Frontispiece to the 2d edition of L-d St-----e's Observations on Mr. Pitt's plan of finance [graphic]

"Stanhope stands in his library, declaiming; he has just risen from his chair and holds his pen in his raised right hand, his left rests on a small table (right) covered with documents. He wears a cocked hat; his leanness is caricatured, his legs being of exaggerated thinness. His right foot rests on a large volume, 'Cocker's Arithmetic'. Under his left hand are 'Observations upon Mr Pitts Plan' and 'M . . of Mr Sheridan's Speech - I prefer the Noble Lord['s] Plan to th[at] of the Minister less visionary'. Behind the table is a bookcase against which are pinned two placards, the smaller superimposed on the other. The larger is a 'Table of the Average Price of Stocks for April 1786', the prices being partly hidden by the smaller print: a man rides a horse in the air, above a line of buildings; a flying figure blows a trumpet. It is inscribed 'Ready for Ascension in a few Days Aerial Figures' and 'Thin glittering Textures of the filmy Dew'. On the right is a small cupboard on legs, its open door showing a chamber-pot whose overflowing contents drip on to a document inscribed 'To Prevent Bribery at Elections'. On the pot are papers inscribed 'Sinking Fund' and 'Surplus'; these fragments appear to have been torn from a document inscribed 'Report of the select Committee upon the Ministers Plan for the Reduction of the National Debt. Amount of Taxes Red[ucti]on of Salar[ies]'. Above this is an oval picture of the three Graces, to ridicule Stanhope's lanky figure and awkward gestures ..."--British Museum online catalogue