been much less cultivated, than it is from literary motives at the present day. In foreign affairs Carteret had succeeded to the great influence of Stanhope over the Court of the Palais Royal.* He confirmed it by immediately appointing Sir Luke Schaub Minister at Paris, as the former and the most friendly channel of communication with Dubois. In fact, it was through Dubois that England for six years drew France into a close concert of measures: in return, the Abbé, it has been said, but never shown, received a yearly pension from the English Government; and at all events it is certain, that it was partly at the application, and with the aid of George and his Ministers, that Dubois obtained first an Archbishop's mitre, and then a Cardinal's hat. **

Carteret and Walpole could not long continue to agree. Walpole was aiming at a monopoly of power; Carteret was determined to hold fast a share of it. The one expected to find a dependent and not a colleague; the other, a superior and not a master. In this contest Carteret was backed (but very cautiously, and so as not to commit themselves) by Lord Carleton, Privy Seal, by the Duke of Roxburgh, Secretary for Scotland, and by Lord Cadogan, who had succeeded Marlborough as Commander in Chief; while, on the other hand, Townshend and all the other Ministers were firmly linked to Walpole, and mainly guideď by him. The Hanoverian courtiers and favourites were in like manner split in two sections. The Duchess of Kendal, who had a strong liking for the most powerful party, and a happy instinct in discerning it, sided with Walpole and Townshend, as she had before with Stanhope and Sunderland; and the brother Ministers always speak of her in their letters as their firm friend, and the "good Duchess." On his part, Carteret

*Dubois transferred his devotion to Carteret, as the Minister "who "was supported by Sunderland, and who boasted, that he had succeeded "to the influence, as well as to the principles, of Stanhope. The "friendship of Dubois increased the consequence of Carteret." (Coxe's Walpole, vol. i. p. 179.)

** See the Mémoires de Duclos, vol. ii. p. 81., and the letter of Stanhope in the Mém. Secrets de Sevelinges, vol. i. p. 275. Sevelinges throws great doubt on the story of the pension from England. (p. 16.)

had secured the Countess of Darlington, and her sister Madame de Platen. And thus the struggle for the Royal confidence on this occasion turned, perhaps, on the attractions of ladies, rather than on the merits of statesmen.

It has also been alleged, that at Hanover Carteret endeavoured to strengthen his interest by promoting the King's German measures, which Townshend, more patriotically, withstood. Yet this does not seem very consistent with the charge shortly afterwards made on precisely the same authority against Townshend himself, as wholly Hanoverian. "Hanover is Lord Townshend's great merit," says the Duke of Newcastle.* "He endeavours to make all measures "Electoral," says old Horace Walpole.*

**

Such was the state of things when the two Secretaries of State attended the King to Hanover, and when the pending contest came to an issue between them. At that time a marriage had been proposed between a daughter of Madame de Platen and the Count St. Florentin, son of La Vrillière, French Secretary of State; but the Countess required, as a condition, that a Dukedom should be granted to La Vrillière. This Dukedom immediately became an object of eager interest with George the First, and Carteret instructed Sir Luke Schaub to make every exertion to obtain it from the Duke of Orleans. We should observe that this affair belonged to Carteret, as Secretary for the southern department, in which France was comprised, and that the other Secretary had no claim to interlope in his province. Nevertheless, Lord Townshend, unwilling to see an affair of so much interest in the hands of a rival, determined, if possible, to draw it from his management. With this view, and at the instigation of Walpole, he despatched his brother Horace to Paris, under the pretence of settling the accession of Portugal to the Quadruple Alliance, but in reality to watch the movements and counteract the influence of Schaub.

In the midst of these cabals, suddenly died the Duke of

* To Lord Harrington, April 23. 1730.

**

To Mr. Poyntz, January 21. 1730.

Orleans, and it was then that Bolingbroke came into play. He perceived that the party of Walpole and Townshend was much the stronger, and would finally prevail; and he determined to pay court to them rather than to Carteret. Accordingly he hastened to greet Horace Walpole with many friendly assurances and much useful information; and exerted his influence with the Duke de Bourbon for his service. Nay, more, he threw into his hands one or two very favourable opportunities for pushing his pretensions by himself. But Horace Walpole, who had a rooted aversion to Bolingbroke, received all his overtures very much at arm's length, and wished to accept his intelligence without either trust or requital. As he writes to his brother: "I have made a good "use of my Lord Bolingbroke's information, without having "given him any handle to be the negotiator of His Majesty's "affairs." "This," says Bolingbroke, "I freely own, I "took a little unkindly, because I have acted a part which "deserves confidence, not suspicion."** But whatever might be the resentment of Bolingbroke, he was compelled to smother it: his restoration was entirely in the power and at the mercy of the English Ministers, and to obtain it, he could only continne his painful submission and unavailing services.

With respect to the affair itself of the Dukedom, neither Schaub nor Walpole could prevail. The French nobility considered the family of La Vrillière as not entitled to this distinction, and raised so loud a cry at the rumour of it, as to render its execution almost impracticable. Ultimately, Madame de Platen, being pacified by a portion of 10,000l. from King George, and no longer thinking a Dukedom indispensable to a husband, allowed the marriage to take place without the required promotion. But a total breach had meanwhile ensued between the two English negotiators. "It is impossible," writes Horace Walpole, "for the King's

* Horace, to Robert Walpole, Dec. 15. 1723. Coxe's Life of Horace Lord Walpole.

**To Lord Harcourt, January 12. 1724.

"interest to be carried on here, so long as Sir Luke Schaub "and I are to act jointly together."* Thus it became necessary for the King to choose between Schaub and Horace Walpole; in other words, between their patrons Carteret and Townshend. With little hesitation, the King decided for the latter; Schaub was recalled, and Horace Walpole received credentials as ambassador to Paris. Nay, more, Townshend obtained the dismission of his rival with the same honours which had formerly smoothed his own. The Lord Lieutenancy of Ireland was bestowed upon Carteret; his office of Secretary of State was transferred to the Duke of Newcastle, and the ascendancy of the brother Ministers became wholly uncontrolled. Cadogan and Roxburgh bent down lowly before the storm, and it passed them over; and Carteret himself bore his defeat with great frankness and good humour. He owned that he considered himself very ill used, especially when Horace Walpole had been sent to interlope in his department, but declared that he should be much happier as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland than as a Secretary of State, thwarted in all his measures, and stripped of his proper authority; and at the same time he professed his intentions to promote the King's service, and still to continue on good terms with the Ministers.

*To Lord Townshend, March 22. 1724. Coxe's Life of Horace Lord Walpole.

CHAPTER XIII.

WHEN Carteret was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, that kingdom was by no means in a state of tranquillity. A slight spark had, by the talents of Swift, been blown into a formidable flame, and a project, beyond all doubt beneficial to the nation, was ingeniously and successfully held forth to them as the greatest of grievances.

There had for some time been felt in Ireland a great deficiency of copper coin; this had gone so far, that several gentlemen were forced to use tallies with their workmen, and give them pieces of card sealed and signed with their names. To supply this deficiency, several proposals had been submitted to the Government in England, and one accepted from Mr. William Wood, a considerable proprietor and renter of iron works. * The scheme was first designed under Sunderland, but not matured till Walpole was at the head of the Treasury. A patent was then granted to Wood for coining farthings and halfpence to the value of 108,000 l. This patent was directed by Walpole with his usual financial skill; at every step in passing it he consulted Sir Isaac Newton, as Master of the Mint; he took the advice of the Attorney and Solicitor General, and employed the utmost care to guard against any fraud or exorbitant profit. And when, on the first apprehension of troubles on this subject, a new assay was ordered at the Mint, the principal officers, with Sir Isaac as their chief, reported, that the coins in weight, goodness, and fineness, so far from falling short, even exceeded the conditions of the contract. It was requisite, on account of the difference of exchange between the two countries, that these farthings and halfpence should be a little less in weight than those current in England, * Macpherson's Hist. of Commerce, vol. iii. p. 114.