William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, and the growth and division of the British Empire, 1708-1778; . Blues. It was in 1735 that he entered theHouse of Commons, which was then ruled by thestrong will and rude mind of Sir Robert general election of the previous year had beenfought with great eagerness on both sides, as theexcise scheme of 1733 had shaken the Ministry toits foundations. But Walpole returned with a safemajority. He had quarrelled with every colleaguewho had shown any dangerous brilliancy, with Pul-teney and Carteret and Townshend, and still re-mained the sole Minister with p
William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, and the growth and division of the British Empire, 1708-1778; . Blues. It was in 1735 that he entered theHouse of Commons, which was then ruled by thestrong will and rude mind of Sir Robert general election of the previous year had beenfought with great eagerness on both sides, as theexcise scheme of 1733 had shaken the Ministry toits foundations. But Walpole returned with a safemajority. He had quarrelled with every colleaguewho had shown any dangerous brilliancy, with Pul-teney and Carteret and Townshend, and still re-mained the sole Minister with power, using withcomplacency the great influence and mediocre tal-ents of the Pelhams, and the somewhat trivialingenuity of his brother Horace, governing theKing through the Queen, and controlling the Houseof Commons by means of frank corruption. Inforeign affairs he had reversed the old Whig policyof hostility to France, and had sought peace andensued it to the verge of ignominy. During hisstretch of power the century-long struggle betweenEngland and France alrnost ceased,—as the result. Walker & Cockerell. Copyright SIR ROBERT WALPOLE FROM THE PAINTING BY J. B. VAN LOO (l74o) IN THE NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY 1737] Ent7^a7ice into Politics. 7 in part of the Orleans regency,—but if Walpolespared his country the horrors of that struggle itwas largely because his mind did not grasp themeaning of the long rivalry for empire. The in-stinct of the people desired national expansion, andbefore Walpole fell he had been forced to abandonin despair his policy of peace and to engage in awar that was concerned nominally with Jenkinssear and Spanish atrocities, but in reality with thesovereignty of the West. In home affairs Wal-poles healthy common-sense had proved invaluable,and his preservation of peace had enabled thecountry to recover from the exhaustion that fol-lowed Marlboroughs wars and the South Seamadness. He had buttressed the throne of theHanoverian dynasty and won many of th
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