much declamation against corruption. It produced a great effect upon the public mind, so much so that the tories confidently anticipated that, with the assistance of the king's German chamberlain Fabrice and the Duchess of Kendal, Bolingbroke would supplant Walpole in the king's confidence (‘Anecdote of Mr. Pelham’ in Coxe, ii. 572; cf. Onslow MSS. p. 516). Bolingbroke, anxious to produce an impression on the king, induced the duchess to lay before him a memorandum against Walpole in the style of the ‘Craftsman.’ Walpole, hearing of this and shrewdly anticipating George I's distaste for declamation, insisted that the duchess should procure Bolingbroke an audience. On Walpole's inquiry as to the substance of Bolingbroke's indictment, the king replied ‘Bagatelles! Bagatelles!’ Nevertheless, so shaken did Walpole feel his position to be by the defection of the duchess that, if we are to believe a statement made by Pelham to Onslow (Onslow MSS. p. 516), he was only dissuaded by the Duke of Devonshire and the Princess of Wales from retiring with a peerage in the summer of George I's last visit to Hanover. This inclination was strengthened by a serious illness which attacked him on 26 April 1727 (Hist. MSS. Comm. 9th Rep. App. p. 401 b), and was thought to endanger his life (Primate Boulter to Lord Townshend, 9 May 1727). He was so weakened that in June, when anticipating dismissal by George II, he burst into tears at a visit from Onslow, and ‘declared he would never leave the court if he could have any office there, and would be content even with the comptroller's staff’ (Onslow MSS. p. 517).
The news of the sudden death of George I on 12 June 1727 reached Walpole at Chelsea on the 14th. Aware of the importance of a first audience, he ‘killed two horses in carrying the tidings’ to the new king at Richmond (Walpoliana, i. 86). The king, who when he quarrelled with his father had called Walpole ‘rogue and rascal,’ received him coldly and nominated his treasurer Compton [see Compton, Sir Spencer] to draw up the declaration to the privy council. Compton, unequal to the task, requested Walpole to draft it for him. Walpole eagerly seized the opportunity to put Compton under an obligation. He anticipated a possible impeachment, and promised Compton his support in parliament in return for protection (Hervey, Memoirs, i. 32–3). The courtiers at once began to trim their sails. ‘Sir Robert's presence, that used to make a crowd wherever he appeared, now emptied every corner he turned to’ (ib. p. 37). But the queen hated Compton, who had injudiciously paid court to Mrs. Howard [see Howard, Henrietta], the king's mistress. Compton himself became sensible that he could neither form a ministry with the tories nor without them. The king was anxious for the maintenance of the French alliance; Horatio Walpole had Fleury's ear, and Fleury dismissed him to London to exhort George to adhere to his father's policy. Lastly, Walpole appealed to the king's strongest passion—avarice. The civil list of his father had been fixed at 700,000l. Walpole offered to make it 800,000l. [see Pulteney, William]. Compton had proposed that the queen's jointure should be 60,000l. a year; Walpole undertook to ask for 100,000l. Compton had neither the courage nor the following to carry the larger proposals. The king greedily swallowed the bait. ‘It is for my life,’ he said to Walpole, ‘it is to be fixed, and it is for your life.’ On 24 June 1727 Walpole was reappointed first lord of the treasury and chancellor of the exchequer, and Townshend secretary of state.
The new parliament met on 23 Jan. 1728 with a considerable majority in favour of the ministry. Pulteney, who in 1725 and 1727 had assumed the part of financial critic on behalf of the opposition, attacked Walpole on the ground of an improper application of the sinking fund. Walpole successfully defended his version as to the state of the national debt and the rate of its discharge, and carried the division by the decisive vote of 250 to 97 (4 March). But as public feeling had been aroused, especially by Pulteney's pamphlet ‘On the State of the National Debt,’ he deemed it prudent to draw up an elaborate report (Parl. Hist. viii. 654), which was accepted by the House of Commons by 243 to 77 (8 April) and presented to the king (11 April). In this session Walpole was placed in a critical position by the avarice of the king, which he once declared one of his two principal difficulties, Hanover being the other (King, Anecdotes, p. 41). The king complained that 115,000l. was deficient on the civil list. The claim was more than doubtful, and Walpole refused to endorse it. The tories thereupon made overtures to the king, offering to add another 100,000l., and George intimated plainly to Walpole that he must either undertake to press the claim through parliament or resign (Hervey, Memoirs, i. 124). Walpole with much reluctance yielded, but the opposition in parliament was strong, and fourteen peers signed a protest (10 May 1729). The failure of the opposition to displace Walpole was
