Patriotic regeneration, viz. Parliament reform'd, a la Franc̦oise : that is, honest men (i.e. - Opposition) in the seat of justice / Js. Gy. desn. et fect.

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James Gillray
1756-1815
Patriotic regeneration, viz. Parliament reform'd, a la Franc̦oise : that is, honest men (i.e. - Opposition) in the seat of justice / Js. Gy. desn. et fect.
[London] : Pubd March 2d, 1795, by H Humphrey, No 37 New Bond Street, [1795]
Bequest of Gordon N. Ray, 1987.
1986.529
Published: 
[London] : Pubd. March 2d, 1795, by H. Humphrey, No. 37 New Bond Street, [1795]
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From the library of Gordon N. Ray.
Summary: 

Print shows the interior of the House of Commons; the Speaker's chair and the table are in the foreground on the extreme left; only the Opposition benches are visible and are crowded with English sansculottes wearing bonnets-rouges who eagerly watch the denunciation of Pitt. Fox sits in the Speaker's chair, as the presiding judge, a bonnet-rouge pulled over the crown of his hat. Opposite stands Pitt; a rope round his neck is held by Lauderdale who stands behind him on the extreme right with a headsman's axe in his left hand. In front of Pitt, leaning eagerly forward over the rail is Stanhope, gesticulating violently and holding out a large scroll: 'Charges. - Ist For opposing the Right of Subjects to dethrone their King. - 2d For opposing the Right of Sans-Culottes to Equalize Property, & to annihilate Nobility. 3d For opposing the Right of Free Men to extirpate the farce of Religion, & to divide the Estates of the Church.' Below Fox sit Erskine and Sheridan. Erskine, as the accusing counsel, stands with outstretched hand pointing to Pitt and addressing the rabble on the benches. In his left hand is a paper headed 'Guillotine' and from his pocket protrudes a brief: 'Defence of Hardy'. Sheridan writes busily: 'Value of the Garde Meuble'. The books on the table are: 'Rights of Man', 'Dr Price', 'Dr Priestley', 'Voltaire', and 'Rosseau' [sic]. A large scroll hangs from the table: 'Decrees of the British Convention (ci devant Parliament) Man is, & shall be Free, therefore Man is, & shall be Equal. Man therefore has nor shall have Superior in Heaven or upon Earth.' In the foreground is an iron stove with an open door showing the Magna Charta and Holy Bible burning. Holding their hands to the flames are Grafton and Norfolk. Beside and behind Grafton sits Lord Derby. Slightly to the left and behind this group Lansdowne kneels, weighing in a pair of scales a weight, resembling a cap of liberty and inscribed 'Libertas', against a royal crown. The crown rests on the ground, Lansdowne tries to pull down the other scale. Beside the crown two large sacks stand on the floor inscribed 'For Duke's Place' and 'For Do' (the Jews of Duke's place were supposed to dispose of stolen plate). From one protrudes the Prince of Wales's coronet and feathers, an earl's coronet and a Garter ribbon; from the other, a mitre and chalice. In the foreground lie a bundle of papers inscribed 'Forfeited Estates of Loyalists. Chatham, Mansfield, Grenville.'

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