Midas, Transmuting All into Paper

One of many satirical cartoons by James Gillray depicting William Pitt the Younger, who became the youngest Prime Minister of Great Britain in 1783 at the age of 24 and the first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in January 1801. Clearly no slouch, Pitt was Chancellor of the Exchequer at the same time. His two periods in office (1783-1801 and from 1804 until his death in 1806) were dominated by the Irish question and major events in Europe, including the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars.

The year 1797 was a tough one for Pitt’s government, with naval mutinies coinciding with threats and rumours of invasions from the Franco-Dutch alliance. In March, Pitt was forced to protect the United Kingdom’s gold reserves by preventing individuals from exchanging banknotes for gold. The announcement of this policy provoked Gillray’s Midas cartoon of 9th March 1797. It makes reference not only to the new policy and Pitt’s allies and opponents, but also to the geopolitical background – the French fleet sailing out from the Atlantic port of Brest. The allusion to Bacchus in Gillray’s text is no doubt poking fun at Pitt’s fondness for port (which began when he was advised to consume it to deal with his chronic ill health).

When Parliament passed the resulting bill in May the same year (the Bank Restriction Act 1797), Gillray produced another cartoon of Pitt entitled: The Political Ravishment of the Old Lady of Threadneedle Street. Great Britain would continue to use paper money until 1^st May 1821.