Nelson's Victory; -or- Good News operating upon Loyal Feelings, 3 October 1798
Scope and Contents
Artist: James Gillray. Published: Hannah Humphrey. Members of the Opposition, arranged in two horizontal rows, receive the news of Aboukir. [1] In the upper left corner Burdett sits, directed to the right, intently reading the 'Extraordinary Gazette' on 'Nelson's Victory'; his shock of hair covers his eyes, and he says, left hand raised in alarm: "sure I cannot see clear?" On the wall (left) is a print, a profile head of 'Buonaparte'. [2] Jekyll stands beside Lansdowne, who reclines in an arm-chair in dressing-gown and bonnet-rouge, a gouty leg resting on a cushion. He holds out a paper headed 'Captured IX French Ships of War'; under his arm is a paper: '2 Burnt'; he holds up two fingers. Lansdowne puts his hands over his ears, saying, "I can't hear! I can't hear." [3] Bedford, sitting on a large treasure-chest, sourly tears in half a paper: 'complete Destruction of Buonaparte's Fleet - ', saying, "It's all a damn'd Lye". Behind his chest are padlocked sacks inscribed '£', indicating his wealth; on the wall hang jockey-cap, boots, and riding-whip. [4] Erskine lies back in his chair holding a smelling-bottle to his nose, from his dangling right hand have dropped papers: 'Capture of Buonaparte's Dispatches'. He says "I shall Faint, I.I.I." He sits by a table on which are writing-materials and 'Republican Briefs'. [5] Norfolk sits in an arm-chair beside a table on which are signs of a debauch: overturned decanters and a candle guttering in its socket. Wine pours from his mouth and from a glass in his right hand. At his feet is a broken tobacco-pipe, in his left hand a paper: 'Nelson and the British Fleet'. He says "what a sickening Toast!". [6 and 7] Tierney and Sheridan sit looking at each other across a table, Tierney (left) clutching his knee, on which lies a paper: 'End of the French Navy - Britannia Rules the Waves'. From his pocket issues a paper: 'End of the Irish Rebellion'. He says: "ah! our hopes are all lost". Sheridan, elbows on the table, his chin in his hands, says "I must lock up my Jaw!" Before him are papers: 'List of the Republican Ships Taken and Destroy[ed]'. [8] Fox, in the lower right corner, hangs by a noose, having just kicked a stool from under his feet; his crisped fingers have dropped a paper: 'Farewell to the Whig Club'. He says: "and I, - end with Éclat!" He wears a bonnet-rouge. Description from the British Museum.
Dates
- Creation: 3 October 1798
Conditions Governing Access
Physical item available by appointment in our Reading Room
Extent
1.0 Item(s)
Language of Materials
English
Repository Details
Part of the Special Collections and Archives Repository
Western Bank Library
University of Sheffield
Western Bank
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