or the best.[637] The eldest son could not help her, for he required
succour from Pitt. If, then, the farming experiments at Burton Pynsent
failed, the loss fell upon Pitt. We may infer, then, that his debts were
occasioned partly by rapacious servants and tradesmen in London, partly
by farming and gardening at Holwood, but also by the needs of his mother
and brother. The fact that Chatham paid not a shilling towards the
discharge of Pitt's liabilities proves that he was in low water; and as
no one, not even Tomline, knew of the source of Pitt's embarrassments,
they must have been of a peculiarly delicate character.

Tomline's decision, that Pitt could never accept a sinecure from
Addington, is indisputable. The words in which Pitt declared that he
could not accept the sum of L30,000 graciously offered by the King
breathe more independence than those in which he first expressed his
gratitude for the offer. There remained, then, the plan of a private
subscription. The Bishop of Lincoln mentioned it to him with admirable
delicacy on 6th August 1801, and gained his consent. The following were
the subscribers: Lords Bathurst, Camden, and Carrington, together with
Tomline, Rose, and Steele, L1,000 each. From Scotland came L4,000,
probably in equal parts from the Dukes of Buccleugh and Gordon, Dundas,
and the Chief Baron. Wilberforce, Long, and Joseph Smith each gave L500,
and another (Lord Alvanley?) L200. Bishop Tomline and Rose showed equal
activity and tact in raising this sum of L11,700, so that the details
remained unknown to Pitt.[638] Later on he felt pecuniary
embarrassments, partly owing to his share in maintaining the Cinque
Ports Volunteers, and at his death his debts amounted to L40,000.

His relations to his bankers, Messrs. Coutts, continued cordial, though
on 24th April 1805 Thomas Coutts ventured to state that there was an
overdraft against him of L1,511, which, however, was redressed by the
arrival of his quarterly official stipends.[639] Pitt's loyalty to his
friends appears in his effort during his second Ministry to procure the
royal assent to his nomination of Bishop Tomline to the Archbishopric of
Canterbury shortly after the death of Dr. Moore early in 1805. The King,
however, who did not admire Tomline, and believed the Bishop of Norwich
to have prior claims, refused his reiterated requests. Pitt's second
letter to the King on this subject is couched in terms almost of
remonstrance.[640]

Reverting