Blindmans Buff, or Too Many for John Bull*

Using variations of well worn national stereotypes he had been employing since at least 1787 in The Dutch Divisions, Gillray gives us a wonderfully animated and succinct look at the state of British international affairs in June of 1795. With his usual gift for the apt metaphor, he portrays the deplorable situation at that time as a game of Blindman's Buff in which the average tax-paying Englishman is thoroughly abused by the international community, as well as his own Prime Minister.

Blindmans Buff, or Too Many for John Bull

Blindmans Buff, or Too Many for John Bull [June 12, 1795]
© Trustees of the British Museum

Flanked by Britain's supposed allies (Austria and Prussia) on his left and by his current crop of enemies (the former Dutch Republic and France) on his right, the blindfolded John Bull (representative of England) gropes in vain towards the source of the finger snapping noise and acrid smoke in front of him. His back is to us but the prominence of his posterior suggests that he has been made a huge ass in this game.

Since the start of the war against France in February of 1793, most of Britain's fighting had been done by proxies—notably by Prussia and Austria—who were part of the so called First Coalition against France financed in varying degrees by a series of taxes and loans proposed by Pitt. But in 1794 that coalition, which had always been fragile because of conflicting interests and uncertain leadership, was falling apart.

In April of 1794, Prussia, represented by the Death's Head Hussar with a bag of pounds was only convinced to return its ~62,000 troops to the field (after threatening to quit) by a subsidy of £300,000 and £50,0000 per month. But even that was not enough. A few months before this print appeared, Prussia signed the Peace of Basel with France, removing its troops and the British subsidy it had received back to Prussia.

Meanwhile Britain's other major ally, Austria, represented by the Emperor wearing a crown and ermine robe with its Habsburg double eagle insignia, is picking John Bull's pocket. In his hand is a scroll with the words "Imperial Loan." This refers to a multi-million pound loan proposed by the Pitt government to ensure that Austria with its land force of some 200,000 troops would remain Britain's ally. The loan was roundly opposed by Fox and the Whigs, who (correctly as it turned out) predicted that the offered securities would be insufficient and that, as in the case of the Prussian subsidy, Britain would be left to pay the bills.

So much for Britain's "friends"! On the other side of John Bull, a Dutchman with his characteristic steeple hat and clay pipe teases John by blowing smoke into his face and a ragged French sans-culotte kicks him in the rump for good measure. In January, the Dutch had switched from allies to opponents as a result of the Batavian revolution and the flight of the former Stadtholder, William V, to London. And as Gillray suggests here, the French, portrayed as a sans-culottes (without breeches) were now regularly thumping Britain and its allies on land.

To add insult to injury, however, Prime Minister William Pitt, while reaching himself into John's coat pocket is portrayed as encouraging the abuse from the others.

"Go it, my Honies, go it! Supple him a little! Supple him!

The use of supple as a verb is unusual today. But it seems to mean "to make compliant, yielding, or pacific." If so, it may suggest Pitt's desire for an electorate the follows him unquestioningly, whatever he decides. Gillray himself seems to vascillate on the issue of peace with France. His January 1795 print, The Blessings of Peace, the Curses of War containing as it does, the quotation "Curs'd be the Man who owes his Greatness to his Country's Ruin."'!!!!! seems to advocate for peace. But in February he produces The Genius of France Triumphant, or Britannia Petitioning for Peace which shows an abject Britannia cowering before a monstrous France—hardly a endorsement of peace.

* Blindman's Buff is a game in which the person deemed as "IT" is blindfolded and tries to find and tag any one of the other participants. Those participants will often tease the blindman, attracting his pursuit by making noises, and getting as close as possible to him without being tagged.

Sources and Reading

Comments & Corrections

NOTE: Comments and/or corrections are always appreciated. To make that easier, I have included a form below that you can use. I promise never to share any of the info provided without your express permission.

First Name:
 Last Name:
Email Address:
Comments/Corrections: