Promised Horrors of the French Invasion or Forcible Reasons for Negotiation of a Regicide Peace. Vide, The Authority of Edmund Burke Still Image

Gillray caricature of chaotic street violence in London, with a bare-legged Fox-like figure leading a mob, a man tied to a liberty pole, soldiers, a bull, and buildings in flames or under attack.
Gillray's 1796 caricature shows chaos in a London street as revolutionaries, led by a half-naked Fox, torture Pitt at a liberty pole while mobs loot buildings, impale heads on pikes, and a bull rampages amid violence.

Dublin Core

Title

Promised Horrors of the French Invasion or Forcible Reasons for Negotiation of a Regicide Peace. Vide, The Authority of Edmund Burke

Description

This highly sophisticated political cartoon by the noted engraver James Gillray from October 1796 responds to Edmund Burke’s pamphlet, "Reflections on a Regicide Peace." This image argues against further war with France to avoid bankrupting the British treasury and exposing England itself to invasion. This cartoon mocks that idea, attributing it to the supposedly "radical" tendencies of opposition leader Charles James Fox, who here is depicted as a sans–culotte with no pants at all, having tied his rival, Prime Minster William Pitt, to a "Liberty Tree."

Creator

James Gillray

Source

Museum of the French Revolution

Date

1796

Rights

Unknown

Relation

http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/41/|Works of James Gillray, the Caricaturist with the History of his Life and Times. Edited by Thomas Wright. London

Format

JPEG

Language

English

Identifier

41

Still Image Item Type Metadata

Original Format

Etching

Physical Dimensions

32.5 x 43.5 cm

Title (English)

Promis'd horrors of the French invasion, or, Forcible reasons for negociating a regicide peace : vide, the authority of Edmund Burke

Citation

James Gillray, “Promised Horrors of the French Invasion or Forcible Reasons for Negotiation of a Regicide Peace. Vide, The Authority of Edmund Burke,” LIBERTY, EQUALITY, FRATERNITY: EXPLORING THE FRENCH REVOUTION, accessed November 9, 2026, https://revolution.chnm.org/d/41.