weeks after his twenty-third birthday, was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer. Never before in the annals of the country had so young a man been admitted to the Cabinet, and friends and foes expressed an equal surprise. Although he had sat two years in the House, although he had distinguished himself as well in conduct as in debate, he was still looked upon as a freak of nature. Men discussed the infant statesman very much. as at a later date they talked of the Young Roscius. Even Lord Mornington was appalled at the bold experiment. "We are all thrown into the utmost consternation," he wrote to W. Grenville on July 12, "by the apparent confusion in the British Cabinet; at this time instability of counsels will be absolute destruction. W. Pitt, Secretary of State ! And Lord Shelburne,

Premier! Surely the first cannot be qualified for such an office, and the last is, in my opinion, little to be depended on." The wits of the Opposition made merry at the expense of Pitt's youth. "Billy's too young to drive us," sang Captain Morris, to the delight of Brooks's. Burke's heavyfooted pleasantry suggested nothing better than that the Chancellor of the Exchequer had no need of a barber. Fox, who had once been a prodigy himself, thought it worth while to laugh at Pitt's years; and Sheridan, stung to anger by a reference to his plays, declared that "if ever again he engaged in the compositions alluded to, he might be tempted to an act of presumption to attempt an improvement on one of Ben Jonson's best characters the character of the Angry Boy in the Alchemist.'"

Pitt, doubtless annoyed by the repetition of a jest that had never been worth making, was driven at last to an apology, which did more credit to his dignity than to his sense of humour. "The calamity under which he chiefly laboured," said he, "was his youth,— a calamity which he could not sufficiently lament, as it had been made the subject of animadversion by the hon. gentlemen on the other side. His youth," he allowed, "was very exceptional to that situation, yet he trusted that the system of his conduct, and his strict discharge of the duties of his high office, would in a great measure make away with what he felt himself to be an objection." No apology was necessary. In a few months the House and the country had forgotten that Pitt carried on his shoulders so light a load of years, and Temple himself, seldom

enthusiastic where Pitt was concerned, "could not conceive a substitute for him."

And to read the speeches delivered by Pitt while he was Chancellor of the Exchequer is to understand the perfect confidence reposed in him. Though Townshend was technically leader of the Commons, he cheerfully delegated his duties to Pitt, who met and routed single-handed the combined forces of the multifarious Opposition led by Fox, Burke, and Sheridan. Their attack, it need hardly be said, was factious and unscrupulous. They jested, they raved, they ranted, and to no purpose. Pitt met them without fear, and repelled them without favour. Nothing is more remarkable in the debates of 1782-83 than Pitt's lofty superiority to all considerations of party or interest. Where England is concerned he can be neither

flippant nor light-hearted. Contrast his tone with the tone of his rivals, and you may measure the distance between patriotism and display. First, there was Burke, drunk with rhetoric, exulting in his purple passages, making phrases for their own sake, and laughing in his ponderous way at the efforts of the Government to make an honourable peace. Then there was Fox, variable and unprincipled, bent on nothing more than a momentary advantage, happy if only he could shine in debate, and hear his words received with approving hilarity by his faithful henchmen. Lastly, there was Sheridan, following his leaders with amiable obedience, and thinking the country well lost if the last quip came easily from his tongue.

His

Pitt, on the other hand, was as high above vanity as above intrigue. one object was the conclusion of a last