f those unpardonable sins Pitt has never
been accused even by his severest critics. After the repulse of his
pacific overtures by the French Directory in September 1797 his attitude
was one almost of defiance, witness his curt rejection of similar offers
by Bonaparte early in 1800, which may be pronounced the gravest defect
of his diplomatic career.

In that age the action of statesmen was often dilatory; and we must
admit that in regard to the Act of Union with Ireland Pitt's procedure
was halting and ineffective, so that finally he was driven to use
corrupt means to force through the corrupt Irish Parliament a measure
which in the autumn of 1798 would have been accepted thankfully by the
dominant caste. His Bill of 1797 for the relief of the poor and his Land
Tax Commutation Act of 1798 are examples of improvident legislation. But
from a leader overburdened with the details of war and diplomacy we
should not expect the keen foresight, the minute care as to details,
which distinguished Gladstone. To compare the achievements of a
statesman hard pressed by the problems of the Revolutionary Era with
those of a peaceful age when the standard of legislative effort had been
greatly raised is unfair; and the criticism of Pitt by a distinguished
historian evinces partiality towards the Victorian statesman rather than
an adequate appreciation of the difficulties besetting a Minister of
George III in those times of turmoil.[790] It is true that Pitt did not
inaugurate Factory legislation; that was the work of the Addington
Cabinet in 1802; he did not link his name with the efforts of Romilly
and others for the reform of the brutal Penal Code; and he did little
for art and literature; but neither the personality of George nor the
state of the national finances favoured the rise of a Maecenas.

Concentration of effort on political and diplomatic questions was the
alpha and omega of Pitt's creed. The terrible pressure of events forbade
his looking far ahead or far afield; he marched straight onward, hoping
by his untiring efforts first to restore national prosperity and
thereafter to secure a peace which would inaugurate a brighter future.
His overtaxed strength collapsed when the strain was most tense; and his
life therefore figures as a torso, which should not be criticized as if
it were the perfect statue. Yet, as moral grandeur is always inspiring,
Pitt's efforts were finally to be crowned with success by the statesmen
who had