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Some Memorials of Ralph Allen ded ey | 
Austin J. Kine. a ‘ + 
Pitt. By 
(Read 5th March, 1896. ) ne 
Nothing can be wholly devoid of interest, which relates to the 
renaissance of Bath in the 18th century, or to the great citizen 
and the great statesman, whose names are prefixed to these notes. 
I do not, therefore, apologise to the Club for the meagreness of 
my immediate subject ; however much I may owe an apology for 
its insufficient treatment. There is also a certain personal interest, 
which attaches itself to the conjunction of men so different as the 
cautious, prudent Allen, and the meteoric Pitt. 
And first as to Ralph Allen. He came to Bath, as will be 
remembered, in 1711, and was elected to fill a seat in the Town 
‘Council in 1725, but his active interest in civic life dates from 
his election as Mayor in 1742. From this date, down to his death 
in 1764, he ruled the destinies of Bath with an absolute personal 
authority, which in these days we find-it difficult to realize. 
William Pitt was a younger man than Allen. He was born in 
1708, and in 1734, he was elected (if such a term can be used) 
member of Parliament for the Borough of Old Sarum; and for 
‘many years represented the three or four electors of that ancient 
‘constituency. In the ‘year 1755, he was in the zenith of his 
-oratorical fame. His withering denunciation of the coalition of 
Fox and the Duke of Newcastle, was rightly regarded as one of 
the most eloquent philippié which had ever been delivered in the 
House of Commons, and y ofa few months afterwards, we find him 
the head of an Administration, which numbered Newcastle amongst 
its members. Hebe tame the darling of the nation. The Councils 
of the corporate owns, vied with each other in presenting 
parchment addresses, and for some weeks, we read, it literally 
Vou. VIL, No. 2. 
& ) 
