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The Earl of Bute as a Colossus wearing a tartan scarf about his shoulders stands on two stone pedestals before the tower to St James's Palace as William Pitt the Elder, leaning on a crutch, pleads with him from below. Engraving, 1767. Wellcome Collection. Public Domain Mark. Source: Wellcome Collection.
On the Earl of Bute's continued influence over the King and thereby politics despite his no longer holding office. The two pedestals that Bute stands on represent 'lust' in the form of a goat and 'fraud' in the form of a serpent. In Bute's hand are a scroll and three labels on which are written 'pensions', 'places', and 'reversions'. Further groups of men below Bute represent his political allies on the right, among them Earl Temple, and his enemies on the right. Pitt the Elder is shown leaning on a crutch, a reference both to his gout and to his weaker political position
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