William Pitt the Elder

English prime minister (1757-1761, 1766-1768)

• Born: November 15, 1708
• Birthplace: London, England
• Died: May 11, 1778
• Place of death: Hayes, Kent, England

With his brilliant administrative skill and his magnificent oratory, Pitt was the architect of Great Britain’s success in the Seven Years’ War against France, making Great Britain the foremost maritime and commercial nation in the world.

Early Life

William Pitt’s mother, Lady Harriet Villiers, was a member of the Anglo-Irish nobility, and his father, Robert Pitt, was a member of Parliament. At the age of ten, Pitt was sent to school at Eton, but he hated its brutality so much that he would later refuse to send his own children to school. He then went to Trinity College, Oxford, where he studied history, philosophy, and classics, but he left after one year without having taken a degree. For a brief period he considered entering the Church. As a younger son he needed a profession, particularly since his family was squandering the wealth that had been accumulated by Pitt’s grandfather through trade with India.

In January, 1731, family influence secured for Pitt a commission in the King’s Own Regiment of Horse. At this time the tall, lean young man with the Roman nose and large, intense gray eyes showed little ambition or sense of vocation. This state of affairs was to change in 1735. Pitt was selected as candidate for the parliamentary seat of Old Sarum, which was controlled by the political faction supported by his family. At the age of twenty-six, Pitt was duly elected to Parliament.

Before taking up his seat he spent the summer at the palatial home of Viscount Cobham, at Stowe in Buckinghamshire. Cobham was one of the leaders of the growing opposition to the fifteen-year tenure of Prime MinisterRobert Walpole, and many of his supporters congregated at Stowe. Coming under the influence of these powerful men proved to be a crucial event in Pitt’s life. His explosive, manic-depressive personality thrived on conflict, and he relished the presence of an enemy. Now he had found one. Filled with the grievances of the opposition, Pitt denounced Walpole’s policies in his first speeches in the House of Commons. He spoke with extraordinary intensity, eloquence, and passion, quickly winning for himself a reputation as a fiery orator and dangerous opponent.

Life’s Work

For nine years, Pitt thundered against Walpole in the House of Commons, arguing that Great Britain’s commercial interests were being fatally damaged by a weak policy toward France and Spain. Pitt advocated war in the colonies and on the seas, and his dramatic and passionate speeches made him the most popular politician of the day.

After the fall of Walpole, however, Pitt failed to secure any important office. Instead, he accepted in 1746 a profitable although politically powerless position as paymaster of the forces. Some peaceful and productive years followed, but when Prime Minister Henry Pelham died in March, 1754, Pitt was unable to gain a more senior appointment in the new ministry. At the age of forty-five and in poor health (he suffered from gout in addition to his unstable mental condition), his prospects seemed bleak. An unlikely event helped him through this dark period: He fell in love with Hester Grenville, a friend from his childhood, and they were married in November, 1754. She was to have four children, and it was with his family that Pitt was to enjoy the happiest and most secure interludes in his life.

Pitt now turned to ferocious attacks on the government and was dismissed from office in 1755. The political and military situation was becoming rapidly worse. France captured Minorca, the British base in the Mediterranean, and amassed an army ready to invade England. In 1756, Pitt, who enjoyed overwhelming public esteem, was appointed by the king as secretary of state. He had finally attained the power he had sought for so long, and he came to office with an acute sense of mission, believing that he, and he alone, had the ability to save his country. In the five momentous years that followed, Great Britain was to become established as the foremost maritime and commercial power in the world.

Pitt’s strategy was to fight a worldwide war, in the colonies and at sea, rather than becoming involved in a major European war. To this end he planned a successful blockade of French naval bases, which was to prove a major factor in Great Britain’s success. He also strengthened the militia to resist a French invasion, subsidized Great Britain’s ally, Frederick the Great of Prussia, and launched attacks against the French coast.

Pitt had ambitious plans for seizing Canada from French rule. It was an immensely difficult operation, involving the close cooperation of army and navy, as well as local Indian tribes. Pitt worked with unremitting dedication and energy, paying close attention to the smallest details of materials and supplies. He chose his generals and admirals well and inspired them with the breadth and daring of his vision. In July, 1758, came the first great victory, the fall of Louisbourg. Then Fort Duquesne was captured and renamed Fort Pitt (and eventually Pittsburgh). The following year, Quebec fell, and in 1760 the French surrendered Canada. A series of British victories, in the West Indies, on the west coast of Africa, in India, and on the Continent at Minden, completed the defeat of the French. It was a tremendous personal triumph for Pitt, and he found himself worshiped as a national hero. Pitt’s acclaim, however, did not last. He was opposed to peace negotiations with France, and he wanted to extend the war to include Spain. When in 1761 he found that his policies were no longer supported, he resigned. This was a turning point in his life; never again would he enjoy such authority and success.

The peace treaty signed with France in 1763 angered Pitt; he believed that all the gains he had won had been frittered away. Three more years spent in vigorous opposition culminated in his campaign against the controversial Stamp Act, which had imposed a tax on the American colonies. Following the repeal of the act, Pitt’s standing was as high as it had ever been, and he was swept back into office in July, 1766, accepting the title of earl of Chatham. His ministry proved to be a disaster. Not only did he lose public esteem by accepting a title, but also as a member of the House of Lords, he was no longer able to master the House of Commons with his oratory. He had also become arrogant and autocratic, treating his colleagues as subordinate clerks. The strain incurred by the frantic activity of the first few months resulted in mental collapse. For the remaining two years of his ministry, he was sunk in profound melancholia, incapable of taking charge of events. In the fall of 1768, he resigned.

In the following years he slowly recovered, and again became the spearhead of the opposition. It was a characteristic shift in mood. After long periods of despair and inaction he would become elated and once more possess the compelling power of the prophet and visionary. Now he argued vehemently, in the celebrated case of John Wilkes, for liberty and democracy against the arbitrary power of the House of Commons. (Wilkes was a member of Parliament who had been imprisoned for libel and had later been expelled from the House.) Pitt also advocated parliamentary reform. Yet his vigor was fading, and from 1771 onward he was able to play only an intermittent part in national affairs. In 1775, he turned once more to the alarming situation in America, and after consultations with Benjamin Franklin he drafted a moderate and liberal bill aimed at reconciliation. Had it been passed by Parliament it might have been an acceptable solution to the crisis.

Pitt made his final speech in the House of Lords in April, 1778. He opposed granting independence to America, a step he thought would ruin England. This final effort of an old and sick man was too much. He was carried from the House, and he died on May 11 at his home in Hayes, Kent.

Significance

William Pitt the Elder was the greatest English statesman of the eighteenth century, the architect of some of the most important victories in Great Britain’s long history. Indeed, it is sometimes said that the biography of Pitt during the years 1757-1761 is the biography of England itself, so completely was he in charge of shaping the destiny of the nation. Pitt possessed the uncanny ability to project his gigantic personality abroad, to inspire a campaign that extended to all corners of the globe. He had the gift of selecting men in his own image, bold and wholehearted adventurers who shared his belief in the unquenchable spirit of the English people. The fruits of his endeavors long outlived him, because the Seven Years’ War had long-term effects on the history of the world. It dislodged France from its preeminent position in Europe and laid the basis for the huge expansion of the British Empire, which reached its height a century after Pitt’s death.

To the British public, Pitt was the “Great Commoner,” the man who was above the sordid dealings of political factions and who did not court royal favor. Indeed, Pitt was the first minister whose success was a result as much of the esteem in which he was held by the public as of any personal following, or alliance with any political faction, in the House of Commons. He always prided himself on his independence. To a certain extent this was forced on him by his own personality. The personal qualities that made his foreign policy so overwhelmingly successful did not serve him well in domestic political maneuvering, which he never mastered. Egocentric and proud, he found it difficult to work with others on an equal footing.

Pitt was also a stern defender of constitutional liberty, not only in the Wilkes affair but also in the conflict between Great Britain and the American colonies. He believed that the colonists should enjoy the same rights as all British subjects, which included the right not to be taxed without consent. When the Stamp Act was repealed, his popularity in America was almost as great as it was in England, and it is probable that only a man of his standing could have spoken out so boldly for the colonists’ cause.

Pitt’s greatness thus consists not only in his mighty achievements in war but also in his defense of the liberties and rights of the individual; as he created a commercial empire for his country, he extended and reinforced a tradition of freedom that was to play such an important role in British history in the two following centuries.

Bibliography

Ayling, Stanley. The Elder Pitt, Earl of Chatham. New York: David McKay, 1976. Excellent, comprehensive biography, full of insight and written in a lively style. Gives an accurate and sympathetic portrait of both the public and the private man.

Black, Jeremy. Pitt the Elder: The Great Commoner. New ed. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999. Black explains how Pitt, a political outsider, rose to office during the Seven Years’ War, and how England became a world power during his administration.

Brown, Peter D. William Pitt, Earl of Chatham: The Great Commoner. Winchester, Mass.: Allen & Unwin, 1978. Competent and objective biography. Brown admires Pitt’s role in the Seven Years’ War and also argues that the Pitt family strengthened parliamentary democracy.

Middleton, Richard. The Bells of Victory: The Pitt-Newcastle Ministry and the Conduct of the Seven Years’ War, 1757-1762. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1985. Reprint. 2002. Argues controversially, and with the help of a large amount of original research, that Pitt’s contribution to the war has been overestimated at the expense of the duke of Newcastle.

Peters, Marie. The Elder Pitt. New York: Longman, 1998. Part of the Profiles in Power series. Peters reassesses Pitt’s career, raising doubts about some of his achievements, while acknowledging and explaining his heroic status among his contemporaries.

Pitt, William. Correspondence of William Pitt. Edited by Gertrude Selwyn Kimball. 2 vols. London: Macmillan, 1906. Pitt’s correspondence, when secretary of state, with colonial governors and military and naval commissioners in America and the West Indies, 1756-1761. Gives a clear picture of Pitt’s skill as a practical administrator.

‗‗‗‗‗‗‗. The Love Letters of William Pitt, First Lord Chatham. Edited by Ethel Aston Edwards. London: Chapman and Hall, 1926. Pitt’s letters written to Hester Grenville during October, 1754, a month before their marriage. Although they have sometimes been dismissed as superficial and insincere, the letters reveal, underneath the ornate and artificial style, a genuine depth of feeling.

Plumb, John H. Chatham. Hamden, Conn.: Archon Books, 1965. Concise and lively account that traces Pitt’s fluctuating personal and political fortunes against a background of eighteenth century politics.