Seth Kaller, Inc.

Satirical print on the repeal of the Stamp Act, commissioned by the British Prime Minister.

“Within this Family Vault, Lie Interred, it is to be hoped never to rise again, The Star Chamber Court— Ship Money— Excise Money & all Imposts...which tended to alienate the Affections of Englishmen to their Country.”

This print is based on one by Benjamin Wilson commissioned by the prime minister, the Marquess of Rockingham, to convince Parliament of the benefits of the repeal. It was published on March 18, 1766, the day that Parliament voted for the repeal of the Stamp Act, but also passed the Declaratory Act. Other London printmakers soon issued their own versions, including this pirating of Wilson’s design.

[REVOLUTIONARY WAR]. After Benjamin Wilson, “The Repeal, Or the Funeral Procession of Miss Americ-Stamp” Political Cartoon, Printed Document, March 18, 1766. London: n.p. 1 p., 17¼ x 12 in.

Inventory #27747       Price: $6,800

Excerpts
[Above the vault:] “Within this Family Vault, Lie Interred, it is to be hoped never to rise again, The Star Chamber Court Ship Money Excise Money & all Imposts without Parliament. The Act de Haeritico Comburendo Hearth Mon Gener Warrants And which tended to alienate the Affections of Englishmen to their Country.”

[Caption:] “The Repeal. Or the Funeral Procession, of Miss Americ-Stamp.”

“Over the Vault are placed two Skeleton Heads. Their elevation on Poles, and the dates of the two Rebellion Years, sufficiently shew what Party they espoused, and in what cause they suffered an ignominious Exit.

“The reverend Mr. Anti-Sejanus (who under that signature hackney’d his pen in support of the Stamps) leads the procession as officiating Priest, with the burial service and funeral sermon in his hands.

“Next follow two eminent Pillars of the Law, supporting two black flags, on which are delineated the Stamps with the White Rose and Thistle interwoved, an expressive design, supposed to have been originally contrived on the 10 of June. The significative motto Semper Eadem is preserved, but the Price of the Stamp is changed to three farthings, an important sum taken from the Budget. The numbers 122 and 71 declare the minority which fought under these Banners.

“Next appears the honourable Mr. George Stamp, full of Grief and dispair, carrying his favourite Childs Coffin, Miss Americ Stamp, who was born in 1765, and died hard in 1766.

“Immediately after, follows the chief Mourner Sejanus.

            “Then his Grace of Spital Fields, and Lord Gawkee.

            “After these Jemmy Twitcher, with a Catch, by way of funeral anthem, & by his side his friend and partner Mr. Falconer Donaldson of Halifax.

            “The rear is brought up by two right reverend Fathers of the Church.

            “These few mourners are seperated from the joyful scene which appears on the River Thames, where three first rate ships are riding. Viz. the Conway, Rockingham, and Grafton. Along the opposite Shore, stand open Warehouses, for the several goods of different manufactoring towns from which Cargoes are now shipping for America. Among these is a large Case containing the Statue of Mr. Pitt, which is heaving on board a Boat N^o 250, there is another boat taking in goods nearer the first Rates, which is N^o 105. These Numbers will ever be held in esteem by the true Sons of Liberty.”[1]

Historical Background
On March 22, 1765, King George III gave his royal assent to the Duties in American Colonies Act, more popularly known as the Stamp Act. The act, to take effect November 1, 1765, required that many materials produced in the colonies be printed on stamped paper from London with an embossed revenue stamp. Such materials included legal documents, magazines, playing cards, newspapers, and many other types of paper.

The Stamp Act of 1765 generated strong opposition among the American colonists, who called for a boycott of British imports. This action led British manufacturers and merchants to pressure Parliament to repeal the act. Recently appointed Prime Minister Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2^nd Marquess of Rockingham, commissioned Benjamin Wilson (1721-1788) to create political cartoons in favor of repeal. The first, entitled “The Tomb-Stone,” published in February 1766, showed “hard liners” dancing on the tomb of the Duke of Cumberland, the King’s uncle, who died in October 1765 after helping bring in the Rockingham ministry.

This cartoon, “The Repeal,” was published on March 18, 1766, the day Parliament voted for the repeal of the Stamp Act. It is filled with visual allusions to the Stamp Act crisis. The sad scene among the supporters of the Stamp Act, only four months old and represented by a child’s coffin, stands in contrast to the prosperous wharves and warehouses along the Thames River in the background and ships being loaded with goods from key manufacturing centers, bound for the colonies. Leading the mourners is Dr. James Scott, who had written the Anti-Sejanus letters. Following Scott are Lord Chief Justice Mansfield and Attorney General Fletcher Norton, carrying flags that display the vote against the repeal in the Lords and Commons. George Grenville, the parent of the Stamp Tax, carries the coffin. Lord Bute, in Scots plaid, follows Grenville as chief mourner. Other supporters of the tax, the Duke of Bedford, Earl Temple, Lord Halifax, and the Earl of Sandwich, follow. At the end of the procession are two bishops—Warburton, Bishop of Gloucester, and Johnson, Bishop of Worcester.  The harbor represents the Rockingham ministry with three ships labeled “Conway,” “Rockingham,” and “Grafton.” Henry Seymour Conway and the Duke of Grafton served as Rockingham’s secretaries of state.

The “Statue of M^r Pitt” being loaded onto a ship is a reference to the commission issued by the House of Commons of South Carolina for a statue of William Pitt in gratitude for his opposition to the Stamp Act. The South Carolina legislature passed the resolution on May 8, 1766, and the statue by Joseph Wilton was erected in Charleston in 1770.

“The Repeal” quickly became “the most popular satirical print ever issued.” Within three days, the publisher issued an advertisement requesting patience, as he could not keep up with the demand. Wilson sold two thousand copies of the print for one shilling each and earned £100 in four days. On the fifth day, two other printers issued pirated and inferior versions for half the price, and Wilson was told that they sold more than sixteen thousand copies. Benjamin Franklin sent a copy of some “Droll Prints” home in a package to his wife. Of “The Repeal” he wrote to her, “I think it wrong to put in Lord Bute, who had nothing to do with the Stamp Act. But it is the Fashion here to abuse that Nobleman as the Author of all Mischief.”[2]

In addition to imitations of Wilson’s print produced in London, a copy also appeared in Philadelphia by an engraver named Wilkinson.

Although American colonists rejoiced at the repeal of the Act, Parliament passed the American Colonies Act, commonly known as the Declaratory Act, to accompany the repeal of the Stamp Act. This act declared that Parliament’s authority was the same in America as in Britain and asserted Parliament’s authority to pass laws binding on the American colonies “in all cases whatsoever.” While many colonists celebrated the political victory of the repeal, others like Samuel Adams in Massachusetts and Patrick Henry in Virginia, were horrified by the Declaratory Act that they believed violated their rights as Englishmen.

Condition: Edges worn; one corner trimmed; three short repairs on verso; tack holes; ½-inch hole touching image area; light wrinkling and toning.

Cresswell 623; Fowble, To Please Every Taste 41.

Sources

• R.T. Haines Halsey, “Impolitical Prints,” Bulletin of the New York Public Library 43, no.11 (Nov. 1939): 795-829, esp. 801, 820-821.
• Original Print by Benjamin Wilson and published by Smith.
• For the text at the bottom of an alternate version, see Jonathan Mercantini, ed., The Stamp Act of 1765 (Peterborough, Ontario, Canada: Broadview Press), 133-134.
• Frederic George Stephens et al., comp., Catalogue of Political and Personal Satires, Preserved in the Department of Prints and Drawings of the British Museum, 12 vols.(London: The British Museum, 1935), 4:368-373. (No. 4140)