The biographer of Pitt was a grandson of the Lord Mahon,
afterwards Earl of Stanhope, who married, in 1774, the great
statesman's eldest sister. Philip Henry Stanhope was born at
Walmer on January 30, 1805, and entered the House of Commons
as Lord Mahon in 1831. He took a prominent part in the
foundation of the National Portrait Gallery, and the
Historical Manuscripts Commission, and the promotion of
successful archaeological investigations on the site of Troy.
His literary labours were considerable and important. Chief
among them were the "History of England from the Peace of
Utrecht to the Peace of Versailles," the "History of Queen
Anne's Reign," and the "Life of the Right Honourable William
Pitt." The last named, published in 1861-2, is one of the most
authoritative of political biographies, compiled with a
gravity and care characteristic of its author, and of abiding
value as a standard book of reference for one of the greatest
personalities and one of the most stirring periods of English
history. Earl Stanhope died on December 24, 1875.
_I.--The Boy Statesman_
William Pitt, the elder, afterwards Earl of Chatham, married in 1754
Lady Hester Grenville. William Pitt, their second son, was born on May
28, 1759, at Hayes, near Bromley, in Kent.
In his boyhood, from the earliest years, William Pitt evinced to all
around him many tokens of intellectual promise and ambition; but his
parents were frequently distressed by his delicate health. It was no
doubt on this account that he was not sent to any public or private
school. Lord Chatham was extremely careful of the education of his
family; and, without any disparagement to young William's tutor, it was
certainly from his father that he profited most.
William was at fourteen so forward in his studies that he was sent to
Cambridge, commencing his residence at Pembroke Hall in October 1773.
His health at this period gave cause for great alarm. A serious illness
at Cambridge, however, proved a turning-point; for long afterwards he
enjoyed fairly good health. Early hours, daily exercise on horseback,
and liberal potations of port wine--his elixir of strength at this time,
although it helped in later years to undermine his constitution--made
him far stronger after his illness than before it.
In 1778, after the death of his father, he was entered at Lincoln's Inn,
and was called to the Bar in 1780. But he had little opportunity of
practising as a barrister, for his parliamentary ambitions were soon
fulfilled. In the autumn of 1780 he was an unsuccessful candidate for
Cambridge University; but through the influence of Sir James Lowther he
was returned in the same year for Appleby, and took his seat in the
Commons on January 23, 1781.
Lord North was still at the head of affairs, and the Opposition
consisted of two parties: the aristocratic Whigs, whose leader was the
Marquis of Rockingham, but whose true guiding spirit was Charles James
Fox; and a smaller band of the old adherents of Lord Chatham, under Lord
Shelburne. To this party Pitt, as a matter of course, attached himself.
His first speech was made on February 26, in support of Burke's bill for
economical reform. He completely fulfilled the high expectations that
had been formed of the son of so illustrious a father. Not only did he
please, it may be said that he astonished the House.
Two speeches later in the session confirmed the distinction of the young
orator. In 1782, after a long series of Opposition attacks, Lord North
resigned; but in the new arrangements Pitt was not included. He had
determined that he would serve his sovereign as a cabinet minister, or
not at all. For a time he devoted his efforts, without success, to the
reform of the representation of the House of Commons. But in July 1782
Lord Rockingham died; there was a cabinet split, due to a quarrel
between Fox and Shelburne; the latter became First Lord of the Treasury,
and Pitt, at the age of twenty-three, was offered and accepted the post
of Chancellor of the Exchequer.
The newly-formed ministry was soon exposed to hot attacks by the
coalition of the parties of Fox and North, and Pitt, in attacking this
"baneful alliance," made one of the greatest speeches of his career. But
the ministry was defeated; Lord Shelburne resigned; and the king,
advised by Shelburne, invited Pitt to become Prime Minister. After
anxious consideration he refused.
The Fox and North coalition now assumed office. This union of extremes
was unpopular in the country, although powerful in parliamentary
strength. Pitt tried once more to pass a measure of parliamentary
reform; and during the recess he paid a visit to France--the one foreign
journey of his life.
When parliament resumed its sittings, in the autumn of 1783, Fox's India
Bill was passed by the Commons, but rejected by the Lords. The king, who
was vehemently opposed to the bill, demanded the resignation of Fox and
North, and on December 19 invited Pitt, now aged twenty-four, to become
Prime Minister. This time the invitation was not refused.
Pitt had great difficulty in forming a cabinet, and was the only cabinet
minister in the Commons. His main support in that house was Henry
Dundas, treasurer of the navy--his life-long friend. On facing
parliament at the opening of 1784, Pitt's purpose was to delay a
dissolution until the coalition's unpopularity in the country had
reached its height, and with this end he patiently endured defeat after
defeat. In March he deemed that the right moment had come, and his
judgement was rewarded at the General Election by a triumphant majority.
Pitt was Chancellor of the Exchequer as well as First Lord of the
Treasury, and during the years of peace that followed, his successes
were largely financial. He established a series of financial reforms
that not only increased the favour in which his ministry was held, but
undoubtedly enabled the country to bear the terrible strain that was
afterwards to be placed upon it. In his attempt to adjust commercial
relations with Ireland he was less successful; he was obliged, besides,
to abandon his schemes of parliamentary reform, and his exertions, in
concert with his friend Wilberforce, to destroy the slave traffic ended
in disappointment--even although in this he had the hearty support of
his rival, Fox.
Young as he was, and victorious as he had become, he was never tempted
to presume upon his genius, or relax in his application. He allowed
himself but little holiday. He spent a good deal of such time as he
could spare at Holwood, a property he had bought near Bromley; and
occasional visits to Brighton, and to his mother's residence at Burton
Pynsent, in Somersetshire, made up the greater part of his travels.
_II.--The Regency Problem_
Not only had Pitt's administration rehabilitated English finances; it
had gained for England a strong measure of European support. In 1788
there was concluded what was virtually a triple defensive alliance with
Prussia and Holland; and with France herself, should she be willing to
remain at peace, there was a treaty of commerce to engage her in more
friendly relations.
But towards the end of the year Pitt was confronted with what seemed a
certainty of loss of office. King George III., after a long period of
ill health, was found to be definitely suffering from mental alienation.
A regency became necessary, and the person clearly marked out for the
office was the Prince of Wales. But the prince was the political
associate of Fox, and there was no doubt that his first step on
accession to power would be the dismissal of Pitt.
Pitt saw the prospect before him, and did not attempt to shirk it. But
he did propose certain restrictions on the regency in order that the
king, should he recover his reason, might without difficulty resume his
power.
When parliament assembled in December, Fox declared boldly that the
prince had as much right to assume sovereignty during the king's
incapacity as he would have in the event of the king's death. Pitt,
exulting in his rival's indiscreet departure from Whig principles,
retorted that the assertion of such a right, independent of the decision
of the two houses, was little less than treason to the constitution.
Fox's attitude was unpopular, and Pitt's resolutions, and the Regency
Bill that followed, were carried through the Commons.
Towards the end of February, the third reading of the Regency Bill was
impending in the Lords. Pitt had proposed that the difficulty about
procuring the royal assent to the measure should be overcome by
empowering the chancellor by a joint vote of both houses to put the
Great Seal to a commission for giving the assent. But this expedient was
unnecessary. By February 22 the king was completely recovered. The
Regency Bill fell to the ground, and all the hopes which the Opposition
had reared upon it.
The day of thanksgiving for the king's recovery is regarded by Lord
Macaulay as the zenith in Pitt's political life. "To such a height of
power and glory," he says, "had this extraordinary man risen at
twenty-nine years of age. And now," he adds, perhaps less justly, "the
tide was on the turn."
_III.--The Struggle with France_
Pitt was able to declare, in the session that preceded the dissolution
of 1790, that "we are adding daily to our strength, wealth, and
prosperity," and, as a result of the elections, his parliamentary
majority was more than confirmed.
But symptoms of the coming stress were already manifest. The minister
was anxiously watching the course of the revolution in France; and,
while far from sharing the enthusiasm of Fox for the new principles, he
did not endorse the fierce hostility of Burke.
"I cannot regard with envious eyes," he said, "any approximation in
neighbouring states to those sentiments which are the characteristics of
every British subject."
But the development of events soon made it clear that the new France had
become a danger to the peace of Europe. As long as possible Pitt avoided
war, which was ultimately forced upon him in 1793 by France's attack
upon Holland, to which we were bound by treaty obligations.
From that time, until the peace in 1802, English naval enterprises were
generally successful, and English military enterprises generally failed.
Pitt has often been blamed for the faults of his country's generals; but
it is assuredly true that he did all that a civilian could do to secure
success in the field.
The heavy cost of the war, increased as it was by the subsidies paid to
Austria, and afterwards to Russia, compelled an entire departure from
Pitt's old financial methods. Each year brought an increase of taxation
and an increase of debt; and at the beginning of 1797 the directors of
the Bank of England, in dire perplexity, told Pitt that the state, for
all his expedients, was threatened with insolvency. Pitt did not falter.
An order in council was issued, suspending cash payments at the bank.
Thus was established a gigantic system of paper credit, giving us power
to cope with no less gigantic foes. Cash payments were not resumed until
1819.
Pitt had not only to cope with enemies without, but with sedition
within. Societies formed for propagating the principles of the
revolution advocated the subversion of the constitution under the
pretence of parliamentary reform; the populace, angered by the
privations caused by the clearness of food, listened readily to the
agitators; riots were frequent, but the most mischievous form taken by
sedition was that of armed conspiracy. Against these evils Pitt
contended by royal proclamations, prosecutions, and, above all, by the
suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act. In his firm suppression of disorder
Pitt was loyally supported by large majorities in both houses, and the
country generally was on his side. But his domestic policy, his foreign
policy, and his finance were unsparingly attacked by Fox and a small
band of devoted followers--followers who did not abate in their
resolution when their leader, weary of the unequal conflict, retired for
a time from public life.
In the busy and anxious year 1796, there was a report that Pitt was on
the point of marriage. During his short intervals of leisure at Holwood,
he often visited his neighbour, Lord Auckland, at Beckenham, and was
much attracted by Lord Auckland's eldest daughter, the Hon. Eleanor
Eden. This strong attachment did not proceed to a proposal and a
marriage. Pitt wrote to Lord Auckland avowing his affection, but
explaining that in the circumstances of pecuniary difficulty in which he
was involved, he would not presume to make the lady an offer. Lord
Auckland acknowledged the explanation as adequate, and thus honourably
ended the only "love-passage" in the life of Pitt.
Considering that Pitt's income as minister was £6,000 a year, and that
he derived an additional £3,000 a year from the Lord Wardenship of the
Cinque Ports, his pecuniary troubles may seem hard to explain. He had no
family, and no expensive tastes. But he was so intent upon the national
exchequer that he neglected his private accounts, with the consequence
that he was plundered by his domestics. His expenses were not checked,
and his debts continued to grow.
_IV.--Resignation_
In the year 1800 Pitt was able to achieve a momentous change in the
affairs of Ireland. The chronic discontent of that country, largely due
to the resentment of the Catholics at their exclusion from the rights of
citizenship, had been fanned by the importation of revolutionary ideas;
and there were hopes, once or twice on the point of realisation, of a
French invasion of the island. In 1798 a rebellion broke out, but was
suppressed with promptness, and, it must be added, in many instances
with cruelty. But to Pitt the suppression of the insurrection was only
the first part of his duty. He thought that to revert to the old system
would be a most shallow policy. A new, and comprehensive, and healing
method must be tried--an Act of Union, which should raise the minds of
Irishmen from local to imperial aims--which should blend the two
legislatures, and, if possible, also the two nations, in one.
In 1800 the project was fulfilled--not without fierce resistance in the
Irish Parliament, and not without a certain distribution of favours to
those for whose support the government was anxious; although the
allegations made on this subject seem to be exaggerated. Having
accomplished the union, Pitt laid plans for a further reform which led,
early in the following year, to his retirement from office.
He proposed the emancipation of the Catholics by the substitution of a
political for the religious test of fitness for citizenship. Although
the Anglican bishops and clergy and many laymen were strongly opposed to
Catholic emancipation, Pitt would probably have been able to carry his
scheme had it not been for royal antagonism. The king believed,
erroneously but passionately, that by consenting to such a measure he
would violate his coronation oath.
His majesty expressed his opinions on the subject so publicly and so
vehemently that on January 31, 1801, Pitt felt compelled to ask leave to
resign unless he were allowed to pursue his course on the Catholic
question. The king required the abandonment of the scheme, and on
February 3 Pitt resigned office. Thus abruptly ended his renowned
administration of more than seventeen years.
The new Prime Minister was Mr. Addington, formerly Speaker of the
Commons. Several of Pitt's colleagues remained in the ministry, although
others withdrew from it; and Pitt himself gave general support to the
government--support which was offered with especial warmth, and
possessed especial value, during the hotly criticised peace negotiations
with the First Consul Bonaparte in 1801 and 1802. Although Pitt had been
obliged when in office to refuse several inadequate offers of peace, he
had always been prepared to end the war under honourable conditions. The
distinction of ending the war did not fall to his share; but his
services were not forgotten. On May 7, 1802, the House of Commons
carried by overwhelming numbers a motion, "That the Right Hon. William
Pitt has rendered great and important services to his country, and
especially deserves the gratitude of this house." And on May 28, 1802,
Pitt's birthday, more than 800 persons assembled at a memorable banquet
in honour of "the pilot that weathered the storm."
Until the renewal of war in 1803 Pitt took little-part in public
affairs. Most of his time was spent at Walmer Castle, with occasional
visits to Bath for the sake of his health, which had been uncertain
since an attack of serious illness in 1797. He remained in constant
communication with his political friends, and sometimes during the
earlier part of his retirement aided the ministry with his advice. But
with the progress of time he found himself less and less able to support
Addington and his colleagues.
In May 1803 the uneasy peace came to an end. The constant aggressions of
Bonaparte and his dominating tone made friendly relations impossible.
There was a widespread feeling in the country that now that the storm
had recommenced the old pilot should be called to the helm. Pitt
returned to the Commons after the declaration of war, and forcibly
criticised some of the financial and defensive measures of the ministry.
In 1804 the ministry showed itself wholly unequal to the strain upon it;
and the situation was complicated by a temporary return of the king's
malady. Pitt not only renewed his opposition to Addington, but made it
plain that he was prepared to take part in a strong and comprehensive
administration, including even Fox, that should be formed to rescue the
crown and country from the dangers to which they were exposed under the
Addington ministry.
A series of combined attacks was directed against the government during
the month of April. Although Addington was not defeated in the Commons,
he saw his majority steadily diminish; and on April 26 he resolved to
resign. On the 30th, the Lord Chancellor intimated to Pitt his majesty's
desire to receive the plan of a new administration.
_V.--The Last Ministry_
The king's opposition made the inclusion of Fox in the new ministry
impossible. His hostility to Fox, however, was not simply on political
grounds; he believed him to be responsible for the excesses of the
Prince of Wales. Pitt was in consequence obliged to be content with a
restricted choice of ministers, and had to face a powerful opposition in
parliament. Addington was persuaded to join the ministry early in 1805.
During the summer of 1804 Bonaparte and his host lay menacingly at
Boulogne, awaiting that command of the channel "for six hours," which
the great warrior recognised as essential to his plans. Meanwhile, Pitt
laboured to form another coalition, and, at the cost of heavy subsidies,
was successful. Russia, Austria, and Sweden joined in the league against
Napoleon; Prussia still hesitated.
In the summer of 1805 Napoleon was again at Boulogne, but his plan of
invasion was wrecked by the failure of the French fleet to reach the
Channel. When Napoleon learned that the fleet had gone south, and that
the attack upon England had been thwarted, he straightway marched his
army to mid-Europe. Pitt had staked everything on the new coalition, and
the surrender of the Austrians at Ulm was news of the utmost bitterness
to him. But a splendid corrective came soon afterwards in the crowning
naval victory of Trafalgar. Although the nation's feelings were divided
between joy at the triumph and grief at the death of the illustrious
victor, Pitt's popularity, which had been somewhat uncertain, was
enormously enhanced by the event. The Lord Mayor proposed his health as
"the saviour of Europe."
Pitt's reply was nearly as follows: "I return you many thanks for the
honour you have done me, but Europe is not to be saved by any single
man. England has saved herself by her exertions, and will, I trust, save
Europe by her example." With only these two sentences the minister sat
down. They were the last words that Pitt ever spoke in public.
He was suffering much at this time from gout, and his general health was
undermined by anxiety. In December he journeyed to Bath, and at Bath
there reached him the news of the destruction of his coalition at
Austerlitz. The battle was the cause of his death. He was struck down by
a severe internal malady and he was in a state of extreme debility when
on January 11, 1806, he returned home to the house he had taken on
Putney Heath. It is said that as he passed along to his bedroom, he
observed a map of Europe hanging on the wall, upon which he turned to
his niece and mournfully said: "Roll up that map. It will not be wanted
these ten years."
For a few days the doctors had hopes that he might recover, but on the
22nd it became evident that he could not live for twenty-four hours.
Early in the morning of the 23rd he died.
"At about half-past two," wrote the Hon. James Hamilton Stanhope, who
was at his bedside, "Mr. Pitt ceased moaning, and did not make the
slightest sound for some time. Shortly afterwards, in a tone I never
shall forget, he exclaimed: 'Oh, my country! How I love my country!'
From that time he never spoke or moved, and at half-past four expired
without a groan or struggle. His strength being quite exhausted, his
life departed like a candle burning out."
* * * * *