Tom paine, sheridan, and whitbread as conspirators and incendiaries wear hooded cloaks and slouch hats. Paine (left), a bare-legged sans-culotte with ragged shirt, kneels on one knee, holding a torch to a pair of breeches (his own) stuffed with straw which he is putting under the floor, a plank having been removed. He says, "now for a deed that shall outdo my pen". Sheridan bends forward in profile to the left, holding a dark lantern; he says, "ca ira, ca ira, ca ira, thats your sort [a phrase from the 'road to ruin', see bmsat 8071], now master brown bread d--mn--n to scandel". He addresses whitbread, who stands behind him, full face, hands clasped, with an expression of terror. He says, "i am cursedly afraid, we shall kindle such a flame as will bury us in the ruins, i'd be very glad to treat them with as many butts of brown stout as would reach from here to windsor to wash my name out of the association oh. Lord, lighten our darkness. " (an allusion to peter pindar's 'birthday ode. . ':
'now mr. Whitbread serious did declare,
to make the majesty of england stare,
that he had butts enough he knew,
placed side by side, would reach along to kew. )'
they stand on a landing between two flights of stairs, one (left) ascending, one (right) descending; whitbread stands just below the landing on the extreme right. 14 may 1792. Hand-coloured etching. Date: 1792. Dimensions: Height: 250 mm; Width: 389 mm. Medium: paper. Depicted People: Thomas Paine. Collection: British Museum. Mad Tom's first political essay on the rights of man (BM J,2.102)
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