A companion to BMSat 5988 also ascribed to Townshend. In the foreground (left) a party of ministers is carousing. Members of the Opposition watch them with indignation. In the distance (left) behind them mounted men with hounds chase a stag. On the right the Temple of Fame is being demolished by the enemies of Britain. Many of the figures have numbers referring to notes engraved beneath the design.
<p><br>The central figure in the ministerial group is (4) Sandwich ("S--h") seated on the ground playing a violin, between two courtesans, each of whom holds a goblet of wine. He turns to one of them, saying, "D--mn the Navy, Give me t'ther Glee"; she holds a torn paper inscribed "How merrily we live". An open book, "Catchs Glees", in front of him, is supported by a wine-bottle. In the left corner of the print is (5) North (“N--h”) seated on a small sack inscribed “Budg[et]”, he is yawning, his arms stretched above his head. Three men stand behind him: a man in Elizabethan dress wearing a tall hat and ruff who is (9) “R--by [Rigby] in the Character of Bobadil”. He says (apparently of Sandwich) “I would he were in the Bottomless Pit.”  Cf. BMSat 5982, 6052. For the time-serving Rigby's attack on Germain and Sandwich, and flattery of Pitt (14 Dec. 1781) see Walpole, 'Last Journals', 1910, ii. 390, and 'Parliamentary Hist.' xxii. 847. Behind him and whispering into his ear, stands 8, Lord Amherst (“A--rst”), very thin, saying, “Dick Rugby [sic] Stand Close”. Behind Amherst stands 7, Lord George Germain (“G--mn”) saying “Jeffry Barebones [i.e. Amherst], this is worse than Minden.”
<br>Next on the right stands the group of patriots: (6) Pitt (“W--P--t”) looking towards North, says “Shake off this Indolence”. (3), Fox (“F--x”), pointing towards the Temple of Fame (right) and frowning, says, “Wheres your Navy, wheres your Islands”. (2), Burke (“B--k”) is saying “Wont even Destruction move ye”. (1), The Duke of Richmond (“R--d”) says “Curs'd be those men who owe their Greatness to their Countrys Ruin”.
<br>In the foreground (right) Britannia, seated on the ground on her shield, weeps, a handkerchief held to her eyes. Behind her is (10) “The Temple of Fame, formerly the Wonder of the World, but now in Ruins”, a building with a fluted dome on which the winged figure of Fame without her trumpet is poised on one foot, the other leg being broken off. The building is supported on a colonnade of pillars, all but two of which have been broken away and lie on the ground. The largest fallen column is inscribed “America”, it lies across another, “Rh . . . de Island”, suggesting that the artist believed Rhode Island to be one of the West India islands.   The other fallen columns are: “St. Kitts”, “Tobago”, “Eustatius”, “Nevis”, “Dominique”, “St. Vincents”, “Grenadoes”, “Minorca”. St. Kitts and Nevis did not capitulate until 12 Feb. 1782; the news did not reach London till 3 March. 'Corr. of George III', v, p. 376. The two still remaining columns are “Gibraltar” and “Jamaica Barbadoes”. A chain of four men is tugging at a rope placed round the 'Gibraltar' pillar, the first is Spain, next Holland, next America, and last France.
<br>On the right, between Britannia and the temple, the kings of France and Spain stand looking on; France says, “Brother our Work is near Over”.
<br>The upper part of the temple, though precariously poised, is still intact. In the centre of the façade is a pediment decorated with the head of “Geo Secundus”, wearing a laurel wreath in an oval, and with smaller ovals inscribed with the names of British admirals: “Hawke”, “Saunders”, “Boscawen”, “Pocock”. These surround a tablet inscribed with British victories: “Quebec”, “Portobello”, “Havannah”, “Belle-Isle”, “Martinique”. On each side of the pediment is a window. Within one (right) are seen minute figures in Highland dress; one says “Egad Sawney wed better gang”. A Scotsman is getting out of the other window. This scene and the names of the supposed artists imply that disaster in the war has been due to the schemes of Bute and a Scottish faction, carried out by English ministers, but that this faction is now ready to depart, an allusion to the expected fall of the ministry. [Cf. 'Morning Herald', 30 Mar. 1782: "The Butean system is to be entirely abolished, and all Scotsmen to be wrested out of public offices, military as well as civil, in as quick manner as possible."] See BMSat 5963, 6005.
<br>In the distance is a fleet of ships in full sail (right) advancing towards four dismantled ships with brooms at their mast-heads showing that they are for sale (left), a gibe at the (supposed) comparative positions of the British Navy and the allied fleet. The Royal Hunt is taking place on the left. George III is on horseback, a label hanging from his pocket is inscribed “The mightiest Hunter I”. With him are four other riders and dogs; they chase the stag up a hill.  16 February 1782
</p>
<br>Etching with letterpress text
1782<div style="display: none;">date QS:P571,+1782-00-00T00:00:00Z/9</div>
<a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1868-0808-4798">https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1868-0808-4798</a>