1708–1778 · British statesman & orator, twice effective head of government
William Pitt the Elder was the dominant British war minister of the Seven Years’ War and, as Earl of Chatham, a towering parliamentary orator. His reputation rested on defence of constitutional liberty and suspicion of arbitrary power — the exact register of this 1770 warning. Few verbatim transcripts of his speeches survive, but the great perorations were recorded closely enough to enter the record.