ading straight for bankruptcy throughout this period; and
probably on looking into his affairs he discovered the fact. It is also
certain that he lent money to his mother. She seems to have lost on
farming experiments at Burton Pynsent; for she charged her sons to
defray her just debts incurred in this manner, and the Bishop of Lincoln
in July 1801 stated that she owed to Pitt the sum of L5,800 on which she
ought to pay interest but did not. Chatham also borrowed L1,000 from
Pitt in August 1791, and the fact that he paid not a penny to help to
discharge the debts of his brother in the year 1801 seems to show that
he himself was still in low water.[441]

Piecing together these fragments of evidence, we may infer that Pitt's
near relations were a source of considerable expense, and that his own
heedlessness had by this time further served to embarrass him.
Therefore, his conduct towards Miss Eden, which at first sight seems
heartless, was probably dictated by sheer financial need. We may also
reject the spiteful statement in which Lady Hester Stanhope represented
Pitt as saying: "Oh, there was her mother [Lady Auckland],--such a
chatterer! and then the family intrigues! I can't keep them out of my
house; and for my King's and my country's sake I must remain a single
man." This is mere romancing. Pitt went to the Aucklands' house, not
they to his. As for the remark about Auckland's intrigues, it clearly
refers to the painful days after 1801, when Pitt broke with the
household at Beckenham.

There was only one method whereby Pitt could have assured his marriage
with Eleanor Eden, namely, by condescending to political jobbery. It was
beyond the power of Auckland, a comparatively poor man, burdened with a
large family, to grant a dowry with her unless Pitt awarded to him a
lucrative post and sinecures. Of course any such step was wholly out of
the question for either of them. In fact, Pitt opposed Auckland's
promotion, opened up by the death of Lord Mansfield, President of the
Council, though the public voice acclaimed Auckland as the
successor.[442] Equally noteworthy is the fact that, early in the year
1798, Pitt appointed Auckland Postmaster-General, with an annual stipend
of L2,500, but required him to give up his pension of L2,000 for
diplomatic services.[443] It is pleasing to record that their friendship
was not overclouded, except for a brief period.

There, then, we must leave this painful incident, but with height