"Mrs. Clarke stands behind the bar of the House of Commons holding up a flower-pot-shaped vessel (the pan of a commode) inscribed Opposition Stink Box. In her right hand she holds up its lid: Cover of Infamy. From this 'box' issue flames, smoke, and fanged serpents which dart towards and obscure the Royal Arms above the Speaker's chair. The House is seen from the left so that only a corner of the front bench is visible on the Ministerial side of the House, while the Opposition benches with a corner of the gallery above form the greater part of the background (right). Members of the Government hold their noses in disgust while the Opposition listen with avid delight, and the back-benchers wave their hats ecstatically. Only three Ministerialists are characterized: (left to right) Castlereagh, wearing a cocked hat, Canning, Perceval. On the right the four in the front rows to the right of Mrs. Clarke and closest to her are Petty, clasping his hat, Whitbread and Burdett behind him, and (behind Whitbread) Sheridan. Wilberforce (?) stands, waving his hat, Windham is in the second row. The serpents issuing from the 'box' are Calumny, Lies, Ingratitude, Deceit, Revenge, Forgery, Perjury. The commode (left) stands open, cylindrical and ornate, inscribed: Broad Bottom Reservoir. Round it bundles of documents are heaped: Forged Letters & Forged Answers from the Duke; Forged Orders; Forged Appointments; Scheme to destroy the House of Brunswick [see British Museum Satires No. 11234]; Commissions & Appointments for Sale to the best Bidder, Agents to conduct the Sale--Frome, Sanden, Dowler, Kennet, Donnovan, Corri; Love Letters from Mr Waddle [Wardle], Mr Finnerty, Gen Clamering [Clavering], Mr Maltby, Major Hogan; Private Communications from his Excell. The Morrocco Ambassador; Prices of Commissions in the Army, A Clarke Secy; List of Mrs Clarkes Pension[s] £1000 . . . Mrs. Clarke's dress is approximately correct (cf. British Museum Satires No. 11225), but her (white) hat is coloured blue, the length of the veil is exaggerated; her (profile) features are made coarser and bolder, and a patch (signifying disreputability) is added to her cheek."--British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title etched below image. and Mounted on leaf 62 of volume 6 of 12.
Publisher:
Publishd. Feby. 22d, 1809, by H. Humphrey, 27 St. James's Street
Subject (Geographic):
Great Britain.
Subject (Name):
Clarke, Mary Anne, 1776?-1852, Canning, George, 1770-1827, Castlereagh, Robert Stewart, Viscount, 1769-1822, Perceval, Spencer, 1762-1812, Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, 1751-1816, Windham, William, 1750-1810, Burdett, Francis, 1770-1844, Lansdowne, Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, Marquess of, 1780-1863, Whitbread, Samuel, 1764-1815, and Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons,
Subject (Topic):
Legislative bodies, Politicians, Mistresses, Scandals, Snakes, Washstands, and Documents
"Mrs. Clarke stands behind the bar of the House of Commons holding up a flower-pot-shaped vessel (the pan of a commode) inscribed Opposition Stink Box. In her right hand she holds up its lid: Cover of Infamy. From this 'box' issue flames, smoke, and fanged serpents which dart towards and obscure the Royal Arms above the Speaker's chair. The House is seen from the left so that only a corner of the front bench is visible on the Ministerial side of the House, while the Opposition benches with a corner of the gallery above form the greater part of the background (right). Members of the Government hold their noses in disgust while the Opposition listen with avid delight, and the back-benchers wave their hats ecstatically. Only three Ministerialists are characterized: (left to right) Castlereagh, wearing a cocked hat, Canning, Perceval. On the right the four in the front rows to the right of Mrs. Clarke and closest to her are Petty, clasping his hat, Whitbread and Burdett behind him, and (behind Whitbread) Sheridan. Wilberforce (?) stands, waving his hat, Windham is in the second row. The serpents issuing from the 'box' are Calumny, Lies, Ingratitude, Deceit, Revenge, Forgery, Perjury. The commode (left) stands open, cylindrical and ornate, inscribed: Broad Bottom Reservoir. Round it bundles of documents are heaped: Forged Letters & Forged Answers from the Duke; Forged Orders; Forged Appointments; Scheme to destroy the House of Brunswick [see British Museum Satires No. 11234]; Commissions & Appointments for Sale to the best Bidder, Agents to conduct the Sale--Frome, Sanden, Dowler, Kennet, Donnovan, Corri; Love Letters from Mr Waddle [Wardle], Mr Finnerty, Gen Clamering [Clavering], Mr Maltby, Major Hogan; Private Communications from his Excell. The Morrocco Ambassador; Prices of Commissions in the Army, A Clarke Secy; List of Mrs Clarkes Pension[s] £1000 . . . Mrs. Clarke's dress is approximately correct (cf. British Museum Satires No. 11225), but her (white) hat is coloured blue, the length of the veil is exaggerated; her (profile) features are made coarser and bolder, and a patch (signifying disreputability) is added to her cheek."--British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title etched below image., 1 print : etching and aquatint ; plate mark 36.2 x 26.1 cm, on sheet 36.9 x 27 cm., Printed on wove paper; hand-colored., and Bound in between third and fourth front flyleaves.
Publisher:
Publishd. Feby. 22d, 1809, by H. Humphrey, 27 St. James's Street
Subject (Geographic):
Great Britain.
Subject (Name):
Clarke, Mary Anne, 1776?-1852, Canning, George, 1770-1827, Castlereagh, Robert Stewart, Viscount, 1769-1822, Perceval, Spencer, 1762-1812, Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, 1751-1816, Windham, William, 1750-1810, Burdett, Francis, 1770-1844, Lansdowne, Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, Marquess of, 1780-1863, Whitbread, Samuel, 1764-1815, and Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons,
Subject (Topic):
Legislative bodies, Politicians, Mistresses, Scandals, Snakes, Washstands, and Documents
"A fantastic and complicated design. Queen Caroline leans back in an arm-chair, pen in hand, staring as if at a vision, her black locks flying outwards and upwards. Above her head, as if sprung from it, is an owl with the cross of the Order of St. Caroline (see British Museum Satires No. 13810) in its beak, and on its head a fool's cap with bells. She wears a décolletée dress with voluminous gathered trousers, as in many prints; her right foot is placed regally on a footstool. Her right arm rests on a table and on the paper on which she writes: To the King. She listens to a serpent held up by Dr. Parr, brandyfaced and naked except for his wig, one of several figures pressing round her, partly obscured by shadow. Lieut. Hownam looks over her right shoulder, two other faces are partly hidden, one may be Flinn, the other resembles Burdett. The aquiline profile of Hobhouse is behind Parr. On the right stands a broom, supporting a wig and gown (Brougham); another wig and gown beside it must indicate Denman; both are in back view. On the left and in the foreground stands Wood, as a devil, hairy and naked except for a furred gown, symbol of the alderman. He turns towards her, holding a baton, topped by a little cap of Liberty, and strings attached to two tiny processions: a state-coach (the Queen's) drawn by four horses and a band of armoured men on horseback, with banners, one inscribed Brass [the braziers' procession, see British Museum Satires No. 14119]. They are surrounded by clouds of dust. Over his shoulder look Cobbett, wearing a red cap with tricolour cockade and brandishing a bone (Paine's, see British Museum Satires No. 13525). To left and right of these advisers are evil gangs (cf. British Museum Satires No. 14194): a procession (left) of men with tall staves or pikes topped by caps of Liberty, and with a tricolour banner inscribed No Church no King no Constitution Universal Suffrage & Annual Plunder for ever. They wave their hats and cheer; their leader wears an apron. Above them floats a figure of Justice holding scales and a crown. Behind on the right naked arms raise firebrands, fanatical faces loom from the shadow; one at least has the snaky locks of Discord. The ornate round table at which the Queen writes is piled with boxes; on the largest, inscribed Secrets of the Baron, stands a small lifelike image of Bergami dressed as a courier. Other objects are a wallet from which projects a paper: 50,000 Per Ann [see British Museum Satires No. 14145], a vase of flowers, a decanter labelled (punningly) Tent [see British Museum Satires No. 13818]. On the floor are two figurines, one in back view, the other of Mahomet dancing (see British Museum Satires No. 13929). At the Queen's feet are her much-feathered four-cornered cap, and papers, one headed My dear Ca . . . and signed BB [Bartolomeo Bergami], the other beginning My dear C and signed Mat. [Wood]. By the broom are bulky bundles of papers: Brooming Correspondence and Defence of Moth[er Red Cap, see British Museum Satires No. 13975]. The owl is the base of an irregular inverted cone, formed of cloud-borne objects from the Queen's head. These are: Cobbets Register, The Times (see British Museum Satires No. 13968), The Champion (see British Museum Satires No. 13677), realistically depicted; three conical caps of Liberty with tricolour cockades inscribed respectively Bat, Cat, Mat [for Bergami, the Queen, and Wood; the title of a print, see British Museum Satires No. 14206 [23]]; Letters to Watch Makers [of] Coventry C B, over which hangs a watch and chain. Two large sketch-books, open: [1] Journal of a Tour to Jerusalem [see British Museum Satires No. 13918, &c.] with a view of a large mosque inscribed Temple of Solomon C.B del. [2] [Mem]oranda of the [Vi]lla d Este, facing a view of a large lake-side villa (see British Museum Satires No. 13857); this partly covers a third sketch: [Bucki]ngham House [the Queen's House as in British Museum Satires No. 14175]. Three large bundles of letters: Letters to the Baron [Bergami]; Wooden Headed Addresses Below Par; Answers to Addresses above Par [i.e. composed by Parr, see British Museum Satires No. 13934]. In a picture of a royal coach drawn by six horses and with three footmen behind the tiny passenger seems to be the Queen. Next this along the upper edge of the cone are pieces of plate decorated with a crown: urn, salver, goblet, candlestick, spoons, &c, with a paper: Plate Subscription.."--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
Evil communications corrupt good manners
Description:
Title etched below image., Attributed to Theodore Lane in the British Museum catalogue., Sheet trimmed within plate mark., Watermark: J. Whatman 1821., Mounted to 58 x 39 cm., Mounted on leaf 96 in volume 2 of the W.E. Gladstone collection of caricatures and broadsides surrounding the "Queen Caroline Affair.", and Figures of "Wood," "Bergami," "Caroline," "Brougham," and "Denman" identified in ink below image; date "10 July 1821" written in lower right corner. Typed extract of twenty-three lines from the British Museum catalogue description is pasted opposite (on verso of preceding leaf).
Publisher:
Pubd. by G. Humphrey, 27 St. James's St.
Subject (Name):
Caroline, Queen, consort of George IV, King of Great Britain, 1768-1821, Parr, Samuel, 1747-1825, Burdett, Francis, 1770-1844, Broughton, John Cam Hobhouse, Baron, 1786-1869, Brougham and Vaux, Henry Brougham, Baron, 1778-1868., Denman, Thomas Denman, Baron, 1779-1854., Wood, Matthew, Sir, 1768-1843, George IV, King of Great Britain, 1762-1830, Cobbett, William, 1763-1835, and Bergami, Bartolomeo Bergami, Baron
