"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:
Title etched below image., Four stanzas of verse below image, two on either side of title: "And now St. Peter at heav'n's wicket seems ..., Sheet trimmed within plate mark on upper and lower edges., 1 print : etching with aquatint on wove paper, hand-colored ; plate mark 38.5 x 46.3 cm, on sheet 42.5 x 52.3 cm., and Mounted on leaf 6 of volume 6 of 12.
Publisher:
Pubd. May 17th, 1805, by H. Humphrey, 27 St. James's Street
Subject (Name):
Sidmouth, Henry Addington, Viscount, 1757-1844, Liverpool, Robert Banks Jenkinson, Earl of, 1770-1828, Pitt, William, 1759-1806, Grenville, William Wyndham Grenville, Baron, 1759-1834, Buckingham, George Nugent Temple Grenville, Marquess of, 1753-1813, Hastings, Francis Rawdon-Hastings, Marquess of, 1754-1826, Fox, Charles James, 1749-1806, Grey, Charles Grey, Earl, 1764-1845, Grattan, Henry, 1746-1820, Holland, Henry Richard Vassall, Baron, 1773-1840, Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, 1751-1816, Lansdowne, Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, Marquess of, 1780-1863, Erskine, Thomas Erskine, Baron, 1750-1823, Windham, William, 1750-1810, Tierney, George, 1761-1830, William IV, King of Great Britain, 1765-1837, Bedford, John Russell, Duke of, 1766-1839, Carlisle, Frederick Howard, Earl of, 1748-1825, Spencer, George John Spencer, Earl, 1758-1834, Norfolk, Charles Howard, Duke of, 1746-1815, Smith-Stanley, Edward, 1752-1834, Burdett, Francis, 1770-1844, and George III, King of Great Britain, 1738-1820
"Sheridan, as Punch, grotesquely caricatured, stands on a platform, above the heads of a cheering crowd, blowing soap-bubbles. Clusters of soap-suds fall from the pipe, and from it rises an oval containing a figure of Young Roscius, in Highland dress as Douglas in Home's play. The boy, breathing fire, holds out a coral and bells, striding arrogantly over decollated heads inscribed 'Exit Garrick - Kemble - Cooke'. Other actors, freely indicated, stagger back from the young conqueror, over whose head are the words 'Veni. Vidi Vici.' Sheridan's pipe is irradiated against a dark sky. From the pipe, and a source of some of the rays, project little trumpets with banners inscribed respectively: 'Times', 'Morning Chronicle', 'True Briton', 'Sunday Observer', 'Herald'. From each issue the words (sometimes repeated): 'Roscius!' followed sometimes by faintly-drawn ciphers. Sheridan gazes up at his huge bubble. He is bloated and pimpled; his head sunk between hump and paunch. His dress is striped, his contour defined by close-set buttons, ound his paunch is twisted a tricolour sash; a tricolour cockade decorates is hat, which has a conical crown, curved brim, and erect feather. His pocket angs inside out, patched and empty. The cheering crowd (r.) fling coins to the platform, on which lie two pamphlets: 'Account of the Profits of the Bubble' and 'Petition of the Renters for a Share in the profits of the Bubble'. Behind Sheridan lies the dog, 'Carlo', hero of 'The Caravan', see BMSat 10172, &c. Beside Carlo is a padlocked money-box: 'Drury Lane Strong Box'. These are under a table at the back of the stage. On the table is a barber's bowl, filled cubbies issuing from a pipe; the largest is inscribed 'Forty Thieves'; under the bowl is a paper: 'Materials for bran-New Pantomimes for Johnny Bull's Amusement'. Beside the bowl is a bottle labelled 'To be repeated the first opportunity', in whose neck is a funnel inscribed 'Bottle Conjurer', which is filled by a little fat man who grasps his paunch. The back of the stage is bordered by a curtain from which project over the table a sign and a banner. On the former is a dog with the inscription: 'The Wonderful Red Lion, of surpassing Abilities - to be seen within.' On the banner: 'In a few Days, will be Perfom'd - a new Comic Divertisment, called The Bubble-burst, accompanied bv Laughing Song by John Bull.' ..."--British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title etched below image., Text below title, in lower right: Vide, new method of raising [the] wind., and Mounted on leaf 29 of volume 11 of 12.
Publisher:
Publishd. Jany. 7th, 1805, by H. Humphrey, 27 St. Jamess [sic] Street, London
Subject (Name):
Fox, Charles James, 1749-1806, Carlisle, Frederick Howard, Earl of, 1748-1825, William IV, King of Great Britain, 1765-1837, Jordan, Dorothy, 1761-1816, Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, 1751-1816, and Smith-Stanley, Edward, 1752-1834
