John Morgan Howard, QC — 'Energetic Toryism'

Leslie Ward ('Spy') renders the Conservative barrister John Morgan Howard, QC as a figure of composed self-importance: top hat, double-breasted frock coat, pince-nez on a cord, one hand tucked behind his back. The pose is classic Vanity Fair — the subject caught mid-thought, slightly portly, head enlarged against a trim body. The caption, *'Energetic Toryism,'* does the satirical work quietly, implying that Howard's brand of Conservative energy is more sartorial than combustible. No ethnic caricature is present. What the plate records is a now-obscure Victorian legal-political figure whose moment of public salience — enough to earn plate No. 240 in the 'Men of the Day' series — is otherwise almost entirely forgotten.