The Sun.
London, England, 1819-06-14 00:00:00

LEEDS PITT CLUB.

rl•he following Spie' W 35 delii•ered at the AD-
ilita! Celebration of Mr. 1%17's Birth-clay on. the
Sr)'2 tilt., in Leeds, b^y Mr. SADLER, -a. Gentle-

man of that town

Mr. Chnirman and Gentlemen of the Nit Club—
,
Cal;ed upon by this numerous and respeetab2e
• meeting, and in a manner as flattering
.as it seas
unexpected, it is impossible for me, consistently
wire the respect I bear to yourself,
,as well as our
association, to resist the wish so, generally mani-
fested ; any apology, therefore, fOr obtruding my.
stir Npoo your notice would he a ridiculous waste
• of (nee, it not an insult on the company ; and,
' indeed, as our association is less for tie purpose
of enjoying the pleasures of innocent hilarity with
our friends and' neigillmors, than for that of giv"-
ing expression and perpetuity to our public pi in-
Ciplea,l hope never to see the hour when any at:-
tempts to .impress or elucidate thwe principles,
horn any, individual amongst us, will be deemed
an unseasonable interruption, or one demanding
formal apology.—(Applatisel-:—lddeed, in an
age when it appears as tho Ugh every institution ,
amongst us must be re-argued ; when many in
this country place so low a valite,on the stock of.
isdoni treasured up :for us by our ancestors ;
when they defer. so little to the greatest autho-
rities in the brightest days of our history) or to
the opinions of the most exalted of our contem.e
poraries ; it is no small .adv'ontage to our eause,..
which is that of truth and. not only that
We feel ourselves,to be:right, hittaliat we ore thus
called upon,at:stated into seals, to hear or give a
reason for the political faith that is in us ; to re-
view the foundation on Which it is.erected , and
to renew,- in , the presenee of aeleb other, . our
iteatifast determination tO,Sitpport and defend it ;
(:,01)14(ise)0,41,_.esireetalty on
,this -day so titat
to the treat is of Briton's, Ind so.glorious in the
an tittai sof our coon try —(Lootl plaudits)
. " The lunnortal Patriot; whose name is rire.-
ittiking,and coMprehensiveeinkx,of our pritici-
ples, as welras the, tndtto of one irS`Soeierion,.it
were in vain for me to attempt to describe.-:-4o
hint, iodeed,. Might beeroly lapplied the language
Of
,Ljvy when speaking offieere, that to praise hint
detereee would denrano -an eloquence. equal
to his own.. But, though we may not be able to (10
justice to his tratit.cendent merits, or even to our'
own sense, of •kliettr,- yet to bear hiM in our most
grateful aud,' recollections, tints to do
homage to lk illustrious worth, is a duty
that we owe, nbt osrly to him, but to ourselves,
to out country, nay,.to our God, Who, dontrless,
7taised up, itt the period of our greatest necessity;'
this mighty instrument for, cite glory and pr:eeso---
vation of this country—(applause),—and who
fitted him for the task assigned him by Divine
Providence. ilence we's he gifted With a Mind, the
Most 'elevated and comprehensive ; With talents,
the most splendid as well ;as varied ; with know--
ledge, the Most Minute as well as Profound (I
had almost said unbounded) ; to all WiriCh was
added, a power of utterance wholly uttriValled, in
k,ltielt the lights of reason, and the force and
fires of eloquence, mingling their Fornic'atiOns,
• became irresistabie ; convincing, inspiring, or
Confounding: ail Within the reach of its thunders.—
(Applause)—To qualifications like these, what
Could be added to coustit'ute such a man the
greatest of Ministers of huMan beings ? That
en svfn 'the immoet al Patriot whose name we cele-
brate pnisessed, his enemies themselves being
the judges, in the highest poisible. degree, Disin-
teresredneSs (Loud applitise.)-: Yes, unin-
fluenced by any personal, much less sordid cone
Siderat isn, he was inspired may with the love of
' ltis country—the zeal of which eat him up. That
country, for Which he sacrificed his ease, wealth,
pleasure, nay, life itself—that country, which
he loved, not' with a varying, or transient, or in-
Constant affection, but for which, from the first
and early maturity of his mighty mind, to the last
Morneot of his earthly existence, he poured out every
sand of life !—(Continued applruse)---Thns
gitiihed by all that can adorn or dignity human na-
ture, and placed by our Venerable Sovereign and a
confiding country on the highest pinnacle of
power and eminence, in him seemed centred the
admiring gaze of Europe ind.the solid ; and on
'that gloiious height is be iiinnOveably fixed,
while unsullied hotionr, disinterested parriotisM,
or godlike fortitOde, is dear to Britons. Nor did
he act for his own generation alone. Nit hare
we not, in our ituaginatinu, beheld our heroic
forefathers rising from their Itede of glory, and'
fixing oil our immortal Patriat their anxious ;ate,
:to wit eess whether their labours for posterity had
been in vain, w!:ether thattoustitutioo which was
'ft•etned by their wiadoin, and cemented by their
Vitro& which they bequeathed as their nObleSt
legacy to their offspriug, should be de's'troyed or
transmitted unimpaired to future times 1 Nay,
methiiuks, generationi of Englishmen yet unborn,
Our children's children, leaned forward, RS it were,
from futtnity, with eager look, and with a voice
that articulated to his soul, deManding whether
they should be bore slaves or &evil:leo !—(Lood
'Cheers.)
" Leveled, however, as he is in tbe'eyes of this
aee. and of future Hines, I am well aware that he-
never was,' nor pertiaps ever will be, regarded
with unmireled adMiration. The shafts of igno-
ratice and of envy will Still be levelled at. hint ;
hut, far above their reach, they recoil, like the
arrow of Adrastus, On those- that aim them; While
the interminable hatred of the enethies of fits
country confers on him a distinction only illfe-
rior to that glory with which she fiat eternally
invested him.
" What then, Gentlemen, were the great ob-
jects whieh chit illustrious Statesman held stead-
lastly in' view, the 'principles by Which he was
actuated, throughout the whole of his splendid
cereer ? To assert the glory and independence
of this cowirry.; to maintain her Constitution
in6date. Objects worthy ,of a Pitt to attempt ;
which it required, in the times on Which he tell,
all the energy of a-Pitt ter achieve. Call to Mind,
Gentlemen, the threatening, the awful aspect of
affairs, sell( n be,first placed this Country in the
ettittule iet which the national virtues were so long
and so nobly displayed, and so gloriously rewarded
end then Cslimute the grandeur of bia excnions,l::r

patriotism of his principles. When the torches of
infidel and poltiiiA--inCentli,drieS, lit up by hell,
bad at letegth effected that tremendous 'confiagr-
tion in a mighty ..rival ..nation, in which all the
elements of society seemed dissolved, and the
raging mass, absOridog ill within impetuous
vortex, its biiainds, poured forth
like a voleanic reiiption fie r around ; it Was he
whose labours opposed-that mighty mound which
saved one Cou'nt'ry, at.least fr-oin desolating;
progress. Thank ,Gt-sd it is now confined to its
ciater, where it may hiss and. smoke., but the flam-
ing delnee buees.-ifteth no roore..---e(Applause.)—
But to drop metaphor, I know that there are some
'amongst us, political taleliaises, who, skilful in
:prognosticaeilies;. thiet bad .it • not been
for this Minister.....hiterod might, have remained
safely at pebee.-With rieitolut innary• France. They
affect; to ttVittYe,, that that country„.whose amid-
id for nes pointed 21,ainiversal empire as
its ultimate object, .and I,he ,humiliation 110
downfall of !hie country as the only obstacle ip
the way to the fulfilment of. ber.wisli, would: when
She revolutiOn bad kindled her anthition to a flatio:,*:
given an additional-irOpetus to her Strength, added
!an
!inhuman ferocity to her courage, have re-
rnaitieo a frieml/21y-aikel peseeable-beighbour to this'
ninnarehy ; that it was --Pitt who changed
.treedom into military tyranny.' But events te1.40.-
have,. thank God, opened. the eyes of ananyk,
.would too, have silenced this class of politiciamsl,
if any thing could have weaned. thent trout exobe.-
ratiog from blame the enemies- of 'England, eVeb-
-at,the expellee of vilifying their country. To pro-
duce an instance or two. Such individuals have.
lave seen that the virinee, the libetty, the poere-
ty, the hotoble nerdrality
of Swit-
..z, viand, whirl) had for ages disarmed Ike rem-
bitien and hostility of those whom the new'aai-
`losophers slitoontioate tyrants, could not plead
in her behalf !with this rommou scourge and
enemy of humanity, , They have witnessed
`the -manli'e'r in .treati'eS, St rength-
coed- liy --every tit eir gratitiide, wiiufd be ob-
fereell..in. the': treatnieut who was
pouring.- herareasure and .blood at the 'foot' of
that inonsteer, with whom our patriots sympatiiiie
Si, strongly, while he, at the,,very.mornetit; was
planning and' and -exectitiog tier downfal, and pro.e
seeding to immolate, at the slit ine of his personal
ambition, myriads of his, till then, devoted friends
and allies !—With such, I say, who,k.nowiog all
this;-still assert that the fraternal hug of Fiance,
regarded this country, would have been con-
si-ant, cordial, and sincere, it were. folly to -,easte a
single word by way 01.tirgument. But we are 41-
formed that. lie begat) the contest.—We deny it.
But admittea,it were so, would these politicians
have hail us to . like Ulysses in the den of
f'olyphemus, while our friends anti allies were de-
voured, one by one, merely in hopes that we might,
tl,e last morsel for this monster of cruely
and ambition But, on—the Minisrer we cele-
brate had a mind too penetrating, a soul too he-
roie;• for such a course. In thit awful hour; to
which we have alluded, When the very existence
of England Was threatened ; when. her arch foe
had sworn eternal hostility to berfoem of Govern-
ment ; When 'the War decreed against It.'r sub-
kels was forbid to be mitigated in its ferocity by
any of the humanizing usages of civilized society;
when tier enemy seemed going forth with increas-
ing strength, conquering and to conquer ; when
she cast her eyes round RIO saw unite in that
fearful strife to take part with her ; when fear or
fully had. ultimately leagued every other nation
With her enemy against-her;
se be erted in her utmost need,
"By those her Witter bounties fed"—
did he surrender, at that trying moment, the bo-
ttom and independence of England, or teach her
high and laurelled head to stoop to the proud
and exulting foe ? No !--7-1-le roused her to god-
like courage, he stimulated her to unexampled ex-
ertion, he aimed her with invincible patience; he
threw. before her the immortal aegis; he gave her
to wield the trident of the ocean ;, he placed in
her hand the word of justice _and of vengeante,\
which hlized through a long night of gloom and
horrors, a beaCtin to the sorrotintling world, till
the day-Star of peace and order dawned again
upon the earth—when site waved the olive of
peace and friend hip over the Nations whom her
velour and fortitude had saved.--(Loud applause.)
'Tis true he yielded for a moment to the clamours
of those who thougllt a peace was practicable
with our enemy, and the experiment was made,
but not by hint ; when he found, that to preserve
peace with the child and champion of liberty and
jacob:nism, we most surrender our freedom—The
first sacrifice we were insolently. called upon to
make was, the liberty of the press.—England was
publicly insulted before all Europe by the assertion
that she could not longer ei►n end single-handed
France. Shallow, short-sighted Tyrant 1.
conidst (Loa eoutend against her, unaided as ,she
was, though ttiou hadst armed as many heads
tegainst her as Briaretts !----Answer from the ritek
where tier arm has chained thee, where the. vat-
! lure of recollectiou must 'gnaw thee, While thou
Last a -conscience for her_ tp prey upon !—(rlp-
plaffse )—At that pe4iod a-million swords leaped,.
Worn their scabbards to avenge her insuits.;-4NIW
planse.)--el rejoice to st.e arnouugst tic this flay
Veteran patriot, who led the ranks of this place to:
thenarional muster.—(Cheers.)-1 can truly say,
that I regard it as the Iriglfest distinetion of my
lite to have been. on .that occasion enrolled in
such a cause and nutter such a Commander.—
(Loujl plaudits.)-1-le is with us this"day ; and I
derive an additional assurance front his • presence
:that our cause is patriotic--national ! But 1 re•
press my own, feeliugain consideration of his, and
ant silent.

t(-1 am aware of the effects of the great exer-
tions which • were alen made—but they are the
price, not merely of our greatness, but of our 'li-
berty and independence; and if We take the must
desponding picture our opponents have drawn of
the present situation of the cauntry, assume it as
coveter, and make it her interluinable fate, who
can balance between what we have suffered or
have still to sustain, in consequence of that great
national struggle, and the tare thOse exertions
Averted 1 Who cart balance bewail that and
slavent ?—" Who is bete so base chat would
he a bondman i__lf any, speak ; for him have
1 offended !" BesideS a different policy would
%tit have averted our sufft:itir it v,-otild.

•
only have addedt, disgrace to them; I ap-
peal to • the experience of those nations- who
have adopted a different .conduct. Let .thetn
speak, as to the wrongs, the -exactions, the in-
sults, the dishonour, the wretchedness, the de-
i,astations, which a connection with
,regicide
France occasioned them. I appeal to the feelings,
Whether of admiration or of envy, with which, in
regard of this part of our national conduct, all
Such regard , this 'great kingdom. I appeal to
furore ages, when the storms of faction shall have
Ceased, and the voice of hlStOry alone is heard ;
when' the story of these days will echo down the
Streain of time troth generation togeneratioo, and
call, like an- everlasting herald, ote England in
future 'ages to emulate the deeds of their fore-
fathers. Then in . any Sobsequent day of peril
shall these times be 'appeafell to, to animate the
spattiotistn, to ekeite the courage, to sustain the
patience 'of EngliShanen ; and in such an awful
it it should he the fate of this country to
-coconnter another such, may our children 'then
.have a Pitt goide and 'animate' their Councils,
:and a herolike glen who is this moment presiiing
in theTitt-Chib of the metropolis,—(plaudits.)—
~her armies ;',atid, with.the blessings of
Vseivideretee:we.ask no more;
" :Botit is ,not Jeercly as a war Minister, that 1
putp-odt'aloiegarafliori; it la to his political 'con-
duet while presiding over the interests Ofibla great
Country, *fifths ''S`itisr-ferst =I "rose to address
you, I Lad particularly to' have called
your consideration: -Bat fear I must already.
hate fatigued:llle attention of thiS' meeting—(Cries
rif INises! .Net 11.1.4 w ill then proee7ed, but onlY fest• a
ioaposOile; Avltleiti. the-
narrow b utts iii,Ws..hich ITmitSt :confine Myself irl
the remainder of my address to:you, that I. can dog
shy thine itistiee•,tothis'' most iMporiant
bratiali of tee subject. To thc strenuous and un-
, ,„... .
remitting exertions of Ibis great Statesmao we
owe thepreservallop4l:tbt Constitlitioti ;
Const notion 'illiiiiist,'o:.!ooe'tior to the boasted
Governitirols,ol Greece and .Rome, as it is to the
'rake atorCitieineVal sy•Steins, by Which our modern
. •
reformers would fain replatie it. 1 shall restrain
myself;' ein this occasion, from enumerating the
varloifs'ptoposals 01 motfertftheorists, anti front
dasen.wrating the inconsistency, the folly and in-
,joviee of the plait oroposcd to us from this neigh-
bourhood, a-srilse Most, or: enty.r.feaSible plan of
telotin that can be. propoOoded ; they all proceed
upon principles . -as foreign_ to our present Con-
stitution' as .they are -to the;.eionamon sense and
experience of mankind in all ages, .[Here Mr.'S.
instanced some -.particulars, and appealed to the
authority of foreigners, Puffendorf, Montesquieu,
Vattel, , That Mr. Pitt was. ilexes, in any
period of his }rte, the friend of reform,. in our op-
patients' sense hut that diametrically opposed to
their systems, is.as true-as that his mighty efforts,'
under divine Providence,-effected,the salvation Of
the Constitution, teonylie:Naried and strenuous'
.exertions of all such innovators. That we do owe
the preservation of our laws and liberty to him
whose tame we thus celebrate,-Lbelieve we all here
agree in acknowledging,but. it nevertheless may not
be equally present to our recollection, that he had
to cootend with difficulties, peculiar to his own
time, in effecting his patriotic purpose. -Bear in
mind, Gentlemen,.that at the time he had to de-
fend the BriiishCOiislitntion 'irons the united as-
saults of its enemies and impugners, be had to
contend against principles but recentlYdeseeloped;
which camaiecommended to many minds invested
with all the charms_ of novelty ; which gained'
converts amongst manvabstract. .s=peculators r
which appealed, in a p'articular manner, to • the
prejudices of the populace ; while many of our
patricians, bewildered by their sophiSms, seemed
forgetful of their station and their duty, inso-
much that one of the greatest names anaongst,his
numerous opposers declared the French Consti-
tution to lie the most stupendous effort of human
Wisdoin the world had ever witnessed. It is true
succeeding events 'dissipated-the illusion ; 'and the
French Revolutioo, its its progress; lighted up a
beacon which.will blaza„to future .generations,
and save, it is to be trusted, this nation from ever
being shipwrecked on:the shoals of licentious and
infidel politics.
..•But, without the advantage of
this awful lessaili:' and, consequently, under diffri:••
culties which his: successors can never have to en-,
counter, lie effected his glorious purpose. P! we
remember those days ! It was when that mighty
tempest which borst'from a neighbouting nation,
threatened to sweep neer the. face' of the- whole
earth ; when -even in this country the' founda-
tions of -sociefy seemed shaken, and breaking up
beneath us ; when all was glooniy above and tent-
pestuonsness around ; and the audacious and tomb!-
tuous waves of democracy were gathering and
rising on every hand, and threatening to.bury all
that was elevated or valuable in society beneath
the level of one universal and ilarksoine abyss ;
in that awful hour this immortal Patriot. was
seen, as a mighty and unsheken Ararat, defying
the sterta, and heaving himself above it ; sustain-
ing that Ark which contained the hopes of the
Loyalty, Liberty, and Religion of the civiliz'ed
world—the British Constitittion."—(Lood and
continued applause)