The Union Club masquerade

A burlesque of the magnificent masquerade given by the Union Club in honour of the Peace. The centre figures are the Prince of Wales as Henry VIII (left) and Mrs. Fitzherbert, stout and middle-aged, as Anne Boleyn (right) standing side by side. Behind, and towering above them, is Pitt, winged and poised on one toe, as Fame, with two trumpets, through one of which he blows the words: "What Strange creatures are the greatest" \ part of Mankind! What a composition of contra ... Fond of Fame yet labouring for Infamy." Anne Boleyn, her right hand raised, deprecatingly, says (as to 'the Old Lady', 'Henry VIII', II. iii): "I swear again, I would not be a Queen" \ For all the World." Henry says: "Who should be lov'd but you?" \ So lov'd, that ev'n my crown and self are vile" \ When you are by," \ Come to my Arms, and be thy Harrys angel;" \ Shine thro' my cares, and make my Crown sit easy." On the left the Duke of Norfolk, dressed as a fat monk with rosary and scourge hanging from his girdle, repeats to a quaker the words of his ancestor, the third duke: "He counsels a divorce: a loss of her" \ That like a jewel, has hung twenty years ... That when the greatest stroke of fortune falls," \ Will bless the King:" ['Henry VIII', II. ii]. The Quaker, standing on tiptoe with clasped hands, answers: "It is not Love but strong libidinous will" \ That triumphs o'er him;" \ The joys of marriage are the heav'n on earth," \ Life's Paradise," B------ me if it is'nt." Behind, and between Norfolk and the Prince, Lord Cholmondeley, as a toddling child, stands in a circular stand on wheels; on his head is the padded cap or 'pudding' which young children wore as a protection. All except Pitt and the Quaker hold masks. In the foreground (right) is a gipsies' tent, with three crouching gipsy women, masked, holding out their hands appealingly; beside them on the extreme right a doorway is partly visible. Behind, and between this group and Mrs. Fitzherbert, is a political group. A French cook holds a fighting cock opposite a bulldog which is held by Windham wearing a striped jacket. Hawkesbury leans from behind Windham to put an arm on the cook's shoulder, holding up an olive branch. Behind the cook is a young man (Canning) dressed as a fool or jester, who holds his bauble over the bulldog's head. These four, like the gipsies, wear masks (which do not conceal but define their features); they are watched by a grinning John Bull without a mask. Cf. British Museum online catalog.