Shuttle-cocks & mackerel, or, Members going to vote on the Corn Bill [graphic]

"In the foreground (left) is a crowd wielding battledores who send small puppet-like M.P.s high into the air. On the right is the House of Commons represented by a corner of a dilapidated building with a high Gothic doorway. To this men and one fat Billingsgate woman are hurrying with flat baskets on their heads, on which are heaped more M.P.s. The crowd is cheerful and in general fashionably dressed. They shout "No Corn Bill [often repeated]," "Keep the game alive," and "there he goes." One with patched clothes and the hat of a dustman or coal-heaver, shouts to his victim, a lawyer in wig and gown, "Now for it Mr Garrow." Most of the shuttlecock M.P.s register silent dismay; one with gouty legs exclaims "Oh! my Heels," another who is bald shouts "Oh! my head." Most of the 'mackerel' lie limply on their baskets; one struggles to rise, saying, "Faith & I never was in such a Flood before--I really beleive I'm dead--but However dead or alive an Irishman will always do his duty." Over the doorway is 'St Stephens.' in large letters. Within, the (burlesqued) Speaker is seen in his Chair, extending arms and legs in terrified astonishment; behind the table are two Clerks. Only the Government benches are visible; these are empty, but a man is indicated in the gallery. Outside, standing between the two groups of the mob, two constables holding their staffs consult gloomily. One says "We had better let them alone"; the other answers "I think so." On the ground (right) is a pile of bricks, stones, spiked knuckle-dusters, and a spiked club with a bag of: 'Pepper for the Piccadilly Squad'."--British Museum online catalogue