A portion of a stanza from the “Comic Song” is printed in the bottom margin:<\/p>\n
The artist, P. Matthews, gives credit for the song in a broadside shown posted to the wall under the clock in the print: “First Offence! Public Notice. Whereas P. Mathews having been convicted [of] stealing material from a comic song and murdering the subject, craves the pardon of the critics of Hagley Bazaar, Aug. 1838.” In other words, the artist indicates in the print that the illustration is based on the popular comic song of the period about an owner prosecuted under the act for cruelty to his donkey.\u00a0 This and other historical aspects underlying the print are further explained at length in a scholarly article by Ivan Kreilkamp:<\/p>\n
The inauguration of the world\u2019s first organized animal welfare movement can be dated to 1822 or 1824 in London, with the 1822 passing of the \u201cAct to prevent the cruel and improper treatment of Cattle\u201d\u2014subsequently popularly known as Martin\u2019s Act, after its sponsor, the Irish M.P. Richard Martin\u2014and the 1824 founding of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA). This particular moment was a culmination, however, of debates, arguments, and appeals that had steadily intensified throughout the previous century.<\/p>\n
[* * *]<\/p>\n
For Martin\u2019s Bill to become law, however, it had to pass through what was in effect a final crucible of laughter and ridicule, one that reminds us that the cultural role of \u201cdefender of animals\u201d had become widely associated, at this period, with possibly-insane preachers, over-sensitive Evangelicals, and poets. \u201cIn the Commons,\u201d one historian reports, \u201cMartin\u2019s bill was greeted with the usual storm of laughter, ridicule, and outraged hostility, as its opponents rose to denounce it. Their arguments had not changed since a decade before;\u201d the \u201canimated debate [was] infused with ridicule, scoffing, and general hilarity (Shevelow 247, 249).\u00a0 The Times<\/em> report of the initial, failed 1821 attempt by Martin to present the bill suggests an atmosphere of schoolboy hilarity in the Commons:<\/p>\n
Mr. Alderman C. Smith . . . thought that asses should also be protected from the cruelty to which they were so often exposed.\u00a0 (Laughter.)\u00a0 The hon. Alderman went on to show the humanity and the necessity of affording protection to asses; but we could not catch the particulars of his remarks, owing to the noise and laughter which prevailed.\u00a0 He continued by moving an amendment that, after the word \u201chorses\u201d the word \u201casses\u201d should be inserted.\u00a0 (Loud laughter followed this amendment, which was considerably increased when it was put by the chairman) (London Times<\/em> 2 June 1821)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
[* * *]<\/p>\n
Shortly after the ratification of the Act, a popular comic song was published in London offering a tribute to Richard Martin.\u00a0 If to ridicule is to \u201cturn into a jest\u201d or joke, this song was, perhaps, the literal jest attached to the \u201cridiculed\u201d Martin\u2019s Act.\u00a0 Based on the actual trial of a costermonger who was the first person prosecuted under the Act, it tells the tale of two donkey owners, a kind one (narrating the tale) and a cruel one, Bill, who beats his animal.<\/p>\n
Wot makes me mention this this morn,
\nI seed that cruel chap, Bill Burn\u2014
\nWhilst he was out a-crying his greens\u2014
\nHis donkey wollop with all his means.
\nHe hit him o\u2019er his head and thighs,
\nHe brought the tears up in my eyes\u2026<\/p>\nBill\u2019s donkey was ordered into court,
\nIn which he caused a deal of sport;
\nHe cock\u2019d his ears, and ope\u2019d his jaws,
\nAs if he wished to plead his cause.
\nI prov\u2019d I\u2019d been uncommonly kind,
\nThe ass got a verdict\u2014Bill got fined;
\nFor his worship and I were of one mind,
\nAnd he said:<\/p>\nIf I had a donkey wot wouldn\u2019t go,
\nD\u2019ye think I\u2019d wollop him?\u00a0 No, no, no!
\nBut gentle means I\u2019d try, d\u2019ye see,
\nBecause I hate all cruelty.
\nIf all had been like me, in fact,
\nThere ha\u2019 been no occasion for Martin\u2019s Act \u2014
\nDumb animals to prevent getting crackt
\nOn the head.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 (qtd. in Fairholme and Pain 33-4; also see Brown 18-19)<\/p>\nThe song suggests that \u201cif all had been like me,\u201d the Act would have been unnecessary.\u00a0 But it also seems slyly to allegorize the passing of Martin\u2019s Act itself, with the donkey standing in court \u201cas if he wished to plead his cause\u201d a figure reminiscent of the \u201casses\u201d on whose behalf Alderman Smith was so exercised: \u201cthe ass got a verdict\u201d after all.<\/p>\n
Whether more due to Martin\u2019s own personal qualities and legislative skills, or to the slow shift in public consciousness having simply reached a tipping point, Martin had achieved something monumental, a national legislation testifying (if only to a point and provisionally) the legal personhood of certain nonhuman creatures, their standing as legal subjects possessing rights and protections beyond those due to them as possessions.\u00a0 He did so in part, it would seem, by facing up to and rerouting the quality of ludicrousness, humor, and disbelieving laughter that had always accompanied any efforts to change the standing of animals.\u00a0 The comic song about the two donkey-owners stands as an apt tribute to Martin\u2019s legislative accomplishment, and even perhaps as a necessary ratification of it, in the way it in effect redirects and redefines the mocking laughter that would greet an animal in the courtroom.\u00a0 The song now seems to accept an animal\u2019s presence within the space of the law as a given: a cause for humor, yes, but not for \u201cdisgust\u201d or a sense of the \u201cprostitution of the dignity\u201d of the court (to draw on language from James Granger\u2019s postscript to his unpopular 1772 sermon).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Sponsored by Member of Parliament Richard Martin of Galway (1754-1834), the Martin’s Act (also known as the Cruel Treatment of Cattle Act 1822<\/strong>) outlawed the abuse of farm animals such as cattle, horses and sheep. Martin became a founder of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals shortly thereafter. Initially, advocates against animal cruelty had difficulty enforcing the law because magistrates were reluctant to convict offenders. The Martin’s Act was superseded by the Cruelty to Animals Act 1849. <\/b><\/p>\n
Charles Hunt was a British engraver of horse and sporting subjects active during the 19th century. He came from a family of engravers and was noted for his fine engravings after Pollard, Alken, Herring and other painters working in the genre.<\/p>\n
Ackermann & Co. was a prominent British publisher and printseller. The firm was founded by Rudolph Ackermann (1764-1834), publishing as R. Ackermann from 1795 to 1829. Ackermann was born in Germany and came to England in the 1780s. He pioneered lithography in Britain (though frequently working with color-printed etchings and aquatints), and became a leading publisher of fine colorplate books, decorative prints and magazines, as well as sheet music of the Regency period. In 1797, Ackermann relocated the business premises to 101 Strand, which were known by 1798 as \u201cThe Repository of Arts,\u201d also the title of a periodical with a large number of prints that he published from 1809 to 1828. As suggested by the full title of the publication, Ackermann’s Repository of the Arts, Literature, Commerce, Manufactures, Fashions and Politics<\/strong>, the subject matter of the Repository<\/strong> was wide ranging. Among the most influential and popular images in the series were studies of Regency decorative arts, interior design and fashion, as well as various city and country views. Ackermann was a major patron of British artists and designers, notably the famous caricaturist Thomas Rowlandson (1756-1827), whose works were featured in the famous set of London interiors and exteriors entitled Microcosm of London<\/strong> (R. Ackermann, London, 1808-10). Ackermann also manufactured and sold art supplies. In 1829, Rudolph transferred the business to three of his sons, who traded as Ackermann & Co. from 1829 to 1859. The business continued until the end of the 20th Century, last operating as Arthur Ackermann and Son (with offices in the 20th Century in London, Paris, Chicago and New York).<\/p>\n
Condition: Generally very good, recently professionally cleaned and deacidified, with light remaining overall toning and wear, including some very faint browning from original backing.<\/p>\n
References:<\/p>\n
“About Us.” The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Western Australia, Inc.<\/em> http:\/\/www.rspcawa.asn.au\/AboutUs\/AboutUs.htm<\/p>\n
B\u00e9n\u00e9zit, E.\u00a0Dictionnaire critique et documentaire des Peintres, Sculpteurs, Dessinateurs et Graveurs.<\/em>\u00a0France: Librairie Gr\u00fcnd, 1966. Vol. 5, p. 30 (Hunt).<\/p>\n
Kreilkamp, Ivan. \u201cThe Ass Got a Verdict: Martin\u2019s Act and the Founding of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, 1822.\u201d BRANCH: Britain, Representation and Nineteenth-Century History<\/em>. Ed. Dino Franco Felluga. Extension of Romanticism and Victorianism on the Net<\/em>. http:\/\/www.branchcollective.org\/?ps_articles=ivan-kreilkamp-the-ass-got-a-verdict-martins-act-and-the-founding-of-the-society-for-the-prevention-of-cruelty-to-animals-1822 (2 April 2020).<\/p>\n
Maxted, Ian. “The London book trades 1775-1800: a preliminary checklist of members.” Exeter Working Papers in British Book Trade History. <\/em>U.K.: Devon Library and Information Services. 24 January 2005. http:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/etched?_IXP_=1&_IXR=111144 (4 May 2007).<\/p>\n
“Rudolph Ackermann.” National Portrait Gallery.<\/em> May 2007. http:\/\/www.npg.org.uk\/live\/search\/person.asp?LinkID=mp06540 (4 May 2007).<\/p>\n
Sheridan, Patrick J., “Introduction to the History and Ethics of the use of Animals in Science.” The Biomedical Facility, University of California at Davis<\/em>. http:\/\/www.tcd.ie\/BioResources\/teach\/introduction_to_the_history.htm<\/p>\n
Siltzer, Frank.\u00a0The Story of British Sporting Prints.<\/em>\u00a0New York: Charles Scribner\u2019s Sons, 1925. p. 166.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
P. Mathews, Stourbridge (after and publisher)
\nCharles Hunt (engraver)
\nThe Trial of “Bill Burn,” Under Martin’s Act<\/strong>
\nAckermann & Co., London: c. 1838-1840s
\nHand-colored aquatint
\n16.5 x 22 inches, image
\n21 x 25 inches, plate mark
\n21.5 x 27 inches, overall
\n$2,900<\/p>\nAn engraving of a fictitious court scene showing a donkey called as a witness against its owner who has been charged with animal cruelty. It relates to the Martin’s Act, a groundbreaking statute enacted in 1822 in Great Britain to protect animals from abuse. The print illustrates a comic song of that period describing the first prosecution under that law. The donkey is shown in the center of the courtroom having dropped the vegetable produce that he was carrying, with a copy of the Martin’s Act behind the donkey’s hind legs. The owner thumbs his nose at the donkey. A crate in the lower left corner — containing the original painting on which the print is based — is identified as “#2 The Lady Lyttleton. Hagley near Stourbridge, Worestershr. Painting keep dry. Per Amateur.” The man leaning on the crate is presumably the artist (a self portrait referring to himself in a humorously self-deprecating way as an amateur). Lady Lyttleton of Hagley Hall is thought to have been the patron for whom the painting was made. As a side note, the original painting was sold at auction at Sotheby’s London in November 2003.<\/p>\n
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