The Accusing Spirit and the Recording Angel, published by Hannah Humphrey in 1791 (hand-coloured etching)

The print is a satirical attack on the Reverend Matthew William Peters, a minor artist who designed illustrations for major printsellers such at the Boydell brothers. Gillray uses Uncle Toby's quote in Laurence Sterne's "Tristram Shandy": "The poor soul will die: — He shall not die, by G — , cried my uncle Toby." And immediately, " — The ACCUSING SPIRIT which flew up to heaven's chancery with the oath, blush'd as he gave it in, — and the RECORDING ANGEL as he wrote it down, dropp'd a tear upon the word, and blotted it out for ever." Peters is depicted as the accusing spirit