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Oh! Dear What Can The Matter Be, 21 September 1793

 Item — Box: LF104/2 Box 1
Reference code: LF104/2/64

Scope and Contents

Engraving (coloured and uncoloured impressions). The Duke of Richmond stands between two posts, supporting himself by a hand on each. He looks down and to the right, with a dismayed expression, vomiting a cascade of munitions of war: weapons, cannon, drums, a fortress, a baggage wagon, a windmill. One post (right) is inscribed '4 Per Chaldron 20,000 Pr An', the other, 'Hereditary Income D'Aubigne'. A scroll floats towards him from the upper left corner of the design inscribed: 'Thou hast done those things thou ought not to have done And hast left undone those things thou ought's [sic] to have done'. Richmond (duc d'Aubigné in virtue of his ancestress, Louise de Quérou-aille) inherited a grant (by Charles II) of is. a chaldron on all coal entering the Port of London, the 'Richmond shilling' denouncedby Paine: this tax, ' so iniquitously and wantonly applied to the support of the Duke of Richmond ....' Rights of Man, ii, ch. v. As Master of the Ordnance, he was very unpopular. The defeat of the Hanoverians at Hondschoote, 8 Sept., and the consequent abandonment by the Duke of York of the siege of Dunkirk, mark the turn of the tide against the Allies, a result of Carnot's administration. The abandonment of Dunkirk caused an outcry against naval and transport authorities; the Duke attacked Rich-mond, for delay in providing heavy artillery, and Chatham. Sir G. Elliot, 'Life and Letters', ii. I6o (II Sept.); Glenberre Journals, ed. Sichel, I910, p. 45 (9 Nov.). Richmond's resignation (1795) is anticipated. Partial description from Catalogue of Political and Personal Satires Vol. VII. 8341.

Dates

  • Creation: 21 September 1793

Conditions Governing Access

Available by appointment in our Reading Room

Extent

1 Item(s)

Language of Materials

English

Repository Details

Part of the Special Collections and Archives Repository

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