William Pitt, Earl of Chatham. 1708-1778.
Confidence is a plant of slow growth in an aged bosom.
Speech, Jan. 14, 1766.
A long train of these practices has at length unwillingly convinced me that there is something behind the throne greater than the King himself.[364:4]
Chatham Correspondence. Speech, March 2, 1770.
Where law ends, tyranny begins.
Case of Wilkes. Speech, Jan. 9, 1770.
Reparation for our rights at home, and security against the like future violations.[364:5]
Letter to the Earl of Shelburne, Sept. 29, 1770.
If I were an American, as I am an Englishman, while a foreign troop was landed in my country I never would lay down my arms,—never! never! never!
Speech, Nov. 18, 1777.
[365]
The poorest man may in his cottage bid defiance to all the force of the Crown. It may be frail; its roof may shake; the wind may blow through it; the storms may enter, the rain may enter,—but the King of England cannot enter; all his forces dare not cross the threshold of the ruined tenement!
Speech on the Excise Bill.
We have a Calvinistic creed, a Popish liturgy, and an Arminian clergy.
Prior's Life of Burke (1790).
Footnotes
[364:4] Quoted by Lord Mahon, "greater than the throne itself."—History of England, vol. v. p. 258.
[364:5] "Indemnity for the past and security for the future."—Russell: Memoir of Fox, vol. iii. p. 345, Letter to the Hon. T. Maitland.