"The Major in All 'Attention'" by "Phiz" (Illustration for Charles Lever's "Barrington")

The Major in All 'Attention'

Phiz (Hablot K. Browne)

1863

Charles Lever's Barrington (Chapter 43, p. 352)

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Scanned image & text by Philip V. Allingham.

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Commentary

Again, Phiz cannot resist a pun, for one might expect a military man to be "at attention," but in the case of the busybody M'Cormick "all attention" is more pertinent. While Stapylton now attempts to win the hand of the "ready-witted" Polly Dill, beyond the fence in the Barringtons' garden M'Cormick overhears the conversation, in which the young woman whimsically names the old major himself as Stapylton's "fortunate rival" (35) for her affections. Undeterred by Stapylton's threats, Polly self-confidently re-enters the house. The infuriated schemer, learning of M'Cormick's having overheard this gross "insult," swears that, but for M'Cormick's rheumatism, he would throw him into the river.

Related material about Irish History

Bibliography

Lester, Valerie Browne. Phiz: The Man Who Drew Dickens. London: Chatto and Windus, 2004.

Lever, Charles. Barrington. With 25 engravings by Phiz [Hablột Knight Browne]. London: Chapman and Hall, 1863.

Sutherland, John A. "Barrington." The Stanford Companion to Victorian Fiction. Stanford, Cal.: Stanford U. P., 1989, rpt. 1990, 48-49.

Created 11 November 2007

Last modified 15 September 2026