CHAPTER V.

POLITICAL FRIENDS AND FOES.

Whig and Tory-Robert Walpole-Lord Shaftesbury-Charles Montagu (Lord Halifax)-Robert Harley-Effect of Queen Mary's Death on Parties-Return to Court of the Princess Anne and the Marlboroughs-Position of AtterburyVenality of Public Men-Jacobite Plots-Nonjuring Clergymen-Association for King William-Sir John FenwickKing William reconciled to the Duke of MarlboroughLord Sunderland and his son Lord Spencer-Lord Clancarty-Death of James II.-"The Pretender acknowledged by the King of France as James III.-Dr. BurnetDuke of Dorset-Death of William III.-Advantage to Atterbury of the Accession of Queen Anne-Walpole and the Marlboroughs-A Political Crisis-The New Influence— Trial of Dr. Sacheverell-Sir Simon Harcourt's DefenceAtterbury and Dr. William King's Proceedings-The Examiner-Dismissal of the Whigs and the Camarilla.

NEITHER of the party terms "Whig" and " Tory" is of English derivation. The first is a Scotch word for sour whey, for a long period the ordinary beverage of the poorer classes; the second is said to come from tar-a-Ri," "Come, O King! a frequent exclamation of the royalists during the rule of Cromwell. Roger North, in his "Examen," dwells on the use of opprobrious titles fixed on the favourers of Popery; and Burnet, who has been followed by most subsequent explainers, states that "Whiggan was used by the carters of the South-west of Scotland

while driving their horses, and subsequently employed as a term of reproach against all persons in opposition to the Court.* Dr. Lingard traces Tory to toringhin-to pursue for the sake of plunderand the pursuers, who were outlaws, hiding in bogs and inaccessible places, were termed rapparees and "Tories."

So much for these distinctive terms. What Whigs and Tories were during the career of Atterbury must now be stated.

Among the rising men in the House of Commons, during the reign of William III., was a Norfolk squire, member for Castle Rising, who affected a hearty zeal for popular principles in religion and politics; but for the first Robert Walpole cared very little, and the latter he entered into only in the spirit of partisanship. The arbitrary proceedings of the House, that appeared to have no higher object than the ruin of every distinguished man in or out of that assembly, to make way for the noisy crew who clamoured him down, found in him an active advocate.

In the following reign he was returned for Lynn Regis, and became attached to the Whigs, then assuming the exclusive advocacy of popular principles. He associated himself with the leaders of the party, with whom his convivial habits recommended him quite as much as his political enterprise. He was even noticed by the Duchess of Marlborough, whose penetration detected his usefulness.

Hist. of his Own Times, I., 43.

LORD SHAFTESBURY.

123

Anthony Ashley (the grandson of the Lord Chancellor), Earl of Shaftesbury, was first known to Dr. Atterbury as the member for Poole till 1698: he did not succeed to the earldom till his return from Holland. He gave important assistance to King Wil liam in the creation of a Parliament likely to assist in passing the beneficial measures his Majesty had projected, and is said to have been consulted by the King. On the accession of Queen Anne he paid very little attention to public affairs, devoting himself to literary pursuits, varied by another residence in Holland. Though his writings are of more than questionable tendency, and he indulged in severe reflections upon the clergy, he professed much admiration for the Sermons of Whichcote, for which he composed a Preface. He wrote several treatises, in an over-refined style, that found admirers. Those published in three volumes, in 1711, with the title of Characteristics," are best known. His "Letter concerning Enthusiasm," his "Soliloquy, or Advice to an Author," and the "Essay on the Freedom of Wit and Humour," were much praised; and Bishop Hurd styles his "Moralists: a Philosophical Rhapsody," published in 1709, one of the best productions of the kind in the language; but Dr. Blair has condemned its excessive elaboration. There was an affectation cultivated about this time of being classically philosophical, and the noble author adopted it. His lordship has had many imitators. In the summer of 1711 the state of his health induced him to travel to Italy, where he remained till he died, February 14,

1713.

Charles Montagu benefited by the instructions of Dr. Busby, and in 1683, when at the advanced schoolboy age of twenty-one, proceeded to Cambridge, to join his friend Stepney, who had preceded him to that university the year before. He soon distinguished himself among the versifiers of his age, assisting Prior in that admirable fable, "The City Mouse and the Country Mouse." He took care to let his share in the composition of such a clever parody be widely known, and the value of this service to the cause of Protestantism was recognized by King William when the Earl of Dorset, his Lord Chamberlain, introduced him with the suggestive recommendation, "I have brought a mouse to have the honour of kissing your hand." His Majesty, smiling, replied, "You will do well to put me in a way of making a man of him."* A pension of £500 a year was followed by public employments, and in a few years Montagu made such an impression in the House of Commons as to be considered one of the ablest statesmen and cleverest financiers of the age. He held the posts of Chancellor of the Exchequer, First Commissioner of the Treasury, and Auditor of the Exchequer; and was created, 13th of December, 1700, a peer by the title of Baron Halifax.

The House of Commons, in the session of 1693,

* Prior refers to the patronage of his colleague, and the neglect of himself, in his "Epistle to Fleetwood Sheppard, Esq."

"There's one thing more I'd almost slipt,
But that may do as well in postscript;
My friend Charles Montagu 's preferred,
Nor would I have it long observed,

That one mouse eats, whilst t'others starved!”

WHIGS AND TORIES.

125

had been thrown into a state of intense commotion by the refusal of the King to sanction "the Place Bill." Popular opinions were expressed by the Tories, and Harley and his friends prepared a remonstrance, to which they gave the inoffensive name of a representation;" and, with some modifications, this was presented as the address of the House. The King was courteous, but firm; the Tories were for insisting, the Whigs for conceding their right; and a division decided the question in favour of the latter by a large majority. The party became strengthened in the Ministry; the Earl of Shrewsbury accepted the seals and a dukedom, to the disappointment of the Jacobites, who had been striving to enlist him for James. At last the only Tories left in the Administration were the Lord President Carmarthen and the First Lord of the Treasury, Godolphin. Another naval disaster in Camaret Bay occurred, and it was affirmed that this had been caused by the Tory spies in the Cabinet; the party became unpopular, Jacobite agents were more active than ever in Lancashire and Cheshire, where new plots were discovered. Traitors and informers changed places, perfidy grew common, and the rascality of Titus Oates was rivalled by the scoundrelism of Taafe.

Just as the ex-government Jacobin informer had succeeded in saving the conspirators he had previously caused to be arrested, the Primate Tillotson expired, after a short illness, and a Churchman very much inferior to him in ability, Tenison, was appointed to the vacant archbishopric. This loss to the Church was shortly afterwards followed by a still