publish'd accoding [sic] act of Parliament, Sepr. 2d 1762.
Call Number:
762.09.02.01.1+ Impression 1
Image Count:
1
Resource Type:
still image
Abstract:
"Satirical riposte to Hogarth's 'The Times Plate 1' (Paulson 211) contrasting particular elements of that print to suggest that Lord Bute is creating faction within the country while Pitt and his supporters attempt to calm the situation. St James's Palace is ablaze; flames issuing from the gate set fire to an inn sign of the globe lettered "New Lost Land" (a reference to the recent loss of Newfoundland). On the left, Bute, wearing a tartan night shirt, holding a large pair of bellows, runs away from the fire but encourages it by breaking wind; two other Scots, crouching, also break wind, one of them addressing the other as "Brother Small Wit" (i.e., Tobias Smollett); Henry Fox runs away from Bute's supporters crying, "D[am]n the Dogs how they stink I'll turn my tail on them". On the right, Pitt stands on a fire engine directing a jet of water on the fire (in contrast to Hogarth's print where he stands on stilts fanning the flames while a supporter of the king is the chief fire fighter); the pump is manned by the Dukes of Newcastle and Cumberland and sailors who parallel the prominent sailor in Hogarth's print. Cumberland complains that the "machine is sadly out of Order" (meaning government) to which Newcastle responds "Yes ever since you left it", referring to Cumberland's resignation from military command. The sailors allude to Pitt's letter of October 1761 to William Beckford in which he explains his resignation "in order not to remain responsible for measures which I was no longer allowed to guide" (published in the Annual Register, 1761, p.300); they compare Pitt as the "Master [who] Guides it well" with Bute whose action is a wind that "encreases the Flame" and "comes from a very foul quarter". Charles Churchill, in clerical dress, walks towards the Pitt's group carrying a bucket labelled "North Briton" and offering to "help without hope of a Pension", an allusion to payments made by the Crown both to Hogarth and to Pitt. In the background, to left, a group of men look on saying the "Squire" (the king) and his family are "safe on the other side" (implying they have joined the opponents of Lord Bute, which was not in fact the case); one man continues to encourage Bute, "Blow away my Lad they will expend all their Water soon". Etched verses below describe the scene in scurrilous terms suggesting that the fire began in "the Welch Ladys Bed Room", i.e., that of Princess Augusta, and call for quenching of the "Fire of Party."--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
John Bull's house set in flames
Description:
Title etched below image., Sheet trimmed to plate mark at bottom., Three columns of verse below titie: Iohn Bulls hous in flames, to whom is this owing, / That's what we've to tell you. There look at them blowing / New lost land is done for, and all the worlds going ..., "Price 6d.", Temporary local subject terms: Buildings -- London: St. James's Street -- Newspapers: North Briton -- Naval uniforms: sailor's uniform -- Seven Years' War: reference to the loss of Newfoundland -- Signboards -- Fire-engines., and Watermark: countermark I V.
Publisher:
publisher not identified
Subject (Name):
William Augustus, Prince, Duke of Cumberland, 1721-1765, Churchill, Charles, 1731-1764, Bute, John Stuart, Earl of, 1713-1792, Holland, Henry Fox, Baron, 1705-1774, Pitt, William, Earl of Chatham, 1708-1778, Smollett, T. 1721-1771 (Tobias),, Newcastle, Thomas Pelham-Holles, Duke of, 1693-1768, and Saint James's Palace (London, England),
Subject (Topic):
Fires, Signs (Notices), Taverns (Inns), Bellows, Flatulence, Fire fighting, and Sailors
"A pair of scenes on one plate, each with its own title, from The Political Register, September 1768, facing page 129. The scenes satirise the unpopularity and the alleged corruption and disloyalty of Lord Bute as he embarked on a trip to France. In the upper scene Bute is shown with a witch on a broomstick, laden with large bags of money, flying across the Channel, “over the Water to Charly” (an allusion to the Young Pretender in exile). Dover Castle is shown on top of a cliff on the left and Calais in the distance on the right. On the shore below Princess Augusta faints lamenting “Ah me what Shall I do Sawny is flown & with him all my Joy”. She is comforted by an attendant who hopes he will come again, a man beside her calls out to Bute ”Won’t you take Madam with you”. Others on the shore remark on his departure, one sailor says “Now he has got all our Dollars let him go.”, another would like to throw him to the shark, a boy throws stones and a man shoots at him, a satyr aims a bow saying “I’ll reach you my L(or)d where ever you go” Britannia sitting on the right advises her children to let him go so that she may recover. In the lower design Bute is shown being greeted outside the well guarded fort at Calais by the Young Pretender who calls him cousin and thanks him for his services. Bute, bonnet in hand and bowing , responds “I have sett the 3 Kingdoms at variance for your Sake my Prince now is your time or never”. The Mayor of Calais comes forward to welcome Bute effusively telling him of “the grand Monarqe’s” love; three monks on the left assure each other that Bute is not a heretic (Protestant) as he has demonstrated this by giving France such an advantageous peace. On the right an old woman in raptures is sure all the English ladies love him, while a Scot with a wooden leg plays on his fiddle singing “And the King shall enjoy his own again”. A British sailor deplores the respect Bute is shown while another tells him that “why Should they do otherwise he was allway their Friend”."--British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Two separately titled images on one plate; titles engraved above image., Publication place and date inferred from those of the periodical for which this plate was engraved., Plate from: The Political register and London museum. London : Printed for J. Almon [1767-1772], v. 3 (1768), page 195., and Temporary local subject terms: Dover -- Calais -- Brooms -- Bags of money -- Satyrs.
Publisher:
publisher not identified
Subject (Name):
Augusta, Princess of Wales, 1719-1772, Charles Edward, Prince, grandson of James II, King of England, 1720-1788, and Bute, John Stuart, Earl of, 1713-1792
Subject (Topic):
Britannia (Symbolic character), Arrivals & departures, Forts & fortifications, Monks, Musical instruments, Peg legs, Sailors, British, Violins, and Witches
