hat which I left behind me in
London have, as usual, done me a great deal of good."[632] He set to
work to improve the grounds adjoining the castle, and invited Addington,
who was then spending some weeks at Eastbourne, to come over and see the
changes. Further, he leased a large farm near Walmer, and expressed a
hope that he might spend the rest of the year in farming. The splendour
of that summer and the bounteous crops of corn evidently captivated
Pitt. The supreme need of England was more corn. A man who could not
serve her at Westminster could serve her by high farming. This was
Pitt's forecast, unless "the _pacificator_ of Europe takes it into his
head to send an army from the opposite coast to revenge himself for some
newspaper paragraph."[633]

At this time, too, he finally succeeded in disposing of Holwood. The
sale was inevitable; for Pitt's finance had long been a source of deep
anxiety. So far back as 18th October 1800 Rose informed the Bishop of
Lincoln that bailiffs threatened the seizure of Pitt's furniture in
Downing Street for debts of L600 and L400. Then, referring to Pitt's ill
health, he wrote: "I conceived till this morning [it] was owing to the
state of public matters; but I am now strongly inclined to think he is
agitated by the state of his own affairs. Bullock came to me this
morning and forced upon me such a history of debts and distresses as
actually sickened me.... Something must be done before Pitt returns to
town. His expenses in the last years were nearly L26,000. I am quite
certain Holwood must be parted with."[634]

Pitt's private finance is involved in mystery. His official stipend was
L6,000 a year; and as Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports he drew L3,000
more. Yet he was now insolvent. Among his papers systematic accounts
are extant only for the latter half of the years 1794 and 1799. Even
these are not complete, especially for the household at Walmer Castle.
Those for the house in Downing Street are the fullest; but, for the last
six months of 1799, they amount to L3,789 at Downing Street, and L2,382
at Holwood, the latter sum including a charge of L1,163 for farm
expenses which cannot much have exceeded the income.[635] The Walmer
accounts vary according to the duration of Pitt's residence. Those for
the summer and autumn of 1794 amount only to L458. Evidently, then, Pitt
benefited by the King's gift of the Wardenship of the Cinque Ports. But
he gave L1,000 in 1793 to start the Dover