by Jean Plaidy
‘His Majesty is going to say that he approves of this wholeheartedly,’ said the Queen with a smile, ‘for I see he is thinking that the Civil List depends partly on these duties and if they are increased so will the Civil List be.’
‘I was going to say that,’ said the King with an approving nod.
‘It is true, of course,’ said Walpole with a smile. ‘I should now like to lay before Your Majesty my plan of the scheme.’
This he began to do while the Queen listened,, taking her cue when to speak from the minister; and in any case they had already decided how they would set the matter before the King. Not that George needed any persuasion on this occasion.
The new excise laws would increase the Civil List and that was good enough for him.
* * *
Bolingbroke, Pulteney, and Wyndham called a meeting of their friends in the Opposition.
‘Walpole is going to bring in his excise scheme,’ announced Bolingbroke. ‘He can fall on this, and we must see that he does.’
Pulteney pointed out that he would have the landowners with him because of the reduction of the Land Tax.
‘We must see that he has no one with him,’ retorted Bolingbroke. ‘This is an opportunity for which we have all been waiting. This is going to see the end of Walpole.’
‘What!’ cried Wyndham. ‘For a tax on wine and tobacco.’
‘We’ll call it a beginning.’ Bolingbroke’s eyes were aflame. ‘We’ll tell the country what it means. He will start on wine and tobacco and then it will be food . . . everything the people want to buy will be taxed. That will be our cry: “Down with the excise! “ ‘ He turned to Pulteney. ‘We’ll start at once in The Craftsman. “What is Robin the trickster doing now? He is tricking you of your hard earned wages. He is telling you it is only wine and tobacco. Wine and tobacco today. Bread tomorrow. It is only a matter of collecting the tax we will change? Yes, collect it so that more goes out of your pocket and more into Robin’s! “ ‘
‘You think it will be a big issue?’ asked Wyndham. ‘My friend, we are going to see that it is a big issue.’
* * *
Everyone was discussing the new excise proposals. In the coffee and chocolate houses they talked of nothing else. The Craftsman was handed from one to another. ‘Read this. Read what The Craftsman says.’
This was the end of freedom in England, The Craftsman told its readers. This was what Robin had been trying to bring about for years. He wanted to make the King an absolute monarch. Did the people remember that certain monarchs had believed in their Divine Right? They had a King who was more German than English, who preferred the little electorate of Hanover to the mighty country which was England. Between them he, his fat queen, and their henchman Walpole would ruin England; they would destroy the liberties of the people; it would be as though Magna Carta had never been signed. Robin was going to introduce his Excise Bill and lead them back to the dark ages.
‘To hell with these Germans!’ cried the people. ‘What are they doing here anyway!’
It was not only the Opposition who saw opportunities in the excise scheme. Many of Walpole’s own ministry were dissatisfied. Why had they not been given this or that job? Why were they in a minor ministerial position when their talents were so much greater than the men who had the jobs? Jealousy always walked side by side with ambition, and this was an opportunity to destroy the most successful minister of his day, the man who had brought peace and prosperity to England, the most powerful of all politicians, the man who had courted the Queen and won her approval so successfully that between them they had the King in leading strings.
These men called a meeting and selected one of themselves to go to the Queen and point out to her that she was being misled in this excise scheme by Walpole, of whom she had too high opinion; they were to ask her to dissociate herself and the King from the scheme and to let Walpole stand alone in its defence if he wanted to.
For this they chose a Scottish peer, John Dalrymple, Lord Stair.
Lord Stair had a great deal to recommend him for the task. He was a forthright man; he had been slighted and, he believed, treated very badly by Walpole, and he was one of his greatest enemies. He was fearless, and since he felt strongly would put the case well. He was no young fool, being nearly sixty; he was no respecter of persons, and as a Scotsman he had even less love for the Germans than the English had.
Stair had had an adventurous life. When he was only eight years old he had accidentally shot his elder brother, and although he had been pardoned for this his parents could not endure to have him near them constantly to remind them of what he had done, so he was put in the care of a tutor for three years and after that sent to his grandfather in Holland. His youth had been overshadowed by this event and as he had been entirely innocent it had set up a certain resentment in him. He had, however, become the friend of another strange and withdrawn man, William of Orange, and distinguished himself in battle, serving very successfully under Marlborough. Queen Anne had respected him and made him her ambassador to France, but when Marlborough fell, Stair fell with him.
He then went back to Edinburgh and became the leader of the Scottish Whigs; and there he fell in love with Eleanor, Viscountess Primrose. She was a widow who had been unhappy in her first marriage and vowed she would never marry again. But Lord Stair also made a vow which was that she should be his wife. He achieved this by finding a way into her house where he hid himself and then at a certain moment appeared at her bedroom window. Such a scandal ensued, for the Viscountess was reckoned to be one of the most virtuous women of her time, that all she could do was to marry him.
He had always been in favour of the Hanoverian succession and with the coming of George I he was appointed a Lord of the Bedchamber, a Privy Councillor, Colonel of the Inniskilling Guards, and sent as Ambassador to Paris. Walpole had earned his dislike by recalling him from this appointment. Then realizing that Stair was a forceful man Walpole had tried to placate him by making him Vice-Admiral of Scotland. This Stair accepted, but the Paris affair rankled; and ever since he had been prepared to act against ‘Walpole.
Because he was a man of strong views and not afraid to voice them, because of his resentment against Walpole, he was chosen to present the case against the excise to the Queen, who, on his request, received him in her apartments at Kensington Palace.
He came straight to the point and began by attacking Walpole.
‘Your Majesty knows nothing of this man,’ he cried, ‘but what he tells you himself. But let me tell Your Majesty this: In no age was any minister so universally detested as this man whom you support. Nobody doubts that he absolutely governs Your Majesty. You may have the semblance of power but this man Walpole is the true ruler.’
The Queen was astonished and for the moment could find nothing to say.
‘Who are his closest friends? Who are those whom he keeps in the highest places—next his own? Argyle and Islay! Is this your choice, Madam? And if so, have you forgotten that these two men tried to set up the power of the King’s mistress so that it should be greater than yours?’
Caroline flinched. She hated any reference to Henrietta Howard. And the idea that there should have been any question of her having power was very repugnant to her.
‘Mrs Howard ...’ began Stair, but Caroline cut him short.
‘Pray remember that you are speaking of the King’s servant and to the King’s wife,’ she said coldly.
Stair then began on the matter which had brought him to her: the Excise Bill. ‘Madam, it will be impossible to force this obnoxious Bill through the Lords. It may be that your minister will get it through’ the Commons by corruption ...’
‘Lord Stair, I think you should retire until you arc a little calmer.’
‘I’m calm enough, Madam. This scheme is so wicked and dishonest that my conscience would no more permit me to vote for it than Walpole’s should have permitted him to promote it.’
‘Don’t talk to me of your conscience, my
lord. You make me faint! ‘
Lord Stair who resented this remark went on to storm against Walpole and his nefarious methods.
‘You learn your politics, sir, from The Craftsman I do believe,’ said the Queen sarcastically. ‘And as Lord Bolingbroke is your teacher I am not surprised at your ideas and your manners. That man is one of the greatest liars and knaves in any country. This I have found, not from what I have read in scurrilous papers such as you glean your ideas from, but from my own observation and experiences. And now, my Lord Stair, I must ask you to take your leave as I have other matters to which I must attend.’
There was nothing Stair could do but return to his friends and tell them that it was no use talking to the Queen about the Excise Bill, for she stood firmly beside Walpole.
* * *
Rarely had there been such excitement throughout the country as there was over the proposed Excise Bill. Meetings were called in every town hall, at every village inn. In London crowds gathered at street corners; banners were held high bearing the words ‘No Excise. No Slavery.’ And as the weeks passed the tumult grew louder.
Even Walpole’s supporters wondered whether it was wise to continue.
The purpose of the scheme had been distorted out of all proportion. All Walpole had suggested was a revision of the wine and tobacco tax, but the whole country was convinced that every need of life would so rise in price that they would be unable to obtain it.
The people did not know that in opposing Walpole’s excise scheme his enemies planned to rid the country of Walpole. No matter how his writers sought to counteract the effect of papers like The Craftsman, they could not do it. The people wanted a grievance; they liked nothing better than to see the mighty fallen, and Walpole had enjoyed too much power too long. Even those who did not know him wanted his downfall.
As for men such as Bolingbroke, Pulteney, and Wyndham, they saw in this a chance such as rarely came their way and they were not going to miss it.
Walking through the streets of London, a cloak concealing him for he was a well-known figure, Walpole saw the humour of the people. He heard the shouts of ‘No Excise!’ He listened to oratory and felt a bitter despair because it was clear that they did not know what the excise was. What did this shouting mob know of government, of the need for taxation? Did they thank him for the years of peace they had enjoyed? Not they! They wanted excitement; they wanted to taunt a politician as they taunted a bull; they were setting him to fight with his enemies as they did their fighting cocks.
He could fall on this ... down to disgrace, to the end of power.
Maria wanted him to give up, to go to Houghton and forget politics. But how could a man who had once tasted power live without it?
There was Houghton with its treasures; there was riotous living in the country: drink, a heavy table, congenial companions ... and Maria.
But in London there was power and he had known great power.
‘Give up the Excise Scheme,’ said his few friends. But were they friends? They were those who if he fell, would fall with him. So perhaps he must call them his friends.
Give up the Excise Bill! Admit defeat! No. That would be the end. He would betray a weakness. That supreme confidence which had carried him through all his troubles would be lost.
‘I shall not give up the Excise Bill,’ said Walpole.
* * *
‘And this,’ said the Prime Minister addressing a hostile House, ‘is the scheme which has been represented in so terrible a light! This is the monster which was to devour the people and commit such ravages on the whole nation.’
The Opposition was waiting to pounce. The Prime Minister’s own men were looking on with anxiety. He had explained that he had never had any intention to impose a general excise. The only commodities in question had been wine and tobacco. This he wished to introduce because a great deal of taxes were being lost to the nation through smuggling. This he wished to curtail. The House must understand that he had been wickedly ... no ... criminally misrepresented.
Wyndham was on his feet. The Opposition were against any form of excise. The Opposition did not believe in the Prime Minister’s protestations. It denounced the entire measure. It regarded excise in any form as the badge of slavery. ‘At this moment,’ he went on, ‘the people of this City are at the gates of the House. They are waiting eagerly to hear the result of this session. They want to know whether we, the Opposition, have prevailed on the Prime Minister’s indifference to their poverty and want ... whether we have thrown out this wicked measure—which we intend to do.’
Cheers drowned this speech and the sounds of voices could be heard without.
The mob must be thousands strong, thought Walpole.
He did not show his alarm. ‘These sufferers from poverty and want,’ he cried, ‘would seem to be very sturdy beggars.’
Pulteney was on his feet. ‘It moves me to wrath,’ he cried, ‘that the Prime Minister should have such indifference to the plight of the poor as to refer to them as sturdy beggars.’
Sturdy beggars! The phrase was referred to again and again during the debate. It was an unfortunate phrase. Walpole knew that it would be seized, used in the wrong context; that he would never escape from it.
The debate continued; and after thirteen hours no conclusion was reached.
One or two of his supporters suggested that Walpole slip out of the House quietly and cautiously, so that he might not be recognized. The mob was in an ugly mood.
* * *
The last complaint that could be made about the King was that he was a coward. George had never been that. Caroline and he talked continuously of the Excise and what this measure was doing to Walpole. His friends were deserting him after imploring him to drop the unpopular measure. Walpole would have liked to do this, but he could only see that to drop it would so lower his prestige that he would lose his place forever. He would be playing straight into his enemies hands, which was of course exactly what they wanted.
It astonished him, he told Maria, that the two who should be his most faithful friends in this crisis were the King and the Queen.
George’s eyes would fill with tears when he spoke of his Prime Minister. ‘That man has more spirit than any other man I ever knew,’ he said. ‘He is a brave man.’
And bravery was something which George understood and respected.
‘We will stand by him,’ he told the Queen. ‘No matter what happens we will not desert him.’
The Queen was anxious, and when Lord Scarborough requested an interview and she had heard what he had to say she was very alarmed. Richard Lumley, Lord Scarborough, was Lieutenant General of the Army and because he had always been a good friend to her and the King, Caroline knew she could trust him.
His immediate request was to be allowed to resign from his post.
Caroline was horrified. ‘But I couldn’t allow it.’ ‘Madam,’ he told her, ‘there will soon be a revolt in the army.’
‘Oh, no, no,’ cried Caroline. ‘It cannot be as bad as this.’ ‘There will be mutiny, Madam, if the Bill is not dropped.’
‘But you will answer to the King for the army.’
‘I will answer for the army against the Pretender,’ said Scarborough, ‘but not against the excise.’
‘Then,’ said the Queen soberly, ‘in your opinion the only course open to us is to drop the Bill.’
‘It is the only way, Madam.’
‘Yes,’ replied Caroline. ‘It is the only way.’
She went to the King and told him what Scarborough had said. Like her, George trusted Scarborough. If Scarborough said the army was on the edge of mutiny, then that was so.
‘Your Majesty will say that there is no alternative but to drop the Bill,’ said the Queen.
The King nodded. ‘We must send for Sir Robert.’
* * *
Walpole came first to the Queen.
‘We shall drop the Bill,’ he said. ‘There is no other alternative.’
‘I am s
orry,’ said the Queen. ‘You have been grossly misrepresented.’
‘I should have foreseen this.’
‘Nonsense! How could you! ‘
‘It is a minister’s task, Madam, to predict the future ... correctly. This Bill in itself would have presented no difficulties had it been allowed to pass through without all the lies and malice which my enemies have attached to it. The Prince’s attitude towards it has inflamed the public the more.’
‘You mean he has set himself on the side of the Opposition?’
‘This is Bolingbroke’s doing. We have constantly heard that the Prince denounces the Bill. Your Majesties and myself have been fearfully maligned. They call this our Bill. I agree with Your Majesty that the Bill must be dropped, but our enemies will not be satisfied with that. They want a scapegoat and I must be that man.’
‘You mean ... resign! ‘
‘It is the only way.’
‘There must be another way and we must find it.’
‘Madam, all know that you and I have worked together. Unless I resign and you dissociate yourself with me and my policies they will attack you too.’
‘The Queen! ‘ cried Caroline almost regally.
‘Madam, the King’s grievance against England is that it is the Parliament who rules ... not him.’
‘And you would resign?’
‘That Your Majesty’s name might not be coupled with mine in this dispute.’
The Queen’s expression was very gentle as she said: ‘I am surprised, Sir Robert Walpole, that you could think me so mean and so cowardly as to allow this to happen. The Bill must be set aside. I see that. But you will remain in your office. This is not the time—indeed is any time the time? ... for running away.’