The Political Cartoon, for the Year 1775.

Date1775

MediumBlack and white line engraving

DimensionsOH: 4 1/4" x OW: 7"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1960-53

DescriptionThis print was published in the Westminster Magazine. The print is a presentation of England's many problems in 1775. Now a satiric symbol, the coach has two occupants. The driver is Lord Mansfield, an ardent supporter of the ministers in power; the passenger is the king, eyes closed to the chaos around him. Bute, holding papers that refer to his unpopular proposals, "Places," "Pensions," and "Reversions," is the footman. The coach is pulled to the brink of a chasm by horses labeled "Pride and Obstinacy," charges often leveled against the three. The Magna Charta and Constitution are under the wheels of the coach. The devil flies off with a sack containing the national credit as several bishops and Lord North watch approvingly.
Gathered in the right foreground is a motley group of citizens symbolic of a segment of the rural population easily bribed and corrupted by the ruling English politicians.

ProvenanceEx coll: H. Dunscombe Colt. Other known copies in Halsey Collection at Brown, Peel Collection at the Morgan Library; the New York Historical Society, and the New York Public Library Collection.