The New Broom

Mr. Bull. "New Brooms sweep — Well, well, we shall see."

Wood engraving

Punch (16 May 1857): 195

More cartoon commentary on the Crimean War

What we must come to

Rout out of a Robber's Den

Boxing Day

A Day's Fishing at Sebastopol

[See commentary below]

Scanned image by Philip V. Allingham; text by PVA and by George P. Landow

[You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the photographer and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.]

This cartoon about post-Crimean War reforms obviously refers to the old adage, "A new broom sweeps clean." Note the depiction of the reforming politician as a crossing sweeper, an occupation upon which Punch comments elsewhere [GPL]. As for the identity of the crossing-sweeper, it does indeed stand to reason that he is a caricature of Palmerston, but the face looks much more like that of Lord John Russell, who seems to have been the spokesman for the radical wing of Palmerston's party.

Military reforms included a land transport corps, a military board, a reorganization of the War Office, and sundry medical reforms associated with Florence Nightingale. Of 21,000 British soldiers who died in the Crimea, 16,000 perished from various diseases and infections..

Last modified 5 April 2004