File:The Grounds. (BM 1868,0808.3656).jpg
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Captions
Captions
Summary
[edit]The Grounds.
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| Title |
The Grounds. |
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| Description |
English: Satire on Robert Walpole, showing the grounds for the Motion to remove him from office. In the foreground an extravagantly dressed young woman, representing bribery and corruption, distributes lucrative offices to the clergy, judges, army officers and members of parliament all of whom wear yokes about their necks and profess their loyalty to her and to Walpole's policies including, in the case of the politicians, a general Excise.. At her feet is a pile of money bags, a coronets, orb and sceptre, bank bills and pensions. In the background Walpole rides on a waggon in the form of a large money chest labelled "for the[the word "king" has been added here in a later hand]/For Secret Services/For ye Projector/for Friends and Assistants"; its wheels are labelled "Expence of Law &c./Penal Laws/G[i]n A[c]t/Debts/Civel List/Taxes" crush men representing "Manufactures/Trade/Honesty/Liberty"; penants attached to the waggon name taxes levied under Walpole's ministry, "Malt Ale/Tobacco Wine/Leather/Gin/Stamp/Land Tax/Candles/Soap/Salt/Coals". Walpole himself, lettered, "Volpone the Projector", stands on top of the waggon saying "Whoever flinches I'll discard"; he slices open an infant ("Sinking Fund") with a sword so that coins from its belly fall into the money chest, at the same time he blows French and Spanish ships out of Brest and Ferol into the Atlantic to frustrate Admiral Vernon's efforts in the Caribbean, while breaking wind that holds British ships in Torbay; a devil flying above, observes, "this wind is strong agt. them). The waggon is driven by "Volpone Junior" (Robert, Baron Walpole) and drawn by six yoked placemen, while the "Balance Master" (Horatio Walpole) sits on the back exclaiming, "Lawful plunder". Bishop Herring (labelled "Salty") follows the waggon acting as a recruiting officer holding a spear and encouraging, "All B[isho]ps, P[ee]rs, C[ommon]ers or others, willing to List in Projectrs Service. repair thither & meet with suitable Encouragemt."; a pamphlet of 1740, "Letter to a Member [of Parliament concerning the present state of affairs at home and abroad]" protrudes from his pocket; he is accompanied by two journalists, "Freeman" (Raphael Courteville) playing the drum and "Sidney" blowing the horn each has a copy of the "Gazeteer" in his pocket. 1741. |
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| Depicted people | Representation of: Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date | 1741 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Medium | paper | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dimensions |
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| Collection |
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| Current location |
Prints and Drawings |
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| Accession number |
1868,0808.3656 |
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| Notes |
The print points out that the grounds for the parliamentary motion to remove Robert Walpole from office were his alleged practice of bribery and corruption, excessive taxation, assaults on the liberty of the people, and aversion to a war which was seen as advantageous to commerce. The publisher believed that other prints relating to the motion erred in concentrating their criticism on opposition tactics rather than attacking Walpole himself. The print was advertised in the London Daily post, 20 March 1741: "To prevent further triumphs, occasion'd by the Reason, the Motive, the Political Libertines [BM Satires 2491, 2485 and 2490], and such unmeaning prints, This Day is publish'd. Price 4d. The Grounds: A Print; setting forth the true substantial Reasons for the Motion: in Opposition to a print call'd The Motion [BM Satires 2478] Published by G. Foster at the White Horse in St. Paul's Churchyard; and Sold at the Print and Pamphlet-shops of London and Westminster. Where may be had, The Evil Genius of England, relating to the War [BM Satires 2418]. Other Prints are rather Imitations of the Print they oppose than Reasons for the Motion; the Authors having mistaken the Point". The same advertisement appeared the following day, with the additional note, "That having call'd certain wild Prints unmeaning ones, the Author has proved the Charge himself, by saying ours is an unmeaning Print, and taken from his; was which Fact, we grant it wou'd have no meaning at all." Walpole is given the name of the miser Volpone ("the fox") in Ben Jonson's play which was popular at the period. "Volpone Junior" is identified by Stephens as Walpole's younger son Horace, but as he was still in Italy on the Grand Tour until September 1741, the reference must be to the older son, Robert who had been created Baron Walpole in 1723. The OED gives the following definition of a yoke: "A wooden frame or collar fitted on the neck of a hog or other animal, to prevent it from breaking through or leaping over a hedge, fence, etc". |
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| Source/Photographer | https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1868-0808-3656 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Permission (Reusing this file) |
© The Trustees of the British Museum, released as CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Licensing
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| Date/Time | Thumbnail | Dimensions | User | Comment | |
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| current | 22:14, 12 May 2020 | | 1,600 × 1,380 (502 KB) | Copyfraud (talk | contribs) | British Museum public domain uploads (Copyfraud/BM) Satirical prints in the British Museum 1741 #6,228/12,043 |
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