e Exchequer under Lord Shelburne; his reputation steadily
rose, but on Shelburne's resignation he refused the Premiership, and went
into opposition against the Portland, Fox, and North coalition; that
minority being defeated (1783) on their Indian policy by the direct and
unconstitutional interference of the king, he courageously formed a
government with a majority of 100 against him; refusing to yield to
adverse votes, he gradually won over the House and the country, and the
dissolution of 1784 gave a majority of 120 in his favour, and put him in
office, one of England's strongest ministers; during his long
administration, broken only for one month in 20 years, he greatly raised
the importance of the Commons, stamped out direct corruption in the
House, and abolished many sinecures; he revised taxation, improved the
collection of revenue and the issue of loans, and set the finances in a
flourishing condition; he reorganised the government of India, and aimed
strenuously to keep England at peace; but his abandonment of
parliamentary reform and the abolition of the slave-trade suggests that
he loved power rather than principles; his Poor-Law schemes and Sinking
Fund were unsound; he failed to appreciate the problems presented by the
growth of the factory system, or to manage Ireland with any success; on
the outbreak of the French Revolution he failed to understand its
significance, did not anticipate a long war, and made bad preparations
and bad schemes; his vacillation in Irish policy induced the rebellion of
1798; by corrupt measures he carried the legislative union of 1801, but
the king refused to allow the Catholic emancipation he promised as a
condition; Viscount Melville was driven from the Admiralty on a charge of
malversation, his own health broke down, and the victory of Trafalgar
scarcely served to brighten his closing days; given to deep drinking, and
culpably careless of his private moneys, he yet lived a pure, simple,
amiable life; with an overcharged dignity, he was yet an attractive man
and a warm friend; England has had few statesmen equal to him in the
handling of financial and commercial problems, and few orators more
fluent and persuasive than the great peace minister.

PITT DIAMOND, a diamond brought from Golconda by the grandfather of
the elder Pitt, who sold it to the king of France; it figured at length
in the hilt of the State sword of Napoleon, and was carried off by the
Prussians at Waterloo.