The English Lion Dismembered (BM 1868,0808.4039)

Satire on the ineffective conduct of the Seven Years' War. The British lion has lost a foot labelled 'Minorca' and the French cock is tearing up the Union flag; two Frenchman discuss their aim to acquire British colonies in North America as well. The Lord Mayor of London and aldermen deliver a petition for an inquiry into the loss of Minorca and are met with evasive responses from courtiers or ministers; Hanoverian mercenaries are confronted by three countrymen who complain at the absence of a local militia which they blame on landowners' fear for their game ('hares & partridges'). On the left, Admiral Byng, in fetters, addresses his court martial.
Etching and engraving