The Last Straw. Signed “FAE lower left”. Source: Fun (19 December 1893): 262. Courtesy of the Suzy Covey Comic Book Collection in the George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida. Click on image to enlarge it.
M. F. H.: — “You’ve gone over!”
M. P.: — “Yes, awfully sorry. Stock to Gladstone as long ’s I could; swallowed Home Rule, Local Veto and even Parish Councils, but hang it, when they whipped us up for Saturdays, my only day for hunting, I began to feel conscientious scruples about the Ministerial policy!”
This cartoon mocks upperclass members of Parliament who follow their party's leader, in this case, Gladstone — until his desire for Parliament to meet and work on Saturday interferes with their primary interest — fox hunting. Fun here repeats the charge Thomas Carlyle made in Chartism a half century earlier, namely, that in times of crisis when leadership is urgently needed, the aristocracy is busy preserving their game. — George P. Landow
[You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the University of Florida library and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.]
Last modified 29 April 2016