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Viviana Radcliffe imploring Guy Fawkes to abandon the Conspiracy
George Cruikshank
September 1840
Steel-engraving
12.2 cm high by 9.5 cm wide vignetted, facing p. 140 in the volume, p. 105 in volume 8 of Bentley's Miscellany
Ninth monthly engraving for William Harrison Ainsworth's Guy Fawkes, ninth number.
[Click on image to enlarge it.]
Serialised in Bentley's Miscellany, vols. 7-10, in twenty-three monthly parts.
Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.
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Garnet, meanwhile, had reached the door of Viviana's chamber, which was slightly ajar, and he was about to pass through it, when he perceived that she was on her knees before Guy Fawkes, whom she was addressing in the most passionate terms. The latter was seated at a table, with his head upon his hand, in a thoughtful posture. Surprised at the sight, and curious to hear what Viviana could be saying, Garnet drew back to listen.
"When you quit this house," were the first words that caught the listener's ear, "we shall never meet again; and oh! let me have the consolation of thinking that, in return for the devoted attachment you have shown me, and the dangers from which you have preserved me, I have preserved you from one equally imminent. Catesby, from whatever motive, has abandoned the conspiracy. Do you act likewise, and the whole dreadful scheme will fall to the ground."
"Catesby cannot abandon it," replied Fawkes. "He is bound by ties that no human power can sunder. And, however he may estrange himself from us now, when the time for action arrives, rest assured he will not be absent."
"It may be so," replied Viviana; "but I deny that the oath either he or you have taken is binding. The deed you have sworn to do is evil, and no vow, however solemnly pronounced, can compel you to commit crime. Avoid this sin — avoid further connexion with those who would work your undoing, and do not stain your soul with guilt from which it will never be cleansed."
"You seek in vain to move me," replied Guy Fawkes, firmly. [Book One, "The Plot," Chapter XX, "The Departure from the Hall," pp. 140-41]
Ironically, although he strongly suspects that the Gunpowder Pot is doomed to failure (as forecast by both the prophetess and the spirit of St. Winfred earlier), Fawkes persists in his determination to blow up the King, Lords, and Commons — and even Viviana's pleading will not dissuade him. Having just lost her father in a clash with the Protestant authorities, Viviana Radcliffe senses that the plot of which Fawkes is the intrepid ring-leader will end badly, and she implores him to disengage. To Viviana, the conspirators do not act in accordance with the will of Heaven by attacking so many innocent legislators: "The deed you have sworn to do is evil, and no vow, however solemnly pronounced, can compel you to commit crime." Fawkes, however, remains bent on vengeance: "The wrongs of the English Catholics imperatively demand redress; and, since it is denied us, we must take it. Oppression can go no farther; nor endurance hold out longer. If this blow be not struck we shall have no longer a religion" (141).
Such, then, is the subject which Ainsworth gave Cruikshank for the September 1840 part of the story for Bentley's Miscellany. As was the case with previous instalments, the monthly illustration and instalment lead off the September number. Bentley's printer, Samuel Bentley (1785–1868), proprietor Richard's older brother, has positioned Viviana Radcliffe imploring Guy Fawkes to abandon the Conspiracy to face page 207 in the magazine serial, the first page of the September instalment, Book the First, Chapter XVIII, "The Explanation," Chapter XIX, "The Discovery," and Chapter XX, "The Departure from the Hall" (scene illustrated: pp. 226-227 in Chapter XX, "End of the First Book," which concludes on page 232). For Book the Second, the scene will shift to the south of England and the execution of the Gunpowder Plot — although, as she is the story's heroine, Viviana will appear later. "Guy Fawkes and Catesby landing the Powder" (facing page 321), leads off the October instalment, Book the Second, Chapter I, "The Landing of the Powder" (scene illustrated: bottom p. 330, at the end of that chapter). In general, the monthly illustration concerns an incident at the close of the monthly instalment, at the serial curtain.
As in Ainsworth's text, Father Garnet, the fugitive Jesuit, has cracked the door ajar in order to overhear the conversation that does bode well for the enterprise. Although wainscotted, the apartment at Ordsall Hall boasts no carpet, but perhaps Cruikshank is implying that, in the recept sack of the mansion, marauders have stripped away such signs of luxury. Fawkes is sitting on a substantial wooden chair, his unique feathered Spanish hat on the small table beside him. In a posture typical of this submissive heroine, Viviana, dressed in deep mourning, clasps her hands together in entreaty as she kneels, but Fawkes thoughtfully looks away from her, as if already gloomily anticipating the failure of the Plot.
Ainsworth, William Harrison. Guy Fawkes, or The Gunpowder Treason: An Historical Romance. With 22 illustrations by George Cruikshank. London: Cunningham & Mortimer, 1841 (first edition). Rpt., London: George Routledge & Sons, n. d. [See the text and images of the novel posted in May 2013 at Project Gutenberg Australia's website: http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks13/1302021h.html .]
Vann, J. Don. "Guy Fawkes in Bentley's Miscellany, January 1840-Noevember 1841." Victorian Novels in Serial. New York: MLA, 1985. P. 20.
Last modified 27 August 2018