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Foreign News
August 26, 1785
Fowle's New Hampshire Gazette And General Advertiser
Portsmouth, Rockingham County, New Hampshire
What is this article about?
On June 5, 1795, London shopkeepers protested the new shop tax by closing shops and displaying mourning signs criticizing Prime Minister Pitt, including caricatures and satirical writings.
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OCR Quality
95%
Excellent
Full Text
LONDON, June 6. Yesterday being the first day of the shop tax,
the retail dealers of this metropolis, agreeable to their
previous resolution, observed it as a day of general
mourning. There was darkness over all the land; the
most part were wholly closed; in some places, only,
they were partially opened. On one shutter was piously
scrawled in chalk. Lighten our darkness, we beseech thee,
O Pitt! Another exhibited, A good king and a wise minister,
for ever! And in all quarters of the town were to
be read, No Pitt; No tax on trade; No tax on shops;
No diabolical shop tax, &c. &c. We observed upon one
window a paper importing that the Shop was to be let,
and a direction was given To enquire of Mr. Premier, in
Downing Street; but the most happy perhaps was a
short intimation of Gone to Ireland! On one of the churches
in the Strand, some christianly spirit had written,
Hang Pitt! Burn Pitt! which had drawn the following
couplet from a jingling genius, whose poetry
seems not quite equal to his patriotism:
Let Pitt be hang'd on any tree,
But only burn his effigy.
Some persons hung out crape hat-bands, and other ensigns
of sorrow; while others, more ingenious, turned
artist on the occasion, and exhibited caricatures of Mr.
Pitt hanging on walls in company with certain vulgar
hieroglyphics, to which it is said, the Premier bears no
very passionate attachment.
the retail dealers of this metropolis, agreeable to their
previous resolution, observed it as a day of general
mourning. There was darkness over all the land; the
most part were wholly closed; in some places, only,
they were partially opened. On one shutter was piously
scrawled in chalk. Lighten our darkness, we beseech thee,
O Pitt! Another exhibited, A good king and a wise minister,
for ever! And in all quarters of the town were to
be read, No Pitt; No tax on trade; No tax on shops;
No diabolical shop tax, &c. &c. We observed upon one
window a paper importing that the Shop was to be let,
and a direction was given To enquire of Mr. Premier, in
Downing Street; but the most happy perhaps was a
short intimation of Gone to Ireland! On one of the churches
in the Strand, some christianly spirit had written,
Hang Pitt! Burn Pitt! which had drawn the following
couplet from a jingling genius, whose poetry
seems not quite equal to his patriotism:
Let Pitt be hang'd on any tree,
But only burn his effigy.
Some persons hung out crape hat-bands, and other ensigns
of sorrow; while others, more ingenious, turned
artist on the occasion, and exhibited caricatures of Mr.
Pitt hanging on walls in company with certain vulgar
hieroglyphics, to which it is said, the Premier bears no
very passionate attachment.
What sub-type of article is it?
Political
Economic
What keywords are associated?
Shop Tax Protest
London Shopkeepers
Pitt Criticism
Tax Mourning
Satirical Signs
What entities or persons were involved?
Pitt
Mr. Premier
Where did it happen?
London
Foreign News Details
Primary Location
London
Event Date
Yesterday (June 5), Reported June 6
Key Persons
Pitt
Mr. Premier
Event Details
Retail dealers in London observed the first day of the shop tax as a day of general mourning by closing shops and displaying signs criticizing Pitt, such as 'Lighten our darkness, O Pitt!', 'No Pitt; No tax on trade', and caricatures of Pitt with vulgar hieroglyphics. Some wrote 'Hang Pitt! Burn Pitt!' on a church, inspiring a satirical couplet.