puny sound. Nations that are beaten cannot be mistaken' (Letters, vii. 76-7). On the other hand, it must be said that Chatham was too fond of war, and was indifferent alike to the misery it caused and the cost which it entailed.
Though Chatham's character is absolutely free from suspicion of corruption, no statesman ever exhibited greater inconsistencies during his political career. Pride rather than principle seems to have actuated his conduct on more than one occasion. He consulted no judgment but his own. His haughtiness to his colleagues was only equalled by his abject servility to the king. His vanity was excessive, and he delighted in pomp and ostentation. He was always playing a part : 'he was an actor in the closet, an actor at council, an actor in parliament ; and even in private society he could not lay aside his theatrical tones and attitudes' (Macaulay, Essays, 1852, ii. 148).
Owing to the absence of any regular and full reports of the parliamentary debates, only a few fragments of Chatham's actual speeches have been preserved — by Hugh Boyd [q. v.], Sir Philip Francis [q. v.], and others. His fame, therefore, as an orator rests almost entirely upon the evidence of contemporary writers as to the effects produced by his eloquence. All contemporary accounts concur in describing these effects to have been unparalleled, and, judged by this test, he must be ranked with the greatest orators of ancient or modern times. He spoke generally without premeditation, and his few prepared speeches appear to have been failures. His merit was chiefly rhetorical. He was neither witty nor pathetic. Little sustained or close argument figured in his speeches. He 'delighted in touching the moral chords, in appealing to strong passions, and in arguing questions on high grounds of principle rather than on grounds of detail' (Lecky, Hist. of England in the Eighteenth Century, ii. 469). His invective and sarcasm were simply terrific. In grace and dignity of gesture he was not inferior to Garrick. He possessed, moreover, every personal advantage that an orator could desire. His voice 'was both full and clear ; his lowest whisper was distinctly heard ; his middle tones were sweet, rich, and beautifully varied ; when he elevated his voice to its highest pitch, the house was completely filled with the volume of sound' (Butler, Reminiscences, 1824, i. 139-140). In the House of Commons his eloquence overbore both criticism and opposition; friends and foes alike listened in breathless silence to the words which fell from his lips. In the uncongenial atmosphere of the House of Lords he was less successful ; his impassioned style of oratory proved unsuitable for so small and frigid an assembly.
Chatham knew nothing of financial or commercial matters. He never applied himself steadily to any branch of knowledge, and was not even familiar with the rules of the House of Commons. He appears to have confined his reading to a small number of books, and, according to his sister, 'knew nothing accurately except Spenser's "Fairy Queen"' (Macaulay, Essays, iii. 547) Demosthenes, Bolingbroke, and Barrow seem to have been his favourite authors in the matter of style, and he is said to have read the contents of Bailey's 'Dictionary' twice through from beginning to end. Like Lord Granville, he was unable to write a common letter well, and Wilkes has called him with some truth 'the best orator and the worst letter-writer' of the age (Correspondence of John Wilkes, 1805, ii. 127), In private life his conduct was exemplary : 'it was stained by no vices nor sullied by any meanness' (Letters and Works of the Earl of Chesterfield, ii. 468).
Chatham's figure was tall and imposing, with the eyes of a hawk, a little head, a thin face, and a long aquiline nose. He was scrupulously exact in his dress, and was never seen on business without a full-dress coat and tie-wig. His deportment in society was extremely dignified, and he 'preserved all the manners of the vieille cour, with a degree of pedantry, however, in his conversation, especially when he affected levity' (Lord Edmond Fitzmaurice, Life of William, Earl of Shelburne, i. 76).
Monuments to Chatham, executed by John Bacon (1740-1799) [q. v.], were erected in Westminster Abbey and (with an inscription by Burke) in the Guildhall. The marble urn, with a medallion of Chatham by the same sculptor, placed by Lady Chatham in the grounds at Burton-Pynsent, was subsequently removed to Stowe, and is now in the garden of Revesby Abbey, Lincolnshire. There is a statue of Chatham by MacDowell in St. Stephen's Hall, Westminster. Statues were also erected in New York and in Charlestown in acknowledgment of his services in promoting the repeal of the Stamp Act (see Magazine of American History, vii. 67, viii. 214-20). A portrait of Chatham, by Richard Brompton, at Chevening, was presented by Chatham in 1772 to Philip, second earl Stanhope. A replica is in the National Portrait Gallery. It has been engraved by J. K. Sherwin and Edward Fisher. Another portrait, by William Hoare, belongs
