The cartoon, Abe Lincoln’s Last Card; or, Rouge et Noir, contributed by Tenniel to the October 18, 1862, issue of London Punch again shows how an important element in England, blind to the real trend and meaning of events, saw in Mr. Lincoln’s prayerfully meditated Emancipation Proclamation only the gesture of a wily but desperate gambler driven to a last resource. It was accompanied by the following lines in which Mr. Lincoln is represented by their author as giving expression to his real thought and purpose:

Brag’s our game; and awful losers
We’ve been on the Red.
Under and above the table,
Awfully we’ve bled.
Ne’er a stake have we adventured,
But we have lost it still,
From Bull’s Run and mad Manassas
Down to Sharpsburg Hill.


When luck’s desperate, desperate venture
Still may bring it back:
So I’ll chance it--neck or nothing—
Here I lead THE BLACK!
If I win, the South must pay for’t,
Pay in fire and gore:
If I lose, I’m ne’er a dollar
Worse off than before.


From the Slaves of Southern rebels
Thus I strike the chain:
But the slaves of loyal owners
Still shall slaves remain.
If their owners like to wop ‘em
They to wop are masters;
Or if they prefer to swap ‘em
Here are our shin-plasters!

Measures roughly 11" x 8" and would look great framed on an office wall. In fine condition with wear as shown in the scan