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MTEMOIilS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 LIFE 
 
 OF 
 
 THE RIGHT HONORABLE, 
 
 OF 
 
 WILLIAM PITT, 
 
 LATE FIRST LORD OF THE TREASURY, CHANCELLOR OF THE 
 EXCHEQUER, &c, 4c. 
 
 COMPilEHENDliVG 
 
 A HISTORY OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS 
 
 DXSRING HIS ADMINISTRATION ; 
 
 And a concise Summary of the brilliant Speeches made in Parliament, 
 
 by this distinguished Orator, on the most 
 
 important Occasions ; 
 
 Interspersed with 
 
 3St0grap!ii'eal Bntitm 
 
 OF HIS 
 
 ' PRINCIPAL POLITICAL COTEMPORARIES, 
 
 BY HENRY CLELAND, ESQ. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED VvlTH PORTRAITS 
 
 Vitae est a-vidus, quisquis non vult 
 Mundse secum pereunte mod. 
 
 SENECX. 
 
 But yesterday, the word of Csesar might 
 Have stood against the woi Id. 
 
 SHAEESPEAREi 
 
 Albion Pw^> 
 
 PRINTED FOR JAMES CUNBEE^ 
 
 ivy Lane, Paternoster-Row. 
 
 1807. 
 
UA.szz 
 
PREFACE, 
 
 1 HE utility of biography being sufficiently 
 established, that of Statesmen, in times of 
 public danger, cannot fail to be highly in- 
 teresting. 
 
 If we behold with rapturous awe the dar- 
 ing efforts of heroism, or the patient intre- 
 pidity of protracted warfare ; if we wonder 
 at the means by which vast fleets and ar- 
 mies are supported; and regard with cu- 
 riosity and admiration, the numerous rami* 
 fications of domestic policy : if we see 
 Commerce unfurling her sails before the 
 breeze in despite of conflicting navies ; and 
 Agriculture prosecuting her innocent and 
 laborious career, unmindful of the depo- 
 pulation which every where surrounds her: 
 with what mingled sentiments of pleasure 
 and veneration must we regard the hand that 
 A 2 
 
^V PREFACE. 
 
 guides them — that points the course, or 
 directs the battle ;— shapes the forms of 
 trade ;"guides the plough, or prescribes 
 the impost ; that over the extended space 
 of empires marshals the order, and pro- 
 vides the very lot of humanity ! 
 
 The person to whom this grand and so- 
 lemn charge is confided, is not often called 
 to repose on a bed of roses. If in time of 
 peace, he has the jarring interests of wealth 
 ^Uid pride, and the disorder of intestine di- 
 visions to reconcile and compose ; and 
 if in war, all the passions of men ferment- 
 ing within, and all the arts of hostility with- 
 out, to command and settle, with discerning 
 vigilance. 
 
 Yet the pov/er and advantages attendant 
 on this first and most important office, sel- 
 dom leave the monarch deficient in candi- 
 dates for his service, notwithstanding all 
 the querulous exclamations of a Wolsey or 
 a Colbert. — That power to which all hu- 
 man beings, more or less, aspire, and which 
 nourishes or destroys a country. 
 . In .all these circumstances did the cele- 
 brated person of whose life a memoir is 
 here about to be given, most eminently ap- 
 
PREFACE. V 
 
 pear. There is no principle of government 
 from Straftbrd to Walpole, or, perhaps ra- 
 ther from Pembroke to Chatham, which are 
 not illustrated in his administration. And 
 when it shall be recollected that during his 
 career occurred (not to mention the ac- 
 knowledgment of America,) the great 
 epocha of the French revolution — a shock 
 which threatened and still threatens the 
 existence of civilized society ; that there 
 were discussed no less topics than: a Reform 
 of the British Parliament ; the Government 
 of India, including the Trial of Hastings ; 
 the Abolition of Slavery ; the Existence of 
 a Treasonable Plot; Union with Ireland; 
 the Impeachment of his permanent Friend 
 and Colleague, besides strong Financial Pro- 
 jects, &c. w^ith an opposition composed of 
 talents the most respectable, and condition 
 the most powerful, existing in a majority at 
 the commencement of his career, and scarce- 
 ly ending with his martyred life — no mi- 
 nister will be found to have experienced 
 in the same or a much longer term, such 
 baffling and tremendous circumstances^ 
 such various and awful contingencies— oh- 
 A 3 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 J€cts at once so multifarious and so magnifi- 
 cent ! 
 
 The contrast between Mr. Pitt and iiis 
 powerful rival will naturally occur ; their 
 general principles of government were dia- 
 metrically opposite, yet it does not neces- 
 sarily follow that either was absolutely 
 ivrong or decidedly injurious to their coun- 
 try. It may be lamented, rather than won- 
 dered at, that the union of two such cha- 
 racters was incompatible. In whatever is 
 said of them in these pages, they will be 
 considered as dictating in their individual 
 persons : 
 
 " When you shall these unlucky deeds relate^ 
 Speak of me as I am, nothing extenuate, 
 Nor set down aught in malice." 
 
 Of the conduct and principles of Mr* 
 Pitt, posterity will best judge. Of the pitch 
 ^f grandeur and spirit to which the British 
 empire has arrived, under his conduct and 
 those principles, there can be no doubt. 
 Whether this be the effect of robust poli- 
 tical health or of feverish morbidity, time 
 alone c^n determine. We have, however, 
 attained to those characteristics of a great 
 
PREFACE. \li 
 
 people, which cannot leave us during our 
 political existence ; and if that should be 
 endangered, the reflection of the almost 
 divine Burke, at least remains to us — 'Sve 
 shall not be destroyed by men of mean or 
 secondary capacities." 
 
LIFE 
 
 OF 
 THE RIGHT HONOURABLE 
 
 WILLIAM PITT, 
 
 1 O write the life of William Pitt, would be to de- 
 tail the political history of Britain for a long and 
 most important period. That will not be expected in 
 these pages, whose only aim is to satisfy the public 
 curiosity with regard to the extraordinary man whose 
 conduct has so long been before their eyes, '' of which 
 all Europe talks from side to side." and whose prema* 
 ture death has left unfinished a work which will be the 
 wonder of succeeding ages. 
 
 In this narrative also, Biography will want nearly 
 all her most fascinating charms; in it the minute 
 springs of human action are no where to be traced-— 
 the numerous incidents which form the lives of other 
 public 'men have no existence here; — the moments 
 stolen from Wisdom, when learnisg utters solecisms, 
 and gravity wit ; the pictured theatre must be ex- 
 changed fof the gigantic yet graceful statue ; and the 
 quips, and cranks that crown the cheek of Hebe, for 
 the decent drapery and various eloquence of the Fo" 
 rum. 
 
10 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 In proportion, however, to these deductions from 
 the pleasurable qualities of biography, will the present 
 work be benefited in a very peculiar manner ; since 
 the time of its subject which would otherwise have 
 been passed in that intercourse with the world from 
 which adventure must be derived, was employed in 
 the service of his country, in a way v/hich will enable 
 him the ofteuer to speak for himself, and to unfold 
 those principles and political motives, so interesting 
 in their peculiar nature, in a manner infinitely supe- 
 rior to what could be expected from the most correct 
 observer of political events, 
 
 William Pitt the second* son of the first Earl 
 of Chatham, usually surnamed the great, and, the 
 Lady Harriet Grenville, sister to Earl Temple (the 
 patron of Wilkes) was born on the 28th of May, 1759. 
 
 Lord Chatham was the youngest sqh ot Robert Pitt, 
 ofBoconnock, in Cornwall, Esq. ■% the Lady Char- 
 lotte Viiiiers, sister of the Earl of Grandison, in Ire- 
 land ; and grandson of Thomas Pilt, -governor of Fort 
 George in the East Indies, know^ by the name of 
 Diamond Pitt, from a jewel sold by him to the King of 
 France for ]50,000/.t His lordship, (to use the words 
 of Chesterfieldj) ovved his rise to the most, considera- 
 ble posts and power in tins kingdom singly to his own 
 
 *. The elder was John Viscount Pitt, now Earf'^of C!nathani ; 
 the younger, James hr.rles, died ^oung. There .were also two 
 daughters, Laay Hester, married to the present -Earl SSuh ope ; 
 and Harriet. ^ 
 
 f From the same ancestor proceeded Tifomas, created Earl of 
 Londonderry, in Ireland ; aud John Pitt, Esq. eirlv de;»_k>ted t* 
 the atmy. _/;' ^ 
 
 \ Letters to his son. ..<. / 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 11 
 
 abilities : he was a younger brother of a very new fa- 
 mily, and his fortune only an annuity of one hundred 
 pounds a year. 
 
 The army was his original destination, and a cor- 
 netcy of horse, his first and only commission in it. 
 His constitution refused him the usual pleasures, and 
 his genius forbade him the idle dissipation of youth ; 
 for so early as the age of sixteen he was the martyr 
 of an hereditary gout. He therefore employed the 
 leisure which that tedious and painful distemper either 
 procured or allowed him in acquiring a great fund of 
 premature and useful knowledge. Thus by the unac- 
 countable relation of causes and effects, what seemed 
 the greatest misfortune of his life was, perhaps, the 
 principal cause of its splendor. 
 
 ^* He came young mto parliament, and upon that 
 great theatre soon equalled the oldest and the ablest 
 actors ; his eloquence was of every kind, and he ex- 
 celled in the argumentative as well as in the declama- 
 tory way : but his invectives were terrible, and uttered 
 with such energy of diction, and stern dignity of action 
 and countenance, that he intimidated those who were the 
 most willinor and the best able to encounter him :"^ their 
 
 o 
 
 arms fell out of their hands, and they shrunk under 
 the ascendant which his genius gained over theirs." 
 
 Such is the account of his acute cotemporary, whose 
 opinion of political men, or of men of the world, is not 
 much to be doubted. His parliamentary interest is 
 generally said to have originated in the celebrated 
 Duchess of Marlborough, who obtained for him his 
 
 * Hume, Campbell, and Lord Chief Jvutice Manaficld, 
 
12 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 seat to oppose Sir Robert Walpole, and afterwards be- 
 queathed liim ten thousand pounds never to accept 
 any place in administration, a wish which, however, 
 was afterwards not gratified, and of which the nume- 
 rous enemies created by his celebrity ilid not fail to 
 avail tbeajselves."^ 
 
 Thus the rivalry between the two great statesmen 
 which was afterwards to be preserved by their sons 
 with such ability, may be conceived to have taken 
 rise in the earliest part of each respective career. 
 Lord Holland was the ablest el^ve of Sir Robert Wal- 
 pole, and against that minister, Mr. Pitt, (afterwards 
 Earl of Chatham) poured forth all the torrents of his 
 powerful eloquence. 
 
 As Lord Holland had adopted a younger son for the 
 purpose of inheriting his parliamentary talents ; or ra- 
 ther, perhaps, from the peculiar utility of cultivating 
 those in a younger son ; so Lord Chatham early select- 
 ed his second son William, and directed his attention 
 with that of the best co-adju tors, to his early educa- 
 tion. The promise of his opening powers must have 
 been highly flattering, since the fond father soon im- 
 bibed a strong persuasion that he would one day in- 
 crease the glory of the name of Pitt. 
 
 The retirement of Lord Chatham soon after the 
 accession of his present Majesty, was highly favourable 
 to the early days of Mr. Pitt ; as while yet acquir- 
 ing his classical knowledge under a private tutor (the 
 
 * Of the numerous censures in the form of characters, paral- 
 lels, &c. which assailed Lord Chatham, from Wilkes to Edmund 
 Burke, as wearing the stamp of party, or the enmity of debate, 
 j|t is not intended here to take notice. 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 13 
 
 Rev. Mr. Wi]soi>, since D. D. and canon of Windsor) 
 at Burton Pynsent, tlie Eari taught hun to argue with 
 logical precision, and to declaim with force and ele- 
 gance. Of his lordship's system o^ edscation as well 
 as that of his rival, much has been said, but little as- 
 certained. Ttiat he accustomed his son to make in- 
 quiries respecting every object that attracted his atten- 
 tion, and not to be satisfied without sufficient answers 
 is but to allow him the character of an intelligent pa- 
 rent. It is probable he did much more. It is said, 
 that to improve the judgment and memory of his pu- 
 pil, lie caused him to render a particular account of 
 his studies, his conceptions, and his conduct; after- 
 wards of his general opinions ; reasoning with him on 
 right and wrong, and inculcating precision of thought, 
 aiid accuracy of investigation ; m.aking hun cautious 
 in the effusion of his juvenile ideas, and practising ujjoii 
 him all the arts of the orator, to acquaint him timdj' 
 with the difliculties of his pursuit. 
 
 To the mathematics tha young orator paid an atteii- 
 tion that powerfully marked his future habits in life» 
 Willi geometry, and algebraical exercises, he appeared 
 peculiarly impressed, and their effects became soon 
 evident in his precision and perspicuity. In every 
 exertion he was indefatigable, and his acquisitions, in 
 consequence, were &urpri:^ing in general ethics, juris- 
 prudence, and politics. His relaxations were the His- 
 tory of the British Constitution and the perusal of the 
 Parliamentary Debates. 
 
 .Such is the freezing -account given of the education 
 of Mr. Pitt, while yet an infant, a system, however, 
 which induced his fond tutor to predict that he would 
 become a senatorial leader, either in or out of adnii- 
 
 .JIG. 11. B 
 
14- riFE OF THE LATE 
 
 iiistration, and that if a minister, be niust be the pie- 
 mier. In the same fondness of perspective contem- 
 pla^tion, his lordship is reported to have said, to some 
 noblemen who called to take the young orator to the 
 house of peers with them—" you must not think of 
 taking my younger son there, for by G — he will get up 
 and speak." 
 
 Not to omit the advantages of the university, how- 
 ever, while he thus qualified himself for his future ca- 
 reer, Mr. Pitt was sent, in 1772-3, to Pembroke Col- 
 lege, in Cambridge, under the tuition of Messrs. Tur- 
 ner and Pretyman (since Dean of Norwich and Bishop 
 of Lincoln) thus preserving the wonted spirit of party 
 and rivality then prevalent, in the one instance, and 
 the predilection for mathematical studies in the other. 
 Mr. Pretyman was also his private instructor, and a bet- 
 ter one could not be- Yet the blandishments oF oratory 
 were not considered in these arrangements : the pupil 
 might be severely correct, but never engagingly pleas- 
 ing. l\\ such a subject, however, every thing might 
 easily be conceived to be perfectible in practice, and in 
 a great degree it certainly proved true. The instruc- 
 tors cf Mr. Pitt, it is said, could scarcely keep pace 
 with him. His studies were intense ; his very associa- 
 tions were solely for the purpose of acquisition ; he 
 had yet experienced no other appetite than a thirst for 
 knowledge. Who that ever sought her fountains un- 
 der auspices seldom so favourable, does not envy his 
 ardour, opportunities, and success ? 
 
 It is agreeable to contemplate the direction of Mr. 
 Pitt's studies at every stage of his progress. With Ta- 
 citus he had already been made well acquainted, and 
 to J'iiucydides he came equally well prepared with the 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 15 
 
 Strong iiij miction of bis fiither, to inform himself well 
 in that profound and perspicuous author. Cicero, 
 Polybius, Aristotle, and the other ancient, as well as 
 modern authors on political history and philosophy, 
 ,\vere the next objects of his strict attention ; nor was 
 the eloquence of Cicero and Pemosthenes neglected. 
 
 At Cambridge, .Mr. Pitt was the model of all his 
 compeers, and the admiration of all ranks of people, 
 while his tutors contmned loud in their praises, and 
 were, it is said, even joined hj the superiors of his 
 college, if not the whole of the university. This was 
 eminently marked on his admission to the degree of 
 Master of Arts, when although unnecessarily <2xempt- 
 t'd from the exercises usual on such occasions, by ins 
 relation to nobility, the public orator was lavish in his 
 praises, to which every spectator is said to have as- 
 sented, atid avary breast to have been -filled with the 
 livaliast prasagcj of his future greatness. It w^re well 
 if such .presages were never less worthily formed in 
 public seminaries of education— that the voice of 
 .praise in academic grovt3s were alway© disinterested 
 and sincere. In the preseiit instance, however, this 
 testimony requires no investigation, since. its object 
 will reist on a surer ground than the eulogy of expec- 
 tant candidates for favors, not always earned without 
 jnentsd i«jtiry to the individual, and injustice to general 
 society. 
 
 In 1778, Mr. Pitt for the first time experienced the 
 affliction of the world, a few da)s before the comple- 
 tion of his nineteenth year, m the death of his father, 
 whose tenderness and capacity had left him much 
 to be regretted. If any thing could be supposed to 
 solace him for such a loss, it might be fully expected 
 B 2 
 
^6 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 in the abstraction of his studies, and still more ra- 
 tionally in that general sorrow which everywhere seem- 
 ed to follow it. Whatever the cause, admitting, and 
 without mjury to his lordship's character, that he had 
 been studious of his fame and popularity, and, for- 
 tunate in his influence on the people, still, as conclud- 
 ed by the author already quoted* — ^' it must be ac- 
 knowledged that he had thos^ qualities which none 
 but a great man can have, with a mixture of some of 
 those feelings which are the common lot ofwretched 
 and imperfect human nature.'' 
 
 Of a minister of whom Johnson observed, that, ^* if 
 he were dictator for sfx months, we should hear no 
 more of the disputes of his time," much must be be- 
 lieved by the most scrutinizing. That he became tre- 
 mendous to every enemy is certain — that with much 
 money he did not grow rich, and that his knowledge 
 was universal. It was singularly said of him, by a 
 lady, that he-was never natural but when in a pas- 
 sion. A public funeral and monument were accorded 
 to him, by government without a dissenting voice ; 
 and an increase and extension of the income granted 
 to his family. Nor were the citizens behind hand in 
 a cenotaph to the ir favorite anddistinguishi^ minister.t 
 
 * Chesterfield. 
 
 t This respectable instance of numicipal grandeur is created 
 against the north-east wall of the Guildhall in King-street, 
 Cheapslde. It represents a figure of the decea«ed Earl, sur- 
 rounded by the emblems of those objects in whjch he was so emi- 
 nently successful. 
 
 An inscription, of which the following is a faithful ccpy, ap- 
 pears on the bise. 
 

 / 
 
 .^ 
 
 "^r* 
 
 I.OK1J) CHATHAM . 
 
 Jfu.b.Janz3.i^0 7,l>vJ'cuThi>' thnJcL^ViLvi 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 17 
 
 There were not \yanting some to suppose that Mr. 
 Pitt's feelings were not such as to be poignantly affect- 
 ed by this irreparable loss ; but it was not long before 
 lie gave the best testimony of the value at which he 
 held it, in a defence of his father s memory against 
 what he coiieeived injurious rumours, that at the latter 
 
 *' III grateful acknowledgment to the Snprerae Disposer of 
 events j who, intending to a«l» ance this nation, for such time as 
 to his wisdom seemed good, to an high pitch of prosperity and 
 glory ; by unanimity at home ; — by confidence and reputation 
 abroad ; by alliances wisely chosen and faithfully observed ; — by 
 colonies united and protected ; — by decisive victories by sea and 
 land ; — by coiiquests made by arms and generosity in every part 
 of the globe ; by commerce; for the first X\m% united with, and 
 made flourish by war ; — was pleased to raise up, as a principal 
 instrument in this raemorcibie work, 
 
 "WILLIAM PITT. 
 
 " The mayor, aldermenj and common-council, mindful of the 
 beneftts which the city of London received in her ample share in 
 the general prosperity, have erected to the memory of this emi- 
 nent statesman and powerful orator, this monument in her Guild- 
 hail J that her citizens may never meet for the transaction of their 
 affairs, without being reminded — that the means by which Pro- 
 vidence raises a nation to greatness, are the virtues infused into 
 great men, and that to withhold from those virtues, either of 
 the living or the dead, the tribute of ©eteem and veneration, is ta 
 deny to themselves the means of happiness and honour, 
 
 " This distinguished person, for the services rendered to King 
 George the Second and to King George the Third was created 
 
 " EARL OF CHATHAM. 
 
 " The British nation honoured his memory with a public fune* 
 ra^> and a public monument amongst her illustrious men in- West- 
 3»ins;er Abbey/' 
 
 b3 
 
18 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 period of bis life be bad courted a connection with the 
 nobleman then highest in the estimation of his sove* 
 reign, whose power he had always opposed. This was 
 also the first appearance of Mr. Pitt before the public^ 
 and was certainly a well chosen opportunity. 
 
 The subject arose from the meetings of two gentle- 
 men in the confidence of Lord Bute and Lord Chat- 
 ham, who communicated freely on the subject of the 
 latter joining administration. That in a laudable ofii- 
 ciousness to bring together t.^.) such men as their re- 
 ispective patrons, each might have advanced much 
 farther than he was warranted in any way is very like- 
 ly. Dr. Addington (the father of the present Lord 
 Sidmouth) who acted on the part of Lord Chatham, 
 it appeared, considered himself mistaken to a certain 
 degree.^ Be it as it may, however, the enemies of 
 both parties did not fail to make ample use of the sub- 
 ject, and disgrace 'was attached by them to the noble- 
 man who made the first advances^ 
 
 To remove this real or supposed disgrace was the 
 c)l>ject of Mr. Pitt's publication, which was issued by 
 the Chatham family, and gave no unfavorable speci- 
 men of the acquisitions which had been the business 
 of his yet short life. This was answered by Lord 
 Wountstuart, who stood in the same relation on the 
 other side, in a manner that turned the question in- 
 stantly in favor of Lord Bute, and with the aid of no 
 inconsiderable talent. To this Mr. Pitt replied in a 
 masterly style; and, when his age is considered, not- 
 withstanding the closeness of his application, it must 
 
 * S^e Ack)lphus's History of England, temp. Geo. IIL v. l. 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 19 
 
 be coiosidered no mean triumph even to have contend- 
 ed with the knowledge and experience of Lord Mount- 
 Btuart. 
 
 From Cambridge, Mr. Pitt entered a student of 
 Lincohi's Inn, where he soon obtained a similar dis- 
 tinction to that of his Alma Mater, and received some 
 honorary mark from that society. In 1780, being 
 now of age, he was called to the bar, as the best means 
 of initiation into business : and here the parallel be- 
 tween him and his rival (for the rivality had now de- 
 scended by the death of both fathers to their respec- 
 tive sons) must cease for the present. Mr, Fox had 
 even at the same age, lived half a life in the world, 
 and was in parliament. Mr. Titt had yet never ceased 
 from study and its progressive application. He had 
 prepared for the bar by that intimate acquaintance 
 with the laws and constitution which distinguishes 
 what is called a sound lawyer; and must have distin- 
 guished him in that profession — nor w^as it useless to 
 bim in his subsequent career. 
 
 The first cause in which hev/as retained was an East 
 Indian dispute, and he attracted the notice of Lord 
 ' Mansfield on the bench ; as he had done that of all 
 his other superiors ; he then went once or twice oa 
 the western circuit, and appeared as junior counsel ia 
 several causes. His judicial eloquence on these oc- 
 casions is described as convincing rather than persua- 
 sive ; as commanding rather than seducing the atten- 
 tion ; as ratiocinative, more than attractive or pas- 
 sionate. He was, however, but preparing for a ca- 
 reer of more importance to which he felt himself des- 
 tined, and in which the talents that might have left 
 
20 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 him in silence behind the bar would meet full play and 
 influence. 
 
 At the genera] election of 1780, it had been pro- 
 posed b}^ some persons of the highest respectability 
 in Cambridge, where he has already been described 
 as so highly regarded, to nominate him as member to 
 represent that l/'niversiiy in parliament ; but notwith- 
 standing the estimation in which he was held, he found 
 a contention present itself from which it was mast 
 honorable to retire. He did so, and on the ensuing 
 year, obtained a seat for the borough of Appleby, in 
 the interest of Sir James Lowther,* which he occu- 
 pied for the first time on the 23d of January, 1781. 
 
 It will be easily conceived with what expectation 
 the young statesman first appeared in the house of 
 commons. In him was recognised the genius of his 
 iiiustiious father, revived in him for the purpose of ap- 
 palhng administration, as that great man had done 
 in his first appearance against Sir Robert Walpole. 
 He was at this time within four months of completing 
 the twenty-second year of his age, with a mind richly 
 stored, as we have seen, if not with shining, with last- 
 ting qualities. He was in person tall and very thin, with 
 a scholastic air, yet not without his father's fire and 
 animation, when elicited by any sufficient cause, but 
 most in the detection of error or falsehood, or in un- 
 winding even by its own arts, the clue of evasive so- 
 phistry. 
 
 * On several occasions Mr. Pitt's first election is described ta 
 have been for Pook, but this according to the best authority is er- 
 loneous. 
 
LOMJD) THITjRtO'^ 
 
 Tuh.Teb.3..i3o-. hy Jcmzcs iiaiA.v 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 21 
 
 He appeared cu the side of the party which opposed 
 Lord North,* and the American wa/, yet adopting 
 his father's opinions, he did not decidedly join any 
 party, and sat indiscriminately in the house.f His 
 first speech took place on the 20th of February, when 
 h^ had sat a month in parliament, on the bill brought 
 in by Mr. Burke, for the regulation of the civil list 
 revenue, abolishing useless places, &c. and as much 
 bath been said of this first' effort with a needless exag- 
 
 # The following noble mea and gentlemen composed I he ad- 
 Riiuistration : — 
 
 Lord North, First Lord of the Treasury and Chancellor of 
 the Exchequer. 
 
 Eari of Hilsborough, (afterwards Marquis of Downsliire) 
 
 Lord Viscount Stormont (afterwards Earl of Mansfield^ and 
 
 Lord George Gernraine, Secretaries of Slate. , 
 
 Lord Thurlow, Lord Chancellor. 
 
 Earl Bathut-8t, Lord President of the Couticli. 
 
 Eari of Dartraouth, Lord Privy Seal. 
 
 Lord Hyde (afterwards Earl of Clarendon) Chancellor of the 
 Duchy of Lancaster. 
 
 Earl Sandwich, First Lord of the Admiralty, 
 
 Lord Viscount Townshend, Mastef-General of tht Ordnance. 
 
 Charles Jenkinson, Esq, (afterwards Earl of Liverpooji) i^ecre^ 
 tary at War. 
 ~ Right Honourable Richard Rigby, Paymaster of the Foroe?. 
 
 Welbore Ellis, Esq, (afterv.ards Lord Mendip) Treasurer of 
 the Navy, 
 
 James Wallace, Esq. Attorney General. 
 
 James Mansfield, Esq. Solicitor-General. 
 
 Earl of Carlisle, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. 
 
 W- illiam Eden, Esq. (afterwards Lord Auckland) Secretary to 
 Ditto. 
 
 t To some readers it may be necessary to mention, that the 
 persons composing the government in the bousfe of commons, sit 
 together on the right hand of the speaker. 
 
i^'i LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 geration tending to injure the just praise of Mr. Pitt, 
 often so mifch more arduously and ably earned, the 
 substance of the whole will be here given, as preserved 
 on the best authority,'* 
 
 Mr. Burke's bill had been read a first time, and the 
 order of the day was for its second reading. Aft,^r 
 Mr. Burke and several other gentlemen had delivered 
 their opinions, particularly Lord Nugent, who had ar- 
 gued with considerable wit, Mr. Pitt rose. 
 
 He said, that, '' he gave liis most hearty consent 
 to what had fallen from his honorable friend on the 
 other side of the house — that a proposition for the re- 
 trenchment of the civil list revenue ought to have come 
 from his Majesty's ministers. He gave his entire 
 approbation to this sentiment. It would have come 
 with more grace j it would have conie with more be- 
 nefit to the public, if it had sprung from th^ royal 
 breast. His Majesty's ministers ought to have com^ 
 forward and proposed a reduction in the civil list, to 
 give the people the consolation of knowing that tb^ir 
 sovereign participated in the sufferings of the empire, 
 and presented an honorable example of petrenchmt;nt 
 in an hour of general dilBculty. They oi^ght to have 
 consulted their royal master, and have seated him in 
 he hearts of his people, by abating from magnificence 
 Vv'hat was due to necessity. Instead of waiting for the 
 slow request of a burthened p(;ople, they should have 
 courted popularity by a voluntary surrender of useless 
 
 • This h better effected from the assistance afforded by the 
 peculiarly excellent compilation of Mr. Hathaway, wiiose accu- 
 racy of fact and method of arrangcmeut canncl be too highlj 
 praised. 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 23 
 
 revenue. Far more agreeable would it have been to 
 that house to acci-de, than to propose ; much more 
 gracious to have observed the free exercise of royal 
 boimty, than to make the appeal and point out what 
 was right or what was necessary. But if ministers 
 failed to do this ; if they interfered between the be- 
 nignity and the distresses of the people, and stopped the 
 tide of royal sympathy, was that a reason why the 
 house of commons, his Majesty's public counsellors, 
 should depart from a measure so congenial to the pa- 
 ternal feelings of the sovereign, so applicable to the 
 wants and miseries of the people. The natural benefi- 
 cence of the royal heart would be gratified by the 
 seasonable remittance. And sure it was no reason, 
 because ujinisters failed to do iheir duty, that the house 
 should cease to attend to theirs. Acting as the faith- 
 ful representatives of the people, who had trusted 
 them, they ought to seize on every object of equitable 
 resource that presented itself; and surely none were so 
 fair, so probable, or so flattering, as retieuchment and 
 economy. The obligations of their character demand- 
 ed from them not to hesitate in pursuing those objects, 
 even to the foot of the throne ; and, actuated by 
 diity, to advise the crown to part with useless ostenta- 
 tion, that he might prt'serve necessary power; to abate 
 a little of pomp, that he might ascertain respect; to 
 diminish a little of exterior grandeur, that he might 
 encrease and secure authentic diunitv. Such advice 
 "would become them, as the counsellors of his Majesty, 
 and as the representatives of the people; for it was 
 their immediate duty, as the commons house of par- 
 liament, to guard the lives, the liberties, and the 
 properties of the people. The last obligation, was the 
 
24 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 strongest : it was more inunediately incumbent upon 
 them to guard the properties, because they were the 
 more liable to invasion by the secret and subtle at- 
 tacks ot influence, than either their lives or liberties — 
 It would not derogate from the real glory of the crown 
 to accept of the advice. It would be no diminution of 
 true grandeur to yield to the respectful petitions of the 
 people. The tutelage of that house might be a hard 
 term ; but the guardianship of that bouse could not be 
 disgraceful to a constitutional king. The al>ridgement 
 of useless and unnecessary expense, could be no 
 abatement to royalty. INIagnificence aiid grandeur 
 were not inconsistent with retrenchment and economy, 
 but on the contrary, in tin^e of necessity and common 
 exertion, solid grandeur was dependant on the reduc- 
 tion of expense. And it was the general sentiment and 
 observation of the house, that economy was at tliis time 
 essentially necessary to national salvation. This had 
 been the language ot the noble lord (Lord Nugent) on 
 the other side of the house, and he declared, that, if the 
 bill then before the house had provided that all, the 
 monies to be derived from the reductions proposed 
 were to be applied to the public service, he would 
 have given his hearty concurrence in it, and would 
 have become one of its warmest advocates. Here then 
 he begged leave to join issue with the noble lord. 
 He bacl said, that the savings were to be appropriated 
 towards a fund for creating a provision for the royal 
 famiiv ; and this clause he had found in the bill; be- . 
 fore them. He begged to inform the noble lord, ,thut .• 
 there was a clause in the bill, which ex.pressiy stated 
 that the monies arising from^ the reductions proposed ; 
 should be directly apphed to the public servicii). . The 
 
^iLLiAM pitt: is 
 
 ^iily merit that he could claim in a competition with 
 the noble lord was, that his eyes were somewhat youn- 
 ger than his, and he would read the clause to which 
 he alluded. He here read the following clause: — 
 
 * And it is hereby enacted, by the authority afore-' 
 <Said, that all salaries, lawful fees, perquisites, and 
 profiis whatsoever belonging to all and every the offi- 
 ces by this act suppressed, shall cease and determine- 
 with the determination of the offices severallj^, and be 
 no longer paid ; and that the commissioners of the 
 treasury shall, within a reasonable time, make, or 
 caused to be miide up, an account of the salaries, and 
 fees now payable- for or on account of the said offices 
 severally, as also an account oi all the charges whatso- 
 ever, ordinary or extraordinary, incurred for, or by 
 reason of the said offices, during [a certain number of] 
 years last past ; and shall cause a sum, to the amount 
 of a medium of the said salaries, fees, and charges, to 
 be annually set apart, and a sepa'^ate account to be 
 kept of the sam.e, and to carry the said sum or sums 
 .of money, together v;ith the auKJunt of each and every 
 pension, as it shall fall or determine, until the said 
 pension list be reduced to a sum to be limited by the 
 act (except as in this act otl-erwise provided) to the 
 .sinking fund, there to remain for the disposition of 
 parliament/ 
 
 " This was the clearest refutation of the noble lord's 
 assertion ; but his error seemed to have arisen from 
 his having taken notice of another clause in the act, 
 which ordains that the monies appropriated to the 
 payment of annuities to be granted to those persons 
 whose places were to be abolished, should be placed 
 in a fund, as they should arise by the death of the 
 
 SfO. 12. c 
 
26 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 annuitants, to create a provision for the royal family. 
 This was the error of the noble fcrd ; he had mistaken 
 this provision for all the savings of the plan ; unless 
 indeed he imagined that to place money in the sinking 
 fund, subject to the disposal of parliament, was not 
 to apply it to the public service. He might consider 
 the blind profusion of the minister as the public ser- 
 vice ; and unless it had b^^en left to him to be misma- 
 naged and squandered in his usual way, it was not ap- 
 plyingitjin his opinion, to the public service. He trust- 
 ed the house would excuse him for having wantoned 
 with their patience on tliis point ; and he, for his own 
 part, should think his time and labour very well re- 
 paid, if thereby he had been fortunate enough to gain 
 over so powerful an assistant and friend as the noble 
 lord to the principle of the bill. 
 
 " It had been said by an honourable gentleman 
 \^bo spoke early in the debate, that the bill connected 
 two objects that ought to have been^kept separate. 
 His honourable friend (Mr, John Townshend) near 
 liim, had shewn that these objects ought to go hand 
 in hand together ; and had very properly contended 
 that this was the fit nmment for introducing reform and 
 economy. He should add, that the bill had a third 
 object ; much more important than either of these, 
 and that was the reduction of the influence of the 
 crown — that influence, whi( h the last parliament, by 
 an express resolution, had declared to be encreasing, 
 and that it ought to be diminislied — an in^uence, 
 which was more to be dreaded, because n)ore secret 
 in its attacks, and more concealed in its operations, 
 than the power of prerogative. All these objects were 
 BOt only compatible with each other, but they had a 
 5 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 2/ 
 
 mutual ccnnection, and ought not to be divided in a 
 measure of reformation. 
 
 " In all the arguments of the noble lord who spoke 
 last on the subject of the resolutions of the 6th of 
 April, he observed the noble lord's objections were 
 directed soleij to the second of these resolutions ; he 
 took it for granted, therefore, that the noble lord acl- 
 mirted the first. That resolution pledged the house 
 to do something effectual in compliance with the peti- 
 tions of the people. Why then should the house re- 
 fuse to adopt the present bill, the operation of which, 
 in diminishing the influence of the crown, reudnred it,- 
 in his opinion, much more valuable than the mer^ c n- 
 sideration of the saving it would effect. 
 
 ** But it bad been said, that ihe saving was imma- 
 terial — it was a matter of trifling consideration, when 
 measured by the necessities or expences of the time. 
 It proposed to bring no more than 200,0001. a vear, 
 into the public coffers ; and that sum was insii^nili- 
 cant in the public account, when compared with the 
 millions which we spend. This was surely the most 
 singular and unaccountable species of reasoniug that 
 was ever attempted in any assembly. The calamities 
 of the crisis were too great to be benefited by econo- 
 my ! Our expences were so enormous that it was ri- 
 diculous to attend to little matters of account ! Vv'e 
 have spent so many nnllions, that thousands are be- 
 neath our consideration 1 V/e were oblige^d to spend 
 so much, that it was foolish to think of saving any [ 
 This was the language of the day, and it v/as by such 
 reasoning that the principle of the bill had been dis* 
 puted. 
 
 e 2 
 
28 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 ^* Much argument had been brought to prove the 
 impropriety, and the injustice, of resuming a parlia- 
 iDentary grant ; and it had even been said, that theA' 
 had not a right to do so. It would be needless to at- 
 tempt to answer to such a doctririe. It contained its 
 refutation in its weakness. Bat it ought to be^ re- 
 riiembered, that the civil list revenue was granted by 
 parliament to his Majesty for other purposes ihan 
 those of personal gratification. It was granted to sup- 
 port the power and the interests of the empire, to 
 inaiDtaii) its grandeur, to pay the judges and the fo- 
 reign ministers, to maintain justice and support re- 
 B,:ect; to pay the great officers that were necessary to 
 the lustre of the crown; and it was proportioned to 
 the dignitv aud the opulence of the people. It would 
 hi: :'n. ungracious task to invesiigate the great ditleri^nce 
 i.-^at tbeie was between the wealih of the empire when 
 that revenue was granted, and the wealth at 1;he 
 jjresent time. Jt would serve, however, to shew, that 
 the sum of revenue which was necessary to the support 
 of the common dignity of crown and people, at that 
 lime ought now to be abated, as the necessities had 
 increased. The people, who granted that revenue, 
 under the circumstances of the occasion, were justified 
 in resuming a part of it, under [he pressing demand of 
 in altered situation. Th€;y clearly felt their right but 
 they exercised it with pain and regret. They approacl^ 
 led the throne with bleeding hearts, afflicted at the ne- 
 cessity of applying for retrenchment of the royal grati- 
 fications. ; bat the request was at once loyal and sub- 
 missive. It was justified by policy, and his Majesty's 
 compliance with the request was inculcated by pru- 
 dence, as well as allection. 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 29 
 
 " He confessed, that when he considered the obli- 
 gation of the house, he could not cherish the idea tha^ 
 they would dispute the principle of the bill before 
 them. He could not believe it possible that the prin- 
 ciple of economy would be condemned, or the means 
 of accomplishing it abandoned. For his own part, 
 he admitted the plan proposed. He felt himself as a ci- 
 tizen of the country and as a member of that house high- 
 ly indebted to the honorable author of it; and as he 
 considered it essential to the being, and the independ^ 
 'ence of his country, he would give it the most deter- 
 mined support." 
 
 The second reading was, however, postponed to 
 that day six months, and consequently lost for the ses- 
 sion. 
 
 Such were the prim.oeval sen'l.nents of Mr. Pitt, and 
 such were the terms on which he introduced hmiself 
 to the senate of Great Britain. From this time he did 
 not cease to address the house on every important oc- 
 casion, and every time excelling the former. The 
 speech, however, which has just been recited, having, 
 nothing to do with temporary politics, it was judged, 
 expedient to dismiss it without that brief sketch of 
 the state; of opinions and aflairs at the time which 
 will be necessary to preserve in. the farther account of 
 his career. 
 
 The high character of Mr. Pitt's (Lord Chatham) 
 administration at the commencement of the present: 
 reign is in the recollection of every reader. It will at 
 the same time be recognized that the policy of IMr, 
 Pitt with regard to w^ar and other particulars became 
 opposed l3y a more pacific system, and by new- ar?*- 
 G 3 
 
30 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 rangements, to which he could not accord ;* that in 
 consequence he resigned, receiving as a reward for his 
 
 * Of tbis subject the account of Lord Chatham himself, is 
 perhaps the best, as delivered in a letter to his " friend in the 
 city." See Hist, of the Minority, p. 37. 
 
 '* Dear Sir, 
 
 " Finding, to my great surprize, that the cause and manner , 
 of ray resigning the seals, is grossly misrepresented in the 
 City, as well as that the most gracious and i>poutaneous marks 
 uf his Majesty's approbation of my services, which marks 
 fuliowed my resignation, have been infamously traduced as a 
 bargain for my forsaking the public, I am under the neoessity of 
 declaring the truth of both these facts, in a manner which I am 
 sure nogentlemanwill contradict ; a diiierencc of opinion with re- 
 gard to measures tobetr.»'-;a against Spain, of the highest im- 
 portance to the honour of the crown, and to the most essential 
 national interest, and this bounded on what Spain had already 
 done, not on what that court ma^*^ farther intend to do, was the 
 cause of my resigning the seals. Lord Temple and I submitted 
 in writing, and signed by us, our most humble sentiments to his 
 Maje«iy ; which being over-ruled by the united opinion of all 
 the rest of the king's servants, I resigned the seals on Monday, 
 the 5th ofthis month, in order not to remain responsible for mea- 
 sures, which I was no longer allowed to guide. Most gracious 
 public marks of his Majesty's approbation of my services followed 
 my resignation. They are unmerited and unsolicited, and I 
 t^lvr.W ever be proud to have received them from the best of sove- 
 reigns. 
 
 " 1 will now only add, my dear Sir, that I have explaiiied 
 matters only lor the honour of truth, not in any view to court re- 
 turn of confidence from any, who, with a credulity, weak as it 
 js injurious, has thought fit hastily to withdraw his good opinion 
 iVom one one who has served his country, with fidelity and suc- 
 cess :. and who justly reveres the upright and candid judgment of 
 it, little solicitous about the censures of the capricious and ung©- 
 
WILLIAM PITT. S'l 
 
 services a pension, and a barony for his lady and her 
 heirs. The administration of Lord Bute followed, who 
 put his system in 'practice and retired. To his lord- 
 ship succeeded Mr Grenville who with talents of the 
 first order in planning, was less skilful in execu- 
 tion. Then came Lord Rockingham, wiih a spirit of 
 liberal policy, but wliich was yet crude, and easily 
 overturned ; and Lord Chatham with his powerful 
 name — *' a natne," says Burke, speaking of the same 
 time, *^ that keeps the name of this country respecta- 
 ble in every other on the globe/^ again formed an ad-^ 
 ministration, the apparent head ef which was the 
 Duke of Grafton. — '* This was that administration,"' 
 according to the same authority^. '' so chequered and. 
 speckled — a piece of joinery so crossly indented and* 
 whimsically dovetailed, a cabinet so variously inlaid^ 
 &c, that It was a very curious show,, but utterly unsafe 
 to touch and unsure to stand on.'' Thus through this 
 unsettled state, the government tottered on, to the un- 
 steady hands of Lord North, in which it nearly perish- 
 ed from indecision, amid the shock of an opposition 
 the most powerful it had ever before ei^perienced. 
 
 This was the period at which the present pages are 
 arrived, when the minister had been nearly exhausted, 
 and the proudest hearts in the British nation had been 
 
 rous; accept my sincerest acknowledgments for all your kind; 
 friendship, and believe me ever with truth ar.d esteem, 
 
 " My dear Sir, 
 
 *' Your faithful friend, 
 
 ^' W. PITT.'^ 
 QcU 14, 1745, 
 
32 LIFE OF THE LATP; 
 
 driven to wish for peace. Of Lord Chatham's opinion 
 on -that subject which descended to his son, the fol- 
 lowing speech will afford the best account, which is at 
 the same time an honorable testimony to the best of 
 fathers, a great man deceased. He had previous- 
 ly supported Colonel Barre (May 31) on the ques- 
 tion of public accomptants paying into the exchequer 
 the balances remaining in their hands, with sufficient 
 knowledge of the subject. The present arose out of 
 Mr. Fox's motion — That the house should resolve 
 itself into a committee to consider of the American 
 war ; leading to the adoption of measures for con- 
 cluding peace with the colonies. (June 12.) 
 
 The debate bad arrived at its height, when Mr. 
 Pitt, with some emotion, said *' that he was induced' 
 to rise from certain expressions that had fallen from 
 a right honoarable gentleman (Mr. Rigby) on the 
 floor, and another gentleman (Mr. Adam) on the 
 other side of the house, respecting the ministerial and 
 legislative conduct of a dear and most respected- rela-- 
 tion of his (Lord Chatham) with regard to tlie Ame- 
 rican war, and the progressive measures which had 
 produced it. He thought it was-his duty, as the son of 
 that noble lord, and as a member of thai house, to ri^e 
 upon the occasion to correct the gentleman who had 
 spoken, and to prevent the house from going away un- 
 der a persuasion that the conduct and sentiments of 
 the noble lord, were such as had been described. 
 The silence of one so nearly connected and allied in 
 blood and affection, might seem to countenance what 
 Lad been so confidently, but erroneously stated. There 
 might be many gentlemen in the house who were well 
 sicquainted with the political opinions of that noble per- 
 
WILLIAM PIT-T. 35 
 
 sijii. To them no regulation of the assertions of this 
 night would be necessary ; but there might be some 
 who were perfectly ignorant of them, or who^^knovv^ing 
 them but imperfectly might be deceived by misre-. 
 presentations, perhaps unintentionally made. 
 
 '^ Actuated by these motives, he thought it incum- 
 bent to state his relation's opinion, as it appeared in his 
 pubHc conduct, and as it came further coniirmed by 
 private communication made to himself and the rest 
 of his family. The noble person, whose name had 
 been so often mentioned in the course of the Cv^ening,. 
 most heartily reprobated the American war in all its 
 parts, as well on the principle on which it was takea 
 up, as its progress, and the ultimate objeets to wbidi 
 it pointed. He had expressed himself uniformly so 
 on the subject ; and, he was persuaded, never gave 
 a vote or opinion in contradiction to those sentiments. 
 Those who acted with him well know it ;, there were 
 many living testimonies of the truth of this assertion, 
 and innumerable circumstances could be adduced, if 
 further evidence were required. 
 
 ** The only opmion declared by him, which could 
 have afforded ihe most distant colour for such an as^ 
 sertion, was, that he thought this country had a right 
 to lay duties for the regulation of commerce, duties 
 incidental to the extension of trade, calculated, for the 
 mutual benefit of both countrieb ; but not a smgle tax 
 or duty of any kind for the purpose of raisujg a re^ 
 ^'enuein America, to be remitted home, and be dis- 
 posable by the British parliament. I his. however, 
 was but a speculative question, totally difiVrent and 
 distinct from the doctrines which wereproductiveof the 
 v,'dv. Those at least, which produced the riots at Bos- 
 
34 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 ton, from whence it was acknowledged by every side 
 of the house the war originated, did not come within 
 the above description. They were taxes upon the im- 
 post, laid on expressly by the British parhament, col- 
 lected under its authority, and intended for the British 
 treasury^ and we**e not even pretended to hold out any 
 advantage to both countries, but to one only ; neither 
 were they directed to promote or extend the commerce 
 of America, but merely to draw out of the pockets of 
 the inhabitants of that country, certain lumi of monay 
 for augmenting tha revenue of this, 
 
 ** These were the tru^ and genuine sentiments of the 
 noble person alluded to. To assert, therefore, that, 
 because be approved of one mode of conduct, which 
 was not adopted, he approved of another system, 
 which be had so frequently and openly reprobated, was 
 B most extrdordinary use of logic indeed. But he 
 tould not think that those vvho argued in this manner, 
 expected to bring home conviction to the breast of 
 any man who had not before been made a convert to 
 their opinions." 
 
 After thus explaining his noble father's principles 
 and conduct, he proceeded to speak to the question. He 
 said, *' some gentlemen had passed the highest eulogi- 
 ums on the American war. Its justice was defended 
 4n the m.ost warm and fervent manner indeed. A, no- 
 ble lord (Lord Westcote) who spoke early, in the heat 
 of hi^ zeal had called it a holy war. For his part, 
 though the honorable gentleman, who made the mo- 
 tion, and some other gentlemen, had been more than 
 once in the course of the debate severely reprehended 
 for calling it a wicked and accursed war, he was per- 
 suaded and would affirm, that it was a most accursed,. 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 35 
 
 wicked, barbarous, cruel, unnatural, unjust, and dia- 
 bolical war ! It was conceived in injustice; it was 
 nurtured and brouglU forth in folly; its footsteps were 
 marked with blood, slaughter, persecution, and devas- 
 tation; in truth, everything which constitute moral 
 depravity and human turpitude were to be found in it. 
 It was pregnant with misery of every kind. The mis- 
 chiefs, however, recoiled on the unhappy people of this 
 country, who were made the instruments by which 
 the wicked purposes of its authors were effected. The 
 nation was drained of its best blood; and of its vital 
 resources of men and money. The expence of it was 
 enormous, much beyond any former experience; and 
 yet, what had the British nation received in return. 
 Nothins but a series of- ineffective victories, or severe 
 defeats ; — victories celebrated only by a temporary^ 
 triumph over our brethren, whom we would trample 
 down and destroy ; which filled the land with mourn- 
 ing for the loss of dear and valuable relations, slain in 
 the impious cause of enforcing unconditional submis- 
 sion, or with narratives of the glorious exertions of 
 men struggling under all the difhculties and disadvan- 
 tages which are, in general, deemed the necessary con- 
 comitants of victory and success. Where was the Eng- 
 lishman, on reading the narratives of those blood v and 
 well- fought contests,^who could refrain from lanienting 
 the loss x>f so much British blood spilt in such a cause, 
 or from weeping, on whatever side victory might be 
 declared ? Add to this melancholy consideration, that 
 on which ever side we looked we could perceive no- 
 thing but our natural and powerful enemies, or luke- 
 warm and -faithless friends, rejoicing in cur calamities, 
 or meditating our ultimate dowafaU'' 
 
S@ LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 He said lie " bad taken the present opportunity oi' 
 delivering bis sentiments on the American war. There 
 was not a point of view in which he considered it, there 
 was not a feature which presented itself to his notice^ 
 but served the more and more to confirm him in the 
 opinion he had early formed concerning its mischie- 
 vous and destructive tendency ; and he trusted the 
 present opinion he had given would be received, as it 
 was sincerely intended, as fully expressive of his prin- 
 ciples, so far as they might be applicable^ or seemed 
 to bear a relation, to the American war, in all its fu- 
 ture as well as former stages." 
 
 He made several detached observations on the 
 grounds and moti-ves on which the honourable gentle- 
 man (IMr. Fox) had supported his motion; but seemed 
 *' chiefly to rest his arguments on the injustice of the 
 war in its outset, the innumerable mischiefs it had 
 already been productive of, and the still more fatal 
 and disastrous events it might bring with it, if ministtrs 
 or the nation should persevere in urging a war 
 which, whether successful or not, ought not to be fur- 
 ther pursued, because it was totally subversive of the 
 true constitutional connection by which both countries 
 were united.'" 
 
 These were the only important discussions in which 
 Mr. Pitt joined through the first year of his attendance 
 in parliament, with the exception, perhaps of that on 
 the king's speech on the opening of the ensuing session 
 of parliament, in November ^S, when he rose, as he 
 said, " to give vent to those sentiments of indignation 
 which in the disastrous situation of our affairs, he 
 found it impossible for him to suppress !" That indig- 
 nation, how'^ver, was little longer necessary, since a 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 37 
 
 strong attack upon Lord North being determined upon 
 hy the opposition to take place after Christmas, its 
 preparations alarmed the ** noble lord in the blue rib- 
 bon," as he was constantly called, so much, that his 
 administration swiftly hastened to decaj^, and in March 
 following he wassucceeded by the united opposition, hav- 
 ing at its head the Marquis of Rockingham, the Earl of 
 Shelburne, and Mr. Fox.* Mr. Piit, however, fron\ 
 motives, perhaps not known, but usually attributed to 
 a minute difference of opinion on the subject of the 
 
 * The following is a list of its members :— 
 
 Maiquis of Rockingham, First Lord of the Treasury. 
 
 Earl Shelburnej and the 
 
 Hon. Charles James Fox, principal Secretaries cf State, the 
 third secretaryship being abolislicd. 
 
 Lord John Cavendish, Chaacellor of the Exchequer. 
 
 Admiral Keppel (created a Viscount) First Lord oi the Ad- 
 miralty. 
 
 Duke of Grafton, Lord Privy Seal. 
 
 Lord Camden, President of Ceunci!. 
 
 Duke of Richmond, Master General of the Ordnance. 
 
 Lord Thurlow to continue Chancellor. 
 
 General Conway, Commander-in-Chief of tiic Forces. 
 
 John Dunning, Esq. Chancellor of the Dacl:'y of Lancaster, aiiji 
 created Baron Ashburten. 
 
 (The above composed the cabinet.) 
 
 Hon. Thomas Townshend, Secretary oi' War. 
 Colonel Barre, Treasurer of the Navy. 
 Edmund Burke, Esq. Paymaster-General of the Forces. 
 Lloyd Kenyon, Esq. (afterwards Lord Kenyon) AUorney- 
 Gcneral. 
 John Lee, Esq. Solicitor-General. 
 Duke of Portland, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. 
 Hon. Richard Fitzpatrlck, Secretary to Ditto. 
 
Ob LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 conflict with America, did not accept any place in the 
 administration. 
 
 The new ministry with all the advantages of po- 
 pularity, now proceeded to put into practice all 
 their favorite principles, and to reverse those of their 
 predecessors. Among these the principal objects were 
 — overtures of peace — that of Mr. Burke's bill through 
 the crown itself; the exclusion of contractors from 
 parliament, and a step toward purifying elections. 
 Even Wilkes obtained the resolutions against himself 
 on the journals to be expunged. Mr. Pitt was not 
 behindhand; in a rational and digniOed manner, he 
 selected a subject on which he was enabled to exhibit, 
 in full force, the powers he had so largely acquired— 
 this was the reform of parliament. 
 
 On the 7th of iNlay, Mr. Pitt rose, and prefaced 
 Lis intended motion, with an apology tor undertaking 
 a task so extensive, and which required abilities and 
 experience so much greater than his ; but having said 
 this, he would trust to the indulgence of the house, 
 and believe that the importance of the subject, to 
 which he meant to call their attention, would induce 
 them to treat it with the utmost seriousness and re- 
 spect. "The representation of the commons in parlia- 
 ment, was a matter so truly interesting, that it had 
 at all times excited the regard of men the most enlight- 
 ened ; and tlje defects which they had found in that 
 representation had given them reason to apprehend 
 the most alarming consequences to the constitution. 
 It would be needless for him. in the present moment, 
 to recal to the memory of the liouse the many occa- 
 sions, upon which he and others, in an anxious struggle 
 with a minister who laboured to exert the corrupt in- 
 
"WILLIAM PITT. o9 
 
 fluencc of the crou^n in support of an inadequate re- 
 presentation of the people, maintained the necessity 
 that there was for a calm revision of the princi])les of 
 the constitution, and a moderate reform of such de- 
 fects as had imperceptibly and gradually stole in to 
 deface, and which threatened at last totally to destroy, 
 the most beautif-ul fabric of government in the world. 
 L^pon these occasions, they were unsuccessful m their 
 efforts, on account of that corrupt influence of which 
 he had spoken ; but at last, he thanked God, the \oice 
 of the people bad happily prevailed, and we were now 
 blessed witii a ministry, wliose wishes went along with 
 those of the people, for a moderate reform of the er- 
 rors v.hich had obtruded themselves into the constitu- 
 tion ; and he was happy to see that there was a spirit 
 of unanimity prevalent in every part of the kingdom, 
 and also in every part of that house, which made the 
 present day the fittest for undertaking this great task. 
 The ministers had declared their virtuous resolution of 
 supporting the king's government by means more ho- 
 nourable, as well as more permanent than by corrup- 
 tion; and the nation had conlidence in the declarations, 
 of men who had so invariably proved themselves the 
 friends of freedom, and the animated supporters of an 
 equal and fair system of re})resentation. That the 
 frame of our constitution had undero;one material al- 
 terations, by which the commons' house of parliament 
 had received an improper and dangerous bias, and by 
 which, indeed, it had fallen so greatly from that direc- 
 tion and effect which it was intended, and ought to 
 have in the constitution; he believed it would be idle 
 in him to attempt to prove. It was a fact so plain 
 and palpable, tl)at every man's reason, if not his ex- 
 D 2 
 
40 LIFE OF THE LATJK 
 
 perience, must point it out to him. He had onlj to 
 examine the quality and nature of that branch of the 
 constitution as originally estabhshed, and compare it 
 with its present state and condition. That beautiful 
 frame of government, which had made us the envy 
 and admiration of mankind, in which the people were 
 entitled to hold so distinguished a share, vi'as so far 
 dwindled and departed from its original purity, as that 
 the representatives ceased^ in a great degree, to be con- 
 nected with the people. It was the essence of the 
 constitution, that the people had a share in the go- 
 "vernment, by means of representation, having been 
 designed to be equal, easy, practicable, and complete. 
 When it ceased to be so; v;hen the representative 
 ceased to have connection with the constituent, and 
 was either dependant on the crown or the aristocracy, 
 ihere v%ab a defect in the frame of representation, and 
 it was not innovation, but recovery of constitution to 
 repair it. 
 
 ** He would not, m the present instance, call to 
 their view, or endeavor to discuss the question, whe- 
 ther this species of reform, or that, whether this sug- 
 gestion, or that, was the best ; and which would most 
 complelely tally and square with the original frame of 
 the constitution. It was simply his purpose to move 
 for ti^e instituiion of an enquiry, composed of such 
 men as the house shonld, in their wisdom, select as 
 the most proper and best qualified for investigating 
 this subject, and making a report to the house of the 
 best means of carrying into execution a moderate and 
 substantial reform of the representation of the people. 
 Though he would not press upon the consideration 
 any proposition whatever, he should still think it his 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 41 
 
 duty to state facts and circumstances, which, in his 
 idea, made this object of reform essentially requisite. 
 He believed, however, that even this was unnecessary, 
 for there was not a o-entleman in the house who Avould 
 not acknowledge, with him, that the representation, 
 as it now stood, was incomplete. It was perfectly 
 understood that there were some boroughs absolutely 
 governed by the treasury, and others totally possessed 
 by them. It required no experience to say that such 
 boroughs had no one quality of representation in them ; 
 they had no share nor substance in the general inte- 
 rests of the country ; and they had, in ftict no stake 
 ^for which to appoint their guardians in the popular 
 assembly. The influence of the treasury in some 
 boroughs was contested, not by the electors of these 
 boroughs, but by some one or other powerful man, 
 who assumed or pretended to an hereditary property 
 of what ought onlv to be the rights and privileges of the 
 electors. The interests of the treasur}' were considered 
 as well as the interests of the great man, the lord or 
 the commoner who had connection WMth the borough ; 
 but the interests of the people, the rights of the ekctors 
 were the only things that were never attended to, nor 
 taken into the account. Would any man say, that^ 
 in this case, there was the most distant idea or prin- 
 ciple of representation r There w ei'e other boroughs 
 which had now in fact no actual existence, but in the 
 return of members to the house. They had no existence 
 in property, in population, in trade, m v/eight. There 
 ^vere hardly any man in the borough who had a right 
 to vote ; and they were the slaves and subjects of 
 a person, who claimed the property of tlie boroughj. 
 and who in fact made the return. This ako was 29 
 D 3 
 
42 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 representation nor any thing like it. Another set of 
 boroughs and towns, in the lofty possession of English 
 freedom, claimed to themselves the right of bringing 
 their votes to market. They had no other market, no 
 other property, and no other stakein thecomitry, than 
 the property and price which they procured for their 
 votes. Such boroughs were the most dangerous of all 
 others. So far from consulting the interests of their 
 country in the choice which they made, tbey held out 
 their borough to the best purchaser, and in fact, they 
 belonged more to the nabob of Arcot than they did to 
 the people of Great Britain; and it was a fact pretty 
 well known, and generally understood, that the nabob 
 of Arcot had no less tlian seven or eight members in 
 that house. Such boroughs then, were sources of cor- 
 ruption ; they gave rise to an inundation of corrupt 
 wealth and corrupt members, who had no regard nor 
 connections, either for or with the people of this 
 kingdom. It had always been consideied, in all na- 
 tions, as the greatest source of danger to a kingdouii 
 when a foreign influence, was suffered to creep into 
 the national councils. The fact was clear, that the in- 
 fluence of the nabobs in India was great: why then 
 might not their imaginations point out to them ano- 
 ther most probable circumstance that might occur, the 
 danger of which would be evident, as soon as men- 
 tioned. — Might not a fo:eign state in enmity with this 
 country, by means of these boroughs, procure a party 
 of men lo act for them under the mask and character 
 of members of that house ? Such a cabal was more to 
 be dreaded than any other ; and this among otljer do- 
 mestic evils, was to be apprehended/rom the present 
 incomplete and improper frame of' xepresentatiom 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 43 
 
 How many other circumstances were there under 
 which the various descriptions of boroughs in this 
 kingdom were influenced, and seduced fiom their^real 
 and direct duty ? ^ 
 
 ^' Having mentioned these facts,by which experience 
 came in aid of reason, to convince him of the ir. ade- 
 quacy of representation, he conceived it would be per- 
 fectly needless for him to enter into any argument to 
 prove the necessity there was for a reform in this par- 
 ticular. He was convinced that every gentleman 
 would acknowledge the truth of this fact, however they 
 might differ about the means of accomphshing it ; or 
 about the delicacy with which they ought to meddle in 
 any shape with the constitution. He begged leave to say, 
 that there was not a man in that house v/ho had more 
 reverence for the constitution, and more respect, even 
 for its vestiges, than himself — But he was afraid that 
 the reverence and the enthusiasm which Englishmea 
 entertained for the constitution, would, if not suddenly 
 prevented, be the means of destroying it; for such was 
 their enthusiasm, that, they would not even remove its 
 defects, for fear of touching its beauty. He admired 
 the one so much, so great was his reverence for the 
 beauties of that constitution, that he wished to remove 
 those defects, as he clearly perceived that they were 
 defects which altered the radical principle of the con- 
 stitution, and it would not be innovation, as he had 
 said, but recovery of constitution, to remove them : 
 gentlemen v.'ere ready to acknowledge the truth of this, 
 but they stopped, from the difficulty of accomplishing 
 the necessary reform. Many propositions had been 
 made from different quarters, towards this great na^ 
 tional object. In particular it had been said that the 
 
 5 
 
44 LITE OF THE LATE 
 
 purity and independence of parliament would be tlie 
 most easily accomplished, and the most effectually by 
 annihilating the corrupt influence of the crown. This 
 he was ready to acknowledge as a great and powerful 
 means of restoring independence and respect to parlia- 
 ment, and he was happy to see that under the present 
 ministry the corrupt irrfluence of the crown w^as no 
 more. Its effect would not be felt during the ministry of 
 a set of men who were the friends of constitutional free- 
 dom. But it was the duty of parliament to provide 
 for the future, and take care that in no time this se- 
 cret and dark system should be revived, to contami- 
 iiate the fair and honourable fabric of our government. 
 This influence was of the most pernicious kind ; and 
 at all times had been pointed to as the future source 
 of all our miseries. It had been substituted in the 
 room of wisdom, of activity, of execution, and of suc- 
 cess. It was but too naturally connected with the 
 extensive limits of our empire and with the broad and 
 great scale upon which its operations were conducted. 
 It had been truly said of this corrupt influence—.^ 
 ''That it had grown with our growth, and strengthen- 
 ed with our strength/' Unhappily, however, for this 
 country, it had not decayed with our decay, nor di- 
 minished with our decrease. It bore no sympathy 
 nor connection Vv'ith oi.*^' falling state; but, notwith- 
 standing tlie mad impolicy of a ministry for a length 
 of years, against all the consequences of a mischievous 
 system, and a desolated empire. lie thanked Hea- 
 ven that we had now an administration who placed 
 their dependance on a more honourable basis, and who 
 ^•outeived nothmg more necessary or essential to the^ 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 45 
 
 pernianeHt interests of their country, than the total 
 overthrow and extinction of this influence. 
 
 '' It had been thought by some, that the best means 
 of effecting a more near relation between the represen- 
 tatives and the people, was to take from the decayed 
 and corrupt boroughs a part of their members, and add 
 them to those places which had more interest and 
 stake in the country. Another mode of making the 
 the connection between the representative and con- 
 stitution more lively and intimate, was to bring the 
 former more frequently before the electors, by shorten- 
 ing the duration of parliament. But all these propo- 
 sitions he would beg leave for the present, to omit en- 
 tirely, and to deliver the matter to the committee to 
 be chosen, free from suggestions whatever, that they 
 might exercise their own judgment, and collect, from 
 the lights which they would receive full and complete 
 information on the subject. He would therefore con- 
 tent himself with saying, that having mentioned the 
 manner in which he would take the liberty of propos- 
 ing to institute this enquiry, he hoped he should be 
 forgiven for undertaking this important business. The 
 matter of complaint was clear to him; and he was 
 strengthened in his opinion from the advice of some 
 of the first and greatest characters in the kingdom. 
 The assistance which he had received, he acknow- 
 ledged with gratitude, as it fortified his mind in re- 
 gard to the opinions which he had formed on the sub* 
 ject. It was also the opinion of many respectable 
 characters, now no more, and particularly of one 
 (Lord Chatham) of whom every member in the house 
 could speak with more freedom than himself. That 
 person was not apt ta indulge vague and chimerical 
 
46 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 speculations, inconsistent with practice and expedien- 
 cy. He personally knew that it was the opinion of 
 this persoi], that without recin-ring to first principles 
 in this respect and CL^tablishing a more solid and equal 
 representation of the people, by which the proper con« 
 stitntional connection should be revived, this nation, 
 with the best caj^acities tor grandeur and happiness of 
 any on the face of the earth, must be confounded with 
 the mass of those whose liberties were lost in the cor- 
 ruption of the people. With regard to the time at 
 w4iich he had brought it on, he was convinced that it 
 was the most proper and reasonable moment that could 
 be imugiued. If it had be^.n brought forward during 
 an eager opposition to the measures of government, it 
 miglit have been considered as the object of spite or 
 peevishness ; and if, under such circumstances, they 
 had prevailed, it would have been said to be carried 
 ■by assault. But now there was no division ofsenti- 
 ment. His Majesty*s ministers respected the voice of 
 the people, and were anxiously bent on the reforma- 
 tion of parliament. If there was division of opinion at 
 all, ii vv^as about the means of accomplishing the ob- 
 ject. He concluded with moving — '' that a commit- 
 .tee be appointed to enquire into the state of the repre- 
 'sentation in parliament, and to repoit to the house 
 their observations thereon/' 
 
 The motion was re^jected, it must be conceived, un- 
 der the present circumstances, from the prevalence of 
 private interest in tliose representations which were in- 
 fluenced. Perhaps the thing is impossible under the 
 iiDpertections of the best of governments. Perhaps in 
 My. Pitt it was intended as a test of the new adminis- 
 tration. The ascertainment of either of these point? 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 47 
 
 is fruitless. It is, however, to such subjects as this, 
 and some which are soon to follow, that we must look 
 for the character of Mr. Pitt's knowledge and elo- 
 quence, and not to the mere expatiations of party on 
 points wiuch are necessary t© any purpose. 
 
 The death of the Marquis of Rockingham, how- 
 ever, put an end to this speculation, and placed Mr. 
 Pitt in the situatior: for which he w^as designed, and to 
 the attainment of qualifications for which, had been 
 the employment of his life. On the 10th of July, 
 (1782) being then two months more than twenty- 
 three years ot age, he became Chancellor of the Exche- 
 quer, and Lord Shelbuine First Lord of the Trea- 
 sury.^ 
 
 * The new arrangements ran thus : — 
 
 Earl of Shelburu6, First Lord of the Treasur3\ 
 
 Hon. William Pitt, Chancellor of the Exchequer. 
 
 Lord Grantham, and 
 
 -'I'honia^ rownshend, Esq. principal Secretaries of State. 
 
 Lord Thurlow, Lord Cluincellor. 
 
 Lord Keppel, First Lord of the Admirahy. 
 
 Lord Camden, President of the Council. 
 
 Puke of Grafton, Lord Privj^ Seal. 
 
 Duke of Richmond, ^.laster-General of the Ordnance. 
 
 Lord Ashburton, Chancellor to the Duchy of Lancaster. 
 
 Sir George Yonge, Secretary at War. 
 
 Henry Dundas, Esq. (afterwards Lord MeivlHe) Treasurer of 
 the Navy. 
 
 Colonel Barre, Paymaster of the Forces. 
 
 Lloyd Kenyon^ Esq. (afterwards Lord Kenyon) Attorney- 
 General. 
 
 John Lee, Esq. Solicitor-General. 
 
 Earl Temple, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. 
 
 Hon. W^illiam Wyndhara Grenville (afterwards Lord Gren'» 
 TiUe) Secretary to Ditto. 
 
48 a.IF£ OF THE LATE 
 
 The cause of this sudden change has been various- 
 ly endeavoured to be accounted for, with a surprize 
 rather arising from its unexpected occurrence than the 
 existence of doubt upon the subject. The very sudden 
 change in the principle of government during the last 
 administration from that of Lord North to one entire- 
 ly popular rendered more glaring by recent contest, 
 could not fail to render the crown jealous of its pre- 
 rogative, and timid of bold speculative projects. The 
 Earl of Shelburne though a mtjmber of the same ad- 
 ministration (principal secretary) had opinions widely 
 different in several respects from his colleagues. That 
 experienced nobleman knew too well the danger of ex- 
 periment in the passions of mankind, and even too 
 li'equently of applying generous principles to the com- 
 plicated policy of modern states. From this principle 
 it was his lordship's opinion that the acknowledgment 
 of American independance ought to be held out as a 
 boon towards the attainment of peace, than given 
 freely as a previous object of conciliation. It is there- 
 fore not wonderful that the sovereign should desire to 
 place that nobleman in a more ostensible situation 
 when an opportunity offered in its vacancy, when in 
 doing it, also^ the pov^^er of those who had made sue h 
 strides in innovation in so short a period, would be cur- 
 tailed ; since the amiable marquis who had deceased, 
 any more than the Duke of Portland to whom the mi- 
 nistry looked to supply his place, could not be consi- 
 dered as acting vyith that dignity of independence 
 which'their high situation demands. 
 
 Mr. Fox, whose open and generous temper could 
 not conceal the emotions of his heart, immediately 
 evinced his recognition of this point, by requiring bis 
 
WILLIAM PTTT. 49 
 
 dismissal on (he new arrangements. *' Then I hope 
 your Majesty can dispense with my services/^ said he. 
 Ti.e sovereign, who knew as well how to support the 
 dignity of his conduct, when he had acted, as to judge 
 of the fitnesss of his new appointment, answered 
 with equal promptness, ^' Certainly, Sir, if they are the 
 least irksome/' The friends of ^Ir. Fox followed his 
 example, and made way for a still more ample change 
 than that to which they at first objected. 
 
 From the tendency of the measures which had oc- 
 cupied the Rockingham administration, it was natu- 
 rajly to be expected tliat its fall would be accompanied 
 with a very general regret. Abuses of the new mini- 
 sters, with allusion to the youth of Mr. Pitt and the 
 buck, stairs were equally general. That good sense, 
 liowever, which has never entirely forsaken the coun- 
 try, enabled the necessity of the measure to be per- 
 ceived, and reco-ncifed the change when it was neces- 
 sary. 
 
 The first session of Mr. Pitt's ministry opened on 
 the 5th of December, with a speech of unusual length, 
 ai.d great perspicuity, in which the cessation of hos- 
 tilities with America was announced, and was censured 
 by all the malice of party. The youth of the minister 
 was even here an object of prevalent censure, to which 
 Mr. Pitt replied, by admitting its exceptionable qua- 
 lity to that high office ; but at the samc\timej it was a 
 *' calamity" which time would constantly remove; he 
 hoped the system of his conduct would, in some mea- 
 sure, obviate the objection. He then made a manly 
 and explicit declaration of his sentiments. 
 
 On the 17th of Februaiy, (1783) however, on the 
 debate of the preliminary articles of peace^ Mr, Pitt, 
 
 NO. 12. E 
 
^0 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 in turn, became the aggressor. In answering tbfr 
 speakers ag;dnst the address, he particularly singled 
 out iMr. Sheridan, on whom he gave way to a perso- 
 nality not unnatural to-the relative situation of the 
 parties. ** No man," said he, *^ admired more than 
 he did the abilities of that right honourable gentle- 
 man, the elegant sallies of his thought, the gay effu- 
 sions of his fancy, his dramatic turns, and his epi- 
 grammatic points ; and if they were reserved for the 
 proper stage, they would no doubt receive, what the 
 honourable gentleman's abilities did always receivo, 
 — the plaudits of the audience ; and it would be his 
 fortune, 
 
 " Sui plausu gaudere theatri.'* 
 
 But this was not the proper scene for the exhibition of 
 these elegancies ; aud he therefore, must beg leave to 
 call the attention of the house to tljcir serious con- 
 sideration of the very important question then before 
 them. 
 
 *' The clamours excited against the peace were loud 
 in proportion to their injustice; and it was generally the 
 case, that where men complained without cause, they 
 complained without temper. It was necessary to look 
 back, notwithstanding all that the hon. gentleman on the 
 other side of the way had said, to the language of that 
 house, and to the sentiments of that house on this very 
 subj<»*ct. Had they forgot the resolutions of last session, 
 by which ministers were bound to recognize the indepen- 
 dence of America ? Had they considered, that the reso- 
 lutions, in Vi'liich he had for one most heartily concurred, 
 took at the same time from ministers their advantage 
 ground iu negociation ; and deprived them of the op- 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 51 
 
 poftynily of proposing independence as a boon to he 
 conceded, as a matter to be offered, as a price, or as 
 the basis of peace ? Had they forgot the application 
 made by the right honourable gentleman over the way, 
 (Mr. Fox) to the Dutch, an application couched in 
 terms, to his feeling, more degrading tlum any con- 
 cession in the present peace ? Had they forgot the 
 language of that day, when we are told, that we mu?t 
 have peace on any terms : peace for a year, for a day, 
 just to give us a little breathing time ? Were not these 
 things to be remembered ? Or were they to be told, that 
 times and circumstances were so completely changed, 
 that what would have been desirable then, would not be 
 so now ? Were the circun^stances so materially chang- 
 ed ? Yes, they were ; for these opinion* were given and 
 these assertions made when the right honourable gen- 
 tleman was in office, and when the task of making 
 peace was likely to fall upon his own head. This was 
 the change; this was the material alteration of cir- 
 cumstances which bad taken place, and which now 
 called for different conditions. The right honourable 
 gentleman was no longer in place; he was nc^ longer- 
 responsible for the terms, and therefore the circum- 
 stances were changed." 
 
 But to shew that there was no otker change of cir- 
 cumstances, he went into a long and particular detail 
 of the relative situation of the belligerent powers — 
 their strength, their resources, their objects, and their 
 prospects, deducing from this the inference, that it was 
 absolutely and indispensably necessary for this coun- 
 try to have peace, and that under all the circumstan- 
 ces of the nation at the time, the terms which we had 
 procured were fair and advantageous. That he might 
 e2 
 
52 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 prove this to be the case, he examined the articles 
 and spoke particularly to the points which had bctu 
 complained of — the boundaries of Canada^ the fishery 
 of Newfoundland, the cession of the Floridas, the 
 abandonment of the loyalists and the otiier topics^ 
 vvhicli had engaged the attention of the house; recom* 
 mending them to temper and moderation, and spurn- 
 ing at all unseasonable and invidious schemes of op* 
 position, in a moment so calamitous and alarming to 
 the state. 
 
 With respect to the unnatural alliance which itv;as 
 reported had taken place. — Mr. Pitt said, ** it was un- 
 doubtedly to be reckoned one of the wonders of the 
 age. It \vas not easy to reduce such an event to any 
 common rule of judging of men. It stretched to a 
 point of political apostacy, which not only astonished 
 so young a man as he was, but apparently astoiiisbad 
 and confounded the most veteran observers of the 
 human heart/' lie was excessively severe on this 
 junction, and spoke in roost pointed terms of reproach. 
 
 It is but fair to add, the retort of Mr, Sheridan to 
 the personal alUisions towards him— In rising to ex- 
 plain, that gentleman said, ^' On the particular sort 
 of personahty, which the right honourable gentlemaa 
 had thought proper to make use of, he need not, 
 make any comment— the propriety, the taste, the 
 gentlemanly point of it, must have been obvious 
 to the house. But," said Mr. Sheridan, '' let me assure 
 the right honourable gentleman, that I do now, and 
 will at any time he chooses to repeat this sort of allu- 
 sion, meet it with the most sincere good-humour. 
 May, I will say more— flattered and encouraged by 
 the ri.crht honourable gentleman's panegyric on my ta- 
 
WILLIAM PITT, 53 
 
 lents, if ever I again engage in the compositions he 
 alludes to, I may be tempted to an act of presumption 
 -—to attempt an improvement on one of Ben JonsoiV?T 
 best characters—the character of the Angry Boy in the 
 Akhymist.^' 
 
 With regard to the "junction'* alluded tG, with so* 
 much point in Mr. Pitt's speech, the public was no 
 less astonished, nor was the high popularity of Mr. 
 Fox more than proof to the shock it occasioned. 
 • This was no less than a coalition brought about by 
 Mr. Burke, between Mr. Fox, himself, and colleagues, 
 the violent opposers of all the principles of that noble- 
 man, with Lord North, and his former supporters. 
 It is accounted for by the private friendship between 
 Mr. Burke and Lord North, and the original connec- 
 tion between him and Mr. Fox, but by such minute 
 and remote admissions ai:rd reasonings, there is no 
 crime which may not be palliated*. 
 
 On the 21st of February the subject of the prelimi- 
 naries was resumed. Several resolutions of censure 
 being moved by Lord John Cavendish, i\lr. Fox in a 
 loiig and nervous speech, but replete with the venom 
 of party, supported them, Mr. Pitt now rose, as if^ 
 to make ample ameiids for the littleness of the preced- 
 ing personality, he soared to the highest pitch of gran- 
 deur and sense in the fjllowing terms : • 
 
 ** Sir — Revering as I do the great abilities of the ho- 
 nourable gentleman (Mr. Fox) who spoke last, I 
 lament, in common with the house, when those abi- 
 lities are misemployed, as on the present question, to 
 inflame the imagination, and mislead the jud<^^nent. 
 I am told, Sir, ' he does not envy me the triumph of 
 my situation on this day:' a sort of language which 
 £ 3 
 
54 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 becoiTes the candour of that right honourable gentij'' 
 man, as ill as bis present principles. The triumphs of 
 party, Sir, with which this self appointed minister 
 seems so higiily elatCi, shall never seduce me to any in- 
 consistency which the busiest suspicion shall presume 
 to glance at. I will never engage in political enmities 
 without a public cause. I will never forego such en- 
 mities without the public approbation ; nor will 1 be 
 questioned and cast nff in the face of this hoi/^e, by one 
 virtuous and dissatisfied friend,'*' These, Sir, the sober 
 and durable triumphs of reason over the weak and pro* 
 fiigate inconsistencies of party violence — these, Sir, 
 the steady triumphs of virtue over success itself shall 
 be mine, not only in my present situation but through 
 every future condition of my life : triumphs which no 
 length of time shall diminish, which no change of prin- 
 ciples shall ever sully. 
 
 '* The fatal consequences of Tuesday's vote, which I 
 then deprecated and foretold, is already manifest in 
 this house, and it has been thought on all sides requi- 
 site, to give a new stability to the peace, which that 
 vote had already shaken. But the proof which the 
 present motion is about to establish, that zve are deter- 
 mined to abide hy this peace, is a declaration that we 
 have examined the terms, and have found them in-- 
 adequate. Still less consistent is this extraordinary- 
 motion with the language of Tuesday. It was then 
 urged, that no sufficient time had been allowed us to 
 determine on the articles before us ; and in the short 
 space of two days, w^e are ready to pass a vote of 
 
 \ 
 
 * Supposed to allude to Sir Cecil Wray, Mr.jrowy?, 6cc> 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 55 
 
 censure on wliat we declare we have not liad leisure 
 to discuss. This, Sir, is the first monstrous produc- 
 tion of that strange alliance which threatens once more 
 to plunge this devoted country into all the horrors of 
 another war. 
 
 " It is not, Sir, an exception to any single article, if 
 well founded exceptions should really exist, thai ought 
 to determine the merits of this treaty. Private inte- 
 rests have their respective advocates, and subjects 
 may be easily found for partial complaints ; but pri- 
 vate interests must bend to public safety. What these 
 complaints may prove, is indeed yet unknown : for 
 whilst the honourable gentleman alone is describing 
 with so much confidence the distresses and dissatisfac- 
 tion of trade, she herself is approaching the throne 
 with effusions of gratitude and affection. The ho- 
 nourable gentleman who spoke last, has fairly stated 
 the terms by which the merits of this peace are to be 
 decided— f>^e relative strengtJi and resources of the re- 
 spective powers at 7var, I will immediately meet him 
 on this issue. 
 
 *' I shall begiuj Sir, with a most important subject^ 
 the state of the British navy ; and shall refer myself for 
 proofs of what I assert to the papers now lying on your 
 table. This appeal, Sir, to solid and authentic do- 
 cuments, will appear the more just and necessary when 
 I acquaint the house, that a noble lord (LordKeppel) 
 from whom the honourable gentleman professes to re- 
 ceive his naval information, has varied in his state- 
 ments to the cabinet, no less than twenty sail of the 
 line. 
 
 " We are informed, Sir, from the papers before us^ 
 that the British force amounted nearly to one hundred 
 
56 LIFE OF THE LATB 
 
 sail of the line, many of these had been long and ac- 
 tively employed on foreign stations. With diligent 
 exertions six new ships would have been added to the 
 catalogue in IMarch. The force of France and Spain 
 amounted to nearly one hundred and forty sail of the 
 line, sixty of which were lying in Cadiz harbour, 
 stored and victualled for immediate service. Twelve 
 ships of the line, including one newly built by the 
 United States, bad quitted Boston harbour under 
 Vaudreuil, in a state of perfect repair. An immense 
 land armament was collected at St. Domingo. Their 
 several forces were united in one object, and that ob- 
 ject was the reduction of Jamaica. Who, Sir, can 
 suppose with serious confidence, that island could 
 have long resisted a regular attack supported by se- 
 venty-two sail of the line ? Admiral Pigot, after his 
 reinforcement from Europe, would have commanded 
 a fleet of only forty-six sail, and it has long been ac- 
 knowledged in this house, that defensive war ymtst ter-- 
 minute in certain ruin. Would Admiral Pigot have 
 undertaken at this time ottensive operations against 
 the islands of the enemy ? — Those islands upon which 
 Lord Rodney flushed with victory, could not venture 
 to attempt an. impression. Would Admiral Pigot,. 
 Sir, have regained by arms what the ministers have 
 recovered by treaty ? Could //e, in the sight of a su- 
 perior fleet, have recaptured Grenada, Dominique, 
 St. Kitt's, Nevis, and Montserrat ? Or might we not 
 too reasonably apprehend the campaign in the West 
 Indies would have closed with the loss of Jamaica it- 
 self, the remnant of our possessions in that part of tb» 
 globe ? 
 
WILLIAM PITT. Oi 
 
 " Let us next consider our situation in the ^?ast. A 
 mere defensive resistance, however glorious had en° 
 titled Sir Edward Hughes to the thanks of this house ; 
 but his success, if it may be termed a victory, had 
 not prevented the enemy from landing a greater Eu- 
 ropfan force than we actually possess in India^ and 
 who, at this instant, are, in conjunction with Hyderj 
 subduing and desolating the Carnatic. 
 
 *' The prospect is by no means brightened when we 
 look for<vard to the probable operations in the channel 
 and in the r.orthern seas, during the course of the en- 
 suing summer. Thirteen new sail of the line would 
 at thai time have been added to the fleet of France; 
 and the Dutch force, as it has been accurately stated 
 by a great naval officer (Commodore Keith^tuaft) iti 
 \Xm debate would havi amounted to twenty-fivi sail 
 of tha \m^.* What accfsiion the Spanish forca would 
 hava raeaivid \% not i^aifficiantly known. It is enough 
 for ma to state, the flaeis of Bourbon and of Holland 
 would hava doublad ours in our own geas. Sliould 
 we have sailed the intervals of their cruize, and poorly 
 paraded the channel for a few weeks, to tarnish again, 
 by flight, the glories of the last campaign ? Or should 
 we have dared to risk the existence of the kingdom 
 Itself, by engaging against such fearful odds ? 
 
 *■ What were the leeHngs of every one who hears 
 me, (what were my own feelings it is impossible to 
 describe) when that great man, Lord Id owe, set sail 
 with our only fleet ; inferior to the enemy, and under 
 a probability of an engagement on their own coasts ? 
 My apprehensions. Sir, on this occasion, however 
 great, were mixed with hope; I knew the superiority 
 of British skill, and courage might outweigh the in* 
 
'SS LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 equality of numbers. But, Sir, in another quarter^ 
 and at the same instant of time, my apprehension^ 
 were unmixed with a ray of comfort. The Baltic 
 fleet, almost as valuable as Gibraltar itself, fur it con- 
 tained all tl;e materials of future war, wa- on its way 
 to England, and twelve sail ol the Ime had been sent! 
 out from the ports of Holland to intercept them: Gib- 
 raltar was relieved by a skill and courage that baffled 
 superior numbers; and the Baltic fleet was, I know 
 liot how, miraculously preserved. One power in- 
 deed, the honourable gentleman had omitted in /iis de- 
 tail : — But the Dutch, Sir, had not been disarmed by 
 the humiliating language of that gentleman's ministry. 
 They were warmed into more active exertions and were 
 just beginning to feel their own strength. They were 
 not only about to defend themselves with effect, but to 
 lend ten sail to the fleets of France and Spain. Here, 
 Sir, let us pause for a nionient of serious and solemn 
 consideration ! 
 
 " Should the ministers have persevered, from day 
 to day, to throw the desperate die, whose successes 
 had won us only a barren, though glorious safety; and 
 whose failure in a single cast would sink us into hope- 
 less ruin ? However fondly the ideas of national ex- 
 pectation had diffused themselves amongst the people, 
 the ministers, Sir, could entertain no rational hopes. 
 Those columns of our strength, which many honour- 
 able gentlemen had raised With so much fancy, and 
 decorated witli so much invention, the ministers bad 
 surveyed with the eye of sober reason, I am sorry to 
 say, we discovered the fabric of our naval superiority 
 to be visionary and baseless. ^ 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 59 
 
 " I shall next, with submission to the right honour- 
 able gentleiiian who presides in that department, 
 state, in few words, the situation of the army. It is 
 notorious to every gentleman who hears me, that new 
 levies could scarcely be torn, on any terms, from this 
 depopulated country. It is knovrn to professional 
 men how great is tiie difference between the nominal 
 and etf(^ctive state of that service; and, astoni.-hing as 
 it may appear, after a careful enquiry, three thousand 
 men were the utmost force that .could have been safely 
 sent from this country on any offensive duty. But I 
 an told, Sir, the troops from New York would have 
 sut)plied us with a force equal to the demands of every 
 intended expedition. The foreign troops in that gar- 
 rison we had no power to embark on any other than 
 American service ; and, in contradiction to the ho- 
 nourable gentleman who spoke last, and to that noble 
 lord whose language he affects to speak in this house, 
 no transports had been prepared, or could have been 
 assembled, iot their embarkation. Where, Sir, should 
 they have directed their course when they were at 
 length embarked, but into the hazard of an enemy's 
 i1eet, which would have cruized with undisputed su- 
 periority in every part of the western world. 
 
 " No pressure of public accusation, nor heat of in- 
 nocence in its own defence, shall ever tempt me to 
 disclose a single circumstance w hich may tend to hu- 
 miliate my country. What 1 am about to say will be- 
 tray no secret of state; it is known, for it is felt 
 throughout the nation. There remains, at this instant, 
 exclusive of the annual services, an unfunded debt of 
 tbirty millions. — Taxes, Sir, the most flattering, have 
 again and again been tried, and, instead of revenue 
 
 3 
 
60 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 from themselves, have frequently produced a failure 
 in others, with which they had been found to sympa- 
 thize. But here, Sir, 1 am told by the honourable 
 gentleman who spoke last, other juifions would hate 
 Jelt an equal distress. Good God ! to what a conse- 
 quence does the honourable gentleman lead us T— 
 Should T, Sir, have dared to advise a continuance of 
 war, which endangered the bankruptcy of public faith ; 
 a bankruptcy which would have almost dissolved the 
 bonds of government, and involved the state in the 
 confusion of a general ruin ? Sliould 1 have ventured 
 to do this, because one of the adverse powers might 
 have experienced an equal distress ? 
 
 '^ The honourable gentleman who spoke last, has 
 amused the house witli various statements, on the 
 different principles of uti possidetis and restitution. 
 The principle of those statements is as false as it is un- 
 expected .from him. Did his great naval friend ac- 
 quaint him with the respective values of Dominique^ 
 and St. Lucia?— that lord, who in his Majesty's coun- 
 cils had advised, and perhaps wisely, a preference of 
 the former. The value of Dominique, Sir, was better 
 known to our enemies ; and the immense sums em- 
 ployed by ibem in fortifying that island, prove, as 
 well its present value, as their desire to retain it. 
 That honourable gentleman has, on all occasions, 
 spoke with approbation of the last peace : Was St, 
 Lucia left in our bauds by that peace, the terms of 
 which we ourselves prescribed ^ — Or was St. Lucia 
 really impregnable as to endanger all our possessions 
 at the commencement of the present war ? 
 
 '^ It would be needless for me to remind the honour- 
 able gentleman who spoke last of any declarations he 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 
 
 6l 
 
 had made in a preceding session : professions from 
 kim so antiquated and obsolete, would have but little 
 weight in this house. But I will venture to reqaire 
 constancy for a single week, and shall rtmuid him of 
 his declaration in Monda}^'^ debate, ' thai this peace 
 was preferable to a continuance of the ^^ar/ Wi'l he 
 then criminate his majesty's mnn^ters by h. 
 motion for preferring what he would have p: ererrea t 
 Or how will he presuQ:ie to prove, thai, if better terms 
 could have been olMaiued, it was less their ii^terest 
 than their duty to have obtained them. 
 
 " Was this peace, Sir^ concluded with the same in- 
 decent levity, that the honourable gentleman would 
 proceed to its condemnation ? Many days ?)nd nights 
 were laboriously employed by his Majesty's ministers 
 in such extensive, negociations ; — many doubts were 
 well weighed and removed — and weeks and months of 
 solemn discussion gave birth to that peace, wi)ich we 
 are required to destroy without examinatioi; ; that 
 peace, the positive ultimatum from France, and to 
 which I solemnly assure/ the public there was no other 
 alternative but a continuance of the v.'ar. 
 
 '^ Could the ministers, thus surround d with scenes 
 of ruin, atl'ect to dictate the terms of peace ? And aie 
 these articles seriously compared- with the peace oC 
 Paris ? There was, indeed, a time when Great Bri- 
 tain might have met her enemies on other conditions ; 
 and if an imagination, warmed with the power and 
 glory of this country, could have directed any mem- 
 ber of his Majesty*3 councils from a painful inspection 
 of the truth, I might, 1 hope, without presumption, 
 have been entitled to that indulgence. 1 feel. Sir, at 
 thij^ instant, how much i had been aninjated in my 
 NO. to, F 
 
62 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 childhood by a recital of England's victories :— I was 
 taught, Sir, by one whose memory I shall ever revere,, 
 that at the close of a war, far different indeed from 
 this, she had dictated the terms of peace to submissive 
 nations. This, in which 1 place something more than 
 a common interest, w^as the memorable aera of Eng- 
 Jand's glory. But that asra is past: she is under the 
 awful and mortifying necessity of employing a language 
 that corresponds with her true condition ; the visions 
 of her power and pre-eminence are passed away. 
 
 " PVe hare achwrvkdged American independance — 
 that, Sir, was a needless form : the incapacity of the 
 iioble lord who conducted our affairs ; the events of 
 war, and even a voice of this house had already grant- 
 ed what it was impossible to withhold. 
 
 ** We have ceded Florida-^^Ve have obtained Provi- 
 dence and the Bahama islands. 
 
 ** JFe have ceded an extent of fishery on the coast of 
 Newfonndland — We have established an exclusive right 
 to the most valuable banks. 
 
 " JFe have restored St. Lucia and given up Tobago^— 
 We have regained Grenada, Dominica, St. Kitts, 
 Nevis, and Montserrat, and we have rescued Jamaica 
 from her impending danger. In Africa we have ceded 
 Goree, the grave of our countrymen ; and we possess 
 Senegambia, the best and most healthy settlement. 
 
 " In Europe tee have relinquished Minorca—kept up 
 an immense and useless expence in peace, and never 
 tenable in war. 
 
 " JFe have likexcise permitted his most Christian Ma- 
 jesty to repair his harbour of Dunkirk— The humiliating 
 clause for its destruction was inserted. Sir, after other 
 wars than the past. But the immense expence attend- 
 
WILLIAM PITT* 63 
 
 ing its repair, will still render this indulgence useless ; 
 add to this that Dunkirk was first an object of oar 
 jealousy when ships were constructed far inferior to 
 their present draught. That harbour, at the com- 
 mencement of the war admitted ships of a single deck ; 
 no act or expence will enable it to receive a fleet of 
 the line, 
 
 " In the East Indies, where alone we had power to 
 obtain this peace, we have restored what was useless 
 to ourselves, and scarcely tenable in a continuance of 
 the w^ar. 
 
 ^^ That we hate abandoned the unhappi/ loyalists to thdr 
 Implacable enemies— \J\i\\e, Sir, are those unhappy men 
 befriended by such a language in this house ; nor shall 
 we give much assistance to their cause, or add stability 
 to the reciprocal confidence of the two states, if we 
 already impute to Congress a violence and injustice 
 which decency forbids us to susprct. Would a con- 
 tinuation of the war liave been justified, on the single 
 principle of assisting these unfortunate mf^n ? Or 
 would a continuance of the war, if so justified, have 
 procured them a moie certain indemnily ? Their 
 hopes mu*^t have been rendered 'de.-iperate indeed by 
 addiiional distresses of Britain ; those hopes aIhcU 
 ar'.^. now revived by the timely aid of peace and recon- 
 ciliation. 
 
 *• T hese are the ruinous conditions to which this 
 country engaged with four powerful states, and ex- 
 hausted in all its resources, thought fit to sui^sciibe, 
 for the dissolution of that alliance, and t]:e immediate 
 enjoyment of peace. Let us examine what is left, 
 with a manly and determined courage. Let us 
 fe^rengthew ourselves against inveterate euemies, aiul. 
 
64 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 reconciliate our antient friends. The misfortunes of 
 individuals and of kingdoms, that are laid open and 
 examined with true wisdom, are more than half re* 
 dressed ; and to this great object should be directed 
 all the virtues and abilities of this house. Let us feel 
 our ca'laaiities— -Jet us bear them too, like men. 
 
 *' But, Sir, J fear 1 have too long engaged your at- 
 tention to no real purpose : and that the public safety 
 is this day risked without a blush, by the malic« and 
 disappointment of faction. The honourable gentleman 
 who spoke last, has declared with that sort of consisten- 
 cy which marks his conduct, 'Because he is prevented 
 from prosecuting the noble lord in the blue ribbon to 
 the satisfaction of public justice, he will heartily em» 
 brace him as his friend/ So readily does he recon- 
 cile extremes, and love the man whpm he wished to 
 persecute ! With the same spirit, Sir, I suppose he 
 vvili cherish this peace ioo— because he abhors it, 
 
 ** But 1 will not hesitate to surn/ise, from the ob* 
 vious compiection of this night's debate, that it ori- 
 ginates rather in an inclination to force the Earl of 
 Shelburne from the treasury than in any real convic- 
 tion that ministers deserve the censure for the conces- 
 sions they have made ; concessions, which, from the 
 facts I have enumerated, and the reasoning I have 
 stated as arising from these facts, are the obvious re- 
 sult of an absolute necessity, and imputable, not so 
 much to those of whom the present cabinet is compos- 
 ed, as to that cabinet of which the noble lord in tlie 
 blue ribbon was a member. This noble earl, like 
 every other person eminent for ability, and acting iu 
 the rirst department of a great state is undoubtedly 
 &a object of envy to some, as well as of admiration ttt 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 65 
 
 otliers. The obloquy to which hiscapacity and situation 
 have raised hiin has been created and circulated with 
 equal meanness and address : but his merits are as much 
 above my panegyric, as the arts, to which he owes his de- 
 famation are beneath my attention. AVhen, stripped of 
 his power and emoluments, he once more descends to 
 private life without tl^e invidious appendages of place, 
 men will see him tha'ough a different medium, and 
 perceive in him qualities which richly entitle him to 
 their esteem. That official superiority which at pre- 
 sent irritates their feelings and that capacity of con- 
 ferring good offices on those he prefers, which ail men 
 are fond of possessing, will not then be any obstacle 
 to their making an impartial estimate of his character* 
 But notwithstanding a sincere predilection for this no- 
 bleman, vvhom I am bound by every tie to treat 
 with sentiments of delerence and regard, I am far 
 from wishing him retained in power against the public 
 approbation ; and if his removal can be innocently 
 effected, if lie can be compelled to resign without en- 
 tailing all those mischiefs which seemed to be involved 
 in the resolution now moved, great as his zeal for his 
 country is, powerful as his abilities are, and earnest and 
 assiduous as his endeavors have been to rescue the Bri- 
 tish empire from the difficulties that oppress her, 1 ain 
 persuaded he will retire, firm in the dignity of his own 
 mind, conscious of his iiaving contributed to the public 
 advantage, and, if not attended by the fulsome plaudits 
 of a mob, possessed of that substantial and permanent 
 satisfaction which arises from the lia.bitual approbation 
 of an upright mind. I know hnn well; and, dismiss 
 him from the confidence of his soveieign, aud the bu- 
 smess of state when you please, to this transcendant 
 F 3 
 
66 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 consolation he has a title, which no accident can in* 
 \alid^te or affect. It is the glorious reward of doing 
 well, of acting an honest and honourable part. By 
 the difficulties he encountered on his accepting the 
 reins of government, by the reduced situation in which 
 he found the state of the nation, and by the perpetual 
 turbulence of those who thought his elevation effected 
 at their ex pence, he has certainly earned it dearly • 
 and with such a solid understanding, and so much 
 goodness of heart as st^imp his character, he is in no 
 danger of losing it. Nothing can be a stronger proof 
 that his enemies are eager to traduce than tlje frivo- 
 lous grounds on which they affect to accuse him. An 
 action, which reflects a lustre on his attention to the 
 claims of merit,* has yet been improved into a fault in 
 his conduct. A right honourable gentleman who had 
 exhausted his strei^gth in the service of the state, and 
 to whose )ear3 and infirmities his absence from parlia- 
 ment can only be attrvbu:ed, owes to the friendship 
 and interference of the noble earl a pension, which 
 howe\e: adequate to all his necessities and conveni- 
 ence in the evening of life, is no extraordinary com- 
 pensation for the public spirit which has unifoimly 
 mariried hi:5 pai.iair.entary conduct. Surely the abili* 
 ties and virtues of this veteran soldier and respectable 
 senator, df3s:ervei scm^^ at knowiedgnent from that 
 community in which ihey lave b( en so often and so 
 m.aifully extrTted. Surely his ags entitled him to a 
 little repose in the lap of that public lo whose wel- 
 fare his youth had been dtdicated. Surely, that prin- 
 
 f Alludij:^ to Uie pension granttd to Cploael jBair^. 
 3 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 67 
 
 ciple of humanity, which stimulates those in power ta 
 commi- erate in this manner the situat^.on of neglected 
 merit, possesses a nobleness, a generosity, a benevo- 
 lence, which, instead of inclining the censure of any, 
 out^ht to command tne veneration and oraise of ail. 
 
 o 
 
 '' 1 repeat then, Sir, that it is not this treaty, it is 
 the Earl of Shelburne aloiiC whom the movrrs of this 
 question are desirous to wonnd. This is the ohject - 
 which has raised this storm of faction; this is the 
 aim of the unnatural ccaliiion to which I have alluded. 
 If, howevt^r, the baneful alliance is not already form- 
 ed, if this ill-omened marr i ige is not aheady solem- 
 nized, I know aju"5t and lawful impediment, and in 
 the name of the pnblu* safety I hdre Jo^'bid the banns, 
 
 *' My own share m liie cen-nre, pointed by the 
 motion before the house against his Maji sty s minis- 
 ters, I will bear with fort tude, because mv own heart 
 tells me, I have not act^d wrong. To th:s m -nuor^ 
 v;ho never did, and, I trust, never will deceive me, 
 I will confidently repair, as to an adequate asyhnn 
 from all the clamour which inieiested faction can 
 raise. I was not very eager to come in, I shall have 
 no great reluctance to go out, whenever the public 
 are disposed to dismiss me from their service. It has 
 been the great object of my short official existence to 
 do the duties of my station with all the ability and ad- 
 dress in my power, and wiih a fidehty and honour 
 which should bear me up, and give me ccnudence, 
 under every possible contingency or disappointment. 
 lean say with smcerity, I never had a wish which did 
 not terminate m the dearest interests of the nation. 
 1 will at the same time imitate the honourable gentle- 
 
6B LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 Blanks candour, and confess, thai I too, have my am* 
 bition. High situation and great influence, are de- 
 sirable objecte> to most men, and objects which I am 
 not ashani^d to pursue, \vhich lam even solicitous to 
 possess, whenever ihey can be acquired with hononr 
 and letamt d with dignity. On these respectdbie con- 
 ditions, 1 am noc less ambitious to be great and 
 powerful than it is natural lor a young man with such 
 brilliant examples before him, to be. But even these 
 objects I am not ( eneath reHnquishing, the moment 
 Hiy duty to my country, ny character, and friends, 
 renders such a sacrilice indispensable. Ihen 1 hope 
 to retire, not disappointed, but triumphant, triumphant 
 in the convict 'on thatniy taleuts, humble as they are, 
 have been eainestlv, zealously, and strenuously em- 
 plov^d to the best of my apprehension, in promoting 
 the truest welfare of my country, and that, however, 
 I may stand chargeable wifh weakness of uiidersiand- 
 ing, or error of judgment, nothing can be impuced to 
 my official capacity which bears the most distant con- 
 nection with an interested, a corrupt, or a dishonest 
 intention. But it is not any part of my plan, when 
 the time [shall come, that I quit my present statioa 
 to threaten the repose of my coi ntry, and erect like 
 the honourable gentleman a fortress and a refuge for 
 disappointed ambition. The self created and self ap** 
 pointed successors to the present administration, liave 
 asserted with much confidence, that this is likely to 
 be the case. 1 can assure them, however, when they 
 come from that side of the house to this, i vill for 
 one most readily and cordially accept (he e^thaige; 
 the only desire I should indulge and cferish On the 
 subject is, that the service of the pubhc may be ably 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 6^ 
 
 disinterestedly, and faithfully perfomieJ. To those 
 who feel for their country as 1 wish to do, and wiU 
 strive to do, it matters little who are out or in ; but it 
 matters much that her affairs be conducted with wis- 
 dom, with firmness, with dignity, and ci edit. Those 
 entrusted to my care, I will resign, 'let me hope, into 
 the hands of those much better qualified to do them 
 justice than mine. But J will not mimic the parade 
 of the honourable gentleman, in avowing an indis- 
 criminate opposition to whoever may be appointed to 
 succeed. I will march oat with no warhke> no hos* 
 tile, no menacing protestations ; but hoping the new 
 administration will have no other object in view than 
 the real and substantial welfare of the community at 
 large ; that they will bring with them into office those 
 truly public and patriotic principles which they for- 
 merly held, but which they abandoned in opposition ; 
 that they will save the btaie and promote the great 
 purpose^sof public good, with as much itaadiness, in* 
 tegrity, and solid advantage, as I am confident it must 
 one day appear tha Earl of Shelburna and hi^ col- 
 leagues hava done, I promise tham, baforeh^nd, my 
 uniform and best support on tjvery occaiion, wher^ I 
 can honestly and conscientiously assist them, 
 
 ** In short, Sir, whatever appears diiihonourabla 
 or inadequate in tlie peace on your table, is strictly 
 chargeable to the noble lord in the blue ribbcn, 
 whose profusion of the public*s money, whose noto- 
 rious temerity and obstinacy in prosecuting the war, 
 which originated in his pernicious and oppressive po- 
 licy, and whose utter incapacity to fill the station ha 
 occupied, rendered peace of any description mdispen-^ 
 »able to the preservation of the state. The small pavj 
 
70 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 which fell to my s^iare in that ignominious transaction 
 was divided with a set of men, whom the dispassionate 
 pubhc must, on reflection, unite to honour. Un- 
 used as I am to the factious and jarring clamours of 
 this day's debate,^! look up to the independant part of 
 the house, and to the public at large, if not for that 
 impartial approbation which my conduct deserves, 
 at least for that acquittal from blame to which my in- 
 nocence entitles me. I have ever been most anxious 
 to do my utmost for the interest of my country ; it has 
 been my sole concern to act en honest and upright 
 part, and I am disposed to think €^vefy instance of my 
 official department will bear a fair and honourable 
 construction. With these intentions I ventured for- 
 ward on the public attemion ; and can appeal with 
 some degree of confidence to l)oth sides of the house 
 for the consistency of mv {•olitical conduct. My ear- 
 liest i'iipicasions were in favour of the noblest and most 
 disinte) es't'd modes of serving, the public : ihes^* impres- 
 sions ave stiii dear, and will, I hope, remain ever 
 dear ou my ht^an : I will cht^rish them as a legacy iu- 
 iOnitely m.;re valuable th* re than the greatest inheri- 
 tance. On these prit)ciples alone I came into parlia- 
 iDent, and n-o place ; and 1 now take the whole house 
 to wiluef^^, il»at i have not been \inder the necessity 
 of contiadiciuig one pubhc declaration, I have ever 
 made. 
 
 *' I an), notwiihstaricjing, at the disposal of this house, 
 and with their dtcisii^n whatever it shall bt^, 1 will 
 jchf erfully comply, i' is impossible to deprive me of 
 those feelings wl)ich must always result from tlie sin- 
 cerity of njy b<st (n leavonrs to fulfil willi integrity 
 every official ei^gageiaeut ; you may take from sne, 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 7i 
 
 Sir, the privileges and emoluments of place, but you 
 camiot, and you shall not, take from me those habi- 
 tual and warm regards for the prosperity of Great Bri- 
 tain, which constitute the honour, the happiness, the 
 pride of my life ; and which, I trust, death alone can 
 extinguish. And with this consolation, the loss of 
 power, Sir, and the loss of fortune, though I affect 
 not to despise them, I hope soon I shall be able to 
 forget : — — 
 
 '' Laudo raanentem ; si celeres quatit 
 Pennas, reiiguo quae dedit — 
 
 ■ probaniqiie 
 
 Pauperiem sine dote quaeru." 
 
 'By means of the coalition (a junction) already de- 
 scribed, a majority of seventeen was obtained this day 
 for censuring the terms of the peace, and the adminis- 
 tration which had formed the treaty, of course con- 
 sidered itself no longer in power. The resjalt was, 
 however, different from what was usually expected on 
 such occasions ; for, instead of the opposition imme- 
 diately superseding the censured ministers, an interval 
 of several weeks took place without any arrangement 
 being made for the government. 
 
 On the 24th of March, being then more than a 
 month since the preceding majority was so obtained, 
 Mr. Coke, member for Norfolk, took notice of this 
 unhappy circumstance, and moved an address to his 
 Majesty that he would be graciously pleased to com- 
 ply with the wishes of the house, by forming an ad- 
 ministration which should possess the confidence of the- 
 country. 
 
/S LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 A week after (March 31) the Earl of Surrey (now 
 Duke of Norfolk,) attracted the attention of the house 
 to the same subject and called upon Mr. Pitt for an 
 explanation, who answered by avowing his resigna- 
 tion. 
 
 Much tumultuous discussion prevailed on this sub- 
 ject for some time. 
 
 The sentiments of Mr, Pitt having, however, been 
 chiefly delivered on the motion of Mr. Coke, they are 
 here given as conducive to that general chain, which 
 is wished to be preserved in his parliamentary transac- 
 tions. 
 
 On that occasion, Mr. Pitt declared, '' that he did 
 - not think that the present motion was any breach oi 
 the constitutional prerogative of the crown, or thai it 
 had anyafrinity to what seemed to be the opinion ot 
 some gentlemen, in respect to a parliamentary right of 
 the commons, to interefere in a matter when the well 
 being of the empire consisted in the formation of a mi- 
 nistry. He had, however, to observe to the house, 
 that it was a matter which required their consideration, 
 whether the motion now before them v»^ould have the 
 effect to which it seemingly tended. For his part, he 
 said, he did not see how the address could remove tlie 
 difficulties which stood in the way of forming an ad- 
 ministration, supposing that address unanimously 
 carried. It only went to request, that his Majesty 
 would form an administration, that might have the 
 confidence of the people. He wished in that case to 
 know who were to be the judges of the parti'cular men 
 who had the confidence of the people, and how that 
 matter was to be decided. At present there did not 
 appear ar.y criterion by which such an opinion could 
 
M^LLIAM PITT. 7o 
 
 be formed. His Majesty was desired to appoint an 
 administration, which by his royal authority he was 
 already vested with power to do. He wished the no- 
 ble lord in the blue ribbon, and his honourable and 
 new ally to declare, upon their honour, as men^ whe- 
 ther in their consciences, they believed that the ad- 
 dress, if carried, would accelerate the business, or re- 
 concile the militating opinions of party. He allowed 
 that the empire without a government, without a mi- 
 nistry, was a matter of public misfortune. The pre- 
 sent situation of the kingdom, was the absence of all 
 the functions of government, and the affairs of the na- 
 tion were thrown into a distracted state. But he de- 
 manded, whether the address moved for had any real 
 intentional tendency to relieve the state, and whether 
 it was not calculated for other purposes. Some peo- 
 ple, he safd, could reconcile it to their minds to part 
 with their old principles and adopt new ideas : how- 
 ever such sentiments might agree with tried constitu-^ 
 tions, and long practical habits, he was ^^et too young 
 to change his opinion, and conform his iceas to the 
 tide of interest, or the prevalence of party. He had 
 formed one opinion, one great principle by which his 
 conduct was to be regulated ; and it had in his heart 
 taken such root, that he could not erase it. Gentle* 
 men talked of forgiving animosities, and altering their 
 political opinions with as much ease as they could 
 change their gloves; that what they reprobated to 
 day, they were justified in applauding to-morrow ; 
 and those whom they hated, disdained, and hooted at 
 in the morning, it was honourable, patriotic, and con- 
 scientious, that they should take to their bosom in the 
 evening. This was a maxim as yet a stranger to his 
 
 NO. J 3. G 
 
74 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 heart. He could not coalesce with those whose prin- 
 ciples he knew to be diametrically opposite to his own ; 
 because if they changed to his opinions, he could not 
 depend upon them, and if he changed to theirs, ha 
 must be conscious he acted against his honest judg* 
 n::ent. Parties formed on such a basis could never 
 long continue, lliere might be a seeming coalition of 
 sentiment wiih the coalition of interest; but men who 
 bad come to the years of discretion, and who well 
 knew how such political marriages were made, would 
 pay very little attention to the oath, by which they 
 were bound, whenever they found it their interest to 
 depart from it. A similarity of ideas, he said, was 
 requisite to make friendship permanent, and, without 
 that similarity, there could not be either public or 
 private coalition that would last. He therefore 
 thought it necessary to declare explicitly, that he could 
 not bring himself to adopt the same mode of reason- 
 ing as was held in justification of the grand coalition, 
 and that his principles were such as were not adapted 
 to times like the present." 
 
 Mr. Pitt, after this declaration, that he would not 
 join the coalition, asked with an air of earnestness, ** if, 
 contrary to what he had heard, and contrary to what 
 he believed was the general opinion, he was to under- 
 stand that the noble lord in the blue ribbon, and the 
 honourable gentleman, solemnly pledged themselves to 
 the assertion, that an arrangement cf administration 
 bad not been delayed above ten hours, or some very 
 short space of time, in consequence of the difficulties 
 that had arisen between the noble lord (Lord North) 
 and the noble duke (Duke of Portland) respecting the 
 disposition of their arranciements, and that the noble 
 
'\VILLIAM PITT. 75 
 
 lord and honourable gentleman pledged themselves, 
 that the whole of that arrangement had been made 
 known wherever it ought to have been communicated ? 
 The noble lord in the blue ribbon, had mentioned that 
 he and his honourable friend {Mi\ Fox) were per- 
 fectly agreed ; and yet the noble lord, publickly 
 avowed that he should oppose the reform bill. Was 
 this a coalition likely to exhibit a similarity of senti- 
 ment for the public good, in the most essential point 
 of interest for the people, the noble lord and most of 
 his new friends materially differed." 
 
 " There w^as a further point that he wished the house 
 to consider; it was, to wait another day before they 
 sent up the address, as it was probable an arrange- 
 ment would then be foimed. lie thought this might 
 be asked and granted now, with as great a degree of 
 propriety as on a former day ; and he said, that he 
 had so m^ reason to imagine an administration would 
 be formed if not in one, at least, in two or three days. 
 If gentlemen, however, differed with him in that opi- 
 nion, he had no more objection to the motion than he 
 had to see an honourable, honest, and permanent 
 ministry formed. It was what he wished, for the wel- 
 fare of the people, and for the peace and prosperity of 
 the kingdom.'' 
 
 On the 2d of April, the new, administration was 
 announced, and was nearly the same as that which 
 was previously intended to have taken place with the 
 addition of the interest of Lord North.* It com- 
 
 • tt was composed of the following members : — 
 Duke of Portland, First Lord of the Treasury. 
 Jbord North; Secretary of State for the Home D^^partmcBt. 
 2 6 2 
 
76 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 menced its operations under the most auspicious cir-t 
 cumstances, and seemed formed for uncommon dura- 
 tion. 
 
 Mr. Pitt, as he had stated, was at no enmity, with 
 this administration, and in consequence, while the po- 
 pular measures with which it immediately commenced, 
 were on foot, he brought forward a bill for regulating 
 public offices, and a motion for a reform in parliament. 
 On the 2d of May, after several petitions previously 
 presented from different places had been read, Mr. 
 Pitt rose to open the business. He declared, " that 
 in his life he never felt more embarrassment, or more 
 anxiety than at the present moment, when, for his 
 
 Hon. Charles James Fox^, Secretary of State for the Foreign 
 Department^ 
 
 Lord John Cavendish, Chancellor of the Exchequer. 
 Lord Viscount Kepj. 5], First Lord of the Admiralty. 
 Lord Viscount Stormont, President of the Council. 
 Earl of Carlisle, Lord Privy Sesl. 
 
 Lord Loughborough, Sir William Amherst, and 
 Sir Beaumont Hothara, Lords Commissioners for the custody of 
 the Great Seal^ 
 
 Lord George Townshend, Master-General of the Ordnance. 
 
 Hon. Richard Fitzpatrick, Secretary at War. 
 
 Edmund Burke, Esq. Paymaster-General of the Forces. 
 
 Charles Townshend, Esq. Treasurer of the Navy. 
 
 James Wallace, Esq. Attorney-General. 
 
 John Lee, Esq. Solicitor-General. 
 
 Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Esq. and 
 
 Richard Burke, Esq. Secretaries to the Treasury. 
 
 Earl of Mansfield, Speaker of the House of Lords. 
 
 Earl of Northington, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. 
 
 W- illiam Wyndhara, Esq. Secretary to Di^te. 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 77 
 
 country's good, be found himself obliged to discover, 
 and to lay before the house the impe/fections of that 
 constitution, to which every Englishman ought to look 
 up with reverential awe ; a constitution which, while 
 it continued such as it was framed by our ancestors was 
 truly called the production of the most consummate 
 wisdom : raised by that constitution to greatness and 
 glory, England had been at once the envy and pride of 
 the world : Europe was taught by experience that li- 
 berty was the foundation of true greatness; and that , 
 while England remained under a government so per- 
 fectly free, she never failed to perform exploits that 
 dazzled the neighbouring nations. To him, he did as- 
 sure the house, that it was interesting, indeed intere.^t- 
 ing and awful, beyond the power of description. U^ 
 wished, however, the house to view the arduous and 
 very difficult task he had ventured to undertake, in its 
 true light. No man saw that glorious fabric, the con« 
 stitution of this country, with more admiration, nor 
 with more reverence than himself : he beheld it wTlli 
 wonder, with veneration, and with gratitude: it gave 
 an Englishman such dear and valuable privileges, or, 
 he might say, such advantageous and dignified prero- 
 gatives, as were not only beyond the reach of the 
 subject of every oilier nation, but afforded us a degree 
 of happiness unknown to those who lived under govern- 
 ments of a nature, less pregnant with the principles of 
 liberty : indeed there was no form of government on 
 the known surface of the globe, that was so nearly 
 allied to perfect freedom. But a melancholy series o* 
 events, which had eclipsed the glory of Britain, ex- 
 hibited a reverse of fortune, which could only be ac- 
 counted for Mfon this principle, that during the last 
 G 3 
 
78 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 fifteen years, there had been a deviation, from the 
 principles of that happy constitution, under which the 
 people of England had so long flourished/^ 
 
 Mr. Pitt reminded the house how and upon \yhat 
 reasons the public had begun to look at the state of 
 parliamentary representation ; of the steps they had 
 taken to procure some remedy for the inadequacy 
 which they discovered; the degree of success that their 
 endeavours had met with ; and what it was, that parr 
 ticularly occasioned him to rise at that moment in sup- 
 port of their petitions. He said, '^ to put the house in 
 possession of all these circumstances, he need only ad* 
 vert to the history of a few years recently past ; a 
 history which he should touch on as shortly as possi- 
 ble, because it was not only a most melancholy pic- 
 ture of calamitous and disgraceful events, but because 
 it was so extremely difficult to mention it in any shape, 
 that would not appear invidious and personal. He 
 then stated that the disastrous consequences of the 
 American war, the immense expenditure of the public 
 money, the consequent heavy burthen of taxes, and 
 the pressure of all the collateral difficulties produced 
 by the foregoing circumstances, gradually disgusted the 
 people and at last provoked them to *^ turn their eyes 
 inward to themselves/' in order to see if there was 
 not something radically wrong at home, that was the 
 chief cause of all the evils they felt from their misfor- 
 tunes abroad. Searching for the internal sources of 
 their foreign fatalities, they naturally turned their at- 
 tention to the constitution, under which they lived, 
 and to the practice of it. Upon looking to that house, 
 they found that by length of time, by the origin and 
 progress of undue influence, and from other causes, 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 79 
 
 the aame spirit of liberty and the power of check and 
 control upon the crown and executive government, 
 were greatly lessened and debilitated. Hence clamours, 
 sprung up without doors, and hence, as was perfectly 
 aaCural in the moment of anxiety, to procure ail 
 g-dequate and a fit remedy to a practical grievance, a 
 spirit of speculation went forth, and a variety of 
 schemes, founded in visionary and impracticable ideas 
 of reform, were suddenly produced. It was not for 
 him, he said, with unhallowed hands to touch the ve^ 
 uerable pile of the constitution, and deface the fabric ; 
 to, see it stand in need of repair was sufficiently rpe^ 
 lancholy : but the more he revered it, the more he 
 wished to secure its duration to the latest pos- 
 terity, the greater he felt the necessity, of guarding 
 against its decay. Innovations were at all times dan- 
 gerous; and should never be attempted, but wben ne- 
 cessity called for them. Upon this priaciple he had 
 given up the idea which he suggested to the house last 
 year; and therefore his object at present was not to 
 innovate, but rather to renew and invigorate the spirit 
 of the constitution, without deviating materially from 
 ijts present form. When he submitted this subject to 
 the consideration of the house last year, he was told, 
 that the subject ought not to be discussed amidst the 
 din of arms ; the objection was not then without its 
 force ; but at present it could not be renewed, as we 
 were happily once more in the enjoyment of the bles- 
 sings of peace. This, therefore, was a proper time to 
 enter upon the business of a reformation, which every 
 man, who gave himself a moment's time to think^ 
 must be satisfied was absolutely necessary. 
 
80 " LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 "An Englishman who should compare the flourishing 
 state of his country some twenty years ago, with the 
 state of humiHation in which he now beholds her, 
 must be convinced, that the ruin which he now de- 
 plores, having been brought on by slow degrees, and 
 almost imperceptibly, proceeded from something ra- 
 dically wrong in the constitution. Of the existence of 
 a radical error no one seemed to doubt ; nay, almost 
 all were so clearly satisfied of it, that various remedies 
 had been devised by those who wished most heartily 
 to remove it. The house itself had discovered that a 
 secret influence of the crown was sapping the very 
 foundation of hberty by corruption : the influence of 
 the crown had been felt within those walls, and had 
 often been found strong enough to stifle the sense of 
 duty, and to over-rule the propositions made to satisfy 
 the wishes and desires of the people : the house of 
 commons, (in former parliaments) had been base 
 enough to feed the influence that enslaved its mem- 
 bers : and this was at one time the parent and the oft- 
 spring of corruption. This influence, however, had 
 risen to such a height, that men were ashamed any 
 longer to deny its existence, and the house had at 
 length been driven to the necessity of voting that it 
 ought to be diminished. Various were the expedients 
 that had been thought of, in order to effect so salutary 
 a purpose, as was that of guarding against this influ- 
 ence; of shutting against it the doors of that house, 
 where, if it once got footing, after the resolution al- 
 luded to, liberty could no longer find an asylum. The 
 house of commons, which, according to the true spirit 
 of the constitution, should be the guardian of the 
 people's freedom, the constitutional check and con- 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 81 
 
 trol over the executive power, would, tlirongh this in- 
 fluence, degenerate into a mere engine of tyranny and 
 oppression, to destroy the constitution into effect, 
 though it should, in its outward form, still remain. 
 
 ** Among the various expedients that had been devis- 
 ed to bar the entrance of such influence into that house, 
 he had heard principally of three. One was, to e;x- 
 tend the right of voting for, members to serve in parha- 
 ment, which was now so confined, to all the inhabi- 
 tants of the kingdom indiscriminately ; so that every 
 man, without the distinction of freeholder, or freeman 
 of a corporation, should have the franchise of a vote 
 for a person to represent him in parliament ; — and 
 this mode he understood, w^as thought by those who 
 patronized it, to be the only one that was consistent 
 vvith true liberty in a free constitution, where every 
 one ought to be governed by those Jaws only to which 
 all have actually given their consent, either in persoUi 
 or by their representative. For himself he utterly 
 r-ejected and condemned this mode, wbicb it was irp- 
 
 iiowiied foreiathers who bad fraiped tiie constitution ia 
 the fulness of their wisdom, and fashioned it lor the 
 government of freemen, not of slaves. If this doctrine 
 should obtain, nearly one half of the people must in 
 fact be slaves ; for it was absolutely impossible that 
 the idea of giving to every man a right of voting, 
 however finely it might appear in theory, could ever 
 be reduced to practice. But, though it were even 
 practicable, still onehalf of the nation would be slaves; 
 for all those who vote for the unsuccessful candidates^ 
 cannot, in the strictness of this doctrine be said to be 
 ffepi'esented in , parliament ; and therefore they are 
 
^2 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 governed by laws to which they give not their assent, 
 either in person or by representatives : consequently, 
 according to the ideas of the friends to this expedient, 
 all those who vote for unsuccessful candidates, must 
 be slaves: nay, it was oftentimes still harder with those 
 who are members of parUament ; who are made slaves 
 also, and are governed by laws to wliich they not only 
 have not given their consent, but against which they 
 have actually voted. 
 
 ** For his part, his idea of representation was this, 
 that the members once chosen, and returned to par- 
 liaiiient, were, in. effect, the representatives of the 
 people at large, as well of those who did not vote at 
 all, or who, having voted, gave their votes against 
 them, as of those by whose suffrages they were actually 
 seated in the house. This being therefore his principle^ 
 he could not consent to an innovation, founded on doc- 
 trines subversive of liberty, which in reality went so 
 fiir as to say, that this house of commons was not, and 
 that no house of commons ever had been, a true and 
 constitutional representation of the people; for ro 
 house of commons had yet been elected by all the men 
 in the kingdom. The country had long prospered, 
 and had even attained the very summit of glory, though 
 this doctrine had never been embraced ; and he hoped 
 no one would ever attempt to introduce it into the- 
 laws of England, or treat it in any other light than as 
 a mere speculative proposition, that may be good in 
 theory, but would be absurd and chimerical to endea- 
 vor to reduce to practice. 
 
 *' The second expedient that he heard of was to abo" 
 lish the franchise which several boroughs now enjoy, of 
 jeturning members to serve in parliament. These places 
 
WILLIAM PITT. ^ b5 
 
 were known by the favourite — popular appellation of 
 rotten-horoughs. He confessed that there was some- 
 thing very plausible in this idea ; but still he was not 
 ready to adopt it ; he held these boroughs in the light 
 of defora)ities, which in some degree disfigured the 
 fabric of the constitution, but he feared could not be 
 removed without endaogering the whole pile. It was 
 true that the representation of the people could not be 
 perfect, nay, it would not be good, unless the inte- 
 rests of the representatives and the represented were 
 the same; the moment they became different, from 
 that moment the liberty of the people was in danger ; 
 because those who ought to be the guardians of it, 
 find their account ]n circumscribing it within narrower 
 limits than the constitution marked out, or in carry- 
 ing through measures, which might in the end effec- 
 tually destroy it. it must be admitted, from a variety 
 of circumstances, which it was unnecessary for him at 
 present to explain, that though the uiembers returned 
 by boroughs might be for the present the brightest pat- 
 terns of patriotism and liberty, still there was no 
 doubt but that borough members, considered in the 
 abstract, were more liable to the operation of that 
 influence, which every good man wished to see de- 
 stroyed in that house, than those members who were 
 returned by the counties ; and therefore, though he 
 was afraid to cut up the roots of this influence by dis- 
 franchising the boroughs, because he was afraid of 
 doing more harm than good by using a remedy that 
 might be thought worse than the disease, siill he 
 thought it his duty to counteract, if possible, that in- 
 fluence, the instruments of which he was afraid to re- 
 move. The boroughs ought to be considered, not only 
 
84 ' LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 as places of franchise, but also as places ^here the 
 franchise was in some measure connected with pro- 
 perty by burgage tenure ; and therefore, as he was un- 
 willing to dissolve the boroughs, he would endeavour 
 to defeat the effect of undue influence in them, by in- 
 troducing and establishing a counterbalance, that 
 should keep it down, and prevent it from ruining the 
 country. 
 
 *'This brought him naturally to the third expedient, 
 that he had often heard mentioned, which was, to add 
 a certain number of members to the house, who should 
 be returned by the counties and the nietropolis. It 
 was unnecessary for him to say, that the county mem- 
 bers in general, were almost necessarily taken from 
 that class and description of gentlemen the least liable 
 to the seduction of corrupt influence, the most deeply 
 interested in the liberty and piosperity of the country, 
 and consequently the most likely to pursue such mea- 
 sures as appeared to them the most salutary to their 
 country : in the hands of such men the liberties of their 
 constituents would be safe, because the interests of 
 such representatives and the represented must neces- 
 sarily be the same. This expedient appeared to him 
 the most fit to be adopted, because it was the least 
 objectionable ; it had the merit of promising an effec- 
 tual counter-balance to the weight of the boroughs, 
 without being an innovation in the form of the consti- 
 tution. He would not then say what number of men 
 ought to be added to the counties ; he would kave that 
 to be inserted in a bill, which, if the resolution he 
 meant to propose should pass, he intended to move for 
 leave to bring in ; he, however, would say, that, in 
 his opinion, the number ought not to be under one 
 
 6 
 
M^ILLIAM PITT. 85 
 
 hundred. It was true, he thought the house would 
 then be more numerous than he could wish; but still 
 it were better it should be so, than that the libertiest 
 of the country should be exposed to the baleful in^u- 
 ence of the crown in the boroughs. He was not, how- 
 ever, without an expedient, by degrees, to reduce the 
 number of members, even after the addition, down to 
 nearly the present number: his expedient was this: 
 that whenever it should be proved before the tribunal, 
 which happily was now established by law to try the 
 merits of contested elections, that the majority of any 
 borough had been bribed and corrupted, the borough 
 should then lose the privilege of sending members to 
 parliament; the corrupt majority should be disfran- 
 chised, and the honest minority be permitted to vote 
 at elections for knights of the shire. By this expedient 
 he was sure the boroughs would be preserved free from 
 corruption ; or else they must be abolished gradually, 
 and the number of members of that house be reduced 
 to its present standard. This disfranchising of bo- 
 roughs would be the work of time : the necessity of 
 disfrandiising any one, whenever that necessity should 
 appear, would sanctify the measure ; it would- appear 
 to be, what m part it would then be, an act of justice, 
 not of whim, party, or caprice; as it would be founded, 
 not on surmise, but on actual proof of guilt," 
 
 After amplifying upon this for some time, and 
 shewing that it was equally founded in poUcy, and in 
 justice, he urgently pressed the necessity of sometliing 
 being done in compliance with the petitions that had 
 beeri presented, complaining of the present state of the 
 representation; and took abundant pains to caution 
 tire house against adopting any extravagant plans of 
 
 NO, J3. H 
 
S6 LIFE OF THE lATE 
 
 reform that might be suggested by enthusiastic specu- 
 latists on the one hand, or obstinately refusing to take 
 any step whatever in compliance with the petitions, 
 under a childish dislike, and dread of innovation, on 
 the other. After urging very elaborately an infinite 
 variety of arguments, Mr. Pitt said, " his first resolu- 
 tion was what he conceived every individual member 
 would feel the force of, and be ready to come into, 
 without a moment's hesitation : of his second, he en- 
 tertained hopes pretty nearly as sanguine, convinced 
 as he was of its propriety and justice; and with regard 
 to his third, though it might possibly meet with con- 
 siderable opposition, he was extremely anxious to ob- 
 tain for it the sanction of the house. He then read 
 his three resolutions, which in substance were as fol- 
 low: — 
 
 1. " That it was the opinion of the house, that 
 measures were highly necessary to be taken for the 
 future prevention of bribery and expense at elections.'^ 
 
 2. *' That, for the future, when the majority of 
 voters for any borough should be convicted of gross 
 and notorious corruption before a select committee of 
 that house appointed to try the merits of any election, 
 such borough should be disfranchised, and the mino- 
 rity of votes not so convicted, should be entitled to 
 vote for the county in which such borough is situated/' 
 
 3. " That an addition of knights of the shire, and 
 of representatives of the metropolis, should be added 
 to the state of the representation." 
 
 IMr. Pitt said, '* jf he should be so happy as to suc- 
 ceed in carrying these resolutions, his intention was to 
 bring in a bill upon their respective principles. When 
 tbat bill was under consideration, it would then be 
 
^VILLIAM PITT. 87 
 
 the proper time for discussing and deciding on the 
 number of knights of the shire to be added, and for 
 making all such other regulations and restrictions as 
 to the wisdom of the house might seem necessary. 
 He therefore should not hold any gentleman, who chose 
 to vote for his resolutions as containing general pro- 
 positions, to be bound and pledged either to support 
 the bill he intended to bring in, provided the house 
 agreed to his present motion, or to any clauses it might 
 be fraught with, but to be wholly at liberty, and as 
 much unrestrained in that respect as if he had not 
 voted in support of the resoUitions. Before he sat 
 down, he again earnestly pressed the house either to 
 adopt his propositions, or to suggest some other plan^ 
 equally culculated to remedy the grievance." 
 
 The effect of this motion of Mr. Pitt was highly 
 gratifying to the country, and uniting with the discon- 
 tent created by the coalition, tended very strongly to 
 raise the young minister in the public esteem. 
 
 Mr. Pitt had already brought in his bill for effect- 
 ing various regulations in the public offices, necessar}' 
 to economy in the expenditure of the public money. 
 On the 17th of June he rose to move its commitment, 
 when he received a very unexpected opposition from 
 the ministers, in whom he rather looked for an eager 
 pursuance of such salutary measures. 
 
 Having been particularly opposed by the chancellor 
 of the exchequer (Lord John Cavendish) Mr. Pitt ex- 
 pressed a good deal of surprise at what had fallen from 
 the noble lord. He would not refer the regulations to 
 the commissioners of public accounts, and yet he in- 
 tended to continue them for another year! But above 
 all he was surprised at hearing the noble lord say, that 
 H 2 
 
fi8 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 the heads of the dilTerent offices would be the best per- 
 sons to correct the abuses, and introduce new regula- 
 liuus into their several departments. He said ** he 
 %vould state a lew facts to the house, which would con- 
 vince them oi'twQ things, ibcit abuses did exist in several 
 public offices, and that the beads of these offices were 
 jjot the most fit persons to correct them. 
 
 ** If there was any object more worthy the jealousy of 
 parliament than another, it was to take care that the 
 receipt aiid expenditure of the public money were, in 
 all great revenue offices, conducted and managed 
 ivith the utmost purity and lidelity. The evil conse- 
 quence of a contrary practice were too obvious to need 
 illustration. He would, therefore, proceed to shew, 
 that abuses in oiticcs of revenue really existed,' and 
 that to a very alarming amount. And iirst he should 
 bay something with regard to fees, gratuities, and per- 
 <]uisites. To instance one office only; the navy office, 
 when an enquiry was instituted by a late board of 
 treasury, with a view to prepare the present bill of 
 reform, the answer was, that there were no fees re- 
 cti ved by that office. Upon a closer examination of 
 the matter, however, it afterwards came out, that al- 
 though there were no fees, received as such, yet that 
 money, to a very considerable amount, was received 
 by some of the officers, under the name of gifts: thus, 
 for instance, the cl)ief clerk of the navy office received 
 a salary of about 140 or 250/. a year, and it turned 
 out that he received no less than 2300/. in gifts. 
 Other clerks with smaller salaries received gifts in pro^ 
 ])oriion. Mr. Pitt dwelt for some on this fact, and 
 urged that the public were liable to have great frauds 
 ])iactised upon tliLin, if those iu v\hose bauds the* 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 89 
 
 Rieans of check and controul were placed, were in the 
 practice of receiving what certainly might be termed 
 the wages of corruption. In the particular instances 
 of those officers of the public yards, who were en- 
 trusted with the delivery of stores, the house must see 
 that the practice was big with the most dangerous mis- 
 chief. Mr. Pitt further stated, that in various other 
 cases, the practice prevailed to en alarming degree, 
 and mentioned a particular contract which had been 
 deemed a very easy one, insomuch so, that it had been 
 a matter of wonder how it could be fulfilled on terms 
 so extremely reasonable. The solution of the enigma- 
 was, however, as easy as any solution could be, since 
 It was only recollected that the officers, who were to 
 pass the contractor's accounts, to see that his contract 
 was duly and faithfully executed, and to report, if they 
 found the contrary to be the fact, were each of them 
 in the pay of the contractor. In order therefore, ta 
 put a stop to these abuses, and to prevent any more of 
 this infamous traffic between the clerks in office, im- 
 mediately concerned in checking, passing, and expe- 
 diting the accounts of persons employed in serving the 
 public with different articles, and those persons them- 
 selves, he said, the aim of one clause of the bill was 
 to establish and ascertain the actual amount of all the 
 fees hereafter to be taken, and to appoint an officer -ii>v 
 each office to receive the fees thus established. . 
 
 " While he was upon this part of the subject; he-tOti^? 
 notice of what had fallen from Mr. Burke a few days 
 §ince and said, that honourable gentleman had charged 
 the two last secretaries of state with having unpiece- 
 dentedly and illegally extorted enormous lees for pass- 
 ports. [Mr. Fox and Mr. Burke said across the house^ 
 H 3 
 
90 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 there never was any such charge made] . INIr. Pitt ob- 
 serving the contradiction, said, he averred it on his 
 recollection, that the charge was as he declared it to 
 be. He then explained the matter, by stating, that, 
 when passports had been applied for on the conclusion 
 of the peace, enquiry was made what had been the 
 custom and usage of the ofnce in that particular, when 
 the noble lords, then secretaries of state, were each 
 informed what the uniform practice had been, and that 
 practice they very naturally followed. Upon the mat- 
 ter being complained of as a grievance, one of the 
 noble lords had declared, he had no objection to abide 
 by the decision of a court of law, and had in the mean 
 time stopped the distribution of the fees so taken. So 
 far, therefore, had the honourable gentleman, who 
 had moved for the account of passports granted, been 
 from bringing forward any thing adverse to the bill 
 under consideration, that he was free to confess his 
 obligations to the honourable gentleman in that parti- 
 cular, since the honourable gentleman had thereby for- 
 tified him by a very strong argument in support of the 
 bill, and in proof of the necessity of such a bilFs pass* 
 ing. In order to shew that he felt the matter in that 
 way, he declared, he meant to move for an instruction 
 to the committee, to insert a clause to make the bill 
 extend to the secretaries of state's offices, as well as 
 in the others already enumerated in the first clause of 
 the bill." 
 
 '* He also took notice of a remark made by Mr She- 
 ridan a few days ago, who had charged the late board 
 of treasury with having created a new fee at the very 
 time they professed to be employed in forwarding plans 
 of economy and reform respecting ofilce-fees in gene- 
 
WlLJilAM PITT. ^1 
 
 ral. Mr. Pitt said, '' the charge was ill-founded, and 
 be went into an explanation of the subject-matter of it, 
 declaring that the lords of the treasury had acted 
 therein solely upon the ground of custom ; that the 
 matter related to a sum claimed as a gratuity upon a 
 contract, which the treasury, as custom and usage 
 were proved to have warranted such gratuities, and as 
 the regulations intended relative to such points, were, 
 not at the time carried into execution, had allowed to 
 be taken. [Mr. Pitt produced and read the treasury 
 minute that had been made on this occasion, in proof 
 of what he asserted.] In the course of speaking of 
 fees, he also mentioned the place of the secretary of 
 the post-office, who with a salary of 500 or (SOO/. made 
 an annual income of three thousand. Mr. Pitt stated 
 this to arise from his having two and a half per cent, 
 on all packets ; and in the last year of the war, he 
 said 140,0001. had been expended in packets, so many 
 were either lost at sea or taken. He likewise alluded 
 to the salaries of the two secretaries of the treasury^ 
 which he stated at 20001. a year during peace, but 
 swelled to iOOO/. a year during war.^"* 
 
 After very amply discusbing the subject of official 
 abuses, in respect to fees, perquisites and annuities, 
 he proceeded to other parts of the bill, *' promising not 
 to take up the time of the house in saying much on 
 those, which were admitted by the noble lord to be the 
 proper objects of reform. The sale of places certainly 
 ought to be checked, and so likewise ought some regu- 
 lations to be made respecting the superannuation of 
 officers, and the appointment of persons to discharge 
 the duties of such as may have leave of absence. He 
 
 I 
 
52" LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 would mention one instance of the latter species of 
 abuse, which, he trusted, would, sufficiently demon- 
 strate the necessity of some immediate reform. Pre- 
 vious to the existence of the last board of treasury, a 
 practice had obtained of the occasional superannuation 
 of the stampers of the stamp-office,^ when the commis- 
 sioners of the treasury each appointed a stamper, regu- 
 larly one after the other in turn, as real vacancies hap- 
 pened, or as artificial vacancies were created. It also 
 pretty generally was the practice for each commissioner 
 to' appoint one of his own servants, and instantly to 
 grant him a leave of absence, which leave of absence 
 was constantly renewed for six months, every half 
 year; so that, in fact, the place was a sinecure to the 
 servants appointed, and all the business w-as done by a- 
 deputy. This abuse, the last board of treasury had 
 stopped as far as in them lay, and he meant in this' 
 bill to give the regulation in this particular the sanc- 
 tion of an act of parliament. The creation of new 
 offices unnecessarily, was equally a matter that called 
 for reform. It was pregnant with abuse, artd could 
 produce no possible good to the public. 
 
 ** The next article the bill stated its intention to re- 
 form, was the improvident expenditure of the public 
 money in what were termed incidental expenses ; un- 
 der which head were comprehended the supply of per- 
 sons in office with coals, candles, furniture, &:c. This,. 
 he observed, was subject to great abuse, and had in 
 some instances been carried to a most absurd and in- 
 defensible extent, there being in existence, to his 
 knowledge, various proofs of officers having not only 
 made no scruple to order the different articles, at the 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 93 
 
 expeuse of the public, to their dwelling-houses ia 
 towH, but even to their houses in the country, and 
 that at a most extravagant rate. 
 
 The clause Mr. Pitt next spoke of, was the clause 
 relative to the work done in the houses held under go- 
 vernment. The abuses under this head, he declared, 
 it appeared from enquirj^, were very great. '' He men- 
 tioned the expense of repairing the house in Downing- 
 street, in which he had the honour to be lodged for a 
 lew months. The repairs of that house only, had, he 
 said, but the year or two before he came into office, 
 cost the public 10,0001. and upwards; and for the 
 seven years preceding that repair, the annual expense 
 had been little less than 5001. The alterations that 
 had cost 10,0001. he stated to consist of a new kitchen 
 and offices, extremely convenient, with several com* 
 fonable lodging rooms; and he observed, that a great 
 part of the cost, he had understood, was occasioned 
 by the foundations of the house proving bad. Nor had 
 the house of the chancellor of the exchequer alone 
 proved a source of expense. Otl)er houses belonging 
 to the public — in Bushy Park, Hampton Court, and 
 elsewere, though they had not cost so much, had fol- 
 lowed at no very considerable distance, and would be 
 allowed, when the charges were ascertained, to have 
 kept their pace in tolerably regular gradations.'' 
 
 " He at length came to the latter clauses of the bill, 
 *' those^respecting the improvident consumption of sta- 
 tionary wares by the officers of the different depart- 
 ments of government. The abuses under this article 
 of charge were, he said, almost incredible, and the 
 mode of abuse in some instances truly ridiculous. He 
 had even heard of rooms being papered with stationary 
 
94 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 at the expense of the public, and of otlier as unjustifi- 
 able uses of it. The annual charge on account of sta- 
 tionary wares, he stated to be above eighteen thousand 
 pounds, and it would, he believed, somewliat astonish 
 the noble lord in the- blue ribbon, (Lord North) when 
 he told the house, and informed him, (for he really 
 believed the noble lord had no idea of any such circum- 
 stance) that the noble lord alone, as first lord of the 
 treasury, cost the public the year before the last no 
 less than thirteen hundred pounds for stationary. 
 Great as this sum must appear to gentlemen, he de- 
 clared, that, knowing, as he did, of what curious ar- 
 ticles the bill consisted, he should not have wondered 
 if the amount had been as many thousands as it was 
 hundreds. One article of the bill was an item of three 
 hundred and forty pounds for whipcord ! When he 
 mentioned this circumstance, he desired to be under- 
 stood, not as intending any thing personal to the noble 
 lord ; he was persuaded, the noble lord neither con- 
 nived at, nor knew of the abuse, and from that very 
 circumstance he drew an argument in support of his' 
 bill, and in proof of the necessity of a substantial re- 
 form. The bill of the two secretaries to the treasury 
 jointly for stationary the same year, amounted to as 
 much as the brll of the iirst lord ; the bill of the five 
 lords to little more than an hundred pounds each. 
 Great abuse and waste of stationary wares was also 
 practised in the houses of ministers, servants generally 
 considering it as a part of their duty to contrive inge- 
 nious means for usmg more than their masters, and 
 generally wasting ten times as much as they used. 
 If then the board which possessed all the powers of 
 controul, and which he doubted not had exercised 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 95 
 
 those powers with becoming vigilance, viz, the board 
 of treasury, were liable to such gross imposition, he 
 bad a right to suspect that in the subordinate oifices— 
 possessed of less power, and not so likely to exercise 
 any check upon abuses of this nature, similar abuses 
 prevailed to a considerable degree. He meant to pro- 
 pose allowing a certain fixed sum for stationary wares 
 to each office, as the best, and, indeed, the only prac- 
 ticable means of correcting the abuse. Having ampli- 
 fied extremely on this and the other parts of the bill, 
 Mr. Pitt declared, he had no doubt but the plan of 
 reform contained in the bill would save the public 
 forty thousand a year at the least; he therefore hoped, 
 that it would not only be the sense of the house that it 
 should go to a committee, but that it should pass this 
 session. 
 
 Before he sat down he took notice of Lord North's 
 expression in a former debate, " that not a trace was to 
 be found in the treasury, indicating a single step to- 
 wards tkat glorious fabric (as the noble lord had been 
 pleased to term it) of reform and economy held out in 
 the king's speech. That speech had been often men- 
 tioned in the course ©f the session, and repeatedly 
 charged with being full of vaunts and promises, never 
 intended to be kept or fullilied. The expression he 
 had just alluded to of the noble lord, struck him as so 
 very strong a one at the time, that he thought it ne- 
 cess.iry to take it down in writing, and he was deter- 
 mined, at the moment, to bring it to the test at some 
 fit opportunity. As it was mciterially connected with 
 the subject of the bill then under discussion, he knew 
 of no filter opportunity than the present. In order to 
 bring the matter fairly within view, he declared he 
 
^ LIFE OF THE BAI'^E 
 
 would read the promises of the speech on theoperfing 
 of the session, paragraph by paragraph. He did so ; 
 and then urged the various measures tending towards 
 a plan of reform began bj the late ministry, as well as 
 those brought before parliament, as those not suffi- 
 ciently matured for the inspection of the house of 
 con^motis, ere the late ministry went out. He referred 
 to Lord North and the present chanceUor of the ex- 
 chequer, as witnesses, whose evidence he was entitled 
 to upon different topics in this part of the argument. 
 He appealed to them, whether there were not in the 
 treasury, very laborious and accurate nmterials drawn' 
 up at the instance of the last board of treasury upon 
 the mint, the royal forests, and a variety of other sub- 
 jects alluded to in the king's speech, as intended to be 
 brought forward in parliament as matters of reform ? 
 And after going through the whole, he complimented 
 Lord North on l)is well known candour on all occa- 
 sions; whence he was induced to flatter hiniself the 
 noble lord would do him the justice to acknowledge 
 be had rashly made his assertion, and that, so far from 
 there being no trace to be found in the treasury of that 
 glorious fabric to which he had alluded, there were 
 the foundations laid tor the vvhole building, and that 
 its basis was obviously uitended to » e most solid and 
 substantial, Mr, Pitt said, this latter partof his sub- 
 ject had bcf^n touched upon in that house, and occa- 
 sioned much warmth and asperity ; he trusted that he 
 had now put it fairly to issue^ and stated it in so plain 
 and precise a way, that it would hereafter become 
 only a topic of crol and dispassionate discossiQu, He 
 tidihd other remarkw, and at Itngu. uound up his ar- 
 gument with declaring that U had afforded him some 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 57 
 
 -satisfaction to have had an opportunity of offering a a 
 explanation. of the bill to the house ; not doubting but 
 that, , after the bill had been explained, the housQ 
 <would , acknowledge its importance, and immediately 
 proceed to give it that consideration to which such a 
 bill was undoubtedly entitled/' 
 
 The motion was agreed to. 
 
 From what has been given will be seen the active 
 and spirited career, into which Mr. Pitt had already 
 fallen, and the powerful oratory with which he had al- 
 ready enabled himself to meet the ionflicting argu- 
 ments of a disordered senate. 
 
 His manly conduct, at this period, formed a pow- 
 erful earnest of that ardent mind which hewas after* 
 •wards to exhibit on such trying occasions. There 
 rare those who will not conceive that on any occasion 
 Gould Mr. Pitt display higher powers than on tlie 
 present. 
 
 The period was, however, about to arrive when 
 they were to be called into greater play. To that pe- 
 riod it is proposed to carry oa the chain, that at one 
 view from his own mouth may be seen the rapid pro- 
 gress of that minister who was thereafter to astonish 
 Europe. 
 
 The affairs of India, which had long called for re- 
 dress, in the accumulation of territory to which its 
 constitution was not adapted, became the next sub- 
 ject of consideration to ministers — and on this they 
 were to meet an opponent upon whose powers they 
 could not calculate from his experience, or any ordi- 
 nary data to be drawn from comparison. 
 
 On the 18th of November (1783) Mr. Fox pro- 
 duced his bill for the government of India, which 
 
 NO. 14, I 
 
J)8 LIFE OF ;rHE LATE 
 
 forming an entire revolution in the system of govern- 
 ment which had hitherto prevailed, proposed to vest 
 the affairs of the East India Company in the hands of 
 certain commissioners for the benefit of the proprietors 
 and the pubhc. 
 
 Of this bill, however, the principle and its effects 
 will be best perceived in the words of Mr. Pitt, who, 
 when Mr. Fox had sat down, immediately rose, and 
 said, *' That hfe could not refrain -from noticing the 
 singular manner m which the right honorable Secre- 
 tary (JMr. Fox) had deprecated the charge of indo- 
 lence, a charge that had never been imputed to the 
 right honorable gentleman, though it had ever been 
 considered as' a leading feature in that part of the pre- 
 sent administration, of which the honorable gentleman 
 had been once thought no great admirer; nor could he, 
 at the same time, avoid remarking tne claim that he 
 had made, that parliament would never recur to a 
 certain connexion of principle and patriotism which 
 had excited surprise and discussion in the last session, 
 and that they would grant the coalition a perpetual 
 amnesty. But how ready parliament might be to ac- 
 cede to the right honorable gentleman's desires, he 
 would not pretend to determine. Indeed, he knew not 
 how far it might be adopted on the present occasion. 
 For his own part, he could not avoid so far recurring 
 to the present very extraordinary coincidence of senti- 
 ment and conduct of men, who were known to have 
 acted and professed principles so diametrically oppo- 
 site, as to testify his astonishment at it. lie could not 
 but observe, that the business which had been now laid 
 before them, convinced him that there no longer sub- 
 sisted a disagreement of sentiment ; for, could he have 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 99 
 
 presumed to have anticipated the conduct of the right 
 honorable Secretary, from the principles he had always 
 opposed in his noble colleague (Lord. North) when ia 
 opposite situations, he should have said, that he would 
 have been the first. to reprobate, not to propose, the 
 system he had just divulged. Had this bill, been 
 brought forward at a former period, he should have 
 expected to have heard it deprecated with all that 
 warmth of sentiment, and tlmt astonishing-eloquence, 
 for which he had been so justly admired. . Although 
 his noble colleague \^as indisposed, he did not conceive 
 it a material .interruption, to. public business; -for the 
 House had now a demonstration .that .the right honor- 
 able Secretary had itidustry.and inclination^ sufficient 
 to perform^ not, only his own shaxe .of .administration, 
 but that of the npbla lord Ukawi^e. ..,,... 
 
 *' With regard jto, the bill, which liad been now 
 brougljt^ before tham^ hs had nothing to say, against its 
 propriety, necessity, or principle, at .this, .time. He 
 would suspend his judgment until the %diale came be- 
 fore |hein,Avben ha- would examine their provisions- 
 with tlie accuracy and care wliich they demanded. He 
 was assured of what bad been so eloquently observed 
 by its right honorable mover, that very great and enor- 
 mous abuses had been suffered in the management of 
 our India affairs; and great indeed, he thougiit they 
 mu€t be, to achiiit of a measure which he would be 
 bold to declare, w^as an entire abrogation of all the 
 ancient charters and privileges by which the company 
 had been first established, and since existed. All that 
 he wished to mention was, that as such a bill was 
 brought before their consideration, they would consider 
 it with that minute attention and serious investigation 
 I 2 
 
100 hI¥E OF THk LjATE 
 
 \\ihkh it loudly demaiKted, before ihey suffered it to 
 pass into a law. He the more particularly urged this, 
 from the manner in which the bill had been introduced.. 
 He should have expected, that a bill of so extraordi- 
 fiary an exertion of administrative power could never 
 have been brought forward, without being premised 
 with reasons that woii^d, in some sort, justify so alarm- 
 ing a measure. But he was sorry to say, that in all 
 that had been urged by the" right honorable gentleman 
 to support this motion, he heard no argntrients that af- 
 forded him satisfaction. It was trueth«€ bill was said to be 
 founded on 7i€Cessiti/; but what was this ? Was it i>ot ntas^ 
 sifi/ which bad always been the plea of every.illegal exer- 
 tion of power, or exerciseof oppression ? was not necessity 
 the pretence of every usurpation ? JVere^A'zVj^ was i\m plea 
 for every infringement of hunf^an freedom* It was tho 
 argument' of tyrants ; it' was the creed of slaves. He 
 had heard no panicfulaf rcf^isdn offeredin fttvdr*of this' 
 necessity, except that of destroying the corrupt influx 
 ence which liadbee^i exerted by the company and their 
 servants in both houses- of parlianient. But surely this 
 wafe an argument against the principle of the bill ;■ for 
 if government possessed theitiselves of this source of 
 influence and cornipttoti,. it would no longer be th0 
 iufiii^nce of a company, but that of the executive 
 governnient. He asked, was it not the principle and 
 declared avowal of this bill, that the whole system of 
 the India government should be placed in seven per- 
 sons, and those under the appointment of no other 
 than the minister himself ? He appealed to the sense 
 and candour of ihe house, whether, in saying this, he 
 was the least out of order. Could it be otherwise un- 
 derstood, or interpreted, than that these seven, who 
 
WILLIAM PITT. lOr 
 
 vvere to have the sole direction of that part oi" India 
 affairs which related to the political government were 
 to be appointed solely by the minister ? The minister- 
 would then virtually be the governor of India : he 
 would have all the power and patronage, for which 
 tliis bill was principally recommeaded as tending to 
 eradicate. Under this idea, he again most earnestly 
 recommended, that the bill might remain on the table 
 so long as. to enable every member of that house ta 
 form an adequate idea of the necessity of the measure, 
 and thQ tendency of the principle. 
 
 *' The right honorable Secretary,'' he observed, " had 
 bis sincere thanks and applause for the manner in 
 which he expressed his intention of giving security, 
 stability, and permanency, to the property of thelnha- 
 bitants in our territories in India. He felt his senti- 
 ments with the same warmth of animation and plea- 
 sure as was the general feeling of the whole house, and 
 what would always characterise the liberality of an 
 Englishman ; but while he paid this deserved tribute 
 to so generous and honorable a sentiment, he hoped 
 never to see it adopted, if it must be attended with the 
 absqlute destruction of our rights and characters at 
 home. The right honorable Secretary was willing to 
 secure to the Gentoos their natural rights; but let him 
 take care he did not destroy the liberties of English- 
 men. He mentioned the influence of the crown; but 
 had it ever been, in its zenith, equal to what it would 
 be, when it should find itself strengthened by th^ whole 
 patronage of the East, which the right honorable gen- 
 tlemen was^going to throw into the hands of the crown ? 
 For his part, he was ready to declare, that, in his opi- 
 nion, the whole of the right honorable Secretary's sys- 
 I 3 
 
103 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 tern was nothing more, on one side, than absolutt^ 
 despotism, and, on the other, the most gross corrup- 
 tion/' He concluded with observing, *' that he wished 
 this bill not to pass without a caii of the house ; for he 
 was assured that not a member of parliament, when he 
 heard of this bill, would consider himself uninterested 
 an its discussion. He thought it one of the most bold 
 and forward exertions of power that was ever adopted 
 by ministers." 
 
 On the motion being carried, Mr. Pitt moved for a 
 call of the house, as he had previously intimated, which 
 was ordered on the next day fortnight, and which m-ay 
 be considered as one of the minor steps leading to the 
 great change about to take place, to which we are 
 directing our principal attention. 
 
 The subject was resumed on the ^7th November, 
 and counsel and petitions for the Company heard, 
 >vhen, on Mr. Fox's moving for the committal of his 
 bill, Mr. Pitt arose, and, with his usual acuteness, 
 attacked the honorable gentleman on positions in which 
 he would appear to have committed himself. In speak-, 
 ing of the East India Company's affairs, which he de- 
 scribed to be in a state of insolvency, Mr. Fox had 
 laughingly made the following observations. *' After 
 enumerating their millions afloat, their millions in their 
 warehouses, they come to the calculation of their 
 specie, and it amounts to the sum of iOOO/. This re- 
 minds me of one of our great bard*s best plays, where, 
 speaking of one of his best characters, it is said, ' So 
 much for sack ; so much for sugar; so much for burnt 
 hock ; so much for this and ?o much for that; but for 
 the solid — the substantial— the stafl^ of life — bread, one 
 halfpenny V So it is with this flourishing company ; 
 3 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 103 
 
 they have millions of goods, of bonds, of debts ; but of 
 silver they have one solitary thousand pounds/' 
 
 To this Mr. Pitt answered, that ** the right honor- 
 able gentleman had such a happy talient of rendering 
 'even the driest subject lively, that his pleasant allusion 
 to the charge of one halfpenny for bread, in Falstaff's 
 tavern bill, when he came to take notice of the lOOOL 
 aiijount of silver remaining in the treasury of the East 
 India Company, had so far caught his fancy, that it 
 was not till a minute or two afterwards that he glanced 
 his eye a little higher on the same page of the com- 
 pany's account, and saw an entry of money to the 
 amount of 14^2,794/." Mr. Pitt concluded by asking, 
 " What shall be said of a minister who ventures to 
 impose on the house a statement every way absurd 
 and erroneous ?'* 
 
 Such are the steps by which the coalition ministry 
 hastened to decline. On the 17th of December, Mr. 
 Baker made a motion in regard to certain causes of 
 delay in this great measure of government, *' That it 
 is now necessary to declare, that to report any opinion, 
 or pretended opinion of his Majesty, upon any bill, or 
 other proceeding, depending on either house of parlia- 
 ment, with a view to influence the votes of the mem- 
 bers, is a high crime and misdemeanor, derogatory to 
 the honour of the crown ; a breach of the fundamental 
 principles of parliament ; and subversive of the consti- 
 tution of this country." 
 
 In answer to this motion, Mr. Pitt wound up the 
 subject. He said ** the honourable gentleman had 
 talked much about secret influence, and asked how 
 ministers were to act when thus circumstanced ? In 
 his opinion, the servants of the crown were worse than 
 
104 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 useless, whenever they were without responsibility. For 
 a situation thus dangerous and unconstitutional, they 
 were indeed strictly answerable. Their duty under 
 circumstances thus dishonorable and inefficient, was 
 therefore obvious and indispensible. The moment 
 they could not answ^er for their own measures, let fheni 
 retire. They were no longer fi-t to occupy stations 
 which they did not adequately fill/' 
 
 On the following night, (December ] S) at a late hour, 
 Lord North and Mr. Fox, the two Secretaries of State, 
 received their, dismissal through a special messen- 
 ger, and were ordered to deliver the seals of office 
 through the under secretaries, to prevent the necessity 
 of an interview ; and, on the next morning, letters to 
 a similar effect were sent to the other members of the 
 cabinet in the name of Earl Temple, appointed Secre- 
 tary of State, but who in two days after resigned. 
 
 This administration, of which Mr. Pitt was at the 
 head, and his friend, Mr. Dundas, again Treasurer of 
 the Navy,* though appointed by his Majesty, had a 
 
 * The following formed the new administration :— 
 
 ■Right Hon. William Pitt, First Lord of the Treasury, and Chan- 
 cellor of the Exchequer, 
 
 Marquis of Carmarthen, Secretary of State for the Foreign De- 
 partment. 
 
 Lord Sidney, Secretary of State for the Home Department. 
 
 Earl Gower, (succeeded by Lord Camden,) President of the 
 Ceuncil. 
 
 Duke of Rutland, (succeeded by Earl Gower,) Lord Privy 
 Seal. 
 
 Earl Howe, First Lord of the Admiralty. 
 
 LordThurlow, Lord Chancellor. 
 
 ^ The above composed the Cabinet^ 
 

 ILORD) oKemncLi-E. 
 
 j'uh.Jiin.70. 1807, l\y JartKXi ULnd/'P.'Umdo'i . 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 105 
 
 vtciisiderable struggle to encounter, before it could 
 possess itself of the pov/er and influence in parliament 
 necessary to render it eflicient* The effect of this 
 struggle was almost a suspension of public business for 
 a time. If, however, it could be conceived to have 
 been occasioned by any other motive than a desire to 
 retain the sweets of office in the dismissed ministry, it 
 might be called a struggle the most glorious to the 
 country, in which a majority in the House of Comnjons 
 asserted itself in opposition to the crown and its ser- 
 vants. 
 
 To the period when the administration became 
 settled, until which Mn Pitt could be scarcely regarded 
 as minister, this account proceeds, before we take that 
 view of our illustrious subject embarked on his full 
 career of glory, which is thenext, and not least impor- 
 tant, object of these pages. 
 
 On the meeting of parliatnent after the rac©%i, (J a* 
 auary 12, 1784,) Mr. Pitt met his host of opponents as 
 
 Duke of Richmond, Master- General of the Ordnance. 
 
 Llo^'d Kenyon, (afterwards Lord Kenyon) Attorney-GeneraL 
 
 Richard Pepper Arden, Esq. (afterwards Lord Alvanley,) So- 
 licitor-General, 
 
 Right Hon, William VVyndham Grenville, (aftersN'urds Lord 
 Grenville,) and 
 
 Lord Mulgvave, Joint Pa} masters of the Forces* 
 
 Henry Diindas, Esq. (afterwards Lord Melville) Tre^wrCT m 
 the Navy. 
 
 Sir George Yonge, Secretary at War. ^ 
 
 George Rose, Esq. and 
 
 Thomas Steele, Esq. Secretaries of the Treasury* 
 
 Dlike of Rutland, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland* 
 
 Thomas Orde, Esq. Secretary to ditto. 
 
106 Llf£ OF TIJK LATE 
 
 first minister of Great Britain. He rose to present a 
 message, but was anticipated by Mr. Fox. who moved 
 the order of the day. After that gentleman had 
 spoken, iMr. Pitt again arose. 
 
 ** He was by no means anxious/' he said, ** to pre* 
 vent the house from going into the eommUtee on tiie 
 &tate of the nation, or to keep the right honorable 
 gentleman from the possession of the house, to the 
 gaining of which such art and such accommodation had 
 been used. He could not be at all surprised that those 
 men, wIjo before the recess had been so clamorous and 
 so petulant, and who had gone such strange lengths, at 
 a time when those persons, who unquestionably ought 
 to be present at the discussion of all Important ques- 
 tions were neceimnly abient, should now have pro- 
 eeidid m tha sami way, and tnkan tha advautnga of 
 abianc© to briflg oa % measure, by which ha, as the 
 ffiinistar of the crown, should b© prevented from deli- 
 varing a message from his Majesty. It was not hit 
 imm to pr^vint gentlaman from raying any thing that 
 thay might imagine would support that petulanc© 
 which thay had sbawn before tha racess, that unjusti- 
 fiable violence, and thosa unprecedented steps which 
 they had t$km^ for the purpose of inflaming the coun- 
 try, and exciting jealousies for which there was noreul 
 foundation. He was happy to see the house met agaiiv 
 and that now the ministers of the crown might be able 
 to face the assertions, the insinuations that were thrown 
 out; for nothing in the ^hape of a charge had been 
 brought forward, nothing bad been attempted to be 
 proved : now they would have it in their power tQ 
 meet the enquiries and the propositions that might be 
 agitated in the committee ou the state of the nation i 
 
WILLIAM PITT. - 107 
 
 and he assured the house, tlmt he should not shrink 
 from any question, charge, or insinuation, which the 
 gentlemen on the other side might chuse to bring against 
 him. 
 
 " At the same time, however, that he cheerfully ex- 
 pressed his readiness to go into the committee on the 
 state of the nation, he thought it right that this com- 
 mittee should be delayed for some short time, and be 
 trusted the reasons which he should give would be 
 satisfactory to the house. It had pleased his Majesty 
 to command his services, at a time when, however, 
 he might feel himself unqualified for the high station 
 of minister, he could not think himself justified in 
 conscience to decline. The circumstances of the coun- 
 try were peculiar and distressing. The East India bill, 
 brought in by the right honorable gentleman, a bill so 
 violent in its form as to give just reason for alarm to 
 every thinking man, had been, by what powerful ma- 
 nagement it was not for feim to say, hurried through 
 the house. That bill established a species of influence 
 iinknown to the cons\tution of this country ; and he 
 was one of a most respe<:table minority, who thought, 
 that if it had passed into a law, the independence of 
 that house, the equilibrium between ihe three estates 
 of the realm, and the beautiful frame of our govern- 
 ment were at an end. That bill passed this house, but 
 at the same time it was the idea of all men, even of 
 those who objected to that bill as unfit to be passed, 
 that some bill was essentially necessary ; and he had 
 pledged himself if it was withdrawn or thrown out, to 
 propose one less violent in its principles, and, as, be 
 thought, more adequate to its purposes. Would any 
 man object to his moving for leave to bring in that bill } 
 
108 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 Would not all sides of the house acknowledge, that the 
 'first object to be embraced was the India business?' 
 It was for this question that the; house was impatient. 
 They had thouglit proper to present an address to the 
 throne, testifying their extreme anxiety to go upon this 
 important pursuit, which they stated to be so urgent, 
 as to make them dread any interruption whatever. Was 
 it possible, then, they should think of interrupting the 
 business? Was it possible that they should think of 
 preventing the introduction of a new. bill, which \vas 
 the only way of coming fairly to the business ? What- 
 ever serious enquiry into the state of the nation might 
 be meditated afterwards, he should ihink it his duty 
 most attentively and cheerfully to accompany. In the 
 mean time, he begged the house to consider that this 
 -was the first day when the new ministers had met them 
 in parhament. That ministry was formed, was called 
 "by his Majesty into office, chiefly on ilhe ground of the 
 India bill. Their first dlity was to franif" a system for 
 the government of India. They had not opposed the 
 last bill by cavilling; they had not objected to it from 
 •envy to the parents of it : they had opposed it because 
 they thought that its objects might be accomplished in 
 •^a safer way. This was the point on which they were 
 "at issue. They had now to prove that they had not 
 lightly disturbed the government of the country ; that 
 they had not set up a captious opposition, an opposi- 
 tion to men merely ; but that they opposed a most 
 violent measure ; and having overthrown it, they 
 thought it their just duty to substitute a more mode- 
 rate, a more constitutional scheme in its place." 
 
 He spoke again of the clamour which had ,been ex- 
 cited; and said, ** he was ready to meet it. all. lie had 
 
WILLIAM PITTK . l09i 
 
 objected to the last bill, because it created a new and 
 tiiiormous influence, by vesting in certain nominees of 
 the minister all the patronage oCthe East. He stated 
 all his objections to Mr. Fox's bill, and said that he 
 was now called upon by his duty, to bring in a new 
 bill ; and if the house, by agreeing with him to post- 
 pone the order of the day, would allow him to move 
 for leave to bring in his bill, he would state all the out- 
 lines of his system as shortly and precisely as he could.i* 
 He trusted that he should not be prevented, because* 
 the right honorable gentleman had forestalled the 
 house, by rising at a time when those persons were 
 absent, whose duty it was to conduct official business ; 
 and he hoped the house in general would agree with 
 him in voting against the order of the day/' 
 
 In answer to much scurrility which had been used 
 against him during the whole of the debate, after his 
 preceding speech, Mr. Pitt made the following obser- 
 vations. — 
 
 He declared he came up no back stairs : that 
 when he was sent for by his sovereign to know whether 
 he would accept of office, he necessarily went to the 
 royal closet ; that he knew of no secret influence, and 
 that his own integrity would be his guardian against 
 that danger; but the house might rest assured, when- 
 ever he discovered. any, he would not stay a moment 
 longer in office. '' 1 will neither have the meanness/^ 
 said Mr. Pitt, " to act upon the advice of others, nor 
 the hypocrisy to pretend, when the measures of an 
 administrator, in which I have had a share, are deser- 
 ving of censure, that they were measures not of ray 
 advising* If any former ministers take these charges 
 to themselves, to them be the sting. Little did I think 
 
 NO. 14. K 
 
110 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 to be ever charged in this house with being the tool 
 and abettor of secret influence. The novelty of the 
 imputation only renders it so much the more con- 
 temptible. This is the only answer I shall ever deign 
 to make upon the subject, and I wish the house to bear 
 it in their mind, and judge of my future conduct by 
 my present declaration ; the integrity of my own heart, 
 and the probity of all ray public, as well as my. private 
 principles, shall always be my sources of action. I will 
 "liever condescend to be the instrument of any secret 
 advisers whatever ; nor, in one instance, while I have 
 the honor to act as minister of the crown in this house, 
 wilt I be responsible for measures not my o\yn, or at 
 least in which my heart and judgment do not cordially 
 acquiesce.'' 
 
 With regard to the questions put to him as to the 
 dissolution, it did not become him to comment on 
 the words of a most gracious answer of the sovereign 
 delivered from the throne ; neither would he presume 
 to compromise the royal prerogative, or bargain it 
 av;ay in the House of Commons. When his honorable 
 friend, (Mr. Dundas,) in whose hands he considered 
 his honor to be as safe as in his own, before the recess, 
 in his name, and by his authority, pledged himself to 
 the house, that he, (Mr. Pitt,) would not advise a 
 dissolution, such at that time had been his real senti- 
 ment : he could not at present say more, but he hoped, 
 nevertheless, the house would now consent to receive 
 and go into the consideration of his India bill. 
 
 Mr. Pitt remarking only, '' that opposition, he was 
 convinced, was fruitless ; and declaring that he had 
 t^aken upon him the government of the country upon 
 one single, plain, intelligible principle, by which he 
 
.-'^ V . c. 
 
 r '4^} 
 
 '^"H 
 
 Ik 
 
 ^J B € O TTTr T mi; JLl -II , X. E , 
 
WILLIAM PITT. Ill 
 
 desired to stand or fall, viz. to save the country from 
 the India bill, which threatened destruction to its liber- 
 ties;— that his conduct was uniform and inteUigible, 
 and that the nation and the world would understand 
 and applaud it." 
 
 Consonant to these declarations, Mr. Pitt produced 
 his bill for the government of India on the l^th of 
 January, in which he had studiously regarded the 
 feelings of the East India Company, on points which 
 Mr. Fox had set at nought, and consulted the political 
 interests of his country rather than an indiscriminate 
 popularity* 
 
 On presenting it, Mr. Pitt rose and said, ^' in per- 
 formance of his engagement to the public and to the 
 house, and to discharge that duty which was indispen- 
 sible to him in the situation which he held. He w^as 
 neither deterred by the circumstances of the time, nor 
 appearance of the agitation of that assembly, from 
 rising to move for the introduction of a new bill for 
 settling the government of India, because he knew.ilf 
 to be the most immediate concern of the country, and 
 that which, before all other things, called for the con- 
 sideration of parliament. He was aware that, in the 
 present circumstances of the times, any proposition 
 that came from him was not likely to be treated by 
 certain persons with impartiality or justice; for they 
 had already excited a clamour against what they con- 
 ceived to be his ideas, and had already condemned, 
 without knowing his system. They had taken up cer- 
 tain resolutions passed by the proprietors of East India 
 stock, and had said, that a system founded upon them 
 must necessarily be defective, must necessarily be 
 «liarged with more influence, accompaiaied with less 
 K2 
 
112 XIFEOF THE LATE 
 
 energy, than the bill which had been rejected. I?« 
 knew the triumph which he should afford to a certain 
 description of men, when he informed the house, that 
 the plan which he proposed to submit to parliament " 
 was chiefly founded on the resolutions of the proprie- 
 tors of India stock, and that his ideas in all the great 
 points coincided with theirs. He anticipated in his 
 mind the clamour which would take place on this dis- 
 covery, and the vociferous acclamations of those gen- 
 tlemen ranged behind the right honorable member, 
 (Mr. Fox,) whose signals they were always disposed 
 to obey, and whose mandates they were always ready 
 to execute. He perfectly understood the nature of 
 their conduct : he knew well how capable they would 
 be of deciding on the subject, from the notices they 
 •would receive, and how eagerly they would embrace 
 the opinion which the right honorable gentleman 
 would give them; but he was not to be intimidated 
 from undertaking what he conceived to be for the 
 . interest of his country; and to the crime which was 
 alledged against him, he pleaded guilty. He confessed 
 iiimself to be so miserably weak and irresolute, as not 
 to venture to introduce a bill into that house on the 
 foundations of violence and intrenchment. He ac- 
 knowledged himself to be so weak as to pay respect to 
 the chartered rights of men, and that, in proposing .a 
 new system of government and regulation, he did not 
 disdain to consult with those, who, having the greatest 
 stake in the matter to be new modelled, were likely to 
 be the best capable of giving him advice. He acknow- 
 ledged the enormous transgression of acting with their 
 consent, rather than by violence; and that in the bill 
 he proposed to move for, he had governed himself by 
 
WILLIAM PITT. lis 
 
 the ideas of the proprietors of East India stock, and 
 by the sense and wisdom of those men who were most 
 habituated to the consideration of the subject, as well 
 as the most interested in it. 
 
 " He gave to his opponents, with perfect cheerfulness,^ 
 all the advantage which this view of the subject would 
 confer. His plan was really founded on the resolu- 
 tions which the house had seen in the public news- 
 papers, and he acted in concurrence with the senti- 
 ments of the general proprietary, He had not dared 
 to digest a bill without consultation, which was to 
 violate chartered rights sanctified by parliamentary 
 acts ; he had not ventured to conceive that any plan, 
 which should erect in this country a system unknown 
 to the constitution, would be ever embraced by any 
 House of Commons ; or, that a scheme of new and 
 unconstitutional character, would be suffered to have 
 an establishment, since such a scheme must give the 
 death blow to our frame of government. He had taken 
 notice of the objections stated by the right honorable 
 gentleman, before had heard his plan, and accepted by 
 his followers with the same haste and the same decency ; 
 he had heard him alledge that his plan was calculated 
 to give as much or more influence to the crown thaa 
 the bill that had been rejected ; and that it was not 
 calculated to produce the solitary consequences to this 
 country, or to India, which his bill would have cer- 
 tainly done. These were the imputations which had 
 been brought against it before it was known, and the 
 house were now to enquire into the truth of the asser- 
 tion. He wished to be tried by comparison. He chal- 
 lenged the trial by that test; and he trusted to the 
 candour of the housej even circumstanced as ifngw 
 k3 
 
114 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 was ; he trusted to their fairness and impartiality, that 
 if the provisions of his bill as effectual, with less vio- 
 lence,— .affording as vigorous .a system of control with 
 less possibility of influence, — securing the possessions 
 of the East to the public, without confiscating the pro- 
 perty of the company,—and beneficially changing the 
 nature of this defective government, without entrench- 
 ing on the chartered rights of men, ihey would give 
 him a manly, liberal, and successful support, without 
 enquiring what party of men, or what side of the house, 
 was t© be maintained on the occasion. He trusted they 
 could not approve his plan the less for being without 
 violence — for being destitute of the rapidity, the grasp- 
 ing principle, the enormous influence, the inordinate 
 ambition, the unconstitutional tendencies of the bill 
 which had been rejected. He trusted also they would 
 £nd, that he had not objected to the bill of the right 
 honourable gentlemen from motives of capricious, or 
 of personal opposition, or that he was now to seduce 
 them into the approbation of a measure more specious- 
 ly coloured, but in truth stated from that to which he 
 had denied his assent. 
 
 ** He was not much affected with the clamour, that 
 his was to be a half-measure — a palliative — although he 
 Lad so loudly deprecated half-measures and palliatives 
 on the first day of the session. Half-measure was the 
 -watchword of the day. He should not be affected by 
 this charge, if by that was meant, that every measure 
 which did not proceed to the violation of charters and 
 the confiscation of property, was a half-measure. If 
 he could only avoid the imputation of erecting a sys- 
 tem of power new and unknown in the countryj to the 
 extinction of the company and the destruction of the 
 
WILLIAM PITT. lis 
 
 constitution, he would not be displeased to hear his plan 
 receive the appellation of a half measure. But he trust- 
 ed) that in the exposition of the principles of his plan, 
 and of the provisions, they would find reasons to go with 
 him in thinking, that without materially entrenching on 
 the company, and without deviating from the practice 
 of the constitution, a scheme of government might be 
 framed, less overbearing, and equally efficacious. 
 Whatever might be its reception, however, he should 
 have the heartfelt pleasure of knowing that he had 
 discharged his duty conscientiously ; and he professed 
 that he was infinitely more eager to see a fair, solid, 
 and effectual system established, than he should be the 
 person to propose it, as he really was more anxious for 
 the welfare of his country than for the aggrandizement 
 of himself. 
 
 *' The general objects to be looked to, and provided 
 for, in the formation of a system for India, were chiefly 
 these : — 
 
 " The concerns of this country in India, in the various 
 considerations to which they branched ; the civil and 
 milicary government; the revenues; the commerce; 
 the vast territorial possessions, which, though they had 
 been long acquired, had never yet been finally settled : 
 there were claims to be ascertained and interests to be 
 divided. The happiness of the natives was to be stu- 
 died ; the connection between the commerce and the 
 territorial government was to be maintained ; and last 
 of all, they were to consider what were likely to be the 
 effects of the government of India, or the government 
 of Great Britain; how it might afiect our constitution 
 in point of influence, and how it might be rendered at 
 once vigorous and unalarming. 
 
116 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 '* These were the objects to be considered, and surely 
 the house would join with him in saying, they were 
 most iiiaportant. The possessions in India were great 
 and ample ; they could not be maintained but with 
 broad and extensive establishments; they contained an 
 immense number of the human race, for whose hap- 
 piness it behoved us, by every call of humanity and 
 policy, to provide ; and there was the utmost necessity 
 of framing a system, which should at once preserve 
 the connection and the distinction between the territo- 
 ries and the commerce. This was particularly difficult, 
 and indeed the whole business was of so complicated 
 a kind, that it required all the wisdom, all the ex- 
 perience, and all the consideration of parliament. 
 
 " Any plan, which he or any man could suggest for the 
 government of territories so extensive and so remote, 
 must be inadequate ; nature and fate had ordained, in 
 unalterable decrees, that governments to be maintained 
 at such a distance must be inadequate to their end. 
 In the philosophy of politics, such a government must 
 be declared irrational, it must be declared at the best 
 to be inconvenient to the mother and supreme power, 
 oppressive and inadequate to the necessities of the go- 
 verned. In such a scene there could be imagined no 
 theoretical perfection — it must be a choice of inconve- 
 niences ; and therefore, he trusted that, in this exami- 
 nation of the ideas which he should throw out, the 
 house would take into their view the difiiculties, and 
 and always to remember that whatever was suggested, 
 however specious, however promising, it might be, 
 must be tried by the event rather than by speculation. 
 The general ideas which he had thrown out, and the 
 objects which he had described to be in view, would 
 
WILLIAM PITT. il7 
 
 serve the house as land-marks to guide them in the 
 consideration, and they would examine how far his 
 propositions were calculated to answer the object. 
 
 " In the first place then the political concerns of this 
 country in India, that is, the civil and military govern- 
 ment of India— the political establishments— the politi- 
 cal system — the collection of the revenues —and to give, 
 in one short and general definition, the imperial domi- 
 nion of our territories in the east, ought to be placed 
 under other control than that of the company of mer- 
 chants in Leadenhall Street : but the change ought to 
 be made with as little violence as possible ; it ought to 
 be made by the conviction of the company, and not by 
 violence. In this the proprietors agreed with him. 
 The first business then, was to take care that this 
 should be an effectual control, and it was his clear idea, 
 that this control, could not with safety or propriety be 
 .placed in any other hands than those of the genuine 
 and legitimate executive council of the constitution. 
 
 " His next principle was, that the commerce of the 
 company should be left, as much as possible, to their 
 own superintendance. This was an idea that must 
 strike every thinkmg man ; for commerce ought al- 
 ways to be left to the merchant, unshackled, unem- 
 barrassed by interferences which might impede its cur- 
 rent, and diminish its security. In this, however, 
 there was a consideration to be attended to. The com- 
 merce of the East India Company was of a mixed na- 
 ture. It was involved with revenue, and it would be 
 requisite that a provision should he made for distin- 
 guishing between what was merely commercial and 
 what was mixed, under the colour of commercial acts, 
 
118 l>rFE OF THE LATE 
 
 or commercial regulation, the politics of India should 
 not be affected. 
 
 " This next principle was to prevent capricious effects 
 on the constitution of Britain, from the government of 
 India. In providing for this principle, very great de- 
 licacy was to be used in the nature, quality, and ex- 
 tent of the powers to be given to the governments in 
 India. The servants in India, must obey the control- 
 ing powers at home; but, still, in regard to the dis- 
 tance from the controling power, care must be taken 
 to arm them with such discretionary authority, as 
 should leave energy and vigour for all the purposes of 
 good and substantial government, sufficient to secure 
 ^the happiness of the natives^ as well as to protect the 
 commerce and the possessions, but at the same time 
 so limited as to restrain inordinate ambition — to crusk 
 oppressive rapacity — to extinguish the jobbing of 
 adventure — and to establish true and equitable domi- 
 nion. 
 
 ** He understood well that it wa« more easy to exhi- 
 bit principles than a-dopt provisions ; and he only ex- 
 hibited them to serve as land-marks to the house in tlje 
 examination of his provisions ; for he should succeed or 
 fail in his plan in. so far as he reached or came short of 
 these ideas. 
 
 *' The ftrst point, then, in the plan was to ascertain 
 the degree of control which should be established over 
 the company, and the hands in which that control 
 should be placed. The degree of control should amount 
 to the government of the civil and military concerns, 
 and of the revenue, and this was a species of control 
 not new ; for we had already seen a control over the 
 company established in the hands of government. But 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 119 
 
 the former interference of ministers had not been be- 
 neficial, because it had not been active or vigilant. 
 On this account was it that the right honourable gen- 
 tleman in his bill had placed it in new hands ? Was ifc 
 on this account that he had vested the control in the 
 bands of a set of men, v/hose character was a monster 
 and a novelty in the constitution ? What security 
 had parliament that this new and unheard of board 
 \vould have been more active and vigilant than a con- 
 stitutional and executive one ? Surely none but the 
 character, the integrity, the intelligence, and the ala- 
 crity of the individuals who composed it. If men 
 could he found by the executive government of the 
 country equally endowed, he asked if the security to 
 the public was not the same ? 
 
 *^ But he must again take notice here of the imputa- 
 tion, which, he imagined, would be thrown on his 
 plan for its moderation in this respect. It would be 
 called a half measure ^ because it left with the company 
 many of their rights, their property, their patronage, 
 their respect : but he saw no aspersion in the term of 
 a half measure, if his plan was to be so termed in op- 
 position to the totallity of that scheme which grasped 
 at every thing which they enjoyed. This grasped at no 
 more than what was essential to the object, and he 
 with confidence trusted to the impartiality of the house 
 of comn)ons, that they would approve of a measure 
 calculated to effect all the purposes required, by means 
 less violent than those of the late plan ; and he had 
 this confidence, notwithstanding the impression of the 
 times, which he confessed to be new and extraordi- 
 fcary. His plan aimed at beneficial control, H« 
 
 6 
 
120 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 meant not to rob or to steal the rights of the com- 
 pany, 
 
 *' He knew that the merits of his plan must be com- 
 parative ; and that the house would give the prefer- 
 ence to that, which, in the comparison, was proved to 
 be the test in the two great points of sufficiency and 
 vigilance of control. The public required security. 
 What was the security they had in the projected 
 board of commissioners ? Was it the greatness of their 
 character, or the circumstance of their being appointed 
 by the house on the nomination of the minister ? If this 
 was all, might not others be found as great in character, 
 and found constitutionally, by the executive power ? 
 And would it be a less recommendation of such men 
 that they were not a new and independant institution^ 
 unknown to the constitution and uncontrollable by the 
 crown ? The persons that had the control, should be 
 persons capable of giving time and attention to the ob- 
 jects of the trust — they should have leisure for activity 
 and exertion, that it should be no longer subject to 
 the imputation of a sleepy and ineffectual controJ, but 
 deserve the character of an active and efficacious one. 
 But this could not be done, perhaps, without the crea- 
 tion of new officers ; for, in the present state of ad* 
 n:iinistration, the ministers through whom the crown 
 should speak, that is, the two secretaries of state, were 
 so occupied as not to be able to give all the time and 
 attention which would be necessary to provide for this ; 
 there should be joined to the minister other assistance 
 to expedite the affairs that they might not be delayed 
 or neglected, at the same time that the crown's cou* 
 trol was signified through a minister. 
 
WILLIAM PITT, 121 
 
 ^' His proposal, therefore, was, ' That aboard should 
 be instituted, to be appointed by his ISlajesty, consist- 
 ing of one of the principal secretaries of state, the 
 chancellor of the exchequer for the time, and a certain 
 number of the privy council/ The number of the 
 board be left blank for the consideration of the house. 
 The priv}^ counsellors were not to be as in the consti- 
 tution of the privy council itself, to attend precarious- 
 ly ; but such as his Majesty appointed were to give re- 
 gular attendance at this board, and devote their time 
 and study to its objects. But it might be asked were 
 there to be salaries given to the members of this new 
 board, and was it to be productive of additional bur- 
 thens to the people ? He knew that in the last bill, 
 though there was no salary mentioned, it was the ge* 
 neral rumour, if not the general intention, that they 
 should have a remuneration. It was his idea, how- 
 ever, that in the present establishment, any expence 
 might be avoided. There were in this country a num- 
 ber of persons, who from their rank, were members of 
 the privy council, and \\\io at the same time were 
 possessed of great and distinguish<id ofiices, with large 
 emoluments and little labour. There v;as no doubt 
 but a number of such peTrsons niigbt be found to accept 
 of this important duty without any additional reward. 
 It was what they ov/ed to the country, trom which ihey 
 derived splendid incomes for no services, and he was 
 sure that if it fell to his lot — which was a que::t:un to 
 be decided^he would think it his indispensable duly, 
 and would give up his time and attention most cor- 
 dially to the object. ^ 
 
 ** A board thus constituted, it might be imagined • 
 would have the qualities of activity and vigour. It 
 
 :ng. l^. L 
 
122 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 would be derived constitutionally from the executive 
 power. It would create no new office of emolument. 
 It would load the subject with no new burthen. It 
 would be as efficacious as the board of seven commis- 
 sioners. That board undoubtedly was composed of 
 men of great integrity and fair honour ; but lie might 
 be allowed to add, some of them not possessing much 
 knowledge of, or interest in, the subject of their con- 
 trol. But this new board would be at least equally 
 intelligent and efficacious. It would be as good only 
 with this difference, that the rights of no company 
 would be violated, only with this difference, that they 
 would not be uncontrolled or uncontrollable ; — only 
 with this difference, that they would not possess the 
 whole of the patronage, to the great danger of British 
 liberty. The dispatches of the company must be sub- 
 mitted to this board, and be made subject to their 
 control, their opinion to be given in a reasonable and 
 competent time, and the dispatches countersigned by 
 the board, by which a complete responsibility was 
 vested in them. This was no ambiguous system — it 
 was clear, public, and administrative. 
 
 "'' In the next place, though he had no wish to inter- 
 fere with, much less to control, the commerce of the 
 company, yet as the commercial arts might be con- 
 nected with the political, because they might have an 
 aspect leaning both to the one and to the other, he also 
 proposed, ' That all the commercial dispatches of the 
 company should also be submitted to the board whose 
 control should be signified in a reasonable and compe- 
 tent time; but the court of directors, if they agreed 
 not with the opinion of the board on the decision of 
 the question, whether it had a political or merely a 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 123 
 
 commercial question, might appeal to the king in bis 
 council, whose decision should be final/ This he hoped 
 would not be considered as a security nominal and 
 frivolous, when it is remembered that this was to be 
 a pubHc appeal and a public trial. He was sincere in 
 his ideas on the subject of the security ; and, being so, 
 he regarded neither the sneers nor the smiles of gentle- 
 men : this appeal he considered as a guard to the com* 
 pany, and chiefly because it was liable to be discussed 
 in both houses of parliament. 
 
 *' This board possessed not the patronage of the com- 
 pany. They had the power of a negative, indeed, but 
 they could not alter the names sent by the company ; 
 they could not make use of this power in the way of 
 patronage, for it was his idea that this should be a 
 board of political control, and not, as the former was, 
 a board of political influence. He stated what the 
 constitution of that board was, and what the constitu- 
 tion of this was to be. That board was to seize on the 
 rights, patronage, commerce, and property of the com- 
 pany. This left to the company the uncontrolled pos- 
 session of their commerce, their treasury, iheir patron- 
 age, their contracts, the appointment of writers and 
 cadets ; by which, in the course of things, all the offi- 
 cers and servants in India were in their immediate ap- 
 pointment. 
 
 " He then came to state Vv'hat was to be the nature 
 of the government abroad; * Their authority should 
 have the power of large discretion, accompanied v^ith 
 the restraint of respousibility.' They should be bound 
 to obey the orders of the board at home, but at the 
 same time, they should have a sufficient quantity of 
 power lor all the purposeiD of emergency, and all the 
 L 2 
 
i£4 Life of the late 
 
 occasions which the immense distance might give rise 
 tt\ He went into a long detail to shew how much the 
 influence created by the last bill, exceeded the influ- 
 ence of this. Here ihe government abroad could at best 
 select from among the appointments of the company — 
 they could not make origmal appointments of their 
 own. In addition to this, there v/as in the crown, and 
 tjonsequently lu the two houses, by an address to the 
 crown, the power of recal. 
 
 '* It was to be enquired by whom the members of the 
 councils abroad were to be appointed. The company 
 had cheerfully yielded this point also to the crown. 
 Me, ho'Aever, had his doubts on this subject, and 
 therefore in his bill, the matter should be left for the 
 wisdom of the house to decide ; but ^ the appointment 
 Of the coinmaiulor'in-chief he thought should be clear- 
 ly in tije crown/ lor the duties which he had to fulfil 
 were so essentially connected with the great opera- 
 tions of the state, that there could be no doubt on his 
 appointment. 
 
 '' The next consideration was the number of councils 
 abroad. His idea was, ' that their number should be 
 four, the governor-general to have the casting vote,' 
 But this also he would leave to the house. The num- 
 ber of the council at Bengal he did not mean to re- 
 duce; for in this he followed the example of the right 
 honourable gentleman, in not making the system a per- 
 sonal question. 
 
 '' The iate bill thought fit to vest all the power in the 
 government here, and none or little in the government 
 abroad. His idea was otherv/ise. He thought there- 
 should be a power in the government abroad, large 
 and broad, but guarded with responsibility. 
 
WILLIAM PJTT. 125 
 
 " He proposed that there should be ' ^ revision of 
 all the establishments in India, to see where retrench- 
 ments might be made with safety — to see what were 
 necessary, what were useful, and what, on account of 
 their inutility, inconvenience, corruption, or abuse, 
 ought to be extinguished/ This he recommended, 
 for he believed that many of the abuses in India arose 
 from the establishments being overloaded. 
 
 *' Another reform struck him as essential, and which 
 indeed was only the enforcement of an old rule. This 
 was, * that all appointments in India should take place 
 by gradation and succession.' Influence would by this 
 means be very much diminished ; and indeed, v/ithout 
 entering much into the nature and amount of the 
 power, he imagined the government might be framed 
 to possess all that was necessary to its purposes, with- 
 out having so much as to create influence. He would 
 speak only therefore of the great lines of power, with- 
 put entering into the little detail. 
 
 ** His last proposition, he said, was, 'That there should 
 be erected a new tribunal for the trial of offences in 
 India.' He explained the necessity of such an institu- 
 tion, and said, it would be for the wisdom of the house 
 •to determine, its nature and authority. His idea was, 
 that it should consist of a number of the principal per- 
 sons in Westminster Hall in the first place; that civi- 
 lians should also be joined; and also a number of 
 peers, and a number of the members of the house of" 
 commons. A tribunal thus constructed might, ki his 
 idea, embrace the great object. The culprit might 
 have the power of challenging ; and, before this tribu- 
 nal, evidence might be admitted which the courts of 
 law could not receive. They should be directed ia 
 I. 3 
 
126 LIFBOF THE LATE 
 
 question, to arraign ; they should determine the na- 
 tore of offences; and in offences he would reckon the 
 disobedience of orders, the acceptance of presents, op- 
 pression of the natives, monopolies, rapacities, and 
 all the train of offences which had tainted the national 
 character in India. They should enquire into the per- 
 sonal fortunes of the dehnquents; they should have the 
 power of confiscation, and every thing but capital 
 power. In regard to the Zemindars^ though he ad- 
 mired the spirit of the right honourable gentleman to- 
 wards them, yet he could not imitate it, on account 
 of its impracticability. General indiscriminate resti- 
 tution was as bad as indiscriminate confiscation. He 
 proposed therefore, * That an enquiry should be insti- 
 tuted into the confiscations, for the purpose of restor- 
 ing such as had been irregularly and unjustly seized; 
 and that they should be secured against violence in 
 future.' 
 
 *' He had taken notice of many more points, he said, 
 than were included in his motion ; but he had thrown 
 them out for the consideration of the house, as a sub- 
 sequent bill must be brought in for regulations, or, 
 what he believed would be eil'ectual, the bill of the 
 right honourable gentlemdn now in the house might be 
 modified to his purpose. He again gave a comparison 
 between his bill and that which had been thrown out: 
 and he declared that the establishment of a moderate 
 and eftectual system of government for India was the 
 great and immediate object of his mind. He did not 
 wish to gratify young ambition by the places to which 
 he was called; he was not attached to his eminence. 
 * I am not," said Mr. Pitt, * governed^ at this moment 
 fey motives of personal interest; or of personal fame, I 
 
WILLIAM PITT, 127 
 
 4mve introduced this plan as the dehberate conviction 
 of my mind, made up on the most serious considera 
 tion of the most intelhgent men. Accept the ideas, 
 if they are worth your notice; strengthen them with 
 your wisdom ; mature them with your experience ; or, 
 in their room, estabhsh a more adequate system, and 
 1 am happy. 
 
 ' However unpleasant to me a majority of this house, 
 and insinuations against me, must be, I shall incur 
 the danger of them all on this great point — establish '^ 
 good, rational, and safe system, and dispose of me 
 as you will. I have the consciousness of a good inten- 
 tion, and therefore, without having the serious fear, 
 that personal considerations will be imputed to me; I 
 conclude with moving, That leave be given to bring 
 in a bill for the better regulation of India concerns/' 
 
 Such is the ground-work of the law by which the 
 affairs of India are ruled to this day; although, in the 
 first instance, by means of the majority already men- 
 tioned, it was rejected. (Jan. 23.) 
 
 It is unnecessary to offer any further declaration of 
 Mr, Pitt's sentiments on the subject of his assumption 
 of the reigns of government, desirous as we are of en- 
 abling him to deliver them in his own language, at once 
 so perspicuous and elegant. 
 
 On the 18th of February, however, the subject of 
 the supplies came to be considered, and Mr. Pitt lirst 
 thought it necessary to inform the house, that notwith- 
 standing its frequent petitions and motions, the minis- 
 try remained as before. 
 
 This provoked the astonishment of Mr. Fox, who, 
 in consequence moved an adjournment, delivering 
 himself with much violence against thejiiinister, 
 5 
 
128 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 Mr. Pitt then said, '' he found himself called upon 
 to say a few words on the very extraordinary speech 
 which bad been just delivered by the right honourable 
 gentleman (Mr. Fox) opposite to him. A great part 
 of what had been said was evidently founded in a mis- 
 conception of what had been stated previous to the de- 
 bate. He was in the recollection of the house, and 
 would appeal to all who heard him, whether he had 
 stated what he said, as a message from his Majesty. 
 The truth was, that he had not signified any immediate 
 communication with the throne on the subject; and 
 in order to put the subject out of doubt, he would re- 
 peat his words, and leave the house to judge of their 
 accuracy: 'That his Majesty had not thought pro- 
 per to dismiss his ministers, in obedience to the reso- 
 lutions of the house, and that his ministers had not 
 resigned.' This declaration he stood pledged to make 
 previous to the present discussion, and he thought it 
 bis duty to state what he had done; but belittle ap- 
 prehended sucli a use could have been made of it. He 
 meant it only as an intimation of the present situation 
 of ministry, that they were precisely in the same pre- 
 dicament that had produced the resolutions which had 
 been submitted to the consideration of his Majesty. 
 The right honourable gentleman, however, had, with 
 bis usual eloquence and ingenuity, laboured this as a 
 direct answer from the throne. He, for his own part^ 
 wished as much to bring the question to an issue as 
 the right honourable gentleman affected to dread it. 
 
 " An attempt was made to colour the puttiaig otf of 
 the supplies, as if it was only the pause of a moment, 
 and that this pause was occasioned by a circumstance 
 which the house bad not foreseen, and which put the 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 12S 
 
 house, the country, and public affairs, in quite a new 
 situation. Allowing all this to be true, which he 
 would not allow but tor the sake of argument, how 
 could such an explanation of things put a dispute on 
 facts which the least discernment might see through ? 
 The supphes were, to all intents and purposes, stopped. 
 I'he right honourable gentleman affects to call it post- 
 poning, but he trusted the people of this country would 
 see that the trick attempted to be put upon them and 
 on this house, was too hollow to have effect. It could 
 not, he was well persuaded, succeed against the good 
 sense of the people of the country. But why would 
 not gentlemen come openly and plainly forward ? He 
 was sure no man would doubt that he allowed the 
 right to the house of commons of withholding the sup- 
 plies, whenever the circumstances of the case would 
 justify such a measure ; but he was in hopes no man 
 would say the present v/as a crisis of that knid, Tiie 
 right honourable gentleman, conscious of the fact, was 
 very prudently and consistently averse to push the 
 question. It was then only that the conduct of his 
 Majesty's ministers could be fully investigated. It 
 was on this ground, and for this end, he would urge 
 the going into that question ; and he challenged those 
 on the other side to meet it fairly, openly, and with- 
 out disguise or subterfuge. For in this discussion, the 
 different motives of the contending parties would be 
 obvious; and he would say, with the utmost confi- 
 dence and sincerity, tliat it was a decision he could 
 urge, and for which he was anxious, as he knew from 
 the temper and principles of the house, they would be 
 shy indeed, in the present state of the country, to with- 
 hold those supplies on which the harmony and energy 
 
1 ' *^ 
 
 loO LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 of government depended, and for. which the national 
 faith was pledged. 
 
 " IMany of the right honourable gentleman's argu- 
 ments had been addressed personally to him, but with 
 what propriety gentlemen of feeling and delicacy would 
 judge. There were points in personal honour which 
 no man of spirit could for any object whatever fore- 
 go ; and whatever were his connexions or attachments, 
 he hoped never to forfeit feelings, without which he 
 could not retain consistently any opinion of himself. 
 He would therefore declare once for all, that he con- 
 sidered his personal honour deeply and inseparably 
 concerned in the present situation which he held, and 
 I that he would not on any account, or by any means, 
 first resign, and then stoop to negociate; that was, 
 leave his place in order to make part of a new admi- 
 iiistration. What! w^ould he tell the world by such a 
 step as this that he was capable of sacrificing any thing 
 to the love of situation ! No. It did not become him 
 to trifle in this manner, either with his own character, 
 or his Majesty's confidence. But " at present he held 
 a connexion with persons who contaminated him." 
 Would this be any where else believed ? And what 
 was the meaning of all those personalities so repeat- 
 edly pointed to him, but that lie should relinquish one 
 set of men in whom he trusted, and knew he could 
 trust with safety, for another — that he should be ob- 
 liged, for a paltry share in office, to sacrifice his per- 
 sonal feelingS; and treat those with whom he had been 
 long in liabits of intimacy and esteem, with a neglect 
 which bordered on perfidy ? He was convinced the 
 house and the public did not expect him to be capable 
 of purchasmg the honour of otiice at so dear a rate. 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 131 
 
 These were his ullimate sentiments, on a subject about 
 which he had been much pressed, and he hoped they 
 w^ould be considered as final/' 
 
 The house adjourned with the voice of a small ma- 
 jority. 
 
 As the best picture of the prevailing circumstances 
 of the times, and of the manly dignity and inviolable 
 perseverance of Mr. Pitt, the following speech is finally 
 given. 
 
 On the 20th of February the attack upon adminis- 
 tration was commenced by Mr. Powys, who reviewing 
 what had been already done, moved as usual, *^ That 
 this house, impressed with the most dutiful sense of 
 his iSIajesty's paternal regard for the welfare of his 
 people, relies on his Majesty's royal wisdom, that he' 
 will take such measures as will tend to give effect to 
 the wishes of his faithful commons, which have already 
 most humbly represented to his Majesty, by removing 
 any obstacle to forming such an administration as the 
 house has declared to be requisite in the present criti- 
 cal and arduous situation of aftairs."" 
 
 Mr. Pitt succeeded Mr. Fox in the debate, as fol- 
 lows: — 
 
 *' The right honourable gentleman, Sir, has gone 
 through so vast an expanse of matter, he has embarked 
 the house in so wide an ocean of politics, that it is im- 
 possible for me to follow him through the whole course 
 of his speech. I beg leave, however, while both the 
 house and myself are fresh m the remembrance of it, 
 to press upon them again what the right honourable 
 gentleman himself, at the close of his speech, has this 
 day at last been driven to confess, though I had long la- 
 boured, and, as 1 began to fear, had laboured in vain to 
 
132: LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 convince him of it ; namely, that if tlie right honorable 
 gentleman and the noble lord in the blue ribbon, should 
 regain their situation, should expel all his Majesty's 
 present ministers, and resume their old measures, their 
 restoration would not ensure the restoration of peace, 
 and of content to this distracted country. The right 
 honourable gentleman now confesses it ; and yet, Sir, 
 he ought also to confess, and to know and feel, that 
 his present measures do most directly tend to the re- 
 establishment of that coalition, to the certain exclu- 
 sion of his Majesty's present ministers, and to that 
 very calamity, which he himself now begins to dread, 
 and with the dread of which, I had so strenuously en- 
 deavored to inspire the house. Procrastination was 
 now become his plan. I wish not to be understood as 
 calling for violent measures; but this I will say, that 
 merely to temporise is no man's duty at the present 
 moment. If, therefore, every violence is intended 
 against this administration, let us not keep the coun- 
 try in suspense, but let us advance like uien to the 
 issue of this combat ; the present question is weak and. 
 feeble, compared with those which have gone before 
 it; and I dare say, therefore, every gentlemaii must 
 expect that it will be without eifect. 
 
 " The riglit honourable gentleman, Sir, has ap- ~ 
 peared to-night in a character perfectly new to him,, 
 but which he has supported (as, indeed, he supports 
 every one of his characters) with wonderful dexterity : 
 he is to-night the champion of the majority of this 
 house against the voice of the people. Imposture was 
 the word used by his learned friend ; the right honour- 
 able gentleman improves upon the idea, and tells you 
 that imposture was a word used merely by way of 
 
V/ILLIAM PITT. 133 
 
 Civility; it is by way of complimenting the people of 
 England, that the right honourable gentleman says 
 their opinions are founded in imposture; and then, by- 
 way of libelling these addresses, and of libelling this 
 reign, he recals to your mind the addresses offered iii 
 the infamous reign of king Charles the Second, afi'ecling 
 to furnish the house with a case somewhat in point, 
 and warning them not to trust at all to the most una- 
 nimous addresses of the people of England, by summa- 
 rily mentioning those which were ofiered to that mo- 
 narch, requesting the crown to take into its hands and 
 protection the several charters of this country. Sir, I 
 beg these allusions may not pass off unexplained : the 
 case was this. — After many cruel and scandalous deci- 
 sions in the courts agafhst chartered companies, in a 
 fit of desperation, the several corporations offered their 
 charters to the crown, as the only protection against 
 this tyranny; and sliall I hear this cited by way of 
 hbelling addresses of the people at this timer I believe 
 i,n truth. Sir, the right honourable gentleman is sur- 
 prised and exasperated at the manly spirit of the peo- 
 ple in these times, who will not wait till their charters 
 are prostituted to the purposes of ministeis, and then 
 seek relief by yielding them to the crown; but who 
 boldly resist the violation in the iirst instance, and who 
 are as hardy in their resistance, as the right honour- 
 able gentleman has been in his attack. 
 
 " But, says the right honourable gentleman, how 
 should the people understand the India bill? Do they 
 know all the abuses in India? True, Sir, the people 
 may not, have read all your voluminous reports, nei- 
 ther, perhaps, have one half of the members of this 
 liouse read them ; but, Sir, they know that no abuses 
 
 NO. 15, M 
 
134 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 in India— that the very loss of India — that the annihi- 
 iution of India could not compensate for the ruin of 
 this constitution. The plain sense of this country 
 could see that objection to the India bill, which I could 
 cever persuade the right honourable gentleman to ad- 
 vert to : they could see, that it raised up a new power 
 in this constitution, that it stripped at once the crown 
 of its prerogative, and the people of their chartered 
 rights, and that it created that right honourable gen- 
 tleman to be the dictator of his king and his country. 
 But, Sir, the right honourable gentleman venturing 
 still to deny that the addresses have sufficiently marked 
 what IS the opinion of the people; and then he talks 
 of battles at Reading, of battles at Hackney, and 
 battles at Westminster. At Reading, Sir, lunderstand 
 there was no battle ; the county addressed unanimously 
 against the opinion and in the face of its members, 
 although the honourable member (Major Hartley) 
 assures you he now exerted his oratory to deprecate 
 the afjdress. As for Hackney, I behold over against 
 me a iiiost valiant chieftain (iSIr. Byng) who is just re- 
 turned from that iield of Mars, whose brow, indeed, 
 IS not, as before, adorned with the smile of victory, 
 but from whose mouth I doubt not we shall hear a 
 iailhfui, although, alas! Sir, a most lamentable his- 
 tory of that unfortunate tlight and defeat. Whether at 
 We8ta}inbter it is sufficient proof of victory to sa}', 
 ^' the people would not even hear me ;'' whether that 
 right honourable geniieman, who once could charm 
 th^ multitude into dumb admiration of his eloquence, 
 and into silent gratitude for his exertions in the cause 
 of freedom, and of his country ; whether he, the cham- 
 pioa of the people, once erMphatically named the 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 135 
 
 '* man of the people/' is now content with the execra- 
 tions of those multitudes, who once, perhaps, too 
 much adored him; whether, in short, Sir, the sono- 
 rous voice of my noble friend was a host itself, or 
 whether it might not have become a host by being 
 joined to the host of the voices around him; all these 
 are points 1 will not decide : but sure I am, that the 
 right honourable gentleman will not persuade me that 
 the voice of the people is with him if Westminster is 
 his only example. There is one thing the right honour- 
 able gentleman proves merely by strong affirmations, 
 to which, therefore, I can oppose affirmations as strong 
 on my part: he says his late majorities have been 
 composed of men the most independent in their prin- 
 ciples, respectable in their situations, and honourable 
 for their connexions. 1 can only affirm as roundly in 
 answer, that the minority is by no means inferior to 
 tbem, in point either of principles, of respectability, or 
 of independence. Having thus disposed of the people 
 and tlie minority of the house of commons, large as it 
 certainly is, the right honourable gentleman proceeds 
 iiext to dispose of the majority in the house of lords, 
 and he denies that they were respectable. Sir, if the 
 right honourable gentleman will trouble himself with 
 this kind of calculation, I am not afraid to match the 
 majority there against the minority, either on the score 
 of independance, of property, of long hereditary ho- 
 nours, of knowledge of the law and the constitution, or 
 on the score of any thing that can give respect and dig- 
 nity to peerage. And, Mr. Speaker, when 1 look 
 near me, [looking at Mr. Pratt] when 1 see near whom 
 1 am now standing, I am not afraid to place, in the 
 from of that battle, (for at that battle the noble peer 
 ■ M 2 
 
136 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 whom I allade to, was not afraid to buckle on his old 
 armour, and march forth, as if inspired with his youth- 
 ful vigour, to the charge) 1 say, Sir, I am not afraid 
 to place foremost, at the head and in the very front of 
 that battle, that noble and illustrious peer (Lord Cam- 
 den) venerable as he is for his years, venerable for his 
 abilities, adored and venerated through this country 
 on account of his veneration for this glorious constitu- 
 tion, high in rank and honour, and possessing, as he 
 does, in these tumultuous times, an equanimity and 
 dignity of mind that render him infinitely superior 
 to that wretched party spirit, with which the world 
 may fancy us to be infected. 
 
 *^ But, Sir, I am carried too far ; my warm admira- 
 tion of the subject has hurried me into expressions, 
 perhaps, not perfectly becoming the strictness of this 
 debate. The point which I should particularly speak 
 to, and the great subject of contention between ua, 
 is, whether I shall resign, in order afterwards to re- 
 turn into office; and the example of the noble lord in 
 the blue ribbon is held out for my imitation; for he, 
 it is said, is willing to sacrifice his personal pretentions 
 for the sake of unanimity. Good God ! Mr. Speaker, 
 can any thing that I have said, subject me to be branded 
 with the imputation of preferring my personal situa- 
 tion to the public happiness ? Sir, I have declared 
 again and again, only prove to me that there is any 
 reasonable hope, shew me but the most distant pros* 
 pect, that my resignation will at all contribute to re- 
 store peace and happiness to the country, and I will 
 instantly resign. But, Sir, I declare at the same time, 
 I will not be induced to resign as a preliminary to ne- 
 c[ociation. 1 will not abandon this situation in order 
 
WILLIAM PITT, 137 
 
 to tlirow myself upon the mercy of that right honour* 
 able gentleman. He calls me now a mere nominal 
 minister, the mere puppet of secret influence. Sir, it 
 is because I will not become a mere nominal minister 
 of his creation; it is because I disdain to become the 
 puppet of that right honourable gentleman, that I will 
 jjot tesign: neither shall his contemptuous expressions 
 provoke me to resignation : my own honour and repu- 
 tation 1 never will resign. That I am now standing on 
 the rotten ground of secret influence I will not allow ; 
 nor yet will I quit this ground, in order to put myself, 
 as the right honourable gentleman calls it, under his 
 protection, in order to accept of the nomination at his 
 hands, and in order to become'a poor self-condemned, 
 helpless, unprofitable minister in his train — a minister, 
 perhaps some way serviceable to that right honourable 
 gentleman, but totally unserviceable to my king and to 
 my country. If I have, indeed, submitted to become the 
 puppet and minion of the crown, why should that right 
 honourable gentleman condescend to receive me into 
 his band ? It seems, however, that I have too much 
 of the personal confidence of my Sovereign, and that I 
 must resign, in order to return into administration, 
 having only an equal share of it with others. But the 
 right honourable gentleman knows that my appoint- 
 ment would, in that case, be only as a '* piece of parch- 
 ment/' Admit that I have more than my share of the 
 king's confidence, yet hov; is my being out of office for 
 two days to make any diminution of that confidence f 
 The right honourable gentleman therefore, every mo- 
 ment contradicts his own principles, and he knows that 
 if I were first to resign, in the forlorn hope of return- 
 iijg as a!i efficient miaistei* into administration, 1 should 
 M 3 
 
138 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 become the mere sport and ridicule of my opponent; 
 nay, and forfeit also the good opinion of those, by 
 whose independant support I am now honoured : for 
 when I shall have sacrificed my reputation for that 
 support which I am told shall arise to me from that 
 right honourable gentleman's protection, when I shall 
 bave bartered my honour for his great connexions, 
 what shall 1 become but the slave of his connexions, 
 the sport and tool of a party ? for a while, perhaps, 
 the minister appointed by that party, but no longer 
 useful to my country, or myself independent. 
 
 " The right honourable gentleman tells you. Sir, 
 that he means to stop the supplies again to-night, but 
 that he shall only postpone them occasionally. He 
 stopped them at once, because the king did not listen 
 to the voice of his commons, he now ceases to stop 
 them, though the same cause still exists. Now, 
 Sir, what is all this but a mere useless bravado ? — a 
 bravado calculated to alarm the country, but totally 
 ineffectual for the object for which it was intended. I 
 grant, indeed, with him, that if all the money destined 
 to pay the public creditors is voted, one great part of 
 the mischief is avoided. But, Sir, let not this house 
 think it a small thing to stop the money for all public 
 services ; let us not think that, while such prodigious 
 sums of money flow into the public coffers, without 
 being suffered to flow out again, the circulation of 
 wealth in the country will be stopped nor the public 
 credit affected. It has been said, indeed, " how is it 
 possible that parliament should trust public money in 
 the hands of those, in whom they have expressly de- 
 clared they cannot confide ?" Is there any thing then 
 in my character so flagitious J aml^ the chief minister 
 
WILLIAM PITT* 139 
 
 cf the treasury, so suspected of alienating the public 
 money to my own, or any sinister purpuse, that I am 
 not to be trusted with the ordinary issues ? [a cry of 
 " No ! No!"] — Why then, Sir, if they renounce the 
 imputation, let them renounce the argument. By what 
 I am now going to say, perhaps I may subject myself 
 to the invidious imputation of being the minister and 
 friend of prerogative ; but. Sir, notwithstanding those 
 terms of obloquy with which I am assailed, I will not 
 shrink from avowing myself the friend of the king's 
 just prerogative. Prerogative, Sir, has been justly 
 called a part of the rights of the people, and sure lam 
 it is a part of their rights, which the' people were never 
 more disposed to defend, of which they were never 
 more jealous than at this hour. Grant only this, that 
 this house has a negative in the appointment of minis- 
 ters, and you transplant the executive power into this 
 house. Sir, 1 shall call upon gentlemen to speak out ; 
 let them not come to resolution after resolution, with- 
 out stating the grounds on which they act; for there is 
 nothing more dangerous among mixed powers than 
 that one branch of the legislature should attack ano- 
 ther by means of hints and auxihary arguments, urged 
 only in debate, without daring to avow the direct 
 grounds on which they go, and without stating in plain 
 terms, on the face of their resolutions, what are their 
 motives, and what are their principles which lead them 
 to come to such resolutions. Above all, Sir, let this 
 house beware of sutfering any individual to involve his 
 own cause, and to interweave his own interests in the 
 resolutions of the house of commons. The dignity of 
 the house is for ever appealed to : let us beware that 
 personal prejudices have no share in deciding these 
 
140 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 constitutional questions. The right honourable gentle- 
 man is possessed of those enchanting arts whereby he 
 can give grace to deformity ; he holds before your 
 eyes a beautiful and delusive vision; he pushes it for- 
 ward to your observation ; but as sure as you embrace 
 it, the pleasing vision will vanish, and this fair phan- 
 tom of liberty will be succeeded by anarchy, confusion 
 and ruin to the constitution. For, in truth, Sir, if 
 the constitutional independance of the crown is thus 
 reduced to the very verge of annihilation, whera is 
 the boasted equipoise of the constitution ? Where is 
 that balance among the three branches of the legisla- 
 ture which our ancestors have measured out to each 
 with so much precision ? Where is the independance — 
 nay where is even the safety of any one prerogative 
 of the crown, or even of the crown itself, if its prero- 
 gative of naming ministers is to be occupied by this 
 house, or if, (which is precisely the same thing) its 
 nomination of them is to be negatived by us without 
 stating any one ground of distrust in the men, and 
 without suffering ourselves to have any experience of 
 their measures ? Dreadful therefore as the conflict is, 
 my conscience, my duty, my fixed regard for the con- 
 stitution' of our ancestors, maintain me still in this 
 arduous situation, it is not any proud contempt or 
 defiance of the constitutional resolution of this house; 
 it is no personal point of honour; much less is it any 
 lust of power that makes me cling to office : the sitiui- 
 tion of the times requires of me, and I will add, my 
 country calls aloud to me, that I will defend this 
 castle; and I am determined, therefore, I will de- 
 fend it!'' 
 
 Notwithstanding this energetic and sensible decia- 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 141 
 
 ration of bis principles, Mr. Pitt yet remained in a 
 minority and the address to the king was ordered to 
 be presented to the throne by the whole house. 
 
 A gracious answer was the result, in which his Ma- 
 jesty differed from his faithful commons in the means 
 of attaining the end they had in view. It was the 
 cause of another address which, however, did not suc- 
 ceed any better than the former; on the 24th of March, 
 the parliament was prorogued, and dissolved the fol- 
 lowing da3^ 
 
 This is the first time we can view Mr. Pitt as the 
 efficient minister of the British empire. Whatever his 
 talents or whatever the distinction he had obtained in 
 his country, it is now only that we have an opportu- 
 nity of examining his principles and his motives at lei- 
 sure from the turbulence of faction and contentions of 
 the most unworthy kind. 
 
 We are now arrived at that period to which we 
 have hitherto bent our notice. The struggles of 
 party offer no evidenc© whereby to judge of charac- 
 ter and talents, any more than the regular tempera* 
 ment of nature is to be discovered in a tempest. Till 
 these were past, or at least so far subdued, as to leave 
 to the hand guiding the helm of government that power 
 only to be maintained by a decided majority in par- 
 liament, it has been judged best to withold from those 
 minor circumstances which are interesting only as the 
 traits of human nature; or what, in this volume, is 
 more important, for those examinations of the state of 
 affairs which, by guiding us to the true character of 
 Mr. Pitt's motives and principles of government, may 
 suable us to judge of their e^ccellence or deHciencvj 
 
142 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 and to offer their experience to the acceptance or re- 
 jection of his successors. 
 
 In this we are much gratified in being able to call to 
 our assistance the seniiinents of those the best able to 
 judge in every part of his conduct. With these we 
 shall preface whatever of our own has occurred to its 
 illustration, as well as those facts which mark the state 
 of the country at the same time. 
 
 ^' VVilhout dweiling," says his eulogist,* " upon the 
 circumstances of his introduction into parliament, I 
 shall observe that at once, and from the first, he dis- 
 played a brilliancy of eloquence, a maturity of under- 
 standing, and a correctness of judgment, which excited 
 the utmost astonishment in those who bad been accus- 
 tomed to consider these quahties, even in an inferior 
 degree, as the late acquisition of age and experience. 
 And let it be remembered, that among the persons 
 who expressed the greatest surprise, were many who 
 had Jong witnessed and admired the hitherto unequalled 
 talents of the hnmortal Chatham, Before he had com- 
 pleted his twenty-fourth year, the first political situa- 
 tion in this country was offered to him. Instead of 
 eagerly catching at this dazzling offer, which was made 
 in terms best calculated to produce this effect, he re-* 
 solutely declined it. He saw that, from the state of 
 parties, he could not accept it with advantage to his 
 king and country; and thus he gave an early proof of 
 that principle which was the invariable rule of his sub- 
 sequent conduct. In a few months, however, a consi- 
 
 * Speech of W. E. Fretyman Tomline, in Trin. Coll. Chap. 
 Pec. 17, 1.80(), 
 
^"ILLIAM PITT. 143 
 
 derable change in political affairs took plctce, and, upoa 
 a renewal of the offer, he perceived that the same mo- 
 tive which had before induced him to decline, now 
 called upon him to accept this high, and at his age, 
 unjDrecedented honor. The love of power is a ruling 
 passion in the human mind, and is, perhaps, insepa- 
 rable from the consciousness of great abilities : it is a 
 virtue or a vice, a blessing or a curse, according to the 
 motives which excite, and the means which are used to 
 gratify it. Under the direction of sound principle, it 
 has been productive of the greatest national benefit ; 
 but, under an opposite influence, it has been the cause 
 of a large share of the public misery and distress, which 
 at various periods have afflicted the inhabitants of the 
 world. 
 
 " In the struggle v;hich ensued, and which was at- 
 tended with circumstances so unparalleled in the his- 
 tory of parliament, Mr. Pitt evinced a firmness of 
 character, and a determined perseverance in what he. 
 believed and knew to be right, which at length tri- 
 umphed over every difticulty. In contending for the 
 prerogative of the crown, he gained the favor of the 
 people in an unexampled degree. By an appeal to the 
 exertions of the House of Commons, it was proved 
 that Enghshmen are not more jealous of their own 
 rights than of the rights of their sovereign; and that 
 they consider those as the true friends of our invalu- 
 able constitution, who are careful to preserve to all its 
 parts their respective privileges and functions. They 
 well knew that if the equilibrium be once destroyed, 
 the ruin of the whole must quickly follow : they distin- 
 guished between real patriotism and lawless ambition. 
 Among the numerous marks of public approbation 
 
 6 
 
144 ^ ' LIFE OF THE lATE 
 
 which Mr. Pitt at this time received from every part 
 of the kingdom, there was none upon which he set a 
 greater value, than the being chosen representaHve of 
 this university; he felt the warmest attachment to the 
 place of his education ; and to be peculiarly entrusted 
 with the interests of religion and learning, could not 
 but be highly gratifying to his enlightened mind. 
 
 ** He now entered upon a new scene. Animated by 
 the favor of his sovereign, and encouraged by the sup- 
 port of the people, he determined to devote his whole 
 time and thoughts to the momentous duties of his 
 office. Here let us pause a moment, to consider whe- 
 ther the situation of the country afforded any alluring 
 prospect to a young and inexperienced minister. 
 
 'Mf we reflect that a new arrangement of the affairs 
 of the East India company was indispensably neces- 
 sary, and that this had been ineffectually attempted 
 both by himself and his immediate predecessors, and 
 had already produced eager contests in parliament ; if 
 we reflect that a long and disastrous war, recently 
 concluded, had left the country impoverished and 
 exhausted; that its income was by no means equal to 
 the expenditure of a peace establishment, and that a 
 large and accumulating debt remained totally unpro- 
 vided for; if we reflect upon the inefficiency of his 
 coadjutors, and upon the splendid talents, powerful 
 eloquence, and commanding influence of his opponents, 
 — we must surely acknowledge that Mr. Pitt had no 
 ordinary difficulties to surmount. But the energy of 
 his mind ever rose with the occasion, — dangers never 
 depressed, difficulties never embarrassed him, 
 
 " He first digested and established a plan, which has 
 not only given security to our possessions in the East, 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 145 
 
 but has contributed to tlie extension of our territory 
 and trade, and has guarded against peculation and eor- 
 ruption, to which such distant concerns are peculiarlj^ 
 liable : and these objects were accomplished without 
 any violation of chartered rights, or any unconsti- 
 tutional addition of ministerial patronage. This great 
 business being completed, he directed his principal 
 attention to finance ; and by selecting proper objects ' 
 for new taxation, by introducing a variety of important 
 regulations which rendered the old taxes more produc* 
 live, and by correcting frauds and abuses which had 
 long prevailed in the collection of the revenue, he 
 made the income of the country fully competent to 
 satisfy every demand, and raised public credit from 
 the low state to which it had been depressed. He 
 rested not here: the danger from the national debt, 
 continually increasing in every year of war, and in some 
 years of peace, had been long seen and acknowledged'; 
 but no minister had yet dared to take any effectual 
 step for its liquidation. This debt had now risen to 
 so enormous an amount, that it was generally believed 
 another war must inevitably occasion public bank- 
 ruptcy. No one was more strongly impressed with 
 this idea, no one more ready to avow it, than Mr. Pitt 
 himself. Hence various {Projects for preventincr this 
 incalculable evil were communicated to him by inge- 
 nious and speculative men ; but, after a careful and 
 impartial examination, he rejected them all as inade- 
 quate and impracticable. Instead of any of these visi- 
 onary schemes, which would rather have aggravated 
 than lessened the evil, he adopted that plain and 
 simple mode, the suggestion of his own mind, the wis- 
 dom and efficacy of which have been ineontroverlibly 
 
146 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 -proved by the experience of more than twenty years. 
 In the course of this long period, its operation has been 
 uniform and regular; ho revisal, no alteration, has 
 been necessary; no improvement either in the prin- 
 ciple, or in the application of the principle, has been 
 even attempted. in the progress of this measure 
 through the House of Commons, its merits were so 
 obvious, as to extort the commendation and support of 
 those who acted in systematic opposition to govern- 
 ment ; and this magnanimous concurrence in parlia- 
 ment was prophetic of that universal admiration which 
 it has since obcamed among all political parties, and 
 all descriptions of men. 
 
 *' But tb.e active and comprehensive mind of this 
 truly wonderful man was not content with relieving 
 his country irom the pressure of present burthens : he 
 formed another plan, so exclusively his own, that the 
 idea seems never to have entered the thoughts .af any 
 other person. By this plan it was made absolutely 
 impossible to contract any new debt, without at the 
 same time providing the means of discharging it within 
 a moderate number of years, iiaving by his former 
 sinking fund removed all danger arising from the exist- 
 m^ debt mcurred by past wars, by this new sinking 
 fund, which was so contrived that it must necessarily 
 increase with the increasing debt, he obviat<?d, as far 
 as the nature of the thing will admit, the danger to be 
 apprehended from the expenses of all future wars to 
 llie latest period of time. Can a more perfect system 
 ofiinance be conceived by the imagination of man ? 
 Can human foresight be directed to a more useful 
 political purpose ? To the united . effect of these two 
 measures we are indebted for the power of carrying ou 
 
WILLIAM PITT- 147 
 
 that contest in which we have now been engaged for 
 nearly fourteen years in defence of the liberty and in- 
 dependence of our country. 
 
 ** That nothing misbt be wantins: to our internal 
 welfare, he was studious to improve our resources, by 
 giving every possible encouragement to trade, naviga- 
 tion, and manufactures; and to the wisdom and policy 
 of his regulations upon those important points, the 
 commercial part of the community has been ever 
 ready to bear the amplest testimony. Never, perhaps, 
 was tliere a more favorable change in the general situ- 
 ation of any country, than in the lirst nine years of 
 Mr. Pitt's adarlnistration. The dejection and gloom 
 which hang over this kingdom at the beginning of that 
 period, were gradually dispelled, and were bucce(?ded 
 by a degree of prosperity far beyond the most sanguine 
 expectation's/' 
 
 Of this view of circumstances there can be no doubt. 
 To the right reverend relation of the present orator, 
 Mr. Pitt owed his highest acquisitions; and between 
 them subsisted to the last moments of his valuable 
 life the closest, the most honorable intimacy. From 
 the pen of the Bishop of Lincoln himself, it has been 
 hoped that the public would be favored with some 
 record of his great and extraordinary pupil. But his 
 is the grief that never dies ! — and this funeral oration 
 pronounced in the university of which its subject was 
 a member, to which even in life he was already so dear, 
 as that a sum little short of eight thousand pounds 
 had been readily subscribed tov^^ards a statue in honor 
 of him, may, therefore, be considered 'as all which 
 pious friendship, and zealous talents, overwhelmed iu 
 affliction, can accord. 
 
 N 2 
 
148 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 There is little to add to it, except the minor circtim- 
 stances, which the pubhc journals, and some less fleet- 
 ing memorials afford. 
 
 According to these, on the 26th of January, in the 
 present year (3 784) a meeting was held at the Str 
 Alban's Tavern, at which a committee was formed 
 of the following gentlemen, — the Hon. Mr. Grosvenor, 
 the Hon. Charles Walsham, Sir William Lemon, and 
 Mr. Powys, to confer with the leaders of the great 
 political powers by which the nation was agitated. An 
 address was signed by fifty-three members of the House 
 oi Commons, recommending an union to this efifect,. 
 which was presented to the Duke of Portland and Mr, 
 Pitt. The latter expressed a willingness to enter into 
 the views of the committee, but the Duke of Rutland 
 inserting that, as a preliminary^ he should resign his 
 place, the negociation was suspended. The duke was 
 afterwards invited to a conference with Mr. Pitt, at the 
 express desire of the King, for the purpose of forming 
 a new administration on eqtial terms, which never 
 took place, from Mr. Pitt refusing to come to an ex- 
 planation of the term equal. Thus the negociation was 
 finally terminated. 
 
 The tollowing is from the same source : — 
 
 *' At the period when the coahtion ministry was 
 formed, Mr. INlansfield's seat for the university of 
 Cambridge became vacant by his acceptance of the 
 office of Solicitor General, and Mr. Pitt determined 
 to oppose him. He accordingly went down to Cam- 
 bridge, but was treated with contempt by the heads of 
 houses and senior members. One threw the door al- 
 most in his face, and wondered at the impudence of 
 the young man, thus to come down and disturb the 
 
M'lLLIAM PITT. 149 
 
 peace of the university ! The scene was now changed. 
 He came down in triumph, w^as received with open 
 arms, carried his election with a considerable majoiity. 
 and was able also, by his influence, to make Lord 
 Euston his colleague/' 
 
 The period of the \Vestminster election was of the 
 most extraordinary kind. Its violence did not fail to 
 reach even the minister himself. 
 
 The freedom of the city of London being given to 
 Mr. Pitt, (on which occasion Mr, Wilkes addressed him 
 in a very complimentary speech,) and that gentleman 
 becoming a member of the grocer's company, a splen- 
 did entertainnient was given in honor of him at their 
 hall, on the Jst of March, 17S4<. At night, on the 
 return of the cavalcade, a mob assembled, drew the 
 carriages, and, on their way, broke the windows of 
 many houses, to compel the inhabitants to illuminate. 
 Even the palace of the prince of Wales was not spared ; 
 and when they came to Weltjies (the prince's steward) 
 in St. James's street, the tumult rose to a great height. 
 Colonel North, Mr. Seymour Finch, and other gentle- 
 men being ^^in the house, appeared on the balcony? 
 where they drank *' Fox for ever,'' instead of sub- 
 mitting to illuminate. The populace demolished the 
 windows, and then proceeded with tlie carriages to 
 Brookes's subscription club house. Here they drew 
 up Mr. Pitt, the Earl of Chatham, Lord Sidney, and 
 Lord Mahon, under the v;indows, and again began the 
 attack. Here also the gentlemen from the balcony 
 positively refused to comply with their demand for 
 lights. The mob vociferated *' Pitt and the constitu- 
 tion/' The other party returned, 'VFox and a popu-- 
 lar government. The multitude now begau to assail 
 :^ 3 
 
150 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 the house with stones, on which the chairmen in wait- 
 ing at the doors sallied out with their poles, and in a 
 few minutes dispersed the mob. A flambeau was 
 thrown into the carriage ; on which Mr. Pitt and his 
 iCompanioDs alighted, and made good their retreat 
 into Whitens. The carriage which belonged to the Earl 
 of Chatham was broken, and order was only restored 
 by a guard. 
 
 WhHe Mr. Pitt (say the same sources) was out of 
 office, his attention was unremittingly directed to the 
 good of his country. One great cause of the distressed , 
 state of our finances, was the defalcation of the reve- 
 nue by smuggling. To acquire an accurate knowledge 
 relative to the details'of this subject he bestowed much 
 pains, attention, and expence. In the autumn of 
 17 S3, having been informed that an opportunity pre- 
 sented itself of obtaining very accurate and extensive 
 information if he would go to Calais, he set out for 
 Dover, but, on his arrival, found that, from an equi- 
 noctial storm, the streights were almost impassable. 
 Steady, however, to his purpose, and regardless of 
 danger, when incurred for a momentous object, he 
 prevailed on a skipper to undertake the passage. 
 Scarcely had they cleared the pier, when the storm 
 became so boisterous that the skipper declared it im- 
 possible to proceed. Mr» Pitt offered him fifty gui- 
 neas; but the man, not knowing bis passenger, though 
 iirst tempted by the offer, rejected it, in the idea that 
 the proflerer of such a sum must be running away from 
 his country for a forgery or a murder. Mr. Pitt telling 
 bim and convincing him who he was, he at last went 
 on, and after encountering great danger, arrived at 
 Calais ; where the facts which he had learned; and the 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 151 
 
 modes and proceedings which he discovered^ were such 
 as to be afterwards extremely useful to himself and to 
 his country. — This was one instance, among many 
 which might be adduced, of his steady and vigorous 
 perseverance. 
 
 Mr. Pitt in the above excursion, visited Dunkirk, 
 Ostend, and other sea-ports on the continent ; and on 
 his return, the most noted smuggling places on the 
 coast of Sussex and Kent. 
 
 To return to the political course of Mr. Pitt, in 
 which with so much vigour he ^displays himself, the 
 attention of the reader is only attracted to the two 
 grand features of the rival ministers of Britain ; that 
 which had already been displayed by Mr. Fox in his 
 two short administrations ; and that which was now 
 opening to view under the auspices of Mr. Pitt, and 
 on which we shall enlarge hereafter. 
 
 Leaving the two succeeding years from his accession 
 to the helm of affairs to be employed in the manner 
 we have seen, the trial of Mr. Hastings becomes the 
 next object of consideration. 
 
 That gentleman, the obnoxious gevernor already 
 mentioned in the affairs of India, had arrived in Eng- 
 land in 1785, and early in the ensuing year Mr. Burke 
 made his pre-determined efforts against him. Some 
 difficulties occurred, arising from an injudicious de- 
 fence prematurely offered at the bar of the commons 
 by Mr. Hastings, and still more from the variety of 
 opinions as to the modes of trial to be adopted. 
 
 Little more than the primary charge had been 
 brought forward in 17S6, but the subject was early 
 resumed in the following yearj and, on the 5th of 
 
 5 
 
152 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 May, 1787> the sentiments of the minister were as 
 follow : 
 
 Mr. Pitt said, " that he had deferred giving his 
 sentiments on the question so long, because he found 
 many gentlemen who were averse to the prosecution, 
 had hitherto reserved themselves on the various stages 
 through which the business had already passed, and 
 had taken the present opportunity of delivering their 
 opinions at large, upon the whole of the subject, and 
 had then, for the first time entered into the defence of 
 of Mr. Hastings. As Uiis seemed to be the case, he 
 thought it was but justice to those gentlemen, to Mr. 
 Hastings, and to the cause, to hear what they had to 
 say without interrupting them, or anticipating their 
 general argument in favour of INIr. Hastings, by a par- 
 ticular discussion of the question immediately before 
 the house. Those gentlemen who had not taken up 
 the question either as to the forrn of the articles, or 
 the mode of proceeding, but had confined themselves 
 solely to the broad consideration, whether Mr. Hast- 
 ings was or was not guilty of crimes, sufhciently glar- 
 ing to render him deserving of punishment; and this 
 discussion had been handled in a variety of ways by 
 tlie several gentlemen who had undertaken it, and all 
 of them had gone the length of acquiring that there 
 should be a complete and final conclusion to the whole 
 proceeding — an opinion that he was ready to declare 
 his own perfect and entire dissent from ; for he felt 
 himself totally at a loss to conceive how it could be 
 reconciled, to the honour, the consistency, or the jus- 
 tice of that house, to stop short the sending up the im- 
 peachment to that place, where alone it ou^ht to ua* 
 der^o its ultimate discussion. 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 15S 
 
 '* The noble lord (Lerd Hood) who had opened the 
 debate, and the honourable magistrate who followed 
 him, had confined themselves wholly to a collateral 
 question, and not one immediately connected with that 
 before the house, to the merits of Mr. Hastings, which 
 they pleaded as a set-off against his offences. This 
 was a ground which he expected and hoped would 
 have been abandoned, after what had already passed 
 upon that subject, both from Mr. Hastings himself, 
 who had declaimed any such plea, and from many of 
 the gentlemen who had delivered their opinions in the 
 debate on the several charges. For his own part such 
 was his opinion of many parts of the charges brought 
 against Mr. Hastings of their importance and crimi* 
 nality, that he could not conceive, if they were well-? 
 founded^ how the highest and the greatest merits which 
 had ever been alleged in favour of Mr. Hastings, could 
 be set in opposition to them as a plea even against 
 conviction and punishment — much less against enqui- 
 ry and trial, which were now the objects in question. 
 His learned friend (the lord advocate, Mr. Dundas) 
 had very judiciously taken a different ground, and 
 given up that set-off \ but still the principles he went 
 on were no less objectionable, than those of the noble 
 lord and the honourable alderman ; he had treated 
 the subject as if it was deficient of that consequence or 
 magnitude which could entitle it to the judgment of 
 that high and weighty tribunal to which it was pro- 
 posed to submit it, and had besides endeavoured to 
 oppose the farther progress of the business in that 
 house, byanalagous reasonings from the nature of this 
 form of proceedings in parliament and that of grand 
 juries and other courts. But he could not conceive 
 
154 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 feow any gentleman coald possibly consider the char- 
 ges against Mr. Hastings in any other light, than as a' 
 very grave, heavy, and serious acc^usation, such as was 
 supported by evidence at least sufficient to warrant 
 the putting him on the trial, and such as was of mag* 
 nitude sufficient, if substantiated in proof, to bring 
 down on him very ample punishment. 
 
 *' As to the analogies to other inquests, the learned 
 lord himself, and those who entertained opinions simi- 
 l-ar to his, had themselves shown how little their ana- 
 logous reasonings applied, for they all seemed to go 
 upon an idea, that the finding matter sufficient to put 
 the party on his trial was assuming, for a certainty? 
 that there was sufficient matter to convict. But this 
 was by no means the case ; for it was never supposed 
 or imagined that exactly the same degree of evidence 
 which was sufficient to warrant an impeachment of 
 that house, must necessarily be sufficient to support 
 and insure a conviction ; neither was this the case in 
 the finding of .a grand jury : in both cases the final 
 judicature must have proof considerably more sub- 
 stantial than that which the original inquest would 
 been justifiable in proceeding upon. But it was im- 
 possible for that house to govern itself exactly by the 
 rules of a grand jury •, for the subjects that were likely 
 to become objects of impeachment, were so different 
 from those with which grand juries are conversant, 
 that no apology could take place in their modes of pro- 
 ceedings. Besides if the house of commons were to 
 take the proceedings of a grand jury as their precedent, 
 and follow it exactly in all instances, it would amount 
 to a complete dereliction of that function which bad 
 been the bulwark of the constitution, and which had 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 155 
 
 enabled that house to preserve and maintain the free- 
 dom of their country, through the severe struggles they- 
 had made for that purpose. Was that house compe- 
 tent to take deposition and evidence upon oath; It 
 certainly was not ; and, therefore, if it were not to 
 proceed to an impeachment upon any other species of 
 evidence than would justify a grand jury in finding a 
 bill of indictment, it must never impeach at all ; for 
 a grand jury could not find it except upon affidavit. 
 Still he admitted that the house ought never to go t6 
 such a length, as the carrying up of an impeachment, 
 except upon such evidence as would afford a reasonable 
 probability of their being able to make good their 
 charge before the other house ; and was there not 
 here, from what had been produced in support of this 
 charge and from the collateral and indirect matter, 
 which had alone been resorted to in defence of that 
 chargje, very reasonable grounds for expecting that 
 they should be able to make good the present ? 
 
 ** An honourable magistrate (Alderman Townshend) 
 had inveighed with gr^at severity on the conduct of 
 gentlemen who (he thought) in support of the charge, 
 had used expressions of too violent and personal a na*- 
 ture to be admitted in the progress of a judicial enqui- 
 ry, he certainly was of opinion that there was much 
 in' any attempt to iufiaiiie and excite beyond what 
 might naturally be expected to result from a fair and 
 candid developement of facts m the minds of those 
 who were th^ instruments of public justice. He ad- 
 mitted, that he once was oi opuiion, that the language 
 of those who.cbieAy promoted, the present proceeding., 
 was too fuli;Of ascerbity, and much too passionate and 
 e^^aggerated ; but when he found, what the nature of 
 
i56 LIF^ OF THE LATE 
 
 the crimes alleged was, and how strong was the pre* 
 sumption that the allegations were true, he confessed 
 that he could not expect that gentlemen, when recit- 
 ing what they thought actions of treachery, actions of 
 violence and oppression, and demanding an investiga- 
 tion into those actions, should speak a language diffe- 
 i*€ai*tfrom that whicli would naturally arise from the 
 contemplation of such actions. 
 
 *^ The honourable magistrate had argued, that the 
 honour of the house was not committed to adopt the 
 resolutions of the committee and had endeavoured to 
 iprevent an impression from falling upon gentlemen as 
 an inducement to their voting for them. But, was 
 there any danger of gentlemen being influenced by 
 such a consideration in the present case ? Had the re- 
 solutions of the secret committee borne a new matter, 
 perhaps there might then have been some room for 
 cautioning the house not to be drawn into too hasty 
 an adoption of them from motives of consistency, be- 
 cause, in such a case, these adoptions might probably 
 be attributed to such motives ; but even then such a 
 caution must prove unnecessary; for no member could 
 consider himself bound to support the resolutions of a 
 committee merely because they were the resolutions of 
 a committee. In this instance, the object of the ho- 
 iK)urable alderman ought to be to convince such gen- 
 ilemen iiKlividually as had voted for the several char- 
 ges that, bavifig done so, yet they would not be in- 
 consistent in n«w opposing the report ; but rhis argu- 
 ment, he must say, he believed no gentleman would 
 Attempt to support ; for certainly no gentleman who 
 tiad supported the charges could, consistently with the-- 
 "prmcipies on which h€ did so, now -Gf>pQs« thtf farther 
 
WILLIAM PITT. iSt 
 
 progress of this business. But, in iact, be not only 
 considerf?d those gentlemen who had voted for the 
 charges individually, but the whole house collectively, 
 as called upon by every motive of honour and c<3«isis.- 
 tency, by their regard for the national character, as 
 well as their Own to unite and persevere in bringing 
 the matter to a final conclusion before theotljeir house,. 
 *'The honourable gentleman (IMr. Nathaniel Srnitli) 
 who had spoken last, and wiio every body kn^w to be 
 most conversant in the affairs of the East indies, who 
 had done himself so much honour in every part he liacl 
 at any time taken in the management of their affair^, 
 and who had been besides in general a strenuoujS 
 opposer of the measures of Mr. Hastings, had that 
 day made the best defence for him which he l:iad yet 
 heard ; but still, upon the very grounds of that de- 
 fence, Mr. Hastings appeared highly culpable. The 
 principal argument which that honourable gentleman 
 had stated in favour of Mr. Hastings, was, tlmt a great 
 part of tliose rapacious exactions which he had made 
 in India, arose from the orders he had received froi^ 
 his employers, the East India Directors, who were so 
 elated with the acquisition of the Dewaree of Bengal, 
 and the expectations they from thence entertained (?f 
 becoming the channels of vast wealth into this coun- 
 try, that they gave him directions for such extensive 
 investments as could not be provided by the ordinary 
 resources of the company, ^nd of course drove him to 
 the necessity of supplying by rapacity and extortion 
 the means of fuliiliing their injunctions. Taking tiii.s 
 to be the fact, it was no argument whatever to skreen 
 Mr. Hastings from punislunent; for it went to 
 say, that whatever acts of injustice a servant might 
 
 NO. 15<4 o 
 
M8 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 commit, provided he does it by the orders of his im- 
 mediate superiors and employers, he should not be 
 amenable to punishment ; a principle which, of all 
 others, tlmt house should be most assiduous to re- 
 sist, because such a principle if once established, 
 would entirely overthrow the responsibility of all pub- 
 lic ofificers — even of ministers themselves. But were 
 the fact even this: — the East India Company might 
 entertain too flattering and too sanguine ideas of their 
 situation, and, in so doing, would naturally (as they 
 did) give orders to their servants measured by the 
 scale of those ideas ; still was Mr. Hastings justifiable 
 in recurring to acts of oppression and tyranny, in or- 
 der to realize the visionary prospects of his masters ? 
 Was it not his duty to undeceive them, and by a pro- 
 per representation of their affairs excuse himself for ' 
 the nonperformance, to its full extent, of their com- 
 mands ? He should recapituiate,"^ds shortly as possible,', 
 the. state of the charges against Mr. Hastings, from 
 which it would appear, how impossible it was for him, 
 or such gentlemen as were of opinion with him, to 
 give him any other vote but one — of concurrence with 
 the motion ; though he certainly considered the whole 
 of the charges, as originally brought forward, as highly 
 exaggerated in some parts, and as not wholly founded 
 in others ; yet there appeared from the evidence which 
 bad been produced that there was in them a great deal 
 of matter of substantial criminality, and sufficiently 
 authenticated to warrant that house in proceeding up- 
 on it. 
 
 ''The chief point of this mass of delinquency, was 
 
 all which he could touch upon.; nor would he go into 
 the articles al any length, having already delivered his 
 5 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 159 
 
 •Sentiments at large upon such ofthem as he was not an- 
 ticipated in by gentlemen who thought as he did. In one 
 part of the charge of Benares, there was great crirainaH- 
 ty; in that of the princesses of Oude there was still more; 
 and thatf indeed, he looked upon as the leading feature 
 in the whole accusation. In the charges concerning Far* 
 ruckabad and FyzulaKhan, there was also much cri- 
 minal matter. In all of those there were instances of 
 the most violent acts of injustice, tyranny, and op- 
 pression ; acts which had never been attempted to be 
 vindicated, except on the plea of necessity. What 
 that necessity was had jiever been proved ; but there 
 was no necessity whatsoever vvhich could excuse such 
 actions as those, attended with such circumstances. 
 He could conceive a state, compelled by the necessity 
 of a sudden invasion, an unprovided army, and an 
 unexpected faikire of supplies, to lay violent hands on 
 the property of its^ subjects ; but, therif in doing so, 
 dt ought to do it openly, it ought to avow the neces- 
 sity, it ought to avow the seizure, and it ought, un- 
 questionably, to make provision for a proper compen- 
 sation as soon as that should become practicable. 
 But was this the principle on which Mr. Hastings 
 went ? No ; he neither avowed the necessity nor the 
 exaction ; he made criminal charges, and under the 
 colour of them he levied heavy and inordinate penal- 
 ties; seizing that which, if he had a right to take it at 
 ali^ he would be highly criminal in taking in such a 
 shape, but wluch iiaving no right to take, the mode of 
 taking it rendered it much more heinous and culpable. 
 He, certainly, had no right to impose a fine of any 
 sort on the princesses of Oude ; for there was not suf- 
 ficient proof of their dissaffection or rebellion. And, 
 o 2 
 
l60 LIFE OF tfn: late 
 
 tUe fiii<3 iiHposed on Clieit Sing, in a certain degree, 
 piti't6(^k of a similar guilt, though not to so great an 
 extent; for then the crime was, in his opinion, not so 
 much in the h*ne itself as the amou-nt of it, and its dis- 
 proportion to the circiimstances of the person who was 
 to pay it, and the offence which he had committed. But 
 this vindication, from one part of the charge, in itself so 
 weak, became, when coupled with other parts, a great 
 aggravation; for, when a person on the one hand 
 Gonmiits extortion, and, on the other is guilty of pro- 
 fusion, if he attempts to screen himself under the 
 plea of necessity, for his rapacity, it follows that he is 
 dv^ubly criminal for the offence itself, and for creating 
 the nc cessiPy of that offence by liis prodigality. And a 
 Still higher agpavat?ion arise-s kom the manifest, an4, 
 iiideed, palpable corrmptiorv attending that prodigali- 
 ty ; to what else could be attributed the private al- 
 lowances made to Hyder Beg Khan, the minister of 
 the Nabob Vizier, and the sums paid to the vakeel of 
 Cheit Sing, when it was remembered that the one led 
 the way to the treaty of Chunar, and the other to the 
 revolution in Benares ? 
 
 ** The honourable gentleman who spoke last, had 
 attempted to excuse all these actions, by shewing that 
 Mr. Hastings was not the person who first began the 
 interference of the company with the native princes, 
 nor the influence which it had obtained in their poli- 
 tics ; and that the inconveniencies attending the dou^ 
 ble government of Oude were not to be imputed to 
 him. But, surely, to whatever cause that influence 
 might be originally attributed, Mr. HastiAigs was an- 
 swerable for the management of it, as long as it was 
 lit his hands ; and to excuse him on this plea, would be 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 161 
 
 to justify the tyranny by the power ; for though the in- 
 fluence of thccompany had given him power to op- 
 press the neighbouring country, it had not imposed 
 on him the necessity of doing so. The honourable 
 gentleman had attempted to paliiatetbose parts of Mr. 
 Hastings's conduct, by stating, that if he were guilty, 
 he was so in common with the rest of the council ; 
 but thiSjMf it were the case, was by no means a suffi- 
 cient excuse for him, nor could it be a reason w'itk 
 the house for dropping the impeachment ; for his hav- 
 ing accomplices in his crimes could be no exculpation, 
 and it would be higlily derogatory to the honour of 
 that house, if they were to say — * No; we will not 
 bring the delinquent to justice, because there are a 
 number of delinquents besides him/ Nor would this 
 be, a reason even for impeaching the rest ; for it was 
 by no means advisable to multiply examples : the pro- 
 per way was, to select such as, from their exalted and 
 ostensible situations, were the more likely to become 
 an eitectual example. But it was impossible to jus- 
 tify Mr. Hastings on such a ground as this, even if it 
 were tenable at all ; because a considerable part of 
 those enormities with which he was charged, v/ere 
 committed at a distance from his council, and whea 
 he was entirely out of the reach of their advice or con- 
 trol. 
 
 '' In the articles of the contracts,^ there were som^ 
 glaring instances of breach of orders, and of improvi- 
 dence and profusion, which, if not of so heinous a nai- 
 ture as those he had before mentioned, were such as 
 called loudly for punishment. But there was another 
 charge which he was surprized to find the gentlemas 
 who defended Mr, Hastings, could treat ^o lightly^- as. 
 
162 LIFE OF THE LATE ' 
 
 it was one which appeared to him in itself sufficient to 
 justify the impeachment, though it had stood alone^ 
 and was of such a nature, as, in a pecuUar degree, 
 called for the interference of that house. This was 
 the charge of taking presents, which, in every liglit 
 it -could be considered in, whether as a direct breach 
 of the law which appointed him, a positive evidence 
 of corruption or a degradation of the character of his 
 emplo}/ers, was a great and heavy accusation : and as 
 to the excuse which had been offered, that he had re- 
 ceived those presents for the use of the company, even 
 that was criminal in a degree. But for his part, he 
 could not acced'j to the opinion either that he had re- 
 ceived those sums with an intenticm of applying them 
 to the service of the company', or that he had actually 
 applied them at all in that way; for, had this been 
 his intention, he would have kept such accounts, and 
 Inade such immediate communications of them, as 
 should clearly prove that it was so. But no such ac- 
 counts were produced, no such communications were 
 made; and there were, besides circumstances attend- 
 ing some of them, that proved they nmst have been 
 received with a corrupt intention. As an instance of 
 this, he should mention the present Mr. Hastings had 
 received from Kelleram, wh'ch was attended with the 
 most suspicious of all circumstances, namely, that this 
 very person was at the time in treaty for a district of 
 land, belonging to the company, and no question could 
 b€ entertained^ but he gave the money in order to 
 obtain a favourable bargain ; so that had this been 
 done for the company, it was a most unjustifiable and 
 impolitic method, of managing their concerns ; for in 
 that case, it should have beeu negociated openly in the 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 165 
 
 nature of a fine, and not privately as a bribe, in which 
 latter light alone it ought to be considered/' 
 
 Upon the whole, Mr. Pitt concluded with declaring, 
 that " the house could no otherwise consult their own 
 honour, the duty which they owed their country, and 
 the ends of public justice, than by sending up the im- 
 peachment to the house of lords/' 
 
 The progress of the trial of Mr. Hastings* is so noto- 
 rious that we leave it to announce an event in the fol- 
 lowing year, which brought Mr. Pitt more real ca- 
 
 * Mr. Hastings was born at the village of Chiirchhil] in Ox- 
 fordshire, ill the year 173^2 ; his father was the clergyman of that 
 parish. His grandfather, Mr. Penny&tone Hastings, lived at 
 Daylesford on the borders of Worcestershire, and sold that place, 
 which had been possessed hy the family of Mr. Hastings from 
 1280 to 1710 ; this was the last ofvery considerable estates which 
 they held in Worcestershire and Gloucestershire. 
 
 Mr. Hastings was educated at Westminster school, and went 
 out a writer to Bengal in the j^ear 1749, when the English ap« 
 peared in India in the character of mere merchants. In an early- 
 part of his life he was much noticed for his knovvledge of the 
 Ftrsian language (at that time a very uncommon acquisition); 
 and throughout his long administration in the East, he was a 
 liberal encourager of learning and the polite arts. 
 
 After filling all the highest offices in Bengal, that of governor 
 excepted, and enjoying the universal esteem of the natives of 
 that country, he returned to England in the year 1765, with a 
 very moderate fortune, and with an intention of spending the re- 
 mainder of Ills life in England, in learned ease, and pacific retire- 
 ment. But he had so far miscalculated the amount of his fortune, 
 though neither a gamester nor a man of expense in any shape, that 
 in two years he found it necessary to return to Bengal ; he applied 
 for permission, but his application was rejected by the Court of 
 Directors— parties at that time running irery high, and his frieaidi^ 
 being in a minority. 
 
164 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 liamny as a man, and weight as a nninister, than any 
 other event in the whole period of his power. This 
 was the alarming indisposition of the Sovereign, which 
 rendering his Majesty incapable of attending to the 
 
 It was at this period that he formed an intimacy with the cele- 
 lebrated Dr. Johnson, by whose advice he proposed a scheme for 
 establishing a professorship at the university of Oxford, for 
 the study of the Persian language. Fortunately for, his] na:- 
 tive country, this scheme was rendered abortive by the following 
 circumstance : — A parliamentary enquiry was established to exa- 
 mine the state of the Company's aifairs, in 1767, in consequence 
 of the acquisition of Bengal by Lord Clive, Mr. Hastings in this 
 enquiry, underwent an examination for several Ifours, at the bar 
 of the House of Commons ; an incident well recollected by every 
 gentleman who was at that period of the third legislative estate. 
 The evidence which he gave was in all its parts so clear, compre- 
 hensive, and satisfactory, and displaj-ed a knowledge so perfect 
 of the affairs of Icdia, that it immediately brought him into ge- 
 neral notice. I intr&duce this circumstance merely to shew how 
 forcibly politics can warp the most moderate men. After the exa- 
 mination Lord John Cavendish and Mr. Frederick Montague, wha 
 paid close attention to his evidence, and whom he did not then 
 know, desired him to dine with them at a neighbouring coffee- 
 house ; an event which Mr. Hastings, as I have been informed, 
 has pointedly mentioned, when Mr. Frederick Montague was 
 mentioned as one of the maudgers, and the whole house of Ca- 
 vendish were his combined persecutors. 
 
 In the next year, 1768, Mr. Hastings was appointed sccond'in 
 . council at Madras, and in 1771, he was removed to Bengal, and 
 ordered to succeed to the government in the next year — he was 
 officially invested in that high office in 1772, and remained at tlie 
 head of the government, under various parliamentary appoint- 
 ments for thirteen years. ■ 
 
 To this account of Mr. Hastings from the author of his Defence,, 
 the following excellent verses arc added as the best evidence o^ 
 his feelings and acquisitions, 
 
WILLIA^I PITT. 1^5 
 
 business of government, involved a question of re- 
 gency, and with it a variety of difficulties, which came 
 
 IMITATED FROM HOBACE, BOOK 2. 0I>E 1 6. 
 
 BY i\lR. HASTINGS. 
 
 JVriUen on his Passage from Bengal, 
 
 ^' For ease the harass'd seaman prajs. 
 When equinoctial tempests raise 
 
 The Cape's surroundiug wave ; 
 When hanging o'er the reef he hears 
 The cracking mast, and sees, or feari 
 
 Beneath, his wat'ry grave. 
 
 For ease the slow jMahratta spoils, 
 And hardier Sic erratic toils, 
 
 While both their ease forego : 
 ' For ease which neither gold can bu/ 
 Nor robes nor gems, which o§t belie 
 
 The cover'd heart, bestow. 
 
 For neither wealtli nor titles join'd 
 Can heal the soul or sufF'ring mind — 
 
 Lo ! where their owner lies ; 
 Perch'd on his couch distemper breathes. 
 And care like smoke in turbid wreaths, 
 
 Round the gay ceiling flies. 
 
 He who enjoys, nor covets movQ 
 The lands his father held before* 
 
 Is of true bliss possess'd ; 
 Let but his mind unfettered tread 
 Far as the paths of knowledge lead. 
 
 And wise as well as blest. 
 
 * Since this poem was written Mr. Hastings has purchased his 
 family estate Ht Paylesford in Worcestershire. 
 
166 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 came intimately home to the bosoms of the British 
 people. 
 
 From a state of comparative quiet which parliameut 
 would seem to have enjoyed, it now returned to all 
 
 No fears his peace of mind annoy. 
 Lest printed lies his fame destro}^ 
 
 Which labored years have won. 
 Nor pack'd committees break his rest ; 
 Nor a V 'rice sends him forth in quest 
 
 Of cliaies beneath the sun. 
 
 Short is our span, then why engage^ 
 
 In schemes for which man's transient oge 
 
 Was ne'er by fate designed ; 
 Why slight the gifts of natuie's hand, 
 W^hat wand'rer from his native land 
 
 E'er left himself behind ? 
 
 The restless thought and wayward will 
 And discontent attend him still. 
 
 Nor qnit hira v/hile he lives : 
 At sea care follows iu the wind. 
 At land it mounts the pad behind, 
 
 Or with the post-boy drives^ 
 
 He who wijuld happy live to day, 
 Must laugh the present ills away. 
 
 Nor think of woes to come ; 
 For come they will, or soon or late 
 Since mixed at best is man's estate 
 
 By heaven's eternal doom. 
 
 To ripen'd age Clive liv'd renown'd. 
 With lacs enrich'd, with honour crown'd. 
 
 His valour's well earn'd meed. 
 Too long, alas! he liv'd to hate 
 His envied lot, and died too late, 
 
 Fi'om life's oppression freed. 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 167 
 
 the conflicts of party in the most agonizing of all dis- 
 cussions. 
 
 Mr. Pitt having (Dec. 10, 1788) brought up the 
 report of the pliysicians touching the state of his Ma- 
 jesty's health, which was ordered to lie on the table, 
 proceeded to observe—** That the paper from the privy 
 council, which -had been already placed upon the 
 tatle, as well as the more regular examinations of 
 which the house had just heard the contents, afforded 
 them sufficient information, both with regard to the 
 melancholy subject which had occasioned them to 
 
 An early death was Elliot's doom^ 
 I saw his opening virtues bloom 
 
 And manly sense unfold ; 
 Too soon to fade ! I bade the stone 
 Record his name midst hordes unknown 
 
 Unknowing what is told.* 
 
 To thee perhaps the fates may give, 
 I wi&li they may in health to live. 
 
 Herds, fiocks, and fruitful fields j 
 Thy vacant hours in mirth to shine 
 With these the muse, aire?,dy thine, 
 
 Her present bounties yields. 
 
 For rae, O Shore, I only claim 
 To merit not to seek for fame. 
 
 The good and just to please- 
 A state above the fear of want ; 
 Domestic love, Heav'n's choicest grant 1 ■ 
 
 Health, leisure, peace, and ease. 
 
 * Such however is the love of virtue, which owns no particular 
 language or character, that around this mausoleum, (which iias 
 a real as well as poetical existence) the natives have raised a 
 town distinguished by the name of EllioU 
 
168 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 assemble, and the opinions of the physicians ; and 
 must at the same time, naturally fill their minds with 
 a reasonfible hope, that a happier moment would ar- 
 rive than the present, although the faculty, ^vho had 
 been consulted, were still unable to declare the pre- 
 cise point of time of its arrival. Gratified, however, 
 as the house might be in that expectation, yet the un- 
 certainty bv which its completion might be protractedj 
 rendered it their indispensible duty to proceed, not- 
 \vithstandiDg their regret for the occasion, with every 
 degree of dispatch, and in the most respectful manner, 
 to take those intermediate steps which the unfortunate 
 exigeiKy of the moment required, in order to provide 
 for the present serious situation of affairs, with a view 
 to guard the liberties of the people from danger, and 
 secure the safety of the country; that his Majesty 
 might have the gratification of knowing when the 
 ^happy moment of his recovery should arrive, that the 
 people whom he had loved and protected, had suffered 
 as little as possible by his illness. The point to be 
 agitated on this occasion, involved in it whatever was 
 valuable to the people, whatever was important in 
 the fundamental principles of our {ree constitution. 
 The steps to be taken as preliminaries, therefore, to 
 the discussion of this truly interesting subject, weie 
 such as he could not conceive likely to create any dif- 
 ference of opinion. That the house might have the 
 advantage of the wisdom of their ancestors to guide 
 their proceedings, and to act upon the fullest informa- 
 tion, he should move for the appointment of a com* 
 njittee to examine into, search for, and report prece- 
 dents, from which report they would be enabled lo see, 
 ^hat had been the steps taken. in former moments of 
 
iriLLlAM PITT. 16§ 
 
 difficulty aaddi^ager, whence they niiglit proceed with 
 the greater security in providing for the present me*- 
 lancholy circumstances of the country/' 
 
 In conclusion, after debating at some extent upon 
 the necessity of this mode, Mr. Pitt said, *' he would 
 not detain the house by enlarging upon the subject any 
 longer, but as, on the one hand, it would serve to 
 throw all the light upon it that precedent and history 
 could afford; so, on the other, as he conceived the 
 report of such a committee as he had mentioned might 
 be made in the course of the present week, it Vvould 
 \ery little contribute to retard the dispatch which was 
 so desirable, and must be of no material inconve- 
 nience. With a viev/ therefore to eive their oroceed- 
 ings every necessary solemnity, and regulate them by 
 every possible degree of caution, he should move — 
 
 " *That a committee be appointed to examine, and 
 report precedents of such proceedings as may have 
 been had, in case of the personal exercise of tiie royal 
 authority being prevented or interrupted, by i^iirmiiVp, 
 or otherwise, with a view to provide for tliO same/ '' 
 
 The first to rise on that subject was Mr. Fox. lliat" 
 gentleman had with uncommon haste returned from a 
 continental tour, to which the tranquillity of parlia- 
 ment had left him leisure, te assume the care of cer- 
 tain rights supposed to belong to tlie Prince ol V\'ales 
 on such an occasion. 
 
 His opposition began on the delay arising from Mr. 
 Piti's motion, and, with his usmil ingenuoubuess, he 
 did not hesitate to declare, '' that hU llnjaf Ili^hhts^ th€ 
 Prince of Wales had as ckar, as express a riii-t lu assume 
 the reins of government, and cxeruss the p'^ivers of so- 
 verdgnty during ike cohttnuancc (rj the ifhubs and iuca- 
 
 NO. i6. P 
 
170 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 pacity uit/i which it liad phased God to afflict his Majesty^ 
 as in the case of' his Majesty having undergone a perfect 
 and natural demise.'^ 
 
 On this Mr. Pitt observed, '* that the right honour- 
 able gentleman had thrown out an idea which, what- 
 ever he might have generally thought of him, as to 
 his penetration and discernment, as to his acquain- 
 tance with the Uws and general history of the country, 
 and as to his knowledge of the theory of the constitu- 
 tion, (however he might have found occasion to differ 
 with him in respect to his measures and opinions in his 
 practice in it) he defied all his ingenuity to support, 
 upon any analogy of constitutional precedent, or lo re- 
 concile to the spirit and genius of the constitution it- 
 self. The doctrine advanced by the right honourable 
 gentleman was itself, if any additional reason were ne- 
 cessary, the strong<^st and most unanswerable for ap- 
 pointing the connnittee he hcid moved for, tliat could 
 possibly be given. If a claim of riglit was intimated, 
 .even though not formally, on the part of the Piince of 
 Wales, to assume the government, it became of the 
 utmost consequence to ascertain, from piecedent or 
 history, whether this claim wnre founded ; which, if 
 it were, precluded the house from the possibility of all 
 dehberation on the S'.i^j« ct. In ihe mean time, he 
 maintained, that it wouKl a})pear, from every prece- 
 dent, and from every page of our history, that to assert 
 such a right in the Pruice of Wales, or any one else, 
 independant ot the decision of both houses of parlia- 
 inent, was little less than treason to the constit'ition 
 of the country. He said, he did not mean then to 
 enter into the discussion of that great and important 
 point; because a fit occasion for discussing it, would 
 
IriLLIAM PITT^ 17i 
 
 soon afford both the right honourable gentleman and 
 himself an ample opportunity for statir.g their senti- 
 ments upon it. In the mean time, he pledged himself 
 to this assertion— -that in tfie case of the. interruption 
 of the personal exercise of the royal authority, without 
 any previous lawful provision having been made for 
 carrying on the government, it belonged to the other 
 branches of t^^ e legislature, on the part of the nation 
 at large, the body they represented, to provide, ac" 
 cording to their discretion, for the tem[)orary exercise 
 of the royal authority, in the name, and on the be- 
 half, of the sovereign, in such a-nianner as they should 
 think requisite; and that, unless by their decision, the 
 Prince of Wales had no right (speaking of strict right) 
 to assume the government, ignore than any other in- 
 dividual subject of the country. What parliament 
 ought to determine on that subject, was a question of 
 discretion. However strong the argument might be 
 on that ground, in favour of the Prince of Wales, 
 which he would not enter into at present, it did not 
 affect the question of right: because neither the whole 
 nor any part of the royal authority could belong to him 
 in the presei:it circumstances, unless conferred by both 
 houses of parhament. 
 
 *^ As to the right honorable gentleman's- enforcement 
 of the Prince of Wales's claim, he admitted that it was 
 a claim entitled to most serious consideration; and 
 thence, must take the liberty of arguing, that it was 
 the more necessary to learn how the house had acted 
 in cases of similar exigency, and what had been the 
 opinion of parliament on buch occasions. He would 
 not allow that no precedent analogous to an interrup- 
 tion of the personal exercise of the royal authority 
 p2 
 
172 LirE OF THE LAtr. 
 
 could be foand, although there in^ht possibly not 
 exist a precedent of an heir apparent in a state of wla- 
 jontyj during such an occurrence, and in that case, 
 be ('.(ntended, that it devolved on the remaining 
 bninches of the legislature, on the part of the people 
 ol P'ngland, to exercise their discretion in providing a 
 substitute.^' 
 
 Mr. Pitt contended, '' that in the mode in which the 
 right honourable gentlemati had treated the subject, a 
 new question presented itself, and that of greater mag- 
 nitude even than the question which was originally be- 
 lore them, as matter of necessary deliberation. Tha 
 qaestton now was, the question of their own rights, 
 iand it was becon[>e a doubt, according to the right bo- 
 Rourable gentleman's opinion, whether that liou^ehad, 
 on this important occasion, a deliberative power. 
 Ke v»^ished, for the present, to wave the discussion of 
 that momentous consideration ; but, he declared that 
 he would, at a fit opportunity, state his reasons for 
 advising what step parliament ought to take in the 
 present critical situation of the country, contenting 
 himself with giving his contradiction to the right ho- 
 Bourable gentleman's bold assertion, and pledging 
 himself to maintain the opposite ground against a doc- 
 trine so irreconcileable to the spirit and genius of the 
 C(j<]stitution. If the report of the committee had not 
 proved the necessity of the motion he had made, the 
 right honourable gentleman had furnished the hous« 
 with so strong an argument for enquiry, that, if any 
 doubt had existed, that doubt must vanish. Let it 
 not, then, be imputed to him, that he otl^^red the mo- 
 tion with a view to create delay; indeed, the right 
 honourable gentleman had not made any such imputa- 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 173 
 
 tion. In fact, no imputation of that sort could be 
 supported, since no longer time had been spent, after 
 the first day of their meeting, than was absolutely 
 necessary to insure as full an attendance as the solem- 
 nity and seriousness of the occasion required : since 
 that time every day bad been spent in ascertaining the 
 state of his Majesty's health, and now the necessity 
 of the case was proved, it behoved them to meet it ou 
 the surest grounds. Let them proceed, then, to leara 
 and ascertain their own rights ; let every man in that 
 house, and every man in the nation, who might hear 
 any report of what had passed in the house on that day^ 
 consider, that on their future proceeding depended 
 their own interests, and the mterest and honor of a . 
 sovereign, deservedly the idol of his people. Let the 
 house not^ therefore, rashly annihilate and annul the 
 authority of parliament, in which the existence of the 
 constitution was so intimately involved/' 
 
 As Mr. Fox had attacked the first propositions of 
 Mr. Pitt, so Mr. Burke seized the arguments which 
 tlie minister had used in their defence with the sar- 
 castic humour of which he was so capable. He called 
 Mr. Pitt, from his language^ the competitor of the 
 Prince, and on this ground proceeded to draw a paral- 
 lel between the amiable character of hi& royal high- 
 Bess, and a pFince who had threatened the assertors o£ 
 the prince of Wales's right with the penalties of con- 
 structive treason. 
 
 Mr. Pitt concluded the conversation with remarking^ 
 " that if the right honorable gentleman (Mr. Burke)^ 
 who had condescended to be the advocate and the 
 specimen of moderation, had found any warmth in his 
 manner of speaking before, which led him to thiaktlial 
 y 3 
 
174 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 hehaci iK)t considered what he said, be was ready td 
 repeat it with all possible coolness, and knew not one 
 word that he would retract. Upon this ground, there- 
 fore, he was still ready to maintain, that it was little 
 less than treason to th-e constitution to assert, that the 
 Prince of Waks had a claim to the exercise of the 
 sovereign power during the interruption of the perso- 
 nal authority of his Majesty by infirn>ity, ai>d in his 
 life-tiiiie ; and to this asseveration shouid he adhere, 
 because be considered such a claim as superseding the 
 deliberative power and discretion of the two existing 
 hraiiciies of the legislature. And, when h^ said the 
 Prince of Waks had no more right to urge such a 
 claim than any other individDal subject, he appealed 
 to the house upon the decency with which the right 
 honorabk gentleman had charged him with -placing 
 himself as the competitor of his royal highness. At 
 ihal period of our histor}', ^vben the constitution was 
 settled oil that foundation on which it now existed, 
 vvben Tvir. Somers and other great men declared, that 
 i>o }>erson had a riglit to the crown independent of the 
 t-cnsent of the two houses, would it have been thought 
 'fciUK^r fair or decent (or any member of either house to 
 have pronounced Mr. Somers a personal competitor oi 
 William the Third ?'' 
 
 A coTjamittee was then formed to search for prece- 
 dents/* which two days after prod4:ieed its report, ^nd 
 Mr. Pitt moved that the house should resolve itself 
 ^nto a committee on the state of the nation. 
 
 * This co4T)miitee was of ca\irtje composed of gentleraen talica 
 from belli sides of the house. 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 175 
 
 Mr. Fox attacked this motion, and Mr. Pitt arose 
 to answer him. We shall proceed with the regular 
 advancement of this most important question to an 
 issue betsveeH the two great parties which divided the 
 opinions or the realm. 
 
 Mr. Pitt begged leave to remind the house, " that 
 they had just received a voUiminous report from the 
 committee appointed to search for precedents, in order 
 that gentlemen might have every information before 
 them, to guide their proceedings under the present 
 arduous aiKi singular situation of the country, that the 
 wisdom of their ancestors, the statutes of the realm, 
 and the records of parliament could aiford ; and he 
 ha4 nwved to refer that report, together with the exa- 
 mination of his Maj€sty's physicians, to the comHiittee 
 of the whole house, who were to take the state of the 
 nation into their consideration upon the ensuing Tues- 
 day. In that committee, the topics touclied on by 
 the right honorable gentleman (Mr. Fox) would neces^ 
 sarily undergo an ample discussion. In their last 
 debate on the subject, there appeared to be a point at 
 issue between the right honorable gentleman and him- 
 self; and from all the right honorable gentleman had 
 then said, it still appeared to be i]o less at issue than 
 before the right honorable gentleman explained, as he 
 thought proper, the meaning of a very essential part of 
 his speech on the preceding Wednesday." Mr. Pitt said, 
 " that he should be sorry to fix on any gentleman a 
 meaning, which he afterw^ards declared not to have 
 been his meaning. In whatever way, therefore, he had 
 before understood the right honorable gentleman's 
 woi'ds relative to the Prince's forbearing to assert liis 
 claim, he was willing to take the matter from the right 
 
176 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 honorable gentleman's present explanation, and to 
 meet it upon those grounds where he had then, after 
 maturer deliberation, thougi)t fit to place it. The right 
 honorable gentleman now asserted, that the Prince of 
 Wales had a right to exercise the royal authority, 
 imder the present circumstances of the country ; but 
 it was a right not in possession, until the prince could 
 exercise it on, what the right honorable gentleman 
 called, the adjudication of parliament. . He, on his 
 part, denied that the Prince of Wales had any right 
 whatever, and upon that point the right honorable 
 gentleman and he were still at issue — an issue, that, in 
 his opinion, must be- decided, before they proceeded 
 one step farther in the great and important considera- 
 tions to be discussed and determined. 
 
 " Concerning one part of the right honorable gentle- 
 man's speech, it was impossible for him to remain 
 silent, as the right honorable gentleman's ideas in that 
 point had not appeared to him to be quite accurate 
 and distinct. He seemed to have intended to have 
 renounced all idea of the Prince of Wales's riglit to 
 assume the exercise of the royal authority, under the 
 present or similar circumstances, without the previous 
 adjudication of parliament, or of the two houses ; but, 
 if he understood the right honorable gentleman coV 
 rectly, he had used the words^ " during the sitting of 
 parliament ;" the plain inference from which expression 
 was, that if parliament were iu)t sitting, the Prince of 
 Wales could assume the exerciseof the regal aathority." 
 Mr. Pitt declared, ** that he thought the Prince of Wales 
 could, in no case, hav^ power to assume the right. If 
 there were no parliament in existence, he granted that 
 the heir apparent, acting in concert with otli^r persons 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 177 
 
 in great situations, might, under suck circun^stances as 
 the present, have issued writs and convened the two 
 houses, for the purpose of providing forthe exigency^ 
 Such a proceeding would be justified by the necessity 
 of the case, and with a view to the safety of the nation, 
 which su|3erseded all forms; but thii it would be a 
 legal and formal summons of the parliament, or that 
 a parliament could be called together without legal 
 authority, lie must absolutely deny. Such a meeting 
 would be a convention, like to that assembled at the 
 time of the abdication of James the Second, and in 
 oth'er periods of diificuity ; but it could not be a legai 
 and a formal calling together of a parliament. With 
 regard to the question of the Pi ince of Wales's right of 
 assuming the power during the intermission of parlia- 
 ment, and his right not in possession, as it was called, 
 during the sitting of parliament, he need not r$st much 
 the distraction, denying, as' he did, that any right to 
 assume the regal authority, under aiiy circumstances, 
 independent of the consent and approbation of parlia- 
 ment, existed in the Prince of Wales. But, supposing 
 the right of assumption of royalty given up altogether, 
 and that the prince must have tl)e right adjudged by 
 parhament, he denied that they were canvassing a 
 right, and acting as judges, as the sentiments of the 
 right honorable gentleman so manifestly intimated. It 
 was subvei'sive of the principles of the constitution to 
 admit, that the Prince of Wales might seat himself on 
 the throne during the life^time of his father; and the 
 intimation of the existence of such a right, as he had 
 remarked on a former occasion, presented a question 
 of greater magnitude and importance even than the - 
 present exigency, and the provision that it necessarily 
 
178 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 required; a question that involved in it the principle? 
 of the constitution, the protection and security of ouf 
 liberties, and the safety of the state. 
 
 *' VVh. tever, therefore, might be the order of their 
 proceeding, he hoped there would be an unanimous 
 concurrence of Opinion, that it was impossible to let 
 _the question of right, which had been started, undergo 
 admission, without its being fully discussed and de- 
 cided. It was a question that shook the foundation of 
 the constitution, and upon the decision of wliich, all 
 that was dear to us as Britons, depended. In his 
 opinion, therefore, it was their first duty to decide, 
 \yhether there were any right in the Prince of Wales to 
 claim the regal power, under any circumstances of the 
 country, independent of the actual demise of the crown. 
 In the discussion of the powers with which the regent 
 was to ke invested, there might be differences of opi- 
 nion, Vv^hether the whole of the royal prerogatives 
 should be delegated on the grounds of expediency; 
 there might be<iitferences of opinion, whether a portion 
 only of the royal authority should be delegated, and a 
 part reserved, on the grounds of prudence and discre- 
 tion. These were important topics, whiclx they could 
 not discuss, unless they first knev/, whether they were 
 sitting ds judges, or as house of parliament, possessing 
 a power of dehberation, and capabljj of exercising a, 
 constitutional discretion. They musl first ascertain, 
 whether that which should be invested in the Prince of 
 Wales, was matter of adjudication on their part, of 
 right in his r*.n;al highness, or as a trust in behalf and 
 in the name of his xMajesty ; and therefore he should 
 think it his duty to bring forward the question of right 
 as a preliminary .question. If that question should be 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 179 
 
 decided in the affirmative, there would be no need of 
 specific measures. Should it, however, be determined 
 lipon a contrary ground, the way would became clear- 
 ed, and the house would know how to proceed. He 
 had, indeed, mentioned the alternative, but, Heaven 
 forbid, that the fatal alternative should be decided in 
 favor of the intimated riglitof the Prince of Wales !" 
 
 Mr. Pitt next took notice of the call Mr. Fox had 
 made upon hini, relative to the future propositions to 
 be brought forward by him in the corntiiiltee which 
 had been moved for, to take into consideration the 
 state of the nation, fie said, ** that if tl^e question of 
 right should be decided, as he thought it would, upon 
 constitutional princi[)les, he should, in that case, cer- 
 tainly proceed to propose "measures for providing for 
 the interruption of the royal authority, occasioned by 
 his Majesty's present incapacity to exercise it ;a nd as 
 he was always happy when he could concur with the 
 requisition of the light honorable gentleman, he would 
 state the outline, without feehng any prejudice to the 
 person who had called for it ; but, he begged to have 
 it understood, that what he was about to state, was 
 not to be a matter of debate at that mornent, nr>r were 
 any arguments then to be raised upon it. He proceed- 
 ed to declare, that, however decided be might be in 
 his opinion against the whole, or any part, of ihe" regal 
 power being vested in the Prince of Wales, as a matter 
 of right, in any way in wliich that right had been ex- 
 plained, he was equally ready to say, that, as a matter 
 of discretion, and on the ground of expediency, it waSj 
 in his opinion, highly desirable, that uhatever part oT 
 the regal power it was necessary should be exercised 
 at all, daring this unhappy interval, should be vested 
 
180 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 ill a single person, and that this person should be the 
 Prince of Wales : that he also thought it most con- 
 sistent with true constitutional principles, and most for 
 the public convenience, that his royal highness should 
 exercise that portion of authority, whatever it might 
 be, unfettered by any permanent council, and with the 
 free choice of his political servants. With regard to 
 the portion of royal authority which ought to be given, 
 or that which ought to be witholden, it would 'be pre- 
 mature, in this stage, to enter into the particular dis- 
 cussion of it : he had no objection, however, even now, 
 to declare in general, that whatever authority was 
 necessary for carrying on the public business with 
 vigour and dispatch, and for providing during this 
 interval, for the safety and interests of the country, 
 ought to be given ; but, on the other hand, any autho- 
 rity, not necessary for these purposes, and capable of 
 being, by possibiiity, employed in any which might 
 tend to embarrass the exercise of the king's lawful 
 authority, when he should be eaiabled to resume it into 
 his own hands, ought to be witholden ; because, from 
 its being given, more inconvenience might arise to the 
 future interests both of the people and o{ the crown, 
 than any which could arise, in the mean time, from its 
 temporary suspension." 
 
 jyir. Pitt added, *' that he could justify the principles 
 of this explicit declaration of his intention, on the 
 ground, that, whatever was given to the regent, or 
 witholden, ought to be given, or wiiholden, with a 
 view to the momeat when his Majesty should be 
 capable of resutning his rightful prerogatives ; a cir- 
 cumstance to which it peculiarly became him to look, 
 in the situation in which he stood, honored with the 
 
WILLIAM PITT. l4t 
 
 confidence of a sovereign to whom he was bouiid, arrf 
 strongly attached, by the ties of gratitude and duty ;-^— 
 but of that he would say no more. Whatever judg- 
 ment Alight be formed of what he declared, he was 
 conscious of having given a free and an honest opinioaj 
 and was satisfied with that consciousness. He con- 
 ceived it could not be thought necessary for him to gd 
 any farther into the subject, as the adjustment of the 
 whole proeeeding must rest with the committee on the 
 itate of the nation, where it would be necessary to 
 come forward with the different propositions separate- 
 ly, and to proceed, step by step, to mark and define^ 
 by distinct resohvtions, what parts of the royal pre- 
 rogative, should be given to the regent; and what 
 Vritholden.'' 
 
 IMr. Pitt's notice having been agreed to, the com- 
 mittee sat on the i6th, and Mr. Pitt thus ably opened 
 the subject, and came to an issue with his powerful 
 opponents. He began by stating that " the house wera 
 then in a committee to take into consideration tlie 
 state of the nation, under circumstances the most eala^ 
 mitous which had befallen the country at any period, 
 and remarked, that it was then a century ago, since 
 any point of equal importance had engaged the atten- 
 tion of that house. The circumstance that had then 
 occurred was the revolution ; between which, however, 
 and the present circumstance, there was a great and 
 essential difference. At that time, the two houses had 
 to provide for the filling up of a throne, that was 
 vacant by the abdication of James the Second; at 
 present, they had to provide for the exercise of the 
 royal authority, when his Majesty's political capaeitj 
 was whole, and entire, and the throne consequently 
 
 KO, l6» Q 
 
182 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 full, although, hi fact, all the various functions of the 
 executive government were suspended,, but which sus- 
 pension they had every reason to expect would be but 
 temporary. Ther€ could, he said, be but one senti- 
 ment upon that head, which was, that the most san- 
 guine of his Majesty's physicians could not effect a 
 cure more speedily than it was the anxious vvish of 
 every man in that house, and every description of his 
 Majesty's subjects, that his cure might be effected, and 
 that he might thence be enabled again to resume the 
 exercise of his own authority. During the temporary 
 continuance, however, of his Majesty's malady, it wag 
 their indispensable duty to provide for the deficiency 
 in the legislature, in order that a due regard might be 
 had to the safety of the crown, and to the interests of 
 the people. The first report before the committee 
 established the melancholy fact that had rendered 
 their declarations necessary ; the second contained a 
 collection of such precedents, selected from the his- 
 tory of former times, as were in any degree analogous 
 to the present unfortunate situation of the country; 
 and, although he would not undertake to say that still 
 more precedents might not have been found, yet,, such 
 as the report contained would serve to throw a consi- 
 derable degree of light on the subject, and point out 
 to the house the mode of proceeding most proper to be 
 adopted. 
 
 " Motwithstanding the magnitude of the question, 
 what provision ought to be made for supplying the 
 deficiency ?. there was a question of a greater and still 
 more important nature, which must be discussed and 
 decided i^rst, as a prelinnaary to their future transac? 
 tions, with a view to the present exigency. The ques- 
 
\TILLIAM PITT. 18S 
 
 lion. to which he alluded, was, w^hether any person had 
 a right, either to assunie or to claim the exereise of 
 the royal authority, during the incapacity and infir- 
 mity of the sovereign ; or, whether it was the right of 
 of the lords and commons of England to provide for 
 'the deficiency in the legislature, resulting from such 
 -incapacity ? On a fornier dciy he had stated, that, itk 
 -consequence of an assertion having been made in that 
 •house, that a right attached tii his royal highness the 
 Prince of Wales, ^ heir apparent, to exercise sove- 
 'reign authority, as ^<>n as the two houses of parlia- 
 ment declared his Majeitjv-i^oni illness and indisposi- 
 tion, incapable of exercising his royal functions, it 
 appeared to him to be absolutely and indispensably 
 necessary, that the question of right should be first 
 decided by the committee, before they took a single 
 step to provide for the deficiency of the third estate of 
 the^ realm. By the assertion of the existence of such 
 a right, no matter whether a right that could be 
 assumed in the first instance, or a right which attach- 
 ed, after the declaration of both houses of parliament, 
 that his Majesty was incapable, a doubt had been 
 thrown upon the existence of what he had ever consi^ 
 dered to be the most sacred and important rights of 
 the two houses ; and it became absolutely necessary 
 for them to decide that doubt, and, by such decision, 
 ascertain whether they had a power to deliberate, or 
 whether they had only to adjudge, that such a right as 
 had been mentioned was legally vested in .his royal 
 highness the Prince of \VaIes. The most embarrassing 
 difriculties had, indeed, been throw-n upon their pro- 
 ceedings, by the ass-3rtion, that such a claim existed; 
 and although he was free to confess^ that the assertion 
 Q 2 
 
18^ L I-F £ GFTHBLATE 
 
 had af>t beea marie from any authority, and tbai tbcy 
 had since beard, thou gl] not in that house, that it was 
 not iiiteikded that the claim should be made, yc4, 
 bavUig been omie stated, by a very respectable member 
 ojftliat house, as his opinion, it was an opinioa of too 
 much importance to be passed by unnoticed. He 
 would enti-eat tke house to reiuember,^ however, that 
 he had not stirred the question of right originally. If^ 
 therefore, any serious danger were actually to be 
 dreaded, by its being discussed anc^ decided, that dan^ 
 ^r and its cojasequences were s^^Jely imputable to the 
 ili.:&V?^g;itatioaQi the Que3ti<^ and ijo^-tohim. Had 
 the doubt never been raised^ an express deQjaratioa on 
 the subject had not been necess:ary ; Uit> as- the matter 
 &io'.)4, such a declaration m«#t. be aiade oae way- op 
 the at lier. He begged, however, that it miglit not b« 
 i<in;.ivutd to bim^,, that he wa^ de&irous of washing time 
 i^^ bringing forward any abstract, or speculative, or 
 theoretical question^ A1:> abstract question,, in his con- 
 ception of it, was a question wholly unnecessary,, the 
 di^ussion of which could answer no end, nor could its 
 decision afford any light to guide and assist them in 
 t^eir proceedings. Of a very different nature i& tlie 
 qjuestion of right; it was a question which stood in the 
 way of all subsequent proceeding, the resolving of 
 wibicb must necessarily decide tl>e whole of their con- 
 duct with regard to the present important business; 
 they were not free to deliberate and determine, while 
 tlie^doubt of an existing right or claim hung over their 
 heads ; they could not speak intelligibly, or to any 
 puj.rpo.se, until they knew their proper characters, and 
 wliether they were exercisuig their own rights for the 
 safely of the crown and the interests of the people, or 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 185 
 
 whether they wepe usurping that which had never be- 
 longed to them. On that ground it was that he had 
 declared the question of right not to be an abstract 
 question, a speculative question, or a theoretical ques- 
 tion. 
 
 . .'* The first .information which the papers that had 
 been referred to the committee afforded, was that 
 which he should make the first resolution. It was^ 
 resolutipn of fact, as the ground of those that were 
 designed by him to follow it; a resolution^- that o£ 
 which the language of all his Majesty's physicians 
 afforded sufficient proof— that his Majesty was inca- 
 pable, from illness, of coming to his parliament, of 
 attending to any pubhc business, whence arose the 
 interruption of the exercise of the royal authority. To 
 that resolution of fact, he conceived there could not be- 
 any objection. His next resolution would be the reso- 
 lution of right, couched in part in the words in the bill 
 of rights, and stating, /' that it was the right and duty 
 of the lords spiritual and temporal, and of the house- 
 of commons, as the rightful representatives of all the 
 estates of the people of England, to provide for the 
 deficiency in the legislature, by the interruption of the- 
 exercise of the royal authority, in consequence o£hiS: 
 Majesty's incapacity through indisposition.*' 
 
 Mere Mr. Pitt renewed his arguments in. support of 
 tlie claim of the two houses of parliament, declaring, 
 that, ** under the present circumstances of the country^, 
 ;i was his firm and, unalterable opinion, that it was the- 
 absolute, and undeniable right of the two houses, on. 
 the part of the people,, to provide for the revival of the 
 third estate. He declared, he would state the point 
 at issue between him and the right honorable gentW 
 
I8S LIFE OJ^TiiK LATE 
 
 man (Mr. Fox) opposite to him fairly. He wisted not 
 to take any advantage o( any shades of difference be- 
 tween them, but to argue upon the solid and substan- 
 tial diflferenee of thei r opinions^ 1 f he bad concei ved the 
 right honorable gentleman properly, he had asserted, 
 that, in his opinion, the Prince of Wales, a^ heir appa- 
 rent, upon the incapacity of the sovereign to exercise 
 the sovereign authority being declared^ bad as clear^ 
 as perfect, and as indisputable a right, to take upon 
 himself the full exercise of all the authorities and pre- 
 rogatives of his father, as if his Majesty bad undergone 
 an actual demise. If it could be proved to exist by 
 any precedents drawn from history, or founded in law, 
 or by the analogy of the constitution, he wished to 
 have been 4old what these precedents were, becairse, 
 in that case, the ground would be harrowed, and ^he 
 proceedrngs of thl; committee rendered short and sim- 
 ple, as they would have no power nor occasion to de- 
 liberate; the only step they could take would be to 
 recognize the claim of right. That claim of right, 
 however, he flatly denied to have any existence 
 capable of being sustained by such proof as he had 
 iirentioned. The right of providing* for the deficiency 
 of the royal authority, he contended, rested with the 
 two remaining branches of the legislature; He pro- 
 fessed himself exceedingly happy to hear that a decla- 
 ration had been made in another place, from high 
 authority, that the right stated by the right honorable 
 gentleman in that house to have existence, was not 
 meant to be urged by a great personage. He cai»« 
 that day, t-^onfirmed in every opinion which he had 
 before stated ; and particularly confirmed in the opi- 
 nion -that no such right or claiiH in the Prince of 
 
 5 
 
Wales, as heir apparent, to exercise the reyslautbop- 
 
 ity during the incapacity of the sovereign, could be 
 proved, either from precedents drawn, from history, os 
 from the law, or from the spirit of the constitution* 
 
 '* He begged leave to remind the committee, that 
 when the right honorable gentleman first mentioned 
 the right of the Piince of Wales in this particular, the 
 right honorable gentleman had declared he was willing, 
 to wave the motion for a committee to search for pre- 
 eedentSj because that he was persuaded, and the house 
 must allow, that no precedent could be found that bore 
 upon the particular case, of a Prince of Wales, the 
 heir apparent to the crown, being of full age^ and 
 capable of caking on himself the exercise of the royal 
 authority, under such circumstances as the present. 
 There certainly was no case precisely in point ; but, 
 though the committee above stairs could not find a 
 case precisely in point, they had furnished the house 
 with many precedents, from which analogies might be 
 drawii. He called upon the right honorable gentlemait 
 opposite to him, to point oyt a single case analogous, 
 to the infancy, infirmity, or illness of a sovereign, in 
 wbich the full powers of sovereignty were exercised 
 by any one person whatever. If the right attached to 
 his royal highness, under the present circumstances^ in 
 the same manner as on the demise of his father, aubeif 
 presumptive would succeed as perfectly as an heir appa* 
 rent, and, in pursuance of that doctrine, those preee* 
 dents that would attach in the one case would attach 
 ift the other* For precedents that were analogous, h^ 
 would refer the committee to the report on thetable^;^^ 
 the- precedents in which, though they might not throv»» 
 all the light^on the subject that could be wisfa^d> cfer- 
 
188 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 tainly tended to elucidate it considerably. He wdulc? 
 refer to some of the precedents, and convince gentle- 
 men that their result formed the most undeniable proof 
 that no such right existed as had been pretended. 
 
 " The first precedent was taken from the reign of 
 Edward the Third, when no heir apparent had claimed 
 tlie exercise of the royal authority. The parliament 
 ^of those days, whether wisely or not was no questioH 
 before the committee, provided a council about the 
 king's person to act for him,; a clear proof, that they 
 conceived the power existed with them to provide for 
 the exercise of the royal authority. The next prece- 
 ; dent was in the reign of Richard the Second, when 
 counsellors were also appointed to exercise the regal 
 power. The third precedent occurred in the infancy 
 of Henry the Sixth. At that time the parliament were 
 called together by the young king's second uncle, the 
 first being still living, but out of the kingdom; and 
 that act was ratified by parliament, they not consider- 
 ing it sufficient that it was done by the aathority of 
 , the duke. In that instance, again, it was clear, that 
 the regency was carried on by the parliament. Thess 
 three instances were the principal of those stated in 
 the. report of the committee ; subsequent precedents- 
 would, provf*, that no one instance could be found of 
 any, person's having exercised the royal authority du-^ 
 ring the infancy of a kmg, but by the grai^t of the two 
 houses qf parliament, excepting only where a previous 
 provision had been made. Having thus far mentioned 
 the power of parliament during the infancy of a king>. 
 be observed, that he would next state their powee 
 during the king's abseiice ; and if, in that case, i^ 
 ahoiild be a^sertqd^ that the h^ir apparent h^d a rigjik 
 
WILI.IAM- PITT. 18P 
 
 to exercise the royal authority, let the committee con- 
 sider how the assertion would stand. 
 
 " It had been advanced, that " in the majority of such 
 cases the power had been given ta the Prince of Wales/* 
 If such cases could be adduced, they would, he owned^ 
 be cases in point; but, then, to prove what? To prove,, 
 that such heirs apparent possessed no inherent right* 
 If a right existed to represent the king, it must be 
 a perfect and an entire right, a right admitting of no 
 Eiodiiication whatever, because if any thing short of 
 the: whole power were given, it would be less than by 
 ri^bt could be claimed, and consequently an acknow- 
 iedgment that no such right existed. But, could any 
 such cases be pointed out ? By a reference to th©> 
 ancient records, it would be found, that the Ctisios. 
 regnf^ or lieutenant for the kuigj had never be^i invest^ 
 ed with the whole rights of the king himself. The 
 powers given to the cu&tos regrd had been different,, 
 under difterent circumstances ; a plain and manifest 
 inference thence arose, that the cmtodes regni did not 
 hold iheir situation as a right, but by appointment. 
 The powers of bestowing benefices, and doing other 
 acts of sovereignty, had been occasionally given to tlie 
 ciistodes regni^ which shewed that their powers had 
 been always subject to some Hmitation or other. In 
 modern times,, lord-justices had been frequently ap* 
 pointed to the exercise of sovereign authority, during 
 the residence of a prince of age in the country. An* 
 other instaix-e th^t occurred to him was, where the 
 exercise of royalty harl been interrupted by severe ill- 
 ness, and which appeared to him to be more a case in 
 point than any other, to the present melancholy mo-^ 
 iiientr^ The example to which he ailuded wa^> \k% 
 
190 LIFE or THE LATE 
 
 precedent of Henry the Sixth, where the heir apparent 
 was not of full age. It would then, to supply the de- 
 fect of that precedent, be necessary to have recourse 
 to the principles of the constitution, and to the law's of 
 the land; and, upon this ground, it would be disco- 
 vered, that the parliament of that day provided for 
 the moment; that they were not content with such 
 provisiorr, but that they looked forward to the time 
 Vvhen the heir apparent should attain full age, grant- 
 ing him a reversionary patent, the same precisely with 
 the regent's, to take place when he should come of 
 age. Thus, though they provided for allowing him at 
 that period more considerable powers than they had 
 suffered him before to possess, they had still not grants 
 ed him the full powers of sovereignty, but had made 
 such limitations as proved their most positive denial 
 of any right existing. That instance, though a single 
 one, iand where the heir apparent was not of full age, 
 . Avas sufficient to shew the sense of parliament in those 
 days, as much as if the heir apparent had been of full 
 age. 
 
 ' ** If no precedent contrary to those which he had 
 Stated to the committee could be advanced, he should 
 presume, that the committee would, of course, admit 
 that no right existed with an heir apparent, or an heir 
 presumptive, to assume the functions of royalty on the 
 temporary incapacity of the sovereign; nor any rights 
 but those delegated by the two remaining branches of 
 the legislature. He scrupled not, therefore, to de- 
 clare, that no positive law, nor the least analogy from 
 any law, could be adduced to support the doctrine of 
 right. A record had, indeed, been quoted elsewhere, 
 (the House of Lords,) to prove that the king and tli^ 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 191 
 
 heir apparent were one and the same person, and that 
 it followed of course, that, on the incapacity of the 
 king, the heir apparent had a legal and clear right 
 immediately to exercise the same powers that the king 
 had possessed : but a ditferent opinion was entertained 
 of that, record by persons of eminence and authority 
 in the law, and by their opinion a far different conclu- 
 sion was drawn from the same record, the metaphor- 
 ical expression of which was not to be taken literally. 
 Another opinion which had been started, was, that if 
 parliament had not been sitting, in such a case the 
 Prince would have a right to assume the royal author* 
 ity, and summon parliament. But this position^ he 
 should expressly contradict, because those who were, 
 like him, standing up for the rights of parliament, and, 
 through parliament, Yor the rights of the people, were 
 peculiarly fortunate in one particular; they were as 
 fortunate as most of those who had truth and justice 
 on their side generally were, because little was left for 
 them to do, except to controvert and overcome their 
 antagonists by stating to them and comparing their 
 own arguments and assertions, made at difierent times, 
 and as the occasion suited. 
 
 " It bad been pretty strenuously contended elsewhere 
 by a learned magistrate, (Lord Loughborough,) who 
 had chosen to force his own construction on their 
 silence, that our ancestors, if they had entertained any 
 doubt of the right of an heir apparent, would in their 
 wisdoiti have provided for so possible a case as the 
 present, instead of leaving the interpretation of this 
 point to that learned Jord's wisdom, it must be cpn:- 
 eluded by the committee that, they would have pro- 
 vided lor it in. plain, distinct, clear, and express words, 
 
19^ LIFE OF ITHE LATE 
 
 find would not have left it liable to be differently 
 understood. The wisdom of our ancestors, however, 
 he conceived, was better proved by their having said 
 nothing upon it, but left such a question to be decided 
 where it ought to be decided, wlienever the occasion 
 required it, by the two houses of parliament. That 
 the committee might assert the same, be meant, in the 
 Resolution he should offer, to quote that doctrine from 
 the bill of rights, and assert that it rested with the 
 lords and commons, as the rightful representatives of 
 the people. If the contrary doctrine was so evident 
 that it must be true ; if the heir apparent, or heir pre- 
 sumptive, had a clear right to assume the royal prero- 
 gative, on the interruption of those powers, he desired 
 to ask every gentleman in the committee, whether 
 they would wish to adopt such a doctrine as a doctrine 
 apphcable to the safety of the crown, which had been 
 long gloriously worn by his Majesty, ftnd which it was 
 the ardent, the sincere wish of his people that he 
 might long continue to wear, until it should, in due 
 time, and in a natural manner, descend to his legal 
 and his illustrious successor ?"^ Mr. Pitt here strongly 
 deprecated the idea of avoiding the discussion oi what 
 limitations might be necessary for insuring the safety 
 of the crown on the head of its present possessor, on 
 account of the many virtuous qualifications of the 
 prince, or out of respect to any other motive what- 
 soever. ** It would not have been wisdom in our ances- 
 tors if they had said, that the care of the persoil of the 
 sovereign ought to be vested in the heir apparent. 
 He hoped in this declaration, that he should not be 
 iij^isunderstood, for he was ready to acknowledge the 
 greatest and best qualities in the present heir appa- 
 
WILLIAM PUT. IpS 
 
 reftt ; but he would rather, in what he had said, be 
 misrepresented in any manner and any where, than 
 sacrifice the duty which he owed to the safety of his 
 sovereign, and to the interests of ths people. 
 
 *' The right honorabl-e gentleman opposite to him bad 
 said, on a former day, that his royal highness had as 
 clear a right to the exercise of the sovereign authority, 
 as he would have had in case of the natural demise of 
 the sovereign, ana that he conceived the present to be 
 a civil death. Could the committee ?o consider his 
 Majesty's indisposition, which was not an uncommon 
 case, and generally but temporary, couid they con- 
 ceive that his Majesty bad undergone a chil death ? He 
 was sure they would not. If such a thing existed at 
 the present moment as a civil death, his royal highness 
 would immediately ascend the throne, with the full 
 exercise of the royal prerogative, and not as a regent ; 
 for a ci^Al death, like a natural death, was permanent. 
 He stated from Mr. Justice Blackstone, that there 
 were but two cases in which a man could undergo a 
 civil death; the first was his being banished from the 
 .realm by process of common law ; the second, his 
 having entered into a religious order, and becoming a 
 monk professed, thereby taking himself for ev^r from 
 all secular concerns. The first was an aot which cut 
 off a criminal from society within the realra, and the 
 other was the voluntary act of retiring from the world. 
 Would any man pretend, that either of those cases 
 was analogous to the visitation of Heaven, to a stroke 
 inflicted by Providence, which might, and probably 
 would, prove temporary ? Could it be pretended, that 
 they ought to be adduced as acts' to prevent fais 
 NO. 16. B, 
 
394 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 Majesty in future from exprdsing those powers. whici* v 
 ^he.bad never forfeited, never renounced ? 
 
 /' After having advanced so much in contradiction to 
 the claim of right, he beheved no one would think of 
 asserting it. The only question, then, was, and to 
 vi'hich what had passed before was but preliminary, 
 where did the right exist ? If no provision, in prece- . 
 dent,, in history, or in law, was to be found for the ,^ 
 exercise of such authority, on the disability of the, j. 
 sovereign, where was it to be found ? It was to be 
 found in the voice, in the sense of the people. With 
 them it rested; and, though, in extraordinary cases, 
 in most countries, such an event as the calamity which 
 all deplored, would have gone near to dissolve the 
 constitution itself, yet, in this more happily tempered 
 form of government, equally participating the advan- 
 tageS;, and at the same time avoiding the evils of a 
 democracy, an oligarchy, or an aristocracy, it would 
 have no such effect; for though the third estate of the 
 legislature might be deficient, yet the organs of speech 
 of the people remained entire in their representatives, 
 by the houses of lords and commons, through which 
 the sense of the people might be taken. The lords 
 and commons represented the whole estate of the 
 people, and witli them it rested as a right, a constitu- 
 tional and legal right, to provide for the deficiency of 
 the third branch of the legislature, whenever a defici- 
 ency arose ; they were the legal organs of speech for 
 the people; and such he conceived tp be the. true doc- 
 trine of the constitution, ile would not merely state 
 these as his own opinions, but he would state them to 
 be the opinions of those who had framed the revolu- 
 
WILLIAM PITT. fP5 
 
 fen, who bad Hot, like the committee, to provide for 
 the interruption of regal powers, while the throne was 
 full, but to supply the deficiency of the third branch of 
 the legislature, v\hich was A^holly vacant. Whenever 
 the third-branch, bovvever,-of the legislature was wholly 
 gone, or but suffered a suspension, it was equally ne- 
 cessary to resort to the organs of the people's speech.^ 
 Agreeably to the laws of the land, to the records of 
 parliament, to precedent, and to the constitution, the 
 political capacity of the king, except in cases of abso- 
 lute forfeiture of the crown, was aUvays considered as 
 legally entire; and during that political capacity, ac- 
 cording to the 'spirit of the constitution, if any natural^ 
 incapacity should cause a suspension x)f the royal 
 authority, it then rested with the remaining branches 
 €>f the legislature to supply such defect. In every pro-- 
 ceeding of the parliament, in the reign of Henry the 
 Sixth, they had acted upon such a power, and declared 
 in what manner, and 1 y whom,- the royal avithority was- 
 to be txefci^ed for, and in' ibe name of, the King,- In^ 
 that reign the'0ukeot Gloccester claimed the regency, 
 and a^pplied ta parliament for the same as his right ; biit 
 the answer of parliam.ent to such claim was, that he 
 neither had by birth, nor the will of his brother, any 
 rigiit whatever to the exercise of the royal authority. 
 Tliey," however, appointed him regent, and entrusted 
 ■him with the care of the young king. Here was an 
 instance of the claim of right having been actually 
 made, and an instance, likewise, that it had been fully 
 decided- on by the then parliament, who declared, that 
 no such ri<^ht existed, cither from the law of the landc, 
 or from precedent. The rights of parliament were- 
 congenial with the- constitution.'' 
 r2. 
 
196 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 Mr. Pitt referred the committee to every analogy 
 that could be drawn from the principles of the con- 
 s<titution, and he contended, that "the only right wouW 
 be found to exist in parliament, describing it as a right 
 capable of so effectually providing for the deficiency of 
 the third branch of the legislature, as to enable them 
 to appoint a power to give sanction to their proceed- 
 ings, in the same manner, as if the king was present. 
 As the power of filling the thrcJne rested v;ith the peo- 
 ple at th^ revolution, so, at the present moment, on 
 the same principles of liberty, on the same rights of 
 parliament, did the providing for the deficiency rest 
 with the people. He declared, that he felt himself 
 inadequate to the great task of stating the rights and 
 privileges of the constitution, and of parliament ; but 
 be had made it appear, as plainly as he could, that no 
 right existed any where to exercise the whole or any 
 part, of the royal prerogatives, during the indisposi- 
 tion of the sovereign, lie had also proved, that, from 
 the necessity of the case, it rested with that and the 
 other house of parliament, to provide for the defici- 
 ency in the legislature. He supposed that doubts 
 iniglit be stated as to the propriety of coming to any 
 decision on the question, and that he might be charged 
 with having stirred notions .dangerous to the state ; 
 but such questions, he begged it to be remembered, he 
 had not stirred. When questions concerning the rights 
 .of the people, the rights of the parliarnent, and the 
 .interests of the nation, were started, it was necessary, 
 .if the house had a right on the subject, to exercise that 
 right : it was their duty ; it was a matter tl)at could .by 
 ;Bo means be lightly given up. If it was their duty^ 
 in the present calamitous state of the nation, to grai^jt 
 
Wri:i:iiiM pitt. W7 
 
 pow^r, they ought to know how they granted such 
 power. They must decide, either iu the manner of -a 
 -choice, or acting judicially, to recognise a claim of 
 right; and if they recognized such a claim, it would 
 be an acknowledgment that they had no power to de- 
 liberate on the subject. If they did not come to some 
 -decision, they \\'Ould confound their own proceedings, 
 and it would be highly dangerous to posterity, in point 
 of precedeiit. They were not, therefore, to consult 
 their o^vn convenience. He remarked that, originally, 
 the claim of right had been asserted by the right lio- 
 nourable gentleman, in strong and lofty terms, but 
 that th« tone had been since somewhat lowered. He 
 (declared he could see ho possibility of the com mitt^e 
 proceeding a single step farther, without knowing on- 
 ^hat kind of ground they proceeded ; and, therefore, 
 it became indispensably necessary to have the ques- 
 tion of right decided. The danger of the question ori- 
 ginated in its having been stirred, not in its being de- 
 cided ; the danger of the stirring would be done away 
 by the division, but leaving it undecided and equivo* 
 cal would be highly dangerous. The decision of both 
 houses could be attended with no dissention, but if the 
 right of parliament, was not confirmed^ the measures 
 of both houses w^ould be imputed, he feared, rather 
 to motives of personal interest and convenience than to 
 a due regard for the interest of the country. The 
 measures which he meant to propose were dictated by 
 no other motive than an anxious desire, in conformity 
 to his duty, to provide for the safety of the king, the 
 rights of parliament, and the interests of the people."' 
 
 Mr. Pitt previous to the conclusion - of his speech, 
 adverted to what he described as the opinioios stated 
 
-19^ 3LIFE OF THE LATS 
 
 by a noble lord (Lord Rawdon) in another place, irt 
 contradiction to his assertion, that the Prince of Wales 
 .bad no more right to assume the regency than any 
 other individual subject. He said, that " he under- 
 stood that in arguing that matter, sonie very extraor^ 
 ^dinary modes of reasoning had been resorted to. 
 Among other fX)nceived proofs that the rights of the 
 .Prince of Wales were ditTerent from those of other sub- 
 jects, it had been contended, that the Prince of Wales 
 was, in an old record, quoted, by Lord Coke, pro^ 
 iiounced one and the same with the king. The fact 
 .certainly was so; but to drav/ from such a eircum* 
 stance an argument, that the prince had_ a right to ex- 
 ercise t^e sovereign authority, under the present cir- 
 cumstances of his Majesty's unfortunate incapacity, 
 was an instance so monstrous,, that he should think he 
 deeerved censure fox sporting with the gravity of the 
 bouse, if he suffered himself to treat it with the least 
 gravity whatsoever. In truth a very different conclu- 
 ssion might be drawn from the whole of that record^, 
 the metaphorical language of which was not to be 
 taken in a literal sense, in that or any other point o£ 
 SQ- much importance. Another position, laid down at 
 the same time? and in the same place, was, that the 
 Prince of Wales, as heir apparent and being of full age>. 
 could assume the exercise of the sovereign, authority^ 
 if his Majesty's infirmity had occurred when the par-- 
 Ijament were not sitting: hut that doctrine had been, 
 so expressly contradicted in that house, by the right 
 honourable gentleman opposite to him, when the sub- 
 ject was last agitated, that it was needless for him to^ 
 say a syllable more relative to its nature. A third ar- 
 gument, urged in support of the prince's right, v/as, that^\ 
 
a' Prince of Wales could sne out an execution, as king, 
 in a cause in which he had obtained a judgment as 
 Prince of Wales. But what was there decidedly con- 
 clusive in this position ? The Prince of Wales had this 
 advantage over other subjects^ was obvious. If the 
 son of a peer who had maintained a suit in the court 
 of Westminster Hall and obtained a judgment, suc- 
 ceeded to his father's honours before he had sued out 
 an execution, he could not sue out an execution, witl?- 
 out previously identifying himself, and satisfying the 
 court that he was the same person who had prosecuted 
 the suit, and obtained the judgment. And why was 
 not the Prince of Wales obliged to do the same ? For 
 this plain reason, the courts of Westminster Hall are 
 holden in the name of the king, and., therefore, in his 
 own courts, it must be a matter of notoriety, that on 
 the demise of the crown, the Prince @f Wales had suc- 
 ceeded to it, and became king y but were these argu» 
 ments multiplied ten times over, what did they prove ? 
 Merely tliat the prince had rights, of some sort of 
 other, peculiar to himself; but did they prove that he 
 had a right to exercise the sovereign authority,, on his 
 lather's incapacity, without the consent and declared 
 approbation of the two remaining branches of the le- 
 gislature ? No more than a proof, that a man having 
 an estate in JNliddlesex was a proof that he had ano- 
 ther in Cornwall, and a third in Yorkshire. Jn fact^ 
 all these arguments put together, regarded and con- 
 sidered with a reference to the point in dispute, whe- 
 tlier the Prince of Wales, as heir apparent, had a right 
 to exercise the sovereign authority, during the incapa- 
 city of his Majesty, were so irrelevant, so foreign to- 
 tlie questioHj and so perfectly absurd,^ tiiat they wef.© 
 
200 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 not tabe relied on as law, even if they came from the 
 mouth of a judge. 
 
 " With respect to the strong and lofty assertion that 
 had been at first made of the right of the Prince of 
 Wales, as heir apparent, to assume the exercise of the 
 vsovereignt}^, it was sufficient to observe that this doc- 
 trine was retracted. Upon this occasion, he should 
 beg leave to recal the word and say, not retracted, 
 but disavowed. This reminded him of the precedent 
 in the reign of Henry the ^ixth, during which,, the 
 Duke of Gloucester quarrelled with the Bi.&hop of 
 Winchester, which disagreement rose so high, and 
 *vas carried so far, that at length the duke brought a 
 criminal charge against the bishop, accusing him of 
 having in a former reign, advised the Prince of Wales, 
 afterwards Henry the fifth, to assume the sovereign 
 authority in the hfe time of his father, Henry the 
 fourth. Though the charge, if proved, w^ould have 
 been high treason, the bishop desired that it might be 
 feferred to the judges, and that its validity might be 
 determined by the strictest investigation. The quarrel, 
 however, was compromised, on grounds of personal 
 convenience, and the charge never came to a legal de* 
 ciaion." 
 
 Mr. Pitt having endeavoured by many arguments 
 to establish the right of the two Louses of parliament to 
 provide the means of supplying the defect in the case 
 of the king's incapacity to exercise the sovereign au- 
 tliority, expressed his hopes '* that he should impress 
 the house with a conviction, that if they had a right, 
 they had also a duty ; — a duty, which neither their 
 allegiance nor their affection to their sovereign would 
 allow them to dispense with. It was their duty at this 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 201 
 
 tinte, uot only unequivocally to declare their right, sa 
 lliat it might remain ascertained, beyond the posbibi- 
 lity, of all question hereafter, and become secured to 
 posterity, but to proceed, without delay, to exercise 
 their right, and provide the means of supplying ihe 
 defect of the personal exercise of the royal authority, 
 arising from his Majesty's indisposition. Upon no ac- 
 count did it appear probable that their decision could 
 either occasion a disseiition between the t\\'0 houses of 
 parliament, or produce mischievous consequences of 
 any kind whatsoever. On the contrary, if the right 
 were not declared, as well as decided, it would ap- 
 pear that the two houses had made a compromise, un- 
 becoming themselves, and had acted upon personal 
 motives, rather than a due regard to the true interests 
 of their country." Mr. Pitl then read his resolutions 
 as follow : — 
 
 I. '' That it is the opinion of this committee, that 
 his Majesty is prevented, by his present indisposition, 
 from coming to his parliament, and from attending to 
 pubhc business, and that the personal exercise of thfe 
 royal authority is thereby, for the present interrupted^, 
 
 II. " That it is the opinion of this committee, that 
 it is the right and duty of the lords spiritual and ten> 
 poral and commons of Great Britain, now assemfjled, 
 -and lawfully, fully, and freely representing all the 
 estates of the people of this realm, to provide the 
 means of supplying the defect of the personal exercise 
 of the royal authority, arising from his Majesty's said 
 indisposition, in such manner as the exigency of the 
 case may appear to require. 
 
 Resolved, " That for this purpose, and for main- 
 tainmg.euiire the constitutional autiiority of -tl>e 
 
202 LIFE OF THiT LATE 
 
 king, it is necessary, that the said lords spiritual and 
 temporal and commons of Great Britain, should deter- 
 mine on the means whereby the royal assent m?y be 
 given in parliament to such bills as may be passed -by 
 the two houses of parliament ; respecting the exercise 
 of the powers and authorities of the crown, in the name, 
 and on the behalf, of the king, during the continuance 
 of his Majesty's present indisposition/' 
 
 To the violent conflict which the latter proposition 
 had excited, after the first had been carried unani- 
 niously, Mr. Pitt thus coolly answered :— 
 
 He observed, 'Mt was not without some astonish- 
 ment that he discovered, that the right honourable 
 gentleman (Mr. Fox) had thought proper, particu- 
 Jarly in the latter part of his speech, to^digress from 
 the question of right, which was then before the house, 
 in order to enter upon the question of expediency, and 
 :ihat not so much for the purpose even of discussing, 
 that expediency as to take an oppoiianity of introduc- 
 ing an attack of a personal, nature on him. The 
 house viTould recollect, whether the manner in which 
 ie (Mr. Pitt) had opened the debate, either p^rovoked 
 3or justified this animosity. This attack which the 
 right honourable gentleman had just now made, he 
 declared to be unfounded, arrogant, and presumptu- 
 ous. The right honourable gentleman had charged 
 Jiim, as acting from a miscliievous spirit of ambition, 
 unable to bear the idea of paitingwiih power, which 
 lie li ad, so long retained ; but not expecting the favor 
 of the prince, which he was conscious he had not de- 
 served, and therefore disposed to envy and obstruct 
 the credit of those, who were to be his successors. 
 Whether to him belonged that character of mischie- 
 
tVILLIAlM PITT. 203' 
 
 vous ambition which would sacrifice the principles of 
 the constitution to a desire of power, he raust leave to 
 the house and the country to determine. They would 
 decide, whether, in the whole of his conduct, during 
 this unfortunate crisis, any consideration which afifect- 
 ed his own personal situation, or any management for 
 the sake of preserving power, appeared to have had 
 the chief share in deciding the measures he had pro- 
 posed. As to his being conscious, that he did not de- 
 serve the favour of the prince, he could only say, that 
 
 ^ he knew but one way, in which he, or any man, could 
 deserve it ; by havmg uniformly endeavoured, in a 
 public situation, to do his duty to the king his father, 
 and to the country at large, if, in tiius endeavouring 
 to deserve the confidence of the prince, it should ap- 
 pear, that he in fact had lust it, however painful and 
 mortifying that circumstance might be to him, and 
 from whatever cause it n)ight proceed, he should in- 
 deed regret it, but he couki boldly say, that it was iia* 
 possible he should ever repent of it. 
 
 *' The right honourable gentleman had thought pro- 
 per to announce himself, and his friends to be the suc- 
 cessors of the present administration. He did not 
 know on what authority the rigiit honourable genlle- 
 
 b manmade tliis declaration ; but he thought, that with a 
 ■ view to those questions of expediency, which the right 
 honourable getaleman had introduced, both the house 
 and the couLuy were obliged to him for this seasonable 
 warnirig of whac they would L<ive to expect. The na- 
 tion had already had experience oi that right honour- 
 able gentleman and his principles. Without meaning 
 lo use terms of reproach, or to enter into any impu- 
 tation concerning his motives, it could not be denied^ 
 that they were open and professedly active, on the 
 
204 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 ground of procuring an advantage, from the strength 
 of a party, to nominate the ministers of the crown. It 
 could not be denied, that it was maintained as a fun- 
 damental principle, that a minister ought at all tirues 
 €0 to be nominated. He would therefore speak plainly.' 
 If persons, who possessed those principles, were iu 
 reality likely to be the advisers of the prince, in the 
 exercise of those powers which were necessary to be 
 given, during the present unfortunate interval, it was 
 the strongest additional reason, if any were wanting, for 
 being careful to consider what the extent of those 
 powers ought to be. It was impossible not to suppose, 
 that, by such advisers, those powers would be pervert- 
 ed to a purpose, which it was impossible to imagine 
 that the Prince of Wales could, if he was aware of it, 
 even endure for a moment ; but to which, by artifice 
 and misrepresentation, he might unintentionally be 
 uiade accessary, for the purpose of creating a perma- 
 nent weight and influence, in the hands of a party, 
 which would be dangerous to the just rights of the 
 erown, when the moment should arrive, (so much 
 wished, and, perhaps, so soon to be expected,) of his 
 Majesty's being able to resume the exercise of hi« own 
 authority. The notice, therefore, which the right ho- 
 Rourable gentleman in his triumph had condescended 
 to give to the house, furnished the most irresistible 
 reason for them deliberately to consider, lest ia 
 providing for the means of carrying on the ad- 
 ministiation, during a short and temporary inter- 
 val, they might sacrifice the permanent interest of 
 the country, in future, by laying the foundation of 
 such measures, as might, for ever afterwards during 
 the continuance of his Majesty's reign, obstruct the 
 
, ' WILLIAM PITT. 20i> 
 
 just and salutary exercise of the eonstitutioi^^l powers 
 of governrnent, in the hands of its rightful pos^asor, 
 Ihe sovereign, whom they all revered and loved. 
 *' The noble lord in the blue ribbon, (Lord North) 
 * like most of the gentlemen who had spoken on that 
 side of the house, had argued, not against the truth pf 
 the resolutions, but the propriety of coming to then), 
 and had waved any dispute on the question of right. 
 The right honourable gentleman, thoqgh he afiected, 
 also, to object to the propriety of coming to this reso- 
 lution, had directed his whole argument, as far as it 
 went, to an invalidation of the truth of the proposition 
 a.nd the maintenance of his former assertion, in favour 
 of the existing right of the Prince of Wales. This lin^ 
 of argument, supported by such authority was itself 
 an answer to those who doubted the propriety of any 
 resolution. 
 
 *' The right honourable gentleman had ventured to 
 represent him, as havizig declined maintaiiung his for- 
 Aier asserticxn, ' That the Prince of Wales had no more 
 right to the regency, than any other subject in the 
 country,' and he had also intimated, that he liad thus 
 retracted, in consequence of believing that not tweijitj 
 persons would join in supporting that proposition. But 
 it so happened, that hf; did not retract one single word 
 of that assertion. Gentlemen might quarrel with the 
 phrase, if tiiey thought proper, and misi^epreseut it, in 
 imitation of the rigb^ honourable gentleiflan, in order 
 to cover the arguments used by a .noble lord (Lord 
 Loughborough) in another place. B?ut he was in the 
 recollection of the house, whether when iie first used 
 the expression, he had not guarded it, as meaning to^ 
 irpeak strictly of a claiai of right, not of any reasons of 
 ISO. 17» s 
 
206 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 preference, on the ground of discretion or expediency.. 
 He was also in iheir recollection, whether the right he 
 spoke of, was any other than the specific right in ques- 
 tion, namely, the right to exercise the royal authority, 
 under the present circumstances. He had maintained 
 that the prince had no such right. If the prince had 
 not the right, he could not be said to have any more 
 right than any other subject in the country. But was 
 it any answer to the assertion, that as Prince of Wales 
 he had no right to the regency, to say that he had other 
 rights, different from the rest of the king'.r subjects, 
 but which had nothing to do with the regency ? Yet 
 all the rights of the Prince of Wales, which had been 
 mentioned by the noble lord alluded to, were of this 
 description. It would be just as reasonable if the 
 question were, whether any person had a right to a 
 particular estate in Kent or Surrey ? To argue, yes, 
 te has, for he has such and such an estate in York- 
 shire and in Cornwall. With regard to the question, 
 whether twenty persons did or did not agree in his de- 
 nial of the right of the Prince of Wale^, he would put 
 the whole on that issue, that if the Prince of Wales- 
 had any such right, the resolution he had moved could 
 not be true ; and he considered every person who dif- 
 fered from his assertion on that subject, as bound to 
 vote against the present motion. 
 
 " The right honourable gentleman, in discussing 
 the question of right, chose also to remark, that the 
 right of the two houses, and the right of the Prince of 
 Wales, were to be considered as two rival rights, and 
 that the only question was. in favour of which the ar- 
 gument preponderated. He should be perfectly ready 
 to meet the question on this issue, if it were the true 
 one, for the right of the two houses was clearly sup- 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 207* 
 
 ported by precedent and usage, in every similar case, 
 by express declarations of parliament, and by positive 
 authority of law; yet the right of the Prince of Wales 
 was noteven attempted to be supported on any of those 
 grounds, bat on pretended reasons of expediency', 
 founded on imaginary and extravagant cases. In fact 
 this was noi the fair issue of the argument. I'he right 
 of the Prince of V/ales was not to be considered as a - 
 rival right to be argued on the same grounds as the 
 other. It was a right v»hich could not exist, unless it 
 was capable of being expressly and positi-vely proved ; 
 whereas the right of parliament was that which exist- 
 ed of course, unless some other right could be proved 
 to exclude it,^ — v/as that, which, en the principles of 
 thins free constitution must always exist in every case, 
 where no positive provision had been made by law, and 
 where the necessity of the case and the safely of the 
 country called for their interposition. The absence of 
 any other right, v/as in itself enough to constitute the 
 Ti^ht of the two houses : and the bare admission that 
 the right of the Prince of Wales was not clearly and 
 expressly proved, virtually operated as an admission 
 of every point under discussion.^' 
 
 The resolutions now being carried, and the parties 
 completely at issue on one of the greatest national 
 questions that ever was agitated in any senate, Mr. 
 Pitt, who had already communicated on the subject 
 with the Prince of Wales, now addressed to his royal 
 highness the foUov/mg letter, upon the plan which he 
 had prepared for the temporary government of the 
 kingdom, and which while it ail^'ords the clearest view 
 of his own principles on this subject, will supply the 
 only specimen we can offer of his epistolary talents* 
 s 2 
 
^OB LirE l)¥ Ti1£ LA Til 
 
 " Sir, 
 
 **The proceedings in pafiiartient being now brought 
 to a point, which will render it necessary to propose 
 to the house of commons, the particular nieasures to 
 be taken for supp]3ung the defect of the personal exer- 
 cise of the royal authority during the present interval, 
 and your Royal Highness having some time since sig- 
 liified your pleasure^ that any communication on this 
 subject should be in writing, 1 take the liberty of re- 
 spectfully entreating your Royal Highness's permission 
 to subm.it to your consideration, the outlines of the 
 plan which his IMajesty's confidenlial servants humbly 
 conceive (according to the best judgmetit which they 
 ar(? able to form,) to be proper to be propc^9ed hi the 
 pR^•^lf^nt riicumsUineeS. 
 
 '' it is iheir humble opinion that your Royal High- 
 ne^fes should be empowered to exercise the royal au- 
 thority in the name and on the behalf of his Mitj^s- 
 ty, during his Majesty'^ illness, and to do all acts 
 which might legally be done by his Majesty ; with pro- 
 visions, nevertheless, that the care of his Majesty's 
 royal person, and the management of his Majesty's 
 household, and the direction and appointment of the 
 officers and servants therein, should be in the Queen, 
 under such regulations as may be thought necessary. — 
 That the power to be exercised by your Royal High- 
 liess, should not extend to the granting of the real or 
 personal property of the king, (except as far as relates 
 to the renewal of leases) to the granting of any office 
 in reversion, or to the granting, for any other term 
 than daring his Majesty's pleasure, of any pension or 
 any office whatever, except such as must by law h0 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 209 
 
 granted for life, or during good behaviour, nor to tbe 
 granting of any rank or dignity of tbe peerage of tliis 
 realm to any person, except his Majesty's issue, who 
 shall have attained the age of twenty one years.. 
 
 " These are the chief points which have occurred to 
 his Majesty's servants. 1 beg leave to add, that their 
 ideas are formed on the supposition that his Majesty's 
 illness is onl}^ temporary, and may be of no long dura- 
 tion. It may be difficult to fix beforehand, the pre- 
 eise period for which these provisions ought to last ; 
 but if, unfortunately, his Majesty's recovery should be 
 protracted to a more distant period than there is rea- 
 son at present to imagine, it will be open hereafter to 
 the wisdom of parliament, to recon-sider these provi* 
 visions whenever the circumstances may appear to call 
 for it. 
 
 *' If your Royal Highness should be pleased to re»- 
 quire any further explanation on the subject, and 
 should condescend to signify your orders, that I should 
 have the honor of attending your Royal Flighnessfor 
 that purpose, or to intimate any other mode in which 
 your Royal Highness may wish to receive such expla- 
 nation, 1 shall respectfully wait your Royal Highness'^, 
 commands. 
 
 ^* I have the Iionour to be, 
 '' With the utmost deference and submission^ 
 . " Sir, 
 " Your Royal HighnessV 
 
 " Most dutiful and devoted; servant^ 
 
 *^\V, Pitt. 
 
 ^' Downing St reef, 
 
 ^' Tiiaday Night, D^c. 30j nSBJ' 
 
glO LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 The following answer wbich was promptly returned 
 to Mr. Pitt, and conferred considerable credit on his 
 royal highness the Prince and those gentlemen in his 
 particular confidence, has been generally considered as 
 not a little indebted to the advice of Mr. Sheridan. 
 
 ** The Prince of Wales learns from Mr. Pitt's letter 
 that the proceedings in parliament are now in a train 
 which enables Mr. Pitt, according to the intimation in 
 his former letter, to communicate to the Prince, the 
 outlines of the plan which his Majesty's confidential 
 servants conceive to he proper to be proposed in the 
 present circumstances. 
 
 *^ Concerning the steps already taken by Mr. Pitt, 
 the Prince is silent. Nothing done by the two housed 
 of parliament can be a proper subject of his animad- 
 version ; but when previously to an}- discussion in 
 parliament, the outlines of a scheme of government are 
 sent for his consideration, in which it is proposed that 
 he siiail be personally and principally concerned, and 
 by which the royal authority and public Welfare may- 
 lie deeply affected, the Prince would be unjusiifi-able,. 
 ^vere he to withhold an explicit declarjition oi his sen- 
 n^ents. This silence might be constriied into a previ- 
 ous approbation of a plan, the accompli'Shment of 
 which every motive of duty to his father and sovereign, 
 as well as of regard for the public interest <>bliges him 
 to consider as injurious to both. 
 
 ** In the state of deep distress in which the Prince^ 
 and the whole Royal Family were involved ; by the 
 heavy calamity which has fallen upon the king, and at a 
 moment when government, deprived of its chief energy 
 and support, seemed peculiarly to need the cordial and 
 
VtlL-LlAM PITT. 211 
 
 united did of all descriptions of good subjects, it tvasiiot 
 expected by the Prince, that a plan should be offered 
 to his consideration, by which government was to be 
 rendered difficult, if not impracticable, in the hands 
 of any person intended to represent the king's autho- 
 rity, much less in the hands of his eldest son — the heir 
 apparent of his kingdoms, and the person most bound 
 to the maintenance of his Majesty's just prerogatives 
 and authority, as well as most interested in the hap- 
 piness, the prosperity, and the glory of the people. 
 
 " The Prince forbears to remark on the several 
 parts of the sketch of the plan laid before him ; he ap- 
 prehends it must have been formed with sufficient deli- 
 beration to preclude the probability of any argument 
 of his producing an alteration of sentiment in the pro- 
 jectors of it. But he trusts, with confidence, to the 
 wisdom and justice of parliament, when the whole of 
 this subject, and the circumstances connected with it, 
 shall come under their deliberation. 
 
 *' He observes, therefore, only generally on the 
 heads communicated by Mr. Pitt — and it is with deep 
 regret the Prince makes the observation,, that he sees, 
 in the contents of that paper, a project for producing 
 weakness, disorder and insecurity in every branch of 
 the administration of affairs. — A project for dividing 
 the royal family from each other — for separating the^ 
 court from the state ; and, therefore, by disjoining 
 government from its natural and accustomed support; 
 a scheme for disconnecting the authority to command 
 service, from the power of animating it by reward i 
 and for allottitig to the Prince all the ilividious duties 
 of government, without the means of softening theiii 
 
212 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 to the public, by any one act of grace, favour, or be- 
 nignity. . ^ . . , 
 
 " The Prince's feelings on contemplating this plan^ 
 are also rendered slill more painful to him, by observ- 
 ing that it is not founded on any general principle, 
 but is calculated to inspire jealousies and suspicions 
 (wholly groundless, he trusts) in that quarter, whose 
 confidence it will ever be the first pride of his life to 
 merit and obtain. 
 
 " With regard to the motive and object of the limi- 
 tation and instructions proposed, the Prince can have 
 but little to observe, no light or information is offered 
 him by his Majesty's ministers on these points. They 
 have informed him what the powers are which they 
 mean to refuse hinj, not why they are withheld. 
 
 ** The Prince, however^ holding as he does, that it 
 is an undoubted and fundamental principle of this con- 
 stitution, that the powers and prerogatives of the 
 crown are vested there, as a trust for the benefit of the 
 people; and that they are sacred only as they are ne- 
 cessary to the preservation of that poise and balance 
 of the constitution, which experience has proved to be 
 the true security of the liberty of the subject — must be- 
 allowed to observe, that the plan of public utility 
 ought to be strong, manifest, and urgent, which calls 
 for the extipxticn or suspension of any one of those 
 essential rights in the supreme power, or its represen- 
 tative; or which can justify the Prince in consenting, 
 that, in his person an experiment shall be made to 
 ascertain with how small a portion of kingly power 
 the executive government of this country may be car- 
 ried on. 
 
 ** The Piiuce has only to add; that if security for 
 
WILLIAM PITTV 213- 
 
 his Majesty's repossessing his rightful government, 
 whenever it shall please Providence, in bounty to the 
 country, to remove the calamity wiih which he is 
 afflicted, be any part of the object of this plan, the 
 Prince has only to be convinced that any measure is* 
 necessary, or even conducive to that end, to be the 
 first to seize it as the preliminary and permanent con-- 
 sideration of any settlement in which he would con- • 
 sent to share. 
 
 " If attention to what it is presumed might be his 
 Majesty's feelings and v^ishes on the happy day of his 
 recovery, be the object, it is with the truest sincerity th^ 
 Prince expresses his firm conviction, that no event would 
 be more repugnant to the feelings of his royal father, 
 than the knowledge that tha government of bis son and' 
 jRpresentative had exhibited the sovereign power of the 
 xenlm in a state of degradation, of curtailed authority, 
 and diminished energy-— a state hurtful in practice tO 
 (he prosperity and good government of his people, and 
 injurious in its precedent to the security of the mo- 
 narch, and the rights of bis family. 
 
 *' Upon that part of the plan which regards the 
 king's real and personal property, the Prince feels him- 
 self compelled to remark that it was not necessary for 
 IMr. Pitt, nor proper, to suggest to the Prince the re- 
 strairit he proposes against the Prince's granting away 
 the king's real or personal property. The Prince doe^- 
 not conceive, that, during the king's life, he is, by^ 
 law, entitled to make any suCh grantj and he is sure, 
 that he ha? never shewn the smallest inclination to 
 possess any such power. But it remains with Mr. Pitt 
 to consider the esseatiiil interests of the royal 'fe.ttrilyi^ 
 
214 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 and to provide a proper and natural security against 
 the mismanagement of them by others. 
 
 The Prince has discharged an indispensable duty, 
 in thus giving his free opinion on the plan submitted 
 to his consideration. 
 
 ** This conviction of the evils which may arise to 
 the king's interests, to the peace and happiness of the 
 royal family, and to the safely and welfare of the na- 
 tion, from the government of the country remaining 
 longer in its present maimed and debilitated state, out- 
 weighs, in the Prince's n^ind, every other considera- 
 tion, and will determine him to undertake the pdnful 
 trust imposed upon him by the present melancholy 
 necessity (which of all the lung's subjects he deplores 
 the most) in full confidence, that the atfection and 
 loyalty to the king, the experienced attachment to the 
 house of BruBswick, and the generosity which has 
 always distinguished this nation, will carry him through 
 the many difficulties, inseparable fix>m this most criti- 
 cal situation, with comfort to himself, with honour to 
 the king, and with advantage to the public. 
 
 '' G. P. 
 *' Carlton House ^ 
 " Januarij 2, 1789.'' 
 
 Whatever the real effect of this answer had on the 
 mind of Mr. Pitt, although it did not bend his manly 
 principles into acquiescence with its views of the sub- 
 ject, it certainly must be admitted to have rendered him 
 more desirous of conciliating the various opinions it 
 had created. 
 
 Oli'thfe l6th of January, 1789, the subject was re- 
 sumed, when this efiect was very apparent. 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 2J5x 
 
 Mr. Pitt opened his remarks by expressing concern 
 at perceiving ^' that the particular situation of the coun- 
 try called upon them to exercise a right that had de- 
 volved upon them in consequence of the melancholy 
 situation of his Majesty, which rendered him inca- 
 pable of exercising the royal authority. Upon the 
 present distressful occasion, it behoved them to pro- 
 vide the means of supplying the deficiency : but, in 
 doing so,~ he trusted that it must be the wish of every 
 gentleman, that they should proceed in the manner 
 the best calculated to give general satisfaction, and 
 the most likely to secure the approbation of the people, 
 which, he had the happiness to know, had generally 
 attended every step which they had hitherto taken. 
 He sincerely wished that every measure which he 
 should have the honour to propose, might be fully dis- 
 cussed, and fairly decided upon ; that the nature of 
 the case, the general principles on which they ought 
 to proceed, and the application of those principles, 
 might be clearly and distinctly pointed out. In so 
 doing they would be best enabled to meet the emer- 
 gency which called upon them, and to provide for the 
 defect of the personal exercise of the royal authority. 
 
 " The business of the committee lay in a ver)? narrow 
 compass, notwithstanding the voluminous reports on 
 the table. In the report last delivered, there was 
 abundant matter of confirmation to him of the pro- 
 priety and prudence of those measures which he was, 
 as the committee were aware, prepared to have pro- 
 posed to them nearly ten days ago. But, though there 
 was much material information in that report, there 
 was no difierence, in his opinion, in the ground of 
 what he had to offer, as, oa the former day,- as well; as 
 
tlB LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 on the present, the committee had more informalion 
 before them than was sufficient to bear out all that he 
 would submit to their consideration. Had he, on the 
 former day, felt it necessary to state the ground on 
 which he intended to have built his proceedings, he 
 would have stated it thus, *^ That his Majesty was in- 
 capable of meeting his parliament, or attending to 
 public business; that the unanimous opinion of his 
 physicians was, that his Majesty's recovery was more 
 probable than the contrary, and that all the physicians 
 agreed that it was impossible to ascertain when the so 
 much wished for event might take place : but that 
 those, who were more immediately conversant with 
 the disorder with which his Majesty was afflicted, had 
 declared that the majority were cured ; and that one 
 of the physicians, the most conversant of any, had 
 stated, that the greatest length of time he had ever 
 known the disorder to continue was a year and a half, 
 or two years, that the shortest was three montlis, and 
 the average five or six months." In saying even that, 
 he would have said more than was necessary for any 
 argument on the principle on which he went. What 
 they had to provide for, therefore, was no more than 
 an interval, and he flattered himself that it would 
 prove but a short interval. If, however, unfortunately, 
 fiis Majesty^s illness should be protracted, they miglit 
 leave it to parliament to do what was at present clearly 
 unnecessary — to consider of a more permanent plan of 
 government. l( they regarded the disorder not in it- 
 seH* incnri^le, every man must admit that the provi- 
 sions oughit not to be per^nanent. Mr. Pitt now reca- 
 pitulated what had passed concerning the subject upon 
 the Tuesday se'wnight, and tl>e lln^ af argument that 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 2l7 
 
 bad been adopted, which rendered it impossible for him 
 to avoid giving wa}^ to a more narrow and iilinute en- 
 quir}' than had before taken place; and, however he might 
 feel pain on account of some particular paints which had 
 passed in the committee, he could not, upon the whole, 
 but rejoice that he had given wa}-, as it now appeared, 
 that the argument on which tlife right honourable gen- 
 tleman had relied, viz. that, because a month had 
 elapsed since tlie former enquiry, his Majestj^'s care 
 was to be considered as the more improbable, ~ was not 
 grounded ; and as, however, much they disagreed in 
 other points, they were unanimous that the probability 
 of the cure rested precisely an the same grounds as 
 before; — a circumstance which he was persuaded,, 
 would give as much pleasure- to the right honourable 
 gentleman as it had done to himself. 
 
 *' With regard to tiie difference of opinion betw^een the 
 physicians, as to the prospect of a recovery, it appeared 
 to him to depend on two circumstances, by whicL it 
 could be decided en whose opinion the greatest reli- 
 ance ought to be placed. The first circumstance was- 
 the knowledge of the malady in general ; and the se- 
 cond the knowledge of the particular case of the pa- 
 tient. Three of his iNlajesty's physicians had been 
 conversant with the m»alady. Tv.o others, though not 
 so conversant, were well acquainted with his Majesty's 
 habits. These two, (Sir George Baker and Dr, War- 
 ren) attended his Majesty for two hours each day; the 
 three others from the evening until eleven in the fore- 
 noon. Surely it was natural for those who attended 
 his Majesty most, to be the best judges of his silua- 
 lion ; and it was remarkable that Dr. ^Varren and Sif 
 George Baker were the least confident of a cure, and 
 
 NO. IT* T 
 
218 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 the other doctors had much greater hopes; but Dr. 
 Willis, who attended his Majesty more than any of 
 the others, was more sanguine than them all. Sir 
 Lucas Pepys stated circumstances which did not amount 
 to a certainty, of a cure, but which proved an abate- 
 ment of his Majesty's disorder. Dr. Willis was of 
 opinion that all the symptoms since the time o^ the 
 last examination, were more favourable. In a word, 
 all the physicians agreed in the probability^of his Ma- 
 jesty's recovery, and that the length of the time made 
 no unfavourable change; those, too, who understood 
 the disorder best, thought it more favourable. 
 
 *' For his own part, he wished not to go at length into 
 the particulars of the last report, on which the com- 
 mittee might safely rely, as there were those on the 
 committee who were anxious to report, with the most 
 scrupulous accuracy, every point likely to prove his 
 Majesty's recovery. There had been (hose who gave 
 no considerable degree of credit to Dr. Willis ; if, 
 therefore, any observations should aribe from them, he 
 conceived they would be made in the same spirit, and 
 with the same ability, as when they were urged in the 
 committee above stairs. Upon this occasion, he felt 
 it but connnon justice to commend the skill, integrity, 
 and good sense of Dr. Willis, which w<ere evinced un- 
 der a severe cross-examination, calculated to puzzle 
 simplicity, and leave the coohiess which should, of 
 necessity, accompany the delivery of evidence, too 
 unguarded. However it might suit with the political 
 intrigues of the times, or be convenient to circulate 
 them at present in London and its environs, he would 
 not anticipate the remarks which had been m^de ; but, 
 if there were any such remarks to be advanced, he de- 
 
WILLIAM PITT* 219 
 
 slYed, if they chose to discuss the credit of either this 
 or that physician, that they might understand the na- 
 ture of ihe imputation. In the course of the enquiry 
 above stairs, circumstances had come out, over vvhich 
 he would not draw a veil of dehcacy, as he was not 
 ashamed to bring it forward. If it be stated to the 
 discredit of any ph3^sician, that he had submitted to 
 be unduly influenced by a great personage, let tiie 
 Committee know to what physician the imputation of 
 having consented to givu an untrue account of the 
 state of his Majesty's health applied : if an impropriety 
 of transaction like that was imputed, iie would not 
 believe it till it was distincly ventured to be said, and 
 when he used the term venture^ he did not mean to use 
 it with regard to the exalted station of the person in 
 question, but with regard to the transaction itself; 
 nor did he (he repeated it) believe that any man would 
 renture to charge blame of any kind on the respect- 
 able personage in question, who had lived for ahxiOSt 
 thirty years in this country without traduction, a pat- 
 tern of the most unexampled affection, domestic ten- 
 derness, and virtue ; against whom the breath of ca- 
 lumny had not dared to send forth even a whisper ; 
 and who could not merit it at a moment, when visited 
 by a calamity vrhich rarely befals a private person, 
 but which surely was not a little aggravated uhen it 
 becomes tlie lot of the family of a person in so exa.lted 
 a rank as the sovereign of the country. As to the 
 fact itself, it appeared that Dr. Warren allowed that 
 apparent circunistances of an am.endment began to 
 appear; and there was, in consequence, a wish on 
 the part of her Majesty tl-at the report might be such 
 as should give the public the most favourable account 
 T 2 
 
22a LIFE OF THJE LATE 
 
 of his Majest/s health ; but would any man prov« 
 that any undue influence had been used for that pur* 
 purpose? Mr. Pitt explained in what manner the 
 v/ords a a comfortable icay, had been introduced iuto 
 the report, and then spoke of Dr. WilUs, declaring 
 that he was known in the country where he hved, by 
 his character, and by the happiness which he had 
 heen the means of giving to the numerous families wIk) 
 were bound to bless him for the good effects of hi* 
 skill. He mentioned another physician, whose cha- 
 racter was likewise high, but declared that, if be 
 vrished to draw a true conclusion of his Majesty's state 
 of health and prospect of recovery, he would wish to 
 ^ravv ii from Dr. Willis more than any other man.^' 
 
 At length Mr. Pitt adverted to the situation foi 
 which they were to provide, and ^* this situation was no 
 Jess than the cessation of the personal exercise of th# 
 royal authority ; a deficiency for which no previous 
 provision had been made. As the cause of this defi-* 
 ciency, he had every reason to think, w^ould prove 
 but temporary, they must deliberately consider what 
 were the cases for which they were to apply a reme- 
 dy. The first object for which they had to provitje 
 was to secure the establishment of a government in 
 the country, equal to its safety and the dispatch of 
 public business. Out of the nature of such a provision, 
 another duty arose, of equal importance to the other; 
 and this was to take care that the measure embraced 
 did not go beyond the necessity. The committee were 
 to provide powers for the exercise of the government, 
 and they must take care to place those powers in pre* 
 per hands; but, above all things, to recollect, timt 
 tjhey were not placing a kin^ on the throne. They 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 221 
 
 v.^ere to remember that the throne was fall, that no 
 right any where existed to exercise the royal autho- 
 rity, but that which was conferred by that house; they 
 were to lake care to provide against any embarras- 
 ment in the resumption of the regal authority, wlien- 
 ever God in his providence should permit the rightful 
 holder again to exercise it. They were to provide 
 only for the necessity of the case, and not to exceed 
 it ; and therefore the measures which he should pro- 
 pose, would be to invest his royal highness the Prince 
 of Wales with the whole royal authority, to be exer- 
 cised in the name, and on the beiialfof his Majesty, 
 under such limitations and restrictions on!y as should 
 be provided. The principle was not new, aUhcugh 
 the circumstances cf the case happened to be unpre- 
 cedented. No man would say that the same power 
 which the principal exercised, ought to be given to 
 the delegate ; and if the house referred to precedents, 
 they would fmd that no one instance could be met 
 with of the wiiole of the royal prerogatives having 
 been so delegated. On the contrary, every precedent 
 which bore the smallest analogy to the present situa- 
 tion, evinced the direct contrary, and that, doubt- 
 less, with a view to facilitate and ensure the rcsigna.- 
 tion of the delegate, when the principal would be com- 
 petent to exercise or to resume his authority. Refer- 
 ring them to the' act of queen Anne, (the act of suc- 
 cession) the regency act of George the Second, and the 
 regency act of the present king, Mr. Pitt added, let 
 them look at the case of a sovereign disabled by in- 
 fancy. Was the regent of the country invested with 
 full and unlimited power to exercise the royal autho- 
 ity ? Undoubtedly not. In the three regency bills m 
 T 3 
 
£22 LIFE CF THE LAt£ 
 
 the statute books to which he adverted, were there* 
 not limitations ? There v^ere in every one. All the 
 powers mTghfc begiven^ but then they were not given to 
 one person. What was the principle m a case of mim^- 
 rity? It was thought unsafe to vest all the powers m 
 one person, lie laid particular stress on the regency 
 bill of George the Second, and observed, that there 
 appeared at that time to have been a wish on^ both 
 ^des of the house, to doubt what confidence should be 
 placed in the regent. They were afraid of making a 
 precedent, and there^fore they gave the ro}^al }i)Owers 
 among mau}^, appointing a council, without wh^ose 
 consent the regent could take no important step what- 
 ever. The will of the predecessor was, by one of the 
 bills, to be the system followed while the heir appa- 
 rent' continued a minor;— a principle which he owned 
 he thought went too far, althotigh it was a plausible 
 principle, and was a'pptcrently mostJ »ppli<^a^le to tJie 
 >reseHt case. After reasoning en the three different 
 fj^eGedetit'S, and touching upon theKhort prptectoratti 
 <f>f- Riehard t^e Third;, and the other protGctorates or 
 gosardianship-s in- tlie earlier periods ot^ our history, 
 ^«d> endeavcuriisg to demonstrate by argument, th*jt' 
 ^^,. ia no preceding instance, ail the powers oi royalty 
 i^ere given to oae person, so, in the present instance, 
 ^hicil CGrt^aialy d-iffered ftK)st essentially, they ough^ 
 not to be, nor could they be, trusted in the hand3 q£ 
 one person, without proving a hazardous, and, pos- 
 i&ibly a prejudicial experimeBJi; he declared that he 
 woiild give his vote for investing the regent with all the 
 powers which are necessary, but would not agree to 
 give any which were not requisite to carry on the go- 
 \emmenioi the counuy with energy and efifect/' 
 6 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 223 
 
 INIr. Pitt now observed, ^' that he need Hot troubk 
 the hoyse with his iirst resolution, as be had already 
 stated its^ substance and effect. The second resolution, 
 (which he read,) was to restrain the regent from exer- 
 cising one branch of the prerogative peculiarly inhe- 
 rent in the crown, and this was the power of granting 
 peerages, excepting to his Majesty's softs, being twenty- 
 one years of age. This restriction he thought neces- 
 sary, as the regent ought not to confer any grant which 
 might produce difficulties and embarrassments, when 
 tlie happy hour of his Majesty's restoration to his 
 health should arrive. The object of investing the 
 crown with the power of creating peers, was to enable 
 the sovereign to distribute rewards to eminent merit, 
 and to give the crown the means of choosing persons 
 who should add to the number of one of the branches 
 ef the legislature. The creation of peers was one of 
 those powers which belonged personally to the king. 
 When he made this assertion, he scarcely meant to 
 inculcate that it was the individual right of the king te 
 create peers, but that it was an especial prerogative of 
 the crown. He enumerated the grounds on which Im 
 conceived that the crown might exercise the privilege 
 of making peers, and described what he regarded as 
 the inconveniences which might follow from the regent 
 having the power to make peers, contending it was 
 possible that the consequence of the House of Lords 
 might be lost, the system of the country overturned, 
 and the government end in a pure monarchy, an aris- 
 tocracy, an oligarchy, or some resource equally distant- 
 from our present constitution. He desired, it he hil^d 
 to enumerate any particulars connected with any part 
 of the subject^r to htive them pointed out to him. He 
 
224v LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 reasoned upon the sort of effect, which, as he supposed, 
 might arise from depriving the regent of the power of 
 creating peers, merely for a time, observing, that surely 
 it would not be contended, that for want of such an 
 incentive for a few months, the country was likely to 
 be deprived of tlie service of men of merit. If his 
 Majesty recovered, as they all hoped, and had reason 
 to expect he would, the power of creating peers might 
 be exercised by the lightful holder of the prerogative; 
 but if, unfortunately, his INlajesty should grow worse, 
 and be pronounced not likely to recover for a long 
 time, parliament would have it in its power to take off 
 the restriction, and vest the regent with a power, 
 which, though not at present, he was ready to admit, 
 might in time become necessary to the carrying on of 
 a powerful government. Me mentioned the fluctuation 
 of wealth and property in the country, and the pro- 
 priety of occasionally raising monied men to the 
 peerage, in order to give the landed interest its fair 
 balance and share of the honours in the power of the 
 crown to bestow. He alluded also to the sort of hands 
 into which the conduct of public affairs was likely to 
 fall, and said, that unless they had reason to expect a 
 desperate confederacy and cabal to obstruct the pubHe 
 measures, he saw no sort of inconvenience which could 
 result from a temporary withholding from the regent 
 the power of making peers ; he urged the possibility of 
 such another confederacy and cabal forming, (as had 
 been convicted of a design to overthrow the constitu- 
 tion a few years since,) who might give the regetit ad- 
 vice which the crown would probably have rejected, 
 and such a number of peers might be created, as 
 mi^ht considerably embarrass the crown in carrying 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 225 
 
 oil the government when his Majesty should be re- 
 stored to his health. For his own part, he meant to 
 make no professions, but he desired that what he was 
 going to say might be considered as the test of his 
 future conduct : and, he declared, that he should not 
 be found an opposer of the just, and wise measures of 
 the new government, which would remain to be dis- 
 cussed hereafter. He uiged other arguinents in the 
 attempt to prove, that the withholding of the power of 
 making peers for a time, was what they owed to the 
 real interests of the country and the true sovereign; 
 that it could not become prejudicial to the regent^'s 
 government ; and if it should threaten to grov; detri- 
 mental, they would have the remedy in their owa 
 hands; — a principle which was coupled wiih that of 
 doing nothing beyond the real necessity of the case. 
 At the first view, the principles which he had laid 
 down might be supposed not to confine themselves 
 merely to one branch of the legiRl«turfi; and it ^ould 
 be contended, that, as the present House of Commons 
 had proved themselves so loyal to the sovereign, and 
 attentive to the interests of his people, bis ^lajesty 
 would be happy to receive the congratulations of the 
 same House of Commons on his recovery ; but a little 
 more consideration would shew, that this would per- 
 haps be. reserving from the people an opportunity of 
 shewing their sense of the conduct of their representa^ 
 tives; and no danger could accrue to the sovereign ia 
 sending them back to their constituents, if the regent 
 should deem it wii^? or prudent to adopt the measure, 
 especially to a people Vv^hose loyalty had been 5o con- 
 spicuously manifested by the general and hearfelt sor- 
 
226 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 row expressed throughout the kiugdoni, in consequence 
 of his Majesty's nieldncholy situation and ilhiess/' 
 
 He now read the third resolution, which was a re- 
 striction preventing the regent from allowing any 
 grant, patent, place, reversion, or annuity for life, 
 excepting in particular, unavoidable cases, such as to 
 judges and others. As this resolution ran so much 
 upon the principle of the preceding one, Mr. Pitt said 
 it was unnecessary for him to go into farther explana- 
 tion of it. The fourth retolution restrained the regent 
 from exercising any power over tiie personal property 
 of the king. Mr. Pitt on this occasion observed, that 
 '* he scarcely thought it necessary to pass this resolution, 
 as it was not probable that his royal highness would 
 interfere with his Majv^sty's personal property in his 
 life time; but, as they werefictiog upon parliamentary 
 principles, be thought it his duty to submit it to the 
 committee. The last resolution would be for entrust- 
 ing the care of the royal person, during his Majesty's 
 ilhiess, where of course all men would be unanimous 
 in agreeing that the royal person ought to be placed, 
 in the guardianship of the queen; and with this tn45t, 
 his intention was, to propose to put the whole of his 
 Majesty's household under the authority of her Ma- 
 jesty, invesing her with full powers to dismiss and 
 ap^joint, as she should think proper. Without being 
 invested with this control, lie imagined that the queen 
 could not discharge the important trust committed to 
 her care. lie spoke of the officers of high rank in the 
 household, who, though tlieir pkces might justly draw 
 forth the ambiiion of men of the liist rank and family 
 in the kingdom, were, neveithelcss, only the lirst me. 
 
WILLIAM PITT.. 22/ 
 
 iiial servants of his INIajesty, and actually necessary to 
 direct and superintend the greater part of bis Majesty's 
 household. He stated that these oiiices, such as the 
 master of the horse, lord chamberlain, lord steward, 
 and others, were, by many, thought high offices of 
 state; but the fact was otherwise, they were the menial 
 servants of the crown, and essential to its dignity and 
 splendor. He argued against new modelling the royal 
 household, under the present circumstances, and spoke 
 of the anxiety and pain which he conceived it- must 
 give his Majesty, to find ull those whom he had chosen 
 to be about his royal person discharged. Possibly, 
 his Majesty's illness might continue but a few months, 
 perhaps a few weeks ; and, in such a situation, would 
 it, he asked, be delicate and respectful to make a 
 change ? Those v»'ho were lords of the bed-chamber, 
 he admitted, did no great duty at present, but the 
 equeries were employed. He owned, that this part of 
 the arrangement was a matter of some difiiculty ; but 
 when he considered uliat his jNlajesty would feel, when 
 he waked from his trance of reason, and asked for ihose 
 attendants, and was told that his subjects had taken 
 advantage of his m.omentary absence of mind, and 
 changed them, he flattered hmiself that no gentleman 
 would object to such a mark of attention being paid to 
 his Majesty. The regent, indeed, w^as different from 
 the king; but, at the same time, the regent ought to 
 have a retinue adequate to the importance and high 
 rank of his station; and he meant to propose that he 
 should have such a retinue as would unquestionably 
 be some increase of expense to the country ; but, as it 
 was unavoidably necessary to appoint a regent, it was 
 equally necessary to maintain the dignity of the cha- 
 
2£8 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 racter, and gentlemen would not, he conceived, grudge 
 a little expense on such an occasion. He recurred 
 again to the power to be lodged in the hands of the 
 queen, and urged the necessity of considering the rank 
 of the king, the rank of the Prince of Wales, and the 
 rank of the queen, who was consort of the sovereign, 
 and mother of the regent. It was not to be supposed, 
 therefore, that the influence arising from the patronage 
 holden by the queen, would operate to the detriment 
 of the regent's government ; and, surely, to conceive 
 as much, would be equally indecent and improper.*' 
 
 Mr. Pitt concluded with moving, *' that it is the 
 opinion of the committee, that, for the purpose of 
 providing for the exercise of the King's royal author- 
 ity, during the continuance of his Majesty^s illness, 
 in such manner, and to such extent, as the present 
 circumstances of the urgent concerns of the nation 
 appear to require, it is expedient that his royal high- 
 ness the Prince of Wales, being resident within the 
 reahiij shall be empowered to exercise and administer 
 the royal authority, according to the laws and consti- 
 tution of Great Britain, in the name and on the 
 behalf of his Majesty, under the style and title of 
 Regent of the Kingdom, and to use, execute, and per- 
 form, in the name and on the behalf of his Majesty, 
 all authority, prerogatives, acts of government, and 
 administration of the same, which belong to the king 
 of the realm, to use, execute, and perform, according 
 to the law thereof, subject to such limitations and ex- 
 ceptions as shall be provided." 
 
 Any farther discussion of this delicate question was 
 however anticipated by the mo^t agreeable news of -the 
 recovery of his Majesty, 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 229 
 
 Qn it Mr. Pitt's opinions have been given thus ruHy* 
 because they tend to shew better than any document, 
 relating to any other occurrence in his administration, 
 his views of the British constitution. 
 
 War however threatened in various instances to en- 
 gage his attention more importantly during the re- 
 mainderof this year. Nootka Sound became an object 
 of contention with Spain, and the Turkish poiitics of 
 Ilussia excited a temporary dispute rehuing to -the 
 fortress of Oczakow. These wt?re soon terniinated, 
 tmd Mr. Pitt was left to prosecute his career with pa- 
 cific glory. 
 
 But we must prepare for that great event whicli 
 formed the most important period of that career, as it 
 did an aera in the principles of modern policy, and ihe 
 constitution of every government in the world. 
 
 This was the French revolutiv)ri, that parent of 
 change in almost all the political systems of mankind ; 
 which, beginning in the internal regulations of a dis- 
 tracted kingdom, extended its principles throughout 
 Europe, and almost throughout the world. 
 
 Of an event so familiar it is needless to penetrate 
 the origin, or recite the progress. From discussing 
 maxims of office, and systems of finance, they referred 
 to the first principles of Government, and finding it 
 more easy to overturn tlian amend, destroyed all the 
 constitutions of society. 
 
 This mania also spread through other countries, and 
 mankind was called to arms, not to protect a frontier, 
 or to punish a national insult, but to defend the 
 means by which society is held together, against the 
 inroads of a baneful spirit that, ccnciliatiag the pre- 
 judices of -the majority in numbers, threatened to 
 
 NO. 17. u 
 
230 LIFE. OFTJIE LATE 
 
 create universal anarchy, and in consequence universal 
 misery. 
 
 It was now that Mr. Pitt stood forward, of himself 
 an host, to protect from this insidious warfare a coun^ 
 try to which Neptnne had afforded a sufficient barrier 
 against every other kind of hostility. Nor injustice 
 to those coadjutors, without whose aid his task must 
 have been even yet more difficult, must it be forgot- 
 ten, that several of the most powerful members of the 
 opposition, among whom were the Duke of Portland, 
 Earl Fitzwilliam, and above all the great and excel- 
 lent Edmund Burke, no sooner discerned the signs of 
 the times which were about to ensue, than they 
 quitted the connectious with which they had formerly 
 acted, to rally round the throne.* 
 
 * One of these was tl)8 following distinguished person, of 
 whom some mention may be agreeable. — Lord INLnito, (Sir Gilbert 
 Elliot) who was born in 17nl, is descended from the ancient fa- 
 mily of Elliot, in the shire of Roxburgh, in Scotland. Of his fa- 
 ther, even Wilkes, who attacked him, could say nothing worse 
 than that he was a Scotsman in place. With a domestic educa- 
 tion, he was early placed in the army, in which he is said to have 
 borne the rtink of captain at ten years old. In 1774. he became a 
 member of the British house of commons; where, following the 
 opinions of his father, he became one of the " king's friends" 
 in the arduous contests of. that day. He, however, joined the 
 pari-V of Mr. Fox during (he Tlf^ckingham administration, and,* 
 sharing its fate, continued in the ranks of opposition till the a?ra 
 of the French revolution. His first employruent was to accept 
 the submission of the Corsicans, being nominated as commissioner 
 for that parpose in the ctutnmn of 17 93 ; and in 1794, he assumed 
 the government as viceroy. In 1796, however, lie could no lon- 
 ger preserve the British dominion, and therefore returned to 
 England ; when he was raised to the dignity of a British peer 
 
-a 
 
 V -m 
 
 # 
 
 / -H^ 
 
 1, OWD ZEXX) 0~N, 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 231 
 
 The consequence of that early precaution with 
 which Mr. Pitt marked the progress of this fatal revo* 
 iutioD, was the salvation of his country; while the 
 effect of the timely urnon of such men from such pa- 
 triotic and sober motives, produced in all ranks that 
 uational spirit which withstood the attempts made to 
 Seduce and destroy them. 
 
 Yet not desirous, though ready for war, Mr. Pitt 
 <3id not provoke animosity between the two countries, 
 liotvvithstanding the indiscreet zeal with which its go- 
 
 with the arms of Corsica, as a mark of satisfaction for his services. 
 In 1799 his lordship was appointed ambassador, to Vienna, and 
 exhibited all the powers of diplomacy though without avail. In 
 1800 he advocated the cause of the union with considerable abi- 
 lity, but remained out of office from the peace of Amiens. His 
 lordship is elegant and intelligent, fond of rural life, and is, it is 
 believed, the patron of the sweet muse of Hope, the young and' 
 amiable Campbell. 
 
 Earl Fitzwilliam, nephew of the great Marquis of Kockinghani, 
 was born ] 753, and succeeded to his title iu 1766. He. was bred 
 at Eton, with Mr. Fox, Lord Carlisle, 5cc. and afterwards went 
 to Oxford. He married the Lady Charlotte Ponsonby, sister of 
 the Earl of Besborough, and was connected with ail the great 
 whig families. On the question of tli^ Frencli revolution, bow- 
 ever, his lordship separaud irom his ov/u friends, while he could 
 not be said, absolutely, to join the opposite party. Possessed of 
 considerable estates in Ireland, at the commenceraeut of new 
 distractions in that country, Earl Fitzwilliam was seht there as 
 viceroy; but his governiiiciit being too popular, he was suddenly 
 recalled, after several successful arrangements.. On his return his 
 lordship held his former unique course. In 1798, he succeeded 
 the Duke of Norfolk as lord-lieiitenant of the West Riding of 
 Yorkshire, and colonel of its militia, Tn this, as in his former 
 employment. Earl Fitzwilliam became extremely popular, and he 
 gtiii contmuea the practice of many humane virtues, 
 u 2 
 
232 
 
 LIFE OF THE LAT£ 
 
 Yernrxient bad cultivated an intercourse of a very iti- 
 flauim-atory tendency with persons in England already 
 distinguished for a restless and ungovernable dispo- 
 sition. 
 
 It was not, however, till the unhappy terniination 
 bf the monarchical character 'm France that England 
 became at war with the French republic. The same 
 step which commenced the annunciation of hostilities,- 
 giving an opportunity for a luminous developement of 
 his principleson the part of Mr. Pitt, is the next ob-* 
 ject of our attention^ as follows: 
 
 On the 1 2th of February, the following iriessage 
 from his iMajestj on the subject was delivered to par- 
 liament* 
 
 '' GEORGE R, 
 
 ** His Majesty thinks proper to acquaint the house 
 t>f commoiis, that the assenibiy now executing the 
 powers of government in France, have, without pre- 
 vious notice, directed acts of hostility to be committed 
 against the persons and property of his Majesty's sub- 
 jects, in breach of the law of nations, and of the most 
 pnsiiive stipulations of treaty, and have since, on the 
 inc stgroundless pretences, r.ctually declared war against 
 his Majesty and the United Provinces. Dnder the 
 circumstances of this wanton and unprovoked aggres- 
 sion, his iVI ajesty has taken the necessary steps to 
 maintain the honour of his crown, and to vindicate the 
 rights of his people; and his Majesty relies with con- 
 fidence on tlie firm and tflectual support of the house 
 t)f commons, and cm the ztalous exertions of a brave 
 and loyal people, in prosecuting a just and necessary 
 war, and in endeavouiing, under the blessing of Pro- 
 
WILLIAM prTT. 2S3 
 
 Tidence, to oppose an efFectaal barrier to the farther 
 progress of a system which strikes at the security and 
 peace of all independent nations, and is pursued in 
 open defiance of every principle of moderation, gocd 
 faith, humanity and justice. - ' 
 
 ** In a cause of such general concern, his Majesty 
 lias every reason to hope for the cordial co-operation 
 of those powers who are united with liis Majesty by the 
 ties of alliance, or who feel an ittterest in preventing 
 the extension of anarchy and confusion, and in con- 
 tributing to the security and tranquillity of Europe. 
 
 *' G. R/' 
 
 As soon as the message was read, Mr. Pitt rose and 
 observed, " that in proposixig to the house an address in 
 answer to his Majesty's message, he did not conceive 
 thai there could be any necessity, in the present in- 
 stance, at least in one view of the subject for troubhng 
 them at large. Whatever diftereiK-e of opinion might 
 formerly have existed with respect to subjects, on 
 vhich, however, the great niujority both of that house 
 and the nation had coincided m sentiment, whatever 
 doubts might be entertained as to the interest, which 
 this country had in the recent transactions on the con- 
 tinent, v^'batever question might be made of the mode 
 of conduct which had been pursued by government, 
 lyhich la'.ely had not been carried so far as to produce 
 even a division; yet when the siluaiion in winch we 
 HOW stood was considered, vvheii those circumstances 
 which had occurred to pioduce an alteration in the 
 state, of atl'au-s since the last address, were taken into 
 the account, he couhl not doubt but that there would 
 fee one unanimous sentiment and voice expressed ou 
 V 3 
 
234 LIFE OF thp: late 
 
 the present occasion. Tlie question now was, not 
 whit degree of danger we should find it necessary to 
 repel, from a regard to our safety, or from a sense of 
 honour; it was, not whether we should adopt in our 
 measures a S3 stem of promptitude and vigour, or of 
 lameness and procrastination; whether we should sa- 
 crifice every other consideration to the continuance of 
 an uncertain aud insecure peace — When war was de- 
 clared, and the event no longer in our option, it re- 
 mained only to be considered, wliether we should 
 prepare to meet it with a firm determination, and sup- 
 port his M.ijesty's governtxient with zeal and courage 
 against every attack. War now was not only declared, 
 but carried on at our very doors; a war which aimed 
 at an object no less destructive than the total ruin of 
 the freedoa) and mdependance of this country. In this- 
 situation of atiairs, he would not do so much injustice^ 
 to the members of that house, whatever differences of 
 opinion might formerly have existed, as to suppose 
 that there could be any but one decision, one fixed re- 
 solution, in this so urgent necessity, in this imminent- 
 and common danger, by the ardor and firmness of their 
 support, to testify their loyalty to their sovereign^ 
 their attachment to the constitution, and their sense 
 of thote inestimable blessings which they had so long 
 enjoyed under its influence. Confident, however, as he 
 was, that such would be their unanimous decision, 
 that such would be their determined and unalterable 
 resolution, he should not consider it as altogether use- 
 less to take a view of the situation of the country at the 
 time of his Majesty's la^^t message, of the circum- 
 stances which had preceded and accompanied it, and 
 3 
 
WILLIAM PITT* 235 
 
 of the situation in which we now stood, in conse- 
 quence of what had occurred during that interval. 
 
 *' When his Majesty, by his message, informed them, 
 that in the present situation of affairs, he considered 
 it indispensably necessary to make a farther augmen- 
 tation of his forces, they had cheerfully concurred in 
 that object, and returned in answer^ what was then 
 the feeling of the house, the expression of their affec- 
 tion and zeal, and their readuiess to support his Ma- 
 jesty in those purposes, fur which he had stated an 
 augmentation of force necessary. They saw the jus- 
 tice of the alarm which was then entertained, and the 
 propriety of affording that support wliich was required^r 
 He should shortly state the grounds upon which they 
 had then given their concurrence. They considered 
 that whatever temptations might have existed to this 
 country from ancient enmity and rivalship, paltry mo- 
 tives indeed ! or whatever opportunity might have 
 been afforded by the tumultuous and distracted state 
 of France, or whatever sentiments might be excited 
 by the transactions which had taken place in that na- 
 tion, his Majesty had uniformly abstained from all 
 interference in its internal government, and had main- 
 tained, with respect to it, on every occasion, the 
 strictest and most inviolable neutrality. 
 
 " Such being his conduct towards France, he had a 
 right to expect on their part a suitable return ; more 
 especially as this return had been expressly condi- 
 tioned for by a compact, into which they entered, and 
 by which they engaged to repect the rights of his Ma- 
 jesty and his allies, not to interfere in the government 
 of any neutral country, and not to pursue any systeiis 
 ©f aggrandizement, or make any addition to their do- 
 
^S6 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 minions, but to confine themselves, at the conclusion 
 of the war, within their own territories. These con- 
 ditions they had all grossly violated, and had adopted 
 a system of ambitious and destructive policy, fatal to 
 the peace and securit}' of every government, and which 
 in its consequences had shaken Europe itself to its 
 foundation. Their decree of the }9^h of November, 
 which had been so much talked of, offering fraternity 
 and affiance to all people who wish to recover their 
 liberty, was a decree, not levelled against particular 
 nations, but against every coimtry where there was 
 any form of government established ; a decree not 
 liostile to individuals but to the human race; which 
 -was calculated every where to sow the seeds of rebeU 
 lion and civil and contention, and to spread war from 
 one end of Europe to the other. While they were 
 bound to this* country by ihe engagements which he 
 had mentioned, they had shewed no intention to 
 exempt it from the consequences of this decree. Nay, 
 a directly contrary o})inion might be formed, and it 
 might be supposed that this country was more parti- 
 cularly aimed at by this very decree, if we were to 
 judge from the exultation with which they had received 
 from different societies in England every address ex- 
 pressive of sedition and disloyalty, and from the eager 
 desire which they had testiried to encourage and che- 
 rish the growth of such sentiments. Not only had 
 they shewed no inclination to fulfil their engagements, 
 but had even put it out of their own power, by takmg 
 the first opportunity to make additions to their terri- 
 tory in contradiction to their own express stipulations* 
 By express resolutions for the destruction of the exist- 
 ing governments oi all invaded countries, by the 
 
WILLIAM PITT. ^37 
 
 hieans of Jacobin societies, by orders given to tbeir 
 generals,^ by the whole system adopted in this respect 
 by the national assembly, and by the actual connec- 
 tion of the whole country of Savoy, they had marked 
 their determination to add to the dominions of France, 
 and to provide means, through the medmm of every 
 new conquest, to carry their principles over Europe, 
 Their conduct whs such, as in every instance had mili- 
 tated against the dearest and most valuable interests 
 of this country. 
 
 *' The next consideration was, that under all the pro- 
 vocations which had been sustained from France, pro- 
 vocations which, in ordinary times, and in different 
 ■circuiiistances, could not have failed to have been re- 
 garded as acts of hostility, and which formerly, not 
 even a delay of twenty-four hours would have been 
 wanting to have been treated as such, by commencing 
 an immediate war of retaliation, his Majesty s minis- 
 ters had prudently and temperately advised ail the 
 means to be previously employed of obtaining reason- 
 able satisfauiion, before recourse should be had to 
 extremities. Means had been takeu to inform their 
 agents, even though not accredited, of the grouPids of 
 jealousy and complaint on the part of this country, and 
 an opportunity had been otiered through them of bring' 
 ing forward any cu'cu instances of explduation, or offer- 
 ing any terms of satisfaction. M hether the facts and 
 explanations which these agents had brought forward 
 were such as contained any proper satiifactiou for the 
 past, or could airord any reasonable asscra«jce with 
 respect to the future, every niember might judge 
 from the mspection of the papers. lie had already 
 given it as his opinion, that if there was no other aU, 
 
.238 LIFE OF Tlli: LATE 
 
 ternative than either to make war or depart from our 
 principles, rather than recede from our principles, a 
 %var was preferable to a peace; because a peace pur- 
 chased upon such terms, must be uncertain, preca- 
 rious, and liable to be continually interrupted by the 
 repetition of fresh injuries and insults. War was pre- 
 ferable to such a peace, because it was a shorter and 
 a surer war to that end which the house liad undoubt- 
 edly m view as its ultimate object — a secure and last- 
 ing peace. What sort of peace must that be in which 
 there was no security ? Peace he regarded as desirable 
 only so far as it was secure. If, said Mr, Pitt, yoti 
 €iitertain a sense of the many blessings which you en- 
 joy, if you value the continuance and safety of th^Tt 
 Commerce which is a source of so much opulence, if 
 you wish to preserve and render permanent that high 
 state of prosperity, by which this country has for some 
 years past been so emirienily distinguished, you ha- 
 zard all thes« advantages mo»e, and are more likely 
 to forfeit tliem, by submitting to a precarious and dis- 
 graceful peace, than by a tiuiely and vigorous inter- 
 position of your arms, — By lameness and delay you 
 suffer that evil which might now be checked, to gain 
 ground, and which, when it becomes indispensable to 
 oppose, may perhaps be found irresistible, 
 
 ** It had on former debates been alleged, that by go- 
 ing to war we expose our commerce. Is there, he 
 would ask, any man so blind and irrational, wlio does 
 not know that the inevitable consequence of every war 
 must be an inte^ ruption and injury to commerce ? But 
 because our commerce was exposed to sufler was that 
 a reason why we should never go to war ? Was there 
 no combination of circumstances, was there no situa- 
 
^VILLIAM PITT. 239 
 
 tion in the affairs of Europe, such as to render it expe- 
 dient to hazard for a time, a part of our comnfiercial 
 interests ? Was there no evil greater, and which a war 
 might be necessary to avoid, than the partial inconve- 
 nience to which our commerce was subjected, during 
 the continuance of hostile operations ? But he begged 
 pardon of the house for the digression into which he 
 had been led — while he talked as if they were debating 
 about the expediency of a war, ^war was actually de- 
 clared : we were at this moment engaged in a war. 
 
 ** He now came to state what had occurred since his 
 Majesty's last message; and to notice those grounds 
 which bad served as a pretext for the declaration of 
 war. When his Majesty had dismissed M. Chauvelin, 
 what were then tiie hopes of peace ? He was by no 
 means sanguine in such hopes, and he had stated to the 
 house that he then saw but little probability that a war 
 could be avoided. Such then was his sentiment, be- 
 cause the explanations and conduct of the French 
 agent were such as afforded him but little room to ex- 
 pect any terms which this country could, either con^ 
 sistently with honour, or a regard to its safety, accept. 
 Stdl, however, the last moment had been kept open to 
 receive any satisfactory explanation which migl^t be 
 otFered. But what it might be asked, was to be the 
 mode of receiving such explanation ? When his Ma- 
 jesty had dismissed M. Chauvelin, as, by the melan- 
 choly catastrophe of the French monarch, the only 
 character in which he had ever been acknowledged at 
 the British court had entirely ceased, eight days had 
 been allowed him for his di^parture, and if during that 
 period he had sent any more satisfactory explanation, 
 still it would have becnueceived. Had any disposi- 
 
240 LIFE O.F THE LATE 
 
 tion been testified to comply with the requisitions of 
 Lord Grenville, still an opportunity was alTorded of 
 intimating this disposition. Thus had our government 
 pursued to the last a conciliatory system, and left 
 every opening for accommodation, had the French been 
 disposed to embrace it. M. Chauvelin, however, iu- 
 sstantly quitted the country, without making any pro- 
 position. Another agent had succeeded ; (M. Marat) 
 who, on his arrival in this country, had notified him- 
 self as the charge-d'affaires on the part of the French 
 Kepublic, but had never, during his residence in the 
 kingdom, afforded the smallest comimunication, 
 
 '' What was the next event that had succeeded ? An 
 embargo was laid on all the vessels and persons of his 
 Majesty's subjects who were then in France. This 
 euibargo was to be considered as not only a symptom, 
 but as an act of hostility. It certainly had taken place 
 without any notice bein^ given, contrary to treaty and 
 against all the laws of nations. Here, perhaps, it 
 might be said, that on account of their, s.topping cer- 
 tain ships loaded with corn for France, the govern- 
 ment of Great Britain might be under the same charge; 
 to this point he should come presently. He believed 
 if government were chargeable w^ith any thing, it might 
 rather be, that they were even too slow in their assert- 
 ing the honour and vindicating the rights of this coun- 
 try. If he thought that his Majesty's ministers want- 
 ed any justification, it would be for their forbearance 
 and not for their promptitude, since t0 the last moment 
 they had testified a disposition to receive terms of ac- 
 commodation, and left open the mean^ of explanation. 
 Notwithstanding this violent and outrageous act, such 
 was the disposition to peace in his Majesty's ministers, 
 
WILLIAM I*ITT, 241 
 
 that the channels of communicaUon, even after this 
 period, were not shut : a most singular circumstance 
 happened, which was the arrival of intelligence front 
 his Majesty's minister at the Hague, on the very day 
 when the embargo became known here, that he had 
 received an intimation from General Dumourier that 
 the general wished an interview, in order to see if it 
 were yet possible to adjust the differences between the 
 two countries, and to promote a general pacification. 
 Instead of treating the embargo as an act of hostility^ 
 and forbearing from any communication, even after 
 this aggression, his Majesty's ministers, on the same 
 day on which the embargo was made known to them, 
 gave instructions to the ambassador at the Hague to 
 enter into a communication with General Dumourier; 
 and they did this work with great satisfaction on seve- 
 ral accounts ; first, because it might be done without 
 committing the king's dignity ; for the general of an 
 army might, even in the very midst of war, without any 
 recognition of his authority, open any negociation for 
 peace. But this sort of communication was desirable' 
 also, because, if successful, it would be attended with 
 the most immediate effects, as its tendency was imme- 
 diately to stop the progress of war, in the most practi- 
 cable, and perhaps the only practical way. No time 
 was therefore lost in authorising the king's minister at 
 the Hague to proceed in the pursuit of so desirable an 
 object, ifitcoyld be done in a safe and honourable 
 mode, but not otherwise. But before the answer of 
 government could reach the ambassador, or any means 
 be adopted for carrying the object proposed into exe- 
 cution, war was declared, on the part of the French, 
 against this country. If then we were to debate at all, 
 
 KO. 18* X 
 
242 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 we were to debate whether or not we were to repel 
 those principles, which not only were inimical to this 
 and to every other government, but which had been 
 followed up in acts of hostility to this country. We 
 were to debate whether or not we were to resist an ag- 
 gresssion which had already been commenced. He 
 x\ould however refer the house, not to observations of 
 reasoning, but to the grounds which had been assigned 
 by the assembly themselves in their declaration of war. 
 But first h^ must revert again to the embargo. He 
 then stated that a detention of ships, if no ground of 
 hostility had been given, was, in the first place con- 
 trary to the law of nations. In the second place, there 
 was an actual treaty between the two countries, pro- 
 viding for this very circumstance; and this treaty (if 
 not set aside by our breach of it, which he shonld 
 come to presently) expressly said, that, '* in case of 
 a rupture time shall be given for a removal of persons 
 and effects.'' 
 
 *^ He should now proceed to the declaration itself. It 
 began with declaring, ' That the king of England has 
 not ceased, especially since the revolution of the 10th 
 of August, 1792, to give proofs of his being evil-dis* 
 posed towards the French nation and of his attachment 
 to the coalition of crowned heads/ Notwithstanding 
 the assertion that his Majesty had not ceased to shew- 
 bis evil-dispositions towards the French nation, they 
 had not attempted to shew any acts of hostility previ- 
 ous to the 10th of August; nor in support of the charge 
 c?f his attachment to the coalition of crowned heads, 
 bad they been able to allege any fact, except his sup- 
 posed accession to the treaty between the emperor of 
 Germ&ny and the king of Prussia, This treaty had 
 2 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 243 
 
 alreac!}^ this evening, been the subject of conversation : 
 it had then been mentioned, Nvbich he should now re- 
 peat, that the fact thus alleged, was false and entirely 
 destitute of foundation ; and that no accession to any 
 such treaty had ever taken place on the part of his Ma- 
 jesty. And not only bad he entered into no such trea- 
 ty, but no step had been taken, and no engageuient 
 formed on the part of our government to interfere in 
 the internal affairs of France, or attempt to dictate to 
 them any form of constitution. He declared that the 
 whole of the interference of Great Britain had been (in 
 consequence of French aggressions) with the general 
 view of seeing whether it was possible, either by their 
 own exertions, or in concert with any other powers to 
 repress this P'rench system of aggrandizement and ag- 
 gression, with the view of seeing whether we could not 
 re-establish the blessings of peace, whether we could 
 not either separately, or jointly with other powers, 
 provide for the security of our own country, and the 
 general security of Europe. 
 
 *^ The next charge brought by the National Assem- 
 bly, was, * That at the period aforesaid, he ordered 
 his ambassador at Paiis to withdraw, because he would 
 not acknowledge the provisional executive council, 
 created by the legislative assembly/ It w^as hardly 
 necessary for him to discuss a subject with which ail 
 were already sa well acquainted. After the horrors of 
 the 10th of August, which were paralleled, but not 
 eclipsed by those of the second of September, and the 
 suspension of the French monarch, to whom alon& 
 the ambassador had been sent, it certainly became 
 proper to recal him. He could not remain to treat 
 with any government to whom he was not accredit 
 x2 
 
244 LIFE OF THE lATE 
 
 ed; and the propriety of his being recalled would ap- 
 pear stii) more evident, when it was considered that 
 iije banditti who had seized upon the government would 
 not long retain their power ; and, in fact, in the course 
 of a month, they had been obliged to yield to the in- 
 terest of a diirerent party, but of a description similar 
 to their own. It was also to be remarked, that this 
 circumstance of recalling the ambassador had never 
 till now been complained of as an act of hostility. 
 "When a government was overturned, it became a fair 
 question how long an interval should intervene till 
 that government should be acknowledged ? and espe- 
 cially if that change of government was accompanied 
 v^'ith all the circumstances of tumult and distraction, 
 it certainly became a matter of extreme hardship that 
 a war should be the consequence to the nation which 
 should refuse to acknowledge it in the first instance. 
 The form of this reasoning, became increased in the 
 particular application, when it was considered, tliatthe 
 French had not yet established any constitution of its 
 own ; that all, hitherto, was merely provisional and 
 temporary; and that, however the present republican 
 system might be confirmed by force, or change of opi- 
 nion, a little before, the voice of the nation, as far as 
 its wish could be collected, had expressed itself in fa- 
 vour of a monarchy. 
 
 ** He proceeded to state, as farther grounds of their 
 declaration of war, * That the cabinet of St. James's 
 has ceased, since the same period (10th of August) 
 to correspond with the French ambassador at London 
 on pretext of the suspension of the heretofore king of 
 the French. That, since the opening of the national 
 convention, it has refused to resume the usual corres- 
 
WILLIAM PITTr £4rf 
 
 pondence between the two states, and to acknowledge 
 the powers of this convention. That it has refused to 
 acknowledge the ambassador of the French RepivbUcy 
 although provided vuath letters of credit in its' name/ 
 ^I.Chauvelin had been received at this court, as am- 
 bassador of the king, and in no other capacity and cha- 
 racter. From the period of the suspension of the king, 
 he, for some months, ceased to hold an}^ communica* 
 tion with the government here ; or to act in any capa- 
 city ; nor was it till the month of December, that he- 
 had received his letter of credence to act here as the 
 ambassador of the French Repubhc. With respect to 
 the charge of not having acknowledged the convention,, 
 he confessed it to be true. When these letters of cre- 
 dence had been tendered, they were refused ;. but it 
 was to be considered, whether it would have been pro- 
 per to have recognized them,, after the repeated in- 
 stances of ofience for which no compensation had been 
 made, and of which, indeed every fresh act presented 
 not only a repetition/ but an aggravation. Indeed, it 
 would have been impossible at that period^ without 
 shewing a deviation from principIe,^ and a tameness of 
 disposition, to have recognized their authority^ or ac- 
 cepted of the person who presented himself in the cha- 
 racter of their ambassador. At that very moment, it 
 was to be recollected, they were embarked in the un- 
 just and inhuman process which had terminated in the 
 murder of their king — an event which had every where 
 excited sentiments of the atmost horror and indigna- 
 tion ! W^ould it have been becoming in our govern- 
 ment first to have acknowledged them at such a mo- 
 ment, when the power they had assumed was thiish 
 cruelly and unjustly exercised against that very autl 
 
246 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 thority they had usurped? But, whatever might be 
 the feelings of abhorrence and indignation, which their 
 conduct on this occasion could not fail to excite, he 
 should by no means hold out those feelings as a ground 
 for hostility, nor should he ever wish to propose a war 
 of vengeance. The catastrophe of the French monarch 
 they ought all to feel deeply ; and consistently with 
 that impression, be led more firmly to resist those prin^ 
 ciples from which an event of so black and atrocious a 
 nature had proceeded; principles, if not opposed, might 
 be expected in their progress to lead to the commission 
 of similar crimes ; but, notwithstanding the govern- 
 ment had been obliged to decline all communication 
 which tended to acknowledge the authority of the con- 
 vention, still, as he had said before, they had left open 
 . the means of accommodation; nor could that line of 
 conduct which they had pursued be stated as affording 
 any ground of hostility. 
 
 " He should now consider collectively, some of the 
 subsequent grounds which they had stated in their 
 declaration, which were expressed in the following ar- 
 ticles : — 
 
 ' That the Court of St. James's has attempted to 
 impede the different purchasers of corn, arms, and 
 other commodities ordered in England, either by 
 French citizens or the agents of the republic. 
 
 * That it has caused to be stopped, several boats 
 and ships loaded with grain for France, contrary to the 
 treaty of 1786, while exportation to other foreign 
 countries was free. 
 
 * That in onier still more effectually to obstruct the 
 commercial „operations of the republic in England, it 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 247 
 
 obtained an act of parliament prohibiting the circula- 
 tion of assignat?. 
 
 ' Tliat in violation of the fourth article of the trea- 
 ty of 1786, it obtained another act, in the month of 
 January last, which subjects all French citizens, resid- 
 ing in, or coming into England to forms the most in- 
 quisitorial, vexatious, and dangerous. 
 
 * That at the same time, and contrary to the first 
 article of the peace of 1783, it granted protection and 
 pecuniary aid not only to the emigrants, but even to 
 the chiefs of the rebels, who have already fought against 
 France ; and it has maintained with them a daily cor- 
 respondence, evidently directed against the French re- 
 volution : that it has also received the chiefs of the re- 
 bels of the French West India Colonies-' 
 
 " All these had been stated as provocations ; but 
 what sort of provocations ? What, he would ask, vvas 
 a provocation ? — That we had indeed, taken measures, 
 which, if considered by themselves, and not as con- 
 nected with the sitviation of affairs in which they were 
 adopted, might perhaps be considered in the light of 
 provocations, he would allow ; but if these measures 
 were justified by the necessity of circumstances — if 
 they were called for by a regard to our own safety, and 
 interests — they could only be viewed as temperate aad 
 moderate precautions. And in this light, these 
 grounds, assigned in the declaration could only be re- 
 garded as frivolous and unfounded pretences. With 
 respect to the charge of having stopped supplies of 
 grain and other commodities, intended for France, 
 what could be more ridiculous than such a pretext ? 
 When there was reason to apprehend that France in- 
 tended an attack upon the allies of this country, and 
 
248 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 against the country itself, upon which, at the sam« 
 time, it depended for the stores and ammunitions ne- 
 cessary for carrying on hostilities, was it natural to 
 suppose that they should furnish, from their own bo- 
 som, supplies to be turned against themselves and 
 their allies ? Could they be such children in under- 
 standing, could they be such traitors in principle, as 
 to furnish to the enemy the means of hostility, and the 
 instruments of offence ? What was the situation of 
 France with respect to this country ? Had they not 
 given sufficient cause for jealousy of their hostile in- 
 tentions ? By their decree of the l^th of November, 
 they had declared war against all governments. They 
 had possessed themselves of Flanders, and were there 
 endeavouring to establish by force, what they styled a 
 system of freedom, while they actually menaced Hol- 
 land with an invasion. Another ground which they had 
 stated in their declaration, as an act of hostility on the 
 part of our government was, that they had not suffered 
 assignats to be circulated in this country. Truly, they 
 had no reason to be offended that we wouW'not receive 
 what was worth nothing; and that by exercising an act 
 which came completely within our own sovereignty 
 with respect to the circulation of any foreign paper 
 currency, we thus avoided a gigantic system of swind- 
 ling ! If such, indeed, were the pretences which they 
 brought forward as grounds for a declaration of war, 
 it was matter of wonder that, instead of a sheet of pa- 
 per, they did not occupy a volume, and proved that 
 their ingenuity had been exhausted before their mo- 
 desty had been at all affected. Of much the same 
 nature was that other pretext, with respect to the passi* 
 ing of the Alien Bill ; a bill absolutely necessary for the 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 249 
 
 safety of the country, as it shielded us from the artifice 
 of the seditious, perhaps from the dagger of the assas- 
 sin. This bill they held out as an infringement of the 
 treaty of commerce. It could be no infringement of 
 their treaty, as in the treaty itself it was expressly de- 
 clared^ that nothing was to be considered as an in- 
 fringement, unless, first, proper explanations had taken 
 place. Secondly, it was not to be expected that any 
 treaty could supersede the propriety of adopting new 
 measures in a new situation of affairs. Such was the 
 case, when an inundation of foreigners had poured 
 into this country, under circumstances entirely ditfe- 
 rent from those which were provided for by the bill. 
 But who were those who complained of the seventy of 
 the regulations adopted by the Alien Bill in this coun- 
 try ? The very persons, who, during the late tran- 
 sactions in their own country, had adopted restrictions 
 of police ten times more severe, but of which our go- 
 vernment, however much its subjects might be affect- 
 ed, had never made the smallest complaint. 
 
 " The next ground assigned in the declaration, was 
 the armament which had taken place in this coun- 
 
 * That, in the same spirit, without any provocation, 
 and when all the maritime powers are at peace with 
 England, the cabinet of St. James's has ordered a con* 
 siderable naval armament, and an augmentation of the 
 land forces. 
 
 * That this armament was ordered at a moment 
 when the English minister w-as bitterly persecuting 
 those who supported the principles of the French re- 
 volution in England, and was employing all possible 
 means, both in parliament and out of it. to cover the 
 
250 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 the French Republic with ignominy, and to draw upoft 
 it the execration of the Enghsh nation, and of all Eu- 
 ro]3e/ 
 
 " And under what circumstances had^the araiament 
 complained of taken place f At the period when the 
 French, by their conduct with regard to the treaty of 
 the Scheldt, shewed their intention to disregard the 
 obligation of all treaties, when they had begun to pro- 
 pagate principles of universal war, and to discover 
 views of unbounded conquest, was it to- be wondered, 
 that, at such a time, we should think it necessary to 
 take measures of precaution, and to oppose with deter- 
 mination, the progress of principles, not only of sa 
 mischievous a tendency, but which, in their immediate 
 consequences, threatened to be so fatal to ourselves 
 and our allies? Indeed they now seemed rather to 
 despair of these principles being so generally adopted 
 and attended with such striking and immediate suc- 
 cess as they had at first fondly imagined. How little 
 progress these principles had made in this country, they 
 might be sufficiently convinced by that spirit, which 
 Lad displayed itself, of attachment to the constitution, 
 and those expressions of a firm determination to sup- 
 port it, which had appeared from every quarter. If, 
 indeed, they mean to attack us, because we do not 
 like French principles, then would this indeed be that 
 sort of war which had so often been alleged on the 
 other side of the house — a war against opinions. If 
 they mean to attack us because we love our constitu- 
 tion, then indeed it would be a war of extirpation ; for 
 not till the spirit of Englishmen was exterminated, 
 would their attachment to their constitution be de- 
 
WILLI A^l PITT. 251 
 
 troyed, and their generous efforts be slackened in its 
 defence. 
 
 ^^ The next articles of complaint, on the part of the 
 French, were, 
 
 * That the object of tliis armament, intended against 
 France, was not even disguised in the English parlia- 
 ment. 
 
 * That although the provisional executive council of 
 France em[)loyed every measure for preserving peace 
 and iVaternity with the English nation, and has replied 
 to calumnies and violation of treaties only by reuion- 
 •slrances, founded on the principles of justice, and ex- 
 pressed with the dignity of free men ; the English mi- 
 nister has persevered in his system of malevolence and 
 hostility, continued the armaments, and sent a squa- 
 dron to the Scheldt to. disturb the operations of the 
 French in Belgium. 
 
 * That on the news of tlie execution of Louis, he 
 carried his outrages to the French Republic to such a 
 length, as to order the ambassador of France to quit 
 the British territory within eight days. 
 
 * That the king of England has manifested his at- 
 tachment to the cause of that traitor, and his design of 
 supporting it by different hostile resolutions adoptecj 
 in his council, both by nominating generals ofhis land 
 army, and by applying to parliament for a considera- 
 ble addition of land and sea forces, and putting ships 
 of war in commission.' 
 
 "They clearly shewed their enmity to that constitu- 
 tion, by taking every opportunity to separate the king 
 of England from the nation, and by addressing the peo- 
 ple as distinct from the government. Upon the point 
 of their fraternity he did not wish to say much : he had 
 
252 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 no desire for their affection. To the people they oflbred 
 fraternity, while they would rob them of that situation 
 by which they are protected and deprive them of the 
 luimerous blessings which they enjoy under its influ- 
 ence. In this case, their fraternal embraces resem- 
 bled those certain animals who embrace only to de- 
 stroy. 
 
 ^ '* Another ground which they assigned was the grief 
 which had been expressed in the British court at the 
 fate of their unhappy monarch. Of all the reasons he 
 ever heard for making war against another country, 
 that of the French upon this occasion was the most ex- 
 traordinary : they said they would maiie war on us, 
 first, because we loved our own constitution; se- 
 condly, because we detested their proceedings; and 
 lastly, because we presumed to grieve at the death of 
 their murdered king. Thus would they even destroy 
 those principles of justice, and those sentiments of 
 compassion, which led us to reprobate their crimes 
 and be afflicted at their cruelties. Thus would they 
 deprive ns of that last resource of humanity — to mourn 
 over the misfortunes and sufferings of the victims of 
 their injustice. If such was the case, it might be asked 
 ia the emphatic words of the Roman writer, 
 
 Quis gemltus populo Romano liber erit? 
 
 They would not only endeavour to destroy our poli- 
 tical existence and to deprive us of the privileges which 
 we enjoyed under our excellent constitution, but they 
 would eradicate our feelings as men ; they v/ould make 
 crimes of those sympathies which were excited by the 
 distresses of our common nature; they would repress 
 our sighs and restrain our tears. Thus, except th© 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 253 
 
 s]>ecific fact, wliicli was alleged as a ground of tlieir 
 declaration of war, namely, the accession of his Ma- 
 jesty to the treaty between Austria and Prussia, which 
 had turned out to be entirely false and unfounded, or 
 the augmentation of our armament, a measure of pre- 
 caution indispensibly requisite for the safety of the 
 country, and the protection of its allies, all the others 
 were merely unjust, unfounded, absurd, and frivolous 
 pretexts — pretexts which never could have been 
 brought to justify a measure of which they were not 
 previously strongly desirous, and which siiewed that 
 instead of w-aiting for procrastination, they only sought 
 a pretence of aggression. The death of Louis, though 
 it only affected the individual, was aimed against all so- 
 vereignty, and shewed their determination to carry 
 into execution that intention, which they had so oftt^a 
 professed of exterminating all monarchy, as a conse- 
 quence of that monstrous system of inconsistency 
 which they pursued, even while they professed a de- 
 sire to maintain a good understanding with this courr^ 
 try, the minister of marine h:ad written a letter to the 
 seaport towns, ordering them to ht^ out privateers: 
 for what purpose but the projected view of making de- 
 predations on our commerce ? While they afiected to 
 complain of our armament, tliey had passed a decree 
 to fit out fifty sail of the line — an armament which, 
 however it was to be observed, existed oiily in the 
 decree. 
 
 *' He feared that, by this long detail, l.v had wearied 
 the patience of the house, and occupied more of their 
 time than he at first intended. 1 he pretexts whuh be 
 had been led to examine, alleged as grounds for the de- 
 claration of war, were of a nature that required no le- 
 
 J^O. 18. Y 
 
254 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 futation; they were such as every man could sfte 
 through; and in many of his remarks he doubted not 
 he had been anticipated by that contempt with which 
 the house would naturally regard the weak reasoning, 
 but wicked pohcy, of these pretexts/' 
 
 He now came to his conclusion. — " We/' said 
 Mr. Pitt, " have, in every instance, observed the 
 strictest neutrality with respect to the French: we 
 have pushed to its utmost extent, the system of tem- 
 perance and moderation : we have held out the means 
 of accommodation ; waited till the last moment for 
 satisfactory explanation. They have now, at last, 
 come to an actual aggression, by seizing our vessels in 
 our very ports, without any provocation being given 
 on our part ; without any preparations having been 
 adopted but those of necessary precaution, they have 
 declared, and are now waging war. Such is the con- 
 duct v/hich they have pursued; such is the situation 
 ia which we stand. It now remains to be seen whe- 
 ther, under Providence, the efforts of a free, brave, 
 loyal, and happy people, aided by their allies, will 
 not be successful in checking the pj^ogress of a sys- 
 tem, the principles of which, if not o|)posed, threaten 
 the most fatal consequences to the tranquillity of this 
 country, the security of its allies, the good order of 
 every European government, and the liappiness of 
 the whole of the human race!" 
 
 Mr. Pitt then proceeded to move the following 
 address in answer to his Majesty's message: — 
 
 ^' That an humble address be presented to his Ma- 
 jesty, to return his Majesty the thanks of this house 
 for his most gracious message, informing us, that the 
 assembly, now exercising the powers of government in 
 
 5 
 
WILLIAM PITT. Q53 
 
 France, have, without previous notice, directed acts 
 of hostility to be committed against the persons and 
 property of his r>Iajesty's subjects, in breach of the 
 law of nations and of the positive stipulations of trea*- 
 ty; and have since, on the most groundless pretences, 
 actually declared war against his Majesty and the 
 United Provinces: to assure his I\I ajesty that, under 
 the circumstances of this wanton and unprovoked ag- 
 gression, we most gratefully acknowledge his Majesty's 
 care and vigilance in taking the necessary steps for 
 maintaining the honour of his crown, and vindicating 
 the rights of his people ; that his Majesty may rely on 
 the firm and eftectual support of the i-epresentatives of 
 a brave and loyal people, in the prosecution of a j'j?t 
 and necessary war, and in endeavoring, under the 
 blessing of Providence, to oppose an effectual barrier 
 to the farther progress of a system which strikes at 
 the security and peace of all independant nations, and 
 is pursued in open defiance of every principle of mode- 
 ration, good faith, humanity, arid justice. 
 
 " That, in a cause of such general concern, it must 
 afibrd us great satisfaction to learn that his Majesty 
 has every reason to hope for the cordial co-operation 
 of those powers who are united with his ISlajesty 
 by the ties of alliance, or who feel an interest in pre- 
 venting the extension of anarchy and confusion, and 
 in contributing to the security and tranquillity of 
 Europe. 
 
 *' That we are persuaded, that whatever his Ma- 
 jesty's faithful subjects must consider as most dear and 
 sacred, the stability of our happy constitution, the 
 security and honour of his Majesty's crown, and the 
 preservation of our laws, our liberty, and our religion^ 
 y2 
 
156 
 
 LIFE OF TPIE LATE 
 
 are all involved in the issue of the present contest ; 
 and that our zeal and exertions shall be proportioned 
 to the importance of the conjuncture, and to the mag- 
 nitude aiKJ value of the objects for which we have to 
 contend/' 
 
 liie effects of the French revolution were naturallj 
 not dinrinisbed by the war which Great Britain, from 
 such cogent motives had now waged with undiminished 
 dignity against the French republic. It had indeed, 
 With tl^e usual tendency of all wars, served to excite 
 ti gainst the minister, in those who supported the doc- 
 1 fines of the present party in opposition to govern- 
 ment, additional opprobrium ; and when the mea- 
 surtjs which had birth in his ardent mind began to 
 operate with the additional force Vvd.ich they might be 
 e.xpected to derive from their execution, the conse- 
 quence was little less than a general in3urrection,Avhich 
 the utmost strength of the loyal could scarcely quell 
 in the body of the people. 
 
 Of the measures which took place on this most im- 
 portant and interesting occasion, Mr. Pitt had the de- 
 cided merit. Whatever assistance he received from those 
 respectable coadjutors who appeared as the ostensible 
 authors of the various plans with which it became ne- 
 cessary to meet the machinations of the popular party, 
 the principle on which the government of Britain was 
 conducted under the pressure of the present circum- 
 iStances was that of Mr. Pitt, and entirely attributable 
 to him. 
 
 This principle was, as usual, perfectly accordant 
 with those under which he had come into administra- 
 tion, and diametrically opposite to that of his prede- 
 cessors — his rivals, and present opponents. 
 
WILLIAM PITT. ^57 
 
 A view of their respective merits has been already 
 pubHshed in such a variety of forms, as in this in- 
 stance to be in no v/ay necessary. Of that of Mr. Pitt 
 sufficient will be learned from his own mouth on the 
 report of the committee on the subject, which took 
 place on May l6, 1794- — at a time when the ferment 
 of the nation had arrived at its greatest height. 
 
 This committee had been appointed four days pre- 
 ceding, in consequence of a message from his Ma* 
 jesty, stating, " that seditious practices to an alarm- 
 ing extent had been carried on by certain societies in- 
 London, in correspondence, &c. tending to subvert the 
 laws and constitution of ihe kingdom, &c. and recom- 
 mending to the house to adopt such measures as might 
 appear necessary/* 
 
 The books and papers of the society were referred 
 to a committee of secrecy, of which this was the 
 result. 
 
 Mr. Pitt followed the reading of the report. 
 
 He said, ^^ the committee of secrecy had formed 
 their opinion on the papers submitted to their exami- 
 nation with the greatest expedition, and their report 
 stated so fully and particularly tho^e circumstances,, 
 vchich in the judgment of the committee required the 
 ihimediate attention of parliament, that he felt it 
 hardly necessary for him to do more than shortly to. 
 recapitulate the different objects to which that report 
 applied, and the various particulars which came un-^ 
 der their consideration. Gentlemen would perceiva 
 that that report, so expeditiously laid before the house^ 
 €ontained a general view of the transactions referred 
 to the committee, ^vithout waiting for a more minute 
 itnvestigatian, and was shortly this s—^txiat it appeared 
 
258 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 to Ibem, that a plan had been digested and acted 
 upon, and at that moment was in forwardness towards 
 its executioj:!, the object of which was nothing less 
 than to assemble a pretended convention of the people, 
 for the pinpose of assuming to itself the character of a 
 general representation of the nation; superseding, in 
 the first place, the representative capacity of that 
 house, and arrogating, in the next place, the legisla- 
 tive power of the countrj^ at large. It would be for 
 the house to consider v;hether the circumstances con- 
 tained in the report, impressed their minds with the 
 same conviction with v.'hich they had impressed the 
 minds of the committee. If they did, he could not 
 have a doubt but that they would lead to the same 
 practical conclusion, namely, that, if such designs ex- 
 isted, if such designs had been acted upon, and were 
 in forwardness, there was not one moment to be lest 
 in arming the executive power with those additional 
 means, which might be sufiicient effectually to stop 
 the further progress of such a plan, and to prevent its 
 being carried into final execution. 
 
 '' Ft was chiefly necessary for the house, in consider- 
 ing the report, to recollect, that a great part of it was 
 ^merely introductory; and that, though it stated trans- 
 actions of a date long antecedent to the period in 
 which the acts of the societies implicated had assumed 
 the serious aspect of practical treason, and though 
 they were of notorious publicity, it was nevertheless 
 necessary to bring them forward again to observation, 
 to give a clue to unravel the complicated circum- 
 stances of the plan, and, by comparison and combi- 
 nation of them with the subsequent proceedings of the 
 individuals concerned, to shew, that from the begin- 
 
WILLIAM PITT. S5§ 
 
 ning their views v/ere the same, and that the pretext 
 of reform, under which they masked their purpose, 
 was far from being the true object of their intention. 
 The house would also carry along with them, that the 
 committee, having been stinted in point of time, had 
 not been able to digest methodically, or point out dis- 
 tinctly, the various minute parts that formed the great 
 and momentous business before them. In order to 
 give the house, however, as soon as possible, posses- 
 sion of so much of it as might serve to point out the 
 daily and encreasing approximation of danger, iht 
 committee, in examining and making up the report, 
 had kept m view the great object, the leading design 
 of the plan; for it was not to be imagined, that the 
 distance of the transactions in point of lime, and the 
 fact of being previously known, made them the less 
 material as comments on those parts of their conduct 
 \^hich were discovered in their full maturity. * 
 
 ** It would be seen by the report, that the papers 
 found, as far as related to that part of the conspiracy 
 which irnnn diately implicated the corresponding so- 
 ciety, and that for constitutional information, con- 
 tained two \ ears' correspondence with various other 
 societies in this and a neighbouring country ; and from 
 these, coupled with their subsequent and more recent 
 proceedings, il was evident that those societies, which 
 wouid be found to be nov^ setting on foot aconventionj 
 had had such a measure in contemplation from the 
 very outset ; that it was conceived so long as two 
 years back; was openly avowed in their corresponT 
 dence, but kept in reserve to be reduced to practice 
 as soon as a seasonable occasion should oifer. ; This 
 whole system of insurrection wouid appear, from the 
 
260 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 papers found with them, to be laid in the modern 
 doctrine of the rights of man ; — that monstrous doc- 
 trine, under which the weak and ignorant, who are 
 most susceptible of impression from such barren ab- 
 stract positions, were attempted to be seduced to over* 
 turn government, law, property, security, religion, 
 order, and every thing valuable in this countij, as 
 men acting upon the same ideas had already overturned 
 and destroyed every thing in France, and disturbed 
 the peace and endangered the safety, if not the existi* 
 tence of every nation in Europe. However gentlemen 
 might ground arguiiients against the cautionary mea- 
 sures taken to prevent the evil effects of that pernicious 
 doctrine, on the contemptible situation of the authors, 
 and the absurdity of the principles of those books iu 
 -which it was inculcated, yet allowing the one to be in 
 the extreme as contemptible as the others were absurd, 
 it was no light or trivial circumstance, when, deduced 
 from it, alarming principles were promulgated and 
 eagerly adopted by large bodies; and when the pro* 
 ceedings of all those jacobin societies would appear (as 
 the papers before the house fully demonstrated) to be 
 only comments on that text ;'-a text for the inculca- 
 tion of which those societies were the disciples here, 
 as their corresponding French brethren were the in- 
 struments for disseminating it in France, and extend- 
 ing it by carnage and slaughter to all other parts of 
 Europe. 
 
 *' It would appear,, that, prior to the enormities 
 committed in France, a correspondence had been car^ 
 ried on between those societies and the jacobin club 
 in Paris, and that delegates w'ere sent from them ta 
 the national convention, and- received formally by 
 
WILLIAM PITT.: 261 
 
 that assembly ; and that, at the very moment when 
 the jacobin faction which usurped the government of 
 that country, had commenced hostilities against Great 
 Britain, those societies, still, as far as they coultl, had' 
 pursued the same conduct, expressed the same attach- 
 ment to their cause, adapted their appellations, forms 
 of proceeding and language, and, in short, had formed 
 a settled design to disseminate the same principles, 
 and sow the same seeds of ruin, in their own country. 
 It would be found, not only that tbe most effectual 
 plans which cunning could devise, had been laid 
 to carry this design into practice, but in the report 
 would be seen a staleriient of the catalogue of manu- 
 facturing towns marked out, as the most likely (from, 
 the vast concourse of ignorant and profligate men who 
 necessarily collect in such places) to adopt their plans 
 and corresponding societies established there, to keep 
 up the chain of seditious intercourse, and promulgate 
 and give it universal circulation. Gentlemen would 
 fmd in that catalogue a well chosen selection of the" 
 places where those people dwell, who must be natu- 
 rally supposed most ready to nse at the call of insur- 
 rection ; who were most likely to be blinded by their 
 artifices, and prejudiced by professions ; whose undet- 
 standings were most subject to be misled by their 
 doctrires, and rendered subservient to their views, 
 and whom fraudful persuasion, proneness to discon- 
 tent, and the visionary and fallacious hope of mending 
 their condition by any alteration of it whatever, would 
 be most likely to congregate into an enormous torrent 
 of insurrection, which would sweep away all tbeibar- 
 riers of governmentj law, and religion, and leave our- 
 
262 LIFE OF TPIE LATE 
 
 country a naked waste for usurped authority to range 
 in, uncontrolled and unresisted. 
 
 " In considering this subject, the house couid not 
 but remark the extraordinary manner in which those 
 societies had varied their plans of operation ; some- 
 times acting in undisguised, audacious hostility, some- 
 times patting on the mask of attachment to the state 
 and country ; one day openly avowing their intentions, 
 as if purposely to provoke the hand of justice; the 
 next putting on the mask of reform, and affecting the 
 utmost zeal for the preservation of the constitution. 
 In their letter to the society at Norwich, would be 
 seen a plain avowal of their object, an apology for 
 deigning to apply to parliament \ and a candici> sincere 
 confession, that, not to the Parliament, not to the 
 executive power were they to look for redress, but to 
 tlie convention which they proposed to erect, and to 
 themselves; afterwards they recommended persevering 
 in petitioning for reform to be used as a mask to their 
 designs, which they were to throw ofl' when time 
 served, and a period propitious to their views should 
 arrive. Happily for this country, and for the whole 
 Vv'orld, they had prematurely tliought that period at 
 hand, and thrown oflf the mask just when the bulk of 
 the nation unanimously were uniting with government 
 in vigilance and care for its protection, and in the re- 
 solution to oppose their efforts. 
 
 *' By a due attention to the correspondence of that 
 society, the house would find, in their communication 
 with the British constitution at Edinburgh, which still 
 retained some flimsy remnant of that disguise, some 
 remains of that hypocrisy assumed to hide those de- 
 signs, which, though i^ut pubUcly declared, too ob- 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 263 
 
 viously appeared, that they styled this convention 
 the representatives of the people, clothed in all the 
 right to reform, and send delegates to it; and when 
 some of the most mischievous and active of its mem- 
 bers fell under the sentence of the law, that they boldly 
 asserted their innocence, nay, their merits, directly 
 in the teeth of that law, paid every tribute of enthu- 
 siastie applause to the persons convicted by the ver- 
 dict of juries legally constituted, and of respect to the 
 convention, pronouncing them objects of panegyric 
 and envy. In conformity to their prior declarations, 
 and to the plans d^i insurrection laid by them, they made 
 the legal condemnation of those guilty persons the sig- 
 nal, as they styled it, of coming to issue on the point, 
 * Whether the law should frighten them into compli- 
 ance, or they oppose it with their own weapons, to 
 wit, force and power?' that is to say distinctly, 
 Whether they should yield obedience to the laws of 
 their country, or oppose them by insurrection ? That 
 was avowed in as plain and marked language' as man 
 could possibly conceive. He thought that that case, 
 so circumstanced, and supported by stich a variety of 
 coincident matter, was as strong a case as the mind of 
 man could v;ell im*agine; yet, singular though it might 
 appear, all this was but introductory to facts of #i still 
 stronger nature which were to follow. He should call 
 the attention of the house to the history cf a society 
 which, despicable and contemptible though the persons 
 were, as to talents, education, and influence, yet 
 when looked at with cautious attention, and compared 
 with the object they had in view, and the motives on 
 which they acted, naaiely, that great moving principle 
 of all jacobinism, the love of plunder, devastation, 
 
264 ^ LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 and robbery, which now bore the usurped name of 
 liberty, and that butchery and carnage which had been 
 made the instrument of enforcing those principles, 
 would appear to be formidable in exact proportion to 
 the meanness and contemptibility of their characters. 
 ,0f that society the characteristic was, that, being 
 composed of the lower orders of the people, it had 
 v/ithin it the means of unbounded extension, and con- 
 cealed in itself the means of rapid increase. It had 
 risen already to no less than thirty divisions in London, 
 some of those containing as many as six hundred per- 
 sons, and was connected by a systeiftatical chain of 
 correspondence with other societies scattered through 
 all the manufacturing, towns, where ihe-seeds of those 
 principles were laid, which artful and dangerous people 
 might best convert to their own purposes. It wou-ld 
 appear in proof, that the society had risen to an enor- 
 mous height of boldness, and erected in itself, in ex- 
 press terms, a pov/er to watch over the progress of 
 parliament, to scan its proceedings, and prescribe 
 limits for its actions ; beyond which if it presumed to 
 advance, that august society was to issne its mandate, 
 not only to controvert that act, but to put an end to 
 the existence of parliament itself: so that if the par- 
 liament should think it necessary to oppose, by any 
 act of penal coercion, the ruin of the constitution, 
 that would be the war-whoop for insurrection; the 
 means of our defence would become the signal for at- 
 tack, and the parliament would be made the instru- 
 ment of its own annihilation. Such language as this, 
 Goxmng from people apparently so contemptible in ta- 
 len.ts, so mean in their description, and so circum- 
 "!cribed in their power, would, abstractedly considered, 
 
WILLIAM PITT. Ids 
 
 be supposed to derive compassion, as the wildest 
 workings of insanity; but the researches of the com- 
 mittee would tend to prove, that it had been the result 
 of deep design, matured, moulded into shape, and fit 
 for mischievous effect when opportunity should ofier. 
 
 About six weeks since there had arisen a new ajra 
 in this history of insurrection, in which the house 
 might contemplate those great machines of jacobinism, 
 the societit*.s alluded to in the report. At that period 
 the corresponding society had laid, in due form, be- 
 fore the society for constitutional information, a deli- 
 berate and well concerted plan for actually assembling 
 a convention for all England ; not to be the representa- 
 tives of these partici/iar bodies for ilie accomplishment 
 of particular legal purposes, but to l.^e the representa- 
 tives of the whole body of the people of England, and 
 evidently to exercise legislative and judicial capacities, 
 iQ overturn the established system of govern njeut, and 
 wrest from the parliament that power which the people 
 and the constitution l)ad lodged in their hands. With- 
 in a few weeks the plan was fixed upon to be carried 
 into execution, and in their circular letter they precise- 
 ly and emphatically stated, that tw ti?ne ivas to be lust : 
 and lest, by any possibility, their ruinous intentions 
 should be niisunderstood, the letter was addressed 
 equally to all parts of the island, and circulated with 
 a share of vigour, cunning, and yddress, truly asto- 
 nishing. It contained also a declaration, that a 
 ceiitral ?pot was fixed upon, which ihey would not 
 venture to name, till they had assurances of the fide- 
 lity of those to whom they were to disclose it; which 
 central spot they chose, as they themselves asserted, 
 for the purpose of having with greater facility the 
 
 NO. 18. 2 
 
266 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 delegates of the whole island present when they assem- 
 bled; and they particularly desired each separate 
 society to send an exact account of the number of its 
 members, friends, and adherents, in order to estimate 
 their force. Of this tbey informed the society for 
 constitutional information, in a letter, accompanied 
 with a set of resolutions. 
 
 ^' It might be objected, that men of the description 
 he had stated, could not be expected to act so consist- 
 -ently, and under such well managed disguise; but 
 wlien, on inspection, it appeared that their plans had 
 been carried on with a degree of cunning and ma- 
 nagement that greater men, in worthier causes, had 
 failed in manifesting, that objection could have no 
 weight wlien opposed to evidence thus incontrovertible. 
 Who was there that knew whiit jacobins, and jacobin 
 prhiciples were, but must see, in the pretences of re- 
 form in parliament held out by these societies, the 
 arrogant claims of the same class of men as those who 
 lorded in France, to trample upon the rich, and crush 
 -every description of .men, women, and children ; th^ 
 dark designs of a few, making use of the name of the 
 people to govern all ; a plan—a plan founded in the 
 arrogance of wretches, the outcasts of society, tending 
 to enrich themselves, by depriving of property and of 
 life all those who were distinguished either for personal 
 worth or for opulence! — a plan whic4) had been long 
 felt by the unfortunate people of France in all its 
 agj^ravated horrors, and which, he feared, would long, 
 very long continue to be felt by that ill-fated country. 
 <* ^From tl e period he had mentioned, they had acted 
 uyon that horrible plan; and subsequently, (on the 
 lith of April,) the house would find a meeting of the 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 267 
 
 society, their proceedings in which n>eeting carried- 
 with them no faint illustration of what they miglit be 
 expected to do in the full majesty of power. These 
 would be found resolutions arraigning every branch of 
 the government, threatening the sovereign, insulting 
 the House of Peers, and accusing the Coniuiuns of 
 insufficiency; there would be found notice taken of 
 the measures of parliament, which had been j^reviously 
 made the signal for the insurrection of the people, 
 and declarations that certain measures, if adopted, 
 whether with or without the consent of parliamenlv 
 should be rescinded, under their doctrine, 
 
 *' Salus populi suprema lex/^ 
 and that the constitution had been utterly destroyed* 
 Could tliere be a more explicit avowal of their views f 
 AW the materials from whence proof of these allega- 
 tions was drawn, rested on their ovv-n authentic re- 
 cords, and on the express and unequivocal avowal of 
 their own deliberate acts in their meditated system of 
 insurrection. This was the essence of the subject; but 
 if the house were of opinion that this so deeply affect- 
 ed the safety and existence of parliament itself, and 
 struck at the root of government and the constitution, 
 as to demand interfeicnce, tliere were, in addition 
 other things, which must contribute not a little to in- 
 crease the impatience of the house to bafHe the views 
 of those conspirators, and stop the linai execution of 
 their projects. 
 
 " For his part, Mr. Pitt said, such was his opinion of 
 the British constitution, that, even supposing that tlie 
 executive government had been guilty of every neglect 
 of their duty in watching over its safety, and parlia- 
 ment bad been s.ipine under tho.e. manifestations at 
 
 22 
 
268 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 sedition, be conceived its enemies must nevertbek-i: 
 have failed of success; but iiowever persuaded he 
 might be of this fdct, ii was sliii right to prevent, by 
 timely interference, the siiiall niisery which a !>hcrt 
 sinjggle might necessarily produce, and to save tiie 
 nation at large from the reproach, that they had sem 
 such acts, and heard bucb avov/als, without having 
 adopted proper steps to check their execution, and 
 punish those who were so wicked as to devise them. 
 Tiiere were stated in the close of the report, on 
 grounds not light and trivial, though not minutely 
 entered into in the report till after fuller investigations 
 by the committee, allegations that arms had been actu- 
 al<f/ procured and distribnttd bj/ these societies, and were 
 ii) the hands of those very people whom they had been 
 striving to corrupt; and that even now, instead of 
 breaking up this formidable league, and disbanding 
 and dispersing this jacobin army, they had shewn, 
 themselves immoveably bent on the pursuit of their 
 purpose, and displayed preparations of defiance and 
 resistance to the measures of government. 
 
 ** Jt remained for the house to consider what was to 
 be done ; and, in considering that, they would not 
 refer to the quality of the persons, but to the nature 
 and magnitude of the objects they had in view. It 
 would be found, when the causes and proceedings were 
 taken into contemplation, thai so fornndable a conspi- 
 racy had never before existed. The inquiry was yet 
 far from c^.nnplete, and unfit for final decision, the 
 documents being very volunujious ; but the committee 
 had deemed it their duty to shew the house, that 
 inst»nt precaution was necessary, and had theiefore, 
 though unable to finish the important rt search, laid 
 
WILLIAIVI PITT.^ 2^9*' 
 
 before the house what they had yet done, which he' 
 hoped would be thought sufficient grounds for adopt-' 
 ing the measure he intended to propose. It had been 
 usual, in time of danger, to enact a temporary sus- 
 pension of the Habeas Corpus law. As that great and 
 essential benefit of the subject had been suggested, and 
 provided for the preservation of the constitution on the 
 one hand, so, on the other, it could not exist if the 
 constitution was gone. The temporary sacrifice of- 
 that law might be, on certain occastbns, as necessary 
 to the support of the constitution, as the maintenance 
 of its principles was at all others. It had been sus- 
 pended at a time when the constitution and liberty of 
 the country were most peculiarly guarded and respect- 
 ed ; and such a suspension was more particularly called^ 
 for at this crisis, when attempts were made to disse- 
 minate, through the realm, principles and means of 
 action that might endanger that constitution, for the 
 preservation of which that law had been made, and 
 which might produce more lamentable effects, and at- 
 last require a reniedy greater in extent, and more 
 dreadful, than the one now proposed. This was not 
 his opinion alone, but the sentiments of all those 
 respectable gentlemen of the committee who had in-^- 
 vesti^ated the matter. He should therefore move for 
 
 o 
 
 leave to bring in a bill to empower his Majesty to* 
 secure and detain all such persons as should be sus- 
 pected of conspiring against his person and govern-- 
 ment." 
 
 Of the conduct of this war, and tlie circumstances- 
 arising out of it, Mr. Pitt built his highest fame; it is. 
 Bot for these pages to hope to trace his varicus diiB- 
 
 z a 
 
£70 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 Gulties or the means by whith he regularly subverted; 
 theiT], with eiujrgies proportionai.e to their magnitude. 
 
 By a selection ot some incidents, however, of certain 
 authenticity we shall endeavour to convey an idea of 
 the spirit of that government formed on a. principle 
 entirely his own,, v/hich produced such' astonishing 
 effects,. 
 
 Of the promptitude and dexterity of the civil de- 
 partment the following instance will afford no uninte- 
 resting specimen, as it was whispered about among the 
 circles of the day. 
 
 At that peiiod of the French revolution when repub- 
 lican emissaries from the continent were busily engaged 
 in this country, in endeavouring, by the only means, 
 in their povvcr, persuasion, and bribery, to disseminale- 
 those principles of anarchy and hoiror which have 
 rendered France an eternal beacon to civilized society 
 ^—precisely at that time when so many of our Country- 
 men were seduced by a fair phantom from that honest, 
 attachment to their king and constitution, by which they 
 had been hitherto distinguished,, and to which they 
 have long since returned — a certain foreigner entered 
 one of the most considerable banking houses in the 
 metropohs,. and taking from his pocket-book a large 
 sum of money, amounting to between twelve and four- 
 teen, thousands, expressed a desire to .open an account 
 \vith the house alluded to. On being asked by the 
 clerk to whom he addressed himself,, what naii^e he 
 should Dlace in the books, he requested that the sum 
 should be entered u?)der the letter A, and that all 
 drafts subscribed by that It^tter should be duly honour-- 
 €d. In a few days he called with a sin)ilar sum, which. 
 by his directions was entered under the letter B. Xhe. 
 
 a.. 
 
WILLIAM PITT. S7l 
 
 clerk surprized at these proceedings, communicated, 
 them to the principal partner in the firm, Mr. D. by 
 vvhom he was ordered, should the stranger again make 
 his appearance, to acquaint him, that he might have 
 an opportunity of observing him. Accordingly, in less 
 than a week, the foreigner deposited a large sum un- 
 der the letter C, Mr. D. took advantage of his third 
 visit particularly to notice tht^ features of the man; 
 and soon after another call enabled him firmly to im- 
 print them on his mmd. Having consulted with some 
 friends on the steps it would be prudtnt to take, it was 
 deemed advisable by them that Mr. D. should wait on 
 the premier, as they had httle doubt that it was intend- 
 ed to apply this money to smister andpoiitical services. 
 The next morning iNIr. D. went to Duwning-street, but 
 was informed that Mr. Pitt had not ris^'n. It is well 
 known that that great man used to avail himself of the 
 quiet of his bed to I'evolve in liis mind the important 
 schemes of policy, which he was ever intent on fram- 
 ing for the benefit of his cotintry ; and that at those 
 moments his servants had orders on no account to dis- 
 turb him. INlr. D. wailed patiently above two hours 
 before the minister's bell rang,. On bting told of his 
 visitor, Mr. Pitt instantly sent a message requesting to 
 see him in his chamber,, where he received him in his 
 morning gown,, for which he apologized by expressincr 
 his unwillingness that he felt to allow a gentleman of 
 such respectability to remain a smgle unnecessary in- 
 stant in attendance on him. Mr. D. then proceeded, 
 to unfold the business on which he Cc-me. At the con- 
 clusion of the narrative, Mi. Pitt opened a small bu- 
 reau, and taking from thence several miniature pic- 
 tsres; laid them before Mr,. D. who strongly impressed 
 
272 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 with the resemblance whicii one of them bore to the 
 object of his suspicion, suddenly pointed to it, and ex- 
 claimed, '' that is the man !'* Mr. Pitt, smihng, 
 thanked Mr. D. for his information, exj)ressing a wish 
 that all his brother bankers had been equally commu- 
 nicative ; but at the same time he assured him that the 
 proceedings of the individual, whose portrait he had 
 selected, were well known to his Majesty's govern-> 
 ment, who were closely watching his movements, and 
 those of his colleagues. He requested Mr. D. to re- 
 turn, take no notice of the transaction, and pay any 
 drafts that might be presented in consequence. I'his Mr. 
 D. accordingly did ; the money was gradually with- 
 drawn, and in a few months he learned that this man 
 and his coadjutors, from the developement of whose 
 intrigues, during an apparent- blindne&s to them, go- 
 vernment at that critic-al period had derived much im- 
 portant intelligence, were sent out of the kingdom 
 under the A lie a Act. 
 
 While these machinations from without were repell- 
 ing with so much success, those of the societies already 
 correctly described by Mr. Pitt were ardently pursuing 
 within the bosom of the capital, and every means 
 adopted to render the minister obnoxious to every class, 
 though without effect. 
 
 One of these w^as of so particular a nature as to de- 
 mand even here some rational investigation. This was 
 the execution of the plan prescribed by Mr. Howard, 
 ,^andona very extensive scale,of an house of correction, 
 in Cold Bath Fields — a prison which excited the popular 
 indignation perhaps more than any other circumstance 
 within the remembrance of the present writer. He 
 temeaxbers while walking over the foundation of this> 
 
••X.-.--A 
 
 .'■m-. 
 .##"■ 
 
 
 
 I.O.U . -"•'*•' ■^" 
 
 '^^*.^»'^ 
 
 6- 
 
 SIE. .1FPaA"^"CIS BIJRjiAEl'T. 
 
 rut .J^uijr.j:^.';, l.yjam&f Qmdse .Londqn . 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 273 
 
 biiilrjing, to have heard the people considering the dif- 
 ferent portions of them as so many cells for the pur- 
 poses of an Knglish BastiJe ! So jealous is a hee nation, 
 ot anything that wears the appearance of an abridg- 
 ment of its liberties. Since the completion, however, 
 oUh is house of correction, so various have been the 
 reports concerning it, so dreadful have been the rela- 
 tion ot its cruel regnhitions, that injustice to the sen* 
 sations of wounded humanity, something that has re- 
 lation to truth shall here be said of it. The commo- 
 tions that took place in the capital shortly after its 
 establishnaent, attached the idea of a state prison to it, 
 as svell as to many othor places of confinetnent, both in. 
 town and in the countiy. The persons committed to 
 it during those commotions were not such as philoso- 
 phers would have appealed to for a calm and rational 
 account of its internal economy. Hence what vvas be- 
 fore but conjecture respecting it, vvas established as fact; 
 by an irritated nation. But it did not end here; for dur- . 
 ing the representations of those whose sense of duty in- 
 fluenced them to examine nito the state of this prisotj, 
 Sir Francis Burdett* appeared to urge the inspectioii 
 
 * Of tl'.is amiable and conspicuous character, however in sont« 
 instances misled, the iiuj>ailiality ol the pjcbent work dcaiaiids 
 soiue uccount to be given. 
 
 Sir Fraiici;5 Burdett is the second son of Francis, aiso second son 
 of Sir Robert Burdett, of Fremark in D>trb>'>«hjre^ and Eleanor, 
 daughter of WiUinm Jon' s, Fsq of Raiiisbury, in Wi'lshire. In 
 the pride of ancestry and fortune Sir Fi.incis niav boy/ii tiic bigh- 
 e.st chiims. A representative ot" his faniily, originaiiy Noruian, 
 accompanied Wiiliani tiie Coiiqueror to Kn^ciaji i, and the same. 
 feinaie. was the ancestor ot liie harisof Sandv-ci: and Stanhope, 
 the De Sulis^s aiid^ the liurdctts, , Sir Frauci? was educated at 
 
274 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 with peculiar warmth. This saiiction and llie repectabi- 
 lity it attached to the cause, while it inspired proper at- 
 
 Westminster School,, with the hUe and present Dnkcs of Bedford,. 
 Lord Wiiliani Russel, &(:. About tlic vear 1790 he repaired to 
 the Continent; and, on his return lo Enghuid, finding that his- 
 education had been neglected, he betook himself once more to the 
 study of the classics ; and it was upon this qccasion, we b^^'lieve, 
 and also on this account, thut lie commenced an acquaintance 
 with Mr. Home Tooke, who had always been allowed to be one 
 of the first scholars of the age. In I7i;3 he married Miss Coutts^ 
 a daughter of the opulent banker of tlie same name, and sister to 
 the Marchioness of Bute, and countess dowager of Guildford : bj' 
 this lady he has had two sons and two daughters. At the general 
 election in 17 96, Sir Francis was returned lo parliament, without 
 .any opposition, for Boroughbridge, in Yorkshire, in conjunction 
 with Sir John Scott, afterwards Lord Eldon. In 1797 he suc- 
 ceeded his grandfather, Sir R,obert, in consequence of the un- 
 happy catastrophe of his eider brother, wiio perished at the same 
 time with c young English nobleman, (Viscount Montague), while 
 trying to cross the falls of ilie IVniiie, in a small boat^ at Schaff- 
 hausen, an achievement novel in its kind, aud which was Hot 
 attempted with impunity. 
 
 Having evinced h.imself unfriendly to the late war, and hostile 
 to all the measures of Mr. Pitt's administration, it was thought by 
 many of the freeholders of Middlesex, that he was a proper per- 
 son to represent that count), Mr. Mainwaring was at this time 
 wholly unpopular, and as his conduct was deemed by many to be 
 deserving Of censure, it was upon this circumstance that the hope, 
 and indeed the probability of success was chiefly placed. On the 
 Sd ol'June, 1798, he delivered a siicech in llic house on the assessed 
 taxes, which was considered by some as replete with sound reason- 
 ing. At all eventSv it dispiayad, in a very energetic manner, his 
 inveterate opposition to the measures of that day. Ln the month of 
 June following a bill was brought in for regulating the publication 
 of newspapers, &c. which was opposed by the leading members 
 of opposition as a dangerous innovation. This afforded Sir Francis 
 au opportunity of standing forward as an advocate for tliQ Ubertjf 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 275 
 
 tentioii to the subjects, it is feared gave birth to evi- 
 dence not altogether clear, and exaggerated stories that 
 would not otherwise have existed; Those who had no 
 other merit than the acridt^nt of a temporary contine- 
 nient in Cold Bath Fields, knew that misfortune was ^ 
 a sure introduction to his excellent heart, and it is to 
 be apprehended availed themselves accordingly. Thus 
 was this prison, which miglit have been appropriated 
 to the noblest ends, stamped with all the terrors of an 
 inquisition — and thus was one of the best of men calum- 
 niated, fur an attempt lo ameliorate the condition of 
 those who could not help themselves, and a regard ffc;r 
 our character as a civilized nation. 
 
 Were we to attempt a description of the Cold Bath 
 Fields prison, even from the narratives of those who 
 have complained of its system (from which only we 
 
 of the press. But he first distinguished himself in opposition to 
 the suspension of the habeas corpus bill in the House of Com- 
 mons: he afterwards denounced iMr. Aris and the discipline of 
 theprison in Cold Bath Fields, and it was this latter circumstance 
 that firuilly led to his declaring; himself a candidate for the repre- 
 sentation of the countv of Middlesex ; and had it not been for 
 some imprudent exwressionSj the new candidate would have been 
 returned without opposition. 
 
 A variety of election contests^ ho\vever> succeeded, which fall 
 not within our plan, and the uliimate result of which was unsuc- 
 cessful to the popular candidate. 
 
 The paternal fortune of Sir Francis was ample; and about 
 tight ^-ears ago, on the death of Lady JoneiJ, he came to the pos- 
 session of a very large, unincumbered landed property in Wilt- 
 shire. In pursuance of the will of the testatrix. Sir Francis was 
 obliged to take the name of J «nes ; bit hy passing through cer- 
 tain expensive legal cereinouies, h« was enabled to resume his 
 family name. 
 
276 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 know anything of its internal plan) it would be con- 
 sidered as a defence of its obnoxious governor. To 
 enter the lists on this behalf we have no inclination, 
 yet we would advance a few ideas in the cause of truth. 
 When we perceive the dreadhl situation to which all 
 our institutions, whether learned or charitable, have 
 indisputably degenerated, is it to be expected that those 
 for the reception of persons whose misconduct has been 
 supposed to exile them from society, should be infal- 
 lible ? — Certainly not ; but let us then apply to com- 
 parison, as the best mode of estimation. 
 
 In the prisons of the metropolis, th.e few regulations 
 that tend to prevent cruelty aixd disease, as in many 
 ether instances, entirely lose their effect from the su- 
 perficial manner in which they are executed. The ma- 
 gistrates of the district make occasional inspections- 
 for the purpose, but these are to be made in form 
 and a previous intimation prepares the object ot it, 
 for having once in several months, nothing to discom- 
 mend. Kor are the views of those who inspect always 
 directed to a ver}' strict scrutiny. Hence are the nu- 
 merous places of confinement in the capital scenes of 
 misery, disease, and insubordinate vice; whence those 
 who are committed but for a trifling misdemeanour — 
 a debt of a few shillings — or an inconsiderate affray; 
 seldom returu uncontaminated, if not prepared for 
 crimes. Here also unavoidably ogcur instances of op- 
 pression and inattention at which the* feeling heart re- 
 volts, wlnle filth, vermin, and abominable communica* 
 tions are the common evils that surround every prisoner, 
 Froui the very elevation of the building in Cold 
 Bath Fields, these evils cannot take place to an extent 
 by any means equal to the confined prisons oi the cap- 
 
-WILLIAM PITT. ^tt' 
 
 pital and their ig little dotibt tbstt if any^of the unbap- 
 py persons against va' horn all the accumulated dis- 
 agreeables of the ^' Bast tie y^ have been combined, were 
 left to the choice of a future c^nfeement, they would 
 return to the subjection -©f Governor Aris, in^prefereaea 
 to Newgate, Glerkenwell, or Tothill Fields. 
 
 But the character of a state prison is everdbnexioss 
 in a free nation ; and the power of secluding any citi- 
 zen unlimitedly, without charge or trial, is not only 
 unpopular but unjust. Yet locality and accident ap- 
 pear to be the principal objections to this particular 
 establishment, the complaints against which would per- 
 perhaps be equally founded against any other prison 
 in the world. 
 
 The next and most important -attack upon the ad- 
 -ministration, was on the subject of granting money 
 to the Emperor of Germany and the Prince of Cond^, 
 without the consent of parliament. A censure of 
 ministers was the form assumed on the occasion. 
 After Mr. Fox had introduced the motion, Mr.Fitt 
 arose. He said, ** when t consider. Sir, the nature of 
 the motion thkt is this day brought forward by the 
 right honorable gentleman against his Majesty*s minis- 
 ters, and the serious charge which it involves, I muet 
 regard myself as particularly implicated in that charge, 
 as possessing a particular share of resposibility in the 
 conduct of that measure which is censured as a viola- 
 lion of the constitution, and a breach of the privileges 
 of this house, I have, hoAvever, in the discussion of 
 this question, every thing to expect from the candour 
 iiild justice of the house. An imputation of the most 
 serious kind has been advanced against his Majesty's 
 ministers ; but it is necessary that ^U which may bt 
 
2/8 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 offered on both sides should be fairly heard, before 
 any decision can take place. It is requisite that gen- 
 tlemen should be in full possession of every important 
 fact that can be adduced, before they hasten to a con- 
 clusion, which necessarily involves it in matter of such 
 weight and magnitude, v The house should clearly 
 know the general principles on which it is to decide: 
 it should know the grounds on which the theory of 
 this part of the constitution is erected : it should also 
 know what the particular instances are, in point of 
 practice, that militate in a certain degree against the 
 general principles : I say, Sir, when these considera- 
 tions are once known, it will then be incumbent on the 
 house to decide. But I trust it will not be denied, 
 that until these points are completely and satisfactorily- 
 ascertained, the house ought, with every view of pro- 
 priety, to suspend its determination. It is no small 
 object of satisfaction to me, that the full review of 
 former precedents, with respect to the present motion, 
 forms a chief ground of it. In such an application of 
 facts I have considerable reason to be pleased, and I 
 trust I shall clearly demonstrate, before I sit down, 
 that former precedents concur in justifying the mea- 
 sure which at this moment is so severely condemned. 
 
 lam, however, not a little surprised to hear the 
 language made use of by an honorable magistrate, 
 (Alderman Combe,) who has declared that he has re- 
 ceived instructionsi from his constituents to join in a 
 vote of censure against his JNIajesty's ministers, for 
 having supplied the emperor with money without the 
 authority of parliament. There is, perhaps, not any 
 question on which a member ought to allow the 
 decided dictates of his own conscience and judgment 
 to be superseded by the instructions of his constituents; 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 279 
 
 b'jt if tliefe is any case in \vhich a member ought to 
 be particularly anxious to preserve his right of private 
 judgment, it is in the present instance, with respect to 
 a criminal charge ; for I think it must be admitted, 
 that it was impossible for the honorable gentleman's 
 constituents to decide m a just and candid manner 
 on the propriety of giving a vote on the motion, with 
 the particulars of which they must be unacquainted, 
 and more peculiarly as they must have been totally 
 ignorant of the defence which his -Majesty's ministers 
 meant to set up. I have, Sir, to caution the house 
 against those constitutional doctrines v.hich have been 
 maintained in former debates, and particularly on 
 Thursday night last. But, without entering into a 
 minute refutation of th-,m, or stating those which I 
 conceive to be strictly just, 1 cannot help observing, 
 that much is saved for my purpose ]>y the concessions 
 which the right honorable gentleman himself (Mr. Fox) 
 has made. I certainly do not wish to goad the right 
 honorable gentleman into the former opinions be has 
 at different times maintained : I am better content to 
 take his present statements : I am better content with 
 what I have heard from him to-day, and with those 
 general principles which have fallen from him in sup- 
 port of his motion. For as, on a former occasion, 
 when the present subject was first started^ the interval 
 of one night made him see the measure more in- 
 flammatory than it really is; it now appears that a 
 pause of a few days have duRinished his ideas of the 
 inflammatory tendency, which, in his own opinion, it 
 possessed. The right honorable gentleman has taken 
 great pains to lay down the great constitutional prin- 
 ciples with regard to pecuniary grants, and the use of 
 2 A 2 
 
SSO L I F B OF T H £ LATE 
 
 tliose grants* --I did not understand^ on a former niglit, 
 that the honorable gentleman told us one- things, to 
 AvlHch he said there was no exception, namely, that no 
 cxpence couid be incurred without the consent of par- 
 liament. I did not altogether subscribe to that doc- 
 trine, and I vvili state, as nearly as possible, the very 
 words of the argument I then used in answer. I argued 
 that the practice of extraordinaries had been adopted 
 a4> different periods of the history of the couatry^> at 
 p:eriod& v/hich the honorable gentleman must natu- 
 rally think the most approved, when he himself was- 
 in the administration. Extraordinaries to a large 
 amount, were used during the sitting of the parlia- 
 ment, and parliament afterwards justified the act by 
 a' vote. The honorable gentleman did then admit,, 
 that he never could be supposed to have said that 
 extraordinaries should not be used without the con-- 
 sent of parliament, previously obtained ; but when 
 iBiRister& have now adopted the same measures, the- 
 propriety of which the honorable gentleman said, b«i 
 could not be supposed to deny, yet such is his alarm, 
 that he cannot feel himself justified in pausing a mo- 
 ment oil the necessity of the actual condemnation o£ 
 •ministers. 
 
 However, Sir, it is enough for my purpose to admit, 
 that, according to the fundamental principles of tha 
 constitution, all grants must proceed from the com- 
 mons; that they are afterwards subject to their con- 
 trol, is a principle undeniable; but although the com- 
 mons are possessed of the power of controlling tlie 
 application of the supplies raised by them ; yet it is a 
 circumstance proved to demonstration, by practice and 
 general observation, that it would be impossible to 
 carry on any wars, that it would be impossible for go- 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 281 
 
 Ternment to proceed with due regard for the public 
 service, if extraordinanes were not raised by parlia- 
 ment. In point of practice it is evident they have 
 been raised. Tiiose greac writers who have written on 
 the subject previous to the revolution, prove that ex- 
 traordinaries have ahvays been used from that period. 
 I desire to refer to the practice of the whole of the 
 succession of administrations from the days of King 
 William down to the present time, when the principles 
 of the constitution are become infinitely more definite, 
 and when, owing to ambition on the part of France, 
 pubhc expenses, and the transactions of finance, have 
 attained a greater magnitude; and 1 ask, whether from 
 that period down to the present, the practice of extra- 
 ordinaries has not been recognised and admitted ? I 
 do not mean of extraordinaries only, but of extraor- 
 dinary services during the sitting of parliament. I do 
 not date this as if there were only one or two solitary 
 precedents, but as the uniform practice in all the wars 
 in which this country has been engaged; and thai, 
 during such wars, the extraordinanes have been pre- 
 cisely of the description I have stated. Sir, our con- 
 stitution is one which rests on great and leading 
 principles, but still no one would wish that the consli- ^ 
 tution should experience any injury by pushing those 
 principles to a rigid and extreme excess. If we are 
 to look into the record books of the constitution, we 
 shall find certain principles laid down, which seem to 
 contradict many acts of parliament, which are held as 
 strictly legal. If we tx-d^mne the law of parhament* 
 we shall find, that it is derived principally from the 
 general tenor of the whole of the principles of ;he 
 constitution, illustrated by the particular urgency and 
 2 a 3 
 
^■S^ LIFI! OF THE LAf E 
 
 necessity of circumstances. If this is the true way 
 Avhich men ought to study the constitution, by applying 
 the' principles of it to the exigency of cirtumstance^, 
 let me repeat what I stated on a fotmer night, with 
 lespect to the impossibility of the measdre being wrong', 
 which vvas done in conformity to the best and rpost 
 approved principles, as adapted to peculiar extents; 
 and let me also ask^ how a: ilieasure can deserve to be 
 loaded with obloquy and reproach, which, in truth, 
 is- no more than has been the practice of every admi- 
 nistration, at those periods when we have beteil most 
 proud of the constitution ? I might retiiark, that the 
 honorable gentleman in the course of his speech hasf 
 admitted such to have been the practice, because he 
 has himself acted upon it ; yet I must admit that the 
 honorable gentleman, when he stated that such was the 
 practice observed, that because extraordinaries xtefe 
 consonant to\practice. it was no reason they should be 
 extended so far, if it could possibly be avoided. The 
 honorable gentleman, if I understand him right; by 
 that very mode of argunnent, of the extension of the 
 extraordinaries being attended with so much the more 
 iT^ischief, does, in fact, admit the exception to tii# 
 ^principle which he charges me with having violated, 
 and, in short, destro3^s in eiiect the very principle he 
 Before admitted. He told us' that dvery extradMlriarJr 
 s'fefvice involved the breach of the' pledge to satisfy 
 former estirriates, by removing the means' of paying to 
 some other service, li' his doctrines niean to infer, 
 iMdt extraordinaries ought riot to be unneceslsarily ex- 
 ^t^iide'd, t cknnbt but perfectly coincide with him; but 
 if Bis argument has for its object that of rendering ali 
 evtrabtdinaries invidious, I hopei, in such case, I may 
 he allowed to guard the house against the effects of 
 
attending too much to to})ics opposed to the very- 
 same principles which he has before admitted. That 
 extraordinaries are Hable to the future observation and 
 control of parliament is true; but parliament has at 
 all times felt, that it'is necessary, for the public safety, 
 that ministers should have the power of ushig extra- 
 ordinaries, vvithotit appealing to parliament, provided 
 that power, and the means by which those extraordi- 
 naries are incurred, are subject to future discussion. 
 
 But it is not the question of extraordinaries only 
 that arises. Parliament, finding the inipossibilit}^ of 
 reducing every thing to estimated expenses, has infit)*- 
 duced the practice of giving votes of credit, with the 
 power, generally, to apply therii as exigences may re- 
 quire. As far as it has been possibie to provide againsf 
 extraordinaries, which always hitherto has' been im- 
 practicable, every endeavftr has been exerted ; but it 
 is a circumstance in which parliament lias certauily 
 acted with great wisdoni, that it has not thought proper 
 at any time to interfere with respect to the amount' of 
 the sums which ministers might, think necessary for 
 supplying the extraordinaries, but merely to make 
 ministers responsible for the application of the sums, 
 and the necessity of the extraordinaries to the pay- 
 ment of which they are directed. Before I Say any 
 ifibre, I vvill only observe, that it is not likeh; I should 
 be one to dispute the propriety of the measure of pro- 
 viding for the extraordinafifeg by the extent of the vote 
 of credit, if such a thing could be adopted; I have 
 often heard it a matter of reproach to me, that I 
 endeavored to estiriiate every expence, and provide 
 for it before hSrid. The votes of credit were always 
 smaller in fonilelr wars than in the present. In the 
 present war, I have add^d to the vote of credit other 
 
284 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 provisions for the purpose of providing for the extra- 
 ordinaries before hand ; I may therefore be considered 
 as having done all in my power towards endeavoring 
 to take the previous authority of parliament. What 
 then do I say, that there is no difference between a 
 vote of credit and extraordinaries ? As to the vote of 
 credit, 1 conceive it to be a privilege granted to his 
 Majesty's ministers, to employ a given sum to any 
 such purpose as the exigency of the affairs shall require. 
 There is no circumstance, however unforeseen, there 
 is no purpose, be it what it may, no possible event, to 
 which ministers may not think it requisite that a vote 
 of credit is applicable; no expenses upon sudden 
 emergencies, which do not come -within the spirit of a 
 vote oi credit, subject, however, to that principle 
 whicli I shall state. [Here Mr. Grey took notes of 
 what feii from the Chancellor of the Exchequer.] I 
 observe an honorable gentleman taking rotes of what 
 1 have just mentioned, tmd by his manner he seems to 
 express disapprobation. I only hope he will not inter- 
 rupt me, till he has done me the honor to attend to 
 the whole of what I have to say, when I have no 
 doubt but that I shall be able to convince him I am 
 right. Have 1 said that, because a vote of credit is 
 applicable to every public service, there is no questioa 
 of responsibility ? Have 1 said there is no principle of 
 respect, of aitention, of deference to parliament? 1 
 trust I have neither denied, nor at any one moment of 
 my life have failed to shew, by my conduct, that such 
 responsibility does e.xist. I know that for every ex- 
 ercise of that discretion, regularly given by the act, 
 founded upon the vote of credit, ministers are subject 
 to the same responsibility as for the exercise of every 
 olher discretion, which permanently belongs to them 
 
WILLIAM PITT* 285 
 
 "as ministers of the crown, and whicli tb^y are bound 
 to use for the safety, the welfare, and the dignity of 
 the country; a discretion the more important, as it 
 relates to the disposition of public money: and 1 trust 
 parliament will not lose sight, that it is their duty to 
 weigh those unforeseen difficulties on which alone. 
 government can use the powers with which it is en- 
 trusted. 
 
 But, Sir, I do not mean, to stop here: I do not 
 mean to say that government ought to be questioned 
 as to the propriety of the measures it may think proper 
 to recur to. I have admitted its liability to be cen- 
 sured. I will admit, that if, at that time of using a 
 vote of credit, ministers foresee any expenditure which 
 appears likely to be of consequence, either with respect 
 to its amount, or to the importance or peculiarity of 
 the subject, if it admats of a precise estimate, and if 
 the subject is of such a nature that it can be divulged 
 without injury or inconvenience to the public, J should 
 readily admit that that minister would fail in his duty 
 to parliament, that he would not act according to the 
 sound principles of what I believe to be the constitu- 
 tion of the country, if he were not to state the nature 
 of the emergency, and endeavour to estimate the ex- 
 pence ; but if, from the nature of the exigency, it 
 should be impolitic to divulge it, in that case, 1 con- 
 ceive the minister justified who conceals it from parli- 
 ament till a future season. By these principles, as to 
 the general question, I am satisfied that my merits or 
 demerits should be tried; if I have, in the opinion of 
 the house, departed from the principles of the consti- 
 tution, then Ihave committed an error in judgment: 
 if through an error in judgment I have departed 
 
286 
 
 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 from the principles of the constitution, I adn:jit that 
 I ought to receive the censure of the house, not- 
 withstanding that error proceeded from my having 
 felt it my irresistible duty, in common with the 
 rest of his Majesty's ministers, to act upon principles 
 which I conceived the best calculated to ensure the 
 prosperity and advantage of the country. Let me not 
 be supposed to admit what the honorable gentleman 
 seems to assume as an instance of candour, namely, 
 that he reserved the question, whether any degree of 
 importance which might attach to the subject, could 
 possibly be considered as an argument for concealing 
 it, or that its importance could make any difference 
 with regard to the estimate of its expense. Of the 
 principle itself it is not material to say more ; but with 
 respect to what the honorable gentleman has stated, I 
 will make this observation. He has said that extr^ 
 ordinaries are admitted on account of indispensible 
 necessity, and that those extraordinaries are such a 
 mischief, that he almost doubts whether they should 
 be suffered at all. 1 will admit, that expense, be it 
 Vi/hat it will, is indubitably objectionable, and that if 
 the ex pence arises to a considerable sum, the objection 
 is still stronger ; but the greater the expense, the 
 higher is the advance on the responsibility of ministers, 
 and the greater is the inducement for the house to vote 
 to discharge those expenses. The only case has oc- 
 curred which was in contemplation. If it should appear 
 to the house, that in consequence of an unforeseen 
 change of circumstances, the necessity of expenditure 
 was increased; if it should appear that the only oppor- 
 tunity had arrived, in which there was no alternative 
 but that of relinquishing the cause in which thecounlrj 
 
 i 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 287 
 
 v;as engaged or advancing the responsibility of minis- 
 ters ; if, 1 say, this should appear, is it a mark of can- 
 dour in the honourable gentleman to desire that the 
 drg«ncy only should be put out of the question ? 
 
 Why then. Sir, as to the utility of the advance to 
 the emperor, whether it could have been made in a 
 more [)roper form ; whether by a previous application 
 to parliament, it would not have been attended with a 
 greater degree of inconvenience ; whether the advance 
 was not made at a time the most critical that could 
 possibly have occurred — these are the questions which 
 1 shall shortly proceed to discuss. Bat assuming for 
 the present, that there was a difficulty about the mode 
 of doing it, what mode, under similar circumstances, 
 would have been more eligible ? In this way it hasu 
 heen tried, and has succeeded : by previously applying 
 to parliament, it is doubtful whether it would have 
 succeeded or not, I entreat gentlemen to recollect 
 the situation of the emperor on the continent ; the si- 
 tuation of this country, with respect to the prosecution 
 of the war, or of its termination by a safe and honourable 
 peace: I request them to look back to July or August 
 last ; a period when we saw with regret and appre- 
 hension the triumphant arms of the French Republic 
 at the gates of M union, and the territorial possessions 
 of the belligerent powers in danger of being wrested 
 from them. When they look back to this period, let 
 them at the same time contemplate the slow, firm, 
 mea&nred and magnanimous retreat of the gallant Au- 
 strian army, and the consequences which followed 
 from a retreat only calculated ^to ensure the success of 
 their future operations. Vvill they then ask themselves, 
 dry as the question may be, when so animated a sub- 
 
^&8 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 jrct is presented to the mind, how far the assurance of 
 Ibe aid which this country was disposed to grant, may 
 have invigorated the^pirit of a country making its ut- 
 most efforts to resist an invading foe, how far it may 
 Tiave given confidence to their resources, and enable 
 them to prosecute that line of operations, which has 
 been attended with such signal success? With these 
 considerations in his view, is there any man who can 
 regard as a matter of consequence, whether the ex- 
 pence of 900,000/. or 1/200,000/. has been incurred by 
 the country ? Is there any man who can question the 
 propriety of the sum allotted for the object, andwoul4 
 be willing for the sake of so paltry a saving, to give up 
 our share in promoting a service, which has~ terminated 
 -so honourably for the character of our allies and so 
 beneficially for the general interests of Europe ? Who 
 would not rejoice that he was admitted into partner- 
 ship so illustrious, -and accompanied with such brilli- 
 ant success ? 
 
 Me credtte Lesbon, 
 
 •Me Tenedon, Clr.ysenque, et Cyll-aa Apolliuis urbes, 
 Et Scjron cepisse. Mea concussaputrtte 
 Procubuisse s»io Ljrnessia nioenia dextra. 
 
 We have besides to consider, that v/hatever in tl>is 
 ia&tanee has been given, has only been 'lent to a 
 power whom we have no reason to distrust. Even if a 
 sum had been given to a much larger amount, it would 
 surely have been amply repaid by the success which 
 has attended the exertions of our allies, and the im-^ 
 portant advantages' which -have been gained to the 
 common cause. In the course of discussion on this sub- 
 jf^ct; frequent mention has been made of the opinioa of 
 
WILLIAM PITT, 289 
 
 the public* The public are not so dead, nor so insen- 
 sible, as either to be ignorant of the i?d vantages which 
 have been obtained, or ungrateful tov;ards those to 
 whose gallant exertions they are indebted on the pre- 
 sentoccasion. There is not a man, even the meanest 
 individual in the country, who will not feel himself re- 
 paid for the small quota which he will be required to 
 bring forward in aid of the public service, by the im- 
 portant benefits which have been secured to the general 
 interests of Europe. There is not, I will venture to 
 say, an Englishman who does not feel the most ardent 
 sympathy with the magnanimity, the resources, tiie 
 spirit and perseverance which have been displayed by 
 Austria in her recent exertions, and who does not re- 
 joice that the contributions of England have been 
 brought forward in aid of operations which have been 
 equally marked by their gallantry and success. I will 
 not think so ill of the good sense of my countrymen, 
 as to suppose they can regret ajiy trifling expence, 
 which has been the means of obtaining such signal ad- 
 vantages. The question alone is, whether there is any 
 doubt of its necessity, and whether the service would 
 have been performed by a previous statement to par- 
 liament. 
 
 *' Here, Sir, let me state to this house, or rather re- 
 peat what I have shortly stated on a former night. The 
 bouse will recollect, that from the principlts on which 
 I conceive a government should act, it never could 
 have been in my contemplation, or that of his Majesty's 
 ministers,, under the vote of credit, to propose advanc- 
 ing the whole of the sum which turned out to be ne- 
 cessary for the emperor. That it was not my intention, 
 is proved by this circumstance, that at the very period 
 
 NO. 19. 2 B 
 
290 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 of proposing the vote of credit, a reserve was expressly 
 made for a loan to be specifically brought forward, and 
 submitted to parliament, to a much larger amount 
 than tlie vote of credit. What inference do I wish to 
 draw from this ? First of all, that it is a pretty clear 
 and evident proof, that it in reality appeared, by the 
 Austrians being so much in want, that his Majesty's 
 ministers had an impression of the necessity of assist- 
 ing the emperor. Could they have any motive to hold 
 out a loan, if there was no such thing in agitation ? 
 What view could any government have in stating the 
 necessity of an Austrian loan, if they did not see 
 the occasion for one ? When we asked for a vote of 
 credit, it was plain we were not asking for a vote of 
 credit for services unforeseen, but that we intended to 
 apply it as it has been applied. Gentlemen will re- 
 collect, that on the first loan of eighteen millions, it 
 was stated as uncertain the precise time it would be 
 called for ; that the precise time depended on the re- 
 sult of an intercourse between his Majesty and the em- 
 peror, without which it was impossible to settle the 
 extent of it. But it is true, I felt that, in consequence 
 ofthe extraordinary extent of the drain of money, some 
 time would be necessary before the influx of trade 
 would be such as to render a measure of that kind 
 practicable in its execution, or safe in its impression ; 
 for of all subjects, that which relates to credit, or the 
 stagnation of money, the delicacy of which every man 
 knows, is that in which it is necessary to be particularly 
 circumspect. Now, how does this stand ? I was 
 sanguine that a much shorter interval would have di- 
 minished the scarcity. Afterwards at a much later 
 period, I found that it would be impossible to bring 
 
WILXIAM PITT. 29i 
 
 forward the loan. Under this impression, I did not 
 think it advisable to take the step I have taken, a 
 short time previous to the end of the last parliament. 
 How far that can be fairly imputed to me as a crime, 
 is a question I shall have occasion to discuss. How- 
 ever, this is the first principle of my defence, that when 
 the campaign was advancing, so that the emperor could 
 not wait for any proof of the reality of his hopes of an 
 increase of pecuniary supply, in conformity to what 
 had been done before, and according to principle^ 
 recognized by parliament, I thought it expedient, for 
 the success of his armies, to send the maans of repelling 
 the enemy. 
 
 '* The principal question is, whether this measure has 
 deprived you of anything you possessed ? wliether any 
 disadvantage has been the consequence of it, so as ta 
 make our situation more embarrassed now than it 
 would have been some months ago, by a loan taking 
 place ? I believe the situation of mercantile men, and 
 the pecuniary state of the country, is more favourable 
 now than they were at the periods when the several 
 remittances to the emperor were issued. This 1 state 
 not merely on the suggestions of any particular mem- 
 ber of this house, not merely in consequence of any 
 discovered public opinion; but I state it on evident 
 grounds of reason. Nor can 1 for a moment suppose 
 that the members of this house, or that the public will 
 long suspend the delegation of their assent to a mea- 
 sure founded equally in the justice and expediency of 
 the motives which gave it birth. But however this 
 may be, I have on this occasion the satisfaction of 
 knowing thatl am not stating my own sentiments only, 
 but also those of the persons who were the contractorvS 
 2 B 2 
 
592 LIFE OB' THE LATE 
 
 for the last loan. The contractors for that loan tberrj- 
 selves felt then, and have since communicated to me, 
 the inconveniences that had resulted to commerce in 
 general from the immense but necessary drains in the 
 money market. They had felt that any specific pro- 
 position to guarantee a fresh loan to the emperor would 
 have sensibly affected the money market : v/ould have 
 depreciated the funds, and depressed the public credit. 
 Had I upon that occasion adopted the mode of a pub- 
 lic loan ; had I come to parliament, when parliament 
 first sat to deliberate on public measures ; had I, while 
 the necessities of the empire and the dearest interests 
 of Europe depended in some measure, the one for re- 
 lief, il}e other for preservation, on the remittance of 
 certain {tortious of that sum of 1,200,000/.; — had I 
 in that eventful crisis done any thing that might, in its- 
 ultimate cciisequencesj increase the difficulties of that 
 a'-y, eiidunger and rit^k the liberties of Europe, what, 
 [el nie ask, would have been the language of the ho- 
 nourable gentleman, who has this night censured my 
 conduct, and made it the subject of a specific motion ? 
 i repeat it, the persons best acquainted with the mo- 
 ney market were at the periods I have mentioned, 
 deeply impressed with a sense of its growing embar- 
 rassment, and seriously felt the inconveniencies necessa- 
 rily concomitant to a state of warfare. They felt those 
 inconveniencies, but they more than felt the justice of 
 the contest which had operated as the cause of them. 
 In their opinion the pecuniary situation of the country 
 was such as would have rendered the public avowal 
 of any loan to the emperor extremely impolitic, and 
 by an ill-time i discussion of its propriety, have produc- 
 ed those evilsT have in part detailed. To theml sub- 
 
WILLIAM PITT, 29s 
 
 mitted whether a public loan would be prudent insucU 
 ^■'ircumstances, but they were unanimous in their pre- 
 ference of the adopted mode. A proof this, that I 
 could have no intention to violate the constitution. 
 That I had not hastily and immaturely adopted the 
 alternative ; that I made those preliminary arrange- 
 ments ; that my enquiries on the subject were as gene- 
 ral and earnest as I have this night avowed, is well 
 known not only to the individuals with whom I con- 
 sulted, but aho to my colleagues in the ministry. 1 ap- 
 peal without fear of being contradicted, I appeal to 
 those in my confidence, w^hether such were, or such 
 were not my sentiments, whether such was or was not 
 ray conduct on that occasion ? At this time the situa- 
 tion of the empire was so peculiar, that his Majesty's 
 servants could not but have a strong and influencing 
 sense of the impropriety of aUbrding publicly the aid 
 that situation so much required. The arms of the 
 French republic were victorious in almost every quar- 
 ter, the empire threatened with destruction-, and Eu* 
 rope with ruin. This was 1 own the reverse of our 
 once favourable hopes: from the exertions of that ally 
 our expectations had been dift'erent; but could an^ 
 temporary reverse of circumstances justify a measure 
 that must have entailed on that ally a permanent mis- 
 chief? Surely we, who had considered ourselves en- 
 titled to shar^ in the good fortune of the arms of Au- 
 stJ-ia, would not justly have separated our interests in- 
 her adversity. Surely that ally, of whose good faith- 
 and candour, of whose steady attachment to the princi- 
 ples of the alliance we bad. 50 m^ny and such splendid 
 proofs ; that ally,, who had. almost singly resisted the 
 progress cfan lfli|jetu«>us and enthusiastic enemy ; yes^, 
 2^3. 
 
294 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 the house of Austria eminently merited our confidence 
 and our esteem.— But these were not enough. The 
 empire was in actual danger ; her treasury exhausted ; 
 and many of her princes forced to abandon her defence. 
 It was in this conjuncture that his ]\iajest\''s servants, 
 faithful at least to their sense of the danger, afforded to 
 Germany that assistance which I am proud to say had 
 been in a great measure the means of saving, not only 
 that particular empire, but a vast portion of Europe. 
 Actuated by these considerations, thus hurried by ex- 
 isting necessities, to adopt a particular measure, I flat- 
 ter myself few who hear me will in the end fail to dis- 
 cover, that the act itself, even supposing it to be un- 
 cunsritutional, could not be the result of a deliberate 
 intention to violate acts of parliament. 
 
 '' The right honourable gentleman has supposed that 
 the measure w^as novv brought forward under cover of 
 the Austrian successes ; but I have to remind that right 
 jionourable gentleman, and the house, that the resolu- 
 tion of his Majesty's ministers, to assist the emperor, 
 was not taken under the flattering phantom of delusive 
 glory, not because the house of Austria was resuming, 
 under the auspices of one of its illustrious members, its 
 former spirit, and had regained its ardour; not because 
 the French had been forced to abandon some places, 
 and retreat from others in the German dominions ; but 
 because tlieir resolution was taken when ministers 
 felt that they had an opportunity of giving to the em- 
 peror, Europe, and the country the best pledge of their 
 sincerity, of their attention to their interests, of their 
 individual integrity, and collective force. The resolu* 
 tion was not taken without contemplation of the risk, 
 it was not undertaken without ixiaturely consideri^ig 
 „ 5 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 2,9ir 
 
 every relation in which it could possibly connect itself 
 with the constitution. It was not undertaken in defi- 
 ance of law, nor made a solitary exception to all for- 
 mer usage. It was not undertaken to cripple our 
 finances, nor had it either prospectively, or retrospec- 
 tively, anyone thing in common with a deliberate in- 
 sult to the house. But it was undertaken in a way^ 
 and upon an emergency which warranted the measure. 
 Even the measure was warranted by the former opi- 
 nions of my adversaries; but especially by the then 
 and the present opinion of monied men. 1 shall per- 
 haps be asked what is the difference between a loan 
 in the manner that loan was transacted, and a loan 
 granted in the old and popular way ? What the differ- 
 ence between the direct and avowed disbursement of 
 the public money, and an indirect and concealed dis- 
 bursement ? The former 1 shall, perhaps, be told, 
 must have decreased the pecuniary resources of the 
 country equally with the latter ; and have lessened 
 though in a secret manner, the general means of com- 
 mercial security. But to this 1 cannot concede, be- 
 cause the reverse has been the fact. The fact has been, 
 that by remitting money to the emperor in that season of 
 difficulty, of doubt and danger, his Majesty's ministers 
 have rendered less doubtful the prospects of a safe and 
 honourable peace. Had ministers on that occasion, 
 after being convinced themselves of the necessity and 
 justice of such assistance, and during the recess of 
 parliament, delayed the adoption of that conduct 
 they have pursued, instead of affording to the emperor^ 
 the enemy, and Europe, a proof of superior wisdom, 
 and superior resources, it would be a proof of the want 
 of both, by giving the money publicly. By discussing 
 
296 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 the subject in parliament at the earliest period, if such 
 a discussion could b'e entered into, not only public cre- 
 dit would have been injured, but you would have told 
 the enemy that your difficulties obliged you to stint 
 the acknowledged wants of your allies. To those who 
 thought worse of our resources than I did, to the pub- 
 lic mind in general, such a measure in such a crisis,, 
 would, I know, have been a cause not of rejoicing but 
 of sorrow ; not a source of pleasure but of pain. Every 
 man who wished well to bis country, every man sincere- 
 ly attached to the principles of the constitution, instead 
 of approving of that assistance being afforded originally 
 as a loan, would have said, * No, do not commit your- 
 self to your ally, so as to make your necessities a test 
 of his/ If, instead of endeavouring to poise and re- 
 move the difficulty, as I have done, this house had sa 
 passed a public loan, such must have been the conse- 
 quence. T am certain that had parliament been ac- 
 quainted with the danger of our ally, and had even de- 
 termined to give the necessary assistance, the publicity 
 of the measure would have defeated the object. So 
 that whether we had or had not been reduced to the 
 alternative of refusing assistance altogether, the event 
 must have produced collateral mischiefs. I may,, there* 
 fore, I tliink, ask, ought you to yield to the pressure of 
 temporary difficulty, and abandon your ally at a mo- 
 ment when such a step may be decisive of his fate? 
 Ought you, on the other hand, completely to pledge 
 yourselves to grant a pecuniary assistance which, in the 
 iirct instance, may be attended with considerable in- 
 convenience, and the influence on which, in the future 
 course of events, you are unable to ascertain ? Pledges 
 of aid, and of instant aid, his Majesty's servants had; 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 297 
 
 already seen good reason to give to the emperor. 
 These pledges had been given long before the meeting 
 of parliament, and might justly be considered as very 
 eminently conducive to every measure and every suc- 
 cess which has been since adopted and experienced. It 
 is, I know, one among the grounds on which the right 
 honourable gentleman has bi ought his accusation, that 
 a part of the money was sent previously to the meeting 
 of parliament, and another ground, that money has 
 been sent since its meeting. I own the advance to the 
 emperor consists of sums sent since the meeting of the 
 present parliament ; but I do contend, that the pledges 
 of these sums were the means by which the house of 
 Austria endured adversity, and retrieved its prosperity. 
 Had the emperor in July and August last, had no as- ~ 
 surance of 3^our assistance, 1 will not say we should 
 have been at this moment a ruined people, but I v;iil 
 say, that the pecuniary security ofEngland and the ter- 
 ritorial security of Austria, had been diminished, if not 
 Htterly destroyed. 
 
 " On a former night an honorable friend of mine, 
 used as an argument, the effect which he thought a 
 public discussion of the measure would have to depre- 
 ciate the credit of the country; and I ov.n I have not 
 yet heard any thing that could induce me to think dif- 
 ferently on that subject. The effect of a knowledge of 
 the pecuniary distresses of the Emperor, joined to the 
 difficulty which a prompt supply would have produced, 
 could not fail to bear with peculiarly embarrassing 
 weight on the course of exchange. Whereas the trans- 
 mission of the su^^i of 1,200,0001. in different sums, 
 and at different periods, tended greatly to relieve the 
 Emperor, and preserve the credit of this country froiu 
 
298 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 that de{:>ression which the same sum granted at dtice, 
 and in the form of a pubhc loan, would have occasion- 
 ed ; I need not, therefore, enumerate the particular 
 dates of those bills. Our assurance to Austria was not 
 confined to the meeting of parliament, not subjected to 
 the delays of several months of recess, but it was given 
 with reference to every situation of difficulty or danger 
 in which the arms of the Emperor might be placed by 
 the resistance to the arms of France. When the 
 Austrian troops were retreating from their severe and 
 glorious combat with the French republicans, they 
 surely merited every assistance this country could 
 afford them; but when, in the career of a brilliant 
 series of the most splendid victories, those gallant men 
 were urged by their emulation of the intrepidity of 
 their invincible officers to acts of unparalleled prowess, 
 his Majesty's servants found themselves called upon, 
 most particularly called upon, to aid and promote 
 their views, to soften their calamities, and to afford 
 them means of securing their important conquests. 0« 
 the conviction of the propriety of these sentiments, 
 and of such conduct, it was, that the king's ministers 
 had acted. Of the number of those who had been 
 guided by these sentmients, I, Sir, certainly was one, 
 not the least active to provide, nor I trust, the least 
 vigilant to manage prudently that pecuniary stimului^ 
 which, during the recess, and at other periods, was 
 given to the arms of the empire. Our conduct, there- 
 fore. Sir, does not respect the months of October, of 
 November, nor December in particular; but it had a 
 clear and unerring relation to every crisis and circum- 
 stance, to every moment of danger. In truth, the acts 
 themselves, were acts performed distinctly iu com- 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 299 
 
 pliance with solemn engagements; they were acts in 
 execution of pledges which had been previously given. 
 Acting during the recess from the conviction that these 
 pledges were given by the letter and the spirit of the 
 existing treaties, acting after the parliament was met 
 under the sanction of these treaties, with no intention 
 then, and surely none now, of setting up their own 
 judgment as the standard of, or superior to the judg- 
 ment of the House of Commons, ministers, I think, 
 may be permitted to avail themselves of the exceptions 
 of all similar conduct. As to the transaction itself, no 
 separation could fairly be made of the necessity which 
 ^ave existence to the measure, and the motives which 
 influenced its adoption. Even supposing the judgments 
 of parliament could have been taken, the state of Ger- 
 many was such, as could not have left gentlemen one 
 moment to their doubts, whether or no it was proper 
 to assist the Emperor. What ministers have done in 
 pursuance of their pledge, was, however, done in a 
 great measure before parliament could have assembled 
 to consider of its expediency. Of the nature and effect 
 of the services performed by the Emperor, gentlemen 
 may very readily judge. They have them recorded in 
 the annals of very recent periods, annals the most 
 brilliant, perhaps, in the history of the world. Thus, 
 whether we judge of the services of Austria in whole, 
 or only in part, I think gentlemen must concede to me, 
 that the services of the last three months have been, 
 at least, such as merit our particular approbation. Oii. 
 this part of the subject 1 have, therefore, at present, 
 scarcely any thing more to remark. I have, in the i 
 best manner I am able, stated to the house the cir- 
 cumstance of that situation which rendered it impos- 
 sible for Austria to continue her warlike operation^ 
 
SOO LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 without assistance from this country. I have likewise 
 endeavored to render my own conceptions of the send- 
 ing money to an ally without the previous consent of 
 parliament. 
 
 " As to the question of extraordinaries, I have heard 
 the idea suggested, and something like an argument 
 attempted to be deduced from it, that if its spirit be 
 adhered to, no part of a vote of credit can be employ- 
 ed to pay foreign troops. I have heard too, that of 
 isuch an application of the public money so voted, our 
 annals scarcely aftbrd any, and if any, not apposite 
 precedents. Sir, I think I can instance a number of 
 precedents of this kind; I can instance to this house, 
 and for the information of the right honorable gentle* 
 man, that votes of credit were appropriated by our 
 ancestors to the payment of foreign troops. In times 
 before the revolution, but of those times gentlemen 
 seem unwilling to say much, in the reign immediately 
 before the revolution, this very thing had been done 
 by the crown; but, Sir, in periods subsequent to the 
 revolution, in periods not the least favored in our 
 annals, although certainly not altogether free from the 
 stains of calumny, but especially of party vioJence, in 
 tlie reign of King William in the year 1701, accompa- 
 nied by circumstances of a singularly important and 
 curious nature, the parliament voted an extra sum for 
 the payment of foreign forces. I'liis sura was voted 
 not regularly as a vote of credit, but it succeeded the 
 granting of a vote of credit, and was a measure 
 which, although it occasioned some trifling opposition, 
 was carried unanimously. Such was the conduct of 
 our ancestors at the revolution. In the reign of Queen 
 Anne, a reign reprehended undoubtedly by some, a 
 reign which had unhappily encouraged, if not occa- 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 301 
 
 sioned and fomented those differences which rendered 
 the Tories so implacable against the Vv'higs; in that 
 reign, thus chagrined by the persecutions, sanguinary 
 persecutions, but latterly, and I will confess with not 
 less cruelty, begun and continued by the Tories : in 
 this reign, and in the years 1704 and 1705, both sub- 
 sidies andgrantshad'i been employed in paying foreign 
 forces. This too was done without the authority of 
 parliament. In 1706, a transaction more directly 
 characteristic of this, for which the ministers of the 
 present day are censured, was pubhcly avowed, and 
 as publicly discussed ; yet it seems the right honor* 
 able gentleman had overlooked it. This at least seems 
 to be the case; or, if known, he certainly ought to 
 have abandoned his assertion. There is to be met with 
 in the annals of the parliament of that day, an account 
 of three different sums, each considered, by the oppo- 
 sition of that day, as violations of the constitution — a 
 remittance to the Duke of Savoy, to the Emperor, and 
 to Spain. A sum too had been paid in the same man- 
 ner to the Landgrave of Hesse for a corps of his troops 
 then in the pay of England. All these sums were not 
 voted regularly after the specific propositions submitted 
 for that purpose to the house, but were remitted to 
 those sovereigns without the previous consent of par- 
 liament; Not even estimates of the services, for which 
 the sums had been paid, were laid before the house 
 till six weeks after its meeting. The sum sent to the 
 Emperor was peculiarly distinguished, — it had been 
 transmitted, not at the close, not during the recess of 
 that session in which it was first announced to parlia- 
 ment, but before the end of the preceding session. 
 These proceedings did certainly attract the notice of 
 NO. 19, 2€ 
 
S02 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 the House of Commons, and the public bad been ad- 
 dressed on the unconstitutionality of the measure; 
 then, as now, there had been employed every effort 
 which ingenuity could suggest ; every vehicle of public 
 communication rendered a vehicle of asperity and 
 censure on the conduct of ministers. It became the 
 subject of a solemn discussion — a discussion, appa- 
 rently not less vehement than it was labored and pro- 
 fuse. But how, Sir, did the ministers of that day retire 
 from the combat ? Did they retire overwhelmed with 
 virulence and abuse, the censure of the discerning and 
 temperate members of that parliament ? Or were those 
 tlicir actions, distinguished by the approbation of the 
 commons of Great Britain ? Sir, the minister of that 
 day had the satisfaction to set the attack of his 
 adversaries repelled, and their expressions of censure 
 changed to approbation. That minister. Sir, heard 
 his conduct applauded, and the journals of this house 
 were made to bear record that the sense of its mem- 
 bers was, that the sums advanced to the Emperor on 
 that occasion had been productive, not only of the 
 preservation of the empire, but had also supported 
 and maintained the interests of Europe. In the year 
 3 718, in the beginning of the reign of George the First, 
 an instance of the application of the public money 
 occurred, which, though not so analogous as the last, 
 I think it right to mention. A message had been re- 
 ceived from his Majesty, soliciting the aid of the com- 
 mons to make such an augmentation of the actual 
 forces of the country as might be deemed necessary to 
 place it in a respectable state of defence; and that 
 because there had been an appearance of an invasion, 
 — At 'this time his Majesty takes Dutch troops int« 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 303 
 
 his pay, and the money voted to raise and maintain 
 ijative troops, is disbursed for the use of a foreign 
 corps. It is true this body of Dutch troops were 
 landed in England, and their services conMned to it ; 
 but not even these affected much the apphcation of the 
 fact as a precedent. However, Sir, in ?he year 1734, 
 a period nearer bur own times, a general vote of credit 
 was granted. That vote of credit was appHed on such 
 occasions, and for such purposes as might at any time 
 during its existence, arise out of the exigencies of the 
 time. On the ] 8lh of February of the subsequent 
 year, a vote of credit was also granted, and a treaty 
 concluded with Denmark. And, Sir, if 1 have not 
 totally misconceived the passage of our parliamentary 
 history where these facts are stated, this last, as well 
 as the vote of credit immediately preceding it, was ap- 
 plied to purposes in their nature not unlike those to 
 which necessity impelled ministers of the present day 
 to apply the vote of I? §6. It might also refer gentle- 
 men, to another instance of an advance to foreign 
 troops. An advance to the Duke of Arenberg, com- 
 mander of the Austrian forces, in the year 174-2, was 
 noticed in debate and censured in the administra- 
 tion of Mr. Pelham — a name as dear to the friends of 
 constitutional liberty, as perhaps any that could be 
 mentioned; but the enquiry was avoided by moving 
 the previous question. It happened, however, that 
 not long after, the same question was made the subject 
 of a specific discussion. . It appeared that the advance 
 b^d been made under the authority of an assurance 
 expressed by Lord Carteret, and not in consequence of 
 any previous consent of parliament; but it appeared 
 also that the progress of the Austrian troops was 
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304 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 considerably accelerated by the influence of that aid, 
 and their subsequent successes owing chiefly to it. 
 The vote of censure, therefore, which had been founded 
 on the act of Lord Carteret, was amended, and the 
 advance declared necessary to the salvation of tlie 
 empire. Bui, Sir, let us compare the crisis of 1796 
 with that 1787, when the expenses incurred by our 
 endeavours to protect Holland were recognized under 
 the head of secret services. This too was an unani- 
 mous recognition of the act which, had it been the 
 offspring of l79^y the right honourable gentleman, in« 
 £uenced by his new opinions, would, I have no doubt, 
 marked with his disapprobation; but so stood the fact 
 then. 
 
 ** The members who sat in the last parliament have 
 not forgot that when a loan of four millions and a half 
 ^vas proposed to be granted to the emperor, the inten- 
 
 ^ tion of granting that loan was known as early as Fe- 
 bruary 1795. A message had been received from his 
 
 ^ Majesty, stating that a negociation was pending with 
 
 • the emperor to maintain 200,000 men. The loan to 
 be granted when the negociation succeeded, and when 
 
 '■ it failed to be mentioned. Soon^after the answer to this 
 
 'message was communicated to the throne, a motion 
 was made for an account of 250,000/. advanced to the 
 
 c emperor in May, 179^; and again a similar motion 
 was made for an account of g00,000/. also advanced 
 
 - to the emperor in the month of May following. With 
 respect to these sums, it was agreed by the house be- 
 fore the loan was debated, that they might afterwards 
 ' be made good out of the loan. This, Sir, 1 have stated 
 to shew that the members who sat in the last parlia- 
 ■ ment cannot be altogether ignorant of the principles oi 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 305 
 
 the constitution. After the negociation was concluded, 
 the loan was debated; the house was divided, but no 
 objection was made to these advances. On the sub^ 
 ject of the Prince of Conde's army being supplied with 
 money by this country, I can only say, that whatever 
 sums that army has, as yet received, have been paid, 
 on account of services rendered, as forming a part of 
 the Austrian forces. The circumstances of a part of 
 the 1,200,000/. stated as being sent to the emperor, 
 being afterwards received in this country in part pay- 
 ment of the interest due on the second Austrian loan, 
 IS also clearly accounted for, these payments, on ac- 
 count of b^ing in their nature the same, as if the em- 
 peror, instead of being so accommodating to himself 
 as to pay the money, by his agent, on the spot, had 
 ordered it to be sent to Vienna, and transmitted by 
 the same post to this court. 
 
 " I may now, Sir, I think be permitted to ask, on 
 what principle of justice a criminal charge can be 
 brought againss me for merely having followed the 
 uniform tenor of precedent, and the established line of 
 practice ? By what interpretation of a candid and 
 liberal mind can I be judged guilty of an attempt wan- 
 tonly to violate the constitution ? 1 appeal to the right 
 honourable gentleman himself, who is not the last 
 to contend for the delicacy which ought to be used in 
 imputing criminal motives to any individual, and To 
 urge in the strongest terms the attention which ought 
 to be shewn to the candid an impartial administration 
 of justice. In what country do we live ? and bv whal 
 principle are we to be tried ? By the maxims of natural 
 justice and constitutional law, or by what new code 
 of some revolutipnary tribunal? Not longer than a 
 2'c3 6 
 
306 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 year and a half since, the same principle was adopted, 
 , and suffered to pass without ;^..ny animadversion ; and 
 now, a crisis of ten-fold importance, and where the 
 measure has not outrun the exercise of a sound dis- 
 cretion, it is made the foundation cf a criminal charge. 
 We are accused with a direct and wanton attack upon 
 the constitution. It is not supposed that we have been 
 actuated by any but the blackest and most malignant 
 motives. We are not allowed the credit of having 
 felt any zeal for the interest of our country, nor of 
 those advantages which the measure has produced to 
 the common cause. 
 
 " 1 have now weighed the whole merits of the trans- 
 action before the house, and with them I am well con- 
 tent to leave the decision. While we claim a fair 
 construction on the principles and intentions which 
 have guided our conduct, if it shall appear that it has 
 in the smallest instance: deviated from any constitu- 
 tional principle, we must submit to the consequence, 
 whatever be the censure or the punishment. It is our 
 duty according to the best of our judgment to consult 
 ;ibr the interest of the country; it is your sacred and 
 peculiar trust to preserve inviolate the principles of 
 the constitution. I throw myself upon your justice, 
 prepared in every case to submit to your decision; 
 but with considerable coEfidence, that I shall expe- 
 Tience your approbation. If I should be disappointed, 
 I will not say that the disappointment will be heavy, 
 ..and the mortification severe; at any rate however it 
 will to me be matter of consolation, that I have not 
 ' from any apprehension of personal consequences, 
 neglected to pursue that line of conduct which I con- 
 ceive to be essential to the interests of the country and 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 307 
 
 of Europe. But while I bow with the most perfect 
 submission to the determination of the house, I can- 
 not but remark on the extraordinary language which 
 has been used on this question. Ministers have been 
 broadly accused with a wanton and a malignant desire 
 to violate the constitution : it has been stated that no 
 other motive could possibly have actuated their con- 
 duct. If a charge of such malignant intention had 
 been brought against men who have affirmed the pre- 
 sent war to be neither just nor necessary, and who on 
 that ground cannot be supposed friendly to its success; 
 who have extolled, nay, even exulted in the prodigies 
 of French valour; who have gloried in the successes 
 of the foes of civil liberty, the hostile disturbers of the 
 peace of Europe, men who blasphemously denied the 
 existence of the Deity, and who had rejected and 
 trampled on every law, moral and divine; who have 
 exclaimed against the injustice of bringing to trial 
 persons who had associated to overawe the legislature; 
 those who very gravely and vehemently asserted, that it 
 was a question of prudence, rather than a question of 
 morality, whether an act of the legislature should be 
 resisted ; those who were anxious to expose and 
 aggravate every defect of constitution, to reprobate 
 every measure adopted for its preservation, and to 
 obstruct every proceeding of the executive govern^ 
 ment to ensure the success of the contest in which 
 we were engaged in common with our allies ; I say, if 
 such a charge of deliberate and deep-rooted malignity 
 were brought against persons of this description, I 
 should conceive that even then the rules of candid and 
 charitable interpretation would induce us to hesitate in 
 admitting its reality; much more when it is brought 
 against individuals; whose conduct; I trust, has ex- 
 
SOS LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 hibited the reverse of the picture I have now drawn. 
 I appeal to the justice of the house, I rely on their 
 candour; but, to gentlemen who can suppose minis- 
 ters capable of those motives which have been im- 
 puted to them on this occasion, it must be evident that 
 I can desire to make no such appeal." 
 
 The difference of opinion in Mr. Pitt at different 
 times with regard to reform in parhament, has excited 
 such attention as to give peculiar interest to his speech 
 on the subject when proposed by Mr. Grey, afterwards 
 Lord Howick. The question coming on the 26th 
 of May, 1797, Mr. Pitt delivered himself as fol- 
 lows: — *' Feeling, Sir, as I do, the danger with which 
 the present proposition is attended, upon the grounds 
 upon which it has been supported, and in the circum- 
 stances in w^hich it has been brought forward, I am 
 very desirous, as early as possible, in the debate, to 
 state the reasons by w^hich I am determined to give it 
 my most decided opposition. The honourable gen- 
 tleman who introduced the motion, began with dis- 
 claiming very distinctly, and as far as he went very 
 satisfactorily, all those abstract principles of impre- 
 scriptible right, all those doctrines of the rights of 
 man, which those without doors, who are most eager 
 in their professions of attachment lo the cause which 
 he now supports, rest the propriety of their demand, 
 and upon which alone th^y would be contented with 
 any species of parliamentary reform. The honour- 
 able gentleman denies the truth of that principle which 
 prescribes any particular form of government, as that 
 which is essential to freedom ; or that universal suf- 
 frage is necessary to civil liberty; or that it must even 
 depend upon that light which the revolution of France 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 309 
 
 has let in upon the world, and from which he derives 
 hopes of such great advantage to the general happiness 
 of mankind. But, in disclaiming these views of the 
 question, and in placing it upon the footing of the 
 practical benefit it was hkely to produce* the honour- 
 able gentleman did not state all the considerations by 
 which the conduct of a wise statesman was to be re- 
 gulated, and the judgment of an upright senator to be 
 guided. The question was not merely, whetlier some 
 alteration might or might not be attended with advan- 
 tage; but it is the degree of advantage which that 
 alteration is hkely to effect, in the shape in which it is 
 introduced; the mischief which may be occasioned 
 from not adopting the measure, and the chance, on 
 the other hand, of producing by th© alteration an eiFect 
 upon those to whom you give way, very different from 
 that which induced you to hazard the experiment. 
 These are the considerations upon which the subject 
 ought to embrace, and the views upon which impartial 
 men must decide. 
 
 " Before we adopt the conclusions of the right ho« 
 nourable gentleman, we have a right, it is even im« 
 posed upon us as a duty, to take in our view as a 
 leading object, what probability there is by encou- 
 raging the particular mode of attaining that union, or 
 of effecting that separation of friends of moderate re- 
 form, and the determined enemies to the constitution, 
 which they conceive it probable to produce; we must 
 consider the danger of introducing an evil of so much 
 greater magnitude than that we are nov/ desirous to 
 repair; and how far it is prudent to give an opening 
 for those principles which aim at nothing less than the 
 tot^l annihilation of the whole constituUon* The learned 
 
310 Life of the late, 
 
 gentlenian who seconded the motion said, that those 
 who formerly supported parliamentary reform had 
 sown the seeds of that eagerness for parliamentary re- 
 form, which was now displayed^ and of the principles 
 on which it was now pressed; he thinks that those, 
 who had ever supported the cause of parliamentary 
 reform upon grounds of practical advantage, must not 
 oppose those who have nothing in common with them, 
 but the name of reform, making that the cause for 
 subjects widely different, in order to support that pre- 
 tence which they assume upon principles diametrically 
 opposite to those upon which the true friends to the 
 cause of reform ever proceeded. Will the honourable 
 gentleman who made, or the learned gentleman who 
 seconded the motion, say that those men who contend 
 as an indispensible point for universal suffrage ; — that 
 those who bold doctrines, which go to the extinction 
 of every branch of the constitution, because they think 
 it convenient to avail themselves of the pretence of 
 parliamentary reform, as the first step towards the at- 
 tainment of their own views, and as facihtating their 
 progress; — that those who, though they condescended 
 to take advantage of the co-operation of those who 
 support the cause of reform in this house, yet have 
 never applied to parliament, and who would not even 
 receive as a boon, what they contend for as a right ; 
 can it seriously be said, tliat such men as these have 
 embarked in the cause, or have proceeded on the prin- 
 ciples of those, who upon far different grounds, and 
 for far different objects, have moved this important 
 question ? Will they say, that those men have adopted 
 the principle, or followed the course of those who for- 
 merly have agitated the cause of reform, who have 
 
WILLIAM PITT. Sll 
 
 avowedly borrowed their political creed from the doc- 
 trines of the Rights of Man-, from the writings of 
 Thomas Paine, from the monstrous and detestably 
 system of the French jacobins and affiliated societies, 
 from that proud, shallow^ and presumptuous philo- 
 sophy, which, pretending to communicate new lights 
 to mankind, has carried tiieoretical absurdity higher 
 than the wild imaginations of the most extravagant 
 visionaries ever conceived, and carried practical evil 
 to an extent which no age nor history has equalled ?, 
 Will it be said, that those men pursued only that prac- 
 tical advantage, wliich a reform upon principles con- 
 sonant to the British constitution was calculated to 
 afford, who saw, without emotion, the detestable 
 theories of the jacobins developed in the destructive 
 i^avage which marked their progress, and their prac- 
 tical effect in the bloody tragedies which were acted on 
 the theatre of France, and who still adhered to their 
 system of indefeasible right, when they saw such over- 
 whelming proofs of its theoretical falsehood, and of its 
 baleful tendency ? Will it be believed that those men are 
 actuated by principles consonant to the spirit of the Bri- 
 tish constitution, who, with the exception ofthe pretence 
 of parliamentary reform, of French political systems, 
 who followed them llirough all their consequences, 
 who looked upon the ravage which ihey spread through 
 all laws, religion, and property, without shrinking 
 from their practical effect, and who deemed the hor- 
 rors with which it was attended, as the triumphs of 
 their system? Can we believe that men, that remained 
 unmoved by the dismal example which their principles 
 had produced, whose pretensions rose and fell with 
 the success of jacobinism in every part of the world; 
 
312 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 were ever acttaated b}^ a similarity of motives and of. 
 objects, with those who prosecuted the reform as a 
 practical advantage, and maintained it upon constitu- 
 tional views? The utmost point of difference, indeed, 
 that ever subsisted between those v;ho supported and 
 those who opposed the question of reform, previous to 
 the French revolution, which forms a new aera in po- 
 litics, and in the history of the world, was union and 
 concert in comparison with the views of those who 
 maintained that question upon grounds of expediency, 
 and those who assert it as a matter of right. 
 
 " The question then was, with those who contended 
 for reform on grounds of expediency, whether the 
 means proposed were calculated to infuse new vigour 
 into the constitution ? The object with those who affect 
 a parliamentary reform upon French principles, is the 
 shortest way to compass its utter destruction. From 
 the period v;hen the new and alarming sera of the 
 French revolution broke in upon the world, and the 
 doctrines which it ushered into light laid hold on the 
 minds of men, I found that the grounds on which the 
 question rested were essentially and fundamentally al- 
 tered. Whatever may have been my former opinion 
 am I to be told that I am inconsistent, if I feel that it 
 is expedient to forego, the advantage which any alte- 
 ration may be calculated to produce, rather than 
 aflbrd an inlet to principles with which no compromise 
 can be made; rather than hazard the utter annihila- 
 tion of a system under which this country has flou- 
 rished in its prosperity, by which it has been supported 
 in its adversity, and by the energy and vigour of which 
 it has been enabled to recover from the difficulties and 
 distresses, with which it has had to contend ? In the 
 
WILLIAM PITT. ^13 
 
 warmth of argument upon this subject, the hbtiourable 
 and learned gentleman has conceived himself at liberty 
 to assume a proposition, which was not only unsup- 
 ported by reasoning, but even contradicted by his own 
 statements. The learned gentleman assumed that it 
 was necessary to adopt the moderate reform proposed, 
 in order to separate those whom such a plan would 
 satisfy, from those who would be satisfied with none; 
 but who, I contend, by means of this, would labour to 
 attain the complete object of their wishes in the anni- 
 hilation of the constitution. Those men who treat 
 parliament as a usurpation, and monarchy as an inva- 
 sion of the rights of man, would not view a reform 
 which was not the recognition of their right, and whiclj 
 they would consider as vitiated if conveyed in any 
 other shape. Though such men had availed th^jcn- 
 selves of the aid of those who supported parliamentary 
 reform on other grounds, v;ould they be contented 
 with this species of reform as an ultimate object? 
 
 '^ But does the honourable and Ifekrned gentleman 
 mean to assume that those who are the friends of mo- 
 derate reform (and I know not how such a wish has 
 been expressed at all) must remain confounded with 
 those whom no reform will satisfy, unless some mea- 
 sure like the present is adopted ? Where has such a 
 wish for moderate reform been expressed ? If those 
 who are even thought to entertain sentiments favour- 
 able to that cause, have cherished them in silence, if 
 they have abstained from pressing them at a moment 
 when they would have served only to promote the 
 views of those who wished to annihilate, not to re- 
 form, is it to be apprehended that any ill effects will 
 ensue, unless you adopt some expedient to distinguisli 
 
 ^0.20, 2 D 
 
314 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 the moderate reformer from the desperate foe ? Yet 
 this is the main argument of the learned gentleman, 
 which he has put into a thousand different shapes. I 
 do not believe, however, that the temper of moderate 
 reformers will lead them to make common cause with 
 the irreconcileable enemies of the constitution. If 
 there are really many who may be ranked as moderate 
 Teformers, it is at least probable they may feel the 
 .force of the danger which I have stated ; that they 
 .think it wiser to clieck their wishes than to risk the 
 inlet of jacobin principles, and the imprudence of 
 affording to the enemies of the constitution the means 
 of accomplishing its destruction. Has there been, 
 however, any decisive manifestation of their desires, 
 x)r is there reason to believe, that, disappointed in their 
 .\vishes, they will be immediately driven beyond the 
 bounds of duty to the constitution ? If there is no se- 
 curity that those whose views have already pointed be- 
 yond reform, will be recalled to better sentiments, if 
 there are even certain grounds to believe that they 
 ^vill merely employ any reform that may be intro- 
 duced, as a step Towards realizing their own system, 
 upon what pretence can the present measure beheld out 
 as calculated to reconcile those men to the constitu- 
 tion ? From the conduct of gentlemen on the other 
 side, it is obvious that they do not conceive any deci- 
 sive manifestation of the wishes of the people for a mo- 
 derate reform being now introduced, to have taken 
 place. My reason for such an opinion is this : we 
 Lave seen that the gentlemen in opposition have not 
 been deficient in their efforts to procure every ex- 
 pression of the public concurrence in the objects for 
 which they have contended. From their own account 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 315 
 
 tbese efforts bava not been unsuccessful; but, sup- 
 posing that no efforts of theirs had been employed, 
 and that to the spontaneous impulse of the peopfe' 
 themselves are to be ascribed the petitions which have- 
 been voted in different quarters, to a degree, indeed, 
 in their opinion, to decide the sense of the country to 
 be in favour of an immediate peace, and the removal 
 of ministers, it follows, that those wha have presented' 
 such petitions have not felt, or the exertions of oppo-' 
 sition have not been able to excite, any expression of 
 that opinion they have so often urged, that no change 
 of men, without a change of system, would lead to 
 any permanent good. 
 
 *' It does not appear then, that there is any call upon 
 the house to adept a measure which, so far from being 
 necessary to satisfy men friendly to a moderate reform, 
 they have not, in any shape, expressed a wish to ob- 
 tain. Before the practical expediency of this measure,' 
 then, comes to be discussed, the practical necessity of 
 -such a measure must be established. In this proof, 
 however, the honourable and learned gentlemen have 
 failed; I need not, therefore, go into the state of the 
 country to refute the statements of the honourable 
 gentlemen. Indeed I must observe that every thing 
 urged upon this topic, was nothing more than asser- 
 tion. The calamities and difficulties under which the 
 country labours, the war with France, and inroads 
 upon the constitution, the profusion of public expen- 
 dituie were the topics upon which they insisted, and 
 ^'hich they said would have been avoided if parlia- 
 mentary reform had formerly been adopted. I boldly 
 contend, however, that in the origin of the war, in the 
 efforts to an unparalleled extent which the novelty of 
 . 2 D 2 
 
3l6 LIFE OF THE LAT» 
 
 the contest, and the nature of the enemy forced us to- 
 exert; that in what they call inroads, and which we 
 contend were necessary bulwarks for the defence of the 
 constitution, the feelings of the people went uniformly 
 along with the proceedings of parliament. 1 will 
 >?enture to assert, without the fear of contradiction, 
 that in no time when the tide of prosperity began to 
 turn in favour of this country, when the nation began 
 to recover from the struggle^, and from the burthens of 
 the American war, when, year after year, the sources 
 of public wealth and individual happiness were in- 
 creasing and extending, had the functions of parlia- 
 ment been more congenial to the feelings of the people, 
 than in the painful yet necessary struggles we were ob- 
 liged to submit to in the present cdntest* That the 
 nation has suffered, during the progress of the war, 
 many and serious calamities, I do not dispute; cala- 
 mities, however, much less severe ir their effects than 
 those which have been undergone by countries acting 
 
 ^^•upon a different system. 
 
 ^* It has, indeed, been urged, and with no ordinary 
 degree of perseverance, that the voice of the nation is 
 against the proceedings of government: that, however, 
 
 \is more a matter of opinion than of fact; and every 
 man will naturally judge of the credit that ought to 
 attach to such an assertion, from the sentiments which 
 are expressed in the circle of his own acquaintance, 
 and from bis personal enquiries on the subject. But 
 1 will undertake to say, that at the present moment^ 
 amidst all the difficulties and embarrassments, unavoid- 
 ably occasioned by the vigorous prosecution of hosti- 
 lities, the system pursued by parliament in support of 
 the measures of government; is the system of the peo- 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 317 
 
 pie ; and parliament at no period possessed in a more 
 ample degree, the confidence of the country than it 
 does now. [Here Mr. Fox shewed some signs of dis- 
 sent.] The honourable gentleman may be disposed to 
 controvert this opinion, but I am sure he cannot main- 
 tain the contrary with more sincerity or more perfect 
 conviction, than I advance what I now assert. The 
 right honourable gentleman, the house will recollect, 
 was accustomed to assert last session of parliament, 
 with equal boldness and vehemence as now, that the 
 sense of the country was against the system of minis- 
 ters. Good God ! Where can the honourable gentle- 
 man have lived ? In what remote corner of the coun- 
 try can he have passed his time ? What great public 
 question can he state, upon which the public have not 
 evinced a great degree of interest, as great as that 
 shewn on any former occasion ? On the contrary, if 
 ever there was a period which we should select, as the 
 one in which the attention of the public was most turned 
 to public affairs, it was precisely that period in which 
 the learned gentleman has described the public to have 
 lost all interest in the deliberations of parliament. 
 
 " I know it is maintained that parliament does not 
 represent the great body of the nation, and that the 
 result of general elections gives no striking character 
 or impressive feature of the sentiments of the people ; 
 but I desire it may also be recollected, whether there 
 are not many leading instances, and particularly cir- 
 cumstances attendant on general elections, that -go 
 strongly to express the opinion entertained by the con- 
 stituent body ; and taking up the consideration in that 
 fjoint of view, I do insist, and am convinced the pp» 
 sition cannot be objected to, that tb^ approbation 
 p 3 
 
SI8 ' LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 given by those^who had been members of the last par- 
 liament, to the commencement and prosecution of the 
 war, were strong and powerful recommendations in 
 their favour at the late general elections. I will for a 
 moment, pursuing this argument, request the house to 
 take the parliamentary representation as it has been 
 Stated, and recommended by the honourable gentle- 
 man (Mr. Grey). I will desire the honourable gen^^ 
 tleman himself to look for an instant to his own state- 
 ment of the proposed additional representation of the 
 counties, and then candidly decide whether he can 
 argue that the sense of the people was not in a great 
 degree to be collected at general elections ? It is sub- 
 mitted in that statement to extend the number of 
 county members from ninety-two to one hundred and 
 thirteen ; the augmentation, therefore, did not consist 
 of many : and does the honourable gentleman intend 
 to except the ninety-two former members by a general 
 proscription? or will he pretend to say, that the sys- 
 tem of counties, as it stands at present in point of re- 
 presentation, goes for nothing ? Certainly he cannot 
 undertake to advance such an argument, and so evi- 
 dently inconsistent with his own plan of reform. If, 
 therefore, the one hundred and thirteen members pro- 
 posed by the honourable gentleman to represent the 
 counties, would express the true sense of the people, 
 it cannot be denied on the same grounds, that the 
 ninety-two who were elected by their constituents, were 
 in a very considerable proportion the organs of the 
 public opinion^ The arguments therefore adduced by 
 ike honourable gentlenian go against his own declaiar- 
 HqH} that the sense of the peopl<^ was not the sense q£ 
 2 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 319^^ 
 
 parliament; and that sense bad been fully manifested 
 in favour of the war at the general elections/' 
 
 Mr. Pitt proceeded to draw bis deductions from 
 what he had heard, and to compare the imaginary 
 blessings to be expected from the French revolution 
 with the advantages which had been derived to this 
 country from that of I688. He shewed that, however 
 disguised, the principle of the present movers was, no- 
 thing less than universal suffrage, without any of the 
 modifications which an object of such magnitude natu-» 
 rally demanded. Lie added : ' « 
 
 ** It never was contended that the inequality of the 
 representation has been attended with any practical 
 disadvantage, that the interest of Yorkshire was neg-* 
 lected because it sent only two members to parliament, 
 or that Birmingham and Manchester experienced any 
 ill consequence from having no representatives. How 
 does it appear that universal suffrage is better than^if 
 the right to vote be founded on numerical, or even al- 
 phabetical arrangement? There is no practice, cer* 
 tainly no reccgijized practice, for its basis. The ex- 
 periment p'-opcsed is new, extensive, overturning all the 
 ancient system, and substituting something iri its stead 
 without any theoretical advantage, on any practical 
 recommendation. In the mixed representation which 
 now subsists, the scot and lot elections are those which 
 have been chiefly objected to, and the honourable gen- 
 tleman opposite to me formerly agreed with me in opi^ 
 nion, that burgage tenures and small corporatiori^ 
 were even less exceptionable than open burghs, with 
 small qualifications. Yet this extension, of small qua- 
 lifications, from which it has been a general complaint 
 that much confusion, debauchery mid abuse at eie©» 
 
320 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 tions arose, forms the principal feature in the honour- 
 able gentleman's plan/' 
 
 Such were some of the prominent objects of attack 
 on the administration of Mr. Pitt, in which it is no 
 wonder that we should be led to exceed the bounds 
 which we have prescribed to ourselves, by those ema- 
 nations of enlightened eloquence which have excluded 
 every feeble observation or trivial narrative. In truth, 
 much that it had been hoped might have been given, 
 to shew this great man to his countrymen, such as 
 he was during his arduous life, is of necessity suppres- 
 sed ; for even a brief account of what must assume a 
 strain insignificant indeed when compared with the 
 poorest efforts of William Pitt. 
 
 To this discussion which has perhaps afforded in tlie 
 speech of the minister a clearer view, (when compared 
 with his former speeches) of the subject of parliamen- 
 tary reform than can be otherwise obtained, the mu- 
 tiny of the seamen in May and June 1797? succeeded 
 in the list of important events. 
 
 This was that momentary error of a portion of the 
 British fleet, which forgetting in the indolence of pre- 
 paration the nervous force which guided, and the judi- 
 cious arm which led them on to victory, created an 
 alarm in the country which only themselves could sup- 
 press. How effectually it was suppressed, however, 
 the long and severe cruize in the North Sea, and its 
 brave result will testify to the present age and to pos- 
 terity, while the name of Duncan enrolled among her 
 brightest heroes, shall ennoble the annals of Britain. 
 To'this event justice demands it should be added, that 
 Mr. Sheridan, a powerful member of the dignified op- 
 positiou of the day, was the first to avow the ^atir* 
 
WILLIAM PITT. S21 
 
 disapprobation of himself and colleagues of the incon- 
 siderate proceeding, that delusion might not be in- 
 creased by the endeavors of disaffected persons to add 
 toit the sanction of himself and colleagues. 
 
 In fact this moment was pregnant with difficulty and 
 terror^ and all that Burke and other members who 
 had clearly seen the bent of the French revolution had 
 observed, became reahzed in the events of the day. The 
 observation of Mr, Canning on the discussion of the 
 Sardinian treaty, in 179'^, now recurred in every step. 
 That gentleman"^ in the most energetic terms observed,: 
 
 * George Canning, of a respectable family in Ireland, was "bora 
 in London in 1771. Under the direction of his paternal uncls> 
 » merchant in the city, he received the rudiments of education, 
 and was sent to Eton, where he distinguished himself by his ora- 
 tory in fictitious debate; and in conjunction with Mr. Frere, 
 Lord Spencer, and others, produced a periodical work, eDtitled 
 The Microcosm, b3^ Gregory Griffin. -From Eton he went to 
 Christ church, Oxford, where his tastdfor Latin composition, and 
 his elegant English verses soon rendered him conspicuous. The^ 
 procured for him also the noUce of several young men of rank, 
 among whom was Mr. Jenkinson, afterwards Lord Hawkesburj'-^ 
 which tended not a little to his future advancement. .From Ox- 
 ford Mr. Canning I'emoved to the Inner Temple, where he be- 
 came intimate with Mr. Sheridan and several of the oppositiou 
 members. In 1793 he was elected member of parliament for 
 Newton in Hampshire, and at the next general election, for Wen- 
 dover, in the cousity of Bucks, In the interim, however, he be- 
 came attached to Mr. Pitt by the fondest ties of friendship, and 
 had been at once received by the minister into the fullest confi- 
 dence, a circumstance noticed by Mr. Mathias in his Pursuits of 
 Literature, when he observes — - 
 
 *' And seize on Pitt, like Canning, by surprlsfe.'* 
 
 He immediately became jointsecretary to the department 
 for foreign affairs, then under Lord Grenville, and afterwards 
 receiver-general of the alienation officco In 1800 he mar- 
 
322- LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 •* that had it not been for the war, some correspond- 
 ing revolutionary society might have possibly been 
 
 ried t!ie Touiigest daughter of the kte General Scott, sister of the 
 JMarchioness of Titcbfield. When Mr. Pitt withdrew from powex 
 Mr. Canning accompanied him, andr^xerted himself witball the 
 energy of friendship in behalf of the character of the ex-niinister. 
 An instance of which, as well as a no unfavourable specimen of 
 his ready poetical powers, will be given hereafter in the verses 
 composed for a convivial party in the city, in honour of Mr. Pitt, 
 under the titk of " The Pi!ot that weathered the Storm." On the 
 return of Mr. Pitt to power his friend was not neglected. Mr. 
 Canning now became treasurer of the navy, and a member of the 
 committee of trade and plantations, and a prominent speaker on 
 every important occasion.^ — Nor will it be foand that the friend- 
 ship of Mr. Canning forliis great prototype, was bounded merely 
 by political zeal ; since this vcrlume, feeble except as it has availed 
 itself of the powers of its immortal subject and hb compeers, is 
 proud to be closed by a poetical testimony from the same exqui- 
 site pen, to the memory of his departed fnend. 
 
 The following is thejeu d'esprit already mentioned ; the point 
 from which it derives its title admirably turning on the popular 
 character of Mr. Addington, as having steered the great vessel of 
 the country into the haven of peace : — 
 
 '' IF hush'd the loud whirlwind that ruffled the deep. 
 The sky if no loager dark tempests deform, 
 
 "When our peril is past shall our gratitude sleep ? 
 No, here's to the pilot that weather'd the storm. 
 
 At the footstool of power let flattery fawn. 
 
 Let faction her idols extol to the skies. 
 To virtue in humble retirement withdrawn, 
 
 Unblam'd may the accents of gratitude rise. 
 
 And shall not his mem'ry to Britain be dear. 
 Whose example all nations with envy behold, 
 
 A statesman unbiass'd by interest or fear. 
 By pow'r uncorrnpted, untainted by gold. 
 

 % 
 
 ^' 
 
 I,OIi:D :ELi^^yi:TE§]BX^liTo 
 
 f'ub..Ap-.-2o.i?o-y- bv Zzrn^c ran,?, 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 32* 
 
 sitting on the benches of that house; and instead of 
 debating on a treaty of alliance, n)ight have been agi- 
 
 Who, when terror and doubt through the universe reigned. 
 While rapine and treason their standard unfurl'd. 
 
 The heart and the hopes of his country maintain'd. 
 
 And one kingdom preserved midst the wreck of the world. 
 
 Unheeded, unthankful we bask in the blaze. 
 
 While tbe beams of the sun in full majesty shine. 
 
 When he sinks into twilight, with fondness we gaze 
 And mark the mild lustre that gilds bis decline. 
 
 So, Pitt, when the cruize of thj greatness is o'er, s 
 
 Thy talents, thy virtues, we fondly recal ; 
 Now justly we prize thee, when lost wcj deplore ; 
 
 Admir'd in thy zenith but lov'd in thy fail. 
 
 O take, then, for dangers by wisdom repell'd. 
 
 For evils by courage and constancy brav'd, 
 O take, for a throne by thy counsels upheld. 
 
 The thanks of a people thy firmness has sav'd ! 
 
 And O, if again the rude whirlwind should rise. 
 
 The dawning of peace should fresh darkness deform, 
 
 The regrets of the good, and the fears of the wise 
 Shall turn to the pilot that weather'd the storm. 
 
 Of the strenuous supporter of Mr. Pitt's administration already 
 mentioned in the preceding notice, there cannot be more fit op» 
 portunityto speak. 
 
 The right honourable Robert B^nks Jenkinson, son of the Earl 
 of Liverpool and the daughter of governor Watts of Bengal, who 
 died a few months after his birth, was born the 7th of June, 1770. 
 At a ver\'- early age he was placed at the academy of Parson's 
 Green, near Fulham, and from theace removed to the Charter- 
 House. At this nursery of great men of the present age he was 
 considerably distinguished for his classical attainments, and from 
 it removed well prepared to Christ Church, Oxford, Being na- 
 
S24 ^ LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 tating the question' of a forced loan, demanded in the 
 name of some proconsular deputy, from the French 
 convention/' 
 
 It were endless to state the various topics on wljich 
 Mr. Pitt with no less force displayed his ratiocinative 
 eloquence, or the various forms in which the animosity 
 of opposition attacked him. Yet he persevered in 
 the course he had marked out to himself with a zeal 
 
 turally designed for high offices of state. Lord Liverpool directed 
 the attention of his son particularly to public economy, and in 
 this important and interesting science his advancements were 
 nearly equal to what the^ had been in his former pursuits. Having 
 completed this education, so various, Mr. Jenkinson visited she 
 Continent, and was in Paris at the commencement of the French 
 revolution, onthe transactions of which he afforded considerable 
 information to government. In 1790 he came to England, and 
 was elected member of parliament for the borough of Kye in 
 Sussex, but being ye^t under age he returned to the continent till 
 the next year, when he took his seat, and almost immediately de- 
 fended the interference of Great Britaia in the arrangements be- 
 tween Kussia and Turkey concerning Oczakow, In 1793, he be- 
 came one of the commissioners for India affairs, and in 1794 receiv- 
 ed the command of the Fencible Cinque Port cavalry. In 1779, 
 he succeeded Sir George Yonge in the mastership of the mint, and 
 became one of the lords of trade and plantations. His lordship also 
 married one of the daughters of the Earl of Bristol, Bishop of 
 Derrj. With Mr. Pitt he retired, on the accession of the Ad' 
 dington administration, (1801) and returned with that minister to 
 office in 1804, when he became secretary of state for the home 
 department, with a seat at the board of controul. Notwithstand- 
 ing the severe censure handed down to posterity of this nobleman 
 by Mr. Beisham, on his supposed deficiency in the graces of 
 speech, he is certainly conversant with subjects of the highest 
 national concerns, and capable of rendering no common service 
 to a state so constituted as that of Britain, 
 

 .>-" 
 
 XOJRIO SJJDMOiaTII. 
 
 ■^.:l8o]. by Jcrruv C\nJee,ZovxL-^7f 
 
WlLLlA^r PITT. 323 
 
 undaunted and laudable, and honourable to himself 
 and country. 
 
 The rebellion of Ireland, that ill-fated country sa 
 long doomed to intestine contentions, broke out in all 
 its horrors, at once the confirmation of Mr. Pitt's pre- 
 dictions, and the most arduous object of his adminis- 
 tration. ' ' 
 
 As a private incident Worthy of notice in the life of 
 this great minister, it may be mentioned, that, about 
 this time, in consequence of some allusions to the sen- 
 timents of INIr. Tierney, member for Southwark, that 
 gentleman retired from the house with an intimation to 
 which Mr. Pitt immediately attended, and the conse^ 
 quence was a meeting at Wimbledon Common. Happi- 
 ly the consequences were not so fatal to the interests of 
 Britain as might have been expected from the rancour 
 of party, in a/encontre so sudden and entirely political; 
 for Mr. Pitt, having received his opponent's lire, dis- 
 charged his own pistol in the air, and the affair ended 
 in the interference of the seconds. 
 
 In fact, what remains of official affairs, however va- 
 ried in their minutia, and important in their end, pos- 
 sess a degree of sameness which with having accorded 
 so much of our space to the effusions of his own elo- 
 quence, will render it necessary to curtail in future. 
 The causes of Mr. Pitt's retirement* from administra- 
 tion in favour of INIr. Addington, afterwards Lord Sid- ' 
 mouth, previous to the treaty of Amiens, are eitbar 
 sutliciently known or so little capable of discussion ag 
 merely to require their mention. 
 
 ^ la conformity with ihe rule hitherto observ^ed, a list is adde4 
 of the luembers who composed the iTew adaunistratiou ;— * 
 NO. 20. 2e 
 
5-6 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 During tljis retirement the ex-minister, found, as 
 may easily be supposed, an employment worthy of his 
 
 Duke of Portland, President of the Council. 
 
 Lord Eldon, Lord Chance] lor. 
 
 Earl of Westmoreland, Lord Privy Seal. 
 
 Earl of St. Vincent, First Lord of the Admiralty. 
 
 Earl of Chatham, Master General of the Ordnance. 
 
 Lord Pelham, Secretary of State for the Home Department. 
 
 Lord Havvkesbury, Secretary for Foreign Afl'airs. 
 
 Lord Hobart, Secretary for the Department of War and the 
 Colonies. 
 
 Lord Viscount Lewissham, (afterwards Earl of Dartmouth) Pre- 
 sident of the Board of Control. 
 
 Kight Hon. Charles Yorke, Secretary at War. 
 
 Earl of Liverpool, Chanceibr of the Duchy of Lancaster. 
 
 Right. Hon. Dudley Ryder, (afterwards Lord Harrowby) Trea- 
 surer of the Navy. 
 
 Right Hon. Thomas Steele and Lord Glenbervie, Joint Pay- 
 masters of his Majesty's Forces. 
 
 Lord Auckland and Lord Charles Spencer, Joint Postmasters 
 General. 
 
 John Hiley Addington, Esq. and Nicholas Vansittart, Esq. 
 Secretaries of the Treasury, 
 
 Sir William Grant, Mdster of the Rolls. 
 
 Sir Edward Law, (afterwards Lord Elleuborough) Attornejf- 
 General. 
 
 Hon. Spencer Percival, Solicitor-General. 
 
 Of the most important friend of Mr. Pitt in this list, the Lord 
 Chanceiior Eldon, it is our intei.tion to subjoin a few particulars 
 by no means uninteresting, as it is iilso to illustrate, by a portrait, 
 the memoirs of Lis great patron iii:d friend. 
 
 John Scott is the second son of a respectable officer in the ma- 
 nagement of the coal trade at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, of which 
 place he was also a native; as well as his elder brother Sir Wil- 
 liam Scott, the most able civilian of his lime, on whom honojrs 
 which liave often been announced as inleuded for hira cowld cca- 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 827 
 
 character. Though enjoyuig in the fullest sense the 
 iitiiun cum dignitate^ he did not disdain to direct- the 
 
 fer no honour. He was educated at Oxford, and entered of tba 
 Middle Temple, in \772, The talents of Mr. Scott were not of 
 that striking kind, to elicit and demand approbation, but rather to 
 persevere in a steady course of eminence 3 and hov/ever much 
 his powers may have been appreciated by his learned and affec- 
 tionate brother, it is certain that none of his friends looked for- 
 ward to that distinction v,'hich has sijice awaited him, or the rank 
 to which he has so deservedly been raised. An instance of this 
 occurred particularly on his marriage to Miss Wall is, of Newcas- 
 tle, whose uncle was exceedingly rich, and as usual estiuiated ta- 
 lents much lower than w^ealth. This gentleman, who lived in a 
 stjie of great elegance^ angry that his niece should have mar- 
 ried so lowly, made a point of receiving ]Mr. Scott, when upon lh« 
 northern circuit, in tlie meanest manner possible, ever excluding 
 for the time every common indulgence from his tabic. Let com- 
 mercial arrogance hence learn how ridiculous are its moral calcu- 
 lations, and the pride of wealth, and the exultation of ignore. 3 ice 
 HI longer embitter the struggles of genius, at least where envy has 
 not been excited by presumption, nor censure by imprudence. 
 Consistent with what has been first said, the progress of Mr. Scott 
 was slow and sure. He was first noticed and promoted by Lord 
 Thurlow, and in 1783, was elected to parliament for Weobly. He 
 was knighted on becoming solicitor-general, in 1788, and to him 
 the regency bill of Mr. Pitt was attributed. But bis first great 
 effort was on the memorable trials for high-treason in 179 i, when 
 (having, in the preceding year, been appointed attorney-general) 
 he opened the case of the crown in a speech of nine hours, and 
 prosecuted the heads of the athliatcd societies with unequalltd \\- 
 gour. Since then he continued to iidvance. In 1799, he becrune 
 chief justice of the common pleas, with tlie title of Baron Eldon, 
 drawn from a place of that name in his native county ; and on 
 the resignation, Earl Rosslyn, he was appointed Lord High Chaiv 
 cellor of Great Britain. His lordship's eloquence as well as sen- 
 timents are perfectly of the scliool of Pitt ; and, as he is yet ixx 
 the vigour of life, much may be expected from the powers vvhick 
 he has evinced on many occasions. 
 ' 2 £ 2 
 
S2B . LIFE OF TIIK LAT£ 
 
 full force of tliose talents which bad governed em])i^':i 
 io the command of a body of volunteers under his ia- 
 :^aence as Warden of tlu; Cinqne Ports, from which they 
 took ilieir name ; and whicii under his direction be- 
 cauK^ remarkable for excellent discipline, and the pu- 
 .r*:Sl and most elevated patriotism. 
 
 The exigencies of the state as well as the wishes of 
 'uM loverg of the British coiistitation, called Mr. Pitt 
 again to the helm of allairs/^ but under other cnxum' 
 i^taiices than those to which l)e had been accustomed.' 
 llie complexion of the times had been altered during 
 the variations of an inefficient government, and among 
 other mortiiicationa v»hich were prepared by the vigi- 
 iance of opposition, was the prosecution of his friend 
 Lord Melvflle, upon grounds, at best equivocal, with 
 the utmost severity of the legal art. 
 
 ^ This adrainistraiion, the last ever formed by Mr. Pitt, wai 
 composed in the following manner : — 
 
 Ilight Hon. William Pitt, First Lord of the Treasury and Ghaft- 
 cellor of the Exchequer. 
 
 Duke of Portland, President of the Council. 
 
 Lord Eldon, Lord Chancellor. 
 
 Earl of Westmoreland, Lord Privy Seal. 
 
 Lord Viscount Melville, First Lord of the Admiralty, , 
 
 Earl of Chatham, Master-General of the Ordnance, 
 
 Lord Havvkcsbury, Secretary of State for the Home Depart- 
 ment. 
 
 Lord Harrowby, Secretary for Foreign Aftairs. 
 
 Earl Camden, Secretary for the Department of War and the 
 Colonies. 
 
 Lord Castlereagh, President of the Board of Control lor the 
 Aifairs of India. 
 
 Lord Mulgrave, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, 
 
 Eight Hon. William Dundas, Secretary at War. 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 329 
 
 Having again planned the salvation of Europe by a 
 blow the most decisive of any that had hitherto beeu 
 struck, while waiting with anxiety the result that 
 should astonish the world, it failed, and the proud 
 feelings of Mr. Pitt, which nothing had hitherto been 
 able to subdue, sunk with it. He was seized with an 
 indisposition which was early found to take an unfa- 
 vourable turn. 
 
 This illness originated in extreme debility, brought 
 on by excessive anxiety and unwearied attention 
 to business. By this debility his whole nervous sys- 
 tem was so deranged, that for weeks together he 
 was unable to sleep, and this privation of rest, origi- 
 nating in weakness, still farther augmented the cause, 
 so as to lead to a genera,! breaking up of his consti- 
 tution. . An hereditary gout completed the whole — 
 producing according to its ordinary effect on a debili- 
 tated system, water in the chest, and such a weakness 
 of stomach that he could neither admit nor retain any 
 "thing. 
 
 Since the excess of the dropsical symptoms IMr. Pitt 
 lay in a state of sleep and insensibility. Before these 
 
 Higlit Hon. George Canning, Treasurer of the Nav^'-. 
 
 Pvight Hon. George Rose and Right Hon. Lord Charles Scmer- 
 §et, Joint Pajanasters of his IMajesty's Forces. 
 
 Duke of Montrose and Lord Charles Spencer^ Joint Postmasters- 
 General, 
 
 William Haskisson, Esq. and William Sturges Bourne, Es-q,-. 
 Secretaries of the Treasury- 
 Sir W^illiam Gxant, Master of the Rolls. 
 
 Hon. Spencer Percivah Attorney-General. 
 
 Sir Thomas Manners Sutton, Solicitor-General. 
 
 2 E 3 " ':' 
 
530 LITE OF THE LATE 
 
 symptoms, the privation of sleep was the most painful 
 tircumstance of his illness. 
 
 On Tucsrky morning, however,, (January 21) his 
 disorder had taken a more favourable turn, and the 
 fever was apparently so abated, that his physicians 
 entertained hopes of his recovery ; but towards even- 
 ing, when the gentlemen who chiefly attended him paid 
 Ijis visit, before taking leave of his patient for the 
 r.iglit, he found tiiat the (awr had returned with in- 
 creased violence, and every symptom was so aggra- 
 vated, that all expectation was at an end. It became 
 ^Ovv necessary to declare an opinion, and to acquaint 
 Air. Piit himself with the imminent danger. The 
 bishop of Lincoln, the oldest and fondest friend of xMr. 
 Pitt, was called out of the room, and the following opi^ 
 liion was expressed to him, nearly in these words: 
 *' He cannot live above forty-eight hours — the disor- 
 der has taken a mortal turn— any attempt to amuse 
 liim from his present lethargy would be attended with 
 instant death; he is not strong enough for medicine, 
 tfY any restorative application. If he lingers a few 
 days it will astonish nie.'"'^ 
 
 The bishop of Lincoln now saw the necessity of in- 
 timating the danger to Mr. Pitt, He fulfilled thi* 
 painful office wiih firmness; Mr, Pitt was hardly sen- 
 sible : this dreaded shock had scarcely power to dissi- 
 pate his lethargy; bui after a few moments he waved 
 his hand, and was left alone with the bishop. 
 
 He instantly expressed himself perfectly resigned to 
 the divine will, and, with the utmost composure, asked 
 
 ^ This actiount is drawa from one which assumed an official 
 character. 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 331 
 
 Sir Walter Farqubar, who was present, how long he 
 might expect to live ? 
 
 Mr. Pitt then entered into a conversation of some 
 length with the bishop of Lincoln upon religious sub- 
 jects. He repeatedly declared, in the strongest terms 
 of humility, a sense of his own unworthiness, and a 
 firm reliance upon the mercy of God, through the we- 
 rits of Christ, 
 
 After this the bishop of Lincoln prayed by his bed- 
 side for a considerable time ; and JNlr. Pitt appeared 
 greatly composed by these last duties of religion, 
 
 A man of the superior mind of Mr. Pitt could not 
 but have the strongest impressions of religion ; doubt- 
 less at this awful moment they soothed his pillow, and 
 whispered comfort to his soul. 
 
 During the night his fever continued ; and the strong 
 convulsions in his stomach, more than once threatened 
 lo break up his frame. 
 
 The bishop of Lincoln sat up with him. — ^The phy- 
 sicians now thought proper to discontinue medicine. — 
 During the morning of Wednesday repeated enquiries 
 were made after him, and a statement of his danc^er 
 was transmitted to his Majesty, to his relations, and 
 to most of his friends. — Lady Hester Stanhope, his 
 niece, and Mr. James Stanhope, are said to have had 
 an interview with him on Wednesday morning, and to 
 have received his last adieu. His brother, the Earl of 
 Chatham, took his last farewel late at night. Mr. Pitt 
 was scarcely sensible. He could speak nothing; he 
 could express affection, gratitude, and hope, only by 
 signs. — The bishop of Lincoln continued with him all 
 night. — The mortal symptoms were now approaching 
 to a crisis. His extremities were already cold, and his 
 
$32 LIFE OF THE lATE 
 
 senses began to fail. As a last and desperate effort t* 
 protract life, blisters were applied to the soles of his 
 feet. They restored him to something of life and re- 
 collection, but they could arrest nothing of the pro- 
 gress of death. It is said that he continued clear and 
 composed till a short time before his dissolution, which 
 took place without much addition of suffering or strug- 
 gle, at half past four on Thursday morning, January 
 23, IBOo, The same day on which he first took his 
 seat in parliament. 
 
 What more remains to tell of him, whose voice a 
 few short weeks before had set the world in arms ! His 
 remains after a time, during which a public funeral had 
 been accorded to him by parliament, w^ere removed 
 for the contemplation of his friends to the Painted 
 Chamber of the House of Lords, an honour chiefly 
 confined to peers. 
 
 At nine o'clock on Thursday, Feb. 50, 1 S06, a^ 
 crowd began to assemble at New andOld Palace-yard^ 
 to see this distinguished statesman lying in state in the 
 Painted Chamber. The crowd completely filled the 
 avenues, and at ten o'clock the doors of the lobby of 
 the House of Commons were thrown open. 
 
 On passing the raised lobby of the House of Com.- 
 mons, the spectators entered the long gallery, which 
 was hung with black, and lighted up by seventy-one 
 wax lights in tin sconces, and attended by Bow-street 
 officers. The spectators then proceeded to the Painted 
 Chamber, the passage to and from which was in a 
 horse shoe form, and at the upper end of which was 
 placed the coffin, on bearers, completely covered with^ 
 a pall. 
 
 Oa the right of the latter was placed ten silver can?*^ 
 
 a 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 533 
 
 dlesticks, on pedestals covered with black cloth and 
 large wax tapers, interspersed with four elegant flags, 
 with the various insignia of the several offices of the 
 deceased and his arms. At the foot x)f the coffin was 
 placed the king's banner, with an admiral's streamer 
 and jack roiled, with his shield and sword, and his 
 arms embossed, on a^ raised platfornij over which were 
 observed his helmet and other insignia, surmounted by 
 the anchor supporting a crant (the Chatham crest) ; 
 on the left of the coffin were placed the same number < 
 of wax lights and banners as on the right, with Mr. 
 Thomas as principal. At the head of the cofnn also, 
 ten gentlemen of the wardrobe, attendants in deep 
 mourning cloaks and scarfs, with twelve other gentk-^ 
 men porters variously dispersed. 
 
 The whole of the PaiiUed Cham.ber was also hung 
 in black, the ujjper part of which displayed a silver , 
 border; about a foot deep, which greatly added to the 
 finblimity of the scene. 
 
 All around the chamber were tin sconces, bearing 
 x)ne hundred and thirty-two wax lights; between each 
 hght was a banner with the Chatham arms elegantly 
 painted. 
 
 At the head of the coffin, under the canopy, was 
 placed the escutchions and banners of the Chatham 
 arms. The canopy was surmounted by plumes of 
 ^ black and white ostrich feathers, with a deep painted 
 border representing a viscount's coronet and the 
 Chatliam crest, in drapery and wreaths. ^ — From thence 
 the spectators retired through the new door of the 
 House of Lords into Old Palace-yard. 
 
 The ceremony of lying in state coutinued till Frida\» 
 
334 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 evening, the following day (Feb. 22), being appointed 
 for the public interment of JNJr. Pitt. 
 
 At an early hour on Saturday, New Palace-yard, 
 Union-street, King-street, and the Sanctuary, were co- 
 vered with gravel. At ten o'clock a party of the third 
 regiment of guards arrived, and were stationed inside 
 ©f the railing of Westminster Hall gate to the west door 
 of Westminster Abbey. — A number of the life guards 
 were stationed at all the leading streets to regulate the 
 carriages on their way to the parliament house. The 
 tickets directed all those who were to walk in the pro- 
 cession to be set down in the greatest order at the doors 
 of the houses of Commons and Lords. 
 
 On their entrance, the heralds and proper officers, 
 from the College of Arms, were stationed to conduct 
 them to their proper places in the procession. Sir 
 Isaac Heard arrived before twelve o'clock ; and having 
 inspected the arrangements made by his officers, the 
 procession began to move. At half past twelve it 
 came out of W^estminster Hall, which was announced 
 by the drums and fifes playing the lOKh Psalm, in a 
 very solemn manner, and trumpets and kettle drum* 
 playing a dirge. The procession moved in the follow- 
 ing order : — 
 
 The Lord Chamberlain's officers. 
 
 The standard. 
 
 Carried by General Lenox, supported b;y Mr. Steele, and 
 
 Mr. Long. 
 
 The Guidon, 
 
 Carried by Brigadier General Hope, supported by Mr. Ryder, 
 
 and another gentleman. 
 
 The deceased and Earl Ciialhanrs domestics. 
 
 About one hundred uieaibers of the House ofCommons. 
 
 Twenty clergymen in their canonicals. 
 
 Six Truiii pets. 
 
 The Banner and Crest of Xr. Pitt, 
 
 Supported by Mr. Wiiberibrcc; and another gentleman. 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 335 
 
 Fourteen Officers who attended the deceased while lying in State, 
 
 Eighteen Knights and Bachelors. 
 
 Bsron Sutton in his robes. 
 
 The Lord IMnyor of London. 
 
 The Speaker of the House ot" Comraons. 
 
 Ten Bisb:ops 
 
 Thirty-two Peers. 
 
 Their Iloyrd Highnesses the Dukes of York, Cumberland^ 
 
 and Cambridge. 
 
 Helm and C^est, Sword and Target, and Surcoat, borne by So» 
 
 niCTset^ Lancaster, and Chester Heralds. 
 
 Clje ^cits^.'' 
 
 Chief Mourner, 
 
 The Earl of Chatham, the brotlier of the deceased, supported hy 
 
 Earls Westraoreiancl and Camden. 
 
 Sir Isaac Heard, Garter Kina at Arms, ceirrving tli* 
 
 SlairofOificc. 
 
 The Banner of Emr-ems, 
 
 Carried by Mr. rercival, the late AtUornpy^-General and sup- 
 
 ported by Mr.. Canning and Mr. 11 .se. 
 
 About fifty relations and friends of the deceased. 
 
 The Cinque Port Volunteers, with crape on their hats and 
 
 left arras*- 
 
 * The coffin in which the remains of Mr Pitt was deposited^ 
 was covered with black velvet ; tlve corner mouldings and othev 
 ornaments were so highly- plated as to look exactly like silver? 
 the, inscription was as follows; — 
 
 The Right Honourable 
 
 WILLIAM PITT. 
 
 Onl^^ Broii.er of the K.irl of Chatham, 
 
 One ot his Majesty's Most Rjnaurable Privy Council, 
 
 First Lord of n ; ireasury, 
 
 Chancellor of -ne Exchequer, 
 
 A Commissioner o " ' iii of India, 
 
 Constable c ristie. 
 
 Warden, Keeper, and : i tire Cinque Ports;, 
 
 ]\Iaster of /.'^ . : i;uty-Hokise, 
 
 High Steward of er-itv of Cambridge, 
 
 r jm;a. 
 
 Died ..-^ ......aary, 1806, 
 
 Aged 46 years. 
 
S35 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 The first of the procession entered Westminster 
 Abbey at one o'clock, but it was half an hour after be- 
 fore the body entered. Dr. Vincent, (the Dean) the 
 Prebends, Minor Canons, and Gentlemen of the choir, 
 were ready to receive them ; and on the entrance of 
 Ihe corpse, they began to sing Dr. Croft's funeral ser- 
 vice, which they continued to do till the body was 
 placed in the centre of the choir, when the regular 
 burial service was read by one of the Minor Canons. 
 The anthem, burial service, ^'c. was the same as 
 that performed at the funeral of Lord Nelson, at St. 
 
 ^Till twelve o'clock there were but few more persons 
 in the neighbourhood than when common business is 
 proceeding. Palace Yard and the streets adjoining 
 the sanctuary, were by no means crowded when tha 
 procession was moving. Several scaffolds and tem- 
 porary seats were erected. Some of them had a few 
 persons and others none. 
 
 Among the distinguished personages besides the 
 royal Dukes, were — the Dukes oi Montrose and Rut? 
 land. — Marquisses of Buckingham, Thomond, and 
 Abercorn. — Earls 'Spencer, Temple, Roniney, AVin* 
 Chelsea, and Camden. — Lords Sidmouth, Barrington, 
 Paget, Macdonald, Pomfret, Kelly, Rivers, Bulklcy, 
 Hood, Hawkesbury, Elliot, Grantham, Castlereagh, 
 Auckland and Carrington. — Archbishop of Canter- 
 bury. — Bishops of Bath and Wells, Norwich, Bristol, 
 London, Lincoln, Ely, Exeter, and Chester. 
 
 Mr. Pitt made a sort of nuncupative- will, as foK 
 lows: — 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 33f 
 
 ** I ©WE Sir Walter Farqubar one thousand' gui- 
 licas, from October 1805, as a professional debt. 
 
 " W. PITT.'* 
 
 "Twelve thousand pounds, with interest, from 
 October, 1801, to Mr. Long, Mr. Steele, Lord Car- 
 rington, Bishop of Lincoln, Lord Camden, Mr. Joseph 
 Smith, and I earnestly request their acceptance of it. 
 I wish, if means can be found for it, of paying double 
 wages to all of my serv9.nts who were with me at my 
 decease. 
 
 ^^ W. PITT." 
 
 ^' I WISH my brother, with the Bishop of Lin- 
 eolii to iook pver my papers ai^d to settle u?y affairs. 
 I owe more thian I can leave behind me. 
 
 " W.PITT," 
 
 Thus concluded the powerful career, of the great 
 minister, whose conduct and character we have at- 
 temped to display, partly by a simple statement of 
 facts as'they have arisen; and partly by a faithful re- 
 cital of those orations, which while they offer the best 
 display of his talents, at the same time afford the most 
 certain account of his motives, and ends. 
 
 His person was tall and slender, his complexion 
 rather fair, with blue eyes, large forehead, and promi- 
 nent features ; his countenance was strong, thoughtful, 
 and rather stem, except when enlivened by^ some sud- 
 den impiulse. 
 
 Although some who acted with him, had ended 
 their friendship with his life, no man could be happier 
 than Mr. Pitt in respect to the hands in which he left 
 his fame. In a " Brief examination into the Increase 
 of the Revenue, Commerce, and Navigation ©f Great 
 
 NO. 20^ 2 F 
 
53S LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 J3ritain'' during his administration. The right hono- 
 rable George Rose, than whom none, on any subject 
 ofpoHtical economy or private virtue, can be more 
 capable of judging, thus expressed himself: — 
 
 *' I have hitherto confined myself to matters within 
 the immediate department which Mr. Pitt presided; 
 but considering the pre-eminence he long held in the 
 councils of his Majesty, and that unhappily for the 
 country he is no longer among us, I may, I hope, be 
 allowed to refer very shortly to some of the principal 
 matters that occurred during the eventful period of his 
 administration, and to say a few words respecting his 
 character. 
 
 " If we look to naval and military operations it will 
 be seen, with no small degree of astonishment as well 
 as satisfaction, that in the period referred to, we took 
 and destroyed more ships of the line of our enemies* 
 than in all the wars we have been engaged in since the 
 revolution, viz. those in the reign of King William, 
 Queen Anne, during the hostilities with Spain, in the 
 reign of George the first, (when the fleet of Spain was 
 destroyed in the Mediterranean), in the wars of 1742, 
 of 1756, and the American war. 
 
 " That^ the French under their emperor, Buona- 
 parte, were driven out of Egypt, by an inferior army, 
 composed of troops from the banks of the Thames and 
 
 '* ^ These amount to 110 ships of the line ; while those in the 
 former wars were in number only 109. In this comparison, the 
 ships destroyed in the very arduous enterprize at Copenhagen, 
 ^re not included, although the expedition was equipped under 
 Mr. Pitt*s government, nor several ships of the line lost in H 
 storm, when the invasioii of Ireland was attempted." 
 
WILLIAM PITT. 339 
 
 ©f the Ganges, who met in that country and there 
 gained immortal honour; and that they were deprived 
 of every foot of land they had on the continent of In- 
 dia, as well as of almost all their colonies in the West 
 Indies ; and that many of those of Spain and Holland 
 were taken by the British arms, while the numerous 
 and extensive possessions of Great Britain in all parts 
 of the world were completely protected. 
 
 " If we turn our attention to what has passed within 
 these kingdoms, under our immediate view, we shall 
 not have less reason to admire the character and te 
 revere the memory of one of the most able, firm, vir- 
 tuous, and disinterested men that ever lived in any na- 
 tion or in any time. His conduct during the long and 
 dangerous illness of our beloved sovereign, in 1788-9, 
 will not soon be forgotten by his grateful countrymen. 
 It is the pride of the British constitution, as now un- 
 derstood and administered, that the personal interest 
 of the monarch is so much identified with the interests 
 of the people, that the latter feel every circumstance 
 tending to the health, the comfort, or the dignity of 
 their sovereign, as a favourite acquisition lo themselves : 
 and I think I may venture to say, there never was a 
 period of more genuine national joy than when our 
 beloved king, after a considerable interval of alarming 
 indisposition, was restored to the enjoyment of health, 
 and to the exercise of his public functions. At that 
 juncture there were particular circumstances in the 
 political state and political opinions of Europe, which 
 tended more than ever to endear to every good and 
 virtuous man the monarch they saw re-established, and 
 the tranquilhty which that happy event had restored. 
 The display of wisdom and firmness evinced bv Mr, 
 2 T 2 
 
340 LIFE OF THE lATE 
 
 Pitt, daring that iDterirai of zaationid anxiety wkicb 
 tbe king's iibess occasioned, did Lim infinite booour^. 
 be took that high groiiod which his virtue as well al 
 bis ability entitled hisn to take, ana with a digpitj and 
 CGura^ inspired bj bodi, rebaked at ooce the fean 
 ci ihe linjd acd sappcrted the rights cf his sovePQgpi: 
 not less f^hbiul to his ^untiy than lo^-al to his king« 
 he devoted his ^errices to both in a manntf»r eqoaliv 
 taasd^ SLLd Gi»inl£rened« We rejoice ihal the oange: 
 
 " "Which orercaaie ds Hke a sommer's clocd.*' 
 
 ws* ttJe ^ot% to grre' M the efe^ U> bis i 
 cUtiiafetecces le?s f&To^ah^ Hsgln iHr^e shewn xh^m 
 a iteufattd to produce. 
 
 '* Nor ^KHjld the perife with which Vte co«»lTT a^d 
 
 ife coDstit^tioH ^Eie for ^ame time thresicetii^ m cJ©o» 
 semiepce of wb&t may be termed the mna ctf the 
 Fre4Hr^ reroiotioD erer be icr&m^k ; &a«|^ ptAmp* 
 sot now strong iA xkm icBagiaanqn of the fnufik (and 
 %o som« of the les? oo^ii^ale or les^caodid flBtai to 
 liave been exaggerated bejmid Xbe trotli) k e m tto 
 v€TT soecesE with whkh they were opposed c by tbeit| 
 IkFw^^, w*o h&6 hetitT oj^jert^jifitiesof fair^appre* 
 rkktine Mr. P.tt's serriee?? aad of c&k&laliD? the 
 fei*^nrlDde cf those c^rr^-rs '^hlcb he opposed aad orer- 
 caaie, the pecollectJcE ^f that acute:?es?, sssd cleanress 
 •I p€PG%ptioG, that scH^L^drress ef it:dgHie»t, that com- 
 jiO?ure &b6 fc-rtit'jde oi m'^^S, whirb cerer forsook 
 lifi» on the most try^n^ occ2s:oc5. snd with which fee 
 mm, cte diScBltie? of his •^^ arid of the poblic atca- 
 tioB^ will be now rtsieoabefed, as at the time ibej 
 wjpT^ ack • ie53 a^nsiisble in them- 
 
 i*4^eSj tfcr- -r eo t)yiju eBce». 
 
WILLIAM BITT. 34l 
 
 " An intention is entertained of a history of Mr. Pitt's 
 whole life being given to the public* In the mean 
 time I trust I shall be excused in making some very 
 short observations respecting him, as few had better, 
 perhaps none so frequent, opportunities of forming a 
 judgment on the subject in the last two and twenty 
 years of his life, during which period, I had the hap- 
 piness to possess his affectionate friendship and perfect 
 confidence, without the slightest or shortest interrup- 
 tion. 
 
 " To those who enjoyed his intimacy I might safely 
 refer for the proof of his possessing those private vir- 
 tues and endowments, which, though they may some- 
 times be accounted foreign to the pubUc character of 
 a statesman, the congenial feelings of Englishmen al- 
 ways dispose them to regard as the best pledges of a 
 minister's upright administration. Around these, in 
 the present case an additional lustre has been thrown 
 by the circumstances of his death ; by the manner in 
 which he met it; and by the composure, the fortitude, 
 the resignation, and the religion, which marked his 
 last moments. With a manner somewhat reserved and 
 distant in what might be termed his public deportment, 
 no man was ever better qualified to gain, or more suc- 
 cessful in fixing the attachment of his friends, than 
 Mr. Pitt. They saw all the full energies of his cha- 
 racter 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 
 
 * This work whj^h is understood to be from the united pens 
 «f Mr. GifFord and Mr. Redhead Ycrke, must necessarily excite 
 the highest expectation, 
 
 2 fS 
 
LtTt OF TBB LATE 
 
 6t flibmdgfeeably f)riDitneted, when the paramount du- 
 ties he conceived hiniself to o\Ve the pobhc, admitted 
 €)f his mixing in then:i that indignant seventy with 
 which he met and subdued unfounded oppositionTj 
 that keenness of sarcasm with which he repelled and 
 withered (as it might be said) the powers of most of 
 Lis assailants fn debate, were exchai^ed in the society 
 ©f his intimate friends for a kindness of heart, a gen*' 
 tlenfess of demeanor, and playfulness of good-humour^ 
 \vhich'none ever witnessed without interest, or partici- 
 ^ted without delight. His mind which, in the grasp 
 Btrd extent of its capacity, seized with a quickness al- 
 tttost iMu'itii?e, all th^ most important relations of po^ 
 litieal power and political economy, was not less un-^ 
 commonly susceptible of all the light and elegant in>- 
 Jressions which form the great charm of eonversatioa 
 0f cultivated minds. 
 
 ^* This sensibility to the enjoyments of private friend- 
 fiiip greatly enhanced the sacrifice be made of every 
 personal comfort to a rigid performance of duty to 
 the public ; thai duty, for the last year of bis lifcj was 
 indeed of the most laborious and unremitting kind, 
 -The strength of his attachment to his sovereign, and 
 the ardour of his zeal for the Welfare of his country, 
 led him to forego, not only every pleasure and an«use- 
 liient, but almost every pause and relaxation of busi- 
 ness necessary to the preservatio^^^f healthy till ijfc was 
 too latei, m a frame like his, alas ! for the pre^ecva- 
 tion of ///<? ! I That life he sacrificed to his ccrfuntry, 
 not certainly like another most valuable and illustri- 
 ous servant of the public, (whose death has been deeply 
 and universally lamented) amidst those animating cir- 
 cumstances in which ^he incomparable, h.^ro. pfteaveii- 
 6 
 
WIBIIAM FITT. S43 
 
 tured it ih battle, and at last resigned it for the most 
 splendid of all his u-nexampled victories, but with that= 
 patriotic self devotedness which looks for a reward only 
 in its own consciousness of right. 
 
 *' The praise of virtue, of honour, and of disinte- 
 rested pnrity, whether in public or private character, 
 need scarcely be claimed for his memory; for those 
 his enemies, (if he now has any, whieh I am unwilling 
 to believe,- although some are frequently endeavouf- 
 ing to depreciate his merits) will not venture to deny ; ; 
 and his country in whose cause they were exercised to 
 the last, will know how to value and record them. 
 That they should be so valued and recorded is impor- 
 tant on every principle of justice to the individual, 
 and bebefit to the community. To an upright minis- 
 ter in Great Britain, zealous for the interest and ho- 
 nour of his couutry, there is no reward for profit, emo- 
 lutftent, or patronage, which can be esteemed a com- 
 pensation for the labours the privations, the anxieties, 
 or the dangers of his situation; it is in the approba- 
 tion of his sovereign, and in the suffrage of his country- 
 then ; added to his own conviction of having done 
 ^very thing to deserve it, that he must look for that 
 feward whiCTpis to console him for all the cares and 
 troubles of his station ; the opposition of rivals : the 
 feaisrepresentation of enemies ; the desertion or pee- 
 vishness of friends; and sometimes the mistaken cen- 
 seres of the people. 'Tis the honourabk ambition 
 that looks beyond the present time, that must create 
 ^courage, and support a virtuous and enlightened 
 litate&naafe ;— ^that must confer on his mind, the up 
 Tightness and purity that rise above all self-^advantage; 
 the courage that guards the state from foreign hostility 
 
S4# LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 or internal faction ; the firmness that must often resist 
 the wishes, to ensure the safety of the people. 
 
 ** This is the legitimate ambition of a statesman ; 
 and that Mr. Pitt possessed it, his friends are convinc- 
 ed ; but he has been sometimes accused (by those who 
 although their opposition was active and systematic, 
 yet knew how to honour the man) of a less laudable 
 and less patriotic ambition, that wished " to reign 
 alone,'* to exclude from the participation of office and 
 Qf power, other men, whose counsels might have as- 
 sisted him to guide the country amidst its difficulties 
 and embarrassments, or might have contributed to its 
 safety in the hour of its danger. It is, however, per- 
 fectly well known to some of the highest characters in 
 the kii?gdom, that Mr. Pitt, after the resignation of 
 Mr. Addington, in the suimner of J 804, was most 
 anxiously desirous that Lord Grenville and Mr. Fox, 
 should form a part of the new administration, and 
 pressed their admission into office in that quarter, 
 where only such earnestness could be effectual ; con- 
 ceiving the forming a strong government as important 
 to the public welfare, and as calculated to call forth 
 the unitf-d talents, as well as the utmost resources of 
 the empire : in which endeavor he persisted till within 
 a few months of his death. I am aware of the delicacy 
 of such a statement, but I am bold in the certainty of 
 its truth. My profound respect for those by whom 
 such averment, if false, might be contradicted, would 
 not suffer me to make it, were it called for, to do jus- 
 tice to that great and virtuous statesman whose unri- 
 valled quahties, both in private and in public life will 
 ever be in my recollection, 
 
 *' Duro memor ipse m«i, dum spiritus hos regit arttts." 
 
WILLIAM FIfT* 345 
 
 Such- i& ihe petspicnous view afforded by this good 
 mmy a«d emi'rient poM<:!iari,^of tl>e taknts and virtues 
 ©f his departed friend. 
 
 If any thing more be wanting to assert his right to 
 the gratitude of a eoentry divided only in speculative 
 opinions, or if friendship, shaken by adversity, require 
 a solacing contemplation — it may be said, look around 
 on that country, yet smihng amid the shock of nations, 
 and on the world; si qucsris monnmentum ch^umspice. 
 Behold the only land in which those opinions' are free 
 —the only state in which a wreck of that pioi^erity, 
 which so lately beamed upon ^vhole empires, remains. 
 
 Survey the united kingdom, and doubtless^ much 
 will be found to lament in its condition, that might be 
 better ; its arts and its agriculture might be advanced^ 
 and its manufactures and commerce, unshackled and 
 promoted : its labouring orders might be rendered less 
 dependant on beneficence, and its middling classes re- 
 moved from distress. But look beyond thebounda-' 
 ries of that, notwithstanding, highly favoured country, 
 and there is nothing that can be worse; instead of a 
 condition susceptible of improvement, and firm^on its 
 own basis, there is nothing but warfare, and ruin, and 
 dismay; kingdoms lately flourishing and powerful, 
 are now laid in the dust.— No country knows the name 
 by which it will be called on the morrow. — An honest 
 and laborious people are coersced into the character of 
 a predatory soldiery, beneath whom fall their own 
 neighbours and kindred; and even where the shew of 
 government is yet imposed, all is anarchy and de- 
 struction. 
 
 To the energies of Pitt who will refuse to ascribe 
 this pleasing difference in favour of Great Britain? 
 
S46 LIFE OF THE LATE 
 
 A biographical application of his life cannot perhaps 
 be better made than that which has already issued from 
 the pen of Mr. Canning. 
 
 ELIJAH'S MANTLE. 
 
 When bj the Almighty's dread command^ 
 Elijah, call'd from Israel's land, 
 
 Rose in the sacred flame. 
 His Mantle good Elisha caught. 
 And with the prophet's spirit fraught, 
 
 Her second hope became. 
 
 In Pitt our Israel saw combin*d 
 
 The patriot's heart — the prophet's mind^ 
 
 Elijah's spirit here ; 
 Now, sad reverse \ — that spirit reft. 
 No confidence, no hdpe is left ; 
 
 For no Elisha's near. 
 
 Is there among the greedy band. 
 Who've seiz'd on power with harpy hand. 
 
 And patriot worth assume. 
 One on whom public faith can rest- 
 One fit to wear Elijah's vest. 
 
 And cheer the nation's gloom ? 
 
 Grenville, — to aid thy treasury fame, 
 A portion of his Mantle claim, 
 
 Pitt's generous ardour feel ; 
 •'Bove sorded self resolve to soar, 
 Amidst exchequer gold be poor. 
 
 Thy wealth — the public weal. 
 
 Fox,— if on thee some remnant fall. 
 The shred may to thy mind recall 
 
 Those hours of loud debate 
 When thy unhallow'd lips oft prais'd 
 " The glorious fabric'' traitors rais'd 
 
 On Bourbon's fallen state — 
 
 Thy soul let Pitt's example fire. 
 With patriot zeal thy tongue inspire. 
 
 Spite of thy Gallic leaven ; 
 And teach thee in thy latest day. 
 His form of prayer, (if thou can'st pray) 
 
 ^^ save my country, Heavtn V* \ 
 
WItLIAM PITT. 347 
 
 Windham, — if e'er thy sorrows flow 
 For private loss, or public woe. 
 
 Thy rigid brow unbend : 
 Tears, over Caesar, Brutus shed. 
 His hatred warr'd not with the dead — > 
 
 And Piit was once tby friend. 
 
 Does envy bid thee not to mourn ? 
 Hold then his Mantle up to scorn. 
 
 His well-eam'd fame assail; 
 Of funeral honours rob his corse. 
 And at his virtues, till thou i hoarse. 
 
 Like curst Thersites rail. 
 
 Illustrious Roscius of the state, 
 Newi)reech'd and harness'd fordebate> 
 
 Thou wonder of thy age 1 ! ! 
 Petty or Betty art thou bight 
 By Grantasentjo strut thy night 
 
 On Stephen's bustling stnge ? 
 
 Pitt's 'chequer robe will Petty wear? 
 
 Take of his Mantle then a share, - 
 
 'Twill aid thy ways and means ; 
 And should fat Jack, and his cabal. 
 Cry " rob us the exchequer, Hall'^ • 
 
 'Twill charm away those fiends. 
 
 Sage Palinurus of the realm ] 
 
 By Vincent call'd to take the helm. 
 
 And play a proxy's part ; 
 Dost thou a star, or compass know. 
 Canst reef uloft — or steer below ? 
 
 Hast conn'd the seaman's chart ? 
 
 No ! from Pitt's Mantle tear a rag, 
 Enough to serve thee for a flag. 
 
 And hoist it on thy mast : 
 Beneath that sign (our prosperous star) 
 Shall future Nelsons rush to war. 
 
 And rival victories past. 
 
 Sidraouth, — though low his head be laid 
 Who call'd thee from thy native shade. 
 
 And gave thee second birth ; — : 
 
 Gave thee the sweets of power and place^ 
 Xhe tufted rohe — the gilded mace. 
 
 And rear'd thy puny worth ; 
 
348 £IFE OF THE i-ATE 
 
 Think how his Mantle wrappM thee round ; 
 Is one of equal virtues found 
 
 Among thy new compeers ? 
 Or can thy cloak of Amiens stuff. 
 Once Jaugh'd to scorn l>y blue and bufT, 
 
 •Screen thee from Windham's jeers? 
 
 When faction threaten'd Britain's land. 
 Thy new-made friends— a desperate band. 
 
 Like Ahab — stood reprov'd ; 
 Pitt's powerful tongue their rage could check 5 
 His counsel sav'd, midst general wreck. 
 
 The Israel that he lov'd. 
 
 YeSj honourM shade ! whilst near thy grs-vc 
 The letter'd sage, and chieftain brave, 
 
 The votive marble claim ; 
 O'er thy cold corse — the public tear 
 /Congeal'd, a chrystal shrine shall r^ar 
 
 Unsullied — as thy fame! ! !* 
 
 * It need scarcely be added that this poem alludes to the ad- 
 ministration which immediately succeeded the death of M^i Pitt. 
 
 END. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 ADMINISTRATIONS, lists of, 21, St, t6, 104, 325, 32l 
 Appleby, Mr. Pitt elected raember for, 90. 
 
 America, Mr. Pitt's speech on the motion for peacfe with, 32, 50, 
 Abuses in public affices discussed^ 87 » 
 
 B 
 
 Burke, Mr. his bill for regulating Ihe civil list, 22; impeaches Mr^ 
 Hastings, 15 1 ; opposes Mr. Pitt on the regency, 173, 
 
 Bastile, English, account of, 275. 
 
 Boroughs, rotten, Mr. Pitt's plan for their abolition, 83. 
 
 Bi'.* raphical accounts of Lord Chatham, 10; IVIr. Hastings, 163; 
 Xsord Minto, 230 ; Earl Fizwiliiam, 231; Sir Francis Burdetti 
 273; Mr. Canning, 321 3 Lord Hawkesbury, 323: Lord El- 
 don, 326. 
 
 Chatham, Lord, account of, 10; his retirement, 12 ; his death, 
 
 15 ; character, and inscription to his memory in Guildhall, 15 ; 
 
 his lettet on his resignation, 30. 
 Coke, Mr. his motion for anew administration, 71. 
 Calais, Mr. Pitt's journey to, 151. 
 Custos regni, or lieutenant for the king, description of his office^ 
 
 189. 
 Civil list, Mr. Burke's bill for regulating, 22. 
 Cambridge, anecdote of Mr. Pitt at, 143. 
 Cambridge, University of, subscribes SOOO^i towards a Status to 
 
 the memory of Mr, Pitt, 147. 
 
^^^. INDEX. 
 
 Death, difference between civil and natural, 193. 
 
 E 
 Election, Mr. Pitt's for Appleby, 20 3 election anecdote, 118* 
 
 Fox, Mr. his motion for peace with America, 32; his resignation^ 
 49 ; introduces his India Bill, 97 i Mr. Pitt's speech on it, 98 ; 
 dismissed from office, 104 ; his attacic on Mr. Pitt, 127 j his 
 conduct on his Majesty's indisposition, 169. 
 
 J'unerai of Mr. Pitt, account ol, 334. 
 
 Cjuildball, inscription in, to the memory of the Edrl pf Chatham, 
 16. 
 
 H '' • 
 
 liastings, Mr. his impeachm^^nt, 151 4 Mr. Pitt's speech on the 
 charges against, 152 ; biographical account of, 163 ; appointed 
 governor-general of India, 164. 
 
 Horace, Mr. Hastings's translation of the 16th Ode of, 165. 
 
 I 
 
 India, affairs of, discussed, 97, 102, til, 15^. 
 
 H 
 
 King, the, his illness, 167; Mr. Pitt's conduct on> 168; Mf. 
 Pitt's speech on postponing the bringing up of his message, 
 106. 
 
 Letter, L^^rd Chatham^ on his resignation, 30. 
 Lincoln's Inn, Mr. Pitt entered a student of, 19. 
 London, freedom of the city of, presented to Mr. Pitt, 149. 
 Letter of Mr. Pilt to the PriDce of Wales, 208. 
 Letter ofH. Pt. H. the Prince of Wales, in answer to Mr^ Pitt 
 on the regency, 209* 
 
 M 
 Mountstuart, Lord, his dispute with Mr, Pitt, 18. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 o 
 
 OjEceSj Mr. Pitt'a bill for reforming abuses in public, 87^ 
 
 Pitt, William, his birth, 10; account of his family, ib. ; his edu- 
 cation, 13 ; goes to the university 14 ; his studies there, l5 3 
 his defence of his father, 18 : enters a student in Lincoln's Inn, 
 19 ; called to the bar, ib. ; attracts the notice of Lord Mans- 
 field, ib. ; elected member for Appleby — description of his 
 person at this period, '20 ; his conduct in the house, 2i ; his 
 speech on Mr. Burke's civil list bill, 22; his speech on Mr. 
 Fox's nmtioti for peace with America, S2 ; on parliamentary 
 reform, 38; appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer, 47 ; his 
 personal allusion to Mr. Sheridan, 50 ; his speech on the arti- 
 cles of peace with America, 49, 53; his opinion of the coali- 
 tion of Lord North, Mr. Fox, &c. 54 ; his speech on M. Coke's 
 motion for a new administration, 72 ; his motion for a reform 
 in parliament, 76 ; his plan for the abolition of rotten boroughs, 
 83; his bill for reforming abuses in the public offices, 37 ; op- 
 poses Mr. Fox's India bill, 98 ; appointed First Lord of the 
 Treasury, and Chancellor of the Exchequer, 104; his speech 
 on postponing the bringing up of the king's message, 106; pro- 
 duces his bill for the government of India, 111 ; his speech on 
 this occnsion, ib. ; his declaration that ministers had not resign- 
 ed, 128; his speech on Mr. Fowys's attack on ministers, lil ; 
 commencement of his career as efficient minister, 141; a sta- 
 tue to his memory subscribed for at Cambridge, 147 ; freedom 
 of the city of London granted him, 149; his popularity and 
 danger, ib. ; his dangerous trip, to Calais, 151; hirspeeeh oa 
 the charges against Mr. Hastings, 152; his conduct on the re- 
 gency, 167; produces precedents in opposition to the Prince 
 of Wales's right to the regency, 188; his resolutions on the 
 subject, 201; his letter to the prince, 208; able discussion of 
 the king's illness, 215; his views of the French revolution^ 
 229 ; his speech on the king's, message respecting a war wjtli 
 France, 2,?3, 251; on the affiliated societies, 257 ; on the ad- 
 vance of money to the emperor 277 ; his conduct of tha wav, 
 270; singular promptitude in police, ib. ; his reasons for ^ 
 change of opinion wiih regay.d to a reform in parliamenr, S12 ;, 
 his perseverance a]id strength of mind, 321; dael with Mr. 
 Tierney, 325 ; retirement from administration, 325 ; disciplnie 
 of the Cinque Port volunteers, 327 ; return to nower, 32vB ; hiS 
 illness, 329; death, 33 i ; Funeral, 334; will, 357 ; character, 
 338. 
 Pretyman, .Dr. private instructor to ?vlr. Pitt, 14. 
 Parliamentary Reform, Mr. Pitt's speeches or, 38, 
 Powys, Mr. his attack on ministers, 13 L 
 Peace with America debates on, 32, 50.. 
 
 2 G.^. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Kockingham, Marquis of, his administration, 37 ; liis death, 47. 
 Regenc3^ ^^r- Pitt's speeches on the proposed, 167, &c. 
 Kottea Boroughs, Mr. Pitt's plan for their abolition, 33. 
 Reform, Parliamentary, discussed oQ, 76, 309. 
 
 ^ S 
 
 Speech of Mr. Pitt's on Mr. Burke's civil list bill, 2*2 ; oh the 
 peace with America, 32 ; parliamentary reform, 38 j on the 
 Americ:an peace, 49, 63 ; oii Mr. Coke's motion for a new ad- 
 ministration, 72 J for a reform in pailiament, 76 ; on the abuses 
 in public ciHces, 87; on Mr. Fox's India Bill, 97 ; on its se- 
 cond reading, 102 ; on postponing the bringing up oi the king's 
 message, 106; on his motion for leave to bring in bis India 
 Bill, 111 ; on the resignation of ministers, 128 ; on Mr. Powys's 
 motion, 131; on the charges against Mr. Hastings, 162; on 
 the king's illness, and the regency, 167, 17.% 198, ^JO'i, *il5, 
 Q23 ; on tlie French revolution, 233, j25* ; seditious practices, 
 it.*>7 ; on advancing money without consent of parliament, 277 ; 
 against a reform in parliament, 109. 
 
 Sheridan, Mr. his retort on Mr. Pitt, 52. 
 
 Smugglers, Mr. Pitt's exertion to discover, 150. » 
 
 Toraline, W. E. P. his sentiments on the conduct of Mr. Titty 
 
 142. 
 Tierney, Mr. his duel with Mr. Pitt, 325. 
 
 'v 
 
 Verses, by Mr. Hasting's, 166 ; Mr. Canning, 321, 348, 
 
 W 
 
 Whipchord, an article of stationary, 94, 
 
 Wales, Prince of, his right of regency supported by ^Ir. Fox, 
 169 ; opposed by Mr. Pitt, 170. 
 
 ^ifc,, I