appear, but at the end of November, Pitt wrote as follows to Shelburne :

"MY DEAR LORD,-I had great satisfaction in receiving the honour of your Lordship's letter, and have in consequence of his Majesty's commands, to acquaint your Lordship that he has given orders for preparing the Patent of creation. Your Lordship will probably receive an official notification from Lord Sydney, and will have the goodness to communicate to him the title which you wish to have inserted. If it should not be inconvenient to your Lordship to kiss hands on Wednesday in the next week, the creation may be then immediately completed. If any thing should be likely to prevent your Lordship being present at that day, I shall hope to be honoured with your further commands. I am extremely sorry that circumstances purely accidental but unavoidable, have occasioned the interval since I last troubled your Lordship. The King does not at this time extend the mark of his favour to any one besides your Lordship, except Lord Temple. Allow me to repeat the sincere assurances of the respect and regard with which I have the honour to be,

My dear Lord,

Your most obed' and most faithful serv

W. PITT.

The title Shelburne chose was that of Lansdowne,

which had been in the family of his first wife. No offer of office was made to him. Lord Gower became Privy Seal; Lord Camden accepted the Presidency of the Council, vacated by Lord Gower, and within little more than a year Jenkinson was made a Peer, Chancellor of the Duchy, and President of the Board of Trade. The authors of the Rolliad celebrated the conclusion of these negotiations in a Pastoral poem, in which the First Lord of the Treasury and the new Marquis address one another in amœbæan strains.

THE STATESMEN:

AN ECLOGUE.

LANSDOWNE.

WHILE on the Treasury-Bench you, Pitt, recline,
And make men wonder at each vast design;
I, hapless man, my harsher fate deplore,
Ordain'd to view the regal face no more;
That face which erst on me with rapture glow'd,
And smiles responsive to my smiles bestow'd:
And now the Court I leave, my native home,
"A banish'd man, condemn'd in woods to roam;"
While you to senates, Brunswick's mandates give,
And teach white-wands to chaunt his high prerogative.

PITT.

Oh! Lansdowne, 'twas a more than mortal pow'r
My fate controul'd, in that auspicious hour,
When Temple deign'd the dread decree to bring,
And stammer'd out the firmaun of the King;

That power I'll worship as my household god,
Shrink at his frown, and bow beneath his nod;
At every feast his presence I'll invoke,
For him my kitchen fires shall ever smoke;
Not mighty Hastings, whose illustrious breath
Can bid a Rajah live, or give him death,
Though back'd by Scott, by Barwell, Palk, and all
The sable squadron scowling from Bengal;
Not the bold Chieftain of the tribe of Phipps,
Whose head is scarce less handsome than his ship's ;
Not bare-breech'd Graham, nor bare-witted Rose,
Nor the great Lawyer with the little Nose;
Nor even Villiers self shall welcome be,

To dine so oft, or dine so well as he.

LANSDOWNE.

Think not these sighs denote one thought unkind, Wonder, not Envy, occupies my mind;

For well I wot on that unhappy day,

When Britain mourn'd an empire giv'n away;
When rude impeachments menaced from afar,
And what gave peace to France-to us was war;
For awful vengeance Heav'n appear'd to call,
And agonizing Nature mark'd our fall.

Dire change! Dundas's cheek with blushes glow'd,
Grenville was dumb, Mahon no frenzy showed;
Though Drake harangu'd, no slumber Gilbert fear'd;
And Mulgrave's mouth like other mouths appear'd;
In vain had Bellamy prepared the meat ;—
In vain the porter-Bamber could not eat;
When Burke arose, no yell the curs began,
And Rolle, for once, half seem'd a gentleman;
Then name this god, for to St. James's Court,
Nor gods nor angels often make resort.

PITT.

In early youth misled by Honour's rules,
That fancied Deity of dreaming fools;

I simply thought, forgive the rash mistake,
That Kings should govern for their People's sake!
But Reverend Jenky soon these thoughts supprest,
And drove the glittering phantom from my breast;
Jenky! that sage, whom mighty George declares,
Next Schwellenbergen, great on the back stairs:
'Twas Jenkinson-ye Deacons catch the sound!
Ye Treasury scribes the sacred name rebound!
Ye pages sing it—echo it ye Peers!

And ye who best repeat, Right Reverend Seers!
Whose pious tongues no wavering fancies sway,
But like the needle ever point one way.

CHAPTER IX.

RETIREMENT.

1785-1788.

OF the great measures proposed by Pitt in the period which elapsed between his accession to power and the outbreak of the French revolution, there was hardly one which cannot be shown to have had its origin in the brief period when Shelburne was at the head of the Treasury. If Pitt in 1785 proposed to complete the Irish commercial reforms begun in 1780 by North, it was Shelburne who in the latter year when in opposition and in 1782 when in office, had declared that the American and African trade must be opened to Ireland, and colonial produce be allowed to be reshipped from that country to any part of Great Britain. If Pitt understood the urgent necessity of controlling the East India company, so did Shelburne. If Pitt in 1785 introduced sweeping reforms into the public offices, it was Shelburne who in 1782 originated the measure. The sinking fund, whatever the advantages or disadvantages