A part of "Little Dorrit" was composed in France, and on July 2, 1856, Dickens informed the artist that he was returning to Boulogne the next day, and desired him to make the illustration of "The Pensioner Entertainment" "as characteristic as ever you please, my little dear, but quiet." This plate proved a decided success. When, early in 1857, the novelist was again in London, "Phiz" forwarded for his inspection a sketch for the etching entitled "An Unexpected After-dinner Speech," which, however, did not quite realise Dickens's idea; whereupon the artist received a letter (printed for the first time in Mr. Thomson's Memoir) suggesting certain improvements, afterwards duly carried out. "In the dinner scene," he wrote, "it is highly important that Mr. Dorrit should not be too comic. He is too comic now. He is described in the text as 'shedding tears,' and what he imperatively wants is an expression doing less violence in the reader's mind to what is going to happen to him, and much more in accordance with that serious end which is so close before him. Pray do not neglect this change."

Dickens seems to have been much pleased with the artist's original drawings of "Flora's Tour of Inspection" and "Mr. Merdle a Borrower," which he characterised as "very good subjects—both." Of the latter he said: "I can't distinctly make out the detail, but I take Sparkles to be getting the tortoise-shell knife from the box. Am I right?"

Only a few of the drawings for "Little Dorrit" have been available for my inspection. Two of these, viz., "Mr. Merdle a Borrower" and "Under the Microscope" (now in Mr. J. F. Dexter's collection), are executed in pencil and wash, the second design not being reversed in the etching. As usual, the pictorial wrapper for the monthly parts was designed by "Phiz." The central picture represents Little Dorrit emerging from the gates of the Marshalsea; above is placed the despondent figure of Britannia in a bath-chair, attended by figures emblematical of the Circumlocution Office, while at the base of the design is seen a mixed assemblage of people, including some of the more prominent characters in the story.

A Tale of Two Cities, 1859.Although "A Tale of Two Cities" was written specially for the pages of All the Year Round, it appeared concurrently in the familiar monthly numbers, with illustrations by "Phiz." The artist, in writing to his son Walter, said: "A rather curious thing happened with this book. Watts Phillips, the dramatist, hit upon the very same identical plot: they had evidently both of them been to the same source in Paris for their story. Watts's play ['The Dead Heart'] came out with great success, with stunning climax, at about the time of Dickens's sixth number. The public saw that they were identically the same story, so Dickens shut up at the ninth number, instead of going on to the eighteenth as usual." Whether this explanation is correct or not, the fact remains that "A Tale of Two Cities" was brought to a conclusion in the eighth number (not the ninth, as stated by "Phiz"), being therefore less than half the usual length of Dickens's serials.

As in the case of "Little Dorrit," the artist's signature does not appear in any of the sixteen etchings contributed by "Phiz" to this novel. It has been pointed out that the French personages in the pictures are not characteristic of the period, there being but little attempt at archaeological accuracy in the costumes. Only one set of the illustrations was prepared, none being etched in duplicate; they were executed on eight quarto steels, each bearing two designs. Of the original drawings for "A Tale of Two Cities" I have seen only one (now in Mr. J. F. Dexter's collection), and this was never etched. The sketch in question, which is vigorously executed with pencil and brush, depicts the incident of the stoppage at the Fountain, and constitutes an excellent subject for illustration.

The artist's design for the monthly wrapper is composed of distinct scenes separated by dividing lines. At the top of the page is St. Paul's Cathedral as viewed from the Thames, and at the base the Cathedral of Nôtre Dame is represented, while around are displayed some of the prominent characters in the story.

"A Tale of Two Cities" is the last of the novels containing illustrations by "Phiz," for, with the completion of the final plate in that story, there came a severance of that fortuitous collaboration between novelist and artist which had been maintained during a period of twenty-three years. As there is no evidence of any actual rupture between them, it is fair to surmise that a legitimate desire on the part of Dickens for a new illustrator constituted the actual reason for that severance. "Phiz" naturally felt aggrieved at "Dickens's strangely silent manner of breaking the connection," and could only surmise the reason; for, in an undated letter to Mr. Robert Young, written presumably a short time before the publication of the succeeding story, he said: "Marcus [Stone] is no doubt to do Dickens. I have been a 'good boy,' I believe. The plates in hand are all in good time, so that I do not know what's 'up,' any more than you. Dickens probably thinks a new hand would give his old puppets a fresh look, or perhaps he does not like my illustrating Trollope neck-and-neck with him—though, by Jingo, he need fear no rivalry there! Confound all authors and publishers, say I. There is no pleasing one or t'other. I wish I had never had anything to do with the lot."

The amicable relationship that had subsisted between the author and his principal illustrator was not strained by this event. As a matter of fact, the artist ever entertained a tender regard and admiration for the famous romancer with whom he had so long been associated, and we may readily believe what a writer in the Frankfurt Zeitung tells us when he says: "Just after the death of Charles Dickens, 'Phiz' was considerably affected by the mere mention of the name of that illustrious novelist, which seemed to stir up in his breast feelings of regret at losing such a friend."

Hablôt Knight Browne, as designer of the plates for ten of the fourteen principal novels by "Immortal Boz," is justly termed "the illustrator of Dickens." His name and fame are similarly identified with the works of Lever and Ainsworth, while, in addition to this, his familiar signature ("Fizz, Whizz, or something of that sort," as Tom Hood used to say, when endeavouring to recall the artist's sign-manual) may be found appended to innumerable etchings and woodcuts. He was born at Kennington, London, in July 1815, being the ninth son of William Loder Browne, who is somewhat indefinitely described as "a merchant." The artist's forefathers were of French descent, the original name (according to tradition) being Le Brun, a member of which family emigrated to England after the Massacre of St Bartholomew in 1572. His ancestors lived in London in the early part of the last century and adopted the essentially English cognomen of Browne. With regard to the artist's baptismal names, it is interesting to learn that the first (Hablôt) was the patronymic of a Colonel (or Captain) who was engaged to marry a sister of "Phiz," but was killed in a charge of Napoleon's Garde Impériale at Waterloo, while the second (Knight) was received from Admiral Sir John Knight, an old friend of the family; thus, in respect of names, was the artist associated with both Army and Navy.

"Phiz" inherited a strong artistic faculty, and, when a boy, was encouraged to cultivate his wonderful talent for drawing by his brother-in-law, Mr. Elhanan Bicknell, the well-known Art patron, who took so keen an interest in his welfare that he offered to defray all expenses of a thorough art education. It was through Mr. Bicknell's generosity that the youth was apprenticed to Finden, the engraver, who, it appears, more than once complained that his protégé persisted in covering with comic figures the entire margins of the plates entrusted to him, thus indicating the humorous bent of his mind. In after years he took occasional lessons in painting, but he never distinguished himself as a painter, although he occasionally exhibited at the Royal Academy and other public galleries. The only regular training he ever had was at Finden's; but the work he was required to perform there proved much too irksome and monotonous for one who, like "Phiz," possessed ideas so eminently original and fanciful. As in the case of his two famous contemporaries, Cruikshank and Leech, "Phiz" could never accustom himself to draw from the living model, which accounts, of course, for his conventional treatment of the human figure; his representations of moving crowds, as well as other scenes of life and character, being drawn either from recollection or by the aid of a few slightly-pencilled memoranda.

It is unfortunate for my present purpose that nearly all the correspondence which passed between author and artist should have been destroyed. I am enabled, however, to print one or two brief notes indicating their friendly and familiar relationship. In 1841, "Phiz" supplied some etchings to "The Pic Nic Papers," a collection of essays edited by Dickens and produced for the benefit of Mrs. Macrone, the widow of the well-known publisher, who had been left in impoverished circumstances. In reply to an inquiry on the part of the novelist respecting the illustrations, the artist wrote:—

"My Dear Dickens,—I have just got one boot on, intending to come round to you, but you have done me out of a capital excuse to myself for idling away this fine morning. I quite forgot to answer your note, and Mr. Macrone's book has not been very vividly present to my memory for some time past, for both of which offences I beg innumerable pardons. I think by the beginning of next [week] or the middle (certain) I shall have done the plates, but on the scraps of copy that I have I can see but one good subject, so if you know of another, pray send it me. I should like 'Malcolm' again, if you can spare him.—Yours very truly,

"Very short of paper.

Hablôt K. Browne."

The following terse epistle is undated, which is characteristic of "Phiz's" letters:—

"My Dear Dickens,—I am sorry I cannot have a touch at battledore with you to-day, being already booked for this evening, but I will give you a call to-morrow after church, and take my chance of finding you at home.—Yours very sincerely,

"Hablôt K. Browne."

On March 15, 1847, when forwarding to the artist some written instructions respecting a "Dombey" illustration, the novelist made an interesting allusion to an early incident in his own life. "I wish you had been at poor Hall's[28] funeral, and I am sure they would have been glad.... He lies in Highgate Cemetery, which is beautiful.... Is it not a curious coincidence, remembering our connection afterwards, that I bought the magazine [The Monthly Magazine, Dec. 1833] in which the first thing I ever wrote was published ["A Dinner at Poplar Walk"] from poor Hall's hands? I have been thinking all day of that, and of that time when the Queen went into the City, and we drank claret (it was in their [Chapman & Hall's] earlier days) in the counting-house. You remember?"

"Phiz" received fifteen guineas each for his early plates, but sometimes agreed to accept smaller fees; he estimated that it took him ten days to prepare and etch four designs. Being a bad business man, he never raised his prices, the consequence being that his income was not what it should have been for one who so long held a unique position as an illustrator of popular books. During the first ten or twelve years of his professional life he was comparatively prosperous, but when etching as a means of illustrating went out of favour, and he became somewhat indifferent concerning this method of work, his income suffered considerably. The artist did not actually experience financial difficulties, however, until he was seized with a serious illness in 1867, said to have been partly caused by his having slept in a draught at a seaside house. After five months of great suffering he again essayed to use his pencil, but it soon became obvious to his friends that his health was completely shattered, and that, in less than six months, he had become a broken-down old man. The worst trouble of all was a partial paralysis of the right arm and leg, which he persisted in calling "rheumatism," and in consequence of which his hand lost its cunning. Then it was that the demand for his work practically ceased. "I don't know where to turn or what to do," he wrote in 1879. "I have at last come to a full stop, and don't see my way just yet to get on again. My occupation seems gone, extinct; I suppose I am thought to be used up, and I have been long enough before the public. I have not had a single thing to do this year, nor for some months previous in the past year."

In 1878, at the suggestion of his friend Mr. Luke Fildes, R.A., "Phiz" applied to Government for a pension. The petition was prepared by Mr. Robert Young, but the result was unfavourable. Happily he received unexpected assistance from another quarter, in the shape of a well-deserved annuity from the Royal Academy, awarded in recognition of his distinguished services to Art. Ever hopeful of being restored to health, he began on his recovery to again use his pencil, but the crippled condition of his right hand, together with the rapid decline of his fanciful imagination and power of invention, made it impossible for him to produce anything worthy of his past reputation. At length his affliction became so pronounced that all hope of recovery was abandoned, and on the 8th of July 1882 the famous "Phiz" breathed his last, in his sixty-seventh year. He spent the end of his busy life in the quiet seclusion of Hove, and his last resting-place is on the summit of a hill on the northern side of the extra-mural cemetery at Brighton.

"Phiz's" many excellent qualities far outweighed any defects in his character. A life-long friend of the artist, Mr. John Greville Fennell, writes thus to me: "No man knew more of Hablôt Browne than I did, for though he was very reticent to most, he never, I believe, concealed anything from me. We used to wander together in the country for two or three weeks or more at a time, and a man more full of fun, when he had thrown off the 'harness,' I have not known in my large acquaintance." His naturally modest disposition eventually developed into a remarkable shyness, and this, when coupled with a dislike of publicity, was often misconstrued as pride. Even Dickens had considerable difficulty in persuading him to meet a few friends and spend a pleasant evening. When he did accept such invitations, he invariably tried to seclude himself in a corner of the room or behind a curtain. In former years he was occasionally prevailed upon to attend certain dinners given by Dickens to celebrate the completion of his stories; and the novelist sometimes succeeded in inducing him to accept invitations to join him for a brief holiday by the sea, as we learn from a communication addressed to Forster, and dated from Bonchurch during the "Copperfield" days, in which Dickens said: "Browne is coming down when he has done his month's work." Eventually, all desire for social intercourse ceased, "Phiz" preferring to lead the life of a recluse in his country home.

A short time prior to his severe illness in 1867, Hablôt Browne received an extraordinary commission from Mr. F. W. Cosens, one of his most liberal patrons, who solicited the artist to make coloured replicas of the entire series of his published designs for the works of the great novelist. In a letter to me on this subject in 1882, Mr. Cosens said: "I remember to have had only two or three interviews with him, and, as a stranger, found him shy and nervous. I desired to secure any sketches he might have of the illustrations to Dickens, but understood him to say he had none, as he drew them on the blocks [plates]. He evidently did not like the drudgery of reproduction, and named such terms as he thought would deter me; but finding the honorarium was of great importance to him, the bargain was struck. The work extended over some years, and the later productions evince haste and inferiority. The work can hardly be called water-colour drawing, as it is simply sketching, slightly heightened by colour-washing." Strange to say, "Phiz" did not possess copies of Dickens's novels, so he borrowed Mr. Cosen's set, and from these he executed the tinted replicas. At the sale of Mr. Cosen's library at Sotheby's in 1890, this interesting collection, numbering 405 drawings, was disposed of for the aggregate sum of £671.

It should be mentioned in conclusion, that, besides the vignettes already described as having been prepared by "Phiz" for the Library Edition (1858-59), he also designed for that edition the following subjects, which were executed in water-colours and, like the rest, engraved on steel:—Mr. Trott and the "Boots," illustrating "The Great Winglebury Duel" in "Sketches by Boz;" Mr. Bumble and Oliver, for "Oliver Twist;" Scrooge and Marley, for the series of Christmas Books; and a Vineyard Scene, which appropriately decorates the title-page of "Pictures from Italy."

Although, as already stated, Hablôt Browne was quite capable of biting-in his own designs upon the steel plates, he had not sufficient time to devote to this part of his work. From the "Pickwick" days onward the artist was fortunate in securing the services of his fellow-apprentice in Finden's studio, Mr. Robert Young, who was afterwards his partner in many artistic ventures, and always his most intimate friend and admirer. When at Finden's, Mr. Young acquired the art of biting-in, a process which, although to some extent a mechanical one, requires a considerable amount of artistic knowledge and manipulative skill, for there is nothing to guide the etcher as to the required effect, except in some cases a rough indication on paper. It was Mr. Young's duty, after each plate was bitten-in, to go over it with a graver and join any lines which in the etching had become broken or rotten. For biting-in and finishing the two subjects on one plate he received from Chapman & Hall (with whom he had a separate account) the sum of three guineas. Browne's ruling-machine for producing the mezzotint effects was kept in his colleague's room at Furnival's Inn, where, more than half-a-century ago, he and the artist took chambers for business purposes and to be near the publishers. These quarters, which were situated in the south-west corner of the Inn, have been lately demolished, together with the chambers at No. 15, rendered famous by the fact that the earlier portion of "Pickwick" was there written.

Mr. Young acted as Browne's assistant in the manner described during the greater part of the years of "Phiz's" popularity, and his co-operation extended not only to the Dickens illustrations, but to the thousand-and-one designs that embellished the works of other writers. The following brief note (quoted from Mr. Thomson's Memoir) is a specimen of the many communications which constantly passed between the artist and his coadjutor:—

[Circa 1845.]

"My Dear 'Co,'—Pray help me in an emergency. Put a bottle of aquafortis in your pockets, wax and all other useful adjuncts, and come to me to-morrow about one or two o'clock, and bite in an etching for me, ferociously and expeditiously. Can you?—will you?—oblige, Yours sincerely,

H. K. Browne."

Mr. Robert Young, who is now in his eighty-second year, has recently favoured me with a few facts concerning himself, which are not devoid of interest in the present record. Writing from Norham-upon-Tweed, he says: "I was born in Dalkeith in 1816, educated in France, and, on leaving school, was apprenticed to Finden, the engraver, where my friendship with 'Phiz' commenced, which closed with his death. Some years ago I was presented with a clerkship in the Admiralty, and retired on a pension in 1878, which enables me to pass my last days in this humdrum village. I am, as you see, very old, have many infirmities, and cannot always remember past events."

Plate XXXVIII

GEORGE CATTERMOLE
From an Unpublished Photograph by LAKE PRICE

Master Humphrey's Clock, 1840-41. George Cattermole had already enjoyed considerable experience as an illustrator of books, and had made drawings of buildings and scenery described in Scott's novels, when, in 1840, Dickens invited him to collaborate with D. Maclise, R.A., and Hablôt K. Browne ("Phiz") in designing the woodcuts for "Master Humphrey's Clock." The earliest intimation received by the artist respecting the projected publication was contained in the following letter, dated January 13, 1840:—

"My Dear Cattermole,—I am going to propound a mightily grave matter to you. My new periodical work appears—or I should rather say the first number does—on Saturday, the 28th of March.... The title is 'Master Humphrey's Clock.' Now, among other improvements, I have turned my attention to the illustrations, meaning to have woodcuts dropped into the text, and no separate plates. I want to know whether you would object to make me a little sketch for a woodcut—in indian-ink would be quite sufficient—about the size of the enclosed scrap; the subject, an old quaint room with antique Elizabethan furniture, and in the chimney-corner an extraordinary old clock—the clock belonging to Master Humphrey, in fact, and no figures. This I should drop into the text at the head of my opening page.

"I want to know, besides—as Chapman & Hall are my partners in the matter, there need be no delicacy about my asking or your answering the question—what would be your charge for such a thing, and whether (if the work answers our expectations) you would like to repeat the joke at intervals, and if so, on what terms? I should tell you that I intend to ask Maclise to join me likewise, and that the copying, the drawing on wood, and the cutting will be done in first-rate style.... I want to talk the matter over with you, and wish you would fix your own time and place....— Faithfully yours

Charles Dickens."

We gather from this letter that Cattermole was then unaccustomed to drawing upon the wood block, and therefore executed his designs upon paper, to be afterwards copied upon wood by a practical hand. In the next communication, dated a few days later, it will be seen that the artist agreed to Dickens's proposals (preferring, however, to select his own subjects), and that "Phiz's" pencil was made available for copying purposes; the drawing here referred to being that of the "old quaint room" which forms the heading of the first chapter of "Master Humphrey's Clock." The novelist wrote:—

"I think the drawing most famous, and so do the publishers, to whom I sent it to-day. If Browne should suggest anything for the future which may enable him to do you justice in copying (on which point he is very anxious), I will communicate with you. It has occurred to me that perhaps you will like to see his copy on the block before it is cut, and I have therefore told Chapman & Hall to forward it to you.

"In future, I will take care that you have the number to choose your subject from. I ought to have done so, perhaps, in this case; but I was very anxious that you should do the room...."

The artistic skill of the eminent draughtsman and engraver, Samuel Williams, was at first similarly requisitioned for copying purposes, as proved by the signature appended to the illustration of Little Nell's room in the initial chapter of "The Old Curiosity Shop," the original drawing of which was undoubtedly supplied by Cattermole, who, before very long, was enabled to dispense with these professional services.

Judging from the amount of correspondence still extant, Dickens was constantly in communication with Cattermole respecting the illustrations for "Master Humphrey's Clock." In a letter dated March 9, 1840, he said:—

"I have been induced, on looking over the works of the 'Clock,' to make a slight alteration in their disposal, by virtue of which the story about 'John Podgers' will stand over for some little time, and that short tale will occupy its place which you have already by you, and which treats of the assassination of a young gentleman under circumstances of peculiar aggravation.[29] I shall be greatly obliged to you if you will turn your attention to this last morsel as the feature of No. 3, and still more if you can stretch a point with regard to time (which is of the last importance just now), and make a subject out of it, rather than find one in it. I would neither have made this alteration nor have troubled you about it, but for weighty and cogent reasons which I feel very strongly, and into the composition of which caprice or fastidiousness has no part....

"I cannot tell you how admirably I think Master Humphrey's room comes out, or what glowing accounts I hear of the second design you have done.[30] I had not the faintest anticipation of anything so good, taking into account the material and the despatch."

The text of "Master Humphrey's Clock" afforded the artist many congenial themes for his pencil. The story of Little Nell evidently fascinated him, and the various subjects selected for illustration were lovingly dealt with. An interval of several months elapsed before the following instructions were received by him respecting future designs:—

"I sent the MS. of the enclosed proof, marked 2, up to Chapman & Hall from Devonshire, mentioning a subject of an old gateway,[31] which I had put in expressly with a view to your illustrious pencil. By a mistake, however, it went to Browne instead.

Plate XXXIX

QUILP'S WHARF
Facsimile of the Original Sketch for "The Old Curiosity Shop" by GEORGE CATTERMOLE

"Kit, the single gentleman, and Mr. Garland go down to the place where the child is, and arrive there at night. There has been a fall of snow. Kit, leaving them behind, runs to the old house, and, with a lanthorn in one hand and the bird in its cage in the other, stops for a moment at a little distance with a natural hesitation before he goes up to make his presence known. In a window—supposed to be that of the child's little room—a light is burning, and in that room the child (unknown, of course, to her visitors, who are full of hope) lies dead.

"If you have any difficulty about Kit, never mind about putting him in...."

The next letter contained useful suggestions for the delineation of the most pathetic scenes in "The Old Curiosity Shop."

(1.) "The child lying dead in the little sleeping-room, which is behind the open screen. It is winter-time, so there are no flowers; but upon her breast and pillow, and about her bed, there may be strips of holly and berries, and such free green things. Window overgrown with ivy. The little boy who had that talk with her about angels may be by the bedside, if you like it so; but I think it will be quieter and more peaceful if she is quite alone. I want it to express the most beautiful repose and tranquillity, and to have something of a happy look, if death can.

(2.) The child has been buried inside the church, and the old man, who cannot be made to understand that she is dead, repairs to the grave and sits there all day long, waiting for her arrival, to begin another journey. His staff and knapsack, her little bonnet and basket, &c., lie beside him. 'She'll come to-morrow,' he says when it gets dark, and goes sorrowfully home. I think an hour-glass running out would help the notion; perhaps her little things upon his knee or in his hand.

"I am breaking my heart over this story, and cannot bear to finish it."

Plate XL

TWO STUDIES FOR "THE DEATH-BED OF LITTLE NELL"
Facsimile of the Original Drawings for "The Old Curiosity Shop" by GEORGE CATTERMOLE

In the first of these two delightful drawings the artist rightly omitted the figure of the boy, and in order to emphasise the sense of repose in that humble death-chamber, he introduced a bird, which is seen perched upon the window-ledge, while the hour-glass (suggested for the second picture) seemed to him more appropriate here. Cattermole made two or three sketches of No. 1 before he quite satisfied the author, who had asked him to carry out certain alterations, these resulting in such a marked improvement that Dickens wrote: "I cannot tell you how much obliged I am to you for altering the child, or how much I hope that my wish in that respect didn't go greatly against the grain."[32] "Will you do me," he asks, in the same letter, "a little tailpiece for the 'Curiosity' story?—only one figure if you like—giving some notion of the etherealised spirit of the child; something like those little figures in the frontispiece." This little allegory formed the closing illustration.

"Barnaby Rudge" immediately followed "The Old Curiosity Shop," under the collective title of "Master Humphrey's Clock." For the first chapter of this stirring romance Cattermole provided a charming illustration, depicting the old "Maypole" Inn, which, however, was not intended to portray the "delicious old inn" opposite Chigwell churchyard, referred to by Dickens in a letter to Forster at this time, it being an entirely fanciful design. When the novelist saw the drawing on wood of this subject he was delighted. "Words cannot say how good it is," he wrote to the artist. "I can't bear the thought of its being cut, and should like to frame and glaze it in statu quo for ever and ever." On January 28, 1841, he queried:—

"I want to know whether you feel ravens in general and would fancy Barnaby's raven in particular? Barnaby being an idiot, my notion is to have him always in company with a pet raven, who is immeasurably more knowing than himself. To this end I have been studying my bird, and think I could make a very queer character of him. Should you like the subject when this raven makes his first appearance?"

Two days later, he again pressed the question:—

"I must know what you think about the raven, my buck; I otherwise am in this fix. I have given Browne no subject for this number, and time is flying. If you would like to have the raven's first appearance, and don't object to having both subjects, so be it. I shall be delighted. If otherwise, I must feed that hero forthwith."

But Cattermole apparently declined the privilege of introducing to the world a presentment of the immortal "Grip,"—an honour which therefore fell to "Phiz's" pencil. On January 30, 1841, Dickens despatched to the artist some printed slips describing Gabriel Varden's house, "which I think [he said] will make a good subject, and one you will like. If you put the 'prentice' in it, show nothing more than his paper cap, because he will be an important character in the story, and you will need to know more about him, as he is minutely described. I may as well say that he is very short. Should you wish to put the locksmith in, you will find him described in No. 2 of 'Barnaby' (which I told Chapman & Hall to send you). Browne has done him in one little thing, but so very slightly that you will not require to see his sketch, I think."

On February 9th the artist received the following request:—

"Will you, for No. 49, do the locksmith's house, which was described in No. 48? I mean the outside. If you can, without hurting the effect, shut up the shop as though it were night, so much the better. Should you want a figure, an ancient watchman in or on his box, very sleepy, will be just the thing for me.

"I have written to Chapman and requested him to send you a block of a long shape, so that the house may come upright, as it were."

From this note, and a subsequent one in which Dickens commands the artist to put "a penny pistol to Chapman's head and demand the blocks of him," we learn that Cattermole had by this time accustomed himself to copying his designs upon wood, and could dispense with that kind of assistance. His drawing of the dilapidated but picturesque old country inn, "The Boot," whither the rioters resorted, is, I believe, a direct transcript from an old print representing the place as it appeared at the time referred to, 1780; the woodcut is in reverse of the print.[33] Here are two letters (dated July 28th and August 6th, 1841, respectively) that fairly bristle with details of scenes, in chapters liv. and lvi., which the artist was desired to depict:—

"Can you do for me by Saturday evening—I know the time is short, but I think the subject will suit you, and I am greatly pressed—a party of rioters (with Hugh and Simon Tappertit conspicuous among them) in old John Willet's bar, turning the liquor taps to their own advantage, smashing bottles, cutting down the grove of lemons, sitting astride on casks, drinking out of the best punch-bowls, eating the great cheese, smoking sacred pipes, &c., &c.; John Willet fallen backward in his chair, regarding them with a stupid horror, and quite alone among them, with none of the Maypole customers at his back?

"It's in your way, and you'll do it a hundred times better than I can suggest it to you, I know."

"Here's a subject for the next number.... The rioters went, sir, from John Willet's bar (where you saw them to such good purpose) straight to the Warren, which house they plundered, sacked, burned, pulled down as much of it as they could, and greatly damaged and destroyed. They are supposed to have left it about half-an-hour. It is night, and the ruins are here and there flaming and smoking. I want—if you understand—to show one of the turrets laid open—the turret where the alarm-bell is, mentioned in No. 1; and among the ruins (at some height if possible) Mr. Haredale just clutching our friend, the mysterious file, who is passing over them like a spirit; Solomon Daisy, if you can introduce him, looking on from the ground below.

"Please to observe that the M. F. wears a large cloak and slouched hat. This is important, because Browne will have him in the same number, and he has not changed his dress meanwhile. Mr. Haredale is supposed to have come down here on horseback pell-mell; to be excited to the last degree. I think it will make a queer picturesque thing in your hands.... P.S.—When you have done the subject, I wish you'd write me one line and tell me how, that I may be sure we agree."

In sending to Dickens for approval a sketch of the ruined home of Mr. Haredale, the artist enclosed the following letter, now printed for the first time:—

"My Dear Dickens,—I cannot hope you will make much out of the accompanying sketch.[34] I suppose the spectator to be placed upon the roof of one of the wings of the Warren House, and towards him are rushing ... [Rudge] and Mr. Haredale as they issue from a small door in the tower, whereunto is attached (as part and parcel of the same) the bell-turret. A small closet through which they pass to the roof has been dismantled, or rather thrown down and carried by the fire and the other spoilers; on the grass below is rooted Solomon Daisy in an ecstasy of wonder, &c., &c.; beyond are clouds of smoke a-passing over and amongst many tall trees, and all about are heard the tenants, frightened rooks, flying and cawing like mad.—In haste, my dear Charles,

G. Cattermole."

Clapham, Aug. 12 [1841].

Plate XLI

"THE NIGHT WATCHMAN" AND "THE 'MAYPOLE' INN"
Facsimiles of Original Sketches for "Barnaby Rudge" by GEORGE CATTERMOLE

"Firstly, Will you design, upon a block of wood, Lord George Gordon, alone and very solitary, in his prison, and after your own fancy; the time, evening; the season, summer?

"Secondly, Will you ditto upon a ditto, a sword-duel between Mr. Haredale and Mr. Chester, in a grove of trees? No one close by. Mr. Haredale has just pierced his adversary, who has fallen, dying, on the grass. He (that is, Chester) tries to staunch the wound in his breast with his handkerchief; has his snuff-box on the earth beside him, and looks at Mr. Haredale (who stands with his sword in his hand looking down on him) with most supercilious hatred, but polite to the last. Mr. Haredale is more sorry than triumphant.

"Thirdly, Will you conceive and execute, after your own fashion, a frontispiece for 'Barnaby'?

"Fourthly, Will you also devise a subject representing 'Master Humphrey's Clock' as stopped; his chair by the fireside empty; his crutch against the wall; his slippers on the cold hearth; his hat upon the chair-back; the MSS. of 'Barnaby' and 'The Curiosity Shop' heaped upon the table; and the flowers you introduced in the first subject of all withered and dead? Master Humphrey being supposed to be no more.

"I have a fifthly, sixthly, seventhly, and eighthly; for I sorely want you, as I approach the close of the tale; but I won't frighten you, so we'll take breath.

"P.S.—I have been waiting until I got to subjects of this nature, thinking you would like them best."

Owing to an illness from which Cattermole was then suffering, the frontispiece here referred to was designed by Hablôt Browne. A few days later, the author bethought him of an incident earlier in the story (chapter lxix.), which required an illustration, and anent this he despatched the following note:—

"Will you, before you go on with the other subjects I gave you, do one of Hugh, bareheaded, bound, tied on a horse, and escorted by horse-soldiers to jail? If you can add an indication of old Fleet Market, and bodies of foot-soldiers firing at people who have taken refuge on the tops of stalls, bulk-heads, etc., it will be all the better."

Plate XLII

THE MURDER AT THE WARREN
Facsimile of the Original Sketch for "Barnaby Rudge" by GEORGE CATTERMOLE