Description from thomas greggo (1880): march 6, 1758. The q. A. Loaded with the spoils of india and britain. — the q. A. (queen's ass) is a zebra; william pitt is seated, with well-stuffed panniers, in front of this novel steed, loaded with costly spoils, rights and wrongs; round the zebra's neck is a bag of bulse, containing some of warren hasting's famous ill-gotten diamonds. William pitt is sharply whipping his beast, and declaring ' i have thrown off the mask, i can blind the people no longer, and must now carry everything by my bought majority. ' the q. A. Is also trumpeting forth, 'what are children's rights to ambition ? i will rule in spite of them, if i can conceal things at q. ' a law lord, said to be intended for lord edward thurlow, who has hold of the animal's head, is filled with certain gloomy apprehensions: ' so many scotchmen have left their heads behind in this d—d town for treason, i begin to tremble as much as the thief in the rear for my own. ' the thief in the rear is the duke of richmond, who, with one of his famous defence guns between his legs, is assisting pitt's advance with a goad, and crying 'skulking in the rear, out of sight, suits best my character. ' a finger-post is pointing to tower hill, by b—m (buckingham) house. Date: 1788. Dimensions: Sheet: 9 1/4 × 12 1/2 in. (23.5 × 31.8 cm). Medium: hand-colored etching and aquatint. Collection: Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Q.A. Loaded With The Spoils of India and Britain MET DP871962
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