William Pitt the Elder: Difference between revisions

{{quote| ''Shall we tarnish the luster of this nation by an ignominious surrender of its rights and [[The Colonial Period|fairest possessions]]? Shall this great nation, that has survived, whole and entire, [[Horny Vikings|the Danish depredations]], the Scottish inroads, the Norman conquest--that has stood the threatened invasion of the Spanish Armada, now fall prostrate before the [[L'Etat, C'est Moi|House of Bourbon]]? Surely, my Lords, this nation is no longer what it was! Shall a people that seventeen years ago was the terror of the world, now stoop so low as to tell its ancient inveterate enemy, "Take all we have, only give us peace?" It is impossible!''}}

{{quote| ''I wage war with no man or set of men. I wish for none of their employments; nor would I co-operate with men who still persist in unretracted error, or who, instead of acting on a firm, decisive line of conduct, halt between two opinions, where there is no middle path. In God's name, if it is absolutely necessary to declare either for peace or war, and the former can not be preserved with honour, why is not the latter commenced without delay? I am not, I confess, well informed as to the resources of this kingdom, but I trust it has still sufficient to maintain its just rights, though I know them not. But, my Lords, any state is better than despair. Let us at least make one effort, and, if we must fall, '''let us fall like men!''' ''}}

{{quote| -- The end of Chatham's last speech in the House of Lords, 1778 (about [[The American Revolution]]), after which he died of a heart attack from his exertions}}