James Pitt was an 18th-century English

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

and deist. James Pitt ( fl. 1714 – 1755) was a former schoolmaster who, under the pen name of "Francis Osborne," wrote political propaganda for the

Whig government In British politics, a Whig government may refer to the following British governments administered by the Whigs: * Whig Junto, a name given to a group of leading Whigs who were seen to direct the management of the Whig Party **First Whig Junto, th ...

. He also wrote many Christian deist articles under the pen names "Socrates" and "Publicola." These articles were lead articles and often the only original articles in one of England's most popular newspapers, the London Journal. Pitt's paper sold 5,000 copies a week, and because of the way newspapers were consumed in that time, it has been estimated he may have been read or heard by as many as a hundred-thousand people each week. Furthermore, many of his Christian deist writings were republished in Benjamin Franklin's American newspaper. Pitt was a Christian deist, and in many of his articles for the London Journal, he expressed the most important points of Christian deism. Pitt was buried 23 January 1763 at

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...

. "Mr. Pitt, who died at his house in Essex-street at the age of 84, had formerly been editor of one of the periodical papers in favor of Sir

Robert Walpole Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, (26 August 1676 – 18 March 1745; known between 1725 and 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole) was a British statesman and Whig politician who, as First Lord of the Treasury, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Leader ...

, and is supposed to be the person alluded to in the

Dunciad ''The Dunciad'' is a landmark, mock-heroic, narrative poem by Alexander Pope published in three different versions at different times from 1728 to 1743. The poem celebrates a goddess Dulness and the progress of her chosen agents as they bring ...

under the name of Mother Osborne." Some letters of Mr. Pitt's are printed in Dr. Howard's Collection.

References

* British male journalists Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown {{UK-journalist-stub