Rowlandson the Caricaturist; a Selection from His Works. Vol. 2Grego, Joseph
History
Rowlandson the Caricaturist; a Selection from His Works. Vol. 2
Grego, Joseph
English wit and humor, Pictorial; Rowlandson, Thomas, 1756-1827
_April 8, 1815._ _Hell Hounds Rallying round the Idol of France._
Published by R. Ackermann.--The enthusiasm with which the return of
'Boney' was hailed, from his landing in France till his arrival in
the capital, and the devoted reception he encountered from his old
followers, are made the subjects of more than one travesty. In the
present case the head and bust of the Emperor, on a colossal scale--his
throat encircled by a hangman's noose--is elevated on an immense
pyramid of human heads, his decapitated victims; a brace of demons are
flying through the air to encircle the brow of this apostle of freedom
with a crown of blazing pitch. A ring of excited demons, with horns,
claws, hoofs, and tails, but bearing the heads and faces of Napoleon's
supporters, are dancing in triumph round the idol they have replaced.
From labels attached to the ropes which surround the throttles of these
enthusiastic Bonapartists we discover the so-called 'Hell Hounds' to
be Marshals Ney, Lefebre, Davoust, Vandamme, Savery, Caulincourt, with
Fouché, and others. The old slaughters have recommenced; towns are
committed to the flames, English goods are once more destroyed, and
heaped around are soldiers, some dead and others wounded, to serve the
cause of a rapacious ambition which had drained the blood of France for
years.
1815. _Vive le Roi! Vive l'Empereur! Vive le Diable! French Constancy
and French Integrity._--As might have been foreseen, Napoleon's old
ascendency over the French army asserted itself more strongly than
ever; the intermediate state of things and the humiliations to which
the country was unavoidably forced to submit during the process of
restoring the stolen property and possessions to the rightful owners
had increased the national animosity with which the troops and the
people continued to regard the foreign invaders, friends, allies, and
upholders of _Louis le Desiré_. The more martial spirits, wearied of a
restoration with which France felt no sympathy, began to languish for
the presence of their great captain, under whose military empire their
laurels had been won. The fickleness and instability of the Gallic
race are set forth in the present caricature. A trooper has abjured
his allegiance to the Bourbons, and is hailing his Corporal with a
pinch from his snuffbox; his hat is still garnished with the white
cockade, _Vive le Roi!_ above it is a red one, _Vive le Diable!_ and,
on the other side, the famous tricolor, and _Vive l'Empereur!_ _French
Constancy_ is illustrated in these interchanged emblems. _French
Stability_ appears figuratively likened to the sails of a windmill; as
to _French Integrity_, the emblems of a monkey and cat, kissing and
fondling, pictorially sets forth the 'union between the National Guard
and the troops of the line.'
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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