n to extreme regard for
Canning. But surely another explanation is more natural. How could a man
of keenly affectionate nature share in that ceremony without feeling
deeply his own lonely lot? Three and a half years ago poverty and debt
had stepped in to part him and Eleanor Eden. Was it not the wraith of
his buried love which now hovered before him, blotting out the sight of
the carter, deafening his ears to the jest, and palsying his hand?

* * * * *

Pitt's resignation of office sorely tried his friends; for, without
informing them of the inmost reasons that prompted that step, he pressed
them to remain in office under his successor, Addington. As we have
seen, some of them refused. Of those not holding Cabinet appointments,
Rose and Long, joint Secretaries of the Treasury, Lord Granville
Leveson-Gower, a Lord of the Treasury, and Canning, joint Paymaster of
the Forces, decided to resign. Pitt's silence and his urgent requests to
his friends to remain in office were of course open to misconstruction;
and several of his supporters echoed the malicious assertion of Frere,
that his aim was for Addington to take office as a _locum tenens_, and
sign a discreditable peace, whereupon he (Pitt) would come back to power
and find his former supporters in their old places. Malmesbury gave
colour to the story by stating that Addington described himself as
_locum tenens_, a remark utterly inconsistent with all that is known of
his complacent pride. Nevertheless the slander gained general currency,
and, even now, despite convincing refutation, dies hard. That Canning
and others resented Pitt's silence and his pressure to remain in office
is undeniable; but, while saying nothing as to the cause of his own
conduct, he explained clearly to Canning that, as a friend, he was
gratified by his conduct in resigning, however much he deplored his
action on public grounds. Of course the _tu quoque_ retort was
inevitable; but Canning's curiosity was not gratified.[623]

For a time he talked of breaking with Pitt, and sent him a copy of a
letter to Frere couched in those terms. Pitt replied calmly on 26th
April 1801 that on reviewing his conduct he found it neither unkind nor
unfair. While lamenting that Canning should thus have misunderstood his
conduct, he expressed a resolve to forget the incident and a hope that
their friendship might endure. Serenity such as this is the best cure to
Celtic susce