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Charles Dickens
Chapter 37
Charles Dickens
 
 
1       I began the next day with another dive into the Roman bath, and
2  then started for Highgate. I was not dispirited now. I was not
3  afraid of the shabby coat, and had no yearnings after gallant
4  greys. My whole manner of thinking of our late misfortune was
5  changed. What I had to do, was, to show my aunt that her past
6  goodness to me had not been thrown away on an insensible,
7  ungrateful object. What I had to do, was, to turn the painful
8  discipline of my younger days to account, by going to work with a
9  resolute and steady heart. What I had to do, was, to take my
10  woodman's axe in my hand, and clear my own way through the forest
11  of difficulty, by cutting down the trees until I came to Dora. And
12  I went on at a mighty rate, as if it could be done by walking.

13       When I found myself on the familiar Highgate road, pursuing such a
14  different errand from that old one of pleasure, with which it was
15  associated, it seemed as if a complete change had come on my whole
16  life. But that did not discourage me. With the new life, came new
17  purpose, new intention. Great was the labour; priceless the
18  reward. Dora was the reward, and Dora must be won.

19       I got into such a transport, that I felt quite sorry my coat was
20  not a little shabby already. I wanted to be cutting at those trees
21  in the forest of difficulty, under circumstances that should prove
22  my strength. I had a good mind to ask an old man, in wire
23  spectacles, who was breaking stones upon the road, to lend me his
24  hammer for a little while, and let me begin to beat a path to Dora
25  out of granite. I stimulated myself into such a heat, and got so
26  out of breath, that I felt as if I had been earning I don't know
27  how much.

28       In this state, I went into a cottage that I saw was to let, and
29  examined it narrowly, - for I felt it necessary to be practical.
30  It would do for me and Dora admirably: with a little front garden
31  for Jip to run about in, and bark at the tradespeople through the
32  railings, and a capital room upstairs for my aunt. I came out
33  again, hotter and faster than ever, and dashed up to Highgate, at
34  such a rate that I was there an hour too early; and, though I had
35  not been, should have been obliged to stroll about to cool myself,
36  before I was at all presentable.

37       My first care, after putting myself under this necessary course of
38  preparation, was to find the Doctor's house. It was not in that
39  part of Highgate where Mrs. Steerforth lived, but quite on the
40  opposite side of the little town. When I had made this discovery,
41  I went back, in an attraction I could not resist, to a lane by Mrs.
42  Steerforth's, and looked over the corner of the garden wall. His
43  room was shut up close. The conservatory doors were standing open,
44  and Rosa Dartle was walking, bareheaded, with a quick, impetuous
45  step, up and down a gravel walk on one side of the lawn. She gave
46  me the idea of some fierce thing, that was dragging the length of
47  its chain to and fro upon a beaten track, and wearing its heart
48  out.

49       I came softly away from my place of observation, and avoiding that
50  part of the neighbourhood, and wishing I had not gone near it,
51  strolled about until it was ten o'clock. The church with the
52  slender spire, that stands on the top of the hill now, was not
53  there then to tell me the time. An old red-brick mansion, used as
54  a school, was in its place; and a fine old house it must have been
55  to go to school at, as I recollect it.

56       When I approached the Doctor's cottage - a pretty old place, on
57  which he seemed to have expended some money, if I might judge from
58  the embellishments and repairs that had the look of being just
59  completed - I saw him walking in the garden at the side, gaiters
60  and all, as if he had never left off walking since the days of my
61  pupilage. He had his old companions about him, too; for there were
62  plenty of high trees in the neighbourhood, and two or three rooks
63  were on the grass, looking after him, as if they had been written
64  to about him by the Canterbury rooks, and were observing him
65  closely in consequence.

66       Knowing the utter hopelessness of attracting his attention from
67  that distance, I made bold to open the gate, and walk after him, so
68  as to meet him when he should turn round. When he did, and came
69  towards me, he looked at me thoughtfully for a few moments,
70  evidently without thinking about me at all; and then his benevolent
71  face expressed extraordinary pleasure, and he took me by both
72  hands.

73       'Why, my dear Copperfield,' said the Doctor, 'you are a man! How
74  do you do? I am delighted to see you. My dear Copperfield, how
75  very much you have improved! You are quite - yes - dear me!'

76       I hoped he was well, and Mrs. Strong too.

77       'Oh dear, yes!' said the Doctor; 'Annie's quite well, and she'll be
78  delighted to see you. You were always her favourite. She said so,
79  last night, when I showed her your letter. And - yes, to be sure
80  - you recollect Mr. Jack Maldon, Copperfield?'

81       'Perfectly, sir.'

82       'Of course,' said the Doctor. 'To be sure. He's pretty well,
83  too.'

84       'Has he come home, sir?' I inquired.

85       'From India?' said the Doctor. 'Yes. Mr. Jack Maldon couldn't
86  bear the climate, my dear. Mrs. Markleham - you have not forgotten
87  Mrs. Markleham?'

88       Forgotten the Old Soldier! And in that short time!

89       'Mrs. Markleham,' said the Doctor, 'was quite vexed about him, poor
90  thing; so we have got him at home again; and we have bought him a
91  little Patent place, which agrees with him much better.'
92  I knew enough of Mr. Jack Maldon to suspect from this account that
93  it was a place where there was not much to do, and which was pretty
94  well paid. The Doctor, walking up and down with his hand on my
95  shoulder, and his kind face turned encouragingly to mine, went on:

96       'Now, my dear Copperfield, in reference to this proposal of yours.
97  It's very gratifying and agreeable to me, I am sure; but don't you
98  think you could do better? You achieved distinction, you know,
99  when you were with us. You are qualified for many good things.
100  You have laid a foundation that any edifice may be raised upon; and
101  is it not a pity that you should devote the spring-time of your
102  life to such a poor pursuit as I can offer?'

103       I became very glowing again, and, expressing myself in a
104  rhapsodical style, I am afraid, urged my request strongly;
105  reminding the Doctor that I had already a profession.

106       'Well, well,' said the Doctor, 'that's true. Certainly, your
107  having a profession, and being actually engaged in studying it,
108  makes a difference. But, my good young friend, what's seventy
109  pounds a year?'

110       'It doubles our income, Doctor Strong,' said I.

111       'Dear me!' replied the Doctor. 'To think of that! Not that I mean
112  to say it's rigidly limited to seventy pounds a-year, because I
113  have always contemplated making any young friend I might thus
114  employ, a present too. Undoubtedly,' said the Doctor, still
115  walking me up and down with his hand on my shoulder. 'I have
116  always taken an annual present into account.'

117       'My dear tutor,' said I (now, really, without any nonsense), 'to
118  whom I owe more obligations already than I ever can acknowledge -'

119       'No, no,' interposed the Doctor. 'Pardon me!'

120       'If you will take such time as I have, and that is my mornings and
121  evenings, and can think it worth seventy pounds a year, you will do
122  me such a service as I cannot express.'

123       'Dear me!' said the Doctor, innocently. 'To think that so little
124  should go for so much! Dear, dear! And when you can do better,
125  you will? On your word, now?' said the Doctor, - which he had
126  always made a very grave appeal to the honour of us boys.

127       'On my word, sir!' I returned, answering in our old school manner.

128       'Then be it so,' said the Doctor, clapping me on the shoulder, and
129  still keeping his hand there, as we still walked up and down.

130       'And I shall be twenty times happier, sir,' said I, with a little
131  - I hope innocent - flattery, 'if my employment is to be on the
132  Dictionary.'

133       The Doctor stopped, smilingly clapped me on the shoulder again, and
134  exclaimed, with a triumph most delightful to behold, as if I had
135  penetrated to the profoundest depths of mortal sagacity, 'My dear
136  young friend, you have hit it. It IS the Dictionary!'

137       How could it be anything else! His pockets were as full of it as
138  his head. It was sticking out of him in all directions. He told
139  me that since his retirement from scholastic life, he had been
140  advancing with it wonderfully; and that nothing could suit him
141  better than the proposed arrangements for morning and evening work,
142  as it was his custom to walk about in the daytime with his
143  considering cap on. His papers were in a little confusion, in
144  consequence of Mr. Jack Maldon having lately proffered his
145  occasional services as an amanuensis, and not being accustomed to
146  that occupation; but we should soon put right what was amiss, and
147  go on swimmingly. Afterwards, when we were fairly at our work, I
148  found Mr. Jack Maldon's efforts more troublesome to me than I had
149  expected, as he had not confined himself to making numerous
150  mistakes, but had sketched so many soldiers, and ladies' heads,
151  over the Doctor's manuscript, that I often became involved in
152  labyrinths of obscurity.

153       The Doctor was quite happy in the prospect of our going to work
154  together on that wonderful performance, and we settled to begin
155  next morning at seven o'clock. We were to work two hours every
156  morning, and two or three hours every night, except on Saturdays,
157  when I was to rest. On Sundays, of course, I was to rest also, and
158  I considered these very easy terms.

159       Our plans being thus arranged to our mutual satisfaction, the
160  Doctor took me into the house to present me to Mrs. Strong, whom we
161  found in the Doctor's new study, dusting his books, - a freedom
162  which he never permitted anybody else to take with those sacred
163  favourites.

164       They had postponed their breakfast on my account, and we sat down
165  to table together. We had not been seated long, when I saw an
166  approaching arrival in Mrs. Strong's face, before I heard any sound
167  of it. A gentleman on horseback came to the gate, and leading his
168  horse into the little court, with the bridle over his arm, as if he
169  were quite at home, tied him to a ring in the empty coach-house
170  wall, and came into the breakfast parlour, whip in hand. It was
171  Mr. Jack Maldon; and Mr. Jack Maldon was not at all improved by
172  India, I thought. I was in a state of ferocious virtue, however,
173  as to young men who were not cutting down trees in the forest of
174  difficulty; and my impression must be received with due allowance.

175       'Mr. Jack!' said the Doctor. 'Copperfield!'

176       Mr. Jack Maldon shook hands with me; but not very warmly, I
177  believed; and with an air of languid patronage, at which I secretly
178  took great umbrage. But his languor altogether was quite a
179  wonderful sight; except when he addressed himself to his cousin
180  Annie.
181  'Have you breakfasted this morning, Mr. Jack?' said the Doctor.

182       'I hardly ever take breakfast, sir,' he replied, with his head
183  thrown back in an easy-chair. 'I find it bores me.'

184       'Is there any news today?' inquired the Doctor.

185       'Nothing at all, sir,' replied Mr. Maldon. 'There's an account
186  about the people being hungry and discontented down in the North,
187  but they are always being hungry and discontented somewhere.'

188       The Doctor looked grave, and said, as though he wished to change
189  the subject, 'Then there's no news at all; and no news, they say,
190  is good news.'

191       'There's a long statement in the papers, sir, about a murder,'
192  observed Mr. Maldon. 'But somebody is always being murdered, and
193  I didn't read it.'

194       A display of indifference to all the actions and passions of
195  mankind was not supposed to be such a distinguished quality at that
196  time, I think, as I have observed it to be considered since. I
197  have known it very fashionable indeed. I have seen it displayed
198  with such success, that I have encountered some fine ladies and
199  gentlemen who might as well have been born caterpillars. Perhaps
200  it impressed me the more then, because it was new to me, but it
201  certainly did not tend to exalt my opinion of, or to strengthen my
202  confidence in, Mr. Jack Maldon.

203       'I came out to inquire whether Annie would like to go to the opera
204  tonight,' said Mr. Maldon, turning to her. 'It's the last good
205  night there will be, this season; and there's a singer there, whom
206  she really ought to hear. She is perfectly exquisite. Besides
207  which, she is so charmingly ugly,' relapsing into languor.

208       The Doctor, ever pleased with what was likely to please his young
209  wife, turned to her and said:

210       'You must go, Annie. You must go.'

211       'I would rather not,' she said to the Doctor. 'I prefer to remain
212  at home. I would much rather remain at home.'

213       Without looking at her cousin, she then addressed me, and asked me
214  about Agnes, and whether she should see her, and whether she was
215  not likely to come that day; and was so much disturbed, that I
216  wondered how even the Doctor, buttering his toast, could be blind
217  to what was so obvious.

218       But he saw nothing. He told her, good-naturedly, that she was
219  young and ought to be amused and entertained, and must not allow
220  herself to be made dull by a dull old fellow. Moreover, he said,
221  he wanted to hear her sing all the new singer's songs to him; and
222  how could she do that well, unless she went? So the Doctor
223  persisted in making the engagement for her, and Mr. Jack Maldon was
224  to come back to dinner. This concluded, he went to his Patent
225  place, I suppose; but at all events went away on his horse, looking
226  very idle.

227       I was curious to find out next morning, whether she had been. She
228  had not, but had sent into London to put her cousin off; and had
229  gone out in the afternoon to see Agnes, and had prevailed upon the
230  Doctor to go with her; and they had walked home by the fields, the
231  Doctor told me, the evening being delightful. I wondered then,
232  whether she would have gone if Agnes had not been in town, and
233  whether Agnes had some good influence over her too!

234       She did not look very happy, I thought; but it was a good face, or
235  a very false one. I often glanced at it, for she sat in the window
236  all the time we were at work; and made our breakfast, which we took
237  by snatches as we were employed. When I left, at nine o'clock, she
238  was kneeling on the ground at the Doctor's feet, putting on his
239  shoes and gaiters for him. There was a softened shade upon her
240  face, thrown from some green leaves overhanging the open window of
241  the low room; and I thought all the way to Doctors' Commons, of the
242  night when I had seen it looking at him as he read.

243       I was pretty busy now; up at five in the morning, and home at nine
244  or ten at night. But I had infinite satisfaction in being so
245  closely engaged, and never walked slowly on any account, and felt
246  enthusiastically that the more I tired myself, the more I was doing
247  to deserve Dora. I had not revealed myself in my altered character
248  to Dora yet, because she was coming to see Miss Mills in a few
249  days, and I deferred all I had to tell her until then; merely
250  informing her in my letters (all our communications were secretly
251  forwarded through Miss Mills), that I had much to tell her. In the
252  meantime, I put myself on a short allowance of bear's grease,
253  wholly abandoned scented soap and lavender water, and sold off
254  three waistcoats at a prodigious sacrifice, as being too luxurious
255  for my stern career.

256       Not satisfied with all these proceedings, but burning with
257  impatience to do something more, I went to see Traddles, now
258  lodging up behind the parapet of a house in Castle Street, Holborn.
259  Mr. Dick, who had been with me to Highgate twice already, and had
260  resumed his companionship with the Doctor, I took with me.

261       I took Mr. Dick with me, because, acutely sensitive to my aunt's
262  reverses, and sincerely believing that no galley-slave or convict
263  worked as I did, he had begun to fret and worry himself out of
264  spirits and appetite, as having nothing useful to do. In this
265  condition, he felt more incapable of finishing the Memorial than
266  ever; and the harder he worked at it, the oftener that unlucky head
267  of King Charles the First got into it. Seriously apprehending that
268  his malady would increase, unless we put some innocent deception
269  upon him and caused him to believe that he was useful, or unless we
270  could put him in the way of being really useful (which would be
271  better), I made up my mind to try if Traddles could help us.
272  Before we went, I wrote Traddles a full statement of all that had
273  happened, and Traddles wrote me back a capital answer, expressive
274  of his sympathy and friendship.

275       We found him hard at work with his inkstand and papers, refreshed
276  by the sight of the flower-pot stand and the little round table in
277  a corner of the small apartment. He received us cordially, and
278  made friends with Mr. Dick in a moment. Mr. Dick professed an
279  absolute certainty of having seen him before, and we both said,
280  'Very likely.'

281       The first subject on which I had to consult Traddles was this, - I
282  had heard that many men distinguished in various pursuits had begun
283  life by reporting the debates in Parliament. Traddles having
284  mentioned newspapers to me, as one of his hopes, I had put the two
285  things together, and told Traddles in my letter that I wished to
286  know how I could qualify myself for this pursuit. Traddles now
287  informed me, as the result of his inquiries, that the mere
288  mechanical acquisition necessary, except in rare cases, for
289  thorough excellence in it, that is to say, a perfect and entire
290  command of the mystery of short-hand writing and reading, was about
291  equal in difficulty to the mastery of six languages; and that it
292  might perhaps be attained, by dint of perseverance, in the course
293  of a few years. Traddles reasonably supposed that this would
294  settle the business; but I, only feeling that here indeed were a
295  few tall trees to be hewn down, immediately resolved to work my way
296  on to Dora through this thicket, axe in hand.

297       'I am very much obliged to you, my dear Traddles!' said I. 'I'll
298  begin tomorrow.'

299       Traddles looked astonished, as he well might; but he had no notion
300  as yet of my rapturous condition.

301       'I'll buy a book,' said I, 'with a good scheme of this art in it;
302  I'll work at it at the Commons, where I haven't half enough to do;
303  I'll take down the speeches in our court for practice - Traddles,
304  my dear fellow, I'll master it!'

305       'Dear me,' said Traddles, opening his eyes, 'I had no idea you were
306  such a determined character, Copperfield!'

307       I don't know how he should have had, for it was new enough to me.
308  I passed that off, and brought Mr. Dick on the carpet.

309       'You see,' said Mr. Dick, wistfully, 'if I could exert myself, Mr.
310  Traddles - if I could beat a drum- or blow anything!'

311       Poor fellow! I have little doubt he would have preferred such an
312  employment in his heart to all others. Traddles, who would not
313  have smiled for the world, replied composedly:

314       'But you are a very good penman, sir. You told me so,
315  Copperfield?'
316  'Excellent!' said I. And indeed he was. He wrote with
317  extraordinary neatness.

318       'Don't you think,' said Traddles, 'you could copy writings, sir, if
319  I got them for you?'

320       Mr. Dick looked doubtfully at me. 'Eh, Trotwood?'

321       I shook my head. Mr. Dick shook his, and sighed. 'Tell him about
322  the Memorial,' said Mr. Dick.

323       I explained to Traddles that there was a difficulty in keeping King
324  Charles the First out of Mr. Dick's manuscripts; Mr. Dick in the
325  meanwhile looking very deferentially and seriously at Traddles, and
326  sucking his thumb.

327       'But these writings, you know, that I speak of, are already drawn
328  up and finished,' said Traddles after a little consideration. 'Mr.
329  Dick has nothing to do with them. Wouldn't that make a difference,
330  Copperfield? At all events, wouldn't it be well to try?'

331       This gave us new hope. Traddles and I laying our heads together
332  apart, while Mr. Dick anxiously watched us from his chair, we
333  concocted a scheme in virtue of which we got him to work next day,
334  with triumphant success.

335       On a table by the window in Buckingham Street, we set out the work
336  Traddles procured for him - which was to make, I forget how many
337  copies of a legal document about some right of way - and on another
338  table we spread the last unfinished original of the great Memorial.
339  Our instructions to Mr. Dick were that he should copy exactly what
340  he had before him, without the least departure from the original;
341  and that when he felt it necessary to make the slightest allusion
342  to King Charles the First, he should fly to the Memorial. We
343  exhorted him to be resolute in this, and left my aunt to observe
344  him. My aunt reported to us, afterwards, that, at first, he was
345  like a man playing the kettle-drums, and constantly divided his
346  attentions between the two; but that, finding this confuse and
347  fatigue him, and having his copy there, plainly before his eyes, he
348  soon sat at it in an orderly business-like manner, and postponed
349  the Memorial to a more convenient time. In a word, although we
350  took great care that he should have no more to do than was good for
351  him, and although he did not begin with the beginning of a week, he
352  earned by the following Saturday night ten shillings and
353  nine-pence; and never, while I live, shall I forget his going about
354  to all the shops in the neighbourhood to change this treasure into
355  sixpences, or his bringing them to my aunt arranged in the form of
356  a heart upon a waiter, with tears of joy and pride in his eyes. He
357  was like one under the propitious influence of a charm, from the
358  moment of his being usefully employed; and if there were a happy
359  man in the world, that Saturday night, it was the grateful creature
360  who thought my aunt the most wonderful woman in existence, and me
361  the most wonderful young man.

362       'No starving now, Trotwood,' said Mr. Dick, shaking hands with me
363  in a corner. 'I'll provide for her, Sir!' and he flourished his
364  ten fingers in the air, as if they were ten banks.

365       I hardly know which was the better pleased, Traddles or I. 'It
366  really,' said Traddles, suddenly, taking a letter out of his
367  pocket, and giving it to me, 'put Mr. Micawber quite out of my
368  head!'

369       The letter (Mr. Micawber never missed any possible opportunity of
370  writing a letter) was addressed to me, 'By the kindness of T.
371  Traddles, Esquire, of the Inner Temple.' It ran thus: -

372       'MY DEAR COPPERFIELD,

373       'You may possibly not be unprepared to receive the intimation that
374  something has turned up. I may have mentioned to you on a former
375  occasion that I was in expectation of such an event.

376       'I am about to establish myself in one of the provincial towns of
377  our favoured island (where the society may be described as a happy
378  admixture of the agricultural and the clerical), in immediate
379  connexion with one of the learned professions. Mrs. Micawber and
380  our offspring will accompany me. Our ashes, at a future period,
381  will probably be found commingled in the cemetery attached to a
382  venerable pile, for which the spot to which I refer has acquired a
383  reputation, shall I say from China to Peru?

384       'In bidding adieu to the modern Babylon, where we have undergone
385  many vicissitudes, I trust not ignobly, Mrs. Micawber and myself
386  cannot disguise from our minds that we part, it may be for years
387  and it may be for ever, with an individual linked by strong
388  associations to the altar of our domestic life. If, on the eve of
389  such a departure, you will accompany our mutual friend, Mr. Thomas
390  Traddles, to our present abode, and there reciprocate the wishes
391  natural to the occasion, you will confer a Boon

392       

'On

393       

'One

394       

'Who

395       

'Is

396       

'Ever yours,

397       

'WILKINS MICAWBER.'

398       I was glad to find that Mr. Micawber had got rid of his dust and
399  ashes, and that something really had turned up at last. Learning
400  from Traddles that the invitation referred to the evening then
401  wearing away, I expressed my readiness to do honour to it; and we
402  went off together to the lodging which Mr. Micawber occupied as Mr.
403  Mortimer, and which was situated near the top of the Gray's Inn
404  Road.

405       The resources of this lodging were so limited, that we found the
406  twins, now some eight or nine years old, reposing in a turn-up
407  bedstead in the family sitting-room, where Mr. Micawber had
408  prepared, in a wash-hand-stand jug, what he called 'a Brew' of the
409  agreeable beverage for which he was famous. I had the pleasure, on
410  this occasion, of renewing the acquaintance of Master Micawber,
411  whom I found a promising boy of about twelve or thirteen, very
412  subject to that restlessness of limb which is not an unfrequent
413  phenomenon in youths of his age. I also became once more known to
414  his sister, Miss Micawber, in whom, as Mr. Micawber told us, 'her
415  mother renewed her youth, like the Phoenix'.

416       'My dear Copperfield,' said Mr. Micawber, 'yourself and Mr.
417  Traddles find us on the brink of migration, and will excuse any
418  little discomforts incidental to that position.'

419       Glancing round as I made a suitable reply, I observed that the
420  family effects were already packed, and that the amount of luggage
421  was by no means overwhelming. I congratulated Mrs. Micawber on the
422  approaching change.

423       'My dear Mr. Copperfield,' said Mrs. Micawber, 'of your friendly
424  interest in all our affairs, I am well assured. My family may
425  consider it banishment, if they please; but I am a wife and mother,
426  and I never will desert Mr. Micawber.'

427       Traddles, appealed to by Mrs. Micawber's eye, feelingly acquiesced.

428       'That,' said Mrs. Micawber, 'that, at least, is my view, my dear
429  Mr. Copperfield and Mr. Traddles, of the obligation which I took
430  upon myself when I repeated the irrevocable words, "I, Emma, take
431  thee, Wilkins." I read the service over with a flat-candle on the
432  previous night, and the conclusion I derived from it was, that I
433  never could desert Mr. Micawber. And,' said Mrs. Micawber, 'though
434  it is possible I may be mistaken in my view of the ceremony, I
435  never will!'

436       'My dear,' said Mr. Micawber, a little impatiently, 'I am not
437  conscious that you are expected to do anything of the sort.'

438       'I am aware, my dear Mr. Copperfield,' pursued Mrs. Micawber, 'that
439  I am now about to cast my lot among strangers; and I am also aware
440  that the various members of my family, to whom Mr. Micawber has
441  written in the most gentlemanly terms, announcing that fact, have
442  not taken the least notice of Mr. Micawber's communication. Indeed
443  I may be superstitious,' said Mrs. Micawber, 'but it appears to me
444  that Mr. Micawber is destined never to receive any answers whatever
445  to the great majority of the communications he writes. I may
446  augur, from the silence of my family, that they object to the
447  resolution I have taken; but I should not allow myself to be
448  swerved from the path of duty, Mr. Copperfield, even by my papa and
449  mama, were they still living.'

450       I expressed my opinion that this was going in the right direction.
451  'It may be a sacrifice,' said Mrs. Micawber, 'to immure one's-self
452  in a Cathedral town; but surely, Mr. Copperfield, if it is a
453  sacrifice in me, it is much more a sacrifice in a man of Mr.
454  Micawber's abilities.'

455       'Oh! You are going to a Cathedral town?' said I.

456       Mr. Micawber, who had been helping us all, out of the
457  wash-hand-stand jug, replied:

458       'To Canterbury. In fact, my dear Copperfield, I have entered into
459  arrangements, by virtue of which I stand pledged and contracted to
460  our friend Heep, to assist and serve him in the capacity of - and
461  to be - his confidential clerk.'

462       I stared at Mr. Micawber, who greatly enjoyed my surprise.

463       'I am bound to state to you,' he said, with an official air, 'that
464  the business habits, and the prudent suggestions, of Mrs. Micawber,
465  have in a great measure conduced to this result. The gauntlet, to
466  which Mrs. Micawber referred upon a former occasion, being thrown
467  down in the form of an advertisement, was taken up by my friend
468  Heep, and led to a mutual recognition. Of my friend Heep,' said
469  Mr. Micawber, 'who is a man of remarkable shrewdness, I desire to
470  speak with all possible respect. My friend Heep has not fixed the
471  positive remuneration at too high a figure, but he has made a great
472  deal, in the way of extrication from the pressure of pecuniary
473  difficulties, contingent on the value of my services; and on the
474  value of those services I pin my faith. Such address and
475  intelligence as I chance to possess,' said Mr. Micawber, boastfully
476  disparaging himself, with the old genteel air, 'will be devoted to
477  my friend Heep's service. I have already some acquaintance with
478  the law - as a defendant on civil process - and I shall immediately
479  apply myself to the Commentaries of one of the most eminent and
480  remarkable of our English jurists. I believe it is unnecessary to
481  add that I allude to Mr. justice Blackstone.'

482       These observations, and indeed the greater part of the observations
483  made that evening, were interrupted by Mrs. Micawber's discovering
484  that Master Micawber was sitting on his boots, or holding his head
485  on with both arms as if he felt it loose, or accidentally kicking
486  Traddles under the table, or shuffling his feet over one another,
487  or producing them at distances from himself apparently outrageous
488  to nature, or lying sideways with his hair among the wine-glasses,
489  or developing his restlessness of limb in some other form
490  incompatible with the general interests of society; and by Master
491  Micawber's receiving those discoveries in a resentful spirit. I
492  sat all the while, amazed by Mr. Micawber's disclosure, and
493  wondering what it meant; until Mrs. Micawber resumed the thread of
494  the discourse, and claimed my attention.

495       'What I particularly request Mr. Micawber to be careful of, is,'
496  said Mrs. Micawber, 'that he does not, my dear Mr. Copperfield, in
497  applying himself to this subordinate branch of the law, place it
498  out of his power to rise, ultimately, to the top of the tree. I am
499  convinced that Mr. Micawber, giving his mind to a profession so
500  adapted to his fertile resources, and his flow of language, must
501  distinguish himself. Now, for example, Mr. Traddles,' said Mrs.
502  Micawber, assuming a profound air, 'a judge, or even say a
503  Chancellor. Does an individual place himself beyond the pale of
504  those preferments by entering on such an office as Mr. Micawber has
505  accepted?'

506       'My dear,' observed Mr. Micawber - but glancing inquisitively at
507  Traddles, too; 'we have time enough before us, for the
508  consideration of those questions.'

509       'Micawber,' she returned, 'no! Your mistake in life is, that you
510  do not look forward far enough. You are bound, in justice to your
511  family, if not to yourself, to take in at a comprehensive glance
512  the extremest point in the horizon to which your abilities may lead
513  you.'

514       Mr. Micawber coughed, and drank his punch with an air of exceeding
515  satisfaction - still glancing at Traddles, as if he desired to have
516  his opinion.

517       'Why, the plain state of the case, Mrs. Micawber,' said Traddles,
518  mildly breaking the truth to her. 'I mean the real prosaic fact,
519  you know -'

520       'Just so,' said Mrs. Micawber, 'my dear Mr. Traddles, I wish to be
521  as prosaic and literal as possible on a subject of so much
522  importance.'

523       '- Is,' said Traddles, 'that this branch of the law, even if Mr.
524  Micawber were a regular solicitor -'

525       'Exactly so,' returned Mrs. Micawber. ('Wilkins, you are
526  squinting, and will not be able to get your eyes back.')

527       '- Has nothing,' pursued Traddles, 'to do with that. Only a
528  barrister is eligible for such preferments; and Mr. Micawber could
529  not be a barrister, without being entered at an inn of court as a
530  student, for five years.'

531       'Do I follow you?' said Mrs. Micawber, with her most affable air of
532  business. 'Do I understand, my dear Mr. Traddles, that, at the
533  expiration of that period, Mr. Micawber would be eligible as a
534  Judge or Chancellor?'

535       'He would be ELIGIBLE,' returned Traddles, with a strong emphasis
536  on that word.

537       'Thank you,' said Mrs. Micawber. 'That is quite sufficient. If
538  such is the case, and Mr. Micawber forfeits no privilege by
539  entering on these duties, my anxiety is set at rest. I speak,'
540  said Mrs. Micawber, 'as a female, necessarily; but I have always
541  been of opinion that Mr. Micawber possesses what I have heard my
542  papa call, when I lived at home, the judicial mind; and I hope Mr.
543  Micawber is now entering on a field where that mind will develop
544  itself, and take a commanding station.'

545       I quite believe that Mr. Micawber saw himself, in his judicial
546  mind's eye, on the woolsack. He passed his hand complacently over
547  his bald head, and said with ostentatious resignation:

548       'My dear, we will not anticipate the decrees of fortune. If I am
549  reserved to wear a wig, I am at least prepared, externally,' in
550  allusion to his baldness, 'for that distinction. I do not,' said
551  Mr. Micawber, 'regret my hair, and I may have been deprived of it
552  for a specific purpose. I cannot say. It is my intention, my dear
553  Copperfield, to educate my son for the Church; I will not deny that
554  I should be happy, on his account, to attain to eminence.'

555       'For the Church?' said I, still pondering, between whiles, on Uriah
556  Heep.

557       'Yes,' said Mr. Micawber. 'He has a remarkable head-voice, and
558  will commence as a chorister. Our residence at Canterbury, and our
559  local connexion, will, no doubt, enable him to take advantage of
560  any vacancy that may arise in the Cathedral corps.'

561       On looking at Master Micawber again, I saw that he had a certain
562  expression of face, as if his voice were behind his eyebrows; where
563  it presently appeared to be, on his singing us (as an alternative
564  between that and bed) 'The Wood-Pecker tapping'. After many
565  compliments on this performance, we fell into some general
566  conversation; and as I was too full of my desperate intentions to
567  keep my altered circumstances to myself, I made them known to Mr.
568  and Mrs. Micawber. I cannot express how extremely delighted they
569  both were, by the idea of my aunt's being in difficulties; and how
570  comfortable and friendly it made them.

571       When we were nearly come to the last round of the punch, I
572  addressed myself to Traddles, and reminded him that we must not
573  separate, without wishing our friends health, happiness, and
574  success in their new career. I begged Mr. Micawber to fill us
575  bumpers, and proposed the toast in due form: shaking hands with him
576  across the table, and kissing Mrs. Micawber, to commemorate that
577  eventful occasion. Traddles imitated me in the first particular,
578  but did not consider himself a sufficiently old friend to venture
579  on the second.

580       'My dear Copperfield,' said Mr. Micawber, rising with one of his
581  thumbs in each of his waistcoat pockets, 'the companion of my
582  youth: if I may be allowed the expression - and my esteemed friend
583  Traddles: if I may be permitted to call him so - will allow me, on
584  the part of Mrs. Micawber, myself, and our offspring, to thank them
585  in the warmest and most uncompromising terms for their good wishes.
586  It may be expected that on the eve of a migration which will
587  consign us to a perfectly new existence,' Mr. Micawber spoke as if
588  they were going five hundred thousand miles, 'I should offer a few
589  valedictory remarks to two such friends as I see before me. But
590  all that I have to say in this way, I have said. Whatever station
591  in society I may attain, through the medium of the learned
592  profession of which I am about to become an unworthy member, I
593  shall endeavour not to disgrace, and Mrs. Micawber will be safe to
594  adorn. Under the temporary pressure of pecuniary liabilities,
595  contracted with a view to their immediate liquidation, but
596  remaining unliquidated through a combination of circumstances, I
597  have been under the necessity of assuming a garb from which my
598  natural instincts recoil - I allude to spectacles - and possessing
599  myself of a cognomen, to which I can establish no legitimate
600  pretensions. All I have to say on that score is, that the cloud
601  has passed from the dreary scene, and the God of Day is once more
602  high upon the mountain tops. On Monday next, on the arrival of the
603  four o'clock afternoon coach at Canterbury, my foot will be on my
604  native heath - my name, Micawber!'

605       Mr. Micawber resumed his seat on the close of these remarks, and
606  drank two glasses of punch in grave succession. He then said with
607  much solemnity:

608       'One thing more I have to do, before this separation is complete,
609  and that is to perform an act of justice. My friend Mr. Thomas
610  Traddles has, on two several occasions, "put his name", if I may
611  use a common expression, to bills of exchange for my accommodation.
612  On the first occasion Mr. Thomas Traddles was left - let me say, in
613  short, in the lurch. The fulfilment of the second has not yet
614  arrived. The amount of the first obligation,' here Mr. Micawber
615  carefully referred to papers, 'was, I believe, twenty-three, four,
616  nine and a half, of the second, according to my entry of that
617  transaction, eighteen, six, two. These sums, united, make a total,
618  if my calculation is correct, amounting to forty-one, ten, eleven
619  and a half. My friend Copperfield will perhaps do me the favour to
620  check that total?'

621       I did so and found it correct.

622       'To leave this metropolis,' said Mr. Micawber, 'and my friend Mr.
623  Thomas Traddles, without acquitting myself of the pecuniary part of
624  this obligation, would weigh upon my mind to an insupportable
625  extent. I have, therefore, prepared for my friend Mr. Thomas
626  Traddles, and I now hold in my hand, a document, which accomplishes
627  the desired object. I beg to hand to my friend Mr. Thomas Traddles
628  my I.O.U. for forty-one, ten, eleven and a half, and I am happy to
629  recover my moral dignity, and to know that I can once more walk
630  erect before my fellow man!'

631       With this introduction (which greatly affected him), Mr. Micawber
632  placed his I.O.U. in the hands of Traddles, and said he wished him
633  well in every relation of life. I am persuaded, not only that this
634  was quite the same to Mr. Micawber as paying the money, but that
635  Traddles himself hardly knew the difference until he had had time
636  to think about it.
637  Mr. Micawber walked so erect before his fellow man, on the strength
638  of this virtuous action, that his chest looked half as broad again
639  when he lighted us downstairs. We parted with great heartiness on
640  both sides; and when I had seen Traddles to his own door, and was
641  going home alone, I thought, among the other odd and contradictory
642  things I mused upon, that, slippery as Mr. Micawber was, I was
643  probably indebted to some compassionate recollection he retained of
644  me as his boy-lodger, for never having been asked by him for money.
645  I certainly should not have had the moral courage to refuse it; and
646  I have no doubt he knew that (to his credit be it written), quite
647  as well as I did.

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