time hereafter he should think proper to retire, Lord Temple should succeed him." Having gone on some time, in making arrangements, the Duke said, What shall we do with Mr. Fox? Mr. Pitt replied, "He may have the pay-office." This was a triumph to Mr. Pitt-to put Mr. Fox below him, and into the office he had left. Lord Anson was proposed for the admiralty. Mr. Pilt declared that Lord Anson should never have the correspondence. The Duke replied, that would be such an alteration in the usual business of the board, as could not be settled without his Majesty's consent. Here the conference broke off. Mr. Pitt had an audience of the King. He laid before his Majesty the difference between the Duke of Newcastle and himself concerning the admiralty. The King consented that the correspondence with the naval officers, usually in the board of admiralty, should be given to Mr. Pitt [see Appendix C], and that the board should only sign the dispatches, without being privy to their contents*. It was at this audience

private understanding between the Duke of Newcastle and Mr. Legge for some time past.

* The rule, or custom, is, the secretary of state sends all the orders respecting the navy, which have been agreed to in the cabinet, to the admiralty, and the secretary to the board writes those orders again, in the form of instructions, from the admiralty

that the following remarkable words were spoken, which Lord Nugent repeated in the House of Commons, in the year 1784: Mr. Pitt said—

Sire, give me your confidence, and I will deserve it." The King replied, without hesitation, "Deserve my confidence and you shall have it." Lord Nugent added, "That Mr. Pitt at last won so upon the King, that he was able to turn his very partialities in favour of Germany to the benefit of his country." Lord Anson took the admiralty under Mr. Pitt's limitation; and Mr. For took the pay-office. Mr. Legge had the exchequer. All the arrangements being settled, the parties all kissed hands in July 1757; and the nation was thereby restored to tranquillity and satisfaction.

to the admiral or captain of the fleet, expedition, &c. for whom they are designed; which instructions must be signed by three of the board. But during Mr. Pitt's administration, he wrote the instructions himself, and sent them to their Lordships to be signed; always ordering his secretary to put a sheet of white paper over the writing. Thus they were kept in perfect ignorance of what they signed; and the secretary and clerks of the board were all in the same state of exclusion.

CHAPTER XV.

Failure of the Duke of Cumberland.-Expedition against Rochefort.-Distressess of the King of Prussia.-Hanover plundered.—Mr. Pitt's two Propositions, one to send a Fleet into the Baltic, the other to cede Gibraltar to Spain.-Anecdote of the Treaty of Peace made in 1783.-Effects of Mr. Pitt's first Administration.—Miscarriage of the Expedition against Louisbourg.--Union of Russia, Sweden, and Denmark, for the neutrality of the Baltic.-Taking of the Dutch Ships.—Mr. Pitt opposes the Proposition of sending the British Fleet to the assistance of the Duke of Cumberland.

THE Duke of Cumberland failed on the continent. His Royal Highness attributed his failure to the want of British troops and money. His army was not only inferior to the enemy in number, but consisted entirely of Germans. The French pursued him almost to the sea-coast. The King of Denmark commiserated his situation, and under that monarch's mediation a convention was sigued, in the month of September 1757, between the Duke, and Marshal Richelieu,

the French general, by which the allied army were to retire to their respective countries.

The King of Prussia was driven out of Bohemia this summer, and an account arrived of the suffocation at Calcutta.

Under all these discouraging circumstances Mr. Pitt had to commence his new administration. His first measure was an attempt to make a descent upon the coast of France. His view in this was, to oblige the French to recall their troops from Hanover to protect their own kingdom. A fleet and an army were assembled. The destination was kept a profound secret. Sir Edward Hawke was commander of the fleet, and Mr. Pitt corresponded with him. It is not a little remarkable, that when Mr. Pitt ordered the fleet to be equipped, and appointed the period for its being at the place of rendezvous, Lord Anson said it was impossible to comply with the order; the ships could not be got ready in the time limited; and he wanted to know where they were going, in order to victual them accordingly. Mr. Pitt replied, that if the ships were not ready at the time required, he would lay the matter before the King, and impeach his Lordship in the House of Commons. This spirited menace produced the men of war and transports all ready,

They

in perfect compliance with the order. sailed on the 8th of September 1757, from Spithead. The force was considerable; and, had it succeeded, must have made a deep impression. After lying some time before Rochefort, the fleet returned. The cause of the miscarriage was not precisely ascertained. Mr. Pitt ascribed it to the inactivity of Sir John Mordaunt, who had the command of the troops. The friends of that officer ascribed it to the plan, which in derision, they called one of Mr. Pitt's visions.

The distresses of the King of Prussia daily increased. The Russians quickened their march against him. His territories were invaded on every side and the French were plundering Hanover. In this situation of affairs, the minister framed two propositions; the first was, to send a fleet to into the Baltic, as early in the spring of 1758 as the season would permit, to overawe the Swedes and Russians, particularly the latter, and to support the King of Prussia. The most formidable powers against the King of Prussia were Austria and Russia. Against Austria he was able to defend himself; but Russia being a naval as well as military power, he could not oppose her with equal facility. Her vessels carried provisions, military stores, and reinforcements to her armies in Pomerania and Prussia;