CHATHAM, WILLIAM PITT, Earl of, sometimes styled PITT TILE ELDER, one of the greatest English orators and statesmen of the 18th c., was the son of a country gentle man, Robert Pitt of Boconnoc, in Cornwall; and was b. Nov. 15, 1708. After an educa tion at Eton and Oxford, he traveled on the continent, and on his return obtained a cornetey in the blues. In 1735, he entered parliament for Old Sarum—that synonym for electoral corruption—a borough then belonging to his family. He espoused the side of Frederick prince of Wales, then at deadly feud with the king, and offered a deter mined opposition to Walpole, who was at the head of affairs. lie was deprived of his commission in consequence—an insult and injury which only increased the vehemence of his denunciations of the court and the government. His influence, both in and out of the house of commons, increased rapidly; and Walpole, being driven front power, the king, notwithstanding his hatred of Pitt, found it necessary to allow of his admis sion to a subordinate place in the broad bottom administration; subsequently he was appointed to the lucrative office of paymaster-general. The duchess of Marlborough, pleased with his patriotism and powers of oratory, left him £10,000; and later, sir 1\ il liam Pynsent, struck with similar admiration, left him his whole property. In 1755, when Henry Fox (afterwards lord Holland) was made secretary of state, finding himself opposed to the foreign policy of the new minister, Pitt resigned office as paymaster. In the following year, when the king, unwillingly acceding to popular demands, had to dismiss Fox, Pitt became nominally secretary of state, but was virtually premier. He immediately began to put into execution his own plan of carrying on the war with France. He raised the militia, and strengthened the naval power; but the king's old enmity, and German predilections, led him to oppose Pitt's policy, who thereupon resigned office in April, 1757, but was recalled in June, in obedience to the loud demands of the people.
Now firmly established in power, Pitt's war policy was characterized by unusual vigor and sagacity. Success returned to the British arms. French armies were beaten everywhere by Britain and her allies—in India, in Africa, in Canada, on the Rhine— and British fleets drove the few French ships they did not capture or destroy from almost every sea. But the prime mover of all these brilliant victories found himself com pelled to resign (1761), when, on the accession of George III., and owing to the influence of lord Bute, it was attempted to introduce a vacillating policy into the government; his immediate cause of resignation being the refusal of the majority of the cabinet to declare war with Spain, which Pitt, foreseeing as imminent, wished to commence before the Spaniards were thoroughly prepared. As some recompense for his important services,
Pitt received a pension of £3,000 a year; and his wife, sister of George Grenville, was created baroness Chatham. until 1766, Pitt remained out of office, not offering a fac tious opposition to government, but employing all his eloquence to defeat some of its most obnoxious measures. In that year he received the royal commands to form a ministry. He undertook the task, choosing for himself—to the astonishment of the public, and the sacrifice, to a considerable extent, of his popularity—the almost sinecure office of privy seal, with a seat in flip house of lords as viscount Pitt and earl of Chatham. Ill-health prevented C. from taking any active part in this ministry, of he was nominally the head, and which was weak and embarrassed throughout, and he resigned in 1768, to hold office no more. He did not, however, cease to take an interest in public affairs. He spoke strongly against the arbitrary and harsh policy of government towards the American colonies, and warmly urged an amicable settlement of the differences. But when, America having entered into treaty with France, it was proposed by the duke of Richmond to remove the ministers, and make peace on any terms, C., though much debilitated, came down to the house of lords, and in a powerful address protested against the implied prostration of Britain before the throne of the Bourbons, and declared war, with whatever issue, preferable to the proposed terms of peace. This address secured a majority against the motion, and the war was continued. But it was the orator's last effort; for, exhausted by speaking, on rising again to reply to a query addressed to him by the duke of Richmond, his physical powers suddenly failed, he fell back into the arms of his friends, and was carried from the house. He died May 11, 1778. He was honored with a public funeral in Westminster abbey, where a statue was also erected to his memory at the public expense; and, in addition, government voted £20,000 to pay his debts, and conferred a pension of £4,000 a year on his descendants. C.'s personal appearance was dignified and imposing, and added greatly to the attrac tions of his oratory, which was of the most powerful kind. His upright and irreproach able character demanded the admiration of his enemies; but his affectedness and haugh tiness not unfrequently disgusted his friends, and pride rather than principle seems to have actuated his course at some important conjunctures of his life. He had, however, an intense love of country; the grand object of his ambition being to make his native land safe against all contingencies, and powerful among nations.