Page:The Complete Peerage Ed 1 Vol 2.djvu/214

 CHATHAM. in spite o! the unwillingness nf George III, become Prime Minister to endeavour to carry out some such course, without, however, any surrender of the British Sovereignty. To oppose such a surrender (which had been suggested) he, the' greatly out of health, made his last speech, 7 April 1778, when he fell back in a lit and being, a few days subsequently, carried to bis own residence at Hayes, co. Kent, be tbere if. 11 May 177S( a ) in his 70th year and was Our. 9 Juue, in Westin. Abbey.('>). Will pr. Aug. 1778. Earldom II. 1778. JonN (Pitt), Eabi or Chatham and Viscount Pitt OV BuTWON PraSEST [1766] also (after the death of his mother, ill 1803) BahOH Cuatiia.m [1701], s. and h., 6. 9 Oct. and bap. 7 Nov. 1756 at Hayes, co. Kent.( c ) Ensign, 47th Foot, 177-1, being Aide do Camp to Gen. Carleton, 1775 ; Lieut. 39th Foot, 1778 ; Capt. 86th Font, 1779 ; Lieut. Col. 3rd Foot Guards, 1792 ; Col. in the army 1793 ; Major Gen., 1795 ; Col. of the 4th Foot, 1799 ; Master Gen. of the Ordnance, 1801-06 and 1807-10 ; Lieut. Gen., 1802, and, finally, General 1812. He was also first Lord of the Admiralty 1788- 91 ; P.O., 17S9 ; el. KG. 15 Dec. 1790, inst. 29 May 1801 ; LokdPiuyy Loud Puksident ok THE Couhcil 1796-1801 ; Gov. of Plymouth, 1805 ; Gov. of Jersey, 1S09. In 1S09, he, being then Lieut. Gen., had the command of the unlucky expedition to W.dchcren.(' 1 ) Gov. of Gibraltar, 1820. High Steward of Colchester, Sc. Sc. He IB. at the house of her Father in Albemarle street, St. Geo. Han. sip, 10 July 1783, Mary Elizabeth, 2nd surv. da. of Thomas (ToWNsuKNIi), 1st Viscount Sydney, by Elizabeth, 1st da. and coheir of Richard Powys of Hiutle- sham, Suffolk. She who was b. 2 Sep. 1762, d. in Hill street, Berkeley sip, 21 and was bur, 30 May 1821 in Westm. Abbey. He d. s.p. in Charles street, Berkeley sip, 24 Sep. and was bur. 3 Oct. 1835 in Wcstm. Abbey, aged 79, when all his honours became extinct.^) Will pr. Oct. 1835. Barony EL 1803, to 1835. Seal, 1794-9S ; (•) Copley's well known picture generally (erroneously) called "the death of Chatham" represents this scene, one unparalelled in the House of Lords. ('') A funeral at the public expense, u vote of £20,000 to discharge his debts, and a pension of £4000 a year annexed for ever to the Earldom of Chatham were voted by Pari. " The most noble and puissant Lord, William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, Sc., Sc., was bur. from the Painted Chamber, at the expense of Pari, in the centre of the north cross of the Abbey." See Chester's " Westm. Abbey Registers," and, also Fun. Certif. at Coll. of Arms. ( c ) His yr. br. William Pitt (of immortal memory), Prime Minister, save for a brief interval, from 17S3 to 1806, was also b. at Hayes IS May 1759 and there bap. 3 July. He if. num. at his residence, Bowling Green house, Putney Heath, Surrey, 23 Jan. 1806 aged 16 and was bur. 22 Feb. in Westm. Abbey. ( d ) The slothful disposition and incapacity of this nobleman, tho' son and brother to persons so highly gifted, were a subject of frequent ridicule. The following oft quoted lines, describing the attitude of the two commanders in the expedition to the Scheldt (almost exactly as, given [in prose] in the official return) appeared in the " Morning Chronicle " of 6 Feh. 1810.— " Lord Chatham with his sword undrawn, Kept waiting for Sir- Richard Strachan : — Sir Richard, longing to be at 'em, Kept waiting too, — for whom ? Lord Chatham." The ensuing lines, which are printed in G. V. Cox's " Recollections of Oxford ' (1870 ; p. 67) are perhaps still more descriptive of the Earl's intellectual capacity. " When sent fresh wreaths on Flushing's shore to reap, What didst thou do, illustrious Chatham ? "— " Slec})." " To man fatigued with war repose is sweet, But, when awake, didst thou do nothing ?"_" Eat." ( c ) His two sisters, Hester, Countess Stanhope (d. 20 July 1780) and the Hon. Harriet Eliot (d. 24 Sep. 17S6) both left issue female. The well known and eccentric, Lady Hester Lucy Stanhope, 4. 12 March 1776, d. uum. in Syria, 23 June 1839, was the 1st a. of tho elder bister.