144 
office of chancellor of the exchequer; but 
he had reafon to reprove himfelf for his 
temerity, as, like a great man of anti- 
quity, he foon difcovered ** many Mariules 
in one Cefar.”’ 
As a financier, no man who ever pre- 
fided at the board of exchequer has ob- 
tained more praife. He has been blamed, 
indeed, for fome of his pecuniary fpecu- 
lations ; but on the whole his plans were 
fuppofed to be laid with judgment, and 
the objects of his taxation were chofen 
with great difcrimination, fo that the pro- 
duce was in general coequal with the cal- 
culation. 
During the American war, depreciated 
manufactures, a neglected agriculture, and 
a ruined commerce, rendered it extremely 
difficult to furnifh the necefiary fupplies; 
yet fuch was the peculiar gocd fortune, 
-or, according to fome, the peculiar good , 
management of Mr. Pitt, that, although 
feveral of our manufactures drooped, yet 
others have flourifhed, and our exports 
rather increafed than diminifhed during 
his adminiftration. 
Asa {peaker he was perhaps unrivalled. 
Notwithitanding his perfon was unprepof- 
feffing, his ation tame, and his features 
fo unimportant, that no painter, {culptor, 
or medallift, could ever contrive to obtain 
a likenefs; yet fech was the happy choice 
ef his words, the judicious arrangement 
of his fubject, and the fafcinating effeé of 
a perennial eloquence, that his wonderful 
powers were acknowledged even by thole 
who happened to be prepofleffed againft 
bis perfon and arguments. When em- 
ployed in a good caufe, he was irrefiftible ; 
and ina bad one hecculd dazzle the judg- 
ment, lead the imagination captive, and 
feduce the heart, even while the mind re- 
mained firm and unconvinced. 
Nor ought his generous {corn of wealth 
to be omitted. Amidft a corrupt circle, 
and at a time when fome men appear to 
have attained the heroic age of pecuniary 
bafenefs, he was wholly exempt from this 
mark of m derndegeneracy. His debts, 
which do not exceed forty thoufand 
pounds, and which only amount toa de- 
fieit of 20001. per annum during an admi- 
niftration of twenty years, are to be paid 
out of the public purfe. 
All “his failings appear to have arifen 
out of one mafter-paffion; that ambition 
which foared abeve every other confidera- 
tion but its own immediate gratification. 
While out of office, he exercifed the 772- 
bunitian powers with fuch a degree of ve- 
hemence, that it was fuppofed he had 
given hoftages to his country, and {worn 
eteinal war again abules of every kind, 
Memoirs of the Right Hon. William Pitt. 
f March ls 
When in power, no minifter was ever — 
more Dictatorial; his arrogance extended 
even beyond the pale of the empire, ‘and 
became proverbial in foreign courts.. He 
defended peculators and delinquents of 
every defcription, and fo little {crupulous 
was he in refpeét to confifteacy, that one 
of his guondam affociates in reform (the 
Jearned author of the ** Diverfions of Pure. 
ley’’) was tried for his life at the Old Bai- 
ley, while feveral pupils of his own 
{chool (Meffrs. Muir, Palmer, Skirving, 
&c.) were tranfported to Botany Bay, 
where nearly all of them perifhed. 
So much for the reformer! As a mi- 
nifter it remains to be proved that his wars 
were juft and neceflary: until that has 
been accomplifhed, the enormous loans 
raifed, the prodigious expenditure that 
took place, and the immenfe additions 
made to the national debt during his pre- 
mierfhip, appear to be but poorly ba- 
‘lanced by a judicious fele@ion of burdens, 
and the ingenuous adoption of a finking 
fund, originally conceived by Dr. Price, 
which, whatever relief it may afford to 
pofterity, will contribute but little to the 
fclace of the prefent age. 
Notwithtanding the early tin€ture his 
moind may be fuppofed to have received in 
favour of freedom, and the voluminous 
addition he has made to our aéts of Par- 
liament, it will be dificult perhaps to find 
ore fingle difatereficd law introduced by 
him in favour of liberty, within the whole 
compafs of our flatute-books. On the 
contrary, in ail his fifcal iegulations, he 
utterly difcarded the idea of the interven- 
tion of a jury between the King and the 
fubje&t. The Cuftom-houfe and the Ex- 
cife-office are, unhappily, therefore to be 
confidered as the archives of his legifla- 
tive trophies. 
‘¢ Eft iftud quidem honeftum, 
Verum hoc expedit.” Cic. 
In refpe& to his achievements, in every 
thing ftriétly appertaining to himfelf (for 
thetriumphs of our navy are to be attri- 
buted to our Howes, our St. Vincents, 
and our Nelfons,) he completely failed, 
and the three fucceflive coalitions formed 
daricg his adminiftration have all ended. 
in difgrace. His triumphs, however, in 
the fenate were complete ;~his majorities 
were decifive: his opponents, defpicable 
in point of numbers, pofleffed nothing but 
forefight, and were always out-voted, al- 
though never out-argued. 
Before his time, a formidable mie 
nority in the Houfe of Commons was 
viewed with defpair by a minifter; he 
was the firft who braved a majority, and 
by fo dving he has furnifhed the executive 
power 
