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Passage Illustrated"

"There he is, my dear," whispered Mrs. Malderton to Mr. Malderton.

"How like Lord Byron!" murmured Miss Teresa.

"Or Montgomery!" whispered Miss Marianne.

"Or the portraits of Captain Cook!" suggested Tom.

"Tom — don't be an ass!" said his father, who checked him on all occasions, probably with a view to prevent his becoming "sharp" — which was very unnecessary.

The elegant Sparkins attitudinised with admirable effect, until the family had crossed the room. He then started up, with the most natural appearance of surprise and delight; accosted Mrs. Malderton with the utmost cordiality; saluted the young ladies in the most enchanting manner; bowed to, and shook hands with Mr. Malderton, with a degree of respect amounting almost to veneration; and returned the greetings of the two young men in a half-gratified, half-patronising manner, which fully convinced them that he must be an important, and, at the same time, condescending personage.

"Miss Malderton," said Horatio, after the ordinary salutations, and bowing very low, "may I be permitted to presume to hope that you will allow me to have the pleasure —"

"I don't think I am engaged," said Miss Teresa, with a dreadful affectation of indifference — "but, really — so many — "

Horatio looked handsomely miserable.

"I shall be most happy," simpered the interesting Teresa, at last. Horatio's countenance brightened up, like an old hat in a shower of rain.

"A very genteel young man, certainly!" said the gratified Mr. Malderton, as the obsequious Sparkins and his partner joined the quadrille which was just forming.

"He has a remarkably good address," said Mr. Frederick.

"Yes, he is a prime fellow," interposed Tom, who always managed to put his foot in it — "he talks just like an auctioneer."

"Tom!" said his father solemnly, "I think I desired you, before, not to be a fool." Tom looked as happy as a cock on a drizzly morning.

"How delightful!" said the interesting Horatio to his partner, as they promenaded the room at the conclusion of the set — "how delightful, how refreshing it is, to retire from the cloudy storms, the vicissitudes, and the troubles, of life, even if it be but for a few short fleeting moments: and to spend those moments, fading and evanescent though they be, in the delightful, the blessed society of one individual — whose frowns would be death, whose coldness would be madness, whose falsehood would be ruin, whose constancy would be bliss; the possession of whose affection would be the brightest and best reward that Heaven could bestow on man?"

"What feeling! what sentiment!" thought Miss Teresa, as she leaned more heavily on her companion's arm. — "Tales," Ch. 5, "Horatio Sparkins," p. 170.

Commentary

"Horatio Sparkins," fifth pf the stories in the 'Tales' section of the collected edition of Sketches buy Boz. Originally published in The Monthly Magazine, Feb. 1834. Describes how Sparkins, posing in society as a fashionable young gentleman, imposes on the snobbish Malderton family, who are horrified to discover by accident that he is, in fact, merely as draper's assistant. — The Dickens Index, p. 123.

As with The Tuggses at Ramnsgate, Fred Barnard depicts an earlier stage of the "confidence game" with Horatio the node of all orbits in the assembly-room scene, whereas the original Cruikshank illustration, Horatio Sparkins prepares the reader at the very outset for the "discovery scene" in which the noveau-riche Malderton ladies, visiting the cut-rate, somewhat dingy draper's establishment where Horatio works, are shocked to discover his true, "un-Byronic," plebeian identity. As Paul Schlicke remarks,

Formally, the sketches and tales are organized in fundamentally different ways. The sketches generally lack plot and proceed wherever Boz's enquiring eye happens to alight. Their tone is genial, compassionate, and urbane. The tales, in contrast, are generally sardonic, moving boldly towards narrative climax, which often exposes vain or foolish characters to ridicule. . . . — The Oxford Reader's Companion to Dickens, p. 534.

Since in the short story cloth and clothing take on an emblematic meaning of superficial and spurious (as opposed to genuine) identity, both illustrators have chosen thematically significant scenes. Barnard takes us to opening scene, the assembly, a pseudo-aristocratic world of glittering appearances and superficial sentiments in which "Horatio Sparkins," the draper's assistant, is able to pull the wool over the fashion-conscious eyes of the Maldertons precisely because they trust so much to appearances and "very fine words" (169). Dickens's initial description of the family at the ball emphasizes fashion and appearance over character and achievement:

Mr. Malderton was a man whose whole scope of ideas was limited to Lloyd's, the Exchange, the India House, and the Bank. A few successful speculations had raised him from a situation of obscurity and comparative poverty, to a state of affluence. As frequently happens in such cases, the ideas of himself and his family became elevated to an extraordinary pitch as their means increased; they affected fashion, taste, and many other fooleries, in imitation of their betters, and had a very decided and becoming horror of anything which could, by possibility, be considered low. He was hospitable from ostentation, illiberal from ignorance, and prejudiced from conceit. Egotism and the love of display induced him to keep an excellent table: convenience, and a love of good things of this life, ensured him plenty of guests. He liked to have clever men, or what he considered such, at his table, because it was a great thing to talk about; but he never could endure what he called "sharp fellows." Probably, he cherished this feeling out of compliment to his two sons, who gave their respected parent no uneasiness in that particular. The family were ambitious of forming acquaintances and connexions in some sphere of society superior to that in which they themselves moved; and one of the necessary consequences of this desire, added to their utter ignorance of the world beyond their own small circle, was, that any one who could lay claim to an acquaintance with people of rank and title, had a sure passport to the table at Oak Lodge, Camberwell.

The appearance of Mr. Horatio Sparkins at the assembly, had excited no small degree of surprise and curiosity among its regular frequenters. Who could he be? He was evidently reserved, and apparently melancholy. Was he a clergyman? — He danced too well. A barrister? — He said he was not called. He used very fine words, and talked a great deal. Could he be a distinguished foreigner, come to England for the purpose of describing the country, its manners and customs; and frequenting public balls and public dinners, with the view of becoming acquainted with high life, polished etiquette, and English refinement? — No, he had not a foreign accent. Was he a surgeon, a contributor to the magazines, a writer of fashionable novels, or an artist? — No; to each and all of these surmises, there existed some valid objection. — "Then," said everybody, "he must be somebody." — "I should think he must be," reasoned Mr. Malderton, within himself, "because he perceives our superiority, and pays us so much attention."

The night succeeding the conversation we have just recorded, was "assembly night." The double-fly was ordered to be at the door of Oak Lodge at nine o'clock precisely. The Miss Maldertons were dressed in sky-blue satin trimmed with artificial flowers; and Mrs. M. (who was a little fat woman), in ditto ditto, looked like her eldest daughter multiplied by two. Mr. Frederick Malderton, the eldest son, in full-dress costume, was the very beau idéal of a smart waiter; and Mr. Thomas Malderton, the youngest, with his white dress-stock, blue coat, bright buttons, and red watch-ribbon, strongly resembled the portrait of that interesting, but rash young gentleman, George Barnwell [the callow apprentice who murders his master in George Lillo's domestic tragedy The London Merchant; Or, The History of George Barnwell (1731)]. — "Tales," Ch. 5, "Horatio Sparkins," pp. 169-70.

In the Barnard composition, Horatio enters the dance with the 28-year-old Miss Malderton on his arm — her age being significant in that she and her parents are desperately searching for an eligible bachelor. The two Miss Maldertons, Teresa and Marianne, are both smitten with Horatio, convinced that he must be a nobleman in disguise. The young lady with the extravagant millinery confection and hanging upon the philosophical Horatio's ar, is Teresa Malderton, lately his partner in the quadrille. To further the remation her father, a City financier, invites the "elegant" Sparkins to Sunday dinner at Oak Lodge, Camberwell. The sophistication of the physical setting, suggested by the wallpaper design, is reflected in the elegance of Miss Malderton's dress and Sparkins' shirt-front, which repeats the looping pattern of the wallpaper, as if his dress is perfectly adjusted to the social milieu which his good looks and taste have enabled him to enter. His theatrical gesture is implied by Dickens's his describing Sparkins's "attitudinizing" "with a theatrical air" (171), like a stage version of the leader of the Romantic rebellion, Lord Byron (1788-1824​). He casts his eyes heavenward, as if he were the hero of a romantic novel, which is precisely the effect that the handsome youth is striving for.

Relevant Illustrations of Love Stories in the Original Edition (1839)

Left: George Cruikshank's​caricatural rendering of the reunion of the separated lovers, Sentiment [Theodosius Introduced to the New Pupil]. Centre: The discovery of the unfortunate Cymon hiding in Belinda Waters' room, The Tuggses at Ramsgate. Right: Cruikshank's depiction of the young "gentleman" and draper's assistant who resorts to subterfuge, Horatio Sparkins. [Click on the images to enlarge them.]

Bibliography

Ackroyd, Peter. Dickens: A Biography. London: Sinclair-Stevenson, 1990.

Bentley, Nicholas, Michael Slater, and Nina Burgis. The Dickens: Index. Oxford: Oxford U. P., 1990.

Davis, Paul. Charles Dickens A to Z. The Essential Reference to His Life and Work. New York: Checkmark and Facts On File, 1998.

Dickens, Charles. "Horatio Sparkins," Chapter 5 in "Tales," Sketches by Boz. Illustrated by George Cruikshank. London: Chapman and Hall, 1839; rpt., 1890. Pp. 267-79.

Dickens, Charles. ""Horatio Sparkins," Chapter 5 in "Tales," Christmas Books and Sketches by Boz, Illustrative of Every-day Life and Every-day People. Illustrated by Sol Eytinge, Jr. The Diamond Edition. Boston: James R. Osgood, 1875 [rpt. of 1867 Ticknor & Fields edition]. Pp. 422-30.

Dickens, Charles. "Horatio Sparkins," Chapter 5 in "Tales," Sketches by Boz. Illustrated by Fred Barnard. The Household Edition. London: Chapman and Hall, 1876. Pp. 168-76.

Dickens, Charles. "Horatio Sparkins," Chapter 5 in "Tales," Sketches by Boz. Illustrated by Harry Furniss. The Charles Dickens Library Edition. London: Educational Book Company, 1910. Vol. 1. Pp. 342-58.

Hammerton, J. A. The Dickens Picture-Book: A Record of the Dickens Illustrators. The Charles Dickens Library Edition, vol. 17. London: Educational Book, 1910.

Hawksley, Lucinda Dickens. Chapter 3, "Sketches by Boz." Dickens Bicentenary 1812-2012: Charles Dickens. San Rafael, California: Insight, 2011. Pp. 12-15.

Schlicke, Paul. "Sketches by Boz." Oxford Reader's Companion to Dickens. Oxford: Oxford U. P., 1999. Pp. 530-535.

Slater, Michael. Charles Dickens: A Life Defined by Writing. New Haven and London: Yale U. P., 2009.

Tomalin, Claire. Charles Dickens, A Life. New York: Penguin, 2011.

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