[Victorian Web Home —> Visual Arts —> Illustration —> Phiz (Hablot K. Browne) —> Tom Burke of "Ours" —> Next]

Passage Illustrated: Lever introduces Tom to Lieutenant Charles Gustave de Meudon

At the same moment, the noise of a scuffle was heard in the inner room, and the door burst suddenly open, and Barton issued forth, dragging in his strong hands the figure of a young, slightly-formed man. His coat was off, but its trousers were braided with gold, in military fashion; and his black mustache denoted the officer. The struggle of the youth to get free was utterly fruitless; Barton's grasp was on his collar, and he held him as though he were a child.

Malone stooped down towards the fire, and, opening the pan of his pistol, examined the priming; then, slapping it down again, he stood erect, “Barton,” said he, in a tone of firm determination I heard him use for the first time, — “Barton, it's bad to provoke a man with the halter round his neck. I know what's before me well enough now. But see, let him escape; give him two hours to get away, and here I'll surrender myself your prisoner, and follow you where you like.”

“Break in the door, there, blast ye!” was the reply to this offer, as Barton shouted to the soldiers at the top of his voice. Two of the young men darted forward as he spoke, and threw themselves against it. “Fire through it!” cried Barton, stamping with passion.

“You will have it, will you, then?” said Malone, as he ground his teeth in anger; then raising his pistol, he sprang forward, and holding it within a yard of Barton's face, shouted out, “There!”

The powder flashed in the lock, and quick as its own report. Barton hurled the Frenchman round to protect him from the ball, but only in time to receive the shot in his right arm as he held it uplifted. The arm fell powerless to his side; while Malone, springing on him like a tiger, grasped him in his powerful grip, and they both rolled upon the ground in terrible conflict. The Frenchman stood for an instant like one transfixed; then, bursting from the spot, dashed through the kitchen to the small room I had slept in. One of the young men followed him. The crash of glass and the sounds of breaking woodwork were heard among the other noises; and at the same moment the door gave way in front, and the soldiers with fixed bayonets entered at a charge. [Chapter V, "The Cabin," 43 in the 1844 edition; 41 in the 1865 edition]

Commentary: In Lieutenant de Meudon Tom acquires a mentor and military role model

In this vigorous scene of physical action, the nationalist owner of the "cabin," Ned Malone, attempts to prevent Barton and his squadron of English soliders from arresting his French guest. The object of the arrest warrant, we learn several chapters later, is Lieutenant Charles Gustave de Meudon, 3me Cuirassiers (Chapter VIII, "No. 39, and Its Frequenters," 59), who had remained behind in Ireland after the Rising of 1798, fomented by the French revolutionary government, had failed. De Meudon has been hiding in the cabin, but somehow Barton has learned of his presence, and has anticipated armed resistance. As he grabs De Meudon by the collar, the terrified women (left) seek cover, Malone's followers bar the door so that the squadron cannot aid their sergeant, and the stalwart nationalist discharges his horse-pistol in Barton's face.

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" (March 1843)

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. Rpt. London: Chapman and Hall, 1865. Serialised February 1843 through September 1844 in twenty parts. 2 vols.

Lever, Charles. Tom Burke of "Ours." Illustrated by Phiz [Hablột Knight Browne]. Vol. I and II. 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.

---

Victorian
Web

Illustra-
tion

Phiz

Tom
Burke

Next

Created 31 October 2023