The bait took, and the theatre was crowded: patience was exhausted, and some one in the pit calling out that ‘For double prices, the conjurer will go into a pint bottle,’ an uproar began, which ended in the wreckage of the house, which was made into a bonfire outside, and the carrying off of the treasury. With this introduction we can the better understand ‘Britannia blowing up the Corsican Bottle-Conjurer,’ by I. Cruikshank (August 17, 1803), which represents Napoleon being violently ejected into the air, in an extremely disorganised condition, from the mouth of a bottle which is labelled ‘British Spirits composed of True Liberty, Courage, Loyalty and Religion,’ and in which is seated Britannia, helmed, and armed with spear and shield. [Illustration: THE CORSICAN MOTH!] Woodward designed ‘The Corsican Moth’ (August 22, 1803), which, flying towards the candle, exclaims: ‘It is a very fierce flame; I am afraid I shall singe my wings!’ George III. consoles himself with: ‘Thou little contemptible insect, I shall see thee consumed by-and-by.’ [Illustration: THE HANDWRITING ON THE WALL.] This very vivid caricature explains itself. The French Court are consuming all the good things to be got by the invasion of England in anticipation, when the fearful ‘Mene, Mene, Tekel Upharsin,’ the mystic handwriting on the wall, appears. Napoleon is in consternation, but his wife and the assembled guests do not seem to notice it. Josephine is here, as generally, depicted as being very fat. She was not so at this time, nor for some time after. Madame Junot says: ‘I observed that Josephine had grown very stout since the time of my departure from Spain. This change was at once for the better and the worse. It imparted a more youthful appearance to her face; but her elegant and slender figure, which had been one of her principal attractions, had entirely disappeared. She was now decidedly _embonpoint_, and her figure had assumed that matronly air which we find in the statues of Agrippina, Cornelia, &c.’ The three ladies behind her chair are supposed to represent Pauline, who was afterwards the Princess Borghese, the Princess Louise, and the Princess Joseph Bonaparte. ‘A Knock Down blow in the Ocean, or Bonaparte taking French leave,’ is by some unknown artist (August 24, 1803). John Bull, stripped to the waist in true pugilistic style, has encountered Bonaparte in the Channel, and, with one well-directed blow, has sunk him, leaving only his hat and boots to tell the tale. With great satisfaction the old man says: ‘There, my lad, I think that blow will settle the business. D--n me, he is gone in such a hurry he has left his hat and spurs behind him.’ The English give ringing cheers: ‘John Bull for ever! Huzza! Huzza! Bravo! Bravo!’ But the French look very rueful, and, wringing their hands and weeping, exclaim: ‘Ah! misericorde, pauvre Bonaparte. O dat Terrible Jean Bool.’ AN INVASION SKETCH.