Leslie Ward ('Spy') — 'Justice! Justice! Justice!'
Leslie Ward · Vanity Fair, 12 January 1884
Ward's chromolithograph shows a trim, bearded gentleman in a dark frock coat, one hand pocketed, the other holding a lit cigarette whose smoke curls in a lazy S. The caption — 'Justice! Justice! Justice!' — is a political catchphrase, not a judicial title: Sir Edward Malet was a career diplomat, serving as British Ambassador in Brussels and later Berlin, caught up in the scramble-era rivalries over Egypt and the Congo. The cry alludes to Britain's insistence on Egyptian financial justice following the 1882 occupation. Ward's caricature is mild in treatment — a slight elongation of the nose, a knowing half-lidded gaze — reflecting the gentlemanly restraint he typically reserved for Foreign Office men rather than the sharper distortions he applied to politicians or clerics.
About this artifact
- Creator
- Leslie Ward
- Date
- Vanity Fair, 12 January 1884
- Rights
- Public domain — free to view, share, and reuse.
- Restoration
- Digitally restored and hosted by ComicBooks.com.
Part of our mission to preserve and restore the public-domain heritage of the medium.