A late epistle to Mr. C--------D [engraving]
1755
IN L2005F180 1698/1811 ff
Available at Main Library
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Title
A late epistle to Mr. C--------D [engraving]
Variant Title
Late epistle to Mr. Clevland|Cabin council
Published
[London] : To be had at the Golden Acorn ... in the Strand, [1755?]
Description
1 p. : col. ill. ; 39 x 24 cm. on a leaf 46 x 29 cm.
Call Number
IN L2005F180 1698/1811 ff
Note
The artist is probably Matthew Darly, whose publishing address appears in the imprint; it was the address of Edwards and Darly, who published "The Monument", on leaf 8r of The Tragedy of Admiral Byng, 1756-57. See also M. Dorothy George. English Political Caricature to 1792, p. [225]
Text is in verse.
Byng's addressee is John Clevland (or Cleveland), Admiralty secretary from 1751 to 1766, who in 1757 "provided documents which allowed Lord Hardwicke to defend ministerial policy in the Mediterranean in the wake of Admiral Byng's execution." -- Oxford DNB, vol. 12, p. 71 under "Clevland"
Probably published early in the Byng affair, when public opinion was largely anti-Byng.
The hand-colored engraving (15 x 18 cm.) depicts Byng in cabin-council on board his ship, seeking advice on what to write from four fellow officers. One urges "haste from hence"; another urges "Let's go home"; and a third says, "Let's go back to Gib[raltar.]" Letterpress below the engraving quote Falstaff's "The better part of valour is discretion"; and "But timely running's no small part/ Of conduct in the martial art." from Hudibras. Below them appears the letter in verse signed B--g; these include, "A council was call'd, and we all thought it best, / As they steer'd for the East, we should steer for the West. This agreed; lest their minds, when recover'd, should alter, I am sailing as fast as I can for Gibraltar."
Other lines compare Byng to Admiral West, Byng's second in command: "Mr. W_st, who loves fighting, behav'd like a man,/ Tho' he sail'd in the rear, yet he fought in the van...." West testified at Byng's trial.
At foot of engraving: Pr. 6d
On leaf 242r of The Tragedy of Admiral Byng, 1756-1757
Text is in verse.
Byng's addressee is John Clevland (or Cleveland), Admiralty secretary from 1751 to 1766, who in 1757 "provided documents which allowed Lord Hardwicke to defend ministerial policy in the Mediterranean in the wake of Admiral Byng's execution." -- Oxford DNB, vol. 12, p. 71 under "Clevland"
Probably published early in the Byng affair, when public opinion was largely anti-Byng.
The hand-colored engraving (15 x 18 cm.) depicts Byng in cabin-council on board his ship, seeking advice on what to write from four fellow officers. One urges "haste from hence"; another urges "Let's go home"; and a third says, "Let's go back to Gib[raltar.]" Letterpress below the engraving quote Falstaff's "The better part of valour is discretion"; and "But timely running's no small part/ Of conduct in the martial art." from Hudibras. Below them appears the letter in verse signed B--g; these include, "A council was call'd, and we all thought it best, / As they steer'd for the East, we should steer for the West. This agreed; lest their minds, when recover'd, should alter, I am sailing as fast as I can for Gibraltar."
Other lines compare Byng to Admiral West, Byng's second in command: "Mr. W_st, who loves fighting, behav'd like a man,/ Tho' he sail'd in the rear, yet he fought in the van...." West testified at Byng's trial.
At foot of engraving: Pr. 6d
On leaf 242r of The Tragedy of Admiral Byng, 1756-1757
Source of Acquisition
L2005F180
Added Author
Record Appears in