Robert Harley had left office, but his…

Robert Harley had left office, but his cousin, who had recently married, has continued in the Queen's service.

Harley employs her influence without scruple, and not in vain.

The cost of the protracted war with France, and the danger to the national church, the chief proof of which lay in the prosecution of Henry Sacheverell, are the weapons that he uses to influence the masses.

Marlborough himself cannot be dispensed with, but his relations have been dismissed from their posts in turn.

When the greatest of these, Lord Godolphin, is ejected from office, five commissioners to the treasury are appointed on August 10, 1710); among these is Harley as Chancellor of the Exchequer.

The government at this time has become reliant upon the Bank of England, a privately owned company which has obtained a monopoly to be the sole bank in England in return for arranging and managing loans to the government, but the government has become dissatisfied with the service it is receiving.

Harley, therefore, is actively seeking new ways to improve the national finances.

A new Parliament meets in November 1710 with a resolve to attend to national finances, which have suffered significantly from the costs of war with France.

Harley comes prepared, with detailed accounts as to the exact situation of national debt, which is customarily a piecemeal affair with different government departments arranging their own loans at need.