A satire on the (anticipated) King's Speech at the opening of Parliament, 23 Jan. 1787.
Sheet closely trimmed to image within plate mark.
Print shows the interior of the House of Commons, with the speech shown as an infant of which the King has just been delivered; the infant is inscribed "The Farmer's S-----h", and it is the object of a tug-of-war between Fox, Burke, and (?) Sheridan on the right, and Pitt, Richmond, and Dundas on the left. Lord North sits aloof on a bench (left) holding a bottle. All are dressed as women (i.e., the "gossips" who are present at the birth of the child) and the child cries "Mamma" as Fox waves a fragment of a paper inscribed "Address", saying, "I'll maul you I will you Brat" and Burke says "Thats my Diamond Darken his Daylights". Another fragment of Addre[ss] lies at their feet. Pitt says "Save Oh Save my Baby" as one of his supporters says, "Help the Sweet Maid her Virtue will be Offended". In the background is the Speaker (Charles Cornwall) in his chair, saying "To Order" with two Clerks sitting in front of him; at right, George III leans back as if exhausted on a chair raised on a dais, saying, "Oh my S------h", as a woman holds a smelling-bottle to his nose.