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A fearful woman (Britannia) is encouraged by three British politicians to resist the invading fleet of France. Coloured etching by J. Gillray after J. Sneyd, 1803.

  • Sneyd, John
Date
14 March 1803
Reference
12191i
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About this work

Description

The fainting Britannia is fortified by "doctors and ministers" represented by Charles Jenkinson (Baron Hawkesbury, subsequently Earl of Liverpool) and Henry Addington (subsequently Viscount Sidmouth): Jenkinson wears a fur-lined robe, while Addington, as a doctor in the robes of the Royal College of Physicians, holds smelling salts ("Gunpowder") to her nose. Sheridan, as a quack doctor's assistant ("Sherry Andrew", play on "Merry Andrew"), holds a club and a shield in the form of the head of the Medusa against Napoleon and a French invasion force crossing the English Channel. Fox is shown behind them. The characters speak as if playing roles in a Shakespearian tragedy

Publication/Creation

[London] (27 St. James's Street) : H. Humphrey, 14 March 1803.

Physical description

1 print : etching, with watercolour ; platemark 26.1 x 36.3 cm

Contributors

Lettering

Physical aid, - or - Britannia recover'd from a trance; - also, the patriotic courage of Sherry Andrew, & a peep thro' the fog.

References note

British Museum, Catalogue of political and personal satires, vol. VIII, London 1947, no. 9972

Lettering note

Britannia says "Doctors & Ministers of dis grace defend me!", with "dis" scored through , a parody of Hamlet, Act I, scene 4, "Angels and ministers of grace defend us!"

Reference

Wellcome Library no. 12191i

Type/Technique

Languages

  • English

Subjects

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