One who never opened a cabin door without a blessing nor closed it, but to shut hope within
Phiz
Dalziel
June 1856 double-number
Steel-engraving
14.1 cm high by 9.8 cm wide (5 ½ by 3 ¾ inches), framed.
The Martins of Cro' Martin, first published serially by Chapman and Hall in 1855-56.
[Click on image to enlarge it.]
Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.
Passage Anticipated: Concluding the Revelation of the Plot Secret
I have sent over Massingbred to Barry to learn what his wishes may be as to the next legal steps; and now I am ready to return with you to Oughterard.”
Talking over this singular story, they reached the town, where Massingbred had just arrived a short time before.
“I have had a long chase,” said Jack, “and only found him late in the afternoon at the cottage.”
“You gave him the packet, then, and asked when we should meet?” asked Repton, hurriedly.
“Yes; he was walking up and down before the door with the doctor, when we rode up. He scarcely noticed us; and taking your letter in his hand he placed it, without breaking the seal, on a seat in the porch. I then gave him your message, and he seemed so lost in thought that I fancied he had not attended to me. I was about to repeat it, when he interrupted me, saying, 'I have heard you, sir; there is no answer.' As I stood for a moment or two, uncertain what to do or say, I perceived that Joe Nelligan, who had been speaking to the doctor, had just staggered towards a bench, ill and fainting. 'Yes,' said Barry, turning his eyes towards him, 'she is very—very ill; tell Repton so, and he 'll feel for me!'”
Repton pressed his handkerchief to his face and turned away.
“I'm afraid,” said Massingbred, “that her state is highly dangerous. The few words the doctor dropped were full of serious meaning.”
“Let us hope, and pray,” said Repton, fervently, “that, amidst all the calamities of this sorrow-struck land, it may be spared the loss of one who never opened a cabin door without a blessing, nor closed it but to shut a hope within.” [Chapter LXV, "A Great Discovery," 610]
Commentary: A Decaying Cottage and a Poverty-Stricken Family of Cotters
The frontispiece of a poverty-stricken Irish family of "cottiers" (as Lever terms the indigenous peasantry) in a little fishing village on the Atlantic coast complements the gloom of the decaying portal of Martin Castle in the novel's title-page vignette. In the frontispiece of the dilapidated cottage and the ragged peasant family presided over by an infirm grandparent Phiz underscores Lever's eloquent appeal for social reform in rural Ireland, and foreshadows its inevitable failure. The presence of the well-dressed young aristocrat who has just arrived on horseback, Mary Martin, sharply contrasts with the indigence of the cottiers. In this initial illustration for the volume edition Phiz establishes her as the chief figure in his program of illustration, in which she appears a further dozen times, between Chapters One and Fifty-eight:
- Mary Martin’s Levee. Facing page 6 in Chapter I. (December 1854)
- The Emperor Charles V restores Art. Facing page 42. Chapter V. (January 1855)
- The New Road. Facing page 110 in Chapter XII. (March 1855)
- The Cut Direct. Facing page 173 in Chapter XVII. (March 1855)
- Magic Touches. Facing page 197 in Chapter XVIII. (June 1855)
- Tenants’ right and tenants’ wrong. Facing page 241 in Chapter XXII. (July 1855)
- Mrs. Nelligan astonishes her Husband. Facing page 275 in Chapter XXV. (August 1855)
- Morning Calls. Facing page 403 in Chapter XXXIX. (December 1855)
- Poor Margaret. Facing page 425 in Chapter XLII. (January 1855)
- Joan. Facing page 429 in Chapter XLII (January 1856)
- Old Mat's Last Resting-place. Facing page 449 in Chapter XLV. (February 1856)
- Mary Martin’s Ball Practice. Facing page 475 in Chapter XLVIII. (February 1856)
However, for serial readers who had been collecting the monthly numbers of the novel ever since the December 1854 instalment, the picture would have recalled the revelation of the novel's plot secret: Barry Martin, the legitimate heir, is still alive, and his daughter, brought up by his indolent brother and haughty sister-in-law, Godfrey and Dorothea Martin, is actually the heir to the Cro' Martin estate. The passage marks the end of this documentary revelation, and prepares readers for the untimely death of the reforming Mary from typhus after her adventure to the Brannocks to reunite Joan Landy and her irascible husband, Tom Magennis. The frontispiece itself does not realise any particular act of charity of Mary Martin, but possibly alludes to an earlier illustration in the serial, Morning Calls in Chapter XXXIX (December 1855), the thirteenth monthly number.
Bibliography
Buchanan-Brown, John. Phiz! Illustrator of Dickens' World. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1978.
Lester, Valerie Browne Lester. Chapter 11: "'Give Me Back the Freshness of the Morning!'" Phiz! The Man Who Drew Dickens. London: Chatto and Windus, 2004. Pp. 108-127.
Lever, Charles. The Martins of Cro' Martin. With 39 illustrations and engraved title-vignette by Phiz. London: Chapman & Hall, 1856, rpt. London & New York: Routledge, 1873, in 2 vols.
Lever, Charles. The Martins of Cro' Martin. Illustrated by Phiz [Hablot Knight Browne]. Novels and Romances of Charles Lever. Introduction by Andrew Lang. Lorrequer Edition. Vols. XII and XIII. In two volumes. Boston: Little, Brown, 1907. Project Gutenberg. Last Updated: 28 February 2018.
Steig, Michael. Chapter VII, "Phiz the Illustrator: An Overview and Summing Up." Dickens and Phiz. Bloomington & London: Indiana U. P., 1978. Pp. 299-316.
Stevenson, Lionel. Chapter XII, "Aspirant for Preferment, 1854-1856." Dr. Quicksilver: The Life of Charles Lever. New York: Russell and Russell, 1939; rpt. 1969. Pp. 203-220.
Created 18 September 2022