The night constable [graphic]Cooper, Robert, active 1795-1836, printmaker[8 September 1785]engA companion print to British Museum satire no. 6878: The country justice. Inside a watch-house, a burly watchman stands (left) facing an elderly constable who sits frowning in his arm-chair. He holds out a broken lantern and points to a thin, fashionably dressed, and apparently drunken man who stands beside him with closed eyes, holding a large stick in his left hand. Next to the constable is a clerk writing at a desk with a slanted top. The room is lit by a lantern slung from the roof. A map on the wall apparently represents the roads of the parish and the beats of the watchmen. A fire burns in a grate (right).Title engraved below image.Eight lines of verse below title: "Watchman. This wicked dog did lift his hand, First knocked me down, then bid me stand; The peaceful neighbours he awoke, And then the Knave my lanthorn broke, At which the Villain loud did Laugh, So down I knock'd him with my staff. "Constable: If so: you Justice did yourself, Therefore begone thou prating Elf."Originally published July 10, 1785. Cf. British Museum catalogue no. 6879.Sheet trimmed within plate mark.