IX.

CHAPTER IX.

CHAP. WHILE the coldness between George the First and his son had been merely a Court secret, or a 1717. public surmise, it produced comparatively little mischief; but when it grew into an avowed and open breach, followed by a change of residence, and authenticated by published letters, it became a much more momentous affair. The jealousy and suspicion of the King, the forwardness and caballing of the Prince, have been already mentioned in this narrative, and from a very slight spark, their smouldering resentments blazed high. On the christening of one of the Prince's children, the Prince had designed his uncle, the Duke of York, as godfather; but, by the King's commands, the Duke of Newcastle stood in that relation at the ceremony, not as proxy for the Duke of York, but in his own behalf. The Prince, incensed at this insolence (so he called it), as soon as the ceremony was over, addressed Newcastle in very harsh and reproachful terms; and the King, offended at this want of respect, ordered his son to remain in his own apartments under arrest, and soon afterwards sent him his commands to quit St. James's. The

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1717.

Prince and Princess accordingly withdrew into the CHAP house of the Earl of Grantham, Lord Chamberlain to his Royal Highness. This frivolous dispute, in which the King was certainly severe, the Prince undutiful, and both childish, produced a total alienation between them during several years.* *A notice was issued, that no person who paid his respects to the Prince or Princess would be received at Court; they were deprived of their guard of honour and other distinctions; and the Secretary of State wrote a circular to the Foreign Ministers, giving an account of this whole transaction; nay, to such an extent did the Royal displeasure proceed, that George formed a scheme for obtaining an act of Parliament by which the Prince, on coming to the throne, should be compelled to relinquish his German states. This project he afterwards laid before Lord Chancellor Parker; and it was only on the Chancellor's representations of its inexpediency and impracticability, that it was abandoned by his Majesty. On the other hand, the Prince, fixing his residence at Leicester House, openly raised the standard of opposition against his father.

The feverish anxiety produced by this schism in the Royal family was very apparent during the whole

* St. Simon, who is always fond of scandal, and not always solicitous as to its truth, does not scruple to say, "Jamais le "père n'avait pu souffrir ce fils, parcequ'il ne le croyait point "à lui." (Mem. vol. xviii. p. 197. ed. 1829.)

IX.

1718.

CHAP. of this session. It was a subject never touched upon, but always, feared and expected in debate. On one occasion, when the House of Lords was very full and the Prince of Wales present, Lord North and Grey rose, as he said, "to take "notice of the great ferment that is in the nation." Here he made a pause, and his hearers were in no small pain and suspense as to what might follow; but Lord North soon relieved them by mentioning only the great scarcity of silver, and the consequent hinderance of trade.

This scarcity of silver was, in fact, one of the principal matters to which the Parliament of this year directed their attention. The reports on this subject of Sir Isaac Newton, as Master of the Mint, are still on record, and appear interesting from his name, if not from their contents. Lord Stanhope, in his official statement, as head of the Treasury, ascribed the scarcity of silver to three causes; first, the increasing luxury in relation to plate; secondly, the vast exports of bullion and other plate to the East Indies; thirdly, the clandestine trade that had lately been carried on of exporting silver and importing gold to and from Holland, Germany, and other countries. In support of these allegations Stanhope produced several papers, and, among the rest, one drawn up at the Custom House, by which it appeared that in 1717 the East India Company had exported near three millions of ounces of silver, which far exceeded

IX.

the imports in that year; so that large quantities CHAP. of silver specie must necessarily have been melted down, both to make up that export and to supply 1718. silversmiths. He also hinted at "the malice of

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some persons, who, by hoarding up silver, "thought to distress the Government; " and declared that, nevertheless, public credit had never yet been so high, for that "the Government "could now borrow great sums at three and a half 66 per cent." On the whole, it was resolved, "that "the standard of the gold and silver coins of this kingdom ought not to be altered in weight, fine"ness, or denomination; but that a bill should "be brought in for the more effectual preventing "the melting down of the coins of this kingdom." I find, however, from the Lords' Journals, that though this bill was accordingly prepared, and went into committee, it did not pass this session.

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It has often occurred to me to doubt whether our practice of computing sums in gold instead of silver coins-always reckoning by pounds or guineas instead of crown-pieces- has not had a tendency to raise and keep up prices unduly for small purchases. The Duke de Sully carries this idea further; he declares himself convinced by experience that even a crown-piece is too large a value for common computations *; and, in fact, it may be observed, that, since his time, the French

* "Je crois avoir fait l'expérience que l'habitude de nommer "un écu faute d'une dénomination plus propre aux petits details porte insensiblement toutes les parties du commerce dans les

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CHAP. have adopted the reckoning by LIVRES instead of

IX.

1718.

ÉCUS.

The Parliament sat only from the 21st of November to the 21st of March, without much of moment occurring. It is remarkable, that the seceding Whigs do not appear to have gained ground by their open junction with the Tories; and that the Government prevailed against them, on almost every occasion, by larger majorities than during their cabals in office.* The chief question on which the Opposition made a stand this session was the Mutiny Bill a good topic for popular declamation, and on which the long experience of Walpole, as Secretary of War, enabled him to speak with peculiar powers of mischief; but it was carried in the Commons by 247 against 229. In the House of Peers, Oxford and Strafford (for the impeachment of the latter had been silently dropped), resuming their places, took a prominent part in the debate; Lord Townshend also spoke against the bill; and in the division they had 77 votes, and the Government 91. During one discussion Shippen, forgetting his usual caution, was betrayed into the observation, that some of his Majesty's measures

"ventes et dans les achats au-delà de leur vraie valeur." (Mém. de Sully, vol. ii. p. 148. ed. 1747.)

"Tout est allé dans le Parlement au souhait de notre Roi, qui n'aura plus d'embarras pour de l'argent pendant toute "cette séance. Aussi les fonds continuent à hausser considéra"blement." Lord Stanhope to Abbé Dubois, Dec. 23. 1717. Hardwicke Papers, vol. xxvi.