WALPOLE'S LAST DAYS. 129 Of the three years that remained to Walpole, the greater portion was spent at Houghton. Here he enjoyed the society of his pictures, and entertained his neighbours, the Norfolk gentry, those "mountains of roast-beef, roughly hewn out into the out-lines of human form," who so keenly oppressed his son Horace. Latterly, he suffered severely from an excruciating disease, and only in 1745 it became apparent that his end was approaching.* There was a moment when his friends thought his strong constitution and indomitable courage would prevail over his malady; but on the 4th of March his son writes: "His recovery is now at such a standstill that I fear it is in vain to expect much further amendment." He adds, "How dismal a prospect for him, with the possession of the greatest understanding in the world, not the least impaired, to lie without the use of it! for to keep him from pains and restlessness, he takes so much opiate, that he is scarce awake four hours of the four-and-twenty." A few days before his death, he gave a proof of the liveliness of his judgment. The Duke of Cumberland, having vainly remonstrated with the King against a marriage with the Princess of Denmark, who was deformed, consulted the Earl on the best method of avoiding the match. With something of his accustomed cynicism, the old statesman advised him to give his consent on condition that he immediately received an * Alarmed at the prospect of an invasion by the Young Pretender, the King had summoned him to London. He hastened to obey the royal command, but the journey aggravated his malady. He had an interview with the King; and soon afterwards took to his bed. VOL. I. 9 130 CHARACTER OF WALPOLE. ample establishment. "Believe me," he added, "the match will no longer be pressed." The Duke acted on this advice with the result which Walpole had predicted. After bearing his pains, much aggravated by an incautious recourse to a quack medicine, with the greatest composure, the Earl expired on the 18th of March, 1745, in the 69th year of his age. His remains were interred in the parish church at Houghton, without monument or inscription: 66 So peaceful rests without a stone, a name Which once had honours, titles, wealth, and fame.”—Pope. It is unnecessary to sketch at any length the character of a statesman whose career has become a portion of English History; and the reader might justly accuse us of presumption in attempting a task which has already been accomplished by so many distinguished writers. That he was not a perfect minister may be acknowledged; but he was certainly one of the greatest ministers who have controlled the destinies of England. None have ever more thoroughly understood her best interests; and few have ever shown so complete a mastery of foreign politics as well as of domestic affairs. financier, he has had no rivals but Peel and Gladstone. There was nothing chivalrous about the man, and he does not awaken in us the enthusiam which a Chatham excites, or the sympathy which a Canning commands; but it is only fair to remember that he did not live in a chivalrous age, that the social influences which surrounded him were inexpressibly mean and sordid. With more generosity of nature and a higher aim he As a AS STATESMAN AND DEBATER. 131 would have been a greater man; but his cynicism was almost forced upon him by the baseness with which he came in contact.* We have already dealt with the allegation that he was fond of power. This, at least, is not the infirmity of a weak mind; and if Walpole loved power, he used it worthily. The clearness and solidity of his judgment were remarkable; he knew when to yield, and when to stand firm; he saw at once the consequences of any given action, and how far it was prudent to persevere in any given cause. Not less remarkable was his power of work. He was a master of method; and Lord Hervey justly said of him, that he did everything with the same ease and tranquillity as if he were doing nothing. As we have said, he was not an orator; he could not make great speeches as Burke or Fox almost always did, or as Wyndham sometimes did, or as Canning so often did. But he was a ready and an effective debater, with a clear, fluent, and forceful style, and a happy facility in exposition and argument. His replies were always models of effective reasoning and prompt indication of the weak points of an assailant. Coxe tells us that his voice was pleasing and melodious; and his pronunciation, though he never wholly lost his provincial accent, distinct and audible. But the force *To his cynicism Pope alludes: 66 Would he oblige me, let me only find He does not think me what he thinks mankind." It was shown in such speeches as his definition of gratitude,—" A lively sense of favours to come;" and his comment on patriotism,-"Patriots are easily raised. I have myself made many a one. 'Tis but to refuse an unreasonable demand, and up springs a patriot." 132 HIS PRIVATE CHARACTER. of his speeches was mainly attributable to their general weight, energy, and perspicuity, and to his thorough mastery of the subjects to which they applied. A curious proof of his readiness is adduced by his biographer. During an important debate in the House of Commons, he observed that a member of the Opposition who sat near him, for there was at that time no appropriation of particular benches to the members of a particular party,--had his written speech hidden in his hat, and from occasional glimpses at it he obtained a general knowledge of its contents. At the moment this member was about to speak, Walpole rose, and began by observing that were he a member of the Opposition, he should employ certain arguments. And he then recapitulated the speech he had just glanced at, taking up the various points seriatim, and confuting them with his usual skill. As a man he had great failings, but he had many fine qualities. His licentiousness of conduct, thought, and conversation, common as this evil was in the society of the time, cannot be defended or excused. He was prone, too, to the most boisterous festivity; and the revels which twice a year he held at Houghton frequently drove his decorous brother-in-law, Lord Townshend, from his neighbouring seat at Rainham. Nor can we do otherwise than regret his indifference to letters and literary pursuits. On one occasion he said to his son Horace, who had proposed to amuse him by reading some historical composition, "Oh! do not read history, for that I know must be false." His tastes were those of A POETICAL TRIBUTE. 133 a country gentleman; he was fond of planting, and as he loved his bottle, so he loved the diversions of the field. Until prevented by physical infirmities, he rode to hounds with all a young man's zest, and dashed across country with the same boldness that he displayed in encountering the attacks of his enemies. Walpole was generous to a fault; almost incapable of bearing malice; humane, grateful, and good-tempered; a man after Carlyle's own heart, for he could laugh well (with "the heart's laugh," as Hanbury Williams said); easy of approach, pleasing in conversation, and with a fascination of manner that secured the devotion of his friends and almost disarmed the hatred of his opponents. So Pope says of him : "Seen him I have, but in his happier hour He possessed indeed so many virtues, and he rendered to his country such signal services, that his vices, which we have not concealed, and his political errors, which we have not forgotten, we may well be content to dismiss in our estimate of his claims to an enduring reputation. In his "Epistle to Henry Fox," Sir Charles Hanbury Williams has paid a tribute to the great statesman, which, with some allowance for a friend's exaggeration, his biographer may honestly adopt : "His soul was great, and dared not but do well; Above the thirst of gold, as if in his heart |