%ittlt $Quxnt$$ TO THE HOMES OF EMINENT ORATORS Vol. XII. JUNE, 1903. No. 6 By Elbert Hubbard - Single Copies, 25 cents By the Year, $3.00 LITTLE JOURNEYS TO THE HOMES OF EMINENT ORATORS By ELBERT HUBBARD SUBJECTS AS FOLLOWS i Pericles 2 Mark Antony 3 Savonarola 4 Martin Luther 5 Edmund Burke 6 William Pitt 7 Marat 8 Robert Ingersoll 9 John Randolph io Thomas Starr King ii Henry Ward Beecher 12 Wendell Phillips One booklet a month will be issued as usual, begin- ning on January ist. The LITTLE JOURNEYS for 1903 will be strictly de luxe in form and workmanship. The type will be a new font of antique blackface ; the initials designed especially for this work ; a frontispiece portrait from the original drawing made at our Shop. The booklets will be stitched by hand with silk. The price — 25 cents each, or $3.00 for the year. Address THE ROYCROFTERS at their Shop, which is at East Aurora, New York Entered at the postorhce at East Aurora, New York, for transmission as second-class mail matter. Copyright, 1902, by Elbert Hubbard ■^\ .Ar .^^f^^W^^^^K Little &M Journeys To the Homes of EMINENT ORATORS |Mtt UJititten by Elbert Hubbaitd & done into a Book by the Royeitofteits at the Shop, lobicb is in East Jluitotta, Deio York, H. D. 1903 M B P687U < N CM C W WILLIAM PITT IME was when slaves were exported like cattle from the British Coast and exposed for sale in the Roman market. These men and women who were thus sold were supposed to be guilty of witchcraft, debt, blas- phemy or theft. Or else they were prisoners taken in war — they had forfeited their right to freedom, and we sold them. We said they were incapable of self-government and so must be looked after. Later we quit selling British slaves, but began to buy and trade in African humanity. We silenced conscience by saying, "It's all right — they are incapable of self-government." We were once as obscure, as debased, as ignorant, as barbaric, as the African is now. I trust that the time will come when we are willing to give to Africa the opportunity, the hope, the right to attain to the same blessings that we ourselves enjoy. —WILLIAM PITT on Abolition of Slavery in England. WILLIAM PITT 163 HE Law of Heredity has been described as that Law of our nature which pro- vides that a man shall resemble his grandmother — or not, as the case may be. 0[ What traits are inherited and what acquired — who shall say? Married folks who resort to the happy expedient of procuring their children at orphan asylums can testify to the many times they have been complimented on the striking resemblance of father to daugh- ter, or son to mother. Possibly that is all there is of it — we resemble those with whom we associ- ate. Far be it from me to say the final word on this theme — I would not if I could, deprive men of a problem they can never solve. When all questions are answered, it will be time to tele- phone the undertaker. That men of genius do not reproduce themselves after the flesh is an axiom, but that William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, did, is brought forth as an exception, incident, accident or circumstance, just according to one's mood at the moment. CT," Great men do have great sons!" we cry. "Just look at the Pitts, the Adamses, the Walpoles, the Beechers, the Booths, um 164 WILLIAM PITT the Bellinis, the Disraelis!" and here we begin to fal- ter. And then the opposition takes it up and rattles off a list of great men whose sons were spendthrifts, gamblers, ne'er-do-wells and jackanapes. When Pitt the Younger made his first speech in the House of Commons, he struck thirteen. The members of the House were amazed. "He's not a chip off the old block," they said. " He 's the block itself," said Burke. Lord Rosebery, who had the felicity to own a Derby winner, once said of Pitt, "He was bred for speed, but not for endurance." WILLIAM PITT 165 INCE the subject of heredity always seems to come up when the Pitts are mentioned, it may be proper for us to go back and trace pedigree a bit, to see if we have here the formula for pro- ducing a genius. The grandfather of William Pitt the Elder, was Thomas Pitt, a sea-captain, trader and gentleman adventurer. In fact, he was a bold buccaneer, but not too bold, for he gave large sums to church and charity and showed his zeal for virtue by once hanging three smugglers in chains, high up on a gibbet overlooking the coast of Cornwall, and there the bodies were left until the birds of prey and the elements had bleached their bones. Thomas Pitt was known as "Diamond Tom" through bringing from India and selling to the Regent Orleans the largest diamond, I believe, ever owned in Eng- land. For this Diamond Tom received one hundred and thirty-five thousand pounds — a sum equal to one million dollars. That Diamond Tom received this money there is no doubt, but where and how he got the diamond nobody seems to know, and in his own time it was deemed indelicate to inquire. Tom might have wasted that money right shortly — there are several ways of dissipating a fortune — but he wisely decided to found a house. That is to say he bought a borough — the borough of Old Sarum, the 166 WILLIAM PITT locality that was to become famous as the "rotten borough" of the Reform Bill. He bought this borough and all the tenants outright from the Government, just as we bought the Filipinos at two dollars per head. All the people who lived in the borough had to pay tribute, taxes or rent to Tom, for Tom owned the tenures. They had to pay, hike or have their heads cut off. Most of them paid. If the time were at our disposal it might be worth while to let this brochure extend itself into a picture of how all the land in England once belonged to the Crown, and how this land was transferred at will to Thomas, Richard and Henry for cash or as reward for services rendered. It was much the same in America — the Government once owned all the land, and then this land was sold, given out to soldiers, or to homesteaders who would clear the land of trees, and later we reversed the proposition and gave the land to those who would plant trees. There was this similarity, too, between English and American land laws: the Indians on the land in America had to pay, move or be perforated. For them to pay rent or work out a road tax, was quite out of the question. Indians, like the Irish, will not pay rent, so we were compelled to evict them. But there was this difference in America: the owner of the land could sell it; in England he could not. The law of entail has been much modified, but as a general proposition the land owner in England has the privi- WILLIAM PITT 167 lege of collecting the rent, and warning off poachers, but he cannot mortgage the land and eat it up. This keeps the big estates intact, and is a very good scheme. Under a similar law in the United States, Uncle Billy Bushnell or Ali Baba might live in Hot Springs, Ar- kansas, and own every foot of East Aurora, and all of us would then vote as Baron Bushnell or Sir Ali dic- tated, thus avoiding much personal animus at Town Meetin' time. But no tenure can be made with death — he can neither be bought, bribed, cajoled nor intimidated. Diamond Tom died and his eldest son Robert came into pos- session of the estate. Now Robert was commonplace and beautifully medi- ocre. It is one of Nature's little ironies at the expense of the Law of Entail, that she will occasionally send out of the spirit realm, into a place of worldly im- portance, a man who is a regular chibot, chitterling and chump. Robert Pitt, son of Diamond Tom, es- caped all censure and unkind criticism by doing noth- ing, saying nothing and being nothing. But he proved procreant and reared a goodly brood of sons and daughters — all much like himself, save one, the youngest son. This son, by name William Pitt, very much re- sembled Diamond Tom, his illustrious grandfather — Nature bred back. William was strong in body, firm in will, active, alert, intelligent. Times had changed or he might have been a bold buccaneer, too. He was i68 WILLIAM PITT all his grandfather was, only sand-papered, buffed and polished by civilization. He was sent to Eton, and then to Trinity College, Oxford, where buccaneer instincts broke out and he left without a degree. Two careers were open to him, as to all aspiring sons of Noble Beef-eaters — he could enter the Church or the Army. He chose the Army, and became in due course the first cornet of his company. His elder brother Thomas was very naturally a mem- ber of the House of Commons for Old Sarum, and later sat for Oakhampton. Another of Nature's little ironies here outcrops: Thomas, who was named for his illustrious grandfather — he of the crystallized car- bon — didn't resemble his grandfather nearly so much as did his younger brother "William. So Thomas with surprising good sense named his brother for a seat in the House of Commons from Old Sarum. William was but twenty-seven years of age when he began his official career, but he seemed one who had leaped into life full armed. He absorbed knowledge on every hand. Demosthenes was his idol, and he ; too, declaimed by the sea-shore with his mouth full of pebbles. His splendid command of language was acquired by the practice of translation and re-trans- lation. Whether Greek or Latin ever helped any man to become a better thinker is a mooted question, but the practice of talking off in your own tongue a page of a foreign language is a mighty good way to lubri- WILLIAM PITT 169 cate your English. QWilliam Pitt had all the graces of a great orator — he was deliberate, self-possessed, positive. In form he was rather small, but he had a way of carrying himself that gave an impression of size. He ■was one of the world's big little men — the type of Aaron Burr, Alexander Hamilton, Benjamin Harrison and John D. Long. In the House of Com- mons he lost no time in making his presence felt. He was assertive, theatrical, declamatory— still, he usu- ally knew what he was talking about. \His criticisms of the Government so exasperated Sir Robert Wal- pole that Walpole used to refer to him as "that ter- rible cornet of horse." Finally Walpole had him dismissed from the Army. This instead of silencing the young man really made matters worse, and George II., who patronized the Opposition when he could not down it, made him groom of the bed cham- ber to the Prince of Wales. This was an office lined with adipose, with no work to speak of. The feeling is that Pitt revealed his common clay by accepting the favor. He was large enough to get along without such things. In most of the good old "School Speakers" was an extract from a speech supposed to have been delivered by Pitt on the occasion of his being taunted by Horatio Walpole on account of his youth. Pitt replied in lan- guage something like this : " It is true that I am young, yet I '11 get over that; but the man who is a fool will probably remain one all his days." i7o WILLIAM PITT The speech was reported by a lout of a countryman, Samuel Johnson by name, who had come up to Lon- don to make his fortune, and found his first work in reporting speeches in the House of Commons. Pitt did not write out his speeches for the press, weeks in ad- vance, according to latter day methods; the man who reported them had to have a style of his own — and certainly Johnson had. Pitt was much pleased with Johnson's reports of his speeches, but on one occasion mildly said, "Ah, Mr. Johnson — you know — I do not exactly remember using that expression! " And Samuel Johnson said, " Sir, it is barely possible that you did not use the language as I have written it out; but you should." Just how much Johnson we get in Pitt's printed speeches is still a topic for debate. QPitt could think on his feet, while Samuel Johnson never made but one speech and broke down in that. But Johnson could write, and the best of Pitt's speeches are those reported by Ursa Major in a style superbly Johnsonese. The member from Old Sarum once sent Johnson two butts of Canary and a barrel of white-bait, as a token of appreciation for his skill in accurate reporting. Pitt followed the usual course of successful reformers, and in due time lined up on the side of the conserva- tives, and gradually succumbed to a strictly aristo- cratic disease, gout. "Whether genius is transmissible or not is a question, but all authorities agree as to gout. Q Pitt's opposition to the Walpoles was so very firmly WILLIAM PITT 171 rooted that it continued for life, and for this he was rewarded by the Duchess of Marlborough with a legacy of ten thousand pounds. Her Grace was the mother of the lady who had the felicity to have her picture painted by Gainsborough, which picture was brought to America and secreted here for many years and finally was purchased for sixty-five thousand dollars by Pierpont Morgan, through the kind offices of my friend Patricius Sheedy, Philistine-at-Large. QThe Duchess in her will said she gave the money to Pitt as "an acknowledgment of the noble defense he had made for the support of the laws of England." But the belief is that it was her hatred for Walpole that prompted her admiration for Pitt. And her de- testation of Walpole was not so much political as sentimental — a woman's love affairs being much more to her than patriotism, but the Duchess being a woman deceived herself as to reasons. Our acts are right, but our reasons seldom are. I leave this Marl- borough matter with those who are interested in the psychology of the heart — merely calling attention to the fact that although the Duchess was ninety when she passed out, the warm experiences of her early womanhood were very vivid in her memory. If you wish to know when love dies out of a woman's brain, you will have to ask someone who is older than was the Duchess of Marlborough. When George II. died, and his grandson George III. came into power, Pitt resigned his office in the cabinet i72 WILLIAM PITT and abandoned politics. QAt last he found time to get married. He was then forty-six years of age. Men retire from active life, but seldom remain upon the shelf, — either life or death takes them down. In five years time we find the King offering Pitt anything in sight, and Mr. Pitt, the Great Commoner, became Viscount Pitt, Earl of Chatham. By this move Pitt lost in popularity more than he had gained in dignity — there was a complete revulsion of feeling toward him by the people, and he never again attained the influence and power he had once known. CT, Burke once referred to a certain proposed bill as "insignificant, irrelevant, pompous, creeping, explan- atory and ambiguous — done in the true Chathamic style." jf & But the disdain of Burke was really complimentary — it took a worthy foe to draw his fire. Chatham's faults were mostly on the surface, and were more a matter of manner than of head or heart. America has cause to treasure the memory of Chatham. He opposed the Stamp Act with all the vigor of his tremendous intel- lect, and in the last speech of his life he prophesied that the Americans would never submit to taxation without representation, and that all the power of England was not great enough to subdue men who were fighting for their country. Yet his appeal to George III. and his minions was like bombarding a fog. But all he said proved true. On the occasion of this last great speech Chatham WILLIAM PITT 173 was attended by his favorite son William, then nine- teen years old. Proud as was this father of his son, he did not guess that in four short years this boy would, through his brilliancy, cast his own splendid efforts into the shadow; and that Burke, the querulous, would give the son a measure of approbation never vouchsafed to the father. William Pitt, the younger, is known as the "Great Pitt," to distinguish him from his father, who in his day was known as the greatest man in England. 174 WILLIAM PITT ILLIAM PITT, the second son of the Earl of Chatham, was born of poor but honest parents, in the year 1759. That was the year that gave us Robert Burns — between whom and Pitt, in some respects, averages were held good. The same year was born William Wilberforce, philanthropist and emancipator, father of Canon Wilberforce. At this time the fortunes of William Pitt the elder were at full flood. England was in a fever of exulta- tion — drunk with success. Just where the thought got abroad that the average Englishman is moderate in success and in defeat not cast down, I do not know. But this I have seen: All London mad, howling, ex- ultant, savage drunk, because of the report that the Red Coats had subjugated this colony or that. To sub- due, crush, slay and defeat, has caused shrieking shouts of joy in London since London began — unless the slain were Englishmen. This is patriotism, concerning which Samuel Johnson, reporter in the House of Commons, once made a re- mark slightly touched with acerbity. In the years 1758 to 1759 not a month passed but bon- fires burned bright from Cornwall to Scotland in honor of English victories on land and sea. In West- phalia, British Infantry defeated the armies of Louis XV.; Boscawen had sunk a French fleet; Hawke put WILLIAM PITT 175 to flight another; Amherst took Ticonderoga; Clive de- stroyed a Dutch armament; Wolfe achieved victory and a glorious death at Quebec. English arms had marched triumphant through India and secured for the tight little island an empire, while another had been gained on the shores of Ontario. For all this the Great Commoner received most of the glory; and that this tremendous popularity was too great to last is but a truism. But in such a year it was that "William Pitt was^ born. His father was fifty years old, his mother about thirty. This mother was a woman of rare grace, in- tellect and beauty, the only sister of two remarkable brothers — George Grenville, the obstinate adviser of George III., the man who did the most to make America free — unintentionally — and the other brother was Richard Earl Temple, almost equally potent for right or wrong. That the child of a sensitive mother, born amid such a crash of excitement, should be feeble was to be ex- pected. No one at first expected the baby to survive.