Locusts, Place-men, and Politics: A Satirical Print from 1748
In 1748, swarms of locusts descended on central Europe. They made their way as far west as Britain prompting The General Evening Post, no. 225 from 13-16 August 1748 to state that "The Appearance of the LOCUSTS in this Nation [had] much alarmed both Town and Country." The locusts in Britain fortunately caused limited damage to British agriculture. Nevertheless, they generated enough of a sensation to become a cultural signifier for other concerns.
For Grub Street, locusts were symbolic of corrupt politicians. Appearing in Britain in August-September, the locusts arrived near the beginning of the parliamentary season. An anonymous writer, who called themself "NICK'EM" (perhaps a double-entendre to "nickum," a term for a mischievous person and the verb "to nick," which could mean to cut or to hit) wrote in the London Evening Post, no 3251 (1-3 September 1748):
To the AUTHOR, &c.
SIR,
PRAY let your Readers know that the Word LOCUST is from LOCUS, a PLACE; that PLACE-MEN are LOCUSTS, and to be serv'd accordingly."
An anonymous print took this concept further, representing a procession of locusts representing "attorneys," "priests," and "Bry-s" entering through "Holbein Gate" at Whitehall (1531-1759). They stripped all the trees along the route, one which represents the "Mag:[na] C[arta]." Several locusts carry regalia, including a trio with a scepter, key, and a coat of arms. Behind them, a group of "Cor. Ex[cis]e m[e]n" are followed by "C.[hurch Off[icials]" above whom flies a locust with a papal tiara.
In the foreground is a group of eight locusts, each numbered and described as if they were natural history specimens:
"1 Found at St James's.": This locust holds a commander's baton as we often see in portraits of Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, who it references.
"2 found in Staffordshire.": John Leveson Gower, 1st Earl Gower, a Staffordshire Tory who served as Lord Privy Seal
"3 found in Bloomsbury": John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford, who was Secretary of State for the Southern Department
"4 found in Lincolns Innfields.": Henry Pelham, who was the Prime Minister
"5. the fellow to the fourth": Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle, who was Henry Pelham's brother and Secretary of State for the Northern Department
"6. A female Locust found at Yarmouth": Wallmoden, Amalie Sophie Marianne von [née Amalie Sophie Marianne von Wendt], suo jure countess of Yarmouth, who was said to have a role in the appointing peers
"7. found near Huntington.": John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, who was First Lord of the Admiralty
"8. found in Worcestershire": This is unclear, but it's possibly a reference to Robert Tracy, who fought a protracted battle for a seat in Worcestershire between 1747 and 1748.
Image:
Anonymous. "And ye Locusts rested in all ye Coasts of Egypt." 1748. etching. x 30.1cm (image, trimmed). British Museum. 1868,0808.3864. Inscription: "And ye Locusts rested in all ye Coasts of Egypt: Very grievous were they: before them there were no such Locusts as they, neither after them shall be such, they shall fill thy Houses & eat up every gr[een thing]"