These letters written by Horatio Walpole, Member of Parliament and brother of Robert Walpole, concern Walpole's political career and are largely written to William Cavendish, 3rd Duke of Devonshire and his son, William Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington.
There is one letter to Henry Boyle, Lord Carleton in which Walpole wishes him a happy new year and one to Mr Townsend concerning Walpole's answer to the Townsend's scheme for preventing the running of wool out of Ireland and Walople's concerns about it. There is also one copy letter to Mr Pelham concerning the behaviour of Walpole's nephew Horace who with his friend Chute had been spreading rumours about the heiress Miss Nicole, Mr Capper and Richard Walpole.
The letters to the 3rd Duke of Devonshire concern:
his request to the Duke to ask the King for permission for the protestant manufacturers of Cambrick (Mr Jancourt from St Quintin) who wish to settle in Ireland to allow a French minister to practise so as to encourage French workers to settle in Ireland;
his congratulations to the Duke for opening of parliament and for the passing of the bill last session concerning the importation of woollen and bay yarn from Ireland to England free of duties and recommending methods to prohibit clandestine exportation of these commodities to foreign parts; his opinion about the reception of the Lords and Commons regarding the Duke's recommendations and his concern that unless strong measures are taken against the running of wool there will be negative consequences; this concerns the passing of a bill in the Irish Parliament too which must be passed concerning the banning of exports to foreign parts in order for the free duty imports from Ireland to England to be established; a letter from Mr Townsend concerning his worry that sending Mr Bennell over may put the passing of the bill in Ireland in jeopardy; objections made by Mr Potter;
two letters the Duke should receive from Walpole's son Horace on coming to town from Mr Pelham;
an enclosed letter from Lord Townsend's second son Charles (commissioner for Trade and Plantations) regarding the suitability of Dr Akernele for the vacancy and wishing for the Duke's favour and interest;
a letter delivered to "xxxxx" followed by a long conversation between "xxxxx" and Mr P[elham] concerning a matter which should have been handled formerly with respect to foreign affairs; Mr V...n [Vernon] in town on confidential business;
his gladness that the Devonshires are well at Chatsworth; the state of his health prohibiting him from coming to town; Mr Vanneck's visit to Lady Y...gh [Yarborough?] and her message for Walpole; his letter sent to Mr Pelham [about the incident with his nephew Horace]; a summary of a long political letter from Mr P about the birth of the Duke of Burgundy and the disputes with the French concerning the peace of Europe; his political views of the allyship or lack of it with France [surrounding Newcastle's plan to build a league of German princes around the election of Austria's Archduke Joseph as King of the Romans, or heir-apparent as Holy Roman Emperor]; considerations of the subsidies to the elector of Bavaria and Saxony; the King of the Romans; dividing the powers of Europe into two parties; England's large debt and whether it has the capacity to maintain sufficient forces by land and sea; not sending Mr Pelham's letter [on the topic of Europe] as he requested Walpole burn it;
his enclosure of Miss Nicol's declaration relating to the extravagant and infamous behaviour of Mr Chute towards her; scandalous letters written by Horace Walpole [Walpole's nephew] to Mr Capper which the Duke would find very disagreeable; the behaviour of his late friend and father of Horace, Robert Walpole, Lord Orford; Chute's claims of Walpole being appointed Miss Nicol's guardian being completely false;
a visit from Mr Pelham who discussed elections; disputes in the [Royal] family at Kew; who would be Bishop of Durham; Sir Peter Warren's death leaving a vacancy of a member for Westminster;
a visit from the Archbishop of Canterbury in which he discussed the Bishop of Norwich affair and his situation at Kew and the education of the Royal Highnesses; the lack of confidence in the Bishop from the mother and children; the Bishopric of Durham and possible candidates; the Archbishop's aversion to making Dr Julian a bishop on account of his support for the Pretender in the 45 Rebellion [Jacobite rising]; his frustration that neither Mr Pelham or the Lord Chancellor are speaking with firmness and resolution on this matter at Kew and not informing the King which will lead to dangerous consequences for home affairs; his visit to Mr Pelham who was grieving over the death of Lord Clinton as were Lady Katherine and Lord Lincoln; his brief exchange with Pelham in which he confirmed there were no plans for the Bishop of Norwich to take on the see at Durham and that it was coffee house talk;
a sketch of the new and extraordinary situation of the House [of Commons] including mention of the discontent of the chancellor of the exchequer, the secretary of war and paymaster of the army; disgruntled MPs' plan to remain silent in public affairs in objection to the administration and Walpole's attempt to highlight the shortcomings of this plan; speech by Mr Pitt on the Berwick elections where he attacks the attorney general; events surrounding the petition relating to Reading and Lord James and Dod and Colchester; claims of the University of Oxford being a seminary for Jacobitism and Nudigate's retort that it was a body of great learning and loyalty to the sovereign; a Jacobite book for sale in a bookshop in Oxford; Mr Fox's aim to distress the ministry by all possible means without opposing its public measures;
his thanks to the Duke for his confidential letter; his agreement with what the Duke wrote to Lord H[artington]; his hopes that it will be quiet in Ireland;
his receiving the Duke's letter on return from visiting Sir Joshua Vanneck; an enclosed letter from Colonel Conway which suggests that the Lord Lieutenant [Lord Hartington] will continue in Ireland; his hope for an honourable and easy administration for the Lord Lieutenant without unexpected order from Hanover;
likely to be informed of the state of affairs by the arrival of Colonel Conway and whether the answers from Hanover are agreeable; news of a boat stuck off the coast of Jamaica; tensions with America beginning to get interesting; the Duke of Newcastle using the families of T...d and Wa..le [Walpole] ill in an affair relating to Mr Kileel;
his acknowledgement that the Duke does not like frequent and unnecessary correspondence; his congratulations that the report from Ireland is that things are a fair way to being settled and Col. Conway is pleased with the ministry here in that respect; foreign affairs, including how the French will respond to the skirmish at sea with Admiral B[ ]; subsidies and the Dutch; Mr Legge's refusal to sign; asking if anyone knows the whereabouts of a French fleet;
his concern that the affairs in Ireland continue still in a doubtful situation despite the appearance that Lord Hartington may be able to bring them to a close; his advice to return Lord Hartington to England and allow the King to appoint such lords and justices as he sees fit and no parliament be held in Ireland for the year; public affairs and bringing over Austrian troops; the threat of the French and the need to have more troops than can be publicly raised; mediation of Sir William Loucher and the Appleby election; wishes from John of Holkham and his lady;
promising accounts from Ireland; his intention to avoid concerning himself in domestic and foreign affairs that are beyond his understanding; an enclosed letter from Mr Fox to Walpole; a letter to the secretary of war recommending Mr Lacey; his request for news from Ireland; a matter of accidental correspondence concerning Fox, Walpole and Mr Legge;
his question to the Duke of whether Mr Fox's reply to Walpole's letter needs a reply from Walpole;
meeting Sir Mat. Lamb on a visit to Lord Leicester; his presumption that the administration in Ireland will be all peace and quiet in the approaching sessions of Parliament; Sir Thomas [Robinson]'s opinion on the subsidiary treaty being an unpopular measure;
Mr Fox's appointment as Secretary of State and having the conduct of the House of Commons; request for news of the Duke's health; his intentions to travel to town and enquiring when the Duke will be there.
The letters to the Marquess of Hartington concern:
Lord Devonshire's visit to Wolterton; Lady Rachel and Walpole's son Horace leaving for Chatsworth, via Houghton; Lord Devonshire's intention to persuade Lord Leicester to Chatsworth; an invitation for Lord and Lady Hartington to Wolterton; Lady Caroline and Lord Duncannon due to visit Chatsworth; the sights and culinary delights Lord Duncannon would encounter on his journey if he travelled through Norfolk; asking Lord Hartington to pass on any news he hears;
his complaint meaning he has been confined to the couch in his study lately lying full-length, but with good view of the garden he has cultivated at Wolterton; his hopes for the good health of Lord and Lady Hartington; news of Lord Coke visiting Holkham with Lady Mary and a duel between him and Mr B...that he read about in the prints and heard from vulgar hands; his wishes to Mr Pelham and his hope that he might visit Norfolk; news of the general pacification and the French recalling and reforming their army in Flanders very slowly and Russians continuing their march towards the Empire; sending Mrs Walpole's and his daughter's respects to Lady Walpole;
his concern for Lord Orford who has had a troublesome cough for some months; reports of extraordinary follies of youth by Lord Wa....le [Walpole] under the conduct of Buch.... R...ly from Lord Orford; Lord Orford being unsure of where his son is; his continued inability to walk meaning he is still at Wolterton but in no pain and able to travel around his garden in a wheel chair; his letter from Mr Pelham and reading a report that he has been very ill but is well again and wishing Lord Hartington to confirm this; delay to the conclusion of the peace; news that the D... of C...d [Duke of Cumberland] is soon expected over from Hanover hopefully with a plan;
a letter from Mr P; the definitive treaty to be signed by the French and Dutch ministers at least; the private treaty between the Austrians and France to withdraw troops from Flanders; bringing troops home to save money; the plan for D of C...d to continue this winter with the Low Countries the retirement of the Austrians; the Queen of Hungary; the complexity of resolving everything after peace is declared; the troops likely to make a fuss if they have to stay beyond what they have been paid for; his health and slight improvement in his mobility after his remedy but not much; the elector of H...r on his rumoured support from the King of Russia; an alliance with Russia necessary in order to preserve the peace of Europe;
his suffering with severe rheumatism; plans to travel to town; predicting how the parliamentary session will go; news that Mr Pelham is in good humour; the death of Sir W Williams being a great blow to the I....he [Irish?] cause;
a visit from Mr P...m [Pelham] and Mr Elliot to Wolterton; Mr Pelham's support of Walpole despite the King's belief that Walpole had sometimes hindered his brother [Robert Walpole] and his notions upon foreign affairs not always being agreeable to the King, especially concerning not taking part in the war occasioned by the Polish election; Mr Pelham's belief that a peerage for Walpole may be considered now that he is related to the Duke of Devonshire but that the reversion of the teller's place to his son is unlikely to happen; his uncertainty if Mr Pelham's support is genuine or just his way of saving face; his feeling that Mr Pelham sees him as having no use and therefore presents him to others in such a light; his preference should he die suddenly being for his son to have the teller's place and therefore a sizeable estate rather than a peerage for himself; the health of his estate that he will pass to Horace; his wish to be out of the House of Commons; a proposition that his son be made a peer if he [Walpole] is to still be needed in the Commons and this possibly creating some trouble for Lord Orford and his son Lord Walpole; Mr Pelham saying he would talk the matter over with Lord Hartington which has prompted Walpole to write this epistle to him;
making the Duke of Devonshire the principal agent, and his and Mr Pelham's reasons behind it; a matter concerning the Bishop of London (Sherlock) wishing to get Episcopacy settled in America and applying to the president of the council as well as proposing printed pamphlets be disseminated, and sending bishops to the colonies; Walpole's letter on the matter having spoken to the archbishop, and Mr Pelham's intention that it be sent to his brother by Walpole himself; letting an affair drop here rather than receiving an absolute denial from his majesty; proposing either a peerage or reversion of his place to his son to the King in the hopes that presenting him with one request might result in a positive outcome;
Horace, Lady Rachel and their daughter's arrival at Wolterton; his gladness that the Hartingtons are in good health; a request for Lord Hartington to put in a word on his behalf to the secretary at war on behalf of Mr Trowles' nephew to have a commission in the army;
the death of a friend [Mr Henry Pelham] being an irreparable loss to King and country; his wish to wait on Lord Hartington before he goes into the country;
his ignorant knowledge of public affairs but his willingness to share his thoughts with Lord Hartington as he has been encouraged to do so; a letter received from the Duke of Newcastle after the elections containing a sketch of foreign politics (which Walpole describes to Lord Hartington) with respect to the barrier and the Court of Vienna not paying the subsidies to the Dutch; not being able to come to the aid of the Austrians in a war with France; prohibition on woollen goods from England in Austria; the Duke of Newcastle's interest in his view on how to dislodge the encroaching French from British colonies; his advice to Pelham that the West Indies were of too much consequence to the commerce of Britain to be abandoned and should be supplied with necessary support; his suggestion of sending Clive to command the American militia; the need for the northern colonies to enter into a confederacy to keep up a standing force that can defend the property from any attack by the French, and the need to provide a fund for this cause; the Duke of Newcastle's assertion that such a scheme is in motion and instruction sent to the governors; his concern that Major Washington's misfortune may have alarmed some but his hope that the scheme could put an end to troubles there; news of Spain and [the Marquess of] Ensenada's disgrace and the possible cause of it; his prediction that Ensenada's removal and the presence of Mr Ben Keene is likely to put British affairs in the Americas on a good footing with regard to the Spanish court; unhappy merchants of London who insist on illicit trading to the Spanish West Indies; regulations to prevent seizures and condemnation of British ships by Spain; his lack of connections to domestic affairs now that he is retired; his opinion that the affairs in the House of Commons cannot go on quietly on the current footing; the death of the Prince of Wales; his view that Lord Hartington is a minister of weight and consequence; his concern about Lord Hartington's report of the Chancellor (his friend)'s behaviour towards the Duke of Devonshire and Lord Hartington after the death of Mr Pelham; his friendship with Mr Fox which he feels has been weakened now that he is no longer of use in Parliament to Mr Fox; the trap laid for Mr Fox by the Duke of Newcastle; his view that Mr Fox should return to Parliament next session acting as if nothing has occurred; Harry Legge's ill-treatment as Chancellor of the Exchequer; the King's happy position compared to his predecessors on account of his contentment to accept the amount of power given him by the laws; the popularity of the king;
his concern about Mr Fox not attending a meeting at Mr Legge's house about the King's speech which will be to his detriment and his request that Lord Hartington persuade Mr Fox to attend;
his enclosure of Lord Bolingbroke's treatise "Sketch of the History and State of Europe Volume 2" and his wish for Lord Hartington to read it and pass on his thoughts about it to Walpole; his wishes to Lord Hartington for good sport and no break-neck accidents;
his assurance to Lord Hartington that he will relay anything of importance to him during his absence from parliament; a motion that the Sherriff of Oxfordshire should attend the House to give an account of a return he made; the new Beck...rd who spoke; a debate upon a motion for an instruction to the committee of privileges and elections for hearing the merits of the election of N Michell; speaking for Lord Edgecombe on the debate;
the vote on the motion for an instruction to the committee of privileges and elections for hearing the merits of the election of N Michell voted 154 yea and 127 no; Lord Sandwich being indefatigable over the vote in his favour and Lord Edgecombe "fallen off"; the presence of Lord Hartington's brothers at the House; motions often occurring with little prior warning and the need to be in the House and ready to debate; the business of the House of Commons not being a pleasure of humanity and therefore of being little interest to the younger people;
a debate in the House about a petition presented by Lord Verney against Walton and Deleval relating to the election for Berwick; Mr William Pitt's long speech against corruption and true Whigism; an account of a "scene of warmth" relating the election at Reading and Colchester and Lord James and his family's service to Whigism; the Old Corps; approbation of Thomas Robinson's behaviour;
a description of the proceedings of a committee of the whole House of Commons on the estimate of land forces; Beckford's speech which was a repetition of things already said; Lord Barr....ton's speech which went through the disposition of the forces and finished on the popularity of the King, the Duke of Northumberland and the present administration; a disagreement in the committee between Nugent and Pitt resulting in James Campbell having to call for order; claims of the university of Oxford being a seminary for Jacobitism and Nudigate's retort that it was a body of great learning and loyalty to the sovereign; a Jacobite book for sale in a bookshop in Oxford; Mr Fox's aim to distress the ministry by all possible means without opposing its public measures;
consideration of whether Pitt's attacking speech relating to the Berwick elections was aimed at the Duke of Newcastle or the attorney general; the attack on Sir Thomas Robinson, Secretary of State by Mr Pitt and Fox looked upon by the Whigs as an insult upon the administration and the dignity of the government;
Oxfordshire election turnout; profound silence with respect to the Bedchamber [of the king]; Lord Rocheforte to be groom of the stole; Lord Powlett's audience with the King.
There is also in this group a memorandum of a meeting at Newcastle House, 12 April 1755 (CS1/180/31).