"A satire on Wilkes's release from custody in April 1763 and the successful actions for damages by the printers of the North Briton, No. 45. A copy without any background, and lacking the figure of Beckford, of British Museum satire no. 4065: The devils triumphant or The messengers in the suds."--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
Blessing of a London jury
Description:
Title etched above image., After Jefferyes Hamett O'Neale according to the British Museum catalogue., Publication date inferred from that of the original print: The devils triumphant, or, The messengers in the suds., Sheet trimmed within plate mark., Altered copy of No. 4065 in the Catalogue of prints and drawings in the British Museum. Division I, political and personal satires, v. 4., and Watermark.
Publisher:
publisher not identified
Subject (Name):
Wilkes, John, 1725-1797, Camden, Charles Pratt, Earl, 1714-1794, Glynn, John, 1722-1779, Mansfield, William Murray, Earl of, 1705-1793, Norton, Fletcher, 1716-1789, Blackmore, Robert, -1763., Carrington, Nathan, -1777., Money, John, active 1763., and Watson, John, active 1763.
Subject (Topic):
Crowds, Demons, Fighting, and Judicial proceedings
"Satire on Wilkes's release from custody in April 1763 and the successful actions for damages by printers of the North Briton, No. 45. A scene in Guildhall with the legs of Gog and Magog visible at top left and the lower parts of two portraits at right: on the left, a prancing devil grasps the collar of Nathan Carrington, King's Messenger (his position identified by his greyhound badge) who complains that he had acted on "Orders from Above" in arresting the printers; two angry men reproach Carrington for having seized their papers, one demanding the return of "my Memoirs", the other, Arthur Beardmore, asking for his journal, the Monitor. In the foreground, two devils attack three other Messengers (Money, Watson and Blackmore) lying on the ground; a devil with type arrayed on his head belabours them with a printer's mallet. Behind this group are Sir Fletcher Norton, by then Attorney-General, and Lord Chief Justice Mansfield, covering their faces with their hands and lamenting their failure; they are sent on their way by a man who alludes to the General Warrant and damns them to make "good Fuel" in Hell. Wilkes takes the hand of Pratt, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, who had released him from the Tower; Wilkes's advocate John Glynn stands behind and all three are celebrating the triumph of Liberty and English justice; William Beckford (shown with a black face in allusion to his Caribbean wealth) rushes towards them enthusiastically. To the right, a group of printers delight in their good fortune in the substantial sums they have been awarded, one man holding out both hands full of coins."--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
Messengers in the suds
Description:
Title from item., Publication date from British Museum catalogue., Sheet trimmed within plate mark., Three columns of verse below image: [The] sons of the type view this scene in Guildhall, the devils triumphant and messengers fall ..., Temporary local subject terms: Interiors: Arms: City of London -- Slang: 'coney catchers' -- Trials: John Wilkes's trial, 1763 -- Nathan Carrington, d. 1777 -- John Money, fl. 1763 -- Arthur Beardmore, d. 1765., and Mounted.
Publisher:
publisher not identified
Subject (Name):
Wilkes, John, 1725-1797, Camden, Charles Pratt, Earl, 1714-1794, Glynn, John, 1722-1779, Mansfield, William Murray, Earl of, 1705-1793, Norton, Fletcher, 1716-1789, Beckford, William, 1709-1770, and Guildhall (London, England),
"At each side of a table are seated figures with the heads and forms of grotesque monsters or animals. The bull-faced Sir Fletcher Norton (the Speaker) presides; in one hand is a scourge, in the other a staff to which are attached bags of money and a coronet. He says: "He that dares be Virtuous shall be punish'd, but Ye my Friends shall be rewarded". Bute and Grafton are hovering above as imps. The table is emerging from flames and is decorated with 'The Coffin of Liberty'. Two demons act as clerks at the head of the table in front of the Speaker."--British Museum online catalogue and "From the 'Oxford Magazine', vi. 219. As usual in the series the explanatory text is in the form of a letter to the Editor, showing that the design represents "the extraordinary appearance the present ministerial wretches will make in the next world ... I have erred on the favourable side; for it is impossible for many of them to assume any shape or character that is not less horrible than their own." The only two who can be identified are North, on the Speaker's right, as a dog wearing a ribbon and star, and Lord Holland as a fox clasping a number of money-bags. For the unpopularity of the House of Commons cf. also British Museum Satires Nos. 4850, 4889, 4893, 4944, 4970."--British Museum online catalogue, Curator's comments
Alternative Title:
True portraits of the majority of the Parliament of Pandemonium
Description:
Title etched below image., Date inferred from that of the periodical in which the plate was published., Plate from: The Oxford magazine; or, Universal museum ..., v. 6, page 219 (June 1771)., "Engrav'd for the Oxford magazine"--Above image., and Temporary local subject terms: Unpopularity of House of Commons -- Secret influence -- Ministers in pandemonium -- Imps.
Publisher:
publisher not identified
Subject (Name):
Norton, Fletcher, 1716-1789, Bute, John Stuart, Earl of, 1713-1792, Grafton, Augustus Henry Fitzroy, Duke of, 1735-1811, Holland, Henry Fox, Baron, 1705-1774, and North, Frederick, Lord, 1732-1792
