PITT, William, the second son of the preceding, and his legitimate successor in talents and celebrity as a statesman and orator, was born on the 28th of May 1759. His father, having confided the care of his eldest and youngest sons to others, took William under his own inspection; and the rapid progress of the son cheered the solitude and brightened the declining days of this illustrious statesman. The school exercises of the youth were performed under the direction of a private tutor well qualified for the task assigned him; whilst his father, finding in him a capacity above his years, embraced every opportunity of conversing freely with him upon topics of interest, calculated to expand his mind and mature his judgment. It is even said that he also made him declaim from a chair or table; well knowing the importance of an easy, natural, and dignified elocution, which, in his own case, had helped to supply the deficiencies of fortune. The proficiency of the youth was such that, at the age of fourteen, he was found qualified for being sent to the university; and Cambridge was preferred to Oxford, from a decided opinion entertained by many, that the political doctrines inculcated at the former place were more liberal than those usually promulgated at the latter. He was accordingly entered at Pembroke Hall, where he was placed under the tuition of Dr Turner; whilst Dr Prettyman, afterwards Tomline, and successively bishop of Lincoln and of Winchester, officiated as his private instructor. During his residence at Cambridge, Mr Pitt was distinguished alike for the assiduity of his application, and the success that attended his efforts to acquire those branches of knowledge to which his studies were more particularly directed; nor have many young men of rank ever passed through the ordeal of an university, exposed to the contaminating influence of seductive example, with a higher character for morals, abilities, industry, and regularity. Here young Pitt took his bachelor's degree, and also that of master of arts, both in a creditable manner; and acquired a reputation for talents, diligence, and propriety of deportment, which proved eminently serviceable to him in after life. Being intended by his father for the bar and the senate, his education was regulated so as to embrace both these objects; and it is certain that his early acquisitions in various branches of knowledge must have far exceeded those of almost any of his contemporaries.
After quitting the university, he went to the Continent, and passed a short time at Rheims, the capital of Champagne. The death of his father, however, whilst he was only in his nineteenth year, could scarcely fail to throw a cloud over the prospects of the younger son; but the foundation of future distinction had been firmly laid, and it only remained for him to clear the path to eminence by his own exertions. He had already entered himself a student of Lincoln's Inn; and as soon as he came of age he was called to the bar, having received some favour on account of his degree. He made choice of the western circuit, and appeared in several causes as junior counsel; in which capacity, of course, he had few or no opportunities of distinguishing himself. The result of this short experiment, however, was thought sufficient to encourage him to pursue the career of the law, and rendered it almost certain that he would ultimately attain a high rank in his profession; but a seat in parliament, which he soon afterwards obtained, gave his ambition its proper direction, and placed him in the arena where he was best calculated to excel. At the general election in 1780, he had been induced to offer
himself as a candidate for the representation of the university of Cambridge; but finding that, from want of sufficient influence, he had no chance of success, he declined the contest, and in the following year was returned for the borough of Appleby, through the interest of Sir James Lowther, afterwards Earl of Lonsdale.
Pitt. This, be it observed, was during the period of most violent political opposition to the American war; which, it may be supposed, Mr Pitt regarded with hereditary aversion, and reprobated as one of the most disgraceful and ruinous contests in which the country could have engaged. He was also ardently attached to the cause of political reform, particularly in the representation of the people; which he conceived to be the best safeguard of constitutional liberty, and the only security against the recurrence of such wars as that which he so much deplored and condemned. On the 26th of February 1781, Mr Pitt made his first speech in the British senate. At the commencement of the session Mr Burke had brought forward his bill for effecting great retrenchments in the civil list; and it was in reference to this measure that Mr Pitt made his début in the House of Commons. The attention of the house was naturally fixed upon the son of the great Chatham; but in a few moments the regards of the audience were directed to him on his own account. Unembarrassed by the novelty of his position, and master alike of his feelings and his subject, he delivered himself with an ease and grace, a richness of expression, a closeness of argument, and a classical precision of language, which not only answered, but exceeded all the expectations that had been formed of him, and elicited great applause from both sides of the house. During the same and the subsequent session, he spoke several times, particularly in favour of parliamentary reform, of which, as we have just stated, he was a zealous advocate; and, from his talents as a public speaker, it soon became evident that he was destined to perform a prominent part upon the political stage.
But although, for the most part, he ostensibly went along with the party in opposition to Lord North, yet he had not formed any decided connection with them; and hence, when his lordship was driven from power, and a new administration formed, with the Marquis of Rockingham at its head, Mr Pitt's name was not included in the list. This cabinet, however, was of short endurance. Lord Rockingham died suddenly; and his death having occasioned a fatal difference as to the choice of a new head, the Earl of Shelburne, profiting by the circumstance, formed a junction with several members of the former cabinet, and having (in July 1782) been appointed first lord of the treasury, associated with himself Mr Pitt, who had just completed his twenty-third year, as chancellor of the exchequer. A general peace with America, and the powers in alliance with the Transatlantic republic, followed soon afterwards; but this having been made a ground of severe censure by a powerful opposition, a coalition was formed between Lord North and Mr Fox, and, in April 1783, the Shelburne administration was forced to give way to this extraordinary confederacy, which had in some measure dictated its own terms to the sovereign. During his continuance in office, Mr Pitt had found but little opportunity of distinguishing himself, except as an able defender of the measures of administration, and a vigorous assailant of the principles and conduct of his antagonists. But a circumstance soon occurred which constitutes an important era in his life, and not only proved the eventual cause of his return to office, but secured to him a degree of authority with the king, and of popularity with the nation, which has seldom fallen to the lot of any minister, and which he preserved with but little diminution till the close of his life.
The coalition ministry was, both in its formation and in its character, odious to the country at large. It was regarded
as an unprincipled combination for purposes purely selfish; in its formation all the old landmarks and distinctions of party had been thrown down; and as its composition was such as to afford no hopes of future benefit to the nation, its proceedings were watched with the jealous vigilance of suspicion and hatred. Whilst matters were in this state, Mr Fox introduced his bill for regulating the affairs of India. The leading provision of this famous project was to vest the whole management of Indian affairs in seven commissioners named in the bill, and to be appointed by the ministry; or, in other words, to transfer the whole patronage of India from the Crown and the Company, to the administration for the time being. In vain was it represented that this measure would prove alike advantageous to the Company and the nation; that it would introduce responsibility where there was none, or next to none; and that it would serve to prevent abuses, which were described as equally flagrant and notorious. The public generally considered it as trenching too much upon the prerogative, as creating a mass of ministerial influence which would be irresistible, and as rendering the ministry too strong for the crown. In opposing it, therefore, Mr Pitt had rather to follow than to lead public opinion, to obey the impulse already given, than to endeavour to excite and stimulate opposition; and this he did with so much skill and ability, that although the bill passed the House of Commons, it was thrown out in the Lords. This defeat decided the fate of the coalition ministry. For although it were true, as the partisans of the ministers alleged, that the rejection of the bill had been caused by secret intrigue and undue influence, this made no difference in regard to public opinion, which was decidedly adverse to the measure; and hence the country was not disposed to find fault with the means by which the end desired had been obtained. The ministry therefore resigned, and in the new arrangement Mr Pitt was made first lord of the treasury and chancellor of the exchequer.
Having thus become prime minister at the early age of twenty-four, Mr Pitt's appearance in that high and difficult station was greatly applauded by his friends, and at the same time ridiculed by his opponents, who represented it as the arrogant assumption of a stripling, indebted to accident or intrigue for a position from which he would be driven in a few months, perhaps even sooner. And at first it seemed by no means improbable that this prognostication would be fulfilled. In the House of Commons, the adherents of the coalition ministry were still so numerous, that, when Mr Pitt introduced his bill for the regulation of Indian affairs, it was rejected by a majority of eight (222 to 214); and in this state matters remained for some months. In the mean time several meetings were held by the leading men of both parties, and various projects of accommodation discussed; but Mr Pitt's previous resignation being demanded as a conditio sine qua non, all these attempts failed. Resolved to stand by the sovereign who confided in, and the people who supported him, Mr Pitt now took a step, the very boldness of which, perhaps, conduced to his success, we mean, dissolving parliament. This took place in March 1784, and was speedily followed by a general election, in which thirty coalitionists, including some of the leading men of the party, lost their seats; so that the minister was enabled to meet the new parliament with a decided majority, and an opposition more weakened in talent than in numbers. His India bill, which the last parliament had thrown out, was now re-introduced and passed; an addition was made to the window-tax, in order to supply the deficiency occasioned by a reduction of the principal duties upon tea; and various plans were proposed for the more effectual prevention of smuggling.
At this period, indeed, the grand object of Mr Pitt's ambition seems to have been, to acquire the reputation of
an able and successful minister of finance. In 1786, he brought in and carried through a bill for establishing his famous sinking fund, upon a plan which, it seems, had been suggested to him by Dr Richard Price, and which, as modified in the bill, was long regarded by his friends and partisans as the ne plus ultra of financial skill and ingenuity. But all this ignorant admiration was at length dissipated by the masterly work of Dr Hamilton; and even Lord Grenville, the friend and colleague of Mr Pitt, found himself constrained to admit, in a pamphlet which he published on the subject, after his retirement from public life, that the whole scheme was bottomed upon delusion. In the year 1787, Mr Pitt concluded a commercial treaty with France; and amongst the subsequent measures in which he was personally concerned, may be mentioned his accession to the impeachment of Warren Hastings, his opposing the repeal of the corporation and test acts, his interference in behalf of the stadtholder, the affair of Oczakow, and the dispute with Spain respecting the fur-trade at Nootka Sound, several of which were extremely unpopular.
But the most important epoch of Mr Pitt's political life was now approaching. His reforming and patriotic zeal had already been sensibly cooled. Instead of seeking to strengthen himself in the affections of the people, he began to think only of establishing himself firmly in the favour of the court; and, whilst pursuing this object, a circumstance occurred which raised him to the summit of power, and enabled him, as prime minister, to exercise every function of his office without check or control. This was the illness of the king, which took place in the autumn of 1788, and incapacitated his majesty for the exercise of the royal functions. Parliament had been prorogued to the 20th of November; and as the sovereign, by whom alone it could be further prorogued, was not in a condition to exercise his prerogative, it became necessary that it should meet upon that day. A question of great nicety and delicacy now arose; namely, in whom the office of regent was to be vested. The Prince of Wales being then connected with the party in opposition, Mr Fox strenuously contended that the regency devolved upon him as a matter of course, without restriction or limitation; whilst Mr Pitt, on the other hand, maintained that it belonged to the two remaining branches of the legislature to fill up the office as they should judge proper, and impose such restrictions as they might deem necessary; at the same time admitting that, under actual circumstances, no other person than the prince could be thought of for the regency, thus limited by the two houses of parliament. The view of the prime minister prevailed, and a bill was in consequence passed, greatly restricting the power of the regent. But its provisions were soon rendered inoperative, by the convalescence of his majesty in the beginning of 1789. It is certain, however, that, upon recovering the use of his reason, the king greatly approved of the course which Mr Pitt had pursued; and the latter was in consequence established in power more firmly than ever. We may add, that on the recurrence of a similar visitation, with still more melancholy circumstances, the precedent of 1788-1789 served as a guide to the minister of the day, Mr Percival, and the Prince of Wales became regent, subject to restrictions analogous to those which had formerly been imposed by Mr Pitt.
The next great epoch in Mr Pitt's political life, and which, beyond all the preceding portions of his conduct, will determine his character as a statesman with posterity, was the French Revolution; taken in connection with the policy which the government of this country, under the sole guidance of Mr Pitt, pursued in reference to that mighty convulsion, and the astounding events to which it gave birth. But as Mr Pitt, considered individually, cannot be separated from the history of the long and sanguinary war with France, in which, principally through his
means, the country became involved; and as the most ample details, both of the policy of this country, and the strange vicissitudes of the contest, have already been given under the article BRITAIN, it is only necessary to refer the reader to that head for the fullest information on these points, as well as respecting the most important domestic events of Mr Pitt's long administration, the rebellion in Ireland, and the subsequent union of that country with Great Britain. Suffice it to say, that having held the reins of government for eighteen years, Mr Pitt, and all the members of his cabinet, retired from office in 1801. The French armies had been victorious all over the continent; Prussia had, at an early period, prudently withdrawn from the contest; Austria had been completely humbled; and a successful soldier, under the denomination of First Consul, had assumed the reins of government in France. All Mr Pitt's plans for humbling that country, and, as it were, rolling back the Revolution, had most signally failed; the cry for peace was now become general; and a breathing-time, at least, had become indispensably necessary. But it was left to Mr Addington to make the experiment, and, under his auspices, the treaty of Amiens was concluded with the French government.
But, as every reflecting person had foreseen, this armistice (for it was nothing more) proved of short duration. The war broke out again in the year 1803; and Mr Pitt, having gradually withdrawn his support from the Addington administration, it fell to pieces from its own inherent fragility. In 1804, Mr Pitt, having resumed the reins of government, exerted all his ability to give a successful turn to the contest, and organized a new coalition against France. But the thunder-stroke of Austerlitz blasted all his hopes, again placed Austria at the feet of the conqueror, and left Prussia exposed to that vengeance which soon afterwards descended upon her as a just retribution for her treachery. The prime minister was at this time in a state of health ill calculated to bear up under such a blow. A gouty habit, the predisposing causes of which appear to have been hereditary, and a too liberal use of wine as part of his ordinary regimen, undermined a constitution which had never been very robust; and these, added to the cares and anxieties of office, at a period of so great excitement, brought on a premature exhaustion of the vital powers. In December 1805 he went to Bath; but the change afforded him no permanent relief. On the 11th of January 1806, he returned to his seat at Putney, much debilitated, and there lingered on till the 23d of the same month, when he expired, in the forty-seventh year of his age. A public funeral was decreed to him by parliament, and forty thousand pounds were voted to discharge those debts which he was said to have incurred in the service of the state.
Though Mr Pitt possessed no particular advantages of person or of physiognomy, yet as a speaker he was considered by many as of surpassing eminence. Happy in the choice of his words, judicious in the arrangement of his subject, and gifted with a natural flow of eloquence, his wonderful powers were acknowledged even by those who dissented from his doctrines, and remained unmoved by his arguments. When employed in a good cause, he was irresistible; in defending a bad one, he could dazzle the judgment, mislead the imagination, and seduce the heart, even when he could not overcome the understanding. In statement or exposition he was clear, perspicuous, and singularly adroit, not to say artful; in sarcasm and invective he was tremendous. But although ambition and the love of power were his ruling passions, his mind was elevated above the meanness of avarice; his personal integrity remained unimpeached; and though he died involved in debts, these are to be ascribed to negligence, and the demands of his
public station, rather than to extravagance, or any fondness for splendour and parade. Though his manner, in his public deportment, was distant and reserved, not to say haughty, yet few men were ever more successful in fixing the attachment of their private and personal friends. By all those who shared his intimacy he seems to have been esteemed and beloved. "They saw the all-powerful energies of his character," says Mr Rose, "softened into the most perfect complacency and sweetness of disposition in the circles of private life, the pleasures of which no one more cheerfully enjoyed, or more agreeably promoted, when the paramount duties which he conceived himself to owe to the public admitted of his mixing in them. That indignant severity with which he met and subdued what he considered unfounded opposition, that keenness of sarcasm with which he expelled and withered, as it might be said, the powers of most of his assailants in debate, were exchanged, in the society of his intimate friends, for a kindness of heart, a gentleness of demeanour, and a playfulness of good humour, which no one ever witnessed without interest, or participated without delight." Mr Wilberforce, who knew him intimately, entertained the same opinion of his social qualities, when he moved in the circle of his particular friends. "Though less formed for general popularity than Fox," says he, "Pitt, when free from shyness, and amongst his intimate companions, was the very soul of merriment and conversation. He was the wittiest man I ever knew, and, what was quite peculiar to himself, he had at all times his wit under entire control. Others appeared struck by the unwonted association of brilliant images; but every possible combination of ideas seemed always present to his mind, and he could at once produce whatever he desired. I was one of those who met to spend an evening in memory of Shakespeare, at the Boar's Head, East Cheape. Many professed wits were present, but Pitt was the most amusing of the party, and the readiest and most apt in the required allusions."
This, it will be observed, applies to an early period of his career, when his faculties were in all the freshness and vigour of youth. But from other accounts we learn, that amidst all the anxieties and disappointments of his public life, he retained to the last the reputation of being a most amiable companion in the circle of his private friends. The Marquis of Wellesley's character of him, which we subjoin, is perhaps a little overdrawn, and has something of a controversial character about it, having been written in refutation of certain statements of Sir Nathaniel Wraxall, who, amongst other things, had said that "Pitt's manners were stiff, retired, and without unction or grace;" but, making every allowance for the partialities of friendship, considerable weight must be given to the deliberate estimate of one who, himself a great statesman, an elegant scholar, and an accomplished man, enjoyed the best opportunities of appreciating the character and attainments of his friend.
"In attempting to convey to you my recollection of Mr Pitt's character in private society," says his lordship, "I cannot separate those qualities which raised him to the highest public eminence from those which rendered him a most amiable companion. Both proceeded from the same origin, and both were happily blended in the noble structure of his temper and disposition.
"Mr Pitt's mind was naturally inaccessible to any approach of dark, or low, or ignoble passion. His commanding genius and magnanimous spirit were destined to move in a region far above the reach of those jealousies, and suspicions, and animosities, which disturb the course of ordinary life. Under the eye of his illustrious father he had received that complete and generous education which fits a man to perform justly, skilfully, and magnanimously,
Pitt. all the offices, both private and public, of peace and war. Such an education, acting on such a natural disposition, not only qualified him to adorn the most elevated stations in the counsels of his country, but furnished him with abundant resources to sustain the tranquillity and cheerfulness of his mind.
"He had received regular and systematic instruction in the principles of the Christian religion, and in the doctrine and discipline of the Church of England, and in every branch of general ecclesiastical history. His knowledge in those subjects was accurate and extensive. He was completely armed against all sceptical assaults, as well as against all fanatical illusion; and, in truth, he was not merely a faithful and dutiful, but a learned member of our established church; to which he was most sincerely attached, with the most charitable indulgence for all dissenting sects. No doubt can exist in any rational mind that this early and firm settlement of his religious opinions and principles was a main cause of that cheerful equanimity which formed the great characteristic of his social intercourse, and which was never affected by adversities nor troubles.
"He was perfectly accomplished in classical literature, both Latin and Greek. The accuracy and strength of his memory surpassed every example which I have observed; but the intrinsic vigour of his understanding carried him far beyond the mere recollection of the great models of antiquity in oratory, poetry, history, and philosophy; he had drawn their essence into his own thoughts and language; and, with astonishing facility, he applied the whole spirit of ancient learning to his daily use.
"Those studies were his constant delight and resort; at Holwood, in Kent (his favourite residence), and at Walmer Castle, his apartments were strewed with Latin and Greek classics; and his conversation with those friends who delighted in similar studies frequently turned on that most attractive branch of literature; but he was so adverse to pedantry or affectation of superior knowledge, that he carefully abstained from such topics in the presence of those who could not take pleasure in them. In these pursuits his constant and congenial companion was Lord Grenville, who has often declared to me that Mr Pitt was the best Greek scholar he ever conversed with. Mr Pitt was also as complete a master of all English literature as he was undoubtedly of the English language. I have dwelt on this branch of Mr Pitt's accomplishments because I know not any source from which more salutary assistance can be derived, to chase from the spirits those clouds and vapours which infest vacant minds, and, by self-weariness, render retirement melancholy and intolerable.
"But Mr Pitt amply possessed every resource which could enliven retirement. No person had a more exquisite sense of the beauties of the country. He took the greatest delight in his residence at Holwood, which he enlarged and improved (it may be truly said) with his own hands. Often have I seen him working in his woods and gardens with his labourers for whole days together, undergoing considerable bodily fatigue, and with so much eagerness and assiduity, that you would suppose the cultivation of his villa to be the principal occupation of his life.
"He was very fond of exercise on horseback, and when in the country frequently joined the hounds of his neighbourhood, both at Holwood and Walmer Castle.
"At the latter place he lived most hospitably, entertaining all his neighbours, as well as the officers of the neighbouring garrisons, and of the ships in the Downs; and he was most attentive to his duties of lord warden of the cinque ports, which called him frequently to Dover, and sometimes to the other ports.
"But in all places, and at all times, his constant delight was society. There he shone with a degree of calm and steady lustre which often astonished me more than
his most splendid efforts in parliament. His manners were perfectly plain, without any affectation; not only was he without presumption or arrogance, or any air of authority, but he seemed utterly unconscious of his own superiority, and much more disposed to listen than to talk. He never betrayed any symptom of anxiety to usurp the lead or to display his own powers, but rather inclined to draw forth others, and to take merely an equal share in the general conversation: then he plunged heedlessly into the mirth of the hour, with no more care than to promote the general good humour and happiness of the company. His wit was quick and ready, but it was rather lively than sharp, and never envenomed with the least taint of malignity; so that, instead of exciting admiration or terror, it was an additional ingredient in the common enjoyment. He was endowed, beyond any man of his time whom I knew, with a gay heart and a social spirit. With these qualities he was the life and soul of his own society. His appearance dispelled all care; his brow was never clouded, even in the severest public trials; and joy, and hope, and confidence beamed from his countenance in every crisis of difficulty and danger.
"He was a most affectionate, indulgent, and benevolent friend, and so easy of access, that all his acquaintance, in any embarrassment, would rather resort to him for advice than to any person who might be supposed to have more leisure. His heart was always at leisure to receive the communications of his friends, and always open to give the best advice in the most gentle and pleasant manner.
"It is a melancholy but a grateful task to pay this tribute to the memory of my departed friend. 'Aut me amor negotii suscepti fallit,' or the character which I have endeavoured to draw is not less just and true than it is amiable and excellent; and I cannot resist the conclusion, that a pure and clear conscience must have been the original source of such uniform cheerfulness and gaiety of spirit. The truth which I have asserted I possessed ample means of knowing. From the year 1783 to 1797 I lived in habits of the most confidential friendship with Mr Pitt.
"In the year 1797 I was appointed governor-general of India, and in the month of September in that year I went to Walmer Castle to meet Mr Pitt and Mr Dundas, and to receive my last instructions. I found Mr Pitt in the highest spirits, entertaining officers and country gentlemen with his usual hospitality. Amongst others, Admiral Duncan was his constant and favourite guest. His fleet was then in the Downs, preparing for the memorable victory of Camperdown. The admiral was a lively and jovial companion, and seemed to be quite delighted with Mr Pitt's society. I embarked for India early in the month of November 1797, and I returned to England in January 1806.
"Not wishing to state any thing beyond my own personal knowledge, I will not attempt to relate the history of Mr Pitt's social habits during the period of my absence; but I cannot believe that, during that time, the whole frame of his magnificent mind had been so broken and disjointed, that he could not endure the temporary loss of power, nor reconcile himself to that retirement, and to those recreations, which were his relief from the labour of official business, and his consolation in the hour of political solicitude and care. But I know that the first summer after his resignation was passed with Mr Addington at Wimbledon, and that soon afterwards Mr Pitt was closely occupied at Walmer Castle in forming a corps of volunteer cavalry, living with his officers, and passing the greater part of his time on horseback, under the firm expectation of a French invasion. This does not well agree with the story which represents him wrapped in sullen seclusion, sunk in despondency, shunning all society, and
Pitt. yet unable to relieve the gloom of solitude by any mental resource.
"On my arrival in England in January 1806, Mr Pitt was at Bath; I wrote to him, and I received from him a very kind invitation to meet him at Putney Hill. I met him accordingly, in the second week in January, and I was received by him with his usual kindness and good humour. His spirits appeared to be as high as I had ever seen them, and his understanding quite as vigorous and clear.
"Amongst other topics, he told me, with great kindness and feeling, that, since he had seen me, he had been happy to become acquainted with my brother Arthur, of whom he spoke in the warmest terms of commendation. He said, 'I never met any military officer with whom it was so satisfactory to converse. He states every difficulty before he undertakes any service, but none after he has undertaken it.'
"But notwithstanding Mr Pitt's kindness and cheerfulness, I saw that the hand of death was fixed upon him. This melancholy truth was not known nor believed by either his friends or opponents. In the number of the latter, to my deep affliction, I found my highly respected and esteemed friend Lord Grenville, and I collected that measures of the utmost hostility to Mr Pitt were to be proposed in both houses at the meeting of parliament. I warned Lord Grenville of Mr Pitt's approaching death. He received the fatal intelligence with the utmost feeling, in an agony of tears, and immediately determined that all hostility in parliament should be suspended. Mr Pitt's death soon followed."
In a character of Lord Chatham,1 lately published, and which is generally ascribed to Lord Brougham, that great orator and powerful writer thus contrasts the elder and younger Pitt as public men and ministers:
"The true test of a great man,—that at least which must determine his place among the highest order of great men,—is his having been in advance of his age. This it is which decides whether or not he has carried forward the grand plan of human improvement, has conformed his views, and adapted his conduct, to the existing circumstances of society, or changed those so as to better its condition; has been one of the lights of the world, or only reflected the borrowed rays of former luminaries, and sat in the same shade at the same twilight or the same dawn with the rest of his generation. Tried by this test, the younger Pitt cannot certainly be said to have lived before his time, or shed upon the age to which he belonged the illumination of a more advanced civilization and more inspired philosophy. He came far too early into public life, and was too suddenly plunged into the pool of office, to give him time for the study and the reflection which can alone open to any mind, how vigorous soever be its natural constitution, the views of a deep and original wisdom. Accordingly, it would be difficult to glean, from all his measures and all his speeches, any thing like the fruits of inventive genius; or to mark any token of his mind having gone before the very ordinary routine of the day, as if familiar with any ideas that did not pass through the most vulgar understandings. His father's intellect was of a higher order."
Lord Brougham's opinion of the oratory of the younger Pitt is recorded in the conclusion of the following passage:
"Some have compared Mr Fox's eloquence to that of Demosthenes; but it resembled Lord Chatham's just as much, if not more. It was incomparably more argumentative than either the Greek or the English orator's, neither of whom carried on chains of close reasoning as he did, though both kept close to their subject. It was, however, exceedingly the reverse of the Attic oration, either in method, in diction, or in conciseness. It had nothing like arrangement of any kind. Except in the more vehement passages, its diction was perhaps as slovenly, certainly as careless, as possible,—betokening indeed a contempt of all accurate composition. It was diffuse in the highest degree, and abounded in repetitions. While the Greek was concise, almost to being jejune, the Englishman was diffuse, almost to being prolix. How the notion of comparing the two together ever could have prevailed, seems unaccountable, unless it be that men have supposed them alike because they were both vehement, and both kept the subject in view rather than run after ornament. But that the most elaborate and artificial compositions in the world should have been likened to the most careless, and natural, and unprepared that ever were delivered in public, would seem wholly incredible if it were not true. The bursts of Mr Fox, however, though less tersely and concisely composed, certainly have some resemblance to Lord Chatham's,—only that they betray far less fancy,—and, however vehement and fiery, are incomparably less bold. Mr Pitt's oratory, though admirably suited to its purpose, and as perfect a business kind of speaking as ever was heard, certainly resembled none of the three others who have been named. In point of genius, unless perhaps for sarcasm, he was greatly their inferior; although, from the unbroken fluency of his appropriate language, and the power of a most sonorous voice, he produced the most prodigious effect." (A.)
PITT'S ISLAND, a small mountainous island in the South Pacific Ocean, covered with wood. Long. 193.14. E. Lat. 11. 50. S.
PITT'S STRAITS, in the Eastern Seas, separate the islands of Salvatty and Battanta, at the western extremity of Papua or New Guinea, and extend from west-south-west to east-south-east about thirty miles, being about six in average breadth. No bottom is found in the middle with seventy-five fathoms of line.