WILLIAM PITT THE YOUNGER

Hokitika Guardian, 14 February 1928, Page 3

WILLIAM PITT THE YOUNGER

ONE OF BRITAIN’S GREATEST MINISTERS. The present generation in New Zealand would do well to study more I than they do, the men who made the ’ I British Empire. The names of Pitt I the Elder, Rockingham, the Earl of I Liverpool, Wellington. Canning, Peel, I Earl Grey, the Earl of Aberdeen. SaI lishury Gladstone and many others I should never he forgotten. I William Pitt was the great son of a j great father. He was born on May 28th. 175!) and lived at a time when the very existence of Britain as a | first-class Power was threatened by a ' I military genius of the highest order, I for Napoleon was a genius, and would have' conquered Europe but for BriI tain. But if Napoleon was a genius, Pitt was a genius too. Napoleon’s splendour shone in the battlefield, and I to a lesser degree as statesman. Pitt’s I genius shone in the council room and I i'.n 'his unrivalled knowledge of his I countrymen. Pitt was a poor man. hut no corruption could taint him. He was offerI ed a free gift of £IOO.OOO subscribed in the city of London, but be refused lit unconditionally". He was stainless * I and was, too, an intense lover of bis J I country. He foresaw what Napoleon’s 1 I policy meant. He knew that if it was 1 unchecked France would dominate Eu- * rope, and Britain would he either conquered, or sink into insignificance. Pitt entered Parlamcnt at 22 years of age, and became Prime Minister al 21 years. This was remarkable, and j is unite unprecedented in the annals of v our history, lie had Sir .lolin Moore, q Wellington and Nelson, and their services were as remarkable as they were distinguished. Napoleon's armies in Spain, and his fleet, were no match for them. If his knowledge was limited, he knew English and Greek literature. His common sense and wisdom outshone the greatest men of his time. He had an “instinct’’ to do the right “ thing. He hit the right nail right on the head at the right time. ~ Although a Tory, he saw that Catlio- ** lies must !k> emancipated, slavery C abolished, and the Constitution liber- ~ alised. ~ Pitt the younger, however, lies in ~ memory as the saviour of Britain and Europe. He knew Napoleon and felt ~ his power in a poor, disorganised and trembling Europe, and although the “ news of Austerlitz killed him (he died * in 1800) it was his policy that led to ~ the victory of Waterloo, to the first « Reform Bill, and to flic path in pro- « gross which lias continued to the time of Gladstone and Salisbury. ~