Gillray, James (1756 – 1815) – ‘Stealing Off; or Prudent Secession: “… courageous Chief! / The first in Flight!”‘.

'Stealing Off; or Prudent Secession: "... courageous Chief! / The first in Flight!"'. Hand coloured etching and aquatint. 'Pubd Novr 6th 1798, by H. Humphrey. 27 St James's Street'. In May 1797, due to a series of defeats in the Commons relating to the Alien and Sedition laws, Fox and his supporters said they would secede from parliament and only take part in essential votes. Gradually events stacked up against the Opposition and bolstered the Government positions, capped by Nelson's victory on the Nile. Fox's decision to secede looked increasingly like an attempt to escape parliament, rather than an act of protest. In this print we see Fox fleeing from the Commons Chamber with Charles Grey (the Grey Hound) and Michael Angelo Taylor. Through the doorway Pitt's hands hold scrolls announcing Nelson's Victory, the defeat of the Irish Rebellion etc. The opposition benches eat papers (i.e. their own words) reading variously 'Loyalty of the Irish Nation'; 'Homage to the French Con[stitution], 'French Lib[erty]' etc. The subtitle of the print, 'Courageous Chief [...'' is an allusion to an episode in Paradise Lost when Gabriel mocks Satan for leaving the fallen angels behind as he flies to Earth. 10x14 inches.