Doodle, doodle, doo.
No. 201. Fanaticism in another Shape.
The number of caricatures published at this period was very great, and they were almost all aimed in one direction, against Bute and Fox, the Princess of Wales, and the government they directed. Caricature, at this time, ran into the least disguised licence, and the coarsest allusions were made to the supposed secret intercourse between the minister and the Princess of Wales, of which perhaps the most harmless was the addition of a petticoat to the boot, as a symbol of the influence under which the country was governed. In mock processions and ceremonies a Scotchman was generally introduced carrying the standard of the boot and petticoat. Lord Bute, frightened at the amount of odium which was thus heaped upon him, fought to stem the torrent by employing satirists to defend the government, and it is hardly necessary to state that among these mercenary auxiliaries was the great Hogarth himself, who accepted a pension, and published his caricature entitled, “The Times, Nov. 1,” in the month of September, 1762. Hogarth did not excel in political caricature, and there was little in this print to distinguish it above the ordinary publications of a similar character. It was the moment of negotiations for Lord Bute’s unpopular peace, and Hogarth’s satire is directed against the foreign policy of the great ex-minister Pitt. It represents Europe in a state of general conflagration, and the flames already communicating to Great Britain. While Pitt is blowing the fire, Bute, with a party of soldiers and sailors zealously assisted by his favourite Scotchmen, is labouring to extinguish it. In this he is impeded by the interference of the duke of Newcastle, who brings a wheelbarrow full of Monitors and North Britons, the violent opposition journals, to feed the flames. The advocacy of Bute’s mercenaries, whether literary or artistic, did little service to the government, for they only provoked increased activity among its opponents. Hogarth’s caricature of “The Times,” drew several answers, one of the best of which was a large print entitled “The Raree Show: a political contrast to the print of ‘The Times,’ by William Hogarth.” It is the house of John Bull which is here on fire, and the Scots are dancing and exulting at it. In the centre of the picture appears a great actors’ barn, from an upper window of which Fox thrusts out his head and points to the sign, representing Æneas and Dido entering the cave together, as the performance which was acting within. It is an allusion to the scandal in general circulation relating to Bute and the princess, who, of course, were the Æneas and Dido of the piece, and appear in those characters on the scaffold in front, with two of Bute’s mercenary writers, Smollett, who edited the Briton, and Murphy, who wrote in the Auditor, one blowing the trumpet and the other beating the drum. Among the different groups which fill the picture, one, behind the actors’ barn (see our cut No. 201), is evidently intended for a satire on the spirit of religious fanaticism which was at this time spreading through the country. An open-air preacher, mounted on a stool, is addressing a not very intellectual-looking audience, while his inspiration is conveyed to him in a rather vulgar manner by the spirit, not of good, but of evil.
The violence of this political warfare at length drove Lord Bute from at least ostensible power. He resigned on the 6th of April, 1763. One of the popular favourites at this time was the duke of Cumberland, the hero of Culloden, who was regarded as the leader of the opposition in the House of Lords. People now believed that it was the duke of Cumberland who had overthrown “the boot,” and his popularity increased on a sudden. The triumph was commemorated in several caricatures. One of these is entitled, “The Jack-Boot kick’d down, or English Will triumphant: a Dream.” The duke of Cumberland, whip in hand, has kicked the boot out of the house, exclaiming to a young man in tailor’s garb who follows him, “Let me alone, Ned; I know how to deal with Scotsmen. Remember Culloden.” The youth replies, “Kick hard, uncle, keep him down. Let me have a kick too.” Nearly the same group, using similar language, is introduced into a caricature of the same date, entitled, “The Boot and the Blockhead.” The youthful personage is no doubt intended for Cumberland’s nephew, Edward, duke of York, who was a sailor, and was raised to the rank of rear-admiral, and who appears to have joined his uncle in his opposition to Lord Bute. The “boot,” as seen in our cut No. 202, is encircled with Hogarth’s celebrated “line of beauty,” of which I shall have to speak more at length in the next chapter.
No. 202. The Overthrow of the Boot.
With the overthrow of Bute’s ministry, we may consider the English school of caricature as completely formed and fully established. From this time the names of the caricaturists are better known, and we shall have to consider them in their individual characters. One of these, William Hogarth, had risen in fame far above the group of the ordinary men by whom he was surrounded.