1-150-253 - The Cartoon Collector/Heritage-Images

'Bow-Wow!!', 1859. Rumours of the invasion of Britain by France abounded. The French press reported extensively that Britain was in fact preparing to take the offensive and that 'In that country which holds war in so much abhorrence, they are now making a hundred thousand rifles, and everybody is learning to use them'. Mr Punch considered such reports to be so much 'Bow-wow'. Here, the British lion sits majestically on British soil. There is a flotilla of boats on the sea beneath him. On the other side of the Channel, Napoleon thrusts forward a yapping poodle which is balanced on a pair of bellows, no doubt issuing forth nothing but hot air. From Punch, or the London Charivari, November 19, 1859.