Passage Illustrated: Lever Shifts the Scene from Dublin High Society to a Graceful Cottage

Without, and under the veranda, an old man, tall, and slightly bowed in the shoulders, walked slowly up and down. It needed not the careful nicety of his long queue., the spotless whiteness of his cambric shirt and vest, nor the perfection of his nicely fitting nankeen pantaloons, to bespeak him a gentleman of the past day. There was a certain suave gentleness in his bland look, an air of easy courtesy in his every motion, a kind of well-bred mannerism in the very carriage of his gold-headed cane, that told of a time when the graces of deportment were a study, and when our modern careless freedom had been deemed the very acme of rudeness. He was dictating, as was his wont each morning, some reminiscence of his early life, when he had served in the Body-Guard of Louis XVI., and where he had borne his part in the stormy scenes of that eventful era. The memory of that most benevolent monarch, the fascinations of that queen whom to serve was to idolize, had sufficed to soften the hardships of a life which, from year to year, pressed more heavily, and were at last, after many a straggle, impressing their lines upon a brow where age alone had never written grief.

On the morning in question, instead of rapidly pouring forth his recollections, which usually came in groups, pressing one upon the other, he hesitated often, sometimes forgetting “where he was,” in his narrative, and more than once ceasing to speak altogether; he walked in revery, and seeming deeply preoccupied.

His grand-daughter had noticed this change; but cautiously abstaining from anything that might betray her consciousness, she sat, pen in hand, waiting, her lustrous eyes watching each gesture with an intensity of interest that amounted to actual suffering.

“I fear, Mary,” said he, with an effort to smile, “we must give it up for to-day. The present is too strong for the past, just as sorrow is always an overmatch for joy. Watching for the post has routed all my thoughts, and I can think of nothing but what tidings may reach me from Dublin.”

“You have no fears, Sir,” said she, rising and drawing her arm within his, “that your application could be rejected; you ask fior nothing unusual or unreasonable — a brief renewal of a lease where you have expended a fortune.” [Chapter XIII, "Tubber-Beg," pp. 120-121]

Commentary: A Suitable Visual Complement to the Corrigans' Cottage on the Shannon

Lever now suddenly shifts the scene to Cashel's country estate. Sadly, the great four-storied house known as Tubber-beg, that Roland Cashel as Member of Parliament is to occupy, is dreadfully run-down, with falling roof and decaying timbers. It should be the noble seat of its aristocratic landlord, but, alas, has been poorly tenanted by the malcontent Tom Keane, the care-taker. It serves, in Lever's words, as "an illustration of the evils of absenteeism" (117). In contrast, Lever then describes the estate cottage, beautifully maintained and enjoying an uninterrupted view of the River Shannon and the "spreading woods of Tubbermore" (116). The situation is, however, set to undergo a radical change, as Cashel intends to repair and restore the great house, making it his country seat and turning out the residents of the picturesque cottage to improve the view and dignity of Tubbermore Castle. We come upon the residents, the dignified old soldier, Cornelius Corrigan, and his grand-daughter Mary, shortly before the truculent Tom Keane delivers the letter in which (unbeknownst to the messenger) the proprietor is about to announce his intention not to renew their lease.

The job of the illustrator, then, is to contrast in every way the slovenly residence of the caretaker with the idyllic, picturesquely ordered and thoroughly pleasing cottage leased by Cornelius Corrigan, retired royal guardsman, and his beautiful, fashionably dressed grand-daughter. Everything about the garden glimpsed through the open doorway and the comfortable parlour suggests a respectable lifestyle: a fishbowl, a spaniel, a writing desk, a fire-screen, and a full case of books suggests the class, education, and refinement of the congenial leasees.

Bibliography

Lever, Charles. Roland Cashel. With 39 illustrations and engraved title-vignette by Phiz. London: Chapman & Hall, 1850.

Lever, Charles. Roland Cashel. Illustrated by Phiz [Hablot Knight Browne]. Novels and Romances of Charles Lever. Vols. I and II. In two volumes. Boston: Little, Brown, 1907. Project Gutenberg. Last Updated: 19 August 2010.

Steig, Michael. Chapter VII, "Phiz the Illustrator: An Overview and a Summing Up." Dickens and Phiz. Bloomington: Indiana U. P., 1978. Pp. 299-316.

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Created 20 December 2022