and ten Swedish ships of the line appeared in the Baltic, to preserve the neutrality of that sea.

The French minister was so sensible of the sources of the Baltic for the supply of his navy, that he bribed the Dutch to become the carriers of his Baltic naval stores. But Mr. Pitt ordered the Dutch vessels, whenever laden with naval and military stores, to be constantly taken; which judicious and spirited resolution contributed greatly to the successes of his administration*.

* When Mr. Fitt found the Dutch heartily inclined to assist the French with naval stores, he resolved to make them as heartily tired of doing it; for, without any ceremony, he gave orders that all Dutch ships with cargoes on board for the use of France, should be considered as the ships of enemies, not of neutrals. His orders were not without effect, and in consequence of the captures that ensued, the loudest clamours were raised in Holland against the English. The general cry there was for war. A Memorial was presented to the States General in 1758, in the names of 269 of the principal Dutch merchants, who subscribed it; they complained that trade and navigation, the very sinews of the Republic, were in danger; that the Dutch flag was disregarded by the English; who had already taken 240 of their ships. They called upon the States General for the protection of their property. Nay, they offered to contribute each his contingent, and to arm, at their own charge, for the support and protection of their navigation. The Memorial concluded with this remarkable paragraph:

"The petitioners flatter themselves that the toils and the risks to which their effects are exposed on the seas will have their pro

Mr. Pitt laboured under many disadvantages at the time of his restoration to the office of secretary of state; his former plans had either been defeated or rendered useless; and he was obliged to make great sacrifices, to correct the errors of others, before he could carry his future

per influence on the general body of the State; since the traders of this country, finding themselves left to the discretion of a part of that nation with whom the State is most intimately connected, will be forced to abandon it, to their great regret, and seck shelter and protection elsewhere; which will give a mortal blow to the principal members of the State."

The Dutch, no doubt, must have been very severely handled, when they so far trespassed upon their love of money as to offer to disburse and arm at their own charge, for the security of navigation; but what must we think of the provocation given by the British minister, when we find the Dutch merchants ready to abandon their country, and become voluntary exiles in a foreign land?

The neutrality of the Dutch did not procure respect for their ports in America, as appears by a letter from St. Eustatia, published in the Amsterdam Gazette, April 9, 1758; wherein the writer declares, "That the depredations of the English are carried to the utmost height, and that the trade of St. Eustatia is at an end; the harbour being more closely blocked up than that of any enemy-that every vessel is stopped, carried off, and confiscated; that jealousy is the motive of the English, conveniency their right, and greediness their law; that the English had gone so far as to confiscate Dutch ships, merely for having entered French harbours, alledging that as they paid the usual charges and customs in those harbours, they thereby became French property," &c.

plans into execution. Nothing but the magnanimity of his spirit prevented the same interference, which had chilled the execution of his former measures, from extending its blighting influence over his future desigus. When the fleet returned from Rochefort, a puerile scheme was proposed by those whose impolitic measures had given birth to the Baltic alliance against us, to send the fleet to the assistance of the Duke of Cumberland, who was flying before the French in Hanover. Mr. Pitt alone resisted the proposal; upon which the Duke of Newcastle and Lord Hardwiche, who had pressed it, gave it up. Mr. Pilt had not a thorough confidence in his coadjutors, and therefore he did not always assign his reasons for his opinion. On this occasion he only said, that the assistance of a naval armament in the north had been frustrated; and therefore the scene, as well as the instrument of war, must be changed, before any hopes of success could be entertained; but if a contrary opinion prevailed, he would lay the seals at his Majesty's feet, and retire from his situation.The cabinet ministers from this time resigned their judgment; in which they were influenced by two motives; one was, a dread of his superior abilities, which threw their minor talents into shade; the other was, an expectation that, by permitting him to indulge in the exercise of his

own opinions, he would precipitate his own exclusion from power, by drawing upon himself some capital disgrace; which they were confident would at the same time restore to them the administration of government*.

The Duke of Cumberland returned to England, and finding that his conduct had met with the disapprobation of the King, who disavowed the convention of Closter-Seven, he instantly resigned all his military employments, and retired to Windsor.

* At this period, and for several months past, there had issued from the press a torrent of papers and pamphlets against Mr. Pitt, condemning his plans, his measures, his principles, his politics, and even reviling his person, in which the King himself was not spared, for having taken him into his service, and for not dismissing him-all which were permitted to die unnoticed; he felt not the least smart from any of them. One day when Mr. Grenville mentioned some of them to him, he smiled, and only said, The press is like the air, a charter'd libertine*.

CHAP. XVI.

The Battle of Rosbach, and its consequences.Sudden prorogation of Parliament.-Union of the King and Mr Pitt-The King of Prussia's recommendation.-Hanoverians resume their arms under Duke Ferdinand.-Observations on the German War.

ALTHOUGH the operations of the war are foreign to this work; yet those events from which important circumstances have arisen, and which have either been misrepresented by other writers, or been entirely omitted, it is necessary to mention. Of this nature was the King of Prussia's great victory at Rosbach over the French and Germans, on the 5th of November 1757. No event during the war was attended with such interesting consequences. This victory may be said to have changed the scene, the plan, and the principle of the war. Besides the emancipation which it immediately gave to the King of Prussia, its effects were no less instantaneous and

powerful on the councils of Great Britain. The