A grand manoeuvre!, or, The rogues march to the island of Elba [graphic]

"In a fantastic procession Napoleon, much burlesqued and very thin, is dragged and pushed to the sea-shore, where (right) a boat manned by the Devil waits to take him to Elba. Round his neck is a rope dragged by two dwarfish and ragged Frenchmen (right): one is a ferocious little Jacobin, wearing a bonnet rouge, shouting "à bas le Tyran"; the other is a royalist, waving a hat in which is an olive-branch and ribbons inscribed 'Vivent les Bourbons', and shouting "Vive Louis XVIII." Napoleon weeps; he is assailed by a shower of missiles including cats and rats; a little demon capers on his head playing a fiddle. His hands are tied behind him and his coat is worn back to front; his feet project through his ragged boots, his great spurs are attached to the front of his leg above the instep. In his coat-pocket is a tiny King of Rome waving a rattle topped by a crown and shouting: "By gar Papa I have made von grand manœuvre in your Pocket!!" The chief motive force is the large 'Allied Broom' [according to Broadley, perhaps describing another state, the inscription is not 'Allied Broom' but 'Abdication'], with which Talleyrand, wearing a long gown and a high surgical shoe on his left foot, pushes Napoleon forward, pointing derisively and grinning delightedly; he says: "There he goes!!!" Behind Talleyrand are a small but elderly drummer and a ragged soldier playing a fife. The former wears in his cap a big white favour, and an inscription: 'Vive Louis XVIII'; the latter wears a laurel branch and a favour inscribed 'Vive Louis' in his bonnet rouge; from his mouth float the words: "He was whip'd & he w drum'd, He w [sic] drum'd out of the Regt, If ever he is a Soldier again, The Devil may be his Sergeant." Next, and on the extreme left, are two women flinging missiles at Napoleon, and shouting "a bas le Tyran--Down with the Tyrant--Vive Louis." On the extreme right is a shouting man holding up a tricolour flag, inscribed 'Vivent les Bourbons', its staff topped by a fleur-de-lis. On the ground (left) are Napoleon's epaulets with the scissors by which they have been cut from his coat, his sash and a small crown, perhaps that of the King of Rome. With these is a document: 'Done at Fontainebleau', across which lies a broken sword. On the horizon (right) is a rocky island from which rise large flames; these surround a tall gibbet with one dangling corpse and one empty noose; a ladder leans against it."--British Museum online catalogue