ord Holderness having secured a pecuniary indemnification,
with the reversion of the wardenship of the cinque ports, resigned the
office of secretary of state in favour of Lord Bute. It was said that
the king "was tired of having two secretaries, of which one (Pitt)
_would_ do nothing, and the other (Holderness) _could_ do nothing; and
that he would have a secretary who both could and would act." At the
same time, Lord Halifax was advanced from the board of trade to be
Lord-lieutenant of Ireland, and was replaced by Lord Barrington; and the
Duke of Richmond, displeased by a military promotion injurious to his
brother, resigned his post as lord of the bed-chamber. Other changes, of
minor importance, took place--such as the introduction of several Tories
into the offices of the court, and there was a considerable addition
made to the peerage. These changes were, doubtless, unpalatable to Mr.
Pitt; but Horace Walpole says that he was somewhat softened by the offer
of the place of cofferer for his brother-in-law, James Grenville. At all
events Mr. Pitt continued in office, and Earl Bute consented to leave
the management of foreign affairs in his hands; but at the same time,
both Bute and his majesty gave him to understand that an end _must_ be
put to the war.

THE OPERATIONS OF THE WAR.

Since the accession of George III., the events of the war had been
various. Although Frederick the Great had driven the Russians and
Austrians from his capital, they were still within his own territory;
while the French were on the side of the Rhine, and the Swedes continued
to threaten invasions. Such was his situation when he heard that George
II, was dead; that his successor was desirous of peace; that some of his
advisers were projecting a separate treaty with France; and that it was
probable that the English subsidies would soon be discontinued. This
intelligence in some degree was confirmed by the tardiness with which
the subsidy, so readily granted by the parliament in December, was paid
into his treasury. Nothing daunted, however, Frederick planned fresh
campaigns, and remonstrated with England; and, as an effect of the bold
front he put upon his affairs, he had the satisfaction of learning,
before he went into winter-quarters, that the Russians had retired
beyond the Vistula, and that the Austrians and Swedes had departed
out of Brandenburg, Silesia, and Pomerania. Still his situation was a
critical one. His losses in men ha