English Caricaturists and Graphic Humourists of the Nineteenth Century.: How they Illustrated and Interpreted their Times.Everitt, Graham
History
English Caricaturists and Graphic Humourists of the Nineteenth Century.: How they Illustrated and Interpreted their Times.
Everitt, Graham
Caricature -- Great Britain; Illustration of books -- Great Britain -- 19th century
Six days afterwards, the star of Napoleon Bonaparte had set for ever in
the lurid and ensanguined battle clouds of Waterloo. Scarcely one month
later on--that is to say, on the 15th of July, 1815--he had surrendered
to Captain Maitland, of his majesty's ship _Bellerophon_, under
circumstances which, while they reflect no discredit on the honour of
that gallant officer, seem to us, so far as England was herself
concerned, scarcely to have justified her subsequent treatment of the
great but unfortunate emperor. With this, however, we have nothing to
do. The _Bellerophon_ on the evening of the 23rd, brought the
distinguished exile within sight of the coast of England, a
circumstance to which a subsequent caricature (_etched_ by the artist)
has reference. On the 6th of September was published by Fores, _Boney's
Threatened Invasion brought to bear, or Taking a View of the English
Coast from ye Poop of the Bellerophon_. The little emperor, confined to
the mast by a chain fastened to his leg, leaps on the breech of one of
the _Bellerophon's_ guns, spy-glass in hand. "By gar, mon Empereur,"
says Count Bertrand, "dey have erect von prospect for you." The
"prospect" is far from encouraging--a fort with the English flag flying
from the central tower, and a gibbet erected in front of it. No wonder
that the emperor expresses himself dissatisfied with a "prospect" of so
lugubrious a character. An English sailor seated on a neighbouring gun,
delivers the sentiments of the day after the plain-spoken fashion of his
countrymen. This design, which is by no means in the artist's usual
style, was etched by him from the design of some one whose name or
initials are not recorded.
The actual circumstance to which the foregoing sketch refers is related
to us by the commander of the _Bellerophon_:--
"At daybreak on the 24th of July, we were close off Dartmouth. Count
Bertrand went into the cabin and informed Bonaparte of it, who came upon
deck about half-past four, and remained on the poop until the ship
anchored in Torbay. He talked with admiration of the coast, saying, 'You
have in that respect a great advantage over France, which is surrounded
by rocks and dangers.' On opening Torbay, he was much struck with the
beauty of the scenery, and exclaimed, 'What a beautiful country! It
very, very much resembles the bay of Porto Ferrago, in Elba.'"[72]
The same year, and on the same subject, the artist gives us _Boney's
Meditations on the Island of St. Helena, or the Devil addressing the
Sun_, in which the idea is manifestly borrowed from a design by James
Gillray; _The Corsican's Last Trip under the Guidance of his Good Angel_
[the devil]; _The Genius of France Expounding her Laws to the Sublime
People_; and a very admirable and original design, _The Pedigree of
Corporal Violet_; all of which are etched from the designs of other
artists.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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