The evening telegraph. [volume], June 10, 1870, FIFTH EDITION, Image 1

About The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918

Image provided by: Penn State University Libraries; University Park, PA

                
r
CD'
H
H
A
o
VOL. XIII NO. 138.
PHILADELPHIA, FRIDAY, JUNE 10, 1870,
DOUBLE SHEET THREE CENTS.
FIEST EDITION
OBITUARY.
CHARLES DICKENS.
Death of the Great Novelist, Yes
terday Afternoon, Near Lon
don, at the Age of 58.
A SKETCH OF HIS LIFE.
His Career as a Journalist, Novelist,
and riaywright Tho Immor
tal Mr. Pickwick, and
His Oilier Household
Characters.
London, June 10. Charles Dickens, the emi
nent author, died yesterday afternoon, at the
age of fifty-eight.
Later Particular.
London, June 10. Charles Dickens died at
twenty minutes past six o'clock last evening, of
paralysis.
THE CAKEER OF CHARLES DICKENS.
The announcement which the above cable
despatch makes will create a sensation no less
profound in this country than in England. The
voluminous writings of Mr. Dickens were so
well known throughout the length and
breadth of the land, his books have been for
years in the hands of bo many, such eager mul
titudes have thronged the halls in which his
readings have been delivered, that his death will
come home to hundreds of thousands, and will
be mourned as would be the death of a near and
valued personal friend.
Ills EnrlT Life.
Charles Dickens was born at Landport, Ports
mouth, England, on the 7th of February, lSl'-J,
and had, therefore fully completed his fifty
eighth year at the time of his death. His father,
John Dickens, had for many years held a posi
tion in the pay department of the navy, from
which he retired in 1815, on a pension. He was
a man of considerable literary acquirements,
and, removing to London after his resignation,
he became connected with one of the daily papers
of the English metropolis as a reporter of Par
liamentary debates. His son Charles he in
tended for the profession of the law, and accord
ingly placed him at an early age in an attorney's
office as a clerk. In this position he was by no
means idle, but acquired a thorough knowledge
of the complicated machinery and technical
phraseology of tho law, which he was enabled
in after years to turn to such excellent use.
The drudgery of the work, however, weighed
heavily upon his spirit, as a taste for literary
pursuits was developed, and manifested chietly
at first by an indiscriminate reading of novels
and plays.
He Becomes a Journalist.
Happily, his father's journalistic associations
enabled him to exchange his distasteful pursuits
for a more congenial occupation. He became
attached to the True Sun, a daily London jour
nal, as a reporter, and soon after transferred
himself to the Morning Chronicle, a paper
which at that time possessed a large circulation
uDd was at the very height of its popularity,
under the management of Mr. John Black. It
was in 1834 that he had begun to contribute to
the Old Monthly Magazine, his first paper in
that periodical being "Mrs. Joseph Porter over
the way." This was followed by "Horatio
Sparkins," and "The Boarding House," but it
was not until the publication of the second
paper under the last title that he assumed the
pseudonym of "Boz,"as may be found by reference
to the Old Monthly for August, 1834. Mr.
Hack Boon recognized the ability of the
young man, and gave him an opportunity to
exercise it to the best advantage by publishing
a series of "Sketches of English Life and Char
acter," in which were displayed his versatility
and piquancy of 6tyle. These sketches were
published in the evening edition of the
Chronicle, over the signature of
'Boz,
and at once attracted great attention by reason
of the remarkable and original vein of observa
tion which characterized them, although by
many they were denounced because the powers
of the unknown writer were exercised to so
great an extent in the delineation of scenes of
misery and vice, and the exposure of the in
firmities of humanity. The popularity of the
sketches, however, was bo great, that in 1830-37
they were collected and published in three
volumes, under the title of "Sketches by Boz,"
and enjoyed a large sale.
Early Dramatic Triumphs.
While writing the "Sketches," a strong incll
nation towards the sUgo induced Mr.
Dickens to test bis powers as a dramatist, and
his first piece, a farce called The Strange Gen
tleman, was produced at the St. James' Theatre
on the opening night of the season, September
29, 1830. The late Mr. Harley was the hero of
the farce, which was received with great favor,
This was followed by an opera, called Tlie
Villagt Coquettes, for which Mr. llullah
cjomposed the music, and which was brought out
at the same establishment, Tuesday, December
6, 1836. The quaint humor, unaffected patbos.and
graceful lyrics of this production found prompt
recognition, and the piece enjoyed a prosperous
run. The Village Coquettes took its title from
two village girls, Lucy and Rose, led away by
Vanity, coquetting with men above them in
tation, and discarding their humble though
worthy lovers. Before, however, It is too late,
bey see their error, aud the piece terminates
arpily. "Miss llalnforth" and "Miss Julia
mith" were the heroines, and "Mr. Bennet'
Si "Mr. Gardner" were thair betrothed lovers.
'' i;iaham" was the Lord ot the Manor, who
ould have led aetray the fair "Lucy." There
na a capital bteue where he was detected
j "Lucy's" father, played ty Strickland, nrg
eu elopeuK-tt, JIarley bad a trjflinj
it v- . - . -is- . iiV
h rytfii ' J
CHARLES DICKENS
As He Appeared in 1842, During His First
Visit to the United States.
part in the piece, rendered highly
amusing by his admirable acting. On March 6,
1837, was brought out, at the St. James' Thea
tre, a farce called Is She His Wife; or. Some
thing Singular, in which Harlev played the
principal character, "Felix Tapkins," a flirting
bachelor, and sang a song in the character of
Pickwick, "written expressly for him by Boz."
The name of the author was not given in the
playbill. But the celebrity so rapidly acquired
by Mr. Charles Dickens in other departments
of literature kept his pen from this time too
constantly in request to enable him to follow up
these early dramatic ventures.
"The Pickwick Papers."
The freshness, humor, and vivacity of the
sketches of London life, and the dramatic power
indicated by The Village Coquette, attracted
the attention of Mr. Hall, a member
of the well-known publishing firm of Chapman
& Hall, who applied to "Boz" to prepare for
them a serial story to be issued in monthly parts.
The work was begun without any definite plan,
as is almost patent to the casual reader in the
early chapters. It was suggested to Mr. Dickens
that the adventures and mishaps of a club made
up of original and eccentric characters would
afford a happy medium for displaying not only
the powers of the author, but also those of the
artist who was engaged to illustrate them, Mr.
Seymour, a popular comic draughtsman. With
this hint the first number of the "Posthumous
Memoirs of the Pickwick Club" was prepared
and given to the world, but before the second
appeared the artist died by his own hand, and
Mr. Hablot K. Browne, who was known
under the name of "Phiz," was engaged to
illustrate the succeeding numbers, which he did
with all the spirit and vivacity inaugurated by
hia predecessor.
The work was completed and published in a
collected iorm in io7. Jitit long uctore It was
finished, it had attained a degree of popularity
to which nothing in English literature since the
appearance ot the waveriey Novels ailoraed a
parallel. Between the appearance of tho first
and last numbers of the work the author rose at
one giant stride to the recognized position of
the most popular living writer in the lan
guage, a position which ho successfully main'
tained to the day of his death. The wit, pathos,
originality, and accuracy of his pictures of
English life and manners, both high and low,
touched the hearts and captivated the fancy of
all classes. All England and America were
thrown into an ecstatic laughter over
the mishaps of Mr. Pickwick
and his companions, the rare at
tractions of the great trial scene of Bardell vs.
Pickwick, and the quaint sayings, grotesque
comparisons, and inimitable conversations of
the two Wellers, father and son. Tho sayings
of the incomparable Samlvel were quoted by
speakers In the houses of Parliament and by the
ragged gamins in the slums of London. In less
than six months from the appearance of the first
number, the names of Winkle, Wardle, Weller,
Snodgrass, Dodson, and Fogg had become faml
liar as household terms. "Pickwick chintzes"
figured in shop windows, and "Weller cordU'
roys" in tailors' advertisements; "Boz cabs"
were rattling through the streets of London, and
the portraits of the author of "Pelham" or
"Crichton" in the omnibuses ware 6crapcd down
or paEted over, to make room for those of the
new popular favorite. A fresh veiu of
humor had been opened, an
original genius had sprung up.
and even the bsavy (quarterly lieviexo ac
knowledged that "tho most cursory reference to
preceding English writers of the comic order
would show that, in his own peculiar walk, Mr,
Dickens is not simply the most distinguished,
but the first." And the man who had thus
thrown not only London, but every English-
speaking community in the world, into aa
almost unparalleled furore, was but twenty-five
years old, and this was his first serious etlort in
the walks of literature. Taking Into consldera
tion his youth and his surroundings, his sudden
fame was fairly without a parallel in the whole
history of letters.
The Appearance of "Oliver Twist."
The name of the author of the "Pickwick
Papers was not aunounced until 1838, but as
soon as they were fairly under, way proposals
from tho leading London publishers flowed In
upon him with unexampled rapidity. He
accepted from among all these the offer of Mr
Bentlev, and became editor of lientley'$ Miscel
lany, in the second number of which, for Feb
ruary. 1837. appeared the first Instalment of
"Oliver Twist." The story, admirably illustrated
by George Cruikshank, at once became a
favorite, and is still regarded as one of the
author s most strlkiug novels. This novel fully
sustained the high reputation acquired by the
"Pickwick Papers." Although its humor
was not eo rich, nor so abundant,
nor so genial, as that displayed in the preceding
work, it possessed a deeper tragic power, espe
dally in the painting of the deeper passions of
the soul and tho terrible retributions of crime
In "Oliver Twist," as in "Nicholas Nickleby,"
which was issued in shilling numbers, uniform
with "Pickwlek," thortly after the completion
of that work, Mr. Dickens dealt with abuses and
cruelties which prevailed In certain public In
stitutions, and was happily instrumental in re
it 1 . . . l . i r . i ... .
Indeed, it is noticeable that in most of his
novels he has battled with some covert wrong
against society, and, while adding to literature
a crowd of imperishable creations, has taught
the world the most thorough lessons In human
charity and love.
"Nicholas Nickleby'' and Its Successor.
"Oliver Twist" appeared collectively in 1838,
and 1839 the "Life and Adventures of Nicholas
Nickleby" was completed and given to the world
entire. In 1840 Mr. Dickens undertook, and
completed in the succeeding year, the produc-
tun of a series of talcs in weekly numbers,
undtr the general title of "Master Humphrey's
Clock." It was in this series that "The Old
Curiosity Shop" and "Barnaby Itudge'' were first
given to the world. While "Master Humphrey's
Clock" was still running, he edited the "Me
moirs of JosephGrimaldi," the celebrated clown.
Mr. Dickens' First Visit to the Vnlted Ntate.
On finishing "Master Humphrey's Clock" Mr.
Dickens sailed from England for the United
State?, to gather material for a volume upon the
men and manners of the New World. He arrived
in Boston on January 22, 1842, and sailed for
England again on June 3 of the same year.
During this brief sojourn he travelled extca
sii'ely through the Northern and Eastern 8tates,
and was everywhere received with great enthu
siapm. After his return to Bngland, he pub
lished, in 1842, the result of his observations
in a work entitled "American Notes for General
Circulation." This work, however, added but
little to his reputation, and many of his observa
tions and criticisms drew from those who had
been his warm admirers heretofore earnest and
decided protests. After his second visit to this
country, however, he made a rather unsatisfac
tory apology for his unkind allusions, by stating
that he had found so many improvements since
his first visit as to render his adverse criticisms
uncalled for at present, and that all future edi
tions of the "American Notes" would contain a
statement to that effect.
The Establishment of the London "Dalbjr
news."
"Martin Chuzzlewit" appeared in numbers in
1844, and in the summer of that year the author
visited Italy. He returned home after an absence
of several months to assist in founding a cheap
daily newspaper of liberal politics. Having
organized a large literary staff, and enlisted the
services of many of the ablest writers of
the day, he issued in January, 1840, the first
number of the Daily News, acting as editor-in-chief,
and contributing to its columns tho results
of his Italian journey, subsequently reprinted
in book form as "Pictures from Italy." The
Daily News well under way, Mr. Dickens retired
from the editorial management in order to de
vote himself to pursuits more congenial and to
the world at large, not less than to himself,
more important.
Ills "Christmas Stories.',
It was in 1843 that he gave us the first of his
Inimitable Christmas books "A Christmas
Carol;" the second, "The Chimes," in 1815; and
the third, "The Cricket on the Hearth," in 1810.
To this catalogue can be added the title of many
a charming holiday volume, wholly or in part
from Mr. Dickens' pen. It has been pleasantly
said that Christmas in England owes most of its
cheer and kindly usage to Charles Dickens
that it is his good heart which beats ia Eu in
land's bosom at Christmas time.
"Household Words" anil "All the Year
Kouml."
In 1S47-8 Mr. Dickens published "Dombcy
and Son;" iu 1849 50, "David Copperfield;"
"iileak House" in 1853; "Hard Times" in 1S34;
nnd "Little Dorrit" in 1850.
In 1850 Mr. Dickens started Household
Words, a weekly miscellany of popular litera
ture, which he conducted uutu 18)9, when, in
consequence ol a misunderstanding tnat had
arisen between him and his publishers, he dis
continued the journal, and in its place esta
blished All the Year Hound, which he continued
to edit to the time of his death. In Household
Words first appeared his "Child's History of
England," republished separately in 1852, and
his story of "Hard Times." In All tlie Year
Hound first appeared "A Tale of Two Cities,
'The Uncommercial Papers," and "Great Ex
pectations."
Ills Latest Works.
In 18G4 Mr. Dickens published "Our Mutual
Friend" in serial form, but after that wrote
nothing except brief sketches or occasional
essays for his journal, until the appearance,
about two monthaago, of the first instalment of
"The Mystery of Edwin Drood."
His Second Visit to the United States
was of such comparatively recent occurrence
that but little need be said concerning it. lie
landed at Boston on November 19, 1807, having
been preceded by some months by Mr. George
Dolby, his advance agent, who made all the
necessary arrangements for the reading tour
upon which he was to enter. He had attained a
high reputation as a reader of his own works in
England, and this circumstance, taken in con
nection with his great popularity, created an
unparalleled furore in all the American cities
which he was destined to visit. So great,
indeed, was the demand for tickets,
that the adventurous speculators rushed
in between him and the public, and the
manner in which the tickets were disposed of,
aud the extortionate premiums frequently paid,
created not a little scandal and sadly marred
the success of his visit.
His first reading in the United States was
given in Boston, at the Treinont Temple, on the
evening of December 2; on December
9, he made his first appearance in
New York, at Stelnway Hall, and on January
13, 1808, he appeared for the first time before a
Philadelphia audience, at Concert Hall. His
tour was extended only to Baltimore and Wash
ington, in addition to the cities above named,
all proffers for a visit to Chicago and other
Western cities being steadily refused, and in the
summer of 1808 he returned to England.
His Farewell of the Public.
After his return home he continued to give
readings in different parts of England, but on
the evening of March 10th last he brought to a
close at St. James Hall, In Loudon, the meuior
able series of readings which had for fifteen
years proved to audiences unexampled in num
bers, a source of tho highest Intellectual enjoy
ment. In tho remarks which he made on this
occasion he said in conclusion:
"1 have tnoueht It well, at the fall flood-tide of
your favor, to retire upon those older associations
between us. which duto from niU'jh further back
than these, and heme lor th to devote myself ex
I'lusivl'iv to me art that lirst brought us together,
threat applause.) l a lies and geutleinen, ia but two
short weeks from this time, I hope that you in it
enter, in jour own houses, ou a uew 'denes of Kdad
hips,' at which my assistaneo will be Indispensable;
but Irom ihtae Kariaii iiKhti l vauisa now lor ever
nmre. with a heartfelt, grateful, respectful, and
ai'tc'ivuate farewell."
Ills Domestic Relations.
In 1858 Mr. Dickens separated from his wife
amicably, after having lived with her for twenty
years, several children being the fruits of the
marriage. Great scandal, of course, was attached
to this event, but Mr. Dickens has himself ex
plained that the cause which led to it was an
nncongeniality of temper, which implied no
dishonor to either party.
For some years before his death he resided at
God's Hill, Kent, about an hour's ride by rail
way from London, on the road to the beautiful
old cathedral town of Canterbury, celebrated
for its historical associations, and for being the
metropolitan sec of all England. The house is
described as being one of those comfortable old
faehioncd mansions which seem to have taken
root nowhere but in the most picturesque parts
of rural England, and are the brick and mortar
embodiment of the idea of home.
A lie view of .11 r. Dickens' Literary Career.
It is scarcely possible now to make a per
fectly just and critical estimate of the genius of
Mr. Dickens, or to prejudge the verdict of pos
terity. The crucial test of time, and tho calm
judgment of another generation that will know
the man merely as one among the illustrious
concourse that have made the fame of English
literature, will determine the artistic value of
his labors and his proper place in the role of
honor that is headed by the names of Shake
speare and Milton. Whatever posterity may
think of Mr. Dickens, however, it is undeniable
that he was a power in his own day, and no fiction-writer
that has ever lived has cvercxerted
the same influence or produced tho
same decisive results in promoting
the reform of abuses, or in exciting a sympa
thy for the roor and oppressed. It is a question
whether the principal end and aim of true art
should be the reform of social aud political
abuses, and upon this to a great extent depends
the probability of the works of Mr. Dickens
maintaining the same hold upon the public of
a hundred years hence that they do upon that of
the present day. It is certain that many abuses
can be attacked successfully in a work of fiction
that it would be impossible to reach in any other
way, and the endeavors of Mr. Dickens to carry
out important measures of reform by means of
his novels are entitled to recelvc.'as they have
received, a most cordial recognition. It is the
fate of such works, however, to be more or less
ephemeral; and looking at the mattter
from an artistic standpoint and
it is only from such a standpoint that the real
value of a work of art can bo determined we
cannot but think that Mr. Dickens' writings are
too much of the time and for the time to secure
for them that lasting favor that is accorded to
the works of men who were distinctively artists.
Thackeray has been frequently alluded to as a
disciple of Fielding, but in reality Dickens,
much more than his distinguished contemporary,
was the legitimate successor of Fielding and
Smollett, and his writings, like theirs, will pro
bably in future years rather engage the atten
tion of the students of literature than that of
general readers. The life described by Fielding
and Smollett was something remote from that
of our days, and it had but little iu it that we
especially we of the New World, can heartily
sympathize with. As clearly drawn pictures
of a certain development of civilization and
certain conditions of society, the works of the
novelists named will always have a certain value
that will give them a place in literature; and so
will those of Mr. Dickens, for the same reason.
Mr. Dickens has just died, having scarcely
passed middle age, and yet the people and the
society that he sketched with such humor and
power in his earlier efforts is almost as remote
and strange as that which engaged the attention
of Fielding and Smollett. It is this impression
of remoteness that the early writings of Dick'
ens leave upon the readers of this day that
gives force to the thought that succeeding
years will scarcely add to his fame, and that
another generation will be unable to understand
the enormous popularity he enjoyed with the
people of to- day.
In referring to Mr. Dickens as a novelist of
the school of Fielding and Smollett, we of course
do not mean to intimate that he was in any re
spect a copyist of those writers. Indeed, it was
the marked originality of his genius that made
his first literary efforts so enormously popular,
and that gave him the leading position among
the English fiction-writers of the age that he held
without dispute to the day of hia death. His first
sketches of life and character published under
the nom de plume of "Boz," and afterwards his
"Pickwick," made their mark instantly, be
cause they were fresh and original, and because
they revealed a new vein of rich and racy hu
mor. The public were beginning to tire of the
fashionable novels of high life, and the humor
ously exaggerated descriptions of low life and
the respectable middle class ociety hit
their fancy exactly. It has repeatedly been
remarked that no writer since Shakespeare has
created so many characters that appear like
living men and women, as Dickens. There is
this important difference, however, between the
two writers: Shakespeare was above all things
an artist. He had no other end in view than to
produce perfect works of art; and while his
characters are all intellectual analyses, those of
Mr. Dickens are merely described by the gro
tesque exaggeration of their outward appear
ance, their physical defects, their clothing, and
their bodily habits. It is scarcely necessary to
point out that this distinction makes all the dif
ference in the world with regard to the art value
of the work performed by the two writers, and
no one capable of expressing an opinion on the
subject would ever think of placing Dickens by
the side of Shakespeare as a creative artist.
When "Pickwick" made a hit Mr. Dickens
found the way to fame and fortune open to him,
and be marked out a Hue of work that he ad
hered to resolutely during the rest of his career.
"Pickwick" was quickly followed by "Oliver
Twist," "Nicholas Nickelby," "The Old Curi
osity Shop." and "Barnaby Uudge," all of which
brought him both wealth and honor, and ex
tended his fame on both sides of the Atlantic.
The Immense circulation that his writings en
joyed In the United Slates made the lack of an
international copyright law appear very much
in the light of a personal and special grievance.
He therefore determined to visit this country
for the double purpose of seeing the people and
of proving the justice of the claims of British
authors. It is not to be denied that a great
mauy people in tho United States made con
stimulate fools of themselves in their efforts to
be hospitable on this occasion, and there were
grotesque features in the various receptions
given lo Mr. Dickens that at this day appear
excessively comical. However absurd were tie
CHARLES DICKENS
As He Appeared in 1808, During His Secotid and
Last Visit to the United States.
attentions paid, there was a sincerity and
genuine heartiness about the welcome extended
to Mr. Dickens that a man of really fine feelings
could scarcely have failed to appreciate at its
real value in spite of the absurdities that sur
rounded it.
As the adulations bestowed upon him
had been fulsome, the indignation was over
powering when it was found that this over-
welcomed guest turned the whole thing into
ridicule as soon as he had reached home, and
that both in his "American Notes" and in his no
vel of "Martin Chuzzlewit" he had little else but
abuse and sarcasm to bestow upon either the
country or the people. Of late there has been
an attempt to condone Mr. Dickens' offense on
this occasion, and to take all the blame for the
unfortunate misnnderstanding upon ourselves.
We cannot look upon the matter in this light,
and no candid reader of "The American Notes"
or "Martin Chuzzlewit can say that they are
not malicious and intentionally insulting. Tho
real offense of Mr. Dickens was not
that he freely criticized what he thonght
wrong in the manners of the people
of the United States or their institutions,
but that from the first time of his landing upon
these shores he was in a bad humor with him'
6clf and with everybody about him, and he was
unable consequently to see any good thing. He
must have seen plenty of opportunities for good
natured caricature and humorous description;
but throughout the wholo of the "American
Notes" there is only one example, so far as we
can recollect, of a humorous character that he
seemed to appreciate, and that is the "Brown
Forester" that he met on a canal-boat In this
State, and even the "Brown Forester" he seems
to have considered as more of a personal griev
ance than as a subject for artistic treatment,
The rough-and-ready style of travelling that
was characteristic of the old canal packets did
not suit him at all, and he seemed to think that
it had been invented especially for his personal
annoyance; and yet any person who has ever
travelled in one of these boats would imagine
that a humorous writer of all others would
have endured all the inconveniences for tho
Eake of racy and original specimens of American
men and women with whom he would be thrown
in contact. Mr. Dickens did not like the rail
roads any better than the canals, and when a
writer represents himself as looking out of a car
window, and mistaking the spittle ejected by
independent American citizens for thick
flying bits of cotton, it is evident
that his statements of fact' and
opinion are scarcely entitled to respectful
consideration. In writing as he did about this
country, Mr. Dickens proved that he was lack
ing in the finer gentlemanly instincts, and that,
so far from taking a manly and Independent
view of things, he was content to follow in the
wake of other British snobs who find a cheap
sort of popularity at Home by abusing a
people, institutions, and manners that they
cannot and do not care to under
stand. After "Martin Chuzzlewit" came
his "Christmass Stories," "Dorabey and Son
and "David Copperfield," in which his genius
reached its climax. Mr. Dickens himself ac
knowledges this work to be his masterpiece, and
his own opinion is supported by that of a ma
jority of his readers. In the works that suc
ceeded "David Copperfield" there is a gradual
but visible decline, until in ms latest euorts a
noticeable falling off of the old power
is observable. It is true that these
later works are all distinctly marked
by the characteristics of his genius,
but the humor is often forced, the sentiment
more mawkish than ever, aud there is a ten
dency to prosiness that distinctly indicates the
failing artist. Let any one read "Oliver Twist,"
Dombey and Son," and "David Copperfield,"
and then attempt "Great Expectations" and
"Our Mutual Friend," and the immense differ
ence will be apparent at once. His last novel,
"The Mystery of Edwin Drood," has not sufll
ciently advanced to form, a just opinion
of it, but the opening chapter
shows more of the old fire than any of
his other recent efforts. It is sincerely to be
hoped that the death of the author has not left
this story a mere fragment like the "Denis
Duval" of Thackeray, but that ere he was called
away he finished it, and rounded off his life's
labors with a last work that will be worthy to
be placed beside those that have for so long
delighted millions of readers.
If Mr. Dickens had not taken up authorship
as a profession, he would probably have made
one of the first histrionic artists of the day.
His talents as an actor were undoubtedly of the
first order, and those who had heard of his per
formances in private hailed with delight the
announcement of his intention to give public
readings from his own works. These readings
were immensely successful in England, and the
recent professional tour of Mr. Dickens in this
country is still fresh In the minds of the public,
Merely as an elocutionist he had many palpable
faults, but for humorous and pathetic expres
sions in his reading, and for a power of repre
senting the various characters introduced iu the
stories selected for his entertainments, he sur
passed any reader of the present day. These
readings were a source of genuine delight
to- thoufands, as they not ouly
gave the public an opportunity to
see the great writer who had afforded them so
many pleasant hours, but conferred the unique
pleasure of hearing the most original aud racy
humorist of the d.iv embody his own creations.
In making a summary estimate of the genius
acd labors of Mr. Dk keus it seems to us that
his highest and lowest moral influences arise
from tho tame cause, his wonderful genius for
caricature. All vices arising from simple motives
he makes contemptible and hideons avarice,
cruelty, selfishness, hypocrisy, especially reli
gious hypocrisy. But then he has a great ten
dency to make the corresponding virtues ludi
crous too by his over-colored sentiment. The
brothers Cheeryble always seem to be rubbing
their bands from intense brotherly love; the self-
abandonment of Tom Pinch is grotesque; the
elaborate self-disguise of Mr. BoQla as a miser.
in order to warn Bella Wllfer of her danger, is
an insult to both the reason and conscience of
the reader; and Mr. Dickens' saints, like that
Agnes in "David Copperfield" who insists on
pointing upwards, are invariably detestable.
His morality concentrates itself on tho two
strong points we have named, a profound hor
ror of cruelty and a profound contempt for
humbug; but Mr. Dickens has no fine percep
tion for the Inward shades of humbug relaxed
and cosseted emotions.
His greatest service to English literature will,
after all, be not his high morality, which is
altogether wanting in delicacy of insight, but in
the complete harmlessness and purity of the
immeasurable humor into which he moalds his
enormous stores of acute observation. Almost
all creative humorists tend to the Impure like
Swift and Smollett, even Fielding. On tho
other hand, there are plenty of humorists who
are not creative, who take the humor out of
themselves and only apply it to what passes,
like Charles Lamb and Sydney Smith. But
Dickens uses his unlimited powers of observa
tion to create for himself original fields of hu
mor, and crowds grotesque and elaborate detail
around the most happy conceptions, without
ever being attracted for a moment towards any
prurient or unhealthy field of laughter. Thus,
as by far the most popular and amusing of all
English writers, he provides unlimited food for
a great people without infusing any really dan
gerous poison into it. In this way, doubtless,
he has done a service which can scarcely bo
overestimated.
On.llc Despatelics.
Late and Fuller Particulars.
Mr. Dickens is Seized with His
Fatal Illness at Dinner on Wed
nesday, and Dies on Thurs
day Evening Profound
Expressions of Grief
in tho English
Journals.
London, June 910 P. M. Tho London
Globe, in its last edition this evening, startled
the community with the announcement that
Charles Dickens had been seized with paralysis,
and was lying insensible at his residence, at
Gadshill, near Rochester, in Kent.
The news spread rapidly and created the
most profound regret; but the worst was Btill
to come. 1 elegrams have since been received
announcing the death of tho great novelist at
quarter past 0 this evening.
Dickens was at a dinner on Wednesday, when
he was seized with the fit. Dr. Steel, of the
village of Stroud, who was for many years tho
family physician of Mr. Dickens, was imme
diately called in, and remained till nearly mid
night.
The condition of the patient becoming worse
and worse it was deemed advisable to summon
physicians from London. Telegrams were
promptly despatched, and this morning several
London physicians arrived at Gadshill.
A consultation was held, and the case at once
pronounced hopeless. The patient sank gradu
ally, and died at fifteen mihutcs past 6 o'clock
this eventng.
Mr. Dickens has been ill for several days, but
not seriously. He had even visited Rochester
and other points during the present week.
Remarks of the London Journals.
London, June 10. The death of Dickens has
plunged the nation into mourning. All tho
London papers have obituary articles this
morning.
The Times Bays: "Ordinary expressions of
regret are now cold aud conventional. Millions
of people feel a personal bereavement. States
men, savanB, and benefactors of a race, when
they die, can leave no such void. They cannot,
like this great novelist, be an Inmate of every
house."
The Daily News says: "Without intelloctual
pedigree, his writings form an era in English
literature. He was generous, loving, and uni
versally beloved. He leaves, like Thackeray,
an unfinished story."
The Morning Post says: "Charles Dickens
did more than any contemporary to make Eng
lish literature loved and admired."
The Telegraph regards the distinguished dead
as a public servant whose task was nobly ful
filled. EXTRAORDINARY IXSAXI TY.
Unaccountable Action ol a Jerser Policeman.
A few days ag o.uear the Market Street Depot in
Newark, tho attention f the venerable Hen Gott
was attracted to a large crowd in the square, and
pushing his way through, he discovered a woman
struggling violently w ith two men, one of whom
wore the uniform of a l'hilllpsburg policeman, on
Inquiry it was discovered that the woiuun was a ravlug
maniac, named Caroline bniitb, of Phillipsljurg. Fur
ther inquiry developed the fact that tim oillcer
had been Instructed to bring her t j Ne wait, and
there turn her adrift ou the community ; that ou the
way thither she had become so violent iu Uin cars
that a second oillcer had to be called luaiElizi
beth; and that an abortive attempt had been made
to get her out of the cars at the c'hesnut street
depot iu Newark, tha plau being apparently to
, lace her ou the platform and then leava her to
the mercy of tt rangers, or rather pU'ie
strangers at her mercy. The uufortauate
woniau scratched, tore, and bit whenever sue
pot u chance. I'ncle lieu insisted that the
l'hilllpsburg man; should not leave hU charge,
a ml oitlered liiui to take her to the man n
house, w hich be did, clving hla name as John It
linker, No. . Heh.lt the woman In charge of the
Newark authorliiea, with the uuderstmdmg that as
Boon b he could K-t back home he woutd consult
wlih hla superiors atout the woman. Sowing has
since been heurd of the otlloer or from ih-i Phillips
burg authoiiiles In the meantime Ciroliut tore
every btuch off her back aud persisted in rcusainuig
in her cell throughout Wetlueadny nij;ht t.-i pun
itaturalibuH. Khe refused everything iu th way of
food and di ink, and b. havcd inoHt violently to the
prison attendant. Yesterday aiteruoun she ws
placed in a HiaitiH jacket and removed to the
county jail. Her ease and tho action of luwer is to
be oilicially liqiiirtd ihto.-A ) HtiaiO, t'l-iUiy.