"Satire on the general election of 1722 showing a grand room with two long windows and a pier glass between; to the left of this is a screen with seven folds. On the right three men, one holding a staff of office, can be discerned behind the screen reflected in the glass. From the left side of the screen an electoral candidate walks towards a voter grasping him by his right hand and with his left slipping a purse into the man's pocket. The voter is identified in the verses as a member of a corporation in a borough where only such members could vote; his leg is shackled by a chain. His wife listens to a clergyman who stands in a doorway assuring her "bribery no sin". The devil hovers over the candidate touching the voter on the shoulder and holding a blank scroll. Two boys in the foreground point to the transaction, one holding a wooden shoe, symbol of the oppressive French regime. The screen itself is adorned with little stars, at the top the years 1715-1722 are marked on the seven folds and the names of various acts passed by the previous government, "Quarantine Act .../South Sea Act/Act to indemnify S.S. V[illai]ns/Part of ye Succession Act repeal'd/Septennial Act".--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
Election carried by bribery and the devil
Description:
Title from caption in ribbon above image., Questionable attribution to Hogarth in unverified card catalog record., Sheet trimmed to plate mark., Four stanzas of verse below image: Here's a minion sent down to a corporate town, in hopes to be newly elected ... That betrays the whole kingdom to slav'ry.", Bowditch's ms. annotations on the mounting sheet; mounted to 33 x 44 cm., and Dated '1722' in unknown contemporary hand after title.
Publisher:
publisher not identified
Subject (Geographic):
England, Scotland., and Great Britain.
Subject (Name):
South Sea Company. and Great Britain. Parliament
Subject (Topic):
Elections, 1722, Membership, Quarantine, Law and legislation, Inheritance and succession, Naturalization, Political corruption, Elections, Bribery, Children, Clergy, Devil, Mirrors, Screens, and Political elections
