The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1905-01-15
WILLIAM PITT, THE GIFTED
ORATOR AND STATESMAN
An Appreciative Sketch of One of the Greatest Fig
ures That Ever Trod the Stage
of Public Life

of Public Life.

the task, my noble, amiable boy, to
caution YOU only against pursuing too
much all those liberal and praise
worthy things TO whicch less happy
natures are perpetually to be spurred
and driven" The son was but little
over fourteen then and WAS q student
at Cambridge University. When but
e ghteen, and he learned of his faith
er's being raised TO the peerage, ne
exclaimed-"Then / must take his
place in the House of Commons" Ills
consuming aspiration when still q boy
i'll years was to be a great orator. III
al! he was at Cambridge seven years.
with occasional interruptions, because
of his health. His chief pleasure and
zeal We're bestowed upon the Classics,
the Mathematics and the study of
Aristotle's Logic" He translated the
Classics into fdiomatic English, and
thus formed, says one of his biogra
piers, IAN English style, distinguished
at once for copiousneSs, force and elo-
Iquence." The same writer says that
1.-The mind Of Mr.. Pitt might be de-
scrihed as a fountain ever flowing
forth a clear. expressive and COM
handing diction." DR.. Pettyman says
that when he was alone, he dwelt for
hours upon striking passages of an
orator or historian, in noticing their
terms of expression marking their
manner OF arranging a narrative, or OF
explaining the avowed or secret mo-
tives of action" He read the great
poets much, and he stored his mind
with many of the more elegant and
impressive passages. His tutor said OF
hmm that che was persuaded that, II Il
play of Mcnander or AeschyluS, or an
ode of Pindar, had been suddenly found
he would have understood it as any
rrofessed scholar According TO Dr.
Pettyman, young Pitt before he was
twenty, had read carefully every
Greek or Latin classical writer of any
emnence. He was great in the Mathe-
rnatics, and they commanded the ut
most attention then at Cambridge and
set 1t is stated that she was master OF
everything usually known to young
men who obtain the highest academic
IL honors, and felt a great desire to
fathom still farther the depths of the
uure mathematics DR.. Pettyman
states that when Mr.. Pitt was asked
how he acquile ed his uncommon talent
for reply said that he owed it to
the study of Aristotle's Logic" The
Doctor states that it was fayorite en-
pioyment OF Pitts ito compare Cp-
Dosite speeches on the same subject.
and to examine how each speaker
managed his own side of the argument,
or answered the reasoning of his OPP
pCnent" lie listened often 20 the
great orators and statesmen Burke,
Fox, Sheridan, Grattan and other ia
nous men--and he sought to catch
the excellence of each with view 10
his own Improvement" Or. Goodrich
states that lit was this practice which
enabled him IN rise, at the end OF Il
debate OF ten or twelve hours, extend
ing over a vast variety of topics, and
reply to the Teasonings of every OPP
Eonent with such admirable dexterity
and force while he confirmed the po-
sitions of his friends, and gave sys-
tematic thoroughness To the whole dis
Cusslon, such as few speakers in Par
lament have ever been able to attain
SO it will be seen that William
Pitt, the Younger, was one of the
most extraordinary nan in modern
times of whom we have accurate re-
cord and impressions. To appreciate
him one must study his fife, review
carefully his extraordinary career as
Prime Minister when ne began it when
so young, and scrutiniZe the man in
his entire personality. His chief
studies were Locke. Adam Smith :;
most remarkable wcrk--"The Wealth
OF Nations Halifax on the Civil Law.
M ddl@tons once very famous Life CT
Cicero" Bolingbroke'S political and
historical writings, Edmund Spenser,
and the Bible. He knew Shakespeare
thoroughly, and the finest parts he
could easily repeat. His watchful faith
Ell, who SO dearly loved him, gave him
excellent counsel, setting before him
Integrity. truth and public spirit as
priceless virtues, and warned him
against that bane OF youth--dissipa-
ton, which. according to DR.. Goodrich.
has proved the ruin OF half the young
English nobility
Mr.. Pitt was a marvellous man in
many things. The celebrated William
Wilberforce, who was a very intimate
friend when Pitt was but twenty, said
of him that "he was the Wituest man
/ ever knew. and what was quite pc
culiar to himself, had at all times his
wit under entire control" The follow
ing is certainly interesting. He says
farther: Il was one Of those who
went to spend an evening in memory
OF Shakespeare, at the Bears Head,
East Cheap. Many professed wits
were present but Pitt was the most
amusing of the party. and the readiest
and most apt in the required illusions.
Ill, entered With the same energy into
all our different anfusements.' He
was purely intellectual. and strange to
say, deficient i'll imagination. lie was
most wary, most c1rcuMSpect, ever
ready and always in command Of his
faculties. He was ever on the alert, and
the great Charles James Fox, himself
wonder, said that The had never
ccaught him trifling in a single in
stance" DR.. Goodrich says OF him,
that he had .'Iess genius than his Gath
err, but greater strength of mind" He
practiced law at one time. was called
to the bar in 1880, and became a ia
vorite with the lawyers with whom he
rode the Western Circuit. He was full
of good humor and suitability
l will not undertake to follow him
| in his great career in Parlia-
ment, and as the Premier of Great
| Britain at twenty-four, in most re-
markable, crucial times. ! will not
discuss his rank, his successes, his fail
ures. Lord Macaulay can aid the read
er no little here. I will cite an in
stance to show his skill and readiness
III debate. l will copy from Dr. Good
r:ch's interesting account: He says:
''ln a speech on the army estimates
while commenting With great severity
on q contradiction in the statements
of Lord North and Lord George Ger
| maine he saw the two {who were seat
ei near each otbprl conVe1Sjno wit,