Three men dance round a tall thistle. The stem of the thistle is decorated with a Garter ribbon inscribed "Honi soit qui Mal y pense"; its flower is surrounded by a glory of light from which issue rays terminating in a circle of black clouds; over it are the words "Carduus benedictus". Among the clouds (r.) is seated the Devil playing the bagpipes. The dancers are (l. to right.): Bute in court dress wearing the Garter ribbon, &amp;c, and pointing with one hand to the thistle, with the other to a scroll on the ground inscribed "Noli me tangere". North, smiling, looks at the thistle through a lorgnette. Lord Mansfield in judge's wig and gown holds the Quebec Bill, while by his feet is a scroll inscribed "Nemo me impune lacessit" (the motto of the Order of the Thistle). The text explains this as "a vision" seen in the Court Yard of St. James's Palace "after a long argument at the Cocoa with the putrid Jacobites of that club". The "boreal triumvirate dance to the tune of "Over the water to Charley" but flee at the appearance of a ghastly bleeding figure . . . the injured Ghost of poor America", who asserts "that her country would ruin ours, and France and Spain would profit by the downfall of both". The guard rush out yelling "a civil war, a civil war!"  1 March 1775
<br>Etching
1775<div style="display: none;">date QS:P571,+1775-00-00T00:00:00Z/9</div>
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