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Hemsworth visits Lanty in prison
Phiz (Hablot K. Browne)
steel engraving
11.5 cm by 10.3 cm (4 ½ by 4 ⅛ inches), vignetted
October 1845
Charles Lever's The O'Donoghue; A Tale of Ireland Fifty Years Ago, Chapter XXXVIII, "Tampering and Plotting," facing p. 316.
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Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.
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“And what do you expect to gain by that, Master Lanty? Is it by showing that you are of no use to them — that you've nothing more left in you — that you hope for a reward. Is it for the sake of your family and friends, or on account of your remarkable honesty, they're so fond of you?” Then checking this sneering tone, he added, in a slow and solemn voice, “Are you a fool, man? — or don't you see what you're bringing yourself to? What will be your claim when the trial of the young O'Donoghue is over? The crown lawyers will have you up in the witness-box till they've drained you dry. Devil a drop they'll leave in you; and when they say 'Go down,' take my word for it, it's down you'll go in earnest; and all the world wouldn't lift you up afterwards.”
Hemsworth permitted the words to sink into his heart for a few seconds in silence, and then went on —
“So long as you trusted me, you were safe. I'd never expose you in open court.”
“No, sir, nor the Attorney-general neither. He said that all they wanted was my information on oath.”
“And you gave it!” exclaimed Hemsworth, in a voice of ill-dissembled anxiety.
“Not all out, sir,” said Lanty, with a shrewd glance of malicious intelligence. “I asked them for a copy, to read it over before I signed it, and they gave me one” — here he produced a roll of paper from his breast pocket, and showed it to Hemsworth — “and I'm to give it back to-morrow, with my name to it.” [Chapter XXXVIII, "Tampering and Plotting," pp. 316-317]
William Hemsworth has convinced Kate O’Donoghue that he has shielded Mark from arrest by destroying the incriminating correspondence between the Irish patriots and the French. In fact, he has an arrest warrant for Mark and four other Unionists, and is trying to persuade the family that Mark should leave the country — which in fact would give him a clear field for courting Kate, whose ten thousand pound inheritance renders her doubly desirable.
This scene in Newgate Prison with his dupe, Lanty Lawler, the itinerant horse-dealer, reveals both the extent of Hemsworth's duplicity and his endgame, namely to control all of the Glenfesk estate, both the Odonoghues' and the Travers'. Clearly the incriminating letters still exist, and Hemsworth no longer trusts the formerly gullible and tractable Lawler to do his bidding, but Hemsworth regains his trust in this nocturnal scene, which occurs as soon as Hemsworth has returned to the capital. Lanty has not betrayed Mary Kelly, and has not signed the transcript of testimony against Mark, even though he has revealed the extent of the plot between the United Irishmen and the French. Consequently, while studying the Attorney-general's document, Hemsworth sees a way out: despite threats of transportation or worse, Lanty should refuse to sign it.
Lester, Valerie Browne. Phiz: The Man Who Drew Dickens. London: Chatto and Windus, 2004.
Lever, Charles. The O'Donoghue; A Tale of Ireland Fifty Years Ago. With 26 engravings by Phiz [Hablột Knight Browne]. Dublin: William Curry, Jun., 1845.
Lever, Charles. The O'Donoghue; A Tale of Ireland Fifty Years Ago. Illustrated by Phiz [Hablột Knight Browne]. Novels and Romances of Charles Lever. In One Vol. Project Gutenberg. Last Updated: May 11, 2010.
Stevenson, Lionel. Chapter VIII, "Heretic Among Tories, 1844-1845." Dr. Quicksilver: The Life of Charles Lever. London: Chapman and Hall, 1939. Pp. 128-145.
Sutherland, John A. "Lever, Charles." The Stanford Companion to Victorian Fiction. Stanford, Cal.: Stanford U. P., 1989, rpt. 1990, 372-374.
Created 7 January 2024