A Tale of Two Cities (Annotated)

By Charles Dickens and J.P. Riley

Charles Dickens' story "A Tale of Two Cities" has been adapted in the following ways:

• Prefaced with historical context
• Ev

• Language: English
• Publisher: K.B. Books Publishing Company
• Release date: Apr 1, 2024
• ISBN: 9798869302694

Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens was born in 1812 and grew up in poverty. This experience influenced ‘Oliver Twist’, the second of his fourteen major novels, which first appeared in 1837. When he died in 1870, he was buried in Poets’ Corner in Westminster Abbey as an indication of his huge popularity as a novelist, which endures to this day.

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A TALE OF TWO CITIES

Charles Dickson

CONTENTS

Introduction

The French Revolution

The Fall of Bastille

The September Massacres

The Execution of King Louis XVI

The Reign of Terror

Book the First—Recalled to Life

CHAPTER I. The Period

CHAPTER II. The Mail

CHAPTER III. The Night Shadows

CHAPTER IV. The Preparation

CHAPTER V. The Wine-shop

CHAPTER VI. The Shoemaker

Book the Second—the Golden Thread

CHAPTER I. Five Years Later

CHAPTER II. A Sight

CHAPTER III. A Disappointment

CHAPTER IV. Congratulatory

CHAPTER V. The Jackal

CHAPTER VI. Hundreds of People

CHAPTER VII. Monseigneur in Town

CHAPTER VIII. Monseigneur in the Country

CHAPTER IX. The Gorgon’s Head

CHAPTER X. Two Promises

CHAPTER XI. A Companion Picture

CHAPTER XII. The Fellow of Delicacy

CHAPTER XIII. The Fellow of No Delicacy

CHAPTER XIV. The Honest Tradesman

CHAPTER XV. Knitting

CHAPTER XVI. Still Knitting

CHAPTER XVII. One Night

CHAPTER XVIII. Nine Days

CHAPTER XIX. An Opinion

CHAPTER XX. A Plea

CHAPTER XXI. Echoing Footsteps

CHAPTER XXII. The Sea Still Rises

CHAPTER XXIII. Fire Rises

CHAPTER XXIV. Drawn to the Loadstone Rock

Book the Third—the Track of a Storm

CHAPTER I. In Secret

CHAPTER II. The Grindstone

CHAPTER III. The Shadow

CHAPTER IV. Calm in Storm

CHAPTER V. The Wood-Sawyer

CHAPTER VI. Triumph

CHAPTER VII. A Knock at the Door

CHAPTER VIII. A Hand at Cards

CHAPTER IX. The Game Made

CHAPTER X. The Substance of the Shadow

CHAPTER XI. Dusk

CHAPTER XII. Darkness

CHAPTER XIII. Fifty-two

CHAPTER XIV. The Knitting Done

CHAPTER XV. The Footsteps Die Out For Ever

Introduction

A Tale of Two Cities, one of the classic novels by Charles Dickens, is a dramatic portrayal of the turbulent French Revolution. Dickens’ artful narration and deep understanding of human nature lay the ground for these historical events and societal tensions, which formed the basis of this epoch-making phase of development. The historical events around which this novel was written are explored below as part of Europe’s history. These events include the Fall of Bastille, the September Massacres, the Execution of King Louis XVI, and the Reign of Terror. Following a brief description of each event, we explore the representation within Dickens’ novel.

The French Revolution

Life in Paris and London during the French Revolution was characterized by great social, political, and economic turmoil, which saw the French revolutionaries and counter-revolutionists engaging in a conflict for supremacy amidst a background of misery, fear, and hope.

Paris, the epicenter of the revolt, was the place where the streets became the bastion of the revolutionary spirit and frustration. The city was a source of political agitation, as factions competing for power and influence in the wake of the monarchy fallout jostled for space. The Bastille, which had formerly represented the figurehead of the monarchy and its towering power, now lay in shambles, with its destruction foreshadowing a radically different time in the history of France.

Life in Paris throughout the revolution was marked by commotion and constant change. The city was literally taken over by immense waves of violence and instability through revolutionary tribunals that meted out punishment in a fast and arbitrary manner to the suspected opponents of the revolutionaries. The guillotine, a place of no mercy or quarter, was where thousands met their maker, including King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette.

Amid all the destruction and carnage, ordinary Parisians had a hard time making enough money to buy food that was so expensive because the economy suffered while prices rose. Bread riots and food shortages were on the rise, which further added to the misery of the townspeople who fell between the working class and the urban poor. In an attempt to address the political demands of the masses, the revolutionary government took measures to control prices and redistribute wealth, but its efforts were always impeded by internal divisions and external threats.

However, the life of the Londoners during the French Revolution could be characterized as a combination of complicated emotions such as both curiosity and concern. The revolution, which occurred on the other side of the English Channel, led to an equally intense debate and controversy among the city elites: some hailed it as a glorious triumph of liberty, while others saw it as an anarchic and terrorist disaster.

London, the steadfast city of conservatism in a troubled state, was a harbor for the emigrated French aristocrats and royalists who escaped from the anarchy of revolutionary France. The city streets became alive with rumors and gossip concerning the affairs in France, fearing that their home might be the next to be destabilized.

By no means was London as turbulent as Paris, but the fact that the two cities were facing the possible breakout of revolution and the prospect of social uprising and instability increased anxiety among the inhabitants. The British authorities made attempts to quell the dissent, fearing the rise of revolutionary thoughts along with the possible unrest among the low-income city population and radical groups.

In general, uncertainty, terror, and unrest were distinctive features of the Parisian and London life during the French Revolution. While Paris was called the City of Revolution as well as the City of Chaos, London was a place of shelter for people escaping from the revolutionary tumult and was a fort of calm amidst the storms of devastation. The French Revolution was, in fact, one of the most significant events not only for the cities but the world at large, resulting in a new direction of history for generations to come.

In A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, Dickens gives a sharp description of how life in Paris and London was during the French Revolution; the revolution is portrayed as a time of chaos and disorder, whereas London is a peaceful city. He firstly does that through the use of lively descriptions and other similar ways to help the reader picture the two different cities going through times of swift social and political changes.

Paris, the central city of the revolution, is portrayed as a city in agitation, in which streets are brimming with enthusiasm of the rebels, and the shadows of violence are lurking all over the city. People with low incomes have no choice but to resort to despair and rage and rise again in the streets against the oppressive nobility. Dickens gives a multi-sensory account of the mood of horror and anxiety, which has become personal for everyone due to the revolutionary tribunals that deal with the convicted people in a swift and often barbaric manner. The guillotine becomes the image of the uncompromising revolution on its hunt for justice, equality, and fairness, as witnessed by the massacre of a thousand people.

Whereas Paris is depicted as the epicenter of violence and chaos and is engulfed by the unrest that breaks out across the English Channel, London is somewhat presented as a place of peace and order. Whilst the prospect of ‘revolution’ makes its shadow fall on the city, the pace of life in London goes as much as it used to, with some excitement in the streets and active social surroundings. While the French bourgeoisie slowly began to take hold of the shrinking aristocracy, the English aristocracy continued to sit firmly on its throne, largely not affected by the revolutionary fever around it.

In the lives of private citizens like Charles Darnay, who plays the role of the narrow man, Dickens expresses the otherness of Paris and London and the personal cataclysms emanating from its revolution. The return of the central character of Darnay to Paris during the revolts represents a good reminder of the possible dangers of the extremism of politics and the human cost of the war. The said struggles of a wavering man to sail between the rocky cliff demands of revolutionary France support the fact that human life is very vulnerable in the aftermath of the eruptive events.

The novel ends up as a master class depicting life in Paris and London during The French Revolution, where the famous phrase The Tale of Two Cities takes a vivid meaning as it encapsulates the tense atmosphere of that time and the unrelenting struggle for freedom and justice. Through his subtle portrayal of the complications of human character and the outcome of a political revolution, Dickens makes the novel a timeless astonishment of humanities that strikes an ineffaceable chord in readers’ hearts today.

The Fall of Bastille

The storming of the Bastille, an emblematic milestone in the French Revolution, marked the people’s battle against prejudice and tyranny. As the first major event of the French Revolution, the storming and fall of the Bastille fortress in Paris on July 14, 1789, stands out as a seminal moment in French history, triggering the spark that fueled the republican movement and spelled the end of absolute monarchy.

The Bastille, the medieval fortress combined with a prison in the very center of Paris, was used to show the brutal power of the Bourbon monarchy. The Bastille became the representative of the Ancien Régime of unfairness and abuse. As a symbol of Royal power and repression, Bastille was the brightest one. Its daunting walls were swarming with political prisoners, dissidents, and others who were by chance declared as evil enemies of the state and their conditions of being deprived of fair trial as well as arbitrary arrests.

The people of France, who were facing an economic crisis, social corruption, and political crisis, became extremely alienated by the Royal behavior, such as excessive lifestyles and lack of attention to their complaints. Loose fiscal policy through the years and the country’s engagement in the costly war expenses, as well as its heavy tax regime on the common people, had pushed France into a meltdown.

This is the kindling that threw a match into a powder keg of revolution in May 1789, when the Etats-Generaux convened. As the clergy, the nobility, and the commoners were pronounced in Versailles to make a national address to the country’s grievances, tensions accelerated, and the demand for reform was heard loudly. The aristocracy and King Louis XVI opposed the people’s common will to any serious amendment. Thus, the third state, representing the lower classes, proclaimed itself the National Assembly and took an oath to create a constitution for France.

The tense situation reached its climax when the Bastille was attacked on July 14, 1789. Fueled by rumors of an impending royal arrest and the fear of military reprisals, a frenzied mob broke into the fortress and began to demand political prisoners to be released and weapons and ammunition that were inside the castle to be confiscated. The fall of the Bastille was shocking, as this building was a symbol of the king’s absolutism, but its defense was weak, and its governor, Bernard-René de Launay, wasn’t ready for the invasion.

The crowd who had gathered did precisely what they were meant to achieve: they overpowered and breached the Bastille’s defenses, bombarding the garrison and taking control of the fortress. The downfall of Bastille made the revolutionist’s minds clear and hoisted their wish for freedom everywhere around the world, sparking a flame outside the country and the regime. The storming of the Bastille came to be referred to as the Symbol of the French Revolution, and Liberty, Equality, and Brotherhood were what it signified. It heralded a new era in French history, which started with the gaining of these concepts.

~ Dickens’ Representation

The storming of the Bastille is a pivotal scene in the book, and its importance consists of the incitement of the revolutionary fire and the aristocracy’s downfall. Dickens brilliantly captures the madness and brutality of the revolution during the Bastille’s storming. The Fall of the Bastille is the moment when the ruling class realizes that their time is up, and the people win.

One of the most gripping scenes in the novel is when the character of Madame Defarge, a revolutionary with a passionate conviction for the purpose of the oppressed, leads a group of revolutionaries to attack the Bastille. With the power of desire for revenge against the aristocracy, Madame Defarge becomes an instrument of destiny for the fortress, portraying the collective feelings of the masses displeased by their suppressors.

By way of his description of the downfall of the Bastille, Dickens translates the essence of the change and the ideas of fairness, struggle, and resurrection, which have penetrated into the entire book. The Bastille is portrayed as a symbol of liberation and hope for the hitherto downtrodden Frenchmen and the beginning of a new chapter in French history. It is also a sign of a guarantee of a brighter future for the forthcoming generations.

Therefore, the fall of the Bastille can be viewed as a meaningful symbol of such a spirit of rebellion and the triumph of the human spirit over oppression. Dickens skillfully showcased the revolutionary era and its vibrant turbulences while the ideas of liberty and justice flowed at this time and remained intact in his description.

The September Massacres

One of the most terribly sad and tragic chapters in the French Revolution is the September Massacres, which happened in Paris in 1792; it was the time when violence and terror were unavoidable. This violent episode, which was pervaded by broad acts of bloodshed and brutality, led to the mass deaths of thousands of persuaded counter-revolutionists, prisoners, and clergy members.

The September Massacres developed out of the background of instability in government, protests, and invasion of France that took place in the revolution. In August 1792, the radical Jacobin faction, aware of the fall of an absolute monarchy and the creation of the First French Republic, came up with the idea of violent purging and mass arrests against the revolution’s enemies. The streets of Paris were filled desperately with terror and distrust as rumors flew about counter-revolutionaries and their plots and conspiracies.

In that climate of prejudice and hysteria, a group of fighters seething with revolutionary enthusiasm and desperately thirsty to exterminate the city’s enemies was involved in a reign of terror that later was called the September Massacres. On the night of the 2nd of September, mobs with firearms attacked the prisons and subjected the inmates to inhumane treatment of the highest order of cruelty.

The massacre chose diverse people as their target, including the suspected counter-revolutionaries and political prisoners, along with the clergy members and criminals. The victims, a lot of whom had not even been given a hearing period or due process, were forced into condign punishments, torture, and mutilation by their perpetrators. Paris’ streets flowed with the blood of the victims while the anarchy rose up and swept away many innocent lives in the wrath of vendetta and self-righteous fervor.

The massacre of September tore throughout France not only inwardly, provoking indignation, but also abroad, where all observers’ response was the same: horror and rejection. The events could be viewed as the greatest illustration of the possible negative outcomes of unrestricted revolutionary ferment, which may be expressed in the fact that violence represents an inevitable consequence of extreme radical positions.

Following the massacres, the revolutionary government attempted to make sense of the slaughter as a straightforward measure that was needed to consolidate revolutionary power against its enemies. Nevertheless, the September killings led to the perpetual stigmatization of the French Revolution as such a brutal event; this concerns the reputation of the revolution and enhances people’s concerns about radical extremism and revolutionary rule.

The September Massacres of the year 1792 are the irreparable and terrible pages of the French Revolution’s history, the condemnation of all the victims of political transformations. The September 1792 events have been matter for different historical interpretations, and that, of course, leads to questions about the limits of political demands and the challenge of revolutionary violence.

~ Dickens’ Representation

In Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities, the September Massacres are briefly depicted as a deep background of The French Revolution and a bloody spectacle of the period. Although the novel does not directly recount the massacres, their influence is felt all over the story and helped create the despair, fear, and uncertainty surrounding the narrative.

All through the book, Dickens uses detailed representation that is so great and brings the chaos and the uprising of the French Revolution to light. The massacres of September are graphically mentioned and are used as a grim reminder of the monstrosities that the revolution generated and of the human cost of the extreme political ideas.

One of the most notable scenes of the book is when Charles Darnay, the character of an aristocrat fleeing France and taking shelter in England, steps back into France during the craze of the revolution. Darnay’s trip to revolutionary France, marked by his confrontation with the bloodshed and devastation of September Massacres, becomes a dark mirroring of the risks of fanatical politics and lawless mobs.

Dickens’ portrayal of the September Massacres reveals that no matter how noble the cause of revolt is, discarding morality and respect for humanity in exchange for unlimited power leads to unthinkable atrocities. The massacres remind us what happens when the mob rises, and the people sacrifice their reason. The monstrosity of injustice and lawlessness is made visible by these tragic events.

Nevertheless, the September Massacres might not be the pivotal motif of A Tale of Two Cities, but they cast a deep shadow over the events depicted in the narrative, portraying the French Revolution as an inhospitable and dangerous place. Dickens is capable of imagining this revolutionary time and expressing human beings’ most noble qualities in such a deep and delicate version. Finally, he creates a picture of humanity that always stands up, fighting for human beings’ freedom and justice.

The Execution of King Louis XVI

January 21, 1793, was the day when King Louis XVI unwillingly met his death, terminating the age-long rule of the absolute monarchy in France and symbolically launching the victorious struggle for revolutionary ideals. There were growing disputes and tensions between the revolutionary government as well as the monarchy, and the people were unhappy with both sides.

Louis XVI assumed the throne in 1774, and the kingdom faced crushing economic weakness, rampant social inequalities, and political instabilities. He was primarily characterized by poor financial policies, unnecessary wars, and reluctance to reform, which worsened the unrest and discontent that the French people felt. When the masses raised their voices demanding political reform and against injustice, the monarchy not only had to face the loss of its power and authority, but the scrutiny of its legitimacy increased in a substantial manner.

The course of the revolution entered the final stage in 1789, with the Estates-General Assembly and Bastille storming, which caused a popular revolt and the collapse of the Royalty. After all the reconciliatory efforts were in vain, the revolutionary government and the monarchy continued to struggle against each other, with King Louis XVI and his family being forced to abdicate earlier and to be put under house arrest in Varennes in 1791 with the king’s powers suspended by the National Convention.

The fate of King Louis XVI became explicitly clear at the moment of his indictment on charges of treason and subversive campaigning against the state. The monarch was judged during a National Convention trial and sentenced to death by guillotine accordingly. The execution of Louis XVI was one of the most controversial and divisive decisions made, turning supporters of the monarchy into the category of regicide and those unsympathetic to the King shouting victory of the revolution as may be.

On January 21, 1793, at around eight o’clock in the morning, Louis XVI was taken to the Place de la Révolution in Paris, where thousands of people had gathered to see him executed. In a humble white shirt, the deposed king climbed the scaffold with steadfastness and calmness, addressing his end with a stoical silence. The moment the blade of the guillotine fell, the listeners were stunned and horrified and began celebrating, marking a new start with the end of an era.

The execution of Louis XVI caused a stir in the whole of Europe. It disappointed the monarchs and the aristocrats while inspiring excitement for the revolutionaries and the radicals. This event largely disclosed the appearance of popular sovereignty and the decline of divine right monarchy. The progressive years would see the revolution further its course by bringing about far-reaching social, political, and cultural changes that completely altered the course of European history.

The execution of King Louis XVI is probably the most well-known and debated historical event of the French Revolution that personifies the victory of revolutionary ideas over tyrannous monarchy and the lasting fight for freedom, equality, and brotherhood. Even though the years go by, the legacy of Louis XVI’s execution is still being discussed and analyzed by historians, scholars, and enthusiasts alike, reminding us of the complicated and contradictory nature of human nature and their search for liberty and justice.

~ Dickens’ Representation

In Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities, the killing of King Louis XVI is not expressly shown, but rather, the ramifications and the atmosphere around the event are alluded to, particularly in the Book, the Second, Chapter 21, entitled Echoing Footsteps. This is a rewind of the rising, violent, and tumultuous events of the French Revolution.

Throughout the novel, the revolutionary enthusiasm in Paris increases in a way that taxes the nerves and often seems to shadow the city with the impending threat of the guillotine. Dickens depicts the crowd's mood through the apprehensions, the gravity of the consequences, and the people's dismay as they realize the aftermath of the revolution. The French Revolution is carried out under the Trueness Barrier when King Louis XVI is beheaded as a symbol of the beginning of disorder and bloodshed.

The most unforgettable scene in the book is when Sydney Carton, one of the leading characters, visits the wine shop belonging to the Defarges in revolutionary Paris. In the midst of the disorder and confusion of the city, Carton observes the fervor of revolutionary forces and the savagery of the regime, stirring the spirits up about the losses of human life in such political upheavals.

Dickens beautifully depicts the emotional mood of Paris after the king’s beheading: there is a palpable gloom, and the air is filled with suspense. The streets are full of the mutters of the revolution, the chatter of the crowds, and the response of the echoing footsteps, which is the embodiment of history and the presence of a future split by the violence of the revolution.

The mere fact that Louis XVI, the king, has to face execution serves as a backdrop to the novel’s characters or what they are going through in terms of their personal dramas and struggles, putting emphasis on the impact of political upheaval and social changes in general. When a revolution’s power foundation becomes stronger, and adversaries have fewer and fewer options, ordinary people’s lives become stretched between the front lines of violence and equality accomplishments and retribution shadows.

In general, even though the execution of King Louis XVI is not the central subject of A Tale of Two Cities, its importance spreads throughout the novel as a symbol of the shockingly unstable and turbulent period of the French Revolution. Through Dickens’ representation of the revolution as a warning example, he is pointing our attention to the implication of uncontrolled political fanaticism and the fragility of human civilization when chaos and upheavals take place.

The Reign of Terror

The darkest and the most turbulent part of the French Revolution took place between 1793 and 1794 and was named the Reign of Terror, which had a great historical significance driven by wide-scale violence, political repression, and mass executions. This period of political turbulence and horror wrought by radical bands was centered on the Committee of Public Safety led by Maximilien Robespierre, who intended to destroy the internal enemies of the revolution while strengthening their power.

The Reign of Terror was characterized by an atmosphere of dread and distrust as bodies of revolutionary tribunals and committees dispensed their unrestrained power to bring to justice those considered the enemies of the state. So-called counter-revolutionaries, aristocrats, priests, and political oppositionists were arrested and subjected to trial or execution on often sloppy or fabricated accusations of treason or conspiracy against the revolution.

One of the characteristics of the Reign of Terror is the guillotine as an instrument of the state-approved violence that is employed. Many a prominent public figure, such as King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette, were among those guillotined during this time, their deaths being nothing more than grimly reinforcing the revolution’s lack of compromise and ideological impurity.

During the daze of the Reign of Terror, the revolutionary courts, like the Revolutionary Tribunal of Paris, emerged to deliver speedy and arbitrary justice to those accused of conspiracy against the revolution with no legal process. Many trials were conducted in secrecy; the defendants were arbitrarily denied the elementary fair-trial guarantees such as due process and legal counsel. The tribunals notoriously resorted to summary judgments and mass executions, as well as confessions from accusers and informants to process suspected counter-revolutionaries.

The Terror period (1793-1794) is not only one of the most notorious and debatable events of the French Revolution, but it also subtly impacts the future flow of events and prompts questions and reflection on the nature of political violence and radical political thinking. Whilst raising its banner with those of liberty and justice, it, however, becomes a reminder echo of how dangerous it can be to leave unchecked power and what actually defines the ultimate strength of democracy: it is the ability to withstand extremism and tyranny.

~ Dickens’ Representation

Dickens’s A Tale of Two Cities is characterized by the Reign of Terror as a bold and dreadful backdrop for the events depicted in the novel, symbolizing the mutual blast, the murder, and the political instability of the French Revolution. Though the Reign of Terror is in the backdrop of the tale, its signatures roll through the life of the characters and the plot-by-plot shape of the story.

By employing meticulous and sensual detail of the gloom and the chaos reigning over Paris during the Reign of Terror throughout the novel, Dickens creates an ambiance of fear and insecurity. The rumbling streets are alive with the sound of the oppressed and the people marching to overthrow the tyrants. Revolutionary tribunals persecuted and sentenced people to be shot on the spot, without the right to a trial, to guard the ideals of the revolution. The guillotine, the symbol of a revolution that will not stop until justice and punishment for its enemies are fully reached, rules over the city, spreading a shadow of death and destruction over the whole area.

Dickens portrays the Terror Reign through which he ultimately brings into focus the harrowing effect of political change and personal sacrifice. The young revolutionaries who have started this campaign, those who have set their lives to the freedom and justice of their people, will not be satisfied with anything except winning the war, which will cost them the lives of innocent people, their families, and the communities as a whole.

One of the principal ideas in A Tale of Two Cities is actually the unending struggle that entails sacrifice and love, as seen through the character of Sydney Carton. Carton, an idler and jaded lawyer from England, elapses into an awakening, with the finality of the book noted in his readiness to die so that the husband of the woman he loves can live. Carton’s act of selflessness is very impactful as it acts as a strong rebuke to the horrific events of the Terror regime, thus shining light on the darkest deprivation that has been caused by the revolution.

Though the Reign of Terror may not be the main focus of A Tale of Two Cities, it is still an eminent symbol of instability and chaos that concurred with the era of the French Revolution. Dickens’ elaborate display of history reveals the intricacies of human nature and the force of the eternal struggle for liberty and justice, unfolding a captivating portrayal of the problem.

Book the First—Recalled to Life

CHAPTER I.

The Period

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way—in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

There were a king with a large jaw and a queen with a plain face, on the throne of England; there were a king with a large jaw and a queen with a fair face, on the throne of France. In both countries it was clearer than crystal to the lords of the State preserves of loaves and fishes, that things in general were settled for ever.

It was the year of Our Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five. Spiritual revelations were conceded to England at that favoured period, as at this. Mrs. Southcott had recently attained her five-and-twentieth blessed birthday, of whom a prophetic private in the Life Guards had heralded the sublime appearance by announcing that arrangements were made for the swallowing up of London and Westminster. Even the Cock-lane ghost had been laid only a round dozen of years, after rapping out its messages, as the spirits of this very year last past (supernaturally deficient in originality) rapped out theirs. Mere messages in the earthly order of events had lately come to the English Crown and People, from a congress of British subjects in America: which, strange to relate, have proved more important to the human race than any communications yet received through any of the chickens of the Cock-lane brood.

France, less favoured on the whole as to matters spiritual than her sister of the shield and trident, rolled with exceeding smoothness down hill, making paper money and spending it. Under the guidance of her Christian pastors, she entertained herself, besides, with such humane achievements as sentencing a youth to have his hands cut off, his tongue torn out with pincers, and his body burned alive, because he had not kneeled down in the rain to do honour to a dirty procession of monks which passed within his view, at a distance of some fifty or sixty yards. It is likely enough that, rooted in the woods of France and Norway, there were growing trees, when that sufferer was put to death, already marked by the Woodman, Fate, to come down and be sawn into boards, to make a certain movable framework with a sack and a knife in it, terrible in history. It is likely enough that in the rough outhouses of some tillers of the heavy lands adjacent to Paris, there were sheltered from the weather that very day, rude carts, bespattered with rustic mire, snuffed about by pigs, and roosted in by poultry, which the Farmer, Death, had already set apart to be his tumbrils of the Revolution. But that Woodman and that Farmer, though they work unceasingly, work silently, and no one heard them as they went about with muffled tread: the rather, forasmuch as to entertain any suspicion that they were awake, was to be atheistical and traitorous.

In England, there was scarcely an amount of order and protection to justify much national boasting. Daring burglaries by armed men, and highway robberies, took place in the capital itself every night; families were publicly cautioned not to go out of town without removing their furniture to upholsterers’ warehouses for security; the highwayman in the dark was a City tradesman in the light, and, being recognised and challenged by his fellow-tradesman whom he stopped in his character of the Captain, gallantly shot him through the head and rode away; the mail was waylaid by seven robbers, and the guard shot three dead, and then got shot dead himself by the other four, in consequence of the failure of his ammunition: after which the mail was robbed in peace; that magnificent potentate, the Lord Mayor of London, was made to stand and deliver on Turnham Green, by one highwayman, who despoiled the illustrious creature in sight of all his retinue; prisoners in London gaols fought battles with their turnkeys, and the majesty of the law fired blunderbusses in among them, loaded with rounds of shot and ball; thieves snipped off diamond crosses from the necks of noble lords at Court drawing-rooms; musketeers went into St. Giles’s, to search for contraband goods, and the mob fired on the musketeers, and the musketeers fired on the mob, and nobody thought any of these occurrences much out of the common way. In the midst of them, the hangman, ever busy and ever worse than useless, was in constant requisition; now, stringing up long rows of miscellaneous criminals; now, hanging a housebreaker on Saturday who had been taken on Tuesday; now, burning people in the hand at Newgate by the dozen, and now burning pamphlets at the door of Westminster Hall; to-day, taking the life of an atrocious murderer, and to-morrow of a wretched pilferer who had robbed a farmer’s boy of sixpence.

All these things, and a thousand like them, came to pass in and close upon the dear old year one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five. Environed by them, while the Woodman and the Farmer worked unheeded, those two of the large jaws, and those other two of the plain and the fair faces, trod with stir enough, and carried their divine rights with a high hand. Thus did the year one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five conduct their Greatnesses, and myriads of small creatures—the creatures of this chronicle among the rest—along the roads that lay before them.

CHAPTER II.

The Mail

It was the Dover road that lay, on a Friday night late in November, before the first of the persons with whom this history has business. The Dover road lay, as to him, beyond the Dover mail, as it lumbered up Shooter’s Hill. He walked up hill in the mire by the side of the mail, as the rest of the passengers did; not because they had the least relish for walking exercise, under the circumstances, but because the hill, and the harness, and the mud, and the mail, were all so heavy, that the horses had three times already come to a stop, besides once drawing the coach across the road, with the mutinous intent of taking it back to Blackheath. Reins and whip and coachman and guard, however, in combination, had read that article of war which forbade a purpose otherwise strongly in favour of the argument, that some brute animals are endued with Reason; and the team had capitulated and returned to their duty.

With drooping heads and tremulous tails, they mashed their way through the thick mud, floundering and stumbling between whiles, as if they were falling to pieces at the larger joints. As often as the driver rested them and brought them to a stand, with a wary Wo-ho! so-ho-then! the near leader violently shook his head and everything upon it—like an unusually emphatic horse, denying that the coach could be got up the hill. Whenever the leader made this rattle, the passenger started, as a nervous passenger might, and was disturbed in mind.

There was a steaming mist in all the hollows, and it had roamed in its forlornness up the hill, like an evil spirit, seeking rest and finding none. A clammy and intensely cold mist, it made its slow way through the air in ripples that visibly followed and overspread one another, as the waves of an unwholesome sea might do. It was dense enough to shut out everything from the light of the coach-lamps but these its own workings, and a few yards of road; and the reek of the labouring horses steamed into it, as if they had made it all.

Two other passengers, besides the one, were plodding up the hill by the side of the mail. All three were wrapped to the cheekbones and over the ears, and wore jack-boots. Not one of the three could have said, from anything he saw, what either of the other two was like; and each was hidden under almost as many wrappers from the eyes of the mind, as from the eyes of the body, of his two companions. In those days, travellers were very shy of being confidential on a short notice, for anybody on the road might be a robber or in league with robbers. As to the latter, when every posting-house and ale-house could produce somebody in the Captain’s pay, ranging from the landlord to the lowest stable non-descript, it was the likeliest thing upon the cards. So the guard of the Dover mail thought to himself, that Friday night in November, one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five, lumbering up Shooter’s Hill, as he stood on his own particular perch behind the mail, beating his feet, and keeping an eye and a hand on the arm-chest before him, where a loaded blunderbuss lay at the top of six or eight loaded horse-pistols, deposited on a substratum of cutlass.

The Dover mail was in its usual genial position that the guard suspected the passengers, the passengers suspected one another and the guard, they all suspected everybody else, and the coachman was sure of nothing but the horses; as to which cattle he could with a clear conscience have taken his oath on the two Testaments that they were not fit for the journey.

Wo-ho! said the coachman. So, then! One more pull and you’re at the top and be damned to you, for I have had trouble enough to get you to it!—Joe!

Halloa! the guard replied.

What o’clock do you make it, Joe?

Ten minutes, good, past eleven.

My blood! ejaculated the vexed coachman, and not atop of Shooter’s yet! Tst! Yah! Get on with you!

The emphatic horse, cut short by the whip in a most decided negative, made a decided scramble for it, and the three other horses followed suit. Once more, the Dover mail struggled on, with the jack-boots of its passengers squashing along by its side. They had stopped when the coach stopped, and they kept close company with it. If any one of the three had had the hardihood to propose to another to walk on a little ahead into the mist and darkness, he would have put himself in a fair way of getting shot instantly as a highwayman.

The last burst carried the mail to the summit of the hill. The horses stopped to breathe again, and the guard got down to skid the wheel for the descent, and open the coach-door to let the passengers in.

Tst! Joe! cried the coachman in a warning voice, looking down from his box.

What do you say, Tom?

They both listened.

I say a horse at a canter coming up, Joe.

"I say a horse at a gallop, Tom, returned the guard, leaving his hold of the door, and mounting nimbly to his place. Gentlemen! In the king’s name, all of you!"

With this hurried adjuration, he cocked his blunderbuss, and stood on the offensive.

The passenger booked by this history, was on the coach-step, getting in; the two other passengers were close behind him, and about to follow. He remained on the step, half in the coach and half out of; they remained in the road below him. They all looked from the coachman to the guard, and from the guard to the coachman, and listened. The coachman looked back and the guard looked back, and even the emphatic leader pricked up his ears and looked back, without contradicting.

The stillness consequent on the cessation of the rumbling and labouring of the coach, added to the stillness of the night, made it very quiet indeed. The panting of the horses communicated a tremulous motion to the coach, as if it were in a state of agitation. The hearts of the passengers beat loud enough perhaps to be heard; but at any rate, the quiet pause was audibly expressive of people out of breath, and holding the breath, and having the pulses quickened by expectation.

The sound of a horse at a gallop came fast and furiously up the hill.

So-ho! the guard sang out, as loud as he could roar. Yo there! Stand! I shall fire!

The pace was suddenly checked, and, with much splashing and floundering, a man’s voice called from the mist, Is that the Dover mail?

Never you mind what it is! the guard retorted. What are you?

"Is that the Dover mail?"

Why do you want to know?

I want a passenger, if it is.

What passenger?

Mr. Jarvis Lorry.

Our booked passenger showed in a moment that it was his name. The guard, the coachman, and the two other passengers eyed him distrustfully.

Keep where you are, the guard called to the voice in the mist, because, if I should make a mistake, it could never be set right in your lifetime. Gentleman of the name of Lorry answer straight.

What is the matter? asked the passenger, then, with mildly quavering speech. Who wants me? Is it Jerry?

(I don’t like Jerry’s voice, if it is Jerry, growled the guard to himself. He’s hoarser than suits me, is Jerry.)

Yes, Mr. Lorry.

What is the matter?

A despatch sent after you from over yonder. T. and Co.

I know this messenger, guard, said Mr. Lorry, getting down into the road—assisted from behind more swiftly than politely by the other two passengers, who immediately scrambled into the coach, shut the door, and pulled up the window. He may come close; there’s nothing wrong.

I hope there ain’t, but I can’t make so ’Nation sure of that, said the guard, in gruff soliloquy. Hallo you!

Well! And hallo you! said Jerry, more hoarsely than before.

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