Six brutal-looking men, much caricatured, sit round a table in a cellar, listening with apprehensive intentness to their chairman, who reads a paper: 'state arrests - o'conner binns evans quigley'. He sits in an arm-chair, a grotesque ragged creature with sleeves rolled up; in his right hand is a candle taken from a candle-stick on the table. Beside him is a tankard inscribed: 'tom treason hell-fire celler chick lane'. Against his chair leans an open book: 'proceedings of the london corresponding society ts firebrand secretary - delegates - forging sam barber joe dick butcher dissenting nick sheepshead will cut down lary'. These names belong to the persons depicted: a barber sits on an upturned tub on the chairman's left, a comb in his ragged hair, a pair of tongs leaning against the tattered hat which lies beside him. Next (left) is a butcher, his steel hanging from his waist. All are grotesque denizens of the underworld. Two prints are on the brick wall, bust portraits of 'horne tooke' and 'tom payne'. Through an open door (right) is seen a flight of stairs, steeply ascending. 20 april 1798
hand-coloured etching and aquatint. Date: 1798. Dimensions: Height: 254 mm; Width: 194 mm. Medium: paper. Depicted People: John Binns. Collection: British Museum. London corresponding society alarm'd, -vide guilty consciences (BM 1851,0901.917 2)
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