He was accused by his political opponents of deliberately undermining Pope's position, and he did not help his case in history when he wrote to his wife on August 10, "Pope will be badly thrashed within two days & ... they will be very glad to turn over the redemption of their affairs to me.
Politiske modstandere beskyldte ham for bevidst at underminere Popes position, og han forbedrede ikke sin sag overfor historikerne, da han den 10. august skrev til sin kone: "Pope vil få alvorlige bank indenfor to dage, og ... de vil blive meget glade for at overlade indfrielsen af deres gæld til mig.