Satire on Robert Knight, Cashier of the South Sea Company, showing him standing in a small boat labelled "S. S. Inquisition" (referring to the parliamentary inquiry into the Company) from the stern of which flies a flag with a hand holding a flaming sword. The boat is rowed by two devils towards a gaping Hell mouth labelled, "Enter my Beloved"; two small devils prance on the side of the boat one playing a trumpet, the other a fiddle. Between Knight's feet is an upturned purse, labelled "The Glory of the Wicked", from which coins pour; a snake lettered "My Sting hath lost its Venom", winds through his coat; on his right sleeve is a coin lettered, "Cross I win 1719", and on the left another lettered, "Pile you loose 1720"; on each shoulder is another devil, one telling him "Swear, Lye and Stand to it.", the other, "Except none, Cheat all."; on his hat is an eclipse of the sun, labelled, "How Glorious was our Beginning". In his outstretched left hand he holds a cup lettered, "My Cup is full of Indignation" in which rests a flaming heart lettered, "My Heart is Zealous for my Countries Ruin" and, suspended from his little finger, is a label with a quotation from Ezekiel,XXII.12-13 and XXIII.25-26, "Thou hast greedily gained of thy Neighbours by Extortion ... Behold, therefore I have smitten mine Hand at thy dishonest Gain ... They shall take away thy Nose and thine Ears; and ... strip thee out of thy Cloaths, and take away thy fair Jewels." Around the central figure are smaller motifs, from bottom left: a man crying "No more Gold! No more Gold!" is flogged by another weilding a scourge tipped with coins spiked around the edges; a horse feeding on gold coins; a devil standing by a strong box who holds a large key and a purse and says, "I am thy faithful Cashier."; a gallows from which hangs a playing card, the knave of diamonds; a man standing in a pillory. Three columns of verse beneath damning the South Sea directors.
<br>Etching and engraving
circa 1721 <div style="display: none;">date QS:P571,+1721-00-00T00:00:00Z/9,P1480,Q5727902</div>
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