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George II being guaranteed peaceful possession of Bavaria, his imperial title, and an annual subsidy from England. The treaty was actually drafted at Hanau, and provisionally signed, but lapsed in consequence of the lords justices, in whom the regency had been vested during the king's absence, refusing to ratify it, and thus the fruits of the victory were entirely thrown away. From Hanau the king and Carteret went to Worms, and there concluded (13 Sept. N.S.) a treaty of alliance with the queen of Hungary and the king of Sardinia, by which the contracting parties mutually guaranteed all dominions which they did or ought to possess, and Great Britain granted the king of Sardinia a subsidy of 200,000l., and engaged to maintain a strong fleet in the Mediterranean. This treaty, which was intended principally as a security against Spanish designs on Italy, was ratified in due course. In November the king returned to England (ib. 1743, pp. 391, 447, 610;, Pelham, i. 75-7, 164; Marchmont Papers, i. 25; , i. 682; , iii. 294; Parl. Hist. xiii. 101).

Early in 1744 the Young Pretender was received at the French court with marks of distinction, and in March France formally declared war on England. George's diplomacy was now mainly directed towards inducing the Dutch to come to an open rupture with France, and obtaining succours from Frederick the Great, pursuant to the defensive alliance of 18 Nov. (N.S.) 1742. The Dutch, however, could be prevailed upon no further than to furnish a contingent of six thousand men, and Frederick readily found pretexts for refusing to render any assistance. A further treaty for a subsidy of 150,000l. to the queen of Hungary was signed on 1 Aug. On 10 Aug. (N.S.) Frederick declared war upon her, and forthwith marched into Bohemia. This step produced a ministerial crisis in England. The majority of the cabinet were disgusted with the unexpected length of the war. They took Lord Chesterfield and his faction into their counsels, and submitted to the king a joint note in effect demanding Carteret's dismissal. The king was very reluctant to comply. 'Lord Carteret has served me very well,' he said to the Duke of Newcastle. But as the junto at length threatened to resign en masse, the king yielded, and dismissed Carteret (24 Nov. 1744). A ministry of all the factions was then formed under Henry Pelham. The new ministry was bent on making peace as soon as possible. In the meantime they desired to carry on the war upon a concerted plan, and with a clear understanding as to the distribution of expense. Lord Chesterfield was sent to the Hague to treat on this point with the Dutch. The negotiation issued, however, in the union or quadruple alliance of Warsaw (8 Jan. N.S. 1745), by which the country was burdened with the payment to the elector of Saxony for the defence of Bohemia of two-thirds of an annual subsidy of 150,000l. 'so long as necessity should require,' Holland becoming responsible for the residue (Gent. Mag. 1743 pp. 389, 444, 668, 1744 pp. 154, 167, 226, 285, 1745 p. 55;, Polit. Corresp. iii. 104, 142, iv. 5-15, 81, 83, 203, 211, 241, 246; Marchmont Papers, i. 3, 15, 65, 73-88; , Lord Walpole, p. 275; , Pelham, i. 189, 198, 209; , ii. 163, 171; , iii. 319; , 'Apology for a late Resignation,' Works, ed. Mahon, v. 58 et seq.)

The course of events during the summer was, except for the unexpected conquest of Cape Breton by Sir Peter Warren, disastrous to the allies. The attempt to rouse the Dutch to energetic action signally failed, and the loss of the battle of Fontenoy (11 May, N.S.) placed the Netherlands at the mercy of the French. Frederick the Great gained a brilliant victory over the Austrians at Hohenfriedberg (3 June N.S.); the Young Pretender landed in Scotland in July. George, who had gone to Hanover in May, hereupon returned to England (31 Aug.) The ministry seized the opportunity to present him with a strongly worded memorial on the expediency of bring- ing the queen of Hungary to make peace on the terms of the treaty of Breslau. George, after indignant protests, at length consented to make an offer of mediation between Frederick and the queen. A negotiation carried on at Hanover in the autumn led to the treaty concluded at Dresden (25 Dec. N.S.), confirming the cession of Silesia, Great Britain giving Prussia a separate guarantee of quiet possession. Meanwhile the brilliant successes of the French under Marshal Saxe in the Netherlands, from which the British troops had been withdrawn on the outbreak of the Jacobite rebellion, alarmed the Dutch, who sent urgent appeals to England for help. The king would fain have afforded it, but the ministry refused. They also demanded that Pitt, whose anti-Hanoverian speeches had made him peculiarly obnoxious to the king, should be appointed secretary at war. The king would not hear of it. Harrington and Newcastle thereupon (10 Feb. 1744-5) resigned, and the king sent for Pulteney, earl of Bath, and Carteret, now lord Granville. This was met by the resignation of the rest of the ministers. Bath and Granville failed to form an administration, and the old ministers returned to power on the 14th, more resolute to terminate the war than before. The king was most dejected, called himself a prisoner