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Priest and Negro Woman
Justyne, Leitch, Macquoid, Morgan, Pasquier, & Thomas
Engravers: Butterworth and Heath
1864
Wood-engraving
22 cm high (including caption) by 14 cm wide, framed.
Cassell's Robinson Crusoe, page 301.
[Click on image to enlarge it and mouse over text for links.]
Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.
Accordingly I called her in, and placing myself as interpreter between my religious priest and the woman, I entreated him to begin with her; but sure such a sermon was never preached by a Popish priest in these latter ages of the world; and as I told him, I thought he had all the zeal, all the knowledge, all the sincerity of a Christian, without the error of a Roman Catholic; and that I took him to be such a clergyman as the Roman bishops were before the Church of Rome assumed spiritual sovereignty over the consciences of men. In a word, he brought the poor woman to embrace the knowledge of Christ, and of redemption by Him, not with wonder and astonishment only, as she did the first notions of a God, but with joy and faith; with an affection, and a surprising degree of understanding, scarce to be imagined, much less to be expressed; and, at her own request, she was baptized.
When he was preparing to baptize her, I entreated him that he would perform that office with some caution, that the man might not perceive he was of the Roman Church, if possible, because of other ill consequences which might attend a difference among us in that very religion which we were instructing the other in. He told me that as he had no consecrated chapel, nor proper things for the office, I should see he would do it in a manner that I should not know by it that he was a Roman Catholic myself, if I had not known it before; and so he did; for saying only some words over to himself in Latin, which I could not understand, he poured a whole dishful of water upon the woman’s head, pronouncing in French, very loud, “Mary” (which was the name her husband desired me to give her, for I was her godfather), “I baptize thee in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost;” so that none could know anything by it what religion he was of. He gave the benediction afterwards in Latin, but either Will Atkins did not know but it was French, or else did not take notice of it at that time. [Chapter VII, "Conversation betwixt Will Atkins and His Wife," page 299]
Since Atkins like the other colonists (both Spanish and English) has taken a native wife, Crusoe is delighted to learn that Atkins, formerly a ruffian, has embraced Christianity, and has even taken steps to educate his wife in the precepts of the Old Country's monotheistic religion. As a result, whatever children they have will be neither pagan nor agnostic, but English Christians — and dutiful children of Empire. Thomas, like Cruikshank before him, in choosing this particular scene for illustration in The Farther Adventures focuses, then, on Robinson Crusoe as a force for spiritual enlightenment rather than as a mere agent of European imperialism. The Cassell program of illustration, in fact, focuses on Crusoe's relationship with the French Catholic priest to dramatize the colonial founder's interest in seeing his "family" become thorough Christians, whether of the Catholic or Protestant persuasion — although he is quite insistent that Friday is a Protestant like himself.
In the 1864 wood-engraving, as the elderly Crusoe (right) casts his eyes downward in prayer, Will Atkins (right), the son of a clergyman, clasps his hands devoutly as the French Catholic priest from the mission to Quebec (and therefore, in all likelihood, a Jesuit) pronounces a blessing upon the native woman whom he has just baptised.
Left: The Wehnert engraving of the scene in which Crusoe visits Will and his wife, Crusoe giving Bible to Will Atkins (1862). Centre: Paget's version of the marriage ceremony of Will and Mary Atkins, Made her kneel by him (1891). Right: The original Stothard scene of Crusoe's return, Robinson Crusoe distributing tools of husbandry among the inhabitants (1820). [Click on images to enlarge them.]
Above: Cruikshank's realisation of Crusoe's visiting Will and his wife, Crusoe presents a Bible to Will Atkins and his native wife (1831). [Click on image to enlarge it.]
Above: Wal Paget's realisation of Crusoe's visiting Will and his wife, "I have brought you an assistant" (1891). [Click on image to enlarge it.]
Defoe, Daniel. The Life and Strange Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe Of York, Mariner. As Related by himself. With upwards of One Hundred Illustrations. London: Cassell, Petter, and Galpin, 1863-64.
Defoe, Daniel. The Life and Strange Exciting Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, of York, Mariner, as Related by Himself. With 120 original illustrations by Walter Paget. London, Paris,and Melbourne: Cassell, 1891.
Last modified 3 April 2018