John Locke, M.P. — 'The only man who is ever known to make Mr. Gladstone smile'

Plate No. 145 in the *Statesmen* series, this chromolithograph by James Tissot caricatures John Locke, Liberal M.P. for Southwark. The rotund figure wears a straining brown frock coat, one hand thrust into the breast in a mock-Napoleonic pose, the other dangling a glove — a studied portrait of self-important conviviality. The caption identifies Locke's political currency as pure social charm: he alone could coax a smile from the notoriously grave Prime Minister Gladstone. Tissot exaggerates Locke's bulk and florid, jowly face; the joke lampoonsacks a backbencher whose chief parliamentary gift was apparently good humour.