Inscription in unidentified hand in pencil at bottom right: "William Huntington."
Plate from the 'Satirist', iii. 225; explanatory text, pages 225-34.
A satire on the marriage of Huntington, 15 Aug. 1808, to the rich widow of Sir James Sanderson, Lord Mayor of London, 1792, so that gold replaces his former earnings as a coal-heaver. He had formerly (after seducing and deserting another young woman) had 'a connection' (i.e. married) Mary Short by whom he had thirteen children; she died from gin and chagrin at the intimacy from ca. 1803 between Huntington and Lady Sanderson. The text also ridicules the class-meetings and love-feasts of the Methodists. 'Mr Huntington rescued from the Attack and Misrepresentations of the Satirist...', signed 'Seek Truth', was published in 1808.
Library's copy trimmed within plate mark with loss of imprint.
A 'love-feast' is in progress in a bare room lit by a torch held by the Devil above the head of Huntington's bride. Huntington holds the hand of a small woman who looks at a picture (or mirror) held out to her by a 'fat mid-wife'; on it are small ragamuffins or imps. The Devil holds out a pair of breeches to a wretched literary hack (right) whose tattered coat and shirt hang over naked legs. The latter takes the breeches with delight; from his pocket projects a paper: 'Huntington rescued from the Attack of the Satirist'. On the left are hideous men and women; a man pours the contents of a bottle into the mouth of a debauched-looking woman. A man shows a 'Warrant f Bastardy' to a woman with a repulsive infant. In the background (right) are demons emptying one sack of coal, and filling another with gold. On the wall is a placard: 'Bank of Faith this Lucrative Concern to be Disposed of the Present Proprietor retiring from Trade'.