William Pitt. 1759-1806. John Bartlett, comp. 1919. Familiar Quotations, 10th ed.

John Bartlett (1820–1905). Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. 1919.

William Pitt. (1759–1806)

Necessity is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves. 1

Speech on the India Bill, November, 1783.

Prostrate the beauteous ruin lies; and all
That shared its shelter perish in its fall.

The Poetry of the Anti-Jacobin. No. xxxvi.

Note 1.
See Milton, Quotation 106. [back]