"The Marshalsea becomes an Orphan."
This original watercolor drawing is no. 22 of a series of 40 executed by "Phiz" (Hablot K. Browne) in 1878 for the collector Frederick William Cosens, being copies of the original etchings made by him for Little Dorrit (1855-57; 1857). The scene, which comes from chapter 36 of the novel, shows William Dorritt and his family as they leave--"for ever"--the Marshalsea debtor's prison. Mr. Dorrit, a great assertor of the "family dignity," yields to the "vast speculation" of how those left behind were to get on without him, and accordingly proceeds through the gathered throng as if "encircled by the legend in golden characters, 'Be comforted, my people! Bear it!'"

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