Taxation theory as an object of popular wartime comedy in 1779

              TAXATION THEORY AS AN OBJECT OF
POPULAR WARTIME COMEDY IN 1779
by
J.R. Mace
University of Lancaster, UK
On May 8, 1777, Richard Brinsley
Sheridan's play under the title "The
School for Scandal" was performed for the
first time in London, having narrowly
avoided suppression, and having been
granted a license by the Lord Chamberlain
only the day before. Sheridan, at that time
the owner, in partnership with others, of
half of the patent of the Drury Lane
Theatre (purchased from David Garrick in
1776), is perhaps now more widely known
as a dramatist than as a politican, but in
1780, he was elected Member of Parlia­ment
for Stafford. In 1782, he became
Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs under
Rockingham, and in a parliamentary
career which continued to 1812, he was
Secretary to the Treasury in the coalition
ministry headed by the Duke of Portland,
from February 21, to December 18, 1783,
during which period, he addressed the
House twenty-six times on matters con­cerning
the Treasury.
Sheridan's acknowledged masterpiece
was not published in printed form until
some years after its first performance, but
in 1779, a comedy with the same title as
Sheridan's "The School for Scandal" was
published in London [1]. The name of the
author of this publication is unstated in
the publication itself, but the dedication
is to Richard Tickell, acknowledging the
pleasure the author received from a
perusal of Tickell's excellent pamphlet
"Anticipation" [2]. This dedication claims
the whole piece to be "the offspring of a
few days" and explains with respect to the
dramatis personae, that the gentleman
from whom is drawn the character of
The Accounting Historians Notebook, Fall, 1990
Charles, (alias Mr. King — George III) is
held by the author "in the greatest esteem
for the goodness of his heart, and his
amiable conduct in private life," but that
only the superlative abilities of a Sir Oliver
(alias Lord Sh*lb**ne — Lord Shelburne)
"(whose greatness of mind, depth of
understanding and patriotic enthusiasm,
is so well known) can extricate him from
the misfortunes and difficulties he is at
present involved in."
The "difficulties" are clearly those of the
relationship with America, and the
character in the play, Moses (alias Lord
Boreas — Lord North) is the Prime
Minister from 1770 to 1782, who was
largely responsible for the measures that
brought about the loss of America to the
British Crown, being (it is said) [3] "too
ready to surrender his judgement to the
King's." Lord North is presented, through
the medium of the play, to have been void
of every qualification that is essential for
one of his station, except the raising of
money which he squanders in the most
profuse manner by vainly attempting
what he will never accomplish. "To prove
what is advanced, has he ever been pros­perous
in anything of consequence that he
has yet undertook to extricate you from
those disasters into which he has immersed
you?" It is said that he would tax the air
we breathe rather than be deficient in
money for the struggle against the
American Colonies, and he is credited
with the shrewd and simple scheme of
proposing a bill "every season or so when
his parliamentary majority is in town to
lay an additional duty on all newspapers
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