Extirpation of the Plagues of Egypt

James Gillray, "Extirpation of the Plagues of Egypt ;--Destruction of Revolutionary Crocodiles ;--or--The British Hero cleansing ye Mouth of ye Nile," 6 Oct, 1798, etched print on paper, 268mm height x 363mm width, Drew University Archives Special Collections

This print was created to commemorate the victory of the British over the French in the 1798 Battle of the Nile. It shows naval leader Horatio Nelson standing in the Nile, wielding a wooden club labeled “British Oak,” fighting off what the title identifies as “Revolutionary Crocodiles.” Gillray’s illustration glorifies British military might while portraying their foreign enemy as a monster that needs to be defeated through violent force; these elements would foreshadow pieces like “Two Forces,” where the depiction of other political groups as monstrous would extend not only to foreign powers, but to colonized peoples as well.