Caricature and Other Comic Art in All Times and Many Lands.Parton, James
History
Caricature and Other Comic Art in All Times and Many Lands.
Parton, James
Caricature -- History
Another of these portrait pieces exhibits Dr. Alexander Leighton, who
spoke of Queen Henrietta as "the daughter of Hell, a Canaanite, and an
idolatresse," and spared not Archbishop Laud and his confederates. For
these offenses he was, as the draughtsman informs us, "clapt up in
Newgate for the space of 15 weekes, where he suffered great miserie and
sicknes almost to death, afterward lost one of his Eares on the
pillorie, had one of his nosthrills slitt clean through, was whipt with
a whip of 3 Coardes knotted, had 36 lashes therewith, was fined
1000_ll._, and kept prisoner in the fleet 12 yeares, where he was most
cruelly used a long time, being lodged day and night amongst the most
desperately wiked villaines of y{e} whole prison." He was also branded
on the cheek with the letters S. S.--sower of sedition. Several other
prints of the time record the same mark of attention paid by the
"martyred" king to his Catholic wife. By-and-by, the crowned and mitred
ruffians who did such deeds as these being themselves in durance,
Parliament set Dr. Leighton free, and made him a grant of six thousand
pounds.
A caricature of the same bloody period is entitled, "Archbishop Laud
dining on the Ears of Prynne, Bastwick, and Burton." We see Laud seated
at dinner, having an ear on the point of his knife and three more ears
in the plate before him, the three victims of his cruelty standing
about, and two armed bishops at the foot of the table. The dialogue
below represents Laud as rejecting with scorn all the dainties of his
table, and declaring that nothing will content him but the ears of
Lawyer Prynne and Dr. Bastwick. He cuts them off himself, and orders
them to be dressed for his supper.
"_Canterbury._ This I doe to make you examples,
That others may be more careful to please my palate.
Henceforth let my servants know, that what I will, I _will_ have done,
What ere is under heaven's Sunne."
[Illustration: "Let not the World devide those whom Christ hath
joined."]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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