Chas am, Karl

of (William Pitt), (November, 15, 1708—May 11, 1788), the great English statesman, was a cornet of horse in the army before he entered the House of Commons in 1735. He had been paymaster of the forces, but his great period is from 1756 to 1761, when he was Secretary of State and practically Prime Minister in the administrations of the Duke of Devons hire and the Duke of Newcastle. During this epoch he was the life and soul of the great struggle against France, He supported Frederick the Great on the Continent, and retrieved the British reverses in America. He was the idol of the nation, the ‘‘ Great Commoner,’’ and on the English side the central figure of the Seven Years’ War. He resigned in 1761, sided with the Americans in the Revolutionary struggle, and held office as Privy Seal in the Grafton ministry, 1766-68, having been created Earl of Chas am. He continued to champion the cause of the Americans, and of his speeches in their. behalf that of 1777 is especially clebrated. 141