"Pitt (left) as a bank-clerk, very thin and much caricatured, a pen thrust through his wig, stands behind an L-shaped counter offering a handful of bank-notes to John Bull. In his right hand is a scoop with which he sweeps up notes from the counter. John is the yokel of BMSat 8141, but no longer bewildered; he stands stolidly, holding out his left hand for the notes, his right hand in his coat pocket. Fox (right), who wears a high cocked hat with tricolour cockade, bag-wig, and laced suit, says to him: "Dont take his damn'd Paper, John! insist upon having Gold, to make your Peace with the French, when they come". Sheridan bends towards John, saying, "Dont take his Notes! nobody takes Notes now! - they'll not even take Mine!" John answers: "I wool take it! - a' may as well let my Measter Billy hold the Gold to keep away you Frenchmen, as save it, to gee it you, when ye come over, with your domn'd invasion." Behind (right) hands of other Foxites are raised in warning, and on the extreme right is the profile of Stanhope. Behind (left), men hasten towards Pitt with large sacks of notes on their heads. The first two, in judge's robes, are Loughborough with a sack of '20 Shilling Notes', and Kenyon with one of 'Five Pound Notes'. Behind is Grenville with a sack of '10 Shilling Notes'. Other sacks whose bearers are hidden are inscribed '5 Shilling No[tes], 2 Shillin No[tes]', and 'One Shilling'. Under Pitt's counter is a row of large sacks of gold, padlocked and inscribed '£'. On the end of the counter, facing the spectator, is posted a bill headed: 'Order of Council to the Bank of England'."--British Museum online catalogue.
Description:
Title etched below image.
Subject (Name):
Auchincloss, Hugh Dudley--Ownership., Fox, Charles James,--1749-1806--Caricatures and cartoons., Grenville, William Wyndham Grenville,--Baron,--1759-1834--Caricatures and cartoons., Harvey, Francis--Ownership., Humphrey, Hannah, active 1774-1817, publisher., Kenyon, Lloyd Kenyon,--Baron,--1732-1802--Caricatures and cartoons., Pitt, William,--1759-1806--Caricatures and cartoons., Rosslyn, Alexander Wedderburn,--Earl of,--1733-1805--Caricatures and cartoons., Sheridan, Richard Brinsley,--1751-1816--Caricatures and cartoons., and Stanhope, Charles Stanhope,--Earl,--1753-1816--Caricatures and cartoons.
Subject (Topic):
John Bull (Symbolic character)--Caricatures and cartoons.
"John Bull (left), a stout countryman wearing jack-boots, rides (right to left) through a wood on a wretched hack, ready to fall under his weight. Pitt kneels on the ground (right) in profile to the left, aiming a blunderbuss (which is supported on crossed sticks) point-blank at John; it is inscribed 'Standing Army'. He masquerades as a beggar: his dress is tattered, on the ground is his hat, containing coins; he says: "Good Sir, for Charity's sake \ "have Pity upon a poor ruin'd Man; - \ "drop if you please, a few bits of \ "Money into the Hat, & you shall \ "be rewarded hereafter -" From his coat-pocket project a cocked pistol and a paper: 'Forced Loan in reserve'. He points to a document on the ground beside him: 'Humble Petition, for Voluntary - Contribution Subscriptions & new Taxes, to save the Distres'd from taking worse Courses.' John Bull has dropped his righteins and holds his hat, full of guineas; he looks with melancholy distrust at Pitt, but drops guineas into his hat. His horse, disfigured with sores, is evidently the white horse of Hanover, its head-band is red and blue, the Windsor uniform (cf. BMSat 8691, &c). From the bushes behind Pitt emerge the heads and shoulders of (right to left) Dundas, Grenville, and Burke, each with a pistol levelled at John Bull. Dundas wears Highland dress, Grenville peer's robes and a grenadier's cap with the letters 'Wm R' (cf. BMSats 7479, 7494, &c.): he looks down reflectively at Pitt instead of at his victim, implying that he is his cousin's henchman; Burke has a pen in his hat. On the left is a signpost pointing (right) 'From Constitution Hill' (cf. BMSat 8287) and (left) 'To Slavery Slough by Beggary Corner.'"--British Museum online catalogue.
Alternative Title:
John Bull escaping a forced loan
Subject (Name):
Auchincloss, Hugh Dudley--Ownership., Burke, Edmund,--1729-1797--Caricatures and cartoons., Grenville, William Wyndham Grenville,--Baron,--1759-1834--Caricatures and cartoons., Harvey, Francis--Ownership., Humphrey, Hannah, active 1774-1817, publisher., Melville, Henry Dundas,--Viscount,--1742-1811--Caricatures and cartoons., and Pitt, William,--1759-1806--Caricatures and cartoons.
Subject (Topic):
John Bull (Symbolic character)--Caricatures and cartoons.
"The 'Gods', Hawkesbury, Addington, St. Vincent, lean down from the clouds to defend the 'Treasury' against the assault of the 'Giants', different groups of the Opposition forming a pyramid in the lower, and larger, part of the design. [These identifications are those of Miss Banks (on a B.M. print) confirmed by Lord Holland, who omits Lord Spencer but adds Tierney, called by Miss Banks 'no particular person'. The identifications of Wright and Evans are in several cases incorrect. Grego substitutes Lord Mulgrave for Dr. Lawrence (or Spencer) and omits Spencer and others. Lord Holland notes that only the portraits of Pitt, Addington, Fox, Norfolk, Buckingham, Grenville, and Derby are like their subjects.] These are grouped on rocks, and are naked or nearly so (with one exception). At the apex of the pyramid are Pitt and Dundas, smaller and less dangerous than Fox in the foreground (left). Pitt, much emaciated, stands with legs astride, looking up, and about to hurl a large bundle of papers: 'Knock-down Arguments'; two similar bundles lie at his feet: 'Death and Eternal Sleep' [cf. BMSat 8350], and 'Coup de Grace'. He wears a military cocked hat, jack-boots, and a sword-belt from which hangs a sabre, indicating his volunteer activities (see BMSat 10113, &c); round his loins is a girdle of grapes and vine-leaves (cf. BMSat 8798). Melville (Dundas), behind and below Pitt, raises a sword inscribed 'True Andrew-Ferrara' and a shield; he wears a Scots bonnet; a tartan plaid and kilt adorn his burly nudity. At Pitt's feet stands Wilberforce, a dwarf, holding a large volume, Duty of Man, and directing upwards a fountain which can never approach the clouds. On the lower part of this rock stands Canning, in an attitude like that of Pitt, prepared to hurl a bulky sheaf of papers: 'Killing Detections'; he registers sly amusement, and wears a girdle of feathers suggestive of a Red Indian. From behind the rock appear two shadowy figures, each with the pen in his mouth that indicates a Treasury secretary; one prepares to hurl a bundle of 'Charges', the other, below him, has a bundle of 'Long Charges'. They are Rose and Long, ex-Treasury secretaries, see BMSat 9722. In the foreground (left) is a lower rocky platform on which the obese Buckingham and his burly brother Lord Grenville hold up Fox by the legs. Fox, bulky and hairy, fires a blast of flame, smoke, and bullets from a blunderbuss', doing more execution than all the others together. He is completely nude; drapery hangs from the shoulders of his two supporters, and the pompous Buckingham wears spectacles and Garter ribbon. All register satisfaction, rather than ardour like the Pittites. Beside their rock, and on the extreme left are supporters of Fox: Norfolk with a kettle-drum slung from his neck on which he is performing with two wine-bottles (cf. BMSat 9261). Behind him is Carlisle, banging a marrow-bone on a cleaver inscribed 'Coalition Roast Beef' [reminiscent of the Foxite butchers at Westminster elections]. The profile of Burdett is on the extreme left; he wears a hat on which is a ribbon: 'no Bastile' [see BMSat 9878, &c], and holds a fringed banner on which are equally balanced scales and the motto 'In hoc Signo Vinces' [cf. BMSat 10416]; on its spear-point is poised a cap of liberty terminating in the bell that indicates Folly. Behind him an arm holds up a trumpet to which is attached a banner inscribed 'Honor Property Ability' [symbolic of the Whig oligarchy and stressing the gulf between Foxites and the supposedly levelling Burdett]. ..."--British Museum online catalogue.
Alternative Title:
Giants storming heaven
Description:
Title etched below image. and Two lines of text below title: "They never complain'd of fatigue, but like giants refreshed, were ready to enter immediately upon the attack! Vide Lord Ch--c-ll-r's Speech, 24th April 1804. "Not to destroy! but root them out of heaven." Milton.
Subject (Name):
Auchincloss, Hugh Dudley--Ownership., Buckingham, George Nugent Temple Grenville,--Marquess of,--1753-1813--Caricatures and cartoons., Canning, George,--1770-1827--Caricatures and cartoons., Carlisle, Frederick Howard,--Earl of,--1748-1825--Caricatures and cartoons., Derby, Edward Smith Stanley,--Earl of,--1752-1834--Caricatures and cartoons., Erskine, Thomas Erskine,--Baron,--1750-1823--Caricatures and cartoons., Fox, Charles James,--1749-1806--Caricatures and cartoons., Grenville, William Wyndham Grenville,--Baron,--1759-1834--Caricatures and cartoons., Grey, Charles Grey,--Earl,--1764-1845--Caricatures and cartoons., Harvey, Francis--Ownership., Humphrey, Hannah, active 1774-1817, publisher., Jones, Thomas Tyrwhitt,--Sir,--1765-1811--Caricatures and cartoons., Liverpool, Robert Banks Jenkinson,--Earl of,--1770-1828--Caricatures and cartoons., Long, Charles,--1761-1838--Caricatures and cartoons., Melville, Henry Dundas,--Viscount,--1742-1811--Caricatures and cartoons., Norfolk, Charles Howard,--Duke of,--1746-1815--Caricatures and cartoons., Pitt, William,--1759-1806--Caricatures and cartoons., Rose, George,--1744-1818--Caricatures and cartoons., Sheridan, Richard Brinsley,--1751-1816--Caricatures and cartoons., Sidmouth, Henry Addington,--Viscount,--1757-1844--Caricatures and cartoons., Spencer, George John Spencer,--Earl,--1758-1834--Caricatures and cartoons., St. Vincent, John Jervis,--Viscount,--1735-1823--Caricatures and cartoons., Stanhope, Charles Stanhope,--Earl,--1753-1816--Caricatures and cartoons., Taylor, Michael Angelo,--1757-1834--Caricatures and cartoons., Tierney, George,--1761-1830--Caricatures and cartoons., Wilberforce, William,--1759-1833--Caricatures and cartoons., and Windham, William,--1750-1810--Caricatures and cartoons.
"Pitt is borne upwards (left to right) in a chariot of swirling clouds of flame drawn by four horses abreast, and snorting fire, while his eyes are fixed on a broad beam of light inscribed 'Immortality'. He flings down his mantle, which his disciples below hold up their arms to receive. The mantle is blue faced with red (the colours of the Windsor uniform); on it a flaming sword lies across a pair of balanced scales, symbolizing Justice. Rays from the mantle strike down on the disciples; thunderbolts radiate from it, against the 'Republican-Mantle' with which the ghost of Fox tries to shelter the Opposition, and also against a tiny Napoleon. The disciples are grouped on a cliff, 'The Rock of Ages', rising from the sea. They surround a rectangular altar, of quasi-classical shape: 'The Altar of the Constitution'. Its two pilasters are 'Prudence' and 'Fortitude'. On this is a book inscribed 'Truth' on which is a royal crown. At its base lies 'Magna Charta'. The central and most prominent of the disciples, in the place of Elisha, is Canning, as the pupil of Pitt (see BMSat 10972); he stands behind the altar. Before it kneel Eldon (left) in Chancellor's wig and gown with the Purse of the Great Seal, and Perceval (right) in the gown of the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Next to Eldon (left) kneels Portland. On each side of Canning stand Hawkesbury (left) and Castlereagh (right). Behind are (?) Camden (left) and Melville (right). The four peers wear peer's robes. On the right, and in the foreground, separated from the 'Rock of Ages' by a narrow chasm, is the 'Broad-Bottom-Dunghill' [cf. BMSat 10530]. On this are the Opposition fleeing in terror from the thunderbolts from the Mande despite the gigantic figure of Fox who flies over them, protectingly spreading his cloak. Fox is naked under his cloak, except for a bonnet rouge, and a shroud which floats back from his head. He has webbed wings and a cloven hoof, and he looks up at the Mantle in angry terror. His cloak is set on fire by a thunderbolt. The most prominent of the 'Priests of Baal' is Grenville, who stoops, clutching at his rent breeches; a cardinal's hat flies from his head (cf. BMSat 10404), and over his coat he wears a short cope-like garment with a large cross on it. ..."--British Museum online catalogue.
Description:
Title etched below image.
Subject (Name):
Auchincloss, Hugh Dudley--Ownership., Buckingham, George Nugent Temple Grenville,--Marquess of,--1753-1813--Caricatures and cartoons., Canning, George,--1770-1827--Caricatures and cartoons., Castlereagh, Robert Stewart,--Viscount,--1769-1822--Caricatures and cartoons., Eldon, John Scott,--Earl of,--1751-1838--Caricatures and cartoons., Erskine, Thomas Erskine,--Baron,--1750-1823--Caricatures and cartoons., Fox, Charles James,--1749-1806--Caricatures and cartoons., Grattan, Henry,--1746-1820--Caricatures and cartoons., Grenville, William Wyndham Grenville,--Baron,--1759-1834--Caricatures and cartoons., Grey, Charles Grey,--Earl,--1764-1845--Caricatures and cartoons., Harvey, Francis--Ownership., Hastings, Francis Rawdon-Hastings,--Marquess of,--1754-1826--Caricatures and cartoons., Holland, Henry Richard Vassall,--Baron,--1773-1840--Caricatures and cartoons., Humphrey, Hannah, active 1774-1817, publisher., Lauderdale, James Maitland,--Earl of,--1759-1839--Caricatures and cartoons., Liverpool, Robert Banks Jenkinson,--Earl of,--1770-1828--Caricatures and cartoons., Melville, Henry Dundas,--Viscount,--1742-1811--Caricatures and cartoons., Napoleon--I,--Emperor of the French,--1769-1821--Caricatures and cartoons., Perceval, Spencer,--1762-1812--Caricatures and cartoons., Pitt, William,--1759-1806--Caricatures and cartoons., Portland, William Henry Cavendish-Bentinck,--Duke of,--1738-1809--Caricatures and cartoons., Sheridan, Richard Brinsley,--1751-1816--Caricatures and cartoons., Sidmouth, Henry Addington,--Viscount,--1757-1844--Caricatures and cartoons., St. Vincent, John Jervis,--Viscount,--1735-1823--Caricatures and cartoons., Whitbread, Samuel,--1764-1815--Caricatures and cartoons., and Windham, William,--1750-1810--Caricatures and cartoons.
"A burlesqued illustration of the quotation from 'Paradise Lost' etched below the design ... In the upper left corner of the design, and in the background, an aged St. Peter holds open a small arched door, putting one of his three massive keys into the lock. The irradiated doorway is 'Popish Supremacy'; through it is seen a table, also irradiated, spread with loaves, fishes (cf. BMSat 10697), and wine. A golden staircase receding in perspective ascends in a curve to the door from the summit of the globe, on which 'Ireland' (the more conspicuous) and 'England' are marked. A procession of petitioners winds up the globe from the lower margin of the design; its leaders have begun to ascend the stairs but have been struck by three mighty blasts of wind. These issue from the mouths of Pitt, Hawkesbury (just below), and Sidmouth (considerably lower) Their profile heads emerge from dark clouds on the extreme left. The blasts have overthrown the leading petitioners: Grenville, in bishop's robes, staggers back with outstretched arms, his crozier and mitre fall, and the Catholic Petition blows from his hands, tattered by the wind, in a stream of 'popish' objects which slants upwards across the design. Immediately behind him, full face, the spectacled Buckingham staggers backward. He is dressed as a monk. In front of the two brothers Moira has fallen on his back on the third stair, kicking wildly, his upright l. leg expressing his characteristic stiff rigidity. He wears a surplice over regimentals and spurred boots, and his sword has broken. He has dropped the halter of the Irish bull on which sits Fox, dressed as a cardinal, the central figure of the design. The bull, snorting flames, rears violently, throwing Fox back into a horizontal position. Round its neck is a tricolour ribbon inscribed 'Order of St Patrick', from which hangs a medal with a profile of 'Buonaparte'; on its head is a bunch of shamrock. Fox is a Papal Legate; he is about to fall, and drops his triple cross to which is attached a tattered tricolour banner, inscribed 'Catholic Emancipa[tion']. His cardinal's hat flies off; from his left hand blows a document with many seals: 'Hierarchical Powers of ye Legate-Cardinal Volpone'. Mrs. Fitzherbert, a Mother Abbess, has fallen headlong from the stairs on to the globe. Her r. hand is on Ireland, resting on an open book: ' . . by the Brighton Abbess System of Education for the benefit of Protestant Children'; her left wrist is on England. Her crozier rests on the globe. Her robes, rent by the fall, display bare posteriors and fat, kicking legs, suggesting the connotation of 'abbess' and bawd, see BMSat 5184, &c. Moira has flung his left arm across her. ..."--British Museum online catalogue.
Description:
Four stanzas of verse below image, two on either side of title: "And now St. Peter at heav'n's wicket seems ... and Title etched below image.
Subject (Name):
Auchincloss, Hugh Dudley--Ownership., Bedford, John Russell,--Duke of,--1766-1839--Caricatures and cartoons., Buckingham, George Nugent Temple Grenville,--Marquess of,--1753-1813--Caricatures and cartoons., Burdett, Francis,--1770-1844--Caricatures and cartoons., Carlisle, Frederick Howard,--Earl of,--1748-1825--Caricatures and cartoons., Derby, Edward Smith Stanley,--Earl of,--1752-1834--Caricatures and cartoons., Erskine, Thomas Erskine,--Baron,--1750-1823--Caricatures and cartoons., Fox, Charles James,--1749-1806--Caricatures and cartoons., George--III,--King of Great Britain,--1738-1820--Caricatures and cartoons., Gillray, James, 1756-1815, artist., Grattan, Henry,--1746-1820--Caricatures and cartoons., Grenville, William Wyndham Grenville,--Baron,--1759-1834--Caricatures and cartoons., Grey, Charles Grey,--Earl,--1764-1845--Caricatures and cartoons., Harvey, Francis--Ownership., Hastings, Francis Rawdon-Hastings,--Marquess of,--1754-1826--Caricatures and cartoons., Holland, Henry Richard Vassall,--Baron,--1773-1840--Caricatures and cartoons., Humphrey, Hannah, active 1774-1817, publisher., Lansdowne, Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice,--Marquess of,--1780-1863--Caricatures and cartoons., Liverpool, Robert Banks Jenkinson,--Earl of,--1770-1828--Caricatures and cartoons., Norfolk, Charles Howard,--Duke of,--1746-1815--Caricatures and cartoons., Pitt, William,--1759-1806--Caricatures and cartoons., Sheridan, Richard Brinsley,--1751-1816--Caricatures and cartoons., Sidmouth, Henry Addington,--Viscount,--1757-1844--Caricatures and cartoons., Spencer, George John Spencer,--Earl,--1758-1834--Caricatures and cartoons., Tierney, George,--1761-1830--Caricatures and cartoons., William--IV,--King of Great Britain,--1765-1837--Caricatures and cartoons., and Windham, William,--1750-1810--Caricatures and cartoons.
"French men-of-war are tossed helplessly by huge waves, which are lashed to fury by blasts from the mouths of (left to right) Pitt, Dundas, Grenville, and Windham, whose heads emerge from clouds. Fox is the (realistic) figure-head of 'Le Révolutionaire' (right) which, with broken masts, is about to founder. He receives the full strength of the blasts from Pitt and Dundas, and looks up despairingly, his head against the tricolour stripes which encircle the mast. Playing-cards float in the water by the ship. On the left 'L'Egalité' is wrecked by a blast from Grenville, which shatters a flag-staff, with a flag inscribed 'Vive . . Egalité'. Behind, a vessel disappears in a whirlpool. In the foreground (left) 'The Revolutionary Jolly Boat' is being swamped under the influence of a blast from Windham; the occupants throw up their hands despairingly: Sheridan, standing in the stern, is still unsubmerged; the others (left to right) are Hall the Foxite apothecary, [So Wright and Evans. He has perhaps more resemblance to Dr. Towers.] Erskine, in wig and gown, M. A. Taylor, and Thelwall, washed overboard, with a paper: 'Thelwall's lectures' (see BMSat 8685). [Wright and Evans put Dr. Lawrence's name between that of Sheridan and Erskine; he is not depicted.]."--British Museum online catalogue.
Alternative Title:
Destruction of the French Armada
Description:
Another publication line etched in lower left but mostly obscured within margin of image. and Another signature etched in bottom right portion of image: Js. Gy. des. et f.
Subject (Name):
Auchincloss, Hugh Dudley--Ownership., Erskine, Thomas Erskine,--Baron,--1750-1823--Caricatures and cartoons., Fox, Charles James,--1749-1806--Caricatures and cartoons., Grenville, William Wyndham Grenville,--Baron,--1759-1834--Caricatures and cartoons., Harvey, Francis--Ownership., Humphrey, Hannah, active 1774-1817, publisher., Melville, Henry Dundas,--Viscount,--1742-1811--Caricatures and cartoons., Pitt, William,--1759-1806--Caricatures and cartoons., Sheridan, Richard Brinsley,--1751-1816--Caricatures and cartoons., Taylor, Michael Angelo,--1757-1834--Caricatures and cartoons., Thelwall, John,--1764-1834--Caricatures and cartoons., and Windham, William,--1750-1810--Caricatures and cartoons.
"The resigning Ministers issue from the arched gateway of the 'Treasury', led by Pitt (right) who, with an oratorical gesture, holds out a document: 'Justice of Emancipating ye Catholicks'. Behind him is Dundas (Secretary of State for War), holding Pitt's right arm, and not in the usual Scottish dress (though he wears a tartan waistcoat). He holds a document: 'Advantages of the Union'; from his coat pocket issues a paper: 'Successes in the East'. Next walks Grenville (Foreign Secretary) in peer's robes holding a paper: 'Acquisitions from ye War. Malta, Cape of Good Hope, Dutch Islands' [Ceylon captured 1796]. Behind him walk Spencer (First Lord), holding 'Enemies Ships taken & Des[troyed]', and Loughboroug in his Chancellor's wig. Three heads are dimly visible in the shadow of the archway. From the left the Opposition, in the guise of a plebeian rabble, advance towards the Treasury gate but are held back by a sturdy grenadier sentry at the point of the bayonet. He is back view, with 'G.R' on his busby, and is probably George III, possibly Addington. Facing him, against the Treasury wall, is his sentry-box, placarded: 'G.R Orders for keeping all improper Persons out of the Public Offices'. The rabble are led by Sheridan and Tierney; the former a butcher with cleaver raised to strike, the latter a ragged cobbler wearing a bonnet rouge; he is about to fling a cat which he holds by the tail. Behind them are Jekyll, as a chimney-sweep with brush and shovel, but wearing a barrister's wig and (tattered) gown, Bedford dressed as a jockey and holding out whip and cap (cf. BMSat 9261, &c), Nicholls and Tyrhwitt Jones, both holding up hats with tricolour cockades. At the back are Norfolk, about to hurl a bottle of wine, and Burdett. There is also raised above the crowd an arm which has just hurled a full tankard of 'Whitbread's Entire' [see BMSat 10421]. Other missiles include a lighted squib, a bludgeon, vegetables, and a book: 'Jacobin Charges, Speeches Essays'. Bedford cries: "Push on, dam'me! - work 'em! - its our Turn now!" The sentry answers: "Your Turn! - no, no! - whoever goes out You'll not come in!" In the foreground, on the extreme left, are two dwarfish and ragged little newsboys blowing their horns; on the cap of one is 'Morning Chronicle' [see BMSat 9240]. Below the design: "Men in conscious Virtue bold! "Who dare their Honest purpose hold. "Nor heed the Mob's tumultuous cries; "And the vile rage of Jacobins - despise.""--British Museum online catalogue.
Description:
Title etched below image.
Subject (Name):
Auchincloss, Hugh Dudley--Ownership., Bedford, Francis Russell,--Duke of,--1765-1802--Caricatures and cartoons., Burdett, Francis,--1770-1844--Caricatures and cartoons., Grenville, William Wyndham Grenville,--Baron,--1759-1834--Caricatures and cartoons., Harvey, Francis--Ownership., Humphrey, Hannah, active 1774-1817, publisher., Jekyll, Joseph,--1754-1837--Caricatures and cartoons., Jones, Thomas Tyrwhitt,--Sir,--1765-1811--Caricatures and cartoons., Melville, Henry Dundas,--Viscount,--1742-1811--Caricatures and cartoons., Nicholls, John,--1745?-1832--Caricatures and cartoons., Norfolk, Charles Howard,--Duke of,--1746-1815--Caricatures and cartoons., Pitt, William,--1759-1806--Caricatures and cartoons., Rosslyn, Alexander Wedderburn,--Earl of,--1733-1805--Caricatures and cartoons., Sheridan, Richard Brinsley,--1751-1816--Caricatures and cartoons., Spencer, George John Spencer,--Earl,--1758-1834--Caricatures and cartoons., and Tierney, George,--1761-1830--Caricatures and cartoons.
"A bull, chained, muzzled, and blindfolded, his horns tipped, but snorting fire, is baited by dogs urged on by Pitt who runs forward (right), holding heavy chains labelled 'New Excise Fetters for John Bull'. Pitt points at the bull, shouting, "At him! at him! Tally-ho, ho, ho." From his pocket hangs a paper inscribed 'New Excises intended upon Cyder, Flour, Hardware, Linnens, Woolens, Coals, Butchers Bakers Cheese-mo[ngers] Fish, Water'. Pitt and his dogs are hurrying from the Treasury, over the gate of which the word Treasury has been scored through by Rose, who stands on a ladder on the extreme right, painting the word 'Excise-Office' in large letters. A rose takes the place of his head; in his left hand is his paint-pot inscribed 'Kings' Yellow'. The bull's legs are chained to a post inscribed 'Excise'; he is snorting "Liberty! Liberty! and no Excise! Huzza!" The dogs have human heads and inscribed collars. The two foremost are 'Billy Grenv[ille]', with a pen behind his ear, and 'Dundas'. The Duke of Richmond ('Ordnance') is on the bull's back, biting his ear. Behind are 'Jenky' (Lord Hawkesbury), 'Sir Pepper' (Arden), 'Sydney, Cam' (Camden), and a dog perhaps intended for Carmarthen. In the foreground, lying on a heap of Tobacco which has fallen from a cask so inscribed (which he befouls), is Thurlow, a dog with the head and wig of Thurlow, his collar inscribed 'Snap Dragon', fiercely gnawing a large bone inscribed 'Opposition' at one end and 'Ministry' at the other, while he glares up at Pitt."--British Museum online catalogue.
Description:
Printmaker from British Museum catalogue. and Title etched below image.
Publisher:
H. Humphrey, New Bond Street
Subject (Name):
Alvanley, Richard Pepper Arden,--Baron,--1745-1804--Caricatures and cartoons., Auchincloss, Hugh Dudley--Ownership., Camden, Charles Pratt,--Earl,--1714-1794--Caricatures and cartoons., Grenville, William Wyndham Grenville,--Baron,--1759-1834--Caricatures and cartoons., Harvey, Francis--Ownership., Humphrey, Hannah, active 1774-1817, publisher., Liverpool, Charles Jenkinson,--Earl of,--1727-1808--Caricatures and cartoons., Melville, Henry Dundas,--Viscount,--1742-1811--Caricatures and cartoons., Pitt, William,--1759-1806--Caricatures and cartoons., Richmond, Charles Lennox,--3d Duke of,--1735-1806--Caricatures and cartoons., Rose, George,--1744-1818--Caricatures and cartoons., Sydney, Thomas Townshend,--Viscount,--1733-1800--Caricatures and cartoons., and Thurlow, Edward Thurlow,--Baron,--1731-1806--Caricatures and cartoons.
"Pitt, a colossal figure (cf. BMSat 8980), bestrides the Rotunda of the 'Bank of England'. His arms and legs are very thin, but his body is formed of a (transparent) sack distended with gold coins and inscribed '£'. His elbows are akimbo, his hands grasp the sides of the sack; from the little finger of his left hand hangs a key, 'Key of Public Property'. Round the mouth of the sack is a heavy chain clasped by a padlock inscribed 'Power of securing Public Credit'. From the sack emerges the pipe-like neck down which coins are passing. Pitt looks arrogantly to the right, a blast issues from his closed lips of many paper notes inscribed 'one'. Near his mouth are a few gold coins which he is presumably inhaling. He wears a crown formed of 'one' pound notes; through it project his ass's ears. The near side of the Rotunda is removed, showing a descending shower of paper and an ascending cluster of coins which are being drawn upwards to join those in the sack. Little figures in and around the rotunda, under Pitt's legs, hold up their hands in dismay at the shower of £1 notes. Among them is a John Bull wearing a smock. Two men hold papers inscribed 'Dividend'; a Jew walks off (left) with 'Scrip'. On the left, behind Pitt's right foot, is the sea-shore; large reeds at its edge blow towards him; among these are five heads wearing bonnets-rouges, each with a label issuing from his mouth: 'Midas has Ears'. They are Fox, Sheridan, Erskine, M. A. Taylor, and (?) Grey. They diminish in size from Fox to Taylor. Across the sea is 'Brest', from which a fleet is setting out. Behind it are black clouds, and an explosion rises from them in which are swarms of tiny figures holding daggers and wearing bonnets-rouges. This spreads behind Pitt's head who appears unconscious of it. He looks down towards three almost naked winged figures: Grenville (left) and Dundas (right) hold up between them a scroll: 'Prosperous state of British Finances. & the new Plan for diminishing the National Debt - with Hints on the increase of Commerce'. Between and above them is Windham, Secretary-at-War, a pen behind his ear. He waves his cocked hat, Grenville his coronet, and Dundas his Scots cap. Beneath the title: 'History of Midas, - The great Midas having dedicated himself to Bacchus [cf. BMSat 8651], obtained from that Deity, the Power of changing all he Touched - Apollo fixed Asses-Ears upon his head, for his Ignorance - & although he tried to hide his disgrace with a Regal Cap, yet the very Sedges which grew from the Mud of the Pactolus, whisper'd out his Infamy, whenever they were agitated by the Wind from the opposite Shore - Vide Ovid's Metamorposes.'"--British Museum online catalogue.
Alternative Title:
Midas transmuting all into paper
Description:
Title etched below image. 'Gold' in title scored through.
Subject (Name):
Auchincloss, Hugh Dudley--Ownership., Bank of England., Erskine, Thomas Erskine,--Baron,--1750-1823--Caricatures and cartoons., Fox, Charles James,--1749-1806--Caricatures and cartoons., Grenville, William Wyndham Grenville,--Baron,--1759-1834--Caricatures and cartoons., Grey, Charles Grey,--Earl,--1764-1845--Caricatures and cartoons., Harvey, Francis--Ownership., Humphrey, Hannah, active 1774-1817, publisher., Melville, Henry Dundas,--Viscount,--1742-1811--Caricatures and cartoons., Pitt, William,--1759-1806--Caricatures and cartoons., Sheridan, Richard Brinsley,--1751-1816--Caricatures and cartoons., Taylor, Michael Angelo,--1757-1834--Caricatures and cartoons., and Windham, William,--1750-1810--Caricatures and cartoons.