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RETIREMENT OF THE PELHAMS.

233

to

1756.

His

charac

The latter days of the Pretender were spent in Rome and Ch. 19 Florence. He married a Polish princess, and assumed the A. D. title of Duke of Albany. He never relinquished the hope of 1746 securing the English crown, and always retained his polite ness and grace of manner. But he became an object of pity, not merely from his poverty and misfortunes, but also from the vice of intemperance, which he acquired in Scotland. death He died of apoplexy, in 1788, and left no legitimate issue. and The last male heir of the House of Stuart was the Cardinal of ter. York, who died at Rome in 1807. He was buried in St. Peter's, and a marble monument, by Canova, was erected over his remains at the cost of George IV., to whom the Cardinal had left the crown jewels which James II. had carried with him to France. This monument bears the names of James III., Charles III., and Henry IX., kings of England; titles never admitted by the English. With the battle of Culloden expired the hopes of the Catholics and Jacobites to restore Catholicism and the Stuarts.

The great European war, which was begun by Sir Robert Walpole, not long before his retirement, and carried on during the administration of the Pelhams, will be treated in another place.

ment of

Misfortunes of various kinds, but especially the defeat of Retirethe English armies in America, contributed to make the NewPelhams unpopular; and in 1746 the Duke of Newcastle was castle. compelled to call Mr. Pitt and Mr. Legge into the Cabinet. After being at the head of the Government for ten years, he was, at length, obliged to resign; and George II., much against his will, entrusted the helm of state to William Pitt; the Duke of Devonshire being nominally Premier. This was in 1756.

Mr. Pitt, who was now rising into importance, was born in 1708, of good family, his grandfather having been Governor of Madras, and the purchaser of the celebrated diamond which bears his name, and which was sold to the Regent of France for one hundred and thirty-five thousand pounds. William was sent to Oxford at the age of seven

234

A. D.

MINISTRY OF MR. PITT.

Ch. 19 teen, and at twenty-seven became a member of Parliament. From his first appearance he was heard with attention, and, 1757 when years and experience had given him wisdom and to power, his eloquence was overwhelming. No one ever 1759. equalled him in brilliant invective and scorching sarcasm.

Mr. Pitt

forms a

ministry.

His brilliant

career.

The Administration formed at the close of 1756 lasted only five months; but during that time Admiral Byng was executed, and the Seven Years' War commenced, of which Frederic II. of Prussia was the hero.

In April, 1757, Pitt and his colleagues were dismissed. But never was popular resentment more fierce and terrible. Again was the King obliged to bend to the " great commoner." An arrangement was made, and a coalition formed. Pitt became Secretary of State, and virtually Premier, but the Duke of Newcastle came in as First Lord of the Treasury. Pitt selected the Cabinet. His brother-in-law, Lord Temple, was made Keeper of the Privy Seal, and Lord Grenville Treasurer of the Navy; Fox became Paymaster of the Forces; the Duke of Bedford received the Lord Lieutenancy of Ireland; Hardwicke, the greatest lawyer of his age, was made Lord Chancellor; and Legge, the ablest financier of his day, Chancellor of the Exchequer. Murray, a little while before, had been elevated to the bench, as Lord Mansfield. There was

scarcely an eminent man in the House of Commons who was not included in the Administration. All the talent of the nation was laid at the feet of Pitt, and he had the supreme direction of the army and of foreign affairs.

Nothing could exceed the brilliancy of his career, which was marked, in America, by the conquest of Canada, and in the East by the acquisition of India. Equal success attended the allied armies, who were defending Prussia. On all sides the English were triumphant, and the nation became intoxicated with joy. The funds rose, and the bells rang an almost incessant peal for victories.

public rejoicings, King George II. died.

In the midst of these

His grandson, George III. entered upon his long reign in

ACCESSION OF GEORGE THE THIRD.

235

October, 1760, in the twenty-third year of his age. He, or Ch. 19 rather his ministers, resolved to prosecute the war then A. D. raging on the Continent, with vigor, and Parliament voted 1760 liberal supplies. The object of Pitt was the humiliation of to France and Austria, and the protection of Prussia, strug- 1763. gling against overwhelming forces. He secured his end by administering to the nation continual draughts of flattery and military glory.

Acces

sion of

George

III.

But however sincere the motives or brilliant the genius of the minister, it was impossible that a practical nation should not awake from such delusions. Statesmen began to calculate the cost of the war. Jealousies sprang up, and enmities were cherished. Some were offended by the haughtiness of the minister, and others were estranged by his withering invective. At length, he wished to declare war against Spain. The Cabinet could not be persuaded of its necessity, and Pitt resigned. He received a pension of three thousand pounds a year, and his wife was made a baroness. Soon after his retirement, under the administration of his successor, Lord Bute, Close of the Peace of Paris, effected in 1763, put an end to hostilities. We must now resume the history of France, and of other continental powers.

the war.

REFERENCES.-Lord Mahon's "History of England;" Coxe's "Memoirs of Walpole;" Bolingbroke's "State of Parties;" Tytler's "History of Scotland;" Archdeacon Coxe's "History of the Pelham Administration;" Horace Walpole's "Reminiscences;" and Jesse's "Memoirs of the Pretenders." See also the "Marchmont Papers ;" Ray's "History of the Rebellion;" Horace Walpole's "Memoirs of George II.;" Lord Waldegrave's "Memoirs ;" and Doddington's "Diary."

236

FRANCE UNDER THE REGENCY.

CHAPTER XX.

LOUIS XV. OF FRANCE.

Ch. 20 THE reign of Louis XV. was one of the longest on record, extending from 1715 to 1774-the greater part of the eigh1715 teenth century.

A. D.

Re

to

gency
of the

Duke of
Orleans.

During his minority, for he was only five years of age at 1774. the time of his accession, the reins of government were held by the Regent Duke of Orleans, the grand-nephew of Louis XIV. The most pressing subject which demanded attention, was that of the finances. The late King had left a debt of one thousand millions of livres-an enormous sum in that age; and the Duke St. Simon had proposed a bankruptcy. "It will fall," said he, "chiefly on the commercial and moneyed classes, who are neither to be feared nor pitied; and will, moreover, not only be a relief to the State, but a salutary warning to the ignoble not to lend their money," a speech strikingly illustrative of the feelings and opinions of a powerful class in France at that time. But the minister would not run the risk of incurring the odium which such a measure would have produced, and he, therefore, proposed calling together the States-General. The Regent would not hear of that measure, and yet did not feel inclined to follow the advice of St. Simon. He therefore compromised the matter, by adopting measures to defraud claimants of their rights.

Financial difficulties

He first established a commission authorized to verify the bills of public creditors, and, if their accounts did not prove satisfactory, to cancel them entirely. Three hundred and fifty millions of livres were thus swept away. He next resolved

LAW'S MISSISSIPPI SCHEME.

A. D.

237 not only to refuse to pay just debts, but to make people Ch. 20 refund the gains which they had made. Those who had loaned money to the State, or had farmed the revenues, were 1719. flung into prison; and threatened with the confiscation of their goods, unless they purchased pardon. The coin was then Fraudebased to such an extent, that seventy-two millions of livres dulent were by this means added to the treasury. But even these gains were not enough, for the national debt had increased to fifteeen hundred millions of livres, or almost seventy millions sterling. So the Regent listened to the schemes of the celebrated John Law, a Scotch adventurer and financier, who had established a bank, had grown rich, and was reputed to be a wonderful political economist.

schemes.

Law proposed, in substance, to increase the paper currency of the country, and thus to supersede the necessity for the use of the precious metals. The Regent, having great faith in Law's abilities, and in his wealth, agreed to his proposals, and in 1719 converted his private bank into a royal one, and made it, in fact, the Bank of France. This bank was then allied to the two great commercial companies of the time, the East India and the Mississippi. Great privileges were be- Missis stowed on each. The latter had the exclusive monopoly of sippi the trade with Louisiana, of all the countries on the Missis- pany. sippi River, and also of the fur trade in Canada. Louisiana was then supposed to be rich in gold mines, a notion which generated many popular delusions.

The capital of this gigantic corporation was fixed at one hundred millions; and Law, who was director-general, aimed to make the notes of the company preferable to specie, which, however, could lawfully be demanded for them. As extravagant hopes of gain were cherished respecting the company, its shares were in great demand. Law's bank bills could alone purchase the shares; so the gold and silver of the realm flowed into Law's bank. Law and the Regent had now, therefore, only to fabricate shares and bank bills to an indefinite

amount.

Com

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