1803 / 1851 Gillray Satirical Cartoon of the Treaty of Amiens, Malta

This is a 1851 George Bohn restrike of an 1803 James Gillray satirical print dealing with an Anglo-French dispute over the island of Malta. Britain reluctantly agreed to remove its troops and ships from the island according to the March 1802 Treaty of Amiens. However, as relations broke down over the following months, Malta became a rallying cry for British resistance, eventually leading to the War of the Third Coalition.

A Closer Look

Although dealing with deadly serious topics, true to Gillray's style, the print is irreverent throughout, including its title, with the double entendre of 'evacuation' as both removing troops from an area and defecation. The figure at left is a gaunt and wild-eyed Napoleon, wildly demanding more territories from hapless British Prime Minister Henry Addington, who is so scared by Napoleon's threats that he has lost control of his bowels, dropping one British territory after another. A French officer catches the territories in his hat and attempts to persuade Napoleon not to push too hard lest Addington be replaced by a more resolute Prime Minister. Addington's words also suggest that he had nepotistic reasons for wanting to stay in office.

Historical Context

This print was originally printed in February 1803, nearly a year after the March 1802 Treaty of Amiens, which ended the War of the Second Coalition (1798 - 1802). The war had left Britain deeply in debt despite increased taxes and unable to trade with the Continent (dominated by France and its allies). It was in this context that Henry Addington began his tenure as Prime Minister, a job he expressly did not want. Addington felt Britain was obliged by circumstances (including the threat of Russia siding with France) to sign the Treaty of Amiens, which granted terms generally seen as very favorable to the French, with the British abandoning most of the French territories captured in the war. For this, Addington was roundly criticized both at the time (including by Gillray) and since. Some recent historians have been more forgiving, seeing a peace as necessary for Britain to regain a solid financial footing.

In any event, the greatest sticking point in the negotiations around the Treaty of Amiens was the timeline of the promised British evacuation of Malta, which would revert to the Order of St. John. Although a timeframe of three months was eventually agreed, the means by which the British should hand over power were not specified. Britain assumed that the French would simply try to march in once they left, and moreover that the entire peace created by the Treaty of Amiens was merely a maneuver by Napoleon to rebuild his forces and prepare for renewed fighting. Thus, in the months following the treaty, relations between France and Britain broke down. British troops did not leave Malta (or Egypt), and a continuation of the war became increasingly inevitable. France issued increasingly dire threats and moved to occupy Switzerland (the Helvetic Republic), which prompted Britain to seize French and Dutch ships in the vicinity of the British Isles. Addington was seen as too ineffective for wartime and replaced by his predecessor, William Pitt the Younger, who assembled the Third Coalition against France.

Gillray's Caricatures

Like many of Gillray's more profane caricatures, this one was suppressed shortly after it was published and is thus almost never seen in its original 1803 issue. The present example is George Bohn's 1851 restrike from Gillray's original plates, compiled under the title Historical and Descriptive Account of the Caricatures of James Gillray.

Publication History and Census

This etching was initially made by James Gillray and published by Hannah Humphrey in February 1803. As mentioned above, it was suppressed shortly afterwards and then reprinted using the original plate in 1851 by George Bohn. Due to Bohn using the original plates and due to the original work being incorporated into some compilations of satirical prints, cataloging of this work is somewhat confused, and examples that are likely from the 1851 restrike are often cataloged as being 1803 originals (distinguishable by the lack of a plate number at bottom-right). Regardless of printing, the work is held by Harvard University, Yale University, the Library of Congress, the Morgan Library and Museum, the Art Institute of Chicago, the British Museum, and the National Portrait Gallery (U.K.), and it is listed among compilations held by Boston College, the Office of Commonwealth Libraries (Pennsylvania), Princeton University, and the National Library of New Zealand.