e of debt; and at the beginning of 1797 the directors of
the Bank of England, in dire perplexity, told Pitt that the state, for
all his expedients, was threatened with insolvency. Pitt did not falter.
An order in council was issued, suspending cash payments at the bank.
Thus was established a gigantic system of paper credit, giving us power
to cope with no less gigantic foes. Cash payments were not resumed until
1819.

Pitt had not only to cope with enemies without, but with sedition
within. Societies formed for propagating the principles of the
revolution advocated the subversion of the constitution under the
pretence of parliamentary reform; the populace, angered by the
privations caused by the clearness of food, listened readily to the
agitators; riots were frequent, but the most mischievous form taken by
sedition was that of armed conspiracy. Against these evils Pitt
contended by royal proclamations, prosecutions, and, above all, by the
suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act. In his firm suppression of disorder
Pitt was loyally supported by large majorities in both houses, and the
country generally was on his side. But his domestic policy, his foreign
policy, and his finance were unsparingly attacked by Fox and a small
band of devoted followers--followers who did not abate in their
resolution when their leader, weary of the unequal conflict, retired for
a time from public life.

In the busy and anxious year 1796, there was a report that Pitt was on
the point of marriage. During his short intervals of leisure at Holwood,
he often visited his neighbour, Lord Auckland, at Beckenham, and was
much attracted by Lord Auckland's eldest daughter, the Hon. Eleanor
Eden. This strong attachment did not proceed to a proposal and a
marriage. Pitt wrote to Lord Auckland avowing his affection, but
explaining that in the circumstances of pecuniary difficulty in which he
was involved, he would not presume to make the lady an offer. Lord
Auckland acknowledged the explanation as adequate, and thus honourably
ended the only "love-passage" in the life of Pitt.

Considering that Pitt's income as minister was L6,000 a year, and that
he derived an additional L3,000 a year from the Lord Wardenship of the
Cinque Ports, his pecuniary troubles may seem hard to explain. He had no
family, and no expensive tastes. But he was so intent upon the national
exchequer that he neglected his private accounts, with the consequence
that he was plundered by