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 L I B R_A RY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 U N 1 VERS ITY 
 
 or ILLl NOIS
 
 NOTES 
 
 AND 
 
 EXTRACTS OF LETTERS 
 
 EEFEREING TO 
 
 MR. PITT 
 
 AND 
 
 WALMER CASTLE. 
 
 1801-1806. 
 
 PE]KTED FOR PRIVATE CIRCULATION. 
 1866.
 
 LONDON: PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, STAMFORD STREET, 
 AND CHAUING CROSS. 
 
 ! uiuc !
 
 Many of these letters were not yet in my possession 
 when I wrote the ' Life of Pitt ;' and others were put by 
 as of merely local interest. But, as now collected, they 
 may perhaps be welcome to some at least of those who 
 hav^e stood on tlie ramparts of Walmer Castle, and 
 thought of its great Lord Warden in the days of the 
 great French war. 
 
 S. 
 
 Clievening^ November, 1866. 
 
 15 '1
 
 NOTES AND EXTRACTS OF LETTERS 
 
 KEFERKIXG TO 
 
 MR. PITT AND WALMER CASTLE. 
 
 1801-1806. 
 
 Lady Kester Stanhope to Francis B. Jackson, Esq. 
 
 Burton Pynsent, April 19, 1801. 
 Oh, delightful, charming ! this evening's post has 
 not only brought me your letter, but a volume from 
 Mr. P.* 
 
 He appears to be so happy and well; for he says 
 what with the luxury of living ^ath his friends, and tlie 
 improvement of public affairs, his only apprehension 
 will be of growing too fat for horseman's weight, at 
 least as a companion in my rides. 
 
 Mr. Pitt to Sir Walter Farquhar, Bart. 
 My dear Sir, Walmer Castle, Monday, Sept. 13, 1802. 
 
 I have written to you in town, but take the 
 chance of your being returned to Ramsgate, to tell you 
 
 * Mr. Pitt. He had resigned the seals of office on the 14th of 
 March preceding.
 
 r> KOTES AND LETTEIJS TtEFERKING TO [1801-1806. 
 
 that I have been suffering severely from repeated sick- 
 ness, and the impossibility of retaining almost any food 
 on my stomach, and that the symptoms are such that I 
 do not at all know how to proceed. I am therefore 
 very anxious to see you and receive your directions as 
 early as possible, as I do not feel that things are going 
 at all riglit. Under these circumstances, you will, I 
 am sure, forgive my troubling you, and, with your usual 
 kindness, will give me the satisfaction of seeing you as 
 soon as you can. 
 
 • Yours very sincerely, 
 
 W. Pitt. 
 
 Lady Hester Stanlioioe to F. B. Jackson, Esq. 
 
 Walmer Castle, Sept. 21, 1802. 
 Even the illness of my dear uncle has not made 
 me quite forget the request you made me ; but the first 
 thing I must say is, that, thank God, he is quite reco- 
 vered ; and if he was to be ill, perhaps my having the 
 opportunity of showing him I have talents as a nurse 
 is better than his having had to nurse himself. I am 
 enchanted with everything here. But I leave them all 
 on Thursdav.* 
 
 * This was Lady Hester's first appearance at Walmer Castle. 
 She was then prepai'ing to cross from Dover to Calais, having been 
 invited to accompany her friends, Mr. and Mrs. Egerton, of Cheshire, 
 in a Continental tour.
 
 1801-1806.] ME. PITT AND WALMER CASTLE. 7 
 
 Mr. Pitt to Sir Walter Farquhar, Bart. 
 My dear Sir, Walmer Castle, Feb. 9, 1803. 
 
 Mr. Hulke * will have given you an account of 
 the fresh attack which I have had of bile, from which 
 his prescriptions have almost entirely relieved me. I 
 know, however, that it will be a satisfaction to you to 
 receive from myself the account of my amendment ; and 
 I think it may also be material to mention to you that 
 some sensations of gout, which I have felt slightly at 
 times during the last three or four days in one of my 
 feet, are become more settled and distinct within these 
 few hours, and that the pain and swelling (though 
 neither of them considerable) are sufficient to require 
 rather a larger shoe than common, and to leave me no 
 doubt of the cause from which they proceed. I need 
 not trouble you further at present, and I hope by the 
 beginning of next week to be able to move to towai or its 
 neighbourhood without any inconvenience, and to have 
 
 the pleasure of seeing you. 
 
 Believe me, &c., 
 
 W. Pitt. 
 
 Mr. Pitt to Lord Malion. 
 Dear MaHON, Walmer Castle, March 10, 1803. 
 
 I am very much grieved and rather surprised 
 (after what had passed) at the strange letter from 
 Lord S. It certainly puts an end to all reasonable 
 ground of hope from that quarter, and is in the manner 
 
 * Father, I believe, of the gentleman ^vho on several occasions 
 attended the Duke of Wellington at Walmer Castle, and was with 
 him when he died, September 14, 1852.
 
 8 NOTES AND LETTERS REFERRING TO [1801-1806. 
 
 of it very provoking. But as no good can arise from 
 any answer you can return to it, I think it clearly best 
 for you to take no notice of it, and to let the business 
 drop in silence. 
 
 I hope my brother will be able to find the paper you 
 want for Estcourt, and shall be very impatient to hear 
 on what terms he thinks you can proceed. 
 
 Your account of James* gives me great pleasure, 
 and your kindness and affection to him will, I hope, be 
 repaid as it deserves. I am very sorry Charles is coming 
 away from a place which he likes, and which was so 
 well suited to him. The sum you propose to allot to 
 each, will, I hope, be quite adequate, and is one which 
 is very liberal and generous in you to spare. 
 
 I shall be most hapj)y to see you here again the first 
 moment you have to spare, without interruption to 
 your business with Estcourt, and when you have shaken 
 off the remains of your very troublesome complaint. 
 I do not like at all the account of your being so much 
 reduced in strength. If you are not already better, 
 pray consult Farquhar immediately. 
 
 Affectionately yours, 
 
 W.P. 
 
 Lady Hester Stanhope to F. R. Jackson^ Esq., His 
 Majesty s Minister at Berlin. 
 
 Walmer Castle, Oct. 1803. 
 You can easily figure to yourself that I have 
 not much time to spare from the charming society I 
 
 * The Hon. diaries and James Stanhope were the younger 
 brothers of Lord Mahon.
 
 1801-1806.] MK. PITT AND WALMER CASTLK 9 
 
 now live in. To express tlie kindness with which Mr. 
 Pitt welcomed my return,* and proposed my living with 
 him, would be impossible. One would really suppose 
 that all obligation had been on his side! Here then 
 am I, happy to a degree, exactly in the sort of society 
 I most like. There are generally three or four men 
 staying in the house ; we dine nine or ten almost every 
 other day. 
 
 Mr. Pitt absolutely goes through the fatigue of a drill- 
 sergeant. It is parade after parade, at fifteen or twenty 
 miles distant from each other. I often attend him ; and 
 it is quite as much, I can assure you, as I am equal to, 
 although I am remarkably well just now. The hard 
 riding I do not mind, but to remain almost still so many 
 hours on horseback is an incomparable lore, and re- 
 quires more patience than you can easily imagine. 
 However, I suppose few regiments for the time were 
 ever so forward ; therefore the trouble is nothing ; and 
 if Mr. Pitt does not overdo it and injure his health 
 every other consideration becomes trifling. You know 
 me too well not to be aware of the anxiety I am under 
 upon this account ; and the extreme care I take, or 
 rather endeavour to take, of this blessing (so essential 
 to him in his present active line of conduct, and there- 
 fore invaluable to his country), is kindly rewarded by 
 
 * From the Continent, with Mr. and Mrs. Egerton, in the pre- 
 vious August. Lady Hester was then wholly without a home, 
 owing to the continued unkindness of her father, and to the death 
 (in April, 1803) of her grandmother, Lady Chatham, with whom, 
 since early in 1800, she had for the most part resided at Burton 
 Pynsent. 
 
 B 3
 
 10 NOTES AND LETTEES REFERRING TO [1801-1806. 
 
 his minding me more than any other person, and allow- 
 ing me to speak to him upon the subject of his health, 
 which is always an unpleasant one, and one he par- 
 ticularly dislikes. There is no use in flattering a man 
 who is not ill from fancy and makes but too light of his 
 complaints. Therefore I pursue quite a different plan ; 
 and I am happy to be able to tell you sincerely I see 
 nothing at all alarming about him : he had a cough when 
 I first came to England, but it has nearly or quite left 
 him ; he is thin, yet certainly strong, and his spirits are 
 excellent. 
 
 Mr. P. is determined to remain acting Colonel when 
 his regiment is called into the field. Some persons 
 blame this determination, but I do not ; he has always 
 hitherto acted up to his character : why should he, then, 
 in this instance prove deficient? I should not be 
 the least surprised any night to hear of the French 
 attempting to land; indeed, I expect it; but 1 feel 
 equally certain that those who do succeed in this will 
 neither proceed nor return.* 
 
 Mr. Pitt to Lord Mahon. 
 
 Dear Mahon, Margate, Oct. 24, 1803. 
 
 In our way here Lord Carrington and I have 
 been comparing Lord Stanhope's answer with the pre- 
 
 * Such was the feeUng at that time of the entire people, even 
 down to the writers of libels and lampoons. Thus writes or sings 
 Peter Pindar : — 
 
 " Come the Consul whenever he will, 
 
 And he means it when Neptune is calmer, 
 
 Pitt will send him a d bitter pill 
 
 From his fortress the castle of Walmer."
 
 1801-1806.] MR. PITT AND WALMER CASTLE. 11 
 
 ceding proposals ; and Lord Carrington has just written 
 to Harrison to desire him to make the inquiry, which 
 strikes us as essential under the 24th Article. You will 
 probably call on Harrison on the subject. Adieu 1 
 Captain Cobb and his brave troops are impatiently 
 waiting for us on the field of battle. 
 
 Ever affectionately yours, 
 
 W. P. 
 
 Lord Carrington to Lord Mahon. 
 
 Deal Castle, Nov. 18, 1803. 
 Pitt being obliged to go to Dover to-morrow 
 afternoon, I have agi'eed with him that the marriage* 
 shall take place at four o'clock to-morrow instead of 
 :five; but, as he may not be very punctual, I suppose 
 half-past four will be the time. I have seen Backhouse t 
 and settled with him this alteration. 
 
 Mr. Pitt to Lord Mahon. 
 Dear Mahon, Walmer Castle, Nov. 22, 1803. 
 
 Hester had already written to James desiring 
 him to come to us as soon as he can obtain leave, which 
 I hope will be immediately. It will certainly be most 
 desirable to have an opportunity of talking over with 
 him fully his future plans, and if his aversion to the Navy 
 has taken a deep root it cannot be ^vished that he 
 should remain in it ; otherwise I should much regret his 
 
 * Of Lord Mahon to the Hon. Catherine Lucy Smith, fourth 
 daughter of Lord Carrington. 
 
 t Rev. J. H. Backhouse, rector of the parish. The ceremony was 
 to take place, by special licence, in the dining-room of Deal Castle.
 
 12 NOTES AND LETTERS REFERRING TO [1801-1806. 
 
 quitting a line in whicli lie has already passed so much 
 time and had so fair a prospect of succeeding. I will 
 forward your letter to him by to-day's post, though pro- 
 bably he may have left Portsmouth before it gets there. 
 
 Ever affectionately yours, 
 
 W. Pitt. 
 
 Lady Hester Stanliojpe to F. B. Jackson, Esq., at Berlin, 
 
 Walmer Castle, Jan. 14, 1804. 
 We are in almost daily expectation of the arrival 
 of the French, and Mr. Pitt's regiment is now nearly 
 perfect enough to receive them. We have the famous 
 15th Light Dragoons in our Barracks ; also the North- 
 ampton and Berkshire Militia. The first and last of 
 these regiments I command, and have an orderly dragoon 
 whenever I please from the former and the band of the 
 latter. I never saw any Militia regiment so well officered, 
 or composed of such pleasant men, as the Berkshire. 
 A Northamptonshire squire is not pleasant in his own 
 country, and does not improve with transplanting, but 
 the regiment is a fine body of men. I am at this moment 
 alone here with my little brother James, who has left 
 the Navy for the Army ; he is too clever for a sailor, too 
 refined, I mean. I do not regret the change, as higher 
 powers approve it. He is now in the Guards, and is 
 to join I believe soon : the time will be decided when 
 Mr. Pitt returns. I expect him in a few days. He was 
 perfectly well when he left me ; his most intimate friends 
 say they do not remember him as well since the year 
 Ninety-Seven. Nothing can please me better than the 
 pleasant footing I am upon with all those most attached
 
 1801-1806.] MR. PITT AND WALMER CASTLE. 13 
 
 to him, and the satisfaction it appears to give him when 
 they show me civility .... Oh, such miserable things 
 as the French gun-boats ! We took a vessel the other 
 day loaded with gin — to keep up their spirits I suppose : 
 another with abominable bread and a vast quantity of 
 peas and beans, which the soldiers eat. One of the boats 
 had an extreme large chest of medicine, probably for 
 half their flotilla. Their guns are ill-mounted, and cannot 
 be used mth the same advantage as ours, but are fine 
 pieces of ordnance. Buonaparte was said to be at 
 Boulogne a few days ago ; our officers patrolled all night 
 with the men, which w-as pleasant. I have my orders 
 how to act in case of real alarm in Mr. P.'s absence, and 
 also a promise from him never to be further from the 
 army than a two hours' ride. This is all I wish : I should 
 break my heart to be drove up the country like a sheep 
 when everything I most love was in danger. 
 
 Mr. Pitt to Lord Mahon. . 
 
 Dear MaHOX, Walmer Castle, Jan. 31, 1804. 
 
 The sooner you comply with the summons you 
 have received, the better, and I hope your presence will 
 have the effect of bringing the business at last to a 
 conclusion. We will take as good care of the coast as 
 we can in your absence ; but as our garrison here is 
 rather stronger than you will leave at Maxton, I hope 
 you will advise Lady Mahon to take up her quarters 
 here till you return. 
 
 Affectionately yours, 
 
 W. Pitt.
 
 14 NOTES AND LETTERS REFERRING TO [1801-1806. 
 
 Lady Hester Stanhope to Sir Walter Farquhar, Bart. 
 
 Walmer Castle, April 15, 1804. 
 I hope soon to have the pleasure of seeing you, 
 but m the mean time must just state to you what I think 
 about Mr. Pitt's health, not omitting to say how very 
 uneasy his constant cough has lately made me, which 
 till within these last six days he would take no care of, 
 exposing himself to these easterly winds late in the 
 evening, attending his duty not aS a soldier and Colonel 
 of a regiment, but more like a drill-sergeant. 
 
 I have also to beg that you will most forcibly dwell 
 upon all directions you think necessary to give him. 
 Nobody is so like an angel when he is extremely ill, 
 and few persons less tractable when a little ill ; always 
 urging it is nothing, and taking no care in the world of 
 himself.* 
 
 Memorandum hy Mr. Pitt. 
 
 (Dowiiino- Street) Dec. 26, 1804. 
 The messenger is to search with Burfield t in 
 the Library at Walmer for a large green bag, containing 
 some heavy books. It is to be sealed up (if not sealed 
 
 * Mr. Pitt resumed the seals of office as Prime Minister in less 
 than a month from the date of this letter — on the 10th of May, 
 1804. 
 
 t Burfield was the gardener at Walmer Castle. He died at Deal 
 so lately as 1859, at the age of 89, and his widow survived him till 
 1863. This memorandum, in Mr. Pitt's own writing, had remained 
 in her possession.
 
 1801-1 SOG.] ME. PITT AND WALMER CASTLE. 15 
 
 already) and brouglit immediately to town. The bag 
 will be found either in the corner of the shelves, 
 or in the closet made by one of the windows in the 
 Library. 
 
 If necessary, the closet must be broke open. 
 
 W. P. 
 
 Ladij Hester Stanhope to 3Ir. Pitt. 
 
 Walmer Castle, January 24 (1805). 
 Burfield went to Maidstone yesterday for the 
 last lot of trees and shrubs, which he expects will be all 
 planted in ten days, unless a frost prevents it. I had a 
 conversation with him about what was likely to grow in 
 the chalk-pit. I proposed a few evergreen oaks, which 
 he says will answer there, but nowhere else about the 
 place. We both agreed upon filling it with a variety of 
 creepers, furze, broom, or about anything that will grow 
 and make it look less barren. 
 
 Lady Hester Stanliope to W. D. Adams, Esq* 
 
 Walmer Castle, Feb. 3, 1805. 
 
 • •••••• 
 
 Last spring and part of the summer I bore in the* 
 great world much more than my value for talents, looks, 
 &c. Everything was over-rated, and although I was 
 perfectly aware of it at the time, then I own I enjoyed 
 it. Now if I could command it, it would be indiflerent 
 
 * Selected as Private Secretary by Mr. Pitt on his return to office. 
 Tbis most amiable and accomplished gentleman survived till June, 
 1862.
 
 16 NOTES AND LETTERS REFERRING TO [1801-180G. 
 
 to me ; but my looks are gone, as they always do in the 
 absence of health; and I have been recommended to 
 come into the country to regain them ; and here I have 
 
 been three weeks I am not dull, or rather not 
 
 idle, as I have the charge of improvements here, planta- 
 tions, farms, buildings, &c. The grave and the gay 
 Generals pay me all due respect and attention, and so 
 would all the garrison * if I would allow them ; but as 
 I did not come here to be gay, I dispense with their 
 civility and society. 
 
 When I left Mr. P. he was very well, and bearing all 
 the fatigues of business most astonishingly. Poor dear 
 Lord H.'s t illness fell very heavy upon him for a time. 
 I hope you like Lord Ha Ha Ha as well as he is to be 
 liked. 
 
 Lad^j Hester Stanhojye to W. D. Adams, Esq. 
 
 Sunday (Walmer Castle, April, 1805). 
 I am pretty well, but I am not allowed to go out 
 yet, which vexes me, as I wish to attend to a plantation 
 Mr. P. knows nothing of. Lord Guilford has left his 
 place in this part of the world, J and is cutting down 
 trees, and making all the money he can of it. He has 
 allowed me to take a great many shrubs (these he gives 
 to me), and, as anything green in this part of the world 
 is a treasure, I have been employing myself to cultivate 
 a frightful barren bit of ground behind the Castle, as it 
 
 * In Deal Barracks. 
 
 t Lord Harrowby, then Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. 
 
 t Waldershare Park.
 
 1801-1806.] ME. PITT AND WALMEK CASTLE. 17 
 
 may be years and years before such an offer of plants 
 might again be made ; and buy them you cannot, of a 
 considerable size at least; and little twigs make no 
 show ; and should Mr. Pitt come the end of the week, 
 I should like the plantation to be finished. 
 
 Lady Hester Stanhope to W. D. Adams, Esq. 
 
 Thursday (Walmer Castle, April, 1805). 
 Pray be quite easy about me, for I assure you I 
 
 am a vast deal better This nasty fever is vastly 
 
 provoking, for had Mr. P. come here I w-ould have 
 returned with him, and at all events I meant to come 
 up the end of next week, to go to the Installation.* 
 
 I am so hurt about Lord M.f and all that has passed. 
 What a charming speech Mr. P. made ! I think I see 
 him ; and certainly cet heureux et vaste regard, qui saisit 
 a la fois toutes les faces et tous les ra])]ports, emhrasse tous 
 les ohjets sans les confondre, et les tient to^is a Vimagina- 
 tion, ought to have aw^ed some rascals during the debate 
 on Monday. Oh that I had been Lord M., that I 
 might have gone upon my knees to Mr. P. not to have 
 defended me ! 
 
 There was no end yesterday to the farmers and people 
 who wanted to get a sight of the papers. Their joy 
 about Lord M. is whimsical enough ; they say it proves 
 that "bad is the best of them ;" and it will make Mr. P. 
 
 * Of the Knights of the Garter, held at Windsor Castle, April 23, 
 1805. 
 
 t Melville.
 
 18 NOTES AND LETTERS REFERRING TO [1801-1806. 
 
 " shine ;" that he is the only honest man amongst them, 
 and the only public man with clean hands. " Our 
 master, our Colonel here," as they call him. 
 
 Ladij Hester Stanlio])e to W. D. Adams, Esq. 
 
 Sunday (Walmer Castle, 1805). 
 I was frightened to a degree when the messenger 
 arrived. I thought at first Mr. P. was ill, and when I 
 saw his handwriting, that he was out of office ; but w^as 
 delighted to find it was only papers he wanted. I hope 
 he found what he wanted, but they are in great con- 
 fusion. I wish you would ask him some day if he would 
 like me to bring any more to town when I come, for at 
 this moment perhaps it is difficult to say what are those 
 he may want. 
 
 Lady Hester Stanhope to W. D. Adams, Esq. 
 
 "Wednesday (Walmer Castle, 1805.) 
 Some persons write me Mr. P. looks well, others 
 that he does not ; I feel a constant anxiety about his 
 health, and fear that business without end must be too 
 much for him or any one else. It often, indeed, occurs 
 to me that you are likely to suffer from so Tnuch con- 
 finement. Let me give you one piece of advice, which 
 is, to attend to your meals as regularly as possible, even 
 if you sit up or rise the earlier for it to get through 
 business. I have often been told that half Mr. P.'s 
 complaints were originally brought on by fasting too 
 
 i
 
 1801-1806.] MK. PITT AND WALMER CASTLE. 19 
 
 long, and indeed only eating when he found it con- 
 venient, which ruined the tone of his stomach. 
 
 Ladij Hester Stanhope to W. D. Adams, Esq. 
 
 Hotel, Bognor, Sunday night 
 
 (last months of 1806 ?). 
 
 I feel I am like dear Mr. Pitt when I am in 
 
 the country, for I recollect hearing him say he never 
 
 saw a house, or cottage, or garden, he Uked, but he 
 
 immediately struck out improvements in his own mind. 
 
 I ONDOS ; PRINTED BT WILLIAM CLOWES A>T) SOXS, bTAMFOBD tTREKT, 
 AND CHAKING CKO^S.
 
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