Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016 https://archive.org/details/caricaturehistor00wrig_0 CARICATURE HISTORY OF THE GEORGES / ’'cJiy l / t / e , cc ' mot / «^m^\ , /'• t'f^jiync -ufum ywMyi/J om/ ( wmfy font *,/utl /won ' (j n y$ & v*cuU ofsm t/u vrigffre. fo/ws . fj political juggler. Garden) exhibiting his pupoets to the world, “ Web, gentlemen, yc.u shan’t be baulk’d. I’ll hang 12 THE ISLE OF FOSE 8. om xiiy canvas too, and like my brother monster-mongers a well daub’d into the bargain. Stare then — and behold — the novel figure. You see what is written over his head, This is Mr. Powel — that’s he — the little crooked gentleman, that holds a staff in his hand, without which he must fall. The sight is well worth your money, for you may not see such another these seven years, nay, perhaps not this age.” In one part of this book we have a rather ingenious story or vision of an island of noses, in which the dreamer meets with a large hooked nose (Marlborough), covered with rags and dirt, the reward he had received for beating the enemies of his country. Suddenly a procession of flat-noses is seen approaching ; “ for a distemper lately come from France [an allusion to the intrigues of Anne’s last ministry with the French court] has swept away most of our palates, and sunk our noses in the manner that you will see, and that is one reason why the high hook-noses have of late been so much out of fashion.” “ My friend was going on, when, at the end of the aforesaid cavalcade, a parcel of rabble flat Frenchify’d bridgeless noses came and set upon him in a most base and barbarous manner, and with a snuffling broken tone, call’d him ‘Traytor!’ Upon which my friendly Mucterian took to his heels, and by that escap’d their fury. I could not but ask in a fret why they dealt with him in that inhuman manner; which I no sooner had said, when up comes a nose quite black and rotten, and in pieces of words tells me that I am a sawcy fellow to question a thing so well known. ‘As what?’ quoth I. ‘As what?’ says he; why, that fellow you was in company with is a traytor, for ’tis plain he beat our enemies, and so prolonged an offensive war. Besides he’s a high hooked nose, and is a traytor of course !’ Indeed, I observed my friend’s nose was something high and crooked ; but, in all my life, I never heard the shape of a nose urged as treason before. In short, these vile flat-noses [the Tories] did not stay for my answer ; but one of the most stinking among them blew himself out upon me, and then called me ‘ Nasty fellow !’ and so left me to wipe up the affront.” The discomfited Tories, who were not generally backward in taking up the pen, or deficient in able men to use it, were at first entirely confounded by the sudden and unexpected course events. One of the first lampoons upon the Whigs came from the pen of the scurrilous publican-poet, Ned Ward. Marlborough, who had sought quiet in voluntary exile, — the high hooked-nose escaped from the flat-noses, as Thomas Bur- nett has it, — -returned immediately on the death of the Queen, ATTACKS ON MARLBOROUGH. 13 landed at Dover, and was conducted in triumph to London by a long train of gentlemen in carriages and on horseback, on the 4th of August. The Hanoverian envoy, Bothmar, writes, that the Duke “ came to town amidst the acclamations of the people, as if he had gained another battle of Hochstet.” Ned Ward gave vent to the spleen of his party by ridiculing this proces- sion in Hudibrastic doggrel, under the title of “ The Republican Procession; or, the tumultuous Cavalcade.” Ward describes the Duke’s escort as “ Consisting of a factious crew. Of all the sects in Rosse’s “View,"* From Calvin’s Anti-Babylonians, Down to the frantick Muggletonians ; Mounted on founder’d skins and bones, That scarce could crawl along the stones, As if the Roundheads had been robbing The higglers’ inns of Ball and Dobbin, And all their skeletonian tits That could but halt along the streets : The frightful troops of thin-jaw'd zealots, Curs’d enemies to kings and prelates. Those champions of religious errors, Looking as if the prince of terrors Was coming with his dismal train To plague the city once again.” The Tories of that age affected to look with contempt on the commercial interests of the country, and on the moneyed houses of the City, for the merchants had placed their confidence in the foreign policy of the Whigs. Ward, after speaking of the “Low-Church city elders,” says : — “Next these, who, like to blazing stars, Portend domestic feuds and wars, Came managers and bank-directors, Ring- killers, monarchy-electors, And votaries for lord- protectors ; That, had old subtle Satan spread His net o’er all the cavalcade, He might at one surprizing pull Have fill’d his low’r dominion full Of atheists, rebels, Whigs, and traytors Reforming knaves and regulators ; And eas’d at once this land of more And greater plagues than Egypt bore.” Under the circumstances of the times, the Tories did not * Alexander Ross was the author of a book, rather well known at that time, entitled, “View of all Religions, with a Discovery of all known Heresies, and Lives of Notorious Hereticks, ” published in 1696. *4 STREET LIBELLERS. venture, except in rare instances, to exhibit the extent of their exasperation by the ordinary way of publicity. They reckoned again upon the mob to embarrass the Government, and a multi- tude of low libels and seditious papers were hawked and distri- buted about the streets for halfpence and pence, which kept the populace in a perpetual state of excitement. Few of these papers are now preserved. There is one, in a broadside, “ price one penny,” in the British Museum, which, under the title of “ A Dialogue between my Lord B ke and my Lord W n,” (Bolingbroke and Wharton,) contains a satirical attack on the Duke of Marlborough, when he was returning to England. Before the end of August a multitude of such penny and halfpenny libels were spread over the country, in which the Whigs were compared to the levellers of the days of Charles I. ; and attacks, as scurrilous and indecent as they were unprovoked, were heaped upon the Dissenters. “ The Tories,” says a newspaper of the date just mentioned, “ who have the black mob on their side, cry, ‘ No calves’ heads !’ 4 No king- killers !’ ” In November, the political hawkers and ballad- singers had become extremely troublesome about the streets of London, and the Lord Mayor was compelled to seize upon many of ti c?m, and throw them into the House of Correction. On the 1 6th of November, an Order of Council appeared for the suppression and punishment of “ false and scandalous libels ” hawked about the streets ; and on the 24th of the same month another proclamation to the same purpose was made ; but the object of these measures appears to have been but partially effected. The Eolitical State (November, 1714, p. 446) gives the titles of some of the seditious pamphlets sent abroad in this manner ; among which appears “ The Duke of Marlborough’s Cavalcade,” probably the poem of Ned Ward described above. Some of these papers and ballads appear to have been of a trea- sonable description. To give instances from a little later date, out of a great number which might be collected together, we may mention, that, in the Weekly Racket of January 7, 1716, we are informed, “ Last Monday the Lord Mayor committed a woman to Newgate for singing a seditious ballad in Gracechurch Street;” and it is stated in the Flying Post of the 27th of May immediately following, that “ last Saturday” the grand jury of the City of London “ presented a seditious and scanda- lous paper, called ‘ Bobin’s last Shift, or Shift Shifted,’ and the singing of scandalous ballads about the streets, as a common nuisance, tending to alienate the minds of the people ; and we hear an order will be published to apprehend those who cry ATTACKS ON THE DISSENTERS. *5 about or sing such scandalous papers. They have also presented such as go about with wheelbarrows and dice, and make it their practice to cheat people ; and such as go about streets to clean shoes on the Sabbath day.” Scraps of information like this give us a curious view of the streets of London nearly a hundred and fifty years ago. The prejudices against Dissenters were inflamed in every possible manner, for the hardly concealed purpose of raising a new High-Church mob, and exerting through it the same violent influence over the elections which had been so successful in bringing together the Parliament that was now separating. Two agents, opposite enough in their characters, were actively employed in this work — the pulpit and the stage. Before the end of December it was found necessary, by a royal proclama- tion, to order the clergy to avoid entering upon state affairs in their sermons. At the theatre, the plays or the prologues often contained political sentiments or allusions which led at times to serious riots. Farces were brought out in which the Dissenters were exhibited in an odious or degrading light. To quote from the journals of the period at which the consequent excitement was pushed up to its highest point, and when mobs were perpe- trating mischief and destruction in many parts of the kingdom, we find advertised, in the beginning of June, 171^, “The City Ramble ; or, the Humours of the Compter. As it is now acted with universal applause at the theatre in Lincoln’s Inn Fields. By Captain Knipe.” It is added, that the book was “adorned with a curious frontispiece, respecting a Presbyterian teacher and his doxy as committed to the Compter.” I have not been able to meet with the book, or the “ curious frontispiece,” which was what may be looked upon legitimately as a caricature ; but it had no doubt an immediate aim, for the theatre in Lincoln’s Inn Fields was in close proximity to the same celebrated Dissenters’ meeting-house which had been so rudely treated by the Sache- verell mob. Even at Oxford, after a High-Church riot about this time, a member of the University, in an anonymous tract in justification of it, stated that an anabaptist preacher of that town had baptized two young women in the morning, and been found in bed between them at night, — one of those slanderous stories which had been borrowed from the days of the Cavaliers. The effect of this incessant agitation was not long in showing itself; for the first outbreak took place on the day of the King’s coronation, the 20th of October, 1714. On the evening of that day, the citizens of Bristol illuminated their windows, and made bonfires in the streets, and the corporation gave a ball. The l6 VIOLENCE OF THE ELECTIONS. first signal for the riot which followed is said to have been a re- port that the Whigs were going to burn the effigy of Sacheve- rell ; upon which a mob suddenly collected together and rushed through the streets, breaking the windows that were illuminated, and putting out the bonfires, at the same time raising ferocious shouts of “ Down with the Roundheads ! God bless Dr. Sache- verell !” They repaired to the town-hall, and threw large stones through the windows of the ball-room, to the great danger of the persons assembled there. The attacks of the mob were now more especially directed against the Dissenters ; they entirely gutted the house of one of them, a baker named Stevens, who was killed by the assailants in an attempt to expostulate with them. This fatal catastrophe appears to have arrested the mob, and no further mischief was done ; but several of the rioters were tried and severely punished. The town of Chippenham, in Wiltshire, continued in an uproar during several nights, and houses were attacked and their inmates ill-treated. Other riots, equally alarming, occurred at the same time at Norwich, Reading, Birmingham, and Bedford. At Birmingham the mob was very violent, and their shout was, “ Sacheverell for ever! Down with the Whigs !” At Bedford, where the proceedings of the mob seem to have been countenanced by the magistrates, the public May-pole was dressed in mourning. In spite of a proclamation against riots, issued on the 2nd of November, the mobs in many places continued to create disturbances. At Axminster, in Devonshire, on the 5th of November, the “ High-Church rabble,” as the newspapers call them, shouted for the Pretender, and drank his health as King of England. The elections which came on in January were carried on even with more violence than those of 1 7 1 o ; # but times were altered, and the Whigs obtained an overpowering majority. It was 011 these two occasions that English elections of members for Par- liament first took that character of turbulence and acrimony which for more than a century destroyed the peace and tran- quillity of our country towns, and from which they have only been relieved within the last few years. The Flying Tost of January 27, 1715, gives the following burlesque “bill of costs * Many seditious and treasonable writings were spread about in January, one of which made much noise, and was vigorously prosecuted. Under the title of “English Advice to the Freeholders of England,” it w^as a violent attack upon the Whigs, both personally and collectively, and was particu- larly rancorous against the Duke of Marlborough ; it pointed out the pre- tended dangers of the Church from the principles of the House of Hanover, and exhorted the electors to flv to its aid. ELECTIONEERING EXPENSES . *7 for a late Tory election in the West,” in which country the Tory interest was strongest : — Imprimis, for bespeaking and collecting a mob . Item , for many suits of knots for their heads For scores of huzza-men ... ... For roarers of the word “ Church ” . For a set of “ No Roundhead” roarers For several gallons of Tory punch on church tomb- stones ........ For a majority of clubs and brandy-bottles For bell-ringers, fiddlers, and porters .... For a set of coffee-house praters .... For extraordinary expense for cloths and lac’d hats on show days, to dazzle the mob .... For Dissenters’ damners . . For demolishing two houses ..... For committing two riots ...... For secret encouragement to the rioters For a dozen of perjury men For packing and carriage paid to Gloucester For breaking windows ...... For a gang of alderman-abusers .... For a set of notorious lyars ..... For pot-ale ........ For law, and charges in the King’s Bench . part of the £ s. d. 20 0 0 30 0 0 40 0 0 40 0 0 40 0 0 30 0 0 20 0 0 10 0 0 40 0 0 50 0 0 40 0 0 200 0 0 200 0 0 40 0 0 100 0 0 50 0 0 20 0 0 40 0 0 5 ° 0 0 100 0 0 300 0 0 1460 o o It will be observed in this “ bill ” that bribery is not put down as one of the prominent features of an election at this period ; violence was, as yet, found to be more effective than corruption. The new Parliament met towards the end of March. The following statement in the Weekly Packet (a Tory paper) of April 2, 1715, will furnish an amusing picture, not only of parliamentary manners outside the house at this date, but of the wild spirit of party : — •“ Last week the footmen belonging to the members of the House of Commons, according to the custom of their masters, (which they had strictly imitated for more than thirty years,) proceeded to the choice of a Speaker ; when those that espouse the cause of the Whigs chose Mr. Strickland’s man, and the Tory livery gentry "the servant of Sir Thomas Morgan. Hence a battle ensued between the two contending parties, wherein several broken heads discovered the resolution of each to abide by its respective choice, though the combatants were at that time forced to leave the victory undecided (the House rising). But on Monday last they returned to their former trial of skill ; and the Tories, after an obstinate resistance from the i8 JOHN DTTNTON. Whigs, who would by no means show themselves passive, but disputed their ground inch by inch, had the better of their adver- saries, and carried their mock Speaker three times round West- minster Hall. After which, he that was chosen to fill their chair, as well as his predecessor, according to ancient usage, spent their crowns apiece in drink at a dinner, which an adjacent ale- house entertained them with gratis.” Ho sooner had the Parliament assembled, than the Tories were alarmed by the threatened impeachment of the late min- isters. This gave rise to a fierce controversy with the pen, before it became a matter of debate in the senate : for two or three weeks, pamphlet upon pamphlet, on both sides of the ques- tion, issued daily from the press, some written calmly and moderately, while others were characterized by all the bitterness and scurrility of the party spirit of those days. Among the Whig writers, who made the greatest noise in their different circles, were Thomas Burnett, already mentioned, whose father the Bishop was now dead, and the more prolific party-writer John Dunton, whose pamphlets were calculated for wider distri- bution among a somewhat lower class of readers. Burnett was rather rudely handled in this controversy, and was made the butt of several satirical tracts, the writer of one of which undertook to prove that he was asleep when he wrote his pamphlet in defence of the impeachment. Dunton was a scheming needy writer ; he was a broken bookseller, and now, as old age approached, sought to gain a support from Government by the zeal and number of his political writings ; he was withal somewhat of a wag. A few months after the date of which we are speaking, on the ist of May. 1716, we learn fr6m the Flying Post that John Dunton and “a devil” (“ i. e. a printer’s boy:” this appears to be an early instance of the use of the term) were seen marching through the streets of London, and distributing a book entitled “ Seeing’ s believing; or, King George proved a Usurper.” The citizens, astonished that any one should possess the impudence to sell such a book openly, probably thought he was mad ; but he was without delay arrested and carried first before the Lord Mayor, and subsequently before one of the Secretaries of State. A rumour was soon spread abroad that Dunton had become a convert to Jacobitism ; and, while the Whigs were scandalised at his defection, the Tories rejoiced loudly at having gained so popular a champion. But their joy was changed into vexation, when it was made known that the tract in question, instead of being a treasonable libel, was a bitter lampoon on their own party ; and Dunton and his friends went to a noted Whig SONG OF THE DUKE OF ORMOND. 19 tavern in St. John’s Lane, to laugh in their sleeves and to drink loyal toasts. The history of the impeachments is well known : Boliugbroke and Ormond fled to France, and openly joined the Pretender, and they were accordingly attainted. Oxford was thrown into the Tower ; but, after a wearisome imprisonment, he escaped without further hurt. The result was advantageous, as far as it secured the principle that ministers of the Crown are personally respon- sible for the acts of their administration ; and it forced secret enemies, who were plotting against the Government, to show themselves openly. Indeed, this measure, probably more than anything else, led to the premature outbreak of the Jacobite re- bellion towards the end of the year. Ormond was the only one of the late ministers who enjoyed much popularity, and his name was now substituted for that of Sache- verell in the cries of the mob. From this moment the Doctor lost his importance ; and within a few years, at the time when Hogarth drew his series of the “ Harlot’s Progress,” Sacheve- rell’s portrait was looked upon as a fit companion for that of the no less notorious Captain Mackheatli in the vilest dens of profli- gacy. The head of “ Duke Ormond ” now figured as an orna- ment on articles of common use, as Dr. Sacheverell’s had done before ; and a very remarkable proof of the length of time which it requires to eradicate feelings and prejudices impressed on the popular mind in times of great political excitement, is furnished by the following rather droll song upon the Duke of Ormond, preserved traditionally in the Isle of Wight and in Kent. The copy I give here, which is the best I have been able to obtain,* was still sung, some thirty or forty years ago, by several old men in the neighbourhood of Maidstone in Kent. “SONG OF ORMOND AND MARLBOROUGH. te l am Ormond the Brave, did you ever hear of me, A man lately forced from his own country, They sought for my life, and they plundered my estate, All for being so loyal to Queen Anne the great. Chorus — And sing. Hey, ho, ho, I am Ormond, you know, I am Ormond, you know. Though they call me Jemmy Butler, I am Ormond you know. * It was communicated to me by a gentleman of Mereworth, near Maid- stone. In the first edition of this book I printed a much more corrupt and imperfect text, communicated to me by Mr. C. Roach Smith, who had taken it down, in 1841, from the mouth of an itinerant fishmonger in the Isle of Wight, who knew no more about it than that it had been aung by his father C 2 20 SATIRES ON THE PRETENDER. “ Betwixt Ormond and Marlborough arose a great dispute : Says Ormond to Marlborough, ‘ I was born a duke. And you but a footboy to wait upon a lady; You may thank your kind fortune and the wars which have made ye.’ And sing, Hey, ho, ho, &c. “ ‘ I never was a traitor, like you, thou false knave, Nor ever cursed Queen Anne when she lay in her grave ; But I was Queen Anne’s darling, and my country’s delight, And for the crown of England so boldly I did fight.’ And sing. Hey, ho, ho, &c. “‘Begone, then,’ says Ormond, ‘you cowardly creature, To rob my poor soldiers, it never was my nature, Which you have done before, as we well understand ; You have filled your own purse, and impoverished the land.’ And sing, £ Hey, ho, ho, &c. “ Says Marlborough to Ormond, ‘ Now do not say so, Or from the Court I will force you to go.’ Says Ormond to Marlborough, ‘Now do not be so cruel, But draw forth your sword, and we’ll end it in a duel.’ And sing, Hey, ho, ho, &c. “ Says Marlborough to Ormond, ‘ I’ll go and ask my lady, And, if she is willing, to fight you I’m ready.’ But Marlborough went away, and he came no more there, So this noble Duke of Ormond threw his sword in the air. And sing, Hey, ho, ho, & c.” It was bv songs of this character that the minds of the lower classes in England were to have been prepared, it was hoped, to join in a general rising in favour of the exiled house of Stuart. The Jacobite minstrelsy of Scotland had, no doubt, its counter- part in this country ; but its effects were much less considerable, and it was soon forgotten, with the exception of scattered scraps like that given above. The name of the Pretender was some- times uttered by the disorderly rabble amid the election riots at the beginning of the year ; but after the flight of Bolingbroke and Ormond it was heard much more frequently, and songs and satires against the Hanoverian family were sought and listened to with avidity. The Whigs replied to these with a shoal of pamphlets and papers, reproducing all the old tales of the Bevo- lufcion, and casting ridicule and contempt upon the son of J ames II., whom they insisted on looking upon as a mere im- postor. The common story was, that the Pretender was the child of a miller, and that, when newly born, he had been con- and grandfather before him. I look upon this song as one of the most curious relics of English Jacobite literature I have yet met with. It was no doubt one of those sung about the country on the eve of the Rebellion of 1 7 j 5. I am told that a few years ago this song was commonly sung at the harvest-homes in the Isle of Wight. CARICATURES OF THE PRETENDER. 21 veyed into the Queen’s bed by means of a warming-pan ; and this contrivance having been ascribed to the ingenuity of Father Petre, the Whigs always spoke of the Pretender by the name of Perkin , or little Peter. The ivarming-pan figures repeatedly in the satirical literature of the day. The birth of the Pretender had been the subject of a number ot caricatures, chiefly of foreign growth, in the reign of King William, which were now as suitable as when first published. In one of these the Queen is represented sitting by the cradle, while her Jesuit adviser whispers her in the ear, with his hand over her neck in a familiar manner, which might at least be designated as un peu leste. It is a complete Catholic family. The infant has a child’s wind- mill on its bed, to mark the trade of its real parents ; and a bowl of milk and an orange are on the table below. A much larger caricature, executed in Holland, represents the child in its cradle as here, with the wind- mill also, but accompanied by its two mothers and the Jesuit, while the picture is filled with a host of princes, diplomatists, ecclesiastics, &c., looking on with astonishment. It bears the title “ L’Europe allarmee pour la TRUTH EXPOSING THE SECRET,, 22 NIGH- CHUB CH BIOTS IN LONDON, Fils d’un Meunier.” Many satirical medals were also distri- buted abroad. One of these, a large silver medal of tine execu- tion, bears on one side a group representing a child on a cushion, crowned and carrying the pax (as the sj^mbol of Romanism) in his right hand ; but Truth, crushing a serpent with her foot, opens the door of a cupboard or chest under the cushion, in which we see Father Petre pushing the child up through the roof. # The disaffected party now prepared for the dangerous game they were resolved to play by incessant agitation ; for the poli- tical maxim, “ Agitate, agitate,” was known and practised long before the reigns of King William and Queen Victoria. The mob was, as usual, soon urged into open violence by the old cry of “ The Church !” while the Dissenters underwent a much fiercer persecution than that with which they had been visited in 1710, and they bore it in general with exemplary moderation. On the 23rd of April, 1715, the anniversary of the birthday of Queen Anne, the London mob began to assemble towards even- ing at the conduit on Snow Hill, where they hung up a flag and a hoop, and money having been given them to purchase wine, they collected round a large bonfire. From thence they moved off in parties in different directions, patrolling the streets during the whole night, shouting “ God bless the Queen and High- Church ! Bolingbroke and Sacheverell !” and attacking houses, breaking windows, insulting and robbing passengers, and levying contributions everywhere. Many of the mob were armed with dangerous weapons, and several persons were severely wounded. It was at one time proposed to pull down the Dissenters’ meeting-houses, but this project was for some reason or other abandoned. The streets continued to be more or less infested in this manner night after night for some time. The 29th of April was the Duke of Ormond’s birthday, and that night the streets of London were the scene of new riots and outrages. On the night of Saturday, May 28 (the King’s birthday), and on the Sunday night, the 29th (the anniversary of the Restora- tion), the mob committed great outrages in different parts of London, and dangerously wounded some of the constables and watch. They burnt the effigies of the chief Dissenting ministers, shouted ‘ High Church and Ormond !” and publicly drunk the Pretender’s health in Ludgate Street and other places. A riot * This medal is still not very uncommon. Copies of it will be found in the collections of Mr. Haggard and Mr. W. H. Diamond. The caricatures alluded to, with others on the same subject, are in the collections of My. Hawkins and Mr. Burke. PLOTS AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT. 23 of a similar character occurred at Oxford on the King’s birth- day, and the Quakers’ chapel was attacked and stript by the mob. Within a few days of this time the same riotous spirit had carried itself into several of the largest provincial towns. At Manchester, early in June, the mob had become absolutely master of the town for several days ; they destroyed all the Dis- senters’ chapels, threw open the prison, drunk the Pretenders’ health, and committed many outrages. There was near the same time a Jacobite riot at Leeds in Yorkshire. A troop of soldiers were sent to Manchester, and the Mayor of Leeds, who was accused of connivance, was brought to London in the cus- tody of a king’s messenger. Yet in July this spirit had become still more general, and had spread especially through Stafford- shire, Shropshire, and Cheshire. Very serious tumults occurred at Wolverhampton, Warrington, Shrewsbmy, Stafford, New- castle-under-Line, Litchfield, West-Bromwich, and many other places. The meeting-houses of the Dissenters were everywhere destroyed ; cowardly outrages were committed, and in some places sanguinary combats ended in loss of life. When the mob was pulling down the meeting-house at Wolverhampton, one of their leaders mounted on the roof, flourished his hat round his head, and shouted, “ King George and the Duke of Marl- borough !” At Shrewsbury, where the old cry of “ High Church and Dr. Sacheverell !” was raised, a justice of the peace and a substantial tradesman were convicted of being ringleaders of the ^mob^At the end of July there was a serious riot at Leek, in Staffordshire, where much mischief was done ; and there was another ^fc-Oxford as late as the 1st of September, when the mob shouted, ^Ormond!” and “No George!” and the Pre- tender’s health was said to have been drunk in some of the colleges. These tumults called forth the Biot Act, still in force, which was passed in the month of June, and which, by making the offence felony, and obliging the city or hundred to make good the damages committed, did much towards restoring order ; but more, perhaps, was done by the wholesale severity shewn towards the rioters in the trials that followed shortly after. A newspaper of the 2nd of September tells us, that “ the judges have behaved very bravely.” With a view to other events, which were now literally casting their shadow before them, troops of horse were quartered in several of the towns which had shewn themselves most disaffected. We cannot at the present day feel otherwise than astonished at the facility with which these riots were carrie i on, and 24 PLOTS AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT. the regular communication which must have existed between the leaders of the mobs in different parts of the country. It would appear as though there had been no laws to provide against such emergencies, and no police or military force dis- tributed through the country to hinder or suppress outbreaks of popular turbulence. It is true that, in London at least, the pillory and the whipping-cart were in daily use; but these instruments of punishment were robbed of the greater portion of their terrors when a sympathising crowd (paid, as it is said, by richer men of the party) escorted the sufferer, cheered him by their shouts, and carried him away in triumph when it was over. The Flying Post , a violent Whig paper, in its intelligence from Coventry of the date of September io, gives rather an amusing anecdote of the preventive effect of the new Riot Act, and of the methods sometimes taken to evade it for the perpetration of mischief. On the Sunday preceding, a mob had been collected at Burton- upon-Trent, with the desire at least of pulling down a Dissenters’ meeting-house there at the time of divine service ; but, informed of the consequences, they procured a young bull, cut off its ears and tail, tied squibs and crackers to it, and thus goaded it forwards towards the meeting-house door. The Whig writer exultingly tells us how the tortured animal suddenly turned round, and rushed through the mob, knocking down and trampling upon all who stood in its way ; and how it then ran nearly two miles and furiously threw itself into the parish church, where it killed and severely injured several of the congregation. These systematic riots were intimately connected with plots of a more serious character, with which the Government be- came gradually acquainted during the summer months ; and these discoveries upon which many persons of distinction were placed in custody, had a further effect in hastening the com- mencement of the rebellion, while they destroyed the prospects of the Jacobites in England. The prisons throughout the country were soon filled with political offenders, many of whom were Church of England clergymen. Among other persons whom it was thought necessary to place under arrest was Sir William Wyndham, member for Somersetshire (where the Jacobites were strong), and one of the leaders of the Tory party in the House of Commons. A song called “ The Vaga- bond Tories,” published on the 20th of August, intimates the suspicion, that he was preparing to fly into France to join the Pretender. SATIRES ON THE JACOBITES. *5 “The knight of such fire From S — tshire, Who for High Church is always so hearty, Tho’ in England he tarries, Is equipping for Paris, To prevent any schism in the party. ” Sir Constantine Phipps, the Jacobite ex-Chancellor of Ireland, who had been Sacheverell’s advocate at his trial, and to whom the University of Oxford had given a degree in a markedly factious manner on the King’s coronation day, is also pointed out as a conspirator : — “The impudent P — pps Must come in for snips, Who at Oxford so lately was dubb’d ; Tho’ instead of degree, Such a bawler as he Deserv’d to be heartily drubb’d. “Young Perkin, poor elf, May promise himself Two things from the face of that man ; There’s brass within reach To furnish a speech And the lid of a warming-pan.” The taunts\on those who had not fled are followed by sneers on those who had : — K What Ormond, with fraud, fjong ago did abroad, With/fear he does over again ; 5 Tis but an old dance To leave England for France, He played the same trick at Demim.” * While the ministry of King George was successfully pur- suing measures of security, the exultation of the Whig party sought an outlet in multitudes of songs like the foregoing ; and their newspapers and pamphlets became more numerous and more exciting. Most of these songs are set to the tunes of popular ballads ; one, to the tune of “ A begging we will go,” thus speaks of the “ High-Church rebels : ” — “ See how they pull down meetings, To plunder, rob, and steal ; To raise the mob in riots, And teach them to rebel. Oh ! to Tyburn let them go ! An allusion to the desertion of the allies by the English army, under the Duke of Ormond, in the year 1712. 26 SUPPRESSION OF THE REBELLION. “At Oxford, Bath, and Bristol, The rogues design’d to rise ; But George’s care and vigilance There’s nothing can surprize. So to Tyburn let them go! “ Their plot is all discover’d now, Their treason nought avails ; The Tow’r and Newgate quite are full, And all our county jails. So to Tyburn let them go !” In another, which was a parody upon a Jacobite song, the Tories are made to call upon the Pretender in despair : — “To you, dear Jemmy, at Lorrain, We mournful Tories send, Unless you’ll venture one campaign. Our cause is at an end : We’ve nothing left but to be stout, For all our plots are now found out. With a fa la la la,” &c. “ We sent you first Lord Bolingbroke, In hopes to bi’ing you over ; And then we sent wise Ormond’s duke, That rival of Hanover: You need not fear if you are beat, Since he’s so good at a retreat ! With a fal la la la, &c.” When the rebellion was entirely 7- suppressed, and the Scottish minstrels were lamenting pathetically the departure of their prince, their brethren in England were indulging in parodies like the following : — “ ’Twas when the seas were roaring With blasts of northern wind, Young Perkin lay deploring On warming-pan reclin’d : Wide o’er the roaring billows He cast a dismal look. And shiver’d like the willows That tremble o’er the brook.” The Tories at the same time appeared discomfited even in their writings. The newspapers give no intelligence, and make no remarks, until, as soon as the rebellion lost all appearance of success, they begin to talk of the “ rebels ” as if they were themselves staunch supporters of the Hano- verian succession. John Dunton in a pamphlet entitled “ Mob War,” published at this time, says, “Even Abel Koper* now * The Pont Boy, a Tory newspaper. EXULTATION OF THE WHIGS. grows modest and tender-conscienced. Drunken P tis is wretchedly dull in his Jacobite Packet* and there are thoughts of dismissing him from the service. Whig papers and pamphlets are only in demand, and the booksellers who engaged in hereditary right are just a breaking. The Examiner f has spent himself quite, and would give five shillings apiece for political lyes, and three shillings for a probable reflection upon the present ministry.” The Tories in general made their peace with the powers that were, by taking the oath of allegiance ; and the Daily Courant of November 30, 1715, contains the following advertisement of a caricature on this subject, of which no copy, as far as I can learn, is now preserved : — “ This day is published, ‘ A Call to the Unconverted ; being an emblem of the Tories’ manner of taking the oaths.’ Price sixpence.” A week after this, the St. James's Post of December 7 contains the following advertisement : — “ This day is published, £ An Argument proving all the Tories in Great Britain to be Fools.’ Price Fourpence.” Amid the uneasiness and alarm which prevailed through- out the-cmmtry, the metropolis was the continual scene of riot and agitatffin. There appears to have been no efficient police in London to keep order in the streets, along which it was unsafe to pass\ after dusk. We have already seen the ascen- dancy which thV^acohite mob had gained there in the spring, and which they se£m to have kept undisturbed during the summer, waiting foy the numerous anniversary days in the autumn to begin^again their riotous proceedings. But a new power was rising up, which though it did not prevent the riots, prevented some of the mischief to which they might have led. Amid the political excitement of the preceding year, which pervaded every class of society, and seemed to have estranged people’s minds from every other subject, even the taverns and public-houses of the metropolis had been gradually taking a political character to such a degree, that about this time a guide-book was published, under the title of the “ Yade-mecum of Malt-worms,” containing a list of all the ale-houses in Lon- don, with an account of the persons who held them, and the political principles of each. Some of these, under the name of mug-houses , became the resort of small societies or clubs of political partisans, who met there on certain occasions to cele- brate memorable anniversaries. Two of the oldest Whig houses * The Weekly Packet, a newspaper we have quoted more than once. t A violent Jacobite paper, at one period chiefly conducted by Swift, 28 LONDON MUG-HOUSES. were the Roebuck, in Cheapside, (opposite Bow Church,) and a mug-house in Long Acre. A society calling itself the Loyal Society, held its meetings at the Roebuck, after the Accession of George I. ; and in the history of the London riots in 1715 and 1716 this house obtained an especial celebrity. Next in fame to these were the Magpie, without Newgate (the Magpie and Stump still standing in the Old Bailey) ; a mug-house in St. J ohn’s Lane, Clerkenwell ; another in Tavistock Street, Covent Garden ; one in Salisbury Court, near Fleet Street ; and one in Southwark Park. The two last became eventually objects of great hostility with the mob. The Tory ale-houses, which were less numerous, appear to have stood chiefly about Holborn Hill (Dr. Sacheverell’s parish) and Ludgate Street. The Whig societies who frequented the mug-houses began in the autumn of 1715 to unite in parties to fight the Jacobite mob which had so long tyrannised over the streets, and they were probably joined on such occasions by a number of others, who, like the London apprentices of old, looked upon the whole only as a rough kind of diversion. At the end of October and beginning of November, a num- ber of political anniversaries crowded together. The Prince of Wales’s birthday, the 30th of October, was celebrated on Monday the 31st. The Elying Dost, the chief chronicler of the tumults, informs us that “ A parcel of the Jacobite rabble, such as Bridewell boys, &c., committed outrages on Ludgate Hill, broke the windows that were illuminated, scattered a bon- fire, and cried out ‘ An Ormond ! ’ &c. ; but they were dispersed and soundly thrashed by a party of the Loyal Society, who had lately burnt the Pretender in effigy.” From this time we shall find the new self-constituted police constantly at war with the mob. The latter had prepared an effigy of King William to be burnt on the anniversary of that monarch’s birth, Friday, No- vember 4, and on the approach of night they assembled round a large bonfire in the Old Jewry for that purpose. But infor- mation of their design having been carried to a party of the Loyal Society, who were met at the Roebuck to celebrate King William’s birthday, and who were therefore close at hand, these gentlemen hastened to the spot, and “ gave the Jacks # due chastisement with oaken plants, demolished their bonfire, and brought off the effigies in triumph to the Roebuck.” On the morrow, the 3th of November, the Whig mob had their cele- bration. They had prepared caricature effigies of the Pope, the This was the term popularly given to the J acobites. MUG-HOUSE RIOTS. 29 Pretender, Ormond, Bolingbroke, and the Earl of Marr, which were carried in the following order ; — “ First, two men bearing each a warming-pan , with the representation of the infant Pre- tender, a nurse attending him with a sucking-bottle, and another playing with him by beating the warming-pan.” These were followed by three trumpeters, playing Lilliburlero and other Whig tunes. Then came a cart, with Ormond and Marr, appro- priately dressed. This was followed by another cart, containing the Pope and Pretender seated together, and Bolingbroke as the secretary of the latter. They were all drawn backwards, with halters round their necks. The procession, thus arranged, passed from the Boebuck along Cheapside, through Newgate Street and up Holborn Hill, where the Jacobite bells of St. Andrew’s Church were made to ring a merry peal. From thence they passed through Lincoln’s-Inn Fields and Covent Garden to St. James’s, where they made a stand before the palace ; and so went back by Pall Mall and the Strand, through St. Paul’s Churchyard, into Cheapside ; but here they found that the “Jacks^had been beforehand with them, and stolen the faggots which had been piled up for their bonfire. They there- fore made a\ circuit of the city whilst a new bonfire was pre- oared, and onbheir return burnt all the effigies amid the shouts of the crowd. The enmity between the mob and the Loyal Society was em- bittered by these first encounters, and it soon came to a fierce issue. On the 17th of November the Loyal Society met at the Boebuck, to celebrate the anniversary of Queen Elizabeth. The mob bad also met to celebrate it, but in a different manner; and towards seven o’clock in the evening intelligence reached the Boebuck that they had assembled at St. Martin-le-Grand, and were preparing, amid shouts of “ High Church, and Ormond, and King James ! ” to burn the effigies of King William, King George, and the Duke of Marlborough, in Smithfield. The “ Loyal ” gentlemen immediately marched out, and overtook them in Newgate Street, where a desperate fight took place, and, after twenty or thirty of them had been “ knocked down,” the mob was dispersed. They had concealed their effigies ; but a boy who had been captured pointed them out to the victors, who marched back in triumph to the Boebuck. There they had hardly arrived, when a much greater mob began to assem- ble, and, after breaking the windows of the Boebuck, as well as those of the adjacent houses, and pulling down the sign, pro- ceeded to burst open the door, and threatened summary ven- geance upon the inmates. In this extremity, a member of the 3 © ASSAULT UPON THE ROEBUCK. Loyal Society fired with a loaded gun down the passage, and killed one of the assailants, and the Lord Mayor and city officers coming up at the same time, the mob took to their heels. The inquest on the body of the man who was killed returned a verdict that he was slain, while in open riot and rebellion, by some one who had fired in self-defence. On subsequent nights the Koebuck appears to have been exposed to renewed, but less serious attacks, and the mob war was carried on at least less ostentatiously during the winter. In February we hear again of the riotous conduct of the Jacobite mob, and the mug-houses appear to have been actively refitting and preparing for a new campaign. New songs were compiled and printed for the use of the loyal gentry who fre- quented them, and well suited to keep up the popular excite- ment. One of these gives the following description of the mob, and shows that these faction fights were very serious things. “ Since the Tories could not fight And their master took his flight, They labour to keep up their faction ; With a bough and a stick, And a stone and a brick, They equip their roaring crew for action. “Thus in battle array, At the close of the day, After wisely debating their deep plot, Upon windows and stall They courageously fall, And boast a great victory they have got. “But, alas ! silly boys ! For all the mighty noise Of their ‘ High Church and Ormond for ever !* A brave Whig with one hand, At George’s command, Can make their mightiest hero to quiver.” Towards spring festive entertainments were given at most of the mug-houses — a sort of house-warming or introduction to the season, at which the proprietors delivered formal addresses, often in verse, stating their sentiments and intentions, and boasted of their former feats against the “ Jacks.” One of these, the keeper of the mug-house in St. John’s Lane, speaks of his fre- quent encounters with the mob, and after threatening what he will do himself, proceeds : — “ Nor is it for myself I speak alone : There is my wife, — ’tis true, she is but one, But, fegs ! she’ll play her part against the tyler's son.” MUG-HOUSE SONGS. Several of these addresses will be found in the mug-house song- books. One of these festivals is thus announced in the Flying Post of April 12, 1716: — “ This is to give notice to all gentle- men who are well affected to the present establishment , and lovers of good home-brew’d ale, that this present Thursday, being the 12th of April, Mrs. Smyth’s mug-house in St. John’s Lane, near Smithfield, will be opened ; when there will be a pro- logue spoke, suitable to the occasion.” And on the 21st of April the same paper prints this “prologue,” with the following editorial remark : — “ The following is inserted at the request of several honest gentlemen, who are hearty well-wishers to those useful societys that are carry’d on in Long Acre and St. John’s Lane, for the reformation of Toryism and the propagation of loyalty to the present happy government.” The same news- paper had shortly before given a new mug-house song, com- mencing, — “ We friends of the mug are met here to discover Our zeal to the Protestant house of Hanover, "^^Against the attempts of a bigotted rover. Which nobody can deny. “ Prepare then in bumpers confusion to drink To thW cursed devices who otherwise think ; Por nowHhat vile int’rest must certainly sink. \ Which nobody can deny. “The Tories, ’ns true, are yet skulking in shoals, To show their affection to Perkin in bowls ; But in time we will ferret them out of their holes. Which nobody can deny.” From this period the members of the Loyal Society send to the newspapers regular reports of their night’s campaign, duly dated from the head-quarters at the Roebuck. On the night of the 8th of March, the anniversary of the death of King William, a considerable mob assembled, to the old cry of “ High Church and Ormond ! ” and marched along Cheapside to the well-known mug-house, where a party of the Loyal Society were met “ for the defence of the house ; ” but when these issued forth, to the number of “ about forty,” the mob ran away, leaving many of their sticks behind them. The Loyalists then marched in pro- cession through Newgate Street, paid their respects to the Magpie, where another party was met, and proceeded to Lud- gate Hill in bravado of the “Jacks,” who were strong there, but on their return they found that the mob had been collecting in greater strength in their rear in Newgate Street, where a great fight took place, in which the Whigs were again victorious, 32 MUG-HOUSE RIOTS. after having, to use the words of the newspaper account, “ made rare work for the surgeons.” The conquerors returned direct to the Roebuck, shouting “ King George ! ” as they went, and there spent the greater part of the night in drinking loyal toasts. The next very serious tumult occurred on the 23rd of April (the anniversary of the birth of Queen Anne). In the evening of that day the marrow bones and cleavers, the usual signal of gathering for the mob, were heard rattling along the streets ; and, towards seven o’clock, parties were to be seen forming in Smithfield, the Old Bailey, Ludgate Hill, and Fleet Street, to shouts of “High Church and Ormond!” “Ho Rump Parlia- ment!” and other similar cries. The Loyalists began to as- semble at the Roebuck about the same time, and by nine o’clock had become tolerably numerous ; upon which they marched forth in procession to the Magpie, and thence to Ludgate Hill, where the mob showed themselves, but would not stand. The Loyal Society then returned to the Roebuck, from whence they made a circuit into the city and returned again to the Roebuck with- out meeting with any opponents. But they had hardly settled themselves down to their mugs, when news arrived that the mob was coming up in great force. They then lost no time in gaining the street, and found the mob already in Cheapside at the end of Wood Street, where there was a fierce battle, ending as usual in the discomfiture of the “ Jacks.” The heroes of the Roebuck now marched towards the Magpie ; but at the end of Giltspur Street they again found the mob, and had a more obsti- nate fight than before, but with the same result, and they returned to their quarters with a pile of captured hats and sticks as trophies. An anniversary was now approaching which had always been celebrated with tumults, and such preparations appear to have been made for the present occasion, as shewed that the mob did not act solely by their own impulse. On the 29th of May, the anniversary of the Restoration of Charles II., green boughs were carried about the streets and worn on the person ; and there were large meetings at St. Andrew’s (to hear Hr. Sacheverell), and at the “ Jacobites’ conventicle in Scroops’ Court, over against it.” Towards night the mob became very riotous, and threatened to pull down the Roebuck and the mug-house in St. John’s Lane. One of the lookers-on says, “ There never was seen such a crew of tatterdemalions, for they looked as if hell had broke loose. They had gathered together all the blackguard boys, wheelbarrow-men, and ballad-singers, and knocked down MUG-HOUSE BIOTS. 33 people that did not carry their badges.” They were, however, “ soundly thresh’d ” by the societies which met at the two mug- houses they had threatened ; and a party of horse guards, which just then arrived and patrolled the streets during the night, put an end to the disturbance. Yet on the 10th of June, the birth- day of the Pretender, there were greater riots than ever, and the Loyal Society had to bring their whole force to the struggle. A Roebuck correspondent of the Flying Fost writes some days after, “ You omitted to take notice, that, on the loth of June, several Whigs of the Loyal Societ} 7- at the Roebuck, having fur- nish’d themselves with little warming-pans fit for the pocket, did ring such a dismal peal with them in the ears of the white-rose mob, that their flowers soon disappeared, and could not keep ’em from fainting.” The white rose was the Pretender’s badge, and had been worn on this occasion. From this time we hear less of the Roebuck in the public prints, although it had hitherto eclipsed the fame of the other houses. But they also had been engaged with their respective mobs, especially the mug-house in Southwark, and that in Salis- bury Court.\On the 12th of July following the last-mentioned exploit of thb Roebuck heroes, a mob, armed with clubs, assembled in Southwark, with shouts of “ High Church and Ormond! ” “ Dowh^with the mug-houses!” and, attacking the mug-house there, brokh the shutters and windows. The society within, however rushed out, and drove them away. A week after this, on Friday/ the 20th of July, the London mob, which, we are told, had “ strangely ” increased since the King’s de- parture for Hanover, made a desperate attack on a mug-house in Salisbury Court. The society then assembled there sent for assistance to their allies in the mug-house in Tavistock Street; and, thus reinforced, they succeeded in driving away the assailants. A second attack was, however, made by a much stronger mob on the evening of Monday the 23rd ; but the society held them successfully at bay till the following morning, when they had been so much increased that further resistance seemed vain. The proprietor of the house, named Read, then advanced to the door with a blunderbuss, and threatened any one who should attempt to enter the house. Instead of falling back, the mob rushed towards him with clubs and sticks, whereupon he fired and shot their ringleader dead. The mob, rendered still more furious, threw themselves upon Read, and left him to appearance lifeless : and then broke down the sign, entirely gutted the lower part of the house, drank as much ale in the cellar as they could, and let the rest run out. The magistrates and soldiers D 34 PERSONAL LIBELS ON TEE KING. arrived about mid-day, and dispersed the mob, though not till a soldier and some other persons had been severely injured in the fray. The Loyal Society, who had barricaded themselves in the upper part of the house, were thus relieved from their unpleasant position. The inquest gave a verdict of wilful murder against Lead, and he was brought to trial, but acquitted, and the Government made good the damage he had sustained. Several of the rioters were also brought to their trial ; and, convicted of being active in the work of destruction, they were hanged with- out mercy. This event appears to have thrown a final damp upon the spirits of the mob. At the end of June, the King left England for Hanover. On his departure a treasonable libel was hawked about the streets, entitled “ King G ’s farewell to England ; or, the Oxford Scholars in mourning.” We know little of the contents of the libels against the King’s person which were thus hawked about the streets ; but to judge from what is preserved in some of the early Scottish Jacobite songs, the scandals attached to George’s wife and to his mistresses were plentifully raked up. The latter were often hooted by the mob as they passed through the streets. Horace Walpole, in his Reminiscences , assures us that nothing could be grosser than the ribaldry that was vomited out in lampoons, libels, and every channel of abuse, against the Sovereign and the new Court, and chaunted even in their hearing in the public streets. 35 CHAPTER II. GEORGE I. Party Peeling after the Rebellion — Prevalence of. Highway Robbery — The Mob — Bishop Hoadly’s Sermon, and Colley Cibber’s “Non-Juror” — The Prench Mississippi Scheme — The South Sea Bubble — Sudden Mul- tiplication of Stock Jobbing Bubbles — Fall of the “ Paper King ” Law — The South Sea Ballads — South Sea Caricatures — Bubble Cards, and Stock-Jobbing Cards — Knight and the “ Screen ” — Election^ for a New Parliament — New Efforts in favour of the Pretender — Bishop Atter- bury’s Plot. T HE hasty and ill-advised and ill-conducted Rebellion of 1715 had effectually strengthened the power of the Whig party, and had shewn to all reasonable and thinking persons how little was to be expected from a person deficient in courage and in capacity as the Pretble tempting metal ; But if i„ here may be allow’d To bring in great and small things, Our cunning South Sea, like the gods, Turns nothing into all things ! 6 . “What need have we of Indian wealth, Or commerce with our neighbours ? Our constitution is in health, And riches crown our labours. Our South Sea ships have golden shrouds They bring us wealth, ’tis granted, But lodge their treasure in the clouds, To hide it till it’s wanted. 7 - “ O Britain, bless thy present state, Thou only happy nation ; So oddly rich, so madly great, Since bubbles came in fashion ! Successful rakes exert their pride, And count their airy millions ; Whilst homely drabs in coaches ride, Brought up to town on pillions. 8 . “Few men, who follow reason’s rules, Grow fat with South Sea diet ; Young rattles and unthinking fools, Are those that flourish by it. Old musty jades, and pushing blades, Who’ve least consideration, Grow rich apace ; whilst wiser heads Are struck with admiration. 9 - 14 A race of men, who t’ other day Lay crush’d beneath disasters, And now by stock brought into play. And made our lords and masters. But should our South Sea Babel fall, What numbers would be frowning ! The losers then must ease their gall By hanging or by drowning. EXPLOSION OF THE BUBBLES. 5 T io. * Five hundred millions, notes and bonds, Our stocks are worth in value ; But neither lie in goods or lands, Or money, let me tell you. Yet though our foreign trade is lost, Of mighty wealth we vapour ; When all the riches that we boast Consists in scraps of paper ! ” From the month of October to the end of the year, songs, and squibs, and pamphlets of all descriptions, on the misfortunes occasioned by the explosion of the bubble system, became ex- ceedingly numerous. Two dramatic pieces, “ The Broken Stock-Jobbers,” a farce, “ as lately acted by his Majesty’s sub- jects in Exchange Alley,” and “South-Sea; or, The Biter Bit,” a farce, are advertised in the month of October. The general feeling against the directors was becoming so strong in the month of November, that we are told it had become a practice among the ladies, when in playing at cards they turned up a knave, to cry, “There is a director for you !” The period of the South Sea bubble is that in which political caricatures began to be common in England ; for they had be- fore been published at rare intervals, and partook so much of the character of emblems, that they are not always very easy to be understood. Bead’s Weekly Journal of November i, 1718, gives a caricature against the Tories, engraved on wood, which is called “ an hieroglyphic,” so little was the real nature of a caricature then appreciated. Another fault under which these earlier caricatures labour is that of being extremely elaborate. The earliest English caricature on the South Sea Company is advertised in the Post Boy of June 2 1, 1.720, under the title of “The Bubblers bubbled; or, The Devil take the Hindmost.” It no doubt related to the great rush which was made to sub- scribe to the numerous companies afloat in that month.” I have not met with a copy of it, but in the advertisement it is stated to be represented “ by a great number of figures. In the adver- tisement of another caricature, on the 29th of February in this year, called “ The World in Masquerade,” it is set forth, as one of its great recommendations, that it was “ represented in nigh • eighty figures.” In France and in Holland (where the bubble- mania had thrown everything into the greatest confusion), the number of caricatures published during the year 1720 was very considerable. In the latter country, a large number of these caricatures, as well as many satirical plays and songs, were collected together and published in a folio volume, which is still CARICATURES ON THE BUBBLES . 5 a not uncommon, under the title, “ Het groote Tafereel der Dwaasheid ” (The great Picture of Polly). The greater por- tion of these foreign caricatures relate to Law and his Missis- sippi scheme. In one of these, a number of persons of both sexes, and of all ages and conditions in society, are represented acting the part of Atlas, each supporting a globe on his shoulders. Law, the Atlas who supported the world of paper, — V Atlas actieux de pajpier, as he is termed in the French de- scription of the plate, — bears his globe but unsteadily, and is obliged to call in Hercules to his aid. A MODERN ATLA.S. “ Roi Atlas, he ! pourquoi te fatiguer ainsi? Permets qu’Hercule vienne, et te donne assistance, Et t’aide a soutenir ton charge d’importance. Quoi qu’on dit c’est papier ou du vent, aujourd’hui, II n’y a en ce temps d’espkce si pdsante ; Puis qu’en troc et trafic il pese plus que d’or.” So little point is there often in these caricatures, and so great appears to have been the call for them in Holland, that people seemed to have looked up old engravings, designed originally for a totally different purpose, and, adding new inscriptions and new explanations, they were published as caricatures on the bubbles. These betray themselves sometimes by the costume. A large wood-cut which represents the meeting of a King and a nobleman in the court of a palace, attended by a crowd of courtiers in the costume of the days of Henry IV. or Louis XIII., is thus made to represent the crowding of the stock- jobbers to the Hue Quinquenpoix. In the same manner a large which seems originally to have been an allegorical repre- CARICATURES ON THE BUBBLES. 53 sentation of the battle between Carnival and Lent (a rather popular subject at an earlier period), is here given under the new title of “ The Battle between the good-living Bubble-lords and approaching Poverty,” ( Stryd tuszen de smullende Bubbel- LLeeren en de aanstaande Armoede .) The best of these caricatures is a large engraving by Pieart, which appears in the Dutch volume, with explanations in French and Dutch, and which was re-engraved with English descriptions and applications in London. It is a general satire on the madness which characterized the memorable year 1720. “ Qui,” says the inscription, — “ Qui le croira % qui Petit jamais pens£ ? Qu’en un sibcle si sage un systfeme insense Fit du commerce un jeu de la Fortune ? Et se jeu pernicieux, Ensorcelant jeunes et vieux, Kempllt tous les esprits d’une yvresse commune.” Fortune is here driven in her car by Folly, the car being drawn by the personifications of the principal companies who began the pernicious trade of stock-jobbing, as the Mississippi, represented with a wooden leg ; the South Sea, with a sore leg, and the other bound with a ligament ; the Bank, treading under foot a serpent, &c. The agents of some of the larger com- panies are turning the wheels of the car, and are represented with foxes’ tails, “ to show their policy and cunning.” The spokes of the wheels are inscribed with the names of different companies, which, as the car moves forward, are alternately up and down ; while books of merchandise, crushed and torn beneath them, represent the de- | struction of trade and commerce. In the clouds the Devil appears making bubbles of soap, which j mingle with the “ actions ” and I other things (good and bad) j that Fortune is distributing to ... the crowd. “ Those,” it is ad- i ded, “ that will give themselves !' the trouble of examining the print, may discover many things which are not here explained, in order that the curious may have the pleasure of having some - DOUBLE TtOmU'EY* CARICATURES ON THE BURBLES. 54 thing to guess at /” In fact there are a number of different groups in the picture which are not described. On one side, one of the fox-tailed gentlemen is whispering into the ear of a simple buyer of actions, while a roguish lad is picking his pockets behind. Those who brought their money into Ex- change Alley were exposed to every description of robbery. Near these, in the original print, a handsome young damsel is thrown by the sudden frown of Fortune into the longing arms of an old and ill-favoured but more fortunate worshipper of the capricious goddess. iC Quand on est jeune et belle, et qu’on a le malheur D avoir perdu son bien dans un jeu si funeste, Gare qu’un billet au porteur Ne fasse encore perdre le reste !” We are well assured by the writers of the time, that the profligacy which followed this mad gambling was almost in- credible. On the other side of the picture is a group occu- pied in buying and selling stock : the seller appears ea- ger for the purchase-money, which the buyer is counting out upon a block, while a Jew broker transacts the affair. The word “transfer” is in- scribed on the block in the English print. The car of Fortune proceeds from a large coffee-house, over the door of which, in the original plate, we read the word “ Quinquenpoix in place of which the English copy has “ Jonathan’s,” which was the great place of resort in London for bubblers and bubbled. At the other extremity of the picture, the infatuated crowd is hurrying forward to fill the three places of its final destination,- — the mad-house, the poor-house, and the hospital. The latter is called, in the English print, “ The House of Fools but, in several particulars of this kind, as well as in artistical execution, the original engraving of Picart is much superior to the English copy. Folly is represented with the spacious hoop-petticoat, patches, and other extravagant fashions of the day, — a true female exquisite of the year 1720. The Rost-Boy of October 20, 1720 contains an advertise- POLITICAL P LAYING- C AIDS. 55 two shillings and sixpence. The notion of political playing- cards was not altogether new ; one, at least, had appeared in the latter times of the Commonwealth, and in the reign of Charles II. a pack of such cards had been published on the celebrated Popish Plot, which had caused almost as great an excitement through- out the country as the bubbles of the year 1720. A set of bubble cards had also been published in this latter year in Hol- land ; but whether the Dutch took the hint from the English, or the English from the Dutch, it is not easy to determine. These packs of South Sea cards are preserved in the collection of Mr. Burke. Each of the “ bubble cards ” contains an en- graving representing the object of one of the numerous com- panies that grew up round the greater bubble of the South Sea scheme, with an epigram in four lines, which is frequently quaint and amusing. The ten of hearts has a ship freighting with timber, in allusion to the company for exporting timber from Germany, and the lines, tl You that are rich, and hasty to be poor, Buy timber export from the German shore ; For gallowses, built up of foreign wood, If rightly us’d, may do ’Change Alley good.” The object of another company was the “ curing tobacco for snuff;” and the card represents two negroes and their overseer passing the snuff through a sieve, whilst their eyes very unequi- vocally suffer from the dust : — ■> 56 STOCK-JOBBING CARDS. “ Here slaves for snuff are sifting Indian weed, Whilst their o'erseer does the riddle feed ; The dust arising gives their eyes much trouble, To show their blindness that espouse the bubble.” The “ stock-jobbing ” cards are more decidedly caricatures than the others, and they deal more especially with the doings of the bubblers and their dupes, than with the bubbles themselves. On the three of clubs we see two stock-jobbers inventing poli- tical news, and resolving to proclaim the birth of a young Pre- tender, or rather two, from the marriage of the old one with the Polish Princess Sobieski, as the news most likely to affect the value of the funds. “ Two jobbers for the day invent a lie, And broach the same to low’r the stocks thereby. One says the Pole ’s delivered ; t’ other swears Siie’s brought to bed of two pretending heirs.” The king of clubs gives a receipt against bankruptcy ; a trades- man in distress receives counsel from his friend : “ I’d advise you to buy stock, and take it up in fourteen days ; it may chance to rise, but if it falls you can but then go off.” The tradesman takes the hint : — “ ’Tis true, one breaking will serve for all ; but if I succeed, ’twill make me a man and it appears he is successful. “ A bending tradesman to retrieve his fortune, Buys stock to take it in a fortnight certain ; It rises greatly by the time of taking, And thus the buyer saves himself from breaking.” The nine of hearts tells a different story : — “ A merchant liv’d of late in reputation, But bilk’d by stock, like thousands in the nation, Goes to the Mint, his bad success bemoaning, To shun his ruin, saves himself by breaking.” In another card, three bubble directors advise with their lawyer: one says to his legal adviser, “ Sir, if you can evade this act, you and 1 may ride in our coaches.” “My advice,” answers the lawyer, “ is, get what money you can, give me some, and make off with the rest.” The other two bubblers are consulting in a corner of the room on the most effectual way of securing the zeal of the lawyer in their cause : “ Tell him he shall be a director,” says the one. The verses on the card are not worth quoting. On the three of diamonds — “ A lady pawns her jewels by her maid, And in declining stock presumes to trade ; Till in South Sea she drowns her coin, And now in Bristol stones is glad to shine,” ENGLISH CARICATURES. 57 The greater number of the English caricatures on the follies of the year 1720 were published in the year following. The London Journal , April 22, 1721, announces, as “Just publish’d, six fine prints, representing the humours of the French, Dutch, and English bubblers and stock-jobbers ; with variety of hu- mours,” &c. These probably included the two “Bubblers’ Medleys and two equally well-known plates, entitled “ The Bubbler’s Mirrour,” in one of which is represented a figure joyful for the rise of stock, and in the other a man in deep mourning lamenting its fall. Both of these latter prints are surrounded by lists of the bubbles, accompanied with the same epigrams which appear on the bubble cards. The English caricatures of this time are but .poor imitations of the foreign ones ; in fact, the taste for them seems to have been imported from abroad, and the South Sea disaster must be looked upon as the beginning of the rage for caricatures which appeared in this country a few years after. It must not be forgotten, that Hogarth’s first political caricature related to the bubbles of 1720, and was published in 1721. The misery produced by these bubbles in the winter of 1720, both in England and on the Continent, can with difficulty be conceived. Yet, after the space of a century, the same folly re- appeared in the mania of 1825, and some of the same bubbles were revived ; but their effects at the latter period were small in comparison to those of 1720. A German medal in the collec- tion of Mr. Haggard, struck probably towards the end of the year last mentioned, represents on one side the momentarj’ pros- perity of the stock-jobbers, and on the reverse the frightful catastrophe. Suicide by hanging and drowning, hasty flight, and despair, as here represented, were the share of hundreds. The cla- mour of the sufferers overcame all other appeals to the Govern- ment during the year 172 1. A searching examination by a com- mittee of the House of Commons exposed to public view many ini- quitous transactions ; and the general dissatisfaction was in- creased by the belief that not only the ministers of the Crown, but more especially the King’s mistresses and his greedy Ger- FLIGHT OF KNIGHT. 58 man followers, had received bribes in the first instance for procuring the passing of the South Sea bill, and bad afterwards made great profits by stock-jobbing. The South Sea directors became objects of hatred and persecution, and their property was confiscated and themselves imprisoned. The ministry was broken up ; and, at the beginning of April, remodelled under the guidance of Mr. Walpole, who, though accused of having pro- fitted largely by trading in stock himself, was the only man capable at this moment of bringing a remedy to the evil. Robert Knight, the treasurer of the South Sea Company, after undergoing a partial examination, fled (with the book which, it was believed, contained the greatest secrets of the late transac- tions) to France, and thence to Brabant, where he was arrested and confined in the castle at Antwerp. There he remained during the greater part of the year, for the States of Brabant refused to deliver him up to the English Government. It was commonly believed that the flight of the South Sea treasurer had been contrived by greater persons ; that the attempts to bring him back to England were not made in earnest ; and that his arrest in Brabant was a mere act of collusion, the whole being a screen to hide the conduct of great persons about Court, whom it was essential to keep from public view. This screen , and Knight’s escape from England, began to be the subject of a variety of caricatures after the month of April, i/2i. In one of these the fugitive is represented as taking refuge in the infernal regions, the fittest receptacle, as it was represented, for so de- tested an individual. In another, entitled “ The Brabant Screen,” Knight is figured in his travelling garb, receiving his de- spatches, which are given to him from behind thescreen by the King’s chief mistress, or left-hand wife, the Duchess of Kendal, who was said to have received enormous sums from the South Sea Company, and who chiefly was supposed to hinder Knight from being delivered to justice. On the other side of the screen, a paper lying on a table bears the words, “ Patience, time, and money set everything to rights ; ” insinuating that Knight had been designedly A NEW PARLIAMENT. 59 sent out of the way until the public feeling could be appeased. Underneath the engraving are some verses, the spirit of which will be sufficiently shewn by the first half-dozen : — te In vain Great Britain sues for Knight’s discharge, In vain we hope to see that wretch at large ; If traitors here the villain there secure, Our ills must all increase, our woes be sure. Should he return, the screen would useless be, And all men then the mystery would see.”* The wise measures of Walpole gradually alleviated the evils which the South Sea affair had inflicted on society, although they were felt heavily for some time ; and the name of stock- jobber has never entirely thrown off the weight of popular odium which it contracted on this occasion. The effect upon politics was, however, much less than the opponents of King George’s government hoped for and reckoned upon : but a new subject of agitation was now approaching, which helped in some measure to make people forget the former. The first Parliament of George I. would naturally have expired in 1717; but the ministers, who had already experienced on two memorable occasions the danger of general elections in a moment of excitement, and imagined that there was much then to be dreaded from the intrigues of the Jacobites, had obtained in 17 16 an act of Parliament repealing the Triennial Act, and fixing the legal duration of a Parliament to seven years, and the bill was made to apply to the Parliament then in existence. By this alteration King George’s first Parliament was to end with the year 1721 ; and the elections, to all appearance, would fall amid the still existing excitement of the misfortunes of the bubble explosion. We find, however, that this subject of com- plaint was very little agitated in the elections which took place in the spring of 1722. The chief attack upon the Court party was made by exciting the old mob-prejudices against the Com- monwealth and Dissenters. The Tories accused the late Parlia- ment of a design to constitute themselves another “ Long ” Parliament, published lists of those who voted for and against the repeal of the Triennial Act, and stigmatized the former by the old and unpopular title of the “ Bump.” Pamphlets on the * The caricatures mentioned above, and one or two others on the same subject, are preserved in the collection of Mr. Burke and Mr. Hawkins. The print representing the entrance of Knight into the infernal regions was probably published later in the year, for a caricature entitled “Robin’s Flight ; or, the ghost of the late S. S. treasurer ferry’d into hell,” is advertised as just published in a newspaper of Sept. 23, 1721, 6o PREPARATIONS FOR THE ELECTIONS. misdeeds of the Rump Parliament were diligently spread abroad; and in some places the old custom of burning rumps was again practised by the mob, whose usual cry was “ Up with the Church, and down with the Rump !” But Walpole brought now into action what would seem to have been a new system of electioneering, by which he gained a signal victory over his opponents, who still placed their depend- ence on the old plan of raising a popular excitement, which under other circumstances had proved so eminently successful in Queen Anne’s time, and had embarrassed the Government even under the disadvantages to the Tories which accompanied the change of the reigning family. Long before the dissolution of the Parliament, the Government candidates declared themselves openly, and personally canvassed the electors ; and no expedient was left untried to secure their votes. The Tory papers com- plain bitterly, that, on this occasion, noblemen and gentlemen condescended to solicit votes with an undignified familiarity. We cannot now be otherwise than amused at complaints like the following, published in a Tory paper, Applebee’s Original Weekly Journal of January 6, 1722: — “ Altho’ we think the appointing general meetings of the gentlemen of counties, for making agreements for votes for the election of a new Par- liament before the old Parliament is expir’d, is a most scan- dalous method and an evident token of corruption, yet we find it daily practic’d, and, w r hich is worse, publiekly own’d, par- ticularly in the county of Surrey, where the very names of the candidates are publish’d, and the votes of the freeholders openly sollicited in the publick prints. The like is now doing, or pre- paring to be done, for Buckinghamshire ; and we are told, like- wise, that it is doing for other counties also.” In fact, this deliberate preparing of votes was eminently calculated to coun- teract the sudden influence of popular agitation and mob excite- ment throughout the country; and aware, by what had so recently passed, of the power of money at that time, Walpole is said to have practised on the present occasion a very extensive system of bribery. When the Parliament was dissolved in March, a host of pamphlets were sent into the world, as had been done before on similar occasions, to influence the votes of electors ; and the old system of getting up mobs was again resorted to. These mobs, in some instances, beat and kept away those who were on their way to vote for the opposite party : in some cases they carried them off, and locked them up till the election was over. In several places, especially at Coventry, fearful riots took place. ELECTIONEERING CARICATURES. 6 1 In London there was much agitation ; and, on this occasion, Westminster began those scenes of uproar which were afterwards so often repeated. But the influence of the mob diminished before Walpole’s foresight and his gold, and in the new Parlia- ment the Government obtained an overwhelming majority. The opposition was reduced to a state of weakness, in which it could only vent its spleen in political squibs and caricatures. In the midst of the elections, but when the result was no longer doubtful, on the 31st of March, an advertisement in the Tory Post-Boy announces as just published, price sixpence each, two prints, under the titles of “ The Prevailing Candidate ; or, the election carried by bribery and the D 1 and “ Britannia stript by a Villain ; to which is added, the true phiz of a late member.” The first of these only appears now to he known the right-hand side is occupied by a screen of seven folds, which are intended to represent the seven almost barren years of the late Parliament ; while on the left appears the group here repre- sented, which is explained by the verses underneath. This is the earliest caricature on elections with which I am acquainted. “ Here’s a minion sent down to a corporate town. In hopes to be newly elected ; * This rare print, which is one of the best of the caricatures of the re:gt> of George the First, i» in the collection of Mr. Hawkins. 6 a MOVEMENTS OF THE PRETENDER. By his prodigal show, you may easily know To the Court he is truly affected. “ He ’as a knave by the hand, who has power to command All the votes in the corporation ; Shoves a sum in his pocket, the D 1 cries 4 Take it, ’Tis all for the good of the nation !’ “ The wife, standing by, looks a little awry At the candidate’s way of addressing ; But a priest stepping in avers bribery no sin, Since money ’s a family blessing. “ Say the boys, ‘Ye sad rogues, here are French wooden brogues, To reward your vile treacherous knavery ; For such traitors as you are the rascally crew That betray the whole kingdom to slavery.’ ” The more violent Tories, in their despair, seem to have been thrown again upon dangerous undertakings. We have seen, that, even in the midst of the bubble mania, the movements of the Pretender were considered sufficient to affect the public funds ; and the eyes of Englishmen were constantly fixed upon him in his retreat at Rome. The joy of the Jacobites was great, when they learnt, at the end of the year 1720, that his Polish wife had given birth to a son, a young Pretender, destined to be brought on the stage when the little energy ever possessed by his father was gone. They hoped much from the dissatisfaction and sufferings caused by the disasters of the South Sea scheme, and they had been signally disappointed in the result of the elections. The excitement of these had scarcely subsided, when the English Government received from Prance information of a formidable conspiracy at home against King George ; and it was discovered that the Pretender had left Rome, and that the Duke of Ormond was on his way from Madrid to be prepared on the coast of Biscay for a descent on that of England. A camp was immediately formed in Hyde Park, to protect the King and the metropolis, from which latter all Papists, or reputed Papists, were warned to depart, by a royal proclamation issued on the 9th of May. At the same time we trace attempts to raise a new feeling among the mob in favour of the exiled family ; and it is announced, in Read’s Weekly Journal of May 2 6, that “ The messenger of the press has caused fourteen persons to be sent to the House of Correction, for crying about the city scan- dalous and traiterous songs.” In perilous undertakings like this, caricatures were circulated on medals, rather than in prints, and we have such a medal struck at this time, with a head of the Pretender on the obverse, and the legend ujstca salus, and on the reverse, tinder the legend quid gkavius capta, a distant A TTPRB UR Y ’ S PLOT. view of London, with Britannia weeping in the foreground, and before her face the horse of Hanover trampling upon her lion and unicorn. The Jacobites pretended that the nation had been enslaved by the Court in- fluence in the elections ; and on the 20th of September, long after the English conspirators had been seized, the Pretender issued a mad declaration, which was printed and industriously distributed in England, in which he dwelt especially on the pretended violation of the freedom of voting. The declaration was ordered by the British Parliament, which was then assembled, to be burnt by the hands of the hangman. A bishop was the principal conspirator in the Jacobite plot of 1722. Atterbury, of Rochester, was a minister of the Crown under the brief premiership of Bolingbroke in the few last days of the reign of Queen Anne ; on whose death he alone had been bold enough to propose that they should proclaim the son, or reputed son, of James II. as her successor to the throne. He had been ever since noted for his disaffection to the Hanoverian government ; and now he seems to have rashly embraced the hope that a few troops under the Duke of Ormond, landed on the southern coast, would be enough to overthrow it. At the end of May, several inferior, but active, conspirators, were taken into custody; they were, a non-juring clergyman named Kelly, an Irish Catholic priest of the name of Neynoe, Layer, (a young barrister of the Temple,) and another Irishman, (a Jesuit namde Plunket.) Their examinations led to the arrest of Bishop Atterbury, who was committed a close prisoner to the Tower on the 24th of August. The High-Church party were furious at what they considered the sacrilege of imprisoning a bishop ; and the Tories declared publicly that the whole plot was a fiction, that the Pretender had never quitted Rome, and that his party had no designs against King George’s government. This was soon contradicted by the Pretender’s own declaration ; and documents which have of late years come to light destroy all doubts that might have been entertained of the guilt of Atter- bury. In the beginning of 1723 Layer was brought to his trial, and was convicted of having enlisted men for the Pretender’s service, in order to raise a new rebellion : he was executed at Tyburn. The Tories still ridiculed the plot, and as late as the THE PLOT DEFEATED. 64 1 6th of April, 1723, we learn from the Daily Journal , that “ diligent search is making after the contrivers and dispersers of a seditious copy of verses burlesquing the discovery of the late wicked conspiracy, and the methods taken for punishing the conspirators.” In May, however, Atterbury was brought to trial before the House of Lords ; a bill of pains and penalties was passed, by which he was deprived of his bishopric, and banished the kingdom ; and on the 18th of June he was put on board a King’s ship and conveyed to France, where he at once entered the service of the Pretender. A medal was now struck to commemorate the defeat of the design, which the Pretender’s medal above mentioned was intended to forward. On the obverse, the conspirators are represented as seated round a table in deep consultation, the Bishop presiding and delivering a paper to them. Above is a legend intimating the determination to restore the exile to his lost crown — decretcm est, regno brito restituatur abacxus — the numeral letters of which make the date 1722, as that in which the plot was carried on. On the reverse of the medal, the eye of Providence never asleep, darts its lightnings among the conspirators, casting the Bishop’s mitre from his head, and striking apparently with death another conspirator seated on the right, probably intended to represent the Templar, Layer. The inscription on this side is, con- spirate, aperit detjs, [oculum], et yos fulmine pulsat, the numeral letters of which make the date 1723, the year in which the plotters were convicted and punished. At the foot of the model, obverse and reverse, is the inscription conspiratio BRITANNIC A.* * This medal as well as the Pretender’s medal mentioned before, is in the collection of Mr. Haggard. THE PLOT DEFEATED. 65 From tliis time the government of King George was relieved from most of its uneasiness. The ministers, strong in their par- liamentary majorities, paid little heed to the clamours of the opposition ; trade went on flourishing, and the Pretender was no longer in a position to give alarm. The greatest subjects of political agitation were an Irish squabble about half-pence, or a Scottish riot against taxes. Even before the elections, the London newspapers had found leisure to dispute about the murder of Julius Caesar and the patriotism of Brutus ; and for several years after the bitterness of party feeling appears to have cast itself chiefly into the ranks of literature and science. v CHAPTER III, GEORGE I. and II. literature Debased by the Rage for Politics — The Stage — Operas, Mas- querades, and Pantomimes — Heidegger and his Singers — Orator Henley — The “ Beggar’s Opera” — “The Dunciad” — Continued Popularity of the Opera — Political use of the Stage — Act for Licensing Plays — Attacks upon Pope — New Edition of the “Dunciad.” HE agitation produced by the year of bubbles was followed by loud outcries against the alarming increase of immorality and profligacy, the debased character of the stage, and the low state of literature, all of which were made alternately the watchwords of political strife. A long-established opinion, per- haps not altogether just, has fixed upon the reign of Queen Anne as the Augustan age of English literature ; but the few pure models of English composition which that age produced were scattered stars among a countless multitude of unworthy scribblers, whose fame was in subsequent times embodied in the name of Grubb Street, and who, from a variety of causes, were gradually driving the more classic writers out of the field. The first kings of the Hanoverian dynasty had no love for letters ; and it happened that one or two of the most distinguished literary names belonged to the party in opposition to their government. Those only could live by their writings who would throw themselves into the troubled sea of party, or who would pander to the depraved taste of the mob of readers ; or, in other words, who would be the slaves of the newspapers or of the booksellers. The party newspapers were increasing daily in scurrility as well as in number ; but, instead of the wit and elegance of the Spectators and Tattlers , they were filled with calumny and defamation, or with wearisome tales of gallantry, varied only by occasional and not unfrequent patches of indecent ribaldry. It is clear, indeed, that the national taste had become as vulgar as the national manners, and as corrupt as the princi- ples of a large majority of the public men of that period. The works which received the greatest encouragement were scanda- lous memoirs, secret history surreptitiously obtained and sent forth under fictitious names, (such as the books which came STATE OF LITERATURE. $7 from the pens of Eliza Kay wood, Mrs. Manley, and other equally shameless female writers, and from the press of Edmund Curll,) and ill-disguised obscenity. A great number of the low political writers of the day were well paid with the government money. The secret committee appointed to inquire into the sins of Walpole’s administration, after he had retired from office, reported that no less than fifty thousand and seventy-seven pounds eighteen shillings were paid to authors and printers of newspapers in the course of ten years, between February 10, 1731, and February 10, 1741. Of this, it appears, by the report just quoted, that William Arnall, a very active political writer, received in the course of four years, “ for Free Britons and writing,” eleven thousand pounds out of the Treasury. After the employment of writing for Government, the most profitable was that of writing for the stage. The drama was suffering perhaps more than any other class of literature by the debasement of public taste, although it had certainly been raised in moral character since the days of Charles II. Under his reign there had been two sets of actors, known as “ the King’s” and “ the Duke’s but, in 1690, these were united in one com- pany, who, under one patent, had their house in Drury Lane. Internal dissension, however, soon led to disunion in the com- pany ; and the seceders, under Betterton, obtained from King William a licence to act independently, and a theatre was built for them in Lincoln’s Inn Fields. There was, of course, a zealous rivalry between the two parties, which in the opinion of Colley Cibber, led each to seek patronage by yielding to the taste of the mob, instead of being able to guide it : but after the experience of another century, we have every reason to dis- agree in the opinion formed by Cibber on this tendency. In 1706 a new and “ stately ” theatre was provided in the Hay- market for the Lincoln’s Inn company, built under the direction of Sir John Yanbrugh; and an attempt was made to effect a reunion between the two companies, but without effect. The Haymarket theatre, known under Anne as the Queen’s, and under her successors as the King’s theatre, was found not to answer well its original intention, and it was afterwards appro- priated to the Italian Opera ; for, as Cibber tells us, “ not long before this time the Italian Opera began first to steal into England, but in as rude a disguise and unlike itself as possible ; in a lame, hobbling translation into our own language, with false quantities, or metre out of measure to its original notes, sung by our own unskilful voices, with graces misapplied to almost F 2 68 HEIDEGGER AND THE MASQUERADES. every sentiment, and with action lifeless and unmeaning through every character.” After a number of vicissitudes, the licensed companies of actors remained in nearly the same position towards each other under George the First. “ His Majesty’s company of come- dians,” under the joint management of Booth, Cibber, and Wilks, held Drury Lane ; the theatre in Lincoln’s Inn Fields had been rebuilt for the opposition company under Rich : and the King’s theatre in the Haymarket was devoted exclusively to the Italian Opera, under the management of the celebrated John James Heidegger. # Not long before the rise of the South Sea scheme, masquerades were introduced at the Opera House as a new attraction to popularity ; and in a short time they became, under Heidegger’s management, the rage of the town. Every one seemed to relish the momentary saturnalia in which all ranks and classes, in outward disguise at least, mixed together in in- discriminate confusion ; where, to use the words of a contempo- rary writer, “Fools, dukes, rakes, cardinals, fops, Indian queens, Belles in tye-wigs, and lords in Harlequins, Troops of right honourable porters come, And garter’d small coal- merchants crowd the room ; Valets stuck o’er with coronets appear, Lacquey’s of state, and footmen with a star ; Sailors of quality with judges mix, And chimney-sweepers drive their coach and six : Statesmen, so used at Court the mask to wear, Now condescend again to use it here ; Idiots turn conjurers, and courtiers clowns, And sultans drop their handkerchiefs to nuns.” The masquerade soon became more than a figurative leveller of society; for sharpers, and women of ill-repute, and others, gained admission, and the consequence was nightly scenes of robbery, and quarrels, and scandalous licentiousness. The general agreement of contemporary writers on this subject can leave no doubt on our minds of the evil effects of masquerades on the morality of the day. The South Sea convulsion had hardly subsided, when a general outcry was heard against the alarming increase of atheism, profaneness, and immorality, and an attempt was made to suppress them by Act of Parliament, but the bill for that purpose was not allowed to pass. The * There was also a ‘ 1 new theatre over against the Opera, which, in the latter years of the reign of George I., was held by a party of French players ; and an unlicensed company of English players acted in a theatre in Goodman’s Fields. PRESENTMENT AGAINST HEIDEGGER . 69 dangerous effects of masquerades were particularly insisted upon; and they soon became the object of severe attacks in the news- papers, and in satirical as well as serious pamphlets. In spite, however, of all that could be done, these proscribed entertain- ments continued to flourish ; and for successive years the most prominent advertisements in the daily papers were those an- nouncing where masquerade dresses of every variety were to be lent for the night on reasonable terms. On Monday, January 6, 1726, the Bishop of London preached in Bow Church, Cheap- side, before the Society for the Beformation of Manners, a ser- mon directed especially against masquerades, which made a con- siderable sensation, and so far drew the attention of Government to the subject, that it was followed by a royal proclamation against the favourite entertainments of the town, the only result of which was, that they were in future carried on under the Italian title of ridottos, or the English one of balls ; and, in order to satisfy in some measure the scruples of the authorities, the public advertisements of each ball contained a paragraph stating that guards were stationed within and without to prevent “ all disorders and indecencies.” The Middlesex grand juries 011 several occasions presented these masquerades as public nui- sances, and complained of the manner in which the King’s orders had been evaded, but without any permanent effect. George the Second was warmly attached to masquerades, as well as to the Opera, and he not unfrequently honoured them with his presence, and showed great favour to Heidegger, whom, nevertheless, a grand jury in 1729, after describing the ill con- sequences of these Opera balls, presented, under his name, “ as the principal promoter of vice and immorality, in defiance of the laws of this land, to the great scandal of religion, the dis- turbance of his Majesty’s Government, and the damage of many of his good subjects.” The attempts at a reformation of manners were the less effec- tual, because they were too often mixed up with political parti- zanship, and were not always distinguished by the prudence and judicious moderation which ensure success. The Whig Elying Post , in the August of 1725, contains an attack on the writings of the poet Prior, for their presumed immoral tendency, com- plaining that the names of an archbishop, several bishops, and numerous other dignitaries of the Church, had appeared as sub- scribers to the new edition of his works on large paper, and adducing, as a remarkable proof of the degeneracy of public manners, that, while Prior’s writings were printed elegantly on the finest paper, any sort of print or paper was considered good 7 o CUZZONI AND FAUSTINA. enough for the editions of the Holy Scriptures ! This pointed attack upon the poet, then recently dead, is best explained by the circumstance that he had been Harley’s agent in the nego- tiations connected with the obnoxious peace of Utrecht, that he had been a prisoner of state at the beginning of King George’s reign, and that up to the last he had been looked upon as a dis- affected Tory. There was probably a satirical aim in a para- graph of the London Journal for February u, 1724, which stated, that, “At the last ridotto or ball at the Opera House in the Hay market, a daughter of his grace the Archbishop of Canterbury won the highest prize.”* The operas had flourished equally with the masquerades, and were looked upon with jealousy by those who advocated the dignity of the legitimate English stage. Singers and dancers from Italy, such as Cuzzoni, and Faustina, and Farinelli, ob- tained large sums of money, and returned to build themselves palaces at home, while first-rate actors at Drury Lane or Lin- coln’s Inn Fields experienced a difficulty in obtaining respectable audiences. The portraits of the former were engraved hand- somely, and exhibited in every picture-shop. After a serious dispute between Cuzzoni and Faustina for precedence, in the summer of 1727, in which the latter appears to have been the victor, an obscure satirist of the day says, — “ Cuzzoni can no longer charm, Faustina now does all alarm ; And we must buy her pipe so clear With hundreds twenty-five a year. Either we’ve money very plenty, Or else our skulls are wondrous empty.” The regular theatres were driven, in their own defence, to seek some new method of attracting the patronage which seemed to have been stolen from them by the Italian Opera, and they in- troduced that class of performances, also of foreign growth, which has since become so well known under the title of Pantomime. Cibber, in his autobiographical “Apology,” laments the necessity which obliged them to give way to a taste so contrary to the interests of the drama, and his contemporaries in general bear witness that the Drury Lane company opposed the innovation as far as they could. It was Kich, with his Lincoln’s Inn com- pany, who first attempted to compete with the Opera by intro- * It appears that gambling of various kinds, as well as lotteries, were permitted at the masquerades. These, with the intrigues of another de- scription, not unfrequently led to quarrels, which ended sometimes in duels, with melancholy results. CARICATURES ON THE STAGE. :* ducing singing and dancing, and English operas and English pantomimes, and what were designated in the plav-bills as “ grotesque entertainments.” In the winter of 1723 this house produced “ The Necromancer ; or, Harlequin Dr. Faustus,” which had an extraordinary run ; and the next season they brought out a “ Harlequin Jack Shepherd.” The latter was of course founded upon the exploits of the notorious character, whose history was then fresh in every one’s memory, for it was the year of his execution. A rival “ Dr. Faustus ” was brought out at Drury Lane, and, as it appears, with equal success. This was not the only instance in which the two theatres per- formed at the same time pantomimes under the same title ; in February, 1726, they were both exhibiting a pantomime of Apollo and Daphne, and other similar instances might be pointed out. In these fantastic pieces, wild beasts, and dragons, and other strange personages, made their appearance, such as had never before trodden upon the English stage ; and the writers of the time tell us, with a scornful smile, that on one occasion a moveable windmill was introduced, and that it produced no small sensation among the astonished spectators. Nor did the innovations stop here, for in the winter of 1726 mountebanks, and tumblers, and rope-dancers were brought in as a novelty amongst the “ grotesque entertainments” of the theatres. The character of the stage, thus smothered under a compli- cated weight of operas, masquerades, pantomimes, and mounte- bank performances, became more and more an object of attack for the press ; and the papers of the opposition took up the subject with the greater zeal, because the evil seemed to be en- couraged by the patronage of the Court. The stage-managers themselves were not unfrequently made the objects of galling personalities, in pamphlets, as well as in the public newspapers. Caricatures exhibited to the eye in exaggerated drawing the shortness of Cuzzoni, the tall awkwardness of Farinelli, and the ugliness of Heidegger.^ The manager of masquerades and operas, whom the King had appointed master of the revels, or, as he was termed by foreigners, le surintendawt des plaisirs de V Angleterre, sometimes made a joke of himself as being one of the ugliest men of his age, and it is not therefore to be wondered at if his deficiency in beauty was often a subject of ridicule to the satirist. Fielding, in a satirical poem of his younger days., * The caricature represented on the next page is said to have been designed by the Countess of Burlington, and to have been etched by Goupy ; at least, so we learn from a manuscript note on a copy in the pos- session of Mr. Burke. 72 HEIDEGGER'S UGLINESS . “The Masquerade,” thus passes a joke on Heidegger’s face, which is represented by other writers as having been often mis- taken for a monstrous mask. “ ‘Hold, madam, pray what hideous figure Advances?’ ‘Sir, that’s Count H — d — g — r * ‘ How could it come into his gizzard, T’ invent so horrible a vizzard ?’ ‘How could it, sir?’ says she, ‘I’ll tell ye: It came into his mother’s belly ; For you must know that horrid phiz is {Pur is naturalibus) his visage.’ ‘ Monstrous ! that human nature can Have form’d so strange burlesque a man V n Heidegger, who was a native of Zurich, in Switzerland, and had come to England as a mere fortune-hunter, was much caressed by the Court and by the nobility, and was now gaining a large income, much of which he expended in charity. He lived profusely, and mixed with the highest society, where his oddness of character and appearance made him sometimes the subject of practical jokes. On one occasion the Duke of Montagu invited him to a tavern, where he was made drunk, and fell asleep. In that situation a mould of his face was taken, from which was made a mask, bearing the closest resemblance to HOGARTH. 73 the original, and the Duke provided a man of the same stature to appear in a similar dress, and thus to personate Heidegger, on the night of the next masquerade, when the King (who was apprised of the plot) was to be present. On his Majesty’s entrance, Heidegger, as was usual, bade the music play “ God save the King;” but no sooner was his back turned, than the impostor, assuming his voice and manner, ordered them to play “ Charley over the water.” On this Heidegger raged, stamped, and swore, and commanded them to re-commence the loyal tune of “ God save the King.” The instant he retired the impostor returned, and ordered them to resume the seditious air. The musicians thought their master was drunk, but durst not disobey. The house was now thrown into an uproar ; “ Shame ! shame ! ” resounded from all parts ; and some officers of the guards, who were in attendance upon the King, insisted upon kicking the musicians out, had not the Duke of Cumberland, who, as well as his father, was privy to the plot, restrained them. Heidegger now came forward and offered to discharge his band ; when the impostor advanced, and cried in a plaintive tone, “ Sire, the whole fault lies with that devil in my likeness.” This was too much ; poor Heidegger turned round, grew pale, but could not speak. The Duke of Montagu, seeing it take so serious a turn, ordered the fellow to unmask. Heideg- ger retired in great wrath, seated himself in an arm- chair, furiously commanded his attendants to extinguish the lights, and swore he would never again superin- tend the masquerade, unless the mask was defaced and the mould broken in his pre- sence. A sketch by Hogarth has preserved and immor- talised the face of Heideg- ger on this occasion, when it truly merited the descrip- tion given in one of the sati- rical attacks on the manager of the Opera : HEIDEGGEK IN A KA.GE. With a hundred deep wrinkles impress’d on thy front, Like a map with a great many rivers upon ’t.” 74 CARICATURES ON THE STAGE. It was the degeneracy of the stage at this period which brought forward the satirical talents of Hogarth, then a young man. In 1723, immediately after the appearance of the panto- mime of “ Dr. Faustus ” at Lincoln’s Inn Fields, he published his plate of “ Masquerades and Operas,” with the gate of Bur- lington House in the background, as a lampoon upon the bad taste of the age in every branch of the art. O11 one side, Satan is represented as dragging a multitude of people through a gateway to the masquerade and opera, while Heidegger is looking down upon them from a window with an air of satisfaction. A large sign-board above has a representation of Cuzzoni on the stage, to whom the Earl of Peterborough is making an offer of eight thou- sand pounds. On the opposite side of the picture, a crowd rushes into the theatre to witness the pantomimes ; and over this gateway appears the sign of Dr. Faustus, with a dragon and a windmill, explained by the lines under the picture, — “Long has the stage productive been Of offspring it could brag on ; But never till this age was seen A windmill and a dragon.” In the front of the picture a barrow-woman is seen wheeling away, as “ waste paper for shops,” a load of books, which appear by the inscriptions to be the dramatic works of Shake- speare, Ben Jonson, Dry den, Congreve, and Otway. In 1723 Hogarth published another caricature, entitled “ A just View of the British Stage,” more especially levelled at the pantomimic performances of the theatres of Drury Lane and Lin- coln’s Inn Fields, and suggesting a plan for combining in one piece “Dr. Faustus” and “ Jack Shepherd,” “with Scaramouch Jack Hall the chimney-sweeper’s escape from Newgate through the privy.” The three managers of Drury Lane are placed round a table in the centre of the picture. To the left Wilks, dangling the effigy of Punch, exclaims, in exultation at the expected superiority which this expedient is to give them over the rival theatre, “Poor Bich ! faith, I pity thee!” Cibber, holding up Harlequin Jack Shepherd, invokes the Muses, who are painted somewhat grotesquely on the ceiling, “Assist, ye sacred nine !” Booth, at the other end of the table, is letting CIBBER AND WILKS. 75 the effigy of Hall down the passage by which he is said to have made his exit, and declaring his satisfaction at the new plan by a coarse exclamation. The ghost of Ben Jonson rises from a trap-door, and shows his contempt for the new-fangled contri- vances of the stage in a manner that cannot be misunderstood. In 1727 Hogarth published a large “Masquerade Ticket,” bitterly satirical on the immoral tendency of masquerades, as well as on their manager, Heidegger. The eagerness with which the public at this period ran after every new sight, and listened to every new opinion, was an object of frequent ridicule to the satirical writers of the day, and this pro- bably made it the age of deistical writers, such as Mandeville and Woolston, Toland, Tindal, and Collins. There were others also, who, without being deists, ventured to broach fantastic notions, which had followers for a time. In the summer of 1726 appeared, what the Eolitical State for that year describes as “ a blazing star, that seemed portentous to the Established Church.” John Henley, a native of Leicestershire, had gra- duated at Cambridge, but, filled as it would appear with over- weening vanity and assurance, he defied the authority of the Established Church, and not only set up a new religious scheme, which he called Primitive Christianity, but, with a mere smat- tering of knowledge, undertook to teach and lecture upon all sciences, all languages, and, in fact, all subjects whatever, on OBATOE HENLEY. 76 which, to judge from all accounts, he must have talked a great deal of unintelligible rigmarole. On the 14th of May, 1726, Henley first advertised his scheme in the public newspapers, and on the 10th of July, having taken a licence from a magistrate to deliver public lectures, he established what he called his “ Oratory,” in a sort of wooden booth, built over the shambles in Newport Market, near Leicester Fields, which had formerly been used for a temporary meeting-house by a congregation of French refugees. Here, and in Lincoln’s Inn Fields (“ the corner near Clare Market”), to which latter place he removed at the end of February, 1729, Henley continued to hold forth for some years, preaching on theological subjects on the Sunday and on all other subjects on the Wednesday evening, to which sometimes he added a lecture on Monday and Friday. In spite of his locality among the butchers, — to whom at times he gave a lecture, which he called his “ butchers’ oration,” — the orator exhibited himself in an ostentatious manner, clad in the full robes of a priest, attended by his clerk or reader ; and he em- ployed a man to attend the door, whom he dignified with the name of his “ ostiary,” and who took a shilling a head for admission. On certain occasions he administered what he termed the “primitive eucharist,” and he performed other reli- gious ceremonies. The clergy were highly indignant at this man’s proceedings, and he met with opposition from other sources : on the 18th of January, 1729, he was presented by a grand jury for profaning the character of a priest, by delivering indecent discourses in clerical robes, which was probably the cause of his removal to Lincoln’s Inn Fields ; but he braved all, until he gradually lost the popularity which for a while filled his Oratory with a numerous audience. This man continued his performances in Clare Market till after the middle of the century. When we look over Henley’s weekly advertisements in the newspapers, we cannot but give him credit for singular ingenuity in selecting subjects calculated to excite general curiosity, both in his theological discourses on the Sunday, and in his miscel- laneous lectures on the other days of the week. As he pro- ceeded, he took up exciting political questions, discussed very freely the character of the statesmen and the scholars of the day, made historical parallels, and became abusive, scurrilous, and licentious in his language, invoking the lowest passions rather than the reasoning faculties of his hearers. This course has been attempted in later times, but never with the extra- ordinary success which for a time attended the discourses of AN ORATORY BAPTISM . 77 “ orator Henley.” In one advertisement it is announced that “The Wednesday’s oration will be on Westward Hoe; or, a frolick on the water,— -Jire-new in another, “ The Wednes- day’s subject will be 4 Over the hills, and far away ; or, Prince Eugene’s march.’ ” On one occasion he states merely that the subject will be “ Something alive on another it is “ A merry- thought and, among the incredible variety of subjects which composed his long list, it will be quite enough to mention the following, taken at random : — “ The world toss’d at tennis ; or, a lesson for a king;” “Whether man or woman be the finer creature ;” “ A-la-mode de France ; or, the art of rising ;” “ The wedding lottery “ A Platonic chat on Box-hill, de osculis et virginibus “ The Cambridge jig ; or, the humours of a com- mencement ;” “ The Doctors ogling the ladies through their spectacles ;” “ A wonder at Windsor ; or, the dream of a dame of honour ;” “ Jack at a pinch ; or, Sir Humphrey Haveatall ;” “ The triumphs of Tag, Bag, and Bobtail, — spick-span new /” .The most common subjects were made seductive by some quaint and extraordinary title. We are easily led to doubt the morality of a schemer like Henley, and the reports of his contemporaries seem to rank it rather low. Hogarth introduced him, according to common report, among the characters in his “ Modern Midnight Conner* sation ;” and the same satirical artist represented him in another picture performing the rites of baptism, but evidently more attentive to the beaut v of the mother than to the opera- THE “BEGGAR'S OPERA." 78 tion he is performing on the infant. Another rough sketch by Hogarth represents in burlesque the interior of the Oratory during service. The orator’s fame was, however, so great, that several engravings were made of him, representing him holding forth from his pulpit, enriched with velvet and gold. The dispute between Cuzzoni and Faustina, already men- tioned, combined with some other circumstances of disagree- ment, had thrown the Opera management into confusion ; and, in the earlier months of the year 1728, the newspapers contain repeated complaints of the neglect into which the Italian Opera had fallen. It was at this moment that an event occurred, which, for a time, threw both Italian Opera and pantomime into the shade. In February, 1728, appeared at the theatre in Lin- coln’s Inn Fields the celebrated “Beggar’s Opera,” by John Gray, with a tide of success never equalled by any other single piece. This success no doubt arose in a considerable measure from the attractive character of the music, and partly from its peculiar aptness to the moment at which it was published, when highway and street robberies had been increasing in an alarming degree, and the characters thus brought on the stage were those on whom people’s attention was daily and painfully fixed. The “ Beggar’s Opera” became, in a few days, the universal talk of the town. Lavinia Fenton, formerly an obscure actress, to whom was given the part of Polly, became an object of general admiration, was celebrated in street-ballads, and her portrait ex- hibited in every shop, and within a short time she became Duchess of Bolton. The airs of the “ Beggar’s Opera” were adopted as the tunes of political ballads. The piece itself was even performed in a booth at Bartholomew Fair in the autumn following. It was also acted in various parts of England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, an unusual thing for a new piece in those days ; the favourite songs were printed upon fans for the ladies ; houses, as we learn from the notes to the “ Dunciad,” were furnished with it in screens ; and, as usual, it became the origin of a number of inferior imitations which appeared in different theatres, under the titles of “ The Lover’s Opera,” “ The Gypsies’ Opera,” “ The Beggar’s Wedding,” &c. There were others who cried against the “ Beggar’s Opera” as loudly as the town cried it up. Many said, with some reason, that its extraordinary success was a proof of a degraded national taste ; others, with much less cause, represented it as an attack upon public morals, and as having a dangerous tendency ; and, as it happened that, during the period which followed its repre- sentation, street robberies in London were unusually frequent, PERSECUTION OF THE “BEGGAR'S OPERA." 79 they hesitated not to ascribe this circumstance to the influence of the “ Beggar’s Opera.” Hogarth caricatured it in a print, representing the actors with the heads of animals, and Apollo and the Muses fast asleep under the stage. In another cari- cature Parnassus was turned into a bear-garden ; Pegasus was drawing a dust-cart, and the Muses were employed in sifting cinders. lt Parnassus now like a bear-garden appears, And Apollo there plays on his crowd to the bears : Poor Pegasus draws an old dust-cart along, And the Muses sift cinders, and hum an old song. With a fa, la, &c.” Among other prints, a medley was published in the style of those on the South Sea scheme, with the title, “The Stage Medley ; representing the polite taste of the town, and the matchless merits of poet Gf -, Polly Peachum, and Captain Macheath.” Other prints, of a similar tendency, were distri- buted about the town. At least one clergyman preached against it from the pulpit ; and, even in the latter part of the century, Ireland, Hogarth’s editor, repeats traditionary stories, that, after its appearance, young practisers in highway robbery were not unfrequently caught with the “Beggar’s Opera” in their pocket. But there was also a political feeling on the subject, for the Lin- coln’s Inn theatre had the Tory partialities on its side ; and Gay, slighted by the Whigs, had given dissatisfaction to the Court, and was looked upon as the friend of Pope, Swift, and Bolingbroke. The “ Beggar’s Opera” itself contained some satirical reflections on the Court ; and the Tory press alone ven- tured to speak in its favour. Mist’s Journal of the 2nd of March, 1728, observes, “ Certain people, of an envious disposi- tion, attribute the frequency of the late robberies to the success of the ‘ Beggar’s Opera,’ and the pleasure the town takes in the character of Captain Macheath ; but others, less concern’d in that affair, and more for the publick, account for them by the general poverty and corruption of the times, and the prevalence of some 'powerful examples .” For these or some other reasons the Court openly discounte- nanced the “ Beggar’s Opera and, when its author had com- posed for the following season a second part, under the title of “ Polly,” it was not allowed to be acted. The Duchess of Queensbury, who had advocated Gray’s cause with the King and the royal family, was forbidden to appear at Court. But the town took vengeance for their disappointment upon a rival, though, as it would appear, an unoffending writer. Colley 8o POPE AND SWIFT. Cibber had just completed a piece, also in imitation of the “ Beggar’s Opera,” entitled “ Love in a Biddle,” which he was preparing to bring out at Drury Lane. A report was indus* triously spread abroad that Cibber had obtained the prohibition against Gay’s “ Polly,” in order that he might monopolise the stage to himself ; and, on the day of Cibber’s representation, a powerful cabal obtained possession of the theatre, and compelled him to withdraw his performance. Gay published his “ Polly” soon after, with some prefatory remarks, in which he protested against the injustice with which it had been treated. By Pope and others Gay was looked upon only as a new instance of the sacrifice of literary genius to party feelings, and the treatment he experienced, perhaps, led in some measure to the appearance of a much more remarkable literary production, which agitated the world of letters for several years. Pope, and his friend Swift, equally bitter in their sentiments, and who both at this period of Whig supremacy lay under a kind of proscrip- tion, had, within a few months, taken an effective revenge by the publication of several violent satires against the degeneracy of their age. In 1727 Swift published the “ Travels of Gulli- ver in which he went on ridiculing statesmen, and scholars, and men of the world, and every other class of society, until he ended in one universal libel upon the whole human race. In the same year Pope gave to the world his “ Treatise on the Bathos ; or, the Art of sinking in Poetry,” under the name of Martinus Scriblerus. These works and their authors were attacked with almost every kind of weapon that the anger of the multitude of inferior writers of the press could supply. Pope especially, whose splenetic and sensitive temper had severed most of his literary friendships, was subjected to every kind of annoyance, and was driven to the highest degree of exasperation, for the judicious but cutting satire of his remarks touched to the quick almost every poetical scribbler of the day. The newspapers were filled with attacks upon his writings, and with jests upon his character, his religion (he had been educated a Boman Catho- lic), his politics (he was the friend of Atterbury and Boling- broke), and even upon his personal deformity. Ambrose Phillips, known chiefly by his Pastorals, is said to have proceeded so far as to hang a rod up in Button’s Coffee-house, with which he threatened to chastise the poet of Twickenham the first time he made his appearance there. These attacks were often galling, especially when they came from a class of persons for whom the poet professed extreme contempt ; and it was under the irrita- tion they caused that Pope formed the plan of one general THE “ DUN Cl AD." 81 satire, in which he might give vent to all his resentments, just or unjust ; and which soon afterwards gave birth to the “ Dun- ciad,” perhaps the most perfect and finished of his writings. The wholesale nature of the attack is only justified by our knowledge of the degraded state of our national literature at the time he wrote. In this remarkable poem, which was dedicated to Swift, Pope celebrates the wide-extending empire of Dulness, and describes the goddess as holding her court in the neighbourhood of Moor- fields, which then rivalled in celebrity the literary precincts of Grub Street. “ Where wave the tatter’d ensigns of Rag-fair, A yawning ruin hangs and nods in air ; Keen, hollow winds howl thro’ the bleak recess, Emblem of music caused by emptiness. Hera, in one bed, two shiv’ring sisters lie, The cave of Poverty and Poetry. This the great Mother, dearer held than all The clubs of Quidnuncs, or her own Guildhall. Here stood her opium, here she nursed her owls, And destin’d here the imperial seat of fools. Hence springs each weekly muse, the living boast Of Curll’s chaste press, and Lintot’s rubric post : Plence hymning Tyburn’s elegiac lay ; Hence the soft sing-song on Cecilia’s day, Sepulchral lies, our holy walls to grace, And new-year odes, and all the Grub-street race. ’Twas here in clouded majesty she shone ; Four guardian virtues, round, support her throne ; Fierce champion Fortitude, that knows no fears Of hisses, blows, or want, or loss of ears ; Calm Temperance, whose blessings those partake Who hunger and who thirst for scribbling sake ; Prudence, whose glass presents th’ approaching jail ; Poetic Justice, with her lifted scale, Where, in nice balance, truth with gold she weighs, And solid pudding against empty praise.” The scene is laid at the moment when the poet Settle, the King of Dulness, was dying, and the goddess is introduced de- liberating on the choice of a successor. Lewis Theobald, or, as he was popularly called, Tibbald, was then an active writer for the stage, but is now chiefly known by his edition of Shakespeare. Pope, also, had been induced, for what was then a handsome remuneration, to place his name to an edition of Shakespeare ; and Theobald, who was far better versed in the literary antiquities necessary to explain and illus- trate the text of the great dramatist, pointed out the defects of Pope’s edition and the errors of his notes in a number of arti- G 82 LEWIS THEOBALD . cles in the weekly papers. Nettled beyond measure at these attacks, for the notes to Shakespeare were a sore place in the poet’s reputation, Pope determined to make Theobald the hero of his poem, and him the goddess chooses as the successor to the throne of Dulness, after casting her eyes in vain on Eusden (who then held the place of poet-laureat), “ slow ” Phillips, and “ mad ” Dennis. “In each she marks her image full express’d, But chief in Tib bald’s monster-breeding breast, Sees gods with demons in strange league engage, And earth, and heav’n, and hell her battles wage. She eyed the bard, where supperless he sate, And pined, unconscious of his rising fate : Studious he sate, with all his books around, Sinking from thought to thought, a vast profound ! Plunged for his sense but found no bottom there ; Then writ, and flounder’d on in mere despair. He roll’d his eyes, that witness’d huge dismay. Where yet unpawn’d much learned lumber lay ; Volumes, whose size the space exactly fill’d, Or which fond authors were so good to gild, Or where, by sculpture made for ever known, The page admires new beauties, not its own.” The description of Theobald’s library, and of his sacrifice to on the class of reading which had enabled him to detect the errors of Pope’s Shakespearian criticism. The goddess suddenly reveals herself to the fortunate aspirant, transports him to her temple, and initiates him into her mysteries. She finally announces the death of Settle, and anoints and proclaims him her successor. “Enow, Settle, cloy’d with custard and with praise, Is gather’d to the dull of ancient days, Safe where no critics damn, no duns molest.” The second book opens with The- obald’s enthronement, in a position even more lofty than that occcupied by the orator of Newport Market in his pulpit, or by the bookseller Curll, when he was condemned to the pil- lory for his licentious publications. Dulness, is an unjust satire “ hekley’s gilt-tub.’ CURLL AND LINTOT. 8.3 Among a number of prints and caricatures relating to Henley’ one in the collection of Mr. Hawkins represents him as a fox seated upon his tub, with the words “ The Orator ” beneath. A monkey peeps from within, with neck-bands (acting as clerk), and pointing to money in his hand, the object of the orator’s worship : beneath him is written the word “ Amen.” Behind the orator is a curtain, on which Henley is pictured addressing a large audience, with the inscription Inveniam aut eaciam, the vain-glorious motto which he placed on medals struck for distribution among his followers. “ High on a gorgeous seat, that far outshone Henley’s gilt tub, or Fleckno’s Irish throne, Or that where on her Curlls the public pours All- bounteous, fragrant grains, and golden show’rs, Great Tibbald nods. The proud Parnassian sneer. The conscious simper, and the jealous leer. Mix in his look. All eyes direct their rays On him, and crowds grow foolish as they gaze. Not with more glee, by hands pontific crown’d. With scarlet hats, wide waving, circled round, Rome in her capitol saw Querno sit, Throned on seven hills, the Antichrist of wit.” This division of the poem is entirely occupied with a descrip- tion of the games celebrated by the goddess in honour of “ Tib- bald’s ” elevation to the throne. The first prizes are contended for by the booksellers, against whom Pope had proclaimed his hostility in the preface to his and Swift’s “ Miscellanies,” printed in 1727. Curll had provoked him by the surreptitious publication of some of his letters ; but what was Lintot’s offence, who had been the publisher of his Homer, is not so clear. These games are described in a style of disgusting coarseness, too characteristic of the satirical writings and can catures of the period, and which makes it difficult to reproduce them entire at the present day. When the various prizes of the booksellers have been disposed of, others are proposed to be con- tended for by the poets, in tickling, vociferating, and diving : “ The first holds forth the arts and practices of dedicators, the second of disputants and fustian poets, the third of profound, dark and dirty authors.” The operation of diving takes place in the muddy waters of the Fleet Ditch, where it emptied itself into the Thames. The last exercise is reserved for the critics, who are to listen without sleeping to the dull nonsensical prose of the orator Henley, and to the everlasting rhymes of Black- more. ‘ ‘ Her critics there she summons, and proclaims A gentler exercise to close the games. G 2 8 4 THE CRITICS. ‘ Here, you ! in whose grave heads or equal scales I weigh what author’s heaviness prevails, — Which most conduce to soothe the soul in slumbers, My Henley’s periods, or my Blackmore’s numbers, — Attend the trial we propose to make : If there be man who o’er such works can wake, Sleep’s all- subduing charms who dares defy, And boast Ulysses’ ear with Argus’ eye — To him we grant our amplest powers to sit Judge of all present, past, and future wit, To cavil, censure, dictate, right or wrong, Full and eternal privilege of tongue.” This trial is too much for the critics, and the whole assembly is soon buried in profound slumber, in the midst of which the goddess transports the new king to her temple, whence he is carried in a vision to the Elysian shades, and there meets the ghost of his predecessor Settle, who takes him to the summit of a mountain, whence he is shown the past history, the present state, and the future prospects of the empire of Dulness. In the present he beholds the different worshippers of Dulness in her various walks : — on the stage in Cibber ; in the doggrel minstrelsy of Ward ; — “ From the strong fate of drams, if thou get free, Another Durfey, Ward, shall sing in thee. Thee shall each ale-house, thee each gill- house mourn, And answering gin-shops sourer sighs return — in the more presuming writings of Haywood and Centlivre, of Ralph, Welsted, Dennis, and Gildon ; in the party politics of Thomas Burnet, who wrote in a weekly paper called Pasquin , and was rewarded for his zeal with a consulship, and Ducket, who wrote the “Grumbler,” and also received an appointment under Government ; — ‘‘Behold yon pair, in strict embraces join’d : How like in manners, and how like in mind ! Famed for good-nature, Burnet, and for truth ; Ducket for pious passion to the youth. Equal in wit, and equally polite, Shall this a * Pasquin/ that a ‘ Grumbler ’ write. Like are their merits, like rewards they share. That shines a consul, this commissioner j” — in the peculiar style of antiquarianism of Thomas Hearne ; and in the divinity of Henley, who, the phenomenon of his day, as an apt type of its intellectual character, is again brought for- ward in the full amplitude of his pretensions : — “But where each science lifts its modern type, History her pot, Divinity his pipe, VAGARIES OF TEE STAGE. 8 5 While proud Philosophy repines to show (Dishonest sight !) his breeches rent below, Imbrown’d with native bronze, lo ! Henley stands, Tuning his voice, and balancing his hands. How fluent nonsense trickles from his tongue! How sweet the periods, neither said nor sung ! Still break the benches, Henley, with thy strain, While Kennet, Hare, and Gibson preach in vain. O great restorer of the good old stage. Preacher, at once, and zany of thy age ! O worthy thou of Egypt’s wise abodes, A decent priest where monkeys were the gods ! But fate with butchers placed thy priestly stall. Meek modern faith to murder, hack, and maul ; And bade thee live, to crown Britannia’s praise, In Toland’s, Tindal’s, and in Woolstan’s days.” From these spectacles the eye of the visionist is suddenly turned to the modern vagaries of the stage, on which dragons and other monsters were brought as actors, and heaven and hell were made the scenery : — “ He look’d and saw a sable sorcerer rise, Swift to whose hand a winged volume flies ; All sudden, Gorgons hiss and dragons glare, And ten-horned fiends and giants rush’d to war. Hell rises, heaven descends, and dance on earth Gods, imps, and monsters, music, rage, and mirth ; A fire, a jig, a battle, and a ball, Till one wide conflagration swallows all.” Greater wonders than these were now crowded into the theatres ; and, to complete the absurdity, in one of the pan- tomimes Harlequin was hatched upon the stage out of a large egg “ Thence a new world, to nature’s laws unknown, Breaks out refulgent, with a heav’n its own ; Another Cynthia her new journey runs, And other planets circle other suns : The forests dance, the rivers upwards rise, Whales sport in woods, and dolphins in the skies; And, last, to give the whole creation grace, Lo ! one vast egg produces human race ! ” These were the creations of Each, in his empire in Lincoln’s Inn Fields : — u A matchless youth ! his nod these worlds controls, Wings the red lightning, and the thunder rolls : Angel of Dulness, sent to scatter round Her magic charms o’er all unclassic ground. Yon stars, yon suns, he rears at pleasure higher. Illumes their light, and sets their flames on fire. 86 PANTOMIMES AND OPERAS. Immortal Rich ! bow calm he sits at ease Mid snows of paper and fierce hail of peas ; And proud his mistress’ orders to perform, Rides in the whirlwind, and directs the storm/’ He, too, has his rivals : — “ But lo ! to dark encounter in mid-air New wizards rise : here Booth, and Cibber there. Booth in his cloudy tabernacle shrined, On grinning dragons Cibber mounts the wind : Dire is the conflict, dismal is the din, Here shouts all Drury, there all Lincoln’s Inn.” These are pronounced to be the advanced guards of the host of Dulness, who is proceeding surely, “Till raised from booths to theatre, to court Her seat imperial Dulness shall transport : Already Opera prepares the way, The sure forerunner of her gentle sway.” The natural consequence of this general invasion of barbarism in public taste is, that talent is allowed to starve in the obscurity of neglect. “ While Wren with sorrow to the grave descends ; Gay dies unpension’d with a hundred friends ; Hibernian politics, O Swift, thy fate ; And Pope’s whole years to comment and translate.” Upon the character of the stage Pope’s verses had no more effect than Hogarth’s prints ; for masquerades continued to be SEDITIOUS ELAYS . 87 the favourite amusements of the town till late in the century, and pantomimes and operas have never altogether lost their popularity. The letters of Horace Walpole bear frequent testi- mony to the attention which the opera excited in fashionable society : yet satirists of every class continued to attack it, and among others Hogarth, who, in 1742, showed his inimitable skill, in giving the character of grotesque coarseness to what so large a portion of his contemporaries looked upon as attractive elegance, in a caricature entitled “ The Charmers of the Age,” representing the dancing attitudes of two popular artistes of the day, Monsieur Besnoyer and the Signora- Barberina, who per- formed at Drury Lane. Underneath the plate Hogarth has added an observation, of which we hardly perceive the whole hearing : “ The dotted lines show the rising heights.” At the same time the stage became every day, until 1737, more and more a political agent. The pantomimes, by a harm- less tendency to satirise the follies of the day, which they have preserved to the present time, had perhaps some influence in producing this state of things. In October, 1728, a farce called “The Craftsman; or, the Weekly Journalist,” alluding to the scurrilous paper, so celebrated for its attacks on the ministry of Sir Robert Walpole, was performed at the theatre in the Hay- market, “ with several entertainments of singing and dancing.” Farces, similar in character, appeared frequently during the following years. In 1733 Rich and his company left Lincoln’s Inn Fields to take possession of the new and handsome theatre which had been built for them in Covent Carden ; on which occasion Ho- garth published a print, representing Rich’s triumphal entry into the new house, with a long train of actors, authors, scenery, &c. Rich, clad in the skin of a dog, one of the personages in the harlequinade of “ Perseus and Andromeda,” is seated with his mistress in a chariot drawn by satyrs, with Harlequin for his driver. Before them, Gay is carried into the new theatre on the shoulders of a porter. The diminutive figure of Pope is seen in one corner, treating the “ Beggar’s Opera ” in the most contemptuous manner ; from which we are probably justified in supposing that the poet, jealous (as was usual with him) of the extraordinary success of his old friend, had expressed an un- favourable opinion of his production. The year 1737 was one more eventful in the history of the stage. In the preceding year, Fielding (who had begun writing for the stage in 1727 as a young man) brought out at the Hay- market Theatre a farce styled “ Pasquin,” which was a direct 88 RECEPTION OF THE “ EUNCIAT). lampoon on the Government, and gave no little offence. It may be observed that this was “the new theatre in the Haymarket,” which has been already mentioned as occupied, under George I., by a company of French actors. Other such pieces attacked different passing follies in a remarkable style. One, brought on the stage in the beginning of 1737, under the title of “The Worm-doctor, with Harleqin female Bonesetter,” threw ridicule upon two remarkable quacks, Dr, Taylor and Mrs. Mapp, who were then practising upon the credulity of the public. Towards May, several farces were acted at the Haymarket, which were open pasquinades on the ministry, and which were universally spoken of as such. The most remarkable of these was a drama- tical satire, in three acts, entitled the “ Historical Register for the year 1736,” by Fielding, which had a great run during the month of April. Some say that Walpole was alarmed by the effects of this piece ; but, according to Smollett, the manager of a play-house communicated to the minister a still more objec- tionable farce in manuscript, entitled “ The Golden Rump,” which was filled with treason and abuse upon the Government, and had been offered for exhibition on the stage. Which of these might be the real provocation is of little importance ; Walpole brought the matter before the House of Commons, and descanted on the impudent sedition and immorality which had been of late propagated in theatrical pieces. The result was the passing of the Act “ for restraining the licentiousness of the stage by which it was ordered that no new play should in future be brought on the stage without an express license, a bill which has remained in force to the present time, and under which was established the office of Licencer of Plays. A great but ineffectual clamour was raised against this bill, both within doors and without, particularly by the Craftsman and other opposition papers, who represented it as a violent attempt upon the liberty of the press. Pope’s satire upon the literature of his time was more effec- tual than that upon the stage ; because, though the “ Dunciad” was palpably a mere receptacle for all the poet’s personal re- sentments (which were not always just in themselves), it con- tained more of absolute truth, and was therefore more generally felt. English literature soon afterwards began to rise from the low state to which it had fallen under George I. The “ Dun- ciad ” is stated to have been written in 1726; surreptitious editions, perhaps with the author’s connivance, appeared at Dublin (and were reprinted almost immediately in London) during 1727 ; but it was not publicly owned by Pope till the ATTACKS ON POPE. 8 9 next year, when he gave to the world an authorized and com- plete edition, with the notes, which conveyed more venom than the poem itself. The uproar among men of letters which this satire caused was almost beyond anything we can conceive. The attack was so general, that almost everybody was up in arms, and the newspapers brought, with provoking regularity, their weekly load of banter and insult. At first, Pope is said to have enjoyed the annoyance he had given to his enemies ; but, in a short time, his sensitive feelings gained the mastery, and, as the attacks upon him became more galling, he experienced more and more the inconveniences usually attendant upon a satirical disposition. The poet must have been suffering under an extraordinary attack of sensitiveness, when he condescended to answer a pretended account of his being horsewhipped as he was walking in Ham Walks, near Twickenham, by an advertisement like the follow- ing, which appeared in the Daily Post of June 14, 1728: — “Whereas there has been a scandalous paper cried about the streets, under the title of ‘ A Popp upon Pope,’ insinuating that I was whipped in Ham Walks on Thursday last, this is to give notice that I did not stir out of my house at Twickenham all that day ; and the same is a malicious and ill-grounded report. — A. Pope.” Among the most determined of Pope’s assailants at this time was the bookseller Curll, who was grossly attacked in the “ Dunciad,” and who had been the victim of the poet’s practical resentment on a former occasion. From his shop issued, within two or three months, the “ Popiad,” the “ Curliad,” the “ Female Dunciad,” and several others, in which the private character of the poet was attacked as freely as his public doings. Pope’s personal appearance, which was not prepossessing, was also made the subject of satire ; and a quarto pamphlet, entitled “ Pope Alexander’s Supremacy and In- fallibility examined,” is prefaced by an engraving in which his portrait is placed on the shoulders POET PUG. ATTACKS ON POPE. 9 C of a monkey — the personality of Poet Pug, which was some- times given to him. A poem called the “ Martiniad,” in allu- sion to the assumed title of Martinus Scriblerus, under which Pope had ushered the “ Treatise on Sinking in Poetry ” into the world, gives the following description of his person : — Whom all de Patriots do spit on.*' The verses, as it will be seen by this specimen, are a parody on those attached to “ The Motion,” to which it is inferior in of the foppish and effeminate Lord Hervey, so well known by Pope’s satirical title of “ Lord Fanny,” who had distinguished himself on the ministerial side in the debate in the House of Lords, is represented as riding on a wooden horse, drawn by two individuals, one of whom says, encouragingly, “ Sit fast, Fanny, we are sure to win.” The verses referring to this figure, are — LORD RANNY. “ Dat painted butterfly so prim-a, On wooden Pegasus so trim-a, Is something — nothing — ’tis a whim-a.” Lord Hervey was in the habit of painting his face to conceal the ghastly paleness of his countenance. Another copy of this caricature, with some variations, was published so quickly after the original, that, in the advertisement of the latter in the London Daily Post of March 3rd (the day after the date en- graved on the plate), the public are desired to beware of a “ piratical print ” under the same title. Another rather elaborate caricature was published about the same time under the title of The Motive ; or, Reason for his Honour’s Triumph directed, like the last, against the minis- try, and with similar verses at the foot. Walpole, in the same character of coachman, drives the carriage inscribed as the ^Commonwealth,” with the King within it, and, with the Duke vf Marlborough as his second, goads on Merchandize, the Sink- mg-fund, and Husbandry as his horses. A number of different groups bear allusion, to the various methods by which the bribery and corruption with which Walpole was charged influenced his supporters. point and spirit. On one side THE GROUNDS, 13 On March the 6th was advertised a caricature entitled “ A Consequence of the Motion.” The Daily Post announces the publication, on Saturday the 7th of March, of another carica- ture against the opposition, under the title of “ The Political Libertines ; or, Motion upon Motion.” In this print the coach is again broken down in front of the Exchequer, and most of the characters are reproduced who had figured in the former print of “ The Motion,” in very similar positions. Lord Lyttel- ton is as before riding on “ poor Eosinante ;” Chesterfield is again postilion ; Pulteney disapproves of the driver ; and Sandys, with the Pension Bill hanging from his pocket, shrugs his shoulders and exclaims, “ Z — ns ! it’s all over ! ” “ Grave Sam {Samuel Sandys] was set to put the motion, For his honour’s high promotion, But the House disliked the notion.” Bishop Smallbrook also makes his appearance again, accom- panied by a hog, which grunts fiends from its mouth ; while the churchman says, “ I can pray, but not fast ! ” “Next the prelate comes in fashion, Who of swine has robb’d the nation, Though against all approbation.” There are in the same print many other allusions to the minor subjects of political agitation of the day. An advertisement in the same number of the Daily Post (the 7th of March) states that “ on Monday next will be published (to supply the defects of ‘ The Eeason’ and ‘ The Motive’) ‘ The Grounds ;’ a print setting forth the true reasons of the motion, in opposition to a print called 4 The Motion.’ ” In the same paper of the 10th of March, “ The Grounds” is advertised for sale. This caricature, which is rather gross, was intended to expose the various ways in which the minister extorted money from the country, and ex- pended it in bolstering up his own power in office. He is repre- sented, under the title of Yolpone the Projector, cutting up an infant, intended to represent the Sinking Fund, on a machine which is called the money-press. It is drawn by a pack of his supporters, yoked and harnessed ; and, in its way, manufactures, trade, honesty, and liberty are crushed under the wheels. Be- hind it, the Gazetteer and Freeman's Journal , with others of the minister’s paid organs of the press, are beating for recruits. In the foreground “ Bribery and Corruption,” personified by a fair and gaily dressed lady, is distributing bishoprics and law appoint- ments to nrelates and judges, who likewise have yokes round their necks ; one of the former exclaims “ Thy yoke is easy, and thy K 2 TEE FUNERAL OF FACTION 131 burden light;” while a judge says, with equal eagerness, “ Your will to us shall be a law !” Behind the prelates are a crowd of yoked excisemen, longing for a genera] excise ; and on the other side the officers of the army standing in a similar predicament. In the distance are Torbay with the English fleet, and the har- bours of Brest and Ferrol with the fleet of France : Walpole is emitting two winds, one of which hinders the English fleet from leaving its station in Torbay, while the other blows the French fleet on its way to the West Indies. Contrary winds had delayed Admiral Ogle’s departure from Torbay to reinforce Vernon at this critical moment, which the opposition unjustly attributed to Walpole’s mismanagement. “De Register Bill he take lately in hand, Dat de forces by sea, as well as by land, Might be slaves to his will and despotic command. Fifteen years he withold dem from curbing deir foes, Who plunder and search dem ; den, to add to deir woes, In place of redress would de convention impose. Brave Vernon resolve deir proud enemies’ ruin ; But, instead of sending any forces to him, Both de French and Spanish fleets were let loose to undo him.” This famous “motion” was the subject of several other cari- catures besides those mentioned above. ' One, entitled “ The Funeral of Faction,” was a satire on the opposition, and had beneath it the inscription “ F unerals performed by Squire S s” [Sandy s]. Two or three are too gross to bear a descrip- tion. The exultation of the ministerial party was shown also in a few ballads, and in pamphlets in prose and verse. The old comparison of Sisyphus, who toiled everlastingly without ap- proaching any nearer to the object of his labour, was again applied to the Patriots. But this comparison was no longer true, for the days of Wal- pole’s reign were already numbered. Age was creeping upon the veteran statesman ; and that energy, with which for so many years he had discovered and defeated the intrigues of his enemies, seemed to be forsaking him. The Court party rated too high the triumph they had just obtained over the opposition, and lost themselves by their self-confidence. On the 13th of March the news of the taking of Porto Bello by Vernon came to raise up the spirits of his party. The admiral was selected at the same time for several towns in the general elections in May, which were carried on with great violence, and in which it was evident that the so-called “ country interest” was gaining ground. The utmost influence of the Prince of Wales, the heir-apparent, was 133 THF QUFFN OF HUNGARY. exerted on this occasion. A print in compartments, entitled “ The Humours of a Country Election,” advertised in the news- papers of the 6th of May, 1741, represents the general demeanour of the candidates for popular favour, and is thus described in the “explanation” beneath: — “The candidates welcomed into the town by music and electors on horseback, attended by a mob of men, women, and children. The candidates saluting the women, and amongst them a poor cobbler’s wife, very big with child, to whom they very courteously offer to stand godfather. The candidates very complaisant to a country clown, and offering presents to the wife and children. The candidates making an entertainment for the electors and their wives, to whom they show great respect. At the upper end of the table, the parson of the parish sitting, his clerk standing by him. The members elect carried in procession on chairs upon men’s shoulders, with music playing before them, and attended by a mob of men, women, and children huzzaing them.”* It will be seen that a great change had taken place since, under George I., complaints were first heard of the indecency of candidates soliciting the votes of the electors. The election at Westminster in 1741, at which Admiral Vernon was an unsuccessful candidate, being de- feated by a large majority, presented a scene of tumultuous riot, and was the subject of a parliamentary investigation, carried on with much warmth, at the opening of the ensuing session. It also was the subject of caricature. While faction was thus active at home, the affairs of the Con- tinent were becoming every day more confused and complicated. The French diplomatists, since the breaking out of the war between England and Spain, had been actively employed, and with some success, in forming an European confederacy against the former power, when new fuel was thrown into the flames by the death of the Emperor Charles VI., on the 20th of October, 1740. By the Pragmatic Sanction, guaranteed by all the great powers of Europe, the emperor was to be succeeded in all his hereditary states by his daughter Maria Theresa, who was usually spoken of in England by the title of Queen of Hungary. At first, the Elector of Bavaria, who laid claim to a large portion of the Austrian inheritance, alone opposed her succession, on the pretence that the female line could not legally inherit. Next, the King of Prussia revived some old claims to Silesia, and * It appears, by the advertisements in the newspapers, that this carica- ture was published separately, and also stitched up with a pamphlet upon the elections. I have not been able to meet with the pamphlet, but a copy of the caricature is in the collection of Mr. Burke. i34 THE BALANCING CAPTAIN. invaded it with a powerful army. The King of France was anxious to obtain a share in the spoils ; and, eventually, England was the only power which fulfilled its engagements towards the unfortunate queen, who, however, defended herself against the formidable confederacy with courage and resolution. In England the cause of Maria Theresa was very popular ; and when her claims were brought before the Parliament early in April, 1741, a subsidy of 300,000^ was readily granted for her ; King George went over to Hanover, and assembled an army upon the Prussian frontier; and Kussia was also induced to support the injured queen. But, in spite of this assistance, the Prussian army met with an almost uninterrupted success, and Maria Theresa was forced to throw herself entirely upon the devotion of her Hun- garian subjects. France, anxious now not only to share in the spoils, but to effect the grand dream of the politics of Louis XIV., the entire destruction of the house of Austria, declared herself more openly, and French armies were poured into Germany. The King of England, suddenly overcome with fear for his Hanoverian dominions, concluded a neutrality for one year, and returned to England without having done anything for his ally. The French and Bavarians thereupon threw themselves into Austria, and penetrating into Bohemia, captured Prague before it could be relieved ; and there the Elector of Bavaria caused himself to be crowned King of Bohemia. Immediately after- wards, a diet assembled hurriedly at Frankfort elected him em- peror as Charles VII. He was crowned in the February of 1742, when the cause of the Queen of Hungary seemed almost hopeless. When the neutrality which George had accepted for Hanover became known in England, it raised the greatest excitement, and promised to give as strong a hold to the opposition as the convention, or even as the excise scheme. Numbers of pam- phlets and ballads placed before the public the wrongs and misfortunes of the persecuted queen ; and the English king was no more spared on this occasion than his ministers. In one ballad he was attacked under the title of the “ Balancing Cap- tain, who yearly, under one pretence or another, took to Hanover (which had become a sort of bug-bear in English- men’s ears) all the money he could raise among his English subjects. “ I’ll tell you a story as strange as ’tis new, Which all who’re concern’d will allow to be true, * King George II., on account of his attachment to the army, was com monly designated by the Jacobites as ‘‘the Captain.” THE GIPSY. 135 Of a Balancing Captain, well known hereabouts, Returned home (God save him !) a mere king of clouts 1 This captain he takes in a gold- ballasted ship, Each summer to terra damnosa a trip, For which be begs, borrows, scrapes all he can get, And runs his poor owners most vilely in debt. The last time he set out for this blessed place, He met them, and told them a most piteous case, Of a sister of his, who, though bred up at court, Was ready to perish for want of support. This Hun-gry sister, he then did pretend, Would be to his owners a notable friend, If they would at that critical juncture supply her. They did — but, alas ! all the fat’s in the fire !” In the sequel of the ballad, which is a remarkable example of the seditious violence that characterized many of these produc- tions, we are told that the Captain, having fingered the money, immediately made a peace with his sister’s enemies, and left her to her fate : — “ He then turns his sister adrift, and declares Her most mortal foes were her father’s right heirs. ‘ G — d z — ds ! * cries the world, ‘ such a step was ne’er taken !' ‘Oh, ho !’ says Noll Bluff, ‘1 have saved my own bacon “ ‘Let France damn the Germans, and undam the Dutch, And Spain on Old England pish ever so much ; Let Russia bang Sweden, or Sweden bang that,- — I care not, by Robert l one kick of my hat ! ****** “ ‘Or should my chous’d owners begin to look sour, I’ll trust to mate Bob to exert his old power, Regit animos dictis, or nummis , with ease, So, spite of your growling, I’ll act as I please !’ ” The conduct of the Captain is represented as calculated to bring ruin on his owners, unless they look more closely into his proceedings : — “This secret, however, must out on the day When he meets his poor owners to ask for his pay j And I fear, when they come to adjust the account, A zero for balance will prove their amount.” The caricatures on the affairs of the Queen of Hungary were very numerous, both on the Continent and in England ; but the majority of the foreign ones appear to have been against her, while the English caricatures were all in her favour. In one, the background of which shews Prague bombarded, the Queen is represented as a ragged gipsy (a pun upon the French word 1 36 TEE CARDINAL TURNED PEYSICIAN. Rohemienne) kneeling before the King of France, to whom she offers her jewels, with the prayer, “ Sire , ayez pitie d'une pauvre Bohemienne /” The King, who thinks them worthy of the acceptance of his favourite mistress, replies disdainfully, “ Portez les a Pompadour .” In another print, entitled “The Slough,” of which there appeared seve- ral copies with slight varia- tions, the Queen of Hungary is driven in a coach, with the King of France as coachman, Count Bruhl riding as postilion, and the new King of Poland holding on behind as lackey. They are running head foremost into a slough. The King of Prussia, who stands near in the character of a sentinel, asks, “ Where are you going, Madame ?” The Queen, in evident consterna- tion, replies, “Ask my driver.” In a third caricature, entitled “ The Negotiators,” the various powers who had interfered are represented as conspiring to ruin the Queen for their own ag- grandizement. In another, entitled “ The Consultation of Physicians ; or, the Case of the Queen of Hungary,” published in February, 1742, the French minister, Cardinal Fleury, in the character of a cunning physician, after having administered a strong dose of emetic, which is evidently producing its effects, is proceeding to bleed her with his pen. A print, entitled “French Pacification; or, the Queen of Hungary stript,” pub- lished also in the beginning of February, 1742, seems to have DECLINE OF WALPOLE’S POWEE. *37 bad an especial popularity ; and a number of imitations ap- peared, some under the simple title of “ The Queen of Hungary stripped.” The Queen is here represented in a state of com- plete nudity, while the different continental powers are carrying off portions of her garments, bearing the names of the different provinces of her empire. Cardinal Fleury, more pitiless than any, is in the act of depriving her even of the slight covering afforded by her own hand. The treacherous conduct of France is severely pointed at in these caricatures, some of which are not quite delicate. In one print, of a rather later date, while England is courteously attempting to assist the Queen over a stile or gate, France takes the moment of defenceless exposure to proceed to unwarrantable liberties. In another, entitled, “ The Parcae ; or, the European Fates,” the intriguing cardinal is represented under the character of Lachesis, spinning the web of European politics, on a wheel which hears the title of “ Universal Monarchy while King George, as Atropos, is cut- ting the thread. It was in the midst of this hurly-burly abroad, that Walpole’s power was at length broken. The minister had lost much strength in the elections of 1741, chiefly in Scotland and Corn- wall ; and in one way or other the opposition had succeeded in making him unpopular. Long before the session of Parliament was opened, the opposition papers spoke with more than ordi- t38 A MINISTERIAL MINORITY. nary confidence of success, and they became proportionally violent in their personal attacks. The mob was encou- raged, as they had been at the com- mencement of the reign of George I., to shew themselves on every favourable occasion. On the 12th of November Horace Walpole writes, “ It is Admiral Vernon’s birthday, and the city shops are full of favours, the streets of mar- row-bones and cleavers, and the night will be full of mobbing, bonfires, and lights;” and he adds in a subsequent letter, “ I believe I told you that Ver- non’s birthday passed quietly, but it was not designed to be pacific ; for at twelve at night, eight gentlemen, dressed like sailors, and masked, went round Covent Garden with a drum, beating up for a volunteer mob ; but it did not take, and they retired to a great supper that was prepared for them at the Bedford Head, and ordered by White- head, the author of ‘ Manners.’ ” Walpole seems to have been himself full of apprehension, for his son, who returned from his travels just in time to witness his father’s defeat, writes of him on the 19th of October, that he who in former times “ was asleep as soon as his head touched the pillow, (for I have frequently known him snore ere they had drawn his curtains), now never sleeps above an hour without waking ; and he, who at dinner always forgot he was minister, and was more gay and thought- less than all the company, now sits without speaking and with his eyes fixed for an hour together. Judge if this is the Sir Robert you knew.” The Parliament was opened on the 4th of December. On the 1 6th, on the election of a chairman of committees, by the deser- tion of some of his supporters and the absence of others, Wal- pole was in a minority of four. A day or two after he had only a majority of seven on an election petition ; and on another elec- tion petition he was again in a minority. The minister seemed to cling to power more than ever, now that he was on the point of losing it ; and, instead of taking the advice of his intimate friends, who urged him to resign, he made an unsuccessful at- tempt to gain over the Prince of Wales, and then resolved to make another effort to carry on in the House. On the 21st of WALPOLE’S BE SIGN A TION. *39 January, after the Christmas holidays, Pulteney brought for- ward a motion with the same object as that of Sandys, which had been so triumphantly defeated not quite a year before. Walpole defended himself with as much vigour and eloquence as ever ; but the motion was rejected only by a majority of three . On the 28th of January, again, on an election petition, he was defeated by a majority of one. Walpole now made up his mind to resign, and the next day announced his intention to the King. On a division upon the same petition on the 2nd of February, the opposition majority had increased to sixteen. On the 3rd the Houses were adjourned, at the King’s request, for a fort- night ; on the 9th Sir Robert Walpole was created Earl of Orford ; and on the nth he formally resigned all his places. The intelligence of Walpole’s resignation was received in some towns in the country with ringing of bells and other demonstra- tions of joy ; and there were mobs and bonfires in London ; but, according to Horace Walpole, this feeling was much less general than might have been anticipated. The more violent of the opposition newspapers, however, teemed with ungenerous insults on the fallen minister : they held out threats of inquiry into his conduct, and talked of hunting him to the scaffold ; and they advised him to follow the example of Bolingbroke, in flying from his country. Walpole was almost the only commoner who had ever been admitted to the order of the Garter, and his blue ribbon was an especial object of envious attack. The Champion of February 16, 1742 (a more scurrilous paper even than the Craftsman ), contains the following epigram, which may be taken as a sample of effusions to which the ex-minister was exposed daily : — “ Sir [Robert], his merit or interest to shew, Laid down the red ribbon * to take up the blue : By two strings already the knight hath been ty’d. But when twisted at [Tyburn], the third will decide.” The more violent of the opposition went so far as to get peti- tions sent to the House, urging an impeachment ; and, in a moment of triumph and excitement, it is difficult to foresee what might have been the result of such a measure, had not the King stood firm to his old friend, and made it to a certain degree a condition of the accession of his enemies to power, that they should screen him from persecution. The Craftsman and the Champion continued to assail their old enemy with scurrilous * Sir Robert was created knight of the newly-revived order of the Bath, before he received that of the Garter. 140 THE MOB. insults : the latter paper, on the 23rd of February, in double allusion to his former influence among the monied and mercan- tile interests, and his later unpopularity in the city of London, published the following paragraph : — “ In regard to the good understanding which has so long subsisted between his late honor and the city , it is hoped that that great man, in compli- ment to his old friends , will pass through the principal streets thereof at noon, in an open landau , on his way to his palace of H n.” And the same violent journal, on the 17th of August, drags the veteran statesman from his retirement at Houghton : — “ From the neighbourhood of H— — n palace. We are informed that the annual Norfolk: Congress is held there as usual (though the Gazetteer has not been authorized to set forth a list of the Powers of which it is composed) ; and that, if th q puffs still continued in pay are to be depended upon, ways and means are already concerted to terminate the next winter’s campaign as successfully as the last.” When Walpole was created Earl of Orford, his daughter by his second wife, but born before their marriage, was given precedency as an Earl’s daughter by a separate patent, a measure which raised a great storm among the aristocracy of the oppo- sition, and which excited odium even among the mob. An in- sulting poem, stated to be written by a lady of “ real quality,” was printed in folio, and distributed abroad, under the title of “Modern Quality; an Epistle to Miss M W— — ” [Maria Walpole]. This clamour, joined with the disappointment of the Tories and the young “ Patriots,” who were not allowed to share in the spoils, obliged the Court to agree, at the beginning of April, to the appointment of a secret committee to examine into the conduct of Walpole during the last ten years of his admin- istration ; but the inquiry led to no results of any importance. The populace, however, seem to have been indulged with the hope of a new state tragedy. On the 8th of April, Horace Walpole writes : “ All this week the mob has been carrying about his effigies in procession and to the Tower. The chiefs of the oppo- sition have been so mean as to give these mobs money for bon- fires, particularly the Earls of Lichfield, Westmoreland, Den- bigh, and Stanhope. The servants of these last got one of these figures, chalked out a place for the heart, and shot at it. You will laugh at me, who, the other day, meeting one of these mobs, drove up to it to see what was the matter. The first thing I beheld was a mawking in a chair, with three footmen, and a label on the breast, inscribed ‘ Lady Mary.’ ” The disappointment of Walpole’s persecutors, when they saw TEE SCREEN. 141 that there was no real intention of bringing him to what they called justice, showed itself in newspaper paragraphs and ill- natured caricatures. The old device of the screen was brought up again, and was the subject of more than one print. In one of these, entitled “ The Night- Visit ; or, the Relapse ; with the pranks of Bob Fox the Juggler, while steward to Lady Brit, displayed on a screen,” the ex-minister is represented in council with the King at night. George, seated at a table, demands of his old servant, “ What is to be done ? ” Walpole replies, “ Mix and divide them.” Several other courtiers are introduced, con- sulting on the change of af- fairs, one of whom, who overhears the conversation just alluded to, remarks, “ ’Tis good advice !” Through the window are seen a party of men, who are not courtiers, gazing on the heathens with a telescope. One observes, “ It must be a comet !” The other replies, “ No, by Jove ! ’tis Robin Goodfellow from R — chm — d!” [Richmond], A third exclaims, “ I wish the telescope was a gun!” The screen, forming the back- good advice. ground of the picture, repre- sents all the evil deeds with which Walpole was charged, and which are described at length in the “ Explanation ” printed at the foot. The last compartment represents a distant view of the gallows, with an axe, and a head elevated on a pole, the doom of traitors. The devil, for (to judge by the caricatures) all parties seem to have been convinced that Satan was busy among them, peeps from behind the screen, and cries out exult- ingly, “ Hah ! I shall have business here again !” This caricature is dated the 12th of April, 1742. On the 1 6th of November following, when the cry against Walpole was still kept up, a caricature was published, entitled “Bob, the Political Balance-Master.” The fallen minister is here decked in his coronet and seated at one end of a balance held up by Britannia, who sits mourning over sleeping trade. At the other end of the balance sits Justice, who is unable to weigh down effectually the bulky peer, assisted as he is by his bags of treasure ; but, in spite of this help, his positioa THE POLITICAL BALANCE-MASTER. 142 is critical, and in his terror he cries out to the Evil One, who appears above, “ Oh ! help thy faithful servant Bob ! Sa- tan gives him a look anything hut encouraging, and, holding out an axe, replies to his invo- cation, “ This is thy due !” It was thus that party-spirit forgot, as it had so often done, the feelings of generosity and justice, and sought vengeance which could have no other object than that of gratifying personal hatred. Within no great length of time from these transactions, we shall find individuals, less powerfully defended, made sacrifices to the same unworthy spirit. THE BALANCE-MASTER IN DANGER. 143 CHAPTER V. GEORGE II. Ministerial Changes and Promotions — Unpopularity of Lord Bath — Battle of Dettingen — New Changes, and the “ Broad Bottom” — The Rebellion of ’45, and its Effects — The City Trained Bands — The Butcher — The Westminster Elections — New Changes in the Ministry — Congress and Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle — The Hostages — New Ministerial Quarrels — “Constitutional Queries ” — Death of the Prince of Wales. I N one of his speeches during the struggles in the House of Commons which preceded his fall, Walpole, analysing the strength of the opposition, had divided it into three classes, the Jacobites and Tories, the discontented Whigs, and the “ Boys.” The chiefs of the Tories in the House of Commons were Sir William Wyndham (now dead), “ honest ” Will. Shippen, and Sir John Hynde Cotton. The discontented Whigs were led in the Commons by Pulteney and Sandys, and in the Lords by Carteret and Argyle. Among the Boy Patriots — the young men who were marching fast towards power — were William Pitt, George Grenville, Sir George Lyttelton, and Henry Fox. In the moment of victory these discordant materials fell to pieces, and those who had individually done most towards driving Walpole’s ministry out, the leaders of the old “Patriots,” seemed now to think of nothing but providing for themselves. Pulteney, Carteret, and Sandys first secured places for them- selves, before they looked any farther ; and then, intimidated by the threatening looks of their old colleagues, they found minor offices for a few of the others. The Duke of Newcastle, (Walpole’s jealous and treacherous colleague), his brother Mr. Pelham and Sir William Yonge were allowed to retain their places. Lord Wilmington was the nominal head of the new ministry ; Lord Carteret was appointed secretary of state, and, by flattering the King’s propensities, soon engrossed the royal favour. Pulteney took no place himself, but before the end of the session he followed Walpole into the other House, by the title of Earl of Bath ; Sandys was made chancellor of the ex- chequer, and the Earl of Winchelsea was made first lord of the admiralty. The King, who had made a cold reconciliation with the Prince of Wales, acceded to these arrangements with an THE NEW MINISTEY. T44. unwilling consent, and acted by the advice of Walpole, whom he consulted in secret. The position of the Monarch amid these changes is well described in a ballad, which made a great noise, published in the following October, and understood to have been written by Lord Hervey, one of the old ministers who had lost his place : — - “ 0 England, attend, while thy fate I deplore, Rehearsing the schemes and the conduct of' power ; And since only of those who have power I sing, I am sure none can think that I hint at the King. H From the time his son made him old Robin depose, All the power of a King he was well known to lose ; But, of all but the name and the badges bereft, Like old yvomen, his paraphernalia are left. “ To tell how he shook in St. James’s for fear, When first these new ministers bullied him there, Makes my blood boil with rage, to think what a thing They have made of a man we obey as a King.” In the midst of the royal embarrassments Carteret comes to the Monarch’s relief : — “At last Carteret arriving, spoke thus to his grief : ‘ If you’ll make me your doctor, I’ll bring you relief. You see to your closet familiar I come, And seem like my wife in the circle — at home.’ “ Quoth the King, ‘ My good lord, perhaps you’ve been told That I used to abuse you a little of old ; But now bring whom you will, and eke turn away, Let but me and my money and Walmoden stay.’* “ ‘ For you and Walmoden I freely consent, But as to your money, I must have it spent ; I have promised your son (nay, no frowns) should have some, Nor think ’tis for nothing we Patriots come.’” Carteret then goes on to declare the changes he must have in the ministry, — who are to be turned out, and who to be kept in. Among the latter, the only one of any consequence was the Duke of Newcastle: — u ‘ Though Newcastle’s as false as he’s silly, I know. By betraying old Robin to me long ago, As well as all those who employ’d him before, Yet I leave him in place, but I leave him no power. “ For granting his heart is as black as his hat, With no more truth in this than there’s sense beneath that ; * The King’s mistress, who had been created an English peeress under the title of Countess of Yarmouth. George II. is in serious history, as well ae in popular satire, represented as of a very avaricious disposition. THE EARL OF BATH . *46 Yet, as he’s a coward, he’ll shake when I frown — You call’d him a rascal, I’ll use him like one. “ ‘And since his estate at elections he’ll spend, And beggar himself without making a friend ; So whilst the extravagant fool has a sous, As his brains I can’t fear, so his fortune I’ll use.’ ” Among the new men to be brought in, the most important is Pulteney — “ All that weathercock Pulteney shall ask we must grant, For to make him a great noble nothing I want ; And to cheat such a man demands all my arts, For though he’s a fool, he’s a fool with great parts. “And, as popular Clodius, the Pulteney of Rome, From a noble, for power, did plebeian become. So this Clodius to be a patrician shall choose, Till what one got by changing, the other shall lose.” The King is appeased by the flattery of his soldier-loving propensities : — “ ‘ For, your foreign affairs, howe’er they turn out, At least I’ll take care you shall make a great rout : Then cock your great hat, strut, bounce, and look bluff, For, though kick’d and cuff’d here, you shall there kick and cuff. That Walpole did nothing they all used to say. So I’ll do enough, but I’ll make the dogs pay ; Great fleets I’ll provide, and great armies engage, Whate’er debts we make, or whate’er wars we wage.’ “ With cordials like these, the Monarch’s new guest Reviv’d his sunk spirits and gladden’d his breast ; Till in rapture he cried, ‘ My dear Lord, you shall do Whatever you will, — give me troops to review.’ ” The new ministers were bitterly satirised in a caricature, en- titled “ The Promotion,” and in a clever ballad by Sir Charles Hanbury Williams, the great political balladist of the day, en- titled, “A New Ode to a great Number of great Men, newly made.” The satire was most pointedly levelled at the new Lord Bath, who, in a few months, was exposed to more ridicule than his whole party had been able to heap upon Walpole during twenty years. He was everywhere looked upon as having be- trayed his party for the bribe of a coronet. Some said that he had been lured into the snare by Walpole ; others believed that he had been pushed into it by Carteret, who was jealous of his popularity ; while many supposed that he had been urged into it merely by the vanity and avarice of his wife, to whom they gave the satirical title of “ The Wife of Bath,” and a ballad made L H<5 LORD ORFORD’S COACHMAN. upon her under that title is said to have given the Earl great annoyance. It was the universal belief that Pulteney and his Patriot friends had purchased their elevation by an agreement to shield their predecessors, and to follow in their steps. A singular accident happened in July, which was quickly seized upon as a subject for a joke against the new ministers. “Last Sunday,” Horace Walpole tells us in a letter of this period, “the Duke of Newcastle gave the new ministers a dinner at Claremont, where their servants got so drunk, that when they came to the inn over against the gate of New Park [now Kichmond Park, of which Lord Walpole was ranger], the coachman, who was the only remaining fragment of their suite, tumbled off the box, and there they were planted. There were Lord Bath, Lord Carteret, Lord Limerick, and Harry Furnese in the coach. They asked the innkeeper if he could contrive no way to convey them to town ; £ No,’ he said, ‘ not he ; unless it was to get Lord Orford’s coachman to drive them.’ They demurred ; but Lord Carteret said, £ Oh, I dare say Lord Orford will willingly let us have him.’ So they sent, and he drove them home.” Horace says in the sequel of the letter, “ Lord Orford has been at court again to-day : Lord Carteret came up to thank him for his coachman, the Duke of Newcastle standing by. My father said, £ My Lord, whenever the Duke is near overturning you, you have nothing to do but to send to me, and I will save you.’ ” The following ballad, attributed to Sir C. Hanbury Williams, was published on the occasion. Lord Bath, as the ex- writer in the Craftsman , retains his name of Caleb : the old coach and its driver, in the caricature of “ The Motion,” is not forgotten “ THE OLD COACHMAN.” “ Wise Caleb and Carteret, two birds of a feather, Went down to a feast at Newcastle’s together : No matter what wines or what choice of good cheer, ’Tis enough that the coachman had his dose of beer. Derry down, down, bey derry down. “Coming home, as the liquor work’d up in his pate. The coachman drove on at a damnable rate. Poor Carteret in terror, and scared all the while, Cried, ‘ Stop ! let me out ! is the dog an Argyle V Derry down, &c. “ But he soon was convinced of his error ; for, lo 1 John stopt short in the dirt, and no further would go. When Carteret saw this, he observed with a laugh, * This coachman, 1 find, is your own, my Lord Bath.* Derry down, &c. THE NEPOTISM. HI “Now tlie peers quit their coach in a pitiful plight, Deep in mire, and in rain, and without any light ; Not a path to pursue, nor to guide them a friend — What course shall they take then, and how will this end ? Derry down, &c. “Lo ! Chance, the great mistress of human affairs, Who governs in councils, and conquers in wars ; Straight with grief at their case (for the goddess well knew That these were her creatures and votaries too), — Derry down, &c. “ This Chance brought a passenger quick to their aid, ‘ Honest friend, can you drive ?’ — ‘ What should ail me V he said. ‘ For many a bad season, through many a bad way, Old Orford I’ve driven without stop or stay. Derry down, &c. 11 ‘ He was once overturn’d, I confess, but not hurt.’ Quoth the peers, ‘ It was we help’d him out of the dirt : This boon to thy master, then, prithee requite, — Take us up, or here we must wander all night.’ Derry down, &c. “ He took them both up, and through thick and through thin, Drove away for St. James’s, and brought them safe in. — Learn hence, honest Britons, in spite of your pains, That Orford, old coachman, still governs the reins. Derry down, &c.” The Duke of Argyle had at first insisted upon forming a minis- try upon what he termed a ce broad bottom,” in which all classes of the old opposition were to have a place ; but this plan was overthrown by the King’s determined hatred of the Tories, who therefore continued in the opposition. The young Patriots, after several vain attempts to obtain places in the new ministry, joined them, and were even more violent against Lord Bath, who had fast sunk into what Lord Hervey termed a “ noble nothing,” than the Tories themselves. This party of the oppo- sition, from their leaders being chiefly nephews and cousins of Lord Cobham, was sometimes designated as the “ Nepotism.” In the session of 1743 they renewed their attacks upon the old ministers, chiefly in the hope of embarrassing the new ones ; but the latter not only had with them the main body of their part}'', but they were supported by the adherents of Walpole, and they carried their measures by large majorities, and often without divisions. During 1743 and 1744 there was less political agita- tion than the country had seen for many years ; the old worn- out question of the Hanoverian troops and an act for the repeal of the Gin Act alone made any noise. Lord Bath bore the at- tacks of the press with far less equanimity than had been shown L 2 BATTLE OF DETTINGEN. 148 by Walpole, and complained bitterly of “ scurrilous libels. ** To him was commonly attributed a pamphlet, published early in 1743, under the title of “Faction detected,” in which the oppo- sition and its organs were severely attacked, and which made much noise for a short time, being roughly handled in some of the opposition papers. At the close of the session the King went to Hanover, with his son the Duke of Cumberland and his now favourite minister Lord Carteret, and joined the army of English and Hanoverians under the Earl of Stair, which he had already ordered to cross the Rhine to assist the Queen of Hungary. The affairs of this Queen had, during the previous year, suddenly recovered from their desperate posture, and the French and Bavarians were now in their turn labouring under the reverses of war. England was nominally at peace with France, and her soldiers were only fighting under the banners of Austria. The Hanoverian army, which King Gfeorge, the Duke of Cumberland, and Lord Carteret had just joined, was on its way to Hanau, when it was attacked at Dettingen by the French under the Duke de Noailies, who were signally defeated. A battle on land gained by English troops was a new thing in England, for there had been no war of any importance sinoe the days of Marlborough, and the whole country resounded with exultation. Dettingen was in a mo- ment the theme of every ambitious or popular scribbler, and pamphlets in prose and verse, ballads and songs, and epigrams, were showered upon the public. But amid this apparently uni- versal joy were sown the seeds of political disagreement. The English troops were without provisions, and in an ill condition to fight ; and, though they did fight bravely, their loss had been severe. They complained that they had not been properly supported ; for the horse, which was chiefly Hanoverian, had not behaved so well in the battle as the foot. The commander-in- chief, Lord Stair, had strongly urged that the enemy should be pursued ; but his opinion was overruled by that of the foreign generals. A second remonstrance, after the troops had been re- freshed, was equally unsuccessful ; and the Earl, with several other officers, threw up their commissions in disgust, and re- turned to England, where a great outcry was immediately raised. On the 22nd of October was published a caricature, under the title of “ The Hanoverian Confectioner-General,” in which the French are represented as flying from the field hotly pursued by the British. The former cry out “ S’ils nous poursuivent, nous sommes perdu !” The Earl of Stair, urging on the pursuit, shouts, “ Pursue ’em, lads ! and mow ’em awe !” The King, as *49 THE THREE JOHNS . the Hanoverian horse, riding on the starved British lion (a hard hit, as the discontented party had always said that England was starved to fatten Hanover,) cries out to the Hanoverian ca- valry, “ La victoire est gagnee, on vous etes vous fourres ?” Their commanderreplies, “ N’im- porte, j’ai conserve nos gens while his soldiers exclaim, “ We will not be commanded by the English. An Austrian comman- der, who is equally urging the pursuit, calls them “ cowardly mercenaries.” A label from the lion’s mouth bears the words “ Starv’d on Bonpournicole.” The opposition, and many who were not actually in opposi- tion, rejoiced in these divisions ; they talked ironically of making THE BKITISH lI0N 0DT 0P 0KDER ' Carteret commander-in-chief (he is said to have remained in his carriage in the neighbourhood of the battle all the day, without showing any fear , and he wrote a vaunting despatch) ; and jokes passed about on the trio of successive Johns — John Duke of Argyle, who had refused the place because he was not allowed to bring any Tories into the ministry, John Earl of Stair, and John Lord Carteret. The following lines “ on the Johns” ap- peared in some of the papers : — “ John Duke of Argyle We admired for a while, Whose titles fell short of his merit. His loss to repair, We took John Earl of Stair, Who like him had both virtue and merit. “Now lie too is gone ; Ah ! what’s to be done ? Such losses how can we supply ! But let’s not repine ; On the banks of the Rhine There’s a third John his fortune will try. u By the Patriots’ vagary He was m de S ; [ secretary ] By himself he’s P M [prime minister] made ; i5© THE TRIUMVIRATE. And now, to crown all. He’s made G 1, [ general ] Though he ne’er was brought up to the trade. At the same time the death of Lord Wilmington, who had presided at the Treasury hoard, gave rise to new changes in the ministry, in which Lord Orford’s secret influence soon overthrew the schemes of Carteret and Lord Bath. Pelham, who had held the office of Paymaster of the forces, became first Lord of the Treasury, and was allowed to bring into inferior places his friends Henry Fox and Lord Middlesex. Lord Gower resigned the Privy Sea], which was given to Lord Cholmondeley. Pelham also obtained the office of Chancellor of the Exchequer, which was taken from Sandys, who was appeased with a place in the household and a peerage. The following verses on “ the Trium- virate” in the London Magazine for January, 1744, (the maga- zine which had been set up in opposition to the Gentleman 1 s Magazine , and which had been from the first the monthly advo- cate of the country party,) show the public estimation in which Carteret, Sandys, and Pulteney (Lord Bath) stood at that time : — “John, Sam, and Will combined of late To form a new triumvirate ; To share authority and money, Like Csesar, Lepidus, and Toney. But mark what followed from this union : — John left his countrymen’s communion, And, though in office he appear’d, Was neither honour’d, lov’d, or fear’d. Sam in the sunshine buzz’d a little ; Then sank in power, and rose in title. Will with a title out would set, But place or power ne’er could get. So Will and Sam obscure remain’d, And John with general odium reign’d.” Towards autumn it became publicly known that serious dis- sensions existed in the Cabinet between Carteret, who had now by his mother’s death become Earl Granville, and the Pelhams ; and, in the sequel, the Duke of Newcastle and his brother com- pelled the King to dismiss Granville, who had lost his political influence, on the 23rd of November. Lord Winchelsea, General Cavendish, and the other Lords of the Admiralty, with some other inferior placemen, also resigned. The Pelhams now effected their long-projected plan of a “ broad-bottomed” cabinet. Lord Harrington succeeded to the place of Lord Granville ; the Jacobite Sir John Hynde Cotton was made Treasurer of the Chamber in the royal household; the Tory Lord Gower was ADMIRALTY APPOINTMENTS. r 5 T made Privy Seal ; Lyttelton obtained a seat at the Treasury board ; Bub Dodington was appointed Treasurer of the Navy ; Pitt joined in supporting the Government, on the promise of being made Secretary at War as soon as the King’s personal an- tipathy could be overcome ; and Lord Chesterfield, who was also personally disliked by the King, was made Lord Lieutenant of Ireland ; the Duke of Bedford was made first Lord of the Admi- ralty, with the Earl of Sandwich as second Commissioner ; and Mr. Grenville was made one of the junior Lords of the same board. The arrangement of the Admiralty seems to have given most difficulty from the number of applicants ; and it formed the subject of a caricature, entitled “ Next Sculls at the Admiralty,” published on the 27th of December, 1744, which contains a number of figures, all evidently intended for portraits. In the back is a view of the Admiralty, with Winchelsea, Cavendish, and their col- leagues “ going out.” Win- chelsea, with his character- istic spectacles, advances forwards, gravely observing, “We shall see,” (apparently intended as a pun upon his name ;) while Cavendish, with his hand raised to his mouth in the attitude of bidding adieu, and exclaim- ing “I must eat,” turns off to one side. One of the groups in front, of those who are “ coming in,” or wanting to come in, represents to the left the Duke of Bedford in a stooping posture, exclaiming “ Bed for ’t.” In the middle the tall upright figure of Anson, who had in the course of the year arrived from his circumnavigation of the world, says, “ Bound the world and not in.” # Before him, an older man resting on a staff, but not so easily identified, cries out “ Next scull !” In this “ broad-bottomed” coalition every party, except the small number of adherents of Carteret and Lord Bath, had a represen- tative ; and the consequence was, that, during the ensuing ses- * Anson had a rough unpolished manner, and it was said jokingly of him, that he had been all round the world, but not in it. He bad amassed great wealth by his voyage. GOING OUT. POPULAR DISSATISFACTION. r 5 2 sion, there was scarcely a division. Lord Orford, who had been called to town by the King to give him his advice in his minis- OOMING IN. terial embarrassments, returned to Houghton, and died there on the i8tli of March, 1745. This “broad-bottomed” ministry had, however, very little substantial unanimity in itself ; the chief tie by which its mem- bers were linked together seems to have been the mere love of place, to which they had sacrificed the principles that many of them had been supporting boisterously for so many years ; and, f there was not much opposition in the House, there was abun- dance of dissatisfaction without. During the formation of this ministry, Horace Walpole represents the aspirants to place as standing like servants at a country fair to be hired ; and he adds, “ One has heard of the corruption of courtiers ; but, believe me, the impudent prostitution of patriots, going to market with their honesty, beats it to nothing. Do but think of two hundred men, of the most consummate virtue , setting themselves to sale for three weeks !” Within a few days after the publication of the caricature mentioned above, on the 15th of January, ap- peared a “New Ballad,” entitled the “Place-book; or, the Year 1745,” which was soon followed by a bitter lampoon on the people in power, under the title of “ The Triumvirate ; or, broad- bottomry.” Several other caricatures, among which we may particularize one, entitled “ The Claims of the Broad-bottoms,” exhibit the venality complained of by Horace Walpole. The ministry soon became distracted by internal jealousies and dis* REBELLION OF ’45. 153 sensions ; and these, with the disappointments of the old Tories, again raised the spirit of Jacobitism, which had been so long kept under by the policy of Sir Robert Walpole. The partizans of the exiled family abroad were further encouraged by the battle of Fontenoy, which, though not inglorious to the British arms, was a defeat, and was exaggerated beyond measure in France, Spain, and Italy. In the summer of 1745 the minstrel of the north began again to chant aloud his hatred to King George and the Whigs, and his wishes for the return of the Stuarts. The arrival of Prince Charles Edward, the young Pretender, on the coast of the high- lands of Scotland, in the latter days of July, was the signal for the rising of the clans, and he soon found himself at the head of an army, the more formidable^ because the authorities in Scot- land were taken by surprise, and not only that country but England itself were in no posture of defence. Having passed the small English army under Sir John Cope, the Pretender entered Perth in triumph on the 4th of September ; and in the middle of the same month, still leaving Cope behind him, he obtained possession of Edinburgh. On the 21st Cope was defeated in the brief but celebrated battle, known as that of Preston Pans, from whence, with a small portion of his army, he fled to Berwick, and Scotland was left almost in the power of the rebels. After re- maining some time in Edinburgh, the castle of which was still in the hands of the English garrison, the Pretender began his March on the 1st of November, with an army considerably rein- forced by new supplies of Highlanders, towards the English borders, and, crossing the Tweed at Kelso, moved directly into Cumberland ; and the Scots made themselves masters of Carlisle on the i^th, and, proceeding into Lancashire, they reached Preston on the 27th and Wigan on the 28th, and the same day an advanced party entered Manchester. By this time, however, the royal troops were in motion, numerous volunteers were armed in most of the southern and eastern counties, and Dutch and English troops, under the Duke of Cumberland, had been hastily brought over from the Continent ; so that by the time the rebels had reached Derby, they became aware of the perils with which they were surrounded, and began a rapid retreat, closely pursued, towards Scotland. Prince Charles re-crossed the border on the 20th of December, and his army was collected together at Glasgow by the end of the year. On the 17th of January the English troops in Scotland met with as signal a defeat on Fal- kirk Moor as they had previously experienced at Preston Pans; but better troops and more experienced commanders were rapidly Tfj4 CARICATURES AGAINST TEE PRETENDER . approaching the scene of action, and the hopes of the Jacobites in Scotland were destined to have a speedy and fatal con- clusion. In England the contradictory and vague information daily spread abroad caused the greatest consternation, ill concealed even to us by the contemptuous manner in which the press generally treated the rebellion. The citizens of London showed their fears rather than their courage by their anxious precautions ; and their alarm was so great on the day when intelligence was brought of the advance of the rebels to Derby, and of their con- sequent position between the Duke of Cumberland’s army and the metropolis, as to cause it to be long remembered as the “Black Friday.” A rush was made upon the Bank, the fatal effects of which it is said to have escaped only by the expedient of refusing to pay in any other coin than sixpences, which enabled the directors to gain time until the panic was over. The songs of exultation and scorn which resounded in Scotland were, however, replied to by satirical caricatures and loyal songs, of which there was no want in the south. In one of the former the British lion is represented as the true support of King George and the Protestant succession against the designs of the French King. The Pretender addresses the King of France, the Pope, and the devil, who were looked upon popularly as the grand encouragers of this enter- prize, “ We shall never be a match for George, while that lion stands by him.” The popularity of the Pretender was not assisted in England by the belief that he was bringing with him the religious principles of Borne and the political principles of France. The feeling on this subject is strongly exhibited in a caricature, entitled “ The Invasion ; or, Perkin’s triumph,” in which the Pre- tender is represented triumphantly dri- ving in the royal stage-coach, drawn by six horses, which are named Superstition, Passive Obedience, Bebellion, Hereditary THE PROTESTANT champion. Right> Arbitrary Power, and Non-Re- sistance, and riding over Liberty and all the public funds. The Pope acts as postilion, and the King of France as coachman ; two monkeys and the devil perform the office of footmen, and various disastrous consequences of the success of the rebellion are represented in different parts of the picture. A group of Scot- CARICATURES AGAINST THE PRETENDER. 155 tish soldiers follow a standard, on which are figured a pair of wooden shoes and the motto “Slavery.” St. James’s palace occupies the background, with Westminster Abbey on one side, and on the other Smithfield and a martyr at the stake/ This print was from the pencil and graver of C. Mosley. Another print is entitled “Britons’ Association against the Pope’s Bulls,” and was published on the 21st of October, 1745. The river Tweed divides the picture in two. On one side the Pretender is trying to force over the river an importation of bulls, from the mouths and nostrils of which issue lightning mixed with decretals, “ massacres,” “ rods and whips,” “everlasting curses,” the “.fire of purgatory,” &c. The Pretender, with the exclamation “ Now or never!” holds by the horns, and drags towards the river, a bull laden with indulgences, penances, confessions, absolutions, holy water, and a whole cargo of such Popish furniture. In the distance, Edin- burgh Castle appears, well manned with loyal troops, and beneath it a AN imp °Rtation. group of Highlanders following their standard with some reluctance, their different opinions showing the want of una- nimity in the directors of the rebellion. One says “I’ll go home!” while his companion cries “To Newcastle!” and the recommendation of a third to “ Cross the Tweed” is backed by the words “ Good plunder !” uttered by another. The devil, booted and spurred, and mounted on a broomstick, approaches this group, and accuses them of treason, adding, “ I’ll tell Prance, Spain, and the Pope.” The other side of the picture represents a troop of volunteers, issuing from a city gate, (perhaps intended to represent London,) and preparing to hin- der the Pretender from invading their land. They are led by a man armed with a spear and equipped as a commander, who proclaims, somewhat ostentatiously, “ I am your independent officer!” One, who does not seem very eager in advancing, cries, “ King and country ! Shop and family !” A drummer says, “ I wont go out of the parish !” His next companion, with more valour, exclaims, “ O God, I’d go five miles to fight!” while another moves on rather doggedly, with an exclamation of regret, “ I wish they’d go to dinner !” This portion of the 156 BRITANNIA LEARNING TO LANCE . AN INDEPENDENT OFFICER. print appears intended to convey no very flattering picture of the courage and zeal which are supposed to have characterized the volunteer defenders of their country in this pressing emergency. In the dis- tance we have a view of the ocean covered with British shipping, and Britannia seated on an islet and encouraged by Neptune. This print, which is tolerably well executed, and is a fair example of the style of caricatures of this period, is ac- companied by the following verses, more remarkable for reason than rhyme:— “ I Perkin, young and bold, My father me has sent here ; He is himself too old, And tim’rous, too, to venture. “His spirit sad ’15 To break did much contribute, When many friends were seen To grace the fatal gibbet. “ He open’d then his coffers, And shew’d ’em what rewards To those he freely offers, Who seize the king and guards. “ Pack up your awls, and post, And homewards wisely run ; Or in a month at most, By G-eorge, you’ll be undone ? ” THE PLAGUES OF ENGLAND. *51 Another caricature published at this period was entitled “ The Plagues of England ; or, the Jacobites’ Folly,” and was aimed especially at the conduct of our French allies on this occasion. The Pope, the devil, and the Pretender are here raised up as idols, and worshipped by Jacobite devotees. The King of France acts as fiddler, while Britannia is seen dancing to a French tune, led by Folly, who is carrying Poverty on his back. Behind them, Industry lies “ neglected” and almost famished. A satirical me- dal, in the collection of Mr. W. D. Haggard, represents on the reverse the same personages as those which the caricatures figure as the prime movers of the rebellion (the Pope, the devil, and their associates), here overcome by rebellion defeated. the force of truth. The obverse exhibits a bust of the King in armour, with the inscription “ Georgius II. d. g. Rex.” A caricature, which had been published in the March of this year, when the Jacobite rising was already foreseen, but it was at least wished to be believed that the grand conciliation of “ broad-bottomry ” would be a sufficient defence against it, re- presented the King on his throne, attended by his two sons, the Prince of Wales, and the Duke of Cumberland. On each side, the Lords and Commons are offering their swords and fortunes for the defence of the crown. In the foreground, a party of Jacobite conspirators are unmasking themselves and taking to fight. One cries, “ All’s lost!” another, “ Detected !” a third, “D — n their unanimity!” and so on. On the walls of the apartment are two pictures, one representing English bull-dogs fighting among themselves ; while, in the other, they are united in attacking a bull, distinguished as “ the Pope’s bull the in- scription which runs under the two paintings is, “ English bull- dogs, united against the enemy.” This print, entitled “ Court and Country united against the Popish Invasion,” is dated the 6th of March, 1744 (i.e. 1744-5). This unanimity, however specious in appearance, was but an imaginary one, and we shall soon find the pretended patriotism of ministers and placemen giving way to their personal interests and jealousies in the very midst of the dangers which threatened their country. The question of national rights and liberties, which wise men saw involved, was looked upon as a secondary matter by those whose only banner was political or religious party, or the still more unworthy one of place and emolument. 158 SIR JOHN COPE AND THE ROYAL TROOPS. In a print which appeared in the autumn of 1745, under the title of “ A Hint to the Wise ; or, the surest way with the Pretender,” the church militant is represented on one side offer- ing but a weak resistance to the Pretender, while the standard of broad-bottom, set up by the courtiers against the Jacobites, promises no great strength of resistance, but the mass of the people crowd together to fight successfully under the banner of liberty. The Church was represented by Herring, Archbishop of York, who, after the defeat of Sir John Cope at Preston Pans, had exhibited extraordinary activity in raising and review- ing in person the volunteers of his diocese, though his troops did no great service in the sequel. The warlike prelate is re- presented in a caricature, entitled “ The Mitred Soldier ; or, the Church militant.” The raising of volunteers was carried on with the more activity, as it was made a profitable job even by many of the nobility, who obtained the pay of officers in the army. In one county the fox-hunters were formed in a corps and armed. One of the Scottish Jacobite (or at least semi- Jacobite) songs of the day gives the following amusing descrip- tion of the forces collected together from all quarters to suppress the rebellion : — “Horse, foot, and dragoons, from lost Flanders they call. With Hessians and Danes, and the devil and all; And hunters and rangers led by Oglethorpe ; And the Church, at the bum of the Bishop of York. And, pray, who so fit to lead forth this parade, As the babe of Tangier, my old grandmother Wade ? Whose cunning’s so quick, but whose motion’s so slow. That the rebels march’d on, while he stuck in the snow !” Cope himself, the object of so much satire in the Scottish Jacobite songs, was not spared in the English caricatures, one of which, entitled “ A race from Preston Pans to Berwick,” is accompanied by a parody on the well-known old ballad against Sir John Suckling. Among the many whose behaviour at this time exposed them to satire, the Duke of Newcastle, whose conduct as minister had made him a general object of derision, was not spared ; he was well known to be attached to the plea- sures of the table, and was one of the few who then kept French cooks, and on his own cook, named Cloe, who was both a French- man and a Catholic, he set especial store : it was pretended that this hero of the kitchen would be included in the proclamation ordering Papists and others to be removed from the metropolis, and the chagrin of the Duke was portrayed in a caricature, entitled “The Duke of Newcastle and his (French) Cook,” in DUTCH NEUTRALITY. 15$ which the Duke is made to exclaim “ 0 Cloe ! if you leave me, I shall be starved !” This rebellion, while it caused in England more fear than hurt, had been a very advantageous diversion for our enemies abroad, and our foreign relations were suffering considerably. Even the Dutch had entered into a neutrality, and gave no further assistance than they were absolutely obliged to do by the strict words of existing treaties. A caricature, published on THE BENEFIT OF NEUTRALITY. the 26th of December, 1745, under the title of “The Benefit of Neutrality,” was especially directed against our allies of Holland. France, Spain, and England were represented as struggling to obtain more shadowy advantages, while Holland in the meantime was enriching herself with the substance : — “ Ambitious France and haughty Spain Unite, the horns of power to gain ; Against them England drags the tail, While the sly Dutchman fills his pail.” In the beginning of the year 1746 the war in Scotland con- tinued to be carried on in the same careless and unskilful man- ner, which, in the previous year, had chiefly contributed to the temporary success of the insurrection, until, towards the end of January, the Duke of Cumberland was sent to the north to take the command of the English forces. The Prince bad scarcely arrived in Scotland, when he received intelligence that the dis- content of persons and party in the South had broken out in a ministerial revolution. Lord Granville still enjoyed in private the King’s favour and confidence, and was suspected of secretly thwarting many of the ministerial measures. It was said to THE GAME OF BOB-CHEERY. 160 have been by bis advice that the King neglected the Scottish rebellion so long, and thus allowed it to gain head. The minis- ters, on the other hand, eager to get rid of Granville’s influence, made an attempt to turn out those of that party who still re- mained in office, and bring in more of their own supporters. The King refused to accede to their wishes on this point, and, perceiving from other symptoms that Lord Granville’s party was intriguing against them, on the 10th of February the Pelham administration resigned. Lord Granville madly under- took to form a new administration, and Lord Bath accepted the Treasury and Exchequer, Lord Carlisle the Privy Seal, and Lord Winchelsea returned to the Admiralty. But this strange ad- ministration went no further, for its chief, finding himself with- out influence in the Houses, and seeing that it was impossible to carry on, made a sudden retreat, after having remained in power only three days. The old administration were restored imme- diately to their places, and the King, feeling his own weakness, gave up his friend Granville to their resentment, and allowed them to bring in those whom, a few days before, he had posi- tively refused to admit to his councils. Among these was William Pitt, who was making rapid strides towards that emi- nence and popularity- which has given him so much celebrity as Earl of Chatham. One of the best caricatures relating to these transactions was published in March, un- der the title of “ The noble Game of Bob- cherry, as it was lately played by some unlucky boys at the Crown, in St. James’s parish.” It appears to have been a very popular print, for there are two or three different copies of it, probably pirated editions, with some variations in the figures and grouping. The would-be ministers are represented as jumping at offices represented by cherries, whilst the chief members of the late administration and some of their friends are looking on. Lord Winchelsea, known by the capa- cious wig for which he was celebrated, and his spectacles, is making a jump at a cherry labelled as Secretary of State. Lord Bath has just made an unsuccessful attempt at another, which is labelled “High Treasurer;” and Chief Justice Willes is preparing to jump at one marked BATTLE OF CULLODEN . 161 “ High Chancellor.” The Earl of Granville, who had swallowed a cherry marked “ Secretary of State,” is seized with a fit of sickness, which obliges him to disgorge it. Behind him stands the old Tory and half Jacobite, Sir John Hynde Cotton, holding a cherry in his hand, and looking with a smile at the efforts of the eager can- didates for the others. Cotton had already obtained a place in the ministry, and he seems to have cared little for the changes which were taking place. William Pitt and Mr. Walpole are standing by, laughing at the vain efforts of the candidates for cherries ; and on the other side of the picture the two brothers and ex-ministers, the Duke of Newcastle and Mr. Pelham, are look- ing quietly on. Among the numerous political pamphlets and prints brought forth by this sufficiently ridiculous trans- action, we may specify, “ A History of the Long Administration,” published in a very diminutive size, “ price one penny.” The Duke of Cumberland, who was warmly attached to the old Whig prin- ciples, to which he looked for the support of his House on the throne, and who had been alarmed by the intelligence of the ministerial crisis, was relieved from all his fears, when, a few days afterwards, he heard of the restoration of the Pelhams, and he proceeded vigorously with the work with which he was now entrusted in the north. The fear and anxiety which had so long prevailed throughout England were entirely expelled by the news of the sanguinary and decisive battle of Culloden, fought on the 1 6th of April ; and for several weeks the English papers and prints were filled with nothing but congratulatory poems and songs on the Duke of Cumberland, and satires on the un- fortunate Scots ; and these subjects, with the trials and execu- tions of the rebels, occupied public attention through this and a great part of the following year. It need hardly be stated that the weak, and we may probably add worthless, Pretender, after passing through many dangers and hardships, disappointed his enemies by making good his escape to France. One of the English ballads sums up his enterprise, by telling us punningly that M 1 62 AGITATION IN LONDON . “ His descent was from Sky,* as thereby he’d declare, His design was strange castles to build in the air.” London had, during these events, presented a strange physiog- nomy. With perhaps more general excitement, there was less of street-mobbing than in 17 15 ; but the consciousness of dan- ger seems to have been stronger. The pamphlet shops were filled with tracts against Popery and tyranny, and similar pub- lications were hawked about the streets ; and the newspapers spread abroad daily a new cargo of exciteable matter. The Denny London Dost , for example, had the words “No Preten- der ! No Popery ! No slavery ! No arbitrary power ! No wooden shoes !” printed round its margins in conspicuous let- ters. Prints, exhibited in the shop windows, represented the Popish cruelties and massacres, the ceremony of cursing by bell, book, and candle, and a variety of similar performances, which, it was said, were to be re-enacted on the Pretender’s arrival in the metropolis. In the beginning of 1 746, although the Pre- tender had returned to Scotland, yet people were so far from believing that the danger was entirely averted, that the news- papers and magazines gave directions and illustrative figures for exercising volunteers in the use of their arms. The gates of London were regularly closed at an early hour in the evening, and the city trained bands were kept in constant movement. Troops, both regulars and volunteers, were brought together in the neighbourhood of the metropolis, and a strong camp was formed on Finchley Common to protect this part of the king- dom from danger. Yet, in spite of all these precautions and preparations, Jacobite agents were actively employed in spread- ing sedition even in London : numbers of people were arrested, as in 1715, for drinking the health of the Pretender; ballad- women and low persons were seen vending seditious papers, not only in the streets of London, but in the very heart of the camp ; and, in the latter, agents of the Pretender were actually detected in attempting to seduce the soldiers from their duty. It is not surprising, that, in such a state of things, the victory of Culloden should have given universal and deep-felt jcy, and that the victor should have become widely popular throughout England. Within a few months the Duke of Cumberland’s head was a tavern sign in every country town ; and his name contri- buted to give popularity to one of the prettiest of our common garden-dowel’s. Some verses, current at this time, told us that * The Young Pretender first put foot on Scottish ground in the Isle of Skye. SWEET- WILLIAM. 1 63 ** The pride of France is lily white ; The rose in June is Jacobite : The prickly thistle of the Scot Is northern knighthood’s badge and lot 5 But, since the Duke’s victorious blows* The lily, thistle, and the rose All droop and fade, all die away, Sweet • William only rules the day — No plant with brighter lustre grows, Except the laurel on his brows.” “ The agreeable Contrast between the British Hero and the Italian Fugitive,” a caricature published shortly after this event, represents the Pretender on one side, his hopes defeated and broken, and on the other the portly Duke, who exclaims, “Britain gave me life; for her safety I will readily risk it!” Underneath is inscribed the distich — “ Here happy Britain tells her joyful tales, And may again since William’s arm prevails,” It was this period of agitation which suggested to Hogarth the admirable picture of the march of the guards to Finchley, on their way to the north against the Scots. The disorder and want of discipline, which characterized the movements of the troops on this occasion, are shewn in the most striking manner. Here you have a group in which the actors appear unconscious of the riot and confusion with which they are surrounded : it repre- sents, we are told, a French spy, who is communicating to a dis- guised Jacobite a letter of in- telligence, announcing that the King 1 of France had sent ten thousand men to the assistance of his party. There, theft and dishonesty and licentiousness, though on a small scale, tell us but too plainly of the low private intelligence. moral character of the British army little more than a century ago. Here, again, a sturdy grenadier is exposed to a disagreeable cross-fire from a brace of females, who are selling ballads. An old explanation of this engraving states that these are the soldier’s wife, whom he has deserted, and a woman whom he has deceived, and that they are upbraiding him for his treachery and inconstancy ; but they are M 7 . c CITY TRAINED RANDS. 164 evidently two ballad-singers of different political parties, for one carries a paper inscribed “ God save our noble King,” and a print of the Duke of Cumberland, while the other holds up a number of the Remembrancer , a journal in opposition to the Govern- ment. Hogarth’s print was given to the world in 1750, several years after the events it commemorates: the paint- ing was exhibited to George II., as it is said, at that monarch’s own request ; but his only feeling appears to have been that of anger, that his favourite soldiers should be exposed to ridicule, and he returned it without an observation. Hogarth, in- dignant at the little patro- nage he received from the Court, satirically dedicated his engraving to the King of Prussia. There were, however, soldiers exposed to much greater ridicule than those who on this occasion marched through Finchley, or even than those who had fled at Preston and Falkirk, and those were the warriors of the city companies, the trained bands of London. The municipal troops of the capital, which had presented so formidable an array in the middle ages, and which had acted no unimportant part in the civil commotions of the seventeenth century, had dege- nerated from their ancient character ; but they still continued to be mustered and exercised for the defence of the metropolis, and during the earlier part of the century they had been from time to time drawn out in the outskirts of the town to perform battles and sieges, in harmless imitation of the movements of the more dangerous armies on the Continent. They were especially active during the first years after the accession of the House of Hanover to the English throne, and the newspapers of that period contain frequent paragraphs detailing satirically their pretended exploits. As late as the year 1731, Read's Weekly Journal , of September 11, announces, that, “ On Tuesday, the Cripplegate, Whitechapel, c CITY TRAINED RANDS. St. Clement’s, and Southwark grenadiers rendezvous’d in Bridgewater Gardens ; from whence they marched through the city, and afterwards attacked Cripplegate, both posterns, and Great Moorgate, with their usual bravery , and thence pro- ceeded to attack a dunghill near Bunhill Fields, which gloriously completed their exercise of arms.” We have already seen these domestic troops, in a caricature on the invasion of the Pretender, exhibited as loving better the enjoyments of home than the rude service of war. They figure in the last plate of Hogarth’s series of the “ Idle and Industrious Appren- tices,” and in several caricatures of the time. In one of these, in the collection of Mr. Burke, (without date or title,) these city troops appear, some of them, armed with pipes as well as guns ; others on duty in undress, and some deficient of legs and eyes. A large and rather well-drawn cari- cature, also in the possession of Mr. Burke, and of which the accompa- nying engraving is a reduced copy, represents these troops under the cha- racters of different animals, led by the self-important and ponderous elephant, with the hog for a standard-bearer, their device being the good roast beef and plum pudding of Old England. They are assembled at the sign of the Hog-in- Armour, # and one of the troop carries a bill with the proclamation — “ Come, taylers and weavers, And sly penny shavers, All haste and repair To the Hog in Rag Fair, To ’list in the pay Of great Captain Day, And you shall have cheer, Beef, pudding, and beer.” Underneath this print, which is dated in 1749, are the lines : — * There was an inn with the sign of the Hog-in -Armour on Saffron Hill. It may be observed, that, as the figures are all left-handed, and the city arms reversed, the artist probably drew the sketch on copper without reversing it ; so that, as far as it may be supposed to represent a locality, it is reversed in the print. This was an ordinary practice with Hogarth, many of whose prints are thus reversed. WILLIAM PITT. 1 66 “Hark, now the drum assaults our ears, Thus beating up for volunteers ; Who fight, besiege, and storm amain, And yet are never hurt or slain. Sad work! should this tame army meet The late pacific Spithead fleet.”* As the danger of the Rebellion passed over, the Pelham administration, shaken internally by personal jealousies and intrigues, began to be assailed from without by the outcries of a violent, if not a powerful opposition. It was supported by its great parliamentary influence, which the accession of William Pitt to office had rendered complete ; and it was carried on with quite as much corruption as had ever characterized the govern- ment of Sir Robert Walpole, The breaking out of the Rebellion had furnished an excuse for the repeal of the Habeas Corpus Act ; and the power thus obtained being exercised more frequently against those who attacked the ministry than against the enemies of the Crown, had increased the unpopularity of the former. William Pitt, who had not long touched a legacy of io,oooZ., left him by the old Duchess of Marlborough for his “ patriotic ” opposition to the favourite measures of the Hanoverian dynasty, followed the example of so many patriots who had preceded him, and was assailed on every side for the “ unembarrassed countenance ” with which he suddenly, on his admission to office, advocated the very measures he had been condemning so long and with so much perseverance. In the caricatures of the day, the ghost of the deceased Duchess is represented as reproaching him for his apostacy. The “ unembarrassed countenance ” was the subject of a caricature and of a ballad. The latter sneers at the eloquence of “ a fellow who could talk and could prate,” and tells us how, before his accession to the ministry, “ He bellow’d and roar’d at the troops of Hanover, And swore they were rascals who ever went over ; That no man was honest who gave them a vote, And all that were for them should hang by the throat. Derry down, &c.” By his apparent zeal in this cause he soon extended his popularity through the land. “ By flaming so loudly he got him a name, Though many believed it would all end in shame ; * Alluding to a recent naval expedition, which had returned without per- forming any exploit of consequence. THE “ UNEMBARRASSED COUNTENANCE.” i< 5 j But nature had given him, ne’er to be harrass’d, An unfeeling heart , and a front unembarrass' d. Derry down, &c. “When from an old woman, by standing his ground, He had got the possession of ten thousand pound, He said that he cared not what others might call him, He would shew himself now the true son of Sir Balaam.* Derry down, &c.” Keproaches or rebukes had little effect upon him, we are told, whether they came from friend or foe ; and, having once cast the die, he outdid every one in his barefaced dereliction of his former principles. “ Young Balaam ne’er boggled at turning his coat, Determin’d to share in whate’er could be got ; Said, ‘ I scorn all those who cry, impudent fellow ! As my front is of brass, I’ll be painted in yellow.’f Derry down, &c. “ Since yellow’s the colour that best suits his face, Old Balaam aspires at an eminent place ; May he soon in Cheapside stand fix’d by the legs, His front well adorn’d and daub’d over with eggs. Derry down, &c. ” Pitt’s apostacy was celebrated in other ballads equally bitter, and he was violently attacked in the opposition papers, especially in an evening paper entitled The National Journal , or Country Gazette, which was commenced on the 22nd of March, 1746, and the object of which seems to have been chiefly to expose the false and exaggerated information relating to the affairs of Scot- land published by the Government news-writers. The misuse of the Duchess of Marlborough’s legacy, the “ unembarrassed countenance” of the orator, (the term had been first applied to him in the House of Commons,) and a variety of other circum- stances, are dwelt upon with increasing banter by the writer of this journal, who makes a lengthened comparison of Orator Pitt with Orator Henley. But all was in vain : Pitt’s eloquent “ oratory” swayed the senate, ministerial bribes defeated oppo- sition without, and on the 12th of June the printer of The Na- tional Journal was thrown into Newgate, whence he escaped only upon the expiration of the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act, in February, 1747. In the midst of the intrigues of the cabinet, the Prince of * An allusion to the character of Sir Balaam in Pope’s Moral Essays, Epist. iii. 1. 339— 3 6 °* 4 A list of the names of those who voted for the Hanover troops two years before, which Pitt had then vehemently opposed, and which he now as vehemently advocated, had been printed in yellow characters. 1 68 NEW OPPOSITION Wales, dissatisfied with the ministry, in the formation of which he had had so large a share, and jealous of the popularity of his brother, again threw himself into the opposition. From this moment there was not only a sensible increase in the attacks against the Government, but every expedient was tried to blacken the character of the Duke of Cumberland. The cruelties exercised against the Scottish rebels were pressed on people’s at- tention in every manner, and with every kind of exaggeration ; and the victor of Culloden became generally known by the epithet of “ The Butcher.” Even his fatness, and the lowness of some of his amours, were turned to derision. The caricature of “The agreeable Contrast,” mentioned above as published after the battle of Culloden, was responded to by a parody entitled “ The agreeable Contrast — shews that a greyhound is more agreeable than an elephant, and a genteel person more agreeably pleasing than a clumsy one, a country lass better than a town trollop, and that Flora was better pleased than Fanny.” The allusion is to the adventures of Flora Macdonald in aiding the escape of Prince Charles Edward, and to a woman of low origin, who had been taken into keeping by the Duke. An extraordi- nary notion of the elegant figure and graceful manners of the Pretender was zealously spread abroad by the Jacobite emissaries, and in this caricature he is represented as the accom- plished beau, emblematically figured by his attendant, the courtly greyhound. He, too, is made to proclaim, “Mercy and love, peace,” &c. ; while Flora exclaims, “ Oh ! the agreeable creature I What a long tail he has 1” On the other side of the picture WESTMINSTER ELECTION 169 stand the bloated “ Butcher” and his attendant emblem, the elephant. The Duke is made to exclaim, “ B d and w ds !” and a lady near him expresses strongly her dissatisfaction at his figure. All the political passions found a full vent in the general elections in 1747, which were unusually violent throughout the country ; and the ministers are understood to have attained their majo- rity only by the most lavish expenditure of the public money. At Westminster the two parties were brought into violent collision, and the Duke and the Prince of Wales are said to have taken an active part on the two sides. The G-overnment candidates were Lord Trentham, the eldest son of Earl Gower, and Warren, who were elected by a considerable majority, against the opposition candidates, Phillips and Clarges. This party struggle was the subject of several spirited caricatures, in which the “ Butcher” is made to cut a prominent figure. One THE BUTCHER. of the best of these, pub- lished in June, 1747, bears the title of “ The Two-shil- ling Butcher,” and alludes to the open bribery carried forward on this occasion. It is described in an advertise- ment in the journals as “a curiousparliamentary print.” The Duke gravely observes, “ My Lord, there being a fatality in the cattle, that there is 3000 above my cut, though I offered handsome.” The individual thus ad- dressed, an elegantly dressed figure, intended apparently to represent Lord Trentham, exclaims in reply, dissatisfied THE TWO- SHILLING BUTCHER, 170 FRENCH “ STROLLERS ” at the low price which the Duke had offered for votes, “ Curse me ! you’d buy me the brutes at two shillings per head, bond fide” On one side of the print a person is seen picking Britan- nia’s pocket, to give the money to Phillips and Clarges, while Britannia exclaims, “0 God! what pickpockets!” Among other caricatures on this election, one published in July bore the title, “The Humours of the Westminster Election; or, the scald miserable independent electors in the suds.” The agitation of a Westminster election was, however, soon to be renewed with still greater violence. In T749, Lord Trentham having been appointed one of the Lords of the Admiralty, had to vacate his seat, and every exertion was made by the opposition to hinder his re-election. “ Those who styled them- selves the independent electors of Westminster,” says Smollett, “ being now incensed to an uncommon degree of turbulence by the interposition of ministerial influence, determined to use their utmost endeavours to baffle the designs of the Court, and at the same time take vengeance on the family of Earl Gower, who had entirely abandoned the opposition, of which he was formerly one of the most respected leaders. With this view they held con- sultations, agreed to resolutions, and set up a private gentleman named Sir George Vandeput as the competitor of Lord Trentham, declaring that they would support his pretensions at their own expense ; being the more encouraged to this enterprise by the countenance and assistance of the Prince of Wales and his adhe- rents. They accordingly opened houses of entertainment for their partisans, solicited votes, circulated remonstrances, and propagated abuse : in a word, they canvassed with surprising spirit and perseverance against the whole interest of St. James’s. Mobs were hired, and processions made on both sides, and the city of Westminster was filled with tumult and uproar.” This election occurred in the midst of a violent popular anti- Gallican feeling, which had been shewn particularly against a company of French players who were performing at the Hay- market, and who were spoken of by the mob as the “ French vagrants.” An attempt had been made to hinder them from acting, and they had been protected only by a mob hired by Lord Trentham, who appears to have affected Gallic manners, and to have been vain of his proficiency in the French language. The night after his ministerial appointment there was a great riot at the French theatre, in which Lord Trentham was accused of being personally active, although he denied it to the electors. This was made the most of by his opponents, who stigmatised him in ballads and squibs as “the champion of the French LORD TRENTHAM. * 7 * strollers and common people said that learning to talk French was only a step towards the introduction of French tyranny. In one of the ballads they said, — “ Our natives are starving, whom nature has made The brightest of wits, and to comedy bred ; Whilst apes are caress’d, whom God made by chance, The worst of all mortals, the strollers from France.” Admiral Yernon, who took an earnest part in the opposition, said in a letter, which was printed and extensively circulated, “ For the patrons of French strollers, a nation who are now undermining us in our commerce, and endeavouring to deprive us of it, I heartily detest them, as I think that every honest Briton should that wishes for the prosperity of his country.” Lord Trentham’s party retaliated by accusing Sir George Yandeput of being a Dutchman, and a partisan of the Dutch, who were at the moment not much more popular than the French ; and all the sins of that people, from the time of the massacre at Amboyna, were raked up and published. This West- minster election is said to have been one of the most expensive contests that the Government had as yet experienced. The fol- lowing epigram described a supposed conversation between Lord Trent ham and his father : — “ Quoth L — d G — r [ Lord Gower] to his son, f Boy, thy frolic and place Full deep will be paid for by us and his g — e [grace] : Ten thousand twice over advanced !’- — ‘ Veritable, Mon pere ,’ cry’d the youth ; ‘ but the D — e [duke] you know’s able : Nor blame my French frolics ; since all men are certain, You’re doing behind, what I did ’fore the curtain.’” An immense number of papers of different kinds, some of them in the highest degree scurrilous, were printed and circu- lated by both parties. The Ministers w T ere accused of having set at liberty prisoners confined for small debts, that they might secure their votes ; numbers were brought to the place of polling on horseback, and every kind of dishonest trickery was practised on both sides. The same person was, in many cases, smuggled in to vote more than once, and such notices as the following were placarded on the walls : — “This is to inform the publick, that there is now to be seen in Co vent Garden the celebrated Mr. More, so well known to the curious for his astonishing variety of voices, who we hear intends to give them all in favour of Sir G. Y 1.” “ This day is publish' d, “ An Essay on Multiplication, wherein it will be incontestably proved, that man, like those surprising creatures called Polypuses, may be cut into WESTMINSTER ELECTIONEERING. 172 5, or 10, or more pieces, and each piece become a perfect animal ; as is exemplify’d in the case of several voters for the present W election, now living in the parishes of St. Clement’s and St. Martin’s le Grand.” At the conclusion of the polling there appeared a majority for Lord Trentham, but his opponents demanded a scrutiny ; and this scrutiny proved so laborious and difficult, or the parties in- terested in opposing the Court threw so many obstacles in the way, that it led to a quarrel with the House of Commons, which lasted some months, and gave a double celebrity to the West- minster election of 1749. In spite, however, of the popular dissatisfaction without, which was thus from time to time exhibited in scenes of uproar and turbulence, the opposition in Parliament was weaker than it had ever been before, and its voice was still further silenced about this time by the admission of the Duke of Bedford into the administration. But, while thus enlarging itself by the ad- mission of not very accordant materials, a consequent division was gradually manifesting itself within the cabinet, which was soon formed into two distinct and rival parties, one represented by Mr. Pelham, the Duke of Bedford, and Fox, and the other by the Duke of Newcastle, who was jealous of his brother’s talents and influence, and Pitt, who already looked forward to stepping over their quarrels to the summit of power. These discussions were gradually mixed up with the foreign transac- tions of the country, until they became in a manner identified with the two questions of peace and war. The war into which England had been hurried after the downfall of Sir Bobert Walpole was carried on unskilfully, and had produced no advantages to this country, although the latter had been involved in an enormous expenditure. The rebellion in Scotland had been a most advantageous diversion for the enemy ; and at its close the French were capturing fortress after fortress in the Low Countries, until the fears and the turbulent dissatisfaction shewn by people throughout Holland obliged the Dutch to elect the Prince of Orange to the office of Stadtholder. The King of Prussia held aloof, attentive only to his private views of aggrandisement ; the movements of the Bussians and Austrians were too slow to be effective ; and a number of petty allies were only enriching themselves with English subsidies. On the 2nd of July, 1747, the allied army under the Duke of Cumberland was entirely defeated at the battle of Lauffeld, which spread a general feeling of discouragement. About the same time an English caricature, under the title of “ Europe in Masquerade ; or, the Boyal farce,” threw deserved ridicule on 173 EUROPE IN MASQUERADE. this war without principle, in which the peace and welfare of Europe were sacrificed to the intrigues of its cabinets. The fol- lowing lines, under the same title, were reprinted in the Found- ling Hospital of Wit , and describe with tolerable accuracy the state of politics in the latter part of 1747 : — “ The States, at last, with one accord, Have made themselves a sov’reign lord. For public good ? — Be not mistaken, It was to save their own dear Bacon. The King most Christian does his work, By leaguing with the heathen Turk ; The haughty Turk and Kouli Khan Are friends or foes, as suits their plan ; The Russian lady plays her game, As fits her interest or fame. You’ve seen two curs for bone at bay, A third has run with it away ; Just so the Pr — n [ Prussian ] slily watches, — • While others fight, the prey he snatches. At home behold a mighty pother, Friends worrying friends and brother brother. Pushing and elbowing one another. To Westminster but turn your eye, And the whole mystery you’ll descry : The independents there you’ll see Bawling aloud for liberty ; But if you follow in the dance, They’ll lead you blind to Rome or France.” The reverses of the allies on the Continent were, however, balanced by several decisive victories gained by the English at sea, which destroyed the commerce of France, and crippled her resources so much that the French monarch shewed a strong in- clination to treat for peace. The English prime minister was also desirous of a pacification ; but his brother, the Duke of New- castle, joined with the King and the Duke of Cumberland in wishing for a continuation of the war ; and it was not until many petty difficulties and obstacles had been overcome, that the congress at Aix-la-Chapelle was agreed upon. The negotia- tions were continued through the greater part of the year 1748, and the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle was not signed until the 7th of October. The English ministers were too much occupied with their own cabals and private interests to take care of the interests of their country, and her allies alone gained any advantages by the peace. The moment the preliminaries were announced, they be- came an object of attack, and the newspaper and pamphlet war- fare was carried on long after the war itself had ceased. That 1 74 PEACE OF A IX- LA - CRA PEL LE. part of the treaty which caused the greatest discontent in this country was the stipulated restoration to France of Cape Breton, which had been taken by the English shortly before the breaking out of the Scottish rebellion ; and this discontent was very considerably heightened by the English government having submitted to the indignity of sending two noblemen, the Earl of Sussex and Lord Cathcart, to France as hostages until the restitution of this conquest should be completed. In the begin- ning of 1748 a loud cry was also set up against ministers, for allowing English bread to be exported to our enemies of France, who were suffering from famine, which was partly a consequence of the protracted hostilities. The popular arguments on this occasion may be summed up in an epigram printed in the General Advertiser of Feb. 1 : — “ To fast and pray, that heav’n our arms may bless. Is wise and pious — we can do no less ; We might howe’er, methinks, something more do : ‘ Wliat’s that, pray 1 ’ Why, sir, make the French fast too.” In the same journal, two days later, is advertised a caricature on the same subject, entitled “ The Political Bitters ; a satirical print.” Another subject of complaint, and a more reasonable one, was the practice of insuring French ships in England, so that this country was actually making good the losses which the French merchants sustained in the capture of their ships by the English cruizers. In May, 1748, appeared a caricature, en- titled “ The Preliminary Congress,” directed especially against the surrender of Cape Breton, and against the unsatisfactory conclusion of the sacrifices made by England, who is helping the empress queen over a stile, while France is seizing the oppor- tunity of her exposed position to take liberties with her person. A print published at the same time was entitled “ The Congress of Beasts; or, the milch cow.” In another caricature, under nearly the same title, “ The Congress of the Brutes at Aix-la- Chapelle,” the different powers are represented under the forms of animals assembled in council, the Gallic cock presiding, to whom the British lion is, with all due humility, offering his recent conquest : “ Pray accept Cape Breton !” In November, after the treaty was signed, appeared “ The Grimier from Aix-l-a Chapelle and in December appeared a number of spirited cari- catures on the subject of the hostages, under such titles as “ The two most famous Ostriches “ The Hostages ; a political Print,” & c. In one of these, entitled “ The Wheelbarrow Crys of Eu- rope,” the Earl of Sussex and Lord Cathcart are represented in a barrow wheeled by King George, who cries, “ Hostages, ho ! THE HOSTAGES. *75 two a penny before they go !” And in another, dated December 8, Cromwell appears on the scene with furious threats, which he is only hindered from executing by the devil ; but he exclaims in his wrath, “ Was it for this 1 sought the Lord and fought?” In January, 1749, appeared “ The Hostages ; an hero- i co-satirical poem and at the end of the same month was advertised a pamphlet, (accompanied with a large caricature,) entitled “ The Congress of the Beasts, under the mediation of the Goat, for nego- tiating a peace between the Fox, the Ass wearing a Lion’s skin, the the hostages. Tygress, the Horse, and other quadrupeds at war.” At the same time appeared a number of pamphlets and ballads against the surrender of Gibraltar, which it was pretended that the English government contem- plated yielding up to Spain. In the British Magazine for January, 1749, is announced “A humorous print, called the Peace-offering.” Yet, in spite of these marks of dissatisfaction at the terms of the treat} 7 of Aix-la-Chapelle, peace under any form appears to have been acceptable, and it was followed by general demonstra- tions of joy. The fireworks in the Green Park were unusually magnificent, and these and the jubilee masquerade at Ranelagh were represented in multitudes of prints, which were eagerly bought by the multitude. In one of these prints the fireworks are satirically called “ the grand whim for posterity to laugh at.” The Dutch, who had been reduced to a far worse position than the other allies, and who were now almost destitute of money and resources, rejoiced louder than anybody else, and their fireworks far exceeded those of the Green Park in magnifi- cence. The British public thought that Holland had been too much favoured in the treaty, and that power was suspected of having had the intention of treating in private for its own inte- rests. These extravagant demonstrations of joy by the Dutch were accordingly caricatured somewhat ungenerously in an Eng- lish print, entitled “ The Contrast,” in which the prosperity of England (for England had really been increasing rapidly in commercial importance and wealth) is represented under i;6 PUBLIC REJOICINGS FOR THE PEACE. the form of a portly individual, with his pockets full of money, laughing at the miserable figure of a Dutchman with his empty pockets turned out. The inscription under the Englishman is, “ Money with Commerce;” that under the Dutchman, “ No money with fireworks !” # In the midst of these po- pular subjects of discontent, the divisions in the ministry were becoming every day more apparent, and the open accession of the Prince of Wales raised again the spirits of the parliamentary opposi- tion. The old intriguer Bo- lingbroke was again brought into play, and new plots were constantly hatching, either at his house at Battersea or at the Prince’s at Leicester House. It v/as not long before the ministry was weakened by several defections ; Bubb Dodington first relinquished his place of treasurer of the navy, and returned to a post he had formerly held in the Prince of Wales’s household, and he took the lead in the Prince’s party. A regular opposition was now again organised in the House of Commons, and the printed attacks on measures and persons became more energetic, as well as more numerous. One of the most violent of these, published under the title of “ Constitutional Queries,” was levelled at the Duke of Cumberland, who was compared in it to the “ crook- backed” liichard III., and it was generally supposed to have come from Leicester House, and to have been written by Lord Egmont. These “ Queries” raised a violent heat in the two Houses; the open attempt to sow dissension between the two royal brothers was strongly animadverted upon, and the paper in question was ordered to be burnt by the common hangman, * In the British Magazine for May, 1749, a caricature is announced under the title, “ The Contrast ; or, such is the folly of no money with fire- works, or money with commerce.” I am uncertain if this be the same print as the one described above, or (as was not unusual) a different edition of it. DEATH OF THE PBlNCE OF WALES. 177 and measures were taken, but in vain, to discover and punish the author. But the Prince’s party in the House opposed these proceedings, and Sir Francis Dashwood and others spoke in pal- liation of the libel. These party intrigues occupied the whole of the year 1750, and were proceeding with increased activity in the beginning of 1751, when the opposition received a sudden blow from an event totally unexpected. On the 5th of February, 1751, appeared the royal proclamation of a reward of a thousand pounds for the discovery of the author of the “ Constitutional Queries.” The Prince of Wales died suddenly on the 20th of March, after a short illness, and relieved his father’s ministry from one of its most dangerous opponents. For several years after the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelie, the pub- lication of political caricatures seemed almost suspended, and we shall find them of comparatively rare occurrence till the breaking out of the war in 1755. In the October of 1749 appeared “The true Contrast between a Royal British Hero and a frighted Italian Bravo,” occasioned by the movements of the Pretender on the Continent, (who was shut out from France and Spain by the treaty of peace,) and shewing that his name still excited some interest in England ; and “ The Laugh ; or, Bub’s compli- ments to Ralpho,” alluding, probably, to some circumstance in the opposition movements, of which Dodington was so active a promoter. The opposition sustained a further loss in Lord Bolingbroke, who died on the 15th of December. The old actors, who had played their parts under George I., were rapidly disappearing from the stage, and we are entering upon the politics of an en- tirely new generation. i 7 8 CHAPTER VI. GEORGE II. Changes in the Administration, and Incipient Opposition — Old Interest and New Interest — Elizabeth Canning — The Bill for the Naturalization of the Jews — Elections ; Hogarth’s Prints — Death of Mr. Pelham, and Consequent Changes in the Ministry — War with France — Trial of Admiral Byng — New Convulsion in the Ministry, and Accession of William Pitt to Power — The Seven Years’ War — Popular Discontent ; Beer versus Gin — Conquest of Canada — Death of George the Second. T HE incipient opposition at Leicester House, as we have just seen, was overthrown by the death of the Prince of Wales; and its ostensible leader, Bubb Dodington, and others, tried to sell themselves at the highest price they could to the people in power. All the great political questions which had so long agitated the country seemed, indeed, now to have become ex- tinguished, and to have given place to a far less honourable partisanship of private jealousies and private interests, in which it was the object of the minister to strengthen himself, by giving place to as many individuals as he had any reason to fear in the opposition, and the simple and only object of opposition was to establish a claim for admission to place. This was so univer- sally felt, that, instead of the old distinctions of Whig and Tory, Hanoverian and Jacobite, or Court Party and Country Party, the supporters of ministers and the opposition had almost in- voluntarily taken the distinctive titles of the New Interest and the Old Interest ; the New Interest being that of men in place, the Old Interest that of men who wanted to be in place. The parliamentary opposition, however, raised its head a little in the June of 17^1, upon the dismissal of Lord Sandwich, and the consequent resignation of the Duke of Bedford and Lord Trent- ham. Lord Granville was again admitted into the ministry as one of the secretaries of state, and Anson was placed at the Board of Admiralty. The year 1751 passed off with great quietness ; and the only remarkable parliamentary act in the portion of the session which closed it was the alteration of style, by correcting the calendar according to the Gregorian computation, then adopted by most other nations in Europe, it being decreed that the new vear should begin in future on the ALTERATION OF THE STYLE . 179 1st day of January, and that eleven intermediate nominal days, between the 2nd and 14th days of September, 1752, should for that time be omitted ; so that the day succeeding the 2nd should then be denominated the 14th of that month. An alteration so useful in every point of view did not pass without some show of discontent ; it was declaimed against as a Popish innovation, and long afterwards many people adhered tenaciously to the old practice. In 1752, the opposition, though weak, shewed more signs of life. At the end of January, the Duke of Bedford attacked the subsidiary treaty with Saxony, by which the elector was bribed to give his vote for the Archduke Joseph as King of the Bomans, the question which was now agitating Germany, and which paved the way for the celebrated Seven years’ war. The Pelhams, alarmed, now tried to buy over Bubb Dodington ; but the nego- tiation again failed, and the opposition became a little more spirited, and it shewed itself much stronger on two bills for the naturalization of Jews, and the regulation of marriages. Fox gave violent offence to the Lord Chancellor Hardwicke by his conduct in opposing this latter bill, which, to use the words of Horace Walpole, was “invented by my Lord Bath, and cooked up by the chancellor.” It may be observed, en passant, that, on the 4th of February, 1732, died Sir John Hynde Cotton, the last of the English Jacobites who had displayed any activity. In the midst of this political calm, the newspapers and politi- cal essayists, which had increased in number, were obliged to seek matter for agitation in the passing incidents of the day ; and these shew us how easy it was, in the last century, to set the passions of the multitude in a flame. A young woman of respectable connexions, named Mary Blandv, was executed at Oxford, in the beginning of 1753, for poisoning her father, and her crime had been attended with remarkable and somewhat romantic circumstances. She persisted at the scaffold in assert- ing her innocence; a number of pamphlets were published by persons who took part for or against her, and it became the subject of a warm public dispute. This was soon followed by a still more singular affair. A girl named Elizabeth Canning, who lived with her mother at Aldermanbury. in London, de- clared that on the night of the 1st of January, 1753, two ruf- fians seized on her as she was passing under Bedlam wall, stripped her of her outer apparel, secured her mouth with a gag, and conveyed her on foot about ten miles, to a place called Enfield Wash, where they brought her to the house of one Mrs. Wells, where ^.b.e was robbed of her stays, and, because she fif 2 i8o ELIZABETH CANNING. refused to become a prostitute, confined in a cold and unfurnished apartment, where she remained a whole month, without any other food than a few stale cruets of bread and a gallon of water, till at last she forced her way through a window, and ran home, almost naked, to her mother’s house, in the night of the 29th of January. The story was an improbable one ; but, perhaps, on this very account it gained more popularity, and money was subscribed to prosecute the persons concerned in the outrage. Of three persons charged, Wells (the mistress of the house) was punished as a bawd ; her servant, Virtue Hall, turned evidence for Canning to save herself, but afterwards recanted : and an old gipsy woman, named Squires, was convicted of the robbery of the stays, though she produced undeniable evidence that, at the time the offence was said to have taken place, she was at Abbotsbury, in Dorsetshire. At the trial, the court was surrounded by an enraged mob, which threatened with the utmost violence all who were brought as evidence for the ac- cused, or who did not sympathize with Canning. The Lord Mayor, Sir Crispe Gascoigne, made a clear and impartial state- ment of the case ; and at his representation the gipsy woman, Squires, received the royal pardon. This only added fuel to the popular fury. Some of the leading journals had taken up Can- ning’s cause with considerable warmth, and they now turned their resentment against the Lord Mayor. An incredible num- ber of pamphlets, both serious and satirical, on both sides of the question, with many prints and caricatures, issued from the press ; and the faction raised throughout the kingdom on this trifling subject was so great, that, to use the words of a contem- porary writer, “ it became the general topic of conversation in all assemblies, and people of all ranks espoused one or other party, with as much warmth and animosity as had ever in- flamed the Whigs and Tories, even at the most rancorous period of their opposition.” Prosecutions for perjury were commenced on both sides ; and, in the end, after Virtue Hall’s recantation, Canning herself confessed that the whole story was a fabrica- tion, and she was condemned to transportation. But her sup- porters, even now, did not give up her cause ; those who were least zealous asserted that she had not acted voluntarily, but that she had been the tool of others ; and they subscribed money for her, provided her with every comfort on her voyage, and en- sured her a good reception in America. People’s minds were drawn off from this affair by a new sub- ject of political agitation. The act of parliament of 1752, to permit the naturalization of foreign Jews, which was the work THE JEW BILL. :8i of the Pelhams, had not passed without a violent opposition in the House of Commons ; and, although the bishops had offered no opposition to it in the House of Lords, the clergy out of doors raised such a general outcry, as reminded people of the High-Church agitation of the days of Sacheverell. The alarm of the Church party had been further excited by the deistical tendency of the posthumous works of Lord Bolingbroke, whom while alive they had almost sanctified as their political cham- pion. The merchants of London began also to be alarmed at imaginary commercial advantages which the Jews were to de- rive from the measure. As the period for the general elections was now fast approaching, the excitement increased tenfold. Multitudes of controversial tracts were published on this sub- ject, as well as others, the more immediate design of which was to inflame the passions of the mob. Among these were his- tories of the Jews, written in a partial spirit, and magnifying their pretended sins : fearful prognostications of their increasing power, and of their encroachment on the liberties and on the commercial power of the country ; and strange imaginary pic- tures of the state of the country under Jewish supremacy, when it was supposed that the Jews would gradually have made themselves masters of the estates and property of the English nobility and gentry. Caricatures against the Jews were exhibited in the windows of the print-shops, and ballade equally bitter were sung about the streets. Thus, in August, 1753, a caricature is advertised under the title of “The Circum- cis’d Gentiles ; or, a Journey to Jerusalem,” stated to be “ en- graved by Issachar Barebone, Jun r and in December another caricature was announced, entitled “ The Bacers Unhors’d ; or, the Jews jockey’d.” One of the ballads, entitled “The Jew’s Triumph,” and set to a popular tune, gives a melancholy ac- count of the disasters of the year : — “ In seventeen hundred and fifty-three. The style it was changed to P — p — ry \_Po , pery\ But that it is lik’d, we don’t all agree ; Which nobody can deny. tl When the country folk first heard of this act, That old father Style was condemned to be rack’d, And robb’d of his time, which appears to be fact, Which nobody can deny ; It puzzl’d their brains, their senses perplex’d, And all the old ladies were very much vex’d, Not dreaming that Levites would alter our text ; Which nobody can deny.” The faults of the Jews, and the clangers to be apprehended THE ELECTIONS. 182 from them, are portrayed m equally doggerel verses, and ven- geance is finally called down upon those who had now advocated their cause. “ But ’tis hoped that a mark will be set upon those Who were friends to the Jews, and Christians’ foes, That the nation may see how Deism grows ; Which nobody can deny. “ Then cheer up your spirits, let Jacobites swing,* And Jews in their bell-ropes hang when they ring To our sovereign lord great George our king ; Which nobody can deny.” “ The Jews naturalized ; or, the English alienated : a ballad breathes the same spirit, and ascribes the passing of the Natura- lization Act to that extensive system of bribery with which everybody was then familiar. Even the clergy preached against the Jew bill from the pulpit ; and the ministry became so alarmed for the elections, that they weakly yielded to the foolish clamour, and repealed their own act at the commencement of the session at the end of 1 753. The elections, which took place in the April following (1754), were less clamorous than it was expected, and, with the excep- tion of a violent contest in Oxfordshire, the opposition the court had to contend with was not great. The chief part\r-cries re- lated to the Jews, to the alteration in the style, and to the Marriage Act.f The new Parliament, to use the words of Horace Walpole, was selected “in the very spirit of the Pel- hams.” The revival of the opposition in Parliament, and the agitation naturally attendant on elections under such circum- stances, produced a few caricatures, which possessed little merit. In February was announced “ The P. [Parliament ?] Pace ; or the C. [court] jockeys.” We are better acquainted with a cari- cature published on the 11th of June, under the title of “ Foreign Trade and Domestic compared ;” in which one of two compartments represents the King of France raising up French commerce upon the ruins of that of Great Britain ; while, in the other compartment, the Duke of Newcastle, as minister, is * Alluding to the execution of Dr. Cameron this year, which had excited compassion rather than exultation, even among a mob which appears to have been especially greedy of such sights. + The act for the regulation of marriages had met with great opposition, and it was far from popular with the multitude. On the banner seen through the wundow, in one edition of Hogarth’s print of “The Election Dinner,” we see the words, “ Marry and multiply in spite of the ” In April, on the eve of the elections, a caricature appeared under the title of “The Eccl — st — 1 Millers ; or, the funeral of Private Matrimony and in the October following was published ‘ ‘ The Marriage Act, a Novel /” massing-’ for vote si THE ELECTIONS . *83 oppressing our own trade, and sacrificing our merchant navy, by loading commerce with an accumulation of oppressive taxes. The journals of the month of September announce, among other new prints, a caricature, entitled “ The Differences of Time be- tween those times and these times” no doubt designed in the same spirit. But the elections of [7^4 will ever he memorable in the history of art, as having given rise to Hogarth’s four capital prints of the humours of an election, the first of which was published in 175/J, and the other three in the following years, and which contain several allusions to circumstances connected with the great contest in Oxfordshire. The first of these prints, as every reader will be aware, represents an election dinner, which was now one of the first and most necessary steps of the candidate towards popular favour. The inscription on the banner, and the effigy of the Duke of Newcastle, with the words “No Jews” (seen through the window), allude to the popular subjects of agitation, and show that one candidate be- longs to the “ Old Interest.” The second plate, which contains more of political satire than the others, represents the canvass for votes. Two Inns, the Royal Oak and the Crown, are the head-quarters of the rival candidates ; and a third, the Porto Bello, appears to be neuter. The Royal Oak is evidently in the Old Interest, and a large caricature painted 011 cloth hangs from the sign-post ; in the upper part of which the height of the Treasury is contrasted with the squat solidity of the then new Horse-Guards, the arch of which is so low that the state-coach- man risks his head in attempting to drive under it, while the turret at the top is drawn like a beer-barrel. This was designed for a satire on Ware, the architect. Money is thrown from the Treasury window, to be put in a waggon for carriage to the country. In the compartment below, “ Punch, candidate for Guzzledown,” has a wheelbarrow full of gold, which he is dis- tributing to the electors with a ladle. “ See from the Treasury flows the gold. To shew that those who’ re bought are soldi Come, Perjury, meet it on the road — ’Tis all your own — a waggon-load. Ye party fools, ye courtier tribe, Who gain no vote without a bribe. Lavishly kind, yet insincere, Behold in Punch yourselves appear And you, ye fools, who poll for pay. Ye little great men of a day, For whom your favourite will not care, Observe how much bewitch’d you are.’* THE ELECTIONS. 184 The candidate is purchasing trinkets of a Jew to conciliate the favour of the ladies, whilst a messenger brings him a letter, addressed, “ Tim Parti-fcoole, Esq.” The Crown, which is stated also to be the excise-office, is attacked by a mob, who are pulling down the sign, which threatens to crush them in its fall ; while the landlord is shooting at them from the window. I11 front an elector is receiving bribes from both parties, whose agents are presenting him with invitations to dinner at the rival inns. The only sign of political activity at the third inn con- sists in two men seated at a table, drinking, and arguing on the capture of Porto Bello, one of them explaining to the other, with pieces of tobacco pipe, how the place was taken with six ships only. At the door of the inn of the opposition member is a wooden lion, devouring a jleur de lis, intimating that the Old Interest were already urging to those hostilities with Prance, which soon followed the period of the elections. 44 Oh, Britain, favourite isle of heaven, "When to thy sons shall peace be given ? The treachery of the Gallic shore Makes even thy wooden lions roar.” The third plate of Hogarth’s series represents the various tricks and frauds used in ‘ 4 polling for the votes and, in the fourth, the successful can- didate is chaired, and en- joying his turbulent, and apparently somewhat pe- rilous triumph, amidst a scene of wild uproar. It is generally understood that Hogarth’s successful candidate, who is of the Hew Interest, is intended to represent the celebrated Bubb Dodington, the in- triguing manager of the Leicester House opposi- tion. In the plate the artist has represented a goose flying over his head, which is said to be designed for a parody on Le Brun’s engrav- ing of the battle of the Granicus, in which an eagle is repre- sented hovering over the head of Alexander the Great. On the eve of the elections, an event occurred which opened a door for new intrigues among the younger statesmen, who THE FRENCH IN AMERICA. 185 were struggling for power. The prime minister, Henry Pelham, died on the 6th of March, 1754. His brother and colleague, the Duke of Newcastle, who had long divided the cabinet by his personal rivalry, succeeded in obtaining the premiership, and at the same time provoked the hostility (concealed for a while) of two other rivals in ambition, Pitt and Pox, who were left in their subordinate places, although one of Pitt’s friends, Mr. Legge, was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer, while Sir Thomas Robinson succeeded Newcastle as Secretary of State. The Duke had indirectly fomented the King’s dislike to Pitt and Fox. In the course of the autumn these two statesmen formed a private coalition against the ministry, under which they held place, and it was a secret article of their league, that, in case of success, the latter should be placed at the head of the Treasury, while the former was to be Secretary of State. Pitt and Fox, together, were all-powerful in the House of Com- mons ; and when the Duke of Newcastle was made aware of the coalition, he hazarded a desperate attempt to separate them, and succeeded in detaching Fox, by introducing him into the cabinet as one of the secretaries of state. Amid these intrigues at home, Europe began again to be threatened with a general war, in which England was made more especially interested by the encroachment of the French upon our colonies in North America, and by their intrigues against us in India. In America, without any declaration of war, the hostilities of the French had been carried so far, that when the Parliament assembled in November (1754), the King was obliged to ask for extraordinary supplies for the defence of our possessions. All the measures of the ministry now began to take a more warlike tone, and the Duke of Newcastle, al- though he was far from showing any eagerness for hostilities, became more popular with the multitude. England and France, were, however, soon at war in different parts of the globe, while each pretended to be at peace, and endeavoured to throw the blame of hostilities on the other. The French Government dissimulated its real designs, while hastening forwards its arma- ment with the greatest vigour ; the English ministers were wanting in vigilance and foresight, and had been neglecting the navy and the colonies ; they even now spoke slightingly of the latter, and of the folly of being plunged into a war for them. In March, 1755, they no longer concealed their belief that hos- tilities were inevitable, and they sent a fleet, under Boscawen, to North America, although they were so completely deceived by the demonstrations of the French, that they anticipated the THE BBITISH LION BOUSED. m attack at home, in England, or at least in Ireland. Boscawen missed the French fleet, which had preceded him, but two French men-of-war were captured, and the news, on its arrival in England, was received with the greatest exultation. This event, which appears to have been equally unexpected to the courts of England and France, made a further complication in their relations, and forced the former into more decided hostili- ties. Although the English cruisers captured French ships wherever they met them, both governments still persisted in stating that they hoped to preserve peace between the two countries. The backwardness of the Duke of Newcastle in supporting British rights against French encroachments had already been made the subject of a caricature, published on i he 4th of April, entitled “ The Grand Monarque in a Fright ; or the British Lion roused from his lethargy.” Newcastle is re- straining the angry animal, who is hardly pacified by the assur- ance, “ Peace, peace, my brave fellow ! Be quiet ; rely on the equity and veracity of the most Christian King, and all things shall be adjudged by the commissaries of both nations.” The equity and veracity of the French court were certainly not at this moment generally believed in. The capture of the two French ships, and the intelligence brought by every new arrival of preparations in our colonies, raised still further the national spirit, and people began already to dream of the expulsion of the French from America. On the 1 ith of August, another caricature, entitled “British Rights maintained ; or, French ambition dismantled,” represented the Gallic cock THE GALLIC COCK PLUCKED . 1T7 THE GALLIC COCK PLUCKED. plucked of his feathers by the British lion, and com veiled to utter a sorrowful “ Peccavi !” The feathers under the lion's paw are severally inscribed with the names of the French forts in North America, “ Beau Se- jour,” “ Fort St. John’s,” “ Crown Point,” “Ohio,” “Que- bec,” &c. Britannia, bearing the cap of liberty on her spear, is encouraging her lion, while behind, Mars and Neptune are carving out for her portions in the map of North America with her sword and trident. A negro boy laughs at the un- fortunate cock, and exclaims, “ Pretty bird, how will you get home again ?” On the other side of the picture stands ano- ther group. The genius of France, weeping, exclaims, “ Ave Maria ! que ferrons nous ? After our massacres and persecu- tions, must heretics possess this promised land, which we so piously have called our own ?” On a hill in the distance is seen a martyr burning at the stake. A Frenchman, with cha- grin marked in his countenance and attitude, who is designated as “ Mons. le Politicien,” bites his hat in his spite, and ex- claims, “ Garni bleu ! If our fleet had not been lost in a fog, we should have trompe les f Anglois out of tout l’Amerique Septentrional.” A British “jack-tar,” taking him by the shoulder, and calling his attention to the operations of Neptune and Mars on the map, says, “ Hark ye, Moun- * seer! was that your map of* North America ? What a vast tract of land you had ! Pity the right owner should take it from you !” In the distance, the comet of “ universal monarchy,” represented as the grand object of French ambition, is falling into the sea.* * In the previous month of July, another caricature had appeared rela- FRANCE IN THE DUMPS. 1 88 PITT IN OPPOSITION. Shortly after the appearance of this caricature, the public ex- ultation was considerably damped by the arrival of the news from America of the disastrous result of General Braddock’s expedi- tion against the French on the Ohio ; and other news, equally dispiriting, that followed in quick succession, raised a cry of dis- appointment in the mother-country, which fell heavy upon ministers In November, as the session of Parliament ap- proached, another caricature appeared, attacking the half-mea- sures of the English court, and described in the advertisement as “ Two utopian scenes, called Half Peace, Half War.” The opposition was evidently gaining force ; and when Parlia- ment met, on the 13th of November, Pitt, who had long been coquetting with popularity, and who, although he retained his office of Pa}''master of the Forces, had been brooding over his dis- appointments, suddenly dragged his colleague Legge, the Chan- cellor of the Exchequer, into open opposition to the measures of the court. In one of his grandest outbreaks of eloquence, Pitt assailed the whole system of foreign negotiations pursued by the ministers, and attacked the subsidy treaties with the continental pow ers with the same anti-Hanoverian spirit he had displayed in his younger days. A week after, on the 26th of November, Pitt and Legge were dismissed from their offices. Pitt had already formed a close alliance with the Leicester House faction, and he now became the acknowledged leader of the opposition, weak as it still was, in the House of Commons. The ministry, however, still held on with its large, and, as it was said, paid majorities, and Fox was left to display his talents in contending in the arena of oratory with his powerful antagonist. Horace Walpole, in a letter dated the 12th of February, 1756, describes the House of Commons as then “ divided into a very dialogue between Pitt and Fox.” In the preceding year, in a letter dated August 4, Walpole, speaking of the recriminations between the courts of France and England upon the capture of the French ships in America, had said, with a sneer, “ Mirepoix [the French Ambassador] com- plained grievously, that the Duke of Newcastle had overreached him ; but he is to be forgiven in so good a cause ! It is the first person he ever deceived !” The Duke’s incapacity and unfitness to guide the councils of his country, under the difficult circum- stances in which she was now placed, became more apparent every day. By pretended preparations to invade England, the ting to the hostilities in America, entitled “The American Moose Deer; or, away to the river Ohio.” Copies of it are in the collections of Mr. Hawkins and Mr, Burke. PORT MAHON IN DANGER. 189 French court had completely drawn off the attention of the English ministry from its real preparations, on the most ex- tensive scale, for the invasion of Minorca and reduction of Port Mahon, a possession which the English people had been taught latterly to consider as second only to Gibraltar. When our ministers were repeatedly warned of the danger, and when they were fully assured of the intentions of France, they still persisted in keeping our ships at home, and in leaving the weak garrison at St. Philip’s Fort, which protected Port Mahon, without rein- forcements. At length, with the beginning of January, 1 736, the alarm became general ; odes and poems on the honour and bravery of Britons were bandied about during the following month ; and the newspapers inform us, that, on Wednesday, the 3rd of March, “ the hottest press began for seamen that ever was known.” It was determined to send forthwith a fleet to the Mediterranean. On the 18th of March, Horace Walpole writes, “ We proceed fiercely in armament.” The ministers now com- mitted a new fault, in appointing to the command of the Medi- terranean fleet an officer of very mean capacity, and with little experience — Admiral Byng, the son of old Admiral Byng of Queen Anne’s days, who had been raised to the peerage by the title of Earl of Torrington. Byng sailed on the 5th of April, with ten ships of the line (Newcastle had been persuaded by Anson to send no more), and a small body of troops to reinforce Blakeney’s small garrison. The fleet lost some time on its way to Gibraltar, and there it did not receive the additional troops it expected. Owing to these delays, Byng did not reach Minorca till the 1 8th of May, when the French fleet had preceded him, and landed 16,000 men, who immediately formed the siege of the fortress held by Blakeney. Byng had hardly arrived, when the French fleet, consisting of thirteen ships of the line and four smaller vessels, made its appearance, and the two hostile arma- ments were formed in line of battle, and watched and manoeuvred till night. Next morning the French fleet had disappeared. It returned towards the middle of the day, when the two fleets again formed in order of battle ; and about two o’clock Byng gave the signal to engage, but in so contradictory a manner, that it only caused confusion among his ships. Rear-Admiral West, the second in command, acting upon the intention of the order, and not upon the letter, bore away with his division, attacked the enemy with the greatest bravery, and had already driven several of their ships out of the line, when, unsupported by the rest of the English fleet, he was obliged to return. Had the whole fleet followed the example of West, it is probable that the IQO LOSS OF POET MAHON. French would have been defeated, and Minorca saved : but Byng seems to have acted in the utmost confusion ; his own ship, the Intrepid, had become for a moment unmanageable, and driven on the next ship in position ; and, in spite of the expostulations of his captain, Byng refused to advance for fear of breaking his line. The French Admiral, De la Galissoniere, who appeared to be no more desirous of fighting than the English, took advantage of this slowness to effect his retreat. Byng then gave orders for the chase, bat the French ships were in better condition, and were soon out of sight. Next day Byng called a council of war, represented to them the bad condition of his fleet, and the superiority of the enemy in men and guns, and it was determined to leave Blakeney to his fate, and return to Gibraltar. The brave little garrison of Fort St. Philip held out five weeks longer against its horde of besiegers, and then made an honour- able capitulation. In England the greatest anxiety was shewn for the fate of Port Mahon, and the public were encouraged in forming extra- vagant expectations of the success of the expedition under Admi- ral Byng. When, therefore, his despatch arrived in the month of June, the ministry were overwhelmed with consternation, and the country was thrown into an absolute fury. The public ex- asperation was increased on the arrival of the French accounts, which exulted over the defeat of the English fleet, their own fleet having returned on Byng’s disappearance ; for, though neither party could establish any fair claim to a victory, it was evident that both had run away. “We have lately been told Of two admirals bold, Who engaged in a terrible fight ; They met after noon, Which I think was too soon, As they both ran away before night.” So said one of the popular epigrams of the day ; and it was at first the general belief that Byng had betrayed his countiy by his pusillanimity, and that, if he had fought, Port Mahon would have been saved. The English ministers, to whose improvidence and ill-manage- ment the loss of Port Mahon was chiefly to be ascribed, in their terror, attempted to save themselves by throwing the odium on the unfortunate admiral. Anson, who presided at the Admiralty, was especially active in fanning up the popular flame. Artful emissaries, we are informed by the writers of the time, mingled with all public assemblies, from the drawing room at St. James’s BYNG'S DESPATCH . 191 to the mob at Charing-Cross, expatiating on Byng’s insolence, folly, and cowardice, and exaggerating the losses which were believed to be occasioned by it. His despatch, which was cer- tainly a very lame explanation of his conduct, but which it was pretended the ministry had curtailed of sundry passages reflecting on their own share in the disaster, was everywhere turned into ridicule, and was even versified in a variety of shapes, of which the following may serve as a sample. “THE LETTER OF A CERTAIN ADMIRAL. “ Mr. C [Cleveland*], I pray, to their L s [ lordships ] you’ll say. We are glad and rejoice above measure : When you’ve read what is writ you, you'll laugh till it split you, And so give me joy of my pleasure. “ We ? d a wind, you must know, as fair as could blow, And therefore in days jus.t eleven, We had sail’d from the shore full ten leagues or more, And saw nought but the ocean and heaven. u Then seventeen ships came licking their lips, And crying out ‘Fee, faw, and fum;’ Bigger each than St. Paul ; guns, the devil and all ; And, egad, looking wondrous glum. “ But no matter for that, who says pit a pat ? We tack’d, and we stood to the weather ; We tack’d quite about, right and left, brave and stouty And so we were sideways together. “ Souls five score and two, maugre all they could do, We took in a tartan alive ; Six hundred did sail in the vessel so frail, But our hundred had eat up the Jive. 11 But of this by the bye ; for now we drew nigh To each other — quite close — nay, ’tis true : Six times two of the line, large, grand, bright, and fine j Five frigates ! — but look’d rather blue. (i Fair Honour, quoth I, in thy arms let me die, And my glory burn clear in the socket ; Not an ounce more of powder, or a gun a note louder, So the d [directions ?] I put in my pocket. “ Brave W [TFesi] led the van, I followed amain ; Such closing and raking, and work, With foresails and braces all flutt’ring in pieces, ’Twould have melted the heart of a Turk “ But the devil, in spite, to blast our delight. Got aboard the I d [Intrepid], his daughter, Made her jump, fly, and stumble, reel, elbow, and tumble, And drove us quite out of the water. * The despatch was directed to Mr. Cleveland, the Secretary of tjm> Admiralty. BYNG PLACED UNDER ARREST. 192 “ And now, being tea-time, we thought it was the time To talk over what we had done ; So we put on the kettle, our tempers to settle, — And presently set the fair sun. Our c 1 [ council ] next day, in seemly array, Met, sat, and debated the story ; We found that our fleet at last might be bpat, And then, you know, where is the glory ? “ Moreover, ’twas plain, three ships in the van Had their glasses and china all broke ; And this gave the balance, in spite of great talents, Against us, — a damnable stroke ! ie Without fear of reproaches, as sound as your roaches. Of glory we’ve saved our whole stock ; ’Twere pity, indeed, to lose it, or bleed, For a toothless old man and a rocky The ministers had sent out two new admirals, Hawke and Saunders, to take command of the fleet of the Mediterranean. When Bvng learnt that he was recalled, he wrote a recri- minatory letter to the Admiralty, which increased the fears and anger of the Government. Orders were immediately des- patched to Admiral Hawke to place Byng under arrest, and send him home a prisoner. On his arrival at Portsmouth, the fury of the mob was so great, that it required a strong guard to hinder him from being torn to pieces. His effigy had been already burnt in almost every town in England ; and the number of pamphlets both serious and burlesque, of satirical poems and incendiary ballads, of prints and caricatures, that were launched into the world on this question, during the autumn and winter, is almost incredible. It was long since the nation had been in anything like such a state of excitement and fermentation. The ministers soon found that they were themselves in danger of being overwhelmed by the storm which they had thus conjured up ; for the tide of unpopularity was running fast against them, especially against Fox and Anson, while Pitt had become the idol of the multitude. The loss of Oswego, and some other successes of the French in America, came soon after to increase the dissatisfaction against the men who were now openly blamed for their want of foresight, for their disregard of the American settlements, and for the ignorance they had exhibited in the direction of the naval force of the country. One of the popular tracts for street sale, (or, as they are more techically called, chap-books,) published at this time, Dears tne title of “ A Rueful Story ; or, Britain in tears : being THE DEVIL’S DANCE. 193 FOX AND GOOSE. the conduct of Admiral B — g. . . . London : Printed bv Boatswain Hawl-up, a broken-hearted sailor.” A large folding broadside, which serves as a frontispiece, is adorned with a coarse wood-cut, repre- senting Byng in chains, with the ghosts of his slaughtered sailors appearing to him in his prison, and surrounded by doggerel verses ; and the body of the tract consists of an inflammatory report of Byng’s conduct, in which he is represented as the willing tool of ministerial mismanagement ; with the addition of a number of doggerel bal- lads in the same spirit. One of the more remarkable of the caricatures, published under the title of “ The Devil’s Dance- set to French music,” of which there is a copy in the collection oi Mr. Hawkins, represents the trio, Fox, Byng, and Newcastle, with cloven hoofs. Fox, with the head and tail of the animal designated by his name, carries a goose, the representative of Anson, (by a miser- able pun upon his name — anser being the Latin for a goose,) and is treading under foot a bundle of papre sinscribed, “ Honour,” “Law,” “Justice,” u Honesty,” “Li- berty,” “ Property.” The Duke of Newcastle is trampling on “ Magna Charta,” and “The Constitution;” while Byng, who is dressed as a French beau, in the highest cut of the fashion, with a jieur de lis in his heart, is dancing gaily upon “ Port Mahon,” and the various treaties and great ex- ploits of former commanders. In an- other caricature, entitled “ A Court Conversation,” Fox and Anson, with the heads of a fox and a goose, the latter leaning on a broken anchor, and pointing to the London Gazette , are conversing upon the ill success of their attempt to ward off the storm from themselves by garbling the admiral’s despatches: the goo^e-head has an the cloven-footed admiral. admirably reproachful look. o i94 CARICATURES ON RYNG. “ Quoth Anser to Reynard, ‘ Methinks you had better Have not made so free with this cursed letter.’ Sly Reynard replied, ‘Yet your Lordship must own, Not Byng had been burnt, if the truth had been known.’” Behind this group is the council-table, where three of the members are disturbed by the fall of a picture of the siege of Port Mahon, which is the cause of the overthrow of the table. A map of North America hangs covered with cobwebs ; and a pile of useless subsidiary treaties lie near a “ place and pension ledger.” Byng appears to have been known at home as a fop and man of fashion, (a class which, as imitators of French manners, were themselves unpopular with the mob) and as a great boaster ; and it appears that he was a collector of china-ware, which explains one allusion in the metrical version of his letter given above. In another caricature Byng is represented ‘‘at home” and “abroad.” In the first compartment he appears in the full garb of a “beau,” with the muff, and every other accessory to that character, exclaiming gaily, “ Pray, my lords, let me go, and I’ll perform wonders.” At the side is a parcel of china, with the inscription “ China- ware- house.” In the other compartment, Byng “ abroad ” is represented in chains, with a halter round his neck, and beneath him the inscription a “Lost Sheep.” In another print, entitled “ The Contrast,” in which Byng is placed in disadvantageous contrast the beau admiral, with Blakeney, the fatal halter is again an accessory, and the distich which accom- panies it appears to bear allusion to the “ lost sheep ” of the former. “ ’Tis Britannia’s doom, here’s a halter for B — — - , As he fought like a sheep , like a dog let him swing.” In several other caricatures Byng is represented either as designed for the gallows, or, at least, as worthy of it ; and in one, entitled “ Byng Triumphant,” which appears to have been especially popular, the unfortunate Admiral is con- ducted in a sort of mock triumph through Temple Bar, on which the emblems of the traitor’s fate are fearfully con- spicuous, to the place of execution, hooted and pelted by CARICATURES ON BYNG. 195 the attendant mob of English, Irish, and Scots, while a French- man exclaims in astonishment, “ Le diable ! la monseur le grand monarque no serva Monsieur Gfallisoniere so as dese, for sava his fleet.” It was the universal opinion, un- til his character in this respect was cleared by the court-martial, that Byng had behaved with cowardice ; but it was almost as generally be- lieved that he had been treacherous to his country, — that French gold had secured the capture of Minorca ; and in this charge the ministry bore their full share. A medal # was circulated, representing on the ob- verse a figure of Admiral Byng receiving a bag of money from a hand belonging to a person concealed, with the inscription “ Was Minorca sold By B for French gold ?” On the reverse Blakeney is represented holding a fort, from which three guns are fired, and a ship is seen in the distance. The inscription is, “ Brave Blakeney reward, But to B give a cord.” It was represented that the people who governed the country were so much addicted to French luxuries and French vices, that they would willingly have allowed our enemies to get pos- session of Minorca, and blink at their encroachment in America, rather than have a war, which would cut off the supplies that peace with France administered to their vanities. A clever caricature appeared on the 25th of November, entitled “ Bird- flag before ¥ This medal is in the collection of Mr. Haggard. ig6 ANSON THE GAMBLER. ime for Bunglers ; or, the French way of catching fools in which the French intriguer is emptying out of a large bag, money, mixed with articles labelled “ wine,” “cooks,” “ valets,” “ dancers,” “ fiddlers,” &c. The English ministers are scram- bling for the prize. Byng is prostrate, crushed by the weight of the fallen ministers ; he grasps in his right hand two articles inscribed “ wine” and “2 tartans,” the latter an allusion to Byng’s captures ; while the unlucky Admiral, who has lost his wig in the fall, exclaims, “ Oh, the devil take your lime ! I am limed and twigg’d too, with a p — to you ! Murder ! murder ! was it for this that I had the pleasure of saving the K ’s ships ?” Upon Byng lies Fox, with a bag contain- ing three millions in his left hand, yet still in his prostrate posi- tion stretching out his right hand for more. Under his knee is a label inscribed, “ Large Fees for the bottomless Pitt ;” and he exclaims, “ In for a penny, in for a pound ; for I find I cannot draw back my paw in time.” The Chancellor, Hardwicke, greedily snatches at the money with both hands, exclaiming, in allusion to his marriage bill, “ Have not I saved thousands from the lime-twigs of matrimony, and shall not I have my fees ?’* Underneath the picture is written, “ Oh ! how the mighty are fallen!” The caricature was, in fact, published when the minis- try was in dissolution. The French distributor of these good things observes, “ By Gar, dis lime vil stick longer to deir ribs den deir fingers ; and, now I ave found de grand secret, I vil not only trap de Anglois, but tout le monde.” Behind him stands a figure, evidently intended to represent Newcastle, grasping in his hand a bag containing eight millions, and remarking gravely, “ An excellent way, ’faith ! I find a Fox may be caught as easily as an old woman.” The unpopularity of Fox had in some mea- sure relieved Newcastle. On the other side of the picture appears Lord Anson, rushing eagerly to share in the spoils; but, encumbered by an E. 0 . table, an allusion to his passion for gambling, he cries out, “ E. 0 ., my heart of gold, tip us a hand- full, for I have had a d d bad run.” Above him is a tablet, “ To the memory of A. B. [ Admiral Byng] May 2 1st, 17 56;” and near it, on the wall of the apart- THE CANDIDATE ENCUMBERED. FOX'S RESIGNATION. 197 ment, the picture of Justice is obscured by an immense cobweb, in which a large spider exclaims, “ Sure no vast difference betwixt us lies, Since you catch men as I catch flies.” Among the numerous caricatures and satirical tracts published during this period of excitement, it will be sufficient to mention the titles of the following : — In September, a caricature, “ The Fox in the Pit in October, a tract entitled “ The Resigna- tion ; or, the Fox out of the Pitt, and the Geese in, with B y at the bottom and two caricatures, “ The Auction of the Effects of John Bull ” (his foreign possessions offered by his rulers for sale to the highest bidder), and “ The Downfall, as it will shortly be performed, to the tune of 1 M y’s [Murray's^] Delight ” and, in November, a pamphlet, “ The History of Reynard the Fox, and Bruin the Bear,” &c. To explain these titles, it will be necessary to state, that, on the 27th of October, Fox, terrified at the approach of the new session of Parliament under such a load of unpopularity, and feeling that he was in danger of becoming a scape-goat to some of his colleagues, resigned his place of Secretary of State. The Duke of Newcastle, in his distress, made overtures to Pitt, who now, in the pride of his own strength and popularity, refused to join in any ministry of which Newcastle formed a part. After several vain attempts to form an administration, the Duke was obliged to resign, and he was immediately followed by the Lord Chancellor, Lord Hardwicke. The King was now placed under the necessity of calling in Pitt, against whom he had always in- dulged strong hostile feelings. Pitt, who had profited by the experience of the consequence of his former eagerness to accept place, and now determined not to lose his popularity, showed no anxiety to listen to the call, but suddenly took upon himself a fit of the gout. Pitt’s demands were at first considered so unreasonable, that a new attempt, equally unsuccessful with the former, was made to raise a ministry without him. At length the King was compelled, much against his inclination, to accept an administration in which Pitt succeeded Fox as principal Secretary of State ; his friend Legge was again made Chancellor of the Exchequer ; his brother-in-law, Lord Temple, succeeded Lord Anson at the Admiralty ; and all the other places were filled up by his friends and partisans. The King opened the * Murray was the Attorney-General, one of the best speakers in the House of Commons, who was now going to the upper House as Lord Chief Justice, under the title of Lord Mansfield, and leaving the ministers to fight their own battles in the Commons. 198 EXECUTION OF ADMIRAL BYNG. Parliament at the beginning of December, with a speech far more English in his sentiments than he had ever been made to •utter before ; and Pitt and Temple thwarted the royal inclination in several of his favourite foreign measures, which were distaste- ful to the English people. But the ministers joined (probably with foresight) in aiding the King of Prussia, who was now fairly entered into that celebrated war which tore Europe to its entrails during seven years. The new ministry met with consi- derable opposition, besides being disagreeable to the King ; for they were beaten in some of the elections rendered necessary by their accession to office, and even their royal speech was ridiculed in a production of so libellous a character, that it was ordered to be burnt in the Palace Yard by the common hangman, and the printer was thrown into prison. The King, who did not conceal his dislike to his ministers, is said to have expressed his opinion in private society, that the libellous speech was better than the original. In January, 1757, Admiral Byng was brought to his trial before a court-martial, and was found guilty of not having done the utmost he might have done to perform the duty imposed upon him ; and therefore his judges were obliged, by a recently enacted and very oppressive law, to condemn him to be shot to death ; but they fully absolved him of having shown any want of courage, and he was strongly recommended to the royal mercy. The utmost exertions were made by the Admiral’s friends, and even by many who were not his friends, to obtain his pardon ; hut the gates of mercy had been already shut to him. The Duke of Newcastle had led the King, when peti- tioned by the city of London, at the moment of greatest ex- citement, into a solemn promise that he would allow justice to take its course ; and now, on the one side, the ministers who were out were anxious to sacrifice him, in order to turn the blame of misconduct from themselves, while those who were in had not the courage to risk their own popularity by saving him. An agitation was got up in the city, and the King was publicly called upon to fulfil his promise ; and on the 3rd of A! arch papers were fixed on the Exchange, with the words “ Shoot Byng, or take care of your King.” This was com- monly ascribed to the emissaries of Lord Anson. At length, after much hesitation, the sentence was carried into execu- tion on board his prison-ship, the Monarque, off Spithead, on Monday, the 14th of March. The feeling of the nation at large, as is always the case when a length of time elapses before the passions of the populace are indulged, had been A NEW TRIUMVIRATE. 199 gradually subsiding, or, at least, people had begun to lose sight of Byng in their anger against the late ministers ; and the heroic fortitude with which he met his fate moved universal compas- sion, and rendered his enemies still more unpopular. People now spoke openly of Byng as the scape-goat of ministerial mis- conduct, and they pitied and lamented his fate in a number of epigrams and short poems which appeared in the daily prints during several months after his death. We meet also with a caricature, published about this time, entitled “ Byng’s Ghost to the triumvirate.” The triumvirate here represented was composed of Newcastle, Anson, and Hardwicke. But, in speak- ing of this triumvirate, the name of Fox, at this moment the most unpopular of all the late ministers, commonly took the place of that of Lord Anson. In a print published at this time, the three heads of the Duke of Newcastle, Lord Hard- wicke, and Fox are represented joined together in a piece of stone, as a remarkable specimen of a lusus naturae , or “ A curious Petri-faction.” The allusion is to the Duke of Newcastle’s secre- tary, Andrew Stone, who had been appointed sub-governor of the Prince of Wales, and who, accused of Jacobi tism, had re- cently been the cause of high dis- putes at court : he was looked upon as the Duke’s creature ; and in a collection of caricatures to which we shall shortly allude, one represents Newcastle as the old woman of the fable riding on A lusus nature. his ass, Stone. In the “ lusus naturae,” we are told that the two outside faces (Newcastle and Fox) represent “two heads imperfect and of a black hue, sup- pos’d to have been wood.” The one in the middle (Lord Hard- wicke) is “ a stone head, not esteem’d and very dull.” The stone on which they are placed is “ a sort of petrified fungus, to which they adhere.” Pitt’s popularity had increased in the same extravagant de- gree that Fox had become, unpopular ; but during the winter which followed his accession to power he was paralysed by con- tinued attacks of the gout, a disease to which he was constitu- tionally subject. It was commonly said that Pitt’s gout was of a convenient kind, and that its attacks were often assumed as 200 PITT DISMISSED. excuses for not attending upon the King, with whose aversion for him he was well acquainted. The public, however, believed otherwise, and they looked with the greatest anxiety for his recovery from what they fancied was the sole impediment to his taking ample vengeance on our foreign enemies for the disasters of the previous year. “ The land to rescue from impending fate, Pitt rose, the smooth-tongued Nestor of the state. The world in prospect saw our fame advance, Our thunder rolling through the realm of France. But heav’n (in mercy to the trembling foe) Bade the gout seize his senatorial toe. Thus, when Tydides swept the ranks of fight. And drove opposing hosts to realms of night, Swift from young Paris flew a whizzing spear, Stopt the stern hero in his fell career, Quick gliding, through the foot an entrance found, And nailed the bleeding warrior to the ground.” So wrote a poet in the Gentleman? s Magazine on the 12th of February. At this very time, the King, who hated his ministry the more from the humiliation he felt at having had it forced upon him by the Leicester House faction (for it was the Princess of Wales and her new favourite, the Earl of Bute, who had been chiefly instrumental in forming it), was making a vain attempt in private to form another more to his own taste ; and his deter- mination to get rid of Pitt was fixed by the refusal of the Duke of Cumberland to take the command of the allied army in Han- over while that minister remained in power. The King first tried the Duke of Newcastle, who declined hazarding himself until the public discontent had been allowed time to subside; he then commanded Fox to form an administration in concert with the Duke of Cumberland. But the plan Fox at first drew up was neither practicable in itself nor altogether satisfactory to the King, on account of the unreasonable demands made by the maker for his own friends and family. When the King had been brought to consent to it, Fox found that only one of the persons he had pitched upon for ministers, Bubb Dodington, would venture to enlist under his banners. The King then, driven to desperation, prevailed upon Lord Winchelsea to take the Admiralty, and dismissed Pitt’s brother-in-law, Lord Temple. About a week after this, still urged on by the Duke of Cumber- land, the King dismissed Pitt himself, who was followed by his friend Legge and several others, who resigned their offices. The cabinet was now virtually broken up, without even the prospect of a ministry to succeed it. Pitt became at once the MINISTERIAL INTERREGNUM. 201 idol of the people : a few days after his dismissal, the city of London determined to present the freedom in gold boxes to him and Legge ; and the example of London was followed by a number of other cities. People compared Pitt’s disinterested patriotism with the time-serving greediness of Fox and his friends ; and, among a variety of political epigrams and squibs on the occasion, it was suggested in one that a division of the popular offerings might he made, to the satisfaction of both parties. “ The two great rivals London might content, If what he values most to each she sent ; 111 was the franchise coupled with the box ; Give Pitt the Freedom, and the gold to Fox.” The embarrassment into which the court was now thrown, without a ministry, and unable to form one, and the consequent intrigues within and excitement out of doors, gave rise to a swarm of political squibs and caricatures. Among the most remarkable of the latter was a caricature, said to be by the Hon. Gfeorge Townshend, published about the middle of April, and entitled “ The Recruiting Sergeant.” It was intended to ridicule Fox’s abortive attempt to form a cabi- net, and represents that statement lead- ing his few ill-assorted recruits towards an altar, on which is placed the fat Duke of Cumberland, crowned with laurel. One of the foremost is Winchelsea, who had so readily accepted the Admiralty. Then comes the lean figure of Lord Sandwich, carrying his cricket-bat* on his shoulder, and exclaiming, “ I love deep play ; this or nothing !” He is followed by Bubb Dodington, who was one of those readiest to take office under Fox, and whose extraordi- nary corpulence was as remarkable as the leanness of the Earl of Sandwich. Bubb, overcome with the fatigue of the march, cries with an imploring look, “ I can’t follow this lean fellow much longer, * Lord Sandwich was a noted cricket-player. It may be observed that several copies or imitations of this caricature appeared, and the different characters were also published on separate cards. 202 MINISTERIAL DIFFICULTIES. that’s flat.”* Early in May was pub- lished a pamphlet under the title of “ The Chronicle of the short .Reign of Honesty,” as his admirers called Pitt’s administration. In the same month, as we learn from Horace Wal- pole, came out a bitter caricature against the Pitt party, entitled “ The Turnstile.” In June, among other satirical prints on the embarrassments in the formation of a ministry, were two, entitled “ The Distressed States- man,” and “ The Treaty ; or Shabear’s administration.” The country remained more than eleven weeks without a ministry. At first the King tried some men of in- ferior rank as statesmen, but met with nothing hut refusals ; and then he made a new application to the Duke of New- a eat follower. castle, who attempted a coalition with Pitt and with theLeicester House party. Pitt refused to join in a ministry in which the chief power was not placed in his own hands ; upon which Newcastle formed the plan of an administration from which Pitt and his friends were to be entirely excluded ; but this also failed. Then followed a new negotiation between Newcastle and Lord Bute for the Leicester House party ; and a plan was drawn up, in which Pitt and Lord * On the 20th of April, Horace Walpole speaks of this caricature in the following terms in a letter to Sir Horace Mann :• — “ Pamphlets, cards, and prints swarm again : George Townshend has published one of the latter, which is so admirable in its kind, that I cannot help sending it to you. His genius for likenesses in caricature is asto- nishing ; indeed, Lord Winchelsea’s figure is not heightened ; your friends Hodington and Lord Sandwich are like ; the former made me laugh till I cried. The Hanoverian drummer Ellis, is the least like, though it has much of his air. T need say nothing of the lump of fat, crowned with laurel on the altar. As Townsend’s parts lie entirely in his pencil, his pen has no share in them ; the labels are very dull except the inscription on the altar, which, I believe, is his brother Charles’s. This print, which has so di- verted the town, has produced to-day a most bitter pamphlet gainst George Townshend, entitled ‘The Art of Political Lying.’ Indeed, it is strong.” It is remarkable that two of these figures, those of Bubb Dodington and Lord Winchelsea, were found among the pencil drawings of Hogarth, and engraved in Ireland’s “Supplement.” Hogarth had written, under Bubb Dodington, “spoil’d,” and under Lord Winchelsea “spoil’d also..” It may be su pected that Townshend copied the rough sketches of Hogarth. PITTS ACCESSION TO POWER. 203 Temple were to take office with Newcastle, and Fox be excluded ; but the King refused to listen to it. George, now deserted by every person on whose assistance he had calculated, called Lord Waldegrave, (who enjoyed his confidence in an especial degree,) and ordered him to form the best ministry he could. At first the Dukes of Devonshire and Bedford, the Earl of Winchelsea, old Lord Granville, and Mr. Fox, were ready to join him ; but after a few days spent in meetings and hesitations, they also broke down, and left the King entirely at the mercy of Pitt, with whom and the Duke of Newcastle new negotiations were opened, which were brought to a conclusion in somewhat more than a fortnight. On the 29th of June the Gazette announced the re* appointment of Pitt as principal Secretary of State, and he took office with greater power than ever. The Duke of Newcastle, with the mere shadow of power, was made First Commissioner of the Treasury ; Anson was placed again at the Admiralty, with a board composed entirely of Pitt’s friends ; Lord Granville was made President of the Council ; and Fox, to appease the King, was made Paymaster of the Forces. The intrigues and embarrassments of the few months which intervened between the overthrow of the Duke of Newcastle’s administration in 1 736, and the final establishment of Pitt’s power in the summer of 1757, presented, as we have already hinted, a favourable field for the ingenuity and wit of the cari- caturist ; and a great number of political prints and, as they were then termed, cards, were distributed about. These were often the productions, not of common draughtsmen, but of some of the distinguished political actors of the day, and especially of George Townshend. Many of these caricatures appear to have perished ; but two years afterwards upwards of seventy of them were collected and published on a diminished scale, under the title of A Political and Satirical History of the years t 7 ^<5 and 1757. These are all directed against the party of Newcastle and Fox, or rather of Fox and Newcastle, for Fox was now generally looked upon as the leading man in the old ministry ; and the bitterness of political rancour is shown in the constant allusions to the axe and the rope. In one, by the side of the heads of Fox and Newcastle stand two gallowses, entitled the “ Pillars of the State,” supporting a reversed ship with a cock crowing over it — the navy of England made a sacrifice to the vanity ol France. The four most obnoxious ministers, Newcastle, Fox, Hardwicke, and Anson, were published under the characters of the four knaves of cards. In a caricature entitled “ Punch’s Opera, with the Humours of Little Ben the Sailor,” are hung up the wooden 204 FRENCH INFLUENCE . figures of Anson with his box and dice, in the character of Little Ben ; Sir George Littleton, as Gudgeon ; Fox, as Mr. Punch ; Newcastle, as Punch’s wife Joan; and Hardwicke as Quibble. They are all semee (to use the heraldic expression) with jleurs-de- lis, to shew the popular belief in their devotion to French interests. Sir George Littleton (created Lord Littleton in the spring of 1757, by which title he obtained a distinguished place in English literature) had provoked the enmity of the popular party by deserting to the ministerial side a few months before, and his ec- centric figure, as well as his weak- nesses and vanities, offered a ready butt for satire. In one print the portrait of this orator of the party (for after Fox he was looked upon as one of their better speakers in the House of Commons) is caricatured under the name of Cassius. In ano- ther he is drawn at full length, prof- fering the support of his tongue, and declaring that CASSIUS. What oratory can do shall be done ; But then, good sir, you know I am but one.’ 1 The influence of French councils (and even of French gold) on this side of the Channel, is a frequent subject of satire in this collection of prints, and the figures of the Duke of Newcastle and his ministers seldom appear without the characteristic mark of th z fleur-de-lis. In one caricature, Newcastle, Fox, and Byng are represented as entrapped into their own destruction by golden baits laid before them by the evil one. In another, the ministers have addressed Britannia in gawdy French garments of the newest fashion, which fit so tight, that she complains of being unable to move her arms. Newcastle, as her femme-de - chambre , tells her that she has no need to move her arms, since there is nothing for her to do. Fox offers her a fleur de-lis , as a becoming ornament to place over her breast. Two pictures are suspended in the room, one that of an axe, the other representing a halter, the rewards of traitorous ministers. Poor Britannia is indeed cruelly baited with the various vanities and vices of her governors. In one caricature she is seated in a chariot, drawn by geese and turkeys, and driven by the devil. Britannia is getting THE TRIUMPH OF NEPTUNE. 205 angry, as she reflects upon her ridiculous position ; while a Frenchman by the way-side is clapping his hands and laughing at her. Among the patrician extravagances of the year 1756, Lord Rockingham and Lord Orford had made a match of 500I., about the middle of October, between five turkeys and five geese, to run from Norwich to London. The geese and the turkeys were easily seized upon by the caricaturists, and were applied to the statesmen of that day with persevering ingenuity. In others of these prints the ministers are bitterly attacked for sending out money instead of men to fight our battles abroad, for bringing foreign troops into this country, and for their neglect of the navy, the natural defence of Great Britain. Their ill-arranged and ill-directed armaments are burlesqued in a cari- cature entitled “ The Triumph of Neptune.” The ship “ The Old England,” in a dreadful state of dilapidation, with the word “neglect ” under it, is seen out at sea, with three French sail in the distance. Winchelsea, as the head of the Admiralty in one of the attempted ministerial combinations, is putting out to sea in a tub, in tow of “ The Old England.” A personage swimming behind him, apparently intended to represent the Duke of New- castle, cries “ Hard a port, Sir ! Blood ! you run all to leeward !” Winchelsea replies, “ Don’t you see I am in tow, and the wind sits exactly as it did when Matthews and Lestock did the thing?”* Another personage, who swims in front of the tub, with a speaking-trumpet, hails Fox, who is perched on the poop of the ship, “ Huzza! all we ; we shall soon head the French if we hold on ! Keep your loof, Reynard, we have the weather gage.” The Fox replies, “ Thus and no nearer.” The fat * An allusion to the ill-conducted naval expedition to the Mediterranean, when Lord Winchelsea was at the head of the Admiralty in 1743, which ended in a quarrel between the two admirals. 20 6 FOX AND PITT. figure of Bubb Dodington is seen sinking in the sea, and crying out for help: “Oh! oh! I’ll give it up. Help! help! or I sink !” Beneath the group is inscribed the distich, — “Will France pretend to face us now ? No, no, not they, by Jove ! Bow, wow !” Anson is treated with great severity in these caricatures, and his gambling propensities are made the most of ; while the at- tacks upon his unfortunate victim, Admiral Byng, are equally severe. In one, the Admiral is represented letting the cat out of the bag against his employers, (which he had made bold threats of doing :) the ministers are in a panic, none of them quite sure on whom the enraged animal will fix itself ; but Fox shews the greatest terror, and rushes to the door, exclaiming, “ S’ blood! open the door ! Let me out, or I’ll break out !” — an allusion to his resignation, the first signal of the dissolution of the ministry of which he had formed so prominent a part. His rival Pitt appears everywhere triumphing over him, and raised up on the favour of his countrymen, — the patriotic statesman. In a caricature entitled “ The Fox in the Pit,” Justice riding upon Integrity is pursuing Fox, who falls into a deep pit, weighed down by a heavy sack inscribed “ £8,000,000,” in allu- sion to Fox’s known eagerness for the spoils of office. I11 another, the motto of which is “ Magna est veritas, et prceva- lebit ,” Pitt alone in one scale is made to weigh down a whole scale-full, including Newcastle, Fox, Hardwicke, Anson, and Littleton. The volume concludes with a portrait of the popular orator, with Justice and Truth for his supporters. These hot political contentions gave birth to two or three periodical papers, among which the most remarkable was the Test, commenced on the 6th of November, 1 756, under the editorship of, and chiefly written by, Arthur Murphy- This paper, an organ of the ex-ministers, was a barefaced and violent attack upon Pitt ; and was followed by another paper, on the other side, entitled the Con-Test, which attacked Fox in a manner no less outrageous. Horace Walpole observes, with justice, that the virulence of these papers made him “recollect Fogs and Craftsmen as harmless libels.” The Test , in its weekly attacks upon the “ unembarrassed orator,” raked up all his old political offences, and even made his constitutional gout an object of sarcastic burlesque. I11 one paper, about the begin- ning of 1757, it satirised his pretensions to political skill under the character of a quack doctor, by the name of Grulielmo Bom- SATIRES ON PITT. 207 basto de Podagra, in allusion to his oratory and to his gout, and he is made to put forth the following “Advertisement. “Lately arived in this town the celebrated Gulielmo Bombasto de Podagra, the most renowned physician now in Europe. He hath made the system of the animal ceconomy his study for many years past : he restores health and vigour to a decayed, constitution, makes an old body young, and gives firm- ness and strength to weak members; and promises instant relief in all cases whatever — the more difficult the better. “N.B. — As the doctor does not love money , he gives his advice gratis. Beware of counterfeits , for such are abroad.” It is further added, in allusion to his almost constant confine- ment by the gout during the session, “ P.S. — The doctor re- ceives visits in bed.” Among the “ cases” which are given as proofs of the physician’s skill, the following may be cited as an example : — “John Bull had eat too much Newcastle salmon, was troubled with a Stone,* contracted a scorbutic habit by a voyage round the world, + and was held by his lawyer]; to be non compos mentis. His friends advised him to have recourse to exercise, and follow a Fox, without suffering himself, as heretofore, to be thrown out, but to see the Fox frequently. Doctor Bombasto being sent for, ordered him to abstain entirely from Newcastle salmon, unless he had a mind to have the jowl, and absolutely forbad him ever to see a Fox. He then prescribed quiet to the old gentleman, and promised to go to bed for him ; which he accordingly did : and we hear from White s that the knowing ones have pitted the old gentleman against the most healthy person now in Europe.” The virulence of the Test is especially exhibited in its attacks upon Byng, who was made an object of cruel ridicule, even while he lay under sentence of death. On the 20th of March, when the ministerial interregnum was commencing, it attacked Pitt’s pride and haughtiness in the following paragraph : — “ Minutes of one of a Great Mans Valetudinarian Soliloquies. “ Yes , I dare, I dare, / dare! I am exceedingly glorious, even beyond the scale of intellectual beings. — I will not henceforward use any word that is not compounded. — What ! do the wretches kick at the draught 1 They shall swallow it; and yet I must keep some measures with them — at the next audience they shall kiss my slipper — but who first ? Sir John — or the aider- man ? — Let the reptiles adjust their own ceremonies. — I am tired of tramp- ling on such base necks. — The neck of the most august is the best remedy for an inflamed toe. — [ Hiatus valde deflcndns .] * An allusion to Andrew Stone, Newcastle’s private secretary, men- tioned above, and who now and subsequently was active in the under- current of the political intrigues of the day. + An allusion to Lord Anson. X Lord Chancellor Hardwicke. 208 WARLIKE SPIRIT INCREASING . The thirty-fifth number of the Test was published on the 9th of July, 1757, after which time it was discontinued, for the men it advocated were nearly all taken into Pitt’s ministry. The difficulty of forming a ministry being settled, people began again to turn their thoughts to foreign affairs ; for the spirit of the nation had been growing more warlike amid its par- tial reverses and disappointments. Hogarth gratified this rising spirit in 1 7 56 by his two prints of' “ France” and “ England in the former of which the Frenchmen are represented roasting frogs and preparing for their threatened invasion of England, that threat which had so entirely misled the Duke of New- castle and his colleagues. The French standard bears the inscription, “ Ven- genee et le bon bier et bon beuf de Angle- tere and the still existing horror of Popery represented the invaders as bring- ing over with them all the instruments of persecution. In the other print, the alacrity with which recruits joined the standard of their country, to resist the invader, appears in a youth apparently under age and under height, who is doing his best to prove his qualifications. The courage which was believed to animate a willing recruit. the nation at this conjuncture is shewn by the manner in which they turned to THE PATRIOTIC PATNTE1&, BEER VERSUS GIN. 209 ridicule their expected invaders : a merry group are looking on whilst a soldier is drawing a caricatured figure of King Louis holding a gallows in his hand ; and on a label issuing from his mouth are written the words, “ You take my fine ships, you be de pirates, you be de tiefes ! Me send my grand armies and hang you all ! Morblu !” It is hardly necessary to say that this is a satire upon the memorial of the French king to the English ministers on the captures made by our ships. There was, nevertheless, during this period much discontent throughout the country, which was increased by a prevailing scarcity of corn and provisions, and which made people lay hold of the slightest cause for complaint. The importation of a body of Hanoverian troops as a defence against the expected invasion was loudly reprobated; and the somewhat severe law passed at this time for the protection of game was represented as an expedient for disarming the people, under pretence of forbidding the keeping of guns for poaching, and thus rendering them incapable of resisting Hanoverian tyranny. Yet, singularly enough, when the Militia Act was passed, and the country was placed under the protec- tion of a truly constitutional force, that was looked upon popu- larly as an act of insupportable tyranny, and in many counties the attempt to put it in force was the signal for alarming riots. The gin question had also risen again into notoriety, and during the latter years of the reign of George II. there had been going on a vigorous contest between two parties, on the relative effects of gin-drinking and beer-drinking. Gin has been long the bane of society among the lower classes in London. In 1751 appeared a revived print of the “ Funeral Pro- cession of Madame Geneva.” The same year Hogarth attacked the prevalent vice in his two prints of “ Beer Street” and “ Gin Lane,” the latter of which is a fine but revolting picture of the horrible consequences of the facility given to the sale of spirituous liquors, for the heavy prohibitive duties estab- lished in the time of Sir Robert Wal- pole had now been taken off. A new law was passed restricting the granting of licences, which seems to have had lit- tle effect in correcting the evil. A cari- cature was published in 1752, entitled “A Modern Contrast,” which appears English beer. to have been designed as a satire on the v 210 THE BEER-B It IN KING BRITON. Government for its interference, and represents a licensed seller of good English beer, the wholesome effects of which are shewn in the plumpness of the landlord and his wife, exulting over a dealer in spirituous liquors, who is seized for selling without licence, and his family turned out and his liquor staved. The beer-drinkers carouse without fear, but the gin-drinkers are in distress ; and poor Justice lies prostrate in the street, in a state of total drunkenness. Under the peculiar political bias of the day, every subject of discontent was in some way or other identified with the popular hatred of the French. Thus, it was said that beer was the natural beverage of Englishmen, and that wine and spirituous liquors were mere French inventions, calculated to corrupt and destroy British bravery and patriotism. A song was very popular in the May of the year 1757, under the title of “THE BEER-DRINKING BRITON. “ Ye true honest Britons, who love your own land, Whose sires were so brave, so victorious, and free ; Who always beat France when they took her in hand — Come join, honest Britons, in chorus with me. Let us sing our own treasures, Old England’s good cheer, The profits and pleasures of stout British beer ; Your wine- tippling, dram-sipping fellows retreat, But your beer-drinking Britons can never be beat! “The French with their vineyards are meagre and pale, They drink of the squeezings of half-ripen’d fruit ; But we who have hop-grounds to mellow our ale, Are rosy and plump, and have freedom to boot, Let us sing our own treasures, &c. ** Should the French dare invade us, thus arm’d with our poles, We’ll bang their bare ribs, make their lanthorn-jaws ring. For your beef-eating, beer-drinking Britons are souls Who will shed their last blood for their country and king. Let us sing our own treasures, &c. ” There was, however, a commercial interest involved in this question, which it was necessary to consider. In 17 58, at the mo- ment when the scarcity of corn was felt most severely, a bill was passed hastily through the House for the temporary prohibition of its exportation and of the distillation of spirits, which it was believed tended much to increase the scarcity. In 1760 the question of continuing or repealing this law as far as regarded distillation was discussed with considerable animosity. Petitions were got up in the country, stating that since the prohibition the lower orders had become more sober, healthy, and indus- trious ; and it was observed by grand juries in the metropolis, that not only had individual cases of violence, murder, and sui- STATE OF THE NAVY. an cide followed the use of spirituous liquors in numerous instances, but that the gin-shops were known to be the constant harbour of highwaymen and rogues of every description, and that some of the most extensive robberies of the time had been planned in them. The malt-distillers made their counter-petitions, and, besides shewing the inexpediency of the prohibition in a com- mercial point of view, and as it affected the revenue, they repre- sented that the excessive use of malt liquors might be as injurious to the moral character of the population as gin- drinking, yet no person ever thought of prohibiting the practice of brewing in order to prevent the use of ale. The dispute was carried on with some warmth ; a number of pamphlets were published on both sides ; the old prints against gin became popular again, and new ones were added to them, among which was one, which appeared in January, entitled “Beelzebub’s Oration to the Distillers.” Public opinion, indeed, appeared to be against the distillers, and the prohibition was continued. The ill-concerted measures of the Newcastle administration, for the defence of the country and the defeat of its enemies, had become an object of derision to all people of sense, and had made all feel the necessity, under the present circumstances, of a more vigorous government. It is true that England had fleets ; but her sailors were ill-fed and neglected, and were commanded by officers who had obtained their promotion by money and court favour, and most of whom were distinguished rather by their foppery, or ignorance of naval affairs, than by any of the requi- site qualifications of a naval commander. He who would under- stand the character of the English navy in the middle of the last century, must study it in the novels of Smollett. The un- certain kind of hostilities which had been carried on during the latter part of 1755, and the beginning of 1 756, had given satis- faction to none, for it had exposed the country to all the incon- veniences of war, without any of its advantages. Even the prizes were not allowed to be confiscated for the benefit of the captors, but were placed under embargo until the two govern- ments of England and France should choose to determine whether they were really at war or at peace. A caricature, already alluded to, published November 13th, 1735, and entitled “ Half-' War,” ridicules this state of things under the figure of an Englishman, who is committing an assault upon a French- man, from whom he is snatching rolls of paper inscribed “ Mer- chantmen” and “Nova Scotia.” The Englishman exclaims, “ By way of reprisals only !” and the Frenchman, instead of de- fending himself, is satisfied with the reflection, “ Westphalia P 2 2i2 WARLIKE SPIRIT FOSTERED BY PITT. shall pay lor this!” for the French seemed more intent on making acquisitions in Germany, than on resenting the insults to which their flag had been subjected at sea. In the back- ground are seen the different European powers, looking on in expectation of English subsidies. The inscription at the bottom of the print, “ By our own native foreigners betray’d,” exhibits the popular belief that the backwardness of the rulers of the destiny of Britain at that time in making war, had for its only motive the fear that it would cut off the supply of the foreign luxuries which they valued more than the honour of their country. Under these circumstances, it is not surprising that Pitt’s popularity as a minister was established by the energy which distinguished his foreign policy. He soon gave full scope to the warlike spirit of the country ; and, as he had silenced opposition by admitting into his ministry the chiefs of the different parties, he found no further obstructions to his will. He pacified and conciliated the King, by giving a greater sup- port than ever to his German politics ; while he carried into our other foreign relations that vigour and activity which had been so signally wanting under his predecessors. William Pitt, in- deed, was the minister of war, as Walpole had been the minister of peace. Yet the first hostile operations under Pitt’s adminis- tration were singularly unsuccessful. The Duke of Cumberland had, at the commencement of his father’s ministerial embarrass- ments, gone over to Hanover to take the command of the con- federate army assembled for the defence of the electorate. The Duke took the field towards the end of April. After a number HASTENBECK AND CLOSTER-SEVEN. 213 of unskilful movements and useless skirmishes, he retired before the French, and passed the Weser ; and on the 26th of July he was totally defeated in the battle of Hastenbeck. The French now became virtually masters of Hanover ; and the Duke of Cumberland, allowing himself, by his want of foresight, to be driven into a corner from which he could not escape, was com- pelled on the 7 th of September to sign the disgraceful conven- tion of Closter-Seven, by which the electorate was to be left in the hands of the French till the conclusion of a peace, and the Hanoverian army was to lay down its arms, and be dispersed into different cantonments, under the obligation of remaining in- active during the rest of the war. King George, although he is said to have privately authorized this transaction, expressed openly the greatest anger ; and the Duke of Cumberland came home, re- signed all his appointments, and retired from an active part in the political intrigues. The name of Hanover was far from popular in England, and the Duke’s disastrous campaign soon became a subject of scorn and ridicule. In one of the bitter caricatures published on this occasion, a Frenchman is seen on one side of a river, carrying off a horse, the emblem of Hanover ; while on the opposite bank the portly figure of the Duke exclaims in dismay, “ My horse ! my horse ! a kingdom for a horse!” The Frenchman retorts by promis- ing to give the horse something “ better than turnips.” It had been for some years a standing joke to call Hanover the King’s turnip-field ; and in another ca- ricature Hanover is represented as the city of Turnipolis , on the hank of a river, on one side of which the French general with his troops, in pursuit, invites the Duke to halt, — “ Sar, sar, mon ami ! Vat ! you no stay for me ? Stay one little vile, den I come.” The Duke, carrying a standard with the Hanoverian emblem of the horse, is running at his utmost speed on the other side of the river (the Weser, of course), and exclaims, “Oh! for my recruiting-sergeant, with more men and money !” The recruiting -sergeant was Fox, in whom, as minister, the Duke of Cumberland had placed his confidence. In a third caricature on the Duke’s 214 BRITISH VICTORIES. disaster, the city, placed in the same position as in the foregoing, has over it the inscription, “ Save our turnips, oh !” Another failure came almost at the same moment to increase the popular excitement, and was also made the subject of ridicule and caricature. Pitt had hoped to distract the atten- tion of the French from Germany, by making a descent on their coast nearer home, and in the summer a secret expedition was sent out, with much mystery, against the town of Rochefort ; but, owing to disagreement among the commanders, the fleet returned home at the beginning of October, without having achieved any of the objects for which it was sent. The conse- quence was another court-martial, which ended in the acquittal of those who were brought to trial. Pitt had gained strength by the mishaps of the Duke of Cumberland in Hanover, and his popularity was now so firmly established, that the blame of the failure of the naval expedition was easily thrown from his own shoulders upon the agents who conducted it. The successes of the King of Prussia emboldened the King of England to break the convention of Closter-Seven, on pretext of the out- rages committed by the French, and the electorate was soon re- covered out of their hands. The nation was cheered by the intelligence of great and substantial advantages gained by our armies in India ; and Pitt was taking active steps to secure our possessions in America. The two following years presented a constant succession of victories by sea and land, which shed an unusual glory on the administration of William Pitt, while they ruined the finances of France at home, destroyed her navy and her commerce, and stripped her of her distant colonies. In 1758 the French settlements in Senegal were captured by a small English force ; Cape Breton was recovered from the French ; and other advantages were gained on the continent of America. In 1759 the French Islands in the West Indies were taken pos- session of; the capture of Quebec, by the brave but ill-fated Wolfe, made England master of North America; the victories of Boscawen and Hawke completed the destruction of the French navy ; and the British empire in India had been firmly estab- lished by the wonderful successes of Clive, and the brave officers who were acting with him. The expulsion of the French from North America was in a measure Pitt’s own work ; and, as Wolfe was one of his own military 'proteges, the public exultation on the taking of Quebec raised still higher the minister who had planned it. The battle of Minden added to the glory of the British arms on the continent of Europe. In the beginning of 1760 rumours had already spread abroad of approaching negotia- DEATH OF GEORGE THE SECOND. tions of peace ; and the English people, in their exultation at the extensive conquests of the last two years, began to express their fears lest any of these advantages should be relinquished, in the same manner in which it was believed that so much had been unnecessarily surrendered in former treaties. It was in the midst of this glory of conquest that George the Second quitted the stage. He died suddenly and quite unex- pectedly, on the morning of the 25th of October, 1760, leaving his family at length tirmly established on the throne of England. 21 6 CHAPTER VII. GEORGE II. and III. Progress of Literature : Magazines and Reviews ; Dr. Hill — The Reign of Pertness — Prevalence of Quackery and Credulity : the Bottle Con- juror ; the Earthquake ; the Cock Lane Ghost — The Stage and the Opera : Garrick and Quin ; Handel ; Foote — Influence of French Fashions ; National Extravagance, and Social Condition — Exaggerated Fashions in Costume : Hoop- Petticoats and Great Head-Dresses : the Macaronis — Neglect of Literature, and Quarrels of Authors : Hogarth and Churchill ; Smollett; Johnson; Chatterton. L ITERATURE continued to experience the neglect of the court through the whole of the reign of George II., and it had been entirely excluded from the palace after the death of Queen Caroline. Some countenance was, it is true, shewn to literary men in the opposition court of Leicester House, but it was rather a parade of patronage, than an efficient or judicious encouragement, and produced little more than a few panegyrical odes. At the same time the literary taste of the day was gradually improving, and it was spreading and strengthening itself in new classes of publications. The newspapers had long been in the habit of devoting a portion of their space to litera- ture, in a form somewhat resembling the French feuilletons of the present day, but this was most frequently filled with burlesque, ill-natured criticism, or half-concealed scandal ; or, when such productions were harmless, they were of so dull and flimsy a character, as to give us a very low estimate of the taste of the readers who could receive any satisfaction from their peru- sal. The Gentleman' 1 s Magazine , the first attempt at a monthly repository of this kind, was begun by Cave, in 1731 : its main object at first being to give a summary of the better literary essays which had appeared in the more perishable form of the daily and weekly press, although this part of the plan was soon made subservient to the publication of original papers. This magazine was looked upon as belonging politically to the Whig party, then in the plenitude of power under Sir Robert Walpole, and the London Magazine was immediately set up in opposition to it. The success of these two publications led in the course of a few years to a number of imitations, and in 1750 we count no BE VIEWS AND ESSAYS. 2I 7 less than eight periodicals of this description, issued monthly, under the titles of the Gentleman's Magazine , the London Magazine , the British Magazine , the Universal Magazine , the Travellers' Magazine , the Ladies' Magazine , the Theological Magazine , and the Magazine of Magazines. The latter was an attempt, by giving the pith of its monthly contemporaries, to do the same by them as the Gentleman' s Magazine had first done by the newspapers. With these periodicals there gradually grew up a new class of writers, known as the Critics. The magazines had from the first given monthly lists of new books, and these lists were subse- quently accompanied by short notices of the contents and merits of the principal new publications, while longer notices and abstracts of remarkable works were given as separate articles. This was the origin of the reviews, in the modem sense of the title, which were becoming fashionable in the middle of the last century. In the year 1752 there were three professed reviews, the Literary Review , the Monthly Review , and the Critical Review , the latter by the celebrated Smollett. The critics formed a self- constituted tribunal, which the authors long regarded with feelings of undisguised hostility ; and an unpalatable review was often the source of bitter quarrels and desperate paper-wars. Their design was looked upon as an unfair attempt to control the public taste. There can be little doubt, however, that the establishment of reviews had an influence in improving the literature of the country. About the same time that the reviews began to be in vogue, the periodical essayists came again into fashion, and a multitude of that class of publications represented in its better features by the Adventurers , Connoisseurs , Ramblers, &c., that have outlived the popularity of the day, were launched into the world, most of them combining political partisanship with a somewhat pungent censorship of the foibles and vices of the age. This class of periodicals became most numerous soon after the accession of George III. Besides the personal al use with which many of them abounded, they published a lar j a mass of private scandal, which was perfectly well understool, in spite of the fictitious names under which it was issued, a d which formed probably the most marketable portion of the literature of the day. Even in the highest class of the romances of that age, those of Smollett and Fielding, as well as in a multitude of memoirs and novels of a lower description, the greatest charm for the reader consisted in the facility with which he recognised the pictures of well- known individuals, whose private weaknesses were there cruelly 2l8 DOCTOR HILL . brought to light in false or exaggerated colours. It was this peculiar taste in literature which gave the character to the mode of life of that class of writers who then lived by their pen : their days and nights were spent in the coffee-house, the theatre, or the rout, in raking up scandalous anecdotes and intrigues, which they lost no time in drawing up for the papers, which were in daily readiness to receive them. Among the earlier of the essayists of the class alluded to was the Inspector , which first brought into notoriety the celebrated Sir John Hill, the “ orator Henley” of the literature of his day, who maybe taken as the type of the literary quackery of the age of which we are now speaking. The original orator Henley was just quitting the scene in which he had gained so much celebrity — he died in 1757. John Hill was born in 1716. His father, who was a clergy- man, placed him as apprentice with a surgeon at Westminster, and, having married early, he set up for himself in that profes- sion, but soon dissatisfied with it, he applied himself to the study of botany, and obtained the patronage of the Duke of Richmond and Lord Petre. This pursuit he also relinquished, and he next applied himself to the stage, and made several unsuccessful attempts as an actor at Drury Lane, and the little theatre in the Hay market ; in the latter of which he performed the part of the quack-doctor in “Romeo and Juliet.” He afterwards indulged the spleen occasioned by this failure by decrying the best actors of the day, and he wrote a book on the art, under the title of “ The Actor,” chiefly with this object. Hill now returned to surgery and botany, and was taken up by Martin Polkes, the president, and some other leading members, of the Ro^al Society, and under their auspices published, in 1746? a tolerably well- executed translation of Theophrastus on Gems. He became thus introduced to the booksellers, and was employed to write a Natural History in three folio volumes, to compile a supplement to Chambers’s Dictionary, and then to edit the British Maga- zine. With the latter Hill set up in the full character of a popular writer, and at the same time broke with his patrons in science. On the publication of his Supplement to Chambers, he made an attempt to obtain admission into the Royal Society ; but, his unprincipled character being now well known, he was rejected, and, in revenge, abused Folkes and his former friends, and attacked the Society in a scurrilous review of its publica- tions, and published a hoax upon it in a clever though ridiculous pamphlet (under the pseudonym of Abraham Johnson) entitled “ Lucina sine Concubitu,” in which he pretended to shew that generation might take place without the intercourse of the sexes. TEE INSPECTOR. 21 9 This book made some noise at the time, and gave birth to several other pamphlets. Hill now obtained a foreign diploma of doctor in medicine, drove about in his chariot, and took upon himself all the airs of a fashionable author. His overweening vanity made him an object of ridicule: he strutted about with an affected air, was a regular attendant at the theatres and places of amusement, exhibited himself at the fashionable lounges, aped the manners of a fop, and 'pretended to enjoy the favours of ladies of quality. Yet he was a ready and pro- lific writer, and he now attempted to shine in almost every walk of literature, as well as in science. The so oft parodied lines were again applied to him, in connexion with orator Henley and a noted quack of the time named Hock : — “ Three great wise men in the same era born, Britannia’s happy island did adorn : Henley in cure of souls displayed his skill, Rock shone in physic, and in both John Hill j The force of nature could no farther go, To make a third she join’d the other two.” Of his lighter productions, the “ Memoirs of Lady Frail” (a false history of the frailties of Lady Harriet Vane) made con- siderable noise. In fact, no writer was so unscrupulous as Hill in publishing private scandal, and in adding to it from his own invention. After a while he was seized with a passion of writ- ing for the stage ; but it was not till 1758, that he prevailed on Garrick to bring out his farce of “ The Rout,” which was damned on the second night. Garrick’s epigram on the occa- sion will not soon be forgotten : — “ For physic and farces, his equal there scarce is : His farces are physic, his physic a farce is.” Perhaps no man was ever so bold an adept in literary quackery as Dr. Hill. As if with the intention of throwing all his con- temporary essayists in the shade, he commenced, in the spring of 1752, a daily essay, under the title of the Inspector , which was first published in the Daily Advertiser , and was afterwards collected into two octavo volumes. During this year the pen of Dr. Hill was so active, that he is said to have cleared by his writings no less a sum than fifteen hundred pounds ! Some of the Inspectors consisted of essays on subjects connected with natural history (especially of microscopic observations), de- scribed in an absurdly conceited and pompous style. * On the * In some of his scientific (?) essays in the Inspector , Dr. Hill attained the very perfection of the bathos. Some of his antagonists delighted in 220 HILL AND WOODWABD. Saturday of each week he gave a sort of moral discourse, intended to be suitable for the following day. But many of the essays were composed of the scandal which he had gathered up in his daily or nightly perambulation of the town ; others con- tained unprovoked and unjust attacks on his contemporaries ; in some he hinted at his own successes among ladies of quality ; and by no means unfrequently he wrote letters to himself, set- ting forth in no measured terms the praise of his own talents and virtues. It is not to be wondered at if he thus provoked hostility in every quarter. One of the first persons who shewed his resentment was Woodward, the actor, who went to George’s coffee-house with the intention of giving Hill a public castiga- tion ; but missing his man, he first published a violent pamphlet against him, in which he made public all his early disappoint- ments in seeking stage notoriety, and then he brought him on the stage in a farce under the character of the “ Mock Doctor.”* Another quarrel took a still more serious character. The In- spector of the 30th of April embodied a scurrilous attack upon an Irish gentleman of the name of Brown, giving, as usual, a dis- torted account of some private transactions, and holding up that gentleman in the character of a rake, a coxcomb, and a coward. Although Brown’s name was not mentioned, the allusions could not be mistaken, and he called upon Dr. Hill for an explanation. The latter made a shuffling answer, treated Brown with inso- lence, and in another Inspector gave a vain-glorious account of his own conduct, and treated the character of his offended anta- gonist with greater contempt than ever, accusing him, among other things, of being so illiterate that he could not write his mother-tongue correctly. On the evening of the 6th of May Brown went to Ranelagh, and meeting Dr. Hill in the passage, he demanded proper satisfaction for the attack, and, on this being refused, insulted him publicly by pulling him by the ear. Dr. Hill made a great uproar, procured a warrant against his pointing out descriptions like the following. Speaking of a little stream or ditch: “The translucent waves coursed one another down the light decli- vity, with an inexpressibly pleasing variety of form, and a confused but very soft noise of bubbling, lashing, and murmuring, among, against, and along the inequalities and meanders of its rough sides and various hollows.” Of a pond : “ The surface of the bason was a polished plane, unfurrowed by the least motion, unruffled by the gentlest breeze ; the setting sun threw a glow of pale splendour over one half of it, the rest was silent shade.” Of weeds, &c. gathered to one corner of a ditch : “ The fresh breeze had blown together into this part of the watery expanse whatever floated on or near its surface,” &c. *The “Mock Doctor” was given repeatedly at Drury Lane in 1751 or 1752. ILK MAIL A BE OiA<&3HAIMS- RILL AND BROWN . 22 1 assailant, pretended that an attempt had been made to murder him, that he had been overpowered by numbers and beaten till he was seriously injured, and took to his bed. Brown surren- dered himself to the magistrate, and, it being stated that Dr. Hill was in no danger, he was allowed to give bail for his appear- ance on a future day, to answer any charge brought against him; and, when that day arrived, no one appearing against him, he was discharged. But Dr. Hill and his friends published and spread abroad sedulously all kinds of false statements magnify- ing his own courage and the brutality of his pretended assail- ants, and making up a story that was aptly compared with Fal- staff’s relation of his encounter with the redoubtable men in buckram. The affair made an extraordinary noise, and a multi- tude of pens and pencils were raised against the unpopular Doctor. On the 29th of May two large caricatures were pub- lished ; the first of which represents a view of the entrance to Banelagh, in which Brown is seen pulling the ear of the Doctor, whom he addresses with the words, “ Draw your sword, swag- gerer ! if you have the spirit of a mouse !” Hill replies, “ What ? ’gainst an illiterate fellow, that can’t spell ! I prefer a drubbing and imploringly calls for constables. Two ot these are seen hastening to the spot, between whom the follow- ing brief conversation takes place : “ ’Zounds, Dick, the I — — 1 [ Inspector ] has no money to pay us withal !” — “ No matter, Tom ; we’ll swear through thick and thin to put him in cash.” In the other print the Inspector is shewn in bed, the subject of a consultation of doctors, and supposed to be near his end. They are probably portraits of some of the eminent medical practitioners of the day. They seem to be embarrassed with his case, but above all unwilling to let him off without paying his fees, while a friend proposes that he should raise monej- by selling his sword, which is “ only an encumbrance.” It was said that Hill produced a quantity of blood, which he pretended that he had lost by the injuries inflicted upon his person at Banelagh. In the picture before us the face of a man is peeping from behind the bed, and interrogating another who is entering by the door: “ Dick, did you get the three basons of blood we sent you for ?” The latter informs him, with some concern, “ Lord, sir, we’re out of luck! Fay, whom you and I swore against, went to Ire' land three weeks before the affair happened.” About the bed and the floor are a number of labels, with inscriptions relating to Hill’s pusillanimous conduct and assumed danger. The print is entitled “ Le Malade Imaginaire ; or, the consultation.” A satirical tract against Hill (under the fictitious appellation of 222 HILL AND FIELDING. Dr. Atall) appeared about the same time, parodying the title of one of his own books by that of “ Libitina sine Conflictu ; or, a true narrative of the untimely death of Dr. Atall, who departed this life on Wednesday the 13th of May, 1732 : with some ac- count of his behaviour during his illness.” This tract gives a burlesque account of the whole affair, and intimates that it was probably a deeply-laid plot of the French government to get out of the way a political writer of such overwhelming importance as the English Inspector. Although this affair had turned greatly to Dr. Hill’s disgrace, it put no check upon his personal criticisms. Among others who were outraged by his pen were Fielding and Garrick, the latter of whom he attempted to depreciate in comparison with his rival Quin. Fielding, under the assumed name of Sir Alex- ander Drawcansir, in retaliation, commenced the Covent Garden Journal , in which he treated the character of Dr. Hill with the greatest contempt, and proclaimed a general war against the old forces of Grubb Street, and the new squadron of the critics headed by Smollett. It was a spirited attack on the depraved popular taste. These literary quarrels always merged into the great rivalries of the day, and such was the case in the present instance ; for Fielding not only entered on a crusade against Hill and literary quackery, but he took up the cudgels for Garrick and Drury Lane against Quin and Kich, who occupied the rival stage at Covent Garden. Dr. Hill also found partisans to support him. As the Inspector had been brought on the stage in one theatre, so now there was performed on the boaraa HILL AND SMART . 223 at Covent Garden, “ A new dramatic satire, called ‘ Covent Garden Theatre ; or, Pasquin turned Drawcansir, censor of Great Britain.’ ” A scurrilous opposition paper was also started, under the title of Have at you all ; or , the Drury Dane Journal. The Covent Carden Journal was carried on for several months, until Fielding’s declining health obliged him to relin- quish it: he died in 1734. The Inspector was attacked from a variety of other quarters, and the two prints above described were not the only caricatures in which he figured. A print un- dated appears to represent this pseudo-philosopher occupied in his morning studies, with papers before him on some of his trifling subjects of natural history, and surrounded by the books from which he compiled his lucubrations. The figure of folly, with the ears of an ass, is decking his vain head with peacock’s plumage. Dr. Hill’s personal criticisms became every day more and more petulant and general, until at length he actually made an attack upon himself. On the 13th of August, 1752, he pub- lished the first number of a new periodical, under the very appropriate title of the Impertinent , in which he wrote a cri- tique on himself, Fielding, and Christopher Smart, a contempo- rary poet of some repute, but now nearly forgotten, the object of which was more especially to abuse the writings of the latter. The critique commenced with stating, in his flippant style, that “ There are men who write because they have wit ; there are those who write because they are hungry ; there are some of the modern authors who have a constant fund of both these causes and proceeds to illustrate the sage remark by observ- ing, “ Of the first, one sees an instance in Fielding ; Smart, with equal right, stands foremost among the second ; of the third, the mingled wreath belongs to Hill.” The Impertinent never reached a second number. As soon as its failure was publicly known, the Inspector , with matchless effrontery, took notice of it in the following terms : — “ Of all the periodical pieces set up in vain during the last eighteen months, I shall mention only the most pert, the most pretending and short- lived of all. 1 have in vain sent for the second number of the Impertinent , There must have been indignation superior even to curiosity, in the sen- tence passed on this assuming piece ; and the public deserves applause of the highest kind, for having crushed in the bud so threatening a mischief. It will be in vain to accuse the town of patronizing dulness or ill-nature , while this instance can be produced, in which a load of personal satire could not procure purchasers enough to promote a second number. It will not be easy to say too much in favour of that candour, which has rejected and despitcd a piece that cruelly and unjustly attacked Mr. Smart,” &o. 224 THE HILLIAD . Within a few days it was generally known that the author of the first number of the Impertinent was the same Dr. Hill who thus exulted over its fall in the Inspector ; and the magazines, at the end of the month, joined together in making still more public this instance of literary cowardice in the man who, when his new attempt had been thus contemptuously rejected, joined in the popular censure, 44 as a detected felon, when he is pursued, cries out 4 Stop thief !’ and hopes to escape in the crowd that follows him.” The person more especially attacked, Christopher Smart, turned round upon his assailant, and published a bitter satire under the title of 44 The Hilliad,” in which his principles and pursuits are set forth under the character of Hillario. This rather remarkable poem opens with an indignant address to the prototype of its hero: — “O thou, whatever name delight thine ear, Pimp ! Poet ! Puffer ! ’Pothecary ! Player! Whose baseless fame by vanity is buoy’d, Like the huge earth self-center’d in the void. Hillario is brought into communication with a fortune-telling gipsy, whose prophecy of future celebrity induces him to fly from the apothecary’s shop. On his entrance to publicity he is received and welcomed by a group of assistants, 44 the miscella- neous throng,” consisting of Petulance, Dulness, Malice, Scandal, Nonsense, Falsehood, Vanity, and their associates. The subjects on which he was accustomed to hold forth, and which were to support his fame, are next described : — “ Moths, mites, and maggots, fleas (a numerous crew !) And gnats and grub-worms, crowded on his view ; Insects, without the microscopic aid, Gigantic by the eye of dulness made.” The noise Hillario makes in the midst of these occupations dis- turbs the gods in their conclave above, and Jupiter inquires angrily what the turbulent creature is. Mercury (the patron of thieves), and Venus, whose favour the vain Doctor pretended that he enjoyed, speak in his favour. The goddess dwells espe- cially on the foppery of his character : — • “If there be any praise the nails to pare, And in soft ringlets wreathe th’ elastic hair, In talk and tea* to trifle time away, The mien so easy and the dress so gay— * Tea was still an article used only in fashionable society ; and Dr. Hill, in his writings, seeks every occasion of letting his readers know that he indulges in this beverage in the morning, that they may appreciate the kind of society he wishes it to be understood he moves in, and the fashionable elegance of his private life. THE PASQUINADE. **<> Can my Hillario’s worth remain unknown * With whom coy Sylvia trusts herself alone ; With whom, so pure, so innocent his life, The jealous husband leaves his bosom wife. What though he ne’er assume the port of Mars, By me disbanded from all amorous wars, His fancy (if not person) he employs, And oft ideal countesses enjoys. Though hard his heart, yet beauty shall controul And sweeten all the rancour of his soul ; While his black self, Florinda ever near, Shows like a diamond in an Ethiop’s ear.” Other deities interfere, and speak with contempt of the hero ; and it is proposed that he shall be allowed to proceed in his course, as a thing too insignificant to occupy the attention of the celestials. Momus, the god of ridicule, at last gives him his true character, and Fame blows it abroad. Nevertheless, in the latter years of the reign of George II., Hill obtained the favour of Lord Bute ; and, his literary repu- tation failing him, he returned to surgery and botany, obtained a temporary establishment in the gardens at Kew, was knighted, and was enabled, by Lord Bute, to give to the world some mag- nificent, if not very meritorious, botanical works. He married, in second wedlock, a sister of Lord Ranelagh, who, after his death (which occurred in 1775), published a pamphlet which seemed to say that he had not derived any permanent advantage from the patronage of Lord Bute. In 1779, an extravagantly panegyrical memoir of Sir John Hill was printed at Edinburgh, price sixpence. Dr. Hill has deserved our notice, as a somewhat exaggerated type of the fashionable literary men of the latter half of the reign of George II. Dulness, the goddess who presided over Grub Street in the days of Pope, was resigning her sceptre to another goddess not less fatal to good taste, Pertness, who was removing the s-eat of power farther west. It was a sovereignty which had risen up with the critics and feuilletonists. A popu- lar satire that appeared about the end of 1752, under the title of “ The Pasquinade,” when the notoriety of Hill was at its height, has celebrated this new empire. This poem opens with an invocation to the doctor, with allusions to his Chloes, Daphnes, and Amandas : — “ O chief in verse ! O ev’ry Muse’s care ! Pride of each mortal and immortal fair ! Whether enraptur’d with Urania’s charms, Or sunk in Chloe or Amanda’s arms ; Q 2^6 THE REIGN OF PERTNESS. Whether eternal bays thy temples grace, Or thy lac’d night-cap well supplies their place ; Whether with goddess, or with earthly qual, You saunter down Parnassus, or the Mall ; Or, in philosophy profoundly wise, You pore intent with microscopic eyes, New worlds discover in a Catherine pear,* Or monsters animate in sour small beer.” Hill boasted perpetually of his familiarity with the Muses, who are therefore invoked for their pretended favourite : — “ Hear, then, ye daughters of immortal Jove ! By the soft vows of your Inspector’s love, If not, too jealous of each other’s flame, You slight the lover for a rival’s claim ; Or, if his gallantry superior charms, And all the nine, in concert, fill his arms, Like his familiar Daphnes here below, Blessing at once the poet and the beau ; Hear and support me in your favourite’s cause, Inspire my song, and crown me with applause.” Dulness, whose empire had been placed by Pope among “ the tatter’d ensigns of Rag-Fair,” now raised her head higher and took possession of the Mansion House and the city, when the new sovereign appeared and established her head-quarters in the vicinity of May-fair. The latter had for her subjects the critics and the journalists, and she was sometimes obliged to seek support even among the boxers of Broughton’s. “ Where now behold, in glitt’ring pomp ascend A sister queen, a goddess, and a friend : Immortal Pertness, sprung from chaos old, Inconstant, active, giddy, light, and bold, Bestless and fickle as her rumbling sire, Blind as her mother, Night, could well desire. Wrought by some power divine, in equal pride, Her throne ascended by her sister’s side. Where hunted ducks traverse the muddy stream, And dogs initiate their whelps to swim, Monsters and fools assemble once a year, And juggling Hymenf celebrates May-Fair, * In one of the Inspectors the Doctor had detailed some extraordinary observations made on a rotten pear, in an affected style of extravagant and bombastic description, of which the following may be taken as a specimen : — “ It was but a very small portion of the covered surface of the pear that could be brought within the area of the microscope ; but this appeared, under its influence, a wide extent of territory , varied with hills and lawns, with winding hollows, open plains , and shadowy thickets .” t An allusion to Keith’s chapel, where the Marriage Act was evaded on a very extensive scale. These lines describe the district of May-Fair as it appeared in the middle of the last century. The “palace” was May-Fair THE REIGN OF PERTNESS. 227 This goddess dwelt. Just raised above the ground, Her palace varnish’d, silver deck’d around. Here stood her Mercury, here she nursed her apes ;* Here magpies chatter’d in a hundred shapes ; Jackdaws and parrots join’d the unmeaning noise Of templars, coxcombs, prigs, and ’prentice boys. Far hence the goddess spreads her kingdom wide, To Dulness, as in birth, in power allied. She, from her native Grub Street to Rag- Fair, South to the Mint and west to Temple-Bar, Included every garrison’d retreat — Bedlam, Crane-court, the Counters, and the Fleet : Her sister boasted as extensive sway ; Fierce Broughton’s bruizing sons her power obey ; St. Giles’s, George’s, and the famous train Of Bedford, Bow Street, and of Drury Lane. Even to the licens’d Park her chiefs resort, And seize the priv’lege of great George’s court.” The two goddesses determine upon a strict alliance, celebrate a grand festival, and review their several forces, consisting of a multitude of obscure names, then active in their different de- partments in the field of literature, but now so entirely forgotten, that it would be of* little utility to rehearse their titles. At length Pertness discovers her favourite Hill : — “All these the sister queens with joy confess’d, For lo ! their essence glow’d in every breast ! But Pertness saw her form distinctly shine In none, immortal Hill ! so full as thine. Drinking thy morning chocolate in bed, She saw thy Daphne’s neck support thy head ; Saw thee slip on thy night-gown, and retire To muse profoundly by thy parlour fire : By turns thy slippers dangling on thy toes — Slippers that never were disgraced from shoes ! Saw where thy learning in huge volumes stood. Part letter’d sheep, part gilt and painted wood.” The goddess points him out with pride to her sister Dul- ness : — “ When thus the goddess of May-Fair bespoke Her royal sister : * Gentle sister, look ; See where my son, who gratefully repays Whate’er I lavish’d on his younger days ; Wells, where there was a private theatre, much resorted to by “clerks and ’prentices,” where young aspirants to. dramatic fame made their appearance. Hill, before he attained so much celebrity, is said to have acted here, but unsuccessfully. * Pope had said of Dulness, “ Here stood her opium, here she nurs’d her owls.” The difference between the attributes of Dulness and Pertness, of the old school and the new one, is marked. q 2 n8 ENGLISH QUACKERY. Whom still my arm protects to brave the town. Secure from Fielding, Machiavel, or Brown ; Whom rage nor sword e’er mortally shall hurt- — - Chief of a hundred chiefs o’er all the Pert! Rescued an orphan babe from Common-sense, I gave his mother’s milk to Confidence, — She, with her own ambrosia, bronz’d his face, And changed his skin to monumental brass : This Shame, or Wit, successless shall oppose, Unless, so will the Fates, they seize his nose. This luckless part the young Achilles lick’d ; And though he cannot blush, he may be kick’d. Yet still his pen provokes the Fates’ decree, In scandal dipt and elemental tea.’ ” Dulness and Pertness agree to adopt this hero as their common favourite, and to put an end to the war between their respective hosts ; and the former promises to stifle the ire which had been nursed in the breast of her Smart, whose rivalry with the new constellation had agitated so violently their different realms. Dr. Hill stands forth as a type not only of literary but also of medical quackery, the wide prevalence of which was among the distinguishing characteristics of the period of which we are now speaking. We have, in the pages of “ Roderick Random,” a good picture of the usual character of the medical practitioners of the middle of the eighteenth century. Amid the general venality, degrees and honours were not always a proof of merit in the individual upon whom they were bestowed ; and from this cause, or from the wide-spread spirit of credulity, people sought with more eagerness the nostrum of the quack than the experi- ence of the proficient. Under these circumstances, a host of pretenders preyed upon the health and constitutions of their fellow-countrymen, and the newspapers are filled during many successive years with the never-failing virtues of the panaceas of Dr. Rock, of the Anodyne-Necklace man (Burchell), and their fellows. For several years, about the middle of the century, a sort of diminutive crusade was carried on against quackery, but with little success, and it seems in a great measure to have turned upon, or dwindled into, personal quarrels. A number of serious pamphlets on the pernicious effects of the system of pills, powders, and draughts, which were trumped forth into the world by newspaper advertisements, were published under respectable names, or anonymously ; while satires and burlesques tended to turn them to ridicule, and the more remarkable quacks of the day were set forth in their true colours and attributes in prints FAMILY PILLS. 229 and caricatures.* In a mock letter from Dr. Rock “ to a physi- cian at Bath,” the popular empiric is made to improve upon the extraordinary properties of the numerous quack medicines then in vogue. “Imprimis,” he says, “ there is my famous sympathe- tical family pill. Let the master of any family, or the mistress if she be master, take one of these at night going to bed, and another in the morning fasting, and they shall not only be well purged themselves, but the whole family, men, women, and children, shall equally participate of the same benefit.” Among the various other advantages of these pills, we are told, “ F or instance, when a fine lady has been to go to a rout or to a ridotto, what does the ill-natured husband do, but take my pills very privately, and then, poor soul, she dares not venture out of doors, and, if she did, can have neither coachman nor footman to attend her.” After these are, “ Secondly, my inten- tional purging pills The person who takes them need only say to himself, * It is my intention these pills should purge my wife as much as they do me ; my boy Jack half as much as they do me ; my daughter Molly once less than Jack ; that liquorish hussey Nan, that steals half the sweetmeats, and eats half the fruit in the garden, ten times as much as they do me ; and that rascal Tom, that is perpetually at the ale-house, twenty times as much as they do me, for five days successively.’ Upon this the wished-for event infallibly follows.” There was perhaps in this a sly sarcasm at the doctrine of sympathies, which merged into animal magnetism. Among the multitude of nostrums of doubtful efficacy or of an injurious character which were manufactured at this period, sprung up some of the best recommended remedies, and the greatest improvements in modern medicine, which were as much satirised and objected to at first as the claims of the lowest pretenders. At the time when there was an absolute rage for Bishop Berke- ley’s tar-water, the introduction of inoculation for the small-pox was cried down with the most persevering obstinacy. The fever-powder of Dr. James, a man of high respectability in his profession, was long violently opposed by the faculty ; in spite of which (perhaps we might say, by favour of which) it quickly rose in popularity, and enriched its inventor. Horace Walpole was an enthusiastic votary of James’s powder, which he seems * A general satire on the Medical profession, under the title of “ The Quackade, by Whirligig Bolus, Esq.,” was published in 1752 ; but its allusions are too obscurely personal and uninteresting, to call for any further notice here. JAMES' S FEVER POWDER. to have regarded as a sovereign preventive for almost all diseases. He writes to Sir Horace Mann, in October, 1764, “James’s powder is my panacea, that is, it always shall be, for, thank Hod, I am not apt to have occasion for medicines; but I have such faith in these powders, that I believe I should take it if the house were on fire.” When Dr. James’s opponents found that they could not hinder the sale of his powders, they turned round and said that he was not the inventor, but that he had stolen the recipe from a man named Baker, who had it of a German Baron Schwanberg. In a caricature pub- lished against him in 1724, entitled “ A Beply for the present to the un- known Author of Yillany Detected,” the Doctor is represented stepping from his carriage to act the part of a highwayman towards the right claim- ant to the secret, who is administer- ing charity to a poor man, and receiv- ing his blessing in return. Dr. James takes the opportunity of stealing the powders from his pocket (some of the packets falling to the ground), and at the same time holds a dagger to the medical highwatman. strike him, while he says, aside , “ By which I keep my chariot, in luxury live, and think of no hereafter.” The ghost of a man (perhaps the German baron) rises from the ground beside him, and ex- claims, “ Thou perjured villain ! thou hast robbed my friend of the fever-powders!” The easy credulity and superstition of the English people at this period, cherished and increased by the preaching and writings of a number of fanatical sectarians, was exhibited in many other circumstances besides their belief in quack medicines, and made them the dupes of several practical jokes, and inten- tional or involuntary impositions. The ridiculous imposture of the rabbit-woman of Godaiming, which had been favoured by some members of the medical profession, had afforded a striking instance of national credulity in the earlier part of the century. The “ gullibility ” of the public was illustrated in a still more remarkable manner in 1749, when some facetious individual (who he was has never been discovered) put in effect a practical joke of no ordinary description. On the 16th of January, the THE BOTTLE-CONJUROR. 231 daily papers contained the following advertisement, slightly varied : — # “At the New Theatre in the Haymarket, this present day, to be seen a person who performs the several most surprising things following ; viz. First he takes a common walking cane from any of the spectators, and thereon he plays the music of evez-y instrument now in use, and likewise sings to surprising perfection. Secondly, he presents you with a common wine-bottle, which any of the spectators may first examine ; this bottle is placed on a table in the middle of the stage, and he (without any equivoca- tion) goes into it, in the sight of all the spectators, and sings in it : during his stay in the bottle, any person may handle it, and see plainly that it does not exceed a common tavern bottle. “ Those on the stage or in the boxes may come in masked habits (if agreeable to them), and the performer (if desired) will inform them who they are. “Stage, 7 s. 6 d. Boxes, 5 s. Pit, 3s. Gallery, as. “To begin at half an hour after six o’clock.” It was added in a postscript, that the performance had been witnessed by most of the crowned heads of Asia, Africa, and Europe ; and the operator promised, for a further gratuity, some other extraordinary exhibitions. In spite of the absurdity of this announcement, and of another advertisement in some of the papers, of the arrival of the wonderful Signor Jumpedo, who, among other things, undertook to jump down his own throat, no suspicion appears to have been entertained of the real character of the hoax, and at the hour advertised a very crowded audience had assembled in the theatre, a large portion of which consisted of persons of quality, and among them was the Duke of Cumber- land. There was no music, and the only apparatus on the stage was a table covered with green baize, with a common quart bottle on it. The company sat quietly till towards seven o’clock, when they became extremely impatient, and the house resounded with cat-calls and other equally intelligible expressions of dissatisfaction. A man then came forward to announce that the performer had not yet made his appearance, and some one (it was said to have been Samuel Foote, who performed at this theatre, and was then in the boxes), apparently with the idea of pacifying the audience, said “ that the money would he returned if he did not come.” A man in the pit shouted out at the same time waggishly, that if they would come again the next night, and double the price, the conjuror would go into a pint bottle. Upon this a candle was thrown from one of the boxes on the stage, which was the signal for a general uproar. The ladies and the more peaceful visitors rushed out of the theatre, and escaped * It is here given from the General Advertiser of Jan. 16, 1749. 232 THE B OTTLE- CONJUB OB. only with a general loss of hats, coats, &c. The Duke of Cum- berland lost his diamond-hilted sword; and on this being known, some in the crowd shouted, “Billy the Butcher has lost his knife !” Those who remained in the theatre proceeded from one outrage to another, until they had broken up the boxes, benches, and every particle of woodwork that could be removed, and torn down the curtains and scenes, which were soon piled up in the street before the house in one immense bonfire. In the meantime the alarm had been given, and a party of foot- guards hurried to the spot ; but the rioters had fled, and the soldiers arrived only in time to warm themselves at the fire. The next day John Potter, the proprietor of the theatre, inserted a letter in the newspapers, making an apology to the public for having let the house unwittingly to the impostor, and complained of the injustice done to him personally by the des- truction of his property ; and Foote, who was suspected by some of having been accessory to the imposition, wrote a similar letter excusing himself. These letters were continued as advertise- ments during several days. But others took up the matter much less seriously, and lor a week or two after the newspapers contained not unfrequently burlesque announcements of extra- ordinary performances, like the following, which is found in the General Advertiser of the 21st of January : — “ Lately arrived from Ethiopia, The most wonderful and surprising Doctor Benimbe Zammampoango, oculist and body surgeon to the Emperor of Moncemungi, who will perform on Sunday next, at the little P in the Haymarket, the following sur- prising operations ; viz. — “ 1st. He desires any one of the spectators only to pull out his own eyes, which as soon as he had done, the doctor will shew them to any lady or gentleman then present, to convince them that there is no cheat, and then replace them in the socket as perfect and entire as ever. “ 2nd. He desires any officer or other to rip up his own belly, which when he has done, he (without any equivocation) takes out his guts, washes them, and returns them to their place without the person suffering the least hurt. 3rd. He opens the head of a J of P [justice of peace], takes out his brains, and exchanges them for those of a calf ; the brains of a beau, for those of an ass ; and the heart of a bully, for that of a sheep ; which operations render the person more sociable and rational creatures than they ever were in their lives. “ And to convince the town that no imposition is intended, he desires no money until the performance is over. “Boxes, 5 gu. Pit, 3. Gal., 2. N.B. — The famous oculist will be there, and honest S F .* * This probably means Samuel Foote. The next initial perhaps refers to Dr. Hill. The oculist was a noted quack of the time, and the orator was of *33 EARTHQUAKES IN LONDON. II will come if he can. Ladies may come masked, so may fribbles. The faculty and clergy gratis. The Orator would be there, but is engaged.” “The Man in the Bottle” became immediately the hero of several satirical pamphlets on the folly and credulity of the age, besides making his appearance in ballads and caricatures. Two of the caricatures, published in the course of January, were entitled “ The Bottle-Conjuror from Head to Foot, without equivoca- tion,” and “ English Credulity ; or, ye ’re all bottled.” In the latter Folly is leading by a string to the bottle-conjuror’s table, a group of characters distinguished in arms, law, physic, &c. A sword, alluding to the Duke of Cumberland’s loss, is flying away, and a fiend is in pursuit for the proffered reward of thirty guineas. Britannia turns away her face in shame — “ Oh ! my sons!” In another print, as a companion to the Bottle, harle- quin is represented in a very ingenious manner, jumping down his own throat. On the 26th of January, and for some time after, the play-bills added to the announcement of the pantomime of Apollo and Daphne, “ In which will be introduced a new scene of the escape of harlequin into a quart-bottle and in the summer, a new comedy, called “ The Magician ; or, the bottle- conjuror,” was acted at the smaller theatres. For many years afterwards the bottle-conjuror was a standing joke upon English folly. Yet, within a year, the credulity of our countrymen was again exhibited in a still more extraordinary occurrence. Several smart shocks of earthquakes were felt throughout England about the middle of the last century. The beginning of the year 1730 had been unusually stormy and tempestuous. On the 8th of February, the inhabitants of London were alarmed by a rumbling noise, and a shock, which shook all the houses with such violence that the house-bells rang, and the furniture and utensils were moved from their places. On the same day of the next month a second shock was felt, between the hours of five and six in the morning, which was considerably more intense than the former, and caused the greater consternation, because it awoke people from their sleep. Smollett, who was present in London at the time, tells us that it was preceded by a succession of thick, low flashes of lightning, and a rumbling noise like that of a heavy carriage rolling over a hollow pavement. “ The shock itself,” he says, “ consisted of repeated vibrations, which lasted some course Henley. It is a satire on the different sorts of quackery then pre- valent. During this year the quacks were brought on the stage in several farces, such as “The Mock Doctor,” at Covent Garden, “The Anatomist, or the Sham Doctor.” *34 THE EARTHQUAKE PANIC. seconds, and violently shook every house from top to bottom. Many persons started from their beds, and ran to their doors and windows in dismay.” The alarm occasioned by these two earthquakes was seized upon by the religious enthusiasts of the day as an opportunity for admonishing their fellow-countrymen against the immorality and profaneness which then so widely pervaded English society, and they hesitated not to declare that the earthquakes had been sent as special marks of the displeasure of heaven against the prevailing sins of the people. The Church, in some degree, caught up the same cry, and a pastoral letter of the Bishop of London became the subject of severe strictures. Books on earthquakes and their effects were bought up with great eagerness, and issued from the press with equal rapidity ; and people began to look forward with apprehension to the probability of a third shock, which might be still more severe. These apprehensions were gaining ground towards the end of March, when a soldier of the life-guards, who had been driven mad by attending the preaching of religious enthusiasts, ran about the town, crying out that on the same day four weeks after the last shock (which would be Thursday, the 5th of April) another earthquake, of a much more formidable character, would swallow up the whole metropolis and destroy its inhabitants, as a punishment for their sins ; and that Westminster Abbey would be buried in the ruins, and disappear for ever. The prophet was arrested, and placed in a mad-house, but this did not calm the fears of the multitude, which increased as the fatal day ap- proached ; and even many of those who had at first combated these ridiculous fears, began insensibly to imbibe the contagion. The popular credulity was so great, that on the 1st of April some hundreds of people went through a heavy rain to Edmon- ton, upon the report that a hen had laid an egg there the day before, on which was inscribed in large capital letters the words “ Beware of the third shock /” During the following days, many people, who possessed the means of absenting themselves, left London under different excuses, and repaired to various parts of the kingdom. Bead’s Weekly Journal of the 7th of April informs us, that “ Thirty coaches, filled with genteel- looking people, were, at Wednesday noon, at Slough, running away from the prognosticated earthquake;” and adds, “and it is known that 34 P s, 94 C rs, and two P ds of , fled to different parts of the kingdom this week on the same account, in order to avoid the vengeance denounced against them by a late pastoral letter.” All the roads leading from London to the country were thronged ; and in the course of *35 THE EARTHQUAKE PANIC. Wednesday afternoon, whole families locked up their houses, and went into the open fields outside the metropolis, which were filled with an incredible number of people, assembled in chairs and carriages as well as on foot, who waited in trembling suspense until the return of day convinced most of them of the groundlessness of their apprehensions. Many, however, still insisted that it was a mistake in the day, and that the earthquake would occur on Sunday the 8th, as they should have counted the day of the month, and not that of the week. The ridicule thrown upon this affair, after the day was past, was as great as the apprehensions which had preceded it. In the account given in the Universal Magazine , we are told, “ It is observed by the hackney-coachmen and chairmen, that none of the great folks went out of town to avoid the fulfilling of the madman’s prophecy about the earthquakes, but such whose curiosity led them to see the conjuror creep into the glass bottle.” Lists of the “ nobility, gentry, and others,” who had fled from the town, were printed and handed about ; and sati- rical tracts were published under such titles as “ A full and true Account of the dreadful and melancholy Earthquake,” which were so arranged as to furnish a meal of political and private scandal to those who loved to fatten on such food. Other pamphlets dwelt more seriously on the impiety of setting up to be interpreters of the inscrutable designs of Providence. In the course of the month of April this event produced two carica- tures, the first entitled “ The Military Prophet ; or, a flight from Providence ;” the other, “ The Panick ; or, the force of frighted imagination.” Eor twelve years, English credulity was allowed to spend itself in trifling ebullitions, and it offers little to arrest our at- tention. But at the end of that period, an affair more ridiculous, if possible, than any of the preceding, agitated the public ; it had had its conjuror and its earthquake — the new subject of at- traction was a ghost. The fame of the Cock Lane ghost has in some sort outlived the memory of bottle-conjuror or military prophet. A Mr. Kent, who lived with the sister of his deceased wife, had occupied lodgings in Cock Lane, Smithfield, at the house of a Mr. Parsons, but, having quarrelled with his land- lord, he removed to a house in Clerkenwell, where his com- panion, who is known in the story by the name of Miss Fanny, died of the small-pox. Parsons, to revenge himself upon Mr. Kent, declared that the ghost of Miss Fanny haunted the room of his daughter, (with whom she had slept during Kent’s ab- sence from town,) and had charged Kent with having poisoned 236 THE STAGE: GARRICK. her. On examination, mysterious knockings and scratchings were heard at night about the girl’s bed ; and the report being spread abroad by papers and pamphlets, a concourse of people, many of them of the highest rank and character, visited the house during successive nights: the surrounding streets were filled with mobs, and an extraordinary sensation was created throughout London. Suspicions of trickery, however, soon arose among the more sensible part of the visitors ; the child was removed to another house, and separated from her friends, when the result was unsatisfactory, and the ghost failed in its promise to signify its presence in the vault where Miss Fanny was buried, which had been visited by a select party. After this, the child was detected, and made a confession, and all the persons concerned in the imposture were prosecuted and severely punished. The details of this affair, which occurred in the be- ginning of the year 1762, are too ridiculous to deserve repeating ; it gave rise to a number of pamphlets ; made ghost stories popu- lar throughout the country for several months, and brought them on the stage ; and produced the long rambling satirical poem of “ The Ghost” from the pen of Churchill. The stage was exciting public attention in an unusual degree for some years, at the middle of the last century, from a variety of circumstances ; and the moral tendency of the stage itself, the policy of its advocates, the characters of the performers, their personal disputes, and the rivalry of different companies, afforded matter for a continual issue of pamphlets in prose and verse, and a few prints and caricatures. The general character of the performances differed little since the reign of George I. ; for pantomimes and burlesques had established themselves per- manently in popular favour, and they now went on hand in hand with the regular drama. Amid the rivalries alluded to, and supported by some of the best actors who have ever trod the English stage, the plays of the great English bard were gaining daily in popularity. It has already been noticed, that, besides the licensed theatres, there was a theatre far east in Goodman’s Fields, where a com- pany of players had long been allowed by forbearance to act, be- cause it was thought probably that they did not much affect the audiences of the houses at the West End. It was here that amateurs sometimes gratified their vanity without risk, and it served also as a sort of school for many who afterwards figured on the boards of Drury Lane and Covent Garden. It was at this theatre, that, on the 19th of October, 1741, David Garrick first made his appearance on a London stage ; and, in the cha- THEATRICAL CONTENTIONS. *37 racter of Richard the Third, he gained such universal admira- tion, that within a few days the larger theatres were almost deserted, and Goodman’s Fields presented the unusual spectacle of crowds of carriages from St. James’s and Grosvenor Square. Quin, who had been engaged at Drury Lane, had hitherto been considered as the first tragic actor on the English stage, and, alarmed at Garrick’s success, he did all in his power to cry him down, but in vain. The patentees of the two great theatres were still more alarmed at the deficiency of their receipts, and they prepared at last to take those measures against the unli- censed theatre of the east end, that forced the latter into a com- position, which ended, some months after, in Garrick’s final removal to Drury Lane. About the same time, Quin went over to Covent Garden, to oppose Garrick, his jealousy of whom con- tinued unabated. The patent of Drury Lane was at this time in the hands of Charles Fleetwood, who had bought it at a mo- ment when the mismanagement of the former proprietors had reduced it to a very low state, and driven away the Inst per- formers. The latter had opened the little theatre in the Hay- market, with some success, but they returned to Drury Lane under Fleetwood, and left their theatre in the Haymarket to a company of French actors. Fleetwood was a man utterly devoid of dramatic taste, and, to the disgust of Garrick, he had brought the tumblers and rope-dancers of Sadler’s Wells on the boards of Drury. Other ill-conduct on the part of Fleetwood drove the Drury Lane company to a new revolt ; they seceded from the theatre under Garrick and Macklin, and tried to obtain a new patent from the Lord Chamberlain, but in vain. The con- sequence was, that they were obliged to come to terms with Fleetwood, in which Macklin was made a sacrifice, and quar- relled with Garrick for deserting him. The town took part with Macklin ; and when Drury Lane re-opened towards the end of 1743, the theatre presented, for two or three nights, a scene of violent uproar between the partisans of the two actors, which threatened, at one moment, to put a stop to Garrick’s acting. Garrick spent the year 1745, and part of 1746, in Dublin, from whence he returned in the May of the latter year, and engaged himself at Covent Garden, under Rich. Fleetwood had, meanwhile, sold his interest in Drury Lane, and it was now under the management of Lacy, who had a good share in the proprietorship. In 1747 began the great rivalry between the two large theatres, under Rich and Lacy, which agitated the theatrical world for some ensuing years. Rich, much against his will, had ROMEO AND JULIET. 238 made a momentary sacrifice of his passion for pantomime, in favour of the regular drama, and engaged Garrick, Quin, Wood- ward, Mrs. Cibber, Mrs. Pritchard, and several other good actors. The Drury Lane company numbered among its chief performers, Barry and Macklin, Yates, Mrs. Clive, and Peg Woffington. It was the first time that Garrick and Quin had played together, and the superiority of the former was soon ac- knowledged, to the great mortification and discontent of his rival. Yet, in spite of the superiority which the great actor had given Covent Garden over the rival theatre, Bich was weak enough to treat him with neglect ; and Mr. Lacy having ob- tained a new patent for Drury Lane, ceded one half of it to Garrick, who thus, in the summer of 1747, became joint pro- prietor and stage-manager of Drmy Lane theatre. Mrs. Pritchard, Mrs. Cibber, and others, followed Garrick to Drury Lane, which was opened with great eclat on the 20th of Sep- tember, 1747 ; and the following season witnessed a complete revival of Shakspeare and the older dramatists on the stage. Jealousies and frequent quarrels, however, soon broke out in Garrick’s company, which furnished materials for the carica- turist during the season of 1748, and the consequence of which was the desertion of Barry and Mrs. Cibber to Covent Garden in 1749, where they joined with Quin and Mrs. Woffington, and thus formed under Bich a dangerous rivalry to the other theatre. In October, 1749, the Covent Garden company opened the theatrical campaign with “Borneo and Juliet,” a play in which Barry, and especially Mrs. Cibber, had shone with peculiar excellence. Garrick had armed himself for the contest ; he had prepared a rival actress in Miss Bellamy, and he produced, to the surprise of his opponents, the same play of “ Borneo and Juliet” at Drury Lane, 011 the very night it came out at Covent Garden. It was a repetition of the war of rival harlequins in the preceding reign. The town was divided for a long time be- tween the two “ Borneo and Juliets,” which produced a mass of contradictory criticism, and finished by almost emptying both houses, for everybody began to be tired of the monotonous repe- tition of the same play. A popular epigram of the day spoke distinctly the public feeling — “ On the Run of ‘ Romeo and Juliet .’ “ * Well, what’s to night % ’ says angry Ned, As up from bed he rouses ; ‘ Borneo again ! ’ and shakes his head, ‘ Ah ! plague on both your houses ! ’ ” Personal jealousies, not only among the actors themselves, ANTI - GALLICISM. 239 but between them and their manager Rich, soon broke up the harmony of the Covent Garden company. Garrick retaliated on their efforts to outshine him by attacking Rich in his own pecu- liar walk ; and at the beginning of 1730 brought out a new pan- tomime, entitled “Queen Mab,” in which Woodward acted the part of harlequin. The great success of this piece, which brought crowded houses for forty nights without intermission, gave rise to a very popular caricature, entitled “ The Theatrical Steelyard,” in which Mrs. Cibber, Mrs. Woffington, Quin, and Barry, are outweighed by Woodward’s harlequin and Garrick’s Queen Mab. Rich, dressed in the garb of harlequin, lies on the ground ex- piring. The rivalry of the two theatres continued in this state in the year 1752, in the literary warfare of which period we have seen them so deeply involved. Garrick’s backwardness in bringing out new plays had embroiled him with several of the critics of the day. But, in the middle of his success, an untoward accident came to disturb the triumphs of the English Roscius. The popular feeling against the empk^ment of French actors, which had been shewn so remarkably in the Westminster election of 1749, was now at its height, having been kept up by several squibs and caricatures. One of the latter, published in 1730, under the title of “ Britannia disturb’d ; or, an invasion by French vagrants,” represents the foreigners forced on Britannia by a band of aristocratic rioters, while she holds in her lap her fa- vourite English players and pantomimists. In 1734, with the hope of raising still higher the theatrical pre-eminence of Drury Lane, Garrick first planned his grand spectacle, brought out in the beginning of November, 1733, under the title of “The Chinese Festival.” It had been found necessary to employ a great number of French dancers in this spectacle, the report of THE EOSCIAD. 3 40 which having gone abroad, while the hatred of the French was increased by the breaking out of hostilities and by their conduct in America, a mob assembled in the theatre ol the first night with the determination of putting a stop to the performance. Garrick, who had expended a large sum of money on this enter- tainment, did his utmost, but in vain, to appease the ill-humour ; but the fashionable people in the boxes took his part, and the war between the two parties continued with doubtful success during five nights. The sixth night of representation was an opera night, and the strength of the boxes was weakened by the absence of many people of quality. When the riot began several gentlemen of rank jumped from the boxes into the pit, and at- tempted to seize the ringleaders, and the ladies, who remained in the boxes, pointed out to them the obnoxious persons ; but after a long and rude contest, in which some blood was drawn, the united pit and galleries triumphed, and they now wreaked their vengeance on the materials of the theatre, demolished the scenes, tore up the benches, broke the lustres, and soon effected a damage which it required several thousand pounds to repair. The young writers who had formerly found a great part of their employment in writing new pieces for the stage, became more and more irritated at the dramatic taste which deprived them of a part of their bread, by raising up Shakspeare and the older drama, and, being mostly connected with the different papers, magazines, and reviews of the day, they took their re- venge by severe and often unfair criticisms on the different performers, which made them objects of dread among the players. The natural consequence of this was, that the stage attracted more and more the attention of the literary world, until, in the March of 1761, the first, and one of the most remarkable poems of one of the most remarkable poets of that day, the “ Rosciad” of Charles Churchill, stole anonymously into the world. In this poem, distinguished by remarkable vigour of design and execu- tion, the poet introduces the actors of the day contending for the throne of Roscius, and he satirises with great critical seve- rity the individual defects of the players, as well as those of the writers for the stage. Garrick, whose claim is allowed as the successor of Roscius, was the only one who escaped his lash. This poem, to which the author affixed his name in a second edition, met at once with the most extraordinary success, and passed quickly through a great number of editions, although it was bitterly attacked by the critics, not only in the reviews, but in an incredible number of pamphlets, under every form that the provoked anger of the disputants could imagine. These are too CHURCHILL AND THE REVIEWERS . '*41 obscure and too dull to merit even that their titles should be enumerated. But Churchill was stung to the quick, and in another poem, under the title of the “ Apology,” he attacked with extreme bitterness the reviewers and the stage in general, to which he attributed the shoal of abusive pamphlets that had been showered upon him for his theatrical criticisms He stig- matises the critics as an upstart brood of literary assassins, who from their dark concealment stabbed at unprotected genius, when it had with difficulty escaped from the coldness of the great and the persecutions of bigotry : — “ Unhappy Genius ! placed by partial Fate With a free spirit in a slavish state, Where the reluctant Muse, oppressed by kings, Or droops in silence, or in fetters sings. In vain thy dauntless fortitude hath borne The bigot’s furious zeal and tyrant’s scorn. Why didst thou safe from home-bred dangers steer, Reserved to perish more ignobly here ? Thus when, the J ulian tyrant’s pride to swell, Rome with her Pompey at Pharsalia fell, The vanquished chief escaped from Caesar's hand, To die by ruffians in a foreign land.” The extraordinary power which the critics, though self- elected, had now usurped, is next glanced at : — u How could these self-elected monarchs raise So large an empire on so small a base ? In what retreat, inglorious and unknown, Did Genius sleep when Dulness seized the throne I Whence, absolute now grown, and free from awe, She to the subject world dispenses law. Without her licence nob a letter stirs, And all the captive criss-cross-row is hers.” He next attacks the reviewers for dragging people’s names from intentional concealment, whilst they remain themselves carefully screened from view : they had, in fact, attacked several persons by name, as the authors of the 44 Rosciad,” before Churchill had affixed his own to it. This seems at first to have been the great complaint of the authors against the reviewers ; for, while they did not flinch from the old wars of pamphlets, they objected to being regularly brought for judgment by a hid- den and irresponsible conclave, who were not accessible to re- taliation. “ Founded on arts which shun the face of day, By the same arts they still maintain their sway. Wrapped in mysterious secrecy they rise, And, as they are unknown, are safe and wise. R 242 CHUB CHILL AND THE ACTOBS. At whomsoever aim’d, howe’er severe, The envenom’d slander flies, no names appear : Prudence forbid that step : then all might know And on more equal terms engage the foe. But now, what Quixote of the age would care To wage a war with dirt, and fight, with air ?” The poet then turns with increased rage upon the actors, whom he accuses of having a troop of mercenary writers in their pay to cry up their deserts, and of wishing thus to impose upon the taste and judgment of the public : — “ Doth it more move our anger or our mirth, To see these things, the lowest sons of earth, Presume, with self-sufficient knowledge graced, To rule in letters and preside in taste ? The town’s decisions they no more admit, Themselves alone the arbiters of wit. And scorn the jurisdiction of that court To which they owe their being and support. Actors, like monks of old, now sacred grown, Must be attack’d by no fools but their own.” The lighter amusements of the town had not lost their popu- larity amid what certainly must be looked upon as the regenera- tion of the legitimate drama ; and, in spite of the severe attacks of the moralists, with which they had been assailed at their first introduction into this country, masquerades or ridottos long con- tinued to sustain their ground. In the summer of 1 730, a day masquerade in the open air was introduced as a novelty at Vaux- hall, under the name of a ridotto alfresco , and, although it pro- voked new outcries against the immoral tendency of this sort of entertainment, it was for a time extremely popular, and made considerable noise. On the first day (Wednesday, the 7th of June) there were about four hundred persons in masquerade dresses, and it was announced in the newspapers that one of them had his pocket picked of fifty guineas. The taste for ridottos al fresco seems soon to have subsided ; and indeed night was best calculated for the multitude of intrigues that were con- stantly carried on at these assemblies. It is impossible to enter into the history of fashionable society at this period, without perceiving the injurious effects of the passion for masquerades on the public morals. To keep outward decorum, it was necessary to announce in the advertisements and bills that guards were stationed in the rooms to prevent any offensive conduct. A few years later, the indignation of the moralist was again excited by the report that ladies were in the habit of frequenting the mas- querades in men’s clothing ; and even greater improprieties than MASQUERADES AND RIDOTTOS. 243 this appear to have been at times perpetrated. The satirical Drury Lane Journal , of April 9, 1752, contains the following burlesque announcement : — * 1 ADVERTISEMENT. “ Whereas there will be a very splendid appearance at Ranelagh Jubilee, C. Richman takes leave to inform the nobility, and no others , that he can furnish them with — u New-invented masks for those who are ashamed of their own faces, or have no face at all. “Naked dresses, in imitation of their own skin, “ And all other natural disguises.” Only three years previously to this announcement, in 1 749, one of the Princess of Wales’s maids of honour, Elizabeth Chud- leigh, afterwards the notorious Duchess of Kingston, had carried the second of these ideas into actual practice, hy appearing at a masquerade given by the Venetian ambassador at Somerset House, in the character of Iphigenia, in a close dress of flesh- coloured silk, so as to expose, unembarrassed by the covering of her looser garments, much more than strict delicacy allowed. The Princess gave her a gentle rebuke by throwing her own veil over her ; but the story soon became public, and was tor- tured into a variety of shapes, and a number of prints appeared pretending to be portraits of the maid of honour in her “ naked dress,” some of which would make us believe that she had ex- hibited herself almost in a state of nature.* This exaggeration of immodesty seems to have thrown the masquerades into some disrepute, and a vigorous stand was made against them in the spring of 173 o, on occasion of the panic caused by the earth- quakes in London ; the attempt to suppress them, defeated now but repeated again after the fearful earthquake which effected the destruction of Lisbon, at the end of 1735, was in the latter case so far effectual, that we hear little of masquerades for seve- ral years. Horace Walpole says, in a letter dated March 22, 1762, “We have never recovered masquerades since the earth- quake at Lisbon.” Yet, in the first year after the accession of George III., the example of reviving them began to be set by the court. On the 7th of June, 1763, Walpole, with the earth- quake still in his recollection, describes the magnificence of the masquerade and fireworks given at Richmond House : — “ A * It is said that on this occasion, the King, provoked by the wayward damsel’s costume, having requested permission to place his hand on her breast, she replied that she would put it to a still softer place, and immedi- ately raised it to his royal forehead. 244 MUSIC. — HANDEL. masquerade,” he says, “ was a new sight to the young people, who had dressed themselves charmingly, without having the fear of an earthquake before their eyes, though Prince William and Prince Henry were not suffered to be there.” When the King of Denmark was in England in 1768, he gave a masque- rade at Ranelagh “ to all the world and Walpole observes sarcastically, “ The bishops will call this giving an earthquake ; but, if they would come when bishops call, the Bishop of Rome would have fetched forty by this time. Our right reverend fathers have made but a bad choice of their weapon in such a cold, damp climate.” An unsuccessful attempt was made to revive public masquerades in 1771. As Rich had found a successful rival in Garrick, so Heidegger was eventually eclipsed by a great composer, who, towards the middle of the century, introduced a new style of musical perfor- mance. George William Handel settled in London about the year 1710. He soon obtained the patronage of the Earl of Bur- lington ; and subsequently, in connexion with Senesino and some others, set up what he called an academy of music in the Hay- inarket. This, however, was broken up, in consequence of his quarrels with his colleagues, and, finding little patronage in England, where the fashionable world were still mad after the Italian singers, he retired to the Continent. He returned to England in the beginning of 1742 ; and in the subsequent years he produced those noble oratorios, which soon gave him celebrity and riches. Handel, who was celebrated for his love of luxuri- ous living, and his power of deglutition, was as remarkable for his corpulence as Heidegger had been for his ugliness ; and in “The Scandalizade,” a satirical poem published in 1750, when Handel was at the height of his celebrity, the former is intro- duced ridiculing the unwieldy figure of his rival. “ ‘Ho, there! to whom none can, forsooth, hold a candle,’ Call’d the lovely-faced Heidegger out to George Handel, ‘ In arranging the poet’s sweet lines to a tune, Such as God save the King ! or the fam’d Tenth of June ! How amply your corpulence fills up the chair — Like mine host at an inn, or a London lord-mayor ; Three yards at the least round about in the waist ; In dimensions your face like the sun in the west. But a chine of good pork, and a brace of good fowls, A dozen-pound turbot, and two pair of soles, With bread in proportion, devour’d at a meal, How incredibly strange, and how monstrous to tell ! Needs must that your gains and your income be large, To support such a vast n unsupportable charge ! Retrench, or ere long you may set your own dirge.* n THE CHARMING BRUTE. 245 The composer retorts on his antagonist, and expresses indig- nation at the charge of over-eating, which appears not to have been exaggerated, in the foregoing lines : — “ * Wouldst upbraid with ill-nature, as monstrous and vast, My moderate eating and delicate taste, When I paid but two hundred a year for my board? True, my landlord soon after the bargain deplor’d ; Withdrew, became bankrupt, a prey to the law, His effects swallow d up in disputing a flaw * Mong counsel, attorneys, commissioners, and such, And all the long train so accustom’d to touch. But what is this matter of bankrupt to me ? All folks must abide by the terms they agree : If guilty my stomach, my conscience is free.” In two prints, nearly alike, and evidently copied from the other, published in 1754, Handel is represented under the title of “The Charming Brute,” as an overgrown hog, performing on his instrument, in the midst of a vast assemblage of his favourite provisions, hung round the apartment and against the organ. The opera, during the theatrical wars, had lost none of its popularity among fashionable society, and was regularly re- cruited by a succession of Italian singers and dancers, who fur- nished subjects of ridicule to the multitude in their personal quarrels, or in their impertinent vanity. Among the “ cargoes of Italian dancers” announced by Horace Walpole on the 10th of November, 1754, as having newly arrived in the London market, was the celebrated Mingotti, whose rivalry with Van- neschi subsequently disturbed the peace of the theatre in the Hay market as much as those of Cuzzoni and Faustina had done in former days. Walpole, who noted all these important trifles in his correspondence, says, in the October of 1755, “I believe I FIRST APPEARANCE OF FOOTF. 246 scarce ever mentioned to you last winter the follies of the opera: the impertinences of a great singer were too old and too common a topic. I must mention them now, when they rise to any im- provement in the character of national folly. The Mingotti, a noble figure, a great mistress of music, and a most incomparable actress, surpassed anything I ever saw for the extravagance of her humours. She never sang above one night in three, from a fever upon her temper ; and never would act at all when Riccia- relli, the first man, was to be in dialogue with her. Her fevers grew so high, that the audience caught them, and hissed her more than once : she herself once turned and hissed again. . . . "Well, among the treaties which a Secretary of State has negoti- ated this summer, he has contracted for a succedaneum for the Mingotti. In short, there is a woman hired to sing when the other shall be out of humour !” The contest between Mingotti and the manager, Vanneschi, which ended in the ruin of the latter, made the proud dame sovereign of the opera, and her airs were proportionally increased. A caricature published on the 8th of October, 1756, represents this creature of fashionable adoration under the title of “ The Idol,” raised on a stool in- scribed with “ £2000 per annum,” and receiving the homage of her worshippers of all classes. A fashionable lady, with a pug- dog, exclaims, “ 5 Tis only pug, and you I love !” A divine, on his knees before the stool, ejaculates, “ Unto thee be praise, now and lor evermore !” A nobleman, bringing his subscription of £2000, says to his lady, “ We shall have but twelve songs for all this moneys” His lady replies, “Well, and enough, too, for the paltry trifle !” Other persons are expressing their admira- tion in various ways. The idol, from her throne, sings with contempt — “ Ha, ru, ra, rot ye, My name is M [Mingotti] ; If you worship me notti You shall all go to potti.” The moral of the whole is told in a distich below : — tl Behold with most indignant scorn the soft enervate tribe, Their country selling for a song : how eager they subscribe ! ” While the old drama was thus progressing side by side with the more recently established opera, another class of pieces became extremely popular in the hands of Samuel Foote, who then a young actor, had joined Macklin, when, after his quarrel with Garrick in 1743, he betook himself to the little theatre in the Haymarket, where Foote made his first appearance on the PERSONAL SATIRE ON THE STAGE. 247 6th of February, 1744. We have had frequent occasions for observing how the passing events of the day were carried on the stage in comedies and pantomimes, as objects of satire. This species of farce was brought to perfection by Foote, whose great talent was that of mimicry, and who delighted his audience by the exact manner in which he imitated the peculiarities and weaknesses of individual contemporaries. Pie was in all respects the great theatrical caricaturist of the age. The personality of the satire was the grand characteristic of Foote’s performances, and one which rendered them dangerous to society, and certainly not to be approved. An affront to the actor was at any t’me enough to cause the offender to be dragged before the world ; and matter in itself of the most libellous description was published without danger, under the fictitious name of a character, the resemblance of which to the original was sufficiently evident to the town. From such tribunals, neither elevation in society, nor respectability of character, are a protection. After working a few years together, Foote and Macklin disagreed, and the latter left him to set up an oratory, under the title of “ The British Inquisition,” for Henley’s success had made the name of oratory popular, and a sort of passion was at this time springing up for lecturing and speechifying. Several oratories arose about the same time, besides . a variety of debating clubs, like the celebrated Kobin Hood Society. Horace Walpole says, on the 24th of December, 1754, “The new madness is oratories.” Foote im- mediately brought out “ Macklin and the British Inquisition” on the stage at the Hay market. From the Hay market, Foote went to Drury Lane, and enlisted for a while under Garrick, with whom, however, he was never on terms of cordial friend- ship. His “ Englishman in Paris,” at the commencement of his Drury Lane connexion, was extremely popular; but another piece, “ The Author,” although equally well received by the mob, was eventually stopped by the Lord Chamberlain, at the complaint of an individual who was unjustly attacked in it. The Haymarket was an unlicensed theatre, and Foote evaded the law by serving his audience with tea, and calling the per- formance in his bills, “ Mr. Foote’s giving tea to his friends.”* Churchill, who attacked Foote with some bitterness in his * Foote’s advertisement ran, tl Mr. Foote presents his compliments to his friends and the public, and desires them to drink tea at the little Theatre in the H&ymarket every morning, at playhouse prices,” The house was always crowded, and Foote came forward and said, that, as he had some young actors in training, he would go on with his instructions while tea was preparing. THE MINOR. 24$ “ Rosciad,” and who judged rightly that his performances tended to lower the character of the stage, alludes to this circumstance, and to the similar character of Tate Wilkinson, whom he looked upon as Foote’s shadow : — “Foote, at Old House, for even Foote will be In self-conceit an actor, bribes with tea ; Which Wilkinson at second-hand receives, And, at the New, pours water on the leaves.’* At the beginning of the reign of George III. Foote occupied the house alluded to more regularly as a summer theatre, and brought out his farce of the “ Minor,” which, independent of its personalities, was a violent satire upon the Methodists, and through them upon the more religious part of the community, and contained a considerable quantity of coarse language, and some rather exceptionable morality. The appearance of this piece was the signal for a violent paper war. Foote and his farces were attacked in every way, and the moral tendency of the stage was thus again brought into question under disadvantage for itself. The clergy interfered, and the “ Minor” was no longer allowed to be acted. In 176 6, Foote obtained a patent for the theatre in the Haymarket, upon which he purchased and pulled down the old house, and built the new one, which was ever after known as the Haymarket Theatre. The course of the theatrical caricaturist was, however, any- thing but smooth. In 1762 Foote brought out “ The Orators,” the design of which was to ridicule the prevailing taste for speechifying, the affair of the Cock Lane Ghost, and especially the debating society held at the Robin Hood. Among other persons who were to be exposed to satire and ridicule on this occasion, was Dr. Johnson, who had taken an active part in the investigation of the Cock Lane Ghost, and contributed to the exposure of the imposture : Johnson was informed of Foote’s design before the farce came out, and intimated to him immedi- ately, that he should be in the theatre with a stout cudgel, ready to fall upon the first person on the stage who attempted to mimic or throw ridicule upon him. The character of the Doctor was omitted, when “ The Orators” appeared on the stage. In 1772, Foote’s farce of “The Nabob,” a satire on the East India politics, nearly involved him in a serious quarrel with some of the directors of the India Company. In 1775, having gathered aoroad some scandalous anecdotes of the Duchess of Kingston, be wrote a farce, entitled “ The Trip to Calais,” in which that notorious woman was grossly caricatured under the name of “ Lady Kitty Crocodile.” The attack was cruel, FRENCH IMPORTS. 249 because the Duchess was in the midst of her embarrassments relating to the trial for bigamy ; and she had sufficient influence with the Lord Chamberlain, to obtain a refusal to allow it to be acted. Foote expostulated in vain with the Lord Chamberlain, and then threatened the Duchess he would print the farce, unless she gave him two thousand pounds to suppress it. The haughty dame entered into a war of letters with him, and showed that she was no match in caustic satire ; but there is a certain brutality in his way of trampling on an unfortunate woman, which makes us feel how pernicious to society a character like Foote must ever be. A Rev. Mr. Jackson, a writer in some of the newspapers of the day, was the Duchess’s agent in her transaction with Foote. The latter, finding he was likely to get nothing out of the Duchess of Kingston, altered the name of his farce to “The Capuchin,” omitted all that related to the Duchess, but brought in her agent, the parson, on whom he expended his full measure of scorn and ridicule, and it was thus brought on the stage the following summer. Jackson (it was said, at the instigation of the Duchess of Kingston,) revenged himself by charging Foote with a revolting offence ; and, although he was honourably acquitted, the disgrace bore so heavy upon his mind, that he never recovered it. Foote died on the 2 1 st of October, 1777. A good print, by Boitard, entitled “ The Imports of Great Britain from France ; humbly addressed to the laudable associa- tions of Anti-Gallicans, and the generous promoters of the British arts and manufactories,” and published March 7, 1757, exhibits some of what the mob considered the most objectionable articles which France sent over to corrupt the manners and principles of Englishmen. The various groups are described at the foot of the engraving. The rage lor French fashions is represented by “ Four tackle porters staggering under a weighty chest of Birth-Night Clothes ,” addressed to a right honourable viscount in St. James’s, and doubtless comprising a magnificent costume for the ball on the King’s birthday. The love of French cookery appears in “ several emaciated high liv’d epicures familiarly receiving a French coolc, acquainting him, that, with- out his assistance, the}" must have perished with hunger.” The affected conceit of a French education is pictured in “ a lady of distinction, offering the tuition of her son and daughter to a cringing French able, disregarding the corruption of their reli- gion ; so they do but obtain the true French accent ; her frenchi- fied well-bred spouse readily complying, the English chaplain regretting his lost labours.” The passion for French artistes 250 FOREIGN MERCHANDIZE. appears in “ another woman of quality, in raptures, caressing a French female dancer , assuring her that her arrival is to the bricks and gloves ; another chest, containing choice beauty- washes, pomatums, l’eau d’Hongrie, l’eau de luce, l’eau de carme, Ac. &c. 288 An oatmeal haggise we will feed-a, And Smithfield beasts no more shall bleed- a. Doodle, &c. “A tartan plaid each chield shall wear-a ; With bonnets blue we’ll deck our hair-a ; And make an act that no one may put A felt or beaver on his caput. Doodle, &c. “Then strut with Caledonian pride ; Shakspeare and Milton fling aside ; On bagpipes play, and learn to sing all Th’ achievements of the mighty Fingal.* Doodle, &c. “In gratitude all this we owe- a, For saving us from beaten foe- a ; And ’tis the least we surely can do, For to regain lost Newfoundland-o. Doodle,” &c. Another caricature, published in the course of September, was entitled “ The Caledonian Pacification ; or, All’s well that ends well.” Bute is here seated by a muzzled lion, on an elevation ; he holds the sceptre, and proclaims, “ Be this our r — 1 \royaT\ will and pleasure known.” The Kings of France and Spain are making their own terms. Pitt and his friends are going to the assistance of Britannia, who sits weeping in a corner. It was at this time that Hogarth published his caricature, or rather emblematical print, of “ The Times,” defending Bute’s peace, and stigmatizing Pitt, Temple, and Newcastle as public incendiaries. This print, as we have already seen, only served to increase and embitter the attacks on the government. Immediately after its publication, appeared a large print, entitled “ The Baree Show, a political contrast to the print of The Times by William Hogarth,” in which the Scots are seen on one side dancing and rejoicing at the fire which is consuming John Bull’s house. The centre of the picture is occupied by a great acting- barn, from the upper window of which Fox shews his cunning head, and points to the sign representing Dido and iEneas going into the cave, and announcing that the play of these two worthies is acted within. This is, of course, an allusion to the presumed intimacy between Bute and the princess-dowager, who are exhibited as the hero and heroine on a scaffolding in front, Smollett on one side, blowing a trumpet, entitled “ The Briton ,” and Murphy on the other, beating a drum, entitled “ The * Macpherson’s “Ossian ” had been published in this year, 1762, and was now exciting general attention. FURTHER CHANGES IN THE MINISTRY. 289 Auditor .” There are many other groups allusive equally to the political events of the day. In one corner sits the mercenary Dutchman, receiv- ing the wages of his interested neutrality from “ mounsieur.” It appears that even the members of the cabinet were not unanimous in ap- proval of the peace ; at least some of them were unwilling to compromise them- selves by signing it. neutrality. This led to some changes in the ministry, the most important of which was the resignation of the Duke of Devonshire at the beginning of November; upon which the king in council ordered the duke’s name to be struck out of the council book, an act of ignominious treatment totally unmerited, and said to have been intended to intimidate others from following his example. This resignation was followed by those of the Marquis of Rockingham and the duke’s relatives, Lord George Cavendish, and Lord Besborough. The Duke of Cumberland, who had received some slights, also joined the opposition, which tended to increase its popularity. At the end of November, when the parliament met, Lord Bute could not pass the streets without being hissed and pelted by the mob, and a strong guard was necessary to secure his person from still greater violence. Parliament met on the 25th of November, and the prelimi- naries of the treaty were laid before both houses. Pitt, who was suffering from his gout, came to the House of Commons, wrapped up in flannels, to attack the peace, and the debate there was very animated, but the ministers found themselves secure of a large majority. In the Lords, Bute gloried in his own work, and de- clared that he wished for no other epitaph to be inscribed on his tomb than that he was the adviser of this peace. The phrase was snatched at by the opposition, and gave rise to an epigram, which was soon in everybody’s mouth : — “Say, when will England be from faction freed? When will domestic quarrels cease ? Ne’er till that wished-for epitaph we read, ’Here lies the man that made the peace.’ ** U 290 THE PEACE OF FONTAINEBLEAU. The moment Bute felt assured of his majorities in parliament, he shewed his resentment against his opponents by tyrannically ejecting from their offices, even to the lowest, every person who had received an appointment from the Duke of Newcastle and other leaders of the opposition when in office. Between one hesitation and another, the peace was not con- cluded until the month of February, 17 63; and perhaps no peace was ever received by the body of the people witli greater dissatisfaction. The popular hatred of the French increased with the cessation of hostilities ; and there was a new cry against the importation of French fashions, which, it was pretended, were the only return we should receive for so many sacrifices. Churchill expressed the popular feeling — “ France, in return for peace and power restored, For all those countries, which the hero’s sword Unprofitably purchased, idly thrown Into her lap, and made once more her own ; France hath afforded large and rich supplies Of vanities full-trimmed ; of polish’d lies, Of soothing flatteries, which through the ears Steal to and melt the heart ; of slavish fears Which break the spirit, and of abject fraud — For which, alas ! we need not send abroad.” The minister tried to console himself for the unpopularity of his peace by getting up addresses* of congratulation, but they found few who would address, and they met everywhere with discomfiture. An address was very reluctantly wrung from the city of London, and was carried to Sfc. James’s on the 12th of May, by Sir Charles Asgill (as locum tenens in the absence of the lord mayor), accompanied by six other aldermen, the re- corder, sheriffs, chamberlain, and town-clerk. The procession was accompanied by a great mob, which hissed and hooted during the whole route ; as it passed along Fleet Street the great bell of St. Bride’s began to toll, and a dumb peal struck up ; and it received a similar salutation from Bow-bells on its return. When the mob approached the palace, they became still more uproarious, and the whole transaction tended only to throw disgrace on its promoters, and make them an object of the popular ridicule and contempt. Churchill, in the fourth book of “ The Ghost,” published shortly after this event, speaks of processions which move on slowly — “ to the melancholy knell Of the dull, deep, and doleful bell, * There were several caricatures on these patched-up addresses, ihe best of which is entitled, “A sequel to the knights of Bay the, or the One- headed Corporation.” TEE TAX UPON BEER. 291 Such as of late the good Saint Bride Muffled, to mortify the pride Of those who, England quite forgot, Paid their vile homage to the Scot, Where Asgill held the foremost place, Whilst my lord figured at a race.” Caricature prints of the procession for the proclamation of the peace were circulated under the title of “ The Proclamation of Proclamations,” in which the proclaimer was represented with a large boot on one leg, and riding upon a donkey (the latter being the mob emblem of the young king.) Beneath were the dog- gerel lines : — “ See here, fellow- subjects (so fine and so pretty) A show that not long since was seen in the City, With marshals, and heralds, and horse grenadiers, And music before ’em to tickle our ears ; To tell us proud Sawney has patched up a peace, That our foes may take breath and our taxes increase. Oh ! who could have thought we should e’er see the day When a Scotchman should over the English bear sway, Thus bully and swagger and threaten and dare, Till the credulous lion falls into the snare. But though coward- like from his post he has fled, Let’s hope yet his lordship wont die in his bed.” Lord Bute had, indeed, after a short but stormy reign, deserted his post. The arrears and various liabilities incurred by the war, had produced the necessity of new taxation, the odium of which fell entirely upon the Scotch minister. Early in 1 767, a tax was laid upon beer, which raising the price of that article, had exas- perated the mob, on whom such a tax fell with disproportionate heaviness. The tax was made immediately the subject of ballads and caricatures against the king and his favourite ; and the popular discontent was shewn in several instances in a way which could not fail to reach the royal ears. The Royal Maga- zine , under the date of February j^, informs us that “ some evenings ago, while their majesties were at Drury Lane Theatre, to see the Winter’s Tale, as Garrick was repeating the two fol- lowing lines of the occasional prologue to that celebrated piece : — “ For you, my hearts of oak, for your regale, Here’s good old English stingo, mild and stale,” an honest fellow cried out of the shilling gallery, £ At threepence a pot, Master Garrick, or confusion to the brewers!’ which,” it is added, “ was so well received by the whole house, as to pro- duce a plaudit of universal approbation.” Several other taxes U 2 292 BUTE'S RESIGNATION. were proposed or talked of; but in the spring of 1 763, Bute suddenly proposed an excise on cider, and a law was passed, rather hastily and ill-digested, in spite of the most violent oppo- sition and the most threatening demonstrations in some parts of the country. People compared the rash disregard of popular opinion with which this measure was pushed through, with the conduct of Sir Robert Walpole, who had bowed to the public demonstrations against his far wiser system of excise ; and when the resignation of Lord Bute was suddenly announced on the 8th of April, 1763, many ascribed his retreat to the terror raised by the popular indignation on this occasion. Others (and this seems to have been the general opinion) said that he had been driven out by the Duke of Cumberland, who, with the Duke of Newcastle, led the oppo- sition in the House of Lords. A caricature, en- titled “ The Roasted Ex- ciseman ; or, the Jack Boot’s exit,” represents the enraged mob burning the effigy of a Scotchman suspended on a gallows ; a great worn boot lies in the bonfire, into which a man is throwing an “ ex- cised cider barrel” as fuel. A Scotchman, in great distress, cries out, “ It ’s aw over with us now, and aw our aspiring hopes the friend of liberty. are gone.” In one corner is Liberty drooping over her insignia and a number of the North Briton , and comforted by a portly personage, apparently intended for the Duke of Cumberland : she says, “ your R. H — gh — ness was always my firm friend, and I well know feels for my distress.” Another caricature published on this occasion is entitled “ The Boot and the Blockhead. Oh ! Garth fee*. 1762.” A wooden head raised upon a boot, and adorned with Hogarth’s line of beauty, is erected as the idol to be worshipped. Hogarth with his print of “The Times” as a shield, is defending it against the attacks of Churchill, armed with the North Briton. It is attended by a crowd of worshippers, who are chiefly Scotchmen. Through an entrance doorway to the right a bright sun is seen rising, and S THE WORSHIP OF THE BLOCKHEAD. 293 the Duke of Cumberland enters with a whip in his hand, followed by a sailor. The duke turns back to his companion, and says, “ Lend ’s a hand, Ned, to scourge the worshippers of a blockhead ! I’ll warn ’em presently, as I did in ’45.” The sailor cries, “ I’ll lend you a hand, my prince of bold actions !” Others said that the minister had been killed politically by the North Briton. The truth, however, probably is, that Lord Bute was suddenly terrified at the degree of popular hatred to which he had exposed himself, and thought that he should escape it by giving up his place. We can hardly help feeling convinced that in the first years of the reign of Gfeorge III. a desperate attempt was made to raise the royal prerogative to a very undue position in regard to the constitution, and that no means were left untried to secure success ; the experiment was a dangerous one, and it failed ; Bute is said to have confessed that he was terror-struck at the perils with which he was surrounded, and that he was afraid of involving the king in his own fate. The fallen minister, however, soon recovered his courage, and the only difference was that he ruled from behind the curtain, instead of reign- ing in public. Fox, who seems to have shared in the panic, retired at the same time, and was raised to the peerage, under the title of Lord Holland. Francis Dash wood, Bute’s incompetent chancellor of the exchequer, also resigned, and was created Lord Despenser. The other changes were trifling ; George Grenville was made first lord of the treasury and chan- cellor of the exchequer ; and the machine of state was still guided secretly by the hand of Bute. The court seems to have been provoked in the highest degree by the opposition which its measures had received from the press ; and it now began a THE IDOL. THE IDOL S SCOURGE. 294 " THE NORTH BRITON, NO. XIV.” violent persecution, the only effect of which was to give an unusual importance to the mob, of which for many years after no efforts could deprive it On the 19th of April, three days after the change in the ministry, the King closed the session of Parliament with a speech in which he dwelt upon the advantages of the peace. On the 23rd of April appeared the celebrated “No. XLV.” of the North Briton, which con- sisted of a very severe criticism of the King’s speech, taken, as it is always considered, as the speech of the minister, and of a violent attack (but less so than many previous ones) on the public conduct of the Earl of Bute. There is nothing treasonable or unusually libellous in this paper, or which had not been said over and over again in the House of Commons ; its only fault is a want of moderation in language. But the North Briton had contributed very largely in raising the popular hatred which had forced Lord Bute to resign ; and the court, blinded by resentment, rushed headlong and inconsiderately on the prospect of vengeance. A general warrant , to seize all per- sons concerned in the publication of the North Briton , without specifying their names, was immediately issued by the secretary of state, and a number of printers and publishers were placed in custody, some of whom were not concerned in it. Late on the night of the 29th of April, the messengers entered the house of John Wilkes (the author of the article in question), and pro- duced their warrant, with which he refused to comply. The next morning, however, he was carried before the secretary of state, and committed a close prisoner to the Tower, his papers being previously seized and sealed, and all access to his person strictly prohibited. The warrant was considered as an illegal one, and had only been resorted to in one or two intances, and under very extraordinary circumstances, of which there were none in the present case. Wilkes’s friends immediately obtained a writ of habeas corpus, which the ministers defeated by a mean subterfuge ; and it was found necessary to obtain a second before they could bring the prisoner before the court of King’s Bench, by which he was set at liberty, on the ground of his privilege as a member of parliament. He then opened an angry correspon- dence with the secretaries of state on the seizure of his papers, which led to no result. But in the meantime, the attorney- general had been directed to institute a prosecution against him in the King’s Bench for libel ; and the King had ordered him to be deprived of his commission as colonel in the Buckingham- shire militia. The King further exhibited his resentment by depriving Lord Temple of the lord-lieutenancv of the same WILKES AND " THE NORTH BRITON ” 295 county, and striking his name out of the council book, for an expression of personal sympathy which had fallen from him. George Grenville’s administration had hardly lasted three months, when it was weakened by the death of one of the secre- taries of state, Lord Egremont ; upon which, without any com- munication with the ministers, and to the surprise of everybody, Lord Bute, by the King’s command, repaired to Mr. Pitt to negotiate his return to office, and the formation under him of a new cabinet. Pitt consulted his friends, and waited twice upon the King, but the latter insisting on certain arrangements to which the statesman would not agree, the negotiation failed; and Grenville remained minister. The Duke of Bedford, whose name was very unpopular in connection with the peace, was now brought into the ministry, and the Earl of Sandwich was made secretary of state. When the parliament met on the i^th of November 17 63, its attention was at once called to the affair of Wilkes, whose cause was taken up warmly by the opposition. The court, however, was still master of large majorities in the house, and it was re- solved that the article in the North Briton was a “ false, scan- dalous, and seditious libel,” and that it should be burnt by the hands of the common hangman. It was further proposed to expel Wilkes from the house, and they talked of condemning him to the pillory. Wilkes replied by a complaint of the manner in which the privileges of the house had been violated in his person, and raised a question, the consideration of which was postponed for a week. The court party, however, was not satis- fied with the fair open course of proceeding which lay before them, hut they had a new attack in store, intended to throw a moral odium on their victim, and got up in a manner which threw disgrace on every one concerned in it. Although he has probably been condemned more severely than he deserved, Wilkes’s moral character, like that of many of his eminent con- temporaries, was very low. But he appears to have learnt his immorality in the society of Lord Sandwich, Sir Francis Dash- wood (Lord le Despencer), Thomas Potter, M.P. for Aylesbury, and son of Potter, Archbishop of Canterbury, and some other men of fashion and dissipation, who formed with him a club, which, in its private meetings, held at Medmenham, in Buck- inghamshire (the seat of Lord le Despencer), set all religion and decency at defiance. Potter and Wilkes together composed an obscene parody on Pope’s Essay on Man, which they entitled “An Essay on Woman;” and which, in imitation of Pope’s poem, was accompanied with notes under the name of Bishop THE NORTH TRITON” BURNT 296 Warburton. Wilkes had read this production to Lord Sand- wich and Lord le Despencer, who highly approved of it, but he had communicated it to no other person. He had printed twelve copies of it at a private press in his own house, which were to be distributed among the members of the club, and he had taken the greatest precaution to hinder its being carried abroad by his workmen. One of them, however, had purloined some fragments of it, and shown them to a needy parson named Kidgell, who gained his living by writing for the press, and who was employed by the government to obtain a copy of the work alluded to by bribing one of Wilkes’s compositors, in which, with some difficulty, he succeeded. On the very day when Wilkes’s alleged libel was brought before the House of Commons, the stolen copy of the “ Essay on Woman ” was laid before the lords, and, of all other persons, the notoriously profligate Earl of Sandwich, who had privately approved of this very produc- tion, was selected to bring it forward, and comment upon its profane indecency. This was as bad a burlesque as the book itself ; and it only led to the publication of a load of scandalous stories of the impiety and immorality of the hypocritical accuser ; for Lord Sandwich is said to have been expelled from the Beefsteak Club for blasphemy ; and Horace Walpole tells us, on this occasion, that “ very lately, at a club with Mr. Wilkes, held at the top of the play-house in Drury Lane, Lord Sandwich talked so profanely that he drove two harlequins out of the company.” To make matters worse, Kidgell, the minis- terial tool in this unworthy affair, published a quarto pamphlet, giving an indecent account of Wilkes’s poem, which was spread abroad rather copiously, and brought Kidgell and his employers into equal contempt. In parliament the ministerial majorities w T ere supreme, and both houses joined in the severest censures on the North Briton and on the poem. But it was different out of doors, where the court persecution of Wilkes had made him a perfect idol with the mob. When, on the 3rd of December, the Sheriff of Lon- don, Alderman Harley, with the City officers and hangman, proceeded to carry into effect the sentence of the House of Commons against the North Briton , by burning it in a fire in Cheapside, the mob attacked them with the greatest violence, forced the sheriffs to make a hasty retreat to the Mansion House, drove away the officers from the fire, and, snatching from the hangman the half-burnt “libel,” carried it in triumph to Temple Bar, where they made a bonfire and burnt a large jack- boot, for all these unpopular acts were laid to the account of THE FLIGHT. * 97 the favourite. Among the numerous epigrams passed about on this occasion, one of them shows strongly the popular sentiment in this respect ; — “ Because the North Briton inflamed the whole nation. To flames they commit it, to shew detestation : But throughout old England how joy would have spread, Had the real North Briton been burnt in its stead !” In consequence of this riot, the government nearly quarrelled with the City ; and to increase the mortification of the former, Wilkes and the printers arrested by the general warrant, who had all commenced prosecutions for illegal imprisonment, obtained rather heavy damages from the under secretary of state, who had put the warrant in execution ; and a violent opposition to the system of general warrants was raised in parliament, which ultimately effected their abolition. The opposition to the proceedings against Wilkes was headed in the House of Lords by the l)uke of Cumberland. Wilkes himself did not again face his opponents in the House of Commons. In a duel, which arose out of the debate on the first day, he had received a severe wound, which afforded an excuse for not attending ; and, when the parliament met after the Christmas holidays on the 19th of January, 1764, he had made his retreat to Paris, from whence he sent medical certifi- cates that he could not come back. The House of Commons thereupon passed a vote of censure on the North Briton , and then proceeded to expel Wilkes from the house. Kidgell about the same time became involved in some discreditable money transactions, and was obliged also to leave the country, and this double elopement gave rise to the following epigram : — ** When faction was loud, and when party ran high, Beligion and Liberty join’d in the cry ; But, 0 grief of griefs / in the midst of the fray, Beligion and Liberty both ran away.” It is difficult to conceive the excitement produced by this affair, which continued during the spring. The debates in par- liament were angry and obstinate ; Pitt came frequently to his place in the house, wrapped in flannels, to head his party in defending the constitutional liberty of the subject which had been infringed by the proceedings of the government ; and three remarkable men (besides others), who acted a prominent part in subsequent events, were pettishly turned out of their places, and two of them deprived of their commissions in the army, for joining in the opposition, Lord Shelburne, Colonel Barre, and 298 THE EXECUTION OF JUSTICE. General Conway. The court carried this sort of intimidation to such an excess, that a writer in the Boyal Magazine in February 1766, informed us that “a curious gentleman” had made a calculation that down to that time since Legge had been discharged in May 1761, there had been no less than five hundred and twenty-three changes of places by ministerial influence. Few of the popular party effusions produced by the prosecu- tions against Wilkes appear to be preserved ; and the caricatures connected with it are not of great interest. In one, published in 1764, under the title of “The Execu- tion,” Lord Sandwich, who was known by the sobriquet of Jemmy Twitcher, is repre- sented dragging Justice to execution. He is treading on the British lion, which lies muzzled and chained ; and a figure on one side cries to him, “ Twitch her, Jemmy, twitch her !” George Grenville, the prime minister, had also (like most of his colleagues) his sobri- quet. In the debate on the cider bill, the last measure of Bute’s administration, Gren- ville contended that the government did not know where else to lay a tax, and turn- ing to Pitt, who was warm in the opposi- tion, exclaimed, “ Let him tell me where — only tell me where !” Pitt replied only by humming in his place the words of a popula r tune, “Gentle Shepherd, tell me where!” The house was thrown into a roar of laughter, and ever after the minister carried with him the title of the Gentle Shepherd. It was this gentle shepherd who now, when the affair of Wilkes was for the present ended, by a new scheme of taxation, laid the founda- tion of the American war and the loss of those important colo- nies which now form the United States. The magnitude of the question seems not at first to have been fully appreciated in this country, and the opposition, though brisk, was not very strong, to a measure which was, nevertheless, felt to be neither consti- tutional nor politic, the taxing of a people who were not repre- sented in parliament, except as far as, as was suggested by one member, North America was considered, by a sort of constitu- tional fiction, as forming parcel of the manor of Greenwich, in Kent. Even Pitt was not present at these debates. The cus- tom duties on goods imported into America now levied, and the THE EXECUTIONER. AMERICA IN A FERMENT. 299 threat of a stamp-tax, excited a violent ferment in America, and met with a resolute opposition there ; yet in the next session (Januarjr 1765), the King’s speech urged the parliament to per- sist in taxing the Americans, and in enforcing obedience. In the meantime the English government became involved in new changes. In the summer of 1764 Pitt, who appears to have been more and more ambitious of being thought above the partizanship of faction, emancipated himself from the league he had formed with the Duke of Newcastle, and declared his inten- tion of acting entirely upon his own judgment in opposing or supporting the measures of ministers. The apparent disorganiza- tion of the opposition alone saved Grenville’s ministry during the remainder of the year. In February 1765, the American stamp act was carried through parliament, in spite of the representations of Benjamin Franklin and a deputation sent from America to expostulate ; but still Pitt, suffering under the gout, kept away. Immediately after it had passed, in the latter part of March, the young king experienced the first attack of that derangement under which he laboured in the latter years of his life, and, on his recovery, ministers brought in a hasty and ill-digested plan of a regency bill, by which they grievously affronted the Princess of Wales, and gave little satisfaction to the king. From this moment their doom was certain, and it was said that Bute fixed the king’s determination. In the middle of May, the king sent for his uncle, the Duke of Cumberland, and dispatched him to Mr. Pitt, at his seat at Hayes, in Kent, to beg him to form a new ministry, but he refused. The duke then, by the king’s desire, tried to form a ministry among the opposition, but nobody would engage without Pitt. The monarch was then driven to the alternative of asking his old ministers to remain ; which they now refused to do, unless the king would promise never again to consult Lord Bute, to dismiss Bute’s brother, Mackensie, from his office in Scotland, and Fox (Lord Holland) from his place of paymaster of the forces, (which he still re- tained,) and appoint Lord Granby captain-general. The king gave a flat refusal to the first and last of these demands, and his ministers were satisfied by the sacrifice of Lord Holland and Mr. Mackensie, and the promise that Bute should not be permitted to interfere. The king, however, was still determined to get rid of his ministers, and towards the end of June he made a new communication to Pitt, who now took some steps to form an administration, which were rendered abortive by the objections of Lord Temple. Upon this the Duke of Cumberland again addressed himself to the more moderate part of the opposition, 300 TIIE ROCKINGHAM ADMINISTRATION , . and succeeded in forming an administration under the Marquis of Kockingham, who brought into parliament his private secre- tary, the celebrated Edmund Burke, and raised to the peerage, as Lord Camden, the popular chief-justice Pratt. During the ministerial changes the country was in a troubled state, which was increased by several causes of popular excite- ment. The disputes with the American colonies was a hindrance to commerce, and was felt heavily by the merchants, and thus their cause found advocates in England. The English mob was increasing in power and insolence, and the Grenville ministry persisted in provoking it by unpopular exhibitions. Wilkes had escaped the pillory by retiring to France, and the other persons concerned in the original publication of the North Briton had beaten their persecutors, with the exception of Kearsley, the bookseller, who had been ruined, but who was re-established in trade in the beginning of 17 63, by the exertion of some of Wilkes’s partizans. Another bookseller, named Williams, re-published about this time the set of the North Britons in two small volumes. He was immediately prosecuted by the court, and sentenced to stand in the pillory in Palace Yard for one hour, which was put into execution on the 1st of March, 1763. Williams was conducted to the place of punishment amid the shouts and acclamations of a vast concourse of people, in a hackney- coach, numbered 43.* When he mounted the pillory, as well as when quitting it, he bowed to the spectators, and during the whole time he held a sprig of laurel in his hand. While he stood there, the mob erected a gallows of ladders opposite to him, on which they hung a jack-boot, an axe, and a Scotch bonnet ; which articles, after a while, were taken down, the top of the boot cut off with the axe, and then both boot and bonnet thrown into a large bonfire. In the meantime a gentleman drew out a purple purse, adorned with orange-ribbons, and made a collection of two hundred guineas for the sufferer, who was con- * The number of the North Briton was the more popular from its for- tuitous coincidence with that of the year of the great Scottish rebellion. Long after the events themselves had ceased to be a matter of general interest, patriotic tradesmen continued to give popularity to their merchan- dize by distinguishing it with the favoured number 45. It is said that even within a few years the favourite article in a snuff-shop in Fleet-street, was extracted from a canister marked 45, and the mixture known by no other name. Mr. Tooke, from whose notes to Churchill this fact is taken, adds, that, on the other hand, so obnoxious were these numerals to royalty itself, as well as its retainers, that the young Prince of Wales, in 1772, thought he could not exhibit his resentment for some privation or chastisement he had undergone more provokingly towards his royal father thau by roaring out repeatedly the popular cry, “Wilkes and No. XLY. for ever l” THE PILL 0 BY. 301 ducted from the scene of his punishment in the same triumphal manner in which he had been brought there. One of the spec- tators took out a pencil and wrote on the scaffold the extempo- rary lines : — “ Martyrs of old for truth thus bravely stood, Laid down their lives, and shed their dearest blood ; No scandal then to suffer in her cause, And nobly stem the rigour of the laws : Pulpit and desk may equally go down, A pillory’s now more sacred than a .” [crown.] The popular excitement caused by this new act of ministerial (and, as it was interpreted, Scotch) persecution, raised a great clamour. Ballads were sung about the streets on Williams and on the pillory ; and several prints appeared, representing the various circumstances of the exhibition in New Palace Yard, with a fair sprinkling of caricature. On one of them the pillory is entitled the “Scotch Yoke;” and the print is accompanied with a ballad, which, as this was one of the affairs that threw the pillory into disuse as a punishment for political offences, is perhaps worth repeating : — it is entitled — “THE PILLORY TRIUMPHANT; OR, No. 45 FOR EVER. “Ye sons of Wilkes and Liberty, Who hate despotic sway, The glorious forty-five now crowns This memorable day. And to New Palace Yard let us go, let us go. “ An injur’d martyr to her cause Undaunted meets his doom : Ah ! who like me don’t wish to see Some great ones in his room ? Then to New Palace Yard let us go, let us go. “ Behold the laurel, fresh and green, Attract all loyal eyes ; The haughty thistle droops its head, Is blasted, stinks, and dies. Then to New Palace Yard let us go, let us go. “High mounted on the gibbet view The Boot and Bonnet's fate ; But where’s the Petticoat , my lads ? The Boot should have its mate. Then to new Palace Yard, let us go, let us go. “What acclamations burst around ! Victoria is the cry : Hear, hear, oh Jeffreys ! and turn pale, Thy malice we defy. Then to New Palace Yard let us go, let us go. 3° 2 THE COURIER. “ Look up and blush with guilt and shame, Ye vile informing crew, While Williams thus with honour stands, The gallows groans for you. Then to New Palace Yard let us go, let us go. “ When wicked ministers of state To fleece the land combined, As guardian of our liberties, The Press was first designed. Then to New Palace Yard let us go, let us go. “ But now the scum is uppermost, The truth must not be spoke ; The laws are topsy-turvy turn’d, And justice is a yoke. Then to New Palace Yard let us go, let us go. “ In vain the galling Scottish yoke Shall strive to make us bend ; Our monarch is a Briton born, And will our rights defend. Then to New Palace Yard let us go, let us go. “ For ages still might England stand, In spite of Stuart arts. Would heaven send us men to rule With better heads and hearts. Then to New Palace Yard let us go, let us go. At the same time there was much rioting in different parts of the country, against the exportation of flour, and for other sup- posed grievances. A little later, in May, when the ministerial embarrassments commenced, the London weavers arose in great numbers, and attacked the house of the Duke of Bedford, whom they accused of having negotiated the obnoxious peace which had brought French silks and poverty into the land, and they were not dispersed without bloodshed. The rest of the year passed over quietly ; and a few carica- tures without much point, shew that there was the latent will THE GOUTY COLOSSUS. 303 to stir up mischief, without the resolution to act. The party who had been thrown out of power began to exert themselves to destroy the reviving popularity of Pitt, and some attacks were made upon him in print, accompanied by several caricatures. One of these, under the title of “ The Courier,” makes a joke of the Duke of Cumberland’s unsuccessful visit to the gouty foot at Hayes : the sign is that of a blown bladder, inscribed “ Popu- larity,” with the further inscription “ By W. P.” underneath. When the Parliament reopened in January, 1766, the gout was gone, and Pitt again made his appearance in the house, and delivered one of his grand philippics. He condemned all the measures of the late ministry, and stigmatized in the strongest terms the attempt to tax the Americans, in which the king in his opening speech had just recommended the house to perse- vere. He expressed his personal regard for the members of the new administration, but declared his want of confidence in it as a ministry ; and then burst into an eloquent attack upon the secret influence, which he intimated had paralyzed his own efforts in the service of the country, and had been the cause of all the mischief that had happened since. Ministers denied the secret influence ; but the nation believed implicitly in it, and Pitt became again the idol of the mob on this side of the Atlantic, and of the dissatisfied and angry colonists on the other. The attacks on the popular orator by the court-party 304 PITT AND TEMPLE. now increased in violence. In the month of February appeared a poem, entitled “ The Demagogue,” stated to be written “ by Theophilus Thorn,” in which Pitt is attacked as a mere pre- tender to patriotism, and he is accused of stirring up mischief in America with the mere object of gaining the shouts of the mob. A caricature, published about the same period, under the title of “ the Colossus,” represents the statesman raised on lofty stilts, his gouty leg resting on the Royal Exchange, in the midst of London and Westminster, which are surrounded by a cloud of bubbles, inscribed “ War,” “ Peace,” &c. ; this stilt is called “ Popularity.” The other stilt, called “ Sedition,” he stretches over the sea towards New York (the town seen in the distance), fishing for popularity in the Atlantic. The long staff on which he rests, is entitled “ Pension.” Above the orator’s head hangs the broad hat of the commonwealth, and raised in the air on one side, Lord Temple is occupied in blowing the bubbles which support the “ great commoner’s ” fame. Below are the lines : — “ Tell to me, if you are vitty, Whose wooden leg is in de city. Eh bien dr ole, ’tis de great pity. Doodle do. u De broad-brim hat he thrust his nob in, De while St. Stephen’s throng are throbbing. One crutch in America is bobbing. Doodle do. ** But who be yonder odd man there, sir ! Building de castle in de air, sir ? Oh ! ’tis de Temple, one may swear, sir ! Doodle do. “ Stamp act, le diable ! dat’s de job, sir, Dat stampt it in de stiltman’s nob, sir, To be America’s nabob, sir. Doodle do. “ De English dream vid leetle vit, sir ; For de French dey make de Pit, sir, ’Tis a pit for them who now are bit, sir. Doodle, noodle, do.” The acts of the Rockingham administration were in general popular; but it was feeble in itself, and was soon further weakened by defections. Early in July, 1 766, Pitt again received a message from the king, desiring him to form a new administration, and on this occasion the king left him to make his own terms. The orator now found his greatest difficulty in getting together his own party. He quarrelled with Lord PITT LORD CHATHAM. 3°5 Temple, who seems to have thwarted him rather largely in his plans; and at length he was obliged to compose a motley ministry, formed of men taken from several parties, and the chief tie of which consisted in his own name, the popularity of which was suddenly diminished by his reception into the House of Lords, under the title of Lord Chatham. Lord Chatham’s ministry, however, brought together a number of young states- men who figured more prominently in subsequent times. He himself took the office of lord privy seal ; Lord Camden was made chancellor ; Lord Shelburne one of the secretaries of state, and General Conway the other ; the Duke of Grafton was made first lord of the treasury ; Lord North was associated with Mr. George Cooke in the office of paymaster-general ; Mr. Willes was made solicitor-general; and the Duke of Portland was lord-chamberlain. It was in every respect a liberal government, and it is difficult to account for the extraordinary odium which was attached to Pitt’s elevation to the peerage. Few attempted to defend the “great commoner’s” ambition to sit in the House of Lords. An almost solitary epigram, amidst a heap of abuse, made a half apology. “ The Tories,* ’od rat ’era, Abuse my Lord Chatham, For what — for commencing a peer But is it not hard He should lose his reward. Who has purchas’d a title so dear ?” “ In every station Mr. Pitt serv’d the nation, With a noble disdain of her pelf ; Then where’s the great crime, When he sees a fit time. If a man should for once serve himself ?” But the populace looked upon the peerage as a bribe, for which Pitt had sold himself to the Scottish favourite, and they refused to look upon him as anything more than a tool of the court. In spite of everything that could be said to the contrary, it was still confidently believed that Bute ruled there, and that none could be ministers, except by placing themselves at his disposal ; and the mob would probably never have been persuaded to the * The name of Tories (it has already been observed), which had been always an unpopular one, and had generally been combined more or less with Jacobitism, was almost lost in the latter years of George II. Bute brought it up again by introducing into place professed Tories, and within a few years the title, with a modified meaning, became the general appella- tion of the supporters of court influence. X THE WIRE-MASTER. 306 contrary, except b3 r the public hanging or beheading of the object of their hatred. A caricature given with the Political Register for October 1767 (the publication of Wilkes’s friend Almon) represents, under the title of “ The wire-master and his puppets,” the members of the present ministry as so many puppets moved by wires directed by the Scotch favourite from the palace of St. James’s. The gouty Lord Chatham stands prominent in front, with one of his crutches broken. On one side Lord Holland (who was believed to have had a hand in Lord Bute’s secret influence) peeps in, and gives his signal — “ A little more to the left, my lord.” On the other side Britannia sits weeping, and exclaims, “ It is sport to you, but death tome.” Below, those who are out of place, among whom the Duke of Newcastle is conspicuous, are looking on at the performance, while the devil is pulling away the prop of the stage on which the puppets are moving, to make greater diversion for the specta- tors. Four lines from Swift explain the scene : — “ The puppets, blindly led away, Are made to act for ends unknown ; By the mere spring of wires they play. And speak in language not their own.” It is a matter of considerable doubt at what time the Earl of Bute’s influence at court really ended ; but it is certain that it THE BLESSED THISTLE. 307 was popularly believed in long after it had ceased to exist. It can hardly be supposed that Lord Chatham would have sub- mitted, as represented by his enemies, to be the mere tool of what was described at that very time as — “ that haughty, timid, treacherous thing, Who fears a shadow, yet who rules a king.” When the Duke of Cumberland died rather suddenly, in Sep* tember, 176$, he was sincerely regretted by the popular party, who believed that he was the most powerful opponent to the influence of the Scottish “thane,” and prints and caricatures immediately subsequent to that event, represented the latter as dancing over the prince’s tomb, re- joicing in the recovery of power. In one of these an inscription on the tomb- stone describes the deceased duke as the defeater of Scottish treason and sup- porter of the Protestant throne, and adds, in allusion to the formation of the then existing Rockingham ministry, that he had “elected a ministry out of those virtuous few, who gloriously with- stood general warrants, America-stamps, stamps of excise, &c.” In 1767, there began to be great talk among the medi- cal profession of the virtues of the carduus benedictus , or blessed thistle, as a universal remedy ; and the plant worshipped by the quacks was soon adopted as an emblem of that thistle to which it was pretended that all Englishmen were to be forced to bow the head. Bute was said to have been aiming at the recovery of power on the resignation of Lord Chatham in 1768. A caricature subsequent to this period, at a time when Lord North and Mansfield were in place, represents the thistle glorified, and the two nobles just mentioned looking on and admiring ; behind them, Satan attends as musi- cian, playing on the bagpipe. A print, dated in 1770, and suggested as a design for a new crown-piece, gives the converse and reverse of the coin. On the latter, Britannia is rpnvp„ x a THE CARDUUS BENEDICTUS. 308 THE GRAFTON MINISTRY. exited in bonds, while Bates tramples on her shield, and the sun is shining brightly upon a thistle : the inscription around it is, “Le soleil d’Ecosse aux Angloises feroce.” The other side represents the head of Bute between those of the king and the Princess of Wales, with the inscription, “ Tria juncta in lino.” Still later, when Wilkes was elected Lord Mayor of London in 1 774, a me- dal was struck in his honour,* bearing on the obverse a bust of the popular idol in his mayoralty THE reigning trio. robes, and on the other side the figure of Bute’s head sur- mounting a jack-boot, with the axe by its side, and the inscription, “ Britons strike home a device and motto which had been frequently used in the earlier period of the excitement raised by the proceedings against Wilkes. Lord Chatham’s ministry went on slowly and ineffi- ciently till 1768, without enjoying the confidence of the country, although com- posed of men, most of whom were regarded as patriotic in their principles. Lord Chatham, confined with the gout, took no share in public business ; and the Duke of Grafton, who was at the head of the treasury, and whose admi- nistration it was commonly called after 1767, gave most of his attention to Newmarket and to his mistresses. Other offices were filled with as little efficiency. Nevertheless, after Lord Chatham’s resignation, the Duke of Grafton remained at his post as prime minister, until the change in 1770 placed Lord North at the head of affairs. It was during the least active period of Chatham’s adminis- * This medal is in the collection of Mr. Haggard. THE MIDDLESEX ELECTION. 309 tration, that John Wilkes again made his appearance. Having suffered the indictment against him in the Court of King’s Bench to run to an outlawry, he had been residing at Paris ever since, and had made several vain attempts to get the sentence reversed. He arrived in London early in February, but did not shew himself publicly until the dissolution of parliament in March, when he suddenly presented himself as a candidate for the City of London. He was received by the mob with boiste- rous enthusiasm, and people paraded the streets with poles on which were suspended a boot and a yellow petticoat, but he was unsuccessful in the poll ; upon which he immediately offered himself for Middlesex, the election for which took place at Brentford, on Monday the 28th of March, 1768. Before day- break on that day, Piccadilly and all the roads leading to Brentford were occupied by mobs, who would suffer no one to pass without blue cockades and papers inscribed “ Ho. 45, Wilkes and Liberty,” and who tore to pieces the coaches of the two other candidates. They are said to have been provoked to this violence by the appearance of the latter at Hyde Park Corner, accompanied with a procession carrying flags, on which were inscribed “ No blasphemy !” and “ No sedition !” A news- paper of the day says, that “ There has not been so great a defection of inhabitants from London and Westminster, to ten miles distant in one day, since the lifeguardsman’s prophecy of the earthquake, which was to destroy both these cities in 1730.” At Brentford, Wilkes had sufficient influence over the mob to keep it quiet, but, it being announced at the close of the poll that he was far a-head of his opponents, they behaved with some violence on the way back, stopping people’s carriages and chalking them all over with “ No. 45,” and forcing everybody to shout for Wilkes. At night they compelled people to illu- minate, and broke the windows of those who refused ; and violent attacks were made on the Mansion House (the lord mayor having displayed hostility towards the popular candi- date), and the house of Lord Bute in Audley Street, the rioters being only at length dispersed by the arrival of the guards. Next day Wilkes was returned member for Middlesex; and at night the mob rose again, the illumination was still more general, and further outrages were committed. The turbulence of the mob was not confined to London ; in many parts of the country the elections were unusually riotous, and a number of persons were killed. It was said that some of the leaders of the opposi- tion in parliament encouraged the popular demonstration ; there tfere many wise enough to see that there was little to fear in it. WILKES IN PRISON. 310 The Duke of Newcastle is said to have declared that he loved a mob, that he had once been the leader of a mob himself, and that he thought a mob inseparable from the true interests of the Hanoverian succession. Yet the court was suddenly seized with great apprehensions ; and imprudent threats were held out against Wilkes and the populace. It was this unwise persecu- tion alone that made Wilkes a hero. After he had secured his election, Wilkes declared his inten- tion of surrendering himself to the court which had outlawed him ; for this purpose, he presented himself in the court of King’s Bench on the 20th of April ; but, in consequence of some legal informalities, he was then allowed to depart, and a writ having been issued, he was brought before the court on the 27th, and then committed to the custody of the marshal of the King’s Bench prison. He left the court in a hackney coach, but the mob, which was again numerous and riotous, took off the horses at Westminster Bridge, and after forcing the marshal in whose custody he was, out of the coach as they passed Temple Bar, drew their favourite through the city to a public-house in Spitalfields. But as soon as the mob had partially dispersed, Wilkes escaped at midnight by a back door, and repaired to the King’s Bench prison, where he surrendered himself into the marshal’s custody. When it was known next day that he was in prison, a mob collected outside the walls, and shouted all day for Wilkes and Liberty. A body of horse-guards, sent to the spot, and stationed near the prison, only served to irritate the populace ; the latter, who assembled daily at the same place, committed, as we are told, no further riot than shouting “ Wilkes and Liberty,” yet the guards were always brought out in an ostentatious manner to watch them, and each party abused and threatened the other, until the 10th of May, wher the new parliament was to meet, and when the mob believed that Wilkes was to be taken out of prison to attend in his place in the house. They accordingly attended in greater numbers than usual. A large force of soldiers had been stationed in front of the prison, and, by an unlortunate coincidence, they were a Scottish regiment, and they appear to have shewn some- what too openly their hatred of the English mob. The latter became exceedingly riotous, and dirt and stones were thrown. Two of the Surrey magistrates read the riot act, but it is said not to have been heard ; the soldiers fired, as it appears, with great haste and rashness, and many of the mob were killed and wounded. Three of the soldiers quitted their ranks, to follow one of the rioters whom they had singled out, and at some MASSACRE OF ST. GEORGE'S FIELDS. ?>i\ distance from the scene of riot entered a cow-house, where the}'' deliberately shot a young man named Allen, who had taken no part whatever in the proceedings of the day. The mob now became infuriated, and they added to the general excitement by parading the body of Allen through the streets. Prosecutions for murder were lodged against the soldiers and an officer implicated in the death of Allen, and against the Surrey magistrates, who had ordered soldiers to fire at the mob, and verdicts were given against the former ; but they were screened by the court, which, in a very unadvised manner, publicly approved and praised the conduct of the soldiers, whereas the three who had killed Allen were at least guilty of a breach of military discipline in quitting their ranks. This only added to the popular irritation : the riot was long remembered as the “ massacre of St. George’s Fields and the mob increased in strength, and became more violent. Several other mobs arose in London at the same time, who, as Horace Walpole observes, “only took advantage of so favourable a season. The coal-heavers began, and it is well,” Walpole observes, “ it is not a hard frost, for they have stopped all coals coming to town. The sawyers rose too, and at last the sailors, who had committed great outrages in merchant ships, and prevented them from sailing. The last mob, however, took an extraordinary turn ; for many thousand sailors came to petition the parliament yesterday (May n), but in the most respectful and peaceable manner; desired only to have their grievances examined ; if reasonable, redressed ; if not reasonable, they would be satisfied. Being told that their flags and colours with which they paraded were illegal, they cast them away. Nor was this all ; they declared for the king and parliament, and beat and drove away Wilkes’s mob.” These riotous pro- ceedings dwindled into a sort of civil war between the sailors and coal-heavers, which, strange to say, was allowed to continue for several weeks, although many lives were lost. On the 22nd of June, Walpole writes, “The coal-heavers, who, by the way, are all Irish whiteboys, after their battles with the sailors, turned themselves to general war, robbed in companies, and murdered wherever they came. This struck such a panic, that in Wapping nobody dared to venture abroad, and the city began to find no joke in such liberty.” It required again the active intervention of the guards to quell this disturbance. In the meanwhile the court of King’s Bench had reversed Wilkes’s outlawry 011 account of some informalities in the pro- ceeding : and judgment was given on the original sentence, by 312 NEW MIDDLESEX ELECTION. which he was condemned to pay a fine of 500/., and be imprisoned ten calendar months for writing the North Briton, No. 45, and to pay another fine of 500 1., and be imprisoned twelve calendar months in addition to the former term of imprisonment for publishing the “ Essay on Woman,” which in reality had been published by the ministers. Whatever excuse may be made for the first part of the sentence, none can be found for the extreme injustice of punishing a man for the publication of what he had carefully concealed from public view, and a copy of which had only been procured by the basest treachery. The natural con- sequence was, that Wilkes, in his imprisonment, became a more formidable opponent than when at liberty, and that he only sank into insignificance when he ceased to be an object of persecution. Soon after the Middlesex election, Cook, the other member, died, and on the issuing of a new writ, Wilkes, from his prison, recommended his friend and supporter, Serjeant Glynn, who beat the court candidate, Sir William Proctor, by a large ma- jority. The latter had recourse to Wilkes’s own weapons, and hired a mob, which acted with so little moderation, that one of the popular party, named Clarke, was killed. Two of Proctor’s chairmen were immediately brought before a jury at the Old Bailey, charged with murder, and one of them, turning out to be a Scotchman, was condemned, but received a pardon, to the great disappointment of the London mob. On the meeting of parliament in November, the affair of Wilkes was again debated fiercely during several weeks, and on the 3rd of February, t 769, he was again expelled the House of Commons. It was on this occasion that Edmund Burke, who spoke with great force against the expulsion, described the proceedings of the govern- ment, as “ the fifth act of the tragi-comedy acted by his majesty’s servants, for the benefit of Mr. Wilkes, at the expense of the constitution.” A new writ was issued for Middlesex, and Wilkes again offered himself as a candidate. The election took place at Brentford, on the 10th of March, when a Mr. Dingley under- took to be the ministerial champion, but he could not approach the hustings or find any one who would venture to propose him, and Wilkes was re-elected without opposition. The ministerial majority in the House of Commons flew into a rage, and, after another violent debate, declared the prisoner incapable of re- election, and issued a new writ next day, and Colonel Luttrell, then member for Bossiney, was engaged to stand for Middlesex. Wilkes, however, was again elected by a large majority, and London was as usual illuminated. But on this occasion the MINISTERIAL MORTIFICATIONS. 313 house voted that the sheriff had made a wrong return, and that Luttrell’s name should be inserted instead of that of Wilkes as the member for Middlesex. Thus ended the war between “ the two kings of Brentford,” * as people jokingly termed King George and John Wilkes. The mortifications of the court were not, however, confined to the “war” at Brentford; the ministers had again tried the unwise experiment of getting up a popular demonstration in their own favour. The first attempt was made in the county of Essex, “which,” Horace Walpole observes, “being the great county for calves, produced nothing but ridicule.” Dingley, the unsupported candidate for Middlesex, was the hero of this attempted demonstration, which miscarried through his own imprudence. Another attempt was made, and some signatures were obtained to a loyal address, which was to be presented to the king on the 22nd of March, by a procession of six hundred merchants and others. The} r set out amid hisses and outcries of every description, but they made their way in tolerable order as far as Temple Bar. There the mob had assembled in great force, and, having closed the gates against them, received them with a shower of mud and stones, which obliged them to disperse and save themselves in any streets and lanes that were not blocked up. This was popularly termed “ The battle of Temple Bar.” About a third of the loyal addressers re-assembled at some distance in advance of the scene of their discomfiture, and formed again in procession ; but they were soon overtaken by the mob, which had obtained a hearse drawn by four horses, on one side of which hung a large escutcheon, with a coarse representation of the “ massacre of St. George’s Fields,” while a similar escutcheon on the other side, represented the slaughter of Clarke at Brentford. This was marched slowly at the head of the procession, and thus, in the midst of a dreadful uproar, they reached St. James’s, where the mob became more riotous than ever. The king and his ministers were obliged to wait a considerable length of time before the address could be presented ; the mob had tried to seize the important document, and they had so pelted the chairman of the committee of merchants with mud that he was unfit to appear with it. Lord Talbot came down and seized one of the rioters, but the mob pressed round him and broke the steward’s staff in his hand. Other unpopular noblemen received ill-treatment. At length, after fifteen persons had been captured by the guards, the mob dispersed, and the * An allusion, of course, to the two kin^s of Brentford, introduced in the Duke of Buckingham’s celebrated satire, “The Rehearsal.” WILKES LOUD MAY OK. 3H address was presented. In the popular prints representing these disturbances, which were sold in great numbers, the tumult before St. James’s is entitled “the sequel to the battle of Temple Bar.” It was about this period of agitation that some of the most violent of the political caricatures were ushered into the world, with a host of publications of different kinds, calculated to inflame people’s minds. Political magazines were now established, such as the Oxford Magazine and the Political Register , bring- ing their monthly cargoes of caricatures and inflammable matter, and the engravings which had appeared singly during the earlier years of the reign were re-published, and in several instances collected into volumes. But new political heroes were coming on the scene, as objects of popular worship or hatred. Wilkes’s career may be said to have closed with his release from imprison- ment in 1770. A committee of men who called themselves “ The supporters of the Bill of Bights,” raised a subscription which relieved him from the pecuniary embarrassment into which he had been thrown by his own improvidence as much as by the persecutions to which he had been exposed ; and a week after he left the prison he was admitted an alderman of London. In 1774, he and his friend Serjeant Glynn were elected members for Middlesex without opposition, and he was now allowed to take his seat in the house unmolested. The same year he was elected lord mayor, and he subsequently obtained the more lucrative and permanent office of chamberlain. In 1780, he was re-elected for Middlesex, and in 1788 he obtained a vote of the house to expunge from its journals the declarations and orders formerly passed against him. He had now, however, be- come a very insignificant member of the House of Commons ; and, having made the most of his patriotism, he exhibited himself as a remarkable instance of ter- giversation, disclaiming his own acts, and making no scruple of expressing his con- tempt for the opinions of his former friends. In 1 784, several caricatures cele- brated the reconciliation of the “two kings of Brentford.” The best of these, published on the 1st of May, of that year, is entitled “The New Coalition,” and represents the king and Wilkes em- bracing, the latter holding the cap of liberty reversed. The patriot says to DEATH OF WILKES. 315 the monarch, “I now find that you are the best of princes.” King George replies, “ Sure ! the worthiest of subjects, and most virtuous of men !” Another caricature, published on the 3rd of May, represents the King, Lord Thurloe, and Wilkes, leagued in amity together ; while a third, the work of some unscrupulous democrat, represents Wilkes and the king hanged on one tree, with the inscription, “ Give justice her claims.” The “ two kings of Brentford” were now indeed equally unpopular with the mob ; and at the general election in 1790, Wilkes received the most humiliating defeat on the very hustings where he had so often triumphed in his days of “ patriotism.” He died on the 26th.of December, 1797, and was interred in a vault in Grosvenor Chapel, South Audley Street, where a plain marble tablet, described him simply as “ a hieud ol‘ liberty.” CHAPTER IX. GEORGE III. Violent Political Agitation — The North Administration — The Foxes— Re- monstrances and Petitions — The Button Maker — Liberty of the Press — Caricatures of the American War — Admiral Keppel — War with France and Spain — No Popery ; the London Riots — Attacks on the Earl of Sandwich and on Lord North ; the Political Washerwoman — Overthrow of Lord North’s Ministry — Rodney’s Triumphs — Rockingham and Shel- burne Administrations — America. A T the moment that John Wilkes was losing his personal importance, Lord Chatham re-appeared on the stage with redoubled energy, and he continued for several years to support, by his voice and example, the opposition in Parliament. The result was a continuance of stormy sessions, such as had seldom been seen in either house before ; and attacks were made within the walls of St. Stephen’s not only on the ministers, but on the Crown also, which far exceeded anything that had appeared in the North JSritons without. The latter also were succeeded by papers of a still more violent character ; and the language with which the press had attacked Bute was feeble in comparison with the powerful and fearless hostility of the celebrated Junius, or the abuse of the Whisperer, a political paper established at the beginning of 1770, which seldom deigned to apply to the king’s ministers more gentle epithets than that of “ diabolical villains.” This journal contained articles openly exciting the people to re- bellion ; and indeed everything seemed to threaten a great national convulsion. The opposition made its muster in attacking the address at the opening of parliament in the beginning of January, 1770, and shewed strong in talent, if not powerful in numbers ; and this first question was productive of important, and, as appears, rather unexpected results. The opposition was, moreover, acting with greater unity than had distinguished it for some time ; for Lord Chatham had formed a close alliance with the Rockingham party, and the Marquis of Rockingham, who carried weight by his integrity of character and his parliamentary abilities, was THE MARQUIS OF ROCKINGHAM. 317 THE MARQUIS OP ROCKINGHAM. personally a valuable ally in the House of Lords.* The two principal subjects of contention were, the ministerial policy with regard to America, where affairs were progressing fast towards civil war, and, at home, the in- fringement of the constitution in the case of Wilkes and the Mid- dlesex election. On the first de- bate on this question in the House of Lords (Jan. 9), the chancellor, Lord Camden, to the surprise of everybody, seconded Lord Cha- tham, expressed his opinion strongly against the proceedings of the ministers in the case of Wilkes, and declared that, as a minister of the Crown, he had long disapproved the arbitrary measures pursued by his colleagues. Lord Camden was, as might be expected, immediately deprived of the seals, and one of the only men who brought any popularity to the court party was thus thrown into the opposition. The place of Lord Chan- cellor of England, refused by everybody, literally went a-begging, and, after the suicide of the Hon. Charles York, who had been with difficulty prevailed upon to accept it, was at length put in commission. Among the foremost leaders of the opposition in the House of Lords were now, after Lord Chatham, the Marquis of Rockingham, the Dukes of Richmond, Portland, and Devon- shire, and Lords Shelburne and Temple. In the lower house, the principal leaders and ablest speakers were Edmund Burke, Colonel Barre, George Grenville, Dowdeswell, and others. Colonel Barre was particu- larly distinguished by the boldness * The subjoined portrait of the Marquis of Rockingham, as well as that of Colonel Barr£ which follows, is taken from the series of slightly carica- tured portraits etched by Sayer, and published in 1782. They are valuable keys to the caricatures of the day. COLONEL BARRE. THE NORTH ADMINISTRATION. 3i8 and vehemence with which he attacked the measures of govern- ment. He had been first thrown into the opposition by per- sonal slights received from the Court ; and his resentment was afterwards embittered by ill-treatment which he experienced in his profession, the army. The debate on the address produced effects in the House of Commons similar to those we have just seen in the House of Lords ; the Marquis of Granby, the popu- lar commander-in-chief of the army, joined the opposition, and subsequently threw up his appointment. The opposition was here further strengthened by the acquisition of Mr. Wedderburn, the solicitor-general, who followed his friend, Lord Camden, and by several other defections from the ministry. The latter, how- ever, seemed but little weakened, when suddenly, at the end of January, the Duke of Grafton gave in his resignation as prime- minister. Upon this the ministry underwent some slight modi- fications, and Lord North was raised to the dignity of premier. The celebrated North administration thus began on the 28th of February, 1770. At this moment some of the men began to take their place on the political stage, whom we shall find acting a prominent part in the stirring events of the latter part of the century. Among these was the celebrated Charles James Fox, the second son of Lord Holland, who, now little more than a youth, was exerting his extraordinary talents in support of the measures of the Duke of Grafton and Lord North, and he thus began the world under the weight of unpopularity which had attached itself to the names of those ministers. Charles Fox, as well as his elder brother, had been early initiated into the dissipations of the time by their father ; and his passion for gambling had already reduced him to neediness. He was under age at the time he entered the House of Commons, where the hope of place made him a staunch supporter of the Court ; and he was the most energetic opponent of Burke (his subsequent friend) in the debate on the address. In the changes which followed the Duke of Grafton’s resignation, Fox was made a junior lord of the Admiralty, and within three years after he was made a lord of the Treasury. Horace Walpole writes, on the 2nd of Feb- ruary, 1770, the day after Fox’s first appointment to office, “ Charles Fox shines equally there [at the hazard-table] and in the House of Commons ; he was twenty-one yesterday se’nnight, and is already one of our best speakers. Yesterday he was made a lord of the Admiralty.” A few months later (April 1772), Walpole went to the house to hear the young orator, and he tells us that “ Fox’s abilities are amazing at so very early a CHARLES JAMES FOX. 3 J 9 period, especially under the circumstances of such a dissolute life. He was just arrived from Newmarket, had sat up drinking all night, and had not been in bed. How such talents make one laugh at Tully’s rules for an orator, and his indefatigable appli- cation ! His laboured orations are puerile in comparison of this boy’s manly reason.” On the 27th of November, 17 73, Wal- pole writes again, “ Lord Holland is dying, is paying Charles Fox’s debts, or most of them, for they amount to one hundred and thirty thousand pounds ! Ay, ay ; and has got a grandson and heir. I thought this child a prophet, who came to foretell the ruin and dispersion of the Jews ; but while there is a broker or a gamester upon the face of the earth, Charles will not be out of debt.”* While Fox continued in his speeches sneering openly at “ the voice of the people,” it is no wonder that, with his father’s un- popularity hanging over him, he became a mark for the popular satirists and caricaturists, who gave him the title of “ the Young Cub,” and made the most of his private vices. A print in the Oxford Magazine for February, 1770, immediately after Charles Fox’s appointment to a seat at the Admiralty board, is entitled “ The Death of the Foxes.” It represents an old fox and a young fox hanged side by side on a gallows, while the farmer, John Bull, and his wife, are rejoicing at the liberation of their poultry -yard from such vermin. The youthful statesman was already remarkable for his corpulence. The same number of the Oxford Magazine , which is illustrated by the print just men- tioned, contains a series of political cross-readings from news- * At this period the passion for gambling was carried to absolute mad- ness among the young aristocracy. The magaziues and papers of the day contain numerous examples of their extravagances. Thus, in the Oxford Magazine for October, 1770, we are told, “ A few days since some sprigs of our hopeful nobility, who were dining together at a tavern at the west end of the town, took the following sensible conceit into their heads after dinner. One of them observing a maggot come from a filbert, which seemed to be uncommonly large, attempted to get it from his companion, who not choosing to let it go, was immediately offered five guineas for it, which were accepted. He then proposed to run it against any other two maggots that could be produced at table. Matches were accordingly made, and the poor insects were the means of five hundred pounds being won and lost in a few minutes.” On another similar occasion, some hun- dreds of pounds were hazarded on the relative velocity of two drops of rain running down a pane of glass, which, however, disappointed the gamesters by joining in one before they reached the appointed goal. Statesmen and prime-ministers were affected with the same infatuation. We are told in the Town and Country Magazine for March, 1770, that “the late premier (the Duke of Grafton) was at one period of his life so addicted to gaming, that he lost his seat of E — n-hall (Euston-hall) one night to the late Duke 320 THE NEST OF FOXES. papers, one of which is, “ Speakers on the side of Admin n,* the Hon. C. Fox, Esq. — He is reckoned the fattest man in England next to Mr. Bright.” In December, 1773, the Oxford Magazine published another caricature against the family of the Foxes. The old fox is seated at the table, apparently giving the young ones his serious advice, to which the son and heir, seated to his left, appears to listen with attention. The “ young A NEST OF FOXES. cub,” Charles, who, from his dark visage had already obtained the nickname of Niger, sits on the other side, picking his father’s pocket. In the original, over his head, is the inscrip- tion “ Hie niger est beneath him, on the ground, lie Hoyle's Games and a brace of dice, and the devil concealed under the table, holds him chained by the feet. The inscription under the plate is, “ Robbed between sun and sun.” The old Fox, Lord Holland, died at the beginning of July, 1774; but his son Charles, who seems to have been no longer held in check by the paternal politics of the house, had already quarrelled with the minister, and was throwing himself into the ranks of the patriots. On the 24th of February, 1774, Walpole announces to of C d (Cumberland), who generously returned it to him, on condition of his never losing above a hundred pounds at one sitting.” Horace Walpole, July 10, 1774, tells of a still more extravagant amusement. One of these gamblers, he informs us, “has committed a murder, and intends to repeat it. He betted £1500 that a man could live twelve hours under water ; hired a desperate fellow, sunk him in a ship, by way of experiment, and both ship and man have not appeared since. Another man and ship are to be tried for their lives, instead of Mr. Blake, the assassin.” * Administration. Parliament, and especially the court party, was at this time so jealous of any publication of what passed within doors, that it was necessary thus to make indirect or concealed allusions even to the names of the speakers. POLITICAL AOITATION. 32 his correspondent in Italy, “ The famous Charles Fox was this morning turned out of his place as lord of the Treasury, for great flippancies in the house towards Lord North. His parts will now have a full opportunity of showing whether they can balance his character, or whether patriotism can whitewash it.” It is due to Fox’s character to say, that from this moment he continued during his life steady and consistent in the political principles he now embraced. While things were going on anything but peaceably within the walls of the legislature, the agitation through the country without was increasing, and the North administration soon found itself engaged in a violent war with the city, and involved in the most vexatious and unprofitable hostilities with the old enemy of the court — the press. The year 1769 had seen the commencement of the letters of Junius ; and at the end of May in the same year a petition from the city of London was pre- sented to the King in full levee, violently attacking the court measures, and asking for the dismissal of ministers and the dis- solution of the Parliament, which by its venality had lost the confidence of the country. Many of the counties, cities, and towns throughout the kingdom followed the example of the capital; but the King, who seemed resolved to push the war between royal prerogative and popular freedom to a crisis, re- fused to listen to their complaints, and, in opening the session at the beginning of 1770, the King’s speech spoke of a disease that prevailed among horned cattle, instead of alluding to the violent agitation under which the kingdom then laboured. This was greedily seized upon by the satirists of the day ; it was commonly said, that the King cared more for his own farmyard than for the interests of his subjects ; and from this time he was often sneered at under the title of “ Farmer George.” It was further understood, that the royal leisure at Kew was often occupied in turning on the lathe and other similar amusements, and that royal ingenuity had gone so far as to construct “ a button and the crime of button-making was in popular ridi- cule long coupled with the dignities of the British crown. The caricaturists made the horned cattle story tell upon other branches of the royal family ; for the Duke of Cumberland, one of the King’s brothers, had just been surprised at St. Alban’s in an intrigue with Lady Grosvenor, for which he paid dear ; and before many days had passed over the royal speech, a caricature on the court appeared under the title, “ The Trial of Mr. Cum- berland for spreading the distemper among the horned cattle at St. Alban’s and other parts.” 322 THE LONDON REMONSTRANCE . The King himself seemed bent upon desperate measures. The Whisperer (of Feb. 24, 1770) asserts, that, “when the Marquis of Granby resigned his employments, the King said to him, ‘ Granby, do you think the army would fight for me ?’ To which the marquis nobly replied, 1 I believe, sir, some of your officers would, but I will not answer for the men.’.” Whether this be true or not, it is certain that Lord Marcbmont, one of the most zealous of those whom the King now began to term “ his friends,” was so indiscreet as to talk in the House of Lords of the possible necessity of calling in foreign assistance. Ex- pressions like these were repeated and commented upon abroad ; and the citizens of London, who had voted the petition to which no answer bad been returned, were further irritated by a report that some high persons about the throne bad designated them as “ the scum of the earth and dregs of the people .” They determined to lay their complaints again before the King ; and a very strongly-worded document was got up, under the title of an “ Address, Remonstrance, and Petition,” which complained of the dangers to which the country was exposed from secret and evil counsellors and a corrupt majority of the House of Commons, and called to the King’s memory the fate of Charles the First and James the Second. The King is said to have con- sented only with extreme reluctance to receive this remon- strance : it was carried to St. James’s on the 14th of March by Hie lord mayor, attended by a numerous body of the common- councilmen and city officers, and accompanied by an immense mob ; and the King received it on the throne, but he is said to have shown a lowering countenance, and he returned a rebuking answer, concealing his anger with difficulty. Some of the cour- tiers also are said to have used impatient gestures, and to have held out indecent threats of depriving the city of its liberties. The court, indeed, at once resolved to proceed with rigour against the persons chiefly concerned in getting up this petition ; and some very angry proceedings took place in the House of Commons ; but these were subsequently relinquished by the urgent advice of Lord North and the more moderate of the ministers. The King is said to have complained in private that his ministers had not supported him in bridling the insolence of his subjects. A number of caricatures, in rapid succession, exhibited the bitter sentiments of the popular party on the treatment experi- enced by their petitions and remonstrances. The Oxford Maga- zine for April, 1770, contains a caricature, entitled “The Button-Maker,” which represents the mayor and sheriffs pre- THE BUTTON-MAKER. 323 senting their “ Remonstrance,” to which the King refuses to listen, exclaiming, as he shews his buttons to two noblemen in attendance, “ I cannot attend to your remonstrance ! Do not you see that I have been employed in business of much more consequence ?” One of the noble attendants observes, “ What taste! what elegance! Not a prince in Europe can make such buttons !” while the other courtier, in the same strain, adds, “ What a genius ! why, he was born a button-maker !” However rude the language of petitions and remonstrances in speaking of the House of Commons may have appeared, the great corruption of that branch of the legislature, at the period of which we are now speaking, was notorious ; and it was the money of the court only that overbalanced the eloquence of the opposition. The latter only became more violent by the con- sciousness of its numerical weakness. In the March of 1770 the popular leaders in both houses were again declaiming against the secret influence behind the throne, and the cry was quickly caught by the mob, and chalked up against every wall in execra- tions against the Dowager Princess of Wales. Men who had been ministers declared openly that their counsel had become unpalatable to the royal ear the moment it savoured of consti- tutional liberty. On the 23rd of May, the lord mayor (Beck- ford), with some aldermen, and a numerous train of city worthies, presented a new remonstrance to the King, less violent in its language, but complaining of their treatment on former occa- sions. The reply was, a new rebuke ; upon which the bold lord mayor obtained leave, in the confusion of the moment, to make an extempore speech, which roused the King’s anger so much, that he immediately issued orders that no lord mayor should be allowed thus to address the throne again. The indignation of the city was so great, that, if some moderate men of their own party had not persuaded them otherwise, they were on the point of refusing to congratulate the King on the birth of a Princess ; but very shortly afterwards, on the 21st of June, city patriotism experienced a serious loss in the death of Beckford. About a fortnight before this event, the Princess Dowager of Wales, the object of so much popular odium, had left England on a visit to Germany — an event which, as we learn from Horace Walpole, was immediately sung about the streets in a ballad, the burden of which was “ The cow has left her calf!” Although these events were succeeded by an appearance of tranquillity, the fate of the city remonstrances continued long to be a subject of discontent ; and the occupation of button-making was sung about the streets in ballads and lampoons with obsti- x 2 32 4 THE BUTTON-MAKERS IN TREATY. nate perseverance. Most of these, to judge by an example now in my possession, entitled “ A New Dialogue between the Devil and Mr. King, the Button-maker,” were too scurrilous and dog- gerel to be quoted. A rather extensive class among the popular literature of this period consisted of jest-books, which were some- times fertile in political satire. Thus, in the April of 1770 was published a collection entitled, in allusion to the sobriquet of Lord Sandwich, “ Jemmy Twitcher’s Jests.” In the following November appeared “ The Button-maker’s Jests,” with a coarse caricature on the King for a frontispiece. We may perhaps rest satisfied with the opinion expressed in a contemporary review, that it was a piece of “ low scurrility.” But the subject was revived again and again in a variety of forms ; and in February, r 7 7 1 , when the peace between England and Spain was nearly broken by the quarrel concerning the Falkland Islands, the two monarchs, said to have been both distinguished for the same sort of mechanical ingenuity, are introduced in a caricature in the Oxford Magazine , settling their differences over a paper of buttons. The bag of money on the Spanish King’s lap is described as “A bribe for the P D of W s;” and the Don says, “ His M — m — ’s directions are very good : we’ll let him breathe a little, while she and I undermine the constitu- tion.” The mind of King George is entirely absorbed with one subject : he exclaims to his rival, “ I say you never made so good a button in all your life.” The preceding number of the same magazine contains one of the latest caricatures on the petitions, entitled “ The Fate of City Bemonstrances,” in which the King is represented as giving the petitions of his subjects to the boyish Prince of Wales as materials for kites. In another print, published a few weeks later, Farmer George is seen in slovenly PROSECUTION OF THE PRESS. 3^5 garb, attending to his nursery and the state of the weather, and utterly unconscious of the grievances of his country. It was just at this moment that a new source of contention arose to embroil the ministers with the city of London. The former were constantly occupied with prosecutions against the Letters of J unius and other violent political papers, from which they derived no advantage, and which passed over without at- tracting more than a very temporary notice ; but there were strong things said within the walls of Parliament, which it was the interest of ministers, satisfied with carrying all their measures by a large bought majority, to keep from the public ears. At no period was the English Parliament so absurdly jealous of the publication of its proceedings as at this time, when the licence of the press out of doors was almost unbounded ; and the most extraordinary precautions were taken to conceal what was said within from the knowledge of those without. At the beginning of 177 i, some newspapers ventured on giving reports of the par- liamentary debates, notes of which they of course obtained through members of the house, when Col. George Onslow, one of the lords of the Treasury, who had been spoken of by his popular nickname of “Cocking George,” brought forward the question of privilege in rather an angry manner. At the end of February and the beginning of March, there were several warm debates on the subject, and warrants were issued to arrest the printers, who dwelt in the city. The latter also stood upon its privileges : no one would give information where the offenders were to be found ; and when some of them were seized, they were set at liberty by the city magistrates. Another person arrested was not only set at liberty, but he charged the mes- senger of the House of Commons with an assault ; upon which the lord mayor (Crosby) with two aldermen (Oliver and Wilkes) signed a commitment against him, and he was obliged to find bail. On the 18th of March, the House of Commons, in a heat, summoned the lord mayor to attend in his place, which he did the next day, attended thither by a prodigious mob. Some members who had been insulted by the mob, such as Charles Fox, spoke in great anger. Every day, while the house was occupied with this question, it was surrounded by the infuriated populace, who hissed and hooted the members distinguished by their support of the court. Within the house the debates be- came at last almost as stormy as the riot without. A party of the opposition publicly seceded, and Colonel Barre told the house that their conduct was infamous, that no honest man could sit amongst them, and then walked away. On the 28th 326 VIOLENT MOBS. of March it was resolved to commit the lord mayor and Aider- man Oliver to the Tower. The house avoided attacking Aider- man Wilkes, who was probably the chief offender. The mob on this day had been unusually violent, having dragged Charles Fox and his brother from their chariot, and assaulted them violently ; and Lord North’s chariot was destroyed, and he him- self narrowly escaped being torn to pieces. The next day the King went to the house, when the mob, which is said to have assembled to the number of at least eighty thousand, hissed and insulted his Majesty, and again attempted to vent their fury on Charles Fox, a large stone thrown at him having passed through both windows of his carriage. Fox was looked upon as one of the chief promoters of these violent measures ; and one of the daily newspapers tells us, that “ the resentment of the populace would probably not have been carried so far as it was, but for the indecent and most shocking behaviour of Mr. Charles Fox, who is supposed to have great influence with his Majesty, and already assumes the style and post of minister. This youth, for about half an hour, was leaning out of a coffee-house window in Palace Yard, shaking his fist at the people, and provoking them by all the reproachful words and menacing gestures that he could invent. Greorge Selwyn stood behind, encouraging him, and clapping him on the back, as if he was a dirty ruffian going to fight in the streets.” The prisoners remained in the Tower till after the prorogation of the Parliament, and were quite as for- midable there as in the Mansion House. The fashionable toast in London was, in allusion to Alderman Oliver, “ Success to Oliver the Second !” Mobs continued to encumber the streets. At mid-day, on the 5th of April, two carts, preceded by a hearse, were dragged in slow procession through the city to Tower Hill, amidst a vast concourse of people. The two carts had each a gallows stretched across, with large pasteboard figures hung upon them ; those in the first cart being labelled on the back '* L — d B — n” (Lord Barrington), “ L — d H — x” (Lord Halifax), and “Alderman H — ,” the latter being an unpopular member of the court of aldermen, from his known attachment to ministers. The figures in the second cart were labelled “L— the Usurper,” “De G— y” (De Grey), “ J— y T — r” (Jemmy Twitcber, i.e. Lord Sandwich), and “C — g G — e” (Cocking George, i.e. Col. Onslow). At the Tower Hill, the gallowses and figures were committed to the fire ; and the dying speeches of “ some supposed malefactors” were subsequently cried about the streets. A rudely engraved print of this mock procession, with the speeches put into the mouths of the male- factors, is in the collection of Mr. Hawkins. JUSTICE FIELDING. 327 The court party now made an attempt to strengthen them- selves a little in public opinion, by working upon the fears and prejudices of the populace, and by other similar means, and with a certain degree of success. They raised suspicions of foreign designs on this country, and excited jealousy of foreign aggran- dizement, as well as of domestic treason. Among reports used for this purpose, was a pretended plot to embarrass our naval pre- parations by burning Portsmouth dockyard, and two or three very humble individuals were arrested on this charge. This affair seems to have caused no great excitement ; and we hardly trace it in the journals of the time, except by a caricature pub- lished in the Oxford Magazine for September, 1771, designed as a satire upon the venality and partiality of the police-courts under the celebrated Justice Fielding. Fielding had occupied his prominent seat on the magisterial bench for a great number of years ; and he was now old, and remarkable for his fatness and his blindness. In a satirical list of imaginary masquerade characters in the Westminster Magazine , for December, 1772, the watchful, but now blind magistrate, is thus introduced — “Argus, whose eyes were sealed by Mercury, Sir J. Fielding.” The caricature alluded to is entitled, “ The blind justice, and the secretaries One-eye and No-head examining the old woman and little girl about the firing Portsmouth dockyard.” Justice herself is represented as fat and bloated, and as venal as her official representative. The latter, blind as he is, addresses himself to the prisoners : “ I see ou are guilty, you have g look.” One of the secretaries of state, who has his eye covered, adds, “ Some- body must be hanged for this, right or wrong, to quiet the mob and save our credit.” The other secretary, being repre- sented not only as intellectually but bodily without a head, says nothing. The woman accused replies, “No more than your worships have: I’m a poor honest woman : my betters know more of the fire than I.” The ministers were now actively working in the city of Lon- don, by indirectly influencing elections, &c. to obtain a majority plainly y< a liangin TEE AGITATION SUBSIDES. 328 or at least a greater influence, in the city councils : and in this they had at times considerable success. The death of Beckford, in the summer of 1770. had shaken the strength of the city patriots ; and their weaknesses had been increased by division among themselves. In May, 1772, we find a caricature on the ministerial influence in the city under the title of “ The difference of weight between court and city aldermen in which their regard for the principles they profess, is estimated at a very low rate. On one side the cap of liberty is treated with the utmost disgrace ; and in a framed picture on the wall above, poor Britannia, whom we have so often seen abused and ill-treated by one party or the other, is repre- sented as having arrived at the last degree of ignominy, by being hanged on a gallows. In the October of the same year we have another caricature, entitled “The City junta, or, the ministerial aldermen in consultation.” These political divisions in the city were productive of serious domestic riots ; and at the lord mayor’s feast in 1772, the civic party were disturbed at their festivities in Guildhall by the violence of the mob without. Several of the caricatures we have been describing were pub- lished with different monthly magazines, which from 1769 to 1772, had been largely illustrated with such subjects. The lull of political agitation is at this time made evident by the altered tone of these publications, which become suddenly tamer in style, and contain less of politics, and the caricatures give place to views of towns and of gentlemen’s seats, or to pictures of birds and flowers. Caricatures, indeed, begin now to be scarce, and in general spiritless, till the violence of political agitation began to be felt again about 1780, towards the end of the North admi- nistration. The convention with Spain in 1771, and the man- agement of our increasing Indian empire about the same time, were the subjects of considerable discontent, and gave rise to a few prints ; and, when the agitation excited by the remonstrances and the imprisonment of the lord mayor began to subside, the ministers were attacked more generally for their support of arbitrary power at home, and for the want of dignity in their NEGLECT OF TEE NAVY. 329 foreign policy, and especially for their neglect of the navy, the natural defence of this country, which was under the direction of the unpopular Lord Sandwich. The first number of the Westminster Magazine for December, 1 772, contains a political satire, entitled, “ A conversation which passed between the lion and the unicorn at St. James’s, after the meeting of Parliament in 1772.” It is a bitter complaint against the corruptions of the Government, and sneers at the King’s taste for making snuff-boxes and buttons, instead of occupying himself with the wants of his subjects. The neglect of the navy is accounted for by the supposition that the King cared only for the defence of his own person against his subjects, for which soldiers were far more necessary than sailors, and it exhibits a little of the old jealousy against a standing army. Sandwich, says the lion, cared little how the sailors were provided for : — “lion. “ Ah, the sailors are what Master George should observe ; But Sandwich declares all the heroes shall starve : For by keeping them hungry, you keep ’em all keen, That like half-famish’d crows, which on carrion you’ve seen, They will fly at the French with the stomachs of hogs, And, like storks, in a trice clear the sea of the frogs. “ UNICORN. “’Tis a comical maxim, and much out of nature, For me, Master Sandwich, faith, never shall cater ; But if they don’t quiet these terrible storms,* All our men and our ships will be eat by the worms. “ LION. “ The ships ! what are they to our sensible master ? ’Tis the horse and the foot which devour all the pasture. Will shipping defend him at London and Kew ? No, — then what, pray, with shipping has Georgy to do ? “ ’Tis the soldiers, my boy, upon Wimbledon Common, That tickle his eye, and the gigg of each woman ; Their buttons he makes, and he cocks all their hats, With them he rides out too, and merrily chats.” The same magazine, for February, 177 3, contains a caricature entitled “ The state cotillion,” founded on the rage for dancing then prevalent, and conveying a general satire on the adminis- tration. Lord Mansfield, the chancellor, is represented dancing on Magna Charta ; and North is dancing on the national debt and on bills of grievances. Other bills are trampled upon by different ministers. The King peeps through a door on one side, and seems to enjoy the sport. On the other side, Lord * The weather that season was extraordinarily tempestuous, and a great number of ships of all sorts had perished. 330 AMEBIC A : TROUBLES IN BOSTON Bute is represented playing on the bagpipes the tune of “ Over the water to Charley.” The Oxford Magazine of the following May was adorned with a caricature representing the King with North and Sandwich in council, getting up a sham war, as an excuse for raising money for the court, while they receive secret subsidies from France to keep the nation quiet. It was at this time, however, that our foreign relations were becoming every day more complicated and threatening. The dispute with the American colonies had now continued for several years ; and it became almost the sole question in debate between our political parties at home. But, even among those who complained most of the want of foresight shewn by our ministers in their measures with regard to the Americans, the cause of the latter was not everywhere viewed in the same light; for many condemned equally the violent conduct of the insur- gents, and the evident design, already encouraged by a number of ambitious men amongst them, to throw off* their allegiance to the English Crown. This was the real hindrance to a recon- ciliation. There were others, however, in the mother-country who took up the cause of the colonists with less reservation. Among the numerous pamphlets on this subject announced in the month of May, 1770, soon after the first collision between the mob and the soldiers in Boston, in which the blame most certainly belonged to the former, two bear the titles of “ A short narrative of the horrid massacre in Boston,” and “ Innocent blood crying from the streets of Boston.” Prints of these, and of other alleged acts of violence, were distributed abroad ; yet the subsequent conduct of the Bostonians, and of the inhabitants of THE WHITEHALL PUMP. 33 * Rhode Island, exasperated the English people, and gave un- popularity to the cause of the Americans. This, however, did save the English ministers from the charge of obstinate folly and imprudence ; while conciliation might have availed, they were insolent and tyrannical, and while they provoked the Americans more and more to resistance, they overlooked the magnitude of the question, and took measures of defence totally inadequate to avert the danger which was thus allowed to gain head, until conciliation was no longer available. The tea bill was represented in popular squibs and caricatures as a bitter dose, which Lord North was forcing upon an unwilling patient usque ad nauseam. One caricature represents America held down by Lord Mansfield, the lord-chancellor, and compiler of the late obnoxious acts against the colonies, while Lord North pours the tea down her throat ; Britannia is seen behind, weeping at her distress. In another caricature, published with the West- minster Magazine for April, 1774, under the title of “ The White- hall Pump,” poor Bri- tannia is thrown down upon her child, Ame- rica, while Lord North, who was remarkable for his shortness of vision, viewing her through his glass, is pumping upon her, and appears to be en- joying her distress. Underneath fallen Bri- tannia, a multitude of acts and bills are scat- tered over the ground, bearing the titles of “ Magna Charta,” “ The Bill of Rights,” Britannia in distress. “ Coronation Oaths,” “ Remonstrances,” “ Petitions,” &c. The chancellor, Lord Mans- field, holding an act of Parliament in his hand, stands by the prime-minister, to encourage and support him. Ihe other mem- bers of the cabinet, who are also in attendance, have joy marked strongly on their countenances. The pump is surmounted by the not very intellectual features of King George. Other peo- 332 ENGLAND AND AMERICA. CONCORD. pie — for there were many shades of opinion with regard to America — deceived by the outward de- clarations of the colonists, seized upon every new breath of apparent concilia- tion to preach up the advantages of amity and concord. A caricature, un- dated, entitled “A Political Concert,” represents Britannia and her disobedient daughter reconciled, and united in sup- porting the cap of liberty. It was, in- deed, the common outcry of the extreme opposition in this country, that the at- tack upon the civil rights of the Ameri- can colonists was only a step towards the destruction of popular liberty at home. Among the caricatures on ministerial improvidence, one published in October, 1774, represents Lord North in the cha- racter of blustering “ Boreas” (the sobri- quet which was commonly applied to him), eyeing the distant colo- nies through his glass, and shewing his ignorance of the difficul- ties with which he had to contend by the flippant and vaunting threat “ I promise to reduce the Americans in three months.” It was the American question which finally, in 1774, placed Charles James Fox in opposition to the ministers, and which stirred up the ancient fire of Lord Chat- ham’s eloquence during the latter years of his life. The English Parliament, with bill after bill, irritated the colonists, until they threw themselves into open war with the mother-country ; while the insulting language of the Americans only gave an excuse for the English acts of Parliament against them, and so much dis- gusted the people of England, that the strength of the English ministrj r was daily increased. The general election of 1774 added so much to their majority in the House of Commons, that they were relieved of all fears from the opposition there. The war with America, which may now be said to have commenced, was a series of blunders and follies, which involved this country BOREAS. LORD CHATHAW S PROPHECY. 333 in perpetual disasters. The memorable battle of Banker’s Hill was fought on the 16th of June, 1765 ; and the same year the “ United States of America ” made their declaration of inde- pendence. The war was now carried on with great animosity during this and the following year, the Americans no longer concealing the real object of the struggle, which was not relief from a trifling grievance, but the resolution to break their alle- giance to the mother-country, and establish themselves as a separate empire. How the popular complaint against the ministers was, that their preparations to reduce the colonists to obedience were inadequate and ill-directed, and that England was betrayed into danger by her own rulers. In a caricature published in April, 1776, under the title of “The Parricide,” Young America is represented in the act of making a ferocious attack on her mother, Britannia, who, held down by the ministers, is unable to defend herself. The British lion is roused into a state of furious agitation, ready to throw himself upon the assailant, but he is bridled and restrained by Lord Mansfield. There were many who already foresaw what must be the ultimate result of the contest ; and they looked forward with apprehension to a period when liberty and civilization would fly from the shores of Britain, to establish themselves in greater glory in the Hew World. The following spirited poem, published in the June of the year 1 776, and placed in the mouth of Lord Chatham, embodies these ideas: — LORD CHATHAM’S PROPHECY. “ When boasting Gage was hurried o’er To dye his sword in British gore, And plead the senate’s right. E’en Chatham, with indignant smile, Harangued in this prophetic style, Illumed by freedom’s light ! “Your plumed corps though Percy cheers, And far-famed British grenadiers, Renowned for martial skill ; Yet Albion’s heroes bite the plain, Her chiefs round gallant Howe are slain. And fallow Bunker’s Hill. “Some tuneful bard, who pants for fame, Shall consecrate one deathless name, And future ages tell, — For Spartan valour here renown’d, Where laurels shade the sacred ground, Heroic Warren fell ! “ Erewhile a Howe indignant rose, Against his country’s, freedom’s foes ; Those glorious days are past. 334 LORD CHATHAM'S PROPHECY. A coward’s orders to perform, Lo, yon sea- Alva,* * * § rides the storm, And drives the furious blast. “Though darkness all the horizon shroud, And from the east yon thunder-cloud Menace destruction round ; Yet Franklin, versed in Nature’s laws, From her dire womb the lightning draws, And brings it to the ground. ‘‘Around him Sydneys, Hampdens throng; His ardent philosophic tongue Can Roman zeal inspire; The Amphyctyon council, hand in hand, Like the immortal Theban band, Catch its electric fire. “ Can fleets or troops such spirits tame, Although they view their cities flame, And desolate their coast ? ’Midst distant wilds they’ll find a home. Far as the untamed Indians roam, And freedom’s luxury boast. + “Midst the snow-storm + yon hero § shines, Pierces your barrier, breaks your lines, With splendour marks his days; He falls, the soldier, patriot, sage ! His name illumes th’ historic page, Crown’d with immortal praise. “ Brighten the chain, the wampum tie, Those painted chiefs raise war’s fell cry, And hail the festive hour ; The Congress binds the savage race, As Heaven’s own aether rules through space, Arm’d with attraction’s power. “Canadians scorn your vile behest, || Indignant passions fire each breast, And freedom’s banner waves ; * Lord Howe. f* An allusion to the words of the “ Address of the twelve United Pro- vinces to the Inhabitants of Great Britain : ” — “ We can retire beyond the reach of your navy, and without any sensible diminution of the necessaries of life, enjoy a luxury, which from that period you will want — the luxury of being free.” J The account of the attack on Quebec, published by the Congress, said, “ When evert hing was prepared, the general waited the opportunity of a snow-storm to carry his design into execution, — being obliged to take a circuit, the signal for an attack was given, and the garrison alarmed before he reached the place; however, pressing on, he forced the first barrier, and was just opening to attempt the second, when he was unfortu nately killed.” § General Montgomery, who was slain in the attack on Quebec. 11 The Canada, or lawyer’s bill, as it was called, the work of Lord Mans held. LORD CHATHAM'S PROPHECY 33 c Whole years they felt her flame divine ; Its cheering light can they resign. And sink again to slaves ? li No more will kings court Britain's smiles. No longer dread this Queen of Isles, No more her virtues charm ; See her pursue th’ ignoble strife By the dire Indian’s scalping-knife, And by the bravo’s arm. “Vain France, and Spain’s vindictive power. Exulting, wait the auspicious hour, To spread war’s dire alarms, — No more our fleets triumphant ride ; This isle of bliss with all her pride, May feel the Bourbon arms. “ America, with just disdain, Will break degenerate Britain’s chain, And gloriously aspire ; I see New Lockes and Camdens rise, Whilst other Newtons read the skies, And Miltons wake the lyre. “ Behold her blazing flag unfurl’d, To awe and rule the western world, And teach presumptuous kings, Though lull’d by servile flattery’s dream, The people are alone supreme, From whom dominion springs ! “ Heaven’s choicest gifts enrich her plain. The red’ning orange, swelling grain, Her genial suns refine ; For her the silken insects toil, The olive teems with floods of oil. And glows the purple vine ! “Her prowess Albion’s empire shakes ; Her cataracts, her ocean’ d lakes, Display great Nature’s hand ; And Europe sees with dread surprise, ^Ethereal tow’ring spirits rise To rule the wondrous land ! “Bold Emulation stands confest ; Through the firm chief’s and yeoman’s breast The heroic passion runs ; Imperial spirits claim their place! No venal honours lift the base, When Nature ranks her sons! ®‘Lo, Britain’s ancient genius flies Where commerce, arts, and science rise. And war’s dire horrors cease ; Exulting millions crowd her plains, Escaped from Europe’s galling chains To liberty and peace ! ” 33 $ RESIGNATION OF THE DUKE OF GRAFTON In the beginning of November, 1775, the Duke of Grafton, disagreeing with his colleagues, was dismissed from the ministry, and joined the opposition. This was followed by other changes in the cabinet, the most important of which was the appoint- ment of the unpopular Lord George Germaine (the Lord George Sackville of Minden notoriety) to be secretary of state for America. The war there dragged on with various vicissitudes, sometimes flattering the British government with the hope of recovering its supremacy, while at other times it promised the immediate independence of the colonies ; but the final result each year seemed more and more discouraging to the British cause. At length, on the 3rd of December, 1777, the Court was thunderstruck with the disastrous intelligence of the sur- render of General Burgoyne and his army at Saratoga, on the 17th of October. The opposition could hardly conceal their exultations ; the disgrace and loss which had fallen on the British arms were exaggerated, and chanted about the streets in doggerel ballads. An lt Ode on the Success of his Majesty’s Arms,” written in December and printed in the Foundling Hos- pital for Wit , celebrates, ironically, the glorious results of the campaign, and the skill and prudence of the ministers at home, and ends with a congratulation on the old tale of King George’s mechanical amusements : — “Then shall ray lofty numbers tell. Who taught the royal babes to spell, And sovereign arts pursue ; To mend a watch, or set a clock, New pattern shape for Hervey’s frock, Or buttons make at Kew.” In Parliament, the opposition burst into a violent storm ; they reproached ministers with the imbecility of their measures, and laid all the faults and disasters on Lord George Germaine, with whom they were said to have originated. The thunder of Chatham’s eloquence was again heard in the House of Lords, undimiuished in force ; and Burke, Fox, and Barre overwhelmed the ministerial organs in the House of Commons. A new ground of complaint against the manner of conducting the war had now presented itself in the employment of the American Indians in the British army, whose cruel ravages on former occasions were still remembered with feelings of horror. It does not appear that the Indians now employed in the British army had committed any serious disorder ; but the opposition not only saw them burning and massacring the King’s own sub- jects — men whose veins flowed with English bb)od, but they THE ALLIES, 337 non) nied up fearful pictures of cannibalism; and in a caricature (in the collection of Mr. Burke) entitled, “ The Allies — par no- bile fratrum King George, whose private will, it was uni- versally be- lieved, governed in the cabinet, was represented in close league the allies. with his savage ally, gnawing the remains of the revolting feast. Lord Chatham directed all the movements of the opposition on this important question. Indignation at the way in which the American war was misconducted seemed alone to keep the veteran statesman alive. Whenever there was to be an attack upon the ministers on that subject, he was carried into the house, wrapped up in flannels, and supported on crutches, and he rose up like a ghost from the grave to thunder forth his condemna- tion of the past, and his warning for the future. On these occasions he seemed suddenly animated with the full vigour of his youth. General Burgoyne, liberated on his parole, had now returned to take his place in the ranks of the opposition in the House of Commons, of which he was a member ; and he was said to be a better debater than a general ; it was, indeed, com- monly reported, that his appoint- ment to the command of the army in America was a mere stratagem of the ministry to get him away from his place in the house. When he made his re- appearance there, in the month of March. 1778, he declared his willingness to undergo any kind of trial, and threw the blame of the failure of the expedition on the z ADMIRAL KEPPEL. 338 secretary for America, Lord George Germaine. A grand de- bate was expected in the House of Lords on the 5th of April ; and then Chatham was again in his place, but he looked more like a man that was come there to die, than one who would take any part in the political passions which agitated his country. There had been a division in the ranks of the opposition, and some now believing that the reduction of the colonies to obedi- ence was hopeless, advocated the immediate acknowledgment of their independence. Chatham arose, and, held up by two of his friends, spoke with eloquence and indignation against the threa- tened separation of the colonies from the mother country. When he had resumed his seat, the Duke of Richmond, who represented that portion of the opposition which now looked upon that separation as inevitable, spoke against him, and when he had ended, Lord Chatham rose to reply. But, over- powered by his feelings, his strength failed him, and the orator fell back into the arms of his friends, and was carried out of the house in a state of insensibility. He was taken next day to his seat at Hayes in Kent, where, after lingering a little more than a month, he died on the 1 1 th of May, at the age of seventy years. At this very moment secret negotiations were going on be- tween the American colonies and France to obtain the assistance of the latter country against England. The former had al- ready received indirect encou- ragement, and it appears to have been only the reluctance of Spain, which had such extensive colo- nies of its own in the other hemisphere, to join with France, that hindered an open acknow- ledgment of American indepen- dence. By the month of June, the English government was fully informed that a treaty had been concluded between the rebellious colonies and the French King, and a fleet was immediately sent out to watch the French coasts, under Admiral Keppel,* another active member of the opposition, * The portraits of Admiral Keppel and that of General Burgoyne, KEPPEL' S ACTION WITH THE FRENCH. 339 whom the Court was glad to remove from his place in the House of Commons. Keppel at once commenced hostilities, and after making two or three small captures, he discovered that a large French fleet was at Brest, ready to put to sea. He immediately returned to Portsmouth for reinforcements. On the 9th of July both fleets put to sea, Keppel’ s forces being considerably inferior to those of the French under the Count d’Orvilliers. The two fleets came in sight of each other on the 23rd, but the French being unwilling to fight, and having the advantage of the wind, Keppel could not engage them till the 27 th, when a dark squall brought them close together off Ushant ; then the order was given for engaging, and a furious cannonade was kept up for full two hours as the fleets ran past each other, in which the French lost many men, and the English ships sustained considerable damage in their rigging, especially the division under Sir Hugh Palliser. When Keppel attempted to renew the engagement, Palliser was unable or unwilling to obey the signal, and the delay thus occasioned enabled the French fleet to escape. This action led to events that again raised up the mob of the metropolis, which, not many months afterwards, was urged into acts of violence of a more serious character than any of which a London mob had been previously guilty. In his official dis- patches, Keppel had generously screened Sir Hugh Palliser from blame in not having seconded him properly in pursuing the enemy. It has already been hinted that Keppel, as one of the opposition, was an object of aversion at Court ; while Palliser, “that black man,” as Horace Walpole styles him, was not only in favour at Court, but one of the lords of the Admiralty. Rumours had gone abroad, and letters had appeared in the news- papers, which were less sparing of Palliser’s character than his superior officer had been ; whereupon Sir Hugh wrote a letter in vindication, and demanded of Admiral Keppel an authentication of all his statements, which the latter declined to give. The subject was brought before the House of Commons at the be- ginning of December, and led to a rather angry debate, in which Palliser charged his superior officer with misconduct. The Court seized on this question in the hope that they would be able to crush Admiral Keppel, and the Admiralty ordered him to be brought to trial before a court-martial ; a proceeding which gave great dissatisfaction to the officers of the navy in general, and which was indignantly condemned by the popular party. given above, with others in this chapter, are taken from the series pub- lished by the caricaturist Sayer in 1782. Z 2 340 WAR WITH FRANCE AND SPAIN The trial began at Portsmouth on the 7th of January, 1779, and lasted thirty-two days ; the result, which was an honourable acquittal of Keppel, was made known on the nth of February. The mob of London, which had been all along in a state of agitation, waited impatiently for this intelligence, and, when it arrived, between nine and ten o’clock in the evening, the popular exultation knew no bounds, and, between joy at the event, and fear of the populace, every house in London is said to have been illuminated before eleven. The houses of Lord North and Lord George Germaine were attacked, and the windows broken. The windows of the Admiralty were also broken, and the large gate forced off its hinges ; besides other violence. The effigy of Sir Hugh Palliser was hanged and burnt in various parts of the town. His house in Pall Mall was protected by a strong body of soldiers till after midnight ; but, they having been then wholly or partially withdrawn, the mob burst in, and carried all the furniture into St. James’s Square, where they burnt it. Young men of rank gave encouragement to, and even joined with, the populace. Mr. Pitt, who began his political life in the ranks of the popular party, is said to have assisted in breaking windows, and the young Duke of Ancaster was taken among the rioters, and passed the night in the watch-house. The next day was one of triumph to Keppel : the city of London voted him its freedom, to be presented in a box made of heart-of-oak, richly ornamented, and votes of thanks to the admiral were passed in both houses of Parliament. Another general illumina- tion took place the following night, but with less rioting. Palliser resigned his seat at the Admiralty board, and vacated his seat in the House of Commons ; and he also was brought to trial before a court-martial ; but the influence of the Court is said to have been exerted to save him from a severe sentence. From this moment the King looked upon Admiral Keppel as a personal enemy, and it is said that at the subsequent elections the influence of the Castle was used in the most undisguised manner to hinder his re-election to represent the borough of Windsor. The attempt at individual persecution had by no' means increased the strength of the ministry; Keppel’s triumph led to a violent attack on the board of Admiralty, and especially on the first lord, Lord Sandwich ; and the cabinet was not a little em- barrassed by the united attacks of naval and military com- manders, including among the latter the two commanders in the American war, Generals Burgoyne and Howe, who now stood forth with the opposition, and laid all the misfortunes in THE STATE PILOT 34 * America to the charge of ministerial imbecility. The King of France was now at open war with us, and the summer of 1779 brought the King of Spain into the hostile confederacy. A popular song of the Americans long afterwards continued to speak of Louis XVI., as a mark of their gratitude for the assistance thus bestowed, by the title of the “patriot” King: — “ Let us in rapture sing, Of Louis the patriot King, Virtue’s support : Who with unshaken zeal Aided our common weal, And fixed friendship’s seal To the New World.” The two monarchs derived in the sequel little advantage from this war, into which they had entered unprovoked ; and it may be doubted if it was of any great benefit to the Americans. Although the final independence of the American colonies was a thing which everybody now foresaw, the campaigns of j/79 and 1780 were not favourable to their cause. Amid the incessant attacks to which its foreign policy exposed it, the North administration was gradually losing its strength. Some of its own supporters began to feel that the weight of in- THE BOTCHING TAILOR. 342 creasing taxation was hardly compensated by any advantages gained by the extravagant expenditure which called for it ; others began to desert it merely because the opposition was gaining force, and promised ere long to be the surest way to place ; and thus its numerical majority in the House of Commons became daily less. Towards the end of June, 177 9, when an open rupture had taken place with France and Spain, and the friendship of Holland was already doubtful, appeared a rather boldly executed caricature, representing “ Britain’s State Pilot foundering on Taxation Bock, to the great amusement of Lewis Baboon, Don Strut, and Nic Frog.” These three personages (the frog emblematical of the Dutchman) are looking on in mockery, while North, in the character of the sloth, (he was remark- able for his laziness,) is piloting Britannia’s boat, which, its sail torn from its hold by the wind, is striking on the fatal rock. At the masthead is the unpopular thistle, the influence under which it was pretended the state boat sailed ; for Bute still presented an object of apprehension. In allusion to this, the engraving bears the inscription “ Stuart pinxit — Yanky fecit.” A few months later, (December, 1779,) in a cari- cature, entitled “ The Botching Tailor cutting his cloth to cover a button,” King Gfeorge is again accompanied by his Scottish assistant, cutting up his cloth (the United Kingdom), while Lord North and his cabinet are looking on. Under the stall, are the Bill of Bights, Magna Charta, Be- monstrances, &c., cut into shreds and thrown away. The walls of the tailor’s shop are ornamented (as was usual) with broadside ballads, on one of which we read the title, “ Taxation no Tyranny, a new song, as sung at the Theatre Boyal ; the words by Jocky Stewart.” Another is entitled “The Button- maker’s downfall ; or, Buin to Old England ; to the tune of Britons Strike Home a third proclaims the virtues of “ Dr. Cromwell’s effectual and only remedy for the king’s evu and at the foot of the fourth, which contains a parody on “The Highland Laddie,” is seen the popular emblem of the boot. A THE BOTCHING TAILOR. NO POPERY." 343 picture suspended behind, is a parody on the flight into Egypt, and represents the King and his family making a hasty exit on their way “ to Hanover.” Between the dates of these two caricatures, there had been one or two resignations in the cabinet, which shewed that even among the ministers there was not entire unanimity. Lord Gower, who had resigned the presidency of the council, declared, in his first speech in the ranks of the opposition at the end of November, that “ he had seen such things pass of late at the council-table, that no man of honour or conscience could any longer sit there.” The unusually large expenditure of the last few years, and the consequent in- crease of the national debt, and of the taxation of the country, began now to excite loud complaints, and associations were formed throughout England, with the object of opposing the extravagance of the government, and obtaining a reform in the parliamentary representation, the corruptions of which, people began to look upon as one of the principal causes of the evils under which they suffered. But these complaints were rather suddenly interrupted by a new subject of excitement, which led to fearful scenes of violence in the metropolis. For some time the dread of popery had been gaining ground, excited in some degree by the outcries of those who were opposed to the question of Catholic emancipation, which was now beginning to be agitated. Some bigoted people were even weak enough to believe that King George himself had a leaning towards the Church of Rome. This was especially the case in Scotland, where there had been serious no-popery riots in the beginning of 1779. If was a Scottish madman, the notorious Lord George Gordon, whom Walpole designates as “the Jack of Leyden of the age,” who led the cry in England, and who had placed him- self at the head of what was called the Protestant Association. After having troubled the House of Commons with inflammatory speeches during the whole of this session, Lord George gave notice on the 26th of May, 1780, of his intention on the 2nd of June to present a petition against toleration of Roman Catholics, signed by above a hundred thousand men, who were all to accompany him in procession to the House. We are told that the only precaution taken against the threatened mob was an order ol the privy council on the previous day, empowering the first Lord of the Treasury to give proper orders to the civil magistrates to keep the peace, which the first lord of the Treasury forgot to put into effect. On Friday, the 2nd of June, an immense multitude assembled in St. George’s Fields, where Lord Gecrge addressed them in an 344 THE GOBBON BIOTS. inflammatory style, and then they marched in procession, six abreast, over London Bridge and through the city to Old Palace Yard, where they behaved in a most riotous manner. Many members of both houses were ill-treated, and one or two narrowly escaped with their lives. The confusion within doors, especially in the House of Lords, was very great ; the Lords broke up without coming to any resolution, and made their escape. The House of Commons behaved with more firmness. But it was not till late in the evening that the mob was prevailed upon to disperse. In their way home, they attacked and burnt two Catholic chapels, that of the Bavarian ambassador in Warwick Street, Golden Square, and that of the Sardinian ambassador in Duke Street, Lincoln’s Inn Fields. The mob assembled again on the night of Saturday, in the neighbourhood of Moorfields, and continued during the night to molest the Catholics who inhabited that part of London. Some military were ordered to the spot on Sunday morning, but no efficient measures were taken to suppress the rioters, and on Monday morning, when there was a drawing-room for the King’s birth- day, the disturbances had become much more serious. Under the cry of “No Popery,” all the worst part of the population of the metropolis had now collected together, and London was entirely in their power during the rest of the day and the whole of the following night. Early on Monday morning they robbed And burnt the house of Sir George Saville, in Leicester Fields, because he had been the prime mover of a proposed act for shewing religious tolerance towards the Catholics. Several chapels and some private houses were plundered and destroyed, and fires were seen in various parts of the town. Both houses met, but some of the members were attacked on their way, and Lord Sandwich fell into the hands of the populace, and was with difficulty torn from them after he had been severely hurt. The House of Lords adjourned immediately, but in the Commons there were hot debates, and several strong resolutions were passed. As evening approached, the mob, which had increased, and consisted now of all the lowest rabble of London, rushed to Newgate, set fire to the prison, which was entirely destroyed, and liberated all the criminals. These joined the rioters, who now became more ferocious, and went about ravaging and plun- dering in the most fearful manner. A print of the time has given us a characteristic portrait of these would-be re- ligious reformers.* The new prison at Clerkenwell was also * He is in the act of shouting, “ Down with the Bank I” The print is entitled “No Popery, or Newgate Beiormers.” LORD GEORGE GORDON. 345 broken into, and the prisoners set at liberty. They next at- tacked and plundered the house prisons were burnt, and two at- tacks were made on the Bank of England, but the assailants were driven back with great loss by the soldiers who guarded that im- portant building. Various other public buildings were marked for destruction. People, now, however, began to recover from their panic, and voluntarily armed in defence of their property, and troops, as well of the regulars as of the militia, were pouring into London; yet during the Wednesday night the town was on fire in no less than thirty-six places, and the destruction of property was immense. On Thursday the 8th of June, after many had been killed by the soldiery, and a still greater number had perished through intoxication in the burning houses, tran- quillity was restored, and the capital was saved from the hands of a mob which seemed at one moment to threaten its entire de- struction. On Saturday, Lord George Gordon was committed to the Tower ; and he was subsequently brought to trial for high- treason, but was allowed to escape conviction, and he eventually shewed sufficient proofs of mental derangement. These dreadful riots had been allowed at first to gain head entirely by the culpable negligence and pusillanimity of the civil authorities, who seem to have lost all presence of mind ; and hy a want of foresight on the part of the government. The conduct of the city rulers, with the exception of Wilkes, had been especially disgraceful, and the lord-mayor was punished for his cowardice. A few coarse and not well executed carica- tures, and some ballads and songs, held them up to public ridicule and indignation. Lord Amherst, who, after Wolfe’s death, ob- tained the credit of conquering Canada from the French, and v/ho of Sir John Fielding, the police magistrate, and they burnt down the bouse of Lord Mans- field, in Bloomsbury Square, destroying in it, among other things, a valuable library of ancient manuscripts. All day on Tuesday, and through Tues- day night, the populace went about robbing and burning, and drinking, — and this latter occu- pation only added to their fury. On Wednesday, the King’s Bench, the Fleet, and the other A MOB EEFOBMER. LOUT) AMHERST. H 6 was now a courtier, an active man in the politics of the day ; directed the military operations against the rioters, and became unpopular for his severity * He was made the butt of a considerable number of cari- catures, in one of which he is represented as killing geese, and, in allusion to some threat which he had uttered, he is made to declare, “ If I had power, I’d kill twenty in an hour.” The King, as we have already seen, was openly stigmatized as being a Catholic at heart. A caricature, published at this time, and entitled “ A great man at his private devotions,” represents him kneel- ing before an altar, and wearing the dress of a monk, embroidered with the words “ The holy Roman Catholic faith ;” a crucifix stands on the altar, and portraits of Boreas and Jemmy Twitcher decorate the walls of his private chapel. A picture of the pope hangs above an open door, and petitions from Surrey and Middlesex lie within it as waste paper. A print of Martin Luther drops in neglected fragments from the wall. Burke, as the great advocate of Catholic emancipation, was especially odious to the fanatical party ; and he obtained on this occasion the character which was so often afterwards applied to him of being a concealed Jesuit. The “No-Popery!” cry was coupled with new apprehensions (though not very generally felt) of the Pretender, at whose return the imaginary Scottish influence was supposed now to aim. I have already mentioned a caricature in which this is slightly alluded to. In another caricature published this year, under the title of “ Argus,” King George is lulled into a pro- found slumber, while some cunning plunderers are stealing his sceptre, and others, apparently Scotchmen, are cautiously lifting the crown. One of them, in a plaid and bonnet (Bute), asks of another, in a large wig and ermined robe, “ What shall be done with it?” the reply is “Wear it yoursel’, my laird.” But another of the party exclaims, “No, troth, I’se carry it to Charley, and he’ll not part with it again.” A miserable figure in rags on the opposite side, supposed to be a personification of the English community, clasps his hands, and cries, “ I have let them quietly strip me of everything.” An Irishman, de- * This caricature portrait of Lord Amherst is taken from the series by Sayer. PREROGATIVE DEFEATED. 347 BRITANNIA IN SORROW. riots, the government had Darting, protests “ that he will take care of himself and family.’* An American, leering upon the dozing sovereign, says, “We in America have no crown to fight for or lose.” Behind the hedge which forms the background, a Dutchman feeds upon honey, during the absence of the bees from their hives. In one cor- ner Britannia sits weeping, and her lion reposes in chains close to a map of Great Britain, from which America is torn. The strength of the adminis- tration was evidently in a rapid decline, and its popularity had not been assisted by the turbu- lent scenes we have just de- scribed, or by any favourable change in the prospects of the war. Before the London been embarrassed by a signal defeat on a question of a very significant character. The petitions crowding in from all parts of the country had already alarmed the Court ; when, on the 6th of April, Mr. Dunning moved in the House of Commons his famous resolution against the overgrown influence of the Crown, which was carried against the Court, and was followed by the adoption of other motions equally unpalatable. On the ioth of April the opposition was still in the majority, and other strong resolutions against prerogative were passed. Everybody was in astonishment, and expected an immediate dissolution of the cabinet and a change of measures. A caricature on this occasion, published on the 20th of April, and entitled “ Prero- gative’s defeat; or, Liberty’s triumph,” is in the collection of Mr. Hawkins ; it represents the downfall of Scottish influence, while Ireland and America are both rejoicing, the latter exclaim- ing, “Now we will treat with them.” But the ministers had had time to recover from their surprise, and an adjournment of the house to the 24th of April was employed in negotiating with those who had on this occasion deserted their ranks. On that day the ministers recovered their majorities, although they were not now very large ones. In another caricature, entitled “ The Bull over-drove; or, the drivers in danger,” the British bull is represented in a rage, kicking at the ministers, one of whom ADMIRAL RODNEY. .348 (Lord George Germaine) exclaims, “ This is worse than the battle of Min den ! ” The Kings of France and Spain stalk away, the former exclaiming, “ By gar ! my friend America, I must leave you ; dis bull will play le diable ! ” the other, “ I wish I was safe out of his way; he beats the bulls of Spain.” America replies, “ I fear, monsieur, I shall get little by your friendship.” The ill-treatment which Keppel and other liberal officers re- ceived from the Court brought unpopularity on those who were put forward by the ministry, and this often embarrassed them in their operations. Rodney had begun the year prosperously by a decisive victory over the Spanish fleet off St. Vincent on the 1 6th of January, which was followed by the relief of Gibraltar, now besieged by the Spaniards ; but the unwillingness of his captains to obey a Tory commander deprived him, in the middle of April, of gaining a much more signal victory over the French fleet in the West Indies. The French escaped, and took shelter in a friendly harbour, and both sides boasted of the superiority. A caricature, entitled “ National Discourse,” published after the in- telligence of these events arrived in Eng- land, represents the mutual feelings of the sailors of the two na- tions on this occasion ; the lean and vain-glori- ous Frenchman’s taunt, “Ha, ha, we beata you!” receives from the sturdy Englishman the some- what un polite reply, “ You lie ! ” Rodney’s miscarriage led soon after to the junction of the French and Spanish fleets, and nothing but the sickness which fell upon them and weakened them, and the mutual mistrust between these two allies, saved our West Indian islands from conquest. The close of this year saw Holland openly added to the number of our enemies. In America the events of the war continued to be in general dis- couraging to the colonists, until the latter part of the year 1781, NATIONAL DISCOURSE. SURRENDER OF LORD CORNWALLIS . 349 wlien it suddenly took a decided turn to their advantage, and the capture of Lord Cornwallis and his army may be looked upon as having left no longer any doubt in people’s minds as to what must be the final result. At the beginning of the year (on the 17th of January, 1781,) when the prospects of the British arms in America seemed to be in the highest degree promising, a caricature was published, represent- ing Britannia and her enemies weighed in the balance. America is seated in one scale in an attitude of sorrow, sigh- ing forth the unwilling avowal, “My ingratitude is justly punished.” The Spaniard and the French- man stand in the scale with her, and the Dutch- man is hanging on with his whole weight in the effort to pull it down. The first of these ex- claims, “ Bodney has ruined our fleet !” The Frenchman addresses himself to their new ally the Dutchman, “ Myn- heer, assist, or we are ruined;” and receives for reply, “ I’ll do anything for money.” But the Dutchman is a loser, apparently unknown to himself, for his money is falling from his pocket, with papers inscribed, “ Demerara,” “ Essequibo,” “ St. Eustatia,” “ St. Martin,” and other colonies which had fallen into the hands of the British. In spite of their exertions, Britannia, standing alone in the other scale, is outweighing them all ; she holds a drawn sword, inscribed “ Justice,” in her hand, and ex- claims, “ No one injures me with impunity.” Other carica- tures, marking the popular exultation, appeared about the same time. In the general elections in the autumn of 1780, the minis- terial majority was not as usual (and, perhaps, as was expected) ; increased. The opposition, feeling its strength, commenced s resolute at tack onthe ministry, criticising its measures abroao 550 A GENERAL ELECTION. and at home, and exaggerating its errors, and the consequences that resulted from them. They fell first upon Lord Sandwich, and brought forward the old grievance relating to Admiral Keppel and Sir Hugh Palliser, the latter of whom had been rewarded with the governorship of Greenwich Hos- pital. They next entered upon the alleged ill-management of the navy, and complained that it had been deprived of some of its ablest officers in a time of great danger, by the political partialities of the Court. After Christmas, they re- turned to the charge, and accused the ministers with having unne- cessarily driven this country into a war with Holland. The charge of mismanagement of the navy was then renewed. Burke next brought forward a motion for economical reform, with a view also to a reform in the represen- tation of the country, founded on the petitions of the different political associations now formed throughout England ; he was supported by tbe whole force of the eloquence of the opposition, and the debate, on the second reading of his bill, on the 26th of February, 1781, brought on his legs, for the first time in the house, young William Pitt, the second son of the great Earl of Chatham, who entered the political arena as a disciple of Charles Fox. Sheridan and Wilberforce also made their first speeches on this occasion, as zealous members of the opposition. The next subject of attack was Lord North’s financial arrangements. Through all these attacks, and many more which followed, the ministers were supported by the encouraging accounts of the success of our arms in America and other parts ; but in the autumn even this prop began to give way, and when, on the 25th of November, the news of the surrender of Lord Corn- wallis’s army arrived, they were filled with dismay. Parliament opened two days afterwards, and the debates occasioned by this disaster were violent in the extreme. Until the Christmas recess, the house was almost entirely occupied with the American war, and the state of the navy. In the midst of this PERTINACITY OF THE OPPOSITION. 3$i warfare of words, young William Pitt was rising daily into dis- tinction. After Christmas, the war between the opposition and the ministry was renewed with increased vigour. Lord Sandwich was again the first object of attack. Charles Fox moved for an inquiry into the causes of the constant ill success of our naval forces, and a bitter declamation was made on the improvidence of the Admiralty, and on the narrow policy which had deprived our ships of some of their best commanders, such as Keppel, Howe, and others, because their political opinions were not agreeable at Court. Ministers agreed to the inquiry, and there was no division ; but in a motion for a vote of censure on the Admiralty board, a few days afterwards, the ministerial majority was only twenty-two. After the arrival of the news of Lord Cornwallis’s surrender, most people began to look forward to a total change in the cabinet as not far distant ; and the venal supporters of the Court in the House of Commons were already beginning to desert, to join those who were likely to succeed to power. On the 20th of February, Fox renewed the attack on Lord Sandwich, and the ministerial majority was reduced to nineteen. It was evident that the affairs of America would not long be allowed to remain untouched, and, at the beginning of February, Lord George Germaine had been allowed to resign the colonial secretaryship, and as a reward for his staunch support of the King’s policy, he was raised to the peerage by the title of Viscount Sackville. On the 22nd of February General Conway moved for an address to the King, praying him to put an end to the American war : and on this occasion, after a long and warm debate, the ministerial majority was only one. Still, however, North did not resign, but on the 25th of February he calmly brought forward his budget. The opposition was furious, and attacked his ways of raising money in the most violent terms. Some new taxes proposed on this occasion were very unpopular out of doors, especially one on soap, which was made the subject of a host of ballads and caricatures, that continued to be hawked about long after North’s ministry had fallen. In these the premier was ridiculed under the title of “ Soap-suds,” the poli- tical “ Washerwoman,” and a variety of other similar appella- tions. It was pretended that people would now have to learn to wash without soap ; and in one of the caricatures, entitled “The M-n-s-r reduced ; or, Sir Oliver Blubber in his proper sta- tion,” the new washerwoman is occupied, as it appears, in 3^2 THE POLITICAL WASHERWOMAN. this experiment, for, on the* wall behind is the notice, “ Linen wash’d 50 per cent, cheaper than at any other place in London, the town was filled with manifestations of joy ; many houses were illuminated in the evening, and papers were cried about the streets announcing “ Good news for England ! Lord North in the dumps, and peace with America!” The King re- turned rather an evasive answer to the address, on which the ministers, instead of retiring, as it was expected they would do, proposed to bring forward some half measures, with the hope of appeasing the opposition. The latter now raised a loud cry against the obstinacy with which Lord North clung to his place, and Charles Fox in particular, whose unfortunate love of dissi- pation and gambling had reduced him to necessitous circum- stances,* could hardly conceal his eagerness to get the ministers * Fox, as we learn from various sources, was at this time in great pecu- niary difficulties. Towards the end of May, 1781, Walpole writes, “As I came up St. James’s Street, I saw a cart and porters at Charles’s door; coppers and old chests of drawers loading. In short, his success at Faro had awakened his host of creditors ; but unless his bank had been swelled to the size of the Bank of England, it could not have yielded a sop for each. Epsom, too, had been unpropitious, and one creditor had actually seized and carried off his goods, which did not seem worth removing. As I returned full of this scene, whom should I find sauntering by my own door but Charles. He came up and talked to me at the coach-window, on the Marriage Bill, with as much sangfroid as if he knew nothing of what by Mary North, author of the treatise upon washing without soap, and many other ingenious performances.” At a window before the portly figure of the metamorphosed minister, two washerwomen of the old practice are look- ing in at his work and laugh- ing- THE WASHERWOMAN. Two days after the an- nouncement of the budget, on the 27 th of February, General Conway made a new motion for an address for pacification with America, when, after another warm debate, ministers were in a minority of nineteen. When this was known next day, RESIGNATION OF LORD NORTE. 353 out, that he might share in the spoils. On the 8th of March, Lord John Cavendish again brought forward the question of American mismanagement, and moved a direct vote of censure on the English ministry ; the latter on this occasion had a ma- jority of ten. On the 15th, Sir John Rouse made a new and still more direct attack, in a motion declaring that the house no longer placed confidence in the present ministers, whose majority was now only nine. Lord Surrey immediately gave notice that he should bring forward another motion to the same effect on the 20th ; but when that day came, the debate was prevented by Lord North’s announcement to the house of the resignation of ministers. The tenacity with which Lord North apparently clung to office through so many defeats was generally attributed, and in all probability with justice, to the King’s unwillingness to accept his resignation. It was widely believed that the King’s will had for some time been the rule according to which his ministers shaped their measures, and that he showed the greatest reluc- tance to admitting to any share in the government of the country those who were not “ his friends.” Most of the leaders of the liberal party were to him objects of personal animosity. The opposition itself, since Lord Chatham’s death, had become more clearly divided into two sections, one of which acknowledged Lord Rockingham for its leader, whilst the other was ranged under the banners of Lord Shelburne ; the former numbered in its ranks Charles Eox, Edmund Burke, and Admiral Keppel, while with Lord Shelburne were Colonel Barre and the young and aspiring William Pitt. The rivalry of these two parties was at present rather personal than founded on any especial principle ; but the King had less repugnance to the Shelburne party, because they still shared in Chatham’s objections to acknowledging the independence of the Americans ; while the Rockingham party insisted that the time was now come when peace must be made with the Americans at any rate, and they called for the sacrifice of all claims to supremacy on the part of the mother-country. The King is said to have tried to negotiate privately with Lord Shelburne ; but, the only leader under whom the whole opposition could be brought to serve had happened. I have no admiration for insensibility to one s own faults, especially when committed out of vanity. Perhaps the whole philosophy consists in the commission. The more marvellous Pox’s parts are, the more one is provoked at his follies, which comfort so many rascals and blockheads, and make all that is admirable and amiable in him only matter of regret to those who like him, as I do.” A A BODNEY'S VI CTO BY. 354 being Lord Rockingham, he was sent for, and he undertook the task of forming a new cabinet. The only one of the old ministers whom the King was allowed to retain was the lord-chancellor Thurlow, and he remained but as a thorn in the sides of his colleagues, for he was never prevailed upon to act cordially with them. It appears that, even at last, the negotiations between the King and Lord Rockingham were carried on in great part by the mediation of Lord Shelburne, which increased the jealous feelings of the more liberal party towards the latter. The new ministers were, Lord Rockingham as first lord of the Treasury ; the Earl of Shelburne and Mr. Fox, secretaries of state ; Lord Camden, president of the council ; Lord Thurlow, chancellor : the Duke of Grafton, privy seal ; Lord John Cavendish, chancellor of the Exchequer; Admiral Keppel, created a viscount, first lord of the Admiralty ; General Conway, commander-in- chief ; the Duke of Richmond, master-general of the Ordnance ; and Dunning, now created Baron Ashburton, chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster. Burke, without a seat in the cabinet, was made paymaster ; Colonel Barre, treasurer of the Navy ; William Pitt, who refused to thke a subordinate place, was allowed to stand aloof, and was evidently looking forward to greater things. Three conditions had been insisted upon in forming the new administration, and had been conceded by the King ; they were, i . peace with the Americans, and the acknowledgment of their independence ; 2. a substantial reform in the civil-list expenditure ; and 3. the diminution of the influence of the Crown. The ministers proceeded immediately to carry out their projected reforms, and evidently with good-will, but that they were not especially palatable to the King was sufficiently clear from the constant opposition they received from the Chancellor Thurlow, with whom Pox had expressed great reluctance to take office. Keppel brought at least new vigour into the Admiralty department ; and many of the old veteran officers, who had resigned after Keppel’s trial, were restored to the service. Rodney, a staunch Tory, who had not yet performed what was expected from him with the fleet in the West Indies, was recalled, and Admiral Pigot was sent out to supersede him. Rodne} r was at this time so little popular in England, that his constituents in Westminster, which he represented in Parliament, had declared their intention of nominating Mr. Pitt in his place for the next election. The position of England at this moment was discouraging on every side ; and our enemies, both in America and in Europe, refused to treat except on humiliating RODNEY AND DE GRASSE. 355 conditions. In the midst of these embarrassments, on the r 8th of May, the whole country was struck with astonishment, and thrown into what has been described as “a delirium of joy,” by the arrival of the news of the glorious victory of the 12th of April gained by Rodney over the French admiral De Grasse, which in one day restored England to the sovereignty of the ocean. The English ministers, who had blamed so much all the naval schemes and operations of their predecessors, were much embarrassed by this success, the honour of which really belonged to Lord North, and by their own proceedings with regard to Rodney. An express was sent to prevent Admiral Pigot sailing, but it was too late. A cold vote of thanks was given by both houses to the victorious Rodney, and he was raised to the peerage, but only as a baron, and was voted a pension of but 2,000 1 . a-year. Such were the effects of the violence of political faction in this country under George III. The other officers received honours and rewards in different degrees. The popular rejoicings on Rodney’s victory turned less against the ministry than might have been expected, but they were attacked with vigour by their predecessors, who were now in the opposition, and they were glad to make the best excuses they could. Those sure con- comitants of a struggle of parties in this country, the carica- tures, had already been launchedagainst them, and Rodney’s suc- cesses furnished abun- dant materials. One of these, entitled, “ Rodney introducing De Grasse,” published on the 7th of June, represents the con- queror presenting his illustrious captive at the foot of the throne. On one side of the sovereign stanus Admiral Keppel; on the other, Fox. The latter is represented as A a 2 THE SHELBURNE CABINET. 35 6 soliloquizing, “This fellow must be recalled; he fights too well for us ; and I have obligations to Pigot, for he has lost 17,000 1 . at my faro bank.” The insinua- tion thus conveyed against the secretary of state was to all appearance perfectly unjust. Keppel is represented as jealous of Rodney’s glory ; he is reading a list of the captures, among which we can dis- tinguish the name of the Ville de Paris (De Grasse’s ship), and he observes, “ This is the very ship 1 ought to have taken on the 27th of July.” Another caricature, published on the 13th of June, is entitled “ St. George and the Dragon.” St. George (Sir George Rodney) is overcoming a mighty dragon, and forcing it to disgorge a quantity of frogs (perhaps an allusion to the Dutch). King George is running towards him with the reward of a baron’s coronet, and exclaims (in allusion to Rod- ney’s recall and elevation to the peerage), “ Hold, my dear Rodney, you have done enough ! I will now make a lord of you, and you shall have the happiness of never being heard of again.” These two prints are reckoned to be the first attempts of the celebrated Gillray, whom we shall soon find for many years almost monopolizing, by his remarkable talent, this branch of art. REWARD. LORD SHELBURNE. The somewhat sudden death of the Marquis of Rockingham, on the 1st of July, brought on quite unexpectedly a new minis- terial crisis. It was soon known that the King, who always pre- ferred communicating with Lord Shelburne, intended to place him at the head of the ministry. The Rockingham party, and more especially Fox and Burke, (the former was accused by his opponents of aiming at the place himself), held a meeting, and most of them determined to resign. Fox had already com- plained that he was in a situation STATE PENSIONS . 357 where he was thwarted in his principles by a superior power, and, although in a position of great pecuniary difficulty, he refused under any condition to act in a ministry of which Lord Shelburne was head. He was followed by Burke, Lord John Cavendish, John Townshend, and others. Colonel Barre took Burke’s place, and was himself* succeeded by Dundas ; Thomas Townshend succeeded Fox as foreign secretary $ and William Pitt was raised to the post of chancellor of the Exchequer, in the place of Lord John Cavendish. Thus began the Shelburne administration, with no great hopes of success, for it was notoriously weak in parliamentary influence. These changes led to acrimonious recriminations in the House of Commons, in which Pitt shewed the commencement of his future hostility towards Fox. The King is said to have received the resignation of the latter with unconcealed satisfaction ; all kinds of abuse were thrown upon Fox and Burke out of doors, and the most selfish and factious motives were attributed to them. One of the earliest caricatures by Sayer, a large print published on the 17th of July, and entitled “Paradise Lost,” represents the unfortunate pair cast out of the gate of the ministerial paradise, which is adorned with the faces of Shelburne, Barre, and 1 ) mining. “ To the eastern side Of Paradise, so late their happy seat. Waved over by that flaming brand, the Gate With dreadful faces thronged and fiery arms ! Some natural tears they dropt, but wiped them soon. The world was all before them, where to choose Their place of rest, and providence their guide. They, arm in arm, with wand’ ring steps, and slow, Thro’ Eden took their solitary way.” Dunning and Barre had both received pensions through Lord Shelburne, the latter upwards of 3,000 1 . a-year, and they were naturally among his most staunch supporters. The large pension given to Colonel Barre, for no apparent services to the state, was made the subject of loud and bitter complaints by the Tories, who compared it with the smaller reward which had been doled out to Kodney for one of the most glorious victories of the age. Another large print by Sayer, published on the 24th of August, under the title of “ Date obolum Belisario ,” rep?*' sents the colonel receiving his pension from Lord Shelburne ac the Treasury door. “ Lome’s veteran fought her rebel foes, And thrice her empire saved ; Yet through her streets, bow’d down with woes, An humble pittance craved. 3 .'; 8 CARICATURES ON FOX. “ Our soldier fought a better fight, Political contention ; And grateful ministers requite His service with a pension.” One of the few efforts of Gillray at this early period of his career, related to the hostilities of faction, and was aimed against Fox, who is represented in a parody on Milton’s Satan, envious of the happy pair, Shelburne and Pitt, who are counting their money on the Treasury table. “ Aside he turned For envy, yet with jealous leer malign Eyed them askance.” These are but a small portion of the caricatures of which Fox and his friend were now made the butt. In one, the discomfited ex-secretary of state is seen under the character of “ Ahitophel in the dumps,” riding away dole- fully on his mule towards a gal- lows and block. In another, Fox AHITOPHEL IN THE DUMPS. NEGOTIATIONS FOB PEACE. 359 and his staunch supporter Burke, are placed in the stocks as personifications of Hudibras and his squire. The Parliament, however, was prorogued on the nth of July, and the summer and autumn were occupied in fruitless negotiations to se- cure a majority for the Shel- burne cabinet in the ensuing session. Their apprehensions were so great, that, as the time for the opening of Parliament approacned, Pitt was employed in a private interview with Fox to gain him over to the ministry, but he persisted in his resolution of not taking office under hudibras and his squire. Lord Shelburne. His party, indeed, now began to fear that, elated by Rodney’s victory over the French fleet, Lord Shelburne, who had always been opposed to the recognition of American independence, might be induced to yield to the King in countenancing the sovereign’s favourite measure of the war against America. The signal overthrow of the French navy had struck the Americans with dismay, and some of them began to despair ; but they were encouraged by the conduct of Washington, and they still looked with coldness on all conciliatory advances. On this side the Atlantic, the King of Spain had risen almost to an imbecility of self-confidence in the magnitude of his preparations for the re- duction of Gibraltar ; and he and the King of France put for- ward pretensions to which the English ministry could on no conditions listen. Other successes, however, attended our fleets at sea ; and the hopes of our confederated enemies were at length entirely broken down by the wonderful defeat of the Spanish armament against Gibraltar in the grand attack on the 13th of September 1782, and by the subsequent arrival of the fleet under Lord Howe for the relief of the garrison, actions which have made the names of General Elliot and Admiral Howe im- mortal. All parties began now to talk with more sincerity of their desires for peace ; and the signing of preliminaries, which was executed by the Americans and their European allies inde- pendent of each other, was hastened by their mutual jealousies. The independence of the United States of America was thus AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE. 360 acknowledged ; but King George acceded to the wish of his sub- jects on this point with a very bad grace, and his ill-humour was even shewn in the speech with which he opened his Parlia- ment at the beginning of December. The King long detested the very name of anything American ; and his personal hatred of Franklin, who had certainly been one of the least conciliating and least candid of the factious “ patriots” on the other side of the water, was afterwards exhibited even in the peculiar colour given to his patronage of science and literature. It is said that Sir John Pringle was driven to resign his place as president of the Royal Society by the King’s urgent request that the Royal Society should publish, with the authority of its name, a contra- diction to a scientific opinion of the rebellious Franklin ; the president replied, that it was not in his power to reverse the order of nature, and resigned, and Sir Joseph Banks, who, like a true courtier, advocated the opinion which was patronized by the King, succeeded him in the society’s chair. Feelings like these, long persisted in, tended to perpetuate that estrangement of interests between the mother- country and her now separated colonies, which was naturally enough gene- rated by a long and obstinate war, which, considered from the beginning as a civil war, was accompanied with all that bitter- ness of animosity that usually accompanies civil contentions. The royalists and the Tories of this country, long after the con- test was over, could think and speak of the Americans only as rebels ; and the latter, who seemed to have adopted as their national character too much of the bullying manners and pas- sions of the worst of the demagogues who urged them into the war, never forgave the insult which they felt to be conveyed to them by this reproachful term. They expressed their senti- ments of unabating hostility in many a lampoon upon their ancient brethren in Britain. The following ballad, founded upon an incident that occurred while Philadelphia was in the hands of the royalist troops, was especially popular ; and, as will be seen, particularly in the latter stanzas, expresses in a marked manner the irritation occasioned by the indiscriminate use of the term “ rebel” among the officers of the British army. THE BATTLE OF THE KEGS. (Tune Maggy Lawder.) ** Gallants, attend and hear a friend Trill forth harmonious ditty ; Strange things I’ll tell, which late befell In Philadelphia city. TEE BATTLE OF TEE KEGS. 361 “ ’Twas early day, as poets say, Just when the sun was rising, A soldier stood on log of wood, And saw a sight surprising. “As in amaze, he stood to gaze, — The truth can’t be denied, sir, — He spied a score — of kegs, or more, Come floating down the tide, sir. “A sailor, too, in jerkin blue, The strange appearance viewing, First d — d his eyes, in great surprise. Then said — ‘Some mischiefs brewing. “ ‘ These kegs now hold the rebels bold, Packed up like pickled herring ; And they’re come down t’ attack the town. In this new way of ferrying.’ “ The soldier flew, the sailor too, And, scared almost to death, sir, Wore out their shoes, to spread the news, And ran till out of breath, sir. “ Now up and down, throughout the town, Most frantic scenes were acted ; And some ran here, and some ran there, Like men almost distracted. “ Some ‘ fire ’ cried, which some denied, But said the earth had quaked ; And girls and boys with hideous noise, Ban through the town half naked. “ Sir William,* he, snug as a flea, Lay all this time a- snoring ; Nor dreamt of harm, as he lay warm In bed with Mrs. L g. “ Now, in a fright, he starts upright, Awak’d by such a clatter ; He rubs both eyes, and boldly cries, ‘ For God’s sake, what’s the matter ? “ At his bed-side he then espied Sir Erskine+ at command, sir ; Upon one foot he had one boot. And t’ other in his hand, sir. “ ‘Arise ! arise !’ Sir Erskine cries, ‘ The rebels — more’s the pity — Without a boat, are all on float, And rang’d before the city. ** ‘The motly crew in vessels new, With Satan for their guide, sir, Pack’d up in bags, or wooden kegs, Come driving down the tide, sir. * Sir William Howe, who commanded in America from 1776 to + Sir W. Erskine. 362 TEE BATTLE OF TEE KEGS. “ * Therefore prepare for bloody war : — These kegs must all be routed, Or surely we despis’d shall be, And British courage doubted.’ “The royal band now ready stand, All ranged in dread array, sir, With stomach stout, to see it out, And make a bloody day, sir. “The cannons roar from shore to shore: The small arms maire a rattie : Since wars began, I'm sure no man E’er saw so strange a battle. “ The 4 rebel ’ vales, the ‘ rebel ’ dales, With 4 rebel trees surrounded, J’he distant woods, the hills, and floods, With ‘rebel’ echoes sounded. “The fish below swam to and fro, Attack’d from ev’ry quarter : ‘ Why sure,’ thought they, ‘ the devil ’s to pay ’Mongst folks above the water.’ “The kegs, ’tis said, though strongly made Of 4 rebel ’ staves and hoops, sir, Could not oopose their powerful foes, The conquering British troop*, sir. “ From morn to night, these men of might, Display’d amazing courage ; And when the sun was fairly down, ftetir’d to sup their porridge. “ A hundred men, with each a pen, Or more, upon my word, sir, .£ is most true, would be too few Their valour to record, sir. “ Such feats did they perform that day Cpon these wicked kegs, sir, That years to come, if they get home, They’ll make their boasts and brags, sir v CHAPTER X. GEORGE III. Overthrow of Lord Shelburne — The Coalition — Attacks on the Coalition- Fox’s India Bill — Carlo Khan — Back-stairs Influence — The Interfe- rence of the King, and Dismissal of the Ministry — Quarrel between the Crown and the House of Commons — William Pitt Prime Minister — The Opposition in Majority in the House ; Dissolution of Parliament — The Westminster Election — The Duchess of Devonshire — Caricatures and Squibs against the Defeated Coalitionists. T HE peace put an end to the weak administration of Lord Shelburne. From the moment the leaders of the old Rockingham party separated from Shelburne, the latter was looked upon by most people as little more than a provisional minister ; and young William Pitt, who had been aiming at popularity by his repeated advocacy of reform in the parlia- mentary representation (which was now beginning to be the watchword of a party), seems already to have been fixed in the King’s mind as the minister of his choice. But William Pitt was hardly yet in the position to command a party, even though backed by the King. Shelburne’s party were evidently embarrassed by the secession of so man}- of the old Whigs, and they did not attempt to con- .ceal their anger; Pitt, especially, exhibited an irritability which he was not in the habit of shewing. We have seen with what bitterness the conduct of Fox and his friends was criticised in the caricatures, which represented Fox hurled from his hopes of treasury profits to the poverty and wretchedness of the gambler, and Burke retiring to his supposed Jesuitical reflections in the privacy of his chamber. One of the best of those on the latter subject, published on the 23rd of August, 1782, is entitled “ Cincinnatus in retirement ; falsely supposed to represent Jesuit Fad driven hack to his native potatoes.” The metamorphosed orator is taking his frugal meal out of an utensil, inscribed “ Relic No. 1, used by St. Peter,” surrounded with various em- blems of fanaticism and whisky-drinking. Fox and Burke, in return, accused Lord Shelburne of treachery and selfishness ; and these charges were re-echoed in satires which came more direct from the Tories, and attacked indiscriminately both divisions of 3< 4 the Whigs. STATE OF PABTIES. RECRIMINATION. Thus, in a print entitled “ Guy Vaux and Judas Iscariot,” Shelburne, in the latter character, is walking off with a bag inscribed “ Treasury,” while the Guy is detecting the traitor by the light of his lanthorn. The Fox exclaims, “ Ah ! what, I’ve found you out, have I ? Who armed the high priests and the people? who betrayed his mas . . . ?” Judas retorts, “Ha, ha! poor Gunpowder ’s vexed — he, he, he ! Shan’t have the bag, I tell you, old Goose- tooth.” With similar sentiments, others looked upon these rapidly changing ministries as so many parties of mischief-makers ; and in one caricature, published during the present year, King George is seen slumbering on his throne, while his ministers are dispatched rather uncere- moniously to a very warm ha- bitation. As the time for the meet- ing of Parliament approached, people began to look with more anxiety to the position which each of the three par- ties that now divided it was likely to take. It was roughly estimated that the ministerial votes in the House of Com- mons were about a hundred and forty, that about a hundred and twenty members followed the standard of Lord North, and ninety that of Fox, the remainder being uncertain ; and it was evident, under these circumstances, that Fox could give the majority in the house to either of the two parties with which he chose to join. Lord North professed moderation, and a wish to stand on neutral ground ; and he did not threaten the Court with any serious attack. When Parliament met on the 5th of December, the preliminaries of the peace were made known, and the King’s speech was warmly attacked by Fox and Burke, to A SLUMBERING MONARCH. TEE COALITION. 365 whom a spirited reply was made by Pitt ; but the opposition shewed itself but slightly till after the Christmas recess. When the house met again towards the end of January, the interval had produced a union of parties which seems to have struck most people with surprise. The preliminaries of peace had been signed at Paris on the 20th of January (1783), and their consi- deration in the House of Commons was fixed for the 17th of February, when the ministers moved an address of approval. The amendment, which accepted the treaty, but demanded further time to consider the terms before expressing a judgment upon them, and was evidently intended as a mere trial of strength, was moved by Lord John Cavendish. The debate which followed was long and animated, and merged into strong personalities. The famous coalition between Fox and North, which had for some days been talked of, was now openly avowed, and both parties attacked the peace with the greatest bitterness. It was observed that, during the earlier part of the debate, Fox and North spoke of each other in terms of indulgence to which they had long been strangers ; and the ministerial speakers, in their reply, fell with the greatest acrimony upon what they termed the monstrous alliance between two men who had pre- viously made such strong declarations of political hostility. Burke first spoke, in defence of the coalition ; he was followed by Fox, who openly avowed it, and both he and Lord North de- clared that, even when they were most opposed to each other, they had regarded one another personally with mutual respect ; that their ground of enmity — the American war — being now at an end, it was time for their hostility to cease also, and that they had joined together for the good of the country. The debate was prolonged through the whole night, and it was nearly eight o’clock in the morning when, on a division, the amendment was carried by a majority of sixteen. Four days after this, on the 2 1st of February, the united opposition brought forward a mo- tion of direct censure on the terms of the treaty and on the con- duct of ministers, which lasted till after four in the morning, and was carried by a majority of seventeen. The coalition was again the main subject debated ; it was now defended warmly by Lord North, and bitterly attacked by Pitt, who called it “ a baneful alliance” and an “ill-omened marriage,” dangerous to the public safety. This second defeat was the death-blow of the administration, and Lord Shelburne immediately resigned. The King, who literally hated Fox, and who was enraged at the coalition, made a fruitless attempt to form a ministry under Pitt. In the beginning of March, the King had several interviews with Lord PARLIAMENTARY STRUGGLE . 366 North, whom he attempted to detach from his new alliance, and then he tried to form a half coalition ministry, from which Fox was to be excluded. On the 24th of March, when the country had remained more than a month without a Cabinet, an address was voted in the House of Commons almost unanimously, pray- ing the King to form immediately such an administration as would command the confidence of the country. The King, however, remained obstinate in his personal animosities ; and, on the 31st of March, another and much stronger address was moved by the Earl of Surrey ; upon which Pitt, who had all this time retained his office of chancellor of the Exchequer, and whom it was evidently the King’s wish to make prime minister, announced that he had that day resigned. On the 2nd of April, the King again sent for Lord North, and, through him, gave full authority to the Duke of Portland, who was consi- dered as the head of the Rockingham party, or old Whigs, to form an administration. The Duke of Portland himself was made first lord of the Treasury, with Lord North as Secretary of State for the Home Department, and Fox as Secretary for Foreign Affairs. Lord John Cavendish was made chancellor of the Exchequer ; Keppel, first lord of the Admiralty ; Lord Stor- mont (the only person admitted into the Cabinet to please the King), president of the council ; and the Earl of Carlisle lord privy seal. Lord Thurlow was rejected, and the great seal was put in commission, the commissioners being Lord Loughborough, Sir W. H. Ashurst, and Sir Beaumont Hotham. The other mem- bers of the ministry were, the Earl of Hertford, lord chamber- lain ; Viscount Townshend, master-general of the Ordnance ; the Honourable Richard Fitzpatrick, secretary at war ; Edmund Burke,' paymaster of the' forces ; Charles Townshend, treasurer of the Navy ; James Wallace, attorney-general ; Richard Brins- ley Sheridan and Richard Burke, secretaries to the Treasury; the Earl of Northington, lord-lieutenant of Ireland ; William Windham, secretary for Ireland ; and William Eden, who is said to have been the chief negotiator in the formation of the coalition, vice-treasurer. There seemed to be much greater cordiality in this alliance of two parties than had been visible in any former coalition of the same kind; and, to all appearance, the new ministry might have ' been an efficient one, and beneficial to the country, had it not been regarded from the first with bitter dislike by the King, who took little pains to conceal his intention of getting rid of it as soon as possible. Still there was something anomalous in its character, which was far from giving general satisfaction, and at first the liberal leaders lost much of their popularity. Cari- CARICATURES AGAINST THE COALITION. 367 matures were hurled against them in greater numbers, and in a better style of execution, than had been witnessed for several years. In the windows of the print-shops the heads of the two leaders were contrasted in their new fraternity in a variety of shapes, so as to exhibit the opposite character of their passions and qualities. The sleek face and fashionably-dressed and pow- dered hair of Lord North seemed to reject all comparison with the dark countenance and the black and disordered locks of Charles Fox. In one of these, by Sayer, the profiles of the two chiefs of the coalition are joined together on the face of a medal- lion ; in another, by the same artist, entitled “ The Mask,” and inscribed “ fronti nulla files” the coalition is pictured by a full face formed of one half of the face of each joined in a vertical line ; that of Fox, on the left, is made to convey a rather vulgar intimation of successful cunning, while the more candid features of Lord North represent a strange compound of vexation and satisfaction. Among the earliest of the caricatures against the coalition is one by Gillray, published on the 9th of March, representing in two compartments the position which the coalescing parties THE COALITION DANCE. $68 held towards each other before and after their union. The first is entitled “War,” and exhibits Fox and Burke thundering against North, as minister, their eloquent denunciations, and stigmatizing as “ infamous ” the very idea of their ever consent- ing to act under the same banner with him. North’s condem- nation of his two adversaries is equally energetic. Beneath the figures, which give us a characteristic sketch of the orato- rical attitudes of the three speakers, are inscribed extracts from their speeches when thus opposed to each other. In the second compartment, or plate, entitled “Neither Peace nor War,” the three orators, now united in one cause, are placed in the same attitudes, attacking the articles of the preliminaries, from beneath which a dog makes its appearance and barks with an angry look at the trio.* Under them we read the words, “ The astonishing Coalition.” A caricature by Sayer, published on the 17th of March, represented North painting white the dark features of his new friend, alluding to his declaration in the house, “ I have found him a warm friend, a fair though formid- able adversary.” The motto of the print is, “ Qui color ater erat , nunc est contrarius atro .” One of the rarer prints of Gillray, published in the month of April, 1783, satirises the new administration under the representation of a “ coalition dance,” in which the principal characters in it figure under the various garbs given to them by the prejudices of party faction. Edmund Burke appears here as the concealed Jesuit, a character which, as we have already seen, the extreme Pro- testant party had conferred upon him ever since his exer- tions for Catholic emancipa- tion. A large caricature by Sayer, published on the 3th of May, is founded on a speech made by one of the opposition lords in the upper house im- mediately after the formation of the new ministry, who, speaking of Lord North, had expressed himself in these terms: — “Such was the love of office of the noble lord, that, finding he would not is said to be intended as an allusion to an occurrence in the “RAZOR'S LEVEE." 3^9 be permitted to mount the box, he had been content to get up behind.” The new Whig coach, with the Fox’s crest on the panels, is drawn by two meagre hacks of horses through a rough road, jogging every minute against some of the great stones thrown in its way by the opposition, by which one of its wheels has received a serious fracture. Lord North is riding behind, with an air of alarm ; whilst Fox and the Duke of Portland, seated together on the box, are joining in their efforts to draw in the reins. A guide-post indicates the way they are going, “ To Bulstrode, through Bushy Park.” On the 21st of April, Sayer had satirized the whole min- istry in a caricature, entitled, “ Razor’s Levee ; or, the heads of a new Whig Ad n on a broad bottom.” The scene is the shop of a barber, who is busily engaged in arranging a number of block-heads, representing the members of the coalition ministry. He is especially occupied on the heads of North and Fox, joined on one stand. On the wall, immediately behind, are sus- pended in juxtaposition the portraits of Cromwell and Charles I., to inti- the drivers op the state. mate that the principles now brought together were in reality as hostile to each other as those two historical personages. Distributed through the room are the heads of Lords Portland, John Cavendish, Stormont, Car- lisle, and Keppel, and Edmund Burke, each on its separate stand. A broadside ballad is stuck against the wall immediately behind Keppel, of which enough is legible to inform us that it is “ Rule Britannia, set to a new tune,” on the “ 27th July an allusion to Keppel’s partial engagement with the French, which the Tories still threw in Keppel’s teeth as an act of inca- pacity, if not of cowardice. Over the fire-place is “A new House of Commons during the last defensive declamation of Lord North, on the eve of his resignation. A dog, which had concealed itself under the benches, came out and set up a hideous howling in the midst of his harangue. The house was thrown into a roar of laughter, which continued until the intruder was turned out ; and then Lord North coolly observed, “ As the new member has ended his argument, I beg to be allowed to con- tinue mine.” The dog is made to accompany Lord North in some of the subsequent caricatures. E £ THE DUKE OF GBAFTON. 3 7 ° map of Great Britain and Ireland,” from which Ireland is nearly torn away. The celebrated publican and politician, Sain House, whom we shall soon meet again as a prominent actor in politics, sits in front with a pot of beer in his hand, and looks on admiringly. Under the barber’s table are thrown away three blocks, Shelburne, Dundas, and the Duke of Grafton. The latter, who had formed a part of so many succes- sive ministries, and who was accused by his enemies of deserting or betray- ing them all, seemed now to have fallen entirely in political importance. Among the miscellaneous caricatures against the coalition we may mention one which represents the three chiefs, Portland, Fox, and North, as a strange lusus natures, examined by the King, who refers it for further examination and dissertation to “his friend Jenkinson.” Mr. Jenkinson, afterwards Earl of Liverpool, was popularly looked upon as the hero of the back-stairs influence by which this administration was eventually overthrown. In another, represent- ing Fox and North partaking of their bowl of pottage, the fox is made to take the place of the satyr of the fable, who found a host who blew hot and cold with the same breath. Ano- ther large print, or rather series of boon companions. prints, in nine divi- sions, is entitled “ The loves of the Fox and the Badger ; or, the Coalition Wedding,” and represents a burlesque pictorial history of the friendship between Fox and Lord North, the latter of whom was commonly designated by the sobriquet of “ the badger.” Another caricature in compartments is entitled, “ Slides to the State Magic Lantern,” and ridicules the history of the coali- THE DUKE OP GBAFTON. THE NEW STATE IDOL. 371 tion. In one of the divisions, the two political friends are joined under one coat, and placed on a pedestal as the new idol of the state, which everybody was required to worship. The crown and sceptre are thrown on the ground ; and, indeed, it was clear to all that the idol was only allowed to stand because the King could not help him- self, and that to him it was not an object of voluntary worship. The caricaturist would have us believe that it was equally un- acceptable to the country ; and another of the slides represents the two candidates for power rejected by Britannia, who points to a distant view of the gallows and the block as their proper the new state idol. destination. The first acts of the coalition ministry showed, however, that it was strong in parliamentary influence. A rather heavy loan, rendered necessary by the condition in which Lord Shelburne had left the finances of the country, and a stamp-duty on receipts, were carried by large majorities, in spite of the violent efforts of the opposition ; and the favourite measure of William Pitt, whenever he was out of office, a motion for parliamentary reform, which he now brought forward to embarrass the cabinet, 33 b 2 FOX'S INDIA DILLS. 57a was thrown out in a manner equally decisive. In the middle of July, parliament separated, and the new ministers were left to prepare in quiet the great measures which they intended to bring forward for the consideration of the legislature. The chief of these were two bills for the better regulation of our extensive possessions in the East. The public had been long dazzled by the brilliance of our conquests in Asia, and astonished at the riches which were daily brought home ; but, in the transition from a company of traders to a body which held sovereign power over mighty empires, the India directors now stood in a position which called for the interference of the British legislature. India had hitherto been looked upon chiefly as an extensive field of plunder and aggrandizement, and it was known to the mother-country principally by the so-called Eng- lish “ nabobs,” who returned home with immense fortunes, which they had amassed by every description of injustice and rapacity. The vices of this system had attracted attention for some time, and the measures now brought forward by Fox were intended to bring a remedy. He proposed to vest the affairs of the East India Company in the hands of certain commissioners, for the benefit of the proprietors and the public, who were to be nomi- nated first by the Parliament, and subsequently by the Crown, and whose power was to last during limited periods ; and to add to them other officers for the more immediate government of India, with powers, and under responsibilities, which were calcu- lated to put an end to tyranny and oppression, and to improve the condition of the people throughout our Indian possessions. The plan was, of course, obnoxious to the company, and they employed freely their immense riches in raising up opposition to it : it was even hinted at by many that the King himself had indirectly taken money from the company to overthrow it. Parliament met on the nth of November, and then the first measure brought forward was the bill for the regulation of India. Pitt, Dundas, Jenkinson, and other members of the opposition, spoke with warmth against it, yet it passed through the House of Commons with large majorities, the third reading taking place on the 8th of December. But anxiety was already felt for its fate in the Lords. Walpole writes on the 2 nd of Decem- ber, “ The politicians of London, who at present are not the most numerous corporation, are warm on a bill for the new regulation of the East Indies, brought in by Mr. Fox. Some even of his associates apprehended his being defeated, or meant to defeat him ; but his marvellous abilities have hitherto triumphed conspicuously, and on two divisions in the House of CAM1LO TOTALS SE'N'IrroZ' lOTO fffl UMPflAL OPPOSITION TO THE INDIA PILLS. 373 Commons he had majorities of 109 and 114. On that field he will certainly be victorious ; the forces will be more nearly balanced when the Lords fight the battle ; but though the opposition will have more generals and more able, he is confident that his troops will overmatch theirs ; and in parliamentary engagements a superiority of numbers is not vanquished by the talents of the commanders, as often happens in more martial encounters. His competitor, Mr. Pitt, appears by no means an adequate rival. Just like their fathers, Mr. Pitt has brilliant language, Mr. Fox solid sense, and such luminous powers of displaying it clearly, that mere eloquence is but a Bristol stone when set by the diamond reason.” The main grounds of opposition to this India bill were, that it was an infringement of vested rights as regarded the company, and that its tendency, and, probably, its object, was, by the immense influence it gave to ministers, who had the appoint- ment of the India governors, to increase their power to such an extent as to make them independent of the Crown. Some people hesitated not to say that Fox aimed at establishing in his own person a sort of supreme India Dictatorship, and they gave him the title of Carlo Khan. Caricatures, squibs, pam- phlets, were showered upon him from every side. In a caricature by Sayer, published on the 25th of November, and entitled, “A Transfer of East India Stock,” Fox is represented as a giant carrying the India House on his shoulders to St. James’s. Sayer was courting the favour of William Pitt, who was now evidently on the point of grasping at power, and a few days after the appearance of the caricature last mentioned, on the 3th of December, he published his more celebrated print of “ Carlo Khan’s Triumphal Entry into Leadenhall Street,” his most famous production, though certainly much inferior to many of his subsequent works. Fox, in his new character of Carlo Khan, is conducted to the door of the India House on the hack of an elephant, which exhibits the full face of Lord North, and he is led by Burke as his imperial trumpeter ; for he had been the loudest supporter of the hill in the House of Commons. A bird of ill-omen from above croaks forth the would-be mon- arch’s doom. Fox is said to have acknowledged that his India Bill received its severest blow in public estimation from this caricature, which had a prodigious sale, and its effect was in- creased by the multitude of pirated copies and imitations. When Pitt came into power he rewarded the author with a pro- fitable place.* * James Sayer was the son of a captain merchant at Yarmouth, and 374 CARLO KHAN. The sentiment which is said to have weighed most with King George, after his personal dislike to his ministers, was the dread of diminishing the influence of the Crown, which was often and carefully instilled into him by Lord Thurlow ; for the King held private communication with the chiefs of the opposition, with whom he was concerting measures for bringing them back to power. The King’s behaviour to his present ministers was, indeed, most uncandid. He never informed them that he dis- approved of the India Bill; yet when the i^th of December, the day appointed for the second reading in the House of Lords, approached, he gave Lord Temple, with whom he had had several private interviews, a note in his own handwriting to the effect “ that his majesty would deem those who voted for the bill not only not his friends, but his enemies ; and that if Lord Temple could put this in still stronger words, he had full au- thority to do so.” This note was shewn pretty freely to all those peers who were supposed to be influenced by the royal in- clinations ; and the King further commanded the lords of the Bedchamber to vote against his ministers. The consequence was that the latter were beaten by a majority of eight. On the 17th of December the bill was finally thrown out by a majority of nineteen. In the night of the 18th the King dismissed his ministers, and gave the seals into the hands of Lord Temple. The opposition- — which, in this instance, was the Court party — burst into loud exultation, which was as loudly re-echoed by the newspapers, and trumpeted forth by their agents in a variety of different shapes. On the 24th of December, appeared a sequel to Sayer’s caricature, with the title of “ The Fall of Carlo Khan,” in poor imitation of Sayer’s style; the elephant, goaded by the opposition, has thrown its rider, Carlo, who is falling to the ground with the words, “ secret influence” in his mouth. Burke, having thrown down his trumpet, and a large sack, in- scribed “ plans of economy,” is running away at full speed. Sayer himself now produced a series of prints, in the first of which, entitled “ The Fall of Phaeton,” and published on the 6th of January, 1784, Fox is represented as falling headlong from the car of state, the reins of which are held by the hand of royalty. In another, published on the 12th of January, under the title of “ Pandemonium,” the caricaturist has again was by profession an attorney, but having a moderate independency, he did not much pursue business. Pitt gave him the offices of marshal of the Court of Exchequer, receiver of the sixpenny duties, and cursitorship. He was the author of many political songs and squibs. He died in the earlier part of the present century, no long time after his patron, Pitt. BESENTMENT OF THE COMMONS. 375 attempted a parody on a passage of Milton, by exhibiting Fox as the political Satan, surrounded by his satellites, Lords Port- land, Carlisle, Cavendish, Keppel, North, and Burke, &c. with rueful countenances, whom he is encouraging after their fall. All these and more came flocking, but with looks Downcast and damp, yet such wherein appeared Obscure some glimpse of joy, to have found their chief Not in despair, to have found themselves not lost In loss itself, which on his countenance cast Like doubtful hue ; but he, his wonted pride Soon recollecting, with high words that bore Semblance of vjorth , not substance , gently raised Their fainting courage and dispell’d their fears.” At this time, indeed, the representatives of the nation were rallying round the ex-ministry, and throwing the court into the greatest embarrassment. The King was in the somewhat difficult position of having appointed a ministry in opposition to the majority in the Plouse of Commons, at the same time that he had thrown their predecessors out by a manifest unconstitu- tional interference with parliamentary privileges. Some strong remarks on back-stairs influence, and on the note understood to have been given by the King to Lord Temple, were made in the House of Lords; but the House of Commons proceeded rnucli more energetically. On the 1 7th of December, the very evening when this underhand influence was brought into play in the other House, a violent debate arose upon the subject in the Commons, and they passed, by a majority of nearly two to one (the numbers being one hundred and fifty-three to eighty), a resolution, “ That it is now necessary to declare, that, to report any opinion, or pretended opinion, of his Majesty upon any bill, or other proceeding, depending in either House of Parliament, with a view to influence the votes of the members, is a high crime and misdemeanour, derogatory to the honour of the Crown, a breach of the fundamental privileges of Parliament, and subversive of the constitution of this country and further, “ that this House will, upon Monday morning next, resolve itself into a committee of the whole House, to consider the state of the nation.” This was followed by a resolution equally strong, and carried by a majority in the same proportion, declaring the necessity of a legislative act for the government of India. On the 19th of December, after the ministers had been dismissed, the Court party, on a question of adjournment, found themselves in so small a minority, that they did not dare to divide. On Monday, the 22nd, it was notified that Earl Temple, who had been appointed one of the new secretaries of 37 6 STRONG RESOLUTIONS. state, had resigned his office in consequence of what had trans- pired in the House on the 19th. A very strong address to the King was then voted without a division, and was presented on the 24th, to which the King returned an evasive answer, but made a distinct declaration that he would not prorogue or dissolve the Parliament. On the 12th of January, the first day of meeting after Christmas, when there was a full attendance of members, the Court having made every exertion to increase its number of votes, there was a majority of thirty-nine against the ministers, on the question of going into committee to consider the state of the nation. Fox then stated, that it was necessary to come to some specific resolution to prevent the present ministry from making an improper use of their power “ the short time they had to exist and moved, “ That it was the opinion of the committee, that any person in his Majesty’s treasury, exchequer, pay-office, bank of England, or any person whatever entrusted with the public money, paying away, or causing to be paid, any sum or sums of money voted for the service of the present year, in case of a dissolution or prorogation of Parliament, before a bill, or hills, were brought in for the appropriation of such sums, would be guilty of a high crime and misdemeanour, highly derogatory to the honour of the House, and contrary to the faith of Parliament.” This resolution was carried without a division, as well as another, “ That it is the opinion of the committee, that there should be laid before them an account of all sums of money expended for the use of the public service between the 19th of December, 1783, and the 12th of January, 1784, specifying each sum, and for what expended.” In moving this resolution, Fox said that it might appear an extraordinary method ; but, as extraordinary measures had been taken by the present ministry to come into power, it required extraordinary motions to prevent them doing mischief now they were in power. Other resolutions were passed, especially two moved by the Earl of Surrey, “ That it is the opinion of the committee, that in the present situation of his Majesty’s dominions, it is highly necessary that such an administration should be formed as possesses both the confidence of this House and of the public;” and “that it is the opinion of the committee, that the late changes were preceded by extraordinary rumours, dangerous to the constitution, inasmuch as the sacred name of Majesty had been unconstitutionally used for the purpose of affecting the deliberations of Parliament ; and the appointments that followed were accompanied by circum- stances new and extraordinary, and such as were evidently calculated not to conciliate the affections of that House.” PITTS INDIA BILL THROWN OUT. 377 This last motion was violently opposed by Pitt, Dundas, and Scott (afterwards Lord Eldon), but it was carried by a majority of fifty-four. On the 15th of January, Pitt obtained leave to bring in his India bill. On the 16th the House again resolved itself into a committee; and, after a very warm debate, the following resolution was passed by a majority of twenty-one : — “ That it is the opinion of this committee, it having been declared by this House, that, in the present situation of bis Majesty’s dominions, an administration should be formed, which possessed the confidence of this House and the public ; and the present administration being formed under circumstances new and extraordinary, such as were not calculated to conciliate the affections or engage the confidence of this House; that his Majesty’s present ministers still holding high and responsible offices, after such a declaration, is contrary to true constitutional principles, and injurious to his Majesty and his people.” The debates on these resolutions were sometimes exceedingly violent, and led to much personal recrimination, especially between Pitt and Fox; but the former bore everything with the passive cold- ness for which he was remarkable, and the King remained obstinate in pursuing his own course. On the 23rd of January Pitt’s India bill was thrown out by a majority of eight, and Fox obtained leave to bring in a new bill on the same subject. The House was still labouring under the fear of a dissolution; and, on the 26th of January, a resolution was passed to avert it, on which Pitt declared that he should not advise his Majesty to dissolve the Parliament. An attempt was now made by some persons of influence, who were alarmed at the threatening aspect of affairs, to form a new coalition ; to which the King and Pitt professed themselves favourable ; but it was soon seen that this was merely done for the purpose of gaining time, and in the hope of being able to soften down the opposition. On the 2nd of February, Mr. Grosvenor, who had been the chief acfcor in this attempt, declared to the House his failure, and moved a resolution, which was carried without a division, setting forth the necessity of an “ united administration.” This was followed by a much more important resolution, moved by Mr. Coke of Norfolk, and carried, after a warm debate, by a majority of nineteen, “ That it is the opinion of this House, that the con- tinuance of the present ministry in power is an obstacle to the formation of such an administration as is likely to have the con- fidence of this House and the people.” Next day it was resolved, by a majority of twenty-four, that a copy of the resolutions of the preceding day should be laid before the King. On the day 378 CARICATURES ON TEE COALITION. after (Feb. 4), the House of Lords passed a resolution, by a majority of forty-seven, that it was contrary to the letter and spirit of the constitution that one branch of the legislature should pass any resolutions impeding the progress of the whole, and tending to deprive the Crown of its prerogative in nomi- nating and keeping in office its own servants ; and, on the 5th, a loyal address of the House of Lords was presented to the King. The Commons resented this with warmth, and passed a string of resolutions in defence of their own conduct. On the 18th of February, Mr. Pitt coldly informed the House “ That his Majesty, after considering the present situation of public affairs, had not dismissed his ministers, nor had those ministers re- signed.” On the 20th, another resolution agaiust the ministers was passed by a majority of twenty, and an address to the King in the same spirit was passed ; and similar motions and addresses were repeated, until, on the 24th of March, the Parliament was prorogued, with a discontented speech from the throne, and it was dissolved on the day following, March 23th. Thus ended for the moment this threatening contest between the Crown and the most important branch of the Legislature; and the result of the elections hindered it from being revived in the subsequent session. During these rough proceedings within doors, the nation without was violently agitated, and the press entered hotly into the dispute, and dealt largely in personal abuse. The minis- terial caricaturists were not inactive. On the 9th of February, Sayer engraved a plate representing the heads of Fox and North, decapi- tated and laid on the table of the House, with a parody on Fox’s motion for the adjourn- ment of the consideration of the mutiny act : — - “ Cui bono ? — publico bono. “ Die Lunce, 9 0 Februarii , 1784. “ In a committee on the sense of the nation, — Moved — that for prevent- ing future disorders and dissensions, the heads of the Mutiny Act be brought in, and suffered to lie on the table to-morrow. “ Ordered. “ That all further proceedings upon the act for dividing the Commons, &c. be adjourned sine die. u Ordered. “Vox Pofuli, Cler. Par.'” YOUNG HERCULES. 379 One or two other clever prints by Sayer were produced on this occasion. An engraving by Giliray, published in the month of February, represented Pitt under the character of the infant Hercules, strangling the two serpents of the coalition, YOUNG HERCULES AND THE SERPENTS. Fox and North. The coalition was attacked in songs and ballads, as well as in caricatures ; and the political tergiversa- tions, either real or pretended, of the chiefs of the opposition, were chanted incessantly, not only in public, but even in private parties. “ Lord North, for twelve years, with his war and contracts, The people he nearly had laid on their backs ; Yet stoutly he swore he sure was a villain, If e’er he had bettered his fortune a shilling. Derry down, down, down, derry down. “ Against him Charles Fox was a sure bitter foe, And cried, that the empire he’d soon overthrow ; Before him all honour and conscience had fled, And vow’d that the axe it should cut off his head. Derry down, &c. “Edmund Burke, too, was in a mighty great rage, And declared Lord North the disgrace of the age; His plans and his conduct he treated with scorn, And thought it a curse that he’d ever been born. Derry down, &c. ** So hated he vras, Fox and Burke they both swore. They infamous were if they enter’d his door ; But, prithee, good neighbour, now think on the end, Both Burke and Fox call him their very good friend ! Derry down, &c. “ Now Fox, North, and Burke, each one is a brother. So honest, they swear, there is not such another; No longer they tell us we’re going to ruin, The people they serve in whatever they’re doing. Derry down,” &c. TEE UNFORTUNATE ASS. 380 Against the evils under which the country was in danger of being brought by this confederacy, there was, it is pretended, only one hope of salvation. “ But Chatham, thank heaven ! has left us a son ; When he takes the helm, we are sure not undone ; The glory his father revived of the land, And Britannia has taken Pitt by the hand.” The Court party, indeed, did all they could to have it be- lieved that the opposition was a mere faction, unpopular throughout the country ; and they expressed with great con- fidence that an appeal to the nation would end in their own favour. A boldly-drawn carica- ture, entitled “ Britannia Aroused ; or, the coalition monsters de- stroyed,” represents Britannia hurling the two chiefs of the coalition from her, as enemies to that liberty of which she carries the symbol by her side. The coalition had, indeed, for a time become unpopular, not only from a sort of repugnance to the sudden union of parties who had been so bitterly opposed to each other, hut from the pertinacity of the attacks which had been di- rected against it. There were others who held back in a certain BRITANNIA aroused. degree of neutrality, equally op- posed to the extension of the pre- rogative on one side, and fearful on the other that the violence of the other was paving the way for the encroachments of demo- A BONG PULL AND A STRONG PULL. CARICATURES AGAINST THE COURT. 381 cracy. The voice of this party is heard at times, but not very loud. A caricature, entitled “The Unfortunate Ass,” pub- lished on the nth of March, 1784, burlesques the long struggle between King Greorge and Charles Fox, which had preceded the dissolution of Parliament. The ass represents the people laden with taxes ; the King, armed with the sword of “ prerogative,” is pulling in one direction, which is designated by a finger-post as the “ road to absolute monarchy.” Fox is pulling with equal obstinacy in the other direction, which is similarly pointed out as the “road to republicanism.” Fox exclaims, “I humbly insist upon the management, or else will not grant any supplies.” The popular party had also its numerous caricaturists, who held up to scorn not only the measures and designs of the new ministers, but the means by which they had been brought into power. In one of these, published on the 12th of January, the King is represented with two faces, giving his hand openly on one side to Fox, who has the India bill in his hand, and to North, while with the other face he thrusts his hand through a screen to a lord who has mounted by the back-stairs. Behind North and Fox a picture is suspended on the wall, representing Bute in the character of a Scottish cat, booted, with an inscrip- tion in French, intimating that it is “ the celebrated Scottish cat which obtained a place in the royal cabinet twenty-four years ago : it is represented booted, and fierce, especially to the King’s ministers.” Over the back-stairs entrance is an empty frame, with the inscription, also in French, “ The frame for the companion to the Scottish cat, which is not yet found.” Among a number of patriotic caricatures which appeared during the parliamentary struggle described above, and on the eve of the elections, we may mention three, which bear con- siderable resemblance to the style of Rowlandson, and are pro- bably to be reckoned among his early works. In the first, pub- lished on the 1 ith of March, Fox is represented as “ The Cham- pion of the People,” armed with the sword of justice and the shield of truth, and combating the many-headed hydra, whose various mouths breathe forth “ Tyranny,” “ Assumed preroga- tive,” “ Despotism,” “ Oppression,” “ Secret influence,” “ Scotch politics,” “ Duplicity,” and “ Corruption.” The two latter, with some others, are already cut off. Behind the dragon, the Dutchman, Frenchman, and other foreign enemies, are seen dancing round the standard of sedition. The champion has on his side strong bodies of English and Irish, bearing aloft the “ standard of universal liberty ;” the former shout, “ While he protects us, we will support himj” the latter, “He gave us a 382 THE STATE AUCTION, \ free trade, and all we asked ; he shall have our firm support.” Still nearer him, the East Indians are on their knees praying for his success. The second of these caricatures, published on the 26th of March, is entitled, “ The State Auction.” Pitt, as the young auctioneer, is knocking down with the hammer of “ pre- rogative” most of the valuables of the constitution. Dundas, as his assistant, is holding up for sale a heavy lot, entitled “Lot 1. The Eights of the People.” Pitt cries, “ Shew the lot this way, Harry — a’going, a’going — speak quick, or it’s gone — hold up the lot, ye Dund-ass !” To which the assistant replies, “ I can hould it na higher, sir.” On the left, the “ chosen repre- senters,” as they are termed, are leaving the auction-room, mut- tering complaints, or encouragements, such as, “ Adieu to liberty!” “Despair not,” “Now or never!” Fox alone stands his ground, and makes a last effort, — “ I am determined to bid with spirit for lot 1 ; he shall pay dear for it that outbids me !” Beneath the auctioneer stand what are termed the “ hereditary virtuosis;” the foremost of whom (apparentlj r intended to re- present the lord-chancellor) leads them on with the exhortation, “ Mind not the nonsensical biddings of those common fellows.” The auctioneer’s secretary observes, “ We shall get the supplies by this sale.” The third of the caricatures alluded to, published on the 31st of March, when the elections were beginning, alludes more especially to the dissolution which had just taken place. It is entitled “ The Hanoverian Horse and British Lion ; — a scene in a new play, lately acted in Westminster with distin- guished applause, act 2nd, scene last.” Behind is the vacant throne, with the intimation, “We shall resume our situation here at pleasure, Leo Bex.” I11 front, the Hanoverian horse, with- out bridle or saddle, neighing “pre - ro - ro - ro - ro-rogative,” is trampling on the safeguards of the constitution, and kicking out with violence its “ faithful commons.” The young minister, mounted on the back of the prancing animal, cries “ Bravo ! — go it again ! — I love to ride a mettled steed ; send the vaga- bonds packing.” On the oppo- site side of the picture, Fox is borne in, with more gravity, on the back of the British lion, and THE BRITISH LION AND ITS IilDER. PITT’S MINISTRY. 383 holding a whip and bridle in his hand. The indignant beast exclaims, “ If this horse is not tamed, he will soon be absolute king of our forest !” The lion’s rider warns his rival horseman of his danger, — “ Prithee, Billy, dismount before ye get a fall, and let some abler jockey take your seat.” William Pitt, though only in his twenty-fifth year, was thus, by the ro}ral will, firmly established prime minister of England. His colleagues were either those who were already well known as “ The King’s friends,” or those young aspirants to power who were willing to tread in their steps. Pitt joined in himself the offices of first lord of the Treasury and chancellor of the Exchequer. Lord Camden was president of the Council ; Vis- count Sydney and the Marquis of Carmarthen, secretaries of State for Home and Foreign Affairs; Earl Gower, privy seal; Earl Howe, first lord of the Admiralty ; Lord Thurlow, chan- cellor ; the Duke of Richmond, master-general of the Ordnance; Mr. W. Grenville and Lord Mulgrave, joint paymasters of the Forces ; Mr. Dundas, treasurer of the Navy ; Mr. (afterwards Lord) Kenyon, attorney-general ; and Mr. Pepper Arden, soli- citor-general. The opposition were fully aware of the disadvan- tages under which they would labour in a general election at the present moment, and they had been anxious to avert a dissolu- tion ; their fears were confirmed by the event. The elections were in many cases obstinate ; but Court influence, and even the King’s name, were used openly, and from being the majority, the party which had been led by Fox and North numbered but a comparatively small minority in the House of Commons. A few passages from Horace Walpole’s Correspondence will give us the best picture of the feelings of the day. On the 30th of March, he writes, “ My letters, since the great change in the administration, have been rare, and much less informing than they used to be. In a word, I was not at. all glad of the revolu- tion, nor have the smallest connexion with the new occupants. There has been a good deal of boldness on both sides. Mr. Fox, convinced of the necessity of hardy measures to correct and save India, and coupling with that rough medicine a desire of confirming the power of himself and his allies, had formed a great system, and a very sagacious one ; so sagacious, that it struck France with terror. But as this new power was to be founded on the demolition of that nest of monsters, the East India Company, and their spawn of nabobs, &c., they took the alarm ; and the secret junto at Court rejoiced that they did. The Court struck the blow at the ministers ; but it was the gold of the company that really conjured up the storm, and has 384 THE WESTMINSTER ELECTION. diffused it all over England. On the other hand, Mr. Pitt has braved the majority of the House of Commons, has dissolved the existent one, and, I doubt, given a wound to that branch of the legislature, which, if the tide does not turn, may be very fatal to the constitution. The nation is intoxicated ; and has poured in addresses of thanks to the Crown for exerting the prerogative against the palladium of the people. The first con- sequence will probably be, that the Court will have a consider- able majority upon the new elections. The country has acted with such precipitation, and with so little knowledge of the question, that I do not doubt but thousands of eyes will be opened and wonder at themselves.” And, on the nth of April, “ The scene is wofully changed for the opposition, though not half the new parliament is yet chosen. Though they still con- test a very few counties and some boroughs, they own them- selves totally defeated. They reckoned themselves sure of 240 members ; they probably will not have 150. In short, between the industry of the Court and the India Company, and that momentary phrenzy that sometimes seizes a whole nation, as if it were a vast animal, such aversion to the coalition, and such a detestation of Mr. Fox, have seized the country, that, even where omnipotent gold retains its influence, the elected pass through an ordeal of the most virulent abuse. The great Whig families, the Cavendishes, Bockinghams, Bedfords, have lost all credit in their own counties ; nay, have been tricked out of seats where the whole property was their own : and, in some of those cases, a royal finger has too evidently tampered, as well as singularly and revengefully towards Lord North and Lord Hertford .... Such a proscription, however, must have sown so deep resentment as it was not wise to provoke ; considering that permanent fortune is a jewel that in no crown is the most to be depended upon.” The most remarkable event in the history of these elections was the obstinate contest for Westminster, which agitated the metropolis in the most extraordinary manner during several weeks. Westminster had been represented in the Parliament just dissolved by Fox and Sir Cecil Wray, who had been nomi- nated by Fox, but he had deserted the standard of his political leader. The Court was resolved, if possible, to turn Fox out of the House, and Wray and Lord Hood (the admiral) were on the present occasion proposed for Westminster, the former being more especially held forth as the antagonist of the “man of the people.” The poll was opened on the 1st of April, and continued without intermission until the 17th of May. For the first few days, in consequence of the extraordinary exer- tions of their party, the two ministerial candidates were ELECTION MOBS AND BIOTS. 385 decidedly in the majority: but afterwards Fox gradually gained ground, until, at the close of the election, he had a majority of 236 votes over his rival, Sir Cecil. For a great portion of the six weeks during which this contest lasted, the western part of the town and, more especially, the streets in the neighbourhood of Covent Garden, (where the election for Westminster always took place), presented a scene of indescribable riot and confusion. At the beginning of the election, Lord Hood had brought up a considerable body of sailors, or, as others represented them, they were chiefly hired ruffians dressed in sailors’ clothes, who occupied the neighbourhood of the hustings, and hindered many of Fox’s friends from approaching to register their votes. When not thus employed, they paraded the streets, insulting and even striking Fox’s partizans. On the third day they came in greater numbers, armed with bludgeons, and surrounded the Shakespeare, where Fox’s committee met, and committed various outrages during the day. At night they besieged the Shakespeare still more closely, until the gentlemen within, provoked by their insulting behaviour, sallied out and heat them away. This defeat only added to the excitement, for on the morning of the fourth day of the election the sailor mob made its appearance with a great accession of force, and took up its position about the hustings as usual. But there was a mob on the other side also, for the hackney-chairmen, a numerous body, who were chiefly Irishmen, were almost unanimous in their support of Fox; and, aggravated by the conduct of the sailors, when the latter began at the close of this day’s poll to return to their usual outrages, the chairmen, whom the newspapers in the interest of the opposition termed the “honest mob,” fell upon them and handled them so roughly that we are told that several had their skulls fractured, and that others were afterwards picked up with arms, legs, and ribs broken. The sailors then left the neighbourhood of Covent Garden, and proceeded to St. James’s Street, where chiefly the chairmen plied for custom, with the avowed intention of breaking their chairs ; but the chairmen beat them again, and the riot was at length put an end to by the arrival of a body of the guards. The next day, which was Tuesday, the sailors re-assembled in a threatening attitude in Covent Garden, but when, towards the end of the poll, the rival mob, composed now of a multitude of butchers, brewers, and other people, in addition to the chairmen, made its appearance, the sailors left Covent Garden, and hastened towards Charing Cross, to intercept Fox, who was understood to be on his way to West- minster to canvass. Fox escaped by taking refuge in a private c c 386 BOUGH BEHAVIOUR OF THE CONSTABLES. house ; and the mob, having visited Westminster without meeting with the object of their search, returned to the Strand, where another combat took place between the adverse factions, and the sailors were again defeated. They met with no better success in two other battles that occurred in the course of tha same evening. Wednesday presented the same scenes of riot, and, in the evening, a still more obstinate battle was fought in Covent Garden between the two mobs, in which the sailors were utterly defeated, and no less than twenty or thirty of them are said to have been carried to the hospitals with severe injuries. Next day few sailors made their appearance, and no more serious rioting occurred until measures were taken by the civil authorities to prevent any violent outbreak of popular feeling which might occur at the close of the poll. The special con- stables were assembled at the places where Hood and Wray’s committee met, and behaved in a manner so evidently hostile to the friends of Fox, that their presence tended rather to provoke riot than otherwise. On the ioth of May, a party of constables from Wapping were brought by order of Justice Wilmot,* in opposition, it was said, to the opinions of the other magistrates, and they went about shouting “No Fox!” and impeding and insulting the liberal voters. Just as the poll closed, a slight disturbance gave the excuse for an attack by the constables. The sound of marrow-bones and cleavers, the old signal for an insurrection of the populace, was immediately heard, and a rather serious scuffle ended in the death of one of the constables. The party of Fox’s opponents endeavoured to fix the death of the constable on some individuals of the Foxite mob, who were indicted for the murder, but acquitted ; and it appeared pretty evident on the trial that the victim had been knocked down by mistake by one of his fellow-constables in the heat and confusion of the moment. But the violence of party faction was so great, that one or two men of notoriously bad character were brought forward, apparently hired, to swear that they had seen the constable killed by the persons indicted ; and a further attempt was made to create a new affray, by carrying the body for burial to Covent Garden church, attended by a tumultuous * “Justice Wilmot” appears to have had no great reputation for the extent of his judicial capacity. One of the Foxite newspapers pretends that, a short time before the catastrophe mentioned in the text, he had addressed to one of the chief booksellers in London a note worded &s follows : “Me. Evans, “ Sir, I expects soon to be calld out on a Mergensey, so send me all the ax of parlyment re Latin to a Gustis of Piece. I am, “Yours to command, xc. “Gustis Wilmot.” WRAY AND FOX . 5^7 cavalcade, with flags, and incendiary handbills, on the 14th of May, in the midst of the day’s polling. This was prevented by the firmness of the parish officers, and by the proposal to close the poll at two o’clock on that day. Perhaps no single occasion ever drew forth, in the same space of time, so many political squibs, ballads, and caricatures, and so much personal abuse on both sides, as this election for West- minster. The newspapers were filled daily with this subject, which seemed exclusively to occupy all the wits and fashionable politicians of the metropolis. The popular charges against Sir Cecil Wray were, his ingratitude towards Fox, for which his opponents treated him with the title of Judas Iscariot ; a pro- posal which he was said to have made to suppress Chelsea Hospital ; and a project of a tax upon maid-servants. To these wore added the more general cries against his party, of undue elevation of the prerogative and back-stairs influence. The particular crimes laid against Fox, were the Coalition and the India-bill ; but he was taxed with private immorality and with revolutionary principles. His opponents represented that his attack on the East India Company’s charter was but the com- mencement of a general invasion of chartered rights of corporate bodies :■ — “This great Carlo Khan, Some say, had a plan To take all our charters away ; But his scheme was found out, And you need not to doubt, Was opposed by the staunch Cecil Wray.” It was but a new link in his chain of political delinquencies ; his whole life, they said, had been characterized by the same want of sober principles : — “ When first young Reynard came from France. He tried to bow, to dress, to dance, But- to succeed had little chance, The courtly dames among ; Tis true, indeed, his wit has charms ; But his grim phiz the point disarms. And a’l were fill’d with dire alarms At such a beau gargon. tf He left the fair, and took to dice ; At Brooks’s they were not so nice. But clear’d his pockets in a trice, ‘‘‘Tor left a wreck behind. Nay, some pretend he even lost That little grace he had to boast. And then resolved to seize some post, Where he might raise the vnnd. C C 2 388 POLITICAL SQUIBS AGAINST FOX. ft In politics he could not fail ; So set about it tooth and nail ; But here again his stars prevail, Nor long the meteor shone. His friends, — if such deserve the name, — Still keep him at a losing game ; Bankrupt in fortune and in fame. His day is almost done.” The grand enemy of the Crown, the Court agents said, was no doubt at his last gasp, and they began already to sing their triumph over his grave : — “ Dear Car, is it true, What I’ve long heard of you ? ‘The man of the people,’ they call you, they call you! How comes it to pass, They’re now grown so rash, At the critical moment to leave you, to leave you ? “ Oh ! that curs’d India bill ! Arrah, why not be still, Enjoy a tight place and be civil, be civil ; Had you carried it through, Oagh ! that would just do, Then their charters we’d pitch to the Devil, the Devil.” The other party, by dwelling continually on Sir Cecil’s project of saving money to the state by abolishing Chelsea Hospital, arrayed against him the numerous class who, one way or other, derived benefit from that establishment ; and they loudly represented that his proposed tax on maid-servants would throw a great number of servants out of places, and that it would thus not only produce great distress, but that it would indirectly increase the prevalence of prostitution. There was also a satirical story of his keeping nothing in his cellar but small-beer, and some other little incidents, which were stretched one way or another into objects of ridicule, if not of odium. The sort of papers that were daily placarded and distributed about, may be conceived from the following specimen, belonging to a class of parodies which were then not uncommon : — The first Chapter of the Times. “ i. And it came to pass, that there were great dissensions in the West, amongst the rulers of the nation. “ 2. And the counsellors of the back-stairs said, let us take advantage and yoke the people even as oxen, and rule them with a rod of iron. “ 3. And let us break up the Assembly of Privileges, and get a new one of Prerogative* ; and let us hire false prophets to deceive the people. And they did so, “4. Then Judas Iscariot went among the citizens, saying, ‘ Choose me one of your elders, and I will tax your innocent damsels, and I will take the bread from the helpless, lame, and blind. SQUIBS AGAINST WRAY. 389 “ 5. * And with the scrip which will arise, we will eat, drink, and be merry.’ Then he brought forth the roll of sheep-skin, and came unto the gin-shops, cellars, and bye-places, and said, — ‘ Sign your names,’ — and many made their marks.* * ‘ 6. Now it came to pass, that the time being come when the people choose their elders, that they assembled together at the hustings, nigh unto the Place of Cabbages. “7. And Judas lifted up his prerogative pniz, and said, ‘Choose me, choose me!’ But the people said, ‘ Satan, avaunt ! thou wicked Judas! hast thou not deceived thy best friend '! would’st thou deceive us also ? Get thee behind us, thou unclean spirit ? “8. ‘ We will have the man who ever has and will support our cause, and maintain our rights, who stands forth to us, and who will never be guided by Secret Influence I “9. And the people shouted, and cried with an exceeding loud voice, saying, ‘ Fox is the man !’ “ to. Then they caused the trumpets to be sounded, as .at the feast of the full moon, and sang, ‘ Long live Fox ! may our champion live for ever ! Amen.’ ” Every new proclamation or placard issued by Fox’s party harped on the story of Chelsea Hospital and the maid-servants ; nor was the old symbol of France and slavery — wooden shoes — forgotten. The following, put out early in the canvass, may serve as an example ; the allusion being more especially to the extensive polling of soldiers for Hood and Wray at the beginning of the election : — “All Horse-guards , Orenadier-guards , Foot-guards , and Black-guards, that have not polled for the destruction of Chelsea Hospital and the tax on maidservants, are desired to meet at the Gutter Hole, opposite the Horse- guards, where they will have a full bumper of ‘ knock-me-down ,’ and plenty of soap-suds, before they go to poll for Sir Cecil Wray, or eat. “Fl.B. — Those that have no shoes or stockings may come without, there being a quantity of wooden shoes provided for them .” The obnoxious tax upon the maids was a sufficient set-off to the new taxes, especially that on receipts, which had been proposed by Fox while in office, and were loudly cried down by his ^ory opponents : — “For though he opposes the stamping of notes, ’Tis in order to tax all your petticoats, Then how can a womam solicit our votes For Sir Cecil Wray ?” The ladies are, therefore, especially warned against counte- nancing such a pretender, whose only claim was the love of * This alludes to a loyal address sent from Westminster a little while before the election, and said to have been smuggled by Sir Cecil Wray without the knowledge of the greater part of the electors, and signed only by a few ignorant people. INTERFERENCE OF THE KINO, 30 ° bacit-stairs intrigue, and whose crooked politics were not embel- lished even by generous feelings : — “For had he to women been ever a friend. Nor by taxing them tried our old taxes to mend. Yet so stingy he is, that none can contend For Sir Cecil Wray. “ The gallant Lord Hood to his country is dear, His voters, like Charlie’s, make excellent cheer; But who has been able to taste the small beer Of Sir Cecil Wray ? “Then come ev’ry free, ev’ry generous soul, That loves a fine girl and a full flowing bowl, Come here in a body, and all of you poll ’Gainst Sir Cecil Wray ! “ In vain all the arts of the Court are let loose. The electors of Westminster never will choose To run down a Fox, and set up a Goose Like Sir Cecil Wray.” The exertions of the Court against Fox were of the most extraordinary kind. The King is said to have received almost hourly intelligence of what was going on, and to have been affected in the most evident manner by every change in the state of the poll. The royal, name was used very freely in obtaining votes for Hood and Wray, even in threats. On one occasion, two hundred and eighty of the guards were sent in a body to give their votes as householders, which Horace Walpole observes, “ is legal, but which my father (Sir Bobert), in the most quiet seasons, would not have dared to do.” All dependents on the Court were commanded to vote on the same side as the soldiers. When the popular party cried out against this sort of interference, their opponents charged Fox and his friends with bribery, and with using various other kinds of im- proper influence ; they insulted his voters by describing them publicly as the lowest and most degraded part of the popula- tion ; and their language became more violent as Fox gradually rose on the poll. “ It is an absolute fact,” one of their papers said, “ that if a person, on going up to the Shakespeare, can shew a 'piece of a shirt only , the committee declares him duly qualified .” Another paper announces, “ This day the elegant inhabitants of Borough-clink, Bag-fair, Chick-lane, &c., go up with an address to Mr. Fox, at his ready-furnished lodgings , thanking him for his interest in the late extraordinary circulation of handker- chiefs.” Forgetting their own sailors, they exclaimed against the employment of persons of no better character than Irish TRIUMPH OF THE FOXITES. 39 T chairmen; and after the unfortunate affair on ioth of May, they headed their bills with such titles as, “No murder! no club-law ! no butchers’ law ! no petticoat government !” It was now, however, the turn of the Foxites to triumph in their increasing numbers of votes, and a shower of exulting squibs and songs fell upon their opponents. Placards like the following were scattered abroad before the end of April “ Oh! help Judas, lest he fall into the Pitt of Ingratitude ! ! I “ The prayers of all bad Christians, Heathens, Infidels, and Devil’s- agents, are most earnestly requested for their dear friend, Jodas Iscariot, Tcnight of the lack- stairs, lying at the period of political dissolution ; having received a dreadful wound from the exertions of the lovers of liberty and the constitution, in the poll of the last ten days at the Hustings, nigh unto the Place of Cabbages.” They published caricatures, in which the unsuccessful candidate was driven away by a maid-servant’s broom and a pensioner’s crutch ; or pursued by a hooting crowd, bearing on their banners “No tax on maid-servants,” &c. ; or riding dolefully on a slow and obstinate ass, while the successful candidates are galloping onwards to the end of the race, on high-mettled horses, and leaving him far in the distance. Even the Irish chairmen were given their fling at the discomfited candidate in a “new ” ballad, entitled “Paddy’s farewell to Sir Cecil:” — “Sir Cecil, be aisy, I wont be unshivil, Now the Man of the Paple is chose in your stead ; Prom swate Covent- Garden you’re flung to the Divil, By Jasus, Sir Cecil, you’ve bodder’d your head. Fa-ra-lal, &c. u To be sure, much avail to you all your fine spaiches, ’Tis nought but palaver, my honey, my dear, While all Charly’s voters stick to him like laiches, A frind to our liberties and our small leer. Fa-ra-lal, &c.” The ladies are then represented as rejoicing in his defeat, with the exception of his canvassing friend, Mrs. Hobart ; ana the songster concludes : — “Ah now ! pray let no jontleman prissent take this ill, By my truth, Pat shall nivir use unshivil wards ; But my varse sure must plaise, which the name of Sir Cecil Hands down to oblivion’s latest recards. Fa-ra-lal, &c. 39 a SAM HOUSE. “ If myshelf with the tongue of a prophet is gifted, Oh ! I sees in a twinkling the knight’s latter ind ! Tow’rds the varge of his life div’lish high he’ll be lifted, And after his death, never fear, he’ll discind. Fa-ra-lal, &c.” The young Prince of Wales, who was now the intimate friend of Fox, and the warm supporter of the coalition, exerted himself as actively against the Court in this Westminster election, as his father’s ministers did in favour of it, and his con- duct is said to have given extreme provocation to the King and Queen. Members of his own household were employed in can- vassing for voters ; and some of the ministerial papers, which, in their paragraphs shewed little respect for his character, declared that he had canvassed in person ; one of them states, with an appended observation, the wit of which is not very rwmarkable, that “ The Prince appeared at Ranelagh last week with a Fox cockade in his hat, and a sprig of laurel ; if he should ever be sent a bird's-nesting by Oliver, it is to be expected he will prefer the laurel to the oak." At this time is said to have arisen the hostile feeling which the Prince ever afterwards entertained towards Pitt, and which was increased by the minister’s stiff and haughty bearing towards him. The Prince gave a magnificent party in honour of Fox’s triumph at Westminster. Another active and re- markable partizan of Fox was “honest” Sam House* the publican, an old resident in this character in West- minster, remarkable for his odditiesf and for his political zeal. During this election he kept open house at his own expense, and was honoured with the company of many of the Whig aristocracy. An early caricature by Gill- ray, entitled “ Returning from Brooks’s,” represents the Prince of Wales in a state of considerable ine- briety, wearing the election * The picture of Sam House occurs in many caricatures of the time. The c>it given above is copied from a plate by Gillray. + Fou 33 was remarkable for his clean and perfectly bald head, over THE DUCHESS OF DEVONSHIBE. o93 cockade, and supported by Fox and the patriotic publican. The wit of the ministerial papers was often expended on honest Sam. At the beginning of the election, when Fox seemed to be in a hopeless minority, one of them inserted a paragraph stating that the publican had committed suicide in his despair. He is said to have been a very successful canvasser in the course of the election. “ See the brave Sammy House, he’s as still as a mouse, And does canvass with prudence so clever : See what shoals with him flocks, to poll for brave Fox, Give thanks to Sam House, boys, for ever, for ever, for ever ! Give thanks to Sam House, boys, for ever ! 1 ‘Brave bald-headed Sam, all must own, is the man, Who does canvass for brave Fox so clever ; His aversion, I say, is to small beer and Wray ! May his bald head be honour’d for ever, for ever, for ever ! May his bald head be honour’d for ever 1” But the most active and successful of Fox’s canvassers, and the most ungenerously treated by the opposite party, was the beautiful and accomplished Duchess of Devonshire (Georgiana Spencer). Attended by several others of the beauties of the Whig aristocracy, she was almost daily present at the elec- tion, wearing Fox’s cockade, and she went about personally soliciting votes, which she obtained in great num- bers by the influence of her personal charms and by her affability. The Tories were greatly annoyed at her ladyship’s proceedings ; they accused her of wholesale bribery ; and it was currently reported that she had in one instance bought the vote of a butcher with a kiss, an incident which was immediately exhibited to people’s eyes in multitudes of pic- tures, with more or less of exagge- ration. But nothing could be more disgraceful than the profusion of which he never wore hat or wig. His unvaried dress consisted of nankeen jacket and breeches, brightly polished shoes and buckles, and he had khs waistcoat constantly open in all seasons, and wore remarkably whit© liseji. His legs were generally bare ; but, when clad, were always in stockings s',. the finest quality ot silk. BRIBERY, 394 INSULTS ON THE DUCHESS . scandalous and indecent abuse which was heaped upon this noble lady by the ministerial press, especially by its two great organs, the Morning Dost and the Advertiser. The insult in some cases was merely coarse, such as the following from the Morning Post : — “ The Duchess of Devonshire yesterday canvassed the different alehouses of Westminster in favour of Mr. Fox ; about one o’clock she took her share of a pot of porter at Sam House’s in Wardour Street.” The same paper makes her write to the candidate : — “ Yesterday I sent you three votes, but went through great fatigue to secure them ; it cost me ten kisses for every 'plumper. I’m much afraid we are done up, — will see you at the porter- shop, and consult about ways and means.” Others of these newspaper paragraphs were more pointedly insulting to the feelings of a virtuous female, such as “We hear that the D— — ss of D grants favours to those who promise their votes and interest to Mr. Fox.” — “A certain beautiful lady of quality, who has for some days past canvassed on foot for her favourite candidate, met lately with such a reception as she might reasonably expect ; one man offered a hundred votes for one of her favours .” — “ A certain lady of great beauty and high rank, requests that in future when she condescends to favour any shoemaker, or other mechanic, with a salute, that he will kiss fair, and not take improper liberties.” Multitudes of these paragraphs contained inuendos and aspersions far too infamous to allow of their being transferred to our pages; we merely quote as one of the least objectionable, — “ Laxlies of Pleasure have ever been of prodigious service to conspirators ; not only Catiline, but also the famous Jacques Pierre, and several other contrivers of mischief, have carried on their operations through the medium of a courtezan .” But the newspaper paragraphs were nothing in comparison with the disgraceful manner in which the duchess was treated in the caricatures, in many of which she was figured and exhibited to public view in the shop windows, in indecent postures, accompanied with allusions of the most infamous kind. The Queen, who had all the caricatures on this occasion brought to her, and was extremely amused with the manner in which the opponents of the Court were turned to ridicule, is said to have been much shocked by some of these coarse carica- tures against the Duchess of Devonshire, which had been acci- dentally brought to her among the other political prints. The “canvassing duchess” figured also in many caricatures of a much less objectionable character. Thus, in one entitled “ Wit’s T ast Stake, or, the cobbling voters and abject canvassers,” the CARICATURES ON TEE DUCHESS. *>95 duchess is represented seated on Fox’s knee, and holding her shoe to be mended by a cobbler, for which she is paying his wife with gold ; Fox is shaking hands with another voter, who is treated by Sam House with a pot of porter. In others she is represented marching about with troops of canvassing ladies, bearing banners with appropriate mottoes ; or practising various arts to con- vince unwilling voters. In a cari- cature published immediately after the election, entitled “ Every man has his hobby-horse,” the successful candidate is carried in triumph by his fair and zealous supporter. Charles Fox may truly be said to have been carried into the House of Commons in 1 784 by the Duchess of Devonshire. # We ought not to pass over an- other zealous actor in this exciting scene of turbulence, who helped at least to enliven it — the celebrated convivial songster, Captain Morris, whose effusions were unfortunately not always of an unexceptioiv- * An immense mass of newspaper paragraphs, placards, squibs, song*, &c., relating to this election, with a certain number of caricatures, were published collectively under the title of a “ History of the Westminster Election and, although but a selection, they form a large quarto volume in small print. On the whole, these records of party feeling are much more distinguished by scurrility than by wit. The following anecdotes of JEVj; ’s personal canvass are related. He and his friends were often o SONG AGAINST TITT. 39 6 able character. We shall soon meet with him again as one of the boon companions of the heir apparent. The captain had begun his career as a political songster in the ranks of the Tories, and had composed a bitter song against the Fox and North administration, under the title of “ The Coalition Song.” His conversion to the other party was probably effected by the example of the Prince of Wales. During the Westminster elec- tion of 1784, he was a constant attendant at Fox’s convivial parties, for which several of his best political songs were com- posed, especially one against the King and his young minister Pitt, entitled “ The Baby and Nurse,” which was enthusiasti- cally called for over and over again at the election dinners, and, oddly enough, while he was himself singing this new song to the Whigs, the Tories were singing his old song against the coali- tion. Another song against Pitt, by Captain Morris, was popu- lai during and after the election, under the title of “BILLY’S TOO YOUNG TO DRIVE US.” “If life’s a rough journey, as moralists tell, Englishmen sure made the best on ’t ; On this spot of earth they bade liberty dwell, While slavery holds all the rest on ’t. They thought the best solace for labour and care, Was a state independent and free, sir ; And this thought, though a curse that no tyrant can bear, Is the blessing of you and of me, sir. Then while through this whirlabout journey we reel. We’ll keep unabused the best blessing we feel, And watch ev’ry turn of the politic wheel — Billy ’s too young to drive us. “ The car of Britannia, we all must allow, Is ready to crack with its load, sir ; And wanting the hand of experience, will now Most surely break down on the road, sir. Then must we, poor passengers, quietly wait, To be crush’d by this mischievous spark, sir? Who drives a d — d job in the carriage of state. And got up like a thief in the dark, sir. Then while through this whirlabout, &o. personal insult ; but this was one of the charms of electioneering in the olden time. “ Mr. Fox, on his canvass, having accosted a blunt tradesman, whom he solicited for his vote, the man answered, ‘ I cannot give you my support ; I admire your abilties, but d — n your principles!’ Mr. Fox smartly replied, ‘ My friend, I applaud you for your sincerity, but d — n your manners !’ ” “ Mr. Fox having applied to a saddler in the Haymarket for his vote and interest, the man produced a halter, with which, he said, he was ready to oblige him. Mr. Fox replied, ‘ I return you thanks, my friend, for your intended present ; but I should be sorry to deprive you of it, as I presume it must be aj family piece.' ” THE WESTMINSTER SCRUTINY. 39 7 “They say that his judgment is mellow and pure, And his principles virtue’s own type, sir ; I believe from my soul he’s a son of a , And his judgment more rotten than ripe, sir. For all that he boasts of, what is it, in truth. But that mad with ambition and pride, sir, He ’s the vices of age, for the follies of youth. And a d — d deal of cv/nning beside , sir.* Then while through this whirlabout, &c. “The squires, whose reason ne’er reaches a span, Are all with this prodigy struck, sir ; And cry, ‘ it’s a crime not to vote for a mar Who ’s as chaste as a baby at suck,’ sir. * * * “It’s true, he ’s a pretty good gift of the gab. And was taught by his dad on a stool, sir ; But though at a speech he ’s a bit of a dab. In the state he ’s a bit of a tool, sir. For Billy’s pure love for his country was such, He agreed to become the cat’s paw, sir ; And sits at the helm, while it ’s turn’d by the touch Of a reprobate fiend of the law, 4 sir. Then while through this whirlabout,” &c. The Westminster election of 1784 was the most remarkable struggle of the kind that has ever been witnessed in this country, and is an event of importance in the political history of the last century, because it was the only very serious check that the Court met with at this time in its successful attempt to obtain a strong Tory House of Commons. The superior power of the Crown in the legislature, and the political influence of William Pitt, were from this moment firmly established. J The principal measures of the new ministers during the present year (1784) were (with the exception of Pitt’s India-bill, a performance so * To explain some parts of this song, it may be necessary to state, that, although very strongly addicted to the bottle, Pitt, who was of a cold, phlegmatic disposition, had none of the wild habits of the young men of his day, and was held up by the Court as a contrast to the irregularities of Fox and his companions. Two stanzas and a half are omitted. 4 An allusion to Lord Thurlow, who was celebrated for his swearing propensities. + The hostility against Fox at Westminster did not end with the election ; the Court party had, from the first, declared their intention of demanding a scrutiny if Fox succeeded, because it was known that, under the circumstances, this would be a long, tedious, and expensive affair. The returning officer acted partially ; and, on the demand of Sir Cecil Wray for a scrutiny, refused to make a return. Fox had been elected member for Kirkwall in Scotland, so that he was not hindered from taking his seat in the House ; and, after some months’ delay, the high-bailiff was not only obliged to return him as member for Westminster, but Fox brought an action against him, and recovered heavy damages. 398 PITT AND TAXES. crude that his own friends were obliged to emendate it from beginning to end as it passed through the House, and several acts were subsequently called for to explain it,) of a financial charac- ter; and their object was to provide for the debts incurred in the late war by new taxes, or commutations of old ones. A feeble opposition was made to the government plan of taxation, and the public began to cry loudly against the burthens under which they laboured. “Master Billy’s Budget” was the burthen of more than one satirical song ; and the following lines “ On the Taxes,” published towards the end of the year, give a tolerably comprehensive view of the various items of which it consisted : — “ Should foreigners, staring at English taxation, Ask why we still reckon ourselves a free nation, We’ll tell them, we pay for the light of the sun ; For a horse with a saddle — to trot or to run ; For writing our names ; — for the flash of a gun ; For the flame of a candle to cheer the dark night ; For the hole in the house, if it let in the light ; For births, weddings, and deaths ; for our selling and buying; Though some think ’tis hard to pay threepence for dying ; And some poor folks cry out, ‘ These are Pharaoh- like tricks, To take such unmerciful tale of our bricks ! ’ How great in financing our statesmen have been, From our ribbons, our shoes, and our hats may be seen ; On this side and that, in the air, on the ground, By act upon act now so firmly we’re bound, One would think there’s not room one new impost to put, From the crown of the head to the sole of the foot. Like Job, thus John Bull his condition deplores. Very patient, indeed, and all cover’d with sores.” The opposition, indeed, seemed at this moment to be sunk so low in public opinion, that the patriot’s “ occupation” might truly be said to be gone. The serious pa- pers andtheburlesque caricatures joined in treating the efforts of the country party with contemptuous derision. The support they derived from the Prince of Wales was the only thing which PRECEPTOR AND PUPIL. THE PATRIOT TURNED PREACHER. 399 gave uneasiness; and it provoked the King and Queen to the highest degree. They looked upon Fox with abhorrence as the corruptor of the royal youth ; and a caricature, published in May, at the conclusion of the Westminster election, entitled “Preceptor and Pupil,” represents the opposition leader, in loathly form, whispering his doc- trines into the ear of the sleeping heir to the throne. Fox’s friend and ally, the sleepy and inactive Lord North, is figured in another caricature as “ Ig- navia,” — the personification of Sloth. Burke was equally an object of attack to the resentful exultation of his poli- tical opponents. His warmth of feel- ing and his splendid eloquence made him one of the foremost champions in the desultory warfare which was carried on against the ministerial majorities in the House of Commons ; and the cari- caturists made war upon his pretended Jesuitism, and even upon his wordiness ; and they pictured the writer on the ignavia. Sublime and Beautiful as a raving demon of sedition, one of the foremost of the followers of the political Satan, who is seen on the other side of the picture smarting under the mortification of his defeat, yet «till rallying his dispirited troops, and urging them on to the attack. The Tories, in their derision, re- commended the opposition leaders to turn their talents to more pro- fitable labours ; a ballad, addressed to their leader, in October, and a nearly contemporary caricature^ embodying the same sentiment, recommend him to turn his talents to preaching, and, since the sinners had left him in the lurch, to aim at the support of the saints. The various pretences of the opposi- tion, says the song, were quite worn out : — * Entitled, “More ways than one; or, the Patriot turn’d Preacher,” published on the 2nd of November, 1784. 400 THE PATRIOT TURNED PREACHER. “Dear Charles, whose eloquence I prize, To whom my every vote is due, What shall we now, alas ! devise To cheer our faint desponding crew ? ‘‘Well have we fought the hard campaign, And battled it with all our force : But self-esteem alone we gain, Outrun and jockey’d in the course. “Within the Senate, and without, Our credit fails ; th’ enlighten’d nation The boasted Coalition scout. And hunt us from th’ Administration. “We’ve carp’d at this, and carp’d at that. And who hath heeded what we said ? The house is coy, they smell a rat, — The time is past, and we are sped. “And shall we then, like fools, despair ? Can we no thriving scheme invent ? Yes : — let cameleons feed on air, Such diet will not thee content. “ But why invent ? the plan is ready, Form’d by a wag of late in jest : Let us adopt it, firm and steady, And, drowning, clasp it to our breast.” “ Fox, the Preacher,” occupies the pulpit, and has assumed his most engaging and persuasive looks : — “ Quick let thy soul with grace be fill’d ! Expect no other call but mine ; With penitence I see thee thrill’d, With new-born light I see thee shine. “ I see subscribers throng around, (Can Brooks’s e’er supply such prizes ?) The pious bleed — and from the ground, Behold a Tabernacle rises ! ” The sleek and good-humoured North is placed in the seai below : — “How spruce will North beneath thee sit! With joy officiate as thy clerk ! Attune the hymn, renounce his wit, And carol like the morning lark ! “Or, if thy potent length of prayer, By chance induce a kindly doze, Wake in the nick with accent clear, To cry, amen ! and bless the clos?) ! w ' THE PATRIOT TURNED PREACHER. 401 Sheridan, who now shone as one of the opposition leaders, is to act as pew-keeper : — “To comic Richard, ever true, Be it assign’d the curs to lash, With ready hand to ope the pew, With ready hand to take the cash.” Burke, who has passed through another metamorphosis, puts on the garb of feminine devotion, and leads in the harmonious chorus : — ‘ For thee, O beauteous and sublime 1 What place of honour shall we find ? To tempt with money were a crime ; Thine are the riches of the mind. “ Clad in a matron’s cap and robe, Thou shalt assist each wither d crone / And, as the piercing threat shall probe, Be ’t thine to lead the choral groan ! “ Thine to uplift the whiten’d eye, And thine to spread th’ uplifted hand 1 Thine to upheave th’ expressive sigh, And regulate the hoary band /” Such a plan as this, it was represented, could not fail to be profitable to the ranks of the defeated opposition, and might raise up in another sphere those whose ambition seemed for ever disappointed in the arena of politics : — “ Dear. Charles, with speed this plan essay, On dreams of power no longer muse ; For, faith ! thou’rt in a piteous way, And not a moment hast to lose !” 2 ° Ireland was at this time breaking out into open rebellion, and occupied the attention of both political parties in England as seriously as the threatened invasion from France. The Whigs accused the Tories of having provoked the Irish into resistance by their tyrannical measures, and affected sympathy for their sufferings ; the Tories accused the Whigs of having encouraged disaffection by their example, and by the propagation of their republican doctrines. Among those who preached most about English injustice in the sister island, was Lord Moira, who has been mentioned before as Lord Rawdon, and who was incessant in his declamations against English misrule. A caricature, published by Gill ray on the 1 2th of March, represents him as “Lord Longbow, the alarmist, discovering the miseries of Ire- land,” and doing his best to blow the diminutive flame across the channel into a blaze with his small breath. On the 20th of March, Giilray published a caricature, entitled “ Search Night; or, State Watch- men mistaking honest men for Conspira- tors,” in which Pitt and Dundas, as watch- men, are breaking through the door of the secret apartment in which the “ Corre- sponding Society” are supposed o be de- liberating. They find the room full of daggers, caps of liberty, &c., and a party of conspirators brooding over Irish insur- rection. The approach of the watchmen has been the signal for a general flight ; the Dukes of Bedford and Norfolk make their escape through the chimney; Fox and Sheridan mount through a trap-door ; Tierney and two others seek concealment under the table ; Moira alone, who boasted that he managed well with both parties, stands his ground: over the mantel- piece are portraits of Bobespierre and Buonaparte. In June, people were excited against the Irish by pictures of the atroci- ties committed by the rebels, which rivalled almost the doings of French republicanism ; and, among other caricatures on the same subject, published in October, is a picture of “ The allied Republics of France and Ireland,” in which the French ally, after enriching himself by plunder, is riding upon poor Ireland transformed into a donkey. This picture is accompanied by a CARICATURES ON TEE WEIGS. 521 mock song, burlesquing the national burthen of “ Erin go bragh “ From Brest in the Bay of Biskey Me come for de very fine whiskey, To make de Jacobin friskey, While Erin may go bray. “ Me have got de mealy pottato From de Irish democrato, To make de Jacobin fat, O, While Erin may go bray, ** I get by de guillotine axes De wheats and de oats, and de flaxes, De rents, and de tydes, and de taxes, While Erin may go bray. “ I put into requisition De girl of every condition, For Jacobin coalition. And Erin may go bray. “ De linen I get in de scuffle Will make de fine shirt to my ruffle. While Pat may go starve in his hovel, And Erin may go bray. “ De beef is good for my belly, De calf make very fine jelly, For me to kiss Nora and Nelly, And Erin may go bray, i( Fitzgerald and Arter O’Connor To Erin have done de great honour To put me astride upon her, For which she now does bray. “ She may fidget and caper and kick, O, But by de good help of Old Nick, O, De Jacobin ever will stick, 0, And Erin may go bray.” The Whigs continued to be caricatured as the patrons of French principles, whether in England or in Ireland. Gillray published, on the j 8th of April, a series of “ French Habits,” in which the principal English Whigs were equipped in the gay theatrical costumes of the different officers of the French republi- can government of that time ; Fox led the way as “ le ministre d'etat en grand costume .” On the 23rd of May, a caricature by Gillray parodied Milton in representing “ The Tree of Liberty, with the Devil tempting John Bull.” Fox, as the serpent, is offering John Bull the apple of “Beform;” but the latter is not to be tempted, for his pockets are filled with better fruit. A caricature by the same artist, published on the 26th of May, $22 TREPANATIONS AGAINST INVASION represents the “ Shrine at St. Anne’s Hill Fox worshipping the bonnet rouge , which is supported on a republican altar, with the bust of Robespierre on one side, and that of Buonaparte on the other; the heads of the other leaders of the opposition, with red caps on their heads, appear as cherubs attendant on his devotions. In another caricature by Gillray, entitled “Nightly Visitors at St. Anne’s Hill,” published on the 21st of September, the ghosts of Lord Edward Fitzgerald, and the headless trunks of others who had fallen a sacrifice in their rebellion against the government in Ireland, are made to disturb Fox in his slumber, and accuse him of having been their first seducer. The threats of France and her ostentatious preparations, had greatly injured the cause of the Whigs in England, where the warlike spirit had been increased by the victories gained by Duncan and other admirals at sea. Our fleet seemed to be rapidly rising in glory since the repression of the memorable mutiny at the Nore. The enthusiasm was kept up by every kind of incentive, even by “loyal” performances at the theatres. On the 9th of February, a tragedy, entitled “England Pre- served,” an interlude, and the farce of the “ Poor Sailor,” were acted at Covent Garden Theatre, and the receipts of the house appropriated to the voluntary contribution for the defence of the country. There were present Lord Bridport and Lord Hood, whose healths being drunk in the interlude occasioned such extraordinary bursts of applause, that both those naval heroes were obliged to come forward and shew themselves to the audience. This and other performances were accompanied with appropriate prologues, epilogues, and addresses, all calculated to produce the same effect. Even Captain Morris became loyal, and wrote some truly patriotic songs, of which the following, which was very popular in the month of May, is one of the best : — A LOYAL SONG. “ Ye brave sons of Britain, whose glory hath long Supplied to the poet proud themes for his song, Whose deeds have for ages astonish’d the world. When your standard you ’ve hoisted or sails have unfurl’d ; France raging with shame at your conquering fame, Now threatens your country with slaughter and flame. But let them come on, boys, on sea, or on shore, We ’ll work them again, as we ’ve worked them before. * Charles James Fox’s country house in Surrey, to which he retired after the secession of the opposition in the House of Commons. BATTLE OF THE NILE. 523 “Now flush'd with the blood of the slaves they have slain, These foes we still beat swear they ’ll try us again ; But the more they provoke us, the more they will see, ’Tis in vain to forge chains for a nation that ’s free : All their rafts, and their floats, and their flat-bottom’d boats, Shall not cram their French poison down Englishmen’s throats. So let them come on, &c. “ They hope by their falsehoods, their tricks, and alarms, To split us in factions, and weaken our arms ; For they know British hearts, while united and true, No danger can frighten, no force can subdue ; Let ’em try every tool, every traitor, and fool, But England, old England no Frenchman shall rule. So let them come on, &c. “ How these savage invaders to man have behav’d, We see by the countries they ’ve robb’d and enslav’d ; Where, masking their curse with blest Liberty’s name, They have starv’d them, and bound them in chains and in shame. Then their traps they may set, we’re aware of the net, And in England, my hearties, no gudgeons thej r ’ll get. So let them come on, &c. “ Ever true to our king, constitution, and laws, Ever just to ourselves, ever staunch to our cause ; This land of our blessings, long guarded with care, No force shall invade, boys, no craft shall ensnare. United we’ll stand, firm in heart, firm in hand. And those we don’t sink, we ’ll do over on land. So let them come on,” &c. As the summer approached, all fears of invasion vanished away, and the departure of Buonaparte for Egypt shewed that the ambition of France was directed for the present to another quarter. At the beginning of October, the news of the great and decisive victory of the Nile came to cheer all hearts, except those of the seditious few who had built their prospects on the assistance of French bayonets. The Tories exulted over the supposed mortification and chagrin of men who certainly did not lament their country’s glory, and a print by Gillrav, pub- lished on the 3rd of October (the day after the announcement of the battle in the gazette), under the title of “Nelson’s vic- tory ; or, Good news operating upon loyal feelings,” represents the different Whig leaders giving unequivocal evidence of their disappointment. A caricature, published on the 6th, represents Nelson with a club, inscribed, “ British Oak ” clearing the Nile of its monsters — it is entitled, “ Extirpation of the Plagues of Egypt ; destruction of revolutionary crocodiles ; or, The British hero cleansing the mouth of the Nile.” Scarcely a day now passed without bringing intelligence of some new success of the British navy at sea, and John Bull seemed in danger of being JOHN BTJLVS LUNCHEON. surfeited with the multitude of his captures. On the 24th of October, Gfillray published his caricature of “John Bull taking a luncheon ; or, British cooks cramming old Grumble-Gizzard with bonne cliere .” John sitting at his well-furnished table, is almost overwhelmed by the zealous attentions of his (naval) cooks, foremost among whom, the hero of the Nile is offering him a “ fricassee a la Nelson,” — a large dish of battered French ships of the line. The other admirals, in their characters of cooks, are crowding round, and we distinguish among their contributions to John’s table, “fricando a la Howe,” “Des- sert a la Warren,” “Dutch cheese a la Duncan,” and a variety of other dishes, “ a la Vincent,” “ a la Bridport,” “ a la Gardiner,” &c. John Bull is deliberately snapping up a frigate at a mouthful, and he is evidently fattening fast upon his new diet ; he exclaims, as his cooks gather round him, “ What ! more frigasees! — why, you rogues you, where do you think I shall find room to stow all you bring in ?” Beside stands an immense jug of “true British stout” to wash them down ; and be- hind him, a picture of “Buonaparte in Egypt,” suspended against the wall, is con cealed by Nelson’s hat, which is hung over it. Through the window we see Fox and Sheridan running away in dismay at John Bull’s voracity. It was now pretty generally the hope of some, and the fear of many, in France as well as in England, that Buona- parte would never be jet back to his own country, and all eyes were fixed A GOOD CATERER. mm JOHN BULL TAKING A LUNCHEON. able to JACK TAR SETTLING BUONAPARTE . 525 with anxiety upon the East. Gillray published a caricature on the 20th of November, entitled “ Fighting for the dunghill ; or, Jack Tar settling Buonaparte,” in which Jack is manfully disputing his enemy’s right to supremacy over the world ; the nose of the latter gives evident proof of “ punishment.” Jack Tar has his advanced foot on Malta, while Buonaparte is seated, not very firmly, on Turkey. At home the plan of a descent upon England was so far modified, that the invasion was to be made through Ireland, and the command of the army destined for this purpose was given to the republican General Hoche ; but, while Jack Tar was thus settling Buonaparte in the East, General Hoche died unexpectedly in France, and so entirely had the success of our fleets restored the feeling of security in England, that his disappearance from the stage would hardly have been perceived, had it not been announced by the grand print of Gillray, entitled “ The Apotheosis of Hoche,” published on the nth of December, 1798, and the representing in one vast panorama the horrors of the French revolution crowded around its hero. The same year that wit- nessed the signal defeat of the navy of France, saw also the ^ overthrow of the French prospects in Ireland, by the suppres- i sion of the rebellion. During the spring and summer of 1798, the prosecutions for political offences had increased in number, and the whole country seems to have been invaded with an army of spies and informers. Men were dragged into court on informations of the most trifling and ridiculous kind, and it was long before this country was NEW COALITION. $26 relieved from the evils of a disgraceful system, which, in the blindness of momentary enthusiasm, the ministry of William Pitt had been allowed to establish. An amusing caricature on this subject, published on the 2nd of April, and alluding appa- rently to some incident that had occurred at Winchester, is entitled “ The Sedition Hunter disappointed ; or, d — g by Winchester Measure.” An honest farmer is dragged into court by an informer, who accuses him of having uttered the treason- able expression, “ D — n Mr. Pitt.” The sensation against the informer is unequivocally expressed ; and the judge, in this case, comes to the sage opinion in the matter of law, “ If a man is disposed to d — n, he may as well d — n Mr. Pitt as anybody else.” The Tories continued to exult over the defeat of “ the party.” There had taken place at the beginning of the year a sort of coalition between the Foxites and some of the more violent demo- crats, such as Horne Tooke and Frend, who had formerly repu- diated Fox as not sufficiently democratic in his views, but who now expressed themselves satisfied at his declaration in favour of parliamentary reform, and proclaimed the necessity of union. On the 30th of October, after the glorious successes which had added so much to the strength of the ministers in power, Gillray published a caricature entitled, “ The Funeral of the Party,” in which the bier of party is borne along with a lugu- brious procession, Fox, Sheridan, and their friends marching behind it as chief mourners ; the Duke of Norfolk leads the procession, bearing the banner inscribed the “ Majesty of the People;” and behind him Horne Tooke reads the service from “ The Rights of Man.” This was followed, on the 6th of November, by “Stealing off; or, Prudent Secession,” a carica- ture alluding to the secession of the Whigs in the previous spring, and representing Fox flying from the House, where the opposition bowed down their heads overwhelmed by the suc- cesses of government. On the 17th of November, came “The Fall of Phaeton,” Fox struck from his chariot by the lightning of royalty, and the Whig club involved in his destruction. Horne Tooke had now become one of the most prominent members of the reform confederacy ; at one period of his career, when acting (as it was said) in the pay of government, he had published a pamphlet under the title of “ Two Pair of Portraits,” in which he contrasted, much to the advantage of the former, the two Pitts with the two Foxes. A caricature by Gillray on this subject, of which the accompanying plate is an accurate copy, was published on the 1st of December, with the Anti - FAIR OF FOETlAITSc" PBOPEBTY AND INCOME TAX . 527 Jacobin Beview ; Horne Tooke is redaubing his portrait of Charles Fox, and is surrounded on every side with pictures allusive to the varying principles of his life. The parliamentary session of 1799, °P ene( i at the end of November, 1798, when Fox kept his word of absenting himself from the debates ; yet in the caricatures he was always placed foremost in the opposition. The announcement of a property and income tax at the beginning of December, produced a cari- cature, published on the 13th, under the ironical title of “Meeting of the Moneyed Interest,” in which Fox with a begging-box by his side, is exciting against the bill a meeting of which the greater part appears to be anything but “ moneyed.” It was Fox, according to the same caricatures, who, in his love of faction, was now creating every possible obstacle to Pitt’s favourite measure of the Irish union. A caricature by Gillray entitled, “ Horrors of the Irish Union,” published on the 24th of December, represents Britannia on one side of the channel, reposing amid plenty and happiness, offering to Ireland on the other side a “ Union of security, trade, and liberty.” The face of Fox is just seen from behind a bush, (which conceals him from Britannia, who appears not to be aware of his presence), whispering across the channel, “ Hip ! my old friend, Pat ! — hip ! — a word in your ear ! — take care of yourself, Pat ! or you’ll be ruined past redemption. Don’t you see that this d — d Union is only meant to make a slave of you P Do but look how that cursed hag is forging fetters to bind you, and preparing her knap- sack to carry off your property, and to ravish your whole country, man, woman, and child ! — why, you are blind, sure ! Bouse yourself, man ! raise all the lawyers and spur up the corpora- tions ; fight to the last drop of blood, and part with the last potato to preserve your property and independence!” Pat, who is covered with rags and wretchedness, whose whole property is comprised in a broken pike, his house in flames in the distance, looks, to use his own expression, entirely “bothered.” He scratches his head as he makes his reply, “ Plunder and knap- sacks ! and ravishments and ruin of little Ireland ! — why, by St. Pathrick, it’s very odd, now ; for the old girl seems to me to be offering me her heart and her hand, and her trade and the use of her shillalee to defend me, into the bargain ! By Jasus, if you was not my old friend, Charley, I should think you meant to bother me with your whisperings, to put the old lady in a passion, that we may not buss one another, or be friends any more.” The year 1799 was that a t which the outcry against sedition IRISH UNION PROPOSED . 328 was greater than at any previous period, and in which extraor- dinary measures were taken to restrain the liberty or licence of the press. In July, the ministry put in effect the extreme measure of subjecting printing-presses to a licence. The Tory caricatures still boasted of the absolute defeat of opposition, and they imagined that in its despair it was laying secret trains for the destruction of the constitution, and were continually calling for severer political persecution. The King’s Bench, and New- gate, and Coldbath Fields, began to be filled with political offenders ; the last had received the popular epithet of the “Bastile.” A caricature published with the Anti- Jacobin Review , and entitled, “A charm for democracy, reviewed, analysed, and destroyed, January 1st, 1799, to the confusion of its affiliated friends,” represents the members of the opposi- tion assembled in the cave of Despair, where Tooke and tw 7 o of his violent colleagues, as witches, are mixing up the caldron of sedition, under the immediate presidency of the evil one. The incantation is “ Eye of Straw, and toe of Cade, Tyler’s brow, Kosciusko’s blade, Russell’s liver, tongue of cur, Norfolk’s boldness, Fox’s far ; Add thereto a tiger’s chaldron, For the ingredients of our caldron.” Above, in the sky, appears the King on his throne, backed by his ministers, throwing a glare of light on the machinations of the disaffected patriots. The King says, “ Our enemies are con- founded !” Pitt urges, “ Suspend their bodies !” But the chancellor, more careful of the forms of law, says, “ Take them to the King’s Bench and Coldbath Fields.” On the 22nd of January, the proposition for a union with Ireland was laid before Parliament in a message from the Crown. This subject, with the rebellion of the preceding year, caused the affairs of the sister island for some time to occupy a con- siderable share of public attention in this country. Caricatures on the subject were very numerous, as well as prints exhibiting respectively the violence and cruelty of the rebels, and the con- sequence of French influence. On the 1st of March was pub- lished with the Anti- Jacobin Review a print, apparently from the pencil of Rowlandson * (a copy of which is given in the accom- panying plate), entitled “An Irish howl.” It represents the * Most of Rowlandson’s earlier political caricitures were published without his name, and many of them were not engraved by himself, so tha$ I&NP of IKE JOHN BULL'S GUAEDLAN ANGEL. 529 United Irishmen terror-struck at a vision of the consequences of the French republican influence which they had invoked. The property and income tax was a fruitful source of populai complaint. Gillray published on the 13th of March a caricature entitled “ John Bull at his studies, attended by his guardian angel in which John Bull is seen puzzling himself over an immense mass of paper, rather ironi- cally entitled, “A plain, short, and easy description of the different clauses in the income tax, so as to render it familiar to the meanest capacity.” He re- marks very gravely, “ I have read many crabbed things in the course of my time; but this for an easy piece of business is the toughest to understand I ever met with. “ Above, Pitt appears, as John’s guardian angel, playing to him upon the Irish harp, — “ Cease, rude Boreas, blust’ring railer, Trust your fortune’s care to me.” A paper on the table bears the descriptive lines, — ■ “The sweet little cherub that sits up aloft, To keep watch for th q purse of poor Jack.” Various seizures were made about this time of the persons and papers of some of the active members of the political societies, and the latter were laid before a secret committee of the House of Commons ; but, although much noise was made on the subject, very little of importance was found among them. The populace, however, was made to believe the contrary ; and a large and elaborate print by Gillray, published on the 13th of April, entitled an “ Exhibition of a democratic conspiracy, with its effects upon patriotic feelings,” represents the Whig leaders it is not always easy to recognise them. The plate of which we are here I speaking, however, bears very evident traces of his style, especially in ' some of the faces. M M TEE ENGLISH DEMOCRATS. 53 o turning away in dismay from the light thrown upon theii proceedings by the committee, which illuminates a large trans- parency, exhibiting in four compartments the expected pro- ceedings of the democrats in power, as they had been described over and over again in the Tory prints during the few years preceding -.—first, they plunder the bank, — then they assassinate the Parliament (Fox is stabbing Pitt), — next, they steal the crown and the regalia from the Tower (Fox is carrying off the crown, and a party of sweeps are making a bonfire of the records), — and, lastly, they welcome the entry of the victorious French soldiery into the palace of St. James’s. There must have been few persons left who would pay much attention to such exagge- rated improbabilities as these. Yet the caricaturists persisted in their tactics of identifying English Whigs with French repub- licans. On the 7th of May, Gillray published a series of engravings entitled a “New Pantheon of Democratic Mytho- logy,” in one of which Fox, in allusion to his secession and retirement to the privacy of St. Anne’s Hill is represented under the character of “ Hercules reposing in another, Tierney, Sir George Shuckborough, and Mr. Jekyl, as “ Harpies defiling the feast,” are spoiling John Bull’s roast-beef, plum-pudding, and pot of porter; and in a third the Duke of Bedford is represented as “the affrighted centaur” flying from the British lion. In another caricature by Gillray, published on the 1st of May, Fox is represented in bed, ridden over by the Hiberno-Gallic repub- lican nightmare. It is a parody on the well-known picture by Fuseli. During the summer of 1799, domestic agitation seems to have experienced a calm ; but, when the Parliament opened at the end of September, the necessity of levying new taxes soon stirred up new subjects of discontent. Among the taxes now announced was one upon beer, which would have the effect of raising the price of porter to fourpence the pot, and which would weigh especially heavy upon the labouring classes. The satirists on the Tory side pretended to sympathize most with the staunch old Whig, Dr. Parr, who was a great porter drinker and smoker, and no less an opponent of the government of William Pitt ; and, on the 29th of November, Gillray published a spirited sketch of the supposed “ Effusions of a Pot of Porter ; or, minis- terial conjurations for supporting the war, as lately discovered by Dr. P — r, in the froth and fumes of his favourite beverage.” A pot of fourpenny is placed on a stool, with the doctor’s pipe and tobacco beside it ; from the froth of the porter arises Pitt, mounted on the white horse, brandishing a flaming sword, and THE UNION WITH IRELAND. S3 1 breathing forth war and destruction on everything around. The doctor’s “ reverie” is a satire on the innumerable mis- chiefs which popular clamour laid to the charge of the minister : — “ Fourpence a pot for porter ! — mercy upon us ! Ah ! it’s all owing to the war and the cursed ministry ! Have not they ruined the harvest F — have not they blighted all the hops F — have not they brought on the destructive rains, that we might be ruined in order to support the war F — and bribed the sun not to shine, that they may plunder us in the dark F (Vide, the Doctor's reveries , every day after dinner .)” It took nearly two years to com- plete the union with Ireland ; diffi- culties of various kinds arose, and had to be overcome ; and some of these led eventually to the resigna- tion of the minister. It was not till the first day of the new century that the two sisters were allowed at last to join in that kindly “ buss ” which a former caricature insinuated that it was the aim of the Whigs to hinder.* The Union took effect on the ist of January, i8oi,and on the next day appeared the proclamation of the King’s new royal titles, from which that of King of France, with the fleur-de- lis, was omitted. With the end of the century the continent of Europe entered upon a new phase of its history. After a long stay in the east, which had no other result than that of ex- hibiting to the world an extra- ordinary picture of the reckless injustice and rapacity of repub- * This cut is taken from a large caricature by Gillray, published in 1801, entitled “The Union Club.” The two figures there occupy the back of the president’s chair. A KISS AT LAST. MM2 532 BUONAPARTE FIRST CONSUL. lican France, Buonaparte made his escape from Egypt. He appeared suddenly in France, and succeeded in overthrowing the Directory, and placing himself at the head of the state, under the title of first consul, on the 13th of December, 1799. The republic had now but a nominal existence, and even this shadow of the so long vaunted French liberty had but a tem- porary duration. The war had been carried on by England at sea with unvarying success ; and the troops of the republic had sustained several severe defeats on the continent of Europe before the allied armies of the new coalition, which had been formed at the commencement of the year. Buonaparte, imme- diately after his appointment as first consul, made an attempt to get himself recognised on the footing of a sovereign prince by King George, but without success. Yet during the year 1800, the war seemed to fall spontaneously into a calm, and no actions of great importance were fought by sea or land. A caricature by Gillray remains as a memorial of the overthrow of the French Directory; it was published on the 21st of November, 1 799, and is entitled “ Exit Liberte & la Fran9aise ! or, Buona- parte closing the farce of Egalite at St. Cloud, near Paris, Nov. 10th, 1799.” 533 CHAPTER XIV. GEORGE III. Society during the latter part of the Eighteenth Century — Costume ; Extra- vagance of Fashions — The Balloon Mania — Gambling and its Con- sequences ; Lord Kenyon and the Gambling Ladies — Revival of Masquerades ; Mrs. Cornelys and the Pantheon ; Licentiousness of the Masquerades — The Opera, and its Abuses — The Stage ; Sheridan, Kemble, the 0. P. Riots — Private Theatricals ; Wargrave and Wynn- stay ; the Pic-Nics — The Shakspeare Mania ; Ireland’s Forgeries, and Boydell’s Shakspeare Gallery — Art, Literature, and Science — Peter Pindar and the Artists — The Venetian Secret — State of the Periodical Press ; Literature in General ; Bozzy and Piozzi — Science ; the Socie- ties ; Sir Joseph Banks. HEN we look into the state of society in England, during the latter part of the last century, we must acknowledge the existence of many of the same causes which had led to such a fearful convulsion in the social system in France. Rousseaus and Voltaires were not wanting among our writers, and the fashion- able philosophy of the day had made a deep impression. Hand in hand with it went a widely-spreading spirit of immorality and licentiousness. The mania of gambling was rendering people reckless, and throwing numbers on the world who were ready to follow any desperate course, in the hope of retrieving their shattered fortunes. The unjust monopoly of patronage by the aristocratic influence, and the neglect of a large mass of the talent of the country, was gradually teaching disaffection to the latter, and making it eager for any change that promised a these respects, English society was closely imitating the example set in France ; as it was in frivolity of manners, and in the extravagance of modes and dress. This imitation, towards the end of the century, was extending itself more and more into the middle classes of society, and we then, for the first time, hear general complaints that the daughters of tradesmen and farmers were sent for education to fashionable boarding-schools, and were taught to exchange the homely duties of their station for the modish accomplishments of fine ladies. The strange vagaries in the forms of costume, among the haut ton , may be looked upon in some degree as indexes of the manners of the age, and are therefore not unworthy of our attention. For some years preceding the French revolution chance of reaching the elevation to which it aspired. In all TEE BAILIFF OUTWITTED . 534 the dress of the ladies was distinguished by the same superfluity in dimensions and stiffness in form that had shone so conspicu- ously in the costume of the age of the Macaronis. The artificial mass of head-dress had, it is true, been discarded, and the natural hair had been allowed to form the chief ornament of the head, though frizzled into a bush ; but this coiffure had been followed by enormously broad-brimmed hats, and the dress of the body was gathered into immense projections befoie and behind. This costume, than which nothing could be less graceful or more absurd, soon became the object of abundance of jokes and ridicule. The prominence before was made to cover the bosom, and to make it seem unnaturally large ; it was formed of linen and gauze, and went by the name of a buffont. The prominence behind was placed lower, and was equally ugly and ridiculous. Broad caricatures represented the inconvenience of such append- ages to the person ; whilst others pretended to shew that they might be turned to useful purposes on extraordinary occasions. They originated, it appears, like most other fashions in dress which have prevailed in this country, in Paris, and there it was said that the posterior prominence was turned to a good account for the purpose of smuggling brandy through the gates of the city; a caricature, published in 1786, represents, in a humorous manner, the discovery of the fraud. The purposes to which such dresses were to be turned in Eng- land are described as exhibiting still greater ingenuity. The dress was so arti- ficially built, and so much larger than the body, that it was supposed that the latter might be withdrawn from its covering without seriously deranging it ; in a cari- cature, published on the 6th of May, 1786, entitled, “The bum-bailiff out- witted,” a lady is represented as thus es- caping ‘ from the hands of her pursuer. The bailiff is seizing her from behind, and holding forth his warrant with one hand ; while the lady slips away en chemise below, leaving the shell without the sub- stance — hat, wig, and dress sustain them- „„„ „ selves so well in his grasp, that it is some time before he perceives the trick which has been put upon him. In the January of the year following (1787), when the dimensions of the hats, as well as of the pro- minences behind and before, had increased considerably, a cari- cature, entitled “Mademoiselle Parapluie,” shews how, in a MADEMOISELLE EAEAELTJ1E. 535 sudden shower, this dress might be made to serve the purpose of an enormous umbrella, and shelter under its protection a whole family. As it will be ob- served in this last ca- ricature, the other sex had begun to adopt a hat resembling in form that worn by the la- dies, instead of the cocked hat previously in use. It was with the entire change in the character of the dress of both sexes, which followed the French revolution, that the tall, narrow- brimmed hat for men — the precursor of the hat as worn at the present day — was first introduced. At the same time came in large cravats, frilled shirts, and breeches bagging out in the upper part, but contracting to the thighs, and buttoned close down the legs. At the same time came an absolute rage for striped patterns, which procured for the wearers and their apparel the title of “ zebras.” A fop of this period is here given, from a caricature published on the 29th of March, 1791, entitled “ Jemmy Lincum Feadle the style is French in the extreme, and the print is accompanied with the lines so often applied in similar cases, but never more appropriately : — “ Whoe’er with curious eye has ranged Through Ovid’s tales, has seen How Jove incensed to monkeys changed A tribe of worthless men. “ Jove with contempt the men survey’d, Nor would a name bestow ; But woman liked the motley breed, And call’d this thing a beru,” MADEMOISELLE PARAPLUIE. A “ZEBRA.* $3$ FASHIONS AFTER THE REVOLUTION. With the opening of the revolutionary period, the costume of the ladies underwent a very remarkable change in two of its striking peculiarities : the extraordinary stiffness and redun- dancy which had characterized the dress of the succeeding period was suddenly changed for extreme lightness and loose- ness, and the waist, which had formerly been long, was dimi- nished until it disappeared altogether. The buffonts and the “rumps” (as they were politely termed), disappeared also; the breasts, instead of being thickly covered, were allowed to protrude naked from the robe, which was very light, and hung loose from the bosom, with thin petticoats only beneath. A turban of muslin was wrapped round the head, surmounted with one, two, or three (seldom more) very high feathers, and often with straw, the manufactures in which had now been appears to have been in 1794 that this fashion first reached so extravagant a point as to become an object of general ridicule ; and the caricatures of dress during that and the fol- lowing years are very nume- rous. The one here given, from a print ascribed to Gill- ray, represents an exquisite of each sex in the month of May of the year just men- tioned ; the gentleman is still distinguished by the great cravat and the zebra vest, which latter is made all of a piece, and so as to give him the appearance of being as lightly covered as his partner. The immense cravats of the men are caricatured in other prints which appeared during this year. In a caricature Ity Gillray, published in the year following, entitled “ A lady putting on her cap,” the lady requires the aid of two maids to hold up the immense length of muslin which, seated at her toilet, she is wrapping round her head in the form of a turban. This turban, and its single feather rising high into the air, as well as the naked breasts and the deficiency of waist, are exhibited in the next figure, taken from a caricature entitled The Graces for 1794,” published on the aist of July in that carried to great perfection. It DISAPPEARANCE OF LADIES' WAISTS. 537 year. This lady wears another personal ornament in vogue at this period among the ladies — a watch of very large dimensions, with an enormous bunch of seals, &c., suspended from the girdle immediately below the breasts. From this girdle, without any waist, the robe flows loosely, giving the whole person an appear- ance as if the legs sprang immediately from the bosom. This peculiarity was carried to still greater extravagance towards the end of the year. On the ist of December, 1794, a caricature, entitled “ The Rage ; or, Shep- herds, I have lost my waist,” represents a lady in this predicament, refusing cakes and jelly offered her by an attendant, because her dressmaker had left her no body wherein to bestow either ; it is accompanied with a parody on a popular song : — Shepherds, I have lost my waist, Have you seen my body ? Sacrificed to modern taste, I’m quite a hoddy-doddy !” (i For fashion I that part forsook Where sages place the belly ; ’Tis gone — and I have not a nook For cheesecake, tart, or jelly. ONE OP THE GRACES. u Never shall I see it more, Till common sense returning, My body to my legs restore. Then I shall cease from mourning. “Folly and fashion do prevail To such extremes among the fair, A woman’s only top and tail, The body’s banish’d G-od knows where !” This absolute banishment of the body from the female form is exhibited in the adjoining figure of a lady in full promenade dress, taken from a caricature by Grillray, entitled “ Following the fashion,” published on the 9th of December, 1794. This caricature, in the original, consists of two compartments : in the first, the figure here given is described as “ St. James’s giving the ton , a soul without a body;” the other presents a coarse fat dame of the city, finely but vulgarly dressed, who* PARASOLS. 538 from her corpulence would find some difficulty in getting rid of her body — she is an emblem of “ Cheapside aping the mode, a body without a soul.” The dress of the man of fashion appears to have remained much the same from 1791 till near the end of the century, with the excep- tion of the hat, which, at the period of which we are now speaking (1794 and 1795), took several fantastic shapes, having in some cases an enormously broad brim turned up at the sides. On the promenade the ladies of fashion threw their hair back over the shoulders, and wore a hat resembling in form that of the other sex, but much smaller, with immense bushes of straw above. This also was the period when parasols came into general use, and they were carried in the manner represented in the following figures, taken from a caricature published on the 15th of January, and entitled “Parasols for 1795.” The lady’s hair, in this instance, appears to be spread out and plaited at the ends, and it extends over her back in such a manner as to answer almost the purposes of a mantle. The fashionable pair are represented in full promenade costume, and the hat of the gentleman and the lady’s parasol appear to answer much the same purpose. During this year, the loose dresses, especially for in-door parties, continued in fashion with the lofty feathers, which, to judge by their representation in the engravings of the time, must have had a picturesque effect in large assemblies. The short waists also still furnished matter for ridicule. In a cari- cature published on the 4th of August, 1 795, the ladies’ dresses are ridiculed under the title of “ Waggoners’ frocks, or no bodys of 1795.” The satirists began also at this time to cry out against short petticoats, and it appears to have become the fashion to expose the legs. Straw was coming more and more into vogue, and was more especially used in the head- dresses, and in the out-of-doors costume, and sometimes so pro- fusely scattered over the head and body that a print published on the 12th of July, represents a fashionable lady under the title of “ A bundle of straw.” It was at this period that etraw-bonnets began to come into use. An epilogue spoken at Drury Lane, in November, jokes on the prevailing fashion, NO-BODY. STRAW HEAD-DRESSES. 539 “What a fine harvest this gay season yields ! Some female heads appear like stubble-fields. Who now of threaten’d famine dare complain, When every female forehead teems with grain ? See how the wheat- sheaves nod amid the plumes ! Our barns are now transferred to drawing-rooms ; While husbands who delight in active lives To fill their granaries may thrash their wives. Nor wives, alone prolific, notice draw, Old maids and young ones, all are in the straw I” The loose style of the frock is ridiculed in a caricature published on the 9th of December, under the title, “ A fashionable information for ladies in the country,” which is illustrated by an extract from some one of the milliners’ announcements for the season — “ the present fashion is the most easy and graceful imaginable — -it is simply this — the petticoat is tied round the neck, and the arms are put through the pocket-holes.” The fashion of light covering and exposure of the person was $40 LIGHT COVERING OF THE LADIES . increasing at the beginning of 1796. A caricature published on the 20th of January, intended to improve on the actual manners of the day and picture “ A lady’s dress as it soon will he,” represents the loose frock — the only covering — so arranged as to expose to view at every movement the whole of the body below the waist. According to other caricatures, the dresses actually worn were approaching fast towards such a con- summation ; for the body is re- presented as covered with little more than a mere light frock, the very pocket-holes of which be- came the subject of many a wicked joke. Gillray, in a carica- ture published on the 15th of February, 1796, endeavours to shew that these pocket-holes, when placed sufficiently high, might be made useful : a lady of rank and fashion, dressed for the rout, could perform the duties of a mother, while her carriage waited at the door, without any derangement of her garments. The title of this print is, “ The fashionable mamma, or the convenience of a modern dress ; vide, The Pocket-hole, &c.” If we believe numerous carica- tures published at this time, ladies who carried fashion to the extreme were not content with they had it made of materials of such transparent texture, that they rivalled the celebrated cos- tume among the ancients of which Horace has told us — - “ — Cois tibi pcene videre est, Ut nudam.” In the caricatures of the spring of 1796, we see through the thin frock the tie of the garter and the outlines of the body. We have already had to allude to a print of this date, in which the Tory Duchess of Gordon is represented in one of these transparent vests.* In a caricature by Gillray, entitled “ Lady Godina’s (for Godiva) Pout ; or, Peeping Tom spying out Pope Joan,” alluding probably to some forgotten incident of * See p. 501, this paucity of covering, but LADY GJEORGIANA GORDON. 54i the time, the duchess’s daughter, Lady Georgian a Gordon shortly afterwards married to the Duke of Bedford, is repre- sented in the very height of fashion, with a vest more transparent even than we have here ventured to represent. The caricatures are of course con- siderably exaggerated, but they leave no room to doubt that the peculiarities which they ridicule were carried often to an extent that we should now have a difficulty in reconciling with pro- priety. Lady Georgiana’s head-dress furnishes a good example of the fashionable turban and feathers, which, with most of the other characteristics of the costume of this period, continued more or less during this and the following year. To judge from many of these pictures of contemporary manners, the politeness of our countrymen during the French revo- lutionary period was not shewn very con- spicuously, except between those Svho were personally acquainted, A caricature, published by Gillray on the 21st of March, 1796, and entitled “ High ’Change THE ^ FASHI0N in Bond Street ; or, la Politesse au Grande Monde,” represents the fashionable loungers in that well- known promenade taking the pavement, while the ladies are obliged to walk in the gutter. One of these, seen from behind, represents a back view of the loose dress, and of the manner in which the hair was turned up over the turban. The caricatures on dress became less frequent after 1796, until 1799 and 1800, when they were again numerous. The principal change which had then taken place is the altered shape of the ladies’ hats, which assume the form of a rounded bonnet, and the reappearance of the waist. The general dress of the ladies now approached nearer the natural form of the body, but there was still an outcry against its transparency, and it is represented as exhibiting distinctly to view the form of the limbs, and even the garters. Examples may be seen in a caricature by Gillray, entitled “ Monstrosities of 1799 — see Ken- sington Gardens,” published on the 25th of June in that year, and in several others of the same date. It would appear MONSTROSITIES . 5W that this taste for transparencies vanished in the severe winter which closed the year just mentioned, as a caricature, dated on the 5th of January, 1800, represents the ladies forced by the rigour of the weather to cover their bosoms, and adopt drawers and petticoats under their thin robes ; it is entitled “ Boreas effecting what health and modesty could not do.” The male costume among people of fashion had gone through a greater change during the last years of the eighteenth century, than that of the ladies. Among the “ monstrosities” of the June of 1799, the print already alluded to, is a beau in full dress. He wears large Hessian boots, with a coat of a new construction, buttoned close, and having high bunches on the shoulders ; he has a large high cravat, rising above the chin, and a hat approaching nearer in shape to those worn at the pre- sent day. This costume, which was ex- tremely ugly, was imported directly from France. The coat, perhaps from its inventor, was known by the name of a “Jean-de- Bry.” If in former days of peace with France, which then under its King pos- sessed the most polite court in Europe, a back view. our countrymen cried out against the im- .portation of French fashions, we need not be surprised if t hey did the same now that the two coun- tries had been so long engaged in a war distinguished by bitter animosity on both sides, and when Englishmen had been taught to look upon our republican neighbours as models of' everything that was barbarous. A caricature by Gfillray, published on the 18th of November, 1799, represents a “French tailor fitting John Bull with a Jean-de-Bry.” The tailor is equipped in the detested bonnet rouge and its cockade, and appears delighted with his exploit. — “ A-ha ! dere, my friend, I fit you to de life ! — dere is liberty ! — no tight aristocratical sleeve to keep from you do vat you like ! —a-ha ! — begar ! dere be only want von leetel national cockade to make look quite a la mode de Paris !” Poor John, who stands in his great Hessian boots on a book of “ Nouveaux Costumes,” and has evidently no taste for French liberty in any shape, exclaims in disgust, “ Liberty ! JOHN BULL NEW CLOTHED . 543 qtioth’a ! why, zound, I can’t move my arms at all ! for all it looks woundy big ! — all ! d — n _ your French a la modes, they give a man the same liberty as if he was in the stocks! — Give me my old coat again, say I, if it is a little out at the elbows !” But John Bull’s disgust availed little in counteracting the infection of French example in this respect ; and in the very year when we were about to be terrified with the most extraordinary preparations for French invasion, our enemies sent us a costume which was uglier even than that last spoken of. Its distinguishing features were the coverings of the head, which con- sisted, in the one sex, of an enor- mous military cap, and in the other of a honnet, probably of straw, of a very ungraceful form. They are represented in the ac- companying cut, taken from a caricature entitled, “ Two of the Wigginses — tops and bottoms of 1803,” published 011 the 2nd of July in that year. The frivolity of manners and sentiments which gave rise from time to time to so much exaggera- tion of bad taste in dress, was no less frequently exhibited in the other paths of life, not only among the votaries of fashion, but through a large portion of society. Iiouts and balls had become objects of profuse extravagance ; masquerades were revived, and became again the fury of the day ; gambling and intriguing formed the chief occu- pation of immense numbers in all classes of society ; and novelty, however absurd, was the object of adoration of the multitude as well john bull transformed. ONE OF THE MONSTROSITIES. 544 THE AIR-BALLOONS. as of the select who gave the ton. London was never so full of strange sights ; and its population were never so ready to be gulled by them. It stands recorded in the newspapers of the time, on the 9th of September, 1785, “Hand- bills were distributed this morning, that a bold adventurer meant to walk upon the Thames from Riley’s Tea Gardens.” We are further informed that at the hour appointed thousands of people had crowded to the spot, and the river was so thickly covered with boats, that it was no easy thing to find enough water uncovered to walk upon. The man evaded his promise in a dis- honest manner, and it was fortunate the mode in 1803 . for him that the indignation of the multitude he had been the instru- ment of bringing together, did not lead them to open violence. In other fashionable amusements we seemed to be going back to the ages of the Roman gladiators. It was at this period that Astley established his amphitheatre. One of the most remarkable fashions of this period was a sudden and extraordinary rage for ascending in balloons, which had been brought to a certain degree of perfection by some Frenchmen, for it was from France also that this mania was imported. It was at its height in England during the years 1784 and 1785. As early as the 2nd of December, 1783, when those aerial vehicles were newly come into notice, Horace Walpole writes, “ balloons occupy senators, philosophers, ladies, everybody. France gave us the ton ; and, as yet, we have not come up to our model.” They soon became the object of epigrams, satires, speculations, and even prophecies ; and people in joke, or in earnest, began to talk of scaling heaven in the face of day. An anonymous writer of a poem entitled, “ The Air- balloon ; or, Flying Mortal,” published in April 1784, rises from step to step till he concludes in the enthusiastic prospect ; — “ How few the worldly evils now I dread, No more confined this narrow earth to tread! Should fire or water spread destruction drear, Or earthquake shake this sublunary sphere. In air-balloon to distant realms I fly, And leave the creeping world to sink and die. w BALLOON ASCENTS. 545 The invention was already giving rise to some apprehensions in France, for at the commencement of May a royal ordonnance forbad the construction or sending up of “ any aerostatic machine,” without an express permission from the king, on account of the various dangers attendant upon them, intimating however that these precautions were not intended to let this “ sublime discovery” fall into neglect, but only to confine the experiments to the direction of intelligent persons. Blanchard was at this time the most distinguished and enterprising of the French aeronauts ; his third “ aerial voyage,” which took place on the 1 8tli of July, 1784,* made a great noise in England, and was soon imitated. An Italian gentleman, named Lunardi, secretary to the Neapolitan embassy, is said to have been the first person who ascended in a balloon in this country; he left the Artillery Ground in London, in company with an English- man, at a quarter before two o’clock on Wednesday the 1 5th of September, 1784, and descended in a field near Ware, in Hertfordshire, at about six o’clock in the evening. In October, Blanchard came to London, and ascended from Chelsea with an Englishman named Shellon, on the 16th of October. On the 12th of November, Mr. Sadler made the first of a numerous series of aerostatic voyages, starting from Oxford. It began now to be generally acknowledged that these locomotive * His first ascent had taken place on the end of March. The first ascent of a balloon in France occurred on the eist of Noverabei’, 1783. The ascents in France during the year 1784 were very numerous, and excited intercsu even in England. 546 BALLOONS IN THE DECLINE. machines were so liable to accidents, that they were never likely to serve any useful purpose. Yet the fashion for them increased, and for several months they were the subject of continual papers in magazines and newspapers, besides giving rise to a number of pamphlets and prints, and a few caricatures. In one of the latter, the head of Folly occupies the place of the ball, with the inscription “ The English Balloon, 1784,” on the front of the cap. We may quote as another proof of the extra- ordinary share of public attention which these machines occupied, a successful farce, entitled “ Aerostation ; or, the Templar’s Stra- tagem,” brought out at Covent Garden on the 29th of October ; in it the passion of a lady of fortune for balloons, and her desire to ascend in one, was made to furnish a Templar with the occasion for a stratagem by which he eventually obtains her hand. The prologue to this piece thus declares the future advantages which were to arise from the popular discovery. “I make no doubt to entertain you soon With a new theatre in a stage-balloon. No more in garret high shall poets sit, With rival spiders spinning cobweb wit ; Like ancient barons future bards shall fare, In their own castles built up in the air ; Bull poets there behind a cloud shall stay, Whilst Fancy, darting to the source of day, Bold as an eagle, her career shall run, And with strong pinions fan the blazing sun.” The chronicle of events given in the magazines of 1785} describes upwards of twenty remarkable balloon excursions made during that year, seven of which occurred in the month of May. Blanchard had crossed the Channel from Dover to France in a balloon, on the 7th of January. On .the 7th of May, 1785) Walpole writes from London, “of conversation, the chief topic is air-balloons : a French girl, daughter of a dancer, has made a vo} T age into the clouds, and nobody has yet broken a neck, so neither good nor harm has hitherto been produced by these aerial enterprises.” O11 the 13th, Walpole adds, “ Mr. Wind- ham, the member for Norwich, has made a voyage into the clouds, and was in danger of falling to earth , and being ship- wrecked. . . Three more balloons sail to-day ; in short, we shall have a prodigious navy in the air, and then what signifies having lost the empire of the ocean ?” O11 the 15th of July, M. Rozier and another Frenchman, ascended from Boulogne, and their balloon taking fire at an immense elevation, the aeronauts were tN>th thrown to the earth and killed. This disaster seemed to LORD KENYON AND FARO’S DAUGHTERS. 547 have checked the passion for travelling in the air a little ; yet there were several ascents in this country in July, and an attempt was made to pass the Irish channel, which failed. They became less frequent during the following months, and by the next session they seem entirely to have lost their popularity, to make way for some new object of temporary excitement. No single vice was contributing so much to demoralize the nation as the passion for gaming, which ran through all ranks in society, but which was carried to an extraordinary pitch in the fashionable circles. It was well known that ladies of rank and fashion in the world associated together to support their private extravagance by seducing young men to the gambling table, and stripping them of their money in the manner profes- sionally termed “ pigeoning.” Faro-tables for this purpose were kept in the houses of some of the aristocracy. Three ladies in particular enjoyed this reputation, Lady Buckinghamshire, Lady Archer, and Lady Mount Edgcumbe, who from this circumstance became popularly known by the epithet “ Faro’s daughters.” Numerous caricatures, among which are some of Gillray’s happiest conceptions, have preserved the features and renown ol this cele- brated trio. Their infamous conduct had provoked in an especial degree the indignation of Lord Kenyon, who, on the 9th of May, 1796, in summing up a case connected with gambling, and lamenting in forcible terms that that vice so deeply pervaded the whole mass of society, animadverted with great severity on the higher orders who set the pernicious example to their inferiors, adding, with some warmth, “ They think they are too great for the law: I wish they could be punished;” — and then, after a slight pause, he added, “ If any prosecutions of this nature are fairly brought before me, and the parties are justly convicted, whatever be their rank or station in the country — though they should be the first ladies in the land — they shall certainly exhibit themselves on the pillory.” If they escaped that pillory to which the angry judge had devoted them, there was another pillory which exposed these gaming ladies to equal scandal, if not to an equal punishment, and instead of being pilloried once, their ladyships stood for the public view, for weeks instead of hours, in the windows of every print-shop in the town. On the 12th of May, G-illray published a caricature entitled the “ Exaltation of Faro’s daughters,” in which Ladies Buckingham- shire and Archer are placed side by side in the threatened pillory, exposed to a shower of mud and rotten eggs which testify the joy of the mob at their disgrace ; a placard stuck upon the pillory describes this process as a “ Cure for gambling, NU2 548 FARO'S DAUGHTERS IN THE PILLORY. published by Lord Kenyon in the Court of King’s Bench, on May 9th, 179 ( 5 .” An imitation of this print of Gillray appeared on the 16th of May, under the title of “ Cocking the Greeks,” in which the same ladies are similarly exposed, but the short and plump Lady Buckingham is obliged to stand on the tip of her toes upon her own faro-bank box to raise her neck on a level with that of her taller companion ; Lord Kenyon, in the character of public crier, is making his proclamation — “Oh yes! oh yes ! — this is to give notice that several silly women, in the parishes of St. Giles, St. James, and St. George, have caused much uneasiness and distress in families, by keeping bad houses, late hours, and by ladies OF elevated bane. shuffling and cutting have obtained divers valuable articles ; — Whoever will bring before me ” Lord Kenyon’s threat, and the noise it then made abroad, seem to have had equally little effect on the patrician offenders to whom it was designed to serve as a warning. Other caricatures followed with as little success. One, published apparently about the beginning of 1797, represents these gambling dames u dividing the spoil,” after a successful night, and compares them with a party of unfortunate women in St. Giles’s, who are shewn in another compartment, sharing the various articles they have purloined from the pockets of their casual admirers. On one occasion, at the period just alluded to, Lady Buckingham- shire’s faro-bank was stolen, while she and her party were closely occupied at their game. This circumstance produced a carica- ture by Gillray, entitled “ The Loss of the Faro-bank,” pub- lished on the 2nd of February, 1797, and gave rise to a mock heroic poem entitled “ The Rape of the Faro-bank,” which made its appearance about the same time. It was not long after this event that the offending ladies did fall into the power of their foe of the Bench. At the beginning of March, 1797, an infor- mation was laid against Lady Buckinghamshire, Lady E. Lut- terell, and some other ladies and gentlemen of rank, for keening THE AGE OF HIGHWAYMEN. 549 *aro-tables in their houses ; and on the i ith of that month they were convicted of that offence, but Lord Kenyon seems to have forgotten his former threat, and he only subjected them to rather severe fines. This disaster furnished matter during several successive weeks to the newspapers for continual para- graphs, and the caricaturists took care to remind the judge of the disproportion between his present punishment and his former threat. In a caricature published on the 25th of March by Gillray, Lady Buckinghamshire is undergoing the punishment of being publicly flogged at the cart’s tail, while two of her companions are suffering in the pillory in the distance ; over the cart a board is raised with the inscription, “ Faro’s daughters, beware.” This print is entitled, “ Disci- pline a la Kenyon.” Another, published by the same artist on the 16th of May, is entitled ‘‘Faro’s daughters, or the Ken- yonian blow up to the Greeks.” Four ladies here figure in the pillory, and Fox (who it was said often made one of the gambling party), himself in the stocks, supports one of the sufferers on his shoulders. Lord Kenyon is busily occupied in burning the cards, dice, and faro-bank. The lesson this time seems to have been more effectual than the former, and we hear little of Faro’s daughters after this scandal had passed away. The pernicious effects of the passion for gambling on society are but too evident in the manners and condition of the time. It was rapidly demoralizing all classes, and was accompanied everywhere with a general increase of crime, of which we evi- dently see but a small portion reported in the newspapers. Various pamphlets on the criminal statistics of the metropolis, shew us the alarming danger that existed, and the difficulty of grappling with it. The latter part of the eighteenth century was proverbially the age of highwaymen. On the 8th of September, 1782, Horace Walpole writes, “We are in a state of war at home that is shocking. I mean from the enormous profusion of housebreakers, highwaymen, and footpads; and, what is worse, from the savage barbarities of the two latter, who commit the most wanton cruelties. The grievance is so crying, that one dares not stir out after dinner hut well armed. If one goes abroad to dinner, you would think one was going to the relief of Gibraltar.” # Walpole repeats this complaint of the numbers and boldness of highwaymen not unfrequently during the following years ; in January, 1786, the mail was stopped in Pall Mall, close to the palace, and deliberately pillaged, at so * It- was the time of the celebrated siege of Gibraltar, when that spot waa so gallantly defended by General Elliott. 55 ° REVIVAL OF THE MASQUERADES. early an hour as a quarter past eight in the evening. Walpole observes in continuation of the passage just cited, “ You may judge how depraved we are, when the war has not consumed half the reprobates, nor press-gangs thinned their numbers !. But no wonder — how should the morals of the people be purified, when such frantic dissipation reigns above them ? Contagion does not mount but descend.” And he adds further, “ a new theatre is going to be erected merely for people of fashion, that they may not be confined to vulgar hours — that is to day or night.” Previous to this, the masquerades, which were long dis- countenanced and forbidden by the Court, had been revived, by an evasion of the order against them. A German singer, named Teresa Cornelys, who had come to England in the latter years of the reign of George II., opened a kind of private opera in Soho square at the commencement of the reign of his successor, which was carried on until she was prosecuted by the manager of the Opera in the Haymarket, and compelled to close her house by the decision of a court of justice. Horace Wal- pole gives the following account of Mrs. Cornelys on the 22nd of February, 1 7 7 j : — “Our most serious war is between two operas. Mr. Hobart, Lord Buckingham’s brother, is manager of the Haymarket. The Duchess of Northumberland, Lady Harrington, and some other great ladies, without a licence erected an opera at Madame Cornelys’s. This is a singular dame ; she sang here formerly by the name of Pompeiati. Of late years she has been the Heidegger of the age, and presided over our diversions. Her taste and invention in pleasures and decorations are singular. She took Carlisle House, in Soho Square, enlarged it, and established assemblies and balls by sub- scription. At first they scandalized, but soon drew in both righteous and ungodly. She went on building, and made her house a fairy palace, for balls, concerts, and masquerades. Her opera, which she called Harmonic Meetings, was splendid and cnarming. Mr. Hobart began to starve, and the managers of the theatres were alarmed. To avoid the Act, she pretended to take no money, and had the assurance to advertise that the subscription was to provide coals for the poor, — for she has vehemently courted the mob, — and succeeded in gaining their princely favour. She then declared her masquerades were for the benefit of commerce.” Mrs. Cornelys’s masquerades had made the greatest noise, and been most magnificent, during the year 1770: they' were attended regularly by all the principal nobility and gentry in the kingdom, (as we are told, at CHARACTERS IN THE MASQUERADES. 551 each representation, by the newspapers of the day,) who went in splendid dresses ; and one peculiarity was, that now all the masks acted up to their characters. On one occasion we learn that “Miss Monckton, daughter to Lord Gallway, appeared in the character of an Indian sultana, in a robe of cloth of gold, and a rich veil. The seams of her habit were embroidered with precious stones, and she had a magnificent cluster of diamonds on her head: the jewels she wore were valued at thirty thousand pounds.” Some notion may be formed of the sort of performance exhibited at these meetings from the following fragment of a newspaper report : — “ Miss G , in Leonora, looked charming ; she sang the favourite air in the ‘ Padlock’ with great sweetness. The situation of her pretty tame bird was envied by many. Mr. Andrews, in the dress of the Calmuc Tartar, was taken great notice of ; the character he supported extremely well. The lady run mad for the loss of her lover, was a character well sustained for some time; but she soon recovered her senses; no other madhouse could have administered more effectual remedies. The two jockeys, who pretended to be just arrived from Newmarket, were very little knowing in any respect, and seemed more calcu- lated for a country hop than the turf. The nurse with the child was rather diverting, but the brat very noisy and trou- blesome.” Such remarks as these were continued through the whole assembly. On the 27th of February, 1770, we are informed that “ Some of the most remarkable figures were, — a highlander (Mr. R. Conway) ; a double man, half miller, half chimney-sweeper (Sir R. Phillips) ; a political bedlamite, run mad for Wilkes and liberty and No. 45 ; a figure of Adam, in flesh-coloured silk, with an apron of fig-leaves ; a druid (Sir W. W. Wynne) ; a figure of somebody ; a figure of nobody ; a running footman, very richly dressed, with a cap set with diamonds, and the words ‘Tuesday night’s club’ in the front (the Earl of Carlisle) ; his Royal Highness the Duke of Glou- cester in the old English habit, with a star on the cloak,” &c. One of the grandest masquerades at the Soho rooms was that on the 7th of February, 1771, where two royal dukes, and nearly all the fashionable portion of the aristocracy, were present. On this occasion Colonel Luttrell (the same who had opposed Wilkes in the election for Middlesex,) appeared as a dead corpse in a shroud, with his coffin. The taste for political allusions at these assemblies gained ground, and they soon became veritable caricatures, not only upon society itself, but upon the events of the day. At a masquerade in 1784, we are informed in the EVILS OF THE MASQUERADES. 55 2 newspaper report, that “ A figure representing Secret Influence, was well-drest, and seasonable in its point. He wore a black cloak, tied round with a girdle, labelled ‘ Secret Influence,’ — a double face, and a wooden temple on the top of his head. A ladder was painted down his back, entitled ‘ The back stairs.’ He had a dark lantern in his hand ; but with all these accoutre- ments he was very dull ; he hardly opened his mouth, and when he did, he muttered some jargon in a whisper unintelligible to common ears ; but perhaps he was in character to speak in whispers, and his inefficacy was design. He was followed by Public Ruin, which also was well equipped, and very pitiable.” One of the characters in a masquerade in 1774 was “a mad politician,” who was covered with bills and acts of parliament ; “having lost the Boston port bill, he humorously accused Mr. Wedderburn of stealing it.” These masquerades were professedly private meetings, and their pretended object was to raise money for the poor ; yet, in spite of the high rank of the people who attended them, great improprieties were allowed, and they led, under cover of the mask, to extraordinary licentiousness. Mrs. Cornelys was pro- secuted for giving masquerades without licence, in 1771 ; and in the same year bills of indictment were preferred against her by the grand jury of Middlesex, in which she is accused of “ keeping and maintaining a common and disorderly house,” and the fashionable company who frequented it are described as “ divers loose, idle, and disorderly persons, as well men as women ! ” whom she “ did permit and suffer to he and remain during the whole night, rioting, and otherwise misbehaving themselves.” So far, however, from the masquerades being checked by such scandal, it was at this time that the rival and splendid Pantheon in Oxford Street (then called Oxford Road) was opened, and for several years the two establishments emulated each other in magnificence and gaiety, although Mrs. Cornelys became involved in difficulties, and her establishment experienced a temporary interruption. The disorders of these assemblies seem, however, to have increased, and the public ear was continually offended with the scenes that took place in them. The want of delicacy in the fashionable company who chiefly supported Mrs. Cornelys had winked at the admission of loose women, and this was gradually carried to such an extent, that in the spring of 1772 it became the subject of so much scandal that it was found necessary to complain. In the following season the bench of bishops thought it their duty to interfere to put down the Pantheon DEGRADATION OF TEE MASQUERADES. 553 masquerades, but a powerful intercession was made in their favour, and it was represented in this case also that their only object was the charitable one of raising money for the suffering poor. A caricature, representing the Macaronis petitioning the bishops in favour of the masquerades, entitled “ The Pantheon Petition,” was published with the Oxford Magazine in January, 1773. At a masquerade at the Pantheon on the 18th of February following, the number of people of rank and position in the world who attended was estimated at fourteen hundred. Yet during this and the following year the licentiousness of these mixed assemblies was carried to so alarming a height, that the very actors in them became gradually disgusted,* and they seemed to be rapidly going out of fashion. In 1776 Mrs. Cornelys re-opened Carlisle House in a style of extraordinary splendour, and the masquerades became as much the fashion as ever. In 1778, this lady, who had ruined herself by her exer- tions, was obliged to quit the management, which was carried on during another year unsuccessfully, and the masquerades at Carlisle House soon gave place to lectures and public assemblies of a totally different character. The European Magazine for July, 1789, contains “An Elegy written in Soho Square, on seeing Mrs. Comely s’s House in ruins.” Mrs. Cornelys herself was eventually reduced to a state of helpless poverty ; she died in the Fleet Prison in 1797. The masquerades continued to flourish at the Pantheon, and were given also at the Opera House, at Panelagh, and in other places, but they became gradually more and more degraded in their moral character. One of the newspaper critiques on the masquerade at Carlisle House in February, 1779, laments gravely, “We were sorry to see such spirited exertions so poorly * The report of the masquerade at the Pantheon, in May, 1774, given in the Westminster Magazine, (which was far from straight-laced in its morality,) observes, — “The last masquerade has had different accounts given of it, according as individuals felt. But, as one entirely unprejudiced, I do pronounce it uncommonly dull, but more particularly before supper. The champaign made some eyes sparkle, which nothing else could brighten, though a deal of wanton love was exercised to effect purposes most base and dishonourable. The room was crowded with courtezans ; there was not a duenna in town who had not brought her Circassians to market ; and, towards the conclusion of the debauch, I beheld scenes in the rooms up- stairs too gross for repetition. I saw ladies and gentlemen together in atti- tudes and positions that would have disgraced the court of Comus; ladies with their hair dishevelled, and their robes almost torn off. In short, I am so thoroughly sick of masquerading, from what I beheld there, that I do seriously decry them, as subversive of virtue, and every noble and domestic point of honour.” 554 GENERAL EEOFLIGACY IN MORALS. rewarded, as scarcely one person of distinction, or one Jille de joye of note, was present, to give a ton to the evening’s enter- tainments.” At length we read in the St. James's Chronicle of April 23, 1795, the remark, that “No amusement seems to have fallen into greater contempt in this country than the mas- querades they have been lately mere assemblages of the idle and profligate of both sexes, who made up in indecency what they wanted in wit.” The extreme licentiousness which appears to have reigned amid these riotous amusements, and the still greater immorality to which they led, was, like the mania of the women for gamb- ling, only one shade of the general profligacy of this age. The shameless immorality which reigned among the higher classes in general, and which was propagated by example to the middle and lower classes, is but too evident in the popular writings of the day. The newspapers are full of advertisements offering means of indulgence. Instead of matrimonial advertisements, we meet with advertisements for mistresses ; and, to quote a particular example, in 1794, the newspapers contain public advertisements of persons whose business it was to furnish means of concealing pregnancy and, when it could no longer be concealed, to deliver privately and dispose of the offspring so as to save the mother from scandal. The reign of George III. was especially the age of adultery in this country, which had really taken its place among the fashions of the day, and that crime had become almost a mania in the higher classes : there is, unfortunately, no want of evidence to prove that it was common enough in the middle and lower classes. In many cases, the trials laid open scenes of profligacy in high life of the most revolting character. Ineffectual efforts were made at different times to check this evil by placing difficulties in the way of divorce. In the spring of 1779, Shute Barrington, Bishop of Llandaff, introduced into the House of Lords a bill with the object of discouraging this crime, by fixing a brand of infamy on the adulteress that might operate as a terror upon the mind ; and he stated that as many divorces had occurred during the first seventeen years of the present reign as had taken place during the whole recorded history of the country the bill passed the Lords, but was thrown out in the House of Commons. Several similar attempts were made at different times ; and one of these, in 1798, drew the Bishop of Durham into a severe attack upon the dancers of the Opera. * Morals were infinitely worse in France : it is stated in the European Magazine for August, 1785, “Letters from Paris mention that there are no THE OPERA. 555 The Ope^a had lost somewhat of the novelty which it had possessed ander George II., and for a while it seemed to be almost eclipsed by the popularity of Carlisle House and the Pantheon. Foreign singers no longer attracted that extraor- dinary worship which had been bestowed on them formerly, and towards the end of the century the managers seemed to have aimed at moving the passions of the audience by the small quantity of apparel which was allowed to the danseuses, and the freedom with which they exposed their forms to public view. An English dancer, Miss Rose, who joined to a very plain face an extremely elegant figure and graceful movement, enjoyed great reputation in 1796, and seems to have led the new fashion for this kind of exhibition. A caricature picture of her by Gillray, published on the 12th of April, 1796, bears the motto, “No flower that blows is like this Rose.” On the fifth of May following, Gillray caricatured this new style of dancing in a caricature entitled, “ Modern Grace ; or, the Opera- tical finale to the ballet of Alonzo e caro.” On the 2nd of March, 1798, there was a debate in the House of Lords on a divorce bill, in the course of which the Bishop of Durham took occasion to complain of the frequency of such bills, and laid the fault upon the French government, who, he said, sent agents into this country on purpose to corrupt our manners : “ He considered it a consequence of the gross immoralities imported of late years into this kingdom from France, the Directory of which country, finding that they were not able to subdue us by their arms, appeared as if they were determined to gain their ends by destroying our morals, — they had sent over persons to this country, who made the most indecent exhibitions in our theatres.” He added, that it was his intention to move, on some future day, that an address be presented to his Majesty, beseeching him to order all such dancers out of the kingdom, as people who were likely to destroy our morality and religion, and “who were very probably in the pay of France ! ” This appeal, seems to have produced some interference of authority ; for on the very next night, Saturday, tlie 3rd of March, the ballet of Bacchus and Ariadne, which was to have been per- formed at the Opera House, was postponed, and another substi- tuted, until other dresses could be prepared. The improvement, as we learn from the newspaper reports, consisted in substituting less than four hundred divorces pending before the Parliament ; and eight hundred more before the Chatelet. A striking proof to what a height the corruption of morals is arrived in that kingdom.” This must be set down as one of the true precursors of the revolution, which so soon followed, THE DANSE A L’EVEQUE. white stockings for flesh-coloured silk, and in adding a certain quantity of drapery above and below. The change made no little noise abroad, and was the subject of abundance of ridicule ; the bishops and the opera-dancers figured together in numerous caricatures. In one by Gillray, published on the 14th of March, a group of danseuses are made to conceal a portion of their personal charms by adopting the episcopal apron ; it is entitled “ Operatical reform ; or, la Danse a VEveque ,” and is accom- panied with the following lines : — “ ’Tis hard for such new-fangled orthodox rules, That our opera troop should be blamed ; Since, like our first parents, they only (poor fools !) Danced naked and were not ashamed.” The figure to the right will be recognised as that of Miss Rose. Another ca- ricature by Gillray, published on the 1 9th of March, and en- titled “ Ecclesiasti- cal Scrutiny ; or, the Durham Inquest on Duty,” represents the bishops attend- ing at the dressing of the opera girls, where one is mea- suring the length of their petticoats with a tailor’s yard, an- other is arranging their stockings in the least graceful manner possible, and a third is giving directions for the form of their stays. Amongst others on the same subject, one of the best is entitled “ Durham Mustard too powerful for Italian capers ; or the Opera in an uproar,” and represents the bishop armed with his pastoral staff rushing on the stage to encounter the spirit of the evil one embodied in bare legs and open bosoms. How long the episco- pal censure kept the opera in order we are not told ; but the rage for opera dancing increased under the influence of Yestris. The regular drama, in the meantime, continued to hold the elevated position given to it by Garrick, and a number of actors THE DANSE A L’EVEQUE. SUCCESS OF PIZARRO. 557 of first-rate talent drew constant audiences to the theatres. It would take too much room in a slight sketch like this even to allude to the various petty squabbles and rivalries of actors and managers during this long reign, or to the numerous pamphlets of different kinds to which they gave rise, and which deserve only to be forgotten. Drury Lane flourished under the pro- prietorship of Sheridan, and with the dramas which have given celebrity to his name, while it enabled him in more ways than one to support his position as a statesman, although his thought- less extravagance often drained its resources, and sometimes clogged the regular movement of the company. In the Sep- tember of 1788, John Kemble became the stage-manager, and gave strength to the company. On the extraordinary success of the tragedy of “ Pizarro” in 1799, the Tory party seem to have attributed it in great part to Kemble’s acting ; and a cari- cature, published with the Anti- Jacobin Review on the 1st of October, represents Sheridan in the character of Pizarro borne through upon Kem- ble’s head. Gillray had published a ca- ricature on the 4th of June, entitled “ Pi- zarro contemplating over the product of his new Peruvian mine,” which repre- sents Sheridan exult- ing over his newly- acquired riches. The popularity of this play was so great, that it produced a number of pamphlets relating to its hero, and made multitudes read the history of Peru who had never thought of it before. The performances at Drury Lane seem to have been falling in interest and in pecu- niary productiveness, when, on the 5th of December, 1803, a “ serio-comic romance” was brought out under the title of “ The Caravan,” the chief characteristic of which was the introduction on the stage of real water and of a large Newfoundland dog, which was made to rush into it and drag out the figure of a child. A contemporary criticism tells us that “ the main object oi the author seems to have been to produce novelty, and, through novelty to excite surprise. The introduction of real water SHERIDAN UPON KEMBLE. THE INFANT ROSCIUS. 5 $ flowing across the stage, and a dog acting a principal part, chiefly attracted attention, and seemed amply to gratify curi- osity.” This piece, in spite of the puerility of the idea, had an extraordinary run, and, to use the words of the critic just quoted, was “very productive to the treasury.” The Tory opponents of Sheridan as a politician represented this as a well- timed and very necessary relief ; and Sayer, in a large caricature published on the 17th of December, represents the dog Carlo, in his artificial pond on the stage, holding Sheridan’s head above water. It is inscribed, “ The Manger and his Dog ; or, a new way to keep one’s head above water, a Farce performed with rapturous applause at Drury Lane Theatre. Motto for the Farce, — ‘And Folly clapped his hands and Wisdom stared,’ ” Thalia, on a pedestal, is represented weeping at the prostitution of the drama. The Drury Lane company appears to have been now under the frequent necessity of having recourse to expedients of this kind to catch popular favour. The year 1805 witnessed the extraordinary sensation produced by the “ infant Roscius,” (Master Betty), who was brought on the stage at Drury Lane when only twelve years of age. The extraordinary sums of money which this child produced were an important assist- ance at this moment to Sheridan, who made the most of his good fortune. His political op- ponents were loud in their declamations against “ The The- atrical Bubble,” a title under which G-illray published a cari- cature on the 7th of January, 1805, in which he represented Sheridan as Punch on the boards of old Drury, with a few addi- tional gems added to his ruby nose from the profits of his the- atrical treasury, blowing the bubble which had replenished it,, and surrounded by some of his friends who had been loudest in their patronage of the prodigious infant, among whom we easily recognise Lord Derby, Lord Carlisle, Mrs. Jordan, and her admirer the Duke of Clarence. Fox is expressing somewhat boisterously his joy at the success of his political friend. COVENT GARDEN THEATRE REBUILT, 559 This appears to have been the most prosperous period of Sheridan’s finances. On the 24th of February, 1809, Drury Lane theatre was burnt to the ground, while Sheridan was at his post in the House of Commons. With it ended his theatri- cal and parliamentary prospects. Grovent Garden theatre had been involved in the same calamity only a few months before, on the morning of Tuesday the 19th of September, 1808, and was now in rapid progress of rebuilding. Its reopening led to the most extraordinary theatrical riots that this country has ever witnessed. John Kemble had left Drury Lane to become part proprietor and manager of Covent Garden, where he made his first appearance on the 24th of September, 180,3. Kemble was unpopular with all but the aristocratic portion of his audience, to whom exclu- sively he was accused of paying his court. He is said to have been proud and authoritative in his bearing towards others, and to have given disgust by the affectation which was exhibited in his manners, language, and even in his acting. An amusing instance of this was shewn in the obstinacy with which he con- tended that the word ache should be pronounced as if written aitche , and in the pertinacity with which he held himself to that pronunciation. In a sketch of the history of Covent Garden in the same number of the Examiner which contains the account of the burning of the theatre, the writer expresses the popular sentiments in his concluding observation : — “ From the general tenour of his management, I am sorry that instead of con- cluding this brief chronicle with the customary 4 whom God long preserve ! ’ it will be much more congenial to the wishes of the town to hope that, as a stage-manager, Mr. Kemble may be speedily removed.” Immediately after the destruction of the theatre by fire, Kemble solicited a subscription to rebuild it, which was speedily filled up, the Duke of Northumberland, to whose son he had given instruction in elocution, contributing the handsome dona- tion of ten thousand pounds. Gillray has commemorated this circumstance in a caricature entitled, “ Theatrical Mendicants relieved,” in which the manager of Co vent Garden theatre is represented in garments all tattered and torn, seeking charity at the door of Northumberland House. The first stone of the new building was laid with great ceremony by the Prince of Wales, (as grand master of the British free-masons,) on the last day of the year 1808, and it was completed with such rapidity, that on the 18th of September, 1809, it was opened with Macbeth, Kemble himself appearing in the character of Macbeth. In the new arrangement of the hall, a row of TEE O. P. BIOTS. 560 private boxes formed the third tier under the gallery ; they were twenty-six in number, with a private room behind each, and the access was by a staircase exclusively appropriated to them, with an exclusive lobb}^ also, having no communication with the other parts of the house. The furniture of each box and of the adjoining room, was to be according to the taste of the several occupants. To make these extraordinary accommodations for the great, the comforts of the rest of the audience were considerably diminished, especially in the other tiers of boxes, and the gallery, and one part was reduced to a little better than a row of pigeon-holes. To crown all, the theatre opened with an increase of the prices, the pit being raised from three shillings and sixpence to four shillings, and the boxes from six shillings to seven shillings. The manager said that this was necessary to cover the great expense of rebuilding the theatre ; but the public were not satisfied with this explanation : they declared that the old prices were sufficient, and that the new ones were a mere exaction to contribute to Kemble’s private extravagance, to enable him to pay enormous salaries to foreigners, like Madame Catalani, (who had been engaged at one hundred and fifty pounds a week to perform two nights only,) and to pander to the luxury of the rich. The popular belief in the extreme profligacy of the higher classes, led people to figure to them- selves that the rooms attached to the private boxes were to be used for the most shameful purposes, and they accused the manager of having built a bagnio instead of a theatre. On the first night of representation, which was Monday, the curtain drew up to a crowded theatre, and the audience seemed to be lost in admiration at the beauty of the decorations, until Kemble made his appearance on the stage in the character of Macbeth ; a faint attempt at applause, got up by his own friends, was in an instant drowned by an overpowering noise of groans, hisses, yells, and every species of vocal power that could be conjured up for the occasion, which drove him from the stage, after two or three vain attempts to proceed, and which was redoubled every time he made an attempt to return. Mrs. Siddons then came forward, but met with no better reception than her brother. The performance was, however, persevered in, but the uproar continued through the whole of the evening, and was continued to a late hour. It was understood that Kemble had declared that he would not give in to the popular clamour, and had anticipated that if it was allowed to take its course, it would soon wear itself out. But the next night, and the nights following, it was continued with greater fury than JOHN BULL AGAINST JOHN KEMBLE . 561 ever, and to the voice were now added a multitude of cat-calls, horns, trumpets, rattles, and a variety of other instruments of discordant music. An attempt at intimidation served only to increase the exasperation of the audience. On Wednesday night, the manager came forward to address the audience, and attempted to make a justification of his conduct, which was not accepted; on Friday he presented himself again, and proposed that the decision of the dispute should be put to a committee composed of the governor of the Bank of England, the attorney general, and a few other great names. On Saturday night this was agreed to, and the theatre was shut up till the decision was obtained, the obnoxious Catalani having, in the meantime, agreed to cancel her engagement. On the following Wed- nesday the theatre was reopened, but the report of the com- mittee being of a very unsatisfactory kind, for it was believed that the whole was a mere trick to gain time, in hopes that the excitement would subside, the uproar became greater than ever. The manager, who was determined to vanquish the popular feeling, is said to have hired a great number of boxers, and on the Friday night following the various pugilistic contests in the pit gave it the appearance of a regular boxing-school. Bow- street officers were also called in, but they appear to have acted indiscreetly, and the only effect of this appeal to violence was to fill the police-offices with cases of assault and riot, the result of which added fuel to the flame, which it appeared totally impossible to extinguish. The rioters, who appear to have been acting under the guidance of people of education and talent, did not restrict themselves to mere noise. They said it was John Bull against John Kemble, and they were determined that John Bull should have the mastery. As no expression of sentiments could be heard amid the uproar, they stuck up placards, and raised banners all over the house, covered with proverbs, lampoons, and encouragements to persevere, written in large characters, and to these were soon added large painted caricatures. In the latter Kemble was figured hanging, or fixed in the pillory, or in some other ignominious position. The private boxes, and those who came to occupy them, were the especial objects of abuse, and the theatre was filled with placards, inscribed, “No private boxes for intrigues ! ” — “No private boxes with sofas!” — “No crim. con. boxes !” These were mixed with numerous others, of the most licentious description, and large pictures of such a character that it was impossible for any respectable woman to remain in the theatre a moment. The consequence of this $ 6 2 GOD SAVE JOHN BULL. was, that very few attended except those who took part m the riot, and the part of the theatre which contributed most to the treasury was nearly empty. Songs were also made for the occasion ; and the following parody on the national anthem wsa especially popular : — “ God save great Johnny Bulk Long live our noble Bull, God save John Bull ! Make him uproarious, With lungs like Boreas, Till he’s victorious, God save John Bull ! 0 Johnny Bull, be true, Oppose the prices nev), And make them fall J Curse Kemble’s politics, Frustrate his knavish tricks, On thee our hopes we fix, Confound them all ! “ No private boxes let Intriguing ladies get, — Thy right, John Bull ! From little pigeon-holes Defend us jolly souls, And we will sing, by Goles / God save John Bull !” There was much satire expended on Kemble, and his " ditches ” were turned to ridicule in every possible manner. Many of the placards were extremely humorous, and these, with the jokes and squibs that passed thickly about, helped to keep up the spirit of the riot, while songs and caricatures circulated freely about the town, Badges, consisting of the letters 0. P. ( old 'prices ), in large characters, were worn at the theatre, at first cut in pasteboard, but afterwards formed in metal, and some even in silver. Medals were also struck, and distributed about. One of these, now before me, represents on the obverse the head of Kemble, wearing a fool’s cap, and accom- panied with a penny-trumpet and a rattle ; above it is the inscription, “ Oh, my head ditches /” and below the word, “Obsti- nacy !” The reverse bears the letters 0. P. in the centre, surrounded with the inscrip- tion, “John Bull’s Jubilee — Clifford for ever !” The allusion is to the jubilee, to celebrate the completion of the fiftieth MEDALS AND PLACARDS. 5 6 3 year of the King’s reign, and to a barrister of the name of Clifford, who was understood to be the chief leader of the riot. This profuse exhibition of placards was quite a novelty in theatrical rioting. One of the placards in the month of October was inscribed, “ A row for our rights to be continued for forty nights,” but the uproar seemed likely to be carried on for ever. It soon took a form quite regular and systematic : the play was heard with few interruptions till half-price ; the boxes, especially the private ones, were nearly empty, and even the pit was almost deserted. At half-price the rioters rushed in, the placards were raised, the uproar commenced, and all that passed on the stage afterwards was mere pantomime. At the conclusion, the audience rose and sang “ God save the King!” had a dance in the pit, gave three groans for John Kemble, then three cheers for John Bull, and so dispersed. Sometimes the uproar was continued in the streets, and in more than one instance it was carried to Kemble’s house, and he was himself mobbed and insulted. This was continued night after night, with scarcely any interruption, not for weeks only, but for more than three months. During this period everything distinguished by the epithet 0 . P. became fashionable. There was an “ O. P. dance.” The most active agent of the managers against the rioters, and, therefore, the most unpopular with them, was the box-keeper, Mr. Brandon. He had caused Clifford to be arrested on slight grounds, and the latter brought an action against him for damages, and obtained a verdict against him in the Court of Common Pleas on the j|th of December. Gillray on that day published a caricature entitled “ Counsellor O. P. — defender of your theatric liberties,” in which Clifford is re- presented holding a torch behind him, and looking on while Co vent Garden Theatre is in flames. The verdict against Brandon gave new courage to the opponents of the new prices ; and finding it utterly impossible to appease them in any other way, Kemble at length gave up the contest. A public dinner of the more respectable of the 0 . P. agitators was held on the 14th of December at the Crown and Anchor, at which no less than five hundred persons are said to have attended, and Kemble came in person to make an apology for his conduct, and announce his willingness to accede to any compromise that should be agreeable to them. After dinner there was a crowded theatre, and amid considerable uproar, a humble apology was accepted from the manager, and it was agreed that the private boxes should be reduced to the same number which existed in 1 80 a ; that the pit should be reduced to its original price 002 564 SHERIDAN LEAVES DRURY LANE. of 35. 6 d., but that the price of admission to the boxes should remain at 7 s. ; that the obnoxious Mr. Brandon should be dismissed (at least he was compelled to resign his place) ; that all prosecutions and actions on both sides should be abandoned ; and that Kemble should make a public apology for having introduced improper persons into the theatre. The last article referred to the boxers and police. After all these demands had been complied with, a large placard was unfurled, containing the words, “We are satisfied,” and at the conclusion of the play the pit gave three cheers for Clifford. Thus ended this extraordi- n&ry contest. A theatrical reconciliation dinner was given on the 4th of January, 1810, at which both parties attended, and at which Clifford was placed in the chair. Drury Lane theatre was also rebuilt by subscription, under the directions of Mr. Whitbread, who agreed that Sheridan should receive £20,000 for his moiety of the property, with an addi- tional £4000 for the property of the fruit-offices and reversion of boxes and shares, in consideration of which he was to have no connexion whatever with the new undertaking. Many com- plained of the manner in which Whitbread thus thrust Sheridan out of the proprietorship which had so long supported him to be an ornament of the legislative assembly of the nation, while others exulted in his overthrow. A carica- ture, published in the October of i8n,when the new theatre was completed, and these stipulations put in force, is entitled, “ Clearing away the rubbish of Old Drury,” and represents Whit- bread in the character of a brewer’s man wheeling away Sheri- dan in a barrow among a heap of old bricks. Sheridan is made to exclaim (in allusion to his peculiarly persuasive eloquence), “ Hope told a flattering tale — d — n that brewer and his entire, he has washed me out with only £20,000, but I know how to palaver them over, and get in again.” The general taste for the drama had certainly increased THE PIC-NICS. 5 6 5 towards the end of the last century, and it was evinced in the new fashion for private performances among the aristocracy. The houses where this fashion was indulged in with greatest splendour, were Wynnstay, the seat of Sir W. W. Wynne ; Wargrave, the seat of Lord Barrymore ; and Crewe Hall, near Chester. The parties at Wynnstay were especially distin- guished for their elegance. At the commencement of the century, a society of private, or, as they termed themselves, “ dilettanti ” actors, was formed in London, and assumed the name of the Pic-Nic Society, from the manner in which they were to contribute mutually to the general entertainment. That old meteor of London fashion, Lady Albina Buckinghamshire, is understood to have been the originator of this scheme, in which, besides the performance of farces and burlettas, there were to be feasts and ridottos, and a variety of other fashionable amuse- ments, each member drawing from a silk bag a ticket which was to decide the portion of entertainment which he was expected to afford. The performances took place in rooms in Tottenham- street. This harmless piece of fashionable amusement produced a greater sensation than it is now possible to conceive. The populace had been so long accustomed to hear of aristocratic depravity, that they could understand nothing private in high life without attaching to it ideas of licentiousness, and there was a notion that the Pic-Nic Society implied some way or other an attack upon public morals. Complaints were made against it which led almost to a pamphlet war. The professional theatri- cals were angry and jealous, because they thought that the aristocratic love of theatrical amusements, which had supported them in their exertions, would evaporate in private parties. Nearly the whole periodical press attacked the Pic-Nics with- out mercy, and the daily papers teemed with abuse and scandal. They were ridiculed and caricatured on every side. Gill ray produced no less than three caricatures on the Pie-Nics. The first of these, published on the 2nd of April, 1802, soon after the society had been established, is entitled “ Blowing up the Pic- Nics ; or Harlequin Quixotte attacking the Puppets, — vide, Tot- tenham Street Pantomime.” The Pic-Nic party are represented as puppets in the midst of their festivities, which are disturbed by the attack of the infuriated actors, among whom we recog- nise Kemble, Siddons, Billington, &c., led by Sheridan, who, dressed as harlequin, rushes to the assault, armed with the pen of the Post , Chronicle , Herald , Evening Courier , &c., whose attacks he is supposed to have directed against them. In another of Gillray’s caricatures, entitled “ The Pic-Nic Or THE SHAKSPEARE MANIA. 566 cbestra,” the noble and fashionable performers are represented on duty. A third caricature, published on the 18th of Feb- ruary, 1803, is entitled “Dilettanti Theatricals,— -vide Pic-Nic Orgies it represents the motley group dressing for the stage, and is full of humour, with a considerable sprinkling of licen- tiousness. At this latter date the society seems to have been already sinking under the load of obloquy and ridicule to which it was exposed, and before the year was out the regular theatricals were relieved from any jealousy that such attempts might excite. During the whole of our present period, the managers of the two principal theatres continued to exert themselves in making Shakspeare popular on the stage, and for some time with success. Garrick had done most of any to bring the bard into fashion, and the Stratford Jubilee in 1769 had raised an abso- lute Shakspeare mania. This new fashion had also exhibited itself in the extensive study of Shakspeare’s writings, and in the extraordinary number of new editions that succeeded each other. Annotator followed annotator, and the text of the poet seemed in danger of being torn to pieces amid Shakspeare ad- mirers and Shakspeare disputes. The following ballad, from the Westminster Magazine for October, 1773, gives rather an amusing and not an inaccurate enumeration of the Shakspeare editors who had succeeded each other previous to that period : — “ SHAKSPEARE’ S BEDSIDE. te Old Shakspeare was sick ; — for a doctor he sent ; But ’twas long before any one came ; Yet, at length, his assistance Nic Rowe* did present : Sure all men have heard of his name. 61 As he found that the poet had tumbled his bed, He smooth’d it as well as he could ; He gave him an anodyne, comb’d out his head, But did his complaint little good. “ Doctor Pope to incision at once did proceed. And the bard for the simples he cut ; For his regular practice was always to bleed. Ere the fees in his pocket he put. “ Next Tibbald advanced, + who at best was a quack, And dealt but in old woman’s stuff ; Yet he caused the physician of Twick’nham to pack, And the patient grew cheerful enough. * Nicholas Rowe was the first editor of Shakspeare ; his edition appeared in seven volumes in 1709-10. + Theobald’s edition of Shakspeare was first printed in 1733, and was often reprinted. After all that has been done to the text since, it is one ot the best editions, in spite of the character our ballad-writer here gives hir~. SEAKSPEARE’S BEDSIDE. 5 6 7 lt Next Hanmer,* who fees ne’er descended to crave, In gloves lily-white did advance ; To the poet the gentlest of purges he gave, And, for exercise, taught him to dance. “ One Warburton then, though allied to the church, Produced his alterative stores ; But his med’cines the case so oft left in the lurch, That Edwards^ kicked him out of doors. Next Johnson arrived to the patient’s relief, And ten years he had him in hand ; But, tired of his task, ’tis the general belief He left him before he could stand. li Now Capell drew near — not a quaker more prim — And number’d each hair in his pate ; By styptics, called stops, he contracted each limb, And crippled for ever his gait. “ From Gopsal then strutted a formal old goose, And he’d cure him by inches, he swore ; But when the poor poet had taken one dose, He vow’d he would swallow no more. u But Johnson, determin’d to save him or kill, A second prescription display’d ; And that none might find fault with his drop or his pill, Fresh doctors he call’d to his aid. “ First, Steevens came loaded with black-letter books, Of fame more desirous than pelf ; Such reading, observers might read in his looks, As no one e’er read but himself. ie Then Warner, by Plautus and Glossary known, And Hawkins, historian of sound ; Then Warton and Collins together came on, For Greek and potatoes renown’d. “ With songs on his pontificalibus pinn’d, Next Percy the great did appear ; And Farmer, who twice in a pamphlet had sinn’d, Brought up the empirical rear. “ ‘ The cooks the more numerous, the worse is the broth,’ Says a proverb I well can believe ; And yet to condemn them untried I am loth. So at present shall laugh in my sleeve.’ ” It was this rage for everything Shakspearian that brought into existence those forgeries of William Henry Ireland, so well * Sir Thomas Hanmer’s handsome edition was published at Oxford in 1744 - + “ One Edwards, an apothecary, who appears to have known more of the poet’s case than some of the regular physicians who undertook to cure him.” Thomas Edwards published, in 1748, what is described as a Supple- ment to Warburton’s Shakspeare, under the title of “ The Canons of Cri- ticism and Glossary.” THE SHAKSPEAEE PAP EES. 568 known as the Shakspeare manuscripts. The history of the pre- tended discovery of these papers was in substance closely similar to the story fabricated by Chatterton for his Eowley Papers, and indeed to that of all other literary frauds of the same de- scription. A few documents were first produced, as having been found among old family deeds, and the success of these led to the production of others. These the inventor first shewed to his father, Samuel Ireland, so well known by his illustrations of Hogarth and other works, and by him they were communicated to others, and a number of men of high literary character, such as Dr. Parr, Dr. Warton (who had previously believed in the Eowley Papers), Boswell, Erskine, and others, declared their full belief in their authenticity. In 1 796, a substantial folio was published, containing miscellaneous papers and legal instru- ments, under the hand and seal of William Shakspeare, with the tragedy of “Lear” and a fragment of “ Hamlet,” the original manuscript. This work caused the most extraordinary sensation, and scarcely anything else was talked of, not only in the literary world, but among society in general. But Malone, Steevens, and others, who were more critically acquainted with the writings of the great poet, at once pronounced all these documents as forgeries, and Malone published a volume, ad- dressed to Lord Charlemont, exposing the fraud. Before this exposure came out, young Ireland had proceeded another step in the plot, for he produced a play entitled “ Vortigern,” as an un- known work of Shakspeare, which had been found among the same papers, and he took it to Sheridan for representation at Drury Lane. Sheridan made no pretensions to antiquarian knowledge; he expressed some surprise at the mediocrity of many parts of the play, but he said that it was evidently an ancient manuscript , and he thought that the public excitement on the subject might justify his bringing it forward at Drury Lane. The night fixed for the representation of “ Vortigern” was the 2nd of April, 1796, and it was supported by all the talent of John and Charles Kemble, Mrs. Jordan, Mrs. Powell, and the other best actors of the company. Malone’s critique on the printed papers had appeared before this performance, and, to counteract it, a declaration of their authenticity was produced, signed by a number of distinguished but credulous persons, with Dr. Parr at their head; and a handbill was distributed at the door and in the theatre, designating Malone’s “Inquiry” as “ a malevolent and impotent attack,” and promising a prompt and satisfactory reply. A prologue had been written by Pye, the VOItTIGERN. 569 poet laureate, which seemed to insinuate a doubt of the fact of Shakspeare being the author, and this was therefore laid aside, to make place for one written by Sir James Bland Burges, which, read by Mr. Whitfield (who is said to have been too flurried to speak it), commenced with a bold assertion that the piece about to be acted was the work of Shakspeare, and de- manded the attention of the audience to it as such : — “ No common cause your verdict now demands, Before the Court immortal Shakspeare stands — That mighty master of the human soul, Who rules the passions, and, with strong control, Through every turning of the changeful heart Directs his course sublime, and leads his powerful art.” The theatre was crowded with an immense and anxious audience, who, after a few scenes, disgusted with the poverty of the play, began to express their dissatisfaction in no equivocal manner. About the beginning of the fourth act, Kemble came forward, and begged they would hear it through with candour ; and it was then allowed to go on ; but the proposal to give it for repetition was received with such loud and universal disapproba- tion, that it was not persevered in. An epilogue, delivered by Mrs. Jordan, spoke not of the piece which had been acted, but called upon the sympathy of the audience in general terms for Shakspeare, compared the characters of the old drama with those of the present day, and ended with a faint appeal to their indulgence - “ ’Tis true, there is some change, I must confess, Since Shakspeare ’ b time, at least in point of dress. The ruffs are gone, and the long female waist Yields to the Grecian more voluptuous taste ; While circling braids the copious tresses bind, And the bare neck spreads beautiful behind. Our senators and peers no longer go, Like men in armour, glittering in a row ; But for the cloak and pointed beard we note The close-cropt head and little short great-coat. Yet is the modern Briton still the same, Eager to cherish, and averse to blame, Foe to deception, ready to defend, A kind protector, and a generous friend.' 5 The result of the performance at Drury Lane sealed the fate of the Shakspeare manuscripts. Those who had stood forward in their defence, became objects of ridicule for their ready credulity, and at the end of the year the public indignation was moved by the effrontery of William Henry Ireland, who pub- THE SHAKSPEARE GALLERY. 57 ° lished a full confession of the forgery, and joined in the ridicule cast on Dr. Parr, Warton, and others. Samuel Ireland, the father, now came forward, to disavow any complicity in the affair, and declare that he had been a dupe equally with others. The question continued to agitate the public during the whole of the year 1797? an( l on the first of December, Gillray published a portrait of the author of the fraud, under the title of “Noto- rious Characters, — No. 1,” with the following lines, said there to be written by Mason (but on better authority attributed to Steevens), comparing the four great literary forgers of the age, Lauder, Macpherson, Chatterton, and W. H. Ireland : — t( Four forgers, born in one prolific age, Much critical acumen did engage. The first was soon by doughty Douglas scared, Though Johnson would have screen’d him, had he dared ; The next had all the cunning of a Scot ; The third, invention, genius, — nay, what not ? Fraud, now exhausted, only could dispense To her fourth son their three-fold impudence.” The popularity of Shakspeare had, in another quarter, acted in a very different manner, and produced an influence upon native art which, whatever the jealousy of that age may have said, must ever render the name of Alderman Boydell an object of grateful remembrance to posterity. He had come to London a young man at a time when engraving was at so low an ebb in this country, that all our good prints were imported from abroad, and, first as an engraver, and subsequently as a print-dealer, he laboured with so much success, that at the end of his career the exportation of English engravings far exceeded the number of foreign ones imported. Not content with patronizing engraving, Boydell conceived a plan for patronising native art in painting ; and he aspired to raise an English school of historical painters which should rival by its works the celebrity of the ancient masters. Seizing on the popular object of adoration, he em- ployed the first English artists of the age, at high prices, in painting compositions illustrative of the works of the bard of Avon. Sir Joshua Reynolds, as well as West, Barry, Fuseli, Northcofce, Opie, Smirk, and all the chief painters of the time, contributed to the celebrated Shakspeare Gallery, which was open for exhibition in 1789, and had for its professed object to establish an English school of historical painting. Subscribers were at the same time received for a splendid series of engravings illustrative of Shakspeare’s plays. Many, however, appear to have been jealous of Boydell’s efforts, which they represented as THE WORSHIPPER OF AVARICE. 57 * the mere schemes of an avaricious man to gather money into his own private treasury. Gillray entered into this feeling in a truly magnificent caricature, entitled “ Shakspeare Sacrificed ; or, the Offering to Avarice,” published on the 20th of June, 1789. The genius of Avarice, the object of Boydell’s adoration, is seated aloft on a ponderous volume, entitled “List of Sub- scribers to the Sacrifice,” which is supported on portfolios of the works of “ Modern Masters ;” he grasps in his arms two bags of money, and an imp on his shoulder, with peacock’s feathers for hair, is blowing the bub- ble “ immortality” with a pipe. Within the magic circle, surrounding the object of his worship, Boydell stands by a fire, into which he is , . casting the tattered fragments of Shakspeare’s works, in the smoke of which, as it rises towards heaven, we see exaggerated sketches of some of the more remarkable designs which his gallery had brought together. Outside the circle, the portfolio of the “Ancient Masters” lies neglected on the ground, and a snail is seen crawling slowly over it. In the distance, Fame is blowing away the days, while he scatters around him a shower of puffs from the Morning Herald and other papers, as the only effectual instru- ments of fame in modern times. Boydell’s opponents, indeed, accused him not only of puffing, but of resorting to all kinds of expedients to call public atten- tion to his Gallery. In the spring of 1791, it appears that an evil-minded person had gained admission for the purpose of damaging some of the pictures, and a malicious report was set abroad that Boydell himself was the perpetrator of this act of Vandalism. Gillray, who was no friend to the Shakspeare Gallery, published, on the 26th of April, a caricature portrait of the alderman in the act of mutilating his pictures ; and, in allusion to a malefactor of the name of Ben wick Williams, whose attacks upon helpless females by cutting them with a knife had a short time previously given him an extra- ordinary but unenviable notoriety under the epithet of “ The Monster,” he entitled it “ The Monster broke loose ; THE GENIUS OF AVARICE. creat bubbles of former 57 2 AN AMATEUR OF THE FINE ARTS. AN AMATEUR OP THE PINE ARTS. or* a Peep into the Shakspeare Gallery.” The accusation it is intended to convey, and the motives supposed to have led to ifc, will be understood by the soliloquy here put into Boydell’s mouth : — “ There, there! — there’s a nice gash ! — There ! — ah ! this will be a glorious subject for to make a fuss about in the newspapers ; a hundred guineas reward will make a fine sound ; — there ! there ! — 0 there will be fine talk- ing about the Gallery; and it will bring in a rare sight of shillings for seeing of the cut pictures ; there ! and there again ! — egad, there’s nothing like having a good head-piece ! — here ! here ! — there ! there ! — and then these small pictures won’t cost a great deal of money replacing ; indeed one would not like to cut a large one to pieces for the sake of making it look as if people envied us ; no ! that would cost rather too much, and my pocket begins — but, mum ! — that’s nothing to nobody — well, none can blame me for going the cheapest way to work, to keep up the reputation of the Gallery ; there ! there ! there ! — there ! there !” In his memorial to the House of Commons, at the beginning of the present century, praying for an act to enable him to dispose of his stock in trade of the fine arts by lottery, Boydell stated that he had expended more than four hundred thousand pounds in encouraging talent in this country. He had become reduced in circumstances, and the Gallery was dispersed by public sale. At a later period he was obliged to appeal to the law to oblige many of his subscribers to continue their subscrip- tions to his series of Shakspeare illustrations, which they refused to do on account of the length of time that had elapsed before the publication was completed. With a few exceptions, our historical school of painting at first shewed no great symptoms of talent ; it savoured too much of that general mediocrity which flourished under the equivocal kind of patronage which the third of the Georges had substi- tuted for the scornful contempt shewn to art as well as literature by his two predecessors. West, with his coarse Scriptural pieces, * The words in italics are crossed through in the engraving, as though to he erased. PETER VINDAR AND THE ARTISTS. 573 and the foreign Loutherbourg with his gaudy landscapes, basked in the sun of royal favour, while Sir Joshua Reynolds and Wilson were treated with neglect. West was elected president of the newly -instituted Royal Academy, and received every kind of mark of royal attention ; for the King was rather vain of passing for a connoisseur, and he liked to show it by his fami- liarity with the artist. Before Boydell came forward to offer encouragement to art, the academicians had been exposed to the bitter shafts of satire. The “ Lyric Odes to the Royal Acade- micians,” drawn forth by the exhibitions of the years 1782, 1783, 1785, and 1786, were the first productions that made known the name of Peter Pindar. The humorous but skilful critic of art, who made his debut under this pseudonym, shews no mercy to the academic president, the favourite of royalty, whom he accuses of painting the Saviour “ like an old-clothes man” and the apostles like thieves, and of aspiring to cover “ acres of canvas” rather than aiming at perfection in a few works. Still, — “ To give the dev’l his due, thou dost inherit Some pigmy portion of the painting spirit ; But what is this, compared to loftier things ? — Thine is the fortune (making rivals groan) Of wink and nod familiar from the throne, And sweetest whispers from the best of kings. “ Nods, and winks-royal, since the world began, Are immortalities for little man.” Peter treats with as little ceremony the favoured portrait- painter Chamberlin, and the royal landscape-painter Louther- bourg, — “ Thy portraits, Chamberlin, may be A likeness, far as I can see ; But, faith ! I cannot praise a single feature : Yet, when it so shall please the Lord To make his people out of board, Thy pictures will be tolerable nature ! “ And Loutherbourg, when heav’n so wills To make brass skies, and golden hills. With marble bullocks in glass pastures graaiisg Thy reputation, too, will rise, And people, gaping with surprise, Cry, ‘ Monsieur Loutherbourg is most amazing f “ But thou must wait for that event — Perhaps the change is never meant — Till then, with me thy pencil will not shine~- Till then, old red-nosed Wilson’s art Will hold its empire o’er my heart. By Britain left in poverty to pine. 574 SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. lt But, honest Wilson, never mind ; Immortal praises thou shalt find, And for a dinner have no cause to fear. — ■ Thou start’ st at my prophetic rhymes ! Don’t be impatient for those times — Wait till thou hast been dead a hundred year.”* Peter’s predictions have been fulfilled sooner than he antici- pated, for the works of Wilson are now bought up at high prices, while those of the men who were most cried up in his time are thrown aside with contempt. Among the latter was Wright of Derby, an affected painter of moonlight scenes, which the satirist describes as exhibiting “ Woollen hills, where gold and silver moons Now mount like sixpences, and now balloons ; Where sea-reflections nothing nat’ral tell ye, So much like fiddle-strings, or vermicelli ; Where ev’rything exclaimeth (how severe !) ‘ What are we V and ‘ What business have we here Reynolds was one of those whose works had no charms for the eyes of royalty, and the satirical critic exclaims, with an air of satisfaction, — “ Thank God ! that monarchs cannot taste control, And make each subject’s poor, submissive soul Admire the work that judgment oft cries fie on : Had things been so, poor Reynolds we had seen Painting a barber’s pole — an alehouse queen — The cat- and- gridiron — or the old red lion ! At Plympton, p’rhaps, for some grave Doctor Slop, Painting the pots and bottles of the shop ; Or in the drama, to get meat to munch, His brush divine had pictured scenes for Punch ! “ Whilst West was whelping, ’midst his paints, Moses and Aaron, and all sorts of saints ! Adams and Eves, and snakes and apples, And dev’ls, for beautifying certain chapels ; — But Reynolds is no favourite, that’s the matter ; He has not learnt the noble art — to flatter. ie Thrice happy times ! when monarchs find them hard things To teach us what to view with admiration ; And, like their heads on halfpence and brass farthings, Make their opinions current through the nation!” Public opinion eventually forced Sir Joshua Reynolds to royal * We are informed in a note to this passage, that Wilson, who was cer- tainly a great artist, was desired by his friend, Sir William Chambers, to paint a picture for the King, on which occasion he produced one of his best paintings. Yet, when this picture was shewn to his majesty, it was laughed at, and the King exhibited his knowledge of art in returning it with contempt. THE VENETIAN SECRET. 575 attention. Peter Pindar closes his attacks on the academicians with an expression of rather general censure, — “Ye royal sirs, before I bid adieu, Let me inform you, some deserve my praise ; But trust me, gentle squires, they are but few Whose names would not disgrace my lays. You’ll say, with grinning, sharp, sarcastic face, ‘We must be bad indeed , if that’s the case. 5 Why, if the truth I must declare, So, gentle squires, you really are.' 5 But a few years passed over from the time Peter Pindar thus pointed out the empty pretensions of so many of the earlier academicians, when a large portion of that eminent body became the dupe of a piece of very remarkable quackery. In the year 1797, a young female pretender to art, a Miss Provis, professed to have discovered the long-lost secret by which Titian and the other great artists of the Venetian school produced their gor- geous colouring, and, by dint of puffing and other tricks, she succeeded in gaining the faith of a large portion of the Royal Academy. Seven of the academicians are said more especially to have been her dupes, Farringdon, Opie, Westall, Hopner, Stothard, Smirk, and Rigaud. Until her discovery was exploded, this lady sold it in great secret for a very high price. She would now probably have been entirely forgotten, but for the pencil of G-illray, who, on the 2nd of November, 1797, made her secret the subject of a very large and remarkable caricature, entitled “ Titianus redivivus ; or, the Seven Wise Men consulting the new Venetian Oracle.” In the upper part of this bold picture, the lady artist is dashing off a daring subject with extraordinary effect of light and shade, her long ragged train ending in the immense tail of a peacock. The three naked Graces behind her, in the genuine coloured, copies of this caricature, are painted of the gayest hues. She is leading the crowd of academicians by the nose over the gaudy rainbow to her study to behold her specimen of Venetian art. On one side, the buildings appro- priated to the Royal academy at Somerset House are falling into ruin, while on the other the temple of Fame is undergoing reparation. Below, we are introduced into the interior of the Academy, where the luckless seven occupy the foremost seats, deeply immersed in studying the merits of the new discovery. The ghost of Sir Joshua Reynolds rises up from the floor, con- templates the scene with astonishment, and apostrophises the groups in the words of Shakspeare, — “ Black spirits and white, bine spirits and grey, Mingle, mingle, mingle, — you that mingle may 1” NEWSPAPERS AND MAGAZINES. 57*5 On the opposite side are three persons making a hasty (light ; they are West, the president of the Academy, who was not a believer ; Boydell, whose fears are excited for the fate of his Gallery, if this new invention should succeed and destroy the value of what had been done while it was unknown ; and Macklin, who experiences an equal alarm for his grand illustra- tions of the Bible, which were put up by lottery, the tickets five guineas each. These fears, as far as the “ Venetian secret” was concerned, were not of long duration. No class of literature was undergoing a greater change during the middle part of the reign of George III. than the periodical press, which was especially affected by the revolutions in poli- tical and moral feelings which characterised the age preceding, as well as that which followed the bursting out of the French revolution. The newspapers, which had varied but little in appearance from the beginning of the century to the earlier part of George’s reign, now appear with new titles, and present themselves in a much enlarged and altered form. From an estimate given in the European Magazine for October, 1794, we learn that, while in 1724 only three daily, six weekly, and ten evening papers three times a week, were published in England, in 1 792 there were published in London thirteen daily, twenty evening, and nine weekly papers, besides seventy country papers, and fourteen in Scotland. Among the London papers we recog- nise the names of the principal daily papers of modern times. The Morning Chronicle was established in the year 1770, the Morning Post in 1772, and the Morning Herald in 1780, and they were followed by the Times in 1788. They began, in accordance with the depraved taste as well as manners of that age, with courting popularity by detailing largely the most inde- licate private scandal, and with coarse libels on public as well as private characters, things for which the Post enjoyed a special celebrity. The Chronicle was from the first the organ of the Whigs ; the Post was at first a violent organ of Toryism, it subsequently became revolutionary in its principles, and then returned to its original politics ; the Herald also has not been uniform in politics from its commencement. Of seven new magazines which were started from 1769 to 1771, the Town and Country Magazine , the Covent Garden Magazine , the Matri- monial Magazine , the Macaroni Magazine , the Sentimental Magazine , the Westminster Magazine , and the Oxford Maga- zine , two at least were obscene publications, and the feeling of the time allowed the titles of the licentious plates which. illus- trated them and of the articles they contained to be advertised STATE OF LITERATURE. 577 monthly in the most respectable newspapers in words which left no doubt of their character. The others gave insertion to a mass of scandal that ought to have been offensive to public morality. After a few years society seems to have resented the outrage, the newspapers became less libellous, and the offensive magazines disappeared. The literary character of the magazines, which may always be taken to a certain degree as an index of public taste, remained long very low. They consisted of extracts from common books and reprints of articles which had appeared before, of crude essays by unpaid correspondents, who were ambitious of seeing themselves in print, and of reviews of new publications, which constituted the most original part of the mixture. The reviews continued for a long time to be short and flippant, and in many cases the writer seems to have read or seen only the title of the book he reviews. Thus, in the Westminster Magazine for May, 1774, Jacob Bryant’s well-known ‘‘New System of Ancient Mythology,” in two large quarto volumes, is reviewed in four words, — “ Learned, critical, and ingenious and another quarto volume, “ Science Improved,” by Thomas Harrington, is condemned with similar brevity — “ Crude, obscure, and bombastic.” In the same maga- zine for September, 1774, that important work, Strutt’s “Regal Antiquities,” is dismissed with the observation, — “Curious, useful, and pleasing.” The triad of epithets, which recurs per- petually, is amusing. It is an authoritative style of giving judgment that seems to come from the Johnsonian school. Some of the most remarkable examples are found in the Town and Country Magazine , which, in March, 1771, expresses its critical judgment in the following elegant terms : — “ The Exhibition in Hell ; or, Moloch turned Painter. 8 vo. price is. A hellish bad painter, and a d — d bad writer I” A few years later, the critical notices in the magazines became somewhat more diffuse ; the reviews endeavoured to give their readers a little more information relating to the contents of new publications ; and sometimes, as in the European Magazine , they added a chapter at the end, under the title of “ Anecdotes of the Author,” in which they stated all they knew of his pri- vate history. Towards the close of the century, professed reviews, in contradistinction to magazines, began to be more common. The reviewers of the last century were strongly tainted with the feelings which agitated and divided society, and they con- p v REVOLUTION IN LITERATURE. 5 7 s stantly overlooked that necessary qualification of a critic, — im- partiality ; they too often punished the political opinions of the writer by abusing his writings, however far they might be from allusions to political subjects, or however meritorious in charac- ter : but they deserve praise for the constancy with which they attacked that shoal of frivolous and often pernicious matter that was daily sent into the world in the shape of novels and secret memoirs, of the most nauseous and indelicate description. The influence of these was most extensive previous to the year 1790. The violent intellectual agitation which followed the French revolution gave a more manly vigour to the literature of the following age. It seemed for a moment to have raised the burthen which had so long weighed heavily upon the mental energies, and to promise them relief from that cold influence of interested patronage which had so often blighted genius in the bud. The most distinguished literary characters of the last age, the Wordsworths, Campbells, Southeys, Coleridges and Roscoes, began their career in ardent admiration of the democratic principles which were spreading from revolutionized France : they imagined they had fallen upon the opening of a new and brighter era, and they looked forwards in vain hopes to the prospect of an age in which genius would no longer be the slave of selfish or capricious patronage on the one hand, or of specula- tive avarice on the other. The illusion soon passed away, but not without leaving an imprint which has effected a total change in the literature of this country. The change which was taking place at the end of the century, placed the two literatures of the past and the future for a while in direct hostility to each other, and produced a number of satirical writings of a new description, the types of which are found in “ The Pursuits of Literature,” published anonymously, but now understood to be the work of Mathias, and the “ Baviad and Maeviad” of Gifford. These now appear dull enough, but they applied the lash unsparingly to the crowd of fashionable writers who constituted the literary legacy of the preceding age. Per- haps, among the different shades of literary pretension which were struggling for fame at the period when the influence of the French revolution began to be felt, the least dignified was that party of individuals who attempted to raise a reputation on the fragments which had been scattered from tho table of Johnson. Boswell, and Madame Thrale, who had by a rather discreditable marriage with a music teacher, taken the name of Piozzi, and several others, long disputed over the remains of the “ great 579 TIFE SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES. moralist,” as he was termed, and afforded no small amusement to the public. This was one of the few public literary ques- tions which, during the latter part of the century, became the subject of caricatures, and those possess nothing very striking in their character. Two of these, published in 1786 and 1788, were by Sayer. This dispute, which caused much sensation for several years, is better known by Peter Pindar’s “ Town Eclogue” of Bozzi and Piozzi. The ungenial patronage of the court of George III. was as little successful in fostering literature and science, as it had shewn itself to be with respect to art. It was during this reign that societies began to be formed more generally to for- ward literary and scientific objects, but they in some instances seemed to share in the jealousy that was shewn towards political associations. The Society of Antiquaries, which had received its charter of incorporation from George II., was received into some degree of favour by his grandson, who, in 1780, placed it in apartments near his favourite “Academy” in Somerset House. Its labours had hitherto been little productive, and often puerile; it took no prominent part, even in the historical literature of the day, and is seldom mentioned in the popular literature, except in terms of ridicule. In 1 772, the society was brought on the stage by Foote, deliberating on the history of Whitting- ton and his cat. It appears that the honour shewn to it by royalty, did not protect it from becoming a dupe to practical jokes. In 1790, some wag produced a drawing of a stone pre- tended to have been discovered in Kennington Lane, on the site of an ancient palace of Hardicnut, bearing an inscription to that monarch’s memory in Saxon characters and in Anglo- Saxon verse, which, literally translated, informed the world that “ Here Hardyknute the king drank a wine-horn dry, and stared about him and died.” It is said that this inscription and ex- planation were received and read at one of the meetings of the society of antiquaries as a bond fide communication, and the perpetrator of the joke immediately made it public for the amusement of the world, and to the discomfiture of the learned archaeologists. This trifling incident made its noise at the time, and was taken up in a satirical vein by other humorists, who followed it up with mock dissertations and mock translations. Some of the latter exhibited the same vein of personal satire which had dictated the longer and more celebrated “probationary odes.” Thus Sir Cecil Wray is made to contribute the following poetical version — p p 2 ITA&DTCNUT S EPITAPH.. <;8o “Here Hardyknute, with horn of wine, Drank, died, and stared much ; And at my lost elec — ti — on Too many there were such.” Another parliamentary and ministerial rhymer, Sir Joseph Mawbey, was also introduced making a personal application of the theme, “ Here Hardyknute his wash (0 brute !) Did swill from Danish horn ; So bursting wide his harslet, died, And of his life was shorn. “ As pig doth look, that’s newly stuck. And stare, so stared he ; — And so, at my next canvass, I May stare for company.” Among other versions, the joking editor cites the first line of that by M. le Texier, who he says had, “with the levity peculiar to his countrymen,” given a gay turn to the epitaph, which he made to open thus — “Aha ! cher Monsieur Ardiknute 1” And he adds, “ The last has the same defect as the two preced- ing ones, for it is rather a sportive paraphrase than a fair trans- lation. As it comes, however, from a young poetical divine, resident in the archiepiscopal palace at Lambeth (the very place of Hardyknute’s demise), it will possibly be received with in- dulgence, and especially by the gentleman who produced its original to the Antiquary Societ}\ “ If Hardyknute at Lambeth feast, Where each man made himself a beast, On such a draught did venture ; Though drink he did, and stare, and die, ’Tis clear to every mortal eye That he was no dissenter.” However respectable their character as societies, and however talented and well-intentioned some of their members, it must be acknowledged that neither archaeology nor science were at this time receiving the benefits they might have done from the labours of the society of Antiquaries and its neighbour the Koyal Society. The latter was rent to pieces by jealousies and disputes. It had received a gleam from the sun of royal favour in the person of its president, Sir Joseph Banks, who had pur- sued science in company with Captain Cook in the distant isles of the Pacific, and whose adventures in the study of natural history at home and the undue eminence which he was believed SIR JOSEPH RANKS 581 to hold by the mere title of royal favouritism, made him the object of many a caricature and satire, in one of the latter, in the collection of Mr. Burke, the learned president of the Royal Society is represented under the character and title of “ The great South-sea Catterpillar trans- formed into a Bath butterfly.” His wings are adorned with figures of starfish, crabs, and other fa- vourite objects of his attention. This print is dated on the 4th of July, 1795, soon after Sir Joseph had been chosen a knight of the Bath. Another caricature, also in the possession of Mr. Burke, represents the scene described in Peter Pindar’s well-known tale of “ Sir Joseph Banks and the Em- peror of Morocco.” The “ presi- dent in butterflies profound,” as he has termed him, was a pu jeet of frequent satire from Peter’s pen. THE BUTTEEFLY OF SCIENCE. 58s CHAPTER XV. GEORGE III. The Imperial Parliament — Change of Ministry — Peace with France — New Step in Buonaparte’s Ambition — Renewal of Hostilities, and Threatened Invasion — Defensive Agitation ; Volunteers ; Caricatures and Songs — Return of Pitt to Power — Buonaparte Emperor — Trafalgar — Death of Pitt — The Broad-Bottom Ministry — Death of Fox — General Election — The War. T HE nineteenth century opened in this country with political prospects by no means of the most cheering description. With a burthen of taxation infinitely beyond anything that had ever been known before, England found herself in danger of being left single-handed in an interminable contest with a power which was now rapidly humbling at its feet the whole of the continent of Europe, and which had already adopted, with regard to us, the old motto of delenda est Carthago. We had no longer to contend with a democratic republic, as heretofore, but with a skilful and unscrupulous leader, who was already a sovereign in fact, and who was marching quickly towards a throne. The union with Ireland had been completed, and was put into effect ; but the sister isle remained dissatisfied and turbulent, and but a few months passed over before a new rebellion broke out, of a serious character. The union itself had not passed without considerable opp osition in this country, and the advan- tages which its advocates promised as the result, were ridiculed or disbelieved. Among the caricatures on this subject which appeared during the year 1800, one represented Pitt from the state pulpit publishing the banns of union between John Bull and Miss Hibernia. In another, under the title of “A Flight across the Herring-pool,” the Irish gentry are seen quitting their country in crowds to share in the good things which Pitt is laying before them in England, thus setting the example of that evil of absenteeism which has been so much complained of in more recent times. The first imperial parliament met on the 22nd of January, 1801, and was attended with two remarkable circumstances, the election of the Rev. John Horne Tooke for the borough of Old Sarum, and the reappearance of Fox at his post in the House THE ADDINGTON MINISTRY. 583 of Commons. Fox reappeared in the house for the first time on the 2nd of March, and one of the earliest’ signs of his returning activity was his support of the right of Horne Tooke to a seat there. A caricature, published on the 14th of March, entitled “ Th^ Westminster Seceder on Fresh Duty,” represents Fox bending his broad back to enable the reverend candidate to get into St. Stephen’s chapel through the window, while Lord Temple is shutting the door against him. Tooke had been returned for Old Sarum by Lord Camelford. His admission was opposed on the ground of his clerical profession, and it led to a bill making clergymen incapable of sitting in parliament. Tooke held his seat for a very brief period, during which he did no act of importance. A caricature, by Gillray, published on the 13th of March, under the title of 44 Political Amusements for Young Gentlemen ; or, the old Brentford Shuttlecock,” represents the head of Tooke formed into a plaything, the feathers of which intimate sufficiently his character, tossed backwards and forwards between Lord Camelford, to whom he owed his election, and Lord Temple, who led the opposition to his admission. Before this question came under discussion, Pitt had quitted the ministry. Having in his anxiety to procure the support of the Catholic body in Ireland for his grand project of union, made an implied promise to support the cause of Catholic emancipation, and finding the King ob- stinately opposed to it, he seized upon this as the occasion for retiring from office. The opposition ascribed to him different motives : they said that, alarmed at the difficulties into which he had plunged the country, he wished to withdraw from personal responsibility, and they prophesied that he would con- tinue to be, in fact, as much minister as before. This seems to receive some confirmation from the fact that Henry . Addington, the son of Doctor Addington, one of the physicians who had attended on the King in his derange- ment, and the special protege of the Pitt family, was nominated for his successor. A caricature, published on the 20th of February, under the title of “ The Family Party,” represents Pitt, Dundas, Grenville, and Canning, seated round the card- table ; Pitt gives his hand to Addington, saying, 44 Here, play my cards, Henry ; I want to retire a little and the other 5 8 4 ILLNESS OF TEE KING. players join him in the wish to remain a while behind the screen. An unexpected event added to the embarrassments of this situation of public affairs. The King, in consequence of the agitation and uneasiness caused by Pitt’s resignation, was suddenly attacked with his old malady, in the midst of the negotiations for a new ministry, and he remained in an uncer- tain state of health during three weeks. Although the public were kept in ignorance of the exact state of the King’s health as long as possible, enough was known to create general uneasi- ness; and it was this, probably, which drew Pox to town, and restored him to the House of Commons, for it was still believed that the formation of a regency would be, under any cir- cumstances, attended by the dismissal of the present ministry, to make place for one under Fox. In the middle of March, immediately after the King’s recovery, the new ministry was publicly announced ; Addington was first lord of the Treasury and chancellor of the Exchequer ; the Duke of Portland re- mained president of the Council ; Lord Eldon was made Chancellor ; Lord Pelham, Home Secretary ; Lord Hawkesbury, secre- tary for Foreign Affairs ; and Lord Hobart, secretary for the Colonies ; the Hon. Charles Yorke, secretary at War ; Lord Chatham, master of the Ordnance ; and Lord Lew- isham president of the Board of Control for the Affairs of India. Gillray, who, on the 24th of February, had represented Pitt and his colleagues marching out of the Treasury with conscious honesty on their features, while the Whigs were with diffi- culty hindered from rushing in to seize upon their places,* now (on the 28th of May) made a humorous comparison be- tween the old ministers and their suc- cessors, in a caricature, entitled “ Lilli- putian substitutes;” a title which was not ill bestowed on the latter, for they were men of so little influence in politics, that it was evident from the first they could only retain office by indulgence. Lord Loughborough’s vast wig appears to hide * The caricature alluded to is entitled “ Integrity retiring from office.” A NEW MINISTER IN AN OLD ROOT. THE PEACE OF AMIENS. 585 entirely from view its new wearer. Next to it stands on the treasury bench “ Mr. Pitt’s jack-boot,” in which Addington is plunged to the chin, yet he imagines that it, and the rest of Pitt’s clothes, are made exactly to fit him — “ Well, to be sure, these here clothes do fit me to an inch ! — and now that I’ve got upon this bench, I think I may pass muster for a fine tall fellow, and do as well for a corporal as my old master Billy himself.” Lord Hawkes- bury, who had talked of marching to Paris, has his spare form enveloped in Lord Grenville’s capacious breeches — “ Mercy upon me ! what a deficiency is here ! — ah, poor Hawkie ! what will be the consequence, if these d — d breeches should fall off in the march to Paris, and then should I be found out a sans-culotte !” Lord Hobart, a portly individual, is flourishing and swaggering with “Mr. Dundas’s broad sword!” Another individual, with no less plumpness in his proportions, is quarrelling with “ Mr. Canning’s old slippers,” — “ Ah ! d — n his narrow pumps ! I shall never be able to bear them long on my corns ! — zounds ! are these shoes fit for a man in present pay free quarters ?” At the beginning of the year, England had been again threatened with French invasion ; but Addington’s ad- ministration set out as a peace ministry, and it proceeded so resolutely in this course, that on the 1st of October, pre- liminaries had been agreed to and were signed, and Lord Corn- wallis was soon after- wards sent over as minister plenipoten- tiary. Buonaparte him- self was evidently desirous of a cessation of hostilities that he might be left for a while to pursue his ambitious designs at home. After many crosses and difficulties, and sufficient evi- dence of bad faith on the part of the French government, the definitive treaty of peace was signed at Amiens on the 27th of March, 1802. There was still a strong war-party in England, and many with keen foresight looked at it as an unnecessary sacrifice of our own dignity, rendered futile by the certainty that no peace could be CLAMOUR OF THE WAR PARTY. 586 of long duration with the then ruler of France, unless pur- chased with an unconditional submission to his will. The oppo- sition was strong in parliament, and when the terms of peace were known, there was a loud complaint at the yielding up of so many of our recent conquests, while France was allowed to keep her overwhelming influence on the continent. The peace was, however, lauded by Fox and the Whigs, and approved by Pitt. On the 6th of October, Gillray published a caricature, entitled “ Preliminaries of peace ; or, John Bull and his little friend marching to Paris.” The little friend is Lord Hawkesbury, who is leading the way across the channel, over a rotten and BRITANNIA VICTIMIZED. broken plank ; John Bull, accompanied by Fox and all the approvers of the negotiations, allows himself to be led by the nose, while Britannia’s shield and a number of valuable con- quests are thrown into the water as useless. O11 the 9th of Novem- ber appeared another caricature by Gillray, entitled “ Political dream- ings ; visions of peace ! — perspective horrors !” Windham had described in strong language the evils which the peace would drawdown upon this country, and, as embodied in this picture, they are certainly fearful. The preliminaries are endorsed as “ Britannia’s death-warrant and she herself is seen in the clouds AN ominous serenader. dragged off to the guillotine for execution by the Corsican depredator. Visions of headless bodies SIB FRANCIS BTJRDFTT . 587 crowd around. Lord Hawkesbury’s hand, as he signs the peace, is guided by Pitt. On one side justice has received a strong dose of physic. On another, we see St. Paul’s in flames. And here the long gaunt form of death treading in stilts (two spears) on the roast beef and other good things of old England. At the foot of Windham’s bed, Fox, as an imp of darkness, gives the serenade. At first the new administration went on smoothly ; it escaped attack, in the eagerness of the old Whig opposition to attack its predecessors. They imagined that Pitt and his colleagues had been overthrown by the weight of their own iniquities, and they talked of visiting them with parliamentary censure, and even with impeachment. The leader in the projected attack was to be Sir Francis Burdett, and great threats were held out, which, however, had no serious result. A caricature by Gillray, entitled “Preparing for the grand attack,” published on the 4th of December, 1801, represents Burdett rehearsing for his speech against ministers ; Sheridan is instructing him in eloquence ; Fox draws up the accusations ; and Horne Tooke acts as scribe. The year 1802 produced few subjects of domestic excitement. The repeal of the income tax gave universal satisfaction ; and people in general believed in the efficacy of Pitt’s grand project of the sinking fund to relieve them from much of the burthen of the public debt. Some of the caricaturists ridiculed the popular credulity on this point. The mania for balloons had been revived, after the reconciliation with France, where they still remained fashionable, and were more caricatured than in England ; and in a caricature, entitled “ The national para- chute ; or, John Bull conducted to plenty and emancipation,” published on the 10th of July, Pitt is represented supporting John Bull in the air in a parachute, entitled “ The sinking fund.” While the new peace occupied everybody’s attention, the Parliament was allowed, without much opposition, to vote a million sterling to pay off debts contracted on the civil list. On the other side, republicanism still appeared to have some advocates, and the close of the year witnessed the dis- covery of the mad conspiracy of Colonel Despard and his com- panions, who were executed early in 1803. A new parlia- ment had been elected in autumn, in which Westminster was again contested with obstinacy. In France, on the 6th of August, 1802, Buonaparte advanced another step in his course of ambition, by obtaining the appointment of consul for life : it was but another name for a crown. Peace was at first hailed with joy thoughout the country. It 5B8 BRITANNIA IN HER CHILDHOOD. produced, within a few weeks, illuminations, feasts, congratulatory addresses, sermons, poems, in great profusion. Englishmen went to visit Paris in hundreds and thousands, and this country was inundated with French fashions and inventions. Among the English visitors to France was Charles James Fox, who went to pay his respects to the future emperor, in company with his nephew, Lord Holland, and with Erskine, Grey, and some other members of the opposition in parliament. They were treated with marked attention by Buonaparte ; and their admiration was carried to a degree of indiscretion which did not increase their popularity in England, where they were accused of obsequious flattery to the oppressor of Europe. On the 15th of November, Gillray published a caricature entitled, “ Intro- duction of citizen Yolpone and his suite at Paris,” in which Fox and his wife, Lord and Lady Holland, and Grey, are stooping low to the new ruler of France. A few days before (on the 8th of November) an anonymous caricature on the same subject appeared under the title of “ English patriots bowing at the shrine of despotism.” Gillray published on the 4th of December, a caricature, entitled “The nursery, with Britannia reposing in peace,” in which Britannia is represented as an overgrown baby, reposing in her cradle, and nursed in French principles by Addington, Lord Hawkesbury, and Fox. It was at this moment that Lord Whitworth was sent over as our ambassador to the French government, amid general doubts of the good faith of the latter, and dissatisfaction of Buonaparte’s conduct. This dissatisfaction was most strongly expressed in the English newspapers, which is said to have given so much offence to the first consul, that he forbade their circulation in France. Still, although the general dissatisfaction in England was increasing, the peace continued popular till the end of the year. On the 1st of January, 1803, Gillray satirized the posture of affairs in a humorous caricature, entitled “ The first kiss this ten years ; or, the meeting of Britannia and citizen Francois.” Britannia, who has suddenly become corpulent, appears as a fine lady in full dress, her shield and spear leaning neglected against the wall. The citizen expresses his joy at the meeting in warm terms — “ Madame, permittez me to pay my profound esteem to your engaging person ; and to seal on your divine lips my ever- lasting attachment ! ! !” The lady, blushing deeply at the salute (in the coloured copies a strong tint of red is bestowed on her cheek), replies — “ Monsieur, you are truly a well-bred gentleman^! — and though you make me blush, yet you kiss so delicately that I cannot refuse you, though I was sure you would deceive me THE FIRST KISS. 5 S 9 again !” On the wall, just behind these two figures, are framed profiles of King Greorge and Buonaparte scowling on each other. This caricature enjoyed an unusual degree of popularity ; many copies were sent to France, and Buonaparte himself is said to have been highly amused by it. TEE FIRST KISS THESE TEN TEARS. From this time, however, the communications between the t vo countries began to take a much less pacific character, and it was more and more evident that the peace could not be of long duration. The French consul was anxious to obtain possession of Malta, and while he accused England of breaking the faith of treaties, he acted in everything contrary to the spirit of the treaty which he had so recently concluded with her. He required that we should drive the royalist emigrants from our shores, demanded that the English press, which he looked upon as one of his most dangerous enemies, should be deprived of its liberty as far as regarded French affairs, and he actually asked for modifications in our constitution. At the same time he was actively employed in exciting a rebellion in Ireland, and distributing agents, under the character of consuls, along our coasts, with treacherous objects, which were accidentally discovered by the seizure of the secret instructions to the consul at Dublin, which contained, among other matters of the same character, the following passages : — “ You are required to furnish a plan of the ports of your district, with a specification of the soundings for mooring vessels. If no plan of the ports SIGNS OF RETURNING WAR. 59 ^ can be procured, you are to point out with what wind vessels can come in and go out, and what is the greatest draught of water with which vessels can enter the river deeply laden.” There began to appear other indications equally distinct of ulterior designs against this country, which it was of the utmost importance to anticipate. Even Fox and his party, while they advocated peace as long as it could he maintained, acknowledged that there was room for suspicion. A patriotic indignation was raised throughout the country in the March of 1803, by the publication of an official document, signed by the first consul, in which he declared that “ England alone cannot now encounter France.” It was now universally believed that Buonaparte only delayed open hostilities as long as he could gain anything from us by pretended negotiations, and that he was preparing to crush us by the magnitude of his attack. It was the misfortune of this country to have at such a moment an administration remarkable for its incapacity. Pitt is said to have made a secret attempt to return to power ; but Addington began to love the sweets of office, and was not inclined to quit, and his sub- missive pliancy to the crown had gained him the King’s favour. The Foxites were afraid that if they entered into opposition, they would only throw the Doctor, as they all styled him contemptuously, into the arms of Pitt ; and Buonaparte declared publicly that if Pitt returned to power, France would lose all hopes of obtaining further concessions from England. A carica- ture by Gillray, published on the 9th of February, is entitled the “ Evacuation of Malta.” The French ruler is forcing Addington to evacuate one conquest after another, until he cries out, “ Pray do not insist upon Malta ! I shall certainly be turned out, and I have got a great many cousins, and uncles, and aunts to provide for yet.” A French officer who is re- ceiving what the minister gives up, expostulates with his commands, “ My general, you had better not get him turned out, for we shall not be able to humbug them any more.” The statement officially made by the French government, that England was not able to contend with France single- handed, produced a violent outburst of indignation in the House of Lords on the 9th of March. The day before, a royal message had been laid before both Houses, stating that the King had received positive information that very considerable military preparations were carrying on in the ports of France and Holland, and that he had judged it expedient to adopt additional measures of precaution for the security of his dominions. At the same time proclamations were issued encouraging the en- SEE BID AN'S PATRIOTISM. 59 1 listing of seamen and landsmen, calling up the militia and volunteers, and ordering the formation of encampments in the maritime counties. The volunteer associations, which had been formed two years before in anticipation of invasion, also began to reassemble. On the debate upon the King’s message, Fox seemed to think the apprehensions were premature, and advised caution ; Windham, who had violently opposed the peace, now said that it had placed us in a position of weakness towards France, which had rendered us less able to defend ourselves than we should have been had the war continued ; but the most patriotic of all patriotic speeches made in the House of Commons, was that of Sheridan. He accused Windham of entertaining the same sentiments on the weakness of this country which had been expressed by Buonaparte, “ Whatever sentiments both of them may entertain,” he said, “with respect to the incapability of the country, I hope and trust, if unhappily war be unavoidable, that we shall convince that right, honourable gentleman, and the first consul of France, that we have not incapacitated ourselves by making peace, to renew the war with as much promptitude, vigour, and perseverance, as we have already evinced. I trust, sir, we shall succeed in convincing them, that we are able to enter single-handed into war, notwithstanding the despondency of the right honourable gentleman, and the confident assertion of the first consul of France By the exertions of a loyal, united, and patriotic people, we can look with perfect confidence to the issue ; and we are justified in entertaining a well-founded hope, that we shall be able to convince not only the right honourable member and the first consul of France, but all Europe, of our capability, even single-handed, to meet and triumph over the dangers, however great and imminent, which threaten us from the renewal of hostilities.” This debate was made the subject of a clever caricature by Grillray, published on the 14th of March, under the title of “ Physical aid ; or, Britannia recovered from a trance ; also the patriotic courage of Sherry Andrew, and a peep through the fog.” The “ peep” exhibits in the distance Buonaparte leading on the French boats, which are to carry over the army of in- vasion. Britannia, waking suddenly from her trance of security, is struck with the imminence of the danger, and implores assistance in a parody of the words of Shakspeare, “ Angels and ministers of dis-g race defend me !” Her shield is cracked and her spear blunted. Addington and Lord Hawkesbury stand by her, giving encouragement 5 the former applies a bottle of gunpowder to her nose to revive her. Sheridan wields the 5Q2 THE THEATRICAL HERO. club, inscribed, “Dramatic loyalty,” in threatening attitude against the invaders, and blusters out his menace, “ Let ’em come, damme !— damme ! ! — where are the French buggabosp — Single- handed I’d beat forty of ’em ! ! damme, I’ll pay ’em like renter shares, sconce off their half crowns, mulct them out of their benefits, and come the Drury Lane slang over ’em !” A crowd of people are excited in dif- ferent ways. Fox, half con- cealing his face in his hat, cannot see the buggabos, and wonders, “ why the old a theatrical hero. lady has woke in such a fright.” The negotiations were still persevered in, although it was daily more evident that they would fail to avert hostilities. Even as late as the 2nd of May, caricatures appeared ridiculing John Bull’s submission to the continued demands made upon his forbearance. The date just mentioned is that of a cari- cature by G-illray entitled, “ Doctor Sangrado curing John Bull of repletion.” Lord Hawkesbury is holding up John Bull, sick JOHN BULL IN BAD HANDS. and emaciated, while Addington performs the operation ; the blood which issues from the incision is inscribed with the names of Malta and the other conquests that were to. be restored. J.GiHray. del. ' P.W.I’airih.olt, P. S.A. s THREATS OF INVASION. 593 which Buonaparte is receiving in his hat ; Fox and Sheridan are bringing warm water ; and they all exhort the patient to have courage. It was but a few days after this, that our ambassador, who had been personally insulted by Buonaparte, and who had long perceived that the latter had carried on the negotiations merely for the sake of gaining time, received final orders to leave Paris, and the French ambassador, Andreossi, was ordered to quit England. The declaration of war was received throughout England with enthusiastic joy ; — the falsehoods and prevarica- tions which Buonaparte had made use of throughout the nego- tiations, which now exposed his true character to the world ; the infamous manner in which he had treated the countries that had fallen under his power ; and the reckless contempt of the laws of nations with which he seized as prisoners of war the crowds of English visitors whom his peaceful declarations had allured into France ; all made the ruler of France an object of such abhorrence and hatred that war seemed to every one preferable to peace, and the ministers were only rendering themselves un- popular by continuing the friendly relations between the two countries so long. Gillray has perpetuated the memory of this feeling in a clever caricature, published on the 18th of May, entitled “ Armed Heroes.” “ Addington,”* the “ doctor,” is represented in a ridiculous dilemma, between assumed courage and real fears, anxious to preserve the roast beef threatened by the Corsican usurper. Lord Hawkesbury, seated behind him with an equally passive appearance of courage, calls to mind his old threat of marching to Paris. Buonaparte commenced hostilities by seizing upon Hanover, and raising a rebellion in Ireland. The former was an inevitable evil ; and the latter was soon subdued. But the immense pre- parations for invasion were a cause of more serious alarm, and called forth a unity of patriotic exertions such as had never been seen before. The volunteers, raised in the course of the summer and autumn, who were well armed and soon well trained, amounted to not less than three hundred thousand. Meanwhile France seemed for once earnest in her threats, and she was marching to the opposite coast her best troops in fearful masses. Buonaparte came in person to overlook the preparations, and to take the command of the invading forces when they were com- pleted. He established his head-quarters at Boulogne, on the roads to which finger-posts were erected to remind all French- men that it was the way to London. Every possible means was * A copy of this caricature is given in the accompanying plate. Q Q SATIRES ON THE INVADERS. 594 resorted to for exciting the people against the English, and attracting them to his standard. The soldiers were promised indiscriminate plunder, and they were reminded that the English women were the most beautiful in the world, and that no restric* tion should be placed on the gratification of their passions. In- flammatory addresses from the cities and towns to the first consul were followed by equally inflammatory answers. Atro- cious falsehoods were published and placarded over the country to raise the national exasperation to the greatest height. Equally efficacious means were resorted to in England to raise up an enthusiastic spirit of hatred of France and its ruler. People exerted themselves individually, as well as in associations, in printing and distributing what were known as “ loyal papers” and “ loyal tracts,” which were bought up in immense numbers, and the proceeds often applied to the defence of the country. Some of these consisted of exaggerated and libellous biographies of Buonaparte and his family ; accounts of the atrocities perpe- trated by himself and his armies in the countries they had over- run ; burlesques, in which he was treated with ridicule and contempt ; parodies on his bulletins and proclamations ; and accounts of his preparations for the invasion and conquest of England. Others contained words of encouragement ; exhorta- tions to bravery ; directions for acting and disciplining ; promises of reward ; narratives of British bravery in former times ; every- thing, in fact, that could stir up and support the national spirit. Every kind of wit and humour was brought into play to enliven these sallies of patriotism ; sometimes they came forth in the shape of national playbills, such as the following : — “ Theatre Royal, England. “In Rehearsal, and meant to be speedily attempted , a farce in one act called The Invasion of England. Principal Buffo, Mr. Buonaparte, being his first (and most likely his last) appearance on this stage. “Anticipated Critique. The structure of this Farce is very loose, and there is a moral and radical defect in the ground-work. It boasts however considerable novelty, for the characters are all mad. It is probable that it will not be played in the country, but will certainly never be acted in town ; wherever it may be represented, we will do it the justice to say, it will be received with thunders of — cannon ! ! ! but we wili venture to affirm will never equal the success of John Bull. It is, however, likely that the piece may yet be put off on account of the indisposition of the principal per- former, Mr. Buonaparte. We don’t know exactly what this gentleman’s merits may be on the tragic boards of France, but he will never succeed here ; his figure is very diminutive, he struts a great deal, seems to have no conception of his character , and treads the stage very badly ; notwith- standing which defects, we think if he comes here, he will get an engage- ment, though it is probable that he will shortly after be reduced to the situation of a scene- shifter. THE WONDERFUL ANIMAL . 595 “As for the Farce, we recommend it to be withdrawn, as it is the opinion of all good political critics, that if play’d it will certainly be damned. “ Vivant rex et regina Sometimes they were coarse and laughable dialogues between the Corsican and John Bull, or some other worthy, who gave him small encouragement to persevere in his undertaking. Then we had laughable proclamations to his own soldiers, or to those he was threatening with invasion. Now the invader was com- pared to a wild beast, or some object of curiosity, for a promised exhibition. Such bills as the following were common : — “ Most wonderful wonder of wonders! ! “Just arrived, at Mr. Bull’s Menagerie, in British Lane, the most renowned and sagacious man tiger or ourang outang, called Napoleon Buonaparte. He has been exhibited through the greatest part of Europe, particularly in Holland, Switzerland , and Italy , and lately in Egypt. He has a wonderful faculty of speech, and undertakes to reason with the most learned doctors in law, divinity, and physic. He proves incoutrovertibly that the strongest poisons are the most sovereign remedies for wounds of all kinds ; and by a dose or two, made up in his own way, he cures his patients of all their ills by the gross. He picks the pockets of the company, and by a rope suspended near a lantern, shews them, as clear as day, that they are all richer than before. If any man in the room has empty pockets, or an empty stomach, by taking a dose or two of his poivder of liemp , he finds them of a sudden full of guineas, and has no longer a craving for food : if he is rich, he gets rid of his tcedium vitas; and if he is is overgorged, finds a perfect cure for his indigestion. He proves, by unanswerable arguments, that soup maigre and frogs are a much more wholesome food than beef and pudding, and that it would be better for Old England if her inhabitants were all monkeys and tigers , as, in times of scarcity, one half of the nation might devour the other half. He strips the company of their clothes, and, when they are stark naked, presents a paper on the point of a bayonet, by reading which they are all perfectly convinced that it is very pleasant to be in a state of nature. By a kind of hocus-pocus trick, he breathes on a crown, and it changes suddenly into a guillotine. He deceives the eye most dexterously ; one moment he is in the garb of the Mufti : the next of a Jew ; and the next moment you see him the Pope. He imitates all sounds ; bleats like a lamb ; roars like a tiger ; cries like a crocodile ; and brays most inimitably like an ass. “ Mr. Bull does not choose to exhibit his monkey’s tricks in the puffing way, so inimitably p ayed off at most foreign courts ; as, in trying lately to puff himself up to the size of a bull, his monkey got a sprain, by which he was very near losing him. “ He used also to perform some wonderful tricks with gunpowder ; but his monkey was very sick in passing the channel, and has shewn a great aversion to them ever since. “ Admittance, one shilling and sixpence. “ N.B. — If any gentleman of the corps diplomatique should wish to see hits ourang outang, Mr. Bull begs a line or two first ; as, on such occasions, Q Q 2 THE LILLIPUTIAN HERO. 59 6 he finds it necessary to bleed him, or give him a dose or two of cooling physic, being apt to fly at them if they appear without such preparation.” In other papers, the conqueror of the greater part of Europe was ridiculed as a mere pigmy, when compared to King George and his valiant Britons : — “ Come, I’ll sing you a song, just for want of some other, About a small thing, that has made a great pother ; A mere insect , a 'pigmy , — I’ll tell you, my hearty, ’Tis the Corsican hop-o'-my thumb Buonaparte. Derry down, &c. “ This Lilliput monster, with Brobdignag rage, Hath ventured with Britons in war to engage ; Our greatness he envies, and envy he must, If the frog apes the ox, he must swell till he burst. Derry down,” &c. It was in this spirit that Gillray, on the 26th of June, repre- sented King George as the king of Brobdignag, eyeing his dimi- nutive assailant with contempt. Other caricatures represented THE KINO OP BROBDIGNAG AND GULLIVER. the blustering invader in the same character. In a fine engrav- ing by Gillray, bearing the same title as the one just mentioned, “The King of Brobdignag and Gulliver,” the diminutive boaster is seen attempting to manoeuvre his small boat in a basin of water, to the great amusement of King George and his court.. Songs innumerable, of encouragement and defiance, were. dis- tributed about the country in the same form of loyal broadsides, SONGS AGAINST INVASION. 597 as well as in tracts and collections. # Of many of these, the fol- lowing wdl furnish a good example: — “ SONG ON THE THREATENED INVASION. “Arm, neighbours, at length. And put forth your strength, Perfidious bold France to resist ; Ten Frenchmen will fly To shun a black eye. If one Englishman doubles his fist. “But if they feel stout, Why, let them turn out, With their maws stuff'd with frogs, soups, anu jellies ; Brave Nelson’s sea thunder Shall strike them with wonder, And make the frogs leap in their bellies. “Their impudent boast Of invading our coast, Neptune swears they had better decline ; For the rogues may be sure, That their frenzy we’ll cure, And we’ll pickle them all in his brine. “And when they’ve been soak’d Long enough to be smok’d, To the regions below they’ll be taken ; And there hung up to dry, Fit to boil or to fry, When Old Nick wants a rasher of bacon.” The following song was sung in the theatres, and drew the most enthusiastic shouts of satisfaction : — “THE ISLAND. “ If the French have a notion Of crossing the ocean, Their luck to be trying on dry land j They may come if they like, But we’ll soon make ’em strike To the lads of the tight little Island. Huzza for the boys of the Island ! — The brave volunteers of the Island ! The fraternal embrace If foes want in this place, We’ll present all the arms in the Island. “ They say we keep shops To vend broad-cloth and slops, And of merchants they call us a sly land ; * These loyal papers were almost the only broadsides for which purchasers could be found, and it is not improbable that this first gave the blow to the old English popular ballad literature, which had hitherto kept its ground almost undiminished. 5?S THE FLEET VERSUS THE INVADERS. But though war is their trade, What Briton’s afraid To say he’ll ne’er sell ’em the Island. They’ll pay pretty dear for the Island ! If fighting they want in the Island, We’ll shew ’em a sample, Shall make an example Of all who dare bid for the Island. ** If met they should be By the Boys of the Sea, I warrant they’ll never come nigh land ; If they do, those on land Will soon lend ’em a hand To foot it again from the Island ! Huzza ! for the king of the Island ! Shall our father he robbed of his Island ? While his children can fight, They’ll stand up for his right. And their own, to the tight little Island.” In these papers, as well as in the caricatures, it was confi- dently prophesied that, if the enemy should escape our ships at sea, it would only be to meet certain destruction on landing. Gill ray published several caricatures during the months of June and July, setting forth the consequences of the landing of Buonaparte. In one, our brave volunteers are driving him and his army into the sea. In another, entitled “ Buonaparte forty- eight hours after landing,” John Bull is represented bearing the bleeding head of the invader in triumph on his pike. In a third, the King, in his hunting garb, is holding up the Corsican fox, which he has hunted down with his good hounds, Nelson, Vin- cent, &c. It was our fleets, indeed, that offered our best guarantee against the vengeance of France, for as long as our ships swept the Channel, and insulted the French coasts, destroying towns and shipping with impunity, there was little chance that our enemies would be able to put their threats in execution. They stood there manoeuvring, and blustering, and threatening, while Jack Tar was waiting very impatiently for their coming out. “ They’ve fram’d a plan (That’s if they can) To chain us two and two, sirs; And Gallia’s cock, From Cherbourg rock, Keeps crying Doodle doo, sir.” However, with the distinguished courage so much boasted of in the proclamations and bulletins of their leader, it was said JOHN BULL'S LMPATIENCE. J99 that they waited for the first fog, that they might slip over unseen. “ It seems in a fog these great heroes confide, When unseen, o’er the sea they think safely to ride ; For taught by our sailors, they know to their shame, With Britons to see and to conquer’s the same.” Jack Tar’s impatience was set forth in a caricature by Gillray, published on the 2nd of August, in which John Bull is repre- sented as taking to the sea in person, to chant the serenade of defiance. The head of Buonaparte is just seen over the battle- ment, uttering the threat which he had now been repeating several weeks: “I’m a coming! — I’m a coming!” His boats are safely stowed up under the triple fort in which he has ensconced himself for personal security, and John Bull taunts him with some ill humour ** You’re a coming ? — If you mean to invade us, why make such a rout 1 I say, little Boney, — why don't you come out ? Yes, d — you, why don’t you come out ?” One of the songs distributed in the “loyal papers,” which seems to have been a very popular one, furnishes us with— JOHN BULL'S INVITATION. 600 BUONAPARTE’S ANSWER TO JOHN BULL’S CARD, “My dear Johnny Bull, the last mail Brought over your kind invitation. And strongly it tempts us to sail In our boats to your flourishing nation. But Prudence she whispers ‘ Beware, Don’t you see that his fleets are in motion ? He’ll play you some d — d ruse de guerre , If he catches you out on the ocean.’ Our fears they mount up, up, up, Our hopes they sink down-y, down-y, Our hearts they beat backwards and forwards, Our heads they turn round-y, round- y. “You say that pot-luck shall be mine : Je n'entend pas ces mots , Monsieur Bull ; But I think I can guess your design, When you talk of a good belly-full. I have promis’d my men, with rich food Their courage and faith to reward ; I tell them your puddings are good, Though your dumplings are rather too hard. Oh my Johnny, my Johnny, And O, my Johnny, my deary, Do, let us good fellows come over, To taste your beef and beer-y. “I’ve read and I’ve heard much of Wales, Its mines, its meadows, and fountains ; Of black cattle fed in the vales, And goats skipping wild on the mountains. Were I but safe landed there, What improvements I’d make in the place ! I’d prattle and kiss with the fair, Give the men the fraternal embrace, O my Taffy, my Taffy, Soon I’ll come, if it please ye. To riot on delicate mutton, Good ale, and toasted cheese-y. “ Caledonia I long to see, And if the stout fleet in the north Will let us go by quietly, Then I’ll sail up the Erith of Forth. Her sons, I must own, they are dashing ; Yet, Johnny, between me and you, I owe them a grudge for the thrashing They gave that poor devil Menou. O my Sawny, my Sawny, Your bagpipes will make us all frisky;, We’ll dance with your lasses so bonny, Eat haggis and tipple your whisky. “ Hibernia’s another snug place, I hope to get there, too, some day, Though our ships they got into disgrace With Warren near Donegall Bay, AN ALARMIST \ (5oi Though my good friends at Vinegar Hill, They fail’d ; be assured, Jack, of this, I’ll give them French liberty still, As I have to the Dutch and the Swiss. O my Paddies, my Paddies, You are all of you honest good creatures} And I long to be with you at Cork, To sup upon fish and potatoes. ** A fair wind and thirty-six hours, Would bring us all over from Brest; Tell your ships to let alone ours, And we’ll manage all the rest. Adieu, my dear boy, till we meet ; Take care of your gold, my honey ; And when I reach Threadneedle Street, I’ll help you to count out your money. But my fears they mount up, up, up. And my hopes they sink down-y, down-y • My heart it beats backwards and forwards. And my head it runs round-y, round- y.” The House of Commons, which was not prorogued till late in the summer, added by its votes to the general patriotic spirit of the country. Sheridan was there the foremost in praising and encourag- ing the volunteers, and in calling attention to the important service done by the multitude of placards and songs that were thus distributed about the country. Those of his party who followed Fox in still wishing for friendship with France, and believing it possible, set him down for a confirmed alarmist } and in a print, published on the ist of September, Gillray has cari- catured him as a bill-sticker, alarm- ing John Bull with the announce- ments of peril and danger, which he is so busy scattering over the land. The print is explained by the following dialogue AN ALAEM ist. “ JOHN BULL AND THE ALAEMIST. ** John Bull as he sat in his old easy chair. An alarmist came to him, and said in his ear, * A Corsican thief has just slipt from his quarters, And’s coming to ravish your wives and your daughters 602 CARICATURES ON RUONARARTE. “ ‘Let him come and be d — d !’ thus roar’d out John Bull, ‘ With my crabstick assur’d I will fracture his skull. Or I’ll squeeze the vile reptile ’twixt my finger and thumb, Make him stink like a bug if he dares to presume.’ “ yrhey say a full thousand of flat-bottom’d boats, Each a hundred and fifty have warriors of note, All fully determined to feast on your lands. So I fear you will find full enough on your hands.’ “John smiling arose upright as a post, — ‘I’ve a million of friends bravely guarding my coast; And my old ally Neptune will give them a dowsing, And prevent the mean rascals to come here a lousing !’ ” The effect of the songs and papers was confined to home, hut the caricatures were carried abroad, and gave no little uneasiness to Buonaparte, for they were often coarsely personal, and the first consul was particularly sensitive to anything like ridicule against himself or his family. The caricature which gave him the greatest offence was a rather celebrated one by Gillray, pub- lished on the 24th of August, 1803, under the title: of “The Handwriting upon the Wall.” It is a broad parody on Bel- shazzar’s feast. The first consul, his wife Josephine (to whom the artist bas given a figure of enormous bulk), and other mem- bers of his family and court, are seated at their dessert devour- ing the good things of old England. Buonaparte himself is called off by the vision from the palace of St. James’s, which is seen in his plate with his fork stuck into it ; another worthy is swallowing the Tower of London ; Josephine is drinking large bumpers of wine. A plate, inscribed “ Oh, de roast beef of Old England!” bears the head of King George. The bottle labelled “ Maidstone” is understood to refer to some of the Irish con- spirators, tried at the assizes in that town. A hand above holds out the scales of Justice, in which the legitimate crown of France weighs down the red cap with its attendant chain — despotism under the name of liberty. Behind Josephine stand the three princesses of the afterwards imperial family, the Princess Borghese, the Princess Louise, and the Princess Joseph Buonaparte. These ladies, who were the cause of some scandal by their alleged irregularities, were bitterly satirized, not only in caricatures, but even in medals and in other shapes, some of which were not of a character to describe here. In Gillray’s large caricature of “ The grand Coronation Procession,” pub- lished on the 1st of January, 1805, on occasion of Napoleon’s assumption of the imperial dignity, the three princesses, clad in very meretricious garb, walk at the head of the procession as IAFm-WEITlt& OM TELE VAIL, THE THREE GRACES. 603 “the three imperial Graces,” and scatter flowers in the way of the emperor and empress. Most of the caricatures published during the latter part of the year 1803 were personal attacks on the ruler of France. In one, published in September, “ The Butcher Buonaparte” is lifted on the shoulders of Talleyrand that he may spy over his battlements the English cannon destroying his navy of gun- boats ; he is made to exult over the slaughter of his own sub- jects, who began to be an embarrassment to him. It is said that Talleyrand always advised him against the invasion. In another caricature, published on the 6th of October, the spirit of evil is represented roasting Buonaparte for his supper ; it is the fulfilment of a wish expressed in one of the songs quoted above. A third, published on the 25th of October, represents a party of “ French volunteers marching to the conquest of Great Britain.” The miserable “ volunteers,” who have been dragged from their homes much against their will, and shew very little 604 THE “ LOYAL PAPERS." inclination for the employment, are marched along chained and manacled. Several of the “ loyal papers ” contain expressions which shew that there were still apprehensions that many people in this country were so discontented with King George’s government that they would join the invaders, or, at least be very lukewarm in resisting them. To counteract this feeling, the associations distributed strong appeals to the patriotism of all classes, shewing that the evils which they complained of at present were trifling in comparison with those that were threatened from abroad, placing before them the atrocious ravages com- mitted in Holland, Switzerland, Germany, and Italy, and even in France itself, by the republican plunderers, and admonishing them that these were only to be avoided by uniting vigorously and heartily in the common defence. English, Scot, and Irish, it was represented, had an equal interest at stake, — if they acted together, they were invincible. One of the garlands (to use an expression of the olden time) of loyal songs introduces them discussing “the Invasion” in the following terms: — “ At the sign of the George, a national set (It fell out on a recent occasion), A Briton, a Scot, and Hibernian, were met To discourse ’bout the threat’n’d invasion. “ The liquor went round, they joked and they laughed. Were quite pleasant, facetious, and hearty; To the health of their king flowing bumpers they quaff’d. With confusion to great Buonaparte. “Quoth John, ‘ ’Tis reported, that snug little strait, Which runs betwixt Calais and Dover, With a hop, step, and jump, that the consul elate Intends in a trice to skip over. “ * Let him try every cunning political stroke. And devise every scheme that he ’s able ; He ’ll find us as firm and as hard to be broke, As the bundle of sticks in the fable.’ “The Scot and Hibernian replied — ‘You are right — Let him go the whole length of his tether ; When England, and Scotland, and Ireland unite, They defy the whole world put together.’ ” In spite, however, of all this courage and enthusiasm, and of the great measures taken for the defence of the country, it was a year of alarm and terror in England, such as it is to be hoped will not be experienced again. It was but a gloomy Christmas which closed it, and ushered in a new year with little improve- PITT IN OPPOSITION. 605 ment in our prospects. Every intelligence from abroad spoke of the marching of troops from all parts of the French territory to the coast from which the invasion was to be made. It was known that Buonaparte had been at Boulogne just before Christ- mas, to visit and inspect the preparations. The general uneasi- ness was increased towards the end of February by the informa- tion which gradually spread abroad that the King was suffering under a new attack of the dreadful disorder to which he was constitutionally subject, and the country was thus in danger of losing the active assistance of its monarch at the moment of peril. Fortunately, however, the King’s illness was not this time of long duration, and as summer approached the fears of invasion also began to wear away,* and public attention was called off to political changes of another kind. Pitt, who had previously supported the Addington ministry, suddenly quarrelled with it in the spring of 1804, and placed himself in the opposition. This defection was at first evinced in frequent observations on the incapacit}- of the present go- vernment to help the country out of its difficulties, and in wishes for the formation of a strong administration on a “broad bottom” which should include “all the talents” of the different parties. It was soon known that Temple and the Grenvilles had joined Fox’s party, but Pitt cautiously avoided compromis- ing himself, although he spoke as much as anybody in favour of a coalition of parties. On the 14th of March, Gillray published a caricature entitled “The State Waggoner and John Bull; or, the Waggon too much for the Donkeys, — together with a dis- tant view of the new coalition among Johnny’s old horses.” Addington, the state-driver, has run his waggon into a deep slough, from which the donkeys that are harnessed to it are unable to drag it. The unfortunate driver screams out — “ Help, Johnny Bull! help! — my waggon’s stuck fast in the slough! — help! help!” John Bull, dressed in the then fashionable accoutrements of a volunteer, and attended by his faithful dog, replies, — “ Stuck fast in the slough ? — ay, to be sure ! — why doesn’t put better cattle to thy wain ? — look at them there horses doing 0’ nothing at all! — what signifies whether they matches in colour, if they do but drag the waggon out of the mud ? — don’t you see how the very thought o’ being put into harness * In July, 1804, the Paris papers, as quoted in our newspapers, said, — ■ “ The invasion has been only deferred, to render it more terrible when the whole strength of the French empire, destined to make the attack, shall be collected.” 6o6 NEW COALITION OF PANTIES. JOHN BULL TURNED VOLUNTEER. makes ’em all love and nubble one another ?” The horses to which he points occupy a neighbouring bank, and present the well-known faces of Pitt, the Marquis of Buckingham, Fox,who*is courting the friendship of Lords Temple and Grenville, Lords Holland, Grey, Erskine, Lauderdale, Moira, Castlereagh, Lord Carlisle, Canning, Wilberforce, Wind- ham, and Sheridan, the two latter of whom are kicking at each other. The day after the date of this print, on the 15th of March, Pitt made a direct attack on the ministry in a motion on the naval defence of the country, which was sup- ported by Eox, but opposed by Sheridan, who seemed to have deserted his old party to league with Addington. After the Easter recess, the opposition took a much more decisive charac- ter. On the 23rd of April, Fox brought forward a motion relating to the defence of the country (the subject now nearest to everybody’s heart) ; and he was opposed by Addington, who insinuated that the mere object of the mover was to embarrass and overthrow his ministry. Pitt then rose to support Fox ; he declared that he had no confidence in ministers, whom he blamed severely for their want of intelligence and foresight. In the course of the debate which followed the coalition was openly spoken of; but it was denied by Fox and Pitt, who declared that they were only united in a common opinion of the ineffi- ciency of the men then in office. On a division, the usually large ministerial majority was reduced to fifty-two. Two nights afterwards this majority was further reduced to thirty-seven. Before the end of the month Pitt was in communication with the King for the formation of a new cabinet. A large carica- ture by Gillray, was published on the 1st of May, under the title of the “Confederated Coalition; or, the giants storming heaven, with the gods alarmed for their everlasting abodes ;” in which the discordant elements of the opposition are represented under the character of the mythic giants following their chief leaders, Pitt and Fox, to the assault of the heavenly abode occupied by the ministerial triumvirate, Addington, Lord Havvkcsbury, and Lord St. Vincent. BRITANNIA IN DANGER . 607 On the 12th of May, the Gazette announced that William Pitt was restored to his old place of chancellor of the Exchequer. In forming his cabinet, Pitt neither coalesced with Addington nor took in Fox. His quarrel with the former had ripened into personal hostility. He appears to have wished to conciliate Fox, and to give him a place in his cabinet ; but here he had to con- tend with the hostility of the King, who met this proposal with a flat refusal. Lord Temple and the Grenvilles, who had en- gaged that Fox should come in, refused to take office without him. In the new administration, the Duke of Portland was president of the Council ; Lord Eldon, chancellor ; the Earl of Westmoreland, lord privy seal; Lord Chatham, master-general of the ordnance ; and Lord Castlereagh president of the board ot control. These had all formed a part of the Addington ministry. Pitt’s friend, Dundas, who had now been raised to the peerage under the title of Lord Melville, was appointed first lord of the Admiralty ; Lord Harrowby succeeded Lord Hawkes- burv as secretary for foreign affairs; Lord Camden was made secretary for the colonies ; and Lord Mulgrave chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. Mr. Canning, who was now Pitt’s main support in the House of Commons, was made treasurer of the Navy, without a place in the cabinet. The change in the ministry produced a clever caricature from Gillray, published on the 20th of May, under the title of “ Britannia between Death and the Doctors — Death may decide when Doctors disagree.” Britannia is reclining on her bed of sickness, with abundance of nostrums scattered over the room, but evidently not much relieved by her physicians. One of them, Fox, who grasps in his hand a bottle of “republican balsam,” lies on the floor, stretched beneath the foot of Pitt, who with the other foot is kicking Addington and his “com- posing draught” out of doors. The new doctor raises triumph- antly in his hand a bottle of his “constitutional restorative.” While the doctors are thus settling their dispute, death, in the personage of Buonaparte (who still kept his immense army on the opposite coast with the professed intention of invading us) steals from behind the curtains, and aims a blow with his spear at their patient. The opposition, thus swelled by the accession of Addington and his friends, as well as the party of the Grenvilles, was very formidable, and Pitt actually came in with smaller majorities than those upon which Addington went out. The first trial of strength was on the 5th of June, when Pitt brought forward 6o,« HOSTILITY TO PITT. his plan for the military defence of the country. Sheridan attacked the new ministers with great bitterness, pointed out their weakness in the House of Commons, and expressed his opinion that they ought not to remain in office with such a strong feeling there against them. Pitt shewed more anger than it was usual for him to exhibit ; he said, in reply to Sheri- dan, that, “ as to the hint which had been so kindly given him to resign, it was not broad enough for him to take it ; even if the bill were lost, he should not, for that, consider it his duty to resign — his Majesty had the prerogative of choosing his own servants and he complained much of the opposition of the Grenvilles. Other members of the opposition now rose in suc- cession, and attacked the ministry ; Fox declaimed against Pitt’s indecent defiance of the opinion of the House ; and the Gren- villes defended themselves. Pitt, however, was evidently embarrassed by the hostility he had to encounter. It was clear that the old and compact party with which he had so long ruled the country, had been entirely broken up, and he seemed confused and irritated among the dis- cordant materials that now lay before him. The singular position in which the little parties that had thus sprung up stood towards each other, and the personal intrigues they engen- dered, afforded subjects for the caricaturist on every side, and these were not overlooked. On the loth of June Gillray carica- tured the whole body of the opposition in a large print, entitled “ L’Assemblee Nationale ; or, grand co-operative meeting at St. Anne’s Hill ; respectfully dedicated to the admirers of a ‘ Broad- bottomed Administration.’ ” It was at this period that Sayer produced some of his latest efforts in the cause of his old patron, Pitt. Many believed that the statesman’s influence was sensibly affected by the probability that a new reign was near at hand, when he would no longer enjoy the royal countenance ; and on the nth of July Sayer published a large caricature, in which the Prince of Wales was represented as the rising sun, the Grenville party are on their knees as “ Persians ( stowed together) wor- shipping the rising sun Sheridan, and Fox, and some of their followers, are there as “ Greeks the former says to Lord Temple, “ Lower, my lord,” although the “ Greeks ” themselves remain upright ; and a solitary individual on one side is des- cribed as u Achitophel ; an old Jew Scribe, lately turned Greek.” A paper, which protrudes from his pocket, exhibits the words, “ Secret advice to his B.H. — No respecter of persons, to invite tag, rag, and bobtail to dine ...” The caricaturists attacked Pitt unsparingly. One of their SIR FRANCIS BURDETT. 6og prints, the only copy of which sion of Mr. Hawkins, pub- lished on the ist of August, the day of the prorogation of parliament, represents the minister in the character of a Pierrot, playing on his puppet, which is apparently intended to represent Canning. The performer addresses himself to his audience, — “ Here he is, gentlemen, a chip of the old block, one of my own manu- factory, — Here you go up, up, u And there you go dow that I have seen is in the posses- BILLY PIEKROT AND HIS PUPPET, i, down, down-y ! ” Fox had latterly assumed a much more moderate tone than when Pitt’s supreme influence left him no hopes of power ; he spoke with less bitterness of his political opponents, rested his opposition on the necessity of joining all parties in the support of the country and its constitution ; he still shewed a little partiality for France and its rulers, but he called for vigorous exertions to carry on the war, now that we were irretrievably engaged in it. But there was another party now gaining head, much more extreme in its political principles than the Foxites, and which a little later assumed the name of Radicals. The leader of this party in the House of Commons was Sir Francis Burdett, who was taking the position in politics which had been held by Wilkes at the beginning, and by Fox in the middle of this reign ; and it was supported out of doors by Horne Tooke, still an active agitator, — by Cobbett, who had already commenced his political writings, — and by a number of other zealous partizans. Burdett triumphed over the ministers in the Middlesex election in August, 1804, as Wilkes had done on the same scene of action. This occurrence has been commemorated in an elaborate caricature by Gfillray, pub- lished on the 7th of August, and entitled, “Middlesex Election — a long pull, a strong pull, and a pull all together.” The scene iis laid in the neighbourhood of the hustings, to which Burdett is carried in triumph in his barouche, with Horne Tooke, his pocket full of speeches, as driver. Behind stand Sheridan, Tierney, and Erskine, carrying flags and banners. That held up by Sheridan bears the representation of Britannia fixed in the B B 6io BRITANNIA SCOURGED. pillory, and scourged by Pitt, —CL BRITANNIA SCOURGED. in allusion to the punishment of political offenders in the prison of Coldbath Fields, the key of which is carried by Tierney, while Erskine hoists the standard of the “ good old cause.” In place of horses, the carriage is dragged along by the chiefs of the Whig party, consisting of Fox, the Dukes of Norfolk and Bedford, the Mar- quis of Lansdowne, Lords Derby, Carlisle, and St. Yincent, with Grey and Bosville. Lord Moira acts as drummer. Tyrrell, Jones, Grattan, and Fitzpatrick are at the hind wheels. In the distance we see the Badicals pelting with mud the sign of Church, King, and Constitution. With so many difficulties to face, Pitt seemed to lose his wonted courage, and his health, impaired by his devotion to the bottle, was rapidly breaking down. He did not venture to meet parliament until the 15th of January, 1805, when, after vain efforts to bring over the Grenvilles, he had at last succeeded in detaching Addington from the opposition. The latter was rewarded with a peerage, under the title of Yiscount Sidmouth, and the office of president of the council, vacated by Lord Portland on account of his advanced age. Still Pitt was not strong in his majorities, and the opposition he had to encounter was remarkably pertinacious and annoying. His own friends seemed to join in giving him uneasiness. At the beginning of the session Wilberforce persisted in bringing forward the ques- tion of the abolition of slavery, in spite of the entreaties of the minister ; and he afterwards joined in promoting the impeach- ment of Pitt’s old friend Lord Melville (Dundas) for whom he had contracted a sort of puritanical dislike, because he was a hard drinker and sometimes a rather profane joker. Wil- ber force’s conduct on this occasion, is said to have given great annoyance to Pitt. Sayer has commemorated the attack upon Lord Melville in two caricatures, in both of which Wilberforce is represented as the puritan preacher, venting from his tub his saintly spleen against the sinner. In one of these, Whitbread, who had led the attack, is represented as a barrel of porter CATHOLIC EMANCIPATION. 611 bursting, and stinking the members out of the house ; Wilber- force exclaims, from his tub, “ ’Tis the Lord’s doing, and has spoilt our brewery.” In the other, Whitbread, a figure built up of tubs and barrels, is aiming a blow at the Scotch thistle (Melville) with his flail. This print is entitled, “ The brewer and the thistle,” and is accompanied with an epigram on Whit- bread : “ Sansterre forsook his malt and grains, To mash and batter nobles’ brains, By lev’lling rancour led; Our Brewer quits brown stout and washey, His malt, his mash-tub, and his quashea, To mash a Thistle’s head.” In May, Pitt had to contend with the question of all others most disagreeable to him at the present moment, from the part he had already taken in it, that of Catholic Emancipation, which, however, he opposed on the ground of the inexpediency of bringing it forward under the circumstances of the time. On the defeat of this attack from the opposition, Gillray published a caricature, dated the 17th of May, and entitled “ The end of the Irish farce of Catholic Emancipation.” The opposition, under the guidance of Fox, seated on a bull (of Irish breed) with a miniature of Buonaparte round its neck, after having reached the very threshold of the treasury, are overthrown by three blasts which come from the mouth of Pitt, Hawkesbury, and Sidmouth. Lord Grenville, who was in advance of the attacking party, and bears the crosier, is staggering backwards. Lord Moira is rolling over Mrs. Fitzherbert, who is stretched on the floor in a very undignified attitude. Lord Stanhope is incense bearer, and Sheridan is about to elevate the host ; but Lord Lauderdale drops the bell in alarm. Horne Tooke carries the cross, which is crowned with the bonnet rouge. Cobbett ex- hibits the Weekly Register , and carries a representation of an auto dafe performed in Smithfield. Others are acting a variety of parts. In the foreground stand the Duke of Clarence, who is struck with astonishment ; the Duke of Bedford, meditating on transubstantiation ; the Duke of Norfolk, preparing to toast the host in a goblet of Whitbread’s entire ; and Lords Derby, Carlisle, and Thanet, Sir Francis Burdett, and Mr. Grattan, singing vespers. Pitt’s budget was n?t allowed to pass without severe remarks, and a heavily increased duty on salt excited general dissatisfac- tion. People said that .when the grand contriver of taxes had visited every corner of the house above stairs, he had now descended E B 2 6 12 TAX ON SALT. into the kitchen ; and one of the caricatures published at this period, represents the premier alarming the poor cook by popping his head out of the salt- box, with the unex- pected salutation — “ How do you do, cook-ey ?” The person thus apostrophised cries out in consternation, billy in the salt-box. “ Curse the fellow, how he has frightened me ! —I think, in my heart, he is getting in everywhere ! — who the deuce would have thought of finding him in the salt-box ?” One only incident occurred to cheer the minister in his painful struggle to carry out his plans, and that was one of an unusual character in the political warfare of former days. When an attempt, in his absence, was made to implicate Pitt in the charges of malversation brought against Lord Melville, Pox generously stood forward in his defence, and bore testimony of his high opinion of the personal integrity of the premier. Some said that this indicated in Fox a wish to be allowed to share in the pleasures of office, a sentiment which is exhibited in a cari- cature published by Gillray on the 21st of June, under the title of “Political Candour; i. e. Coalition Besolutions of June 14, 1805.” In the midst of this parliamentary strife at home, our invete- rate enemy Buonaparte had made the last grand step in his political ambition. He was proclaimed emperor of the French, under the title of Napoleon I., on the 20th of May, 1804, and crowned in Paris with extraordinary ceremonies on the 2nd of December following. A few days before this latter event, on the 26th of November, Gillray rejoiced all loyal volunteers, who hated the very name of the new sovereign, with a caricature, entitled “ The Genius of France nursing her Darling,” in which the genius is represented in the form of a veritable poissarde, her garments stained with blood, and her spear, dripping with gore, supported against the wall. A picture of the head of Louis XVI. is thrown on one side. The lady is tossing Napoleon, armed with his sceptre, as a child in one hand, and endeavour- ing to pacify his cries for a rattle surmounted with a crown, which she holds in the other. She sings a parody on the old nursery rhyme, — NAPOLEON CONQUERS TEAS AUSTRIANS. 6 i s " There ’s a little King Pippin ! He shall have a rattle and crown ! Bless thy five wits, my baby ! Mind it don’t throw itself down. Hey, my kitten, my kitten !” The same caricaturist published, on the ist of January, 1805, a large burlesque print of “ The Grand Coronation Procession.” From this time, during several months, caricatures on the new emperor and empress, some of them very libellous and coarse, abounded. One by Gillray, published on the 26th of February, entitled “ The Plum-pudding in danger ; or, State Epicures taking un 'petit souper ,” represents Napoleon and Pitt contend- ing over the globe in the shape of a plum-pudding, from which Pitt is cutting off the ocean as his share, while his antagonist is helping himself to the whole of Europe. Measures, however, were now in active preparation for disputing with the new pre- tender to the insignia of sovereignty his claims to the share which he thus arrogated to himself. In the course of the sum- mer a third coalition against France was completed, the chief parties to which were Great Britain, Russia, and Austria. One of the English caricatures on this new armament was published in the October of 1805, under the title of “ Tom Thumb at bay ; or, the Sovereigns of the Forest roused at last Napoleon, flying from the eagle of Austria, the Russian bear, and the Westphalian pig, and dropping his crown and sceptre in his flight, is rushing into the open jaws of the British lion. In the distance the Dutchman is throwing off his yoke, and advising Spain and Portugal to do the same, and still further off is seen the British fleet riding triumphant on the sea. The new war on the con- tinent only led Napoleon to new victories ; after the Austrians had experienced several defeats, General Mack made a dishonour- able surrender of Dim to the French on the 17th of October, and thus laid open the Austrian empire to the invaders. Only four days after this disastrous event, on the 2 1 st of October, the combined French and Spanish fleets were utterly destroyed in the memorable battle of Trafalgar. But the French army con- tinued its victorious career ; on the 14th of November Napoleon made his entry into Vienna; and the 2nd of December was fought the fatal battle of Austerlitz, which compelled the Russians to retreat and the Austrians to submit to a humiliating peace. The caricatures on these momentous events have little merit, and are scarcely worth enumerating. On the 23rd of January, 1806, when Napoleon had begun his system of king-making with his kings of Wirtemberg and Bavaria, Gillray produced one of a DEATH OF PITT. 614 superior character, under the title of “ Tiddy Doll, the great gingerbread baker, drawing out a new batch of kings, his man, hopping Talley, mixing up the dough.” Talleyrand, who was short of one leg, is employed as thus described, while his master, Napoleon, as baker, is drawing from the oven a batch of ginger- bread kings. A number of figures scattered over the bakehouse represent the melancholy condition of Europe at this period. On a board on one side stands a number of “ little dough vice- roys intended for the next new batch,” on which we trace the faces of Fox, Sheridan, Lord Derby, and others of the English Whig leaders. The broomstick in Napoleon’s hand is inscribed as the “ besom of destruction.” Pitt’s health had been fast declining through the autumn and winter, and parliament met on the 21st of January, 1806, only to witness his death, which occurred on the 23rd. A new opening was thus made for the intrigues of parties, and the task of forming a ministry was not an easy one. The King still detested the name of Fox ; but after several persons had refused to take the responsibility of forming a ministry, among whom were Lord Hawkesbury, Lord Sidmouth, and, it is said, the Marquis Wel- lesley, he was at length obliged to throw himself on the Gren- villes and Foxites, and consented to the formation of the com- prehensive coalition ministry, which became known by the title of “ All the Talents.” In this ministry, the formation of which was announced on the 4th of February, Lord Grenville was first Lord of the Treasury ; Fox, Secretary for Foreign Affairs ; Lord Sidmouth, Lord Priv}' Seal ; Earl Fitzwilliam, President of the Council ; Grey, now Lord Howick, first Lord of the Admiralty ; the Earl of Moira, Master-general of the Ordnance ; Earl Spencer, Home Secretary ; Windham, Secretary for the Colo- nies ; Lord Henry Petty, Chancellor of the Exchequer ; Erskine, Lord Chancellor ; and Lord Minto, President of the Board of Control. Among the minor places, Sheridan, who was noto- riously unfit for business, obtained that of Treasurer of the Navy. This extraordinary cabinet contained far too many jarring elements to be lasting, and it soon became universally unpopular. The number of caricatures against this “ broad-bottomed” ministry was very great. An anonymous print, published on the 20th of February, represents the King making a bowl of punch from a number of bottles, each bearing the face of one or other of the members of this strange coalition ; he says, “ Though the ingredients, taken separately, may not be pleasing every palate, yet, when mixed together, they may go down FOX AS MINISTER. 6i 5 with a tolerable relish.” On the same day, Gillray published a humorous caricature entitled, “Making decent; i. e. Broad Bottomites getting into the Grand Costume in which most of the new ministers, who had long been out of office, are repre- sented as dressing themselves for presentation at court. On the 5th of March, the same artist published a caricature entitled, “ More pigs than teats ; or, the new litter of hungry grunters sucking John Bull’s old sow to death in fact, the numerous hungry claimants that were now brought in, promised small relief to John Bull’s burthens, and he is here made to express the fear that there will soon be nothing left for “ Boney,” if he come. Another of Gillray ’s caricatures, published on the 14th of March, and entitled, “A tub for the whale,” represents the crew of Jffie “Broad-bottom packet,” throwing out a tub to amuse the whale that pursues them, (public opinion,) which is spouting out “ ridicule” and “ contempt the sun of Whig government is setting, and a broom at the mast-head indicates that the vessel is for sale. Another, by the same artist, on the ^th of April, under the title of “ Pacific overtures ; or, a flight from St. Cloud’s 11 over the water to Charley,’ ” burlesques the attempt at negotiations for peace with France, provoked by Napoleon himself, but overthrown by his extravagant pretensions. It is described as “a new dramatic peace, now rehearsing,” and implies a somewhat unmerited censure on the Whigs. Fox, as minister, shewed no inclination to sacrifice the honour of his country, in these futile negotiations. On the 21st of April Gillray founded a caricature on a declaration by Fox that his place was not a bed of roses ; which he entitled, “ Comforts of a bed of roses ; vide, Charles’s elucidation of Lord Castlereagh’s speech ! — a nightly scene near Cleveland Bow.” Fox and his wife are asleep in bed, when Napoleon is attacking the minister in the midst of his slumber ; the ghost of Pitt rouses him — “ Awake ! awake ! or be for ever fallen !” The moderation which had lately characterized Fox’s senti- ments, was accounted for by some by supposing that he had fallen under the influence of Lord Grenville ; in fact, Lord Grenville, they thought, had tamed the bear. A caricature by Gillray, published on the 19th of May, was entitled “ The bear and his leader,” and represented Lord Grenville teaching Fox, as his bear, to dance ; the leader holds in his hand a “ cudgel for dis- obedient bears and in his pocket is seen a paper inscribed, “ rewards for obedient bears.” Lord Sidmoutli, with a patch on one eye, acts as fiddler, and M. A. Taylor sustains the character of the monkey. 616 UNPOPULARITY OF THE MINISTRY. The necessitjr under which Fox, who had so severely criticised the acts of former ministers in this respect, found himself of THE BEAR AND HIS LEADER. increasing the burthen of taxation, completed the unpopularity of the new ministry. Two caricatures by Gillray, published on the 9th and 28th of May, have reference to this subject. The first is entitled, “ A Great Stream from a Petty Fountain ; or, John Bull swamped in the flood of New Taxes; Cormorants fishing in the stream.’ ’ The face of Lord Henry Petty, Fox’s Chancellor of the Ex- chequer, adorns the foun- tain from which the flood of taxation issues ; and a numerous herd of placemen, in the likeness of so many cormorants, are greedily snatching at the loaves and fishes. In the second of these caricatures, which is entitled, “ The 4 Friend of the People ’ and his Petty new Tax-gatherer paying John Bull a visit,” Fox and Lord Henry Petty, with tax gatherers. a terrible book of new taxes, make their call on John Bull, who has shut up his shop (which is announced “ to WHIG TAXES. 6'7 let”) and removed his family to the first floor, from motives of economy. Lord Henry Petty knocks, and raises the cry, “Taxes! taxes! taxes!” to which John Bull responds from the window above, “ — Taxes ! taxes ! taxes ! — why how am I to get money to pay them all ? I shall very soon have neither a house nor hole to put my head in.” The man of the people, little touched by this appeal, shouts to him, “ A house to put your head in ? — why what the devil should you want with a house ? — haven’t you got a first-floor room to live in 1 — and if that is too dear, can’t you move into the garret or get into the cellar? — Taxes must he had, Johnny — come, down with your cash ! — it’s all for the good of your dear country !” The proceedings on Lord Melville’s impeachment drew other caricatures on the Foxites, and, of course, more especially on Whitbread, who is represented in one of them as taking refuge in a cask of his own entire. Fox’s frail tenure of office was hinted at, on the 20th of June, 'in a caricature by G-illray, entitled, “ Bruin in his boat, or the manager in distress.” Even the signs of approaching dissolution did not shield the great leader of the Whigs from the shafts of satire. A caricature by Gillray, published on the 28th of July, under the title of “Visiting the Sick,” represents Fox on his couch of death, insulted by some, mourned over by a few, while many are rejoicing at the prospect of getting rid of him. On the 1st of September, when every one was aware that the minister had but few days to live, Gillray ridiculed his attempts at negotiating for peace in a caricature entitled, “ Westminster Conscripts under the training act,” in which Fox appears as drummer to his awkward squad, and Lord Lauderdale, his ambassador, is a Scottish dove, bearing the insulting “terms of peace” for his olive branch. On the 13th of September, Charles James Fox followed his great rival to the grave, doubling the irretrievable void which had already been felt on the political stage. On the very day of his death, Gillray published a new caricature, in which his negotiations for peace were again incidentally turned to ridicule ; it is entitled, “ News from Calabria ; capture of Buenos Ayres; i. e. the comforts of an imperial breakfast at St. Cloud’s.” Napoleon is represented, while at his breakfast- table, bursting into one of those petulant paroxysms of rage to which he is said to have been subject under contradiction or disappointment : the cause on this occasion is an accumulation of bad news from different parts of the world ; the breakfast- table is kicked over ; the hot water thrown on the empress, who & losing her crown in the first start of consternation. 6i8 THE DEATH OF FOX. The death of Fox produced no immediate change in the ministry of any importance. He was succeeded as Foreign secretary by Lord Howick (Grey), who was now the true representative of Fox’s principles. Mr. T. Grenville succeeded Lord Howick as first lord of the Admiralty ; Sidmouth became president of the Council in place of Lord Fitzwilliam, who had resigned, and was succeeded as keeper of the Privy Seal by Lord Holland, the only new member introduced into the cabinet. For reasons which are not very evident, an immediate dissolution of Parliament was resolved upon, and the new elections were not altogether favourable to ministers, who, moreover, had never enjoyed the confidence of the King. The most remarkable of the elections were those for Middlesex and Westminster, which produced a considerable number of caricatures, besides multitudes of political squibs of all descriptions. Gillray published not less than half-a-dozen caricatures on this occasion. Sir Francis Burdett figured prominently in both elections, — he was beaten at Brentford by the Court candidate (for he was in opposition), and at Covent Garden he supported his radical friend, Paul, against Sheridan and Lord Hood, who had formed a coalition against him. The first of Gillray ’s caricatures is entitled the “ Triumphant procession of little Paul the tailor upon his new goose Burdett was usually caricatured by his opponents under the form of a goose; he is here led in a noose by Horne Tooke, and urged forwards with a kick from Cobbett behind. His second, published on the 18th of November, represented Sheridan and Hood tossing Paul in the coalition blanket, and was entitled, “ The high-flying candidate ( i.e ., little Paul Goose) mounting from a blanket.” A third carica- ture by Gillray, is a very spirited sketch entitled “ Posting to the Election ; a scene on the road to Brentford, Nov. 1806.” Each of the various parties interested, is hastening on in its own way. Sheridan, who was supported by Whitbread, is dashing through thick and thin on a brewer’s horse, which looks as if it had just broke loose from the dray. He carries Lord Hood behind him ; hung to the horse’s side is a pannier of “ Subscrip- tion malt and hops from the Whitbread brewery in his pocket a manuscript entitled, “Neck or Nothing, a new coalition.” A kick of the horse behind is overthrowing Paul from his donkey. On the other side, rapidly gaining ahead of them, is Mr. Mellish, one of the victorious candidates for Middlesex, driven by Lord Grenville in a coach and four, behind which, as footmen, stand the Marquis of Buckingham, Lord Temple, and Lord Castlereagh. They are followed close by Mr. Byng, in a SHERIDAN AND HOOD . 619 post-chaise drawn by two spirited hacks ; he represents the old Whig interest, and has a wooden bust of Fox on the box before him. Last comes Burdett, in a cart slowly dragged through a pool of muddy water by four donkeys ; behind him in the cart are Horne Tooke, Mr. Bosville (one of the very active radicals of the day), and Cobbett, who is acting as drummer, with his “Political Register” and “Inflammatory Letters,” as drumsticks ; his drum has for its badge the republican bonnet rouge. A parcel of sweeps are pushing the cart behind, to help it forwards. A “ View of the Hustings in Covent Garden,” published by Gillray on the 15th of December, represents Hood and Sheridan browbeaten by the mob-eloquence of their opponent Paul ; Whitbread is encouraging and consoling Sheridan with a pot of porter. A. fifth caricature on this subject, published by Gillray in December, is entitled, “ Peter and Paul excelled from Paradise they are on their way to Wimble- don, where Tooke resided, and their condition is intimated by a parody on Milton,— 620 DISMISSAL OF TEE “ TALENTS^ “ The world was all before them, where to choose Their place of rest, and Parson Tooke their guide.” No measures could now save the present ministry long, for the King had already determined they should go out, and only waited for an occasion for dismissing them. This was furnished in March, 1807, by a bill proposed by Lord Grenville for the relief of the Roman Catholics in Ireland. The King announced his intention of changing his ministers about the middle of March ; he appears to have carried on private negotiations be- fore that time, or even before the opportunity for the blow was given ; but it was not till the beginning of April that the new ministry was definitely formed. It consisted of the Duke of Portland, first lord of the treasury ; Lord Hawkesbury, home secretary ; George Canning, secretary for foreign affairs ; Lord Castlereagh, secretary for war and the colonies ; Spencer Perceval, chancellor of the exchequer ; Earl Camden, president of the council ; the Earl of Chatham, master of the ordnance ; the Earl of Westmoreland, keeper of the privy seal ; Earl Bathurst, president of the board of trade ; Lord Eldon, chan- cellor ; and Lord Mulgrave, first lord of the admiralty. Per- ceval, who was notorious for his opposition to the Catholic claims, was considered as the chief. The court, in making this change, adopted the tactics so often used with success before, of raising an agitation against the Whigs, by stirring up popular prejudices. The cry of “ No popery !” was raised again, and with good effect ; and a host of new caricatures came out to ridicule the broad-bottomed admi- nistration of “ All the Talents.” On the 23rd of March, Gillray represented the King kicking out his old ministry verj r uncere- moniously, in a caricature entitled “ A kick at the broad bottoms ; i. e. emancipation of All the Talents.” A caricature by the elder Cruikshank, published on the 4th of April, under the title of “ The Protestant St. George too much for all the Tallons ; or, The beast with seven heads,” represents the King encountering his ministerial hydra, while Mrs. Fitzherbert is seen behind lamenting over its defeat, and the prince is making his escape to hide himself. A caricature published by Gillray, on the 1 8th of April, represented King George as John Bull’s farmer, driving the herd of rapacious pigs out of his sty — it is entitled “The pigs possessed; or, the broad-bottomed litter running headlong into the sea of perdition.” The artist had already, on the 6th of April, celebrated the demise of the ministry in a humorous caricature, entitled “ The funeral pro* cession of Broad-bottom.” About the same time, Gillray puh» ished a clever caricature, entitled “ Charon’s boat ; or, the TEE POLITICAL ICABUS. 621 ghosts of All the Talents taking their last voyage.” The boat, with Earl St. Vincent at the helm, is heavily laden with the principal members of the late administration. On the opposite shore an expectant group, consisting of the ghosts of Fox, Oliver Cromwell, Robespierre, Despard (who had been hung for treason in England), and Quidgley (an Irish rebel executed at Chelmsford), are prepared to welcome the new arrival. In the clouds are the three fatal sisters who had joined in cutting the thread of the broad-bottomed cabinet, bearing the figures of Lord Hawkesbury, Lord Castlereagh, and George Canning. In another caricature, published on the 28 th of April, Gillray selects Lord Temple as the more especial object of his satire. It was spread abroad as a piece of scandal against Lord Temple, that he had provided himself, while in office, with a small per- quisite, to the amount of between one and two thousand pounds’ worth of stationery. This story was the subject of many jokes and epigrams. Under the title of “The fall of Icarus,” Gillray represents Lord Temple attempting to fly away with wings made of the quills he had thus appropriated to himself, but the wax being melted by the sun (exhibiting the face of King George), the adventurer is falling in a very perilous posture on “ a stake from the public hedge.”* “ With plumes, and wax, and such like things, In quantities not small, He tries to make a pair of wings, To raise his sudden fall !” When the “No popery !” cry was at the highest, and every effort had been made to decry the supporters of the late motley administration, Parliament was again dissolved. The elections, which took place in May, were, as might be expected, in favour of the new administration. Immense sums of money were expended on the elections, and the country was agitated in the most violent manner. Westminster was again the scene of a turbulent contest. Burdett, who had quarrelled with his old fellow -radical Paul, after the election of the year preceding, to such a degree that it ended in a duel in which both were wounded, now offered himself as a candidate against him at the election, and was placed at the head of the poll. He was again backed by Horne Tooke, and a caricature, published in May, represented the Brentford parson carrying the successful candi- * This alludes to an incident in the debate on the right of Horne Tooke to sit in the House of Commons. Lord Temple, who was his great opponent, having stated that he had a stake in the country, Tooke re- sponded that he also had a stake, although it was a small one, but it was not taken out of “ the public hedge.” 622 THE WIMBLEDON SHOWMAN. date at the end of his pole, and exhibiting him to the crowd col- lected in Covent Garden ; it is entitled “ The head of the Poll ; or, the Wimble- don Showman and his Pup- pet.” Tooke exhibits him as “the finest puppet in the world, gentlemen, en- tirely of my own forma- tion. I have only to say the word, and he’ll do any- thing.” Gillray adopted the same pun in a carica- ture published on the 20th of May, under the title of “ Election Candidates ; or, the republican Goose at the top of the pole.” The four candidates, Burdett, Lord Cochrane, Sheridan, and Paul, are climbing the election pole ; Burdett, as a goose, is perched on the top, where he is held by the assistance of the evil one ; next below him is Lord Cochrane, then Sheridan, and, Gnal iy, Paul, who, having missed his grasp, comes tumbling to the ground. The Tories, now in power, attacked the foreign policy of their predecessors, and accused them of having paved the way for Napoleon’s successes. It was certainly the period at which the imperial power was at its highest point. Gillray, on the 25th of June, 1807, satirized the fallen “Talents” in a caricature entitled “ The new Dynasty ; or, the little Corsican Gardener planting a royal Pippin-tree,” an allusion to the numerous new kings lately raised into existence by Napoleon. The Marquis of Buckingham, Lord Grenville, and Lord Lauderdale are demo- lishing the royal oak, while Napoleon and Talleyrand are busy planting new trees. A plantation of continental king-pippins occupy the background, while in front lie, as grafts ready for planting, Horne Tooke, Sir Francis Burdett, and Cobbett. On the top of the royal pippin-tree in Napoleon’s hand is seen the head of Lord Moira. The war had not, however, been inglorious to England, although alliance after alliance had been broken up, and ail the great powers of the continent had not only been separated from us, but they had been obliged to turn against us. Nevertheless, the battle of Maida, in the summer of 1806, had broken the JOHN BULL AND THE COB SLOAN. 623 spell which had made people believe that the French armies were invincible ; and victory continued to attend our fleets in every part of the world. It was in 1807 that Napoleon begar to shew his designs upon Spain, and commenced the war which first brought him in direct con- tact with British armies, and contributed so much to his final overthrow. InEnglandthe terrors of “ invasion” had given way to a feeling of triumph and exultation in our position in the war. On the first day of the year 1807 appeared a caricature representing John Bull grasping the “ little Cor- sican” as a fiddle, and playing upon him with his sword, to the tune of “ Britons, strike home!” it is entitled, “John Bull playing on the base vil- lain . ” Caricatures in this spirit began now to be fre- quent ; and the numerous prizes brought in by our ships, during the very period at which the French emperor expected to ruin us by setting the whole continent against us, animated the English people to new exertions and new sacrifices. Among the caricatures published at this period, was one by Woodward, which ap- peared on the 27 th of No- vember, 1807, soon after the British order of coun- cil placing all France under blockade, in answer to Napoleon’s Berlin de- cree ; it is entitled, “ The continental dockyard. ” On one side of the Chan- nel is “ The Gallic store- JOHN BULL TURNED FIDDLER. MASTER AND MAN. THE CONTINENTAL BOCKYABD . 624 house for English shipping,” which is empty and falling into ruin* In front stands Napoleon, angrily threatening his master ship- wright,—' “Begar, you must vork like de diable, ve must annihilate* dis John Bull !” The shipwright, aghast, replies, “Please you, my JOHN BULL AND HIS INDUSTRIOUS SERVANTS. grand Empereur, tes no use vatever ; as fast as ve do build dem, he vas clap dem in his storehouse over de way.” On the other side of the water stands John Bull’s storehouse full of captured ships, with John himself surrounded by his industrious tars, whom he addresses, “ I say, my lads, if he goes on this way, we shall be overstock’d.” One of the sailors replies with the diy observation, “ What a deal of pains some people take for nothing,” 62 5 CHAPTER XVI. GEORGE TIL AND THE REGENCY. New Prospects — Struggles of Parties ; Sir Francis Burdett ; John Bull in Admiration — The Regency— The War ; Elba; Waterloo; St. Helena — England after the Peace ; Taxation and Reform ; The Dandies and the Hobby*Horses. T HE prospects of England under the new ministry were, indeed, far from encouraging. Napoleon was gradually bringing the whole of Europe under his yoke, and turning it against this country, and many looked forwards to the time when we should have to prepare for an invasion under much greater disadvantages than in 1803. Few months had passed since the formation of the cabinet, when Russia, which declared war against England on the 1st of December, leagued with France, and was added to the list of our enemies. In the course of 1808 the French occupied Spain, and invaded Portugal. Austria rose up in indignation at the humiliating treatment she received from the French emperor in the spring of 1 809 ; but within four months her territory was overrun by the victorious armies of her enemy, and she was compelled to accept a still more humiliating peace. The nation in general, however, felt no discouragement, and people indulged more than ever in coarse ridicule on the person and pretensions of the Emperor of the French. The caricatures became now so numerous, that in the course of a few years their titles alone would fill a volume. Gillray’s labours in this line closed with the year 1809. On the 10th of April, 1808, this celebrated artist satirized the sanguine promises of success held out by the English ministers in a caricature, entitled “ Delicious dreams ! — Castles in the air ! — Glorious Prospects 1 ” The minis- ters, full of wine and punch, are sunk in slumber, under the shade of which splendid visions break in upon them. Britannia and her lion occupy a triumphal car, formed of the hull of a British ship, drawn by an Irish bull and led by an English tar. She drags to the Tower the Corsican tyrant and the Russian bear both in chains, and followed by a countless host of meaner captives, while a crowd of English soldiers and sailors escort and welcome her. On the nth of July of the same year, when 8 8 6i6 THE TRIUMPH OF BRITANNIA. Napoleon, by the basest treachery, had plunged himself into the fatal Spanish war, he was represented by Gill ray as a luckless “ matador,” engaged in a Spanish bull-fight; he has already broken his sword in the animal’s flank, but with only partial effect, and his infuriated opponent is tossing him with his horns and goring him to death. The spectators in the gallery are the different sovereigns of Europe, among whom King George of England appears to take most interest in the combat. Another caricature on foreign affairs was published by Gillray on the 24th of September, under the title of “ The Valley of the Shadow of Death.” Napoleon is represented, with the Russian bear at his command, entering the fearful vale, where his pro- gress is arrested by the British lion, the Sicilian terrier, and the Portuguese wolf, who are urged on by Death mounted on a horse of the “royal Spanish breed;” others of the European states appear as monsters ready to beset him in his path ; even the Russian bear shews an inclination to get loose from his chain. As Gillray was disappearing from the scene, a number of clever caricaturists supplied his place — the Rowlandsons, Woodwards, Cruikshanks, and their companions — under whom the taste for these productions was not allowed to diminish. Prom their hands our foreign enemies were assailed with nume- rous caricatures during this and the following year. As the power of Napoleon seemed to become more firmly established, these became more insulting ; and no event produced a greater number than his divorce and his marriage with the arch-duchess, but they are nearly all coarse and indelicate. Although in appearance sufficiently occupied in Europe, Napo- leon’s secret desires were still supposed to be turned towards the East, in the hopes of getting at our Indian possessions. He was known to have envoys intriguing at Constantinople, and in Syria and Egypt. One of the best of the anonymous caricatures of NAPOLEON SURPRISED. 627 che year 1808 was published on the 9th of July, under the title of “ Boney bothered ; or, an unexpected Meeting.” The hero thinks that he has made his way through the gl )be unperceived, and suddenly starts forth and places his foot upon Bengal, but in his dismay at finding John Bull there before him, he drops his sword and his “ plan of operations in the East Indies,” and exclaims, “Begar, Monsieur Jean Bull again! — Yat, you know I vas come here ?” His sturdy opponent, who has his pocket full of letters of “secret intelligence,” replies, “To be sure I did ! — for all your humbug deceptions, I smoked your intentions, and have brought my oak twig with me, so now you may go back again.” The ministry of 1807 had other and greater difficulties to contend against than the embarrassments of foreign affairs. It had succeeded a ministry that was remarkable for the discord- ancy of its materials, and it was on that account ridiculed even by its successors, yet they were so far from being distinguished by their unanimity, that they are said to have disagreed almost as soon as they were brought together. The success of the cry of “ no popery,” which had been spread abroad with extraordi- nary zeal, and the fear of our enemies abroad, had ensured them a majority in Parliament ; but the opposition was still strong, both from the questions it had to work upon, and from the number of small parties who, included in the proscription of the 8 s a 6a8 ELIJAH'S MANTLE . “ broad bottoms,” were willing to join in embarrassing those who kept them from office, on whatever question the attack might be based. Out of doors the dissatisfaction was increas- ing, people became more clamorous and more riotous, and the radical party was gaining ground rapidly. We can only briefly trace the struggle of parties in a few of the more striking of the caricatures to which it gave rise. The satire of Gillray was now invariably directed against the opposition. On the 22nd of March, 1808, in a caricature entitled “Phaeton alarmed,” he represented Canning as the political Phaeton, setting the world on fire by driving too near “the sun of Anti- Jacobinism.” The heavens are filled with threatening constellations, — here Leo Britannicus disturbs him by his roar ; there the Duke of Nor- folk, under the figure of Silenus, threatens him with his bottles ; Napoleon is riding on Ursa Major ; and in other parts of the firmament are seen the vast Scorpion of broad-bottomry, the Bull of Ireland, with the porridge-pot of Catholic emancipation attached to its tail, and the other “ horrors of the heavens.” Lord Lauderdale, Whitbread, Lord Sidmouth, and Erskine, are making a futile attempt to quench the burning rays of the sun. The chariot of Phaeton is drawn by four horses, representing Lord Hawkesbury (now Lord Liverpool), Mr. Perceval, Lord Castlereagh, and Lord Eldon. Neptune looks aghast on the scene of devastation. Pitt, in the character of Apollo, is rising to the rescue ; and Fox, as Pluto, is taking a peep from the shades. On the 2nd of May, under the title of “ Broad-bottom drones storming the hive ; wasps, hornets, and humble bees join- ing in the attack,” Gillray represented the Treasury as the royal hive, with its honey-pots filled with gold ; the industrious bees who are in office rush out boldly to defend their pleasant quarters from the crowd of assailants, whose difference of colour and method of opposition is represented by their division into drones, wasps, hornets, and humble-bees. In April, he had published a caricature entitled, “ The Constitutional squad ( [i . e. opposition) advancing to attack,” in which the most formidable weapon of the assailants is an immense brass cannon, entitled “ Bevolutionary argument.” The Tories still kept up the old accusation against their opponents of republicanism and Jaco- binism, and they now declared that they aimed at the introduc- tion of popery. Mrs. Fitzherbert was again brought on the stage ; and it was intimated that, through her influence, the Prince of Wales, who still supported the Whigs, had been induced to favour the claims of the Catholics for relief. The suspicion of a tendency towards Borne, thus raised, remained REFORM AGITATION. 629 years afterwards attached to the prince in the belief of a con- siderable portion of English society. Several caricatures, which appeared about this time, represented the opposition as led by the prince, Mrs. Fitzherbert, and the pope. O11 the 25th of June, 1808, appeared a bold and clever print by Gillray, en- titled, “ Disciples catching the mantle ; the spirit of darkness overshadowing the priests of Baal.” On one side the ministers are seen standing round “ The altar of the constitution,” which is planted on “ The rock of Ages.” Pitt, as a political Elijah, is carried up to the heavens of immortality in a fiery chariot, and they are receiving his mantle. The opposition, on the other side, are scattered in confusion and dismay on the “ broad-bottom dunghill,” where the spirit of Fox, in the shape of a fiend, is hiding them under his cloak ; Lord Grenville is getting into “ Charley’s old breeches.” During the following year (1809) a number of unfortunate occurrences, the mismanagement of the Spanish war, the reve- lations of Mrs. Clarke, and above all the expedition to Wal- cheren, strengthened the opposition and embarrassed the court. The ministers were irritated at the pertinacity of the attacks to which they were exposed within doors and without, and they retaliated by more frequent prosecutions for political writings or speeches. This method of lacing the danger only made the evil worse, and the cry for reform soon took a form too threat- ening to be disregarded. The Tory party continued to tell people that reform was only another name for republicanism, but people would no longer believe it, now that they were relieved from the fears of French propagandism. Gillray published on the 14th of June, 1809, a caricature entitled, “ True Reform of Parliament, i.e. Patriots lighting a revolutionary bonfire in New Palace Yard,” in which the radical portion of the opposi- tion, led by Burdett and his supporter Cobbett, are represented as so many incendiaries burning the records of the rights and privileges of Englishmen, while the mob are busily destroying Westminster Hall and the Parliament House. The moderate “ broad bottoms,” alarmed at these proceedings, turn their backs on their old comrades. This and a series of prints of the life of Cobbett, whose fortune the ministers were now making, by the notice they took of him, were the last political works of Gillray ; and it is not an unimportant sign of the times, that most of the numerous caricaturists who sprang up to supply his place took the popular side of every question. Burdett and Cobbett were now the two great heroes of political agitation ; and the former was raised into especial importance by 630 JOHN BULL IN THE SUNSHINE . an unwise persecution for what may fairly be termed a piece of political coxcombry. The enforcing the standing orders against the admission of strangers during the inquiry concerning the Walcheren expedition had given great offence to the liberal party out of doors. A debating society, entitled the “ British forum,” presided over by a man named John Gale Jones, pub- licly announced as a subject for discussion, the conduct of the House of Commons in excluding the public from its debates, and the house angrily and very indiscreetly voted it a breach of privilege and committed Jones to Newgate. Sir Francis Burdett, thinking it a good opportunity for making a noise, delivered a very intemperate speech in the house, and afterwards published it with an equally intemperate letter to his con- stituents in Cobbett’s Weekly Register. This was a much more gross attack upon the House of Commons than anything that had been said in the debating society, and seemed intended only to stir up the most violent passions of the populace. The House of Commons voted Sir Francis into the Tower, and the Speaker issued a warrant for his apprehension ; but he shut himself up in his house in Piccadilly, and barricaded it for a JOHN BOLL ENJOYING THE SUNSHTNE. siege, and then set the Speaker and the House of Commons at defiance. Inflammatory placards were displayed in every part of the town, an immense mob collected, it was found necessary to bring out the military, and for several days the metropolis presented scenes of riot and violence such as had rarely been seen. Some persons were killed, and the jury, under the strong influence of party feeling, brought a verdict of guilty against the military. Burdett, however, was at last secured in the Tower, where he remained till the close of the session of parliament, when the House of Commons found that it had JOHN BVLL. 631 only given itself much trouble to make Sir Francis Burdett a greater man in the eyes of the populace than he was before. One of the political squibs of the day announced that “ on Thursday, June the 21st (the period for the prorogation of par- liament), or near that time, the sun of patriotism will emerge from the region of darkness in the east, and again cheer the inhabitants of the west with the warmth of his rays, the malig- nant planets will, for some time at least, lose their baleful influence under the cloud which ought to obscure them for ever.” A caricature, apparently by Woodward, entitled, “Genial rays; or, John Bull enjoying the sunshine,” represents this “ sun of patriotism” (Burdett) shining in its full glory, and John Bull reclining on a bed of roses, is basking joyously in its rays. It would be an amusing task to trace John Bull through his varieties of figure and expression in the caricatures during half a century. This singular personification of Old England seems to have been brought into existence by the admirable political satire of Pope’s friend, Dr. Arbuthnot. For a long time Britannia and her lion were the only national representatives in the caricatures, and John Bull hardly took a pictorial form before the time of Gillray. It was in his hands that he became the plump, sleek, good-humoured individual we are at present in the habit of beholding. In the first attempts at representing him, he had none of these characteristics. Different artists of a later period, while they gave him more or less individuality, according to their own style and sentiments, still kept the general character which he had received from Gillray’ s pencil. Thus Bowlandson pictured him with that coarse and vulgar air which cha- racterizes all his drawings, and for which that artist might not unaptly be termed the Reubens of Caricature. The type of John Bull, according to Rowlandson’s idea of him, here given, is taken from a caricature of that artist, entitled “ The Head of the Family in Good- humour.” An amusing caricature, entitled “John Bull come to the john bull a la rowlandson. Bone,” perhaps by Woodward, and published at the time of the peninsular war, when John was suffering heavily from the burthen of taxation, represents him as reduced to poverty which is accompanied by a great reduc- THE WALCHEREN EXPEDITION. 632 tion of his personal appearance. He still, however, retains his stick of good “Wellington oak.” In this condition he is accosted by the Frenchman, who exults in the belief that his poverty has almost made him harmless : — “ By gar, Monsieur Jean Bull, you var much alter, — should not know you var Jean ; I vas as big as you now !” John is indignant at the insult : — “ Why, look you, Mounseer Par- leyvou, though I have got thinner myself, I have a little sprig of oak in my hand that *s as strong as ever ; and if you give me any of your palaver, I ’ll be d — d if you shan’t feel the weight of it.” The Walcheren expedition had the almost immediate effect of breaking up , or at least of dividing, the cabinet. Some of the ministers, among whom was Canning, had been from the first opposed to the expedition, which seems to have been a plan of the King’s, and Canning and Castlereagh are said to have been personally jealous of each other john bull rather thin. f orm the fi rs t. The disagreement between them at length broke out into an open quarrel, and the two ministers fought a duel on Putney Heath, on the 2 1 st of September, 1809, in which Canning was wounded. This was immediately followed by their resignation, as well as by that of the Duke of Portland, and other members of the administra- tion. Mr. Perceval and Lord Liverpool remained, who made an ineffectual attempt to form a coalition with Lord Grenville and the Whigs. At length the Marquess of Wellesley agreed to take Canning’s place of secretary of state for foreign affairs, Mr. Perceval took the Duke of Portland’s place of president of the council along with his own, Lord Liverpool took the place of Lord Castlereagh as secretary of war, and the Hon. B. Byder was appointed home secretary. The disastrous results of the Walcheren expedition contributed towards an event of much greater moment than this change in the ministry. The King, whose measure it was, and at whose particular desire the appointment of the inefficient Lord Chatham as commander was made, is said never to have ceased brooding over it ; and this, with other political annoyances, added to domestic affliction, brought on, at the end of October, 1810, a DECLINE OF NAPOLEON. <>33 new attack of insanity, from which he never recovered. The Parliament met on the 1st of November under the same embar- rassing circumstances as in 1788, and a hill of regency was now brought in and passed, modelled upon that brought forward by William Pitt on the former occasion, except that, as the hopes of the King’s recovery were now much more faint, the restrictions were made only temporary. On the 8th of February, 1811, the Prince of Wales was formally installed as Prince Regent. This event produced on the whole less sensation than might have been expected, certainly much less than it would have done when Pitt and Fox were alive and in their vigour. Contrary to people’s expectations, the regent retained the ministers whom he found in office, and he afterwards separated himself from the Whigs. The successes of the peninsular 4 T^ war were now filling the country with exultation, and caricatures against the French and against Na- poleon were becoming more numerous than ever. Burlesques on their de- feats spared not the fallen foe, and even a dead Frenchman had some- thing about him to provoke a laugh. The specimen here given is taken from a caricature published on the 10th of July, 1813, under the title of “ A Scene after the battle of Vit- toria ; or, more Trophies for White- , hall.” The Russian campaign, and the disastrous retreat, were still more fertile in subjects for satire and snuffing out burlesque. Jack Frost and his mer- ciless allies, the Cossacks, are represented taking their revenge NAPOLEON IN ELBA. 634 on the invader in every possible manner. In one by George Cruikshank, published on the 1st of May, 1814, the commander of the latter is represented very unceremoniously “snuffing out Boney.” — Cruikshank was the great caricaturist of this period. The English had now fought their way through Spain, and entered the French territory on the south, while the allies advanced on all sides upon Paris from the north, and thej entered the French capital in triumph on the last day of March. Among the numerous caricatures celebrating these events, one, published on the 9th of April, represents “ Blucher the brave extracting the groan of abdication from the Corsican Bloodhound.” The abdica- tion and the departure for Elba, were celebrated with a mass of pictorial exultation. The caricatures of this period appear under such titles as “ Bloody Boney the carcass-butcher left off trade and retiring to Scarecrow Island “The Bogue’s March,” exhibiting the impe- rial culprit drummed out of his kingdom, while the kings of Europe are shewing their joy by dancing round a political May-pole ; “ A grand Manoeuvre ; or, the Bogue’s March to the Island of Elba,” in which the tyrant is represented as undergoing still greater indignities. One of these is an excellent specimen of Bowlandson’s vulgarity of style. It was published on the 25th of April, 1814, and is entitled “ Nap dreading his doleful doom ; or, his grand entry into the Isle of Elba.” The exile has just landed, and receives no great encouragement in the coarse physiognomy and manners of the inhabitants, who rush from the hills in crowds to welcome him. With any- thing but joy in his countenance, he exclaims, “ Ah ! woe is me ! seeing what I have and seeing what I see !” A beauty of the island offers him consolation in the shape of a pipe — “ Come, cheer up, my little Nicky, I’ll be your empress.” It was soon found that the deposed emperor had not yet laid aside his ambition. Little less than a year had elapsed, when he left the narrow limits of his island, reappeared in France, and entered Paris in triumph. Europe again resounded with the din of war ; — but the end of Buonaparte’s career was now fast approaching ; for, after a short and uneasy reign of a hundred days, the great and deci- sive battle of Waterloo consigned him to the prison of St. Helena. A DOG CAUGHT. UNPOPULARITY OF THE REGENT. 635 We will only allude briefly to the subsequent history. The Prince-Regent had already rendered himself extremely un- popular at home by his selfish love of indulgence, by his ex- travagance, and, above all, by his treatment of his wife. When A RECEPTION AT ELBA. tne Emperor of Russia and the King of Prussia visited this country, after the restoration of the Bourbons in 1814, numer- ous caricatures, songs, and squibs contrasted the soberness and activity of the foreign monarchs with the voluptuous life of the English prince : — u There be princes three, Two of them come from a far countrie, And for valour and prudence their names shall be Enrol’d in the annals of glorie : — The third is said at a bottle to be More than a match for his whole armie, And fonder of fur caps and fripperie Than any recorded in storie. Those from the North great Warriors be, And warriors they have in their companie. Who have humbled the pride of an enemie. Their rival in valour and glorie : — But he of the South must stare to see Himself in such goodly companie ; For to say what his usual consorts be. Would make but a pitiful storie.” TAXATION AND REFORM. 636 People’s minds were now left at liberty to contemplate tlie condition of the country at home, and they began to be more and more alarmed at the fearful weight of taxation with which it was burthened. Increasing dissatisfaction and distress pro- duced louder cries, and the financial sins of ministers were visited with caricatures and satires, as well as with the severer com- ments of radical journals and pamphlets. The tax on soap in 1816, is celebrated in a caricature, published on the 2Tst of June, representing a scene in a wash-house, where the merry figure of the minister, Vansittart, issues from a tub of suds, to the great astonishment of the washerwoman : — “ Here am I, Betty ; how are you off for soap ?” — “ Lord, Mr. Yansittart ! who could have thought of seeing you in the washing-tub.” The English government persisted in the old traditional no- movement policy of William Pitt, when all the excitement which supported him in that policy had long died away ; and they went on increasing the general discontent by a still more rigorous system of resistance to popular complaints and by an increase of political prosecutions. The period of the regency was one of national distress and national troubles. It abounded in caricatures, and in political satires and libels ; indeed, it is enough to say that it was the age of William Hone. It was the age of Burdett and Cobbett, of Hunt and radical reformers and riots. Hunt, the hero of Manchester and Smithfield, was now taking the place in mob popularity which had before been held by Burdett. A caricature, published in July, 1819, entitled, “ The Smithfield Parliament ; i. e. universal suffrage — the new speaker addressing the members,” represents Hunt with the head of an ass, mounted on a cart, and addressing an immense A RADICAL. COSTUME. 637 assemblage of cattle, sheep, pigs, donkeys, and other equally sapient animals, “ I shall be ambi- tious, indeed, if I thought my bray would be heard by the immense and respectable multitude I have the honour to address.” The animals applaud with a mingled murmur of voices, “ hear ! hear ! — bravo !” The peace commences a new era in English history. Within the few years immediately preceding and fol- lowing it, English society went through a remarkably rapid change ; a change, as far as we can see, of a decidedly favourable kind. In social condition and character, public senti ment and public morals, literature, and science, were all improved. As the vio- lent internal agitation of the country during the regency increased the num- ber of political caricatures and satirical writings, so the succes- sion of fashions, varying in extra- vagance, which characterized the same period, produced a greater number of caricatures on dress and on fashionable manners, than had been seen at any previous period. During the first twelve or fifteen years of the present century, the general character of the cos- tume appears not to have under- gone any great change. The two figures here given, which represent the mode in 1810, may be com- pared with those of 1803, given on a former page. The principal dif- ference consists in the change of the wide cravat, for a very large shirt collar, in the gentleman ; and, in the lady, the excess of covering to her person. Between cap, bonnet, collar, and frill, even their faces are nearly concealed ; and it is probably for this reason that they are termed in the original print “invisibles.” INVISIBLES. THE DANDIES. 638 A few years later the fashionable costume furnished an extraordinary contrast with that just represented. The waist was again shortened, as well as the frock and petticoat, and, instead of concealment, it seemed to be the aim of the ladies to exhibit to view as much of the body as possible. The fops of 1819 and 1820 received the name of dandies, the ladies that of dandizettes. The accompanying cut is from a rather broadly caricatured print of a dandizette of the year 1819. It must be considered only as a type of the general character of the foppish costume of the period ; for in no time was there ever such a variety of forms in the dresses of both sexes as at the period alluded to. I give, with the same reservation, a figure of a dandy, from a caricature of the same year. The number of caricatures on the dandies and dandizettes, and on their fopperies and follies, during the years 1819, 1820, and 1821, was perfectly astonishing. A new mania also came to take the place of the old rage for balloons— it was the mania for hobby-horses. For two or three years it might literally be said that every man had his hobby. Hobby- horses figured in the parks, and were to be seen in every road, not only round London, but near most large towns in the country, whither this fashion was carried. Dandies, or not dandies, all were infected with this strange mania, which fur- nished matter for caricature upon caricature in great abundance. In these, the hobby mania was often applied politically, and all colours, and parties, and ranks, — whether prince or minister, Tory or .Radical — were made to ride their hobbies in one way or other. The cut with which we close the volume is taken from a caricature published on the 8th of April, 1819, and represents the military episcopal Duke of York — he was com- mander-in-chief and prince-bishop of Osnaburg — riding his hobby for economy, on the road to Windsor. It was a period at which the outcry against the extravagance of the civil list — in which the duke partook largely — was particularly loud and violent. John Bull, who is somewhat astonished at the figure cut by the royal hobby-rider, and his boasts of economy, exclaimt, il Dang it, mister bishop, thee art saving, indeed j thee used so HOBBY-HORSES. 63 9 ride in a coaeli and six, now I pay thee £10,000 a-year more, thee art riding a wooden horse for all the world like a gate-post !” Trivialities like these close one of the most extraordinary periods of our history. Printed by Ballantyne, Hanson By HUGH FIELDING. Demy 8vo, is. Adams (WLDavenport), Works by. 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