The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1910-12-04
LORD CHATHAM's EARLY YEARS.

This is a monumental work, which
perhaps says the last word about the
great English Commoncr for long
timo to come, AS is justly said, "What-
over Lord Roscbery touches, he illumi-
nates.' In completing this tino work,
be has given TO the world what Is be
lievcd to be the greatest of all his
works. biography OF the illus,rious
Englishp,an who WINS the special friend
of America at the time OF the Eevo.
luton. and who was so ruundiy hated
hY King George. In u N3Y this Is q
desultory sort OF work. lcadiug in and
out. touching upon continental politics,
and continental wars, jumping from
private and family affairs to public
affairs, and all woven in in such Il way
that no man can put his finger on any
thing and say this could have been
left out to advantage. II is a work of
great painstalipg care. aud il embraces
considerable quantity of material
hitherto unused.
The work does not undertake. 10 give
complete biography of Lord Chat
ham, the great Pitt of English politics,
hut il treats as fully aa possible of
the comparatively obscure period of
William Pitt s youth and carly man
bood the volume ending with his nc
cesaiou to the nominal sccretaTyship of
state and the virtual position Of pre-
micr in S56. Naturally. tho personal
note is dominant throughout, and the
personality of Pitt is compared Ill
along the line with that of those who
were his superiors i'll official position
or in social rank much TO the disad
vantage of those who are compared
With him and who undertook 10 keep
HIM down. The effort is 10 present the
man rather than Pitt. the lord or as
thc prc-emiuent statesman that he
Chn Ii, ,.p1f 81 late
'fhe whole family of the Pitts is
brought forward Tor intimate acauaiDt
snce, beginning with the picturesque
figure of ''The Governor the old East
India frccbooting merchant, able,
broadmindcd, irascible in temper and
noteworthy in his possession of tho IA
nous Pitt diamond, smuggIcd into Eng
land In tho heel of bis son 5 shoe. Will
liam Pitts elder brother, the upcou-
trollablc Thomas, and his FIVE sisters.
also Giraffe and uncomfortable. with
particnlur mention Of Betty and Auu-
all this makes i remarkable gallery
Of portraits all closely related 10 the
great Pitt and all having more or less
influence over him and naturally he
over them. A large number of letters
of personal and confidential nature
arc carried in this book
Tlis is work of great Importance.
and the light IL sheds upon others than
Pitt is hardly less than the fierce light
that II sheds upon Pitt himself, Cum
bcrlan1, the incompetent butcher. the
Walpolcs, Sarah. Duchess Of Marlbor-
ough Frederick the Great, Maria
I'hercsa, Marsha SAKE, King George IT,,
Lcuis XIV. the Huuovcrian leeches.
Fox. Erskiuc, GreuvilIe, iIardwickc,
and all The brilliant array of polili
Clans, literary men. mobiles, and rulers
of the time are hcrc depicted some
times with a dash OF the pen, some
times in detail.
Lord Rosebery says in his preface
That tho life of Chatham is extreme
" difficult 10 write. and ,>strictly speak
ing. never can be written at all,'' and
he explains the statement bv saying
that the task is difficult because of the
artificial atmosphere in which be
thought we'll TO cuvelop himself, and
because the rare gHmpscs which arc OBJ
taiuable of the real man reveal "a ma
turc so complex. So violent. and so re-
pressed. He WAS born of turbulent
stock, was crippled by gout ut Etou
and Oxford, then launched into a cav
airy regiment and then into Faria-
ncnt. For eight years he was groom
10 Prince Frederick, then held in a
subordinate position for nine years
more Then he suddenly flashes OUT
not as royal attendant or d minor
piIccm1D. but as the people IS darling
aud the champion Of the country. In
obscure positions he has become the
first man in Britain, which he then
rules absolutely for four Years s.in a
blaze Of triumph. Then he was sacri.
need TO an intrigue. but remained the
supreme statesman Of bis country for
hve years more. Then he became prime
minister amid general acclaim ''but i'm
au instant be skaters his own power
and retlres. dIstcmpered if not mad
INTO cell. AZ last he divcsts him
seit of oh1ce, recovers his reason, lives
for nine years more. a lonely, sublime
figure. an incalculable force to the last
He dies practically in public as he
would have wished, and the nation
hoping against hope, pins its faith in
INN TO tho hour of death. - For most
or tho time ''hs associations were ip-
noble, If not humiEating. He had TO
herd with political iobbcrs; he had to
serve intriguing kinsfolk; be had TO
erlnge TO unworthy kings and the mis-
tresses OF kings: ho is 5outed aud in
suited by a puppet Wing like Rocking
nam. Despite all this he beoueaths the
most lliustrlops Damo in our political
history; and it is the arduous task of
ms biograpber TO show how these cir
cumstances led to this resuit.D And
the author OF this volume continues
Further, 1t may be said that not mere
ly is the complete life OF Chatham diff.
hcult TO write, but impossible. 1T is
safe. indeed. 10 assert that il never
has been written and never can be
writton. a saying surely that is far
from complimentary 20 those who havo
heretofore given us what arc alleged
10 be lives Of Chatham. Hut Lord
fosebery claims that ''the fact is that
the materials do not exist'' for writino
biography Of Chatham. But surely
the author of this worl; has done to
The full all that could he expected with.
IN the field that nc covers. and tho vol.
umc is one that viii be sought for in
every library among English speaking
peoples.