witty rejoinders, always to be arguing, disputing, and assailing, and yet with such tact and good temper as never to make an enemy or wound a friend-these he loved and these he excelled in. When his Eton tutor heard that he had been returned by the family borough to the House of Commons, he wrote to a friend, "I am most anxious to hear that Robert Walpole has spoken, for I am convinced he will be a good orator." was quite as fruitful as its mistress, and there was no necessity for stint or harsh economy in the old hall at Houghton. In spite of his numerous progeny, the squire could still entertain as freely as ever, could still keep his pack of hounds, and educate and portion off his children in a manner not unbecoming their position and descent. Of this large family the future statesman was the third son and fifth child. He was born at Houghton on the 26th of August, 1676, and after a preparatory education at a Shortly after entering upon residence private school at Massingham, was sent to at Cambridge, Walpole was seized with Eton. Like many men who have after-small-pox of the most malignant type. He wards become distinguished, young Robert Walpole did not display in his boyhood any unusual signs of ability. He cared little for books and subjects that can be learned only from books. He disliked history, foreign languages, and mathematics; but he was precociously fond of an argument, was full of ready humour, and had an insight into character which only required experience to become profound. His good temper, courage, and natural kindliness of disposition made him popular with his fellows, and he carried up with him to Cambridge, both from tutors and boys, the best wishes for his future success. The university was but a repetition of Eton. Walpole had been entered at King's College, but he did not apply himself with any great assiduity to the subjects set before him. With the exception of giving him a knowledge of the classics sufficient to enable him to enjoy the works of Horace -the author of the past he, in common with all fond of the study of character and prone to genial satire, most appreciatedbooks had taught him little. But to discuss the political questions of the day, to analyze with no sparing criticism the motives and manoeuvres of Tory policy, to prove in warm and passionate arguments the benefits that arose from the Revolution and the establishment of the Protestant succession, to seize upon the weak points of an adversary, and subject him to a crushing defeat amid humorous illustrations and was attended by Dr. Brady, the famous historical advocate of Toryism, who treated him with the most sedulous attention. "We must take care to save this young man," said the doctor, "or we shall be accused of having purposely neglected him because he is so violent a Whig!" The illness was sharp, and at one time the life of Walpole was despaired of. The vigour of his constitution, however, happily proved sufficient to throw off the poison, and he recovered without a blemish. "His singular escape," said Brady, "seems to me a sure indication that he is reserved for important purposes." The doctor's augury did not deceive him. But Walpole's university career was to come to a sudden termination. His eldest brother, Edward, after a short illness, had died some months ago, leaving the second son, Burwell, heir to the lands of Houghton. The old squire had told Robert when going up to the university, that the estate was already heavily charged with portions for his sisters, and that he would have to be greatly dependent on his own exertions for his future career. The church offering in those days no mean provision for a younger son who was well connected and not over-scrupulous, Walpole was destined to take holy orders, and on quitting the university would have been ordained. But this scheme was frustrated by an unexpected event. Whilst reading in his rooms at King's, Walpole received the intelligence that his brother Burwell had suddenly | bottle by himself. His son and heir was breathed his last, and that, as now no one now his constant companion, and he encourstood between him and the property, it aged him of an evening to imitate the parental was desirable for him to quit college and example. "Come, Robert," said he, as he take up his abode at Houghton. In after- passed the decanters, "you must drink two life, with the confidence in his own powers glasses to my one; for, as you are younger that great ability sometimes inspires, Wal- and stronger than I am, you ought to be pole was accustomed to say that, had he able to put all the more liquor under your not become an eldest son, he would have belt, and I am not going to have a son of been installed as Archbishop of Canter- mine to sit here as sober as a judge whilst bury instead of holding the seals as his old father is enjoying himself!" This prime minister. excellent advice was not thrown away, and the teacher had little cause to complain of the inaptitude of the pupil. Had it not been for Robert Walpole's vigorous constitution and his passion for sport, politics might never have claimed him for their own; he drank deeply, yet, we are told, he was able to shake off all effects of the potations of the previous night, and appear the next morning fresh, clear-eyed, and unshaken, as if sobriety had never scen him reject its counsels. During the next two years Walpole remained at Houghton. His education was, however, not neglected. His jovial father bade him give up his books and study less, as became an eldest son and heir to a good property. He introduced him to the gentry around, initiated him into the mysteries of what would now-adays be called high farming, interested him in the improvements on the estate, and encouraged him in sport of every kind. It was not long before the "young squire," as he was named, acquired a reputation in the county. His parts not being considered inordinately brilliant did not create jealousy, but he was credited with great shrewdness and sound common-sense. He could talk well, dearly loved an argument with some old gentlemen whose principles were those of the October Club, was not afraid of the ladies, and when occasion required could sing a good song and tell a better story. Thus he was deemed excellent company. The old squire was no austere moralist, and when he heard that his son was not averse to affairs of gallantry he chuckled with satisfaction, and congratulated himself that the lad was no milksop. These were the days of hard drinking, days when, after the ladies had retired from the table, the men were seldom content till they fell under it. The father of the future statesman was not above following this gross fashion, and indulged very freely in the claret and burgundy plentifully stored in the cellars of Houghton. Nor would he sit over the But it was not only before the shrines of Bacchus and of Venus that the late candidate for holy orders bent the knee. The young man had all his father's keenness after business. If a tenant was remiss in his rent, he was soon reminded of the fact. If there was an item wrongly inserted in the labour-book, the mistake was quickly detected. On market-days the farmers around knew that there were few better men in estimating the worth of samples or in driving a hard bargain than the young squire. Not a day passed without his visiting one or more of the outlying farms, inspecting the stock, and seeing that the hinds did not neglect their work or rob their master. Like his father, Robert Walpole had a natural taste for the pursuits and amusements of the country. He rode well to hounds, was an excellent shot, and could impart much valuable information when the conversation turned upon purely agricultural topics. Delighted that he had a son so exactly after his own heart, the old squire, who was now beginning to be troubled with a painful disease, placed much of the actual manage- | fast, the malady that had afflicted him was son. daily becoming more serious; and, in addi- ment of the property in the hands of his Young Walpole thus, at an early age, became acquainted with a mass of information which no amount of reading or college lectures could have taught him. His convivial tastes and love of sport made him welcome in the different country-houses around, where he saw life, studied character, and acquired that knowledge of the ways of the world which afterwards stood him in such good stead. His keen, genial, calculating nature was ever watching, fathoming, criticising; nor had it any lack, in the society with which it came in contact, of subjects for mental dissection. Thus, at an age when most men are diffident, self-conscious, and draw upon their imagination for their experiences, Robert Walpole was calm, confident, and a thorough man of the world. His practical knowledge of agricul- A man of fair fortune, of good birth, and tural pursuits made him acquainted with conscious of his ability, it was not surprising the woes and wants of the landed interest, that the new squire of Houghton, with with the crabbed views of the farmer and three boroughs in his gift, should now turn the crabbed condition of the peasant. His his attention to politics. He was nomimanagement of Houghton gave him habits nated for his father's late constituency, of business and a knowledge of men and and was duly returned member for Castle things which can only be acquired by ex- Rising. The period in which he made his perience. His was a training not generally entrance into Parliament was not uneventundergone by those who embrace parlia- ful. King William III., the Deliverer, in | mentary life as a profession, but he had spite of intrigue and faction, was firmly little cause afterwards to regret the nature seated on the English throne. The doctrines of its teachings. of divine right and of passive obedience were spurned with the contempt they deserved, and the principles of parliamentary government reigned in their stead. Imperious ministers, hostile to each other, and too frequently identifying their own interests with those of the nation, had given place to a ministry representing the crown and responsible to Parliament. Yet one great question agitated the public mind. The intrigues of the Papists and the hopes of the court of St. Germain had been crushed by the clause in the Bill of Rights disqualifying all Roman Catholics, and such as should marry Roman Catholics, from the succession to the throne. The death of the Duke of Gloucester, however, Whilst spending a short season in London Walpole made the acquaintance of a Miss Catherine Shorter, the daughter of Sir John Shorter, the then lord mayor. A beauty, an heiress, and gifted with great powers of fascination, the young man saw in the civic damsel a fitting mistress to grace the old hall at Houghton. He followed in her train, pressed his suit, and was accepted. They were married at Knightsbridge Chapel on the 30th of July, 1700, and went down to Norfolk for their honeymoon. It was evident to the young couple that the time was not far distant when the property of Houghton would fall into their own hands. The squire was breaking reanimated the waning hopes of the disaffected. Both at home and abroad the Jacobites were busy with their bribes, their promises, and their plots. The Tories were in favour of the exiled House, and showed themselves not unwilling to be led. The Whigs alone were in stern earnest for the House of Brunswick and the maintenance of the Protestant religion. Still the king had need of all his astuteness. Pitting party against party, gratifying the Tories with office, flattering the Whigs, and humouring the agitators, William cleverly managed to pass the Act of Settlement, which secured the succession in the Hanoverian line, and established Protestantism as the religion of the country. The Jacobites were in despair, the Tories were sulky and discontented at their interested passiveness, whilst the Whigs, eager, loyal, and biding their time, watched the current of events full of hope. Such was the state of affairs when Walpole entered the House of Commons. As was to be expected from his birth and opinions, he took his seat among the Whigs, and warmly espoused their cause. With that shrewd common-sense which was in him what genius is in another man, he had resolved, before attempting to take an active part in debate, to habituate himself to the atmosphere of the chamber, to learn the tricks of oratory, and to watch what to imitate and what to avoid. But a spirit of rivalry, as natural as it was impulsive, tempted him to fly before he had proved the strength of his pinions. Almost at the same time as he had taken his seat for Castle Rising, Henry St. John, afterwards the brilliant Bolingbroke, had been elected for Wootton Bassett. Between Walpole and St. John the seeds of that bitter animosity, which was afterwards to develop into the keenest political hatred, had already been sown in the playing fields at Eton. As boys, a spontaneous aversion, the more intense because unaccountable, had blackened the heart of each towards the other, and when the two now met as men in the VOL. I. arena of the legislature they were prepared to cross swords. But their relative positions were now reversed. At Eton Walpole was the superior boy-quicker in brain, readier in tongue, and in a higher form. St. John, on the contrary, was a quiet, effeminate, almost dull lad. In the interval between boyhood and manhood the latter had, however, apparently so outstripped his rival as to render any comparison between the two out of the question. St. John was the very type of the haughty patrician— tall, graceful, with handsome features lit up from time to time by the fire in his magnificent eyes or by his bright winning smile. Already had he spoken frequently in the House, and by his well-chosen words gained the ear of his audience and the applause of his party. Already in his oratory there could be distinguished the promise of that classic eloquence which was afterwards to charm his hearers and cause posterity to regret the loss of his speeches as a misfortune greater than any that literature has had to sustain. He was regarded as a rising man, and it was confidently expected that he would soon hold high office in the state. With Walpole nature had been less kindly. His appearance-no small matter in an age which set much store upon externals—was against him. He looked like a man who had been taken from the farm. His figure was more remarkable for its breadth of chest and strength of limb than for grace and elegance. His complexion was coarse, rude, and healthy. Save for the intellect that gleamed in his little eyes, and the thought that hung upon his massive brow, his features were heavy, commonplace, and vulgar. He wanted style, refinement, and repose; there was nothing in his manner, appearance, or conversation to bear witness to the fact that he was the representative of a family that had been gentle for centuries. What comparison, then, could there be between the burly youth who dressed and looked like a yeoman and the elegant dandy who had race 2 stamped in every feature and fashion in improve, and that Walpole in time will beevery movement? come an excellent speaker." That prophecy was soon to be fulfilled. Mortified by his failure, Walpole now for a time contented himself with studying the business of Parliament, and making himself familiar with its ways and modes. of practice. Gradually he rose in the estimation of the House of Commons. It was found that his powers of work were enormous, that his abilities, though not brilliant, were sound and keen, and that in energy and perseverance he was indefatigable. He spoke seldom, but, on the few occasions when he rose in his place, his words were clear and well chosen, and it was seen that he possessed a complete mastery over the details of his subject. No measure that excited his interest was ever too insignificant to command his fullest attention, to weigh carefully its merits and demerits, and then to reproduce the result through the medium of his excellent common-sense and breadth of intellectual grasp. It was this sound patience and capacity for analysis that made him so useful upon committees, and in after-life rendered the dry technicalities of official work a matter of little labour to him. The member for Castle Rising was, however, determined to enter the lists with his rival. He had sat amongst his party unheeded, almost unknown, whilst the graceful rhetoric of St. John was winning golden opinions from both sides of the House. Walpole had as yet never opened his lips, contenting himself with taking notes, recording his vote, and a diligent attendance at his post. He resolved now that this silence should cease, and his party be made conscious of the suppressed ability working within him. He rose up and delivered his prepared oration. What was the subject of his speech, or the occasion that drew it forth, we know not. It was an utter failure. His style was stiff, forced, and artificial: his gestures were ungraceful, his arguments laboured, dull, and confused; his wit fell flat. Except the first encouraging applause that greeted his appearance as a new member, he was listened to in silence, and sat down painfully conscious that he had made an unfavourable impression. To argue with the undergraduates in the common room at King's, or to hold forth across the dinnertable before a few of the Norfolk squires, in whom their third bottle of claret was Of what is called genius he showed no working pleasant confusion, was a very signs, nor can his most fervent admirer different matter from rising in his place to admit that he ever possessed any in his address the hardest, coldest, most practical composition. But he had what many men audience in Europe. Still, in spite of his of genius often lack, and which frequently wandering arguments, his turgid oratory, stood him in better stead than great originand graceless gestures, men accustomed to ality or commanding talents. He was of discern talent, and to appraise at their full the world, and not of the library. Books value the trials or failures of first attempts, and what can be learned from books he saw of what he was capable. Another held so cheaply that he had more than young member had risen that night to make once, during his tenure of power, to be his maiden speech, and had sat down much indebted to those around him for inforapplauded. A comparison was instituted mation upon the commonest historical or between the two young men, and Walpole geographical fact. But he knew the wiles was judged somewhat harshly. "You may and wants of the human heart even better applaud the one," said Arthur Mainwaring, than Balzac or La Bruyère. He thoroughly a member of much note in his day, "and understood the social and political condition ridicule the other as much as you please, of his country and the character of his but depend upon it that the spruce gentle- countrymen, for his instincts were essenman who made the set speech will never tially English. He was plain and direct |