"Alecto, a fantastic hag (as in BMSat 7721), stands outside the Crown and Anchor tavern between a diminutive Sheridan (left), playing a fife, and Fox (right), a burly drummer, both wearing regimentals. She towers above them, holding a long pike surmounted by a cap of 'Liberty' and holding out to John Bull, a yokel (as in BMSat 8141), a handful of 'Assignats'. Hissing serpents form her hair and serpents suck at the pendent breasts which her ragged garments do not cover. She has webbed wings, and wears a French cocked hat with a tricolour cockade inscribed 'Liberty'. ... John Bull stands on the left, scratching his head with a puzzled grin; he wears a smock and very wrinkled gaiters; his hat and a pitchfork are in his left hand. ... Sheridan stands between Alecto and John Bull. ... Fox is much larger than Sheridan, both wear French Grenadier's caps. On his drum is the head of a Medusa (Discord) with snaky locks. He smiles, watching John Bull with a stare of eager calculation. ... Behind him and on the extreme right. Stanhope runs off to the right, stooping as if to conceal himself; in his right hand is a letter: 'To Lord Stanhop[e] from W. Pitt.' ... The door of the Crown & Anchor Tavern is immediately behind Fox and Alecto. From it issue flames and smoke in which imps and demons are flying."--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
Recruiting sarjeant enlisting John-Bull into the Revolution Service
Description:
Title etched below image., Printmaker from British Museum catalogue., Sheet trimmed within plate mark on lower edge., and Watermark: Hall & Taplin 1804.
Publisher:
Pubd. July 4th, 1791, by S.W. Fores, N. 3 Piccadilly
Subject (Name):
Stanhope, Charles Stanhope, Earl, 1753-1816, Fox, Charles James, 1749-1806, and Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, 1751-1816
"Alecto, a fantastic hag (as in BMSat 7721), stands outside the Crown and Anchor tavern between a diminutive Sheridan (left), playing a fife, and Fox (right), a burly drummer, both wearing regimentals. She towers above them, holding a long pike surmounted by a cap of 'Liberty' and holding out to John Bull, a yokel (as in BMSat 8141), a handful of 'Assignats'. Hissing serpents form her hair and serpents suck at the pendent breasts which her ragged garments do not cover. She has webbed wings, and wears a French cocked hat with a tricolour cockade inscribed 'Liberty'. ... John Bull stands on the left, scratching his head with a puzzled grin; he wears a smock and very wrinkled gaiters; his hat and a pitchfork are in his left hand. ... Sheridan stands between Alecto and John Bull. ... Fox is much larger than Sheridan, both wear French Grenadier's caps. On his drum is the head of a Medusa (Discord) with snaky locks. He smiles, watching John Bull with a stare of eager calculation. ... Behind him and on the extreme right. Stanhope runs off to the right, stooping as if to conceal himself; in his right hand is a letter: 'To Lord Stanhop[e] from W. Pitt.' ... The door of the Crown & Anchor Tavern is immediately behind Fox and Alecto. From it issue flames and smoke in which imps and demons are flying."--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
Recruiting sarjeant enlisting John-Bull into the Revolution Service
Description:
Title etched below image., Printmaker from British Museum catalogue., Sheet trimmed within plate mark on lower edge., 1 print : etching, hand-colored, on laid paper ; sheet 377 x 469 mm., and Imperfect; sheet trimmed within plate mark on upper and lower edges with some loss of top portion of image. Mounted to 40 x 56 cm.
Publisher:
Pubd. July 4th, 1791, by S.W. Fores, N. 3 Piccadilly
Subject (Name):
Stanhope, Charles Stanhope, Earl, 1753-1816, Fox, Charles James, 1749-1806, and Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, 1751-1816
"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. and Temporary local subject terms: Sacks of money -- Bank notes.
Publisher:
Pub. March 1st, 1797, by H. Humphrey, New Bond Street
Subject (Name):
Fox, Charles James, 1749-1806, Pitt, William, 1759-1806, Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, 1751-1816, Stanhope, Charles Stanhope, Earl, 1753-1816, Grenville, William Wyndham Grenville, Baron, 1759-1834, Rosslyn, Alexander Wedderburn, Earl of, 1733-1805, and Kenyon, Lloyd Kenyon, Baron, 1732-1802
"Fox, as a beggar, holds out his bonnet rouge to the door of the 'Crown & Anchor' tavern to catch the shower of dishonoured paper which the talons of the Devil are scattering; smoke and flames issue from the doorway. Fox, unkempt and unshaven, his tattered coat and breeches scarcely covering his naked body, has an expression of desperate eagerness; he holds under his coat a dagger which drips blood. From his coat-pocket project a dice-box and cards, the Knave of Clubs uppermost (cf. BMSat 6488). Behind him are his needy followers: Sheridan (a pair of pistols in his coat-pocket), M. A. Taylor, and Horne Tooke immediately behind him, also clutching concealed daggers and holding out their bonnets rouges. Close behind these are Hall the apothecary, Priestley, and Lord Stanhope, whose attitudes show that they too are clasping daggers and proffering caps for alms. From Hall's pocket protrude a syringe and a medicine-bottle labelled 'W. Pitt.' Three other heads are indicated. The Devil's words issue from the door among flames: "Dear Sir | Seldom have I experienced more heart-felt pleasure | "than now in executing the wishes of my Committee; - I flatter | "myself you will not be displeased with the convincing proof of the | "esteem of so many & so honorable persons; who far from imagining they | "are about to confer any obligations upon you, will think themselves | "honoured & obliged by your acceptance of their endeavours to be | "grateful for your unremitted efforts to effectuate | the Grand Object they have so deeply at heart." Fox answers: "Dear Sir - You will easily believe, that it is not | "mere form of words when I say, that I am wholly at a loss how | "to express my feelings upon the Charity which you are now in so kind a | "manner showering upon me, - In my wretched situation, to receive such a proof | "of the esteem of the Committee, - to be reliev'd at once from Contempt & Beggary! | "for such as me, to receive a Boon which even the most disinterested would think their | "lives well spent in obtaining! is a rare instance of felicity, which has been reserved for me; - | "It is with perfect sincerity that I declare, that in no other manner in which a Charity | "could have been bestow'd upon me, would have been so highly gratifying to every feeling | "of my heart, - I accept, therefore, with the most sincere gratitude, the bounty of the Committee | "and consider it as an additional obligation upon me, to adhere strictly to whatever mea- | "-sures the Committee may find it convenient to pursue; & to persevere thro' thick and thin | "in That line of conduct, to which alone, I am conscious, that I am indebted for this, as | "well as for every other mark of their approbation. - " Sheridan says: "Make haste, Charley! - make haste! - make haste! - for I long to have my turn come on; - I have been a Greek Emigrant a hell of a while, & relief could never come more seasonable: - and here's our "little Chicken" wants to peck up a little corn; & our old friend Blood & Brentford, the orthodox Parson, swears he has a right to a Particle; heres Glysterpipe expects to be paid for purging Administration; & old Phlogistick the Hackney Schoolmaster, expects some new Birmingham halfpence - besides ten Thousand more, with empty pockets, & hungry bellies, lads fit for any enterprize! who only want engagement; - but cannot get a Crust, before you are served! make haste Charley! - make haste! make haste." Over the tavern door is inscribed 'Whig Club'. The papers pouring into Fox's cap are inscribed 'Forged Notes' (twice), 'Swindlers Notes', 'Jews Bonds', 'Bankrupts Notes', 'Country Bank' (twice), 'Gamblers Notes', 'Blue & Buff Bonds', 'Forfeited Mortgages'."--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
Blue and buff charity and Patriarch of the Greek clergy applying for relief
Description:
Title etched below image., Sheet trimmed within plate mark., and Temporary local subject terms: Allusion to the French Revolution -- Emblems: tricolored cockades -- Male costume: bonnet rouge -- Taverns: Crown and Anchor -- Weapons: daggers -- Subscriptions: subscription for Fox, 1793 -- Architectural details: doorway -- Gambling: cards and dicebox -- Allusion to the Whig party -- Banknotes -- Devil.
Publisher:
Pubd. June 12th, 1793, by H. Humphrey, No. 18 Old Bond Street
Subject (Name):
Fox, Charles James, 1749-1806, Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, 1751-1816, Taylor, Michael Angelo, 1757-1834, Tooke, John Horne, 1736-1812, Priestley, Joseph, 1733-1804, Stanhope, Charles Stanhope, Earl, 1753-1816, and Hall, Edward, active 1784-1793
"Fantastic insects (l.), with human heads assail a hive (r.) standing on a low and very solid wooden stand, the 'Treasury-Bench'; ministerial bees emerge to defend it. The apex of the hive is a royal crown from which sprout ears of straw. In the upper left. corner is the grotesque body of Sidmouth terminating in a clyster-pipe inscribed 'Clysteria Ministeria'; the wings are bottles inscribed 'Emetic' and 'Cathartic' [cf. BMSat 9849]. Above him flies the head of (?) Fitzpatrick between wings inscribed 'Hedge Lane' and 'Chick-lane' (London slums and resorts of prostitutes). An adjacent aquiline profile resembles George Hanger. Below, and to the right., is Lauderdale, his wings patterned with tartan. Above (r.) is Erskine, in barrister's wig and bands, both wings inscribed 'Protest'. Next (r.), Moira is supported on ostrich-feather wings, indicating the Prince of Wales (see, e.g., BMSat 10253). Immediately below him is Grattan, with a barbed tail, his wings inscribed 'Irish Emancipation' [cf. BMSat 10404]. Next, and in the forefront, is Grey, like a dragon-fly (and striped blue and buff), his four wings inscribed 'Vanity'. In the next row below are (l. to r.) Ellenborough with malevolent features framed in a judge's wig; Bedford, his wings inscribed 'Disappointment'; Sheridan, his bloated body patterned like Harlequin (cf. BMSat 9916, &c), his wings inscribed 'Stale Jests' and 'Joe Miller'. The huge Temple has wings made of sheets of paper, inscribed 'Stationary', 'Fools-Cap', 'Gilt Post', and 'Wax', 'Pens', 'Wafers' [see BMSat 10721, &c.]. He spits copiously at the defenders. Next is the age-worn profile of Grafton. In the row below are (l. to r.) Lord Holland, with wings inscribed 'Volponean Rancour' [as nephew and devoted pupil of Fox, cf. BMSat 9892] and 'Kalpinist [Hindu] Subtilty'. Next, Lord Spencer, his wings inscribed 'Cunning Policy', and (behind) the profile of Lord Carlisle. Next, and immediately below his son Temple, is Buckingham, in spectacles and Garter ribbon, directing a blast from his 'broad bottom' against the crown on the hive. His wings are 'Catholic Loyalty' and 'Catholic Gratitude'. Close to him is the distended body of Grenville, marked with an irradiated cross and puffing a curling cloud at the enemy. His wings are 'Envy' and 'Ambition'. The three Grenvilles, 'Broad-Bottoms' (see BMSat 10530) par excellence, are close together, and in the centre front of the attack. ..."--British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title etched below image., Mounted to 31 x 43 cm., and Pencil notations by Mrs. Annie Burr Lewis identifying most of the caricatured persons on the left.
Publisher:
Publish'd May 2d, 1808, by H. Humphrey, St. James's Street
Subject (Name):
Sidmouth, Henry Addington, Viscount, 1757-1844, Hastings, Francis Rawdon-Hastings, Marquess of, 1754-1826, Lauderdale, James Maitland, Earl of, 1759-1839, Erskine, Thomas Erskine, Baron, 1750-1823, Hanger, George, 1751?-1824, Grey, Charles Grey, Earl, 1764-1845, Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, 1751-1816, Bedford, John Russell, Duke of, 1766-1839, Ellenborough, Edward Law, Baron, 1750-1818, Grattan, Henry, 1746-1820, Buckingham and Chandos, Richard Temple Nugent Brydges Chandos, Duke of, 1776-1839, Grenville, William Wyndham Grenville, Baron, 1759-1834, Spencer, George John Spencer, Earl, 1758-1834, Grafton, Augustus Henry Fitzroy, Duke of, 1735-1811, Norfolk, Charles Howard, Duke of, 1746-1815, Carlisle, Frederick Howard, Earl of, 1748-1825, Holland, Henry Richard Vassall, Baron, 1773-1840, Buckingham, George Nugent Temple Grenville, Marquess of, 1753-1813, William IV, King of Great Britain, 1765-1837, St. Vincent, John Jervis, Viscount, 1735-1823, Windham, William, 1750-1810, Smith-Stanley, Edward, 1752-1834, Stanhope, Charles Stanhope, Earl, 1753-1816, Tierney, George, 1761-1830, Tooke, John Horne, 1736-1812, Burdett, Francis, 1770-1844, Lansdowne, Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, Marquess of, 1780-1863, Whitbread, Samuel, 1764-1815, Canning, George, 1770-1827, Taylor, Michael Angelo, 1757-1834, Castlereagh, Robert Stewart, Viscount, 1769-1822, Perceval, Spencer, 1762-1812, Eldon, John Scott, Earl of, 1751-1838, Liverpool, Robert Banks Jenkinson, Earl of, 1770-1828, Melville, Henry Dundas, Viscount, 1742-1811, and Rose, George, 1744-1818
"Fox and Sheridan officiate at the wedding of Lady Lucy Stanhope and an apothecary who is made up of medical implements. The bride is a pretty girl wearing a feathered hat from which a transparent veil falls over her face. Stanhope (left), without breeches, and wearing a bonnet-rouge, stooping in profile to the right, pushes her towards the bridegroom who is placing a ring on her finger; from his coat-pocket protrudes a three-masted vessel flying a tricolour flag (see BMSat 8640). The bridegroom, Taylor, is also a sansculotte; his posteriors are formed of a syringe, his body is a mortar, from which issues a pestle supporting a bonnet-rouge. His arm is made of two medicine-phials. Fox stands full-face behind the altar balustrade holding open Paine's 'Rights of Man' (see BMSat 7867, &c). He wears surplice and bands. Sheridan stands (right) in profile to the left, reading from 'Thelwal's Lectures' (cf. BMSat 8685), he wears a lay coat with bands; both wear bonnets-rouges. On the wall which forms a background, and immediately above Fox, is a large picture, 'Shrine of Equality': three men wearing bonnets-rouges officiate at a guillotine; the blade is about to fall on a man wearing a ducal coronet; other peers stand (right) waiting their turn. On the ground by the guillotine lie coronets which have just been chopped off."--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
Union of the coronet & clyster pipe, Alliance a la Franc̦aise, and Union of the coronet and clyster pipe
Description:
Title etched below image., Printmaker from British Museum catalogue., Sheet trimmed within plate mark., and Temporary local subject terms: Marriage ceremonies -- Rings: wedding rings -- Marriages: misalliance -- Medical implements -- Bonnets rouges -- Allusion to sansculottes -- Reference to Paine's The Rights of Man -- Reference to John Thelwall's Tribune -- Pictures amplifying subject: guillotining of peers -- Architectural details: balustrades -- Lady Lucy Rachel Stanhope -- Thomas Taylor of Sevenoaks.
Publisher:
Pubd. March 4th, 1796, by H. Humphrey, New Bond Street
Subject (Name):
Fox, Charles James, 1749-1806, Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, 1751-1816, and Stanhope, Charles Stanhope, Earl, 1753-1816
"The members of the Secret Committee of the Commons are seated round a table examining the documents relating to the United Irishmen and other revolutionary societies. A lamp on the table illuminates a large framed transparency [The transparency, a large pictorial design lit from behind, was a popular form of street illumination. On 5 Nov. 1813 (for the battle of Leipzig) Ackermann displayed on the façade of his 'Repository' Rowlandson's 'The Two Kings of terror, afterwards published as a print. Broadley, i. 338.] divided into four equal sections which hangs from the ceiling and conceals the heads of the Committee ; the four scenes depict the supposed intentions of the revolutionaries. The transparency is irradiated, throwing into deep shadow members of the Opposition in the foreground (right), who flee from the room in a body, terror-struck. The nearest (three-quarter length) are Erskine, clutching a brief-bag, Fox, M. A. Taylor, and Norfolk. Behind these are Tierney, Sheridan, and Nicholls; in the last row are Sir J. Sinclair, Burdett, Moira, Bedford. The two most prominent members, though in back view with heads obscured, suggest Pitt (left) and Dundas (right); they read papers inscribed 'Scheme to Overthrow the British Constitution, & to seize on all public Property and Invitation to the French Republic'. Over the edge of the table hang the bulky 'Reports of the Secret Committee of the House of Commons.' On the floor are four papers: 'Names of Traitors now sufferd to remain at large'; 'Oath of the Members of the Society of the United Irishmen in London'; 'Account of ye Lodge of United Englishmen, & of the Monks of St Ann's Shrine' [see BMSat 9217]; 'Proceedings of the London Corresponding Society with a list of all the Members.' [See BMSat 9189, &c] The transparency is suspended on tricolour ribbons. Titles are engraved on the frame: [1] 'Plundering the Bank'. A scene in the Rotunda; tiny figures hasten off with sacks of gold, the most prominent being Tierney with '£10000'. Sir William Pulteney (identified from his resemblance to BMSat 9212) staggers off to the left with two sacks; the poker-like Moira has a sack on his head; two men dispute over a sack, one being Walpole with his huge cocked hat, the other resembling Jekyll; Sheridan (right) slouches off with two sacks. Proletarians exult over small money-bags. [2] 'Assassinating the Parliament'. The interior of the House of Commons is realistically depicted; the Opposition violently attack the occupants of the Government benches, daggers being the chief weapon. Erskine (left) is about to murder Dundas; Fox strikes at Pitt, holding him by the throat, while Sheridan is about to stab Pitt in the back. The puny Walpole tries to drag the Speaker from his chair, while Burdett raises the mace to smite him. Sir John Sinclair raises a broadsword to smite a man held down by little M. A. Taylor. Volumes of 'Acts and Statutes' fall to the floor. [3] 'Seizing the Crown. \ Scene the Tower'. Exulting plunderers emerge from the gate of the Tower on to the drawbridge. Bedford, dressed as a jockey (cf. BMSat 9380), walks ahead with two sacks: 'New Coinage' and 'New Guineas'; Fox, [Identified by Grego as Lansdowne.] smiling, holds the crown; Lauderdale, wearing a kilt, carries the sceptre. Just behind is Sir George Shuckburgh. Stanhope (or Grattan) carries a sack, 'Regalia of E[ngland]'. On the right a chimney-sweep and others dance round a bonfire in which 'Records' are burning. Cf. BMSat 7354, where Fox carries off the crown from the Tower. [4] 'Establishing the French Government. \ St James s Palace'. French troops march with arrogant goose-step and fixed bayonets into the gateway of the palace; their large tricolour flag is inscribed 'Vive la Republique Français'. In the foreground is planted a tall spear surmounted by a bonnet-rouge (a tree of Liberty, cf. BMSat 9214, &c.); at its base are decollated heads wearing coronets and a mitre. They are cheered by spectators (right): Grattan holding 'Grattans Address', Norfolk holding his staff, Lord Derby in hunting-dress standing on an overturned sentry-box, Moira standing like a ramrod. ...."--British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title etched below image., Two lines of text below title: Representing the Secret-Committee throwing a light upon the dark sketches of a revolution found among the papers of the Jacobin societies lately apprehended ..., and Sheet trimmed to plate mark.
Publisher:
Pubd. April 15th, 1799, by H. Humphrey, 27 St. James Street, London
Subject (Name):
Fox, Charles James, 1749-1806, Erskine, Thomas Erskine, Baron, 1750-1823, Taylor, Michael Angelo, 1757-1834, Norfolk, Charles Howard, Duke of, 1746-1815, Tierney, George, 1761-1830, Nicholls, John, 1745?-1832, Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, 1751-1816, Burdett, Francis, 1770-1844, Sinclair, John, Sir, 1754-1835, Bedford, Francis Russell, Duke of, 1765-1802, Hastings, Francis Rawdon-Hastings, Marquess of, 1754-1826, Pitt, William, 1759-1806, Dundas, Henry, 1742-1811, Jekyll, Joseph, 1754-1837, Walpole, George, 1761-1830, Pulteney, William, Lauderdale, James Maitland, Earl of, 1759-1839, Shuckburgh-Evelyn, George Augustus William, Sir, 1751-1804, Smith-Stanley, Edward, 1752-1834, Stanhope, Charles Stanhope, Earl, 1753-1816, and Grattan, Henry, 1746-1820
"Stanhope, followed by Derby, Lauderdale, M. A. Taylor, and Grey, advances from left to right, left arm outstretched in the attitude of an orator. All wear the correct dress of the Five Hundred, resembling that of BMSat 9197, but in different colours: white robe, red cloak, blue cap and sash. The borders of the robe are embroidered in red, of the cloak in blue. Lauderdale, who is usually dwarfish in caricature, appears tall compared with the short and obese Derby, whose arms are folded, and his head, as always, turned in 'profil perdu'. Behind Lauderdale is M. A. Taylor, also short, but taller than Derby. Above him towers a man usually identified as Byng; Lord Holland (MS. note) identifies him as Grey, 'not Byng'. They stand on flag-stones. See BMSat 9196."--British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title etched below image., Third plate in the series "French habits." First plate in the series has series title "Habits of new French legislators and other public functionaries.", Sheet trimmed within plate mark., and Temporary local subject terms: French costume: Directory Five Hundred.
Publisher:
Pubd. April 18th, 1798, by H. Humphrey, St. James's Street
Subject (Name):
Stanhope, Charles Stanhope, Earl, 1753-1816, Smith-Stanley, Edward, 1752-1834, Lauderdale, James Maitland, Earl of, 1759-1839, Taylor, Michael Angelo, 1757-1834, and Grey, Charles Grey, Earl, 1764-1845
"Pitt as, a Roman charioteer, wearing a laurel wreath, is seated in an ornate chariot drawn (left to right) by the British Lion and the White Horse of Hanover (cf. BMSat 8691). He holds the reins, but scarcely controls the galloping pair. One foot rests on a shield bearing a fanged serpent, and wreathed with serpents, inscribed: 'Exit Python Republicanus'. Behind him is a book decorated with a lyre inscribed 'Magna Charta'. Ornate projections from the back of the chariot support the disk of the 'Sun of the Constitution': the Hebrew letters for Jehovah are surrounded by the words COMMONS . KING . LORDS; this is irradiated, the royal arms being etched partly on the sun, partly on its rays, and immediately behind Pitt. Two cherubs fly behind the chariot and on the extreme left; one holds up a 'Bible', the other a family tree of the 'Brunswick Succession': from the base, inscribed 'Ge III', rises 'G IV', from whose circle sprout five stems; beneath is inscribed: 'And future Kings, and Monarchs yet unborn'. A fringed cloth on the back of the horse is covered by the royal arms; one on the lion has Britannia, seated as on coins, but holding up a dagger in one hand, a birch-rod in the other. Both animals dash furiously forward in pursuit of the Opposition. The horse snorts fire; from his forehead thunderbolts dart towards the fugitives. The chariot is on an ascending slope of smooth cloud, lit by the 'Sun of the Constitution' (cf. BMSat 8287, &c.) and strewn with roses which fall from the draperies of Justice, who floats before the chariot, leading it on, her head surrounded by a scroll inscribed 'Honorable Peace, or Everlasting War'. In her left hand she holds up her balanced scales, in her right she grasps a flag-staff on which the British flag floats above a tattered tricolour pennant, inscribed 'Republic'. From under the dark and turbulent edges of the cloud-path the Opposition flee into the void. On the extreme left is the half length figure of a monstrous hag, her hair composed of serpents spitting fire, with a fillet inscribed 'The Whig Club'. In her right hand she holds one of the serpents which issue from her pendent breasts, in the left is an almost extinguished firebrand. She glares up in impotent rage. Beneath the horse and lion (right) are the heads and shoulders of (left to right) Sheridan, Fox, and Stanhope, their hair streaming behind them; each drops a dagger from his raised right hand. Sheridan and Fox have expressions of gloomy terror, Stanhope is melancholy but composed. In the abyss beneath the clouds are three small winged creatures: an owl (left) with the head of Lansdowne, two bats, one with the head of M. A. Taylor, the other (right) with that of Erskine. In their flight they have left behind them on the path of cloud three papers: 'Plan for inflaming the Dissenters in Scotland'; 'A scheme for raising the Catholicks in Ireland' (cf. BMSat 8632); 'Jacobin Prophecies for breeding Sedition in England' (an allusion to Brothers, see BMSat 8627, &c). A second group flees upwards away from the thunderbolts of the Hanoverian horse; from the head of each falls a bonnet-rouge whose peak terminates in a (fool's) bell (cf. BMSat 9374). They are Lauderdale, with clasped hands, the Duke of Norfolk looking round apprehensively, above him the Duke of Grafton, and above again Lord Derby. [Lord Holland gives alternative identifications: Stanhope is Francis, and Grafton is Stanhope. These two, however, closely resemble other heads by Gillray of Stanhope and Grafton.] Above their heads and among the clouds are fleeing serpents, a bonnet-rouge, a book: 'Irruption of the Goths and Vandals. 2d Edition', and a scroll whose ragged edges merge in cloud: 'Patriotick Propositions. Peace, Peace on any Terms. Fraternisation Unconditional Submission No Law, no King, No God.' Another branch of cloud diverges to the left behind Justice. Its upper part is covered with wrecked ships and tiny fleeing figures. These are little sansculottes, all with large bonnets-rouges, one naked, others barelegged except for boots or sabots. They drop their swords."--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
Sun of the Constitution rising superior to the clouds of Opposition
Description:
Title etched below image., Sheet trimmed leaving thread margins., and Temporary local subject terms: Vehicles: Roman chariot -- Emblems : British Lion -- Emblems: the Horse of Hanover -- Symbols: figure of Justice -- Flags: British flag -- French republican flag -- Symbols: bonnet rouge -- Reference to Magna Charta -- Reference to George III and George IV -- Britannia -- Royal arms -- Reference to the Brunswick succession -- Reference to Bible -- Whig Club -- Monsters -- Sansculottes -- Reference to Jacobins -- Weapons: daggers -- Cherubs -- Sun of the Constitution -- Reference to the Parliament.
Publisher:
Pubd. April 30th, 1795, by H. Humphrey, No. 37 New Bond Street
Subject (Name):
Pitt, William, 1759-1806, Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, 1751-1816, Fox, Charles James, 1749-1806, Stanhope, Charles Stanhope, Earl, 1753-1816, Lauderdale, James Maitland, Earl of, 1759-1839, Lansdowne, William Petty, Marquis of, 1737-1805, Smith-Stanley, Edward, 1752-1834, Taylor, Michael Angelo, 1757-1834, Grafton, Augustus Henry Fitzroy, Duke of, 1735-1811, and Norfolk, Charles Howard, Duke of, 1746-1815