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UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

THE RIGHT HON.
WILLIAM PITT

FIRST VOLUME

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LIFE

OF

THE RIGHT HONOURABLE
WILLIAM PITT
WITH EXTRACTS FROM HIS MS. PAPERS

By.EAKL stanhope
h

NEW EDITION

IN IHBEE VOLUMES— VOL. I.

titb portraits

LONDON
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET
1879

PREFACE.

According to the desire expressed on his death-bed by
Mr. Pitt, the papers which he left were in the first
instance delivered to his early friend, Dr. Tomline,
Bishop of Lincoln. After the decease of the Bishop
and of the last Lord Chatham, these MSS. devolved
to my cousin, William Stanhope Taylor, Esq., grand-
nephew of Mr. Pitt. When Mr. Taylor also died, the
papers came into the possession of another grand-nephew
of Mr. Pitt through his younger sister — Colonel John
Pringle, who has in the kindest manner and without
the smallest reserve placed them in my hands.
The Bishop of Lincoln, in his examination of these
MSS., and in pursuance of the discretion assigned him,
appears to have destroyed nearly all the letters addressed
to Mr. Pitt by members of Mr. Pitt's family. Among
those that now remain in the collection there is not one
from his mother, from either of his sisters, or from
either of his brothers, until the time when his eldest
brother became his Cabinet colleague. The letters ad
dressed to him by the Bishop himself, and by several
other personal friends, have also been removed.
On the other hand, there still exists the series of
letters which Mr. Pitt wrote to his mother. These from

vi PREFACE.
the first she appears to have carefully preserved, and
they were, I presume, returned to him after her death.
A few blanks in the series may, indeed, here and there
be traced, and some accident appears to have befallen
the concluding portion. Since October, 1799, only one
letter to Lady Chatham is left, bearing the date of
January 5, 1802vbesides another of September 17 fol
lowing, to her companion, Mrs. Stapleton. There are
also very conndential letters addressed by Mr. Pitt to
his brother, Lord Chatham, though some are missing
from the series, and though none among them bears an
earlier date than 1794. Of these letters, both to his
mother and his brother, which will be wholly new to
the public, I have inserted the greater portion in my
narrative. I have also largely availed myself of the series of
MS. letters addressed to Mr. Pitt by King George the
Third. This is, I believe, quite complete, although on
the other hand there are now preserved very few drafts
of Mr. Pitt's own communications to the King.
There are in this collection many letters from Mr.
Pitt's colleagues and other men of note in politics ; and
also drafts or copies, although not equally numerous, of
his letters to them.
In 1842 my much valued friend the late Duke of
Rutland entrusted to me, in the original MSS., the
correspondence between his father and Mr. Pitt, and
gave me leave to put it into type. The copies, of
which the number was fixed at one hundred, were con
fined to a circle of friends; but I had the Duke's
sanction to insert some considerable extracts in the
' Quarterly Review,' No. 140, and in my own collected
Essays,

PREFACE, vii
In 1 849 I had an opportunity, through the kindness
of the late Lord Melville, to examine the papers at
Melville Castle, and to take several transcripts. No
letter from Mr. Pitt of an earlier date than 1794 is, so
far as I saw, there preserved. In 1852 I obtained per
mission from the present Lord Melville to print for
private circulation the most important of these papers
in a small volume, which I entitled ' Secret Corre
spondence connected with Mr. Pitt's Return to Office
in 1804.' I may observe that the letters of Mr. Pitt to his
friend before the peerage begin ' Dear Dundas,' while
on the other side it is always ' My dear Sir.'
I have also obtained some communications of con
siderable value through the kindness of the Duke of
Bedford, of Lord St. Germans, of Mr. Dundas of
Arniston, and of other gentlemen, to whom my warm
thanks are due ; and I need scarcely advert to the great
interest and importance of several published collections,
more especially the Malmesbury, the Buckingham, and
the Cornwallis Papers, and the biographies of Lord
Sidmouth and Mr. Wilberforce. Stanhope.
Cheyenlng : January 23, 1861.

PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION.

In my small volume of ' Miscellanies ' (the Second
Edition of which appeared in 1863) will be found
various additional Letters from Mr. Pitt — as to the
Duke of Rutland, the Earl of Harrowby, and Sir Walter
Farquhar — many of which did not come into my hands
until after my account of his Life was completed and
published. I have not attempted to embody these
Letters with my present edition, first, because they are
none of them essential to the narrative ; and secondly,
because in regard to books of large compass I think it
unjust to the purchasers of the earlier copies to make
any important changes in the later, except only in cor
rection, if need be, of proved and admitted errors. S.
January, 1867.

CONTENTS

OF

THE FIRST VOLUME.

Preface  v
CHAPTER I.
1759-1780.
Birth of William Pitt— Early signs of great promise— Feeble
health in boyhood — Education — At seventeen admitted
M.A. at Cambridge — Study of elocution — Death of his father
—Economical habits— Entered at Lincoln's Inn — Attends
Parliamentary debates — Introduction to Fox — Called to the
Bar — Joins the Western Circuit — M.P. for Appleby . . 1
CHAPTER II.
1781-1782.
Enters the House of Commons — State of parties — Attaches
himself to Lord Shelburne — Goostree's Club — Pitt's first
speech — Congratulated by Fox — Vindication of his father's
opinions, and statement of his own, on the American war —
On the Western Circuit, and in the Court of King's Bench
—General character at the Bar — Readiness of debate —
Speeches on Parliamentary Reform — Appointed Chancellor
of the Exchequer — Letters to his mother . . . .38
CHAPTER III.
1782-1783.
Acknowledgment of American independence — Proposed cession
of Gibraltar — Preliminary treaties with France and Spain
— Conference between Pitt and Fox — Coalition of Fox and
North — Defeat of Lord Shelburne — Pitt's great speech in
vindication of the Peace — Resignation of Lord Shelburne —
Pitt refuses the offer of the Treasury — Resigns office of
Chancellor of the Exchequer — Duke of Portland's Ministry

x CONTENTS OP PAGE
—Pitt in private life— Again brings forward Parliamentary
Reform, but is defeated — Prince of Wales — Marriage of
Lord Chatham  69
CHAPTER IV.
1783.
Pitt's excursion to France — Abbe de Lageard — Return to Eng
land — Fox's. India Bill — Great speech of Burke — Bill passes
the Commons, but is thrown out by the Lords — Dismissal
of Fox and North — The Royal Prerogative — Pitt appointed
Prime Minister — Resignation of Lord Temple — The new
Cabinet .  102
CHAPTER V.
1784.
Difficulties of Pitt's position — His India Bill — His public spirit
— Fox's popularity declines — Proceedings of the ' Indepen
dents '—Party conflicts in the Commons — Address to the
King — Pitt attacked in his coach — Revulsion of national
feeling — Schemes of Fox — The Great Seal stolen — Dissolu
tion of Parliament  133
CHAPTER VI.
1784.
Pitt elected for the University of Cambridge, and Wilberforce
for the County of York— Fox's Westminster Contest. — Nu
merous defeats of Fox's friends — New Peerages — Meeting of
Parliament— Predominance of Pitt^Disorder of the Fin
ances—Frauds on the Revenue— Pitt's Budget— His India
Bill— Westminster Scrutiny — Restoration of Forfeited
Estates in Scotland — Letters to Lady Chatham — Promotions
in the Peerage— Lord Camden President of the Council . 161
CHAPTER VII.
1784-1785.
Gibbon's character of Pitt— Pitt's application to business-
Parallel between Pitt and Fox— The King's Speech on the
opening of Parliament- Westminster Scrutiny— Success of
Pitt's Financial Schemes— Reform of Parliament— Commer
cial intercourse with Ireland— The Eleven Resolutions-
Pitt's Speech-^-Opposed by Fox and North— Petition from
Lancashire against the measure— Opposition in the Irish
House of Commons— Bill relinquished by the Government-
Mortification of Pitt . . 186

THE FIRST VOLUME. xi
CHAPTER VIII.
1785-1786.
Four-and-a-half Fund— Marriage of Pitt's sister, Lady Harriot
— Pitt purchases a Country Seat — Embarrassment of Lady
Chatham's and of Pitt's private affairs— The Rolliad— Cap
tain Morris's Songs— Peter Pindar— Pitt's Irish Propositions
— Contemplated Treaty of Commerce with France — Pro
posed Fortifications of Portsmouth and Plymouth— Pitt's
Sinking Fund — Impeachment and Trial of Warren Hastings
• — New Peers . . . . .219
CHAPTER IX.
1786-1787.
State of the Ministry — William Grenville— Lord Mornington—
Henry Dundas — Lord Carmarthen — Death of Frederick the
Great— Margaret Nicholson's.attempt on the life of George
the Third — Death of Pitt's sister, Lady Harriot — Treaty of
Commerce with France — State of Ireland— Dr. Pretyman
becomes Bishop of Lincoln and Dean of St. Paul's — Parlia
mentary Debates on French Treaty — Mr. Charles Grey —
Proceedings against Hastings resumed — Unanimous testi
mony to Sheridan's eloquence — Pitt's measures of Financial
Reform — The Prince of Wales and Mrs. Fitzherbert — At
tempted Repeal of the Test Act — Settlement in Botany
Bay  244
CHAPTER X.
1787-1788.
State of parties in Holland — Differences respecting the French
trade in India — Prussian Troops enter Holland — Death of
the Duke of Rutland — France and England disarm — Trial
of Hastings — India Declaratory Bill— Budget — Claims of
American Loyalists — First Steps in Parliament for the
Abolition of the Slave Trade — Exertions of Wilberforce
and Clarkson — Pitt's Resolution — Sir W. Dolben's - Bill —
— Horrors of the Middle Passage — Controversies on Slavery 269
CHAPTER XI.
1788.
Official changes and appointments — Treaties of Defensive
Alliance with Holland and Prussia — Mental alienation of
the King — Pitt's measures — Prince of Wales consults Lord

xii CONTENTS OF PAGE

Loughborough — Manifestation of national sympathy — Ob
jects of Pitt and Thurlow— Meeting of Parliament— The
King's removal to Kew — Fox's return from Italy

297

CHAPTER XII.
1788-1789.
Meeting of Parliament— Report from the Privy Council— Dr.
Francis Willis — Physicians examined by Parliamentary
Committees — Pitt proposes a Committee to search for pre
cedents — Fox's objections — Committee- appointed' — In
trigues of Thurlow — Pitt's Resolutions — Free gift of
100,000Z. offered to Pitt, but declined^-Pitt's Regency plan
—Grenville elected Speaker — Report of New Committee
to examine the physicians — Pitt's Resolutions restricting the
Regency — Sallies of Burke — Regency Bill passed the Com
mons — Restoration of the King to health . , , " . 320
CHAPTER XIII.
1789-1790.
Pitt's financial measures — Wilberforce's Speech^ on the Slave '
Trade — Mr. Addington elected Speaker — Promotions in the
Peerage — Duel between the Duke of York and Colonel
Lennox — National defences — Lord Buckingham's wish fora
Dukedom — Refused by the King — Lord Westmorland ap
pointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland — Trial of Stookdale —
French Revolution — Opinions of Fox and Burke — Policy of
Pitt — Affair of Nootka Sound — Dissolution of Parliament
— The Westminster Election — Continued difference with
Spain — Secret negotiation at Paris — Convention signed at
Madrid — Dr. Price and Lord Stanhope — Essay on the
French Revolution by Burke . . ... . 344
CHAPTER XIV.
1790-1791.
Meeting of the new Parliament— Grenville created a Peer-
Duke of Richmond's letter of complaint — The Budget 
Trial of Hastings— Testimony of Wilberforce and Burke to
Pitt's eloquence— Reappearance of Erskine in Parliament—
The King offers Pitt the Garter, which he declines— Wilber
force's motion on the Slave Trade— India and Canada-
Dissension between Fox and Burke — Rights of Juries— Bill
in favour of Roman Catholics— Pitt's first check in foreign
policy; the Russian armament— Retrospect of events in
Turkey— And in Sweden  376

THE FIRST VOLUME. xiii

CHAPTER XV.
1791.
Policy of England — ' The Russian Armament ' — Concession of
Pitt to the popular feeling — Death of Prince Potemkin —
Lord Grenville- appointed Secretary of State for Foreign
Affairs — Lord Chatham and Mr. Pitt compared by Lady
Chatham — Marriage of the Duke of York — Correspondence
with the Bishop of Lichfield — Pitt's patronage of humble
merit in the Charch — Commutation of Tithes— French
Revolution— Declaration of Pilnitz — Riots at Birmingham
— Destruction of Dr. Priestley's house .... 406
CHAPTER XVI.
1792-1793.
The Budget — Reduction of forces — Pitt's great Speech on the
Slave Trade — Improvements in the administration of the
law — Pitt's Loan Bill — Opposed by Thurlow — His dismissal
from office — ' The Friends of the People ' — Mr. Grey's notice
on Parliamentary Reform — Resisted by Pitt — Death of the
Emperor Leopold — Assassination of the King of Sweden —
The French declare war against Austria — Seditions publi
cations — Negotiations with the Whig party — Death of the
Earl of Guilford — Pitt appointed Warden of the Cinque
Ports — Invasion of French territory by the Prussians — Par
tition of Poland — The Allies defeated at Valmy — Retreat of
the Duke of Brunswick — National Convention — Victory of
Dumouriez at Jemmapes — Riots in England and Scotland —
Counter - demonstrations — Prosecution of Paine — Lord
Loughborough Chancellor — Execution of Louis XVI. — The
French declare war against England, Holland, and Spain . 428

Appendix. — Letters and Extracts of Letters from King George.
the Third to Mr. Pitt .  467

FRONTISPIECE.
Portrait of Mr. Pitt {after Copley).

LIFE OP
THE RIGHT HONOURABLE
WILLIAM PITT.

CHAPTER I.
1754-1780.
Birth of William Pitt— Early signs of great promise— Feeble health
in boyhood— Education — At seventeen admitted M.A. at Cam
bridge— Study of Elocution— Death of his father— Economical
habits — Entered at Lincoln's Inn— Attends Parliamentary debates
—Introduction to Fox — Called to the Bar — Joins the Western
Circuit — M.P. for Appleby.
William Pitt the elder, best known by his subsequent
title as Earl of Chatham, married in 1754 Lady Hester
Grenville, only daughter of Hester, in her own right
Countess Temple. William Pitt, their second son, was
born on the 28th of May, 1759, at Hayes, near Bromley,
in Kent. The house and grounds of Hayes, which had been
purchased by Lord Chatham, were disposed of by his
eldest son some years after his decease. So far as can
be judged at present, the house has been but little
altered since his time. The best bedroom is still pointed
out as the apartment in which William Pitt was born ;
it is most probably also the apartment in which his
father died.
Besides William, Lord and Lady Chatham had two
VOL. I. B

2 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1754-
sons and two daughters. John, the eldest son, was born
in 1756, and James Charles, the youngest, in 1761. The
daughters were Hester, bom in 1755, and Harriot, born
in 1758. Lord Chatham designed his eldest son for the
army, and his third for the navy, while the second, who
had early given signs of great promise, was reserved for
the Bar.
The year 1759, in which William Pitt was born, was
perhaps the most glorious and eventful in his father's
life. The impulse given to the war by that great orator
and statesman was apparent in unexampled victories
achieved in every quarter of the globe. In Germany
we gained the battle of Minden, in North America we
gained the battle of Quebec. In Africa we reduced
Goree, and in the West Indies Guadaloupe. In the
East we beat back the son of the Emperor of Delhi and
the chiefs of the Dutch at Chinsura. Off the coast of
Brittany we prevailed in the great naval conflict of
Quiberon ; off the coast of Portugal in the great naval
conflict of Lagos. ' Indeed,' — so Horace Walpole at
the close of this year complains in a letter to Sir Horace
Mann — ' one is forced to ask every morning what victory
there is, for fear of missing one.'
But years rolled on, and fortune changed. In 1761
Mr. Pitt on a difference with his colleagues resigned
the Seals. The King on this occasion bestowed on him
a pension of 3,0001. a year for three lives, and raised
Lady Hester to the peerage in her own right as Baroness
Chatham. In the summer of 1765 the retired statesman went
with his family to reside at Burton Pynsent, an estate
of 3,000L a year in Somersetshire, which had been most
unexpectedly bequeathed to him by an entire stranger,
Sir William Pynsent.
On a sudden in July, 1766, Mr. Pitt was called back
to office, it may be said almost unanimously, by the
public voice. But by a grievous error of his own, he
determined to leave the House of Commons. He ac-

1780 EARLY SIGNS OF GREAT PROMISE. 3
cepted together with the Privy Seal the title of Earl of
Chatham. At this period his two elder sons, and his daughter
Hester, were residing at Weymouth for the benefit of
their health, under the charge of their tutor, the Rev.
Edward Wilson. That gentleman reports little William
as ' perfectly happy ' in retaining his father's name.
Three months before he had said to his tutor in a very
serious conversation, and in reference, as it must then
have been, to his mother's peerage, ' I am glad I am
not the eldest son ; I want to speak in the House of
Commons like Papa.'1
There is another story, which belongs to almost
the same period, but which is of more doubtful authen
ticity, as depending only on distant recollection. Lord
Holland tells us that the Duchess of Leinster once
related to him a conversation, at which she was
present, between her sister, the first Lady Holland,
and her husband, Lord Holland. The lady, in re
monstrating with the gentleman on his excessive in
dulgence to all his children, and to Charles Fox in
particular, added, 'I have been this morning with
Lady Hester Pitt (Lady Chatham), and there is little
William Pitt, not eight years old, and really the
cleverest child I ever saw ; and brought up so strictly
and so proper in his behaviour, that, mark my words,
that little boy will be a thorn in Charles's side as long
as he lives.'2
As the ' little boy' grew up, he evinced to all around
him many other tokens of his genius and ambition. In
April, 1772, during a few days' absence, we find Lady
Chatham write as follows to her husband : — ' The fine
ness of William's mind makes him enjoy with the highest
pleasure what would be above the reach of any other
creature of his small age. The young Lieutenant may
1 Letter to the Countess of Chatham, dated August 2, 1766, and
printed in the Chatham Correspondence.
2 Memorials of Fox, by Lord John Russell, vol. i. p. 25.
B 2

4 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1754-
not perhaps go quite so deep.'1 This young Lieutenant
was Lord Pitt, the eldest son, whom William, though
three years the junior, had already on all points excelled.
To the same effect there is other not more discrimi
nating, but more disinterested testimony. In the sum
mer of 1773 the two brothers had gone with Mr. Wilson
for the sake of sea-bathing to Lyme. There Hayley
the poet became well acquainted with them. In his
Memoirs he describes William Pitt as ' now a wonderful
boy of fourteen, who eclipsed his brother in conversa
tion.' And he adds : — ' Hayley often reflected on the
singular pleasure he had derived from his young ac
quaintance ; regretting, however, that his reserve had
prevented his imparting to the wonderful youth the epic
poem he had begun.'2 The very youngest critic that
ever perhaps any poet chose !
But at this period William Pitt had himself become
a poet. He had written a tragedy in five acts, and in
blank verse, entitled ' Laurentius, King of Clarinium.'
We learn by a note of Lady Chatham that it was repre
sented for the first time at Burton Pynsent, August 22,
1772, and it was acted again in the spring of the
ensuing year. There is a prologue, which was ' spoken
by Mr. Pitt,' and of which a copy is signed in his own
hand. All the parts were sustained by the five brothers
and sisters, and the spectators were only their parents,
with Lord and Lady Stanhope, and a very few other
family friends. The manuscript of this play is still pre
served at Chevening. I showed it to Lord Macaulay
in one of the country visits — alas ! too soon concluded
— which I had the great pleasure to receive from him ;
and Lord Macaulay speaks of it as follows in his excel
lent biographical sketch of Mr. Pitt, the last of all his
published compositions : — ' The tragedy is bad of course,
but not worse than the tragedies of Hayley. It is in
some respects highly curious. There is no love. The
1 See the Cluttham Correspondence, vol. iv. p. 207.
2 Memoirs of WilUam Hayley, written by himself, vol. i. p. 127.

1780 FEEBLE HEALTH IN BOYHOOD. 5
whole plot is political ; and it is remarkable that the
interest, such as it is, turns on a contest about a Regency.
On one side is a faithful servant of the Crown ; on the
other an ambitious and unprincipled conspirator. At
length the King, who had been missing, re-appears,
resumes his power, and rewards the faithful defender of
his rights. A reader who should judge only by internal
evidence, would have no hesitation in pronouncing that
the play was written by some Pittite poetaster, at the
time of the rejoicings for the recovery of George the
Third, in 1789.'
But while Lord and Lady Chatham watched with no
common pleasure the intellectual promise of their second
son, they were frequently distressed by his delicate
health. 'My poor William is still ailing:' such is the
constant burthen of his father's letters during his boy
hood. There were great fears that so frail a plant would
never be reared to full maturity.
It was no doubt cn account of his feeble health in
boyhood that little William was not sent to any public
or private school. He was brought up at home by the
tuition of Mr. Wilson, and under his father's eye. Lord
Chatham was indeed most careful of the education of
his family. Bishop Tomline assures us that ' when his
Lordship's health would permit, he never suffered a day
to pass without giving instruction of some sort to his
children ; and seldom without reading a chapter of the
Bible with them.'1
Under Mr. Wilson, William Pitt studied the classics
in Greek and Latin, and the elements of Mathematics.
In spite of the frequent interruptions from ill-health he
made most rapid progress. He had so peculiar a dis
crimination in seizing at once the meaning of an author,
that as Mr. Wilson once observed, he never seemed to
learn, but only to recollect. At fourteen he was as
forward as most lads at seventeen or eighteen, and was
considered already ripe for college.
1 Life of Pitt, vol. i. p. 5.

6 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1754-
Without any disparagement to Mr. Wilson, it was
certainly from Lord Chatham that young William pro
fited most. Lord Chatham was an affectionate father
to all his children. He took pleasure, as we have seen,
in teaching them all. But he discerned— as who would
not ?— the rare abilities of William, and applied himself
to unfold them with a never-failing care. From an
early age he was wont to select any piece of eloquence
he met with and transmit it to his son. Of this I have
seen a striking instance in a note from him to Lady
Chatham, which is indorsed in pencil ' Ma. 1770,' and
which was thought to have no literary value. It was
kindly presented to me in answer to my request for
autographs to oblige some collectors among my friends ;
and it was designed to be cut up into two or three
pieces of handwriting. But I found the note conclude
with these words, ' I send Domitian as a specimen of
oratory for William.' Now, ' Domitian ' was one of the
subsidiary signatures of the author of ' Junius,' and the
letter in question seems to be that of March 5, 1770.1
The words of Lord Chatham prove what has sometimes
been disputed, that the eloquence of the author of
' Junius ' was noticed and admired by the best judges,
even when his compositions were concealed under
another name.
In the same spirit Lord Chatham used to recommend
to his son the best books as models. Thus he bid him
read ' Barrow's Sermons,' which he thought admirably
calculated to furnish the copia verborum. Thus again
he enjoined upon him the earnest study of the greatest
Greek historians. Bishop Tomline says, ' It was by
Lord Chatham's particular desire that Thucydides was
the first Greek book which Mr. Pitt read after he came
to college. The only other wish ever expressed by his
Lordship relative to Mr. Pitt's studies was, that I
would read Polybius with him.'
But I have yet to notice what for Lord Chatham's
1 See WoodfalVs Junius, vol. iii. p. 249.

1780 STUDY OF ELOCUTION. 7
object was his main plan of all. In 1803, my father,
then Lord Mahon, had the high privilege, as a relative,
of being for several weeks an inmate of Mr. Pitt's
house at Walmer Castle. Presuming on that familiar
intercourse, he told me that he ventured on one occa
sion to ask Mr. Pitt by what means he had acquired
his admirable readiness of speech — his aptness of find
ing the right word without pause or hesitation. Mr.
Pitt replied that whatever readiness he might be thought
to possess in that respect was, he believed, greatly
owing to a practice which his father had impressed upon
him. Lord Chatham had bid him take up any book
in some foreign language with which he was well
acquainted, in Latin or Greek especially. Lord Chat
ham then enjoined him to read out of this work a
passage in English, stopping, where be was not sure of
the word to be used in English, until the right word
came to his mind, and then proceed. Mr. Pitt stated
that he had assiduously followed this practice. We
may conclude that at first he had often to stop for
awhile before he could recollect the proper word, but
that he found the difficulties gradually disappear, until
what was a toil to him at first became at last an easy
and familiar task.1
To an orator the charm of voice is of very far more
importance than mere readers of speeches would find it
easy to believe. I have known some speakers in whom
that one advantage seemed almost to supply the place
of every other. The tones of William Pitt were by
nature sonorous and clear ; and the further art how to
manage and modulate his voice to the best advantage
was instilled into him by his father with exquisite
skill. Lord Chatham himself was pre-eminent in that
art, as also in the graces of action, insomuch that these
accomplishments have been sometimes imputed to him
as a fault. In a passage of Horace Walpole, written
1 Already related by me in my Aberdeen Address, March 25, 1858,
p. 20.

8 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1754-
with the manifest desire to disparage him, we find him
compared to Gar rick.1
To train his son in sonorous elocution, Lord Chat
ham caused him to recite day by day in his presence
passages from the best English poets. The two poets
most commonly selected for this purpose were Shakes
peare and Milton, and Mr. Pitt continued through life
familiar with both. There is another fact which Lord
Macaulay has recorded from tradition, and which I also
remember to have heard : — 'The debate in Pandemonium
was, as it well deserved to be, one of his favourite pas
sages ; and his early friends used to talk, long after his
death, of the just emphasis and the melodious cadence
with which they had heard him recite the incomparable
speech of Belial.'
Being at fourteen so forward in his studies, Wil
liam Pitt was sent to the University of Cambridge.
He was entered at Pembroke Hall in the spring of 1773,
and commenced his residence in October the same
year. Mr. Wilson, in the first instance, attended
him to Cambridge, and resided with him for some
weeks in the same apartments, but solely for the care
of his health, and without any concern in the direction
of his studies. He had been commended to the especial
care of the Rev. George Pretyman, one of the two
tutors of his college; and it was not long ere that
gentleman became both his sole instructor and his
familiar friend.
George Pretyman, whom I have already cited and
called by anticipation Bishop Tomline, was born at Bury
St Edmunds in 1750. Proceeding to Cambridge he
showed not indeed any brilliant ability, but a keen and
unflinching application. He made himself an excellent
mathematician, as well as an excellent scholar, and in
1772 he was the Senior Wrangler for the year. I shall
have occasion to show how in after life the friendship of
Mr. Pitt as Minister raised him to high honours in the
1 Memoirs of George IT., vol. i. p. 479.

1780 STUDY OF ELOCUTION. 9
Church, and above all to the Bishopric of Lincoln. In
1 803 he assumed the name of Tomline, on the bequest
of a large estate. He was translated to the See of Win
chester in 1820, and he died in 1827.
It was Bishop Tomline to whom, as we shall see,
Mr. Pitt bequeathed his papers for examination. Some
years later the Bishop evinced his attachment to the
memory of his pupil and his patron by undertaking the
Memoirs of his Life. This work he did not live to
finish. The first part, which was published in 1821, and
which now lies before me, in three octavo volumes, ex
tends only to the close of 1792. Great expectations had
been formed on the appearance of this work. I am cer
tainly not going beyond the truth if I say that such
expectations of it were much disappointed. It does
indeed impart to us an authentic and important though
rather meagre account of Pitt in his earlier years. It
does indeed contain some, though very few, extracts
from his private correspondence. But nearly the whole
remainder of this biography is a mere compilation. It
gives us for the most part Pitt's measures from the
' Annual Register,' and his speeches from the Parlia
mentary debates. It was composed, as an Edinburgh
reviewer said at the time, not by the aid of his Lord
ship's pen, but rather ' by his Lordship's sharp and
faithful scissors ! ' *
At Cambridge William Pitt was still intent on his
main object of oratorical excellence. Immediately after
his arrival we find him attend a course of lectures on
Quintilian.2 But his health at this period gave cause
for great alarm. From a boy he had shot up far too
rapidly to a tall, lank stripling, with no corresponding
development of breadth and muscle. In the first few
weeks of his college-life he was seized with a most
serious illness. For nearly two months he was confined
to his rooms, and reduced to so weak a state that upon

Edinburgh Review, July, 1 821, p. 452.
See the Chatlvam Correspondence, vol. iv. p. 295.

10 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1754-
his convalescence he was four days in travelling to
London. Returning under such unfavourable circumstances,
his father kept him at home for half a year. During
this interval he was placed under the care of the
family physician, Dr. Addington. This gentleman
recommended early hours, with exercise every day on
horseback, and a careful system of diet. But he fur
ther prescribed liberal potations of port-wine. It was
a remedy which certainly accorded well with the young
man's constitution. He took it at this time with mani
fest advantage, and he adhered to it through life. It
was his elixir of strength amidst all his toils and cares,
but perhaps in the long run with no good effect. While
it must frequently have recruited his energies, it may
be suspected of combining with these toils and cares to
undermine his constitution.
Alarming as it seemed at the time, the illness of
Pitt in the autumn of 1773 proved in truth the turning
point of his disorder. By attention to Dr. Addington's
rules he much more than recovered his lost ground.
In July, 1774, some weeks before the commencement
of the autumn term, he was permitted to return to
Cambridge — ' the evacuated seat of the Muses,' as
Lord Chatham calls it in his somewhat affected epis
tolary style.1 William Pitt renewed at once his study
of Quintilian and Thucydides, but did not pursue that
study by night. ' The Historic Muse,' thus he writes
to his father, ' captivates extremely, but at the same
time I beg you to be persuaded that neither she nor
any of her sisters allure me from the resolution of early
hours, which has been steadfastly adhered to, and makes
the academic life agree perfectly.' 2 Nor did he at this
time neglect his daily ride nor yet his daily draughts
of port-wine. He had no relapse nor material check,
and by slow but sure degrees gained strength. ' At the
1 Chatham Correspondence, vol. iv. p. 364.
2 Chatham, Correspondence, vol. iv. p. 358.

1780 ADMITTED M.A. AT CAMBRIDGE. 11
age of eighteen,' says his tutor, ' he was a healthy man,
and he continued so for many years.'
In December, 1774, the family circle of Mr. Pitt
was agreeably extended. His eldest sister, Lady Hester,
became the wife of Charles Lord Mahon, There was
already some relationship, since the first Earl Stanhope
had married Miss Lucy Pitt, an aunt of Lord Chatham.
But besides this tie of kindred the two families had for
many years past been on terms of most friendly inter
course ; and in public life Lord Stanhope was one of
the few remaining followers of Lord Chatham, The
' Great Earl ' was on this account much pleased at the
alliance, and also as having formed a most favourable
opinion of his future son-in-law. In an unpublished
letter of this period, dated November 28, 1774, ad
dressed to Mr. James Grenville, he describes Lord
Mahon as follows : —
' Though the outside is well, it is by looking within
that invaluable treasures appear ; a head to contrive,
a heart to conceive, and a hand to execute whatever is
good, lovely, and of fair repute. He is as yet very new
to our vile world, indeed quite a traveller in England.
I grieve that he has no seat in Parliament, that
wickedest and best school for superior natures.'
Lord Mahon had been educated at Geneva, where
he imbibed an ardent zeal both for liberty and science.
Between him and William Pitt there now grew up a
warm feeling of friendship. Lord Mahon was about six
years the elder, but in their intercourse this difference
might be compensated by the superiority of talent in
William. Under Lord Chatham's guidance the two
young men looked forward to the same course in
politics, and there seemed every probability that the
confidence between them would through life continue
unimpaired. In the spring of 1776, and at the age of seventeen,
Mr. Pitt was admitted to the Degree of Master of Arts
at Cambridge, without any examination, according to

12 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1754-
the unwise^ privilege which was still at that time
conceded^Eo the sons of Peers. His tutor tells us
that ' while Mr. Pitt was an undergraduate he never
omitted attending chapel morning and eveniag, or
dining in the public hall, except when prevented by
indisposition. Nor did he pass a single evening out
of the college walls. Indeed most o.f his time was
spent with me.' ¦
On taking his degree Mr. Pitt did not, according to
the common practice, take his leave of college. On the
contrary, he continued to live for the most part as before
at Pembroke Hall until near the period when he came
of age. Thus his whole residence at the University
was protracted, although with considerable intervals of
absence, to the unusual length of almost seven years.
' In the course of this time,' adds his tutor, ' I never
knew him spend an idle day, nor did he ever fail to
attend me at the appointed hour.'
It was during these graduate years at Pembroke Hall
that Mr. Pitt laid in his principal stores of knowledge.
They were in many branches very considerable. In
mathematics, the especial pride of Cambridge, ie took
great delight. He frequently alluded in later life to
the practical advantage which he had derived from
them, and declared that no portion of his time had been
more usefully employed than that which he devoted
to this study. He was master of everything usually
known by the academic 'wranglers,' and felt a great
desire — but Mr. Pretyman did not think it right to
indulge the inclination — to fathom still farther the
depths of pure mathematics. ' When,' adds Mr. Prety
man,' ' the connection of tutor and pupil was about to
cease between us, he expressed a hope that he should
find leisure and opportunity to read Newton's " Prin-
cipia " again with me after some summer circuit.'
The general rule of Mr. Pretyman was to read with
his pupil alternately classics and mathematics. In the
1 Life of Pitt, by Tomline, vol. i. p. 7.

1780 HIS STUDIES AT CAMBRIDGE. 13
former as in the latter the knowledge of Pitt became
both extensive and profound. He had never, indeed,
according to the fashion at public schools, applied
himself to Greek or Latin composition. He had never
mastered the laborious inutilities of the ancient metres.
But as to the true and vivifying aim of classic study
— the accurate and critical comprehension of the classic
authors — he was certainly in the first rank. There
was scarce a Greek or a Latin writer of any eminence
among the classics the whole of whose works Pitt and
Pretyman did not read together. The future states
man was a nice observer of their different styles, and
alive to all their various excellences. So anxious was
he not to leave even a single Greek poet unexplored,
that at his request Mr. Pretyman went through with
him the obscure rhapsody of Lycophron. ' This,' says
his preceptor, 'he read with an ease at first sight,
which, if I had not witnessed it, I should have thought
beyond the compass of human intellect.'
How well amidst all the cares of office Pitt retained
through life his classic knowledge is shown among
several other testimonies by one which Lord John
Russell has recorded. Lord Harrowby said that, being
with Mr. Pitt at his country-house, he and Lord Gren
ville were one day waiting for Mr. Pitt in his library :
they opened a Thucydides, and came to a passage
which they could not make out. They continued to
puzzle at it till Mr. Pitt, coming in, took the volume
and construed the passage with the greatest ease.1
Of the modern languages, French was the only one
that Pitt acquired. 0nce an<i onee onby m his life, as
we shall find, he passed, a few weeks in -France. During
this excursion and before it he applied himself to the
1 Memorials and Correspondence of Fox, by Lord John Russell,
vol. ii. p. 3. I have myself heard Lord Harrowby relate the same
story, with this addition, that the two gentlemen were waiting to
join Mr. Pitt in an afternoon ride, and that Mr. Pitt, coming into
the room ready to go out, translated the passage in a moment, hat
in hand.

14 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1754-
language of the country, which he learnt both to speak
and write with ease. In its literature also he was by
no means unversed. My father told me that he had
been present at an animated argument between Lord
Grenville and Mr. Pitt on the merits of Mohere. _
Besides his primary studies in mathematics and in
ancient languages Pitt gave great attention to the
public lectures in Civil Law, of which he felt the im
portance as bearing on his future profession. He also
attended the lectures upon experimental philosophy,
to which he was incited by the zealous example of his
relative at Chevening, and in which, as is said, he took
great pleasure.
Of the English books which he read at Cambridge
there was none, as Mr. Pretyman records, which gave
Pitt greater satisfaction than 'Locke's Essay on the
Human Understanding.' He drew up for himself a
complete and correct- analysis of that important work.
We may further conclude, from the early zeal with
which he espoused the principles of Adam Smith in
the House of Commons, that even at the University
he had been an assiduous reader of the 'Wealth of
Nations.' Pitt — so Mr. Pretyman tells us— was not an admirer
of Dr. Johnson's style, and still less of Gibbon's. As
writers he much preferred Robertson and Hume. He
was fond of Middleton's ' Life of Cicero,' and fonder still
of Lord Bolingbroke's political works. These last had
no doubt been earnestly commended to him by Lord
Chatham; for in a letter at an earlier period addressed
to Thomas Pitt we find Lord Chatham praise them in
the highest terms. Of one of them, namely, the ' Re
marks on the History of England,' published under the
name of Sir John Oldcastle, he says that they are ' to
be studied and almost got by heart for the inimitable
beauty of the style.' [ Pitt appears to have retained
through life an equal admiration of them. At Walmer
1 To Thomas Pitt, May 4, 1754.

1780 HIS STUDIES AT CAMBRIDGE. 15
Castle my father heard him more than once declare
that there was no loss in literature which he more
lamented than that scarce any trace remained to us of
Bolingbroke's Parliamentary speeches.
But whatever the studies of Pitt, whether in the
ancient languages or in his own, the aim of public
speaking was kept steadily in view. He continued with
Mr. Pretyman the same practice of extemporaneous
translation which with his father he had commenced.
We further learn from his preceptor that ' when alone
he dwelt for hours upon striking passages of an orator
or historian, in noticing their turn of expression, and
marking their manner of arranging a narrative. A few
pages sometimes occupied a whole morning. It was a
favourite employment with him to compare opposite
speeches upon the same subject, and to observe how
each speaker managed his own side of the question.
The authors whom he preferred for this purpose were
Livy, Thucydides, and Sallust. Upon these occasions
his observations were not unfrequently committed to
paper, and furnished a topic for conversation with me
at our next meeting. He was also in the habit of copy
ing any eloquent sentence or any beautiful or forcible
expression which occurred in his reading.'
We have seen that as an undergraduate Mr. Pitt
made few acquaintance, and went into no society. It
is probable that at fourteen and fifteen his fellow-colle
gians might regard him as a boy. But after taking his
degree at the age of seventeen he began to mix freely
with other young men of his own age at Cambridge.
There he laid the foundations of several of the future
friendships of his life. His manners at this time are
described as gentle and unassuming, and free from all
taint of self-conceit. Those who in after years con
fronted night by night in the House of Commons the
haughty and resolute Prime Minister, armed on all
points, and ever self-possessed, had great difficulty in
believing how far in his social hours he could unbend.

16 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1754-
Yet the testimony as follows of Mr. Pretyman at Cam
bridge will be found confirmed by several others a little
later, but to the same effect :— ' He was always the most
lively person in company, abounding in playful wit and
quick repartee ; but never known to excite pain, or to
give just ground of offence.'
' But though'— thus Mr. Pretyman proceeds to say
 < his society was universally sought, and from the age
of seventeen or eighteen he constantly passed his even
ings in company, he steadily avoided every species of
irregularity.' This remark of bis preceptor is by no
means to be limited to his college years. Then and
ever afterwards the strictness of his morals was main
tained. Indeed throughout his life it became for want
of a better the favourite taunt of his opponents. Who
ever looks through the Whig satires or epigrams of that
day which proceeded from the wits at Brooks's — some
of them remarkable for their talent and spirit — will be
surprised at the number of sarcasms on that account
aimed in various forms at the ' immaculate young
Minister.' To be of an amorous temper is there, as
sumed as among the most essential qualifications _of a
statesman !
The residence of Pitt at Cambridge was varied by
occasional trips to London ; above all, when Lord
Chatham brought forward any important motion in the
House of Lords. Thus in January, 1775, we find him
report as follows on the next day after the debate to
Lady Chatham : —
I can now tell you correctly : my father has slept well,
without any burning in the feet or restlessness. He has
had no pain, but is lame in one ankle near the instep, from
standing so long. No wonder he is lame ; his first speech
lasted above an hour, and the second half an hour — surely
the two finest speeches that ever were made before, unless
by himself ! He will be with you to dinner at four o'clock.1
There are also on record two letters to his mother,
1 See the Chatham Correspondence, vol. iv. p. 377.

1780 DEATH OF HIS FATHER. 17
giving a full report of the great debate, which in like
manner he attended in May, 1777.1
But chief of all was the scene on the memorable 7th
of April, 1778, on the final, and as it has been called
the dying, speech of Lord Chatham. His eldest son
and also his youngest were at this time absent on
foreign service. It devolved on William conjointly
with Lord Mahon to support between them their vener
able parent, as with feeble steps but no faltering spirit
he tottered in through the assembled Peers, and raised
for the last time his eloquent voice in his country's
cause. Need I again relate what I have elsewhere told
— how on rising to reply he fell back in convulsions —
how his son and son-in-law, aided by the Peers around
him, bore him forth to a private chamber — how he was
removed to Hayes — and how on the 11th of May fol
lowing the great orator and statesman died?
At the death of Lord Chatham all parties, seemingly
at least, combined to do him honour. The House of
Commons granted 20,000£. for the payment of his debts.
An Act of Parliament passed, annexing an annuity
of 4,000L for ever to his Earldom. A public funeral
and a monument to his memory were unanimously
voted. The public funeral took place in Westminster Abbey
on Tuesday the 9th of June. William Pitt, in the
absence of his elder brother, walked as the chief
mourner, supported on one side by Lord Mahon, and on
the other by Thomas Pitt of Boconnoc, the head of the
Pitt family. Late the same afternoon we find him write
as follows from Lord Mahon's house in Harley Street to
Lady Chatham, who had remained at Hayes : —
Harley Street, June 9, 1778.
My Dear Mother, — I cannot let the servants return
without letting you know that the sad solemnity has been
celebrated so as to answer every important wish we could
form on the subject. The Court did not honour us with
1 See the Chatham Correspondence, vol. iv. pp. 435, 438.
VOL. I. C

18 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1754-
their countenance, nor did they suffer the procession to be
as magnificent as it ought; but it had notwithstanding
everything essential to the great object, the attendance bemg
most respectable, and the crowd of interested spectators im
mense. The Duke of Gloucester was in the Abbey. Lord
Rockingham, the Duke of Northumberland, and all .-the
minority in town were present. The pall-bearers were Sir
G. Savile, Mr. Townshend, Dunning, and Burke. The eight
assistant mourners were Lord Abingdon, Lord Cholmondeley,
Lord Harcourt, Lord Effingham, Lord Townshend, Lord
Fortescue, Lord Shelburne, and Lord Camden. All our re
lations made their appearance. You will excuse my not
sending you a more particular account, as I think of being
at Hayes to-morrow morning. I will not tell you. what I
felt on this occasion, to which no words are equal ; but I
know that you will have a satisfaction in hearing that
Lord Mahon as well as myself supported the trial perfectly
well, and have not at all suffered from the fatigue. The
procession did not separate till four o'clock. Lady Mahon
continues much better, and has had no return of her com
plaint. I hope the additional melancholy of the day will not
have been too overcoming for you, and that I shall have the
comfort of finding you pretty well to-morrow. I shall be
able to give you an account of what is thought as to our
going to Court. And I am ever, my dear Mother, your
most dutiful and affectionate son, W. Pitt.
Shortly afterwards William Pitt accompanied his
mother and sister Harriot to Burton Pynsent, where he
remained with them during the summer and autumn
months. But in- October we find him again at Pem
broke Hall.
At this time there occurred a transaction chiefly
remarkable as the first that brought Mr. Pitt into
public notice. Some communications had passed at the
beginning of the year between Sir James Wright, a
friend of Lord Bute, and Dr. Addington, the friend and
physician of Lord Chatham. Acting without authority,
they had sought to bring the two statesmen into concert
with each other. But after Lord Chatham's death their

1780 ECONOMICAL HABITS. 19
gossiping interviews gave rise to a bitter controversy.
Lord Mountstuart, eldest son of Lord Bute, taking part in
this, addressed a letter to the newspapers on the 23rd of
October. The second Lord Chatham was still on foreign
service, so that the duty of reply devolved on William
Pitt. Accordingly he published a letter dated Harley
Street, October 29th, going fully through the documents
adduced, and showing that his father, so far from court
ing, had without hesitation rejected every idea of a
political union with Lord Bute.1
The state of his father's fortune, as bearing on his
own, must here also be referred to. Lord Chatham had
been himself a younger son of small patrimony. In
public life he had been most disinterested. In private
life he had been a little unthrifty. Notwithstanding
the unexpected bequest of Burton Pynsent, he was, as
we have seen, much embarrassed when he died. William
Pitt therefore found it requisite even from his early
years to practise strict economy. When in 1773 he
began his college-life, he was most amply cared for
on every point of study or of health. In other respects
he received but a scanty supply. One of his first
calculations at Cambridge was how most cheaply —
whether on meadow or in stable — he could keep his
horse.2 At the death of his father economy became more
than ever requisite for William. The generosity of
Parliament did indeed enable his eldest brother to
maintain — and no more than maintain — the family
honours. His mother also was in comfortable circum
stances, from the receipt of the pension of 3,000?.
granted in 1761 for three lives ; although, as appears
from many passages in the Pitt Correspondence, she
was often distressed by the non-payment of arrears.
1 All the papers on this no longer interesting subject will be
found in the Annual Register for 1778, pp. 244-264. For a fuller
account of it I venture to refer to my History of England, vol. vi. p.
321. 2 See his Letter in the Chatham Papers, vol. iv. p. 355.
c 2

20 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1754-
Bnt William himself could only look forward, on
coming of age, to an income of between 2501. and 300J.
a year. Meanwhile, whether at Cambridge or m Lon
don, he does not appear to have received any fixed
allowance. He was wont to write home from time to
time, naming the moderate sum which the payment of
his bills and his other late expenses would require.
Under such circumstances as to fortune there arose
for Pitt the question of the purchase of chambers at
Lincoln's Inn; and on that subject we find him write
to Lady Chatham as follows : —
Pembroke Hall, Nov. 30, 1778.
My Dear Mother, — 
I am much obliged to you for thinking of my finances,
which are in no urgent want of repair ; but if I should hap
pen to buy a horse they will be soon ; and therefore, if it is
not inconvenient to you, I shall be much obliged to you for
a draft of 501., which I think will be sufficient for the cur
rent expenses of this quarter.
Another object presents itself, which would require a
more considerable sum, and which I wish to submit to your
consideration. It will very soon be necessary for me to have
rooms at Lincoln's Inn, and upon the whole I am persuaded
the best economy in the end would be to purchase, though I
do not know what means there may be of advancing the sum
necessary for that purpose. While I was in town I saw a
set which are to be disposed of, and which have no other
fault than being too dear and too good. At the same time I
heard of none at an inferior price, which were not as much
too bad. The whole expense of these will be eleven hundred
pounds, which sounds to me a frightful sum, although I know
that if I do not sink so much out of my capital, the annual
diminution of my income (if I was to hire) would amount
to near the interest of that sum. The rooms are in an ex
ceeding good situation in the new buildings, and will be per
fectly fit for habitation in about two months. Soon after
that time it will be right for me to begin attending West
minster Hall during that term, and these chambers will be
more convenient than any other residence. If I should take
these, the sum to be paid immediately is somewhat more

1780 ENTERED AT LINCOLN'S INN. 21
than three hundred, and the remaining eight about next
Easter. I have done no more than to secure that they may
not be engaged to any other person till I have returned an
answer, and I shall be glad to know your opinion as soon as
possible. You will be so good as to consider how far you
approve of the idea, if it be practicable, and whether there
are any means of advancing the money out of my fortune
before I am of age. If in either light you see any objection
to the scheme, I shall without any difficulty lay it aside, and
shall probably at any time hereafter, when it becomes con
venient, be able to suit myself without much trouble, as
there will always be rooms vacant. If, however, you approve
of it, I should be rather inclined to embrace this oppor
tunity. Ever, my dear Mother, &c, "W. Pitt.
The purchase of the chambers in question was hap
pily effected. It appears that Earl Temple, Lady
Chatham's eldest brother, supplied the money required,
as an advance upon the fortune to which his nephew
would be entitled when he came of age. But it is
certainly striking to find the future Prime Minister,
destined in a few years more to dispense in his country's
service tens of millions of pounds sterling, speak of
eleven hundred as ' a frightful sum.'
Being duly entered at Lincoln's Inn, Pitt began to
keep his terms. These involved only occasional visits,.
of a few days each, to London. But the young lawyer
eagerly availed himself of such opportunities to attend
any remarkable debate that might take place in Parlia
ment. It is said that on one of these occasions he was
introduced, on the steps of the throne in the House of
Lords, to Mr. Fox, who was his senior by ten years, and
already in the fulness of his fame. Fox used afterwards
to relate that, as the discussion proceeded, Pitt re
peatedly turned to him and said, ' But surely, Mr,
Fox, that might be met thus : ' or, ' Yes, but he lays
himself open to retort.' What the particular criticisms
were, Fox had forgotten ; but he said that he was much
struck at the time by the precocity of a lad who through

22 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1754-
the whole sitting was thinking only how all the speeches
on both sides could be answered.1
I proceed with some extracts from Pitt's family
correspondence : — Hotel, King Street, Feb. 11, 1779.
My Dear Mother, — i flatter myself that a letter from me
may not be unwelcome, though it cannot have the merit
of much news to recommend it, neither of a public nor pri
vate sort. To begin with the second, which I believe pretty
generally claims precedence, nothing has, I am afraid, yet
been obtained on the subject of the arrears. I saw Mr.
• Coutts on Tuesday, who told me that Mr. Crauford had been
ill, which had delayed the presenting of the memorial, but
that he now expected to hear of its effect every day. I shall
renew my inquiry in a short time, and wish I may receive a
favourable account of the seven quarters 
I am to meet my sister at Hayes on the subject of your
commission, as soon as she can find a leisure moment. Her
great business is that of secretary to Lord Mahon, whose
' Electricity ' is almost ready for the press, and will rank
him, I suppose, with Dr. Franklin. I have just been dining
with a brother philosopher of his, Dr. Priestley, at Shelburne
House. His Lordship is very cordial in his enquiries after
you ; and if you continue in the West till next summer,
' will think it his duty to make them in person at Burton.'
He is very obliging to me. . . .
You will have the goodness to excuse the haste of a letter
written in my way to the Opera.
Ever, my dear Mother, <fec, W. Pitt.
Nerot's Hotel, Thursday, Feb. 18, 1779.
At present I hope to set out Sunday or Monday; and
nothing probably can tempt me to any delay except the
prospect of an interesting debate, which, however, I do not
foresee at present.
If it should happen, I will certainly write to you next
post. I have been for two or three days an auditor at one
or other of the Houses, but without any great entertainment.
1 I give this Holland House tradition, which is no doubt quite
authentic, in the very words of Lord Macaulay {Biographies, p. 147,

1780 FAMILY CORRESPONDENCE. 23
To-day I had the honour of being squeezed with the Duke of
Cumberland in the gallery of the House of Commons, and
hearing the Speaker deliver the thanks to Admiral Keppel.
Nerot's Hotel, Wednesday night (177"9).
I have heard no news of any kind. James is gone with
my sisters to the ball as a professed dancer, which stands in
the place of an invitation ; a character which I do not as
sume, and have therefore stayed away.
Nerot's Hotel, Tuesday, Half-past Two (1779).
I was just going to mount my horse about an hour ago,
when the most violent of all April showers prevented me,
and by that means it is now so late that I have no chance of
reaching Hayes by dinner. Consequently I must at all
events give up the hope of enjoying much of your company
this evening ; which being the case, the double temptation of
a seat in the gallery of the House of Commons, and a ticket
for the Duchess of Bolton's in the evening, determined me to
defer it till to-morrow morning.
Nothing less than the concurrence of all these circum-
• stances could have been sufficient to alter my resolution of
coming to you to-day ; and even now I should be almost
afraid that the engagement which called me from Hayes last
night, and that which detains me here at present, might com
pletely stamp me for a fine gentleman, if the House of Com
mons did not come in to support the gravity of my character.
I shall certainly be with you to-morrow, at as early an hour
as the raking of this evening will permit. -
Nerot's Hotel, June 19, 1779.
You will easily imagine that the principal subject of con
versation here is the Rescript which has been delivered with
in these few days from Spain; and that subject, I am sure,
does not afford matter of agreeable consideration.
The situation of public affairs is undoubtedly in most
respects rendered still more melancholy and deplorable by that
event, and all the dangers that have for some time been
apprehended are accelerated and increased.
There seems, however, to be less despondency than might
be expected in such circumstances; and I am willing to
flatter myself that it may, in the midst of many evils, be

24 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1754-
productive of some good effects at home, and that there may
still be spirit and resources in the country sufficient to pre
serve at least the remnant of a great empire. I was very
glad to be present at the debate on this subject in the House
of Lords, which, though not so good in point of speaking as
many I have heard, could not fail of being extremely interest
ing. My brother, as well as his friend the Duke of Rutland,
took their seats on this occasion, and added two to a respect
able minority. Lord Shelburne spoke as usual with great
ability, and made the roughest invective I ever heard against
several of the Ministry, Lord North in particular.
Pembroke Hall, June 28, 1779.
I left Lord and Lady Mahon and Harriot in town, not
likely, I imagine, to quit it for some time. Unless the Par
liament should continue sitting, they will probably have as
solitary a vacation there, as I propose to myself here. This
place has so many advantages for study, and I have unavoid
ably lost so much time lately, and can spare so little for the
future, that I cannot help wishing to continue here a con
siderable part of the summer. It is, however, quite in
different to me whether that part be at the beginning or end;
and at all events, if there is any particular time at which
you wish to see me at Burton, I shall always be in readiness
to obey your summons immediately. Pembroke Hall, July 3, 1779.
Within a short time the scenes of Cambridge are become
doubly interesting to me, as I have lately found very good
reason to hope that the University may furnish me with a
seat in Parliament possibly at the General Election. It is a
seat of all others the most desirable, as being free from ex
pense, perfectly independent, and I think in every respect
extremely honourable. You will not wonder that I am not
indifferent to such an object, and my wishes on this occasion
will, I trust, coincide with yours for me. You will perhaps
think the idea hastily taken up, when I tell you that six
candidates have declared already ; but I assure you that I
shall not flatter myself with any vain hopes, or stir a step
without all the certainty which the nature of the case admits.
Hitherto I have not pursued my inquiries far enough to form
quite a confident opinion, and till I have, I shall keep the

1780 FAMILY CORRESPONDENCE. 25
idea a perfect secret, which is indispensably necessary to its
success. I may probably very soon be enabled to judge, and
may be obliged to declare my intentions ; but you shall un
doubtedly hear as soon as possible the further progress of
this business.
The design here communicated as a secret was soon
afterwards publicly announced. Mr. Pitt wrote to
several persons of weight and influence, asking their
support. Amongst others we find him on the 19th of
July address a letter to the Marquis of Rockingham,
the chief, in name at least, of the Opposition at that
time. But his Lordship was cold and ungracious.
He left Mr. Pitt for upwards of a fortnight without
any answer at all ; and on the 7th of August he thus
replied : —
I am so circumstanced from the knowledge I have of
several persons who may be candidates, and who indeed are
expected to be so, that it makes it impossible for me in this
instance to show the attention to your wishes which your
own as well as the great merits of your family entitle you
to.1 In the same month of August Mr. Pitt wrote to
Lady Chatham on a wholly different and still more
interesting subject : —
Nerot's Hotel, King Street, Saturday, Aug. 21, 1779.
My Dear Mother, — The accounts which have been re
ceived within these few days of the French and Spanish fleets
have brought the apprehension of danger nearer to our doors,
and rendered the suspense on public affairs still more anxious
than ever. While the idea prevailed, which it did for a
little while, of a force actually landing at Plymouth, I was
also more particularly solicitous, because your neighbourhood
to that place, though not such as to expose you at all to any
thing immediately very serious, might, I feared, be produc
tive of great inconvenience and distress. That report first
1 These letters were first published by Lord Albemarle in his
Memoirs of Lord RoeMngham, vol. ii. p. 422.

26 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1754-
reached me at Chevening, and I came to town immediately
with the intention of setting out for Burton to-day, thinking
that it might be more satisfaction to you, and feeling that it
would be so to myself, to be near you at such a time. I find,
however, to-day that it is understood that the enemy had re
tired from the coasts without attempting anything, and an
engagement with Sir Charles Hardy seems to be the first
event which people now expect. I do not learn that any
official account has yet been received from him, but fresh in
telligence is expected every moment. On the whole the pre
sent alarm seems subsided ; and indeed the exterior of Lon
don has been, as far as I have seen, very little affected by
the state. There has been none of the confusion, and hardly
any of the signs of anxiety which might be expected at such
a moment. I still, however, feel very impatient to see you,
as, although I think you must have been out of the reach of
any great alarm, I cannot help being somewhat anxious to
be more fully assured of it. I shall therefore leave London
to-morrow (as I had before intended), and probably make
the best of my way to Burton, in which case I shall arrive
-before this letter. If, however, I should before that time
find less reason to be in so much haste, I may perhaps con
trive to take Stowe in my way.
It would seem, however, that this intended visit to
Stowe did not take place. Lord Temple was at this
time in declining health, and he expired on the follow
ing 11th of September. He was succeeded as second
Earl by his nephew George, eldest son of George Gren
ville, the late Prime Minister. The new Peer, born in
1753, had for some years been one of the members for
the county of Buckingham, in which representation he
was now succeeded by his next brother, Thomas Gren
ville, who was born in 1755, and who survived till
1846. Their third brother, William Wyndham Gren
ville, afterwards Lord Grenville, was born in 1759. All
three were of course first cousins of Mr. Pitt ; and each
will be found to play a part, more or less important, in
my future narrative.
Having passed the autumn weeks with Lady Chat-

1780 FAMILY CORRESPONDENCE. 27
ham at Burton Pynsent, Mr. Pitt went back to Cam
bridge as usual in October, when his correspondence
with his mother recommences : —
Pembroke Hall, Oct. 15, 1779.
I find everything going on admirably well relative to my
object here, which I think it will be a satisfaction to you to
know. Nerot's Hotel, Nov. 23, 1779.
I cannot imagine that, according to any idea of law or
right, any subsequent grant would affect anything but what
might remain from the produce of the fund after yours should
be discharged. Those therefore whose grants were later could
have no right to be paid but out of the surplus after the pay
ment to you, and their claims do not justify yours being in
arrear  The pleas in your favour appear cer
tainly so strong that it would be wrong to leave the matter
as it stands at present, and I do not myself see how there
can be any objections (in point of delicacy) to Seeking redress
by whatever is the proper method. Complaining of any
abuses in the management of the fund cannot convey any
thing improper towards the Great Person from whom the
grant originally came ; and in any other light I do not con
ceive any reason for a moment's hesitation. Whatever you
may resolve upon, I natter myself that my brother or I be
ing upon the spot there will be very little trouble in the
detail. Lincoln's Inn, Dec. 18, 1779.
My residence here is for the present very comfortable,
and when everything is finished, of which at last there really
seems to be a near prospect, will be as complete as a lawyer
can aspire to. In that state I flatter myself I shall see it
when I return hither after Christmas. I now think of going
to Cambridge for a short time towards the end of next week,
and shall indeed only wait for those means from you which
are, I am sorry to say, necessary to enable me. I trust I
need not say how unwilling I am to make any demands at
so inconvenient a time, but the approach of Christmas, and
the expense of moving, oblige me to beg you to supply me
with a draft of 607.

28 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1754-
Pembroke Hall, Jan. 3, 1780.
My Dear Mother,— I was very unwillingly prevented
last post-day from thanking you for your last letter, and
sending you a proper certificate of my health, which I think
it will be a satisfaction to you to receive. The charge of
looking slender and thin when the doctor saw me I do not
entirely deny ; but if it was in a greater degree than usual,
it may fairly be attributed to the hurry of London, and an
accidental cold at the time. Both those causes have equally
ceased on my removal hither, and as my way of life has ever
since been as fattening as any one could desire, I believe I
now possess as much embonpoint as I have naturally any
right to. ^,1 had followed the doctor's advice by drinking
asses' milk before I received your letter) and so easy a pre
scription I have no objection to obeying, though I believe it
unnecessary, for some time longer. The use of the horse I
assure you I do not neglect, in the properest medium ; and
a sufficient number of idle avocations secure me quite enough
from the danger of too much study. On the whole, I think
I may give in short a very satisfactory account of myself, as
I really feel perfectly well, and yet do nothing that even an
invalid need be afraid of. Among the principal occupations
of Cambridge at this season of Christmas are perpetual col
lege feasts, a species of exercise in which, above all others, I
shall not forget your rule of moderation. The character,
too, of candidate supplies me always with some employment,
which, without deserving the name of business, fills up a
good deal of time. . . . My business here is in a pros
perous train, but nothing materially new is to be expected at
present. The new year in some measure seems to promise a
happy one to Ministry, if not to the country. It can hardly
promise and keep its word to both. . . .
I am, my dear Mother, &c, W. Pitt.
Pembroke Hall, Jan. 12, 1780.
I do not know whether to hope that your western climate
has been as much milder than ours as usual ; for the weather
we have had, though very sharp for above a fortnight, has
been uncommonly pleasant, and such as I think you would
enjoy. ^ Within two or three days the frost has been too hard
for riding, which is the only thing I quarrel with in it ; and
even that I can forgive, while it makes walking so excellent.

1780 FAMILY CORRESPONDENCE. 29
Your moor must be in the perfection of winter beauty ; but
I suppose with hardly any cattle upon it, except stalking
horses. The Cambridgeshire fens are nearly enough related to it
to put me often in mind of it, though I confess the family
likeness, with such a difference of features, is not much to
the advantage of this country.
The counties in this part of the world are beginning to
awaken, and most of them will, I hope, adopt the Yorkshire
measures.1 I do not yet hear anything to the honour of the
West, which I am sorry for. Lincoln's Inn, Feb. 9, 1780.
You will, I hope, have excused my trusting entirely to
my more constant correspondent Harriot for your knowing
that I was established in town. I have really been a good
deal engaged, and in some measure necessarily, having begun
to attend as a lawyer at Westminster Hall ; to which I con
fess has also been added occasionally the less professional
pursuit of Opera, Pantheon, &c, &c, so that my time between
business and pleasure may be fully accounted for. I am now
going to a scene where both are united, I mean the House
of Lords, who are to enter to-day on the consideration of Lord
Shelburne's motion. The pleasure of it would be a good deal
heightened if there were any present prospect of its having
any considerable effect. The ground is certainly very strong,
and some accessions to the minority are expected ; but I fear
there is little chance of their being for some time numerous
enough to turn it into a majority. Grafton Street,2 Feb. 26, 1780.
You will not, I believe, be sorry to hear that in the
House of Commons yesterday, on a motion for the List of
Pensions, which the Ministry strenuously opposed, the mino
rity was 186 against 188. This, I think, looks like the
downfall of those in power ; and I am willing to hope that
the views of Opposition are really such as would make that
event a blessing for the country. The principles . on which
1 The great petition agreed upon at York in December, 1779.
It prayed for Economical Reform, and was signed by upwards of
8000 freeholders.
2 Where at this time Lady Harriot Pitt resided in company with
Lady Williams.

30 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1754-
some persons at bottom probably act (I need not explain
whom I mean) I have as httle confidence in as any one, but
I think they are so deeply pledged for what is right that no
harm can be apprehended from them at present.
Lincoln's Inn, March 14, 1780.
My Parliamentary engagements still continue, and have
now afforded me a scene which I never saw before, a majority
against a Minister.1 I was in the gallery till near three
this morning, when this great phenomenon took place. The
debate was the most interesting imaginable, and not the less
so from Sir Fletcher Norton's unexpected and violent de
clarations against Lord North. What the consequence will
be cannot be guessed, but I have no ideas of Ministry being
able to stand. There are rumours of Parliament being to be
dissolved soon after Easter, which oblige me to work double
tides in the business of canvassing. My prospect, though
not more certain, is as favourable as ever. Harriot will, I
know, have sent Burke's speech, which I think will entertain
you both with real beauties and ridiculous affectations. I
have heard two less studied harangues from him since in
reply, that please me much more than this does now that it
is upon paper. Grafton Street, April 4, 1780.
Last night was the masquerade, the pompous promises of
which the newspapers must have carried to Burton. Harriot
went with Lady Williams to Mrs. Weddel's (who is, I be
lieve, a sister of Lady Rockingham's) to see masks. She was
very much pleased with it, principally, I fancy, because it
was the first thing of the kind she has seen. I was there as
well as at a much more numerous assemblage at a magnifi
cent Mr. Broadhead's, to which some few ladies did not iike
to go, from little histories relative to the lady of the house.
These did not prevent its being the most crowded place I
ever was in. The company I was not conversant enough in
masks to judge of. I concluded my evening at the Pantheon,
which I had never seen illuminated, and which is really a
glorious scene. In other respects, as I had hardly the plea
sure of plaguing or being plagued by any body, I was heartily
tired of my domino before it was over.
1 On the clause in Mr. Burke's Bill for abolishing the Board of
Trade, when the numbers were : for the clause, 207 ; against it, 199.

1780 FAMILY CORRESPONDENCE. 31
•Harley Street, April 20, 1780.
All my feelings with regard to the paper enclosed l I need
not express. I am sure I should be far indeed from wishing to
suggest a syllable of alteration. The language of the heart, of
such a heart especially, can never require or admit of correction .
May it remain as it deserves, a lasting monument of both
the subject and the author. My pen does not easily go from
this topic to that of common news, nor of that have I much
to tell you. It is, however, an essential satisfaction to assure
you that I find my sister Mahon mended greatly in looks
and strength, and in all respects since I have been absent;
more indeed than I could have flattered myself. If the
weather should not be very unfavourable she will go with
Harriot to-morrow to Hayes, and I hope return soon quite
in established health. You will be glad too to hear that
I have every reason to be satisfied with my visit to Cam
bridge, which gives me as promising an expectation as is
possible in the circumstances. It seems not unlikely that
there may be an election there even before the end of this
Parb'ament. With regard to the business of my account 2 there is cer
tainly no occasion to have it re-stated. I am only sorry it
has already occasioned you so much trouble, and still more
so to think that your affairs are still so full of such embar
rassment. I hope it will not be necessary to think of selling
the arrears. Lincoln's Inn, May 2, 1780.
I was yesterday present at a great debate in the House
of Commons, where, according to the old custom, which is,
I fear, pretty nearly re-established, arguments and numbers
1 Lady Chatham had consulted her son on the inscription which
she had drawn up for the pedestal of a marble urn to the memory
of her husband in the grounds of Burton Pynsent. The inscription
will be found printed at length in the Chatham Correspondence, vol.
iv. p. 631.
When, after Lady Chatham's death, the estate of Burton Pynsent
was sold, the urn, with its inscription, was transferred to the gar
dens at Stowe. Upon the dispersion of the family relics at that
place the urn passed into a, stranger's hands. But it has subse
quently been recovered by another relative, James Banks Stanhope,
Esq., M.P., who has raised the interesting monument once again in
his gardens at Revesby Park, in Lincolnshire.
2 The account of his fortune, &c, during his minority.

32 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1754-
were almost equally clear on opposite sides. ^ The idea of a
Dissolution seems not to prevail so much as it did, which is
indeed very natural. , Lincoln's Inn, June 1, 1780.
The London Courant will have given you, I believe, a
pretty accurate account of what passed at Buckingham,
which was not of a very pleasant kind. But it is a satisfac
tion that the person for whom we are the most interested
had much the better in all respects. Lord Temple has been
at Stowe since, so that we have none of us had an oppor
tunity of meeting. These unfortunate divisions weaken- if
they do not extinguish all hope for the public.1
Lincoln's Inn, June 8, 1780.
The accounts which the papers will have given you of
the religious mobs which have infested us for some days,
will make you, I know, desirous to know in what state we
now are. I have the satisfaction to tell you that from the
appearance of to-night everything seems likely to subside,
and we may sleep again as in a Christian country. Lincoln's
Inn has been [surrounded] with flames on all sides, but itself
perfectly free from danger.
The only objects of resentment seem to have been public
characters and the residences of Roman Catholics or felons.'
None of those you are particularly interested for have been
exposed to any inconvenience or apprehension, or anything
else than the disagreeable and disgraceful sight which such
uncontrolled licentiousness exhibits.
Lincoln's Inn, Thursday (June, 1780).
You should certainly have found me a better correspon
dent, but that my time has really been infinitely taken up.
Besides the military transactions of the times, I have had to
assume within these few days the pacific character of a bar-
rister-at-law, and now want nothing but my wig and s;own
to qualify me for the Western Circuit. Lincoln's Inn has
cl5nSSued uninsultedduring the whole of this scene. It
was, however, thought necessary that we should show our
1 At a Meeting of the County of Bucks (as reported in the Lon
don Cowrant, May 31, 1780) Earl Temple proposed an Association
for Economical Reform. Lord Mahon moved an amendment to in
clude the object of Parliamentary Reform ; and a sharp debate but
no decision ensued.

1780 CALLED TO THE BAR. 33
readiness to defend ourselves. Accordingly several very
respectable lawyers have appeared with muskets on their
shoulders, to the no small diversion of all spectators. Un
luckily the appearance of danger ended just as we embodied,
and our military ardour has been thrown away.
Cambridge, July 7, 1780.
I heard yesterday from Lord Mahon on the subject of
my canvass, who mentions that he and my sister were to re
move, from town in a day or two. I trust the country air
will bring back her strength, and add to the progress of her
recovery, which for some time has scarcely kept pace with
our expectations.
We learn from Bishop Tomline that Mr. Pitt was
called to the Bar on the 12th of June, 1780. But a
family bereavement, though little foreseen, was now
close impending. Lady Mahon, a sister to whom Mr.
Pitt was tenderly attached, died at Chevening on the
1 8th of July. She was only twenty-five years of age,
but her health had never completely rallied from the
birth of her last child. She left three daughters : the
first, her namesake, who, as Lady Hester Stanhope,
will re-appear in the latter part of my narrative; se
condly, Griselda, who in 1800 married John Tekell,
Esq., and who died without issue in 1851 ; and, thirdly,
Lucy, who in 1796 married Thomas Taylor, Esq., and
who died in 1814, leaving three sons and four daughters.
To this youngest niece, born in February, 1780, Mr.
Pitt had been godfather.
In the course of the ensuing year Lord Mahon mar
ried again. The object of his choice was Louisa, only
child of the Hon. Henry Grenville, who had filled in
succession the posts of Governor of Barbadoes and
Ambassador at Constantinople. He was a younger
brother of Lady Chatham; so that as the first Lady
Mahon was sister, the second was first cousin of Mr.
Pitt. Of this second marriage were born three sons :
first, my father, the fourth Earl Stanhope; secondly,
VOL. I. D

34 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1754-
Charles Banks, a Major in the army, who was killed at
the head of his regiment at the battle of Coruiia; and,
thirdly, James Hamilton, a Lieutenant-Colonel in the
army, who married a daughter of the Earl of Mansfield,
and who died in 1825.
In the August following, we find Mr. Pitt join for a
short time the Western Circuit, and give a hasty report
of his proceedings. Dorchester, Aug. 4, 1780.
My Dear Mother, — You will be glad to have early in
formation of my having arrived prosperously at this place,
and taken upon me the character of a lawyer. I have in
deed done so, yet no otherwise than by eating and drinking
with lawyers ; and so far I find the Circuit perfectly agree
able. I write this in the morning, lest I should not have
time after. There is not, to be sure, much probability of
my being overwhelmed with business, but I may possibly
have my time filled up with hearing others for the remainder
of the day; and, therefore, to show how much I profit by
our last conversation, I make sure of the present moment.
I could also give you another instance, for, thanks to the
sun and an eastern aspect, I was burnt out of my bed this
morning before seven o'clock. My gown and wig do not
make their appearance till two or three hours hence, as great
part of the morning is taken up by the Judges going to
church, where it does not seem the etiquette for counsel to
attend. You will not suppose that I have much news to tell you.
The only thing worth mentioning is a curious enclosure
which came to me by last night's post in a cover franked
' Tho. Pitt.' Adieu. Your ever dutiful and affectionate
son, W. Pitt.
Exeter, Aug. 9, 1780.
My Dear Mother, — I have but just time to write one
line to tell you that i received your packet yesterday. Hav
ing been in Court till now, I fear I am too late for the regu
lar post. ... I have not forgot the Bonds of Award,
and will return them as soon as I can find time, but so much
is employed either in the hall or at table that I have not
much to dispose of. Lord Mahon's letter was to inquire after

1780 DISSOLUTION OF PARLIAMENT. 35
you, and to tell me that a Dissolution was expected very
soon. It must be rather uncertain, but I shall not be sur
prised if an express overtakes me with the news. If it
should, I shall take Burton flying in my way to Cambridge.
Believe me, &c, W. Pitt.
I shall leave this place on Saturday and proceed to Bod
min, unless summoned away by a Dissolution.
On the 1st of September accordingly the Parliament
was dissolved. Pitt repaired in all haste to Cam
bridge, and an arduous contest began. But when it
closed, he found himself at the bottom of the poll.
He announced the result the same evening in a note
as follows : — Pembroke Hall, Sept. 16, 1780.
My Dear Mother, — Mansfield and Townshend have run
away with the prize, but my struggle has not been dis
honourable. I am just going to Cheveley ' for a day or two, and shall
soon return to you for as long as the law will permit, which
will now be probably the sole object with me. I hope you
are all well. Your ever dutiful and affectionate
W. Pitt.
Mr. Pitt appears to have paid his customary visit to
Lady Chatham in the autumn ; but on his return to
town, his letters to her represent him as thoroughly
immersed in the cares of his new profession.
Lincoln's Inn, Nov. 23, 1780.
I do not wonder that you seem to consider me rather as
an idle correspondent, which, much against my will, I feel
that I have been.
If I had been able to give you any information worth
knowing of what passed in Parliament, I certainly would ;
but really there has been nothing decisive, and all seems to
be put off till after Christmas. You will, I am sure, be
ready to excuse a little either of ignorance or laziness, when
I assure you that ever since Term began I have been almost
every day in Westminster Hall the whole time between
1 The seat of the Duke of Rutland in Cambridgeshire.
p 2

36 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1754-
breakfast and dinner, and that the rest of the day is suffi
ciently taken up by necessary business and incidental avo
cations which are unavoidable.
At this very time, however, an opening to public
life unexpectedly appeared. The brave and lamented
Granby had been a friend and follower of Chatham.
His eldest son, who was senior by five years to William
Pitt, became one of the Members for the University of
Cambridge, and in 1779 succeeded his grandfather as
Duke of Rutland. Mindful of his hereditary friend
ships, he sought the acquaintance of William Pitt in
the first years of Pitt at Cambridge. When Pitt came
to live in London, the two young men quickly grew
intimate, and the warm attachment between them was
continued during the whole of the Duke's life.
It was natural, under such circumstances, that the
Duke of Rutland should feel most sincere concern at
the exclusion of Pitt from the House of Commons.
He spoke upon the subject to Sir James Lowther,
another ally of his house, and the owner of most 'exten
sive borough influence. Sir James quickly caught the
idea, and proposed to avail himself of a double return
for one of his boroughs to bring the friend of his friend
into Parliament. The Duke mentioned the offer to
Pitt ; and Pitt, who was writing on the same day to his
mother, added a few lines in haste to let her know.
But it was not until after he had seen Sir James him
self that he was able to express his entire satisfaction
at the prospect now before him.
Lincoln's Inn, Thursday night, Nov., 1780.
My Dear Mother, — I can now inform you that I have
seen Sir James Lowther, who has repeated to me the offer
he had before made, and in the handsomest manner. Judg
ing from my father's principles, he concludes that mine
would be agreeable to his own, and on that ground— to me
of all others the most agreeable — to bring me in. No kind
of condition was mentioned, but that if ever our lines of

1780 DEATH OF HIS BROTHER. 37
conduct should become opposite, I should give him an oppor
tunity of choosing another person. On such liberal terms I
could certainly not hesitate to accept the proposal, than
which nothing could be in any respect more agreeable. Ap
pleby is the place I am to represent, and the election will be
made (probably in a week or ten days) without my having
any trouble, or even visiting my constituents. I shall be in
time to be spectator and auditor at least of the important
scene after the holidays. I would not defer confirming to
you this intelligence, which I believe you will not be sorry
to hear. I am, my dear Mother, &c, W. Pitt.
Dec. 7, 1780.
I have not yet received the notification of my election.
It will probably not take place till the end of this week, as
Sir James Lowther was to settle an election at Haslemere
before he went into the north, and meant to be present at
Appleby afterwards. The Parliament adjourned yesterday,
so I shall not take my seat till after the holidays. . .
I propose before long, in spite of politics, to make an excur
sion for a sort time to Lord Westmorland's l and shall pro
bably look at my constituents that should have been at Cam
bridge, in my way. I have hopes of extending to Burton in
the course of the Christmas recess.
But the pleasure of Pitt at his approaching entrance
into Parliament was grievously dashed by another
domestic calamity. The sudden news came that his
youngest brother, James Charles, who was absent on
service, and already a Post-Captain, had died in the
West Indies. William set off immediately for Burton
Pynsent, and from thence wrote as follows to Mr.
Pretyman : — Dec. 1780.
You will, I know, be anxious to hear from me. I have
to regret the loss of a brother who had everything that was
most amiable and promising, everything that I could love
and admire; and I feel the favourite hope of my mind ex
tinguished by this untimely blow. Let me, however, assure
1 Apthorp, in Northamptonshire.

38 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1781-
you that I am too much tried in affliction not to be able to
support myself under it ; and that my poor mother and sister,
to whom I brought the sad account yesterday, have not suf
fered in their health from so severe a shock. I have pre
vailed on them to think of changing the scene and moving
towards Hayes, which is a great comfort to me, as the soli
tude and distance of this place must now be insupportable.
I imagine that we shall begin our journey in a few days.

CHAPTER II.
1781-1782.

Enters the House of Commons — State of parties — Attaches himself
to Lord Shelburne— Goostree's Club— Pitt's first speech— Con
gratulated by Fox— Vindication of his father's opinions, and
statement of his own, on the American war — On the Western
Circuit, and in the Court of King's Bench — General character at
the Bar— Readiness of debate — Speeches on Parliamentary Re
form — Appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer — Letters to his
mother.
On the 23rd of January, 1781, when the Parliament
met again, Mr. Pitt took his seat as member for
Appleby. That date marks both the commencement
and the close of his public life, for it was on the anni
versary of the same day that he died.
At the time when Mr. Pitt first entered the House
of Commons Lord North was still at the head of public
affairs. Himself the most good-humoured and amiable
of men, he might often as a Minister seem harsh, and
still more often unfortunate. Yielding his own better
judgment to the personal wishes of the King, he con
tinued to maintain the fatal war against the revolted
colonies, with a failing popularity and with a doubtful
mind. His principal reliance at this time in debate
1 Life of Pitt, by Bishop Tomline, vol. i. p. 26.

1782 STATE OF PARTIES. 39
was on Lord George Germaine, the Secretary of State,
and on Henry Dundas, the Lord Advocate for Scot
land. The Opposition arrayed against him consisted, in
fact, of two parties. . They had been recently recon
ciled, and almost always voted together ; yet still, as
appeared shortly afterwards, the union between them
was by no means thorough and complete. Of these
two parties the largest by far in point of numbers was
founded on the old Whig connection of the Great
Houses, or, as they loved to call themselves, the ' Revo
lution Families.' Men of this stamp could seldom —
as Horace Walpole once complained of the Duke of
Portland — extend their views beyond the high wall of
Burlington House. To them birth and rank seemed
the principal qualities for leadership. In former years
they had chafed at the ascendency of the elder Pitt ;
and now they could never look on Burke in any other
light than as a toiling and useful subordinate, to be
rewarded on occasion with some second-rate place, and
not worthy to sit in council with a Wentworth or a
Cavendish. With such views they had for many years acknow
ledged as their leader the Marquis of Rockingham,
head of the house of Wentworth, a nobleman of vast
estates, of highly honourable character, but 'of very
slender ability either for business or debate. But their
leader in the Commons and the true impelling and
guiding spirit of their whole party was Charles James
Fox. Born in 1749, a younger son of the first Lord
Holland, he had entered Parliament at only nineteen as
member for the close borough of Midhurst. His youth
had been marked by a course of wild extravagance and
by the assertion of strong anti-popular politics. On
two occasions he had held a subordinate office under
Lord North. But soon breaking loose from these tram
mels and joining the ranks of Opposition, side by side
with Burke, he had made himself most formidable to his

40 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1781-
recent chief. His admirable eloquence and his powers
of debate— never exceeded in any age or in any nation
— his generous and open temper, and the warm attach
ment, which ensued from it, of his political friends,
cast into the shade his irregular life and his ruined
fortunes, and extorted the wonder even of his enemies.
Under him at this time were two men whose genius
would have made them capable of leading, but who
were proud to serve under so great a chief. There was
Edmund Burke, the first philosophical statesman of his
country; there was Richard Brinsley Sheridan, the first
of her dramatists in recent times, who had already pro
duced some masterpieces of wit upon the stage, and was
shortly to produce other masterpieces of oratory in the
House of Commons.
Besides this main body of the old Whig aristocracy,
there was also in Opposition a smaller band of the old
adherents of Lord Chatham. It comprised the Earl of
Shelburne and Lord Camden, who had filled the offices
of Secretary of State and Chancellor in Chatham's last
administration, and who to the close of his life had
enjoyed his highest confidence. Lord Shelburne was
indeed looked upon as the leader of his party since his
death. There were also among its chief men Mr.
Thomas Townshend, an active and useful politician,
who spoke often and not without effect ; Mr. Dunning,
unrivalled in his own time for success at the Bar ; and
Colonel Barre, a bold and unsparing, and therefore the
more applauded debater.
It was almost as a matter of course that Mr. Pitt
on entering Parliament attached himself closely to this
party. So had his eldest brother on coming* of age.
So had his friend the Duke of Rutland, on succeeding
to the title. So had also his kinsman Lord Mahon,
who had been returned at the general election for the
borough of High Wycombe, then a close corporation
under the control of Lord Shelburne. So had also Mr.
John Jeffreys Pratt, the only son of Lord Camden, and

1782 GOOSTREE'S CLUB. 41
born in the same year as Mr. Pitt, who had come in for
another close corporation, that of Bath.
But besides these, as I may term them, hereditary
ties, Mr. Pitt began at this time to form some intimate
friendships with other young men, chiefly, like himself,
entering upon life, and more or less closely linked with
him in politics. Such were Henry Bankes, of Corfe
Castle in Dorsetshire, whom he had known well at
Cambridge; Edward, the eldest son of Mr. Eliot, of
Port Eliot, in Cornwall, who some years later became
his brother-in-law ; Richard Pepper Arden, afterwards
Lord Alvanley ; Robert Smith,, at this time member
for Nottingham, and head of a great banking-house in
London. Unlike the rest, he was seven years the senior
of Pitt, and yet he survived him thirty-two.
But, of all the intimacies formed at this time by
Mr. Pitt, there was none that ripened into more cordial
friendship than that with Mr. Wilberforce. The son of
a banker at Hull, and the owner of a good estate in
Yorkshire, William Wilberforce, though born in the
same year as Pitt, was sent three years later to Cam
bridge. There the two young men were but slightly
acquainted; but at the General Election of 1780,
Wilberforce was, after a sharp contest, returned for the
town of Hull, and meeting Pitt both in the House of
Commons and in social circles, they rapidly grew
friends. These young men and several others — about twenty-
five in all — besides their resort at the larger clubs, as
Brooks's and White's, formed at this time a more
intimate society called Goostree's, from the name of
the person at whose house they met in Pall Mall. Pitt
was one of the chief frequenters of this little club, and
during one winter — probably that from 1781 to 1782 —
is said to have supped there every night. How delightful
was his conversation in his easier hours Mr. Wilberforce
has warmly attested : —
' He was the wittiest man I ever knew, and, what

42 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1781-
was quite peculiar to himself, had at all times his wit
under entire control. Others appeared struck by the
unwonted association of brilliant images; but every
possible combination of ideas was present to his mind,
and he could at once produce whatever he desired. I
was one of those who met to spend an evening in
memory of Shakespeare at the Boar's Head in East-
cheap. Many professed wits were present, but Pitt
was the most amusing of the party, and the readiest
and most apt in the required allusions." 1
Another of the Boar's Head party, Mr. Jekyll, gives
of it a similar account :
' We were all in high spirits, quoting and alluding
to Shakespeare the whole day, and it appeared that
Mr. Pitt was as well and familiarly read in the poet's
works as the best Shakespearians present.' 2
The clubs of London, Goostree's not excepted, all
at this time afforded a dangerous temptation. Fox,
Fitzpatrick, and their circle, had long since set the
example of high play.- It had become the fashion;
and Wilberforce himself was nearly ensnared by it.
On the very first day that he went to Boodle's he won
twenty-five guineas of the Duke of Norfolk. His diary
at this period records more than once the loss of a
hundred pounds at the faro-table. He was reclaimed
from this pursuit by a most generous impulse — not
because he lost in private play to others, but because he
saw and was pained at seeing others lose to him. Of
the young member for Appleby he proceeds to speak as
follows :
' We played a g»od deal at Goostree's, and I well
remember the intense earnestness which Pitt displayed
when joining in those games of chance. He perceived
their increasing fascination, and soon after suddenly
abandoned them for ever.'
It was not long before Mr. Pitt took part in the
1 Life of Wilberforce, by his Sons, vol. i. p. 18.
2 Note to Bishop Tomline 's Life, vol. i. p. .43.

1782 HIS FIRST SPEECH. 43
debates. He made his first speech on the 26th of
February, in support of Burke's Bill for Economical
Reform. Under the circumstances, this first speech
took him a little by surprise. Lord Nugent was
speaking against the Bill, and Mr. Byng, member for
Middlesex, asked Mr. Pitt to follow in reply. Mr. Pitt
gave a doubtful answer, but in the course of Lord
Nugent's speech resolved that he would not. Mr. Byng,
however, had understood him to assent, and had said
so to some friends around him; so that the moment
Lord Nugent sat down, all these gentlemen, with one
voice, called out ' Mr. Pitt ! Mr. Pitt ! ' and by their
cry probably kept down every other member. Mr.
Pitt, finding himself thus called upon, and observing
that the House waited to hear him, thought himself
bound to rise. The sudden call did not for a moment
discompose him ; he was from the beginning collected
and unembarrassed, and, far from reciting a set speech,
addressed himself at once to the business of reply.
Never, says Bishop Tomline, were higher expectations
formed of any person upon his first coming into Par
liament, and never were expectations more completely
fulfilled. The silvery clearness of his voice, his lofty
yet unpresuming demeanour, set off to the best advan
tage his close and well arrayed though unpremeditated
arguments, while the ready selection of his words and
the perfect structure of his sentences were such as even
the most practised speakers often fail to show. Not
only did he please, it may be said that he astonished the
House. Scarce one mind in which a reverent thought
of Chatham did not rise.
No sooner had Pitt concluded than Fox with gene
rous warmth hurried up to wish him joy of his success.
As they were still together, an old member, said to
have been General Grant, passed by them and said,
' Aye, Mr. Fox, you are praising young Pitt for his
speech. You may well do so ; for, excepting yourself,
there is no man in the House can make such another ;

44 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1781-
and, old as I am, I expect and hope to hear you both
battling it within these walls, as I have heard your
fathers before you.' Mr. Fox, disconcerted at the
awkward turn of the compliment, was silent and looked
foolish; but young Pitt, with great delicacy and readi
ness, answered, ' I have no doubt, General, you would
like to attain the age of Methuselah ! ' l
After Mr. Pitt several other members spoke, and the
debate was continued until midnight, when, on a divi
sion, the measure of Burke was rejected by a majority
of 233 against 190.
It deserves to be noted that warmly as the merits of
Pitt's first speech were acknowledged by his hearers,
those merits are scarcely to be traced in the. meagre
report of it which alone remains. So imperfect indeed
was still, and for many years afterwards, the Parlia
mentary system of reporting, that it totally fails to give
any just idea of the great orators of the time, except in
a few salient passages, and unless, as was the case with
Burke in his chief speeches, they prepared their own
compositions for the press. For this reason, among
others, I shall forbear from inserting in my narrative
any but very few and very brief extracts of Mr. Pitt's
published speeches, which my readers can, if they desire
it, find elsewhere.
Next day the young orator wrote to Lady Chatham
as follows : Tuesday night, Feb. 27, 1781.
My Dear Mother, — If the length of the debate yesterday,
and of a late supper after it, had not made me too lazy this
morning, I intended to have been at Hayes to-day. To-morrow
I must be early in the House of Commons, to attend the Lyme
election, and am therefore doubtful whether I can ride to
Hayes and back again in time, which makes me wish to
write to you one line at least, in case I should not.
1 This anecdote was put on record by Fox's nephew, Lord Hol
land, and I give it in his own words. See the Memorials of Fox by
Lord John Russell, vol. i. p. 262.

1782 HIS FIRST SPEECH. 45
I know you will have learnt that I heard my own voice
yesterday, and the account you have had would be in all
respects better than any I can give if it had not come from
too partial a friend. All I can say is that I was able to
execute in some measure what I intended, and that I have
at least every reason to be happy beyond measure in the re
ception I met with. You will, I dare say, wish to know
more particulars than I fear I shall be able to tell you, but
in the meantime you will, I am sure, feel somewhat the same
pleasure that I do in the encouragement, however unmerited,
which has attended my first attempt.
I hope when I come to find you better than I left you,
and I trust that will not be later than Thursday at furthest.
Pray give my love to Harriot, and best compliments to Mrs.
Stapleton.1 Your most dutiful and affectionate son,
W. Pitt.
' It is a curious fact,' writes Lord Macaulay, ' well
remembered by some who were very recently living,
that soon after this debate Pitt's name was put up by
Fox at Brooks's.'
The merits of Mr. Pitt's performance continued for
some days to be discussed in political circles. Lord
North said of it, with generous frankness, that it was
the best first speech he had ever heard. Still more
emphatic was the praise of Mr. Burke. When some
one in his presence spoke of Pitt as ' a chip of the old
block,' Burke exclaimed, ' He is not a chip of the old
block; he is the old block itself!' Dr. Goodenough,
subsequently Bishop of Carlisle, exults in one of his
letters that the great Lord Chatham is now happily
restored to his country. ' All the old members recog
nised him instantly : to identify him there wanted only
a few wrinkles in the face.' 2
It appears that a little time previously, Pitt had
1 Mrs. Stapleton was an aunt of the first Lord Combermere. She
was the friend and frequent visitor, and at last for many years the
constant companion, of Lady Chatham.
2 To the Rev. Edward Wilson, Feb. 27, 1781. Life of Lord Sid-
month, by Dean Pellew, vol. i. p. 27.

46 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1781-
made the earliest trial of his debating powers in a party
of some young friends. Mr. Jekyll, who was at this
time like himself a barrister on the Western Circuit,
thus relates the fact:— 'When he first made his
brilliant display in Parliament, those at the Bar who
had seen little of him expressed surprise ; but a few who
had heard him once speak in a sort of mock debate at
the Crown and Anchor Tavern, when a club called the
Western Circuit Club was dissolved, agreed that he had
then displayed all the various species of eloquence for
which he was afterwards celebrated.' ¦
On the 31st of May Mr. Pitt made his second speech
in the House of Commons. The subject was a Bill to
continue an Act of the last Session for the appointment
of Commissioners of Public Accounts. When Lord
North, who had argued the question at considerable
length, sat down, Fox and Pitt rose together. But Fox,
with a feeling of kindness to the young member, imme
diately gave way,2 and Pitt, proceeding in a strain of
forcible eloquence, contended that the House of Com
mons, which the constitution had entrusted with the
power of controlling the public expenditure, could not
in the faithful discharge of their duty delegate any
part of that trust to persons who were not of their own
body. In the division which ensued Colonel Barre and
Mr. Pitt were appointed Tellers on the same side. It
was far from affording any cause of triumph to the
young orator, since Lord North carried his negative by
98 votes against 42.
* See a valuable note (of which I shall give the rest in another
place) contributed to Bishop Tomline's Life, and inserted in that
work at vol. i. p. 42. The Bishop does not name the writer, but de
scribes him as ' very intimate with Mr. Pitt on the Western Cir
cuit,' and as 'holding an honourable station in the Court of
Chancery ' in 1820 ; adding other circumstances also which plainly
identify his correspondent with Mr. Jekyll.
2 See Tomline's Life, vol. i. p. 33. Lord Macaulay, by a trifling
oversight, has transferred this incident to Pitt's first speech (Bio
graphies, p. 152).

1782 VINDICATION OF HIS FATHER'S OPINIONS. 47
A few days later we find Mr. Wilberforce refer to
this second speech as follows in a letter to a friend at
Hull : — ' The papers will have informed you how Mr.
William Pitt, second son of the late Lord Chatham, has
distinguished himself. He comes out as his father did, a
ready-made orator, and I doubt not but that I shall one
day or other see him the first man in the country. His
famous speech, however, delivered the other night did
not convince me, and I stayed in with the old fat fellow
(Lord North).'
In the same month of May Wilberforce himself
had for the first time taken part in the debates. He
seems on this occasion to have attracted little notice.
But ere long he gained the success which his abili
ties and character deserved, and by degrees grew into
high favour with the House as an earnest and excellent
speaker. Mr. Pitt spoke for the third time this Session on
the 12th of June, upon a motion of Mr. Fox tending
to conclude a peace with the American colonies. It
does not appear that the young orator had any thoughts
of taking part in this debate, but he was unexpectedly
called up by several misrepresentations of his father's
sentiments. Here is his own account to Lady Chatham
the next day. June 13, 1781.
The business of yesterday was a triumph to Opposition
in everything but the article of numbers, which was in
deed some abatement of it — 172 to 99. I found it necessary
to say somewhat which was very favourably and flatteringly
received, in answer to Mr. Rigby and Mr. Adam, who chose
to say that my father and every other party in the kingdom
who had objected only to the internal taxation of America,
and had asserted at that time the other rights of this country,
were accessories to the American war. This you may ima
gine I directly denied, and expressed as strongly as I could
Sow much he detested the principle of the war. I gave
several general reasons which occurred to me for the neces
sity, in every point of view, for an inquiry into the state of

48 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1781-
the war (which was what Mr. Fox moved for), but avoided
saying anything direct on the subject of independence, which
in that stage of the business I thought better avoided. I
hope you will excuse the haste of this account, as I have a
person waiting for me whilst I write.
But besides thus vindicating the opinions of Lord
Chatham in regard to the American war, Mr. Pitt took
J occasion to state with the utmost force his own. ' A
noble Lord who spoke early (here he alluded to Lord
Westcote) has in the warmth of his zeal called this a
holy war. For my part, though the Right Hon. gentle
man who made the motion and some other gentlemen
have been more than once in the course of the debate
severely reprehended for calling it a wicked or accursed
war, I am persuaded, and I will affirm that it is a most
accursed, wicked, barbarous, cruel, unnatural, unjust,
and diabolical war. . . . The expense of it has been
enormous, far beyond any former experience, and yet
what has the British, nation received in return ? Nothing
but a series of ineffective victories or severe defeats —
victories only celebrated with temporary triumph over
our brethren whom we would trample down, or defeats
which fill the land with mourning for the loss of dear
and valuable relations slain in the impious cause of
enforcing unconditional submission. Where is the
Englishman who on reading the narrative of those
bloody and well fought contests can refrain lamenting
the loss of so much British blood shed in such a cause,
or from weeping on whatever side victory might be
declared ? '
-— In reply to Pitt rose Henry Dundas, Lord Advocate,
the same who was destined through many coming years
to be not only one of Pitt's Cabinet colleagues, but the
most trusted and relied on of all. He defended, as he
had always done and as he was bound to do, the whole
course of the American war ; but as regarded his young
adversary in that debate, he could not refrain from com
plimenting ' so happy an union of first-rate abilities,

1782 ON THE WESTERN CIRCUIT. 49
high integrity, bold and honest independence of conduct,
and the most persuasive eloquence.'
The debate on this occasion was summed up by Fox
with his usual admirable ability, but his motion to go
into Committee was rejected as we have seen by over
whelming numbers.
These three were the only speeches made by Mr. Pitt
in that session. It closed on the 18th of July. A little
time afterwards, when a member of the Opposition hap
pened to remark to Mr. Fox, ' Mr. Pitt, I think, pro
mises to be one of the first men in Parliament,' Fox,
without the smallest touch of jealousy, said at once,
' He is so already.'
In the summer of that year, as in the preceding, Mr.
Pitt went the Western Circuit. It proved to be for
the last time. His whole career at the Bar was indeed
so short as to leave little opportunity for the display of
his abilities. He was eager to apply himself to it, and
resolved to neglect no business, however small. It used
to be related by Mr. Justice Rooke how Pitt had dan
gled seven days with a junior brief and a single guinea
fee waiting till a cause of no sort of importance should
come on in the Court of Common Pleas. On another
occasion, however, in the Court of King's Bench, there
being a motion for a Habeas Corpus in the case of a man
who was charged with murder, we are assured that Mr.
Pitt made a speech which excited the admiration of the
Bar, and drew down some words of praise from Lord
Mansfield. On the Circuit he had but little business, yet at
Salisbury in the summer of 1781 he was employed by
Mr. Samuel Petrie as junior counsel in some bribery
causes that had resulted from the Cricklade Election
Petition. There are reports of two speeches that he
made in these causes, each report, however, extending
only to a few lines ; and in giving judgment on the
point which the second of these speeches involved, Mr.
VOL. I. E

50 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1781-
Baron Perryn said that 'Mr. Pitt's observations had
great weight with him.' 1
It further appears that in the course of these trials
Pitt received some high compliments from Mr. Dun
ning, the leader of the Bar. 'I remember also,'
thus writes Mr. Jekyll, one of his brother barristers
upon this Circuit, 'that in an action of Grim. Con.
at Exeter, he manifested, as junior counsel, such
talents in cross-examination, that it Avas the uni
versal opinion of the Bar that h"e should have led the
cause.' Of his general character at the Bar, we find Mr.
Jekyll speak as follows : ' Among lively men of his own
time of life, Mr. Pitt was always the most lively and
convivial in the many hours of leisure which occur to
young unoccupied men on the Circuit, and joined all
the little excursions to Southampton, Weymouth, and
such parties of amusement as were habitually formed.
He was extremely popular. His name and reputation
of high acquirements at the University commanded the
attention of his seniors. His wit, his good humour, and
joyous manners endeared him to the younger part of the
Bar. ... At Mr. Pitt's instance an annual dinner
took place for some years at Richmond Hill, the party
consisting of Lord Erskine, Lord Redesdale, Sir William
Grant, Mr. Bond, Mr. Leycester, Mr. Jekyll, and others.
After he was Minister he continued to ask his old
Circuit intimates to dine with him, and his manners
were unaltered.'
The Circuit of this summer having ended, Mr. Pitt
passed some autumn weeks with his mother at Burton
Pynsent, and during a part of this time they were joined
by Mr. Pretyman. But in the first days of October we
find him on a visit in Dorsetshire, and at the close of
that month again in chambers.
1 See the Report of the Cricklade Case (as published by Mr.
Petrie), p. 301 and 321, ed. 1785.

1782 MEETING OF PARLIAMENT. 51
Kingston Hall,1 Oct. 7, 1781.
My Dear Mother, — I have delayed writing to you longer
than I intended, which I hope is of little consequence, as
Harriot will have brought you all the news I could have
sent — an account of that stupid fete at Fonthill,2 which,
take it altogether, was, I think, as ill imagined, and as in
differently conducted, as anything of the sort need be. She
will, I hope, also have acknowledged that although somewhat
duller, she found it much less formidable than she imagined,
which was one great point in its favour. By meeting Lord
Shelburne and Lord Camden, we were pressed to make a
second visit to Bowood, which, from the addition of Colonel
Barre and Mr. Dunning, was a very pleasant party. Since
that time I have been waging war, with increasing success,
on pheasants and partridges. I shall continue hostilities, I
. believe, about a week longer, and then prepare for the open
ing of another sort of campaign in Westminster Hall. Par
liament, I am very glad to hear, is not to meet till the 27th
1 of November, which will allow me a good deal more leisure
1 than I expected. Lincoln's Inn, Oct. 24, 1781.
I rejoice that the prospect of seeing you at Hayes draws
nearer, and I flatter myself too with the hopes of finding
your course of amendment much increased and confirmed.
There is no fresh news in town. The last account from
America seems, if anything were wanting, to complete our
prospect there.
Parliament met again on the 27th November. Only
two days before had come the tidings of the surrender
of Lord Cornwallis at York Town. It was necessary
- for that reason to new-cast the Royal Speech. The Mi
nisters were grievously depressed, while their opponents
gathered strength and energy in the same proportion.
On the Address, an amendment was moved by Fox, and
both he and Burke put forth all their powers of debate.
So also next day, on the Report of the Address, did Pitt.
Such was the applause in the House when he sat down
1 The seat of his friend Henry Bankes, Esq.
2 The well-known seat of William Beckford, Esq.
e 2

52 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1781-
that it was some time before the Lord Advocate, who
rose immediately, could obtain a hearing.
The speech of Henry Dundas on this occasion was
not a little surprising. In a tone of great frankness,
and paying the highest compliments to Pitt, he let fall
some hints of discordant views or erroneous conduct in
the Ministry to which he still belonged : but he would
no further explain himself. So acute a politician must
have clearly discerned the tottering state of Lord North,
and may not have felt unwilling, even at this time, to
connect himself with a young statesman of popular
principles and rising fame.
Compliments to the young statesman were, however,
by no means peculiar to Dundas. We are told in a
youthful letter from Sir Samuel Romilly, that in one
of these debates before Christmas, 1781, 'Fox, in an
exaggerated strain of panegyric, said he could no longer
lament the loss of Lord Chatham, for he was again living
in his son, with all his virtues and all his talents.' l
About a fortnight after the Address, Pitt made his
second speech of the Session, and his last before the
holidays. Horace Walpole, who was still in his old
age a most keen observer of everything that passed
around him, has an entry as follows in his journal : —
'December 14, 1781. Another remarkable debate on
Army Estimates, in which Pitt made a speech with
amazing logical abilities, exceeding all he had hitherto
shown, and making men doubt whether he would not
prove superior even to Charles Fox.'
In this speech Mr. Pitt gave a surprising proof of the
readiness of debate which he had already acquired, or
I may rather say which he had from the first displayed.
Lord George Germaine had taken occasion two days
before to declare that, be the consequences what they
might, he would never consent to sign the independence
of the colonies. Lord North, on the contrary, had shown
strong symptoms of yielding. Pitt was inveighing with
1 Life of Romilly, by his Sons, vol. i. p. 192.

1782 READINESS OF DEBATE. 63
much force against these discordant counsels at so
perilous a juncture, when the two Ministers whom he
arraigned drew close and began to whisper, while Mr.
Welbore Ellis, a grey-haired placeman, of diminutive
size, the butt of Junius, under the by-name of Grildrig,
bent down his tiny head between them. Here Pitt
paused in his argument, and glancing at the group ex
claimed, ' I will wait until the unanimity is a little
better restored. I will wait until the Nestor of the
Treasury has reconciled the difference between the
Agamemnon and the Achilles of the American war.'
A few days later, Parliament adjourned for several
weeks of Christmas holiday. No sooner had it re
assembled than the Opposition resumed their attacks
with fresh spirit and success. Mr. Fox made the first
onset on the 24th of January, 1782: it was directed
against the Earl of Sandwich, as First Lord of the Ad
miralty. Pitt spoke several times to enforce these
charges, which were renewed in various forms.
' I support the motion,' he said, ' from motives of a
public nature, and from those motives only. I am too
young to be supposed capable of entertaining any per
sonal enmity against the Earl of Sandwich ; and I
trust that when I shall be less young it will appear that
I have early determined, in the most solemn manner,
never to allow any private and personal consideration
whatever to influence my public conduct at any one
moment of my life.'
It should be observed that these remarkable words
have been put on record, though not so stated, from
the personal testimony of Mr. Pretyman, who appears
to have been present in the gallery that evening. They
are not to be found in the corresponding passage of the
Parliamentary Debates.1
Lady Chatham having before that period returned
1 Compare Bishop Tomline's Life, vol. i. p. 52, with the Pari.
Hist. vol. xxii. p. 939. The Bishop has in like manner supplied some
expressions of Mr. Dunning in the same debate.

54 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT./ 1781-
to Hayes, there was probably scarce a week in which
she did not receive a visit from her son. His letters to
her during this spring are accordingly few and of little
interest. Here, however, are some extracts : —
Lincoln's Inn, Wednesday (Jan. 1782).
I am very unlucky in having been prevented by the
weather this morning from mounting my horse; and the
more so because fresh engagements arise every hour which
make it difficult for me to have the pleasure of looking at
you at Hayes. I thought it impossible that anything should
interfere with my intention to-morrow ; but (what is very
mal a propos, considering how seldom it has occurred) I
have some law business just now put into my hands, which
must be done without delay. March 9, 1782.
I came to town yesterday in time for a very good debate;
and a division which, though not victorious, is as encourag
ing as possible — 216 against 226, on a question leading
directly to removal, is a force that can hardly fail. Another
trial will be made in the course of the week, and probably
on Thursday, on which day I shall be able to attend without
much inconvenience. To-morrow morning I return to Salis
bury, and unluckily the hour at which I must set out will
not give me a chance of seeing you first. Knowing of some
little business that I shall be engaged in there, it is of im
portance to me to be in time. I trust to have the pleasure
of finding you here at my next glimpse of London.
Goostree's, half-past one (March 16, 1782).
After an excellent debate we have lost our question by a
division of 236 against 227, which is indeed everything but
a victory. It is not necessary that I should go through in de
tail the long series of able and vigorous attacks upon
the Government by which the Parliamentary annals of
this spring are distinguished. In several of them Mr.
Pitt took part with great applause. Sometimes the
Ministers underwent defeat, and sometimes they only
escaped it by most narrow majorities. Notwithstanding

1782 THE NEW MINISTRY. 55
the King's wishes and entreaties, their resignation
could be no longer deferred. It was announced on the
20th of March to the House of Commons by Lord North,
speaking, as ever, with excellent taste and temper ; and
the King, though coldly and ungraciously, consented to
accept the Marquis of Rockingham as his new Prime
Minister. In the distribution of offices which ensued it was
sought to combine both the parties in Opposition.
Mr. Fox and Lord Shelburne became joint Secretaries
of State, Lord Camden President, the Duke of Grafton
Privy Seal, and Lord John Cavendish Chancellor of
the Exchequer. He was recommended to that office
mainly by his name and rank ; but still, as to his mental
qualities, does not quite deserve to be called, as Lord
Brougham calls him, ' the most obscure of mankind.'
Lord Thurlow, whose energy had gained him both the
personal favour of the King and the political guidance
of the House of Peers, was continued Lord Chancellor.
Henry Dundas, in like manner, was continued Lord
Advocate. Burke was promoted to the lucrative office
of Paymaster, but not deemed worthy of' a seat in the
Cabinet. No more was Thomas Townshend, who ac
cepted the post of Secretary-at-War. Other rich offices
were bestowed on Barre and Dunning, the latter being
also shortly afterwards raised to the peerage as Lord
Ashburton. The son of Chatham was not included in the new
arrangements. Some ten days before Lord North had
announced his resignation, but while that resignation
was foreseen as close impending, Pitt had taken occa
sion, in the House of Commons, to use words to the
following effect : " For myself, I could not expect to
form part of a new administration ; but were my doing
so more within my reach, I feel myself bound to declare
that I never would accept a subordinate situation.'
Young as he was, he had determined that he would not"
be held as committed to measures in framing which he

56 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1781-
had no share. He had determined that he would serve
his Sovereign as a Cabinet Minister, or not at all.
Such a resolution is only to be justified by the con
sciousness and by the reputation of extraordinary
powers. Even at the present time such a resolution
might justly excite surprise, and be regarded as pre
sumptuous from a young man not yet twenty-three ;
but in the time of Pitt it must have seemed more sur
prising and more presumptuous still. The Cabinet was
then a much smaller body than at present. In 1770,
on the first formation of his Government, Lord North
made it of seven. In 1783, as we shall see hereafter,
Pitt himself made it of seven also. Admission to such
an assembly was of course a much higher distinction
than it could be to Cabinets of fourteen and sixteen ;
and some men even of the most powerful intellects, as
Burke and Sheridan, were never fo the end of their
lives invited to enter its doors.
It is said indeed that Pitt had no sooner sat down
than he felt he might have gone too far, and consulted
Admiral Keppel, who was next him, whether he should
not rise again and explain. This was told by Sir Robert
Adair to the Earl of Albemarle, as derived from Keppel
himself.1 All three authorities are entitled to high
respect ; yet it does not seem very likely that the deter
mination announced by Pitt could have been formed at
the spur of the moment, or could therefore have been
liable to so sudden a revulsion. The statement of
Bishop Tomline, on the contrary, implies that the de
termination of Pitt was deliberate, and not announced
till some days after it was formed.
Certain it is that Mr. Pitt showed no irresolution
when, upon the change of Government consequent on
Lord North's resignation, he had before him the choice
of several subordinate posts. These offers came to him
through his friend Lord Shelburne, for with Lord Rock
ingham he had no more than a slight acquaintance.
1 See the Memoirs of Lord Rockingham, vol. ii. p. 423.

1782 PARLIAMENTARY REFORM. 57
The Vice-Treasurership of Ireland was especially pressed
upon him. It was an office of light work and high pay,
the latter being computed at no less than 5,000L a-year.
It was an office to which Pitt might the rather incline
because bis father had formerly held it : but the young
barrister preferred his independence with chambers and
not quite 3001. a year.
Mr. Pitt did not evince the smallest displeasure or
resentment at his own omission from the highest rank
of offices. He jniblicly expressed, on several occasions,
his good_ opinion of the Government ; and he cheer
fully gave it his general support, while still pursuing
his own independent line.
The question to which, beyond any other at this
time, Mr. Pitt applied himself, was to amend the
representation of the people in the House of Commons.
Parliamentary Reform had followed close in the wake
of Economical Reform. The lavish expense and the
ill success of the American war in its concluding stages
led many persons to forget that the prosecution of that
war, even at such expense, had been for some years a
popular object with the country at large, as might be
amply shown by the avowal, at the time, of the Oppo
sition chiefs themselves. It was now on the contrary
contended, from the experience of the last fifteen or
twenty months, that the members for the close boroughs
had been the main strength on which the war party
relied. A cry against these boroughs rapidly arose, and
the cause of Parliamentary Reform was espoused with
great ardour by many persons — by no one with greater
than by the Rev. Christopher Wyvill, a clergyman of
an old family in Yorkshire. His ' Correspondence ' upon
this subject, which he subsequently published, extends
over six volumes and twenty years ; and affords the
best materials for the history, at that time, of a cause
not until long afterwards destined to prevail.
Under the influence of Mr. Wyvill and other
zealous party men, a general meeting of the friends of

58 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1781-
Parliamentary Reform was convened in London. It
was held at the house of the Duke of Richmond, who
was then Master of the Ordnance and a member of the
Cabinet in the new administration. Here it was de
termined that the question should be immediately sub
mitted to the House of Commons. Mr. Pitt was fixed
upon as the fittest person to bring it forward, and the
offer being made to him he undertook the task.
On the 7th of May, after the House bad been in due
form callecLerver— a practice at that time customary to
secure a^ull attendance — Pitt brought forward this great
question in a speech of considerable length. To com
bine in his support all classes of Reformers, he carefully
refrained, both in his speech and motion, from any
specific statement of a plan : he moved only for a Select
Committee to examine into the state of the representa
tion. With resolute boldness he inveighed against ' the
corrupt influence of the Crown — an influence which has
been pointed at in every period as the fertile source of
all our miseries — an influence which has been substi
tuted in the room of wisdom, of activity, of exertion,
and of success — an influence which has grown up with
our growth and strengthened with our strength, but
which unhappily has not diminished with our diminu
tion, nor decayed with our decay.' Such is one of
the very few sentences that can well be cited from the
abridged and most tame report of his animated speech ;
but in arguments, of which only the mere groundwork
is preserved, he declared himself the enemy of the close
^boroughs — the strongholds of that corruption of which
he had complained. He pointed out the great anomaly
(for an anomaly all must own it to be) that some de
cayed villages, almost destitute of population, should
send members to Parliament under the control of the
Treasury, or at the bidding of some great Lord or
Commoner, the owner of the soil ; and he asked em
phatically, ' Is this representation ? ' He further ap
pealed to the memory of a person of whom he said that

1782 SPEECH ON PARLIAMENTARY REFORM. 59
every member of the House could speak with more
freedom than himself; and he declared, as of his own
knowledge, that this person (I need scarcely say that
he referred to his father) — a person, he added, not apt
to indulge in vague or chimerical speculations incon
sistent with practice and expediency— had held the
opinion that unless a more solid and equal system of
representation were established, this nation, great and
happy as it might have been, would come to be con
founded in the mass of those whose liberties were lost
in the corruption of the people.
When Pitt sat down, as he did amidst loud applause,
a veteran reformer, Mr. Alderman Sawbridge, rose and
seconded the motion he had made.
The new Government was by no means united on this
question. The Duke of Richmond, for example, had
been among its first promoters. But the sentiments of
Lord Rockingham, so far as we can trace them through
the haze of faulty grammar and confused expressions
in his letter to Mr. Pemberton Milnes,1 were secretly
adverse. Those of Burke were openly hostile. It was
with some difficulty that Fox, who took the contrary
part, prevailed on him to stay away from the debate.
Fox himself spoke in favour of the motion ; so also did
Sheridan and Sir George Savile. On the other hand
Pitt found himself opposed by his cousin Thomas Pitt
of Boconnoc, who objected to the motion as too vague
and undefined ; by his coming friend, the Lord Advocate ;
by Rolle, the member for Devonshire ; and by several
besides. On dividing, the motion was lost by only
twenty votes in a House of more than three hundred
members, the numbers being 161 against 141. Lord
Macaulay has observed that the Reformers never again
had so good a division till the year 1831.
On the 17th of May a branch of the same subject was
again brought forward by Alderman Sawbridge, who pro-
1 As published by Lord Albemarle in his Memoirs of Lord Rock
ingham, vol. ii. p. 395.

60 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1781-
posed a Bill ' to shorten the duration of Parliaments.'
Both Fox and Pitt spoke in favour of the motion, but it
was rejected by a large majority. Mr. Burke could not
be withheld from taking part in this debate or from re
verting to the former question. Thus in a private letter
to a friend in Ireland does Sheridan describe the scene :
' On Friday last Burke acquitted himself with the most
magnanimous indiscretion, attacked William Pitt in a
scream of passion, and swore Parliament was and always
had been precisely what it ought to be, and that all
people who thought of reforming it wanted to over
turn the Constitution.' ¦
On the 1 9th of JuneMr. Pitt spoke with much warmth
and ability in support of a Bill which had been intro
duced by Lord Mahon for preventing bribery at elections.
Mr. Fox, though with many expressions of courtesy to
Pitt, took the opposite side, 'and this,' says Bishop
Tomline, ' was, I believe, the first question upon which
they happened to differ before any separation took place
between them. I must, however, remark that although
they had hitherto acted together in Parliament, there
had been no intimacy or confidential intercourse be
tween them.' 2
In Committee on this Bill, Lord Mahon consented to
give up several points in the hope to render the measure
more palatable to the House. Thus he struck out the
words that forbade candidates to hire horses or carriages
for the conveyance of voters to the poll. But the clause
still provided that the money for this purpose should
not be paid to the elector on any account whatever,
under the penalties of disfranchisement for ever of the
elector, and of incapacity to the candidate of sitting in
that Parliament. Mr. Pitt supported this clause, which
Mr. Fox and other gentlemen thought too severe, and
on a division it was rejected by a majority of 26. ' This
1 See the Memorials of Fox, edited by Lord John Russell, vol. i.
p. 322. 2 Life of Pitt, vol. i. p. 81.

1782 DEATH OF LORD ROCKINGHAM. 61
incapacitating clause contained,' said Lord Mahon, ' the
very pith and marrow of my Bill,' which, thus mutilated,
he declined any further to proceed with.
On the 25th of June both Fox and Pitt spoke in sup
port of a motion which was levelled at Lord North and
his colleagues. It was to direct the payment into the
Exchequer of the balances remaining in the hands of
Mr. Rigby, late Paymaster of the Forces, and of Mr.
Ellis, late Treasurer of the Navy. The motion was
opposed by Lord North, and rejected by a majority
of" 11, showing how powerful was still the party of the
late administration in the House of Commons.
During the three months that had elapsed since
the late administration fell, vehement differences had
already arisen in the new. The Chancellor was on ill
terms with most of his colleagues, and was suspected of
caballing against them. Fox and Shelburne, as joint
Secretaries of State, were jealous of each other, and the
more so since the line between their departments had
not been accurately drawn. The negotiations for peace
were no easy task. The affairs of Ireland had grown
to be most critical, and could not be adjusted without
some conflict of opinion. So early as mid-April we find
Fox in one of his private letters complain of ' another
very teasing and wrangling Cabinet.' l
To quell these dissensions among his colleagues there
was needed a man of energy as Premier. Lord Rock
ingham, on the contrary, with the best intentions, was
on every point timid, feeble, indecisive. It seems im
possible that he could have much longer kept together
the jarring elements that were, at least nominally, com
mitted to his charge ; but in the course of June he fell
sick, and on the 1st of July he died.
The Cabinet at once fell asunder. His Majesty sent
for Lord Shelburne and offered him the vacant post of
First Lord of the Treasury. Lord Shelburne accepted
the offer. Most of the other Ministers acquiesced in it,
1 Menurrials, by Lord John Russell, vol. i. p. 315.

62 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1781-
but Fox was fully determined not to bear the dominion
of his rival. He leagued himself with his chosen friend
Lord John Cavendish, the Chancellor of the Exchequer,
and they both came to the conclusion that the fittest
man for Prime Minister was Lord John's brother by
marriage, the Duke of Portland, at that time Lord
Lieutenant of Ireland. Portland was in all points the
very counterpart of Rockingham. Like him he was a
man of high birth, of princely fortune, of honourable
character, of nervous shyness, and of very moderate
abilities. It was plainly designed that Fox's own pre
eminent abilities should govern the country under his
Grace's name.
In fulfilment of their resolution Fox and Cavendish
proceeded to press upon the King the nomination of the
Duke of Portland to the Treasury. But the King saw
no reason to revoke his appointment of Lord Shelburne,
and on His Majesty's refusal the two Ministers resigned.
They were followed by the Duke of Portland from
Dublin Castle, as also by Burke, Sheridan, and some
few others from the lower ranks of office, and they
continued to be supported by a considerable body of
adherents in the House of Commons.
But from the public they obtained little sympathy.
The resignation of Fox was in general regarded as
indefensible on any public grounds. Among his inde
pendent friends many of the most high-minded disap
proved it. Such was especially the case with Sir George
Savile. It seemed to carry out to their worst extreme
the oligarchical principles at that time of the great
Whig houses. Was it to be borne in a free country that
no man but the heir of some one of these houses should
ever be deemed fit for the highest place in public
affairs? And there was another circumstance which,
as Horace Walpole remarks in one of his letters of this
date, added not a little to the ridicule of this preten
sion. ' It is not merely,' he says, ' that a few great
families claim the hereditary and exclusive right of

1782 APPOINTED CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER. 63
giving us a head, but they will insist upon selecting a
head without a tongue ! '
Fortified as he hoped by popular opinion, but
exposed to unfavourable chances in the House of
Commons, the new Prime Minister proceeded to fill
up the vacant offices. Earl Temple, the first cousin
of Pitt, was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland,
with his brother William Grenville as Chief Secretary.
The seals of Secretary of State, as relinquished by Fox
and Shelburne, were entrusted to Thomas Townshend
and Lord Grantham. The place of Chancellor of the
Exchequer was offered to Pitt, and by him accepted.
And thus did Pitt attain one of the highest offices of
Government only a few weeks after he had completed
the age of twenty-three.
In the new administration the leadership of the
House of Commons was nominally vested in the senior
member, Mr. Secretary Townshend ; but it was Pitt on
whom Lord Shelburne relied to confront the great
orators ranged in the Opposition ranks ; and in fact, as
appeared in the sequel, it was Pitt who took the pro
minent part in every debate.
The Parliament was quickly prorogued after a day
of Ministerial explanations in both Houses. In the
Commons, Pitt, whose writ was not yet moved, whose
appointment even was not yet announced, was able to
take part in the debate, and there was now for the
first time an altercation conducted with some keenness
between him and Fox. ' The late Right Hon. Secre
tary,' said the young orator, ' is to be looked upon as
public property, and as such I have a right to question
him as to his conduct in resigning an important post.
... It was in my opinion a dislike to men, and not to
measures ; and there appears to be something personal
in the business ; for if the Right Hon. gentleman had
such an aversion as he now professes to the political
sentiments of Lord Shelburne, how came he, only three
months ago, to accept him as a colleague ? '

64 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1781-
In the other House Lord Shelburne defended the
stand which he had made against the dictation of Fox
and Cavendish, by his adherence to the maxims of one
whom he called his master in politics, the late Earl of
Chatham. ' That noble Earl,' he said, ' always declared
that the country ought not to be governed by any
oligarchical party or family connection, and that if
it was to be so governed, the Constitution must of
necessity expire. And on these principles,' added Shel
burne, 'I have always acted.'
The familiar letters of Mr. Pitt to his mother will
best portray his feelings and conduct at this time and
for some time afterwards. I shall either insert them at
length or extract from them, as usual, all passages of
interest, and with these extracts the present chapter
shall conclude. Lincoln's Inn, June 27, 1782.
My brother tells me he has mentioned to you that Lord
Rockingham is ill, which is unfortunately in the way of any
thing more at present ; but Lord S. told me yesterday that
Lord R. had expressed himself as wishing to do something
that might give you a security for the future. You are very
good in thinking of communicating any share of what I am
sure your own occasions may demand entire ; mine are not
so pressing but that they will wait very tolerably at present;
and I shall expect that Westminster Hall will, in good time,
supply all that is wanting.
The Circuit begins on Tuesday sennight. I hope to call
in my way westward, if not certainly in my return ; and I
shall undoubtedly be able to make some stay after it is over,
though my plan for the remainder of the summer is not
quite settled. I hope Mrs. Stapleton is by this time added
to your society, and as well as usual. My brother, I believe,
has not informed you of a match of which the world here is
certain, but of which he assures me he knows nothing, be
tween himself and the beauty in Albemarle Street.1 There
1 Mary Elizabeth, daughter of the Right Hon. Thomas Towns
hend. The match in question did not take place for upwards of a
year.

1782 LETTERS TO HIS MOTHER. 65
is no late public news ; but our fleet is, I believe, sailing,
which will probably furnish some very important. Lord
Rockingham's very precarious state occasions a great deal of
suspense, and if it ends ill, may, I am afraid, produce a great
deal of confusion. Whether that may not happen any way
is indeed more than one can be sure of as things stand.
Tuesday, July 2, 1782.
My Dear Mother, — I am much obliged to you for your
letter, but very sorry to think that the unavoidable engage
ment which produced the interval in my letters left you in
that state of suspense which distance too naturally produces. I
hope you will have received at the due time the letter I wrote
last Saturday. After what I then mentioned, it will not be
a surprise to you to hear that the event of Lord Rocking
ham's death took place yesterday morning. What the con
sequences of it will be to the public cannot yet quite be fore
seen. With regard to myself, I believe the arrangement
may be of a sort in which I may, and probably ought to take
a part. If I do, I think I need not say you pretty well
know the principles on which I shall do it. In this short
time nothing is settled, and I only saw what were the
strong wishes of some who foresaw the event. But how
different pretensions will be adjusted is a matter of great
uncertainty. As soon as I am able to let you know parti
culars, I will do it by a safer conveyance, and give you
notice. You will not wonder if I write in some haste. I
am very glad to hear that Harriot is better.
The business depending will probably be settled one way
or other before I need decide about the Circuit.
I am, my dear Mother, &c, W. Pitt.
My poor servant John has had a violent attack of his
old complaint, which has been of a very serious nature. He
is getting better, and I hope in a good way, though still
very ill. I think he seems very much to wish to see his
wife, though he does not care directly to send for her. But
I believe if you would have the goodness to send her up by
the coach, and furnish what is wanting for her journey, it
would be a great comfort to him, as he will, I fear, in no
case be quite well a good while. I have got a servant that
will do in his stead for the present.
VOL. I. F

66 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1781-

Friday, July 5, 1782.
You will, I am sure, be impatient to hear something
more from me. Things begin to be pretty near settled, and
on the whole I hope well for the country, though not pre
cisely as one would have wished. Fox has chosen to resign,
on no ground that I can learn but Lord Shelburne being
placed at the Treasury. Lord J. Cavendish also quits,
which is not surprising, as he accepted at first merely on
Lord Rockingham's account. Other inferior changes will
take place in some departments ; but the bulk stand firm.
My lot will be either at the Treasury as Chancellor of the
Exchequer, or in the Home department as Secretary of
State. The arrangement cannot be finally settled till to
morrow or next day, but everything promises as well as
possible in such circumstances. Mr. Townshend certainly
makes part of this fresh arrangement, and probably in a
more forward post, which is to me an infinite satisfaction.
Lord Shelbume's conduct is everything that could be wished.
Parliament adjourns in a day or two, and httle or nothing
can pass there till next Session. The principal thing I shall
have to regret will be the probability of this delaying my
having the happiness of seeing you ; though I trust it will
not do that for the whole summer.
I have written in great haste, and at first with a view
to the post ; but I believe it will become more the discre
tion which I must now have about me not to send it by
that conveyance. I forgot to say that Mr. J. Grenville
either continues in his present situation or takes a new one ;
perfectly disapproving of the step Fox has taken. This I
am sure you will be glad to hear.

Grafton Street, July 16, 1782.
Our new Board of Treasury has just begun to enter on
business ; and though I do not know that it is of the most
entertaining sort, it does not seem likely to be very fati
guing. In all other respects my situation satisfies, and
more than satisfies me, and I think promises everything
that is agreeable. . . . Lord North will, I hope, in a
very Httle while make room for me in Downing Street,
which is the best summer town house possible.

1782 LETTERS TO HIS MOTHER. 67
Grafton Street, July 30, 1782.
I am not able to tell whether I can succeed as I wish
for your Welsh friend. Of all the secrets of my office I have
in this short time learnt the least about patronage. I rather
believe this branch belongs almost entirely to the First
Lord, though certainly recommendations will have their
weight there. I think I need not say that I will try as far
as I can with propriety. Harriot's request, or rather her
neighbour's (for I certainly do not charge Harriot with be
ing too pressing a solicitor), is, I am afraid, of a sort which
I cannot much forward ; but I will consider whether I can
do anything, and let her know. In the meantime she may
be perfectly assured that I am not yet so tired of being
asked as to take it very ill of her to have been the channel
of it. I expect to be comfortably settled in the course of
this week in a part of my vast, awkward house.
Grafton Street, Aug. 10, 1782.
I must certainly plead guilty to the charges you have to
make against me as a correspondent, which, however, I hope
you will have less cause for in future. At the same time,
though I am very far from pretending never to have an
hour of leisure, you may imagine that business may some
times come at such a time as to prevent writing, or at least
to prevent writing with great accuracy. I had understood
before from Lord Shelburne the substance of what you men
tion out of his letter to you, which is certainly on the whole
very favourable ; and as I am sure he will not be disposed
to lose any time in the business, I have no sort of doubt
that you will soon perceive the good effect.1
My secretary, whom you wish to know, is a person whose
name you may probably never have heard, a Mr. Belling-
ham, an army friend of my brother. You will wonder at a
secretary from the army ; but as the office is a perfect sine
cure, and has no duty but that of receiving about four hun
dred a year, no profession is unfit for it. I have not yet
any private secretary, nor do I perceive, at least as yet, any
occasion for it.

1 As regarded the payment of arrears in Lady Chatham's pension.
p 2

68 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1781-
Downing Street, Sept. 5, 1782.
I have not had so much of a Hayes life as you seem to
imagine, as I have been able to go there but for two nights
this fortnight. I hope to be able to steal a few days before
long for shooting, though I find the vacation by no means a
recess from business. I wish I could see a prospect of its
allowing me to look in upon you at Burton.
Downing Street, Sept. 12, 1782.
I am much obliged to you for your letter, which I re
ceived yesterday on my return from Cheveley, where I had
been for two days. A short visit for such a distance ; but
as my brother was going there, I thought it worth the exer
tion, and it was very well repaid by a great deal of air and
exercise in shooting, and the finest weather in the world.
The finest part of all indeed is a fine east wind, which, as
the fleet is just sailed for Gibraltar, is worth everything. I
assure you I do not forget the lessons I have so long followed,
of riding in spite of business ; though I indeed want it less
than ever, as I was never so perfectly well. All I have to
do now is to be done quite at my own hours, being merely
to prepare for the busy season ; which is very necessary to
be done, but which at the same time is not a close confine
ment. We are labouring at all sorts of official reform, for
which there is a very ample field, and in which I believe we
shall have some success. Sunday (Dec. 1782).
The Gibraltar business, I reckon, stands fairer since our
last debate; but I shall not be sorry if, finally, it does not
come in question at the conclusion of the treaty, of which
there is some chance.
I shall be impatient to receive orders at the Treasury on
a subject where I cannot well be the first to give them.1
1 The settlement of Lady .Chatham's arrears.

1782 69

CHAPTER III.
1782-1783.
Acknowledgment of American independence — Proposed cession of
Gibraltar — Preliminary treaties with France and Spain — Con
ference between Pitt and Fox — Coalition of Fox and North —
Defeat of Lord Shelburne — Pitt's great speech in vindication of
the Peace — Resignation of Lord Shelburne — Pitt refuses the
offer of the Treasury — Resigns office of Chancellor of the
Exchequer — Duke of Portland's Ministry — Pitt in private life —
Again brings forward Parliamentary Reform, but is defeated —
Prince of Wales — Marriage of Lord Chatham.
As the autumn advanced, and the period for the re
assembling of Parliament drew near, the new Ministers
became more and more impressed with the difficulties
which they might expect in the House of Commons.
It seemed most desirable that they should endeavour
to gain strength from the ranks of Opposition. The
Opposition at that time consisted, as we have seen,
of two parties, as yet wholly unconnected and wide
asunder — the party of Mr. Fox and the party of Lord
North, and with either of these a junction might per
haps be made. On that point, however, the wishes of
the First Lord of the Treasury and of his Chancellor
of the Exchequer were by no means the same. Lord
Shelburne, as was natural, resented the violence of Fox
against himself, and inclined far rather to a coalition
with Lord North. But Pitt positively declared that
nothing should induce him to concur in this last scheme.
He retained his strong aversion to the conduct of the
American war, and to its authors, but was willing and
desirous to rejoin those who, like Fox, had been united
with him in opposing that war and in hurling Lord
North from power.
The wishes of Pitt in this direction were earnestly
•supported by several other members of the Cabinet,
as by General Conway and by Admiral, now Viscount,

70 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1782-
Keppel. They had long been adherents of Fox ; and,
though continuing in office, chafed at their separation
from him. But the repugnance of Lord Shelburne was
as yet unconquerable. Amidst these jarring counsels
the time went on to the meeting of Parliament : no
resolution was taken, and no overtures in any quarter
were made.
The meeting of Parliament had been fixed for the
26th of November. It was further prorogued to the 5th
of the following month, in hopes that the peace might
meanwhile be concluded. Provisional articles with
America, to be hereafter inserted in a treaty of peace,
were indeed signed at Paris on the 30th of November. By
these the revolted colonies were in explicit words acknow
ledged ; but the terms with France and Spain were
found to require much longer time for their adjustment.
On these there was also a material disagreement among
the Ministers. Lord Shelburne was desirous of yield
ing Gibraltar to the Spaniards, receiving in return
Porto Rico or some other West India island. Lord
Keppel, the Duke of Grafton, and several more mem
bers of the Cabinet, were warmly opposed to this ex
change. We learn from a cautious passage — the last in
my preceding chapter— of Pitt's letters to his mother,
that Pitt himself was among the Ministers who stood
firm against Lord Shelburne's project, and who finally
prevailed.1 It may be suspected that, on account of this twofold
difference — as to the junction with Fox and as to the
exchange of Gibraltar — the cordiality between the
Chancellor of the Exchequer and his chief had become
a little impaired.
It would seem that through the autumn Lord North
among his friends had talked much — and as some of
1 An extract from the'.MS. Memoirs of the Duke of Grafton, giving
a full account of the dissensions in the Cabinet relative to Gibraltar,
has been already published by me in the Appendix, p. xxvi., to the
seventh volume of my History of England.

1783 AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE. 71
them thought, too much — of ' absence, neutrality, mo
deration.' 1 When the two Houses met on the 5th of
December, he appeared in his place and spoke with great
temper and forbearance. But nothing could exceed the
vehemence of Burke and Fox. Burke especially, who in
the explanations of July last, had called Lord Shelburne
' a Borgia and a Catiline,' now inveighed against his
' duplicity and delusion,' and compared him to a serpent
with two heads ! Some discrepancy there certainly was
to complain of in the explanations of the Ministers.
In the House of Peers Lord Shelburne had said that
thfe acknowledgment of American independence under
the Provisional Articles was only contingent and con
ditional ; while in the Commons both Pitt and Conway
declared that, in their judgment, this acknowledgment
must be regarded as positive and final.
The first part of this Session, which commenced on
the 5th of December, was soon interrupted by the approach
of the Christmas holidays, and the Parliament was
adjourned for one month. There had been already
some very keen debates. In all these Pitt had taken
the lead on the part of Government, and had main
tained the contest, on no unequal terms, with the great
orators of the Opposition ; and it deserves to be noted
— so natural is the supremacy of genius in popular
assemblies — that he had taken this chief part without
giving any offence to his nominal leader, Mr. Secretary
Townshend. That gentleman — once his father's friend,
as now his own — continued to act with him on most
cordial terms.
during these short holidays we find Pitt, in the
following note, summon Lord Mahon to London, pro
bably to concert with him a measure on Parliamentary
Reform. Downing Street : Dec. 28, 1782.
My dear Lord, — I am in great hopes you will be able to
come directly to town. This is just the time in which we
1 Letter of Gibbon to Holroyd, Oct. 14, 1782.

72 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1782-
must fix on something ; and, I think, in a day or two we
could go through all the necessary discussion before any
practical steps are taken. Yours most affectionately,
e F W. Pitt.
The preliminary treaties with France and Spain (for
with Holland there as yet was only a truce concluded)
being at last brought to an adjustment, were signed at
Paris on the 20th of January, 1783, On the 27th they
were carried down to both Houses of Parliament — to
the Peers by Lord Grantham, to the Commons by his
brother Secretary, Townshend. Ample time was left
for their consideration, the Addresses to the King in
reply being fixed for the 17th of the ensuing month.
It has been admitted by nearly all the writers on
that point in the present century that the conditions of
these treaties were to the full as favourable as, with
such vast odds against us, we had any right to expect
or to demand. To the Americans we conceded only
the independence which, in fact, they had already won.
We gave back to the French Chandernagore and
Pondicherry, the settlement of Senegal, and the island
of St. Lucia* We gave back to the Spaniards Minorca
and both the Floridas. But we retained our Indian
empire, that mighty counterpoise to the colonies which
we lost on another continent. We retained the rock
of Gibraltar, against which the two great Bourbon
monarchies had tried their strength in vain. And, as
Lord Macaulay with much force observes, England
preserved even her dignity, for she ceded to the House
of Bourbon only part of what she had conquered from
that House in previous wars.
At the time, however, such considerations were by
no means duly weighed. No sooner were the terms
of the treaties divulged than considerable murmurs
arose. The necessity of such concessions was already
half forgotten, while the concessions themselves rose
full in view. Even those who had most loudly de
nounced ' a ruinous war ' showed equal force of lungs

1783 TREATIES WITH FRANCE AND SPAIN. 73
in crying out against ' a ruinous peace.' Under such
circumstances the Cabinet found it far from easy to
frame the Addresses to be moved in both Houses,
and to express at least a qualified approval of the
treaties. ' We agreed,' so writes the Duke of Grafton
in his manuscript Memoirs, ' that no triumphant words
could be carried or ought to be proposed. Those which
pleased most were the most moderate, and such were
adopted.' At the time when the treaties were brought down
to Parliament the administration of Lord Shelburne was
nearly rent asunder by divisions. Already had Keppel
retired from the Admiralty, and Richmond ceased to
attend the meetings of the Cabinet. Other changes
soon ensued. Grafton and Conway expressed them
selves as much dissatisfied, and Lord Carlisle threw up
his office of Lord Steward.
Thus estranged in great part from his colleagues,
and pressed by the want of a majority in Parliament
to approve the treaties, Lord Shelburne gave way at
last to the earnest representations of Pitt. He reluct
antly agreed that Fox and his friends should be invited
to re-enter the service of the Crown. Certain it is
that, so late as February, 1783, such a junction might
have been effected without the smallest sacrifice of
public principle on either side. Pitt at once availed
himself of this authority. He called upon Fox by ap
pointment at Fox's house, but the conference between
them was not a long one. No sooner had Fox heard the
object of the visit, than he asked whether it was intended
that Lord Shelburne should remain First Lord of the
Treasury. Pitt answered in the affirmative. 'It is
impossible for me,' Fox rejoined, 'to belong to any ad
ministration of which Lord Shelburne is the head.'
' Then we need discuss the matter no further,' said Pitt ;
' I did not come here to betray Lord Shelburne ; ' and so
saying he took his leave. Bishop Tomline adds to the
account which he has given of this interview, 'This

74 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1782-
was, I believe, the last time Mr. Pitt was in a private
room with Mr. Fox, and from this period may be dated
that political hostility which continued through the re
mainder of their lives.' J
In another direction some active steps were taken of
his own accord by Henry Dundas, who, under the ad
ministration of Lord Shelburne, besides continuing Lord
Advocate of Scotland, filled the office of Treasurer of the
Navy. He had several conferences with William Adam,
a confidential friend of Lord North. ' There is no longer
any prospect,' he said, ' none at least for the present,
that there will be any overture for a coalition to Lord
North from the present Ministry. Lord Shelburne and
I have pushed it, but we could not get the other Minis
ters to agree to it. . . . If Lord Shelburne resigns, Fox
and Pitt may yet come together and dissolve Parlia
ment, and there will be an end of Lord North. I see
no means of preventing this but Lord North's support
of the Address.' And at parting he said again, ' Nothing
will answer but an absolute, unconditional support.'
The object of Dundas in these hints was to alarm
Lord North into compliance. But he had overshot the
mark. Lord North was on the contrary roused into
resentment, and altogether demurred to such a peremp
tory tone. In this altered mood of the late Prime
Minister, and with the unabated hostility of Fox, it
was plain, taking into account the public temper of the
time, that were these two great party leaders to league
themselves together, they might certainly command a
majority against the Government on the conditions of
the peace.
To this combination, however, there were, or there
1 Life of Pitt, vol. i. p. 89. From the narrative of the Bishop
it might at first sight be inferred that the interview between Fox
and Pitt took place towards the close of the yea1- 1782 ; but the
exact date was February 11, 1783, as appears both from a letter of
William Grenville (Courts and Cabinets of George III., vol. i. p.
148) and a statement of Henry Dundas (Fox Memorials, vol. ii.
p. 33.)

1783 INTERVIEW BETWEEN FOX AND NORTH. 75
should have been, the strongest obstacles upon both
sides. No two statesmen could be more estranged from
each other in thought, word, or deed. Not only had
Fox during many years opposed all the measures of
Lord North's administration, but he had exhausted
against him personally the whole vocabulary of invec
tive ; he had pronounced him ' void of honour and
honesty;' he had thundered for his condign punishment;
he had declared, and this but eleven months before, that
he would rest satisfied to be called ' the most infamous
of mankind ' could he for a moment think of making
terms with such a man.1 North, on his part, though in
gentler terms, had no less for many years arraigned
and denounced the principles of Fox. Yet now, as the
overthrow of Lord Shelburne rose before them as a
tempting prize, these two eminent men, in an evil hour
for their own fame, were gradually drawn together. The
secret agent and channel of communication at the out
set was on Lord North's side his eldest son, George
North, whose own leanings were to the Whigs. There
was also on that side William Eden, who some months
since had been Chief Secretary in Ireland, and was now
perhaps a little impatient for another office. On Fox's
part may be mentioned especially his kinsman and
close friend Colonel Fitzpatrick, and another of his
friends, John Townshend.
The first interview between Fox and North took
place on the 14th of February, at the house of Mr. George
North. Both the statesmen showed a frank and manly
temper. They agreed to treat Reform of Parliament as
an open question between them. They agreed to lay
aside all former animosity, Fox declaring that he hoped
their administration would be founded on mutual good
will and confidence, which was the only thing that could
make it permanent and useful. They also agreed to
oppose the Address upon the Peace, and Lord North
drew up the amendment to be moved by Lord John
1 See his speech in the House of Commons of March 5, 1782.

76 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1782-
Cavendish. This amendment went no further than to
reserve to the House the right at a later period of dis
approving the terms ; but there was also another clause
expressing the regard of Parliament for the American
loyalists which was less likely to be palatable to the
Whigs, and which therefore Lord North himself under
took to move in a separate form.
Meanwhile Lord Shelburne finding that he had
nothing to hope from Fox, had determined to apply
to Lord North, even though aware that this step, if it
succeeded, would cost him the secession of Pitt from
office. It was settled that Rigby, as a personal friend
of Lord North, should go to him and propose an inter
view with Shelburne, The veteran jobber, whetted by
the appetite of office, waited accordingly on the late
Prime Minister ; but by that time Lord North had con
cluded his treaty with Fox, and he therefore replied to
Rigby in few words, 'I cannot meet Lord Shelburne
now. It is too late.'
According to notice the Address upon the Peace was
moved in both Houses on the 17th of February. In the
Lords it was carried by 69 votes against 55. In the
Commons it was moved by Mr. Thomas Pitt, while at
the special request of William, his friend Wilberforce
stood forth as seconder. Lord John Cavendish then
moved his amendment, not soaring in his speech above
his usual mediocrity. But both North and Fox put
forth all their powers. Already was the rumour rife of
their confederacy, giving rise to no small amount of
reprobation. Fox avowed it only so far as the vote of
that evening was concerned, but defended it on broader
grounds. ' It is not in my nature,' he said, ' to bear
malice or live in ill will ; my friendships are perpetual,
my enmities not so.' In support of the Government
Townshend was clear and full, Dundas acrimonious and
able. Pitt, who did not rise till four o'clock, could pro
duce no strong impression on an exhausted House. But
he was himself exhausted, and his speech was not good.

1783 DEFEAT OF LORD SHELBURNE. 77
' There were perhaps few occasions,' says Bishop Tom
line, ' upon which he spoke with less effect.'
In one passage of this speech which was in reply to
Sheridan, Pitt dealt severely with what he called his
dramatic turns and his epigrammatic points. These he
advised Sheridan rather to reserve for the stage, where
they would always obtain, as they always deserved, the
plaudits of the audience. This taunt was unworthy both
of the man and of the occasion, and exposed Pitt to the
severest retort that he ever in bis life received; for
Sheridan sprang on his feet again, as he declared ' only
to explain,' and with admirable wit and readiness said,
' If ever I again engage in those compositions to which
the Right Hon. gentleman has in such flattering terms
referred, I may be tempted to an act of presumption.
I may be encouraged by his praises to try an improve
ment on one of Ben Jonson's best characters in the
play of " The Alchymist " — the Angry Boy ! '
At length a little before seven in the morning the
keen orations ended, the impatient numbers were
arrayed, and the combined Oppositions were found to
prevail by a majority of sixteen.
Before he retired to bed that morning Mr. Pitt found
time for a hasty note. Downing Street,
Tuesday morning, quarter before Seven,
(Feb. 18, 1783.)
My dear Mother, — You are, I hope, enough used to such
things in the pohtical world as changes not to be much sur
prised at the result of our business in the House of Com
mons. An amendment was moved on our Address, expung
ing all commendation of the peace, and the two standards of
Lord North and Fox produced 224 against us, 208 for us.
This I think decisive. It comes rather sooner than I
imagined, though certainly not quite unexpected. We shall
at least leave the field with honour. I am just going to bed,
and am perfectly well in spite of fatigue.
Your ever dutiful W. Pitt.

78 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1782-
Notwithstanding this great defeat Lord Shelburne
did not at once resign. He had some vague hopes of
still maintaining his position, and determined at all
events to expect a second blow. He had not long to
wait. So early .as the 21st Lord John Cavendish brought
forward another string of Resolutions pledging the
House to preserve inviolate the terms of the peace,
but declaring that its concessions were too large. The
debate which ensued has not often been surpassed in
interest. By that time the new Coalition was openly
avowed, and as one of its main authors, Colonel Fitz-
patrick, confesses in a private letter, was universally
cried out against. Two independent members, Thomas
Powys, member for Northamptonshire, and Sir Cecil
Wray, who had long been followers of Fox, rose in
succession to denounce the ' unnatural alliance.' Many
others who could not speak could at least mutter and
growl. Fox had not much to say in defence of his own
consistency, but that little he said to the best advantage,
and he endeavoured to vindicate the Coalition on public
grounds, while adverting to the loss of his friends in
manly and becoming terms.
If, as may be thought, Pitt had lost some ground in
the debate of the 17 th, he much more than retrieved
that ground in the debate of the 21st. That second
speech in its energy and eloquence surpassed any other
that he had yet delivered, and must be ranked among
the very highest oratorical achievements of his life.
Rising immediately after Fox he thus began : —
'Revering, Sir, as I do the great abilities of the
Right Honourable gentleman who spoke last, I lament
in common with the House when those abilities are mis
employed, as on the present question, to inflame the
imagination and mislead the judgment. I am told, Sir,
" he does not envy me the triumph of my situation this
day," a sort of language which becomes the candour of
that Honourable gentleman as ill as his present princi
ples. The triumphs of party, Sir, with which this self-

1783 PITT'S GREAT SPEECH. 79
appointed Minister seems so highly elate, shall never
seduce me to any inconsistency which the busiest sus
picion shall presume to glance at. I will never engage
in political enmities without a public cause. I will
never forego such enmities without the public appro
bation, nor will I be questioned and cast off in the face
of this House by one virtuous and dissatisfied friend.'
From this introduction Pitt proceeded to what still
remains by far the most able and convincing among the
many vindications of the peace. ' But, Sir,' he said, ' I
fear I have too long engaged your attention to no real
purpose. . For I will not hesitate to surmise, from the
obvious complexion of this night's debate, that it has
arisen rather in a desire to force the Earl of Shelburne
from the Treasury, than in any real conviction that
Ministers deserve censure for the concessions they have
made. ... Of the Earl of Shelburne I will say that his
merits are as much above my panegyric as the arts to
which he owes his defamation are below my notice. . . .
I repeat then that it is not this treaty, it is the Earl of
Shelburne alone whom the movers of this question are
desirous to wound. This is the object which has raised
this storm of faction — this is the aim of the unnatural
Coalition to which I have alluded. If, however, the
baneful alliance is not already formed, if this ill-omened
marriage is not already solemnized, I know a just and
lawful impediment, and in the name of the public safety
I here forbid the Banns ! '
Of Lord North in particular the son of Chatham
spoke in terms to the full as bitter as Chatham had ever
used. ' In short, Sir, whatever appears dishonourable or
inadequate in this peace is strictly chargeable to the
Noble Lord in the blue riband, whose profusion of the
public money, whose notorious temerity and obstinacy
in prosecuting the war which originated in his pernicious
and oppressive policy, and whose utter incapacity to fill
the station he occupied, rendered a peace of any de
scription indispensable to the preservation of the State.'

80 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1782-
To the memory of Chatham Pitt appealed with reverent
affection. ' My earliest impressions were in favour of
the noblest and most disinterested modes of serving
the public ; these impressions are still dear, and will, I
hope, remain for ever dear to my heart ; I will cherish
them as a legacy infinitely more valuable than the
richest inheritance.' And the great orator (for so we
may already term him) concluded with some lines of
Horace expressing a thought not less lofty than his
own. ' Laudo manentem ; si celeres quatit
Pennas resigno quse dedit —
 probamque
Pauperiem sine dote quasro.' '
The speech of Pitt on this occasion may be regarded
as by far the greatest piece of oratory delivered either
in ancient or in modern times by any man under twenty-
five. Its exact length was of two hours and three-
quarters ; and some persons who could find no other
fault with it were inclined to blame it as too long.
Marvellous as it appears when we consider the speaker's
age, we must deem it more marvellous still on learning
the circumstances of ill health under which he spoke.8
Rising after Pitt, Lord North, assailed as he had
been, and provoked as he might be, did not lose his
customary candour, but began by a tribute of just praise
to the ' amazing eloquence ' of the last speaker. To Fox,
as his new ally, he referred in frank and becoming
terms : ' In the early part of that gentleman's career,
1 Horat. Carm. lib. iii. 29. Bishop Tomline relates that, being
under the gallery while Mr. Pitt delivered this speech, a young man,
afterwards a distinguished member of Opposition, turned round to
him and asked eagerly, ' Why did he omit " Et me& virtute me
involvo " ? ' An omission, adds the Bishop, generally considered as
marking the modesty and good sense of Mr. Pitt.
2 ' Pitt's famous speech. . . . Stomach disordered, and actually
holding Solomon's Porch door open with one hand while vomiting
during Fox's speech, to whom he was to reply.' — Wilberforce's
Diary, &c. (Life, vol. i. p. 26). ' Solomon's Porch ' was the portico
behind the old House of Commons.

1783 LORD NORTH'S SPEECH. 81
when I had the happiness to possess his friendship, I
knew that he was manly, open, and sincere. As an enemy
I have always found him formidable, and a person of
most extraordinary talents, to whatever Minister he may
beopposed. But in proportion "as 1 had reason to
dread- Elm while his principles were adverse to mine,
now that they are congenial we shall, with the greater
certainty of success, unite with one mind and one heart
in the cause of our common country. And let me hail
it as an auspicious circumstance in our country's favour,
that those who were divided by her hostilities are ce
mented by her peace.'
Lord North then proceeded to give grounds for his
belief that the resources of America were reduced to
the lowest ebb :¦ — ' In Monday's debate I asked, — if
Congress are unable to raise a farthing to carry on a
war in the heart of their own country, is it to be sup
posed that their contributions would be either liberal
or cheerful for extending their hostilities to a foreign
one ? I have had an opportunity since of satisfying
myself more fully of the fact, and I find my information
to be authentic in every respect. In most of the States
they have refused to pay the tax levied by Congress for
the service of the war. The Rhode Islanders in parti
cular rose forcibly on the officers who came to collect it,
and drove them away. In Massachusetts the tax was
discounted in the province, and consequently never
carried to the public account.' From these facts Lord
North endeavoured to show that, had we insisted on
better terms of peace, the Americans must have yielded
them. Yet how often before had hopes of this kind
been expressed, and how constantly had they been dis
appointed !
At past three in the morning the House proceeded to
divide, when the Opposition found their former majority
of sixteen increased by one, the numbers being — for the
Government 190, and against it 207.
This second division decided the fate of Shelburne.
VOL. I. G

82 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1782-
On the 23rd he called a meeting of his Cabinet in the
morning, and of his supporters in the evening ; and to
both these meetings announced his intended resignation.
Next morning, accordingly, he went to the King and
did resign. A few days afterwards, and as a post
humous act of his authority, his steady adherent Thomas
Townshend, the Secretary of State, was raised to the
peerage as Lord Sydney.
In laying down his office, Lord Shelburne did not,
however, advise the King to bestow it upon any chief
of the new Coalition. He rather pressed upon His
Majesty an idea which Dundas and other friends had
pressed upon himself to make Mr. Pitt Prime Minister.
The Chancellor concurred in the same counsel to his
Sovereign ; and George the Third, eager to escape the
yoke already fitted to his neck — the yoke of the great
Whig houses — grasped at the suggestion. He sent at
once to Mr. Pitt, offering him the headship of the
Treasury, with full authority to nominate his colleagues.
Thus was the whole power of the State, without stint or
reservation, laid at the feet of a younger son of a far
from wealthy family — of a junior barrister who bad
received but very few briefs — of a stripling who had
not quite attained the age of twenty-four. It is per
haps the most glorious tribute to early promise that
any history records.
Pitt, however, was not dazzled. He asked, in the
first place, for a day to consult and to decide. But
the views and the conduct of the young statesman will
best appear from the correspondence at this period of
Henry Dundas, the Lord Advocate, with his brother at
Edinburgh, and with Pitt himself. To that corre
spondence, which in 1854 was kindly placed at my dis
posal by Mr. Dundas of Arniston, I shall add, according
to their dates, Mr. Pitt's letters to his mother.

1783 CORRESPONDENCE OF HENRY DUNDAS. 83
The Lord Advocate to his brother, President Dundas.
February 24, 1783.
Lord Shelburne last night, to a numerous meeting of
those who had come into office with him, announced his
intention of submitting to his Majesty, this day, the necessity
of new-arranging his Government. I am going this day to
Court, but I suppose it will be Wednesday before we resign.
I cannot yet say what will be the result of all this confusion.
Thank God, we have got peace. I wish all this may not
disturb the definitive treaty, where several things still remain
to be settled. You cannot conceive how much Lord North
has fallen in character in the course of this fortnight, from
his forming a connection with Charles Fox. In short, it is
a contradiction to the whole tenor and principles of his life
for thirty years back. In great confidence I send you a
copy of a letter I this morning wrote to Lord Shelburne.1
You will see it is not for common eye. I perhaps may write
to you again this night or to-morrow. I am not very san
guine that anything will come of it, but I was resolved to
lay it fairly before him. Yours, H. D.
The Lord Advocate to his brother.
i February 25, 1783.
My dear Lord, — I cannot be more particular than I was
yesterday, except to say that my project in regard to Mr.
Pitt was yesterday laid before the King by. Lord Shelburne
and the Chancellor, who is warm and sanguine in the belief
of the success, as are Lord Gower and that whole set of
interest. The King received it eagerly, and instantly made
the offer to Mr. Pitt, with every assurance of the utmost
.support. Mr. Pitt desired to think of it. I was with him
all last night, and Mr. Rigby and I have been with him all
this morning, gaing threugh the state of the House of Com
mons. I have little doubt that he will announce himself
Minister to-morrow, and I have as little doubt that the
effects of it upon the House of Commons will be instantly'
felt. Not a human being has a suspicion of the plan, except
those in the immediate confidence of it. It will create an
1 Urging that Lord Shelburne should advise the King to send
for Mr. Pitt as the next Prime Minister.
g2

84 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1782-
universal consternation in the allied camp the moment it is
known. Still, secrecy ! Yours, H. D.
Mr. Pitt to Lady Chatham.
Tuesday morning, half -past Nine,
February 25, 1783.
My dear Mother, — I wished more than I can express to
see you yesterday. I will, if possible, find a moment to-day
to tell you the state of things and learn your opinion. In
the meantime the substance is, that our friends, almost
universally, are eager for our going on, only without Lord
Shelburne, and are sanguine in the expectation of success —
Lord Shelburne himself most warmly so. The King, when
I went in yesterday, pressed me in the strongest manner to
take Lord Shelbume's place, and insisted on my not declin
ing it till I had taken time to consider. You see the im
portance of the decision I must speedily make. I feel all
the difficulties of the undertaking, and am by no means in
love with the object. On the other hand, I think myself
bound not to desert a system in which I am engaged, if
probable means can be shown of carrying it on with credit.
On this general state of it I should wish anxiously to know
what is the inclination of your mind. I must endeavour
to estimate more particularly the probable issue by talking
with those who know most of the opinions of men in detail.
| The great article to decide by seems that of numbers.
Your ever dutiful and affectionate, W. Pitt.
Mr. Pitt to Lady Chatham.
Wednesday night, Feb. 26, 1783.
My dear Mother, — The Levee to-day has decided nothing.
Many opinions are in favour of the step in question, and
none apparently more than the principal one; but the
difficulties are notwithstanding many. It must however, I
think, end one way or other to-morrow. Your ever dutiful.
W. Pitt.
Mr. Pitt to the Lord Advocate. Thursday, Feb. 27, 1783,
Two o'clock.
My dear Lord, — I have just been at your house to tell
you, which I must do with great pain, what has passed in

1783 CORRESPONDENCE. 85
my mind since I saw you on a subject which seemed then
on the point of coming to another issue. I am anxious to
apprise you of it the first moment possible. What you
stated to me this morning seemed to remove all doubt of my
finding a majority in Parliament, and on the first view of it,
joined to my sincere desire not to decline the call of my
friends, removed at the same time my objections to accepting
the Treasury. I have since most deliberately reconsidered
the ground, and, after weighing it as fully as is possible for
me to do, my final decision is directly contrary to the im
pression then made on me. I see that the main and almost
only ground of reliance would be this, — that Lord North
and his friends would not continue in a combination to op
pose. In point of prudence, after all that has passed, and
considering all that is to come, such a reliance is too pre
carious to act on. But above all, in point of honour to my
own feelings, I cannot form an administration trusting to
the hope that it will be supported, or even will not be
opposed, by Lord North, whatever the influence may be that
determines his conduct. The first moment I saw the subject
in this point of view, from which I am sure I cannot vary,
unalterably determined me to decline. I write this while I
am dressing for Court. I have to beg a thousand pardons
for being the occasion of your having so much trouble in
vain. This resolution will, I am afraid, both surprise and
disappoint you ; but you will not wonder at any reconsidera
tion of so important a subject, or at my finally forming what
ever decision is dictated by my principles and feelings. I am,
with the deepest sense of the friendship you have shown me
in all this business, Yours, &c, W. Pitt.
The Lord Advocate to his brother.
Thursday, Feb. 27th, 1783,
Five o'clock, P.M.
My dear Lord, — Things are in a more extraordinary
state than I could have conceived. I send you copies of
three notes I received from the Chancellor in the course of
yesterday. I was with Mr. Pitt this morning from 8 o'clock
till 11, and parted with him perfectly resolved to accept
First Lord of the Treasury ; Lord Gower President of the
Council; in short, a Government consisting of a coalition
with the Bedford interest and the present administration,

86 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1782-
joined by a great defalcation from the parties both of Lord
North and Mr. Fox, and in a very short time Lord North
himself supporting, for he and Fox have differed much. All
this was settled at 11 o'clock, and I communicated the same
to the Chancellor and Lord Gower, all of whom are in
immense spirits. They will soon be damped, for the Chan
cellor, Lord Gower, Lord Aylesford, Lord Weymouth, Lord
Mount Stuart, Mr. Rigby, and Mr. [Thomas] Pitt, dine with
me, when, in place of our hailing the new Minister, I must
communicate to them a letter I have received from Mr. Pitt
within this hour, a copy of which I likewise send. How it
will all end, God only knows. I don't think I shall give
myself any more trouble in the matter.
It is just upon dinner, and I must close.
Yours faithfully, H. Dundas.
Mr. Pitt to Lady Chatham. Sunday, March 2, 1783.
My dear Mother, — I have been coming to you all the
morning, which I expected to have been entire leisure, but
have been kept till now. I know nothing of the approach
ing arrangements, further than that Lord North has been
with the King. I rejoice much at Lord Sydenham's 1
honours. Lord Grantham will not be overlooked. Whether
I refuse depends merely upon whether anything is offered.
Taking I must consider as out of the question, as well as
continuance in office under any arrangement which can be
made ; though I believe my former friends are not as much
disinclined for it as I am. I am going this fine day to dine
with Mr. Wilberforce, at Wimbledon, and shall be back
early to-morrow morning, to settle some Treasury business,
and a Bill which I must bring in to-morrow ; after which I
shall be a free man, and shall be able to see you again with
a Httle more certainty. Ever, my dear Mother, &c,W. Pitt.
It was not long ere authentic rumours spread abroad
of the high offer to Pitt, which had thus been tendered
and refused. How the public at the time talked or
1 This was the title at first designed for Mr. Thomas To wnshend,
but the title of Sydney was finally preferred.

1783 COMMERCIAL INTERCOURSE WITH AMERICA. 87
thought of it may be surmised from a passage as follows,
in the diary of the Duke of Grafton : ' The good judg
ment of so young a man, who, not void of ambition on
this trying occasion, could refuse this splendid offer,
adds much to the lustre of the character he had acquired,
for it was a temptation sufficient to have overset the
resolution of most men.'
Meanwhile, though holding office only till the choice
of his successor, Pitt found it requisite to bring in a
measure which admitted no delay. It was necessary at
the conclusion of peace to regulate in one way or other
our commercial intercourse with North America. The
views of Pitt upon this question were of the largest
kind. He thought that the feelings of animosity pro
duced by the war ought, as far as possible, to end with
the war itself. He desired to treat the United States
on points of commerce nearly as though they had been
still dependent colonies. But many other members of
weight, as Lord Sheffield and Mr. Eden, took a far
more jealous view; and the measure which Pitt actually
proposed was not a final, only a temporary Bill. Even
thus it was, said Pitt, ' undoubtedly one of the most
complicated in its nature, and at the same time one of the
most extensive in its consequences, that ever had been
submitted to Parliament.' It was a good deal discussed
during the remainder of the Session. The Bill was
several times committed and re-committed with a
variety of amendments, and at last under the next
administration was further altered by the Lords. It
was no doubt a money Bill. ' But I am of opinion,'
said Fox, ' that the order of the House respecting money
Bills is often too strictly construed  It would be
very absurd indeed to send a loan Bill to the Lords for
their concurrence, and at the same time deprive them
of the right of deliberation.' l At last there was passed
a temporary Bill, merely vesting in the King, for a
1 Speech of Fox, May 8, 1783.

88 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1782-
limited time, the power of regulation, and it afterwards
came to be renewed from year to year.
Disappointed in Pitt, the King had _next endeavoured
to break the Coalition by appealing in the most earnest
manner to Lord North to undertake the Government
singly. Lord North again and again refused, and the
King found it necessary to admit into his service both
the Coalition chiefs. But the rival pretensions of their
followers caused a new and well-nigh insuperable diffi
culty. At one moment it seemed probable that Fox
and North would relinquish the task which they had
assumed, and declare themselves unable to form the
Government which they had announced. Fresh over
tures to Pitt ensued .
The Lord Advocate to his brother.
Fridays (March) 21 (1783).
Five o'clock.
My dear Lord, — Last night the Duke of Portland waited
upon the King, and informed him that he could not form an
administration, he and Lord North having differed as to one
particular. The King instantly sent for Mr. Pitt, and told
him so. Mr. Pitt sent for me to come to him this morning
at eight. I went and met the Duke of Rutland there. The
result was that if they could not agree, and the country by
that means (was) kept in anarchy, he would accept of the
Government, and make an administration, which would
indeed have been a strong one, himself at the head of it.
But he insisted to have the secret kept, because he was de
termined to have it distinctly ascertained before going again
to the King, that North and Fox, after making a profligate
conjunction, had quarrelled among themselves about the
division of the spoils. Mr. Pitt and the Duke of Rutland
have this instant . called at my house to inform me that the
Coalition had again taken place, for that the Duke of
Portland and Mr. Fox had yielded the point in dispute. The
disputed point was whether Lord Stormont should be Presi
dent of the Council. So I suppose we shall instantly have
their arrangement published, and they will kiss hands on
Monday. Yours, &c,
H. Dundas.

1783 RESIGNS OFFICE. 89
The Lord Advocate to his brother. March 24, 1783.
I went to Langley on Saturday, and at two this morning
was called up by an express from Mr. Pitt. I have seen
him this morning, and although I shall not be sanguine
upon anything till it is actually fixed, I flatter myself Mr.
Pitt will kiss hands as First Lord of the Treasury on
Wednesday next. The Lord Advocate to his brother. March 25, 1783.
I have just time to write to you, that since yesterday I
have altered my mind; and it is now my opinion that
Mr. Pitt will not accept of the government. How all this
anarchy is to end God only knows. Yours,
H. D.
The letters which passed, so late as the 24th, between
the King and Mr. Pitt will be found with the rest of
their correspondence at the close of the present volume.
They evince how earnest was his Majesty in pressing,
and how resolute the young statesman in continuing to
decline, the highest political prize.
Thus for several weeks, at a most critical juncture
of public affairs, was the country left without a Govern
ment. Murmurs began to rise on every side. In the
House of Commons there had already been a motion re
flecting on these delays by Mr. Coke of Norfolk, and
another to the same effect was announced by the Earl of
Surrey. Thus pressed, the Coalition did at last consent
to coalesce. On the 31st of March, the very day which
had been fixed for Lord Surrey's motion, Pitt rose in
his place and announced that he had that day, with his
Majesty's permission, resigned the office of Chancellor
of the Exchequer.
Lord Surrey, however, rose again and insisted on
making his motion. After some debate he was induced
to withdraw it, but declared that he should certainly
bring it forward again in a few days unless a new ad-

90 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1782-
ministration was announced. He had no further delays
to complaia of, for on the 2nd of April the new Ministers (
kissed hands.
In the Cabinet thus formed, there was carried out
the favourite idea of Fox, of a mere nominal headship
of the Treasury ; for the First Lord was declared to be
His Grace of Portland. Under him were Fox and
North as joint Secretaries of State, and with coequal
authority, but far different shares of real power. The
gentler spirit of Lord North was, on most occasions,
content to yield, while under the wing of the Duke of
Portland, Fox was in fact Prime Minister. Lord John
Cavendish returned to the Exchequer, and Lord Keppel
to the Admiralty. Lord Stormont was President, and
Lord Carlisle Privy Seal. The Great Seal was put into
commission, the King having striven in vain to keep
Lord Thurlow in office. The new Cabinet, therefore, '
consisted of seven persons only.
An anxious wish had been felt to include Mr. Pitt
in these Cabinet arrangements. His own intended suc
cessor, Lord John Cavendish, pressed him to resume the
post of Chancellor of the Exchequer, intending in that
case to take another office for himself. But Pitt would
not ..listen to such overtures, nor consent to take any
part in a combination of which he strongly disapproved.
In the appointments outside of the Cabinet, Burke
returned to his old place of Paymaster, and Sheridan
became Secretary of the Treasury. The Vice-Royalty
of Ireland was bestowed on the Earl of Northington, son
of the late Chancellor, and a friend of Fox ; while a
young man of the highest promise, William Windham,
of Norfolk, went as Secretary. Lord Sandwich, with
certainly a most tame submission to those who had once
so bitterly arraigned him, consented to take the Ranger-
ship of St. James's and Hyde Parks ; a post of no
political importance, but to which at that time a large
salary was joined.
The new Government being formed, and having

1783 DUKE OF PORTLAND'S MINISTRY. 91
entered on its duties, Fox, without hesitation, took the
lead in the House of Commons. Indeed, it was in con
templation to call Lord North, by writ, to the House of
Peers. But the idea, if not relinquished, was at least
postponed. Thus did the Coalition triumph — if indeed the word
triumph can be used whenever power is attained through
the sacrifice of fame. Even at the outset this ' unna
tural alliance,' for so it was commonly termed, was
rebuked with great bitterness in the House of Com
mons. There the bitterness might be in some measure
mitigated by the admirable suavity of Lord North, and
by the warm attachment of so many friends to Fox.
But in the country there was no such counteraction.
' Unless a real good government is the consequence of
this junction, nothing can justify it to the public ; '
such was the remark at the time of one of its main
promoters.1 And when Fox, on taking office, appealed
to his old constituents at Westminster, he did indeed
succeed in obtaining re-election, but the multitude
received him with hootings and hissings, and his elo
quent voice could not be heard.
Such was the public indignation. Nor yet did it
quickly cool. On the contrary, it became more ardent
when the Ministry formed by this alliance had been
tried and been found to fail. A year later there were
echoes from every part of England to the austere re
proach against the Coalition, expressed by Mr. Wilber
force to the freeholders of Yorkshire. The Coalition,
he said, was a progeny that partook of the vices of
both its parents — the corruption of the one and the
violence of the other.
Nor yet in present times have the ablest historical
writers formed any very different opinion. Lord John
Russell and Lord Macaulay might be suspected of some
leaning to the views of Mr. Fox ; yet both, unable to
1 Letter of Colonel Fitzpatrick to his brother, Feb. 22 , 1783, as
printed in the Fox Memorials.

92 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1782-
vindicate this fatal Coalition, have given judgment
against it with perfect candour and fairness. Lord
Macaulay, above all, treats as a mere empty pretext the
ground that was urged by Fox for this alliance — his
objections to the terms of peace. There is not, says
Lord Macaulay, the slightest reason to believe that Fox,
if he had remained in office, would have hesitated one
moment about concluding a treaty on such conditions.
In the month that preceded the formation of the
Fox and North Government, there had been several
Parliamentary debates. Mr. Townshend had been called
to the House of Lords, so that Mr. Pitt, during that
period, was in name as well as fact the leader of the
House of Commons. On the 31st of March, in the dis
cussion which ensued after his announcement that he had
finally resigned the office of Chancellor of the Exchequer,
he took occasion to explain the principles of his fu
ture course. ' I desire,' he said, ' to declare that I am
unconnected with any party" whatever. I shall keep myself
reserved, and act with whichever side I think is acting
right.' Accordingly in the remainder of the Session, which
was protracted till the middle of July, Pitt did not
attend in his place as a mere party man. It also fre
quently happened that the charms of advancing summer
drew him from the House of Commons to the villa of
his friend Wilberforce at Wimbledon. ' Eliot, Arden,
and I will be with you before curfew, and expect an
early meal of peas and strawberries ' — such is one of the
notes at this period which Pitt wrote, and Wilberforce
preserved. ' One morning ' — so Wilberforce relates —
' we found the fruits of Pitt's earlier rising in the careful
sowing of the garden-beds with the fragments of a
dress-hat with which Ryder had over night come down
from the opera.'
How different, I may observe, the real Pitt of private
life from him whom in the following year the authors of
the ' Rolliad ' portrayed ! They make him even at the

1783 PITT IN PRIVATE LIFE. 93
tea-table maintain his stately manner and his Parlia
mentary language. Pass muffins in Committee of Supply,
And buttered toast amend by adding dry.
Here are some further extracts from Wilberforce's
diary at this time : ' May 26th, House. I spoke. Dinner
at Lord Advocate's ; Mr. and Mrs. Johnstone, Thurlow,
Pepper, Pitt. After the rest went we sat till six in the
morning. — Sunday, July 6th, Wimbledon. Persuaded
Pitt and Pepper to church. — July 11th, fine hot day.
Went on water with Pitt and Eliot fishing. Came back,
dined, walked evening. Eliot went home ; Pitt stayed.'
Yet it must not be supposed that Pitt was neglect
ing his duty in the House of Commons. We find, for
example, that he spoke in the debate upon the case of
Powell and Bembridge — that painful case in which
Burke, so greatly to the discredit of his judgment, had
reinstated in office two clerks publicly accused (and one
of whom was afterwards convicted) of defalcations in
their accounts. And on two other occasions Mr. Pitt
took not only an active but a leading part.
On the 7th of May Pitt brought forward for the second
time the question of Parliamentary Reform. Now there
was a specific plan comprised in three Resolutions. By
the first the House was pledged to take measures for the
better prevention both of bribery and expense at elections.
The second Resolution provided that whenever in any
borough the majority of voters should be convicted of
gross corruption, the borough itself should be disfran
chised, and the minority not so convicted should be
entitled to vote for the county. By the third Reso
lution the knights of the shire were to be increased in
number. This, as is well known, was the scheme of
reform which Lord Chatham had suggested to the extent
of one hundred new county members; but the third
Resolution of Pitt further proposed an increase of repre
sentatives to the metropolis.

94 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1782-
In the debate which ensued the new confederates
and joint Secretaries of State took opposite sides, Fox
warmly supporting, and Lord North with equal vehe
mence denouncing the scheme. It was their first public
disagreement since their late alliance.
On the other hand Pitt obtained some aid from the
ranks of his opponents on the last occasion. First there
was Dundas, now become or becoming the closest of his
friends. ' Last year,' said Dundas, ' I was against going
into a Committee because there was no specific motion
made ; now I am for the motion because I think it a
good one.' Much to the same effect spoke Thomas Pitt,
but in the course of his speech he also referred to him
self as the proprietor, or as it was then termed the
' patron,' of the borough of Old Sarum. This he said
he was willing to surrender into the hands of Parliament
as a free sacrifice, as a victim to be offered up at the
shrine of the British Constitution. Should the victim be
accepted, he would suggest that the power of returning
two members might be transferred to the Bank of
England. It must have been diverting as the debate of that
night proceeded to contrast the liberal offer of Thomas
Pitt with the anti-reforming zeal of the Right Hon.
Richard Rigby. In his ardour for the close boroughs
Mr. Rigby rose to declare that he would rather see
another member added to Old Sarum, where there was
but a single bouse, than another member to the City of
London, which had members enough already.
On dividing, the Resolutions of Pitt, notwithstanding
the accession to his ranks of Dundas and his kinsman
Thomas, were rejected by a very large majority, the
numbers being 293 and 149. The result shows how
rightly Pitt had judged in the more general terms of his
motion of last year.
On the 2nd of June Pitt produced some of the fruits
of his labours at the Treasury. He brought in a Bill for
the Reform of Abuses in the Public Offices. He hoped, as

1783 REFORM OF PUBLIC OFFICES. 95
he said, to effect a saving of at least 40,000L a-year,
and on going into Committee on the 17th he gave some
striking proofs of the abuses which prevailed. Thus, in
the article of stationery, for which the annual charge
was 1 8,000Z., he said, ' I believe I shall somewhat astonish
the Noble Lord in the blue riband (Lord North), when
I tell the House and inform him, for I really believe the
Noble Lord had no idea of any such circumstance, that
the Noble Lord alone, as chief of the Treasury, cost the
public the year before the last no less than 1,3001. for
stationery. One article of the bill is 340L for pack
thread alone ! '
Lord North, whose own upright and disinterested
character is beyond all question, rose in his own defence.
' I had given,' he said, ' the most positive direction that
no stationery ware should be delivered for my use with
out the express order of my private secretary. If, there
fore any fraud has been committed, it must have been
by a breach of this direction. I assure the House that
I will make a most rigorous inquiry into this business,
and if I find delinquency, I will leave nothing in my
power undone to bring the delinquents to punishment.
... As to coals and candles, I found when I was placed
at the head of the Treasury that my predecessors had
been supplied with those articles at the expense of the
public, and that it was according to an old and estab
lished custom. But I declined to avail myself of this
custom, and I have supplied my house with coals and
candles at my own expense.' The vindication of Lord
North personally was no doubt complete, but still from
some other quarter the gross abuse, the wanton loss to
the public, remained.
The conduct of the Coalition Ministers in regard to
this Bill was certainly not creditable to them. They
did not venture to divide the House of Commons against
it in any of its stages, but when it reached the House
of Lords they put forth all their influence, and caused
the Bill to be rejected upon the second reading.

96 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1782-
Here are some extracts of Pitt's own correspondence
with Lady Chatham at this time : — May 15, 1783.
The little that has passed in the world since we parted you
know already as well, I believe, as I can tell you ; for nothing
has occurred in which I know anything more than all the rest
of the world. Politics have been tolerably quiet, which for
the present is, I think, much the best. In the two circum
stances of the loan, and the restoration of Mr. Powell, our
new Ministry have given a pretty fair opening, if it were the
time to seize it. The latter business must still produce some
further discussion, and probably a good deal to their discredit ;
but the Session is now so far advanced that probably nothing
very material will happen in the House of Commons. What
may happen out of it any day there is no knowing. The
&a,me ftxed aversion, I believe, still continues ; you will easily
guess where. My defeat on the Parliamentary Reform was
much more complete than I expected. Still, if the question
was to be lost, the discussion has not been without its use.
Business of some sort or other will probably keep Parliament
sitting through most of the next month at least. I have not
been able yet to arrange the whole of my summer plan with
any certainty, but undoubtedly Burton will never be left out
of it. The scene in Albemarle Street has been carried on from
day to day till it is full time it should end. I rather hope it
will be happily completed very soon, though it has lasted so
long already that it may still last longer than seems likely.
I hope you are gradually able to enjoy more of the beau
ties round you, and of this delightful weather. Delightful
as it is, if it continues, even the moors will begin to complain.
The dust of this part of the world is almost insufferable. May 24, 1783.
I hardly need tell you how much the division about
Powell and Bembridge has exposed the weakness of Ministry,
and added to their disgrace. To rub through the remains of
the Session seems almost as much as they can expect, all
things considered. May 28, 1783.
I am just going to the House of Commons on East India
business, which is not the most entertaining. The Budget

1783 THE PRINCE OF WALES. 97
has, as you have seen, given us some more debate. I was
induced, from Fox's language, to mark pretty strongly that
I was not disposed always to stand quite on the defensive ;
and the effect of attacking him, not very civilly, was, that he
took more pains afterwards to be civil to me than I ever
knew when we were friends.
During the last six weeks of the Session the members
of Parliament were as usual beginning to disperse, and
the Ministers seemed to be perfectly secure ; yet at that
very time they were contending with a serious danger,
and their government was in their opinion near its
close. The cause of this new entanglement was George
Prince of Wales, afterwards King George the Fourth.
In his education he had received from his Royal parents
an excellent example of a moral life, but he had by no
means adopted that example as his own. On the con
trary, as Horace Walpole once remarked, he came forth
from that Temple of Virtue, his father's palace, as
though he had been brought up in a cider-cellar.
Plunging headlong into a career of extravagance and
dissipation, he eagerly attached himself to Fox as his
familiar friend ; and it may readily be supposed that
this association was far from tending to conciliate the
King either to the great Whig orator or to the giddy
young Prince.
Born in August, 1762, the Prince was now within a
few weeks of his majority. It became necessary to con
sider, without delay, the question of a separate esta
blishment for His Royal Highness. Mr. Fox proposed
to apply to Parliament for a grant of 100,000 J. a-year.
Lord North and Lord John Cavendish, although they
thought the amount extravagant, acquiesced ; but the
King felt objection both to the largeness of the sum
and to the independence of parental control which that
vote would imply. In place of it he offered to allow
- 50,000Z. a year from his Civil list.
For some time neither side would yield. The King,
vol. r- H

98 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1782-
as usual with him, was firm and unbending in his own
opinion, and the Ministers considered themselves bound
by their promise to the Prince of Wales. The notes of
His Royal Highness to Fox, pending this negotiation,
are still preserved : they begin with the friendly prefix
of ' Dear Charles.' In the middle of June Fox and
his colleagues looked upon their dismissal or resignation
as close at hand, and they wrote accordingly to their
friends at Dublin Castle.
It so chanced that at this very juncture Earl Temple
arrived in London from his recent Lord Lieutenancy,
and, as a matter of course on such occasions, had an
audience of the Sovereign. His Majesty seized the op
portunity to consult his late Viceroy. He expressed
himself as much incensed at the pretensions put forth
on behalf of his son, and as greatly inclined on that
account to dismiss his Ministers. Lord Temple, how
ever, though one of the keenest of party men, had saga
city enough to see that here neither the juncture nor
yet the pretext would be favourable, and he strongly
advised the King to await a better time.
On the other hand, His Royal Highness of Wales
being assured that he should not be able to prevail in
his pretension, was induced to release his friends from
their engagement. With a calmer temper on each side,
the business was soon adjusted. It was determined that
the King should allow the Prince 50,000£. yearly from
his Civil List, and that the House of Commons should
be asked to grant the sum of 60,000?. as an outfit to
His Royal Highness. A message on this subject to the
Commons was brought down by Lord John Cavendish
on the 23rd of June, and on a subsequent day the sum
proposed was most cheerfully voted. The Prince was
thus provided with what seemed to be an adequate
establishment, and on the meeting of Parliament in the
November following he took his seat in the House of
Lords. It does not appear that Mr. Pitt was in any manner

1783 MARRIAGE OF LORD CHATHAM. 99
consulted in this affair, though no doubt he must have
been fully apprised of it in subsequent conversations
with Lord Temple. Unconnected with public affairs
there was an event at the same period which afforded
him great pleasure. His brother, Lord Chatham, had
become attached to the Hon. Mary Elizabeth Town
shend, a daughter of his friend Lord Sydney. For
upwards of a year had the young Earl continued his
attentions ; but with the procrastination that through
life formed a main feature of his character, it was not
until June, 1783, that he brought them to a point.
The offer being made and accepted, was a source of much
joy to Lady Chatham, to whom we find Mr. Pitt write
in terms of affectionate congratulation : —
Saturday, June 14, 1783.
My dear Mother, — I know too well your feelings on the
happy news you have received, and you, I trust, know too
well how much my feelings are your own, to "make words of
congratulation necessary between us ; and yet I have had
my pen in my hand several times, though I have been as
often interrupted, and I can now hardly imagine how so
many days have passed away without my employing it on
this subject. You have, I am sure, easily imagined, though
not so near a spectator, how much joy the long-expected
declaration produced. Lord Sydney is the happiest person
in the world — at least two excepted- — and is delighted with
your answer to his letter. I cannot learn with any certainty
when the union is likely to be completed ; but as there are
not many materials for the law's delay, I imagine it cannot
be long. Lord Temple came to town yesterday, and made his
appearance at St. James's, where I met him. You will not
be surprised that he was received in the most gracious
manner possible. I have had since a great deal of conver
sation with him, and in all respects of the most satisfactory
sort. Our economical and reforming Ministry will probably
take another opportunity of showing their sincerity on Tues
day, on a Bill for remedying the abuses in several public
offices. The establishment for the Prince of Wales is also
to come on that day or the next. Rumour says strange
h 2

100 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1782-
things of it. The proposers probably expect to make their
account by it, but they will lose in the nation more than
they gain elsewhere.
I am almost too late for dinner, even though at the Duke
of Rutland's. Adieu. Your ever dutiful W. Pitt.
The marriage thus agreed upon was solemnised on
the 10th of July, and the happy pair went to pass the
honeymoon at Hayes. There soon afterwards they re^
ceived a visit from their brother William.
No children were born of this marriage. The second
Countess of Chatham died in 1821, and the title was
extinct at the decease of the second Earl in 1835.
Besides his excursion to Hayes, Pitt made also a
visit at Stowe, which, from his description of it to his
mother, he appears never to have seen before. He next
proceeded to Brighton in company with Mr. Pretyman,
and towards the middle of August joined Lady Chatham
at Burton Pynsent. Savile Street • : July 22, 1783.
My dear Mother, — I resume at last my pen, though with
no other reason than ought to have made me do so every
day for this month past. I can indeed hardly make out how
that period has slid away, in which I have done little else
but ride backwards and forwards between Wimbledon and
London, and meditate plans for the summer, until I find
the summer half over before I have begun to put any in
execution. My excursion to Stowe was a very short one — the plea-
santest, however, that could be. I found more beauties in
the place than I expected ; and the house, though not half
finished in the inside, the most magnificent by far that I
ever saw. Still, as far as the mere pleasure of seeing goes, I
had rather be the visitor than the owner. Sedgemoor and
Troy Hill are not to be exchanged for the Elysian Fields,
with all the temples into the bargain. I had the discretion,
you will behove though, to keep this opinion to myself. We
1 A house which had been taken by Lord Chatham before his
marriage.

1783 CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS MOTHER. 101
were quite a family party — Mr. and Mrs. Fortescue, Miss
Grenville, William, and myself. We had leisure, as you
may imagine, for abundance of speculation and discourse, all
of which was in the greatest degree satisfactory, and promises
everything that you would wish in regard to those quarters.
The Session is over, and everything seems very quiet, though
whether the Ministry will gain much strength from their
repose is very doubtful. Perhaps not. I rather think, if I
can, to take leave of this neighbourhood in a day or two,
and to take some dips at Brighthelmstone before our Somer
setshire party, which I hope will take place not very late in
next month, if nothing happens any day to derange my
summer schemes. I came this morning from Hayes, where
all is happiness, as you will believe, and where indeed all
ought to be so. I should be very much tempted to stay
there till they move, but that I want to employ a few more
studious hours in the interval than I could easily find there.
Brighthelmstone will answer in that view, as well as in
point of health, though, as to that, it cannot make me better
than I am  Ever your dutiful and affectionate
W. Pitt.
Brighthelmstone : Aug. 8, 1783.
My dear Mother, — I imagine some of your visitors are
by this time with you, or at least on their way. I am so far
separated from the main army that they may probably not
be able to give you any certain account of my motions,
though it is my intention very soon to rejoin it. I shall
leave this place probably on Wednesday, and by striking
across the country shall, I flatter myself, reach Burton the
next day. At all events, before the end of the week, I shall
certainly have the happiness of seeing you, and, I trust, of
finding you going on well. This part of the world supplies
no news, and I know of none elsewhere. By all I learnt
before I left London, I now think things may possibly go
through the rest of the summer as they are, though much
longer there is every reason to believe they will not.
Ever, my dear Mother, &c, W. Pitt.

102 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1783

CHAPTER IV.
1783.
Pitt's excursion to France —Abbe de Lageard — Return to England
— Fox's India Bill — Great speech of Burke — Bill passes the
Commons, but is thrown out by the Lords — Dismissal of Fox and
North — The Royal Prerogative — Pitt appointed Prime Minister
— Resignation of Lord Temple — The New Cabinet.
His legal pursuits- being for this summer laid aside,
Pitt had planned an excursion to France, in company
with Wilberforce and Eliot. Early in September the
three friends met and passed a few days at the seat of
Henry Bankes in Dorsetshire. There one day in par
tridge-shooting Pitt had a narrow escape from Wilber-
force's gun. ' So at least,' said Wilberforce, ' my
companions affirmed, with a roguish wish perhaps to
make the most of my short-sightedness and inexperience
in field-sports.' On the 10th of September Pitt attended the King's
Levee at St. James's, and on the 12th embarked at
Dover with his two travelling companions. But the
events of his short tour will best be gathered from his
own correspondence. Sept. 10, 1783.
My dear Mother, — I am just going to the Levee, and
shall get into my chaise immediately after, and, I hope, shall
reach Dover before night. I will write as soon as I am
landed on the other side of the water. London furnishes
no news but the long expected definitive treaty, and of that
no new particulars are known. I hope you are perfectly
free from the complaint Harriot mentioned in her last letter.
If the cross-post does me justice, she will have heard from
me in answer. Adieu. Ever, my dear mother, &c,
W. Pitt.
Calais : Sept. 12 (1783).
My dear Mother, — Lest any howling at Burton should
have given you the idea of a storm, I am impatient to assure

1783 PITT'S EXCURSION TO FRANCE. 103
you that we are arrived here after rather a rough but a very
prosperous passage. We shall set out to-morrow and reach
Rheims Sunday night or Monday morning. A letter,
directed to a Gentilhomme Anglois a la Poste Restante,
will, I find, be sure to reach me. I hope I shall have the
pleasure of hearing from you very soon.
Your dutiful and affectionate W. Pitt.
Rheims : Sept. 18, Thursday, 1783.
My dear Mother, — We arrived here after a journey
which had little but the novelty of the country to recom
mend it. The travelling was much better than I expected,
and the appearance of the people more comfortable, but the
face of the country through all the way from Calais the
dullest I ever .saw. Here we are in very good quarters,
though as yet we have not found much society but our own.
The place is chiefly inhabited by mercantile people and
ecclesiastics, among whom, however, I suppose we shall by
degrees find some charitable persons who will let us practise
our French upon them. At present, when I have told you
that we are here and perfectly well, I have exhausted my
whole budget of news. The post is also not well suited for
a longer letter, as it goes out at nine in the morning, and I
am writing before breakfast. This, however, is not so great
an exertion as in England, for the hours are uncommonly
early, to which we easily accustom ourselves, at night, and
in some measure in the morning. I hope I shall have the
happiness of a letter from Burton soon. You will probably
have received one which I wrote from Calais. Kind love to
Harriot, and compliments to Mrs. Stapleton.
Your ever dutiful and affectionate W. Pitt.

To Lady Harriot Pitt. Rheims : Oct. 1, 1783.
My dear Sister,
This place has for some days been constantly improving
upon us, though at this time of year it has not a numerous
society. We are going to-day to dine at a country house in
the midst of vineyards, which, as this is the height of the
vintage, will furnish a very pleasant scene. To-morrow we
are to dine at a magnificent palace of the Archbishop's, who

104 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1783
fives about five miles off, and is a sort of prince in this
country. Most of those we see are ecclesiastics, and as a
French Abbe is not proverbial for silence, we have an oppor
tunity of hearing something of the language. . - .
Your ever affectionate W. Pitt.
To Lady Chatham.
Rheims : Monday, Oct. 6, 1783.
This will be the last time of my writing from this place,
which we leave on Wednesday for Paris. The time has
passed not unpleasantly or unprofitably, and I flatter myself
has furnished a stock of French that will last for ten days
or a fortnight at Paris. We shall arrive there on Thursday,
and do not mean to bs tempted by anything to prolong our
stay much beyond the 20th of October. Parliament I hear
meets on the 11th of November, and a fortnight or three
weeks in England first is very desirable.
The direction I sent became, from my manner of expres
sing it, more mysterious than I meant, as I had no intention
to leave out my name. It is some proof of French politeness
that they do not bear it any enmity, though they seem to
know the difference between this war and the last. I
believe you may venture to direct to me at full length at
Paris, adding H6tel du Pare Royal, Rue du Colombier,
Faubourg St. Germain. Hotel de Grande Bretagne, Paris :
Wednesday, Oct. 15 (1783).
I am just setting out to Fontainebleau for two or three
days, where I shall find the Court and all the magnificence
of France, and with this expedition I shall finish my career
here. Since I have been here I have had Httle to do but to see
sights, as the King's journey to Fontainebleau has carried all
the world from Paris except the English, who seem quite in
possession of the town.
Some further details have been preserved of this, the
only visit to the continent which Pitt ever made. Nearly
all are derived from the letters and the .Diary as pub
lished of Mr. Wilberforce. At Rheims Pitt had many
conversations with Abbe de Lageard, a highly intelli
gent gentleman, then the Archbishop's delegate, and

1783 ABBE DE LAGEARD. 105
afterwards an emigrant in England. One day as the
young orator was expressing in warm terms his admira
tion of the political system which prevailed at home,
the Abbe asked him, since all human things were
perishable, in what part the British Constitution might
be first expected to decay ? Pitt mused for a moment,
and then answered : — ' The part of our Constitution
which will first perish is the prerogative of the King,
and the authority of the House of Peers.'
' I am much surprised,' said the Abbe, ' that a
country so moral as England can submit to be governed
by such a spendthrift and such a rake as Fox ; it seems
to show that you are less moral than you claim to be.'
' The remark is just,' Pitt replied, ' but you have not
been under the wand of the magician.'
On the French institutions they also sometimes con
versed. Pitt made many careful inquiries, and summed
up his impressions in the following words : — ' Sir,
you have no political liberty ; but as to civil liberty
you have more of it than you suppose.' It is re
markable that this is the very conclusion which, in
treating of that period seventy years afterwards, the
last work of De Tocqueville has with so much force of
argument maintained.
But, besides these well attested replies of Pitt in
France, there is another resting on no good authority ;
a mere silly rumour which has often been repeated.
We are told that Monsieur and Madame Necker, through
the intervention of Horace Walpole, proposed to him
their daughter in marriage, with a fortune of 14,000i.
a year, and that Pitt answered, — ' I am already mar
ried to my country.' ' Now, in the first place, Horace
Walpole was not then, and had not been for many years,
at Paris. Secondly, it is most improbable that Monsieur
and Madame Necker, strongly imbued as they were
with the Swiss ideas of domestic happiness, should have
1 See the story as related in the Life of Wilberforce, but not on
his authority, vol. i. p. 39.

106 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1783
offered their child as the wife of a young foreigner after
only a few days' acquaintance. And thirdly, the
theatrical reply ascribed to Pitt is wholly at variance
with his ever plain and manly, and sometimes sarcastic,
style. I believe that he never had the opportunity of
refusing Mademoiselle Necker, but if he did I am sure
that it was not in any such melo-dramatic phrase.
At Fontainebleau we find Pitt take part in the chase.
Wilberforce dots down in his journal :— ' October 17,
morning : Pitt stag-hunting, Eliot and I in chaise to see
King. Clumsy, strange figure in immense boots. Dined
at home ; then play.' Both at Fontainebleau and at
Paris the son of Chatham was much noticed by persons
of distinction, from the Queen, Marie Antoinette, down
wards. ' They all, men and women ' — so writes Wilber
force to Bankes — 'crowded round Pitt in shoals; and
he behaved with great spirit, though he was sometimes
a little bored when they talked to him of Parliamentary
Reform.' The three friends landed again at Dover on the 24th
of October. Mr. Pitt, as we learn from Bishop Tomline,
who despatches his tour in a single sentence, returned
to England with the intention of resuming his pro
fession of the law, if there should appear a fair pro
bability of the administration being permanent. But
the events of the coming Session speedily dispelled his
legal dreams.
Pitt was full of Parliamentary topics, when a few
days after his return he wrote as follows to Lord
Mahon : — Berkeley Square, Nov. 3, 1783.
My dear Lord, — I was in hopes to have seen you and
those with you at Chevening, all of whom I wished extremely
to see before this time, but I have had so much to do ever
since I have been in town that I have found it impossible.
The meeting is now so near that time is every day more
precious, and there is abundance of objects that require
examination. I trust you will be in town in a very few

1783 FOX'S INDIA BILL. 107
days, for there are several things in which I am quite at a
loss without you. If anything detains you, pray let me
know, and I will endeavour to meet you at Hayes, but I
rather trust to seeing you here. Adieu.
Ever most affectionately yours, W. Pitt.
Parliament met on the 11th of November. On that
day Pitt spoke, admitting that there was no objection
to the Address proposed. On the same day he addressed
to Lady Chatham a few hasty lines : —
Berkeley Square, Nov. 11, 1783.
My dear Mother, — I have been disappointed the two
last posts in my intention of writing to you, which, just as
the meeting of Parliament approached, you will, I am sure,
readily excuse. We have to-day heard the King's Speech,
and voted the Address without any opposition. Both were
so general that they prove nothing of what may be expected
during the Session. The East India business and the funds
promise to make the two principal objects. I am afraid it
will not be easy for me by the post to be anything else than
a, fashionable correspondent, for I believe the fashion which
prevails of opening almost every letter that is sent, makes it
--almost impossible to write anything worth reading. . . .
Adieu, my dear Mother.
In the course of the debate on the Address Mr. Secre
tary Fox announced that in a. week from that time he
should bring forward the great Ministerial measure for
the government of India, which was foreshadowed in the
Royal Speech. To that measure, almost in exclusion
of every other, the public attention was now directed.
The progress of our Eastern empire under Warren
Hastings, as its rise under Clive, displayed amidst all
its greatness and its glory some flagrant cases of oppres
sion and misrule. Echoes of these, though faint, had
gradually rolled across the wide expanse of sea. Inquiry
and suspicion began to be rife in England. Committees
of the House of Commons had sat and had reported.
By the witnesses examined the cases of oppression were
in part revealed. By the voice of eloquent speakers —

108 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1783
of Dundas especially and Burke— the oppressor still in
office was denounced.
So recently as April, 1783, on the fall of the Shel
burne administration, Dundas had brought in a Bill
on this most important subject. His plan was to send
out a new Governor-General, prepared to remedy
abuses and armed with extensive powers, with au
thority to overrule, if he thought it needful, the wish
and the opinion of his council. In such a case, as
Dundas had observed, everything would depend on the
weight and authority of the person so selected; and
as the fittest person, Dundas had named Earl Corn
wallis. Under such circumstances the Coalition Government
had scarce an alternative before it. The Ministers did
no more than any other Ministers at that period must
and would have done in undertaking to frame a mea
sure that should reform the entire administration of our
Indian provinces.
From the profound knowledge of Burke upon all
branches of this subject it has been commonly sup
posed that, in framing the new measure, he had by
far the largest share. This conjecture has been con
firmed by the subsequent publication of his papers.
' From Mr. Pigot, who finished the India Bill from my
drafts ' — such is the endorsement, in Burke's own hand
writing, to a letter which he received in October, 1783.1
There can be no doubt, however, that Burke, before he
sent in his measure to the Cabinet, consulted Fox on
every point of importance, and that Fox applied himself
to the whole subject with most anxious care.
The India Bill, prepared by these two eminent
statesmen and agreed to by their Cabinet colleagues,
was of a bold and sweeping character. It gave to a
Board of seven persons — all charters or vested rights
notwithstanding — the absolute power to appoint or
displace the holders of office in India, and to conduct
1 Correspondence of Burlte, vol. iii. p. 22,. as published in 1844.

1783 FOX'S INDIA BILL. 109
as they deemed best the entire administration of that
country. The names of these seven persons were left
in blank to be filled up in the Committee, and their
authority was to endure for four years from the passing
of the Act, whatever changes of administration might
meanwhile ensue. The members of the Board were
prohibited from the use of the ballot or any other mode
of secret voting, and they were required to lay their
accounts before both Houses at the beginning of every
Session. It would be great injustice to the memory of both
Burke and Fox were we to doubt that in their delibera
tions the advantage of India and the cause of justice
and good policy were the foremost objects of their
thoughts. Burke showed on many occasions an eager,
nay a passionate anxiety for the welfare of the Indian
people, and Fox was never wanting in a generous
sympathy with every form of suffering and distress.
Nor is it to be denied that several arguments might
be pleaded in favour of the project they proposed.
Was it not most desirable to shield those distant pro
vinces from the vicissitudes of party conflict at home,
and to obtain a clear field for the needed improvements
and reforms?
But, while we may readily admit that the benefit of
India itself was the main object with Fox when he
devised or adopted his celebrated India Bill, some of
his warmest admirers have been willing to acknowledge
that he also allowed considerable weight to the future
interests and influence of his own party friends in Eng
land.1 He saw that the King had most unwillingly ad
mitted them to office : he saw that His Majesty might
at any moment turn them out. How useful, then, if
they might construct for themselves some safe citadel
of refuge independent of the Royal smiles ! How useful
if, concentrating in sure hands and during a fixed term
1 See on this point, for example, Moore's Life of Sheridan, vol. i.
p. 393.

110 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1783
of years the entire administration of India, they might
confront the Treasury with a mass of patronage scarcely
inferior to its own ! l Could the King hope to make
head against such a combination ? Would it not pro
bably avert or certainly baffle any overt act of his
disfavour ?
While thus urged forward, first by public and in the
second place by personal motives, Fox was by no means
insensible to the perils that he ran. ' It will be
vigorous and hazardous.' In these words do we find
him describe his own measure in a confidential letter
of the time.2 But his nature was ever bold and fear
less, and the prize glittered bright before him. On the
18th of November, according to the notice he had
given, he rose to explain to the House of Commons the
provisions of the Bill. He fixed the second reading
for the 27th of the same month, a time that was com
plained of as far too early ; but Pitt, who rose imme
diately after him, could obtain no further delay.
The speeches of Fox, both in opening and defending
this momentous measure, have been acknowledged on
all hands as most lucid and able. 'Such eloquence,'
said his great rival, ' would lend a grace to deformity.'
On one point only, that is, on the violation of the
Charters, Fox, as addressing an assembly jealous of
vested rights, may have faltered in his tone. For this
violation he could merely urge, in general terms, the
plea of necessity. But necessity — as Pitt exclaimed
with indignation, on the very first day of the Bill —
' necessity is the argument of tyrants, it is the creed of
slaves ! '
During the interval between the introduction of the
Bill and its second reading we find Pitt write as follows
to his friend the Duke of Rutland : —
1 The patronage under the Bill cannot, I think, be taken at less
than 300,00(M. a-year. Wilkes makes it 'above two millions.' See
the Pari. Hist. vol. xxiv. p. 24.
2 To the Earl of Northington at Dublin, Nov. 7, 1783.

1783. BILL PASSES THE COMMONS. Ill
Berkeley Square, Nov. 22, 1783.
My dear Duke,
We are in the midst of a contest, and, I think, ap
proaching to a crisis. The Bill which Fox has brought
in relative to India will be, one way or other, decisive
for or against the Coalition. It is, I really think, the
boldest and most unconstitutional measure ever attempted,
transferring at one stroke, in spite of all charters and com
pacts, the immense patronage and influence of the East to
Charles Fox, in or out of office. I think it will with diffi
culty, if at all, find its way through our House, and can
never succeed in yours. Ministry trust all on this one die,
and will probably fail. They have hurried on the Bill so
fast, that we are to have the second reading on Thursday
next, November 27th. I think we shall be strong on that
day, but much stronger in the subsequent stages. If you
have any member within fifty or a hundred miles of you who
cares for the Constitution or the country, pray send him to
the House of Commons as quick as you can 
Ever most faithfully yours, W. Pitt.
For fear of mistakes, I must tell you that I am at a house
which my brother has taken here, and not at Shelburne
House. I do not see Lord Tyrconnel in town, nor Pochin, nor
Sir Henry Peyton. Can you apply to any of them 1 They
may still be in time for some of the stages of the Bill.
Notwithstanding the strongest muster that the Oppo
sition was able to make, the second reading of the
India Bill was carried by a majority of 229 to 120.
The struggle was .resumed in its succeeding stages,
with no great gain as to numbers, but with some
splendid eloquence all through on either side. Pitt,
especially, put forth all his powers, and, stripling as
., he might be termed, he shone forth no unworthy
antagonist to the riper genius of Fox. Henceforth
these two great orators, high above the common level,
might confront each other — it is a poet's thought — like
two vast mountains, parted by the main.

112 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. . 1783
We, we have seen the intellectual race
Of giants stand like Titans face to face :
Athos and Ida, with a dashing sea
Of eloquence between. '
These debates are further memorable for one of the
great speeches of Burke — one of those great speeches
which contemporaries might hear with indifference, but
which the latest posterity will admire and revere. On
this occasion he most happily applied to Fox some
lines in Silius Italicus, prophetic through an ancestor
in the Punic Wars of Cicero — 'the only person to
whose eloquence it does not wrong that of the mover of
the Bill to be compared.'
Indole proh quanta juvenis, quantumque daturus
Ausonias populis venturum in saecula civem ;
nie super Gangem, super exauditus et Indos
Implebit terras voce, et furialia bella
Fulmine compescet linguse.2
Of late years I have heard Lord Macaulay more
than once refer to this passage, and observe how many
persons he has known to misunderstand it — failing to
catch the allusion to Cicero — and supposing from a
hasty persual or an imperfect recollection that the lines
are ' somewhere in Virgil,' as, indeed, they are a mani
fest and successful imitation of the Virgilian manner. 0 \
In the same most beautiful passage Burke dwells on
the merits of Fox with affectionate regard : ' He is
traduced and abused for his supposed motives. He will
remember that obloquy is a necessary ingredient in the
composition of all true glory ; he will remember that
it was not only in the Roman customs, but it is in the
nature and constitution of things, that calumny and
abuse are essential parts of triumph  He is
now on a great eminence, where the eyes of mankind
1 Lord Byron, in the Age of Bronze. Some preceding lines give
the application of the passage to Pitt and Fox.
2 Sil. Italic, lib. viii. v. 407.

1783 FOX'S INDIA BILL. 113
are turned to him. He may live long, he may do
much ; but here is the summit, — he never can exceed
what he does this day  He has faults, but
they are faults that, though they may in a small
degree tarnish the lustre and sometimes impede the
march of his abilities, have nothing in them to extin
guish the fire of great virtues. In these faults there is
no mixture of deceit, of hypocrisy, of pride, of ferocity,
of complexional despotism, or want of feeling for the
distresses of mankind. His are faults which might
exist in a descendant of Henry the Fourth of France,
as they did exist in that father of his country.'
The descent of Mr. Fox from Henri Quatre, which
Burke here indicates, may perplex some readers quite
as much as the passage from Silius Italicus. They must
remember that Mr. Fox's mother was a daughter of
the Duke of Richmond; that the Dukes of Richmond
are sprung by the Bend Sinister from Charles the
Second ; and that Charles the Second was, on the ma
ternal side, a grandson of the fourth Henry.
In these debates two lawyers of rising fame — of
opposite politics, but each destined to attain the height of
his profession — made their maiden speeches. First, there
was John Scott, in after years Lord Eldon. Having
been returned in the previous June for a small borough
through the Thynne family interest, he was called
by his adversaries at this time ' Lord Weymouth's
lawyer.' His first speech was but a slight one, though
eliciting some compliments from Fox. His next effort
appears to have been, as his biographer describes it,
' vastly more ambitious than successful.' : Quoting
several verses from the Book of Revelation, he alleged
the beast with seven heads and ten horns as an emblem
of the awful innovation designed in the affairs of the
East India Company; and he further garnished his
oratory with a citation of the tragic fate of Desdemona.
In reply he was severely lashed by Sheridan, and
1 Life of Lord Eldon by Twiss, vol. i. p. 153.
VOL. I. I

114 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1783
could receive but scant congratulation from his friends ;
but his mortification at the moment led, beyond all
doubt, to his ultimate advantage. It induced him ever
afterwards to renounce such soaring flights, and to place,
as he well might, his reliance on his legal ability and
learning and his great judicial powers.
Erskine also spoke for the first time in these debates.
A seat had been found for him at Portsmouth, and he
took his seat on the 11th of November. Not a week
elapsed ere he rose to address the House. There was
great eagerness to hear him, and the highest expecta
tion derived from his wonderful successes at the Bar.
But deep in proportion was the disappointment that en
sued. Here, as derived from an eye-witness, is a graphic
representation of the scene : — ' Pitt, evidently intending
to reply, sat with pen and paper in his hand, prepared
to catch the arguments of this formidable adversary.
He wrote a word or two. Erskine proceeded, but with
every additional sentence Pitt's attention to the paper
relaxed, his look became more careless, and he obviously
began to think the orator less and less worthy of his
attention. At length, while every eye in the House was
fixed upon him, with a contemptuous smile he dashed
the pen through the papers and flung them on the floor.
Erskine never recovered from this expression of disdain ;
his voice faltered, he struggled through the remainder
of his speech, and sank into his seat dispirited and shorn
of his fame.' A discussion is said to have arisen at the
time whether Pitt's pantomimic display of contempt was
premeditated, or arose from the feeling of the moment ;
but Lord Campbell, as the biographer of Erskine, in
clines to the latter opinion.1
• There is still in these debates another legal speech to
be commemorated. The Attorney-General, John Lee,
1 Lives of the Chancellors, vol. vi. p. 416. It should be noted,
however, that the meagre Parliamentary History of that day (though
here no doubt in error) represents Erskine as speaking, not before
Pitt, but immediately after him (vol. xxiii. p. 1245).

1783 FOX'S BILL IN THE HOUSE OF LORDS. 115
was seeking to repel the charge founded on the abroga-
¦ tion of the Charters ; but he did so in terms which greatly
added to the popular excitement that prevailed. ' For
what,' cried Mr. Lee, ' is a Charter ? Only a skin of
parchment with a seal of wax dangling at one end of
it.' He had added, ' when compared with the happi
ness of thirty millions of subjects.' But in such cases
modifications and qualifications are of little avail ; the
hostile echoes out of doors repeat only the obnoxious
words. In the Committee Fox filled up the blank space with
the names of the Directors he proposed. First there
was Earl Fitzwilliam, who was designed as Chairman of
the Board. He was a man not as yet generally known,
but highly respected in his private character, ' whom,'
thus writes Horace Walpole, ' the Cavendishes are nurs
ing up as a young Octavius, to succeed his uncle Rock
ingham.' T Next was George, eldest son of Lord North.
All the rest were of the same complexion, staunch and
tried friends of the new Administration. There was not
even in one case the pretence of an impartial choice ;
there was not the smallest doubt that the new Board
thus composed would be wholly at the bidding of Fox,
whether in or out of office.
On the 8th of December the India Bill finally passed
the Commons, by a majority of 208 against 102. On
the 9th it was carried up to the Peers by Fox, as in
triumph, attended by a great concourse of members.
The Duke of Portland fixed the second reading for the
15th, but the indignation of several Peers could not be
so long restrained. Earl Temple started up at once,
happy, he said, to seize the first opportunity of entering
his solemn protest against so infamous a Bill. The words
of Lord Thurlow, who followed, were much more weighty
and almost as vehement. ' As I abhor tyranny in all its
shapes,' said the late Chancellor, 'I shall oppose most
strenuously this strange attempt to destroy the true ba-
1 Notes by Horace Walpole, March 17, 1783.
i 2

116 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1783
lance of our Constitution. I wish to see the Crown great
and respectable, but if the present Bill should pass, it
will be no longer worthy of a man of honour to wear.'
In using these words, Lord Thurlow looked full at
the Prince of Wales, who was present, and he thus pro
ceeded : ' The King will, in fact, take the diadem from
his own head, and place it on the head of Mr. Fox.'
These two Peers did not confine themselves to speeches
in Parliament. They had for some time been acting in
close concert together, and they had drawn up a joint
memorandum for the King. This memorandum, after
remaining secret for many years, was published so re
cently as 1853, with other papers from Stowe.1 It is thus
endorsed in Lord Temple's own hand : ' Delivered by
Lord Thurlow, on December 1, 1783.' We find it convey
the strongest warning against the India Bill in progress as
' a plan to take more than half the Royal power, and
by that means disable His Majesty for the rest of the
reign.' Such a warning could not fail to make the
strongest impression on the King, falling in as it did
with his own political feelings, and coming from two
statesmen, one of whom had been lately his Lord Chan
cellor, and the other his Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.
But could the danger be still averted ? This was a
question which the memorandum did not leave without
a reply. It suggested that the India Bill could be
thrown out in the House of Lords ; but it added that
the result might be doubtful ' if those whose duty to
His Majesty would excite them to appear, are not ac
quainted with his wishes, which would make it impos
sible to pretend a doubt of it.'
In the further progress of this transaction, Thurlow
appears with much prudence to have kept in the back
ground, and allowed the less wary Temple to take the
lead. It may be said, indeed, that Thurlow acted the
part of Bertrand, and Temple the part of Raton, in the
well-known French fable.
1 See the Courts and Cabinets of George the Third, vol. i. p. 288.

1783 THE ROYAL PREROGATIVE. 117
On the 11th of December the Earl asked for and ob
tained a private audience of the King. This is the in
terview described with so much spirit in that excellent
satire, the ' Rolliad : '
On that great day when Buckingham, by pairs,
Ascended, Heaven-impelled, the King's back stairs,
And panting, breathless, strained his lungs to show
From Fox's Bill what mighty ills would flow ;
Still, as with stammering tongue he told his tale,
Unusual terrors Brunswick's heart assail,
Wide starts his white wig from the Royal ear,
And each particular hair stands stiff with fear 1
In this audience it appears that Lord Temple urged
the King to use his Royal influence against the Bill, and
that the King consented. To remove all doubt upon
this point, a card was written, apparently in the King's
own hand, stating that ' His Majesty allowed Earl
Temple to say that whoever voted for the India Bill
was not only not his friend, but would be considered
by him as an enemy ; and if these words were not
strong enough, Earl Temple might use whatever words
he might deem stronger and more to the purpose.'
There may be some doubt as to the exact words of
this commission, but as to its purport and its meaning
none. Such a commission was at that time especially signi
ficant. At that time there sat in Parliament no incon
siderable number of persons who professed for His
Majesty either a personal attachment or a political ad
herence, and who were known by the common designa
tion of ' King's friends.' In the Commons the leader
of this band on all occasions was Mr. Charles Jenkinson,
in later years LordHay^ejbuiy, and finally Earl of
Liverpool. In tEeLords they seem to have had no
regular chief; but any Peer inclining to their senti
ments would of course attach the greatest weight to
the commission of Lord Temple.
But that commission could not from its very nature
remain a secret ; it had to be made known to many of

118 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1783
the Peers. Those who yielded to it might be willing to
keep silence, but those who were determined to stand
firm divulged it as of course to their political friends.
On the 15th, when the Bill was again before the House,
and when Counsel at the Bar were heard against it, the
many rumours already rife upon the subject were noticed
vaguely by the Duke of Portland, and in more pointed
terms by the Duke of Richmond. Earl Temple rose
in reply. ' That His Majesty,' he said, ' has recently
honoured me with a conference is a matter of notoriety.
It is not what I wish to deny, or have the power to
conceal. It is the privilege of the Peers, as the heredi
tary counsellors of the Crown, either individually or col
lectively, to advise His Majesty. I did give my advice ;
what it was, I shall not now declare ; it is lodged in
His Majesty's breast. But though I will not declare
what my advice to my Sovereign was, I will tell your
Lordships negatively what it was not : it was not friendly
to the principle and object of the Bill.'
The effects of this advice, or rather of the commission
which resulted from it, were, however, apparent that same
evening. A motion of adjournment being made, was
carried against Ministers by a majority of eight. ' The
Bishops waver, and the Thanes fly from us, and in my
opinion the Bill will not pass,' writes Colonel Fitzpatrick
to his brother the same day.1
Still far greater was the effect of the Royal message
upon the 1 7th of December, on the motion ' that the
Bill be committed.' Then after a long and keen de
bate the motion was negatived and the Bill thrown out
by, including proxies, 95 votes against 76. On this
occasion all ox nearly all the ' King's friends ' either took
part against the Bill or stayed away. The Prince of
Wales had voted with his friends in office in the division
of the 15th, but during the interval the King's aversion
to the Bill was so clearly conveyed to him that he could
no longer affect to doubt it, and on the 17th he was
1 Fox Memorials, vol. ii. p. 220.

1783 THE ROYAL PREROGATIVE. 119
absent from the House. Strange to say, one of the
Cabinet Ministers, Lord Stormont, President of the
Council, formed part of the final majority against the Bill.
Stranger still, it would seem that his colleagues, con
sidering his personal adherence to the King, bore him
no ill will on that account. Lord Holland in his notes
writes of it as follows : ' It is just to remark that
Lord Stormont, a stiff, formal man, of high Tory prin
ciples, always during his political connection with Mr.
Fox conducted himself with great honour and fairness,
and Mr. Fox has frequently told me that he behaved
well.' In the midstof this crisis the Commons had adjourned
for two days, in consequence of a death in the Speaker's
family. But they met again upon the 17th. Then, and
while the debate upon the India Bill in the other House
was still depending, Mr. Baker, of Hertford, a personal
friend of Burke, rose in his place and adverted in strong
terms to the rumours of the conference between Lord
Temple and the King, and he concluded by proposing a
Resolution in the following terms : ' That it is now
necessary to declare that to report any opinion or pre
tended opinion of His Majesty upon any Bill or other
proceeding depending in either House of Parliament,
with a view to influence the votes of the Members, is a
high crime and misdemeanor, derogatory to the honour
of the Crown, a breach of the fundamental privileges of
Parliament, and subversive of the Constitution of this
country.' No sooner was the motion moved and seconded than
Pitt rose. He denounced the Resolution as ' one of
the most unnecessary, the most frivolous and ill-timed
that ever insulted the attention of the national Senate,'
since it neither contained any specific charge, nor yet
was directed to any decisive issue. As against it he
moved the Order of the Day, and he was seconded by
Lord Mahon. But- Lord North, speaking with especial
weight as the King's Minister for so many years, warmly

120 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1783
urged the propriety and necessity of the Resolution be
fore the House ; and it was further supported by Fox in
one of the most able and most animated of his many
great speeches at this time. ' The question is not,' he
said, ' whether His Majesty shall avail himself of such
advice as no one readily avows, but who is answerable
for such advice  How, Sir, are Ministers situated
on this ground ? Do they not come into power with a
halter about their necks, by which the most contemptible
wretch in the kingdom may despatch them at pleasure ?
Yes : they hold their several offices, not at the option of
the Sovereign, but of the very reptiles who burrow
under the Throne : they act the part of puppets, and are
answerable for all the folly and the ignorance, and the
temerity or timidity, of some unknown juggler behind
the screen ! ' And not content with such general terms
of condemnation, Fox proceeded in no covert terms to
point his invective against Pitt. ' Boys without judg
ment, without experience of the sentiments suggested
by the knowledge of the world, or the amiable decencies
of a sound mind, may follow the headlong course of
ambition thus precipitately, and vault into the seat while
the reins of government are placed in other hands.
But the Minister who can bear to act such a dishonour
able part, and the country that suffers it, will be mutual
plagues and curses to each other.'
The masterly speech of Fox was followed by an over
whelming majority in favour of the motion — 153 voting
for it, and no more than 80 against it. Erskine — un
abashed at his recent failure, and, rather than be silent,
ready to encounter many other failures in Parliament —
then rose to move a second Resolution. This, which
was carried by like numbers, declared that the House
would pursue the redress of the abuses which had pre
vailed in the government of India, and would regard as
a public enemy any person who should advise His Ma
jesty to interrupt the discharge of this important duty.
Thus on the morning of Thursday, the 18th of

1783 DISMISSAL OF FOX AND NORTH. 121
December, the two Houses stood directly and keenly
arrayed against each other. The Commons had
pledged themselves to the principles of their India Bill,
and denounced, in violent terms, the means employed
against it, while the Peers, on their part, had flung out
the Bill itself.
Supported by their vast majority in the Commons,
Fox and his colleagues determined to stand their ground.
They deemed it wisest to cast upon the King the entire
responsibility of a change of Government. During the
whole of the 18th, from hour to hour, the King yeas in
expectation of receiving the resignation of his Ministers.
Finding that none came, he took a step that could no
longer be deferred. Very late that evening — it was
indeed near midnight — Mr. Fox and Lord North, as
Secretaries of State, received the King's orders, that
they should deliver up their Seals of office, and send
them by their Under Secretaries, since a personal inter
view on the occasion would be disagreeable to His Ma
jesty. The Seals thus sent were given by the King next
morning to Lord Temple, who immediately took the
oaths as Secretary of State, and as such wrote letters
of dismissal to the other Ministers.
That the course of the King in these transactions was
an extreme stretch of his prerogative is indisputable.
That it was, as Mr. Fox's friends have all along contended,
a manifest infringement of his Constitutional duty is not
to be so readily admitted. Perhaps we may think that,
when closely viewed, the Constitutional relation of the
Sovereign to his responsible advisers is by no means so
clear and well-defined as it might at first sight appear.
Perhaps we may come to the conclusion that it must
depend in many cases rather on good feeling and prin
ciple upon both sides than on any fixed and undeviating
rule. Let us for this inquiry assume the case of the
India Bill to be exactly such as its adversaries made it.
Here then was a Bill containing an insidious and dis
guised attack on the Royal Prerogative. On general

122 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1783
principles we can scarcely blame a King for being care
ful of his Prerogative, so long as we continue to applaud
each House of Parliament for being jealous of its privi
leges. Now, in the particular case which we suppose
before us, the Bill containing this attack had been by
the Minister so artfully and ably prepared, that in the
first instance neither the King nor yet the public at
large discerned the danger. But when the discussions
in Parliament arose, that danger was made manifest, and
painted in the strongest light by the Opposition speak
ers. With so much force of argument did they denounce
the Bill, that they brought a great portion of the public
round to their opinion. What then ? Is the King to be
the only person in the kingdom forbidden to derive new
lights from the debates in Parliament? Is he to be
absolutely and in all cases bound to the assent which
the first draft of a measure, as glossed over by his
Ministers, may have received from him ? Then if not,
what course should he take ? Is he bound to dismiss his
Ministers at the very moment that these new lights have
flashed upon his mind? Is he. bound in that dismissal
entirely to disregard the consideration whether that
precise period may not be of all others the most inoppor
tune for defeating their designs ? Then if delay be
allowed him, are his lips meanwhile to be altogether
sealed ? Is he bound to hide even from members of his
family, from old servants or from trusted friends, the
feelings or the wishes that are swelling in his breast ?
It will be owned, I think, by any candid inquirer that
some of these questions might be found in practice most
perplexing to decide. Without denying then that the
course pursued in this emergency by George the Third
was most unusual and most extreme, and one most
undesirable to establish as a precedent, I greatly doubt
whether it would be practicable to lay down with per
fect clearness and precision the Constitutional rule which
he is supposed to have infringed.
But whatever bolts of party indignation have been,

1783 PITT APPOINTED PRIME MINISTER. 123
or may be, hurled against the King or against Lord
Temple, they at all events fall short of Pitt. He had
taken no part in these transactions. So far as we can
trace, he had not even been apprised of them beforehand.
It was only after the final issue that the King, turning
for aid to the only adequate antagonist of Fox, asked
him to undertake his responsible support as his new
Prime Minister. Nor did Pitt prove unequal to the crisis.
Without one moment's faltering, he responded to the
call. Thus when on the afternoon of the same day, the
19th of December, the House of Commons met — thronged
with an expectant and buzzing crowd, and Fox and
North taking their seats on the front Opposition benches,
— there was seen to walk in a young Member, Mr.
Richard Pepper Arden, holding an open paper in his
hand ; and soon afterwards rising in his place he moved
a new Writ for the borough of Appleby, ' in the room of
the Right Honourable William Pitt, who, since his elec
tion, has accepted the office of First Lord of the Treasury
and Chancellor of the Exchequer. ' So hazardous
seemed the venture that, as we are assured, this motion
was received with loud and general laughter on the
Opposition side. The friends of Fox and North were
not in the least depressed. They looked forward, and
not unreasonably, to an early and triumphant resumption
of their offices. They were even taunted by Lord Mul-
grave, in the debate which ensued, as looking much too
merry. A discussion at once arose. Dundas, as representing
the new Prime Minister, moved that the House should
sit on the next day, a Saturday, to expedite the passing
of the Land Tax Bill. But he did not venture to divide
the House against Fox, who proposed the usual adjourn
ment to Monday, his object being, as the event showed,
rather to make manifest his power than to obstruct the
progress of what he owned to be a necessary, measure.
In his speech Fox referred to the event of a Dissolution
as certain and near impending. ' No one,' he cried,

124 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1783
' would say that such a prerogative ought to be exercised
merely to suit the convenience of an ambitious young
man. And I here, in the face of the House, declare that
if a Dissolution shall take place, and if very solid and
substantial reasons are not assigned for it, I shall, if I
have the honour of a seat in the next Parliament, move
a very serious inquiry into the business, and bring the
advisers of it to account.'
To the same effect spoke also Lord North : ' Though
a new writ has been moved for Appleby, I am not to be
deceived by such a device. I believe that there is not
a man in the House who is not sure that a Dissolution
is at hand.'
So exasperated, indeed, were the Opposition chiefs
— so large the majority to back them in the House of
Commons — and so doubtful as yet the prospects of a
general election — that Pitt found the greatest diffi
culty in forming his new Government. Many men
who expressed to him their approval and good wishes
had, or alleged they had, some special reason to hang
back. On the other hand, Pitt had one piece of good fortune
which he had not expected. Earl Gower enjoyed at
this time a large measure of public esteem. In the
autumn of 1779 he had seceded from Lord North's
Cabinet rather than continue the American war. In
the spring of 1783 he had been solicited by the King
to form an administration of his own. He was not on
any terms of political connection or intercourse with Pitt.
Yet at this juncture he sent through a friend a message
to the new Premier. He stated that, desirous as he was
of retirement for the remainder of his life, he could not
be deemed a candidate for office, but that in the present
distressed state of his King and country he was willing
to serve in any place where he could be useful. The
offer was eagerly accepted, and on that same day, the
20th of December, Earl Gower was declared Lord
President of the Council.

1783 RESIGNATION OF LORD TEMPLE. 125
One disappointment to Pitt was, however, wholly
unforeseen. He had reckoned upon his kinsman Lord
Temple to fill the office of Secretary of State, and to
lead the House of Lords ; but Temple, who, on the
morning of Friday the 1 9th, had accepted the Seals,
suddenly, on the evening of Sunday the 21st, deter
mined to resign them. Under all the circumstances
this was a ' heavy blow and great discouragement ' to
the not yet formed administration.
We obtain at this place, from Bishop Tomline, one
of those personal recollections which are so seldom to
be found in his pages. Adverting to the sudden resig
nation, he adds —
' This was the only event of a public nature which
I ever knew disturb Mr. Pitt's rest while he continued
in good health. Lord Temple's resignation was deter
mined upon at a late hour in the evening of the 2 1st,
and when I went into Mr. Pitt's bedroom the next
morning he told me that he had not had a moment's
sleep. He expressed great uneasiness at the state of
public affairs, at the same time declaring his fixed reso
lution not to abandon the situation he had undertaken,
but to make the best stand in his power, though very
doubtful of the result. Some of his confidential friends
coming to him soon after he was dressed, he entered,
with his usual composure and energy, into the discussion
of points which required immediate decision — all feeling
the present moment to be one of peculiar anxiety and
difficulty.' l
The resignation of Lord Temple was stated in the
House of Commons that same day, the 22nd. His
brother William, who announced the fact, attempted
also to explain it. Having in the first place adverted
Jti> the Resolution which the House had passed on Mr.
Baker's motion, Mr. Grenville added, ' I am authorised
by my Noble Relative to say that he is ready to meet
any charge that shall be brought against him ; and
1 Life of Pitt, vol. i. p. 233.

126 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1783
that he may not be supposed to make his situation as
Minister stand in the way of, or serve as a protection or
shelter from inquiry and from justice, he had that day
resigned into His Majesty's hands the Seals of office with
which his Majesty had so lately been pleased to honour
him ; so that my Noble Relative is now in his private
capacity, unprotected by the influence of office, to answer
for his conduct whenever he shall hear the charge that
may be brought against it.'
Fox rose next. He said, with something of disdain
in his tone, that Lord Temple was no doubt the best
judge of his own situation. He knew why he had
accepted, he knew why he retired from office; but
certainly no one had said that any resolution would
be levelled against the noble lord, and he (Mr. Fox)
hoped that the members of the House would not be
turned aside by that incident from the consideration of
the important business which was that very evening to
come before them.
The important business to which Fox referred was a
motion by Erskine, which was made immediately after
wards in a Committee of the whole House, upon the
state of the nation. It was an Address to the Crown
against either a Prorogation or a Dissolution of Parlia
ment. Mr. Bankes, as a personal friend of Pitt, rose
and said that he had authority to declare that the new
Prime Minister had no intention whatever to advise a
Dissolution. Nevertheless, Mr. Erskine, by the advice of
his friends, persisted in his Address, which, after long
debate but no division, was carried.
Later that same night, in a letter which Fox ad
dressed to his confidential friend Lord Northington, we
find him, notwithstanding his disclaimer in the House,
refer to the secession of Lord Temple as to a great party
advantage : — ' I now think it necessary to despatch a
servant to you to let you know that Lord Temple has
this day resigned. What will follow is not yet known,
but I think there can be very little doubt but our ad-

1783 RESIGNATION OF LORD TEMPLE. 127
ministration will again be established. The confusion
of the enemy is beyond description, and the triumph
of our friends proportionable.' '
It is natural to inquire what was really the reason
of this strange step on the part of Lord Temple. That
reason, though often discussed, has never been clearly
explained. I may therefore be forgiven if I enter at
some length into this still controverted point.
In the first place, it is to be observed that Lord
Temple, on his resignation, at once retired to Stowe, and
that for several years to come he took no farther part in
.politics ; nor did he ever again fill any office in England.
Secondly, it seems to be admitted on all sides that the
explanation given by William Grenville in the House of
Commons by no means suffices. The resolution of Mr.
- Baker had passed the night before Lord Temple took
office. If, then, that resolution, or the personal attacks
that might be expected to ensue from it, were to weigh
with Lord Temple at all, they would have prevented his
acceptance, and not produced his resignation, of the
Seals. Lord Macaulay, in his excellent sketch of Mr. Pitt,
has made the following statement : —
' The general opinion (in December, 1783) was that
there would be an immediate Dissolution; but Pitt wisely
determined to give the public feeling time to gather
strength. On this point he differed from his kins
man Temple. The consequence was that Temple, who
had been appointed one of the Secretaries of State, re
signed his office forty-eight hours after he had accepted
it.' Presuming on the cordial friendship which, to my
good fortune, existed between Lord Macaulay and my
self, I wrote to him upon this subject. While sending
for his perusal an unpublished manuscript of Burke from
another period, I expressed my doubts whether he had
any good authority for the statement which I have here
1 Fox Memorials, vol. ii. p. 224.

128 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1783
transcribed. With perfect frankness, Lord Macaulay
replied as follows : — Holly Lodge : Dec. 2, 1868.
My dear Stanhope, — I return Burke's paper. It is in
teresting, and very characteristic.
I am afraid that I can find no better authority for the
account which I have given of Temple's resignation than
that of Wraxall, who tells the story very confidently and
circumstantially, but whose unsupported testimony is of
little value, even when he relates what he himself saw and
heard, and of no value when he relates what passed in the
secrecy of the Cabinet. After looking at Tomline's narra
tive and at the ' Buckingham Papers,' I am satisfied that I
was wrong. Whenever Black reprints the article separately,
as he proposes to do, the error shall be corrected.
Ever yours truly, Macaulay.
Several weeks later Lord Macaulay pointed out to
me that the publication of the ' Cornwallis Papers,'
which had since occurred, might tend in some degree to
corroborate the statement of Wraxall. He referred to
a letter dated March 3, 1784, in which Lord Cornwallis
says, ' I do not believe Lord Temple and Mr. Pitt ever
had any quarrel, and think that the former resigned
because they would not dissolve the Parliament. I
may, however, be mistaken in this.'
It seems to me clear, from the concluding words,
that Lord Cornwallis spoke only from common report ;
and when, in the first part, he assumes that there had
been no resentment on Lord Temple's part, he was, as
will presently be shown, quite mistaken.
There is no doubt, from what Wraxall and Lord
Cornwallis write, that there was a prevalent rumour in
1784 of the resignation of Lord Temple having been
caused by his fixed desire for an immediate Dissolution ;
but the question remains how far that rumour was truly
founded. One document, hitherto unpublished, seems to me on
this point decisive. There is a letter from the King to

1783 RESIGNATION OF LORD TEMPLE. 129
Mr. Pitt, dated April 12, 1789, and referring to Lord
Temple, then Marquis of Buckingham and Lord Lieu
tenant of Ireland. In that letter the King speaks of
' his base conduct in 1784.' I know not to what these
words can possibly refer, unless it be to the resignation
just before the new year. Now at that very period, as
we learn from other private letters of the King, His
Majesty was warmly pressing a Dissolution on his
Ministers, and he could not be angry with Lord Temple
for holding the same opinion as himself.
Another document which bears upon this question
was preserved among the Buckingham papers, and was
published in 1853.1 It is a letter of Lord Temple to
Mr. Pitt only a few days after his resignation, and
dated Stowe, December 29, 1783. This letter will be
found to breathe ire and resentment in every line. In
it Lord Temple most bitterly complains that there has
not been any mark of the King's approbation to him on
account of his Lord Lieutenancy of Ireland. It appears
that ' various marks of favour ' had been suggested by
his brother William, and that Pitt had actually offered
a peerage for his second son, which, however, Lord
Temple thought insufficient, and declined.
This letter is further to be compared with several
more written by Lord Temple in 1789, in reference to
his second Lord Lieutenancy. , Here again we find him
pressing most warmly for some special mark of the
King's favour, and having in view a Dukedom. For
this object he engaged the aid not only of his brother
William, but of Mr. Pitt. The King, however, had
determined many years before to grant no more Duke
doms except to Princes of the Blood.
*r' On the whole then it seems to me the most probable
conclusion that in December, 1783, Lord Temple had
asked for a Dukedom, or some other personal object of
ambition. Finding that the King refused him, and
that Mr. Pitt was not willing to make that personal
1 See the Courts and Cabinets of George the Third, vol. i. p. 291.
VOL. I. K

130 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1783
object a sine quanon condition in so anxious a state of
public affairs, he flung down the Seals in anger and set
off to Stowe.
Undismayed by the adverse vote of the House of
Commons on Monday the 22nd, we find Pitt apply him
self with energy all through the 23rd to complete his
appointments. Here is his note to his friend the Duke
of Rutland : —
Berkeley Square, Tuesday, eleven o'clock, Dec. 23, 1783.
My dear Duke, — In this decisive moment, for my own
sake and that of the country, I trust I may have recourse to
your zeal and friendship. My hands are so full that I can
not be sure of calling on you. Will you, if possible, come
here at twelve ? I am to see the King at one.
Ever most truly yours, W. Pitt.
The journal of Wilberforce that same day, the 23rd,
has the following entry : — ' Morning, Pitt's. Pitt nobly
firm. Cabinet formed.'
In forming his Cabinet Pitt experienced several
disappointments. Already some days back his father's
most intimate friend, Lord Camden, had declined to take
part in the hazardous venture, and refused the Presidency
of the Council. In like manner the Duke of Grafton,
whom Pitt had summoned from Suffolk, refused the
Privy Seal. From men also of less note and beyond
the Cabinet pale there were answers in the negative.
Thus for example Lord Mahon declined office, not
apparently from any disinclination at that time to
Mr. Pitt, but as I conjecture from his superior attach
ment to the pursuits of science.
Mr. Pitt proceeded to fill up the several offices — as
Bishop Tomline tells us — in the best manner he could,
though not exactly as he wished. Earl Gower was
President of the Council. The Duke of Rutland took
the Privy Seal. The Seals of Sec etary of State were
entrusted to two other Peers, Lord Sydney and the
Marquis of Carmarthen, eldest son of the Duke of

1783 THE NEW CABINET. 131
-Leeds, who had been in his father's lifetime called up
to the House of Lords. Lord Thurlow, almost as of
course, resumed the Great Seal. Lord Howe was First
Lord* of the Admiralty. These with the Premier formed
the new Cabinet, which was therefore of only seven
persons, and of these seven one only, Pitt himself, was a
member of the House of Commons.
The Duke of Richmond went back to his former
office of Master-General of the Ordnance, but declined
a^ seat in the Cabinet. But only a few weeks after
wards, as the fight grew hotter, he felt an ambition
to serve in the front ranks, and he asked for and
obtained the responsible post which he had at first
refused. In like manner Dundas, on whom Pitt relied as his
principal assistant in debate, resumed the post which he
had held in Lord Shelburne's administration as Treasurer
of the Navy. Lloyd Kenyon became Attorney, and
-Pepper Arden Solicitor General. Of his other young
friends, Pitt placed Eliot in the Board of Treasury, and
Jefferies Pratt in the Board of Admiralty. William
Grenville and Lord Mulgrave were (after some delay)
joint-Paymasters of the Forces ; George Rose and
Thomas Steele joint-Secretaries of the Treasury.
In the evening of the same day, the 23rd, Pitt con
vened a meeting of his principal adherents in the
House of Commons. Wilberforce, in his ' Recollections,'
gives of it a lively account : — ' We had a great meeting
that night of all Pitt's friends in Downing Street. As
Pratt, Tom Steele, and I were going up to it in a
hackney-coach from the House of Commons, 'Pitt must
take care,' I said, ' whom he makes Secretary of the
Treasury ; it is rather a rogueish office.' ' Mind what
you say,' answered Steele, ' for I am Secretary of the
Treasury ! ' At Pitt's we had a long discussion, and
I remember well the great penetration shown by Lord
Mahon. ' What am I to do,' said Pitt, « if they stop the
Supplies ? ' ' They will not stop them,' said Mahon ;
K 2

132 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1783
'it is the very thing which they will not venture
to do.' Next day, the 24th, the King upon his Throne re
ceived the members of the House of Commons, who,
with Fox at their head, brought up their Address of the
22nd, In his answer, as prepared by Pitt, the King
assured them that, ' after such an adjournment as the
present circumstances might seem to require,' he should
not interrupt their meeting by any exercise of his prero
gative, either of Prorogation or Dissolution. On this
assurance Fox agreed that the House of Commons,
after meeting again on the 26th for the issue of Writs,
should adjourn for some Christmas holidays. But he in
sisted upon it that the adjournment should be only for the
shortest period — not to extend beyond the 1 2th of Janu
ary, and the House then to go again into Committee
on the state of the nation. It was useless to divide the
House against a chief who commanded a sure majority. ¦
Fox and his friends continued sanguine of the issue.
Thus he wrote to Lord Northington at Dublin: — 'I
neither quit your house nor dismiss one servant till
I see the event of the 12th.' And in the same strain
"spoke his friend Mrs. Crewe. 'Well,' she said to
Wilberforce, ' Mr. Pitt may do what he likes during
the holidays; but depend upon it, it will be only a
mince-pie administration.'
So overwhelmed with business was Pitt at this period,
that among Lady Chatham's papers I find only one
letter from him between the 1 1th of November and the
16 th of March. Here is what that letter says of
politics : — Berkeley Square, Dec. 30, 1783.
You will easily believe it is not from incHnation I have
been silent so long. Things are in general more promising
than they have been, but in the uncertainty of effect the
persuasion of not being wrong is, as you say, the best cir
cumstance and enough ; though there is satisfaction in the
hopes at least of something more.

1784 133

CHAPTER V.
1784.
Difficulties of Pitt's position— His India Bill— His public spirit —
Fox's popularity declines — Proceedings of the ' Independents ' —
Party conflicts in the Commons— Address to the Bang — Pitt
attacked in his coach — Revulsion of national feeling — Schemes
of Fox — The Great Seal stolen — Dissolution of Parliament.
When, at the age of twenty-four, Mr. Pitt was called
upon to fill the highest place in the councils of his
Sovereign, he found himself surrounded by most for
midable difficulties — the greatest perhaps that any
Prime Minister of England ever had to grapple with.
Arrayed against him was a compact majority of the
House of Commons, led on by chiefs of consummate
oratorical ability — by Burke and Sheridan, by P'ox and
Lord North. The finances, at the close of an unprosper-
ous war, were in the utmost disorder.' The commercial
- system with the now independent colonies was as yet
undetermined, and required prompt and final regulation.
Our foreign relations, which at last had left us almost
without a single ally, called for vigilant foresight and
conciliatory care. But as claiming precedence above all
others was the East India question. It was necessary for
the new Cabinet, without the loss of a single hour, to
frame a new measure in place of that which the House
of Lords had rejected. It was necessary also that the
measure should be submitted both to the Court of Di
rectors and the Court of Proprietors, and their approval,
if possible, obtained before that of the House of Commons
was asked.
By incessant labour Mr. Pitt and his colleagues
attained this object. Their Draft Bill was not only
prepared, but was approved by both sections of the East
India body, previous to the meeting of the House of
Commons on January the 12th.

134 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1784
The expected day came at last. Fox rose at the
unusual hour of half-past two, and moved the order of
the day. He was soon interrupted by the newly-elected
members, Pitt among them, who came up to the table
to take the oaths. When that ceremony had concluded,
Pitt and Fox rose together — the Minister holding in his
hand, as he stated, a Message from the King which he
desired to deliver ; but the Opposition chief insisted on
his own previous right to speak, and the Speaker, being
appealed to, decided that Mr. Fox was in possession of
the House.
A debate of many hours ensued. Mr. Fox, in his
principal speechj took up very dangerous ground. His
great object seemed to be to secure himself against a
Dissolution. With this view he ventured to assert that
the Crown did not possess the right, as Burke afterwards
termed it, of a ' penal Dissolution ' — the privilege,
namely, of dissolving Parliament in the midst of a
Session, and in consequence of the votes it had given.
There had been no instance of the kind since the Revo
lution ; and there was a pamphlet by Lord Somers, in
which it might be thought, from some doubtful expres
sions, that the right was controverted. 'But we are
told,' continued Fox, ' that nothing has yet happened to
make the Dissolution of the Parliament necessary. No !
What does that signify ? Let us go into the Committee,
and make it impossible ! '
Mr. Pitt, on his part, strongly pressed that the
Members should not pledge themselves by any vote
against him until they had an opportunity of seeing the
new Bill for the government of India, which he had
prepared and was ready to bring in. Being, in the
course of the debate, repeatedly attacked on the point
of secret influence, he was permitted to speak a second
time. This he did in a tone of lofty denial and disdain.
' I came up no back stairs,' he said. ' When I was sent
for by my Sovereign to know whether I would accept of
office, I necessarily went to the Royal Closet. I know

1784 DIFFICULTIES OF HIS POSITION. 135
of no secret influence, and I hope that my own integrity
would be my guardian against that danger. This is the
only answer I shall ever deign to make to such a charge;
but of one thing the House may rest assured that I will
never have the meanness to act under the concealed
influence of others, nor the hypocrisy to pretend, when
the measures of my administration are blamed, that
they were measures not of my advising. If any former
Ministers ' (and here he looked at Lord North) ' take
these charges to themselves, to them be the sting.'
At half-past two in the morning the House divided
on the question of going into Committee, which was
carried by a majority of 39. In Committee Fox pro
ceeded to move three Resolutions : — First, that any
person issuing money for the public service, without the
sanction of an Appropriation Act, would be guilty of a
high crime and misdemeanor ; secondly, that an account
should be rendered of all sums of money issued since
the 19th of December for services voted, but not yet
appropriated by Act of Parliament; and thirdly, to
postpone the second reading of the Mutiny Bill to the
23rd of February.
These three Resolutions being carried without di
viding the Committee, two more were moved by Lord
Surrey, and gave rise to another violent debate : — First,
as to the necessity of an administration which should
have the confidence of that House and of the public ;
and, secondly, to state that the late changes in His
Majesty's Councils were preceded by universal reports of
an unconstitutional abuse of His Majesty's sacred name.
As the readiest means to get rid of these Resolu
tions, Dundas moved that the Chairman should leave the
Chair ; but he was defeated by the increased majority
of 54, and the two further Resolutions were adopted.
It was not till the close of these stormy proceedings
that Pitt was allowed to deliver the Message from the
King. This was merely to announce, in the usual form,
that on account of the river Weser being frozen up, it

136 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1784
had been found necessary to disembark in England two
divisions of Hessian troops on their return from the
American contest; but that His Majesty had given
directions that as soon as the Weser should be open they
should be sent to Germany. An Address of thanks to
the King for his gracious communication was agreed
to, and at half-past seven in the morning the House
adjourned. The result was certainly, to all appearance, most
inauspicious to the Government. On the very first day
when Pitt appeared in the House of Commons as Prime
Minister, five hostile motions were carried against him ;
and he was left in two minorities, the one of 39 and the
other of 54. Mr. Pitt, however, was not dispirited.
He gave notice, before the members separated, that he
should next day move for leave to bring in his India
Bill ; and the King, on learning the event of the first
divisions, came up from Windsor, and in an audience
that same evening assured the Minister of a firmness not
inferior to his own.
Next day, the 14th, according to his notice, Pitt
proceeded to lay his India Bill before the House of
Commons. So far, he said, from violating chartered
rights, he had sought to frame his measure in amicable
concert with the Company, while at the same time he
trusted that it would be most effectual for the reforma
tion of abuses. He proposed to establish a new depart
ment of State, without, however, any new salaries — a
' Board of Control' which should divide with the Directors
the entire administration of India, but leave the patron
age untouched. ' It is my idea,' said Pitt, ' that this
should be a Board of political control, and not, as the
former was, a Board of political influence.' All the
details of this plan were unfolded by Pitt at great length
in a speeoh of consummate ability; but no sooner had
he sat down than Fox, without allowing a moment of
further consideration to his rival's scheme, started up,
and, with equal ability, denounced every part of it,

1784 DIFFICULTIES OF HIS POSITION. 137
although on that occasion he did not divide the
House. The attacks upon the Goverment were now in vari •
ous forms, but with incessant activity, renewed. Again
and again was Pitt put on his defence. Finding that
he did not resign in consequence of the proceedings on
the 12th, Fox, so early as the 16th, insisted that the
House should go again into Committee. There Lord
Charles Spencer moved a Resolution that the continu
ance of the Ministers in office was contrary to Constitu
tional principles. After a sharp debate, the Resolution
was affirmed by the diminished majority of 21.
This diminished majority may in great part be as
cribed to the conciliatory temper which at this time
began to appear among the independent members. In
the debate upon Lord Charles's motion, there were, for
the first time, public expressions of the wish that Pitt
and Fox might be induced to act together as colleagues
,in the same Cabinet. Such a junction seemed to the
more tranquil spirits to afford the only hope of safety,
or at least of quiet. Foremost among those who called
for it were Thomas Grosvenor, Member for Chester, and
Charles Marsham, Member for Kent, both well known
and esteemed. But the ablest of this respectable little
band, and more especially its spokesman, was Thomas
Powys, Member for Northamptonshire, an upright and
active country gentleman, and not undistinguished in
debate. Mr. Powys might, with the more propriety, attempt
in his speeches at least the character of mediator, since
he did not at this time belong in fact to either party.
He had been a follower of Fox, but had loudly con
demned his coalition with Lord North. He did not like,
he said, the ground on which the new Ministers came
into office, but was much impressed with the tokens that
he saw of the ability and public spirit of Pitt.
The next great trial of parties was on the 23rd, when
Pitt's East India Bill stood for its second reading. Then

138 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1784
Fox exerted all his influence, and on the motion for
commitment the Bill was thrown out, but by a majority
of no more than eight.
It will be seen from the very small majority that the
House of Commons came to this last vote with some
reluctance. It was felt as bringing matters to a crisis
with the Ministry; it was felt to render probable an
immediate Dissolution. No sooner then was the India
Bill rejected, than the Chiefs of the Opposition, one after
another, rose, and vehemently questioned Pitt as to his
intentions. The fiercest threats and the bitterest invec
tives were freely used. To these questions so intemper-
ately urged the Minister gave no reply. There were
loud cries from the Opposition benches for Mr. Pitt to
rise, but Mr. Pitt sat still.
At length, in the midst of the tumult, started up
General Conway, the' former colleague of Pitt in the
Shelburne administration. He was a man who in the
course of a long public life had shown little vigour or
decision, but who was much respected for his honourable
character and his moderate counsels. Now, as often
happens to weak men, he had caught the contagion of
the violence around him. He inveighed in furious terms
against what he called 'the sulky silence' of the Minister.
' The Right Hon. gentleman,' he said, ' is bound to ex
plain for the sake of his own honour ; but all the conduct
of these Ministers,' he added, 'is dark and intricate.
They exist only by corruption, and they are now about
to dissolve Parliament after sending their agents round
the country to bribe men.'
But here Pitt, though with lofty calmness, inter
rupted Conway. He rose, he said, to order. He had a
right to call upon the Right Hon. General to specify the
instances where the agents of Ministers had gone about
the country practising bribery. It was a statement
which he believed the Right Hon. General could not
bring to proof, and which, as he could not prove, he
ought not to assert. For his own honour, he claimed to

1784 DIFFICULTIES OF HIS POSITION. 139
be the sole and sufficient judge of it ; and he concluded
by a most felicitous quotation (which in reply to such
an onset could have been in no degree premeditated) of
some words in which Scipio as a young man rebukes the
veteran Fabius for his intemperate invectives : ' Si nulla,
alia re modestia, certe et temperando linguae adolescens
senem vicero.' '
Finding that no answer could be wrung from the
Minister on the point of the expected Dissolution, Fox
insisted, although the hour was two in the morning and
the day was Saturday, that the House should adjourn
only till twelve o'clock, at which time he hoped mem
bers would attend to vindicate the honour and assert the
privileges of the Commons.
At the appointed hour, the House having met in
large numbers, Mr. Powys rose. His emotion was such
that he shed tears while he was speaking. He declared
that the scene of confusion which he beheld last night
had so haunted his mind that he had never since
been able to divert his thoughts one moment from it.
He entreated the Minister to reply, at least thus far,
whether on Monday next the House might expect to
meet again to proceed to business. Mr. Pitt remained
silent, but Mr. Powys with the greatest earnestness re
newed his question. Then at last Pitt rose. ' I have
laid down to myself,' he said, ' a rule from which I do
not think I ought in duty to depart. I decline to pledge
myself to the House that in any possible situation of
affairs I would not advise His Majesty to dissolve Par
liament. However, as the Hon. gentleman has brought
the matter to a very small point, I will so far gratify
him as to answer that I have no intention to prevent
the meeting of the House on Monday next.' Fox said
nothing, and the House immediately adjourned.
1 (Liv. lib. xxviii. c. 44.) The Parliamentary History at this
place mentions only ' a classical text,' but the precise reference has
been happily preserved by Bishop Tomline (Life of Pitt, vol. i. p.
299).

140 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1784
While these things were passing in Parliament, Pitt
had an opportunity to give a most signal proof of his
public spirit in office. To this instance Mr. Powys had
referred, with expressions of the highest praise, in his
speech on Lord Charles's motion. It so chanced that on
the 11th of January, the very day before Parliament
met, Sir Edward Walpole, a younger son of the great
Sir Robert, had died. By his death there fell in the
Clerkship of the Pells, a sinecure place for life, worth
3,000Z. a-year. It was in the gift of the Prime Minister,
and tenable with a seat in the House of Commons.
Every one expected that Pitt would take the office for
himself. Such a course would have been in complete
conformity with the feelings and the practice of his age.
Such a course was strongly advised by his private friends.
Such a course was commended to him by a stronger
temptation than any of his predecessors in the premier
ship, his father alone excepted, can have felt. Unlike
the rest, he had a most slender patrimony. If he failed
in his struggle with the Opposition, he could only return
to his practice at the Bar, and that he would so fail was
the common belief. It is plain from the private letters
of the time, that many even of those who wished him
victory, by no means expected it ; at the very best it was
a perilous and doubtful issue. But by taking for him
self the brilliant prize which was already in his hands,
he might make himself independent, so far as fortune
went, of all party vicissitudes. He might, with 3,000Z.
a-year secured to him, apply himself wholly to the aims
of public life.
But as Wilberforce had lately said, Pitt was * nobly
firm.' Instead of taking the office for himself, he de
termined to save its income to the public. He under
took to efface a scandalous job which Lord Rockingham
had perpetrated. That well-meaning, but most feeble
nobleman, during his last administration, had sanc
tioned as a Government measure the Bill for Economical
Reform drawn up by Burke. According to that Bill. the

1784 . HIS PUBLIC SPIRIT. 141
Crown was precluded from granting a pension to any
higher amount than 3001. a-year. But while that Bill
was still before Parliament, and while therefore its
clauses were only morally binding on its authors, Lord
Rockingham had granted a pension more than tenfold
beyond the limits which he was seeking to enact — a
pension, namely, of 3,200Z. a-year to Colonel Barre. By
this grant he was certainly not seeking profits or emolu
ments for himself. He was not even seeking them for
any of his personal friends. His object was to gratify
and conciliate the section of Lord Shelburne, with
which he was at that time bound up in administra
tion. He had no ill design, but it is lamentable that
he failed to see the glaring contrast between the legis
lation which he proposed, and the course which he
pursued. To obliterate the pension which had been — to say the
leasts — so improvidently granted, Pitt made arrange
ments that Barre should now resign it, receiving in
return the Clerkship of the Pells for life. This appoint
ment made at once a strong impression on the country.
It fixed as on a rock for the whole of his life the cha
racter of Pitt for personal disinterestedness. ' It is a
great thing,' says Lord Macaulay, ' for a man who has
only three hundred a-year to be able to show that he
considers three thousand a-year as mere dirt beneath his
feet when compared with the public interest and the
public esteem.'
Two or three weeks after the event we find Lord
Thurlow, in a debate of the House of Lords, refer to
this patriotic act in terms of manly frankness: — 'I
must acknowledge,' he said, ' that I was shabby enough
to advise Mr. Pitt to take this office, as it had so fairly
fallen into his hands ; and I believe I should have been
shabby enough to have done so myself, since other
great and exalted characters had so recently set me the
example.' Bishop Tomline states that he saw Colonel
Barre soon after this offer was made him, and that

142 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. . 1784
nothing could exceed the warm terms in which he spoke
of it in a public view : — ' Sir,' said Barre, ' it is the act
of a man who feels that he stands upon a high eminence
in the eyes of that country which he is destined to
govern.' There were other favourable indications in the coun
try. Fox in his ardour had certainly overshot his mark.
He had made it with his Sovereign a struggle as of life
and death. He had made it, as Dr. Johnson afterwards
said, a contest whether the nation should be ruled by the
sceptre of George the Third, or by the tongue of Fox.1
On the 1 6th of December he had joined in a Resolution
against the King's conduct, when not yet dismissed from
the King's service. On the 12th of January he had
seemed to question two of the most important and most
undoubted of the King's prerogatives — the right to
appoint the Ministers, and the right to dissolve the
Parliament. He would not grant the ordinary courtesy
to postpone his attacks in the House of Commons until
after the re-election and re-appearance of the new
Minister. He refused the least respite, the smallest
interval for consideration of the measures which that
Minister might desire to bring forward. So much
violence of conduct, so much acrimony of invective, are
not easily to be defended. At the present day a writer
of high authority, who loves the memory of Fox, but
who has still higher regard for the cause of truth and
law, gives it as his opinion that ' the conduct of
Mr. Fox jand the majority of the House of Commons
was wanting in dignity and in adherence to the spirit of
the Constitution.' 2
Such also grew to be in great measure the public
opinion at the time. The violent conduct of Fox served,
as a counterpoise to the violent conduct of the King.
Men began to forget the Royal interference with the
1 Conversation with Boswell at Oxford, June 10, 1784.
2 These are the words of Lord John Russell. Fox Memorials,
vol. ii. p. 229.

1784 FOX'S POPULARITY DECLINES. 143
votes of the House of Lords, as they beheld night after
¦ night the most unbridled faction triumphant in the
House of Commons.
Pitt, with great sagacity, discerned those signs of the
times. He saw that the popularity of Fox had waned,
but not departed. He saw that the public opinion was
changing, but not yet changed. He saw that although
an immediate Dissolution might gain him some votes,
a deferred Dissolution might gain him many more.
Therefore, when on the rejection of his India Bill upon
the 23rd of January, he was pressed by several friends
to appeal at once to the people, and pressed by no one
more warmly than by the King, Pitt did not yield
to the Royal solicitations any more than to the Parlia
mentary attacks ; and he practised that hardest of all
lessons to an eager mind in a hard-run contest — to
wait. The battle in the House of Commons therefore re
commenced. In debates, which often extended beyond
the morning dawn, Pitt was again assailed by the
utmost force of eloquence, and the utmost acrimony of
invective. The public beheld with astonishment the
young man of twenty-four — the boy, as his adversaries
love to call him — wage this unequal conflict almost
single-handed. The common idea seems to have been
that the more numerous and experienced party of the
late Administration must ere long prevail. As Gibbon
once exclaimed in a most picturesque phrase, — ' Depend
upon it Billy's painted galley must soon sink under
Charles's black collier.' l
Up to this time the Lords had remained spectators
of the contest. But an opportunity now arose for them to
strike ablow. On the 4th of February the Earl of Effing
ham brought forward a motion — grounded on some late
Resolutions — which charged the House of Commons
with attempting of their own authority to suspend the
execution of the law. The motion was affirmed by 100
1 See the Reminiscences of Charles Butler, vol. i. p. 161.

144 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1784
votes against 53, and an Address to the King being
framed from it, and presented, received from His •
Majesty a most gracious reply.
The King's prerogative was also brought into action.
His Majesty had refused to create any Peers at the
request of the Duke of Portland, but was most willing
to do so at the request of Mr. Pitt. So early as the
30th of December Thomas Pitt had been raised to the
Upper House as Lord Camelford ; and before the close
of January there was a batch of three. Mr. Eliot, one
of the Members for Cornwall, and the father of Pitt's
friend, became Lord Eliot. An English Barony was
granted to Mr. Henry Thynne as Lord Carteret, and
another to the Duke of Northumberland, to descend to
his second son. These creations were in a most unusual
manner bitterly inveighed against by Mr. Fox in the
House of Commons. Indeed it might be difficult to say
which branch of the Royal Prerogatives Mr. Fox at that
period would have been content to spare.
At this period also Pitt found an opportunity, most
welcome to his feelings, to provide for both the tutors
of his youth. Mr. Wilson became a Canon of Windsor,
and Mr. Pretyman a Canon of Westminster. The last
appointment had the further advantage, as it was con
sidered, that it did not call Mr. Pretyman from town.
He remained in Downing Street with the Prime Minister,
and filled for some time longer the place of his private
secretary. Mr. Pretyman, in the same year that he
received this preferment, married Elizabeth, daughter
of Thomas Maltby, Esq. She became ere long an inti
mate friend of Lady Harriot Pitt.
Pitt found also that he could no longer defer his
arrangements with respect to Ireland. He induced his
friend the Duke of Rutland to undertake the office of
Lord Lieutenant, and adjoined to him an excellent man
of business, Mr. Thomas Orde. The Duke set out for
his mission in the middle of February, and immediately
afterwards we find Pitt write to him as follows : —

1784 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 'INDEPENDENTS.' 145
Berkeley Square, Feb. 17, 1784.
My dear Duke, — Nothing passed of material conse
quence yesterday. The House came to Resolutions rela
tive to the proceedings of the Lords which will not have
much effect one way or other. The House, however, sat so
late that we adjourned till to-morrow. We shall then pro
bably come to the question of postponing the supplies, though
I think the enemy rather flinches. What the consequence
will be is as doubtful as when you left us. At all events, I
trust nothing can arise to ,'nterrupt your progress ; for come
what may, your taking possession is, I think, of the utmost
consequence. I hope to be able to send you further accounts
before you reach Holyhead. My brother has given me the
memorandums you left, which must be managed as well as
they can. The independents are still indefatigable for Coali
tion, but as ineffectual as ever.
Believe me always, my dear Duke, &c, W. Pitt.
The proceedings of these independents will now
require some detail. So early as the 26th of January
they had held a meeting at the St. Alban's Tavern.
They had met to the number of fifty-three, and placed
in the chair Mr. Thomas Grosvenor. They had felt that
the two great rival champions, flushed with their nightly
conflicts in the House of Commons, could scarcely be
expected to confer in the day time, and to negotiate a
treaty of peace with any prospect of success. Under
such circumstances it seemed to them that the Duke of
Portland, so lately the First Lord of the Treasury,
would be the most proper representative of Fox's side.
An Address was agreed to and subscribed by all the
Members present, entreating the Duke and Mr. Pitt to
communicate with each other, and endeavour to remove
every impediment to a cordial concert of measures. A
Special Committee also was appointed to present the
Address and to assist in the negotiation.
To this overture Pitt responded with the utmost
frankness. He declared that whatever might be the
difficulties in the way of the union itself, there was no
difficulty on his part in the way of an immediate inter-
VOL. I. L

146 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1784
course with the Duke of Portland on the matter that
had been suggested to them. But the Duke having
consulted Fox, said that he must decline even to meet
the Prime Minister, until he had first, in compliance
with the vote of the House of Commons, resigned his
office. To this preliminary condition Pitt, as was
natural, demurred. Thus the gentlemen of the St.
Alban's had the mortification to find that, so far from
effecting a junction, they could not even effect an
interview. By no means yet discouraged, these gentlemen in
duced Mr. Grosvenor, as their Chairman, to move a
Resolution in the House of Commons, on the 2nd of
February, declaring that the state of the country called
for an extended and united Ministry. Both Pitt and Fox
held nearly the same language on this subject. Both
declared that they felt no personal objections, but would
not consent to combine except on public principles.
On this general ground the motion of Mr. Grosvenor
passed without a single negative.
But no sooner was this motion disposed of than Mr.
Coke of Norfolk, acting in concert with Fox, rose to
move another Resolution — that the contiuuance of the
present Ministers in office was an obstacle in the way of
forming another Administration, which should have the
confidence of the House of Commons.
It was still insisted by Fox and Portland — for the
dignity, as they said, of the House of Commons — that
Pitt should absolutely resign his office before they
would hold a single conference with him respecting the
new arrangements. 'With what regard to personal
honour or public principle can this be expected ? ' cried
Pitt, with lofty indignation, in the course of this debate.
' What, Sir, that I, defending — as I believe myself to
do — the fortress of the Constitution, and that fortress
alone, should consent to march out of it with a halter
about my neck, change my armour, and meanly beg to
be re-admitted as a volunteer in the army ef the

1784 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 'INDEPENDENTS.' 147
enemy ! . . . . The sacrifice of the sentiments of men
of honour is no light matter ; and when it is considered
how much was to be given up to open a negotiation
— what insulting attacks had been made, and what
clamours had been excited — I think that some regard
ought to be paid to my being willing to meet the
wishes of these respectable gentlemen, who call for an
union of parties.' But notwithstanding this earnest
appeal, the motion of Mr. Coke was carried in a full
House by a majority of 19.
The truth is, that except the gentlemen at the St.
Alban's Tavern, none of the parties to this negotiation
had much wish for its success. The King had given his
consent to it with great reluctance. Pitt was determined
to bate nothing of his honour. Fox was sanguine of
being borne back to office on the shoulders of the House
of Commons. At his instigation the Duke of Portland
made every possible difficulty. First he must see the
King's writing; next he must see the King himself.
The former point was conceded, and the second all but
promised. Then the Duke began to cavil at Pitt's
phrase of a junction ' on fair and equal terms.' Instead
of the word ' equal ' His Grace desired to use the word
' equitable,' the object being manifestly that Fox might
obtain a large preponderance, and leave only a few
crumbs of office to Pitt's friends. On this subject Pitt
finally wrote as follows to Mr. Powys : — Feb. 29, 1784.
Mr. Pitt has all along felt that explanation on all the
particulars, both of measures and arangements, with a view
to the formation of a new administration, would be best ob
tained by personal and confidential intercourse. On this
idea Mr. Pitt has not attempted to define in what manner
the principle of equality should be applied to all the parti
culars of arrangements, nor discuss by what precise mode it
may be best carried into effect ; but he is so convinced that
it is impossible to form any union except on that principle,
that it would be in vain to proceed, if there is any objection
l 2

148 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1784
to its being stated in the outset that the object for which
His Majesty calls on the Duke of Portland and Mr. Pittto
confer is the formation of a new administration on a wide
basis, and on a fair and equal footing.
But the Duke of Portland would not give way ; and
at this point, to the great concern of the St. Alban's
gentlemen, the whole negotiation ended.
On a review of all these semi-diplomatic proceedings,
it might at first sight be supposed that the main obstacle
to them turned on two points : first, the position of Lord
North ; and secondly, the plan of Fox for the govern
ment of India ; but with neither was this the case. It
is no more than justice to the Minister of the American
war if I point out how frank, how fair, how thoroughly
in the spirit of a gentleman was his conduct at this
crisis. Pitt had openly declared that he never would
consent to act with Lord North as a colleague. This de
claration, though made entirely on public grounds, might
well justify some strong resentment on the other side ;
but, far from this, Lord North was eager to see Fox and
Pitt united. ' And God forbid,' he said in Parliament,
' that I should be the person to stand in the way of so
great and necessary a measure.' He plainly intimated
that in such a case he should, with the greatest readi
ness, relinquish all pretensions of his own.
With respect to the East India Bill, Fox, seeing the
unpopularity of his former measure, had been forward
and eager to declare in Parliament that he was willing
to give up some of its chief provisions. In private he
was still more explicit. He told Mr. Marsham, on the
part of the St. Alban's gentlemen — and Marsham after
wards repeated it in the House of Commons — that
' provided Mr. Pitt would agree that the government
of India should be in this country, and should be perma
nent at least for a certain number of years, he would
leave it to that Right Honourable gentleman to settle
the point of patronage as he pleased. With this in
formation' (thus continued Marsham) 'I waited on

1784 PARTY CONFLICTS IN THE COMMONS. 149
the Minister, who told me that the point of patronage
being thus given up, an opening was so far made to a
negotiation.' l
It is not to be imagined that this negotiation, while
it still went on, had suspended the party conflicts in the
House of Commons. There, on the contrary, the battle
continued ; and it was, indeed, as it has been called,
' a battle of giants.' Scarce any debate which did not
elicit a most masterly speech of Fox, and another not
less able of Pitt upon the other side — each enforcing
the same topics with an ever fresh variety of illustra
tion and of language. Thus how happily, on one occa
sion, does Fox advert to a celebrated passage from Lord
Chatham in defence of his own coalition with Lord
North ! — ' I recollect,' he said, ' to have seen a beauti
ful speech of a near relation of the Right Honourable
gentleman over against me, in which, to discredit a
coalition formerly made between the Duke of New
castle and my father, it was compared to the junction
of the Rhone and the Saone. Whatever the effect and
truth and dread of that comparison might have been at
that time and upon that occasion, I am not at all afraid
of it now. I would not have admitted that great and
illustrious person, were he now living, to have compared
the late Coalition to the Rhone and the Saone as they
join at Lyons, where the one may. be said to be too
calm and tranquil and gentle, the other to have too
much violence and rapidity ; but I would have advised
him to take a view of those rivers a hundred miles
lower down, where, having mingled and united their
waters, instead of the contrast they exhibited at their
junction, they had become a broad, great, and most
powerful stream, flowing with 'the useful velocity that
does not injure, but adorns and benefits the country
through which it passes. This is a just type of the late
Coalition; and I will venture to assert, after mature
experience, that whatever the enemies of it may have
1 Pari. Hist., vol. xxiv. p. 633.

150 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1784
hoped, it is as impossible now to disunite or separate its
parts as it would be to separate the waters of those
united streams.'
On the other hand, with how much admirable force
and spirit did Pitt vindicate his own position and the
King's!— 'Where' (with these words did he close one
of his most celebrated speeches), 'where is now the
boasted equipoise of the British Constitution ? Where
is now that balance among the three branches of the
Legislature which our ancestors have meted out to each
with so much care ? Where is the independence — nay,
where is even the safety of any one prerogative of the
Crown, or even of the Crown itself, if its prerogative of
naming Ministers is to be usurped by this House, or
if — which is precisely the same thing — its nomination
of them is to be negatived by us without stating any
one ground of distrust in the men, and without suffering
ourselves to have any experience of their measures?
Dreadful, therefore, as the conflict is, my conscience,
my duty, my fixed regard for the Constitution of our
ancestors, maintain me still in this arduous post. It is
not any proud contempt or defiance of the Constitutional
Resolutions of this House — it is no personal point of
honour, much less is it any lust of power — that makes
me still cling to office. The situation of the times re
quires of me, and, I will add, the country calls aloud to
me, that I should defend this castle, and I am deter
mined therefore that I will defend it ! '
On the 18th of February Fox ventured an experiment
upon the feelings of the House. He proposed that the
Report of the Committee of Supply, which stood for
that evening, should be postponed for only three days.
He disclaimed all interftion of obstructing the public
business, and pleaded only for a short delay, that the
House might have leisure to consider the anomalous
position of the Government. Pitt treated the motion
as a direct refusal of supply, and on a division it was
carried by a majority of only 9.

1784 ADDRESS TO THE KING. 151
On the 20th Mr. Powys moved and resolved that the
House relied on the King's readiness to form an united
and efficient Administration. But several more of the
independent members appear on this occasion to have
rallied round Mr. Powys. His Resolution was carried
by a majority of 20, and an Address to the King, which
Fox immediately founded upon it, by 21. To give the
more solemnity to this Address, it was ordered to be
presented by the whole House. Then, after a most
stormy sitting, and at past five in the morning, the
House adjourned.
On the 25th, accordingly, the Speaker, attended by a
numerous train of members, was summoned to the Royal
presence, and heard the King deliver the reply which
his Minister had carefully prepared. The tone was
frank and explicit, and at the same time conciliatory.
His Majesty stated the very recent endeavours which
he had made to effect an union of parties on a fair and
equal footing, and lamented that these endeavours
should have failed. He declared himself unable to
perceive how such an object could in any degree be
advanced by the dismissal of those at present in his
service, more especially as no specific charge was urged
against them. ' And under these circumstances,' said
the King in conclusion, ' I trust my faithful Commons
will not wish that the essential offices of Executive
Government should be vacated until I see a prospect
that such a plan of union as I have called for, and they
have pointed out, may be carried into effect.'
Much chafed at this new rebuff, Fox determined that
on the 1st of March he would himself move another
Address of the same tenor, but in stronger terms.
During this interval, however, Pitt was exposed to an
onset of a different nature. Earlier in the month the
Corporation of London had passed a vote of thanks to
him for his public conduct, as also the freedom of the
City to be presented in a gold box of the value of one
hundred guineas. A Committee appointed to carry these

152 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1784
Resolutions into effect went on Saturday, the 28th, in
procession— preceded by the City Marshal, and accom
panied by the Sheriffs and Town Clerk— to the house
in Berkeley Square, where Pitt then resided with his
brother, Lord Chatham. After the presentation of the
Vote of Thanks and gold box the whole party went
on together to the hall of the Grocers' Company in the
Poultry, where the Prime Minister was engaged to dine.
Great crowds had been assembled in Berkeley Square
from an early hour in the morning, and an immense
concourse of people joined the procession after it left
Lord Chatham's house, marching through the City
amidst the loudest acclamations and shouts of welcome.
At Grocers' Hall Pitt was also loudly cheered as he
took the usual oath administered to freemen, and was
addressed in a speech of most laudatory purport by the
Chamberlain — no other than John Wilkes. In return
ing at night there was the same throng, there were the
same acclamations. Such tokens of the rising popular
favour to Pitt must have been of course gall and worm
wood to those who desired to be called exclusively the
' Friends of the People.' Thus, at night, when the crowd
of artisans was dragging up St. James's Street the coach
in which sat Pitt himself, Lord Chatham, and Lord
Mahon, and when they had come opposite Brooks's Club,
at that period the stronghold of his political opponents,
the coach was suddenly attacked by men armed with
bludgeons and broken chair-poles, among whom — so
at least it was at the time asserted and believed — were
seen several members of the Club. Some of the rioters
made their way to the carriage, forced open the door,
and aimed blows at the Prime Minister, which were,
with some difficulty, warded off by his brother's arm.
At length Mr. Pitt and his companions, after a severe
struggle, made their way into White's Club. Hearing
of this attack, ' I called there,' writes Wilberforce, ' and
to bed about three.' The servants were much bruised,
and the carriage was nearly demolished.

1784 NEW ADDRESS TO THE KING. 153
At a later period we find the authors of the ' Political
Eclogues' refer to this transaction, which, for their
own credit, surely they had better have avoided. But
being ashamed to name Mr. Pitt in connexion with it,
they transfer their raillery to Lord Mahon : —
Ah ! why Mahon's disastrous fate record ?
Alas, how fear can change the fiercest Lord I
See the sad sequel of the Grocers' treat ;
Behold him dashing up St. James's Street,
Pelted and scared by Brooks's hellish sprites,
And vainly fluttering round the door of White's.
On the day but one ensuing, the 1st of March, Fox
fulfilled his intention of moving a new Address to the
Crown for the dismissal of Ministers. He was supported
by Lord Surrey and General Conway; opposed by
Pitt, Wilberforce, and Sir William Dolben. In the
division which ensued the Address was carried by a
majority of 12. But the only result from it was an
answer from the King on the 4th, declining compliance
on the grounds which he had already stated. What
more was now the Opposition to do ?
Fox during the greater part of February appears to
have thought the game in his own hands. The time
had passed when Pitt could dissolve the Parliament,
and convene another previous to the 25th of March, on
which day the Mutiny Act would expire. And by his
command of the majority within the House, Fox ex
pected that he could at any time deal as he pleased,
either with the new Mutiny Bill or the Supplies, and
thus force his rival to an unconditional surrender. But
in this view he had not reckoned on the revulsion of
national feeling.
Within a month from the re-assembling of the House
symptoms of this change appeared. The Corporation,
and also the merchants and traders of London, took the
lead ; they presented Addresses to the King, in which
they expressed their approval of the conduct of the
House of Lords in rejecting Mr. Fox's India Bill, and

154 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1784
thanked His Majesty for dismissing his late Ministers.
Several other towns and districts immediately bestirred
themselves to follow this example, and sent in Address
upon Address of the same kind. The earliest of these
were scoffed at and derided by Fox as mere make-
believes: — 'To such shifts and impositions,' he cried,
' are the Ministers and those who support them driven
to prop up their tottering fabric ! ' But, although Fox
might thus delude himself as to the first few of the
Addresses, the time came when he could no longer close
his eyes to their growing number.
The effect on others was at all events clear. Several
watchers of the times in the House of Commons, who
had hitherto been most staunch in Opposition, began to
waver and hang back. Already, after the vote which
they had given with Fox, postponing the Supplies for
only two months, several Members— no doubt pressed
by their constituents still more than by their consciences
— had risen in their place to protest most earnestly —
one Member even as he said upon his honour — that they
had never meant, never wished, never dreamt to refuse
their Sovereign a Supply. And Fox saw with bitter
mortification that he could no longer propose any vote
of the same kind with the smallest prospect of success.
Still, however, one resource remained. Fox hoped
that, though he could not stop the Supplies, he might
shorten the Mutiny Bill. On two occasions in debate
he sounded the House as to the propriety of passing a
Mutiny Bill for only a month or six weeks, so that their
privileges might not be curtailed, nor their period of
Session broken through. In this suggestion he was
zealously supported by the ancient champion of preroga
tive, Lord North. But here again the force of public
feeling told against him. The members for cities and
counties could scarcely venture to give such votes in the
teeth of the loyal Addresses that were daily pouring in.
Under such circumstances the idea of a short Mutiny
Bill was so coldly received that it could not be pressed.

1784 SCHEMES OF FOX. 155
Fox had no alternative but to relinquish the present
struggle, and lie in wait for any future slips of his
opponent. And thus the contests between these mighty
statesmen were in truth decided by the voice of the
nation, even before it was appealed to in due form by a
Dissolution. But before Fox threw down his arms he determined
to aim another blow. It was his object both to put on
record the maxims which he had recently maintained,
and to try the numbers that might still adhere to him.
He gave notice that on the 8th he would move for
the adoption of the House a long state-paper. This
he called a Representation to the King, though in fact
it was rather intended as a manifesto to the people.
It had been drawn up by Burke with great care and
skill. The rumour ran already that this was to be the last
great movement on Fox's side. By eleven o'clock in
the morning the gallery for strangers was thronged.
The gentlemen who could obtain admittance sat with
the utmost patience from that hour till the meeting
of the House at four. Then a severe disappointment
was in store for them. Then Sir James Lowther by a
freak of capricious displeasure insisted on the unwise
privilege which is still allowed even to any single
member, and ordered the gallery to be cleared. The
loss has extended even to future times, since it has
deprived them of all except the most summary reports
of this memorable and crowning debate. At length at
midnight, and in breathless suspense, the House divided.
The motion was found to be carried, but by a majority
of only one, the numbers being 190 and 191. Such a
result was felt to be at once decisive. We may picture
to ourselves the blank looks of the Opposition, and the
rising cheers of the Ministerial ranks.
Next day, the 9th of March, came on the long-ex
pected Committee on the Mutiny Bill. When the
Secretary at War moved in the customary form that

156 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1784
the blank as to the time should be filled up for the usual
period of one year, it was found that in spite of all the
previous threats no opposition was attempted. Only
two independent Members, Sir Matthew White Ridley
and Mr. Powys, rose to lament what they termed the
degradation of the House. ' Not a century ago,' cried
Mr. Powys, ' a vote of the Commons could bestow a
Crown ; now it cannot even procure the dismissal of a
Minister ! ' Sir Matthew White Ridley on his part
declared — no doubt as a remedy to the evils com
plained of — that he had resolved to cease his own
attendance in a House which had been sacrificed by its
constituents. On the same day we find Pitt write as follows to the
Duke of Rutland : — Berkeley Square, Tuesday night,
March 10, 1784.
My dear Duke, — I am happy more than I can tell you
in all the good accounts you have sent us from Ireland. I
ought long before this to have made you some return, but I
could never have done it so well as this evening. We yes
terday were beat only by one, on the concluding measure of
Opposition, a long representation to the King, intended as a
manifesto to the public, where its effect is not much to be
dreaded. To-day the Mutiny Bill has gone through the
Committee without any opposition (after all the threats) to
the duration for a twelvemonth. The enemy seem indeed
to be on their backs, though certainly the game left in our
hands is still difficult enough. They give out that they do
not mean to oppose supplies, or give any interruption to
business ; but their object is certainly to he in wait, or at
least catch us in some scrape, that they may make our ground
worse with the public before any appeal is made there. The
sooner that can be done I think the better, and I hope the
difficulties in the way are vanishing.
You see I am so full of English politics that I hardly
say a word on Irish, though I am sure you have a right to
expect a considerable mixture of them. Another messenger
will follow this in a day or two, and I will then acquit my
promise of sending the paper Orde left with me, with the

1784 REVULSION OF NATIONAL FEELING. 157
necessary remarks. ... I write now in great haste,
and tired to death, even with victory, for I think our pre
sent state is entitled to that name. Adieu, my dear Duke.
Believe me ever yours, W. Pitt.
Thus had Pitt remained the conqueror in the hard
fight which he had fought with such unflinching courage
and such consummate skill — worn out indeed as he
describes himself, and as it were sinking to the ground
with the labours of the conflict, but grasping firmly the
palms of triumph in his hand.
A few days later he wrote to Lady Chatham also :
Downing Street, Tuesday night,
March 16 (1784).
My dear Mother, — Though it is in literal truth but a
single moment I have, I cannot help employing it to thank
you a thousand and a thousand times for the pleasure of
your letter. I certainly feel our present situation a triumph,
at least compared with what it was. The joy of it is indeed
doubled by the reflection of its extending and contributing
to your satisfaction. Among other benefits I begin to expect
every day a httle more leisure, and to have some time for
reading and writing pleasanter papers than those of business.
Ever, my dear Mother, &c, W. Pitt.
Obviously in this state of public feeling it had be
come the game of Fox to offer no obstruction to public
measures, and afford no plea for the Dissolution of
Parliament. Thus Pitt w,as enabled to carry without
hindrance the necessary votes of Supply, but did not
propose an Appropriation Bill, on which his enemy
might have made a stand with some advantage. During
this time he was constantly plied with questions and
invectives as to the expected Dissolution. But he re
mained steadily silent. At length, on the 23rd, all
the necessary preparations were completed, and we
find Pitt announce the fact as follows to the Duke of
Rutland : —

158 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1784
Downing Street, Tuesday night,
March 23, 1784.
My dear Duke, — The interesting circumstances of the
present moment, though they are a double reason for my
writing to you, hardly leave me the time to do it. Per tot
discrimima rerum, we are at length arrived within sight, of a
Dissolution. The Bill to continue the powers of regulating
the intercourse with America to the 20th of June will pass
the House of Lords to-day. That and the Mutiny Bill will
receive the Royal Assent to-morrow, and the King will then
make a short speech and dissolve the Parliament. Our cal
culations for the new elections are very favourable, and the
spirit of the people seems still progressive in our favour. The
new Parliament may meet about the 15th or 16th of May,
and I hope we may so employ the interval as to have all the
necessary business rapidly brought on, and make the Session
a short one. . . .
We shall now soon have a little more leisure, and be
better able to attend to real business in a regular way, instead
of the occurrences of the day.
Believe me, &c, W. Pitt.
Everything therefore was brought in readiness for
the Dissolution of Parliament. But at this very junc
ture there occurred a most strange event. Early in the
morning of the 24th some thieves broke into the back
part of the house of the Lord Chancellor, in Great Or-
mond Street, which at that time bordered on the open
fields. They went up stairs into the room adjoining
the study, where they found the Great Seal of England
with a small sum of money and two silver-hilted swords.
All these they carried off without alarming any of the
servants, and though a reward was afterwards offered for
their discovery, they were never traced.
When the Chancellor rose and was apprised of this
singular robbery, he hastened to the house of Mr. Pitt
and both Ministers without delay waited upon the King.
The Great Seal being essential for a Dissolution, its dis
appearance at the very time when it was most needed
might well cause great suspicion, as well as some per-

1784 DISSOLUTION OF PARLIAMENT. 159
plexity. But Pitt took the promptest measures ; he
summoned a council to meet at St. James's Palace the
same morning, and there an order was issued that a new
Great Seal, with the date of 1784, should be prepared
with the least possible delay. It was promised that, by
employing able workmen all through the night, this
necessary work should be completed by noon the next
day. That same morning Pitt found time for a letter to
his friend in Yorkshire.
Dear Wilberforce, — Parliament will be prorogued to-day
and dissolved to-morrow. The latter operation has been in
some danger of delay by a curious manoeuvre, that of steal
ing the Great Seal last night from the Chancellor's, but we
shall have a new one ready in time.
I send you a copy of the Speech which will be made in
two hours from the Throne. You may speak of it in the
past tense, instead of the future.
A letter accompanies this from Lord Mahon to Wyvill,
which you will be so good as to give him. I am told Sir
Robert Hildyard is the right candidate for the county. You
must take care to keep all our friends together, and to tear
the enemy to pieces.
I set out this evening for Cambridge, where I expect,
notwithstanding your boding, to find everything favourable.
I am sure, however, to find a retreat at Bath.
Ever faithfully yours, W. Pitt.
The requisite measures having thus been taken,
the King, according to his original intention, went
down to the House of Lords the same afternoon, and in
a short speech closed this eventful scene. ' On a full
consideration,' thus began His Majesty, ' of the present
situation of affairs, and of the extraordinary circum
stances which have produced it, I am induced to put
an end to this Session of Parliament. I feel it a duty
which I owe to the Constitution and to the country in
such a situation, to recur as speedily as possible to the
sense of my people' by calling a new Parliament. . . .

160 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1784
And I trust that the various important objects which
will require consideration may be afterwards proceeded
upon with less interruption and with happier effect.'
Next day, the new Great Seal being ready according
to promise, the Parliament was dissolved by Royal
Proclamation. This disappearance of the Great Seal has ever since
remained a mystery. It may be observed that in his
letter to Wilberforce Pitt speaks of it as ' a curious
manoeuvre.' Certainly it seems difficult to suppose that
a theft so critically timed was altogether unconnected
with political design. On the other hand, no man of
common candour will entertain the least suspicion that
Fox or North, or any one of the Whig chiefs, was in any
measure cognisant of this mean and criminal device.
Such a slander against them would only recoil on the
man who made it. But their party, like every other in
England, both before and since, had no doubt within,
or rather behind its ranks, some low runners ready to
perform, without the knowledge of their leaders, any
dirty trick which they might think of service, and
the dirtier the better to their taste. Such runners
would have been constantly hearing that a Dissolution
at that juncture might be the ruin of their party views ;
that even a few days' delay might be of service, as giv
ing the people time to cool. Can it be deemed incre
dible that under such circumstances even common
thieves and burglars should be taken into pay by men
in real fact perhaps baser than thieves and burglars are ?
It may be objected that on this supposition a greatly
overstrained importance was attached to the possession
of the Great Seal. But we may well imagine that an
humble and heated partisan should be under the same
delusion as was, in 1688, the King of England himself,
when, hoping to embarrass his successor, he dropped his
Great Seal into the Thames.

1784 l 161

CHAPTER VI.
1784.
Pitt elected for the University of Cambridge, and Wilberforce for
the County of York — Fox's Westminster Contest— Numerous de
feats of Fox's friends — New Peerages — Meeting of Parliament —
Predominance of Pitt — Disorder of the Finances — Frauds on the
Revenue — Pitt's Budget — His India Bill — Westminster Scrutiny
— Restoration of Forfeited Estates in Scotland — Letters to Lady
Chatham — Promotions in the Peerage — Lord Camden President
of the Council.
Now rose the war-cry of the hustings throughout Eng
land. Almost everywhere Fox's banner was unfurled,
and almost everywhere struck down. The first election
in point of time was as usual for the City. There Pitt
was put in nomination without his knowledge or con
sent, and the show of hands was declared to be in his
favour, but when apprised of the fact he declined the
poll. He was pressed to stand for several other cities
and towns, more especially for the city of Bath, which
his father had represented, and the King was vexed
¦at his refusal of this offer. But the choice of Pitt was
already made. He had determined, as we have seen, to
offer himself again for the University of Cambridge.
As another candidate on the same side, Pitt was
aided by the eldest son of the Duke of Grafton, his
father's friend. They were opposed by the two late
Members, Mr. John Townshend and Mr. Mansfield, both
of whom had held office in the Coalition Ministry. After
a keen contest Mr. Pitt and Lord Euston were returned
—Pitt at the head of the poll. It was a great triumph,
and no merely fleeting one, for Pitt continued to repre
sent the University during the remainder of his life.
It has been said that Paley, who was then at Cam
bridge, suggested one evening as a fitting text for an
University sermon : ' There is a lad here which hath
VOL. I. M

162 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1784
five barley loaves and two small fishes ; but what are
they among so many?' But the author, whoever he
was, of this pleasantry, altogether mistook the public
temper of the time. In most cases the electors voted
without views of personal interest ; in some cases they
voted even against views of personal interest.
Such was the fact, for example, in the strongholds of
the Whig estates. Thus in Norfolk the late Member
had been Mr. Coke, lord of the vast domains of Holk-
ham — a gentleman who, according to his own opinion,
as stated in his Address to the county, had played ' a
distinguished part ' in opposing the American War. But
notwithstanding his alleged claims of distinction, and
his much more certain claims of property, Mr. Coke
found it necessary to decline the contest.
But of all the contests of this period the most im
portant in that point of view was for the county of York.
That great county, not yet at election times severed into
Ridings, had been under the sway of the Whig Houses.
Bolton Abbey, Castle Howard, and Wentworth Park had
claimed the right to dictate at the hustings. It was
not till 1780 that the spirit of the county rose. £ Hither
to ' — so in that year spoke Sir George Savile — ' I have
been elected in Lord Rockingham's dining-room. Now
I am returned by my constituents.' And in 1784 the
spirit of the county rose higher still. In 1784 the
independent freeholders of Yorkshire boldly confronted
the great Houses, and insisted on returning, in con
junction with the heir of Duncombe Park, a banker's
son, of few years and of scarcely tried abilities, though
destined to a high place in his country's annals — Mr.
Wilberforce. With the help of the country- gentlemen
they raised the vast sum of 18,662L for the expense of
the election ; and so great was their show of numbers
and of resolution, that the candidates upon the other
side did not venture to stand a contest. Wilberforce
was also returned at the head of the poll by his former
constituents at Hull. ' I can never congratulate you

1784 LOSSES OF THE COALITION PARTY. 163
enough on such glorious success,' wrote the Prime Mi
nister to his young friend.
In this manner throughout England the Opposition
party was scattered far and wide. To use a gambling
metaphor, which Fox would not have disdained, many
threw down their cards. Many others played, but lost
the rubber. A witty nickname was commonly applied
to them. In allusion to the History, written by John
Fox, of the sufferers under the Romish persecution,
they were called ' Fox's Martyrs.' And of such mar
tyrs there proved to be no less than one hundred and
sixty. Nor were these losses to the Coalition party con-
, fined to the rank and file. Several of their spokesmen
or their leaders also fell. At Hertford, Mr. Baker suc
cumbed to Baron Dimsdale ; at Portsmouth, Mr. Erskine
to a brother of Lord Cornwallis ; at Bury, General Con
way to a son of the Duke of Grafton. Lord Galway,
an Irish peer of no great pretensions, prevailed in the
city of York over Fox's most trusted friend and col-
' league Lord John Cavendish. Some escapes there were
of course, though for the most part narrow ones. In
Bedfordshire, Mr. St. John carried his election by a
single vote ; at Norwich, Mr. Windham had on his side
nearly thirteen hundred voters, but a majority of only
fifty-four. Burke was safe at Malton, Sheridan was safe
at Stafford, and Lord North was safe at Banbury.
Amidst all these reverses, however, Fox's high
courage never quailed. On the 3rd of April we find him
write as follows to a friend : ' Plenty of bad news from
all quarters, but I think I feel that misfortunes when
they come thick have the effect rather of rousing my
spirits than sinking them.' '
The case of Fox himself in these elections should be
the last recorded, since it extended very far beyond the
date of the rest. He had appealed again to his old
constituents at Westminster. So had also his late
1 Memorials, by Lord John Russell, vol. ii. p. 267,
w 2

164 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1784
colleague, Sir Cecil Wray. That gentleman had been
formerly not only his colleague, but his follower ; but
had become estranged from him by his ill-starred Coali
tion, and was now inclined to support the Government
of Pitt. As their principal candidate at Westminster the
Government set up a Peer of Ireland, and naval chief
of high repute, Lord Hood. It soon appeared that Lord
Hood would be at the head of the poll, and that the
real contest would be between Fox and Wray. The
voters came forward slowly, and the poll continued open
from day to day, and from week to week — that is from
the 1st of April to the 17th of May. During this time
every nerve was strained on either side. Several ladies
of rank and fashion stood forth as Fox's friends — at
their head, Georgiana, ' the eldest daughter of Earl
Spencer, and the wife, since 1774, of the fifth Duke of
Devonshire. Of great beauty and unconquerable spirit,
she tried all her powers of persuasion on the shopkeepers
of Westminster. Other ladies who could not rival her
beauty might at least follow her example. Scarce a
street or alley which they did not canvass in behalf of
him whom they persisted in calling ' the Man of the
People,' at the very moment when the popular voice
was everywhere declaring against him.
Fox had one supporter of even higher rank and im
portance. The Prince of Wales, after attending the
King at a review, rode through the streets of Westmin
ster wearing Fox's colours, and partook of a banquet
which was given to his friend at Devonshire House.
Henceforth, as of course, the influence of Carlton House
was set up against the influence of St. James's. It
came to be not only Fox against Pitt, but Prince
against King.
At the hustings in Covent Garden, hour after hour,
the orators strove to out-argue and the mobs to out-
bawl each other. All day long the open space in front
resounded with alternate clamours, while the walls were

1784 FOX'S WESTMINSTER CONTEST. 165
white with placards, and the newspapers teeming with
lampoons. Taverns and public-houses were thrown open
at vast expense. Troops of infuriated partisans, decked
with party ribbons and flushed with gin and wine, were
wont to have fierce conflicts in the streets, often with
severe injuries inflicted, and in one instance even with
loss of life.
Up to the twenty-third day of the polling Fox was
in a minority, notwithstanding the immense exertions
that had been made in his behalf. The Ministerial
party were sanguine in the hope of wresting from him
the greatest and most enlightened, as it was then con
sidered, of all the represented boroughs of England.
' Westminster goes on well in spite of the Duchess
of Devonshire and the other Women of the People ; but
when the poll will close is uncertain,' so writes Pitt to
Wilberforce on the 8th of April. Here is another letter
which he wrote a few days afterwards to his cousin
James Grenville, the same who, in 1797, became Lord
Glastonbury. Downing Street, Friday,
April 23, 1784.
My dear Sir, — Admiral Hood tells me he left Lord
Nugent at Bath, disposed to come to town if a vote at West
minster should be material. I think from the state of the
poll it may be very much so. The numbers on the close to
day are — H. 6326. Wr. 5699. F. 5615.
And Sir Cecil has gained four on Fox to-day. There is no
doubt, I believe, of final success on a scrutiny, if we are
driven to it ; but it is a great object to us to carry the return
for both in the first instance, and on every account as great
an object to Fox to prevent it. It is uncertain how long
the poll will continue, but pretty clear it cannot be over till
after Monday. If you will have the goodness to state these
circumstances to Lord Nugent, and encourage his good de
signs, we shall be very much obliged to you ; and still more,
should neither health nor particular engagements detain you,
if besides prevailing upon him you could give your own per-

166 Life of william pitt. 1784
sonal assistance. At all events I hope you will forgive my
troubling you, and allow for the importunity of a hardened
electioneerer. We have bad accounts from Bath which alarm us for
Mr. H. Grenville, but I hope you will have found him
mended. I have not yet heard the event of Bucks, but
William was sure, and by the first day's poll Aubrey's pro
spect seems very good. Mainwaring and Wilkes are consi
derably a-head in Middlesex, and Lord Grimston has come
in, instead of Halsey, for Herts.
Adieu, my dear Sir, and believe me ever faithfully and
affectionately yours, W. Pitt.
The early minority of Fox was, however, at last
retrieved. On the twenty-third day of the polling he
passed Sir Cecil, and he continued to maintain his
advantage till the fortieth, when by law the contest
closed. Then on the 17th of May the numbers stood:
for Lord Hood, 6,694 ; for Mr. Fox, 6,233 ; and for Sir
Cecil Wray, 5,598. There was strong reason, however,
to suspect many fraudulent practices in the previous
days, since it seemed clear that the total number of
votes recorded was considerably beyond the number of
persons entitled to the franchise. For this reason Sir
Cecil Wray at once demanded a scrutiny, and the High
Bailiff — illegally, as Fox contended — granted the re
quest. But further still, the High Bailiff, Mr. Corbett,
who was no friend to Fox, refused to make any legal
return until this scrutiny should be decided. Thus
Westminster was left for the present destitute of Repre
sentatives, and Fox would have been without a seat in
the new Parliament but for the friendship of Sir Thomas
Dundas, through which he had been already returned
the member for the close boroughs of Kirkwall.
In considering the causes which, taken together,
produced this almost unparalleled accession to the
Ministerial ranks, we must allow something to the
disgust of the Coalition, and something to the alarm of
the India Bill. We must allow something both for the

1784 SIMILITUDE TO PEEL. 167
reverent remembrance of Chatham, and for the rising
fame of Pitt. But above all, we must bear in mind that,
owing to these motives, Pitt won a combined aid from
quarters hitherto in public life most wide asunder. He
had with him many Dissenters, and many Churchmen ;
many friends of the King's prerogative, and many as-
sertors of the people's rights. He had from the one side
such men as Jenkinson and Thurlow; from the other
such men as Sawbridge and John Wilkes. For the
Coalition, as Lord Macaulay well observes, had at once,
alienated the most zealous Tories from North, and the
most zealous Whigs from Fox.
Looking back to these eventful four months — from
December 1783, to April 1784 — it will be found perhaps
that by far the nearest parallel to them which our
history affords is the first administration of Sir Robert
Peel — that other period of four months from December
1834, to April 1835. Some points of essential difference
between them have indeed been pointed out by Sir
Robert Peel himself.1 But on the other hand there
are many points of similitude which he did not and he
could not state. In both there was the same oratorical
pre-eminence — in both the same absence of colleagues
efficient for debate — in both, therefore, the same glory
to have fought such a battle single-handed. Of both
Pift and Peel- it may be said with truth, as I conceive,
that besides the ability which their enemies have never
denied, courage, temper, and discretion were evinced
by them in the highest degree amidst all the circum
stances that could most severely task and try these
eminent qualities. Not one hasty or inconsiderate ex
pression, not a single false step, can perhaps within these
periods be charged upon either. Both were opposed by
eloquent and powerful antagonists exasperated by recent
dismissal from office, through the unjust exercise, as
they deemed it, of the Royal prerogative. In both
cases the violence of the press exceeded all customary
1 See the second volume of his Memoirs, pp. 44-48, ed. 1 857.

168 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1784
bounds. In both there was the same appeal by a Dis
solution to the judgment of the people, though in the
one case the appeal preceded and in the other followed
the conflict in the House of Commons. Yet how oppo
site the result, since— though without at all implying
on that account any inferiority of genius in the latter
statesman— Pitt succeeded and Peel was overthrown.
At the close of the Elections the King showed his
entire approval of his Minister by the grant— perhaps a
little lavish — of seven new peerages. The others were to
Baronies ; but one, Sir James Lowther, whose influence
at Appleby had not been forgotten, was raised at once
to higher rank as Earl of Lonsdale. Three other Earl
doms were now conferred, and three more in the ensuing
summer, on Peers who were Barons already.
The King also consented, at the request of Pitt,
that in place of Sir Lloyd Kenyon, who became Master
of the Rolls, Mr. Archibald Macdonald should be made
Solicitor General. But it is remarkable that his Ma
jesty, even at that early period, expressed his own pre
ference for Mr. Scott.
On the 18th of May the new Parliament met, and
on the 19th was opened by the King in person. After
several days consumed in swearing in Members, the
debates began upon the 24th. The proceedings in the
House of Commons are related as follows by Mr. Pitt
himself in a letter the same night to the Duke of
Rutland :— Downing Street, May 24, 1784.
My dear Duke, — I cannot let the messenger go without
congratulating you on the prospect confirmed to us by the
opening of the Session. Our first battle was previous to the
Address on the subject of the return for Westminster. The
enemy chose to put themselves on bad ground by moving
that two Members ought to have been returned without first
hearing the High Bailiff to explain the reasons of his con
duct. We beat them on this by 283 to 136. The High
Bailiff is to attend to-day, and it will depend upon the cir
cumstances stated whether he will be ordered to proceed in

1784 HIS PREDOMINANCE. 169
the scrutiny, or immediately to make a double return, which
will bring the question before a Committee. In either case
I have no doubt of Fox being thrown out, though in either
there may be great delay, inconvenience, and expense, and
the choice of the alternative is delicate. We afterwards pro
ceeded to the Address, in which nothing was objected to but
the thanking the King expressly for the Dissolution. Opposi
tion argued everything weakly, and had the appearance of a
vanquished party, which appeared still more in the division,
when the numbers were 282 to 114. We can have little
doubt that the progress of the Session will furnish through
out a happy contrast to the last. We have indeed nothing
to contend against but the heat of the weather, and the deli
cacy of some of the subjects which must be brought forward.
Adieu. Ever affectionately yours, W. Pitt.
The predominance of Mr. Pitt, as shown in these
first divisions, was maintained, it may be said, not only
through this Session, but through this Parliament and
through the next. Henceforth an historical writer may
glide far more rapidly over the debates than when the
fate of a Government or of a party hung suspended and
trembling in the balance.
There were two subjects which at this time de
manded immediate attention from the Legislature : first,
the public finances ; and secondly, the affairs of the
East India Company.
As to the first, they were in deplorable disorder.
Lord North by no means wanted knowledge or skill in
his department, but he was wholly deficient in resolution
to look his difficulties fairly in the face. His adminis
tration of the finances was merely a series of make
shifts and expedients. As the readiest means of meeting
any sudden call, he had allowed the unfunded debt to
grow to an enormous magnitude, so that the outstanding
bills issued during the war were at a discount of fifteen
or twenty per cent. Consols themselves were at 56 or
57, scarcely higher than^furing the most adverse periods
of the recent contest. So vast was the prevalence of
smuggling — so numerous were the frauds on the revenue

170 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1784
— that the income of the country during the last year
had fallen far below even its reduced expenditure, and
it was foreseen as almost inevitable (and yet how severe
a trial to the popularity of any Minister!) that the
return of peace must be celebrated by the imposition of
new taxes.
Of these many and gigantic evils, the frauds on the
revenue might be deemed to call the loudest for a
remedy. Tea was then the staple of smuggling. All
other branches of illicit traffic seemed slight and insig
nificant by the side of this. According to Pitt's cal
culation, about thirteen millions pounds weight of tea
were consumed every year in England, while only five
millions and a half were sold by the East India Com
pany, so that the illicit trade in this article was more
than double the legal trade. It had been reduced to a
regular system. Forty thousand persons by sea and by
land were said to be engaged in it ; and the large capital
requisite for their operations came, as was believed, from
gentlemen of rank and character in London. Ships —
some of 300 tons burden — lay out at sea and dealt out
their cargoes of tea to small colliers and barges, by
which they were landed at different places along the
coast, where bands of armed men were stationed to
receive and protect them. 'Not merely the revenue'
- — this is the statement of Captain Macbride — 'is af-
"fected by smuggling, though that would be mischief
enough, but the agriculture and manufactures of the
island are in danger of being ruined. The farmers
near the coast have already changed their occupation,
and instead of employing their horses to till the soil,
they use them for the more advantageous purpose of
carrying smuggled goods to a distance from the shore.
The manufacturers will catch the contagion, and the
loom and the anvil will be deserted. In former wars
the smugglers had not conducted themselves as enemies
to their country, but in the late war they enticed away
sailors from the King's ships, concealed such as deserted,

1784 FRAUDS ON THE REVENUE. 171
gave intelligence to the enemy, and did everything in
their power hostile to the interest of Great Britain.' [
Such was the spirit that had grown up under Lord
North, and which Pitt had determined to quell. First,
he brought in a general measure against smuggling,
with some new or more stringent regulations. Thus
the right of seizing vessels allowed to the revenue
officers under certain circumstances of suspicion was
extended from the distance of two to four leagues from
the shore. But these were only palliatives, and Pitt
was bent upon striking at the very root of the evil. ' It
has app'eared to the Committee of this House,' he said,
' that the best possible plan for the purpose is to lower
the duty on tea to such a degree as to take away from
the smuggler all temptation to his illicit trade ; and
this idea has my hearty approval.' In the discussion
which ensued Pitt said of Lord Mahon that his Noble
Friend had an especial right to speak on this subject,
since it was he who ' originally suggested the reduction
of duties as beneficial to the revenue.'
_ In pursuance of the plan which his speech had indi
cated, the Minister proposed that the duties on tea,
which brought in upwards of 700,000?. yearly, should
be reduced so far that they might probably yield no
more than 169,000L To set against these diminished
duties there was the certain decline of smuggling, so
that the fair trader would no longer be exposed to any
unequal competition. There would be, however, in the
first instance, a considerable loss to the revenue, which
Pitt proposed to supply by means of a new impost —
"the Commutation Tax,' as it was afterwards called —
namely, an additional duty upon all houses above the
poorest kind, estimated according to the number of
their windows.
This scheme found great favour both with Parlia-
1 On this whole subject compare with Tomline's Life of Pitt,
Macpherson's History of Commerce, vol. iv. p. 49, and Sinclair's His
tory of the Revenue, vol. ii. p. 392.

172 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1784
ment and with the public, and was carried through by
an overpowering majority. It was obviously much in
favour of the poorest classes, since they were relieved
from the old tax upon tea without being made subject
to the new tax upon windows. Fox, however, raised an
objection to the new plan as being compulsory — -that is,
as obliging every householder above the lower rank to
pay an equivalent for drinking tea, whether he drank
it or not, But this argument, though specious in
theory, was deemed to carry no great weight, since in
point of fact at that time there was scarce a family in
the kingdom, rich or poor, in which tea of some kind
was not every day consumed. So vast had been the
change since the days of Locke, who but a century be
fore speaks of tea by its French designation of ' The,'
and enumerates it among the ' foreign drinks ' to be
found in the London coffee-houses.1
Exactly the same principle was, applied by Pitt to
the similar case of spirits. Here again fraudulent de
vices had spread so wide that, for instance, the distillery
from molasses in the city of London, which had yielded
to the revenue 32,000£. in 1778, produced no more than
1,098Z. in 1783. The Minister therefore brought in
and carried a measure regulating the duties upon
British, and greatly reducing those upon foreign
spirits. But expecting as the result a considerable in
crease of consumption in spirits legally imported, he
did not think it necessary as in the case of tea to pro
pose any new impost as a substitute.
These might be called the preliminary measures.
But on the 30th of June Pitt unfolded his entire plan
of finance — the first of those luminous and masterly
Budgets which were heard in the House of Commons
year by year so long as he continued Minister, and
which had not been equalled by any of his predecessors.
Hard and irksome was the task, he said, to propose not
1 See his ' Memoranda ' of 1 679, and his ' Journal ' of April, 1685,
in his Life by Lord King (vol. i. p. 251 and 297).

1784 PITT'S BUDGET. 173
only new taxes but also a new loan in the second year of
peace. But the necessities of the State made that
task his duty, and for these necessities others, and not
he, had to answer. The floating or unfunded debt he
estimated at fourteen millions. Pitt was very de
sirous to fund the whole of this sum in the present
Session, but he was assured by the monied men that so
large a quantity of stock coming at once into the
market must greatly depress the other public securities,
and prevent them from supplying the new loan on
favourable terms. ' After an arduous effort for the
whole,' said Pitt, ' I was obliged to compound the
business, and therefore I propose to fund only six mil
lions and a half of the unfunded fourteen millions.'
' It was always my idea ' — thus in his great speech
the Minister continues — ' that a fund at a high rate of
interest is better to the country than those at low rates ;
that a four per cent, is preferable to a three per cent.,
and a five per cent, better than a four. The reason is
that in all operations of finance we should always have
in view a plan of redemption. Gradually to redeem
and to extinguish our debt ought ever to be the wise
pursuit of Government. Every scheme and operation
of finance should be directed to that end, and managed
with that view.'
Such a maxim might at that time be regarded as a
considerable innovation on established views. Not less
novel was the course which Pitt announced himself to
have pursued with respect to the loan of six millions he
required. Former Ministers had made such loans a
source of patronage- — the means of gain to their friends
and followers. Pitt loftily resolved to consult the public
interest only. He gave notice through the Governor
and Deputy Governor of the Bank that he was ready to
contract for the loan with those who would offer the
lowest terms, and that the lottery tickets should be
distributed among the persons who lent the money, in
proportion to the sums lent. The sealed tenders which

174 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1784
were sent in accordingly were opened in the presence
of the Governor and Deputy Governor. Pitt at once
accepted the terms that were the lowest; and as he
assured the House of Commons, on his honour, not one
shilling was retained for distribution in his hands. The
example thus set has served as a precedent and model
in all loans of later times.
It is worthy of note, in passing, how different was
the spirit which Lord Rockingham and Lord John
Cavendish upon the one part, or Pitt upon the other,
applied to questions of finance. The danger of undue
influence by allowing to Members of Parliament any
share in the contracts for loans and lotteries was ac
knowledged on all sides. Rockingham and Cavendish
dealt with this evil by pruning its branches — by a Bill
to prohibit every contractor from sitting in the House
of Commons. Pitt dealt with this evil by striking at
its roots — by providing that every contract should be
free from any possible admixture of party favour.
Reverting to the first Budget of the new Minister,
we find him in his speech enumerate the Army Esti
mates for the year as upwards of four millions, the
Navy as upwards of three millions, the Ordnance as
upwards of 600,000£. The Miscellaneous Services
would amount to nearly 300,000Z., including a large
arrear, which Pitt had the painful duty of announcing,
in the Civil List. The interest of the National Debt in
all its manifold denominations might be taken at nine
millions. On the other hand the revenue would fall
short of the required charges by no less than 900,000£.,
and Pitt proposed to supply the deficiency at once and
boldly by the imposition of new duties. ' Irksome as
is my task this day,' he said, ' the necessities of the
country call upon me not to shrink from it ; and I
confide in the good sense and the patriotism of the
people of England.' He added, as the maxim which
he designed to follow as Minister of the Finances, ' to
disguise nothing from the public'

1784 PITT'S BUDGET. 175
The taxes proposed by Pitt to yield what he termed
— and what, according to the estimates of that time,
he might well term — this ' enormous sum,' were upon
hats, ribbons, and gauzes, coals not employed in certain
branches of our manufactures, horses not employed in
husbandry, an additional duty upon linens and calicoes,
an additional duty of one halfpenny in the pound upon
candles, upon licences to dealers in exciseable commodi
ties, certificates for killing game, paper, hackney-
coaches, and bricks and tiles. According to Pitt's
estimate the yearly consumption of bricks was about
three hundred millions, and of these one hundred and
five were used in and near London alone. All these in
tended imposts he explained and defended at length, in
the course of his speech, with so much perspicuity and
knowledge of details as might justly delight his friends,
and in the same measure disconcert his adversaries.
In pursuance of the views which his speech ex
plained, Pitt on the same evening moved no less than
133 Resolutions of Finance. He added several others
on subsequent days, on all which numerous Bills were
founded. His new taxes passed for the most part with
little difficulty, excepting that on coals, which was
assailed by so many and so strong objections that the
Minister consented to withdraw it, substituting several
other small imposts or new regulations in its place.
To the tax on bricks and tiles there was also some
demur. Lord Mahon assailed it in a speech of con
siderable violence, and he went on to denounce the
arguments of Mr. George Rose in its support as ' the
most weak, ridiculous, and absurd that could be ad
vanced.' It was the manifest duty of Pitt to defend
his own Secretary of the Treasury. He retorted in a
strain of irony on Lord Mahon ; and this appears to
have been the first estrangement between these so
lately most cordial friends.
Several of the new financial regulations which Pitt
was proposing applied to the privilege of franking by

176 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1784
Peers and Members of Parliament. Up to that time
nothing beyond the signature of the person privileged
had been required, nor was there any limit as to place
or number. Several banking firms especially were
possessed of whole box-fulls of blank covers signed by
some friend or partner, and kept ready for use in their
affairs. Letters were constantly addressed to some
Member, at places where he never resided, so that by a
secret arrangement other persons might receive them
post-free. It was computed, though probably with some
exaggeration, that the loss to the revenue by such means
might amount every year to no less than 170,000L By
new rules it came to be provided that no Member of
either House should be entitled to frank more than
ten letters daily, each of these to bear in his own hand
writing, besides his signature, the day of the month and
year, the name of the post-town, and the entire address ;
nor were any letters to be received by him post-free ex
cept at his actual abode. These regulations, which con
tinued in force until the final abolition of Parliamentary
franks in 1839, were carefully framed, and productive
of considerable savings. Yet no amount of public
forethought is ever quite a match for private skill, and
many cases of most ingenious evasion are recorded.
Thus on one occasion the franks of a Scottish Member,
Sir John Hope, having been counterfeited, the person
accused on that account protested that he had done no
more than write at the edge of his own letters, ' Free
I hope.' A Peer with whom I was acquainted is said
to have franked the news of his own decease — that is,
having died suddenly one morning, and left some covers
to friends ready written on his own escritoire, his
family availed themselves of these to enclose the melan
choly tidings.
The arrear of the Civil List, first made known by
the Prime Minister in his speech upon the Budget,
was afterwards more formally communicated by a
message from the King. It amounted to 60,000^.,

1784 HIS INDIA BILL. 177
which was voted with no opposition, and with little
remark. It is worthy of note that the Appropriation Act of
this year was framed to include the supplies voted in
the preceding as well as in the present Session. It
passed quietly through, without a word of remonstrance,
or even of remark. No Bill of Indemnity to Ministers
was either solicited by themselves or called for by their
opponents. Thus worthless was the Resolution which
the last House of Commons had carried on this subject !
So completely had all the threats antecedent to the Dis
solution fallen to the ground !
Next in importance to the settlement of the finances,
stood the question of the government of India. ' On the
6th of July Pitt brought in and explained his new
measure for that object. It differed but little from the
scheme which he had laid before the last Parliament at
the beginning of the year, and by establishing a 'Board
of Control ' laid the foundation of that system of double
government for India which, with some modifications,
continued till the Act of 1858. Every possible objec
tion was urged- against it by Fox and Burke, by Sheri
dan, and by Philip Francis, who had now for the first
time obtained a seat in the House of Commons. But
they had little success. In the only division which
they ventured to try upon the general principle, no
more than 60 Members were found to oppose the Bill,
while 271 voted in its favour. And it passed still more
smoothly through the House of Lords.
Another question, prolific of debates, was the West
minster Scrutiny. It called forth one of the most
admirable and least imperfectly reported of the many
admirable speeches of Fox. The High Bailiff defended
himself at the bar. Witnesses were examined and
counsel heard. Among these, Erskine, now no longer
in Parliament, summed up the case on Fox's side. At
last the House by a large majority affirmed the legal
character of the Scrutiny, and directed that it should
vol. 1. N

178 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1784
proceed with all possible despatch— a most unhappy
decision for the interests of all the parties concerned.
' I have had a variety of calculations made upon this
Scrutiny,' said Fox in his great speech of the 8th of
June, 'and the lowest of all the estimates is 18,0001.
It is said that Pitt was misled upon this question by
the authority of Sir Lloyd Kenyon, the new Master of
the Rolls.1 '
The last measure of this Session had the rare good
fortune of being supported from all sides. On the 2nd
of August Dundas brought in a Bill to restore to the
rightful heirs the estates in Scotland which had been
forfeited in consequence of the last rebellion. The re
turn, said Dundas, to a more conciliatory system was
commenced by the late Lord Chatham, who with ad
mirable judgment and most complete success had raised
regiments of Highlanders to fight the battles of our
common country, declaring that he sought only for
merit, and had found it in the mountains of the North.
'It is an auspicious omen,' thus Dundas proceeded,
' that the first blow to this proscription was given by the
Earl of Chatham, and may well justify a hope that its
remains will be annihilated under the administration of
his son, who will thus complete the good work that his
great father began. But let me not be understood, to
mean that my Right Hon. friend has the, sole merit of
the present measure. In justice to the Noble Lord in
the blue riband (Lord North), I must say that, having
conversed with him several times on the subject while
he was at the head of affairs, I always found him dis
posed to act in that business upon the most liberal,
generous, and manly principles. I found precisely the
same favourable disposition in the Ministers who imme
diately preceded the present ; and I know that had they
remained longer in office, they would have brought
forward the same proposal as I have now to make.'
1 Nichols's Recollections during the Reign of George the Third,
vol. ii. p. 161.

1784 CLOSE OF THE SESSION. 179
Accordingly Fox rose to express his continued and
hearty approval of the scheme, and it passed the House
of Commons without even a whisper of objection. Nor
was it resisted in the Lords. There, however, it pro
voked from the Chancellor a peevish burst of spleen,
the cause of which may perhaps be detected at the
outset of his speech, when he ' lamented, as a private
man, that he had not heard anything of the project of
bringing the measure before Parliament till it had
actually been brought in.' He declared that he did not
mean to vote against the Bill, and contented himself
with drawing in array against it a great number of
doubts and scruples.
In the course of this Session Alderman Sawbridge
brought forward a motion for Reform in Parliament.
Pitt, Wilberforce, and others endeavoured to dissuade
him on account of the pressure of other business. ' In
my opinion,' said Pitt, ' it is greatly out of season
at this juncture. But I have the measure much at
heart, and I pledge myself in the strongest language
to bring it forward the very first opportunity next
Session.' Nevertheless the Alderman persisted, and
a long debate ensued. The motion was rejected by
199 votes against 125, Pitt himself being one of the
minority. On the 20th of August this short but busy Session,
the second of the year, was closed with a brief speech
by the King in person.
On the 3rd of September following, the new India
Board was published. It was intended that the sub
stantial power should remain wholly in the hands of
Dundas ; but the arrangement was not effected without
some difficulties on the part of the other Commissioners,
as will appear from a letter which one of them ad
dressed at this time to Mr. Pitt, complaining above all
of the undue number of Scotch appointments.

180 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1784
Lord Sydney to Mr. Pitt.
Albemarle Street, Sept. 24, 1784.
Dear Sir, — I went into the Closet to-day to carry in the
business of the various departments which now fall upon my
very inefficient shoulders. To begin with the War Office,
upon the business of which I thought it necessary to say
something, in consequence of a letter which I received from
Sir John Wrottesley. . . .
. . . Moore cannot, I find, come in upon any vacancy
in the first regiment of Guards, as he has behaved in a strange
manner to the commanding officer of that regiment upon the
subject of a Court Martial held upon his brother, who was a
surgeon's mate. This I had from the King. I do not think
His Majesty much edified with the keen appetite and quick
digestion of the Phipps family.
* So much for military matters. As to the subject upon
which you know how much I hate to talk, and upon which
I wish I could never think, His Majesty asked me what the
Directors meant 1 — the question of all others to which I was
most incompetent to answer. I could have referred him to
others who are masters of the subject, but I find that you
.sent him only the Resolution of the Directors. He asked
why they thought that no one above the rank of Major-
General could command in chief, and how they came to ask
the question whether it is inconsistent or not for a Lieu
tenant-General to be under the command of a Major-General.
I have this moment received your note. I cannot say
how much it hurts me. My opinions as much as my feelings
are against the step that is taken, and what I am most con
cerned about is that you will be imagined to have been a
party to this business. I am sure you are not. You will
find a combination of the most insatiable ambition and the
most sordid avarice and villany at the bottom of this base
work. As to the men with whom I have hitherto treated,
very imprudently, with great openness, while I have a bolt
to my door they shall never come into my room. I must be
allowed to show myself not to be their accomplice.
I enclose you a list of the field-officers in India, to show
you the drift of that intended operation upon the King's
troops in India with which so many persons have acquainted
me. I believe three are as many English or Irish names as

1784 LETTERS TO LADY CHATHAM. 181
there are among them. I will leave the subject, as I feel it
difficult to suppress my sense of my own situation.
Let me off from any connection with this Indian business.
I am ready to abandon it to the ambition of those who like
the department. But I must have the rest of my depart
ment, while I hold it, unencroached upon by others. I hope
you will not suppose yourself included in this last sentence,
as I shall always look upon the patronage of my office as
yours. Assure yourself that, hurt and disgraced as I feel myself,
I am, with great and unalterable truth and regard, &c,
Sydney.
During the remainder of this year Pitt continued to
apply himself most earnestly to the finances. He lived
for the most part within easy reach of London, in a
house which he had hired upon Putney Heath. Some
times he indulged himself with one or two days at
Brighton, or, as it was then called, Brighthelmstone.
But he found it necessary to relinquish the longer
journey to Burton Pynsent which he had designed.
The letters of Pitt to Lady Chatham from the time
that he became Prime Minister appear less numerous
and also of smaller interest. He appears to have felt it
his duty in his new station to refrain from writing to her
upon State affairs, except in rare cases and in general
terms. , His correspondence, therefore, turns chiefly on
family matters. But he was most anxious and un
remitting in attention whenever any point arose in
which her comfort was concerned, as the following
extracts from his letters will clearly show : —
April 20, 1784.
Everything continues to prosper here. I only wish you
were a nearer spectator, and that I could have an oppor
tunity of telling you all you would like to hear.
Downing Street, May 6, 1784.
With regard to the 4^ Fund itself, I still retain my
opinion that it will in no very distant time become again
adequate to all it is to pay ; but in the meantime I feel more

182 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1784
than I can express the continuance of the inconvenience to
which you are subjected by the delay. The best measure
that I see in the present circumstances is that which, inde
pendent of any views of our own, must, I believe, take
place; and if it does, it will, I think, be an effectual relief.
That is an application to Parliament, stating the arrears of
the fund and the cause of the deficiency, and desiring that
the charge now upon it may be carried to the general fund
of the revenue of the Customs. I believe if this is properly
done, there will be no difficulty in it ; and such a plan is in
forwardness on the part of the agents of the West India
governors. In the interval, there is one thing I must most
anxiously beg of you— not to entertain an idea of contract
ing any further in the present moment your own establish
ment, which is indeed too narrow to admit of more economy.
What Harriot said to me on this subject makes me press
this request. I have the fullest persuasion that the thing
will finally be put on a satisfactory footing, and I hope it
may soon. But while we wait for this, which is a debt from
the pubhc, we have some of us what may in part serve in lieu
of it. I assure you I shall be a rich man enough myself (while
we continue in a state which seems to have every prospect of
permanence) to give me a right to beg you to be at ease with
regard to any exceeding that may be incurred while the sus
pense continues. I hope you will be good enough to believe
that whatever concerns your satisfaction, more immediately
concerns my own than any articles that consume the salary
of the Treasury. What I beg you to believe also, is that
my means, though they will not reach at the extent of my
wishes on this point, will without a moment's difficulty go
some way to it. I am sure you will forgive the haste in
which I write, and believe that I have not time to express
half what I feel on the subject. But before I end, I must
repeat how anxiously I beg you, if you will let me urge it
for my own comfort, not to let the delay of this business give
you any additional uneasiness, and above all not to think of
putting yourself to any fresh inconvenience or restraint. I
will pledge myself for your finding ultimately no reason for
it. Downing Street, May 29, 1784.
My dear Mother, — I have had but one thing to com
plain of in the prosperous course of this busy time — that I

1784 LETTERS TO LADY CHATHAM. 183
have really been obliged day by day to relinquish my inten
tion of writing to you, though every moment of delay was
mortifying to me, more than I can express, knowing the
suspense which it occasioned to you. I had also some in
quiries to make before I could ascertain the present means of
furnishing the accommodation, which I so much wish I could
render perfectly complete. I trust in a little while our home
Treasury will be punctual enough in its payments to leave
no difficulty in making up, in some measure, the irregularity
of other funds. The income of the Lord of the Treasury and
Chancellor of the Exchequer together will really furnish more
than my expenses can require ; and I hope I need not say
the surplus will give me more satisfaction than all the rest,
' if it can contribute to diminish embarrassment where least
of all any ought, I am sure, to subsist. In the meantime, as
even our payments are in some arrear, I cannot in the in
stant answer for all I could wish. But let me beg you to
have the goodness to name what sum is necessary to the exi
gencies of the present moment, and 1 am sure of being able
to supply it. I shall without any other steps have 600/.
paid into Mr. Coutts's hands the day after to-morrow, and
will immediately direct whatever part of it you will allow to
be placed to your account. If anything more is necessary,
pray let me know the extent of it. I have no doubt of find
ing means, if they are wanting, at present ; though, for the
reasons I have related, the facility may be greater a Httle
while hence. I should add that I still continue to think
some effectual arrangement may take place as to the 4^ Fund,
or a productive substitute for it. Forgive the haste in which
I am obliged to write, and have the goodness to let me hear
from you as soon as you conveniently can. The mode I have
mentioned will enable you to draw on Mr. Courts without
trouble, and I think is the easiest, unless any other occurs
to you. Believe me, my dear Mother, &c, W. Pitt.
Putney Heath, August 28, 1784.
The end of the Session has hardly yet given me anything
like leisure, as the continual hurry of some months leaves of
course no small arrear of business now to be despatched. I
hope, however, in about ten days, or possibly a week, to be
able to get as far as Brighthelmstone. My brother has, I
believe, written to tell Harriot that a house is secured. I

184 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1784
shall be happy to see her either in Downing Street or there
the first moment she pleases. I am already in a great mea
sure a country gentleman, because, though full of business,
it is of a nature which I can do as well at Putney, from
whence I now write, as in town. I look forward with im
patience to being enough released to be with you at Burton,
and work the more cheerfully in hopes of it.
Putney Heath, October 7, 1784.
I have not been without some useful and agreeable mix
ture of idleness in my Brighthelmstone excursions, though
in them I have had pretty constant experience that I could
not afford more than a day's distance from town. I have
been for a good while engaged to a large party which was to
take place, for two or three days about this time, at a famous
place of Mr. Drummond's in the New Forest. But as the
party was to be made up principally of the Treasury and the
new India Board, it is not very certain that the businessof
one or the other will not prevent it. The principal cause of
my being detained at present is the expectation of materials
from Ireland, and persons to consult with from that country,
.on the subject of all the unsettled commercial points, which
will furnish a good deal of employment for next Session.
The scene there is the most important and delicate we now
have to attend to, but even there I think things wear a more
favourable aspect. December 24, 1784.
i I have deferred from time to time saying anything re
specting the grant, hoping to have the opportunity of talking
it over fully. I hope, however, that I may safely beg you
to be at ease upon it ; for though I cannot at this moment say
precisely what mode must be taken, I am convinced the
business may be soon satisfactorily settled. I shall feel too
much interested on what so nearly concerns that which has
the first claim to my attention, not to take care that it shall
be early adjusted. The only thing you must allow me to
beg and insist on, is that you will in the interval feel no
difficulty in calling for whatever you find necessary from
Mr. Courts. I hope you know that while it is accidentally
in my power to diminish a moment's embarrassment or un
easiness to you, the doing so is the object the most important
to my happiness. Inconvenience, if it existed, ought to be out

1784 PROMOTIONS IN THE PEERAGE. 185
of the question with me ; but I can assure you very sincerely
that it cannot be produced in the shghtest degree by your
consulting your own ease and my pleasure in the interval that
now remains.
During the autumn there were two considerable pro
motions in the Peerage. No Marquisate was at that
time remaining in England. The title of Lord Win
chester was merged in the Dukedom of Bolton, and the
title of Lord Rockingham had become extinct at his
death. Pitt now resolved to raise to the vacant rank
two noblemen, one of whom had high claims on himself,
and the other high claims on the King. On the same
day in November the Earl of Shelburne became Marquis
of Lansdowne, and Earl Temple Marquis of Bucking
ham. Of the former, we find the Duke of Rutland
write confidentially to Pitt as follows in the previous
June : — ' I have reason to believe that though he (Lord
Shelburne) has entirely relinquished all views of busi
ness and office, yet some mark of distinction such
as a step in the Peerage would be peculiarly gratifying
to him.' "
Similar hints may perhaps have come from Lord
Temple's friends. It is even probable, as I have shown
elsewhere, that he aspired to the highest rank. His
eager wish in December, 1783, seems to have been
baffled only by the resolute refusal of the King. The
letter of Pitt to Lord Temple — which is not in my
possession, but which I have seen — offering him a
Marquisate in November, 1784, goes on to say that his
claim to a Dukedom should be considered in the event
of His Majesty ever granting any more patents of that
title. I have been informed that the letter to Lord
Shelburne of the same date conveys the same assurance.
On the 1st of December Pitt was most highly
gratified by an important accession to his ranks. Lord
Camden, though from the weight of years unwilling to
1 The Duke of Rutland to Mr. Pitt, June 16, 1784.

186 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1784-
engage once more in active life, would no longer refuse
to join the son of Chatham. He consented to take the
office of President of the Council, which Earl Gower
gave up for his sake, receiving in return the Privy Seal,
left vacant by the Duke of Rutland. It was also de
signed, and indeed made a condition by Lord Camden,
that his intimate friend the Duke of Grafton should
become a member of the Cabinet. From various causes
His Grace postponed his decision for a considerable
time. At last the affair of Ockzakow arising, he finally
declined. During the administration of Lord North it had been
usual to convene Parliament in the month of November.
But under Pitt the custom was changed. Unless in
special cases, the Houses did not meet till after the
New Year. Thus in 1784, at the time of which I speak,
the opening of the new Session was appointed for the
25th of January, 1785.

CHAPTER VII.
1784-1785.

Gibbon's character of Pitt — Pitt's application to business — Parallel
between Pitt and Fox — The King's Speech on the opening of
Parliament — Westminster Scrutiny — Success of Pitt's Financial
Schemes — Reform of Parliament— Commercial intercourse with
Ireland — The Eleven Resolutions — Pitt's Speech — Opposed by
Fox and North — Petition from Lancashire against the measure
— Opposition in the Irish House of Commons — Bill relinquished
by the Government — Mortification of Pitt.
While thus throughout the country parties were
fiercely contending, we may desire to consult the more
dispassionate opinion of an Englishman of superior
intellect residing at a distance from England. It is,
therefore, with especial pleasure that I insert the fol
lowing letter. I owe the communication of it, and of

1785 GIBBON'S CHARACTER OF PITT. 187
several others, to the kindness of my friend the present
and third Earl of St. Germans.
Mr. Gibbon to Lord Eliot.
Lausanne, Oct. 27, 1784.
Since my leaving England, in the short period of last
winter, what strange events have fallen out in your pohtical
world ! It is probable, from your present connections, that
we see them with very different eyes ; and, on this occasion,
I very much distrust my own judgment. I am too far dis
tant to have a perfect knowledge of the revolution, and am
too recently absent to judge of it without partiality. Yet
let me soberly ask you on Whig principles, whether it be
not a dangerous discovery that the King can keep his favour
ite Minister against a majority of the House of Commons 1
Here, indeed (for even here we are politicians), the people
were violent against Fox, but I think it was chiefly those
who have imbibed in the French service a high reverence for
the person and authority of Kings. They are likewise
biassed by the splendour of young Pitt, and it is a fair and
honourable prejudice. A youth of five-and- twenty, who
raises himself to the government of an empire by the power
of genius and the reputation of virtue, is a circumstance un
paralleled in history, and, in a general view, is not less
glorious to the country than to himself.
At the time when Gibbon wrote thus, Pitt had not
merely secured his high position by his triumph at the
General Election. He had done much more. He had
brought into order the finances of the country, and
found the pubhc favour stand firm against that most
trying of all tests, the imposition of new taxes. He had
decided and settled for seventy years to come that most
anxious and perplexing of all questions — the principle
of our government in India. At this period, the
autumn of 1784, 'he was,' says Lord Macaulay, 'the
greatest subject that England had seen during many
generations. His father had never been so powerful,
nor Walpole, nor Marlborough.'
It is no less true, and this should above all be noted,

188 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1784-
that the high supremacy which even at this distance of
time may dazzle us, never seems to have dazzled the
' boy-statesman,' as his opponents loved to call him, of
twenty-five. Young as he was, and victorious as he had
become, he was never tempted to presume upon his
genius, or relax in his application. He continued, as I
have just now shown him, through all the recess of
1784, seldom allowing himself any holiday, and earnestly
intent on business for the coming Session.
But before I pass on to the events of that Session, and
of many Sessions more in which Pitt and Fox continued
to confront each other, I will attempt to draw a parallel
in some detail between these two most eminent men,
towering, as each did, high above the rest in the oppo
site ranks. As to Pitt, there could be no idea of com
petition with any of his colleagues; and as to Fox,
though there stood beside him such men — hardly else to
be paralleled — as Burke, as Sheridan, as North, yet, as
Bishop Tomline says, ' in conversation with me, I
always noticed that Mr. Pitt considered Mr. Fox as far
superior to any other of his opponents as a debater in
the House of Commons.'
Charles James Fox being born in January, 1749, was
older than Pitt by upwards of ten years. Each was the
younger and the favourite son of a retired Minister.
Each grew up amidst the sanguine expectations of his
father's friends. But in their training they were wide
as the poles asunder. Pitt, as we have seen, was
brought up by Lord Chatham in habits of active study,
and his mind was cultivated with unremitting care.
Fox, on the other hand, had the great misfortune of
a too indulgent father. It is clear from the letters pub
lished that the first Lord Holland connived at — it might
almost be said that he abetted and encouraged — the
early excesses of his son. The gaming-tables at Spa
and elsewhere became familiar to young Fox even in
his teens. His losses, his debts, his drinking bouts, and
his amours were the theme of fashionable scandal.

1785 PARALLEL BETWEEN PITT AND FOX. 189
Such had been the life of Fox, far more through the
fault of others than his own, when at the age of nineteen
the burgage tenures of Midhurst first sent him to the
House of Commons.
Pitt and Fox, as they grew up, differed greatly in
aspect and in frame. The tall, lank figure, and the
lofty bearing of the former might often be contrasted
with Fox's increasing corpulence, and gay, good-
humoured mien. With these, or the exaggerations of
these, the caricatures of that day have made us all
familiar. Caricatures, so far at least as any wide
diffusion of the prints is concerned, may be said to have
begun in the last days of Sir Robert Walpole. But it
was not until the coalition of Fox and North — a most
tempting subject for satire — that they, and above all
such as came from the pencil of Gillray, attained any
high, degree of merit. With their merit so likewise
grew their political importance. It is said that Mr. Fox
was wont to ascribe in part the unpopularity stirred
against him on his East India Bill to the impression
produced by Sayer's caricatures, especially ' Carlo
Khan's Triumphal Entry into Leadenhall Street ; ' and
' A Transfer of East India Stock.' ' They have done
me more mischief,' he said, ' than the debates in
Parliament.' 1
In able hands the pen may be almost as graphic as
the pencil. Thus, for instance, does Horace Walpole
, describe the eloquent framer of the India Bill about the
very time when that Bill was framed : ' Fox lodged in
St. James's Street, and as soon as he rose, which was
very late, had a levee of his followers, and of the
•members of the gaming-club at Brooks's — all his
disciples. His bristly black person and shagged breast
quite open, and rarely purified by any ablutions, was
1 'Anecdote-Book of Lord Eldon,' as cited in Twiss's Biography,
vol. i. p. 162. See also Mr. Thomas Wright's ingenious disquisition
upon caricatures, England under the House of Hanover, vol. ii. p. 81,
ed. 1848.

190 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1784-
wrapped in a foul linen night-gown, and his bushy hair
dishevelled. In these Cynic weeds, and with Epicurean
good humour, did he dictate his politics, and in this
school did the Heir of the Crown attend his lessons and
imbibe them.' The value of this portrait is enhanced
from the judgment formed upon it by one of Fox's
relatives and most warm admirers — his nephew, Lord
Holland. He speaks of it as, of course, a strong carica
ture ; * yet,' he adds, ' from my boyish recollection of a
morning in St. James's Street, I must needs acknow
ledge that it has some truth to recommend it.' '
Take as a side-piece the portrait of Pitt as he ap
peared in 1783 to a Member of Parliament who was
garrulous and inexact, and extremely sore as disappointed
in his hopes of office, but still keen-eyed and observant.
Sir Nathaniel Wraxall, to whom I am referring, speaks
as follows : ' In the formation of his person he was tall
and slender, but without elegance or grace. In his
manners, if not repulsive, he was cold, stiff, and without
suavity or amenity* He seemed never to invite ap
proach, or to encourage acquaintance, though when
addressed he could be polite, communicative, and occa
sionally gracious. Smiles were not natural to him even
when seated on the Treasury Bench  From the
instant that Pitt entered the door-way of the House of
Commons, he advanced up the floor with a quick and firm
step, his head erect and thrown back, looking neither to
the right nor to the left, nor favouring with a nod or a
glance any of the individuals seated on either side,
among whom many who possessed 5,000J. a-year would
have been gratified even by so slight a mark of atten
tion. It was not thus that Lord North or Fox treated
Parliament.'2 In vigour of frame, as in outward aspect, the two
statesmen differed greatly. The health of Pitt, as I
have shown, was very delicate in his early youth, and it
1 See the Memorials of Fox by Lord John Russell, vol. ii. p. 45.
2 Memoirs of his Own Time, vol. iv. p. 633.

1785 PARALLEL BETWEEN PITT AND FOX. 191
again became so ere he had passed the prime of man
hood. Fox, on the contrary, had been gifted by nature
with a buoyant spirit and a most robust constitution.
For a long time even his own irregularities could not
impair it, and he used to say that a spoonful of rhubarb
was sufficient remedy for all the bodily ills that he had
ever known. As a proof of his youthful vigour, it is
recorded by tradition at Killarney that at twenty-two
years of age he twice swam round a lake upon a moun
tain summit of large extent and of icy coldness, called
.'the Devil's Punch-Bowl.' Mr. Herbert, of Mucross,
was his host on that occasion, and it is added that some
months afterwards, meeting that gentleman in London,
he asked him, ' Pray tell me — is that shower I left at
Killarney over yet ? '
s So far as regards mental culture on other subjectsthan
on politics, Pitt and Fox were exactly opposite in their
position. Pitt had received a most excellent education,
but from early office had afterwards little leisure for
reading. Fox in his youth had read only by snatches,
and it is greatly to his credit that he had read at all.
When, however, his Coalition Ministry fell, and when a
long period of exile from Downing Street loomed before
him, he applied himself often with excellent effect and
most unaffected relish to literary studies.
The best classic authors in Greek and Latin were to
Fox a never-failing source of recreation. In these he
might be equalled or indeed surpassed by Pitt, but as to
modern literature there could be no kind of comparison
between them. Pitt never carried any further his col
loquial studies of Rheims and Fontainebleau. But Fox,
besides some knowledge of Spanish, had made himself
perfect master of both the French and Italian languages.
It was partly for this reason that he took especial
pleasure in foreign affairs.
It is said — and even the personal tastes of a great
man may be to us a matter of interest — that Ovid was
the poet Fox loved the best among the Latin poets, and

192 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. * 1784-
Euripides among the Greek tragedians. For poetry in
every language he had indeed a great predilection, and
for poetry in English he bad talent as well as taste.
His own attempts in it were only of a cursory kind.
Yet, slight as the praise may seem to certain ponderous
writers of unread dissertations, he is said to be the author
of perhaps the very best, and the truest, enigma in the
English language : —
My first does affliction denote,
Which my second is destined to feel,
My whole is the best antidote
That sorrow to soften and heal.
Here is another, scarcely less excellent, which is also
ascribed to him : —
Formed long ago, though made to-day,
I'm most employed when others sleep ;
What few would wish to give away,
And none would ever wish to keep.
In his retirement, one of the projects that he fondly
cherished was to prepare a new and improved edition of
the works of his favourite Dryden. ' Oh ! ' — he exclaims,
in the familiar correspondence of his later years — ' oh !
how I wish that I could make up my mind to think
,it right to devote all the remaining part of my life to
such subjects, and such only I Indeed, I rather think
I shall.' In prose compositions Fox was far less happy. His
private letters indeed deserve the praise of a clear,
frank, and perfectly unaffected style. But his pen
lacked pinions for a higher flight. During the last years
of his life he began with great care and pains to write
the History of England at the period of the Revolution,
and the work, so far as it had proceeded, was published
by Lord Holland after Fox's decease. Universal disap
pointment — such was the impression that this fragment
made. No trace of the great orator can be discovered
in the narrative ; scarce any in the comments and
reflections. It was found that, besides the natural defects

1785 PARALLEL BETWEEN PITT AND FOX. 193
of his written style, Fox had entangled himself with
some most needless and fantastic rules of his own
devising — as, for instance, to use no word which his
favourite Dryden had not used before.
Pitt, besides his boyish "tragedy, made no attempt
in authorship. But parts of his correspondence, written
on great emergencies, and to eminent men, seem to
me of admirable power. I know of no models more
perfect for State Papers than his letter to the King of
January 31, 1801, or his letter to Lord Melville of
March 29, 1804.
It is a harder as well as a more important task to
compare the two great rivals in their main point of
rivalry — in public speaking. Each may at once be
placed in the very highest class. Fox would have been
without doubt or controversy the first orator of his age
had it not been for Pitt. Pitt would have been without
doubt or controversy the first orator of his age had it
not been for Fox. It may fairly be left in question
which of these two pre-eminent speakers should bear
away the palm. But they were magis pares quam
similes — far rather equal than alike. Mr. Windham,
himself a great master of debate, and a keen observer
of others' oratory, used to say that Pitt always seemed
to him as if he could make a King's speech off hand.
There was the same self-conscious dignity — the same
apt choice of language — the same stately and guarded
phrase. Yet this, although his more common and habi
tual style, did not preclude some passages of pathetic
eloquence, and many of pointed reply. He loved on
some occasions to illustrate his meaning with citations
from the Latin poets — sometimes giving a new grace to
well-known passages of Horace and Virgil, and some
times drawing a clear stream from an almost hidden
spring — as when, in reference to the execution of Louis
the Sixteenth, he cited the lines of a poet so little read
as Statius, lines which he noticed as applied by De Thou
to the massacre of St. Bartholomew. Never, even on
VOL. i. o

194 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1784-
the most sudden call on him to rise — did he seem to
hesitate for a word, or to take any but the most apt to
the occasion. His sentences, however long, and even
when catching up a parenthesis as they proceeded, were
always brought to a right and regular close — a much
rarer merit in a public speaker than might be supposed
by those who judge of Parliamentary debates only by
the morning papers. I could give a strong instance of
the contrary. I could name a veteran Member, whom I
used, when I sat in the House of Commons, constantly
to hear on all financial subjects. Of him I noticed, that
while the sentences which he spoke might be reckoned
by the hundred, those which he ever finished could only
be reckoned by the score.
• It is worthy of note, however, that carefully as Pitt
had been trained by his illustrious father, their style of
oratory and their direction of knowledge were not only
different, but almost, it may be said, opposite. Chatham
excelled in fiery bursts of eloquence- — Pitt in a luminous
array of arguments. On no point was Pitt so strong as
on finance — on none was Chatham so weak.
Fox, as I have heard good judges say, had the same
defects, which, in an exaggerated form, and combined
with many of his merits, appeared in his nephew Lord
Holland. He neither had, nor aimed at, any graces of
manner or of elocution. He would often pause for a
word, and still oftener for breath and utterance, panting
as it were, and heaving with the mighty thoughts that
he felt arise. But these defects, considerable as they
would have been in any mere holiday speaker, were
overborne by his masculine mind, and wholly forgotten
by his audience as they witnessed the cogenoy of his
keen replies — the irresistible home-thrust of his argu
ments. No man that has addressed any public assembly
in ancient or in modern times was ever more truly
and emphatically a great debater. Careless of himself,
flinging aside all preconceived ideas or studied flights,
he struck with admirable energy full at the foe before

1785 PARALLEL BETWEEN PITT AND FOX. 195
him. The blows which he dealt upon his adversaries
were such as few among them could withstand, perhaps
only one among them could parry : they seemed all the
heavier, as wholly unprepared, and arising from the
speeches that had gone before. Nor did he ever
attempt to glide over, or pass by, an argument that told
against him ; he would meet it boldly face to face, and
grapple with it undeterred. In like manner any quota
tions that he made from Latin or English authors did
not seem brought in upon previous reflection for the
adornment of the subject at its surface, but rather
appeared to grow up spontaneously from its inmost
depths. With all his wonderful powers of debate, and
perhaps as a consequence of them, there was something
truly noble and impressive in the entire absence of
all artifice or affectation. His occasional bursts of true
inborn sturdy genuine feeling, and the frequent indica
tions of his kindly and generous temper, would some
times, even in the fiercest party conflicts, come home to
the hearts of his opponents. If, as is alleged, he was
wont to repeat the same thoughts again and again in
different words, this might be a defect in the oration,
but it was none in the orator. For, thinking not of
himself, nor of the rules of rhetoric, but only of success
in the struggle, he had found these the most effectual
means to imbue a popular audience almost imper
ceptibly with his own opinions. And he knew that to
the multitude one argument stated in five different
forms is, in general, held equal to five new arguments.
. The familiar correspondence of Fox, as edited with
ability and candour by Lord John Russell, has not
tended on the whole to exalt his fame. Such, at least,
is the opinion which I have heard expressed with sincere
regret by some persons greatly prepossessed in his
favour — some members of the families most devoted to
¦his party cause. It seems to be felt, that although a
perusal of his letters leaves in its full lustre his reputa
tion as an orator, it has greatly dimmed his reputation
o 2

196 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1784-
as a statesman. There are, in his correspondence, some
hasty things that are by no means favourable to his
public spirit, as where he speaks of the ' delight ' which
he derived from the news of our disasters at Saratoga
and at York-town.1 There are some hasty things that
are as far from favourable to his foresight and sagacity.
-Take, for instance, a prophecy as follows, in 1801 : —
' According to my notion the House of Commons has /
in a great measure ceased, and will shortly entirely/
cease, to be a place of much importance.'2 Perhapsy
also, after the perusal of these letters, we may feel
more strongly than before it that many parts of Fox's
public conduct — as his separation from Lord Shel
burne, or his junction with Lord North — are hard to
be defended. But on this point there is one reflection that we
should always bear in mind. The more we dwell on
Fox's errors the higher we are bound to rank those
eminent qualities by which, in the opinion of so many
of his contemporaries, his errors were outweighed. In
spite of all his errors — and what is much more trying,
in spite of the party reverses and discomfiture which
proceeded from them — we find his friends, comprising
some of the most gifted men of that age, adhere to him,
except in one memorable crisis — the period of 1794 —
with fond admiration and unhesitating confidence.
Of this attachment on the part of his friends I
have seen a striking instance on the walls of All Saints'
Church at Hertford. In that church lies buried Lord
John Townshend, who died in February, 1833. The
inscription on his monument terms him 'the friend
and companion of Mr. Fox; a distinction which was
the pride of his life, and the only one he was desirous
might be recorded after his death.'
As the cause of this enduring attachment on the part
of Fox's friends, we may acknowledge in a great degree
1 To Lord Holland, October 12, 1792.
2 To Mr. Charles Grey, Fox Memorials, vol. iii. p. 341.

1785 PARALLEL BETWEEN PITT AND FOX. 197
his wondrous powers of mind, but chiefly, and above all,
his winning warmth of heart. How delightful must Fox
have been as a companion ! How frank, how rich, how
varied his flow of conversation ! How high the privi
lege to visit him in the country retreat that he loved
so well— of sitting by his side beneath the cedars that
he planted at St. Ann's! With what schoolboy fun
would the retired statesman at such times rally his own
short fits of utter idleness ! Thus when Mr. Rogers once
said that it was delightful to lie on the grass with a
book in one's hand all day, we are told that Fox answered,
' Yes — but why with a book ? ' 1 How genial his aspect,
as I have heard it described by another associate of his
later years — walking slow, and with gouty feet, along
his garden-alleys, but with cheerful countenance and
joyous tones — expanding his ample breast to draw in the
fresh breeze, and exclaiming from time to time, ' Oh,
how fine a thing is life ! ' — ' Oh, how glorious a thing is
summer weather ! '
Several testimonies which I have already cited speak
of Pitt in his earlier years as a most delightful com
panion, abounding in wit and mirth, and with a flow
of lively spirits. As the cares of office grew upon him,
he went of course much less into general society. He
would often, for whole hours, ride or sit with only
Steele, or Rose, or Dundas for his companion. Nor was
this merely from the ease and rest of thus unbending
his mind. Men who know the general habits of great
Ministers are well aware how many details may be
expedited and difficulties smoothed away by quiet chat
with a thoroughly trusted friend in lesser office. Pitt,
however, often gave and often accepted small dinner
parties, and took great pleasure in them. The testimony
of his familiar friend, Lord Wellesley, which goes down
to 1797, is most strong upon these points. ' In all places
and at all times,' says Lord Wellesley, 'his constant
delight was society. There he shone with a degree of
1 Rogers's Recollections, p. 44. This was at St. Ann's in 1803.

198 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1784-
calm and steady lustre which often astonished me more
than his most splendid efforts in Parliament. His
manners were perfectly plain ; his wit was quick and
ready. He was endowed, beyond any man of his time
whom I knew, with a gay heart and a social spirit.' '
The habits of Pitt in Downing Street were very
simple. He breakfasted every morning at nine, some
times inviting to that meal any gentleman with whom
he had to talk on business,2 and it was seldom when the
House of Commons met that he could find leisure for a
ride. When retired from office, and living in great part at
Walmer Castle, Pitt, like Fox, reverted with much
relish, although in a desultory manner, to his books.
The Classics, Greek and Latin, seemed to be, as my
father told me, Pitt's favourite reading at that period.
Yet he was by no means indifferent to the literature of
his own day. On this point let me cite a statesman
who has passed away from us, to the grief of many
friends, at the very time when the page which records
his testimony has reached me from the press. Let me
cite the Earl of Aberdeen, who once, as he told me,
heard Pitt declare that he thought Burns's song,
' Scots, wha hae wi' Wallace bled ' the noblest lyric in
the language. Another time he also mentioned Paley
to Lord Aberdeen in terms of high admiration, as one
of our very best writers. Perhaps the great fault of
his private life is that he never sought the society of
the authors or the artists whom all the time he was
admiring. Perhaps the great fault of his public life is
that he never took any step1 — no, not even the smallest
— to succour and befriend them.
With every drawback, however, and I have now
named the most considerable, it certainly appears to me
that Pitt was foremost among all the statesmen that
1 Letter of November 22, 1836, -as published in the Quarterly
Review, No. 114.
2 See the Wyvill Papers, vol. iv. p. 23.

1785 THE KING'S SPEECH. 199
England has ever seen. I will not pursue the invidious
task of seeming to disparage other great men in contrast
to one who was greater still; and the merits of Pitt
himself will best appear as my narrative proceeds. But
I shall think it the fault of that narrative if at its con
clusion my readers should not be disposed to own that
Pitt surpassed the Ministers who came before him, and
has not been equalled by any of those who have since
borne sway.
From this digression — I must own a very long one
— I return to the Session of Parliament in 1 785. It was
opened on the 25th of January, by the King in person.
His Majesty's Speech expressed congratulations on the
improvement of the revenue, resulting from the measures
of last Session. It invited the Houses to consider the
further regulation of the public offices, and the final ad-
justment of the commercial intercourse with Ireland.
In another sentence the King's Speech took notice
of ' differences on the Continent.' These were owing to
the' Emperor Joseph the Second. Since the year 1780
the death of Maria Theresa had left him sole chief of
the Austrian Monarchy. Eager to emulate his still sur
viving neighbour, the great Frederick of Prussia, he
plunged headlong into a career of active innovation.
But it proved a contrast rather than a parallel. Fred
erick had made many changes, but none without full
inquiry and careful thought. In general, therefore, the
popular voice had been upon his side. On the contrary,
it seemed to be the practice of Joseph the Second to
act first, and inquire afterwards. So rash and heedless
was his course, so little regard did he pay to long-rooted
feelings, or to established rights, that at last the very
nations which he desired to serve, from Transylvania to
Flanders, rose almost in rebellion against his measures
of reform. As regards Flanders and Brabant, the first object of
the Emperor had been by his own authority to release

200 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1784-
them from the obligations of the Barrier Treaty of 1715.
He demolished all the fortifications except at Luxem
burg, Ostend, and the citadels of Antwerp and Namur ;
and required the Dutch garrisons to withdraw from
the Barrier towns. The full effect of these unwise
measures was not apparent till ten years afterwards,
when the French revolutionary army, having defeated
the Austrian on the plain of Fleurus, overspread with
perfect ease the open country, and annexed it to their
own. But further still, in no generous spirit, Joseph the
Second desired to avail himself of the internal discords
of the Dutch to wring from them whatever he desired.
He claimed especially the possession of Maestricht and
the free navigation of the Scheldt. In the spring of
1784 he surprised a fort which belonged to Holland, at
the mouth of the river. In the autumn of that year he
sent out two brigs with orders to resist the usual deten
tion and examination in the Scheldt, and he announced
that he should consider as a declaration of hostilities
any insult offered to either of these ships. Nevertheless
the Dutch officers quietly took possession of both. The
Emperor, who was then in Hungary, immediately re
called his envoy from the Hague, and a war was sup
posed to be close at hand. But the measures of Joseph
were as feebly prosecuted as they had been rashly com
menced. He found the aid of France, upon which he
had reckoned, altogether fail him ; and thus after some
negotiation and demur he was reduced in the autumn
of 1785 to sign a treaty far from honourable to his arms,
receding from most of the pretensions that he had put
forward, and accepting in return a sum of money which
the States of Holland consented to disburse, as the price
of peace. :
In this Session the first business brought before the
House of Commons was the Westminster Scrutiny. No-
1 See on these transactions especially the MaVmesbwry Papers,
vol. ii. p. 75-170.

1785 WESTMINSTER SCRUTINY. 201
thing could have answered worse. All the resources of
chicanery — resources well-nigh inexhaustible in our an
cient law of Parliament — had been called forth on either
side. Counsel were employed whenever a bad vote
was to be struck off; and their speeches had been of the
longest, especially whenever their arguments were slight
or few. Thus in the eight months which had elapsed no
effectual advance had been made ; and it was computed
that the process would require two years more. Under
such circumstances the Scrutiny had grown hateful to
both parties — quite as hateful to Sir Cecil Wray as it
was to Mr. Fox. Still, however, a sense of consistency
and a regard to the course he had formerly pursued in
duced Pitt to maintain it in the House of Commons.
But he found the general feeling of hardship and injus
tice in this case prevail against him. A motion by Mr.
Ellis, requiring the High Bailiff to make an immediate
Return, was negatived by the decreasing majority of
thirty-nine. On a second motion to the like effect by
Colonel Fitzpatrick, the majority fell to only nine.
Alderman Sawbridge then brought on a third motion in
nearly the same words, which Pitt endeavoured to stave
off by a proposal of adjournment ; but he found himself
in a minority of 124 against 162, and the original motion
was carried without further hindrance. Next day, ac
cordingly, the High Bailiff sent in the names of Lord
Hood and Mr. Fox as highest on the poll; and thus
was the great Whig statesman reinstated as Member for
Westminster. With this result the Westminster Scrutiny was cer
tainly not a little damaging to the Prime Minister. In
the first place there was the pain to see many of his
friends vote against him — the mortification to find him
self defeated in a House of Commons so zealous on his
side. There was next the charge which, however un
founded, the Opposition did not fail to urge — of a vin
dictive rancour to his rival. But even the most impar
tial men might justly arraign him for a want of foresight

202 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. ' 1784-
and good judgment in his first preference of so faulty a
tribunal. On the other hand, Pitt was able to point with pride
to the prosperous result of his financial schemes. He
could show smuggling, for the time, almost annihilated,
and the revenue in all its branches rising from its ruins ;
and he could promise for next year the creation of a
Sinking Fund, to redeem the National Debt. But towards
this end, and for the settlement of the remainder of the
floating bills, the legacy of the last war, he required some
new taxes, to produce at least 400,000Z. a year. Accord
ingly, in his Budget, on the 9th of May, Pitt proposed
an additional tax on male, and a new one on female,
servants ; and duties on retail shops, on post-horses, on
gloves, on pawnbrokers' licences, and on salt carried
coastwise. On the Opposition side, the speakers — Fox especially,
with Eden and Sheridan — attempted to denounce the
Minister as both inaccurate in his statements and over
sanguine in his hopes. Their general charges, flung out
almost at random, made little impression on the public,
but they were more successful in dealing with the details
of the taxes proposed. The assessment on shops was
open to some strong objections, which were strongly
urged. The duty on maid-servants, besides several valid
arguments against it, drew forth an infinite number of
jests, not perhaps very diverting, and certainly not very
decorous. Nevertheless the proposals of the Minister
passed, though not without considerable modification ;
and after the experience of a few years the two most
obnoxious taxes were repealed.
Besides these and other financial measures — as Bills
for the regulation of the Navy Office, and for the better
Auditing the public Accounts — Pitt brought before the
House of Commons, in this Session, two subjects of para
mount importance : first, the Reform of Parliament ; and
secondly, the commercial intercourse with Ireland.
On the question of Reform, Pitt had all through the

1785 REFORM OF PARLIAMENT. 203
winter been intent. He conferred at some length with
the Rev. Christopher Wyvill, and other leaders of the
cause. To them he renewed his promise of a measure
of his own in the coming Session, adding, that to carry
it, he would ' exert his whole power and credit, as a man
and as a Minister.' Mr. Wyvill, without any authority
asked or given, made known these expressions of Pitt
in a circular letter to the Chairmen of the several Com
mittees, dated December 27th, 1784 ; a step far from
prudent, since it was not till some weeks afterwards that
Pitt received the King's assent to the introduction of the
measure, and His Majesty's promise to use no influence
against it. ' I wish ' — thus writes Pitt to the Duke of
Rutland — ' Mr. Wyvill had been a little more sparing
of my name.' But he adds, ' Parliamentary Reform, I
am still sure, after considering all you have stated, must
sooner or later be carried in both countries. If it is
well done, the sooner the better.'
Conscious of the difficulties of his task, more espe
cially within the walls of Parliament, Pitt spared no
exertion to gain it votes. He prevailed upon Dundas
once more to give it his support. He wrote to Wilber
force, who was passing the winter with his family at
Nice, entreating him to return for this special object.
Wilberforce came accordingly, and as an intimate friend
was a guest of Pitt in Downing Street, as he was also
on many subsequent occasions. Next day but one after
his arrival, his Diary has an entry as follows : ' Pitt's
maid burnt my letters ' — a dangerous mistake, as his
biographers observe, to the young Representative of
Yorkshire. The motion of Pitt for Parliamentary Re
form was fixed for the 18th of April. Then, amidst a
great throng of strangers, and to an attentive and ex
pectant House, the Minister unfolded his scheme. In
part it was prospective, and in part of present appli
cation. He proposed to disfranchise thirty-six decayed
boroughs, each returning two Members, and by means
of the seventy-two seats thus obtained to assign addi-

204 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1784-
tional Representatives to the largest counties, and to the
cities of London and Westminster. 'But in the counties,'
added Pitt, ' there is no good reason why copyholders
should not be admitted to the franchise as well as free
holders ; and such an accession to the body of electors
would give a fresh energy to Representation.' And in
the boroughs he disclaimed all idea of compulsion. A
fund of a million sterling was to be established to com
pensate in various degrees the several borough pro
prietors, and each borough should be invited to apply
by petition from two-thirds of its electors.1 Thus even
in the case of burgage tenures, or of the very smallest
hamlet, the franchise would not be forcibly resumed, but
freely surrendered. Thus the extinction of the thirty-
six small boroughs would be in a short time quietly
effected. But as to the future, if any boroughs beyond
these thirty-six either were, or grew to be, decayed and
below a certain definite number of houses, such boroughs
should have it in their power to surrender their franchise
on an adequate consideration, and their right of sending
Members to Parliament should be transferred from time
to time to populous and flourishing towns.
Such was the general outline of Pitt's scheme, which
he earnestly entreated the Members who heard him to
consider, without suffering their minds to be disquieted
with visionary terrors. ' Nothing,' he cried, ' is so hostile
to improvement as the fear of being carried further
than the principle on which a person sets out.' In the
debate which ensued he had the pleasure to hear both
Dundas and Wilberforce speak in favour of his Bill. Fox
also, though finding an infinite number of faults with it
in detail, expressed his support of the measure in its
present stage. But, on the other hand, Lord North, in
perfect consistency with his previous course, delivered an
able and powerful speech not only against this scheme,
1 The amount of the fund and the number of the electors are
not stated in Pitt's speech, but appear iu Mr. Wyvill's Summary Ex-
See a note to the Pari. Hist., vol. xxv. p. 445.

1785 INTERCOURSE WITH IRELAND. 205
but against all schemes of Parliamentary Reform ; and
on the division, at nearly four in the morning, the
Minister had the mortification to find himself defeated
by 248 votes, there being on his side only 174. Wilber
force, in his ' Diary,' says : ' Terribly disappointed and
beat. Extremely fatigued. Spoke extremely ill, but
was commended. Called at Pitt's ; met poor Wyvill.'
Pitt considered the result as final for that Parliament
at least. He saw that not even Ministerial power and
earnest zeal, and that nothing but the pressure of the
strongest popular feeling, such as did not then exist,
could induce many Members to vote against their own
tenure of Parliament, or in fact against themselves.
In Ireland it had been hoped that lasting peace and
concord would have followed the full concession of
legislative equality under the Rockingham administra
tion ; but, on the contrary, fresh grounds of agitation
had almost immediately arisen, founded in part on the
question of Parliamentary Reform, and in part on the
claims of the National Volunteers. In 1783 we find
Burke write as follows to his friend the Earl of Charle-
mont : — ' I see with concern that there are some remains
of ferment in Ireland, though I think we have poured
in to assuage it nearly all the oil in our stores.' ¦
It had also been supposed, considering how signal
and how recent were the services of Grattan, that he
would for many years to come guide the feelings of his
countrymen. Yet another man of great ability, Henry
Flood, started up at once in open competition with him.
In a few months Flood appears to have. even shot above
him in popular favour. Flood gained the ear of the
1 Volunteers' Convention when they met in Dublin, and
was deputed to bring forward the question of Parliamen
tary Reform in the Irish House of Commons, though
Grattan was also one of its supporters.
In October, 1783, the contending orators gave
battle to each other in the Irish House of Commons.
1 Memoirs of Lord Charlemont, by Hardy, vol. ii. p. 100.

206 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1784-
It was a memorable conflict, which General Burgoyne
in his letters describes as far exceeding in violence any
thing that he had ever beheld in England. Then it was
that Grattan in his speech described Flood as ' hovering
about this dome like an ill-omened bird of night, with
sepulchral note, cadaverous aspect, and a broken beak,
watching to stoop and pounce upon its prey ! ' It is
worthy of note that this last phrase of Grattan, ' a
broken beak,' contained a peculiar sting as applied to
a manifest defect in the face of his rival.
The Convention of the Volunteers at Dublin had
likewise two contending leaders : first the Earl of
Charlemont, and secondly the Earl of Bristol, who was
also Bishop of Derry. This Prelate was son of the
famous Lord Hervey in the days of George the Second,
and a singular character, recalling the feudal Bishops
of the Middle Ages. He proposed to the Volunteers
that in the new Reform Bill which they were seeking to
frame, the franchise should be granted to Roman Ca
tholics. To this proposal Lord Charlemont gave his
decided opposition, and by far the greater number of
the delegates sided with Lord Charlemont. Accordingly
Flood, as their spokesman, brought forward in the Irish
House of Commons a measure of Reform for the benefit
of Protestants only. He was defeated by a majority of
more than three to one.
Such then was the state of Irish parties when in
February, 1784, the new Lord Lieutenant, his Grace of
Rutland, arrived at ' the Castle.' At nearly the same
time Flood came back from England, whither he had
gone to present at the King's Levee the Address voted
by the Volunteers at the close of their Convention. But
he had also another object. He had been returned to
the English House of Commons also, through the influ
ence of the Duke of Chandos, and he wished to try his
powers — as he did with very indifferent success — in the
debates upon Fox's India Bill. Many years later, after
his untimely death in 1791, his rival in politics, made,

1785 IRISH PARLIAMENTARY REFORM. 207
in a noble spirit,, some excuses for his failure. ' He mis
judged,' said Grattan, ' when he transplanted himself to
the English Parliament ; he forgot that he was a tree of
the forest, too old and too great to be transplanted at
fifty.' Of this truth, which Grattan states in so solemn
a strain, Grattan himself, at a still later period, was to
be a far more conspicuous example.
.Flood, on his return to Dublin in the spring of
174^, renewed with unabated spirit his motion on Irish
Parliamentary Reform. Again it was negatived by
overwhelming numbers.
The rejection of Flood's second motion gave rise, or
at least gave pretext, to a serious tumult, when some
noisy rioters broke into the House of Commons, and
two of them were apprehended by the Serjeant-at-Arms.
Yet ere long — especially considering the fixed resolve
of continued exclusion to the Catholics — the question of
Reform ceased to be uppermost in the public mind.
There was a more pressing grievance in the growth, at
this period, of great distress anTong the manufacturers
and traders of the kingdom. Each of the numerous
non-importation agreements, which had been taken up
as a weapon against England towards the close of the
last war, had now recoiled with violence upon its authors.
So far they had only themselves to blame, but they also
suffered severely from the high duties which, mainly at
the instance of the manufacturers of England, had been
imposed from early times on the commerce between
the two countries, and which in 1779 were relaxed only
in the smallest possible degree.
In April, 1784, the question of trade was brought
before the Irish House of Commons by Mr. Gardiner,
with perspicuity and candour ; and several long debates
ensued. Still, however, the distress increased. Through
the summer many artisans who had been thrown out of
employment came thronging into the great towns with
violence, or threats of violence. One of their favourite
devices, as derived from the early example of the in-

208 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1784-
surgent colonies, was to tar and feather those whom
they regarded as their enemies ; and they were disposed
to regard as their enemies all who dealt in imported
goods. In the country districts, notwithstanding the
earnest remonstrances of the Catholic as well as the Pro
testant clergy, the Whiteboys began to reappear. Other
persons of higher station were willing to take part in any
movement v\bich they might hope to lead. In that
point of view Parliamentary Reform, or commercial dis
tress, or any other question, were exactly of equal mo
ment. Such men subscribed an Address to all the
Sheriffs of Ireland, calling upon them to summon meet
ings for the appointment of delegates to a new assembly
which should be held in Dublin, and which, by another
imitation of America, should bear the name of Congress.
On this occasion Napper Tandy, the son of a Dublin
ironmonger in large business- — a name subsequently
noted in the ranks of Irish faction — came forth for the
first time. The Earl of Bristol was also active. With
his Lordship at that time, as with his ally Sir Edward
Newenham, hostility to the English connection appears
to have been the leading principle. The former published
a pamphlet so closely bordering upon treason that the
Lord Lieutenant for some time seriously considered whe
ther the Earl-Bishop should not be arrested and brought
to trial. The question was referred to Mr. Pitt and his
colleagues in England, and was by them decided in the
negative. On the 15th of August we find the Lord Lieutenant,
in writing to Pitt, describe the state of things as fol
lows : — ' This city (of Dublin) is in a great measure
under the dominion and tyranny of the mob. Persons
are daily marked out for the operation of tarring and
feathering ; the magistrates neglect their duty ; and
none of the rioters — till to-day, when one man was
seized in the fact — have been taken, while the corps of
Volunteers in the neighbourhood seem as it were to
countenance these outrages. In short, the state of

1785 STATE OF IRELAND. 209
Dublin calls loudly for an immediate and vigorous in
terposition of Government.'
In many other letters, public and private, did the
Duke of Rutland consult his friend on the open violence
which he saw, and on the secret conspiracy which he
suspected. Nor did the Prime Minister leave him to
deal singly with his difficulties. Neither then nor after
wards was any important step taken in Ireland without
Pitt's advice and direction. Above all he now applied
himself with earnest assiduity to the question most
beset with obstacles in England — the question of the
shackles and restrictions upon the trade of Ireland.
That question was embarrassed by the resolute attach
ment to the existing system which prevailed at Man
chester and our other manufacturing towns. There, at
that period, the feeling in favour of high protective
duties was quite as strong as in our own day we have
seen it in favour of Free Trade.
Pitt well knew, and could not undervalue, the cur
rent of opinion in these vast centres, as they were rapidly
becoming, of our manufacturing importance ; but for
his own part he was, as we have seen, a student and a
disciple of the great work of Adam Smith. We find
him, at the beginning of his deliberations on this sub
ject (the 7th of October, 1784), write as follows, in strict
confidence, to the Duke of Rutland : — ' I own to you
%that the line to which my mind at present inclines is
to give Ireland an almost unlimited communication of
commercial advantages, if we can receive in return
some security that her strength and riches will be our
benefit, and that she will contribute from time to time
in their increasing proportions to the common exigen
cies of the empire.'
To determine the details that might be requisite, or
to weigh the objections that might arise, Pit summoned
from Ireland two advisers of great knowledge and expe
rience — Mr. John Foster, the Chancellor of the Exche
quer ; and Mr. John Beresford, the Chief Commissioner
VOL. I. p

210 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1784-
of the Revenue in that kingdom. With these gentlemen,
and with Mr. Orde, the Irish Secretary, he held frequent
conferences all through the autumn and mid-winter.
There was no doubt that the Irish would gladly accept
the commercial advantages, but the difficulty was how
to render palatable to them any contribution in return.
'I really believe,' writes Pitt, 'that these objections
may be removed ; and I do not see the possibility of
agreeing to complete the system of equal commerce
(which is what must be now done) without some return
being secured to this country  I am ready at
the same time to admit that the equivalent due from
Ireland is not to be expected immediately. Give us
only a certainty that if your extended commerce in
creases your revenue, the surplus, after defraying the
same proportion of Irish expenses as at present, shall go
to relieve us. This, I think, no Irishman can rationally
object to ; and Englishmen will be satisfied, though at
present the equivalent will certainly be below the just
proportion. ' l
In January, 1785, the scheme framed by Pitt in
concert with his colleagues, and embodied in Eleven
Resolutions, was transmitted to Dublin Castle ; but
the Duke of Rutland and Mr. Orde, apprehensive of
difficulties in their own Parliament, took it upon them
selves to make one considerable alteration. They tacked
a condition to the words stipulating for a Return from
Ireland, so as to leave that Return, at least according
to one construction, disputable and doubtful. This
alteration was not known to the public ; but when im
parted to the Cabinet in England it caused much em
barrassment to the Ministers, and drew forth two angry
letters from the King.2
1 To the Duke of Rutland, Dec. 4, 1784. - On the full develop
ment of his plan see his able letter of Jan. 6, 1785, published at full
length in the, Quarterly Review, No. cxl., p. 300. As privately
printed in 1842 it takes up eighteen octavo pages, and is the longest
that I have seen of Mr. Pitt's.
2 The King to Mr. Pitt, February 18 and 22, 1785,

1785 THE ELEVEN RESOLUTIONS. 211
The Eleven Resolutions, as submitted to the Irish Par
liament, in their general outline are as follows : — First,
to allow the importation of the produce or manufac
ture of other countries through Great Britain into Ire
land, or through Ireland into Great Britain, without
any increase of duty on that account. Secondly, in all
cases where the duties on any article of the produce or
manufacture of either country were different on impor
tation into the other, to reduce them in the kingdom
where they were the highest down to the lower scale.
And thirdly, that whenever the gross hereditary revenue
of Ireland should rise above 656,000L in any year of
peace (the actual gross income at that time being
652,OOOZ.), the surplus should be appropriated towards
the support of the naval force of the empire ; and since
this hereditary revenue was in the main derived from
duties of Customs and Excise, any augmentation in them
year by year would, as Pitt contended, exactly measure
the growth of the prosperity of Ireland, derived from
striking off the shackles on her trade.
Such is the outline of the measure which, in the
name of the Government, Mr. Orde laid before the Irish
Legislature at the beginning of February, 1785.
Through the House of Commons the Eleven Resolutions
passed with no serious opposition, and through the House
of Lords with none at all. When thus transmitted back
to England, Pitt resolved, notwithstanding the reluc
tance of some around him, to proceed. He was still
bent upon his final object ; and therefore, though not
wholly adopting the Eleven -Resolutions, he laid them
before the English House of Commons on the 22nd of
the same month. He moved only a general Resolution
expressing the wish of the House for the final adjustment
of the question, but he took the opportunity of explain
ing in detail the views which he had formed.
The speech of Pitt on this occasion may, even in its
imperfect report, serve as a model of luminous state
ment in finance. Nor is it less conspicuous for its large
p 2

212 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1784-
and statesmanlike views of Irish policy. There were,
he said, but two possible systems for countries placed
in relation to each other like Britain and Ireland. The
one of having the smaller completely subservient and
subordinate to the greater — to make the one, as it were,
an instrument of advantage, and to cause all her efforts
to operate in favour and conduce merely to the interest
of the other ; this system we had tried in respect to Ire
land. The other was a participation and community of
benefits, and a system of equality and fairness which,
without tending to aggrandize the one or depress the
other, should seek the aggregate interest of the empire.
Such a situation of commercial equality, in which there
was to be a community of benefits, demanded also a
community of burthens; and it was this situation in
which he was anxious to place the two countries.
' Adopt then,' cried Pitt in his peroration, ' adopt
that system of trade with Ireland that will have tended
to enrich one part of the empire without impoverishing
the other, while it gives strength to both ; that like
mercy, the favourite attribute of Heaven —
It is twice blessed,
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.
Surely, after the heavy loss which our country has sus
tained from the recent severance of her dominions, there
ought to be no object more impressed on the feelings of
the House than to endeavour to preserve from further
dismemberment and diminution — to unite and to con
nect — what yet remains of our reduced and shattered
empire. ... I ask pardon for the length at which I
have spoken. Of all the objects of my political life, this
is in my opinion the most important that I ever have
engaged in ; nor do I imagine I shall ever meet another
that shall rouse every emotion of my heart in so strong
a degree as does the present.'
To the views of Pitt a formidable opposition was at
once announced. Fox, with his usual energy and elo
quence, threw himself forward as the uncompromising

3785 PETITION FROM LANCASHIRE. 213
adversary of Free Trade. Lord North espoused the same
cause with less of vehemence, and also perhaps less
eloquently, but certainly with far more of financial
knowledge. And the further consideration of the sub
ject was for some days adjourned.
The day but one after this debate we find Pitt write
again to the Duke of Rutland : ' Be assured of our firm
persuasion that you made no concession but what at the
moment of the decision you thought necessary and con
ducive to the general object. You must at the same
time allow for the absolute impossibility of our main
taining this system while so essential a part is left in
" any respect disputable. . . I think it perfectly possible,
upon its being understood that everything depends upon
it, that the Irish Parliament will give the necessary
explanation without difficulty. All we ask of Ireland is
to clear from doubt and uncertainty a principle which
they must consider themselves as having assented to.'
But meanwhile in many parts of England a loud
and angry cry arose. At Manchester and other great
towns the manufacturers for the most part vehemently
declared that they should be ruined and undone. In
all haste they sent up to London the most stirring ad
vocates and the most pathetic petitions. One of these,
presented by Mr. Thomas Stanley, was signed by no
less than eighty thousand manufacturers of Lancashire.
'It lies at my feet,' said Mr. Stanley, 'for it is too
heavy to be held in my hands. After stating some other
grievances, the framers of this great petition go on to
say that the admission of Irish fustians and cottons into
England was all that was wanting completely to anni
hilate the cotton trade of this country.'— We may smile
perhaps to find them on this occasion employ exactly the
same arguments which they or their successors after
wards denounced with so much indignation when ap
plied to the Corn Laws, and coming from the lips of
the landed gentlemen. Loaded as they were with heavy
taxes, how could they possibly compete with the Irish

214 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT- 1784-
in their own markets? What great advantages had
Ireland in the low price of labour ! From that single
consideration how easy for her to undersell us! — No
arguments but only time and the test of experience
could solve such doubts beyond dispute.
Then again an alarm was raised that the measure
would be destructive of our Navigation Laws, the main
source (for so all parties then regarded them) of our
maritime strength. Yet, as Pitt shewed, his proposal
was fully in the spirit of those laws. Already, by their
own express permission, goods the produce , of any part
of Europe might be imported into Britain through Ire
land. All that was now contemplated was to extend
the same licence to the settlements in America and
Africa, for by the monopoly of the East India Company
Asia would be still excluded.
As to the Colonies, however, it is to be borne in mind
that according to the common and almost undisputed
opinion of that time, Ireland had properly no part or
sha^e in them. Thus do we find Mr. Pitt write in con
fidence to the Duke of Rutland : ' Here, I think, it is
universally allowed that however just the claim of Ire
land is, not to have her own trade fettered and restricted,
she can have no claim, beyond what we please to give
her, in the trade of our Colonies. They belong (unless
by favour or by compact we make it otherwise) exclu
sively to this country. The suffering Ireland to send
anything to these Colonies, to bring anything directly
from thence, is itself a favour, and is a deviation too,
for the sake of favour to Ireland, from the general and
almost uniform policy of all nations with regard to the
trade of their Colonies.' Exactly similar to this was,
I may observe, the old claim of the Crown of Castille as
against the Crown of Aragon to the American Colonies.
Hence the epitaph on the son of Columbus, which may
still be seen in the cathedral of Seville :
A Gastilla y a Leon
Mundo Nuebo dio Colon.

1785 OPPOSITION IN THE COMMONS. 215
Amidst all these entanglements the measure of Pitt
made slow progress in the House of Commons. Two
months were consumed in hearing counsel and examining
witnesses, mingled with snatches of debate. Some of the
principal manufacturers and merchants gave evidence
expressive of their disapprobation and alarm. Many
objections of minute detail were plausibly, and several
justly, urged. On the whole Pitt found it necessary to
admit modifications in order to maintain his majority —
above all, since no hopes of a specific promise came to
him from the Irish Parliament. He brought forward
his amended proposals on the 12th of May. Thus in
his Diary writes Wilberforce : ' May 12. House all night
till eight o'clock in the morning. I differ from consti
tuents. So affected that I could not get on. Pitt
spoke wonderfully.'
The ultimate proposals of Pitt, as he now explained
them, were found to be attended with numerous excep
tions and additions. Thus from eleven the Resolutions
had grown in number to twenty. They had come to
deal with patents, the copyright in books, and the right
of fishing upon the coasts of the British dominions.
Further, they provided that all the Navigation Laws
which were then, or which might hereafter be, in force
in Great Britain should be enacted by the Legislature
of Ireland ; that Ireland should import no goods from
the West Indies except the produce of our own Colonies ;
and that so long as the Charter of the East India Com
pany existed, Ireland should be debarred from all trade
beyond the Cape of Good Hope to the Streights of
Magellan. By such means, and such means only, could the
majority of Pitt be maintained. ' Do not imagine ' —
thus he writes in strict confidence to the Duke of Rut
land — ' because we have had two triumphant divisions,
that we have everything before us. We have an inde
fatigable enemy, sharpened by disappointment, watch
ing and improving every opportunity. It has required

216 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1784-
infinite patience, management, and exertion to meet
the clamour without doors, and to prevent it infecting
our supporters in the House. Our majority, though a
large one, is composed of men who think, or at least act
so much for themselves, that we are hardly sure from
day to day what impression they may receive. We have
worked them up to carry us through this undertaking
in its present shape, but we have had awkwardness
enough already in many part3 of the discussion.' This
important communication is dated May 21, 1785. We
may be well pleased that the Duke omitted to comply
with the postscript : ' Be so good as to destroy this
letter when you have read and considered it.'
Notwithstanding the jealous spirit which compelled
these changes there remained enough of the first pro
posal to render it, as all parties have since owned, a
boon of great value to the sister country. But in the
very same proportion as it grew palatable to the English,
it lost ground in the Irish House of Commons. Indeed
during the last debates on this side of the Channel, and
after the trials of party strength, Fox had entirely
shifted his ground against the scheme. He had ceased
to hope for its defeat in London, and he had begun to
hope for its defeat in Dublin. With this view the mea
sure was no longer in his eyes one of undue favour to
Ireland ; it was a signal breach of her newly granted
legislative independence. ' I will not,' thus the great
orator concluded, ' I will not barter English commerce
for Irish slavery ; that is not the price I would pay, nor
is this the thing I would purchase.' 1
Expressions of this kind found a ready echo across
the Channel. When towards midsummer the Bill, as
finally passed in England, came to Dublin, it was re
ceived with general disfavour. The Duke of Rutland
and Mr. Orde found that they had most difficult cards
to play. They had hoped for the aid of the leading
patriot, the popular chief of 1782, who had supported
1 Pari. Hist. vol. xxv. p. 778.

1785 BILL RELINQUISHED. 217
the original Eleven Resolutions. But the changes made
in them had wrought a corresponding change in him.
' I have seen Mr. Grattan,' writes the Lord Lieutenant
on the 4th of July, c but found him impracticable.'
And again, on the 13th of August, when the measure
was already before the Irish House of Commons : ' The
speech of Mr. Grattan (last night) was, I understand, a
display of the most beautiful eloquence perhaps ever
heard, but it was seditious and inflammatory to a degree
hardly credible.' Under such circumstances the result
was soon apparent. Even on the mere preliminary
motion that leave be given to bring in a Bill there was
a fierce debate, continued till past nine in the morning,
and ' the Castle ' could prevail by a majority of no
more than nineteen. A victory of this kind was a sure
presage of defeat in its further stages. The Bill was in
consequence relinquished by the Government, to the
great joy of the people. For so great was then the
jealousy of their new legislative powers as entirely for
the moment to absorb all "other thoughts of national
advantage. In Dublin there was even a general illumi
nation to celebrate the withdrawal of the Bill. '
Thus did Ireland lose a most favourable opening for
commercial freedom. Yet on other points her prospects
had brightened. The restoration of peace with foreign
States, and the restoration also of order in the finances,
had begun to draw prosperity in their train. The at
tempts in the winter of 1784 and again in the spring
of 1785 to hold a Congress of delegates in Dublin had
been encountered with firmness by the Government,
and had signally failed. In like manner the hostile
factions had found themselves unable, as they wished, to
prolong the power of the Volunteers in time of peace,
and to turn them into a standing weapon against the
1 On the reception in Ireland of the Irish Propositions see the
Correspondence of the Right Hon. John Beresford, vol. i. p. 265-295,
ed. 1854 ; and also Plowden's History of Ireland, vol. ii. p. 265, ed.
1809.

218 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1784-
State. The Volunteers still continued to exist ; they
had still the Earl of Charlemont for General-in-chief,
and by him were yearly reviewed ; but their numbers
rapidly dwindled, and they became the mere shadow of
a shade. Meanwhile the Duke of Rutland, as Lord
Lieutenant, was gaining great personal .popularity.
Young, of noble aspect, and of princely fortune, he was
generous, frank, and amiable, as became the son of the
gallant Granby. Fond of pleasure, he held a court of
much magnificence ; and the succession of various enter
tainments that he gave, splendid as they were in them
selves, derived a further lustre from his Duchess, a
daughter of the house of Beaufort, and one of the most
beautiful women of her day. But besides and beyond
his outward accomplishments, the confidential letters
of the Duke to Pitt, all of which have been preserved,
and some printed, show him to have possessed both
ability and application in business. Perhaps had not
his life so prematurely ended, "his name might have
deserved to stand as high in politics as does his father's
in war. To Pitt the failure of the Irish commercial measures
was a deep disappointment, a bitter mortification. To
them, to the framing or to the defence of their details, he
had applied himself for almost a twelvemonth, and here
was the result— the object of public good not attained,
the jealousy of both nations stirred anew, and to himself
for a time the decline of public favour, alike, though
on exactly opposite grounds, in England and in Ireland.
The journal of Wilberforce in the midst of the contest
on this subject has this significant entry: 'Pitt does
not make friends.' J On the other hand, Fox, as the
champion of high protective duties, enjoyed in many
quarters the gleam of returning popularity. Being at
Knowsley in the course of that autumn on a visit to
Lord Derby, the two friends went together to Man
chester, and were warmly welcomed by the great me-
1 Diary, dated March 10, 1785.

1785 FOX AT MANCHESTER. 219
tropolis of manufactures. Here is Fox's own account of
it : ' Our reception at Manchester was the finest thing
imaginable, and handsome in all respects. All the
principal people came out to meet us, and attended us
into the town with blue and buff cockades, and a pro
cession as fine, and not unlike that upon my chairing
in Westminster. We dined with one hundred and fifty
people  The concourse of people to see us was
immense, and I never saw more apparent unanimity
than seemed to be in our favour.' l

CHAPTER VIII.
1785-1786.

Four-and-a-half Fund — Marriage of Pitt's sister, Lady Harriot —
Pitt purchases a Country Seat — Embarrassment of Lady Chat
ham's, and of Pitt's private affairs — The Rolliad — Captain
Morris's Songs — Peter Pindar — Pitt's Irish Propositions — Con
templated Treaty of Commerce with France— Proposed Fortifi
cations of Portsmouth and Plymouth — Pitt's Sinking Fund — Im
peachment and Trial of Warren Hastings— New Peers.
Dpking the Session of 1785 Pitt was able to make, as
he trusted, a satisfactory arrangement with respect to
the Four-and-a-half Fund. The frequent arrears and
defalcations of payment in the Pensions that were
charged upon it were certainly not more inconvenient
to the holders than they were discreditable to the
Government. We find Pitt write as follows on the
subject : Putney Heath, June 14, 1785.
My dear Mother, — From a thousand circumstances I
have been even longer than I thought possible in executing
1 Letter dated September 10, 1785. See the Fox Memorials, vol.
ii. p. 270.

220 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1875-
my intention of writing. Latterly I have delayed it till I
could have the satisfaction of giving you positive accounts on
the interesting and long depending subject of the grant. I
have infinite pleasure in being at length able to tell you that
it is settled in a way which is perfectly unexceptionable, and
will, I think, answer every purpose. A sum of 56,0007. was
voted yesterday to make good the arrears of the 4^ per cent.
up to the 5th of April last, and it was agreed to transfer the
Duke of Gloucester's annuity of 9,000?. to the aggregate
fund. Relieved from this, there can be no doubt that the
produce of the fund will be adequate to the remaining
charges. We may therefore fully depend on the discharge
of the arrears very speedily, probably in the course of a few
weeks, and on a punctual payment in future. Not a word
of opposition was offered to the proposal. I cannot say how
much I feel in a period being put to the embarrassment and
inconvenience of a situation which ought to experience every
thing that is the contrary.
Our Session is cruelly protracted, to the disappointment
of my hope of seeing you, which I had promised myself I
should do before this time. How much longer it will last
us is still uncertain, but I rather think we shall be at full
liberty in less than a month. Our principal difficulties are
surmounted, and the chief trial now is that of patience.
Believe me ever, &c, W. Pitt.
The health of Lady Chatham had become in some
degree impaired. She suffered at intervals from a painful
disorder, and since 1783 did not repeat her visit to
Hayes. Indeed so far as I can trace during a period of
twenty years, she never again quitted Burton Pynsent
even for a single night. Under such circumstances, her
daughter, Lady Harriot, sometimes paid visits of several
weeks either to Lord Chatham or to Mr. Pitt. There
she was often in company with Mr. Edward Eliot, the
early friend of her brother, and since the beginning of
1784 one of the Lords of the Treasury. An attachment
sprang up between them, to the great satisfaction of
their respective families. The offer of Mr. Eliot was
accepted by Lady Harriot ; and their marriage ensued

1786 MARRIAGE OF PITT'S SISTER. 221
September 21st, 1785. A few days later Pitt wrote to
his mother in these words :
Brighthelmstone, September 28, 1785.
I look forward to the happiness of being with you on
Tuesday in next week, and am to meet the bride and bride
groom in my way at Salisbury. You will have heard from
my sister since the union was completed, which I trust fur
nishes a just prospect of increasing happiness to both.
And here is the commencement of another letter
after his return from Burton :
Downing Street, October 20, 1785.
Your letter found me exceedingly safe at Brighthelm
stone, notwithstanding all the perils of thunder and light
ning, which overtook me at Mr. Bankes's at the end of a
long day's shooting, and were attended with no more conse
quences than a complete wetting. My conscience has re
proached me a good deal for not having sent this certificate
of myself sooner.
In the course of this autumn Pitt became possessor
of a country seat. This was Holwood, or as he always
spelled it, Hollwoqd. It lies in Kent, one or two miles
beyond his birth-place of Hayes. The purchase of the
property as it now exists was not made at once, but
extended over several years, the first payment being
November, 1785, and the last August, 1794; and the
total sum paid by Mr. Pitt in all these years was nomi
nally 8,950Z. In fact, however, it was only 4,950^., since
in 1786 he raised 4,000L as a mortgage on the land.
Holwood was a small house, but in a beautiful country.
The view from it extends over a varied and undulating
plain, from the heights of Sydenham on the one side
to the heights of Knockholt Beeches on the other. In
the grounds are considerable remains of a Roman camp,
in part overgrown by some fine trees. Holwood now
belongs to a highly accomplished and amiable man,
retired from office, who cherishes with care any me
morial that may remain of Mr. Pitt. It is from

222 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1785-
him, Lord Cranworth, that I have received the par
ticulars, as abstracted from his own title-deeds, of
Mr. Pitt's purchases and mortgages. But a former
proprietor has pulled down the house which the great
Minister dwelt in, and has reared a suburban villa in
-its place. In the winter Pitt was concerned to find that the
arrangement which he had made of the Four-and-a-half
Fund did not, as he hoped, avert all future embarrass
ment from Lady Chatham. Thus he writes :
Downing Street, December 1, 1785.
My dear Mother, — I have learnt with more concern
than I can express the feelings of your mind on the subject
of your last letter. My great consolation is that the circum
stances you state will not, I trust, upon reflection, give
ground to the serious anxiety which I am sorry to find it
has occasioned to you at the moment. Though there may
exist a present balance against you in Mr. Coutts's books,
beyond what you had imagined, there are, I am sure, but
too many reasons to prevent your having anything to re
proach yourself with on that account ; and the inconvenience
will be, I flatter myself, of very short duration ; or rather
that the business may be so arranged as to prevent its pro
ducing any. As to the two thousand pounds you mention,
I have only to entreat you not to suffer a moment's uneasi
ness on that account. I can arrange that with Mr. Courts
without difficulty, and without its coming across any con
venience or pleasure of my own ; though none I could have
would be so great as to be able to spare you a moment of
trouble or anxiety. If Mr. Coutts wishes any further secur
ity for the 700?. which yon mention as due to him, it will
also be very easy to settle that to his satisfaction. I do not
precisely know whether there are any arrears or debts of
any sort, independent of the balance to Mr. Coutts, which
will prevent your income being free in future. But as the
two quarters of the grant which are due will be probably
paid very soon, and the fund is so fully equal to the charges
upon it, I persuade myself that you will find in future ample
means to carry on your establishment, at least on its present
footing. I wish very much I could relieve you from any

1786 PITT'S PRIVATE AFFAIRS. 223
of the anxiety and fatigue of looking into all the points rela
tive to the state of your affairs. If it will contribute at all to
it, I am sure, from the forwardness in which public business
fortunately is, I can command a few days between this and
Christmas to come down to you for that purpose ; and which,
independent of that, I am exceedingly desirous of doing. In
the meantime it will be a great satisfaction to me if you
could let me know nearly the amount of any demands out
standing upon you. Indeed it is the only point I want for
complete satisfaction ; because, as to the sums due to Mr.
Coutts, I assure you that they ought not to give you any
sort of disquietude. I thought once of sending this letter by
a messenger, but I considered that you would perhaps answer
it less at your leisure and convenience than by the common
post; and though I shall wish much to hear from you, I
hope you will not take up your pen at any time that may be
troublesome to you. I am, my dear Mother, &c, W. Pitt.
At this period Mr. Pitt, wholly intent on public
business, had much neglected his private affairs. Al
ready had they fallen into some degree of embarrass
ment. In 1786 he requested his friend Mr. Robert
Smith to examine them. Mr. Smith found that there
was very great waste, and probably worse than waste,
among the servants.1 The evil might be checked for
, the moment ; but through the ensuing years no effectual
supervision was applied.
I now pass to matters of more public interest. But
a few words on poetry before I come to prose.
It was not only by speeches or by essays, on the
hustings or in the House, that the contest between Pitt
and Fox was waged. Some of the political satires of
that period attained a high degree of merit, and pro
duced a powerful effect. But as to their effect there was
a striking contrast between the early and latter part of
Pitt's administration — a contrast that may be measured
as between the Rolliad on the one side and the Anti-
1 See a note by the editors to Wilberforce's Life, vol. iii.
p. 245.

224 .- LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1785-
jacobm on the other. In the first period the superiority
was beyond all doubt with the Opposition, in the second
quite as clearly with the Minister.
The Rolliad — or to give the title more exactly, the
* Criticisms on the Rolliad' — came forth in parts during
the last six months of 1784 and the first of 1785. It
was first published in the ' Morning Herald,' a paper
founded three years before. Other short pieces which
soon afterwards appeared— the 'Political Eclogues,' and
the ' Probationary Odes ' — were combined with it to
ibrm a small volume, which has gone through a great
number of editions, and which may still be read with
pleasure. The principal writers were George Ellis
and Tickell, Dr. Laurence, General Fitzpatrick, and
Lord John Townshend.1 At the outset Sheridan was
suspected to be one of them, but in April, 1785, he
took occasion in the House of Commons to deny the
charge. These gentlemen — the wits of Brooks's — being much
disappointed at the results of the political conflict of
1784, gave some vent to their spleen in verse. For
their subject they selected an imaginary epic, of which
they gave fictitious extracts, and for their hero they
took the Member for Devonshire, John Rolle. This
gentleman, who became Lord Rolle in 1796, and who
survived till 1842, was justly all through his life re
spected by his neighbours for hospitality and honour,
for his consistent politics and his ample charities. But
in 1784 he had provoked the Opposition by some
taunts on the Westminster Scrutiny. He had besides
been noticed as one of those impatient sitters who
fretted at Burke's long speeches, and endeavoured to
cough him down. The wits, in revenge, conferred upon
him an epic immortality.
But in truth Mr. Rolle was little more to them than
1 On the authors of the Rolliad see some valuable contributions
made in 1850 to the Notes and Queries by Lord Braybrooke, Mr.
Markland, and Sir Walter C. Trevelyan (vol. ii.pp. 114, 242, and 373).

1786 THE ROLLIAD. 225
the peg on which they hung the shafts designed for
higher game. They soon dismiss him with a few brief
pleasantries upon his name or pedigree.
Illustrious Rolle 1 oh, may thy honoured name
Roll down distinguished on the rolls of fame !

Hot rolls and butter break the Briton's fast,
Thy speeches yield a more sublime repast 1
With Mr. Pitt himself- there was some difficulty in
finding a good ground of attack upon his conduct. But
then there was his age :
A sight to make surrounding nations stare,
A kingdom trusted to a schoolboy's care.
As regards his friends, the authors of the Rolliad by no
means confined themselves to political attacks. They
eagerly sought out any peculiarities of habit, or even
of face. Thus, in allusion to his frugal table, they
address the Duke of Richmond :
Whether thou goest while summer heats prevail
To enjoy the freshness of thy kitchen's gale,
Where, unpolluted by luxurious heat,
Its large expanse affords a cool retreat.
Or they refer, as follows, to the long chin of Lord
Sydney : Oh I had by nature but propitious been
His strength of genius to his length of chin,
His mighty mind in some prodigious plan
At once with ease had reached to Hindostan 1
Or again as to the Marquis Graham, one of the Lords
of the Treasury, who, in an unwary moment, had said
in the House of Commons, 'If the Hon. gentleman
calls my Hon. friend Goose, I suppose he will call me
Gosling,' the Rolliad first in due precedence touches
on the Duke. Then as to his son :
His son, the heir-apparent of Montrose,
Feels for his beak, and starts to find a nose !
However trifling the theme of the Rolliad and the
Political Eclogues, it is always commended to us by
VOL. I. Q

226 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1785-
a consummate mastery of the English heroic couplet.
So graceful in that metre are their inversions, and so
sonorous their cadences, and so uniformly are these
merits sustained, that it suggests the idea of a single
writer much more than of a confederated band of
friends. And when, in addition to their metrical skill,
their pleasantries were fresh and new, it can scarcely be
doubted that they had political effect, and tended to
assist the cause which they espoused.
Besides the authors of the Rolliad, Captain Morris
attained at this time some reputation as a writer of
songs. He was a boon companion of the wits at
Brooks's ; and he thought that abuse of their opponents
gave new zest to his praises of love and wine. But in
one or two places he has indulged in a savage strain
such as no man of common feeling could approve. In
1784, for example, he wrote a ballad entitled 'Billy
Pitt and the Farmer.' It tells, with some humour, a
story how Pitt and Dundas missed their way one dark
night near Wimbledon, and were fired at by mistake
from a farm-house at Wandsworth. And here are some
of the stanzas with which the gallant Captain concludes
his tale.
Then Billy began for to make an oration,
As oft he had done to bamboozle the nation ;
But Hodge cried ' Begone I or I'll crack thy young crown f or't ;
Thou belong'st to a rare gang of rogues, I'll be bound for't.'
Then Harry stepped up ; but Hodge, shrewdly supposing
His part was to steal while the other was posing,
Let fly at poor Billy, and shot through his lac'd coat ;
Oh, what pity it was it did not hit his waistcoat 1 '
At nearly the same time another political poet of
much higher celebrity arose. This was John Wolcott, a
native of Devonshire. He had taken Holy Orders, but
had not the smallest inclination to clerical duty, and he
subsisted mainly by his pen. Writing under the assumed
1 This ballad is comprised in the Asyhlmfor Fngitwe Pieces, vol.
ii. p. 246, ed. 1786.

1786 PETER PINDAR. 227
name of Peter Pindar, he soon attracted notice by the
humour of his grotesque descriptions, and still more per
haps by the audacity of his personal attacks. He loved
especially to portray any respectable character in a
ridiculous situation. Thus he represents the King, whom
he spared less than any, as visiting a cottage near
Windsor, and as struck with amazement at the sight of
an apple-dumpling, not being able to discover any seam
by which the apple was introduced ! Thus he represents
Sir Joseph Banks as boiling fifteen hundred fleas in a
saucepan to ascertain if, when boiled, they might not
turn scarlet like lobsters ! And as to Mr. Pitt, the
Reverend gentleman is never weary of taunting him
with his too faithful observance of the seventh com
mandment. The loss of the Irish Propositions was, as I have said,
a most bitter disappointment to Pitt ; but, as he writes
to the Duke of Rutland, 'we have the satisfaction of
having proposed a system which I believe will not be
discredited even by its failure, and we must wait times
and seasons for carrying it into effect. . . . All I have
to say in the mean time is very short : let us meet what
has happened, or whatever may happen, with the cool
ness and determination of persons who may be defeated,
but cannot be disgraced, and who know that those who
obstruct them are greater sufferers than themselves. . . .
I believe the time will yet come when we shall see all
our views realised in both countries, and for the ad
vantage of both  I write this as the first result
of my feelings, and I write it to yourself alone.'
It was still the hope of Pitt to renew his plan with
some modifications during the next year ; but finding
his friends in Ireland afford him little hope of a more
successful issue, he relinquished the idea, and applied
himself to carry out the same principles in another
sphere. He was most anxious to lighten the shackles
which at that period weighed down our trade with
France, and during the autumn he planned a mission to
« 2

228 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1785-
Paris for that object. A little to his own surprise, per
haps, he found a ready agent in the foremost ranks of
Opposition. William Eden came at this time to be de
tached from his party ties with Fox and North, mainly
by the intervention of his personal friend John Beres
ford. So far as I am able to discover, he did not
alter his politics on any public ground, nor, indeed,
allege any such in his own defence. In his first letter
to Pitt he expressed a wish to become Speaker of the
House of Commons, if any opening should arise ; but
Pitt gave no encouragement to this idea, and early in
1786 sent over Mr. Eden as special envoy to Paris,
under the Duke of Dorset as Ambassador, to nego
tiate a Treaty of Commerce with France. In that post
his great ability and address were of signal service ;
but, as might be expected, his secession stung to the
quick his former friends. There ensued some stanzas
on ' the Loss of Eden ' by the authors of the ' Rolliad,'
and some taunts of no common asperity in the House of
Commons. Parliament met again on the 24th of January,
and almost the first business of importance which
engaged its time was a plan of the Duke of Rich
mond, as Master-General of the Ordnance, to fortify
the Dockyards of Portsmouth and Plymouth. This
plan had been already mooted in the House of Com
mons in the preceding year, but was then postponed.
It was now brought forward by Mr. Pitt in the name of
the Government. During the last war the unprotected
state of our great naval arsenals had been painfully
apparent. Nevertheless the scheme to fortify them was
much opposed. In the first place, the Duke himself
was not popular. Then there was the expense, esti
mated at 760,000^. Then again there was the consti
tutional jealousy of any new strongholds in England.
Surely — so Sheridan in a most able speech contended
— these unassailable fortresses might, in the hands of
an ambitious and ill-advised King, be made the instru-

1786 PROPOSED FORTIFICATIONS. 229
ments for subverting the liberties of the people. Yet,
as Pitt had already asked, in allusion to the system of
Lord North, ' Is it less desirable for us to be defended
by the walls of Portsmouth and Plymouth, garrisoned
by our own Militia, than to purchase the protection of
Hessian hirelings ? ' So far, however, did the eloquence
of Sheridan, of Fox, and of Barre — for Barre also op
posed the scheme — prevail in the House of Commons,
that on the division the numbers were exactly equal :
169 on each side. The Speaker, Mr. Cornwall, gave his
casting vote with the Noes, so that the entire project,
to Pitt's great mortification, fell to the ground ; nor
was it ever afterwards renewed. ' After all,' so wrote
Eden to John Beresford, ' it proves what I have said
to you, that it is a very loose Parliament, and that
Government has not a decisive hold of it upon any
material question.' 1
If, however, these failures both on Irish trade and
on English fortifications be taken as evincing some
decline in Pitt's popularity and influence, they were
more than redeemed by the general applause which
greeted his measure for the redemption of the National
Debt. Last Session he had promised it for this ; and
all through the Recess, says Bishop Tomline, he received
an almost incredible number of schemes and projects.
Many of these came from amateur financiers in the
country — the ' provincial Chancellors of the Exchequer,'
as on one occasion they were termed by Sir Robert
Peel — and such schemes might be quickly tossed aside ;
but others were of a different order, and required
thought and care. Nor did Pitt neglect the published
lucubrations of Dr. Richard Price. That remarkable
man was then in the zenith of his fame. Though a
Dissenting Minister of the Socinian school, and though
well skilled in philosophical controversies, he had by no
means confined his attention to them. He was an ardent
champion of popular claims, and a profound adept in
1 Beresford Correspondence, vol. i. p. 302.

230 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1785-
fmancial calculations. During the last war the Ame
rican Congress had by Resolution expressed their desire
to consider him a citizen of the United States, and to
receive his assistance in regulating their finances — an
offer which his advancing years induced him to decline.1
So early as 1773 he had published an elaborate 'Ap
peal on the National Debt,' in which he strongly urged
the importance of an inalienable Sinking Fund ; and
in 1786 he was able to assert that 'the plan which Mr.
Pitt has adopted is that which I have been writing
about and recommending for many years.' 2
In this assertion, however, we must understand Dr.
Price to mean the principle or leading idea rather than
the means of execution ; for Dr. Price himself, as also
several of Pitt's later correspondents, had framed divers
ingenious devices for converting low Stocks into high,
as easier for future redemption, and as holding out, in
theory at least, an ultimate advantage to the public.
But on full consideration Pitt had become convinced
that of all the modes of redemption, the simplest and
the plainest — merely to take the Funds from time to
time at the market price of the day — would be also the
surest and the best.
Having laid a great variety of accounts before the
House, and paved the way by the Report of a Select
Committee, Pitt brought forward his proposal on the
29th of March. On this occasion Bishop Tomline has
indulged us with some personal reminiscences which
appear of great interest, and are among the very few
that his ' Life ' contains : —
' Mr. Pitt passed the morning of this day in provid
ing the calculations which he had to state, and in ex
amining the Resolutions which he had to move ; and at
last he said that he would go and take a short walk by
1 This was in 1778. See a note to Franklin's Works, vol. viii. p.
354, ed. 1844. Franklin, who knew him well in England, speaks of
him as the 'good Dr. Price.' Ibid. vol. x. p. 365.
2 Letter to Earl Stanhope, as read in the House of Lords, May
22, 1786.

1786 HIS SINKING FUND. 231
himself, that he might arrange in his mind what he had
to say in the House. He returned in a quarter of an
hour, and told me he believed he was prepared. After
dressing himself he ordered dinner to be sent up ; and
learning at that moment that his sister (who was then
living in the house with him) and a lady with her were
going to dine at the same early hour, he desired that
their dinner might be sent up with his, and that they
might dine together. He passed nearly an hour with
these ladies, and several friends who called in their way
to the House, talking with his usual liveliness and
gaiety, as if having nothing upon his mind. He then
went immediately to the House of Commons, and made
this " elaborate and far-extended speech," as Mr. Fox
called it, without one omission or error.'
The speech of Pitt on the 29th of March, though
most imperfectly reported, was indeed conspicuous, even
among his own, for its masterly expositions of finance.
With some pride might he point to the re-establish
ment of the public credit and to the thriving state of
the revenue under his administration. Already did the
surplus of income and revenue nearly approach one mil
lion sterling ; and this sum — namely, one clear million
annually — whatever the future state of the Exchequer
might be, Pitt proposed to place beyond the control of
Government in the hands of Commissioners for the
yearly redemption of the public debt. To this ' Sinking
Fund ' was also to be added, the yearly amount of the
interest of the sums to be redeemed, so that it was in
fact a million at compound interest.
The establishment of a Sinking Fund was by no
means new. It may be traced up, as I have shown in
another work, to the year 1716; but until now the
Fund which was created in peace might always, at the
will of the Government, be resumed in war. Such was
the course which the preceding Ministers had always
pursued ; such was the course which Fox acknowledged
that he still preferred. Pitt, on the contrary — and

232 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1785-
this was the peculiar and distinguishing point in his
system— proposed to make his Sinking Fund the crea
tion of an Act of Parliament, and inalienable except by
another Act of Parliament. His proposal being
regarded as the surest bulwark of our national credit,
was accepted with eagerness — nay, almost enthusiasm
both by the House of Commons and the public. In vain
did Fox, in several eloquent speeches, contend that our
system should be to discharge in time of peace the debts
contracted in time of war ; and in the event of a new
war to cease from paying off debts, and direct our
entire resources against the foe. So strong was the
current in Pitt's favour that Fox did not venture to call
for a division.
In the Lords the main attack upon Pitt's measure,
came from his own brother-in-law, Charles Lord Mahon,
who in March of this year had succeeded his father as
Earl Stanhope. During the contests of 1783 and 1784
he had been, as we have seen, among the most strenu
ous supporters of his kinsman ; but there was in him,
conjoined with great powers of mind, a certain way
wardness of temper, which made him, it may almost be
said, dislike the winning side as such. He loved better
to act in a small minority ; and in after years, as the
disposition grew upon him, he loved best to act alone,
coming in the House of Lords to be often sur-
named, as in truth he sometimes was, the ' Minority
of One.' In May, 1786, Lord Stanhope having framed a
plan of his own for the redemption of the National
Debt, both published a pamphlet and delivered a speech
against Pitt's. His main objection, however, was ex
actly the reverse of that which Fox had urged. He was
not satisfied to secure the Sinking Fund by an Act
of Parliament. He wished to carry its inalienability
further still by certain changes of Stock and arrange
ments with the public creditor, so that any future
diversion of the Sinking Fund would be equivalent to

1786 HIS SINKING FUND. 233
an act of national bankruptcy. Many compliments on
his speech and pamphlet were paid him by Lord Lough
borough, Lord Stormont, and other Opposition Peers,
who already began to look upon him as their own ; but
they appear to have dissuaded a division, and none in
fact took place.
Thus almost by general consent did Pitt's measure
become law. During many years did it retain both the
support of Government and the favour of the people.
During many years did we continue to hold sacred a
million sterling for the Sinking Fund, even when com-
jpelled, by the exigencies of war, to borrow that million
sterling, and scores of millions sterling besides. But
by degrees there came to be a doubt upon the public
mind. The policy of a Sinking Fund, whenever propped
up by loans, began to be greatly questioned ; and the
death-blow, it may be said, to the system of Pitt upon
that subject was struck at last by a hand that had
been most forward and active in assisting him to rear
it. That hand was no other than Lord Grenville's. In
1786 he had been the Chairman of that Committee, as
moved by Pitt, which immediately preceded the intro
duction of the Bill upon the Sinking Fund ; and no
man had been more zealous to promote or to vindicate
the measure of his chief; but after the lapse of more
than forty years it was found that experience and reflec
tion had wrought an entire change in his views. A
pamphlet published by him in 1828, and forming an era
on this question, avows with noble frankness his sense
of former error, and denounces with great force the in
utility of a borrowed Sinking Fund.
It was under cover of the first great popularity of
this measure that Pitt was able to propose and carry
a vote of 210,000^. to discharge a new debt, which, in
spite of the King's personal economy, had accrued upon
the Civil List of 850,000Z. a-year.
In this Session, as in those which followed, Pitt
refrained from renewing his motion on Parliamentary

234 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1785-
Reform ; but he gave his cordial aid to a Bill which
had been framed and brought in by Lord Mahon for
the improvement of County Elections. The object was in
great part the same which has been since with general
assent adopted — to provide an annual registration of the
freeholders, and to admit several other polling-places
besides the county town. Lord Mahon being called to
the Upper House, Wilberforce undertook in bis place,
the further conduct of the Bill. By his exertions, and
the support of the Prime Minister, the Bill passed,
though not without some difficulty, through the House
of Commons ; but in the Lords it was thrown out,
mainly — so Mr. Wyvill states — by a ' coalition of the
King's Friends and the Whig aristocracy.' '
In this Session Pitt also achieved a considerable
change in the Revenue Laws. ' I am just going,' thus
he writes to ihe Duke of Rutland, April 29, 1786, 'to
introduce a plan for excising wine, which, although it
had nearly overthrown Sir Robert Walpole, will, I be
lieve, meet with very little difficulty.' So accordingly
it proved. But perhaps the Session of 1786 is chiefly memora
ble for the first Parliamentary steps that were taken
towards the Impeachment and the Trial of Warren
Hastings. The career of Hastings in the East and the divers
grounds of charge that might be urged against him
have been related at length by several writers, and by
myself among the rest.2 He left India at last in perfect
peace, retiring from his post not as dismissed, nor even
as rebuked, but of his own free will. In June, 1785,
he once more set foot on English ground, there rejoin
ing Mrs. Hastings — the fair Marian Imhoff of Germany
1 Wyvitts Papers, vol. iv. p. 542 ; and the Life of Wilberforce,
vol. i. p. 114.
2 I venture on this subject to refer the reader to the 68th and
69th chapters of my History of England. The private letters of
Hastings, both at that period and after his return, will be found in
the three volumes of the Biography by the Rev. G. R. Gleig.

1786 WARREN HASTINGS. 235
— who had preceded him by about a year. His re
ception at home was highly favourable. The Directors
of the East India Company greeted him with a public
Address ; the King and Queen were most gracious at
the Levee. Her Majesty even condescended to accept
from Mrs. Hastings the present of an ivory bed — a gift
by no means forgotten in the satires of that day.
In the House of Commons Hastings had two most
bitter enemies in Edmund Burke and Philip Francis ;
the one impelled by high public spirit, the other, we
may assert, mainly by personal rancour. Only a few
days after Hastings's arrival in London, Burke rose in
his place and gave notice that if no other Member
would undertake the business, he would himself on a
future day make a motion respecting the conduct of a
gentleman just returned from India. But the Opposi
tion was at that time, as we have seen, wholly broken
and enfeebled, and among the Ministers Hastings had
many friends. He might regard as such — so greatly
had circumstances changed — even his old antagonist
Dundas, who had moved the Vote of Censure upon him
in 1782. Hastings himself in his private correspond
ence observes as of Dundas in July, 1785, that 'the
Board of Control has been more than polite to me.'
Lord Thurlow went much further still. He espoused
the interests of Hastings with a warmth which, con
sidering his own post of Chancellor, may be justly con
demned as indecorous. And some of his expressions on
the subject deviated from truth even further than from
decorum. ' The fact is,' he cried, ' that this is Hastings's
administration, and that he put an end to the late
Ministers as completely as if he had taken a pistol and
shot them through the head, one after another ! ' Even
in the previous year he had eagerly pressed Pitt for a
peerage. Pitt, however, had preserved something more
of a judicial mind. He owned the great merits and
services of the late Governor-General, but alleged the
Vote of Censure still standing upon record in the

236 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1785-
Journals of the House of Commons. ' Until,' he said,
' the sting of those Resolutions is done away by a Vote
of Thanks, I do not see how I can with propriety advise
His Majesty to confer an honour upon Mr. Hastings.'1
In this state of affairs, so far as Hastings was con
cerned, the members of the Opposition were little in
clined to cheer on or to follow Burke. The inquiry
which he had announced must of necessity be long and
laborious, while the prospect of party advantage from it
was extremely small. Had no fresh provocation arisen,
the old quarrel would scarcely have been further pur
sued. Had Hastings remained quiet, there seems every
reason to surmise that Burke would have, though re
luctantly, remained quiet too.
But it was the misfortune of the late Governor-
General to rely at this time on a most incompetent ad
viser. There was under his patronage a Major of the
Bengal army, John Scott by name, whom the rupees of
his patron had seated for the small borough of West
Looe. In the House of Commons this gentleman
avowed himself the agent and representative of Hast
ings. Zeal and industry were qualities possessed by
Major Scott in the highest perfection ; of judgment
and discretion he was wholly destitute. He proved to
be a most tedious speaker and a most injudicious
friend. As to the last point, his private letters to
Hastings are still on record, evincing his passionate and
distorted views of public men and public measures.
Thus in August, 1784, we find him vilifying his great
opponent as ' that reptile Mr. Burke,' and with still
more signal folly boasting that over the reptile he,
Major Scott, had ' triumphed most completely ! '
Acting on such notions as these, Major Scott rose in
his place on the very first day of the Session of 1786.
Reminding the House of the notice which Burke had
given, he called upon Burke to bring forward his
1 Memoirs of Hastings by the Rev. G. R. Gleig, vol. iii. p. 171 and
174.

1786 TRIAL OF WARREN HASTINGS. 237
charges, and to fix the earliest possible day for their
discussion. This unwise defiance received a prompt
reply. It bound Burke to pursue his design, and it in
duced his friends to rally round him. Henceforward
the zeal of Fox in this cause became fully equal to his
own. The first steps of the great twin leaders were mo
tions for papers, which, being in part refused, gave rise
to some keen debates. In these Pitt took occasion to
declare his line — a line far different from Thurlow's. It
was such as every Minister would profess at present, but
such as hardly any Minister except himself appears at
that time to have kept in view. ' For my part,' he
said, ' I am neither a determined friend nor foe to Mr.
Hastings, but I am resolved to support the principles of
justice and equity. Mr. Hastings, notwithstanding all
the assertions to the contrary, may be as innocent as the
child unborn ; but he is now under the eye and sus
picion of Parliament, and his innocence or guilt must
be proved by incontestable evidence.'
Early in April Burke, with the active aid of Francis,
brought forward eleven specific Charges, which soon
afterwards he increased, by successive accessions, to
twenty-two. But by far the chief ones in importance
were those- on the Rohilla war, on Cheyte Sing, the
Rajah of Benares, and on the two Begums or Princesses
of Oude. On the other part Hastings sent in a petition
praying to be heard in reply, and his petition being
granted, he appeared at the Bar bending under the
weight of a State paper which he had prepared, of im
mense length, according to the approved India Com
pany fashion. He read on as long as his own strength
and much longer than his hearers' patience endured.
Then the Clerks at the Table supplied his place, and
mumbled through the interminable document for some
hours more, while the Members stole away one by one,
comparing perhaps in their own minds the speeches of
Scott with the essays of Hastings, and doubting whether,

238 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1785-
after all, the agent was one whit more tedious than his
principal. The reading of this document at the Bar as at the
Table took up not merely one day, but part of the next.
Yet Hastings, looking no doubt to the great Bengal
models, thought it much too short. ' Stinted as I was '
he says, ' and indeed most dreadfully, as to time ' — so
he writes to one of his friends May 20, 1786. Lord
Macaulay has well shown in one of his excellent
essays how total and complete was the misapprehension
of Hastings on all points of the temper of the House
of Commons.1 After the late Governor-General had concluded, Sir
Robert Barker and other witnesses were examined at
the Bar from time to time, and on the 1st of June
Burke brought forward his first, the Rohilla Charge.
He had with good judgment selected this as his vantage
ground. The cruel attack on the Rohillas had been at
one time condemned by the Court of Directors. It had
been the ground of the Vote of Censure passed by the
Houses. It had been in an especial manner the mark
for the indignation and the invective of Dundas, who
was now, beyond any other Member of Parliament,
responsible for the conduct of Indian affairs. When,
therefore, it was rumoured that Dundas intended to
uphold Hastings on the very point as to which he had
formerly arraigned him, the Opposition heard the news
with exulting glee, and Fox turned it to the best account
in one of his masterly speeches. Dundas, however, was
at all times bold and ' cunning of fence.' And- on this
occasion he had specious arguments to urge. He de
clared that he still thought, as in 1781, that the attack
on the Rohillas was a war of injustice. But he pointed
out that he and the other members of the old Com
mittee, the framers of the Vote of Censure— and to
some of those in person he might still appeal—had in
view not any penal prosecution of Hastings, but only
1 Lord Macaulay's Essays, vol. iii. p. 427-437.

1786 TRIAL OF WARREN HASTINGS. 239
his recall. That recall was the object which they had
striven for and failed in. Subsequently to that period
an Act of Parliament had been passed re-appointing
Warren Hastings by name Governor-General of Bengal.
The Statute therefore might be considered as a Par
liamentary pardon, unless some fresh circumstances of
aggravation had since occurred. Had there been any
such ? On the contrary there had been services of the
most essential character during the latter periods of the
war — services so great, Dundas continued, that we
might almost be tempted to term Hastings the saviour
of India. On these grounds, Dundas said, he must op
pose the motion. Pitt, though he said nothing, had
taken the same view. The Ministerial phalanx followed
its chief, and upon a division Burke found himself de
feated by 119 against 67.
Such a majority upon such a question might seem
to the friends of Hastings the sure presage of approach
ing triumph. They expected that Fox and Burke would
try perhaps one or two Charges more, would find the
numbers to back them grown smaller still, and would
then in anger fling down their brief and walk away.
Had such proved to be the issue, Hastings would no
doubt have ascribed it — so blind is human vanity ! —
to the transcendent merits of his essay at the Bar.
Already in his private letters about this period does he
declare that ' it instantly turned all minds to my own
way.' Already does he speak of his demand to be
heard in person as conceived ' in a happy hour and by
a blessed inspiration.' But a complete reverse of for
tune was now close at hand.
The great Benares Charge had been entrusted to
Fox's care. He brought it forward on the 13th of June
with his usual surpassing ability, resting his argument
solely on this principle, that Cheyte Sing was an inde
pendent prince, no way liable to be called on for succour
by the Bengal Government. ' I must acknowledge,'
said he near his conclusion, ' that there was something

240 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1785-
like a colour for the vote to which we came respecting
the Rohilla war. The extreme distance of the time at
which it happened, the little information the House had
of it till lately, the alleged important services of Mr.
Hastings since that period (although I maintain that
they were neither meritorious nor in truth services) — all
these, with other causes and justifications, might then
be urged. But there are none such on the present
occasion. The facts are all of them undeniable ; they
are atrocious, and they are important ; so much so that
upon the vote of this night, in my judgment, the fate
of Bengal depends.'
Fox was seconded by Francis, with far less ability
indeed, but even superior bitterness. Then, after a
short speech from Mr. Nicholls, tending to the complete
innocence of Hastings, the Prime Minister rose. In
the first place he utterly denied the independent posi
tion ascribed to Cheyte Sing by Fox. The Rajah of
Benares was, as he contended, a vassal of the Bengal
empire, bound in extraordinary perils to give extraordi
nary aid. For his contumacy in withholding such aid
a fine might justly be inflicted. But then the question
arose, what fine ? Now to levy a fine of 500,000?.
for the mere delay of paying a contribution of 50,0001.,
which contribution had after all been paid, was to de
stroy all connection between the degrees of guilt and
punishment — it was a proceeding shamefully exorbitant,
and repugnant to reason and justice. On this ground,
and this ground only, Pitt declared that after a long
and laborious study of the question, he felt it his duty
on the whole to vote for the Benares charge.
Until Pitt rose, and indeed for a long time after
wards, the House had been firmly persuaded that he in
tended to side with Hastings. Great, therefore, and
general was the surprise at his conclusion. Several
gentlemen in office, as Mr. Grenville and Lord Mul-
grave, were already committed by their words or had
already formed their opinions ; and they declared

1786 WARREN HASTINGS. 241
themselves bound in conscience to vote against the
motion. But the majority of the House was obedient
to the voice of its leader. The Yeas for Fox's Resolu
tion were 119, and the Noes but 79. Dundas had
taken no part in the debate, but he voted with Pitt.
In a letter written more than thirty years afterwards,
and only a few weeks before his death, we find Hastings
revert to the proceedings of that memorable day. He
declares that from information which he received at the
time, Dundas had called on Pitt at an early hour of that
morning, awoke him from his sleep, and engaged him
in a discussion of three hours, the result of which was a
total inversion of the Ministerial policy that night.1 It
is difficult to lay any great stress on the statements of
that letter, since in the next sentence the writer goes
on to say, ' I must stop, for my mind forsakes me.'
Nevertheless it seems highly probable that the final
decision upon the Benares charge may have been de
ferred till close upon Fox's motion, and may have been
preceded by an anxious conference between the First
Lord of the Treasury and the President of the Board of
Control. So general, however, had been the surprise at Pitt's
conclusion, that all kinds of rumours and surmises were
noised abroad in order to account for it. Most of these
were low and base, as coming from the mere runners
and lackeys of faction. Hastings might excite the
jealousy of Dundas ; Hastings might excite the jealousy
of Pitt; he might become a formidable rival in the
Cabinet ; he might draw to himself the entire manage
ment of the Board of Control. Yet, though Dundas had
many faults, mean jealousy was never one of them ; still
less can it be imputed to the lofty mind of Pitt. And,
moreover, in this case the imputation almost answers
itself; for how, in a Parliamentary Government, can
any man — unless, perhaps, at a former period, some
great Peer like Rockingham — aspire to fill any high
1 To Mr. Elijah Impey, April 19, 1818.
VOL. I. E

242 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1785-
office at home, or be the cause of jealousy lest he should
fill it, without some degree of fluency at least in public
speaking ? Now of such fluency, Hastings, by his own
confession, had none at all. Many years afterwards
we find him write as follows to a younger friend : —
'Your father knows that I am in a singular degree
deficient in the powers of utterance.' l
But why in this case seek for any hidden or mys
terious causes ? Does not the true motive of Pitt lie
clear upon the surface ? Is it not to be found in the
merits of the question itself? His full consideration of
it had been long — perhaps too long — postponed ; but
when at length he went through the documents before
him, they led him to exactly that conclusion which even
now, on calm retrospect, we may be inclined to form.
Hastings was right in regarding Cheyte Sing as a vassal,
and in punishing his contumacy by the imposition of a
fine ; but Hastings was wrong — grievously wrong, and
beyond all doubt misled by personal rancour and re
venge — in the exorbitant amount of the fine imposed.
This conclusion as to the motive of the Ministers is
confirmed by the unaffected language of Dundas to Lord
Cornwallis, who only six weeks before — early in May,
1786 — had sailed from England to fill the post of
Governor-General of India. To him, in March, 1787,
Dundas wrote as follows : — ' The only unpleasant cir
cumstance (in our public situation) is the impeachment
of Mr. Hastings  But the truth is, when we
examined the various articles of Charges against him,
with his defences, they were so strong, and the defences
so perfectly unsupported, it was impossible not to
concur ; and some of the Charges will unquestionably
go to the House of Lords.' 2
In June, 1786, however, the Session was drawing to
an end ; and although Major Scott pleaded in the most
vehement manner against all del-ay, the Charges against
1 To Mr. Charles Doyley, April 15, 1813.
2 See the Cornwallis Correspondence, vol i. p. 281,

1786 NEW BOARD OF TRADE. 243
Hastings were of necessity postponed to the ensuing
year. On the 1 1th of July this busy Session was closed by
the King in one of the shortest Speeches ever delivered
from the Throne. Immediately afterwards we find Pitt
returned to his favourite Holwood, but applying himself
at once to fresh arrangements of business. Thence he
writes : — Holwood, July 13, 1786.
My dear Mother, — The pleasure I have received from
your letter, which reached me at nearly the eve of our Pro
rogation, added, I assure you, not a little to the satisfaction
of that welcome period. ... I cannot indeed boast to
be yet perfectly at leisure, but I have at least comparatively
holiday, and shall, as I hope, be really in possession of them
in a few weeks. . . . But I must be in town the very
beginning of August, when our first payment of the Public
Debt is to take place.
I am just now in the beginning of some very necessary
arrangements to put the business of Government into a form
that will admit of more regularity and despatch than has
prevailed in some branches of it. The first step is in the
appointment of a new Committee of Trade, which becomes
every day more and more important, at which Mr. Jenkin-
son is to preside, with the honour of a Peerage. This, I
think, will sound a httle strange at a distance, and with a
reference to former ideas ; but he has really fairly earned it
and attained it at my hands.
The reconstruction of the Board of Trade, which the
Economical Bill of Burke had swept away, was almost a
necessity in a commercial country, and in view of the
commercial changes which Pitt designed. We have
seen that Mr. Jenkinson, now raised to the Peerage as
Lord Hawkesbury, was the President of the new Board,
while for its Vice-President Pitt named William
Grenville. The Peerage of Lord Hawkesbury was followed by
several more. Thus, Sir Guy Carleton became Lord
Dorchester, and Sir Harbord Harbord Lord Suffield ;
K 2

244 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1786-
and English Baronies were granted to the Irish Earls
of Shannon and Tyrone. Earlier in the year Pitt also
obtained from the King two promotions in the Peerage
on strong grounds of merit : the advancement of Lord
Camden to be an Earl and Viscount Bayham ; and the
advancement of Earl Gower to be Marquis of Stafford.
Yet the Minister was anxious at this time to stand firm
against most new claims. On the 19th of July he writes
•¦as follows to the Duke of Rutland : ' I have no difficulty
in stating fairly to you that a variety of circumstances
bas unavoidably led me to recommend a larger addition
to the British Peerage than I like or than I think
quite creditable ; and I am on that account very de
sirous not to increase it now farther than is absolutely
necessary.'

CHAPTER IX.
1786-1787.

State of the Ministry — William Grenville — Lord Mornington —
Henry Dundas — Lord Carmarthen — Death of Frederick the
Great — Margaret Nicholson's attempt on the life of George the
Third — Death of Pitt's sister, Lady Harriot — Treaty of Com
merce with France — State of Ireland — Dr. Pretyman becomes
Bishop of Lincoln and Dean of St. Paul's — Parliamentary De
bates on French Treaty — Mr. Charles Grey — Proceedings against
Hastings resumed — Unanimous testimony to Sheridan's eloquence
— Pitt's measures of Financial Reform — The Prince of Wales
and Mrs. Fitzherbert — Attempted Repeal of the Test Act —
Settlement in Botany Bay.
In the Session which was just concluded, Pitt had
been able to strengthen himself in the House of Com
mons. He was still the only Cabinet Minister in that
assembly ; but there were two young men of high
promise, one of whom he had just promoted, and the
other just placed in office. These were the new Vice-

1787 STATE OF THE MINISTRY. 245
President of the Board of Trade, William Grenville,
afterwards Lord Grenville, and the new Lord of the
Treasury, Richard Wesley, Earl of Mornington in the
Irish Peerage, afterwards Marquis Wellesley. It was
some time, however, ere Pitt obtained from them much
assistance in debate. The oratorical eminence of both
was a plant of later growth.
Writing to the Duke of Rutland in October, 1785,
Pitt had thrown out the idea of Grenville for Irish
Secretary in the place of Orde. He added : ' I do not
know that he would take it, and rather suppose that he
would not. I think, too, that his near connection with
Lord Buckingham is itself, perhaps, a sufficient objec
tion ; though in temper and disposition he is much the
reverse of his brother, and in good sense and habits of
business very fit for such a situation.' Grenville had
also taken part in several important debates, always
with authority, and sometimes with success. But he
did not, according to the common phrase, ' make way '
in the House of Commons. To his style of speaking
the House of Lords was certainly the appropriate
sphere, and to this it appears that so early as 1786
Grenville in his secret hopes aspired.1
Lord Mornington at the Treasury did not for a long
time do justice to himself. Some years elapsed before
he spoke at much length or with much effect. Even
after he had made manifest his great oratorical powers,
it required much persuasion of others and mueh prepa
ration of his own before he would engage to take part
in a debate. Pitt once said of .him that he was the
animal of the longest gestation he bad ever seen. His
speeches, when at last they came, were excellent and
justly admired, above all for their classic taste, their
graceful elocution, and their vivid style.
The main reliance of Pitt in all debates was still,
therefore, that able and zealous friend who had stood by
' See the Courts and Cabinets of George the Third, vol. i. p. 315,
ed. 1853.

246 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1786-
him ever since his outset in official life. Henry Dundas,
sprung from a family most eminent in SgoJ&sh juris
prudence, was the son of one President of the Court of
Session, the brother of a second, and trie uncle of a
Lord Chief Baron. Born in 1742, and sent to Parlia
ment in 1774 by his native county of Edinburgh,
his outset in public life among ' the Southron ' might
be compared to Wedderburn's, twelve years before.
But there was all the difference between a very cold
heart and a very warm one. Wedderburn, with no
predilections except for his own rise, took the utmost
pains, and with success, to divest himself of the Scottish
dialect and accent. Dundas, on the contrary, in a
far more manly spirit, as he clung to all other kindred
ties, retained the speech and the tones of his father
land. Intent only on the matter, to which he applied
his masculine good sense, he never seemed to care for or
to hesitate in the choice of words. Thus the graces of
elocution and delivery were perhaps despised, or cer
tainly at least neglected, by him. Throwing himself
boldly into the van of the Parliamentary conflict, he
would grapple at once with the strength of the argu
ments before him, and strike home at their vulnerable
points. His adversaries might now and then indulge a
smile at some provincial phrase or uncouth gesticulation,
but they had often to quail before the close pressure of
his logic and the keen edge of his invectives. They
quickly found that it was difficult to answer, and impos
sible to daunt him. In business, as in public speaking,
his turn of mind was eminently practical, clear, and to
the point. Frank and cordial in his temper, fond of
jests and good fellowship in private life, convivial to the
full extent admitted by the far from abstemious habits
of his age, he was much beloved in the circle of his
friends, nor always disliked even by his political oppo
nents. Besides that his temper was to everyone
generous and kindly, his heart warmed to a fellow-
countryman as such. I have heard a Scottish Peer

1787 DEATH OF FREDERICK THE GREAT. 247
of the opposite party, but a discerning and long-
experienced man — the second Earl of Minto — say that,
as he believed, there was scarce a gentleman's family in
Scotland, of whatever politics, which had not at some
time and in some one of its members received some
Indian appointment or other act of, in many cases quite
disinterested, kindness from Henry Dundas.
In the House of Lords, the venerable Camden was
enfeebled by the weight of advancing years. Lord
Thurlow was most powerful and ready, but in an equal
degree wayward and impracticable. Lord Carmarthen,
at this time Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs,
brought to the Government more of polish than weight.
After Wilberforce had one day in 1785 dined with
Pitt, we find him in his Diary contrast 'pompous
Thurlow and elegant Carmarthen.' And at the same
period the new American Minister, John Adams, writes :
' The Marquis of Carmarthen is a modest, amiable
man ; treats all men with civility, and is much esteemed
by the Foreign Ministers, as well as the nation, but is
not an enterprising Minister.' 1
Such was the general state of the Ministry at the
close of the Session of 1785, and for a long time after
wards. In August of this year died Frederick the Second, or
the Great, King of Prussia. With all his faults, and
they were many, he towered high above all the princes
of his time in genius and renown ; and in his reign of
forty-five years he had doubled the extent, and much
more than doubled the wealth and resources, of his
kingdom. His nephew and successor, under the name
of Frederick William the Second, was cast in a different
mould. Pleasure, not ambition, was the ruling object
of his life. As Sir James Harris in the same year
aptly writes : ' The late King had Solomon's wisdom ;
this King seems disposed to have only his concubines.'
1 To Secretary Jay, November 4, 1785 ; Adams's Works, vol. viii.
p. 336.

248 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1786-
In the same month the life of George the Third was
exposed to some danger. As His Majesty was one day
stepping from his coach at St. James's Palace, he saw
a woman of respectable appearance hold forth a paper
to him, and as he extended his arm to receive it, she
made a thrust at him with a knife which she held in
-Jier other hand. Starting back, the King escaped the
blow, while the woman was at once seized and secured.
But the King's first thought, greatly to his honour, was
to protect her from any hasty violence. ' I am not
hurt,' he said : ' take care of the poor woman ; do not
hurt her.' She was in due course examined before the
Privy Council, when it appeared that her name was
Margaret Nicholson, a single woman, who gained her
living by needle-work. No less apparent were the in
sane delusions to which she had been lately liable ; one
above all, that she was entitled as of right to the Crown
of England. On a medical certificate to that effect she
was removed to Bethlehem Hospital, where, without any
recovery of her reason, she survived almost forty years.
A grievous family affliction was at this time sustained
by Mr. Pitt. Mr. and Lady Harriot Eliot had settled
in town during August on account of her expected
confinement ; and on the 20th of September Pitt could
announce to bis mother the prosperous event :
' I have infinite joy in being able to tell you that my
sister has just made us a present of a girl, and that both
she and our new guest are as well as possible.'
But, unhappily, these prosperous symptoms did not
long continue. Causes of alarm arose : she grew weaker
and weaker ; and on the 25th no hope of her life was
left. Then Pitt wrote as follows to Mrs. Stapleton, his
mother's companion and friend : Downing Street,
Sunday, September 25, 1786,
11 o'clock.
Dear Madam, — In a most afflicting moment it is some
consolation to me to have recourse to your kind and affec
tionate, attention to my mother, which she has so often ex-

1787 DEATH OF LADY HARRIOT ELIOT. 249
perienced. The disorder under which my poor sister has
suffered since Friday morning appears, I am grieved to say,
to have taken so deep a root, that all the efforts of medicine
have served only in some degree to abate it, but without re
moving the cause. This circumstance and the loss of strength
render her case now so alarming, that although hope is not
entirely extinguished, I cannot help very much fearing the
worst ; and unless some very favourable change takes place,
there is too much reason to believe the event may be soon
decided. In this distressful situation I scarce know what is
best for my mother — whether to rely for the present on the
faint chance there is of amendment, or to break the circum
stances to her now, to diminish if possible the shock which
we apprehend. I have on this account addressed myself to
you, that, knowing what is the real state of the case, you
may judge on the spot whether to communicate any part of
it immediately or to wait till the moment of absolute neces
sity. I need make no apology for committing to you, my
dear Madam, this melancholy task. You will make, I am
sure, every allowance for the feelings under which I write.
Sincerely and affectionately yours, W. Pitt.
Since writing this the symptoms are become decided ; and
though the sad event has not actually taken place, it is
-inevitable. My brother is probably at Burton, but I will
send to Weymouth. I trust all to your goodness and atten
tion. Lady Harriot died the same day, the 25th of Sep
tember. Bishop Tomline — then still Dr. Pretyman —
tells us in his Biography : ' It was my melancholy
office to attend this - very superior and truly excellent
woman in her last moments ; and afterwards to soothe,
as far as I was able, the sufferings of her afflicted
husband and brother — sufferings which I shall not
attempt to describe. It was long before Mr. Pitt could
see any one but myself, or transact any business except
through me. From this moment Mr. Eliot took up his
residence in Mr. Pitt's house, and they continued to
live like brothers. But Mr. Eliot never recovered his
former - cheerfulness and spirits, nor could he •bring

250 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1786-

himself again to mix in general society. He passed
great part of his time in my family, both in town and
country, and seemed to have a peculiar satisfaction in
conversing unreservedly upon the subject of his loss
with Mrs. Pretyman, who had been the intimate friend
of his lamented wife and deeply shared in his afflic
tion.' The letters of Pitt to his mother at this period are,
as might be expected, full of affectionate sympathy.
On the 4th of October, the morning after the funeral,
he set out to join her at Burton Pynsent, and early in
November renewed his visit to that place.
In the interval between these visits he writes to his
mother from Downing Street, October 27 : ' Tuesday
or Wednesday next is fixed for christening the poor
child ; and as the weather is favourable, Eliot hopes in
a very few days afterwards to begin his journey west
ward and bring her to you.' At the request both of
Mr. Eliot and Mr. Pitt, Mrs. Pretyman became her
godmother, with the Dowager Lady Chatham. She
received her mother's name of Harriot, and was brought
up by her father so long as he survived, and subse
quently by her grandmother at Burton Pynsent. In
1806 she married Colonel, afterwards Lieutenant-General
Sir William Pringle, by whom she had one son and four
daughters; and she died in 1842.
Ever since the beginning of the year Pitt had been
anxiously intent on the conclusion of the treaty which
was negotiating at Paris. Mr. Eden had written to
him by almost every post, and consulted him on almost
every step. There had been great difficulties and great
delays, and Mr. Eden had found the energy of the
Prime Minister combining with his own to overcome
them. At length, the articles being adjusted, the
Treaty of Commerce was signed by Mr. Eden and M.
de Rayneval on the 26th of September — the very day
after Lady Harriot's death. Under such mournful
auspices did the long wished-for tidings arrive. Another

1787 TREATY OF COMMERCE WITH FRANCE. 251
proof of the sad truth which the French moralist long
since expressed, that in this world joyful events scarce
ever come to us at the time when they would give us
most joy.
The great object of Pitt in negotiating this treaty
was to put an end, as far as possible, to prohibitions and
prohibitory duties. He did not seek to reduce or en
danger the revenue by abolishing the custom duties
altogether. On the contrary, he expected to benefit
the revenue from that source by imposing only moderate
duties, which would really be levied on all articles im
ported, and which would deal almost a death-blow on
the contraband trade. For in spite of Pitt's previous
measures, the contraband trade in several of its branches
continued to prevail. Take the instances of brandy and
of cambrics. Only six hundred thousand gallons of
French brandy were legally imported in a year, while
no less than four millions of gallons were believed to be
every year smuggled into England.1 And since there
was a total prohibition of French cambrics, every yard
of them sold in England must have come in by illicit
means. ' I am obliged to confess,' said Pitt, in the
House of Commons, ' that increase of revenue by means
of reduction of duties once was thought a paradox ; but
experience has now convinced us that it is more than
practicable.' The Treaty of Commerce with France, as signed by
Mr. Eden, was to continue in force twelve years. It
stipulated that the subjects of the two contracting
parties might import, in their own vessels, into the
European dominions of each other every kind of mer
chandise not especially prohibited. They and their
families might reside, either as lodgers or as house
holders, free from any restraint in matters of religion,
and from any impost under the name of head-money or
1 Speech of Pitt, February 12, 1787, as reported in Tomline's
Life, vol. ii. p. 227. In the Parliamentary Debates the four millions
are misprinted as four hundred thousand.

252 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1786-
argent du chef; free also to travel through the country,
or depart from it, without licences or passports. The
wines of France were to be admitted into England at
no higher duties than those of Portugal, and the duties
on French vinegar, brandy, and oil of olives were also
much reduced.
The amount of duty, in both nations, on hardware,
cutlery, and a great variety of other articles, was in
like manner determined by this treaty ; mostly at very
moderate rates, not exceeding twelve or fifteen per cent.
And in case of either nation being engaged in war, the
right of interference of the other party by equipping
privateers, or by other means, was expressly provided
against and renounced.
We find Pitt during his second visit to his mother
resume his correspondence on business, and write an
important letter to the Duke of Rutland.
Burton Pynsent, Nov. 7, 1786.
My dear Duke, 
I have thought very much since I received your letter re
specting the general state of Ireland, on the subjects sug
gested in that and your official letters to Lord Sydney. The
question which arises is a nice and difficult one. On the
pne hand, the discontent seems general and rooted, and both
that circumstance, and most of the accounts I hear, seem to
indicate that there is some real grievance at bottom, which
must be removed before any durable tranquillity can be
secured. On the other hand, it is certainly a delicate thing
to meddle with the Church Establishment in the present
situation of Ireland; and anything like concession to the
dangerous spirit which has shown itself is not without ob
jection. But on the whole, being persuaded that Govern
ment ought not to be afraid of incuning the imputation of
weakness by yielding in reasonable points, and can never
make its stand effectually till it gets upon right ground, I
think the great object ought to be, to ascertain fairly the true
causes of complaint, to hold out a sincere disposition to give
just redress, and a firm determination to do no more, taking
care in the interval to hold up vigorously the execution of
the law as it stands (till altered by Parliament), and to

1787 STATE OF IRELAND. 253
punish severely (if the means can be found) any tumultuous
attempt to violate it. I certainly think the institution of
tithe, especially if rigorously enforced, is everywhere a great
obstacle to the improvement and prosperity of any country.
Many circumstances in practice have made it less so here ;
but even here it is felt ; and there are a variety of causes to
make it sit much heavier on Ireland. I believe, too, that it
is as much for the real interest of the Church as for the land
to adopt, if practicable, some other mode of provision. If
from any cause the Church falls into general odium, Govern
ment will be more likely to risk its own interests than to
serve those of the Church by any efforts in its favour. If,
therefore, those who are at the head of the clergy will look
at it soberly and dispassionately, they will see how incum
bent it is upon them, in every point of view, to propose some
temperate accommodation ; and even the appearance of con
cession which might be awkward in Government, could not
be unbecoming if it originated with them. The thing to be
arrived at, therefore, seems,*as far as I can judge of it, to find
out a way of removing the grievances arising out of a tithe,
or, perhaps, to substitute some new provision in lieu of it ;
to have such a plan cautiously digested (which may require
much time), and, above all, to make the Church itself the
quarter to bring forward whatever is proposed. How far
this is practicable must depend upon many circumstances, of
which you can form a nearer and better judgment, particu
larly on the temper of the leading men among the clergy.
I apprehend you may have a good deal of difficulty with the
Archbishop of Cashel ; ' the Primate 2 is, I imagine, a man
to listen to temperate advice : but it is surely desirable that
you should have as speedily as possible a full communication
with both of them ; and if you feel the subject in the same
light that I do, that, while you state to them the full deter
mination of Government to give them all just and honour
able support, you should impress them seriously with the
apprehension of their risking everything if they do not in
time abandon ground that is ultimately untenable. To sug-
1 Dr. Charles Agar, afterwards translated to the Archbishopric
of Dublin. In 1795 he was created Lord Somerton, and in 1806
Earl of Normanton.
2 Dr. Richard Robinson, Archbishop of Armagh. He had been
in 1777 created Lord Rokeby.

254 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1786-
gest the precise plan of commutation which might be adopted
is more than I am equal to, and is premature ; but, in
general, I have never seen any good reason why a fair valua
tion should not be made of the present amount of every liv
ing, and a rent in corn to that amount be raised by a pound
rate on the several tenements in the parish, nearly according
to the proportion in which they now contribute to tithe.
When I say a rent in corn, I do not actually mean paid in
corn, but a rent in money regulated by the average value,
from time to time, of whatever number of bushels is at pre
sent equal to the fair value of the living. This would effec
tually prevent the Church from suffering by the fluctuations
in the value of money, and it is a mode which was adopted
in all college leases, in consequence, I believe, of an Act of
Parliament in the time of Queen Elizabeth. I need not say
that I throw out these ideas in personal confidence to your
self ; and I shall wish much to know what you think of
them, and whether you can make anything of your prelates,
before any measure is officially suggested. It seems material
that there should be the utmost secrecy till our line is decided
upon, and it must be decided upon completely before Parlia
ment meets. Yours faithfully and sincerely, W. Pitt.
It cannot fail, I think, to strike the reader how
many ideas of Mr. Pitt, which in his own day were dis
suaded or opposed by others as dangerous, have since
come to be adopted almost by universal assent as in
dispensable. On his second return from Burton Pynsent, Pitt
applied himself with ardour to his works at Holwood,
as the following extracts will evince : —
Downing Street, Nov. 13, 1786.
My dear Mother,  ." 
Having been all the morning in the Court of Exchequer, I
have not yet seen my brother ; but Eliot and I are both
going to dine there : which I am very glad to do on many
accounts, and I reckon it as a step gained for Eliot. I flatter
myself he has even made some progress in these two days,
and I dare say will, in a little while, more and more. To
morrow I hope to get to Holwood, where I am impatient to
look at my works. I must carry there, however, only my

1787 DR. PRETYMAN BISHOP OF LINCOLN. 255
passion for plantmg, and leave that of cutting entirely to
Burton. Holwood, Nov. 18, 1786.
My works are going on very prosperously, and furnish a
great deal of very pleasant employment, which just at present
I have more leisure for than usual. I expect, however, Mr.
Eden to arrive in a day or two, with abundance of details
relative to the Treaty, which will break in a httle upon
planting. All, however, is going on as easily as possible,
and I flatter myself with the hopes of seeing everything in
good train for the Session by Christmas, which I am eager
to accomplish for more reasons than one. Mrs. Stapleton's
friend Lord Mansfield is supposed to be certainly resigning
at length, and will probably not long survive his business.
Where Mr. Pitt says in one of these letters that he
must not carry his ' passion for cutting ' to Holwood, he
did not answer for the future. Three seasons later I
find an entry as follows in the Diary of Mr. Wilberforce,
who was visiting his friend at Holwood : ' April 7th,
1790. Walked about after breakfast with Pitt and
Grenville. We sallied forth armed with bill-hooks,
cutting new walks from one large tree to another , through
the thickets of the Holwood copses.'
Besides the points that were settled in the Treaty
of Commerce, there were some others reserved for a
subsequent Convention ; and to this new negotiation
Mr. Eden applied himself with indefatigable industry,
assisted as before by the zealous exertions of Pitt. At
length, on the 15th of January, 1787, the Convention
was signed at Versailles, between Mr. Eden and the
Comte de Vergennes, the French Minister for Foreign
Affairs. In January there was also concluded an Ecclesi
astical appointment which Pitt had eagerly wished.
The Bishop of Durham having died, it was intended
to translate to that rich See Dr. Thomas Thurlow, who
was already Bishop of Lincoln and Dean of St. Paul's.
Pitt was most desirous that Dr. Pretyman should sue-

256 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1786-
ceed Dr. Thurlow in both these offices. The draft of
his letter to the King upon this subject is one of the
very few preserved among his papers. It is dated the
day before the meeting of Parliament. We find him
press strongly for the King's consent, and assure His
Majesty that there is ' nothing which Mr. Pitt has
more anxiously and personally at heart.' His Majesty,
though with strongly expressed reluctance, complied
with this double request, and thus did Dr. Pretyman,
according to the bad custom of those times, become
both Bishop and Dean.
Parliament met again on the 23rd of January. The
, King's Speech announced the conclusion of the Treaty
of Commerce, ' and I trust you will find,' His Majesty
added, ' that the provisions contained in it are calculated
for the encouragement of industry, and the extension of
lawful commerce in both countries.' The provisions con
tained in it were still unknown to the public. Yet no
sooner had the Address been moved and seconded than
Fox sprang to his feet to denounce in vehement terms
the idea of any concert or alliance with the French. In
his own account of this evening he says, ' There was no
toore debate and no division, so that I was time enough
to go to dinner at Derby's, where everybody seemed to
think I had done right.' •
This was only a skirmish. But soon after the
Treaty had been laid upon the table a battle in due form
began. It may be of interest on this occasion to con
trast the language as to France used by the two great
party leaders.
Mr. Pitt said, ' Considering the Treaty in its poli
tical view, I shall not hesitate to contend against the
too frequently expressed opinion that France is and
must be the unalterable enemy of England. My mind
revolts from this position as monstrous and impossible.
To suppose that any nation can be unalterably the
enemy of another is weak and childish.'
1 Fox Memorials, vol. ii. p. 276.

1787 DEBATES ON FRENCH TREATY. 257
On the other hand Mr. Fox said, ' Undoubtedly I
will not go the length of asserting that France is and
must remain the unalterable enemy of England, and
that she might not secretly feel a wish to act ami
cably with respect to this kingdom. It is possible, but
it is scarcely probable. That she, however, feels in
that manner at present I not only doubt, but disbe
lieve. France is the natural political enemy of Great
Britain  I say again I contend that France is
the natural foe of Great Britain, and that she wishes,
by entering into a commercial treaty with us to tie our
hands, and prevent us from engaging in any alliance
with other Powers.'
With passages such as these, and there are many
more such upon record, it will be seen how just and
well deserved is the rebuke which Lord Macaulay
gives to some of the foreign accounts of Mr. Pitt.
' Those French writers who have represented him as a
Hannibal, sworn in childhood by his father to bear
eternal hatred to France, and as having been the
real author of the Coalition, know nothing of his cha
racter or history.' On the contrary, as Lord Macaulay
goes on to state, ' Pitt was told in the House of Com
mons that he was a degenerate son, and that his par
tiality for the hereditary foes of our island was enough
to make his great father's bones stir under the pave
ment of the Abbey.'
Of the taunts which Lord Macaulay has thus com
memorated, some of the most bitter came at this time
from Philip Francis. It might seem as if the author
of ' Junius ' stood half revealed before us by the similar
scope of his reflections, and the innate vigour of his
style : ' Nations which border on each other never can
agree ; for this single reason, because they are neigh
bours. All history and experience assure us of the
fact. As long as the Scotch and English stood in the
relation of neighbours to each other, how was it pos
sible they should agree? That cause of opposition
vol. I. s

258 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1786-
ceased at their union, and instead of mortal enemies I
trust in God they are immortal friends  But
now it seems we are arrived at a new enlightened era of
affection for our neighbours, and of liberality to our
enemies, of which our uninstructed ancestors had no
conception. The pomp of modern eloquence is em
ployed, to blast even the triumphs of Lord Chatham's
administration. The polemic laurels of the father must
yield to the pacific myrtles which shadow the forehead
of the son. Sir? the glory of Lord Chatham is founded
on the resistance he made to the united power of the
House of Bourbon. The present Minister has taken
the opposite road to fame ; and France, the object of
every hostile principle in the policy of Lord Chatham,
is the gens amicissima of his son.'
Besides these veteran characters, if I may so term
them, a new actor at this time appeared upon the
scene. This was Mr. Charles Grey, known subse
quently as Lord Howick, and then as the second Earl
Grey. Born in 1764, he had come in for Northumber
land in June, 1786, upon an accidental vacancy. From
his outset he warmly attached himself to the politics of
Fox, and he delivered his first speech in opposition to
the Treaty with France. Then were heard the first
accents of that most lofty and thrilling and as it were
most thorough-bred eloquence, which was not extin
guished, and scarcely even dimmed, after an interval of
fifty years.
As to the outset of Mr. Grey in the House of Com
mons, there is the following account in a letter from
General Grant to Earl Cornwallis : ' Sir Charles Grey's
son, who comes in for Northumberland, in his first
speech made a violent attack upon the Minister, who,
in reply, said many civil things, complimented him
upon his abilities, and took no notice of the abuse. Mr.
Fox said nothing could be handsomer or better judged
than Mr. Pitt's conduct on the occasion. But Grey has
returned to the charge, and upon making a motion to

1787 MR. CHARLES GREY. 259
inquire into the state of the Post Office, he made use of
stronger language than ever was heard in the House of
Commons, and was not approved by either party. The
Minister was firm, and without losing temper treated
his violence and threats with contempt. He was
attacked at the same time by Fox and Sheridan, and in
short with all the abilities of Opposition.'
In this last debate there was present a keen observer
of many years' experience — the Right Hon. Richard
Rigby. fie now very seldom attended the House ot
Commons, but he expressed as follows to General Grant
his impressions of that day : ' You know that I am not
partial to Pitt, and yet I must own that he is infinitely
superior to anything I ever saw in that House ; and I
declare that Fox and Sheridan and all of them put
together are nothing to him. He, without support or
assistance, answers them all with ease to himself, and
they are just chaff before the wind to him.' l
It was hoped by the Opposition that there might
arise in the commercial classes an impulse against
the French Treaty as against the Irish Propositions.
But this did not prove to be the case. Our mer-
•chants and manufacturers were upon the whole well
pleased, or at least acquiescing and quiet. There
came from any body of them to the House of Com
mons only one considerable petition, and that petition
prayed only for postponement. Notwithstanding every
effort, and in spite of all the eloquence of Fox and
Sheridan, of Francis and Grey, an Address in approval
of the Treaty was carried by overwhelming numbers —
236 against 116.
In this Session the proceedings against Warren
Hastings were resumed with unabated zeal. Witnesses
were from time to time examined at the Bar ; and on
the 7th of February Sheridan brought forward the
charge numbered as the fourth, and relating to the
Begums of Oude. His speech on that occasion, taking
1 Cornwallis Correspondence, vol. i. p. 291.
s 2

260 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1786-
up in the delivery five hours and forty minutes, and
combining within it every kind of oratorical excellence,
stands forth perhaps without a parallel in history from
its effects upon its hearers. When he sat down, neither
the Members in the House, nor the Peers below the
Bar, nor even the strangers in the Gallery, could re
strain their rapturous delight : they testified it contrary
to all rule and precedent by the loud clapping of hands.
An adjournment was moved by Sir William Dolben, who
declared that in the state of mind in which that speech
had left him, he was unable to form a determinate
opinion ; and Pitt, in supporting this adjournment,
which was carried, observed that they were still under
the wand of the enchanter.
Never certainly was there such unanimous testimony
to surpassing merit. Burke declared this speech to be
' the most astonishing effort of eloquence, argument,
and wit united of which there is any record or tradi
tion.' Fox said : ' All that he had ever heard, all that
he had ever read, when compared with it dwindled into
nothing, and vanished like vapour before the sun.' And
Pitt, though censuring some parts of it, as marked
with unmeasured asperity to the person accused, did*
not hesitate to own that ' it surpassed all the eloquence
of ancient and modern times, and possessed everything
that genius or art could furnish to agitate and control
the human mind.' Nor was this a mere transient im
pression of the hearers. More than fifteen years after
wards, Fox, being asked by his nephew, the late Lord
Holland, which was the best speech ever made in the
House of Commons, answered without hesitation, ' She
ridan's, on the Begum charge.' x
With such high certificates of merit who is there
but would eagerly seek out the records or reports of
this great oration, and who but would grieve on ascer-
1 On the circumstances of this wonderful effort of eloquence
compare Moore's Life of Sheridan, vol. i. p. 450, and Macaulay's
- — , vol. iii. p. 443.

1787 SHERIDAN'S ELOQUENCE. 261
taining that none, or next to none, are to be found ?
Only the day after, and in the midst of the general
enthusiasm, Sheridan was offered a thousand pounds if
he would himself correct it for the press. This, how
ever, he left undone, perhaps it might be from indo
lence, or perhaps from a tender regard to his own fame.
For certainly no human composition could fail to leave
open some loopholes for attack, or could safely stand
the test of comparison with the panegyrics which it
had produced. Thus, beyond a most jejune and meagre
outline in the Parliamentary History, nothing now
remains of this great oration. It has gone to the same
limbo as the speeches of Halifax and Bolingbroke, of
Sir William Wyndham and Charles Townshend.
The adjourned debate upon Sheridan's motion was
resumed on the following day. Francis spoke with
much rancour against Hastings, and Major Scott at
great length in his defence. Then Pitt rose. Going
over the whole of the argument, and listened to in
breathless suspense, since his opinion was as yet un
known, he declared that the conduct of Hastings to the
-Begums seemed to him utterly unjustifiable, and that
the charge on that subject ought to be affirmed. It
was affirmed accordingly, in the division, by a majority
of more than two to one.
Other Charges were on other days brought forward
by other Members. But the decisions of the House in
the case of Benares, and in the case of the Begums,
were of themselves sufficient to determine the question
of State Trial. When, therefore, it came to be moved
by Burke ' that there is ground for impeaching the
said Warren Hastings, Esq., of high crimes and misde
meanors,' the Resolution was carried without the ap
pearance of one dissenting vote. And on the 10th of
May, Burke, with a great majority of members in his
train, appeared at the bar of the House of Lords, and
solemnly impeached Warren Hastings according to the
ancient form. Shortly afterwards Hastings was taken

262 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1786-
into the custody of the Sergeant at Arms. Then he
was transferred to the Black Rod. Finally he was ad
mitted to bail, and the further prosecution of his trial
was deferred till the ensuing year.
In this Session several important measures of finan
cial reform were framed and carried by Pitt. There
was the farming of the duty on post-horses, to guard
against the minute but numerous frauds which had
hitherto prevailed. There was the regulation of lotte
ries to suppress a gambling practice pernicious to the
morals of the people, and called the insurance of
tickets. But above all there was the consolidation of
duties in the Customs, Excise, and Stamps. These
duties having been imposed or augmented at different
periods, and assigned to separate services, became at
last in the highest degree complicated, and as such vex
atious and oppressive, and scarce any payment could be
determined without a series of calculations combined
from several departments. But perhaps the best idea
of these complications, and of the skill and patience
required to unravel them, may be gathered from the
fact that the remedial Resolutions moved by Pitt in the
House of Commons — as abolishing the old duties and
substituting new ones on a simpler plan — amounted in
number to no less than 2537. Burke, on this occasion,
did himself high honour. Instead of indulging any
party-spirit, or seeking to find any fault with Pitt's
proposal, ' it rather,' he said, ' behoves us to rise up
manfully, and, doing justice to the Right Hon. gentle
man's merit, to return him thanks on behalf of ourselves
and of the country.'
Important as were these financial measures, the
public looked with much keener interest to the discus
sions on the conduct of the Prince of Wales. Since
1783 His Royal Highness had set up a separate estab
lishment, and unreservedly thrown himself into the arms
of Opposition. With Fox especially, and Sheridan,
he lived in familiar friendship. But whatever useful

1787 THE PRINCE OF WALES. 263
lessons he may have learned in that school, economy
and thrift were certainly not among the number.
It was not long ere he found himself deeply involved
in debt. He had spent above 50,000£. in building
at Carlton House ; and most kinds of frolic and dis
sipation had their share. Altogether, in 1786, his
liabilities amounted to upwards of 150,000?. These,
however, were, it might be said, the faults of youth
and inexperience. A graver subject of apprehension
had meanwhile arisen. The Prince had become deeply
enamoured of Mrs. Fitzherbert, a widow lady who
held the Roman Catholic faith. She was of gentle
birth, and of great beauty ; and both in her widowhood
and in her two former marriages had borne an irre
proachable character. To avoid the Prince's importu
nities she had gone abroad in 1784, but on her return
at the close of the ensuing year those importunities
were renewed. Any legal alliance between them was
impossible from the terms of the Royal Marriage Act ;
but, to quiet her scruples, the Prince offered to go
through the religious ceremony. A rumour to that
effect was quickly noised abroad ; and Fox, in the true
spirit of an honourable friend, wrote at once to His
Royal Highness remonstrating in the strongest manner
against this ' very desperate step.' The intention was
denied, but it was persevered in. On the 2ist of De
cember, 1785, the ceremony was performed in private
by a Clergyman of the Church of England, and in the
form prescribed by the Book of Common Prayer : and
the certificate, bearing the same date, was attested by
two witnesses. Thus, it might be said, did the Heir
Apparent attempt to take to wife a private gentle
woman in the teeth of the Royal Marriage Act, and a
Roman Catholic in the teeth of the Act of Settlement.
A breach of the law in the one alternative, or a for
feiture of the Crown in the other.
Fox, in his excellent letter to the Prince, had fore
told that if the marriage took place at all, it could not

264 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1786-
be kept perfectly secret. Whispers of it soon began,
and, though contradicted, grew. Men in general knew
not what to believe as to the fact alleged ; and the
public uncertainty found a vent in the public press.
Several pamphlets came forth upon this question ; and
one by Home Tooke attracted especial notice from its
boldness : for it maintained that the ceremony was per
fectly legal, notwithstanding the provisions of the Royal
Marriage Act, and he therefore spoke of Mrs. Fitz-
herbert without reserve as of Her Royal Highness the
Princess of Wales.
So early as the spring of 1785, the Prince, through
Lord Southampton, applied to the King for aid. He
was met by a request for some explanation how in so
short a time so enormous a debt had been incurred.
This natural inquiry was construed by the Prince as
a direct refusal. In 1785 he stated his positive inten
tion to go immediately abroad. In 1786 he no less
positively announced that he would break up his entire
establishment ; he advertised for sale not only his stud
and his hunters, but even his carriage and his riding-
horses, declaring that he would henceforth walk on foot,
and devote two-thirds of his income to the payment of
his debts. He desired, no doubt, by this step to excite
the public sympathy in his favour ; but it does not
appear that this object was in any degree attained.
In the spring of 1787 the Prince's friends, with his
consent, if not at his instigation, determined to apply
to Parliament for the payment of his debts, and for
some addition to his income. Alderman Newnham
gave notice of a motion with that view. Even the
notice gave rise to some preliminary skirmishes, in the
course of which Pitt declared that if, unhappily, this
proposal were persisted in, he should feel it his duty to
give it an absolute negative. And Mr- Rolle, the now
celebrated member for Devonshire, rose to say that for
his part, if such a motion were made, he would move the
prevous question upon it, because the question itself

1787 MRS. FITZHERBERT. 265
' went immediately to affect our Constitution both in
Church and State.' These words were well understood
as applying to the rumours of a secret marriage with a
Roman Catholic lady.
Fox himself, as it chanced, was not present when
Mr. Rolle was speaking ; but in another of the prelimi
nary debates took the opportunity of reverting to these
words. In the most direct and peremptory terms that
language could convey, he treated the report in question
as an utter calumny. ' I know,' said Mr. Rolle, in
rejoinder, ' that there are certain laws and Acts of Par
liament which forbid it, but still there are ways in which
it might have taken place.' ' I deny it altogether,'
cried Fox : ' I deny it in point of fact as well as in law.
The fact not only never could have happened legally,
but never did happen in any way whatsoever ; and was
from the beginning a base and malicious falsehood.'
' Do you speak from authority ? ' asked Rolle. ' I do,'
answered Fox, ' from direct authority.'
It is painful to carry this question further. It ought
at least to give no pleasure to any one who has lived as a
subject of King George the Fourth . On the other hand,
the memory of an eminent statesman demands the fullest
justice ; and I am bound to state, without doubt or hesi
tation, as my view of the case, that Mr. Fox had no inten
tion whatever of deceiving, but was himself deceived.
At the time, however, and on the report of what had
passed in the House of Commons, Mrs. Fitzherbert, be
lieving herself wronged, was most vehemently incensed
against Fox. To the end of bis life, indeed, she would
never be reconciled to him. The Prince, on his part,
was half distracted between his concern for the lady
and his apprehensions from the public. He sent for Mr.
Charles Grey, who found him, as he states, in an agony
of agitation.1 His Royal Highness now confessed that
the ceremony of marriage had taken place, and he most
earnestly pressed Grey to say something in Parliament
1 See Lord Grey's own notes to the Fox Memorials, vol. ii. p. 288.

266 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1786-
for the satisfaction of Mrs. Fitzherbert ; but this Grey
steadily declined, and at length the Prince ended the
conversation abruptly by exclaiming, ' Well, if nobody
else will, Sheridan must ! '
A few days later Sheridan accordingly, though with
manifest embarrassment, addressed himself to this point
in the House of Commons. He did not attempt, how
ever, to controvert in the slighest degree the accuracy
of Fox's statement, and merely referred to Mrs. Fitz
herbert in some general expressions of respect and
sympathy. Meanwhile the best friends of the Monarchy, in and
out of Parliament, had begun to feel that any public
discussion on the Prince of Wales's affairs, even though
confined to money matters, would be most unseemly.
In compliance with the general wish, Pitt had two in
terviews with the Prince at Carlton House. ' He was
to see the King to-night,' thus reports His Royal High
ness to Fox, ' and would endeavour to get everything
settled if he could.' ] This was no easy task. George the
Third was now more than ever incensed against his son,
since the appeal which seemed to have been made from
himself to the House of Commons. At last, however,
a Royal Message was obtained and brought down, com
mending to the faithful Commons the payment of the
Prince's debts, which amounted to 161,000?., besides a
grant of 20,000?. for the new works at Carlton House.
'His Majesty could not, however' — in these words the
Message proceeds — ' expect or desire the assistance of
the House but on a well-grounded expectation that the
Prince will avoid contracting any new debts in future.
With a view to this object, His Majesty has directed a
sum of 10,000Z. a year to be paid out of his Civil List,
in addition to the allowance which His Majesty has
hitherto given him ; and His Majesty has the satisfac
tion to inform the House that the Prince of Wales has
given His Majesty the fullest assurances of his firm
1 Letter dated May 10, 1787.

1787 THE TEST ACT. 267
determination to confine his future expenses within his
income.' How far these assurances were fulfilled may
be seen in the sequel ; but for the present the money
was cheerfully voted, and the quarrel was hushed.
Half a century had now elapsed since the Protestant
Dissenters had applied to Parliament for the repeal of
.the Test Act. In the Session of 1787 their effort was
renewed. For the most part they had warmly espoused
the cause of Pitt at the last General Election, and they
. thought themselves entitled to some share of his favour
in return. Their first step was to circulate among the
Members of the House of Commons a paper entitled
' The Case of the Protestant Dissenters with reference
to the Corporation and Test Acts,' in which they more
especially laboured to distinguish their case from that
of the Roman Catholics. With equal prudence they
selected as their spokesman Mr. Beaufoy, a member of
the Church of England, and a zealous supporter of the
Government. Pitt appears to have felt a disposition to support
their claims, if he could do so with the assent of the
Church of England. Without that assent, as expressed
by its heads, it was scarcely possible or scarcely proper
for any Prime Minister to move onward. A meeting of
the Bishops was held at the Bounty Office, on a sum
mons from the Archbishop of Canterbury, and at the
request, as the Bishops were informed, of Mr. Pitt.
The question laid before their Lordships was as fol
lows : — ' Ought the Test and Corporation Acts to be
maintained ? ' Of fourteen Prelates present, only two
— Watson of Llandaff, and Shipley of St. Asaph — voted
in the negative ; and the decision of the meeting was
at onde transmitted to the Minister.1
When, on the 28th of March, Mr. Beaufoy did bring
on his motion, Lord North spoke in opposition to it,
-and Fox in its favour. Pitt rose and said that he did
1 Anecdotes of the Life of Bishop Watson, written by himself,
vol. i. p. 261, ed. 1818.

268 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1786-
not think he could with propriety give a silent vote.
He observed that some classes of the Nonconformists
had injured themselves in the public opinion greatly,
and not unreasonably, by the violence and the preju
dices which they had shown. ' Were we,' he said, ' to
yield on this occasion, the fears of the members of the
Church of England would be roused, and their appre
hensions are not to be treated lightly. It must, as I
contend, be conceded to me that an Established Church
is necessary. Now there are some Dissenters who de
clare that the Church of England is a relic of Popery ;
others that all Church Establishments are improper.
This may not be the opinion of the present body of
Dissenters, but no means can be devised of admitting
the moderate part of the Dissenters and excluding the
violent ; the bulwark must be kept up against all.'
The division which ensued gave no great hopes to
the claimants. Only 98 members went with Mr. Beaufoy,
while 176 declared against him.
In this Session of 1787 was passed the measure
which laid the foundation of new Colonies, scarcely less
important than those which we had recently lost. The
want of some fixed place for penal exile had been se
verely felt ever since the American War, and the accu
mulation of prisoners at home was counteracting the
benevolent efforts of Howard for the improvement of
the British gaols. The discoveries of Captain Cook were
now remembered and turned to practical account. An
Act of Parliament empowered His Majesty, by Commis
sion under the Great Seal, to establish a Government
for the reception of convict prisoners in New South
Wales. An Order in Council completed the necessary
forms. Captain Arthur Phillip of the Royal Navy was
appointed Governor, commanding a body of marines,
and conveying six hundred male and two hundred Mid-
fifty female convicts. The expedition set sail in May,
1787 ; and early in the following year laid the founda
tion of the new settlement at Port Jackson in Botany
Bay.

1787 STATE OF PARTIES IN HOLLAND. 269
Notwithstanding the many important measures or
debates of this Session, the business was conducted with
so much despatch that Parliament could be prorogued
on the 30th of May.

CHAPTER X.
1787—1788.

State of parties in Holland — Differences respecting the French
trade in India — Prussian troops enter Holland — Death of the
Duke of Rutland — France and England disarm — Trial of Hast
ings — India Declaratory Bill — Budget — Claims of American
Loyalists— First Steps in Parliament for the Abolition of the
Slave Trade — Exertions of Wilberforce and Clarkson — Pitt's
Resolution — Sir W. Dolben's Bill — Horrors of the Middle Pas
sage — Controversies on Slavery.
For some months past the conflict of parties in the
Dutch Republic had been the subject of much uneasi
ness and much deliberation to the Ministers in England.
The Prince of Orange found his authority as Stadtholder
not merely eluded, but struck at and defied. He had
retired to Nimeguen, leaving Van Berkel and the other
chiefs of the Democratic party in full possession of
power at the Hague ; and they on their part continued,
as during the late war, closely connected with France,
and obedient to every dictate that came from the Court
of Versailles. Such was the general picture of Holland at this time,
but scarce any month elapsed without some fresh aggres
sion or contumely on the Prince of Orange. In his own
character there was nothing of spirit or energy ; but
both these qualities were possessed in a high degree by
the Princess. She addressed in private earnest en
treaties for aid to her brother, who had recently suc
ceeded as King of Prussia, and also to the King of Eng
land. Sir James Harris, our Minister at the Hague,
espoused her cause with zeal. We find him in his
despatches constantly urge that if the Democratic party

270 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1787-
were allowed full play, Holland would sink ere long into
a mere dependency and almost a province of France.
These representations prevailed at once with Lord Car
marthen, the Secretary of State, who became not less
eager in the cause than Sir James himself ; but by Pitt
they were more doubtfully received. Pitt indeed on
this occasion, as on several others previous to the great
crisis of 1793, proved himself to be in truth and empha
tically a Peace Minister.
At the beginning of May, 1787, Sir James Harris
wrote again to Lord Carmarthen, pressing with more
than common urgency ' a plan of vigorous measures.'
But since objections would of course arise, and explana
tions be required, he further suggested that he might
himself go over for a few days to England. He received
the desired permission, and was invited to attend two
Cabinets that were held upon the subject. Of the first
of these Cabinets his notes are still preserved. The
Chancellor, he says, took the lead, and ' in the most
forcible terms that could be employed, declared against
all half-measures.' So did also, besides Lord Carmar
then, the Duke of Richmond and Lord Stafford. ' I
own,' said Mr. Pitt, 'the immense importance of Hol
land being preserved as an independent State. It is"
certainly an object of the greatest magnitude. I have
no hesitation as to what ought to be done, if we do
anything at all ; but if we do anything, we must make
up our minds in the first instance to go to war as a
possible, though not a probable, event. Now the mere
possibility is enough to make it necessary for England
to reflect before she stirs. It is to be maturely weighed
whether anything 'could repay the disturbing that state
of growing affluence and prosperity in which she now
is, and whether this is not increasing so fast as to
make her equal to meet any force France could collect
some years hence.' 1
1 Malmesbury Papers, vol. ii. p. 303, &c. For the French view
of Dutch affairs see among others De SegurV Histoire du Regne de

1788 FRENCH TRADE IN INDIA. 271
At the last Cabinet, however, it was determined that
a sum of 20,000?., as derived from the Secret Service
Fund, should be entrusted to Harris, and applied to
assist our friends in Holland. Thus was Sir James en
abled to return to his post armed with the same weapon
as Jove (it is his own comparison) when invading the
tower of Danae. In pursuit of the like policy, the
Court of Versailles had sent to its Minister at the Hague
a lavish letter of credit. ' And I can assure your Lord
ship ' — thus had Sir James written on the 1st of May —
' I keep greatly within the mark when I declare that in
this period of time (a fortnight) France has expended at
least a million of livres '
Holland was not the only field on which the Courts
of London and Versailles seemed at this time likely to
contend. A serious difference had arisen between them
as to the extent and meaning of the thirteenth article
of the Treaty of Peace, stipulating for the French trade
in India ; and the French on this occasion received the
full support of the ruling party at the Hague. Both
Powers had greatly increased their naval force in the
Indian seas ; and this increase alone (to say nothing of
some new works at Pondicherry, and some fresh in
trigues with Tippoo) gave us reason for apprehending a
combined attack on our newly-conquered territories.
Not that any result could at that time be foreseen with
certainty from the feeble and fluctuating Govern
ments of France. The Comte de Vergennes, who had
concluded the Treaty of Commerce with us, had become
unpopidar with many of his countrymen on that account.
The manufacturers of France were full of angry re
proaches and of boding fears, and already in ima
gination saw their produce undersold and their looms
deserted. Still, however, Vergennes had retained his
credit at Court ; but he died in February, 1787, and his
death was followed at no long interval by the retire-
Frederic Guillaume II. Roi de Prusse, vol. i. p. 100-136, with the
Memoir of M. Caillaud appended.

272 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1787-
ment of M. de Calonne, Minister of the Finances— a
victim to that Assembly of Notables which he had him
self convened. Then it was that the way was opened
for the accession to power of a most vain and empty
statesman, a mere minion of Court favour, Lomenie
de Brienne, Archbishop of Toulouse. It was possible
that he might incline to peace on account of the ruined
state of the finances. It was equally possible that he
might incline to war, as seeking to divert the people
from their own distresses. But in any case it was most
desirable for us to reinforce our garrisons in the East,
to be. ready with a powerful fleet, and, even on Indian
grounds alone, to break the intimate concert of councils
between the despotic Court of Versailles and the demo
cratic rulers at the Hague.
A crisis in the affairs of Holland seemed to all parties
near at hand, but the form in which it came at last was
wholly unforeseen. Towards the close of June the
Princess of Orange determined to go in person to the
Hague. She carried with her letters from the Prince to
the States-General and to the States of Holland, by
which she was empowered to act or negotiate as cir
cumstances might require ; but at the frontier of the
province her carriage was stopped by a detachment of
Free Corps, and Her Royal Highness was detained in
custody while the question was referred to the States.
Finally, even after an answer had come from the Hague,
she was prevented from proceeding on her journey, and
obliged to return whence she came.
Such an insult to the wife of the Chief Magistrate of
the Republic, and to the sister of a reigning Monarch,
could only be atoned for by prompt apologies and ade
quate punishment of the offenders. The King of Prussia
demanded this reparation in peremptory terms, and to
enforce his demands he collected at Wesel an army of
20,000 men under the Duke of Brunswick. Even the
Court of Versailles, on being consulted, owned that the
act had been unjustifiable, and that the reparation was

1788 FRANCE AND HOLLAND. 273
due ; but the patriots (for so the Stadtholder's opponents
called themselves) were rather inclined to defend the
conduct of the soldiers, and blindly refused any, even
the smallest, concession. They saw that they were not
upheld by France on this particular occasion. Still
they hoped that they might reckon on her general sym
pathy and succour, and they knew that at this very time
she was forming for their sake a camp of 1 5,000 men at
the frontier town of Givet. Therefore when threatened
by the Prussian army, they in specific terms applied to
France for protection.
In September the Court of France notified in form to
the Court of London that it had determined to afford to
the States-General the assistance they had requested.
By Pitt's direction an immediate reply was returned to
the purport that we on our side should take an active
part in favour of the Stadtholder. Already,.vsdth cha
racteristic energy, had the British Minister decided his
-measures. Despatches had been sent, both by sea and
over land, to the Governor-General of Bengal and to
the Governor of Madras, directing them to be prepared,
in case of war, to attack the French settlements in
India, and to take possession of the Dutch on the Stadt
holder's behalf and in his name. At home, orders had
been given to augment both our navy and army. A
guarantee was sent to Berlin to promise our support in
the event of French hostility. Nor was this merely a
vague promise : we undertook to back the Duke of
Brunswick's advance by a fleet of forty ships of the line.
A treaty was concluded for the term of four years with
the Landgrave of Hesse, by which that little potentate,
ever ready as before to sell his subjects, agreed, in
return for a yearly subsidy of 36,000?. — ' a retaining
fee,' as Pitt called it in the House of Commons — to
send forth for our service a body of 12,000 troops when
ever it might be required.
Yet the hopes of peace were still maintained. To
assist in the negotiations on this subject, Mr. Grenville
VOL. i. t

274 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1787-
was despatched for some days to confer with the Minis
ters at Paris.
Hostilities were already in progress. On the 13th of
September the Prussian troops entered the Dutch terri
tory in three columns. Then it was that the utter weak
ness of the Democratic party came to be apparent.
Almost everywhere the Prussians were received not as
foemen, but rather as liberators and allies. Almost
everywhere the Orange flag was hoisted, the Orange
ribbons were worn. So easy and so rapid was the Duke
of Brunswick's progress that in the course of eight days
the whole of the United Provinces, except Amsterdam,
had yielded to him, and even Amsterdam surrendered
after only a fortnight's siege. The Prince of Orange
made his' triumphal entry into the Hague amidst the
loudest acclamations and every sign of public joy, and
he found himself reinstated in all his former rights and
powers as Stadtholder. ' Your Lordship,' so writes
Harris to Carmarthen, ' on reading this letter, will, I
am sure, consider its contents as incredible ; and I con
fess I can scarce bring myself to believe what has
passed  If St. Priest (the French Minister) comes
soon, he must enter the Hague decorated with Orange-
coloured ribbons, or else he will not be suffered to enter
it at all.'
Pitt had for this summer planned an excursion to the
north. His friend Wilberforce, who had now given up
his villa at Wimbledon, had on the other hand taken
one among the Lakes, and looked forward to make the
Prime Minister acquainted with his favourite scenes.
The 'Public Advertiser' of June 20, 1787, contains the
following paragraph ;— ' Mr. Pitt, in his way into Scot
land, will take Alnwick, Castle Howard, and other prin
cipal places, but he will not make any stay, except with
Mr. Wilberforce.' Unhappily, however, the affairs of
Holland marred this agreeable scheme. Pitt went no
farther north than Cambridgeshire. But his progress,
and the progress also of public events, will be best illus-

1788 LETTERS TO HIS MOTHER. 275
trated by his correspondence with his mother at this
time. Downing Street, September 13, 1787.
I returned yesterday from Cheveley, which I reached on
the preceding Monday, and had the pleasure of finding my
brother and Lady Chatham established very much to their
satisfaction. My visit was not a long one, but afforded me
a good deal of riding in the way there and back, and as
good a day's sport of shooting as could be had without ever
killing. I was in some hopes of returning again the end of
the week ; but as I find things are clearly coming to a point
in Holland, and a very few days may now decide a good deal
as to the future, I shall hardly stir further than Holwood
for some days. Downing Street, September 19, 1787.
I am just going to Wimbledon to dine with M. de
Calonne at his villa there, and hear all the politics of
France, which form no bad variety in the interval of
our own. Downing Street, September 22, 1787.
My dear Mother, — The business abroad is at length come
to a point, and with every appearance of success. France
has indeed notified to us that she will give assistance to
the province of Holland, and we are therefore under the
necessity of preparing with vigour,, and are accordingly
pressing to arm the fleet. But there seems still every
reason to think France will quickly give way, as she has no
army prepared, and in the mean time the Duke of Bruns
wick's success is in a manner decisive. News came last
night that most of the towns in Holland had surrendered
without any resistance. A complete revolution had taken
place at the Hague, and the States of Holland had resolved
to restore the Stadtholder to all his rights, and invited him
back to the Hague. The only question is whether the Free
Corps will make any stand at the Hague. If the issue there
is as favourable as may be expected, every effort the French
can make will come too late ; and they will hardly engage
in an unpromising contest for a mere point of honour. You
will not wonder if I have not time to write more at present.
Pray give my love to Eliot, and affectionate compliments to
Mrs. Stapleton. Ever, my dear Mother, &c,
W. Pitt.
T 2

276 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1787-
It happens that there is just now a vacancy in the place
of Housekeeper to the Levee Rooms at Whitehall, which
may be executed by deputy, and has, indeed, hardly anything
to do. I am sorry to say it is worth no more than 40£. a
year ; but as there are so few places of this kind which do
not require some attendance, rf you think Mrs. Sparry1
would like this, as a mark of old friendship, I shall be much
obhged to you if you will have the goodness to propose it
to her. Downing Street, September 29, 1787.
This last fortnight has not allowed me to make much
use of it anywhere, nor to venture so far as Holwood ; but
I trust it has been better employed. We are, I flatter my
self, going on very satisfactorily in our preparations, only,
what is much pleasanter, there is at present every reason to
think we shall not be obliged to use them, and shall carry
our point quietly. It may still, however, be a fortnight or
three weeks before we can judge decisively, as we must
allow time for consulting at Berlin ; and in that interval one
cannot be quite sure that some change of circumstances may
not produce new intentions. At present all looks pacific,
though each side must continue to arm till a final explana
tion takes place. You will not wonder if I have not time
for much but this sort of news at present. ... I rejoice
that Mrs. Sparry likes my proposal. Downing Street, October 13, 1787.
My dear Mother, — I write one line to say things are
going on well. Amsterdam, though it has not actually
opened its gates, has submitted to everything, and the settle
ment in Holland seems likely to be peaceably completed.
France will probably in the end acquiesce, but we continue
to be watchful in the mean time. Admiral Hood, who has
been called to town again on account of some of the objects
which may possibly arise, gives me the satisfaction of re
ceiving a very good account of you. I hope the weather is
still favourable to your drives. Adieu.
Ever, my dear Mother, &c, &c, W. Pitt.
Downing Street, October 29, 1787.
My dear Mother, — The newspapers have probably con
veyed to you the accounts which have arrived within these
1 Lady Chatham's housekeeper ; a much- valued servant of many
years' standing.

1788 FRANCE AND ENGLAND DISARM. 277
few days of the health of the poor Duke of Rutland. You
will, I am sure, on many grounds, have entered into the
anxiety which I must feel on this subject. It is therefore
with additional regret I write to tell you that I received last
night the affecting news of his death. His illness was a
fever which had been hanging upon him for some time, and
which within a few days took an unfavourable turn, and
proved of the putrid sort. I am informed by his agent that
by his will (which is in Ireland) he has appointed me as one
of his executors and guardians of his children, a mark of
kindness and confidence which must add to what I feel for
him. I am sorry to dwell on so melancholy a subject, but
still I thought it better you should learn it from my pen
than through any other channel.
You will, I am sure, excuse my not having found time
to return Mr. Coutts's letter sooner. I should have been
very glad on every account to have been able to obtain his
request. But on speaking to Lord Sydney about it, it
seemed from the line which the King has laid down to be a
point which could not well be attempted.
The account of the dear httle girl made me, you will
easily believe, very happy; I have not heard from Eliot
himself very lately, but by an indirect channel I have just
had very good accounts of him. I expect every hour news
from Paris which I think likely to put an end to the present
suspense to "our perfect satisfaction, but there is no certainty
on such a subject till it is actually completed. Affectionate
compliments to Mrs. Stapleton, and kind remembrances to
Mrs. Sparry. Ever, my dear Mother, &c,
W. Pitt.
The expectations held out in this last letter of good
news from Paris were most speedily fulfilled. Two days
before its date the French Ministers announced in form
to the British ambassador that they had relinquished
any hostile design against the new Government of Hol
land ; and on the same day, the 27th of October, a
Joint Declaration was signed at Paris, by which France
and England agreed that the armaments and warlike
preparations should be discontinued on each side. Thus
was happily averted the war which we had bravely

278 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1787-
dared; and thus amidst general satisfaction was re
newed our ancient and close alliance with the United
Provinces. The judgment on the whole of this transaction of
Count Woronzow, the Russian ambassador in London,
seems well worthy of record. He wrote to his brother
to the following effect : ' The part played by England
in these affairs has been brilliant and courageous, and
the conduct of Mr. Pitt on this occasion is very like that
which his late father pursued. Such conduct was very
little known and very little practised in England during
the interval between his father's retirement and his
own accession to power. I had so strong an attach
ment and so thorough a respect for the late Lord Chat
ham, that I take a warm interest in the conduct and
character of his son. How would the father have re-
jjoiced in them had he lived on till now ! ' Y
At the same time and at the opposite extremity of
Europe another contest was raging. The Sultan and
the Czar were again at strife, and the Emperor Joseph
the Second was preparing to join the Russian side.
But the war having been commenced with great rash
ness and some appearance of ill faith on. the part of
Turkey, there was the less sympathy for the disasters
which her arms ere long sustained.
The satisfaction of Pitt at the maintenance of peace
to England was grievously damped by the unhappy
news from Dublin. Besides the loss of his early friend
there was the check to the prosperous course of Irish
business. There was the difficulty, and a very great
one, in the choice of a successor. To the surprise of
many persons the choice of Pitt fell upon the Marquis
of Buckingham. With the prospect of a war impending, it was judged
right to convene the Parliament before Christmas. Par
liament met accordingly on the 27th of November, after
1 Letter of Count Woronzow, published in the original French,
but without a date, in Tomline's Life of Pitt, vol. ii. p. 316.

1788 TRIAL OF HASTINGS. 279
the alarm had passed. During the last Session the
views of Fox had been so strongly expressed as Anti-
Gallican — he had in speaking of the Treaty of Com
merce so thundered against all French objects and
French alliances — that he was already and by anticipa
tion pledged to the approval of our recent policy with
respect to Holland. That approval he did express in
strong terms, though not without several qualifications
and reserves ; and his approval ceased when the Mi
nister proposed a permanent increase of our land forces
to the amount of 3,000 men for the better security of
our West Indian islands. ' No person,' said Pitt, ' can
be more anxious on the subject of expense than I am.
But I contend that any moderate expense by which the
continuance of peace could be more firmly ensured is
true economy, and the best economy this country can
adopt. It is upon this principle, and after a full con
sideration of the state of our finances, that I think it
would be wise to lay out 200,000?. in fortifications, and
80,000?. annually, the sum which the proposed augmen
tation of troops would cost, for the purpose of strength
ening those parts of our dominions which are discovered
to be weak and vulnerable, and of keeping them in such
a constant posture of defence as may deter any hostile
power from attempting to seize them by surprise.' Fox
divided the House against the proposal, but it was
affirmed by 242 votes against 80.
Before Christmas there was another subject of sharp
contention. The House of Lords having fixed the 13th
of February for the commencement of Hastings's Trial,
it became necessary for the House of Commons to ap
point its Managers. The first place was by common
consent allowed to the genius, the long experience, and
the inexhaustible Indian knowledge of Burke. He was
desirous that Pitt and Dundas should also consent to act
as Managers, but from their ties of office they declined.
So likewise did Lord North, whose eye-sight had become
impaired, and whose health began to decline.

280 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1787-
On the whole, then, upon the refusal of Pitt and of
Dundas to serve, the conductors of the Impeachment
came to be chosen wholly from the front rank of Oppo
sition. Besides Burke himself as Chairman, they com
prised Fox and Fitzpatrick, Burgoyne and Windham,
Sheridan and Grey. No difference of opinion was
manifested until Burke proposed the name of Philip
Francis. At his name, and considering the rancorous
hostility against Hastings which Francis had even lately
shown, there arose in the minds of many Members a
strong feeling of disapprobation. The motion was
quickly negatived, but on another day it was renewed
by Fox. ' It is not a question of argument, it is a
question of feeling,' said Pitt. ' Ought we to appoint
as our representative in the present Impeachment the
only person in the House who has upon a former oc
casion been concerned in a personal contest — a duel —
with Mr. Hastings ? ' Moreover, it is to be observed
that only a few months before Pitt had publicly charged
Francis with ' dishonourable and disgraceful ' proceed
ings in the recent evidence of Captain Mercer. Never
theless Dundas declared that he should vote for the ap
pointment ; which, considering his close friendship with
Pitt at this period, and the cordial concert of measures
between them on every other point, appears extraordi
nary, and is best explained perhaps by some previous
pledge or assurance unwarily given to Francis by Dun
das. Francis himself spoke in his own case with great
ability, and, almost incredible as it may seem in him,
with great temper ; but on a division he was again
rejected by a majority of two to one.
On the 17 th of December the House of Commons
adjourned to the last day of January. Pitt immediately
availed himself of his holidays to pay a visit to his
mother, but he returned to Downing Street on the last
day of December.
On the re-assembling of Parliament the public ex
pectation was most eagerly turned to the great day as

1788 TRIAL OF HASTINGS. 281
it was termed — the 13th of February — the first of
Hastings's Trial. At length the great day came.
Westminster Hall was prepared. Thither at eleven in
the morning walked the Commons, Mr. Burke leading
the procession. He and the other Managers were clad
in Court attire, with bag wigs and swords, but the other
Members in their common dresses, and they took their
seats as respectively assigned them. Then, and not
till after they had mustered, the Peers began to move
in established form from their own Chamber. First
went the Clerks, then the Masters in Chancery, then the
Judges, ready to be consulted whenever any point of law
might arise, after them a Herald, then the Peers who
were minors and the eldest sons of Peers, then the Usher
of the Black Rod, then lastly the Lords of Parliament
themselves.1 They wore their rich robes of scarlet with
rows of ermine and gold, and they walked two and two,
marshalled in their right rank by Garter King of Arms,
and the lowest in rank and precedency leading the way.
The first in their procession as the Junior Baron was
certainly one of the most conspicuous of their number,
Lord Heathfield, lately raised to the peerage for his
heroic defence of Gibraltar. Walking by his side was
the statesman so long and bitterly denounced as the
Minister of back-stairs influence — as the sole dispenser
of the King's secret will — Charles Jenkinson, now Lord
Hawkesbury. The stately procession closed with the
Archbishops of York and Canterbury, the Duke of Nor
folk as Earl Marshal, the Earl Camden as Lord Presi
dent, and other high officers of ancient state ; then
came the Peers of the Blood Royal, the Prince of
Wales the last, and the whole ending by the Chan
cellor, Lord Thurlow, as Chairman of the House. In
passing to their seats they all uncovered and bowed
1 See the rules, strictly according to former precedent, laid down
in the Lords' Journals, February 5 and 11, 1788. One entry is 'that
the Members of the House of Commons be there before the Lords
come.'

282 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1787-
to the Throne. The entire number present was of
Prelates eighteen, and of lay-Peers one hundred and
twenty-three.1 The boxes and the galleries on every side were
thronged with ladies. There sat the Queen and the
four princesses, not however having come in state,
nor sitting in the Royal box, but in the Duke of
Newcastle's. Much as they might be gazed at, still
more eager looks of curiosity perhaps were directed to
another quarter of the Hall, where Mrs. Fitzherbert
appeared. Silence being first commanded, the Serjeant at Arms
made proclamation in quaint old phrase : ' Warren
Hastings, come forth ; save thee and thy Bail, or else
thou forfeits thy Recognizance.' Then every eye was
turned to see the accused man enter. He was dressed
in a plain poppy-coloured suit of clothes ; he seemed
infirm and ill, and moved forward slowly, with one of
his sureties at each side. He was attended also by his
Counsel, men of shining ability and high subsequent
rank : Law, afterwards Lord Ellen borough, and Chief
Justice of the King's Bench ; Dallas, afterwards Chief
Justice of the Common Pleas ; and Plumer, afterwards
Vice-Chancellor and Master of the Rolls. Thus did
Hastings advance to the Bar, where, as ancient form
prescribed, he dropped upon his knees until the Chan
cellor bade him rise. Once before in the previous
Session, when admitted to give bail, had fiastings
undergone the same humiliation. When he rose the
Chancellor next addressed him in a short speech as
opening the Trial, and Hastings replied in the follow
ing few words : ' My Lords, I am come to this high
tribunal equally impressed with a confidence in my own
1 The number is variously stated by different writers : thus,
Lord Macaulay makes it ' near a hundred and seventy,' and Mr.
Gleig ' upwards of two hundred.' They had forgotten that in the
Journals of the House the names of the Peers present each day are
exactly recorded.

1788 TRIAL OF HASTINGS. 283
integrity, and in the justice of the Court before which
I stand.' We may observe that in all this trying scene it was
the humiliation of the posture that seems to have
rankled most in Hastings's mind. In a letter some
months afterwards to his friend Mr. Thompson, we find
him say : ' I can with truth affirm that I have borne
with indifference all the base treatment I have had
dealt to me — all except the ignominious ceremonial of
kneeling before the House.'
But the interest of this great day wholly ceased as
soon as the preliminaries ended and the business itself
began. For then the Clerk at the Table was directed
to read forth at length the Charges and the Answers
— documents already well known to one part of the
audience, and nearly unintelligible to the other. The
Clerk read on so long as daylight lasted, but then
he had only reached the close of the seventh article,
and the remainder were reserved to consume the second
day. On the third day of the great Trial Burke rose and
commenced his opening speech, designed as a general
introduction to all the Charges. It extended through
four days : a sustained and wonderful effort of eloquence,
worthy the man, the occasion, and the audience. Even
the hostile Chancellor was stirred to some cordial words
of admiration. On a subsequent day the Charge relating to Cheyte
Sing was opened by Fox, with the aid of Grey. In
such hands we may be well assured that the weapon of
attack was brandished with shining lustre and hurled
with unerring aim. Of the future Premier of King
William the Fourth we find Burke write about this
time to Sheridan in an almost prophetic strain : ' Grey
has done much, and will do everything.'
The next case, that of the Begums of Oude, had
been entrusted to the care of Sheridan. He made a
speech, not equalling indeed his own masterpiece upon

284 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1787-
the same subject in the House of Commons, yet still
in a high degree beautiful and brilliant. While it was
still in progress — and it took up three entire days
— Burke, who stood next to Fox, turning round to
him, exclaimed : 'There — that is the true style — some
thing between poetry and prose, and better than
either ! ' l
The public interest which had been so keen and
eager at the opening of Hastings's Trial, and during
the great orations of his principal antagonists, soon
afterwards ebbed, and never rose high again. In the
first place the gloss of novelty had worn away. But
above all, there had now to the splendours of a pageant
or to the triumphs of eloquence, succeeded the dull
realities of business. Instead of Heralds and Kings at
Arms glittering in state-dresses, or Burke and Fox
rivalling the records of Greek and Roman fame, there
were now the Clerks mumbling forth tedious docu
ments, or Counsel brow-beating reluctant witnesses.
Another dispiriting circumstance was the slow progress
made. Even in the Court of Chancery it could scarcely
have been slower. During the Session of 1788 the
Peers sat thirty-five days in Westminster Hall, yet the
Managers for the Impeachment could do no more than
complete their second Charge ; and it was plain that
years must roll away ere any decision was pronounced.
There was a wish in some quarters to urge yet another
impeachment — that of Sir Elijah Impey, the first Chief
Justice of India under the Act of 1773. Early in the
Session Sir Gilbert Elliot had brought forward six
Charges against him. Sir Elijah, now a Member of the
House, spoke at great length and with no mean ability
in his own defence. The discussion was resumed in
May, when Pitt declared that in no view could any cor
rupt motive be brought home to Sir Elijah Impey, and
that he had never voted with a more decided conviction
of mind than in giving his negative to the present
1 Life of Slieridan, by Moore, vol. i. p. 523.

1788 INDIA DECLARATORY BILL. 285
motion. Yet when the House divided at past seven in
the morning, the majority in Sir Elijah's favour was by
no means a large one : only 73 against 55. All idea,
however, of an impeachment fell to the ground.
Pitt had also been not a little busy with another
Indian question in the House of Commons. The alarm
of war having ceased, the East India Directors were
found no longer willing, as they had been while that
alarm prevailed, to send out troops in their ships to
India, or to maintain them after they had landed.
These gentlemen asserted that unless they had them
selves made a requisition for a further military force,
they were not liable to defray it under the Act of
1781, which they considered as still binding ; and they
supported their view of the case by the opinion of
several eminent Counsel. On the other hand, Mr. Pitt,
upheld by the Crown Lawyers, contended that the
Act of 1784 had transferred to the Board of Control all
the powers and authorities which had been formerly
vested in the Court of Directors ; and that those parts
of the Act of 1781 inconsistent with the Act of 1784
were by the latter virtually if not expressly repealed.
It was impossible to allow any uncertainty to remain
on so important a point. On the 25th of February Mr.
Pitt moved for leave to bring in a Bill for removing any
doubts as to the power of the Commissioners for the
Affairs of India in defraying from the Indian revenues
the charge of transporting and maintaining troops. It
was commonly called the India Declaratory Bill.
The Directors on their part presented a petition
against the Bill, and on the 3rd of March they were
heard by their Counsel at the Bar. They had sent
Erskine and Rous. Erskine seems to have shown, as
usual with him whenever he had not a jury to address,
an entire miscalculation of the feelings of his audience.
His two speeches, delivered the same day, are described
in no complimentary terms in a letter addressed to the
Marquis of Buckingham at Dublin Castle, by the Earl

286 LIFE OF WILLIAM ' PITT. 1787-
of Mornington, afterwards the Marquis Wellesley. Al
lowance must certainly be made for a strong bias both
of party spirit and of personal regard to Mr. Pitt. Yet
still we find the writer in positive terms refer as fol
lows to the second speech : ' Erskine now spoke for
near two hours, and delivered the most stupid, gross,
and indecent libel against Pitt that ever was imagined.
The abuse was so monstrous that the House hissed him
at his conclusion.'
The result of this evening was by no means unfa
vourable to the Minister. ' Pitt,' says Lord Morning
ton, ' took no sort of notice of Erskine's Billingsgate ; '
and the division was a very good one. 'We reckon this
a great triumph,' so Lord Mornington continues. But
the next ensuing debate took an adverse turn. Only two
days later the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland received a far
from satisfactory letter from his brother William. ' I am
very sorry,' so writes Mr. Grenville on the 6th of March,
' to send you in return for all your good news an account
from hence of a very different nature  You
must often have observed that of all impressions the
most difficult to be removed are those which have
no reason whatever to support them, because against
them no reasoning can be applied. Under one of these
impressions the question of the Speaker's leaving the
Chair (on the Declaratory Bill) came on last night, and
after debating till seven this morning, we divided in a
majority of only 57 : Ayes 182, Noes 125. So many of
our friends were against us in this division that I have
serious apprehensions of our being beat either to-morrow
on the Report, or Monday on the Third Reading. . . . .
What hurt us, I believe materially, last night, was that
Pitt, who had reserved himself to answer Fox, was just
at the close of a very able speech of Fox's taken so ill as
not to be able to speak at all, so that the House went
to the division with the whole impression of our adver
saries' arguments in a great degree unanswered. I had
spoken early in the debate, and Dundas just before Fox.

1788 INDIA DECLARATORY BILL. 287
I think this is the most unpleasant thing of the sort that
has ever happened to us.'
A few days afterwards we find another Member, Lord
Bulkeley, supply Lord Buckingham with some further
details. Lord Bulkeley, I may observe, unlike Lord Mor
nington or Mr. Grenville, was a Member of no weight
and authority, and judged from his own letters may be
regarded as a gossiping, shallow man ; yet still he appears
a fair witness as to what he may himself have seen or
heard in the House of Commons. 'Your brother
William,' so he writes to the Marquis, ' suffered a mor
tification last Wednesday (the 5th) which I am told has
vexed him. The moment he got up to speak, the House
cleared as it used to do at one time when Burke got
up. I hope it proceeded from accident, for if it con
tinues it must hurt him very essentially. The day after
he was in uncommon low spirits and croaked very
much. There seems a general complaint of Pitt's young
friends who never get up to speak, and I am not sur
prised at their timidity, for Fox, Sheridan, Burke, and
Barre are formidable opponents on the ground they now
stand upon. Young Grey has' not yet spoke on either
of these last days, and he is hitherto a superior four-
year-old to any of our side.
' But,' so continues Lord Bulkeley in the same letter,
' these triumphs were, however, of short duration to the
Opposition, for on Friday (the 7th) Pitt made one of
the best and most masterly speeches he ever made, and
turned the tables effectually on Opposition by ac
quiescing in such shackles as they chose to put on the
article of patronage, all which they had pressed from an
idea that Pitt on that point would be inflexible. This
speech of Pitt's infused spirit into his friends. Dundas
spoke very well, and contrary to expectation so did
Scott and Macdonald. Government kept up their num
bers in the division, and Opposition lost ten.' l
1 For the letters to Lord Buckingham in Ireland see the Courts
and Cabinets of George the Third, vol. i. p. 356-363 .

288 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1787-
The changes made by Pitt in this Bill were, it seems,
fully sufficient to obviate the objections which it had
raised. There was no- serious difficulty in any of its
further stages either in the Commons or in the Lords.
Pitt brought forward the Budget on the 5th of May.
It was a most satisfactory statement of the national
finances. The extraordinary expenses of the year
amounted to no less than 1,282,000?., which arose
chiefly from the late armament and from the payment
of the debts of the Prince of Wales. Yet such was the
flourishing state of the revenue that it afforded the
means of defraying all these expenses without incurring
either a loan or new taxes, and without any interruption
to the progress of the Sinking Fund.
In this estimate, however, Pitt observed that he did
not include one article of large amount and of a peculiar
nature, as to which he would explain his plan on a
future day — he alluded to the claims of the American
Loyalists. In considering the case of these ill-fated men, it may,
I think, be asserted that the conduct of some at least
of the United States since the Treaty with England, so
far from being conciliatory, had not been even just. On
this point we may fairly appeal to the testimony of one
of their most eminent statesmen, John Adams, at this
time American Minister at the Court of St. James's.
Thus do we find him write in strict confidence to a kins
man of his own at Boston : ' The most insuperable
bar to all my negotiations here has been laid by those
States which have made laws against the Treaty. The
Massachusetts is one of them. The law for suspending
execution for British debts, however' coloured or dis
guised, I make no scruple to say to you is a direct
breach of the Treaty. Did my ever dear, honoured, and
beloved Massachusetts mean to break her public faith ?
I cannot believe it of her. Let her then repeal the law
without delay.' l
1 Letter dated May 26, 1786, Works, vol. ix. p. 548.

1788 THE AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 289
But these commercial obstacles, however far from
just, did not weigh so heavily in England as the denial
of even the most qualified forgiveness to the former ad
herents of the Royal cause. That some indulgence, or
rather some mitigation of severity, might have been
shown them soon after the peace by their victorious
countrymen, was the opinion at this time of no less a
man than Dr. Franklin ; • but this the rancour of the
recent conflict unhappily prevented. The recommenda
tions on this subject to the Legislatures of the several
States, as enjoined by the Treaty of Peace, had been
made in the coldest terms, and merely as a matter of
form. Thus it became obvious that if any provision at
all was to be made for the American Loyalists, the en
tire weight of it must fall on England.
Under these circumstances, and the claims pouring
in in great numbers and on every possible plea, Pitt had
early in his administration named several Commissioners
to sift and report upon the divers cases. The inquiry
proved long and laborious. Three thousand applications
had been sent in by heads of families, and of these no
more than two-thirds could be heard and decided in
England. For the remainder it was necessary to depute
Commissioners both to Canada and Nova Scotia ; and
thus whole years elapsed ; but meanwhile the sum of
500,000?. had been allotted to meet the more pressing
cases of distress.2 At length the inquiries having been
closed, and the reports presented, Pitt took the whole
subject into review ; and in the comprehensive scheme
which he formed upon it, sought to combine the two
main objects of compassion and economy. He divided
the Loyalists into three classes. The first and most
deserving to consist of those who had been resident in
1 See a passage in his collected Works, vol. x. p. 324, ed. 1844.
2 The most authentic history (or, as the writer prefers calling it,
1 historical view ') of the proceedings of this Commission was pub
lished in 1815 by Mr. John Eardley Wilmot, who had been one of
the Commissioners. See also an able work on the American Loy
alists by Mr. Lorenzo Sabine, p. 99, &c, Boston, 1857.
VOL. I. U

290 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1787-
America at the commencement of the war, and who, in
consequence of their attachment to the Crown, had been
driven into exile and despoiled of their estates. The
second class of those who had been resident in England,
but who had lost property in America. The third of
those who had either held places or exercised professions
in America, and had been compelled to leave that
country by the war. With this division of classes, Pitt
proposed that the smaller claims (those under 10,000?.)
should be paid in full, while on the others there should
be a per-centage of deduction, increasing as the claim
increased, and also according to the class. Yet with all
these deductions there was still one sum of 70,000?.
awarded to a single claim — that of Mr. Harford ; and
the total sum to be distributed, in addition to the half
million already advanced, amounted to 1,228,000?.
Further, it was proposed that the money should be
paid by instalments, to be raised by the profits of a
lottery to commence in the following year.
This scheme, comprising also a settlement of the East
Florida claims to the further extent of 1 13,000?., was wel
comed by all parties in the House as no less generous
than prudent and well framed. Both Burke and Fox rose
to express their approbation, and it passed unanimously.
Thus was afforded to the world a great and memorable,
and it may even be said unparalleled, example of
national bounty and consideration at the close of an
unprosperous war. Seldom indeed, either in public or
in private, do we find gratitude evinced and rewards
bestowed for zeal which has proved altogether un
availing, and for services that can never be renewed.
The Session of 1788 is further memorable for the
first steps in Parliament for the abolition of the Slave
Trade. In the earlier part of the century that traffic—
the Asiento, as in one word it was emphatically called —
had been by no means a matter of shame. It was
anxiously sought by commercial enterprise. It was as
anxiously secured by diplomatic treaties. The public

1788 THE SLAVE TRADE. 291
feeling began to be turned against it by the case of
James Somersett in 1772. Somersett was an African
slave who had been brought to England by his master,
but having there absconded was by that master seized
and sent on shipboard. The case being referred to the
Judges, it was by them at last established as a fixed
principle of law, that as soon as any slave sets his foot
upon English ground he becomes free.
A lull ensued upon the subject during the American
contest; but the Quakers especially had become alive
to the- iniquity of the traffic in slaves. It is much
to their honour that when in May, 1787, a Committee
of Management was formed against it, with a bene
volent gentleman, Mr. Granville Sharpe, as Chairman,
there were only two of the twelve members of that
Committee who did not belong to the Society of
' Friends.' Among those who at this early period took an active
part in the good cause may be named Sir Charles and
Lady Middleton, Mr. Bennet Langton, the Rev. James
Ramsay (who had recently published an ' Essay on the
Treatment of the Slaves,' derived from his own observa
tion in the West India Islands), and last, not least, Mr.
Thomas Clarkson, whose great labours and services are
not to be obscured even by his own undue exaggeration
of them. But in the arduous struggle that now com
menced against the partisans of Slavery, by far the
greatest share of praise and honour belongs as of right
to the honoured name of Wilberforce.
Already had the mind of Mr. Wilberforce been
trained and moulded for this, as it proved, the main
business of his life. In the course of the year 1785 he
had received a strong religious impulse, and deter
mined to apply himself solely to religious objects. He
wrote to his principal friends to explain his change of
views. Some of them received the communication with
displeasure. One of them angrily threw his letter into
the fire. Still less did the Opposition in the first in-.
u 2 '

292 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1787"
stance show him that reverent confidence which in
after years he so fully attained. Thus for instance, in
the mock Journal of Mr. Dundas, which is annexed to
some editions of the 'Rolliad,' there is an entry from
this very year 1788:— 'Came home in a very melan
choly mood-drank a glass of brandy-determined to
reform, and sent to Wilberforce for a good book— a
very worthy and religious young man that— like him
much — always votes with us.'
It was natural that with these earnest aspirations
Mr. Wilberforce should now apply himself to ascertain
how far the charges against the Slave Traders were or
were not well founded. In his own words :— ' I got toge
ther at my house, from time to time, persons who knew
anything about the matter. . . . When I had acquired
so much information, I began to talk the matter over
with Pitt and Grenville. Pitt recommended me to
undertake its conduct as a subject suited to my cha
racter and talents. At length, I well remember, after
a conversation in the open air, at the root of an old tree
at Holwood, just above the steep descent into the vale
of Keston, I resolved to give notice, on a fit occasion,
in the House of Commons, of my intention to bring the
subject forward.' ,
I may add that this very tree, conspicuous for its
gnarled and projecting root, on which the two friends
had sat, is still pointed out at Holwood, and is known
by the name of ' Wilberforce's oak.'
In this concert of measures Pitt agreed that a
Committee of the Privy Council should be appointed
to take evidence on the African trade. Wilberforce on
his part gave notice of a motion in the House of
Commons. But by this time the West India merchants
and planters were thoroughly alarmed. They urged
the Members for Liverpool and other great ports to
make a determined stand. They prepared some texts
of the Old Testament which they thought convenient
for their purpose. They brought forward witnesses

1788 PITT'S RESOLUTION. 293
to prove not merely the necessity, but the absolute
humanity, of the Slave Trade. And even the zeal of
Wilberforce could not hide from himself the probable
strength and power of that great interest. Here is one
entry from his journal at the commencement of 1788 :
" Called^ at Pitt's at night : he firm about African. trade,
though we begin to perceive more difficulties in the
way than we had hoped there would be.'
It so chanced that ere the day appointed for the
motion the health of Mr. Wilberforce failed. He
found himself disabled from active business, and com
pelled to try the waters of Bath. Before he went,
however, he obtained from Pitt a promise that if his
illness should continue through the spring, Pitt himself
would supply his place. Accordingly, on the 9th of
May, the Prime Minister rose to move a Resolution,
' That this House will early in the next Session proceed
to take into consideration the circumstances of the
Slave Trade.' With a reserve imposed upon him by
official duty, he added that he should forbear from
stating or even glancing at his own opinion until the
moment of discussion should arrive. ' I understand,
however,' said Fox, ' that the opinion of the Right
Hon. Gentleman is prima facie the same as my own.
. . . For myself I have no scruple to declare that the
Slave Trade ought not to be regulated, but destroyed.
To this opinion my mind is pretty nearly made up. . . .
I have considered the subject very minutely, and did
intend to have brought something forward in the House
respecting it. But I rejoice that it should be in the
hands of the Hon. Member for Yorkshire rather than in
mine. From him I honestly think that it will come
with more weight, more authority, and more probability
of success.' These words, which redound so highly to
Mr. Fox's honour, were followed by words not less
decided from Mr. Burke and from Sir William Dolben,
Member for the University of Oxford.
Against an array of opinions such as these, Mr.

294 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1787-
Bamber Gascoyne and Lord Penrhyn, the Members
for Liverpool, and almost officially the spokesmen for
the Slave Trade, could make no effectual stand. They
deemed it wisest to let the Resolution pass unopposed,
and to reserve their strength for the ensuing year.
And that strength was certainly far greater than at
first it seemed. The opinion of Mr. Pitt had not
prevailed with all his colleagues. Lord Thurlow,
above all, was, and continued to be, favourable to
the Slave Trade," and unhappily he ^ found means to
instil nearly the same prejudice into the mind of the
King. These differences came to light much sooner than was
expected. Sir William Dolben and some of his friends
had gone to see with their own eyes the actual state of
a slave-ship then fitting out in the Thames. They
came back deeply impressed with pity, indignation, and
shame. They found, as Sir William afterwards declared
in the House of Commons, that the poor slaves had not
one yard square allowed them to live in. Moreover, in
that narrow space they were loaded with shackles.
They were fastened together hand to hand and foot to
foot.1 The suffering and the sickness that must ensue
might be readily conceived, and could scarcely be
exaggerated. Not a moment, said Sir William, should
be lost in arresting such intolerable evils and abuses.
Accordingly;, while he left the general question as
already voted for debate in the ensuing year, he brought
in a temporary Bill providing divers precautions, and
above all limiting the numbers to be conveyed — one
slave to each ton of the vessel's burden.
At the introduction of this Bill the Members for
Liverpool raised a piteous cry. They denounced it
both as unnecessary and as ruinous. In their resent
ment they appear to have even taunted Sir William
Dolben as unmindful of former hospitality. ' I should
' See the plan of a slave-ship inserted as a print in Clarkson's
History of the Abolition, vol. ii. p. 110.

1788 SIR W. DOLBEN'S BILL. 295
indeed be a most ungrateful man,' said Dolben, ' if I
forgot the merchants of Liverpool. I believe that I
have eaten more turtle there than anywhere else in
the course of my life ; but I would readily give up
their turtle and Burgundy for mock-turtle and plain
Port if they would consent to forego some part of their
profits for the sake of better accommodation to the
poor negroes while on shipboard.'
The Bill of Sir William Dolben, being moderate in
its aim and supported both by Pitt and Fox, passed
triumphantly through the Commons. But in the other
House Lord Thurlow fell upon it with great fury. He
was backed by two Peers who had gained just distinc
tion in a better cause — Lord Heathfield and Lord
Rodney. And it was with great difficulty, and not
until the last day of the Session, that there passed a
measure on the subject, though curtailed of its first
proportions. The result so far, however, was encouraging to the
Committee of Management under Mr. Granville Sharpe.
They despatched Mr. Clarkson as their agent from
place to place, partly to obtain information, and partly
to diffuse their opinions. For their own seal they had
chosen a design well adapted for popular effect. It
represented an African in chains, kneeling with one
knee upon the ground, and raising his hands in sup
plication, while around him the motto ran : ' Am I not
a man and a brother ? '
Of the gross exaggerations and misstatements which
were at this time put forward in defence of the Slave
Trade one instance may suffice. Several of the dealers
or captains had not scrupled to assert that the Middle
Passage was perhaps the happiest period of the negroes'
lives ; that they were constantly well fed ; that the
close air below in the holds was congenial to their
frame of body; and that when upon deck they made
merry and amused themselves with their national dances
But the real facts were disclosed by the evidence before

296 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1787-
the Privy Council. It was found that the poor wretches
were chained two and two together, and secured by
ring-bolts to the lower decks. The allowance for each
was one pint of water daily, and they had two meals of
yams and horse-beans. After eating they were loosened
from their rings, and allowed to jump up in their irons,
as an exercise necessary for their health ; and for that
reason it was not only permitted but urged on them by
lashes whenever they refused. And such, then, were
the 'national dances' which had been so boldly and
boastfully alleged !
In comparing the controversies on Slave Trade and
on Slavery as they once prevailed in England, and as
they still prevail in the United States, we may feel
some surprise as we observe how much they run in
opposite directions. With us the defence was based
in the first instance on such arguments as the supposed
predictions of Holy Writ, or the personal interest of
the slave-dealers to study the good health and well-
being of their slaves. By degrees these arguments
were utterly refuted and overthrown. Then the advo
cates of the existing system, while acknowledging the
general considerations against it to be irresistible, took
their stand on what lawyers would have termed a dila
tory plea. They contended, and certainly with great
truth, that the question was no longer a plain and
simple one, but had become interwoven with many
practical considerations; that care must be taken of
the interests which had grown up under a system which
the law had sanctioned ; and that even for the sake of
the negroes themselves the great work of their Eman
cipation should be accomplished by slow degrees. In
America the course of the discussion has been the very
reverse. We may learn from such high authorities as
the letters of Washington or the travels of Tocque
ville that till within these thirty years the force of the'
general arguments against Slave Trade and Slavery
was not denied, and that the planters of the south,

1788 OFFICIAL CHANGES. 297
with few exceptions, relied, as they justly might, on the
particular grounds for caution and delay. But since
that time there has been taken a large step in advance.
Slavery is no longer excused as an existing evil rendered
necessary by especial circumstances, and to endure only
for a time, but is rather vindicated as a laudable and
lasting ' institution.' Nay, there are even found some
clergymen among them so keen and thorough-going
as to say — and not only to say, but to preach — that
Slavery as a permanent system is perfectly consistent
with, or rather enjoined by, the leading principles of the
Gospel.

CHAPTER XI.
1788.

Official changes and appointments— Treaties of Defensive Alliance
with Holland and Prussia — Mental alienation of the King — Pitt's
measures — Prince of Wales consults Lord Loughborough — Mani
festation of national sympathy — Objects of Pitt and Thurlow —
Meeting of Parliament — The King's removal to Kew— Fox's
return from Italy.
The Session of 1788, marked both by important mea
sures and by eloquent debates, was closed on the 1 1th
of Juty by a Speech from the Throne. Even before
its close Mr. Pitt had been much intent on some official
changes and new appointments. On the chief of these
we find him write to his mother as follows :—
Downing Street, June 19, 1788.
My dear Mother, — You have been infinitely good, as
usual, in making more allowance than could fairly be claimed
for the calls of business as weU as for some necessary intervals
of idleness. I feel, however, really ashamed of having
availed myself so long of the latitude you gave. Business is
now fairly at an end in the House of Commons, and will
probably finish in the House of Lords so as to admit of the
Prorogation in the course of next week. The Session ends

298 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1788
most satisfactorily, and its close will be accompanied by some
events which add not a little to that satisfaction. I feel,
indeed, no small pleasure in having to communicate a piece
of news which will, I believe, fully make up for my long
silence, and which you will be as happy in hearing as I am
in telling. It is no other than this, that a new arrangement
in the Admiralty is, from various circumstances, become
unavoidable, that Lord Howe must be succeeded by a lands
man, and that landsman is my brother. I have had some
doubts whether the public may not think this too much like
monopoly, but that doubt is not sufficient to counterbalance
the personal comfort which will result from it and the general
advantage to the whole of our system. You will, I am sure,
be happy to hear that Lord Howe does not quit without a
public mark of honour by a fresh step in the peerage, with
out which, I own, I should feel more regret than I can pre
tend to do now. Another event which you will not be sorry
to learn is the conclusion of a very satisfactory alliance with
Russia, which will probably lead to a very secure and per
manent system of Continental politics 
I am going, the end of next week, if our arrangement
is by that time completed, for a few days to Cambridge, and
a fortnight or three weeks after will, I hope, bring me to
Burton. Be so good as to let my news remain an entire
secret, as it should not transpire till it takes effect.
Ever, my dear mother, <fec, W. Pitt.
The same appointment is thus referred to in a letter
from Mr. Grenville to his brother in Ireland : *
' Pitt's intention is to place bis brother at the head
of the Admiralty, giving him Sir Charles Middleton
and Hood for assistants, and prevailing with Mulgrave,
if possible, to accept the Comptrollership of the Navy.
I have no doubt of this arrangement being in general
very acceptable. The great popularity of Lord Chat
ham's manners and his near connexion with Pitt are, I
think, sufficient to remove the impression of any objec
tion in the public opinion from his being brought for
ward in the first instance in so responsible a situation.
To those who know him there can be no doubt that his
abilities are fully equal to the undertaking, arduous as

1788 OFFICIAL CHANGES. 299
it is ; and to those who do not, Sir Charles Middleton's
name and character will hold out a solution.'
The offer to Sir Charles Middleton was, it seems,
declined ; but Lord Hood was appointed a Lord of the
Admiralty, under the Earl of Chatham as chief. Lord
Hood was a distinguished Admiral, in 1782 created an
Irish Peer. In May, 1784, he had been at the head of
the poll for Westminster; but in August, 1788, on
appealing to his constituents for re-election, he was
defeated by Lord John Townshend, the numbers — after
fifteen days' poll — being 6,392 against 5,569. It was a
considerable triumph to the Opposition, and they extolled
it as such.
The appointment of Lord Chatham himself, though
in the first instance well received by the public, did not
by any means fulfil the expectations it had raised. As
First Lord of the Admiralty the brother of Pitt showed
but little aptitude for business, and none at all for
debate ; and from his want of punctuality in his appoint
ments he came to be often nicknamed ' the late Lord
Chatham.' In June, 1788, Lord Mansfield had at last retired
from the Bench, and he survived in retirement till the
year 1793 and till the great age of eighty-eight. He
retired perhaps a little too late for his renown, con
sidering the infirmities which for some time past had
pressed upon him. ' Lord Mansfield is totally incapable
of doing his duty, and is in great bodily pain.' So
writes Lord Sydney in January, 1787. ' Lord Mansfield
is at Bath, sleeps everywhere but in bed, receives his
quarter's salary, and does not resign.' So writes General
Grant in April the same year.1
Sir Lloyd Kenyon now became Chief Justice, with a
peerage as Lord Kenyon. The office of Master of the
Rolls, left vacant by this promotion, was designed by
Pitt for his early friend Pepper Arden, now Attorney-
General. But Lord Thurlow offered a fierce resistance.
' See the Cornwallis Correspondence, vol. i. p. 256 and 287.

300 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1788
He claimed the office of the RoUs as under his own gift,
and for some time declared — no doubt with abundance
of oaths— that he would sooner resign the Great Seal
than put it to Arden's patent. But Pitt was resolute,
and Thurlow at last, though still growling, gave way.
In due course, accordingly, Pepper Arden. was ap
pointed Master of the Rolls, and Macdonald, from
Solicitor, Attorney-General. The vacant office of
Solicitor-General was, to the high satisfaction of the
Bar, conferred upon Scott, who had long since retrieved
the discredit of his first abortive effort in the House of
Commons. The King, on this occasion, laid down a
rule which has ever since been observed, that the
Attorney and Solicitor-General, as also the Judges,
shall, if not ' Honourable ' by birth, be always knighted.1
His Majesty's object was to keep up the reputation of
the Order of Knighthood, which at this time had greatly
declined. Accordingly, Macdonald became Sir Archi
bald, and Scott Sir John. The latter, at least, was by
no means well pleased. We find him write as follows
to his brother Henry : ' I kissed the King's hand yester
day as Solicitor-General. The King, in spite of my
teeth, laid his sword upon my shoulder and bade Sir
John arise. At this last instance of his Royal favour I
have been much disconcerted ; but I cannot help myself,
and so I sing — Oho the delight
To be a gallant knight !
My wife is persecuted with her new title, and we laugh
at her from morning till evening.'
But the Chancellor continued full of wrath. He
was already incensed with the Prime Minister on two
other grounds — the vote of Pitt for the impeachment
of Hastings, and the motion of Pitt against the Slave
Trade. Now the fresh point of office caused his resent
ment to boil over and to manifest itself without control.
On the 12th of June we find the King, in writing to
1 Lord Campbell's Lives of the Chancellors, vol. vii. p. 84.

1788 ALLIANCE WITH HOLLAND AND PRUSSIA. 301
Pitt, appeal to his ' good temper,' which His Majesty
hoped would make him 'feel for weakness' in his
colleague. Pitt having carried his point, did not desire
to prosecute the quarrel; but there ceased to be any
intimacy or even any intercourse, except of the most
formal kind, between these brother Ministers.
The Treaty of Defensive Alliance with Holland
being brought to a conclusion and signed in the course
of this spring, Mr. Pitt proposed to the King to confer
a peerage on its negotiator, Sir James Harris. His
Majesty consented on condition that Sir Joseph Yorke,
for many years previous his ambassador at the Hague,
should, as an act of justice, receive the same distinction.
Accordingly Sir James became Lord Malmesbury, and
Sir Joseph Lord Dover.
The defensive alliance with Holland was speedily fol
lowed by another to the same effect with Prussia. Pre
liminary articles were signed at Loo on the 13th of
June, and the treaty itself at Berlin on the 13th of
August. The negotiator was Mr. Joseph Ewart, a man
of considerable ability, selected by Pitt as Minister to
the Court of Frederick William. Besides the customary
articles of mutual guarantee, England and Prussia bound
themselves to act at all times in concert for the purpose
of maintaining the security and independence of the
United Provinces. It was, therefore, in fact a triple
defensive alliance.
Thus in only four years and a half of Mr. Pitt's ad
ministration had England been extricated from her
single and defenceless state at the close of the last war.
Then, besides her old claim on Portugal, she had re
mained without a single ally. Now if France were
willing to remain at peace, there was a Treaty of Com
merce to engage her in more friendly relations. If, on
the other hand, France desired to renew her aggressive
schemes on Holland or on any other power, we had
acquired the Stadtholder as restored to his just autho
rity, and also the King of Prussia, for allies.

302 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1788
In this summer, as in the last, Pitt had hoped to pay
a visit to his friend at the Lakes. ' Pitt promises to
steal down to me for a few days,' so writes Wilberforce
at this time. But in this summer, as in the last, the
pressure of business forbade it. The affairs of Sweden
now began, as I shall show hereafter, to cause some
solicitude and to require a vigilant control. Even the
ultimate object of Pitt, a visit to Lady Chatham, could
not be accomplished without much delay. Thus he
writes: Downing Street, August 29, 1788.
My dear Mother, — I have been every day, for I know
not how long, hoping to be able to tell you the day when I
should have the happiness of seeing you at Burton ; but, as
too often has happened, every day has brought some fresh
incident to put it off. This week would, I believe, have
pretty nearly enabled me to speak positively, but an acci
dental cold (which has no other inconvenience than a swelled
face and the impossibility of going to St. James's) will oblige
me to defer till next week the conclusion of business which I
hoped to have got rid of this. The exact time, and the
interval for which I can be at Hberty, must at all events
depend upon news from abroad, where so many things are
going on, that although we have every reason to be certain
that no consequences can arise otherwise than favourable to
us, a good deal of watching is necessary. My hope was to
have been able to make a pretty long stay at once whenever
I reach Burton ; but even if that should not be the case, I
can do it at twice, and I am pretty sure of a good deal of
leisure in the course of the interval before Parliament
meets. To-day brings no news from Paris of a fresh change.
The Archbishop has resigned, and Necker is made Minister
of Finance, which is probably the best thing that could hap
pen for that country, and in the manner of it very glorious
for him ; but he will have no easy task to go through with.
I think my brother is now really at the eve of being
able to move again. I shall probably see him established at
Wimbledon before I leave this neighbourhood, and with no
other confinement but that of business, which will be a luxury
after the other. My kindest love to Eliot, and most affec-

1788 THE KING'S ILLNESS. 303
tionate comphments to Mrs. Stapleton, not forgetting good
Mrs. Sparry. Ever, my dear Mother, &c, W.'PlTT.
Early next month, however, the visit to Somerset
shire was duly made, and Pitt returned from it fully
expecting to divide the remainder of a long Recess
between Downing Street and Holwood.
Nescia mens hominum fati sortisque futurse.
Never was any Prime Minister of England deemed
more secure or solidly established than Mr. Pitt in the
autumn of 1788. Never did the political horizon seem
more clear, more bright, more wholly free from clouds.
The members of the Opposition could only look on office
as a fond remembrance, and in the future as a distant
dream ; and their chief, Mr. Fox, despairing of all
present effect in England, set out with his mistress,
Mrs. Armistead, for a tour in Italy. Yet at this very
period was impending an event wholly without parallel
in our Constitutional history, which appeared as an utter
blight to the exaltation of Pitt, and as placing Fox
within view, nay, almost within grasp, of the highest
power. That event, so wholly unforeseen, was the men
tal alienation of the King.
The constitution of George the Third was by nature
hardy and robust, but with a constant tendency to cor
pulence. To counteract this the King had from an
early period adopted a system of abstemious diet and of
active exercise. While his meals were of the simplest
and plainest kind, the Equerries in attendance upon him
might often complain of the great distances which he
rode in hunting, or of his walks of three hours before
breakfast. That system carried to excess, combined
with never failing and anxious attention to affairs of
State, was the cause of the mental malady in 1788.
Such at least was the opinion of the case expressed by
Dr. Willis, the ablest by far of his physicians, when ex
amined by the Committees of the House of Lords and
House of Commons.

304 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1788
Early in the summer of 1788 the King's health suf
fered from repeated bilious attacks. In a letter to Mr.
Pitt he says of himself that he is certainly ' a cup too
low.' His physicians prescribed the waters of Chelten
ham, and on the 12th of July, the day after the Proro
gation, he set out with the Queen for that place. A
sojourn of several weeks failed, however, to yield him
the expected benefit. When he returned, first to Kew,
and afterwards to Windsor, he seemed weaker in body
than before. His attendants were surprised and grieved
at seeing him, so lately the most athletic of pedestrians,
require the support of a stick. ' I could not,' he said,
' get on without it : my strength seems diminishing
hourly.' ' My dear Effy ' — thus he accosted one of the
Queen's ladies, the Dowager Countess of Effingham —
' you see me all at once an old man ! ' •
Yet still in some points, at least, the King's active
habits were maintained. Mr. Rose reports that ' Mr.
Pitt saw him at Kew, and was with him three hours and
forty minutes, both on their legs the whole time.' 2 And
this brings us to a peculiarity in the reign of George
the Third. It was the invariable, or almost invariable,
custom of that Monarch to confer with his Ministers
standing, neither himself to sit down nor ask them to
be seated. This rule, so highly inconvenient to both
parties, was no doubt derived from some of the Conti
nental Courts.
At this period of October, 1788, the only physician
in attendance on the King was Sir George Baker. He
states in his evidence before the subsequent Committees
that the first time when he conceived any suspicion of
a mental malady in the King was in the evening of the
22nd of October. Next morning the unfavourable symp
toms which led to that suspicion had wholly disappeared.
1 Diary of Miss Burney (Madame d'Arblay), vol. iv. p. 275.
2 Diaries and Correspondence of the Right Hon. George Rose,
vol. i. p. 86, ed. 1860. See also the Edinburgh Review for April
1856, p. 354.

1788 THE KING'S ILLNESS. 305
On the 24th, however, the King made an effort be
yond his strength in going to hold a Levee at St. James's.
He made that effort, as he wrote to Mr. Pitt, ' to stop
further lies and any fall of the Stocks.' But at the
Levee his manner and conversation were such as to
cause the most painful uneasiness in several at least of
those to whom he spoke. Mr. Pitt, in particular, could
not entirely suppress his emotion when he attended the
King in his closet after the Levee, which His Majesty
observed and noticed with kindness in writing next
day to his Minister from Kew. Probably conscious
himself, at least in some degree, of his coming malady,
he directed Mr. Pitt in the same letter not to allow any
political papers to be sent to him before the next ensuing
Levee. On the 25th the King removed to Windsor Castle.
His state appears to have fluctuated from day to day,
but there was no lasting improvement in his health.
His letters to Mr. Pitt, which I shall give at length in
my appendix, bear no tokens of an incoherent mind.
They merely manifest some reluctance and anxiety as
to the measures which Pitt desired to pursue with
regard to the Northern Powers. The last letter of the
King before his malady is dated on the 3rd of November.
In this His Majesty states that he can now sign warrants
in any number without inconvenience. He adds that
he attempts reading the despatches daily, but as yet
without success.
Of the King's real condition at this time by far the
best, and indeed, so far as published, the only good
account is to be found in the private journal of Miss
Frances Burney, the accomplished author of ' Evelina.'
That lady was now a member of the Royal Household,
and in daily attendance on the Queen as, under Mrs.
Schwellenberg, Deputy Keeper of the Robes. Dull and
trifling as the earlier volumes of her 'Diary,' I must
confess, appear to me, the entries in it now become of
lively interest and of sterling value, and are marked by
vol. i. x

306 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1788
not merely dutiful but warm and affectionate attachment
to her Royal Mistress.
By some extracts from her journal my narrative may
be best continued :
Sunday, November 3. — We are all here in a most uneasy
state. The King is better and worse so frequently, and
changes so daily backward and forward, that everything is to
be apprehended if his nerves are not some way quieted. I
dreadfully fear he is on the eve of some severe fever. The
Queen is almost overpowered with some seeret terror. I
am affected beyond all expression in her presence to see what
struggles she makes to support serenity. To-day she gave
up the conflict when I was alone with her, and burst into a
violent fit of tears. It was very, very terrible to see !
Wednesday, November 5. — I found my poor Royal Mis
tress in the morning sad and sadder still ; something horrible
seemed impending ; and I saw her whole resource was in
religion. We had talked lately much upon solemn subjects ;
and she appeared already preparing herself to be resigned for
whatever might happen.
At noon the King went out in his chaise with the Prin
cess Royal for an airing. I looked from my window to see
him ; he was all smiling benignity, but gave so many orders
to the postilions, and got in and out of the carriage twice
with such agitation, that again my fear of a great fever hang
ing over him grew more and more powerful. Alas ! how
little did I imagine I should see him no more for so long — so
black a period !
When I went to my poor Queen, I found her spirits still
worse and worse  The Princess Royal soon returned.
She came in cheerfully, and gave in German a history of the
airing, and one that seemed comforting.
Soon after suddenly arrived the Prince of Wales. He
came into the room. He had just quitted Brighthelmstone.
Something passing within seemed to render this meeting
awfully distant on both sides. She asked if he should
not return to Brighthelmstone. He answered, ' Yes ; the
next day.' He desired to speak with her : they retired to
gether. This day, the 5th of November, of which Miss Burney

1788 THE KING'S ILLNESS. 307
has thus described the earlier portion, proved to be the
crisis of the King's disorder, when its real nature could
be no longer mistaken or concealed. For that afternoon
the King, at dinner with the Royal Family, broke forth
into positive delirium ; and the Queen was so over
powered as to fall into violent hysterics.
Next morning, the 6th, when Miss Burney rose, she
found that the equerries and gentlemen in attendance
had sat up next his chamber door all night, and there
were likewise all the pages dispersed in the passages
and ante-rooms ; ' and oh,' she adds, ' what horror in
every face I met.'
Besides Sir George Baker, who continued in close
attendance, a physician of the highest eminence — Dr.
Warren — had been sent for by express. When, how
ever, he came, the King positively refused to see him.
' This was terrible,' writes Miss Burney. ' But the
King was never so despotic ; no one dared oppose him.
He would not listen to a word, though when unopposed
he was still all gentleness and benignity to every one
around him. . . . He kept talking unceasingly ; al
though his voice was so lost in hoarseness and weakness
it was rendered almost inarticulate.'
Expresses had of course gone up also to Mr. Pitt.
His grief may be easily imagined. But his anxiety was
not less than his grief. He saw at once the difficulties
that rose before him in the event that the King's
reason should continue clouded and yet his life be spared.
In such a case there were strong grounds for imposing
some restrictions on a Regency. Yet how could such
restrictions be imposed unless by Act of Parliament,
and how could any Act of Parliament be passed without
a King to give it his assent ? Thus in one sense a limited
Regency seemed requisite, while in another sense it
seemed impossible.
Pitt, however, applied himself at once to all the
measures in his power. That samp afternoon he sent
expresses to summon the Cabinet Ministers who were
x 2

308 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1788
absent from town. Here is his letter to the Marquis
of Stafford, Lord Privy Seal :
Grosvenor Square, Nov. 6, 1788, 6 P.M.
My dear Lord, — I write from Lord Carmarthen's, hav
ing just had an account from Windsor, by which I learn
that the King's disorder, which has for some days given us
much uneasiness, has within a few hours taken so serious a
turn that I think myself obhged to lose no time in apprising
your Lordship of it.
The accounts are sent under considerable alarm, and
therefore do not state the symptoms very precisely; but from
what I learn, there is too much reason to fear that they pro
ceed from a fever which has settled on the brain, and which
may produce immediate danger to His Majesty's life. You
will easily conceive the pain I suffer in being obhged to send
your Lordship this intelligence ; but as you may possibly
think it right, under such circumstances, to be on the spot
as soon as possible, I thought no time should be lost in let
ting you know the situation.
I am, with great regard, &c, W. Pitt.
On the same day Pitt also wrote to the Bishop of
Lincoln at Buckden Palace, and here is the extract from
his letter which the Bishop gives :
The effect most to be dreaded is on the understanding.
If this lasts beyond a certain time, it will produce the most
difficult and delicate crisis imaginable, in making provision
for the Government to go on. It must, however, be yet
some weeks before that can require decision ; but the interval
will be a truly anxious one. You shall hear again soon ;
but if in the course of a few days you could spare the time
to come to town, I should be very glad to talk with you, as
there will be a thousand particulars you must wish to know,
which I cannot write. I shall not stir from hence, except
for going to inquire at Windsor.
The Bishop adds :
I went to town immediately, and late at night found Mr.
Pitt expecting a messenger every moment with the account
of the King's death; but the intelligence, which did not
arrive till two in the morning, proved more favourable.

1788 THE KING'S ILLNESS. 309
During the night which followed there were many
anxious watchers in the apartment next to the Royal
sufferer's. The Prince of Wales, the Duke of York, the
physicians, and the gentlemen of the Royal Household,
sat on chairs and lay on sofas round the room. All
were in dead silence, and amidst the partial darkness
the two Princes were still to be distinguished by their
stars. Next day, the 7th of November, towards seven in
the morning, when the Queen was already dressed, but
Miss Burney was still attending her, the Prince of Wales
came hastily into Her Majesty's chamber, and then, in
Miss Burney's presence, gave ' a very energetic history '
of the preceding night. The King had risen some hours
before daylight, and insisted on walking into the next
apartment. There he was utterly amazed at finding,
instead of the mere solitude which he expected, the
large assemblage of his family and household. With
some haste he demanded what they all did there. Sir
George Baker was exhorted in whispers by the gentle
men near him, and even, as it would seem, by the
Prince of Wales, to lead the King back to his chamber ;
but he had not courage, and he seems indeed to have
well deserved the character which the King presently
gave him when His Majesty penned him in a corner and
told him he was only an old woman. No one else dared
approach His Majesty, and this most painful scene con
tinued a considerable time. At length the Queen's
Vice-Chamberlain, Colonel Stephen Digby, an old ser
vant of their Majesties, resolved to act. He went boldly
up, and taking the King by the arm, entreated him to
go to bed ; but finding entreaties in vain, began to draw
His Majesty along, and to say he must go. ' I will not,'
cried the King, ' I will not ! Who are you ? ' 'I am
Colonel Digby, Sir,' he answered, ' and your Majesty has
been very good to me, and now I am going to be very
good to you ; for you must come to bed, Sir — it is neces
sary to your life.' And then, continued the Prince of

310 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1788
Wales in his narrative, the King was so surprised that
he allowed himself to be drawn along as gently as a
child, and thus was he brought back to his chamber.
Here, then, was the turning point. This was the
precise moment when ceased the dominion of a Sovereign
over his subjects, and when began, on the contrary, the
dominion of sound minds over an unsound one. Here,
then, let History pause. So long as the King continued
a public character, it is her right and her duty to record
his course ; not so to explore the dismal secrets of his
enforced and lonely sick room.
It may, therefore, suffice to say in general terms
that during the next few days the King became greatly
worse both in mind and body. Not only seemed his
reason lost, but his life in imminent danger. Then, in
those hours of suspense and anguish at Windsor, came
to light some further revelations of his growing malady.
The Queen had sent for Dr. Warren soon after his first
arrival, and felt it her duty to inform him privately
that for some time past she had more than suspected
the real situation of the King. The Duke of York had
met the King on Monday the 3rd, after His Majesty
had been on horseback for some hours, and the King,
drawing his son aside, had burst into tears and given
utterance to the simple but most affecting words, ' I
wish to God I might die, for I am going to be mad ! ' l
The physicians in daily attendance — and within a
fortnight their number had been increased to four —
were of course guarded and cautious in their expressed
opinions. But among the members of the Royal House
hold the belief was most strongly prevalent that there
was little or no prospect of the King's recovery. The
Queen withdrew to her own chamber, and passed the
whole day in patient sorrow with her daughters. The
entire direction of the household devolved upon the
1 See the private letters from Captain Payn9 to Mr. Sheridan, as
published in Moore's Life of the latter (vol. ii. p. 21-31). Payne was
at this time attending the Prince of Wales at Windsor.

1788 THE KING'S ILLNESS. 311
Prince of Wales, and nothing at Windsor was done but
by direction of His Royal Highness.
So great and awful an affliction, and so deep a
responsibility resulting from it, could not fail to impress
even the least earnest minds.
' The Prince was frightened, and was blooded yester
day.' So writes one of the Grenville cousins who was
at Windsor on the 7 th.
The first step of the Prince when called upon to
take the command at Windsor was to send the Duke of
York with a message to Lord Loughborough. The
Prince said that he should anxiously await the return of
Fox from Italy — that meanwhile he should look mainly
to Lord Loughborough for counsel — and that Lord
Loughborough ought at once to turn over in his mind
what steps in so unprecedented an emergency it might
be best for the Prince to take. Lord Loughborough
might well consider his darling object of ambition, the
Great Seal, as close in view before him.
Meanwhile the illness of the King and its real
nature could not be kept seeret. The tidings of it
flew far and wide throughout the country, every where
exciting the utmost sympathy and sorrow. Then did
it become apparent how strong and deeply rooted was
in truth at this period the popularity of George the
Third, and how thoroughly had passed away from it
the clouds of earlier years. By the Queen's direction
Colonel Digby had written to the Archbishop of Can
terbury, suggesting that there should be offered up
public prayers for the King's recovery. A form of
prayer was accordingly framed at Lambeth Palace and
ordered to be used in all the churches, and the manner
in which the various congregations through the king
dom joined in this act of worship clearly evinced the
sincerity and the strength of their affliction.
Other manifestations of the same feeling were not
all as commendable. Thus the physicians in attend
ance on the King received every day a number of

312 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1788
threatening letters to answer for the safety of their
Monarch with their lives. On one occasion Sir George
Baker was stopped in his carriage by the mob, and
required to give an account of the King's state. Poor
Sir George faltered out that it was a bad one ; on
which there arose a furious cry : ' The more shame for
you!' At this crisis the two Ministers on whom most
depended were Pitt and Thurlow. But they had little
intercourse, and their objects were far asunder. Pitt
was thinking how best he could serve his country —
Thurlow was thinking how best he could keep his
place. So early as the 7th the Prince of Wales sum
moned to his presence the Chancellor, who went down
and remained that night at Windsor. The Prince's
object was a very proper one — to consult with him as
to the care and safe custody of the King's jewels and
private papers. On coming back to town on the
morning of the 8th, the Chancellor only sent a note
to Pitt, stating that the Prince desired to see him at
Windsor the next morning at eleven. Pitt went to
call upon his colleague, but does not seem to have
obtained much further information. He learnt, how
ever, that the immediate business for which His Royal
Highness had summoned him was to inquire about a
paper which the Queen imagined that the King had
put into Pitt's hand respecting an arrangement for the
younger Princes and Princesses. But this was a mis
apprehension, for Pitt had no such paper.
Pitt of course obeyed the Prince's summons. The
result is related as follows by Mr. Grenville in a letter
the next morning : ' I need not tell you the effect
which this dreadful calamity produces. Pitt had yester
day a long conference with the Prince, but it turned
chiefly on the situation of the King, and the state and
progress of his disorder. Nothing passed from which
any conclusion can be drawn as to future measures. He
treated him with civility, but nothing more. The gene-

J788 PITT'S MEASURES. 313
ral idea is that they mean to try a negotiation. But
whether the Prince means that, and whether Pitt ought
in any case to listen to it at all, or in what degree, are
questions which it is difficult indeed to decide.'1
The part of Pitt was promptly taken. It was, as his
part was ever, straightforward and direct. He would
listen to no terms for himself. He would consider only
his bounden duty to his afflicted King. He would, by
the authority of Parliament, impose some restrictions on
the Regency for a limited time, so that the Sovereign
might resume his power without difficulty in case his
reason were restored. What might be the just limits
or the necessary period of such restrictions he had not
yet decided, and was still revolving in his mind. But
he had never the least idea, as his opponents feared, of
a Council of Regency which might impede the Prince
in the choice of a new administration. On the contrary,
Pitt looked forward to his own immediate dismissal from
the public service, and he had determined to return to
the practice of his profession at the Bar.
Far different was the course of Thurlow. Under an
appearance of rugged honesty he concealed no small
amount of selfish craft. He was ready to grasp at an
overture, and it was not long ere an overture came. Two
gentlemen in the Prince's confidence — the Comptroller
of his Household, Captain Payne, more commonly called
Jack Payne, and Richard Brinsley Sheridan — had set
their heads together. Was it not to be feared that Pitt
would attempt to fetter the coming Regency with some
restrictions ? And by whom could that attempt be more
effectually prevented than by the statesman holding the
Great Seal ? How important then if possible to gain
him over!
With these views, and with the Prince's sanction, a
secret negotiation with Lord Thurlow was begun. It
was proposed to him that he should do his utmost to
defeat any restrictions on the Regent, and that in return
1 Letter to Lord Buckingham, November 9, 1788.

314 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1788
he should become President of the Council in the new
administration. But the offer of the Presidency was
spurned by Thurlow ; he insisted on still retaining the
Great Seal. This was a more difficult matter, from
the engagements of the Prince, and indeed of the
whole Fox party, to Lord Loughborough. Sheridan,
however, strongly pressed that Lord Thurlow should
be secured upon his own terms. The Prince agreed,
and the negotiation was continued without Lord
Loughborough. The bargain was struck, or all but
struck, awaiting only Fox's sanction when he should
arrive from Italy.
The perfidy of Thurlow in this transaction stands
little in need of comment. To this day it forms the
main blot upon his fame. Nowhere in our recent an
nals shall we readily find any adequate parallel to it,
except indeed in the career of his contemporary and his
rival, Loughborough.
Lord Thurlow succeeded at first in concealing all
knowledge of the scheme from Pitt. In this he was
much assisted by the fact that from this time forward
the Cabinet Councils were frequently held at Windsor,
thus affording him good opportunities for slipping round
in secret to the apartments of the Prince of Wales. But
a very slight incident brought to light the mystery.
His cabals were detected by his own hat. Thus used
the story to be told by a late survivor from these times,
my lamented friend Mr. Thomas Grenville. One day
when a Council was to be held at Windsor, Thurlow had
been there some time before any of his colleagues ar
rived. He was to be brought back to London in the
carriage of one of them, and the moment of departure
being come, the Chancellor's hat was nowhere to be
found. After long search one of the pages came run
ning up with the hat in his hand, and saying aloud,
' My Lord, I found it in the closet of His Royal High
ness the Prince of Wales.' The other Ministers were
still in the hall waiting for their carriages, and the evi-

1788 MEETING OF PARLIAMENT. 315
dent confusion of Loid Thurlow corroborated the infer
ence which they drew.1
Thus might Pitt suspect, or much more than suspect,
the Chancellor's double dealings. But still he had no
positive proof of them ; and he might feel as the younger
Agrippina, that in many cases the best defence against
treachery is to seem unconscious of it.2 Thus, main
taining his usual lofty calmness, he forbore from all in
quiry, all expostulation. He continued to meet Lord
Thurlow as before, but he privately determined to place
no part of the Regency business in Lord Thurlow's
hands, and to entrust to Lord Camden the conduct in
the House of Lords of all the measures consequent on
the Royal illness.
It was no slight aggravation to the embarrassment
of Mr. Pitt at this juncture that he was bound to meet
Parliament without delay. Parliament had only been
prorogued till the 20th of November, and there re
mained no legal power In the State to prorogue it
further. The two Houses met therefore on the 20th
as a matter of course, when Pitt in the Commons, and
Thurlow in the Lords, announced the King's incapacity
for business as the cause of meeting. Pitt deprecated
any present discussion, suggesting that the House should
adjourn till the 4th of December, when he said if the
King's disorder should unhappily continue, it would be
necessary to consider what measures ought to be adopted.
Meanwhile, to give their proceedings all possible so
lemnity, he further proposed that the Speaker should
write circular letters to every Member, requiring his
attendance on the appointed day. Lord Camden made
a similar proposition in the Lords, and these motions
passed both Houses without a single observation from
any side. Mr. Fox had not yet returned, and during
1 Lives of the Chancellors, by Lord Campbell, vol. v. p. 591. I
have heard the same story told by Mr. Grenville himself.
2 ' Reputans Agrippina solum insidiarum remedium esse si non
intelligerentur ' (Tacit. Annal. lib. xiv. c. 6).

316 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1788
his absence the Opposition were unwilling to commit
themselves by comments of any kind.
Soon afterwards a case of much difficulty arose at
Windsor. There was a strong and just desire to remove
His Majesty to Kew. In the first place the distance
of Windsor from London was most inconvenient to
the physicians in attendance ; secondly, and this was
the main if not the only reason put forward by them
selves, it was most essential that the King should have,
as he might have at Kew and could not at Windsor, a
private garden, where, whenever his health permitted,
he might take exercise without being overlooked or
observed. But, on the other hand, the King showed
the most extreme repugnance to leave Windsor. It
was thought that even in his distracted state the advice
of his confidential servants would have weight with him,
and the necessity of compulsion be thus avoided. Ac
cordingly on the 28th a Privy Council was held at
Windsor, when the physicians were formally examined,
all agreeing that the removal of His Majesty to Kew
was a point of most pressing importance.
For the scene that followed, as for some of the pre
ceding, I adopt the graphic description of Miss Burney :
'Inexpressible was the alarm of every one lest the
King, if he recovered, should bear a lasting resent
ment against the authors and promoters of this journey.
To give it therefore every possible sanction, it was
decreed that he should be seen both by the Chancellor
and Mr. Pitt. The Chancellor went into his presence
with a tremor such as before he had been only accus
tomed to inspire, and when he came out he was so
extremely affected by the state in which he saw his
Royal Master and patron that the tears ran down his
cheeks, and his feet had difficulty to support him. Mr.
Pitt was more composed, but expressed his grief with
so much respect and attachment, that it added new
weight to the universal admiration with which he is here
beheld.'

1788 THE KING'S REMOVAL TO KEW. 317
But whatever may have passed at these most painful
interviews, it was found that they had not surmounted
the morbid aversion of the King to the change required.
' In what a situation was the house ! ' exclaims Miss
Burney : ' Princes, Equerries, Physicians, Pages, — all
conferring, whispering, plotting, and caballing how to
induce the King to set off! ' Recourse was now had to
a no less painful stratagem. The King had for some
time been most earnestly pressing to see the Queen and
the Princesses, but this the physicians had deemed it
necessary to refuse him. It was then decided that the
Royal ladies should proceed early next morning to Kew ;
that the King should be informed of their departure by
the physicians ; and that if, as they expected, he should
doubt their assertion, he might be suffered to go through
the apartments and ascertain the fact for himself. Next
a promise was to be made His Majesty that on rejoin
ing the members of his family at Kew he should be
permitted to see them. On this promise George the
Third did consent to the journey, and it did take place.
"But on coming to Kew the promise under which he
had acted was not fulfilled; and the result — as might
surely have been foreseen — was that same night a
paroxysm of much increased severity.
Meanwhile an express had been sent to Fox in Italy
with the tidings of the Royal illness, and with a press
ing summons for his immediate return. The messen
ger found the travelling statesman at Bologna, on
his way to Rome. He forthwith set out on his jour
ney homewards, and proceeded with so much expe
dition as even in that wintry season to perform a
journey of more than eight hundred miles in nine days.
So great, indeed, was the despatch he used and so
rough die roads over which he travelled, that he severely
suffered in his health for some time after his return.
With all his diligence, however, he could not arrive in
England until the 24th of this month. It is striking
to compare these details with another unlooked for

318 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1788
summons and another rapid return from Italy— I mean
Sir Robert Peel's, in November 1835. Each of these
statesmen came back with the expectation of being
made Prime Minister, but the hope proved as fleeting
in the one case as did the hold of office in the other.
No sooner was Fox in London than he was apprised
of the negotiation with Lord Thurlow. Fox had no
taste at all for this underhand intrigue. But he felt
himself bound by the Prince's word which had already
passed. His own feelings of distress are best evinced
by some expressions in a note to Sheridan : ' I have
swallowed the pill — a most bitter one it was — and have
written to Lord Loughborough, whose answer of course
must be consent. What is to be done next ? Should
the Prince himself, you or I, or Warren, be the person
to speak to the Chancellor ? Pray tell me what is to
be done. I do not remember ever feeling so uneasy
about any political thing I ever did in my life. Call if
you can.'
Besides this one ' political thing,' another of still
higher public moment was now submitted to Fox.
Lord Loughborough had been devising a bold scheme,
for, in fact, a Coup d'Etat. He had suggested that the
" Prince of Wales might, as next heir, seize the Regency
by his own act, and without any authority from Parlia
ment. This scheme he had embodied in a note which
is written with his own hand in pencil. It still remains
among the Rosslyn Papers, and it has been published
by Lord Campbell in his ' Lives of the Chancellors.' 1
But the sturdy hand of Fox brushed this cobweb
aside. He was prepared, as we shall presently see, to
go great lengths in asserting the inherent prerogative
of the Prince of Wales. But he never dreamt of
1 See vol. vi. p. 195. In the biography of Lord Loughborough
are many other valuable papers. But in arranging them Lord
Campbell has not always shown sufficient care. Thus, for instance,
at page 205, the two notes of Fox which Lord Campbell refers to
this period of 1788, belong most certainly to 1783, as is plain at once
from their date of Downing Street.

1788 EVIDENCE OF THE KING'S PHYSICIANS. 319
dispensing with the votes of Parliament. Under such
circumstances, Lord Loughborough of course yielded to
his leader ; and with his pencil note safely locked up
within his desk, his Lordship a few weeks later, when
speaking in the House of Peers, thought himself justi
fied in solemnly disclaiming or denying that he held
the unconstitutional doctrine which that note expressed.
— Were not Loughborough and Thurlow worthy rivals ?
It appears however from some Reminiscences which
Lord Carmarthen the Secretary of State drew up, and
subsequently as Duke of Leeds read to a young friend,
that the Ministers of 1788 had soon become apprised
of Lord Loughborough's perilous project. Had he per
sisted in it, they had designed to arrest him for High
Treason and send him to the Tower.1
On the 3rd of December, the day before the re
assembling of Parliament, a Privy Council was held at
Whitehall. By Pitt's direction a summons had been
addressed to every Member, of whatever politics, the
object being to impart in the most authentic form
accurate intelligence on the situation of the King. Of
54 Members who came accordingly, it was calculated at
the time that 24 were from the Opposition side. The
five physicians who had been attending His Majesty
being called in and examined upon oath, deposed as to
his present incapacity for business. They added that
there was a fair prospect of his recovery, but that
they were wholly unable to fix or foretell the time.
They had known cases of this kind last only for six
weeks — they had known them last as long as two years.
Such then was the position of affairs when on the
4th of December Parliament met for business, and
when the two great party rivals were again in presence
of each other.
1 Diary of Mr. Charles A bbot (Lord Colchester), January 24,
1796, as published in 1861.

320 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1788-

CHAPTER XII.
1788-1789.
Meeting of Parliament — Report from the Privy Council — Dr. Francis
Willis — Physicians examined by Parliamentary Committees — Pitt
proposes a Committee to search for precedents — Fox's objections
— Committee appointed — Intrigues of Thurlow — Pitt's Resolu
tions — Free gift of 100,0002. offered to Pitt, but declined— Pitt's
Regency plan — Grenville elected Speaker — Report of new Com
mittee to examine the physicians — Pitt's Resolutions restricting
the Regency — Sallies of Burke — Regency Bill passed the Com
mons — Restoration of the King to health.
On the 4th of December the Parliament met in most
anxious expectation. Mr. Pitt in the one House and
Lord Camden in the other laid upon the Table the
Report of the Examinations before the Privy Council,
and moved that it should be taken into consideration
on the 8th. At the same time the Prime Minister gave
notice that he should propose the appointment of a
Committee to search for precedents. Mr. Fox suggested
a doubt (as Mr. Vyner had before him) whether it was
quite consistent with the dignity of Parliament to make
a Report from the Privy Council the groundwork of
their proceedings on a question of such extreme im
portance. Pitt declared that he was anxious to afford
the most ample information, but pointed out that the
Privy Council could take evidence upon oath, which a
Committee of the Commons could not.
Meanwhile it had become apparent to the small circle
of the King's confidential servants, that, eminent as
were the physicians in attendance, they had up to this
time altogether failed in effecting any mitigation of his
symptoms. Might not greater benefit follow from the
treatment of some one who had more specially applied
himself to the cure of mental maladies? Foremost
among such practitioners in public fame stood Dr.
Francis Willis, a clergyman and Rector of Wapping.

1789 DR. WILLIS. 321
By a somewhat unusual combination of duties he had
during twenty-eight years kept an asylum for insane
persons at his residence in Lincolnshire. His name
was first brought forward by Mrs. Harcourt, the wife of
one of the Equerries, General afterwards Earl Harcourt.
She drew up a paper stating her knowledge of his merit
from his successful treatment of her mother. On the
28th of November this paper being laid before the
Prince, the Duke of York, the Chancellor, and Pitt, it
was determined that Willis should be sent for.1 Accord
ingly he was summoned by express to Kew. He came
accompanied by his two sons, one of whom, Dr. John Willis,
was a professed physician ; and on the 5th of December
he had his first interview with the Royal sufferer.
From the first, Dr. Willis formed a highly favourable
opinion of the case. ' Had I been consulted in the first
instance,' he frankly said, ' His Majesty's illness would
have been of very short duration.' He adopted at once
a different course of treatment. He laid aside all false
pretences, all petty vexations, all unnecessary restraints.
He thought that in this case no violence need be appre
hended, and that no suspicion should be shown. The
King had been denied a razor at his toilet, and a knife
and fork at his table. These were at once restored to
him, and in Dr. Willis's presence were freely used. The
good effects of this altered treatment speedily appeared.
As yet the delusions continued unabated, but far greater
calmness and composure, as also better health, were
attained. Under the.se circumstances both the Queen and Mr.
Pitt were disposed to place great confidence in Dr.
Willis. He was considered as mainly responsible for
the conduct of the case. Taking up his residence with
his sons in the palace at Kew, he had the constant care
of the King's person, while the other physicians only
paid their visits by rotation and at stated times.
1 Diary of Mrs. Harcourt, as cited by Mr. Massey in his History
of England, vol. iii. pp. 376 and 386.
VOL. I. T

322 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1788-
On the 8th, at the next meeting of the House, Pitt
adverted to the suggestion which had been made of
appointing a Parliamentary Committee to examine the
physicians, and declared himself willing to accede to it,
observing that there was now a stronger reason for it
than at the last debate, since some new physicians had
been recently called in. Accordingly there was named,
with general assent, a Committee of twenty-one, com
prising the most distinguished Members from both sides.
A similar motion was made and carried in the Lords,
and each Committee completed its examinations in a
single day. All the physicians, in their evidence, agreed
that there were good hopes of the King's recovery, but
that no probable period for it could be named. Yet the
degree of these hopes was not the same in all, and here
again party spirit crept in. Dr. Warren was closely
connected with Fox and Fox's friends, and it was
observed that his prognostics were far less sanguine
i than those of Dr. Willis. Thus the names of these two"
! physicians became, as it were, watchwords on each side ;
I the Ministerial party relying -on the special experience
of Willis, while the Opposition party might allege the
high authority of -Warren,
I On the 10th of December Mr. Pitt presented to the
House the Report of these examinations, and observed
that the King's present incapacity for business having
now been ascertained by a Committee of their own
Members, he should proceed according to his notice,
and move that another Committee be appointed to
search for precedents. But at this point commenced
the tug of war. Fox rose and objected to the proposed
Committee, although he said he should not resist it.
In effect he said, though not in intention, that Com
mittee would be an utter waste of time. It was per
fectly well known that there existed no precedent what
ever which could bear upon the present case. But
there was then a person in the kingdom different from
any other person to whom existing precedents could

1789 PITT'S PROPOSALS. 323
refer — an Heir Apparent of full age, and capacity to
exercise the Royal power. In his (Mr. Fox's) firm
opinion His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales had
as clear, as express a right to assume the reins of
Government, and exercise the powers of Sovereignty,
during the illness and incapacity of the King, as in the
case of His Majesty's natural demise. Such was his
right, but His Royal Highness was not himself to judge
when he was entitled to exercise it. The two Houses
of Parliament, as the organs of the nation, were alone
entitled to pronounce when the Prince ought to take
possession of and exercise his right.
The views of Mr. Fox upon this question, as he thus
unfolded them, seemed in striking contrast with the
general tenor of his ' Revolution politics.' Here he
was denying the supreme authority of the two Houses to
deal as they thought fit with the eclipse of the Kingly
power. He was asserting an inherent, and as it were
Divine, right in th*e Prince of Wales. Thus he seemed
to be treading in the footsteps of Filmer and Sancroft
rather than of Somers and Burnet. Pitt, as he intently
listened to Fox's enunciation of his principles, could
scarcely, it is said, conceal his triumph at the indiscreet
position which his rival had assumed. No sooner had
the sentence which first announced it been concluded
than Pitt, slapping his thigh triumphantly, turned
round to the friend next him on the Treasury Bench,
and whispered, ' I'll unwhig the gentleman for the rest
of his life ' ! x He started up as soon as Fox sat down.
The doctrine, he said, which the House had just heard
was of itself, if any additional ground were necessary,
the strongest and most unanswerable reason for ap
pointing the Committee that he had proposed. If a
claim of right was intimated, even though not formally,
on the part of the Prince of Wales to assume the
1 Related by Thomas Moore, who states that he received the
story from an unquestionable souroe, and that Its authenticity may
be relied upon. (Memoirs of Sheridan, vol. ii. p. 38.)
v 2

324 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1788-
government, it became of the utmost consequence to
ascertain from precedent and history whether there was
any foundation for this claim, which, if established,
must preclude the House from the possibility of all deli
beration on the subject. In the mean time he must
maintain, that to assert such a right in the Prince of
Wales or any one else, independent of the decision of
the two Houses, was little less than treason to the Con
stitution of the country. Unless by their decision, the
Prince of Wales had no more right — speaking of strict
right — to assume the government than any other indi
vidual subject of the realm. What Parliament ought to
determine on this point was a question of discretion ; and
however strong the arguments might be on that ground
in favour of the Prince of Wales, into which he would not
enter at present, it did not affect the question of right.
Thus the gauntlet was fairly and on both sides cast
down. The doctrine of Fox seemed to be received with
much disfavour by the House, and" Burke rose with
generous warmth to support his friend ; but he showed
in this debate, as in several others on this Regency
question, an intemperance and ill taste that were much
deplored by his party at that period, as they must be
to this day by all true admirers of his fame. Thus he
went so far as to call Pitt ' one of the Prince's com
petitors,' and in another part of his speech he described
him as 'the Prince opposite.' For the first of these
expressions Burke was called to Order ; for both he was
rebuked by Pitt in his reply. ' I appeal to the House,'
said the Minister, " upon the decency of such a charge.
At that period of our history, when our Constitution
was settled on its present foundations, and when Mr.
Somers and other great men declared that no person
had a right to the Crown independent of the consent of
the two Houses, would it have been thought either fair-
or decent for any Member of either House to have pro
nounced Mr. Somers a personal competitor of King
William the Third ? '

1789 DEBATES ON THE REGENCY. 325
Thus appointed without a division, the Committee
completed its business in a single sitting, and produced
good store of precedents, though of limited application
and of slight Constitutional value. The discussion on
Fox's doctrine was renewed in divers forms and on'
several days, but the doctrine itself gained no ground
in the House, and it excited great alarm throughout the
country. The privilege claimed for the Heir Apparent
was commonly regarded as both an invasion of popular
rights and a dethronement, as it were, of the afflicted
King. Fox found it necessary to explain, in the clearest
terms, that he had spoken only of himself, without the
authority of any person whatever, much less from the
authority of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales ;
but yet the ill impression was by no means removed.
A lively comment on these debates may be gathered
from the confidential correspondence of William Gren
ville : — ' Only think of Fox's want of judgment to bring
himself and his friends into such a scrape as he has
done, by maintaining a doctrine of higher Tory prin
ciple than could have been found anywhere since Sir
Robert Sawyer's speeches ! . . . . Fox found that by
what he had said before, he had offended so many people,
that he was obliged to take the very first moment of ex
plaining it away. After this recantation was over, the
day was closed by such a blunder of Sheridan's as I
never knew any man of the meanest talent guilty of
before. During the whole time that I have sat in Par
liament — a pretty warm time — I never remember such
an uproar as was raised by his threatening us with " the
danger of provoking the Prince to assert his right,"
which were the exact words he used. You may con
ceive what advantage all this gives us, especially when
coupled with the strong hopes entertained of the King's
recovery.' '
In the Lords a motion for a similar Committee of
1 Letters to Lord Buckingham, Dec. 11 and 13, 1788, as published
in the Courts and Cabinets of George III.

326 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1788-
Precedents was made on the 11th of December. Then
the views which Fox had put forth the day before were
controverted by Lord Camden and defended by Lord
Loughborough. The Chancellor delivered himself of a
'temporising speech, as though not yet fixed in his
opinion. But be began to fear that he might be a loser
instead of gainer by his projected act of treachery.
The reports of Dr. Willis were in due course submitted
to him. He might observe that day by day they
expressed a confident hope of the King's recovery. He
might observe that on the 13th the Queen and the
Princesses, whom the King had not seen since the 5th
of the last month, were brought into his presence with
out danger. He seized Her Majesty's hand, kissed it,
and held it in his during the whole interview, which
lasted half an hour. The little Princess Amelia, who
from her infancy had been his favourite child, sat upon
his lap.1 The Chancellor felt that he could temporise no
longer without great risk to his own position. With
the new hopes of the King's recovery which Dr. Willis
gave, he determined to take a bolder course on the
next occasion in the House of Lords. That next occa
sion came on the 15th of December. Then the Duke
of York made a good and sensible speech (his first in
Parliament), disavowing most expressly in his brother's
name any claim not derived from the will of the
people. The Chancellor upon this left the Woolsack
and addressed the House. He began by expressing his
great satisfaction that no claim of right was to be
raised by the Prince of Wales. But as he next pro
ceeded to the afflicted condition of the King, bis
emotion seemed to grow uncontrollable, his voice fal
tered, and he burst into a flood of tears. Recovering
himself, he declared his fixed and unalterable resolution
to stand by a Sovereign who, during a reign of twenty-
1 Locker MSS., as cited by Mr. Massey in his History of England,
vol. iii. p. 387.

1789 INTRIGUES OF THURLOW. 327
seven years, had proved his sacred regard to the prin
ciples which seated his family upon the Throne. Their
first duty, he said, was to preserve the rights of that
Sovereign entire, so that, when God should permit him
to recover, he might not find himself in a worse situa
tion than before his illness. The Chancellor dwelt on
his own feelings of grief and gratitude, and wrought
himself up at last to these celebrated words: * and when
I forget my King, may my God forget me ! '
It seems scarcely possible to exaggerate the strong
impression which this half sentence made. Within
the House itself the effect was not perhaps so satis
factory. Wilkes, who was standing under the Throne,
eyed the Chancellor askance, and muttered, ' God forget
you ! He will see you d  ¦ first ! ' Burke at the
same moment exclaimed, with equal wit and with no
profaneness, ' The best thing that can happen to you ! '
Pitt also was on the steps of the Throne. On Lord
Thurlow's imprecation he is said to have rushed out
of the House, exclaiming several times, ' Oh, what a
rascal ! ' ¦
But in the country at large the intrigues of Thurlow
were not known : they were not even suspected. He
was looked upon as the fearless assertor of his Sove
reign's rights — as a strictly honest man, prepared, if
need should be, to suffer for his honesty ; and the im
pressive half sentence which he had just pronounced
fell in exactly with the current of popular feeling at
the time. The words flew from mouth to mouth.
They were seen far and wide in England, printed around
portraits and wreaths, embossed on snuff-boxes, or em
broidered on pocket-books. It can scarcely be doubted
that in the Parliamentary conflict they became a valu
able auxiliary on the Minister's side.
Meanwhile, in the House of Commons Pitt was
steadily pursuing the course on which he had from the
1 Locker MSS., cited in the History of England by W. Massey,
Esq., vol. iii. p. 488.

328 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1788-
first determined. On the 16th he brought forward
three Resolutions ; the first a formal one, declaring the
fact of the King's illness, and the second asserting in
the clearest terms that it was both the right and duty
of the two Houses to provide the means of supplying
the defect in the Royal authority. For this purpose —
so said the third Resolution — it was necessary that the
two Houses should determine the means of giving the
Royal Assent to such a Bill of Regency as they were
about to pass. Being called upon to state what was
meant by this last Resolution, Pitt explained that the
Chancellor should be empowered by a joint vote of
both Houses to put the Great Seal to a Commission for
giving the Royal Assent to the intended Bill. This
device — or this ' Phantom,' as the Opposition called it
— to use the Great Seal without the King's authority,
and to give the Royal Assent without the Royal know
ledge, was no doubt a strange anomaly ; yet it is hard
to say, under such unprecedented difficulties, what
lesser anomaly or what better expedient could have
been devised.
It was against the second and essential Resolution,
containing the pith of the scheme, that the main
Opposition stand was made. We find, as we might
expect, some complaints of ' rats ' in the Ministerial
correspondence of that time. The chiefs of Opposition
had whispered that the reign of George the Third was
now, in fact, at an end, and the Prince had condescended
to assume the part of a canvasser for votes. He wrote
himself to the Earl of Lonsdale, soliciting as a personal
favour his aid on this occasion. The Earl issued his
mandate accordingly, and ' Lord Lonsdale's people,' as
Mr. Grenville terms them • — that is, the Members whom
he nominated, declared themselves, reluctantly perhaps,
against the Government.
In this debate, on the 16th of December, Lord
North spoke against the Government proposal with
1 Letter to Lord Buckingham, December 17, 1788.

1789 PITT'S RESOLUTIONS. 329
great temper and great ability. Fox also, though
labouring under severe indisposition, put forth his
admirable powers. 'One of the best speeches I ever
heard from him,' writes Mr. Grenville the next day.
That great speech may, however, be justly charged
with indiscretion ; for in one passage Fox bitterly in
veighed against his rival, alleging that Pitt would
never have proposed any limitation on the Prince's
power, had he not been conscious that he did not
deserve the Prince's confidence, and would not be the
Prince's Minister. But this unworthy taunt exposed
him — and perhaps not him alone — to a most severe
reply. ' I declare,' said Pitt, ' the attack which the
Right Hon. gentleman has just now made to be un
founded, arrogant, and presumptuous. As to my being
conscious that I do not deserve the favour of the
Prince, I can only say that I know but one way in
which I or any man could deserve it — by having
uniformly endeavoured in a public . situation to do my
duty to the King his father, and to the country at
large. If, in thus endeavouring to deserve the confi
dence of the Prince, it should appear that I, in fact,
have lost it, however painful and mortifying that
circumstance may be to me, and from whatever cause
it may proceed, I may indeed regret it, but I will
boldly say it is impossible I should ever repent of it.'
Of this reply from Pitt, Grenville says next day to
his brother, ' I never heard a finer burst of eloquence,
nor witnessed such an impression as it produced.' That
impression was indeed perceptible in the division which
ensued. Then, in spite of all the efforts of all the Prince's
party, the second Resolution was affirmed by 268 votes
against 204. ' The division exceeded our expectations,'
writes Grenville. ' All the neutrals, and many of the
wavering people, and some of the most timid of our
friends were against us.'
The Resolution was again debated, but with no
different issue, in its further stages. It is painful on

330 . LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1788-
one of these occasions to view so mighty an intellect as
Burke's expose itself by its bursts of passion to the
contempt of far inferior minds. Even Sir William
Young, a Buckinghamshire Member altogether un
known to fame, could speak of him in one debate as
' Folly personified.' Burke had so far forgot himself
as to compare the Chancellor to one of the least decent
of the Pagan deities, and to draw a caricature descrip
tion of his face. ' It is intended,' he said, ' as I have
heard, to set up a man with black brows and a large
wig ; he is the fit person ; trust none of the Royal
family; he will be a kind of scarecrow to the two
Houses ; he is to give a fictitious assent in the King's
name, and this is to be binding on the people ! I do
not approve of any robbery, whether housebreaking,
highway robbery, or any other ; yet each of them in my
opinion is more excusable than this.'
In writing to Lord Buckingham, Sir William Young
goes on to say of Burke that 'he finished his wild
speech in a manner next to madness.' Burke was then
inveighing against the supposed intention to restrain
the Regent from any grant of peerages. ' It is not
very decorous,' he cried. -'Suppose, for instance, the
Prince wished to bestow honours on the house of Caven
dish, would any person in this House have the audacity
to dispute the propriety of such an honour ? Or, sup
pose His Royal Highness should be disposed to revive
the title of. Rockingham  .' Strange that so pro
found a reasoner did not perceive that here he was
striking a wrong chord ! Strange that he could expect
any public sympathy to this mere personal grievance !
Strange that he should not anticipate the philosophic
resignation with which the country would be disposed
to bear the calamity that some months or some years
must elapse before fresh honours could be heaped on
one or other of the Great Whig Houses ! Stranger
still that he failed to see around him the anxiety of his
own friends to restrain him, and the eagerness, as we

1789 PITT'S RESOLUTIONS. 331
find it recorded, of his opponents to cheer him onwards
as hoping to hear from his loquacity the entire list of
the intended Peers! A perfect hurricane of tumult
was raised by such contending emotions, and to this, in
nearly his concluding sentence, Burke referred. ' In
vociferation and noise,' he cried, ' some persons are very
great, but I know a set of hounds that would eclipse
them.' The three Resolutions of Pitt, being carried through
the House of Commons, were next sent up for the
concurrence of the House of Lords. The debate upon
them stood fixed for the 26th of December. Up almost
to that time Lord Thurlow does not seem to have
wholly lost the hope of making some terms with the
Prince ; but on Christmas Day he sought a secret inter
view with Fox, and expressed his desire that the negotia
tion between them might be considered at an end.
As Fox next day reports the matter to Lord Lough
borough : ' It was much the pleasantest conversation I
have had with him for many years. Upon the business
of our interview he was perfectly open and explicit,
and dismissed the subject as soon as possible with
perfect good humour, in order to talk upon general
ones in our old manner of conversing. He was in a
talkative vein, and France, Spain, Hastings, Demos
thenes, and Cicero were all talked over as if between
two friends who had neither political contention nor
enmity.' 1
The Chancellor being thus set free from his late
entanglement, took a decided part in the impending
debate, and gave battle with great force to Lord Lough
borough. In vain did Lord Rawdon, as a personal
adherent of the Prince, interpose with an amendment
tending to avoid a decision on the abstract point of
right ; the original Resolutions were affirmed by 99
Peers against 66.
By these votes of the Commons and the Lords the
1 See Lord Campbell's Lives of the Chancellors, vol. vi. p. 206.

332 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1788-
ground was cleared for Pitt's proposal with respect to
the Regency Bill, a proposal hitherto kept secret, and
indeed not yet fully matured. But during the interval
he received a most signal token of the public esteem
and approbation.
It was well known by the public that Pitt would not
be continued one hour in office by the Regent. It was
known that he had already taken measures for return
ing to his first profession. It was also known, perhaps,
that his neglect of his private affairs had involved him
in some debts, which he trusted to discharge by an in
dustrious application of his talents at the Bar. At this
very time, however, there was held, by public advertise
ment, a meeting of the principal bankers and moneyed
men of London, anxious to tender him on his retirement
from office a substantial mark of their esteem. The
sum of 50,000L was first proposed, but, so great was the
enthusiasm, that in the space of forty-eight hours this
sum was doubled, and Mr. George Rose, as his Secre
tary of the Treasury, was requested to press upon him,
in the manner most likely to be acceptable, a free gift
of 100,OOOZ. But Mr. Pitt answered his friend as fol
lows : ' No consideration upon earth shall ever induce
me to accept it.' 1
Surely it was not without reason, nor merely from
the warmth of private friendship, that we find William
Grenville at almost the same date exclaim to his brother,
' There certainly never was in this country at any period
such a situation as Mr. Pitt's.' 2
As regarded the plan of the impending Regency, it
was on full deliberation the judgment of the Minister
that the care of the Royal Person, together with the
direction and appointment of all offices in the Royal
Household, should remain with the Queen ; that the
1 Compare on this transaction the letter of Sir William Young
to Lord Buckingham of December 23, 1788, with the statement of
Mr. Rose in the House of Commons after Pitt's decease, February 3,
1806. 2 See the Courts a,nd Cabinets of George III, vol. ii. p. 81.

1789 PITT'S REGENCY PLAN. 333
Prince of Wales, as Regent, shoidd have no power to
grant peerages except to his brothers on their attaining
the age of twenty-one ; that His Royal Highness should
not be enabled to grant the real or personal property of
the King, nor any office in reversion, nor for any other
term than during His Majesty's pleasure any pension;
or any office whatsoever except such as must by law be|
granted for life, or during good behaviour. These re
strictions, as Mr. Pitt explained, were all founded on
the hope of the King's recovery at no distant period.
But if unhappily the reverse should prove to be the
case, it would, he said, be open hereafter to the wisdom
of Parliament to reconsider the arrangement it had
made. The first step of Mr. Pitt towards his Regency Bill
was to announce its provisions in a letter to the Prince
of Wales. This he did on the 30th of December. ' My
dear Lord,' thus at once wrote the Prince to Lough
borough, ' I have just received a letter from the Minis
ter with such restrictions as no Dictator could possibly,
. I think, ever have been barefaced enough to have
brought forward. Pray come to Charles's as soon as
you possibly can, to take these matters into considera
tion.' Several other persons besides Fox and Lough
borough were drawn by the Prince into council, and
his reply to Pitt having been framed with great care,
was on the 2nd of January, 1789, despatched in the
name of His Royal Highness. This letter, which has
been often printed, is certainly one of the best State-
papers in the English language. Most stately and
courteous in its tone, while most severe and searching
in its comments, it comprises in its pregnant brevity
all the arguments that could be urged against the
Ministerial measure. This masterly performance came
from the pen of Burke, and it may well enhance our
just admiration of Burke's transcendent powers when we
find him on so lofty an occasion enabled to adopt a wholly
different style, lay aside his gorgeous imagery, and rise

334 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1788-
clear from those gusts of violence in which he had so
recently indulged.
Two days afterwards Mr. Pitt, in the name of the
whole Government, replied as follows to the Prince's
letter : Whitehall, Jan. 5, 1789.
The King's servants have received the paper which your
Royal Highness was pleased to communicate to them through
the Lord Chancellor.
They beg leave respectfully to assure your Royal High
ness that if the plan which they took the liberty of submit
ting to your Royal Highness had appeared to them in the
fight in which they have the mortification to observe that it
is considered by your Royal Highness, it would never have
occurred to them to propose it. The King's servants, in
forming this plan for the intermediate settlement which the
present calamity requires, have had constantly in view that
object of which your Royal Highness expresses the fullest
approbation — restoring to the King, whenever His Majesty's
health is sufficiently recovered, the personal exercise of that
government which in right and law still resides with His
Majesty, and also the providing in a competent manner for
the intermediate preservation of that dignity which ought
not to be separated from the Royal Person. In this view,
while they considered the temporary exercise of the Royai
authority on His Majesty's behalf and during His Majesty's
illness as essentially different from the actual possession of
the Crown, they have at the same time been anxious to
extend that authority to every article which they could con
ceive essential or necessary for the temporary administration
of the King's power. They have deeply to regret that a plan
formed to the best of their judgment, for these purposes,
should have appeared liable to the observations contained in
the paper which your Royal Highness has been pleased to
communicate. But as on the fullest deliberation they cannot
but consider the principles of that plan as resulting from
their indispensable duty to their Sovereign, and as there is
no part of the subject on which your Royal Highness has
intimated your pleasure for receiving any particular explana
tions, they trust they shall not be thought wanting in the
respect which they owe, and which they must always be

1789 GRENVILLE ELECTED SPEAKER. 335
anxious to certify, to your Royal Highness, if they still feel
themselves bound to adhere to these principles in the pro
positions to be offered to the consideration of Parliament.
On the same day as the date of the Prince's letter,
the 2nd of January, and after a short illness, the Speaker,
Mr. Cornwall, died. As might be expected from the
state of parties, a contest ensued. The Government
proposed Mr. Grenville, and the Opposition Sir Gilbert
Elliot ; but the former was elected by a large majority,
215 against 144. It was hoped, however, by the latter
party that a new source of embarrassment to the Minis
ters had here arisen. The Duke of York, who in these
transactions had taken part warmly with his elder
brother, expressed in all companies his exultation that
now the immediate appointment of a Regent was in
evitable, since the new Speaker could not be confirmed
without the Royal authority. But Pitt was not the
man to be baffled by a mere obstacle of form. The new
Speaker stated the case to the House for their instruc
tions, and expressed his desire to follow the precedents of
the Restoration and the Revolution, in neither of which
cases was the Speaker presented for the Royal approval.
The House acquiesced in this course, and the business
of Parliament proceeded as before.
Next, however, there came another obstruction from
the proposal which Fox warmly pressed of a new Com
mittee to examine the King's physicians. He hoped to
elicit some later evidence unfavourable to the prospect
of His Majesty's recovery, and therefore unfavourable
also to the restrictions proposed on His Royal Highness.
Pitt granted the Committee, and it sat for a week. Dr.
Willis, who appeared before it, underwent a long and
bitter cross-examination by the Opposition chiefs, who
could not forgive his sanguine hopes. With signal want
of judgment they ventured on a scandalous and wholly
unfounded insinuation, reflecting not only on himself,
but on the Queen. ,They hinted, and the charge was

336 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1788-
re-echoed by the Opposition press, that the Queen and
Dr. Willis were in collusion for the purpose of misrepre
senting the health of the King, and of defeating the
claims of the Prince. Such an allegation could only
recoil upon its authors, as they speedily discovered by
its effect upon the public out of doors.
When at last the Committee had given in its Report,
not at all in the sense that Fox had expected, Pitt
was able on the 16th of January to move five Resolu
tions embodying those restrictions on the Regency
which he had announced in his letter to the Prince.
In his opening speech he referred with just resentment
to the calumnious insinuation which he had heard in
the Committee up-stairs, and dared any one to bring it
forward in a direct and tangible form. It was a charge
of no common gravity on any physician that he should
submit to be unduly influenced by a great personage,
and consent to give an untrue account of His Majesty's
health. It was a charge of no common gravity on an
illustrious lady, ' who had lived for almost thirty years
in this country without blame of any kind, a pattern of
domestic tenderness and virtue, against whom the breath
of calumny had not dared to send forth even a whisper,
and who could merit it least of all at a moment when
visited by the heaviest affliction.' And Pitt might have
added, but he did not, how doubly hard, how doubly
cruel, the charge against her if it had been sanctioned
by one of her own sons.
In the debates that now ensued the principal spokes
man on the Prince's side was Sheridan, and the chief
struggle was on the fifth Resolution, which related to
the Royal Household. But here the Minister again
prevailed. A moderate amendment, moved by Lord
North, to insert the words ' for a limited time,' was
rejected on the 19th of January by 220 votes against
165. The five Resolutions being communicated to the
Lords, were by them affirmed, though not without a

1789 THE REGENCY BILL. 337
keen debate, a division, and a protest, the latter signed
among others by their Royal Highnesses of York and
Cumberland. The next step was to open Parliament in
form by a Commission under the Great Seal, and the
next, on the 5th of February, to introduce in the House
of Commons the Regency Bill founded on the preceding
Resolutions. The Bill passed rapidly through all its
stages. The Opposition were dispirited by their recent
failures. Fox was ill, and had gone to Bath. Burke
alone indulged in some new sallies of passion. Thus
one day we find him inveighing against the Minister,
who he said was 'acting treason. By his Bill he in
tends not only to degrade the Prince of Wales, but to
outlaw, excommunicate, and attaint the whole House of
Brunswick.' But here, amidst loud cries of ' Order,' Mr. Pitt rose.
* In any attacks upon myself,' he said, ' I seldom think
it worth while to interrupt the Right Hon. gentleman,
or, indeed, to make him any answer. But when the
acts of the House are called in question, and a Bill,
avowedly founded on those acts, is described in such
terms as we have heard, I do hope that the House will
interpose its authority.'
Still Burke was by no means checked in his wild
career. On a later day he gave still much more offence
by some words that seemed an insult to the King. He
spoke of his afflicted Sovereign as ' having been by the
Almighty hurled from his Throne and plunged into a
condition which drew down upon him the pity of the
meanest peasant in his kingdom ! ' But here a storm
of indignation rose. Lord Graham sprang up and de
clared he would allow no man to say the King was
hurled from the Throne. ' Take down his words ! '
cried other Members. Burke attempted to explain, but
with slight effect upon the House.
The Regency Bill finally passed the House of Com
mons on the 12th of February. On the 17th and 18th
the Peers discussed it in Committee. The Third Read-
vol. I. z

338 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1788-
ing was close impending, and the Chancellor was ready
to give immediately afterwards the substitute for the-
Royal Assent.
But a change was now at hand in the King's health.
On the 2nd of February Miss Burney met the King by
accident for the first time since the 5th of November.
He was walking in Kew Gardens between the two
Doctors Willis, and engaged her in conversation for a
considerable time. She observed some wildness in his
eyes, and a great deal of incoherence in his language.
From the 6th the improvement grew rapid and decided.
Dr. Willis, who was in daily communication with Mr.
Pitt, declared himself clearly of opinion that after a
short period no part of His Majesty's mental disorder
would remain. For some time Dr. Warren was reluc
tant to acknowledge any real improvement in the face
of his gloomy predictions. But ere long he was over
powered by the force of facts. The public bulletin of
the 12th of February mentioned 'progressive amend
ment,' and that of the 17th ' a state of convalescence.'
Still Pitt and Lord Thurlow, feeling the magnitude
of the point at issue, hesitated. But Dr. Willis was
clear in his own opinion. He sought an interview with
Lord Thurlow, and repeated that opinion in the strongest
terms. As the story was afterwards told by one of his
sons, Dr. Willis actually ' bullied ' the Chancellor be
fore he could make him stir in the matter.
On the 19th, however, a Cabinet was held, and in
consequence of the decision which was there adopted
the Chancellor that same evening rose in the House of
Lords, and announcing the auspicious news proposed
that the Committee on the Regency Bill should be put
off till the 23rd. 'And,' Miss Burney adds, 'this
evening, for the first time, the King came upstairs to
drink tea with the Queen and Princesses in the drawing-
room. Huzza ! huzza ! '
On that afternoon also Pitt wrote to his mother,
after several weeks of silence, to give her the good news.

1789 RECOVERY OF THE KING. 339
Thursday, Feb. 19, 1789.
My dear Mother, — You will have seen for some days
how constantly the news from Kew has been improving.
The public account this morning is that the King continues
advancing in recovery. The private one is that he is to all
appearance perfectly well, and if it were the case of a private
man, would be immediately declared so. It remains only to
consider how far he can bear the impression of the state of
public business ; but in consequence of these circumstances
the Bill will probably be postponed in the House of Lords
to-day till Monday ; and if the prospect is then confirmed,
the plan of the Regency must probably be altered with a
view to a very short interval indeed, or perhaps wholly laid
aside. This intelligence will be welcome enough to excuse a
short letter, and I could not resist the pleasure of commu
nicating it, though not in a moment, as you may imagine, of
much more leisure than even for some time past under
different circumstances.
Ever, my dear Mother, &c, W. Pitt.
On the 20th the Chancellor went himself to Kew, and
had an interview of an hour and a quarter with the
King. He was with His Majesty again on the 22nd,
and reported to Pitt that he never at any period had
seen him more composed, collected, and distinct. On
the 23rd — thus writes Mr. Grenville to his brother at
Dublin Castle — ' the two Princes were at Kew, and saw
the King in the Queen's apartment. She was present
the whole time, a precaution for which, God knows,
there was but too much reason. They kept him waiting
a considerable time before they arrived, and after they
left him drove immediately to Mrs. Armistead's in Park
Street, in hopes of finding Fox there, to give him an
account of what had passed.'
Later on the same day, the 23rd, the King wrote his
first letter since his illness to Pitt ; an excellent letter,
as Wilberforce, to whom it was shown in confidence,
calls it in his Diary. On the morrow ensued the first
interview between the Monarch and the Minister. Pitt
z 2

340 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1788-
on his return from Kew called upon Grenville, and gave
him in perfect unreserve an account of what had passed.
' I was with the King,' he said, ' above an hour this
morning. There was not the smallest trace or appear
ance of any disorder. His manner was unusually com
posed and dignified, but there was no other difference
whatever from what I had been used to see. The King
spoke of his disorder as of a thing past, and which had
left no other impression on his mind than that of gra
titude for his recovery, and a sense of what he owed
to those who had stood by him. He spoke of these
in such a manner as brought tears into his eyesj but
with that degree of affection of mind there was not
the least appearance of his disorder. After I had left
His Majesty I conversed with Willis, who told me that
he now thought the King quite well ; that he could not
perceive the least trace remaining of his malady.'
Thus fell to the ground at once the Regency Bill,
and all that airy fabric of hopes which the Opposition
had reared upon it. The sole remaining question was
whether the King's resumption of authority should be
by his own act or through an examination of physicians.
The latter course would have been the more logical and
Parliamentary, but the former was most in accordance
with personal respect and public feeling, and this was
accordingly preferred.
The exultation of the great body of the people at the
good news of the King's recovery was most warmly
shown. On the day when he resumed his authority
there was, unbidden by the Government, a general illu
mination of London. His domestic virtues could not
but be contrasted in the minds of all by-standers with
the character and recent conduct of the Prince of Wales.
As a day of public Thanksgiving the 23rd of April was
appointed, and it was kept with every token of heartfelt
joy and gratitude in all the churches and chapels of the
kingdom. The public joy which appeared throughout the land

1789 RECOVERY OF THE KING. 341
on the 23rd of April attained its highest pitch, its most
eminent manifestation, in London, where the King and
Queen, attended by the Royal Family, by the two
Houses of Parliament, and by the great Officers of
State, went in procession to attend the solemn service
of Thanksgiving at St. Paul's. The streets along the
line of route, the windows and the platforms which had
been raised beside them, were thronged with an innu
merable concourse of spectators ; and within the cathe
dral no sooner had His Majesty reached the open space
under the great dome, than the organ, accompanied by
the voices of above five thousand children of the City
Charity Schools, began the hundredth psalm. The
simple melody joined to the spectacle much affected the
King. He had walked in between the Bishop of Lon
don and the Bishop of Lincoln as Dean of St. Paul's ;
and turning to the latter, he said with great emotion,
' I now feel that I have been ill.' In the evening there
ensued a second illumination, general and brilliant
beyond all former example.
The day of Thanksgiving at St. Paul's is regarded by
Lord Macaulay as the zenith in the political life of
Mr. Pitt. ' To such a height of power and glory,' he
says, ' had this extraordinary man risen at twenty-nine
years of age. And now,' he adds, perhaps less justly,
' the tide was on the turn.'
The joy in England at the restoration of the King,
though its mainspring was the national loyalty, might
no doubt be further heightened on considering what
would have been the results in Ireland had his malady
continued. The most eminent members of the Irish
Legislature had come to London in December. Mr.
Grattan had closely watched the proceedings of the
House of Commons from beneath the Gallery, but had
given no public indication of his views. In truth, how
ever, so far as the question of Regency was concerned,
he had thoroughly espoused the opinions of Fox. When,
therefore, the Irish Parliament met in February, Grattan,

342 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1788-
far from following the precedent set in England, moved
an Address to the Prince of Wales inviting him to
assume, during the King's illness, the Government of
Ireland, with full kingly powers. This Address was
carried in both Houses. Being then in due form laid
before the Lord Lieutenant, His Excellency replied
that a sense of his official duty as a sworn servant of
the King must preclude him from transmitting, as was
requested, this Address to England. Then the two
Houses, again urged on by Grattan, resolved to send
over their Address by delegates of their own. For this
mission the Commons chose four of their members, and
the Peers the Duke of Leinster and Lord Charlemont.
It follows, therefore, that had not George the Third
at this very_period resumed his Royal functions, the
Regency in the two countries would have been held on
wholly different tenures — in England with restricted,
in Ireland with unrestricted authority. Hard it seems
to say whether such a result, if carried to its full conse
quences, would have been attended with most of incon
venience or most of ridicule ; and this instance is alone
sufficient to cast the gravest doubts in an Imperial
point of view on the wisdom and policy of that Legis
lative Equality which Grattan had achieved in 1782.
On reviewing the whole of these Parliamentary con
flicts, they will be found, I think, to reflect high honour
on Mr. Pitt. He had certainly an up-hill battle to fight.
With the general belief, in the first instance, that the
King's recovery was hopeless, there was also a general
desire to find favour with the Prince of Wales. And
the question being wholly new, there was no incon
sistency involved in any vote that might be given on
the side of His Royal Highness. Nothing but the
consummate skill and unconquerable firmness of Pitt
could have waged so unequal a conflict with success.
Even these might not have prevailed, had they not been
aided by the faults of his opponents. The whole con
duct of the Prince's friends, from the first claim of

1789 RECOVERY OF THE KING. 343
right by Fox down to the last gust of passion from
Burke, does indeed display an extraordinary series of
errors. Had they done what was prudent, or, what
is often most prudent in difficult emergencies, done
nothing at all, the majority of Pitt might have
wavered or broke asunder, and the restrictions which
he deemed requisite might not have been imposed.
But the argument may be carried further still. We
may observe that all the delays and obstructions which
took place in the appointment of a Regency, came, not
from Mr. Pitt, but from his opponents. Had they not,
besides putting forward their inadmissible claim of right,
moved for new Committees and fresh examinations, the
Prince of Wales must have assumed the government
soon after Christmas. The King after his recovery more
than once declared that, had he then found a Regency
established, he should have regarded it as an Act of
Lunacy against himself, and should have refused to
resume his power. But in any case the authority of
the Prince as Regent, and of Mr. Fox as Minister, even
had it endured only a few weeks, would have been of
no slight importance. A great number of Members of
Parliament desirous of supporting the Government of
the day would have passed over to the new standard
and become committed to it ; and if Mr. Pitt had then
come back to office under the King's resumed authority,
it would have been as shorn of no small part of his past
ascendant. It may be added before I quit this subject, that the
King's recovery, though complete for all purposes of
government, was not clear of all clouds, nor free from
all danger of relapse. His letters to Mr. Pitt during
the remainder of the Session contain many complaints
that he did not feel well. It appears also that Dr.
Willis and his son Dr. John paid occasional visits to
the King, both at Kew and Windsor, during the months
of April, May, and June.
We may also observe that on the King's recovery

344 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1789-
his attachment to his Chancellor appeared the same as
before. Perhaps Mr. Pitt may have been unwilling to
agitate His Majesty, and forbore from stating to him
the treacherous conduct of Lord Thurlow during the
Royal malady. Perhaps the King, in spite of such a
statement, may have retained his former feelings.
Certain it is that we find him, in writing to Mr. Pitt, on
April 21, 1789, strongly press for a cordial concert
between his two principal Ministers. But the Chan
cellor proved the truth of the vigorous lines,
Forgiveness to the injured does belong : —
But they ne'er pardon who have done the wrong.
It was he who, ever since the King's recovery, showed
aversion and bitterness to Mr. Pitt, rather than Mr. Pitt
to him.

CHAPTER XIII.
1789-1790.

Pitt's financial measures — Wilberforce's Speech on the Slave Trade
— Mr. Addington elected Speaker — Promotions in the Peerage —
Duel between the Duke of York and Colonel Lennox — National
defences— Lord Buckingham's wish for a Dukedom — Refused by
the King — Lord Westmorland appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ire
land—Trial of Stockdale — French Revolution — Opinions of Fox
and Burke— Policy of Pitt — Affair of Nootka Sound— Dissolution
of Parliament — The Westminster Election — Continued difference
with Spain — Secret negotiation at Paris — Convention signed at
Madrid— Dr. Price and Lord Stanhope — Essay on the French
Revolution by Burke.
On the restoration of the King to health, the debates
in Parliament, so long confined to the single topic of
his illness, resumed their customary course. In finance,
Pitt consented to remit the Shop-tax, which he had
imposed in 1785. It had grown highly unpopular,
above all in London and Westminster, which paid, as
is alleged, three fourths of the whole tax ; and Fox had

1790 PITT'S FINANCIAL MEASURES. 345
brought forward annual motions against it, which Pitt
had successfully resisted, but in which his majorities
had declined.
Another financial measure of this year related to
the tax upon tobacco. Pitt had calculated that twelve
millions of pounds were annually consumed in the king
dom, while the legal importation was only of seven mil
lions; so that no less than five millions must be
smuggled, at a loss to the revenue of 30O,OO0L a year.
To remedy this pernicious system, Pitt proposed and
carried a Bill, transferring the greater part of the duty
from the Customs to the Excise, and therefore, of course,
subjecting the manufacturer of tobacco to the survey of
the Exciseman.
In 1789, owing chiefly to the delays produced by
the King's illness, the House of Lords could allot only
seventeen days to the trial of Hastings, so that little
progress was made. But the vehemence of Burke ex
posed the party of the prosecutors to considerable dis
advantage. In opening the Charge relative to presents,
on the 21st of April, he travelled far beyond the limits
of that Charge, asserting in express terms that Hastings
had murdered Nuncomar by the hands of Sir Elijah
Impey. Upon this Mr. Hastings drew up, and Major
Scott presented, a petition to the House of Commons,
complaining of such unauthorised allegations on the
part of those who professed to speak as the representa
tives and from the instructions of the House. Several
warm debates ensued. Fox did his best to vindicate
his friend ; but with better reason Pitt maintained that
it was utterly unjustifiable in the Managers to bring
forward accusations against Mr. Hastings which were
not contained in the Articles of Impeachment, and
which could not therefore be comprised in the directions
of the House. And finally, on the motion of the
Marquis of Graham, one of the Lords of the Treasury,
a vote of censure was carried, by a large majority, upon
the words which Burke had used.

346 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1789-
On the 8th of May Mr. Henry Beaufoy renewed the
motion for a repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts.
Though withstood both by Pitt and Lord North — a
present and a late Prime Minister — there was but a
small majority against the motion ; the numbers being
122 and 102. This deserves to be noticed as one of
the last occasions when the Commons' debates display
to us the once familiar name of Lord North. His
health had become impaired, and next year he succeeded
his father as Earl of Guilford.
Another proposal made in this Session by Mr.
Beaufoy was to set apart by Act of Parliament a day of
annual Thanksgiving for the Revolution of 1688. The
Bill for this purpose passed the Commons with little
notice or remark. But in the Lords it stirred up so
much indignation in the breast of at least one Prelate,
Bishop Warren of Bangor, that his Lordship would not,
according to the usual form, await the Second Reading,
but opposed it even on the first. This Bill, the Bishop
said, was quite unnecessary, since the great event of the
Revolution was already commemorated by the Church
in the Service of the 5th of November — 'a Service,'
added his Lordship, ' drawn up with great gravity and
wisdom, and as unexceptionable a Service as any in the
whole Book of Common Prayer.' On the other hand,
Lord Stanhope, replying to the Bishop of Bangor, found
great fault with the Service of the 5th of November.
But the Chancellor declaring his full agreement with
the Bishop, the Bill was thrown out, in a thin House,
by thirteen Peers to six.
On the 12th of May Mr. Wilberforce brought for
ward the question of the Slave Trade. His speech of
three hours and a quarter was acknowledged as one of
the ablest and most powerful ever heard in Parliament.
He was warmly supported both by Pitt and Fox. Yet,
strange as it may seem, the cause for which such men
combined, instead of making further way, receded.
The exertions of the planters, the cries of Liverpool

1790 ADDINGTON ELECTED SPEAKER. 347
and Bristol, had succeeded in creating a vague, but
prevalent feeling of alarm. The Abolition of the
nefarious traffic had begun to be commonly looked upon
as a fine-spun theory ; sounding well in speeches, but
likely to be ruinous in practice. All that could be
done this year was to avoid an open defeat by calling
for further evidence at the Bar of the House of Com
mons. Before the close of the Session there was another
vacancy in the Chair of the House of Commons. During
the King's illness Grenville had agreed to fill that post,
as a temporary measure at a difficult crisis, and with a
clear understanding that it was ' not to prejudice his
other views.' In June accordingly he was named
Secretary of State, in the place of Lord Sydney. He
was succeeded as Speaker, on the nomination of the
Government, by Henry Addington, son of the physician
and friend of Lord Chatham, and himself a friend of
Pitt. It proved an excellent choice, though question
able at the outset on the ground of youth and inex
perience, since Addington had but just completed his
thirty-second year.
Lord Sydney did not retire from Downing Street
without some substantial tokens of the friendship and
esteem of Pitt. He received a sinecure office for life,
as Chief Justice of Eyre, which had recently fallen
vacant, and was worth 2,500L a year.1 Moreover he
was advanced a step in the Peerage as Viscount Sydney,
and his eldest son was made a Lord of the Admiralty.
The wishes of the Earl of Salisbury, Lord Chamberlain,
and of Viscount Weymouth were also gratified by a like
promotion. The former became Marquis of Salisbury,
and the latter Marquis of Bath. Lord Fortescue having
represented, through Mr. Pitt, that he stood high in
the list of Barons, and that an Earldom had already
been held in his family, he was advanced to that
dignity. The King, in the letter which expressed his
1 Cornwallis Correspondence, vol. ii. p. 5.

348 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1789-
assent to these favours, proposed of his own accord
another Earldom for Lord Mount Edgcumbe, which was
conferred accordingly. A little later in the year, Wil
liam Eden, now ambassador at the Hague, was raised to
the Irish peerage as Lord Auckland.
In the spring of this year was fought a duel between
the Duke of York and Colonel Lennox, nephew and
heir-presumptive of the Duke of Richmond. The
Colonel had gone up to His Royal Highness, on the
parade at St. James's, and asked for an explanation of
some disparaging words, relative to himself, which the
Duke was reported to have used elsewhere. The Duke
with great propriety ordered the Colonel to return to
his post ; but when the parade was over, His Royal
Highness went into the Orderly Room, sent for Colonel
Lennox, and in the presence of all the other officers
said to him, ' I desire to derive no protection from my
rank as a Prince, or my station as commanding officer.
When not on duty I wear a brown coat, and shall be
ready as a private gentleman to give you satisfaction.'
In consequence a meeting took place at Wimbledon,
both parties to fire upon a signal given. The ball of
Colonel Lennox grazed one of the Duke's curls, but His
Royal Highness did not fire in return, and the seconds
then put a close to the affair. The result was mainly
to exhibit in strong colours the unhappy estrangement
which late events had wrought in the Royal Family :
for a ball being given at St. James's shortly afterwards,
Colonel Lennox received an invitation from Her Majesty ;
and it is added, not perhaps on sufficient grounds, that
on coming he was treated with marked attention.1
In the summer, the King being advised to confirm
his health by some sea-bathing, went to Weymouth,
accompanied by the Queen and Princesses. His mode
of life upon the coast is thus described : — ' He usually
rises at six, walks the Parade till eight, takes breakfast
before ten, rides till three, dines at four, and resumes the
1 See on this point the Fox Memorials, vol. ii. p. 308.

1790 THE KING AT WEYMOUTH. 349
promenade with the Queen and Princesses till late in
the evening, provided the weather be fine.' Sometimes
the scene was varied by a sailing party on the sea, or
an excursion inland ; and their Majesties visited both
Exeter and Plymouth before they returned to Windsor.1
Towards the same period we find Pitt write to Lady
Chatham, and refer with great interest to the events in
France. It was on the very day of the taking of the
Bastille. Downing Street, July 14, 1789.
My dear Mother, — I find at last a little leisure for using
my pen, from the circumstance, which the papers would in
form you of, of my being within these two days a prisoner
from a lameness, which is just enough to confine me, and to
justify some pretensions to the name of gout. Lest it should
be magnified into more than it is, I am anxious that you
should receive from myself a certificate of my being in all
other respects perfectly well, and feeling very little incon
venience indeed from this slight specimen of what I have
long been very well entitled to. I am very happy to be able
to tell you that we draw within sight of the close of the
Session, not very long after which I hope to find myself at
liberty to extend my excursion as far as Burton. Indeed I
flatter myself the King's stay in the West will give me a
very good opportunity of remaining in that part of the world
something nearer a reasonable time than has been the case
in any of my visits lately. You will easily believe this
makes me not the less impatient for the Recess, which pro
mises at present, in all respects, a good share of holidays.
Our neighbours in France seem coming to actual extremes,
the King having suddenly dismissed M. Necker, and appear
ing determined to support his authority against the National
Assembly. This scene, added to the prevailing scarcity, makes
that country an object of compassion, even to a rival.
Believe me ever, my dear Mother, &c,
W. Pitt.
Let me add my affectionate compfiments to Mrs. Staple-
ton, and kind remembrances to Mrs. Sparry. I long to see
1 Compare the Ann. Reg., 1789, p. 261, with Miss Burney's Diary,
vol. iv. pp. 28-66, and the King's own account of his health in a
note to Pitt, dated Exeter, August 27, 1789.

350 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1789-
your sweet little companions, whom I can hardly expect to
know again.
The ' little companions ' mentioned in this letter
were Pitt's three nieces, the Ladies Stanhope, who were
then on a visit to their grandmother. Owing to Lord
Stanhope's estrangement from him, he had not seen
them for a considerable time.
The following letter from the Duke of Richmond in
dicates not his own views merely, but those of Pitt, at
this period in respect to national defences.
Goodwood, Sept. 13, 1789.
My dear Sir,
I perfectly agree with you that the popular prejudice in
favour of the Navy and against fortifications is so gi'eat, that
it would be much easier to avail oneself of the former than
to combat the latter; and I think if all was ready to set
these people at work immediately on bringing water into
Plymouth Dock town for the use of the navy, it would be
best so to employ them. But the misfortune is that neither
the plan is sufficiently settled to be able to proceed upon
immediately, nor the ground through which the stream must
be brought purchased, so that until an Act of Parliament is
passed to buy the land, nothing material can be done. But
if the works on Maker could be gone on with, they might
begin to-morrow. I suggested this as an idea which might
possibly be mentioned to the Western members ; and if they
approved of it as a remedy for such a dangerous case, I think
it might be adopted ; but while things are quiet, people are
very apt to neglect the means of keeping them so, and the
same idea will prevail more than it ought on account of
France's present situation. It will make us too secure, and
neglect the going on with those fortifications which, take my
word for it, we shall some day regret not having pursued ;
but I am sensible how difficult it is to impress this idea
generally, and therefore, like most other things, it must take
its chance, and be governed by that great agent accident,
instead of prudence. I shall, however, prepare the plan for
getting the water to Plymouth Dock as you desire.
I shall at all times be happy to see you, and am only

1790 NATIONAL DEFENCES. 351
sorry it is likely to be so late as a month hence, as I wish
to show you two very long letters I have had from the
Chancellor, and my answer. He is by no means in good
humour, and there are some points I wish much to talk to
you upon. I am ever most truly and sincerely yours,
Richmond.
During the November of this year we find Lord
Buckingham in a most resentful mood. Early in the
spring he had been much incensed in the matter of a
military promotion, which the King thought the right
of Colonel Gwynn, but which the Marquis claimed for
a kinsman of his own. In the summer he came over to
take the waters of Bath, and in the autumn he finally
resigned his Vice-Royalty on the ground of illness.
' The wretched state of my health, sacrificed in the dis
charge of my duty : ' such was his language at the time
to Mr. Pitt. But he declared that the obloquy which
he had incurred in Ireland during the King's illness
called for ' some distinct and special mark of His Ma
jesty's favour.' The mark of favour at which he pointed
was a Dukedom. He pressed it in the strongest manner
both on his brother William and on Mr. Pitt, and the
latter promised to do his utmost in the Closet after the
next Drawing Room.
In pursuance of the same object we find on the 6th
of November William Grenville write : ' The Drawing
Room was so very late yesterday, that it was impossible
for Pitt to go into the Closet afterwards, as it was not
over till past five, and the King had to go back to
Windsor afterwards. This being the case, we have
agreed that, to prevent any further delay, Pitt shall
write to the King upon the subject, stating all the argu
ments. ... I own I am by no means sorry that the
lateness of the Drawing Room has given a plea for
having recourse to this mode, as I have always observed
it to succeed best with the King. All the points may
be more forcibly urged by being collected and stated in
reference to each other in a manner which the King's

352 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1789-
desultory way of speaking makes almost impossible.' —
These last words deserve particular attention. They
supply an answer to the question which is sometimes
put why in 1801 Mr. Pitt, when he was pleading for
the Roman Catholic claims and staking the existence
of his Ministry upon them, thought it best to write
to the King instead of asking an audience of His
Majesty. It was impossible to write a more pressing letter than
did Mr. Pitt to forward the wishes of Lord Buckingham.
The King, however, refused. He had no objection, as
we have seen, to create Marquises and Earls, but he
was determined to reserve the rank of Duke for the
Princes of his family.
At this refusal the ' pain and misery ' of Lord Buck
ingham (such are his own words in his letter to Pitt)
were great indeed. He announced to the Minister his
fixed determination, as a sign of his displeasure, to re
sign the Lord Lieutenancy of the county. ' I hope you
will forgive my adding,' so answered Pitt on the 12th
of November, ' that the step which you meditate in
consequence is not only painful to me for a thousand
reasons both public and personal, but is one which seems
likely to produce effects in the public impression the
reverse of everything you would yourself wish 
I really feel so anxious on the subject that I cannot
help having a wish to be able to state to you in conver
sation, before you take your final resolution, all that
occurs to me on the subject ; and if I thought it would
not be inconvenient to you, I should be very glad to
take the first day of leisure to come to you at Stowe
for that purpose. I am pretty sure that I should have
nothing to prevent my doing it on Sunday next.'
Mr. Pitt went accordingly to Stowe on the day he
proposed, and he appears to have in great measure
pacified his cousin. With praiseworthy caution on such
delicate topics we find him, in writing to Lady Chat
ham, speak of this as though it had been only a trip of
pleasure.

1790 TRIAL OF STOCKDALE. 353

Holwood, Nov. 21,1789.
My excursions all proved extremely pleasant. The last
has been to Stowe, where I went last Sunday, and found
Lord Buckingham getting much better.
The selection of a new Lord Lieutenant for Ireland
was a matter of great perplexity. At length Pitt
pitched upon John Fane, tenth Earl of Westmorland,
who was born, like himself, in 1759. Few public men
have been longer in high office. Thirty-seven years
from the time when he was sent to Ireland we find him
still a member of Lord Liverpool's Cabinet. 'There
are several points,' so writes Mr. Grenville in October,
1789, 'in which Westmorland would do perfectly.
There are those in which he fails, but God knows the
list to choose out of is not long.'
In the same month of November, the King, per
ceiving the continued alienation of the Chancellor from
the Prime Minister, addressed a letter to the first upon
the subject. He received a most satisfactory reply.
Lord Thurlow appears to have promised that he would
give Mr. Pitt no further grounds to complain. But the
promise was not fulfilled.
On the 9th of December came on before Lord
Kenyon the trial of Mr. John Stockdale. He had been
the publisher, two years before, of a pamphlet which
contained some violent language against the promoters
of Hastings's trial. In February, 1788, Fox had brought
it before the House of Commons as an heinous case of
libel. ' I admit the libel,' said Pitt, ' and I observe
that I am myself comprised in it, yet I see nothing so
peculiarly heinous as to warrant our singling out this
publication from the general mass.' Nevertheless Fox
prevailed. He moved and carried an Address to the
King, desiring that the author and publisher might be
prosecuted by the Attorney-General. When the trial
VOL. I. A A

354 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1789-
came on, Erskine was counsel for Stockdale, and deli
vered one of the most masterly of his many masterly
speeches at the Bar. The result justified the prudence
of Pitt, for the Jury, after some deliberation, brought
in a verdict of Not Guilty.1
We are now come in order of time to that great
French Revolution, doomed in its speedy consequences
to subdue the greater part of Europe, and to try to the
utmost the energy of Pitt, the strength and spirit of
England. For many years past had that mighty storm
been gathering; its signs unheeded by the world at
large, but surely discerned by the leading spirits of the
age. Thus wrote Chesterfield in 1752: 'But this I
foresee in France, that before the end of this century
the trade of both King and Priest will not be half so
good a one as it- has been.' 2 And thus wrote Rousseau
in 1762 : ' We are approaching a state of crisis and an
age of Revolutions.' 3
Of the French Revolution, however, I shall not
attempt in any detail either to examine the causes, or to
relate the progress. Let it here suffice to say, that the
Assembly of Notables, as planned by M. de Calonne, fail
ing in its object, drew on, by its failure, the long-dreaded
convocation of the States-General. That important
body, which had lain dormant since 1614, and which
had grown the more formidable from its long disuse,
met again on the 5th of May, 1789. Not long content
with the traditions of the past, it speedily proclaimed
itself ' the National Assembly.' Then the dismissal of
Necker, and the unpopularity of the King and Queen,
precipitated a catastrophe which no skill perhaps could
have quite averted. First did the popular fury turn
against the Ancient State-Prison on the Boulevards of
Paris. On the memorable 1 4th of July, the multitude,
1 Trial of John Stockdale, as taken in short hand by Joseph
Gurney, and published by Stockdale himself, 1790.
2 Latter to his Son, April 13, 1752.
J See the Emile, liv. iii.

1790 FRENCH REVOLUTION. 355
rising in arms, assailed and, took the Bastille, and
put to death in cold blood the, chief men of its feeble
garrison. Tumult and riot ensued in several other parts
of the kingdom. Tumult and riot may be said to have
prevailed even in the National Assembly; for there,
on the night of the 4th of August, in a giddy whirl of
enthusiasm, and without a word of deliberation, with no
thought for existing interests, and with no provision for
current business, these raw legislators swept away in a
single vote the complicated privileges of a thousand years
— the rights of the Clergy, the rights of the Nobles, the
rights of the Parliament, and the rights of the provinces.
Yet, enormous as was the amount of these incon
siderate concessions, the mob of Paris was not willing
to acquiesce in any course of regular government.
Elated with their past success as- destroyers of the
Bastille, and instigated by a secret Society, which„saon
afterwards took the name of ' Jacobins,' they again rose
in arms on the 5th of October, amidst loud cries — ' To
Versailles I to Versailles ! ' and thither they marched
accordingly, in yelling procession. The unfounded self-
reliance of General de Lafayette, as Commander of the
National Guard, combined to their triumph with the
irresolution of Louis the Sixteenth. They broke into
the palace, butchered two of the Gardes-du-Corps ; and
finally brought back the King and Queen, still in name
and title their Sovereigns, but in truth their captives,
to Paris. Even at ihat time it became apparent that
neither the King, nor yet the Assembly, nor yet the
people of the country, but_ only the mob—of-the capital,
had the true direction of affairs. Even then might
have been applied those words which the Minister of the
United States, in France, afterwards used as summing
up his experience of the Revolution in that kingdom : —
' It has appeared to me that Paris decides for the whole
of France, and that the populace decides for Paris.' •
1 Gouverneur Morris to Randolph, April 15, 1794, as published in
Morris's Life and Correspondence. A A 2

356 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1789-
It was natural that even at the outset these great
events should be regarded from opposite points of view.
Men who considered only the abuses of the old French
Monarchy, might rejoice in its probable overthrow.
Other men, who saw those abuses as clearly, might
nevertheless abhor spoliation too, and distrust mob-
violence as an instrument of reformation. And from the
very first, as it chanced, the two leaders of the Whig
party in the House of Commons, Fox and Burke,
inclined to these opposite sides. Thus only a few days
after the taking of the Bastille we find Fox e.xultingly
exclaim : — ' How much it is the greatest event that ever
happened in the world ! And how much the best ! l
And here, on the contrary, are some expressions of
Burke a few weeks later, when writing to a friend in
France : — ' You hope, Sir, that I think the French
deserving of liberty. I certainly do. I certainly think
that all men who desire it, deserve it. It is not the
reward of our merit, or the acquisition of our industry.
It is our inheritance. It is the birth-right of our species.
But whenever a separation is made between liberty and
justice, neither is in my opinion safe.' 2
This divergence of opinion was not long confined to
private letters. It broke forth publicly in the Session
which commenced in the January following. The King,
who opened that Session in person, stated in the Speech
from the Throne that the affairs of the Continent had
engaged his most serious attention ; but he passed no
other judgment upon them. Nor was any increase,
however moderate, proposed in the Army Estimates.
The number was still as last year, for between 17,000
and 18,000 effective men. Fox nevertheless urged
some reduction, though not, as he acknowledged, on any
Constitutional ground. For the example of a neigh
bouring nation, said he, had proved that former impu
tations on a standing army were unfounded calumnies ;
1 Memorials of Fox, vol. ii. p. 361.
2 Correspondence of Burke, vol. iii. pp. 105 and 107.

1790 FRENCH REVOLUTION. 357
and it was now known throughout Europe, that, by be
coming a soldier, a man did not cease to be a citizen.
These and some other such expressions on the part
of the Member for Westminster called forth on a sub
sequent day the Member for Malton. Throwing, as
was his wont, his whole heart into the subject, Burke
delivered the first of his beautiful philippics, spoken or
written, against the French Revolution. ' Since the
House,' he said, ' was prorogued in the summer, much
work has been done in France. The French have
shown themselves the ablest architects of ruin that had
hitherto existed in the world. In that very short space
of time they have completely pulled down to the ground
their Monarchy, their Church, their nobility, their law,
their revenue, their army, their navy, their commerce,
their arts, and their manufactures. They have done
their business for us as rivals, in a way which twenty
Ramifies or Blenheims could never have done. Were
we absolute conquerors, and France to lie prostrate at
our feet, we should be ashamed to send a Commission
to settle their affairs which would impose so hard a law
upon the French, and so destructive of all their eon-
sequence as a nation, as that they had imposed upon
themselves.' Such were the discordant opinions proclaimed on
this subject and at this period from the main Opposition
bench. Fox in his views was supported — perhaps even
outrun — by Sheridan ; Burke in his by Windham ; and
the breach thus begun, seemed far more likely to widen
than to close.
The views of Pitt, at this period, while greatly
differing from Fox's, were by no means altogether the
same as Burke's. ' The present convulsions of France,'
he said, ' must sooner or later terminate in general
harmony and regular order ; and though such a situa
tion might make her more formidable, it might also
make her less obnoxious as a neighbour. I wish for the
restoration of tranquillity in that country, although it

358 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1789-
appears to me distant. Whenever her system shall
become restored, if it should prove freedom rightly
understood, freedom resulting from good order and good
government, France would stand forward as one of the
most brilliant Powers in Europe. Nor can I regard
with envious eyes any approximation in neighbouring
States to those sentiments which are the characteristics
of every British subject.' '
It was not, however, upon France that the main
attention of our Ministers was then directed. Still
more anxiously did they turn their eyes to Spain, where
a serious difference had arisen, threatening a positive
war. Captain Cook in one of his voyages had explored
an extensive Sound, called by the natives Nootka, on
the coast, as he supposed, of the North American con
tinent, but in truth of Vancouver's Island. It seemed
a position well adapted to supply the Chinese market
with furs, and since 1786 some Englishmen in India
had commenced this trade. More recently two ships
of larger size had been despatched, and some grants of
land were obtained from the native chiefs. But these
proceedings had been viewed with the utmost jealousy
by the Spanish officers in Mexico. With no just claim
upon this district, either by discovery or occupation,
they bad recourse to an arrogant boast. They asserted
that their Sovereign was entitled as of right to all lands
on the western coast of America between Cape Horn and
the sixtieth degree of north latitude.
In the spring of 1789, accordingly, an English ves
sel, the Iphigenia, under Captain Douglas, was peaceably
anchored in Nootka Sound, and the operations of trade
were in quiet progress, when there appeared two Spanish
ships of war sent from the port of San Bias, and com
manded by Don Estevan Martinez. For some days
nothing but civilities passed between them, till of a
sudden the Iphigenia was seized in the name of the
King of Spain ; the officers and crew being conveyed on
1 Speech of February 9, 1790.

1790 AFFAIR OF NOOTKA SOUND. 359
board the Spanish ships and put in irons. Nor was the
Iphigenia restored, and permission granted them to sail
away to the Sandwich Islands, until after the entire
plunder of her cargo and their property. The British
flag on the new settlement was pulled down, and the
Spanish hoisted in its place ; and at a later period
three other smaller vessels were likewise seized and
detained. So grievous an insult could not fail to be resented
by a country like England, and a Minister like Pitt.
Prompt and vigorous representations on the subject
were addressed to the Court of Madrid. The Spaniards
answered that the Iphigenia, with her officers and crew,
had been already released by an order from the Vioeroy
of Mexico, but solely on account of the presumed igno
rance of those officers, who had, though unknowingly,
trespassed on the dominion of Spain. That dominion
— that exclusive right of trade and navigation on the
north-west coast of America — was still pertinaciously
asserted at Madrid, but no less pertinaciously resisted
in London. And intelligence was now received that on
finding the English Cabinet thus firm, the Spaniards,
rather than yield, were collecting their fleets at Cadiz
and Ferrol, and otherwise preparing for war.
Up to this time the secret of these critical negotia
tions had been carefully kept. But on the 4th of May
the country was surprised by an Order for the general
impressment of seamen; and on the following day a
Message from the King, announcing the prospect of
war, was presented to both Houses ; to the Commons by
Mr. Pitt, and to the Lords by the Duke of Leeds, for
to the Dukedom of Leeds had Lord Carmarthen now
succeeded. In reply, there were Addresses assuring
His Majesty of the support of Parliament ; and a vote
of credit for a million was passed. These were all
carried with one voice, although some chief men in
Opposition — Fox, Francis, and Grey — made objections
and raised debates on some collateral points, as the

360 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1789-
absence of our ambassador from Madrid, and the trifling
value of the trade to Nootka Sound.
These debates on foreign policy may be deemed the
most important of that Session. There was also a
motion by Mr. Flood for a Reform in Parliament,
which was lost without a division, and in which Flood
did not altogether sustain the high reputation which he
had earned in Ireland. Further, there was a motion by
Fox for the repeal of the Test Act. He was opposed
not only by Pitt, but by Burke and Wilberforce, and
defeated by a majority of almost three to one. The
speech of Burke above all excited great attention. He
owned that ten years before, he should, far from op
posing, have supported this motion ; but he pointed to
the growing influence and dangerous example of the
French Revolution, and he read passages from the
writings of both Dr. Price and Dr. Priestley to show
that the total subversion of the Church had become
the avowed object of some leading Dissenters.
Six years had the Parliament now endured, and
its Prorogation on the 10th of June was immediately
followed by its Dissolution. There was little of popular
excitement in the new elections. It was felt by the
nation at large that when Pitt had declared earlier in
the Session that ' we are adding daily to our strength,
wealth, and prosperity,' ' he had uttered no vain or
empty boast ; and that our flourishing condition was in
no small degree the work of his able hands. Under the
impression of these feelings the triumphant Ministerial
majority which the old elections had given was more
than confirmed by the new. Fox was enabled to
maintain his seat for Westminster, but not as before
with Townshend for a colleague. Lord Hood appeared
once more as the Ministerial candidate. No other
came forward, on either the regular Government or
regular Opposition side, but only Home Tooke on the
1 Speech of February 5, 1790.

1790 THE WESTMINSTER ELECTION. 361
'Independent interest,' so that Fox and Hood were
easily returned.
The cause of the tranquillity of Westminster and
retirement of Townshend will best appear from the
following Memorandum written in Mr. Dundas's hand,
and preserved among Mr. Pitt's papers : —
On the 15th March, 1790, Lord Lauderdale and Mr. Pitt
held a conversation on the subject of the Westminster elec
tion, Mr. Dundas present.
They agreed that each party should propose and support
only one candidate respectively at the first general election,
and during the whole of next Parliament, so long as either
the Duke of Portland or Mr. Fox on the one part, and Mr.
Pitt or Mr. Grenville on the other, are alive, and including
every other contingency of death, vacancy, and changes of
administration. In this conversation Mr. Pitt agreed in the name of the
present administration or any of which he or Mr. Grenville
should be a member.
Lord Lauderdale agreed in the name, and as authorised
by the Duke of Portland or Mr. Fox, or any administration
of which either should be a member.
It ¦Was understood that this agreement has nothing to do
with any question respecting the right of election for the
city of Westminster.
In the midst of the elections we find Pitt write
to Lady Chatham and announce their prosperous pro
gress. Downing Street, June 24, 1790.
My dear Mother, — I cannot yet say that I am arrived at
a period of much leisure, though it is comparatively some
thing like it, and the occupation arising from the elections is
diminishing fast every day. As far as we have yet any ac
count of the returns, there have not been above three or four
instances of disappointment, which are counterbalanced by
success in other quarters which we hardly expected, and upon
the whole I have no doubt of our being considerably stronger
than in the last Parliament. We have not yet heard the
event of the contest in your neighbourhood at Taunton, but

362 LIFE OF WILLIAJS PITT. 1789-
I imagine it will be favourable. Our foreign business re
mains still in suspense, and I hardly know what to conjec
ture of the probabihty of peace or war. In this situation I
cannot venture to look with any certainty to the time when
I shall be at liberty to move westward, but I hope it may
not be very distant. I hope you have had your share of
the true summer weather which has prevailed here for some
time, and have been able to profit by it. Two or three short
visits to Holwood are all that I have yet been able to accom
plish. I am just setting out thither to-day with my brother,
to return to the Levee to-morrow.
Ever, my dear Mother, &c, W. Pitt.
In the apprehension of an impending war with Spain,
Pitt was at this time deeply intent on our whole system
of Foreign policy. Sometimes he saw reason to find
fault with the more immediate conduct of it, as will
appear from a letter as follows to the Duke of Leeds.
Saturday night, June 19, 1790.
My dear Lord, — I have just seen in the Flanders mail of
yesterday Mr. Wilson's despatch of the 18th, enclosing a
memorial which he had presented at Brussels, and referring
to instructions from your Grace of the 8th. I do not recol
lect to have seen those instructions, or to have heard any
thing before on the subject ; and I own the measure seems
to me so inconsistent with the whole line we have taken
respecting the Low Countries, that ,1 fear it cannot fail to
be productive of great embarrassment. I shall be glad to
see the instructions of the 8th ; and the materials on which
they were founded will probably throw further light on the
subject ; but I could not avoid stating my present impres
sion on it to you. I am, my dear Lord, &c,
W. Pitt.
During this time a gentleman of great diplomatic
skill, Mr. Alleyne Fitzherbert, had been sent to Madrid
to bring the negotiation to an issue. He was instructed
to make every effort to settle the points in dispute, but
firmly to insist on full reparation to the parties injured,
before consenting even to engage in any discussion upon
the abstract right. At home Pitt did not allow his

1790 CONTINUED DIFFERENCE WITH SPAIN. 363
anxiety for peace to relax his preparations for war.-
The martial energy of Chatham seemed now to be re
newed in his son. A considerable land-force was raised
and mustered. A powerful fleet was made ready for
sea, at a vast expense and with almost unprecedented
speed. Plans were formed for attacking the Spanish
possessions both in the West Indies and South America.
Full instructions were sent out to General O'Hara, who
commanded at Gibraltar, to the Consuls of the Barbary
Coast, and the Governors of the West India Islands.
Nor were our Allies forgotten. Applications were
addressed both to Holland and Prussia, claiming the
succours which in such cases they had bound themselves
by recent treaty to afford. Both, in reply, expressed
their readiness to fulfil their engagements. Not quite
so satisfactory were the communications with France.
There we found ourselves greeted by a Decree of the
National Assembly to fit out fourteen sail of the line —
these, in all probability, designed to be used against us.
M. de Montmorin, then the French Minister for Foreign
Affairs, protested, however, to Earl Gower, the English
Ambassador, that this was only a measure of precaution ;
and he let fall some hints of the desire of France to act
as Mediator. But the National Assembly, though cheer
fully voting the supplies required for the armament,
seized the opportunity to wrest from the King his
prerogative of peace and war. On a Government so
feeble, and a Legislature so grasping and capricious,
it was impossible to place any, even the smallest,
reliance. Nevertheless Mr. Pitt was anxious to pursue
a most conciliatory course with both.
The views of Pitt at this time will, however, best be
shown by one of his own letters, which I here subjoin.
It was addressed to Mr. Hugh Elliot, the brother of
Sir Gilbert and of Lady Auckland. This gentleman,
who had been our Minister at Copenhagen, had gone
to visit Paris of his own accord, and without any diplo
matic character. As an individual holding very popular

364 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1789-
opinions, he came into frequent and familiar intercourse
with the chiefs of the popular party at that time, as
Mirabeau and Barnave ; and he received from them
strong assurances of their amicable disposition to
England. This was the more important since they
had formed what they called a ' Diplomatic Committee '
in the National Assembly, drawing to themselves the
entire conduct of Foreign Affairs. Mr. Elliot, there
fore, with the sanction of Earl Gower, made known to
Mr. Pitt the friendly professions which he had received ;
and Pitt replied to him as follows early in October,
1790:— Dear Sir, — I am extremely glad to find by your letter
that you have succeeded so well in opening a confidential
intercourse with the leaders of what appears to be the ruling
party in France. Great advantages may perhaps be derived
from this circumstance in the present critical situation. I
imagine indeed, from your account, that we can hardly hope,
in case war should take place with Spain and should last for
any time, that France will not ultimately take part in it.
But I think there seems to be a reasonable prospect that
the persons with whom you communicate may be brought to
make such representations to the Spanish Court, even if a
rupture should have taken place, as may lead to a speedy
restoration of peace by a settlement of the points in dispute,
conformably to the principles on which we have hitherto
insisted. At least it may be fairly expected that no imme
diate decision will be taken in France to give actual succour
to Spain on the commencement of hostilities ; and this point
alone, if nothing more should finally be obtained, will be of
great consequence, as it will give us considerable advantage
in our first operations.
With respect, however, to the steps to be taken for
bringing Spain to accede to our terms, great care must be
taken that the French shall not appear as Mediators, still .
less as Arbitrators ; and on this point I wait with great im
patience for the more particular account which you promise
to send me of Lord Gower's ideas and yours after the next
interview which you were to have with the Members of the
Diplomatic Committee. I am inclined to think it may be

1790 SECRET NEGOCIATION AT PARIS. 365
advisable that Lord Gower should be empowered, on the
first news of a rupture, to communicate to the French Minis
try a -statement of the terms on which Mr. Fitzherbert has
been instructed to insist, and of the grounds on which they are
supported. If such statement should be laid by the Ministry
before the Diplomatic Committee or the National Assembly,
and a decree could be obtained declaring that those terms
ought to be accepted by Spain, such a measure would be
highly satisfactory. But I can hardly imagine that anything
so decisive can be obtained unless they should be so far satis
fied with our conduct as to determine not in any case to sup
port Spain until she is willing to accede to the terms which
we have proposed. Even, however, if this should happen, it
is to be observed, that the war having once taken place,
these terms may not appear to us sufficient unless they
should be accepted by Spain within a very short period.
The desire of restoring tranquillity would, in all events,
incline this country to great moderation; but if the war
should last any time, and our operations should have been
successful, we shall hardly be expected to make peace without
gaining some further advantage to compensate for our ex
pense. This, however, must be a point wholly of subsequent
consideration. If, instead of a decisive approbation of our
terms, the Assembly or the Committee should approve them
only in part, and should suggest any different terms which
they may think reasonable, the situation will be much more
delicate. Very httle good can follow from such a measure,
except that by the time which would probably be necessary
for answers both from this country and Spain, any hostile
decision on the part of France would be retarded, which I
have already stated to be a considerable advantage to us. No
progress, however, will be made in this way, either towards
the restoration of peace (supposing a rupture to have taken
place), or towards keeping France ultimately out of the war ;
as it must be impossible for us, at the suggestion of a third
power, to recede in any point from the terms of the ultimatum
we have sent to Spain.
There are two other points to which it is essential to
attend in the whole of this business.
The fust of these is, what seems indeed by your letter to
be already fully understood, that whatever confidential com
munications may take place with the Diplomatic Committee

366 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1789-
for the sake of bringing them to promote our views, no osten
sible intercourse can be admitted but through the medium
of accredited Ministers, or the Secretary of State for Foreign
Affairs, and that in the name of the King.
The second point, which is of still more importance, is
.that no assurances shall be given, directly or indirectly, which
go farther than that this country means to persevere in the
neutrality which it has hitherto scrupulously observed with
-respect to the internal dissensions of France, and from which
it will never depart unless the conduct held there should make
it indispensable as an act of self-defence ; and that we are
-sincerely desirous of preserving peace, and of cultivating, in
general, a friendly intercourse and good understanding be
tween the two nations. But the utmost care is necessary,
under the present circumstances, to use no language which
can lead to an expectation of our taking measures to forward
the internal views of any pohtical party, or of our being ripe
to form any alliance between the two countries, which, even
if such a thing should be really wished in France, various
events might make it impossible for us to accede to, and
which would, in any case, at least require great considera
tion. I am, with truth and regard, &c.
W. Pitt.1
Here are some extracts from Mr. Elliot's very long
letter in reply : — Paris, October 26, 1790.
Dear Sir, — I acquainted you in my last letter that I was
to have a private conference with a Select Deputation of the
Diplomatic Committee. The persons appointed to meet me
were M. Menou, M. Freteau, and M. Barnave — since elected
President of the National A ssembly.
I shall not attempt to lay before you the speech I made
to those gentlemen in the presence of the Vicomte de
Noailles, who has taken an active part in favouring my
progress here. But I must entreat you will not be surprised
at the word speech, as nothing is to be accomplished in
France without regular oratorical debate. Mine lasted about
1 This letter of Mr. Pitt has been already published in his Life
by Bishop Tomline (vol. iii. p. 131), although the name of Mr. Elliot
is there suppressed. He is mentioned only as ' a gentleman of con
siderable diplomatic experience.'

1790 SECRET NEGOTIATION AT PARIS. 367
an hour. M. Barnave replied and made several objections,
which I explained to his full satisfaction. It was then
determined that a report of what had passed should be made
to the Diplomatic Committee in pieno, and that M. Menou
should let me know the result of theu- dehberations.
The Committee, after assembling in form, unanimously
came to the resolution of waiting upon M. de Montmorin
en corps, and of acquainting that Minister with their inten
tions. . . . M. de Montmorin agreed in the propriety of this
representation, and M. Menou was deputed to tell me. . . .
M. Menou executed this commission in the handsomest
manner, and I consented to go to England to lay the whole
state of the business before you.
In my speech to the Select Deputation I dwelt first upon
the motives which had induced me to come to France. . . .
That I was not sent to look for the Olive Leaf, but that I
had voluntarily taken my flight for that purpose. . . . That
I apprehended the religion of the National Assembly had
been surprised when they passed a precipitate Decree founded
upon the grossest misrepresentations concerning the British
Government. Revenge for the loss of America, desire of
conquest, and enmity to the promoters of the French Revo
lution, were supposed to be the real motives for our arma
ments. After combating each of these points, I established,
I believe, upon the conviction of those who heard me, the
probability that the Court of Spain sought for war in concert
with the French malcontents.
I am also to endeavour to open the eyes of the British
Government to the solidity of the French Revolution ; and I
add with perfect sincerity and thorough conviction that the
present Government of France are, in my opinion, bent upon
cultivating the most unbounded friendship with Great Bri
tain. They will be frank and cordial in all their communi
cations, and their object is eternal Peace and Friendship
with England. If they meet with encouragement, the Com
mercial Treaty will be confirmed, and no obstacle be thrown
iu the way of settling the equilibrium of Em-ope upon the
most liberal principles. Our conduct in the North and in
the East is approved of, and will be seconded.
I have despatched this courier with Lord Gower's appro
bation, in order to let you know my determination of follow
ing him at twenty-four hours' distance, and of giving you the

368 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1789-
earliest notice of what has passed between me and the Com
mittee. I shall drive from Dartford to Beckenham without
going to London, and shall then meet you either at Holwood
or in Downing Street, as you shall be pleased to direct by
sending a letter to wait for me at Lord Auckland's.
Believe me, with infinite attachment and respect, &c,
H. Elliot.
P.S. — I must observe that there is no such thing as a
private negotiation to be carried on here. Everything hke
a secret is avoided as dangerous, and likely to expose those
concerned to the Lanteme.
Meanwhile, at Madrid, Mr. Fitzherbert had for a long
time been encountered by a downright refusal, or by
new inadmissible schemes. Yet in the summer he had
seemed on the very point of success. On the 24th of
July the Count de Florida Blanca, as the Spanish Prime
Minister, had sent to Mr. Fitzherbert a preliminary
Declaration, stating that the King his master engaged
to make restitution of the British vessels and property
seized at Nootka Sound, and to indemnify the parties
interested for the losses which they had sustained.
But no sooner was the Declaration transmitted than the
Spanish statesmen seemed eager to recede from its
terms. The British Minister became convinced that,
rather than yield, the Court of Spain was resolutely bent
on war. Ere long, however, the. formidable fleet, far
superior to the Spanish, which we had with so much
expedition made ready for sea, produced a powerful
effect. Nor did the Spaniards fail to notice the doubtful
prospects of the promised French alliance. Rather
suddenly at last, on the 28th of October, the two Ministers
signed a Convention, by which it was agreed that the
lands and buildings of which British subjects had been
dispossessed in North America should be restored to
them ; that British subjects should not be disturbed or
molested in carrying on their fisheries in the South
Seas, or in making settlements for the purpose of
commerce on the coasts of those seas in places not

1790 THE AFFAIRS OF FRANCE. 369
already occupied ; and that on the other hand the King
of Britain should engage to take the most effectual mea
sures that these fisheries should not be made a pretext
for illicit trade with the Spanish settlements ; and with
that view it was farther stipulated that British sub
jects should not carry on their fisheries within ten
leagues from any part of the coast already occupied by
Spain. By these means was this painful transaction, arising
from a most wanton outrage, happily concluded without
any actual appeal to arms. The gentlemen in Opposi
tion might endeavour, when the Houses met again, to
censure the Convention as not sufficiently definite and
ample in its terms ; but they certainly found no echo
on either side of the Channel. In England the Parlia
ment pronounced, and the people felt, that both the
honour and the interests of the nation had been worthily
maintained. On the Continent the reputation of the
English Cabinet, high already, was still further exalted.
We may observe Lord Auckland, at that time the
ambassador at the Hague, write to Mr. Pitt as follows :
— ' I am convinced that if less firmness, energy, and
activity had been shown on our part, or even that if our
fleet had not been found in the readiest and most
perfect state that has been known in the annals of Great
Britain, the reparation made to us would have been
incomplete  In short, there never was a
business better conducted or better concluded, and
there never was a moment in which our country held
such pre-eminency among nations.'
The vigilant attention which Mr. Pitt gave to the
conduct of our Foreign policy did not relax after the
pacific arrangement with Spain. The affairs of France,
and their growing influence on the affairs of England,
claimed on the contrary his most earnest care.
Through the year 1790 the National Assembly con
tinued to hold their sittings at Paris. Certainly they
had abolished or reformed some grievous abuses. As
VOL. I. B B

370 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1789-
certainly they had swept away some useful institutions.
But besides the merit or demerit of their votes, there
were many points in their deliberations to cause at the
least surprise. All their favourite arguments were
derived in the manner of Rousseau from what man
might do, or desire to do, in his primitive condition as
they assumed it to be — the wild hunting state. Of
practical experience they were utterly regardless, at
least until it came too late to help them. Thus their
usual course was to assume instead of ascertaining facts.
Even the few men of real genius, such as Mirabeau,
who appeared among them at this juncture, were com
pelled in great measure to adopt the follies of those
whom they sought to guide.
Against the doctrines then in vogue there were
strong interests and also strong feelings arrayed. The
chief nobles, and, as we should call them, country-gen
tlemen, had emigrated from the kingdom — at their head
the King's youngest brother, Charles Comte d'Artois, who
fixed his head-quarters at Coblentz. The most respect
able members of the clergy might have acquiesced in
the confiscation of their domains, but they could not
brook the new Ecclesiastical Constitution which was
decreed by the Assembly, and which made in fact a
schism in the Church. Moneyed men were offended and
alarmed at the profuse issue of assignats, the new paper
circulation based upon the confiscated lands. Loyal
subjects viewed with bitter anguish the danger and
degradation of their King ; but on the other side there
was the rising ferment of the masses — of those who had
little to lose and everything to gain.
In England the French Revolution had found a con
siderable number of friends, who caught much of its
violence, and became more and more ardent as it pro
ceeded. There were at this time among us two small
bodies, which excited far more attention than their
importance appears to have deserved. The first bore
the name of the Constitutional Society: it had been

1790 DE. PRICE AND LORD STANHOPE. 371
formed some years earlier for the diffusion of useful
books, but now desired to manifest its sympathy with
France. The other was a club, till then of little note,
which called itself the Revolution Society, and which
had a yearly festival in commemoration of the events
of 1688. This Society had been new-modelled and
enlarged with a view to the transactions at Paris, but
still retained its former name to imply a close connec
tion between the principles of 1688 in England, and the
principles of 1789 in France. On the 4th of November,
1789, it had held its anniversary meeting at the London
Tavern, with Earl Stanhope in the Chair. The mem
bers then proceeded to a meeting-house in the Old
Jewry, where they heard a sermon or discourse from
Dr. Price, denouncing in inflammatory terms ' all
supporters of slavish governments and slavish hierar
chies.' Next they carried an Address of congratula
tion to the National Assembly, framed by Dr. Price
as mover, and signed by Lord Stanhope as Chairman.
This Address being in due course transmitted to Paris,
was received with much enthusiasm, and acknowledged
by-a vote of the Assembly. Meanwhile the proceedings
.of the two Societies, but especially the latter, and, above
all, the discourse of Dr. Price at the Old Jewry, afforded
a large scope to the eloquence of Burke.
Burke, as we have already seen, took the occasion of
the Army Estimates in February, 1790, to condemn in
strong terms the course and tendency of the events at
Paris. But feeling himself called upon to make a
further effort, he began to indite a more careful com
position on the same subject. The fruit of his
labours appeared in October of the same year, and
was entitled ' Reflections on the Revolution in France.'
This masterly essay had been for some time announced,
and the expectations of the public had been highly
raised ; but these expectations were much more than
fulfilled. In his argument Burke chiefly applied him
self to answer the assertions of Dr. Price, and to point
B B 2

372 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1789-
out the essential difference in principle between the
English and the French Revolutions. Argument,
however, did not in this essay stand alone ; everywhere
it was enforced and adorned — sometimes, perhaps,
warped and drawn aside — by the creations of a most
brilliant fancy. And among the beautiful illustrations
which Burke so profusely pours forth, there is none
better known, or better deserving to be so, than his
picture of the Queen Marie Antoinette as sixteen years
before he had seen her at Versailles 'glittering like
the morning star, full of life and splendour and joy ; but,'
he added, bitterly, ' the age of chivalry is gone ; that
of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded ;
and the glory of Europe is extinguished for ever ! '
It was this passage which, in an especial degree,
roused the wrath of Burke's opponents. Philip Francis
might flippantly ask him : ' Are you such a determined
champion of beauty as to draw your sword in defence
of any jade upon earth, provided she be handsome ? ' '
Many others of inferior note, while carping at Burke's
expression of 'the age of chivalry,' seemed never to
have heard of any other knight besides Don Quixote.
Thus, in hopes of assailing Burke, they borrowed, and
they spoiled in borrowing, the satire of Cervantes.
Others again took great exception to a subsequent
phrase, where Burke expresses his alarm that ' along
with its natural guardians and protectors learning will
be cast into the mire, and trodden down under the hoofs
of a swinish multitude.' It is plain from the context
that Burke desired to speak only of such rabble as had
dragged their prisoners to La Lanterne, and yelled for
the blood of their Queen. But misrepresentation ever
follows close in the wake of genius, and the phrase of
' a swinish multitude ' was now busily held forth as
the grossest of insults to the lower or the labouring
classes.8 1 Correspondence of Burke, vol. iii. p. 131.
2 See a note in Prior's Life of Burke, p. 319, ed. 1854.

1790 BURKE'S ESSAY. 373
This essay, though never offered to the public for a
less price than five shillings, is said, perhaps with some
exaggeration, to have reached in its sale the as yet
unprecedented number of 30,000 copies. Immense
certainly was the impression which it made. That
impression is to be traced alike on Burke's friends and
on his foes. The graduates of two great Universities
(Oxford and Dublin) -sent him their tokens of high
respect. The French Princes at Coblentz, and the other
leading men of the Royalist party, conveyed, either in
messages or letters, their warmest thanks. Only a few
months afterwards, when his son had gone to Brussels,
and was attending an assembly at the Marquis de la
Quenille's, the chief among the Emigrants at that place,
he found, as he says, to his surprise, a circle gather
round him with every mark of honour, while M, de la
Quenille thus addressed him : ' You see, Sir, the eager
ness of these gentlemen to express to you how much all
good Frenchmen owe to your illustrious father,' l On
the other hand, the partisans of the French Revolution,
both abroad and at home, manifested their disappoint
ment and vexation in every form. The essay of Burke
became a favourite topio of inveotive with the Jacobin
Club of Paris. There even the Bible itself was not
more frequently scoffed at. In England the halls of
debating societies resounded with orations, and the
newspapers were filled with paragraphs, denouncing the
great statesman as the friend of tyrants, and the
champion of abuses. Many men of various merits
published essays in reply, either to his speech on the
Army Estimates, or to his ' Reflections.' Among these
writers may be mentioned Dr. Priestley, Mr. Capel Lofft,
and .Lord Stanhope, and above all Mr. Mackintosh,
afterwards Sir James. His work on this occasion, the
Vindicice Gallicaz, though marked by some faults of
youth and of party-spirit, gave high promise of future
distinction. 1 (Correspondence of Bivrke, vol. iii. p. 242,

374 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1789-
It would not be just to class any of these writers with
another, though on the same subject, and at the same
period — Thomas Paine. I have related in another
work his first appearance in America in 1774, and his
first publication in 1776, entitled 'Common Sense.'
That publication had there produced a strong effect.
He had been not only praised by the popular leaders,
but rewarded with grants of land. But by degrees he
had become better known, and of course less esteemed.
Finally, finding himself fallen into obscurity, he had
returned to Europe towards the year 1787. There the
troubles first of Holland, and next of France, had
attracted his attention. The work which he now put
forth in answer to Burke was called 'The Rights of
Man.' Coarse and ungrammatical in its language — as
where it inveighs against ' the Quixote age of chivalry
nonsense' — it was, however, commended to many
readers by its bold and thorough-going tone. Thus, for
example, it denounces not only rank and title, but
hereditary monarchy at least, if not all monarchy, as
manifest abuses.
That Mr. Burke was sometimes blinded and betrayed
by his own ardent imagination — that this essay, and
still more perhaps the essays that followed it, contain
great exaggerations- — seems to me no unfounded charge.
It will come out more plainly if we compare the views
of Mr. Burke in 1790 and 1791 with the views of Mr.
Pitt. While condemning the excesses of the French
Revolution, even at that early period, and apprehending
its results, Pitt never lost the hope that among the
friends of that Revolution the more moderate party
might prevail. In public he held forth as the rule of
his administration strict neutrality as to the internal
contests ; in private, he moreover sought, as we have
seen through divers and not only diplomatic channels,
to exchange pacific explanations with the leaders of
the popular party ; and he was determined to maintain
against all obstacles, as long as possible, that peace so

1790 BURKE'S ESSAY. 375
essential to the welfare of his country, and on which
depended his own course of financial retrenchments and
reforms. The voice of Burke, on the contrary, was for
open war. Hold no intercourse with rebels ! Make no
terms with traitors 1 Appeal to neighbouring Sovereigns,
and place your main reliance on the aid of foreign
armies ! Such was the tone of Mr. Burke even in the
last months of 1790. And in consequence we find him
also dissatisfied and murmuring at the line of Mr. Pitt.1
But does it follow, from this divergence, that we are
bound to censure one or other of these two great men ?
Observe how different their positions at the time. Mr.
Pitt was a powerful Minister, responsible for the peace
of the world. Mr. Burke was an eloquent essayist,
anxious above all things to rouse the spirit of the
people. And in the latter point of view, if we consider
Mr. Burke as addressing not merely one European
'nation, but all, may not even his unconscious exaggera
tions have been one cause of his great success ? The
bow had been so strongly bent in one direction, that to
bring it straight again, there was need to bend it almost
as strongly in the other. Against the enthusiasm of ' this
new political religion,' as it is well termed by Etienne
Dumont, and against the fiery zeal of its apostles, no
mere cold statements of reason and duty might perhaps
have sufficed. It might perhaps be requisite to evoke
something of new enthusiasm, or something of old
chivalry, upon the other side. Certainly it was no light
crisis which could induce the writer whom I just now
cited-^-no enemy of large reforms, but Etienne Dumont,
the commentator upon Bentham — and that at no
moment of heat, but many years afterwards on a calm
retrospect of all the circumstances — to use these memo
rable words : 'It is possible that the essay of Burke
may have been the salvation of Europe.' z
1 See in Burke's Correspondence especially, vol. iii. pp. 183, 267,
and 286.
1 Souvenirs sur Mirabeau, p. 95, ed. Bruxelles, 1832.

376 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1790-
CHAPTER XIV.
1790-1791.
Meeting of the new Parliament — Grenville created a Peer — Duke of
Richmond's letter of complaint — The Budget — Trial of Hastings
— Testimony of Wilberforce and Burke to Pitt's eloquence —
Reappearance of Erskine in Parliament — The King offers Pitt the
Garter, which he declines — Wilberforce 's motion on the Slave
Trade — India and Canada — Dissension between Fox and Burke
¦ — Rights of Juries — Bill in favour of Roman Catholics — Pitt's
first check in foreign policy : the Russian armament — Retrospect
of events in Turkey — And in Sweden.
The meeting of the new Parliament had been fixed
for the 25th of November. Previously, however, Pitt
took a careful review of his position. In the Commons
he had no reason to doubt his continued ascendency ;
but in the Lords there was a stumbling-block from the
wayward temper of Thurlow. Although the Chan
cellor was charged, or supposed to be charged, with
the conduct of the Government business in the Upper
House, Mr. Pitt declared that he was never quite
certain what part in debate would be taken by his
Lordship. Even when he forbore from insidious oppo
sition, he gave no real aid. During the whole Session
of 1790, says his biographer, 'he never, except on one
-occasion, opened his mouth. " l
Under such circumstances Pitt resolved to place
among the Peers as leader some adherent on whom he
could thoroughly rely. With that view he selected
his cousin William Grenville, the newly- appointed Se
cretary of State, whom he proposed to the King to
create Lord Grenville. The answer of His Majesty
is dated the 21st of November. He readily agreed to
the proposed arrangement, expecting, as he says, that
the conciliatory temper of Mr. Grenville would aid in
keeping matters smooth with the Chancellor. But
His Majesty's expectations were by no means fulfilled.
1 Lord Campbell's Lives of the Chancellors, vol. v. p. 602.

1791 GRENVILLE CREATED A PEER. 377
Two letters of Pitt to his mother at this period are
written with evident pleasure — the one announcing the
pacification with Spain, and the other the peerage to
Grenville. Downing Street, Nov. 5, 1790.
My dear Mother, — I am impatient to send you as early
as possible the satisfactory news which we received this
morning that everything is at length settled on the subject
of our disputes with Spain exactly in the manner we wished.
Mr. Fitzherbert had brought the Spanish Minister to con
sent, on the 24th of last month, to a Convention aoceding to
all our terms ; and it was settled that it should be signed in
three days from that time. Among a thousand reasons for
rejoicing in this event, it is not one of the last which occurs
to me that it will give both my brother and myself a chance
of still reaching Burton for a few days before the Session,
and that we shall feel no mixture of anxiety in doing so.
You will imagine, however, that, though our business has
taken so agreeable a turn, the pressure of it is not for the
moment diminished, and you will therefore not wonder at
the haste of this letter. Ever, my dear Mother, &c,
W. Pitt.
Downing Street, Nov. 24, 1790.
My dear Mother, — I have a piece of news to communi
cate to-day which will, I believe, be very unexpected, but
not unwelcome.
It is that Grenville has just kissed hands on being re
moved to the House of Lords, where there are many reasons
for wishing his assistance as Home Secretary of State. By
the help of this arrangement, I think we shall open the new
Parliament with more strength than has belonged to us since
the beginning of the Government ; and it is a very pleasant
circumstance in the business that all parts of Government
are highly satisfied with the measure, and that those who
please themselves with the reports which you will see of
divisions among us will find themselves completely disap
pointed. You will not have wondered that I found it not so easy
as I imagined and hoped to accomplish my excursion before
the beginning of the Session. I must now look to the

378 MPE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1790-
Christmas holidays, when I think myself very sure of being
^ \ Sfst not add more, as I have barely had time for what
I have written since coming from St. James s, and before
sitting down to a formal dinner which always precedes the
opening of the Session. Ever, my dear Mother, &c.,
r W. Pitt.
Mr. Pitt, however, was much mistaken when he
thought himself able to announce ' that all parts of
Government are highly satisfied with the measure.'
On the same day that he wrote to Lady Chatham,
the Duke of Richmond wrote to him. That letter of
complaint— very able and very angry— I shall here
insert at length. Goodwood, Nov. 24, 1790.
My dear Sir,— I cannot but very much regret that Mr.
Grenville's being called up to the House of Lords appeared
to you to press for such an immediate decision as to prevent
the wish you had of conversing with me upon the subject
from taking place, because I should at least have had an
opportunity of previously giving you my most serious advice
not to adopt a plan which to me seems likely to be attended
with many bad consequences.
I must conclude from your letter as well as from all the
circumstances attending this measure, that it will have been
carried into execution before my answer can reach you. But
I will take my chance of the possibility of a delay, and state
to you fairly some of the principal objections that strike
me. In the first place, I think it ruin to Mr. Grenville. He
has in the space of a very few years gone through many
great offices, and now holds the second political situation in
the House of Commons. In case of any accident happening
to you or your brother, he would naturally become the first
servant of the Crown in that House ; and the circumstances
of the times, joined to his own abilities, justify, in the eyes
of the public, his being where he is. But, by removing him
from the House of Commons, you deprive him of all the
prospects of future advantages which talents can make their
way to in that place. He now stands in every fight in an

1791 GRENVILLE CREATED A PEER. 379
advantageous situation both for himself and for his friends :
is it then wise to risk a change 1 He has succeeded admi
rably well hitherto ; but it may be very uncertain whether
he will succeed so well in another situation, certainly a very
different one from that which he is now in. To call up a
younger brother to the House of Peers for the evident pur
pose of giving him the lead there, is a degree of reflection
upon the whole House of Lords that there is no one there fit
for such a situation, which will be felt, and may cause him
.to fail in that for which alone you place him there.
If this should be the case, or by any other means a
change happen, a Lord Grenville without a fortune would
be but a poor situation !
But of all this, to be sure, Mr. Grenville must be the
best judge ; and I must suppose that he likes the risking all
this for the sake of being made a Peer and having the le^d
in the House of Lords, rather than remain second in the
House of Commons. For whatever his attachment may be
to you, no man with that laudable degree of ambition which
Mr. Grenville has, can be supposed to hazard such an entire
political sacrifice of himself as he is exposing himself to with
out he saw some considerable gratification to himself in so
doing. But the wisest men have their weaknesses, and I
fear this is a very fatal one in Mr. Grenville. However,
since it is his choice, there is nothing more to be said upon
his account ; but on your account and that of the perma
nency of the present Government, in which the King's hap
piness and the prosperity of the kingdom are, I think, deeply
interested, I do apprehend the worst consequences.
It would be inconsistent with the friendship I trust I have
upon all occasions shown you, and with the fairness I will
always act with, not to say that I believe this country will
not be satisfied to see you two younger brothers take the lead
of the two Houses of Parliament, and by yourselves govern
the country. With your abilities — which, without a compli
ment, are very transcending — you may take that lead in the
House of Commons ; but Mr. Grenville, whose parts, how
ever sohd and useful, are certainly not upon a level with
yours, cannot, as I conceive, succeed in taking the lead in
"the House of Lords, where something of higher rank and
more fortune and dignity is required ; and I do apprehend
that both of you being in such situations, so nearly related

380 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1790-
with Lord Chatham at the Admiralty, will be thought en
grossing too much in one family. You will consider too,
that at the same time that you deprive ^ your^lf of Mr.
Grenville's support and that of a Cabinet Minister in the
House of Commons, which was the reason for which you
made him Secretary of State, and thereby remain almost
singly there as to speakers of any weight, you will place Mr.
Grenville as singly in the House of Lords. The Duke of
Leeds, who never took a very active part in debates, will
probably not be very desirous of standing forward when he
is so evidently set aside. Lord Chatham has never yet
spoken. Lord Camden is idle, and grows old. Lord Staf
ford will seldom speak, and but a few words. Your account
of the Chancellor makes it more likely that he will be adverse
than otherwise; and as to myself, I must confess that I do
not see how I can be of any use. It is not, therefore, from
your Cabinet that Mr. Grenville can derive much support,
and I do not imagine that Lord Hawkesbury will feel much
disposed to act under him. There remains Lord Walsing-
ham, and the chance of what the Duke of Montrose may turn
out as a speaker in the House of Lords.
This against the present speakers in Opposition, and pos
sibly the Chancellor, will form but a poor line of debaters to
defend the errors of Government that, from the present way
of carrying on business, unavoidably arise, and which it falls
to the lot of the House of Lords to be afterwards obhged to
support. I have said that I could be of little use ; perhaps in no
situation could I have been of much ; but to be of any as a
speaker, a man must feel something for himself, and not
appear to the world in an unbecoming situation. I trust I
have not shown myself a difficult man when, after having
had for many years a considerable share in the debates in the
House of Lords, I first wished to support your Government
as an individual, and afterwards defended your measures as
a Minister under Lord Sydney and the Duke of Leeds.
But to continue to act a second part under every change, and
particularly under one which is avowedly made for the sole
purpose of giving the House of Lords another leader, would
be depriving myself of every sort of consideration which I"
may hope to have in that House, and rendering myself totally
useless there.

1791 GRENVILLE CREATED A PEER. 381
I must say, too, that, after having been of late so particu
larly called upon to take a very active part in a business of
some consequence where it was thought I could be useful,
and having shown a disposition to accommodate, as far as it
was possible, my situation to your wishes, I cannot but feel
myself somewhat neglected by your deciding upon this mea
sure without my consent or even knowledge ; for when we
conversed on this subject some time ago, I had expressed my
objections to it, and afterwards understood you had entirely
dropped the idea. You will also recollect my having often
expressed that, although I feel very little interest in the dis
posal of employments or the making of Peers, yet I could not
think it right that your colleagues of the Cabinet should
never hear of what is doing in these respects till the things
were done. Those with whom I have formerly been con
nected in politics and in friendship used to treat me with
more attention ; and, indifferent as I am upon those subjects
in general, I cannot be entirely so when they tend to prevent
me from being of that use, though small, which otherwise I
might possibly be of in the House of Lords to the King's ad
ministration of which I have the honour to form a part.
If I had any political ambition, I might feel disappointed
and hurt at such a conduct ; but having none, it only adds
to that desire of retiring from pubhc business which you know
I have long had in view. In so doing I shall endeavour not
to give it the appearance of any dissatisfaction with you, for
in truth I feel none, believing, as I do, that your conduct
does not proceed from any intentional want of kindness
towards me, but from (you must forgive me for saying so)
an idleness in your disposition that too often makes you
neglect to cultivate the friendship of those who are most
attached to you, and which makes you expose your judgment
to be biassed by the opinion of the narrow circle to which
you confine your intimacy.
I have before observed that I think Mr. Grenville must
have some strong predilection for this measure, and perhaps
Mr. Dundas, whom you mention to have had some concern,
at least in what has led to it, may not be sorry to have Mr.
Grenville out of his way in the House of Commons. The
hurry and manner in which this business was conducted, not
allowing twelve hours for the return of your messenger, lead
me to these suspicions ; and, as the French say, I doubt your

382 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1790
rehgion and good sense have been surprised. But of all
things this is a measure the least calculated to concihate the
Chancellor, who is not fond of Mr. Grenville, and who, with
some reason, will think he ought to have been consulted as
to the person who is to have the lead in the House of Lords.
But perhaps Mr. Grenville and Mr. Dundas, who know that
the Chancellor does not like either of them, may not be sorry
to force him out. I wish this may not end in breaking up
that administration on which they both depend.
With every sincere wish for your prosperity,
I am, my dear Sir, &c, Richmond.
Commencing in November, 1790, and closing in
June, 1791, the first Session of the New Parliament
comprised many important debates. Within three
weeks of the meeting Pitt brought forward his Budget
for the year. It was no longer like his Budget of the
19th of April last, a picture of unmixed prosperity.
Then he might express his satisfaction that the average
income of the country for the last two years, amounting
to sixteen millions and a quarter, had exceeded his
own estimate which the Opposition had formerly cen
sured as too high. He might point out that, since
1786, various extraordinary expenses beyond the re
gular peace establishment, and calculated at six mil
lions, had been defrayed with the assistance of a loan
of only one million, while within that period more
than five millions of the National Debt had been paid
off. ' The country at this moment,' Mr. Pitt might
then conclude, ' is in a state of prosperity far greater
than at any period, even the most nourishing, before
the late war ; and this I can incontestably prove from
a comparative view of the exports and imports of that
period compared with those of the present ' — so fully
and so rapidly had the loss of the American colonies,
deemed irreparable by all our wisest statesmen, been
repaired. Such, then, was the picture which the Prime Minis
ter could draw in April, 1790. But in the December

1791 TRIAL OF HASTINGS. 383
following he had the more painful task of computing
and providing for the expense of the recent armament.
All included it came to no less a sum than 3,133,000?.
Mr. Pitt, relying, as he justly might, on the buoyancy
of the national resources, determined that this sum
should not remain as a permanent addition to the
national debt. Accordingly he had framed a scheme
for paying off the whole, principal and interest, within
four years by the aid of temporary taxes. He proposed
new duties, some to endure four years and others only
two, upon spirits, sugar, malt, and other articles. He
also desired that the public should for the first time
derive some advantage from the large balance of
•unclaimed dividends remaining at the Bank of Eng
land. In 1727 that balance had been only 43,000?. ;
in October, 1790, it had grown to 660,000?. Surely,
said Mr. Pitt, it would be fair and right to apply half
a million of this balance towards the discharge of the
debts incurred by the late armament, making the Con
solidated Fund answerable for those dividends if at
any time they should be claimed. By this measure
the nation would obtain the immediate use of half a
million without interest, while the security of the
national creditor would be in no degree lessened or
impaired. This scheme, which was unfolded by Pitt in a
luminous speech, was received with general assent,
excepting only the proposal as to the unclaimed divi
dends. Fears were expressed lest it should ' give a
stab to public credit' — lest the fundholders, neglect
ing to inform themselves, should suppose their security
lessened. Finally it was arranged that, instead of the
Government taking directly any proportion of the
unclaimed dividends, the Bank Directors should lend
half a million without interest, thus giving to the
public exactly the same advantage as the first scheme
- contemplated. The trial of Hastings was another subject which gave

384 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1790-
rise to long debates. Here the question raised was
whether in law and form the dissolution of Parliament
put an end to an impeachment before the House of
Lords. On this point the lawyers might revel in a
long array of doubtful precedents. And among them
selves the best opinions were much divided. As against
the Abatement might be cited the great names of
Camden and Mansfield ; as for it names of scarcely
inferior legal eminence, Thurlow and Kenyon. But
while the heads of the law were thus at issue, there was
much more of unanimity among the leading statesmen ;
for while Fox and Burke, and Sheridan and Grey
eagerly pressed forward the Impeachment, Pitt and
Dundas in long and argumentative speeches threw their
weight into the same scale.
The speech of Pitt on this occasion is commemorated
by Wilberforce with high praise. 'This was almost
the finest speech Pitt ever delivered. It was one which
you would say at once he never could have made if he
had not been a mathematician. He put things by as
he proceeded, and then returned to the very point from
which he had started with the most astonishing clear
ness.' 1
Burke also was greatly pleased with this speech.
' Sir,' he said, ' the Right Hon. gentleman and I have
often been opposed to one another, but his speech
to-night has neutralized my opposition; nay, Sir, he
has dulcified me.'
Erskine, who had now returned to Parliament as
member for Portsmouth, espoused with vehemence, and
in opposition to all his friends, the side of the Abate
ment. His long speech on this occasion appears to
have borne no traces of his wonderful genius at the
Bar. He acknowledged that in these debates he did
not feel * at home ; ' and he drew down upon himself
some biting taunts from Burke. ' The learned gentle
man,' said Burke, ' has declared himself nervous, and
1 Life of Wilberforce, by his Sons, vol. i. p. 286.

1791 REAPPEARANCE OF ERSKINE IN PARLIAMENT 385
has modestly declined all claim to eloquence. Why
should the learned gentleman decline that to which all
the world allows him entitled, and to which alone he
has had recourse in the present debate ? It is plain
he trusted in that, and in that only. He confesses that
he has not examined the Journals of the House of
Commons ; and is pleased to assert that he had no
access to those of the other House, which nevertheless
are printed and accessible to the whole world. He
only produced in his hand a pamphlet, to whose contents
if he trusted to supply him with argument, it is not
easy to see on what he could possibly rely except his
own eloquence  For my part I must own that I
wish the country to be governed by law, but not by
lawyers ! ' l
Thus did Erskine recommence his career in Parlia
ment — certainly under no favourable auspices. He
continued in the following years to speak on various
subjects, but seldom with any success. And while
thus by his Parliamentary exertions he could render
little service to his friends in public life, he was
further apt to wear out their patience, even in pri
vate converse, by his most garrulous though ever
good-humoured vanity. ' Recollect ' — thus writes Fox
to Grey — ' the impossibility when Erskine was in his
most talkative vein of anything like deliberation.' 2
Still far more contemptuous is the character drawn
of him by Fox's nephew and Erskine's own Cabinet
colleague. ' He talked much nonsense : ' this is
among the smaller imputations which Lord Holland
conveys.3 So far as regards the subject of the Non- Abatement
in December, 1790, the unexpected aid of Erskine to
the friends of Hastings had no effect. The union of
1 Two speeches of Mr. Burke, both Dec, 23, 1790.
2 Letter dated 1799, and published in the Memorials of Fox,
vol iii. p. 293.
s Memoirs, by Henry Lord Holland, and especially one passage,
vol. ii. p. 184.
VOL. I. C C

386 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1790-
all the great statesmen in the House of Commons
prevailed ; and the continuance of the trial was voted
by overwhelming numbers.
There were also before Christmas and in both Houses
long debates on the recent Convention with Spam.
Addresses in approval of it were carried by very large
majorities— in the Peers by 73 rotes against 30, and
in the Commons by 247 against 123. So much time
was taken up in these manifold discussions that the
early part of the Session continued till the 29th of
December. Then the Houses adjourned till the be
ginning of February. Then also Pitt set off on a
visit to Burton Pynsent.
By the votes of both Houses the Spanish affair was
now successfully concluded. For his part in the
negotiation Mr. Fitzherbert was raised to the Irish
peerage as Lord St. Helens: he survived till 1839.
A more splendid reward was designed for Mr. Pitt.
The King had for some time past desired to invest
him with the, Garter; and he renewed the offer of
it on this occasion/ But it was respectfully declined
by the Minister — the only instance, so far as I know,
since the Revolution, besides that of Sir Robert Peel,
in which a Commoner has been offered and has re
fused this prize ; and a striking contrast to the eager
ness with which it often has been sought and solicited
by many great Peers. Pitt, however, obtained the
Royal permission to bestow it on his brother, Lord
Chatham.1 On the assembling of the Houses in February the
Trial of Hastings did not, as was hoped, make any rapid
progress. The Lords were very deliberate in decid
ing the point of Non-Abatement. On receiving a com
munication from the other House, they appointed in
the first place a Committee to search for precedents ; a
favourite course with both Houses, especially, perhaps,
1 See at the close of the volume the notes from the King to Mr.
Pitt, dated Dec. 12, 13, and 14, 1790.

1791 ABOLITION OF THE SLAVE TRADE. 387
when it is known that no precedents at all are to be
found. It was not till the 16th of May that Lord
Porchester moved and carried by a large majority a
Resolution as follows : — ' That a Message be sent to
acquaint the Commons that this House is ready to
proceed in the Trial of Warren Hastings.'
Even thus, so far as regarded any active progress
in the Trial, the whole, or nearly the whole, of this
Session was already consumed. Nor could it fail to
be noticed that the hearing of only three out of the
twenty Charges sent up to the House of Lords had
taken up three years. At that rate, and allowing also
a proportionate time for the defence, scarcely one of
the promoters of the first Impeachment would have
survived to see its termination. Under these circum
stances Mr. Burke on the 14th of February brought
forward a motion to limit the prosecution to a single
Charge more, namely, that relating to contracts,
pensions, and allowances. The motion was opposed
by Major Scott and other partisans of Hastings,
whose desire was to bring the Trial to an immediate
close ; but it obtained the support of Mr. Pitt, and was
carried by an immense majority. The hopes of the
Managers were once again revived. It was thought
that the ardour of politics might — as sometimes,
though rarely happens — overcome the slowness of the
law. Of late the steps for the abolition of the Slave Trade
had been almost as tardy as those for the Trial of
Hastings. The whole of the preceding and a great part
of the present Session had been taken up in the exami
nation of witnesses, which Mr. Wilberforce could not
prevent,' which he indeed desired, but which in its
result served only to perplex and overlay the question.
Under cover of these conflicting testimonies, Members
of Parliament found themselves much freer than before
to vote as the interests of the Liverpool merchants or of
the Jamaica planters might incline them. There were
c c 2

388 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1790-
other discouragements also. The extravagances of the
Jacobin Club at Paris, and of Thomas Paine in his
' Rights of Man,' were insidiously ascribed to the
¦ friends of Abolition by its enemies. With better reason
might they point to the rising ferment of the West
'India slaves — to the revolution which had already
commenced in St. Domingo, and was marked by hor
rible reprisals of the Blacks against the Whites.1
It was under such unfavourable circumstances that
Mr. Wilberforce on the 18th of April moved for leave
to bring in a Bill to prevent the further importation
of slaves into the British Colonies in the West Indies.
The debate lasted two days. Pitt and Fox, for once
¦ on the same side, put forth all their powers. Nor was
it wholly without effect even so far as the immediate
numbers were concerned. Two young Members of
Parliament — Mr. John Thomas Stanley, afterwards
Lord Stanley of Alderley, and Mr. Dudley Ryder,
afterwards Earl of Harrowby — declared, much to their
honour, that they had hitherto been adverse or in
doubt as regarded the Abolition of Slavery, but should
now give hearty votes in its favour. On the whole,
however, the majority against it was immense; the
Noes being 163, and the Yeas but 88.
Both India and Canada were in this Session subjects
of debate. In 1790 Lord Cornwallis had found it
necessary to declare war against Tippoo, Sultan of
Mysore. During that year General Medows at the
head of 15,000 men gained several advantages. But
early in 1791 Lord Cornwallis took the field in person.-
He besieged and took the town and fort of Bangalore,
the second place in importance of Tippoo's kingdom ;
and pursuing his march until near the outworks of
the first, Seringapatam, he there gained a victory over
Tippoo himself. But he did not consider his force
sufficient to reduce the capital, defended as it was by
1 Clarkson's History of the Abolition of the Slave Trade, vol. ii.
pp. 208-212.

1791 INDIA AND CANADA. 389
extensive fortifications ; and thus the conclusion of the
war was reserved for another campaign.
In the House of Commons, and in February, 1791,
Philip Francis brought forward some Resolutions tend
ing to a censure of the war. They were opposed by
Dundas and Pitt, and rejected without a division.
Not satisfied with this negative victory, Dundas two
days afterwards moved, without making a single pre
liminary observation, other Resolutions in approval of
the war. Fox and Francis made some angry speeches,
but did not venture to divide.
A Bill for the better government of Canada was
brought forward by Mr. Pitt. Since the conquest of
1759, and still more since the Act of 1774, there had
been great and growing differences between the new
English settlers and the old French inhabitants ; the
latter in general stationed at or»near Quebec,' while the
former, for the most part, proceeded higher up the
stream. It was now proposed to divide the province
into two parts, under the denominations of Upper
and Lower Canada ; the Upper for the English and
American settlers, the Lower for the French Canadians,
and with a local legislature to each part. ' This divi
sion,' said Pitt, 'could, I hope, be made in such a
manner as to give each a great majority in their own
particular share, although it cannot be expected to
draw a line of complete separation. Any inconveniences
to be apprehended from ancient Canadians being in
cluded in the one, or British settlers in the other,
would be remedied by the double legislature which I
seek to establish, by appointing in each a House of
Assembly, and a Council, so as to give them the full
advantages of the British Constitution  If the
province were not to be divided, there would be only
one House of Assembly; and there being two parties,
if these parties had been equal, or nearly equal, in the
Assembly, it would have been the source of perpetual
faction; while if one party had been much stronger

390 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1790-
than the other, the minority might not without some
justice call itself oppressed.' l
Besides this division of the province, which might be
regarded as the main feature of the scheme, there were
other clauses providing that the descendants of those on
whom the King might bestow hereditary titles should
hold hereditary seats in the Council, and that there
should be a permanent appropriation of lands for the
maintenance of the Protestant Clergy. To the first
introduction of this measure Fox offered no resistance.
And there fell from him on this occasion a maxim which
has of late become almost a settled rule in our Colonial
government, but which, in 1791, it required both dis
cernment to perceive and courage to avow. ' I do not
hesitate to say,' said Fox, 'that if a local legislature
be liberally formed, that circumstance would much in
cline me to overlook defects in the other regulations ;
because I am convinced that the only method of retain
ing distant Colonies with advantage is to enable them
to govern themselves.'
It was not till after the Committee that the opposi
tion of Fox began. With his usual powers of eloquence,
he pointed out some strong objections to the scheme of
Clergy Reserves: and while lauding the principle of
aristocracy in the government of England, denied that
it was applicable to the government of Canada. Not
withstanding his arguments, the Bill — like most other
Bills opposed by Fox at this juncture — was carried with
little alteration through both Houses. But it is worthy
'of note that one argument of Fox, though not allowed
in theory, has prevailed in practice. For although
the Bill did enable the Sovereign to grant hereditary
honours in the province of Canada, not one such here
ditary honour was in fact conferred.
The progress of this Bill, however, was fraught with
an interest far beyond its own. It was made memorable
by a collateral incident which it produced — by the
1 Speeches of Mr. Pitt, March 4 and April 8, 1791.

1791 DISSENSION BETWEEN FOX AND BURKE. 391
utter breach and lasting estrangement of the two great
leaders of the Opposition ranks.
In arguing against the Canada Bill, Fox had not
scrupled to draw some illustrations from the recent
changes in France ; nor had he forborne from some
reflections — or what seemed so — on the recent writings
of Burke. A debate on a different subject, to which I
shall presently come, the Russian armament, had given
Fox another opportunity for going over the same
ground. On this second occasion, Burke, who was not
present on the first, had risen with signs of strong
emotion ; but the hour being late, and the House ex
hausted, he was stopped by loud cries of ' Question 1 '
chiefly from the friends of Fox. At a later period Fox
is known to have regretted the injudicious zeal of those
who would not allow Burke to answer his remarks upon
the spot. ' The contention,' he said, ' might have been
fiercer and hotter, but the remembrance of it would not
have settled so deep and rankled so long.'
It is however certain, though Fox's ill-wishers might
sometimes maintain the contrary, that Fox had no in
tention to insult or wound his friend. On the con
trary, he appears to have regretted that the ardour of
debate had hurried him too far. On the day that had
been fixed for the re-commitment of the Canada Bill,
he, in company with a common friend, paid a visit to
Burke. Something of their old cordiality seemed to
revive between them. A political circumstance of great
delicacy was mentioned and discussed — a report, namely,
that the King had let fall some expressions favourable
to Mr. Fox. Burke made no secret of the topics which
he designed to use for his own defence in the House of
Commons ; and Fox expressed the wish that at least
the discussion might not take place on the re-commit
ment of the Canada Bill ; but Burke declared that he
could not consent to forego an opportunity which he
could not hope to find again in any other business then
before Parliament, or likely to come before it. Not-

392 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1790-
withstanding this refusal no present breach of friend
ship ensued. At the close of their conversation the two
statesmen walked to Westminster together, and together
entered the House. It was the last time in their lives
that they were thus arm in arm or hand in hand.1
~On entering the House of Commons the two states
men found that Sheridan had, in the mean time, moved
the adjournment of the discussion until after the Easter
holidays, to which Pitt had agreed. Both Fox and
Burke said a few words, the latter announcing that at
the next opportunity, that is on the 6th of May, he
should be prepared to explain himself fully on the
affairs of France.
On the 6th of May accordingly the expectation of
the House was wound up to the highest pitch. But by
that time the friends of Fox had discovered that it was
highly irregular and blameable to foist reflections upon
France into debates upon Canada. This irregularity,
which had not struck them while the practice was con
tinued by Fox, appeared to them in the strongest light
the moment a reply was announced by Burke. When,
therefore, on the 6th of May, Burke rose in his place,
and was proceeding with solemn earnestness to inveigh
against the error and evil of the French Revolution,
there appeared a fixed design to interrupt him. Member
after Member from his own, the Opposition side, started
up to call him to Order. First, there was Mr. Baker, a
country gentleman of considerable note, from Hertford
shire. Next came a Member who also took some part in
the debates, Mr. Michael Angelo Taylor. Others of the
rank and file followed, and a tumultuous scene ensued.
There was, as Burke said, a most disorderly rage for
Order. When, at last, he was suffered in some measure
to proceed, chafed and goaded as he had been, and even
1 In my account of this transaction I have closely followed
a passage in the Annual Register for 1791 (pp. 114-118), which was
certainly drawn up under Burke's direction, and perhaps in some
part even by Burke himself.

1791 DISSENSION BETWEEN FOX AND BURKE. 393
at length by Fox among the rest, he, no doubt, spoke
against 'the Right Hon. gentleman' (for now he
dropped the name of friend) much more bitterly and
strongly than he had at first designed. ' Certainly,' he
said, ' it is indiscreet at any period, but especially at
my time of life, to provoke enemies, or give my friends
occasion to desert me. Yet, if my firm and steady ad
herence to the British Constitution place me in such a
dilemma, I am ready to risk all, and with my last words
to exclaim — "Fly from the French Constitution!"'
Fox here whispered across to him that there was no
loss of friends. 'Yes,' rejoined Burke; 'yes, there is a
loss of friends. I know the price of my conduct. 1
have done my duty at the price of my friend. Our
friendship is at an end.'
When Burke, after some further impassioned bursts
of eloquence, had sat down, Fox rose to reply. But his
mind was so painfully affected by what had passed, that
for some minutes he was unable to proceed. Tears
rolled down his cheeks, and he strove in vain to give
utterance to his thoughts. The whole House seemed
to sympathise with this generous gush of feeling, and
many eyes were moistened besides his own.1 Recovering
himself at last, he adverted with manly and becoming
tenderness to the Right Hon. gentleman so lately his
familiar friend. He repeated what he had said in the
preceding year, that he had learned more from Mr.
Burke than from all books and all other men put
together. All his political knowledge was derived from
Mr. Burke's writings, speeches, or familiar conversation,
and his severance from a man to whom he owed so
many obligations would be painful to him to the last
hour of his life. Still, however, he was bound to avow
his opinions on public affairs, and he must look upon
the French Constitution as a most stupendous and
1 See Moore's Life of Sheridan, from the information ' of persons
who were in the Gallery at the time ' (vol. ii. p. 125). ' Fox,' it is
added, ' wept even to sobbing.'

394 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1790-
glorious fabric of liberty. The old despotism was anni
hilated ; the new system had the good of the people for
its object ; and that was the point on which he took his
stand. Still untired, Burke rose again and spoke once more
with augmented vehemence, denouncing the new French
Constitution as no stupendous or glorious fabric, but
rather ' as a building composed of untempered mortar —
as the work of Goths and Vandals, where everything
was disjointed and inverted.' Fox made yet another
short reply, and thus the discussion ended. And thus
ended also a friendship of twenty-five years — a friend
ship fraught with great results on the politics of Eng
land, and renowned throughout the world — a friendship
which the Revolution in America cemented, and the
Revolution of France broke asunder.
In this memorable quarrel, which had been for some
time foreseen as impending, there were many of the
Whigs disposed in secret to sympathise with Burke.
Such, for example, was the tendency of the Duke of
Portland, in former years their nominal Prime Minister.
But all of them, from the highest to the lowest, felt
a natural repugnance to break with their real chief. So
long as they could, they had laboured to urge that the
difference between Burke and Fox was speculative only
— that Burke might well leave the allusions of Fox and
Sheridan without reply — and that there was nothing to
prevent their continued concurrence in the field of
practical action. When at last the breach did come,
all, or nearly all, the Whig Members of Parliament,
always excepting Windham, espoused the side of Fox.
And, as commonly happens in parties, though there
might be some hesitation in deciding, yet, when the
decision was taken, they rushed at once into an angry
extreme. I have already related their insulting, and,
as it were, systematic interruptions of Burke on the 6th
of May. Within the week a significant hint was con
veyed him in the columns of a Whig newspaper, that

1791 DISSENSION BETWEEN FOX AND BURKE. 395
he was expected to retire from the House of Commons.1
Thus far then Burke remained almost alone. Even at
the close of this summer no immediate effect appears to
have been produced by his masterly tract ' An Appeal
from the New to the Old Whigs.' But the progress of
affairs in France was surely, though slowly, working in
his favour. Month after month during the next two
years the news that came from across the Channel
tended more and more to fulfil his predictions, and to
falsify the hopes of Fox. And thus, as will be shown
hereafter, a great majority of his former friends ended
by coming round to his declared opinions.
But menawhile the isolation of Burke in public life
manifested in the clearest manner how high and
honourable were the motives by which he was swayed.
For it is to be observed, so far as the contending
parties in England were concerned, that in losing old
friends, he had by no means acquired new. He had
indeed, from time to time, some communications with
the Ministry on business connected with the French
Emigrants. But these communications were on both
sides cold and ungenial. Mr. Burke sought no
junction upon other points with the party that he
had so long opposed. On the other hand, Mr. Pitt
at this period appears to have regarded the vehe
mence of Mr. Burke against the rulers of France as
unsafe and extreme. " When appealed to in the debates
of the House of Commons, the Prime Minister, while
commending the patriotic spirit of Burke, had advised
him rather to extol the English Constitution than to
attack the French.2 Therefore, in the course which he
had chosen, Burke went on alone. He might justly
feel at this juncture that he had sacrificed for conscience
sake not merely any ambitious views of his own, but
1 ' The consequence (of this dispute) is that Mr. Burke retires
from Parliament.' — Morning Chronicle, May 12, 1791. See also
Prior's Life of Burke, vol. ii. p. 169.
2 See the remarks of Burke on this advice in his ' Appeal to the
Old Whigs.' ( Works, vol. vi. p. 91, ed. 1815.)

396 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1790-
what was far dearer to him, the ambitious views of his
son and only child. He might justly write as follows
to one of the French gentlemen in England, an agent
from the Princes at Coblentz : ' In the disinterested
part we actively take in your affairs, we want no
apology to any human creature. We have made many
enemies here, and no friends, by the part we have
taken. We have, for your sakes, mixed with those with
whom we have had no natural intercourse. We have
quitted our business ; we have broken in upon our en
gagements. For one mortification you have endured, we
have endured twenty. My son has crossed land and sea
with much trouble, and at an expense above his means.
But the cause of humanity requires it; he does not
murmur ; and is ready to do as much and more for men
whose faces he has not seen.' '
The limits to the rights of Juries, and the statements
of Judges in reference to them, had of late years at
tracted some attention. In 1784 there was the trial of
Dr. William Shipley, Dean of St. Asaph, on the charge
of publishing a libel which was written by Sir William
Jones, and entitled ' A Dialogue between a Gentleman
and a Farmer ; ' and the verdict in this case had been
' Guilty of publishing, but whether a libel or not the
Jury do not find.' In 1789 there was, as we have seen,
the trial of John Stockdale, when the Jury returned a
verdict of Not Guilty. In 1790 there was the prosecu-
> tion of John Luxford, printer of the ' Morning Herald,'
for a paragraph tending to embroil us with our nearest
neighbours, since it boldly asserted that in the arma
ment resulting from the affair at Nootka Sound, the
Ministers had in view not an open contest with Spain,
but rather a treacherous attack on France. Here the
defendant pleaded Guilty, and was sentenced to twelve
months' imprisonment.
In such cases, the Judge, when he had to charge the
Jury, was wont to rely mainly on a solemn declaration
1 Correspondence, vol. iii. p. 354, ed. 1844.

1791

RIGHTS OF JURIES. 397

from the Court of King's Bench as presided over by the
Earl of Mansfield, and as called forth by the ambiguous
verdict in Dean Shipley's trial. In this argument Lord
Mansfield had clearly laid down the position that the
Juries were to decide the fact and not the law— whether
the defendant had or had not published the pamphlet,
and not whether the pamphlet was or was not a libel.
When in 1788 Mansfield had retired from the Bench
full of years and honours, his decisions continued
to be cited with deserved respect. Nor indeed was
it alleged by men of weight that he had failed to lay
down the law correctly according to the latest prece
dents. In May 1791 even Erskine, keen as he was for
the rights of Juries, acknowledged in the House of Com
mons that if he were called to fill a judicial office,
he should find it difficult on this subject to resist the
current of decisions.
The Juries on their part were by no means always
inclined to acquiesce in this limitation of their right,
and it seemed most desirable that all doubts should be
removed, and that they should obtain beyond dispute
the full powers that they claimed. Twenty years before
Burke had framed a Bill for that purpose. The subject
was now resumed by Fox, who moved for leave to
introduce his measure on the 20th of May, and who
received on that occasion the cordial support of Pitt.
But Fox had stirred too late in the Session for imme
diate success. Though the Bill was carried through
the Commons with all possible despatch, the Second
Reading could not be moved by Earl Stanhope in the
Lords until the 8th of June, the Prorogation being de
signed for the 10th ; and the Chancellor might therefore
safely and on sufficient grounds gratify his dislike of
the measure by moving and obtaining its rejection for
this year.
There was another subject this Session on which Pitt
and Fox concurred. Mr. John Mitford, a lawyer of
eminence, and afterwards the first Lord Redesdale,

398 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1790-
produced a Bill in favour of the Roman Catholics. His
object, as he explained it, was by no means to enable
them to sit in Parliament or to fill any office from which
they were before excluded, but to provide that such
among them as should take an oath prescribed by the
Bill should be exempted from some of the severe pe
nalties which at various times since the Reformation
had been passed against them. These penalties — a
most just reproach to the age and race by which they
were enacted — were so many that the mere enumera
tion of them in Burn's work on Ecclesiastical Law took
up seventy pages. Pitt declared himself friendly to
the measure, and Fox only complained that it did not
go far enough. The relief, he said, ought to extend to
every Roman Catholic, and not to the oath-takers alone.
In the same spirit Pitt expressed an earnest wish that
the obnoxious Statutes might be not only suspended, but
repealed. Meanwhile, however, the Bill of Mr. Mitford
was carried through the Commons unopposed, and in
the Lords was supported by the Primate and the Bench
of Bishops, the Chancellor on that day being absent
from illness. And thus, with some amendments, the
measure passed into law.
It may well be supposed that the Roman Catholics —
and above all with such weighty opinions on their side
— did not deem this concession final and conclusive, but
desired to press their further claims. A Committee
had been formed, and was sitting at Dublin, with a view
to legislative action on their behalf in both kingdoms,
and as Secretary they had chosen Richard Burke, the
son of the great philosopher and statesman.
Up to this time I have shown the Prime Minister
triumphant in nearly all his measures, and upheld in
every contest by the public approbation and applause.
We are now to contemplate almost the first check to
that lofty will, almost the first cloud upon that brilliant
sky, in the ill reception of his scheme for the Russian
armament. But here a retrospect will be required.

1791

WAR WITH TURKEY. 399

The views entertained with respect to the rising em
pire of Russia had greatly varied in England within sixty
years, even among those statesmen who agreed on other
questions. Thus, in 1719, the policy of Stanhope, at
that time Prime Minister, had been defined ' to drive
the Muscovites as far off as possible.' On the other
hand, we find in 1773 Chatham write to Shelburne-:
) ' Your Lordship knows I am quite a Russ.' Of these two
opinions, as time proceeded, Pitt certainly inclined to
the former. And he watched with anxiety the progress
of the war, commencing in August, 1787, which the
Court of Petersburg had haughtily provoked, and the
Porte imprudently declared.
Even at the outset of these hostilities the Empress
Catherine felt secure of a powerful ally. She had re
cently met, on a journey to the Crimea, her brother
Emperor Joseph the Second; they had travelled for
the most part in the same carriage, exchanged many
compliments, and discussed many schemes of conquest.1
And among these stood foremost the destruction, or at
least the dismemberment, of the Ottoman empire.
Joseph the Second, with many good and some great
qualities, was misled by an inconsiderate desire of
rivalling Frederick the Great. Thirsting for military
fame, and careless of political consequences, he issued a
Declaration of War against Turkey in February, 1788.
His Manifesto on that occasion required some skill to
draw, since in truth he had not the smallest grievance
against the Sultan to allege, and could only plead his
wish to succour his good friend the Czarina.
But the result to the Emperor, when he appeared at
the head of his soldiers, by no means corresponded with
his hopes. He had collected an army of 200,000 men,
the largest perhaps that the House of Austria had yet
brought into the field, but it was unskilfully distributed
along the whole line of the Turkish frontier. One main
1 Lettres et Pensees du Prince de Ligne (who was present with
them), vol. i. p. 92, ed. 1809.

400 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1790-
body, under the Prince of Coburg, was designed to
co-operate with the Russians in Moldavia; another,
under Joseph himself, moved along the Save. At the
head of this last force, from which such great things had
been expected, Joseph might indeed reduce the petty
border fortress of Sabacz, but he could not prevent the
Grand Vizier from invading and laying waste the Bannat
of Temeswar. He found it necessary to order a retreat,
which was made in haste and ill-conducted, and at the
close of the year he came back to Vienna sick in body
and dejected in mind.
Catherine the Second had entrusted the principal
direction of the war to her favourite, Prince Potemkin.
Under him Count Romanzow commanded the army on
the Pruth. Under him the Prince de Nassau-Siegen,
with whom the adventurer Paul Jones had taken ser
vice, commanded the flotilla in the Euxine. The Turks,
on their part,' relied on their formidable fleet of eighteen
ships of the line, and on their renowned Capitan Pacha
Hassan, the hero of Lemnos. Hassan did indeed dis
play all his former daring, not quenched by the snows
of fourscore years, but there was neither skill nor dis
cipline in most of his officers or men. In the autumn
of 1788 his armament was first repulsed by Paul Jones
at Gluboka, then all but annihilated at Kinburn by
Jones and Siegen united. Emboldened by this success,
Prince Potemkin proceeded to invest the important
fortress of Ockzakow.
Turning from the Euxine to the Baltic, there ap
peared to the Turkish side a wholly unexpected ally.
Gustavus of Sweden was, through his mother Ulrica,
nephew to the great King of Prussia, and like the Em
peror Joseph he felt a perilous ambition to rival that
consummate master of the art of war. He had as little
plea for assailing Russia as Joseph for assailing Turkey ;
nevertheless he published a Manifesto in the summer of
1788, and at once commenced hostilities. On proceed
ing to put himself at the head of his forces in Finland,

1791 THE THREE ALLIES. 401
the parallel with Joseph might be still further con
tinued, for he encountered nothing but discomfiture.
Admiral Greig, a Scotchman in the Russians' service,
and commanding their Baltic fleet, proved an over
match to the Swedish. The principal officers and
nobles of Gustavus were disaffected to him from the
violent subversion of their privileges which he had
made in former years, and the Danes, at the instigation
of Catherine, suddenly assailed his dominions on their
side. It became necessary for him to return from Fin
land in all haste, and oppose himself to these new ad
versaries. The King of Sweden was then beyond all
doubt in a most critical position, and he owed his de
liverance only to the active measures of Pitt.
The object of. Pitt,_ whether in the north or south,
was the same — to uphold the balance of power. For
this object he had just concluded and he relied upon
treaties of alliance with Holland and Prussia. He now
desired that the three Allies should by a joint Remon
strance arrest the progress of the Danes and Russians
and save Sweden. It was no easy matter on this occa
sion to overcome the conscientious scruple of George
the Third, who apprehended any risk of war. It was no
easy matter on this occasion or on any other to animate
the indolent temper of Frederick William. But the
requisite sanction at least for the first steps being
granted, Mr. Hugh Elliot, our Minister at Copenhagen,
received the desired instructions. Without losing a
moment he crossed over into Sweden and hastened to the
camp of the Danish army before Gothenburg. There he
met the young Prince Royal, nephew of George the
Third, and virtual Regent of Denmark through his
father's incapacity. To him Mr. Elliot at once presented
a Remonstrance in the name of the three Allies, threaten
ing him with their resentment if the war with Sweden
were further pursued. Under this pressure a prelimi
nary truce was signed on the 9th of October, first for only
a week, and at the close of that period for a month.
VOL. i. v D

402 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 17.90-
The aim of Pitt was now to carry out this policy to
its full extent — to bring the Danes from a preliminary
to a final pacification. Here again there were some
conscientious difficulties on the part of George the
Third, over whom the shadow of his great malady
was just beginning to be cast. My readers may them
selves consult the King's touching letter of October
25, Mr. Pitt's answer offering some modification, and
the King's rejoinder of November 3, 1788. The re
sult was in complete accordance with the wishes and
the expectations of the British Minister. England,
without incurring any warfare of her own, arrested
the warfare of another Power. The Danes marched
back their troops to Norway, and subsequently were
persuaded to resume their position as neutrals in the
war. On the side of Turkey the armies had for the most
part withdrawn to winter quarters. But the investment
of Ockzakow was still continued by Prince Potemkin.
The Turks, well aware of the importance of this post,
had thrown into it a garrison of twenty thousand chosen
troops. A scarcely less effectual protection seemed to
be afforded it by the extreme severity of the winter
which ensued. Nevertheless Prince Potemkin, eager
to signalise himself at whatever cost of lives, paid no
regard to the hundreds that daily perished from ex
posure to the cold, but still kept his forces in the field
and began to bombard the city with red-hot balls. One
of these fell on the great powder-magazine, which blew
up with a terrible explosion, killing five thousand people
and demolishing a portion of the wall. A general as
sault being given in consequence on the 17th of De
cember, 1788, the place was taken by storm after a
brave resistance and vast slaughter on both sides. The
fall of this important border-fortress was felt as a great
shock not only through the Turkish empire, but through
out all Europe. It was the first stronghold acquired
J>y the Russians on the Euxine, and it filled a space in

1791 DEFEAT OF THE TURKS. 403
the popular apprehensions of those times not less than
in our own day did Sebastopol.
In April of the next year, 1789, occurred the sudden
demise of the .Sultan Abdul Hamet, succeeded by bis
nephew Selim. The new Sovereign changed the Minis
ters and Generals, but maintained the warlike policy,
of his predecessor. When, however, shortly afterwards
the campaign commenced, it was marked by a long
train of disasters to the Ottoman Empire. Joseph the
Second, being detained by illness at Vienna, had sum
moned from retirement the veteran commander Lau-
dohn, whose high military fame had up to that time
excited his jealousy rather than his confidence. Ad
vancing along the Save, Laudohn reduced Gradisca,
and in spite of all opposition besieged and took the im
portant city of Belgrade. In Moldavia Suwarrow had
succeeded Romanzow as leader of the Russians, and
displayed at once the uncultivated genius, the barbarian
vigour for which his name has become renowned. Con
certing measures with the Prince of Coburg, they
marched beyond the Sereth, and utterly defeated the
Turks in two bloody battles at Fockshan and at Rimnik.
The Turks were driven in confusion across the Danube,
while not only the city of Bucharest but the whole pro
vince of Wallachia became the spoil of the victors.
Along the wide extent of northern frontier there was
yet space for another signal reverse to the Turkish arms.
One of the changes, made by the new Sultan had been
to transfer the High Admiral, Hassan Pacha, from his
own element to the land-service, giving him the com
mand of some forces, with which he was directed to
march into Bessarabia, there to aim at the recovery of
Ockzakow and the protection of Bender. Hassan had
passed the Danube and reached the Village of Tobak,
when he was encountered by a Russian army led by
Prince Potemkin, and after a hard-fought action was
utterly defeated*
Thus on all points had the Turks been put to the
D D 2

404 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1790-
rout with heavy loss. Another such campaign might
have driven them beyond the Bosphorus. But as in a
former year from Sweden, so in the next there came to
them an important diversion from the Netherlands and
Hungary. In both the Emperor Joseph had attempted
to establish reforms, good for the most part in them
selves, but ill-timed, precipitate, and urged with arbi
trary violence. In both there was a reaction not less
violent, extending in Hungary to the very verge of
civil war, and in the Netherlands to successful insur
rection. Joseph, already on his death-bed, found it ne
cessary to revoke all the most cherished measures of his
not long but laborious life ; and on the 20th of February,
1790, he expired.
Joseph was succeeded in the Hereditary States, as
afterwards in the Imperial Crown, by bis brother Leo
pold, the Grand Duke of Tuscany. Leopold at once
applied himself, and not without success, to heal the
wounds which Joseph had inflicted. Both Hungary
and Belgium were by degrees restored to quiet,
though still for a long time heaving with their recent
agitation. Meanwhile on the Danube the Austrian
troops had done little more than reduce Orsova and
besiege Widdin. Leopold did not seek new victories,
but expected to derive some fruits from those already
gained. He thought it only reasonable that the Turks
should be prepared to make considerable cessions in
any treaty of peace.
It was at this point that the three Allies — the Cabi
nets of London, the Hague, and Berlin — were able to
interpose with signal effect. Already, a few days only
before the demise of Joseph, Prussia had concluded a
treaty of alliance with the Porte, and commenced active
preparations for war. It was now made clear to Leopold
that unless he would renounce the concert of measures
with Russia, and the schemes for the partition of Turkey,
he must be prepared to encounter on the other side the
whole force of the Prussian monarchy. England and

1791 THE REICHENBACH CONGRESS. 405
Holland, though closely linked with Prussia in these
negotiations, were admitted to take part as mediators
in the Congress which was held at Reichenbach, in
Silesia, between the rival States. Through their joint
exertions Leopold was induced, seeking moreover to
secure the votes of Brandenburg and Hanover at the ap
proaching Imperial election, to conclude, in July, 1790,
the Convention called of Reichenbach, renouncing his
alliance with Russia, providing for a speedy peace be
tween himself and the Porte, and consenting to give
back all the conquests made on his part during the war.
The relief which this Convention afforded at a most
seasonable time to the tottering Turkish empire was
lessened in some degree by another treaty of peace con
cluded at nearly the same time between Russia and
Sweden. The campaign on the side of Finland had
been marked by numerous encounters both by land and
sea, and with varying fortune, but even their successes
brought heavy loss in men and in ships to the Swedes.
Under these circumstances Gustavus rushed into peace
with as much precipitation as he had into war. With
out the smallest regard to his allies, or to his pledges,
he signed a treaty at his camp in August, 1790, fixing
his frontiers with Russia exactly as they stood before
the war, and leaving the Empress Catherine at liberty
to turn her entire and undivided forces against the
Turks. Of this liberty the Empress was resolved to make
full use. Her armies had remained almost stationary
on the Danube through the spring and summer, while
Austria was in suspense and negotiations were in pro
gress. But it was hoped that, as at Ockzakow, the winter
season would not preclude an important blow. The
object now in view was the reduction of Ismail, a strong
town on the left arm of the Danube, near its mouth,
and into which the Turks had thrown almost an army
for a garrison. Prince Potemkin sent his instructions
to General Suwarrow in these few words : ' You will

406 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1791
take Ismail at whatever cost.' Having made his dis
positions accordingly, Suwarrow on the morning of the
22nd of December, 1790, led up his troops to the as
sault. The resistance was obstinate, but unavailing,
the slaughter terrible, and continued long after the
resistance had ceased. It is computed that on the day
of the storm, and on the two following, the number of
the Turks that perished, men, women, and children
together, amounted to no less than four and thirty
thousand.

CHAPTER XV.
1791.

Policy of England — * The Russian Armament ' — Concession of Pitt
to the popular feeling — Death of Prince Potemkin — Lord Gren
ville appointed Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs — Lord
Chatham and Mr. Pitt compared by Lady Chatham — Marriage of
the Duke of York — Correspondence with the Bishop of Lichfield
— Pitt's patronage of humble merit in the Church — Commutation
of Tithes — French Revolution — Declaration of Pilnitz — Riots at
Birmingham — Destruction of Dr. Priestley's house.
In my last chapter I gave a slight, but perhaps for my
purpose sufficient sketch of the events in Eastern and
Northern Europe since 1787. That sketch has now
brought me to the commencement of 1791, and will
serve to explain the policy in that year of Mr. Pitt.
He could look back with gratification to the success of
the three Allies. He was proud to think that they had
been able first to arrest the progress of Denmark in
the North ; next to curb the ambition of Austria, and
compel her to renounce the conquests she had already
made. It was his opinion that precisely the same
course should be pursued towards Russia. But the
.negotiations with that view, conducted through the
autumn and winter, proved altogether unsatisfactory.
The Empress resented as an insult any interference of

1791 'THE RUSSIAN ARMAMENT.' 407
the Neutral Powers. She would hear nothing of mode
ration and forbearance. She was fully determined, even
before the taking of Ismail, and still more fully after it,
that in any treaty of peace with the Porte, she would
retain a considerable portion of her conquests, and,
above all, the fortress of Ockzakow as her first opening
to the Euxine.
All remonstrances against this determination being
haughtily rejected by the Court of Petersburg, Pitt
thought that the time had come for more decisive
measures. Already with that view had he kept in
commission several ships beyond the regular peace
establishment. He now sent orders to increase the
number, and make them with all despatch ready for sea;
and this, in the language of the time was called 'the
Russian armament.' As at Reichenbach it was the
muster along the frontier of a Prussian army ready for
action that mainly weighed with Austria in conceding,
so now, in all probability, might with Russia the aspect
of a British fleet. But if not — if the Empress Catherine
were bent on trying her strength against the country
men of Hawke and Boscawen — then, as Pitt believed,
the present balance of power, and the future security of
Europe, were considerations of fully sufficient import
ance to justify a war.
On the 27th of March Pitt held a Cabinet upon
this subject. He did not carry through his views with
out some difficulty, as will appear from a letter addressed
to him in the course of the same night by the Duke of
Richmond. Whitehall, Sunday night, March 27, 1791.
My dear Sir, — Although it is next to impossible for two
persons in the course of a variety of events always to see the
same things in the same point of view, yet I cannot but feel
hurt when I happen to (hffer from you in any essential point.
At the same time I am sure that in one of such importance
as that we discussed this morning in Cabinet, you would not
wish me to keep back my real sentiments ; and the more I

408 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1791
think of the subject the more I am confirmed in my opinion
that unless we have Holland, in some ostensible shape at
least, with us, and the Swedish ports open to our fleet, with
an accession of Poland to our alliance, we risk too much in
. pledging this country to Prussia to make war against Russia
in order to compel her to make peace with the Porte upon
the status quo. I have duly weighed all the arguments you
made use of, which undoubtedly have great force, but I can
not say they have convinced me.
I have not the presumption to wish that my ideas should
preponderate against yours and the majority of the Cabinet,
and I by no means wish to enter any formal dissent to the
measure, but merely to be understood by you that my opinion
does not go with it. When once it is adopted, I shall con
tribute the little I can to its success. I am ever most truly
and sincerely yours, Richmond.
Next day, however, Monday the 28th of March, Pitt
presented to the House of Commons a message in the
name of the King, stating that the endeavours which
His Majesty had used, in concert with his Allies, to
effect a reconciliation between Russia and the Porte
having hitherto been unsuccessful, he judged it requisite
to make some further augmentation of his naval force,
and he trusted that his faithful Commons would be
ready to make good the expenses that might ;be
incurred. No sooner was the Message delivered than
Fox started up to declare his opposition to its purport.
On the following day, and on several subsequent occa
sions, he argued against it with his usual force, ably
seconded by several of his friends: in the Commons by
Grey, Sheridan, and Whitbread ; in the Peers by Lords
Loughborough and Stormont, and Lord North, now Earl
of Guilford. Was it really of such vast importance to
English interests whether Russia did or did not retain
the territory between the Boug and Dniester, or even
the strong-hold of Ockzakow? Was it really worth
while to incur all the costs and all the calamities
of war for a desolate tract of marshes, and for a fortress
half in ruins ?

1791 CONCESSION OF PITT TO POPULAR FEELING. 409
The great eloquence which Fox displayed upon this
subject was not greater than of late years he had dis
played upon many other subjects. But he had the
pleasure to find that it made far more impression on his
hearers. The evils of Russian ambition were contingent
and remote; those of increased expenditure plain, pal
pable, immediate. But, moreover, Fox having no
official considerations to restrain him, could discuss the
question boldly in all its bearings. Pitt, on the other
hand, deemed it inconsistent with his duty to reveal the
exact state of the negotiation, or even to mention
Ockzakow, and thus he could only, as it were, meet a
rapier with a foil.
The Russian armament, therefore, found no favour
with the public. On the day after the King's Message,
and when the Opposition had moved an amendment to
the Address, the Ministers prevailed by a majority of 93 ;
but omthe next occasion, and in a much fuller House,
that majority declined to 80. Out of doors the measure
grew daily more unpopular. Even in the ranks of the
majority there were many doubtful or reluctant votes.
Pitt felt that he must sound a retreat.
Once convinced of the necessity of yielding, Pitt did
not procrastinate or linger. It was, he saw, of pressing
importance that the country should not become more
deeply committed on this question. He despatched to
Russia with all possible speed a Messenger, who fortu
nately arrived in sufficient time to withhold our Minister
from presenting to the Court of Petersburg a new and
threatening Note which was already prepared. And in
relinquishing the warlike measures which he had com
menced for the recovery of Ockzakow, Pitt was anxious
by means of a secret letter, addressed to Mr. Ewart, to
explain to the Court of Berlin the urgent reasons for
that change. That letter, as derived from the draft in
Pitt's own writing, has been already printed in the Life
by Bishop Tomline, but I shall here print it again.
It is necessary to premise that Mr. Ewart had lately

410 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1791
been in England, and was only just returned to his
post. Holwood, May 24, 1791.
My dear Sir, — You are so fully apprised, from your own
observation, and from our repeated conversations, of all
which has passed here in relation to affairs abroad, and of
every sentiment of mine on the subject, that I can have no
thing fresh to add in this letter.
I wish, however, to repeat my earnest and anxious desire
that you should find means of informing the King of Prussia,
as openly and explicitly as possible, of the real state of the
business, and of the true motives of our conduct. He knows,
I am persuaded, too well the effect which opinion and public
impression must always have in this country, either to com
plain of our change of measures or to wonder at it, if the true
cause be fully explained to him. You perfectly know that no
man "could be more eagerly bent than I was on a steady ad
herence to the line which we had at first proposed, of going all
lengths to enforce the terms of the strict status quo; and I am
still as much persuaded as ever that if we could have carried
the support of the country with us, the risk and expense
of the struggle, even if Russia had not submitted without a
struggle, would not have been more than the object was worth.
But notwithstanding this was my own fixed opinion, I
saw with certainty, in a very few days after the subject was
first discussed in Parliament, that the prospect of obtaining
a support sufficient to carry this line through with vigour
and effect was absolutely desperate. We did indeed carry
our question in the House of Commons, by not an incon
siderable majority ; and we shall, I am persuaded, continue
successful in resisting all the attempts of Opposition as long
as the negotiation is depending. But from what I know of
the sentiments of the greatest part of that majority, and of
many of the warmest friends of Government, I am sure that
if, in persisting in the line of the status quo, we were to come
to the point of actually calling for supplies to support the
war, and were to state, as would then be indispensable, the
precise ground on which it arose, that we should either not
carry such a question, or carry it only by so weak a division
as would nearly amount to a defeat. This opinion I certainly
formed neither hastily nor willingly ; nor could I easily make
a sacrifice more painful to myself than I have done in yield-

1791 LETTER TO MR. EWART. 411
ing to it. But feeling the circumstances to be such as I have
stated them, the only question that remained was, whether
we should persist, at all hazards, in pushing our first deter-
mination7 though without a chance of rendering it effectual
to its object, or whether we should endeavour to do what
appears to be the next best, when what we wished to do
became impracticable.
To speak plainly : the obvious effect of our persisting
would have been to risk the existence of the present Govern
ment, and with, it the whole of our system both at home and
abroad. The personal part of this consideration it would have
been our duty to overlook, and I trust we should all have
been ready to do so, if by any risk of our own we should have
contributed to the attainment of a great and important ob
ject for this country and its allies ; but the consequence must
evidently have been the reverse. The overthrow of our sys
tem here, at the same time that it hazarded driving the
Government at home into a state of absolute confusion, must
have shaken the whole of our system abroad. It is not diffi
cult to foresee what must have been the consequence to Prussia
of a change effected by an opposition to the very measures
taken in concert with that Court, and resting on the avowed
ground of our present system of alliance.
On these considerations it is that we have felt the neces
sity of changing our plan, and endeavouring to find the best
expedient we can for terminating the business without ex
tremities. Fortunately, the having succeeded in stopping the
proposed representation to Russia has prevented our being
as pointedly committed as there was reason to apprehend we
might have been. The modifications which have been sug
gested, the recommendation of them from Spain, the prospect
of bringing that Court to join in a subsequent guarantee of
the Turkish possessions, and the chance of, perhaps, bringing
the Emperor to accede to our system, are all circumstances
which give an opening for extricating us from our present
difficulty. You are so fully master of the whole of those
details, that I shall not enlarge upon them. My great object
is, that you should be able to satisfy the King of Prussia of
the strong necessity under which we have acted, and that we
really had no other choice, with a view either to his interests
or to those which we are most bound to consult at home.
I am, &c, W. Pitt.

412 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1791
The concession here made by Pitt in good time (for
on that in a concession everything depends) to the
popular feeling averted his Parliamentary danger. But
the whole transaction tended to dim his Parliamentary
renown. Here was manifestly a miscalculation and a
failure,— the first on any foreign question that he had
ever known. Men began to whisper that his fall
might be near at hand — that the public confidence was
lost_that the King's favour was declining— that His
Majesty had been heard to say at his Levee that,
should any change become requisite, he had no per
sonal objections to Mr. Fox. It may likewise be
observed that rumours of this kind were not without
their effect on the dissension which broke forth directly
Afterwards between Fox and Burke. Even such poli
ticians of the Opposition side as at heart agreed with
Burke on the terrors of the French Revolution, deemed
it impolitic to side with the philosopher just retiring
from the stage, and to break with the statesman perhaps
on the very point of being called to the head of affairs.
On another point also was Burke mixed up in this
transaction. He had taken part with Fox in speaking
and voting against the Russian armament ; but sub
sequently to their quarrel he stated a charge against
his former friend in a private letter to the Duke of
Portland, which, some years later, was surreptitiously
and without his leave made public. The charge was,
that Mr. Fox, without in any manner consulting his
party, had sent Mr. Adair (at a later period Sir Robert)
on a secret mission to Petersburg with the view to
counteract the efforts of the King's Envoy, Mr. Faw-
kener. Such had been the rumour at the time. Mr.
Pitt himself, though he did not accuse Mr. Fox of any
share in this transaction, twice in the House of Com
mons intimated an idea that the presence of Mr. Adair
at the Russian Court had been injurious. 'Better
terms,' he said, ' might have been obtained at Peters
burg, had it not been for certain circumstances of noto-

1791 THE CZARINA'S REGARD FOR MR. FOX. 413
riety hostile to the political interests of England.' In
the heat of party conflict it must be owned that there
appeared some grounds of probability sufficient to jus
tify the charge.
Many years afterwards, however, that is in 1821, the
charge was revived by Bishop Tomline in a more deli
berate form. The Bishop said that its accuracy was
attested by authentic documents among Mr. Pitt's
papers. But, when publicly appealed to by Sir Robert
.Adair, he did not produce any. I certainly have not
found any such among the papers which were then in
the Bishop's hands and which are now in mine, and
I believe that the Bishop's memory must have entirely
deceived him on this point. The final vindication of
Sir Robert — dated in February, 1842, and published
in the Fox Memorials — appears to me complete. It
clearly shows that the journey to Petersburg was Mr.
Adair's own act, without any suggestion of Mr. Fox
and without any treacherous design of either. Mr.
Fox went no farther than to say, as he most reasonably
might, when Mr. Adair took leave of him, ' Well, if
you are determined to go, send us all the news.'
The Czarina, however, received Mr. Adair with high
honours as the friend of Fox, and took pains to con
trast her demeanour to him with that to Mr. Fawkener.
.She professed the highest regard for the great orator
in consequence of his recent course ; and having ob
tained his bust from England, placed it in a gallery of
her palace between those of Demosthenes and Cicero.
Abroad, it became necessary for the Prussian Minis
ters to follow the course of England. They could not
persevere with effect in resisting the pretensions of
Russia on the side of Turkey ; and the Porte itself had
no alternative but to yield. It was agreed that the
Czarina should retain the fortress of Ockzakow, and the
territory between the Boug and the Dniester ; the latter
stream to be henceforth the limit between the two
empires. The Preliminaries of Peace were signed on

414 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1791
the 11th of August, and a Congress was appointed to
be held at Yassy for the completion of the treaty.
In October, and before this peace was finally adjusted,
died Prince Potemkin, one of the most zealous pro
moters of the war. His ascendency with the Empress
had recently declined under the influence of a younger
rival. He was travelling to Nicolayeff for change of
air, in company with his niece the Countess Braniska,
when he felt himself so ill that he desired to be lifted
from the carriage and placed on the grass beneath a
tree, and there — like the humblest wayfarer on the
roadside — did this favourite of fortune expire. Chagrin
and anxiety had combined to ruin his health with
excesses of the table. 'His usual breakfast at this
time was a smoked goose, with a large quantity of
wine and spirits, and he dined in the same manner.'
So, at least, says the biographer of Paul Jones.1 Paul
Jones himself at this time was no longer in the Russian
service. So early as April, 1789, he had found it
necessary to leave Petersburg in disgrace under a
heavy personal charge ; and he died at Paris in great
obscurity in July, 1792.
There had been rumours in England of Ministerial
changes consequent upon the Russian armament. But
the only real resignation that ensued was that of the
Duke of Leeds. His Grace, in a highly honourable
spirit, resolved, rather than consent to modify the
policy recommended in his own office, to throw up
the Seals. The place thus left vacant was supplied
by transferring Lord Grenville from the Home to the
Foreign Department ; while Dundas, although still
retaining the Presidency of the India Board, was
appointed Home Secretary. His appointment, how
ever, was regarded as only temporary. It was the
wish of Pitt, to which he obtained the King's assent,
that Lord Cornwallis should return from India and
become Home Secretary. The offer went out to
1 Memoirs of Paul Jones, vol. ii. p. 137, ed. 1830. .

1791 LORD GRENVILLE AS FOREIGN SECRETARY. 415
Calcutta, but Lord Cornwallis explained in the first
place that it was impossible for him to quit his post
while the war with Tippoo continued. Subsequently
it further appeared that Lord Cornwallis, conscious of
his deficiencies as a debater, was unwilling to accept
any Parliamentary office that should require speeches
on his part. And thus the appointment of Dundas,
. though provisional at first, was finally looked upon as
permanent. Lord Grenville, as raised to the Upper House and as
placed at the Foreign Office, had now an adequate
and well-adapted field for his eminent abilities. The
Peers found in him a leader of whom they might be
proud. They acknowledged his constant application to
all the details of public business. They listened with
unvarying respect to his grave and well-poised, his
sententious and sonorous eloquence. At the Foreign
Office he showed at all times a lofty English spirit
and a watchful jealousy of the national honour;
and the despatches which he carefully prepared were
excellent State papers. As a politician, however,
he had one deficiency, which, in a private letter of
a later period, he candidly avowed : ' I am not com
petent to the management of men. I never was so
naturally, and toil and anxiety more and more unfit
me for it.' l
At this time and for many years subsequently Lord
Grenville was on most cordial and intimate terms with
Pitt. They treated each other not only as Cabinet
colleagues, but as the near kinsmen that they were.
That bond of kinsmanship was drawn still closer when
in July, 1792, Lord Grenville married the Hon. Anne
Pitt, only daughter of Lord Camelford. At the moment
I am writing (sixty-eight years later) that lady still in
most honoured old age survives.
In the course of this spring there was also some
change in the lesser offices. Of the two Secretaries of
1 Letter to Lord Buckingham, dated March 7, 1807.

416 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT, 1791
the Treasury since 1784, Mr. Steele and Mr Rose, the
former became Joint Paymaster, with the rank of Privy
Councillor, and with the Hon. Dudley Ryder, the eldest
son of Lord Harrowby, for a colleague. He was
succeeded in his first post by Mr. Charles Long, an
attached friend of Mr. Pitt, and an excellent man of
business, who was raised to the peerage m 1826 as
Lord Farnborough, and who in his later years was dis
tinguished by his knowledge of Art. Mr. Rose on the
other hand remained Secretary of the Treasury through
the whole first administration of Mr. Pitt.
At the close of June, and while Pitt was still de
tained in London, we find Wilberforce pay a visit at
Burton Pynsent, and describe that visit in his Diary.
'June 30. Got to Pynsent at night. Old Lady Chatham
a noble antiquity, very like Lady Harriot, and the
Pitt voice,— July 1. At Burton all day. Walked and
talked with Eliot. Lady Chatham asked about Fox's
speaking — is much interested in politics. Seventy-five
years old, and a very active mind.'
Lady Chatham, though at that time in retirement
and old age, was indeed, as Lord Macaulay says, 'a
woman of considerable abilities.' She had been the
main stay of her husband in sickness and sorrow. She
had assisted in unfolding the early promise of her
son. I once asked Sir Robert Peel whether he could
remember any other instance in modern history where
a woman had almost equal reason to be proud in two
relations of life— of her son and of her husband.
When next I saw Sir Robert, he told me that he had
thought over the question with care, and could produce
no other instance quite in point since the days of
Philip of Macedon. The nearest approach to it, he
said, would be that of Mr. Pitt's own rival; since
Mr. Fox would well sustain one half of the parallel,
but the first Lord Holland, although a man of great
abilities, was wholly unequal to the first Lord Chatham.
Perhaps I may presume to add an anecdote which I

1791 LADY CHATHAM'S JUDGMENT. 417
derived at nearly the same time from Lady Chatham's
last surviving grand-daughter, my aunt, Lady Griselda
Tekell. Here is the inquiry which I addressed to her : —
Grosvenor Place, Feb. 1, 1850.
I have a favour to ask of you. My father once men
tioned to me a little anecdote of much interest which he had
heard from you at a former time, to the effect of Lady
Chatham being asked whether she thought her husband or
her son the greater statesman, and of her having answered —
certainly with excellent taste and judgment as a wife, how
ever the comparison might be held by others — that there
could be no doubt at all as to Lord Chatham being far the
superior. Might I request of you to put down on paper
exactly what you remember of this story, and to let me have
it 1 I think that a trait so curious and so creditable to the
person concerned ought to be preserved in the most authentic
shape. Lady Griselda answered me as follows : —
Frimley Park, Feb. 8, 18S0.
With respect to the question you put to me concerning
whajfc my grandmother, Lady Chatham, said of the ability of
her husband, I did not consider it as relating to his character
as a statesman, but to his general talents. When I was about
fifteen I was on a visit to Burton Pynsent, and one day asked
her in rather a childish manner, ' Which do you think the
cleverest, Grandpapa or Mr. Pitt 1 ' To which her answer
was, ' Your Grandpapa, without doubt,' or some equivalent
expression. Her own understanding was so superior, her
judgment on this point carries great weight.
In July, 1791, we find Pitt — as usual at the close
of the Session — turn his thoughts to Somersetshire.
And, as it chanced, the King's residence at Weymouth
during many weeks of this autumn enabled the Minister
to pay not one visit only, but two, at Burton.
Here are his letters at that time.
VOL. I. E E

418 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1791
Wimbledon, July 2, 1791.
My dear Mother,— I heartily wish I could gratify Mr.
Reid in an object so interesting to him ; but I have not yet
been able to ascertain clearly in whose recommendation the
livin" in question is. I. much fear it will prove to be in the
Chancellor's. If it should be in mine, I trust there can
be nothing to prevent my giving it as he wishes. I was
not a little disappointed at being prevented from comiag to
you at the time I expected, and the disappointment is not
the less from circumstances hitherto having followed one
another so as to leave me veiy uncertain when I may be at
liberty. It is not impossible that I may find ten days or a
fortnight before the end of this month, but as yet I hardly
dare reckon upon it. We are all anxious ^spectators of the
strange scene in France, and still in entire suspense as to the
issue of it, with respect to the personal situation of the King
and Queen, and We form of their future government. No
material news has arrived from thence within these few days,
and it is very difficult, in such a state, to have any accounts
on which we can rely for accuracy as to particulars.
The result of our own negotiations on the Continent is
also still uncertain. This situation makes the idleness of our
holidays not quite complete, but it allows time for excursions
during half the week either to this place or Holwood, and the
weather for some days has made every hour in the country
delightful. Have -the goodness to tell Eliot that I received
his letter, and will write to him in a day or two. Affec
tionate compliments to Mrs. Stapleton, and love to little girl.
Ever, my dear Mother, <fec, W. Pitt.
Downing Street, July 21, 1791.
I am still in the same state of suspense with regard to
the events which are to decide when I may reckon on a suffi
cient interval of holidays to reach Burton. It cannot, how
ever, be much longer before I shall be able to judge. In the
mean time I am enough at hberty to meditate an excursion
for a couple of days at the end of this week into Hampshire,
from whence I hope by stealth to get a view of the fleet,
which is an object well worth seeing, and which I hope after
this summer there will not be an opportunity of seeing again
for some time.

1791 MARRIAGE OF THE DUKE OF YORK. 419
Downing Street, Sept. 24, 1791.
My dear Mother, — You will wonder to receive a letter
from me dated from hence, and I write merely that the news
papers may not give you the first information of my arrival,
with whatever may be their ingenious speculations on the
occasion of it. The real cause is a difficulty of form respect
ing the Duke of York's marriage, which has been precipitately
fixed at Berlin for next week, without waiting for the regular
signification of the Council as required by the famous Mar
riage Act. We found it the shortest way to come to town,
in order to expedite the necessary forms as much as possible ;
but it is still doubtful whether anything we can do will be in
time to make the marriage valid, and whether the ceremony
must not be performed again. I shall stay no longer than is
necessary for this business, and shall probably be at Wey
mouth again on Tuesday or Wednesday, a very few days after
which will bring me to Burton.
Ever, my dear Mother, &c, W. Pitt.
Downing Street, Oct. 4, 1791.
I am very sorry the newspapers have done so much
honour to my gout. I had in fact just enough for a few days
to furnish materials for a paragraph, but it was very httle
inconvenience while' it lasted, and has left none behind it.
The marriage of the Duke of York, to which Pitt
in these letters refers, was solemnised at Berlin on
the 29th of September. His bride was the Princess
Frederica, eldest daughter of the King of Prussia.
'She is far from handsome,' writes Lord Malmesbury,
' but lively, sensible, and very tractable ; and if only
one tenth part of the attachment they now show for
each other remains, it will be very sufficient to make a
most happy marriage.'1 But from the events of subse
quent years it may be feared that even that tenth part
did not remain.
Passing to another subject, I may observe that the
papers of Mr. Pitt tend in many respects to prove the
unsatisfactory condition, at that time, of the Church of
1 To the Duke of Portland, Coblentz, Oct. 14, 1791.
B E 2

420 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1791
England. There was then, as some of its best friends
have owned, but too much scope for the great and
general improvement which has since ensued. There
was then, at least in some cases, a low tone of feeling,
such as in the present day we should deem scarcely
possible. Here, for example, are some letters that
passed between the Minister and the Bishop of Lichfield
and Coventry, the brother of Earl Cornwallis.
Wimpole Street, June 10, 1791.
Sir, — After the various instances of neglect and contempt
which Lord Cornwallis and I have experienced, not only in
violation of repeated assurances, but of the strongest ties, it
is impossible that I should not feel the late disappointment
very deeply.
With respect to the proposal concerning Salisbury, I have
no hesitation in saying that the See of Salisbury cannot be in
any respect an object to me. The only arrangement which
promises an accommodation in my favour is the promotion of
the Bishop of Lincoln to Salisbury, which would enable, you
to confer the Deanery of St. Paul's upon me. I have the
honour to be, &c, J. Lichfield and Coventry.
Downing Street, Saturday night,
June 11, 1791.
My Lord, — On my return to town this afternoon I found
your Lordship's letter. I am willing to hope that on further
consideration, and on recollecting all the circumstances, there
are parts of that letter which you would yourself wish never
to have written.
My respect for your Lordship's situation, and my regard
for Lord Cornwallis, prevent my saying more than that until
that letter is recalled, your Lordship makes any further in
tercourse between you and me impossible.
I have the honour to be, &c, W. Pitt.
Wimpole Street, June 11, 1791.
Sir, — Under the very great disappointment which I have
felt upon the late occasion, I am much concerned that I was
induced to make use of expressions in my letter to you of
which I have since repented, and which upon consideration
I beg leave to retract, and I hope that they will make no un
fa vo.,rable impression upon your mind.

1791 ECCLESIASTICAL APPOINTMENTS. 421
Whatever may be your thoughts respecting the subject
matter of the letter, I trust that you will have the candour
to pardon those parts of it which may appear to be wanting
in due and proper respect to you, and believe me to have the
honour, &c, J. Lichfield and Coventry.
Downing Street, June 12, 1791.
My Lord, — I have this morning received the honour of
your Lordship's letter, dated the 11th, and have great satis
faction in being enabled to dismiss from my mind any im
pression occasioned by a paragraph in the former letter which
I received from you.
With respect to any further arrangement, I can only say
that I have no reason to believe that the Bishop of Lincoln
would wish to remove to Salisbury ; but if he were, I should
certainly have no hesitation in recommending your Lordship
for the Deanery of St. Paul's.
I have the honour to be, &c, W. Pitt.1
It has sometimes been alleged that Mr. Pitt was not
judicious in his Ecclesiastical appointments or prefer
ments. Perhaps indeed neither Mr. Pitt nor yet any
other Minister in the reign of George the Third showed
sufficient care to seek out or to call forth rising talents
in the Church. But on the other hand there were
many instances in which Pitt rejected the most powerful
recommendations rather than fail to reward an humble
course of parish duties. Here is one letter in proof
which I select from a later year. It is addressed to the
Earl of Carnarvon. Downing Street, Jan. 21, 1797.
My Lord, — I ought to make very many apologies for
having in the succession of business left your Lordship so
long in suspense on the subject of the applications which I
had the honour of receiving from you relative to the Living
of Newbury. Allow me to assure you that it would afford
me very sincere satisfaction if I felt myself at liberty to show
my attention to your wishes, and especially on an occasion
1 In August this same year the Bishop of Lichfield was named
Dean of Windsor, and in February, 1794, translated to the richer
Deanery of Durham.

422 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1791
when they are so naturally entitled to it. But I trust you
will allow for the circumstances which preclude me from
doing so, when I say that Mr. Roe, a gentleman who has for
some time officiated there, has on that ground been recom
mended to me with such peculiar testimonies of his exemplary
conduct and of the good effects produced by it in the town,
that I should not feel justified in proposing any other person
to His Majesty in preference to him. I certainly should
not on any less urgent ground have hesitated to support your
Lordship's recommendation. I have the honour to be, &e., W. Pitt.
At the close of 1791 Mr. Pitt wrote as follows to the
Archbishop of Canterbury (Dr. John Moore since 1783) :
Downing Street, Dec. 16, 1791.
My Lord, — I took the liberty of mentioning to your
Grace not long since that some suggestions had been brought
under my view respecting a general commutation of Tithes
for a Corn Rent conformably to a plan which was adopted in
the instance of two dr three parishes by separate Enclosure
Bills in the course of the last Session. A paper has been
drawn up at my desire, stating shortly the principal consi
derations which seem to arise out of this proposal, and ac
cording to your Grace's permission I have the honour of
enclosing it.
I am very far from venturing to form a decided opinion
respecting the possibility or expediency of any new arrange
ment, or the merits of this particular plan. But the whole
subject seems to me, especially at the present moment, to be
of the most serious importance, and there are appearances
which but too strongly indicate that it is likely to be agitated
in different parts of the country.
It seems, therefore, very desirable that any proposal
which aims at obviating the present complaints, and at the
same time securing the interests of the Church, should engage
the early attention of those who wish well to the Establish
ment, in order that they may be enabled to give a proper
direction to the business, if it can be put into any practicable
shape, or after full examination to resist on the best grounds
anything of a mischievous tendency. With this view I felt
anxious to submit this idea to your Grace's consideration.
If there are any persons with whom your Grace may

1791 FRENCH REVOLUTION. 423
think proper to consult confidentially on any part of the
business, I would beg that the communication with which I
have troubled you may be understood to be entirely a private
one. Possibly as the Archbishop of York is now at Bath, your
Grace may have an opportunity of conversing with him and
of showing him the papers, which I should be very desirous
of his seeing. I have the honour, &c., W. Pitt.
I do not find the Archbishop's reply among Mr. Pitt's
papers. Since, however, the measure in question was
no further pursued, it is plain that the answer must
have been discouraging. All friends of the Church will,
I think, join me in lamenting the error of judgment
that was here committed. Why should the general
Commutation of Tithes — a measure accomplished with
such general assent and such excellent result some forty
years later-Jjave been without necessity, and through
many scenes of strife, laid aside when a public-spirited
Minister proposed it ?
Most anxiously through the whole of 1791 did the
eyes of Europe continue fixed on France. At the be
ginning of the year it was hoped that some main leaders
of the Revolution, alarmed at its excesses, might be
found both willing and able to restrain them. It was
on Mirabeau, above all, that such hopes depended. But
his untimely death, which occurred on the 2nd of April,
left the vessel of the state with no competent pilot, and
drifting to the shoals.
Not many months elapsed ere the King, provoked
beyond endurance by almost daily insults and wrongs,
determined to make an effort for his deliverance. Ac
companied by the Queen and his two children, and
bearing a passport under a feigned name, he secretly set
out from Paris on the 21st of June, by no means de
signing, as his enemies have alleged, a restoration of the
Ancien Regime, but rather the establishment, under
better auspices, of a limited Constitutional Monarchy.
Had he succeeded in reaching the frontier town Mont-

424 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1791
medy, the destinies not of France only but of Europe
might probably have been changed. Unhappily at
Varennes the features of Louis were recognised by the
post-master, Drouet ; the Royal party was arrested and
led back to Paris in mob triumph. Henceforth the
King had little choice. In the month of September he
accepted the new Constitution which the Assembly had
framed, and took an oath to its observance. Then, as
had been previously determined, the Assembly dissolved
itself, as considering its work completed, and making
way for the new legislative body.
One effect of the troubles in France was a concert of
measures between the Emperor Leopold and the King of
Prussia. The animosity that once existed between them
had now ceased, partly from the Convention of Reichen
bach, which removed the causes of dispute, and partly
from the retirement of Count Hertzberg, who of all
the Prussian Ministers was the most averse to the Aus
trian cause. In the month of August the two Sovereigns
met at Pilnitz, a country palace of the Elector of Saxony.
Their main object was to confer on the affairs of Poland,
but they had likewise begun to feel that the cause of
Monarchy itself might be imperilled by the issue of
events at Paris. On this last point the Royal delibera
tions were quickened by the arrival at Dresden of the
Comte d'Artois and M. de Calonne in the name of the
Emigrant party. The two Sovereigns agreed to publish
the celebrated Declaration of Pilnitz. In that docu
ment it is stated that the situation of the King of
France was a matter of common interest, and that to
set right that situation, even by force of arms, they
would invoke the concert and assistance of the other
European powers.
Besides this open and avowed declaration, it was
immediately alleged by the leading Frenchmen on the
Revolutionary side, that there were other and secret
articles providing for the partition of France, But
there appears to have been no just ground for such a

1791 DECLARATION OF PILNITZ. 425
charge. ' As far as we have been able to trace,' said
Mr. Pitt, on a long subsequent occasion, ' the Declara
tion of Pilnitz referred to the imprisonment of Louis the
Sixteenth. Its immediate view was to effect his deli
verance, if a concert sufficiently extensive could be
formed for that purpose. It left the internal state of
France to be decided by the King restored to his liberty,
with the free consent of the States of the kingdom, and
it did not contain one word relative to the dismember
ment of France.' l
The Declaration of Pilnitz raised to a high pitch the
spirits of the Emigrants. Their chief men, now rein
forced by the arrival of Monsieur, the King's next
brother, from France, held their councils at Coblentz,
and set on foot negotiations with several other Poten
tates. Both the Empress of Russia and the King of
Sweden showed a strong disposition to take up arms in
their cause. But when it came to that positive issue,
the prudence of Leopold, and his alarm for Flanders,
were proof against their violent counsels. Frederick
William, in like manner, wavered and drew back.
Neither of these Sovereigns was in truth willing to act
without England. And though the personal wishes of
George the Third might be with them, the Cabinet of
London had from the first expressed itself determined
to observe a strict neutrality.
Thus, in its result, the famous Declaration of Pilnitz
bore little or no fruit. And when a few weeks after
wards M, de Calonne, in the name of the Emigrant
Princes at Coblentz, stated to the Court of London a
plan which they had formed for the invasion of France,
and for the effecting of a counter-Re volution, and when
he most earnestly implored the loan of three or four
hundred thousand pounds to assist them in that object,
he met with a positive refusal on the part of Mr. Pitt.2
In England the conflict of opinions between the
1 Speech of Feb. 3, 1800.
2 Life by Bishop Tomline, vol. iii. p. 440.

426 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1791
friends of the French Revolution and its adversaries
grew keener and keener. Unhappily they came to a
violent issue at Birmingham, in the person of Dr.
Priestley, who, since the recent death of Dr. Price,
might be regarded as the leader of the Unitarians in
England. Joseph Priestley was a man of considerable
scientific as well as controversial fame. For a long
period he had been the librarian and chosen friend of
Lord Shelburne. The breach which ensued between
them has been ascribed to the increasing licence of his
published speculations. On leaving Bowood he had
fixed his residence and built his meeting-house at Bir
mingham, where he was further known as an ardent
admirer of the Revolutionary principles of France. He
designed, in conjunction with several other persons in
1791, to celebrate the 14th of July, the anniversary of
the taking of the Bastille, by a public dinner.
On the other hand, the people of Birmingham, far
from concurring in his sentiments, either religious or
political, were at that time stanch for Church and
King. They viewed the proposed entertainment with
great disfavour, and they were further incensed by the
appearance, some days beforehand, of a seditious hand
bill inviting them to dine, and ' tyrants to beware.' It
was not known from whom that hand-bill proceeded, but
its reflections upon the King and the Parliament were
of such a kind, that a reward of 100Z. was offered for the
detection of the author and printer.
Violence like this called forth a most unjustifiable
reaction. When on the appointed day some eighty
persons (Priestley himself, however, not among them)
repaired to the chosen tavern to eat their dinner and
make their speeches, they found the doors beset by an
angry crowd, which received them with hissing and
yelling. Towards evening a riot began. First the
windows of the inn were broken. Then proceeding from
outrage to outrage, the mob demolished Dr. Priestley's
and another meeting-house, as also the dwellings of

1791 DR. PRIESTLEY. 427
Dr. Priestley and of several of his friends, both in the
town and neighbourhood. Drunkenness, as is almost
invariably the case in English riots, mingled largely
with destruction ; and in other cases, the rioters levied
sums of money as the price of their forbearance. The
magistrates were for some time unable to suppress these
tumults, and commencing as they did on the Thursday,
they continued at intervals until the Sunday evening,
when three troops of horse arrived.
Dr. Priestley, by these destructive outrages, lost not
only his household furniture, his valuable library and
his philosophical instruments, but also manuscripts
which the toil of his remaining years might not suffice
, to restore. At the assizes, held in the ensuing month,
great pains were taken to bring the offenders to justice.
There were fifteen persons apprehended, four convicted,
and three hanged. Next spring the other persons,
eleven in number, whose property had suffered most,
brought actions for damages against the neighbouring
Hundreds ; and they recovered, on the whole, in Wor
cestershire 5,504l., and in Warwickshire 2 1 ,45 61. These
sums, large as they appear, were below the amount that
had been claimed ; and loud complaints were heard
against the ' ignorant Juries ' which allowed compen
sation only for such objects as chairs and tables, but
not for manuscripts or philosophical instruments whose
value they could not understand.
Nor were other reproaches wanting against both the
Magistrates and the Clergy of the Birmingham district.
It was alleged that in their horror of Dissent, they had
some secret sympathy with the riots, and had failed to
show sufficient heartiness either in their suppression or
their punishment. A charge of this kind is easily made.
In the case before us, it appears to me not in the least
established. Dr. Priestley, though secure from further attacks or
losses in London, found even there the national feeling
so strong against him, that after no long interval he

428 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1792-
embarked for the United States. As in France the
Revolutionary leaders ascribed every evil that befell
them to the villanous machination of Pitt, so did their
friends in England not scruple to declare that the Bir
mingham riots had been purposely stirred up by the
same abominable statesman. Mr. Coleridge, then one
of that party, begins a sonnet as follows : —
Though, roused by that dark Vizier, Riot rude
Have driven our Priestley o'er the ocean swell,
Though Superstition and her wolfish brood
Bay his mild radiance 

CHAPTER XVI.
1792-1793.

The Budget— Reduction of forces— Pitt's great Speech on the Slave
Trade— Improvements in the administration of the law — Pitt s
Loan Bill — Opposed by Thurlow— His dismissal from office —
' The Friends of the People '—Mr. Grey's notice on Parliamen
tary Reform— Resisted by Pit1>-Death of the Emperor Leopold
—Assassination of the King of Sweden— The French declare war
against Austria— Seditious publications — Negotiations with the
Whig party- Death of the Earl of Guilford— Pitt appointed
Warden of the Cinque Ports— Invasion of French territory by
the Prussians— Partition of Poland— The Allies defeated at Valmy
—Retreat of the Duke of Brunswick— National Convention —
Victory of Dumouriez at Jemmapes —Riots in England and Scot
land — Counter-demonstrations — Prosecution of - Paine — Lord
Loughborough Chancellor — Execution of Louis XVI.— The
French declare war against England, Holland, and Spain.
Paeliament met again on the last day of January,
1792. It was opened by the King in person. His
Majesty began by announcing the happy event of the
marriage of the Duke of York. He promised the pro
duction of papers to explain the former negotiations
with the Court of Petersburg. He expressed a confident
hope of the maintenance of peace, and as the best pledge
of that confidence, recommended an immediate reduction

1793 THE BUDGET. 429
in our naval and military establishments and a propor
tionate relief of the people from the weight of taxation.
To submit these recommendations in a more definite
shape, Pitt brought forward his Budget as the first
business of the Session. The revenue, he said, had been
constantly increasing under the influence of the national
prosperity during the last few years. Its average for
the last four was 1 6,200,000L, or 400,000L in excess of
the annual expenditure for the same period. Of this
surplus he proposed to add 200,000^. yearly to the
Sinking Fund, and to take off taxes to the amount of
the other moiety. The taxes which he proposed to
repeal were the additional tax upon malt laid on last
year, and the imposts upon female servants, carts and
waggons, houses having less than seven windows, and
the last half-penny per pound upon candles. He held
out a most encouraging prospect of still further relief
from the repeal of taxes within the next fifteen years ;
' for although,' said he, ' we must not count with cer
tainty on the continuance of our present prosperity
during such an interval, yet unquestionably there never
was a time in the history of this country when from
the situation of Europe we might more reasonably
expect fifteen years of peace than we may at the present
moment.' '
Proceeding on this conviction, Pitt asked the House
to vote only 16,000 seamen, being 2,000 less than last
year. As to the land forces, he proposed not to renew
but on the contrary allow to expire the subsidiary treaty
with Hesse. By this and by some other savings which
he explained, he trusted to reduce the cost of the mili
tary establishments by 200,000i. a-year.
From these reductions and from the prophecy of
peace which he had hazarded, it is plain how firmly the
Prime Minister was set against any interference with
France. So high was then the public credit that at the
beginning of the year Pitt intended to propose a reduc-
1 Pari. Hist., vol. xxix. p. 326.

430 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1792-
tion of the Four per Cents, to Three-and-a-Half per
Cents. The draft of a Bill for that purpose was found
among his papers. But on further consideration he
resolved to defer the measure until the next Session,
when he hoped to be able to reduce these funds to Three
per Cents. Little did he think what that next Session
would bring forth, and that not only many years but
tens of years would pass ere any opportunity for reduc
tion would re-occur.
In his speech on the Budget this year — one of the
greatest and most comprehensive financial statements
that he ever made — it^is striking to find the Prime
Minister ascribe the merrtof his system in no small
degree to the author of the ' Wealth of Nations ' — ' ah
author,' said Pitt, ' now unhappily" no more ; whose ex
tensive knowledge of detail and depth of philosophical
research will, I believe, furnish the best solution to every
question connected with the history of commerce or
with the systems of political economy.'
The financial policy of Pitt had been crowned with
so much success in the past, and seemed so full of pro
mise for the future, as to leave little room for objection
to Fox and Fox's friends. They hoped to succeed better
on the production of the Ockzakow papers. Upon these
a direct motion of censure of the Government was
founded by Mr. Whitbread. The debate was continued
with great vehemence and singular ability for two
nights. But it soon appeared that the same gentlemen
who had been willing to vote with the Opposition in the
preceding year on purpose to avoid a war, were by no
means inclined to repeat that vote where the object was
only to displace a Minister. Thus in the division Fox
found no increase to his already diminished and still
diminishing forces.
The debate which thus concluded is chiefly memor
able—and will be so to the latest ages — from Fox's own
share in it. His speech upon the Russian armament
on the 1st of March, 1792, has been ranked by the best

1793 DEBATE ON THE SLAVE TRADE. 431
judges with that on the Westminster Scrutiny in 1785
and that on the French armament in 1 803, as the three
highest efforts that his admirable powers of oratory ever
achieved. In that discussion there also took part — and it was
the first time that he spoke in Parliament — a very
young man, Mr. Robert Banks Jenkinson, the eldest son
of Lord Hawkesbury ; in after years Prime Minister
and Earl of Liverpool. In closing the debate that
evening, Mr. Pitt took occasion to pay a high and just
compliment to that speech, ' as a specimen of clear
eloquence, strong sense, justness of reasoning, and exten
sive knowledge.'
On one question of great importance the oratory of
both Pitt and Fox even though combined could not
prevail. This was the immediate abolition of the Slave
Trade, for which on the 2nd of April Mr. Wilberforce
moved. There was no longer any direct opposition.
That, if not conscience, decency forbade. Both Mr. Jen
kinson and Mr. Dundas acknowledged the Slave Trade
to be indefensible. Yet each in different ways sought
to elude the proposal before them. Mr. Jenkinson said
that he desired to render the Slave Trade unnecessary
by a progressive improvement in the treatment of the
slaves, and by their consequently more prolific marriages.
He had framed some Resolutions with that view, for
which 87 Members voted. But far greater favour
attended the more moderate motion of Mr. Dundas that
the word 'gradually' should be inserted. Both the
Prime Minister and the chief of his opponents stood up
warmly for the original words ; and the speech of Pitt on
this occasion is regarded as one of the very greatest that
he ever made. Only a few hours afterwards Wilberforce
wrote as follows to a friend : ' I take up my pen to
inform you that after a very long debate (we did not
separate till near seven this morning), my motion for
immediate abolition was put by, though supported stre
nuously by Mr. Fox, and by Mr. Pitt with more energy

432 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1792-
and ability than were almost ever exerted in the House
of Commons. Windham, who has no love for Pitt, tells
me that Fox and Grey, with whom he walked home
after the debate, agreed with him in thinking Pitt's
speech one of the most extraordinary displays of elo
quence they had ever heard ; for the last twenty minutes
he really seemed to be inspired  He was dilating
upon the future prospects of civilizing Africa, a topic
which I had suggested to him in the morning.'
Here are some extracts, though abridged, of this
justly celebrated peroration : — ' There was a time, Sir,
when the very practice of the Slave Trade prevailed
among us. Slaves, as we may read in Henry's " History
of Great Britain," were formerly an established article
in our exports. " Great numbers," he says, " were ex
ported like cattle from the British coast, and were to
be seen exposed for sale in the Roman market." But it
is the slavery in Africa which is now called on to furnish
the alleged proofs that Africa labours under a natural
incapacity for civilization ; that Providence never in
tended her to rise above a state of barbarism; that
Providence has irrecoverably doomed her to be only a
nursery for slaves for us free and civilized Europeans.
Allow of this principle as applied to Africa, and I should
be glad to know why it might not also have been
applied to ancient and -uncivilized Britain ? Why might
not some Roman Senator, reasoning on the principles of
some Hon. gentlemen, and pointing to British barba
rians, have predicted with equal boldness, " There is a
people that will never rise to civilization; there is a
people destined never to be free " ? We, Sir, have long
since emerged from barbarism ; we have almost forgotten
that we were once barbarians. There is, indeed, one
thing wanting to complete the contrast and to clear us
altogether from the imputation of acting even to this
hour as barbarians ; for we continue even to this hour a
barbarous traffic in slaves.
' Sir, I trust we shall no longer continue this com-

1793 PITT'S SPEECH ON THE SLAVE TRADE. 433
merce, to the destruction of every improvement on that
wide continent; and shall not consider ourselves as con
ferring too great a boon in restoring its inhabitants to
the rank of human beings. I trust we shall not think
ourselves too liberal, if, by abolishing the slave-trade,
we give them the same common chance of civilization
with other parts of the world ; and that we shall now
allow to Africa the opportunity — the hope — the prospect
of attaining to the same blessings which we ourselves,
through the favourable dispensations of Divine Provi
dence, have been permitted, at a much more early
period, to enjoy. If we listen to the voice of reason and
duty, and pursue this night the line of conduct which
they prescribe, some of us may live to see a reverse of
that picture from which we now turn our eyes with
shame and regret. We may live to behold the natives
of Africa engaged in the calm occupations of industry, in
the pursuits of a just and legitimate commerce. We
may behold the beams of science and philosophy break
ing in upon their land, which, at some happy period in
still later times, may blaze with full lustre ; and joining
their influence to that of pure religion, may illuminate
and invigorate the most distant extremities of that im
mense continent. Then may we hope that even Africa,
though last of all the quarters of the globe, shall enjoy
at length, in the evening of her days, those blessings
which have descended so plentifully upon us in a much
earlier period of the world. Then also will Europe,
participating in her improvement and prosperity, receive
an ample recompense for the tardy kindness, if kindness
it can be called, of no longer hindering that continent
from extricating herself out of the darkness which, in
other more fortunate regions, has been so much more
speedily dispelled. Nos . . . primus equis Oriens affiavit anhelis ;
Ulic sera rubens accendit lumina Vesper.'
I have heard it related by some who at that time
were Members of Parliament, that the first beams of
VOL. I. F F

434 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1792-
the rising sun shot through the windows of the House
in the midst of this final passage, and seemed, as Pitt
looked upwards, to suggest to him without premedita
tion the eloquent simile and the noble Latin lines with
which he concluded.
But all this and much more was in vain. Dividing
at near seven in the morning, the House adopted the
'gradually' of Mr. Dundas by 193 against 125. The
result of the whole was, therefore, a long and weary
postponement. For this result besides the strength
and the exertions of the West India planters there are
two other main causes to be assigned. First, the warn
ing, as was supposed, held out by the recent bloody
scenes in St. Domingo ; and next, the strong objections,
now coming to be generally known, of the King.
In this Session the Legislature, to its honour, achieved
two great improvements in the administration of the
law. The duty of a Magistrate in Middlesex had be
come very different from the duty of a Magistrate in
other counties. It had grown so irksome and laborious
that few gentlemen of property and character were
found willing to undertake it without emolument. Thus
it had fallen into the hands of inferior persons who
acted in the expectation of fees, and were known by the
name of ' trading justices.' To remedy the complaints
which they justly provoked, a Bill was now introduced
under the sanction of the Government enabling the
King to establish seven public offices for the adminis
tration of justice in different parts of London, the City
excepted, and to appoint three Magistrates to each of
them at stated salaries. These Magistrates were to
employ a limited number of constables, who should
have power to apprehepd' reputed thieves. The measure
in its progress was warmly withstood by Fox, who ob
jected first that the influence of the Crown would be in
creased by the appointment of Magistrates with salaries,
and next that under the vague term of reputed thieves,
the liberty of the subject might be invaded. Never-

1793 LAW IMPROVEMENTS. 435
theless, the measure passed, but as a mere experi
ment, to remain in force only for four years, at the
end of which term it was, with very general assent,
re-enacted. The second and far greater improvement achieved
this year in legislation was from the renewal of Fox's
Libel Bill. It was supported by Pitt, and passed the
Commons with ease. But in the Lords it had to en
counter the hostility of Thurlow. At first his hostility
was in some measure dissembled. He took refuge in
the means which in his profession are termed ' dilatory
pleas.' He was anxious to consult the Judges ; he was
anxious to deliberate more fully. At length when after
long delays the Second Reading came, he endeavoured
to throw out the Bill, combining for that object with
Lord Bathurst, his predecessor on the Woolsack, and
Lord Kenyon, his friend the Chief Justice. On the
other hand, the Second Reading was moved by the ve
nerable Camden, still the President of the Council. He
was now almost fourscore, and bowed beneath the in
firmities of age ; but as he spoke, leaning on his staff,
maintaining to the last those rights of Juries which he
had so constantly defended, his flagging spirit seemed
to revive, and his former eloquence to kindle.
This debate, which began on the lb'th of May, was
concluded on the 21st, when the Bill was carried by a
majority of 57 votes against 32. ' Fox and Pitt,' says
Lord Macaulay, ' are fairly entitled to divide the high
honour of having added to our Statute-Book the ines
timable law which places the liberty of the Press under
the protection of juries.'
On the day when this debate commenced, Thurlow
was from other circumstances in the very crisis of his
-Ministerial fate. We have already seen how froward
and resentful his conduct to Pitt had grown. It does
not appear that he had or could have any settled plan
to join or to form any other Government than Mr. Pitt's.
But while indulging to the utmost his jealous spleen,
F F 2

436 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1792-
he reckoned on the continued favour and forgiveness of
the King.
In the present Session it had been part of Pitt's
financial policy to frame a Bill in respect to future loans.
He desired for the sake of the public credit to enact that
in borrowing hereafter, one per cent., besides the divi
dends upon the new Stock, should be paid to the Com
missioners for the Reduction of the National Debt, so
that every new loan might be accompanied by its own
Sinking Fund. The Bill for this object passed the
Commons without difficulty. In the Lords there was no
notice either in public or in private of any objection on
the part of Thurlow. Suddenly, the Bill being in Com
mittee, on the 15th of May the Chancellor started up and
ridiculed the idea of binding a future Minister by the di
rections of the present Parliament. ' In short,' said he,
'the scheme is nugatory and impracticable; the inaptness
of the project is equal to the vanity of the attempt.'
And finally calling for a division in a thin House, the
Clause in question was carried by a majority of only six.
Being immediately apprised of these proceedings
in the House of Lords, the King wrote the same evening
to Mr. Pitt, strongly condemning the conduct of the
Chancellor, yet still hoping that an entire breach would
be avoided. But the bounds of endurance had been far
outstepped. Next morning Mr. Pitt wrote to the King
in most decided terms, and at the same time announced
to Lord Thurlow in the following letter the course
which he had felt it his duty to pursue : —
Downing Street, Wednesday,
May 16, 1792.
My Lord, — I think it right to take the earliest oppor
tunity of acquainting yonr Lordship that being convinced of
the impossibility of His Majesty's service being any longer
carried on to advantage while your Lordship and myself both
remain in our present situations, I have felt it my duty to
submit that opinion to His Majesty, humbly requesting His
Majesty's determination thereupon.
I have the honour, &c, W. Pitt.

1793 THURLOW'S DISMISSAL FROM OFFICE. 437
The King's decision was promptly taken. On the
same day he addressed to Mr. Secretary Dundas the
following letter, which I have found among the papers
of Mr. Dundas of Arniston : — Queen's House, May 16, 1792,
40 m. past 6, P.M.
From the sorrow I feel at taking up my pen to direct
Mr. Dundas to wait on the Lord Chancellor, I can easily
conceive how unpleasant the conveying the following mes
sage must be.
Mr. Dundas is to acquaint the Lord Chancellor that Mr.
Pitt has this day stated the impossibility of his sitting any
longer in Council with the Lord Chancellor : it remains there
fore for my decision which of the two shall retire from my
service. The Chancellor's own penetration must convince
him that however strong my personal regard, nay affection,
is for him, that I must feel the removal of Mr. Pitt impos
sible with the good of my service. I wish therefore that the
Great Seal may be delivered to me at the time most agree
able to the Lord Chancellor, and least inconvenient to either
the business of the House of Lords or Court of Chancery.
Perhaps the Long Vacation might be the time most proper ;
but of this the Lord Chancellor must be the best judge.
George R.
In this manner fell the arrogant Thurlow, a victim
of his own arrogance, without support from any one of
his colleagues, without sympathy from any section of
the people. We are told that his complaints were
loud, though surely most unreasonable, of the ingra
titude and faithlessness of Princes. He was allowed
to remain in office a few weeks longer to give judgment
in some causes which he had already heard. But im
mediately after the Prorogation he was directed to re
pair to St. James's Palace and give back to the King
the Great Seal, which was forthwith placed in the hands
of three Commissioners. Thurlow received, however,
a parting favour from his Sovereign — a new patent of
peerage, with remainder to his nephews. Of his own
he had only illegitimate children.

438 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1792-
Among those who in England had inclined to
schemes of Parliamentary Reform, the great majority
was alienated and alarmed by the progress of events in
France. On the minority those events produced an
opposite effect, and thus, as most often occurs in such
cases, the Reformers increased in vehemence precisely
as they diminished in numbers. During this winter
there was formed in London an association of about
one hundred persons, comprising twenty-eight members
of Parliament, and calling themselves the ' Friends of
the People.' Fox himself did not belong to this new
body, but his most intimate friends were among its
founders. There were Grey, Sheridan, and James Lord
,.Maitland, who, born in 1759, had succeeded his father
in 1789 as Earl of Lauderdale, and was now the prin
cipal spokesman of Fox in the House of Lords. ' For
my part,' writes the King, ' I cannot see any substantial
difference in their being joined in debate by Mr. Fox
and his not being a member of that Society.' They
issued an Address declaring their aim to be a more
equal system of representation, and passed a Resolution
calling on Mr. Grey to introduce the question in the
ensuing year. Mr. Grey accordingly gave notice in the
House of Commons that in the course of the next Ses
sion he would bring forward a motion in favour of Par
liamentary Reform. Even the mere notice gave rise to
a keen debate. The subject, it was thought, would
prove embarrassing to Mr. Pitt ; but he delivered his
sentiments upon it candidly and clearly. ' I retain my
opinion,' he said, ' of the propriety of a Reform in Par
liament, if it could be obtained without mischief or
danger. But I confess I am not sanguine enough to
hope that a Reform at this time can safely be attempted.
.... At this time, and on this subject, every rational
man has two things to consider. These are the proba
bility of success, and the risk to be run by the attempt.
Looking at it in both views, I see nothing but discou
ragement. I see no chance of succeeding in the attempt

1793 ASSASSINATION OF KING OF SWEDEN. 439
in the first place ; and I see great danger of anarchy
and confusion in the second.'
This debate took place on the last day of April, at
the threshold of serious public dangers, and when upon
the Continent at least a war had already begun. Eager
as were the Emigrants and the Sovereigns in commu
nication with them to march against Revolutionary
France, there was an equal eagerness for conflict on the
part of the Jacobin chiefs. They had complained to the
Court of Vienna of the presence of the Emigrants near
their frontier, and were incensed at not receiving the
full satisfaction they demanded. But, above all, the
Jacobin leaders saw that a conflict would give them the
best chance to prevail in their ultimate ends — to over
throw the established Monarchy and religion of France
— and to set up a levelling republic. Others, such as
General Dumouriez, might be less keen for internal
changes, but looked forward, as they justly might, to
personal distinction in a foreign war. War then be
came a favourite cry with the Clubs at Paris — war above
all against Leopold, as the brother of Marie Antoinette.
Such being already the temper, for the most part,
of the ruling men in France, there occurred in the
month of March two events that tended still further
to elate them. The Emperor Leopold died at Vienna
in the prime of life and after only a few hours' illness.
His eldest son Francis became King of Hungary and
Bohemia, and, before his power was yet established or
his election as Emperor secured, might seem a far less
formidable enemy.
Of all the Sovereigns at that period, Gustavus of
Sweden was by far the most ardent and active in his
zeal against the French Revolution. He was fully
prepared to put himself at the head of an invading
army when his career was cut short by the resentment
he had provoked at home. In the midst of a masked
ball he received a mortal wound. A pistol-shot struck
him from the hand of Ankarstrom, until recently a

440 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1792-
captain in his army. It may serve to show the feelings
of the time among the Jacobins at Paris that they
loudly extolled this assassination as a noble and praise
worthy deed, and that the bust of the assassin was
placed in the hall of their meeting, side by side with
Brutus. The King of Sweden was succeeded by his only son
Gustavus the Fourth, who was not yet of age; and
his brother, the Duke of Sudermania, who undertook
the Regency, immediately renoimced all aggressive
schemes. Exulting at the secession of Sweden, and
still more at the blow which had produced it, the
French rulers rushed headlong into hostilities with
Austria. The ill-fated Louis was induced himself to
recommend that course in a speech to the Assembly ;
and, on the 20th of April accordingly, the Assembly, in
virtue of those sovereign rights which it had usurped,
issued a Declaration of War against the King of Hun
gary and Bohemia. The King of Prussia was not men
tioned, yet he had already announced, through his envoy
at Paris, his determination to make common cause with
the Empire if attacked.
It was by no means upon fleets and armies that the
chiefs of the French Revolution mainly at this time
relied. They built far higher hopes on the discontents
and insurrections which they hoped to stir up in other
countries as they had already in their own. ' Our
maxim is a clear one,' said Merlin de Thionville, a
short time afterwards ; ' war with kings and peace
with nations.' ' To these last,' cried another patriot,
' we must offer one plain choice — La Fraternity ou la
Morf It was the old Mahometan option — the Koran
or the sword.
Nor did they by any means confine their efforts to
those nations with whose kings they were already at
strife. As regarded England, a whole host of tracts and
handbills, paragraphs and pamphlets, was, within a few
weeks, poured forth by the English. press. Most of them

1793 SEDITIOUS PUBLICATIONS. 441
seem to have been framed in conformity with the exam
ples set at Paris, and circulated by the agency of two
political societies in London.
The first of these societies was newly formed, and
bore the name of the ' London Corresponding Society.'
It was computed a,t a later period to have about 6,000
members, nearly all of the lower ranks. But it was
absolutely governed by a secret committee of only five or
six, whose names were not made known to the Society
at large.1 The second body, much less numerous and much less
formidable, was called the ' Society for Constitutional
Information.' ' This,' said Lord Chief Justice Eyre,
' seems to me to be a mere club.' 2 It had been founded
some time since by Major John Cartwright, a gentleman
of great zeal in the cause of Parliamentary Reform. It
was not led by secret rulers nor did it rely on illiterate
force, but had among its members many persons of
education and accomplishments, as John Home Tooke
and Capel Lofft, Richard Sharpe and Thomas Holcroft,
not all of whom, however, continued to attend the sub
sequent meetings.
But, whatever might be the origin of the publica
tions at this period, their object was always the same.
They appeared to have no other view than the incite
ment to tumult and sedition. All Kings were represented
as tyrants ; all Ministers as venal and corrupt ; and all
priests as hypocrites ; while every kind of rule and sub
jection was denounced as slavery. Frequent attempts
were made to distribute writings of this kind among
the British soldiers or the British sailors.3 And as to
the other classes, the rich were held forth as the natural
enemies of the poor, who were consequently urged to
rise and cast off their chains. In the same spirit and
1 See the account of this Society as given in 1794 by Sir John
Mitford, then Solicitor-General. (Howell's State Trials, vol. xxv.
p. 37.) 2 Ibid., p. 731.
3 See on this point the Speech of Lord Grenville, May 31, 1792.

442 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1792-
at the same period did Thomas Paine send forth the
second part of his ' Rights of Man.'
So outrageous were these publications, and more
especially this last, that Mr. Pitt felt it his duty to
advise an authoritative step against them. On the 21st
of May there appeared a Royal Proclamation ' solemnly
warning all our loving subjects ' against ' divers wicked
and seditious writings.'
The result of these writings, however, was not wholly
for evil. Many men might be stirred and incited to
sedition, but many others were shocked and terrified,
and rallied round the Government. Many men who,
though not disagreeing with Burke, had hitherto
looked coldly on his efforts to stem the Revolutionary
torrent, and regarded him mainly in the light of a
disturber to their party politics, now for the first time
felt — or for the first time manifested — sympathy with
his opinions. So well known, indeed, were their just
and patriotic alarms, that, before the Proclamation was
issued, Mr. Pitt sent a copy of it to several members of
the Opposition in both Houses, and requested their ad
vice and assistance.1 He wished some of these gentle
men to move and second the Address in reply ; but this,
though they expressed their approbation, they declined
to do. This widening schism in the Opposition ranks was
plainly shown a few days afterwards, when Pepper
Arden, then Master of the Rolls, moved an Address
to the King in the House of Commons, thanking him
for his Royal Proclamation, and assuring him of their
warm support. Fox and Grey spoke with great vehe
mence against the Proclamation ; the latter adding
some bitter personal invectives on the Ministers. But
other Members from the same benches — Lord Titch-
field, eldest son of the Duke of Portland, Lord North,
eldest son of the Earl of Guilford, Mr. Windham, and
1 Compare Lord Malmesbury's Diary of June 13, 1792, with
Bishop Tomline's Life of Pitt, vol. iii. p. 347.

1793 SPEECH OF LORD LAUDERDALE. 443
Mr. Thomas Grenville — rose to declare their approba
tion of the course which the Government had taken.
So strong seemed to be this feeling in the House, that
Grey, though he had moved an amendment, did not call
for a division.
The Address thus carried was sent to the Lords, and
their concurrence to it was requested, so that it might
be presented to the King as the joint Address of the
two Houses. In the debate which ensued the Prince
of Wales, rising for the first time in that assembly,
expressed, in some graceful sentences, his abhorrence
of the recent publications, and his approval of the
Royal Proclamation — a course not a little significant
when we remember the close connection of Fox with
His Royal Highness. To the same effect spoke also
the leading Members of the Opposition of that day —
the Duke of Portland, Lord Spencer, Lord Stormont,
Lord Rawdon, and Lord Porchester. On the other
hand, Lord Lauderdale moved nearly the same amend
ment as had Mr. Grey, but he did not divide, and in
the debate was supported only by Lord Lansdowne,
who, since his retirement from office, stood uncon
nected with party, but who of late had shown himself
inclined to go all lengths with the French Revo
lution. The speech of Lord Lauderdale on this occasion was
marked by especial acrimony. He fell with a kind of
rage upon the Duke of Richmond, who, having once sup
ported Annual Parliaments and Unrestricted Suffrage,
and being now disinclined to all Reform, might seem,
no doubt, a tempting object for attack. 'There is a
camp,' cried Lauderdale, ' to be formed at Bagshot to
overawe the people of the capital and to stifle their efforts
for Reform. I declare I am glad the noble Duke is to
command that camp. If apostacy can justify promotion,
he is the most fit person for that command, General
Arnold alone excepted.' The Duke started up at once
and denounced these ' impertinent personalities.' The

444 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1792-
consequence was that Lord Lauderdale challenged the
Duke of Richmond, and was himself challenged by
General Arnold. In the former case the quarrel was ad
justed by the interposition of friends, but in the latter
case a duel ensued. General Arnold came attended by
Lord Hawke as second, and Lord Lauderdale by Mr.
Fox. The General fired first, without effect, and the
Earl declined to return the shot, upon which the seconds
interposed and the matter terminated.1
The concert between Mr. Pitt. and some members of
the Opposition was further continued. It was his wish,
by their accession to office, to give new strength to
his Government in the stormy times which he saw ap
proaching. Burke urged this junction with zeal, though
declaring that he would accept no office for him
self. Another warm auxiliary appeared in Lord Lough
borough — above all, since the Great Seal had been vacant
by the dismissal of Lord Thurlow.
Lord Loughborough had several conferences (as
related in Lord Malmesbury's Journal) with Pitt and
Dundas. Here Pitt explained his views with entire
frankness. He assured Loughborough that ' it was his
wish to unite cordially and heartily, not in the way of
bargain, but to form a strong and united Ministry. His
only doubts were about Fox, who he was afraid had
gone too far.' Even as to Fox, Pitt declared that he
had no personal objection, if Fox would really take
part with the Duke of Portland. Fox, however, showed
himself averse to any junction ; the Duke of Portland
owned a junction to be the right course, but could not
make up his mind to it ; the statesmen went out of
town, and thus for the time the matter ended. ' You
see how it is,' said Burke ; ' Mr. Fox's coach stops the
way.' The Session was closed by the King on the 1 5th of
June. His Majesty said that he had seen with great
1 Ann. Register, 1792, part ii. p. 30. It is strange to find no men
tion whatever of this duel in Mr. Sparks 's Life of Arnold.

1793 PITT WARDEN OF THE CINOJUE PORTS. 445
concern the commencement of hostilities in different
parts of Europe, but should make it his principal care
to secure to his people the uninterrupted blessings of
peace. In August of this year died the Earl of Guilford —
if not the greatest or the firmest, certainly the most
amiable of Ministers. He left vacant the Lord War-.
denship of the Cinque Ports, a place for life, and with
a salary at that time of 3,000£. a year. The King, on
the very day that he received the news, wrote to Mr.
Pitt, declaring that he would receive no recommenda
tion from him for the vacant office, being determined
to bestow it on Mr. Pitt himself. Knowing that Mr.
Pitt had gone to Burton Pynsent, the King sent his
letter to Mr. Dundas for transmission, and added the
following lines : — Windsor, Aug. 6, 1792.
The enclosed is my letter to Mr. Pitt, acquainting him
with my having fixed on him for the office of Warden of the
Cinque Ports. Mr. Dundas is to forward it to the West,
and accompany it with a few lines expressing that I will not
admit of this favour being declined. I desire Lord Chatham
may also write, and that Mr. Dundas will take the first op
portunity of acquainting Lord Grenville with the step I have
taken. G. R.
In this case, perhaps unprecedented in our annals,
we find as great a pressure upon a Minister to accept,
as there ever was upon a Sovereign to bestow an office.
Mr. Pitt gratefully accepted the offer so kindly made ;
and on his return from Somersetshire he hastened to
express his thanks to His Majesty at Windsor. From
thence, where he appears to have been General Har-
court's guest, he wrote to Lady Chatham : —
St. Leonard's Hill, Aug 13, 1792.
I arrived here yesterday after a very pleasant journey,
but from the heat of the weather too late to pay my duty at
Windsor before dinner, as I had intended. I had an oppor
tunity, however, of doing so on the terrace in the evening,

446 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1792-
and of receiving a personal confirmation of every gracious
sentiment which had been so fully expressed already. I am
here on a spot which appears beautiful even after Burton,
but which could not make Burton appear less so in recollec
tion, even independent of everything else which it has to
endear it, and which can be found nowhere else.
The disposal of the vacant office was in an especial
manner gratifying to the King. His Majesty had for a
long time past been anxious to secure a provision for
his Minister in the event of his own decease. When in
May, 1790, Mr. Pitt asked by letter for the reversion of
a rich sinecure, a Tellership of the Exchequer, in favour
of one of Lord Auckland's sons, the King granted the
request, but observed in his reply that he should have
been better pleased if the appointment could have been
of use to the Prime Minister himself.
The appointment of Mr. Pitt to the Cinque Ports also
gave great pleasure to Mr. Pitt's followers and friends.
But there was one exception, which Bishop Tomline
thus relates : ' A noble Duke who then held a high
situation in His Majesty's Household applied to Mr. Pitt
for this office, and took every opportunity of expressing
his resentment that Mr. Pitt would not decline it in his
favour. Three years afterwards he refused to give his
vote for a Professorship at Cambridge, which vote he
had in right of his official situation, according to Mr.
Pitt's wishes, assigning his disappointment with respect
to the Cinque Ports as his reason. Yet the Noble Duke
was suffered to retain his situation in the Household till
his death in 1799.' Bishop Tomline has withheld the
name. But I see no just grounds for that suppression ;
and it becomes a mere form where, with a man of
high rank — and with Collins's Peerage on the table —
such dates and details are given. It was the Duke of
Dorset, once ambassador at Paris, and afterwards Lord
Steward. During these summer months the fate of France — a
Monarchy or a Republic — was decided. The King had

1793 GENERAL LA FAYETTE. 447
presumed to use the prerogative left him by the Con
stitution for the dismissal- of his Ministers. He had
also by the same prerogative refused to sanction two
Decrees which had been passed by the Assembly : the
one for the formation of a camp round Paris, the other
for the transportation of the non-juring priests. Thus
provoked, the mob of Paris rose in fierce tumult on the
20th of June. Bands of the lowest orders incited by
the Jacobin Club assailed the Tuileries, and thronged
file by file into the presence of their Sovereign, who
had ordered his Swiss Guards to forbear from all
resistance. During several hours was Louis exposed to
every form of insult ; compelled to drink a health from
a bottle which was tendered him, and to put on a red
woollen cap which had become the emblem of the
Jacobins. At length towards the evening Petion, Mayor
of Paris, came to his tardy rescue, and addressing to the
rabble a few words not of rebuke, but commendation,
bade them disperse and go home.
General La Fayette was at this time commander of
the army on the northern frontier. „The insults to the
King and the inroads upon the Constitution filled him
with just concern. His feelings were those of an
honourable man, but his conduct was that of a very
weak one. He addressed a letter of remonstrance to
the Assembly ; he came to Paris and appeared with a
speech at their bar ; but took no measures to give effect
to his opinions, and he sought no concert with the more
active adherents of the King, On his return to his army
he continued the same course of loquacious indecision,
and speedily ceased to be an object of either hope or
fear. Misled by overweening self-reliance, he still
supposed that, like the superior genius of Mirabeau, he
might stem the torrent which, on the contrary, hurried
him along.
On the opposite side Francis King of Hungary had
been elected Emperor on the 5th of July; and the
King of Prussia combining with him had declared war

448 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1792-
against France. It was resolved to invade the French
territory from the northern frontier with a large and
well-disciplined army, and the command was entrusted
to the Duke of Brunswick, the nephew and the pupil
of Frederick the Great. With this army the Emigrants
were intended to co-operate. But instead of placing
them in the front ranks with the banner of the Fleurs
de Lys unfurled to the friends of Monarchy in France,
they were rather thrust to the rear as mere accessories
to the war. The Prince de Conde with six thousand
men was directed to act on the side of Alsace, and the
Duke of Bourbon with four thousand on the side of
Flanders, while another body was subsequently reserved
for the siege of Thionville : all alike shut out from the
prominent place — the proposed advance to Paris.
Still far more grievous were the errors of the Mani
festo which the Duke of Brunswick, against his own
better judgment, was induced to issue on the 25th of
July. Far from any generous amnesty on the part of
the French Princes, far from any respectful appeal to
the loyalty of the French people, there was throughout
a tone of arrogant superiority and vindictive violence.
It drew most unjustly a distinction between the soldiers
of the line and the National Guards ; for these last, if
taken with arms in their hands, were forthwith to be
punished as rebels, whilst all the rigours of war, with
the burning of their houses, were denounced against
the inhabitants of towns or villages who should dare
to defend themselves against the troops of the Allies.
If the King and Queen were exposed to the smallest
violence — if they were not at once placed in safety and
restored to freedom — the city of Paris was to be given
up to military execution and exposed to total destruc
tion. Such threats from any foreign General, far indeed
from at all intimidating, could not fail to stir up the
utmost resentment and resistance in so martial a nation
as the French.
At Paris there was no cessation in the endeavours

1793 MASSACRE IN THE PRISONS OF PARIS. 449
of the Jacobins to inflame the public mind more and
more against the Royal Family. Mob-law was almost
supreme ; another effort made it wholly so. A new
insurrection which had been for some time past con
certed broke forth on the 10th of August. The palace
of the Tuileries was assailed by a furious multitude ;
the faithful Swiss were either slain in the defence or
subsequently butchered in cold blood, as were also the
Royal servants and retainers. To such a dismal fate
had fallen the proud inheritance of Louis the Four
teenth! The King — in truth a King no longer —
became a fugitive from his palace; and, accompanied
by his Consort, by his two children, and by his sister
the Princess Elizabeth, he took refuge in the hall of
the Assembly. There he found, however, only another
class of foemen. Decrees were passed to suspend him
from his Royal functions, and to summon a new legis
lative body under the name of a Convention, and as
the next step to a Republic. Meanwhile the Royal
Family were sent as close prisoners to the ancient
stronghold of the Templar Knights at Paris.
These events were followed at the commencement of
September by atrocities which even amidst the many
evil deeds of the first French Revolution have attained
a pre-eminence of shame. It was the massacre in the
prisons of Paris. During four whole days did bands of
miscreants proceeding in regular array from dungeon
to dungeon draw forth the captives one by one and put
them to death with hideous gibes. Six thousand persons
at the lowest computation are stated to have perished 51
and the assassins, as though proud to display some
proofs of merit, eagerly besmeared themselves with the
blood of their victims. Above all did they gloat over
the death-pangs of any Catholic priests they found, nor
were they disarmed even at the saint-like charity of
some of these praying in their last moments for their
1 See on these numbers M. Thiers, Hist. Rev., vol. ii. p. 55.
Some have reckoned them at twelve thousand in Paris alone.
VOL. I. G G

450 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1792-
murderers. The claims of sex, of youth, of beauty, were
allowed — but they were claims only for superior refine
ments of cruelty. Thus in the case of the Princesse de
Lamballe, young and beautiful, of exemplary life and
of devoted friendship to the unhappy Queen, her head
and heart were fixed upon a pike, and borne in savage
triumph round the windows of the Temple, so as to
meet at every turn the eyes of the Royal captives.
But where, it may be asked, was La Fayette?
Where was he who had so loudly professed his respect for
the Constitution — his zeal for law and order ? These
principles were still alive in his mind, but so dashed
with doubts and misgivings as to deprive them of all
practical effect.
Three Commissioners had been sent from Paris to
the army, ostensibly to remonstrate with the General,
but with a secret mission, as was thought, to supersede
him. La Fayette anticipated their purpose by arresting
them. But this was a solitary and unavailing act of
vigour. Already by his vacillations had he lost his
influence alike with soldier and civilian, with Republican
and Royalist. In perhaps too hasty despair he resigned
the contest, and on the night of the 19th of August fled
beyond the frontier with only a handful of partisans.
He desired to pass to Holland and embark for the
United States, but within a few hours the small party
was seized and made prisoners by an outpost of the
Prussian army.
The treatment of La Fayette and of his principal
companions by the two Allied Sovereigns was certainly
in the highest degree both ungenerous and unwise.
Instead of welcoming their tardy but honest zeal for the
liberation of Louis the Sixteenth they were detained
as prisoners of State. They were transferred from one
dungeon to another, and closely confined, first at Wesel,
and lastly at Olmiitz. What temptation had now other
men in France who had joined in the first enthusiasm
of the Revolution to take part against its last excesses ?

1793 AFFAIRS OF POLAND. 451
What better treatment could they expect from the
Allies than La Fayette had found ?
There was another aggravation to the angry feelings
aroused in France, first by the Manifesto of the Prus
sian, and next by the imprisonment of the French
General. That aggravation came from the east of
Europe. Might not the dismemberment of France by
the Allied Sovereigns be justly apprehended, when at
the very same period the dismemberment of Poland
was actually effected ?
There had been in the preceding year a reform of
the Constitution of Poland, framed on sound principles,
and with warm assent from the people. But a small
and selfish band, murmuring against it, had appealed
to Russia for aid; and Catherine had eagerly seized
the pretext of dictation to her weaker neighbours. In
the spring and summer of 1792 she sent to Poland first
a haughty Declaration, and next a powerful army. On
the other hand the Poles from King Stanislas down
wards displayed a noble spirit for their national rights.
A large body of troops was mustered which in two
pitched actions encountered the Russians with great
bravery and some success. The General-in-Chief was
Prince Joseph Poniatowski, but far the highest renown
was gained by Kosciusko, the second in command, who
had already distinguished himself in the American
contest under the orders of Washington. Unhappily
at this juncture the King of Prussia was induced by the
lure of Thorn and Dantzic to make common cause
with Catherine. Thus the Poles became greatly over
matched in numbers ; and King Stanislas, losing heart,
had recourse to negotiations instead of arms. The igno
minious result was the second partition of Poland. The
King of Prussia acquired Thorn and Dantzic, and the
Empress one-half of Lithuania. It is clear how much
this iniquitous confederacy was aided and secured from
foreign interruption by the clamour raised a few months
before against the Russian armament in England.
g a 2

452 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1792-
Besides the several causes of suspicion and resent
ment which I have now enumerated, the tardiness of
the' Duke of Brunswick was another fatal obstacle to
the cause of the Allies. His Manifesto was dated the
25th of July; and its only chances of success lay m
prompt and energetic action. Yet at this most critical
period four weeks more elapsed ere the Duke entered
the French territory at the head of fifty thousand
Prussian troops, and in concert with an Austrian corps
under General Clerfait. King Frederick William in
person accompanied, though he did not command, the
army. On the 23rd of August Longwy opened its gates
to the Prussians after a slight resistance, and on the
2nd of September Verdun. Had they been pressing
forward only a few days sooner, when the French camp
was all confusion and uncertainty from the flight of
La Fayette, it is difficult to see what power could have
prevented their advance to Paris. But General Dumou-
riez, who meanwhile had succeeded to the chief com
mand against them, was now straining every nerve to
revive the spirits of the soldiers and to defend the
passes of the forest of Argonne.
Dumouriez had also summoned to his aid General
Kellermann, with two and twenty thousand men — ' the
army of the Rhine.' On the 20th of September Kel
lermann encountered a great division of the Allies at
Valmy ;• and after a brisk cannonade of several hours
remained master'of the field. It seemed a slight action,
yet it decided this campaign. The doubts of the Duke
of Brunswick now returned with double force ; cabals
of various kinds were busy in his camp, and many
thousands of his soldiers who had eagerly devoured the
unripe grapes were struck down by a raging dysentery.
Under these circumstances the Duke, to the general
surprise of Europe, not only determined to retire, but
opened a negotiation with the enemy that he might
retire unmolested. Before the end of the month this
retreat began, and in a few days more the Prussian

1793 VALMY. 453
army, relinquishing Verdun and Longwy, was again
beyond the frontiers of France.
It may readily be supposed how much the friends
of the French Revolution exulted at this most strange
event. Mr. Fox in his familiar letters of that period
declares that not even the reverses of his own country
men in America had pleased him so well. ' No ! ' he
exclaims, ' no public event, not excepting Saratoga and
Yorktown, ever happened that gave me so much delight.
I would not allow myself to believe it for some days,
for fear of disappointment.' '
The other Sovereigns not yet at war with France had
recalled their Ministers from Paris on the suspension of
the kingly office and imprisonment of the King. It was
the natural course to take when the sole Power to which
they were accredited had ceased to exist. Amongst
others Earl Gower, the English ambassador in France,
was summoned home by the English Cabinet. But his
letter of recall, which he was directed to show to the
Minister for Foreign Affairs, contained a renewed assur
ance of neutrality in the domestic affairs of France.
In the same spirit M. de Chauvelin, the French ambas
sador in England, was at his request permitted by the
English Cabinet to continue to reside in London with
out official character. And he received a further assur
ance from Lord Grenville that should he be desirous of
making any communications of a pacific tendency, no
obstacle of a merely formal nature should be interposed.
It is clear that Mr. Pitt at this period was still reso
lutely bent against any participation in the war.
Early in September were elected the deputies to the
newly summoned National Convention. The mode of
election was nearly universal suffrage, and the choice in
general fell on the most violent and thorough-going
men, or on the most timid, which in times of popular
1 Letter to his nephew Lord Holland, Oct. 12, 1792. On the
other hand it is just to notice that Mr. Fox, in the same correspond
ence a month before, had spoken with the utmost horror of the
assassins of the prisoners — the Septembriseurs — at Paris.

454 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1792-
intimidation amounts to the same thing. Paris sent
amongst others, Robespierre and Danton, the two chiefs
of the extreme Republicans; Billaud Varennes, who
had just before distinguished himself in promoting the
massacre of the prisoners; and the Duke of Orleans,
who, renouncing his titles and family name, called him
self Philippe Egalite. In other places there were two
Englishmen chosen, Thomas Paine and Dr. Priestley,
but only the former came to France and took his seat.
The Convention met for the first time on the 20th of
September, the same day that the armies fought at
Valmy. Next morning, by an unanimous vote and
without the smallest discussion, they decreed to abolish
the institution of Royalty in France.
On the retreat of the Prussians from Champagne,
Dumouriez repaired to Paris to concert measures for his
favourite object, the invasion of the Netherlands. They
were at this time feebly defended by the Duke of Saxe-
Teschen at the head of insufficient Austrian forces.
Dumouriez, having obtained the requisite powers and
crossed the frontiers with his army, gave battle to Saxe-
Teschen on the 6th of November at Jemmapes. The
result was a complete victory on the side of the French.
And now appeared the results of the policy of Joseph
the Second in demolishing the fortifications. No barrier
remained against the invading army. Dumouriez en
tered Brussels in triumph, and all Belgium to the Meuse
was subdued.
In other quarters also the French arms were crowned
with unexpected success. Advancing from Alsace, Ge
neral de Custine took Worms and Mayence, and even
pushed forward to Frankfort. Towards the Alps the
King of Sardinia having, with more zeal than pru
dence, joined the Coalition since the 10th of August,
a body of French troops entered Savoy and speedily
reduced the province in concert with a Savoyard insur
rection. Another body set in movement from the Var
took Nice and Villafranca with equal ease.

1793 DECREE OF NOVEMBER 19. 455
These successes, so little looked for at a period of so
much internal strife, raised to the highest pitch the
arrogance of the Convention. As defying public opinion
in all other countries, they resolved to bring to a public
trial their deposed and imprisoned King. They issued
on the 19th of November the famous Decree by which,
in the name of the French people, they offered fraternity
and assistance to every nation that desired to recover
their freedom, or in other words, to cast off the sway of
Royalty ; and they ordered this Decree to be translated
and printed in all languages. By another Decree on
the 21st, they proclaimed an accession of territory to
themselves. France had been recently divided into
eighty-three departments, in the place of its ancient
provinces, and Savoy was now declared the eighty-
fourth, under the name of the Departement du Mont
Blanc. It was plain that, like the first followers of
Mahomet, they sought to make conquests partly by
conversion and partly by the sword.
But further still they showed an utter disregard of
the rights of neutral nations. On their conquest of
Belgium they sent a peremptory order that their Ge
neral should obtain freedom of navigation to the sea,
and even for armed vessels on both the rivers Scheldt
and Meuse. Against this order stood the privileges
secured to Holland by treaty, and also our own obliga
tions to aid Holland whenever assailed.
It was in reference to the rights especially of Hol
land, and only a few days before the famous Decree of
the 19th of November, which entirely altered the aspect
of affairs, that we find Mr. Pitt write as follows to one
of the most respected of his colleagues, the Marquis of
Stafford. Downing Street, Nov. 13, 1792.
My dear Lord, — The strange and unfortunate events
which have followed one another so rapidly on the Continent
are in many views matter of serious and anxious considera
tion.

456 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1792-
That which presses the most relates to the situation of
Holland, as your Lordship will find from the enclosed de
spatch from Lord Auckland, and as must indeed be the case
in consequence of the events in Flanders. However unfor
tunate it would be to find this country in any shape com
mitted, it seems absolutely impossible to hesitate as to sup
porting our ally in case of necessity, and the explicit
declaration of our sentiments is the most likely way to pre
vent the case occurring. We have, therefore, thought it
best to send without delay instructions to Lord Auckland to
present a memorial to the States, of which I enclose a copy.
I likewise enclose a copy of instructions to Sir Morton Eden
at Berlin, and those to Vienna are nearly to the same effect.
These are necessarily in very general terms, as, in the ignor
ance of the designs of Austria and Prussia, and in the un
certainty as to what events each day may produce, it seems
impossible to decide definitively at present on the line which
we ought to pursue, except as far as relates to Holland.
Perhaps some opening may arise which may enable us to
contribute to the termination of the war between different
powers in Europe, leaving France (which I believe is the
best way) to arrange its own internal affairs as it can. The
whole situation, however, becomes so delicate and critical,
that I have thought it right to request the presence of all the
members of the Cabinet who can, without too much incon
venience, give their attendance. It will certainly be a great
satisfaction if your Lordship should be of that number. At
all events I wish to apprise you as well as I can of what is
passing, and shall be happy to receive your sentiments upon
it either personally or by letter.
I am, with the greatest regard, <kc, W. Pitt.
It was not merely as allies that we felt at this
period the aggressive spirit of France. M. de Chauvelin,
and still more his far abler Secretary, M. de Talleyrand,
were accused of caballing with the malcontent ' party in
England. But it is most probable that in many cases
secret emissaries of the Jacobins acted in their name.
Addresses of congratulation on recent events in France,
and especially on the ' glorious victory of the 10th of
August,' were voted and sent over to the National Con-

1793 RIOTS IN ENGLAND. 457
vention by several of the Societies formed in London
within the last three years. The tide of seditious pub
lications, which had been checked in the previous spring,
now flowed anew. Amongst the rest we may observe
a new edition of that eloquent incentive to tyrannicide,
the tract entitled ' Killing no Murder,' which had been
written by Colonel Titus, and is said to have disturbed
the last days of Oliver Cromwell. It had also been re
printed by some desperate adherents of the Stuarts in
1743, and it is striking to find that on this one and' only
point the extremes of two parties diametrically opposed
in their tenets — the Jacobites and the Jacobins —
agreed. *
Still more alarming were the disturbances that now
broke forth in several parts of England. Such was the
case, for example, at Yarmouth and at Shields. In
Sheffield there was appointed a day of rejoicing to
celebrate the success of the French arms. An ox was
in the first place roasted whole and eaten, after which
the numbers assembled walked in procession with the
French tri-colors flying, and with a picture at the end
of a pole which represented Dundas and Burke stabbing
Liberty. An officer quartered at Sheffield wrote as
follows to his brother next day : — ' They are as resolute
and determined a set of villains as I ever saw, and will
gain their object if it is to be gained. They have de
bating societies and regular correspondence with the
other towns; they have subscribed to purchase fire
arms, and are endeavouring to corrupt the soldiers.' l
From Scotland there came no better tidings. There
had been riots at Dundee, Perth, and Aberdeen ; and in
all three places it had been requisite to send for
military aid. At Dundee the first occasion or pretext
of the tumult had been the high price of meal, but it
was not long ere cries of ' Liberty and Equality ! ' arose
from every quarter of the mob. Some even called out
'No Excise! No King!' and they concluded with
' See the Life of Pitt, by Tomline, vol. iii. p. 458.

458 LIFE OF WILLIAM "PITT. 1792-
planting a tree of Liberty, according to the pattern of
France.1 Dundas had himself gone to Scotland at this time,
and on his way back received at Northallerton the
following letter from Pitt. The original is among the
Arniston Papers. Downing Street, Tuesday,
Dec. 4, 1792.
Dear Dundas, — I received your letter of last Saturday
morning, and all those preceding it ; and am very glad to
think that on the whole you will have left everything in
Scotland in a better train than could have been expected.
The impression here from calling out the Militia is as favour
able as we could wish, and people who a few days ago were
inclined to despond begin to tell us that we shall only be at
tacked for having made so great an exertion when there was
so little real danger. I believe myself that the chief danger
at home is over for the present, but I am sure there is still
mischief enough afloat not to relax any of our preparations,
and things abroad still wear such an aspect that nothing but
our being ready for war can preserve peace. On all this,
however, we shall soon converse at large. The reason of my
sending this letter is to ask whether you have or can procure
a complete narrative of all that passed relative to the distur
bances at Dundee, showing the exact extent of the outrages
committed, as I think we have not at present in the Office
as particular a statement of that transaction as one should
wish. The calling out the Militia was so clearly right and
necessary that people will not much be inclined to cavil as
to the application of the term Insurrection, which was the
ostensible ground of our taking the measure. I have, how
ever, some reason to suppose that some part of Opposition
will try to criticise the measure in that respect ; and as we
have hitherto looked more to the substance than to the form,
I doubt whether we could, from our present materials, give
as precise an answer as we should wish to cavils of this
nature. The proceedings at Yarmouth and at Shields cer
tainly both amounted to insurrections, but they were not on
political questions, and therefore what passed at Dundee
furnishes the specific ground which seems best to be relied
1 Speech of Dundas, Dec. 13, 1792.

1793 COUNTER-DEMONSTRATIONS. 459
on. After all there will be no difficulty in avowing that at
any rate we thought it necessary to take this measure for
the public safety.
I send this to meet you on the road, because you would
have no time to write to Scotland, should it be necessary,
and to receive an answer before Parliament meets.
Yours ever, W. Pitt.
All this time the English conspirators were, it would
seem, supplied with, and instigated by, money from
abroad. Shortly afterwards it was boasted by one of
the Republican leaders in France, Citizen Brissot (for
the title of Monsieur was disregarded as savouring of
aristocracy), that even before the Declaration of War
large sums had been at intervals sent over to England
from France. But although large sums may indeed
have been abstracted from the French treasury, it seems
highly improbable that the same amount ever reached
the opposite shores. There was also, on the other hand,
some reason to suspect that money had been trans
mitted from Ireland to French agents and for French
uses.1 On the opposite side the loyal majority of English
men began in London to make some counter-demon
strations. The person who appears to have taken the
lead in this movement was Mr. John Reeves, a bar
rister and Law-Clerk in Lord Hawkesbury's Office.
Through his means there was summoned by public ad
vertisement a meeting at the Crown and Anchor Tavern,
on the 29th of November, when it was unanimously
agreed to form an association ' for the defence of liberty
and property against Republicans and Levellers.' This
was followed by another meeting of bankers, traders,
and other inhabitants of London, held at Merchant
Taylors' Hall, on the 5th of December. There a De
claration expressive of warm attachment to the Consti
tution was framed and left open for signatures. It was
in fact signed by vast numbers of the middle classes,
1 On this last point see the King's letter to Mr. Pitt, May 1, 1792.

460 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1792-
and the example was followed in most of the large
commercial towns.
Nor was the law inactive. The Attorney-General
moved a criminal information against Thomas Paine,
as author of the 'Rights of Man,' and in due course the
trial came on before Lord Kenyon, wheh, in spite of a
long and most able defence from Erskine, the jury
without hesitation brought in a verdict of Guilty.
Paine had gone to Paris to attend the sittings of the
French Convention, and did not present himself to
receive the judgment of the Court, but a sentence of
outlawry was pronounced against him.
The Government at this critical period was cer
tainly not wanting in most active measures of precau
tion and defence. Steps were taken to increase our
forces both by land and sea. Several regiments were con
centrated near London to provide against any sudden
rising. The bulwarks of the Tower were repaired. The
guard at the Bank was reinforced.
Nor was this all. By advice of Mr. Pitt a Royal
Proclamation was issued on the 1st of December,
calling out a part of the Militia, and (as the law in
that case required) summoning Parliament to meet
within fourteen days. On the 13th accordingly the
Session was opened by the King in person. His Majes
ty's speech was unusually long and explicit. He ex
pressed his sincere desire for peace, but also his serious
concern at the disposition which had been shown in
France to excite disturbances in other countries, and
to disregard the rights of neutral nations. And he
declared that he had thought it right to take some
steps for the augmentation of both his naval and mili
tary forces.
During the first days of this early Session Pitt was
absent from the House on account of his new office as
Lord Warden, and his consequent re-election ; but
Dundas supplied his place as leader. It was announced
that besides the measures for national defence, the

1793 AN ALIEN BILL. 461
Ministers had prepared an Alien Bill, laying, for the
first time, certain restrictions and liabilities upon all
foreigners in England. Two other Bills were brought
in with special reference to France ; the one restrain
ing the export of arms and ammunition, the other pro
hibiting the export of corn. In all these measures the
friends and followers of the Duke of Portland, com
prising the greater part of the Opposition in both
Houses, showed a strong disposition to support the
policy of the Government. Fox, on the other hand,
warmly declared against it. On the very first evening
he moved an Amendment to the Address, and had the
mortification to find himself in a minority of no more
than fifty Members. Nor did any better success attend
him when, two days afterwards, he moved to acknow
ledge the French Republic, and to accredit a Minister
at Paris. As Lord Malmesbury in his Journal states
it : ' The cry against him out of doors was excessive,
and his friends were hurt beyond measure : several left
London.1 In the other House Lord Stanhope, though alto
gether unconnected with Fox's party, espoused with
great ardour the cause of the French Revolution. He
had wholly estranged himself from Mr. Pitt, but was
still on terms of friendly intercourse with Lord Gren
ville, the uncle of his wife. To Lord Grenville at this
time he wrote as follows : — Mansfield Street, Dec. 19, 1792.
My dear Lord, — I have written to Mr. Stone to send
you herewith a copy of the Decree of the National Conven
tion, and also of the Questions of the Committee for the
Colonies. They explain themselves. Mr. Stone is an
Englishman, well acquainted with the Ministers and leading
men in France, and whom your Lordship will do well at
least to see, as he can convince you of their friendly disposi
tion towards this country. Good God ! my dear Lord, you
have no conception of the misfortunes you may bring upon
1 Diary, Dec. 15, 1792.

462 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1792-
England by going to war with France. For as to France, I
believe all Europe cannot subdue them, whatever efforts may
be made. It will only rouse them more.
Believe me ever, my dear Lord, &c, <fcc, Stanhope.
This letter bears an indorsement in Lord Gren-
ville's hand, ' To be circulated ' — that is, among the
Cabinet Ministers. Thus it must have come before Mr.
Pitt. But I know not whether any or what answer it
received. Another letter addressed to Pitt about this time
would have excited no small amazement in any English
Minister half a century before. An application for pecu
niary aid from the Pretender's Queen! Thus writes
Lord Camelford : — Florence, Dec. 14, 1792.
My dear Sir, — I write to acquit myself of a commission
I have received from the Comtesse Albany, who desires to
assure you that the kind part you were so good to take in
her business, both when she left England and since, lays her
under obligations that she shall never forget.
After what is past, I conclude it is in vain to hope the
subject can be renewed in any shape hereafter. It is impos
sible for me, however, to be witness to the situation of that
unfortunate lady without reflecting upon the effect her pre
sent distress must produce upon every feeling mind in Europe.
By her flight from France, where, had she remained two days
longer, her certain imprisonment had been the consequence,
and she would have been included in the general massacre,
she has lost every resource from that country. Driven after
wards from her family at Brussels, from the apprehensions
of what has actually taken place immediately after, she has
taken refuge here as the only asylum that could afford her
any promise of safety ; and here she fives upon the dibris of
what she could save out of her fortune at a sequin a day. I
need make no comments — your generous mind will supply
them. If she had a pension of 10007., she would be happy.
Pardon me, my dear Sir, if I cannot resist the impulse that
has made me state this to you, having no means of laying it
before the person whose good heart would, I am sure, be not
insensible to it, if he could be witness to it as I am. It is a

1793 DEATH OF CARDINAL YORK. 463
strange world, and the vicissitudes of it are striking in a
manner never before experienced.
Ever most affectionately yours, Camelfoed.
Lord Camelford did not long survive the date of
this letter. He died in the January following, and the
letter was forwarded by Lord Hervey after his death.
It does not appear that any present aid was afforded to
the widow of Charles Edward. But when, in 1800,
Cardinal York, in consequence of the French invasion,
had found it requisite to leave Rome, and to forego his
ecclesiastical revenues, the King, on the recommenda
tion of Mr. Pitt, granted a yearly pension of 4,000?.
to the last of the Stuarts. The Cardinal died in 1807.
Then Lord Hawkesbury wrote to announce that a part
of this pension, namely, 1,6001. a year, would be con
tinued by His Majesty to the Countess of Albany.1
In December 1792 the negotiations with the Duke
of Portland and Lord Loughborough were resumed.
The Duke was swayed throughout by most honourable
motives, but from his vacillations played a very unsatis
factory part. He was tossed like a tennis-ball from side
to side ; almost quite determined to join the Ministry
whenever he met Lord Malmesbury ; almost quite de
termined not whenever he met Mr. Fox. Lord Malmes
bury, in his Journal, has described one scene to the
life ; how, on the day after Christmas, the Duke had
promised to make a speech of adhesion ; how he went
down accordingly with his diplomatic friend to the
House of Lords, and how, at the last moment, he fal
tered, and sat still.
Lord Loughborough, though not quite so disinter
ested, was much more steady in his view; that view
being merely, as I presume to think, a great office for
himself. Finding that a more general concert could
1 See M. de Reumont's very interesting Biography, in German,
of the Countess of Albany, vol. i. p. 389, ed. 1860. It appears from
this book that so lately as 1823 the Duchess of Devonshire used to
address her as Cora Regina, or Cora Sovrana.

464 LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT. 1792-
not at this time be compassed, he agreed to become
Lord Chancellor at once, leaving the accession of others
to the effects of time. The Great Seal was accordingly
placed in his hands before the ensuing month of January
had closed.
The maintenance of peace was not yet to be despaired
of. M. Chauvelin had remained in London, and desired
to present his credentials as Minister of the French
Republic ; and there also at this juncture came from
Paris, though without official character, M. Maret, better
known in subsequent years as the Duke de Bassano.
But the French Government, flushed with its late vic
tories, was ill inclined to relinquish its ambitious views
on Holland, which we were bound by treaty to protect.
And meanwhile there took place at Paris a transaction
which, beyond any other cause, rent France and Eng
land asunder. The dethroned King, after being harassed
during many days by the forms of a mock trial, under the
nickname of Louis Capet, was declared to be guilty, was
condemned to death by a narrow majority of the Con
vention (that majority including his craven kinsman
Philippe Egalite), and his head fell beneath the guillo
tine on the morning of the 21st of January. An un
controllable thrill of horror ran through the nations of
Europe. Mourning was commonly worn in England
in grief for this judicial murder. ' An event,' said Lord
Loughborough, a few days afterwards in the House of
Lords, ' which has not only changed the garb of the
nation, but seemed to impress every individual in it
with sorrow.'1
In London, on the 24th of January, immediately
after the first tidings, there was issued an order of the
King in Council commanding M. Chauvelin to depart
within eight days from His Majesty's dominions. As
it chanced, a positive recall had likewise on the prece
ding day been despatched to him by his chiefs at Paris.
Both parties, indeed, were now equally convinced that
1 Speech of Feb. 1, 1793.

1793 THE FRENCH DECLARE WAR. 465
a conflict had become not only inevitable, but close
impending. On the 1st of February the French Go
vernment took the final step by a Declaration of War
against England and Holland. A similar Declaration
against Spain followed on the 7th of March ; and thus,
the last hopes of peace departing, did the trumpets
once more sound to battle.

vol. i. h n

APPENDIX.

LETTERS AND EXTRACTS OF LETTERS FROM KING
GEORGE THE THIRD TO MR. PITT.

[Where in these copies the whole of the King's letter is
given, ' G.R.,' his usual signature in this correspondence,
is added at the end. Where it is omitted the reader will
understand that only an extract is inserted, and that the
remainder is in general of no pubhc interest.]
Queen's House, March 23, 1783, 8.50 a.m.
Mr. Pitt is desired to come here in his morning dress as
soon as convenient to him. G. R.
St. James's, March 23, 1783, 11.55 A.M.
Mr. Pitt, I have seen Lord North, and sent him to the
Duke of Portland to desire the plan of arrangements may be
instantly sent to me, as I must coolly examine it before I
can give any answer, and as I expect to have the whole
finally decided before to-morrow's debate in the House of
Commons. This seems to answer the idea I have just re
ceived from Mr. Pitt. G. R.
I desire Mr. Pitt will be here after the Drawing Room.
Queen's House, March 24, 1783, 11.10 A.M.
Mr. Pitt's idea of having nothing announced till the
debate of to-day meets with my thorough approbation. I
have just seen the Lord Chancellor, who thinks that if Mr.
Pitt should say, towards the close of the debate, that after
h h 2

468 APPENDIX.
such conduct as the Coalition has held, that every man
attached to this Constitution must stand forth on this occa
sion, and that as such he is determined to keep the situation
devolved on him, that he will meet with an applause that
cannot fail to give him every encouragement.
I shall not expect Mr. Pitt till the Levee is over.
G. R.
Windsor, March 24, 1783, 5.12 p.m.
I am not surprised, as the debate has proved desultory,
that Mr. Pitt has not been able to write more fully on this
occasion. After the manner I have been personally treated
by both the Duke of Portland and Lord North, it is impos
sible I can ever admit either of them into my service : I
therefore trust that Mr. Pitt will exert himself to-morrow to
plan his mode of filling up the offices that will be vacant, so
as to be able on Wednesday morning to accept the situation
his character and talents fit him to hold, when I shall be in
town before twelve ready to receive him. G. R.
Mr. Pitt to the King. March 25, 1783.
Mr. Pitt received, this morning, the honour of your
Majesty's gracious commands. With infinite pain he feels
himself under the necessity of humbly expressing to your
Majesty, that with every sentiment of dutiful attachment to
your Majesty and zealous desire to contribute to the public
service, it is utterly impossible for him, after the fullest con
sideration of the situation in which things stand, and of what
passed yesterday in tthe House of. Commons, to think of
undertaking, under such circumstances, the situation which
your Majesty has had the condescension and goodness to
propose to him.
As what he now presumes to write is the final result of
his best reflection, he should think himself criminal if, by
delaying till to-morrow humbly to lay it before your Majesty,
he should be the cause of your Majesty's not immediately
turning your Royal mind to such a plan of arrangement as
the exigency of the present circumstances may, in your
Majesty's wisdom, seem to require.

APPENDIX. 469
Windsor, March 25, 4.35 p.m.
Mr. Pitt, I am much hurt to find you are determined to
decline at an hour when those who have any regard for the
Constitution as established by law ought to stand forth
against .the most daring and unprincipled faction that the
annals of this kingdom ever produced. G. R.
December 23, 1783, 10.46 A.M.
To one on the edge of a precipice every ray of hope must
be pleasing. I therefore place confidence in the Duke of
Richmond, Lord Gower, Lord Thurlow, and Mr. Pitt bring
ing forward some names to fill up an arrangement ; which if
they cannot, they already know my determination. One
will be an hour perfectly agreeable to me. G. R.
Windsor, January 13, 1784.
Mr. Pitt cannot but suppose that I received his commu
nication of the two divisions in the long debate which ended
this morning with much uneasiness, as it shows the House
of Commons much more willing to enter into any intem
perate resolutions of desperate men than I could have
imagined. As to myself, I am perfectly composed, as I
have the self-satisfaction of feeling I have done my duty.
Though I think Mr. Pitt's day will be fully taken up in
considering, with the other Ministers, what measures are
best to be proposed in the present crisis, yet that no delay
may arise from my absence I will dine in town, and conse
quently be ready to see him in the evening, if he shall find
that will be of utility. At all events, I am ready to take
any step that may be proposed to oppose this faction, and to
struggle to the last period of my life ; but I can never sub
mit to throw myself into its power. If they in the end
succeed, my line is a clear one, and to which I have fortitude
enough to submit. G. R.
January 24, 1784, 9.17 a.m.
I own I cannot see any reason, if the thing is practicable,
that a Dissolution should not be effected ; if not, I fear the
Constitution of this country cannot subsist.
January 24, 1784, 6.25 P.M.
I desire Mr. Pitt will assemble the confidential Ministers
this evening, that he may state what has passed this day. I

470 APPENDIX.
should think it cannot give any reason for preventing a Dis
solution on Monday ; but if it should, he must be armed
with the opinion of the other Ministers. I fear Mr. Powys's
candour has drawn him into a trap ; delay must be of the
worst of consequences, and the Opposition cannot, but be
glad he should be the author of it. If Mr. Pitt can come
after the meeting before eleven this night, I shall be ready
to see him ; if not, as early to-morrow morning as may suit
him. G. R.
January 25, 1784.
Though indecision is the most painful of all situations to
a firm mind, I by no means wish Mr. Pitt should come to me
till he has, with his brother Ministers, gone through the
various objects the present crisis affords. I should hope by
half an hour past nine he may be able to lay before me the
result of their deliberations.
The Opposition will certainly throw every difficulty in
our way, but we must be men ; and if we mean to save the
country, we must cut those threads that cannot be unravelled.
Half-measures are ever puerile, and often destructive.
G. R.
January 26, 1784.
Mr. Pitt's language in the House of Commons this day
seems to have been most proper. The idea of Ministers re
signing, and consequently leaving everything in confusion,
was worthy of the mouth from whence it came, but cannot
meet with the approbation of the sober-minded. G. R.
January 30, 1784.
The account of what passed in the House of Commons
yesterday, which I suppose by reading the various news
papers may be pretty nearly collected, gives every reason for
commending Mr. Pitt's language and for reprobating that of
Mr. Fox and his follower, Lord North; and shows that their
principles must ever prevent that kind of union to which
alone I can ever consent.
I shall certainly not object to Mr. Pitt's making himself
master, if possible, of what the Duke of Portland means,
though I cannot suggest the mode. I cannot say the meet
ing of the gentlemen at the St. Alban's Tavern seem as yet
to have taken the only step which ought to occur to them :

APPENDIX. 471
the co-operating in preventing a desperate faction from com
pleting the ruin of the most perfect of all human formations
— the British Constitution. G. R.
February 4, 1784.
I trust the House of Lords will this day feel that the
hour is come for which the wisdom of our ancestors estab
lished that respectable corps in the State, to prevent either
the Crown or the Commons from encroaching on the rights
of each other. Indeed, should not the Lords stand boldly
forth, this Constitution must soon be changed ; for, if the
two only remaining privileges of the Crown are infringed —
that of negativing Bills which have passed both Houses of
Parhament, and that of naming the Ministers to be employed
— :I cannot but feel, as far as regards my person, that I can
be no longer of any utility to this country, nor can with
honour continue in this island. February 15, 1784.
Mr. Pitt is so well apprized of the mortification I feel at
any possibility of ever "again seeing the heads of Opposition
in pubhc employments, and more particularly Mr. Fox,
whose conduct has not been more marked against my station
in the Empire than against my person, that he must attribute
my want of perspicuity in my conversation last night to that
foundation ; yet I should imagine it must be an ease to bis
mind, in conferring with the other confidential Ministers this
morning, to have on paper my sentiments, which are the
result of unremitted consideration since he left me last night,
and which he has my consent to communicate, if he judges it
right, to the above respectable persons.
My present situation is perhaps the most singular that
ever occurred, either in the annals of this or any other
country ; for the House of Lords, by not a less majority than
near two to one, have declared in my favour ; and my sub
jects at large, in a much more considerable proportion, are
not less decided ; to combat which, Opposition have only a
majority of twenty or at most of thirty in the House of
Commons, who, I am sorry to add, seem as yet willing to
prevent the pubhc supplies. Though I certainly have never
much valued popularity, yet I do not think it is to be
despised when arising from a rectitude of conduct, and when
it is to be retained by following the same respectable path

472 APPENDIX.
which conviction makes me esteem that of duty, as calcu
lated to prevent one branch of the legislature from annihilat
ing the other two, and seizing also the executive power to
which it has no claim.
I confess I have not yet seen the smallest appearance of
sincerity in the leaders of Opposition, to come into the only
mode by which I could tolerate them in my service, their
giving up the idea of having the administration in their
hands, and coming in as a respectable part of one on a broad
basis ; and therefore I, with a jealous eye, look on any words
dropped by them either in Parliament or to the gentlemen
of the St. Alban's Tavern, as meant only to gain those gentle
men, or, if carrying further views, to draw Mr. Pitt, by a
negotiation, into some difficulty.
Should the Ministers, after discussing this, still think it
advisable that an attempt should be made to try whether an
administration can be formed on a real, not a nominal wide
basis, and that Mr. Pitt having repeatedly and as fruitlessly
found it impossible to get even an interview on what Oppo
sition pretends to admit is a necessary measure, I will, though
reluctantly, go personally so far as to authorise a message to
be carried in my name to the Duke of Portland, expressing
a desire that he and Mr. Pitt may meet to confer on the
means of forming an administration on a wide basis, as the
only means of entirely healing the divisions which stop the
businpss of the nation. The only person I can think, from
his office as well as personal character, proper to be sent
by me, is Lord Sydney ; but should the Duke of Portland,
when required by me, refuse to meet Mr. Pitt, more especially
upon the strange plea he has as yet held forth, I must here
declare that I shall not deem it right for me ever to address
myself again to him.
The message must be drawn on paper, as must everything
in such a negotiation, as far as my name is concerned ; and I
trust when I next see Mr. Pitt, if under the present circu r -
stances the other Ministers shall agree with him in thinking
such a proposition advisable, that he will bring a sketch of
such a message for my inspection. G. R.
February 18, 1784.
As Mr. Pitt's letter seems to suppose the House of Com
mons will this day come to some resolution either consonant

APPENDIX. 473
to that proposed the last night, though warned by Mr. Powys,
or to an Address, I should think Mr. Pitt, instead of coming
to Court this day, had better employ part of the time in see
ing such Members of that House who may be thought proper
to take an active part in the debate, and also consult with
the Cabinet, in case the House should come into either of
those violent measures, as to the steps then necessary to be
taken. He may depend on my being heartily ready to adopt
the most vigorous ones, as I think the struggle is really no
less than my being called upon to stand forth in defence of
the Constitution against a most desperate and unprincipled
faction. Mr. Pitt being then prepared, he may see me as
soon as he pleases after this debate is over. G. R.
February 22, 1784.
I am not surprised that the Ministers should wish to
have all the possible time for consideration on any steps
that the Address of the House of Commons and the answer
to it may draw on, and therefore that it is wished I should
not receive the Commons till Wednesday. I very willingly
consent to fixing on that day for the reception of it ; and
trust that while the answer is drawn up with civility, it will
be a clear support of my own rights, which the Addresses
from all parts of the kingdom show me the people feel essen
tial to their liberties. G. R.
February 29, 1784.
I was much hurt at hearing since the Drawing Room J
of the outrage committed the last night under the auspices of
Brooks's against Mr. Pitt on his return from the City, but
am very happy to find he escaped without injury. I trust
every means will be employed to find out the abettors of
this, which I should hope may be got at.
As I suppose to-morrow will be a late day at the House
of Commons, and consequently that I cannot be wanted on
Tuesday, I mean to-morrow after Court to go to Windsor for
the sake of hunting that day. G. R.
Windsor, March 9, 1784.
Mr. Pitt's letter is undoubtedly the most satisfactory I
have received for many months. An avowal on the outset
1 Held on the same day, a. Sunday, according to the custom at
that time.

474 APPENDIX.
that the proposition held forth is not intended to go further
lengths than a kind of manifesto ; and then carrying it by.
the majority only of one, and the day concluding with an
avowal that all negotiation is at an end, gives me every
reason to hope that by a firm and proper conduct this faction
will by degrees be deserted by many, and at length be forgot.
I shall ever with pleasure consider that by the prudence as
well as rectitude of one person in the House of Commons
this great change has been effected, and that he will be ever
able to reflect with satisfaction that in having supported me
he has saved the Constitution, the most perfect of human
formations. Mr. Pitt will consider of the declaration, that my answer
may meet every assertion, as I trust it will be the last visit
on this unpleasant business. G. R.
Windsor, March 10, 1784.
It is with infinite satisfaction I learn from Mr. Pitt's note
the event of the Mutiny Bill having yesterday gone through
the Committee without any opposition, which may with
reason be called a great victory, it having been more than
once avowed in the House that it would be passed only for
a month. I am sorry my time was spent in talking of so
impracticable a scheme and so absurd a letter as that of the
Duke of Portland ; but if it has shown the impossibility of
further negotiation, I hope it has proved not quite useless.
G. R.
March 23, 1784.
This instant I have received Mr. Pitt's letters, and a
draft of the Speech, which entirely meets with my ideas : I
therefore desire the proper copy may be prepared for to
morrow. I have, in consequence of Mr. Pitt's intimation
that the BiUs will be ready for my assent, sent orders for the
equipages to be at St. James's to-morrow at half hour past
two. I desire notice may be given that I may be expected a
quarter before three at Westminster, that those necessary to
attend may be there. G. R.
March 28, 1784.
Though Mr. Pitt must agree with me that Mr. Scotfc
would have been the fittest person for Solicitor- General, yet
considering the situation of Lord Gower, and the very early

APPENDIX. 475
decided part Mr. Macdonald has taken, the latter gentleman
cannot be passed by; therefore the offering it to him without
delay seems right. April 5, 1784.
I cannot refrain from the pleasure of expressing to Mr.
Pitt how much his success at Cambridge has made me re
joice, as he is the highest on the return, and that Lord
Euston is his colleague. This renders his election for the
University a real honour, and reconciles me to .his having
declined Bath.
I shall only add that as yet the returns are more favour
able than the most sanguine could have expected.
G. R.
May 26, 1784
Mr. Pitt's note on the decision of the House of Commons
by so large a majority to hear the petition on the Bedford
shire election on an early day is very pleasing, as also that
the petition of Mr. Fox is to be examined by the whole
House on Friday. I cannot conclude without expressing my
fullest approbation of the conduct of Mr. Pitt on Monday :
in particular his employing only a razor against his antago
nists, and never condescending to run into that rudeness
which, though common in that House, certainly never be
comes a gentleman. If he proceeds in this mode of oratory,
he will bring debates into a' shape more creditable, and cor
rect that, and I trust many other evils, which time and
temper can only effect. G. R.
Kew, July 1, 1784.
It is with infinite satisfaction that I learn from Mr. Pitt's
letter that the various Resolutions proposed yesterday to the
House of Commons on the subjects of the loan, the subscrip
tion for the unfunded debt, and the taxes, were unanimously
agreed to. Nothing is more natural than that, such heavy
charges requiring many new taxes, those particularly affected
by some will from that selfish motive, though conscious of
the necessity of new burthens, attempt to place them on
others rather than on themselves. Mr. Fox's moderation
and candour will cease if any strong opposition to particular
taxes should arise ; but I trust Mr. Pitt will be able to carry
all of them. It seemed to be an opinion yesterday that the

476 APPENDIX.
brick tax was the one most likely to be opposed, but Mr.
Pitt not having mentioned it, I suppose that branch of trade
has not so many friends in the House as the coal pits, which
are the property of more considerable persons, and therefore
more clamorous, though not less able to support a new charge
on their profits. G. R.
Windsor, July 17, 1784.
It is with infinite pleasure I have received Mr. Pitt's
note containing the agreeable account of the Committee on
the East India Bill having been opened by the decision of so
very decided a majority. I trust this will prevent much
trouble being given in its farther progress, and that this
measure may lay a foundation for, by degrees, correcting those
shocking enormities in India that disgrace human nature,and,
if not put a stop to, threaten the expulsion of the Company
out of that wealthy region. I have the more confidence of
success from knowing Mr. Pitt's good sense, which will
make him not expect that the present experiment shall at
once prove perfect ; but that by an attentive eye, and ah
inclination to do only what is right, he will, as occasions
arise, be willing to make such improvements as may by
degrees bring this arduous work into some degree of perfec
tion. G. R.

September 10, 1784.
I am not surprised that Mr. Orde's informations on the
supposed plot reach Sir Edward Newenham as well as Lord
Bristol ; but such heads, as Mr. Pitt very well observes, are
not likely to form well-regulated plans. Yet they ought to
be well watched, for they may be desperate ones.
February 18, 1785.
Great as my surprise is at the Castle having acted entirely
contrary to the most direct instructions from hence in the
Resolutions for finally settling the commercial regulations
between Great Britain and Ireland, yet it is, if possible,
exceeded by Mr. Orde in his letter to Mr. Pitt seeming to
expect that Britain can consent to them so entirely changed.
G. R.

APPENDIX. 477
February 22, 1785.
I am glad precedents authorise the Resolutions of the
Irish Parliament being communicated to the two Houses
without any message on the occasion, as I could by no means
show approbation to them in their present shape, and I do
not see any reason for giving an opinion till the Parliament
of this Kingdom has, by the enclosed draft of a Resolution,
decided the line to be held, which, as it has legislative con
siderations, ought to commence with them. G. R.
March 4, 1785.
From what Mr. Pitt has heard me say on the continua
tion of the Westminster Scrutiny, he will not be surprised
that an end being put to it is not a subject of great in
quietude, though I do not the less feel that it has been
effected by many friends voting with the Coalition, which is
not a pleasant reflection ; but one must hope they will not
in future allow themselves to follow so improper an example.
I should hope Mr. Fox rather hurt his cause by taking so
strong a step as proposing' to expunge from the Journals the
several Resolutions which have been made relative to the
Scrutiny : he having at length postponed the consideration
of it till Wednesday seems to authorise this opinion.
G. R.
March 20, 1785.
I have received Mr. Pitt's paper containing the heads of
his plan for a Parliamentary Reform, which I look on as a
mark of attention. I should have delayed acknowledging
the receipt of it till I saw him on Monday, had not his letter
expressed that there is but one issue of the business he could
look upon as fatal : that is, the possibility of the measure
being rejected by the weight of those who are supposed to
be connected with Government. Mr. Pitt must recollect
that though I have thought it unfortunate that he had early
engaged himself in this measure, yet that I have ever said
that as he was clear of the propriety of the measure, he
ought to lay his thoughts before the House; that out of
personal regard to him, I should avoid giving any opinion to
any one on the opening of the door to Parliamentary Reform
except to him : therefore I am certain Mr. Pitt cannot sus
pect my having influenced any one on the occasion ; if others

478 APPENDIX.
choose for base ends to impute such a conduct to me, I must
bear it as former false suggestions. Indeed on a question of
such magnitude, I should think very ill of any man who
took a part on either side without the maturest considera
tion, and who would suffer his civility to any one to make
him vote contrary to his own opinion. The conduct of some
of Mr. Pitt's most intimate friends on the Westminster
Scrutiny shows there are questions men will not by friend
ship be biassed to adopt. G. R.
March 24, 1785.
This morning I received the enclosed note from Lord
Southampton, on which I appointed him to be at St. James's
when I returned from the House of Peers. He there de
livered to me the letter from the Prince of Wales. All I
could collect further from him was that the idea is that I
call for explanations and retrenchments as a mode of de
clining engaging to pay the debts; that there are many sums
that it cannot be honourable to explain ; that Lord South
ampton has reason to believe they have not been incurred
for pohtical purposes ; that he thinks the going abroad is
now finally resolved on ; that perhaps the champion of the
Opposition has been consulted on the letter now sent. I
therefore once more send all that has passed to Mr. Pitt, and
hope to have in the course of to-morrow from him what
answer ought to be sent to this extraordinary epistle, which,
though respectful in terms, is in direct defiance of my whole
correspondence. I suppose Mr. Pitt will choose to consult
the Chancellor. G. R.
March 25, 1785.
Mr. Pitt need not make any excuse for not having re
turned the papers this day, as his punctuality is too well
known to give any room for suspicion, and the good Chan
cellor is rather famous for loving delay ; therefore it sits on
the present occasion most justly on his shoulders. Consider
ing he had the papers so long in his hands within these three
weeks, I should not have supposed they would require a
fresh perusal. Not having heard anything this day, I should
suppose that no inconvenience can arise from not hearing
from Mr. Pitt on this subject till to-morrow. G. R.

APPENDIX. 479
April 19, 1785.
¦ Mr. Pitt's note contains so many speakers on the question
that he proposed yesterday in the House of Commons, that
I am not surprised the debate continued to so late an hour;
I trust the adjournment till to-morrow will make him not
the worse for the fatigue that it must have occasioned. I
understand that Lord Camden, who never before heard Mr.
Pitt in Parliament, expressed at the Ancient Concert last
night great commendation at his masterly performance.
G. R.
Windsor, August 7, 1785.
I have this instant received Mr. Pitt's letter enclosing
the one brought hinrT5y^Count Woronzow's secretary and
the paper that accompanied it, which is a copy of the one
given on Friday to Lord Carmarthen. Count Woronzow
also visited Lord Sydney and insisted a council was to be
held the next day to give him an answer whether I would
break the treaty I have in my Electoral capacity finally con
cluded with the King of Prussia and the Elector of Saxony
to prevent all measures contrary to the Germanic Constitu
tion. If no one has such dangerous views, this association
cannot give umbrage ; but the time certainly required this
precaution. My only difficulty in giving any answer to the
Empress of Russia is that her declaration bears so strongly
the shape of a command that it requires a strong one.
St. James's, August 10, 1785.
On arriving in town I have received the three papers I
proposed transmitting to Mr. Pitt. I cannot say that the
time that has elapsed since last I wrote has Diminished my
surprise or cooled my feelings on the haughty step the
Empress of Russia has taken ; but I trust I have too much
regard to my own dignity to wish any heat should appear in
the answer that may next week be given to Count Woronzow,
though she must know that when steps are taken from prin
ciple they are not to be retrograded. G. R.
February 28, 1786.
Mr. Pitt's moving an approbation of the plan of fortifi
cations previous to the Speaker's leaving the Chair was un
doubtedly the most likely method of gaining consent to the
measure; but the postponing the consideration from last

480 APPENDIX.
Session to this, though it arose from candour, had the appear
ance of avoiding the decision, and certainly gave time to the
enemies of the fortifications to gain more strength. I do
not in the least look on the event as any want of confidence
in Mr. Pitt from the Members of the House of Commons, but
their attachment to old prejudices and some disinclination to
the projector of the fortifications. G. R.
March 30, 1786.
Considering Mr. Pitt has had the unpleasant office of
providing for the expenses incurred by the last war, it is but
just he should have the full merit he deserves of having the
public know and feel that he has now proposed a measure
that will render the nation again respectable, if she has the
sense to remain quiet some years, and not by wanting to take
a showy part in the transactions of Europe again become the
dupe of other Powers, and from ideal greatness draw herself
into lasting distress. The old English saying is applicable
to our situation : ' England must cut her coat according to
her cloth.' June 14, 1786.
Mr. Pitt would have conducted himself yesterday very
unlike what my mind ever expects of him if, as he thinks
Mr. Hastings's conduct towards the Rajah was too severe,
he had not taken the part he did, though it made him coin
cide with (the) adverse party. As to myself, I own I do
not think it possible in that country to carry on business
with the same moderation that is suitable to an European
civilized nation. G. R.
Windsor, July 3, 1786.
-The draft of a message to the Prince of Wales which
Mr. Pitt sent to me on Saturday evening met so thoroughly
with my ideas, that I have verbatim copied it, and sent it
through the channel of Lord Southampton.
I return also the two letters from Mendiola, and approve
the disclaiming in the strongest manner all idea of inteifering
in the discontents of the inhabitants of the Spanish settle
ments in South America. As I ever thought the conduct
of France in North America unjustifiable, I certainly can
never copy so faithless an example. G. R.

APPENDIX. 481
Mr. Pitt to the King. January 22, 1787.
Mr. Pitt humbly begs leave to acquaint your Majesty
that he has seen the Bishop of Peterborough, who wishes to
decline the Deanery of St. Paul's, appearing at the same time
very thankful for the offer, and begging to be laid at your
Majesty's feet with every expression of duty and gratitude.
Under these circumstances Mr. Pitt takes the liberty to sub
mit to your Majesty his earnest wish that the Deanery of
St. Paul's may still be held with the Bishopric of Lincoln,
on Dr. Pretyman's giving up his prebend and living. As
the preferment was held with two others in addition to it by
the present Bishop, Mr. Pitt flatters himself there can be
nothing objectionable in its being now given with the Bishop
ric, and he sees neither any arrangement of importance nor
any pressing claim with which it can interfere.
Mr. Pitt will only presume to add that he can request
nothing from your Majesty's goodness which he has more
anxiously and personally at heart. January 22, 1787.
Mr. Pitt, By your note, which met me as I was riding to
town, I find the Bishop of Peterborough declines the Deanery
of St. Paul's, and that this has made you renew your appli
cation for Dr. Pretyman. I see you have it so much at heart
that I cannot let my reason guide me against my inclination
to oblige you. I therefore consent to his having this Deanery
with the Bishopric of Lincoln, though I am confident it will
be, by all but those concerned, thought very unreasonable,
and I should fear will serve as a precedent to the hke appli
cations. While desires increase, the, means of satisfying
people have been much diminished. G. R.
May 26, 1787.
Had Lord Carmarthen's letter, accompanied by a Minute
of Cabinet, not been also by Mr. Pitt's, letter, I should cer
tainly have declined consenting to risk the advancing 70,0007,
to the Stadtholder's party in the United Provinces; and
though I now reluctantly consent to it from the fatal ex
perience of having fed the Corsican cause, and Ministry never
having, as they had promised, found means of its being re
funded to me, which made me consequently afterwards appear
VOL. I. II

482 APPENDIX.
in an extravagant light to Parliament, yet I trust to Mr.
Pitt's honour that he will take such arrangements on this
occasion as shall prevent postponing the regular payments of
the Civil List, and that Parliament shall make good the pay
ment the next winter without supposing that the demand
arises from any extravagance on my part. G. R.
July 17, 1787.
My reason for suggesting the idea that though the King
of Prussia can never coincide with the Emperor's views in
Germany, they might agree as to the Netherlands, arose from
thinking that in politics as well as private life, when nothing
but what is fair is meant, it obviates suspicion to speak
clearly, and that less openness often causes mischief.
October 12, 1787.
I cannot return to the Secretary of State's Office the very
material papers on the plans of France with regard to India
without sending Mr. Pitt a few lines. I should hope he will
acquaint the Cabinet to-morrow that I am forming four regi
ments for that service, and that he will push on a negotia
tion with M. Boers to make the two Companies understand
one another, and take efficient measures to secure us against
our insidious neighbour. Perhaps no part of the change in
Holland is so material to this country as the gaining that
Repubhc as an ally in India. I recommend that no time
should be lost in bringing this to bear, and our Company
ought to be liberal in its offers to effect it. G. R.
March 6, 1788.
I have delayed acknowledging the receipt of Mr. Pitt's
note informing me of the division in the House of Commons
this morning, lest he might have been disturbed when it
would have been highly inconvenient. It is amazing how,
on a subject that could be reduced into so small a compass,
the House would hear such long speaking. The object of
Opposition was evidently to oblige the old and infirm Mem
bers to give up the attendance, which is reason sufficient for the
friends of Government to speak merely to the point in future,
and try to shorten debates, and bring, if possible, the present
bad mode of mechanical oratory into discredit. G. R.
March 8, 1788.
Mr. Pitt having had so long an attendance again yester-

APPENDIX. 483
day in the House of Commons, I did not choose to acknow
ledge the receipt of his note this morning. I am sure Mr.
Pitt has acted very properly in proposing the recommitment
of the Explanatory Bill, that a clause may be added disclaim
ing any view of patronage ; but I cannot call those gentlemen
sincere friends that have harboured unjust suspicions on that
head. I fear it is come of the leaven of former Oppositions,
who now support Government, but are not void of sentiments
more calculated for their former than present hne of con
duct. I own I am not quite cool on this subject ; for where
suggestions are unfounded, they cannot be the offspring of
real friends. G. R.
June 5, 1788.
I shall not object to advancing Sir James Harris to a
seat in the House of Lords, provided he is accompanied by
Sir Joseph Yorke. For though the latter may not have the
same claim to favour from Administration, he certainly has
it for forty years from the fountain of honour. If I do not
remember past service, and only think of the moment, I shall
not act the part I ought, which is the remembering that jus
tice is the first duty of a Sovereign. Had not Sir James
been recommended, I should not have thought of Sir Joseph ;
but the favour to the one makes the other indispensable,
though never solicited. G. R.
Kew, June 12, 1788.
A pretty smart bilious attack prevents my coming this
day to town. I am certainly better than yesterday, and if it
goes on mending this day, I shall hope to see Mr. Pitt in
town to-morrow. Sir George Baker approves of what I have
done, and I trust his advice will remove the remains of this
complaint. On returning from the review I was forced to
take to my bed, as the only tolerable posture I could find.
To be sure I am what one caUs a cup too low, but when
thoroughly cleared I hope to feel fully equal to any business
that may occur. Kew, June 12, 1788.
Since writing this morning I have seen Sir George Baker,
who, though he thinks everything goes on well, yet very
fairly told me that quiet is essential to removing my com
plaint, and that I must neither go to London to-morrow nor
return to Windsor. I therefore give this information to Mr.
i i 2

484 APPENDIX.
Pitt, that he may not think my not appearing to-morrow a
sign of being worse. I certainly mend, but have been pretty
well disciplined this day. I am sorry the Chancellor has
not quite removed the trouble he has excited in the Law
arrangements : it is melancholy that superior characters now
and then let temper instead of reason guide them ; but I
trust Mr. Pitt's good temper will make him feel for weak
ness, and as the proposed arrangement will be effected, not
feel for the manner. G. R.
Cheltenham, Aug. 14, 1788.
I am this instant returned from seeing the most beautiful
sight I ever beheld, namely, the clothing country near Stroud :
above forty thousand people were assembled, and they all
confess the trade is now brisker than the oldest person ever
remembers. Friday the 22nd is the first Levee, and consequently the
proper time for Lord Amherst and Lord Howard to kiss
hands. I hope I shall see Mr. Pitt in good health on the
evening of the 19th at Windsor. G. R.
Kew, October 20, 1788, Six o'clock p.m.
I have not been able to answer Mr. Pitt's letter sooner
this day, having had a very indifferent night ; but the medi
cine which Sir George Baker found necessary to be taken to
remove the spasm has now greatly relieved me. Indeed I
think myself nearer getting rid of my complaint than since
the attack. If I should have a good night, I will write and
desire Mr. Pitt to come here previous to the meeting of the
Cabinet. We happily got through the business last year, but then
our enemy was weak indeed, and the Prussian arms succeeded
beyond expectation. In the present scene it is the contrary.
The King of Sweden seems to have what often go together —
great want of courage, and as little good faith. The senti
ments of his subjects are not known here ; for Mr. Elliot's
despatches are, I believe, yet to be composed, and the Danish
troops have advanced much farther than any one supposed ;
even Bernsdorf owns it in a letter I believe drawn up for
our inspection. All I mean by this is, that we must try to
save Sweden from becoming a province of Russia ; but I do
not think this object can only be obtained by a general war,

APPENDIX. 485
to run the risk of ruining the finances of this country, which,
if our pride will allow us to be quiet for a few years, will be
in a situation to hold a language which does not become the
having been driven out of America.
To speak openly, it is not the being considerably weakened
by illness, but the feelings that never have day or night been
at ease since this country took that disgraceful step, that has
made me wish what years I have still to reign not to be
drawn into a war. I am now within a few days of twenty-
eight years, having been not on a bed of roses. I began with
a successful war ; the people grew tired of that, and called
out for peace. Since that the most justifiable war any
country ever waged — there in few campaigns, from being
popular again peace was called for. After such woful exam
ples, I must be a second Don Quixote if I did not wish, if
possible, [to avoid] falling again into the same situation.
The ardour of youth may not admire my calmness, but I
think it fairer to speak out thus early than by silence be
supposed to have changed my opinion, if things should bear
a more warlike appearance than I now expect, and if I
should then object to a general war.
I am afraid Mr. Pitt will perceive I am not quite in a
situation to write at present, but I thought it better even to
write as loosely as I have here than to let the box return
without an answer to his letter. G. R.
Kew, Oct. 25, 1788.
Mr. Pitt really seemed distressed at seeing my bodily
stiffness yesterday, which I alone exhibited to stop further
lies and any fall of the Stocks. For this kindness I shall
desire Sir George Baker (who is to call here previous to my
setting out for Windsor this morning) on his return to town
to call in Downing Street, that if Mr. Pitt is at leisure he
may know exactly how Sir George found me.
I am certainly weak and stiff, but no wonder. I am
certain air and relaxation are the quickest restoratives. But
that nothing may be delayed by my present situation, I
authorise Mr. Pitt to acquaint the Cabinet that though I
can never think whether Sweden is governed by a oorrupt
King or a corrupt Senate a subject- worthy risking the being
drawn into a war, yet that if they wish to hold any language
(that is never meant to be followed up to these dreadful

486 APPENDIX.
lengths) which may perhaps tend to keep Sweden in its
present situation, I do not object to it.
Mr. Pitt is desired by me to acknowledge the receipt of
this, and to prevent all political papers being sent to me
till I meet him on Wednesday at St. James's. G. R.
Mr. Pitt to the Kimg.
Downing Street, Oct. 25, 1788, 5£ p.m.
Mr. Pitt did not receive your Majesty's commands till
after his arrival in town, having missed the messenger in his
way from the country ; and he has since deferred acknow
ledging them, thinking it would be more satisfactory to write
after the Cabinet.
Wishing to trespass as little as possible on your Majesty's
time, he will only say that, notwithstanding the general
opinion which he ventured to submit to your Majesty on the
present state of affairs in the North, there seems no absolute
necessity to say anything in the despatches now to be sent
which could finally commit this coimtry to the extent of
going to war in support of Sweden, and that the instructions
to Mr. Ewart will be framed on this idea.
Mr. Pitt feels as he ought your Majesty's condescension
and goodness in giving him an opportunity of receiving a
particular account from Sir George Baker, and from his
statement flatters himself that a few days will remove the
effects of your Majesty's complaint. Windsor, November 3, 1788.
The King thinks it must give Mr. Pitt pleasure to re
ceive a line from him. This will convince him the King can
sign warrants without inconvenience : therefore he desires any
that are ready may be sent, and he has no objection to re
ceive any large number, for he shall order the messenger to
return to town and shall sign them at his leisure. He
attempts reading the despatches daily, but as yet without
success ; but he eats well, sleeps well, and is not in the least
now fatigued with riding, though he cannot yet stand long,
and is fatigued if he walks. Having gained so much, the
rest will soon follow. Mr. Pitt is desired to be at Kew at
two or three o'clock, whichever suits him best. G. R.1
1 The letters of Oct. 25 and Nov. 3, 1788, here given entire, are
the two last addressed by the King to Mr. Pitt previous to his great
illness ; and the correspondence was not renewed till Feb. 23, 1789.

APPENDIX. 487
Kew, Feb. 23, 1789.
It is with mfinite satisfaction I renew my correspondence
with Mr. Pitt by acquainting him of my having seen the
Prince of Wales and my second son. Care was taken that
the conversation should be general and cordial : they seemed
perfectly satisfied. I chose the meeting should be in the
Queen's apartment, that all parties might have that caution
which at the present hour could but be judicious.
I desire Mr. Pitt will confer with the Lord Chancellor,
that any steps which may be necessary for raising the annual
supplies, or any measures that the interests of the nation may
require, should not be unnecessarily delayed ; for I feel the
warmest gratitude for the support and anxiety shown by the
nation at large during my tedious illness, which I should ill
requite if I did hot wish to prevent any further delay in those
pubhc measures which it may be necessary to bring forward
this year, though I must decline entering into a pressure of
business, and indeed for the rest of my life shall expect
others to fulfil the duties of their employments, and only
keep that superintending eye which can be effected without
labour or fatigue.
I am anxious to see Mr. Pitt any hour that may suit
him to-morrow morning, as his constant attachment to my
interest and that of the public, which are inseparable, must
ever place him in the most advantageous light. G. R.
Kew, March 10, 1789.
Mr. Pitt's account of the unanimity on the proposed
Address is very consonant to what I expected. I have re
ceived from Lord Sydney the emptiest answer to the one to
be presented to-morrow by the Lords with White Staves,
[so] that I must put down words more agreeable to my feel
ings on the warm and steady support I have met with during
my severe and tedious illness. I trust Mr. Pitt, who is for
tunate in putting his thoughts on paper, will be attentive in
forming the one I am to return to the Privy Councillors on
Thursday for the House of Commons. I desire Lord Cour-
town may be appointed to attend with it on Thursday at
half-past one. G. R.
April 12, 1789.
I am very sorry Mr. Pitt returns to a theme that has
ever given me personal uneasiness. The conduct of the Lord

488 APPENDIX.
Lieutenant of Ireland in the whole business of Colonel
Gwynn was so perfectly inattentive, if not personally dis
respectful to me, as well as contrary to every idea of what
he particularly should have done considering his base con
duct in 1784, that I certainly cannot easily forget it. The
vacancy now occasioned arises from removing Colonel Gwynn
to the British establishment : therefore it is but reasonable
that it should open for advancement in this service. The
utmost I can do out of attention to Mr. Pitt, not Lord
Buckingham, is not to hurry the conclusion of the business,
though thoroughly determined not to yield to my deputy in
Ireland. Kew, April 16, 1789.
Mr. Pitt may rely on my delaying any appointments to
the vacancies occasioned by the death of Lieutenant-General
Mackay, that I may see if any arrangement can be found
that may be of any use in the present state of things. I
certainly meant to delay the vacancy occasioned by the re
moval of Lieutenant-Colonel Gwynn if Major Taylor con
tinued to decline ; but after all I had done, it was impossible
I could delay it when he on better consideration accepted.
To say the truth, though I am recovering, my mind is not
strong enough as yet to stand little ruffles, and still more so
when they relate to Lord Buckingham, who does not stand
well in my mind.
I shall return to-morrow morning to Windsor; but if
Mr. Pitt can call here before ten, I shall certainly gladly see
him. G. R.
Windsor, April 21, 1789.
The despatch of the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland on the
intended resignation of the Lord Chancellor of that kingdom
is a matter of too much consequence , and requires too much
deliberation for me to wish to keep it unnecessarily from the
inspection of the Lord Chancellor and of Mr. Pitt. Besides,
I must candidly confess that though now without complaint,
I feel more strongly the effects of my late severe and tedious
illness than I had expected ; though but what had been in
sinuated, I mean a certain lassitude and want of energy both
of mind and body, which must require time, relaxation, and
change of scene to restore any energy. Indeed I have, among
other blessings, the advantage of having in the Lord Chan-

APPENDIX. 489
cellor and Mr. Pitt two men thoroughly fit to conduct the
business of their two Houses of Parliament, whose attach
ment to my person and to the true constitution of this realm
is undoubted, and who must see the necessity to my ease as
well as the real stability of the State requires their cordially
acting together, and they must acknowledge the utility of
early conferring together on matters of importance, that
their opinions may be as it were mutually formed, and that
no difficulties may arise from having separately arranged
their opinions.
I see the evil of appointing an Irishman in a more for
cible degree now than when England had a proper lead over
Ireland, but I really have not at present a vigour of mind to
discuss the question. Therefore I rest secure on their giving
it all the consideration the question requires, and should
hope they would also confer with Lords Camden and Staf
ford, after which it will be right to take the opmion of the
Cabinet. I trust this candid explanation of my sentiments to Mr.
Pitt, which he should communicate to the Lord Chancellor,
will be a proof to them that the pubhc service is ever in my
mind, and that as an honest man when unable to act I am
desirous of deriving assistance from those who are incapable
of separating interests that must and ever shall be whilst I
five the same. G. R.
Windsor, May 5, 1789.
I have just received Mr. Pitt's letter. Before I can give
him any directions for fixing the allowance on William, I
must see Colonel Hotham, to know the exact state of the
sum that jointly regards those attendants and servants that
belonged jointly to him and Edward. In truth the lassitude
and dejection that has accompanied me since free from all
fever prevents my being able to decide either quickly or
satisfactorily to myself on any subject, and consequently
makes me require time on all matters that come before me.
G. R.
Weymouth, July 30, 1789.
I perfectly approve of the mode proposed by Mr. Pitt of
filling up the vacant offices, and am glad Mr. Hopkins
remains at the Admiralty Board, where he is certainly a
useful member. The patents of Marquises should also be

490 APPENDIX,
prepared for Lords Salisbury and Weymouth, and the Earl
dom for Lord Fortescue. Might this not also be a good
opportunity for indulging Lord Mount Edgcumbe with a
similar promotion 1 G. R.
Exeter, Aug. 27, 1789.
The warrants in favour of Dr. Willis and his son I have
signed, and think this the proper time of mentioning to Mr.
Pitt Mr. Thomas Willis, who certainly has the most merit
in having supported the old Doctor through his difficulties
with the other physicians. What seems the natural pro
vision for him is the first vacant prebendary of Worcester.
1 have seen so much of him that I can answer for his prin
ciples being such as will do credit to my patronizing him.
The warrant for the other physicians seems very large, con
sidering their conduct; but I will not enter on a subject that
cannot but give me pain, for I cannot say I find myself
either in strength or spirits so much recruited as I should
have hoped. G. R.
Windsor, Nov. 24, 1789.
The last evening I received an answer from the Chan
cellor to the letter I had wrote to him. It is so very proper,
that I cannot help giving this information to Mr. Pitt, though
I shall to-morrow show him the copy of my letter as well as
this very handsome answer. I have not the smallest degree of
doubt but that, with the mutual desire of acting agreeable to
my wishes, I shall have the satisfaction of seeing you both
much more cordial than at any time since you have been
together in Ministry. The good of the whole must be the
real object to fill both your minds; and little differences,
whether occasioned by want of temper or by inadvertencies,
must be forgot as unworthy of notice where such superior
causes ought alone to deserve the attention of exalted minds.
G. R.
Windsor, May 17, 1790.
I have just received the two copies of the messages to the
Houses of Parliament for granting the pension to Dr. Willis,
and have signed them. I should imagine Lord Auckland's
name would not come forward in so agreeable a manner, and
therefore do not object to Mr. Pitt's offering the reversion of
the Tellership of the Exchequer, become vacant by the death

APPENDIX. 491
of Lord Hardwieke. Had Mr. Pitt proposed some means of
rendering it of utility to himself, it would have been pleasing
to me, as I do not feel easy at not having had an opportunity
of securing a provision for him in case of my paying that
tribute to which every one is sooner or later subject.
G. R.
Windsor, Nov. 21, 1790.
I have carefully perused the correspondence, transmitted
to me this morning, which has arisen on a vacant office in
Scotland, and which certainly shows that the Chancellor's
temper actuates him more than the goodness of his heart and
of his head should permit. But an experience of thirty
years convinces me that in most men the former too fre
quently has the advantage.
Mr. Pitt's account of the conversation that has since been
held by the Chancellor with Mr. Dundas, is a proof that he
is open to join cordially (which I look upon as essential to
the public service), provided the old complaint on the subject
of Mr. Rose could be removed. Mr. Pitt must do me the
justice to recollect, that though I look on this as a very
difficult point, yet that I have declared myself ever ready
to contribute towards removing it, if any means can be
pointed out.
My sentiments can be conveyed on the whole of this
matter in a few words. The state of the House of Lords is
such that Opposition have many speakers, and on the side of
Government only the Lord Chancellor and Lord Hawkes
bury; for the Chief Justice, though a worthy man and able
lawyer, does not succeed as a debater. This shows how
necessary it is to remove every cause of misunderstanding
with the Chancellor, who is certainly to be gained by affec
tion. With all his appearance of roughness, he has a feeling
heart, and that alone can guide him in contradiction to his
temper. Lord Stafford, if he will heartily engage to talk
with the Chancellor, can certainly do much good, and should
point out to him that the promise of support given to me
last Session is not acted up to, if he brings up the subject of
Mr. Rose.
Though I think the House of Peers is certainly becom
ing too numerous, which, I fear, will be found rather incon
venient, yet it is impossible for me to object to removing

492 APPENDIX.
Mr. Grenville to that House; as his abilities will be
of material use, and his conciliating temper will in future
aid in keeping matters smooth with the Chancellor.
G. R.
Dec. 12, 1790.
Having summoned a Chapter of the Garter for Wednes
day, and Mr. Pitt not having been at St. James's in the
course of the last week, I think it necessary by this means to
remind him of my having offered him one of the vacancies of
that Order. When last I mentioned it, he seemed to decline
it; but perhaps the conclusion of the dispute with Spain
may make him see it in a different view, namely, as a public
testimonial of my approbation. Dec. 13, 1790.
I have just received Mr. Pitt's letter declining my offer
of one of the vacant Garters, but in so handsome a manner
that I cannot help expressing my sensibility. Dec. 14, 1790.
Mr. Pitt's note is just arrived, intimating a wish that I
would confer the third vacant Garter on his brother Lord
Chatham. I trust he is too well convinced of my sentiments
to doubt that I with pleasure shall to-morrow give this
public testimony of approbation, which will be understood
as meant to the whole family. Feb. 22, 1791.
The situation Mr. Ryder holds, and the part he takes in
debate, seem to give him very fair pretensions for being
advanced with Mr. Steele to joint Paymasters. I approve
of their vacating to-morrow their seats, and desire Mr. Pitt
will take the necessary steps for that purpose. G. R.
April 23, 1791.
The Duke of Leeds having delivered up the Seals of his
office on Thursday, I have deposited them with Lord Gren
ville, so that Mr. Pitt may calmly weigh how the office of
Secretary of State can best be filled. I own I think Lord
Grenville has a claim to change departments if agreeable to
him, and it may be easier to find one for the Home than for
the Foreign Department. Having said thus much, I leave
it to Mr. Pitt maturely to weigh the subject, as I do not
intend to come to town during the next week, and the new
Secretary cannot be sworn in till the following. G. R.

APPENDIX. 493
May 1, 1792.
The most daring outrage to a regular Government com
mitted by the new Society, which yesterday pubhshed its
Manifesto in several of the newspapers, could only be equalled
by some of its leaders standing forth the same day to avow
their similar sentiments in the House of Commons ; and I
cannot see any substantial difference in their being joined
in debate by Mr. Fox, and his not being a member of that
Society. I received last night the enclosed paper from the Duke
of Gloucester ; it is drawn up by the same pen from which
intelligence was sent on Saturday by Lord Sydney to Mr.
Dundas. It deserves the attention of administration ; and
it seems highly worthy of inquiry whether any large sum of
money has been procured for France from Ireland, and
whether Irishmen are connected with the French emissaries
in this country. May 15, 1792, 6.31 p.m.
Mr. Secretary Dundas has acted very properly in post
poning the publishing an extraordinary Gazette, if there is
the smallest doubt of the authenticity of the news he received
this day ; but I own I cannot willingly give up crediting the
good account. If it is a forgery, it has been ably conducted.
I trust he will follow up the idea of showing Mr. Pitt
that he has a real victory over the Chancellor if he keeps his
temper, and that my service requires his resisting any
warmth, and that however improper the language may have
been, public reasons ought to prevent his taking any step ;
though I think Mr. Secretary Dundas ought to speak some
truth to the Chancellor on this occasion, and point out how
much his conduct on this occasion, if such as has been stated,
is detrimental to my affairs and those of the nation. I can
not but think that the Chancellor must be ready to own that
it is unbecoming in the highest degree to be wasting the pre
sent hour in personal disputes, and I trust an explanation
will be made that will heal any present uneasiness.
G. R.
Aug. 6, 1792.
Having this morning received the account of the death
of the Earl of Guilford, I take the first opportunity of
acquainting Mr. Pitt that the Wardenship of the Cinque

494 APPENDIX.
Ports is an office for which I will not receive any recom
mendations, having positively resolved to confer it on him as
a mark of that regard which his eminent services have
deserved from me. I am so bent on this, that I shall
seriously be offended at any attempt to decline. I have
intimated these my intentions to the Earl of Chatham, Lord
Grenville, and Mr. Dundas.
As to the Lieutenancy of Somersetshire, the very steady
support of the Earl of Paulett, added to its having been
usually entrusted to his ancestors, makes me think he can
have no just competitor ; and as he is in the neighbourhood
of Burton, Mr. Pitt's acquainting him that it has been
spontaneously conferred upon him will not be thrown away.
G. R.
Windsor, Nov. 26, 1792.
Mr. Pitt's letter is just arrived, enclosing that and the
postscript he received from Lord Loughborough. I cannot
help stating some ideas to which they have given rise. The
tenor of these papers, and of the explanatory conversation,
confirm me in the belief that Lord Loughborough is dis
appointed the party have not permitted him to accept the
situation proposed for him, and I fairly hope, therefore, that
he will both in the House of Commons, and on particular
cases, where his opinion as a counsellor may be required,
give his genuine sentiments ; but I think it shows the Duke
of Portland and his advisers are much less fixed in their
resolution to support than the imagination of Mr. Burke, or
the more systematical judgment of Mr. Windham, gave
reason to expect.

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