A Successful Evening

The host must be delighted by the turnout!

May 6th 1818 caricature by George Cruikshank

I won’t be able to forget this when describing a crowded ball or reception! The clothing is particularly interesting. Compare the lady on the right in white (a demure debutante?) and the one on the left with the train (rather less respectable, I think). The description in Wikimedia: “Shows a crowded royal “drawing room” reception (in a London palace). The woman at the left (whose train is being stepped on) is wearing the old-fashioned hooped “court dress” (abolished 1820), while the man in the door is wearing formal breeches (many of the other men are wearing military uniforms). The moustache of the man on the right had connotations of foreign (Continental) and/or military dandyism at the time.”

The Radical’s Arms and The Six Acts

George Cruikshank, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This rather nasty cartoon appears, ostentatiously, to mock the French Revolution and often has that as a caption. It certainly includes badges and symbols of the French radicals. Trampled under the feet of the central figures, however, are the Magna Carta, the crown, and symbols of the established church.

The image was published in November 1819. Three months before, the 15th Hussars and the Cheshire Volunteers attacked a group of 60,000 demonstrators in Manchester. It came to be called The Peterloo Massacre. It is an expression of the fears of the upper classes.

The rally had been called to focus on the depressed economy, the price of bread, and the need for political reform. The industrial cities of the north had no voice in Parliament. It was by all accounts peaceful and orderly. A march of that size by the populous fed upper-class terror of revolution and the Reign of Terror. Nervous officials touched off the unprovoked attack. That November, at about the time this cartoon was published, the powers that be pushed through The Six Acts, six reactionary and repressive laws. They were:

  1. The Training Prevention Act made any person attending a meeting for the purpose of receiving training or drill in weapons liable to arrest and transportation.
  2. The Seizure of Arms Act gave local magistrates the power to search any private property for weapons and seize them and arrest the owners.
  3. The Misdemeanours Act reduced the opportunities for bail and allowed for speedier court processing in order to push through faster convictions.
  4. The Seditious Meetings Act required the permission of a sheriff or magistrate in order to convene any public meeting of more than 50 people if the subject of that meeting was concerned with “church or state” matters.
  5. The Blasphemous and Seditious Libels Act (or Criminal Libel Act)  toughened the existing laws to provide for more punitive sentences for the authors of such writings.
  6. The Newspaper and Stamp Duties Act extended and increased taxes to cover those publications which had escaped duty by publishing opinions and not news.

 

Georgian Cartoon for May

Some thoughts

George IV’s attempts to rid himself of his wife absorbed the king, the country, and the press for much of 1820 and 1821. I love the look on the face of the man on the far right holding a pitcher that says, “Trial.”

Abstract:

Print shows George IV, “a conning stoker,” of some “Mischief brewing,” stirring up the “Flames of Persecution,” with “vengeance,” saying, “If this trial fail I’l brew no more.” Behind him is a vat “Filthy composition” into which flows “a pure stream to expose the secrets” which spills on a couple in an embrace, “How do you like it – non mi Ricordo.” Passing an open door is Caroline, “The brewers wife.” On the right are three men, one says, “Be just in all your dealings.” Another, holding a pitcher labeled “a trial” says, “I can’t swallow this, it is all froth.” The third says, “I wonder at our commander engaging in such a business.” Physical description: 1 print : etching, hand-colored. Notes: Forms part of: British Cartoon Prints Collection (Library of Congress).; Paper watermarked on lower right corner: 1820.; Title from item. Library of Congress Catalog: http://lccn.loc.gov/2004670128 

Retrieved from Wikimedia Commons