The following letter would seem to indicate that William was spending the Long Vacation at Oxford, while his mother as usual was spending hers at Bath. He appears to hint disapproval of an acquaintance she wished him to make, reversing the usual position of parent and son on such matters. There is again reproachful allusion to his brother; there are few indeed in any other tone throughout William's correspondence. WILLIAM PITT TO HIS MOTHER, 'AT BATH.' _Oxon Septr ye 17th 1727._ Hon'ed Madm,--I rec'd ye favour of yrs by Mr Mayo and have waited on Mr Vesey as you order'd, with whom, had you not recommended him to me upon ye knowledge you have of his family, I should not have sought an acquaintance. I hope you will lett me hear soon yr intentions. If I am not to be happy in seeing you hear, ye certainty of it can not be more uneasy than the apprehension; if I am, I shall gain so much happiness, by ye foreknowledge of it. What part of ye world my Brother is in or when he will be in Town, I know not. I hope to hear from him between this and ye Coronation. The only consideration yt can make me give up quietly ye pleasure I promis'd myself in seeing you here, is yt you are employ'd in a more important care to yrself and Family, ye preservation of yr health. I have only to add my Love to my Sister and am with all respect, Yr most dutifull son WM. PITT. The gout, we have seen, drove William prematurely from Oxford, after a little more than a year of residence. Thence he proceeded to Utrecht, where it was then not unusual for young Englishmen and Scotsmen to complete their education. Here we find him in 1728 with his cousin Lord Villiers and Lord Buchan, father of the grotesque egotist of that name and of Henry and Thomas Erskine. Pitt writes in 1766 that Buchan was his intimate friend from the period that they were students together at Utrecht, and, when in office, he showed kindness on that ground to Lord Cardross, Buchan's eldest son, the egotist himself. Of this period some few letters to his mother survive, dutiful yet playful. The first letter is of the formal kind then general between sons and parents, mentioning his cousin Lord Villiers, for whom he puts in a good word, not unnecessarily, as we shall see presently. WILLIAM PITT TO HIS MOTHER. _Utrecht, Febry ye 6th N.S. 1728._