(Weltje.) For, by begging in coot company,
Begging vos de making of me.
'9th Beggar, } Since, Beggars, then, we are happy and free,
L. N——. } Pray talk no more of state axes;
(North.) For, by the War, you'll surely agree,
That, all, I have beggar'd with Taxes.'
There is a very clever satirical print which refers to the breaking up of the Prince's establishment. It is called 'The School for Scandal,' and parodies the scene from Sheridan's play, in which Charles Surface helps to knock down the portraits of his ancestors. George Hanger is the auctioneer, and Lot 1 is a picture of the King and Queen, 'Farmer George and his Wife.' Hanger cries out, 'Going for no more than one Crown!' and the Prince thus encourages the Colonel, 'Careless, knock down the Farmer.' One of the audience bids five shillings for the royal pair. Lot 2 is a portrait of Mrs. Fitzherbert, and Lot 3 one of Perdita. Through the open door is seen Tattersall's, where the Prince's stud, etc., were sold. A carriage is numbered Lot 1,000 to show the extravagance of the Prince's stable arrangements.
A piece of gossip about the Prince at Brighton appears in the Morning Post of September 25, 1786: 'We hear that the Prince of Wales, a few days since, was suddenly indisposed at Brighthelmstone; and, at the same time, several gentlemen who had dined with the Prince at a friend's table, the preceding day, were seized with symptoms similar to those of his Royal Highness. They were all more or less affected, according to the quantity each eat of a particular dish at table. Happily for his Royal Highness, he eat but moderately; and we have the pleasure to add, he has now quite recovered. Mr. Keate, the Prince's surgeon, has been sent for from London; and the business terminated so favourably, no other assistance was called in.'
During his stay this year he was very quiet, only going to the races, and superintending the alterations to his house, which were completed the ensuing spring. He left Brighton for the season on October 17.
The Prince kept his promise of retrenchment for nine long months, and was sorely put to it for money—a fact of which the caricaturist took full advantage. Thus, on January 18, 1787, we have 'The Prodigal Son,' in which the Prince is depicted as seated on the bare ground, feeding swine; his coat is out at elbows and breeches unfastened; his Garter has gone, and his three feathers lie on the ground.