- Museum number
- 1865,1111.479-490
- Description
-
Political pamphlet of 23 pages entitled "The old black cock and his dunghill advisers in jeopardy; or, the palace that Jack built/ By the author of the R--l Fowls [BM Satires 13842].", bound within William Hone's "Political Tracts, Volume 1."
Lettered below the title "With twelve cuts"
The pamphlet is based on the format of Hone's parody, "The Political House that Jack Built" (BM Satires No 13292).
1. BM Satires 13905. The frontispiece illustration shows John Bull (right) grasping the leg of a game-cock with the head of George IV, and bending menacingly over the bird with a raised knife. Behind (left) is a burlesqued view of the [Brighton] Pavilion. Below: 'Hence will I drag thee headlong by the heels unto a Dunghill, which shall be thy grave ; and there cut off thy most ungracious head, which I will bear in triumph to the - [king]!' 'Shakspeare' ['2 Henry VI', IV. x; on the death of Jack Cade]. As in BM Satires No. 13842, the context provides a defence to a possible charge of sedition.
Lettered below the illustration:
"London Printed by and for Effingham Wilson, Royal Exchange, 1820, One Shilling."
2. 'THIS IS THE PALACE THAT JACK BUILT' (BM Satires 13906). Two cocks, holding bayoneted muskets and wearing shakos, march as sentries on the pavement outside Carlton House. Below, the words of Goneril to Lear are quoted, six lines ending: ‘epicurism and lust make it more like a Tavern, or a Brothel, Than a grac'd Palace. Shakspeare ”
3. 'THIS IS THE CORN, THAT LAY IN THE PALACE THAT JACK BUILT' (BM Satires 13907). Sacks of coins in a warehouse. On the wall is a placard headed 'Custom House', with 'Duty' repeated five times. Sacks are: 'J Bull London Duty on Salt'; 'Excise'; 'Window Lights' and 'Bull London Duty on Teas' (these two are open, with coin pouring out); 'John Bull London Tobacco Duty'; 'Duty' [twice]; 'Bull London'. Below:
'What piles of wealth hath he accumulated to his own portion! What expense by th' hour seems to flow from him; how, i' th' name of thrift, does he rake this together? "Shakespeare".' ['Henry VIII', III. ii, the King on Wolsey.]
4. 'This is the COCK well known to fame' (BM Satires 13908). A cock with the head of George IV, crowned, stands in a crouching attitude. Windsor Castle is on the horizon. The text continues: 'A Dunghill at heart, tho' suppos'd to be game;' [cf. No. 12613]. Below: “At home, surrounded by a servile crowd, prompt to abuse, and in detraction loud;/ Abroad, begirt with men, and swords, and spears,/ His very state acknowledging his fears. 'Prior'. ['Solomon on the Vanity of the World', iii, ll. 281-4.]
5. 'This is the HEN from Germany brought' (BM Satires 13909). A hen, trim, erect, and alert, with the head of Queen Caroline, crowned, stands in profile to the right. The text continues: 'Allow'd to be one of the best of her sort, . . .'. Below: 'The Truth appears so naked on my side, that any purblind eye may find it out. And on my side it is so well apparell'd, so clear, so shining, and so evident, that it will glimmer through a blind man's eye. "Shakespeare".' ['1 Henry VI', II. iv.]
6. 'This is the artful ITALIAN TRIBE' (BM Satires 13910). Five fowls with human heads peck at coins, lavishly strewn on the ground, a sixth watches from an adjacent fence. The most prominent are Demont (see BM Satires 13856), wearing a fashionable bonnet, and Majocchi (see BM Satires 13827). The lines continue: 'Who would barter their souls in exchange for a bribe.' Below: 'Lingering perdition, worse than any death can be/At once, attend you and your ways. Shakespeare.' ['Tempest', III. iii (misquoted)
7. 'These are the COCKS, whose talents are known' (BM Satires 13911). Two game-cocks, with the heads of Denman and Brougham, spurred and in fine feather, stand directed to the right The lines continue: 'From the clod on the dunghill to him on the Th-.' Below: “ ‘How of Adultery ? wherefore write you not/ What Monster's her Accuser? ['Cymbeline', III. ii.] No, tis slander, . . . [&c. Ibid. III. iv, ll. 34-40].’
8. 'This is DAME BULL, a sensible wife' (BM Satires 13912). Farmyard scene. A comely and prosperous woman [“Dame Bull”] scatters corn (or coins) which Queen Caroline, a hen, pecks at. Other fowls stand on a fence, and John Bull, smoking his pipe, watches benignly. The text continues: 'Who ne'er intermeddled with quarrels or strife. . . .' She 'encourag'd the Cocks, whose talents . . . [&c.]'.
This evidently relates to a meeting, on 26 September 1820, at Freemasons' Hall of the Ladies of London, Westminster, and Southwark, to congratulate the Queen at the close of her prosecution. See 'Examiner', 1820, pp.635 ff. Cf. BM Satires 13934, Below: Emilia's words to Iago, beginning: "I will be hang'd, if some eternal villain, ..." [Othello, IV, ii] See BM Satires 13934, etc.
9. 'This is JOHN BULL all tatter'd and torn' (BM Satires 13913). John Bull stands despairingly, ragged, and with pockets inside out, beside a signpost pointing 'To the Workhouse'. Behind (right) is a bare and dilapidated tree. The text continues: 'His money and most of his liberties gone.' Below: six lines from 'Rowe', beginning 'What, tho' no gaudy titles grace my birth?'
10. 'This is the PRIEST all shaven and shorn' (BM Satires 13914). A ranting parson with ass's ears and extended fist, bawls from a pulpit decorated with an inverted crown. The text continues: 'A hunter for profit, and sleeves of lawn, . . . Who a Patriot accus'd of the base attempt To bring our religion and laws in contempt', Below: 'Priest, beware thy beard; I mean to tug it, and to cuff you soundly. "Shakespeare".' [1 'Henry VI', I. iii.]
He is evidently J. W. Cunningham (1780-1861), Vicar of Harrow, who published 'A Letter to S. C. Whitbread Esq on the subject of female meetings to address the Queen' (Cf. BM Satires 13912 above); he was a prominent evangelical. See Political Register xxxvii. 635, 697 ff. (30 September 1820), 'A Letter to Parson Cunningham', and Examiner, 24 September 1820, pp. 619 ff., where he is called 'this priestly enemy of the humble and charitable doctrines of Christ'. Cf. BM Satires 13303, etc. See BM Satires 13982, 15392.
11. 'These are the COCKS that have pilfer'd the Corn' (BM Satires 13915). Cocks with the heads of Ministers are fighting confusedly. Liverpool, apparently dead, is pecked by Castlereagh. Gifford stands on the back of Sidmouth, who, like Castlereagh, has lost his tail-feathers. In the middle distance the Archbishop of Canterbury (mitred) and Eldon with judge's wig and coronet confront each other. A gibbet is indicated in the distance. Dead birds lie on the ground. Below: 'Friends now fast sworn, . . . who twine as 'twere, in love inseparable, shall within this hour, on a dissension of "a doit", break out to bitterest enmity!' 'Shakspeare' ['Coriolanus', IV. iv.]
12. 'JUSTICE TRIUMPHANT' (BM Satires 13916). From a lamp-post with the cross-bar supporting two lamps, hang by the neck cocks with human heads. On the left side are (left to right) Sidmouth, Liverpool, Castlereagh, and Eldon. On the right four witnesses, two more prominent than the others being Demont and Majocchi, see No. 13910. A placard on the lamp-post reads "Justice Triumphant". Below: 'We'll have you, as our rarer monsters are, painted upon a pole. "Shakspeare" ["Macbeth"' V. viii].
c. October 1820
Wood-engraved illustration to a letterpress pamphlet
- Production date
- 1820
- Dimensions
-
Height: 220 millimetres (approx. page size)
-
Width: 139 millimetres (approx. page size)
- Curator's comments
- (Description from M. Dorothy George, 'Catalogue of Political and Personal Satires in the British Museum', X, 1952)
Bound as part of "Political Tracts Volume 1." A compilation of satirical and political pamphlets published circa 1819-1822, one of 10 volumes.
For pen and ink studies see, 1868, 0808.12929 for BM Satires 13905 Frontispiece and 1868, 0808.12929 for No.4. BM Satires 13908.
- Location
- Not on display
- Associated titles
Associated Title: The old black cock and his dunghill advisers in jeopardy; or, the palace that Jack built.
- Acquisition date
- 1865
- Department
- Prints and Drawings
- Registration number
- 1865,1111.479-490
