had before made, and in the handsomest manner. Judging 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 conduct should become opposite, I should give him an opportunity 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. Appleby 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 excursion for a short time to Lord Westmorland's 2 and shall probably look at my constituents that should have been at

2 Apthorp, in Northamptonshire.

Cambridge, 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 follows to Mr. Pretyman:

as

"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 extinguished by this untimely blow. Let me, however, assure 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 suffered in their health from so severe a shock. I have prevailed on them to think of changing the scene and moving towards Hayes, which is a great comfort to me, as the solitude and distance of this place must now be insupportable. I imagine that we shall begin our journey in a few days."

"3

3 Life of Pitt, by Bishop Tomline, vol. i. p. 26.

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.

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 anniversary 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 continued 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 was on Lord George Germaine, the Secretary of State, and on Henry Dundas, the Lord Advocate for Scotland.

The Opposition arrayed against him consisted, in fact, of two parties. They had been recently recon

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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 connexion of the Great Houses, or, as they loved to call themselves, the "Revolution Families." Men of this stamp could seldomas 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 acknowledged 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 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 attachment, 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 produced 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 Barré, a bold and unsparing, and therefore the more applauded debater.

A