ABSTRACT
The political context had changed with the unexpected death of Frederick, Prince of Wales in March 1751 and the consequent collapse of his political interest. Newcastle's ability to fall foul of whichever of his colleagues was the other Secretary of State had led to the fall of Bedford in June 1751. The Saxon treaty was strongly approved in the Commons on 22 January. Newcastle was self-serving in thinking that this approval would lead to universal approbation throughout the whole kingdom. Cumberlands reputation reflected the paradox that the legacy of 1689 made France a natural enemy, but that the same legacy and bias against a large army limited the British capacity to fight France. Newspaper criticism in Britain about Hanoverian influences, inappropriate peacetime subsidies and the failure to secure trans-oceanic issues in dispute with France and Spain,116 looked toward the political problems that were to arise in 1755.
