Passage Illustrated: Introducing the Engenues

His candle had burned down nearly to the socket, when he arose and looked at his watch. It was all dark as midnight without, although nigh six o'clock. He opened the window, and a thin snowdrift came slanting in, borne on a cutting north wind; he closed it hastily, and shuddered as he thought of the long and lonely march before him. All was silent in the house as he dressed himself and prepared for the road. With noiseless step he drew near his father's door and listened; everything was still. He could not bring himself to disturb him, so he passed on to the room where his sisters slept. The door lay ajar, and a candle was burning on the table. Frank entered on tiptoe and drew near the bed, but it was empty and had not been lain in. As he turned round he beheld Kate asleep in a chair, dressed as he had last seen her. She had never lain down, and the prayer-book, which had dropped from her hand, told how her last waking moments were passed.

He kissed her twice, but even the hot tears that fell from his eyes upon her cheek did not break her slumber. He looked about him for some token to leave, that might tell he had been there, but there was nothing, and, with a low sigh, he stole from the room. [Chapter III, "The Forest Road," 20]

Commentary

Phiz shows Frank dressed as an alpine hiker, with a packsack on his back. He is setting out early as a walker rather than a traveller by carriage since he cannot afford to travel by coach, but at least he will have companionship for the first stage of his journey on foot to Vienna as the dwarf, Hans the toymaker, intends to accompany him. The illustration admirably suggests the close relationship between the brother and his sisters. But if he is to make his way in the world, Frank Dalton must accept his Great Uncle's invitation to become an officer cadet in the Austrian army.

The time is perhaps six o'clock in the morning, and Frank stoops beside his younger sister's (Kate's) chair to kiss her goodbye. Already, the elder sister, Ellen, is in the kitchen, preparing Frank's breakfast in the background. Shortly she will present Frank with the purse embroidered by Kate. In the text, the scene is somewhat less sentimental as Ellen upbraids Frank for excessive family pride: "Frank's eyes were full of tears, and his cheek quivering as he threw his knapsack on his shoulder" (21).

Bibliography

Browne, John Buchanan. Phiz! Illustrator of Dickens' World. New York: Charles Scribner's, 1978.

Downey, Edmund. Charles Lever: His Life in Letters. 2 vols. london; William Blackwood, 1906.

Fitzpatrick, W. J. The Life of Charles Lever. London: Downey, 1901.

Lester, Valerie Browne. Phiz: The Man Who Drew Dickens. London: Chatto and Windus, 2004.

Lever, Charles. The Daltons, or, Three Roads in Life. Illustrated by "Phiz" (Hablot Knight Browne). London: Chapman and Hall, 1852, rpt. 1872.

Lever, Charles James. The Daltons, or, Three Roads in Life. http://www.gutenberg.org//files/32061/32061-h/32061-h.htm

Skinner, Anne Maria. Charles Lever and Ireland. University of Liverpool. PhD dissertation. May 2019.

Stevenson, Lionel. Dr. Quicksilver: The Life of Charles Lever. New York: Russell & Russell, 1939, rpt. 1969.

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

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