登陆注册
4705400000179

第179章

In an age of low and dirty prostitution, in the age of Dodington and Sandys, it was something to have a man who might perhaps, under some strong excitement, have been tempted to ruin his country, but who never would have stooped to pilfer from her, a man whose errors arose, not from a sordid desire of gain, but from a fierce thirst for power, for glory, and for vengeance.

History owes to him this attestation, that at a time when anything short of direct embezzlement of the public money was considered as quite fair in public men, he showed the most scrupulous disinterestedness; that, at a time when it seemed to be generally taken for granted that Government could be upheld only by the basest and most immoral arts, he appealed to the better and nobler parts of human nature; that he made a brave and splendid attempt to do, by means of public opinion, what no other statesman of his day thought it possible to do, except by means of corruption; that he looked for support, not, like the Pelhams, to a strong aristocratical connection, not, like Bute, to the personal favour of the sovereign, but to the middle class of Englishmen; that he inspired that class with a firm confidence in his integrity and ability; that, backed by them, he forced an unwilling court and an unwilling oligarchy to admit him to an ample share of power; and that he used his power in such a manner as clearly proved him to have sought it, not for the sake of profit or patronage, but from a wish to establish for himself a great and durable reputation by means of eminent services rendered to the State.

The family of Pitt was wealthy and respectable. His grandfather was Governor of Madras, and brought back from India that celebrated diamond which the Regent Orleans, by the advice of Saint Simon, purchased for upwards of two millions of livres, and which is still considered as the most precious of the crown jewels of France. Governor Pitt bought estates and rotten boroughs, and sat in the House of Commons for Old Sarum. His son Robert was at one time member for Old Sarum, and at another for Oakhampton. Robert had two sons. Thomas, the elder, inherited the estates and the parliamentary interest of his father. The second was the celebrated William Pitt.

He was born in November, 1708. About the early part of his life little more is known than that he was educated at Eton, and that at seventeen he was entered at Trinity College, Oxford. During the second year of his residence at the University, George the First died; and the event was, after the fashion of that generation, celebrated by the Oxonians in many middling copies of verses. On this occasion Pitt published some Latin lines, which Mr. Thackeray has preserved. They prove that the young student had but a very limited knowledge even of the mechanical part of his art. All true Etonians will hear with concern that their illustrious schoolfellow is guilty of making the first syllable in labenti short. [So Mr. Thackeray has printed the poem. But it may be charitably hoped that Pitt wrote labanti.] The matter of the poem is as worthless as that of any college exercise that was ever written before or since. There is, of course, much about Mars, Themis, Neptune, and Cocytus. The Muses are earnestly entreated to weep over the urn of Caesar; for Caesar, says the Poet, loved the Muses; Caesar, who could not read a line of Pope, and who loved nothing but punch and fat women.

Pitt had been, from his school-days, cruelly tormented by the gout, and was advised to travel for his health. He accordingly left Oxford without taking a degree, and visited France and Italy. He returned, however, without having received much benefit from his excursion, and continued, till the close of his life, to suffer most severely from his constitutional malady.

His father was now dead, and had left very little to the younger children. It was necessary that William should choose a profession. He decided for the army, and a cornet's commission was procured for him in the Blues.

But, small as his fortune was, his family had both the power and the inclination to serve him. At the general election of 1734, his elder brother Thomas was chosen both for Old Sarum and for Oakhampton. When Parliament met in 1735, Thomas made his election to serve for Oakhampton, and William was returned for Old Sarum.

Walpole had now been, during fourteen years, at the head of affairs. He had risen to power under the most favourable circumstances. The whole of the Whig party, of that party which professed peculiar attachment to the principles of the Revolution, and which exclusively enjoyed the confidence of the reigning house, had been united in support of his administration.

Happily for him, he had been out of office when the South-Sea Act was passed; and, though he does not appear to have foreseen all the consequences of that measure, he had strenuously opposed it, as he had opposed all the measures, good and bad, of Sutherland's administration. When the South-Sea Company were voting dividends of fifty per cent, when a hundred pounds of their stock were selling for eleven hundred pounds, when Threadneedle Street was daily crowded with the coaches of dukes and prelates, when divines and philosophers turned gamblers, when a thousand kindred bubbles were daily blown into existence, the periwig-company, and the Spanish-jackass-company, and the quicksilver-fixation-company, Walpole's calm good sense preserved him from the general infatuation. He condemned the prevailing madness in public, and turned a considerable sum by taking advantage of it in private.

同类推荐
  • 明伦汇编官常典县令部

    明伦汇编官常典县令部

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 大乘北宗论

    大乘北宗论

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 受五戒八戒文

    受五戒八戒文

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 太上洞渊说请雨龙王经

    太上洞渊说请雨龙王经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 复斋日记

    复斋日记

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 剑神酒祖

    剑神酒祖

    老话说得好:练武不练功,到老一场空!内力修为是决定一名武者是否是高手的关键因素!而内力的修炼不是一朝一夕之事,而是需要长年累月的积累。这本是万古不变的真理在苏白身上并不适用,因为他可以将喝下去的酒转化为内力,几十年的内力不过只是多喝点酒而已!多年后已是一代宗师的苏白四十五度仰望天空,神情寂寥,喃喃道:“人生但求一醉而不可得,真是寂寞如雪啊……”
  • 穿越七三之小小媳妇

    穿越七三之小小媳妇

    穿越七十年代成为小萝莉,吃不饱穿不暖,没事咱左有宠妹狂,右有青梅竹马温暖小鲜肉一枚身后还有一群小跟班,美好幸福的日子咱来了男主版:嗯哼,应该是我的小小媳妇来了
  • 告诉你一个马克思的故事

    告诉你一个马克思的故事

    《告诉你一个马克思的故事》精选了马克思人生中富有代表性的事件和故事,以点带面,从而折射出他充满传奇的人生经历和各具特点的鲜明个性。通过阅读《告诉你一个马克思的故事》。我们不仅要了解他的生活经历,更要了解他的奋斗历程,以及学习他在面对困难、失败和挫折时所表现出来的杰出品质。
  • 新文化视野下的人民历史:拉斐尔·萨缪尔史学思想解读

    新文化视野下的人民历史:拉斐尔·萨缪尔史学思想解读

    该书以翔实的资料全面地向史学界介绍了英国新左派史学家拉斐尔·萨缪尔的生平和活动、史学思想和史学方法。其中,特别肯定了拉斐尔·萨缪尔主张人民史学,倡导史学家都来研究人民历史的思想;肯定了拉斐尔·萨缪尔主张采用新文化史学的方法,以便更好地研究下层民众的历史。该书对学习和研究西方史学理论、史学思想和英国史具有重要学术参考价值。
  • 仙妻饶命

    仙妻饶命

    天庭第一捣蛋鬼一朝下凡来到现代,白莲来陷害,渣男找上门。反正在人间无聊,那她就来一个灭一个。仙铃在手,法术我有,神器不缺,至于美男嘛……喂,那个谁,你别过来。在天上,他是高高在上的龙族太子,在人间,他是才貌俱全的商界翘楚。而她,总能使他的生活一路火花带闪电。是日,她怒火中烧。“键盘、榴莲、玻璃碎,你挑一样。”他在门外敲门。“你饶了我吧,最多我将上古绝学传授给你!”两个月后,她将一张验孕单砸他脸上。“告诉我,这是哪门子绝学?”【本故事纯属虚构,危险动作请勿模仿】
  • 这才是中国最好的语文书(散文分册)

    这才是中国最好的语文书(散文分册)

    本书分为“怀念”“新解读”“写朋友”“读书乐”“爱生活”“人世间”“少年游”七个部分。选入的散文比较宽泛,不局限于游记、抒情、记叙,亦将哲学、历史、文化、科学各类文论和随笔选入,并包括书评、影评、议论、杂感、演讲等,这些应用类文章不仅对中学生、大学生具有很高的实用价值,更有利于扩大他们的阅读视野。编者在每篇文章中依旧有选择地写出精练的点评,文后还特别写有分析短文,并设有“延伸阅读”板块,供读者深入解读。读者可以在阅读中掌握生动活泼的遣词造句,体会独特的思想和思考角度,从而领悟到另类的“形散神也散”的散文真谛……
  • 中国现代诗导读(1917-1937)

    中国现代诗导读(1917-1937)

    《中国现代诗导读(1917-1937)》收录了多篇诗人与解诗者的文学对话,可供从事相关研究工作的人员或对中国文学有兴趣爱好的读者阅读。中国现代诗,也叫“新诗”,是指发端于“五四”时期到1949年新中国成立这一段时间的白话诗,即应用现代汉语的、自由抒发思想感情的、形式上不拘一格的诗歌。
  • 法界宗五祖略记

    法界宗五祖略记

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 家园

    家园

    这部小说是根据作者十几年来对父亲和母亲家族的历史与传说的采访笔记写成的。这是一部近现代家族奋进的雄奇史诗,一幅中国农村的斑斓画卷。一百多年前,生活在野民岭地区的父族和母族,为了争夺当地的统治,常年明争暗斗,上演了一幕幕惊心动魄的大戏。后来为了国宝狗头金,先发制人的母族,惨无人道地屠戮了父族的大部分人,人性的贪婪、自私暴露无遗。
  • 无良宠妃:赖上傲娇王爷

    无良宠妃:赖上傲娇王爷

    一朝穿越,她意外成为丞相之女苏玲琅,而他,是高高在上的睿王沈墨昀。初次见面,沈墨昀板着脸对着她说:“不知廉耻的女人。”苏玲琅伸出纤细的食指,摇了摇:“不不不,我这叫帮你打开新世界的大门,懂?”第二次见面,苏玲琅一脸认真的问:“沈墨昀,你喜欢那些公主花魁吗?”“喜欢又如何,不喜欢又如何?”沈墨昀不置可否道。“不喜欢你可以考虑考虑我啊,我会吃会喝会暖床,还能给你当打手,打掉那些烂桃花,还有还有……”话还没说完,美男已远去,留给她一个潇洒的背影。高门闺秀,异族公主,江湖花魁,且看她苏玲琅如何消灭情敌,收服傲娇王爷。【情节虚构,请勿模仿】