on to conquer the Cape. In
his magnanimous desire of securing to Europe the blessings of a lasting
peace he was ready to surrender maritime conquests of greater pecuniary
value so long as England held the keys of the overland and sea routes to
India. To that empire his just and statesmanlike policy brought a new
sense of confidence and therefore a time of comparative rest, until the
threatening orientation of Bonaparte's plans once more placed everything
at hazard. Thanks to the exertions of Dundas and the Wellesleys, the
crisis was averted; but the policy which assured British supremacy in
the East was essentially that of Pitt.

* * * * *

It is far easier to assess the importance of the life work of Pitt than
to set forth his character in living traits. Those who knew him well
agree as the charm of his personality; but they supply few illuminating
details, perhaps out of respect for the reserve which was his usual
panoply. Like Chatham he rarely revealed his inmost self. The beauties
of his conversation, informed with learning, sparkling with wit, always
vivacious yet never spiteful, never appeared in their full glow except
in the circle of his dearest friends; but by singular ill fortune they
who could have handed on those treasures, were satisfied with entries
such as: "Pitt talked a great deal among his friends"; or, "In society he
was remarkably cheerful and pleasant, full of wit and playfulness";[786]
or again, "His great delight was society. There he shone with a degree
of calm and steady lustre which often astonished me more than his most
splendid efforts in Parliament; ... he seemed utterly unconscious of his
own superiority and much more disposed to listen than to talk; ... his
appearance dispelled all care, his brow was never clouded even in the
severest public trials."[787] These are only the _hors d'oeuvres_ of
what must have been a feast of delight; but even they suffice to refute
the Whig slanders as to Pitt's austerity and selfishness. Under happier
auspices he would have been known as the most lovable of English
statesmen; and his exceptional fondness for children would alone suffice
to expose the falsity of his alleged reply to a manufacturer who
complained that he could not get enough men--"Then you must take the
children."[788] Cynicism at the expense of the weak was a trait utterly
alien to him. It is also incorrect to assert, with Macaulay, that "pride
pe