History of the FanRhead, G. Woolliscroft (George Woolliscroft)
History
History of the Fan
Rhead, G. Woolliscroft (George Woolliscroft)
Fans
‘Hark, the British Cannon thunders,
See, my Lads, six Ships appear;
Every Briton acting Wonders,
Strikes the Southern World with fear.
Porto Bello, fam’d in Story,
Now at last submits to fate;
Vernon’s courage gains us Glory,
And his Mercy proves us great.’
The etching is signed ‘F. Chassereau, April y^e 22, 1740.’
Vernon’s exploit at Carthagena, April 1, 1740, is also recorded; on the
left, a view of the English camp; on the right, the flying inhabitants,
including a figure named ‘Don Blas’; the fan inscribed ‘Cartagena.’
The motion by Mr. Sandys in the House of Commons on January 29, 1740,
and that of Lord Carteret in the House of Lords on February 13,
1741, to remove Sir Robert Walpole (who at that time was exceedingly
unpopular) from his post of Prime Minister, is commemorated on a
fan which is a free copy from a print published by T. Cooper at the
Globe in Paternoster Row, 1741, and referred to in a letter of Horace
Walpole, written from Florence to his friend Conway, March 25, 1741:
‘I have received a print by this post that diverts me extremely: _the
Motion_. Tell me, dear, now, who made the design, and who took the
likenesses: they are admirable; the lines are as good as one sees on
such occasions. I wrote last post to Sir Robert, to wish him joy; I
hope he received my letter.’
The scene is Whitehall, with the Treasury in the distance. A coach
containing Lord Carteret, who is leaning out of the window and crying,
‘Let me get out,’ is driven by the Duke of Argyll, brandishing a
flaming sword, the Earl of Chesterfield as postilion. Bubb Dodington,
in the form of a spaniel, is seated between the Duke’s legs. Lord
Cobham behind as footman. Lord Lyttelton follows on horseback, whip
in hand. Several persons are being overridden by the coach, which is
nearly overturned. Mr. Sandys, in the foreground, is dropping the
‘Place Bill,’ and exclaiming, ‘I thought what would come of putting him
on the box.’ Pulteney, exclaiming, ‘Z—nds! they’re over,’ and leading
his followers by the nose, wheels a barrow laden with ‘Craftsman,’
‘Letters to the Earl,’ ‘State of Nat—’, ‘Champion,’ ‘Common Sense,’
etc., with a dice box and dice. Dr. Smalbroke, Bishop of Lichfield,
accompanied by three pigs (one only in the original print), bows
obsequiously.
The ten verses which appeared on the print are inscribed on the right
hand of the fan. In ‘nigger’ parlance they at once propound questions
and supply the answers, thus:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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