1 signation; a standing army is still a standing army, whatever name it be called by; they are a body of men distinct from the body of the people: they are governed by different laws: blind obedience, and an entire submission to the orders of their commanding officer is their now I find I have no other chance for saving my life, but by calling for the help of some re'gular physician.' "In the year 1741, when sir Robert found his place of prime minister no longer tenable, he wisely resigned all his employments, and was created earl of Orford. His opposers, among whom Mr. Pulteney had long been foremost, were assured of being provided for and, among several other promotions, Mr. Pulteney was sworn of the privy council, and soon afterwards created earl of Bath. He had long lived in the very focus of popular observation, and was respected as the chief bulwark against the encroachments of the crown. But, from the moment he accepted a title, all his favour with the people was at an end; and the rest of his life was spent in contemning that applause which he could no longer secure."-Biographical Dictionary. "Mr. Pulteney was the head of the opposition in the House of Commons. He was a professed whig, and as such he opposed the minister; but he never intended that this op position should be carried farther than to retrieve the nation from those measures, which as a whig be thought to be wrong, and which he blamed the minister, who had risen upon the whig interest, for pursuing."-Tindal. "Mr. Pulteney inherited from nature a good understanding, which he had studiously cultivated; he was one of the most learned members in the House of Commons; extremely well qualified to judge of literary productions; well read in history and politics; deeply skilled in the British constitution, the detail of government, and the nature of the finances. He spoke with freedorn, fluency, and uncommon warmth of declamation, which was said to be the effect of personal aninosity to sir Robert Walpole, with whom he had formerly been connected. "Soon after he was made,earl of Bath, he declared in the House of Lords, 'That he considered it as an act of cowardice and meanness to fall passively down the stream of popularity, and to suffer his reason and integrity 'to be overborne by the noise of vulgar cla" mors, which had been raised against the measures of government by the low arts of exag· geration, fallacious reasonings, and partial representations. The very language, which sir Robert Walpole had often used against Mr. Pulteney and his confederates in the House of Commons."-Smollett. "Mr. Pulteney was formed by nature for social and convivial pleasures. Resentment made him engage in business. He had thought him only principle. The nations around us, Sir, are already enslaved, and have been enslaved by those very means; by means of their standing armies they have every one lost their liberties; it is indeed impossible that the libèrties of the people can be preserved, in any country self slighted by sir Robert Walpole, to whom he publicly avowed not only revenge, but utter destruction. He had lively and shining parts, a surprizing quickness of wit, and a happy turn to the inost amusing and entertaining kinds of poetry, as epigrams, ballads, odes, &c.; in all which he had an uncommon facility. His compositions in that way were sometimes satirical, often licentious, but always full of wit. "He had a quick and clear conception of business, could equally detect and practise sophistry. He could state and explain the most intricate matters, even in figures, with the utmost perspicuity. His parts were rather above business; and the warmth of his imagination, joined to the impetuosity and restlessness of his temper, made him incapable of conducting it long together with prudence and steadiness." "He was a most complete orator and debater in the House of Commons; eloquent, entercasion required; for he had arguments, wit, taining, persuasive, strong, and pathetic, as ocHis breast was and tears, at his command. the seat of all those passions which degrade our nature, and disturb our reason. There they raged in perpetual conflict; but avarice, the meanest of them all, generally triumphed, ruled forbear to mention, most scandalously. absolutely, and in many instances, which I "His sudden passion was outrageous, but supported by great personal courage. Nothing exceeded his ambition but his avarice; they often accompany, and are frequently and reciprocally the causes and the effects of each other; but the latter is always a clog upon the former. He affected good-nature and compassion, and perhaps his heart might feel the misfortunes and distresses of his fellow-creatures, but his hand was seldom or never stretched out to relieve them. Though he was an able actor of truth and sincerity, he could occasionally lay them aside, to serve the poses of his ambition or avarice. pur "He was once in the greatest point of view that ever I beheld any subject in. When the opposition, of which he was the leader in the House of Commons, prevailed at last against sir Robert Walpole, he became the arbiter between the crown and the people :` the former imploring his protection, the latter his support. In that critical moment his various jarring passions were in the highest ferment, and for a while suspended his ruling one. Sense of shame made him hesitate at turning courtier on a sudden, after having acted the patriot so loug, and with so much applause; and his pride made him declare, that he would accept of no place, vainly imagining, that he could by such a simulated and temporary self-denial preserve bis popularity with the public, and his power at where a numerous standing army is kept up. Shall we then take any of our measures from the examples of our neighbours? No, Sir, upon the contrary, from their misfortunes we ought to learn to avoid those rocks upon which they have split. court. He was mistaken in both. The King hated him almost as much for what he might have done, as for what he had done; and a motley ministry was formed, which by no means desired his company. The nation looked upon him as a deserter, and he shrunk into insignificancy and an earldom. "He made several attempts afterwards to retrieve the opportunity he had lost, but in vain; his situation would not allow it. He was fixed in the House of Lords, that hospital of incurables; and his retreat to popularity was cut off: for the confidence of the public, when once great and once lost is never to be regained. He lived afterwards in retirement with the wretched comfort of Horace's miser; (Populus me sibilat, &c.) I may, perhaps, be suspected to have given too strong colouring to some features of this portrait; but I solemnly protest, that I have drawn it conscientiously, and to the best of my knowledge, from a very long acquaintance with, and observation of, the original. Nay, I have rather softened than heightened the colouring."-Lord Chesterfield. "In 1750 Pulteney placed himself at the head of the discontented Whigs. In conjunction with Bolingbroke, his ancient antagonist, he became the principal supporter of the Craftsto which paper he gave many essays, and furnished hints and observations. man, "At this period, Pulteney was greatly courted by the foreign ministers of those powers who were displeased with the measures of the British Cabinet, and by none more than by Palm, the imperial ambassador, who caballed with opposition and endeavoured to overturn the ministry. "The controversy in 1731,, which passed between Pulteney and Walpole's friends and pamphleteers, widened the breach, and rendered it irreparable. The Craftsman was full of invectives against Walpole, and the measures of his administration. In answer to this paper, a pamphlet was published under the title of Sedition and Defamation Displayed;' in a Letter to the Author of the Craftsman, with a motto from Juvenal, Ande aliquid brevibus Gyaris, et carcere dignum, 'Si vis esse aliquis It contained a violent, and, according to the spirit of the political pamphlets of the times, a scurrilous abuse of Pulteney and Bolingbroke. The character of Pulteney is pourtrayed in the colours of party, in a dedication to the patrons of the Craftsman; and his opposition is wholly attributed to disappointed ambition and personal pique. In answer to this pamphlet, which he supposed to be written by lord It signifies nothing to tell me, that our army is commanded by such gentlemen as cannot be supposed to join in any measures for enslaving their country; it may be so; I hope it is so; I have a very good opinion of many gentlemen now in the army; I believe they would Hervey, the great friend and supporter of sir Robert Walpole, he wrote, A proper Reply 'to a late scurrilous Libel, inutuled Sedition ' and Defamation Displayed, in a Letter to the Author; by Caleb D'Anvers of Grays Inn, esq. "In this pamphlet, Mr. Pulteney introduces the character of sir Robert Walpole, which it must be confessed does not yield, either in scurrility or misrepresentation, to that of Pulteney, given in Sedition and Defamation Dis'played. In this publication, the Author treated lord Hervey with such contempt, and lashed him with such ridicule, in allusion to his effeminate appearance, as a species of half man and half woman, which Pope, in his character of Sporus bas no less illiberally adopted, that lord Hervey was highly offended, a duel ensued, and Pulteney slightly wounded his antagonist. It after wards appeared that lord Hervey did not compose this pamphlet; and Pulteney acknowledged his mistake, and imputed it, without sufficient authority, to Walpole himself. [It was written by sir William Yonge, Secretary at War, as he himself informed the late lord Hardwicke.] "As one great source of obloquy vented by the ministerial writers against Pulteney, was his junction with Bolingbroke, who, when driven from his country, had espoused the party of the Pretender, a letter by Bolingbroke appeared in the Craftsman of May 22, 1731, with the fictitious name of Old-castle, which, after heaping many charges on the minister, drew the characters of Pulteney and Bolingbroke in a most favourable light, and vindicated them from the imputations of the writers on the side of government. "This Letter produced an Answer, intituled, 'Remarks on the Craftsman's Vindication of his two honourable Patrons, in his paper of May 22, 1781. Par Nobile Fratrum;' In which the two characters commended by the Craftsman, were attacked with increasing asperity, and Pulteney was loaded with the most virulent personal abuse, by ransacking his private life, prying into his domestic concerns and family transactions, by accusing him of acting solely from disappointment and revenge, of being governed by veteran Jacobites, of disrespect to the king, ingratitude to the minister, of sharing the bounties, and adding to the pensions of the crown, and of having obtained the fee-simple of 9,000l. per annum, by the favour, indulgence, and assistance of the minister, whom he had sworn to destroy. Perhaps he would have acted a more prudent and diguified part, in not making any reply to the invective of a party pamphlet ; but, as he conceived it to have been written, or at least the materials Sir, I talk not of imaginary things; I talk of what has happened to an English House of Commons, and from an English Army, not only from an English Army, but an Army that was raised by that very House of Commons, an was commanded by Generals appointed by them; therefore, do not let us vainly imagine, that an Army raised and maintained by authority of Parliament will always be submissive to them: If an Army be so numerous as to have it in their power to overawe the Parliament, they will be submissive as long as the Parliament does nothing to disoblige their favourite general; but when that case happens, I ain afraid that instead of the Parliament's dismissing the army, the army will dismiss the Parliament, as they have done heretofore. Nor does the legality or illegality of that Parliament, or of that army, alter the case, for with respect to that army, and according to their way of thinking, the Parliament dismissed by them was a legal Parliament; they were an army raised and maintained according to law, and at first they were raised, as they imagined, for the preservation of those Liberties which they afterwards destroyed. not join in any such measures; but their lives are uncertain, nor can we be sure how long they may be continued in command; they may be all dismissed in a moment, and proper tools of power put in their room. Besides, Sir, we know the passions of men, we know how dan-Army that was paid by them, and an Army that gerous it is to trust the best of men with too much power; where was there a braver army than that under Julius Cæsar? Where was there ever an army that had served their country more faithfully? That ariny was commanded generally by the best citizens of Rome, by men of great fortune and figure in their country; yet that army enslaved their country. The affections of their soldiers towards their country, the honour and integrity of the under-officers, are not to be depended on; by the military law, the administration of justice is so quick, and the punishments so severe, that neither officer nor soldier dares offer to dispute the orders of his supreme commander; he must not consult his own inclinations: If an officer were commanded to pull his own father out of this House, he must do it; he dares not disobey; immediate death would be the sure consequence of the least grumbling. And if an officer were sent into the Court of Requests, accompanied by a body of musketeers with screwed bayonets, and with orders to tell us what we ought to do, and how we were to vote, I know what would be the duty of this House; I know it would be our duty to order the officer to be taken and hanged up at the door of the Lobby: but Sir, I doubt much if such a spirit could be found in the House, or in any House of Commons that will ever be in England. It has been urged, Sir, that whoever is for the Protestant Succession must be for continuing the Army: for that very reason, Sir, I am against continuing the Army: I know that neither the Protestant Succession in his Majesty's most illustrious house, nor any succession can ever be safe as long as there is a Standing Army in the country. Armies, Sir, have no regard to hereditary Successions. The first two that part of his defence he proceeds, " Since now we are upon the heads of secret history, which you have opened, I must explain another point in this gentleman's defence, concerning the reconciliation between his late majesty and the present king, from whence it will appear, whether you or this gentleman was most greedy of employments, and who discovered the truest zeal for the honour of his present majesty." to have been furnished by the minister, his indignation was roused, and he published an animated defence of himself and his own conduct, a work to which I have frequently alluded, as containing much curious information on the origin and progress of the quarrel between him and Walpole. It is styled, An Answer to one part of a late infamous Libel, intituled, "Remarks on the Craftsman's Vindication of his two honourable Patrons;" in which the cha⚫racter and conduct of Mr. P. is fully.vin"The disclosure of this secret conversation, 'dicated.' Addressing it to sir Robert Wal- and of the contemptuous expressions which pole, he says of the pamphlet in which he had Walpole is said to have uttered against the been so indecently abused, "There are seve king, when prince of Wales, instead of irritat ral passages of socret history in it falselying him against the minister, only raised his stated and misrepresented, which could come from nobody but yourself. You might, perhaps, employ some of your inercenaries to work them up for you; but the ingredients are certainly your own.” 1 resentment higher against Pulteney. Frank lin, the printer of the pamphlet, was arrested; Pulteney's name was struck out of the list of privy counsellors, and he was put out of all commissions of the peace, measures which "In the course of the defence, Mr. Pulteney tendered to render the breach irreparable. gives us his account of the conversation about Such was indeed the bitterness of party, and making him Secretary of State, which he ac- the animosity against the minister, that Pulcuses Walpole of having disclosed, and mis-teney does not hesitate to declare, that" the represented. And as Walpole had thrown out to him the bait of the secretaryship, to prevent, if possible, his opposing the payment of the king's debts, the secret history of that transaction, as far as Pulteney was concerned, is laid before the public. Having gone through opposition had come to a determined resolution, not to listen to any treaty whatsoever, or from whomsoever it may come, in which the first and principal condition should not be to deliver him up to the justice of the country." Coxe's Walpole. 1 Cæsars at Rome did pretty well, and found means to keep their armies in tolerable subjection, because the generals and officers were all their own creatures; but how did it fare with their successors? Was not every one of them named by the army without any regard to hereditary right, or to any right? A cobler, a gardener, or any man who happened to raise himself in the army, and could gain their affections, was made emperor of the world: Was not every succeeding Emperor raised to the throne, or tumbled headlong into the dust, according to the meer whim or mad frenzy of the soldiers? We are told, Ho! Gentlemen, but this army is desired to be continued but for one year longer, it is not desired to be continued for any term of years': how absurd is this distinction! Is there any army in the world continued for any term of years? Does the most absolute monarch tell his army, that he is to continue them for any number of years, or any number of months? How long have we already continued our army from year to year? And if it thus continues, wherein will it differ from the Standing Armies of those countries which have already submitted their necks to the yoke? We are now come to the Rubicon; our army is now to be reduced, or it never will; from his Majesty's own mouth we are assured of a profound tranquillity abroad; we know there is one at home; if this is not a proper time, if these circumstances do not afford us a safe opportutunity for reducing at least a part of our regular forces, we never can expect to see any reduc tion; and this nation, already overloaded with debts and taxes, must be loaded with the heavy charge of perpetually supporting a numerous Standing Army; and remain for ever exposed to the danger of having its Liberties and Privileges trampled upon, by any future king or ministry, who shall take it in their heads to do so, and shall take a proper care to model the army for that purpose. Then the question was put, on sir William Strickland's motion, which was agreed to, without any Amendment, by 241 against 171. Debate in the Commons, on Mr. Pulteney's Motion for an Account of what Savings had been made by Vacancies in the Army.] Jan. 27. Mr William Pulteney moved, "That an humble Address be presented to his Majesty, that he would be graciously pleased to give directions to the proper officers, to lay before the House an Account of what Commissions in the Army and Governments of Garrisons had been kept Pacant, and what Savings had been made thereupon." Upon this Sir William Strickland stood up and said, That uo such Account had ever been kept at the War Office; the custom there was, that when any officer died, the Commissary certified his death to that officer, in order that the pay might be stopt; and they never began to issue any money upon that account till a new commission was lodged in that office.' Sir William Yonge added, That whaterer Savings could possibly be upon that account amounted to such a small sum, that it was a mere trifle, and was hot worth being taken any notice of by that House. Mr. Henry Pelham said, That all the time he had been in that office, and he believed it was. so still, no commissions were ever kept vacant for any time: that it was always his Majesty's custom to fill up every commission in the army immediately after it became vacant, so that there could be little or no Savings upon that account; and if there was any, the custom had always been to leave it to be disposed of by his Majesty, in such manner as he thought fit. Hereupon Mr. William Pulteney spoke as follows: Sir; I made this motion in a manner by mere accident; but I do not think it is any argument against it to tell us, that the Savings amount to but a mere trifle; we shall be best judges of that, when we see the Accounts laid before us; and let it amount to what it will, if it is saved, (I will not say sunk, being a bard word) we ought to inquire into the application of it. I believe there are not a great many Commissions kept long vacant, but I am sure there have been some that have been kept vacant for a considerable time, we ought at least to have an Account of them; because I observe, there is a demand every year brought in, which is called, An Account of Services 'incurred and not provided for;' I think, the most proper way of answering this Account is, to have An Account of Services provided for and not performed.' I am persuaded that in the Civil List Revenue there is not an office vacant for a day, but what the Savings thereby are brought to account, and disposed of in the most frugal manner. I think the saine good management ought to be observed in the army. General Ross said, That he supposed the same method was observed now, that was for merly observed in Flanders: that he knew no commission was then kept vacant for any time; as soon as ever the death of any officer was certified, a new commission was granted to some other in his place, and what little Savings could be made that way were always left to the disposal of the general, and were applied by him in such manner as he thought most proper for the public service. Mr. Bootle spoke next: Sir; Whatever is given for the maintenance of the Army is a part of the public money, and it is our business to call for the Accounts, and inquire into the disposal of every farthing of * Smollett describes sir William Yonge as a man "who rendered himself serviceable and necessary, by stooping to all compliances, running upon every scent, and haranguing on every subject with an eren, uninterrupted, tedious flow of dull declamation, composed of assertions without veracity, conclusion from false premiscs, words without meaning, and language without propriety." |