Memoirs of the Reign of King George the Second, Volume 1 (of 3)Walpole, Horace
History
Memoirs of the Reign of King George the Second, Volume 1 (of 3)
Walpole, Horace
Great Britain -- History -- George II, 1727-1760
His Grace is succeeded in title and estate by the Hon. John
Frederick Sackville (son of the late Lord John Philip Sackville,
second son of Lionel Cranfield, first Duke of Dorset), and Knight
of the Shire in the present Parliament for the county of Kent.
[101] Lionel Cranfield, first Duke of Dorset, had gone through
most of the great posts, and was at this time Lord President, Lord
Lieutenant of Ireland, Constable of Dover Castle, and Knight of the
Garter.
He had voted once or twice with the Tory Ministry, when coming
one day into the Kit Cat Club (it was about the time that the
Portuguese had abandoned the Army of the Allies in Spain) Earl
Berkeley, a boisterous zealous Whig seaman, cried out, “God
d--n you, Sir, no Portuguese! I will keep company with no
Portuguese!”--(Vide Appendix.)
[102] The Duke of Cumberland.
[103] Edward Vernon, a silly, noisy Admiral, who, towards the
beginning of the war with Spain, was rash enough to engage to take
Porto Bello with six ships only, and rash enough to accomplish his
engagement; which made him so popular, that, notwithstanding his
failing soon afterwards in an attempt upon Carthagena, and after
that, more blameably upon Cuba, by his dissensions with General
Wentworth, he was chosen into Parliament for several places, had
his head painted on every Sign, and his birth-day kept twice in
one year. Yet as his courage was much greater than his sense, his
reputation was much greater than his courage. One should have
thought that the lightness of his head would have buoyed up his
heart in any extremity! He had withdrawn himself but very awkwardly
from two or three private quarrels, and lost his public character
with still greater infamy; for being out of humour with the
Admiralty, he published a series of letters and instructions from
that Board in the very heat of the Rebellion, by which he betrayed
our spies--[It was believed that one of them was actually hanged
in France, he being never heard of after this transaction]--and
intelligence to the French, and was removed from all command with
ignominy. He raised great wealth by the war, and by his economy,
and was at last chosen one of the Directors of the New Herring
Fisheries, which occasioned the following epigram:--
Long in the senate hath brave Vernon rail’d,
And all mankind with bitter tongue assail’d;
Sick of his noise, we wearied Heav’n with pray’r,
In his own element to place the tar:
The gods at length have yielded to our wish,
And bad him rule o’er Billingsgate and fish.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account