- Museum number
- 1868,0808.11949
- Title
-
Object: Omnibus race.
-
Series: Political Sketches
- Description
-
No. 633. A coach, its side lettered with '16' and 'Dilly Associ', with John Bull seated inside, drawn by two horses, driven by a coachman (Lord Stanley), with three passengers seated behind him (Emmerson Tennant, Sir Francis Burdett, Sir James Graham), overtaking another coach, its side lettered with 'St Giles' and 'Omn', drawn by two horses with men's faces (Lords Russell and Morpeth), with a man and a woman seated inside (Queen Victoria and Prince Albert), in spite of the whipping of the horses by the coachman (Daniel O'Connell), with three passengers seated behind him (Lords Palmerston, Duncannon, Melbourne). 9 April 1840
Lithograph
- Production date
- 1840
- Dimensions
-
Height: 286 millimetres
-
Width: 358 millimetres
- $Inscriptions
-
- Curator's comments
- For preliminary drawing see 1882,1209.469
Text from 'An Illustrative Key to the Political Sketches of H.B.', London 1844:
The Derby Dilly, was the name given to the small party that joined Lord Stanley when he seceded from the Whigs. The reader is referred to No. CCCLXXVI for a fuller account of its origin, and to No. CCCCLXXXVI for the history of its success upon the road. The start which it has got of the Ministerial Omnibus, as represented in this sketch, is upon the question of the Bill to improve the Registration of Votes in Ireland, introduced by Lord Stanley in the House of Commons, in the Session of 1840. Notwithstanding the Bill was opposed by Ministers, and by the whole weight and strength of the Radical party of both kingdoms, the second reading was carried by a majo¬rity of sixteen, the number written on the Dilly omnibus. The quiet and easy style in which his Lordship is passing his opponent, shews that his vehicle is better horsed. His three outside passengers are Mr. Emmerson Tennant, Member for Belfast, the late Sir Francis Burdett, and Sir James Graham, the latter unable to restrain his satisfaction, and apparently indulging in a taunt at the defeat of his rival. Inside of the carriage is seated John Bull, a happy mode of indicating the fact, that Lord Stanley in proposing this measure, carried the British public with him.
The distress and anxiety of Mr. O'Connell, as the driver of the Ministerial vehicle, are admirably pourtrayed. The horses (Lord John Russell, on the off-side, and Lord Morpeth, on the near-side) are not spared, one hand gives them the rein and the other the whip. The uneasiness of the driver is communicated to his outside passengers Lord Palmerston, Lord Duncannon, and Lord Melbourne, but the lady inside, whom we are able to guess at by the resemblance which we see in the gentleman opposite to her, to the portraits of Prince Albert, appears to be under no apprehension; but rather to enjoy a style of driving which most persons conceive to be attended with danger.
- Location
- Not on display
- Acquisition date
- 1868
- Department
- Prints and Drawings
- Registration number
- 1868,0808.11949
