French liberty [graphic].Nixon, John, -1818, printmaker[approximately July 1793?]engAn allegorical representation of France with Liberty as a young woman bound and being dragged from a temple, Libertas, by French soldiers to face a angry mob, two decapitated heads at the base of the stairs. One soldier breaks a staff with a liberty cap at the top. A woman kneels a fire which consumes a spinning wheel and is fed books carried by laborers. A crowd of artists, musicians, carpenters, smiths, weavers and other tradesmen are roughly pushed away from the temple by a soldier. In the background a church which has been turned into a theatre attracts a large crowd to a production of "The massacre at Paris."Attributed to John Nixon. See British Museum catalogue, no. 8334.Trimmed within plate mark on top and bottom.One line of text below title: This print is most respectfully dedicated to every true hearted Briton who's a friend to his king and country.Four lines from Churchill's poem, Independence, printed in two columns on each side of title: O thou poor country, weak and overpow'rd, By thine own sons, eat to the bone, devour'd ...Nine lines of explanatory text below image: Liberty is torn from her temple by a hired band of ruffians ... .