Page:The Complete Peerage Ed 2 Vol 3.djvu/166

 146 CHATHAM EARLDOM. 2. John (Pitt), Earl of Chatham and Viscount yy o Pitt OF Burton Pynsent [1766], also (after the death of '' ■ his mother, in 1803) Baron Chatham [1761], s. and h., b. 9 Oct. and bap. 7 Nov. 1756, at Hayes, Kent.C") BARONY. Ensign 47th Foot 1774, being Aide de Camp to Gen. jj „ Carleton 1775; Lieut. 39th Foot 1778; Capt. 86th Foot ■^ i1']<); Lieut. Col. 3rd Foot Guards 1792; Col. in the Army 1 793 ; Major Gen. 1795; Col. of the 4th Foot 1 799 '^'^ZS- till his death; Master Gen. of the Ordnance 1801-06 and 1807-10; Lieut. Gen. 1802, and, finally, General 18 12. F.S.A. 6 May 1784; First Lord of the Admiralty (Tory) July 1788 to Dec. I794;() P.C. 3 Apr. 1789; nom. K.G. 15 Dec. 1790, inst. 29 May 1801; Elder Brother of the Trinity House 1792 till his death; Lord Privy Seal Dec. 1794 to Sep. 1796; Lord President of the Council Sep. 1796 to July 1801; Gov. of Plymouth 1805-07; Gov. of Jersey 1807-20. In 1809, he, being then Lieut. Gen., had command of the military forces in the unlucky expedition to Walcheren.() Gov. of Gibraltar 1820 till his (^) His younger brother, William Pitt (of immortal memory), Prime Minister, save for a brief interval, from 1783 to 1806, was also b. at Hayes, 18 May, and bap. there 3 July 1759. He d. unm., at his residence. Bowling Green House, Putney Heath, Surrey, at 4.30 a.m., 23 Jan., aged 46, and was bur. 22 Feb. i8o6, inWestm. Abbey. C') He had been a Whig up to the Coalition of 1 783. V.G. if) The sloth and incapacity of this nobleman, the son and brother of persons so highly gifted, were the subject of frequent ridicule. "A man reputed to possess an excellent understanding, but whose very name was almost proverbial for enervation and indolence." [Annual Reg., 1809, p. 223). The following oft quoted lines, describing the attitude of the military and naval commanders in the expedition to the Scheldt (almost exactly as given [in prose] in the official return), appeared in the Morning Chronicle of 6 Feb. 1 8 1 : — "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, also well describe the Earl's achievements: — " When sent fresh wreaths on Flushing's shore to reap. What didst thou do, illustrious Chatham?" — '■^ Sleep." " To man fatigued with war repose is sweet. But, when awake, didst thou do nothing?" — '■'■Eat." " Lord Chatham inherited his illustrious father's form and figure, but not his mind . . . Constitutionally and habitually taciturn, cold, reserved, lofty, repulsive, his silence served as a mantle to protect him from close inspection ... It would have been fortunate for himself, as well as for his country if he had never been engaged in a military command. He possessed indeed neither activity, experience, ardour, nor any of the qualities that usually produce success." Wraxall, Post/i. Memoirs, vol. iii, pp. 127-132, who also refers to his indolence and extravagance. G.E.C. and V.G.