f the ablest soldier of the generation
preceding that of Wellington. Unfortunately the Cornwallis letters are
so few that his share in the shaping of war policy is unknown; but it is
clear that he helped Ministers finally to override the resolve of the
King to keep the relic of the British force for the defence of
Hanover.[417]

To conclude the survey of these changes, we may note that the Duke of
York, after returning from Holland, became Commander-in-Chief of the
British army, a situation in which he earned general approbation. Thus,
when it is asserted that Pitt altogether lacked his father's power of
discerning military talents, the reply must be that he rendered an
incalculable service by organizing a competent War Ministry, that he
put the right men in the right place, though at the cost of offending
the King, the Duke of York, a powerful nobleman, and his own brother;
and that he quickly noted the transcendent abilities of Moore even when
under censure for acts of disobedience in Corsica. The results attained
by the elder Pitt were far more brilliant; for he came to the front at a
time when the problems were far less difficult and illusory than those
of the Revolutionary Era; but, if the very diverse conditions of their
times be considered, the services of Pitt will not suffer by comparison
even with those of his father.

* * * * *

The torpor of the Dutch in defending their country and the refusal of
the Duke of Brunswick to organize the defence of North Germany virtually
ended the war on that side. In one respect the defection of Prussia in
April 1795 proved beneficial; for she undertook to keep the States of
North and Central Germany entirely neutral. Had George III condescended
at once to place his Electorate under her covering wing, the whole
British and subsidized force might have been withdrawn in the spring of
that year. Pride, however, for some time held him back from that politic
but humiliating step. Consequently several battalions remained in
Hanover for so long a time as to weaken the blow dealt at Paris through
Quiberon. This was highly prejudicial to the Breton movement, which
would have found in the troops detained in Germany the firm nucleus that
was so much needed. Even after the ghastly failure at Quiberon, had the
French _emigre_ corps arrived at Spithead at the end of July instead of
August, the expedition to the Vendean coast might have ended
diff