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William Windham PC, PC (Ire) ( – 4 June 1810) was a British Whig statesman. Elected to Parliament in 1784, Windham was attached to the remnants of the Rockinghamite faction of Whigs, whose members included his friends Charles James Fox and Edmund Burke. Windham soon became noted for his oratory in the House of Commons. An early supporter of the French Revolution, by late 1791 he shared Burke's hostility to it and became a leading anti-Jacobin. After war was declared on France in early 1793, he broke with the antiwar, pro-Revolution Foxite Whigs to form a small 'Third Party' that was independent of Pitt's government but supportive of the war effort. Like Burke, Windham supported the war as an ideological crusade against Jacobinism and was an enthusiastic supporter of the French ''émigrés'' and a Bourbon restoration. In July 1794 he finally joined Pitt's government as Secretary at War but did not control war policy. He discovered that Pitt did not share his enthusiasm for the Bourbon cause and he argued in Cabinet against a peace agreement with the French Republic. In February 1801 Windham followed Pitt in resigning from the government over the King's rejection of Catholic Emancipation. He was the leading opponent of the new Prime Minister Henry Addington's peace with France in late 1801 and early 1802. In the Ministry of All the Talents in 1806-7, Windham became Secretary for War and the Colonies, having reconciled with the Foxites. He resigned with them from the government, again over Catholic Emancipation. He spent the rest of his life in opposition, dying in 1810.〔David Wilkinson, '(Windham, William(1750–1810) )', ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, Jan 2008, accessed 14 December 2009.〕 ==Early life: 1750–1778== Windham was a member of an ancient Norfolk family and a great-great-grandson of Sir John Wyndham. He was the son of William Windham, Sr. of Felbrigg Hall and his second wife, Sarah Lukin. Windham was born at No. 6 Golden Square, Soho, London.〔The Earl of Rosebery (ed.), ''The Windham Papers. Volume One'' (London: Herbert Jenkins Limited, 1913), p. 6.〕 Windham was educated at Eton College from 1757 to 1766 (where he was a contemporary of Charles James Fox). Here he was noted for the ease in which he acquired knowledge, as well as successful in sports. He became known as "Fighting Windham" as he was good with his fists.〔Rosebery, ''Windham Papers vol.I'', p. 6.〕 His father died in 1761 and his guardians were Benjamin Stillingfleet, Dr. Dampier, David Garrick and a Mr.Price of Hereford. Windham was removed from Eton for fighting.〔Rosebery, ''Windham Papers. Vol. I'', p. 9.〕 Windham attended the University of Glasgow in 1766 and studied under Dr. Anderson, Professor of Natural Philosophy, and Robert Simson the mathematician. Windham wrote three unpublished theses on mathematics.〔Rosebery, ''Windham Papers. Vol. I'', p. 10.〕 He then went to University College, Oxford from 1767 to 1771 as a gentleman-commoner and was tutored by Robert Chambers, where, according to Edmund Malone, Windham "was highly distinguished for his application to various studies, for his love of enterprise, for that frank and graceful address, and that honourable deportment, which gave a lustre to his character though every period of his life".〔 He took his BA degree in 1771, his MA degree on 7 October 1782, and in 1793 at the Duke of Portland's installation as Chancellor he was made a DCL.〔Rosebery, ''Windham Papers. Vol. I'', p. 11.〕 Windham was a Christian. Before his balloon ride, he wrote to George James Cholmondeley on 4 May 1785 in a letter that was only to be delivered if he did not survive the trip. It contained Windham's confession of faith: The best, the greatest, the most solemn office I can render in a letter of this sort, is to extort you to a steady contemplation of divine truths, and a sincere endeavour to confirm in yourself that faith, which after various fluctuations I believe to be the true one, and which, independent of evidence, is supported by too great authorities ever to be rejected with confidence. Whatever may be the diversity of opinion as to the particular nature, I believe Christ to be a person divinely commissioned, and that faith in him affords the fairest hope of propitiating the great author of the world. Cultivate in your mind this persuasion and dwell upon it till it grows into a principle of action. May it avail both to the purposes of final salvation.〔Rosebery, ''Windham Papers. Vol. I'', p. 79.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「William Windham」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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