Ireland, John: Hogarth illustrated (Band 2,3): Nature (London, 1793)

FOUR PRINTS OF AN ELECTION.

I think ic is Voltaire who observes, that the
English nation arc mad every seven years : he
migk have added, that there are local fits which
seize some parts of the country at other times;
but this madness, like the fermentation of liquors,
proves the spirit of the people.

In the following series of prints, Mr. Hogarth
has delineated the progress of this malady, in four
of its most remarkable stages, with that broad and
characteristic humour peculiar to himself. He has
presented us with the mirror of a contested elec-
tion, the British Saturnalia; in which is displayed
what Abbe Raynal most emphatically calls

an expression, says the same writer, which would
alone consecrate a language.

The first print was published Feb. 24, 1755,
and inscribed to the Right Hon. Henry Fox.—
PlateU. Feb. 20, 1757, .to Sir Charles Banbury
Williams, Ambassador to the Court of Russia.—
Plate III. Feb. 20. 1758, to the Hon. Sir. Edward
Walpoht Knight of the Bath.—Plate IV. Jan. 1,