Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIII.djvu/567

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PITMAN PITT 551 to the Close of Washington's Administration " (2 vols., New Haven, 1828). He left a manu- script continuation of the latter work, bring- ing it down to about 1820. PITMAN, Isaac, the inventor of phonography, | born in Trowbridge, England, Jan. 4, 1813. | He completed his education at the normal British school in London, and was successively principal of various schools. In 183V he pub- lished Stenographic Sound Hand," subse- quently devoted himself to phonetic writing, founded the phonetic society in 1843, and es- tablished a printing office at Bath called the "Phonetic Institute," publishing the weekly " Phonetic Journal." He has printed several shorthand manuals, issued the Bible and many other works in phonetic type, and written "Phonography, or Writing of Sound" (1840), " Phonographic Reporter's Companion" (1853), and other works. (See PHONOGRAPHY.) PITRA, Jean Baptiste, a French cardinal, born at Champforgueil, near Autun, Aug. 31, 1812. He studied at Autun, was ordained priest, taught rhetoric there for some time, became a member of the Benedictine congregation of Solesmes, and devoted himself to literary la- bors. He was repeatedly chosen prior of the monastery of Ligog6 near Poitiers, visited the principal" libraries of Europe, and acquired such a reputation for learning that Pius IX. called him to Rome in 1858, and gave him a special commission to compile a history of ori- ental rites and canon law. This obliged him to spend four years in travelling and collecting materials for his Juris Ecclesiastici Grcecorum Historia et Monumenta (4to, Rome, vol. i., from the 1st to the 6th century, 1864; vol. ii., to the 9th century, 1868 ; unfinished). He was appointed a member of the ecclesiastical con- gregation of oriental rites in 1862, and was proclaimed cardinal March 16, 1863. He^has also published Histoire de Saint Leger, eveque d 1 Autun et martyr, et Vfiglise des Francs au

  • l* siecle (Paris, 1846); Etudes sur la collec-

tion des actes des saints par les RR. PP. je- suites lollandistes (1850); Spicilegium Soles- mense (5 vols., 1852-'60) ; Vie du R. P. Liber- mann, fondateur de la congregation du Saint- Cceur de Marie (1855); and Des canons et des collections canoniques de VEglise grecque, d'apres V edition de M. G. A. Rhalli, presi- dent de Vareopage (1858). PITT, an E. county of North Carolina, inter- sected by Tar river ; area, about 700 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 17,276, of whom 8,414 were col- ored. It has a level surface and sandy soil. The chief productions in 1870 were 11,397 bushels of wheat, 498,662 of Indian corn, 71,735 of sweet potatoes, 14,456 of peas and beans, and 8,414 bales of cotton. There were 1,668 horses, 1,074 mules and asses, 2,598 milch cows, 4,712 other cattle, 2,260 sheep, and 20,298 swine. Capital, Greenville. PITT. I. William, first earl of Chatham, an English statesmen, born at Boconnoc, Corn- wall, Nov. 15, 1708, died at Hayes, Kent, May 11, 1778. He was the son of Robert Pitt of Boconnoc, and grandson of Thomas Pitt, who obtained the sobriquet of Diamond Pitt from a large gem, still celebrated as the Pitt dia- mond, which came into his possession in India, where he had been governor of Fort St. George at Madras, and which he sold to the regent Or- leans for 135,000. William Pitt received his early education at Eton, and in 1726 entered Trinity college, Oxford, which he quitted with- out taking a degree. He travelled in France and Italy, and on his return obtained a com- mission as a cornet of dragoons. He entered the house of commons in 1735 for the family borough of Old Sarum, and made his maiden speech April 29, 1736. He soon became the most formidable opponent of the ministry of Sir Robert Walpole, who in his vexation caused the "terrible cornet of horse," as he called him, to be dismissed from the service. In the debate, in 1740, on the bill for registering sea- men, he was taunted by Horatio Walpole with his youth, though he was then 32 years of age, and made his celebrated reply. He grad- ually obtained the reputation of being one of the most powerful, vigilant, and patriotic op- ponents in parliament of unconstitutional and unwise measures. The famous duchess of Marlborough left to Pitt in 1744 a legacy of 10,000, "for having defended the laws of his country and endeavored to save it from ruin;" and later Sir William Pynsent left him his whole property. In 1745 Pelham, who had become prime minister, wished to have him made secretary of war ; but the king hated Pitt, and would not consent to the appoint- ment. In 1746 he was appointed joint vice treasurer of Ireland and treasurer and pay- master of the army. He filled these offices with such integrity, refusing to accept the or- dinary perquisites, which had made them in less scrupulous hands the most lucrative posi- tions in the government, that his reputation rose to the highest pitch. In 1755 he deter- mined to oppose certain measures of the min- istry, and accordingly resigned his posts ; but the popular discontent at his absence from of- fice was so great that he was invited to enter the ministry as secretary of state. The king however continued bitterly hostile to him, and in a short time dismissed him. The public indignation at this rose to such a degree that he was restored to office in 1757, under the duke of Newcastle, with additional powers, which made him in fact prime minister. Eng- land was then engaged in the seven years' war, which had opened disastrously for her arms in almost every part of the world. ^ Under Pitt's administration the aspect of things speedily changed. A succession of victories and con- quests in America, Europe, and India filled the kingdom with rejoicing, and raised still higher the already great fame of the minister. At the same time the nation exhibited all the signs of wealth and prosperity ; the merchants of Lon- don had never been more thriving, and the