arrest of Gyllenborg; but his secret plotting against the country, and his encouraging the Swedish ambassador to break so shamefully the law of nations for the betrayal of the country, were too flagrant for justifying, and the headstrong Charles, "the madman of the north," did not venture to remonstrate against it. He preserved a sullen silence, neither acknowledging nor repudiating the acts of his ministers; but he seized Mr. Jackson, the British resident in Sweden, in retaliation. Towards the Dutch he was still more forbearing, for he wished to conciliate them, and only, therefore, forbade the Dutch ambassador his presence. All parties, indeed, thought the sooner the affair of the Swedish minister was done with—their scheme being frustrated—the better. At the intercession of the regent of France, who, on the part of Charles, declared that the king of Sweden had never intended to disturb the tranquillity of Great Britain, count Gyllenborg was discharged, but ordered to leave the kingdom. Gortz and his secretaries were liberated in Holland, and Mr. Jackson was set free by the Swedish court, in return for Gyllenborg.
When parliament met, however, on the 20th of February, and this conspiracy was laid before it, it excited great indignation. One member demanded that war should be declared against Sweden; but this met with no support, it being very properly observed that it would be soon enough to do that if Charles acknowledged the proceedings of his ministers. As we have seen, however, he soon, in effect, denied them. The two houses voted cordial addresses to his majesty, and for a while there was an air of harmony. But the fires of discontent were smouldering beneath the surface, and, on a motion being made in April, in consequence of a royal message, to grant the king an extraordinary supply in order to enable his majesty to contract alliances with foreign powers, that he might be prepared to meet any attempts at invasion which the Swedes might, after all, be disposed to make, the heat broke forth. The supply moved for was fixed at two hundred and fifty thousand pounds. It was expected that Walpole, having had his name suspiciously mentioned in Gyllenborg's correspondence, would take this opportunity to wipe off all doubt by his zeal and co-operation. On the contrary, he never appeared so lukewarm. Both he and his brother Horace, indeed, spoke in favour of the supply, but coldly; and Townshend and all their mutual friends openly joined the tories and Jacobites in voting against it; so that it was only carried by a majority of four. This could not pass; and the same evening Stanhope, by the king's order, wrote to Townshend, acknowledging his past services, but informing him that ho was no longer lord lieutenant of Ireland.
Walpole did not wait for a like humiliation. The next morning he waited on the king, and tendered his resignation of his places as first lord of the treasury and chancellor of the exchequer. The king, if he could be judged by his conduct, had formed no resolution of parting with Walpole. He handed again to him the seals, cordially entreating him to take them back, speaking to him in the kindest manner, and appearing as though he would take no refusal. But Walpole remained steady to his purpose, and, accordingly, his friends Methmen, Pulteney, lord Orford, and the duke of Devonshire, resigned a few days afterwards. Stanhope was then appointed first lord of the treasury and chancellor of the exchequer; Sunderland and Joseph Addison were made secretaries of state; Craggs, secretary at war, lord Berkeley, first lord of the admiralty; the duke of Newcastle, lord chamberlain; the duke of Bolton, lord lieutenant of Ireland; lord Cowper and the duke of Kingston retaining their old places.
The retired ministers showed for the most part a very hostile attitude and Pulteney denounced the new ministry as as "a German ministry." Walpole,for a little time, affected a liberal conduct, declaring, when the supply of two hundred and fifty thousand pounds was voted, that, as he had before spoken in its favour, he should now vote in its favour, and would show by his proceedings that he never had intended to make the king uneasy, or to embarrass his affairs. But it was not in Walpole's nature to maintain this air of temperance long. He was as violent in opposition as he was able and zealous in office. Whether in or out of office, he was, in fact, equally unscrupulous. He very soon joined himself to Shippen, Wyndham, Bromley, and the other violent opponents of the reigning family; so that Shippen himself ere long said exultingly that he was glad to see that Walpole was no longer afraid of being styled a Jacobite.
Before Walpole thus threw off the mask of moderation indeed, on the very day of his resignation, he introduced a well-matured scheme for the reduction of the national debt, which was, in fact, the earliest germ of the National Sinking Fund. Though the ordinary rate of interest had been reduced, by the statute of the 12th of queen Anne, to five per cent., the interest on the funded debt remained upwards of seven. The Long and Short Annuities were unredeemable, and could not be touched without the consent of the proprietors; but Walpole proposed to borrow six hundred thousand pounds at only four per cent., and to apply all savings to the discharge of the debts contracted before December, 1716. He proposed, also, to make some arrangement with the Bank and the South Sea Company, by which the Bank should lend two millions and a half, and the company two millions, at five per cent., to pay off such holders of redeemable debts as should refuse to accept an equal reduction.
In proposing the first of these measures, Walpole said that he now presented that bill as a country gentleman; but he hoped that it would fare no worse for having two fathers, expressing his confidence that his successor would take care to bring it to perfection. Stanhope, in fact, took up the matter in the same laudable spirit, not being averse to inaugurate a measure which his predecessor would have the honour of having originated. But Stanhope was no financier, and in the course of conducting those measures through parliament, Walpole could not avoid exposing the inferior financial abilities of his rival. Stanhope, stung by the act, fell into great anger and confusion; confessed his incapacity for the affairs of the treasury, which, he said, were remote from his studies and inclination, and on which account he would fain have kept his former situation. He then, however, made a severe retort on Walpole, who had been once expelled parliament for his peculations, saying, "he would endeavour to make up by application, honesty, and disinterestedness what he wanted in ability and experience
