William Pitt the Elder's Last Speech
- When
- 1778
- Where
- House of Lords, Palace of Westminster; Hayes, Pitt's home
- Episodes
- 2
On 7 April 1778 William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, made his final appearance in the House of Lords during debate on the Duke of Richmond's motion for peace with America, spoke against conceding independence, and collapsed. He died five weeks later on 11 May 1778.
Episodes
- Pitt's last speech and collapse in the House of Lords
On 7 April 1778 Pitt spoke in the House of Lords against Richmond's motion for peace with America on any terms, opposing independence, and collapsed during the debate.
- Death of Pitt five weeks after the collapse
Pitt did not die immediately; he was moved to his home at Hayes and died on 11 May 1778, roughly five weeks after his collapse in the Lords.
Background and detail
Background. Pitt, the Whig statesman who had served as Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1766 to 1768, had earlier supported the American position in the run-up to the Revolutionary War and had sought a formula for conciliation in 1775, though the Lords defeated his proposal on 1 February 1775.
The Debate of 7 April 1778. His last appearance in the House of Lords came on the occasion of the Duke of Richmond's motion for an address praying the king to conclude peace with America on any terms. Pitt spoke against granting independence to the colonies, and the occasion ended with his collapse.
Final Words and Death. Accounts of his last words differ. One version records: "My Lords, any state is better than despair; if we must fall, let us fall like men." James Harris recorded, via Lord Nugent, the words "If the Americans defend independence, they shall find me in their way." He died on 11 May 1778.
People involved
- William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham · Whig statesman delivering his last speech in the House of Lords
- Duke of Richmond · Mover of the motion for an address praying the king to conclude peace with America
Sources
- William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-22
- Parliament of Great Britain Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-23
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.