William Pitt was a born orator. He was tall, elegant, and graceful. His eyes were bright and piercing. He spoke with dignified gesture. And he delivered this speech with such strength, magnetism, and irony, that the Prime Minister exclaimed, “We must muzzle this terrible Cornet of Horse!” To muzzle him, he tried, at first with promises of reward. But William Pitt was incorruptible. He would not sell his honour. Then influence was brought to bear, and the young Cornet of Horse was dismissed from the army. But this very act, by which his enemies planned to muzzle William Pitt, brought him before the public eye. His fearlessness and remarkable oratory advanced him daily with both Parliament and People. In time, William Pitt became a leading power, at first in the House of Commons, and afterward, when he was created Earl of Chatham, in the House of Lords. He served twice as Prime Minister of England; and he laid the solid foundations of the British Colonial Empire. But more than all else, he was an Englishman defending the unalienable rights of all Englishmen. He steadfastly combated those political evils in the British Government, which, at that time, were threatening to undermine English Liberty as set down in the Magna Carta and safeguarded by the English Constitution. THE CHARTER OF LIBERTY _The Signing of the Magna Carta, 1215_ _O Thou, that sendest out the man To rule by land and sea, Strong mother of a Lion-line, Be proud of those strong sons of thine, Who wrenched their rights from thee!_ _What wonder if in noble heat, Those men thine arms withstood, Retaught the lesson thou hadst taught, And in thy spirit with thee fought fought-- Who sprang from English blood!_ ALFRED TENNYSON (_Condensed_) Magna Carta! The Great Charter of the liberties of Englishmen! At Runnimede, the freemen of England through the action of their Barons, forced King John to sign and seal the Magna Carta. His tyrannous power was torn from him. He was forced to pledge himself to violate no longer the rights and privileges of English freemen. For, from times remote, human rights and liberties, protecting them from oppression by rulers, had been theirs by laws and by common consent. About a hundred years after the signing of the Magna Carta, the great principle, that English freemen should not be taxed without representation, was established. When King Charles the First broke his promises to respect the rights of his subjects, he was tried and executed. When King James the Second governed in despotic manner, exercising what he believed to be the “divine right of Kings,” he lost his throne. What has this to do with America and William Pitt? Everything!