A Spill by Phiz (Hablot Knight Browne), facing page 365 in the eleventh instalment (November 1855). Steel-engraving. 10.3 cm high by 17.3 cm wide (4 ⅛ by 6 ⅞ inches inches), vignetted, full-page illustration for The Martins of Cro' Martin, for Chapter XXXVI, "The Club." [Click on the image to enlarge it.]
Passage Illustrated: Jack Massingbred narrates what has just befallen him
“Pardon me, Prince,” replied Massingbred, as he filled a glass of water and drank it off, “this courtesy I received at the hands of the military. I was turning my cab from the Boulevard to enter this street, when a hoarse challenge of a sentry, saying I know not what, attracted my attention. I drew up short to learn, and then suddenly came a rush of the people from behind, which terrified my horse, and set him off at speed; the uproar increasing, the affrighted animal dashed madly onward, the crowd flying on every side, when suddenly a bullet whizzed past my head, cutting my hat in two; a second, at the same instant, struck my horse, and killed him on the spot, cab and all rolling over as he fell. How I arose, gained my legs, and was swept away by the dense torrent of the populace, are events of which I am very far from clear. I only know that although the occurrence happened within half an hour ago, it seems to me an affair of days since.”
“You were, doubtless, within some line of outposts when first challenged,” said the Pole, “and the speed at which you drove was believed to be an arranged plan of attack, for you say the mob followed you.”
“Very possibly your explanation is the correct one,” said Massingbred, coolly; “but I looked for more steadiness and composure from the troops, while I certainly did not anticipate so much true courtesy and kindness as I met with from the people.”
“Parbleu! here's Massingbred becoming Democrat,” said one. “The next thing we shall hear is his defence of a barricade.”
“You'll assuredly not hear that I attacked one in such company as inflicted all this upon me,” rejoined he, with an easy smile.
“Here's the man to captivate your 'Belle Irlandaise,' Martin,” cried one. “Already is he a hero and a martyr to Royal cruelty.”
“Ah! you came too late to hear that,” said the Pole, in a whisper to Massingbred; “but it seems La Henderson became quite a Charlotte Corday this evening, and talked more violent Republicanism than has been heard in a salon since the days of old Égalité.”
“All lights must be extinguished, gentlemen,” said the waiter, entering hastily. “The street is occupied by troops, and you must pass out by the Rue de Grenelle.” [Chapter XXXVI, "The Club," pp. 364-365]
Commentary: Jack races through Paris during les Trois Glorieuses (1830)
Just as Captain Harry Martin is celebrating his victory at Lansquenet, and is about to treat the losers to dinner, the Club members become aware from noises without that revolutionary mobs are filling the streets. Fusillades of musket fire near the windows compel the club members to make for their residences. And now, suddenly, Jack Massingbred enters, describing how, as he approached the club in his cab, he was caught in a crossfire between regular infantry and proletarian revolutionaries
Phiz takes the opportunity to realize not the consternation inside the club but Jack's recent adventure to create a dynamic complement to his inset narrative in the text. Although Lever subsequently presents Jack as a cool, analytical historian of mob violence and insurrection, Phiz injects a wonderful sense of action as the young passenger is hurled from the cab in Cette révolution se déroule sur trois journées, les 27, 28 et 29 juillet 1830. Both the cabdriver and the passenger lose their hats at the same moment, the reins fly free, and the horse has just been shot by the soldier to the immediate right. The paving stones at the bottom of the scene suggest that the rioters have dislodged them to hurl at the infantry battalions, armed with "ten thousand sabres, and eight batteries" (364).
Material Related to the Paris Revolt of 27-29 July 1830
- John Wilson Croker's Image of France
- The Spirit of Freedom by Augustin Dumont
- The French Revolution as Symbolic History
- Revolution and Authority: 1830-1837
Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham. [You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the person who scanned the image and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.]
Bibliography
Lever, Charles. The Martins of Cro' Martin. Illustrated by Phiz [Hablot Knight Browne]. London: Chapman & Hall, 1856, rpt. 1872.
Lever, Charles. The Martins of Cro' Martin. Illustrated by Phiz [Hablot Knight Browne]. In two volumes. Novels and Romances of Charles Lever. Introduction by Andrew Lang. Lorrequer Edition. Vols. XII and XIII. Boston: Little, Brown, 1907.
Created 2 October 2022