Master and Man's Reflection Over Old Habits
Phiz
1863
Illustration for Charles Lever's Barrington (Chapter XXII), p. 80
As Lever's chapter title "Leaving Home" proclaims, Peter is preparing to depart for the Continent to bring his granddaughter home (why he has not done so years before, or as a Protestant tolerated her being raised in a Catholic institution, Lever does not adequately explain). He recalls the days of his youth, "when Irish gentlemen were as gorgeous as the courtiers of Versailles" (7) in bright uniforms. Dinah dismisses these youthful garments (note the pun on "habits" in Phiz's title), reminiscent of gay nights and a political career, as "tawdry absurdities" (8), proposing instead a simple suit of black and a grey shooting-coat.
Image scan and text by Philip V. Allingham.