** William Pitt, the first Earl of Chatham, was born on the 5th of November, 1708. He was educated at Eton, and entered Trinity College, Oxford, in 1726. He left that institution for a military profession, which he entered with the rank of cornet. He was elected a member of Parliament for Old Sarum in 1735, and soon became distinguished for his eloquence and extensive information. He was in the ranks of the opposition against Walpole, and, for his good service against that minister, Walpole's inveterate enemy, the Duchess of Marlborough, left Pitt, in her will, fifty thousand dollars. From 1746 until 1755, he was treasurer of Ireland, paymaster of the army, and privy counselor. He was made secretary of state in 1756, and had the direction of the war bureau during a late portion of the progress of the Seven Years' war. He retired from office on the accession of George III., but continued in Parliament. In 1766 he was created Earl Chatham, and occupied the privy seal in the administration. This office he resigned in 1768; and from that period until his death, an hereditary gout kept him much at home and undermined his constitution. He was struck down with apoplexy upon the floor of the House of Lords on the 7th of April, 1778, and died on the 11th of May following, at the age of 70. * "His disposition," says Brougham, "was exceedingly affectionate. The pride, bordering upon insolence, in which he showed himself incased to the world, fell naturally from him, and without any effort to put it off, as he crossed the threshold of his own door. To all his family he was civil, kindly, and gentle. His pursuits were of a nature that showed how much he loved to unbend himself. He delighted in poetry and other light reading; was fond of music; loved the country; took peculiar pleasure in gardening; and had even an extremely happy taste in laying out grounds."
[[[Pitt's Funeral and Monument.--North's conciliatory Propositions rejected.---Arrival of Commissioners.--Governor Tryon.]]]
{ 349}and the king was pleased to bestow his bounty when "the trumpet of sedition" * was silenced.
The conciliatory bills arrived in America about the middle of April. Governor Tryon, of New York, caused them to be printed and extensively circulated. As they did not positively propose the independence of the colonies as a basis of negotiation, they were regarded by the patriots with suspicion, and were denominated the "deceptionary bills."