[Victorian Web Home —> Visual Arts —> Illustration —> Henry Furniss —> Barnaby Rudge —> Next]
Dennis and Hugh Condemned
One of these men displayed, in his speech and bearing, the most reckless hardihood; and the other, in his every word and action, testified such an extreme of abject cowardice that it was humiliating to see him.
Harry Furniss
1910
13.8 cm x 9 cm (5 ½ by 3 ½ inches), vignetted
Dickens's Barnaby Rudge, The Charles Dickens Library Edition (1910), facing VI, 600.
[Click on the images to enlarge them.]
Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.
Although one of these men displayed, in his speech and bearing, the most reckless hardihood; and the other, in his every word and action, testified such an extreme of abject cowardice that it was humiliating to see him; it would be difficult to say which of them would most have repelled and shocked an observer. Hugh’s was the dogged desperation of a savage at the stake; the hangman was reduced to a condition little better, if any, than that of a hound with the halter round his neck. Yet, as Mr Dennis knew and could have told them, these were the two commonest states of mind in persons brought to their pass. Such was the wholesome growth of the seed sown by the law, that this kind of harvest was usually looked for, as a matter of course. [Chapter LXXVI, 596]
Furniss has placed Barnaby in the background of the courtyard scene to provide additional context, for underneath he has already provided a substantial amount of text as a kind of subtitle. Barnaby, shivering and alone, has just watched his mother escorted from the yard as the fatal bell tolls noon, the hour established for the public execution of the trio just outside the gates of Newgate. Barnaby does not seem to grasp what is about to happen; Hugh, as always, is defiant as he looks upon Dennis with contempt; Dennis, much smaller, is a picture of abject, cringing misery. Barnard has accurately assessed Hugh's mood as jocular in the face of oblivion. Significantly, Furniss in his caption does not reference Barnaby since he will be reprieved.
Above: Fred Barnard's parallel scene shows Hugh as jocular rather than simply contemptuous of the former public hangman's response to the likelihood of his own public execution: "You ought to be the bestbest, instead of the worst," said Hugh, stopping before him. "Ha, ha, ha! See the hangman, when it comes home to him!" (1872).
Dickens, Charles. Barnaby Rudge in Master Humphrey's Clock. Illustrated by Phiz and George Cattermole. 3 vols. London: Chapman and Hall, 1841; rpt., Bradbury and Evans, 1849.
________. Barnaby Rudge — A Tale of the Riots of 'Eighty. Illustrated by Fred Barnard. The Household Edition. 22 vols. London: Chapman and Hall, 1874. VII.
________. Barnaby Rudge. Illustrated by Harry Furniss. The Charles Dickens Library Edition. London: Educational Book Company, 1910. VI.
Created 24 July 2020
Last modified 15 December 2020