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Friday, April 30, 2026

Caricature vs. The Corporation # 03: The South Sea Scheme

In the early 1720s, William Hogarth created a print based on an early 18th-century episode of financial speculation and collapse.

As part of his description of the print in Hogarth’s Graphic Works, Ronald Paulson wrote:

"All classes became addicted to speculation, not only in the South Sea monopoly but also in a throng of parasite companies, some devoted to such practices as discovering the secret of perpetual motion, or extracting oil from radishes or butter from beechnuts … The bubble had burst by the end of August 1720, and ancestral estates and life savings alike disappeared."

The print, titled The South Sea Scheme, shows a chaotic London street scene. On the right, the pedestal bears the inscription "THIS MONUMENT WAS ERECTED IN MEMORY OF THE DESTRUCTION OF THIS CITY BY THE SOUTH SEA IN 1720."

The South Sea Scheme by William Hogarth

The South Sea Scheme by William Hogarth

April 1721, Copper-plate engraving
10 1/2″h x 12 1/2″w

Inscription at the bottom of the print:

See here ye Causes why in London,
So many Men are made, & undone,
That Arts, & honest Trading drop,
To Swarm about ye Devils shop, (A)
Who Cuts out (B) Fortunes Golden Haunches,

Trapping their Souls with Lotts and Chances,
Shareing em from Blue Garters down
To all Blue Aprons in the Town.
Here all Religions flock together,
Like Tame and Wild Fowl of a Feather,

Leaving their strife Religious bustle,
Kneel down to play at pitch and Hussle; (C)
Thus when the Sheepherds are at play,
Their flocks must surely go Astray;
The woeful Cause yt in these Times

(E) Honour, & (D) honesty, are Crimes,
That publickly are punish’d by
(G) Self Interest, and (F) Vilany;
So much for monys magick power
Guess at the Rest you find out more.

The South Sea Scheme details 1 and 2

The South Sea Scheme details 3 and 4

"So much for monys magick power …"

David Donihue, GreatCaricatures.com financial reform

David Donihue, GreatCaricatures.com


David Donihue, GreatCaricatures.com

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