Publication
[London] : Pubd. Jany. 13, 1804, by S.W. Fores, No. 50 Piccadilly, [13 January 1804]
Notes
Title etched below image.
Attributed to Charles Williams in the British Museum catalogue.
Sheet trimmed within plate mark.
Publisher's advertisement in lower right: Folios of caracatures [sic] lent out for the evening.
Summary
"Two designs placed side by side, the title so arranged that 'The Contrast' applies to both, the first four and last two words to the two designs respectively. [1] A scene outside Jaffa where the French flag flies from a fort on a rock at whose base are hospital tents (left), in which the sick can be seen. In the foreground Napoleon (a poor portrait) points with an imperious gesture to a bottle of 'Opium' in the hand of a distressed doctor in civilian dress. He says: "Don't talk to me of Humanity & the feelings of a generous heart, I say Poison those Sick dogs they are a burthen to me, & can no longer fight my Battles!!! I say destroy them - As for those Turks, them up in the Garrison, turn all the Guns upon them, Men, Women, & Children & blow them to atoms, they are too bold & resolute for me to suffer them to live, they are in my Way." In the middle distance (left) is a body of Turks, their arms tied behind them, guarded by a French soldier who points at Napoleon. Behind Napoleon two French officers exchange glances, acutely dismayed at the orders." ... [2] Two black soldiers, in neat regimentals, prepare to kill three haggard French officers. One raises an axe to smite a bound prisoner. Two British officers (left) interpose with outstretched arms; one says: "We know they are our Enemies, & yours, & the Enemies of all Mankind, nevertheless Humanity is so strongly planted in the Breast of an Englisman [sic], that he can become an humble beggar, for the lives, even of his enemies, when they are subdued." The other adds: "A mercy unexpected, undeserved surprises more."--British Museum online catalogue.