Where can I read William Pitts toast to Trafalgar?

Answer 1

Near the end of his life, Pitt was devastated by news of a great Napoleanic victory. According to Encyclopedia Britannica:

The news of the battle of Trafalgar arrived four days later, and seemed for a moment to revive him. Forty-eight hours after that most glorious and most mournful of victories had been announced to the country came the Lord Mayor's day; and Pitt dined at Guildhall. His popularity had declined. But on this occasion the multitude, greatly excited by the recent tidings, welcomed him enthusiastically, took off his horses in Cheapside, and drew his carriage up King Street. When his health was drunk, he returned thanks in two or three of those stately sentences of which he had a boundless command. Several of those who heard him laid up his words in their hearts; for they were the last words that he ever uttered in public: "Let us hope that England, having saved herself by her energy, may save Europe by her example."

However this may not be accurate. In a memorial service, President Nixon quotes Pitt in this way, which sounds to my ear more accurate:

"I can sum up best what America's role in the world should be by going back 185 years to a British Prime Minister's statement. After Nelson's great victory at Trafalgar, William Pitt was toasted as the savior of Europe. One hundred years later, Lord Curzon would describe Pitt's response as being one of the three great masterpieces of English eloquence. Listen to his words:

'I return you many thanks for the honor you have done me. But Europe will not be saved by any single man. England has saved herself by her exertions, and will, I trust, save Europe by her example.'

Today the world is not going to be saved by any single nation. But America can save herself by her exertions and can, by our example, save the cause of peace and freedom in the world."