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Passage Illustrated: An Unexpected Political Discussion with the Ladies

"I may have the infirmity you speak of," said she, quickly, "but assuredly I'll not wear Government spectacles to correct it."

If Forester was surprised at finding a young lady so deeply interested in a political question, he was still more so on hearing the tone of determination she spoke in, and would gladly, had he known how, have given the conversation a less serious turn.

"We have been all the time forgetting the real question at issue," said Lady Eleanor.

"I do not perceive any remarkable difficulty, madam," said Forester, addressing himself exclusively to Lady Eleanor. "The Knight of Gwynne has doubtless strong opinions on this question; they are either in favour of, or adverse to, the Government views: if the former, your reply is easy and most satisfactory; if the latter, perhaps he would condescend to explain the nature of his objections, to state whether it be to anything in the detail of the measure he is adverse to, or to the principle of the Bill itself. A declaration like this will open a door to negotiation, without the slightest imputation on either side. A minister may well afford to offer his reasons for any line of policy to one as eminent in station and ability as the Knight of Gwynne, and I trust I am not indiscreet in assuming that the Knight would not be derogating from that station in listening to, and canvassing, such explanations."

"Lord Castlereagh, 'aut——,'" said Helen, starting up from her seat, and making a low courtesy before Forester, who, feeling himself in a measure detected, blushed till his face became scarlet. [Chapter XIII, "A Treaty Rejected," pp. 89-35]

Commentary: Meanwhile, back in Westport

Clearly, despite the pistol wound and considerable loss of blood, Captain Forester has recovered sufficiently to discuss the political situation with the wife and daughter of the Knight of Gwynne, Lady Eleanor Darcy and Helen. Lever sets the scene for his illustrator ("The pine wood blazed brightly on the wide hearth, and threw its mellow lustre over the antique carvings and the porcelain ornaments of the chamber, contrasting the glow of in-door comfort with the bleak and cheerless look of all without, where the crashing noise of breaking branches mingled with the yet sadder sound of the swollen torrent from the mountain"), but Phiz depicts only the comfortable parlour of Gwynne Abbey, with armorial bearings on the leaded-pane window.

The political question for which Lady Eleanor has asked the recuperating Captain Forester to adjudicate is the Knight's voting (or refraining from voting) on the Act of Union: Lady Eleanor is decidedly an Anglo-phile, whereas her daughter, Helen, champions the cause of a politically independent Ireland, echoing the sentiments of Bagenal Daly. But how can mother or daughter reasonably expect the young English officer, aide-de-camp to the Irish Secretary, Lord Castlereagh, to be impartial or aloof from the question? The reader is aware, of course, that Forester's mission to Gwynne Abbey was to coerce the Knight into throwing his substabtial influence behind the Bill. However, Phiz has complicated the issue by depicting Helen as obviously captivated by the young English visitor The matter of how Maurice Darcy will vote will undoubtedly be affected by his recent, catastrophic loss at whist, of which readers are well aware, but of which his wife and daughter remain in ignorance.

The arrival of the miserly Dr. Hickman (just in time for lunch) interrupts the presentations of the cases for and against the Union (and therefore whether the Knight should involve himself in light of a possible benbefit), and Captain Forester finds that he can avoid passing judgment. Should he support the case of Lady Eleanor (as outlinbed in her cousin Lord Netherby's recent letter), Forester will undoubtedly alienate the impassioned Miss Darcy. And Lever keeps us in suspense about the nature of the "consideration" that Castlereagh is prepared to offer, or, as Helen puts the matter, "the rich temptation offered in requital of my father's vote on the 'nion.'" In a private interview, however, Dr. Hickman reveals the Knight's loss of the estates, and tries to leverage the debt as a means of arranging a marriage between Helen Darcy and Hickman's grandson.

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 Knight of Gwynne; A Tale of the Time of the Union. London: Chapman and Hall, serialised January 1846 through July 1847.

Lever, Charles. The Knight of Gwynne. Illustrated by Phiz [Hablột Knight Browne]. Novels and Romances of Charles Lever. Vol. I and II. In two volumes. Project Gutenberg. Last Updated: 28 February 2018.

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. Chapter IX, "Nomadic Patriarch, 1845-1847." Dr. Quicksilver: The Life of Charles Lever. London: Chapman and Hall, 1939. Pp. 146-164.

   

_______.  "The Domestic Scene." The English Novel: A Panorama. Cambridge, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin and Riverside, 1960.

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Created 19 July 2023