- Museum number
- 1868,0808.12305
- Title
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Object: Thoughts on reform.
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Object: Miscalculation.
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Object: Thoughts on reform. No. 2
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Object: !!!!!!!!
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Object: Locating at the devil's tower.
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Object: The bill, the whole bill, and nothing but the bill.
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Object: Abbotsford.
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Object: Compunction.
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Object: Thoughts on reform [No. 3]
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Object: A servant of all work.
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Object: Thoughts on reform [No. 4]
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Object: A gentleman beset by low pads, and the swell mob.
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Object: A broad hint.
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Object: Lecture on large bonnets...
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Object: Gallopading it at court.
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Object: Don Miguels first sight of the British squadron.
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Object: Land lubbers & over laden.
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Object: A scene from Shakspeare.
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Series: Mc.Lean's Monthly Sheet of Caricatures or the Looking Glass. No. 18.
- Description
-
Lithographic caricature magazine of four pages on two leaves, in the form of a (monthly) newspaper; illustrations as follows. 1 June 1831
Page 1.
THOUGHTS ON REFORM. (16694)
Newcastle sits dejectedly on a bench (in the Lords) holding his hat and looking to the right. Above: 'With ten or twelve votes of one's own, one could do something but now if you want to get a Snug birth for a Son or Nephew they ask is he qualified for it. Oh! curse this Reform'. He is the borough-owner par excellence, see No. 16675, &c.
MISCALCULATION. (16874)
Paganini (left) sits holding violin and bow, his elbow on a round table, listening (right) to his impresario, who leans on the table, gesticulating with his hands. The latter: 'You see Senor de more you do charge de more dey vill vonder and admire you I know dis Jean Bull veil and I tink him be von dem fool'. Two lighted candles and a decanter are on the table.
THOUGHTS ON REFORM. NO. 2 (16695)
Hunt sits on a low stool, directed to the right, his arms folded. Behind is a pyramid of his jars of 'Matchless Blacking' (see No. 16575). He says: 'This Reform will not do for me I must cause a Row somehow or other or my Matchless Oratory will be laid on the shelf'. Cf. No. 16636, &c.
!!!!!!!! (16696)
An open-air meeting. Londonderry, standing on an upturned wheelbarrow, declaims and gesticulates to an audience of two dustmen, a gaping old woman, and a few others. He is bareheaded and holds up a book. Cumberland, in top-hat and frock-coat, distributes papers inscribed 'Tract' to yokels and a small boy. A satire on Tory propaganda against Reform.
LOCATING AT THE DEVIL'S TOWER. (16697)
William IV, taking a lady by the hand, stands in a Gothic doorway (left) addressing the Devil, who turns in his chair, puffing a cigar. Two small boys with the lady gape in astonishment. The King: 'We've some friends dropt in from Germany will you allow them a few apartments in this Tower of yours'. The Devil, who sits at a writing-table lit by a table-lamp: 'Certainly never mind me I hope they will make themselves at home'. (The Queen's sister, Ida, Duchess of Saxe-Weimar, and her six children, on a visit to England, were given residence in the Devil's Tower, Windsor Castle. The Times, 23 May 1831.)
THE BILL, THE WHOLE BILL,AND NOTHING BUT THE BILL. (16698)
William IV, dressed as a John Bullish sheriff's officer or bailiff, holding a paper inscribed 'Reform due to J. Bull' and with a bludgeon under his arm, claps the alarmed Wellington on the shoulder, as if about to arrest him for debt. (For the King's attitude to Reform see Nos. 16607, &c, 16673; for the title, No. 16683.)
ABBOTSFORD. (16875)
Sir Walter Scott sits over his desk, his dog beside him, in profile to the right, writing. Heaped on the floor and against his table are large volumes, one inscribed 'Robert of Paris'. Pieces of armour are on the floor and on the wall. Behind him (left) the door opens and Death, a skeleton, looks in, javelin in hand. He says: 'eh! bless me, I thought by the Papers some of my People had dispatched this man'. (On 15 Feb. 1830 Scott had a stroke, followed by a more serious attack in April. Despite ill-health, he toiled at Count Robert of Paris in 1830-1. With Castle Dangerous, his last novel, it appeared in Nov. 1831. He died on 21 Sept 1832.)
COMPUNCTION. (16876)
A tall lank doctor and a stout top-booted squire or farmer walk arm-in-arm past tombstones. The doctor holds a handkerchief to his eye. His companion asks: 'Doctor what makes you always hide your face in passing the Church Yard'. Doctor: 'Oh! there's some old broken off Acquaintances I don't want to renew'.
Page 2.
THOUGHTS ON REFORM [NO. 3] (16699)
A bearded Jew, in a gaberdine, in profile to the right, stoops with extended hands, saying, 'Mine got vot a chance, vendish [sic] reform ish pasht it vill vont so much skill, to cheat de peoples dey will never get in midout ush to help dem'.
A SERVANT OF ALL WORK. (16701)
Brougham, dressed as a charwoman, wearing cap and check apron, uses a broom to sweep away legal debris, documents with seals, a wig, &c, making great clouds of dust. 'Chancery' is inscribed over an archway, through which is seen a second woman using a cloth to wipe an upper shelf. He says: 'get on Mrs Vice when I've clear'd my own place I'll help you'. (Brougham as Chancellor pressed on the work of law reform, but boasted of achievements impossible in practice. Cf. Hobhouse, Recollections of a Long Life, iv. 257. The Vice-Chancellor was Shadwell. See No. 16388, &c.)
THOUGHTS ON REFORM [NO. 4] (16700)
An Irish tatterdemalion, with a gap-toothed grin, a bludgeon under his arm, and ropes of straw round bare legs and head, gesticulates, saying, 'Ock [sic] by the holy proker wont this reform make the prates grow, wont it make Ireland stand alone like a Shelalah stuck in a bog & every Mothers, Son, Man, Woman & child a Gentleman'.
A GENTLEMAN BESET BY LOW PADS, AND THE SWELL MOB. (16702)
William IV sits a violently plunging horse (Lord Grey) on a road leading 'To Reform', and beside a turning placarded 'To Revolution'. His way to 'Reform' is blocked by Tories, the 'Swell Mob', cf. No. 16669, &c. Wellington holds out an open umbrella, and Newcastle throws up his arms to scare the horse. Eldon stoops to pick up a stone and Cumberland holds a cudgel. Behind them (right) are (?) Wharncliffe and Aberdeen. On the left the 'Low Pads' hurl missiles at the horse's hind-quarters to force him to 'Revolution'. The leader is Cobbett, who flings his gridiron (see No. 16123). Just behind, Hunt is about to throw a blacking-jar (see No. 16575). They shout 'Drive the Grey down the blind Lane opposite'. (Cobbett is misplaced with Hunt and the Radical opponents of the Bill, cf. No. 16636. For William IV see No. 16607, &c.)
A BROAD HINT. (16703)
John Bull (a typical HB figure, cf. No. 15860), with hands on hips, addresses Prince Leopold (left) who flinches in terror. He says: 'Harkee Young Man, I think you might take work in Belgium when its offerd you instead of living upon me doing nothing.' His muzzled dog (see No. 16153) has a collar inscribed 'J Bull'. (See No. 16742, &c. J. B. alludes to Leopold's £50,000 a year, see No. 16127, &c.)
LECTURE ON LARGE BONNETS... (16877)
The title continues: 'with experimental illustrations given by the illustrious stranger at the Zoological Gardens'. A young woman staggers back, her hair escaping from an ornamental comb. Her large hat or bonnet, snatched from her head, is about to disappear in an elephant's mouth. The beast says: ''tis a pity so much good straw should be wasted'.
Page 3.
GALLOPADING IT AT COURT. (16704)
An absurdly tall and elegant officer, dropping his frightened partner's hand bumps into Queen Adelaide (flatteringly depicted), who is arm-in-arm with a very stout lady, probably the Margravine of Hesse Homburg (see No 12986, &c). He looks over his right shoulder, agonized at the accident. Facing them are two ladies; on the extreme left is William IV. For the gallopade see No. 16473.
DON MIGUELS FIRST SIGHT OF THE BRITISH SQUADRON. (16705)
Scene on a balustraded terrace overlooking the sea (left), where men-of-war in full sail are approaching. Miguel, in uniform, lies on the ground, supported by a friar (left), his handsome features convulsed and diabolic, with teeth clenched, as if in a fit. An elderly lady, wearing a crown and a rosary, kneels beside him, holding out smelling-salts with a frenzied gesture. The fat friar says: 'Cheer up my son recollect as fast as they compel you to make promises I can absolve you from them'. A telescope points seaward.
Page 4.
LAND LUBBERS & OVER LADEN. (16706)
Tories row in a ship's boat overladen with millstones, which a heavy swell threatens to swamp. The stone, Catholic Emancipation [see No. 15658, &c] has just been thrown overboard. Wellington stands in the stern (right), resting his arms possessively on two of the stones: 'Rotten boroughs' and 'Vain Glory'. The others are 'Privilege, Church Plunder, Pride, Hypocricy'. Eldon crouches in the bows; four men row: Newcastle, leaning forward, is next to Peel, who leans back; in front are Stanhope and Londonderry. A bald-headed man (? Goulburn) vomits into the water. Stanhope: 'We must really lighten the Boat in some degree'. Wellington: 'No, I say it will do very well now'.
A SCENE FROM SHAKESPEARE. (16707)
Two bishops in surplices and huge lawn sleeves, with wigs, stand side by side, arms extended (as Canterbury and Ely in 'Henry V, 1. i). They are lean intellectuals, not the usual bloated prelates. The throne sketched in the background indicates the House of Lords.
[Canterbury]: 'My Lord, I'll tell you,— that selfsame Bill is urged which, in the last King's reign was like and had against us passed but that the Scambling and unquiet times did push it out of further question.'
[Ely] 'But how my Lord shall we resist it now'.
[Canterbury] 'It must be thought on if it pass against us we lose the better half of our Possesstion [sic]'.
[Ely] 'This would drink deep'.
[Canterbury] 'T'would drink the cup and all'.
- Production date
- 1831
- Dimensions
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Height: 416 millimetres (approx. page size)
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Width: 290 millimetres (approx. page size)
- $Inscriptions
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- Curator's comments
- Notes to No. 16705:
The British Consul-General at Lisbon on 25 Apr. presented to the Portuguese Government a list of demands for redress of outrages on British subjects, announcing the arrival of a squadron of six ships of war off the coast to be joined by two British ships then in the Tagus. The Times, 17 May 1831. The lady must be the wicked Queen dowager, Carlota Joaquina (d. 1830).
Notes to No. 16706:
A satire on the plight of, and disunion among, the Tories, after their rout in the General Election. For Wellington and Reform see No. 16299. Catholic disabilities, not Emancipation, had gone overboard in 1829, but perhaps an allusion is intended to the effect of Emancipation on Tory unity.
Notes to No. 16707:
Canterbury is evidently the unpopular Howley who opposed the Reform Bill, but Ely is not necessarily the Bishop, Sparke (whose ill-health kept him from Parliament), though he had been attacked as a pluralist. Parl. Deb., 3rd s. iii. 927, 1169. The Election had transferred the crux of the Reform contest from the Commons to the Lords, where the votes of the (very unpopular) bishops were all-important, see No. 16805.
Notes to No. 16874:
A traditional theme, the richly paid foreign performer in England, applied in these prints to musicians, dancers (cf. No. 5906), aeronauts, and charlatans. There were many complaints in 1831 of the high prices charged when Paganini played.
Bound in a volume ("The Looking Glass, Vol. II") containing nos. 13-24 for 1831. Vols. I to VII (1830 to 1836) are kept at 298.d.12 to 18.
- Location
- Not on display
- Associated names
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Associated with: George Hamilton Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen
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Associated with: Adelaide, Queen of William IV
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Associated with: Henry Peter, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux
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Associated with: Carlota of Spain, Queen consort of Portugal
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Associated with: William Cobbett
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Associated with: John Scott, 1st Earl of Eldon
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Associated with: Princess Elizabeth
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Associated with: Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland and King of Hanover
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Associated with: Henry Goulburn
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Associated with: Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey
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Associated with: William Howley, Archbishop of Canterbury
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Associated with: Henry "Orator" Hunt
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Associated with: Ida of Saxe-Meiningen, Princess of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
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Associated with: Leopold I, King of the Belgians
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Associated with: Charles William Vane, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry (as Charles William Stewart)
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Associated with: Evaristo Miguel
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Associated with: Henry Pelham-Clinton, 4th Duke of Newcastle
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Associated with: Niccolò Paganini
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Associated with: Sir Robert Peel
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Associated with: Sir Walter Scott
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Associated with: Sir Lancelot Shadwell
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Associated with: Bowyer Edward Sparke, DD, Bishop of Ely
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Associated with: Philip Henry Stanhope, 4th Earl Stanhope
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Associated with: Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
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Associated with: James Archibald Stuart-Wortley-Mackenzie, 1st Baron Wharncliffe
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Associated with: William IV, King of the United Kingdom
- Acquisition date
- 1868
- Department
- Prints and Drawings
- Registration number
- 1868,0808.12305