1-150-345 - The Cartoon Collector/Heritage-Images

'A Growl For Poland', 1863. 'Mr. Bull. Ah, Old Dog - You'd Like To Have Another Run At That Bear, Wouldn't You; But You Won't This Time. The Russians, represented here by the Russian Bear, had launched a campaign of conscription in Poland. Lord Napier, the British Ambassador at St Petersburg, commented that it was designed solely to confine the potential for Poland's revolution within the Russian army. After some 2,500 young men had been conscripted by Russian police agents and soldiers in one day, there was a Polish rebellion. Here, the Bear brandishes a gun at the shackled Poland, while John Bull and the British bulldog look on. Britain was preserving neutrality. From Punch, or the London Charivari, Februrary 21, 1863.