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1613502309
Satire on the general election of 1722 showing a grand room with two long windows and a pier glass between; to the left of this is a screen with seven folds. On the right three men, one holding a staff of office, can be discerned behind the screen reflected in the glass. From the left side of the screen an electoral candidate walks towards a voter grasping him by his right hand and with his left slipping a purse into the man's pocket. The voter is identified in the verses as a member of a corporation in a borough where only such members could vote; his leg is shackled by a chain. His wife listens to a clergyman who stands in a doorway assuring her "bribery no sin". The devil hovers over the candidate touching the voter on the shoulder and holding a blank scroll. Two boys in the foreground point to the transaction, one holding a wooden shoe, symbol of the oppressive French regime. The screen itself is adorned with little stars, at the top the years 1715-1722 are marked on the seven fo… (See Merlin record for full description)
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