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William Pitt the Younger

59 quotes

“I do not wish...to call myself any Thing but an Independent Whig. Which in words is hardly a distinction, as every one alike pretends to it.”
William Pitt the Younger (1759–1806) first seen 1779 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to Lord Westmorland (26 July 1779), quoted in John Ehrman, The Younger Pitt: The Years of Acclaim (1969), p. 58
“Most accursed, wicked, barbarous, cruel, unnatural, unjust and diabolical.”
William Pitt the Younger (1759–1806) first seen 1781 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in Parliament on the American Revolutionary War (26 February 1781), reported in Hansard (Vol. 22), p. 487, Debate on Mr. Fox's Motion for a Committee.
“What I have now offered is meant merely for the sake of my country, for the simple question is: will you change your Ministers and keep the Empire, or keep your Ministers and lose the Kingdom?”
William Pitt the Younger (1759–1806) first seen 1782 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons, supporting a motion of censure on the government of Lord North (15 March 1782), quoted in William Cobbett, Parliamentary History
“I will repeat then, Sir, that it is not this treaty, it is the Earl of Shelburne alone whom the movers of this question are desirous to wound. This is the object which has raised this storm of faction; this is the aim of the unnatural coalition to which I have alluded. If, however, the baneful alliance is not already formed, if this ill-omened marriage is not already solemnized, I know a just and lawful impediment, and, in the name of the public safety, I here forbid the banns.”
William Pitt the Younger (1759–1806) first seen 1783 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons (21 February 1783), quoted in John Almon and John Debrett, Register of Parliament. Referring to the Fox-North Coalition which was already agreed in outline.
“You may take from me, Sir, the privileges and emoluments of place, but you cannot, and you shall not, take from me those habitual and warm regards for the prosperity of Great Britain which constitute the honour, the happiness, the pride of my life, and which, I trust, death alone can extinguish.”
William Pitt the Younger (1759–1806) first seen 1783 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons (21 February 1783), quoted in The War Speeches of William Pitt (1915), p. 7. Referring to the peace treaty with the United States. Pitt, who was Chancellor of the Exchequer, knew the gover…
“Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.”
William Pitt the Younger (1759–1806) first seen 1783 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons (18 November 1783). Compare: "And with necessity, / The tyrant's plea, / excus'd his devilish deeds", John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book iv, line 393.
“I came up no backstairs... Little did I think to be ever charged in this House with being the tool and abettor of secret influence. The novelty of the imputation only renders it so much the more contemptible. This is the only answer I shall ever deign to make on the subject, and I wish the House to bear it in their mind, and judge of my future conduct by my present declaration: the integrity of my own heart, and the probity of all my public, as well as my private principles, shall always be my sources of action.”
William Pitt the Younger (1759–1806) first seen 1783 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons (12 January 1784), quoted in Boyd Hilton, A Mad, Bad, and Dangerous People? England, 1783-1846 (2006), p. 54
“Considering the treaty in its political view, he should not hesitate to contend against the too-frequently advanced doctrine, that France was, and must be, the unalterable enemy of Britain. His mind revolted from this position as monstrous and impossible. To suppose that any nation could be unalterably the enemy of another, was weak and childish. It had neither its foundation in the experience of nations, nor in the history of man. It was a libel on the constitution of political societies, and supposed the existence of diabolical malice in the original frame of man.”
William Pitt the Younger (1759–1806) first seen 1787 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons on the Eden Agreement (12 February 1787), quoted in The Speeches of the Right Honourable William Pitt, in the House of Commons. Vol. I. (1806), p. 356
“William Pitt: Never fear, Mr. Burke: depend on it we shall go on as we are, until the day of judgment. Edmund Burke: Very likely, Sir. It is the day of no judgment that I am afraid of.”
William Pitt the Younger (1759–1806) first seen 1791 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Conversation at a dinner in 10 Downing Street (24 September 1791), quoted in George Pellew, The Life and Correspondence of the Right Hon. Henry Addington, First Viscount Sidmouth, Volume I (1847), p. 72.
“We must not count with certainty on a continuance of our present prosperity during such an interval [15 years]; but unquestionably there never was a time in the history of this country when, from the situation of Europe, we might more reasonably expect fifteen years of peace, than we may at the present moment.”
William Pitt the Younger (1759–1806) first seen 1792 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Budget speech in the House of Commons (17 February 1792), quoted in The War Speeches of William Pitt (1915), p. 16. His prediction was a vain hope.
“We learn with concern, that not only a spirit of tumult and disorder has shown itself in acts of insurrection, which required the interposition of a military force in support of the civil magistrate, but that the industry employed to excite discontent has appeared to proceed from a design to attempt, in concert with persons in foreign countries, the destruction of our happy constitution, and the subversion of all order of government.”
William Pitt the Younger (1759–1806) first seen 1792 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Address in Reply (13 December 1792). Parl Hist xxx, 6, quoted in Conor Cruise O'Brien, The Great Melody, p. 493
“England will never consent that France shall arrogate the power of annulling at her pleasure, and under the pretence of a natural right of which she makes herself the only judge, the political system of Europe, established by solemn treaties, and guaranteed by the consent of all the powers. Such a violation of rights as France has been guilty of, it would be difficult to find in the history of the world. The conduct of that nation is in the highest degree arbitrary, capricious, and founded upon no one principle of reason or justice.”
William Pitt the Younger (1759–1806) first seen 1793 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons (1 February 1793), quoted in The Speeches of the Right Honourable William Pitt, in the House of Commons. Vol. II. (1806), pp. 107-108
“They clearly shewed their enmity to that constitution, by taking every opportunity to separate the King of England from the nation, and by addressing the people as distinct from the government. Upon the point of their fraternity he did not wish to say much: he had no desire for their affection. To the people they offered fraternity, while they would rob them of that constitution by which they are protected, and deprive them of the numerous blessings which they enjoy under its influence. In this case, their fraternal embraces resembled those of certain animals who embrace only to destroy.”
William Pitt the Younger (1759–1806) first seen 1793 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons (12 February 1793), quoted in The Speeches of the Right Honourable William Pitt, in the House of Commons. Vol. II. (1806), p. 128
“The system of the present governors [of France] has its root in the same unqualified rights of man, the same principles of liberty and equality—principles, by which they flatter the people with the possession of the theoretical rights of man, all of which they vitiate and violate in practice. The mild principles of our government are a standing reproach to theirs, which are as intolerant as the rankest popish bigotry. Their pride and ambition lead them not so much to conquer, as to carry desolation and destruction into all the governments of Europe.”
William Pitt the Younger (1759–1806) first seen 1794 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons (30 December 1794), quoted in The Speeches of the Right Honourable William Pitt, in the House of Commons. Vol. II. (1806), p. 240
“The natural defence of this kingdom, in case of invasion, is certainly its naval force. This presents a formidable barrier, in whatever point the enemy may direct their attack. In this department, however, little now remains to be done, our fleet at this moment being more respectable and more formidable than ever it was at any other period in the history of the country.”
William Pitt the Younger (1759–1806) first seen 1796 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons (18 October 1796), quoted in The Speeches of the Right Honourable William Pitt, in the House of Commons. Vol. II. (1806), p. 431
“[T]here is one great resource, which I trust will never abandon us, and which has shone forth in the English character, by which we have preserved our existence and fame, as a nation, which I trust we shall be determined never to abandon under any extremity, but shall join hand and heart in the solemn pledge that is proposed to us, and declare to his Majesty, that we know great exertions are wanting, that we are prepared to make them, and at all events determined to stand or fall by the laws, liberties, and religion of our country.”
William Pitt the Younger (1759–1806) first seen 1797 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons (10 November 1797), quoted in The Speeches of the Right Honourable William Pitt, in the House of Commons. Vol. III. (1806), p. 174
“I feel in common with every gentleman who hears me, the proud situation in which we have been placed, and the importance it has given us in the scale of nations. The rank that we now hold, I trust, we shall continue to cherish, and that, pursuing the same glorious course, we shall all of us feel it to be a source of pride and consolation that we are the subjects of the king of Great Britain.”
William Pitt the Younger (1759–1806) first seen 1798 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons (3 December 1798), quoted in The Speeches of the Right Honourable William Pitt, in the House of Commons. Vol. III. (1806), pp. 331
“We are not in arms against the opinions of the closet, nor the speculations of the school. We are at war with armed opinions; we are at war with those opinions which the sword of audacious, unprincipled, and impious innovation seeks to propagate amidst the ruins of empires, the demolition of the altars of all religion, the destruction of every venerable, and good, and liberal institution, under whatever form of polity they have been raised.”
William Pitt the Younger (1759–1806) first seen 1799 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons (7 June 1799), quoted in The Speeches of the Right Honourable William Pitt, in the House of Commons. Vol. III. (1806), pp. 421-422
“We will not leave the monster to prowl the world unopposed, He must cease to annoy the abode of peaceful men. If he retire into the cell, whether of solitude or repentance, thither we will not pursue him; but we cannot leave him on the throne of power.”
William Pitt the Younger (1759–1806) first seen 1799 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons (7 June 1799), quoted in The Speeches of the Right Honourable William Pitt, in the House of Commons. Vol. III. (1806), p. 422
“The all-searching eye of the French revolution looks to every part of Europe, and every quarter of the world, in which can be found an object either of acquisition or plunder. Nothing is too great for the temerity of its ambition, nothing too small or insignificant for the grasp of its rapacity.”
William Pitt the Younger (1759–1806) first seen 1800 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons (3 February 1800), quoted in The Speeches of the Right Honourable William Pitt, in the House of Commons. Vol. IV. (1806), p. 26
“Thus qualified, thus armed for destruction, the genius of the French revolution marched forth, the terror and dismay of the world. Every nation has in its turn been the witness, many have been the victims of its principles, and it is left for us to decide, whether we will compromise with such a danger, while we have yet resources to supply the sinews of war, while the heart and spirit of the country is yet unbroken, and while we have the means of calling forth and supporting a powerful co-operation in Europe.”
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Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons (3 February 1800), quoted in The Speeches of the Right Honourable William Pitt, in the House of Commons. Vol. IV. (1806), p. 28
“The amount of our danger, therefore, it would be impolitic to conceal from the people. It was the first duty of ministers to make it known, and after doing so, it should have been their study to provide against it, and to point out the means to the country by which it might be averted.”
William Pitt the Younger (1759–1806) first seen 1803 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons (18 July 1803), opposing a vote of censure on his successor Henry Addington, quoted in The War Speeches of William Pitt (1915), p. 314
“[I]f we are not wanting to ourselves, if we have not forgotten our national character, but remember who we are, and what we are contending for, the contest will be glorious to us, and must terminate in the complete discomfiture of the enemy, and ultimate security to this kingdom.”
William Pitt the Younger (1759–1806) first seen 1803 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons (22 July 1803), quoted in The Speeches of the Right Honourable William Pitt, in the House of Commons. Vol. IV. (1806), p. 252
“That we shall have no difficulty in procuring the men who are to compose this force, I am perfectly satisfied, because the spirit of the country is now raised in the capital, and will from thence rapidly pervade all the extremities of the empire. That spirit was first kindled in the north, from thence it has extended to the metropolis, and is now catching from town to town, from village to village, and very shortly the whole kingdom will, I am convinced, manifest one scene of activity, of animation, and of energy, displaying in its native lustre the character of Englishmen.”
William Pitt the Younger (1759–1806) first seen 1803 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons (22 July 1803), quoted in The Speeches of the Right Honourable William Pitt, in the House of Commons. Vol. IV. (1806), p. 255
“I return you many thanks for the honour you have done me; but Europe is not to be saved by any single man. England has saved herself by her exertions, and will, as I trust, save Europe by her example.”
William Pitt the Younger (1759–1806) first seen 1805 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech at the Guildhall, City of London (9 November 1805), quoted in The War Speeches of William Pitt (1915), p. 351. This was Pitt's last speech in public.
“Prostrate the beauteous ruin lies; and all That shared its shelter perish in its fall.”
William Pitt the Younger (1759–1806) said by 1806 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Poetry of the Anti-Jacobin, No. xxxvi, reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919)
Also quoted by: William Pitt
“Oh my country! How I love my country!”
William Pitt the Younger (1759–1806) said by 1806 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Lord Rosebery reports it as "my country! how I leave my country!" in Pitt (1891), and attributes "O my country! How I love my country!" to Benjamin Disraeli.
“I think I could eat one of Bellamy's mutton pies.”
William Pitt the Younger (1759–1806) said by 1806 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“That beautiful frame of government which had made us the envy and admiration of mankind, in which the people were entitled to hold so distinguished a share, was so far dwindled and departed from its original purity, that the representatives ceased, in a great degree, to be connected with the people. It was the essence of the constitution, that the people had a share in the government by the means of representation; and its excellency and permanency was calculated to consist in this representation, having been designed to be equal, easy, practicable, and complete. When it ceased to be so; when the representative ceased to have connection with the constituent, and was either dependent on the Crown or the aristocracy; there was a defect in the frame of representation, and it was not innovation, but recovery of constitution, to repair it.”
William Pitt the Younger (1759–1806) first seen 1782 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons (7 May 1782), quoted in The Parliamentary Register; Or, History of the Proceedings and Debates of the House of Commons, Vol. VII (1782), p. 122. Pitt's motion for parliamentary reform was …
“I feel, Sir, at this instant, how much I had been animated in my childhood by a recital of England's victories:—I was taught, Sir, by one whose memory I shall ever revere, that at the close of a war, far different indeed from this, she had dictated the terms of peace to submissive nations. This, in which I place something more than a common interest, was the memorable aera of England's glory. But that aera is past...the visions of her power and pre-eminence are passed away... Let us examine what is left, with a manly and determined courage... Let us feel our calamities—let us bear them too, like men.”
William Pitt the Younger (1759–1806) first seen 1783 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons (21 February 1783), quoted in W. S. Hathaway (ed.), The Speeches of William Pitt in the House of Commons, Volume I (1817), pp. 31-32
“What is it which has produced, in the last hundred years, so rapid an advance, beyond what can be traced in any other period of our history? What but that, during that time, under the mild and just government of the illustrious Princes of the family now on the throne, a general calm has prevailed through the country, beyond what was ever before experienced; and we have also enjoyed, in greater purity and perfection, the benefit of those original principles of our constitution, which were ascertained and established by the memorable events that closed the century preceding? This is the great and governing cause, the operation of which has given scope to all the other circumstances which I have enumerated. It is this union of liberty with law, which, by raising a barrier equally firm against the encroachments of power, and the violence of popular commotion, affords to property its just security, produces the exertion of genius and labour, the extent solidity of credit, the circulation and increase of capital; which forms and upholds the national character, and sets in motion all the springs which actuate the great mass of the community through all its various descriptions.”
William Pitt the Younger (1759–1806) first seen 1792 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons (17 February 1792), quoted in The Speeches of the Right Honourable William Pitt, in the House of Commons. Vol. II. (1806), p. 46
“Let us remember, that the love of the constitution, though it acts as a sort of natural instinct in the hearts of Englishmen, is strengthened by reason and reflection, and every day confirmed by experience; that it is a constitution which we do not merely admire from traditional reverence, which we do not flatter from prejudice or habit, but which we cherish and value, because we know that it practically secures the tranquillity and welfare both of individuals and of the public, and provides, beyond any other frame of government which has ever existed, for the real and useful ends which form at once the only true foundation and only rational object of all political societies.”
William Pitt the Younger (1759–1806) first seen 1792 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons (17 February 1792), quoted in The Speeches of the Right Honourable William Pitt, in the House of Commons. Vol. II. (1806), p. 47
“[W]e have become rich in a variety of acquirements, favoured above measure in the gifts of Providence, unrivalled in commerce, pre-eminent in arts, foremost in the pursuits of philosophy and science, and established in all the blessings of civil society; we are in the possession of peace, of happiness, and of liberty; we are under the guidance of a mild and beneficent religion; and we are protected by impartial laws, and the purest administration of justice: we are living under a system of government which our own happy experience leads us to pronounce the best and wisest which has ever yet been framed; a system which has become the admiration of the world.”
William Pitt the Younger (1759–1806) first seen 1792 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons (2 April 1792), quoted in The Speeches of the Right Honourable William Pitt, in the House of Commons. Vol. II. (1806), p. 81
“It is in this view, Sir,—it is an atonement for our long and cruel injustice towards Africa, that the measure proposed by my honourable friend most forcibly recommends itself to my mind. The great and happy change to be expected in the state of her inhabitants, is, of all the various and important benefits of the abolition, in my estimation, incomparably the most extensive and important. I shall vote, Sir, against the adjournment; and I shall also oppose to the utmost every proposition, which in any way may tend either to prevent, or even to postpone for an hour, the total abolition of the slave-trade: a measure which, on all the various grounds which I have stated, we are bound, by the most pressing and indispensable duty, to adopt.”
William Pitt the Younger (1759–1806) first seen 1792 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons (2 April 1792), quoted in The Speeches of the Right Honourable William Pitt, in the House of Commons. Vol. II. (1806), p. 83
“We owe our present happiness and prosperity, which has never been equalled in the annals of mankind, to a mixture of monarchical government. We feel and know we are happy under that form of government. We consider it as our first duty to maintain and reverence the British constitution, which, for wise and just reasons of lasting and internal policy, attaches inviolability to the sacred person of the Sovereign, though, at the same time, by the responsibility it has annexed to government, by the check of a wise system of laws, and by a mixture of aristocratic and democratical power in the frame of legislation, it has equally exempted itself from the danger arising from the exercise of absolute power on the one hand, and the still more dangerous contagion of popular licentiousness on the other. The equity of our laws, and the freedom of our political system, have been the envy of every surrounding nation. In this country no man, in consequence of his riches or rank, is so high as to be above the reach of the laws, and no individual is so poor or inconsiderable as not to be within their protection. It is the boast of the law of England, that it affords equal security and protection to the high and the low, to the rich and the poor.”
William Pitt the Younger (1759–1806) first seen 1793 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons (1 February 1793), quoted in The Speeches of the Right Honourable William Pitt, in the House of Commons. Vol. II. (1806), pp. 96-97
“They have explained what that liberty is which they wish to give to every nation; and if they will not accept of it voluntarily, they compel them. They take every opportunity to destroy every institution that is most sacred and most valuable in every nation where their armies have made their appearance; and under the name of liberty, they have resolved to make every country in substance, if not in form, a province dependent on themselves, through the despotism of jacobin societies. This has given a more fatal blow to the liberties of mankind, than any they have suffered, even from the boldest attempts of the most aspiring monarch. We see, therefore, that France has trampled under foot all laws, human and divine. She has at last avowed the most insatiable ambition, and greatest contempt for the law of nations, which all independent states have hitherto professed most religiously to observe; and unless she is stopped in her career, all Europe must soon learn their ideas of justice—law of nations—models of government—and principles of liberty from the mouth of the French cannon.”
William Pitt the Younger (1759–1806) first seen 1793 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons (1 February 1793), quoted in The Speeches of the Right Honourable William Pitt, in the House of Commons. Vol. II. (1806), p. 103
“He had already given it as his opinion, that if there was no other alternative than either to make war or depart from our principles, rather than recede from our principles a war was preferable to a peace; because a peace, purchased upon such terms, must be uncertain, precarious, and liable to be continually interrupted by the repetition of fresh injuries and insults. War was preferable to such a peace, because it was a shorter and a surer way to that end which the house had undoubtedly in view as its ultimate object—a secure and lasting peace. What sort of peace must that be in which there was no security? Peace he regarded as desirable only so far as it was secure. If...you entertain a sense of the many blessings which you enjoy, if you value the continuance and safety of that commerce which is a source of so much opulence, if you wish to preserve and render permanent that high state of prosperity by which this country has for some years past been so eminently distinguished, you hazard all these advantages more, and are more likely to forfeit them, by submitting to a precarious and disgraceful peace, than by a timely and vigorous interposition of your arms. By tameness and delay you suffer that evil which might now be checked, to gain ground, and which, when it becomes indispensable to oppose, may perhaps be found irresistible.”
William Pitt the Younger (1759–1806) first seen 1793 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons (12 February 1793), quoted in The Speeches of the Right Honourable William Pitt, in the House of Commons. Vol. II. (1806), pp. 117-118
“How little progress these principles had made in this country they might be sufficiently convinced by that spirit, which had displayed itself, of attachment to the constitution, and those expressions of a firm determination to support it, which had appeared from every quarter. If, indeed, they mean to attack us, because we do not like French principles, then would this indeed be that sort of war which had so often been alleged and deprecated on the other side of the house—a war against opinions. If they mean to attack us because we love our constitution, then indeed it would be a war of extirpation; for not till the spirit of Englishmen was exterminated, would their attachment to the constitution be destroyed, and their generous efforts be slackened in its defence.”
William Pitt the Younger (1759–1806) first seen 1793 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons (12 February 1793), quoted in The Speeches of the Right Honourable William Pitt, in the House of Commons. Vol. II. (1806), p. 127
“But having, in fact, no disposition for peace, and led away by false and aspiring notions of aggrandizement, the government of France offered us such terms as they knew could not possibly be complied with. Did they know the spirit, temper, and character of this country, when they presumed to make such arrogant proposals? These proposals I will leave to the silent sense impressed by them in the breast of every Englishman. I am, thank God! addressing myself to Britons, who are acquainted with the presumption of the enemy, and who, conscious of their resources, impelled by their native spirit, and valuing the national character, will prefer the chances and alternatives of war to such unjust, unequal, and humiliating conditions.”
William Pitt the Younger (1759–1806) first seen 1796 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons (10 May 1796), quoted in The Speeches of the Right Honourable William Pitt, in the House of Commons. Vol. II. (1806), pp. 416-417
“The attachment and loyalty of the people of this country, I trust, has experienced no diminution. It lives, and is cherished by that constitution which...still remains entire. Under the protection and support which it derives from the acts passed by the last parliament, the constitution inspires the steady affection of the people, and is still felt to be worth defending with every drop of our blood. The voice of the country proclaims that it continues to deserve and to receive their support. Fortified by laws in perfect unison with its principles and with its practice, and fitted to the emergencies by which they were occasioned, it still possesses that just esteem and admiration of the people which will induce them faithfully to defend it against the designs of domestic foes, and the attempts of their foreign enemies.”
William Pitt the Younger (1759–1806) first seen 1796 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons (18 October 1796), quoted in The Speeches of the Right Honourable William Pitt, in the House of Commons. Vol. II. (1806), p. 441
“I trust also that we shall not be disappointed in our expectation of the spirit of the public collectively or individually; that they will not be wanting in their exertions in such a crisis; that they will be animated, collectively and individually, with a spirit that will give energy and effect to their exertions; that every man who boasts, and is worthy of the name of an Englishman, will stand forth in the metropolis, and in every part of the kingdom, to maintain the authority of the laws, and enforce obedience to them, to oppose and counteract the machinations of the disaffected, and to preserve a due principle of submission to legal authority. I trust that all the inhabitants of the kingdom will unite in one common defence against internal enemies, to maintain the general security of the kingdom, by providing for the local security of each particular district; that we shall all remember, that by so doing we shall give the fullest scope to his Majesty's forces against foreign enemies, and also the fullest scope to the known valour and unshaken fidelity of the military force of the kingdom against those who shall endeavour to disturb its internal tranquillity. Such are the principles which I feel, and upon which I shall act for myself, and such are the principles, and will be the conduct, I hope, of every man in this house and out of it; such are the sentiments that are implanted in us all; such the feelings that are inherent in the breast of every Englishman.”
William Pitt the Younger (1759–1806) first seen 1797 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons (2 June 1797), quoted in The Speeches of the Right Honourable William Pitt, in the House of Commons. Vol. III. (1806), p. 144
“I verily believe, in the present state of Europe, that if we are not wanting to ourselves, if, by the blessing of Providence, our perseverance, and our resources, should enable us to make peace with France upon terms in which we taint not our character, in which we do not abandon the sources of our wealth, the means of our strength, the defence of what we already possess; if we maintain our equal pretensions, and assert that rank which we are entitled to hold among nations—the moment peace can be obtained on such terms, be the form of government in France what it may, peace is desirable, peace is then anxiously to be sought. But unless it is attained on such terms, there is no extremity of war, there is no extremity of honourable contest, that is not preferable to the name and pretence of peace, which must be in reality a disgraceful capitulation, a base, an abject surrender of every thing that constitutes the pride, the safety, and happiness of England.”
William Pitt the Younger (1759–1806) first seen 1797 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons (10 November 1797), quoted in The Speeches of the Right Honourable William Pitt, in the House of Commons. Vol. III. (1806), pp. 158-159
“[I]f we look to the whole complexion of this transaction, the duplicity, the arrogance, and violence which has appeared in the course of the negociation, if we take from thence our opinion of its general result, we shall be justified in our conclusion, not that the people of France, not that the whole government of France, but that that part of the government which had too much influence, and has now the whole ascendancy, never was sincere; was determined to accept of no terms but such as would make it neither durable nor safe, such as could only be accepted by this country by a surrender of all its interests, and by a sacrifice of every pretension, to the character of a great, a powerful, or an independent nation.”
William Pitt the Younger (1759–1806) first seen 1797 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons (10 November 1797), quoted in The Speeches of the Right Honourable William Pitt, in the House of Commons. Vol. III. (1806), p. 172
“[Y]ou have it stated in the subsequent declaration of France itself, that it is not against your commerce, that it is not against your wealth, it is not against your possessions in the east, or colonies in the west, it is not against even the source of your maritime greatness, it is not against any of the appendages of your empire, but against the very essence of your liberty, against the foundation of your independence, against the citadel of your happiness, against your constitution itself, that their hostilities are directed. They have themselves announced and proclaimed the proposition, that what they mean to bring with their invading army is the genius of their liberty: I desire no other word to express the subversion of the British constitution,—and the substitution of the most malignant and fatal contrast—and the annihilation of British liberty, and the obliteration of every thing that has rendered you a great, a flourishing, and a happy people. This is what is at issue; for this are we to declare ourselves in a manner that deprecates the rage which our enemy will not dissemble, and which will be little moved by our entreaty. Under such circumstances are we ashamed or afraid to declare, in a firm and manly tone, our resolution to defend ourselves, or to speak the language of truth with the energy that belongs to Englishmen united in such a cause?”
William Pitt the Younger (1759–1806) first seen 1797 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons (10 November 1797), quoted in The Speeches of the Right Honourable William Pitt, in the House of Commons. Vol. III. (1806), p. 173
“[I]f we love that degree of national power which is necessary for the independence of the country, and its safety; if we regard domestic tranquillity, if we look at individual enjoyment, from the highest to the meanest among us, there is not a man, whose stake is so great in the country, that he ought to hesitate a moment in sacrificing any portion of it to oppose the violence of the enemy; nor is there, I trust, a man in this happy and free nation, whose stake is so small, that would not be ready to sacrifice his life in the same cause... There may be danger, but on the one side there is danger accompanied with honour; on the other side, there is danger with indelible shame and disgrace; upon such an alternative, Englishmen will not hesitate.”
William Pitt the Younger (1759–1806) first seen 1797 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons (10 November 1797), quoted in The Speeches of the Right Honourable William Pitt, in the House of Commons. Vol. III. (1806), pp. 173-174
“Certainly much depends upon the posture in which you converse of peace. What is the real foundation of the strength of a nation? Spirit, security, and conscious pride, that cannot stoop to dishonour. It comprehends a character that will neither offer nor receive an insult. Give me peace consistently with that principle, and I will not call it a peace "nominal or delusive;" and there is no man who will go farther than I will to obtain it. To any thing dishonourable I will never submit; nor will this country ever submit to it, I trust. There can be no man who has an English heart within his bosom who can wish it; or can wish that you may, by an untimely diminution of your strength, expose yourselves to the renewal, with aggravated insults, of those evils which we have already had too much reason to deplore.”
William Pitt the Younger (1759–1806) first seen 1797 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons (5 December 1797), quoted in The Speeches of the Right Honourable William Pitt, in the House of Commons. Vol. III. (1806), pp. 218-219
“[W]e must also do justice to the wisdom, energy, and determination of the parliament who have furnished the means, and the power, by which all the rest was sustained and accomplished. Through them all the departments of his Majesty's government had the means of employing the force whose achievements have been so brilliant; through the wisdom of parliament the resources of the country have been called forth, and its spirit embodied in a manner unexampled in its history. By their firmness, magnanimity, and devotion to the cause, not merely of our own individual safety, but of the cause of mankind in general, we have been enabled to stand forth the saviours of the earth. No difficulties have stood in our way; no sacrifices have been thought too great for us to make; a common feeling of danger has produced a common spirit of exertion, and we have cheerfully come forward with a surrender of a part of our property as a salvage, not merely for recovering ourselves, but for the general recovery of mankind. We have presented a phenomenon in the character of nations.”
William Pitt the Younger (1759–1806) first seen 1798 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons (3 December 1798), quoted in The Speeches of the Right Honourable William Pitt, in the House of Commons. Vol. III. (1806), pp. 327-328
“[W]hat was required of us by France was, not merely that we should acquiesce in her retaining the Netherlands, but that, as a preliminary to all treaty, and before entering upon the discussion of terms, we should recognise the principle, that whatever France, in time of war, had annexed to the republic, must remain inseparable for ever, and could not become the subject of negociation. I say, that, in refusing such a preliminary, we were only resisting the claim of France, to arrogate to itself the power of controlling, by its own separate and municipal acts, the rights and interests of other countries, and moulding, at its discretion, a new and general code of the law of nations.”
William Pitt the Younger (1759–1806) first seen 1800 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons (3 February 1800), quoted in The Speeches of the Right Honourable William Pitt, in the House of Commons. Vol. IV. (1806), pp. 22-23
“Look then at the fate of Switzerland, at the circumstances which led to its destruction, add this instance to the catalogue of aggression against all Europe, and then tell me, whether the system I have described has not been prosecuted with an unrelenting spirit, which cannot be subdued in adversity, which cannot be appeased in prosperity, which neither solemn professions, nor the general law of nations, nor the obligation of treaties (whether previous to the revolution or subsequent to it), could restrain from the subversion of every state into which, either by force or fraud, their arms could penetrate. Then tell me, whether the disasters of Europe are to be charged upon the provocation of this country and its allies, or on the inherent principle of the French revolution, of which the natural result produced so much misery and carnage in France, and carried desolation and terror over so large a portion of the world.”
William Pitt the Younger (1759–1806) first seen 1800 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons (3 February 1800), quoted in The Speeches of the Right Honourable William Pitt, in the House of Commons. Vol. IV. (1806), p. 25
“What then was the nature of this system? Was it any thing but what I have stated it to be? an insatiable love of agrandizement, an implacable spirit of destruction directed against all the civil and religious institutions of every country. This is the first moving and acting spirit of the French revolution; this is the spirit which animated it at its birth, and this is the spirit which will not desert it till the moment of its dissolution, "which grew with its growth, which strengthened with its strength," but which has not abated under its misfortunes, nor declined in its decay; it has been invariably the same in every period, operating more or less, according as accident or circumstances might assist it; but it has been inherent in the revolution in all its stages.”
William Pitt the Younger (1759–1806) first seen 1800 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons (3 February 1800), quoted in The Speeches of the Right Honourable William Pitt, in the House of Commons. Vol. IV. (1806), p. 27