Page:The reign of George VI - 1763.djvu/54

 short, this young Monarch was, at this critical moment, the very life and soul of the state; he managed every thing himself, and almost without assistance; for his ministry and the council were so divided in their opinions and debates, that he put very little faith in any of them. In the midst of this scene of confusion, advice was brought, that the Russians, to the amount of 25000 men, had landed on the coast of Durham, and their fleet soon after disappeared, it was supposed, in order to convoy a second embarkation.

The affairs of Britain were now arrived at a most dangerous crisis, more terrible in appearance than any she had ever seen; and many circumstances combined to render her state really dreadful. The army was weak, and ill paid, the formidable naval power of the Russians having obliged the administration to turn all their efforts towards the