Thomas Powys, sleeping in a chair on the left, and Charles Marsham, with a tankard, two of the country gentlemen urging the union between Fox and Pitt, preside over a maypole dance in front of the "St. Albans" tavern, their meeting place. The maypole is decorated with a sleeping head of George III. Dancers include members of the Coalition cabinet, pictured with devil's horns: Charles Fox, with a fox's body, Burke, dressed as a Jesuit, and the Duke of Portland, and members of the preceding cabinet, pictured with haloes: Lord Thurlow, in a judge's robe, a smiling Lord Shelburne, and the Duke of Richmond. They are watched on the left by the "nurse North," with horns, holding baby Pitt, with a halo, and on the right, by the Prince of Wales, dancing to his own tune he is playing on a pipe and a drum
Description:
Title from item., Sheet trimmed within plate mark., and Mounted to 28 x 37 cm.
Publisher:
Pubd. as the act directs, by J. Ridgway, Piccadilly
Subject (Geographic):
Great Britain and England
Subject (Name):
George III, King of Great Britain, 1738-1820., George IV, King of Great Britain, 1762-1830., Fox, Charles James, 1749-1806., Thurlow, Edward Thurlow, Baron, 1731-1806., Burke, Edmund, 1729-1797., Lansdowne, William Petty, Marquis of, 1737-1805., Portland, William Henry Cavendish-Bentinck, Duke of, 1738-1809., Richmond and Lennox, Charles Lennox, Duke of, 1735-1806., North, Frederick, Lord, 1732-1792., Pitt, William, 1759-1806., Lilford, Thomas Powys, Baron, 1743-1800., and Romney, Charles Marsham, Earl of, 1744-1811.
Subject (Topic):
Politics and government, Taverns (Inns), May poles, Dance, and Clothing & dress
In the aftermath of the crisis of early 1783, the past and future ministers are depicted at a table competing for their share in the government. Foremost among them are Fox and North, seated at the top of the table to the left of the King who offers them a loaf signed "Secretary of State." They both hold on to the loaf signed "Treasury," while Lord Shelburne, seated to the King's right, is now empty-handed. In the lower right corner of the image, two dogs identified as "Pay Office Clerks," attempt to sneak away with bags of money, an allusion to Burke's reinstatement of two clerks accused of malversation before his return to the office of paymaster-general and "George III presides at a rectangular table at which sit past and prospective ministers, grasping at the loaves and fishes which lie on the table. On the left side of the table and on the king's right sit Shelburne and his supporters, on the opposite side sit those who have ousted them. The king sits in an ornate chair; on his right sits Shelburne putting his arm on the shoulder of Dunning, who sits on his other side. Shelburne says "I must submit! - may it prove Poison to them say I". Dunning answers "Never mind my Lord - give them rope enough, and they will hang themselves". The king turns to Fox and North, who sit on his left hand, and says, pointing to the table, "pray help your selves Gentlemen". Fox, who has a fox's head, has seized a loaf in each hand, saying "An't please your Maj------ty I'll have these for me & my friends". The loaf under his left hand is inscribed "Treasury"; North, who sits on Fox's left, says, "hold Charley, that's more then comes to your Share". The other two on the right side of the table are Keppel and Burke. Keppel, who is next North, puts his right hand on a loaf; in his left he holds a fish from whose mouth go lines attached to two other fish and another loaf; he is saying "I'm fond of Sea fish". A naval officer opposite him hugs a loaf and grasps the tail of one of the fish on Keppel's line. He is identified in a contemporary hand as Palliser, but is more probably Lord Howe, who was First Lord of the Admiralty from 29 Jan. 1782 (after Keppel's resignation) till 8 April, when he was replaced by Keppel. He is in "profil perdu" but his figure and a black eyebrow suggest Howe. On Keppel's left, and at the right corner of the table, sits Burke grasping a loaf in his right hand, a fish in his left. He is saying "Rhetorick is of no use here! tis catch that catch can". In the foreground (right), at Burke's side, two dogs laden with money-bags are running off to the right. Over them is inscribe "Pay Office Clerks" and (smaller) "Fulham". On the money-bag of one is "£200.000", on that of the other "£100.000". Burke became paymaster-general under Rockingham, resigned office with Fox on Shelburne's appointment, and was again (on 7 April) to become paymaster. On returning to office he reinstated two clerks, Powell and Bembridge, who had recently been dismissed by Barré for malversation, for which he was attacked in parliament on 24 April and 19 May 1783. 'Parl. Hist', xxiii, pp. 900 ff; Wraxall, 'Memoirs', 1884, iii. 77-86. [Possibly the dogs were added in a later issue of the print, as they seem to refer to the scandal over Powell and Bembridge. Powell committed suicide, Bembridge was tried and sentenced.] Opposite Burke, at the near left corner of the table, sits Conway, the Commander-in-Chief, in general's uniform, grasping a fish in one hand, a lobster in the other. He is saying, "I fear they'll not leave me one poor lobster". He had disappointed Fox by not resigning on Shelburne's appointment, he did not however lose office till after the dissolution of Parliament in 1784, when he resigned. In the centre of the table are three unclaimed loaves, the one nearest the king is inscribed "Secretary of State".--British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title from item., Possiblly by Topham., Sheet trimmed within plate mark., and Reissue of no. 6195 in the Catalogue of prints and drawings in the British Museum. Division I, political and personal satires, with a verse from Shakespeare's "Othello" added under the title.
Publisher:
Pub by E. Achery March 24, 1783, St James Street
Subject (Geographic):
England
Subject (Name):
George III, King of Great Britain, 1738-1820., Lansdowne, William Petty, Marquis of, 1737-1805., Dunning, John, Baron Ashburton, 1731-1783., Howe, Richard Howe, Earl, 1726-1799., Conway, Henry Seymour, 1721-1795., Fox, Charles James, 1749-1806., North, Frederick, Lord, 1732-1792., Keppel, Augustus Keppel, Viscount, 1725-1786., and Burke, Edmund, 1729-1797.
George III and Charles Fox, with a fox's head, try to pull the royal crown from each other's hands. Fox is helped by Lord North who wants the share of the crown, while the King is being pulled back by his coat-tails by Pitt who warns him that Fox's and North's ambition "knows no bounds."
Description:
Title from item., Sheet trimmed within plate mark., Place of publication from that of the Rambler's Magazine., Date of publication from British Museum catalogue., Plate from: Rambler's magazine, 1784., and Contemporary drawing of two heads on verso.
Publisher:
publisher not identified
Subject (Geographic):
Great Britain and England
Subject (Name):
George III, King of Great Britain, 1738-1820., Fox, Charles James, 1749-1806., North, Frederick, Lord, 1732-1792., and Pitt, William, 1759-1806.
Subject (Topic):
Politics and government, Confrontations, Crowns, and Clothing & dress
George III is shown in two images in profile: the one facing left (not a good likeness), is directed toward North and Fox, the other a portrait of the King turned towards Shelburne and another figure, possibly Pitt, Lord Gower or the Duke of Richmond
Alternative Title:
Two faces under a hood
Description:
Title from item. and Mounted to 31 x 46 cm.
Publisher:
Pubd. as [the] act directs Jany 4, 1784 by E.D. Achery, St James's Street
Subject (Geographic):
Great Britain and England
Subject (Name):
George III, King of Great Britain, 1738-1820., Fox, Charles James, 1749-1806., North, Frederick, Lord, 1732-1792., Lansdowne, William Petty, Marquis of, 1737-1805., and Janus (Roman deity),
On the left stands a vertically divided figure of Lord Hood on its right and Sir Cecil Wray on its left, the ministerial candidates in the Westminster election. Lord Hood holds an ensign's flag with an incomplete St. Andrew's cross and a broken scepter on it. Sir Cecil holds a spear with a magpie sitting on its top. From the right of the image, the King, with the scepter in his hand and the crown suspended above his head, drives two reluctant electors toward the figure of the candidates, vowing that the election results will be as he commanded
Alternative Title:
Magpye candidates and Magpie candidates
Description:
Title from item., Printmaker from British Museum catalogue., and Mounted to 29 x 41 cm.
Publisher:
Pubd. by W. Stafford, Oxford Mart
Subject (Geographic):
Great Britain, England, and Westminster
Subject (Name):
George III, King of Great Britain, 1738-1820., Hood, Samuel Hood, Viscount, 1724-1816., and Wray, Cecil, Sir, 1734-1805.
Subject (Topic):
Politics and government, Political elections, Scepters, and Clothing & dress