atitude,
and was full of the warmest assurances of a ready support of his
majesty, and of his foreign dominions, if attacked in resentment of
his maintaining the rights of his crown and kingdom; and his majesty's
answer to it was to the same effect as that to the house of lords. The
same, or nearly the same words, relating to the treaties concluded by
his majesty, and to the defence of his foreign dominions, were proposed
to be inserted in this address, which was opposed by William Pitt, esq.,
then paymaster of his majesty's forces; the right hon. Henry Legge,
esq., then chancellor and un-der-treasurer of his majesty's exchequer,
and one of the commissioners of the treasury; and by several other
gentlemen in high posts under the government, as well as by many others;
but, upon putting the question, it was by a considerable majority agreed
to insert the words objected to; and very soon after, Mr. Pitt, Mr.
Legge, and most, if not all, of the gentlemen who had appeared in the
opposition, were dismissed from their employments. In the meantime, a
draft came over from Russia for part of the new subsidy stipulated to
that crown; but some of the ministry, who were then at the head of
the finances, refused to pay it, at least before the treaty should be
approved of by parliament.

ALTERATIONS IN THE MINISTRY.

Sir Thomas Robinson had not been long in possession of the office of
secretary of state, before it was generally perceived, that, though an
honest well meaning man, and a favourite with the king, his abilities
were not equal to the functions of that post. Much less were they so at
this juncture, when the nation was on the point of being engaged in
a difficult and expensive war, and plunged into foreign measures and
connexions, which would require the utmost skill of an able politician
to render them palatable to the people. Mr. Pitt and Mr. Fox, though
they scarce ever agreed in any other particular, had generally united
in opposing his measures, and their superior influence in the house
of commons, and universally acknowledged abilities, though of very
different kinds, had always prevailed; uncommon as it was, to see two
persons who held considerable places under the government, one of them
being paymaster-general, and the other secretary at war, oppose, upon
almost every occasion, a secretary of state who was supposed to know
and speak the sentiments of his master. Sir Thomas himself soon grew
sensible of his wa