Caricature history of the Georges : or, Annals of the House of Hanover : compiled from the squibs, broadsides, window pictures, lampoons and pictorial caricatures of the time

Front matter

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MiEjrJp N

Preface

Tecs application of song, and satire, and picture to politics, is a thing of no modern date ; for we trace it more or less among every people with whose history we have much acquaintance. Caricatures have been found in Egyptian tombs. The song and the lampoon were the constant attendants on, and incentives in, those incessant political struggles which, during the middle ages, were preparing for the formation of modern society ; and many an old manuscript and sculptured block, whether of wood or stone, show that our forefathers in those times understood well the permanent force of pictorial satire. But it is more especially in religious matters that the middle ages, like antiquity, have shown a full perception of the importance of appealing through the eye to the hearts of the masses. In the rapid and temporary movements of political strife, this weapon could not be adopted with much effect until after the invention of printing, when, by a quick process, pictures engraved could be multiplied indefinitely. It was in the latter part of the sixteenth, and especially during the seventeenth century, that engraved caricatures became a very formidable instrument in working upon the feelings of the populace. Songs and lampoons, which every tongue could assist in circulating, have never ceased to show themselves in great abundance during every political movement since the period when the small amount of historical information which time has left us, allows us first to trace them ; and they, as well as caricatures, have been by far too much neglected as historical

VI

P EFFACE.

documents, — for in them, perhaps, alone can we hope to trace many of the real motives which caused or exerted an influence over all the great popular revolutions of the past.

In the wish to show the utility of such records, by illustrating a given period of modern history from materials entirely derived from these sources, originated the following picture of the reigns of the first three Georges. It is to us an interesting period, because in it arose all those distinctions of political parties, and that peculiar spirit of constitutional antagonism, which exist at the present day. With it most of the political questions now in dispute took their rise. It consists in itself of two periods ; the first, that in which the House of Brunswick was established on the throne of England upon the ruin of Jacobitism, and by the overthrow of the political creed of despotism ; the second, that in which the same dynasty and its throne were defended against the encroachments of that fearful flood of republicanism which burst out from a neighbouring kingdom, and when they thus gained a victory over democracy. During these periods both the great political parties in this country came into play ; in the first, the constitution owed its salvation to the Whigs ; in the second, it was in all probability saved, perhaps not altogether designedly, by the Tories. It may be necessary to state that in the present work the political colour of the history has been generally given more or less as represented in the class of materials on which it is founded.

This was the period during which political caricatures flourished in England — when they were not mere pictures to amuse and excite a laugh, but when they were made extensively subservient to the political warfare that was going on. This use of them seems to have been imported from Holland, and to have first come into extensive practice after the revolution of 1688. Before that time, the art of engraving had not made sufficient progress in this country to allow them to be produced with much effect. The older caricatures, those, for instance, upon Cromwell, were chiefly executed by Dutch artists ; and even in the great inundation of caricatures occasioned by the South- Sea bubble, the majority of them came from Holland. It was

PREFACE.

vii

a defect of the earlier productions of this class, that they partook more of an emblematical character than of what we now understand by the term caricature. Even Hogarth, when he turned his hand to politics, could not shake off the old prejudice on this subject, and it would be difficult to point out worse examples than the two celebrated publications which drew upon him so much popular odium, “ The Times.” Modern caricature took its form from the pencils of a number of clever amateur artists, who were actively engaged in the political intrigues of the reign of George II. ; it became a rage during the first years of his successor ; and then seemed to be dying away, to revive suddenly in the splendid conceptions of Gillray. This able artist was certainly the first caricaturist of our country ; during his long career, he produced a series of prints which form a complete history of the age.

The Work now laid before the public is necessarily but a sketch ; only the more prominent points of the history of a hundred years are seized upon, and put forward in relief. The plan adopted has been to use caricatures and satires in the same manner that other historical illustrations are commonly used, by extracting from them the point, or at least a point, which bears more particularly or directly on the subject under consideration ; thus a few figures are taken from a caricature, or a few lines from a song. Some of the more remarkable caricatures have been given entire, on separate plates. The idea, it is believed, is new, and I had to contend with the difficulties of labouring in so extensive a field, where nobody had previously cleared the way. These difficulties were, indeed, much greater than I foresaw, for no public collections of caricatures, or of political tracts or papers, exist. The poverty of our great national establishment, the British Museum, in works of this class, is deplorable. As far as regards caricatures, I had fortu nately obtained access to several very extensive private collec. tions. Unfortunately, no one, as far as I have been able to discover, has made any considerable collection of political songs, satires, and other such tracts, published during the last century and the present. This is a circumstance much to be regretted, for it is a class of popular literature which is rapidly perishing,

PREFACE.

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although the time is not yet past when such a collection might be made with considerable success.

In conclusion, I will merely add, that I have had to deal with a class of literature which is always more coarse than any other, and during a period which was celebrated for anything rather than for delicacy. I have steered clear of this evil as carefully as I could without infringing on the truth of the picture of manners and sentiments which this book is intended to represent. For a similar reason I have avoided entering upon the religious disputes, which were productive of much caricature and satire ; but when caricature is applied to such subjects, it seldom escapes the blot of being more or less profane.

So far I had written as a preface to the first edition of this book, which appeared in 1848. I have only to add that, for this new edition, I have carefully revised the whole, and that I have made corrections where they seemed to be called for. It is further to be remarked that the title of this book having been originally “ England under the House of Hanover,” it has been judged desirable, for several reasons, to' change it in the second edition to that which it now bears — which, in fact, describes it to the general reader more intelligibly, as well as more correctly ; for it is, strictly speaking, the History, by Caricature and Political Satire, of the Reigns of the Three Georges.

Teomas Weight.

Chapter I. George I

STATE OF PARTIES AT THE END OF QUEEN ANNE’S REIGN — HIGH-CHURCH AND DR. SACIIEVERELL — ACCESSION OF GEORGE I. — POLITICAL SQUIBS THAT FOLLOWED— ATTACKS UPON THE EX-MINISTERS — ROBERT, THE POLITICAL JUGGLER — AGITATIONS AT THE ELECTIONS — JACOBITISII POPULARITY OF THE DUKE OF ORMOND — CARICATURES OF THE PRETENDER — JACOBITE RIOTS AND THE RIOT ACT — FAILURE OF THE REBELLION AND EXULTATION OF THE WHIGS — HISTORY OF TIIE LONDON JACOBITE MOB — THE KING'S DEPARTURE FOR HANOVER pp. 1 — 34

CHAPTER H.

GEORGE I.

PARTY FEELING AFTER THE REBELLION — PREVALENCE OF HIGHWAY ROBBERY — TIIE MOB — BISHOP HOADLY’S SERMON, AND COLLEY CIBBER’S “ NON- JUROR ” — THE FRENCH MISSISSIPPI SCHEME — THE SOUTH SEA BUBBLE — SUDDEN MULTIPLICATION OF STOCK-JOBBING BUBBLES — FALL OF THE “ PAPER KING ” LAW — THE SOUTH-SEA BALLAD — SOUTH-SEA CARICATURES — BUBBLE CARDS, AND STOCK-JOBBING CARDS — KNIGnT AND THE “ SCREEN ” — ELECTIONS FOR A NEW PARLIAMENT — NEW EFFORTS IN FAVOUR OF THE PRETENDER— BISHOP ATTERBURY’S PLOT pp. 35 — 65

Chapter III

GEORGE I. AND II.

LITERATURE DEBASED BY THE RAGE FOR POLITICS — THE STAGE— OPERAS, MASQUERADES, AND PANTOMIMES — HEIDEGGER AND HIS SINGERS — ORATOR HENLEY — “THE BEGGARS’ OPERA” — “THE DUN CLAD ” CONTINUED POPU-

LARITY OF THE OPERA — POLITICAL USE OF THE STAGE — ACT FOR LICENS- ING PLAYS — ATTACKS UTON POPE — NEW EDITION OF THE “ DUNCIAd/

pp. 6G — S3 s

CONTENTS.

Chapter IV. George II

SIR ROBERT WALPOLE’S ADMINISTRATION — PULTENEY, BOLINGBRORE, AND THE “ PATRIOTS ” — ACCESSION OF GEORGE H — THE CONGRESS OF SOISSONS — PROSECUTION OF THE “ CRAFTSMAN ” — THE EXCISE — INCREASING ATTACKS UPON WALPOLE — VIOLENCE IN THE ELECTIONS — THE GIN ACT — THE PRINCE OF WALES LEADS THE OPPOSITION — FOREIGN POLICY ; WALPOLE AND CARDI- NAL FLEURY — RENEWED ATTACKS UPON WALPOLE, AND DIMINUTION OF THE MINISTERIAL MAJORITIES — THE “MOTION,” AND ITS CONSEQUENCES — THE QUEEN OF HUNGARY — WALPOLE IN THE MINORITY, AND CONSEQUENT RESIGNATION — THE COMMITTEE OF INQUIRY ... pp. 94 — 142

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-CIIAPELLE — THE HOSTAGES — NEW

MINISTERIAL QUARRELS — “CONSTITUTIONAL QUERIES” — DEATH OF THE PRINCE OF WALES pp. 143 — 177

Chapter VI. George II

CHANGES IN THE ADMINISTRATION, AND INCIPIENT OPPOSITION — OLD INTEREST AND NEW INTEREST — ELIZABETH CANNING — THE BILL FOR THE NATU- RALISATION 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 AC- CESSION OF WILLIAM PITT TO POWER — THE SEVEN YEARS’ WAR — POPULAR DISCONTENT ; BEER Vei'SUS GIN — CONQUEST OF CANADA — DEATH OF GEORGE THE SECOND pp. 178 — 215

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

CONTENTS .

xi

CONJUROR; TFTE EARTHQUAKE; THE COCK LANE GHOST — THE STAGE AND THE OPERA ; GARRICK AND QUIN ; HANDEL ; FOOTE — INFLUENCE OF FRENCH FASHIONS; NATIONAL EXTRAVAGANCE, AND SOCIAL CONDITION — EXAGGE- RATED FASHIONS IN COSTUME : HOOP-PETTICOATS AND GREAT HEAD-

DRESSES : THE MACCARONIS — NEGLECT OF LITERATURE, AND QUARRELS OF AUTHORS : HOGARTH AND CHURCHILL ; SMOLLETT ; JOHNSON ; CIIATTER-

Chapter VIII. George III

ACCESSION OF GEORGE III — BREAKING UP OF THE PITT MINISTRY — RISE OF LORD BUTE, AND INUNDATION OF SCOTCHMEN — THE PEACE — BUTE’S RE- SIGNATION— “ WILKES AND LIBERTY THE MOB — THE NORTH BRITON, AND THE “ESSAY ON WOMAN” — ATTEMPT TO TAX THE AMERICANS — THE ROCKINGHAM MINISTRY — PITT’S RE-APPEARANCE, AND TEMPORARY RESTO- RATION TO POWER AS EARL OF CHATHAM — OUTLAWRY OF WILKES ; THE PILLORY — BUTE’S SECRET INFLUENCE ; HIS PUPPETS — WILKES AT BRENT- FORD, AND IN THE KING’S BENCH — WILKES LORD MAYOR OF LONDON, AND IlIS SUBSEQUENT HISTORY pp. 275 — 316

Chapter IX. George III

VIOLENT POLITICAL AGITATION — THE NORTH ADMINISTRATION — THE FOXES — REMONSTRANCES AND PETITIONS — THE BUTTON-MAKER — LIBERTY OF THE PRESS — CARICATURES ON THE AMERICAN WAR — ADMIRAL KEPPEL — AVAR WITH FRANCE AND SPAIN — NO POPERY; THE LONDON RIOTS — ATTACKS ON THE EARL OF SANDAVICII AND ON LORD NORTH ; THE POLITICAL WASHER- AVOMAN — OVERTIIROAV OF LORD NORTH’S MINISTRY — RODNEY’S TRIUMPHS — ROCKINGHAM AND SHELBURNE ADMINISTRATIONS — AMERICA pp. 316 — 362

Chapter X. George III

OVERTIIROAV OF LORD SHELBURNE — THE COALITION — ATTACKS ON THE COALI- TION— FOX’S INDIA BILL — CARLO KIIAN — BACK-STAIRS INFLUENCE THE

INTERFERENCE OF THE KING, AND DISMISSAL OF THE MINISTRY QUARREL

BETAVEEN THE CROAVN AND THE HOUSE OF COMMONS — WILLIAM PITT PRIME

CONTENTS.

MINISTER — THE OPPOSITION IN MAJORITY IN THE HOUSE; DISSOLUTION OF PARLIAMENT — THE WESTMINSTER ELECTION — THE DUCHESS OF DEVON- SHIRE— CARICATURES AND SQUIBS AGAINST THE DEFEATED COALITIONISTS

Chapter XI. George III

LOW STATE OF THE OPPOSITION — CARICATURES AGAINST FOX AND HIS COL- LEAGUES— THE PROBATIONARY ODES— IRELAND ; GRATTAN AND FLOOD — THE FORTIFICATION SCHEME — INDIA ; WARREN HASTINGS ; THE IMPEACH- MENT— THE PRINCE OF WALES ; ROYAL PARSIMONY AND ROYAL EXTRAVA- GANCE— THE TRIAL OF WARREN HASTINGS — MINISTERIAL CORRUPTION ; ANTIPATHY OF PARTIES ; THE INSTALLATION SUPPER — FIRST INDISPOSITION OF THE KING: THE REGENCY BILL pp. 402 — 437

CHAPTER Xir.

GEORGE III.

THE FRENCH REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD — EFFECT OF THE REVOLUTION IN ENG- LAND— DESERTION FROM THE LIBERAL PARTY IN PARLIAMENT ; BURKE’S PHILIPPICS — REVOLUTIONARY SYMPATHY IN ENGLAND ; DR. PRICE, DR. PRIESTLEY, AND THOMAS PAINE — ANTI- GALLIC AN AGITATION — SATIRES ON TIIE KING AND QUEEN — AGITATION THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY, AND

GOVERNMENT MEASURES AFFECTING THE LIBERTY OF THE SUBJECT

FOREIGN POLICY; WAR WITH FRANCE pp. 438 — 489

Chapter XIII. George III

CLAMOURS FOR PEACE — MARRIAGE OF THE PRINCE OF WALES — POPULAR SUB- JECTS OF COMPLAINT; TAXES AND REFORM — INSULT UPON TIIE KING — BILL AGAINST SEDITIOUS MEETINGS — GREAT MEETING IN COPENHAGEN-FIELDS — UNSUCCESSFUL NEGOTIATIONS FOR PEACE — NEW AGITATION AGAINST FRANCE AND REPUBLICANISM — WINE AND DOG TAX — THREATENED INVASION — IRISH REBELLION — NAVAL VICTORIES ; BATTLE OF THE NILE — UNION 'WITH IRELAND — BUONAPARTE FIRST CONSUL • • PP- 490 — 532

CONTENTS .

xin

Chapter XIV. George III

.SOCIETY DURING THE LATTER PART OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY — COSTUME ; EXTRAVAGANCE OF FASHIONS — THE BALLOON MANIA — GAMBLING AND ITS CONSEQUENCES ; 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 O. P. RIOTS PRIVATE THEATRICALS ; WARGRAVE AND WYNN-

STAY; THE PIC-NICS — THE SHAKESPEARE MANIA; IRELAND’S FORGERIES AND BOYDELL’S SHAKSPEARE GALLERY — ART, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE — PETER PINDAR AND THE ARTISTS ; THE VENTIAN SECRET — STATE OF THE PERIODICAL PRESS; LITERATURE IN GENERAL; BOZZY AND PIOZZI — SCIENCE; THE SOCIETIES; SIR JOSEPH BANKS pp. 533 — 581

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; CARICA- TURES AND SONGS — RETURN OF PITT TO POWER — BUONAPARTE EMPEROR — TRAFALGAR — DEATHS OF PITT AND FOX — GENERAL ELECTION, WITH WARM CONTESTS — THE SPANISH WAR. ...... pp. 582 — 624

Chapter XVI

GEORGE III. 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 pp. 625 — 63^

LIST OF FULL PAGE ENGRAVINGS,

PAGE

GEORGE m. AND BONAPARTE, AS THE KINGS OF BROBDIGNAG AND LILLIPUT

To face the title.

THE MOTION . 128

CITY TRAINED BANDS . . . . .165

THE ELECTION — CANVASSING FOR VOTES 183

LE MALADE IMAGINAIRE 221

SETTLING THE ODD TRICK 256

CARLO KHAN’S TRIUMPHAL ENTRY 373

THE POLITICAL BANDITTI 421

SMELLING OUT A RAT 452

TWO PAIR OF PORTRAITS . .626

AN IRISH HOWL 528

ARMED HEROES 593

THE HAND-WRITING UPON THE WALL

CARICATURE HISTORY

OF

THE GEORGES.

Chapter I. George I

State of Parties at the end of Queen Anne’s Reign — High-Church and Dr. Sacheverell — Accession of George I. — Political Squibs that followed — Attacks upon the ex- Ministers — Robert, the Political Juggler — Agitation at the Elections — Jacobitish Popularity of the Duke of Ormond — Caricatures of the Pretender — Jacobite Riots and the Riot Act — Failure of the Rebellion and Exultation of the Whigs — History of the London Jacobite Mob— The King’s Departure for Hanover.

IT was the 30th July, 1714, when a queen of England had just sunk upon her death-bed ; and, perhaps, no monarch ever left the world in the midst of more critical circumstances. Not that the loss of the Queen herself was the object of any especial regret ; for we are informed in the papers of the time, that, on the morning of the 31st, when it was reported in London that Anne was dead, the public funds immediately rose three or four per cent., and that in the afternoon, when it was known that she was still alive, they fell at once to their former value.

We must review briefly the politics of the years which had immediately preceded, to understand this singular position of affairs. Two opposing parties had arisen out of the revolution of ’88. The Whigs, as the natural and stanch supporters of the new state of things, had continued, with hut slight interruptions, to hold the reins of government, when they were at length thrown out of power by the intrigues of the Bed-chamber in 1710, at a moment when they had every reason to suppose themselves strong in the confidence and sympathies of their countrymen. The Tories, even when most moderate, were

B

TARTY VIOLENCE.

secret well-wishers to the exiled family ; and this feeling, cherished more or less strongly, produced various shades or gradations of party, until it expressed itself in a form little short of open treason in the non-jurors and Jacobites. There can be little doubt that the whole Tory party of the reign of Queen Anne would have ultimately declared in favour of the Pretender, had he once obtained any certain prospect of success.

The antipathy between the two great political parties was of the bitterest description ; and each endeavoured to render its opponents odious to the public by personal abuse and calumny, which were scattered abroad with the scurrilous licence of the press that had been handed down from the times of the Commonwealth and Charles the Second. It is hardly possible to conceive anything more abhorrent to good feeling than the virulent language of the political pamphlets of the age of which we are speaking, which crept even into the more respectable literature of the day. A Tory newspaper, the Post-Boy of March 30, 1 7 14, observes seriously, that “To desire the Whigs to forbear lying, we are sensible would be a most unreasonable request ; because it is their nature, and their faction could not subsist without it.” Their enemies endeavoured to throw upon the Whigs, as a body, the imputation with which the Commonwealth men had been stigmatized in the previous century : they were a hypocritical set of schismatics and republicans, worthy only to figure on the gallows or the pillory. A song, circulated in 1712, describes them as a pack of ill-grained dogs.

“ There’s atheists and deists, and fawning Dissenter ;

There’s republican sly, and long-winded canter ;

There’s heresy, schism, and mild moderation,

That’s still in the wrong for the good of the nation ;

’Till kind toleration links ’em all in church-couples.

“ Some were bred in the army, some dropt from the fleet ;

Under bulks some were litter’d, and some in the street ;

Some are good harmless curs, without teeth or claws ;

Some were whelp’d in a shop, and some runners at laws ;

Some were wretched poor curs, mongrel starvers and setters,

Till, dividing the spoil, they put in with their betters.”

The Whigs were by no means backward in throwing similar dirt in the faces of the Tories, whom they looked upon in the light of traitors and rebels. • Among the clergy, unfortunately, these political animosities were more acrimonious than among the laity, and the pulpit everywhere teemed with seditious and libellous sermons. A considerable portion of the clergy had

BEHAVIOUR OF THE CLERGY.

refused to acknowledge King William, and were strongly tainted with Jacobitism; and a still greater number had only conformed to the circumstances of the times, reluctantly and with mental reservations, in order to preserve the temporal advantages they derived from the Church. Although several of the bishops, such as Burnet and Hoadly, with a number of the lower clergy, were distinguished by their liberal and tolerant feelings, a very large party, who claimed the lofty-sounding title of the High-Church, hated everything like a Dissenter with an intense spirit of persecution, and detested the Whigs as much for the protection they afforded them, as for their political creed. The Tory papers could hardly allude to a misfortune which had occurred to a Dissenter without a sneer or a joke. The Weekly Packet of November 12, 1715, has the following article : — “ On Monday last, the Presbyterian minister at Epsom broke his leg, which was so miserably shattered, that it was cut off the next day. This is a great token, that those pretenders to sanctity do not walk so circumspectly as they give out.” The other party was by no means slow in retaliating on the Church, which lost its dignity and its sacred character in these unseemly disputes. The Whig pamphlets and songs pictured in broad colours the unsanctitied lives of many of the Church clei’gy, their venality and greediness ; and one song ends with the taunt, that

“They swallow all up Without e’en a gulp :

There’s nought chokes a priest but a halter.”

Unfortunately, too, many of the leading men on both sides sullied their great talents by dishonesty and profligacy, and gave a handle for the malice of their opponents.

The Revolution had been essentially aristocratic in character, and no appeal had then been made to the passions of the multitude. Hence arose the great strength of the Whigs in the House of Lords. The first regular political mob was a High- Church mob, stirred up for the purpose of raising a clamour against the Whigs, and to influence the elections for Parliament. This appeal to the lower orders was made through a divine of very little moral character and no great abilities, the notorious Dr. Henry Sacheverell, who, a renegade from Whiggism which had not been profitable to him, was now a violent Tory with a better prospect of gain ; and, after two or three attacks on the Government, which had been passed over with contempt, preached a sermon at St. Paul’s before the Lord Mayor and

B 2

DR. SACHEVERELL.

Corporation on the 5th of November, 1 709 ; in which, taking for his text the words of St. Paul, “ Perils from false brethren,” he held up the Whig Lord Treasurer Godolphin to the hatred of his countrymen under the title of Yolpone, attacked in a scurrilous manner the bishops who were against persecuting the Dissenters, condemned the Revolution, and asserted in the broadest sense the doctrine of passive obedience to arbitrary power. Such of the congregation as listened to the sermon were offended at the language of the preacher ; and the matter was brought before the Privy Council, which determined upon an impeachment, and thus fell into a snare that had perhaps been laid for them. The seditious sermon was printed, and the Tories exerted themselves with so much activity in dispersing it abroad, that no less than forty thousand copies are said to have been sold. A tedious trial, ill-conducted, ended in the condemnation of the sermon (which was burnt by the hangman), and in the Doctor being inhibited from preaching during three years. The trial was the making of Sacheverell ; he was now held forth by the High-Church party as a martyr for the good cause ; and it was darkly intimated that the Queen (who had a strong leaning towards the High Church) secretly approved of his conduct. Every kind of means was employed to provoke people to join in the cry, that the Church and the Crown were in danger from those who now ruled the country, and that Sacheverell was persecuted because he had stood up in their defence. Incendiary sermons were preached from the pulpit ; money is said to have been freely distributed among the mob, and songs were written to keep up the excitement ; even caricatures, which at this time were not so much in use as half a century later, were made in considerable numbers on this occasion. In fact, it was the first event of English history in the eighteenth century which furnished a subject for caricatures. Dean Kennett, in a pamphlet published in 1714,* tells us, that, “ For distinguishing the friends of Dr. Sacheverell as the only true churchmen, and representing his enemies as betrayers of the Church, there were several cuts and pictures designed for the mob ; among others a copper-plate, with a crown, mitre, bible, and common prayer, as supported by the truly evangelical and apostolical, truly monarchical and episcopal, truly legal and canonical, or truly Church of England fourteen,” who had sup-

* The Wisdom of looking backwards, p. 13. Several of the prints here alluded to are in the collection of Mr. Hawkins. In general, they are equally poor in design and execution. I have not met with a copy of the “ copper- plate ” described by Kennett.

SACEEVERELL SONGS.

ported Saeheverell through his trial. A verse or two will he quite sufficient as a sample of the Saeheverell songs. One of them, entitled “ The Doctor Militant ; or, Church Triumphant,” to be sung to the tune of “ Pakington’s Pound,” begins with the following attack upon the Whigs : —

“Bold Whigs and fanatics now strive to pull down The true Church of England, both mitre and crown ;

To introduce anarchy into the nation,

As they did in Oliver’s late usurpation.

In Queen Anne’s happy reign They attempt it again,

Who burn the text, and the preacher arraign.

Sachev’rell, Sachev’rell, thou art a brave man,

To stand for the Church and our gracious Queen Anne.”

It must be confessed that there was little in the doings of the Whigs of Queen Anne’s reign to justify the fear that they were introducing anarchy. After a few more verses in this strain, and some allusions to the turbulence under the Commonwealth, the song ends with a lamentation for the loss of the “ golden days” of King Charles the Second : —

“ While knaves thus contended to sit on the throne,

The owner had hopes to recover his own ;

And so it fell out in the midst of their jars,

The King’s restoration did finish the wars ;

In whose golden days The Church held the keys,

And kept in subjection such rebels as these.

For there were Sachev’rells, whom God did inspire To rescue the Church from fanatical fire.”

But the allusions of the time show us that there were many songs of a far more violent, and even treasonable character, which were sung about the streets, and only printed clandestinely. Few or none of these have been preserved, but they probably pointed much more distinctly to the real aim of the party, the introduction of the Pretender, to the exclusion of the House of Hanover, which was the covert design of all this abuse of the Cromwellian period and lavish praise of the reign of the restored Charles. This design we shall very soon see carried out more openly. Another song, entitled “High-Church Loyalty,” goes on in the same tone as the one quoted above : —

“ Ye Whigs and Dissenters, what would ye have done ?

Ne’er think of restoring your old Qr.

Then fill up a bowl, fill it up to the brim ;

Here’s a health to all those whom the Church do esteem !

CARICATURES OF SACHEVERELL.

We know the pretence, you for liberty bawl ;

But had you your will, you’d destroy Church and all.

Then fill, &c.

* * * *

While the Phoenix stands up, and the Bow bells do ring,

Here’s a health to Sachev’rell, and God bless the Queen !”

This song was answered and parodied in doggrel about as good as that in which it was itself written : —

“You pinnacle-flyers, where would you advance?

What, would ye be bringing of Perkin from France ?

Instead of a bowl fill’d up to the brim,

A halter for those that would bring Perkin in !”

The Whigs not only wrote and sung against Sacheverell, but they caricatured him, and that very severely. In an engraving ol this time the Doctor is represented in the act of writing his sermon, prompted on one side by the Pope and on the other by the Devil, these three being the “false brethren” from whom the Church was really in danger. The other party, in revenge, caricatured Bishop Hoadly, the friend of the Dissenters, and one of the most able of the Low-Church party, in a number of prints, in which the evil one was pictured as closeted with that prelate, whose bodily infirmities were turned to ridicule. Moreover, they made a nearly exact copy of the caricature of Sacheverell, with a bishop mitred in the place of the Pope, and the Devil flying away in terror at the Doctor’s sermon, thus insinuating that this miserable tool was the great defence of the Church of Christ against the attacks of Satan. A remarkable instance of this adaptation of one design to the two sides of the