The New Road by Phiz (Hablot Knight Browne), facing page 110 in the fourth instalment (March 1855). Steel-engraving. 9.9 cm high by 18.2 cm wide (3 ¾ by 7 ¼ inches), vignetted, full-page illustration for The Martins of Cro' Martin, for Chapter XII, "A Very 'Cross Examination'." [Click on the image to enlarge it.]
Passage Illustrated: Mary Martin find her uncle's carriage in distress
With all their alacrity and all their good-will — and there was no lack of either — there was yet such a total absence of all system and order, that their efforts were utterly useless. Some tugged away manfully to raise stones too heavy to lift; others came rudely in contact with fellows heavily laden, and upset them. The sturdy arms that spoked the hind wheels were resolutely antagonized by as vigorous struggles to move the fore ones. Every one shouted, cried, cursed, and laughed, by turns; and a more hopeless scene of confusion and uproar need not be conceived. Nor was Lady Dorothea herself an inactive spectator; for, with her head from the carriage-window, she directed a hundred impossible measures, and sat down at last, overcome with rage and mortification at their blunders.
The tumult was now at the highest, and the horses, terrified by the noise around them, had commenced plunging and rearing fearfully, when Mary Martin came galloping up to the s pot at full speed.
“Let go that bridle, Hogan,” cried she, aloud; “you are driving that horse mad. Loose the leaders' traces; unbuckle the reins, Patsey; the wheelers will stand quietly. There, lead them away. Speak to that mare; she 's trembling with fear. I told you not to come by this road, Barney; and it was only by accident that I saw the wheel-tracks. A thousand pardons, Aunt Dora, for this mishap. Barney misunderstood my orders. It will be all right in a moment. Once over this bad spot, the road is hard and level.” [Chapter Twelve, "A Very 'Cross Examination'," 110]
Commentary: Lever's Female Protagonist Takes Charge
Phiz has carefully realised all elements of Lever's description of the carriage accident, placing Mary Martin as she gallops up in a conspicuous location relative to the main action in the centre: the aristocratic conveyance bogged down in the mud of the recently constructed road. Rapidly assessing the situation, Mary gives rapid-fire orders to the specific individuals whom she knows can put all to rights. The problem, apparently, is that the road surface is still incomplete, but Barney, the Martins' coachman, has mistaken Mary's instructions, and has chosen to take the new, scenic route as the family returns from its summer residence on the coast to their regular winter residence inland, at Castle Martin. The numerous peasantry (some of them mere children) who have come to the assistance of their landlords, mean well, but get in each other's way with both the road repairs, the broken harness, and the unruly horses. That the road is still under construction Phiz suggests by placing a wheelbarrow down right. Meanwhile, as in the text, Lady Dorothea leans out the carriage window to issue impracticable commands to which several boys attend. Thus, Phiz does not merely realize what Lever has described, but has fleshed out the incident with vigorous action and humorous details.
Related Material: Phiz's Passion for Horses, as Reflected Here
Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham. [You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the person who scanned the image and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.]
Bibliography
Buchanan-Brown, John. Phiz! Illustrator of Dickens' World. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1978.
Lester, Valerie Browne Lester. Chapter 11: "'Give Me Back the Freshness of the Morning!'"Phiz! The Man Who Drew Dickens. London: Chatto and Windus, 2004. Pp. 108-127.
Lever, Charles. The Martins of Cro' Martin. Illustrated by Phiz [Hablot Knight Browne]. London: Chapman & Hall, 1856, rpt. 1872.
Lever, Charles. The Martins of Cro' Martin. Illustrated by Phiz [Hablot Knight Browne]. Novels and Romances of Charles Lever. Introduction by Andrew Lang. Lorrequer Edition. Vols. XII and XIII. In two volumes. Boston: Little, Brown, 1907.
Steig, Michael. Chapter VII, "Phiz the Illustrator: An Overview and Summing Up." Dickens and Phiz. Bloomington & London: Indiana U. P., 1978. Pp. 299-316.
Stevenson, Lionel. Chapter XII, "Aspirant for Preferment, 1854-1856." Dr. Quicksilver: The Life of Charles Lever. New York: Russell and Russell, 1939; rpt. 1969. Pp. 203-220.
Created 11 September 2022