The last stage of cruelty, or, A mercifull example of Quaerism [sic] at Brighton dedicated to the Society of Quakers. [graphic]

"A plainly dressed man with lank hair falling on his shoulders, bends over a dog, placing his left hand on the head of the trustful animal. With a large brush he applies a smoking liquid to its side saying, "Come here poor Dog! Thee shalt not say I called thee names, or beat thee, for that would be cruel!! but I will anoint thee with Oil, and moisten thy sides with my pure Linnement." The scene is in a yard with a high paling, outside an open door leading to the dispensing-room of the Quaker, evidently an apothecary. Just within the room is a large smoking jar of 'Oil of Vitriol'; on the door-step is a dish of smoking vitriol. Above are the neatly ranged jars, bottles, and drawers of an apothecary, with a pestle and mortar. A woman in an upper window of an adjacent house looks down into the yard; she shouts: "Ah Obadiah, that decietfull whining Cant, to allure the poor Animal, in order to inflict the most Diabolical unheard of Cruelty on him, shall not go unpunished"."--British Museum online catalogue