"George III (left), seated in a chair, is being shown by the ghost of Chatham a procession of figures walking towards a pit (right) inscribed "Chaos". Chatham wears pseudo-classical draperies, a tie-wig crowned with a laurel wreath, and is surrounded by a glory of rays. He holds up a circular glass to the king, who looks through it with an expression of alarm. On the back of the king's chair is a crown surmounted by a weathercock which points to the South, probably to indicate that North's power is over, cf. BMSat 5659. Under his feet are torn county petitions, and an open book, "Lock on Government". The petitions are those of York, Westminster, Middlesex, Hampshire, Surrey. There is also the design of the façade of a building inscribed, "The Elevation of [a] Baby House". The leaders of the procession, who are on the brink of the pit, are the kings of France and Spain. A devil (right) with wings, horns, and a long barbed tail, points into the pit. Behind the two kings come North and Sandwich. North holds a rolled document inscribed "Taxes". Under his arm is a large money-bag with a gaping hole in it, by which is an open book or paper inscribed "New Way to pay old Debts, A Farce by Boreas" (Massinger's comedy had recently been revived at Drury Lane). On his right Sandwich walks with his arms folded, a paper under his arm is inscribed "Catches & Glees Mr Arne" (Arne (1710-78), the musical composer, is generally styled Dr; Sandwich was "the soul of the Catch Club", see BMSat 5342). From his pocket protrude papers, one inscribed "Greenwich Hospital", in allusion to the scandal caused by Captain Baillie's exposure of abuses there, see BMSat 5548. The other is inscribed "Love & Madness"; this is the title of a series of fictitious letters recently published purporting to be the correspondence of Hackman and Martha Ray, Sandwich's mistress, see BMSat 5540, &c, but really by Herbert Croft. See Walpole, 'Letters', xi. 139-40,13 Mar. 1780. Behind come Mansfield, in judge's wig and robes, and Bute in Highland dress, both with expressions of despair; they are being hurried along by a man with the face of a fiend who has seized Mansfield by the arm and Bute by the shoulders. Beside them walks a Dutchman, his hands in his breeches pockets, being propelled from behind by a devil, significant of the unpopularity of the Dutch Republic,"--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
Peep into futurity
Description:
Title from item. and Trimmed within plate line.
Publisher:
Published as the act directs May 16, 1780, by W. Wells, No. 132 opposite Salisbury Court Fleet Street London
Subject (Geographic):
Netherlands.
Subject (Name):
George III, King of Great Britain, 1738-1820., Pitt, William, Earl of Chatham, 1708-1778., Bute, John Stuart, Earl of, 1713-1792., Mansfield, William Murray, Earl of, 1705-1793., Sandwich, John Montagu, Earl of, 1718-1792., North, Frederick, Lord, 1732-1792., Charles III, King of Spain, 1716-1788., and Louis XVI, King of France, 1754-1793.
George III, surrounded by members of the present and former governments, stands on the British shore of the Atlantic Ocean. He holds out his arms in a gesture of uncertainty asking, "My Lords and Gentlemen, what should I do." Each of the statesmen gives his advice. In the background, "England's sun" is "setting" behind the hills at the foot of which sailors, soldiers and civilians are shown fighting, perhaps in allusion to the mutiny of sailors in Portsmouth in March 1783. Between both groups, on the extreme right, a smaller group of men with peg legs or on crutches, apparently veterans of the American war, is addressed by Lord Amherst who says, "Gentlemen we have no further occasion for you." On the extreme left, on the American shore of the Atlantic, a young girl in Indian dress sits between the kings of France and Spain, who each hold her hand. Benjamin Franklin places a wreath on top of her head-dress. Above in the sky, a witch flies away on a broomstick with a banner reading, "Peace -- Peace -- P-e-a-c" issuing from under her skirts
Description:
BEIN BrSides 2019 472: On sheet 29.5 x 36.8 cm. Forms part of the Benjamin Franklin Collection., BEIN BrSides 2019 498: On sheet 38.7 x 43.8 cm. Forms part of the Benjamin Franklin Collection., Title from caption below image., Attributed by George to Viscount Townshend., Sheet trimmed to plate mark., and On sheet 29 x 34 cm, mounted to 33 x 39 cm.
Publisher:
Publish'd according to Act of Parliament, by M. Smith in Fleet Street
Subject (Geographic):
Great Britain
Subject (Name):
George III, King of Great Britain, 1738-1820., Louis XVI, King of France, 1754-1793., Charles III, King of Spain, 1716-1788., Franklin, Benjamin, 1706-1790., Fox, Charles James, 1749-1806., Richmond and Lennox, Charles Lennox, Duke of, 1735-1806., Lansdowne, William Petty, Marquis of, 1737-1805., Burke, Edmund, 1729-1797., Thurlow, Edward Thurlow, Baron, 1731-1806., Mansfield, David Murray, Earl of, 1727-1796., Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, 1751-1816., North, Frederick, Lord, 1732-1792., Pitt, William, 1759-1806., Nugent, Robert Craggs Nugent, Earl, 1702?-1788., Keppel, Augustus Keppel, Viscount, 1725-1786., Dunning, John, Baron Ashburton, 1731-1783., and Amherst, Jeffery Amherst, Baron, 1717-1797.
Subject (Topic):
Politics and government, Foreign relations, Fighting, Disabled veterans, Witches, Thistles, and Clothing & dress
