1740 is dispersed Horn. Anson's expedition were the Centurion (60), the Gloucester and the Severn (50 each), the Pearl (40), the Wager (28), and the Trial sloop (8). Great difficulty and delay were experienced in the equipment of these vessels, and Walpole was much to blame for embarking a body of old and disabled out-pensioners of Chelsea, instead of a regiment of foot which had been originally selected for the service. It was September, 1740, before the squadron weighed anchor from St. Helen's, and when they reached Cape Horn, it Anson's fleet was the stormiest and most perilous season of the year. while roundThe ships, accordingly, encountered a tremendous tempest, ing Cape and orders were given that each vessel must shift for itself, and make for the island of Juan Fernandez. encountering innumerable dangers, Anson's ship, the Centurion, reached this rendezvous on the 10th of June, 1741; the Trial and the Gloucester followed; but all the vessels had lost the greatest part of their crews by scurvy, and every Chelsea pensioner had perished. The Pearl and the Severn had put back to the Brazils, and Captain Byron's ship, the Wager, had been wrecked on a small desert island to the south of Chiloe. The adventures which befell the captain and crew of the lost ship, may be read in Byron's well-known narrative of the Loss of the Wager. After The loss of the Wager. These disasters reduced Anson's whole force to 335 men, with whom he undauntedly resolved upon some exploit, which should signalise his expedition. His original design had been to touch near Panama, and from thence co-operate across the isthmus with Admiral Vernon. But he was informed of that Admiral's failure, and after taking many prizes and destroying the town of Payta, he steered northward, in the hope of intercepting the great silver ship, which annually sailed from Manilla to Mexico. The disabled condition of his ships and men prevented his doing this that year; he therefore wintered in the island of Tinian, one of the Ladrones, having now only the Centurion left. Fresh meat and the fruit of the bread tree here brought health to his men, and in the spring of 1743 he again set out in search of galleon. galleons. On the 20th of June he captured one of these treasure ships, having a million and a half of dollars on board. He then returned homeward round the Cape of Good Hope, anchoring in Spithead in June, 1744, after an absence of three years and nine months. His landing was celebrated with great rejoicing, and a procession of thirty wagons carried his silver to the Tower. *Star hop c's England, III., 3-56. Capture of the Spanish CHAP. V. 12. Admiral Vernon at Porto Bello and Carthagena.—Admiral Vernon sailed from England in July, 1739, and appeared off Porto Bello on the 20th of November, with six men of war. The place was taken with very slight resistance in consequence of the cowardice of the garrison, for Vernon was only a vain man, and possessed of little capacity. But as he was one of Walpole's personal enemies, his Vernon the pet of the Opposition. achievement was extolled by the Opposition, who said that he had done with six ships what Hosier had hesitated to do in 1726 with twenty. The famous ballad of "Admiral Hosier's Ghost" was published to point this contrast. Vernon and Porto Bello thus became the popular themes, and even the French were said to have grown alarmed, at the rising power of Britain in America.* The Ministers, therefore, determined to let the popular hero have the opportunity of pursuing his success; and in October, 1740, they sent out an armament which increased Vernon's strength to 115 ships with 15,000 sailors and 12,000 soldiers. On the 4th of March, 1741, this immense force appeared before Carthagena, the strongest fortified place in Spanish America. The harbour was entered after considerable resistance, and it was then proposed by General Wentworth, who had command of the troops, to storm Fort San Lazaro, one of the outworks of the city. But the animosity which His inaction had long smouldered between the admiral and the general brings defent now burst out into an open flame, and while the soldiers made a brave and intrepid attack upon the fort, Vernon looked on, it is said, with cool indifference, and rendered no assistance. The troops were therefore compelled to withdraw, after losing half their men. The wet season then set in, and an epidemic fever broke out, which took off large numbers in a few days. Under these accumulated disasters, the expedition returned to Jamaica. It may be observed that Smollett was a surgeon's mate in one of the ships, and that he wrote a graphic account of the whole expedition, in his novel of "Roderick Random." at Carthagena. 13. The Fall of Walpole.-During the progress of these expeditions, British merchants suffered serious losses from the attacks of privateers, and the country was filled with complaints of the mismanagement of the war. An unfavourable harvest still further aggravated the general discontent; some very alarming riots broke out; and the name of Walpole became more unpopular than ever. In anticipation of a Wright's Caricature History of the Georges, 123-125. Stanhope's England, III., 57-65; Knight's Popular History, VI., 93-99. Increased bitterness of the Opposition against Walpole. 1741 * general election, the Opposition circulated political squibs and lampoons in vast numbers, and they now put forward Mr. Samuel Sandys, the celebrated "Motion Maker," to move an address to the King, for the dismissal of the hated Minister. Sandys prefaced his motion with a long and violent speech, in which he recounted all the evils which in the opinion of the Opposition had fallen upon the country during Walpole's rule. But when the division came on, "Downright Shippen" and his friends left the House, and the "Patriots" found themselves in a minority. The days of "Robin's reign," however, were already numbered. Although he had started with the ablest administration ever known, Walpole was now left with but a single man of ability, Lord Chancellor Hardwicke, in his Cabinet. The colleagues, whom he had one by one dismissed, had plunged, with the exception of Townshend, into an Opposition more factious and unprincipled than had ever disgraced English politics; and these "Patriots were now reinforced by a band of younger Whigs-" the Boys," as Walpole called them -whose temper revolted alike against the peace and corruption of his policy, and at whose head stood William Pitt. Age was also creeping upon the veteran statesman; the buoyant temper which had carried him through so many storms was breaking down at last, and just at the time when his enemies became most active. in Europe death. A portentous crisis in European affairs added to all these complications. In the previous October (1740), the Emperor Charles VI. had died, and the great struggle which Walpole A new war had dreaded, became inevitable. France saw in this event on the an opportunity of finishing the work which Henry II., Emperor's Richelieu, Louis XIV., and Cardinal Fleury had carried on -the work of breaking up the Empire into a group of States, too weak to resist French ambition. Spain aimed at the annexation of the Milanese; Frederick the Great, of Prussia, acted on the instant, and possessed himself of Silesia; Sweden and Sardinia also took part with these allies, and England alone showed herself true to her guarantee of the Pragmatic Sanction. In the summer of 1741 two French armies entered Germany, and the Elector of Bavaria, who claimed the Duchy of Austria, appeared unopposed before Vienna. The House of Austria had never stood in such utter peril, and its enemies were already counting upon a division of its dominions. The cause of the young Archduchess Maria * See Wright's Caricature Hist. of the Georges, 127. Mr. Sandys was member for Worcester, and was so nicknamed on account of the readiness he always displayed to make motions, at the request of his party. R СНАР. У. Theresa, whose claims were thus so bitterly assailed, was not unpopular in England; and the news of her position excited general resentment. Just at this time the failure at Carthagena became known; and Walpole, as the one great grievance of the State, had to bear the blame of all. In the new Parliament which assembled 4th December, 1741, he decidedly lost ground; his majorities diminished at every division, until at length they dwindled to one (January, 1742). He was then forced to resign; but his fall did not abate the hostility of his enemies. A Secret Committee was appointed to inquire into his administration, during the last ten years; but the charges of wholesale corruption and misappropriation of the public money, which Walpole's majority dwindles away. had been alleged against him, were not substantiated, and He resigns. the Committee's report fell to the ground. Walpole retired to the Peers as Earl of Orford, where his great rival Pulteney, created Earl of Bath, soon afterwards joined him. When they met, it is recorded that Orford advanced to his old antagonist, and thus congratulated him on his elevation: "Here we are, my lord-the two most insignificant fellows in England."* SECTION II.-ADMINISTRATION OF THE PELHAMS. 1743 to 1756. 1.-HANOVERIAN POLICY IN THE ASCENDANT. 14. The Nominal Premiership of Lord Wilmington.- The fall of Walpole did not bring a substantial victory to his opponents. The formation of a new Ministry was entrusted to Pulteney, who declined to take office himself, and who lost much of his political influence by his acceptance of the Earldom of Bath. The changes which he made were of small consequence, the Pelhams and some other members of the late Government being retained, and Walpole, through them, continuing to influence the counsels of the King. The nominal premiership was given to Lord Wilmington, who died in 1743; and the direction of foreign affairs fell into the hands of Lord Carteret, who speedily advanced in the royal favour by supporting the King's Hanoverian policy. * Stanhope's England, III., chaps. 23 and 24; Knight's Popular History, VI, 102-104. 1742 The Ministry, as thus arranged, stood as follows: First Lord of the Treasury and Prime Minister First Secretary of State Second Secretary of State.. Lord Chancellor. } Chancellor of the Exchequer Lord Wilmington Lord Carteret The Duke of Newcastle Mr. Sandys Mr. Henry Pelham 15. The Question of the Austrian Succession.-The War of the Austrian succession had, as we have before noticed, already begun. The Pragmatic Sanction was a law of succession for the inheritance of the House of Austria, and had, of course, no authority over the Empire, which was elective. A family compact formed by the Emperor Leopold, and confirmed by the Emperors Joseph and Charles, entailed the succession on the daughters of Joseph in preference to those of Charles, should they die without male issue. Charles reversed this compact, by the above-named Sanction, giving the preference to his own daughters; and he compelled his nieces, the daughters of Joseph, to assent to this arrangement, on their marriages with the Electors of Saxony and Bavaria. Hence his anxiety to procure the guaranty of the European Powers to the Sanction. On his death, his eldest daughter, Maria Theresa, and the wife of Francis, Duke of Tuscany (formerly Duke of Lorraine), accordingly assumed the Government, with the title of Queen of Hungary and Bohemia, the Imperial dignity remaining in abeyance till a new Emperor should be elected. The new Queen's right to the Duchy of Austria was disputed by the Elector Charles Albert of Bavaria. He appealed to the will of the Emperor Ferdinand I. (1503-1563), which, he contended, left the kingdom of Bohemia and the Austrian States to his daughter Anne, Electress of Bavaria, and her descendants, in default of male heirs from the Archdukes, her brothers. This assertion was inaccurate, for the will was produced before the foreign ambassadors at Maria Theresa's Court, and the clause was found to state, legitimate heirs; it, therefore, did not set aside the female descendants of the male line, the archdukes abovementioned. The Elector, however, was not satisfied, and as France and Spain, as we have seen, were eager to seize the opportunity for depressing the House of Hapsburg, they encouraged the pretender to make good his claims. foreign Walpole had limited his efforts in this contest to the preservation of the House of Hapsburg as a European power. But the new Foreign Secretary, who had long been opposed to Walpole's policy, resolved to adopt more vigorous measures, and, in conjunction with Austria, endeavour to ruin the House Carteret's of Bourbon. Several large subsidies were granted to policy. Maria Theresa; a force of 16,000 men was sent to Flanders, under Lord Stair, to co-operate with the Dutch; and these troops were further reinforced by the addition of more than 20,000 Hessians and Hanoverians in British pay (1742). This * Coxe's House of Austria, III., 109, 242; Dyer's Modern Europe, III., 339, 340. |