port; I have served my country with fidelity and some success; but I will not be answerable for the conduct of the war any longer than I retain the direction of it.” Being cramped in his energies by the growing influence of the earl of Bute, perhaps too proud to brook control, certainly too honest to change his principles, and disdaining to be only the nominal head of a cabinet over which he had presided with honour to himself and advantage to his country, he resigned his places; and a few months more justified the wisdom of the measure which he had recommended, when it was too late to retrieve the error thad had occasioned its rejection. Whether with a design to lessen his popularity, or intended as a testimony of gratitude for his eminent and meritorious services, he was offered and he accepted a pension for three lives, and the title of a baroness for his lady. A fallen minister is frequently insulted, and at best soon forgotten; but William Pitt carried the confidence and respect of the nation with him into his retirement, and received very flattering testimonies of approbation from the most respectable individuals and bodies-politic. The impetus which he had given to the machine of state, was felt for some time after he had withdrawn from its direction; and the illustrious commanders who had risen under his auspices, did not suffer the national glory to be depressed. New victories were gained, and in the prosperity of the empire the people consoled themselves for the loss of a favourite minister. At last the preliminaries of peace were submitted to parliament: and Mr. Pitt, though labouring under a severe fit of the gout, attended the house, and spoke for three hours in the debate; giving the most unanswerable reasons for his opposition to the terms of the treaty, as being inadequate to our conquests and the expenditure of public money which they had cost. The love of peace is natural to man; he sighs for it amidst the most successful war. The definitive treaty was therefore ratified: but the ministry who had concluded it, felt themselves unable to maintain their ground in the public opinion; and a spirit of opposition began to appear against the general measures of government, which has ever since continued to distract the public mind, and is felt in its tendencies and effects to this very day. Mr. Pitt, however, observed a dignified moderation. His opposition was neither petulant nor undiscriminating, and he appeared before the public only when occasions presented themselves worthy of his powers. When the important question of general warrants was discussed, his love of rational liberty broke forth in strains to which Tully or Demosthenes would have listened with eager satisfaction. He declared them repugnant to every principle of freedom. Were they tolerated, he said, the most innocent could not be secure. "By the British constitution," continued he, 66 every man's house is his castle: not that it is surrounded by walls and battlements;—it may be a straw-built shed;every wind of heaven may whistle round it; all the elements may enter it ;-but the king cannot, the king dare not." When those impolitic measures had been proposed, which unfortunately terminated in the separation of America, Mr. Pitt strenuously opposed them in the senate, and exerted his wonderful powers to heal the wound that had been given, by promoting the repeal of the stamp-act. This was carried; and a new ministry having been formed, Mr. Pitt was made lord-privy-seal, and created earl of Chatham. A short time before, sir William Pynsent, of Burton Pynsent, in Somersetshire, a man of considerable property, without any very near relations, made Mr. Pitt his heir. To this he was actuated solely by an enthusiastic admiration of Mr. Pitt's public character; and it is unnecessary to adduce any other proof of the singular estimation in which he was held, than that he received greater remunerations for his services from private zeal, than from the emoluments of publie office. Whatever accession of honour a peerage gave him, the great commoner (as he used emphatically to be called) was now rather obscured in dividing his honours with others. In the house of commons he stood unrivalled and alone; but in the house of lords, he had less opportunity for exerting his talents; and, for a time at least, he lost in popularity what he gained in rank. In two years he resigned the office of lord-privy-seal: and being now sixty years of age, and debilitated by frequent attacks of the gout, he courted retirement, and abandoned all ambition of ever more taking an active part in adminis tration. Nevertheless, when the commotions broke out in America, he gave a decided opposition to the fatal measures which the ministry were pursuing: but when he found them lulled into security, or infatuated by folly to persevere, till repeated defeats and disgraces at last opened their eyes; when he saw France interfere in the contest, and the independence of America about to be recognized by the weak and deluded administration that had hitherto contended for her unconditional submission; he summoned up all his energy; and poured forth his eloquence against a measure so inglorious, and so fraught with ruin in its consequences to his country and to mankind. The duke of Richmond replied, and combated his ar◄ guments. The mind of lord Chatham seemed labouring with a desire to give vent to the further dictates of his soul on this momentous subject. He attempted to rise as his grace sat down, but his emotions proved too strong for his debilitated frame. He suddenly pressed his hand on his stomach, and fell into convulsions. The house was shocked by this melancholy circumstance, and every one anxiously strove to procure relief. But his |