The Sedition Hunter Disappointed- or- D-G by Winchester Measure

(Ansell)
The Sedition Hunter Disappointed – or – D-G by Winchester Measure.
London, S W Fores April 2nd. 1798
Etching
250 x 350 mm
£220
A rare caricature attributed to Ansell.
The interior of a court of law, evidently the Winchester Assizes. Counsel sit behind a concave barrier, the judge sits in the centre behind and above them, the scales of Justice evenly balanced abover his head. He says; if a Man is disposed to D—-n he may as well D—n Mr P—– as any body else. In the foreground stand five farmers or countrymen, one of them, more fashionably dressed, straddles across a paper which lies on the ground : Information against Nicola(s) Ploughsha(re), turning his head angrily to a fat farmer who asks : do you hear that Informer D…Mr P…D…MP P…D…MP P…. The informer answers; as its lawfull for a Man to D—- who he please I say D—the Judge I say D—the Judge D—-the Judge. The other countrymen, highly delighted, stand in pairs, making similar utterences.
BM 9192