The Rival Sandwiches: A Slanging Duet

And the Battle of Hustings

John Gordon Thomson (1841-1923), artist

Dalziel Brothers, engravers

Fun 31 (7 April 1880): 139

Conservative: — “You’re a ——————, and —————.” Liberal: — “And you’re a —————, ————, and —————.”

Source: Hathi Digital Library Trust web version of a copy in the Princeton University library.

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This cartoon is surely one of the best presentations ever of the Gladstone-Disraeli rivalry and the policies on which they stood so opposed. Gladstone, wearing a Scottish kilt, wears an advertising sandwich board that clearly states both the Liberal program and the party’s attacks on Dizzy for his combination of imperialism and deception while Disraeli who wears a suit of armor signifying his conservative neo-medievalism à la Carlyle, links empire and [British] liberty whatever the cost.

Last modified 15 February 2016