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Prince Giglio’s Speech to the Army
W.M. Thackeray
1855
Wood engraving, probably by William Linton
4½ x 2½ inches
Illustration for Thackeray’s The Rose and The Ring, p.94.
The Prince droning away to his captive audience, who look at him in amazement or counter the boredom by having private conversations.
Scanned image and text by Simon Cooke (2014). Passage illustrated and commentary below by Philip V. Allingham (2022).
[You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the person who scanned it and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.]
"Give up my sword! Giglio give up his sword!" cried the Prince; and stepping well forward on to the balcony [of the inn], the royal youth, without preparation, delivered a speech so magnificent, that no report can do justice to it. It was all in blank verse (in which, from this time, he invariably spoke, as more becoming his majestic station). It lasted for three days and three nights, during which not a single person who heard him was tired, or remarked the difference between daylight and dark. The soldiers only cheering tremendously, when occasionally, once in nine hours, the Prince paused to suck an orange, which Jones took out of the bag. He explained, in terms which we say we shall not attempt to convey, the whole history of the previous transaction, and his determination not only not to give up his sword, but to assume his rightful crown; and at the end of this extraordinary, this truly gigantic effort, Captain Hedzoff flung up his helmet, and cried, "Hurray! Hurray! Long live King Giglio!" [XIV. "What Became of Giglio," pp. 389-390; descriptive headlines: "Now Good-bye to Book and Pen, / Follow Giglio, Gentlemen!" pp. 389].
At the last town before the frontier with Crim Tartary Prince Giglio puts up at the inn. The King's Captain of the Guard, Hedzoff, catches up with the Prince and his party at this point with orders to apprehend him. However, instead of yielding his sword as ordered, Giglio makes an extraordinarily long and impassioned speech to the soldiers from the tavern's balcony, denouncing the present King Padella as a usurper. Despite the fact that he has just a handful of companions and Hedzoff commands an army of thirty thousand, he stands firm, persuading the troops not to arrest him, but to proclaim him their Sovereign. Giglio could surely not have achieved so startling a reversal had he not studied the classical authors at College.
At the end of the speech the troops indeed proclaim him their rightful King. In gratitude for this sudden elevation, Prince Giglio orders beer all around. This is just the fourth of seven full-page engravings, each with its own caption.
Furniss, Harry. The Rose and The Ring; or, The History of Prince Giglio and the Prince Bulbo. William Makepeace Thackeray's Christmas Books. With illustrations by the author and Harry Furniss. The Harry Furniss Centenary Edition. London: Macmillan and Co., 1911. Pp. 287-428.
Titmarsh, M.A. [W.M. Thackeray].The Rose and The Ring London: Smith, Elder, 1855.
Created 27 October 2014
Last modified 11 August 2022