King’s ministers, some of whom were found to have taken bribes from the Company to further its scheme. They had to resign, and Walpole, who had spoken against the scheme, was now called upon to lessen the evil effects of the failure and panic.
4. Walpole.—Walpole became chief minister in 1721, and continued in office till 1742. He was the first to be called ‘‘Prime Minister,” and held that post longer than any other man in English history. He was a rough, coarse man, who enjoyed foul talk, eating, drinking, and fox hunting. He lived a licentious life, such as was very common in the 18th century among men in high positions. He kept himself in office by buying the support of members of Parliament, and by paying great attention to trade and commerce, of which matters he knew more than most men of his time. He did good service to Britain by keeping the country at peace, and by the steady support he gave to the House of Hanover. In his day the nation made great progress in extending its trade, increasing its manufactures, and in employing better methods of tilling the soil. He was tolerant to the Dissenters, but was too much afraid of the Church party to repeal the Test and Corporation Acts, which prevented them from having their rights as citizens.
All through the reigns of George I. and George II. the Whigs were in office, and when one Government went out, it was replaced by another of the same political opinions. The Whig nobles were very powerful in the country where they owned large estates, and they banded themselves together to keep in power. They bought up the right to send members from boroughs where there were few voters, and by this means always had many supporters in Parliament. Then, again, the Tories were suspected of being Jacobites, and of wishing to bring back the Pretender, and so every man that had lent money to the Government supported the Whigs fearing, if the Tories got into office, he would never be repaid. By such means as these the Whig nobles managed to have things all their own way for nearly fifty years.
5. George II.—Beyond a slight plot, in 1722, by Bishop Atterbury, in the interest of the Pretender, and a brief excitement in Ireland over the coinage of some half-pence, nothing of interest took place in the last six years of George I.’s reign. George died, while abroad in Hanover, in 1727, and was succeeded by his son, George
