2-636-817 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

'The Times', 1762. Satire on King George III and the Seven Years War. The burning city is an allegory for the state of Europe. William Pitt is depicted on stilts, fanning the flames of war. A fireman, possibly representing Pitt's successor as Prime Minister, the Earl of Bute, or the King himself, tries to put out the fire. Meanwhile three men in windows, including two of Pitt's supporters in the press, John Wilkes and Charles Churchill, try to interrupt the fireman's efforts. From William Hogarth, by Austin Dobson. [Hachette Et Cie, Paris, 1904]