ABSTRACT

William Pitt could hardly have borne the burden of his great ministry had it not been for the rest and happiness he found in his home. Pitt was using no affected language when he told Elliot he was quite willing to practise his philosophy in a village. Hie terrarum mihi praeter omnesAngulus ridet, he felt of Hayes then and until the end of his life. Pitt had been replaced as Secretary of State by Lord Egremont, son of the Tory leader, William Wyndham, and as Leader of the House by his brother-in-law, George Grenville. To Pitt the sudden revolution in Russian policy seemed the opportunity for cementing a northern alliance between England, Prussia and Russia to act as a bulwark against Bourbon ambition. The rougher hand turned out to be that of Pitt's old rival, Henry Fox, now once more called from his well-paid leisure as Paymaster-General to assume control over the House of Commons.