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Sam Weller's Mission of Love
Harry Furniss
1910
14.4 cm x 9.4 cm, vignetted
Dickens's Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, The Charles Dickens Library Edition, facing II, 577.
[Click on image to enlarge it.]
Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.
"Hush," said Sam, swinging himself on to the wall, and crouching there in as small a compass as he could reduce himself to, "only me, miss, only me."
"Mr. Pickwick's servant!" said Arabella, earnestly.
"The werry same, Miss," replied Sam. "Here's Mr. Vinkle reg'larly sewed up vith desperation, Miss."
"Ah!" said Arabella, drawing nearer the wall.
"Ah, indeed," said Sam. "Ve thought ve should ha' been obliged to strait-veskit him last night; he's been a-ravin' all day; and he says if he can't see you afore to-morrow night’s over, he vishes he may be somethin' unpleasanted if he don't drownd hisself."
"Oh, no, no, Mr. Weller!" said Arabella, clasping her hands.
"That’s wot he says, miss," replied Sam coolly. "He's a man of his word, and it's my opinion he'll do it, miss. He's heerd all about you from the sawbones in barnacles."
"From my brother!" said Arabella, having some faint recognition of Sam's description.
"I don’t rightly know which is your brother, miss," replied Sam. "Is it the dirtiest vun o’ the two?"
"Yes, yes, Mr. Weller," returned Arabella, "go on. Make haste, pray."
"Well, miss," said Sam, "he’s heerd all about it from him; and it’s the gov'nor's opinion that if you don't see him wery quick, the sawbones as we’ve been a-speakin’ on, ‘ull get as much extra lead in his head as’ll rayther damage the dewelopment o’ the orgins if they ever put it in spirits artervards."
"Oh, what can I do to prevent these dreadful quarrels!’ exclaimed Arabella.
"It’s the suspicion of a priory ‘tachment as is the cause of it all," replied Sam. "You’d better see him, miss."
"But how? — where?" cried Arabella. "I dare not leave the house alone. My brother is so unkind, so unreasonable! I know how strange my talking thus to you may appear, Mr. Weller, but I am very, very unhappy —" and here poor Arabella wept so bitterly that Sam grew chivalrous.
"It may seem wery strange talkin’ to me about these here affairs, miss," said Sam, with great vehemence; "but all I can say is, that I’m not only ready but villin’ to do anythin’ as’ll make matters agreeable; and if chuckin’ either o’ them sawboneses out o’ winder ‘ull do it, I’m the man." As Sam Weller said this, he tucked up his wristbands, at the imminent hazard of falling off the wall in so doing, to intimate his readiness to set to work immediately. [Chapter XXXIX, "Mr. Samuel Weller, being entrusted with a Mission of Love, proceeds to execute it; with what success will hereinafter appear," 562.
Original caption: "He says if he can't see you afore to-morrow night's over, he wishes he may be somethin' unpleasanted if he don't drownd hisself." "Oh, no, no, Mr. Weller," said Arabella, clasping her hands. — Pickwick, p. 562.
Although the picture has been inserted into Chapter XL ("Introduces Mr. Pickwick to a new, and it is hoped not uninteresting Scene, in the great Drama of Life"), the illustration must be read analeptically since it actually recalls an incident on page 562, which is in Ch. XXXIX ("Mr. Samuel Weller, being entrusted with a Mission of Love, proceeds to execute it; with what success will hereinafter appear").
Pickwick asks Winkle for assurances that he is not merely tampering with the young lady's affections, especially since they all became acquainted at his wealthy friend Wardle's estate. Winkle assures Pickwick that he has consulted Arabella's brother, Ben, regarding "a formal disclosure of his passion" (555) — in other words, a marriage proposal. However, since Ben has only vaguely disclosed her location as "near the Downs," Pickwick has to dispatch Sam to find her and deliver the proposal. By sheer coincidence, Sam encounters Mary Weller as she is about to shake out carpets; from the pretty maid he learns that Arabella has been living in seclusion in the country for the past six weeks — at the very next house. Now all Sam has to do is await the arrival Arabella in the neighbouring garden at sunset, when, as Mary has informed him, the object of his search will be taking a short (unaccompanied) walk on the path near the garden wall. Having whiled away the afternoon at the local public house, Sam returns to execute his plan, referring to her first as "Miss Sawbones" (since her brother Ben is a medical student) and then "Mrs. Vinkle" (561), which certainly gets her attention. Sam then swings himself up to the top of the garden wall, more or less as Furniss describes the scene, including the pear tree in which Sam was previously perched.
"Lor, do adun, Mr. Weller!" by Thomas Nast in the American Household Edition (1873). This variation on Sam's search for Arabella Allen at the behest of Pickwick and Winkle advances the romantic subplot between Sam and the former maid at Nupkins' rather than the marriage of Winkle.
Davis, Paul. Charles Dickens A to Z: The Essential Reference to His Life and Work. New York: Checkmark and Facts On File, 1999.
Dickens, Charles. Pickwick Papers. Illustrated by Robert Seymour and Hablot Knight Browne. London: Chapman & Hall, 1836-37.
_____. Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club. Illustrated by Thomas Nast. The Household Edition. 16 vols. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1873. Vol. 4.
_____. Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club. Illustrated by Hablot Knight Browne ('Phiz'). The Household Edition. 22 vols. London: Chapman and Hall, 1874. Vol. 5.
_____. Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club. Illustrated by Harry Furniss. The Charles Dickens Library Edition. 18 vols. London: Educational Book, 1910. Vol. 2.
Created 10 December 2019
Last modified 5 February 2020