Passage Illustrated: Linton arranges a loan from "Moses" for his chum

The money that “at play” is spent,

Must oft be raised at “cent per cent.”

"The Mode." [Chapter XVI, p. 149]

“Money is scarce just now, sir,” said Hoare; “but as to securities, Mr. Cashel's bills are quite sufficient. There is no necessity for any legal expenses whatever. I need not say that the transaction shall be perfectly secret: in fact, I'll keep the bills in my own hands till due.”

“There, that's the man I told you he was,” cried Linton. “A Croesus in generosity as in gold. I would I were your son, or your son-in-law, Hoare.”

“Too much honor, Mr. Linton,” said the money-lender, whose slight flush did not betoken a concurrence in his own words. “Now to business,” continued he, addressing Cashel. “If you favor me with your name on four bills for five thousand each, and the accompanying charges for interest, discount, commission, and so on, I'll engage that you have this money within the week.”

“Could it not be to-morrow? I should like greatly to have the whole off my mind; and as I mean not to play again —”

“Pooh, pooh,” said Linton, stopping an explanation he was by no means pleased Hoare should hear; “time enough for resolutions, and time enough for payment too. By the end of the week, Hoare, will do perfectly. You can bring the bills with you to my quarters, say on Saturday morning, and we'll drive over to Mr. Cashel's.”

“Very well. I 'll be punctual. At eleven on Saturday expect me. May I bring that little thing of yours for two hundred pounds with it, Mr. Linton?”

“Of course you may not. Where do you expect me to find money for the debts of last year? My dear Hoare, I have no more memory for such things than I have for the sorrows of childhood.”

“Ah, very well, sir, we'll keep it over,” said Hoare, smiling. [Chapter XVI, "What Roland overheard at the Money-lender's," pp. 152-153]

Commentary: A Shady Transaction at Dan Hoare's counting-house

“He has a long course to run ere that comes,” said the other.

“Not so long as you fancy. There are demands upon him from quarters you little suspect, or that, for the moment, he little suspects himself. It would surprise you to hear that he is in Leicester's hands too.”

“Roland Cashel — Mr. Cashel — in Leicester's hands! How do you mean?” [151]

Lever continues the story of Cashel's ethical and financial decline with the shrewd but profligate Tom Linton's introducing him to his money-lender, whom he addresses familiarly as "Moses." Having lost heavily at the Major's, Cashel will need to raise about twenty thousand pounds through "bills" against his estate. Hoare has already heard of Cashel through Corrigan, who is attempting to send money to the mysterious Leicester, the actual father of Mary. Cashel overhears a conversation with old Corrigan's physician, Dr. Mat Tiernay, regarding Corrigan's bills as he waits to see Hoare. The Jewish money-lender lets drop the fact that "Leicester" has somehow gotten control over some of Cashel's recent debts.

The job of Lever's illustrator, once again, is take hints that the writer has given him about the theatrical set and invent plausible details. Lever describes the seedy area in which Hoare's offices are located as "the cattle-market," and mentions the less pleasant aspects of the old building: "Cashel mounted a half-rotten, creaky stair, which passed up between two damp and mildewed walls, and entered a small chamber whose one window looked out in a dirty court. The only furniture consisted of two deal chairs and a table, on which various inscriptions made by penknives betokened the patience and zeal of former visitors" (150). Phiz has based the inner sanctum of the financial wizard upon these scant details of the "cheerless little den" (1450) that serves as Hoare's antechamber. The small, thin, pale-faced banker is to the left; Linton casually leans on his desk, laden with account books, a strong-box, and pen-and-ink (centre); and the nattily-dressed Cashel sets a chair off-balance as he leans on it, implying his awkwardness about the whole proceeding. A telling detail not mentioned by Lever is the crumpled newspapers strewn on the floor and the overflowing wastepaper-basket. What signifies the salmon mounted and framed above the doorway? "Moses" Hoare is certainly "a fisher of men."

Bibliography

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

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 22 December 2022