Introduction: ‘The Radical Ladder’

Abstract

The image on the front of this book, The Radical Ladder’, cut by George Cruikshank, depicts the most revolutionary set of events seen in Britain since the 1640s. Printed in 1820 at the expense of ‘The Loyal Association’ — an organisation formed to combat radical literature and counteract ‘the mania of wild liberty … which is spreading in Britain’¹ — it shows Queen Caroline, the estranged wife of the new King, George IV, near the top of a stepladder, supported by a republican rabble. Holding a burning torch in one hand, she reaches for a blazing crown with the other. The crown rests on a book placed on top of a Corinthian column that has scales of Justice at the bottom and rises to ‘Commons’, ‘Lords’ and ‘King’. The spine of the book carries the abbreviation ‘IHS’ — usually a Christogram, giving the first three letters of Jesus’s name in Greek.² Behind Caroline, sheltering under her cloak, is a murderous Jacobin crew, all of whom are armed and wearing caps of liberty, with one holding a flag saying ‘Democratic Republic’. The steps of the ladder are inscribed with events that had occurred since the ending of the war in 1815. The first rung reads ‘Spa Fields Riot’, a radical meeting turned rowdy in December 1816.³ Next up is ‘Smithfield’, another large meeting held in July 1819,⁴ there follows ‘Hunt’s Procession’, referring to the radical leader Henry ‘Orator’ Hunt.