David Copperfiled Vol2 - Charles Dickens

7/27/2019 David Copperfiled Vol2 - Charles Dickens

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When you, who love me so much better than I ever

have deserved, even when my mind was innocent,

see this, I shall be far away.

When I leave my dear homemy dear homeoh,

my dear home!in the morning,

it will be never to come back, unless he brings

me back a lady. This will be found at night, many

hours after, instead of me. Oh, if you knew how myheart is torn. If even you, that I have wronged so

much, that never can forgive me, could only know

what I suffer! I am too wicked to write about myself!

Oh, take comfort in thinking that I am so bad. Oh, for

mercys sake, tell uncle that I never loved him half so

dear as now. Oh, dont remember how affectionate

and kind you have all been to medont remember

we were ever to be marriedbut try to think as if I

died when I was little, and was buried somewhere.

Pray Heaven that I am going away from, have com


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passion on my uncle! Tell him that I never loved him

half so dear. Be his comfort. Love some good girl

that will be what I was once to uncle, and be true to

you, and worthy of you, and know no shame but me.

God bless all! Ill pray for all, often, on my knees. Ifhe dont bring me back a lady, and I dont pray for my

own self, Ill pray for all. My parting love to uncle. My

last tears, and my last thanks, for uncle!


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MY DEAR COPPERFIELD,

You may possibly not be unprepared to receive

the intimation that something has turned up. I may

have mentioned to you on a former occasion that I

was in expectation of such an event.

I am about to establish myself in one of the provin-cial towns of our favoured island (where the society

may be described as a happy admixture of the agri-

cultural and the clerical), in immediate connexion with

one of the learned professions. Mrs. Micawber and

our offspring will accompany me. Our ashes, at a

future period, will probably be found commingled in

the cemetery attached to a venerable pile, for which

the spot to which I refer has acquired a reputation,

shall I say from China to Peru?

Ever yours,

WILKINS MICAWBER.


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In bidding adieu to the modern Babylon, where

we have undergone many vicissitudes, I trust not ig-

nobly, Mrs. Micawber and myself cannot disguise from

our minds that we part, it may be for years and it

may be for ever, with an individual linked by strong

associations to the altar of our domestic life. If, on

the eve of such a departure, you will accompany our

mutual friend, Mr. Thomas Traddles, to our present

abode, and there reciprocate the wishes natural to

the occasion, you will confer a Boon

On One

Who

Is


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Oh what will you feel when you see this writing,

and know it comes from my wicked hand! But try,

trynot for my sake, but for uncles goodness, try to

let your heart soften to me, only for a little little time!

Try, pray do, to relent towards a miserable girl, and

write down on a bit of paper whether he is well, and

what he said about me before you left off ever nam-ing me among yourselvesand whether, of a night,

when it is my old time of coming home, you ever see

him look as if he thought of one he used to love so

dear. Oh, my heart is breaking when I think about it!

I am kneeling down to you, begging and praying you

not to be as hard with me as I deserveas I well,

well, know I deservebut to be so gentle and so

good, as to write down something of him, and to send

it to me. You need not call me Little, you need not call

me by the name I have disgraced; but oh, listen to

my agony, and have mercy on me so far as to write

me some word of uncle, never, never to be seen in

this world by my eyes again!

from seeing him and uncle, and was going up to God

against me. Tell him that if I was to die tomorrow (and

oh, if I was fit, I would be so glad to die!) I would

bless him and uncle with my last words, and pray for

his happy home with my last breath!


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this world by my eyes again!

Dear, if your heart is hard towards mejustly hard,

I knowbut, listen, if it is hard, dear, ask him I have

wronged the mosthim whose wife I was to have

beenbefore you quite decide against my poor poor

prayer! If he should be so compassionate as to say

that you might write something for me to readI think

he would, oh, I think he would, if you would only ask

him, for he always was so brave and so forgivingtell him then (but not else), that when I hear the wind

blowing at night, I feel as if it was passing angrily


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quire relief; and as I do not wish to consult my family

(already obnoxious to the feelings of Mr. Micawber),

I know no one of whom I can better ask advice than

my friend and former lodger.

You may be aware, my dear Mr. Copperfield, that

between myself and Mr. Micawber (whom I will never

desert), there has always been preserved a spirit of

mutual confidence. Mr. Micawber may have occasion-ally given a bill without consulting me, or he may have

misled me as to the period when that obligation would

become due. This has actually happened. But, in

general, Mr. Micawber has had no secrets from the

bosom of affectionI allude to his wifeand has in-


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CANTERBURY, Monday Evening.

You will doubtless be surprised, my dear Mr.

Copperfield, to receive this communication. Still more

so, by its contents. Still more so, by the stipulation of

implicit confidence which I beg toimpose. But my feelings as a wife and mother re-

variably, on our retirement to rest, recalled the eventsof the day.

You will picture to yourself, my dear Mr. Copperfield,

what the poignancy of my feelings must be, when I

inform you that Mr. Micawber is entirely changed. He

is reserved. He is secret. His life is a mystery to the

partner of his joys and sorrowsI again allude to hiswifeand if I should assure you that beyond know-

ing that it is passed from morning to night at the of-

fice, I now know less of it than I do of the man in the

south, connected with whose mouth the thoughtless

children repeat an idle tale respecting cold plum por-

ridge, I should adopt a popular fallacy to express an

actual fact.

But this is not all. Mr. Micawber is morose. He is

severe. He is estranged from our eldest son anddaughter, he has no pride in his twins, he looks with

an eye of coldness even on the unoffending stranger

who last became a member of our circle. The pecu-

niary means of meeting our expenses, kept down to

the utmost farthing, are obtained from him with great

obligation to the many you have already rendered

me. With loves from the children, and a smile from

the happily-unconscious stranger, I remain, dear Mr.

Copperfield,

Your afflicted,

EMMA MICAWBER.


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difficulty, and even under fearful threats that he willSettle himself (the exact expression); and he inexo-

rably refuses to give any explanation whatever of this

distracting policy.

This is hard to bear. This is heart-breaking. If you

will advise me, knowing my feeble powers such as

they are, how you think it will be best to exert them ina dilemma so unwonted, you will add another friendly


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MY DEAR SIR,

Circumstances beyond my individual control have,

for a considerable lapse of time, effected a sever-

ance of that intimacy which, in the limited opportuni-


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ties conceded to me in the midst of my professional

duties, of contemplating the scenes and events of

the past, tinged by the prismatic hues of memory, has

ever afforded me, as it ever must continue to afford,

gratifying emotions of no common description. This

fact, my dear sir, combined with the distinguished el-

evation to which your talents have raised you, deters

me from presuming to aspire to the liberty of address-

ing the companion of my youth, by the familiar appel-

lation of Copperfield! It is sufficient to know that the

name to which I do myself the honour to refer, will

ever be treasured among the muniments of our house

(I allude to the archives connected with our former

lodgers, preserved by Mrs. Micawber), with sentiments

of personal esteem amounting to affection.

It is not for one, situated, through his original er-

rors and a fortuitous combination of unpropitious

events, as is the foundered Bark (if he may be al-

lowed to assume so maritime a denomination), who

now takes up the pen to address youit is not, I

repeat, for one so circumstanced, to adopt the lan-

If your more important avocations should admit of

your ever tracing these imperfect characters thus

farwhich may be, or may not be, as circumstances

ariseyou will naturally inquire by what object am I

influenced, then, in inditing the present missive? Al-

low me to say that I fully defer to the reasonable char-

acter of that inquiry, and proceed to develop it; pre-

mising that it is not an object of a pecuniary nature.

Without more directly referring to any latent ability

that may possibly exist on my part, of wielding the thun-

derbolt, or directing the devouring and avenging flame

in any quarter, I may be permitted to observe, in pass-

ing, that my brightest visions are for ever dispelled

that my peace is shattered and my power of enjoyment

destroyedthat my heart is no longer in the right

placeand that I no more walk erect before my fellow

man. The canker is in the flower. The cup is bitter to the

brim. The worm is at his work, and will soon dispose of

his victim. The sooner the better. But I will not digress.


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guage of compliment, or of congratulation. That he

leaves to abler and to purer hands.

Placed in a mental position of peculiar painfulness,

beyond the assuaging reach even of Mrs. Micawbers

influence, though exercised in the tripartite charac-

ter of woman, wife, and mother, it is my intention to

fly from myself for a short period, and devote a re-

spite of eight-and-forty hours to revisiting some met-

ropolitan scenes of past enjoyment. Among other ha-

vens of domestic tranquillity and peace of mind, my

feet will naturally tend towards the Kings Bench

Prison. In stating that I shall be (D. V.) on the outside

of the south wall of that place of incarceration on civil

process, the day after tomorrow, at seven in the

evening, precisely, my object in this epistolary com-

munication is accomplished.

I do not feel warranted in soliciting my former friend

Mr. Copperfield, or my former friend Mr. Thomas

Traddles of the Inner Temple, if that gentleman is still

existent and forthcoming, to condescend to meet me,

and renew (so far as may be) our past relations of

the olden time. I confine myself to throwing out the

observation, that, at the hour and place I have indi-

Of

A

Fallen Tower,

WILKINS MICAWBER.

P.S. It may be advisable to superadd to the above,

the statement that Mrs. Micawber is not in confiden-

tial possession of my intentions.


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cated, may be found such ruined vestiges as yet

Remain,

My best regards to Mr. Thomas Traddles, and if he

h ld ill b h f l h d h h

few moments of his leisure time? I assure Mr. T. T. that

I would not intrude upon his kindness, were I in any

other position than on the confines of distraction.

Though harrowing to myself to mention, the alien-

ation of Mr. Micawber (formerly so domesticated) from

his wife and family, is the cause of my addressing my

unhappy appeal to Mr. Traddles, and soliciting his

best indulgence. Mr. T. can form no adequate idea of

the change in Mr. Micawbers conduct, of his wild-

ness, of his violence. It has gradually augmented,

until it assumes the appearance of aberration of in-

tellect. Scarcely a day passes, I assure Mr. Traddles,

on which some paroxysm does not take place. Mr. T.

will not require me to depict my feelings, when I in-

form him that I have become accustomed to hear

Mr. Micawber assert that he has sold himself to the

D. Mystery and secrecy have long been his principal

characteristic, have long replaced unlimited confi-

dence. The slightest provocation, even being asked

if h i hi h ld f f di


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should still remember one who formerly had the hap-

piness of being well acquainted with him, may I beg a

if there is anything he would prefer for dinner, causes

him to express a wish for a separation. Last night, on

being childishly solicited for twopence, to buy lemon-

stunnersa local sweetmeathe presented an oys-

ter-knife at the twins!

I entreat Mr. Traddles to bear with me in entering

into these details. Without them, Mr. T. would indeed

find it difficult to form the faintest conception of my

heart-rending situation.

May I now venture to confide to Mr. T. the purport of

my letter? Will he now allow me to throw myself on his

friendly consideration? Oh yes, for I know his heart!

The quick eye of affection is not easily blinded, when

of the female sex. Mr. Micawber is going to London.

Though he studiously concealed his hand, this morn-

ing before breakfast, in writing the direction-card which

he attached to the little brown valise of happier days,

the eagle-glance of matrimonial anxiety detected, d,

o, n, distinctly traced. The West-End destination of the

coach, is the Golden Cross. Dare I fervently implore

Mr. T. to see my misguided husband, and to reason

ith hi ? D I k M T t d t t i

no, for that would be too much!

If Mr. Copperfield should yet remember one un-

known to fame, will Mr. T. take charge of my unalter-

able regards and similar entreaties? In any case, he

will have the benevolence to consider this communi-

cation strictly private, and on no account whatever to

be alluded to, however distantly, in the presence of

Mr. Micawber. If Mr. T. should ever reply to it (which I

cannot but feel to be most improbable), a letter ad-

dressed to M. E., Post Office, Canterbury, will be

fraught with less painful consequences than any ad-

dressed immediately to one, who subscribes herself,

in extreme distress,

Mr. Thomas Traddless respectful friend and sup-

pliant,

EMMA MICAWBER.


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with him? Dare I ask Mr. T. to endeavour to step in

between Mr. Micawber and his agonized family? Oh


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Most secret and confidential.

MY DEAR SIR,

I beg to be allowed to convey, through you, my


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apologies to your excellent aunt for my late excite-

ment. An explosion of a smouldering volcano long

suppressed, was the result of an internal contest

more easily conceived than described.

I trust I rendered tolerably intelligible my appoint-ment for the morning of this day week, at the house

of public entertainment at Canterbury, where Mrs.

Micawber and myself had once the honour of uniting

our voices to yours, in the well-known strain of the

Immortal exciseman nurtured beyond the Tweed.

The duty done, and act of reparation performed,

which can alone enable me to contemplate my fel-

low mortal, I shall be known no more. I shall simply

require to be deposited in that place of universal re-

sort, where

Each in his narrow cell for ever laid,

The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep,

With the plain Inscription,


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WILKINS MICAWBER.


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Dear Miss Trotwood and gentlemen

In appearing before you to denounce probably

the most consummate Villain that has ever existed,

Mr. Micawber, without looking off the letter, pointed

the ruler, like a ghostly truncheon, at Uriah Heep, I

ask no consideration for myself. The victim, from my

cradle, of pecuniary liabilities to which I have been

unable to respond, I have ever been the sport and

toy of debasing circumstances. Ignominy, Want, De-

spair, and Madness, have, collectively or separately,

been the attendants of my career.


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In an accumulation of Ignominy, Want, Despair,

and Madness, I entered the officeor, as our lively

neighbour the Gaul would term it, the Bureauof

the Firm, nominally conducted under the appellation

of Wickfield andHeep, but in reality, wielded by

Heep alone. Heep, and only Heep, is the mainspring

of that machine. Heep, and only Heep, is the Forger

and the Cheat.

The stipendiary emoluments in consideration of

which I entered into the service ofHeep,

were not defined, beyond the

pittance of twenty-two shillings and six per week. The

rest was left contingent on the value of my profes-


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sional exertions; in other and more expressive words,

on the baseness of my nature, the cupidity of my

motives, the poverty of my family, the general moral

(or rather immoral) resemblance between myself

andHeep. Need I say, that it soon became neces-

sary for me to solicit fromHeeppecuniary ad-

vances towards the support of Mrs. Micawber, and

our blighted but rising family? Need I say that this

necessity had been foreseen byHeep? That those

advances were secured by I.O.U.s and other similar

acknowledgements, known to the legal institutions

of this country? And that I thus became immeshed

in the web he had spun for my reception?

Then it was thatHeepbegan to favour me with

just so much of his confidence, as was necessary to

the discharge of his infernal business. Then it was

that I began, if I may so Shakespearianly express

myself, to dwindle, peak, and pine. I found that my

services were constantly called into requisition for

the falsification of business, and the mystification of

an individual whom I will designate as Mr. W. That

Mr. W. was imposed upon, kept in ignorance, and

deluded, in every possible way; yet, that all this while,

the ruffianHeepwas professing unbounded grati-

tude to, and unbounded friendship for, that much-

abused gentleman. This was bad enough; but, as the

philosophic Dane observes, with that universal ap-

plicability which distinguishes the illustrious ornament

of the Elizabethan Era, worse remains behind!


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It is not my intention, he continued reading on,

to enter on a detailed list, within the compass of the

present epistle (though it is ready elsewhere), of the

various malpractices of a minor nature, affecting the

individual whom I have denominated Mr. W., to which

I have been a tacitly consenting party. My object,

when the contest within myself between stipend and

no stipend, baker and no baker, existence and non-

existence, ceased, was to take advantage of my op-

portunities to discover and expose the major mal-

practices committed, to that gentlemans grievous

wrong and injury, byHeep. Stimulated by the silent

monitor within, and by a no less touching and ap-

pealing monitor withoutto whom I will briefly refer

as Miss W.I entered on a not unlaborious task of

clandestine investigation, protractednow, to the

best of my knowledge, information, and belief, over

a period exceeding twelve calendar months.

My charges againstHeep,

are as follows.

First, said Mr. Micawber, When Mr. W.s facul-

ties and memory for business became, through

causes into which it is not necessary or expedient

for me to enter, weakened and confused,Heep

designedly perplexed and complicated the whole of

the official transactions. When Mr. W. was least fit to

enter on business, Heep was always at hand to

force him to enter on it. He obtained Mr. W.s signa-

ture under such circumstances to documents of im-

portance, representing them to be other documents

of no importance. He induced Mr. W. to empower him


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to draw out, thus, one particular sum of trust-money,

amounting to twelve six fourteen, two and nine, and

employed it to meet pretended business charges and

deficiencies which were either already provided for,

or had never really existed. He gave this proceeding,

throughout, the appearance of having originated in

Mr. W.s own dishonest intention, and of having been

accomplished by Mr. W.s own dishonest act; and has

used it, ever since, to torture and constrain him.


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392

Second. Heep has, on several occasions, to the

best of my knowledge, information, and belief

Second. Heep has, on several occasions, to the

best of my knowledge, information, and belief, sys-

tematically forged, to various entries, books, and

documents, the signature of Mr. W.; and has distinctly

done so in one instance, capable of proof by me. To

wit, in manner following, that is to say:


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To wit, in manner following, that is to say. Mr. W.

being infirm, and it being within the bounds of prob-

ability that his decease might lead to some discover-

ies, and to the downfall of Heepspower over the

W. family,as I, Wilkins Micawber, the undersigned,

assumeunless the filial affection of his daughter

could be secretly influenced from allowing any in-

vestigation of the partnership affairs to be ever made,

the saidHeepdeemed it expedient to have a bond

ready by him, as from Mr. W., for the before-men-

tioned sum of twelve six fourteen, two and nine, with

interest, stated therein to have been advanced by

Heepto Mr. W. to save Mr. W. from dishonour;

though really the sum was never advanced by him,

and has long been replaced. The signatures to this

instrument purporting to be executed by Mr. W. and

attested by Wilkins Micawber, are forgeries byHeep.

I have, in my possession, in his hand and pocket-

book, several similar imitations of Mr. W.s signature,

here and there defaced by fire, but legible to anyone.

I never attested any such document. And I have the

document itself, in my possession.

And I have the document,

in my possession,that is to say, I had,

early this morning, when this was written, but have

since relinquished it to Mr. Traddles.


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Third. And last. I am now in a condition to show,

byHeepsfalse books, andHeepsreal memo-


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randa, beginning with the partially destroyed pocket-

book (which I was unable to comprehend, at the time

of its accidental discovery by Mrs. Micawber, on our

taking possession of our present abode, in the locker

or bin devoted to the reception of the ashes calcined

on our domestic hearth), that the weaknesses, the

faults, the very virtues, the parental affections, and

the sense of honour, of the unhappy Mr. W. have been

for years acted on by, and warped to the base pur-

poses ofHeep. That Mr. W. has been for years de-

luded and plundered, in every conceivable manner,

to the pecuniary aggrandisement of the avaricious,

false, and graspingHeep. That the engrossing ob-

ject ofHeepwas, next to gain, to subdue Mr. and

Miss W. (of his ulterior views in reference to the latter

I say nothing) entirely to himself. That his last act,

completed but a few months since, was to induce

Mr. W. to execute a relinquishment of his share in the

partnership, and even a bill of sale on the very furni-

ture of his house, in consideration of a certain annu-

ity, to be well and truly paid byHeepon the four

common quarter-days in each and every year. That

these meshes; beginning with alarming and falsified

accounts of the estate of which Mr. W. is the receiver,

at a period when Mr. W. had launched into imprudent

and ill-judged speculations, and may not have had

the money, for which he was morally and legally re-

sponsible, in hand; going on with pretended borrow-

ings of money at enormous interest, really coming

fromHeepand byHeepfraudulently obtained

or withheld from Mr. W. himself, on pretence of such

speculations or otherwise; perpetuated by a miscel-

laneous catalogue of unscrupulous chicaneries

gradually thickened, until the unhappy Mr. W. could

see no world beyond. Bankrupt, as he believed, alike

in circumstances, in all other hope, and in honour,

his sole reliance was upon the monster in the garb

of man,

who, by making

himself necessary to him, had achieved his destruc-

tion. All this I undertake to show. Probably much

more!


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I have now concluded. It merely remains for me

to substantiate these accusations; and then, with my

ill-starred family, to disappear from the landscape on

which we appear to be an encumbrance. That is soon

done. It may be reasonably inferred that our baby

will first expire of inanition, as being the frailest mem-

ber of our circle; and that our twins will follow next in

order. So be it! For myself, my Canterbury Pilgrim-

age has done much; imprisonment on civil process,

and want, will soon do more. I trust that the labour

and hazard of an investigationof which the small-

est results have been slowly pieced together, in the

pressure of arduous avocations, under grinding pe-

nurious apprehensions, at rise of morn, at dewy eve,

in the shadows of night, under the watchful eye of

one whom it were superfluous to call Demoncom-

bined with the struggle of parental Poverty to turn it,

when completed, to the right account, may be as the

sprinkling of a few drops of sweet water on my fu-

neral pyre. I ask no more. Let it be, in justice, merely

said of me, as of a gallant and eminent naval Hero,

with whom I have no pretensions to cope, that what

I have done, I did, in despite of mercenary and self-

ish objects,

For England, home, and Beauty.

Remaining always, &c. &c., WILKINS

MICAWBER.


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j i di ti i thi b ili i k


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Canterbury,

Friday.

My dear Madam, and Copperfield,

The fair land of promise lately looming on the ho-

rizon is again enveloped in impenetrable mists, and

for ever withdrawn from the eyes of a drifting wretch

whose Doom is sealed!Another writ has been issued (in His Majestys High

Court of Kings Bench at Westminster), in another

cause of HEEP V. MICAWBER, and the defendant

in that cause is the prey of the sheriff having legal

jurisdiction in this bailiwick.

Nows the day, and nows the hour,

See the front of battle lower,

See approach proud Edwardspower Chains and slavery!

Consigned to which, and to a speedy end (for men-

tal torture is not supportable beyond a certain point,

and that point I feel I have attained), my course is run.

Bless you, bless you! Some future traveller, visiting,from motives of curiosity, not unmingled, let us hope,

with sympathy, the place of confinement allotted to

debtors in this city, may, and I trust will, Ponder, as he

traces on its wall, inscribed with a rusty nail,

The obscure initials,

W. M.

P.S. I re-open this to say that our common friend,

Mr. Thomas Traddles (who has not yet left us, and is

looking extremely well) has paid the debt and costs


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looking extremely well), has paid the debt and costs,

in the noble name of Miss Trotwood; and that myself

and family are at the height of earthly bliss.


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I have got your message. Oh, what can I write, to

thank you for your good and blessed kindness to me!I have put the words close to my heart. I shall keep

them till I die. They are sharp thorns, but they are such

comfort. I have prayed over them, oh, I have prayed

so much. When I find what you are, and what uncle is,

I think what God must be, and can cry to him.

Good-bye for ever. Now, my dear, my friend, good-bye for ever in this world. In another world, if I am

forgiven, I may wake a child and come to you. All

thanks and blessings. Farewell, evermore.


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TO DAVID COPPERFIELD, ESQUIRE,

THE EMINENT AUTHOR.

My Dear Sir,

Years have elapsed, since I had an opportunity of

place of an individual whom we mutually respect andesteem, without, my dear Sir, taking this public op-

portunity of thanking you, on my own behalf, and, I

may undertake to add, on that of the whole of the

Inhabitants of Port Middlebay, for the gratification of

which you are the ministering agent.

Go on, my dear Sir! You are not unknown here, you


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ocularly perusing the lineaments, now familiar to the

imaginations of a considerable portion of the civi-

lized world.

But, my dear Sir, though estranged (by the force

of circumstances over which I have had no control)

from the personal society of the friend and compan-

ion of my youth, I have not been unmindful of his

soaring flight. Nor have I been debarred,

Though seas between us braid ha roared,

(BURNS) from participating in the intellectual feasts

he has spread before us.

I cannot, therefore, allow of the departure from this

are not unappreciated. Though remote, we are nei-

ther unfriended, melancholy, nor (I may add) slow.

Go on, my dear Sir, in your Eagle course! The inhab-

itants of Port Middlebay may at least aspire to watch

it, with delight, with entertainment, with instruction!

Among the eyes elevated towards you from this

portion of the globe, will ever be found, while it has

light and life,

The

Eye

Appertaining to

WILKINS MICAWBER,

Magistrate.


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Documents

David Copperfiled Vol2 - Charles Dickens