Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1903-06-03
A REAL BOY WONDER
THe PHENOMENAL EARLY CAREER OF
WILLIAM PITT.

Although sickly and Delicate, This
English Lad wns intellectually One
of the Most Remarkable Youths IA
World Has Ever Known.
One of the most remarkable boys the
world ever saw was William Pitt. He
sstonished folk with his learning at the
age Of seven He became prime min
lister of England when he was twenty
four.
He was a sickly boy. but he took all
the out OF door exercise his delicate
frame could bear and was as eager to
study as most boys are to play. He
would not let his weak body stop his
work, and lie was reading ancient his
tory at an age when most children are
reading stories written in words of
one syllable.
His father was the great Earl of
Chatham, and the boy was brought in
to contact with all the great men of
the time In England. When he was
thirteen years old he wrote n tragedy
which he called "~Laurentine. King of
Clarinium."
At this age, too, he was able to read
Greek and Latin almost as well as he
could English. He also was well in
formed on the politics of the day and
on q variety of subjects about which
only men Of learning are supposed to
know anything.
At fourteen he was able to take the
works of Thucydides, written in Greek,
and read page after page, turning it
into excellent English as he read, and
this of hand translation Of his is said
to have been almost without a flaw.
His father spoke of him as "eager
Mr.. William, the counselor, the philos-
opher." At the age of fourteen he en-
tered the great University of Cam
bridge in England and at once, in spite
Of his youth, took a high place among
the students at that celebrated place
OF learning.
When he went to Cambridge, the boy
vas In such feeble health that he had
to be accompanied by a nurse, and all
through his course there he was in so
poor n condition, physically, that 1t was
doubted IL he ever would be able to
finish the course.
But hard study seemed to agree with
him, and when he was graduated, at
the & Of seventeen, he was much
stronger than when he entered the uni
versity.
At an age when most boys are pre-
pairing to enter college. or. If they are
very clever, have just become fresh
men, young Pitt won the degree of
master Of arts from n Of the great.
est universities in the world and began
the study of law.
At twenty-one he was admitted to
the bar, and the same year was elected
q member Of parliament, to become
prime minister three years later.
While he was yet a law student and
only eighteen years old he attracted
the attention of prominent men by his
clear views on the questions of govern
ment, which then were ~perplexing the
rulers Of England. The boy was in
vited everywhere, and men holding the
most important offices listened to his
advice and asked his opinions.
His friends wanted him to 60 into
parliament when he was twenty and
all predicted for him a brilliant career.
II was curious to see this delicate strip
ling, a boy in looks and years, meeting
the great and wise men Of the country
as an equal and conversing on even
terms with the most learned scholars
Of the day.
Young Pitt used to like to listen to
the debates in the British parliament,
and Mr.. Fox, the great statesman,
meeting him once after q debate, was
astonished at the manner in which the
boy criticised the eminent men who
had spoken and pointed out where they
could have made their argument
stronger.
One of the hardest works to under
stand that ever were written is a book
called "Cassandra," written by a man
named Lycophronis. 1t is written in
Greek. A learned man placed the book
In the hands of young Pitt when the
boy was sixteen years old, and he read
It at first sight. translating into Eng
lish as he read and explaining 1t in a
manne which made the learned man
declare that had he not seen 1t he
would have believed 1t to be beyond
the power of human intellect"
When Pitt was sixteen, his father de-
clared that he would be a great states
man and was the hope of the country.
Other folks soon became of his fathers
way of thinking. and that is why they
put him into parliament when he was
so young and made him prime minister
30 Dol after.
He fulfilled all that was expected Of
him and ruled England during thirteen
Of the most eventful years of her his.
tory.-Detroit Free Press.