George, Prince Regent, in uniform holding out a swollen hand which is supported by Wellington; representing the enormous amount of money given to the army compared with the navy. Coloured lithograph, 1816.

The Prince Regent stands in the centre with a swollen left hand and a normal right hand. The two hands represent the amounts of money given to the army and navy respectively . On the viewer's left, next to the Regent's right hand, a naval officer complains about the discrepancy and John Bull protests against the corruption that causes it. On the viewer's right, the Regent's swollen left hand is supported by the Duke of Wellington (representing the army), and is inspected by Henry Addington, Lord Sidmouth (Home Secretary), represented as a surgeon-apothecary (his father's profession: he stands on a pestle and a mortar lies on the ground). Right, Castlereagh, Lord Londonderry (Foreign secretary), urges Vansittart (as Chancellor of the Exchequer) to raise more taxes to deal with it, but Vansittart replies that they are too high already (he had already raised taxes on male servants, carriages, horses, and dogs in 1812)

Two of the persons name the cause of the swelling in the hand as "gout" (the Prince Regent himself, who says "Confound this dd gout", and Castlereagh, who says "Levy more taxes to pay off and satisfy this cursed gout to prevent its spreading any further"); gout is also named n the publisher's caption. John Bull refers to it as "corruption" ("If you take away the corruption you may reduce it to its natural size with safety"), while Sidmouth puts the blame on "infection" ("We must supply some speedy remedy for the infection is spreading fast!!")

[London] (71 Leadenhall Stt.) : R.A. Fores, [August 1816?]

1 print : lithograph, with watercolour ; border 24.8 x 37.9 cm

Consultation on the best cure for the gout i-e multum im parvo!!

British Museum, Catalogue of political and personal satires, vol. IX, London 1949, no. 12805

Wellcome Collection 12213i