December 1, 1887.] 



♦ KNO>ArLEDGE ♦ 



37 



toorks of' time and circumstance, there was one chain forged 

 in the moment of that sin/tU conclusion, riveted to tlie founda- 

 tions of heaven and earth, and gifted irith invincible force 

 to hold and drag." 



Grewgious knows that the ring he so prized has not been 

 given to Rosa. He knows it is not among the jewellery 

 found by Crisparkle in the river. Yet he says nothing I 

 He neither causes .search to be made for jewels which were 

 of such interest to himself, nor does he say aught which 

 would lead to this particular clue being so followed that 

 perhaps by its aid the murderer might be brought to 

 j ustice 1 We venture to say that Dickens had made no 

 such blunder as this view would imply. It was not without 

 a special purpose either that he dwelt on Grewgious's sorrow 

 and anxiety about the ring, or that he directed the reader's 

 special attention to the ring as eventually to lead to the 

 detection of the criminal. He himself had tliat ring in his 

 thoughts throughout all the circumstances following Drood's 

 disappearance. He must also have known that though 

 careless readers might overlook the ring, or at least the 

 interest of Grewgious in it, some among his readers would 

 assuredly notice the point. 



Grewgious is not careful about the ring, or about the 

 detection of the supposed murderer, siinph/ because he has 

 the ring back in its cabinet, and because he knows of Jasper's 

 attempted crime, and of Jasper's stroke having failed of its 

 aim. He says in Chapter XXII. he " holds decidedly that 

 John Jasper is a brigand and a wild beast in combination." 

 Such a man as he would have said nothing like this unless 

 he had known of Jasper's muiderous assault on Drood, and 

 of his being to all intents and purposes a murderer. Such a 

 man as Grewgious would assuredly not have suffered the 

 prized relic of his lost love to be in the hands of a villanous 

 wretch like Jasper, or to disjippear without an effort to trace 

 it. But he could not have leai'ned anything about the ring, 

 nor could he have learned aught about Jasper's villany, 

 except from Drood himself (for, as we have seen, the mere 

 discovery of Drood's body with the ring upon it is not an 

 admLssible explanation). 



So much established — beyond, we think, any possibility of 

 question — the explanation of " the Datchery assumption " is 

 no longer difficult. But we believe that this assumption, to use 

 Dickens's own word, can be interpreted independently of the 

 decisive evidence obtained from the behaviour of Grewgious. 



We know that the very last reference by Dickens to his 

 story was an expression of anxiety lest, in the treatment of 

 the Datchery assumption in the last chapter, he should have 

 shown too clearly how the stoiy was to be developed. We 

 think the fear was fully justified. For we cannot see how 

 any one who understands Dickens's manner can read that 

 last chapter without being convinced that Datchery is 

 Drood. In the earlier part about Datchery there was more 

 care to conceal his identity. Even a fairly careful reader 

 might doubt whether the character were an assumption at 

 all — except, perhaps, for the obvious fact that Datchery 

 wears a wig of white hair, and 'the probable circumstance 

 that the eyebrows are dyed black (or they would hardly have 

 been mentioned). Even though the careful reader may 

 decide that Datchery is disguised, he would scarcely be led 

 to conclude that Datchery is Drood, clearly though he may 

 have seen that Drood is not dead. Dickens artfully makes 

 Drood inquire about Mr. Tope as if he knew nothing of the 

 verger, and still more artfully makes Drood lose himself on 

 his way from " the retiring Grozier " to Jlrs. Toj)e's rooms. 

 Of course the inquiry corresponded well with Datchery's 

 obvious wish to conceal his identity ; while Drood's losing 

 his way, even if not regarded as part of the same plan, 

 would be only too ea.sily understood by any one who has 

 resided in a cathedral town and knows how readily one may 

 get " very cold indeed " in the search for even a well-known 



nook from an unknown hotel " of retiring disposition " like 

 the Crozier. (We know Rochester — Cloisterham, that is — 

 pretty well ; but we would certainly not undertake to fin d 

 our way easily through all its labyrinthine passages.) 



Of course, with the knowledge that the Datchery character 

 is an assumption, as Dickens told Miss Hogarth later, even 

 the scenes in Chapter X VIII. suffice to show who Datchery 

 is. Thei-e is no one in the story but Drood himself un- 

 accounted for, except only Bazzard. NowBazzard is not only 

 a fool, but a dull one, and a curmudgeon ; Datchery is neither 

 the one nor the other. Bazzard has no sense whatever of 

 humour ; Datchery is full of dry fun. Bazzard is as clearly 

 intended to come to utter grief in the end as was Silas 

 Wegg in " Our Mutual Friend ;" Datchery is just as clearly 

 intended to triumph in his plans. One might almost as 

 reasonably imagine that Datchery is Honeythunder as that 

 he is Bazzard. 



But in the last chapter of the book the evidence that 

 Datchery is Drood is so clear that no one can doubt its 

 meaning, though many may overlook its existence till it is 

 pointed out. 



We would in particular invite all who love the writings 

 of our later " Wizard " — the Wizard of the South — to com- 

 pare very carefully the scene between the opium-eater and 

 Drood in Chapter XIV. and the scene between the same 

 oiHum-eater and Datchery in Chapter XXII 1. It would 

 not be fair for lis to quote, as we might do, sentence after 

 sentence from one scene for comparison with sentence after 

 sentence from the other. Let the reader who has not yet 

 done this do it for himself; he will be well repaid. The 

 close resemblance between the characters of Drood and 

 Datchex-y will at once be obvious ; the humour and the 

 pathos of each will be fully appreciated. Of course, we 

 compare Datchery only with Drood as seen in that last 

 scene before the disappearance, when sad after his parting 

 from Rosa, whom he loves — -though even then he does not 

 know it, " the vanity and caprice of youth " (soon to dis- 

 appear for ever) " sustaining the handsome figure of Miss 

 Landless in the background of his mind." The Drood of 

 the eai'lier scenes is dead — " Poor youth, poor youth," 

 Dickens says of that Drood ; and many readers suppose he 

 has condemned Di'ood altogether to death. 



But the closing passages of the two scenes must be quoted 

 to show how absolutely identical are the tones ' in which 

 Drood and Datchery are spoken of, though of course we cannot 

 make this clear to those who have no ears for such tones : — 



From Chapter XIV. 

 This is not an inspiriting close 

 to a dull day. Alone, in a seques- 

 tered place, surrounded by ves- 

 tiges of old time and decay, it 

 rather has a tendency to call a 

 shudder into being. He makes 

 for the better-lighted streets, and 

 resolves as he walks on to say 

 nothing of this to-night, but to 

 mention it to Jack as an odd 

 coincidence to-morrow; of course 

 only as a coincidence, and not as 

 anything better wortli remember- 

 ing — still it holds to him, as many 

 things better worth remembering 

 never did. He has another mile 

 or so to linger out before the 

 dinner-hour ; and, when he walks 

 over the bridge and by the river, 

 the woman's words are in the 

 rising wind, in the angry sky, in 

 the troubled water, in the flicker- 

 ing lights. There is some solemn 

 echo of them even in the cathe- 

 dral chime, which strikesa sudden 

 surprise to his heart as he turns 

 in under the archway of the gate- 

 house. 



From Chapter XXIII. 

 Mr. Datchery pauses with the 

 selected coins in his hand, rather 

 as if he were falling into a brown 

 study of their value, and couldn't 

 bear to part with them. The 

 woman looks at him distrustfully, 

 and with her anger brewing for 

 the event of his thinking better 

 of the gift; but he bestows it on 

 her as if he were ahstracting his 

 mind from the sacritice, and with 

 many servile thanks she goes 

 her way. John Jasper's lamp is 

 kindled, and his lighthouse is 

 shining when Mr. Datchery re- 

 turns alone towards it. As 

 mariners on a dangerous voyage, 

 approaching an iron-bound coast, 

 may look along tlie beams of the 

 warning light to the haven lying 

 beyond it that may never be 

 reached, so Mr. Datchery's wist- 

 ful gaze is directed to this beacon 

 and beyond. 



