That mighty drama dwarfs the actors. Even the French Emperor could not sustain the rôle which he aspired to play, and, failing to discern the signs of the times, was whirled aside by the forces which he claimed to control. Is it surprising that Pitt, more slightly endowed by nature, and beset by the many limitations which hampered the advisers of George III, should have sunk beneath burdens such as no other English statesman has been called upon to bear? The success or failure of such a career is, however, to be measured by the final success or failure of his policy; and in this respect, as I have shown, the victor in the Great War was not Napoleon but Pitt.

To that high enterprise he consecrated all the powers of his being. His public life is everything; his private life, unfortunately, counts for little. The materials for reconstructing it are meagre. I have been able here and there to throw new light on his friendships, difficulties, trials, and, in particular, on the love episode of the year 1797. But in the main the story of the life of Pitt must soar high above the club and the salon to

... the toppling heights of Duty scaled.

Again I must express my hearty thanks to those who have generously placed at my disposal new materials of great value, especially to His Grace the Duke of Portland, the Earl of Harrowby, Earl Stanhope, E. G. Pretyman, Esq., M.P., and A. M. Broadley, Esq.; also to the Rev. William Hunt, D.Litt., and Colonel E. M. Lloyd, late R.E., for valuable advice tendered during the correction of the proofs, and to Mr. Hubert Hall of H.M. Public Record Office for assistance during my researches there. I am also indebted to Lord Auckland and to Messrs. Longmans for permission to reproduce the miniature of the Hon. Miss Eden which appeared in Lord Ashbourne's "Pitt, Some Chapters of his Life and Times," and to Mr. and Mrs. Doulton for permission to my daughter to make the sketch of Bowling Green House, the last residence of Pitt, which is reproduced near the end of this volume. In the preface to the former volume I expressed my acknowledgements to recent works bearing on this subject; and I need only add that numerous new letters of George III, Pitt, Grenville, Burke, Canning, etc., which could only be referred to here, will be published in a work entitled "Pitt and Napoleon Miscellanies," including also essays and notes.

J. H. R.

March 1911.

CONTENTS

chapter page
I.[Royalists and Radicals]1
II.[Before the Storm]29
III.[Peace or War?]57
IV.[The Rupture with France]85
V.[The Flemish Campaign (1793)]118
VI.[Toulon]143
VII.[The British Jacobins]164
VIII.[Pitt and the Allies (1794–5)]195
IX.[The West Indies]219
X.[Spain and Hayti]230
XI.[The Cape of Good Hope: Corsica: Quiberon]250
XII.[Pitt as War Minister (1793–8)]265
XIII.[Dearth and Discontent]282
XIV.[The Years of Strain (1796–7)]299
XV.[National Revival]321
XVI.[The Irish Rebellion]339
XVII.[The Second Coalition]365
XVIII.[The Union]389
XIX.[The Union (continued)]411
XX.[Resignation]431
XXI.[Pitt and his Friends (1794–1805)]454
XXII.[Addington or Pitt?]483
XXIII.[Pitt and Napoleon]505
XXIV.[The Last Struggle]534
[Epilogue]559
[Statistics of the years 1792–1801]571
[Index]573