4 - ‘Greatness going off’? Pitt, 1761–1778

Summary

I think the best way to ruin Pitt would be to make him once more minister and I'd be hanged if in a twelve month he was not the most unpopular man in the kingdom.

George Macartney to his patron Henry Fox, Lord Holland, 14 October 1763

OUT OF OFFICE: OPPONENT OF THE PEACE OF PARIS 1761–1763

Mr Pitt is as great a bruiser as any orator whatsoever. He has hard words of all sorts, and I do not wonder that Mr Grenville, who has but a soft lisping eloquence should be afraid of him. A man of great wit might be a match for Mr Pitt. Ridicule is the only weapon with which he can be subdued, false eloquence and fictitious patriotism are fine subjects for raillery. The affected greatness of this gentleman's sentiments, and the gigantesca sublimita of his oratory expose him to it. One may beat a bladder full of wind long enough without making an impression, a pointed weapon and a pointed word would make the football and the orator shrink to their native size.

(Elizabeth Montagu, 21 October 1762)

The events of 1761–3 helped to foster a set of assumptions about Pitt that played a major role in creating the myth that he was to be associated with.