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Passage Illustrated

"Hold him tightly," cried Dee to his assistant, "while I administer the last draught. He may injure himself by his struggles."

Kelley obeyed, and twined his arms tightly round the wounded man. And fortunate it was that the precaution was taken, for the elixir was no sooner poured down his throat than his chest began to labour violently, his eyes opened, and, raising himself bolt-upright, he struggled violently to break from the hold imposed upon him. This he would have effected, if Dee had not likewise lent his aid to prevent him.

"This is, indeed, a wonderful sight!" cried Viviana, who had quitted the closet, and now gazed on, in awe and astonishment. "I can never be sufficiently thankful to you, reverend sir."

"Give thanks to Him to whom alone they are due," replied Dee. "Summon your friends. They may now resume their posts. My task is accomplished."

Catesby and Garnet being called into the room, could scarcely credit their senses when they beheld Guy Fawkes, who by this time had ceased struggling, reclining on Kelley's shoulder, and, except a certain wildness in the eye and cadaverousness of hue, looking as he was wont to do. [Book I, "The Plot," Chapter XV, "The Elixir," p. 114]

Commentary: A Serial Reading from Vol. 8 of Bentley's

The illustration underscores the novel's leitmotif of "returned from the dead," as Dr. Dee and his assistant have already brought prophetess Elizabeth Orton back from the grave — momentarily, at least. Dr. Dee's reputation as a cabalist and necromancer has proven extremely useful to Ainsworth in constructing (barely) plausible, exciting scenes in this "historical romance." In this instance, as the serial readers of the Bentley's Miscellany number for the July 1840 instalment would have encountered the Cruikshank illustration on the very first page, they must have wondered how Fawkes has arrived on his death-bed, rather than whether Dr. Dee will be able to resuscitate him — after all, implausibly enough, Dr. Dee has already subjected Elizabeth Orton's corpse to a similar treatment with some success. The serial reader thus confronted the illustration proleptically (facing p. 1), but did not encounter the moment illustrated in this instalment of the novel until well into the July issue. Since the seventh monthly illustration, like those that preceded it, is a steel engraving, it has neither text nor commentary sharing its page, other than the title in script: Doctor Dee resuscitating Guy Fawkes. Since it faces page 1, the illustration initiates the reader into the action of Chapter XIV, "The Packet," even though it realizes a moment very near the end of the July instalment, leaving the reader to peruse sixteen pages in order to find the moment that Cruikshank has realised, and acquire sufficient context to interpret the plate.

The text explains the situation in the illustration. In a battle with half-a-dozen government troopers, Sir William Radcliffe has been shot dead, and Fawkes has sustained a serious head wound in defending Viviana before the plotters can make their escape. The leading government agent, Topcliffe, and his crew have captured Father Oldcorne, and are scouring the countryside for the rest of the group, who travel through the night to Ordsall Hall, which the forces of the Pursuivant have already pillaged. With Fawkes dying, Viviana demands that Catesby send to Manchester for Dr. Dee, whose elixir may yet revive the man who saved her life.

A less than thorough reading of the accompanying letterpress might lead purchasers of Bentley's to the erroneous conclusion that Cruikshank has apparently left out a key character in this scene: Viviana Radcliffe. However, she has, as the text indicates, withdrawn to the closet, and is praying in the niche to the right of the main scene, praying before the crucifix (we presume) for the success of Dee's treatment. The illustration does not indicate whether Dee and his assistant will succesed in resuscitating the melancholy ex-soldier critical to the Gunpowder Plot. Dr. Dee scrutinizes the elixir as he takes Fawkes's pulse. Although his now familiar hat lies on the floor at the bedside with his rapier and gloves, his pistols, so much an extension of this man of action, are absent. Summoned to the chamber, Fawkes's rival, Catesby, and Farter Garnet, shocked at Fawkes's recovery, enter the room at the bottom of page 16, and the curtain on the eighth monthly instalment closes. The curtain re-opens at the beginning of the September issue of the magazine with another Cruikshank illustration (Guy Fawkes protecting Humphrey Chetham from Catesby) and the start Chapter XVI, "The Collegiate Church at Manchester," on page 105.

References

Ainsworth, William Harrison. Guy Fawkes, or The Gunpowder Treason: An Historical Romance. With 22 illustrations by George Cruikshank. London: Cunningham & Mortimer, 1841 (first edition). Rpt., London: George Routledge & Sons, n. d. [See the text and images of the novel posted in May 2013 at Project Gutenberg Australia's website: http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks13/1302021h.html .]

Carver, Stephen. "Ainsworth’s Guy Fawkes: Tragic Hero, Catholic Martyr". Online version available from Harrison Ainsworth and Friends. Web. 5 November 2016.

Vann, J. Don. "Guy Fawkes in Bentley's Miscellany, January 1840-November 1841." Victorian Novels in Serial. New York: MLA, 1985. P. 20.

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