PITT 



4CS5 



PITT 



WILLIAM PITT 

 First Karl of Chatham. 



while th system f I-uar Pitman is most used 

 in England. The main difference in the two is 

 the reversal of the order of position of the 

 \<>\\ el sounds. See SHORTHAND. 



PITT, the family name of two English states- 

 men, father and son, both of whom achieved 

 < i 1st i net ion. 



William Pitt, first Earl of Chatham (1708- 

 177M, was known before his elevation to the 

 ige as the GREAT COMMONER. He was born 

 VrMmiiiMer and was educated at Eton and 

 at Trinity College, Oxford, but owing to ill 

 hcilth did not 

 take a degree. In 

 1731 he entered 

 the army, but 

 four years later 

 gave up all idea 

 of a military ca- 

 reer and became 

 a member of Par- 

 liament from Old 

 Sarum.the family 

 borough. Almost 

 immediately he 

 te a note- 

 worthy figure in 

 the House of Commons, and Horace Walpole 

 (which see) found in him one of his sharpest 

 ntics. One speech in particular which was 

 i red to him became famous and has always 

 held a place in collections of declamations 

 the one beginning 



The atrocious crime of being a young man, 

 h the honorable gentleman has with such 

 spirit and decency charged upon me. 



-peerh. however, was reported on hear- 

 say by Dr. Johnson, and doubtless com 



re mannerisms of the latter than of Pitt. 



li determined opposition to Walpole brought 



him a reward when he least expected it; thr 



liess of Marlborough, dying in 1744, left 



turn a legacy of 10,000, or $50,000. 



la 1746 Pr 



'irst office, that of V ice-Treasurer of Ireland. 



I it. T in the same year was made Puymas- 



uh a M-at in the Pnvy Council. 



;efusal to accept in this position the 



Miolmnents which previous holders of 



office h id ik- n without question, Pitt 



lum.-elf the complete confidence of the peo- 



and so advanced his career. Dismissed 



n 1755 because of his outspoken 



of the Ministry's war policy, Pitt was 



I" 1 Secretary of State and lrad< r .if the 



II -use of Commons in 1756. II o In- 



failed to hold the regard of the king, and was 

 accordingly forced to resign within a year, but 

 the nation spoke its feelings so strongly that 

 the king was compelled to recall him at once. 

 As virtual head of the government, of which 

 the Duke of Newcastle was the nominal head, 

 Pitt turned his attention to making England a 

 great power among the nations, and much of 

 the praise for campaigns which overthrew 

 France and won England glory in America and 

 in India belongs to him. Indeed, it is not too 

 much to say that it was he who began to build 

 the Empire of Great Britain. 



A Friend oj America. When George III 

 came to the throne in 1760, Pitt's fortune be- 

 gan to change, for the new king had no love 

 for the great Minister. In 1761, therefore, Pitt 

 resigned, and remained for five years out of 

 office, though he still exerted a powerful influ- 

 ence in public affairs. Especially did he oppose 

 the imposition of taxes on the American colo- 

 nies; this policy made him very popular in the 

 subject country. In 1766 he was called upon 

 to form a new Cabinet, and was at the same 

 time created Earl of Chatham. His acceptance 

 of the peerage decidedly lessened his popularity, 

 and his health was so poor that he was able to 

 take only a subordinate part in the work of the 

 Ministry; he did not oppose the tea tax of 

 1767 which was so utterly in opposition to In- 

 known principles. 



In 1768 he resigned and never afterward held 

 office, though he still took a keen interest in 

 public affairs and did not cease to oppose in 

 the House of Lord's the government's policy 

 toward America. On April 7, 1778, he made his 

 last appearance in the House, and delivered a 

 lengthy speech against the proposal of making 

 peace with the colonies because France had of- 

 fered them aid, a proceeding which he felt was 

 equivalent to Midland's humiliating itself be- 

 fore its ohl ninny, France. At the close of tin- 

 speech he fell fainting, and a month later he 

 died. He was buried in Westminster Abbey, 

 win rr a monument was erected to his memory. 



Estimate oj His Career. Pitt holds a place 



in Lndi-h history not only as one of the great- 



perhaps the very greatest, of the country's 



Ministers, but as the first successful public 



man who depended for his support, not on king 



or Parliament. I nit on the nation as a whole. 



In America Pitt was recognized as the colo- 

 nies' stanchest friend in the home government, 

 and when Fort Duquesne was rebuilt it wa* 

 named in his honor Fort Pitt; this later be- 

 tsburgh. A.MCC. 



