1-150-852 - The Cartoon Collector/Heritage-Images

'The Giants and the Pigmy', 1881. The Liberal Prime Minister, carrying the axe, is walking in company with his Chief Secretary for Ireland, Mr William Forster. The little figure to the right is Lord Randolph Churchill, the brilliant but unstable leader of what was known as the Fourth Party, a small group of radical Conservatives. One of their key aims was to champion the cause of the traditional aristocracy in order to promote in turn their championing of the working classes, supposedly to the benefit of both groups. During the course of a debate on the protection of lives and property in Ireland, Churchill had urged the Liberal government to seek his support, and thus the support of his fringe group, by taking a more vigorous line of action in Ireland. From Punch, or the London Charivari, January 22, 1881.