French Invasion Satire: The Botany Bay Decision Backfires Spectacularly

[Botany bay Interest], James Gillray (1765-1815), 'Consequences of a Successfull French Invasion. No.1. Plate 1st. We come to recover your long lost Liberties', [London : 1798; the Bohn restrike of 1851, authorized by Gillray's widow], hand coloured. The house is adjourned to Botany bay. A famous, satirical look at the decision of the English parliament to create a penal settlement at Botany bay, in contrast to the atmosphere of reform and concern with civil liberties in the newly created Republic of France and in the American colonies. Gillray turns the tables on the politicians responsible for the Botany bay decision: French revolutionaries led by Napoleon storm the parliament, gagging the speaker and placing all the members in chains and dressing them as convicts. All the symbols of the house are destroyed: the mace is smashed, the statutes discarded on the floor, and above the Speaker's chair are the words, 'This house is adjourned to Botany Bay'.