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 which William Pitt was born; and it is probably also (says Stanhope in his "Life"), the apartment where his father died. William was the second son, John the eldest succeeded to the title and estates, James Charles the youngest was destined for the navy, William, in due time for the Bar. At the age of fourteen he was entered at Pembroke Hall, Cambridge, where in the spring of 1773, at the age of seventeen, he was admitted Master of Arts. He still continued, however, to reside at the University for the most part till his coming of age, and it was during these years that he laid in those stores of knowledge of which he made such effective use in after life. After leaving the University he spent some time on the Continent, and on his return he became a student at Lincoln's Inn, where he was called to the Bar in 1780. On the 23rd of January in the year following he took his seat in Parliament as member for Appleby. This date (says his principal biographer) marks both the commencement and close of his public life; for it was on the anniversary of the same day that he died. The "public life" of Pitt being so intimately bound up with the history of his country during the next twenty-five years, it will be unnecessary here to refer to it.

Hayes Place, where Pitt was born, was disposed of by his eldest brother; but the "Great Commoner's" connection with his native county continued throughout his life. Holwood House, the residence of Lord Cranworth, between Keston and Farnborough, was long his favourite retreat. Here, where as a boy he used to go birdsnesting, he took pleasure in planting and laying out the grounds,