greatest debater, and one of the greatest orators, that had appeared
in England. Fox used afterwards to relate that, as the discussion
proceeded, Pitt repeatedly turned to him, and said, "But surely, Mr
Fox, that might be met thus;" or, "Yes; but he lays himself open to this
retort." What the particular criticisms were Fox had forgotten; but he
said that he was much struck at the time by the precocity of the lad
who, through the whole sitting, seemed to be thinking only how all the
speeches on both sides could be answered.

One of the young man's visits to the House of Lords was a sad and
memorable era in his life. He had not quite completed his nineteenth
year, when, on the 7th of April 1778, he attended his father to
Westminster. A great debate was expected. It was known that France had
recognised the independence of the United States. The Duke of Richmond
was about to declare his opinion that all thought of subjugating those
states ought to be relinquished. Chatham had always maintained that the
resistance of the colonies to the mother country was justifiable. But he
conceived, very erroneously, that on the day on which their independence
should be acknowledged the greatness of England would be at an end.
Though sinking under the weight of years and infirmities, he determined,
in spite of the entreaties of his family, to be in his place. His son
supported him to a seat. The excitement and exertion were too much for
the old man. In the very act of addressing the peers, he fell back in
convulsions. A few weeks later his corpse was borne, with gloomy pomp,
from the Painted Chamber to the Abbey. The favourite child and namesake
of the deceased statesman followed the coffin as chief mourner, and saw
it deposited in the transept where his own was destined to lie.

His elder brother, now Earl of Chatham, had means sufficient, and barely
sufficient, to support the dignity of the peerage. The other members of
the family were poorly provided for. William had little more than three
hundred a year. It was necessary for him to follow a profession. He had
already begun to eat his terms. In the spring of 1780 he came of age.
He then quitted Cambridge, was called to the bar, took chambers in
Lincoln's Inn, and joined the western circuit. In the autumn of
that year a general election took place; and he offered himself as a
candidate for the university; but he was at the bottom of the poll. It
is said that the grave doctors, who then