"Ministers, much burlesqued, registering terror or anxiety, are grouped on either side of a large bottle of 'Evidence against the Queen' from which rise clouds of smoke, inscribed 'Lies' (four times) and 'Non mi Ricordo' [five times]. On the left sits Liverpool, saying: "We shall be all sent to the Devil." Next him Eldon scowls: "D--n that Non mi Ricordo." Wellington, fiercely anxious, stands behind Liverpool's chair holding a scimitar. Facing Liverpool sits Sidmouth, holding his clyster-pipe to his nostril, and exclaiming: "O! how reviving." Castlereagh exclaims: "Oh! L--d we shall be cast." Gifford says: "Oh! the secrets will come out." A seventh, (?) Harrowby, stands with a hand on the heads of Sidmouth and Castlereagh."--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
Song of sixpence
Description:
Title etched below image., Sheet trimmed within plate mark., Six lines of verse in two columns below title: Sing a song of sixpence a bag full of lies, Four and twenty witnesses all prov'd to be Spies, Before the bag was open'd the ministers 'gan to sing, Oh! here we have a dainty dish to set before the King. But when the bag was open'd the Lords began to stare, To see their precious evidence all vanish into air., Mounted to 58 x 39 cm., Mounted (with one other print) on leaf 80 in volume 1 of the W.E. Gladstone collection of caricatures and broadsides surrounding the "Queen Caroline Affair.", and Figures of "Wellington," "Liverpool," "Eldon," "Castlereagh," and "Sidmouth" identified in ink at bottom of image; date "8 Sep. 1820" written in lower right corner. Typed extract of two lines from the British Museum catalogue description is pasted beneath print.
Publisher:
Pub. Sep. 8, 1820, by John Marshall Junr., 24 Little St. Martins Lane
Subject (Geographic):
Great Britain.
Subject (Name):
Caroline, Queen, consort of George IV, King of Great Britain, 1768-1821, Eldon, John Scott, Earl of, 1751-1838, Liverpool, Robert Banks Jenkinson, Earl of, 1770-1828, Sidmouth, Henry Addington, Viscount, 1757-1844, Castlereagh, Robert Stewart, Viscount, 1769-1822, Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, Duke of, 1769-1852, Gifford, Robert Gifford, Baron, 1779-1826, and Harrowby, Dudley Ryder, Earl of, 1762-1847
Subject (Topic):
Politicians, Anxiety, Fear, Bottles, Smoke, Evidence (Law), Chairs, Daggers & swords, and Medical equipment & supplies
