No Rest for the Wicked — Sentenced to More Hard Labor

Nast turns his pen on himself: the artist sits cross-legged on the floor, sharpening a pencil with grim concentration, surrounded by the political kindling of the disputed 1876 Hayes–Tilden election. Two broadsheets flank him — *The Solid South Must Be Watched or They Will Prey* and *Reform Is Necessary and We Must Watch That It Is Carried Out in Good Faith* — signaling his twin anxieties: Democratic resurgence in the former Confederacy and corruption in Reconstruction government. The accompanying editorial text warns Americans that Grant remains president, that Hayes *shall* be inaugurated if elected, and that the country, not gamblers' pools, is at stake. The self-caricature is unflattering but affectionate — Nast renders his own stocky frame and beard with the same exaggerated economy he applied to Tweed. The caption's biblical irony is the joke: the crusading cartoonist gets no rest because democracy itself demands constant labor.