HAYES PLACE, KENT.

Lord Chatham had, from various causes, several places of residence, during his long life. The locality of his birth was St. James's, Westminster: his father resided at Stratford House, Old Sarum; and succeeded to Boconnoc, in Cornwall. Our attention is so strongly concentrated upon the public career of the great statesman that many details of his private life have been missed by his biographers. His ill-health, doubtless, led to frequent change of air, as his many visits to Stowe and Bath prove. He did not acquire Burton-Pynsent until his 59th year. His attention to his official duties led to his residence in the environs of the metropolis. He lived, for a short time, when a commoner, at South Lodge, on Enfield Chase, stated in the Ambulator, 12th edit., 1820, to have been left to him by will, with 10,000l.: "on this bequest, he observed, that he should spend that sum in improvements, and then grow tired of the place in three or four years;' nor was he mistaken." At a much later period he sojourned at North End, Hampstead. His favourite residence was, however, Hayes Place, a small villa and park, in a picturesque district of Kent, where a succession of woodland scenery and rural landscapes never fails to remind the tourist that he is in one of the most beautiful portions of England.

It is difficult to state, precisely, in what year Mr. Pitt first became possessed of this property, which for nearly a quarter of a century is constantly associated with his name. Thus, Walpole styles him "the oracle at Hayes;" he is “laid up with the gout at Hayes;" royalty and cabinet ministers, and plain, unadorned Benjamin Franklin,-alike visited the great statesman at Hayes; and here-"last of all comes death"-here Chatham died.

Hasted, the historian of Kent, tells us that Hayes Place, formerly a seat of the Scotts, was purchased of the Harrisons by Mr. Pitt, in the year 1757, which is probably incorrect, since Pitt's eldest son, John, afterwards second Earl of Chatham,

was born here Oct. 10, 1756, when Pitt writes to his Nephew, Thomas Pitt, Esq.: "I have the pleasure to acquaint you. with the glad tidings of Hayes. Lady Hester was safely delivered this morning of a son." We find this in the Chatham Correspondence, vol. i., where is also a letter somewhat earlier in the same year, May 11. In all probability, Mr. Pitt's possession of the property dates from his marriage in 1754.

Hayes Place adjoins the church of the village of Hayes, to which a lane leads at about half-a-mile from Bromley, on the road to Sevenoaks. Mr. Pitt's original purchase consisted only of the old mansion, which he pulled down, and a few acres of land. He rebuilt the house, and considerably added to the grounds. These improvements were made with skill, for Pitt possessed much natural taste in landscape gardening. At Hayes, in 1759, was born the great statesman's not less illustrious son, William Pitt.* In 1766, Mr. Pitt sold the place to the Hon. Thomas Walpole, who had the house cased with white brick; it is, however, still a building of no great beauty or pretence. In the following year, Lord Chatham became greatly desirous of returning to Hayes. Here General Wolfe dined on the evening before he left England for Quebec; as related at page 33. After his resignation, in 1761, Pitt gave up his house in St. James's-square, and resolved to live altogether at Hayes. He liked the bracing Kentish air better than the more stately Burton-Pynsent; and at Hayes, "in former years he had made improvements which his memory fondly recalled: plantations, for example, pursued with so much ardour and eagerness, that they were not even interrupted at nightfall, but were continued by torchlight, and with relays of labourers." (Lord Mahon's Hist. England, vol. v. p. 253.) The belts thus planted are pointed out to this day at Hayes. Mr. Walpole was reluctant to part with the property, but being pressed by Lady Chatham, he consented; the estate was accordingly re-conveyed to Lord Chatham; and it continued his favourite residence for the

*He resided, for some years, at Holwood Hill, a beautiful eminence, amidst fine forest scenery, in the adjoining parish.

remainder of his life. The house is placed in a park, which though not extensive, is pleasant; and is varied by a stream passing through it to join the Ravensbourne. The church of Hayes, which adjoins the park, has lately been enlarged: it has no attraction architecturally; but all who reverence Chatham's memory will be interested to know that in the chancel are hung the banners which were borne at his public funeral.*

Lord Chatham possessed a congenial friend at Wickham Court, near Hayes: in this manor-house lived Gilbert West, the translator of Pindar. Here, Dr. Johnson says, West" was very often visited by Lyttelton and Pitt, who, when they were weary of faction and debates, used, at Wickham, to find books and quiet, a decent table, and literary conversation." It was in West's society, at Wickham, that Lord Lyttelton was convinced of the truth of Christianity; and under that conviction wrote his celebrated Dissertation on the Conversion and Apostleship of St. Paul. Lord Chatham, during his intimacy with West, formed a walk at Wickham Court; and on a summer-house in the grounds, West inscribed the following lines, in imitation of Ausonius, "Ad Villam :"

Not wrapt in smoky London's sulphurous clouds,
And not far distant stands my rural cot;

Neither obnoxious to intruding crowds,
Nor for the good and friendly too remote.

And when too much repose brings on the spleen,
Or the gay city's idle pleasures cloy,
Swift as my changing wish I change the scene,

And now the country, now the town, enjoy.

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* In 1833 there was living on Hayes Common, in his 92nd year, in a cottage which he had occupied fifty-seven years, one John Mumford, who in manhood had lived as coachman to Lord Chatham. He remembered his lordship riding about Hayes on a small pony; and the old man characterized Chatham's favourite pursuit as taking up and re-planting trees:" "he was a tall, gouty man, and generally wore a great coat; he had a particular dislike to be stared at, and when he saw any person approach, would often turn down the first lane or bye-way." The old man remembered Lord Chatham's three sons when lads, and that they were fond of frequenting the stables at Hayes Place, and conversing about horses.