been taken prisoners), and a cruiser to convey the exports and imports necessary for working the mines. For the part he took in obtaining these advantages, Sir John received the thanks of the gentlemen of the neighbourhood, assembled as usual in their Parliament at the Bowling Green at Marazion. St. Michael's Mount he had restored from a ruined monastic cell to a comfortable dwelling-house; but he never lived to visit it again, dying of fever, at Pencarrow, on his way home in the year 1744, at the early age of forty-four; "to the great regret of all who knew him; and to his country's loss of a most faithful friend."
'"The dignity of this ancient family," writes Borlase in the brief memoir attached to his pedigree, "owes much to this gentleman;" and Dr. Oliver, of Bath, in a letter of sympathy on the occasion of his death, speaks of him as "one who had bravely withstood all the temptation that honours or profit could lay in his way, and dared to stand almost single on the field of Purity, while thousands fell on his right hand and ten thousands on his left, the easy Prey of corruption." Farther on he adds, "Let us thank Heaven who lent us the great, good man so long, and neither wonder nor murmur at his being taken from us so soon, especially when we consider how little Influence his Example had upon Earth." There is something in a character like his which renders it worthy of the admiration and the love of generations; nay, of centuries, far beyond his own.'
The year before he died the following verses appeared in the Gentleman's Magazine (vol. xiii.) in allusion to the firm patriotism and self-reliant character of our hero:
THE CORNISH MOUNT:—A PARALLEL.
'"Si fractus illabatur orbis Impavidum ferient ruinæ." Hor.
'Oft have I seen, from fam'd St. Michael's height,
The ocean's rage, with wonder and delight;
Whilst foaming waves the lordly bulk surround,
Lashing its bulwarks with a hideous sound:
Thetis in vain the lofty pile assails;
But all her force and clangour nought avails;
The pile majestic scorns the pond'rous shock;
Her basis is an Adamantine rock.
Just so (in worst of times) its owner stood,
Serenely great and resolutely good.
His virtues early to the world were known;
He makes his country's int'rest still his own.
Nor Courts, nor tyrants can his soul affright,
Who dares to vindicate his country's right.
On him Cornubia's happiness depends;
The best of patriots and the best of friends.
Guard him, kind Heav'n, to bless his native shore,
When truth shall stand, and traytors be no more.'
The friend of Pope,[139] I cannot help thinking that the poet may have had the unassailable integrity of his Cornish acquaintance in his mind when he wrote the last line of the couplet which I have prefixed by way of motto to this chapter.