[429] "Mems. of Sir John Sinclair," ii, 60-4, 104; Sinclair, "Address ... on the Cultivation of Waste Lands (1795)"; "Observations on ... a Bill for facilitating the Division of Commons." He first urged this on Pitt on 10th January 1795 (Pitt MSS., 175). [430] Pitt MSS., 178. [431] "Corresp. of Sir John Sinclair," i, 124. [432] Pitt MSS., 193. Sinclair raised two corps of Fencibles. The list of his works, pamphlets, etc., fills thirty-two pages at the end of his Memoirs. [433] "Mems. of Sir John Sinclair," ii, 106-9. [434] "Pitt and Napoleon Miscellanies." [435] "Lord Colchester's Diary," i, 82. CHAPTER XIV THE YEARS OF STRAIN (1796-7) Torn as we are by faction, without an army, without money, trusting entirely to a navy whom we may not be able to pay, and on whose loyalty, even if we can, no firm reliance is to be placed, how are we to get out of this cursed war without a Revolution?--CORNWALLIS TO ROSS, _15th December 1797_. The year 1797, which opened with events portending the overthrow of Austria and the financial collapse of England, brought a passing gleam of sunshine into the gray life of Pitt. For some time he had been a frequent visitor at Eden Farm, Beckenham, the seat of Lord Auckland. It was on the way to Holwood, and the cheerful society of that large family afforded a relief from cares of state not to be found in his bachelor household. His circle of friends, never large, had somewhat diminished with the wear and tear of politics. His affection for Wilberforce, perhaps, had not quite regained its former fervour. As for the vinous society of Dundas, a valuable colleague but a far from ideal companion, Pitt must in his better moments have held it cheap. He rarely saw his mother, far away in Somerset; and probably his relations to his brother had cooled since he removed him from the Admiralty. In truth, despite his loving disposition, Pitt was a lonely man.