"Courtenay (right), as the chairman of a tavern club, sits at the head of an oblong table, in profile to the left, smoking. He says to George Hanger, who faces him at the foot of the table: "I say, Georgey how do Things look now?" The words issue from his mouth in a cloud of smoke. Hanger answers: "Ax my Grandmother's Muff, pray do!" He holds a pipe, his wine-glass is overturned. His bludgeon is thrust in his top-boot. On Hanger's right sits Fox, leaning back in his chair, registering extravagant amusement and saying "O charming! - charming!" Opposite Fox sits Sheridan, clasping a decanter of 'Brandy' in one hand, a glass in the other. He says, with a sly smile, "Excellent! - damme Georgey, Excellent." Next him, and on Courtenay's right, sits M. A. Taylor, flourishing his pipe and saying, "Bravo! the best Thing I ever heard said, damme." On the table are decanters of 'Mum' and of 'Champaig[n]'. Above Courtenay's head is a picture of a simian creature in a cap of Liberty, squatting on the ground and smoking a pipe. The frame is inscribed 'Juvenal'. The floor is carpeted, the chairs are ornate."--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
Feast of reason and the flow of soul and Wits of the age setting the table in a roar
Pubd. Feby 4th, 1797, by H. Humphrey, New Bond Street
Subject (Name):
Hanger, George, 1751?-1824, Fox, Charles James, 1749-1806, Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, 1751-1816, Taylor, Michael Angelo, 1757-1834, and Courtenay, John, 1738-1816
"Under the title, and from a separate plate, is etched in three columns: 'Description. - One French Soldier putting Hand-cuffs, and another Fetters on the Speaker, whose Mouth is gagged with a Drumstick. The rest of the Members [left], two & two, tied together by the Arms with cords, (Mr Pitt & Mr Dundas by the Leg with an Iron Chain, which has three Padlocks, but the Key-holes spiked up). They are all, dressed in the Uniform of the Convicts of Botany-Bay, to wit, Coats of two Colours, long Breeches [i.e. trousers], no Stockings, & their Heads close shaved; French Guards opposite to the Members, with their Hats on; one of whom carries an Axe, & a Blazon of a Death's Head on his Breast. Two Clerks near him with their Pens in their Ears, hanging their Heads [tied back to back]. Republicans in the Galleries waving their Hats, in which are triple-colour'd Cockades, & clapping their Hands. An English Blacksmith [right], in his Waistcoat & Cap of Liberty, breaking ye Mace in pieces with a fore Hammer, the Statutes tumbled on the Floor, the Cap of Liberty [inscribed 'Egalité'] raised high behind the Speaker's Chair, below which is painted in Capital Letters, " This House adjourned to Botany Bay - sine die." The Chaffers and burning Charcoal continuing to stand in their present places in the House, but filled with red-hot Irons, to sear One Cheek of the Members before they set off; & the Other, if they shall be found Guilty, by the Verdict of a French Jury, of returning to their own Country without Leave of the French Directory in Writing. An English Cobler in the Cap of Liberty, blowing with a Bellows one of the Chaffers the Fuel, the Journals of the House.' [Dalrymple, op. cit. inf., pp. 1-2.] The Speaker holds in his mouth a drum-stick, at each end of which is a bow of parti-coloured ribbon, adding a touch of burlesque. The table lies on its side on the ground and on the heavy cloth lie papers, ink-stand, books: 'Journals of the House' (torn), 'Declaration of Rights', 'Hanover Succession', 'Claim of Rights', 'Magna Charta'. The chained members are on the Ministerial side of the House only, the Opposition side is filled with fierce-looking French soldiers, cavalry (wearing plumed helmets) with drawn sabres, infantry (wearing cocked hats) with fixed bayonets. All have daggers in their belts, except their officer, apparently Bonaparte, who has two pistols in his sash, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword. Pitt and Dundas, chained back to back, stand slightly apart from the other members, guarded by a ruffian with axe and 'blazon' of skull and cross-bones. Three members are chained together by the front bench (left to right): Wilberforce, [?] Lord Mulgrave, Windham. The cobbler and the blacksmith are Fox and Sheridan, much caricatured and scarcely recognizable. [See Dalrymple's prospectus: 'Consequences of the French Invasion', p. vi. He charged Gillray 'not to introduce a single Caricature, or indulge a single sally that could give pain to a British Subject. I had little Occasion to repeat the Advice, for he is a Man of Genius; and, like all such Men, is fair and human'. Dalrymple wrote to Gillray: 'I beg you will not impute what I am going to mention to any Breach of my promise not to interfere in any of the prints. But I confess I wish that the Gag was out of the Speaker's Mouth. It may hurt his feelings as a Gentleman . . .' (n.d.). B.M. Add. 27337, fo. 20. The gag was Dalrymple's idea.]."--British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title etched below image., Publisher's name and publication date in imprint are scored through with lightly etched lines., "Price, 6 d. Colourd. 1 sh. 3 d.", Smaller plate consists entirely of etched text and is printed below title of plate with image., Three columns of text on lower plate begins: Description. One French soldier putting hand-cuffs, and another fetters on the Speaker, whose mouth is gagged ..., Temporary local subject terms: Literature: Allusion to Consequences of the French invasion, by Sir John Dalrymple -- Uniforms: Convicts of Botany Bay -- Musical instruments: Drumstick as a gag -- Interior of House of Commons -- Threat of French invasion -- Propaganda -- Declaration of rights -- Hanover succession -- Journals of the House -- Blazons: Death's head -- Branding irons -- Allusion to Botany Bay -- Clerks -- Cap of Liberty -- Blacksmiths -- Bellows -- Chafers -- Maces -- Magna Charta -- Fore hammers -- Statutes -- Cobblers -- French Republicans -- Speaker of the House -- Military: French soldiers., With: Gillray, J. "We come to recover your long lost liberties": scene, the House of Commons. London: Pubd. March 1st, 1798, by Js. Gillray, 27 St. James's Street, [1 March 1798]., and Watermark: 1794.
Publisher:
Pubd. March 1st, 1798, by Js. Gillray, 27 St. James's Street
Subject (Name):
Pitt, William, 1759-1806, Dundas, Henry, 1742-1811, Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, 1769-1821, Wilberforce, William, 1759-1833, Mulgrave, Henry Phipps, Earl of, 1755-1831, Windham, William, 1750-1810, Fox, Charles James, 1749-1806, and Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, 1751-1816
"Six men, seated and standing behind a table on which are decanters, punch-bowl, &c, drink a treasonous toast. This is given by Priestley (left) who stands in profile to the right, holding up an empty Communion dish and a brimming chalice, saying, "The------ [King's] Head, here!" Fox sits in the centre, raising his glass, his right hand on his heart; he looks up ecstatically, saying, "My Soul & Body, both, upon this Toast!!!" On his right. sits Sir Cecil Wray, saying, "O Heav'ns! why I would empty a Chelsea Pensioners small-beer barrel in such a cause!!" On the extreme left Sheridan bends forward, avidly filling his glass from a decanter of Sherry; he says, "Damn my Eyes! but I'll pledge you that Toast tho Hell gapes for me." On Fox's left sits Horne Tooke, saying, "I have not drank so glorious a Toast since I was Parson of Brentford, & kept it up with Balf & McQuirk!" (He had tried to secure the execution of these two 'bludgeon men' for murder at the Middlesex Election of 1768; though convicted they were pardoned,) He grasps a decanter of 'Holland[s]' (perhaps indicating attachment to Fox, after previous hostility. On the extreme right sits Dr. Lindsey, with (like Sheridan) a drink-blotched face; he drinks, saying, "Amen! Amen!" Before him are two decanters of 'Brandy'. Behind Horne Tooke and Lindsey stands a group of sanctimonious dissenters, with lank hair, much caricatured; three say respectively: "Hear our Prayers: & preserve us from Kings & Whores of Babylon!!!"; "Put enmity between us & the ungodly and bring down the Heads of all Tyrants & usurpers quickly good Lord - Hear us good Lord". and "O! grant the Wishes of thine inheritance""--British Museum catalogue
Description:
Title inscribed in brown ink below image., Date based on published Gillray print., Description of published Gillray print in Catalogue of prints and drawings in the British Museum. Division I, political and personal satires, v. 6, no. 7894., Description of published Gillray print in Works of James Gillray, the caricaturist with the history of his life and times / edited by Thomas Wright. London : Chatto and Windus, [1873?], p. 130., Description of published Gillray print in Historical and descriptive account of the caricatures by James Gillray ... / by Thomas Wright, 1851, no. 58., and A 'counterprint' or transfer in brown ink from another print on verso: A Birmingham toast, as given on the 14th of July by the Revolution Society.
Subject (Name):
Tooke, John Horne, 1736-1812, Priestley, Joseph, 1733-1804, George III, King of Great Britain, 1738-1820, Wray, Cecil, Sir, 1734-1805, Fox, Charles James, 1749-1806, Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, 1751-1816, Lindsey, Theophilus, 1723-1808, and Constitutional Society (London, England)
"Six men, seated and standing behind a table on which are decanters, punch-bowl, &c, drink a treasonous toast. This is given by Priestley (left) who stands in profile to the right, holding up an empty Communion dish and a brimming chalice, saying, "The------ [King's] Head, here!" Fox sits in the centre, raising his glass, his right hand on his heart; he looks up ecstatically, saying, "My Soul & Body, both, upon this Toast!!!" On his right. sits Sir Cecil Wray, saying, "O Heav'ns! why I would empty a Chelsea Pensioners small-beer barrel in such a cause!!" [see BMSat 7892]. On the extreme left Sheridan bends forward, avidly filling his glass from a decanter of Sherry; he says, "Damn my Eyes! but I'll pledge you that Toast tho Hell gapes for me." On Fox's left sits Horne Tooke, saying, "I have not drank so glorious a Toast since I was Parson of Brentford, & kept it up with Balf & McQuirk!" (He had tried to secure the execution of these two 'bludgeon men' for murder at the Middlesex Election of 1768; though convicted they were pardoned, see BMSats 4223-4226.) He grasps a decanter of 'Holland[s]' (perhaps indicating attachment to Fox, after previous hostility, cf. BMSat 7652). On the extreme right sits Dr. Lindsey, with (like Sheridan) a drink-blotched face; he drinks, saying, "Amen! Amen!" Before him are two decanters of 'Brandy'. Behind Horne Tooke and Lindsey stands a group of sanctimonious dissenters, with lank hair, much caricatured; three say respectively: "Hear our Prayers: & preserve us from Kings & Whores of Babylon!!!"; "Put enmity between us & the ungodly and bring down the Heads of all Tyrants & usurpers quickly good Lord - Hear us good Lord". and "O! grant the Wishes of thine inheritance". On the wall above Foxs head is a picture of St. Paul's Cathedral; from the façade emerge the heads of three pigs feeding from a trough. This is 'A Pig's-Stye \ a View from Hackney' (an allusion to Priestley's congregation at the Gravel Pit chapel. Hackney, where he had succeeded Price)."--British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title etched below image., Printmaker from British Museum catalogue., and Sheet trimmed within plate mark on three edges.
Publisher:
Pubd. July 23d, 1791, by S.W. Fores, N. 3 Piccadilly
Subject (Name):
Tooke, John Horne, 1736-1812, Priestley, Joseph, 1733-1804, Wray, Cecil, Sir, 1734-1805, Fox, Charles James, 1749-1806, Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, 1751-1816, and Lindsey, Theophilus, 1723-1808
"Six men, seated and standing behind a table on which are decanters, punch-bowl, &c, drink a treasonous toast. This is given by Priestley (left) who stands in profile to the right, holding up an empty Communion dish and a brimming chalice, saying, "The------ [King's] Head, here!" Fox sits in the centre, raising his glass, his right hand on his heart; he looks up ecstatically, saying, "My Soul & Body, both, upon this Toast!!!" On his right. sits Sir Cecil Wray, saying, "O Heav'ns! why I would empty a Chelsea Pensioners small-beer barrel in such a cause!!" [see BMSat 7892]. On the extreme left Sheridan bends forward, avidly filling his glass from a decanter of Sherry; he says, "Damn my Eyes! but I'll pledge you that Toast tho Hell gapes for me." On Fox's left sits Horne Tooke, saying, "I have not drank so glorious a Toast since I was Parson of Brentford, & kept it up with Balf & McQuirk!" (He had tried to secure the execution of these two 'bludgeon men' for murder at the Middlesex Election of 1768; though convicted they were pardoned, see BMSats 4223-4226.) He grasps a decanter of 'Holland[s]' (perhaps indicating attachment to Fox, after previous hostility, cf. BMSat 7652). On the extreme right sits Dr. Lindsey, with (like Sheridan) a drink-blotched face; he drinks, saying, "Amen! Amen!" Before him are two decanters of 'Brandy'. Behind Horne Tooke and Lindsey stands a group of sanctimonious dissenters, with lank hair, much caricatured; three say respectively: "Hear our Prayers: & preserve us from Kings & Whores of Babylon!!!"; "Put enmity between us & the ungodly and bring down the Heads of all Tyrants & usurpers quickly good Lord - Hear us good Lord". and "O! grant the Wishes of thine inheritance". On the wall above Foxs head is a picture of St. Paul's Cathedral; from the façade emerge the heads of three pigs feeding from a trough. This is 'A Pig's-Stye \ a View from Hackney' (an allusion to Priestley's congregation at the Gravel Pit chapel. Hackney, where he had succeeded Price)."--British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title etched below image., Printmaker from British Museum catalogue., Sheet trimmed within plate mark on three edges., 1 print : etching, hand-colored, on laid paper ; sheet 280 x 496 mm., Sheet trimmed within plate mark on three edges, and two holes have been cut from sheet and repaired., Added in contemporary hand in lower right of sheet: These are the Friends of the Constitution., and Watermark.
Publisher:
Pubd. July 23d, 1791, by S.W. Fores, N. 3 Piccadilly
Subject (Name):
Tooke, John Horne, 1736-1812, Priestley, Joseph, 1733-1804, Wray, Cecil, Sir, 1734-1805, Fox, Charles James, 1749-1806, Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, 1751-1816, and Lindsey, Theophilus, 1723-1808
"Fox (right) has just fired a musket at the British Lion (left), who lies beneath a cushion on which are the crown and sceptre; in his paws is a large scroll: 'The Rights of the People'. Fox takes deliberate aim, resting his musket on the back of his shooting-pony (his stalking-horse), whose head is held by Sheridan. The headband, inscribed 'Ich Dien', and holding the Prince's feathers, indicates the Prince of Wales. His eyes are covered by blinkers. Under his fore-feet are two papers: 'Addresses from Edinburgh Glasgow Borough of Southwark' and 'City of London Vote of Thanks to Mr Pitt . . . 267'. Papers issue from Sheridan's coat-pocket and flutter to the ground: 'Paragraph against the Minister, Puffs direct for the P------e, Puffs oblique for the P------e of W(an allusion to the passage on 'the Puff direct', &c, in 'The Critic', 1. ii), Abuse of the Minister'. Under his foot is the 'Oath of Allegiance'."--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
Misfire at the Constitution
Description:
Title etched below image., Signed with the monogram of James Sayers., 1 print : etching on laid paper ; plate mark 23.9 x 26.3 cm, on sheet 25.2 x 27.5 cm., and Mounted on leaf 47 of James Sayers's Folio album of 144 caricatures.
Publisher:
Publ. 12th Jany. 1789 by Thos. Cornell
Subject (Geographic):
Great Britain.
Subject (Name):
George IV, King of Great Britain, 1762-1830., Fox, Charles James, 1749-1806, and Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, 1751-1816
Subject (Topic):
Regency, Crowns, Horses, Rifles, Scepters, Slogans, National emblems, British, and Hanoverian
"Fox (right) has just fired a musket at the British Lion (left), who lies beneath a cushion on which are the crown and sceptre; in his paws is a large scroll: 'The Rights of the People'. Fox takes deliberate aim, resting his musket on the back of his shooting-pony (his stalking-horse), whose head is held by Sheridan. The headband, inscribed 'Ich Dien', and holding the Prince's feathers, indicates the Prince of Wales. His eyes are covered by blinkers. Under his fore-feet are two papers: 'Addresses from Edinburgh Glasgow Borough of Southwark' and 'City of London Vote of Thanks to Mr Pitt . . . 267'. Papers issue from Sheridan's coat-pocket and flutter to the ground: 'Paragraph against the Minister, Puffs direct for the P------e, Puffs oblique for the P------e of W(an allusion to the passage on 'the Puff direct', &c, in 'The Critic', 1. ii), Abuse of the Minister'. Under his foot is the 'Oath of Allegiance'."--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
Misfire at the Constitution
Description:
Title etched below image., Signed with the monogram of James Sayers., Watermark: (partial) crown on top of shield with fleur-de-lis., and On verso in contemporary hand: A horse being the arms of Hanover, the horse stands for the P[rince] of W[ales], 1789. Fox, Sheridan make the P[rince] of W[ales] their stalking horse to fire at the rights of the Crown & the people.
Publisher:
Publ. 12th Jany. 1789 by Thos. Cornell
Subject (Geographic):
Great Britain.
Subject (Name):
George IV, King of Great Britain, 1762-1830., Fox, Charles James, 1749-1806, and Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, 1751-1816
Subject (Topic):
Regency, Crowns, Horses, Rifles, Scepters, Slogans, National emblems, British, and Hanoverian
"Fox (right) has just fired a musket at the British Lion (left), who lies beneath a cushion on which are the crown and sceptre; in his paws is a large scroll: 'The Rights of the People'. Fox takes deliberate aim, resting his musket on the back of his shooting-pony (his stalking-horse), whose head is held by Sheridan. The headband, inscribed 'Ich Dien', and holding the Prince's feathers, indicates the Prince of Wales. His eyes are covered by blinkers. Under his fore-feet are two papers: 'Addresses from Edinburgh Glasgow Borough of Southwark' and 'City of London Vote of Thanks to Mr Pitt . . . 267'. Papers issue from Sheridan's coat-pocket and flutter to the ground: 'Paragraph against the Minister, Puffs direct for the P------e, Puffs oblique for the P------e of W(an allusion to the passage on 'the Puff direct', &c, in 'The Critic', 1. ii), Abuse of the Minister'. Under his foot is the 'Oath of Allegiance'."--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
Misfire at the Constitution
Description:
Title etched below image., Above on the same sheet is printed the etching of bonnet rouge, the symbol of the revolutionary spirit of the sans-culottes of 1793., and Mounted to 49 x 34 cm.
Publisher:
Publ. 12th Jany, 1789, by Thos. Cornell
Subject (Geographic):
England.
Subject (Name):
Fox, Charles James, 1749-1806 and Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, 1751-1816
"Fox (right) has just fired a musket at the British Lion (left), who lies beneath a cushion on which are the crown and sceptre; in his paws is a large scroll: 'The Rights of the People'. Fox takes deliberate aim, resting his musket on the back of his shooting-pony (his stalking-horse), whose head is held by Sheridan. The headband, inscribed 'Ich Dien', and holding the Prince's feathers, indicates the Prince of Wales. His eyes are covered by blinkers. Under his fore-feet are two papers: 'Addresses from Edinburgh Glasgow Borough of Southwark' and 'City of London Vote of Thanks to Mr Pitt . . . 267'. Papers issue from Sheridan's coat-pocket and flutter to the ground: 'Paragraph against the Minister, Puffs direct for the P------e, Puffs oblique for the P------e of W(an allusion to the passage on 'the Puff direct', &c, in 'The Critic', 1. ii), Abuse of the Minister'. Under his foot is the 'Oath of Allegiance'."--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
Misfire at the Constitution
Description:
Title etched below image., Signed with the monogram of James Sayers., and Mounted on page 65 with one other print.
Publisher:
Publ. 12th Jany. 1789 by Thos. Cornell
Subject (Geographic):
Great Britain.
Subject (Name):
George IV, King of Great Britain, 1762-1830., Fox, Charles James, 1749-1806, and Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, 1751-1816
Subject (Topic):
Regency, Crowns, Horses, Rifles, Scepters, Slogans, National emblems, British, and Hanoverian
On the right a grotesque figure representing the French Republic sits on a pile of gin barrels, serpents writhing in her hair as flames -- labelled Rapine, Murder, Famine, Atheism -- spit from their mouths. At her feet lies the decapitated figure of Justice. Approaching her from the left are Stanhope carrying a model of the House of Lords, a crown, sceptre and the Holy Bible. Following him is Sheridan carrying a model of the Bank of England and Fox who carries a model of India House and the royal arms. The British lion walks in the opposite direction away from the arms. Next, Whitbread hauls three barrels labelled "Whitbreads intire", the Duke of Bedford a promisary note, and finally Erskine carries a pile of books labelled "Treason / Law of / Libel / Misprisons of ..."
Description:
Title from item., Printmaker from British Museum catalogue., "Publ" in imprint partially burnished from plate., and Mounted to 30 x 47 cm.; caricatures partially identified on mount.
Publisher:
Publ. Feby 10, 1794, by S.W. Fores, No. 3 Piccadilly
Subject (Geographic):
France and Great Britain
Subject (Name):
Fox, Charles James, 1749-1806, Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, 1751-1816, Whitbread, Samuel, 1764-1815, Bedford, Francis Russell, Duke of, 1765-1802, and Stanhope, Charles Stanhope, Earl, 1753-1816
Subject (Topic):
Justice (Virtue), Sansculottes, History, Foreign public opinion, British, and Foreign relations