orough and the disgrace of Pitt;
between the elevation of Harley and the elevation of Bute; between the
treaty negotiated by St. John and the treaty negotiated by Bedford;
between the wrongs of the House of Austria in 1712 and the wrongs of the
House of Brandenburg in 1762. This fancy took such possession of the old
man's mind that he determined to leave his whole property to Pitt. In
this way Pitt unexpectedly came into possession of near three thousand
pounds a year. Nor could all the malice of his enemies find any ground
for reproach in the transaction. Nobody could call him a legacy hunter.
Nobody could accuse him of seizing that to which others had a better
claim. For he had never in his life seen Sir William; and Sir William
had left no relation so near as to be entitled to form any expectations
respecting the estate.

The fortunes of Pitt seemed to flourish; but his health was worse than
ever. We cannot find that, during the session which began in January,
1765, he once appeared in Parliament. He remained some months in
profound retirement at Hayes, his favorite villa, scarcely moving except
from his armchair to his bed, and from his bed to his armchair, and
often employing his wife as his amanuensis in his most confidential
correspondence. Some of his detractors whispered that his invisibility
was to be ascribed quite as much to affectation as to gout. In truth his
character, high and splendid as it was, wanted simplicity. With genius
which did not need the aid of stage tricks, and with a spirit which
should have been far above them, he had yet been, through life, in the
habit of practising them. It was, therefore, now surmised that, having
acquired all the consideration which could be derived from eloquence and
from great services to the state, he had determined not to make himself
cheap by often appearing in public, but, under the pretext of ill
health, to surround himself with mystery, to emerge only at long
intervals and on momentous occasions, and at other times to deliver his
oracles only to a few favored votaries, who were suffered to make
pilgrimages to his shrine. If such were his object, it was for a time
fully attained. Never was the magic of his name so powerful, never was
he regarded by his country with such superstitious veneration, as during
this year of silence and seclusion.

While Pitt was thus absent from Parliament, Grenville proposed a measure
destined to produce a great revolution, the eff