A regiment of clyster-wielding apothecaries orchestrated by General George Mouton de Lobau; representing his use of water-cannons in quelling riots. Lithograph by J.C., 1831.

'Le juste milieu' was the name given to the political system proposed by the leading insurgents of the July Revolution. Soon, however, the term became debased by the realities of Louis-Philippe's government; it acquired a ironic meaning. The print refers to events occurring 5-10 May 1831, when continued rioting in the Place Vendôme was quelled by spraying water to disperse the throng. This hitherto unknown method of riot control was devised by Georges Mouton, comte de Lobau (sometimes referred to as Lebeau), état-major général, and Gabriel Delessert, préfet de police. The former is depicted here. An equivalent riot broke out among the clyster-obsessed caricaturists of the time, who had a field day. The battalion of uniformly dressed physicians also suggests the perception of Louis-Philippe's government as a repressively legalistic state