- Museum number
- 1862,1217.320
- Title
- Object: Royal methodists in Kent & Sussex-or the dissenters too powerful for the established church!!
- Description
-
Dissenters, led by Collyer, and encouraged by the Dukes of Kent and Sussex, attack the Church of England. A ladder, 'Jacobs Ladder', leans against the crenellated tower of a Gothic church, probably intended for Lambeth Palace, on which the Archbishop of 'Canterbury' [his mitre so inscribed] has taken refuge. At the sight of a dissenting minister ascending the ladder he registers terror, holding up his crosier and dropping a large book: 'Thoughts on the overgrown Strength of ye Dissenters that threaten the total Annihilation of the Established Religion, & a revival of ye Puritanical Days of Oliver Cromwell'. The minister turns to wave his hat to those on the ground below, saying, "Huzza! my boys you see I am almost at the Top." He is identified by a paper in his pocket addressed 'To Dr Coll[yer]'. The Duke of Kent stands at the foot of the ladder, which he holds, turning to the left to say, pointing at Collyer: "Who is so Worthy of Royal patronage, as the man that is the admiration of ye Ladies, the popinjay of Methodism & the Ornament of the Print Shops." He wears uniform with jack-boots; through his sash is thrust a paper: 'Hints & advice from Lords Holland & Erskin'. He tramples on 'The Act of Settlement'. Beside him (left) stands the Lord Mayor, Matthew Wood, holding the City mace, and wearing his gown and chain. He stands on a document: 'Test & Corporation acts', and turns to the left to take a robe from an obsequious artisan in an apron, who wears clerical bands, a bushy wig over his unkempt hair, and holds a crosier and a mitre inscribed 'London', which he is about to hand to the Mayor. Behind them is a bank on which ugly proletarians are running with a large battering-ram towards Collyer. The ram terminates in a ram's head (as in heraldry), inscribed 'Evangelical Magazine'; the beam is inscribed 'Baxters Shove [see No. 11704] to the heavy a—s—e Christian!!!' The battering-ram is also supported by a rope hanging from two poles surmounted by a flag inscribed 'The True Religion'. On the side of the bank below the men is an inscription: 'Huntingdon's Bank of Faith proved to be safer to Depend on than the Bank of England! witness ye pair of Breeches & the Bunch of Cabbage that came tumbling down the Chimney into the Authors fraying [sic] pan & other marvellous benefits for the true Beleiver [see No. 11080, &c.].' In the foreground on the extreme left two men stand in a pit which they are excavating; one who is elderly and well-dressed, with a grotesquely long nose, leans on a spade, saying to the other who listens intently, pickaxe on shoulder: "when we have succeeded in Undermining this Crazy Old Fabric it will fall with a glorious Crash." Near them lies a spade inscribed 'Pilgrims Progress'. Behind them is the corner of a building which forms a border to the design, and is covered with placards. These are, reading downwards: 'Religious Tracts &c sold at the Vestry rooms of most dissenting Chapels— Sabbath breakers! or a Treatise on the immorality of buying Milk Mackerel Muffins &c, on a Sunday! by the Society for the Suppression of Vice—Mrs Southcotes prophecies [see No. 12329, &c.]—Dr Rippons Hymn tunes arranged for the Piano Forte!!! Dr W—k—n's Vindication of the innocence of Eliza Fenning or, a Methodistical Method to libel a Judge & Jury of the Country— Publish'd on speculation by one of the elect at the Moderate Price of 6s/6d—Ogh Hone! Ogh Hone!—Charity Sermon at the Chapel near Finsbury Square-by the Rd Dr C—l—r before their R.H—S the Dukes of K—t & S—x the Duke of Bedford & the Lord Mayor!!!'
The principal figure on the right of the design is the Duke of Sussex, standing in profile to the right on a rectangular tomb, holding an open book: 'Watt's Hymns'; he sings:
"Come ragged, come hungry, come filthy, come bare
You can't come too bad, come just as you are!!"
He wears his feathered Scots bonnet with cavalry uniform and jack-boots, under one of which is a paper: 'The 39 Articles of Religion'. His tunic is grotesquely short (as in French caricatures of British officers), and a sash accentuates his obesity. At his feet on the tomb sits the Duke of Bedford, also singing, his top-boots dangling. He holds out 'Watts Hymns' with a rhetorical gesture. In his pocket is a paper: 'Bedfordshire'. The tomb is inscribed: 'Sacred to the Memory of K. Charles 1st who was sacrificed by the Puritans A.D. 1649'. In front of them (right) lean lank-haired dissenters are attacking fat bishops: one pommels a prostrate victim, another seizes a fleeing parson by the wig and flourishes a rolled document inscribed 'Methodistical Cant'. A jovial ragged fellow has put on clerical bands and holds on his head a mitre inscribed 'Durham'. He faces the Duke of Kent, capering delightedly. A mitre, crosier, gown, and book lie on the ground near the fray. Behind the tomb (left) a ragged fellow attacks a bishop from behind, dragging at his gown and snatching at a mitre inscribed 'York' which his alarmed and angry victim holds on his head. At their feet is a paper: 'Meetings of the Bible & Missionary Societies. Sunday Schools &c! &c! Duke of Sussex in the Chair!!' On the roof of the church a dissenter has seized the crosier of a bishop whom he is furiously pushing down the slope of the roof from which he will inevitably fall headlong. Another man (right) stands on a ladder gleefully demolishing the building with a pickaxe.
On a hill in the background and on the extreme right is a building in course of construction, surrounded by scaffolding; a man carrying a hod ascends a ladder. Above it is a large placard: 'New Reformed Church of England erected by the Dissenters of 1816 Patronised by ye D—s of K—t & S—x'. In front of this stands a lank dissenting minister pointing to the building and holding out a paper inscribed 'Saints Everlasting Rest', the words being repeated on the ground at his feet.
December 1815
Etching
- Production date
- 1815 (c.)
- Dimensions
-
Height: 260 millimetres
-
Width: 375 millimetres
- $Inscriptions
-
- Curator's comments
- (Description and comment from M. Dorothy George, 'Catalogue of Political and Personal Satires in the British Museum', IX, 1949)
The sympathies with dissent, and the charitable activities of the Dukes of Kent and Sussex, both of whom were active in philanthropic and progressive causes in London, are interpreted as an attack by dissent upon the Church of England and episcopacy in the spirit of satires of 1790 relating to the proposed repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts, see No. 7628, &c. The Evangelicals are associated with the dissenters, though Evangelicals, like the Methodists and unlike the dissenters, were anti-radical. The Duke of Kent made an arrangement with his creditors in 1815, Matthew Wood being one of his trustees. He tramples on the Act of Settlement, as if spurning the article by which all who shall come to the throne are to be members of the Church of England. W. B. Collyer (1782-1854) was a Congregational minister who was patronized by both dukes. His chapel at Peckham became too small, and was taken down in 1816 and rebuilt, the opening in June 1817 being attended by the Duke of Sussex. 'Europ. Mag.', 1817, lxxii. 409. The new chapel was named the Hanoverian Chapel, presumably after Collyer's two patrons. On 22 Nov. 1815 Collyer delivered the Anniversary Oration (printed) of the Philosophical Soc. of London, the Duke of Kent being Chairman, and recommending the Duke of Sussex to be Chairman at the next anniversary meeting. 'Examiner', 1815, p. 762. On 25 Nov. 1815 Collyer read the annual report at the meeting of the British and Foreign School Soc. (see No. 11745), the Duke of Bedford in the chair 'supported on his right by the Duke of Kent'. Ibid., p. 782. The book by 'Dr W—k—n's' is 'The Important Results of an Elaborate Investigation into the Mysterious Case of Elizabeth Fenning . . . by John Watkins LL.D.', pub. by Hone for 5s. E. Fenning (1792-1815), was hanged for mixing arsenic in the food of her employer, the public being convinced of her innocence, though the evidence was strong, and was twice reconsidered by the Home Office. The allusion may be introduced by Sidebotham as a gibe at his rival Hone (see No. 12614, &c.), who is indicated by 'Ogh Hone'; Hone was, however, a friend and employer of G. Cruikshank, who illustrated Hone's tract in defence of Fenning: The Maid and the Magpie' (Cohn, No. 526). See Hackwood, 'William Hone', 1912, pp. 98-102. John Rippon, a Baptist minister, compiled 'A Selection of Hymns . . .' (many editions between 1787 and 1849). Milk and mackerel were excepted from the Sunday Observance Act, cf. No. 9404. See also No. 12768.
Reid, No. 514. Cohn, No. 1925.
(Supplementary information)
The first line of the inscription within the design and obscured by shading; year '1815' or '1816'; address 'No1'?; date erased.
- Location
- Not on display
- Acquisition date
- 1862
- Department
- Prints and Drawings
- Registration number
- 1862,1217.320
