The history of the nineteenth century in caricature . SETTLING THE ALABAMA CLAIMS. M. Gambetta seldom received attention at the hands ofEnglish caricaturists; but in 1881, when the resignation ofJules Ferry and his colleagues resulted in the formation of anew ministry with Gambetta at the head, and both Englishand German newspapers were sarcastically saying that theGambetta Cabinet represented only himself, Punch had tohave his little fling at the French statesman, portraying himas beaming with self-complacence, and striking an attitude CENTURY IN CARICATURE 253 in front of a statue of Louis X
The history of the nineteenth century in caricature . SETTLING THE ALABAMA CLAIMS. M. Gambetta seldom received attention at the hands ofEnglish caricaturists; but in 1881, when the resignation ofJules Ferry and his colleagues resulted in the formation of anew ministry with Gambetta at the head, and both Englishand German newspapers were sarcastically saying that theGambetta Cabinet represented only himself, Punch had tohave his little fling at the French statesman, portraying himas beaming with self-complacence, and striking an attitude CENTURY IN CARICATURE 253 in front of a statue of Louis XIV., while he echoes the lattersfamous dictum, LEtat cest moi! Two cartoons which tell their own story are devoted toFenianism. The first commemorates the Phoenix Park out-rage in which Lord Frederick Cavendish, the newly appointedChief Secretary, lost his life. The cartoon is called TheIrish Frankenstein, and is certainly baleful enough to do full. MIRAGE!- GORDON WAITING AT KHARTOUM. justice to the hideousness of the crime it is intended to sym-bolize. The second cartoon, entitled The Hidden Hand,shows the Fenian monster receiving a bag of gold from amysterious hand stretched from behind a curtain. The refer-ence is to a supposed inner circle of assassins, directed andpaid by greater villains who kept themselves carefully be-hind the scenes. The tragedy of Khartoum formed the subject of several 254 CENTURY IN CARICATURE grim and forceful pages. Mirage was almost propheticin its conception, representing General Gordon gazing acrossthe desert, where, by the tantalizing refraction of the air, hecan plainly see the advancing British hosts, which in realityare destined to arrive too late. Too late, in fact, are thevery words which serve as a caption of the next has fallen, and Britannia, having come upon afruitless mission, stands a picture of despair, her face buriedupon her arm, her useless shield lying neglected
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