The History of Party; from the rise of the Whig and Tory factions, in the reign of Charles II, to the passing of the Reform Bill

Preface

. The conduct and revolutions of our two national parties occur but incidentally, even in the most comprehensive of the general Histories of England : it is the object of the following work to separate them from the mass of circumstances with which they are mingled, and weave them into a connected and detailed narrative. A review of the principles and practice of the two classes of statesmen which alternately govern a mighty empire, must, under any circumstances, be interesting. A contrast of the opposing theories of government which they profess, of the opportunities which have occurred to each for the develop ment of these theories, and of the results obtained, must, in all cases, be instructive. But to a citizen of the state, where these principles of government are still in active contest, and where these parties still are struggling, such knowledge is indispensable : without it he can look only to the events of the present moment, he can trust only to the fallacious professions of individuals ; with it he can deduce inferences from the more certain testimony of series of events, and he can contrast the results of the principles between which he is called upon to judge.

PREFACE.

. VI Eminently important as such knowledge is, and forming as it does, the most important reward of accurate historical study, its particular cultivation is very far from being general. The organs of the different factions put forth, without hesitation, the most extraordinary propositions upon this subject, and rely with confidence upon the credulity of their readers. In a recent number of the " Quarterly Review" (vol. liv., p. 370) it is said, " We talk now as we did then" (in the reigns of Anne and George I.) " of Whig and Tory, but the tenets of the two parties have been so completely counter changed (as the heralds express it) that a Whig of that day very much resembled a Tor}** of ours, and vice versd." The reader who contrasts this passage with the authorities cited in the following pages, will be inclined to wonder whether it proceeded from deplorable ignorance in the reviewer, or from his assumption of ignorance in his readers ; but he will admit that, in either case, no attempt to dispel such ignorance can be unworthy of attention. - The space devoted to this work is only sufficient for a compressed history of the parties.

A know ledge of those portions of the English history which are not directly applicable to this subject has been always presumed. I have already said that a history of the Whig and Tory parties involves a contrast of two opposing principles. He would be but little capable of draw-

PREFACE.

. VII ing that contrast, who, having studied the subject, could himself arrive at no definite judgment. If he has awarded his preference to one party, his bias must necessarily appear in his narrative. I haye thought it more ingenuous to avow mine than to attempt to cover it with the usual veil of a simulated impartiality. A preference of the principle upon which the Whigs profess to act is acknowledged ; but I have never knowingly allowed that preference to distort facts, or to influence the narrative of par ticular transactions. The sentiments and inferences of an author are his own ; he has a right to offer, his reader may entertain or reject them. In preparing this volume I have obtained light upon some obscure points of history from Martyn's Life of the first Earl of Shaftesbury ; and the kindness of the present earl has enabled me to authenticate the most important quotation by a reference to Mr. Stringer's manuscript, which formed the basis of that work.

I am also much indebted to Mr. R. Mackintosh, who has, with great liberality, opened to me the splendid collection of historical materials made by his father. I have been thus enabled to state, with precision, the conduct of the last ministry of Queen Anne with respect to the succession, and to adduce evidence which established upon this point a decision the very opposite of that which proba bilities before favoured. Some of the quotations here made have, however, already appeared in a very

PREFACE.

. VIII able article in the " Edinburgh Review" upon the " Memoirs of Lord Bolingbroke." I have repeated these extracts where they suited my purpose, because the Mackintosh collections are now a very valuable private property : their national importance would induce the hope that this obstacle to their copious use may not long continue. Habits of literary composition are not easily broken off. I have chosen to send forth this work in single volumes, in order that the arrangement of the mate rials I have collected may be restricted to a refreshing relaxation from the studies of an arduous profession. Inner Temple Lane, October 1836. ERRATA. Page 10 line 20, for now, read not. 17 22, insert ? 185 8, for their assembly, read it assembled. 186 20, for was far off, read was not far off. 256 16, for Escri*?, read Escrie. 265 14, for to, read of. 324 13, for with, read into. 411 4, for subjects, read objects. 418 for Aldrici, read AldricA. 419 note line 3, for the, read that. 1*11 6, for strangers, read etnngercs. CHAP I. A.D. 1666 to 1671 THE HISTORY OF PARTY.

Chapter I

State of parties at the restoration of the monarchy — The Cabal administration — Its members — Preparations of Charles against the religion and liberties of the nation. ****-. The latter part of the reign of Charles II. is an epoch whence we may date not only the rise of the Whig and Tory parties, but also the origin of the principles which they severally profess. The last great distinction which had divided the nation was the warring factions of the Roundheads and Cavaliers, and the convulsion which then took place wrought a change in the national sentiment that has never since been effaced. Among the Cavaliers, there were many who would have opposed the claims to absolute power made by Charles I., and among the Roundheads were many VOL. I. B g CHAP, I A.D. 1666 to 1671 THE HISTORY OP PARTY. who would have been content to live under a sovereign bound to respect their civil and religious liber ties.

But the sentiments of the great majority were sufficiently marked to render the conflict a war be tween the two principles of Monarchy and Republi canism. It was the temporary triumph of the latter principle that secured its eventual defeat and the utter annihilation of the party that espoused it. The ceaseless commotions that ensued harassed and ex hausted the nation, a violent reaction took place, and Charles was seated upon his father's throne by the act of an unanimous people. Since that time there has never been any repub lican party in England ; the Commonwealth lead<£*s, who yet survived, were terrified by the fate of the regicides, or overborne by the stream of popular loy alty, which ran too rapidly to be stemmed j their party was broken and dispersed, and as the members of which it had been composed died away none suc ceeded to their tenets.

If these tenets have since occasionally obtained an advocate, it has generally been in an ignorant or an enthusiastic man, who has found few followers to applaud his declamations, and none to assist him to realize his dreams. For some time after the restoration, we find nothing but an exuberant and incautious loyalty. The re presentation was intrusted to the known supporters of the new king, and if a whisper of opposition was CHAP. I, A.D. 1666 to 1671 THE HISTORY OF PARTY. sometimes heard from the remnant of the Republican party, it was immediately drowned amid the acclamations of the people. It was only gradually that this tumultuous loyalty subsided, and it required years of misgovernment to discover to his subjects the real character of the sovereign they had recalled. The administration of Cla rendon has been regarded with more indulgence than it deserved ; partly because he has been his own historian, but chiefly because it has been contrasted with the far more flagitious conduct of his successors: but when we remember that one of the ordinary ex pedients to which he had recourse was the illegal detention of his political adversaries in foreign prisons, that it was his bigotry which gave effect to the resentment which the dominant party naturally felt towards the dissenters, and that it was his influence which assisted Charles in many of his most unconsti tutional designs, we can have little respect for his conduct -j,s a domestic minister.

With regard to the foreign relations of England, he is yet more re prehensible. The sale of Dunkirk* is a blot upon * Clarendon never disguised the reason of the sale of Dnnkiik. He writes to D'Estrades — " How ever his majesty, even contrary to the advice of most of those with whom he hath cousulted, will cause the town of Dunkirk, with all the cannon, arms, and ammu nition, to be delivered into the possession of the King of France, and will lend him such of the troops as he shall desire, upon the payment of five millions ready money ; the present payment being B ■% CHAP. I A.D. 1666 to 1671 THE HISTORY OF PARTY. the annals of the country; but he had not completed his master's infamy or the national dishonour until he taught a King of England to become the pensioned puppet of a foreign prince, and to submit to be the servant of an enemy in order that he might render himself the tyrant of his people.

Misgovernment at home and dishonour abroad were the substitutes for those happy effects which the people had persuaded themselves would flow from the restoration of the monarchy. The dissenters who had confided in the royal declaration, found them selves harassed and persecuted by penal enactments, and the old Royalists, who had sacrificed every thing for Charles and his father, found in their new monarch a mere selfish voluptuary, who had neither the means nor the will to satisfy their importunate demands upon his gratitude. It was not wonderful, therefore, that discontent and disappointment should succeed to the excitement of highly-wrought expectation, nor is it surprising that a prince like Charles should have sacrificed his minister when his loss of popularity had rendered him no longer useful. so absolutely necessary for his majesty's affairs, that the conn deuce he hath in the King of France's friendship would have persuaded him to have, hoped for a good part thereof .by way of if Has overture of Dnnlcirk luid not been made." — Claren don's State Papers, Supplement to Vol. hi., p. xxiv. — This volume contains abundant evidence that Clarendon taught Charles how gold could be obtained from France.

THE HISTORY OF PARTY. 5 CHAP. 1 A.D. 1666 to 1671 Thus far the credit of the sovereign was with the great majority of his subjects unimpaired. The old Royalists, indeed, accused him of ingratitude, but the popular indignation was directed only against his minister. It was, however, soon discovered that Charles had abandoned Clarendon only that he might surround himself with less scrupulous and more desperate men. The Cabal administration now commenced its infamous career. Sufficient soon transpired to show the ultimate tendency of their designs, and the nation became thoroughly awakened to the danger which threatened their liberties and their religion. The circumstances which the papers, since pub lished by Dalrymple, have now fully brought to light, were then generally suspected. It was whispered that the king was in his heart a Catholic, and his brother, the Duke of York, no longer hesitated to avow his conversion to that religion.

Every circumstance coincided to show that some design was already on foot to re-establish popery as the national faith, and that a favourable opportunity only was sought in order to unmask the conspiracy. The most com pliant ecclesiastics were preferred to vacant sees, and all who sought advancement were zealous in incul cating the doctrines of divine right and passive obedience. So quickly was the direction of court patronage observed, that a portion of the clergy CHAP. I. A.D. 1666 to 1671 THE HISTORY OF PARTY. seemed to vie with each other in their approach to the Romish doctrines, determined to leave them selves as little as possible to recant when the proper moment should arrive for renouncing the errors of Protestantism. The people observed the conduct of these ductile divines with indignant contempt, and spoke of them by the nickname of Tantivies, to indicate how rapidly they were posting upon the road to Rome.

Of Clifford, Arlington, Buckingham, Ashley, and Lauderdale, who composed the Cabal, the two first only were admitted into the full confidence of the royal brothers. At a conference held at the duke's closet, between these four and Lord Arundel of War dour, on the 25th of January, 1669, the undertaking was formally resolved upon, and it was determined to apply to France for assistance in the enterprise. Lord Arundel undertook the negotiation, and the treaty soon assumed a definite shape. On the 18th of December, 1666, a memorial was delivered to the French court, containing a project of the contemplated alliance. The first article has the following stipulations : " The King of Great Britain, being convinced of the truth of the Catholic religion, and resolved to declare himself a Catholic, and be reconciled to the Church of Rome, thinks the assistance of his Most Christian Majesty necessary to facilitate his design. ?

CHAP. I. A.D. 1666 to 1671 So. <->° THE HISTORY OF PARTY. It is therefore agreed and concluded upon, that his Most Christian Majesty shall furnish to the King of England, before the said declaration, the sum of £200,000 sterling ; the one-half of the said sum shall be paid three months after the reciprocal ratification of the present treaty, and the othor half three months after the expiration of that time. And further, that the said Lord the Most Christian King shall assist his Britannic Majesty with ships and money as often as there shall be -need, in case the subjects of the said Lord the King shall not acquiesce with the said declaration, but rebel against his said Britannic Majesty (which cannot be believed). And to the end that the said declaration may have the wished for success, and be executed with the greater safety, it is likewise agreed, that the day for executing the design shall be entirely at the option of the King of England."* This was a demand which far exceeded what Louis was inclined to offer, and the treaty was at length concluded with a reduction of the £200,000 to two millions of livres tournoises, a sum equal to £f50,000.

This treaty, as finally agreed upon, has been since published from the original preserved among the Clif ford papers, partly by Lord John Russell,t and since verbatim by Dr. Lingard.+" The French minister * Dalrymple, vol. ii., p. 50. t Life of Lord W. Russell, p. 30. J; History of England, vol. vii., p. 629. a CHAP, I. A.D. 1666 to 1671 THE HISTORY OF PARTY. was more attentive to appearances than the English conspirators, and threw a veil of hypocrisy over the transaction. Charles was also bound to make war upon the Dutch, whom it was the interest of his kingdom to succour ; to supply Louis with an auxiliary force of 6000 men, and to maintain a fleet of fifty men of war; in return for which he was to receive annually, during the continuance of hostilities, three millions of livres. The secret treaty was signed at Dover, whither Charles had repaired to meet his sister the fair and unfortunate Henrietta, the 22d of May, I67O, and bears the seals of Arlington, Arundel, Clifford, and Boilings, on the part of Charles ; and of Colbert on that of France.

There are few periods of our history that present a more important crisis than that which the date of this secret treaty marks. In the present age, the Catholic religion is in England merely the faith of a sect. Their views are bounded by the prospect of a perfect equality with their fellow-subjects, and they are no more dangerous to our constitution than any other of those numerous religious sects with which the kingdom is so rife. But in the reign of Charles II. it was far different. Popery was then only another name for unlimited power in the monarch, and unlimited oppression to the subject. The object of its adhe rents was not equality, but ascendancy, and since THE HISTORY OF PARTY. CHAP. I. A.D. 1666 to 1671 this could not be obtained but by force of arms, they were ready to barter their civil liberties for the royal favour, and assist Charles to become the master of his people, upon the condition that he should make a Catholic Hierarchy one of the instruments of his tyranny.

The patriotic party dreaded the Catholics, not as religionists, but as agents of despotism.* That the indolent monarch himself had any serious affection for a particular religion, or was actuated by any ambitious desire of absolute power, his general conduct forbids us to imagine ; but there were reasons equally powerful to a mind like his, to induce him to intermit his pleasures for a short time, and to engage in a desperate enterprise, which, if success ful, would at once put an end to all his difficulties. A court, like that of Charles, could not exist without great scandal to the nation, or be supported, without a vast expense ; the people laughed at their king's excesses, but they were very reluctant to * This was well expressed by John Hampden during the dealteration of the government and the introducing instead thereof, superstition and idolatry, and a foreign and arbitrary power.

If it were not for that, I am apt to think the duke's being a papisi would not be thought a sufficient cause for this house to spend time about this bill." — Collection of Debates in' the Session of 1680, p. 56. bates upon the Exclusion BilL " I do not understand," he said, " how it can be construed, because we go about to disinherit the duke, that, therefore, it must be for his religion. For my part, I do approve of the bill, but it is because the opinions and ' principles of the papists tend to the THE HISTORY OF PARTY. CHAP. I. A.D. 1666 to 1671 allow him to squander their money. Charles resented every attempt to restrain his prerogative, because it had a tendency to abridge his pleasures ; and he was an enemy to his subjects' liberties, be cause these enabled them to resist his designs upon their purses.

The haughty spirit of a Stuart could ill brook that inferiors whom he despised, should con stitute themselves censors of his conduct ; and when he remembered the unlimited authority of the other great European potentates, he felt humiliated by the reflection that he was obliged to endure what they had the power to punish. What little religion he had was Catholic. It was the professors of this faith who had been the stanchest supporters of his family ; they held those doctrines which are ever most pleasing to a sovereign, and they looked to him as their only protection against the persecuting spirit which was now raging against them. A councillor was now wanting to stimulate his cold regard for religion, by dwelling upon the refrac tory spirit of his parliament. James, Duke of York, was not destitute of private virtues, but these were more than counterbalanced by vices which unfitted him for any influential station in a free country.

Adding the bigotry of a monk to a more than ordinary share of the high monarchical ideas of the Stuartsr he was eminently qualified to sustain his CHAP. 1 A.D. 1666 to 1671 brother in the resolution he had formed. The different characters of the two brothers were well and wittily described by Buckingham, when he said that Charles could see things rightly if he would, and James would if he could. That Charles was actuated rather by political than religious motives in the intrigue which he had now commenced, is evident from his whole conduct. His desire of power is well portrayed in his own words. He did not wish, he said, to sit like a Turkish sultan and sentence men to the bowstring ; but he could not bear that a set of fellows should inquire into his con duct,* and examine his ministers as well as his accounts.

His impatience of such interference sometimes be trayed him into methods of revenge which were little consonant with the royal dignity. The jest which was received with a laugh from Killigrew or Bucking ham, was intolerable in the mouth of a mere com moner. When Sir JoIji Coventry asked in the House of Commons, in answer to an observation that the players were the king's servants and a part of his pleasure, whether the king's pleasure lay among the men or women players, it is well known that Charles was so much enraged, that he caused the jester to be waylaid, and his nose slit with a pen knife, to remind him of the danger of jesting upon the pursuits of royalty, t * Burnet, vol. i., p. 345. f Ibid. THE HISTORY OF PARTY. CHAP. i A.D. 1666 to 1671 To repress such annoyances, and to obtain money to satisfy his wants, required either a reformation which Charles was little likely to attempt, or a power which the constitution had not given him.

The latter Charles thought himself able to obtain. He flattered himself that he would have been able to to crush at its birth the insurrection that had de stroyed his father. To declare himself a Catholic was, he well knew, the most certain means of rousing his people to rebellion ; and he was assiduous in providing against as he was to bring on this event. He told Colbert, that he was pressed by his con science, and by the confusion he saw increasing from day to day in his kingdom, to the diminution of his authority, to declare himself a Catholic ; and that besides the spiritual advantage to be derived from this step, he considered it to be the only means of re-establishing the monarchy.* To this able minister he seems to have opened himself without reserve. Hull, Portsmouth, Plymouth, and Windsor, he con sidered faithful to his interests ; the army, he thought, he could rely upon ; and he declared that he should seize every pretence of increasing the number and efficiency of his forces.

Such was the state of the empire in the year I67O. A conspiracy headed by the king, supported by the, * Dalrymple, p. 32. f A.D. 1666 to 1671 court, the government, and the whole influence of the state, waited but the proper moment for development to loose all the horrors of civil war upon the land. Six thousand foreign Jroops were ready to dBembark at Dover, to give "weight to the proposed declaration of Catholicism, and Louis was further bound to support his royal dependant with all his forces until the rebellion should be ended.* To resist these mighty preparations, England had only a corrupt parliament and a disunited people. The nation was, indeed, imbued with a thorough hatred of popeiy, and would, doubtless, have resisted; but the struggle must have been dreadful, and victory, to whichever side it eventually inclined, must have been preceded by scenes at which humanity would shudder.

Although these engagements with France were conducted with the greatest possible secrecy, some cause of suspicion almost immediately arose. Charles was anxious to obtain the assistance of Ashley and Buckingham, his two least obnoxious ministers, to his projected enterprise. It was arranged, therefore, that these ministers should be led to propose and effect a similar treaty to that already concluded, with the single omission of the article for the king's declaration, which they knew Ashley would never * Dalrymple, App. p. 54, CHAP. I, A.D. 1666 to 1671 agree to, and with which they thought Buckingham could not safely be trusted. Buckingham eagerly, and Ashley unwillingly, fell into the snare; the former was despatched to Paris, and his presence there confirmed the Dutch in the suspicions they already entertained of the sincerity of the English court.

In August of this year, Sir William Temple, then ambassador at the Hague, writes to Secretary Sir John Trevor, who was ignorant of the whole in trigue, and as Sir William afterwards found, was " barely in the skirts of business," " I shall not fail of performing all the offices you please to enjoin me towards the preserving our mutual confidence in this conjuncture, which I have endeavoured in all my discourses here upon the Duke of Buckingham's journey into France since I first heard of it." And he tells the duke, who was yet in Paris, that the Dutch were indulging " in doubtful and mystical reflections." In September, Temple had received an order to return to England, and he retired from his embassy, telling De Witt that he found himself better turned for making a good gardener, than an able minister.

De Witt was then more explicit. " He reflected," he says, " upon a coldness in all our negotiations ever since Madame's journey into England, and upon the late journey of CHAP, I. A.D. 1666 to 1671 the Duke of Buckingham to Paris, which he could not think was pour voir le pays ou apprendre la Jangue, and desired I would tell him what I could make of all this laid together." * His reception by Sir Thomas Clifford, upon his return, opened Temple's eyes, t But De Witt wanted no additional proof. Some years afterwards, Louis, in a fit of resentment against Charles, suffered an Abbe Primi X to publish a full account * Letters, vol. ii. Among the passengers was a man, who was personally so unpleasant a companion, that all the other passengers were combining among themselves how they should rid themselves of him.

After con certing measures, M. Duval asked Primi if he credited the report which was current in France, con cerning the facility with which some persons in Italy could tell the fortunes, or misfortunes, which would happen to others, by look ing at their writing. Primi replied that he did not think the science was absolutely certain, but that, undoubtedly, in most cases, it was correct j "and, in fact," said he, " I have myself, during leisure hours, made that science my amusement and my study." M. Duval now pre= :jnted his writing, and desired Primi to try his skill f Ibid. X One of the historical anec dotes in the works of Louis XIV. is an account of this Abbe Primi. He was a clever charlatan, who pretended to tell the fortunes of persons by the character of their handwriting. There is an amusing instance given of the occasional utility of his art.

Primi was a native of Bo logne, the son of a hosier; he was handsome and clever, and as he had a strong ambition of making a fortune, he resolved to go to Paris. He travelled to Lyons, and from thence, by coa-ch, onwards. In the same vehicle was a man of considerable in fluence, named Duval, who liked his conversation, and, at last, even conceived a friendship for him. Ifi CHAP. 1 A.D. 1666 to 1671 THE HISTORY OF PARTY. of these intrigues, and although the book was, at the instance of the English ambassador, immediately suppressed, yet an account of it was preserved in a tract originally printed in the year 1689, and since in Lord Somers's Collection.* From this we learn that the Hollanders had sure advertisement of what was going on from their own upon it. Aster examining it for a short time, he began to enume rate a long list of extraordinary events, of diseases, accidents, and affairs of gallantry ; all which M. Duval declared had come to pass.

The other passengers likewise pre sented their writings, and Primi told them what had, and what would come to pass ; lastly, the the obnoxious individual, sur prised at Primi's success, and cu rious to know his own fortuue, presented his writing. Primi's visage became very gloomy upon its perusal, and he returned the writing without saying a word. The man, however, insisted that he should tell his fortune, when Primi said, with a very grave countenance, that he augured most dreadful calamities to hap pen to the writer of the last paper, and that if he went to Paris, he would certainly be assassinated there. The man, who was as suspicious and cowardly as he was otherwise disagreeable, be came visibly disquieted ; and, at the next stage, the passengers were relieved of their unpleasant companion, who returned with all haste home.

Duval, charmed with the address Primi had shown in this affair, took him under his protection, and intro duced him to the Abbe de la, Baume. Primi continued the charlatan tricks he had com menced with so much success, and soon became deeply immersed in all the intrigues of the court. Primi now pretended to the office of court historian, and Louvois took him with him in his march upon Holland. It was a miserable ac count of the first campaign of this war, written in Italian, which con tained the exposure of the secret of the treaty of Dover.* — Œuives de Louis XIV. vol. vi., p. 476. * Vol. viii., p. 16. CHAP I A.D. 1666 to 1671 and the other ministers at the court of London, and it is said that De Witt was so alarmed at. the danger in which these intrigues placed his country, thai he swooned in the Stadt House upon reading a letter that gave him secret information of them.