John Bartlett (1820–1905). Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. 1919.
William Pitt
| 1 |
| Confidence is a plant of slow growth in an aged bosom. |
| Speech, Jan. 14, 1766. |
| 2 |
| A long train of these practices has at length unwillingly convinced me that there is something behind the throne greater than the King himself. 1 |
| Chatham Correspondence. Speech, March 2, 1770. |
| 3 |
| Where law ends, tyranny begins. |
| Case of Wilkes. Speech, Jan. 9, 1770. |
| 4 |
| Reparation for our rights at home, and security against the like future violations. 2 |
| Letter to the Earl of Shelburne, Sept. 29, 1770. |
| 5 |
| 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. |
| 6 |
| 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. |
| 7 |
| We have a Calvinistic creed, a Popish liturgy, and an Arminian clergy. |
| Prior’s Life of Burke (1790). |
| Note 1. Quoted by Lord Mahon, “greater than the throne itself.”—History of England, vol. v. p. 258. [back] |
| Note 2. ”Indemnity for the past and security for the future.”—Russell: Memoir of Fox, vol. iii. p. 345, Letter to the Hon. T. Maitland. [back] |