'The Witness' (facing p. 266 in the 1844 edition, p. 275 in the 1865 edition) horizontally-mounted, 9.8 cm high by 12.2 cm wide, (4 by 4 ⅞ inches), eighteenth vignetted steel illustration for Charles Lever's Tom Burke of "Ours," Chapter XXXVII, "The 'Trial'" (ninth instalment, October 1843). [Click on the image to enlarge it; mouse over links.]
Passage Illustrated: Crisis in the Courtroom
As the hardy Chouan stepped forward, the handkerchief fell from the witness's face, while his head slowly turned round towards the prisoner. A cry, like the yell of a wounded animal, broke from the stout Breton, as he bounded into the air and held up both his arms to their full height.
“Toi, toi!” screamed he, in accents that seemed the very last of a heart wrung to agony, while he leaned forward and fixed his eyes on him, till the very orbs seemed bursting from their sockets. “Oui,” added he, in a lower tone, but one which was felt in every corner of that crowded assemblage — “oui, c'est lui!” Then clasping his trembling hands together, as his knees bent beneath him, he turned his eyes upwards, and said, “Le bon Dieu, that makes men's hearts and knows their thoughts, deals with us as he will; and I must have sinned sorely towards him when such punishment as this has fallen upon me. Oh, my brother! my child! my own Bouvet de Lozier!”
“Bouvet de Lozier!” cried the other prisoners, with a shout wild as madness itself, while every man sprang forward to look at him. But already his head had fallen back over the chair, the limbs stretched out rigidly, and the arm fell heavily down.
“He is dying!” “He is dead!” were the exclamations of the crowd, and a general cry for a doctor was heard around. Several physicians were soon at his side, and by the aid of restoratives he was gradually brought back to animation; but cold and speechless he lay, unable to understand anything, and was obliged to be conveyed back again to his bed. [Chapter XXXVII, "The 'Trial'," 266 in the 1844 edition; pp. 274-275 in the 1865 edition]
Commentary: Where in the Courtroom is Sous-Lieutenant Tom Burke?
This first illustration for the ninth monthly part is somewhat unusual in several respects. First, it has little to do with furthering our understanding of Tom's circumstances and the possibility for his exoneration from the charge of treason. Secondly, Tom is not prominent in the composition, which is (like the previous plate for the September 1843 number, The Templars), a crowd scene and a broad plate, vertically mounted. Rather, the focal character in the witness chair is the young Breton noble Bouvet de Lozier, the favourite of General George Cadoudal (otherwise, "Red Beard"). As a political prisoner in The Temple over the past months De Lozier has suffered ill health and mental decline, as Lever indicates in Chapter XXXIV, "The Chouans":
One I could not help remarking above the others, — a slight, pale, and handsome youth, whose almost girlish cheek the first down of youth was shading. George leaned his arm round his neck, and called him by his name, and in a voice almost tremulous from emotion: “And you, Bouvet de Lozier, whose infancy wanted nothing of luxury and enjoyment, for whom all that wealth and affection could bestow were in abundance, — how do you bear these rugged reverses, my dear boy?”
The youth looked up with eyes bathed in tears; the hectic spot in his face gave way to the paleness of death, and his lips moved without a sound.
“He has been ill, — the count has,” said a peasant, in a low voice.
“Poor fellow!” said George; “he was not meant for trials like these; the cares he used to bury in his mother's lap met other consolations than our ruder ones. Look up, Bouvet, my man, and remember you are a man.”
The youth trembled from head to foot, and looked fearfully around, as if dreading something, while he clutched the strong arm beside him, as though for protection. [249]
This description lays the groundwork for the young Count's total breakdown on the witness stand, and the postponement of hearing the government's case against Red Beard, who stands, commiserating with De Lozier, who was to be examined as the initial witness for the prosecution at the opening of this fifth day of the trial of the Chouans, some of whom Phiz has depicted as sitting behind Red Beard. But the illustrator has not included the three principals who will appear next in court, and from whose perspective we see the examination of Bouvet de Lozier: "Thomas Burke, lieutenant of the huitième hussars," his astute and well-prepared advocate Baillot, and his principal supporter, old General d'Auvergne from Tom's days at the Polytechnique. All three have conferred about Tom's case in his cell earlier that morning, and the chances of Tom's being acquitted seem good because the evidence against him is purely circumstantial. Little do the defence team know that Tom's accuser is none other than the notorious spy Mehée de la Touche (known previously only to Tom as the Abbé D'Ervan).
Thus, the initial illustration for the October 18432 number illustration complements the action of Chapter XXXVII, "The 'Trial'," without giving away precisely how Tom will be exonerated, although the second illustration for the number, Napoleon shews Tom the door, certainly implies that Tom escapes both execution and imprisonment. The scene thus sets up Tom's case being called without revealing its outcome, and introduces the essentials of a French courtroom, as well attorneys (advocates) and judges (presidents), for British readers.
Further Information
- Charles Lever's Fourth Novel, Tom Burke of "Ours" (February 1843 — September 1844)
- Instalment-by-instalment Synopsis of the Novel's Plot and Characters: Lever's Tom Burke of "Ours" (February 1843)
- Instalment-by-instalment Synopsis of the Novel's Plot and Characters: Lever's Tom Burke of "Ours" (March 1843)
- Synopsis of the Novel's Plot and Characters for Tom Burke's Adventures in France in Lever's Tom Burke of "Ours" (April 1843 through June 1844)
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
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. Tom Burke of "Ours." Dublin: William Curry, Jun., 1844. Illustrated by H. K. Browne. London: Chapman and Hall, 1865. Serialised February 1843 through September 1844. 2 vols.
Lever, Charles. Tom Burke of "Ours." Illustrated by Phiz [Hablột Knight Browne]. Vol. I and II. In two volumes. Project Gutenberg. Last Updated: 24 February 2021.
Steig, Michael. Chapter Four: "Dombey and Son: Iconography of Social and Sexual Satire." Dickens and Phiz. Bloomington: Indiana U. P., 1978. Pp. 86-112.
Stevenson, Lionel. Dr. Quicksilver: The Life of Charles Lever. London: Chapman and Hall, 1939.
_______. "The Domestic Scene." The English Novel: A Panorama. Cambridge, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin and Riverside, 1960.
Created 3 November 2023