The Loyal Toast

On January 24th, 1798, a birthday celebration for Charles James Fox was held at the Crown and Anchor Tavern in London. At the end of a long evening of drink and conviviality, the Duke of Norfolk proposed a last and most provocative toast: "Our Sovereign's Health—the Majesty of the People." When the King read reports of the toast in the various newspapers over the next several days, he was so angered by its revolutionary implications that within a week (January 31) he relieved Norfolk of his position as Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of the County of York, and as Colonel of the Militia of that same Riding. Gillray's print appeared on February 3rd, just three days after the reports of the King's retribution were circulated.

The Loyal Toast

The Loyal Toast [Feb. 3, 1798]
© Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University

Using a combination of both naturalistic and emblematic techniques to make his point, Gillray shows a scarcely caricatured Duke in mid-toast. He is surrounded, more or less realistically, by an appreciative Whig audience including Richard Brinsley Sheridan and Charles James Fox (on the far side of the table) and John Nicholls and the Duke of Bedford (on the near side). Consistent with the "levelling" tendencies of the Duke's politics, a chimney sweep (identified by the upraised brush in his right hand and a cap which establishes his employer as C. Fox) joins in the toast. Norfolk is shown significantly trampling upon his peer's robes which have been unceremoniously discarded revealing a prominent revolutionary bonnet rouge on the back of his chair. But the bonnet rouge in this case is also a fool's cap, for his toast had already resulted in immediate and unintended consequences.

The Duke's "foolishness" is reinforced by the emblematic scale and hands of justice appearing out of the cloud above and behind him. They remind the horse-loving "Jockey of N[orfolk]" of the many "Gifts & Honors bestowed by the Crown" and show the two positions of Colonel of the Militia and Lord Lieutenant of Yorkshire he lost as a result of his toast being snipped from the scroll of Honors. A similarly unrealistic scroll of "Grants from the Crown"unfurls beside the Duke of Bedford.

The actual event was reported with varying degrees of enthusiasm and detail by the London newspapers, beginning with The Morning Chronicle on January 25th.

The annals of British Liberty do not record an instance of so large a Meeting of its friends as was held yesterday at the Crown and Anchor Tavern on the occasion of the festival of Mr. Fox. The capacity and arrangements of that immense Tavern were put to the proof for dinner was served without confusion or disorder to near 2000 persons assembled to testify their affection for the virtues of this illustrious Statesman or to rally under the standard of his political opinions. It was the Feast of Liberty and the enthusiasm of the company corresponded with the sentiment that animated their souls.

The next day (January 26th), The True Briton provided a slightly different perspective "from a sober corespondent." (their emphasis).

WEDNESDAY, in pursuance of the Public Advertisements, a concourse of people assembled to celebrate the Anniversary of Mr. Fox's Birthday. The large Room at the Crown and Anchor as well as the other rooms, were filled at an early hour. It is supposed about 1400 persons were assembled on the occasion. The dinner was served up in a manner very unpleasant to the generality of the Guests, and a greater scene of noise and confusion was scarcely ever witnessed upon any occasion—greater even than on former meetings of the same nature. Small Beer and Porter were in perpetual demand, and occasioned no small outcry during the dinner.

After the dinner was concluded, the Duke of Norfolk, presiding over the festivities, proposed a number of toasts, (as recorded in The Morning Chronicle) interspersed with songs from Captain Morris and others. The toasts proposed included (among others):

In both the The Morning Chronicle and The True Briton, however, the offending toast is reported as "Our Sovereign's health—The MAJESTY of the People," which is slightly different than the version included in Gillray's print. Norfolk might have intentionally chosen this ambiguous phrasing in the toast to provide the sort of politician's deniability that he pursued in subsequent explanations of his intentions. After all, it was common practice to toast His Majesty's, the Sovereign's, Health and that of his Family on such occasions. In Gillray's version of the toast, there is no equivocation: the Sovereign IS the Majesty of the People. And in spite of his later extenuations and denials, this is almost certainly what Norfolk meant. But it is also worth noting that by February 1798, Gillray was already receiving a stipend from the Pitt administration through Canning and Frere. Gillray might have made the slight emendation of the toast in any case to strengthen the print and its suggestion of Norfolk's republican tendencies. But the change is certainly consistent with the purposes of his hiring.

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