In Liquidation
John Tenniel, artist
Swain, engraver
Punch (30 July 1880)
Counsellor G[ladstone]. “We help you? My good man, we can do nothing for you if you resist the judgment of the court.”
Does Mr. Punch make more fun of the Sultan, whom Tenniel here characteristically depicts as a short, fat, ugly little man, or Gladstone, the Europeans, and their faith in a diplomatic conference? England, after all, needs Turkey as a buffer against Russia in both the Mediterranean and in Egypt, which is officially a Turkish province. And England and the Europeans continue to lend Turkey money.