The minister, Mr. Pitt, cool as he was on many iniquitous subjects, could not avoid feeling pangs of remorse at the continual impositions he was _compelled_ by the queen to make (in various shapes) upon the people. His unbending pride, however, would not permit him to name his uneasiness to her majesty, as he well knew her inflexible temper and disposition would not permit her to receive _any opinion_ in preference to her own. He soon resigned his earthly vexation upon this point, as he became so indisposed as not to be able to attend his political affairs, and was obliged to seek for repose in retirement from active life. At the commencement of the year 1806, parliament was opened by commission; but the usual address was omitted, on account of the absence of the minister, who, as before stated, was then seriously indisposed. On the 23rd of January, Mr. Pitt expired, in the forty-seventh year of his age. He was said to have died insolvent. Be this as it may, forty thousand pounds were voted as a plea to discharge his debts, as well as means to defray the expenses of his funeral! Probably this was the best laid-out money of the ministry for some time past. If the occasion had occurred twenty years before, what an immense saving it had produced the country! The public life of Mr. Pitt will afford no room for praise to the faithful and just historian. When the errors and praises of his biographers shall have lost their force, future generations will behold his character in its native colours. He must then appear either in the light of an ungrateful hypocrite, or submit to the only alternative of being reckoned a man of contracted mind. Even in private life, he was not more amiable nor exemplary. The ministerial system which he had laid down pervaded the internal economy of all his actions. He appeared to imagine true dignity consisted in a coolness and reserve, (probably acquired from his queen) that banished every suitor from his presence; nor did he ever suffer a case of distress, however just or pressing the claims might be, to divert him from the routine of office, or to extort the least relief or comfort from himself. Negligent and careless in his domestic concerns, he never permitted a single ray of generosity to burst forth to animate the general frost of his character. He retained his natural sullenness and reserve; even in the best moments of convivial mirth, he never displayed a flexibility of disposition, or an openness to conviction. Often as he was obliged to submit to the decrees of necessity, whereon he imagined his continuance in office depended, yet he never had the candour to acknowledge the weakness of any measure, originating in himself, that brought on that necessity. But what a departure was this from the principles of his illustrious ancestor, the Earl of Chatham, who would never crouch to the authority of any sovereign or cabinet, when militating against his own more enlightened judgment.