operate with the Imperial forces.
Accordingly the army, commanded by George II in person, advanced across
the Main to Dettingen. Here the king, shut in by French forces and cut
off from his supplies, was rescued from a very difficult position by the
valour of his troops, who on June 27, 1743 attacked and completely
routed their opponents. The States-General had already, on June 22,
recognised their responsibilities; and by a majority vote it was
determined that a force of 20,000 men under the command of Count Maurice
of Nassau-Ouwerkerk should join the _Pragmatic Army_.

The fiction that the Maritime Powers were not at war with France was
kept up until the spring of 1744, when the French king in alliance with
Spain declared war on England. One of the projects of the war party at
Versailles was the despatch of a powerful expedition to invade England
and restore the Stewarts. As soon as news of the preparations reached
England, a demand was at once made, in accordance with treaty, for naval
aid from the States. Twenty ships were asked for, but only eight were in
a condition to sail; and the admiral in command, Grave, was 73 years of
age and had been for fifteen years in retirement. What an object lesson
of the utter decay of the Dutch naval power! Fortunately a storm
dispersed the French fleet, and the services of the auxiliary squadron
were not required.

The news that Marshal Maurice de Saxe was about to invade the Austrian
Netherlands with a French army of 80,000 men came like a shock upon the
peace party in the States. The memory of 1672 filled them with terror.
The pretence of neutrality could no longer be maintained. The choice lay
between peace at any price or war with all its risks; and it was
doubtful which of the two alternatives was the worse. Was there indeed
any choice? It did not seem so, when De Fenelon, who had represented
France at the Hague for nineteen years, came to take leave of the
States-General on his appointment to a command in the invading army
(April 26). But a last effort was made. An envoy-extraordinary, the
Count of Wassenaer-Twickel, was sent to Paris, but found that the king
was already with his army encamped between Lille and Tournay. Wassenaer
was amused with negotiations for awhile, but there was no pause in the
rapid advance of Marshal Saxe. The barrier fortresses, whose defences
had been neglected, fell rapidly one after another. All west Flanders
was overrun. The allied forces, gathe