Plan your visit. 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016.

Plan your visit. 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016.

Impeachment ticket for the trial of W-rr-n H-st-ngs, Esqr.

James Gillray
1756-1815
Impeachment ticket for the trial of W-rr-n H-st-ngs, Esqr.
Published

[London] : publisher not identified, [1788]

etching, hand colored
plate mark: 192 x 150 mm; sheet: 207 x 157 mm
Peel 3331
Notes
Date of imprint from George.
Provenance

Formerly owned by Sir Robert Peel.

Summary

A parody of, or a design parodied by, BMSat 7276. The three battering-rams of the escutcheon in the arms of Sir Peter Burrell are reversed and terminate in the heads of Burke, Fox, and Francis with rams' horns, but the necks of Burke and Francis are much reduced in width. The arm of the crest holds a bludgeon. The supporters are: at left, a kneeling Indian wearing a loin-cloth, who clasps his hands with an expression of terrified anxiety. At right, Thurlow seated on the pan of a close-stool, his hands clasped and glaring fiercely, but with tears falling down his cheek. On the scroll is the motto 'Sub Libertate Tyranni'. Beneath the coat of arms is a burlesqued view of Westminster Hall: Hastings kneels on the ground before Thurlow, whose seat is raised above three (?) clerks. There are no boxes, but Fox (left) stands declaiming, Burke and (?) Sheridan sit on a bench beside him on the extreme left. Hastings's three counsel, Law, Plumer, and Dallas, sit on a corresponding bench on the right. Tiers of faces are indicated as a background. In a scroll on the left are the words 'From Bribery & Corruption Good Lord deliver us'. A corresponding scroll (right) is inscribed 'From Envy & Malice!!! Good Lord, deliver us'. Cf. British Museum online catalog.

Associated names
Peel, Robert, 1788-1850, former owner.
Classification
Department
Century prints