his services; Pitt and Legge declined to resign, and they too were dismissed a few days later. The nation showed its resentment against this action, and its confidence in the men dismissed, by strong expressions of feeling. The great towns sent the freedom of their cities to Pitt, and, in the famous phrase of Horace Walpole, "for some weeks it rained gold boxes." The tenure of office from December to April had been too brief for any great achievement, but it is evident that the nation recognised and welcomed a new and higher spirit in the administration of its affairs; something at least had been done, in Pitt's own words, to reassure and reanimate the people of England.

The interregnum which followed the dismissal of Pitt is one of the most curious incidents in English history: Devonshire remained at the Treasury, Winchelsea took the Admiralty, and Holderness conducted the work of the Secretaries of State, but in reality there was no administration for eleven weeks, while a formidable war was being waged. The inquiry into the loss of Minorca, which was managed by the Townshends, caused Newcastle and Fox to view the political situation with fear; they would not act together, and though Newcastle was urged by Hardwicke and others to take office without Pitt or Fox, he wisely declined the ordeal. Fox had the credit of advising Cumberland to secure the dismissal of Pitt, and the overthrow of the Government in the midst of a crisis had not improved his reputation for patriotism. Pitt observed, during the progress of the inquiry, a cold neutrality; events

were serving his turn. The inquiry clearly showed that the late Government had been culpably negligent, and both his rivals were involved in the inevitable blame.

A

The inquiry ended without direct censure. long series of negotiations followed, and a union between Pitt and Newcastle was secured by the good offices of Chesterfield, and on June 29th the new Ministry kissed hands.

It was a combination of all the Powers with Pitt supreme. Newcastle took the Treasury. Fox became Paymaster on the understanding that he was to do nothing but receive his salary; Legge was Chancellor of the Exchequer; Temple, Privy Seal; and Anson, to the chagrin of the city, was restored to the Admiralty; Pratt, afterwards illustrious as Camden and the friend of Chatham, became Attorney-General, while Pitt was Secretary of State with. Holderness, who could never rival him, as his cosecretary. The inclusion of Fox in a subordinate office abated all opposition; Newcastle, commander of the parliamentary battalions, was united to Pitt who enjoyed the confidence of the nation. "I borrowed the Duke of Newcastle's majority to carry on the business of the country," said Pitt, and an excellent bargain he made by leaving patronage to his colleague while he retained power for himself.

He was at last in the saddle. The emergency which England had to meet was of the gravest, but was to be met in the spirit of confidence. "My Lord," he had said to the Duke of Devonshire, "I believe that I can save this country and that no one

else can." The situation was perilous for England, not only because she had lost Minorca and was threatened in India and America, but because in the beginning of this war a strange timidity and hesitation affected her officers. The temper of the two nations on the eve of the struggle is reflected in the famous prophecy of Chesterfield, and in the opinion of one who knew much of France. "Whoever is in, or whoever is out, I am sure we are undone both at home and abroad," wrote Chesterfield, "we are no . longer a nation. I never yet saw so dreadful a prospect." On the other hand, Sir Andrew Mitchell reported from M. de Knyphausen that the French designed an attack on Madras, and were sending more troops to America. "When I hinted that there were vast designs to be executed in the East and West Indies at the same time by the French, who were not yet masters of the sea, he answered, 'They are so flushed with the conquest of Port Mahon, and their successes in North America, that they are capable of undertaking anything.'

WHE

CHAPTER IV.

PITT'S WAR MINISTRY.

1757-1761.

WHEN Pitt resumed office, the diplomatic preparations of Europe were complete, and it was possible to compute the strength. of the two opposing sides. Frederick, in his justification of the invasion of Saxony, had inaccurately asserted that a combination existed with the object of partitioning his kingdom. At the time when the invasion was made, the alliance between France and Austria was purely defensive, and Louis had not agreed to join the extensive scheme of Maria Theresa and the Czarina Elizabeth. It was the invasion of Saxony which determined the French King to adopt an offensive alliance. The daughter of the Saxon King, Augustus III., was the wife of the Dauphin, while France had guaranteed Saxony at the great settlement of Westphalia. Frederick's insult to so close an ally of France induced Louis to accede at last to the plan of partition which Maria Theresa, Elizabeth, and the Pompadour so ardently desired. The Russian and Hungarian sovereigns

were formally allied against Prussia by the Treaty of St. Petersburg which was signed in February, 1757, by which each of the Imperial courts agreed to furnish eighty thousand men against Frederick; Elizabeth engaged herself to continue hostilities until Silesia and Glatz were recovered by Maria Theresa, while Austria was to pay an annual subsidy, and, by an understanding not incorporated in the treaty, was to try and secure Courland for Russia. By the Treaty of Stockholm Sweden joined the coalition and promised twenty thousand men. The second Treaty of Versailles between France and Austria was signed on May 1, 1757. Louis promised an annual subsidy, one hundred and five thousand men, and the pay of ten thousand German mercenaries. Maria Theresa promised eighty thousand men. France was to be rewarded by the cession of towns and ports in the Netherlands. The details of the scheme for the partition of Frederick's possessions show that the intention of the two Powers was to reduce Prussia to the rank of a second-rate German electorate. The great European league was joined by Bavaria, the Elector Palatine, and other German Princes. Denmark and the Dutch provinces, notwithstanding the pressure of England and Prussia, remained neutral.

The French King's assent to this alliance was one of the most momentous resolves in history. Not content with his quarrel with England, with the defence of his great possessions in the East and West against a Power whose naval predominance was clearly understood, Louis entered into the Continental war which was destined to drain the resources of